GW: Calvin, Kira, Hobbes, and Feral have arrived at CPIS HQ. What does Hal have planned for them?
Hal: You'll see...you will all see!
Hobbes: We're dead.
Pilot Episode, Part 2
Soon enough, the next day came. ToonCity officials had pretty much fixed up the damage caused by the Chimera as Calvin, Kira, Hobbes, and Feral walked through town, trying to find CPIS headquarters.
"Geez, for a super-important mission agency, you'd think they'd be easy to find," Calvin said as they kept walking with Kira holding the business card. The address read '1313 Watterson Lane.'
"Maybe they prefer privacy," Feral shrugged as Hobbes said, "Or, get this; maybe that freckled kid is messing with us and that address is fake."
"Ha! I'm a great judge of character and that freckled boy named Hal seems like a fine character to me," Calvin said indignantly.
"Oh, yeah. Like you're the character expert, Mr. Throw-Water-Balloons-at-People," Hobbes said sarcastically.
Calvin got ready to punch the tiger as he growled, "Wanna see if there's a cat heaven, tuna breath?"
"Would you shut up?" Kira snapped as she stopped walking. "We're here."
Calvin, Hobbes, and Feral stopped and looked at the building Kira was looking at.
It wasn't all that impressive, though it was big. It looked like a giant two-story warehouse than a headquarters of a secret agency. By the door a plaque read 'Project: CPIS. Yes, we're in.'
"Well, I'll be. There really is a Watterson Lane," Feral said as she noted the sign that read 'Watterson Lane.' "I wonder why that sounds so familiar?"
"Whatever. Come on, let's go in!" Calvin said excitedly. The four reached the door as Hobbes knocked on the door
"Why the heck are you knocking? Let's just go in!" Calvin said as a girl with short light purple hair that was tied in a yellow ribbon, dark blue eyes, and wearing a red and white seifuku outfit opened the door.
"Um, hello there. Can I help you?" the girl asked. "Hey, Tsukasa! Is that the delivery guy with my new game?" a voice asked as three more girls joined the girl known as Tsukasa.
The one who spoke was a girl with long blue hair, green eyes, and a beauty mark by her left eye. The second girl looked a bit like Tsukasa with longer purple hair tied in dark violet ribbons and the same eye color as Tsukasa. The third girl had long pink hair and light violet eyes with glasses. All three of these girls wore the red and white seifuku uniforms Tsukasa wore.
"Hi, we're the kids that stopped the Chimera yesterday," Kira said.
The girls just looked oddly at them. Feral cleared her throat and held up the business card, saying, "Hal gave us this card and told us to stop by if we were interested in becoming recruits."
"Which we are!" Calvin added. The long purple-haired girl said in realization, "Oh, that's right! Hal did mention you guys."
"Please come in," the pink-haired girl said politely as the four came in. "My name is Miyuki Takara."
"I'm Kagami Hiiragi and this is my younger twin Tsukasa," the long purple haired girl, Kagami, said as Tsukasa waved shyly.
"And I'm Konata Izumi. I wanted my game, but you're here instead," the blue-haired girl, Konata, griped as she ate a chocolate-filled croissant.
"What's your part in CPIS?" Kira asked as she and her friends looked around. Just because the outside looked plain, it didn't mean that the inside wasn't interesting. The inside looked a bit like a foyer or a hotel entrance, with the walls and floor decorated nicely, and there was an elevator by what originally was an emergency staircase.
"We're technically the information gatherers," Kagami explained. "We find out if there's a case in ToonCity or someplace that needs CPIS' assistance."
"Cool. How'd you guys decorate the inside of this warehouse?" Feral asked in awe. "It looks awesome!"
"Why, thank you," a polite voice said. "We did it through hard work, tears, and lots of-"
"Sockhat, get a filter for your brain," a voice said rudely. Three boys walked to the group. One was a tall boy with short hair, a blissfully stupid smile, and wearing a green jacket, a red and white shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. The polite boy wore a black hat that showed three hairs from the back and a red shirt, purple shorts, red socks, and shoes. The last boy was short with three long hairs and wearing a yellow T-shirt with a red stripe, blue jeans with a chain, and sneakers.
"So, these the new recruits?" the short boy asked. "Hello, my name is Ed, and I love chickens," the tall boy, known as Ed, said blankly.
