My take on the Prime Minister's Brain. It follows SPLAT's journey and mainly focuses on Harvey and Ingrid. Some lines of dialogue are taken from the television series. I didn't include some scenes, such as the ones with Dinah and the Headmaster as I felt that there was nothing to be expanded on. This fic is told in snippets.
MASTERMINDS
The Computer Club. At this current moment in time, Ingrid Smith's worst place to spend days of the summer at. Huffing, she sat down on the steps outside the school. They were all obsessed with that stupid Octopus game! No matter how much she moaned and complained, SPLAT still dragged her to it. She sighed as she caught sight of a group of people trailing up to the school, smiling sweetly when Harvey came into her line of vision.
Harvey Hunter had wanted a stress free summer after what had happened several months prior. Upon becoming involved in the Computer Club, he had obsessed over the Diamond Dragon game. Yet now, every computer was always taken, screens filled with the Octopus game. Frankly, Harvey was sick of it.
He sat down next to Ingrid, sneaking an arm around her shoulders where it rested gently. Ingrid intertwined her fingers with his, both watching the stream of students cavorting about as they made their way into the school.
Ingrid snorted. "Bunch of idiots. So happy over something so boring."
"What's the matter, Ing-Ing?" He prodded gently.
"It's this stupid game! Ooh, the Octopus! I thought only stupid people would want to play a game based around a dumb Octopus! So why are SPLAT playing it? And Dinah! She's meant to be a genius, but now she's in there, playing that game like a mindless zombie!"
Harvey sighed and lightly squeezed Ingrid's fingers.
"It's just a phase, I'm sure people will get tired of the Octopus soon. Anyway, there's only two days left of the Computer Club remember? We're going to the museums next week, Ing-Ing."
Ingrid groaned. "Urgh, boring museums! Why can't we do something fun?! And what's with the soppy nick-names, Harv? 'Ing-Ing', really?"
Instantly, she shook her head. "Sorry, sorry. It's this stupid game! It's making me tetchy. I just don't get the appeal of it."
Harvey turned his head and kissed her cheek. "Don't apologise and same here."
"Are me and Harv actually allowed to come in this time?"
Lloyd spun round, his face red with rage. "Ingrid! For the last time, you and H are not banned from the Computer Club! You can come in any time! Yet, you're the ones who sit outside on the steps for hours on end!"
Ingrid rolled her eyes. "I know that! What I mean is, are you guys going to play something different, or do me 'Harv-Harv' have to put up with hours of watching people play the stupid Octopus game?"
Harvey raised an eyebrow at her choice of words, which Ingrid responded to with a cheeky smile. Ian snorted, before replying:
"Ing, we're going to play Octopus Dare today whether you like it or not."
Harvey moaned. "But Dinah's already beaten the stupid game! And won herself a place for that competition!"
Dinah sighed as she looked at the two youngest members of SPLAT. Though she sympathised at the fact that they couldn't get a chance to play their own choice of game, she felt slightly irritated that the pair were continuously slating Octopus Dare.
Noticing that SPLAT were waiting for her reply to Harvey's outburst, she simply shrugged and stated: "We have two days left, so we're playing Octopus Dare."
Upon hearing Dinah's words, the couple imitated each other, folding their arms and setting their faces into a sulking mood. Lloyd glared at both of them.
"Fine, be like that! We'll see you later!" He spat, before turning and stamping into the school, Ian following closely behind.
Dinah offered a reassuring smile, but Ingrid only narrowed her eyes at her in return. Mandy attempted to comfort them to no avail. As the pair settled themselves onto the steps, the two girls entered the school.
Emerging into the sunshine from the train station, Harvey and Ingrid dawdled at the back as SPLAT made their way towards the building situated on Moors Island. Ingrid was still annoyed that their trip was based around the competition, but Dinah was a member of SPLAT and as Lloyd had told her for the 'sixth million time', SPLAT stick together.
Traipsing up the steps leading to Vulcan Tower, Harvey clasped Ingrid's hand tighter than he usually did, an indication to keep quiet as he knew how much she wanted to express her opinion over their trip. He didn't want her to get into an argument with Lloyd. There had been far too many arguments already this summer.
When Lloyd punched in his name on the keypad and it didn't accept him, Ingrid caught Harvey's gaze and rolled her eyes. In response, Harvey frantically flapped his hand at her, worried that somehow Lloyd would have noticed. She smiled at his anxiety and leaned her head against his shoulder.
When Dinah disappeared, Ingrid felt Harvey's hand begin to go clammy. She put her mouth up to his ear and whispered: "Breathe, Harv. Breathe calmly." He nodded and took deep breaths, fingering the asthma pump tucked away in his pocket.
Ingrid felt her heart beat speed up. Arrested?! If she ever came home in a police car, then her parents would probably ground her for the rest of her life!
"I don't like this!" She exclaimed as they advanced down the steps. Mandy patted her shoulder as Ian and Lloyd ran on ahead.
"Don't worry Ing, we'll find another way in."
As soon as the words had left her mouth, a shout from Ian alerted the three of them. Harvey and Ingrid let go of each other's hands as they hoisted up their backpacks and ran after Mandy in search of Ian's voice.
Sitting in the prone helicopter, Harvey Hunter felt like he was living the dream. He scanned the controls, marvelling at how simplistic the layout was. Tuning out SPLAT's calls for him to get out, his finger brushed over the screen showing the icon of the helicopter. His dream became even more perfect when Ingrid sidled up to him, grasping the controller with her firm hands.
Harvey leant back, surveying the internal structure with awe whilst one hand fiddled with Ingrid's plait. They stayed in the helicopter a short while longer until an irate Lloyd forcibly dragged them out.
Stepping down carefully from the platform and onto the ground, the torch which had been loosely wrapped around his wrist shot free of his arm and smashed onto the floor, into little pieces.
Lloyd grunted, Mandy sighed and Ian, clapping his hands together, drawled sarcastically: "Well done Harv, it's not like we needed that or anything."
