Season 1, Episode 5 - The Boxtops XV - "The Trash Talk"

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Reed wiped her mouth and rubbed her eyes, pushing her shaggy hair out of her eyes afterwards. “That was unrelated to any sort of anxious thoughts about today. I don’t get nervous one bit.”

Oksana held her handkerchief out for her as means of an apology. Isaac watched Reed wave it away and sit back down on the bench next to him.

“It’s alright to admit you’re nervous, Reed.”

She crossed her arms. “But I’m not.”

“Thinking like that is what makes you throw up,” Isaac supposed. “You gotta acknowledge your feelings head-on, not run away from them. If you accept you’re feeling nervous, it’s a lot easier to handle it.”

Reed flipped the conversation back at him. “Well, what about you? You nervous? Everyone says Reed, open up, talk about yourself, but I've never seen you tell us anything personal.”

"Oh!" Audrey exclaimed. "Reed, did you know that Isaac and Piper were childhood friends!"

Reed gestured at him. "See what I mean? Why don't you open up? Unless you're too scared and nervous to admit that you're scared and nervous."

Isaac laughed, perhaps a little too hard. “Me? Nervous? No, not one bit. I was just telling you that because you’re a teenage girl.” He thought back on his school textbooks. “We live in a Darwinist world, guys shouldn’t get nervous.”

“Agreed!” Coleridge said, nodding with pride.

He suddenly noticed Piper gazing deeply into his eyes. “I smell something fishy,” was all she said.

Coleridge started sweating, and then noticed Oksana staring into his eyes as well. And when Oksana stared, you could feel it in your soul.

“Okay, okay, fine, I’m nervous!” he admitted. “But that’s just because...Alfie, I bet you’re nervous, right?”

Alfie shrugged. “Sure. In New York, they say both girls and guys gotta be honest with their feelings. That’s the healthy thing to do.”

Everybody looked expectantly at Isaac. “What? Oh, goddamnit, fine, I’m a little nervous too. But we've all been training. Everybody's here been practicing. We all know what we need to do and we even have a strategy. We just have to go out there and do what we've been doing. So, there's no real reason to feel nervous."

"Isaac, we literally just gave Reed a laundry list of reasons to be nervous," Coleridge complained.

Audrey, the self-appointed heart of the team, raised a fist. "I think everyone here has a point! Being nervous is a natural sort of thing. Even when we know we've practiced and trained, it can still appear. But we just have to go out there and do it! Trust in the training, trust in each other, rely on others in a pinch!"

"I heard," Oksana said. "That if you're nervous, facing a crowd, you should imagine them all in their underwear."

"Agreed!" Audrey exclaimed. "Reed, if you're nervous and you're facing down Demetrius, imagine him in his underwear...heehee, wow..."

Audrey's face briefly glazed over, her eyes dreamy.

"You just gotta go out there and do it," Isaac concluded. "Just be a little confident in yourself."

Reed ran a hand through her unkempt hair. “That sounds like one of those phrases that are easier said than done. But the relying on others in a pinch thing, I kinda like that. It's like...we’re all nervous together, and that's not so bad.”

“Hooray for team bonding!” Audrey cheered, her thoughts returning to normal.

A lightbulb lit up inside her. “That reminds me! We should do some more last-minute team bonding since we have some time before we need to get on the train!”

Audrey felt two piercing glares from Isaac and Reed. “Huh? Oh, I get it. This isn’t Never Have I Ever. I think we all learned that Never Have I Ever can break apart even the closest of friendships.”

Isaac and Reed sighed in relief, remembering the heated arguments involving donuts and crying that Never Have I Ever devolved into while they were in the sewers.

“This game is simple,” Audrey began. “I’ll say a common topic or question, and you guys answer!”

“That’s not a game,” Reed complained. “You just described how a conversation works.”

Audrey clapped her hands. “That's great, you already know how to play! I’ll go first. Do you guys have any siblings?”

