Outnumbered ~ I Am Number Four ~ Invite Only!

[SunnyJustice]

"Oh-em-gee!" Blair squealed in an inhumanly high voice. "Congrats you two!"
"Blair, I think I'm half deaf now," Katharine complained. "Yes, congratulations. And we haven't kept in touch with your nieces and nephews, but we'll try to contact them."
Janice cleared her throat, obviously not appreciating that Katharine was trying to take over. "Alright, good luck to you too. Looking forward to meeting up if nothing else happens between now and Icaron's call. Might be a while though because he's been talking of promoting us. Anyway we'll call you back."
"Bye Bren!" Blair said cheerfully before Janice hung up.
"Who are you kidding?" snickered Janice. "It'll be a long while, because I'm certain we'll get promoted."
"You washed your hands," Lanette said out of the blue.
"What?"
"You said you were never washing your hands again," Blair explained with a giggle.
"First of all, I hate that laugh," Janice snorted. "And second of all, I was joking. Seriously, can't a girl get excited over her first kill? And best of all, it's not just my First Blood, it's all of ours!"
"We'll finally be true women," said Katharine contentedly.
Acacia wasn't a shy person, but she hadn't said a word in this conversation. She had been at the desk with the phone, listening to the dial tone and waiting for her father to pick up. Willow's body was lying across a table in the room. The Mogadorian girls were in the Mogs' London base, which extended deep underground, deeper than even the subway system. They could hear the subways from above, and this wasn't even the bottom floor. Below them stretched an elaborate system of jail cells, mostly to hold human prisoners who might have information.
Someone's voice from the lower floor was crying out in pain. It was a higher-pitched male voice, one that reminded her of Sam. The boy she had tried to warn. There was something painfully familiar about him, and she could feel some kind of ages-old bond that had never quite broken.
While the other girls obsessed over their First Blood and promotion, Lanette came over to her. "They're freaking out," she stated the obvious.
"I can't blame them," chuckled Acacia. "We've never had a First Blood before."
"Maybe we did," Lanette mused. "Like, what if we were Generals in a past life?"
Acacia laughed but there was something strange about the comment. Again her mind wandered back to Sam, and she wanted, no, needed to know where she had known him before. "I was probably a traitor to our cause, so karma made me a midget in this life."
"But you did help our cause," said Lanette. "You found Ondine and his Cepan. We didn't get them, and..." she trailed off, obviously thinking of Camilla. "But we're one step closer, right? We know how to spot them better, and we know that Ondine has some weird killing Legacy. How did you get in the house?"
"Bet you guys were talking all about it," said Acacia casually, but truly she was a bit worried. She needed to know if the others knew about this, and if they took it the wrong way.
"I'm the only one who really noticed you coming out," Lanette explained. "It wasn't important with a Garde to catch. I just wanted to know how, because I always thought I was the trickster of the group."
Acacia laughed, glad that nobody thought she was actually a traitor to her own cause. "I told Ondine that I was a fellow Garde by the name of Cato."
Lanette started giggling then, and wouldn't stop. "Couldn't think of a better name?" she breathed between laughs.
"I thought it was a pretty cool name," Acacia admitted. "And his name started with 'Cay' like mine, so it would be easier to remember that way."
Lanette shrugged, but she was still laughing. "Cato and Ondine. If we just heard the names Cato and Ondine, I don't think we would have interpreted either of your genders the right way! No offense, though."
"None taken," said Acacia. "I thought all Loric did that after learning his was Ondine." Now that was a lie, but it was an excellent cover-up for her poor naming skills. "So I thought they gender-bent all names, and assigned mine accordingly."
"You sound like a scholar," teased Lanette. Intelligence-based duties were actually quite lower ranks in Mogadorian society, and were only left for the weak and physically incompetent. "With your brain and how tiny you are, I'm surprised you didn't end up in Media Surveillance."
"Not my thing," explained Acacia, then began quoting some famous Mogadorian literature. "Real women fight with weapons, not wits. A brain is a squishy clump of cells and wouldn't do much damage if you hit someone with it."
"Is that A Handbook of Hostility? I love that guide! You're right, Media Surveillance is for weaklings which you're not. Maybe you'll go into politics one day instead."
"That sounds better," Acacia commented, though she was a bit disgruntled about the insult on Media Surveillance. Matty was not a weakling, he could fight fine despite his size.
"You'll turn out just like your dad, but better, because you're a girl," said Lanette. "We girls stick together. We always fight together. We're getting our First Blood together."
"I'm excited," Acacia said calmly. "Soon we won't be the Girl Scouts, we'll be the Girl Guides."
"Girl Generals," Lanette corrected.

