For the first time since they had gotten to the island, the occupants of room 221 were not awoken by shrieking military men, loud horns or colliding pans.
Oh no, this time, much to their eventual surprise, they were allowed to sleep in, following their stressful expedition the previous day. But surely, the same could not be said for everyone.
Indeed, all the way on the other side of the dormitory building, in room 279, the 3 unfortunate occupants were met with quite the rude awakening by their general-in-charge.
"An outrage, is what it is." Said one of them, already up from his bed, as he was in the midst of zipping up his black leather jacket. "Waking us up just so we wouldn't miss his 'lovingly crafted breakfast'."
"Your complaining is definitely making our situation better, Jason." Said another groggily, shifting uncomfortably underneath his bedsheets.
"Are you not planning on getting up, Nikolaoff? You wouldn't wanna upset the general, would you?" Jason commented, crossing his arms. Nikolaoff brushed him off, but the third guy in the room definitely had something to say.
"I'll get up, when that loser Hansen gets up! First, he steals my girl in middle school, and now he gets to take his beauty sleep while I'm being yelled at by an insanely caffeinated old man!?" He complained, enraged at this truly unfair predicament.
"They walked 10 kilometres in the woods, Vasquez. We went to the aquarium." Jason pointed out, not taking his roommate seriously in the slightest.
"Fuck you, Jason, you dirty Group A sympathizer." Vasquez cursed him out. Jason gave up having a conversation with them and headed out shaking his head in disbelief.
"Y'know Jorge, I don't think we should let old master percussion get away with waking us up like this all the time." Nikolaoff said, cracking his knuckles. Vasquez turned to him, bearing a rather mischievous grin on his face, that was unfortunately accentuating his pencil-thin moustache.
"Put that disgusting moustache away, man. Go shave." Nikolaoff grimaced, motioning towards the open bathroom door.
"I know private bowling ball ain't talking about my stache." Vasquez mocked Nikolaoff's buzz-cut, prompting Nikolaoff to throw his duffel bag at him.
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The two guys quickly got ready for the day and headed off to get breakfast. Jason was long gone by the time they arrived to the mess hall. Chet Doulas was serving breakfast as usual, and Larry was there annoying him whilst he did that.
"Finally you two clowns show up. You almost missed breakfast.' Douglas called them out when he noticed them.
"So, what's for brekkie then, big guy? Is it edible this time, or is it beans on toast?" Nikolaoff asked, intending to get under the General's skin.
"For your information, it IS beans on toast. You'll eat it, and you'll like it." Doulas clarified, then gave the two a plate each, and gestured at them to get lost.
"I think I'll pass on this one, bro." Nikolaoff said, looking at his plate with the utmost disgust. Larry perked up, and snatched the plate from the both of them.
"If you don't want it, I'm eatin' it." He declared, and took off. Douglas sighed loudly, shaking his head.
"I don't appreciate you not appreciatin' the hard work I put on that breakfast, sonny." He told Nikolaoff, who just shrugged.
"I don't appreciate you waking me up the way you do, but you don't see me complaining." He claimed. Douglas gave up, and went back in the kitchen. Vasquez immediately told Nikolaoff,
"So, we're stealing breakfast again, right?" Nikolaoff nodded along, and the two went outside to try and find a way in without being pulverized by General Douglas.
"Obviously we can't blow something up again, he'll see it coming. And sneaking through the vents is also not an option. So, how about we hijack his ride?" Nikolaoff proposed.
"That monstrosity of a car? You can hotwire that?" Vasquez asked. Quietly questioning how that thing even got on the island. Nikolaoff reassured him he knew what he was doing with a confident nod, and then headed off to execute his plan, while Jorge headed inside.
Nikolaoff quietly approached the machine, a dark-coloured Jeep with open top, and opened the engine compartment. He fiddled with the wires for a bit, and the engine turned on with a loud roar. Nikolaoff smiled at his reflection in the rear-view mirror as he got in the driver's seat of the large vehicle, and then, started running loops around the stage in the middle of the island.
