Hey, Crystalmoon39 back again!
Disclaimer: Do not own Detentionaire. Only Oc.
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to review!
I want to answer a comment I got!
Nora will eventually find out about the Serpent. When and how? You'll have to wait and see!
Someone's still in trouble... Any guesses who?
When we couldn't find Jenny, or Tina, for that matter, our wealth of allies seemed pretty dried up. "Where is everyone today?" I asked Lee.
"Biffy, Holger, and Cam are on the fieldtrip. Jenny usually comes in here to study, but I don't see her."
I had to admit, Cassandra covered everything. Our usual friends were out, and anyone else who could have helped us was either out of school or stuck in the middle of class. And she still had the threat of Lee's dad hanging over our heads. And she has tabs on my dad. She's actually trying to make this personal! "Lee, I gotta call my dad and see-"
Or phones went off again. The Witch Queen!
"So, have you figured out what you're going to do?"
I answered. "Yes. We're not gonna let you win this! You have no right bringing innocent people into your sick little game!"
Cassandra laughed evilly. "My, Nora! I must say that's brave statement. But you're both running out of time."
"Wait, don't hang up!" Lee was panicking. "What do you want?" There was no answer on the other end. "Hello? Hello?"
"She is one sick, twisted, mother of Kimmie." I said, though I almost said something else. Our phones went off again this time with text messages. Lee's read "Do it for dear, old Dad." And mine said "We'll be watching."
Then both our phones went dead! They'd been hacked. "Nora," said Lee while he looked at the clock. "We have to just go for it. Like now!"
It was nine o'clock, if Lee's dad needed a rescue, he needed it now! "Then we're out."
We took off running. No one was in the halls to stop us, not even a hazmat. "I don't see Barrage out here." Lee said. "He usually stops us before we even get to the door."
"Just lead the way to the airport, Lee." I told him keeping up. "I'll deal with Barrage when we run into him." Based on our string of luck it was a high possibility. We had to go back to detention to get our bags, my long-staff and Lee's skateboard. Then we would have to sneak past the haz-mats that were surely outside guarding the entrance to the school. Outside, hiding in some bushes, we waited. When the guard left we dashed to the open gate. And guess who was there?
"Boo-yah! Busted!" Barrage…
"Barrage we have an emergency!" I told him. "Lee Ping needs to meet up with his father at 9:45. I'll escort-"
"Shut yer gabbin' gums, Sergeant!" He turned to Lee. "And you! I mighta known you an' this backstabbin' mongoose were in cahoots! When will you learn that you'll never outsmart and old' billy-goat like me?" Barrage laughed and bleated like a goat. "You are in so much trouble! Hoo-wee! I'm actually gonna enjoy this."
"You don't even know you've been HACKED!" I shouted. I didn't care who saw or heard. This was life and death, and Barrage's faux-superiority of the situation was less than helpful! "Barrage, I KNOW what's been going on here isn't even legal, and you've allowed it to happen! You brought weapons onto the school, unjustified security, and you've given permission for robots to use those weapons on the students!" I was up in his face. Today had given me enough to deal with without this blow-hard! "If you want to dismiss me for this, fine! I have enough information to go to the police, school board, and all the parents! And I should have done so sooner! But then again, why blame the puppet?" Oh, yeah I went there! Very possibly an empty threat, seeing how Cassandra pretty much owned everything. But who was it that said that arrogance does not befit a fool?
Barrage glowered, revealing his robotic eye. "That there's insubordination, girly."
Lee stepped in between us. "Sir, honestly I don't know if they are in control of your cyborg-brain or-"
Barrage mocked Lee as he lifted him up by the back of his shirt. "Someone's controlin' my eency-weency, tiny, little robot brain? And that explains why you're out here and not in detention?!"
"Yes, Sir." I answered. I figured I was out anyway, might as well. "Your brain is being controlled. To judge how tiny it is, see how long it takes you to figure that out!"
"THAT DOES IT!" Barrage dropped Lee and faced me. "SERGEANT NORA PROWLER YOU ARE-" He froze up with a blank stare again. "Message received. Require shovel. And fill hole."
Cassandra again! Barrage dropped Lee and went to go get a shovel to fill in the no-longer-secret entrance. Lee was already on his feet. "Okay, that is both good and bad."
I grabbed his arm, we had to go. "We'll just have to take the good for now and get going." I pointed towards the parking lot. "I didn't take my car today, but I'll catch a taxi and try to meet you there." Lee took out his skateboard and I ran to the side of the street.
Yeah, this is very possibly my last day. Hey, it was worth it! But I might have to confess to Dad that I've been hiding all this from him. "Let's just hurry and hope we're in time." I hailed a taxi and asked them to take me to the airport.
"Going somewhere?" the driver asked me.
"Um, no." I only had my back pack. "I'm going to meet someone. But I need to get there by a quarter to ten."
At 9:31 the driver stopped in front of the airport. "Want me to keep the meter running?"
