[Written on and off from December 30th of 2004 to April 10th of 2005]
---------------------------
SB Story
“Let’s Make a Deal”
Chapter Two: Operation England
“If Wuffer’s Tea is too lethal for most of the human race, then what hope do we have to get company sponsorship and funding to mass produce it?” Would have been the question one asked, but thus far, all among the small group seated in various places within the large hotel room, remained silent, each thinking to themselves how to solve their current dilemma.
It had not just been Rydia and Suzu who had inadvertently run into difficulties among their company-dominating spree, Blade, HAX, and Crawler, having returned from their storming, reported much the same result at each company building, all of the victims that had been exposed to Wuffer’s Tea either died instantly or became a certifiable vegetable. As this had not been the projected expectation, all of the SB members had thought a meeting was in order, and on January 26th of 2007, they had gathered within this very hotel room with hopes of coming up with a solution to their problem.
None was forthcoming, all that had occurred with the hotel room was a minor skirmish between HAX and Blade, the masochistic one of the pair returning from the dead within the space of five minutes, Suzu had spent the time it had taken HAX to re-spawn using his old body as a ventriloquist dummy, of course, much amusement was had. Once all were alive and breathing, the brooding had begun, only Crawler of the group looking about the hotel room as if it were a subject of great depth and interest, after a moment, a light bulb appeared above the British Wannabe’s head, eyeing the object curiously, Crawler threw it aside and verbalized his idea.
“How about we try invading companies outside of the U.S.?” Rydia looked to Crawler expectedly, apparently waiting for him to elaborate, or say just a few more words that would fit his reason for making such a suggestion, she sighed when she found herself correct once again. “Starting with England, of course. I mean, they speak English there and everything so it wouldn’t be hard making our proposition.”
“What makes you think Englishmen and women won’t have the same reaction Americans do?” Blade inquired, looking away from the sketchpad she was currently drawing upon to eye Crawler skeptically; she’d been of the few not gung-ho about making their dream (marketing Wuffer’s Tea) come true, as it seemed to require a lot of time and effort, not to mention risk as storming business company buildings wasn’t exactly as simple as flipping a coin, but she’d gone with the majority and slowly but surely found herself having a good time, regardless of their overall purpose.
“I don’t think. I mean, it’s just a hunch,” Crawler said, eyes shifting downward as not to meet anyone’s eyes, he hadn’t meant to slip up in his reply and hoped no one would question his mistake further, Blade’s eyes narrowed but she shrugged and then resumed her drawing, letting the other SB members around her have a chance to join the conversation.
“It’s a good hunch to follow up, I suppose,” HAX responded from his makeshift seat on the elongated dresser the television rested upon, he’d taken the perch to avoid being within Blade’s killing range, as she had threatened to kill him again if he approached her. Rydia’s gaze shifted from her unyielding stance in front of the hotel sliding door, she had been trying to pick out whom among those swimming within the hotel pool would be most suitable for a little experiment involving Wuffer’s Tea, never mind the fact the beverage would most likely kill said person but this was far from Rydia’s mind at the moment.
“We’re not flying, are we?”
Suzu sighed from her seat near the hotel room door, she’d ordered a meal from room service, and as it had yet to arrive, the assassin for hire had promptly staked out the door, intending on exploring the full meaning of room service as soon as the poor hotel employee knocked upon the their door, she had a shiny new katana she was dying to make use of.
“We have to fly, Hikaru-chan, it’s overseas after all,” Suzu said, eyeing her friend with a bit of exasperation, she was well aware Rydia did not like flying but she did not have to ignore reality and question their means of travel at every opportunity. Pouting, Rydia focused once again on those frolicking in the water; perhaps the young woman with the black suit would do nicely, but then there were so many to choose from.
“Regardless, what poor couple is going to finance our trip?” HAX asked somewhat menacingly, drawing equal malice from Crawler and Blade as they smiled in much the same manner HAX had spoken in.
-----------------------------
Exactly one hour, twenty-two minutes, and five seconds later, the SB members were seated inside a new hotel room, one that had belonged to Michael and Corinne Williamson, until the honeymooning couple had unluckily opened the door, and found five equally corrupt individuals waiting outside, as they’d decided to take advantage of whoever entered the hallway first, it was only a matter of seconds before Michael and Corinne Williamson found themselves bound and gagged in the cramped bathroom of their former hotel room.