Sputtering an apology, Harvey bent down and began picking up the pieces. Ingrid fixated her glare onto Ian, placing her hands on her hips.
"Hey! Don't be horrible to my boyfriend! It was an accident! And we can't help it, if us two are 'Masterminds.'"
Lloyd snorted as Mandy and Ian shared an eye rolling look.
"Masterminds?" The redhead muttered. "Why are you calling yourselves that?"
Ingrid grinned, stepping back and slinging an arm around Harvey's shoulders.
"Cause we're not susceptible to the stupid Octopus! Our minds are obviously too powerful, therefore we are 'Masterminds!'"
As the three older members of SPLAT began to argue that the Octopus wasn't stupid, Ingrid cocked an eyebrow, before taking Harvey's hand and tugging him away from the broken remains of the torch.
"I'm not going up there!" Ingrid exclaimed, eyes widening as a stream of rubbish fell down the chute and landed in the bin.
This time, Lloyd was the one to cock an eyebrow. "What's the matter, Ing? Scared?"
Ingrid fumed as she strode towards the leader of SPLAT, shoving her face up to his, snarling: "I've had just about enough of you and this stupid competition!"
Lloyd went to bite back when an arm intercepted the space between them. They both tilted their heads, surprised to see a stony faced Mandy glaring at both of them.
"Would you two stop it? We've come here for Dinah, meaning that we should be looking for another way in, instead of pointlessly arguing!"
Her gaze shifted onto the small girl beside her, her tone of voice softening.
"Ing, I know you're not a fan of the Octopus-"
"You got that right." Ingrid mumbled under her breath.
"But…." Mandy's voice sharpened again as she disregarded Ingrid's comment. "Dinah secured a place in the competition, which revolves around the game. It's only for a few days, that's all. We are here to support her. Understand?"
Sighing, Ingrid nodded and took a few steps back. Mandy let her arm drop, fixing her eyes onto Lloyd.
"And L, you should know better than to wind Ingrid up. You don't want her leaving, do you?"
He huffed, folding his arms over his chest, yet the expression on his face had melted into a rare one of remorse. "No, I don't… now come on, let's go up the chute. Ian, you first?"
The tall boy grinned and provided the rest of them with a thumbs up. Ian shucked off his backpack and climbed into the bin. Craning his neck up, his eyes suddenly bulged as a strangled yell escaped his lips.
SPLAT burst into laughter as an unexpected collection of rubbish poured down the chute and onto Ian. Grimacing, he wiped off the worst of it before shooting a patronising smile.
"Thanks guys." He drawled, making sure that his snapback was firmly placed on his head. Taking a deep breath, he hauled himself into the chute.
Harvey nudged his girlfriend's arm and whispered into her ear: "Don't worry Ing-Ing, if you fall, I'll catch you."
She snorted. "Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence, Harv-Harv."
Never in all of his life did Harvey Hunter think he would be spending a day of his summer, shinning up a rubbish chute. He gagged at the overwhelming smell, gritting his teeth, head leant back, eyes focused on Ingrid who was clearly struggling.
Ingrid Smith tried desperately not to think of the chances of losing her grip and falling. She would probably end up heavily injured and take down Harvey and Mandy in the process.
However, she breathed a sigh of relief when Ian alerted them that they were approaching the first opening, though her eyes widened when he suddenly yelled:
"INCOMING!"
SPLAT halted in their climbing, squealing and shuddering as rubbish fell onto them, tangling in their hair and clothes. Ian cried again.
"My hat!"
Lloyd glanced up at his friend's words, snatching out a hand when he saw the snapback falling towards him. Unfortunately, he couldn't get hold of it and the hat tumbled down into the darkness.
Sliding out of the chute, Harvey clambered to his feet and began to pick out the mess from Ingrid's hair. She did the same to him, both smiling toothily whenever they locked gazes.
As Lloyd helped Mandy to her feet, Ian whispered a swear word. He was very annoyed that he had lost his hat, as it was a present given to him for his birthday by his father.
Noticing the couple, Ian reverted back to his normal self. "C'mon, you monkeys! We need to find Di!"
Immediately, Harvey and Ingrid ceased their actions, the former pouting. "Hey we're not monkeys, we're 'Masterminds!'"
Yet, his pout morphed into a wide grin as his eyes lit up. Darting forward, Harvey cried out in joy: "Food!"
Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Now's not the time to think about food, H! Oh god, you two are so soppy." However, he had stated that last sentence with a huge grin on his face.
Harvey and Ingrid were standing by the conveyer belt, two bowls filled with chocolate cake in front of them, and they were taking it in turns to feed each other slices.
The remaining three shared a smile at the pair's antics, before wandering over to join them and scooping out some of the food for themselves.
Licking his fingers, something caught Ian's eye. As the rest of SPLAT discussed the current situation, he sidled over to the door that had intrigued him.
Ever the observant one, Lloyd frowned at Ian's sudden disappearance, but quickly spotted him several feet away.
"What is it?"
Ian turned his head, cocking his thumb towards the handprint situated by the door.
"Yo, look what I found. I'm gonna test it out."
Harvey's lip curled into a half smile. Leaning towards Ingrid, he muttered: "Since when has Ian been a gangsta?"
Ingrid giggled at this remark. Ian flashed them a knowing smile and placed his hand onto the handprint. Upon scanning it, he promptly vanished.
"IAN!" The remaining members of SPLAT shouted.
They sprinted towards the door, Lloyd slamming the palm of his hand onto the handprint. He let out a swear word when nothing happened.
Harvey and Ingrid glanced at each other nervously, whilst Mandy tried in vain to calm down an infuriated Lloyd.
"Great! First Dinah, and now Ian! By the end of the day, there won't be any of us left!"
Suddenly, Harvey piped up: "Hey, it's like we're in a zombie apocalypse or something!"
