╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
THIRTY TWO!
versus the monster
within
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯
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Despite the tense situation that's currently going on with the Mech X4 team, they decided to take the off to do something fun together as a group. The designated fun activity of the day was laser tag.
But this wasn't like any normal kind of laser tag as they weren't going to an actual place that specialized in the activity. The team was just playing with the laser feature on their Mech-Links and running around in the dark in the robot.
It may sound a bit dangerous due to the amount of breakable and flammable objects but they had faith that no one would accidentally cause any damage. For now, each member was just hiding from the other until they had the chance to tag someone out.
"I know you're in here." Ryan announced. He was currently hiding behind a wall from someone (most likely Spyder Johnson). "Just give up. You won't win this time."
"Walker." The boy called out in a scary sounding voice that wasn't fooling anyone. "Walker."
He then revealed himself to the technopath, while firing a few lasers but unfortunately, he was immediately hit. His Mech-Link shut down to reveal his loss and Ryan just chuckled happily at the victory.
"Why do I always get eliminated first?" Spyder questioned in disappointment.
"Cause you always use that stupid scary voice. It gives away where you're hiding." Ryan explained.
"Dude, don't mock my scary voice." Spyder pleaded.
"If you wanna scare people, use your talk to girls, voice. That's freaky." Ryan cringed.
Before the two boys could back in hiding, a random laser beam suddenly appeared. It merely missed the technopath and luckily hit the wall. Ryan quickly ducked behind the couch.
"First rule of Mech Laser Tag, never let your guard down." That was Mark shooting at them.
The two behalf engaging in a laser fight but Mark was excellent at dodging his younger brother's shots. Ryan then got up from his hiding spot to get better aim. This led him to doing some sort of dive to the floor, while shooting lasers.
Luckily, one of his laser beams hit Mark's Mech-Link, kicking him out from the game. The younger boy cheered happily as Mark groaned in annoyance at his loss.
"I gotcha! Ya beat! Cause your aim stinks!" Ryan rubbed his brother's loss in.
"I'm surprised you're not moonwalking...." Mark was about to say but was cut off by the boy doing exactly that. "Oh.....No, there it is."
The elevator door suddenly opened to reveal Veracity, who had hid herself away in the small space. "Sup, Y chromosomes!" She greeted before beginning to take shots at Ryan.
The technopath shot back at her but she was dodging them with ease. The pair was then joined by Natalie, who was hiding behind the wall. She had been there the whole time and only Spyder had noticed her but refused to rat out his own girlfriend. The brunette shot at both teens but was quickly kicked out of the game by Harris.
The short boy had mysteriously come out of nowhere, sporting two Mech-Links. She shot the girl with ease, kicking her out before moving on to the other teens. He did a double shot laser beam, kicking both out of the game. They stared at him in disappointment at their loss.
"Dang, son, I am the Major of Laser. The Master of Blasters. El Ray de los Rays." Harris announced happily at his victory but received looks of confusion at his use of Spanish. "As in Ray Beams." He translated, earning nods.
"Hey, you can't have two Mech-Links." Spyder pointed out.
"There's no rule that says that." Harris answered. "Don't hate the player. Hate the fact that you guys just lost."
"Boo!" Spyder exclaimed.
"Come on, man." Mark rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Not cool, Cheater Dinklage." Veracity reminded. "But nice use of loopholes."
"No, don't compliment him. He's evil! Totally evil! Evil." Ryan exclaimed.
"Wait a second!" Natalie called out randomly. The group all looked at her in confusion. "Aren't we missing someone?" Before the group could even think, said missing person answered on cue.
"Me!" That voice belonged to Hana. "You missed me, Harris!" Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.
The shorter boy quickly turned around in circles to figure out where the missing girl was hiding. He held his Mech-Links close to his face, so he could shoot her faster if he needed to. He was so preoccupied in searching for her looming figure on the floor that he didn't realize that she had tucked herself in the ceiling beams to hide.