Excited, Apricot gave Sam a big hug and lingered for a second before pulling away. "I can't wait 'till you do," she said, then addressed everyone. "When Sam gets his first Legacy, we're gonna have a competition to see who kills more Mogs. Of course, I will win because I am naturally superior." She winked at Sam, showing she was just bragging and didn't actually mean much in the way of offense.

[hilde]

(Tiny? You always say shes 6'0" but is that a typo for 5'0")

Richie shook his head in disgust. "Stop flirting. Apricot I've had enough. You always talk about fighting but you are tiny and YOU'RE the one who needs to be protected not me. Again you are not the General. I should be and YOU should be the one on "Clean up duty" whatever that means."

[SunnyJustice]

[It's not a typo; Acacia is six-foot-nothing, but considered a midget as a full-grown Mogadorian. Especially one who goes out into the field to basically bounty-hunt as a Career; Matty wouldn't be commented on as much because he's Media Surveillance. Oooh, and Richie is really getting sassy.]

This was actually too easy. Apricot knew that getting angry wouldn't do any good, but keeping her calm would prove she was stronger than Richie. She let a mocking sneer creep onto her face. The new General was going to turn the tables, and show everyone that the Garde with the biggest number -- Richie -- also had the biggest ego, but definitely not the biggest amount of competence. Oh, the hilarity.
"Do you realize," she said in a voice so controlled it was unlike her, "that we all have had enough of you? I have not heard a polite comment from your mouth." At this time, Apricot wasn't even swearing. That was, surprisingly, a very dangerous sign. "I'd like to see what happens if you tell that to the Mogadorians on the battlefield. You will never be a true woman like I am, and that means you will never come close to being this strong."
"And don't call me Apricot. You have no right to use that name for me. You will address me as Number One, or the General. Only my friends can call me Apricot." Yes, she meant offense with that. "You are still on cleanup, Omega. You need to remember that you can say these arrogant things all you want, but no matter how much you say this, I will always be Number One and I will always be the General."
But I wasn't always Apricot -- and nobody knows who I was before. I don't even remember. You will never know, because you do not deserve that knowledge. Number Nine, lowliest of us all.

[TheFae]

Esme
36
Location: Outside of the Hotel
Tagged: The Cepans

"I like them chatting like this." She murmured. She then looked at her other Cepans, the other people who left their home just like she did. "I ordered us a whole new wardrobe. We need some new clothes to alter out scent. I'm also going to see about getting us each a different perfume or cologne to try and skew our scents. The more advantages we have, the better." She smiled lightly. It has been a long day for everyone. "Maybe we should bring up the kids and get everyone ready for bed. I think it'll be nice to finally sleep on a real mattress." She smiled, trying to be light.

Amber
16
Location: Inside a Car
Tagged: The Garde

"Erin, please see who has the biggest house or the biggest area to room all of us. We need somewhere safe and protected. I don't know if the other Garde have something like this. If not, I'm sure we could find one." Amber smiled. Her attention was the sharply redirected to Richie. She let Apricot speak to him calmly, but Amber was not going to tolerate this. "Richie, you are either with us, or against us. Since the charm is broken, the Mogs can kill us in any order. If you don't correct your behavior now, I will electrocute you into next week and then let the Mogs have the barbecue of their lives with you as their main entree! Understood?" She scolded, allowing a spark to come out of her finger when she jabbed him. "Get on board with us now, or leave. Your choice." She stated, now calm cool and collected. "I already have a legacy. I can control electricity and electronics." She stated. "With that, I think we should head upstairs and get some sleep. My patience is already thin, no need to make it thinner." She murmured, giving a pointed glare towards Richie. "I think Esme has everything settled. Let's go upstairs." She stated, amending what she previously said. With that, she climbed out of the car first and looked at the Cepans. "We are ready for bed." She smiled, almost like she was a toddler about to get tucked in.

[honeybee.]

"I'm sure you are." Sam laughed at Apricot's bragging. Then Richie started spewing idiotic words from his idiotic mouth. The girls were on hand to threaten him though. He and Erin both followed Amber outside.

Amber was concentrating on contacting the others as she climbed out the car. She already knew that Two's place was small so she concentrated on the next number who wasn't here. Five? She thought, Are you there?

