Walking down the street, Jackson kept his head down and his hands in his pockets.
"Stupid sister, stupid mother, stupid brother..." He muttered, kicking a pebble on the pavement.
He knew the path to his friends Curtis' house well. It was just seven forty now, and the walk took about ten minutes. The meeting was not until two o clock. Jackson just hoped Action Platypus would not be over by the time he got there. With that thought in mind, he picked up the pace, jogging down the sidewalk.
When he reached Curtis' house, he knocked just in case his parents were home.
"Oh hey Numbuh 456. What are you doing here? Im supposed to come pick you up at ten." Curtis said when he answered the door.
"Well, mum banned me from watching Action Platypus. Can I watch it here?" Jackson peered past his friend, looking towards their living room.
"I suppose so. Why don't you go over to the treehouse?" Curtis said, letting Jackson past.
"You were closer."
Jackson turned on the tv, and flicked through the channels.
"It's over? Come on!" He shouted at no one in particular.
"Well, Falcon Fighters is on on channel seven about now. We could watch that until ten o clock, they're doing a huge marathon." Curtis said, taking the remote.
"Yeah, that'll be cool."
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Victoria watched the clock tick by. Nine minutes past ten. Numbuh 333 said he would be here at ten minutes past ten. She hopped off her chair and ran to the window.
Nothing. She couldn't see anyone, much less a kid.
Sighing, she walked back to the living room and looked at the clock again. Thirty seconds. Hopefully he wouldn't be late. That would be horrible. She didn't know where their sectors treehouse was. She also didn't want to miss the meeting.
Ten seconds.
"Tori?!" Her mother called from the office.
Victoria groaned inwardly. She probably had a job. Which would mean if Numbuh 333 did show up, he would have to wait. Which means Numbuh 127 would have to wait, which means they would be late.
They couldn't be late.
"Yes mum?" Victoria called, walking towards her mothers office.
"Do you know where the home phone is? It's disappeared again."
"I think it's in the kitchen." Victoria stopped in her mothers doorway.
"Can you go grab it?"
Just then, Victoria heard a knock. She sprinted to the kitchen, grabbed the phone and brought it back to her mother in record time.
"I'm going to go to the special meeting now!" She said.
"Okay. Will any of your friends be there?" Her mother looked up from her computer.
"Ummm, I think so."
"Alright then. Have fun!"
"I will!" Victoria sprinted out of the office and to the front door.
Opening it, she found Numbuh 333 and 456.
"Hello Numbuh 110!" Numbuh 333 said brightly.
"Hello!"
"You ready to go?"
"Yup!"
"You have your ticket?"
Victoria produced the little slip of paper she had been given yesterday. Without, she couldn't get into the meeting. So she had kept it on her bedside table the whole night, to make sure she didn't lose it.
"Alright then, let's go pick up Numbuh Eleventy-Two."
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Angelie was tearing through the house. She opened every drawer, looked under every cushion. It was nowhere to be found.
"Kaji! Where did you put it?!" She shouted, cornering her little brother.
"I told you, I haven't seen your ticket!" He replied, folding his arms in a huff.
"I know you've hidden it! Where is it?!"
"I don't know! Leave me alone or I'm telling Dad when he gets home."
Angelie studies Kaji's face. He didn't seem to be lying. But that didn't mean he wasn't lying. She didn't want him to tattle to dad though.
"Fine. But if I find out you took it, I'm going to kill you." She threatened, putting on her best 'I don't care' face.
"Sure." Kaji stalked off to their room.
Angelie had decided to go over the living room just one more time when she heard the doorbell ring. Her heart sank.
She wanted so badly for everyone, especially Numbuh 127 to trust her not to lose things. But she always did.
"Hey Numbuh Eleventy-Two, are you ready to go?" Numbuh 333 looked curiously at the mess in the house.
"No. I can't find my ticket" she admitted sheepishly.
"You left your ticket at the treehouse, remember? Numbuh 127 said she'd look after it. " Numbuh 333 reminded her.
Angelie felt a wave of relief come over her. She wasn't going to miss the meeting, and she hadn't lost her ticket! Just then she spotted the new recruit next to Numbuh 333.
