The morning after the events of chapter 7

24 hours before the events of Chapter 8

The morning seemed grey and dreary compared to the wondrous and fun filled time that had occurred last night. Due to a hurried schedule, the pilots had to be up and in the Marshal's rinky dink old van and on the way to the airport by five, leaving a group of teary-eyed teenjaegers in their absence.

By six o'clock, the Marshal had enough of the four kids plastering themselves to the front windows like depressed leeches and encouraged them to try to make some breakfast while he went to take a phone call in the living room. Glumly, they obliged.

They now occupied the white washed kitchen, clunking around like oversized toddlers as they dabbled in the mysterious art of breakfast making.

"Come on, guys, we might as well do as the Marshal says," Crimson sighed as he took the leadership position by sitting cross legged on the circular kitchen table, the slightly ruffled and stained cookbook he had pilfered from the cabinet resting on his lap, "even if none of us feel like eating, there's still Coyote to think about. Might as well give him a good breakfast when he wakes up."

"He's still asleep?" Gipsy paused her task of pulling every single pot and pan out of the lower cupboard just long enough to shoot the question up at him. She was still wearing her new sweater over her jammies like some sacred trophy.

"It's easy to sleep when you're the only one who gets to see your pilot every day," Striker grumbled from where he clung to the fridge like a koala baby, flailing at the cereal boxes.

"Nyet, Striker," Cherno turned from his vigil at the kitchen window, new puppy happily asleep in his arms , "you're upset? You think Coyote is lucky? Only remember this : that Pentecost is the only pilot he has."

The room fell silent. They all knew about Tamsin, and her obituary that Pentecost kept in the bottom of his dresser drawer. Finally, Striker's anger dissipated from his face as he eventually managed to grab an unopened box of Kaiju-o's from the top of the fridge, "Fine, you don't have to gang up on me about it. Let 's just make some food, okay?"

"How about toast?" Gipsy emerged from her pile of pots and pans, holding the toaster aloft like a metallic holy grail. "The food book has a recipe for toast, right, Crimson?"

"Hmmm, I think so," Crimson's eyes widened as he turned to the five page recipe, "should be easy enough."

"Let's do it, then," Striker clambered onto the table to sit next to Crimson, peering curiously over his shoulder as he accidentally opened the wrong side of the cereal box and let the sugary contents spill all over the Chinese jaeger's lap. "No way we can botch toast."

Ten minutes later Striker was trying to help Gipsy cram a chocolate muffin into the toaster while Crimson and Cherno were in a heated butter and jam fight.

"Just give it up, Bucket-Head, no way we can fit the thing in there," Striker complained, ducking as a glob of butter soared overhead to smack Crimson right in the face.

"Quiet, you meanie! We can do it if we try!" Taking a fork, she was about to jab it into the already heated up toaster when suddenly a loud THUNK made her pause.

The happy cacophony of the kitchen was immediately silenced, all eyes trained up to the ceiling.

"What was that?" Crimson whispered, scooting closer to a jam-covered Cherno.

"It's probably the Marshal," Striker slapped Crimson outside the head, 'stop being such a scared little girl."

'Hey!" Gipsy whispered at him as angrily as she could, 'besides, the Marshal is in the living room!"

This gave the Aussie pause, "uh, maybe Coyote fell out of bed? He's pretty clumsy, you know."

"Then we should go check on him, come on." Crimson moved towards the hallway, then froze in his tracks. "Guys, why is the back door hanging opening? "

"-And why are there three creepy looking black vans in our driveway?' Gipsy asked as she peeked wearily through the lace curtains.

The jaegers exchanged glances, then stampeded up the stairs.

With a crash, the bedroom door was kicked open, and the jaegers quickly discovered that while they were messing noisily around in the kitchen, four combat-gear wearing strangers had broken into their house and were now gathered around the sleeping form of Coyote Tango.

"OI, WHAT'S ALL THIS?!" Striker yelled as the four of them crowded through the doorway, eyes flashing dangerously as the mysterious figures turned around. "WHO ARE YOU WANKERS?!"

Three girls and one boy, all of them looking to be around their late teens, early twenties. The leader, a short woman with dark grey hair twisted into twin Indian braids, stepped forward, cracking her knuckles. "I'm Brawler Yukon, the one that's going to beat your face in if you don't leave."

"Nuh-uh! You're the one who's going to get beat if you don't leave Coyote alone!" Gipsy stepped forward, pointing her finger accusingly at them. "Get out of our house, you rubbers!"