“Not a bad haul really, this should cover our trip there at least,” Suzu said dumping the contents of the couple’s wallet and purse onto the end of the queen sized bed, among the credit cards, and photos, was a sizeable amount of cash, which Rydia promptly snatched and put in her pocket for safe keeping, though Blade eyed her skeptically when she mentioned said reason.
“So, when do we leave?” Crawler asked cheerfully, he’d merely observed as his fellow SB members had subdued the couple, and was searching through the luggage they had found in a far corner, for something he had deigned not to mention to anyone else as of yet. “Well, we could leave tonight but I think we’ve done enough for today,” HAX answered, eyeing the amount of plastic now at their disposal. “Right?”
“Let’s see, tortured the hotel staff, plotted world domination, wrought harm against innocents, acquired trip funds…I’d definitely say we’ve done enough for today,” Suzu said cheerfully, her words the direct opposite of her gleeful expression, looking towards the katana that had proven it’s use oh so well, the tea maker shoved all of their loot into a zip-loc bag and after throwing it into a dark corner, leapt onto one of the two queen-sized beds in the room.
As Crawler pouted though everyone in the room pointedly ignored this, Rydia clambered onto the bed beside Suzu, crossing her arms and laying her head on top of them, not yet ready to give herself unto sleep, there was still the matter of who would be picked for her “experiment.” While they would not have much time in the morning, surely if she mentioned the need to subject a human being to their tea, they would linger a bit longer in the hotel, if not, Rydia could always satisfy her need in the flight over to England, after all a plane would take off if it had all of it’s occupants, never mind the fact the plane would inevitably land missing half or perhaps more of it’s passengers.
Letting out an evil chuckle, Rydia turned herself about and closed her eyes, while Blade rolled her own eyes and after muttering about how crazy those around her were, and how much she appreciated this fact, she too retired to one of the beds. HAX and Crawler exchanged a look, one filled with the knowledge that when one of the women awoke, evil deeds would no doubt be done (with their full consent, mind you), before HAX started towards the bed Blade had settled upon, when he had come within a foot of it, Blade stood, and smiling widely, whistled.
In the nearest corner of the hotel room, a dark spot slowly grew until it had all but filled the wall, from its depths came a muscled tentacle that quickly shot out and wrapping itself around HAX’s ankle, dragged him into the LCD. Within the darkness, sounds of struggle became apparent, and after a muffled curse, died off; Blade patted herself on the back, and lightly thanking the LCD, returned to bed, content enough with the knowledge that HAX would not approach her for the remainder of the night.
Crawler meanwhile had taken over the side of the bed Blade was not using, and before Blade could protest, had fast fallen asleep, his search for the mysterious item obviously not yielding any results, shrugging, Blade pulled the covers over her and ignored the slight beep that indicated HAX had re-spawned. Eyeing the two beds, HAX took over the end of the bed with Rydia and Suzu in it, and upon receiving no abuse, sighed disappointingly and heeded the darkness at the edge of his vision.
--------------------------
Afternoon found the SB group seated inside a bustling airport, Rydia watching the bulletin board angled high above them displaying the time until their flight to England finally allowed people to board, she occasionally kicked the bag at her feet when it moved in a suspicious matter, and considering what lay inside of it and what she had been denied earlier in the hotel, she felt her physical abuse was justified.
Suzu sat beside Rydia, contently reading a book, and ignoring the odd looks those passing her gave, snickered underneath her breath when she had the mind to, muttering about how Anita should charge for admission with that many people entering and leaving her body. Rydia looked over once, grinned then went back to watching the bulletin board intently, ticking away the minutes until she had to suffer the long flight overseas, as if sensing her unease, Suzu patted Rydia’s arm once, her gaze still locked on the book in her hand.
Leaning towards Suzu gratefully, Rydia settled her head on her friend’s shoulder and surveyed their surroundings, HAX and Crawler had wandered off to buy their tickets and Blade was killing time in a store nearby, having pleaded she needed to buy another pack of colored pencils so she could adequately entertain herself on the flight SB was to take. Lifting her head, Rydia prodded Suzu lightly when HAX and Crawler started towards them, the brief squabble they’d had with the ticket booth employee having ended in their favor.
