This chapter introduces Sector L!
Erin the Weakling
A major philosophy that all KND were quick to learn was simple biology. All sectors were balanced between strong operatives and weak ones, and a common misunderstanding was that all missions were won with strength. The wisest sectors knew that everyone's talents contributed, but it didn't change that strong operatives were the most popular and relied upon in any mission. In training, kids were quick to discover their best talents, and simply mastering one talent was enough to graduate, but the strongest cadets always showed off the most and earned the most praise.
Part of their strength or talent had to do with parentage. Many of their parents were former operatives, and the strongest parents gave birth to the strongest kids. If a parent's talent was superior to their partner's talent, it was believed that the child would inherent that talent and carry on the better genes.
Erin Horvitz wasn't born with that privilege. Gasping heavily, her frail arms stroked the water, her fragile feet kicked backward, but the waves were too strong for her. Starting from the beach, she was determined to swim as far out to sea as possible, but her body wouldn't let her. Her little heart was giving out on her, and water muddled her eyes, which were already blurry without her glasses. She was finally beginning to slow down and sink, and the sea would totally claim her in no time.
A pair of hands gently grabbed her arms and lifted her upright. "Alright, let's take a moment to catch your breath and try again." her mother said, putting Erin over her shoulders and swimming back to shore without losing an ounce of breath. Erin had only swam 20 feet from the beach, and such a distance was nothing to Melody. Upon returning to shore, Melody sat Erin on the sand, her daughter gasping. "Honestly, Erin, how many times do I have to tell you before you get it right?"
Looking up at her mother made Erin feel even scrawnier. She had one of the strongest and prettiest builds in town, emphasized more by her white two-piece swimwear. Compared to her, Erin had the build of a popsicle stick figure, and her orange one-piece completed the look. Her bones jittered with any physical activity. Coupled with her buckteeth, stuffy nose, and brown hair, she mirrored her father more than her mother. "It'll be easier if I use waterbending."
"The best way to master bending is to exercise without your bending. Get to know your element the normal way. But more importantly, don't let Nora beat you!"
"Look, Miss Melody! I think this is a new record!" They looked out to sea, where another girl zoomed around the waves like a motorboat.
"Mrs. Horvitz?" They were approached by Mack Strongarm, who stuck to his normal white shirt and blue jeans instead of a swimsuit. "Your husband needs help finding the mail key."
"Sigh, I knew he would lose it. I'll be right back." Melody left on that note.
Mack sat beside Erin, smiling as he handed back her round blue glasses. "These yours?"
"Who else?" Erin chuckled, putting her specs back on to restore her view of the beautiful ocean.
But what she saw instead was a giant grin on a tan face, which had spontaneously appeared out of nowhere. "Didja see me, Erin?!" Nora asked.
"AAAH!" Erin was blown back against Mack by no real force.
"I swam out a whole hundred feet!" Nora stretched to full height with a proud pose. "Where'd your mom go, I wanna know what she says!"
Wearing a two-piece swimsuit with an ocean waves design, Erin could easily picture Nora becoming a model in her adult years. She had tan skin, chocolate hair in long pigtails, and sharp blue eyes. She was 11, a year older than Erin, but a head taller. Nora Asahina was confident in everything she did, for she had the strong, tall, and pretty body to carry her. "Uh, she went somewhere." Erin replied.
"Hm?" Nora felt sadness in her voice. "What's the matter, Erin?" She sat with her friends.
"It's just, my mom has all these expectations for me. I feel like she's disappointed because I'm not strong like her."
"Who could ever be disappointed in YOU, Erin?!" Nora gasped, grabbing her leader's shoulders and shaking her. "You're one of the sweetest, cutest girls I know! Who cares if you're not strong?!"
"Aaaaah! You can say it without disorganizing my organs!"
"Ease down, Noky." Mack said, pulling her hands off. "Your mom's not disappointed in you. We all made the choice of being operatives, so our parents' job is to train us. Your mom's no different from mine or anyone else's."
"But my training just feels so pointless. Just look at all the other strong operatives. Christina, Joto, Karma, Jason… all of them are so strong without even trying to be, because they were born to strong moms or dads, but I didn't get my mom's strength. And look at you, Nora. Your dad's an Adabatian and your mom's a Fanalis. It's no surprise you'd be super strong and great at waterbending. Watching you just makes me feel worse…"
"I'm so sorry!! I never wanted you to feel bad!" Nora shouted, as sensitive as always. "Okay, I'll stop! I'll start doing bad in training, I don't want you to lose your confidence!"