[hilde]

Richie nodded but he was just lying. He wasn't scared of the little girls. He followed Amber but was a faster walker so he walked in front of her.

Clark was about to go for a swim again when he heard a voice in his head. "Olive there's a girls voice in my head." He said and then tried to reply. Wow that's cool. Is this your Legacy whoever you are? Yeah I'm Five. He smiled at Olive. "It's got to be one of us. I'll tell you what she says."

[honeybee.]

Erin heard an answer. I'm Four. And yep, this is my legacy. I'm with quite a few of the others and we need somewhere to stay and regroup properly. Do you know anywhere? She thought.

[SunnyJustice]

Gingko frowned at Richie, who was trying to 'lead' the group. "What do you think you are doing?" she demanded, "cutting in front of my Garde? I've had enough of your disgusting attitude. If you don't start treating us with respect, then we will just leave you behind to be caught by the Mogs." She accentuated this by putting up her pinkie finger at Richie, a sign that he was incompetent and a shame upon his family. Immediately she shoved past him like he was some obstacle, and smiled at Amber. "That's great. If there aren't enough beds, Richie will sleep on the floor."
And that was an order.
"I'm really proud of you," she said. Gingko needed to talk about something in order to cope with the death of her firstborn daughter. "Of all of you. You're already getting to know each other and behaving respectfully. Well, almost all of you." She suddenly turned, shooting a poisonous glare at Richie. "You, boy, know your place!" she shouted. "You have earned yourself the lowest status in our group. You do not deserve anyone's respect, nor have you earned your right to walk in front of anyone. You will always walk at the back of the group, and you will obey all orders given to you by any one of us without complaint. I am very close to teaching you a lesson for good, and trust me, you won't like that."
If one of her children was here, they would confirm that her punishments were quite unethical. Willow, the oldest girl, had been through the worst of her anger. But she wasn't here, Olive was nowhere to be found, and the others had gone back to their rooms. Still, Rowan certainly hadn't forgotten the time back on Lorien when she forced him to stay up for thirty-six hours playing the piano, because he had missed a practice. And she had been feeling merciful that day.
"Things went great," said Apricot. "We talked about a whole bunch of stuff. Amber's the peacetime leader, but I'm the General, ain't that cool?" With a grin, she hugged Esme tightly. "So I'll be the lead fighter, and Sam will be right behind me. Pretty sure Amber and Erin are good to cover us with long-range. And that piece of-" she pointed to Richie.
"Apricot," Gingko grunted.
"That piece of an AP Statistics textbook," swore Apricot, ignoring Gingko, "is so incompetent and stupid, he will be left out of the fight except to pick off the weak and the other incompetents. He will clean up after the fight and do all the work nobody else likes. And don't give me that look, I have every right to say this, because all he has been saying is male chauvinist pig stuff about me and my friends." She pulled away from Esme and stood between Richie and the others on purpose. "I'm asking you to give me permission that if he makes one more misogynist slur, I can deal with him as I like."
And trust me, it will be less pleasant than what Gingko has in mind. Because I take things very personally.

[hilde]

Richie rolled his eyes. "Do you realize I'm not scared of you?"

Clark smiled. You guys can come here! We're in California and we have a mansion by the beach.

[SunnyJustice]

[Stayed up all Friday night! Now just to keep awake until tonight. Let's see how bad my grammar gets.]

Apricot laughed, putting up her pinkie finger at Richie and uttering a mouthful of inappropriate vulgarities in Mandarin Chinese. "Do you realize," she mocked, "that you should be?" With a half-smile, half-snarl, she cracked her knuckles. "I've been looking forward to killing my first Mogadorian, and you look awfully like an easy target," she began to threaten before lunging forward with her fists raised.
"Enough," said Gingko, exasperated as she grabbed Apricot's wrist violently. With her other hand, she got a hold of Sam's arm, but not as tightly as she held Apricot's. "I'll be right back. The kids should go to bed," she said to the other Cepans. "They are obviously very tired, Amber's right."
When Gingko returned, a few minutes later, she crossed her arms. "I hate to agree with my impulsive niece, but Richie, Apricot is right. I won't sugarcoat anything: Nobody here likes you, and if you get on our nerves, we don't care that you're Number Nine. You need to earn your Loric title. Unlike us, you haven't yet."

