"What happened, Nigel-Old-Bean? I was only trying to be your friend…" Monty Uno looked down at the floor as he sat down in what was once his son's bedroom. He would often do so in his spare time when he wasn't occupied with his job as a band director at one of the local schools. He read the "Do's and Don'ts" section of the newspaper religiously, he'd take Nigel out fishing with him, he'd done everything is his power to try and be a better father to Nigel than Pappy was with him. Monty wondered if it had something to do with the incident that happened with Nigel not long ago. He thought back to that very day.
It was an ordinary afternoon. Monty was in the music room directing his students when he received a phone call from the hospital. Dr. Lincoln told him that Nigel was there, and that was all he needed to hear. In a hurry, he quickly dismissed his students and drove straight for the hospital. He found his wife Katherine trying to comfort Dr. Lincoln's youngest daughter. They were sitting outside the emergency room where Nigel was being operated on. The little girl was bandaged and was shaking terribly. She saw one glance of him and pulled her hat down to cover her eyes.
"I…I…I'm s-s-sorry, Mistah Uno" she sobbed "I tried to help Nigel, b-b-but…" she trailed off and shook again. "Its all my fault" she sniffed and tossed her red hat aside.
"No, no, sweetie, Nigel just had an accident. It wasn't your fault." Katherine was trying her hardest to soothe the distressed child and looked up at Monty.
Monty's heart ached for the little girl; whatever it was that happened to Nigel, he wasn't going to blame her for it. He kneeled down so he could talk to her at eye level.
"It's alright," said Monty "I'm sure you did all you could. You did the right thing bringing Nigel here. I just need to know what happened." Abby nodded and started to speak.
"Well, I found Nigel, and he was hurt real bad, and…and…" She paused as her mouth suddenly became agape. To Monty it looked like she knew what she wanted to say but something was keeping the words from coming out. Monty was beginning to worry that Abby might need to be hospitalized herself.
"Are you alright dear? Do you need anything?" Abby didn't speak a word, she just pointed her finger in his direction, shaking. "It's alright, I'm not upset with you," he said softly. Abby shook her head furiously and pointed her finger again. Monty was getting nowhere, but he didn't want to say anything that might upset Abby further. Quickly he changed tactics and put on a smile, and pretended to furrow his eyebrows as if in concentration. "Oh, I know, this is one of those guessing games isn't it? Oh, don't tell me…is it something behind me?" he asked. Abby relaxed just a little bit and nodded. She still had a look of terror on her face, but she wasn't shaking. A ghost of a smile crept across Monty's face "Now there's a step in the right direction." he thought. Now just what or, perhaps who was behind him that was making Abby so uneasy?
He turned around and saw his brother Benedict in his usual dress shirt and suspenders looking at Abby with an annoyed look on his face. Though for a moment, Monty thought he might need his eyes checked. Ben's eyes seemed to glow like two burning coals behind his spectacles. When Monty blinked, they were their natural blue again. Monty wasn't sure what it was about his brother that made children so afraid of him. He remembered something similar used to happen with Pappy when he was a boy and figured his brother also had that effect on children. It wasn't a particularly good explanation, but it was one. There was an awkward silence that felt as if it could be cut with a knife.
"It's not polite to point, dear." said Monty as he rose back up to his feet. He turned his attention to the other man. "Hello, Ben. What brings you here?"
Benedict's annoyed look quickly changed into one of concern.
"Monty, I heard about what happened to Nigel; is he alright?" Monty couldn't place his finger on it but something wasn't quite right. Maybe it was that Ben sounded a little too…rehearsed, or maybe it was the fact that Abby was still hiding behind Katherine, but his thoughts were interrupted when Dr. Lincoln came out of the doors.
"Dr. Lincoln do you know if Nigel will be alright?" asked Monty pointedly.
Dr. Richard Lincoln sighed. "Well Monty, it's a good thing Nigel came here when he did. He'll probably end up losing his hair, but from what I can tell it could've been a lot worse with the bleeding and the scarring and the...awww, you know what Ima' talking about." Again, a ghost of a smile crossed Monty's face. Richard was a good man who always seemed to lift people's spirits with his upbeat personality. Richard placed a reassuring hand on Monty's shoulder "He's gonna be alright." He turned his attention to Abby, then to her red hat lying on the floor. He picked it up off the floor and placed it back on his daughter's head. "Nigel will be okay, Abby. Promise you'll put on a brave face for your Daddy, okay?" His daughter smiled and threw herself into her father's embrace.
