Jumper – The Next Level
Please note that I do not own the rights to any of the characters that is Steven Gould's creations. I do own Regan McGowan and others that I've made up. I will stay true to Steven's genius though and try and combine the movie and books.
This jumps off from the film but I'm using ideas from the books throughout. Let me know what you guys think – honestly! I must apologise for the massive gap between postings but my laptop has been out of commission and ALL my story line was on it. Now it's back and so is the SJ! ENJOY!!
Griffin and Regan walked through several winding corridors tightly followed by their "entourage". Nobody spoke except Regan who delightfully hummed show tunes and danced through the passages.
Geez this kid had totally lost it.
Griffin realised that the party had stopped outside a large metal doorway. He was roughly pushed inside whereas Regan happily bopped her way through just before the doors slammed shut. Regan jerked her body to face Griffin.
"We're about to enter the dome and there are 3 simple rules that you must remember." Regan warned.
A door slowly crept open in front of Griffin's eyes and the blaring lights forced him to squint. Being kept in captivity was definitely not helping his eyesight.
Regan jauntily walked out of the door. Griffin hesitated then followed.
Griffin's eyes took in the splendour of the dome.
The structure stood at approximately 20 feet. It reminded Griffin of the coliseum as he and Regan were being led out to face the lions. His feet crunched on the empty sand as he walked to the centre. He looked around him. The oval shaped dome held around 30,000 seats every single one of them filled with Paladins. Small females and large dudes with scary smiles. Heck big kids, little kids, kids that climb on rocks. Fat kids, skinny kids ...
"Even Kids with chicken pox" murmured Griffin
"Are you singing" Regan's eyebrows rose in slight amusement.
"Uh, No" Griffin gruffly replies.
Griffin scanned the faces to see if he recognised any of the sensitives. He narrowed in on one in particular. Sitting dead centre was Roland Cox. His white hair contrasting starkly against his brown skin. He gives a slight wave. Griffin returned it with a smart gesture with his middle finger.
"I take it you know each other" interrupts Regan.
"You can say that" Griffin sneered "Anyway what's the three rules"
"Trying to change the subject" lightly prodding his side. When she didn't get a response "No matter to me. Rule One" Regan shoves a muddy index finger in Griffin's face.
"Under absolutely no circumstances step out of the sand area. The whole place is surrounded with an electronic field similar to our cells!"
"I'll try to remember that" Griffin quips in a rather mocking tone.
"Two, no matter how much you want to, DO NOT KILL ANYONE" her voice chimes like a school-teacher. "Or be killed for that matter"
Before Griffin can react, six Paladins enter from the opposite end of the dome. The crowd cheers loudly. From the nervous dispositions on their faces, Griffin would guess that, like him, this was their first time in the dome. The rather green Paladins clutch their weapons anxiously. A small fog horn blasts and the group form a semi-circle round Griffin and Regan.
"I'll take the two blonde twins and the fat one, you get the rest" whispers Regan.
Regan squares of to her targets. Griffin faces his opponents. A small black kid who holds two num-chucks, a tall red haired girl whose weapon sits snugly under her silver Paladin jacket and a white jock ass-hole who was trying to act macho. Griffin would love smashing his face in.
"Ready guys, let's party" Laughs Regan "I'll never tire of this"
"Hey, what's rule 3" shouts Griffin over the jeering crowd.
"Oh, that's easy, have fun" and with that Regan jumped to the end of arena causing the sand to swirl in her wake. The twins run after her firing off several round of their guns.
Regan twists out of their path teleporting halfway. She lands behind them. Grabbing the one on the right, Regan head butts the guy square on the nose. He crumbles to the ground clutching his bloody nose. Smiling Regan transports herself and the second twin right up to Griffin. The twin falls to crowd disorientated and vomiting. All the while the fat kid is standing gob smacked not knowing where to turn.
Griffin is counter-acting the black guy's num-chucks whilst leaping between him and the jock. Right, left, right and left again, Griffin dodges the blows from his opponents. He notices the blonde guy Regan dumped was puking his guts out. The red head grabs his shirt and pulls him to his feet only for herself to be grabbed by Regan and hurled to the other end of the arena.
"Hey I thought she was mine" Griffin says as he lands a punch smacking the jock on his ass. Griffin was right; he did enjoy smashing his face in.
