Chapter 2: Onward to Ouistreham

“Where’d he go?!” They looked all around the room, but Blaze was nowhere to be found. “He just… disappeared! But how?”
“Guards!” called the queen. “Search the castle for a black rabbit with sunglasses. I don’t want to let him get away.”
“Don’t bother, mum,” Eva muttered. “If he’s so quick so that he got away from Jazz, Spaz, and Lori, he must be pretty fast. And what are we going to do after we catch him? It looks like we already have all the information we need out of him.”
“Such as where to find Jack Flash?” Queen Earlong’s blue fur was turning a slight shade of red.
“He said that too, mum. He’s the best shot in Ouistreham, right? So that’s most likely where we can find him.”
The Queen stared at Eva. “You know, sometimes you’re so smart it amazes me. It really does. I’m glad you’re my daughter.”
Eva shrugged. “It’s not necessarily smart, mum. It’s paying attention to details.”
“So when are we going to go to Ouistreham to find Jack Flash?” asked Jazz. “I mean, is there any particular reason why we can’t go now?”
“None at all.”
“Well then, let’s go! C’mon already! What are we waiting for?!” With that, Jazz wound up, and was about to take off, when Eva placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Jazz…”
“Mmm?”
Eva pointed a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the opposite direction. “Ouistreham’s that way.”
Jazz pasted an embarrassed grin on his face, and said, quietly, “Right. That way.” Then he launched himself in the indicated direction.
Lori shrugged. “Mneh.” Then she was off, as well. Spaz followed close behind, all at considerably high speeds.
The Queen and her daughter watched them until they were little specks in the distance, then went back inside.

Once again, the world turned into a blur of blue, orange, and green as Jazz raced along the flat ground of Carrotus. The wind whipped through his ears, filling his head with a loud howling noise. Jazz had become used to this, so he simply ignored it and focused on not hitting anything. Lori and Spaz caught up to him with some difficulty, so he slowed down a bit to allow them to run in a straight line.
“How far to Ouistreham, Lori?”
“About two and a half clicks from Carrotus City. It’s not very big. Last time a census was taken… well, they almost forgot it was there altogether. Nevertheless, it was a pretty small village. Just barely bordering on town status.”
“How small?”
“Last report said about 400 rabbits there. A few lizards, but they’ve proven to be benign.”
“I’m not planning on taking any chances. Besides, I like having my gun ready.”
“…”
Spaz was the first of the three to see the tops of the buildings of Ouistreham. “Look guys, we’re almost there!”
Jazz stared upwards at the rapidly advancing “village.” “Are those skyscrapers I see? Lori, how big did you say this place was?”
“About 400 rabbits.”
“What would 400 rabbits need to do with skyscrapers?”
“Beats me. Something caused this place to grow. Fast.”
They were into the outskirts of Ouistreham as Spaz read the sign that whizzed by. “Ouistreham. Population: 250000.”
“Whatinna…” Jazz almost fell over himself. “Lori, how long ago was this census of yours taken, anyway?”
“‘Bout ten years ago, would be my guess.”
“And this city has grown by… 625 times in ten years?!”
“I don’t know either.”
They were nearing the centre of the city. One particularly tall skyscraper loomed over the rest. Lori put her eyes to the test, reading the lettering at the top of the skyscraper. “‘R.O.A.R. Outpost 12.’ This is an outpost? Isn’t it a bit big?”
“Yeah, but the Royal Order of Armed Rabbits is a huge agency. They’ve got outposts bigger than this scattered around the planet. This one isn’t that big, if you’ve seen the others. We might as well take a look around anyway.”
“‘Kay.”
They were closing in on the R.O.A.R. building. Jazz signalled for Lori and Spaz to stop far enough away from the building so as to avoid crashing into it. Lori and Jazz slowed to a halt in front of the main doors, but Spaz, per usual, ran straight into the side of the tower. He backpedalled a few steps, looking and moving rather dazed. Jazz and Lori exchanged glances as Spaz toppled over.
“Sometimes I wonder whether or not he does that on purpose,” Jazz chuckled. Lori rolled her eyes.
The main doors of the R.O.A.R. tower swung open. Blaze stepped through them. “Well, you’re here. Welcome to the R.O.A.R. outpost at Ouistreham. Follow me.”
After Jazz and Lori helped Spaz get back up, they entered the building. It looked even more like a government agency on the inside than the intimidating, towering outside. Blaze walked on, and continued, “I take it you’ll be wanting to see Jack Flash then.”
