Ok, weird chapter. There is no running mood, so prepare to have your emotions screwed with.
Chapter 10: Awakening
Location Unknown
Kuki's eyes slowly opened. She was lying in a bed, that she was sure of, but she defiantly wasn't at home. Her head was pounding and her vision was blurred. She sat and shook her head, only to notice an absence of covering over her chest as the duvet slipped off. She let out a gasp and quickly snatched them back up to cover herself. Her eyes finally came into focus as the very confused 12 year old tried to make sense of her surroundings. She was in a small room, the furniture consisting simply of the bed she was sitting in, a mini fridge and small TV. Her clothes were scattered throughout the room. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what was happening. She quickly shoved her hand under the covers and felt around a bit, letting out a sigh of relief. At least those were still on. She slowly got up and gathered her clothes, putting them on. Panic had subdued and she quietly began to sob. Once fully clothed she found her handbag and taking out the mustard blaster she kept just in case, Kuki then searched the rest of the small apartment, not finding a sole about. She tried the door to find it unlocked. She clambered into the hall, walking quickly towards the stairs. Once outside the building she remembered her cell phone. Pulling it out, she dialed the only number she could.
Sector S tree-house
"From the top to the bottom! Bottom to top I stop. At the core I've forgotten! In the middle of my thoughts. Taken far form my safety! The picture's there. The memory won't escape me! But why should I care. There's a place so dark…"
Wally jerked up, answering the cell already in his hand.
"Hello?" he said holding his head, despite the fact he had sobered up after hearing about Kuki's disappearance, it didn't stop the hangover.
"Wally?" came Kuki's shaky voice.
"Kuki!" Wally exclaimed waking up completely, "Are you ok? Where are you?"
"Wally, I don't know what happened to me!" Kuki shouted over the phone bursting into tears.
The young Aussie's blood ran cold.
"Kuki stay exactly where you are, d'you hear me?" he said already making his way out the room, "I'm coming to get you."
Kuki just sniffed in reply. Wally burst into the lounge area to find the three drunken operatives still sprawled out over the seating. He ran over to Hoagie and nudged him.
"Hoags, wake up," he said nudging him again, but the pilot wouldn't stir. Wally let out a sigh of frustration, and then noticed the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. keys hanging out of Hoagie's pocket. Snatching them up, he raced towards the hanger.
"My, my, aren't we in a rush," a voice came from behind him.
Wally spun to glare at his observer. Tasmin just smiled.
"Don't start your shit with me," Wally snarled.
"Oh ya," the coloured girl said, "you've got to find your beloved, and you have no idea of her whereabouts."
"I'll find her," Wally seethed, "If I have to search this whole goddamned continent."
"I'll save you some troubled then," Tasmin smirked, "corner of Ibsen and Gallus, Konica Motel, use the ship's GPS."
Wally stood to give her one final glare, before spinning round and pacing it down the corridor. Tasmin could only smile.
Back in the living room
Abby was awake. She didn't open eyes, but she didn't want to. Despite a small headache, she was comfortable and warm, that's all she knew, and that's all she cared about. She rolled over to face the mass of warmth beside her and snuggled into it, embracing the somehow familiar smell of mint aerosol. Something fell around her waist as the warm mass sighed.
"Erm, could you get off my hand," the mass mumbled.
"Yeah, sure," Abby mumbled back, absentmindedly.
She raised her body slightly so the arm could be pulled out from underneath her. It then moved to rest alongside her. She was now staring the mass in the face. She could feel it's breath on her own face and again it was familiar, but something deep inside her told her she didn't care. Then it all came rushing back. Her heart almost stopped. The mass had also seemed to make the same conclusion because it stopped breathing.
"Oh please no," Abby pleaded to herself.
"Hoagie?" she asked in a squeaky voice.
"Abby?" came the horrified reply.
Both operatives' eyes shot open at the same time, to reveal the fact that their faces were millimeters apart. They let out a gasp and sat up, knocking their heads in the process.
"Owww!" they both cried out as the previous evening took its revenge.
"Wha-what?" Michelle mumbled from the coffee-table where she had spent the night, before clutching her own head, "Owww."
She rubbed her eyes to look at the two operatives before her, still entangled with one another on the couch. A huge grin spread across her face.
"Did you guys spend the night on the couch together?" she asked mockingly.