"Katherine, would you mind taking Abby back to your house? I'll call Cree to walk her home." Katherine nodded and Monty watched as she led Abby towards the elevator. Abby's gaze not leaving Benedict who looked back out of the corner of his eye. Monty still couldn't understand what that was all about.
"Richard, did Abby have anything to say about what happened to Nigel? Abby tried to..." He paused and sniffed the air. "Do you smell smoke?" He turned his attention Benedict who was lighting his pipe, as if he suddenly became disinterested in what was going on. Now it was Richard's turn to be annoyed.
"You! No pipes near the emergency room! With the second hand smoke, and the threats to sick patients, and the risk of igniting flammable materials, and the awww, you know what Ima' talkin' about!" said Richard, who was making several exasperated hand gestures. Part of Monty was trying not to laugh, while the other part was questioning Ben's sudden shift in attitude again.
Ben quickly snuffed the flame and feigned surprise "Oh goodness, I do apologize Doctor. With all the excitement I needed something to steady my nerves. I'll go outside. I hope Nigel gets well again soon." Ben left and Richard went back into the emergency room, leaving Monty all alone…
"Monty? Monty are you awake?"
Monty opened a sleepy eye. Dr. Lincoln was standing in front of him. Monty looked down at his lap and saw a copy of the newspaper sitting in his lap. Last thing he remembered he picked it up to read in a bid to "steady his nerves", as Benedict put it. It appeared he had done just that and dozed off through Nigel's operation.
"Well, I am now. Is it about Nigel?" He yawned.
"As a matter of fact, he's sleeping right now. I can take you in to see him as long as you don't make any noises." replied Dr. Lincoln
Monty agreed, trying to put on a brave face for when he finally saw what had become of his son. The last time he had been this nervous was when Nigel was born. While he couldn't remember part of his childhood for some strange reason, one thing he always remembered was that Pappy was anything but a good father. Sure, as Pappy's first born, he received more favor, but Monty didn't recall having it much better than Ben or the other kids. Sure, Monty did the bookkeeping for his father's business while Ben and the others were working on the factory floor making tapioca (wait, how did Pappy get away with child labor?) Then there was his birthday cake…oh the cake. So delicious, and Pappy always forced him to eat every last bite himself without allowing him to offer it to Ben or the other children… while they were tied to chairs? "I must've been having strange dreams while I was sleeping" thought Monty.
While Monty didn't have many fond memories of Pappy (hazy though they were), he was nervous at the prospect of becoming a father. If Monty's scattered memories served, that had been when he picked up his habit of reading the "dos and don'ts" section of the paper. Monty wasn't entirely sure what made his side of the family so dysfunctional, but now he had a chance to break the cycle.
He'd never forget when the doctor directed him to his wife's room. There, in his wife's arms was his newborn son, Nigel. Little Nigel was in his wife's arms, sleeping softly while wrapped in blankets. He was so serene, so innocent, his skin unbroken, a blank canvas, a story yet to be written…
And a sharp contrast to the boy lying in bed before Monty.
His head and left arm were bandaged, his right arm linked to an IV, his breathing ragged, and the only sound besides being the heart monitor's beep. Monty pulled up a chair next to the bed and carefully held Nigel's good hand. Just what had happened to his son that left him like this?
Then Nigel jolted up screaming and caused Monty to recoil. The boy looked around frantically screaming the word "Father" repeatedly before a violent cough cut it short. Monty reached to calm his son down. "It's alright Nigel, I'm here…I'm here" He gently patted his son on the back as he looked up with tears welling in his eyes.
"W-Where am I?" asked Nigel, trembling.
"You're in the hospital, Nigel. That nice Dr. Lincoln over there operated on you after Abby brought you in" said Monty gesturing to the man. Nigel calmed down a little, but there was still worry etched into his features
"Where is Abby?"