"Uh, sure!" I had the cash and this was only going to be done fast. If we were too late to save Mr. Ping, I'd have to get Lee out here. Possibly Mrs. Ping if she was coming here. I ran out of the car. I need to get a view of the runway, maybe I can see where he'll possibly be targeted.
The security was terrible here. For one thing it was open to the woods where anyone could come running out of, and on the inside all the guards were either asleep or on break! Thankfully, I could tell were all the security cameras might be. I may not understand everything about Dad's job, but I listened. Out on the runway were the two reaper-mats Cassandra had shown in the picture. In broad daylight? Why go that far? Does Cassandra think that the Council can cover up something like this? She thinks that she can kill someone and get away with it? The power of money… Maybe she would deserve to sleep forever.
I couldn't text Lee to know where he was. I'd have to work fast and at least remove those reaper-mats outside. Why are those pieces of junk even here for? I mean, why is no one staring at them? This can't be normal!
"Oh! Are you interested in those robots?" A woman came up behind me. "I was weirded out when I saw them too, but it turns out they are being tested as the new airport security."
"Really?" I asked her. So security… Perfect! "Ma'am?" I'd have to go innocent-young person for this.
"Yes? Is something wrong?"
"Are they the only security besides the cameras?"
"That's what the guard told me. Apparently they're doing such a good job all the other workers here have become pretty relaxed."
"W-Well, I… I kind of saw something in the girl's bathroom." The woman's eyes widened. I went in for the kill. "I-I just… the guard was asleep and… I think I saw a woman taking something out of her bag. It was metal, and I couldn't tell the shape b-but… I made a loud noise. Like a… ka-clack?"
The woman gasped. "Where did you see it?"
"I didn't see the woman come out, I left before she did. But no one else was paying attention." Please work, please work, please work! The woman dropped her bag.
"You- You just sit right here, sweetie. I'll go tell one of the guards!" She ran off. Huzzah! Another point for the little guys! I noticed a plane coming in, and I saw the reaper-mats receive the call and leave. I took the moment to leave too. Once they realized it was a false alarm that woman might come looking for me. I also saw Lee from the window, with that red hair of his he's easy to spot. I followed his line of sight, I saw an elderly man walk out of the plane. But my eyes caught something on the roof. It was silhouetted, but it looked enough like someone holding a sniper rifle. Rats, time to book it!
Lee and I caught up somehow. I pulled out my long-staff and brought it to full length. Lee was up ahead of me, and I was right behind him. "Lee, let me go in front!"
"No, this is my dad!"
"And that guy's got a gun, Lee! How are you gonna stop him if he turns it on you?"
"And what if he turns on you?"
"Then you run! The shot will enough of a warning for your dad, and I don't think he wants to see you hurt any more than I do." We were at the base of the stairs to the roof then. Lee looked at me, both of us were breathing heavy.
I had come this far, even gone so far as to risk my future to save his dad.
I had lied and manipulated people more powerful than me to get us here.
I did all these things not to prove myself to anyone, or even to do a dumb job.
Every move I made was because was on his side in this.
I was supposed to be here.
Supposed to take the risk so that everyone could live to solve this dilemma another day.
And as he stood aside to let me go first, Lee finally got it.
We burst through the door at the end. "Stop!" I yelled out to… nobody. Lee and I were the only ones up here. There was no sniper, no danger, just a teenager and a girl with a silver long staff. Lee looked around as confused as I was. He went to the ledge where we had both seen the shadow. "Mom?" Lee made a disgusted face as he saw his mom and dad kissing below us.
"You're dad's okay? I asked just to clarify.
"Looks like it." Lee looked down and found a piece of folded paper. "Did you ever hear that curiosity killed the cat?" He read. "Does that mean this whole thing was to freak us out!?"
Lee was mad about this. Who could blame him? A death threat, a resource loss, isolated and left with no option? I'd be screaming my head off! And yet… I was so happy!
"He's okay!" I cheered throwing my arms up in the air! "Lee, your dad's alright!" In pure relief I bear-hugged Lee from behind. "Oh, thank goodness!"
"Heh-heh…" Lee laughed awkwardly. I couldn't see him blushing. "Really! Nora you did all this at the risk of losing your job. You snuck me out of school, got in Barrage's face and you did something to get rid of those reaper-mats too, didn't you?"
"I look out for my kids." I told him. "And if I lose my gig at A. Nigma, at least I didn't run away. It was worth it."
"And I'm sorry I didn't call you yesterday! I promise not to do it again, no matter what Biffy says."
"Aw!" I gave Lee an extra squeeze. "Aren't you sweet!" Lee gagged from the tightness. I let him go. The note Lee had dropped to the ground burst into flame on its own. "That's different." I said.
Lee sniffed the air. "What are you- oh, gross!" I smelled it to and covered my nose! I've never smelled rotten eggs before, but if this is it I'm checking the refrigerator when I get home!
