Avenging Angel
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Chapter One: Falling From Grace
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Take me down, 6 underground, Overground, watch this space,
The ground beneath your feet,
Laid out low, nothing to go
Nowhere a way to meet
I've got a head full of drought,
Down here, so far off losing out
Round here,
I'm open to falling from grace
Opening lyrics to "6 Underground" by Sneaker Pimps
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As the first quarter alert of the day sounded, Sgt. T. J. Calhoun stepped from the doors of her readying room and strode to the front of the unit. "All right!"
The ten soldiers jolted to attention.
"Now listen up, because I'm only going to say this once." She took her place at the head of the squad and pulled out her rifle. Somewhere at the back of the formation there was a bit of jostling—probably Torres coming in late yet again. "Fear is a four letter word, ladies. If you want to go pee-pee in your big boy slacks, keep it to yourself," she warned them. "It's make your mamas proud time!"
The first person shooter module rolled forward into place, and it was then that she caught the pale lavender glow of a code anchor wrapped around an ankle near the back of the group.
"Damn," she cursed under her breath. Wreck-It had been the first to infiltrate game play, and after that others had tried. It hadn't been easy to catch them at first—the armor and faceplates bestowed something of an anonymity to the wearers. But since the advent of the code anchors more had tried, and more had been caught by the telltale lavender light In fact she'd placed a warning sign at both ends of the train terminal stating that tourists and game-hoppers were unwelcome in Hero's Duty. It wasn't fair to the players, players that expected a squad of able, trained soldiers to escort them up the tower.
"Game play in three, two, one..." came the disembodied voice from above. It was too late to pull the infiltrator out of the formation.
Calhoun pulled on her helmet and addressed the player as the camera switched on. "We are humanity's last hope," she barked to the awkward twenty-something who stood there grasping the cabinet's targeting rifle. "Our mission? Destroy all Cy-Bugs."
The rumble of the opening bulkhead door began deep inside the metal beneath her feet. "Are you ready rookie? Let's find out."
As the first wave of Cy-Bugs diminished beneath the fire of the Space Marines, Calhoun paused before leading the charge into the tower at the end of the causeway, her eyes scanning the ankles of her men for the code anchor. But it wasn't the anchor that first gave away the infiltrator. It was the lithe female form of the woman wearing it.
Inside the tower they mowed down another wave of Cy-Bugs before leaping onto the first of many elevator platforms. Calhoun pushed her way to the far side of the platform where the game-hopper was trying to hide behind two of the heavy gunners. Making sure the first person shooter module was looking the other way, Calhoun shoved Davis and Marco aside and grabbed the woman by the top edge of her chestplate. "Don't think that I haven't noticed you. When this game is over, you're out of here!" As she turned away, the two men who had stood in front of her patted the infiltrator consolingly.
And the game was over soon, and true to her word, Calhoun dealt with the intruder as all the others she had caught. "Loya! Valentine! Throw the bitch in the brig."
The woman whimpered as the two men dragged her off.
"Another one, eh?" asked Kohut, putting his hands on his hips.
"Yeah. I'll go scare her after the arcade's closed and send her home crying to her mommy."
"Did you see who it was?"
"Naw. She kept her faceplate down. Definitely a woman though."
"Yeah," he said with a slight sigh to his voice.
"A round at Tapper's says she's got an SNK logo stamped on her butt."
"You're on," grinned Kohut.
The sergeant cocked her head. "You took that bet awfully quick, soldier."
"She's no fighter. I could tell that, but her heart was in it."
"Hmmm..." Calhoun was already regretting the hasty bet. "Well, we'll see. Want to come along when I visit Donnie later?"
"Thanks for the offer but I'll have to pass."
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After the arcade closed, Sgt. Calhoun stomped down to the holding cell in the bottom of the base.
The woman sat there on the plank-bed, still sheathed in armor and her pose one of frustration and despair. When she saw Calhoun, Kohut, and Spears enter the jail room she immediately went to the bars of the cell and gripped them tightly. "Why did you make me leave? I wanted to help!" she mourned. "I was there to kill Cy-Bugs—not just for a thrill."
"You're just a civilian," was the start of Calhoun's long tirade against any unwelcome game-hopper, not just this one. For half an hour she scolded, berated, belittled, and educated the prisoner until at last the poor woman was in tears.
"I just wanted to kill Cy-Bugs," she kept repeating over and over.
Eventually the sergeant decided to let her go, but again the girl balked. "I don't have anywhere to go. I want this to be my home now."
Calhoun was startled. "What are you talking about? No one wants to live in Hero's Duty. This place is Hell."
"It can be my Hell though. I want to stay and help. Please."
Angry at the woman's stubbornness and borderline insanity, Calhoun opened the cell door, grabbed the woman by the arm, and dragged her out.
"I'll just come back," she wailed.
Pushed too far, Calhoun spun around and shoved the woman up against the bars of the cell. "Who are you?" She grabbed the woman's helmet under the chin, tore it off, and threw it aside.
The three soldiers all stared open-mouthed at the infiltrator.
Her long brunette hair fell curl by curl as it escaped the damp press of the helmet's interior.
Kohut forgot all about the bet. Spears gasped audibly. She was beautiful, and not just any beautiful, but breathtakingly so.
"Please don't look at me," she whimpered and turned away from them. "I'm more than just a pretty-girl. I can be a soldier too!" she protested.
"You...you look familiar," Calhoun stammered.
"You rescued me...when my game was destroyed by Cy-Bugs." Shyly she looked back at Calhoun.
"Your game? Oh God..."
The memories suddenly came flooding back to Calhoun. Despite the vigilance of the Space Marines, one game in Litwak's Arcade had fallen completely to the Cy-Bug menace.
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Avenging Angel continues in:
Chapter 2: Unacceptable Losses
Chapter 3: Fearless
Chapter 4: The New Girl
Chapter 5: Say Anything You Like
Chapter 6: The Ace
Chapter 7: Black Flowers Blossom
Chapter 8: Love is a Verb
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Wreck-It Ralph and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.