Naturally, all the eyes in the courtyard turned to look at him, seeing as he was yelling, and honking, all while the tires were screeching against the pavement. The bystanders included the Mason brothers, of which Larry immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter, and Liam quickly took out his VHF, and let General Douglas know what was happening.
His shriek of horror upon learning the news woke up even the heaviest of sleepers from Group A.
Doulas dashed out the building as quickly as his legs allowed him to, and immediately began screaming.
"NIKOLAOFF!' Douglas said calmly. "GET YOUR FOOT OFF THE GAS PEDAL RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"I was thinking I'd go on a ride so I can throw up all the garbage you've been feeding us!" He smiled at the General, who got enraged further, and started making a run for the car, stepping in front of its path, and stopping him with his hands.
The sudden halt of the car's movement made Nikolaoff, who hadn't worn his seatbelt, jump up and land face first on the windshield. Doulas grabbed the dazed delinquent from the shirt and lifted him up to his eye level, before yelling at him;
'DO YOU REALISE WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YOU MUTT?" Douglas violently shook Nikolaoff around while screaming, to emphasize just how badly he'd screwed up. Nikolaoff only flashed him a wide grin.
"Yeah, I've distracted you! Again!" He finally said, just as Vasquez came out of the building carrying two bags full of actually edible food.
"Free food for everyone!" He exclaimed, and started throwing various items out the bags. Douglas dropped Nikolaoff and went wide-eyed as 20 or so young adults celebrated to a rain of various canned goods. A can of beans soon splattered all over his face, and then he decided enough was enough.
"Alright, that's it!" Yelled Douglas, and he picked up both of the troublemakers up, before storming off into the staff building.
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Douglas barged into Starman's office, dragging Nikolaoff and Vasquez both by their shirt collars, interrupting the older General's tea time, and tossed both of them on the floor like rags.
"Why is it that you brought these two delinquents in my office, again?" Starman raised an eyebrow, while staring at the fuming Douglas.
"They hijacked my jeep!" He managed. Douglas rolled his eyes.
"And what am I supposed to do? I'm not a-" Starman tried to say, but Nikolaoff rudely interrupted him.
"What's up, man? You gonna go all headmaster and put me in detention?" He mocked, making Douglas go even more wide-eyed than before.
"Shut up, Nikolai." Starman said with disappointment. "Clearly your disciplinary methods aren't working, Chet."
"So, what's your plan then, genius?" Douglas asked, crossing his arms. Starman took a sip of his tea, and gestured to the three of them to follow him outside.
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In a few short minutes, General Starman had called the entire campus to the stage at the centre of the island. Even the janitor was in attendance. He, along with Douglas and the two delinquents were standing on the stage.
"Good morning, everyone." He began. "Earlier today these two buffoons interrupted my alone time, so now I have to make sure this nonsense never happens again. Now I could send Nikolaoff here to his mama, but instead I've decided to switch him over to Group A! So welcome to the team!"
"Wait, what?" Nikolaoff muttered, barely having registered what had just happened. He wasn't the only one who had objections regarding this rearrangement, however, as the voices of the crowd grew louder in disagreement. Starman completely ignored the complaining and carried on.
"Unfortunately, HQ wouldn't really want this imbalance of the groups, so I'll move someone from Group A to B. We got any volunteers?" He asked. Nobody said anything for the first 20 seconds, but then Thomas Gardner raised his hand.
"Very well, then. You two pack your stuff and switch rooms by the end of the day. The rest of you, go about your day. Dismissed." Starman left, going back to his tea time, and leaving everyone else to process the change. Nikolaoff could see the tenants of room 221 complaining to their former roommate about what he was thinking.
"You mean I'll have to bunk with these losers?" Nikolaoff thought out loud, staring at the three of them.
