[Astrid P.O.V]
I swear if Tristan says "are we there yet" one more time, I'll be cutting off heads right about now.
Currently, we're driving our black SUV towards L.A. Why, you ask? Because the Hell Titans' organization was stationed there. Don't know what that is? Well, it's an organization which basically hunts down major baddies around the world. So in other words, they're cops but a bajillion times better and does a good job. We first heard about it when we were young.
There was a myth that there were secret organizations everywhere, helping to preserve the peace. Drakos is considered one of them. There were other organizations as well that corrupts it. So for years, they've been fighting back and forth to see who would win. But us regular citizens don't notice it. In fact, it's considered a myth. But we are part of the people who don't believe that.
We tried finding organization through the internet but we turned up empty. We tried every single information like conspiracy theories or Reddit posts but we still found nothing. Then all of a sudden, we all got a message from an anonymous user, saying that we were invited to join Drakos. At first, we didn't believe it. Who wouldn't be skeptical at an unknown message? But when we had it confirmed, we nearly burst out in happiness. Since we're already adults, we dropped everything in our lives, and decided to go for it. Our parents believes that we have found a job that would take years. Then here we are now.
"Are we there-"
Tristan wasn't able to finish his sentence due to Finn slamming his husky arm onto his face. The lanky man hadn't expected it and was forced back to his seat.
"Tristan, it might be better if you be quiet." Finn said with a sheepish smile.
I'm glad Finn did that or else Tristan might have been headless already. But the problem is, Tristan was the one driving. So expectedly, the van swerved around as if a maniac was driving it. So pretty much accurate. The swerving caused Shawn to wake up from his nap. His head slammed against the side of the van with a bang.
Shawn squealed in pain like a little pig causing another of our napping friend to wake up. Groaning, she sat up with a yawn.
"What's going-" she got cut off as her entire body moved to the right.
The van swerved one more time. Though I hated his driving, it was fun and entertaining to watch Shawn and Racquel being flung around like ragdolls. After the van steadied, Shawn got up on his knees, clutching his head. His jet-black hair was all messed up like a tornado just massacred it.
"What the fuck? Who woke up my beauty sleep?" He snapped.
"Nobody because there's no way you can have a beauty sleep cuz of your rat-faced... uhhh face." Racquel said, popping her head out with a smirk.
"At least I'm not dumb as a rock!" Shawn shot back.
"Says the person whose face looks like a rock after being covered in shit."
As much as I wanted the two to brawl it out, the van is already a mess and I don't want two violent and crazy maniacs tearing the van piece by piece with their fight. The last time that happened, we lost a van.
"Shut up, you two." I scolded them with a glare. Naturally, Shawn obeyed, sitting down on his seat with a guilty look as if he were a child that's been lectured. But Racquel however, didn't back down. I expected this. Racquel is a very annoying person who won't listen to anyone. At least with Shawn, I could control him. But not this girl...
"Aww, Princess Astrid is getting a little annoyed? Do you need a person to fan you, Mi'lady?" She teased with a stupid grin.
"Do you want me to share your little secret to everyone here in this van?" I responded with a smirk.
As expected, Racquel's face turned pale as chalk. Her eyes widened like saucers, leaving her speechless. She sat down quietly while muttering 'it just had to be you'.
Over the years, I finally had few tricks up my sleeves that would shut the twins up. Well, at least one of them. I turn to Tristan who was singing "Twinkle Little Star" with some messed up lyrics. Every once in a while, he would shout the word 'star', as if the word imitated an explosion.
Besides, only one person could call me 'm'lady' without me getting annoyed or angry. I let out a exhausted sigh. Where is that guy?
Finn must've noticed my change of mood because he leaned beside and tapped my shoulder. He always was the peacemaker of the group. He could never leave anyone feeling blue. He once cried because Racquel and Shawn were about to swing their fists at each other so the two felt guilty and made up just to satisfy the husky boy.
"You alright?" The husky boy asked with concern.
I sighed once again. "I'm fine. It's just that... where do you think Hayden is now?" I muttered quietly.
But Finn heard it anyway. His face fell, a sad smile replaced his usual optimistic one. He's actually Hayden's best friend. Well, boy best friend. I was still his best friend. Anyways, so when he fount out that he went missing, it devastated him. We all were...
