DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, locations, equipment etc used in this story, it exists purely because I want it to
WARNING: This Story contain themes of violence, torture, segregation, slavery and death (not necessarily in that order). Graphic content has been kept to a minimum to avoid M rating, even so, viewer discretion is advised
I LIIIIIVEEEEEEEEEEEE!
wow... three months... I honestly have no excuse, I kept trying to pick this chapter up and get it finished but I just could never find the motivation, I'm going to blame an inspiration slump
Anyway, that's now over and I'm back baby!
So, Chapter 4, the fifth installment of this story, as we saw last time, Starling and her team attempted to raid Long Feng's secret base and break Lark out, who had been freed from her cell by Ace who had joined the Cyclonians side some time ago. Only things didn't go according to plan, Ace has been injured by Lark due to the conditioning that Long Feng has placed on her, Lark then proceeded to go on a rampage throughout the facility
Meanwhile, Piper - after getting a first hand if small impression of the man Long Feng truly is - woke up and decided that the righteous path is worth it, no matter what the cost, even her own future. Aerrow and Dove, concerned for Piper follow her and agree to help her despite knowing their making the same sacrifice that Piper is. After getting separated from Piper, Dove and Aerrow encounter Stork and Junko who have been working on a secret project (more on that this chapter ; P ). Piper in the meantime encountered an injured Lark, after a brief confrontation, Piper patches up the minor injury and makes the decision to help Lark regain the life that has been taken from her
Now, we shall continue, at LONG LAST!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, dear Readers (and Mortals) all, welcome back to... The Storm and the Hawk
Chapter 4: Lockdown
The base commander was panicking, he had Cyclonians running rampant through several levels of the base, an unexplained explosion had collapsed an entire corridor practically sealing off a portion of the base, and worst of all, Subject C had disappeared. The whole thing was a mess and the commander just knew he was going to be severely punished by Administrator Long Feng when he returned
As if on que, the phone began ringing, command personnel stared at it like it led to the very wastelands themselves. Taking a deep breath, the commander carefully picked it up, as if he was handling a live grenade, the voice he'd been dreading came through the speaker after picking it up
"Give me a progress report," Long Feng ordered
The commander gulped, "Well sir, we're still trying to contain the Cyclonians, we'll have the situation in hand soon..."
"I meant concerning Subject C!" Long Feng growled
The commander flinched before answering "Well sir, we've actually... lost sight of her."
Silence, then came the reply, "What do you mean you lost sight of her?" Long Feng asked, his voice surprisingly calm and neutral
"Well sir, you see, we've had additional intruders, some kids from the academy it looks like, one of them used a Firebolt crystal to collapse an entire corridor, the one that did it was then forced into a path that intercepted Subject C, she reached her first and well... they've disappeared sir, we can't find them." After the commander was finished explaining the situation he waited with baited breath for the inevitable hammer fall
To his immense surprise, it did not come, instead Long Feng spoke again in that same calm neutral manner, "Did this new intruder have blue hair and dark skin?"
"Erm, yes, yes sir she did," the commander answered, a new thread of hope in his voice
"Then everything is on track, if not as expected, continue with the plan and begin lockdown immediately," Long Feng ordered
"Yes sir, right away sir!" the commander replied, as the last syllable left the man's mouth, Long Feng hung up
While the commander began issuing orders, Long Feng sat in the stands watching the youth of Atmos attempt to prove themselves worthy Skyknights. Well Piper, I never expected you would go this far for a friend, though in hindsight I really should have... that being the case, you have just made this far easier for me
Piper carefully peered round a corner, getting a glimpse down the corridor they were about to enter, empty, for now, she glanced back at the girl following her, Starling's sister, Lark. It was clear to Piper that she wasn't used to the name yet, but that was little surprise when Piper thought about what this girl had been through, and it's up to me to help her recover, to help her remember who she is. As she watched the girl though, a thought occurred to Piper, what if she doesn't want to remember, the way Starling made it sound, Ace was supposed to get her out of here, but where is he? Lark accused me of treason before, what if she did the same with Ace? What if she killed him?
Piper was broken from her thoughts however by Lark's voice, "So how do we get out of here?"