"You were taking too long" Regan blocks an attack from the Twin and back-hands his face "Now now we don't want to end up like your brother"
Griffin grabs the num-chucks from the black kid, then twists the guy's shirt around his hand and jumps them into the air. Dropping the kid from 5 feet, Griffin transports himself safely to the ground. Griffin twists the num-chucks and launches them at the fat kid. It hurtles through the air. The fat kid stands rooted watching the oncoming attack.
Swiftly Regan pushes the fat kid out of the way and deflects the num-chucks.
"What the hell" Griffin yells vibrates throughout the dome.
"He's mine" Regan blinks. She pulls the fat ass to his feet. The poor schmuck was trembling so much his fat was jiggling. Regan's fingers curl into a fist. God is that kid going to cry. But before her fist could contact his flab, a buzzer blasts through the air.
Griffin felt his whole body jolt as his wrist device sprang to life. Looking over at Regan he sees her crumble to the ground. As his vision becomes unfocused, he sees the fat kid swiftly kick Regan in the gut. Anger spurts through his body as he tries to get up.
Then everything goes blank.
XOXOXOXO
Griffin awoke groggily in his cell where both he and Regan had been unceremoniously dumped after the dome.
Standing Griffin stealthily checked out Regan's cell. She wasn't moving, why wasn't she moving?
"Fuck sake, that hurt" Regan's voice was full of pain "I've got to remember not to be near those fuckers when the buzzer goes off"
"By the way, thanks for the heads up on that" quipped Griffin as he slowly lay on his slab.
"Sorry, I kinda forgot, though I didn't expect it to go off so soon" Regan takes up her normal position on her slab, hooking her right foot under her left leg. "Suppose it's cause' we were kicking their ass"
Grinning Griffin "We were"
"Totally, so how did it feel to be back in the "ring" as they say"
On her question, Griffin sat up to face Regan, his full face beaming with happiness.
"It was bloody brilliant"
"Well have I to say you're pretty good"
"You're not too bad yourself"
"My, My a compliment, I think you might've hid your head in the dome, Griff"
"Why sound so shock?"
"Cause' you don't strike me as the guy that's... how can I put this" Regan taps his chin faking her wonderment "Ah yes ... nice!"
"Okay, how do I strike you then?"
"As a guy who has lost every person he's ever known, loved and trusted. Then to make sure he never gets hurt again he places this wall up meaning no one can get close cause' to him it's better to be alone than to lose another person. Unfortunately for him, he is actually dying for human contact, literally"
Griffin's face went dark
"Sorry, too close?" Regan's voice full of regret
Griffin laid back down so Regan couldn't see the tears slowly streaking down his face leaving trails through the mud.
"Look I'm sorry, I have this thing. My mom used to call it radical honesty. Apparently I have so many lies to remember that my self-conscious can't help but unravel." Regan twisted her hair around her thumb.
Griffin stayed quiet and wiped a silent tear from his cheek.
"When I was little I had a massive crush on Gambit from X-men. Which I know would mean it nigh impossible for us to actually have a relationship, you know with him being a fictional character and that"
Griffin couldn't help but laugh. He sat up and locked eyes with Regan.
"Seriously Gambit, Wolverine was the man"
"Hey I don't have anything against Logan, just Gambit was cooler"
"You are one strange chick, do you know that Regan"
"I aim to please."
The corridor door slams open and two Paladins enter each carrying a tray. They separate and place one tray outside each door respectively. As the two men leave, the electronic voice once again booms over their cells.
"After this broadcast, you have thirty seconds to grab your trays before the doors are reactivated"
Simultaneously Griffin and Regan grasps their trays and pull them to their chests. Looking down at his "meal" Griffin crumpled in disgust, for on his tray held a mouldy white sandwich which Griffin hoped was cheese in the middle. The glass beside his dish was half full of filthy grey water.
"It helps if you imagine your favourite food like this" Regan closes her eyes and breathes deeply as if smelling in a sweet delicious aroma "For me I imagine a huge juicy burger topped with cheese and hot sauce, MMMM you can't get better than that. And with such gusto Regan took a huge bite of her sandwich and swallowed. After which she smacked her lips whilst smiling moronically at Griffin.
"Well here goes" Griffin said despondently
Sighing deeply, Griffin seized hold of his sandwich. He closed his eyes and pictured himself in a Subway clutching a foot-long meatball sub with extra cheese and south west sauce. God with such a strong memory, Griffin could practically smell the sub and his taste-buds exploded anticipating the flavour.
Reluctantly Griffin planted his teeth into the sandwich. Chewing, Griffin could almost taste the sweet marina sauce over the stale bread.