Numbuh 2 and 5 blushed furiously.
"Well, we um," Hoagie tried to say.
"Must've partied too hard last night," Abby said to finish his sentence, "we had no control of our actions, I mean, look at you; you slept on a coffee table."
"No control?" Michelle giggled, "in that case who knows what might've happened last night."
Numbuh 2 and 5 blushed even harder, realizing they had just dug themselves a deeper grave. The red-head was now in fits, long dismounted from her coffee-table/seat/bed. Abby and Hoagie untangled themselves, not making eye contact. Michelle sat up from the floor.
"I should thank you guys," she said, still chuckling, "I've never lost a hangover so fast."
Within
Father was in the dark. He didn't know where he was or how he got there, but he knew it was dark, very dark. Father tried to conjure a flame to give him some light, but he couldn't. So he began to walk, stumbling as he did.
"Be-en," a voice teased from behind him in a hoarse whisper.
Father spun around only to find darkness in his wake.
"Benedict," the same voice came from his left.
"Who's there?" Father demanded.
"Benny," the voice came again, this time right next to his ear.
Father let out a majorly OOC yelp and shut his eyes. When he opened them again he was sitting in grey office. Before him was a long oak table and seated down each side where six middle-aged men, all in suits. Father himself was in 'human' form, his dark silluette gone. At the head of the table sat an older man, his pointy grey beard looking almost white against his dark suit and red tie. An amused grin hung below the man's crooked nose. Father narrowed his eyes.
"Real funny, dad," he said.
The old man gave a chuckle.
"Aw, c'mon Benny-boy," Grandfather smiled, "you know I love to screw with your head, besides, you've always been afraid of the dark."
"That's real fatherly of you, pops," Father sneered.
"Fatherly? Ha! Me? HA!" the aged man taunted.
"So what's with the theme?" Father commented looking around, "What do you call this? Gloomy Office Drag?"
"Well, you know me; I like to be professional about these kind of things," Grandfather said.
"And them?" Father asked motioning his thumb to the nearest businessman.
"They're just for effect," Grandfather said with a shrug.
He grabbed the one nearest to him and threw through a window, the man screamed as he fell to his doom. Father looked back at the man's seat to find him sitting there once more. The window was also suddenly intact.
"See?"
"Ok, ok, I get it," Father said nodding in approval, he then turned to his father, "so what do you want?"
"Want?" Grandfather said looking shocked, "Is a man not allowed to pay his own son a visit? I mean, you never do, so if I have to make the move to get some kind of connection between us, then I will."
He paused for a moment to catch his son's reaction.
"Not working," Father said, unimpressed.
"Fine," the older Uno said with a sigh, "but if your mother asks, I tried, alright?"
"Deal," Father said.
"Right," Grandfather said, stroking his beard, "as you know, it has been a good thirty years since I passed the Power of Fatherhood onto you, so I'm simply here to tell you that it's time for you to choose an heir to your power."
"What?" Father exclaimed.
"Don't worry," Grandfather assured him, "retirement is great, golf everyday, no work, and some pretty fine nurses, if you know what I mean."
"But you kept your power well after age 42," Father argued.
"I kept my power for so long because I put it to good use," Grandfather replied, his voice becoming stern, "I enslaved all of kid-kind, you on the other hand have done nothing to prove you worth."
"What about the Great Time Out?" Father cried in desperation, "I banished all children to the moon!"
"Yes, but not only did you welcome them back, but you then allowed the KND to reform and have not been able to rid yourself of them since," Grandfather said slumping back into his chair, "The Great Time Out was good, Benny, but you screwed it up."
Father sat in silence for a moment.
"Who the hell am I supposed to choose as my heir?" he finally asked, "I have no kids!"
"You mean those five creepy kids with the blue eyes aren't yours?" Grandfather asked in a confused tone.
"They're a brainwashed KND sector," Father said crossing his arms.
"That explains a lot," the old man said thoughtfully, "I always wondered why I was never introduced to the mother. But weren't you due to be married to that Norwegian girl? What was her name? Louis?"
"Louise," Father said rolling his eyes, "and that didn't work out, I thought mom told you."
"That woman never tells me anything," Grandfather grumbled.
"Anyway, that's beside the point," Father said waving his arms about, "I have no kids, so how am I supposed to choose an heir?"
"You have a nephew," Grandfather said with a smirk.
