Transmission Interrupted... Please Standby.

…Processing... Processing...

Link has been Reestablished. Now Resuming Transmission.

With silent grace, Rachel smoothly slid down the pole and landed on the top level of scaffold platform. She looked over the side and scouted for any ninjas that might have been aware of her presence, but upon seeing them continue on as if nothing happened, she moved towards the door.

The metal entry was built into the mountain itself, which no doubt meant that her target was hidden in the interior. Pressing against the door, Rachel slowly pushed down on the handle and was mildly surprised that it creaked open with ease. These guys were just asking for it now. Deciding not to question her stroke of luck, the blonde carefully stepped inside, pulling the metal door shut with a quiet click behind her.

Once inside, Rachel pulled an about face to find that she was on another balcony inside the building. The girl walked to the railing and gazed out to the massive room.

The inside might has well have been a warehouse, stretching on long and wide from one end to the other. Dim lights shone down from the ceiling giving the area a faint glow which served to give the security a bit of an advantage. Looking down to the ground floor, Rachel spotted hundreds of large bulking box-shaped figures. Apparently, they were Feu's inventions he kept in storage. All of them were aligned in rows of dozens on the ground floor; each covered with a large patch-like cloth and tied down to the floor for extra precaution. Considering the ninja she interrogated said the death ray was going to be used in a test run in the morning, she quickly downplayed the possibility that it could in one of those crates.

As her eyes adjusted to the new light, Rachel scantly made out squads of ninjas patrolling up and down the rows. With so many of them concentrated together in the building, she didn't think she could get away with taking out any she accidentally stumbled across as she did outside. So no more causalities until the death ray had been disabled. She shifted her look up and locked on the double doors on the other side of the room, that's where she needed to go.

Suddenly she glanced to the side as she heard footsteps climbing up the stairs. Backing away from the railing, she quickly looked around for an escape route. She then glanced up, and saw the rafters along the ceiling. Thinking on her feet, she snapped out her hair-drying grapple gun and shot out a line for the steel rafters. Once it caught on, she pressed the button without a second thought and let the grapple pull her to the top of the warehouse area.

"I'm telling you man," the voice of a ninja echoed as he peaked the stairs. After a moment, two of them settled into positions on the balcony while staying in tune with the conversation. "I can remember the whole song, no problem. It's all memorized up here."

"Yeah right," the other scoffed. "You couldn't even properly recite the Creed of Silence."

"Hey, that was a trick question! How is anyone supposed recite the Creed of Silence when the first rule is not to speak of the Creed of Silence?"

"That was the test, which you failed…three times."

The first ninja shrugged off the offense. "But this is different. This actually matters."

His comrade groaned, but surmised they had nothing better to do. "Fine then, dazzle me."

"Ahem," the first man cleared his throat before he began. "~This is a tale all about how my life got twisted–"

"Fail."

"I hate you."

Above them, Rachel had long since ignored the bickering ninjas and started to parkour further into the base by moving along the rafters. She paced herself down the line and leapt over any gaps she came across. She landed on the next rafter and used her momentum to leap to the next one. On her next jump, her hands shot up midway and she latched onto rafters overhead. Imagining the monkey bar spike-pit exercise from training, she carefully moved down the line until she was at a well measured distance. Tensing with concentration, Rachel kicked her legs forward, swung back, and on the return swing, launched herself forward through the air.

At the arch of her leap, she whipped out her grapple gun once more and shot for a rafter above. When she heard the click of the hook catching on, she held the grapple over her head and went lax on the release button, allowing more grapple line to spew out. As she came down and swung using the grapple, the excess line allowed her to lower much closer to the ground level. Once close enough, she let go of the grapple. The hair-dryer grapple zipped up to the rafter, forgotten, and Rachel went down aiming for a row of crates.

Coming down towards the first one, Rachel dropped into a roll. She skidded across the surface, and kept her grunts silent as she bounced off to the following crate; sailing over an unknowing ninja all the while. Continuing her progress, she dropped onto her hands and flipped herself into the air. After preforming a series of somersaults, Rachel hit the ground with a light clatter. She peeked around the corner of a crate, and upon seeing the ninja disappear around the bin, she turned and sprinted for the double doors.

Once Rachel had ran, Cree stepped out from around a nearby crate. She watched as the blonde snuck in past the doors and only chuckled as her B.R.A helmet encased around her face.

"Finally," Rachel mumbled tiredly as she stepped into the hallway. She looked ahead and saw no other signs of life around, only doors and alternate passageways leading off to who-knows-where. Reaching to her belt, she pulled off a bulky cellular type device and flipped it open. Now with the information she hacked from the captain's computer combined with her mini F.I.N.D.I.T, locating the lab hopefully wouldn't be as time consuming.

Once the codes had been locked in, the radar pulsed and Rachel began to track the signal. "Let's get this over with."

The trip deeper into the inner compound had many twists, turns, and the occasional glitch from the F.I.N.D.I.T –"Who put this wall here!"– but the long night of sneaking, climbing, and tactical work had paid off at long last once Rachel crested a set of revolving stairs that put her in front of a large steel frame door.

"Let's see, we've got the secret base built on some undisclosed mountain, an army of ninja babysitters, and a warehouse of super evil doomsday weapons," Rachel snidely muttered as she entered the first code to open the door. She stepped back as it hissed open, and continued her thoughts aloud, "All we would need now is some exaggerated laser grid."

The door then opened, revealing one last short hallway leading back to the main lab door.

…and the hallway was coated in layers of lasers so thick that no human being could possibly hope to seep through them.

Rachel shook her head with a remorseful sigh. "When did something as cool as spying get so predictable?"