The question had a healthy dose of desperation to it, whether she was conscious of it or not, Lark was desperate to leave this place. That realization set Piper's mind at ease somewhat, I can't even begin to imagine what she's been through these past nine years, what she's had to endure, of course she's going to be confused, irrational, her thought processes muddled by years of torture
Piper looked back and gave a small smile, "First we find my friends, then we retrace our steps and reach the surface."
Lark nodded, "Sounds good, let's get going already."
Piper nodded in turn as they continued to proceed down the hallways, which for the moment remained deserted, first we get out of this place, then we find out the extent of the damage done to her mind, then we fix it... no matter what, I can't imagine anyone wanting to live a life like the one she has up until now
Aerrow and Dove stared up at the sky-dock, their mouths hanging open in awe, in front of them was the most amazing ship they'd ever seen. She was sleek, streamlined, yet still possessed a spacious hanger, enough for a whole squadron of Skyknights. Two large side panels had the ability to fold away to reveal two ship board cannons. The bridge was raised above and behind the runway for the Skyrides the ship would carry, alongside the runway were the float engines that would keep the ship in the air, on the front of both, the hull had been styled to resemble the beak of a bird of prey. The engines were behind the bridge and though they appeared small, both Aerrow and Dove knew enough about ships to know that they packed a "wallop". The main body of the ship – the area with the bridge, behind the runway – was painted in a light navy blue colour, and under the lights of the underground hanger, the ship simmered and gleamed
"Wow, that's the most amazing ship I've ever seen," Aerrow exclaimed
"Absolument," Dove breathed beside him
Stork stood off to one side, a smug grin on his face "Yep she's my pride and joy, I call her the Condor," he said turning to the ship and patting the hull fondly "And she's going to revolutionize modern air craft," he continued looking up at the ship in pride
"How so?" Dove asked curious
Stork gained an excited look here, "She's the fastest ship in her class, more agile too, yet she still has enough room to field a full squadron, perhaps two at a stretch. The materials used in her design are lightweight but sturdy and she's more fuel efficient than any other ship in the Atmos, able to travel farther and faster than any other ship her size or larger on less." Here Stork paused to admire his ship once more, "She's above and beyond any ship currently flying, and it's my dream that one day, she or her successors will safely navigate the Great Expanse and reach... 'The Far Side'."
Dove and Aerrow looked up at the ship in awe; people had always talked about navigating the Great Expanse, many had of course tried, none had succeeded, and few had returned to tell the tale. The Great Expanse was a barren stretch of land which went on in every direction, strange energies coursed across it and there were rumors of beasts and supernatural spirits lying in wait for an unwary ship to fall into their laps. Navigation in the Great Expanse was impossible, so the thought that this Merb and Wallop might have developed a ship capable of reaching the other side of the Great Expanse was an incredible achievement
"Do you think we could take a look inside?" Dove asked, her eyes big and pleading
Stork was caught off guard for a moment by Dove's eyes, and scratched the back of his head nervously, "Well I don't know, she's not quite finished yet and I was planning on giving the first tour to Administrator Long Feng."
"Oh come on Stork just a peak, I promise we won't breath a word of what's on there," Aerrow said, his own eyes brimming with excitement
Stork thought about it for a moment before finally giving in, "Ok, just a peak."
Starling gritted her teeth as yet more ALF soldiers blocked their path, "At this rate we're never going to find Lark," Starling growled in frustration
Just then Ravess came running up from one of their other positions in the next room, "They've started locking the base down, the way we came in is completely blocked off."
Ravess's words sent a chill through everyone there, they were effectively trapped, and they still had not completed their objective, "Then we make our own, we have to keep pushing, Lark has to be here somewhere!" Starling exclaimed
"I agree your highness, but we're in no shape to both find her and get out safely, if Ace is alive and has completed his mission only to unable to contact us, then his standing orders are to get Lark out to the rendezvous, meaning our primary concern is getting you out safely your highness," Ravess replied
Starling looked at her aghast, "You mean just abandon the mission!" she yelled
"No your highness, we will stay until the last possible moment to determine if Lark is still in the base, but we cannot risk losing you as well, therefore, you must flee while our enemy is still in disarray, while you still have the chance to escape," Ravess replied, her voice deceptively calm for what she was suggesting
Starling looked at her, mouth agape not quite able to believe that Ravess had, quite simple, told Starling to leave them all behind. She quickly got control of herself and her eyes hardened, "No, I will not abandon you, any of you!"