"And?" enquired Regan "Did it work?"
"More or Less" Griffin finished of the sandwich.
Regan grabbed a rock and starting drawing in the dirt of her cell. Griffin twisted his head and realised she was drawing him. From what he could see it wasn't half bad.
"You're got my eyes wrong and my nose isn't that big"
Regan looked up gobsmacked then back her drawing. After a few minutes she scratched her head and shrugged.
"Give me a break, it's not like I have the right materials plus you're not seeing what I'm seeing" retorted Regan
Instinctively Griffin touched his nose
"I draw"
"Really, what? I'm guessing not pretty landscapes and cute little puppies"
"No but I love to sketch, it's ..." Griffin struggles to explain how calming drawing was to him
"Therapeutic" interjected Regan
"Huh?"
"Drawing, it's therapeutic. I study art y'know"
"How? I mean with Paladins and that"
"I rebelled. You see my 'rents had rules. Never put a gun in a guy's face unless you are ready to shoot. Never let someone put a gun in your face, never go on the grid and most importantly NEVER EVER trust a non-jumper. Well I broke all the rules and it cost me my folks"
An awkward silence bestowed the room.
Breaking it Griffin whispered "I'm sorry"
"It's cool, sorry for bringing the mood down again" Regan gave a weak smile before wiping away the drawing of Griffin.
"It's cool, radical honesty. Anyway your folks were wrong. You can't trust Jumpers either" Trying to lighten the mood Griffin scooted closer to his cell door
"Ah, I take it, the wrong guy who you trusted was a jumper?" Regan copied Griffin's movement and sat directly opposite.
"Yeah, so I'll share you my story if you tell me yours" Griffin posed
"Deal" Regan grinned from ear to ear making Griffin realise it made him happy to see her smiling.
"You remind me of my brother. He was all about killing Paladins as was my 'rents"
"But you weren't"
"Nah, I just wanted to be normal. But I was always being told "Regan, you're not normal, you're special", it made me want to scream. So I went against my parents and went on the grid. I enrolled into University to study Art."
"Wow you rebel"
"I know, my family acted like I committed High Treason but you know what I didn't care. I was free. And for a few months I was normal. It was bliss. But like everything in my life, happiness was short-lived. You see I fell for this guy in my class. I thought he was the secretive arty type. It turned out the only thing secretive about him was his job."
"Paladin"
"Hit on the head. Unfortunately I found out too late. I nearly compromised my parent's mission, what they had worked for their whole lives."
Griffin's head scrunched in confusion
"You see my parents wanted to get every jumper on earth together to team up and finish this war once and for all. The fuckers knew and wanted to cut it off at the head"
"Meaning killing your parents"
"Yep, not knowing that by doing just that would spur me and my brother on to finish what they started."
"How did you end up in here?"
"I went after the guy who I lost everything for. Instead I wound up in here forced to see his smug face every-time he swans up to my cell."
"You're not talking about Billy boy are you?"
"What? No" Pure shock formed on her face.
"Sorry, just the way you were talking. Have I met him yet?"
"Yeah, the smarmy git in the dome, you punched him in the face"
"Not the cocky jock. God sakes Regan have some taste, he just screams of being a whanker."
"Hey, he may be a jerk but he's hot and anyway I don't need to explain myself to you."
"True"
"Hey, I've shared now it's your turn" Regan's eyes glinted.
XOXOXOXO
After Griffin had retold the story of how he met David and how they had fought causing him to end up in the power-lines. Regan had actually laughed and told him to knock it up as a bad experience. Life's too short apparently. After parting this worldly advice, she had curled up onto her slab and went to sleep. For hours later Griffin had stayed awake just thinking, not being able to shut off his brain.
Slowly Griffin drifted off to sleep. He dreamt of Sam and Consuelo. Of his parents. Of Alejandro and E.V. He even dreamt of Rodrigo.
His reminiscent sleep was interrupted by ... by singing. Griffin sat up and watched Regan as she stood in front of her own grubby mirror as she tried, rather unsuccessfully, to untangle the knots in her hair with just her fingers.
"I'm going to wash that man right outta my hair. I'm going to wash that man right outta my hair and send him on his way" Regan turns and notices Griffin watching her. "Morning sleepy head, glad you can join the land of the living. Did you have a good sleep?"
"Yeah" Griffin stretched and scratched his head. "For once" With this he sits on the edge of his slab.
"Good" Regan sighed and flung her hands up in despair. "God I'm never going to get this fucking hair untangled". Regan then slumps on the ground and starts drawing.