“Jack Flash is a part of R.O.A.R.?” Jazz asked of the black rabbit.
“A very crucial part. Jack is one of the main reasons why we even have an outpost out here. This used to be a small village, barely even recognized, until Jack Flash was born here.
“The rumour is, that he had amazing targeting skills at a very young age. One day, he got hold of a blaster, and started shooting wildly – wildly, but incredibly accurately. Each of his shots hit something dead-on. Although his mother wasn’t too pleased about this, his father was intrigued.”
They stepped into an elevator, and Blaze pushed the button for the twenty-fifth, and top, floor.
“He started training Jack soon after that day, and Jack’s done nothing but get better at it. After his father died, he started training himself, just like his father trained him. And that’s where R.O.A.R. comes in.
“A R.O.A.R. agent just happened to see Jack shooting at a bullseye target one day. He took a closer look at the target… and the only hole was dead centre, shot through at least two dozen times. Like Jack’s father, he was incredibly intrigued. He asked Jack (even though he was still young) if he would join R.O.A.R. And the rest is history.”
“But why ask him to come to R.O.A.R. when he was so young?”
“This was about ten years ago. R.O.A.R. was a small system, not a quarter of the size it is today. They – we – needed all the help we could get.”
“And so you hired a leveret for your army?”
“Yes and no. He showed a particular interest for R.O.A.R., according to his mother – God rest her soul. When we asked her if young Jack would be part of R.O.A.R., she said yes, at least his gunmanship skills would be put to use there.”
The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. Jazz, Spaz, and Lori immediately noticed that this floor held no furniture. It was, essentially, a short, wide, nondescript hallway, that led to what looked like another of the same type of hall, going perpendicular to the one they were standing in. The Jackrabbits began to wonder if Blaze had pushed the wrong button, as they stepped out of the elevator.
Then, suddenly, as if on cue by the elevator doors opening, three blaster shots flew by, down the hall in front of them. Spaz jumped back a few steps, almost falling backwards into the elevator, and squeaked out something that sounded like “Wozzat?!”
More blaster shots flew down the hall, and this time the distinct sound of a clichéd ricochet was heard. Jazz crept forwards, and peered down the hallway. He found himself staring at a white-furred rabbit, complete with a blue bandanna, and a red blaster that looked like a perfect copy of his own, minus the colour difference.
Blaze was right, Jazz thought to himself. I’ve never seen this rabbit before… but I already know he’s Jack Flash…
Meanwhile, the rabbit spotted Jazz peeking out from behind the corner, and flipped his blaster over his shoulder into a large holster on his back. He ran easily towards Jazz, greeting him whole-heartedly. “Hi! Jazz Jackrabbit, right?”
“Yeah. I take it you’re Jack Flash?”
“That would be me.” As Jack approached Jazz, he noticed Lori and Spaz standing not a metre away. “And your brother and sister?”
“Yup. We came here from Carrotus City, after hearing about you through Blaze Blackrabbit. We need to enlist your help.”
“Why?”
Jazz explained the situation, about Buster Tank, the satellite, and the super beam cannon strong enough to turn Carrotus into a space cloud of carrot-dust.
“Whoa. What a mind job.”
“Yeah, now you understand why we’re here. And why we need to ask for your help.”
“My help? Just me?”
“Why? Do you have someone else in mind?”
“Quite a few, actually.” He pulled a walkie-talkie seemingly out of nowhere, clicked it on, and spoke into it. “Firefox?”
A voice, slightly deeper than Jack’s own, came back through. “Yes?”
“I need to see you in the level 14 conference room. Get Wizard of Odds, too. We may have a situation on our hands.”
“Gotcha.”
“Oh, and Firefox?”
“Yo.”
“Bring Splat.”
“‘K.”
Jack switched the walkie-talkie off, then said, “Right. Now we go back down to level 14. I take it you haven’t met Firefox or Wizard of Odds?”
“Nope,” Lori and Spaz intoned together.
“You and Blaze are the only two we’ve met of your squad, so far,” Lori added.
“So far,” Jack said. “Well, there’s more to R.O.A.R. than just me and Blaze. Or at least our part of R.O.A.R., anyway.”
“Your part of R.O.A.R.? What do you mean?”
“Well, we like to call ourselves the Elite Task Force. Actually, everyone does.”