"Ed, Edd, and Eddy; these are the ones who saved the day yesterday afternoon…what are your name's again?" Konata asked.
"I'm Calvin, Boy Wonder! And these are Kira, Hobbes, and Feral," Calvin gloated as the three aforementioned just waved.
"Nice meeting ya'! Say, how about givin' me a quarter to pay off your membership fees?" the short boy, Eddy, said slyly.
"Eddy! Don't try to scam them!" the last boy, Edd or Double D, snapped. "Nice meeting you. See you around."
Eddy grumbled as Ed picked up his friends and ran off, screaming, "I'm like a train! Choo-choo!"
"What's with the Peanut Gallery?" Hobbes asked. "They're the equipment specialists, believe it or not," Tsukasa smiled. "We better get Hal now. Wait here, please," Miyuki told the four as she and her friends left to find Hal.
"Hal must be the leader here," Hobbes confirmed as Calvin said impatiently, "When's freckles gonna come and greet us!?"
"Guys, do you think we have to go through rigorous training of any kind?" Kira asked.
"Probably n-AHHHH!" Calvin was cut off as he and his three friends were thrown into a hole that appeared under them.
As they fell, Hobbes groaned, "I should've seen that coming! It's too stereotypical, what with the hard to find HQ and awesome-looking inside! And now we're falling to who-knows-where!"
"Stupid wolf-girl!" Kira broke the fourth wall. "If you can hear me, evil authoress, you're dead!" The wolf-girl authoress known as Glowworm666 just laughed to herself.
Soon enough, the four landed in a wide arena that had many spots to hide. "Sorry to do this to you all," said a voice that sounded like Hal's coming from an intercom. "But I need to see how you prove yourselves worthy of joining the agency."
"We proved ourselves yesterday!" Calvin shouted. "You said so yourself."
"Yeah, but I have to see more. Sure, you've got good wits. But how strong are you, both physically and mentally, when you're going against some of the scariest things before your eyes? What happens if you freeze up when you're face-to-face with a dangerous criminal or a blood-thirsty Predacite? I wouldn't know if you were chickens or not."
"So, what are you going to test us with?" Kira asked. Then Hal appeared in front of them with a maniacal look on his face and his Keyblade out. "Oh, just this. Heartless, arise!"
With a swish of his Keyblade, Neoshadow Heartless, Air Pirates, and Shadow Heartless appeared as the new recruits looked frightened.
"Your objective is easy; defeat all the Heartless I summoned and find me in this arena. You can take as long as you want, but if you want to stop before you complete your mission, you're through. See ya'!" Hal said cheerfully before he ran off.
Then the Heartless pounced at the four. "Run!" Hobbes shouted as the four took off in several directions as the Heartless spread out after them.
Hal, sitting in a tree, smirked. "The trial has begun."
"This is crazy! This is crazy! THIS IS CRAZY!" Calvin screamed as the Shadow Heartless followed him feverishly.
Calvin ducked behind a wall as the Heartless ran past. He sighed in relief, but yelped and took off when the Shadows spotted him and gave chase.
'Come on, Cal! You're a boy genius! Figure something out,' Calvin thought. Then he skidded to a halt as he said, "I've got it!"
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his Transmogrifier Gun and blasted a stick laying nearby into a replica of the Keyblade, except it was blue and red with a tiger for the keychain.
"Come and get some from…Calvin, wielder of the Keyblade!" Calvin shouted as he swiped at the Shadows, barely missing their sharp claws as he destroyed them.
When all the Shadows disappeared, Calvin sighed a bit as he gripped the Keyblade, his new weapon for now, tighter. "Thank goodness I had the Transmogrifier Gun on me. Now to find the others…and Hal," he added the last name in determination as he dashed off.
Kira was doing her best not to scream in terror as Neoshadows followed her through the dense labyrinth.
'Cripes! I'll be Heartless meat for sure!' Kira thought. 'Oh, what should I do?!'
Kira then stopped as she was cornered by the Neoshadows. She gulped, then she remembered what was in her pocket. She pulled out a slingshot she kept in her back pocket and a few stones.
The four Neoshadows were confused as Kira narrated in a dramatic voice, "Surrounded by the evil Shadowneos of Planet Mock 12, Spacegirl Nova readied her Nuclear-Powered Gunray."
The Neoshadows sweat-dropped as she pulled back her slingshot, which was now a gun-like object. They jumped at her but, one by one, she took them all down with her now transformed gunray.