"She went home with your mother. Abby will be all right, Nigel." Truthfully, Monty wasn't so sure about that last part, but he didn't want to worry his son further. Nigel was still tense.
"What about Cree? The others?"
Monty was puzzled. He knew Cree was Dr. Lincoln's eldest daughter, but these "others" were unknown to him. Friends from school perhaps? He wasn't quite sure what they had to do with any of this. Dr. Lincoln perked up.
"Oh, I think they were hanging out with Cree before I called her to pick Abby up. But they should be all right. You on the other hand need your rest. With the sleeping, and the snoring, and the…awww you know what Ima' talkin' about!" and gave a good-natured laugh. That left Nigel feeling a little better. As Monty was about to leave, the boy was ready to protest. Monty assured him that he'd be back to visit him again tomorrow with his mother.
It was a slow recovery for Nigel. Abby would frequently stop by the hospital after school to check up on the boy and Monty sometimes found them talking about something called the "Kids Next Door". Though what that was he didn't know…maybe it was some kind of special club?
Nigel still didn't like being left alone, especially in the dark. For him, every shadow was large enough to conceal some sort of boogeyman out to snatch him up. Monty remembered when Katherine brought their son a nightlight. The minute she plugged it into the electrical outlet, it bathed Nigel's nightstand in a red-orange glow. Nigel still seemed tense when he and his wife left despite the light dispelling the sinister shadows. Then one night when Katherine went to plug in the light again, Nigel insisted that he didn't need it anymore. Monty was pleased at his son's recovery.
Then, when Nigel finally left the hospital, his personality changed completely. Monty and Katherine were surprised to hear that Nigel wanted to go to a summer camp like Abby. His reasoning was that after talking with Abby, he realized that he couldn't hide forever. He'd have to rise up and overcome his problems. "I'm only a kid once, Dad." Katherine and Monty were skeptical, but agreed.
And so Nigel went to summer camp, keeping in touch with his parents every so often, telling them about how Abby had his back and how he had made friends with Chad Dickson from across the street. For a time, it seemed like Nigel was managing to make something positive come out of his accident.
What followed was a rather bizarre turn of events, and that was putting it lightly. Looking back, it was highly likely that the incident that caused Nigel's hair loss had something to do with it.
He recalled the first warning sign came at the start of the new school year after a boy named Wallabee Beetles moved in. On the boy's first day of school, Katherine received a phone call from Gallagher Elementary. Nigel had apparently gotten into a scuffle with a group of kids and was covered in bruises. To hear Nigel resort to violence like that was out of character to Monty. When questioned about it, his son claimed he was trying to protect Wallabee because "the Kids Next Door save kids, it's our job." Monty didn't know what this "Kids Next Door" was, but he could tell Nigel had good intentions. So he was firm with Nigel that he should tell a teacher the next time it happens. He tried not to be too harsh on the boy, and called the Beetles residence to invite the family over for dinner.
The dinner was mostly uneventful; Monty tried to remain attentive to Sydney Beetles and his long-winded stories about his job working for that Fulbright fellow from down the street. After that, Nigel and Wally were playing video games and chatting up about Nigel's kids-on-the-block-or-whatever-it-was until it was time for desert. Liza Beetles was talking to Katherine about how she couldn't remember the last time she had seen her son play with another child.
Nigel and Wallabee were kindred spirits as far as Monty could tell. Both were kids from foreign countries who felt alone in the world. Perhaps it was fate that they both found each other, much like how it seemed when Nigel himself met Hoagie Gilligan in kindergarten.
Monty himself had also hit it off with Sydney Beatles over their mutual love of "footy". He was sorry when the family had to leave, but offered the invitation to pop over for a visit whenever they liked. Monty decided that perhaps some good could come out of Nigel's little club.
