Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The Watchmen Files // Chapter Three

Greetings, everyone! Good day to you all!

   I see that it is Watchmen Wednesday again, and you know what that means!


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GBVX-Nxb_Qo/Ui55kn3i22I/AAAAAAAAy7E/QF4L1t1OAL8/s620/T.W.F.O.%2520Chapter%25203%2520Men%2520In%2520Black%252C%2520The%2520Freckled%2520Freak%252C%2520And%2520The%2520Human%2520Guard%2520Dog%2520book%2520cover.jpg


The Watchmen Files
Chapter Three
Men In Black, The Freckled Freak, And The Human Guard Dog


   "Cheer up, ye saints of God, there's nothin' ta worry about! Nothin' to make ya feel afraid, nothin' ta make ya doubt! Remember Jesus never fails, so why not trust Him and shoot? You'll be sorry ya worried at all tomorrow morning!"
   The odd but interestingly cheery tune was sung in a English accent (but he could tell the guy was trying to impersonate Scottish one) somewhere outside of Mason's ringing head, slowly bringing him back around. His heartbeat had lessened (to his relief) and instead he felt soft cushions all around him. But he still felt a soft throbbing in his chest that reached to his head, making him breath heavily. "Mmm..." He groaned and reached for his aching head as he slowly regained consciousness.
   A cheerful voice echoed throughout his mind. "Oh good, he's coming back around."
   Mason's head cleared and he opened up one eyelid to find a blurry white blob that filled all his vision.
   Suddenly, a face appeared through the bright L.E.D. lights to block his view of the recovery room ceiling. "Hello there!"
   "Whoa!" Mason rolled to his left and made a face-to-face collision with the floor which surprisingly didn't hurt him much.
   "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The young man (around Mason's age) had red or blond hair (he couldn't figure out which) with a friendly smile on his lightly freckled face. "My name is Conner, I'm a friend."
   "A-a friend?!" Mason nearly screamed at this unknown person. He backed up rapidly, leaning on a side table for balance. "What do you think I am, crazy?!"
   This Conner character just nodded and smiled. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you."
   "What'd you do with Ava?!"
   He looked perplexed. "Whom?"
   "Ava! My little cousin you kidnapped!!" Mason fumed.
   Conner's face lit up, as if a light bulb had come on. "Oh! The little girl that was in your apartment, oh yes. Her..."
   "Yes her, and I want to know where she is right now!!"
   "I'm sorry, I can't."
   Mason ran his hands through his dark hair, breathing quickly, and muttered quietly to himself, "This can't be happening, it's a dream. Yeah, a dream. That's it. And I'm gonna wake up real soon-"
   "Cadet C.J.M., step aside." Mason whipped his head around to find two men dressed in black standing behind Conner, one holding a briefcase, and the other a weapon which looked like a high-tech hand gun.
   "Oh, good morning gentlemen," Conner smiled nervously as Mason continued to back up. "What are you here for?"
   The one with the weapon looked down at Conner as the other one put the briefcase down and opened it. "We're here to take the boy's blood again, for more tests."
   "You're gonna take my... my... *gulp* blood?" Mason squeaked.
   As you already know, he had a bad encounter with shots in the last chapter. But what you don't know is that he has always had a sort of phobia with them. His dad never let him get shots when his parents were together, and he certainly wasn't going to stop that habit now.
   "It's alright, gentlemen," Conner remarked to the men in black. "I can do that. My mum was a nurse, you know-"
   "No no no no," Mason stammered to him. That's even worse, he thought to himself. I mean, not to be rude, but the guy's gotta have A.D.H.D. He's so energetic and happy, what if he twitches at the wrong moment? What if the needle is used? What if I die from poisoning? What if he shoots me in the eye? What if I lose my eye?! Then what will I do?! Buy an eye patch?! He was not going to let that happen, not today (or any day, rather).
   Luckily, the man with the briefcase spoke up. "Oh no you don't, you're just a cadet. I'll take him." So much for luckily. Now that big burly mountain man was going to do it. Why is life so difficult for me?
   "Okay, let's get this over with," the man mumbled and made a sudden advance on the now terrified Mason. He pulled away, pressing his back to the cold, sterile wall in fear.
   "Stop movin' around, kid," he growled as he followed Mason's scooting moves along the white wall, attempting to avoid his inevitable fate.
   Conner looked concerned. "Be careful, he's not stable yet-"
   "Don't you boss me around, British boy," he snapped. "Just hold still now..." He had finally cornered Mason and moved in for the kill (or shot, rather). Mason searched the room for some sort of defense. Something. Anything. And then he spotted it.
   It was a metal crossbow. Now take note, this wouldn't be his first choice, since he had never even held one, but he had no choice. It wasn't one of those medieval types you can see at history museums, but a modern, sleek, grey one with extra majiggies attached that he didn't even know what they were. And it was loaded with yellow feathered arrows. Not cool, and at the same time perfect.
   He launched himself at the weapon, snatched it, whirled it around and pulled the trigger at the now startled man in black.
