Slowly, painfully slowly, muscles began to heat. Bones solidified from their previously spongy state. Air caught in his throat and he could breathe again. Every conscious thought was the same: reboot. Reboot. Reboot.
"Hey! Wally!"
Lead had been shot into his knees, making them impossible to lift. Covered in mud and rocks, a horrific thing occurred to him as the tiniest object fell to his forehead. Rain.
"Wally!"
He found his own pale hand covering his face, his nose must have been smashed. How hard had Joe come at him? For a geeky wanna-be-detective, he sure could pack a wallop…
"Wallabee Beatles! On your feet!"
He did as he was commanded to do. His blonde hair brushed over his eyes as-per-usual, and he looked into the face of his teammates, the defeated "V team". The auzzie looked around at the mud-caked faces and wide grins of decency that his fellow losers harbored. Nigel Uno stood in front of him, looking rather worried. "Wally, are you alright?" His ex-leader asked him, adjusting his sunglasses, which were useless to him on a dark, dreary day such as this.
"I'm fine, mate," Wallabee reported, smiling fondly. "Don't get your undies in a bunch." As he tried to convince the other boy, he found his knees buckling, and he swayed. Hoagie grabbed his shoulder and steadied him.
"You don't look fine, buddy," The larger teen informed him, before handing him over to Kuki, and swinging around to scream at Joe, who stood rather embarrassed on the other side of the flag football field, "You practically killed him, Joe! Geez!" He charged over, making Joe Balooka jump in surprise and plod off to the sidewalk. Billy Hocslawger laughed audibly.
Wallabee looked up at Kuki, whose mascara was running from the now pouring rain. "Are you sure you're okay, Wally?" She asked, accent as strong as ever. "You went down really hard!"
Wally winced. "No, I'm okay," He forced a smile. "But I really should get ho-"
"Y'all better swallow your pride before you get really hurt," Adjusting her red cap, the ever-wise Abigail Lincoln shook her head. "But you've got a point. Abigail thinks everyone should start headin' home. My dad's gonna kill me if I come home all muddy again, so I gotta get in bore he gets back from the surgery he was doing this afternoon." He saluted to the group and ran off the field, enough to catch up with Joe so they could walk home together.
Kuki nodded, suddenly looking very worried. "And I don't think I set the timer on my DVD player. I could miss Rainbow Monkey teens!" She squeaked in horror, almost dropping Wally. "I better get going! Byyyyeeeeee!" She cried, before racing after her girlfriend and Joe.
Wally leaned against the last remaining ex-sector V operative, and looked up at him. "It's nice to know your friends care." He rolled his eyes.
Nigel chuckled. "Their heart in the right place." He looked down at the blonde to see his bloody nose. "O-OHMYGOSHYOU'REBLEEDING!" He shrieked, loud enough for Hoagie to halt in his pursuit of Joe, and come sprinting back. He practically mowed down Nigel and grabbed Wally's face, staring at his nose.
"I think it's broken!" He too began to panic, leaving the wounded Wallabee to be calm and suggest;
"It doesn't hurt. Let's just get home, and I'll clean up there, okay? No biggie."
Hoagie whimpered, apologizing and swearing to beat Joe's face in on Monday, and Wally just laughed. Hoagie parted ways with the two others, leaving them to walk home, side-by-side. Wally closed his eyes, knowing the way home by heart, not having to look. He and Nigel walking in near-silence, the rain downing any hope of conversation anyway.
Once they approached the old tree-house, Wally stopped on the doorstep with him, and smiled. "See you tomorrow?" He questioned, leaning against the doorframe, as aloof and charming as ever despite the probably-broken nose.
Nigel laughed. "It doesn't work too well when you have blood all over you," He commented, pulling the sleeve of his sweater over his fist and rubbing the red away from the other's handsome face. "But yes, I suppose."
With a quick peck, Nigel entered the house, leaving Wally to walk home the rest of the way. Every conscious thought was the same: Nigel. Nigel. Nigel.