Whaaat? No Mr. Radioman? Strange... anyways this was high requested so yeah. I had it only as a special PM sent but a friend of mine told me just to post it. Enjoy!

Chapter ?

Part 3

Operation VX9 - Day One: Messed Up Nostalgia

This is... Different.

"This is stupid."

Okay let's look on the bright side of things. Yeah, this is going to great; heh I'm feeling better already.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Ignore her, just... Ignore her.

"Dart, Daaaarrt! Hey man does it look like I'm some old lady?" The candy addict waved her hands for my attention. It took a while but she finally put on her mission disguise, which was basically a black pencil skirt and a tucked in white blouse. For effects, Viridi fixed the hair into a bun and even applied makeup; with that, heels and glasses, she's ready to go. The teacher of class 3-A is Pandora Amazon.

I eyed her up and down, then held a thumbs-up, "Panda you're fine."

She frowned for a moment but then smiled, "hey," she says, "This... Brings back a lot of memories, huh?" Grabbing my hand, she dropped her head and I pulled the little monster into a hug. I was wearing the high school uniform, and I guess seeing me with a bag and books - I looked just like the Dart before... Before everything. The years move by so fast; middle school feels like another lifetime. "I remember when I hated your guts..." She said softly in my shirt and I let out a little laugh. Pandora continued, "and I remember when you helped me..." Her grip around my torso tightened, "I remember the bakery, and hiding from Ashe in the pantry."

"Pandora," this conversation is going...

I watched as she lifted her head and reached up to meet my lips. This is the old her, before Ave; she had finally broke that stubborn resent from me. But then we lost everything after that earthquake... don't think I'll let this happen again - I'm stronger now; I will protect everyone. All that I do now, is for them.

The deepened kiss was cut short when footsteps reached the bathroom doors. She broke away from me and turned around towards the mirror, adjusting her hair.

Perseph was seen after the door was pushed open, "we'll be late for the bus, Dart. Pandora, you and Pit should also get going." The door was closed once again and we were left in silence again.

My doggie senses were raging and giving me a headache again. Why does it hurt so much? Why did it have to change?

Pandora probably saw me thinking, "I'm fine Dart. Seriously. No panic attacks, no shaking, no nightmares..."

"Panda I miss this. I miss you."

Part of me kinda expected it. She laughed like last time adding in, "you're stupid."

I snickered, "I'm only stupid around you."

And I saw her smile curl up, "stupid emo kid."

"Idiot demon child." I smiled back, beginning to pull her back into my arms. That empty space I've been missing for so long, I can finally hold her again-

"Alright let's get to work." She pushes me away...

Just now it hits me, I can't be doing this type of stuff. Kid House, everyone is working hard for Viridi - if I start to fool around, I-I'll lose everything. My senses... They're just taking over and my headache won't stop. Under my breath I apologize, and squeeze Panda one last time before lifting her chin; our eyes meet. I know she understands, my pain and my needs - she is my everything.

Before I go crazy again, the monster pecks my cheek quickly and then leads the way out the bathroom. Now that I'm more at ease, this first day should be easy. It's time for me to do my job and that's to lead Kid House to safety - I will not fail, death is my only exception. My hands on her hip drops as we walk towards the front door where our team waited. Pit was whispering something to Viridi and Perseph sat outside on the the cement stairs. I've lived with these guys for too long, it's easy to tell that she knew what we were doing the moment that door opened. I know she's been sad lately, lonely actually. Even though it's against Kid House to trust outsiders, for the time we're doing this mission - I hope Persephone'll make some new friends. There was that time where she believed her expectations were high being the youngest and trusted to not be a kid - by doing so she completely changed. She became serious and cut off unnecessary contact with others.