Ravess sighed, "Your highness, whether or not Lark is free we still don't know where she is, and only you have the codes to call in the extraction team. Even if Ace got her out and is taking her to the rendezvous, without the transmission codes the extraction team will never know they are there, meaning that if our people are to have a future, you must remain free at all costs."
"She's right," Snipe grunted as he fired a heavy weapon at their enemies, blowing out a portion of the defenses they were hiding behind, "If you're captured the resistance is finished, your grandmother gave us specific orders that at all costs, you were to remain alive and free, no matter what that cost may be."
Starling looked at them both, then at the rest of her troops, all of them had resigned but determined looks on their faces, she felt tears well up in her eyes as she realised they were right, and were not going to take 'no' for an answer. She quickly blinked her tears away before turning back to Ravess, "Fine, you win, but I have one last order for all of you," she stated firmly
Ravess nodded as she waited for the order, "Stay alive, no matter what, your safety comes first, stay alive and meet me back home," Starling completed
Ravess smiled, as she, her brother and the rest of the task force responded, "We hear and obey your highness!"
Starling smiled at that, then glanced towards an empty corridor that led away from the fighting, "Go," Ravess said, "We'll cover you."
Starling nodded, and as her troops rose up as one to pour fire into the enemy, Starling made a break for it, as she ran, even after leaving the fighting well behind her, all she could think about was one thing, I failed, I lost, you were right grandmother, I was a fool
Piper was beginning to relax; they'd been seeing significantly less and less guards as they made their way through the complex. That was until they got back into a familiar area, Piper was looking down the corridor they had initially used to enter the complex, however, rather than a scene of destruction and death, now it was full of soldiers guarding the entry point
Piper swore as she pulled back behind the corner they were at, Lark then spoke, "Something wrong?"
Piper sighed, "Their locking down the base, the way we came in is no longer an option," she replied
Lark frowned, "Yes it is, if they're in our way we just need to kill them and be done with it," moving to step forward
Piper panicked and grabbed hold of Lark pulling her back, "No!" she hissed while Lark looked at her confused
"What's the problem, they're in our way, that makes them a threat, threat's need to be eliminated," Lark responded
Piper gave her a glare, "You can't just go around killing people, those men down there probably have friends and family on the outside, people who care about them, if you kill them all your doing is creating pain and hate," Piper countered, then an idea came, "And turning them into threats in turn."
"If that's the case so be it, anyone who is a threat must be eliminated, that is the way of things," Lark replied, her voice devoid of emotion, and Piper saw once again that dead look come back into her eyes
Steeling her resolve, Piper played her trump card, "Does that mean that if the entire world became a threat, you'd wipe out everyone?"
Lark's mouth opened to respond, but then stopped as a spark of emotion ignited in her eyes, Piper smiled, I was right, there's more than one person inside her head, there's the emotionless girl, the weapon Starling said she was being turned into. Then there's the little girl from nine years ago, still clinging on despite everything, still fighting for control of her own mind
"If you wipe out everyone what becomes the point of it all, what are you protecting from threats if there's no one left to protect?" Piper continued knowing she'd already won this but simply wanted to drive the hammer blow home
Lark's face became a rictus of confusion as she tried to process this, "But threats need to be eliminated... no that can't be right... there has to be some mistake."
Piper observed the self debate and let it go on for a bit, before jumping in herself, "Not everything has to be resolved with violence Lark," – said girl gave a twitch as Piper said the name – "There are other ways, you don't need to kill to achieve something."
The silence stretched out for some time before Lark gave a sigh her eyes closing, when they opened again, the dead look had been replaced with the standard stare that was a sort of midway point between true emotion and the dead eyed look of the weapon this girl had been turned into. "Alright, then what would you suggest?" Lark asked
Piper gave a sigh of relief as she let go of Lark before taking another peak round the corner, we have to find another way out. As Piper stared at the corridor filled with soldiers she noticed a room between them and the now closed blast door, the door to the room was open and through it, Piper could see a map of the facility. Piper's eyes widened as she notice a line down one of the corridors that issued a safety warning, Piper realized that was the corridor she had accidentally collapsed with the Firebolt crystal. She carefully scrutinized the map, finding the corridor that Aerrow and Dove had jumped into to escape the debris, she then followed it and saw that it ultimately ended in a very large room with a single word written on it, 'Hanger bay'
Aerrow and Dove stood in awe on the bridge of the Condor, it was truly a magnificent ship, with top of the line tech, a highly advanced radar system, sonar, and array of sensory and navigation equipment, the works
"Well, what do you think?" Stork asked
"She's incredible," Aerrow breathed
"Magnifique," Dove agreed
As the two of them were admiring the ship, Junko came up to the bridge, "Heh guys, just so you know, the whole base is going into lockdown, I think you two should find a way out of here and quick."