It may be cheating but to her, it was a smart idea.
The girl hooked her feet onto the ceiling beam before pushing herself to dangle upside down in front of the doorway. She miraculously hit the boy's Mech-Link, causing it to shut off. This signified that Hana was the winner of the game.
"I got you!" Hana announced happily with a chuckle, causing the boy to grumble in annoyance.
"How did you get up there?" Ryan questioned in disbelief.
The group all stared at her in awe and in confusion at her insane hiding spot. The girl just unhooked herself from her position before smoothly jumping down. She brushed herself off of any webs.
"I used to rock climb." Hana confirmed. "Never thought that would come in handy."
"I will admit, that were some solid skills." Veracity complimented.
"Thank you." Hana nodded proudly.
"Alright, our fun is over. Let's get back to work." Ryan announced and everyone sadly nodded in agreement.
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It was the day after the laser tag tournament and the group was currently at school. Though the teens would rather be back at the robot, working on upgrades or a new plan, they had to be at school.
It was near midterms season, so this was a stressful and important time in their lives currently. They needed to pass their exams, in order to please their parents and continue with their role on the team. Right now, most of the teens stood in the front hallway for their short break before their next class.
"It feels sorta weird." Spyder sighed suddenly.
"What does?" Ryan questioned.
"Harper gone? Leo's a traitor?" Spyder answered, not realizing the look he was receiving from his girlfriend.
She had yet to tell the group of her newfound genetic relation to Leo Mendel. She knew it was too soon to talk about it with them, so she just kept quiet. She just squeezed his hand, hoping that would give him the hint to drop the topic.
"Veracity in the robot? Big bad destroyed?" Spyder continued to ponder.
"Well, when you lay it all out like that, it's all sorta weird." Ryan agreed with a chuckle.
"Gramtag, Axed by the Axe. Gramtag, Axed by the Axe." Spyder said out loud randomly as he typed into his phone. This was a habit of his and the only trendy tag he followed on social media.
Okay, why do you keep Gramtagging, Axed by the Axe?" Ryan questioned in confusion but the boy just handed over his phone to give him the answer.
"Axed by Boston Axe? You wanna get in the ring with the angriest guy in Ultimate Knuckle Crunching? Ryan asked worryingly.
"Uhhh, yeah." The boy nodded happily.
"It's a contest." Hana confirmed. "You learn a few moves from Boston Axe. Then you get in the ring and you spar with him."
"And they give you a video of the fight, GramTag and you get another chance every time you GramTag, Axed by the Axe. And I've been doing it for a while now." Spyder explained.
"Define a while?" Ryan questioned.
"Uhh, it's been a while." Spyder confirmed. "But I'm sure it almost......never almost got you killed." He tried to ensure the worried technopath.
Before Ryan could respond to the boy, they were distracted by Harris, who was standing on the stairs. The boy was decked out in a new style. He no longer wore his typically nerdy tie and cardigan combo but now sported an all black bomber jacket. Even his hair was parted in a new way. This was a strange sight for the group but they were in awe.
"Harris? Harris?" Ryan called, gaining the shorter boy's attention.
"Think of it as Harris 2.0." The shorter boy explained as he walked towards the four teens. "As in, too bad I can't be Harris, and oh, he's so cool."
"New look." Veracity asked, getting a good look at the boy, once she had joined the rest of the group.
"Hey! Oh, where's the rest of your vampire boy band, I....I don't see them anywhere." She got some laughter from the other teens.
"Nice. New glasses, right?" Harris pondered, looking right at the blonde girl. "They look good on you." He complimented randomly, confusing her.
"Ok, a compliment? No weak attempt at a comeback?" Veracity questioned in confusion.
"Of course not. We're friends now, right?" Harris reminded with a slight chuckle. This was weird to them as he never referred to the blonde as anything more than his frenemy.
"Hold on, let me get back to you, bro." Harris said, stepping away from the group.