Suzu raised her eyes from the book before shrugging; leaving Rydia to inquire as to the trouble the pair had had whilst purchasing their tickets, standing, as she’d been sitting for far too long, Rydia grinned at HAX, and as he stared curiously, gestured for her ticket, once she had it in hand, she eyed it a moment before squashing the urge to rip it completely into two, she couldn’t board a flight without a ticket after all. “Did everything go well? You two were standing in front of that booth for a while.”
Crawler adverted his eyes, and as his face and neck reddened, Rydia raised a brow, and turned to HAX, who had been looking about for Blade, then sensing Rydia’s gaze grow intent upon him, shifted and pointed to two of the names on the tickets in his hands. “I posed as Michael Williamson, and they didn’t quite believe Crawler was my wife after a sex change operation, and so we wouldn’t be found out, I had to invent details of our nonexistent sex life, both before and after the operation.
“After about five minutes, I think Sarah, the girl at the desk, gave me the tickets just to get rid of me,” HAX finished, raising a hand to hide the smirk that had formed soon after he had began speaking, after a moment, Suzu burst out laughing, abandoning her precious smut completely, ignoring the glare Crawler angled at her; Rydia allowed herself a smirk, and a telling look towards Crawler as tears ran down Suzu’s cheeks. “I hope the flight goes well for you, Corrine…err, Corey, given how sore you must be.”
While Crawler raised a fist pointedly, Rydia waved her hands, signaling she hadn’t meant badly by her comment, still stifling laughter when Blade suddenly appeared near the group, Rydia jumped briefly and as Blade took her seat near Suzu, drew her gaze back over the ticket HAX had handed her. As their group’s activities had not gone unnoticed in the world, and there was sure to be a few organizations that would pay excessively for SB’s disbandment, they had opted to use aliases to purchase the remaining tickets they would need to travel overseas.
Mouthing the name printed on the ticket, Rydia hoped her Japanese was up to snuff, as her identify was that of an Japanese-American named Nadare McNamara, whose genes were dominantly American, and figuring if push came to shove, she could always feign she’d never been taught the language, Rydia looked over the rest of the names written on the tickets HAX was slowly handing out to the rest of the group.
Suzu had been given the identify of a woman they had dropped in the street shortly after leaving the hotel, who ironically had been named Susan Black, thankful the nickname Suzu wasn’t that hard to twist from the woman’s name, they’d found Susan had been a reporter, and her going overseas wouldn’t be questioned, as she could have been pursuing a particularly juicy story.
Kicking her bag that had flipped completely over, Rydia looked over Blade’s ticket, bearing the name Circe Jenkins, a mongrel of various descent that made it hard to place her in just one gene pool, and glad for the animosity, it was insured Blade wouldn’t be unnecessarily bothered by those who were curious about the origin of her name, leaving her to draw in peace. With Crawler posing a changed Corrine Williamson, and HAX taking the mantle as her/his husband, as long as each of the SB members behaved themselves well enough, there would be no suspicion cast upon the group.
-------------------------
Thirty minutes later, their luggage checked in (save for the constantly shifting bag of Rydia’s), and seats claimed, an eerie calm had settled over the group as they sat quietly, Suzu just on the verge on finishing the book she had started however many hours ago, Blade drawing upon a pad contently, and HAX and Crawler making small talk, obviously trying to concoct a back story as to why Corrine Williamson had wanted to have a sex change operation, much to Crawler’s chagrin. “I’m telling you, you didn’t know you were gay, and after marrying me, something seemed to be missing from our relationship, and after a few months, you came out to me, and inquired as to whether or not I’d be willing to have a sex change operation.
“But I refused, and shortly after, you drugged me and soon enough the damage was done, and in a man’s body, I made the best of my situation,” Crawler explained shortly, having no idea how many heads turned his way after his spiel, HAX scoffed, his distaste with the back story showing all too well. “That’s what you’d like to believe. In essence, it was you who expressed the interest in having your gender changed, and as your husband, I could do nothing but support you in your newfound curiosity until you got sick and tired of it, but you didn’t and I adjusted after the operation was set.”