But somehow, he always had a smile on his face and an encyclopedia in his arm. Just like me, we never gave up on him. We still believe he's still alive and kicking out there, or whatever that lanky guy does that he calls kicking.
"I don't know, Astrid. But I hope we meet him one more time." He replied with an assuring smile.
Hayden Harrison Haddock. My best friend since childhood and most importantly, my first friend. He used to be just a auburn-haired little kid that I paid no attention to. But when I got to know him, we instantly clicked and we were friends ever since. He helped in a lot of stuff like my studies and sports. Yeah, he helped me in sports. Granted, he was hopeless in all kinds of sports, but his observation and strategic skills was great help.
But then, he suddenly disappeared when we were in third-year highschool and just like that, I never saw him again. Rumors were spread that he run away from home. Others said he was kidnapped. His father wasn't home that time so I couldn't ask him. But when he did, he said he had no idea where he was and shrugged it off, saying that he might have took a vacation. But if that were true, then a seven-year vacation was what he had.
How could a tall and strange guy like him would go missing? It's like losing a tennis ball in a sack of rice. But before, he wasn't like that. He used to be a scrawny, small, and shy boy until he turned 17. Puberty beat him up like there was no tommorow.
He came to school looking like a model and turning the heads of both boys and girls. To other kids, puberty was merciless and ruthless. They would come to school with acne and voice cracks. But not Hayden, no, no. Puberty blessed him with height, looks, muscles, and probably the sexiest voice I have ever heard, even with the nasally tone. I admit to myself that he looked like a complete snack with the long messy auburn hair and those lean muscles. But I was still his best friend and I don't want anything to be weird so I just punched him on the arm and said, "Nice to see you, dork".
I was happy reliving the memory when the wonderful memory was suddenly interrupted by a certain someone.
"~Old McDonald had a knife. Eeh yah eeh yah yo! And a dead pig there. And a dead cow there. Here pig. Here cow. Everywhere a powcow. Old McDonald had a lunch. It was delicious~" Tristan sang with glee.
That's just messed up. Oh, shall I introduce you to the gang?
First on the list is Tristan Thorston. A crazy guy with blond dreadlocks, blue eyes, and a crazy habit of blowing things up, similar to his twin sister. He was unbelievably stupid and has a dark sense of humor that only his sister could get. He was weird fellow but he can be reliable whenever he actually wants to do it, unlike his sister.
Racquel Thorston is a mix between crazy and cool. She can be a badass-looking girl if she wants to but again, she's a Thorston and her brother is Tristan. So she had to be crazy. Her blonde hair was tied into twin braids which she usually plays with. She has a pretty long face but don't be fooled. She was quite popular and known to be a beauty back in highschool.
I met the twins in a horrible prank they set up. It was a simple prank but with a hint of Thorston magic. I simply walked through the doors of the classroom, minding my own business when a bucket full of slime and... shit dropped on my head. That's also the day when the twins will forever know who I am and what I could do to people who does things like this.
Then there's Shawn Jorgenson. A beefy muscle-head with spiky jet-black hair, brown eyes, and like every muscle-head in the world, he has a large ego the size of of his head. He only likes to do three things; sleep in, flirt, and brag. Well, what do you know! They're all useless qualities! But I have to admit. He's a skilled fighter. But let's leave it at that. The first time I met him, he went up to me a started flirting with me, saying corny pick-up lines. I was able to ignore it until the part he grabbed my hand and tried to sneak a kiss. That was also a day where he now I'm off limits and I have a menacing right hook.
Then there's Finn Ingerman. A husky blond who, like Hayden, is an intelligent person who likes to invent stuff. He's a shy guy, that's why Shawn likes to pick on him. But even he acknowledges his intelligence after they competed in a quiz bee. He has bright blue eyes, a round face, and a squeaky voice whenever he's nervous. He was the second person I became friends with, because of his connection with Hayden. The two were inseparable and they both have lots in common. Though I wasn't intelligent like them, I was still able to find enough common things about us and we became fast friends. And through him, I was able to find out about a lot of things about Hayden.
Then there's me. My name is Astrid Harmony Hofferson. A 24-year old girl with golden blonde hair that's tied into a braid and sapphire blue eyes. I'm trained by my uncle to specialize in martial arts, boxing, fencing, and most importantly, shooting a gun. My Uncle Fisk is a retired military officer so he decided to teach me at a very young age since my parents aren't around to be with me. We need those skills when we'll apply to Hell Titans.
