Dawn of the fourth week in Isle Monroe, and for once, nothing seemed to be going wrong in the facility. The trainees awoke at 8AM, as protocol stated, and began to make their way downstairs for breakfast.
Despite the apparent normality of everything, Jon was rather on edge, following the last week's event.
"You cannot possibly be this stressed about the prospect of Renee actually showing up." Bryce teased him, while he was admiring himself in the bathroom mirror.
"I sincerely doubt she is. Someone that important doesn't have time to meddle in silly affairs with the likes of us." Thomas commented. Dex grunted something incomprehensible, as he jolted out of his bed, still dressed in his day clothes from the day before. He had eyebags under his eyes, and a rather zombie-like demeanour. His sleep hours had reached single digits over the last couple of days, much unlike what his routine looked like back home.
"Well if she is, I hope she lets me use her two big pillows, cause I need to sleep." He mumbled, sounding more like a caveman than an actual person. After that last comment though, Jon slapped him awake.
"You're a dick, you know that!?" He chastised Dex, who was rubbing his cheek. "But what if she DOES show up? Do I need hair gel or something?" Jon pondered as the group made their way down the stairs.
"Well, you should ask Nikolaoff for some, then." Bryce chuckled. Nikolaoff, who had been right behind them, made himself known by pushing Bryce's hat in his face.
"Well, I can fetch you some of Jason's. He's got a tub of the stuff in our bathroom, and he doesn't even use it anymore." He proposed.
"There's no need for that, since the daughter of the king, AKA the Minister of Civilian Protection, has no business on a random military base a couple hundred miles off the shore." Bryce declared, animatedly flailing around his arms to express just how certain he was of what he was saying. Jon shook his head, and opened the door of the cafeteria hall, only to find Renee Pascal, AKA the daughter of the king, AKA the Minister of Civilian Protection, staring right at him the moment he stepped inside.
"FUCK." Bryce said, and he handed Nikolaoff a nice, fat, fiver. Nikolaoff chuckled, streaked his hand through the little hair he had left, and headed inside to sit at a table with Vasquez and Jason.
"What a warm welcome. You kiss your mother with that mouth, Hansen?" Renee scolded him, crossing her arms and giving him a devilish smirk.
"Only when she makes me lose money." Bryce scratched his head, and took a seat in the nearest table. The rest of the group followed suit.
"I didn't expect you to actually show up either, Renee." Jon said.
"Well, it is the one week where my idiot bodyguard is busy doing something else
-- they're finally opening Soweiland Penitentiary -- so I decided to go to the place where I have the highest chance of getting shot for vacation." Renee explained, as she spun what appeared to be a handgun on her right hand.
"What have you got there?" Thomas asked, pointing at the weapon
"Oh this? Grapple Pistol. Stole it from Cris after she pissed me off last week. I can show you guys how it works!" Renee proposed, smiling at the four dudes. Dex had already fallen asleep on the table, so he didn't answer.
"Well, Tommy and I have some very important… stuff to discuss, so we'll leave you and Johnny to it. Break a leg." Bryce said, much to the confusion of Thomas, who had absolutely nothing to discuss with him.
"Your loss. C'mon 'Johnny', let's let them eat their slop." Renee said, and grabbed 'Johnny' by the arm to drag him outside.
___________________________________________________________________________
"Alright, so, I'm gonna grapple onto that lamp post, and I'm gonna swing from it. Ready?" Renee asked. Jon nodded, and Renee took a rather bad shooting stance. She fired the Grapple Pistol, the bound hook flying off the nozzle, smacking against the lamp post, and flying away through the window into Lavender's office.
"NOOOOOOO! MY CHOCOLATE SCENTED CANDLE! WHY DO YOU FORESAKE ME, LORD!?!" He shouted, making Renee burst out in laughter.
"Weren't you worried about the recoil from that thing?" Jon asked her.
"Well, you would've caught me, right?" Renee teased him. Jon just smiled awkwardly. "Besides, not to brag, but I'm pretty strong myself."
"Stronger than me?" Jon wondered.
"Well, you have been working out… but I'd say I am. And I can prove it!" Renee claimed, and took a seat on a nearby bench. She extended her arm, inviting Jon to a game of arm wrestling. Their palms collided in a rather elongated struggle. Renee definitely had the upper hand, though.
"Your hands are really soft!" Jon said, as the battled it out.