Then there was the time Nigel had been invited to Kuki Sanban's birthday party. Nigel didn't think too much of it at the time. Kuki was a bubbly little girl and had invited their whole homeroom. But as Monty would later learn from Nigel: most of the other kids wouldn't give her the time of the day. When Monty brought Nigel with him to the party, he was amazed by how extravagant the whole affair was. Monty wouldn't admit it, but he and Ben were very much children of "old money". Whereas Ben would flaunt his wealth in that fancy mansion he lived in down the lane, Monty chose to live a more modest lifestyle. When he talked with Genki Sanban, she spoke with a sad smile how she wanted to give her daughter nothing short of the sun and the moon. She was born into a much lower social class than Monty, and had to work her way to the top as a C.F.O. for a Fortune 500 company.
When Monty looked over to her daughter, it was clear something was amiss. Kuki's party had everything a child could want: bouncy castles, a large birthday cake, colorful balloons, and all the presents she could ever want. Yet Kuki was sitting all by herself while the other kids were playing. It seemed like there was one thing Kuki wasn't getting for her birthday. When he looked back, he noticed Nigel wasn't at his side any more. Somehow the boy had slipped away from his sight and was walking towards Kuki with his brightly wrapped gift box.
Even Kuki was surprised to see Nigel go out of his way to seek her out and personally wish her a happy birthday without prompting. She was very happy when she saw her present: a bright red Rainbow Monkey (though Monty couldn't truly tell one of these dolls from the other). Next thing Monty knew, Kuki was hugging Nigel and all but cutting off his oxygen (not that his son seemed to mind too much). It wasn't long after that Nigel introduced her to Hoagie, Wally, and Abby. And so Kuki ended up getting the one thing she really wanted for her birthday after all.
When Nigel met Hoagie P. Gilligan Jr. in kindergarten, the two were inseparable. Monty had the boy to thank for giving Nigel a mild interest in hobby kits. Though, if the still unfinished one on his desk was anything to go by, Nigel didn't have the knack for building that he did designing. Whenever they were building models from scratch, it was always Nigel who drew out the designs with pencils, crayons, or whatever else they could find. But it was Hoagie who always saw the designs through to completion. It wasn't unusual to see Nigel in his bedroom with Hoagie, a mound of crumpled papers, and several schematics sprawled across the floor. Nigel and Hoagie called them "two-four-technobobs" or something of the sort.
Monty thought back to the time when they tried to sneak some of Katherine's cookies from the kitchen before dinner. Monty had a particularly taxing practice session with the band students (that sousaphone player's sharps were awfully flat). He was surprised when he walked in the house and saw Nigel and his friend ducking behind the kitchen wall with a remote control. Monty looked up and saw they were controlling a modified toy plane with a claw attached to the bottom. Nigel looked over at Monty and quickly shushed him before he could speak. Monty decided there was no harm in watching his son's attempts and gave the boy an encouraging wink. After all, not even he succeeded in sneaking one of his wife's cookies before dinner.
Monty watched as Hoagie pressed a button and lowered the claw to grab the lid of the cookie jar. He was certainly impressed when the boy operated the toy with such skill as to lift the lid off without alerting Katherine, who was busy preparing to boil some asparagus. Though Hoagie didn't succeed at getting a hold of even one cookie before Katherine caught them with the claw in the cookie jar. Quickly, the boys withdrew the plane and made a hasty retreat up the stairs. Katherine called up to them cheekily applauding their creativity for the failed attempt. It looked to Monty like it would be back to the drawing board for Nigel and Hoagie. Parents one, kids zero.
And of course, Monty would be remiss if he didn't mention Abby Lincoln. Abby had become something of a safety net among their group of friends, especially for Nigel ever since his accident. While Nigel was the leader of the pack as far as Monty could tell, Abby was the second in command. She still hadn't forgiven herself for what happened to Nigel, no matter how many times everyone else insisted it wasn't her fault. Abby was a good girl, an honor student, and sometimes left Monty wondering why she wasn't the leader. There was the time Nigel was screaming about how they were under attack by "kid-eating leeches". The other kids went along with Nigel, though it was unclear whether it was because they believed him or were just humoring him as his friends. Nonetheless, Abby convinced Nigel that he was just imagining things and explained that it was just snowing. Which brought Monty to his next point.
His son became far more paranoid. Looking back, there was a connection: everything seemed to happen all at once after whatever incident caused Nigel to lose his hair. Though what this incident was, Monty could never get a straight answer from his son.