"It's not that bad" Griffin said trying to stifling his laughter.
"Are you mocking me O'Conner?"
At this Griffin grasps his chest and stares at Regan with feigned wonderment "Me, mock, why Ms McGowan, you insult me!"
"You know I like this new side to you".
"Good" Griffin's lips slip into a smile. He couldn't believe this, for a very long time he hadn't felt like this ... happy.
Regan and Griffin's heads jerk when the door slams open. In walks the Jock from the day before. Standing by his side is the Nervous Guy and some blonde bimbo Paladin. Jock swaggers to Regan's cell, quickly followed by the other two. Griffin quickly stands to attention.
"We ... we really shouldn't be ..be in here Will" stammered Nervous Guy.
"Shut it" barks Will.
Regan ignores the Paladins' presence and continues drawing.
"You know Regan you really have let yourself go and to think I was going to sleep with your skinny ass." Quips William making the other two to laugh moronically. Griffin is about to spout off to this asshole when he is stopped by Regan who puts up her right palm. Regan stands, flicks her hair from her face and crosses her arms.
"Awww, does poor ickle Will feel unloved" Regan squares up to Will "The reason I never slept with you is because I didn't want to degrade myself; Asshole!"
Pride bursts in Griffin's heart.
"You, stupid, ugly filthy little ... cockroach" Yells the bimbo, hatred spitting from her lips "You would be lucky to have a guy like William, not like a dirty jumper would ever stand a chance"
Regan eyes fill with fake tears "Now you've hurt my feelings". She turns back to Will "I'm shocked Will, this one can actually string a sentence together, I would have pegged for a guy that is into the retarded type. You know so they are on your level."
Griffin couldn't contain his laughter.
"I'll show you whose retarded" Will retorts flared with anger. He goes to grab his stick and walk into Regan's cell.
Regan waves a finger at them. "Now now, William you wouldn't want to fry your pathetic little ass"
Regan smirks "Run along now and I'll see you in the dome
"Now now Regan, you don't think I came all this way just to shoot the breeze. Door one down" orders William. Nervous Guy moves to the panel at the side of Regan's door and the force-field evaporates.
Panic sparks in Regan's eyes, Griffin moves to the front of his cell. He stops as his door is still activated.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER, YOU BASTARDS" Griffin snaps as the three Paladins stalk into Regan's cell.
Regan backs up "Think William this isn't a smart thing to do"
"Shhhuuut it" stumbles Nervous Guy trying to act macho.
William snarls a white toothy grin and backhands Regan who slams to the ground hard. "Pin her down" commands William causing the other two to grab Regan and pin her against the ground. Regan struggles and kicks out but the two Paladins over-power her. Griffin helplessly watches in his cell.
"I'm going to enjoy this" leers William as he unbuckles his belt.
"I'M WARINING YOU, IF YOU TOUCH HER I WILL KILL YOU" Spurts Griffin slamming his fist into his cell wall.
"Calm down Amigo, I'll deal with you after. Now hold her still" William directs the other two but Regan goes completely limp.
"That's more like it" William crouches over Regan.
Suddenly Regan jerks her left knee into William's crotch causing him to keel over in pain. Before the other two are even aware of the situation, Regan has jumped out of her cell. Nimbly her fingers dance over the panel. As the Paladins lurch for the door, it reactivates slicing off the blonde bimbo's right arm.
"Now that's gotta hurt! I told you this wasn't a smart idea". Regan spins round to Griffin's cell and starts working on his panel.
"Are you ok?" concern rising in Griffin's voice
"Yeah, I'm cool" Her fingers continue to tap buttons until "MANUAL OVERRIDE" appears on the panel's screen. Griffin roughly pulls off his boots and squeezes his foot through his chains.
"Hurry, we don't have much time" Fear grappled in Regan's voice.
Griffin shoved his boot back on and leaps out his cell. He pulls Regan into his arms and hugs her tightly. Regan holds on.
Regan and Griffin pull apart as the corridor once again slams open and a dozen Paladins pile in. They rush towards the escapees setting off weapons as they go. Regan manages to deflect a few rounds. She twists towards Griffin and grabs the front of his shirt.
"Tell my brother I love him"
"What?!" Griffin surprised.
"Please" Regan's eyes plead with his.
Regan pulls Griffin towards her and kisses him full on the mouth. The next thing Griffin feels is floating through the air as the world around him slows.
Before slamming into the ground.
XXX