"Weird thing to say to a girl when you're LOSING!" Rene exclaimed, and with that, she slammed Jon's hand into the table, winning their duel.
"FUUUUUUUUUCK! I'M NEVERMAKING ANOTHER BET WITH YOU AGAIN NIK, YOU FUCKING CHEATER." Bryce screeched from inside the cafeteria, making the duo outside laugh at his predicament.
"Alright, you win. I can probably fight better than you, though." Jon said, raising his hands up in surrender.
"Whatever you say…" Renee chuckled.
"Interesting contraption, this Grappling Pistol, though. Even if you don't know how to actually use it." Jon commented.
"All yours, amigo." Renee shrugged, and tossed the pistol at him. Jon stared at her, waiting for a punchline that never actually came.
"Alright then. Let's try working this thing out…" Jon fiddled with the grappling gun for a couple minutes, before deciding to try it out for real. He readied his stance, fired above the lamp post, not on it, and the rope spun around it, making it latch on perfectly. Jon pressed the trigger again to retract the rope, and in a flash, he was standing on top of the lamp.
"Hey! Nice job, man! I never managed to get that thing to work out! You're a natural at this." Renee pointed out, as Jon climbed down from the lamp.
___________________________________________________________________________
A couple hours passed, with nothing particularly of note happening. Renee being there really didn't change much in everyone's routines, other than adding one new person to talk to.
Lunch time came around, and as usual, panic ensued in the kitchen. Larry was running around with a flaming skillet, as Liam chased him with a fire extinguisher, all while a pot of boiling water was spilling all over the stove. Vasquez and Nikolaoff were chuckling, looking at the chaos unfold from the cafeteria.
"What in the world is going on!?" Renee exclaimed, witnessing the scene immediately after entering the cafeteria with Jon.
"Ah, the princess. Take a look, two morons in their natural habitat." Nikolaoff greeted her, while Liam was screaming at his brother to stand still so he can put out the fire. A couple of laps around the kitchen countertop later, Larry slipped on some of the spilt water and slid directly into a bench, dropping the flaming pan into a sink full of soap water, putting the fire out at last.
"This is why I only eat processed foods; they do all the cooking for you!" Larry complained, rubbing his head. Renee stared at the two of them, who hadn't noticed her come in yet, all while Nikolaoff burst out in laughter. She then decided to march on towards them.
"Why are you two dunderheads cooking!?" Renee asked, barging into the kitchen.
"Well, General Douglas used to do it, but he got fired, so now we have to do it." Liam explained.
"Well, if you're supposed to be cooking, why do I not see any food in here!?" She exclaimed. They didn't really have an answer. She sighed, and put on an apron that was lying around.
"You'll cook for us, princess?" Larry commented between munches.
"Yes, actually. I'll cook spaghetti, y'know, something edible." She stated.
"But we made spaghetti yesterday…" Liam pointed out, gazing towards a single spaghetto that was hanging by the faucet.
"Well, it was mashed pasta more than anything." Jon clarified, making Nikolaoff cough out a half-laugh. Renee loudly exhaled, and got to work.
___________________________________________________________________________
"Your highness? What are you doing behind the counter?" Bryce asked as himself, Thomas and the zombie walked up to get their lunch.
"Is your presence there related to the fact we have something that looks like food and not dropping on our plates today?" Thomas followed up. Dex grunted something.
"Indeed it is." Renee said, gesturing at them to try it out, which they did.
"I've had so much garbage over these past few weeks, that this could be the worst pasta ever boiled and I'd still say it's God's gift to food. Thanks!" Bryce said, giving her nice smile. Thomas nodded along.
After everyone got served, Renee took a seat on the table with the 4 from room 221, who were all enjoying their lunch.
"I didn't know you could cook." Jon told her, making sure he'd only talk while not chewing.
"In truth, I don't. I can only boil pasta and make a decent sauce, which is what I did today." She explained. "But! I did decide to try something new on the side while I was in there, and I want you to try it."
Renee pulled out a small box with a slightly more orange sauce inside, that she gave to Jon. He opened it, dipped a spoon inside, and tasted it. A very dark expression came over him.
"Say, what's in this?" He asked, barely managing to swallow the thing.
"Paprika and cinnamon." She giddily said. Thomas and Bryce anxiously turned to look at their friend, who had gone red in the face.
"It's perfect! Can you excuse me for a sec?" Jon exclaimed.