Nigel still trusted Dr. Lincoln, for all of his bluster. But every other doctor was met with great suspicion. Monty remembered the attempt to file a restraining order against Nigel by that one doctor the boy was spying on. He knew his son could get carried away, but surely a restraining order on a kid was a bit excessive. But Nigel was still convinced that all other doctors were up to anti-kid activity. Every shot he was given was an attempt to infect him with all manner of toxins. Not toxins to stimulate immune responses, just regular toxins to poison him. He thought back to the recent fiasco with that Dr. Sharpe fellow. Katherine regaled Monty with one of Nigel's fantasies about the doctor chasing him like some big-game hunter. Granted, that same doctor ended up being arrested for quackery and was ousted by an anonymous individual as a criminal named Chester Banks. Alright, Monty would let Nigel have that one.
Then Nigel ranted about how every dentist trying to implant sub-molar tracking devices. Nigel like most kids was suspicious of dentists, and Katherine blamed it on watching too many cartoons. Then that same week the local dentist, a man named Jasper Jelly, was found on the floor the dentist's office with several of his teeth missing. The police thought it looked like they had been punched out. It turned out that Jelly was working as an unlicensed dentist by day, and by night he ran around in a strange costume calling himself "Knightbrace." The man made himself out to be one of those American comic book superheroes like Major Glory or Vallhallen. Of course, many would describe Jelly's actions as anything but heroic. Among the other things he did, Jelly performed forceful (and often painful) dental procedures on random children. The real dentist, Dr. Sigmund Teeth, was later rescued from a broom closet, having been bound and gagged by the self-proclaimed "Enamel Avenger." Teeth was unable to confirm the identity of his rescuer, but gratefully extended a free checkup as token of appreciation over the local news before the anchors cut him off.
First there was that Chester character, now Jelly. It had to be a coincidence, Monty told himself at the time. Dentists were supposed to be out to help children. He couldn't understand why so many, including Nigel, thought that they delighted in nothing more than torturing them. Not that this Jelly character would help Monty's case, though. What was this town coming to?
And then there was the day Katherine told him about how she had received another phone call from Gallagher Elementary. Nigel's history teacher, Mr. Frybingle (such a silly name), complained that he disrupted class to rant about how the buzzing fluorescent lights were "adult-microwave-cranial-jellifiers turning children's brains into milkshakes." Monty tried not to laugh at this one in front of his wife. Nigel had a vivid imagination…Monty thought that might make a good science fiction story. "You need to do something about this, Monty. No son of mine is going to disrupt class with some rigmarole!" She rolled the "r" sounds and waved her hands for emphasis. While Katherine was clearly bemused, he on the other hand, was very amused. Nonetheless, he decided to humor his wife. Monty suggested that Nigel might improve his behavior if he got to know his family a little better. Katherine agreed.
So Monty took Nigel with him to visit Pappy at the Surewood Retirement Home on Saturday. He remembered when he first introduced Pappy to his new grandson. Nigel cried like any other infant, but Monty didn't think too much of it then. Katherine calmed the child and everything was fine. Now when Nigel saw the man, he looked almost…unnerved by Pappy. He wasn't overly afraid, but he cringed slightly whenever Pappy tried to pat him on the shoulder. Nigel looked at the man like he was a terrible demon ready to steal his soul (Not that Pappy could tell.) Monty never really liked visiting the man much anyway. He almost wondered why he still bothered doing that. Monty shook his head and watched Nigel run off to meet his schoolmate Hoagie Gilligan, who was visiting his grandmother.
When visiting hours were over, it was raining so hard that Monty could barely see the road in front of him. Monty called his wife to tell her that they were going to stop for cheeseburgers on the way home until the storm blew over. Nigel was quiet, and didn't seem to respond to Monty's attempts at conversation. He put on the car radio and tried playing a game of "twenty questions", but to no avail.
They walked into the restaurant, got their table and went through the motions. Nigel ate his bacon cheeseburger quietly, and didn't respond much beyond simple yes or no questions. Monty decided to order the signature ice cream bombs for dessert. Blurpleberry for himself and for Nigel, his favorite flavor of pistachio. Nigel picked at his dessert, which worried Monty. Normally the dessert was his favorite part of the meal. "Now Nigel-Old-Bean, I'll confess that I don't much like visiting Pappy anymore than you do, but it wasn't all bad was it?" he asked. Nigel mumbled something under his breath that Monty couldn't understand. "I'm sorry, son, could you please repeat that?"