Lloyd narrowed his eyes at his little brother. "That's really not helping, H." He stated, gritting his teeth.
"Don't worry, we'll find them." Mandy soothed.
"I hope so." Muttered Ingrid. "Cause if we're being watched, then we're done for and we'll be stuck in this stupid tower forever!"
Sensing that an explosion was going to happen soon courtesy of his brother, Harvey ran back to the chute and stuck his head out of the gap.
The others trailed over as he withdrew his head and rose to his full height.
"It does go up." He murmured, guessing that his girlfriend was no doubt about to express her opinion.
Sure enough, as soon as the words had rolled off Harvey's tongue, Ingrid's shoulders sagged as she moaned:
"I can't do it anymore! I'm too tired!"
Quickly, Harvey reassured her, slipping an arm around her waist and squeezing. "It's not too far till the next level, Ing. I'm sure we can have a break once we get there."
Gazing at the leader of their group, he gestured with his free hand.
"Right, Lloyd?"
His brother released a sigh and agreed to Harvey's request, before dropping down and crawling through the opening.
Harvey wandered around the massive warehouse-like room, surveying the stacked shelves with interest. They contained all different items, most of them food.
'I wonder if there's anything to do with planes in this storage space.' He thought.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, humming as he rounded into the next aisle. He halted in his tracks, mouth dropping open in a mixture of fear and mainly awe at the machine in front of him. Harvey loved airplanes and models of any vehicles, but was also keen on machinery.
"Cool!" He exclaimed, moving nearer, ignoring his brother's shouts for him to come back.
Sighing, Lloyd helped the two girls to their feet, checking them over for any scrapes they may have picked up whilst venturing up the rubbish chute.
Upon seeing that no one was cut, Lloyd padded over to one of the shelves and picked up a water bottle. He uncapped the lid and drank eagerly. All of that climbing had worn him out. He withdrew the bottle from his lips, releasing a small sigh of contentment as he wiped the rim with the edge of his jumper.
Frowning, Mandy glanced around the room, before addressing Lloyd. "Where's Harv?"
The redhead sighed, which changed to a snort when Ingrid snatched the bottle out of his hands, beginning to chug down the water greedily.
"He went on a walkabout. Once Ingrid's finished hogging the drink and you've had some, then we'll go look for him. I don't want him getting into trouble… my days of keeping him out of it are hopefully long gone."
Instantly, Ingrid ceased guzzling the water, repeating Lloyd's actions before passing the bottle to Mandy.
Glaring, she muttered: "I was not hogging the drink! And it's not my fault that I'm so thirsty! If we had found some stairs or a lift to use, then everything would have been fine! Anyway, a 'Mastermind' needs to keep her strength up."
Lloyd groaned. "For goodness sake Ing, stop whining! And shut up about the 'Mastermind' thing, it's really annoying!"
The small girl smirked and shot back: "You're just jealous!"
The Leader of SPLAT glowered, taking a few steps forwards in a threatening manner.
"Guys, guys, stop going for each other's throats!" Mandy exclaimed exasperatedly, crouching down to place the empty bottle by the opening leading to the chute. Standing up, she placed her right hand on Lloyd's shoulder and her left on Ingrid's.
"Look, the best thing to do now is look for Harvey. He can't be too far. Then we'll –"
Mandy fell silent as a scream cut through the air.
Whilst that had been happening, Harvey had slowly drifted further towards the machine, which was currently stacking shelves, hand outstretched in the intention of running his fingers over the design.
Speaking of the design, Harvey jolted when he spotted an insignia in the form of an octopus. The same Octopus from that stupid game.
'Figures, the competition for that game is held in this tower, so obviously everything's going to have a stamp on it of some kind.'
He grinned as he reached the machine, sliding his fingers over it, watching in fascination when it deposited a crate of rice onto a high shelf.
"I so want one of these!" He exclaimed. "I wonder if Mum would let me buy one… it would help when we're packing away the shopping."
Suddenly, the crane-like machine whirled round to face him. Harvey raised an eyebrow, impressed.
'It seems that it reacted to my voice.' He thought, grinning as an idea formed in his mind.
Backing up a bit, Harvey threw out his arms and yelled: "Hey! Machine! Get me some chocolate!"
Chuckling to himself, Harvey brushed away some specks of the cake he had eaten earlier, from his shirt. Upon looking up, he froze.
The machine had whirled round to face him and was beginning to advance towards him. The grin on Harvey's face started to fade.
"No! I said, get me chocolate! Not come to me!"
Yet, the machine took no notice of what he said and continued to roll towards him. The grin slipped off Harvey's face entirely as he began to panic.
He tried to move back, but his legs had turned to jelly. Trembling, he started to wheeze so plucked the asthma pump from the pocket of his shorts, shook it and inhaled.
His breathing became more frantic, requiring more use of the pump, the nearer the machine got to him. It halted directly in front of him causing Harvey to let out a massive sigh of relief, however that relief was short lived as the machine steadily closed in around his waist.
Upon being lifted off of the ground, Harvey struggled, his stubby legs flailing around desperately.
'Oh man, why me?!"He cried, face turning red from the exertion.
The machine travelled smoothly across the floor, heading for an empty shelf, three aisles over. Harvey whimpered, the machine was clutching him in a vice-like grip and he was beginning to feel the effects of it.
Finally, his whimpers morphed into screams as his panic set in.
"HARVEY!" Lloyd roared, sprinting towards the noise evidently created by his little brother, the two girls hot on his heels.
All three skidded to a halt when the machine rolled into view, carrying a struggling Harvey, who was close to tears, but trying desperately to hold them back.
They watched, astonished, as the machine stopped by some shelves. Suddenly, Harvey was erupted in a red light, his body being scanned from head to foot.
"Barcode… It's looking for one." Mandy stated what everyone was thinking.