He had noticed the local school bully picking on an innocent freshman and decided to stop it. This was so unlike Harris but he somehow succeeded, saving the innocent boy from a beating.
"Dude, what's going on with you?" Ryan asked when Harris had re-joined the group.
"We took out Traeger. The drones are looking for Grey and if they find her, we'll be ready for her. Own the moment, son." Harris reminded the technopath before walking away to attend his classes.
"I like Harris 2.0." Ryan admitted happily and the rest of the group nodded in somewhat agreement.
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Math class had finally finished for Natalie, so it was now her designated free period. She had an hour to do whatever she wanted before her next class. She was currently spending it with Spyder and Hana, who also had their free periods.
The three were sitting together at the tables in the front hallway, trying to do work. While Spyder was not as he was obsessively continuing to participate in the Boston Axe trend.
"Gramtag, Axed by the Axe. Gramtag, Axed by the Axe." He spoke into his phone.
"Spyder!" A voice called and the three all looked up to see Harris was approaching them. "You don't think I got this?"
All of a sudden, the front doors opened to reveal an entourage of people, including the Boston Axe himself. The group looked at each other with wide eyes before staring back at the MMA fighter that was currently in their presence.
"Spyder! I'm callin' you out!" The scary alpha male exclaimed, causing the boy to jump up from his seat.
"Harris? What did you do?" Spyder asked nervously.
"Ran a bot that's been Gramtagging him for weeks. No way you were gonna lose." Harris explained. "Plus I added a random insult generator just to make sure it got his attention." The boy held up his phone to the group to showcase the insult and this made Spyder even more worried.
"You!" Boston Axe pointed right at shivering boy in the hat as he walked over towards the group.
"You the kid that's sayin' he's gonna punch me so hard, it's gonna knock off my mother's mustache?" He was so menacing that Spyder was actually shaking.
He shared a look with Harris, who somehow nodded confidently. "Apparently." Spyder confirmed but his voice was faltering due to the amount of fear.
"Excellent use of smack talk, kid." Boston Axe unexpectedly complimented, reaching out to shake the boy's hand. Spyder nervously smiled to ease the tension but his wrist was harshly pulled, causing him to be closer to the scary male.
"Don't do it.....again!" He demanded the afraid boy.
"Right." Spyder nervously confirmed as his wrist was release from its harsh hold.
"I'll see you in the ring!" Boston Axe announced before leaving the property.
"I think you just gave my boyfriend a heart attack." Natalie pointed out, looking right at the short boy. She softly grabbed his hand, using her thumb to rub the skin as she knew that would calm him down.
"I.....I gotta go finish my will." Spyder announced happily to the shorter boy. He then looked over at his girlfriend, who stared at him in confusion. "And Nat, we're getting married before I die."
"We are?!" Natalie pondered.
"Yes!" Spyder exclaimed happily. He then used his two hands to gently cup the girl's face and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.
When he pulled away, he shared a smile with her before grabbing his stuff and running up the school steps like a manic. "I'm gonna get my butt kicked by a star!" He was excited.
"Alright, I guess I'll buy Spyder's favourite sandwich, so he can enjoy it one more time before he dies." Hana announced to the group before waking away towards the front door to leave. This just left Harris and Natalie together.
"Hey, Natalie." Harris called, gaining the girl's attention back. "Can I talk to you something?"
"Yes, of course." She nodded happily but also swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. With the way Harris was now acting, she was now nervous about what he was gonna do/say to her.
"I know about the thing with you." Harris spoke suddenly. The girl looked at him with wide eyes as she had no idea what thing he was talking about.
"What thing?" Natalie asked, pleading ignorant to the question just in case.
"The thing about Leo being your dad." Harris confirmed.
The girl's heart began to beat faster and she nervously sweating. No one was supposed to know about that as she hadn't told anyone. "How? How did you find out?" Natalie questioned.
"I accidentally found the letter on the table." Harris answered. "Don't worry, I didn't read it. I just saw your name on it and knew it was Leo's handwriting. I kind of figured it out."
