So basically I'm in the IB Program(me) and it is extremely British. So British in fact that I was drowned in work after being sunk by their navy's cannons. This wouldn't be a problem if I hadn't gotten sick the second I finished the majority of the work for this year. So basically, what I'm saying is have a chapter!
Special thanks to Rocker on for reviewing every chapter and reminding me to update this. Enjoy!
FAIL-SAFE MECHANISM
Chapter 6: How (not) to Make a First Impression
Agent Ren snuck glances at the two (possibly) aliens in the van's holding area. Though they seemed surprisingly unconcerned (their phones were taken, which to Ren's experience usually caused teens to go hysterical, and further proved there may be something wrong here), they still glared at the agents sitting around them. The agents, on the other hand, were nervously hoping that they didn't have to shoot at what seemed to be two teenagers.
Jack casually turned to the agent on his left. "So, what's the plan here?"
He was met with blank, expressionless visors.
Casey tried this time. "So… anyone watch football?"
One agent discreetly raised his hand, then quickly lowered it when the others glared at him.
"Okay. So since this trip is shaping up to be boring… 99 BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL…"
FAIL-SAFE MECHANISM
In the front seat, Ren restrained himself from slamming his head against the dashboard.
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"-take one down, pass it- Oh look! We're here!" Jack remarked when the van stopped. "Or is this just another red light?" In response, the agents practically fled the vehicle, seeking an escape from the off-key singing which they could do nothing (ethical) to halt. The two teenagers casually hopped out after them, and looked around the large garage. Predictably, more soldiers surrounded them, but their rather large sci-fi guns were held loosely, and aimed at the ground.
Another agent, this time a woman with sharp features and strikingly white hair, appeared in a doorway. "Ah, I see you've arrived. Do either of you know why you are here?"
Jake rolled his eyes, then prodded Casey. Casey shook his head and sighed. "Well, seeing as we've been taken against our legal rights, I'm not feeling very cooperative. Mind telling us?"
The woman nodded, as if the answer was expected. "Though much of it is classified, I can tell you two things. One, you will be treated fairly, as I'd rather not deal with our HR department. Two, you will be held here until we deem you safe to be released back into society. Now, we have quite a few questions, so-"
At that moment, Jack's wristband started strobing green light. Instantly, soldier's guns were up and trained on the two (now actually afraid) teens. Casey, recognizing the sequence of flashes, promptly shouted "EVERYBODY DOWN" and dove behind a crate.
"Case! What's going on?" Jack shouted, before the strobing intensified. A whistling was heard, then a crash. The building shook, and a small black meteor broke through the ceiling, and slammed directly into Jack.
Once more, an explosion of verdant energy blinded all in the room, but the agents quickly recovered. Raising their rifles, they approached the still glowing form of Jack. They carefully stepped around the sizzling, molten metal covering the area near the impact, but when one tried to get too close, he stumbled back, instantly drenched in sweat. A figure rose slowly from the smoke.
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Jack carefully moved his new arms, testing their flexibility. Though they appeared to be made of molten red rock, they were somehow flexible enough to move normally. He also noticed that the metal floor seemed to be melting under him. How to fix that…
The female agent was furiously barking into a radio, shouting something about plumbers for some reason, and Agent Ren directed something (is that a tank?) to aim at Jack. It started charging an energy beam, but before it could fire, Casey sprinted past the guards (who were still focused on Jack), hand moving to his new fragment. His finger brushed the red piece, and suddenly he swelled into a 12 foot tall, red, four-armed monster who proceeded to bend the tank's barrel with three hands.
The other was busy blocking laser bolts aimed for Casey's four yellow eyes, which did nothing more than singe the tetramand's giant hand.
While nearly everyone was focused on the red alien hanging from the tank barrel, Jack was trying to figure out his new form. Acting on instinct, he concentrated on his hand, and a fireball began forming. Unfortunately for Jack, he couldn't shrink it. If anything, it seemed to be getting bigger, and a 'pressure' of sorts was building up. Just before it released, Jack raised his palm skyward, and blasted a roaring fireball into the ceiling.
The ensuing explosion halted all motion in the room, giving Jack the opening he needed. He ripped his feet free from the molten metal, jumped away from the heat, and slammed his hand on the symbol on his chest, instantly reverting himself back to normal. Or it would have been instant, had he been in his normal Diamondhead form.
The fragment hadn't fully integrated the DNA by this point, and the resulting feedback slowed the transformation sequence. He felt his cells rapidly cool, stretch, divide, compress… in short, it was excruciating.
Jack flopped to the ground, steaming from the heat he'd been emitting only seconds before, and weakly propped himself up. When his eyes refocused, he was looking down the barrel of Agent Ren's pistol, with the other agent glaring down at him from Ren's side.
"Now, when I asked about doing this the easy way or the hard way…" The agent slammed the butt of his gun into Jack's head, knocking him out instantly. "This was the hard way."
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Casey, busy dealing with the soldiers, only noticed Jack's predicament when he saw Ren pistol whip his friend. With a roar of pure rage, he launched himself across the room. With leg strength that could let him hop over a skyscraper, Casey's speed was so great that he appeared as a red blur of pure alien muscle.
Unfortunately for him, the female agent seemed to react well to blurs, and in one motion knocked Agent Ren out of the way, then lashed out with one palm while throwing herself to the ground. Viewed in slow motion, one would have seen her open palm impact the Omnitrix symbol on Casey's shoulder, then somehow redirect his momentum into the ground.
With an almighty crash, the tetramand smashed into the ground a split second before reverting to his normal form. He was immediately pistol-whipped by Ren, knocking him out.
Ren stared at the now ruined warehouse, marveling at the destruction caused. Multiple melted sections of floor and ceiling, a tank with a barrel twisted like a pretzel, and soldiers scattered like skittles. A weak cough brought his attention to his side, and he gasped.
His partner, code-named Velocity (for reasons Ren understood now) was lying unresponsive on the ground. Directing whatever soldiers were left standing to restrain the two aliens, Ren knelt at her side, wincing as he saw her nose gushing blood. Apparently, whatever she'd done had taken a lot out of her…
Shaking aside his musings, Ren carefully lifted her up. Her eyes fluttered open, and with a quick look of thanks she leaned on him as they staggered deeper into the complex to get patched up.
Meanwhile, the soldiers warily approached the two normal seeming children once more, this time with more caution. They used the restraints specially made for situations like this, ensuring that neither could reach their own wrists, and carted them off to the containment cells before the two could wake up.
As plumber initiates, they were used to crazy, but two aliens who could transform into kids? That was a bit above their pay grade.
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So yeah, this happened. I've been tweaking this chapter for a few months, trying to get it right, but I'm still not sure I did. Anyway, who likes the aliens that they transform into? I couldn't bear leaving Casey to just be Gray Matter, and I feel they're going to need a lot more FIREpower to deal with The First.
Anyway, that's a wrap! let me know how I did with a review please!
-sonyaxe