Together

Chapter 11★ Amy

When the other three and I reach the back wall, we introduce ourselves.

"I'm Bean."

"Aiden"

"I'm Amy."

"And I'm Wolf." Two ex street rats. They only look about three, but I know that they must be six or seven to be up here.

"Alright, so, who leads?" I ask. They all look at me. You've got to be kidding. About a minute has passed since we got here. "I vote Bean."

"Bean." Aiden says this mockingly.

"You got a problem with that?" Says Wolf sharply. They probably knew each other back on the streets. "Bean would be a great choice." One minute, forty five seconds. Team two is getting prepped to launch.

"If you say so, Wolf girl."

"Bean it is." I say. "What's the play?"

"I go under them while you three fire from behind those stars." He gestures to a five star formation ten yards away. "I fire from behind." I like Bean even more now. This is a good strategy.

"Okay. Bean, you'll have to leave before us. Go low and quiet. Launch in three, two, one, mark." He takes off and lands silently near gate A. He launches towards them.

"Okay. We launch to those stars in a steady stream. Stay right behind the middle star so they can't see us. Aiden on three. Wolf on four. Get it?"

"Got it." Confirms Wolf. Aiden nods.

"Good. One, two, three," Aiden launches. "Four." Wolf pushes off. Five. I launch, doing my best to keep in a straight line with Wolf. Aiden reaches the stars and moves out of the way. Wolf does the same, and finally, I grab hold of the top right star. I see Bean about ten yards away, hiding behind a star. Team two is only four yards from our position. They appear to be strategizing. I see little gaps between the stars and float down towards one. It's big enough that I can aim and fire through it. I turn and see Aiden looking at me curiously. I get Wolf's attention and motion at the gap. I put my gun up to the gap and mime firing it. The other two understand, and find gaps of their own.

"In three, two, one, mark." I whisper, and we start firing. It's over in seconds. Bean gets the launchy, and Wolf, Aiden and I each take one out. Torso hits. Team two didn't even fire.

□□□

I float around to see how the toon leaders are doing and find Amy and her toon engaged in battle. I think. Toon A is in half toons. Four are close to me, and the other four are on the back wall. The four close to me launch towards Amy. I push off and go up to try and get a better view. I see three on the back wall, and one floating underneath the other team. The three on the wall launch in quick succession to a clump of stars. The team of four stopped about four yards away from Amy's star shield. They appear to just be talking to each other.

The three behind the stars position themselves. They start firing. The other team doesn't know what hit them. All four are frozen in a matter of fifteen seconds, and not so much as a frozen toe on Amy's side. I unfreeze them and wait to see what happens.

★★★

Team two unfreezes. I look up and see Ender perched on top of a star near the ceiling. I wave. He waves back. We float towards team two.

"What happened? It's like you weren't prepared at all." I ask.

"We didn't make a plan before we launched towards you and didn't see you guys anywhere, so we figured it would be safe to make a plan then." Looks of shame from the rest of the team.

"Exact opposite. You didn't see us anywhere, so you should have assumed surprise attack." They all nod. "We can try again tonight with different teams." They all look grateful.

"Now, I don't know half your names. As toon leader, that is my current number one priority right now so talk." They all giggle.

"I'm Aiden."

"Bean."

"Wolf."

"I'm Amy."

"Alai." This from the launchy.

"David." A tall, muscular brown haired boy.

"Sandy." The name suits him perfectly, since he has shaggy blond hair.

"Sammy." A thin boy with black hair. He looks a bit like Ender.

I feel my body being pulled upwards. I look up and see Ender pulling us up with a metallic controller of some sort.