I'M DONE! I finished writing Attack Of The Anglars! All 16 chapters, averaging a little more than six thousand words. I've started a new fanfiction, called "Underworld", so I hope that you will read it. It's a Pokemon story, my second attempt at one. PLEASE don't read my first.
The title for this chapter comes from the lyrics to a popular Spanish dance song, "Macarena". If you were a '90s kid, you've heard it MANY times before. This is the longest chapter yet in the story, so I hope you enjoy it.
This chapter also introduces an OC given to me by Cosmicsafe74. I hope you like him.
The reason I chose Cartagena was because in January my school had a Culture Fair, where we each had to choose a Spanish-speaking city and make a poster about it. That was the city I chose. I'm not meaning to insult Colombians by the way I am portraying the city of Cartagena in this chapter.
Anyway, I'm taking a question from AskReddit today (which was actually about a month ago): What's one unanimously popular food in your country that you absolutely despise?
SnowLucario answers: As I have said, I have a general distaste for Mexican food, although that may be due to my geographical location. That's something I don't plan on changing even as an adult, since I FREAKING LOVE NEW ENGLAND! But yeah, Mexican food. Tacos, burritos, nachos...I put a picture on DeviantArt of nachos we made in my school's Cooking elective. I don't really get nachos, because they're really just tortilla chips with melted cheese on them, and no amount of Super Bowl fever can change that. I'm a sucker for pizza, though, or really anything doughy. I know it's not healthy, but that's just my thing. I also NEVER eat candy.
LUCAS'S POV
After traveling through hyperspace for some time, we ended up docking at the edge of what looked almost like the sun from underwater. There was a metallic hangar bay there, which Falco landed the Great Fox on. Willow and Ian got out of their Arwings and met us all in the dining room.
"Sorry for damaging my Arwing" Willow said to Falco.
"It's no problem. We'll just have to repair it, so we won't be able to use it for a day or two. But we've got twelve Arwings. It's not like we don't have any others that we could use while yours is in for repairs" Falco said to her.
"I'm just glad you made it back safely" I told Willow.
"Are we ready to step through the portal to the human world yet?" Dr. Howler asked.
"I think we should suit up first" Konstantin replied. "There are some blasters here, right? We don't know, we could end up in a war zone. Shouldn't we take some stuff, just to be safe?"
"That's probably a good idea" Falco said.
"I second that" Ian said.
Willow and Cole seemed to agree with Falco, Konstantin, and Ian. Dr. Howler also no doubt thought that it was a good plan to bring some supplies just in case.
"Let me get my medical bag, and then I'm golden" the Bengal tiger said.
We all decided to grab a small backpack and put some of our clothes in there, just in case. I didn't know how long we would be staying in the human world for, but it would be good to be prepared for however long it was going to be.
Once we were all back in the dining hall, Falco said, "Okay. Does everyone have what they think they are going to need in the human world? To stay for a couple days? I don't know how easy it will be to get back here".
"What do you mean?" Willow asked him. Man, that girl was asking a lot of questions lately.
"I mean that I don't know what real-world thing this docking bay is anchored to. It's very possible that it'll be a hundred feet off the ground".
"Let's not think about that possibility" Dr. Howler said. "In the medical profession, it's always best to be optimistic whenever the situation warrants it".
I decided to change the subject. "So we're going to find this person? Who's willing to help us in our war efforts? And you know this person is trustworthy?"
Falco said, "I have a list of people sorted by city. There are 555 different people, weapons experts mostly, who could help us. Everywhere from Austin to Zurich is represented here, and there's one person in each city helping".
"You're saying that there are spies in the human world" Konstantin said.
"I wouldn't necessarily call them spies, but yes" Falco told him. "They are aware that both worlds exist, and they are willing to help us. So what do you say we go through the portal?"
We were all in favor of it, so Falco pointed us towards the light at the end of the tunnel. "Just go through there, and we'll be in the human world again. It's just like Platform Nine And Three-Quarters".
I got my crutches and swung myself through the portal. It felt a little weird to go through. Not like my whole essence was dissolving, though. It was more like taking a cold bath while lying on your stomach and walking through the floor of the tub, except switched up ninety degrees. That's a weird analogy, but whatever.
Once we went through the portal, we found ourselves back in the human world.
It was really quite surreal. Granted, the air didn't "feel" any different, but I knew that we were in the human world because...I just did. The area didn't look futuristic or anything.