That broke Aerrow and Dove from their reverie of the ship, Aerrow was about to speak when he noticed something out the window of the bridge, "No way," he breathed as he began rushing to the exit ramp the others following close behind
Starling pressed herself against the wall as another group of ALF troops rushed through the next corridor, the base lockdown was progressing fast, she needed to find a way out and quickly, luckily, she already had an escape route in mind. Finally she arrived where she wanted to be, the hanger bay, where Ace had discovered a highly advanced ship being constructed, according to Ace's last report on it, the ship was pretty much complete, at the very least it was sky-worthy
She had just entered the hanger bay and was starting to make her way over to the ship from behind, when she saw Aerrow and Dove come running down the ramp and head off in the opposite direction to her, followed by two people she didn't know, a Merb and a Wallop. Curious, she followed the path they were taking to the other end of the hanger, where she was shocked to see Piper walking towards them, and with her, was someone very familiar, but at this distance, Starling couldn't quite make out details
Starling began marching towards them herself, determined to find out just what in Atmos's name Piper, Aerrow and Dove were doing down here, and exactly who was with them
Finding the hanger had not been difficult; Piper had simply cross-referenced what she knew about the area they were in with the map in the security room, despite the distance the map was still easy enough to read. From that she had found the fastest route to the hanger and had quickly led Lark down it, now they emerged to see a sleek streamlined ship that looked fresh off the production line waiting for them, but that wasn't all
As they approached a voice called out to them and Piper's heart leapt when she discovered the source, "Piper!" Aerrow and Dove both yelled as they raced towards her, a Merb and Wallop following
Piper moved forward and embraced her friends as they reunited. Behind Piper; Lark looked on, curious as to this interaction and what exactly it meant
Then the three of them separated, "You're okay, we thought you got crushed or were captured or something?" Aerrow exclaimed
Piper just smiled as she answered, "And what about you two, for all I knew the same had happened to you."
"It almost did, this cretin would not stop digging into the rubble, until I shouted at him to stop," Dove said rolling her eyes at Aerrow who scratched the back of his head nervously
"I was worried about you, I just wanted to know you were okay," he said
Piper smiled at that, "Aww Aerrow and here I thought you didn't care," Piper replied teasingly causing Dove to giggle and Aerrow to go bright red
Before their conversation could continue, Stork cleared his throat behind them, "This, I assume is your friend?" he asked gesturing to Piper
"That's right," Aerrow replied
Stork nodded as if this was all well and good, "Good good, by the way, my name is Stork and this is my assistant Junko," Stork said gesturing first to himself and then to Junko, whose face was now very pale
"Nice to meet you," Piper began but was cut off as Stork continued
"And I have only one question," he now pointed a shaking finger at Lark, "What is she doing here?" he asked, his voice rising to a high pitched squeak
Piper – much to her shame – had almost completely forgotten about Lark and quickly turned to her and brought her forward, "Oh right sorry, guys this is..."