Coleridge puffed his chest out proudly. “My parents knew that any further children would merely be a disappointment when compared to me, so they stopped once I was born. I’m an only child.”

Reed snickered. “More like they were so disappointed in you that they decided another kid wasn’t worth it.”

Coleridge stood up from the bench. “Reed, I’m going to beat you to death!”

Audrey watched Isaac get in the middle of the feuding classmates. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind...what about you, Alfie?”

Alfie spoke in a distant tone. “Shortly after I was born, my parents died.”

Audrey opened her mouth, then closed it.

“I have an older brother!” Piper exclaimed, lifting her head up after sticking a piece of gum underneath the bench.

“Wow, what are the odds!” Audrey gestured to Isaac as he returned to his seat. “Our dear friend Isaac here has an older brother as well. Maybe this common thing between you two could add yet another car in your blossoming friendship train!”

Isaac’s eye twitched about the gum thing (and the friendship thing), but Reed spoke up, forgetting about making fun of Coleridge. “What’s your older brother like, Isaac?”

Isaac leaned back in the bench, looking at the skyline in the distance. “He’s the best,” he began, since there really was no other way to begin. “Before I came to the Academy, he trained with me. He can’t use the Rddhi, but he knows all about the body and the mind and all that. He helped prepare me for the interview to the Academy, too. And when my mother got sick, he took over running the house and looking out for me and all that.”

He smiled at the memories and spoke a little softer now. “In all honesty, I don’t think I would be where I am today without him. He’s great.”

Reed thought about it, slowly nodding.

“Do you got an older brother?” Isaac asked her.

Reed leaned back in her seat. “Yeah, I got one, but he’s off doing his own thing. I guess we’re not really close. But my little sister...the world’s not ready for two Reeds.”

As the members of Team Red thought about the global geopolitical implications of two Reeds, Oksana spoke up in her quiet voice. “What’s having a little sister like?”

“They look up to you,” Reed answered in an easy tone. She then grew quiet, as if there was some distance between her and her sister. She looked off to the side, deep in thought, her voice muted. “I think Audrey should answer this one.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The elder Adzinoki sister beam with pride. “Audrey should answer this one! Having a younger sister is the best! Reed’s right about how they look up to you and all, but it’s not just that, it’s a two way street. Because they look up to you, you need to be someone worth looking up to! Being an older sibling means you have responsibilities, but seeing happiness on a younger sibling’s face...there’s nothing quite like it in the world.”

Oksana slowly nodded at that, but didn’t say anymore.

Piper raised her hand. “Oh, I got a team building question! What’s black and white and read all over?”

Isaac wiped his face. “That’s just a riddle-”

“A penguin in a blender!” Coleridge and Audrey exclaimed in unison.

Piper scratched her head. “...wasn’t really thinking that, but I suppose that’s technically correct. The best kind of correct!”

“It's a newspaper,” Isaac mumbled under his breath. “Alright, I got a question. What’s everybody’s favorite class at school? I feel like that’s a tough question, since all the classes have their ups and downs. Rddhi Theory’s cool, but Mr. Shokahu puts me to sleep, history’s cool but that also puts me to sleep. Gym’s nice, I like dodgeball. But if had to choose just one, I’d pick...aw, c’mon, Reed...”

Reed had drifted off to sleep during Isaac’s spiel. Isaac nudged her awake again.

Reed rubbed her eyes. “I need a tape recording of your voice, Isaac. Puts me to sleep just like that.” She snapped her fingers for emphasis, but right after the snapping sound came a much louder rumbling sound, closing in on the Academy from down the street.

A motorcycle rolled into the Academy, arriving through a side entrance used by vehicles. The bike pulled into the premium parking spot, situated in a row of spots right near the courtyard. The members of Team Red and company watched as the rider removed her helmet, her long, auburn hair swept along by the November breeze.

Babs, Isaac realized. I wonder where the rest of Team Blue is. They must be meeting up somewhere else.