The blonde stepped as far as she could into the hallway without tripping one of many laser beams. Carefully studying the layout, she instantly picked out three openings she could make it through. Four if she was high on some sugar, but she hadn't had any candy in hours. But she supposed if she was lithe enough, precise enough, timed her moves right, and started by kicking off the wall exactly seven inches up from her current standing point, she could make it no problem.

But she was feeling lazy tonight.

Rachel reached to a secure place on her pouch and gently placed whatever was inside on the floor. Once she stood straight, her hazel eyes sparkled with child-like fawning and a grin was noticeable behind her face-plate. "Besides, you've been dying to do more field-work, haven't you?"

On the floor with its whiskers twitching in excitement, was a small chestnut furred hamster, with a light patch of golden tinted fur around its right eye. The small KND pet scanned its surrounds, stopping and tilting its head once it saw the lasers. It looked back its owner, and lifted its paw up pointing towards the grid.

"That's right," Rachel nodded, praising her pet. "Just take 'em out for me girl."

The hamster waved her paw around in a cocky manner before getting to work. The HND trained pet began sniffing the floor, her nose twitching with every scent she picked up. She then began moving closer to the lasers, but due to her frame, she simply passed under them; as if she was just ignoring them. Her trail took her to a spot on the wall where the scent seemed strongest. Sniffing around the area, she picked at the wall until something came loose. With more forceful bites and scratches, she pried the loose metal open enough to reveal a series of wires running along the length of the wall from the inside. The critter made mischievous scuffles as she wiggled her way through the opening and began chewing away.

Rachel waited for results, and it wasn't long before she got them. Before her, the immense laser grid began to dim and flicker. Some had shut down completely while others struggled to stay online. She made out a faint pop from where ever her hamster disappeared, and then the remaining lasers flashed brightly before humming and fading away. When they were all down, her hamster reemerged from the hole in the wall, stood on her hind legs, and made a sound that resembled "ta da".

"Great work, Bon-Bon," Rachel cooed as she scooped the rodent into her hands. She unclasped the safety pocket, and the hamster retreated back into it until she was needed once more. With that taken care of, Rachel headed straight for the access terminal so she could move on to the final phase of the mission.

She loosened her fingers as she descended upon the computer. With her refined hacking skills, she made short work of any outlining programs and targeted on the lock system. As expected, the screen requested an access code. As she typed it in, she went over her escape plan.

"I'll have at least three minutes before the M.A.R.B.L.E's go off, so I could be back outside in two. That should give me a minute before the alarm blares. Okay, so if I go over the power-lines again, I can be at the west wall and backtrack down the–"

"ACCESS DENIED."

The voice of the computer shocked her, and she looked down aghast to see the system had not accepted her code. "What?" she asked while trying again.

"ACCESS DENIED."

Rachel blinked, before pulling out her hand-held F.I.N.D.I.T and going over the code once more. "I…I must of put in a nine by accident," she reasoned with herself. If she had come all this way just to find out those idiot ninjas managed to pull a fast one over her…no. She had seen and heard these guys. There was no way they were that smart–

"ACCESS DENIED."

"What the fudge!" she snapped, mashing down on the terminal with built up frustration. "Are you serious? I, like, SO do not have time for this!" Years of work to suppress her native speak went down the drain as she kicked the computer. "Worst. Mission. Ever!"

After forcing herself to calm down, Rachel went back to working the computer. Her eyes switched back and forth from the code she had on her hand held and the screen as she gave input. She paused between each number just to make triple-ly sure she put in the right one. Once the painstaking process was done, she held her breath as she pressed enter.

Then, she nearly blew another gasket when the computer refused it. "Oh, COME ON! Why isn't this stupid thing working?"

"Try 839271. We rotate passwords every third Monday."

"Thanks! These stupid numerical codes can be such a pain– CRUD!" Rachel frantically scrambled away from the terminal a split second before it exploded. She tore her gaze away from the crackling computer, and her eyes bulged at who she saw.

Cree stood there, shrouded in her Battle Ready Armor, and smirked under her helmet as she lowered her smoking gauntlet slightly. "I know, right?"

Rachel shook off any surprise and focused intently on the teenager. Cree fired off another round but Rachel smoothly sidestepped to avoid it. She jumped towards the wall as another shot went off, then kicked off it just before the beam ricocheted off of it. As she came down, Rachel's hand whipped out her concealed blaster, and the blonde already had the Teen Ninja on her sights mere seconds before she hit the floor–

FFFT!

"Ah!" the blonde gasped as something stung her neck. Her hand reached up and plucked the object out, and she paled as she recognized the small dart. Suddenly she felt light-headed as she lost her grip of the dart and her weapon. She staggered around drunkenly for a moment before she started to collapse. "You all totally suuuuuu…"

Once Rachel had fell down and out, Cree clicked the side of her helmet and it silently unveiled her hidden features. She smirked down at the operative then turned her attention upwards into the shadows of the ceiling. "Nice work boys."

Two ninjas landed behind Rachel's body from above. One ninja stowed away his blowgun and bowed whilst the other unsheathed his knife. He flipped it in his hand and slowly brought it up only to be stopped by Cree grabbing his wrist.

"Slow down there, stabby. Mister big bad 'Professor' wants to deal with this brat personally," she tutted as she wagged her finger scoldingly. She let go of the ninja and bent over to toss the limp blonde over her shoulder. After adjusting to the kid's added weight, she frowned as she surveyed the hallway. "Check the area to make sure she didn't leave any surprises, and change the access codes again." The two only nodded before turning to carry out their orders. Now alone, Cree adjusted Rachel and strutted back to where Feu was waiting.

