Chapter 4

I'm not going to excuse my frankly appalling uploading time but exams, revision blahblahblah

Thank you for your patience. And thanks to Shnizel, who prods me in the uploading direction, and to my beta, who I am unintentionally turning into a teary wreck with my penchant for wickedness within certain shippings ;)

Nigel, Otto, Franz and Wing gloomily surveyed their new home for the next two months. It was about as welcoming as a shark's mouth. And shark teeth came with their concrete box; in the form of four C.O.U.R.T boys, whom they were currently facing off over sleeping arrangements. The room belonged to the four judges-in-training, with four comfy single beds. Another four camp beds however, had been added, in the hope that the H.I.V.E boys would take them without argument. This hope had been in vain.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but this is our room so you'll do what we say." growled the leader, who was slightly built, but Otto got the feeling you wouldn't cross him twice.

"Who's going to make us follow your orders anyway? We could beat you in a fight easily." piped up Nigel.

He wasn't the scariest character at the best of times, so this statement prompted sarcastic laughter from the other gang. The muscle of the group, built like a bus, advanced upon Nigel, who visibly quailed. Franz stepped into the path of the marauder and squared his shoulders. He was about a foot and a half shorter but the larger boy stopped in his tracks at the expression on Franz's face. Franz firmly and, just in case of miscomprehension, slowly stated:

"You are keeping out of Nigel's face, and all our faces. For I am being Silent Death, and I am being able of killing you with both hands behind my back and eating chocolate at the same time."

The boy nodded dumbly in agreement and backed off. All the C.O.U.R.T boys were staring open mouthed at the podgy German boy, as were Nigel, Wing and Otto. Franz calmly walked back to his place and resumed the crossed arms position all the H.I.V.E boys had adopted.

"So, what is your objection again to us having the four real beds in the corner?" Franz asked deadpan.

Three of the home group shook their heads and made non-committal noises. The last boy, the slim leader who'd initially made an objection to the H.I.V.E conquest of the room, made no comment but observed the triumphant four shrewdly. Otto didn't miss this in the midst of the celebration. They'd have to watch him.

Laura was unpacking onto a camp bed, trying to find her first aid kit. Shelby's attempt to get a normal bed hadn't ended well. The other two newcomers and Laura had stayed out of what was clearly going to be a lost battle from the start, and Shelby had come out of the fight against four girls with several scratches, a black eye and a mood as dark as her bruises.

"Anything I can do?" Laura asked tentatively, holding gauze and antiseptic out as a peace offering.

Shelby grunted angrily but still allowed Laura to swab her cuts.

"So that was a bit stupid, hm?" Laura decided to jump in at the deep end.

"Well I didn't see you helping out! We'd have got those beds for sure if we'd all stuck together!"

"Shel, we don't need the beds. You're just angry and in the mood for a fight."

Laura was surprised at the lack of snarky comeback to her blunt remark. Shelby looked...defeated?

"I'm really tired of fighting Shelby. Can we just make amends between us? Life would be easier, especially here, and frankly it's tiring being neutral and trodden on all the time. Come back Shel."

Shelby raised her head and looked straight at Laura. Her probing stare felt to Laura like Shelby was trying to find some ulterior motive for this olive branch.

"Fine. I'll be sorry for being harsh to you but I've no regrets about HIM."

"Shel I wasn't asking for anything else. Now, dinner is in half an hour so we need to find something to calm down that shiner..."

The days seemed to pass in a blur in the first week. New timetables in subjects like: 'Nuclear Crime: A Blast or a Bad Idea?' ; 'The Laws of Extortion' ; and (Franz's favourite) 'Is the food industry swallowing world government?'. The tensions between Wing and Shelby decreased but by no accounts would they exchange pleasantries other than the odd 'excuse me' and 'could you please get your selfish butt out of my space?'By the end of the second week they were sitting on the same lunch table, with the rest of the gang.

Dr Nero believed that to foster empathy (he had no idea about the turf wars over sleeping arrangements) the H.I.V.E students should also be given homework. This announcement was met with derision; they'd just show the native students up! All the Alphas were then unpleasantly surprised at the difficulty of the work set so the gang were therefore extremely welcoming when a group of C.O.U.R.T students approached their table and offered to help them out.

"Mina, I honestly don't know how we would have passed that test without you and your friends", Nigel exclaimed as they flooded out of Courtroom 13 at the end of another day.

"I was going to shout 'Objection!' and I'd never thought I'd say this but I'm so glad you stamped on my foot."

"No problem. You've helped me to understand more criminal psychology than I'd ever hoped for so it was the least I could do!"

