Chapter 2: Meeting the Squad
Richie
The first thing that hit me was the bright light. It shined directly in my eyes, hanging from a small cord coming out of the ceiling just above where I sat tied down to a small wooden chair with my hands tied behind me and my legs restrained out in front of me. The second was the sound, completely quiet, with only my breathing resonating off the walls. Last was the smell, dank and moist like it had just rained, but that was impossible as we were inside. No, it didn't rain, it was hosed down, purposely wet to prevent my escape. I quickly scoured the room, a plan formulating in mind as I saw a large wooden door on a small ledge, high above me. It suddenly clicked what I had to do and, do it quickly.
"Damn this is going to hurt" I moaned just before I tried to stand up, but instead slammed the chair quickly back to the ground.
A loud crack echoed as the chair shattered below me. Using my teeth and some sharp chair splinters I managed to pry the ropes off my wrist and quickly untied the ropes on my ankles. I took in my surroundings, the silver pipe hanging overhead, the large walls enclosing me into this small room, and the doorstep just above the pipe. My instincts immediately kicked in. I sprinted towards the wall, jumping and kicking off of it as leverage. I launched myself up onto the pipe, balancing on it as if it was a playground balance beam from grade school. Quickly and carefully, I walked along the slippery surface, reaching the end, just below to doorstep. I jumped and caught the doorstep, swinging my leg over the ledge. I pulled myself up and gripped the cold door handle. Without hesitation, I threw the door open, prepared for another challenge to await me on the other side. As I stepped through, the room was pitch black with darkness, only the light from the previous room illuminated where I was standing. I sensed something move further down the hallway. Just as I was prepared to fight my imagined assailant, several lights flickered on, blinding me. My hands flew from their defensive positions to shield me eyes. Once they adjusted, I could make out seven people standing in an arrow formation in the center of the room.
"Who are you?", I asked.
Their blank faces showed no emotion towards the terrified and confused boy standing in front of them.
"Why am I here?", I yelled.
"Richie!", someone yelled from the back of the group.
The seven people standing in front of me parted in unison to reveal and tall and brooding woman striding towards me.
"Well, well Mr. Forbes, welcome to Hell, otherwise known as The Side. You are part of TOTS, The Organization of Teenage Spies. I am Rebecca Lubelski, but you can call me the Headmistress. Let's get down to business, shall we?" She wrapped her arm around me, leading out the hall and into a long corridor.
She pointed at several doors and crossroads, naming off what they contained. "These are the dorms, all students share a dorm with three others of the same gender", she said as we walked past several large doors.
Headmistress and I, followed by several heavily armed agents, wound through multiple hallways where she showed me the many, many rooms as we passed.
"And last but most definitely not least, the training grounds or Robo Dojo if you prefer to call it that. Here you will train with your team."
"Wait. I have a team! And, where am I? Why am I here? Who- "I questioned, but Headmistress cut in.
"Richie, I promised you will have all of these questions answered very soon but please, let me finish".
She explained how I was being watched for a long time after I enter that "fake" CIA contest. She continued to say how the needed five major aspects for the ultimate team; strength, intelligence, tactics, technology, and memory. I was one of the many people under scrutiny for the spot of intelligence.
"Well, now that you know why you're here, let's meet the rest of your team shall we?".
She shoved open the large double doors blocking the path in front of us. Behind them was an extension of the Robo Dojo, where in the four corners of the room, four teenagers practiced their various strategies. Closest to me was a short girl in glasses. A long braid ran down her dark brown hair and drooped over her shoulder as she sat at a desk surrounded by books and files. She quickly glanced up as we approached to reveal her dark brown eyes hidden behind her glasses. She looked confused until she saw the Headmistress walking next to me and must have known something was up.
"Hello", she said cautiously and outstretched her arm in a friendly greeting.
"Richie, this is Astrid Oristano and she is our spot of recollection. She has a photographic memory and can recall almost any detail flawlessly.", Headmistress explained.
"Speaking of which, have you guys seen my keys?", Astrid questioned.
They two guards standing behind us shrugged while Headmistress shook her head and look straight up in the air.
She turned back to look at me, half laughing and half disappointed, "I did say almost, right?".
We left Astrid to rummage through her desk in her desperate attempt to find her keys while Headmistress and I strolled to the next corner to find a tall teenage boy playing baseball. However, as we walked close I noticed he wasn't hitting baseballs, he was hitting small spherical balls. The slugger hit ten balls repeatedly perfectly on point. He then stopped, turned to face us, smiled at Headmistress, gave me a confused stare, and continue over to what looked like a military training ground. He proceeded to do pushups, pull ups, and other various exercises. He then walked over to a large screen in the background with a colorful floor divided into squares that lit up on contact making it look like a giant Dance Dance Revolution game. Once he stepped onto the glowing platform a huge soldier popped onto the screen and began to yell commands at him. He followed them flawlessly, or at least I think he did because every time he moved, I could hear "Perfect" or "Good", making it seem even more like Dance Dance Revolution.