Unknown to Cree, a pocket on Rachel's belt fumbled until the small head of Bon-Bon poked out. The hamster gazed around, confused, and made an alarmed squeak as she saw her owner unconscious. She looked further up and ducked back into her pocket once she saw the face of a miffed teenager. But seeing that Cree hadn't noticed her yet, Bon-Bon took a risk and hopped out of Rachel's pocket and onto the floor. Once she landed, she tensed. She slowly craned her neck around and made a relieved sound when Cree only continued on unaware.

Now becoming serious, the trained hamster quietly trailed Cree.

The first thing Rachel began to notice was the incredible feeling of drowsiness slowly seeping out of her. She made a series of discomforted moans as her body began to feel sore and stiff in places she didn't even know she had. Ugh, she must have over did it a bit on that recon mission last night. With that in mind, she relaxed and attempted to snuggle deeper into her bed sheets.

But in trying that, she discovered a few unsettling things. First and foremost, she couldn't move her arms and legs. Despite every frantic exertion, her limbs would not budge. After a few more tries, she found that something was constrained around her wrists and ankles. This led her into realizing that this wasn't her bed. At all.

Now more alert, Rachel began to open her groggy eyes.

It was all a blur at first, and the glow of the fluorescent lights wasn't helping her eyesight. After blinking away the brightness, Rachel firmly studied her new surroundings. She confirmed her earlier thoughts when she peered down to see herself constrained to a round metallic table. Steel cufflinks scratched at her wrists, and kept her centered whether she liked it or not. Rachel slackened in her efforts to break free and gazed out to the rest of the large room.

A dome shaped ceiling greeted her as she looked upwards but she had to avert her eyes once the lights became to intense to stare at. When she looked around, she quirked a brow at all the shiny, seemingly high technological machinery. Large devices twice her size beeped and flashed with numerous multicolored lights, and computer monitors flickered with data she couldn't begin to comprehend. Where the heck was she? Some secret lab?

That's when she groaned as she remembered what happened earlier. She was attempting to sneak into the Professor's lab but someone had locked her out by changing the password. That's when the Teen Ninja attacked and someone stuck her with a tranquillizer dart while she was distracted. So she had been knocked out, and taken prisoner.

"Fantastic," she grumbled as clenched and unclenched her fingers. Okay, it wasn't that hopeless. With her fingers still mobile, there were several escape tactics she could use. Suddenly she yelped when a tiny shock surged through her restraints. Once it wore off, she sighed once she realized whatever that was had just numbed her arms and legs. "Well, no one said escaping is ever easy."

"Escape? There is no escaping once Feu has ze grip! Heh heh!"

"Feu?" Rachel mumbled unsure as the voice surprised her. Once it all clicked, she pressed against her restraints and growled. "Show yourself!"

But then all her ire died as the lights dimmed. Her face then slowly transformed from infuriated to completely bewildered as thumping music started to play in the background. And then the disco ball dropped from the ceiling. "…wha?"

"Zat's right! You's about to lay those eyes on ze one true prize!" Dazzling lights and colors flashed around the lab as the voice boomed out from the surround sound speakers. "Check yourself, mon chéri, for you have found yourself tapping to ze wrong tango! Compared to zis rad bad bro, you are out-to-the-matched!"

Rachel laid there completely stunned, feeling that she was being conned into some outrageous gag. The child then defied all logic as her eyes widened even further as a hole opened in the center of the floor. A mist started to spray out into the area as a shadowy figure began to rise out of the chamber.

"You must ask yourself, le who? Whose genius makes all posers weep in envy? Who molds ze pain into gain? Who brings smooth to the groove, the rad to ze lab? Who is hotter zan ice, and colder zan flame? Ask yourself…ASK YOURSELF!"

The figure, who Rachel assumed was talking, raised his arms into the air, and hip-thrusted with the pulsating beat. The disco ball spun even faster and the multicolored light show seemed to merge around the dancing shadow.

"He is an enigma beyond the dance floor of logic. His brilliance; so cruelly misunderstood! He is the real reason you are here, do not deny this!"

The spotlight rained down on his form, illuminating his appearance. A boy, perhaps her age, dressed out in emerald leather clothing, just wildly 'getting down' with his own theme music. Suddenly, he twirled, then froze. His head was lowered and the music stopped. After a dramatic pause, he spoke once again.

"Embrace my passion. Embrace my muse," he give an oily smirk as he rose up. Smug eyes sparkled with excitement behind those blood red visors as the midnight haired child finished his introduction. "Embrace the super cool, Professor Feu!"

After proclaiming his namesake, the lighting of the lab returned to normal. A long period of silence settled in. Feu stood there, still smirking as he waited for Rachel to absorb his funky fresh intro with an expectant look.

But she just laid there, staring at him. His smirk dimmed. Stare. A small smile now. Stare. Lip twitch. Stare.

…okay, now he was annoyed. "Well?"

"…" Rachel continued to just stare. Finally, she showed signs of movement when she actually blinked. "So that's why I should never do drugs."

"I would think twice -then once more again- before speaking the mock talk, my dear," Feu said as he clasped his hands behind his back. "You are in Feu's company now."

Regaining some semblance of a serious demeanor, the blonde glared as the young french boy stepped closer. "So you're the Professor?"

"In ze flesh, baby," he chuckled. "Fate; she loves to play the ironic twist, no? Never in most far out daydreams did I think you and Feu would cross the walk again. But now, here you are! Trapped like a bat in a tanning booth," he mused to himself as he tapped at his chin. "It is like super sad tragedy poem where somebody dies in the climax after surprise baby is born, only zis is comedy! And Feu laughs!"

"Wait," Rachel interrupted, confused. "Who's baby is being born?"