And then I hear, "make sure not to get attached to anyone. It's too dangerous, you'll just end up hurting them." Viridi continues with other instructions. Great. Well I can't say anything because it's true. The little sister frowns more and then glances up at me, I grin and shrug telling her to walk it off. Secretly she really likes this mission, so I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

Me and Perseph walked to Main Street to catch the seven o'clock jettabus, we weren't the only students riding and with uniforms on it was easy to tell. The two of us stood in the corner trying to ignore the stares, Perseph whispering things and me trying to reassure her. School wise, she's probably still in junior high, there's that three year difference they keep staring at her for; so I try to shield it off by towering over - me between the crowd and her. Within minutes the jettabus takes us deeper into the city and we all exit out to a station a couple blocks away from the school. Since we're early the students head to Brewster's or TeaHut. For us we meet Janitor Pit fully fitted with a work onesie and baseball cap. With pilot shades I can only hope no one recognizes him as a junior. I eye his ear piece, it's not too noticeable but we still need to get him a wireless one, for now it'll do. Panda is fine, just short.

"Everyone have their phones?" Pit echos Viridi from his ear piece, and we nod holding up the latest. "Aight then from now on, I don't know you people." He smirked before heading to the back of the school.

"See ya," I end and he lifts a goodbye hand.

I was assigned class 2-D while the sisters were set in 3-A, it was good for them to stay together and help each other out but... My idea of school was to sleep and wake up to Teacher Panda scolding me, hm, oh well. The whole gang was split up; Viridi back at home, Pit roaming around somewhere, and me in a different classroom than Pandora and Persephone. What keeps us together is our phones, ear pieces were an obvious no-no, especially since we couldn't get a hold of the wireless ones; none the less, student with an ear piece is well over suspicious. Will make do with what's in front of us.

"Everyone to your seats!" Called the teacher, walking in with a suit case. The chatting clicks around me hustled about to their spots, me just standing by the door. She eyed me, "you're the new student..." I hear whispers behind me as I nod. With a quick glance at her paper, the teacher smiled, "Dart Icarus, pleasure meeting you; I will be your homeroom teacher, Ms. Olympia."

"Pleasure is mine," I return the handshake trying to ignore the fact that Viridi used that as my 'real' name.

"Class..." The crowd of whispers silenced and then a burst of, "welcome to 2-D!" Came over.

Continuing to the desk, Olympia waved her hand beckoning me to pick any empty seat. I grabbed my bag and did just that, slowly walking through the rows, feeling the whispers and choosing wisely. I pick the seat at the very back, closest to the window and next to a quiet looking girl. Her long black hair brought to one side of her neck and deep purple eyes; the way she ignored everything around her - not even glancing up at me like the others did - she reminded me, of me.

When the bell rang for lunch break, students scattered out to be the first in line, though most students stayed in the classroom. They turned desks and created groups taking out a home meal from their bags. The girl who sat next to me didn't move other than to bring out her lunch, she ate quietly to herself.

"Hey." Looking up I'm met with a spiky blond kid, sleeves ruffled up and no uniform tie. Just by looking at this guy I can tell he's up in the clouds. Girls giggled next him and blushed when he past by. Guys high-fived and hollered at the sight of him and teachers seemed to smile towards this guy. He smirked saying, "My name is-"

"I don't care." Hmm... My old self is peeking out again time for a quick save. With the kid and his buddies kinda frozen I snicker and grin, "relax, pleasure to meet you uh..."

"Craige heheh," the kid smiled back. "You almost got me, I don't mean to offend but you really looked like you'd beat me up or something haha!"

"Don't worry about it man."

And then he introduced his friends laughing behind him. If only they knew, I probably could take them down all at once; I can even go for the kill. The past three and half years changed me, I'm stronger. Aaaand this is becoming dark again... Let's stay away from that and stay in character.

"Um, excuse me..." I hear an all too familiar voice in the distance. The high school girls screamed from the, I guess cuteness, and crowded over the little blue haired freshmen.

"You're so cute!"

"Ah adorable!"

"What do you need sweetie?"

I laughed to myself, catching Craige's attention. He was going to ask about it but then the crowd of girls ran over asking questions like if Perseph is my sister or something. I haven't really noticed but she is kinda adorable, probably because I'm so used to seeing everyone at their worst. Whether it's the lack of hygiene and sleep or just in the crappiest mood and in pain, I've pretty much seen it all. Yes, all. Everyone is looking how they looked like before Ave, Persephone is more mature now, me and my bro have gotten taller... It's weird because this feeling is like some messed up nostalgia. We known each other for a long time now but it's like I'm looking at a new set of people. I don't know how to describe it but, how this is how I see it: Kid House looking like their old self.