"That is Mitchell Factor, our tactician. Military trained and one of the best covert teenage operatives out here.", Headmistress explained.
He sure seemed like the leader type but I already knew his weakness, he couldn't diverge from the rulebook. Mitchell seemed like too much of a robot to me. He may be the best operative but that is just the problem, a leader has to take chances; something that Mitchell couldn't do.
"If he's super militaristic, why was he practicing baseball?", I asked.
"Dude, don't you play a sport?", said a new voice behind me.
Mitchell calmly strode toward us, stopping in a fierce halt a foot away from us. Decorated with many military ribbons and medals across his chest, he stood confidently and in perfect formation.
"Sergeant Major Factor reporting for duty, ma'am", he recited.
"Thank you, Sergeant, you're relieved.", Headmistress said.
He relaxed and began walking back to where we came from, back towards the dorms. Back where Mitchell came from, was a short and stocky girl pounding at a bright red punching bag. With a mighty swing, she knocked the bag off of its handle and let it fly into the opposite wall. Several training robots rose up out of ground in fight stances. They sprinted towards her but she swiftly ended them in several punches and kicks. The last robot rushed towards her but she turned around like a whirlwind and punched its head clean off. The ball of steel and electrical circuits flew straight towards us, but Headmistress and I sidestepped it. It continued to fly behind us as Mitchell was walking behind us. His fast reflexes came to his aid as did his baseball expertise and he caught the robotic head just as it was about to hit his face.
"Jenna, when you're kicking butt, please be wary of people around you", he called.
"Sorry Mitch.", she called back.
Headmistress approached Jenna, but I kept my distance. After seeing what she just did to that robot, I'd prefer to keep my head.
"Richie, this is Jenna, our strongest and fiercest fighter".
She pounded her beefy arms together and flashed her gleaming gold rings in a sign of dominance.
"I'm Jenna but people call me the Knuckle Walker", she said proudly and fiercely.
I couldn't help but smile and say sarcastically, "Well, you are very gorilla-like".
Mitchell held his mouth agape, obviously surprised by the sudden turn of events. Jenna angrily stared at me in a sort of questioning expression.
"Well, well, we finally have someone on the team that can confront me without losing their lunch, right Mitchell".
Mitchell blushed, clearly embarrassed, "Of course the day I am picked to be on the squad I eat bad fish and get sick in front of Jenna".
She turned back to face me, clearly wanting to make me just like one of those robots, dismantled. Her emotions changed so fast, it was almost sudden. She stuck her hand out in a friendly gesture, clearly wanting to shake my hand, but her eyes showed the direct opposite; murderous rage and revenge brewing inside of a pot of humiliation. Acting purely out of instinct, I stuck my hand out to meet her's in a handshake. She quickly thrust out her hand, squeezed my hand with the strength of an elephant, and threw me over her back like a sack of flour. One second I was in the center of the training room; the next I was against the wall with the wind knocked out of me. When I regained my vision, a short dude in short brown hair and dark eyes stood in front of me.
"Wow dude, you got owned!", he said half concerned and half hysterical with laughter.
He extended his hand to try to help me up but, still wary of Jenna, slipped my arm behind myself and pushed off the wall. While I tried to clear the black dots from my vision, the kid looked me up and down, checking to see if I was ok.
"Well, seems like all your circuits are in order. I'm MMBluebird24, but just call me Zach".
Behind him was a desk, similar to Astrid's but far more complex. Surrounded by screens and wires, was a dark wooden desk with circuit boards and modems creating a wall around it. A large cushioned chair stood next to the desk, obviously tossed aside hastily in Zach's rush to come check on me.
"You definitely got wrecked. Haven't you learned to never take on a higher XP than you can handle. That was a noob move, bro".
Jenna laughed hysterically behind us, "Higher XP? I'm more of a boss level!".
Without even thinking of the consequences I yelled back, "Yea in Donkey Kong Adventure!".
Jenna whipped around so fast, she looked close to getting whiplash. Her braid billowed behind her as she hastily marched towards Zach and me.
A few inches from my faces she whispered, "You better watch it newbie, The Jester isn't the only bad enemy you have.", and angrily stomped away to the dorms.
Headmistress hurried over, "Are you okay? Now you know one of our first rules; never mess with Jenna".