"No, that's not what I wanted! It's just… you two do all the work on missions. Nora beats up all the enemies, Mack thinks up all the strategies… The only reason I'm your leader is because I'm Melody's daughter, but I feel more like a sidekick."
"That may be Nora's reason, but I don't really care about that." Mack replied. "I just think you make a better leader. You're a nice girl who's comfortable to be around."
"Yeah, I think so, too!" Nora stated. "Plus, you're way smarter than me! You always tell me not to do something dangerous, but I do it anyway, and I totally get wrecked! If I was leading us, I would seriously die! And, prob'ly you guys, too. The point is, I would be lost without you!"
"Huhu… thanks, I guess. I mean, I can never tell you to stop in time, you're always so fast…"
"Then I'll slow down from now on! Anything for you!" Nora grabbed her friend in a hug.
"Ack! Okay, please, let go!" Erin always felt her weakest in Nora's hugs. There was no escape on her own, and she might suffocate in 20 seconds if Nora wouldn't let go. She caught her breath and rubbed the sore spots. "Well… 'guess I better try again." Erin pushed herself up and walked to the sea, her team watching as she submerged and swam for open waters.
When Melody returned, she was surprised to see that her daughter had gone to sea on her own. "I thought she would wait for me to come back."
"'Guess she got a little impatient." Mack replied.
"Your daughter's so amazing, Miss Melody!" Nora cheered, fists balled in excitement. "She's determined to make you proud! I wish I could be as weak as her and know how she feels!"
"Te he…" Melody chuckled. "She shouldn't worry about making me proud. She should worry about you guys. She needs to be strong enough to help her team when they need it. When I'm not around, you guys are her teachers, you know."
"She's plenty strong already!" Nora beamed. "But if she's not strong enough, I'll give her some of my own!"
"And there's plenty of brain in here if she needs a spare!" Mack grinned proudly.
"Hehe… then you better take good care of her."
Erin kept swimming, more determined to reach the horizon. She couldn't keep relying on her teammates to win everything. It wasn't enough to have niceness or caution, she had to be strong, too. Even if she could never have beauty, smarts, or muscles, she would still try to swim as far as possible, to keep up with them as best as she could.
Here's an idea I got for Laruta, featuring a fun song from Peanuts! Warning: may be gross.
Fitness For Giants!
Guraguraguraguragura, guraguraguragra…
Moonbase Cafeteria was popular to socialize with other sectors and catch up with what everyone was up to. But today was an inconvenient day for that, apparently. The moon seemed to have an earthquake problem, the operatives having to keep their plates stabilized. As Mack Strongarm raised his milk glass for a sip, he spilled a portion on his shirt, blending in with its whiteness. "UGH! Alright, who ate the Tremor-Tremor Fruit?! I'm gonna see what's up."
"Um, be careful, Mack…" Erin called after him.
The young scientist carefully sat up, taking his milk and cupping a hand over the rim. Wobbling on his way to the exit, he nearly bumped into Christina Uno. "'ey, Chris. I don't suppose you know anything about this?"
"Ugh, it's Laruta." She rolled her eyes.
Mack had a hard time visualizing the impish gymnast causing such commotion. "No, really, what is it?"
"Laruta's training the GT kids in the gym. Apparently, Perry asked her to do it."
"The… giants? …Alright, this I gotta see." Smirking, Mack bypassed her and left.
"Well, this should lead to something good." Chris smirked and went with him.
The source of the rumbling stemmed from three 20-foot giants and two 14-foot giants doing jumping jacks. They were in a pentagon formation with Laruta Grayson in the center, slowly rotating amidst her jacks to observe them. "You're not putting arms all the way up! Come on, Fufu, take more breaths! Patty, do what Mali's doing! Mowchan, get those feet off the floor!"
"Huff, this is so hard…" panted Mowchan Colins (from World's End Club). The tallest giant had swirly, puffy brown hair and blushed cheeks. He wore a buttoned vest with brown and white cow textures, a salmon-pink T-shirt underneath, blue capris trousers. His socks matched his shirt, going into brown loafers. His feet were remarkably tiny in proportion to his body.
"Cough, cough, I should've worn better clothes." said Doris Dodley. Orange-skinned with green ponytailed hair, she wore a white priestess robe with green edges that had blue circular alignments. Her robe had a texture similar to ranch dressing, and her big blue shoes were propped up on the wall.