But Piper didn't get to finish as a new voice entered the conversation, and beat Piper to the punch, "Lark," the name was breathed out by the new arrival, as if the owner of the voice wasn't quite able to believe what they were seeing
Everyone turned to see Starling standing between them and the Condor, staring at Lark, who stared right back, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" Lark replied
Starling began walking forward as if in a daze, "Lark it's me, Starling, your big sister, I came to get you out," she said, her voice filled with both relief and hope at seeing her sister again for the first time in nine years
"I can't even begin to tell you how much I've..." but Starling was cut off as she attempted to close the space between them and embrace her sister, as at that moment, Lark had pulled her hand up and fired off a blast of energy that sent Starling back a few feet and landed her on her backside
She stared up at Lark in shock as she realized what had just happened, then Lark began to loom over her, "Take note of this, I don't know you, anyone I don't know, I don't trust, so stay away from me, or you'll wish you were in the middle of the wastelands!" Lark growled dangerously
Starling was too shocked to be able to speak for several moments, then she found her voice, "Lark it's me Starling, don't you recognize me?" she pleaded
"I told you I don't know you!" Lark snarled raising a fist that now began to spark with electricity
Everyone backed away from the two of them, everyone except Piper who dove between them holding out a hand to both, "Whoa heh there let's just all calm down shall we," she began alternately staring them both down before fixing her gaze on Lark, "Lark she didn't mean any harm, okay, there's no need to get angry or do something drastic... understand." The final word of Piper's sentence was loaded with the message delivered in their last little debate
Lark looked between Piper and Starling, her eyes cold and hard, but Piper noticed with some satisfaction that they did not have the dead look from earlier. Finally, Lark relented and lowered her arm, the sparks fizzling out one by one, "Fine, just keep her away from me," she replied before moving a short distance away
Piper breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Starling and helped her to her feet, "Don't worry Starling, I can explain," Piper began
Starling still dazed took a moment, then she rounded on Piper, "You can start by telling me what in the wastelands your doing down here and why you dragged Aerrow and Dove into this too!?" she exclaimed
Piper bowed her head in shame, "I'm sorry."
Starling blinked, she hadn't been expecting that response, "What do you mean?"
Piper sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't have the guts to agree to help you when you asked me to, I broke my promise to you... I had to make it up in some way," Piper explained, then gestured to Aerrow and Dove, "And these two wouldn't take no for an answer so they joined me, despite my best efforts to talk them out of it."
Aerrow and Dove both grinned sheepishly as Starling stared at them blankly, they had risked coming down here, had thrown away their entire futures just to help Piper help me?
The thought swirled around inside Starling's head as she attempted to process the fact that, not one, not two, but three young Atmosians had chosen to help her, despite knowing full well that they were throwing their lives away to do it
Speaking of Atmosians, "Where's Ace, if you found Lark you must have seen him, tall guy, dark hair, red eyes, carries a double handed sword?" Starling asked
Piper, Dove and Aerrow all shook their heads, "I found Lark in a corridor littered with charred corpses, all soldiers by the looks of things, I never saw anyone fitting that description."
In the background Stork muttered "Would you even be able to recognize those features on a charred body?"
Suddenly Lark spoke up, "I saw him."
Everyone turned to her, "Of course, otherwise how would you have gotten out of your cell," Starling began before moving up to Lark and only stopped when she was a respectable distance, "Where is he, what's he doing and does he have any kind of message for me?" Starling asked
Lark shook her head, "I don't know, everything from before I met Piper is all blurry, it's just disjointed images and flashes of colour and light, all I remember is seeing a man with dark hair and red eyes nothing more nothing less."
Starling stared at her incredulously, "But he was supposed to get you out, what happened, how did you get separated, why wasn't he with you!?" Starling exclaimed
"I don't know," Lark responded forcefully, electricity sparking once more around her hand
Starling backed off at that, but continued to give Lark a hard look, then Stork spoke up, "What if she killed him?" he said, pointing at Lark
Aerrow, Dove and Junko all looked at Lark with mixed expressions of suspicion and fear, Lark stared back at them, her own expression wary, and her hand flexed a small spark darting between her fingers. Just then however, Piper stepped in, "Alright guys that's enough, you don't know what she's been through," Piper stated firmly
"Do you?" Junko asked, their stares now fixed on Piper
Piper glanced at Lark who looked back at her curiously, "No, but I have my suspicions, when I found her she didn't seem to be anything more than a walking, talking corpse, her eyes had this dead look to them and her voice had almost no emotion to it," Piper began while everyone simply stared at her. "I don't know the details of what she's been through down here, but quite frankly, I don't want to know... according to Starling, she's been here since she was six years old, so the thought I keep coming back to, is what could turn a six year old girl, into a dead eyed fifteen year old girl, who reacts only on basic instinct," Piper continued before turning to the others, "If it had been you, if you'd been trapped, tortured, tormented for nine years of your life and were suddenly freed into a chaotic situation, with armed men coming at you from every direction, what would you do, just to survive and see the light of day again?"