"Your naivety wounds me!" he dramatically cried. "And after all ze double trouble Feu went through to bring you to the front row seat. I even hired top backstabber, aren't you special?"

"Top backstabber?"

"Oh no, please continue on," Rachel looked over to the source of the voice and frowned when she spotted Cree leaning against a machine flipping through a magazine. The Teen Ninja glanced up from her readings to look over the children for a second before reading the next article. "Pretend I'm not even here."

"Numbuh 11," the blonde stoically stated. Cree sneered at the mention of the name, but didn't look up from her magazine. "Is this what you've lowered yourself to now, teenager? Some cheap nanny for hire?"

"Come back to me when mommy stops buying your dollies for you and we'll see what work YOU end up doing," she offered as a rebuttal. She turned to another crisp page and suddenly began chuckling. "Besides girl, you should thanking me for reuniting you with your little boyfriend. Heh heh."

"Boyfriend?" Rachel exclaimed insulted. She looked towards Feu again and offered him a sharp glare. "I don't even know who this nutjob is!"

"You oily, spoiled blonde she-devils always be playing the same tune," Feu growled hatefully as his fists clenched. "It's all bubbly smiles and cheap fluttering lashes to sink the claws in. You make us love it, make us work these bleeding fingers down to pale roots of ze bone. But once the wells be drained drier zen salt, it's the same 'I don't know you! Don't associate with me! I has ze fancy restraining order!' type mumbo jumbo."

"Okay. I didn't understand a word of what you just said, but here's something YOU need to understand," Rachel pressed, "other then your fancy stage name, or what was in the mission specs, I have no earthly idea who you are. Are we clear now? I don't know you."

"That is the point!" Feu raged. "You left Feu in the dust, forgotten! But he never began to forget YOU, miss Rachel!"

"How do you know my name?"

"Feu knows all there is to know! I know of whack-bat sibling, know of stupid play-pretend codename, I know all those tracks and ze director's cut!" he heaved as he pointed a shaking finger in her direction. "I know everything, miss Rachel!"

"…so you're a stalker."

"I don't need to stalk! I knew you back when it was hard to walk! I knew you back before you knew how to talk ze sassy snark!" the boy growled. His pet iguana slithered out of his pocket and climbed the length of his jacket before settling on the perch of his shoulder. "I knew you back when you were just 'nother dumb blonde cracker-box!"

Rachel didn't need a translator to figure out he was out right insulting her. "I'm pretty sure I would remember a complete spaz like you."

"Your snips are in one ear, and bye-bye out ze other," Feu shrugged off with an air of indifference. He tore his gaze away from the contained girl, looked around his glorious lab, and smiled with sinister pride at all the deadly contraptions he crafted with his artistic style. "Ah, but I suppose ze fault is unclear. All of it IS your fault, but the bouncer of comprehension just ain't letting you in."

Rachel grimaced as she spared Cree a side glance. "Are there, like, subtitles for this guy or what?"

"It gets worse," Cree muttered. "Trust me."

"Maybe some knocks to the noggin will beat some beats into your memory," Feu grumbled as he walked up to the side of the table. He glared down at Rachel and rapped his knuckles against her forehead. "Pre-K! Greedy snack-time rave craves! This is in ze way back! Before I became the combo of brilliance and style that is Feu worthwhile! Does zat bell ring-a-ding?"

"Cut it out!" Rachel protested as he knocked on her skull. He finally ceased, and she glowered at him as he stepped away. "When I get out of this thing I'm going to ring YOUR bell! And I did not go to Pre-K with some hip-hop wanna be french kid…" But for some strange reason, her spit fire tirade trailed off as something began to click.

Oh no. She didn't ACTUALLY used to know this clown, did she?

But she remembered something now that he had forced it out of her. She took a long hard look at the child-genius, and tried to picture him as someone else. Take away those over-the-top visors, the tacky leather jacket and excess hair gel, the image would seem somewhat familiar. She then thought back to her Pre-K days before she even joined the Kids Next Door. Something about the phrase "french kid" struck a cord somewhere. She waited for it to come to her, but still nothing solid.

It was Pre-K, how was she supposed to remember any of that? It had to be something really memorable. Like the time the teacher got locked out of the room during nap-time, or that shy french kid they had in their class for a few–

"Wait," Rachel stopped. Her mouth dropped open for a small gasp of recognition before looking at Feu in a new light. "Were you that french kid that was in our class? He was shy and always got candy for saying the right answer, what was your name…Oh! William! That's–"

"FEU! It is Professor FEU!" the child snapped, taking Rachel by surprise. He then snarled at her, his eyebrow twitching as his iguana hissed along with him. "Sing zat tune wrong again, and you'll be dancing to a broke beat with those toothpick legs! And they would be some bent up toothpicks!"

"Okay, now I KNOW you're just putting random words together," she muttered whilst rolling her eyes. She arched a thin brow as she watched Feu calm down and replayed her scant memories of William from Preschool. Saying the two mental images were drastically different was an understatement.

Rachel shook her, still not quite believing the two were the same person. But then again, she didn't know William that well in the first place. "Guess it's true what they say about the quiet ones…"

"Ah yes. Before I embraced the heated macho zat is Feu, I was oh so pressured by the tight shell of indecisiveness." A hand rose to pet his iguana before he gave a cold stare to his captive. "But the heartbreak you left me to tumble and bumble in was ze final push before I could break free and groove to me own two-step."

"What do I have to do with anything?" Rachel briskly asked. "I barely even knew you!"

"Well then, mon chéri, it seems your greatest flaw has been put under ze spotlight, center stage!" he closed his eyes as he reminisced. "Ignorance."

