I will admit. Initially this was going to be much longer, but I cut it where I was initially going to put a timeskip. This one feels like a lotta filler but dw, I got something big planned ;3
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“I'm not going to pull you up…”
“Without you, I become leader of the Toppat Clan…”
“Just wanted to look you in the eyes as I took it all back…”
“Goodbye…”
Plummeting into the freezing sea, it wasn't that face of calm superiority that Henry remembered. It was the anger, the pain driven by fear that he'd seen in the beginning. When Reginald demanded he fixed his Right Hand Man. When Reginald had blamed Henry for everything. Those last words uttered from Reginald's mouth weren't what echoed in his mind as he felt his own body shutting down on him. It was the first ones.
“FIX HIM!”
He gasped sharply as he woke up, staring up at the dark green fabric fluttering above him. He was still in the tent, still laying in that cot.
“Hey, Henry, you're finally up!” he suddenly heard from the tent entrance, sitting up to see Charles, dressed like he'd been going about his day for quite some time now.
“I'm surprised you slept through the general's call, I never can, but you! I have to admit Henry, it's weirdly impressive. But you can't sleep all day! You still haven't met everyone yet! Lucky for you, General just likes to have us run drills in the mornings and then we can hang out the rest of the day if we don't have important tasks to do. Eel and Andrew are gonna be busy a while, but Quentin and Madd said they'd help show you around! The Bukowski twins wanted to come, but Vicky's taking them over to target practice- Oh, you still need to meet Vicky! Oh, by the way, tomorrow you've got some acclimation practices with Phlex. Hopefully to make him less… violent around you.”
Henry let himself relax as Charles rambled, letting the friendly sound help push away the dream.
It's over… it's over…
“Uh, you ok over there, Henry?” the pilot suddenly cut into his thoughts, and he nodded, standing.
“Yeah, I-I'm fine. Just… getting used to waking up normally again. Give me a sec,” he assured him.
“Alright, just, be quick getting ready, Quentin is not very patient,” the pilot advised before popping back out of the tent. Henry sighed as he looked at his clothes. Let's get it going, then.
After getting ready, Henry walked out of the tent, looking out at the base, buzzing with activity. He looked up at the overcast sky as a single helicopter took off, gripping the strap of his bag tightly.
“Heyyy, Henry, you're finally ready! I grabbed you something from the mess hall for breakfast, you like apples, right?” the pilot asked as he ran up, gently tossing one into Henry's hands, not waiting for an answer. “Quentin and Madd should be over soon, they're talking to General Galeforce about a tent change, y'know, because of the whole Phlex and Mac situation. Oh! And we're gonna have visitors in a couple of days! I hope it's Major Panzer's section, I'd love for you to meet them, too! Oh!” Suddenly his gaze turned behind Henry, and he followed his gaze to see two of Charles's squadmates. “Quentin, Madd, we're over here!”
“Stickmin, you are up! I thought Charlie was bullshitting us,” Madd greeted as him and the older pilot approached. Henry nodded a bit, and Madd put a hand on his shoulder as they reached the two.
“So, ready for the grand tour, Henry? Charlie says you like the place so far, so I've got a feeling you're gonna like the rest of it!”
“That, and we have several other people here we need to introduce you to,” Quentin added as he began to lead the small group. “Who's first, boys?”
“How about Anthony? Heard he's hanging out with Smokah and Turtle. Might wanna meet the new guy,” Madd suggested, giving Quentin a knowing look as he stopped dead in his tracks, before turning back to Madd.
“I know what you're doing. No.”
“C'mon! It's a perfect opportunity! Besides, he has to meet them sometime,” the sniper argued, and the oldest sighed.
“If we're going to introduce Henry to Anthony, that's the only thing we're doing. Understood?”
“Check, now c'mon! I still remember where they are!” Madd announced as he took the lead, bringing them over a jeep where three soldiers were smoking. Or more accurately, two were smoking, one was pacing and rambling endlessly about some kind of explosive device idea.
“Henry, meet Anthony Lee, Smokah Tyeson, and-”
“Codename Turtle, pleased to meet ya!” she cut off Madd's introduction, taking Henry's hand and shaking it quickly. “I'm the demowoman, the boom behind the bounty hunters division! Heard you met Eel already, that's good, but you still need to meet Frog, right? Hey Frog, get over here!” her words came out rushed and energetic, something Henry remembered Eel had warned him about. Another soldier came over, dressed similarly to Turtle, and Henry assumed this was Frog.
“Hey there, Henry, I’ve heard a lot,” he greeted, shaking Henry’s hand in a far more calm fashion. “I’m Frog, as you might have heard Turtle screaming. You’ve got quite the reputation, but we’re glad to have you on our side. Quent, Madd, Charlie,” he nodded to the other three.
“Frog,” they chorused behind Henry, before Charles stepped forward.