There was still the question, however, of where exactly in the human world we were. The area below us was all made out of stone, and I registered that we were on top of some type of military fortress. At least, that's what it kind of looked like. I wasn't exactly an expert on medieval architecture.
A long, twisted ramp led down from here, going past what appeared to be a large park dotted with palm trees. A sprawling combination of old buildings and newer office towers and skyscrapers was the landscape. The whole city lay next to the ocean, shimmering in the midday sun.
"Where are we?" Cole asked.
"Only one way to find out" Falco said. "Go down to the tourist office, or find a place with Internet access".
"Or just ask a local" I chimed in.
"Here's the deal" Dr. Howler said. "Lucas still needs to use crutches for the next day or so, so I'll go find a hotel or something with Lucas and Willow. You guys search this fortress for any signs of Venomian forces. You have your blasters, right, guys?"
The other three boys all held up their blasters, showing that they were ready to defend against any enemies that might come for them.
"Are you okay with that, Lucas? Willow?"
We both nodded our approval of the plan.
"Let's go, guys" Falco said. "You find a hotel or somewhere we can get our bearings" he told Dr. Howler.
With that, we both went our separate ways.
It was very hot out, probably at least in the high eighties if not nineties. To make matters worse, crutches didn't make this much easier. In fact, it was harder going down a hill on them.
This was a big change from Fichina for sure. Within minutes I was drenched in sweat and feeling like I'd just run a mile. Maybe it was just that my muscles had not gotten too much use lately, or maybe it was still because of my wounds. However, we did eventually reach the bottom.
Dr. Howler led us to a nearby tourist shop. For this time of day, it was surprisingly uncrowded. She told me to sit outside and catch my breath, because there would be a lot of walking ahead of us, and it was still very hot out.
Willow and I waited on a bench outside of the tourist store for about five minutes. Dr. Howler came out, carrying a map, three bottles of water, and a map.
"We're in Cartagena, Colombia" the Bengal tiger explained. "It's pretty hot, so make sure you eat well and stay hydrated. I wouldn't drink the tap water here, I've heard it's safe but I don't want to risk it".
"How can you go in there? Isn't it pretty weird to have a walking, talking tiger in modern-day Cartagena?" Willow asked the doctor.
"They don't see things the way we do. You only see the furries, or what you humans call furries, once you've been to the Lylat System and back. That's how it's always been".
"Let's go find a hotel" I said.
Dr. Howler hailed a taxi and asked him to take us to the Four Seasons Cartagena. He allowed us to put our backpacks and my crutches in the back of the trunk, and we were off.
COLE'S POV
We explored the tunnels as much as we could, and we ended up coming up empty.
"I don't think there's anyone in here" Ian said, stating the obvious.
"We've literally been to every single nook and cranny!" Konstantin said.
"At least it's cool down here" I said. "Outside, it's pretty hot. Does anyone know where we are? Somewhere tropical, probably, close to the equator or in the Southern Hemisphere, given that it's February right now".
"I know the entry points for all 555 cities with a double agent. This is Cartagena, the fifth-largest city in Colombia. And this fort, the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, doesn't seem to have any enemies. If they are indeed in Colombia, they're not in here" Falco said.
"Yeah, we should probably get out of here" Ian said. "I don't know about you guys, but this place gives me the creeps".
We made it out of the tunnels and into the sun. Looking down the hill, we saw a tourist office, from which we could probably call a taxi.
"Let's see where the others are, don't you agree?" Falco asked.
None of us disagreed with that, so Falco, Konstantin, Ian, and myself all headed to the tourist office.
Falco dialed Dr. Howler's number and hit the call button. It didn't take too long for her to pick up.
"Where are you guys at?" Falco asked.
There was a little more back-and-forth between the two of them, but I could really only hear Falco's side of it. When he was done with his conversation, he turned to the rest of us.
"They've booked three rooms at the Four Seasons Cartagena. They want us to join them there, so let's do that".
We hailed a cab and got in. Luckily, there was a pane of glass separating the driver from us, so if we didn't talk too loudly he might not be able to hear us.
"So who is this man you want us to meet?" I asked. "How are we going to find him?"
"It's a man named Jack Novsky, and he's been in Cartagena ever since his native Poland was overrun by the Venomian forces. He's a weapons expert, and he might help us upgrade our Arwings".
I had to be honest, that sounded like a pretty sweet idea.