The head of a small raven haired toddler peaked out behind a pair of womanly legs, eyes glittering to the brim with apprehension. Before him was a bustling wave of children his own age, but they paid him no mind. Many were too busy drawing doodles for parents, or indulging in playtime. William shuffled his feet and withdrew further behind his mother. He wished they had arrived when everything was more calm. He peered up to see his mother still trading words with the teacher. He tried to decipher their English, but he was far too nervous to adeptly process it all at the moment.

-"Feu had just gifted himself to the bore shores of America, even though he did not know zis yet. But my mind was in binds, still moved from our…uh, move. I could not fully singo da lingo, or blend with ze trends. So, in order in to prepare to get down with the education system, mama enrolled Feu in ABC Little School."-

William's cheeks flustered over when his mother lavished him with affection. She always did get a tad emotional when it came to this type of thing. But then the misty eyed adult surprised him when she retreated back out the door without him. Where was she going? Why was she leaving him here? Panic began to settle in as he held the lunch she packed him tighter.

He flinched when a hand clasped his shoulder, and he gazed up to see the teacher conveying a warm smile. Sensing his distrustful vibe, she calmly motioned him to the other children of the room, telling him that free-play wasn't quite done yet and that he should make new friends. Genuinely curious, he made his way under the archway to a boy and girl near the play area.

-"Feu tried to appease ze crowd, he tried so very hard! I ask all schooled coworker-kids could I join their line, roll with their group. And what do they do? They mock Feu for his neat uniqueness!"-

"Uh," William stuttered out before the two children before him. They had stopped their activity and just stared at him unblinkingly. It was a tad creepy. His mind with abuzz with ways to make an solid first impression, he just had to greet him. But how so? Should he say, "hello" or, "hey"? What about, "how's the weather"? Why did they have to have so many words that meant the same thing? He didn't know which one seemed right for this situation.

So, in failing to choose something they could understand, he fell back on his native tongue and hoped for the best. "Bonjour?"

After he spoke, an awkward pause followed. Before he could say anything else, the two burst out in light giggles. He was confused, what was so funny? But the boy answered him when he pointed at him, smiled, and said, "You talk funny!"

There was no malice or bias in his mirthful tone, but William gave no notice to that. His mind clenched around what it had just translated. They thought he talked weird. They…were making fun of him? That had to be it. Why else would they be laughing at him so? He bit his lip, sniffled, and turned. Walking away feeling neglected as the children continued to giggle unaware.

"He he he, you sound real funny! That's neat!" the girl chimed in, not knowing William had left them. "Do you wanna play House with us? You could be…where'd the funny kid go?" she questioned once she finally noticed that William had disappeared. She turned to her playmate, shrugged, then went back to their game.

-"Seeing as those cruel cads had shunned me, I was left to muse all on ze lonesome! Feu dove into his studies, shielding himself to all who walked his way. He would not put out the heart-sleeve only for it to be fondled so hatefully! Le grief!"-

William sat alone at a table during another free-play day putting together puzzles to stimulate his mind. He gave a wistful stare to all the other children, wanting to be accepted by them. But they thought he 'talked funny' which obviously meant they saw him as different, and being different here meant you were not accepted. That's how it worked in America, right? Not matter. He would not bother them anymore, lest they say more hurtful snips.

The french child placed the final jigsaw piece down, completing his sixth puzzle. He then decided to try something easier and time himself. But as he reached for the one-hundred fifty piece puzzle, the teacher called out declaring it snack-time. Blinking, the boy glanced around the room and saw kids ripping open their lunchboxes and pulling out their snacks. Baby carrots, apple juice, sugar cookies, the list went on. But there was one table of children that caught his attention and caused him to frown with spite.

There, three tables down, was a group of toddlers munching away on ice cream sandwiches. He snarled with a combination of utter disgust and envy as the toddlers made delighted sounds with every bite. It wasn't fair that they got to enjoy one of life's finest treats while he couldn't. He held his scathing glare even as he reached down for his own lunchbox. He wished one final threat of ill-will on the ice cream snackers before looking down for his own snack. However, he then grinned at the sweet dessert his mama had packed him.

Cheesecake.

-"But on zat day, a certain golden haired siren came 'round singing her tune…And zis be no 'will you sing at birthday party during clown act?' type singing. We's talkin' bout some major 'Blama Slamming Oscar-Fuse-Grammy' type singing!"-

Since his sweet tooth was howling at him today, William forwent the main course of his lunch and prepared to dig in to his slice of home-made dessert. But before he could even poke at it with his fork, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

And that's when he saw her.

Just a blonde girl, yet she just wasn't a blonde girl. Her soft shoulder cut hair gave off a glowing shine. So elegant, he thought it deserved to be on a canvass in a gallery at the Musée du Louvre. Then there were those innocently fluttering lashes awarding him with the view of those two hazel gems. So much emotion, if he had pen and paper, he was sure he would've have jotted down several poems by now. The blonde stood there, mere inches away. His heart pounded and he offered a timid smile. What would such a pretty girl want with him? She wasn't here to mock him as well, was she? Oh, words coming from a beauty would be too harshly true.

But she said not a word at first, only let those lips jut into an adorable pout. She drew random circles with the toes of her shoe on the floor, then gave him an incredible puppy dog performance. "Can I have your cheesecake? Pwetty pwease?"

William's mother could only wonder why her son outright begged her to pack cheesecake from that day forth.

-"My heart, it was a fluttering out the ill chills and booming with ze love! What started that day was so fine, so mine! So nice! It was then, Feu had purpose! Purpose to serve blonde angel, make her roll out ze tears of happy joy joy and comfort her like in sappy love novel! I did so much for you...