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"Eh, what?" asked Monty "What is it that I don't I believe you about"
"About the dentists, the shots, the fluorescent lights, adult tyranny, everything!" Nigel stopped short when he realized the waiter was looking at him surprised before setting the bill on the table and leaving. Mortified, Nigel slunk back in his chair.
"Surely all adults can't be 'tyrannical'…there's me for example!"
"But you're my dad, of course you're not!"
Part of Monty was pleased that in spite of whatever happened to Nigel, he still trusted his father…at least that's how he interpreted it. Though he would never admit it to Nigel, he had noticed a spike in crimes targeted at children in the paper during the last few months. There was nothing in the "Do's and Don't's" section of the paper to prepare him on how to broach the subject to his son. So Monty decided that he would try being frank with Nigel.
"Look Nigel, I know you have a lot of fun with your 'kids-on-the-block' buddies, but…"
"Kids Next Door" corrected Nigel.
"Right, right. And I know things are…shall we say…topsy-turvy?" Nigel's expression darkened. Monty had to react quickly and hoped whatever he said next wouldn't upset his soon too much. "But understand, Nigel-Old-Bean, there is an adult right in front of you who wants to help you very much. But you have to tell me first, instead of flying of the handle and…oh dear" Only now had Monty just realized what he had done when he saw Nigel looking down at the ground.
"I'll go wait in the car" said Nigel.
Without another word, Monty unlocked the car outside and his son walked out into the pouring rain. He made a mental note to write a letter to the editor for The Daily Neighbor.
Nigel was becoming more and more distant now, even from his own family. Sure there, was their annual family vacation to Hap-Happyland, and even in his current state Nigel couldn't resist riding the rollercoasters. But then there were times when he'd go out and seemed like he'd rather be somewhere else. Nigel was now going out of his way to avoid going fishing, something they both used to enjoy so much together. And sometimes when he did go, one of his "kids on the block" buddies would interrupt their quality time and Nigel would just leave.
At first, Monty figured it was all a great game of pretend like how children would pretend to be Yipper or a Pretty Princess Rainbow Monkey on the playground. He offered to join the game once, suggesting that he could be "Numbuh Zero" to Nigel's "Numbuh One"(why did that seem so significant?) In any case, this was met with a response about how there are no adults in the kids-on-the-block and Monty relented. It was all fun at first, but Nigel continued to become more and more distant.
Then, when his schoolwork started to take a turn for the worst, Katherine decided it was time to intervene. So she looked into finding a child psychologist for Nigel, figuring it might help them work out what was wrong with their son.
And finally, came That Day.
That Day, Katherine took Nigel to the psychologist, and despite initial protests had relented at the promise of pistachio ice cream. After Nigel was directed to the doctor's office, that was when things went wrong.
Katherine had been in the waiting room when she heard a loud crash and Nigel's scream. She told the police she ran into the office and found it was set alight. The last thing she claimed to see before being knocked out by the smoke was Nigel in the clutches of a strange man. When she was asked what the man looked like, she said his face was shadowed despite the whole room being illuminated by the fire. By the time the fire department got there, the fire was already put out and everyone inside evacuated safely. Monty hurried over as soon as he heard the news and felt his heart shatter when he saw Katherine clutching Nigel's favorite sunglasses, now cracked and scorched. Any leads the police could've used were lost in the fire, and there was a very distinct possibility that if Nigel wasn't already dead… Monty didn't want to even think about that.
One of the witnesses went on the local news and provided a testimony that supported Katherine's version of the events. He also claimed to have seen a group of little people wearing samurai armor and combat fatigues facing the "shadowed man". Almost no outlets, not even the local newspaper covered the events in depth. A few of the seedier publications had ran with this version of the story and added that these "little samurai people" were using household appliances modified into weaponry to fight Nigel's captor before being knocked out themselves. Of course, these were the same tabloids that claimed there were multiple sightings of the Grim Reaper in a town called Endsville. Then again, even a broken clock was right twice a day. That same witness was later hospitalized after his house exploded due to a gas leak in the night. All sorts of rumors had begun cropping up about how this "shadowed man" might be behind it or that it was some pyromaniac who escaped from the happy hotel wanting vengeance on the town.
