The Team

The Team is the fiftieth chapter in the Wombles Eight.

Cathy, Steed, Dom, Charlie, Gambit, Thomas and Lucy were standing in the black night at the gates of Grand Steed Manor. The team would be arriving soon. The Flash was the first to show up as he appeared quickly next to Cathy.

“I’m here.” Said The Flash. “Good.” Replied Cathy, “You’re our engineer. Go into the Manor and wait in the kitchen. There you’ll find a set of comms which you’ll be using to communicate with us about what equipment we need. John will pay for whatever equipment you take after the mission is complete. Understood?” “Understood, captain.” Said the Flash, and then he ran into the building and round and round it until he found the kitchen.

Next John Constantine apparated. “John Constantine at your service.” He said. “Hello.” Replied Cathy, “You’ll be out on the field, so you should wait with us.”  “All right then, but I also brought my own team to back me. Just thought you should know.” Replied Constantine. Then he disapparated and apparated again, this time holding onto Evie, Mal, Clary, Jace and Isabelle.

“Constantine, we should have discussed this.” Said Cathy. “Your team don’t have any roles to play in this team, so what do you expect them to do?”  “Well I assumed that I’d be doing what I always do.” Said Constantine, “Improvising. That’s what we all do best, innit? I’ve never been much of a sticker for rules myself.”

“You’ll do as we ask you or you won’t do anything at all.” Said Cathy firmly. “All right, all right, love.” Answered Constantine, “But I ain’t joining up without my team. They need me more than I need them so I’d be a right half-wit if I left ‘em alone during a multiversal crisis. Or maybe you don’t care about their safety.”

Cathy paused, then said, “Okay. But they’re staying on comms with Barry. Taking them into the field would make you the exact same ‘half-wit’ that you would be if you left them alone. That’s not an option, it’s an order.”  “Sure, love.” Replied Constantine, then he got out a cigar and lighter and started smoking as Evie, Mal, Clary, Jace and Isabelle walked into the Manor. Cathy kept glancing at the ‘no smoking’ sign on the gate but she said nothing as she thought it best not to annoy a person like John Constantine too much.

Another three people apparated. They were Harry, Hermione and Draco. Cathy noticed that Harry was looking very muddled and Draco was looking very worried, but she didn’t bring it up and put it down to confusion about how London ended up so ridiculously dangerous and fear of the mission ahead.

“So,” said Cathy to Harry, Hermione and Draco, “Dom tells me that you three are best suited for the Invidia mission, and that all of you already know what to do. I don’t know what it is that the four of you clearly do, but whatever it is, you should tell me whenever you get the chance. Dom said that you won’t have time now as the time for the Invidia mission is ticking away, and I trust him to be telling me the truth. So please go and do whatever it is you need to do.”

Harry, Hermione and Draco all disapparated. Cathy turned to Dom. “Did you put the tracking devices on them like I asked?” she asked. “That I did Queenie, but when are you gonna tell me why?” asked Dom. “Soon.” Replied Cathy, “And we’ll get to my idea for the muscle soon as well.”

Next a black car with “CBI” written across it in black letters pulled up and Lisbon got out with a tall but thin blonde man wearing a very pale brown suit who looked quite happy to have been asked to come on this mission.

“Patrick Jane, I presume?” said Cathy.

“Patrick Jane?” responded the man in a surprised tone, looking taken aback. He then held his hand to his heart. “Your majesty, I am greatly offended! I do not know this Patrick Jane you speak of! No, I’m- I’m Albert Einstein Junior! I am deeply upset that you don’t recognise me!”

The man’s grin had faded completely and Cathy was now very confused. She glanced at Lisbon who she could just make out rolling her eyes in the pitch black of the night.

“I apologise, your majesty, he is actually Patrick Jane, he’s just trying to mess with your head, it’s somewhat of a habit of his.” Said Lisbon. Cathy was still slightly confused, but she only needed to know that this man was in fact Patrick Jane before she could move on.

“Mr Jane, Chief Lisbon, you will wait with us out here until the mission begins.” Said Cathy. “You will be assigned to go with one or more of us until we need you for something. We will let you know then. Understood?”

“Understood.” Said Lisbon, and she stood next to Constantine, also noticing the ‘no smoking’ sign on the gate and the big cloud of smoke coming from Constantine’s cigar. “Aye aye cap’n.” said Jane, and he stood next to Lisbon.

Two wombles on motorbikes arrived. “Agents Shansi and PMW reporting, your majesty.” Said PMW. Shansi nodded to show her restating of the statement.

“Where’s Bungo?” asked Cathy, feeling slightly worried. “He got injured.” Replied Shansi, “He can’t ride until the doctors clear him. He’s being driven here by Orinoco in the new Silver Womble. Orinoco’s only just learnt to drive, though, so he’s taking his time getting here. Bungo has volunteered to stay on comms.”

