Chpt 3: First-Class Recruit! Squad 0...The Weakest Platoon?!

Its already 3 plus in the morning...Joe stared at the door of his new bunk. The events that just occurred played back in his mind. Outside the dome, the rest of the camp seemed unaffected by the tremors and all was silent. Joe pushed open the door and was greeted by silence and darkness. Stepping in, he saw that all the beds save one, were occupied by recruits, exhausted no doubt from the test. Joe could not help but feel slightly envious of them. At least you guys got more time to rest..., ugh, my head is throbbing now...

Making his way to the bed, the recruit beside the bed turned his head and groaned:"That you Kaine? Hurry up and get some sleep already. Its gonna be a long day." "George? Heh..bunk mates again huh..." Joe mused and finally reached the bed. not even bothering to change or unpack, he slumped onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep. Strangely, as he slept, Joe could something warm envelop him. It was a strange sensation, hard to describe but suffice to say that a mother's warm embrace is the closest feeling that could be use to explain it.

Next thing he knew, Joe was shaken by George, trying to wake him up. "Hmmm? What time is it?" Joe asked. "Its 5.30 dude, they gave us more time to rest...You ok?" George replied. "Yeah, I feel fine actually." Joe was amazed. He only had roughly 2 hours sleep yet he felt that he had rested for several hours straight. Sure, he still felt sore but it was bearable seeing as to the events before. Getting up, Joe quickly washed up and assembled with the rest of his new bunk mates at the assembly square.

"Well, well, look who made it out alive." A familiar annoying voice boomed out behind Joe. "Oh no...not now..." Joe groaned. Turning around, he stared straight at Kevin. "Oh hello, muscle head. Looks like you managed to butt your way out alive." Joe replied. "Getting cocky huh? For someone who only had jumping abilities to clear the test." Kevin insulted. "Yeah? not as cocky as someone who had help from his relative in the higher-ups." Joe retorted. "Say What!" Kevin was enraged and gave Joe a kick in the gut.

Trying to get his breath back, Joe rolled back to reduce the impact. Getting back on his feet, Joe raised his fist in defense, but Kevin is no longer there. Surprised, Joe lowered his guard only to get hit in the back by Kevin. Picking himself quickly, Joe looked behind him but there was no one there. Feeling a strong gust of wind blowing in front of him, Joe turned and was punched in the face. "Shit, this can't go on..." Joe stood and concentrated. When he felt a gush of wind, he leaped and levitated in the air. Looking down, he saw Kevin zip pass the spot he was on.

Kevin looked up at Joe. "You can't escape just by jumping!" Kevin was right. Joe could only maintain height for about 20 secs max and he could feel his hand burning again. Landing, he took up a stance, ready to take on Kevin. Kevin looked amused. "You intend to fight? You can't even keep up to my speed." "You gonna finish this or you gonna keep yapping like a puppy?" Joe taunted. "Oh, I will! And I will enjoy it!" Kevin charged at full force. "Simpleton..." Joe mused. Pushing forward with his right hand, his imagined the barrier that had saved him a few hours ago.

There was a loud crash and Kevin was thrown back by the rebounded force of the barrier and his speed. "How's that? You can't beat what you can't reach." Joe stood over Kevin. Growling, Kevin swept at Joe's feet which he easily avoided. "I am going to murder you!" he roared. "That is more than enough..." Another recruit appeared between the two of them. At once, Joe could feel a deathly chill run down his spine and he stopped at once. "This guy is no push over. He is alot stronger than me." Joe thought.

Kevin obviously knew it as well. For he stopped and quickly retreated, "This isn't over yet Kaine!" Once Kevin had left, the recruit also turned to leave. "Hold on, could you tell me your name?" Turning back, the recruit replied "Carrei Bromanov. First-Class Recruit." Joe's eyes widen at the title. "First-Class Recruit, then he must have excelled in every aspect of the training." Later, back in the bunk, after their punishment though. No way a racket that magnitude could have gone unnoticed by the superiors.

