Endless Ambition - Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Recruits
The brothers made their way to Zero, easily scaling the 30ft fence, eager to meet their friends and converse with everyone else, hear the interesting stories of the higher up thieves. Jonathan pushed the door open and walked in, keeping the door open for his younger brother who shyly followed, almost hidden in his brothers shadow again. Zero was amazing, the inside of the warehouse had been renovated so that it was full of picnic tables and off the the corner of the room was full of bean bags, probably for the exhausted thieves back from their missions, or for some drunk thieves, needing to sober up. By the bar was a door to a supply room, which was full of different supplies, like clothes, food, drink and some weapons, the floors were constantly cleaned, keeping the rather new tiles fresh, as well as the staircase to the dorms, however, at the very top of Zero’s attic was their leader’s room.
Almost immediately, Ryan was grabbed by someone and lifted up in air, staring up at a large beast like male, he was part elephant, two large tusks protruding next to the man’s mouth, as well as a small little elephant tail, the man was huge, a perfect example of one of the tank thieves, Gorilla had tinted purple skin, with perfect brown eyes. The man grinned brightly, “Ohm! You’ve grown so much since i last saw you!” He bellowed, not worried about being loud, since everyone was already used to his loud attitude.
Ryan giggled and hugged his taller friend, he hadn’t seen him in months, since he was out on a mission on the other side of town. “Gorilla!” He cheered, barely able to wrap his arms around the older man’s thick muscles. “It's been months! How was your mission?” he asked eagerly.
Gorilla laughed and set the smaller man down, ruffling his hair and grinning proudly, “Yeah, It was a huge success!” He grinned, proudly puffing out his chest, making Ryan giggle and drag him towards one of the vacant tables.
“Tell me everything!” the smaller thief begged, sitting down and practically vibrating with excitement. Gorilla laughed and smiled. Setting himself down and beginning to explain everything about how he was able to sneak past hundreds of guards and break into the mob-boss’s home.
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It had been maybe two or three hours of Ryan bonding with Gorilla, the tank had given Ryan something that he rarely ever got to experience, the love of a "father". Ryan’s dad had neglected him since birth, blaming his own son for the death of his wife. He often didn’t feed Ryan and “accidentally” left him locked outside during the winter or summers. Jon had to supply Ryan with the nessacaties, teaching him how to read, write and even more thief based skills like pick-pocketing and wall running (which ryan still couldn’t properly do).
Gorilla filled that void, he gave him fatherly love that his actual dad never gave him. Gorilla didn’t mind the fact that ryan viewed him this way, he even referred to Ryan as his “son” which, greatly displeased Jonathan.
Jon believed that their dad was a decent person, of course neglecting his child was a horrible thing to do but, his wife had died during labour, that would obviously give his father problems with the child. He had seen his father hold Ryan in gentle embraces, crying on his shoulder when he couldn’t handle his own emotions. It hurt Jon, it really did. But for Ryan’s sake? He’d keep quiet.
The “leader” of Zero walked in, he was a rather small thief, with a large, white hood equipped with a cape, the thief was muscular and loud, he often spent time with the thieves, not wanting them to think he was an egotistical, loud mouth that only cared about himself, he even hated the idea of being dubbed, the “leader” of Zero, since that title felt so vain, he prefered “founder” but everyone commonly referred to him as his name, Marcel.
Marcel was incredibly skilled, with lightly tanned skin and piercing brown eyes. Marcel was cheerful and optimistic, even when threatened with failure, he charged into it head first, amazing everyone as he fought his way to the top, with a bright, goofy smile on his bruised and bloody figure.
Marcel stood to the front of the Zero, letting the crowd cheer, before silencing themselves. “I’m glad to see you all here again, i'm even more excited to see some familiar faces,” He said, glancing at Gorilla with a smile. “You’ve all grown so much since joining Zero, Makes me feel like a dad,” he said, ‘wiping’ proud tears from his eyes, which earned a few amused laughs.
The roof of the warehouse opened up slightly, which made Ryan gasp excitedly as Marcel continued, “So, I hope you all nurture and respect our new recruits!” He cheered, the roof opened up fully and three new forms jumped down from the ceiling, they landed perfectly, their knees bent to lessen the blow on their ankles.
They were all of different height and stature, one was rather small and timid, two small antler’s prodding out from his head, he was a medic, it was almost obvious, he had little muscles and very gentle facial features, Zero went through medics rather quickly, since lower ranked thieves were often careless and tortured their body to succeed in their missions.
The most confident looking one, wasn't.. Human so to say, half of his face was metal, a red, glowing eye seemed to analyse the crowd, he was ripped, buff muscles that seemed to cover his form, he had a small, barely noticeable smile when he realised that he had made an effective first expression, behind his back, the tip of a sniper rifle was just noticeable, maybe he was a hitman? Or a guard, it was hard to tell.
The last recruit had stumbled on his landing slightly, he was wearing fashionable clothes, his eyes hidden by stylish 3D glasses, he fixed his posture quickly. He had no amazing muscles, but he was calm, collected, a very faint grin on his pale face. He was spinning a small dart between his fingers, which was new, Ryan had never seen anyone use darts in Zero before, it was too, difficult, you would need a perfect aim and be able to quickly rip the darts out of whatever surface they were stuck in, just to be armed again.
Marcel grinned and walked over to the three, pulling them closer so that they were squished into his side, which made the medic squeak in surprise, his antlers jutting into the possible hitman's face. The man with the darts was quick to return the sudden affection, slinging his arm over Marcel’s shoulders.
“Please, give a warm welcome to our new recruits!” Marcel requested, smiling brightly as Zero erupted into applause, loud clapping and whistles filled the room.
Once the cheers had died down, Marcel gently let the recruits go, heading towards the shy medic first, “So, Recruit number one, tell everyone your name, role, and a little bit about yourself, if you don't mind,” He said calmly.
The first recruit nodded and shyly shifted the weight on his feet, “My name is Moo, I’m a medic that was shut down by every possible hospital i could find, When i heard about Zero, I was immediately drawn to the place, the idea of such a hopeful and vibrant community sounded like a dream, I’m so grateful to be here,” he rambled softly.
Marcel smiled and ruffled Moo’s head, before stepping towards the half human half man, “Thank you so much, Moo! Now, what about you, Mr. robot?”
The man seemed surprised about the nickname, “Half robot,” He corrected bitterly, “My name Is Terroriser, I’m a professional sniper, I heard rumours about Zero and decided to try and follow up with it, I thought the standards were higher than they originally were, but if i managed to get in? Anyone can.” he joked.
Marcel laughed, “Yeah, Yeah, don’t make fun of my gratitude,” He teased, before heading to the final one. “And you? Gotta have a good aim for those darts, mr.”
The man blushed shyly, his cheeks reddening, looking towards the crowd and nodding slowly, “Uh, Yeah, My name’s Smitty, I don't use these darts for fighting.” he said softly, “I’m a hunter, i track scents and find the target for whoever comes by to pay me,” he said, “But that didn't feel like it was my destiny, all of my kind has something to accomplish, I hope Zero helps me find it,” he said softly, playing with his fingers.
Marcel smiled and nodded, “Well, I hope we can help as much as possible, Smitty,” He then faced the crowd again, “Drinks are on the house, Tonight we celebrate!” He yelled out, making Zero burst into another round of approval.