"Patty, just do it slowly 'til you get it right." Mali Anderson, Laruta's assistant instructor, stood in front of her fellow short giant and made slower jumps.
"This is so easy for you, Mal." Patty Winston moaned. He had a tuft of red hair on his bald head, a purple shirt with black shorts, and white slip-ons. "You train with Laruta every day."
"There's gotta be an easier way to do this…" Fufu huffed. She had slight tan skin and brown hair in spiked pigtails. She wore a yellow sweater and black pants.
"The best way is the natural way!" Laruta declared. "Alright, that's enough jacks. It's time to do tracks! I want everyone evenly spaced out! And… go!"
Lining up on the tracks around the perimeter, the giants stirred more tremors in their jogging. "You're a great teacher, big sis!" Mali praised, jogging in place and mimicking her tiny friend.
"Thank you, Mali! You know, I may not be as graceful as Tressa, or as fast as Isabelle, and I certainly couldn't beat Silica in button mashing… but I know how to stay in shape!"
Mack peeked into the room, keeping his milk steady. "Ah, it seems the herds are on the move!"
"Yep." Chris agreed.
"I run five miles every morning!" Laruta sang, running along the inner rim of the track and outpacing the giants. "I do a hundred pushups every day! I pedal every night, take a swim, take a hike, I'm in shape, I'm in shape, I'm in shape!" She jumped and performed an aerial posture with each repeat.
"Khh-ff-ff-ff!" Mack held in chortles at her silly performance.
"Mowchan, you're falling behind!" Mali yelled. "Move like this! And Fufu, you're going too fast, you're burning too much energy!"
"It's hard to stay even when we're different sizes." Patty commented.
"Mom never said Uncle Lee was like this." Fufu said. "Where does she get it?"
Based in Guatemala, Sector GT were the famed "giants" of the KND. Fufu, the leader, was childhood friends with Laruta through their parents. She had a taste for pancakes and racecars and supplied the tech for their sec. Patty was arguably the most nimble, given his smaller stature, but was too thin to pass a fitness test. He was very skilled with rope and medical treatment. Doris was a plantbender who specialized in farming, as well as an Animal Telepath. Rumor had it that her father was part Oompa-Loompa, given their skin. Mowchan served as the chef and main powerhouse, having trained in Goron Style under his proud, portly father.
Another giant, Ichigo Diego, was recommended to join GT as its leader, but he chose to lead Sector JP instead. They would've been too small otherwise, and he was already very close to his hometown friends. Mali was put in Sector V mostly to make them the center of diversity, but she was very happy with her team, especially with her mom's friends' kids in it. Mowchan, for a time, considered joining Sector Q, having built an affinity with its teammates, but felt better with a sector where he fit in.
"Hey, Mowchan, you're so big! Make sure you get nice and fit, hey Mowchan!" Laruta jumped beside the boy's pocket. "Hey, Mowchan!" Another jump. She then fell back to Doris. "Hey, Doris, you're so orange! Trim down so you fit in the doorhinge, hey Doris!" She jogged right between the girl's feet, prompting her to step carefully. "Hey, Doris!" Then she ran out from the front of the skirt.
"Ho ho ho!" Mowchan laughed, flushing at her peppy spirit. As hard as this was, he enjoyed listening to Laruta's happy voice and seeing her tiny frame in motion. He wasn't sure why, but it was adorable.
"And break!"
The giants plopped their heavy rumps against the wall. "Hoooo…there goes some of the doughnuts I saved." Mowchan patted his belly, waving into ripples.
"HA HA ha ha!" They all faced the entrance as Mack walked in.
"Mack? What's so funny?" Laruta inquired with a glare.
"Look, I know you guys are taking overweight to a new level," Mack stepped toward Laruta, making their difference in height clear, "but why in the world are you taking fitness lessons from a piglet?"
"DON'T call me that." Laruta fumed up.
"Ha ha ha!" Mack couldn't feel intimidated by such a cute little geek. "I mean, even Erin's more fit than you, Lar. Why wouldn't Perry get Nora to train them?"
"Well, since Nora's your teammate, I'm sure you must be MUCH more fit. Perhaps you'd like to challenge them?"
"Hey, I'm not doubting them." Mack smirked up at the giants. "Biologically, they're physically superior. But the point is, you're the last person who should be telling them to be fit. …Okay, MAYBE Robi, Jolene, and Lily, but you get it. They're way more built than you are, Lar."