"Never thought The First-Class Recruit was here!" George was jumping like a little kid. "Shut up and sit down George!" Charles said, annoyed. Apparently, even Charles had a special ability and was posted here too. "Yeah, you are way too excited for someone who was just told that your platoon is the lowest ranked and the weakest of all the platoons." Added Zuklifi Hanif, another recruit. "Can't blame them though, based on what we know, we pretty much possess weak powers." Xu Kai Sheng added.

"Well, I don't intend to stand for it. I will make them regret labeling us as platoon zero. We'll show them that can be more than what they call weak. Right guys?" Joe said. The bunk erupted in cheers of agreement.

Chpt 2: A secret group in the military, what unit will I go to?

Blogger's Notes: So sorry for the lack of updates, i have taken up a one month job at Chinese Garden as a Lion Dance Performer. Its a very taxing job and by the time i get home at night, i am pretty much too beat to write anything. So as a special, today i will not only update one blog, i am going to update all of them!! so here goes!

4.00am in the morning...

"Wakey wakey Kaine!!" quipped George.

"Ugh...4am already?" groaned Joe.

Its been a week since Joe went into XXX camp but he still is unable to cope with the daily normal training. Struggling out of bed groggily, he got washed up and ready for morning PT.

Falling in a straight line, the Officer in Charge began the training. For starters, they ran nonstop for 2hrs, followed up by countless repetitions of body conditioning exercises.

Stopping at 8am for breakfast, the whole platoon were perspiring like pigs.

"Is it just me or are we all still unable to take this training?" Joe asked.

"I think its just you, all of us have more or less settled down." George replied.

"What? Kaine still still can't take the training? Jeez you are weak, how the hell did you manage to get here in the first place?" sneered someone from behind.

Rolling his eyes, Joe turned to face the leader of a rival platoon, Kevin Ng. They had hated each other the moment they saw each other during the orientation. Since then, they have tried all ways and means to life hell for each other.

"At the very least, I am glad I am not like you, muscle head." Joe rebuked.

"Smile while you still can, see you later for The Test." Kevin said, walking off with a smug look on his face.

"The Test?" Joe asked, puzzled.

"Didn't you know? The Test is an individual thing that determines where we will be posted." Jimmy Lin, another member of the team.

"Yeah, rumor has it that this is no ordinary camp. This is a training facility for some secret regiment in the army..." Kim Kang Rong, a Chinese Korean whispered.

"Where did you hear that?" Joe asked.

"From that jerk Kevin when he was talking too loud. Seems one of his relatives holds a high end position so he gives Kevin lots of inside info." Kang Rong answered.

"No wonder he has been putting on airs about how great he is. Jerk ass." Joe mumbled.

"Alright Recruits!! Gather for a briefing!" The Officer in Charge announced.

All the recruits rushed to their positions and stood at attention.

"Listen up! I will not repeat myself. Later when you return to your bunks, on the top of your beds is a note telling you the time to report for The Test. Failure to attend or late-comers will be dealt with accordingly..." the OC announced.

"Tch, that jerk Kevin must be blowing up like a balloon now." Joe grumbled.

"...also, this may be the last time you will be in the same bunk as your current bunk mates so enjoy whatever time together. There will be no training today until the test is over! That is all! Fall Out!" the OC finished.

Returning to their bunks and enjoying the short company of Kevin and bunk gang, they peered at the notes found on their beds.

"What the...12am in the morning!?" Joe exclaimed. Looking at the others, he saw that everyone had some weird but mixed timing .

"This feels like we are back in Primary or Secondary school." Jimmy commented. Everyone mumbled in agreement.

Spending the rest of the day getting to know each other better, they played truth or dare until only Joe was left. No one came back from the test. They must have gone straight to their new bunk right after the test. Joe thought.