"By all means." Renee shrugged, and Jon bolted out of the room immediately afterwards, much to her shock.
"Was it really that bad?" Renee asked the others. Dex mumbled something. Bryce clarified that Jon is allergic to cinnamon, to which Renee replied with a simple 'oh.'
"Don't worry though, it probably still tasted bad. Cooking is chemistry after all, and I am a chemist." Thomas added. Renee wondered why she should have to not worry about that.
___________________________________________________________________________
The rest of the day came and went, and soon enough it was nighttime. Renee went away to a private room in the staff building for the night, as everyone else returned to the dormitories.
It didn't take a very long time for the crew to encounter her, though.
At 5AM sharp, a loud knock woke up Dex, who had only gotten to sleep 2 hours earlier. Nobody else woke up to check on it, so it was up to him. He opened the door, and Renee was standing there. She had ditched the usual sweater and jeans, and was instead wearing lighter clothes fit for exercise.
"Hey Tuscan! I'm going on my morning run!" She greeted him with a smile when he opened the door. He rapidly blinked a couple times, staring at her in disbelief.
"You do realise it's February, right?" He mumbled under his breath.
"So? Do you just stop working out during winter, or something?" Renee asked, crossing her arms.
"I don't work out at all. What do you want?" Dex snapped at her.
"Can you wake up Jon?" She asked him. He sighed, went into the bathroom, and came back with a glass of cold water, that he proceeded to splash in Jon's face. Jon jolted awake, smacking his head on the top bunk in the process.
"Renee wants you." Dex deadpanned, still stuck with his arm extended, holding the now empty glass.
"You woke me up to tell me this?" Jon asked, rubbing his head.
"Not like that, dipshit, she's literally standing on our doorstep." Dex clarified, pointing at her with his thumb. She waved at them.
"… Okay." Jon said, and quickly got ready to head outside.
___________________________________________________________________________
"So, a morning run, eh?" Jon muttered, with not much enthusiasm, as the pair of them ran around the island.
"Yes, a run. You're not much of a morning person, aye?" Renee asked. Jon nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I recently took it up. Working out, I mean. Since I supposedly have 'superpowers' now."
"Like the Prime Minister?" Jon asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Yeah, that's what Geowar says. To tell you the truth though, I haven't noticed any difference so far." She explained.
"What about all the excess strength?" Jon followed up. Renee smirked.
"Are you saying I only won yesterday because I have superpowers?" She teased him, leaving him flushed. "Relax, I'm kidding. Besides, I've always been strong. Don't you remember that one time when we were kids, that we were playing on that swing, and one time I pushed you so hard you fell off and you started crying, and then I started crying because you were."
"Can't say that I do…" Jon awkwardly mumbled.
"What? My mom talked about that scene all the time!" Renee exclaimed. "Man… I miss my mom."
"Hey, I'm sorry…" Jon tried to say but, Renee stopped him.
"Don't worry about it, it's fine. Sorry about the cinnamon yesterday, by the way. I didn't know you were allergic." She apologised.
"Oh, it's okay. No harm done. The uh, sauce tasted great, though." Jon said.
"You don't need to lie to me, Jon. I told you the sauce was experimental, I didn't expect you to like it." Renee told him. He scratched his head.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just we haven't hung out like- as friends, and I didn't know how to-" Jon tried to explain himself, but Renee just put a finger on his lips to stop him.
"Quiet down, Johnny. You'll get exhausted if you talk this much while running." She said, and he indeed quieted down as they continued their exercise.
___________________________________________________________________________
"Good morning, cadets! I hope you slept well. Actually, I don't really care." General Starman greeted them at the morning assembly. "In case you haven't taken note, we're housing the Minister of Civilian Protection, Ms. Renee Pascal with us this week… again. She'll be observing the training for the duration of the week in question."
"Who said I'll be observing? I'm here to train, man!" Renee interjected. Starman sighed.
"Be gentlemanly, is the point. Today we'll analyse close quarters combat, more specifically, swordsmanship. Even though warfare is changing, we shouldn't abandon the classics, especially against enemies who can easily cover the range advantage and who are also bullet resistant, apparently." Starman explained.
"A sword is the holiest of weapons Myself me, am a master of the blade. A true swordsman if you will, like the old heroes of legend. Armoured knights and such." Lavender added.