"It's not about being 'built,' it's about managing your stamina and endurance."
"Drinking milk helps!" Mowchan perked up. "My parents gave me lots of milk! They said it helps our bones grow!"
"Yeah, well I don't drink milk." Laruta stated.
"You oughta try, Lar." Mack held his glass up and swayed it. "Maybe you'll be as big as them one day."
"I meant that I can't drink milk."
"Why not?"
"Because it makes my stomach act funny!"
"C'mon, Lar, a little milk ain't gonna hurt~" Mack approached her, smirking in curiosity.
"Mack, keep that away—mmmph!" Mack grabbed her by the shirt before she could escape and poured the drink down her mouth.
"Mack, stop that!" Mali shouted.
"MMM!" Laruta pushed him off. Unfortunately, she had already swallowed a portion. GURAGURAGURAGURA, GURAGURAGURAGURA… Her little frame began contracting and contorting, Mack backing away in disgust. Christina, new to this bit of info, watched with intrigue and disgust. Clenching her stomach tight, Laruta struggled to restrain herself. "Po…po…PO…PO…PAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
BOOM!!!!!!!!
A dense cloud of gas covered the entire gym and the areas outside. Operatives gagged and coughed from the awful fumes. "AAAAAAHHH!" Laruta let out a storm of tears and rage. "I'M LACTOSE INTOLERANT, YOU JERK! WAAAAHH!" She dashed to the bathroom at full speed.
"Cough, cough!" Mack choked. "Ah…I didn't… expect this, cough. 'Guess I better…" He casually strolled out of the gym, but a hand waited to grasp his face at the doorway.
"Not so fast, shorty." Chris said.
"Uh-oh."
…
"Sniff…sniff…" Laruta sobbed in the toilet stall. She had only shared her lactose intolerance with her most trusted friends. The first incident she remembered was when she was three. Her parents gave her milk and she almost blew the roof off the house. She could only eat the right kinds of cakes, and Laruta's excuse to her friends was it was to help her stay fit. The idea that she could let out so much gas was unbearably humiliating.
"Big Sis? Are you okay?" Mali poked open the bathroom door, peeping inside.
"M-Mali?" Laruta awkwardly got up and walked out. Amidst the gassy fog, she found comfort in the little giant's bulbous eye. "No, I'm not. My pants are ruined… and I…boohoo."
"There, there." Mali gently stroked her with a finger. "It's okay. In a way, it was like… a powered-up Gas Bomb." Even bigger than my Gas Bombs…
"I know I'm a poisonbender, but it…it's so gross! If more people find out, no one'll ever take me seriously! Sniff, sniff…I'm not as big as you… or as fast as Isabelle, or strong like Christina… but I thought I could inspire people. Inspire them to try their best, even if they can't control how they look or… other things. But I'm just a disgrace…"
"No you're not. Come outside. The others are here."
Looking up with hope in her watery eyes, Laruta walked outside. Mali stood so she could pass between her legs. Mali had cleared away some of the gas with her own bending, giving the GT ops some breathing room. The four giants smiled down at her in sympathy. "We're sorry that happened, Laruta." Fufu said.
"If it helps… we had fun exercising." Mowchan followed.
"Yeah!" Doris beamed, stretching a leg out. "I've still got plenty of stamina! I wanna train some more!"
"And you don't have to feel bad." Patty smiled. "A lot of kids make fun of me for… well, a lot of things. So, I won't make fun of you. But, when I train like this, it gets a lot off my mind."
"You have a change of clothes, right?" Mali asked. "After you change, can we exercise some more?"
"And if any kids come to make fun of you, we'll show them fitness!" Fufu fist-pumped.
Laruta cracked a little smile. "That…that would be nice. Thanks, guys."
…
"Well, tell 'em what you did, Mack." Christina demanded, holding him by the neck.
"Ack! I was carrying an experimental stink bomb!" Mack choked. "I tripped and dropped it, and it… went off!"
"Uh…okay?" Perry cocked a brow. "Any reason Chris is killing you?"
"'Cause I was right there when it happened! It'll take forever to get the smell out!" You owe me one, Lar.
"When other kids are baiting at the finish~" Laruta sang, jogging in place with her giant friends following. "When all the others fail to break the tape! I dash around the track and wave to Daddy… I'm in shape, I'm in shape, I'm in shape!"