Harvey whimpered, trying to extract the machine's grip on him to no avail while the apparatus slowly lifted him higher into the air. It kept going until it reached an empty spot. Seeing that Harvey had no barcode, he was simply labelled as junk and junk was placed anywhere where there was an empty space.
The crane moved forwards and deposited the small boy onto the shelf, extracting its grip on Harvey. Said one gulped in a huge breath, shaking his asthma pump vigorously as a coughing fit overtook him. Upon regaining his breath, Harvey pocketed his pump and moaned.
"Brilliant."
Ian Robinson tumbled to the ground. Groaning, he pulled himself to his feet and surveyed the area with wide eyes. He was standing on a balcony overlooking a mostly empty room, save for the screen on the wall and an octagon pedestal carved out in the middle of the floor.
Looking round for an exit, he saw the opening to the rubbish chute behind him. He didn't know what floor the rest of SPLAT were on, but he could find out.
Withdrawing his phone from his pocket, he switched it on and tried calling Mandy. However, it picked up no signal so with a grunt, Ian closed it and pocketed it.
He was about to crawl through the opening when a yell down below alerted him. Ian set off along the balcony, racing down the winding steps, skidding to a halt at the bottom.
The lift was in the process of shutting. A boy and a girl, around about his age, were facing the lift, hurling insults and questions at the people in the lift.
Once the lift had shut, the pair ceased their actions, stiffening when Ian cleared his throat. Whirling round, they relaxed upon seeing that it wasn't a whitecoat. The tall boy held his hands up in a peaceful gesture and grinned.
"Hi, my name's Ian. I got separated from my group. Our friend Dinah's a contestant in the competition. I take it, you are too?" He indicated to the lab coats they were wearing.
The bespectacled boy nodded. "Yes, we're part of it… well was part of it. We didn't agree with what the Computer Director was doing so we tried to leave, but we got shoved in here. I'm Lewis by the way."
The girl tilted her head, thinking for a few moments, before addressing Ian. "Dinah? That name sounds familiar. Oh yeah! That's the girl who was sitting in the middle, the one with the headband on right?"
Ian smiled. "Yep, that's her. Er…"
"Claire. Nice to meet you."
He beamed. "Feeling's mutual. Up those stairs, there's an opening leading to the rubbish chute. That's how me and my group got in to the tower and we can use it now to escape from this room! Now, let's go!"
Ian, Claire and Lewis raced towards the stairs, but all three stopped when an electric shock coursed through them. They moaned, scanning around the room, thoroughly confused.
Claire's gaze landed on the floor and she gasped, realisation spreading across her features.
"We're standing on the octagon! There must be some kind of force field around it!"
Her words were confirmed to be true when a force field surrounded them, the pattern of it forming an octopus.
Suddenly Lewis, who had been glancing at the screen, clapped his hands over his eyes and yelled: "It's the Octopus! Don't look!"
Claire followed his example as did Ian, albeit reluctantly. He wanted to see the Octopus, but judged from Lewis's panicked tone that the Octopus was not good.
A mechanical voice drifted into the room. "Obey the Octopus."
Ian struggled to not give in to temptation.
"Oh great, now what am I going to do?!" Harvey whined, peering over the edge to see SPLAT gazing up at him thoughtfully.
Ingrid grinned. "You could always jump, Harv. Ow!" She rubbed her arm where Mandy had elbowed her.
Harvey paled. "J-Jump?" He sputtered.
Lloyd shot Ingrid a glare, before replying to his brother. "H, you won't have to jump. We'll find some rope, there's bound to be some in this room."
Regretting her remark, Ingrid bit her lip and muttered in an apologetic tone: "I was kidding, sweetie. It sounded funny in my head, but obviously it wasn't used effectively… sorry, Harv-Harv."
Harvey smiled sweetly, his anger melting at his girlfriend's apology and expression. "It's ok, Ing-Ing. I forgive you, 'Mastermind.'"
The small girl beamed up at him and winked.
Suddenly, horror clouded Harvey's face as he gestured frantically with his hand. "Quick, hide! The lift's opening!"
Immediately, Lloyd, Ingrid and Mandy split up, darting into different aisles, laying low under some produce, using it to cover their hiding positions.
Harvey scrambled back into a corner of the shelf, flattening his back against a crate. He withdrew his asthma pump out of his pocket and clutched it tightly, hoping that he wouldn't need to use it.
Mandy Fletcher crawled out from her hiding place, creeping along to where Ingrid was hidden. Quickly, she pulled the small girl to her feet, keeping an eye on the closed lift at all times. Lloyd trailed over, two bags containing rope slung over his shoulder, thinking over what the mysterious teenager had said.
The three of them returned to where they had been standing previously, raising a hand in greeting to Harvey who was dangling his legs over the side of the shelf, playing with his asthma pump.
"Lloyd?"
The redhead was so caught up in his musings about the Octopus that he didn't realise that his name was being called.
"Lloyd?!"
'Is the Octopus really evil? And this Computer Director… sounds sinister. Just like the Headmaster. He said the Octopus brainwashes people… could it be true?'
"LLOYD!"
He jolted, breaking out of his thoughts as he stared down at Ingrid.
"What?"
She rolled her eyes and pretended to check her wrist for a watch. "Take your time, why don't ya? Now, are we going to get H down?" She indicated to the bags he had with him.
Lloyd nodded. "In a minute, but first…"
He took a deep breath before disclosing what he had just learnt. Upon finishing, he grimaced as he took in Mandy's expression. A mixture of horror, disgust and anger was splattered across her face and Lloyd wasn't surprised.
However, adorned on Ingrid's face was a grin. Throwing her arms wide, she exclaimed:
"See? Harvey and I were right! The Octopus is stupid and evil! You laughed at us for the 'Masterminds' concept! Well, you're the ones who were under its control! I mean come on, being influenced by an Octopus? How stupid is that?!"
Lloyd narrowed his eyes and was about to retort back when Mandy shot Ingrid a furious glare. The small girl gulped, the grin slipping as she backed away, holding her hands up in a calming gesture.