"Which is why he'll be handling all of your training today. I need to figure out what I'll have for lunch. I'm getting pretty sick of the bacon double cheeseburger extra pickles lunch…" Starman muttered as he walked off the stage.
"Sweet. Sword fighting is right up my alley." Renee exclaimed.
"Same here. My dad's taught me everything he knows." Jon added.
"I must say, I've been looking forward to honing my swordsmanship skills myself." Thomas said.
"Alright then, I'll show you some basics, and then you'll have to fight each other in a duel, for practice. Everyone, get one of these straw swords, so we can begin." Lavender declared.
___________________________________________________________________________
The basics in question went decently. Obviously, the liked of Jon and Renee, who had been acquainted with swords beforehand had much more impressive performances then the likes of Bryce, who accidentally smacked Dex in the face at least a dozen times. One Jet Vasquez, however, showed incredible proficiency for a rookie.
So, when it was time for the duels, he decided to aim high.
"Ahoy, chica! Will you give me this duel?" He went, speaking to Renee.
"I hope you don't expect to win just because she's a woman." Nikolaoff elbowed his friend.
"Of course I'll win. No woman can resist my charms, not even one with questionable stylistic choices like her." Vasquez cockily claimed. Renee crossed her arms, deciding to humour him with a duel.
Vasquez dashed at her, his 'blade' pointing directly at the lady's face, and she expertly parried his strike. She continued to stay on the defensive, deflecting Jet's two-handed swings with only one arm. The straw swords swished in the air as the two combatants ran circles around each-other. But only one of them was getting visibly tired of the fight.
Eventually, fatigued of the monotony of the fight, Renee leaped into the air, and came down hard, smacking her sword against his, making the straw fall apart, and Jet fall on his behind.
"Good work, both of you! But, as you could probably tell, rushing your opponent this much usually yields no result. Keep that in mind for next time. Now, get back to it!" Lavender gave his pointers, and left them to inspect another duel nearby.
Reene extended her arm to help lift the collapsed Jet back up, but he quickly got up on his own and left, clearly annoyed by the loss.
"Look, that's cool and all, but the duel we all really want to see, is Johnny vs. the Princess." Bryce stated. Various murmurs of approval sounded after him.
"Well, alright. Someone pass me a sword?" Renee asked. Dex tossed her his.
"I'm spent." He muttered. He hadn't actually fought anyone, but nobody cared.
And so it was. The two got into their stances, and their duel began. This time, Renee went on the offensive, utilising her larger frame and superior strength to barrage Jon with swift swings from many sides. Jon, though, had a far better teacher, so he was able to deflect the onslaught with ease.
The two seemed to be evenly matched for the duration of the fight, until Jon saw an opening in Renee's guard, and seized the chance, quickly switching into an offensive stance, and managing to whip her leg with the straw sword, then swatting hers out of her hand.
"Looks like I win this time." Jon declared triumphantly.
"I guess you can fight better. Nice skills." Renee praised him. He scratched the back of his neck.
"Thanks. You weren't half bad either." He said.
"Half bad? Are you insulting me?" Renee teased.
___________________________________________________________________________
The rest of the day's training went by smoothly. When it was time to call it a day for most, though, Dex Tuscan and Nikolai Nikolaoff had arranged to meet by the men's room.
"Listen, I finally figured out the path he takes to get in the lab yesterday night." Nikolaoff said.
"So I can finally go to sleep like normal again?" Dex commented sarcastically.
"Obviously not, Tuscan. Here, take this." Nikolaoff shoved a small device in the Dex's hands. "This is a Walkman-talkman, or something like that, we can communicate with it via distance. Next chance I get, I'm going to inside the lab before he does, so I can investigate, and I want you to be listening on everything I'm saying on the other side of this!"
"Okay, I think I get it. When will that be?" Dex asked.
"Hopefully in a day or two. I'm hoping to-" Nikolaoff tried to say, but their conversation was unfortunately interrupted by Jason Ross, coming out of a bathroom stall. The guy stared right at the two, and they stared right back.
Jason tried to run, but it was useless, Nikolaoff tackled him, and put a hand over his mouth before he could scream for help.
"Jason, shut up!" Nikolaoff demanded. Dex crouched down to be at eye level with Jason, took a puff of his cigarette, and with his lowest possible voice said:
"Alright then, Mr. Ross, was it? You're gonna tell us EVERYTHING you know about Thomas Gardner, capische?"