Babs usually kept her hair up at school. But when she first stepped off the motorcycle, her hair flowed straight down to her upper back. It gave Isaac a different picture of her. Babs had a reputation of being, well, an asshole, and had a little gang of friends up at the Revere Arcade. She partook in class-wide discussions sometimes, but she usually just kept to herself, a smug sort of look on her face as she waited for the last bell of the day to ring.

But all of that was Babs with her hair up. Maybe Isaac was just imagining things, but with her hair down, Babs looked a little smaller, a little softer.

But then she walked nonchalantly over to Team Red, using a hair band to tie her hair up into a ponytail, and the usual, arrogant look returned to her face, joined by a shark's grin as it closed in on a fish or penguin or something (Isaac didn't know what sharks really ate). She wore the green Academy greatcoat with the front open, her blue letterman jacket visible below it.

“Well, well, well,” she greeted as she arrived in front of the two benches. “Look what the cat dragged in and pissed all over.”

Piper leaned over towards Oksana. “She’s talking about you,” she whispered, giggling.

Nobody on Team Red would stand for that sort of antagonism, but much to their surprise, Coleridge stood up first.

“I know what you’re doing, Babs,” he said, pointing a finger full of pride in her face. “You’re trying to mess with us before the match. Get into our heads. Well, I say no to that! We’re a strong team. We've had deep bonding moments involving football games and nervousness and blenders! No amount of bullying or teasing is going to throw us off our game!”

Babs tilted her head. “Who are you?”

Coleridge’s eyes watered. “Those...those were the first words Marie ever said to me...”

He sat back on the bench in defeat, Oksana awkwardly dabbing her handkerchief at his eyes to stem the tide of tears.

"Well, that's one of you," Babs supposed. With one of her prey down for the count, she moved onto the remaining four. "And aren't you all a sight for sore eyes?"

"Get lost, Babs," Isaac warned her.

"Easy, Isaac, I just had an honest question." She strode to the end of the bench and looked down at Reed. "Hey, buddy, I just had something I wanted to ask you before the big match."

Reed crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

"Something seemed peculiar to me," Babs began, enjoying her own theatrics. Reed, Isaac, Audrey, and Alfie all watched her wearily. "You see, this Combat Simulation, it's not to the death. Not even to the maiming. To the pain, maybe, but certainly not beyond that. We'll have Clayton and Hanai watching. They'll step in before any irreversible damage is done. I know we got accelerated healing, but that doesn't always work out too well, does it?"

Whatever Babs was referencing flew right over Isaac's head, but that seemed to strike a nerve with Reed. "How'd you know about that?" she asked, looking away, scratching at her stomach.

Babs shrugged. "We got gym class together, Reed. I know you tried to hide it and all that, but I'm good at seeing things. Even my doctor said so. Twenty-twenty vision and all that jazz."

While Babs laughed at her own joke, Reed sighed. "Just get to the question."

"Can do," Babs continued. "You see, this is supposed to be a combat simulation, but we're not going all the way with it. That's why I'm confused."

She eyed the Domino Sword, sheathed in its scabbard, resting next to Reed on the bench. "You'll be fighting today with a full-fledged sword. A metal sword, a sharp metal sword, that can stab and wound and even maim and kill. Fighting with a sword like that - that can lead to irreversible damage. So, why are you fighting with it?"

Isaac expected the usual sort of dull, defiant answer from Reed, but she just looked down at her feet.

Babs kept going. "I know you'll be using waves on the Domino Sword itself to cushion the blows, but that seems far too complicated. All you really need to do is just use a wooden sword. I mean, that'd be simple, right?"

Babs paced around, a single finger raised to emphasize each point in her train of thought. "Unless, of course, you have to use the Domino Sword. I have my sources and eyes and ears around the town - I've never heard of you once using any sort of Rddhi without that sword."

Isaac felt confused for a moment, because he had seen Reed use the Rddhi without her sword. On the way up to the dojo, Reed flicked him on the forehead, sending a brief spark of Rddhi through him.