"I haven't told anyone about this as I don't even believe it myself. It also came about at the wrong time like I want answers but at the same time, the team comes first." Natalie explained.
"I know the others are done with him but I'm willing to help you find him if you want to. I know you probably want answers from him and I want to help you get them." Harris assured the girl.
"Really? You'd do that for me?" Natalie pondered.
"Of course, you're my friend. I'd do anything for you." Harris confirmed.
"Thank you!" Natalie exclaimed, pulling the boy in for an unexpected hug. He was taken aback but still gently hugged back.
"And this will stay as our little secret. I won't tell anyone." Harris assured, pulling away from her.
"That means a lot to me. Thank you again." Natalie nodded happily. She gave one last smile to the boy before having to run to her next class.
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After school was completed, Natalie and Hana had accompanied Spyder to his fake fight against the Boston Axe. Which ended up turning into a real fight due to some misunderstandings but the boy was luckily unscathed due to his protection belt.
When the fight was over, Ryan had demanded the trio come with him to the forest. Apparently, Harris had told the technopath that he spotted the enemy but Ryan was unsure about the boy's intentions. He was a bit suspicious until Veracity had confirmed his involvement with the enemy.
Currently, the group was hiding behind the trees as they closely watched Harris'a actions. When Ryan had turned around, the shorter boy had reached into his duffel bag and pulled a metal pole. He intended on using it to kill the technopath.
"Traeger says goodbye." Before Harris could strike the boy, Ryan had activated the gravity pucks in his shoes. This launched him into the air and out of the way for an attack.
"Gravity pucks in my kicks. Figured I might need them." Ryan confirmed with a smirk.
"You can come out now, guys." That was the cue for the hidden members to reveal themselves. Each one of them appeared from behind the trees, causing Harris to look at them in disbelief.
"You're all supposed to be gone. Distracted!" Harris exclaimed, annoyed by the members presence.
"Changed my mind." Veracity shrugged.
"I told the principal I needed a day to stretch out my hammies." Mark argued.
"I finished the sewing project you gave me early." Hana confirmed.
The boy had gifted her a pile of expensive fabric with the idea that she should make some matching team apparel but she immediately halted that activity to tend to this secret mission.
"And I sorta had to run for my life, so......the timing worked out." Spyder exaggerated.
"How did you figure it out?" Harris pondered as he believed his action was foolproof.
"I'll field that one, Volde-short." Veracity spoke up, stepping forward to explain the evidence she found. "So I wanted to leave you a thank-you gift for being so wonderful, so I decided to hack into your computer and upgrade it for you. But guess what I found? The deleted footage from when Leo was trying to blow up the robot."
"But it wasn't Leo. It was you." Natalie confirmed.
"We all thought that you didn't have enough time to set the explosive." Mark pointed out.
"Harris has got some pretty mad jumping skills when he's all hopped up on evil." Veracity suggested.
"That explains how you quickly got to the lounge from the Med Bay, even though Leo cut the power to the elevator." Natalie explained.
"Something's wrong with you. Let us help you." Ryan assured.
"Harris, hey.....once we get you back to the robot and Harris checks you out, I'm sure we can help you...." Spyder began to speak but cut himself off as even he thought he was wrong. "Wait, wait, something seems not right about that."
"You're such an idiot sometimes." Hana taunted, earning a glare from the boy.
"Traeger.....help me do your will." Harris called out, mumbling under his breath for the enemy's help.
"He's talking to Traeger? Traeger's alive?" Ryan questioned in disbelief.
It was as if Traeger was channeling his ooze power to Harris as the boy transformed into a more powerful but monster version of himself.
"What the what is that?" Veracity exclaimed in a worried tone.
"I heard stories. But I never thought it was real. That's Monster Harris." Spyder exclaimed before letting out a scream of fear.
Hana still decided to glare at him for overreacting but she was hiding behind a tree, so she had no place to judge.