"Dr. Howler says that one room is for the three of you boys, one is for Willow and Lucas, and one is for me and her. I want you all to be on your best behavior during our stay there. Do you understand me?"
Asking Cole McCallen to be on his best behavior used to be practically suicidal. Now, I was starting to behave in more ethically correct ways, so I was more willing to do things that were asked of me. But I'd changed over the last two months. The old Cole would never have dug Lucas out of the snow on the Cornerian glacier. He would never have shot Wolf O'Donnell after he had shot Lucas Enfield. Okay, maybe he would have. But still.
As soon as we arrived at the hotel, Dr. Howler was waiting for us in the lobby.
"How is it going, guys? Did you search the fortress?"
"We did" Falco said. "There was nothing of note to be found there".
The Bengal tiger nodded. By the way she spoke to Falco, you'd be forgiven for thinking that she was falling in love with him. She spoke to him with such a passion, such a drive.
"Let's get some lunch in the hotel restaurant" she said. "Lucas and Willow already have a table. Then, after lunch, you guys can go hunt for this guy. What's his name again? Jack Novsky?"
"That's right" Konstantin said. "We have no idea on where to find him".
"Actually, that's not true" Falco corrected him. "According to my list, he can often be found at one of the many tejo clubs around the city. Usually, he frequents one specific one".
"So we need to find this weapons expert at a tejo club. What even is tejo?" I asked.
"I guess we'll find out" Lucas replied.
The waitress came over and we ordered our food. While we waited for it, we had a conversation about what we were going to do once this meal was done and it was back to the war effort.
"I won't be of much use to you guys at the moment" Lucas said. "Not with my leg like this".
"About that...I have an idea. I brought what I'd need with me just in case" Dr. Howler said.
She looked at Falco like she was deciding what type of flowers he would like best on his tombstone.
"I say go for it" Falco said. "The sooner his leg is better, the sooner he'll be of use to us. Of course, he's also the de facto leader of this team".
This stunned Lucas, or at least it seemed to. "You consider me the leader?" he asked.
"Well, they're calling us Star Enfield, so yes, that's the conclusion that I think can be drawn from that fact. Do you think of yourself as the leader, if that is indeed the question here?"
"I do" Lucas said. "After all, they said that they wanted to cut off the head of the snake by killing me. It's a good thing that they didn't succeed".
"So..." I said.
"We'll meet this weapons expert at the tejo club he's usually found at. We will hopefully get him to join our team, because things will be so much easier if we can upgrade the Arwings" Dr. Howler explained.
"Oh" Ian said, as if he hadn't gotten it before.
"Let's get this thing done" Falco said. "How about I go with Ian, Cole, and Konstantin to look for this guy? Tigre, you can go to the room with Willow and Lucas, is that a good plan?"
"I'm down with it" the Bengal tiger said. "How about you, Lucas?"
"Well, I can't really walk around the city like this" he said, gesturing to his crutches.
"I'll fix that in the room" Dr. Howler said.
I could see the wheels turning in Lucas's mind. If Dr. Howler had a way to quickly heal him, why hadn't she done it before on Fichina? Or while we were in Sector X? Why did she wait until we were in the human world?
Our food came, and the conversation slowed down. I was grateful for it, honestly. My cheeseburger was pretty awesome, not necessarily at the same seven-star level as the food at the Grey Clouds Flight Academy, but it was quite good.
Any type of food tasted better when you were about to go look for a weapons expert in a major city with dozens of tejo clubs.
LUCAS'S POV
Dr. Howler had booked three rooms. The other three boys were staying in one of them, Willow and I were in another, and Falco and Dr. Howler were in the third. The rooms were somewhat fancy, just what you would expect from a Four Seasons. On the other hand, however, I was a little angry at Dr. Howler.
If she had such a great way to heal me, why hadn't she used it before? I saw no good reason to withhold it, considering I had been practically an invalid since my surgery six days ago to stitch up my leg.
Plus, I was just sick of being useless. So, when Dr. Howler came into my bedroom (Willow was watching TV in the living room), I practically jumped at the opportunity. Or, I would have jumped, if I could have done so. My leg was still in pretty rough shape.
"Okay, Lucas, I'll lay down the law for you. In this syringe is a medication that will fix your leg practically instantly. I can inject you, or I can not do it".
"Why didn't you do it while I was unconscious after getting shot?" I asked.
"Our number one priority was stabilizing you, and there's another problem in that I wanted your consent" she said.