"Sorry! Sorry! Didn't mean to say that, Mandy!"
Mandy glared for a few more moments, before relaxing her features into a small smile. Placing an arm around Ingrid's shoulders, she stated:
"I know you didn't, Ing. I'm sorry for reacting like that, I just feel so infuriated at what this Computer Director has done."
Ingrid smiled up at Mandy and they shared a hug for a few seconds.
Glad that the tension between the two girls had evaporated, Lloyd gazed up at Harvey and explained his plan.
"Right, H. I'm going to swing this piece of rope up to you. You'll catch it and tie your end to the beam beside you. Then you'll abseil down, putting your feet against the beam. Don't worry, you'll be down in no time, H. Ready?"
Harvey nodded, biting his lip. Opening up one of the bags, Lloyd removed a coil of rope before passing the bags to Mandy. Clutching one end of the rope firmly, he lined himself up to make sure that the line would reach its intended target.
Lloyd tested it out a few times, each attempt of rope slinging gaining height until he was satisfied that the rope would reach. Waiting several moments after the previous practice attempt, Lloyd circled the rest of the rope around his head and launched it towards the shelf that Harvey was sitting on.
"Now, H!"
The youngest Hunter reached forward, clammy hands grasping the end of the rope firmly. Shoulders sagging in relief at the fact that he had caught it first time, he shuffled over to the corner of the shelf and with fumbling hands, managed to tie his end of the rope around the beam.
Lloyd, seeing that the line was secure, let go of his end of the rope, gesturing for Harvey to wait until it had stilled, as then there would be a higher chance of him getting to the floor safely.
Once the rope was still, Lloyd indicated with his hand. "All yours, little brother."
Harvey ran a hand through his fair hair, closing his eyes and concentrating on clearing his mind of all of the negative thoughts that were swirling through his mind.
He administered his asthma pump twice, before tucking it into his shorts. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed hold of the rope, clambered to his feet and lightly hopped off of the shelf, swinging round in a half circle and planting his feet firmly against the beam.
Gritting his teeth, he began to walk down the wall. The rest of SPLAT watched with baited breath, all of them ready to spring into action if Harvey lost his grip and fell.
The small boy had gotten half-way down when a sudden fear possessed him. He stiffened. Noticing with panic that Harvey had begun to tremble, Lloyd moved forwards, intent on encouraging him, but Ingrid beat him to it.
She moved to where Harvey would be able to see her and called his name softly. Her boyfriend gulped and glanced down, hunching his body forward. At the sight of her adorable smile, he visibly relaxed slightly, offering her one of his own whilst waiting for her presumed reassurance.
Ingrid gave him a thumbs up as she parted her lips: "You can do it, Harvey. I know you have it in you." Dropping her hands to her sides, she winked flirtatiously and whispered:
"Plus the quicker you get down here, the more time we have to kiss."
Suddenly, Harvey straightened up, beaming as the fear washed away, beginning to clamber down the beam eagerly. When he got close to the ground, he let go of the rope, flying through the air. Harvey landed on his feet, knees bent before straightening up, arms held in a 'V' above his head. He faced Lloyd and Mandy and bowed.
Ingrid clapped her hands together in applause and cried: "Yeah, Harv!"
He grinned and sidled over to her, stopping her clapping by taking her hands in his. Reaching up a tad, Ingrid tilted her head and closed her eyes, Harvey replicating her actions, but tilting his head downwards instead.
They kissed for a few seconds before breaking apart, Harvey snaking an arm around Ingrid's shoulder. Mandy handed the bags containing the rope to a chuckling Lloyd. Taking them, he slung them back over both of his shoulders and ambled over to the chute.
"Come on, let's go find the missing members of SPLAT."
"Lloyd?"
Said one turned at the sound of his name to see an uncharacteristically quiet Ingrid gazing fearfully at him.
"Yeah, Ing?" Lloyd responded, trying to keep the curiosity regarding her tone out of his voice.
She wrung her hands and bit her lip, casting her gaze to the floor as she answered:
"Is the Demon Headmaster behind this?"
At this query, Mandy's eyes widened and Harvey elicited a gasp. The leader of SPLAT merely rested his eyes on the small girl for a moment, before turning away again.
"Yes, he is."
Harvey scrambled out of the rubbish chute, shaking his aching limbs in an attempt to get some feeling back into them. As he clicked his neck, a shout alerted him to what was going on in the room.
Lloyd and Mandy were marching down the twisting staircase, backs straight, faces blank. Harvey's eyes widened as they raked over the scene down below.
Ian and three other children, including the mysterious teenager, were stumbling around in a confined space, shielding their eyes. The small boy frowned as he pondered why they were doing such a thing.
"Harvey, look!"
He whirled his head round to see Ingrid pointing at a screen attached to the wall on the opposite side. His heart sank when he saw that the screen was displaying the Octopus and it sank even more upon hearing the words uttered in a robotic tone echo around the room.
Noticing that Lloyd and Mandy were nearly at the force-field, Ingrid snapped out of her shock and sprinted along the balcony towards the stairs, her plait flying out behind her.
Feet barely touching the steps, Ingrid skidded to a halt, a few feet away from the force-field, staring at the lean teenager, who was facing away from the screen, one arm clamped over his eyes.
Hearing Harvey hurtle down the stairs behind her, the small girl perceived with horror that along with two other children in labcoats, Lloyd, Mandy and Ian were in the force-field, transfixed by the Octopus.
"SPLAT? SPLAT!"
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Ingrid's gaze snapped back to the teenager, who had stopped stumbling round, seemingly searching for the source of the sudden voice.
Harvey raced up and halted beside her. After regarding the lithe teen for a few moments, he cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I'm Harvey Hunter and this is my girlfriend, Ingrid Smith. We're going to take down the Computer Director, but some of our friends are in the force-field like you are."
Ingrid grunted. "Staring at the almighty Octopus."