“Bullshit, I did not indulge myself in switching genders, as you’d like me to believe,” Crawler bit off, crossing his arms, and turning from the man he was supposed to be married to for the trip, HAX raised an eyebrow, thinking that perhaps Crawler had slipped too deeply into his false identity then shrugged and left the discussion at that, they could iron out the crinkles in the back story later when Crawler felt more comfortable.
Stifling giggles, Rydia’s amusement quickly dissipated when an announcement came over the intercom, warning the occupants of the plane to put away all electronic devices and fasten their seatbelts, whimpering, Rydia quickly complied and curled into a ball in her seat, willing the plane to start moving so the flight could be over already. Running a hand over Rydia’s now messed hair, Suzu watched as a stewardess came to the front of the section they were sitting in, and demonstrated what to do in case of an emergency, luckily only HAX and Crawler were seated near a window, so Suzu tuned out the stewardess and looked to Blade, who was still drawing intently.
Shrugging, Suzu comforted Rydia as best she could, and ignored the butterflies that started flitting about in her stomach once the plane started down the runway, and finally eased into the air. Letting out a sigh of relief when it seemed all was going well, Suzu eyed Rydia worriedly but stood and started for the small bathroom at the end of aisle, scooting past Blade who only shifted and let Suzu by without comment.
Rydia’s bag in hand, Suzu slowly pulled the zipper and grinned as a chibi-sized Wufei leapt of the bag, his reflection in the bathroom mirror showing only his back, he spouted off about injustice and how he hadn’t been born to satisfy the needs of crazy people, even if said crazy people were able to hide their insanity so well, it was chilling. “Relax, Wuffers, the only reason you were brought on this trip is because the Wuffer’s Tea we tried to bring onto the plane was x-rayed, found to have toxic substances in it and sent to an disclosed location to be buried deep within the earth.
“Thus, we brought the source of our precious tea and if you so much as complain about being dunked into water, I’m going to let you drown and damned if we aren’t able to make more Wuffer’s Tea,” Suzu threatened, her hand on the chibi’s neck tightening dangerously, until small hands moved frantically, signaling the message had been understood, loud and clear. Satisfied, Suzu moved to the sink and filled it with water, glaring a command at Wufei, who sighed in exasperation and after testing a finger, and finding the water lukewarm, slipped into the sink.
Eyeing the chibi as he swam about, flavoring the water, as she’d ask, Suzu glanced away and looked about the bathroom, frowning at its small side and how near claustrophobic it could make a person, making a reminder to not let Rydia enter one, as some turbulence almost knocked her into the wall, Suzu examined the water Wufei was swimming in, noting that though the tea would be weak, it would at least be able to hold the group over until they landed in England, as it wouldn’t do for them to lose it halfway through the flight. Glaring when a fist pounded upon the bathroom door, Suzu smirked and took a seat on the toilet after putting the lid down, entirely too amused as the man continued pounding complaining about airline food and how long he had been waiting to use the bathroom.
Exchanging a look with Wufei, Suzu waited a full five minutes, entertaining herself by throwing all the toilet paper into the toilet and flushing it away, figuring either the man had dirtied himself by now or run off to an unoccupied bathroom, Suzu lifted Wufei out of the sink, and after handing the chibi a paper towel to dry himself off with, pulled a small jug from the bag Wufei had been carried in, and after filling the jug as much as she could, twisted the lid on and holding the jug close, shoved Wufei back into the bag, even as he sputtered indignantly.
Once the zipper had been closed all the way, Suzu exited the bathroom, eyeing a flustered man waiting nearby as he hustled into the bathroom she’d vacated, only to curse a few moments later when he realized there was no toilet paper. Taking her seat once more, Blade still focused entirely on her drawing, Suzu knocked Rydia’s head lightly with the jug, and as Rydia uncurled herself upon recognizing the small logo on the jug’s bottom, uneasily grabbed for the container.
Pulling it out of her grasp twice, Suzu grinned and finally let the jug sit comfortably in Rydia’s hands, quickly, her friend drank almost 1/3 of the jug, wiping a hand across her mouth guiltily as she sat the jug in her lap. “Thanks,” Rydia mumbled, her tone ringing of contentment, though her face turned ashen when the plane jerked slightly, and immediately, another swig of Wuffer’s Tea found itself tumbling downward in Rydia’s throat.