"Hello!" She said cheerfully.
"Hello Numbuh Eleventy-Two!" Numbuh 110 smiled.
"Okay, I'm ready to go now!" Angelie closed the door behind her, and started walking down the driveway.
"Alright Numbuh 110, when we get to the treehouse, I'm going to show you all the spare rooms. And when we come back from the meeting, you get to pick which one you want to stay in. That way, you can think about it while we're at the meeting." Angelie announced proudly.
"Just make sure you show her all the spare rooms, not just the ones closest to your room Eleventy-Two" Numbuh 333 said, though he was grinning.
"Why is 456 so quiet today? It's weird." Angelie asked, crossing over to walk next to the young boy.
"He's mad because he missed his favourite show. He barely spoke during the Falcon Fighters marathon." Numbuh 333 explained as 456 blew Angelie a raspberry.
"Hey! He blew his tongue out at me!" Angelie put on her best face.
"You two need to stop fighting." Numbuh 333 sighed as Angelie made a face at the African-Australian boy behind him.
"Well she started it." Numbuh 456 said, scrunching his nose.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Uh huh!"
"Be quiet! You're going to attract grown ups." Numbuh 333 forcefully pushed the two further away from each other, leaving Numbuh 110 trailing behind. Angelie stuck out her lip and looked away from Numbuh 456, instead focusing on the sidewalk in front of her.
"Are they like this a lot?" Numbuh 110 asked, picking up the pace.
"Yeah. It can get in the way on missions, but usually Numbuh 127 can get them sorted out."
The group kept walking along the sidewalk. Angelie saw their treehouse before she saw Numbuh 127's house. It was absolutely ginormous. There was an unused part of the Sydney opera house wedged in between the wood and leaves, and all sorts of knick knacks and trinkets hanging off the sides. Numbuh 456 liked making new defence systems and weapons for the sector to use, and Angelie liked decorating them. She always had to do it while he wasn't around, and he always got mad.
"It's so big!" Numbuh 110 exclaimed, gaping at the treehouse looking before them.
"It seems even bigger on the inside too!" Angelie said, getting excited again.
"Wow!"
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Laura was up in the treehouse, preparing everything for the groups arrival. She had her ticket, and Numbuh Eleventy-Two's was in the girl's room. She had made sure to leave it right on her bed, so that Eleventy-Two wouldn't miss it somehow. Laura had also packed a bag full of special lollies and snacks, like Tim-Tams for the trip.
She checked the clock. Forty minutes past ten. If Curtis was on time, they should be close to her house by now. It was a twenty minute walk from Numbuh Eleventy-Two's house to knew she needed to check on their ship, but Curtis was better at it.
She heard a beep, and breathed a sigh of relief. They were on time, more or less. They wouldn't be late, and she could get good seats at the meeting. She ran to the monitor, and switched to the moniter that watched the door to the treehouse.
"Hey Laura!" Curtis looked slightly exhausted, and Numbuh Eleventy-Two and 456 weren't looking at each other. Numbuh 110 seemed very excited though.
"Hey guys! What's the password?" Laura thought it was them, but she was always cautious.
"Claj" Curtis whispered, just in case someone was trying to listen.
They had agreed the password would be their initials. There were more security measures there, if no one was in the treehouse, there would be a scan. Laura suddenly realised she would probably have to change the password to include Numbuh 110's initial.
She pushed some buttons, and the rest of her sector was allowed in. Laura walked over to the elevator and waited for them to reach the main room. There was a ding, and the door opened, with Numbuh 456 running out immediately, sprinting towards the huge television on the wall. He was probably going to play some video games.
"And then my room has all sorts of- Oh I'll just show you!" Numbuh Eleventy-Two had grabbed Numbuh 110's hand and was running towards a corridor leading to her room.
Curtis walked out of the elevator, looking slightly exasperated.
"I hope Numbuh 110 doesn't talk as much as her" He said.
"Did she say much in the way over?" Laura asked.
"No, but when she's settled in we'll know for sure" He looked down the corridor, where Numbuh Eleventy-Two's voice echoed through the treehouse.