The teenager gasped. "The Octopus! Cover your eyes!"
The small girl snorted. "We're 'Masterminds!'"
Seeing confusion flit across the stranger's half covered face, Harvey explained, chuckling awkwardly:
"It doesn't affect us."
The teen nodded. "Right, if you two are Immune to its powers then, can you do something? I'm Robert by the way."
Ingrid kissed her teeth. "For your information, we were going to help anyway! You don't have to be so rude, Robert."
Noticing that her anger was beginning to grow, Harvey nudged her and shook his head before addressing Robert.
"Yeah, we'll help."
The lean boy dug his fingers more into his skin, his lips twisted into a grimace as he struggled to not give in to temptation.
"Is there any way you can switch it off?"
Frowning, Ingrid glanced around the room, biting her lip determinedly as her gaze settled on the computer screen set up in the corner of the room.
She jogged towards it, vaguely taking in the words scrolling across the screen whilst she analysed the keyboard, humming to herself. Ingrid began typing in 'Turn Off', but all it did was increase the power of the force-field, Robert crying out in pain as a result of it.
Harvey gasped at the sight in front of him, before running over to where Ingrid was standing, elbowing her out of the way and exclaiming:
"Now look what you've done!"
She shot him a glare, but he chose to ignore it. Harvey scanned the keyboard, an idea forming in his mind. He turned back round and explained his idea:
"Right, I'm going to try and reboot the system. If it works, you're going to have to get yourself out. We'll help get the others. Then we'll go up the stairs and climb into the rubbish chute and go up. You're going to have to be quick, the Octopus will come back on after about fifteen seconds."
Not waiting for Robert's response, Harvey focused on the keyboard once again. He pressed a couple of buttons and watched in anticipation as the force-field increased in strength for a moment before vanishing, the robotic voice and the image on the screen alongside it.
Harvey and Ingrid sprang into action. Darting forwards, the former grabbed Mandy's and his brother's arms and dragged them out of the octagon. Ingrid did the same, but with Ian and Claire whilst Robert, who had uncovered his vision, pushed Lewis after the others.
As Harvey and Ingrid tugged their respective baggage towards the spiralling staircase, their baggage blinked rapidly.
"Wha…?"
"Wait hold on, where are we going?!"
"Harv? Ing? What happened?"
"You're digging your fingernails into my arm, little brother!"
"Sorry, L!"
"Did anyone find my hat?"
"No Ian, now move it before the stupid Octopus comes back on!"
The eight children scrambled up the stairs, Harvey and Ingrid casting anxious gazes towards the massive screen. Running across the balcony, Ingrid released a yell.
"Cover your eyes!"
All except Harvey instantly put a hand up against the side of their faces. The small boy's gaze settled on the massive screen as the Octopus flickered back into life. He examined the shape of it, the way its tentacles wriggled around, its captivating eyes drawing you in.
Harvey snorted. 'It's so lame.'
Wrenching his gaze away from the loathed creature, Harvey frowned, tuning out the conversation between the others as he stared into Ingrid's stormy green eyes.
"What's wrong?" He mouthed.
She simply glared at him in return. Harvey raised his eyebrows, stung at her reaction. He listened solemnly to the other's conversation, guilt eating away at him.
After they had finished the conversation, the rest of their odd group began to ascend up the chute. Waiting for the last individual to go, which was Lewis, Harvey stepped towards Ingrid and put his hands up in a peaceful gesture.
"Sweetie… did I do something?"
Ingrid snorted and rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable." She muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
The small boy chewed on his lip thoughtfully. 'What did I do to upset her so much? Oh, I hate when Ing's angry at me." For a few minutes, he ran through the prior hour's events through his mind, slapping his forehead as realisation dawned on him.
Harvey shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and fiddled with his asthma pump. He exhaled, slumping his shoulders before fixing his gaze on Ingrid.
"Oh Ing, I am so sorry for pushing you out of the way! I should have asked you to move politely instead of barging you. I'm sorry, it's just that I couldn't stand to see L and the others standing there like zombies, willing to submit to the Octopus. And when I saw the force-field increase in strength, I panicked and blamed you for it! I shouldn't have done it. I-"
Suddenly, Harvey stopped, face flushed, chest and throat constricting. His right hand fumblingly withdrew the asthma pump and brought it up to his mouth, as he was now wheezing.
Ingrid's icy demeanour dropped as she darted forward, muttering soothing words as she lightly scraped her stubby fingers through Harvey's fair hair.
"I forgive you, Harv. I'm sorry too for overreacting. I just wanted to get them out, the same as you, but I ended up corrupting the system and making it worse. Breathe, baby, breathe."
Her boyfriend did exactly that, pushing the button and drawing in a massive amount of air. After he had regained his breath back, Harvey ceased administering it and thrust the pump back into his pocket.
Ingrid extracted her hand from his hair and smiled toothily. Harvey beamed and brought his hand up, gently cupping the left side of her face. Blocking out the robotic voice and enchanting screen, Harvey lowered his head, tilting it slightly and captured Ingrid's soft lips.
Ingrid drew her hand up as well, mimicking Harvey's actions, but on the right side of his face. They kissed softly for ten seconds before breaking away slightly, both blushing a tad, heartbeats racing and panting in order to get more oxygen into their lungs.
Harvey gestured with his hands to the opening.
"Ladies first."
Ingrid sauntered towards the opening, crouched down and turned her head. She winked.
"You're such a gentleman, Harv-Harv."
Once Ingrid was out of sight, Harvey released a small sigh of contentment.
"Only for the best, Ing-Ing." He mumbled, before crawling into the opening, not bothering to spare the room behind him a second glance.
Crawling on his hands and knees, Harvey Hunter felt fear grip him as the cold tones of the Headmaster reached his ears. He loathed the man with all of his heart. Noticing that the other seven were peering round the desks at the Headmaster, Harvey swallowed his anxiety and stole a look.
