A/N: Hey everybody. Sorry this update took so long. School... work... school... more work, you get the point. Anyway, thank you to the first reviewers for your opinions on this next fic. I hope it turns out as good as the last one. [If you can tell, I'm still not used to so many reviewers. :3]

MsAngelAdorer: Yeah... their names came from the wiki site before it was edited. With David and Lenny set in stone, I kinda just went with the wiki. The blonde girl to me looks like an Ashley, I would guess Bruce or Ricky for the short blond boy, and Ogie?... um... sure...

yougotburned: Thank you! :D I shall.

MidniteCurse4Eternity: Yay! Thanks!


What Happened to Sector Z?

Chapter 2
Our Quest

Transmission Recording…

Status Report: It's been seven months since my team and I have started our search for what we have labeled "the cure." Hearing about Grandfather's powers and if released could spread… we think of him more as a disease. If we kids want to stay kids, we need help.

We've been able to isolate different myths about "forever youth" and have spread out all over trying to investigate them. David was sent to Florida for the Agua de Vida; Ogie to France; Bruce to China; Lenny to Africa; and I to the Arctic. We have no idea what we are looking for, but I'm sure we will know when we find it.

Ashley stopped recording and rubbed her hands from under her gloves. She had been cooped up in her makeshift lab carved out under the ice. Around her desk were stacks of books: books of legends, books of science and biology…

If only we could find something, she thought irritably while continuing to rub her hands. It was in the late winter and spring would soon be coming, by that time she had to leave or risk her lab melting on top of her.

She continued reading about the Arctic. The north and south poles were known for having the cleanest, purest fresh water in the world. Some rumored there was a spring that could lengthen a person's life span.

Suddenly the radio crackled to life. "Ashley… come in Ashley…" It was David.

"Yeah David?"

"… we fou—" the static covered his words, much to the blonde leader's annoyance.

"Just a minute David, I've lost you." She twisted the dial of the make-shift radio and hit the top.

"Can you hear… now?"

"Better. So what were you saying?"

"I was saying we may have found something."

"In Florida?" she asked excitedly.

"No… Cleveland."

"What?"


Ashley, David, Bruce, Lenny, and Ogie all were seated at a little soda bar, mugs of sarsaparilla in front of each. While they had been away, the adults decided to pick up their losses and finally being their oppression anew, starting by outlawing pop for kids under thirteen. The soda-prohibition led to a number of kid speakeasies, this one the newest of many.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" asked the bar-tender.

"Nah, we're all set," said Lenny.

"Nice place you've got here," commented Ogie.

"Yeah… I just gotta come up with a name."

"How about naming it after me?" Bruce piped, puffing out his chest.

The bartender rolled his eyes. "Yeah… I'll think about that," he said sarcastically before walking away.

The others gave Bruce looks, making him shrug. "What?"

"Smooth," said David.

"Alright guys, let's get down to business. What did you guys find?" interjected Ashley.

"It's some weird stuff," said Lenny. "There is a local legend about a source that has some kind of element to keep one young forever."

"Like a fountain of youth," said Bruce.

"It's a legend just like the others," Ashley commented disappointingly.

"That's what I thought too, until I did some research," said David. "There is a student at the elementary school who has gone to several different home rooms over the years."

"They probably just got held back."

"270 times?" David handed his leader the transcripts he dug up. "They go in a pattern. By the time a teacher retires, they're back."

"But how?" asked Ashley.

"That's what we want to ask him."

"Him?"

"Yeah, him. The kid's name is Leroy."

"Well, let's go find him."


Leroy sat at the new school library. Hard to believe that only one hundred years ago it was built, but time was irrelative. Sneaking a handful of Snap Stone candy in his mouth, he continued reading the comic book in his hand.

"Hey, kid." The darker boy glanced up and saw five kids seated in front of him. Not wanting to show his surprise about how they got there so fast, he held out a Snap Stone.

"Want some?" he offered. The blonde girl in the center raised her hand to decline.

