Konan375
shylarah
Master EffeX
AlteredTundraWhite House Down
Collab between Rina and Ryver
Rikke watched bus load after bus load of tourists turned away at the gate. He blinked as a yellow school bus was the latest one spurned. It amused him somewhat that a big group of them were standing here, in plain sight, right smack in the center of the oval lawn, and no one was any wiser. He was even more amused that he had ice cream and Nana didn’t.
He jammed the chocolate cone closer to his lips, creating a melty mustache around his lips. A smile brightened that impish face as his feet scratched another line in the sand. The instructors called this a sigil. He didn’t know what to draw, really, but since the Frozen lady was here, he planned on drawing a snowflake.
The star-shape was done. Now he had to add those squares and triangles to add complexity to his incantation. Nana said it had to be BIG! Really, really BIG! And, wet!
He turned towards Zane with a frown. His faulty hearing-aids picked up garbled noise from the man. He stared a little longer at the moving lips before he stretched out his arm to offer Zane his half-eaten ice cream. Shaking his head, because he didn’t know what else to do, Rikke pointed to his unfinished snowflake. Nana was waiting for him!
“Sooo…” Zane said as he took a lick of his mocha flavored ice cream as he tried again to get a response from the quiet boy. “Now that we got our ice cream, shall we start on our part of this plan? The drawings are nice and all but we finish our side so nobody nags us while we enjoy our ice cream.” The plan so far was pretty amusing for the man. Getting ice cream for the two of them was a fun added bonus of this mission.
“I think the sign for work is this.” Zane said thinking out loud as he repeatedly tapped his right wrist on top of his left. “Do you know ASL?”
Rikke’s eyes never left the ground. He worked steadily, connecting lines together. Zane’s words continued blurring together into a stream of incomprehensibility which made it easier to zone the man out. He spared the man a half second of his attention after seeing the shadowy wave stemming from the signing. He recognized the signs but he was almost finished.
Those eyes bobbed back up shortly after. His hands signed “Done”. Followed by “Sorry” and “Urgent”. These gestures were symbols he retained from the repeated lessons with his instructors.
“Good, you do know ASL.”Zane said with a smile and nodded. “Hmm, I know done and sorry but you lost me on the third. Just because I work with someone deaf doesn’t mean I also know sign.” Giving the boy a thumbs up, the man sat down on the bench next to them. “If you say you’re done, that’s good enough for me.”
Rikke returned the gesture with a confused expression before signing “More”. Slipping his empty cone into Zane’s hand, the boy signed “Vanilla”. Indicating that he regretted pointing to the chocolate ice cream earlier. It was done on reflex when Zane pulled him over to the ice cream truck. That cheerful plastic clown freaked him out so much that he couldn’t wait to get away!
Rikke added a pout at the end to guilt Zane into agreeing to his request. “Please” he signed.
“Sure.” Zane said and nodded as he stood up and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Seconds sounds like a great idea.” The man said as he watched the ice cream man lock up his truck and walked off for a short break at the white house. “Well, if he’s going to get caught up in the upcoming mess. I might as well help myself in his absence.”
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Men and women decked in black suits lined the hallway. There was no twitching or fidgeting. Light and air seemed more alive than these agents which sent chills down the backs of scurrying secretaries. They were ready for AMRO’s trigger-pull.
They were briefed to be on the alert for Asylums storming into the White House.
They were told that the President was the target.
They were working hand-in-hand with the military parading the grounds.
More than twenty-four hours had passed and there was no sign of the invasion. Until…
A Wendy lolita popped into existence. She smiled at them while leaning forward with her hands placed firmly on her hips. “BOOOOOOO!”
Nana watched the rippling of movement as the nearest secret service agents approached her. A tall Caucasian stood further behind as his hand reached behind his ear. He was radio-ing for backup which was abso-tiffly-perfect! She stuck out her tongue in glee as she whirled around to look at the blank space.
“Are you gonna hide under the inivshbility cloak forever, Babadella? You’re supposed to be the adult.”
“...Your idea…” Bella’s robotic voice said as she bashfully pulled the makeshift cloak off of herself and neatly folded the tablecloth. She wasn’t fond of playing along with the girl’s pretend play but from the laughs she got from Zane when the makeshift cloak was handed to her, she knew that there was no escape to her embarrassment.
Gently placing the tablecloth on a side table, Bella watched the agents carefully as she spoke. “...Now what…”
“Put your hands in the air!”