"Nova Hyperion, take her," Brawler commanded at the slim, yet towering Korean woman at her side. The woman nodded her shaved head, withdrawing a sleek fencing sword from her black gear, and lunging at Gipsy.

"EEK!" The teen jaegers scattered, Gipsy arching back in order to miss the blade from going into her side.

Nova didn't have time for another swing, as a large hand clamped down on her wrist and twisted it back. With a low growl Cherno wrested her sword from her grip, broke it over his knee, then proceed to roar angrily in her face, much to her terror.

"See, I told you that you should've brought a gun!" The man yelled, dark skinned and wearing a blue bandana with a gold saxophone on it, he managed to get out a laugh before Nova was thrown into him.

"THAT'S IT," both Crimson and Brawler shouted simultaneously, "JAEGERS! ATTACK!"

JAEGER FIGHT CLUB GO!

Coyote woke up to a room full of fighting, this wouldn't of been an unusual experience, considering who he was living with, but this time, there were four more extra persons in the mix.

"STEALTH ATTAAAAAAAACK! " Crimson shouted as he cart wheeled towards the fourth member, a beautiful Asian woman with snowy hair and the name "Tacit Ronin" emblazoned on her arm band.

"And here I was, looking for a challenge," she muttered before taking out her duel katanas and swiping at him. Crimson fell back, his third arm supporting his weight as two vertical slices appeared in his red tank top. Flipping backwards, he braced his feet against one of the medical machines and kicked off of it, propelling himself through the air, kicking at her face.

Ronin danced back, flipping her blades around and ramming the end of both hilts into Crimson's stomach.

"Oof," he wheezed, pain firing into his chest as the female jaeger used his momentum to send him towards Brawler, who clothes-lined his neck. He hit the floor, gasping and choking.

"CRIMSON! NO!" Striker elbowed Nova in the gut before lunging at Brawler, fist's raised. He didn't even get to her before Romeo Blue's foot connected with his knee. With a sickening crunch the Aussie was next to his friend, writhing in pain.

"I'm sorry, kid, I don't have a choice," Romeo muttered, his eyes filled with regret as he raised his heavy boot and was about to bring it down on Striker's head when Gipsy tackled him to the wooden floor.

Golden eyes alight with fury, her messy black and red hair spinning around her, the jaeger held out her arms, "CHAIN SWORDS ACTIVATE!"

"Pfffft," Romeo let out a chuckle, "you don't have chain swords anymore, girly."

Gipsy blushed in embarrassment before an idea came to her head. She held back her fist, "ELBOW ROCKET!"

"uh, you don't have elbow rockets eith-OW!" Romeo cried out in pain as her fist connected with his face.

"ELBOW ROCKET! ELBOW ROCKET! ELBOW ROCKET!" She continued her brutal onslaught until she felt a hand on the back of her sweater as Brawler flung her off of Romeo and into a nearby lamp, where she landed with a crash.

With a mighty roar, Cherno flung Nova and Ronin off of him and charged, an unstoppable ball of Russian fury headed straight towards Yukon. The short jaeger's cold smile faded for a split second as she realized that she was the target of this Mark 1 juggernaut's rage. Giving their own war cries, the two were about to collide when all of a sudden, what was left of the bedroom door was flung open.

"STOP!" The Marshal's voice cut through the heat of battle like a knife, his commanding tone forcing everyone that heard it to obey. "WHAT IS GOING ON?! AND WHO BROKE MY OTHER LAMP?!

Everyone pointed at Gipsy, who sulked grumpily from where she sat on the floor.

"Marshal, these four broke into our house and were trying to kidnap coyote!" Crimson wheezed from his place on the floor.

Pentecost's face fell," No, actually, they're not…"

What?" The jaegers, including Coyote, asked simultaneously as a squat man in a crisp military officer's uniform brushed past the Marshal, striding into the room with hands behind his back. At his entrance, the rival jaegers snapped to attention.

"Hm, it seems your jaegers got the wrong idea," the man quipped, disdainfully stepping over the shaking form of Striker to stand next to Brawler, "it's a good thing that you've chosen to coddle them, Marshal, otherwise they might have been able to put up a fight."

"I simply chose to treat them as humans, instead of mindless killing machines, General Briggs," Pentecost's jaw tightened.

"Marshal, what's going on? What's the meaning of this?" Gipsy rubbed her bruised head, staggering into a standing position.

