Ruby shifted and groaned as she woke up, her entire body aching something fierce. She was allergic to being electrocuted. She felt cold air drift across her face, and she blinked her eyes open in confusion. They had been inside when they were knocked out, hadn't they? She was outside, a small blanket with a plaid pattern draped over her. She looked around to see her teammates laying around her with similar blankets draped over them as well. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"How did we?..." She trailed off as she heard shifting from beside her. She turned to see Heathcliff rolling over onto his stomach, pushing himself up, wobbling to his feet as he rubbed his head.
"Pufferfish? Ow...what the heck happened?" He asked. Ruby shrugged, hauling herself to her feet as well.
"I don't know. All I know is that we got zapped and knocked out because that girl turned on all the security again." She replied. The two stopped at a pained whine, looking over to see Julio rubbing at his temples and slowly sitting up.
"My head hurts. Did we get knocked out?" He said. Ruby sighed, nodding.
"Unfortunately. And it looks like our villain got away because of it. We're still trying to figure out why we're outside and why we have blankets." She replied. Julio frowned slightly.
"Do you think Mr.Brand pulled us out?" He asked. Heathcliff shook his head.
"No, if he had pulled us out, we would probably already be either in the school bus or at home. He wouldn't have just left us out with blankets. Plus, these aren't the types we keep in the bus. Ours have our logo on them." He answered. Ruby crossed her arms, thinking. A growl drew their attention, and they saw Matilda hopping to her feet, immediately in a fighting position and looking around. Her tenseness was replaced with confusion as she saw her teammates and where they were.
"Um, anyone mind telling me what happened? I remember getting electrocuted and that's it." She said. She was met with a collective shrug from the others.
"We're trying to figure that out too. It would help if Gluestick and Braceface were awake right now." Ruby replied. Matilda smirked slightly.
"That can be arranged." She said slyly. She walked to Jackson before backing up a few steps. She bent her knees and leapt up, falling down onto him and driving her elbow into his stomach in the process. He jerked, waking up almost immediately as he gasped for air, rolling onto his side and clutching his stomach.
"Ow! That hurt! What the heck was...that...for...?" He slowed to a stop as he looked up at his teammates, confusion dripping from his expression. Matilda patted him on the back before walking to Duncan and shaking him lightly. Jackson narrowed his eyes at her.
"Oh so I get a pile driver and he just gets a shake." He huffed. Matilda stuck her tongue out at the boy. Duncan soon blinked awake, looking around.
"Alright, good. Everyone's awake. Now we can figure out where and why we're here and who put us here." Ruby said. Duncan sat up before being pulled to his feet by Matilda.
"We should call Brand. He can check where we are and pick us up." He said. Ruby rubbed her face with a sour expression.
"Yeah, alright. Brand is gonna throw a fit though. This villain is a slippery one." She replied flatly. She sighed before tapping her nose, closing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips.
"Hey boss. Just reporting in, got electrocuted and knocked out, and now we're outside somewhere. ...Yeah. We lost her." She spoke. She suddenly flinched, likely from Brand yelling something. She rubbed her ear before continuing.
"Sorry, we'll try again next time. I'm sure we can do this. ...Uh huh. Yeah, alright. Just come and get us." She said before putting her head in her hands and groaning.
"Feeling frustrated?" Heathcliff asked her. She glared at him.
"Frustrated doesn't cut it. We've never lost a villain like that before! We always get them before they're able to get away! In fact, I'm pretty sure she's the only villain in the history of NERDS that has ever gotten away this many times! I checked the previous mission files on her, and so far, she has gotten away 34 times!!! 34!!! Are you even kidding me???" She cried, throwing her hands up.
The others glaced at eachother, different faces of awkwardness on them. Duncan walked to her and patted her on the back.
"It's ok. We're some of the best. I'm sure that we can catch her next time." He said comfortingly. Ruby sighed again, looking at him.
"Yeah, I know. It's just annoying." She answered. For a few minutes, the children continued to talk about the frustration of their mission before the school bus finally appeared, landing behind them. The door opened up, and the lunch lady waved over at them.
"Need a ride?" He asked jokingly.
"Oh I don't know. We could always just hop on Wheezer and have her fly us all the way back." Jackson joked back, giving him a couple finger guns. The children climbed aboard, flopping down into their seats.
"What a day, huh?" Julio said. The others laughed.
"Yeah. Hopefully one we don't have to repeat." Heathcliff replied.