At 11.30pm, Joe got up, packed his stuff and headed off to the test location. Before he reached, he put on a protection amulet shaped like a flying dragon that his mother gave him before he entered the camp.

"You are early Recruit Kaine." a high pitched voice squeaked behind him.

Whipping around with his fists raised, Joe was shocked to see the freaky doctor standing in front of him.

"You!? What are you doing here?" he asked.

The doctor did not reply but walked past Joe and entered the building which is to be the testing grounds of which he spoke:

"Come now, we can start early to finish early...This time you will remove that bandage, I promise you."

Joe could a cold chill run down his spine. Mustering his courage, Joe stepped into the building. Inside, he saw only a single passage towards an exit which he passed and was greeted by a large dome.

Awestruck, Joe stared at the view in front of him, How come no one noticed something like this inside the camp? he thought. Looking forward, he saw the OC, the doctor and a group of other officials. Walking forward, he reported in for the test.

"Good, you are very punctual Recruit. Now here is the first requirement of the test..." the OC started. Joe waited patiently but suddenly what the doctor said came back into his mind.

"Strip." OC finished in a straight voice.

"Ex...excuse me?" Joe asked, taken back. Boy, how could he have not seen that coming? He gave a quick glance at the doctor whose was grinning blatantly.

"You heard me Recruit. Strip, all the others before you also had to do it." the OC sternly said.

"Everything?" Joe asked nervously.

"Just leave your underpants or whatever on. Everything else, off." the OC replied.

Reluctantly, Joe took off all his clothes, leaving only his under garments on.

"I said everything Recruit." the OC spoke, staring at Joe's bandaged hands.

"But.." Joe protested.

"No buts, DO IT Recruit." the OC ordered.

Joe glumly removed the bandages, revealing the Mark of the Phoenix on his hand. Satisfied, the Oc continued the explanations of the test. All Joe had to do was enter the dome and complete the obstacle course. He will then be graded and posted immediately.

While Joe tried to digest all the information given to him, the doctor edged closer to Joe and began a full body checkup. Joe was so uncomfortable that he had to fight the urge to wallop the doctor as he groped every inch of his body like Joe was a piece of meat on sale.

Finishing the checkup and declaring that Joe is fit for the test, they opened the door for him. Entering, Joe saw a simple obstacle course and was surprised. As he turned to ask if that was it, the door suddenly sealed itself shut and Joe could not find a slightest opening on the smooth surface of the dome.

Facing the obstacle course, Joe took a couple of steps forward and suddenly, the ground cave in below him. Barely catching himself in time, Joe struggled for balance and peeked below him. He saw jagged spikes and the skewered bodies of several people he saw within the camp.

"Whoah!! What the fuck is this? This is a test? Fuck, its a fucking execution death trap!!" Joe hollered and clambered to safety. Scanning the dead bodies, Joe was relieved that none of his former bunk mates were there.

More cautious now, he took some stones and threw them in random directions in front of him. Sure enough, several stones triggered deadly traps and Joe could feel the cold sweat on his bare back......

An hour has passed and Joe was barely even halfway near the damned obstacle course. Dodging traps has really taken a toll on him, even the daily training they had been subjected to seemed like a walk in the park.

Outside though, the examiners seemed to be enjoying a good show.

"Incredible, even without using 'It', he has survived. All the others before him had already awakened 'It' by now." one of them said.

"Didn't I say so, this one would make a fine subject for further studies. He has phenomenal athletic capabilities but unless he uses 'it', I fear...." the doctor replied.

"Indeed, he will not survive this course." another examiner agreed.

Back inside, Joe was struggling to get to the obstacle course but had suffered several wounds due to misjudged timing on his part. His exhaustion was also preventing him from properly escaping the traps.

Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation coming over him. Then, a giant spiked ball with a diameter of at least 2 people came crashing down a slope that appeared from the ground. Joe attempted to roll out of harms way when he bumped into a concrete wall that had burst from the ground.