He immediately regretted it upon seeing the Headmaster baring over Dinah, a predatory grin etched on his face as his voice boomed around the room. Harvey tuned the man out, the fear escalating. Bad memories of school floated to the front of his mind and he shook his head desperately to get rid of them.
Lloyd Hunter stayed crouched, gaze intent on Dinah's form, a plan swiftly concocting in his mind. Yet, that plan slowly began to shatter as the Headmaster revealed more about his plans. Lloyd risked breaking cover, shuffling over to the next desk, throwing Harvey a worried glance.
Lloyd was concerned that his little brother would freak out, which could result in disastrous consequences for all of them. The redhead spotted that Harvey was starting to shake, his hand clamouring in his pocket. Quickly, he nudged Mandy, indicating with his head towards his brother.
Mandy nodded determinedly, scampering on her hands and knees over to where Harvey had his back pressed against a desk. Sitting beside him, she began to mutter soothing words into his ear.
Ingrid wrenched her gaze away from the Headmaster and onto Harvey. He was calming down now, this was evident from his lack of shaking. Shifting her focus back onto the Headmaster, she refrained herself from gasping out loud, instead opting to clench her fists as their nemesis continued to explain his plans.
Watching the Headmaster ascend up into the air, everybody leapt to their feet. Harvey raced to where the man had been standing, craning his head back, mouth dropping open in awe at the helicopter the Headmaster was clambering into.
'One day, I'm gonna fly one of those.'
Yet, he snapped out of his thoughts when Dinah rushed over.
"Where have you been?!" She exclaimed.
Ian skidded up next to them. "Tell you later." He growled, his gaze shifting towards the screen.
Meanwhile, Mandy and Ingrid had been trying to console some of the younger children, particularly one girl who was clutching a teddy bear to her chest. As Mandy bent down to comfort Beth, Ingrid blinked.
The monitors on the computer were switching to green….
"LOOK AWAY!"
The sound of Ingrid's scream caused the majority of the room to jolt and swivel their heads to face her. Harvey caught her eye and raised an eyebrow. Solemnly, she gestured to the main screen.
Harvey snapped his head towards the main screen, eyes widening in pure horror.
"LOOK AWAY NOW!"
He latched onto Ian's neck, twisting his head around painfully so that his vision was facing away from the screen. The small boy surveyed the room with terror. Half of the occupants were framing their faces with their hands, mouths twisted in agony as they battled to not turn round. However, the other half were stood still, focused on the screen, lost in the Octopus.
Even though some of the resistors, including the rest of SPLAT, were trying in vain to make the victims snap out of their trance, their efforts were futile.
"SHUT YOUR EYES!" Robert yelled.
Immediately, the resistors did so, squeezing their eyes shut tightly.
"So this is what he meant by stopping us!" Lloyd cried, grimacing in pain.
Ingrid battled to contain her snort as she trailed over to Harvey. The Octopus to her was in no way enchanting and she still thought it was stupid how intelligent people could be swayed by it.
Silence filled the room until Dinah spoke up.
"Ingrid? Harvey? Are you okay?"
The small boy reached out and patted Dinah's shoulder. "Yeah, we're fine."
Ingrid winked at Harvey before stating smugly: "We're 'Masterminds'." Both narrowing their eyes at the groans that emerged from SPLAT.
Racing over to the video wall, Harvey and Ingrid glanced nervously at each other. The fate of the country was now in their hands. Fingers skimming the keys, Harvey raised his voice.
"There's a control panel, L. Is that it?"
His brother's voice floated back to him. "Now, I want both of you to listen carefully- Ingrid scowled. "We do listen!" Harvey flapped a hand at her, trying to listen to Lloyd's explanation.
-this is very important, does it look like the control panel will affect the computer?"
The pair screwed their faces up as they concentrated. Now was not the time to joke around or complain about the Octopus, they had to save the world.
"Yeah, it seems so." Ingrid called.
"Right. Mess it up then… you're good at that, H." The older Hunter sibling joked.
Harvey glowered and Ingrid snapped: "Hilarious Lloyd! Says the one who LOVES the Octopus!"
Ignoring Lloyd's retort, Harvey pressed some of the keys and yelled that he was attempting to corrupt the system.
Whilst Harvey did that, Ingrid slipped back into the main section, risking a look at the central screen. To her astonishment and joy, the Octopus was fading, decreasing its hold over the children.
"Yes, its working! Brilliant, Harv-Harv!" She exclaimed, raising her hand to high five Harvey, who had also returned to the main section.
"Don't forget to switch off the monitors!"
Harvey rolled his eyes. "We're not that stupid, Di."
Ingrid grinned, once again, stating smugly: "We're Masterminds."
As the two ventured around the room, clicking the buttons to switch the monitors off, Lloyd grumbled:
"Great, we'll never hear the end of this."
Once all the monitors were off, Ingrid yelled: "Oi everybody! You can open your eyes now! We did it!"
Watching the blaze tear through the tower, Harvey Hunter felt satisfied. They had defeated the Demon Headmaster for the second time and it had been himself and Ingrid who had managed to set off the plan to beat the 'marvellous man.'
Ingrid Smith sidled up to him, entwining her hand with his. She leant her head against his shoulder and sighed pleasantly.
"Thank God that's over with. I swear if I had to hear about or look at the Octopus one more time, I would have screamed!"
Harvey chuckled. "So, I take it you won't like our six month anniversary present."
Ingrid raised her head off of his shoulder, tilting it up at him and narrowing her eyes.
"Sweetie, if you've bought tickets to an aquarium, I'm gonna rugby tackle you to the floor!"
Harvey gasped in feint horror. "Oh no! I'm joking Ing, I haven't done that, though that might be a good idea…. Ow!"
Ingrid smiled to herself as the small boy rubbed his side. "No, I haven't decided yet, but it'll be something brilliant!" He grinned down at her.
She beamed back and rose onto her tip toes. "Love you." She whispered.
