Nathan Rubingh sat on the edge of his bunk bed, watching the first season of Agents of
Shield. The rest of the Thunder Squad walked around the home-I mean base-collecting bits of armor and demonstration signs and weapons. Logan followed them, his cardboard armor knocking against walls and door frames, shouting out orders in the voice of a sergeant.
"Nathan?" he called.
Nathan yanked his earphones out of his ears and ran downstairs.
"Yes commander?" he said.
Logan ran past, balancing two feet of plates on his arms.
"Nathan, can you help me find my handgun?" he shouted. "I've dropped it
somewhere."
As Logan pottered off with his plates, Nathan got down on all fours to look for the
lost handgun. He spotted something yellow and mushy under the sofa. He reached in and pulled it out.
"Located it!" he announced.
Logan put down his plates and received his squished banana-I mean his handgun."It's been exactly one week since you joined our mighty squad," he told Nathan, as he
pocketed his weapon. "We are all highly organized, smart, respectful, and realistic in our dealings with the harsh world of HSD. No group is more organized than us."
"Correct indeed!" shouted Beau, waving Big Bertha.
"Never a truer word!" bellowed Karleigh. Big Bertha poked her in the eye, and she ran into Micah.
"I agree perfectly!" Micah hollered, falling over and dropping his colander.
"What a perceptive observation!" cried Francis. She was in the process of windingherself a new layer of bubble wrap, but she tripped over the colander and knocked over a flowerpot.
Elisha couldn't say or do anything, since his mouth was full of leftover sausages and his arms were full of plastic forks, but he nodded vigorously. The flowerpot, however, fell onto his head and he collapsed, releasing all his forks.
"You'd better observe all of this," Logan advised the new recruit. "We do everythingwith precision and stealth."
"What are they in the process of performing, anyway?" Nathan asked Logan.
"They," began Logan proudly, "are setting off on a mission, without my assistance. I decided it was wise to train them to operate incognito. They're preparing their armor."
After all the Thunder Squad members had sorted themselves out and Micah had tried, seven times, unsuccessfully, to fill his colander with water and revive the unconscious Elisha, and Karleigh had accomplished the task by fanning him with her notebook and jabbing himin the stomach with her pencil, they all trooped out of the door (though not before Francis'bubble wrap got stuck in the door hinge) and departed on their mission.
Nathan and Logan were left alone in the living room. Logan scratched his cardboard helmet thoughtfully.
Nathan cleared his throat. "Umm Logan," he began hesitantly, "I've been meaning toask you this for a while. When will I be able to go on missions?"
"When Beau finishes making your armor," Logan replied. He wanted to scratch his back but couldn't because of his armor. "Beau's been toiling night and day for this armor. Hewants it to be the best."
"How long will I have to wait until the completion of the project?" Nathan inquired."Another five days, perhaps," replied Logan.
"You know, I kinda want to start on missions now. I don't feel like I'm doing my partas a Squad member. I feel like I should be going out there and protecting my friends out in that harsh world ruled by mods. Do you think I could go find my own armor?"