   But it didn't do what he expected it to. Instead, when it made impact, it let out a pulse of grey light that traveled all over the man, who fell to the floor after the light disappeared, and the arrow fell to the ground a moment later.
   Mason stared, stunned. But he couldn't stare for long, because the other man in black aimed his gun and fired. Mason braced himself, expecting the pain in his chest to become a whole lot worse. He closed his eyes tightly and held his breath.
   He felt a bump on his chest. "Clink!"
   After a moment, he opened an eyelid and peered down at himself, confused at why it didn't even hurt. And there was a mashed up dart on the ground next to his feet. How could a dart bounce off me like that? The man in black just stared at him, wide eyed, as Conner did also.
   Mason smirked, and looked up at them confidently. "Well ain't that somethin'."
   Immediately, the guy tried to make a run for it.
   "Oh no you don't!" He pulled the trigger, and an arrow made it's impact on his back, sending him to the ground before detaching itself.
   He aimed at the terrified Conner, but hesitated. He could see a look in his eyes. They were big, green, and full of fear. The fear of death. It was the look Ava had when they took her away from him. That look...
   He lowered the weapon slowly. "If you won't give me my cousin, I'll go find her myself. Now don't follow me."
   Conner, still a bit shaky, now looked concerned. "I told you. We don't have the girl-"
   Mason felt his chest get tight, and and anger he had never felt before burst out. "Liar!!" He roared and fired at the defenseless Conner. He jumped to the door, and Mason went right after him. He would do anything to get that freckled freak, and he couldn't think about anything else. It felt like someone pulled him out of his brain, then stuffed something else in. He had no control.
  Conner fell out the door, slammed and locked it, pressing his back against the wall and grabbed for his cellphone. He could hear the pounding of his predator on the other side before the door flew to the opposite side of the hall and Mason appeared. But he stopped suddenly directly outside the door, and he felt a rush of cold blood go to his head.
   There were five new large very unhappy men in black, with five new very unhappy and rather large guns now pointed at the confused and now very frightened Mason.
   "This is a level 24, level 24! We have a unauthorized subject in the main S.R.D. hall! Repeat, subject is not authorized!" A warning blasted over the hall speakers, one that he recognized as Conner's, due to his British accent.
   Mason thought fast. Did he want to see if the bullets wouldn't hurt like the last one, or make a dash for it?
   Choosing the latter, he went streaking away at full speed, looking back to see them shooting blue rays at him. Dodging quickly, he swerved this way and that, only avoiding a few as others hit their target. But he hardly felt anything. The hall was white, but a few windows showed all the scientific equipment. It was like an extremely vivid dream. Nothing could hurt him. But that fact didn't matter. He had to run far away, and wake up from this nightmare.
   There! The end to the hall was about 70 feet ahead and closing. When he reached it, he found no door but another hall going the opposite way and followed that. Man, wherever this place is, it's huge! He had no idea how to get out and saw no maps on the tall dark gray walls, so he just kept moving. He had lost his pursuers, and ran into no one in the halls. "Where is everybody?"
   Spotting an end to this huge hall, he cocked his head at the massive steal doors. A large single W was imprinted in its center, about six feet up the nine foot door. "Humph." He muttered. "It could be a trap... But what other choice do I have?"
   Problem: there were no handles. After looking like a fool trying to find a doorbell or something, he finally found a place where you would use a key card. "That's no use, I don't have a key." He slumped down against the door, running his hands over the crossbow, pondering a way in. He'd never been good with puzzles or patience.
   Just when he was about to snap and pound his fists into the wall, it opened and he fell backwards and would have hit the floor if it wasn't for the arms that steadied him. It was the man who had helped him back at the apartment, Jason, except he was now wearing a crisp light blue dress shirt paired with a dark blue sports coat over it. "It's good to see you're on your feet, though we didn't expect you so fast."
   "Whoa." But it wasn't Jason that made him say that, but what was behind him.
   A huge room full of people dressed in uniforms sitting in front of screens, typing away and calling out different commands lay before him. It was a sprawling multilevel space with raised walkways, command stations sunken into the floor, and floating TVs all leading up to a massive window that covered the entire far wall. Directly in front of him was a platform, raised above the stations below, where a large round dark grey (which was the main color of the place) table was set, and comfortable looking leather seats around it.
   After that the platform continued a few yards before turning into stairs that headed down and turned into a walkway that went directly through the stations into two sides. The bridge (if you could call it that) continued until it reached the window, where it turned into steps going up to another, smaller platform where a hefty single seat sat in the direct middle, surrounded by small screens that could be touched without even having to get up.