Mina had fitted seamlessly into the group, partly due to her wicked sense of humour but also because she didn't really fit in at C.O.U.R.T herself.

After Shelby and Laura had been transferred to her dorm (the tricks played on them were beginning to get on the dangerous side of nasty) Mina had revealed that she'd lived here most of her life, having been abandoned at a C.O.U.R.T safe house. Her familiarity with the teaching staff had done her no favours. To be quite honest, the newcomers were friendlier towards her than most at her own school.

She'd also explained all the ins and outs of C.O.U.R.T life. There was a strict status order, where you only progressed through tests, not age. There were some famous cases of students being expelled for staying at the lower level for more than 10 years. A student began as a scribe, and then graduated to clerk, senior clerk, barrister, prosecutor then gavel. It was expected for a reasonably talented student to leave at barrister or prosecutor. It was only exceptional students who made it to gavel. They would eventually become L.I.B.R.A judges, deciding the fate of many of the world's worst criminals so they had to be the best of the best. Usually only two gavels graduated from every class.

As the two months passed, most of the Alpha's grudgingly accepted that Ms. Black (who they'd seen none of since they first arrived: Otto had been extremely cautious) and Dr Nero's plan had worked. The two sides mutually admired the other. The Alpha's respected the tenacity and fairness of the students of C.O.U.R.T, and the young lawyers saw that not all villains were megalomaniacs (and that not all megalomaniacs were evil). By the penultimate day of their stay, a sense of sadness hovered in the air. They could probably not contact each other again, for reasons of security, so for the H.I.V.E group and Mina, the day was fairly depressing.

They'd been permitted to go above deck and relax. Otto and Wing lay back with Nigel and Franz, and tried to enjoy the sun and ignore the shadows cast by the anti-aircraft guns. Mina and Laura quietly discussed nothing in particular but the contemplative mood was completely spoilt by the giggles of Shelby, who'd decided to get over her moodiness by catching herself a boyfriend from all the new guys available.

It was sickening really; impossible to talk about serious topics like global armageddon and the future when all they could hear was slurping noises and the two lovebirds whispering not so quiet sweet nothings to each other.

Otto could see a muscle twitching in Wings neck. He knew his friends limits, he was the King of Zen but there was only so much snogging noises from your ex-girlfriend that a guy could take.

He'd break in three...two...one...

"I'm going to go and check in at the training room. I've been getting out of practice." Wing announced to no one in particular.

Otto predicted that Wing's hapless opponent would get the pounding of his life, possibly mysteriously taking on the features of Shelby's new beau.

Otto was about to ask if he could come and watch the bloodbath, when a loudspeaker suddenly boomed out: "All students are required to evacuate the runway immediately. Runway is to be evacuated for landing craft. Countdown to landing: 60,59,58.."

Ground crew appeared on deck, treading on slower to react students in their rush to prepare the runway. Otto and the group moved purposefully in the opposite direction to the deck stairs: they weren't going to miss this. They all hid behind a generator room, Wing leaving as little space for the new boy as possible: with luck, he'd be spotted and put in detention. A massive landing craft with the L.I.B.R.A logo of the scales materialised and with its appearance came the loud roaring of the five fan engines and the dust. The group all huddled together, hair whipping around in the howling wind. Then it stopped. The first to exit the craft was Ms. Black, who surveyed the area coolly. She lingered on their hiding place for a moment longer than anywhere else on deck, Otto thought, but she made nothing of their presence. She walked down into the main body of the island. Out of the dark bowels of the flying machine came a wretched screaming noise. Laura shivered and gripped Otto's hand. Shelby unconsciously reached for Wing's but remembered herself and pulled back, poker-faced. A squadron of Enforcers, L.I.B.R.A's security, dragged out...an animal, Laura thought at first. But it was a man. His eyes were manic and he gibbered and screamed that awful sound constantly as he struggled and fought the guards every step down the gangplank.

Mina didn't recognise him from her International Criminal Database, meaning his was a new trial.

"He's being tried here. At C.O.U.R.T" This statement from Marcus, Shelby's boyfriend, was met with blank faces of the H.I.V.E students.

"So?" asked Nigel.

"It's unheard of. All criminals are tried at L.I.B.R.A's high courts, not here at the school." Mina couldn't understand the motive behind this twist in events.

"It could be a lesson I suppose, some real experience..."

"It's a warning." Wing broke in stonyfaced.

Otto nodded in assent.

"They want to frighten us or threaten us. Either way this case and its trial is a last lesson for the new villains of tomorrow to bear in mind."

So what did you think? Better pace? Lacking Ottra? You know what to do and if you don't, please review! Tis thataway