The name of the organization sounds like a child named it but don't be fooled. Right now, the world would be in chaos if weren't for them. I've heard about theories and rumors about their missions and attacks that foiled many plans that would've done an enormous size of damage in the world. One plan was to even start World War 3, but luckily, it was stopped. But they were still considered rumors until we confirm it. I've always wanted to use my skills for the greater good. What's better than being a Hell Titan?
Okay, the more I use the name, the more it sounds stupid. What's better than Hell Titan? Hell Demons?
No! Sounds like a rock band.
Dra... Dragons? Hell Dragons? The Dragons? Sounds better I guess.
"We're here!" Tristan shouted, breaking my train of thought.
I turn my head towards the front and looked out to the windshield. It was almost like we were in the middle of nowhere. In fact, there's nothing at all! Just a plain grassland with a few rocks. Tristan shut off the van and we all got out.
"So, is this it?" Racquel questioned.
I had the same exact question. Where's it? The message told us to go at this specific place and coordinates but there's nothing here but trees and dust. I take out my phone and reread the message that I took a picture of with my phone. There must be some kind of code? Then I noticed a pattern. I was hesitant but I decided to follow my instincts. I read each letter that's in the uppercase form, and when I got everything, I rescrambled the letters in my head to form a word. I thought hard but none of the letters seem to make a word.
Unless... there are two words. I scrambled the letter once again in my head. I even took out a piece of paper from Finn's bag and wrote the words.
"What's all this, Astrid?" Racquel arched an eyebrow.
"The letters in the message. The capital ones. They form some kind of code. It's an anagram!" I exclaimed as I finally found the word that was the most sensible. I read it again and then I crumpled it in my pocket.
And with my loudest voice, I yelled out "Helheim's Gate!"
One second... two seconds... three seconds...
"Holy mother of Thor and Loki's babies!" Shawn exclaimed.
We stared at the huge building that magically just appeared in front of us. How the hell did it just appear there? But most importantly, how did it just take our breaths away just like that? The base was like the size of ten football fields. The front of the building was like the doorstep to a heavily defended facility. and it was armed to the teeth. Huge plasma guns, BH1 turrets, and magma cannons were stationed all over the building like some sort of defense mechanism. I'm sure the glass were made out of bulletproof, fireproof, shockproof, soundproof, and probably everything-proof.
Does that even exist? On top of the building, was a huge logo of a dragon with white scales and two tusks. If I'm right, that's a Bewilderbeast. The symbol of the boss. The Alpha. Then my gaze shifted down to the front doors which were the size of church gate, and is completely made out of iron and steel. I hear a click, then the doors opened with a hiss as mist oozed out from the inside.
I see a figure of a person stepped out of the doors, clad in a black uniform. His black button-down shirt was tucked in under his slacks. A gun holster was attached to his hip and a nightstick on the other side. His cap was shaped like a guardhat, only the symbol of the building is drawn on the top.
"You Hofferson?" He yelled out in a gruff voice.
I was too astonished and confused that I could only nod in response. The man then checked my friends behind me, arching an eyebrow.
"They with you?" He asked in a calmer voice. Again, I could only nod. "Alright, you're late. Get in here! Leave your belongings in you van!"
And with that, he gestured for us to go inside and went inside like everything was normal. I guess this is Drakos. I... didn't expect something like this. I mena, I expected a undercover building disguised as a factory or something or a secret underground base but this is just too much! An entire base with a cloaking field, just outside of Los Angeles? Damn...
Taking a deep breath, I turn towards my friends.
"This is it, guys. Are you ready?" I ask. But I didn't need to. Just by looking at their faces I knew the answer.
"Do even have to ask? Of course we're ready, bitch!" Racquel yelled, raising her hands like a madman, or a madwoman.
The rest agreed by cheering. Tristan headbutted Shawn on the head then complained that it wasn't as hard as his sister's. Then he proceeded to headbutt Racquel while Shawn was on the ground, yelling at them. I ignored them as I faced the Hell Titan building. The adrenaline in me was rising up as I felt a smile reach my lips.
This is it. Time to accomplish my dream of being a Hell Titan. I clenched my fist and raised my head up high. This is the moment I've been waiting for. But another thought plagued my head, which only fueled my anticipation and determination. I knew that I couldn't forget about that. My other goal....
To find Hayden.