"Nigel Uno?!" Father almost laughed, "You're joking right?"
"I'm dead serious," Grandfather said chuckling.
"Have you lost your mind?" Father asked tapping his forehead, "That goody-goody would never do anything to oppose his precious Kids Next Door."
"Power does strange things to people, Ben," Grandfather mused, "just look at you."
"I still refuse to hand my power over to my worst enemy," Father pouted, crossing his arms, "It defies the laws of nature."
"Oh stop it," Grandfather said with a frown, slightly irritated by his son's childish behavior, "tell you what, the powers that be are pretty impressed with your current operation, pull it off and we'll add an extra twenty years or so to your contract."
"Fine," Father grumbled.
"But Benny…" Grandfather was suddenly right in his face, "don't screw this up."
Father opened his eyes. He was sitting in his office, slouched in the chair behind his desk. He rubbed his eyes and pressed the small button one his intercom.
"Yes sir?" Harrison's quivering voice crackled through the speaker.
"Harrison, would you step in here for a moment," Father said politely.
He heard Harrison gulp.
"Yes sir."
Harrison slipped in and crept towards the desk.
"Y-you w-wanted to see me, sir?" he stuttered.
"Yes," Father said smiling.
He flicked his hand suddenly, blasting poor Sam out of the room with a fire ball.
"Much better," Father said with a sigh.
"Glad I could help, sir," Harrison squeaked as the door shut.
Sector S, Medical ward waiting room
Nigel was baffled. How? How had this all happened? A year ago he had a perfect team, one of the most respected in the KND, with an impeccable mission record and the only thorn in his side being Numbuh 363 and Sector W. But somehow, everything had started going downhill; Lizzie breaking up with him, the internal investigation on his sector and what he figured was the loss of his two best friends. But these all seemed irrelevant to the current happenings. He glanced around the room, only Abby, Hoagie, Wally and Vuyani were present. Abby and Hoagie sat in silence together and Vuyani did the same while Wally was pacing a rut in the tiled floor. He looked the worst of all of them, but who could blame him? He hadn't gotten a minute of sleep the night before, and his crush was, well, y'know.
"Welcome to the KND News Network, I'm Numbuh 12."
"And I'm Numbuh 31."
"Our top story today was meant to be a segment on the illustrious Sector V, documenting their triumphs as they celebrate their 5th year as a sector, but, a recent set of events has caused us to run a different segment."
Everyone's attention turned to the mounted TV in the far corner of the room.
"Nigel Uno, Hoagie P. Gilligan II, Kuki Sanban, Wallabee Beatles and Abigail Lincoln, Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, or, Sector V of the Kids Next Door. Whatever you choose to call them, form the moment these five were a team, they began raising the bar for KND operatives everywhere. From early triumphs like destroying the Age-a-fiyer, to history making accomplishments such as defeating Grandfather, these five are undoubtedly some of the best.This is why the kid community was so shocked when global command issued an internal investigation of the sector."
"Rumors began flying about that Numbuhs 2 and 5 were involved in the attempt to crash the decommissioning of former Global Tactics Officer Numbuh 86 by supplying inside information to the TEENZ. In the end, nothing was found, but that didn't stop suspensions from being raised. It was even said that global command had put a tail on the two suspected operatives. Sightings of Numbuhs 2 and 5 meeting with strange figures, purchasing illegal tech and even leaving the country stirred even more excitement."
"In what appears to be an attempt to see if the sector is still worth it's while, GC then assigned them to the operation that was being turned down by so many other sectors; the reattempt to find the Lost City of the Basuga, codenamed Operation A.F.R.I.C.A it has so far proven to be one of their toughest mission, the worst of which being Numbuh 1's leg wound which was caused by, get this, a gun, and they haven't even reached the desert yet."
"But things reached a whole new level last night. We have just received Intel that Numbuh 3 was abducted last night while out at a club in South Africa. She had been out with Numbuh 5 and two other operatives from the shady Sector S, who have also recently been under the GC spotlight."
"Now I don't wanna sound bitchy, but I can almost guarantee there was a large amount of soda involved."
"Luckily the flirt of Sector V was located and rescued this morning. Details are shady, but it's being said that she was most likely…"
"Just shut it off," Wally sneered as he turned away from the small screen.
