Battle of Jack Hanma: War for the multiverse
Chapter 1: Victims of the desert part 2
Zach couldn't believe his eyes. The man he hasn't seen in ages, one of his strongest allies against the Wild Kratts was in front of his eyes, but he wasn't all happy. Gaston held out his hand, with a smile still strong on his face. "Well, if it isn't my favorite customer!" The inventor made a scowl while the Judge looked with curiosity. "Gaston Gourmand…" Replied the businessman with an unimpressed look, to which the chef reacted with an eyebrow raise. "What? You aren't happy to see your bon ami, huh?" Neglecting the wishes of his ally, he grabbed his hand and gripped it tightly, letting out a small scream from the pale stick man. "OUCH! NOT THAT HARD!" The frustrated expression didn't even scratch the confidence of the chef, who then looked over at the Judge. "Ooh, look over there. Looks like you got yourselves some new friends." With a confident stride, he made his way to the pale giant, who welcomed him with a smile. He made a swift motion of his hand, before his palm landed into the grip of the Judge, whose strength Gaston could clearly feel and expressed slight pain, with widened eyes. "Damn, you're one powerful man. Who are you exactly?" The Judge smiled. "For a man like you, you may refer to me as Mr. Holden." The chef reciprocated the smile, who then started scanning the man's appearance. "Je suggère que vous êtes un gentleman très cultivé, n'est-ce pas?(I assume you're a very cultured man, no?)" "Et je suggère que vous soyez l'un des meilleurs cuisiniers du monde."(and I assume you're one of the best cook of the world)" Gaston was both surprised and impressed at the language skills of the Judge, to which he reacted with a proud smile. "No need for flattery, as the spotlight should be on the food itself." He laughed proudly, which was so infectious, that some of the soldiers around them, including Dabio joined on as well. The mercenaries even started commenting on it. "I wish my daughter married a man like that." "I wish the same, hahaha."
The laughing only worsened the mood of the inventor, seeing his own men neglect him and only paying attention to the cook. He looked at his watch, which didn't help. He was about to ask what the cook wanted, before he started speaking. "Through the car ride, I saw you really outdid yourself. You went from using those useless robots to putting your faith into the strength of the human body. I'm proud of you." Zach seethed as the chef patted him on the back. "Just tell me what you want. I have an important mission to accomplish." "Ahh. The life of a businessman, always rushing to some place. Maybe you should have chosen the same profession as I did, as it's pretty laid back. But to get back on topic, I wanted to check in, as I'm in a serious situation." The inventor growled. "Spit it out while I have time." The cook cleared his throat. "You see, ever since that event, I have lost my business. I tried getting into other restaurants as cooks, but none allowed me to use endangered animals, which simply destroyed the flavor. Ever since I've heard your business have skyrocketed in success, I thought you could help out a good friend and lend out a loan." Zach rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you're just like a hyena… "He stopped as he was reminded of the Wild Kratts. "You're just like an obscure family member who only contacted me because I won the lottery." The chef made a puzzled look. "I didn't come to steal the fruits of your labor. Just a little loan. That's it, after that, I'd be on my way." Zach raised an eyebrow. "How much for that little loan?" The chef took out a calculator and several papers, as he checked the expanses. "Well, there's the building itself, the price for the kitchen utensils, ovens, mixers, ingredients… Around a couple hundred thousand dollars." The eyes of Zach shot up. "No way. You'd waste that cash. Hell, remember when I gave you that submarine? It came back in pieces." The retort didn't even put a wrinkle on the face of the chef. "Ahh. Honest apologies for that. But to make up for it, I can do a favor for you, would that make up your mind?" Before Zach could tell him to go away, the Judge intervened, grabbing the inventor by the shoulder and signaling the cook, he wanted to privately talk to his boss.
"What again?!" The Judge let go off the inventor and smiled. "The man seems like a useful asset. Wasting him would leave us in a weaker state against our adversaries." "Aand? We already got Frank and a large army. And if we were to hire him in the kitchen, we already got many great cooks, so he isn't needed there either. Hell, look at how much he's hoarding attention. He'd disrupt the operations on the field, if we brought him along. "The Judge shook his head, while still keeping a smile. "One may understand the troubles of a mind like yours, but one must also learn to utilize pragmatism sometimes, to maximize their spoils of war." Zach didn't like what he heard, neither that of seeing his soldiers high fiving with the chef, while he told them stories of how he gained his ingredients, to which they soaked up every word. The Judge pondered, reading the inventor like a book, before he finally found the button to push. "If one was allowed to know, who would my greatness dislike more? The cook or our mutual Empress." Zach scoffed. "Isn't it obvious?" The Judge smiled. "Serving her majesty is an expensive venture. A man like that over there, is worth over a million soldier and would leave less of a burden on one's budget and wealth, then going the other road." The words of Holden, like always, seem to have pierced the pale manchild with no failure. It was enforced, by the inventor's expressions softening a bit. The Judge didn't waste the opportunity to make use of the opening. "If one were to meet one's Majesty, they'd yearn back the flauntings and boastings of that chef over there like a sad child their mother." Zach's eyes widened. "If that is the case. She won't make me her little puppet." The Judge smiled.