“Okay.” Replied Cathy, now slightly concerned, “When he gets here, tell him to go into the Manor and meet The Flash and Constantine’s team in the kitchen. The comms are there.”  “Will do.” Said PMW and Shansi nodded with a determined look on her face.

Bungo arrived in the Silver Womble with Orinoco not long after Shansi and PMW had arrived. Orinoco helped Bungo to get out and onto the pavement, with Bungo saying quite heatedly that he didn’t need any help just to walk. Orinoco seemed to be ignoring him deliberately, possibly because he wanted to help Bungo as much as he could. Bungo and Orinoco had always been best friends but due to Bungo frequently being out on missions with Cathy and Steed, they no longer got to spend much time together, so it made sense that Orinoco would want to do as much as possible for Bungo so that their friendship wouldn’t die out completely. Shansi smiled at Orinoco’s concern for his friend.

When Bungo finally got Orinoco to let go of him, then Shansi told Bungo what she’d been asked to say. Bungo nodded in the same way she had done and then he stumbled into the Manor.

Next to arrive was Tobermory in the Wombatmobile. “I’m Wombat.” He said as soon as he arrived. “Nice to meet you Wombat, I’m Albert.” Said Jane. Tobermory ignored him.

“Tobermory, we need you to distract Esmerelda and her guards while the slaves and prisoners there are released. Are you up for it?” said Cathy. “I’m Wombat.” Tobermory repeated. “No, you’re definitely Tobermory.” Said Cathy.

Hobbs then made a very dramatic entrance. He arrived in the most enormous car the world has ever seen which had a camouflage pattern all over it and was clearly some kind of military vehicle. To top that Hobbs was wearing a full military uniform complete with the vest, but despite all the protection he was covered in, he had bare arms. Cathy figured that this was either because there was no such thing as a sleeve which his arm fitted in or just because he wanted to show off his muscles.

The latter was probably the case as he then pressed a button which removed half of the roof of the vehicle and then he jumped and flexed his muscles so hard that he neatly landed on his feet. For a second Cathy thought this had caused a tremor but it was probably just natural. That or down to one of the enemies they were about to be facing.

Finally Mother arrived. “I don’t remember asking you to join the team?” said Cathy. “You didn’t, I got a call from Bungo.” Mother replied. “Oh, well you can stay here and look after Thomas and Lucy.” Said Cathy. Mother breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t have to do anything dangerous and then he led Thomas and Lucy into the manor.

“So you said you had an idea for the back-up informant?” Cathy asked Dom. “Yes…” said Dom slowly. He stayed silent for a second, and then asked, “Since there’s so many things you people can do nowadays… Anyone here know how to time travel?”

Cathy paused before replying. “Yes,” she began, “But as you said, it’s risky. One change to history requires another. You saw what happened when Mr Chips took us back 45 days. Originally, Katy was still attempting to rule. Now, Esmerelda has usurped her and she’s really close to getting what she wants. You should only ever use time travel if it’s truly necessary.”

“It is truly necessary! We need to do this because the whole multiverse is at stake! And you gotta take risks- ride or die, remember?”

Cathy stayed silent for a few minutes, thinking. “What do you think, John?” she asked Steed. “I think we should do it.” Replied Steed, “Mr Toretto is right, risks are necessary if we’re going to save the multiverse. You time travelled just so that I wouldn’t be poisoned, so it would really be hypocritical of you not to let someone else do it.”

Cathy gulped before saying, “Okay. But you’ll need to take a car with you. I’ve never transported an object through time before. I don’t know if it’s even possible or not. But… I suppose we have to try. Have you got any particular car in mind?”  “Yeah. I got a 1970 Plymouth road runner from a friend of mine a few years ago. I think this would be the perfect time to take it for a spin.”  “Well, if you say so. Is it in your garage?”  “Always, Queenie.”

Cathy ran Dom to his garage. “Which one is it?” asked Cathy. “That one, I think.” Replied Dom, pointing at a tarpaulin-covered car in the back left-hand side corner of the place. Cathy ran up to it and took the tarpaulin off. It was large and silver with a number plate that read simply ‘1970’ across the grill. It was easy to tell it was old but also just as easy to tell it was fast, at least with the right person behind the wheel. Dom smiled when he saw it. Cathy had never actually seen Dom smile, besides the occasional smirk, before now. It looked strange to her.

“So how we gonna do this?” asked Dom. “I’m just going to improvise and hope I get lucky.” Replied Cathy. Dom tutted and then got into the driver’s seat of the car. Cathy thought for a second and then started running circles round it.