"Think on the bright side, man. At least you won't have to deal with Jason's annoying ass any longer." Vasquez tried to cheer him up, but to no avail.
"This is worse than 7 Jasons."
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Nikolaoff quickly packed his minimal belonging into a duffel, while Vasquez and Jason were looking over him. Jason made sure to let him know he 'told him so' on his way out.
Thomas and Nikolai encountered each other on the way to their new rooms. Nikolaoff flipped Thomas off, but got no response.
When Nikolaoff walked into room 221, Jon, Bryce and Dex were just staring at him.
"Don't you look at me like that. I don't want to be here either." He tossed his bag on Thomas' former bunk, and sat, staring back at the three.
"I can't believe we lost Thomas, just as we had gotten used to his antics." Dex commented, taking a big puff from his cigarette.
"Yeah, I'd much rather it be you. You'd fit right in with Group B." Bryce told him. Dex sighed deeply.
"Are you still mad about the tree thing? I was trying to save myself!" Dex defended himself, but Bryce didn't listen, so he shut his mouth and went to smoke by the window.
"You guys are as jolly as ever, I see. Fun." Nikolaoff, who had made himself comfortable on the bunk, snarked.
"Just because you live in this room now, doesn't mean you need to actually talk to us." Jon said. Nikolaoff scoffed.
"Whatever, man. I just hope Jet's doing better than I am."
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"I'm so glad I get to bunk with a regular person." Jason said, greeting Thomas at the door. "Name's Jason Ross. Glad to make your acquaintance."
"Yes, good to meet you as well." Thomas said, exchanging a handshake with Jason. Vasquez made a weird noise at the interaction.
"Oh wow, so losers like you CAN make friends after all!" He pointed out, then cackled at his own joke. Jason shook his head.
"In case you haven't noticed, the normal people have outnumbered you in this room. So shut up, before we get Starman to punish you, too!" Jason declared. Vasquez clammed up, and sat in the corner like a child that just got scolded.
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The day passed very slowly and very painfully for poor Nikolaoff, as he had to hang around a group of people who didn't exactly appreciate his company. He did make many attempts to hang out with Vasquez, but he had managed to annoy Ross enough that he had locked him inside room 279 and taken the keys.
When night fell, Nikolaoff had to take Thomas' empty bottom bunk. When he complained about it, Bryce offered to let them switch bunks in exchange for some of the food they had stolen in the morning, but there wasn't any left because they had given it all to the members of Group B.
Morning came quickly, and both Groups soon had gathered at the court, ready for the first training of the week. Nikolaoff managed to finally get a word in with Jet, who looked like he hadn't slept an hour throughout the entire night.
"Dude, what happened to you?" He asked, moderately concerned.
"Well, after Ross came back at night to get in, I was finally able to go outside and hit the bathrooms. And I made sure to take my keys back from him. But as I was going to the bathroom, that rat, Gardner bumped into me, and he stole my keys again! So, they locked me out, and I haven't had a whiff of sleep all night." Vasquez explained, barely able to keep himself awake. After that, Douglas started yelling, so the two had to bid each other farewell.
"Good morning, gentlemen. I hope you've all gotten used to this new change we enforced yesterday." Starman greeted them.
"I don't think I can get used to how much worse my room smells that fast." Dex quipped. Bryce and Jon ignored him, and he raised his hands in disbelief, confused by how they could possibly still be mad at him about that.
"It really must suck to be you right about now, Tuscan. No friends, no respect from anyone, no girls either..." Nikolaoff bothered Dex, who shook him off.
"You're one to talk, Nikolaoff. Buzz off." Dex said, before exhaling a bunch of smoke in his face.
"In case it wasn't clear, I will not tolerate the nonsense you put General Douglas through, Nikolaoff. Now, start running laps, while I figure out what I'm having for lunch today. I'm thinking fried chicken." Starman said, and blew a whistle, signalling to everyone to begin running.