Ignoring the slight yelp Rydia gave as she curled into a ball once again, Suzu sighed and grabbed the jug before it fell onto the floor, and inevitably in the wrong hands, her gaze turned to the left when it became apparent Crawler and HAX were talking once again, curiosity won out and downing some of the Wuffer’s Tea herself, Suzu listened intently, along with half of the aisle behind her.
“Okay, it’s obvious either of us don’t want to pretend to be something we’re not, and damned if we have to continue the charade we’re married once we land, so let’s leave it at this: you, my supposed wife, were scheduled for plastic surgery to fix the ungodly disfigured toe of your right foot but somehow the paperwork got messed up, and you ended up having a sex change operation.
“Because we had had a good marriage in the past, we’re trying to work past the gender issue but we’re finding it a hurdle more than anything, and so in a last ditch effort to reclaim the relationship we have, we took this trip, where the matter of whether or not a divorce would be imminent would be settled. Good?” Watching closely, HAX jerked in surprise when Crawler turned grinning and nodded happily, letting out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding, HAX glanced over to Suzu, who immediately began whistling innocently, her gaze anywhere but in his direction.
“Is that Wuffer’s Tea?” Cutting her whistling short, Suzu smiled and handed over the jug, which was still halfway full, figuring if they ran out, Wufei could always bathe in a bathroom sink again, whether he liked it or not, there hadn’t been a peep from the chibi since he had been shoved back into the bag. At HAX’s contented sigh, Suzu took back the jug and offered it to Blade, who peered over her drawing pad a moment then took the jug and shrugging, drank deep of the Wuffer’s Tea before handing it back to Suzu, giving a genuine smile before settling her gaze back on the sketch she had worked so hard to get perfect.
The hours dragged on, and halfway through the flight, as Suzu had feared, she felt her self control snap, no longer could she sit in her seat and pretend to be one of the many ignorant masses scattered throughout the plane, and poking the button that called the stewardess so hard it almost broke, Suzu waited impatiently, the knuckles of her fisted hands white. When the stewardess came up beside her seat, Suzu pulled out a semiautomatic pistol from the Heero Hole, and put it to the woman’s head, her mouth slipping into a familiar evil grin.
“So much for not bringing suspicion upon ourselves,” Crawler mumbled underneath his breath as he stood, walking to the front of the plane to warn those in first class the plane was being hijacked, meanwhile HAX started to the back to do much the same, and pleased the others had no complaints about her self restraint snapping, Suzu pulled the trigger, dropping the stewardess even before Blade could come to a stand. Raising her hands sheepishly, Suzu poked Rydia with her foot and after some better placed pokes, Rydia let out a retching sound and glaring at Suzu, walked into the aisle, pulling out a weapon for herself.
“At least now they know we’re serious,” Suzu said, humming happily as she scanned those in their section for another hostage now that she wasn’t so trigger happy, though she made no promises about not killing anymore people, boredom had to take form in some way after all. “They could have gotten the message without you killing someone, you know. Maybe slight torture or maiming, yeah, maiming could have done it,” Rydia informed, her queasiness disappearing the more her grip on the revolver tightened.
As Blade whistled, calling forth the LCD into existence, she grinned at Suzu and Rydia as tentacles crept out from the darkness and pulled random people from their seats, their screams ringing shrilly before dying completely, in good spirits now, when a penguin shaped figure with jagged antlers exited the LCD, the SB members exchanged a look and after shouting to Crawler and HAX to use caution around the Penguimooooooose, they watched it waddle towards the front of plane intently. “Oh, shit, this could go oh so very badly,” Rydia breathed out, clutching her gun to her chest, heeding not the questioning glances of the plane’s passengers.
“As long as it doesn’t go for the cockpit, I think we’ll be all right,” Blade replied, glancing at her drawing pad longingly then biting off a sigh when it looked as if they would have their hands full keeping the Penguimooooooose from unwittingly bringing down their plane, and keeping their fellow passengers from panicking. In the section ahead of them, Crawler let out a disgusted gasp, and as Rydia and Suzu nodded to Blade to keep a watch on their section, they entered first class just in time to watch the Penguimooooooose waddle into an aisle, ravaging the bodies near him savagely, flesh and blood spattering into the air and onto the floor.