Curtis sighed, before heading to the computer.
"Anything we need to do before we leave?" He asked, flicking through files.
"Just check the ship, and make sure Numbuh Eleventy-Two doesn't leave her ticket behind."
"Wouldn't it be better if you just held onto it until we get to the auditorium?"
"Yes. But she begged me to let her handle it once we were all at the treehouse." Laura sighed, feeling glad she had gotten everyone here early enough to deal with any mishaps that were sure to happen.
"Off to the ship then?" Curtis offered.
"Yeah" And the two went off to the hangar.
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Victoria knew for a fact she would not remember everything that was being shown to her right now. Numbuh Eleventy-Two was whizzing her through rooms faster than she could register what was inside it.
"And this is where Numbuh 456 keeps all his spare parts! It's really dusty. Ooooh, and up ahead is the generator! I have to show you!" And Victoria was dragged along to another door.
Numbuh Eleventy-Two opened the door proudly, showing her a large room, with machines and screens everywhere. There were also a large amount of treadmills on one side of the room, and a pen on the other side of the room. There were also sheepdogs everywhere, running on the treadmills, or laying down and relaxing in the pen.
"I thought hamsters or guinea pigs were used for generators." Victoria said, watching the animals intently.
"Usually, but with the sheepdogs, they make lots of energy quickly, so we have them run to fill up the generators, so we have energy stored away. We also don't need as many. It's way better!" Eleventy-Two said, walking into the rest area and patting the sheepdogs.
"Do they bite?" The other girl asked, sitting near the fence.
"Nope! They're really nice, I've trained them. They're actually super friendly" Numbuh Eleventy-Two picked up a sleepy sheepdog puppy.
"Aww, it's so cute!" Victoria said, stepping over the fence tentatively.
"Yeah, this little guy was only born, like three months ago." Eleventy-Two fawned over the puppy as if it was her own child.
"So are you in charge of the dogs?" Victoria patted the puppy, who wagged its tail slowly, appreciating the attention.
"Yeah, I take care of them all. Mum doesn't let me have a pet, so these are like my pets. It's way better than having just one dog!" Eleventy-Two set down the puppy, who waddled over to where it was sleeping before beside its mother and four siblings.
Victoria watched the dogs excitedly. One sheepdog jumped off a treadmill, and walked over to the pen. When it walked through, there was one beep, and all the dogs in the pen looked up. Then, one got up and walked over to the treadmills, and picked up where the other one left off.
"Woah. So when one gets tired, it can be replaced by another?" She asked, looking at the new dog start to speed up on the treadmill.
"Yeah. But when a girl dog has puppies, she gets to stay out until they're old enough." Numbuh Eleventy-Two pointed again to the sleeping litter of puppies.
"Cool"
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Laura and Curtis entered the hangar. There was the ship, which they had made in order to fit Numbuh 110, it seated five people. It was half green, half yellow. Eleventy-Two and 456 had argued over the painting, so they each got a half. It looked a bit weird, but Laura didn't mind.
That much.
Curtis opened the door of the ship, which was made up of a car they had borrowed from a dealership. Laura was about to enter the ship herself when Curtis appeared in the doorway.
"It's nearly out of fuel" He said, annoyed.
"How? I filled it up yesterday after we got back from the arctic base." Laura's mind raced. What had happened?
"Well it's gone now. When I left your house, it still had enough for today. Only you and Jackson were in the treehouse after I left." He frowned, coming to the same conclusion as Laura.
"He went and took it out for a ride!" Laura's face turned a little red.
"We don't have any fuel here at the treehouse, but the old ship has some" Curtis said.
"Enough to fill up this one?" Laura asked hopefully.
"No, but enough to get it to the Moonbase and back. We'd just need to find an extra seat for Numbuh 110." Sighing, Laura knew she had no choice.
Setback after setback. Why did it have to happen today, she thought as she and Curtis walked towards the spare parts room. Hopefully there was a seat there.
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Hello everyone! I hope you like the second chapter. It's longer than the first one. So, from now on my plan is to release a chapter near the end of each month. This one was a bit late, sorry. Hope you enjoy!