Nikolaoff quickly made apparent to his peers that he was a whole other level when it comes to the athletics. He quickly jogged all the way to front of the line, just behind Bryce, who's hat he decided to flick off, in order to bypass him.
"Oh no, who did THAT?" He mocked, before bypassing Bryce while chuckling like an idiot. In response, Bryce threw a rock at him.
"Okay, what the hell? I haven't even figured out what sauce I'll have with my chicken, and we've already resorted to throwing rocks?" Said Starman, walking over to the two dudes, who had already began verbally assaulting each other.
"This psycho attacked me!" Nikolaoff announced, pointing at Bryce, who'd finally put his hat back on. Bryce flipped him off.
"Enough, you babies. Both of you, 100 pushups, right now." Starman declared, and gestured to everyone else to stop staring and keep running.
The both of them did their assigned pushups and joined the rest in doing their laps.
"Don't ever touch my hat again, prick." Bryce told Nikolaoff, just for Jon to drag him away, citing that it's not worth it.
In the meantime, General Douglas had just introduced the members of Group B to the days training, which was...
"Rifles! The most effective weapon in combat. Everyone wear your protective gear, and we'll get started on shooting that target dummy over there." He explained, pointing to a cardboard dummy. The trainees shortly took their gear and weapons, and lined up to shoot the dummy, following Douglas' instructions to the letter.
Well, all of them except Thomas.
"Where's your gun, bro?" Jason asked him. Thomas ignored him and got in line anyway, and Jason elected to ignore it.
When it was his turn at last, Douglas questioned where his gear had gone off to, to which Thomas had one simple answer.
"It's of no use." He said, and pulled out a revolver from his belt, and shot at the dummy until the barrel emptied, somehow managing to not miss any shots. When he was out of ammo, he hurled the pistol at the dummy with all his might, managing to lodge it in the 'cranium' of the dummy, and toppling it.
Douglas looked on in shock.
"Where did you that weapon?" He asked, clearly upset.
"I couldn't stand to use something as uncivilised and ungentlemanly as these rifles, so I brought my own armaments. Is there an issue?" Thomas asked, appearing clueless to the General.
"Hand this over, immediately! How dare you smuggle this in and deny my authority! You still think you're special, Gardner?" Douglas exclaimed, snatching the gun from Thomas.
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The day carried on, with Nikolaoff continuously arguing with his teammates, and Thomas finding new ways to accidentally enrage his new supervisor.
"You should watch your behaviour, man." Said Jason during lunch. "That man is a total wildcard."
When the training came to a close in the afternoon, Starman stopped Nikolaoff from going back to the dorms with the others.
"Nikolai, hold on. We need to talk." He said, looking unusually grim.
"What now, old man? Here to scold me again?" Nikolaoff frowned, not wanting to engage with the old military man.
"I understand this is a sudden change that happened to you today, but remember that you caused this. That being said, you shouldn't lash out on your roommates, they are not at fault here." Starman explained, attempting to sympathise with the troublemaker. "I'll try to help you out if I can, but unless you correct this abysmal behaviour, I'm afraid I can't help you at all."
"Thanks for the concern, geezer. I swear not to beat anyone up. «Nikolaoff swore, dramatically putting his hand over his heart, making a mockery out of the old General, who just raised an eyebrow at him, and dismissed him.
When it was time to return to their dorms, Bryce refused to even talk to him, going outside when he got back, and nobody was talking to Dex, who was busy smoking by the window. Nikolaoff found it surprising however, when Jon walked up to him.
"Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot, what with the paintball match last week and everything these past 2 days, but I was hoping we can at least keep things civil between us." He proposed. Nikolaoff nodded, and mumbled 'whatever' under his breath.
"Thanks dude. I'll try to keep Bryce off your case. Hopefully everything goes well, and you get to go back to Group B soon." Jon said, patted Nikolai on the back, and went back to his bed. Nikolai rested his head against the wall.
It would be a long, long week.