The next day, Senator Samuel Safely called Monty and Katherine to an emergency assembly at the school gymnasium. Safely, who would normally fret over every potential threat to kids, became dead serious now that an actual threat had surfaced. Safely urged all children to keep their eyes open for any suspicious characters and never talk to strangers before opening the floor to the Unos. Katherine nodded and took the microphone.
"Please children, if you see any sign of Nigel, please tell us. We just want to see our son come home safe and sound." Monty remained silent and nodded in agreement. He spotted Abby and the rest of Nigel's friends among the crowd. Wally and Kuki were holding hands and trying to comfort one another. Hoagie was still like a statue, and any emotion in his eyes hidden by his aviator goggles. Abby's head was held low at first, but then surprised Monty by looking directly at him from the bleachers. He couldn't tell from where he was standing, but it looked like Abby was mouthing something to him.
"I'll find him"
Abby and the others wouldn't be coming home from school that day.
And so the police now had four more missing child cases to solve on top of Nigel. At first, the police told the parents to keep close to the phone. Since there was a kidnapper, there was a possibility that it could've been a ransom case. Within a few days and no calls, the police began looking for the body, rather than the child. After a few more weeks of investigating, the police declared Nigel a cold case, and told Monty and Katherine to assume the worst.
To make matters worse, Benedict's mansion had burned down the night after Abby and the others went missing. No trace of the man's body was found in the ruins, but Monty's hopes weren't high. While he had never been particularly close to his younger brother, he couldn't handle losing him, too. More rumors of the "shadowed man" and his involvement surfaced, but Monty didn't pay much attention to them.
The car ride home from the police station went on for what felt like an eternity. Katherine remained silent with her head held low while Monty kept his eyes on the road. Neither of them spoke a word as they entered their silent home.
He looked over at a pile of newspapers on his doorstep. Not one issue of the paper held any information about what to do when your child was abducted…
Then Monty looked up. The large tree fort above their house cast a shadow over the married couple, as if it were trying to protect them. And if they knew what would await them all in the coming days, they were going to need it.
On his way upstairs, Monty peered into in Nigel's room, looking around at his possessions. A blue Rainbow Monkey from when he was little, a model kit on his desk that would remain unfinished, his telescope and a large number of other items. What caught Monty's eye was an old family photo. It had been taken on their first vacation to Hap-Happy Land as a family. Back when Nigel still had his hair and was sitting on Monty's shoulder's looking like he was having the time of his life…what happened? There was a distinct possibility that it would be now and forever unknown.
"What happened, Nigel-Old-Bean? I was only trying to be your friend…" Monty Uno looked down at the floor as he sat down in what was once his son's bedroom. He would often do so in his spare time when he wasn't occupied with his job as a band director at one of the local schools. He read the "Do's and Don'ts" section of the newspaper religiously, he'd take Nigel out fishing with him, he'd done everything is his power to try and be a better father to Nigel than Pappy was with him…
But it wasn't enough.
Author's Note: To give credit where credit is due, I have Rioludoodle and RubyWings91 to thank for helping me finalize my first chapter of this story. Monty Uno became a much more interesting character to write for than I had anticipated. Operation O.O.M.P.A.H. established him as wanting to do nothing more than be a good father to his son. Couple this with the revelations in Operation Z.E.R.O. where we find out not only that he had an abusive father, but that he had a younger brother who also grew up to be a child hater. Monty even said himself in the same episode that his mission was to be a good father to his son. Even when he was decommissioned, Monty was shown to be more aware of Nigel's activities with the KND than most adults (though not well versed in all the specifics). Imagine trying to raise a family in a world where you always seem to be on the fringes of all the weird stuff that goes on in your town. Monty may be oblivious even at the best of times, but I don't think he's completely clueless.
Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we see how Tommy Gilligan is dealing with all of this!