and also inadvertently gave her mother Linda some time to organically complete the evolutionary circle.
The apes were amped all day for the night six battle, while their counterparts on the other side of town took a more casual approach to the evening and early morning’s festivities.
“Would it even matter if we all showed up tonight?” Andrew asked Cal and Hartwell as they walked into the main room at 11:50 pm.
“I’ve seen stranger things happen, Drew,” Cal replied.
“It would probably be prudent to take these guys seriously until this thing is over. Keep in mind that they still have strength and dying will only make us weaker,” Hartwell added.
“I could not agree with more, Thomas,” Cal said.
Drew looked at both Hartwell and his uncle and imparted the following observation.
“You do know that it is still creepy that you two are getting along so well? In the beginning, I have to say, it was somewhat comforting to see you together, but now I see you two getting a condo one day in Florida when you retire.”
Cal took the barb in stride and said, “I prefer the West Coast.”
Hartwell concurred, “Yeah, Northern California is really nice this time of year.”
The two men walked away from Drew and Cal kept talking, “We could take a few of those Napa Valley wine tours...” as his voice trailed off.
Drew shook his head in disbelief and Daniel walked up to him, “What’s up, Cuz?”
“Your father...”
Daniel needed clarification because he had two fathers in Hartwell and Cal and Drew knew it.
“Correction, your fathers, are so chummy that it makes me want to barf.”
Daniel thought about the statement and then had to agree with his cousin, “I know! It was somewhat comforting at first, but then it just made me feel uneasy.”
“Yeah!” Drew exclaimed. “That’s what I said!”
“Is everyone ready to go?” Hartwell boomed as everyone started gathering for their short trip to the main field at Beach Haven Park.
“Now let us use this night as an exercise in preparedness and education for our younger generation. It isn’t very often that we have the opportunity to spar with a hostile, live opponent and actually work on things that might help us the net time around.”
The group was alerted to the fact that Hartwell had implied that more battles might be in the offing. Maggie was target of most of the wanton looks, so she took the lead in asking the obvious question.
“Honey, are we expecting be attacked again by more people from our past in the near future?”
Hartwell looked around the room and replied, “Do any of you have skeletons in your closet that we should know about?”
Naive Kayla turned to her mother Carla and asked, “Mom, why would I have skeletons in my closet? That is just gross.”
Carla was going to answer the question with a logical answer, but she just lightly rolled her eyes and returned her focus to the conversation after saying internally to Kayla, “It’s a figure of speech, Kay.”
There was a lot of rumbling through conversation as the group tried to hash through the past to determine what was in their future.
“Food for thought, people,” Hartwell said. We will have plenty of time to think about what is to come when we finish this latest confrontation.”
“Any idea when that will be?” Emily asked.
Her twin brother Cal took exception to the lack of dedication, which was not like his persistent sister Emily.
“Why, do you have somewhere else to be?”
Emily turned toward her brother and replied, “As a matter if fact, Calvin, we have all been eyeing a knitting show in New York City in a few days.”
Blake turned to Aaron and kidded, “I thought the show was next week?”
Aaron continued the ruse, “You said it was next month. Are we still going to be able to go?”
The women swarmed Aaron and Agent Blake and the group headed out the door as the clock inched closer to midnight.
TWENTY-FOUR
Rain was in the forecast for the overnight, following a few weeks of cloudless skies and moderate temperatures. Weather was always such an important part of the daily grind for the mortal community, but it had little or no impact during battles for these near immortals.
“Do you think we’ll get 18 in tomorrow?” Hartwell asked Cal about the impending rain and their scheduled golf game.
Cal smiled, “Only if we play real fast,” as the group waited in its customary spot on the great lawn as the apes were swinging through the trees their way.
“Protection?” Kayla asked Hartwell internally as the group listened in.
“Just me and you in the beginning. Once they weaken I want everyone out on the pitch working on their craft - me included.”
“So, no strategy?” Maxwell asked.
“Let’s try a tag team approach, where we work together and also tap put to observe,” Hartwell replied.