Acacia didn't even know how long she had been waiting at the desk for, but it was a long time indeed. Her arm had been holding the reciever to her ear for ages, and her wrist felt like it was about to snap into several pieces. Most unpleasant of all was how her friends had gone downstairs to take a nap. How could they sleep down there among all those screaming prisoners? Were they completely deaf?
Another screech punctuated her thoughts from below, and many sets of footsteps began to race up the stairs. Acacia leaped to her feet, reacting with the reflexes only a trained Mogadorian woman had. She prepared herself to fight the escaping prisoners, but dropped her fists whe she realized it was just her friends. Blair screamed something incoherent and began to squeal, like one of those deranged female humans when they saw an attractive character in those animated pictures.
"Is she okay?" asked Acacia, genuinely concerned for her friend's sanity.
"We are going to video-chat the Beloved Leader," said Lanette with a smile. "I can't believe he wants to see us."
Katharine finally came up the stairs with a laptop. She was much calmer than Blair, who Janice had glared at first, then ignored. Katharine set the human device on the table. Acacia observed that it was much less efficient than any Mogadorian machines, but it seemed functional.
"How do I work this thing?" asked Janice, shoving Katharine over. She pressed some random buttons on the clunky human computer. It proceeded to display a large, full-screen picture of a landscape. "This is so stupid."
"You just pressed the 'go to desktop' button," explained Lanette, moving her hands over the strange device. Her finger stroked a roughly rectangular, card-sized area that had a different texture than the surrounding material. Acacia watched as a white, annoyingly lopsided arrow moved across the screen.
"Humans are weird," said Janice as Lanette pressed an elongated, somewhat rectangular button near the differently-textured pad. The screen suddenly changed to a program that had a human word at the top, in blue bubble letters. It was a foriegn language, because Acacia didn't recognize it.
"Your dad is so cool," said Lanette. "He even has Skype."
"So how do we call him back like he said?" Janice demanded impatiently.
Lanette maneuvered the interesting white arrow over a green button that looked like a profile shot of a human phone. "Like this," she said, before pressing the left rectangular button again.
"Interesting," observed Katharine. After a few seconds, Icaron Matthias' face showed up on the screen.
"I cannot believe this is happening," squealed Blair.
With a smile, Icaron waved to the girls. "I have been looking forward to speaking to all of you," he indicated. "How was the mission?"
"A Garde named Ondine and his Cepan escaped from us in Germany, where we lost Camilla," Janice began to recap. There was a noticeable grimace of pain on her face as she said her fallen friend's name.
"I am very sorry for your loss," Icaron said sincerely. "But excellent job finding the Garde. This has been the first success in over ten years."
"Ondine had a Legacy," Katharine added. "They are already developing, and ready to fight back. When Camilla tried to kill him, the same wound was inflicted on her instead of him."
"We must act quickly," Icaron said in a serious voice. "My soldiers are not just acceptable, expendable losses to me. You are like my nieces and nephews. I cannot afford to lose more of you like that."
"Yes, sir," said Blair with a lopsided grin.
Icaron chuckled at this. "What about England?"
"A Garde swam across from Ireland," said Janice, obviously excited to detail this story. "He got away, but his Cepan followed. We caught her and used her to lure the boy. We saw two others with him, too; a female Garde and her Cepan. We sent the soldiers after them, and I took care of the boy's Cepan." With an arrogant smirk, she tilted the screen so the webcam faced the kitchen table. The old lady's body had been roughly shoved on top of it. Even from here, the grisly wound across her throat was clearly visible.
Icaron seemed to approve. "Excellent, Janice. We now know where three Garde have been. How did the soldiers fare with the others?"
"I heard back from them," said Lanette with a frown. "Well, just Brock and Alta. Odis was killed by the Cepan. They caught no one. And Cameron and Maria carried the body back with us, so they didn't kill any Garde either."
Icaron seemed to be genuinely hurt upon hearing about the soldier's demise. "It's quite a shame," he said in his usual calm voice. "We all have a good idea where everyone is heading, though."
"China, right?" asked Blair.
"We've already gotten offers from the Brigade," said Katharine. "To join them. This way we can be on their tail."
"Yes," said Icaron. "But if you simply follow the Garde to China, you will always be two steps behind. On the other hand, if you anticipate where they are going next, you can catch them off guard."
"How so?" asked Acacia.
"I'll come pick you up in my ship. Meet me on the beach at 3:45 sharp. I will have your weapons prepared, and we will find out where the Garde are heading."
"Thank you, sir," said Katharine.
"No, thank you for all your hard work," said Icaron before hanging up.
There was a moment of silence, and then the other girls began to freak out. Acacia just sat there, staring at the desk. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go suddenly, dreadfully wrong.