Vuyani turned the set off and looked over at Nigel, who was deep in thought. The African boy got up from where he was sitting and made his way over to the quiet brit.
"You seem troubled, my friend," he said placing a hand on Nigel's shoulder.
"Hmm?" Nigel said looking up, "oh, Numbuh 646, no I'm fine, just trying to figure out what I'm going to tell Numbuh 362, she's not going to be happy."
"That is an understatement," Vuyani smiled, "do not worry, you seem to know how to butter her up."
"Please don't start with that again," Nigel said with a tired smile.
Vuyani just laughed.
"It is not a bad thing you know," he said, "sometimes it is good to have friends in high places."
The ward doors swung open as Tasmin walked out, pulling at pair of latex gloves. Everyone stood to meet her.
"And?" Wally asked.
"Well, nothing dodgy happened," Tasmin sighed, "I was able to pull some DNA and put it through B.O.G.A.S, but she did get quite a scare."
She stared at Wally as she finished the sentence. Wally glared back, his eyes narrowed.
"You can go in and see her if you want," she said turning back to the rest of the group.
She started towards the door. As the others went inside, Wally just watched her leave. Sensing his glare Tasmin looked back over her shoulder, giving the Aussie a wink before walking through the doors. Wally swore under his breath before pushing through the doors. Kuki was sitting upright, propped up by a number of pillows. Her favorite Rainbow Monkey sat beside her, which was already strange; it was usually wedged between her arms. Kuki herself wasn't looking too good, the shock and fear had evolved into fatigue, which was evident on every aspect of her face and her usually picture perfect hair had lost its sheen, with a few loose strands lying over her face. Abby held Kuki's right hand in her own, massaging it with her thumb.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I'll be fine," Kuki replied with a faint smile, "I just need some rest."
"Will you still be able to join the expedition?" Nigel asked.
Abby gave him a death glare. Kuki laughed a bit.
"Its fine Abs," she said, "Yes, I will."
"Jeez, and I thought I over did it," Hoagie said in a surprised tone.
Kuki grabbed the top of his shirt, yanking the pilot to meet her face.
"Shut it, fly-boy," she said harshly, "I don't need your crap right now."
She pushed the goggled boy away, sending him stumbling.
"Well," Nigel said sensing the need to leave, "I think we should all let Numbuh 3 get some rest."
He turned to the door and led out, followed by the rest of the team. Kuki rolled over to sleep, the Rainbow Monkey falling off the bed. She didn't even bother to pick it up.
A rooftop somewhere on the Sector S tree-house
Michelle's feet dangled off the edge of the gutter she sat over, her fiery hair blowing ever so slightly in the cool breeze. In front of her was the Glencrain valley, crusted with white beach, which was met by the dark blue water of the Atlantic. The sun was starting to dip ever so slightly in the afternoon sky as a few lonely clouds drifted overhead. She let out a satisfied sigh.
"Y'know," a voice said from behind her, "of all the reasons to wanna leave this place, I think this kind of thing is the only reason there are still white people in this country."
Michelle giggled as her boyfriend came to sit next to her.
"That, and our rugby team," she said as he pulled her into him.
Dean smiled as the two sat in silence. After a while Michelle spoke up.
"Nothing happened to her, right?" she asked in a quiet voice looking up at him.
Dean sighed and smiled.
"No, Tasmin said she got Riaan from down the street to do it," he explained, "the guy apparently wet himself when he found out she wasn't wearing a bra."
Michelle gave the brown haired boy a look.
"Major make-out session, lots of touchy-feely, but that's it," he promised.
"You know I don't like what you three are doing," Michelle said returning her gaze to the sea.
"And I know you know its not that bad," Dean replied, "Sibz and I wanna cut you in."
"We tried that, remember?" Michelle said darkly, "Johan Fontein?"
"Ya, ya," Dean waved it off, "anyway, what's happing between you, the black girl and the pilot?"
"Hey, you have you hidden agenda, I have mine," the red-head said, silencing him with a light kiss.
"It's not going to work, you know," Dean said, "one day this is all gonna blow up horribly in our faces, we're gonna have to wake up and smell the roses sooner or later."
"But for now, it's still too fun," Michelle said with a sly grin.
Alright, alright, I know no-one cares for OC fluff, but I couldn't help myself.
Oh, and 500 points to whoever can guess Wally's ringtone.
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DarkMike