“That sounds like fun!” Nicole said enthusiastically.
“Yeah, let’s have fun out there!” Hartwell roared as the apes hit the field and with all of the confidence of an unstoppable force.
The fight started with some light drizzle and the usual disadvantage in numbers for the apes. Samuel followed Cal and Emily Brewster en route to a three against one showdown with the apes best fighter, their leader Gabriel Billingsley. The twins were so used to fighting together that it was a natural fit to be able to show young Samuel the ropes. Emily was always the decoy to open opportunities for Cal’s knockout blows, so she rose into the air as a hawk to distract Billingsley’s attention while Cal transitioned into one his favorite exteriors as a ram and lowered his horned head before making full contact with Gabriel’s left side, sending him hurtling through the air and sliding across the now wet grass.
“That’s one!” Cal exclaimed as he high-fived his sister and then Samuel.
Daniel and Drew renewed their teamwork from their days on the Beach Haven High School Volleyball Team with Nicole, where they were known as the Three Slamigos. Their target on this night was Agent Terrence Carter, who still had a few tricks up his sleeves from his days at the bureau. Drew was always the aggressor, whether he was playing ping pong or fighting over the last piece of pizza in the pie. He ran at Carter, who ducked at the sight of a Drew right fist and then dug his left fist into the hunter’s kidneys. Daniel was trailing the action and took the opportunity to use his blinding speed to land an uppercut to the side of Carter’s mug that sent the dazed ex-FBI agent down to the turf.
Fight number three involved gigantic hunter Aaron Driscoll and his protector counterpart Agent Blake Wallace squaring off against the diminutive Eloise Phillips, who stopped short at the sight of Driscoll.
“You are a big man,” she said as Driscoll let his guard down and smiled. “But you know what I say? The bigger they are...” she stated and then lunged forward with her right fist and connected between his legs, “the harder they fall,” as Aaron fell backwards while his hands covered the pained spot she struck.
Blake started hopping on the balls of his feet and said, “So, that’s how it’s going to be?” to his ex-mother in-law.
She nodded and then motioned with her left hand and said, “Bring it, life guard,” referring to his glory days as a adored life guard.
Blake thought about changing into a few of his alternate forms but he decided to call on many of the skills he learned during his hours of martial arts practice.
“I see the boys have been teaching you a thing or two,” she said trying to get into his head.
As a FBI agent, his instinct was to wait for his target to make a mistake and then pounce on the perp and make a collar. Eloise walked right into that strategy as she used her lack of size to attempt a lower leg sweep, but Blake jumped in the air and then angled his body in such a way that the force of his counter-attack would be focused on the thunder now in his right foot. He snapped his foot down
ward and connected flush with the center of Eloise’s face, snapping back her neck toward a sharp connection with the ground.
Male chauvinist Gregory Justice eyed Carla and Nicole and said, “Well ladies, your place or mine?”
Carla looked at Nicole and replied, “Ours,” as they burst into action like a couple of ninja warriors letting loose on a target. Carla changed into a pit bull and Nicole picked her up and threw her right at Justice’s face. The snarling dog distracted his view, which enabled Nicole to change into a hippopotamus unnoticed, at least until she was about to make contact with him as he ducked out of the way from a flying Carla, who changed into a graceful hawk once she passed by Greg. Nicole struck Justice like a 16-pound bowling ball hitting the pocket and exploding through all ten pins as he revved no more than two feet off the ground for the better part of 50 yards before skidding for another 25 semi-conscious yards.
Greg’s wife Julie had her hands full with Ariel, who was being counseled by Belinda. Ariel always acted so nice and sweet, so it was a surprise that she tried to take the lead in one of her first solo confrontations. She lunged at Julie, who easily avoided the punch and then elbowed the newbie in the back of the head, knocking Ariel down. Belinda took offense to this action and said, “Now that’s not very nice,” as she picked up Julie from her shirt and pants and tossed her almost effortlessly up into the top of the trees.
Valerie and Brandon Justice had their hands full with Charles Lowery, who took the offensive by getting both of them in a