Looking around, Joe found he was trapped and the only to escape is upwards. But that is humanly impossible! To reach that height is one thing, but to get enough hang time to stay in the air long enough? But now is not the time for thinking so Joe took action.

Recalling the feeling he had when he jumped over a car, he leaped with all his might and tried to focus on staying in the air. To his surprise, and the examiner's amazement, he not only leaped over the ball, but managed to stay afloat for a few seconds well over the time after the ball passed him.

Landing back on the ground though, Joe winced as a sharp pain curse through his entire right arm, originating from the palm. Staring at it, he saw the Mark glowing and burning again. Taking deep breaths, he pushed back the pain and made his way forward.

With this new ability on hand, Joe found it easier to progress through the traps by jumping over some of them. However, every time he tried to utilize this ability, his right arm would feel pain but he tried his best to ignore it. On another hand, each time he rested, Joe noticed a significant increase in the recovery rate of his body.

Just as he was reaching the obstacle course, the whole dome was filled with alarms. and explosions could be heard every where.

"What is happening?" exclaimed one of the examiners.

"I don't know but for some reason, the systems seems to be overheating but i can't shut it off!" the doctor cried.

Inside, Joe was surround by falling debris and in the process of attempting to escape, had his leg caught by one of the debris. Just has another was about to fall on his head, crushing it, Joe raised his right arm instinctively and an unseen force blew the debris away.

Stunned, Joe barely had time to recover when larger chunks of debris came crashing down. Imagining a wall, in front of him, Joe could feel something taking shape and true enough, the debris were stopped in mid air.

It was then Joe realised how heavy the debris were as he could feel something pounding in his mind and as more debris piled up, the more painful his right hand hurt. His body covered in sweat now, Joe fought against the pain, know that if he let his guard down now, he would surely die and he would not have that.

As time pressed on, Joe could feel the pain on his arm reach new heights and he nearly lost consciousness. That momentary lapse in concentration caused the wall to weaken and nearly crumble. Just then, Joe could feel the burn spread from his palm to the rest of his hand and he could see the Mark expanding and covering his arm with strange line and fire started to emit from it.

Suddenly, a bright burst of light revealed the flaming bird entity enveloping his arm and emitting a force that blew all the debris plied on top of him like they were just dust in a sand storm.

As the dust slowly cleared, Joe saw the examiners rush over to help him and they were awed by the magnificence of his burning right arm. In his head, Joe could feel some strange thought waves from his right arm, saying that Joe is safe now so it will take its leave.

As Joe wondered what it meant, the flames suddenly extinguished themselves and his right hand returned to normal. Turning to face the examiners, he asked:

"So, did I pass? Where will you post me to?"

Chpt 1: Start of a new journey

Blogger's notes: As a refresher, our lead is Joey 'Joe' Kaine Tan. He is 18yrs old and is about to start National Service because, he cannot afford further studies. Rough description about him as he is before enlisting: 175cm tall. Messy and unkempt hair. Lean build, the kind that athletes have. He has sharp facial features with a scar running straight from his right eyebrow that ends just above his eye. In short, Appearance: Enough to attract girls. Physical abilities: Excellent. Special traits: Constantly bandages his right hand. That's all for now, read on for more.

"Hey Kaine! You stink! Big Time!" shouted an eight yr old fat kid whilst throwing mud together with a group of kids at a extremely small boy at a playground. The kid named Kaine just huddled there, silently crying to himself when suddenly.....

"You big fat bully!! Stop picking on my big brother!" squeaked a little girl, no more than 5 yrs old, running in front of the group to shield her brother.

"Oh lookie here! Kaine is such a pussy, he needs his little baby sister to protect him!" Sneered the fat boy. The group of bullies roared with laughter.

"Yeah? At least he is not a big fat scaredy cat who needs so many people to pick on someone smaller than him!" the little girls retorted.