"That phone call I received this morning….was from the UN," his face grew somber, "they had voted in favor of cutting a section of our funding-"

"-And giving it to me, the man who actually gives his investor's results," General Briggs scoffed as he grabbed Coyote's jaw, twisting it back and forth curiously. In response, the jaeger gave out a soft whimper. "If you're confused on who I am, kid, I'll explain it to you, nice and simple. I'm General Briggs, head of the newly established OJRP, the PPDC's competitor, as you will. See, we represent the actual interests of the countries that fund the jaeger program, and it's our job to guard those interests, especially since they're going all "humanoid" on us. Did you know that since the Marshal's funding got cut, the PPDC can only hang onto four jaegers?"

His question was only met by horrified stares.

"Now that's where I come in. See, Japan has forwarded all that money to the OJRP in the hopes that we can use it to get their jaeger back, and that's what we're doing." His dark brown eyes locked with Pentecost's. "I called your Marshal this morning, then arrived with the papers. Coyote Tango is now official property of the OJRP, we will claim him now."

"N-No!" The tension was broken with a startled outcry as Coyote wrestled his face away from the General's grip. "You're lying! I'm the marshal's jaeger! I belong to him!"

"No," Brawler icily put in, "you now belong to Japan and the OJRP."

"Take him," the General commanded, and Tacit and Ronin moved in, much to the outcry of the teen jaegers.

"DON"T YOU TOUCH HIM!"

"YOU CAN"T DO THIS, YAH BLOODY GITS!"

"NYET!"

"I'LL-um-I"LL FIGHT YOU!"

Before they could do anything, Pentecost shook him head, face set like stone. "Stand down, there's nothing we can do…." He affixed the General with a glare so cold the older man took a step back," ….for now. "

"Marshal, please!" Coyote pushed Nova away from him, eyes wide in terror, "don't let them-d-d-don't let them-" Struggling, he pushed himself off the bed, bare feet hitting the floor as he tried to stand.

Tacit Ronin immediately grabbed his arm, her icy exposure melting. "Coyote, please don't fight. It'll only make your condition worse. "

"Roni'…..I trusted you," he whispered, the pain of betrayal slapped across his face.

"Come on, get on with it," Brawler snarled, shoving Ronin away and pulling out a needle.

"D-d-don't touch her!" Pulling back his arm, he punched the woman with all his strength. There was a sickening crunch as his fist collided with her face.

"SON OF A-" She screeched, jabbing the needled into his neck. His hazel eyes went wide in surprise as he choked out a strangled gasp. A few seconds later he went limp in her arms.

The jaegers could only watch as Coyote was carried out the door to the crowd of soldiers waiting in the front yard. He was haplessly tossed into one of the black vans, then they sped away, leaving the house in the distance.

Several hours later

Striker let out a pained gasp, clutching Cherno's shirt as Pentecost prodded at his bruised and bleeding knee. He was laying on a cushioned bench out on the front porch, surrounded by his fellow jaegers who hovered nervously over him.

"Your leg should have been snapped in half by the force of that kick," Pentecost idly mused, "but it's not. It seems you are more durable then a regular human." Gently, he put an ice pack on it.

"Yeah, well, that didn't save us from getting our butts kicked," He muttered, blushing slightly as Gipsy pattered his hand in sympathy.

"They were jaegers weren't they?" She whispered, eyes sad. "We've fought kaiju bigger and better than them, but they still managed to beat us and take Coyote….." her shoulders began to shake. "Ch-cherno...I…I don't feel so good." The Russian pulled her into his jacket as she began to sob brokeningly . "W-w-w-we couldn't save Coyote…."

"I don't understand," Crimson crossed his arms angrily, "why did they do this?! What makes us so special?! Yeah, we used to be giant robots, but not anymore! We're just regular (more or less) kids now! Why are we so special to have our countries and other organizations fight over us?! WHY?! Why don't they just leave us alone?!"

"I know why," Pentecost frowned, though it softened slightly when Gipsy fell crying onto his shoulder. "It all lies within the origin of your creation."

"What? Like, how our jaeger bodies were built?" Striker asked.

"No, how you became human. "

"….I assume you're finally going to tell us?'

"Yes, but it will take at least one whole chapter."

"A flashback chapter? " Striker leaned back, "Good, I needed a vacation anyway."

TO BE CONTINUED! Man, so far this is the longest chapter of the story. Don't worry, next one will be shorter. I just thought that I had a bunch of explaining to do since most the comments on the last chapter were more or less "WTF?!" Special thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Thank you for being patient even though I confused the crap out of you. *hugs* Anywho, as always: read, review, enjoy. :) PS: Next Chapter will be out either Thursday or Friday of next week!