I learned lingo from best inspirations so I could properly profess my love in words you could nod to!"-

William sat at home one night, seated in front of the television. A notepad was clutched in his hand, and mountains of videos were stacked all around him. Picking one, he shoved it in the VCR and waited for it to play. After a minute, the screen flickered to life, showing footage of an old hip-hop video. The young toddler arched a brow at the wild clothing, and they way they shifted to and fro to the music. This is what people here considered cool?

"This beat is blammin', yo!"

"Yea-Yea! The mix is tight and the funky flow is sweet!"

He jotted down every word he heard. But he was no copy-cat. He had to have his own style if he wanted impress the love of his life. He needed to have passion with his speech –no, his lingo. He needed to reach out and think cool…think smooth. Yeah! That's it! He reviewed his notes, mixing and mashing words to create his rhythm.

"Sweet," he muttered while tapping his pen against his chin. Finally, he grinned in triumph as he continued to write. "No no. Greasy sweet!"

-"I protected you from biggest, baddest bullies…"-

William strutted around the play area whistling an upbeat tune while scribbling elegantly in his notepad. While all the other toddlers around him used their free-play to slug about in manners akin to undomesticated neanderthals, he decided to put his mind to better use and create award winning sonnets for his sweetheart. Maybe this one should be centered around the pureness of her voice. Oh yes, the divine tones from her vocal cords were so vivid to him, why he could hear them loud and proud right now.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

He froze when he actually heard Rachel scream. Looking across the area, he gasped when he saw the girl standing in front of some other boy with a contorted expression. He quickly pieced together what was going on and felt anger surge within him. That bully was picking on his blonde flower! Well, that would not fly, not at all. It was then he knew what he had to do to the poor fool.

"WA KA KA!" William screeched his battle-cry as he advanced on the bully.

He squinted his eyes shut, pulled his face back for safety, and blindly stepped forward while swinging his hands around. With luck, he would karate chop the crud out of the kid. Unfortunately, he had no idea where he was going. So when he was upon Rachel and the bully, his foot tripped over a discarded toy truck.

Eyes widening, he squealed in terror as he rolled straight between the two, and only came to a stop when he crashed into a large tower of building blocks. The multicolored blocks fell apart and toppled all over him while the child who had stacked them began to cry.

The 'bully' blinked at what he just witnessed. "Who was that?" the brown haired boy asked aloud.

"Ha! You lose!" Rachel giggled as she finally stopped screaming. She opened her eyes, and inhaled before smirking. "I CAN yell the longest!"

"Nu uh!" the boy snapped back, having completely forgotten about the weird kid buried under building blocks. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

-"I benched pressed so I could push you to tippy top of swing set…"-

Rachel cried with glee as she swung to and fro on the playground swing. Her short mop of hair fluttered in the wind created as she came up, then only to speed back down. The girl closed her eyes as she envisioned herself flying to great heights. It was just her, the wind, and the metal cricks of the swing as she descended downwards.

However, unknown to her, William stood by near by. The french boy watched as she swung with grace, but made sure to keep his distance. With her current velocity and peaking angle, it would leave a real big boo-boo on his person if she crashed into him.

But as he watched, he would not dare ignore her cries of mirth. She sat there, having the time of her life. It looked like so much fun. A light bulb went off as he had an idea. If he could push her even higher, then she would most definitely have more fun, and in return, it would merit some major points for him!

He astounded himself with how smart he was sometimes.

Waiting for her begin her return swing upwards, William sprinted out and placed himself right where she would come down. After judging the distance, he puffed out his chest, and stuck his hands forward. As soon as her back made contact with his palms, he would back peddle at least seven and a half steps. Once at that distance, he would run with all his might, and push her with extreme force upwards. Given his oh so amazing strength and stamina, she would swing at a one-hundred eighty degree angle and–

THUD!

"GAHH!" However for William, he was so caught up in over thinking his plan that he failed to notice Rachel heading straight for him. He paid for this mistake when she crashed into him, causing her to come to a complete stop, and him fly off somewhere back into the playground.

"Heeeeey," Rachel whined out when she halted. Why did she stop? The blonde toddler pouted as she looked around. It felt like she hit something, but she couldn't see anything around her. Shrugging it off as non-important, she lowered her feet to the ground and walked back to build up starting momentum. This time she would go super-high. Heck, this time she would go all the way to the moon!

-"I chased away nightmares…"-

William marched back and forth over Rachel's slumbering form during nap-time. He held a stern glare on his face while he gripped the yardstick he borrowed from the teacher. He tensed as he noticed a fly land a few inches away from Rachel's head. Before it could even make a single buzz, William relentlessly beat down on the poor insect. Even after it was dead, he continued to beat against the floor to ensure the disgusting thing was no more.

"Mmfm."

William stumbled mid-swing as he heard a distressed noise from below. He looked down to see Rachel's face scrunching up in discomfort as she shuffled around under her blanket. She was having a bad dream, but there was no need for alarm. With his presence, he would make sure no bad mind jives ruin her twenty minutes of nap. His hand reached out to comfort her, but when it got too close, Rachel's hand suddenly snapped up and grabbed his wrist. He yelped, then whined as he tried to tug his arm free. Since when did girls have that strong of a grip?

"STRANGER DANGER!"

She suddenly began to shout in her sleep. Before William could even contemplate her random words, he found himself being flung across the room. As he sailed over the napping toddlers screaming, Rachel's face relaxed and she snuggled deeper into her pillow.

-"I shielded you from rain,"-

William clenched his umbrella as he searched for Rachel among the departing children. Everyone was in a hurry to grab their coats and lunch boxes, that he couldn't tell anyone apart.