“Why?” Nana asked in a sing-song voice.
Hushed murmuring filtered down the line. Some of the agents hated the idea of shooting at a child, but their in-charge had already drawn his weapon. Reluctantly, they followed the silent command. Most of their guns trained on Bella. Being an adult she was deemed the greater threat.
Ignoring the tension in the room, the little Wendy leaped forward, forcing the agents to take a step back. Her green eyes glowed with merriment at how scared they looked. “Do these people really guard Mr. President?” she asked her reluctant supervisor.
’No!’ Concern relayed telepathically from Bella as she stretched out her hand towards the girl moments too late. ’Don’t get too close.’ The woman continued as she prepared her bots in case things started to get messy.
“Like this?” Nana shouted as she teleported into the center of the group.
A shot echoed in the hallway before her echoing voice faded. The bullet whizzed through the air, slowing visibly, as it peeled itself like an orange. The metal strip flowed into Nana’s outstretched hand and swam in circles like a shimmering eel. The girl giggled as she tried to get Bella’s attention as more guns went off.
Freezing the bullets in mid-air, the child Asylum pirouetted and sang. She danced safely out of harm’s way until she heard the last gun click uselessly. She wagged a finger at the agents. “Aw, don’t run away! We’re … here …. to … play!”
A silvery aura flowed from her diminutive form. Nana’s hair whipped wildly around her as she thrusted her hands out. “I said STOP!” she bellowed.
All sorts of metal flew towards Bella and Nana at alarming speeds. Bullets collided into each other, causing mini explosions, while the guns rained against the wall. Cellphones, keys and coins were the worst of the projectiles, pelting the people in the hallway and leaving them bruised and bleeding.
Not satisfied, Nana dug deeper into the foundations of the building and felt the tremble of metal warming to her call. They rattled with a screechy groan, radiating tremors throughout the White House. Agents fell back onto the ground as the hallways folded upwards on either end. Feeling completely exposed, the leader called for a retreat. Men and women scrambled towards either side, determined to reach the incoming backup.
“Send the signal, please.” She asked Bella.
Bella nodded and reached out to the other two telepathically. ’We’re ready’
’Sorry, what?’ Zane teased in response. ’I’m certain that ”We’re ready” wasn’t the secret code.’
With a sigh Bella responded ’This is Babadella, ready for ice cream and bamboo.’
’Roger that. Ice cream and bamboo heading your way. A truckload of ice cream’ Zane said as he cracked up laughing.
’What did you do Zane.’ Bella asked in response.
’Minor details Babadella, minor details.’ Zane said as he snickered again. I’m just doing a small favor for Cici. Nothing more.’
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A sizable crowd surrounded the premises. Everyone pointing fingers or phone cameras at the steel beams wrapping the walls and crushing the building inwards. Pulverized plaster lined the walkways and lawns like snow, reminding Rikke that he was late. Shoving his ice cream into Zane’s hand, the boy joined up the final line. Light traced the shape in the soil, glowing faintly, as he focused on the mental image his twin shared with him from earlier.
He scrunched his eyes shut, imagining the feel of rushing water. The foam spraying everywhere as angry torrents tear away rock. His mind flickered to images of the river cutting through the Grand Canyon before honing in on Nana’s request —
Loose pebbles flew into the air as the earth prepared to erupt. Fissures splintered the soil, swallowing up anything that fell into the widening scars. There was so much screaming that the army’s orders were obliterated. Rikke zoned all of that out as he tapped into the reservoir underneath. Feeling the same wonder Nana did when she felt so much metal at her feet. Almost there!
“GEYSER!” someone shouted over the din.
Water spouts burst skywards, shattering more of the White House. They rose like dragons - tall and powerful - shooting endlessly into the high heavens, saturating the air with so much moisture that the clouds turned black. Almost nothing was left of the impressive monument. Only the jagged base from which battered survivors limped onto the lawn. There they met the remaining Asylums.
Rikkie turned back to Zane only to realise the man hadn’t returned. Shrugging, he watched the group again. He wondered if this part of the plan would play out like the mental images Nana shared with him earlier. Elsa and Samad were supposed to be play Good Cop, Bad Cop with Mr. President. Strangely, he didn’t remember seeing the man among those on the lawn. He hummed his confusion as he rocked on his feet. He wondered what would annoy Papa Angel more: his uninterrupted cast or the missing president.