"What did you say huh? I dare you to call me a scaredy cat again!" the fat boy loomed towards the little girl angrily.

"Okay, I will! Scaredy Scaredy Pussy Cat!" the girl squeaked defiantly even though she was trembling.

"I'll show you scaredy cat!" the fat boy pushed the little girl into a puddle of mud, completely ruining her lovely white dress.

Roaring with laughter, the fat boy turn his back to return to the group when he was hit right smack on the back of the head with a ball of mud. Whirling around he saw the little girl with another ball of mud and quickly ducked as she threw it at him. Utterly furious now, he stormed towards her and the little girl cowered in fear when suddenly.....

The fat boy was pushed to the ground by Kaine. Stunned, the fat boy looked into the eyes of an extremely angry boy. Raining punches on the bully, Kaine screamed:

"I don't care if you bully me! But Don't You Dare Touch My Sister!!"

Struggling up, the bully and his gang fled in terror. Panting, Kaine stood up. Turning to his sister, he gave her a thumbs up.

"Are you okay Selene?" he asked. Selene nodded.

"I knew you would protect me big brother! Let's go home now, Mommy is making Shepard's Pie tonight!" She said.

Holding hands, the siblings went home. A few days later, they migrated to the lion city, Singapore.

~10 yrs later~

"Yo, Joe! Wait up dude!" shouted a student from the back of a crowd.

Joey 'Joe' Kaine Tan, 17 yrs old turned and waved at his best friend from primary school.

"Hey Charles!" he replied.

Catching up, Charles paused to catch his breath.

"Phew, hey, heard you aced P.E. again. Creamed the entire 5/4 class huh?" he said,

"Yeah, well, they were just all talk, nothing a actual game of basketball couldn't fix." Joe replied.

"Hah, its the last day of school and they still want to get whipped by the strongest person in sports. Hey, I am enlisting soon, in about a month, what about you?" Charles asked.

"I don't know, still haven't received the letter yet." Joe replied.

"Huh, looks like i am going to slave for my country soon. Then have you gone for the medical yet? If you haven't, i heard that even if you haven't received the letter u can still apply for medical first." Charles asked.

"I haven't gone for the medical yet..." Joe replied.

"Then you wanna come with me? I am heading there now." Charles asked.

"Fine, why not?" Joe said.

Later...

At the medical centre, it was filled with guys waiting their turn. As a procedure, they were all dressed in shorts. Joe and Charles were awaiting their turn when Charles asked:

"You know, I meant to ask a long time ago...how the hell did you get all those scars on your body? And why do you keep your right hand bandaged like that?"

"These scars?" Joe asked, pointing to the numerous scars on his body. Charles nodded.

"Simple, that old fucker i called my dad did this to me. He abused my mom, sister and me because he can't handle the stress of holding jobs." Joe replied plaintively.

"As for my right hand? You don't wanna know and i don't wanna tell." Joe carried on.

"Fine, its hard to imagine what your pops did to you. Its no wonder you are so unhappy all the time. No offense you know." Charles quickly added.

"None taken. Oh, its your turn." Joe said.

After that, when it was Joe's turn, he was greeted by a strange doctor who asked many non-health related questions and was most curious with Joe's right hand. Although he finally gave up trying to get Joe to unbandage his arm, there was still a tinge of what felt like hunger as the doctor stared greedily at his hand as Joe quickly left the room.

"So? How did it go? You were in there quite long." Charles asked, already dressed.

"So so i guess. But that doctor was pretty freaky... Let's just get out of here asap once i finish dressing up." Joe hastily replied.

While they were walking home after taking a bus, Charles suddenly asked:

"Hey, it's your birthday next week! Wanna hang out that day?"

"No. I don't like birthdays and i never celebrate mine." Joe curtly replied.

"Why not? Everyone loves birthdays!" Charles asked, surprised.

"Well, I don't and don't ask me why!" Joe rebuked, storming off.