The teacher's voice drew his attention to the door, and he saw the woman lead a group of his classmates outside as she zipped up her jacket. In the back of the group was Rachel. She grinned excitedly as she trotted along in her slick orange raincoat and followed the group outside.

William quickly rushed after her. He managed between keeping his eyes on her and undoing the clip to his umbrella as he ran to the door. The freezing rain slapped him in the face the moment he stepped outside, but he would not be deterred. With a cheer of success, the umbrella finally snapped open, and to his luck, Rachel hadn't left yet. She was off the side, trying splash in every puddle that came her way.

Evening out his coat, the boy took confident steps out onto the sidewalk until he was right behind the unsuspecting blonde. He raised his umbrella over her, and opened his mouth to say something. Sadly, that was when the wind picked up speed. The force of nature blew his umbrella away, with himself still attached to it.

Rachel paid no mind to any of this. Her tongue jutted out in concentration, she wiggled in her boots, and she leapt up to make the biggest splash in the history of ever. But sadly, she never came down, for that was the exact moment her mother grabbed her from behind. Rachel then groaned as the woman carried her away while spraying her down with disinfectant and freaking out about how many germs she had picked up.

-"I even towed all the ze backbreaking textbooks!"-

Rachel skipped along happily in the play area while William struggled under the weight of–

-"Since when do preschoolers have textbooks?"

"DO NOT INTERRUPT FEU'S TRAGIC VILLAIN BACKGROUND STORY!"

"Whatever."

"Now, as Feu was saying before he was so rudely bashed by heckler, I did all zis for you, and so much more! The tasks were hard, the trails were trying, but Feu stuck it out. Like tootsie roll pop, I would lick and lick until gooey sweetness is mine! I did not care for sour exterior, ze beautiful center would be so nice. So fine! …but zen cruel day came when cold hard tearjerker truth was revealed."-

It was another day, and another snack-time to be had. William sat at his own personal table, fending off anyone who tried to sit in the only other chair while he prepared. He placed two sweet smelling candles he dug out from his mother's closet as the centre piece, then went on to fill two champagne glasses with the finest apple juice he could find. Placing his hand to his lips, he praised his own décor before moving to set the plates.

"Er, William?" The boy looked up innocently at his teacher. The woman looked confused as she studied the table. "What…exactly are you doing, dear?"

William smiled. "William is prepping brunch!"

"I see…" she muttered carefully. Well, the boy was miles ahead of the learning curve. She could only assume this was some very sophisticated game of pretend and… "Why is that iguana wearing a tuxedo?"

William looked to his pet. There off to the side was his iguana wearing a tiny, hand-made tuxedo. The reptile just stood there lazily while the world's smallest violin laid next to it untouched.

"Uh," he began nervously, "he is my…how you say…er, show and tell?" He followed up his excuse with an award winning smile.

"Ah. That makes sense…I think. But still, playing with fire is a HUGE no-no mister!" she scolded as she leaned down to blow out the candles. She held her hand out expectantly, and William sighed as he relinquished hold of his pack of matches. The teacher stored them in her pocket, and prepared to leave the boy to his game. "Just make sure you clean up before free-time is…is…do I smell incense?"

"Uh–"

"THAT'S MY RAINBOW MONKEY!"

"Oh dear," the woman sighed and turned to break up a looming dispute between two girls and a doll. William let out a long breath of relief and could only thank heavens for his luck. It was a sign that this would be a funky fresh day! As his thoughts wondered back to his lunch plans, he snapped at his iguana.

"Dimitri, you're cramping on William's style! You are supposed to be layin' down some smooth mood music, bro!" he chastened his pet. The iguana looked up to its owner, flicked out its tongue, then looked down to the tiny plastic toy violin with a somewhat curious gaze. William groaned and rubbed at his temple.

"Get your act together before she arrives!" William then turned away from his pet as he tapped his foot in anticipation. Where was Rachel? She always came to him exactly twelve minutes into snack time, and she was six point two second late! What could be holding her up? He had pulled out all the stops for this date. Bubbly apple juice, candle light, mood music that SOMEONE needed to start playing, and fresh PB&J with the crust sliced off. Everything was in place –everything but Rachel herself, that is.

William was on the verge of a nervous breakdown as he thoughts ran wild as to what could have happened to her. He was too busy preparing to actually notice if she came in today. What if she came down with some flesh eating disease? Or got hit by rush hour traffic? The possibilities were endless, and they frightened him. But before he could fully begin to panic, Rachel hummed as she walked by his table.

"Ah, there you are!" William called from his seat. When the girl kept on walking, his face dropped. "…Rachel?" At the mention of her name, she stopped and faced him curiously. It was then he noticed a flier in her hand. He was half tempted to ask what it was about, but he pushed the thought aside. "Every tick of ze clock without you by my side feels William with grief, but now that you are here, he feels like his rad clad self again!"

Rachel blinked at the strange kid. Who was this William guy? She ignored whatever the kid was saying as she looked around to classroom. It was then she noticed everyone sitting at tables and all sorts of food stacked around. She gasped as she suddenly remembered it was snack-time. She was so caught up with the big kid handing out fliers outside that she forgot.

Shaking her head, she coughed into her hand, and performed several throat exercises to muster up her sweetest, cutest voice. It was hunting hour and she was hungry today. She fluttered her lashes slowly and smiled. "Cheesecake, please?"

The boy melted under her gaze. Feeling prouder then ever, he began digging around in his lunchbox for his surprise treat. "No no no, what William has makes cheesecake look like chunky funk mystery meat! Once you chow down on zis, your taste buds will be getting ze one-two combo of 'pow!' and 'wow!'!"

Rachel blinked. "No cheesecake?"