The Neoshadows were gone as Kira nodded in satisfaction. She tossed her weapon in the air for a second as she laughed, "I should attack that Derkins nerd sometime with my gunray. Now, onto the next mission." And then, the gunray-wielding girl darted off as fast as she could.
"AHHHH! I want my mommy! I want my tuna!" Hobbes yowled in fear as he ran beside Feral while Air Pirates followed them.
"We can't give up yet, Hobbes! Calvin and Kira will never let us live it down if we chicken out," Feral told her companion as she turned and faced the Heartless with a snarl on her face.
"Feral, we're running that way. Why are you stopping?" Hobbes said urgently.
Feral pounced and attacked the Air Pirates with her sharp claws and teeth, telling her friend, "You always say tigers are brave, noble animals who stand up to the fiercest of creatures. But all you've proved to me is that you're a big, fat kittypet who snacks on tuna all day."
That insult made Hobbes pause as he said in a dangerous quiet voice, "What did you call me?"
"You heard me. A lazy, frightened kittypet," Feral snickered as she kicked an Air Pirate away. "If you're so brave, face these dumb Heartless."
Hobbes roared as he attacked the last two Air Pirates, tearing them to oblivion.
He breathed heavily as Feral smirked at him and, after strolling up to him, she gave him a peck on the cheek and said, "Now that's the brave, noble tiger I heard so much about."
Hobbes chuckled shyly as he blushed a bit on his cheeks. Then, two young voices called happily, "We did it! We did it!"
The tigers turned to see Calvin and Kira run out to them and cheer, "We kicked Heartless butt!"
"Good, because we did as well," Hobbes said proudly. "Cool weapons," Feral added as she noted Calvin and Kira's weapons they made.
"Now, time to find Hal," Calvin said bravely.
"Actually, I'm right here," Hal's voice said. The recruits turned to see the boy himself with a glowing black Keyblade out. With him was his sister with her Keyblade out and with them was an animal. The animal was a large orangey-red fox-demon with five long tails that had white-tipped ends, yellow eyes, and sharp teeth that was curled into a sneer.
"Hello," Hal said as Hero slightly bowed. "Nice job taking out my Heartless. But now, you have to deal with me, my sister, and her pet, Roberta the kitsune."
"Calvin…" Kira gulped as the kitsune called Roberta came forward a bit. "We're ready for you guys," Calvin said in determination as he and his friends got ready to fight.
Hal smirked. "Okay," he shrugged as he came at Calvin and soon the boy boys were fighting with their Keyblades.
Hero swiped dangerously close at Kira's head. 'Is this the same girl I saw yesterday?' Kira thought as Hero, with an almost blank and psychotic look in her eyes, pushed the young girl further back. Kira knew her 'gunray' wasn't enough as she pulled out another weapon; it was a small wooden dagger she crafted a few weeks ago.
"The brave female warrior pulled out her trusty, strong dagger and attacked her enemy fiercely," Kira narrated as her wooden dagger turned into an actual weapon as she reflected Hero's blows.
Meanwhile, Feral and Hobbes were taking on Roberta, which was harder for them, since the fox-demon was quick on her feet and fierce.
"I don't understand," Feral asked Roberta as she side-stepped a snap of the fox's jaws. "You're demon, so don't you have powers?"
Roberta stopped and looked ashamed. "I used to, but they were all taken away from me by humans," she said 'humans' with an angry hiss.
"It looks like you hate humans, but your friends with Hero," Hobbes said puzzled while he slashed a small mark on Roberta's cheek.
"She took care of me since she was a little girl," Roberta said softly, then she pounced at Feral, catching the white tiger off guard. "Sorry, this is just business."
Before the kitsune could tear into Feral's throat, she was grabbed and pulled away by Hobbes. Clutched her five tails in his jaws, he flung Roberta to the other side of the room, knocking the fox out.
"Hobbes…thank you," Feral said as he helped her up. "Anything for you, mi amore!" Hobbes said lovingly, getting bonked on the head by a chuckling Feral.
Then, Roberta disappeared as Hero paused from fighting. "Your friends beat Roberta. Impressive," Hero said to Kira.
"Where'd she go?" Kira asked in confusion. "And she wasn't as strong as fox-demons could be."
"Roberta doesn't have powers. They were all taken away from her by humans before she came to me. She's inside me now, resting up," Hero said, touching her heart. Hero then sliced at Kira, who jumped back.