“It’s nice to see you guys, and to introduce Henry. We’re giving him a little tour and meet-and-greet with everyone!” the pilot announced, and one of the other soldiers coughed in response. Smokah, if Henry had the names right.
“Well, kid, hope you like overcast and gas fumes, ‘cause that’s what you’re in for,” he remarked in a gruff, almost pained voice.
“You sure that’s not just the cloud of smoke that follows you everywhere?” the other one, Anthony, remarked, earning a pointed glare from Smokah. He turned to Henry. “Don’t take any of that too literally, half of us have money on him dying from lung cancer before anywhere out there.”
“Fuck you, these things make me stronger and you know it,” he grumbled, snuffing out a butt and lighting a new one.
“I will admit to that, these things do seem to give him some kinda power. But you smell and sound awful, and frankly we’re worried about you,” Anthony noted as he turned back to the chainsmoker, who just huffed in response. Or possibly coughed, Henry couldn’t tell.
“At least I’ve got something going for me. I’m the character in the movie you can’t help but get attached to, you’re the nameless soldier who gets shot in the face in the first scene.”
“God, why is that always what you go to? Besides, I’m more like the soldier who’s got a few interesting stories and the audience finds him relatable.”
“Yeah, these two idiots have a habit of comparing each other to movie tropes. It seems silly now, but wait until you’ve spent months around them, you’ll see how quickly it get soooooo annoyingggg,” Turtle complained, leaning on Henry. He was surprised by how he almost felt uncomfortable with the proximity. Thankfully, Charles stepped in before Henry had to say anything.
“Turtle, careful, he’s still getting used to the augmentations! You might break him!” he warned, pulling her off him gently, but her eyes visibly lit up before she grabbed Henry’s arm.
“Ohhh, I’m such an oblivious bitch, how didn’t I see this? It’s so cool! Can your arm transform? Do you have any weapons? Is it just a normal arm?” she began rambling, looking at Henry as she tapped along the sensors.
“It’s got a couple of different options. I’m hoping they haven’t taken anything away, though I’m not sure I could bear it if they added more upgrades. But if I do have some pretty cool weapons. You guys mind if I show you the minigun?”
“You have a minigun?!” Charles asked in response, his eyes wide.
“Hell yeah, let’s see it!” Madd answered excitedly.
“We don’t have time for that! Maybe tomorrow, but right now, we’re in the middle of something,” Quentin cut in, earning ‘boo’s from the younger squad members.
“As bad as I wanna see the minigun, Quent’s right. We can see it tomorrow, after that thing that Galeforce wanted to do with him,” Anthony added. “But right now, you guys are busy. He’s still gotta meet everyone else.”
“I- Y-yeah, so, c’mon, Drake and Hank are over by the choppers, and I’ve got a Blackhawk to make sure those newbies in engineering didn’t fuck up. C’mon,” the bearded pilot ordered as he led the others away, though Henry was able to catch him blushing as they departed.
As they approached the helicopter pads, they were greeted by another soldier, who stopped Quentin in his path.
“Ain’t ya gonna introduce me to the newbie, here?” he asked in a surprisingly deep voice, pointing to Henry
“Oh shit, yeah, Gruff, this is Henry. He’s the guy that Charles saved in the Jungle mission,” Quentin informed him, motioning to Henry, who waved a bit awkwardly.
“Ah, yeah, I remember now. Should’ve seen the arm, that’s on me. Welcome to base, Henry, hope you like it here,” he said, shaking Henry’s hand. Henry nodded a bit.
“Glad to say I do so far. You guys have just been so… welcoming, I’m honestly surprised.”
“Are you kidding? You took out the whole Toppat Clan, the very same Toppat Clan that’s been pissing off the general for years. He’s so much nicer to be around now, it’s amazing.”
“Right, well, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got other people to meet up with and not a lot of time to get it done. It was good seeing you, though,” Quentin told him, and Gruff nodded.
“Right, I gotta meet up with Josh anyway, I’m taking him down to Captain Grit’s target practice she’s running. You guys should pop over once you’re done, though, I think she’d like Henry!”
“That’s the plan. Seeya later, Gruff!” Madd said as Gruff left, and the four continued on.
So i had a vision i shared with @bluetorchsky , about the sticks but it's marvel/superhero and villains au (The CCC's fault more likely)
(Cloudface as Storm and Dusty as Professor X)
Idk but Reynaldo the Brute as Magneto felt fitting (me after trying to re-read superhéroes lore)
Yeah, Rupert is Wolverine, like, their hair is similar, ough and they both grumpy ass cats. Madd Ladd is Deadpool and Konrad Bukowski is Spiderman, these three...the ones i call...The Triple Chaos. Now time to draw designs as I fall into the cave
Imagine working 24/7 at the military but it's just babysitting the same guys you met in your first shift (I didnt draw Andrew and Dijonle Iam a failure)