"No. Today you shall feast your fine eyes on–"

"Bye," was all she said before continuing on her desired path.

"W-What?" William stuttered out as he shot up. He felt waves of dread seeping in as that one single word echoed. For once in his life, there was only one thought on his mind. The thought of her rejection. She…she was leaving him? No. No, that couldn't be it. Yet she just walked on and on, not even sparing a second glance. His heart constricted in his chest with every step that took her farther away. By her own doing. She…she didn't want him anymore.

Desperation began to kick in as he yanked out the custard he bought. Kicking out his seat, he began to call out to the blonde. "Wait! Custard tastes the exact same as cheesecake! It's just more gooey and – AH!" he yelped as he tripped over a toy truck. He fell over, his custard flying in the air, and his hand knocking against the table. The two champagne glasses tipped over and spilled their contents over his head.

Just when he thought it could get no worse, the custard returned and splattered in his face. He yanked the bowl off his head, and growled at the toy. "WHO KEEPS PUTTING THAT THERE?"

His anger was quelled the moment he heard Rachel's giggle ease its way into his hearing. He glanced up, and a lump caught in his throat at what he saw. There was Rachel, his blonde angel, sitting at another table with another boy. Her face beamed at whatever he was saying, and she broke out in joy when the brunet haired kid slid his cheesecake over to her. She munched away, and had no intention of leaving his side anytime soon.

William couldn't look away from the scene. His heart went to pieces bit by bit with every bite she took. He thought she understood him when all the other toddlers didn't. He thought he meant as much to her as she did to him. He thought he had found his one true peer. He thought he found the one kid who didn't think 'he talked funny' or was a 'smarty pants'. But for once, he appeared he thought wrong. She was just like the rest of them.

It was only then in that moment of anguish, that his iguana finally started playing a sad tune on its violin.

"…you destroyed me. Made a mockery of me! You played my heartstrings like some practice harp, then threw me away once I sung ze song of fools!" Feu raged as his fist shook. "For days I toiled in misery. For hours I weep and ask why? For weeks I…what is zis clicking sound? It ruins my flow!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing. Go on," Rachel muttered while her hand fumbled with the lock on her cufflink. Her eyes shifted to Cree, who was still reading through her magazine, then went back to work on picking the lock. She allowed herself a grin when she heard the telltale jingle, and thought her escape was close. But that was when Feu decided to pause in his story of woe and slap at her hand. "Fudge!"

"You sneaky little cracker-box! You dare try to balm calm Feu after what you put him through?"

"Get over yourself," she groaned, "I was, like, three or four years-old."

"This is NO excuse! Love knows no limits, and the neither does wrenching heartbreak!" he continued on. After a dramatic pause, he smirked and clenched his fist. "But like love, there was no stopping destiny that was MOI! I used the last straw on the camel's back to start my fire. I took anguish, hatred, and shame and used it as fuel. Thanks to you, I broke free from restraints and let my brilliance dance like she was meant to! Now, shy-wise smart guy William has burned out, and all zat is left is ze heat that is Professor Feu!"

Cree looked up from her reading for the first time in his speech. She quirked a brow and looked somewhat annoyed. "Is he done yet?"

"You mean I'm the reason you're the person you are today?" Rachel asked in a strained voice, "I suddenly feel ill."

"You should feel honored!" Feu spoke confidently as he ambled over to his terminal. His iguana leapt off his shoulder and onto the counter as he began inputting a series of commands. "Most cool cats would do away with cruel she-devils such as your un-fine self the minute they snoop where snooping is no-no, but not Feu! His style is FAR too advanced for that simple jazz."

Rachel blinked. "So you're going to let me go?"

"No," he put down without a second thought. He turned away from his personal control panel, and chuckled as he lowered his visors. "Stupid blonde, Feu has no intention of letting you weasel out of his clutches zis time. You left him without second thought, so now he shall rub success in your face!"

"Geez," Rachel muttered, "part of me would almost be flattered this is all because of me…then I remember you're crazy."

"You are so vain, mon cheri. Why should I settle for you when I have her?"

"Her?" Rachel blinked. She glanced over to Cree with confusion. "You mean the teenager?"

"No! Not her, her! Can you not hear her? She is here with me, she speaks to me, she sings to me, she whispers to me of what I must do."

"Have you been chugging cough medicine or something?"

"Cough? I have no cough. I have hands, and with zese hands I have given her form, I have given her shape, I have gave her breath! And after many lonely nights of me having and she be getting, she is done!"

"Oh, she's done? How wonderful for you…WHO THE HECK IS SHE?"

Cree smirked. "Jealous?"

"Shut up."

"She has been the apple of my eyes for so many years, my one true love! At long last, Feu has found something even hotter then he! The blueprints have been framed, the secret preparation deals have cleared the way for fame, and my mountain lab lair is all set for ze game!" he then snapped his fingers, a large screen lowered from the ceiling.

Rachel and Cree looked up to the screen as it flickered to life. It was clear that it was showing live feed from a tower at peak of the mountain, and Rachel frowned at the bright glaring sunlight. It was morning. How long had she been out? But that didn't really matter. What did matter was the large satellite dish capping the tower. The feed horn antenna reminded her of one those laser-beam cannons she saw on Doctor Time-Space and the whole dish of surrounded by numerous arrays of solar panels. After studying the device more, Rachel pieced together what it was and felt dread seep in as Cree chuckled darkly to the side.

"Bask in her greatness, do not deny what your eyes beam into your mind! It is no fib. For with her under my control, the world will finally know Feu's blazing heat! Behold," he announced as he drew attention to his death ray on the screen. "Project FLAMBE!"

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-Transmission Interrupted. Check it and spec it.