Damian assumed boxing position and waited for the RandoshÄku to reach him. His enemies flailed widely as if not able to fully control their enhanced bodies. Regardless of control the RandoshÄku moved just as fast as the vehicles they road in. They were practically falling over each other, all hungry and anxious for their taste. Damian stood firm, trying to anticipate which one would reach him first. "I'm definitely gonna need you for this, Manny," he thought. "I'm already on it, Commander," Emmanuel responded and in that moment Damian's bandages gained a mind of their own and unwrapped themselves from his fists. They danced around his body until finding a comfortable neutral slowly rotating around his arms. "Let's do this!" Damian yelled to his team. He chose his target and charged forward. "I'm with you, Commander," Kris sprinted forward to match his leader and carefully matched his pace. A gush of wind strong enough to knock over any normal man rushed passed our duo as the RandoshÄku ships sped towards Bravo and Charlie Squads.
Damian threw a hard punch at the gut of the first RandoshÄku he could get his hands on and it toppled over, clutching at where the blow struck. The Rando recovered quickly however and lunged at Damian, mouth first. Another Rando attacked from his right at the same time; the remaining two jumping towards Kristopher with mouths wide open as if they planned on eating him whole.
"MANNY!"
The bandages around Damian's arms sprang out and grabbed both RandoshÄku stopping them in their tracks by hardening in their extended form. Kristopher quickly took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around his body like a cloak. The aluminum in the jacket hardened and Kris's legendary shield was complete even though it was actually Manny doing all the work. Damian crossed his arms and both RandoshÄku's bodies crumpled as they smashed into each other. Kris spun his "shell" by rotating quickly underneath the cloak and his pursuers flung off on landed a few feet away from him.
Manny sighed from his plane, "the fact that you two doubt me after so many battles together makes me sad."
"We still have to figure out how to beat them so we can warn the others," Damian watched as his attackers got up, unscathed. He placed his fists together, cracking all of his knuckles. "I'm sure we just have to cut their heads off," Kris removed his cloak and wore his suit jacket normally once more. His dress shirt was a few sizes two small and his massive belly was close to bursting the buttons. "Kris, you ALWAYS suggest cutting off heads," Manny overlooked the battlefield from high above, "but this time you may actually have a point." The trio had nicknames to the rest of the army that outlined the dictionary definition of ironic. People called Kristopher "The Turtle" because of his shield technique and his weight even though he was the fastest man alive. Emmanuel was called "The Hawk" because he flew in his aluminum plane but the only reason he could overlook any battle was Kris's mind connection ability. And Damian was known as "The Snake" because of his bandages that seemed apart of him and slithered to his beckoning call but that was actually Manny's ability that controlled the aluminum. Their abilities highlighted each other's just like Damian planned when he chose his team.
"There is only one way to find out," Damian charged toward one of the RandoshÄku. His bandages shot up his arm, wrapped around each other and became a lance. "This is new, Manny," Damian's eyes grew, bewildered at his new weapon. He felt Manny's smile from the plane. Damian concentrated on the RandoshÄku in front of him and the world around him slowed down. He could see the RandoshÄku making the decision to claw at him with it's right hand and forced the lance into it's mouth before the RandoshÄku could complete the thought. Kris, hearing his commander's thoughts, yelled at Damian to duck. His shuriken flew right over Damian's head and through the RandoshÄku's. "Dude," Damian threw his hands up, "cutting it kind of close don't you think?" When the RandoshÄku didn't get back up Kris quickly connected to the squad leaders of Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, "today's the day we've been waiting for. You have to chop off their head to kill them. We can finally chop off heads!"
Twenty Nine. Damian felt the cold sting of a brand new ice pack to the side of his face however the chills traveling through his nervous system had nothing to do with the ice. He sighed as he scanned over the list of names on his desk. Twenty Nine. After Alpha's Trio took out as many RandoshÄku around them as they could find they doubled back to help the other squads. The "Hope" Platoon won this battle but not without casualties. Twenty Nine. Damian knew he would have to return to D.C and visit twenty nine homes and inform them that their child has died on the battlefield. He wished he could tell them it was for a good cause but he didn't know anymore. Manny and Kris bought into Giovanni's lies and loved fighting for him but they were honestly probably too damn smart, talented, and lucky to die in these wars. Twenty nine more god damn lives wasted for the mad king's war. Damian shot up, slamming his fists against the desk. He stared down at the new dent he put into it. His heart ached more and more every day he spent out in the wastelands but he knew he'd hurt more if he weren't the commander. Before he took over if half the platoon died it would be considered a good day. Out of the twenty nine only one of them was a champion. Damian looked at the other list on his desk of D.C. "royalty" that exhibited the talent to be in his army. There was one name not on the list that he wish was: Theodore Wilkins. The strongest man alive was offered a spot in Alpha but turned it down so could kiss ass in the capital. Damian didn't love the idea of war but new that an army was needed for protection and wasn't the biggest Theodore fan. If Theo was here today maybe the number of casualties would have been lower.
"Commander Marciano!" Henri Kurtis, winded as per usual, entered the tent, "a letter came for you."
"Thank you, Kurtis. You did great today. Looked like your dad out there," Damian rustled the hair of his favorite soldier.
"No, sir," Henri smiled wide and laughed just like his dad, "I'm better."
"You're excused, Henri," Damian saluted, "get some rest."
When Henri was out of the tent Damian sat in his seat and opened the letter. He immediately knew it was from the King because of the froo froo font of the words. The letter was short and to the point:
"We caught the rebel leader. Executing the tyrant in 2 days time. Need you here."
Damian stood outside of the fishbowl where the King liked to throw his parties. He changed out of his army gear while on the plane. He adjusted his navy blue tie and stretched his arms, hearing all of the bones in his body crack and pop during the process. His suit was so dark red it looked black from afar and, by the advice of Kristopher, wore a simple white dress shirt. Kris always took it upon himself to dress his commander and friend when he had to come back to D.C. Kris called this his "subtle USA" outfit. Damian felt the army would be able to handle things without him for a bit after the last battle. The Japanese Province would need a lot of time to recover from the defeat so Manny was in charge in his absence. Honestly though, Damian felt more in danger here in the capital than on the battlefield. Damian entered the glass fishbowl clenching and releasing his fists, a nervous habit he's been failing to break.
"Well, here we go."
RPG
