Regona City: Noctorious (BK5)

Falcon's Got Talent

Sahara had never taken part in a talent show, but she had watched one before on TV. She was pretty sure that in all of them, the participants chose their talent, not the judges.

"Juggle!" Reagan demanded.

He was given a furrowed brow.

With a forty-five-minute notice of recruitment, the pickings were slim. At least, that's what they told themselves. It was easier to swallow people just not having time rather than having no interest in their small crew.

The six hover chairs quickly set up on the first floor of their headquarters only held 4 teens. One was no older than thirteen, squirming nervously at the end of his seat. Leaving two spaces between them, sat another guy. He was leaning back staring into the air with a look on his face that seemed to be questioning why he was here. Sahara didn't doubt that thought exactly was on his mind as he was a passerby who had been grabbed and dragged in by the teens.

The third was Orion. He'd been ordered to audition to make it look "better" by boosting the number of people who had shown up. The boy had not put up any resistance.

The fourth and last person was a girl that stood before the makeshift judges' table the twins had conjured. Sahara was seated between the boys, given the spot of honor. To one side slouched Terrell. A hood was pulled over his head, hiding half his face. A crunch every now and then from the lollipop stuck in his mouth was the only sound to assure the Falcons that he was still awake.

Naomi had seated herself on the table itself, a carton of strawberry milk next to her, just close enough to taunt Terrell but not so that he could reach it. In one hand, she held a holo clipboard, looking as though she was diligently taking notes. If one looked closely, they would see that she was drawing what looked suspiciously like a whale.

"I can't juggle," the girl who was standing before the group had a hand on her hip, her tone curt and her eyelids twitching.

The twins exchanged a disappointed look.

"Hmm," Reagan tried to sound scholarly as he added the words "can't juggle" to a list that included items such as "can't perform a handstand, not a ventriloquist, can't hold breath for more than five minutes" and the like.

"Speak whale!" Naomi demanded as she looked up from her sketch.

The girl dropped the hand from her hip, staring at the group as she let out a defeated sigh and then shook her head.

"What can you do then?" Arden tried to rectify the situation.

"Board. I can board," the girl told him firmly.

Glances were exchanged.

Reagan folded his arms on the table. "Everyone can board," he spoke sternly.

Naomi nodded. "I was hoping for something more..."

"Unique," Arden helped her complete the sentence.

"Unique?" the girl was at a loss.

Regan nodded. He jabbed a thumb at Arden. "He's unique because he looks like me."

Sahara furrowed her brow, pretty sure that the meaning of the word unique had just been somehow misused.

Reagan's finger pointed to Naomi. "She's adorable."

Naomi made a peace sign with her fingers, not looking up from the drawing.

"He's the broody one," Reagan added as he pointed at Terrell who responded by pulling another lollipop from his pocket and unwrapping it.

"And she," Reagan pointed at Sahara.