Silence followed Piper's speech, no one knew what to say, behind Piper, Lark stared at this girl who had shown Lark the first act of kindness she had received in nine years, who was now helping Lark escape the people who had kept her locked up, and who now stood in Lark's defence against the people who Piper considered friends. She doesn't even know me, we've only just met, and she's already willing to stand up for me, to help me, protect me
Piper finally broke the silence, "Right now is not the time to be pointing fingers or suspicion, what we need to do right now is get out of here, and once we've reached safety, then we can discuss this further, agreed?"
Aerrow and Dove both looked at one another, then looked to Piper, "We trust you Piper, if you think Lark's okay, then we're with you," Aerrow said
"Besides, it is about time we got out of here tout suite," Dove added
Starling shook her head, "I hate leaving Ace here, not knowing what's become of him..." she trailed off as she looked to Lark, "But whether you remember me or not, your still my sister, and your safety comes first
Lark rolled her eyes at that, "Whatever you say."
Stork now cleared his throat, "Well good luck with that, have a great day, so sad to see you go, now if you don't mind I have work to be getting on with, exit is right over that way, so goodbye now."
Starling chuckled in response, "Sorry, but I'm afraid for the escape I have in mind, I'm going to need to borrow your ship."
Stork blanched here, "What, NO! You're not taking my ship! Over my dead body!" he shouted
"That can be arranged," Lark said while twirling sparks between her fingers
"Lark!" Piper exclaimed
"Kidding," Lark replied a small, happy smile on her face, Piper blinked, it was a small thing, but any show of emotion and feeling from Lark was a good thing
It's going to take time, probably years, even if it does though, I'm going to help her recover what she's lost, Piper thought to herself, smiling as well
Starling rolled her eyes, while wearing her own smile, like she knew something Piper didn't, then she turned to Stork, "Look I don't care if I have to knock you out and take the keys, I need that ship," she said pointing at the Condor, "So you can either hand it over, or get hurt, your choice."
Stork was torn, he clearly knew he was outmatched by Starling, but he was damned if he was going to give up his pride and joy, he quickly turned to Junko for aid "Aren't you going to help me!?" he demanded
Junko looked between Stork and the others, "I don't know Stork, I mean we always knew Long Feng did some pretty bad things down here, but torturing a six year old girl..." Junko trailed off
Stork gave him a deadpan look, "You can't be serious?"
Junko just gave a shrug, "Helping them just feels like the right thing to do," he replied
Dove suddenly heard the sound of approaching boots from down one of the hallways while everyone was talking, and quickly went over to Stork when she did and put an arm around his shoulders. "Look mon ami, you have two choices here, you can help us steal your ship and get out of here, staying free at least for the foreseeable future..." Dove began, meanwhile everyone else but Stork had begun hearing the approaching soldiers as well, "Or we can steal the ship from you and you can explain to Long Feng what three Academy students, a Cyclonian Princess and her sister whom he was experimenting on, were doing in your hanger, your choice."
The term going pale, would not have worked for Stork, Merb's did not turn pale, instead, he went from grass green, to sickly green, as what Dove said began to sink in, then he sighed and pulled out a set of keys. "Alright, you win," he said, to which everyone breathed a sigh of relief, before anyone could start moving towards the ship though, Stork continued, "But I'm the only one allowed to drive her," he finished sternly to which he got muttered agreements from all
A few minutes later the soldiers dispatched to the hanger watched as the doors to the hanger opened and the Condor ascended out of base and into the sky
Back at Traven Academy, the Skyknight exams came to a sudden halt as a rumbling shook the area, everyone then watched in astonishment as a ship rose out of the Terra just beyond the Academy grounds
While most people stared in shock, there were two who bore different expressions. One was Long Feng, who was smiling, so that's the escape route she chose, well, well, a little showy but it will do, let the games begin
The other was Alexander Traven, who stood alongside his long time friend and the person who had been second in command of the Interceptors, Tia, both had noticed Long Feng's expression. "Alex," Tia began a tone of worry in her voice, but Traven held up a hand to her
"Looks like things are moving faster than expected, start sending out messages to everyone we have left, Operation Redemption is a go," Traven said, to which Tia nodded, as they watched the ship fly off, away from the Terra
And there we have it, most of our team of heroes are now gathered together, we're just missing two people, we'll be picking them soon, for now, as Long Feng/(Ass) put it, "Let the games begin."
if your liking this story please feel free to leave a review, sorry for the long wait, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, constructive criticism is welcome and I shall see you all, next time ; )