   But despite the impressive center, the window itself was the true marvel of it all. You had a nearly undisturbed view of the ocean outside. But I don't mean from the top, but from the bottom.
   "Are.. are we..?"
   "Under water?" Jason put a hand on Mason's shoulder. "Yes. Right now, we're in the Pacific Ocean, seventy miles off the coast of North America, Washington State Harbor, to be precise." He casually meandered over to the table, put his hand on the table-top and pulled up a simulated screen of earth and pointed to their location.
   Mason shook his head, unable to believe his eyes. "This is crazy. It can't be a submarine... it's too huge!"
   Jason smirked proudly. "She's the biggest sub of our time. We're very proud of her."
   "What's her-I mean it's name?"
   "The Liberator."
   He stood there quietly, taking a moment to let it all sink in. For some reason, the Liberator seemed to fit the sub quite nicely. Everything around him, all of the people and fancy equipment had a calm yet stern look and feel to them. It was a relief to have something that knew its purpose and was secure. He finally felt a bit safer. At least I know where I am. Now for all my other questions. "Jason?"
   "Actually, it's Junior Director Gray," he corrected him, "but you can call me Jason, if that makes you more comfortable."
   "Oh, okay. Where's Ava?" His first question was what he was most concerned about.
   Before Jason could answer, there came a shout from outside. "Stop! You're under arrest! Freeze!!"
   He spun around just in time to see someone hurl himself at Mason's torso, attempting to bring him to the ground. Jamming his shoulder into Mason's stomach, the guy stared up at him with surprise at the fact that his target was still standing. Trying to step back, he tripped and ended up on the floor.
   Mason was stunned, but Jason just chuckled. "You're not bringing this one down, D.S.Y."
   "Duke, stay off of him!" Another voice, one Mason recognized by his British accent. Conner, now panting and gasping for breath shuffled up and glared at the man. "Didn't you get the recall order?"
   "Wait..." Mason smiled playfully. "Your name's Duke? Like a... a dog?" He burst out laughing. "You looked like a guard dog gettin' at me like that! Duke the human guard dog! Oh man, I've never heard a stupider name..."
   Duke was shorter than Mason, dressed from head to foot in black army gear, and had brown hair and a very unhappy expression on his face. In fact, if looks could kill, he would be murdering him brutally. "At least my dad wasn't a Hydra!"
   Mason immediately snapped out of hilarious mode. "A what?"
   Duke rolled his eyes dramatically and smirked viciously in a sarcastic tone, "You're 'papa' was such a Nazi freak that-"
   "Cadet D.S.Y. you should not meddle in what you do not understand. Dr. Hans Kruger was a good Watchmen, and friend."
   Jason, Conner, and Duke all snapped to attention when the figure entered the conversation (though Conner was a bit slower and more sloppy than Jason and Duke).
   He wore a formal black suit with a black tie, and had light brown hair with a face that looked like it had no smile muscles at all. But Mason remembered him from somewhere... "Uh, do I know you?"
   "Do you remember a Mr. B.?"
   After a moment, the light bulb went on as Mr. B. cracked a small smile. "Oh yeah! You worked with Dad years ago!"
   "Yes, we were coworkers for a time. You may call me Captain Barton, no more, no less. No Cap's or Sir's."
   "Yes sir-I mean Captain... Barton."
   "Good. Now," he glanced at Duke, "don't you have a training simulation you should be at, D.S.Y.?"
   "Yes Captain Barton, sir." Giving one last suspicious glare at Mason, Duke made a dramatic exit.
   Mason snickered at his flouncing. Whew! Hope I won't have to run into him again.
   Then Jason spoke up. "Captain Barton, I was about to take him to the Briefing Room and fill him in on what's been going on."
   "Excellent idea. Cadet C.J.M.," he turned to Conner. "You should be getting organized at your bunk."
   "Yes, sir!" Conner nodded respectfully to Jason and the Captain (who glared at him for the misuse of his title) and waved at Mason as he left, his freckled face glowing with that undampered smile of his.
   Mason turned to Jason to ask, "So are you gonna tell me what's going on here?"
   "Follow me to the briefing room and I'll do more than tell you, I'll show you."

Continues in Chapter 4: The Family Business

   As always, I hope you liked it, and as always, make sure to check back next Watchmen Wednesday! Oh, and scroll down to the last post and find Willow's story, Friends and Enemies. Very good, it is. Like it, you will :)

Sincerely,
Darrion


3 comments:

  1. This is great! Though I still don't get why 'Duke' didn't say what happened. Otherwise Jason would have known why he was trying to arrest Mason. Very good story, can't wait to meet Dr. Kruger!
    -Carly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, the reason Duke attacked Mason was because Conner called over the radio "Unauthorized subject in the main S.R.D. hall!" but in an off page happening, Jason recalled the order because he didn't want them to attack Mason. Duke misunderstood (or just didn't hear him) and attacked him anyways. Sorry about that :) Does that explain it better?
      ~D

      Delete

We are so happy that you have decided to say something about one of our stories! Also, our blog has four authors and four books going, so please make sure that you are commenting to the right person. But please keep in mind that if your comment is in anyway inappropriate, it will not be posted. Speak, friend, and enter :)