"What is that problem?"
"This injection is extremely painful. It's known to bring grown men to their knees. You might even pass out for a little while. Are you willing to take that risk?"
I weighed the pros and cons, which didn't take too long. I knew that I wanted to do whatever possible to heal up as soon as possible, whatever that was.
"Go for it" I said.
Dr. Howler swabbed an area of my leg near my wound. When she seemed satisfied that it was clean enough, the pressed the trigger.
The needle going in wasn't that bad. I've never really been one to be afraid of needles. What came after that was far worse.
I felt like every vein in my leg was on fire. It hurt to move my leg even just a little bit. It hurt to breathe. My vision turned orange to white, and then back to orange again. It didn't feel like what you got from working out too hard, it was far worse.
Eventually, the orange faded to black, and I lost consciousness.
The next thing I knew, I was lying in the bed that I had been sitting on. The covers had been pulled up, and Dr. Howler was sitting on a chair near the desk.
"I'm awake" I said.
The Bengal tiger came over to me. "How are you feeling? I'm sorry that it hurt so much. I could see how much pain you were in".
That was a little embarrassing. "What happened?" I asked.
"You passed out from the pain of the shot. It's only been about ten minutes, and I think you'll be fine. Would you like to see Willow?"
I nodded. My mouth felt oddly dry, so speaking was a bit difficult. But I could tell that my leg didn't hurt nearly as much anymore. Maybe whatever miracle drug Dr. Howler had just shot into my leg worked after all.
Of course, I trusted the doctor's judgment. But I still wondered why she hadn't asked me sooner, because I would gladly have done it then had I known it was an option.
"Can I have some water, Dr. Howler?" I asked her.
"Sure". She went over to the sink and poured me a cup of water.
"I thought you said you didn't want to risk it".
"The people at the hotel swear that it's safe, and they even let me check the filter while you were unconscious. It works perfectly well, so I want you to drink plenty of it".
She made me drink the water, and then she told me to get some rest. "You need sleep to let it work its magic. And it's not magic, it's technology".
I didn't really want to go to sleep, so I waited until Dr. Howler had left to get out my backpack. I turned to a page in a book about U.S. politics and began to read.
IAN'S POV
I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to find this man. After all, there were probably dozens of tejo clubs in the city of Cartagena, and he could be at any one of them. Granted, we'd been told which ones were probably the most likely, but that didn't change the fact that he might not be there. He might be somewhere else entirely.
"Should we get a taxi?" Cole asked.
Falco looked at his map, on which he had circled the place. "It's only a mile away, and it's only ninety degrees out. I say we should walk it. Dr. Howler has more of the money than me".
I was questioning whether that was a wise travel decision until Konstantin said, "Okay. That's fine by me, God knows I could use a little bit of exercise".
Konstantin was still slightly overweight at this point, having gained back what he had lost in the mountain prison. He was already sweating from the hot sun.
We began walking in the direction of the club. We had been told that Jack Novsky, the weapons expert who was in Cartagena, often liked to play tejo here.
Tejo is the national sport of Colombia, and it's one of the weirdest sports you could imagine. Standing a certain distance away from a clay target, you have to throw a three-pound metal disc at it. The field is filled with explosive, and it makes a large bang when a disc is thrown into it. It's often played in bars like the club we were going to.
It was still very hot, as it was about two in the afternoon. In fact, this was probably the hottest part of the day. Before long, my shirt was soaked in sweat, as well as my face, where I had used to wear my gas mask before unmasking myself during the mission.
Why had I unmasked myself? That was a question that I still asked myself time and time again.
I suppose that it had something to do with wanting the group to trust me more. If a person is never seen except for wearing a gas mask, you're never going to get to know them. Only by getting to know someone can you honestly say that you trust them.
Beyond that...I'd figure it out later. The fact of the matter was, we had to find this tejo club.
"How do we know we can trust this guy?" I asked Falco.
"I'm not a hundred percent sure that we can" the avian responded. "But rest assured, I am at least 97% sure. The Cornerian government will have had to approve him, and they know how to tell someone who is likely to be a spy from someone who is not likely to be a spy".
That was a satisfactory answer. But I still wondered something.
"What about Konstantin? He's still an escaped criminal in the eyes of the Cornerians" I said. "Will Jack turn him in?"