But...what if that's all she can do without her sword?

Isaac looked over at Reed, who kept scratching her arm, her legs pressed together, looking smaller and smaller.

She's so prideful, so larger than life at times...is it really just to cover up that she can't really use the Rddhi without the Domino Sword?

But the confusion left him, because that question could be solved another day. The only issue right now was Babs talking down to one of his best friends. Isaac couldn't tell what hurt more - Babs' aggression to Reed, or Reed just sitting there and taking it.

When Mackenzie talks her down, she always fights right back. But right now, Reed's doing nothing.

"That's enough, Babs." This time it came from Audrey, an unusual sight of anger on her face, found in the way her eyes narrowed and smile disappeared.

Babs laughed. "Oh, I see. The class idiot has something to say-"

Reed threw a left hook to her jaw. Babs stumbled back, but Piper caught her arms from behind and pulled her away. Isaac did the same with Reed, who stared right back at Babs this time. Audrey and Alfie stood up, joining Isaac and Reed in facing down Babs.

"I don't need any Rddhi to kick your ass," Reed proclaimed, her hands balled tight into fists.

Babs reached up to feel the developing bruise on her face, then grinned. "Excellent. That's what I wanted to hear. I hope that holds up in the Combat Simulation today."

The grin grew wider. "You see, I was worried, Reed. I was worried about how, without that sword, you'd just be like anyone else in this world. You got a little bit of Rddhi, so you'd still go to an Academy, but when it's all over, you don't get a golden parachute - a normal Class 1 out of this Academy doesn't get a comfy life after, they have to rejoin the real world and work a real job and worry about real problems. Without that sword, you'd be a nobody, just like how everybody on God's green earth is."

Sunlight reflected off the sword handle, the sword and scabbard still resting on the bench. "But you do have that sword. You're not a nobody because you were born into a rich family where any sort of problem can be solved with money and power. That's not a real life, Reed. You didn't earn that sword, you got it because you were born into the Reeds. You got life handed to you on a silver platter, got advantages nobody else in this country gets. Think about how unfair that is, how lucky you are, and how you waste it-"

"PLATINUM DISCO!"

Piper activated her signature move to get Babs to shut up, but Babs closed her eyes and ducked her head. Piper forget to do that, so when both of them received industrial strength strobe lights at point blank range, Babs temporarily lost her eyesight but remained in place, while Piper collapsed to the ground.

While Oksana hauled her poor friend away to the bench, Coleridge joined the rest of the members of Team Red in a line against Babs.

Babs rubbed her eyes, her vision returning. "Was it something I said?" She saw the team arrayed against her. "This is good. Excellent. And wow, even the New Yorker's standing up."

Alfie kept his usual neutral tone, but there was a hard edge to it. "I may be a foreigner, but even I know when something's not right. Labels are just labels - it's the people next to you in a fight that are important. These people are my teammates and welcomed me here. I get a sense of...belonging...sitting with them. Isaac's the one who helped me into world, Audrey's been nice to me, Coleridge too, and Reed's my 'kaicho'. That must be New Englander slang for leader. She's my captain on Team Red, and even if she wasn't, she's still a teammate."

Babs thought on that. "...kaicho?"

"That's a later issue," Reed concluded, her face burning with a slight scarlet hue. "For now, all you need to know is that you don't make fun of my friends."

"Ah, isn't that nice," Babs said. "What a nice little moment of deflection, since you still haven't denied anything I said."

She shrugged, seeing the angry looks facing her. "Well, I guess that's my cue to go. Looking forward to fighting you guys. And remember, everything I just did was a tough sort of love. I'm trying to get you all to stick up for yourselves. If you can't handle a little teasing from me, how are you going to survive in a real fight? Making sure your peers will be fighting at their best...that's what classmates do, right?"

She waved, then stuffed her hands in her pockets and headed off. "Best of luck, Team Red."

They watched her go. Isaac felt Reed slump in his arms, the anger and fight leaving her.