Saving the World - Awakening

The Hostile Welcome

Clean.

That was the first thing Eliot noticed about his surroundings. His leg was wrapped in medical bandages, obviously extensively attended to. He only landed on his left leg, so his right was perfectly intact. He was laying in a bed, but unlike last time it was not a hospital bed. It was a well lit hotel room, obviously specially prepared for him; his knives were on the stand next to him.

The room felt new, as if it were recently built. The bed had a white comforter, and to the right a glass door covered by a white curtain filtered light into the room. A TV sat before the bed on a long white counter, flanked by power outlets. The TV was bigger than he had ever seen, certainly bigger than the tiny box his mother hoarded from him in the past. Cautiously, he moved his leg off the side of the bed and tried to stand.

Expecting a huge surge of pain, Eliot was pleasantly surprised to feel only a harsh throb, nothing he couldn't handle. His boots were neatly placed on the counter in front of the bed, with his socks laying on top. He looked down at his ankle, then up at the boots. No way he was fitting his feet in there. Still, he needed a place to hide his second knife. He leaned over and strapped the first knife to his waist and tucked the second into the bandage on his knee.

After taking a good look around for any cameras, traps or danger, Eliot hobbled over to the door and knocked on it.

"Hello?" A voice answered from the other side.

Eliot cracked the door open and peeked through. A tall, burly man stood in front of the door, armed lightly with a knife and a pistol. He looked to have been waiting for Eliot the whole time. Cautiously, Eliot opened the door more.

"Where's C?" He inquired, "Why am I here?"

The man put his hand on a walkie-talkie at his collarbone and muttered something about "guest two" before answering. The man was clearly military trained, his entire body toned from probably years of training and discipline. Eliot suddenly felt very outclassed.

"Your companion will be brought to you immediately. Hopefully it's no trouble." the man replied.

Eliot gave him a suspicious look before receding to his room. This place was weird. The Side Show was certainly bizarre, but the people made sense for the most part. There was no reason for these people to treat him like this, it was like B all over again, except extremely upgraded. At least he could talk to C about this, she would know what to do. She was trained.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Eliot looked up from his knife, which he was examining in boredom.

"Come in!" he yelled.

The same man who he had conversed with only minutes ago led C into the room, except she was at gunpoint and in handcuffs. Eliot got up angrily, incensed that they would treat her like an animal and him like a king. The man put his unoccupied hand up reasonably.

"She attacked us twice, she asked for it."

Without waiting for a response, the man exited the room, leaving a handcuffed C at the doorway. Once again, Eliot was taken aback by her looks. Her hair was severely windblown (understandably) and she had a welt on her forehead, but it only added to her charm. Eliot suddenly realized he was staring and looked back down at his knife.

"So what's happening here?" Eliot asked, "Who even is holding us?"

C sighed and walked over to his bed and laid down, obviously taxed from the experience.

"Brachs told you about the Maples, right?" She said.

"Who? What?" Eliot replied, clearly confused.

"Shoot, I forgot. B's real name is Brachs. General Vincent Brachs. He's the head of an organization called the Maples."

Eliot sat in silence, trying to mull over the information. He had been waiting for this information for a while, and here C was just giving it to him.

"So I'm guessing your real name isn't C."

C smiled. "Correct, my real name is Ciara."

C, or Ciara now, held her hand out to Eliot, which looked weird considering she was laying on her back and her hands were handcuffed together. Eliot shook it awkwardly.

"I don't know your name, though," Ciara said.

"I'm Eliot Green."

Ciara's eyes widened as he said his last name. She struggled into a sitting position, an excruciatingly complicated task when handcuffed. Eliot watched her examine his face, confused as to why his last name mattered.

"You do know that your father is basically the reason you are here at all? He's the one who created the serum Brachs used on you."

"H-how do you know all this?" Eliot asked, once again overwhelmed by information.

"The Maples - Brachs' organization - were attacked several years ago by an organization called 'Czar.' Brachs took me in as his apprentice as he ran from them."

Ciara motioned to the room around them.

"That's where we are; Czar's base." She said dramatically.

She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Eliot glared at the door, frustrated that they had to interrupt now. He was just getting answers, and even though the idea of his alcoholic father being a genius was far-fetched, Ciara seemed to believe it. The guard stepped through the door, unabashed by Eliot's withering gaze.

"Eliot Green, the Chief would like to see you now." He said in a deep voice.

Reluctantly, Eliot got up from the bed. He casually left the knife on his pillow right next to Ciara, and followed the lead of his guard/captor.

Unlike the Side Show, this building was surprisingly easy to navigate. There were signs everywhere, like "elevators" and "Lobby" and "game room." This place seemed warm and welcoming, and once again everything was clean and orderly. The people he passed would smile at him and wave, nothing like anything he had ever experienced. As he limped around, a smile started to creep to his face, despite Ciara's warnings.

Finally they reached a room labeled "Meeting Room." Like all the other rooms, it was a simple trip there. No secrets. No cult or signing your soul to a cause. It was all so straightforward, just like Eliot preferred it. His escort motioned to the door, not checking Eliot for any weapons. Obviously this Chief was cocky or just confident the welcome was enough to repel any violence. Eliot opened the door to the meeting room.

Right away Eliot noticed that there was something different here. Someone was in control, had total power over everyone in it. There was a round table directly in front of him, surrounded by occupied chairs. Most of the members were laughing at something that a member had said, but Eliot entering the room caused a silence to fall. Finally a younger woman stood up and smiled, not the crazy, forced smile Ciara had put up when he met her; a real, warm smile.

"Welcome to Czar!"