Lee sneezed from the smell. "That smell." Then he called out looking around, "You here?" There was no one here. The entire roof was still deserted. I placed my hand on Lee's shoulder. "Lee, we better get back. And we need to tell the others about this." We had been caught seriously off-guard by Cassandra today, and it had cost us. Her threat had been empty, but it got the message across that she could do these things. We left the rooftop and closed the door behind us. We didn't get to see that The Serpent was still there, and he had a none-too-pleased look on his face about what he had just seen and heard.
We encountered no one as we made our way to the taxi that brought me here. "Hey!" I greeted him and held the door open for Lee. "Thanks for waiting."
"Eh, no problem! And who's this?" He gestured towards Lee.
"This is…" I was exhausted from the drama of this goose-chase. No good explanation came to me. I just said it. "My little brother."
"Seriously?" The driver asked.
"Seriously." Lee answered, not missing a beat.
"Hmm, well why not? Where to?"
"A. Nigma High, please."
I'd say today wasn't really a victory for us. We didn't lose that much either. We still had to get the keys before we could get back into the Tunnels, but we had the Book, and now, even though Kimmie's mom got the better of us, we had some idea about the enemy we were facing. That would mean taking extra measures on our secrets, and raising the bar on what we would be doing from now on to keep all our friends safe.
When we got back to the school, after I paid the taxi driver, Lee went to the detention room. "Aren't you coming?"
I shook my head. "No. I have to go see Barrage. Don't be surprised if I don't come back at all."
"He can't kick you out!"
"Actually, of all the unjustified things Barrage does, he can." Even though everyone was safe for the moment, I had just one more situation to deal with. Will I still be able to come back tomorrow? Truthfully, I couldn't think of a reason for him to let me off. "Sensei Hong used to say something about this. Rather than being discouraged, know that encountering a wall is proof of the progress you've made this far."
That didn't turn the frown upside down. "What does that even mean?"
"It means if this is as far as I'm supposed to go, I'll have to live with that. If I can't help you from within the school, Lee, then I can put my efforts into helping you off-campus."
"We need you here. A. Nigma is where all the conspiracy stuff is happening."
"True. But we've learned from today that if all our resources are in the same place, all it takes is one swipe to take them out." This could really be a good thing! Cassandra will still have tabs on us, but even she can't have her eyes everywhere at once. And she can't stop me from walking around the city, neither can she stop me from disappearing for a while. No, not running away, just hiding in the shadows until my kids need me again.
"Well… I guess that can be good." Lee said. But he didn't mean it. I was of more help from the inside where I could be right there for him like I was today. Lee did trust me, and he wanted me around. Maybe I am kind of like a sister? I laughed at the thought. Not that it was funny, just strange how everything came to this.
"Well," I told him, "See ya around." And I walked of to the office of General Insanity.
"Bye, Nora." He said, sadly.
Barrage let me in immediately to see him.
"Sir," I began. I stood tall, yes I did hold a bit of regret of what I had said, but it had been the truth. I'll leave him with that much. "I understand that this morning my actions can be deemed as less than respectful. But Sir-"
"What in Blue-Side-of-the-Moon, are you talkin' about, Sergeant?" he bellowed.
What? Doesn't he remember? "Sir, this morning-"
"Oh, I think I know what this is about." Barrage stood up from his desk and came right up in front of me. He wants to yell this right to my face. Okay, Tin-man bring it on. "Yer feelin' the pressure uh that promotion ya just received!"
What?
"Well, ye ain't the first, Prowler. I'll tell you that!"
"Sir I-"
"Sergeant is a big step up! But believe me Prowler, I know a well-and-abled soldier when I see one. Ya got guts Prowler! Ya pay attention to yer assignment and keep em in line! Always ready and willin' to take a hit in the line ah duty."
I couldn't believe this. Barrage was trying to inspire me? Maybe it's an effect of Cassandra's mind control! Barrage forgets what he was just doing when she takes over and has him do her bidding. I'm not thanking Cassandra for this, but whoever decided to cut me a lucky break! "Yer ready fer a higher position Prowler." Barrage continue, "Somethin's still slippin' from my sight and I need all my recruits at their top game! You're fresh out of training, but you've shown prime-cut material for the higher ranks. So I want you to get back out there and show those scum-suckin', soda-drinkin', pie-throwin' little sacks of fat just what it means to be at A. Nigma High!"
If it means I can stay on, he can butcher the English language all he wants! "Yes, Sir!" I saluted and gave Barrage the most genuine smile I had ever given him. I can stay! I CAN STAY! I have to tell Lee! I turned on my heel to leave. A thought suddenly occurred to me. Wait… someone's still in trouble. "Barrage," I turned back around. "Permission to speak!"
"Granted."
"I'd like to demonstrate, myself, what it means to be a Sergeant here. Specifically to the detention group you have me watching."
"Hee-Hee! And what did you have in mind?"
I gave a wicked smile.
Yay! Nora's staying! But did Barrage really forget?
I don't know if anyone was expecting a few Lee and Nora moments, but I included one anyway. And it looks like it made someone jealous.
The next one will be an extra. How will Nora get revenge?