While Gaston was narrating a story with hand gestures on how he had to deal with the Kratt brothers, he felt the bony hand of Zach on his shoulder, to which he turned around. "Yees? You people talked it out?" Zach nodded. "Absolutely. You may receive your loan, but for only one condition." Gaston signaled the soldiers, that story that was over, to which they groaned. He turned back and crossed his arms. "I'm all ears." "If you help halt a certain Team Hanma, the money is yours." The cook raised his eyebrow. "An interesting name, who are they?" "Dorks, meatheads and dirty animals who want to ruin the plans of my boss. Heck. If you beat them, you may also cook their animal team members. One of them thinks he's an aristocrat, so maybe It would add to the flavor." The last sentence made the man smile wider. "I'm always open for a wild hunt. Making the victim run always adds to the flavor." The pale stickman also smiled, but as always, in a devious tone. "You do you, but remember, the Wild Ratts are in there as well, so get ready for that." The smile of the cook shrunk a bit. "Oh. Les frères Kratt? That is no problem. They'll be the side dish." The two men shook hands, to enforce the deal, while the Judge was soaking in the fruits of his labor. One of the soldiers got curious. "Uuuh. Will Mr. Gaston be useful in combat?" "The pale businessman turned his head to the man and started whispering into his ear. "I have known that man for ages. Don't think you're dealing with a regular cook." Zach looked at his watch, but this time, he immediately lost his cool. "WE'RE ALREADY OVER SCHEDULE! Everyone? IN THE PLANE NOW!"
The soldiers saluted, as they rushed inside the aircraft, alongside the cook, Dabio and the pale righthand. The plane's hatch closed, as the plane started moving towards the runway, from which it took off, which was followed by several fighter jets as escort, ready to fly towards the desert of Black Mesa.
[…]
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T GO BACK HOME!? ADDLER IS BEING PLAYED ONLY A COUPLE WEEKS AWAY!" Slavoj and Legoshi were trying to calm down the infuriated deer, with only the wolf having any success. "Yhour angher is undhersthandable, bhut *sniff* yhou nheed to conshider they'vhe lihkely plhanted something in yhou and we chan't just lhet you bhack there." The deer seethed. "So what? I'm fine. Just let me go you bastards." While he was complaining, the Kratt brothers entered, who captured the attention of the deer. "Oh great, you two were the last thing we needed." The brothers seem to have been unphased, as they built up thick skins thanks to Zach regularly insulting them, though those are weak compared to what Slavoj is capable of. "Jack called us to inspect what's inside you." The eyes of the herbivore widened, while his pupils shrunk. "If you people lay a finger on me, I'll gouge your eyes out." The two brothers also already got used to dealing with even wilder animals, so the remark also fell flat. "We don't even need to touch you. We'll just scan your abdomen then we're all fine and dandy." Remarked Chris as he pulled out a medical machine Aviva designed.
As the brothers were trying to scan the deer while he fought back, Slavoj left the room, as he saw Jack signaling to him to come out. "We need a plan. It's crystal clear where we need to go, but we must also know how we're going to do it." Slavoj sniffed, and rubbed some of his saliva on his sleeve. "Whell, yhou shouldn't whorry abhout it, because *sniff* everhythig ghot a soluthion once you think enough." Jack got curious. "Let me guess, you got some sort of vehicle." The philosopher nodded. "Indheed, I ghot an RV. Ith's prhetty big." Jack smiled. "Sounds great. But is it big enough to hold 7 people." The Slovenian put his fist under his chin. "Cahn dephend whether that deer is choming or nhot." "FUCK OFFF" They heard the herbivore yell it at the brothers. Jack turned to the philosopher. "I hope he won't."