"Doubtful" Falco said after a pause. "If he sees that he's a part of this team, he's likely to overlook it. And Konstantin is going to be given a full pardon if he helps in the war and it's proven that he had nothing to do with the Anglar invasion of the school. We shouldn't be worried about that".
We passed many of the restaurants, shops, and occasionally hotels in the old town of Cartagena. As we walked down the sidewalk, it occurred to me that this was one of the places that I would have been more afraid of with the OCD. In fact, I still was scared of germs and drug dealers. Everything about this place gave off a vibe of uncleanliness that made me uneasy.
I could only hope that the tejo club wasn't too crazy.
JACK'S POV
BANG!
The target exploded with a sound that resonated all over the club. Practically the whole area shook, but it didn't bother the locals. Being a military veteran, I tended to jump at almost anything, thinking that it might be some kind of attack.
Now that I was in retirement and still on standby for the Cornerians, I was trying to desensitize myself to these noises. I didn't need to constantly be woken up by every little thing. And I found playing tejo to be a good way to do this. It was kind of like therapy for me. It was shocking at first, though, because of everything with the explosions.
It was working, though. I'd been in Cartagena for five weeks, and I was getting calmer and calmer. Ever since my native Poland had been overrun by the Venomian forces, I had been re-assigned to this tropical paradise. Well, not a paradise. I'd heard that there was a great deal of crime in this city, and, to make matters worse, the heat was tough to deal with at first.
The reason I was here?
Simple. I was one of the 555 people around the world who had been assigned to a different city, each of which is "attached" to a different human city. The Sector X warp zone is attached to Cartagena, so that was the entrance I was watching over. I'd been told that I was going to be waiting on someone to help, since in the First Lylat War, which had occasionally been fought in the real world, I was a weapons specialist.
But after more than a month of languishing in the sun, it was looking less and less likely that that day would come. And so I threw myself back into the routine of getting up, working out to make sure that my muscles were buff at the ripe old age of 47, and playing tejo at the club. I also found that it improved my hand-eye coordination, so there were more benefits to the game than I had initially thought.
"Nice one, Jack!" one of the locals congratulated me.
They were coming up to pat me on the back, but I politely declined. I still didn't like getting touched by other people, and a bunch of tejo players at the club were no exception.
"Hey, Jack?" one of my teammates said. Andres was a few inches shorter than me (I stood 6 feet, 5 inches tall) and had darker skin. He was generally a nice guy, but he had a serious expression on his face. This wasn't like him.
"What is it?" I asked Andres. "I'm about to throw my next tejo".
"There are...people coming in here that don't belong".
I looked around. There was indeed a group of four people stepping into the club at that very moment. Jaime's Tejo Tavern didn't take kindly to outsiders in general, so it wasn't expected to see new people coming in. They'd allowed me in grudgingly, but I'd become better and better friends with the typical patrons that they were fine with me staying.
One was a boy with greasy black hair on the sides who appeared to be in his mid-teens. There was also a boy about an inch taller than the black-haired one with blonde hair and blue eyes. One was a slightly overweight boy with a DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS cowboy hat and glasses. And the fourth person was Falco Lombardi. I knew enough about Cornerian politics to be aware of that.
And then I remembered. There was some team that I was supposed to follow. It wasn't like me to forget these things, given that I always turned down the alcoholic drinks offered at the club.
They're the Star Enfield team, aren't they?
"Excuse us" the Texas cowboy hat-wearing boy said to me. "Do you know anyone named Jack Novsky? We're looking for him".
I didn't see a reason to lie. "I'm your man".
"Jack?" the blonde boy asked.
"That's right" I said.
"I'm Ian" the blonde boy said. "That's Cole, the Texas guy is Konstantin-".
"Don't call me The Texas Guy" Konstantin said somewhat sternly.
"-and I'm Falco" the avian said unnecessarily.
"You want me to help and join your team?" I asked.
Falco's eyes lit up. "That's what we came for".
"How about we discuss it over a game of tejo?" I said. "Drinks are on me. I'm assuming you're all under eighteen-".
"I'm nineteen" Konstantin said. "Turning twenty on May 13".
"In any case", I said, "I think you guys should remain sober. This is an important transaction here".
After explaining the rules, I handed the discs to everyone, and we started playing.
"So you'd like me to join your team?" I asked Falco.
"Yeah" the avian said. "It's not just us, too".
"Who else is there?" I asked.
"There's a Bengal tiger named Dr. Howler, Willow Foster, and Lucas Enfield, after whom this team was named".