"You're pretty good at fighting," Kira commented. "Where did you learn?"
"Friends," the teen said simply as she kicked Kira's legs and knocked the girl down. "Cheater!" Kira shouted as Hero got ready to plunge her Keyblade down.
"Hmm. Don't trust someone you don't know that well," Hero said. But she found she couldn't bring it down. She shook her head and backed away in fear. 'No…not again…' the teen thought.
Kira took the advantage as she kicked the teen in the stomach and used the hilt of her dagger to conk Hero on the head.
As the teen went down, she said to Kira before passing out with a small smirk, "Nice move…cheater."
Kira smirked as the tigers joined her. "The boys must've taken their battle somewhere else," Hobbes said when he didn't see Calvin or Hal in sight.
"Let's look for them," Kira ordered as the three took off.
Meanwhile, Calvin had chased Hal deep into the arena so he could fight the leader of the CPIS without interruptions. Even though Calvin was keeping his own, Hal was no slacker.
"Not bad…for a kid," Hal laughed as he swiped the still glowing black Keyblade at the boy.
"Hey, I'm 12 years old!" Calvin argued, trying to land a hit on Hal, which was hard since the freckled boy moved quick.
"Funny. So am I," Hal grinned as he shot a blast of dark energy at the 'boy genius.' Calvin yelped as he did a barrel roll and ran off with Hal following close behind.
The blond kid ducked behind a rock and, whipping out his Transmogrifier Gun, he cloned himself.
"Hi, I'm Calvin," Calvin Clone said cheerfully. "Shh," Calvin hissed to his clone. "Listen, follow my plan…"
"Oh, runt!" Hal called as he got closer to the boulder Calvin was behind. Suddenly, Calvin walked out and waved to Hal. "Pretty brave to come out without a weapon, kid," Hal smirked as he hit Calvin with an energy blast.
However, the blast made Calvin evaporate as Hal was confused. "For justice and truth, I am Stupendous Man!" Calvin, in his Stupendous Man attire, kicked Hal in the back hard, knocking the freckled boy down. Unfortunately for the OC, his head also hit the rock.
Weakened by the blow, Calvin got out his Keyblade and hit Hal on the back with it, with Hal going "Ow" everytime a blow landed on him.
"Er, Calvin; you can stop now," Kira said as she and the tigers joined their hyped-up friend.
"Who is Calvin? I'm Stupen-!" Calvin was cut off when Kira grabbed his weapon and conked him on the head before she ripped his mask off. "More like 'Stupid Man,'" Kira deadpanned as Calvin also took off the cape.
Hal, with a bit of blood on his forehead and probably some bruises on his back, got up and chuckled meekly, "Well, I'm impressed."
"Me too," Hero smiled as she walked towards her brother, a slight bump on her head and a bit pale. "You guys pass in my opinion."
"Hey! I'm the leader, I make that decision!" Hal snapped at his sister, who retorted, "But I'm 2nd-in command. I also have a say."
"Fine; we both agree that Calvin, Kira, Hobbes, and Feral are in the agency," Hal nodded.
The four newbies smiled. "Really!?" Calvin shouted.
"Yep," Hal nodded as he shook their hands. "Welcome to CPIS."
Then, they all fell into a hole again with the newest members screaming the whole way.
Finally, they were all back in the lobby again where Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki were waiting.
"But…how are we back here again?" Hobbes said, perplexed. "We went down, for tuna's sake!"
"Hobbes, just don't question anything. It is what it is," Feral sighed. "Well put, Feral," Hal said absently. "Now, Konata, the Hiiragi twins, and Miyuki will introduce you to your new teammates and show you around the building."
"We're not the same people!" Kagami snapped at Hal, but he was walking away. "Again, thanks for joining," he waved as he left.
"Nice work, by the way," Hero smiled a bit sadly to Kira before she followed her brother.
This disturbed Kira. Ever since Hero faltered attacking her, Kira was curious what happened to the teen. Maybe something happened to her in the past…
"Earth to Kira! We're going," Hobbes called to the girl as the four schoolgirls were already leading the tour. Kira snapped back to reality as she caught up with her friends.
New Recruits: Woo-hoo!
GW: Glad to see you guys are happy. This chapter is pretty long, so please show yourappreciation by reading, reviewing, and suggesting. Thanks