Mark Walker decided to take control of the situation by quickly running over to the boy. He tried to grab Harris as he wanted to lock the boy in his embrace to try and bring him down. "A little help here." He demanded as the boy was struggling against his grip.
Ryan had taken out a gravity buck from his back pocket and released it into the air. The puck immediately gravitated towards the fighting pair and exploded to catch Harris off guard. This tactic didn't work as Harris quickly got the upper hand, throwing Mark over his shoulder and the older teen harshly hit the ground.
Harris next looked towards Ryan, who activated the gravity pucks in his shoes to give him an advantage. This didn't stop Harris from grabbing at the boy's feet and throwing him directly into a tree. The technopath fell harshly to the ground.
After dealing with Ryan, the boy decided to go after Veracity. The blonde nervously backed up as Harris followed after her. Her back hit a tree but she quickly ducked, when the boy had tried to take a swing at her. She was unscathed but the tree now had a dent in it.
Before Harris could go after her again, Hana had decided to step in. She had kicked the boy in the back, causing him to stumble forward.
Once Harris regained his balance, the two members began to fight each other. Hana was clearly weaker than the boy due to his enhanced strength from the ooze. The fight resorted to Hana being kicked down. Luckily, Mark had regained his strength and rushed to aid the Miyazaki girl, who was struggling.
Spyder and Natalie were lucky enough to have not yet dealt with monster Harris but they were still worried as they knew they would be next. The boy was definitely the most worried and this led him to taking off his iconic protection belt. He quickly clasped it around the waist of his girlfriend's, to give her extra protection, in case he was knocked out.
"Here you go." Spyder exclaimed.
"No, I don't need protecting!" Natalie argued, trying to push the boy's hands away. He wouldn't budge and instead, activated the protection belt for her.
"But we do and we need at least one big brain to survive if Traeger's back." Spyder reminded. "And besides, Harris is my best friend. He'd never do anything....."
Spyder tried to ensure the girl but was cut off by monster Harris grabbing him by the jacket. He had clearly already taken down Mark as he was on the ground in pain. The boy's strength was nothing compared to Harris'. He lifted the boy up with ease and carried him with one hand.
Despite this, Spyder had hooked one leg onto Harris' shoulder and both hands around his neck area before pushing himself off. This led to Harris being thrown to the ground with Spyder now on top of his fallen figure.
"Where did you learn that?" Veracity questioned.
"It's a long story. It ends in a restraining order." Spyder answered as he struggled to keep the squirming boy in place.
"Boston Axe taught him that." Natalie confirmed.
"Alright, there's gotta be some way to reshape the energy in this force field." Veracity thought out loud, taking the belt off of the Berzatto girl.
"Hey! Hold him down!" Mark exclaimed, rushing to Spyder's aid.
"Harris! Snap out of it!" Ryan pleaded.
Him and Hana both got up from the ground and also ran over to help the two hold Harris in place. He was struggling against them and ended up using his strength to send all four teens flying back. He got back up, completely fine.
Luckily, Veracity had figured something and now the belt was supercharged to be a weapon. "Harris! You lied to me! I thought we were finally friends!" She shrieked, completely filled with anger.
The girl then used the shields to send Harris flying back. He harshly landed on the floor and Veracity ran over to his fallen form to finish him off. "But the whole time it was a trick! And I don't like to be....tricked!" She exclaimed before delivering one final blow to the boy.
This action knocked him unconscious and release some of the ooze from his system. "Dang." Spyder breathed out in awe.
Once the boy was finally unconscious, the group decided to was now the best time to detain him. They carried his unconscious body out of the forest and back to the robot. They set him to set on a chair in the lounge before trying him up in layers of heavy duty chains. This would ensure that he couldn't escape so easily, even if he tried his hardest.
Now the group was stuck with coming up with a new plan to cure Harris and now destroy Traeger again.
★ 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 ! spyder johnson ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)