BANG!
Konstantin had evidently just scored a hit. He was picking this game up fast.
"I have some weapons expertise" I said, scratching my small stubble of what might end up as a beard. "I could help you upgrade your Arwings if you'd like, or even the Great Fox. Is that the ship you're using?"
"Yes" Cole said. "We stole the Great Fox from the flight academy on Corneria and have been using it for the last three weeks, pretty much, except for a little break on Fichina".
"Why should I join you? Explain your current situation, please".
"First off, our school, the Grey Clouds Flight Academy, was attacked by the Venomian forces. Konstantin here was put on trial under suspicion of ordering the attack, which he didn't. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad. We broke him out, but we're on the run now. Fichina took us in, but we couldn't stay forever".
"I have a feeling this has to do with one of the other three" I said.
"Oh, yes, it does" Ian said. "Lucas got shot by Wolf O'Donnell. He's in the hotel right now, resting. But that's why we decided to leave. We didn't feel safe on Fichina anymore".
"Okay" I said. "That actually does make sense. So you'd like me to go with you?"
"Yes" the four of them said in unison as I threw my disc.
BANG!
"I'll do it. It's been so boring here. Don't get me wrong, tejo is fun and all, but I want to get back to helping with the war effort. So let me buy you guys some drinks, and we'll talk it through".
WILLOW'S POV
We had a lazy afternoon in the hotel, Lucas and I.
After Dr. Howler had left Lucas's bedroom, I had come in. He was sitting under the covers, reading a book about U.S. politics. I, on the other hand, was unable to enjoy watching TV for too long. It was too boring after a while, and besides, I was just too distracted by so many things. I wondered if the others were meeting Jack Novsky right now, or what they were discussing right now. Were they negotiating things related to weapons? Was Jack killing them right now?
I didn't know, but I did know that I wanted to be with someone that I knew was safe, because he was right next to me.
I got in bed with him and took him into my arms. It was one of those rare romantic moments that was just perfect. It was spontaneous, and Dr. Howler wasn't butting in to ruin our fun. We were just...there.
I didn't want to express my doubts right here. I didn't think this would be the right place.
"I'm glad to be in your company, Willow Foster" Lucas said to me.
"I'm glad to be in your company, Lucas Enfield" I echoed.
We hugged some more, much like a stereotypical married couple lying in bed together.
Lucas said, "I like this city. It's pretty awesome. Colombia isn't just drugs and crime, there are some genuinely nice places".
"I'm also a fan of Cartagena. But the thing is, I'm still worried about the others".
"I wouldn't be" he said. "I'm sure that, if Falco thinks Jack is trustworthy, he is. I trust Falco's judgment. Plus, I'm sure that Jack was vetted pretty carefully".
I looked into his face. Ever since Dr. Howler had given him that injection, he no longer seemed to be in pain when I rubbed his leg. We weren't quite in line with each other, and my legs went off the bed. Considering Lucas was much taller than I was, it would have been difficult normally for me to cuddle his legs.
Even so, I could tell that he was still in some pain. Occasionally, he'd grimace and sit up. I didn't protest when that involved sitting on my hand.
"So...what comes next?" he asked. "There's so many other planets in the Lylat System...which ones are we going to try to take, and which ones are we not? It's so confusing, really?"
"I know" I said. "I don't mean for this to sound corny, but...I really like you, Lucas. Is that too cliche?"
"No, it's not cliche" he said. "Not when it's well-deserved", he continued, planting a kiss on my cheek.
That did it. We started hugging like one of those scenes from a romance film. I shifted my position a bit so that our heads were more level. I noticed that, ever since leaving Corneria, Lucas seemed to have gotten dark circles under his eyes. Not from lack of sleep, he'd slept constantly when he was on his pain medication.
Which meant he was stressed out. Of course, we all were. But maybe Lucas felt that with his injury, he was unable to be a true member of the group. And I wanted to make sure he understood that I didn't think that was the case. He wasn't dragging us down. Sometimes, in fact, he was what made my life worth living.
Sometimes, I wished he would just shut up.
At some point, both of us, or at least myself, must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember is Dr. Howler knocking at our door.
I woke with a start. Lucas might have been awake for a little longer than me, or he might never have fallen asleep at all, because he seemed more lucid than I was. He asked, "What is it, Dr. Howler?"