Applauding in appreciation, Rydia slowed the movement of her hands, when in sync Suzu and Crawler turned to glare at her, clearly not amused by her cheerful matter, sticking out her tongue as she’d been miserable for the last six hours, Rydia crossed her arms to keep herself from spurning the Penguimooooooose on further. “Perhaps if we guide it back into the Heero Hole or LCD?” Crawler suggested, ignoring the frightened sounds of the passengers around him until they grew into a crescendo, irritated, he looked to Rydia and Suzu before reaching into the Heero Hole, and pulling out a dart gun, fired into the face of the nearest person.
As the man choked in agony, Crawler watched somewhat bored until the man’s breathing stopped altogether and he slumped forward in his seat, falling to the floor a moment later, the first class section fell into silence abruptly. “Thank you, you’d swear they’d think they’re in real danger here,” Crawler said with a laugh, unknowing of the uneasy glances some of the passengers exchanged. “That aside, how you propose guiding the Penguimooooooose?”
Eyeing Suzu after she had asked the question, Crawler put a hand to his chin, stroking it lightly, then as another light bulb appeared above his head, he raised a brow and after shattering it against a nearby wall, reached into the Heero Hole again, this time pulling out several pokey sticks, all of which belonged to Suzu. She started in alarm, and after glomping all of them possessively, glared at Crawler openly, her eyes starting to glow red, the very picture of abandon, Crawler pointed to the Penguimooooooose slowly making it’s way towards the cockpit and then to the pokey sticks in Suzu’s arms.
“Ah, I see,” Rydia said after a beat, and wrenching one of the pokey sticks from Suzu, started towards the Penguimooooooose intently, damned if she was going to allow the freak of nature to bring down the plane with her in it. Still clearly reluctant to lend out her pokey sticks, Suzu sighed and after throwing one to Crawler, headed back towards the section they had been seated in to give one to Blade, and inevitably HAX as well.
Leaving the passengers to cower accordingly, the SB group all advanced towards the Penguimooooooose, who noticed them only after a moment then turned and growling, it rammed Rydia, striking her in the stomach, Suzu let out a battle cry: "You in some shit now, muhfuh! I destroy all in my path faster than the super-flu!!!” before attacking fiercely, stabbing the end of her trusty pokey stick into one of the Penguimooooooose’s beady little glowing eyes.
It reared back, screeching in pain, one of his flippers frantically trying to cover it’s injured eye, which was leaking a strange pale blue liquid, and as it stumbled backward, it fell through the door of the cockpit, startling the pilots who were conversing among themselves. As the Penguimooooooose raised his one-eyed gaze to the innocent man and woman, it let out a harsh grinding growl and lunged forward, blood splattered nearly everywhere, and almost in unison, each of the SB members let out a heartfelt “shit.”
-----------------------------
“So how could things get worse? Not only did we hijack the plane we were supposed to take to England but we also released the Penguimooooooose, who killed the pilots quicker than the blink of an eye, regardless of our attempt to get it back into the LCD or Heero Hole. Shortly afterward, the plane crashed, and we are now using wreckage as floatation devices in an attempt to ourselves out of the ocean, as there’s sure to be sharks around,” Blade ranted, mostly to herself though she glared at whomever paid her mind since they had gotten her into this mess in the first place.
“So far, there haven’t been any sharks…well, other than that one I stabbed through the head and tried to eat, who knew sharks weren’t meant for eating?” Suzu questioned offhandedly, ignoring her friends as they raised their hands pointedly. Rydia was curled upon a board, looking for all the world, a thoroughly wet unhappy cat, and brushing aside her tangled hair, she glared at the wreckage of the plane as it continued to sink further into the ocean. There should have been some justice in the very thing she hated having been destroyed but all Rydia could feel was an intense hatred for airplanes and that she had been right in avoiding them to begin with.
“The next time Mr. Light Bulb has an idea, I think we should just ignore him,” Rydia grunted out, referring to Crawler and his habit of having light bulbs appear in the form of ideas, she heard hurried agreements through the rest of the party, with a slight grumbling that must have been Crawler, though he made no complaint about Rydia’s request.