"Nah. We actually want to talk."

Leroy pushed up his glasses. "About what?"

"Is there somewhere more private we can talk?" she asked. He glanced around the library. There wasn't a soul in sight except for the old crone of a librarian.

"You probably won't get better than this," he gestured to the empty room.

"Fair enough," she sighed and then leaned in closer. "We want to talk about your secret."

Inside his heart began to pound, but he looked cool and collected on the outside. "My secret?" he asked innocently. "What secret?"

"The secret to how you've been able to be in the same school for over 200 years," said the tall boy next to the blonde. He laid out a manila folder marked Leroy.

"Must be a filing mistake. You know adults… always messing up the paperwork. A wonder they can grade anything."

"Quit fooling around!" hissed the shorter blond boy. "This is serious."

"So am I," answered Leroy. "Why do you want to know about it?"

"So you admit there is a secret," said the blonde girl. Leroy frowned a little, realizing his mistake.

"I can neither admit or deny that."

"So if there is a secret… what is it?" asked another boy towards the back.

"First you have to answer my question. Why do you want to know?"

The center blonde girl looked at each of her companions and then back at Leroy. Something was driving these kids, he thought. They needed something.

"You remember Grandfather?"

"Who doesn't? Worst time to ever be a kid. I almost considered…" Leroy looked down at his hands. "Never mind. Get on with it."

"Well we know about his ability to age-ify kids into mindless adults. It never really happened because he didn't have to. We kids gave in too easily. But what if another adult can do that? What if something like Grandfather happens again?" she asked.

"What's your point?"

"The point is you have the answer to prevent that from happening. You've been a kid for over 200 years. You don't have to grow up! What if kids had that choice? We would never have to grow up and become stupid adults."

He had to admit that her speech was passionate and her ideas not too bad, but they had no idea what such vision cost.

"You don't know what you're saying," he said slowly.

"Then enlighten us," challenged the aggressive blond boy.

Leroy shot him a glare and then looked at each of them while explaining, "It all sounds good, but you have no idea what it would really be like to always live. Being a kid is great. It's just how long that's the problem."

"So help us. We want to find a way where kids can stay kids. We don't want to be adults," said the taller boy.

Leroy shook his head. "No. It's already my burden. No one else will ever be troubled with the fountain."

"Fountain?" asked the shorter girl.

Leroy flinched. Another slip up!

"So you have a fountain of youth," concluded the blonde leader.

"What of it?" he hissed. "You'll never know where it is or how it works. Only two people do, and neither of us are willing to tell."

"Why not?" asked the tall boy.

"Because eternal youth isn't all its cracked up to be! And there are… side effects."

"Side effects?" asked the blonde girl.

"Yeah. I'm a kid who has gone to school 270 times. Why stay if I've already learned everything I can here?"

"You're a nerd?" the short blond boy guessed. Leroy adjusted his glasses and glared daggers down at him.

"No! Once you drink from the fountain, you can't stop. The first years fly by and then you realize you're over a hundred and suddenly if you want to live, you have to continue drinking. The youth isn't permanent. I and my cousin can never leave the school walls and neither can anyone else who uses the fountain."

The others were silent. David squinted down at his hands, thinking hard of a solution. It was a temporary cure to adulthood, but they weren't looking for temporary. They needed permanent.

"What if you gave us a sample of the fountain?" David started slowly. Leroy opened his mouth to speak, but David kept going on. "Just to look at. If we could use it to come up with a more permanent solution… you could be a kid without the gruesome side effects."

Leroy closed his mouth and looked off to the distance in thought. The idea did appeal to him. He could finally go to the playground without having to worry about getting a daily spritz or turning to dust.

"And you could do this?" he asked doubtfully.

"We can try," Ashley smirked.

Leroy nodded and leaned back in his seat. "I can't tell you the fountain's location. Just meet me by the girl's bathroom in an hour." Spitting in his hand, he reached it out and was equally received by Ashley's hand to seal the agreement.