"We're about to join the other four at dinner, so get ready. You don't have to wear anything too fancy, though. It's a pretty budget restaurant, but it's very reputable".
I knew that Lucas, who was deathly afraid of food poisoning, made a big deal about if a restaurant was reputable or not. I decided to wear the same clothes I'd been sleeping in, as did Lucas. Hopefully, this Jack Novsky fellow, if he was with the others, was the only person in Cartagena who could detect the scent of outer space on us.
"Did they find Jack?" I asked.
"Sure did" the Bengal tiger responded.
I nodded as we got in the taxi. After telling the driver how to get to the restaurant, she began to drive us there, and closer to this mysterious Jack fellow.
LUCAS'S POV
It was about a fifteen-minute drive to the place, which indeed looked a little like a diner in the U.S.A. Walking inside, at least it did have air conditioning. It might have been almost seven in the evening, but it was still in the seventies. I guessed nobody in Cartagena liked snow, or at least very few did.
We were sat at a table with Cole, Ian, Konstantin, Falco, and a man I didn't recognize, but I strongly suspected was Jack. He was a very tall, mostly bald man with a significant amount of beard scruff. His blue eyes looked very severe, and he looked like someone that you wanted to take seriously, because it would be in your best interest not to mess with him.
"You're Jack Novsky?" I asked him.
"Yes, that is my name" the tall man said. "I've met up with the others; now, I'd like you to tell me about yourself. Are you the famous Lucas Enfield?"
"I don't know about famous, but yeah, Lucas Enfield is my name".
"I've heard a lot about you, and you seem to have attracted quite a number of enemies. I heard about how you almost died last week".
"That's true" I said. "I was shot by Wolf O'Donnell. It really wasn't fun".
The waitress came over, and we ordered our drinks. I got a root beer, which is my favorite type of soda. Cole got a Coke, Dr. Howler got water, and Falco got mango juice. As we sipped our drinks, Jack started talking about our plan.
"Our objective is to gradually take over the planets closest to Venom to help us prepare for the frontal assault. I'm a weapons expert, so I will help to upgrade your ships and everything else. When I'm done, it'll be greater than anything the Venomian forces could ever have come up with. We'll take them no problem".
I felt that Jack was being a little too overconfident. It seemed far from guaranteed that we were going to win, at least to myself. Let's see Jack's master plan!
"We are first going to want to take Titania. It's not too strategically important, but we can use it as kind of a decoy, to throw them off a little bit. And with that, we can take Zoness, which will give us an approach to Sector Z. If we can take both Titania and Sector Z, that'll help us take Macbeth. The latter is important, because it's the weapons center for the Venomian forces. We'll use those three planets to get through Area 6 and then we'll take the fight to Venom. What do you guys think?"
Personally, I thought it sounded like a pretty good plan. Falco had brought out a map, and we were able to use it to see where we'd be going in order to win this war. It was going to be days, perhaps even weeks, of travel, but we were going to make this work somehow.
"I like this idea" Konstantin said. "I've played enough military video games so that I can tell what is a good plan and what isn't. I think that cornering the planet of Venom is a great way to go along with our plan. What do you think, Ian?"
Ian didn't say anything. Instead, he kept sipping his Shirley Temple. Eventually, when he did come up, he said, "I think this is a great plan. Are we going to go to Titania first?"
"Yeah" Jack said. "Initially, it wasn't that big of a priority, it'll be more of a diversion. But there might be a few of the enemy's resources lying around that we can take control of. Like I've always said, every little bit helps in a war".
Jack pointed to Titania on a map. It's a red planet somewhat resembling Saturn, and it's pretty much all desert. In the First Lylat War, Slippy was shot down there by the boss of Sector X, meaning that the rest of the team had to go down there to save his ass. As a result of this, the team had ultimately failed to destroy the real Andross, meaning that they had had to go out on the mission again in order to see the true ending of the game.
"There's also a warp zone on Titania, but we're not going to use it" Jack said.
"Where does Titania's warp go?" Ian asked, evidently curious.
"I have access to all of this information, but do you promise that you won't tell any of the Venomian forces if you're captured?" he said, his blue eyes looking far more deadly.
"Yes?"
"It goes to Paris, which is another city that is under attack from the Anglars. Again, though, we won't be using it. I forgot to mention, we're going to go for Bolse as well. But the more direct route is Area 6, so again, the defense satellite is just a diversion. There are likely to be battles in just about all of those planets, so that's what I'm here for. That's why I've been hired by Falco to help upgrade your weaponry".