Harvey blushed and smiled shyly. "Love you too."
They tilted their heads and connected their lips together, tuning out the cheers as the building continued to burn.
Ding Dong.
"Coming!"
SPLAT looked at each other, all of them grinning widely. Their day had been eventful, and now it was time to relax for some quality time together before they had to go back home.
The door swung open, revealing a woman adorned in gym clothes, her hair, a few shades darker than Harvey's, swept up into a messy ponytail. She had barely any makeup on and her ocean blue eyes lit up as she took in the six children.
"Hey kids! I was wondering when you were going to get here!"
She turned to Lloyd. "Your Mother called, she said that you were meant to be here by ten and then you would leave at eleven to go to wherever it was. So you can imagine that she was very worried when I said that you hadn't got here yet!"
Lloyd smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Auntie Louise. We went to the competition first."
Louise Jones's face broke out into a massive grin. "The competition! Of course!"
She addressed her sister's adopted daughter. "Dinah, how was it?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders, smiling thinly. "It was alright. Tiring though."
Louise nodded, before stepping back and gesturing to the hallway. "Come in, come in, I bet you're all starving! Oh, didn't you bring any bags with you?"
As SPLAT entered the house, they fell silent, trying to figure out what to say. Eventually, Ian muttered out an excuse about them having left their bags at the tower and that they would go and fetch them tomorrow before getting the train back home.
They made their way into the living room where Louise offered them cans of coke and an assortment of biscuits. All except Dinah took two biscuits and a can of coke. Louise gasped and jogged towards the kitchen.
She emerged a minute later, offering Dinah a glass of water and a banana, which the girl accepted gratefully. They all sat down and Louise surveyed them proudly.
"My my, Lloyd! You've grown so tall! And you, Ian! You're going to be heartbreakers when you're older!"
Both boys caught the other's eye and raised their eyebrows.
"Thanks, Auntie Louise."
"Yeah thanks, Miss Jones."
Louise flapped a hand. "Don't call me Miss Jones. Makes me sound like a school teacher and I used to hate school! I know you aren't keen on your school."
Mandy smiled. "Actually, we quite like it now. This head teacher is so much better than the last one."
Louise beamed, which intensified when she caught sight of Harvey and Ingrid cuddling up to one another on the settee.
"I know this is so cringe-worthy, but you two are the cutest couple! I hope you stay together forever!"
Everybody in the room laughed. Harvey kissed Ingrid on the cheek before directing his grin at his aunt.
"Me too, Auntie Louise."
"And me!" Ingrid piped up.
The occupants of the room chatted and joked for another half an hour, before Louise rubbed her hands together gleefully.
"Who's up for Chinese?"
"Ooh, I am!"
"Second that fellow 'Mastermind'!"
"What's a 'Mastermind?"
"Don't worry, Auntie Louise, it's a…code name for their relationship."
"Unusual, but sweet."
"Nauseating more like. OW!" Ian cried out as he was struck with a cushion.
Ingrid stuck her tongue out at him, whilst Harvey slung an arm around her shoulders.
"That's my girl."
A week later and the members of SPLAT were currently holed up in the SPLAT shed, lounging about.
"So, what are we going to do today?" Lloyd was twirling a pencil between his fingers, regarding Ingrid, who was hunched over the table, with curiosity.
"Ing, what are you doing?"
The small girl raised her head so that her line of vision settled on Lloyd. With a grin, she held up the sheet of paper she had been working on and exclaimed:
"TA DA!"
The sheet's background was a green and in the centre was a crudely drawn Octopus. The illustration had a massive 'X' over it, accompanied by the words 'MASTERMINDS' written in a scrawl, arched over the Octopus's form.
Harvey's jaw dropped. "That is wicked, Ing-Ing! Can we hang it up, L?" He stared hopefully at his older brother.
Lloyd glowered at the two youngest members of SPLAT, before relaxing his facial features into a huge grin.
"Course you can, H! Fire away!"
Harvey beamed and together with Ingrid, tacked the drawing up onto the wall. Once the couple were seated again, Lloyd parted his lips.
"So, suggestions for today?"
Lloyd jolted when his little brother suddenly stood up. "I know! I know!"
The others stared at Harvey, awaiting his idea. When it was apparent that he wasn't going to voice it straight away, Ian smirked.
"Uh H, you do realise that you have to say what your idea is first….right?" The tall boy drawled.
Harvey gestured to the door of the shed. "Yeah, yeah, but first we all need to go outside!" He didn't wait for their replies, simply opening the shed door and stepping outside.
The others shared a collective look before rising to their feet and joining the youngest Hunter outside. They saw Harvey standing a few feet away from them, his hands behind his back, clearly holding something.
The small boy beamed at them, producing his right hand from behind his back. Within his clenched fist, were six slips of colourful paper.
"Six tickets to the aquarium!" He exclaimed joyfully.
Upon hearing those words, Ingrid growled and darted forward. Cackling delightedly, Harvey whirled round and raced towards the edge of the field.
Ingrid pumped her arms and legs, yelling: "Get back here, Harvey Hunter! I'm going to tickle you till you can't breathe, 'Mastermind!'"
Her boyfriend shot her a thumbs up. "First you got to catch me, Ingrid Smith! Come on 'Mastermind'!"
The small girl grinned, set her head down and sped up.
The remaining members of SPLAT gazed at each other, eyebrows raised.
"Ok… aquarium it is." Lloyd stated, beginning to jog after Harvey and Ingrid.
Ian, Mandy and Dinah chuckled, amused at this as they broke into a run. Once they had caught up with Lloyd, they assisted him in wrestling Harvey and Ingrid away from each other. The pair had been involved in a playful tickling match and were now both thoroughly out of breath.
Lloyd regarded his group with excitement.
"Guess it's going to be a SPLAT visit to the aquarium today! Race you to the train station!"
The six of them began to sprint towards their destination, laughing in delight.