The two men casually walked inside as Martin was physically restraining the deer so Chris could finish the scan. After it finished, the prey shoved the blue brother away from him. "You people are fucking annoying, you know that?" The brothers were frowning at the behavior of the Anthro animal, while they wished for the times, where they could interact with animals that are four legged. "Sorry, but we're doing it for your own safety." Remarked Chris as he helped his brother up and checked the results, which was also observed by the wolf. "Uh oh" "Uh oh what?" Asked Legoshi. Chris showed the pictures of the scan, which revealed some sort of device was placed inside the abdomen of Louis, which terrified the carnivore. "Tho… those sick criminals put something inside of you!" The herbivore was a bit disturbed but was able to keep his cool. "Oh yeah? What sort?" Chris was ready to answer but was shot down by the victim of the operation, who wanted to hear from the wolf. "Uhhh. Duno. It looks like a cylinder with a V logo on it." Louis shrugged. "Well, I can just ask my dad to get me the best surgeons of Cherryton to remove it from me. "The brothers shook their heads. "I'm afraid it's a bad idea." "Yeah? And why? What makes you think you can keep me here?" The brothers turned their heads towards him. "I'm pretty sure you interacted with that pale jerk." The herbivore raised his eyebrows. "Which one? The creepy one or the loser one?" Martin answered the thin one. "Yeah, I did. Result of failed parenting for sure." Chris was ready to speak with a worried look. "I think you experienced how he treats animals. That guy would sooner sacrifice anything in his life just to physically harm a puppy than see it happy." He then pointed towards the abdomen of the deer. "We can't tell what was planted in there, but knowing him, it's likely some sort of bomb or chemical explosive that could kill you and several of your classmates." The deer rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is, a good surgery can remove it." "Yeah, but there's a chance it could go off if it detects you're around other two-legged ones like you." Remarked Martin, as Legoshi also joined in. "Think of our class and peers. As long as we don't know what they put in you, it's a risk letting you back there." The deer groaned and as much as he hated listening to the two brothers, he felt like they had a point. "Fine, I'll stay, but you people better respect my privacy." The brothers nodded.
As the dwellers of the room calmed down, Jack snapped his fingers, which were loud enough, that it caught the attention of everyone inside the room. As Slavoj brought the criminal inside, who complained that the Slovenian took away his cigarette because smoking wasn't allowed inside the house of Slavoj, Jack started speaking. "Listen everyone. Our friends and loved ones are either harmed or made to disappear thanks to these freaks. I'm sure everyone inside this room wants to beat up the people responsible for this, no?" Everyone made weird looks, with the exception of Hoxton who was ready to throw punches at the people responsible for this. The only sounds that were audible were the mumblings of people to each other and the sniffs of Slavoj. Jack started thinking before he took a softer approach. "Okay, forget that. I'm sure everyone wants retribution for their losses." The following statement was actually able to make people agree as nods, verbal agreements and raised hands were present. "Well then. Mr. Slavoj got an RV available we could use to travel. Our goal is Black Mesa, which likely has a solution to use against this new organization and the people who caused the merge. For now, our main goal is not only to reach it, but also to become stronger, as it's clear, our opponents are powerful as well. So, are you people ready?" Everyone nodded, with the exception of Louis and Legoshi. The deer was the first to speak up. "Well, got no other choice but to go, but we still got people close to us back in our home city." Legoshi confirmed it with a nod, which made Jack start scratching his chin. "Well then, time to write a letter and find an alibi then." Louis hated leaving school for a long time, but knew he was playing Russian roulette if he were to return with that device inside of him.
The two Anthro animals got handed papers and pens from Slavoj, as they were ready to write. Legoshi had the simplest job, as he could write his honest thoughts into his letter directly to Jack (not that one), the labrador, who was his best friend and could trust him fully about this. Louis had a harder time, as he had a truckload of responsibilities at the school, a reputation to maintain and he couldn't just abandon the school at his leisure, so he got help from Hoxton and made it seem like he was kidnapped by marauders from the outside world. The handwriting of the british criminal also brought together the tone of the message being written by an outlaw, which it was. After the messages were done being written, a portal opened, so Legoshi could send out the letters into Cherryton academy and get some items for the journey for himself and his "boss".
When the wolf came back, with two backpacks, both of them containing clothes, phone chargers and hygiene products and several other items, the crew entered the garage of the house of Slavoj. Inside there, laid the RV of the Slovenian, which was quite sizeable. It was a medium sized RV, with a white coat of paint on it and a red line crossing the entire machine. The crew got a shocked how Slavoj was able to get a vehicle of this size, to which he explained he found it abandoned on the street after the dimensional merge. Outside of being curious, no one was complaining, as everyone got inside the large vehicle, with the exception of Slavoj and Jack. "Before we go, I want to thank you for all the effort you've put into helping me and them." Slavoj signaled with his hand it was nothing. "Lhife cahn ghet borhing sometimes, so a little bhit of movement doesn't hurt." Jack shook hands with the man as a thanks, being extra careful not to crush his hands, then both entered the car, with Slavoj taking the wheel.
A portal opened, containing the image of a desert, into which was the vehicle driven, ready for the journey to Black Mesa.