Falco patted Jack on the back. "Let's get this thing going. I, personally, will not rest until there is not a single Venomian unit left. I think we can do this".
"And I do as well" I said.
Our food arrived, and, just like it had during lunch, the conversation slowed down. As I bit into my burger, however, I kept thinking about something other than the food, or even the war.
I was thinking about Willow Foster. No matter how much I could deny, deny, deny, I had to face the truth. I was in love with this girl. We'd been through so much together, and there was still so much left to go through. Beyond that, though, she was the only person from my old life back in Maine that I still had. Not even Cole could say as such.
That didn't mean I was necessarily going to marry her right away. It wasn't like we saw our parents anymore, or we even wanted to, but the fact remained that if I went up to my parents and told them, Hey, I met this girl, Willow Foster. We've been dating for about two and a half months and I want to marry her, they wouldn't be happy about it. They'd probably sit me down in the living room and give me a talk about how people rarely stay with their high school lovers.
I wasn't the most physically attractive person, not by any means. I'm tall, but I'm not very muscular, and my hair is relatively long and it's often not very clean. However, Willow didn't seem to mind that. We worked well together on pretty much everything, and I knew that it would really help to have her by my side in the coming battles. Beyond that, she was just a great person to be around.
Not for the first time, I found myself thinking about the afternoon I'd just spent with her in our hotel room. Now that I thought about it, Dr. Howler might have intruded once we were both asleep, just to make sure that we hadn't both had massive heart attacks for seemingly no reason at all, but I didn't care. This girl was mine.
We'd cuddled a bit and talked more about Cartagena. Paris was often considered the stereotypically romantic city, but I'd been there, and, to be honest, Cartagena had it beat. It didn't try to be fancy, it was just real in a sense.
It was kind of a metaphor for this whole war. It was going to be a tough go of it, but there was no doubt that there was a neon light at the end of this tunnel.
COLE'S POV
The next morning, we had to leave Cartagena. Jack promised to stay with us through thick and thin, so I could only hope that he would keep that promise.
Because there were so many of us, we had to hire two cabs to get back to the military fortress. As we were leaving the old town, I thought more about just how beautiful this city was, and how poor parts of it appeared. I was no stranger to poverty, having grown up in Detroit of all places, but this was something else entirely.
Even in spite of that, though, getting to go to Colombia, another part of the human world, was an unforgettable experience. And, with that realization, I had to fight back tears. The truth was, Will and Mike had been dead for a week now. They had never experienced this city (most likely), and now they never would. And I'm not one of those people who believes in a life after death. I think that when you're dead, you're dead, and that's that, other than whatever legacy you may have left behind.
"You doing all right, Cole?" Falco asked me.
Managing not to cry in front of the rest of the group, not wanting to sound like a total wimp, I said, "Yeah. It just really sucks that we're leaving this city so soon. I could stay here for quite a while".
"Well, we can't, so we're leaving right now. Once we get back to the Great Fox, we're going to set course for Titania. Then, you can do whatever you want. You can have your own bed on the Great Fox again".
That in itself wasn't too much of a consolation. I'd slept in a lot of different beds lately. I'd kind of gotten used to living at the GCFA, and then it had gotten attacked. The new school location, as well as Fichina, had been explicitly temporary. But it was always hard to adjust to a new location to stay.
We reached the fortress and waited for the other cab, which had lost us in the traffic. It was only a minute or two off of our pace, though. Then, together, the eight of us scaled the hill to the top, passing all of the palm trees in the park below us.
Once we summited, I looked around for one last glimpse of the city of Cartagena, knowing that there was a very strong possibility that I would never see it, or any other human city, ever again. That just wasn't going to happen. And, as much as I would have liked to stay in the human world, I knew that the Lylat System, whether I liked it or not, was where the war was to be won or lost. It was where our actions would actually have consequences.
If I wanted a shot at redemption for myself, I had to earn it. That wasn't going to happen if I just stayed here, playing tejo and exploring the walled city, forever. I took those first steps into the caverns, entering the warp zone.
Like it or not, we were back in the Lylat System.
It's a pretty depressing ending for the chapter, but that's how I like to end some of these things. I thought that it worked well given the situation.
Jack's character description was, "A 6'5" man from Poland who will help the team and upgrade their Arwings". I think that this character has a lot of potential.