After things had fallen to hell, the SB members had shortly executed the rest of the passengers in mass, using the excuse that they’d be spared the horror of having to survive a plane crash by dying, while the real reason had been that the SB group had wanted to use their bodies as cushioning when the plane hit the water. When there had been no one else to object to their horrid intention, they had followed through on their plan, and surprisingly it had worked, once they had dug their way out of the corpse-cushioned corner, it had been a small matter to exit the plane fast filling with water.
Now the group found itself sitting or lying on scraps of the plane’s interior, which they had tied together with torn seatbelts from the plane, in order to keep anyone from floating away, the general atmosphere was gloomy, their plan to test Wuffer’s Tea out on English men and women had fallen apart, and now the group had to concentrate on surviving throughout the night, if they hadn’t had the Heero Hole or LCD at their disposal, they have been thoroughly fucked.
----------------------------
An hour later, the SB members lounged on a nearby island, lavish French food laid out on a tablecloth on the beach, wine glasses full of soda and other substances positioned near the dinner Blade had unceremoniously pulled out from the LCD, stating that after the hell they had gone through, they should at least live it up until deciding upon a course of action, and so it was. Making use of LCD and Heero Hole, they had been able to shower, don new clothes, and pull what was needed when they gave thought to it. While Rydia and Suzu partied it up with bishies that had wandered out of the Heero Hole, Crawler, HAX and Blade sat eating, sometimes falling into quiet conversation, though most of it was about what had happened to the Penguimooooooose after the airplane had crashed.
“That freak of nature can drown for all I care,” Rydia said harshly, sitting beside HAX and stealing a bit of food off the plate before him, smiling guiltily when HAX swatted her hand away when Rydia made to grab more. “In fact, I hope it did, that would teach it for killing those pilots. I’m not sure whose fault it was the Penguimooooooose got out in the first place, Suzu’s for snapping mentally, Blade’s for calling forth the LCD or mine, for allowing myself to get struck by the little shit in the first place.”
“All of the above?” Crawler supplied, grabbing another can of Dr. Pepper from the tall stack near him, and popping open the can with a slight hissing sound before downing almost half the can. Snorting, Rydia looked towards Suzu, who was swaying rhythmically with the surprisingly skilled green-haired swordsman, in a dance that would have been obscene were the couple’s hands not all accounted for. Glancing at HAX for a moment, Rydia pulled him to his feet and started towards Suzu and Zoro, Blade and Crawler exchanged a look, eyed the food in front of them and shrugged, standing and following in the faint trail Rydia left behind in the sand.
Throughout the night, lessons were taught quickly, feet stepped on at regular intervals, and laughter spilled out of the SB group as easily the water of the ocean lapped against the shore, when they had all expended their energy, it was in a near dog pile they collapsed, and not sparing a thought as to the next morning, the SB members fell quickly asleep, unheeding of the dark figure that inched it’s way out of the forestry near the beach.
----------------------------------
The next morning began when Crawler sat up, clutched his head and complained he had drank too much wine last evening, Blade half opened one eye, prodded him hard in the shoulder and hissed he hadn’t drank wine last night before turning herself over and clutching at the leg nearest to her, using it as a pillow. Smiling sheepishly, Crawler stood and headed for the edge of the beach, intent on starting the day by taking a quick swim in the clear waters that surrounded them, just as he had pulled his shirt over his head, his gaze caught on the area where they had eaten dinner the night before.
Where they had left several full plates and glasses, there was now only the tablecloth left, along with some pop cans that looked to have been punctured by a sharp object, raising a brow, Crawler hurriedly donned his shirt, and ran towards where the others lay contently, deep in slumber.
An hour later, Rydia sat grumpily at a table they had pulled out of the Heero Hole, and glared intently at Crawler as he rambled on about how their dinner from last night had disappeared, never thinking it might have simply been the animals that populated the island. Nearly drooping as the sun fell completely on her, she hissed as if the light burned her, and growling out “fuck this, I’m going back to bed,” started towards a pair of shaded palm trees, reaching into the Heero Hole for a hammock, and after setting it up, threw herself into it, and abruptly fell asleep.