After Cathy had gone round for the thirty-second time, she spun round on the spot twice and then thrust her arm toward the car. The lightning behind her followed the movement and then the car was encased in a shield of Cathy’s lightning.

Cathy then pushed the car at a speed of ten thousand miles per hour out of the garage and round and round the streets of the city. The more she pushed the faster she went until she, Dom and the car were racing around LA at a speed of fifty six million miles per hour. There was a cracking sound, a brief flash of blue light, and then silence. Cathy had successfully taken the car back in time, and there was no one around the streets of LA at this time.

Dom got out the car feeling motion sick and wobbling a lot. “S-so n-now, Queenie, I n-need you to take me to Tokyo.” He said, and then he slumped to the floor.

Cathy picked him up and shook him, trying to get him focused. Instead she only made him feel even more motion sick. Cathy sighed and decided it was useless to attempt anything else so she just did as he requested and ran him to Tokyo. She heard a lot of commotion but she didn’t stop to look before running back to the present day London. Dom, however, saw it all.

There was an announcement happening in Japanese but Dom understood what it was saying.

“All cars warning—Two cars are currently racing with an RX-7.”  Two cars drifted past Dom, who hid behind a parked car. He only saw one of them. It was orange with a black stripe down the middle, and it stood out considerably. But then another car joined the mix.

It was white and clean and looked fast, but it wasn’t racing. This car was seemingly just being driven carefully along the road, slowly and casually. But something was clearly wrong. All the cars had been warned. There was no way whoever was in this car had missed that warning.

Dom then saw the other cars in the race. The orange one was the RX-7 and the other two were red and dark blue respectively.

The announcement continued. “The race is heading towards Central Shibuya. The RX-7 is approaching the intersection.”

Dom watched as the red car drove rapidly toward a large group of people on a road crossing. He was amazed as all the people cleared to either side and the red car got through without a scratch. The RX-7 and the dark blue car followed closely. The RX-7 overtook the others and picked up speed.

The RX-7 kept taking turns and then the white car emerged again, no longer driving carefully. It was rapidly picking up as much speed as the RX-7 and then just as the RX-7 turned round another bend, the white car collided with it.

The RX-7 rolled over and over as the white car slowly came to a halt. It was almost totally destroyed. A bald man in a leather jacket stepped out of the white car. That man was none other than Deckard Shaw.

The RX-7 had now set fire and Shaw was watching it burn up in flames. He looked very calm, so it couldn’t have been an accident.

Shaw was holding Letty’s necklace in his hand. He threw it to the car where the driver was panting and struggling to stay alive. Shaw got out a phone and called someone.

“Dominic Toretto.” Said Shaw after putting his phone up to his ear. “You don’t know me.” He said as he walked away while the car exploded behind him. He remained perfectly calm. “You’re about to.”

Dom waited until Shaw was gone and then he ran up to the RX-7 and reached inside. He slowly but surely pulled out the injured driver. Then he bent down and whispered in his ear.

“Han, I’m going to save you, but everybody else needs to believe that you’re dead. I really need you for something. I’ll explain further another time. I’m gonna take you to a nearby private hospital where they won’t speak if I ask them not to. But to everybody else, you’re dead, because we mustn’t corrupt the timeline.”

Han nodded faintly enough for nobody except Dom to see him move. Then Dom turned to the crowd, which now included the teenage boy who had been driving the red car, standing looking terrified. “He’s dead!” Dom announced. “That man killed him!”  he continued while trying to avoid letting the teenage boy see his face.

Dom then carried Han away to the nearby private hospital he had mentioned and told the doctors to keep him there until he recovered fully. Then he waited.

Dom waited a few weeks to make sure Han got back to full health before explaining the full situation to him. At first Han just laughed, thinking that Dom was joking, but he stopped as soon as he saw the incredibly serious look on Dom’s face.

“There’s actually another me here, too.” Said Dom. “He’s going to come here, find the car which I brought here, and use it to race against that Sean you were racing with, so that he can take your body back to America. That’s another thing- your body will be absent because of this. So once I take you into the future and we do the mission, then I have to return you and you have to die. Do you understand?”

Han didn’t answer. He just looked up at Dom, half confused and half scared. But Dom knew Han couldn’t refuse anyway, so he then just put his hand on Han’s shoulder and said, “Now to figure out how to time travel back without Queenie to help us.”

Back in the present day, Cathy had just returned with her clothes on fire. “Cathy, your clothes are on fire!” exclaimed Steed. “I know that!” snapped back Cathy. “It’s because of the friction when I run so much! I’m going to ask Barry for a friction-proof suit. You’ll have to pay for the materials afterward.”  Cathy walked into the Manor leaving Steed to wonder who Barry could be.