Charles sighed, knowing that when Joe gives that reaction, it better not to press the matter further. The truth is that Joe has a mark on his right hand which burns every time on his birthday, starting from 12 am of his birthday till 12am the next day. That is also why he constantly bandages his hand. Because, when he was younger, many teachers thought he sported a tattoo and it got him a lot of trouble.

How did he get this mark? Well, we need to go back 8 yrs. That time, Joe's father was struggling to keep his household together and was working at a construction site. One day, the family decide to visit the site and while they were talking, one of the ropes holding large metal pipes snapped, landing on top of Joe and his father. Strangely enough, the pipes suddenly burst into flames and although Joe's father was killed instantly, Joe was found with only medium injuries but he was not burned.

Staying in a coma for a week, he woke up screaming in pain, complaining that his right hand was being seared by a fire. The day he woke up, was on his birthday. After that day, Joe noticed his right palm had some marking on it though it was very light and hard to make out. Subsequently years, the same process repeated and each time the doctors could not find anything wrong with Joe but it was evident that the mark was slowly becoming clearer as years passed. It was as though, each year, it was burning itself onto Joe's hand.

Moving back to present time 1 week later, Joe locked himself in his room, his hand racked with pain. Each year, the pain increased and this time, Joe did not even have the strength to utter a sound. Finally, the ordeal was over and Joe finally fell asleep on his room floor, soaked with his sweat. even then peace did not last for him as his dreams were disturbed by memories of that incident and a giant bird-like entity made completely of fire.

Waking up the next day with a splitting headache, Joe washed up and headed to a nearby coffee shop to buy breakfast for his family. While crossing a traffic light, Joe suddenly felt weak and dizzy. Staggering to the other side of the road, he crossed another traffic light without waiting for the green man and a car sped to wards him.

Honking loudly, the stupid driver refused to slow down and just as he was about to bang into Joe, instinctively, Joe jumped, and to his surprised, he rised well above the car and landed gently on top of it. Shocked, the driver quickly stopped his car and tried to locate the lad he had supposedly runned over.

Staring wide-eyed at Joe who was on top his car, Joe quickly got off and fled the scene asap. What the fuck happened to me? he thought. Buying breakfast and reaching home, he opened the letter box and saw a letter posted to him. opening it soon after, the letter read: Dear Mr Tan, we would like to inform you that you are scheduled to be enlisted within 3 weeks. Please report at XXXXX at 8.30am sharp. Thank you.

Staring at the letter, Joe contemplated how to inform his mother about his sudden enlistment. Thinking so deeply, he did not notice someone creeping up behind him until the letter was snatched from his fingers. Turning around, he saw Selene reading intently at his letter. Before he could snatch it back, she shouted:

"Mom!! Bro is going to shave his hair soon!!"

"Selene! Zip it!" Joe shouted anxiously.

Their mother popping her head out of the door, she said:

"What's that? Joe, are you going for National Service already?"

"No, not yet. 3 more weeks." Joe replied.

"I see, I suppose this day had to come eventually, here, let me prepare some stuff for you." his mother said.

3 weeks later, Joe stood outside the gate of his camp to be. Taking a deep breath, he took his first step into a new journey.

Hiya all!!

Well, i said i would come up with a new story so here it is!

For all long time readers, ignore this, this is for newer readers. For you to know, i have another 2 blogs here http://fanficsjaystyle.blogspot.com/ and http://legendofsword.blogspot.com/. There is no relation whatsoever between these 3.

Therefore, i will be having 3 stories ongoing. Do be patient as it might take some time to update. also, if any one is interested in drawing do let me know as i am looking for artists to draw pics if needed to facilitate understanding for the story.

Now if you have read my first blog, good, if not, do so now to get a small review on the story as i am a lazy twit and i am onli gonna tell you that this blog is related to the second story. Look forward to the first chapter which i will post probably some time soon