Sighing, Crawler looked towards the figure they had been unable to rouse, still lying out on the beach, oblivious to the fact the sun had rose, the reverse vampire that was Suzu, figuring she would wake when it got too hot, Crawler turned back to the expectant gazes of HAX and Blade. “Do you think it could have been one of the natives here?”
“Why would a native have in any interest in French food, not to mention pop?” Blade asked; covering a yawn with her hand, she found herself tempted to follow in Rydia’s wake and leave Crawler and HAX to solve the mystery of their missing dinner. “They’re hungry natives who haven’t resorted to cannibalism yet?” Finding two glares on him, Crawler laughed uneasily, scratching the back of his neck as he tried to find another reason for why their food had been snatched away.
“It was the Penguimooooooose,” said a voice at the table, and jumping in surprise, Blade, HAX and Crawler eyed the dazed looking Suzu sitting near to Blade, and pondering how she had gotten there so fast; cause was given to allow Suzu to elaborate. “The little shit probably survived, he’s as tough to kill as the rest of us, remember? If we ever got really bored, all we’d have to do is lock ourselves in a room with it, battle it, then re-spawn when it was needed.”
“You’re still upset about it hurting Rydia?” HAX questioned hollowly, beginning to feel it was futile to try and have a normal conversation, Suzu’s response was nonverbal, as her brow narrowed dangerously, and her eyes glowed red briefly, letting out a short whistle, HAX quickly moved to another topic. “Suzu’s right, it had to be the Penguimooooooose, natives aside, there’s no other option.”
“I say we let the issue go, and go back to bed,” Blade suggested, rubbing a hand over her eyes as the heat began to make her drowsy, Suzu nodded her agreement, and in sync, the two stood and headed to the shady area where Rydia had settled. “If it kills us in our sleep, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Crawler muttered underneath his breath as he headed to the edge of the beach to start the swim he had delayed.
HAX gave one last glance to the tablecloth lying on the sand, shrugged and started towards the forestry, curious as to whether the island had natives or not, and if the Penguimooooooose had made itself a home somewhere within the pseudo jungle.
------------------------------
“It’s made minions out of all the island’s animals?” Rydia echoed in disbelief, staring at HAX as if he had grown a third head, after a beat, he nodded, clearly displeased that they could no longer stay on the island, it had began to feel rather comfortable. “Are we supposed to be scared or impressed?” Suzu asked calmly, snacking on a cookie from her position on the edge of the table, Blade shrugged, rubbing one of her arms. “Question is, is it on our side or not? If it isn’t, we’ve got to find a way to tame the little shit.”
“…Is it addicted to Wuffer’s Tea?” Crawler inquired, grinning haphazardly in spite of the looks he received because of it, one could practically hear gears turn among the SB group; and almost at the same time, they all smirked. After a short hike into the forestry turned enemy territory, and a quick game of hide and seek, the SB group had managed to capture the Penguimooooooose, and injecting a needle full of Wuffer’s Tea into it’s veins, it suddenly became amicable, even allowing Blade to rub it’s stomach after some coaxing.
With the problem solved, the SB group went back to enjoying their time on the island; time passed slowly, pleasantly, thoughts of their plan to travel to England seemed unimportant now that they had an entire island at their disposal, it was decided during one of their many meetings that they would use the island as their base should an emergency come about in the future.
It was three days later, whilst the group had been watching television contently (asking how they managed to utilize electricity on a desert island will only make things unnecessarily complicated) that they stumbled upon a news report on the flight they’d taken to England, in the midst of excitedly pointing out who’d managed the cleanest kill, when a reporter raised a familiar jug, the group fell silent.
“Among the carnage found in the wreckage of flight 456, this jug containing mysterious substances was found along with an amazingly small midget who speaks only the word ‘injustice.’ Scientists have henceforth tried to figure out the connection between the jug and the midget, but no results have been released to the public thus far. We’ll be sure to make a full report once more details are available, this is Karen Vince, signing off.”
“You lost Wuffers? This is just great!”
“You try keeping track of a jug and duffel bag when an airplane is crashing!”
“Without Wuffers, we have no Wuffer’s Tea!”
“If we didn’t have Wuffer’s Tea stored elsewhere, this would be really bad…”
“Hold it, hold it! We know what has to be done. From this point on, Operation Rescue Chibi goes into effect.”
To be continued…
Back?