"Dart," Persephone's voice is somewhere in the crowd.

I wonder what happened to not knowing each other, "yes?"

"C-Can we eat lunch together..."

"OH SO CUUUUTE!" They squealed, "hun you can eat with us!"

The little freshmen forced the best smile despite her frustration, a nervous laugh crept up, "no thank you. I'll be eating with DART." Ooo hard emphasis on my name, I should probably help her out.

"Persp-"

"ARIA! Ahem... Dart please don't say my nickname," she whispered in a killing voice to my ear, "my new name is Aria Poulette!"

My eyes widened, "Aria ha, ha... Let's go."

I stuffed my hands in my pockets after holding up a goodbye hand to a dumbstruck Craige. When the two of us were alone in the hall, I received a lecture about checking my phone every so often for updates. Persephone or should I say Aria, was quite the eye catcher. Everyone loved her dark blue hair, never seeing anything like it; with that said, I wonder how Panda is holding up. Checking updates, her name is Alina Poulette, so I'm guessing Viridi predicted this problem already.

"Viridi said you don't know Ms. Poulette, and we don't know Luso the janitor." We walked up the steps of the building to the rooftop and settled on the roof close to the edge; Perseph biting down a chocolate bar and my eyes closed, relaxing on the floor. "Part of me likes being here, it's just I hate all the attention."

"Feel like you'll screw up or something?" I say with nothing but my lips moving.

She sighed, "yeah like I'll accidentally say something about the mission or that I'll become too attached or..."

"Just roll with the punches," I grinned. "The past couple of years, we didn't even know what'll do, never did we know what would happen. Everyone is put into a weird position because of this 'starting over' thing. We've gotten so use to that death hug everyday back in Deldin... That we're kinda lost here, like we're safe but we never really feel safe. Everyone is also use to hiding, making sure their not noticed. So don't overthink anything- this is only the start, we'll get used to everything... Oh and heheh, I wish you luck with the new Aria Poulette love around class."

The kid let the emotions sink in and sighed, "I miss everything before Ave..."

That comment hit me like a bullet. Kid House agreed to stop thinking about the past and stop complaining about it which ultimately lead to no one talking about it at all. Here and there we'd share good memories over a meal, but nothing to an extent since we knew no one can handle the memories. I've always thought about before Ave, and I'm sure the group has too - we'd never forget... It's been awhile since I heard those breaking words, I breath out almost in a whisper, "yeah."

There was a faint shuffle behind us.

Instantly Perseph reaches for her gun, but I stop her. She's still use to the death hug which was burned into her memory. I watch her tense up, her expression flips to a pure hate for fear - she's propped up, knees bent and her hand ready near the edge of her skirt. Each of us were equipped with a self defense, Persephone wears a thigh brace where her gun secretly kept, I have mine right under my left armpit, Panda's in her suitcase and Pit carries all the heavy artillery in his locker. We should get a notification from Viridi to confirm she made it to the sweet point. Basically she hides up in a building close to the school with her tech and a sniper rifle keeping an eye on us. Heh would've been great if she was set already... Ah no blaming, our fault for not being alert. Now we have to deal with some eavesdropping student. Aaaaand guess who...

"Craige?" I say dramatically and a bit annoyed, loosening up I lay back down covering my face. He probs heard everything...

The junior helplessly shook his head, "I-I-I didn't mean to... I j-just-"

"How much did you hear?" I sigh hopelessly.

It was quiet, "a-all of it...-"

Perseph fell to her knees whining, "first day and we already screwed up uhh ahhh!" She whipped out her gun anyways and pointed it towards my new friend. "I'm sorry but you were never suppose to hear about this..."

My eyes widen and I hear Craige yell out. He turns around to run back into the school- but then out of no where, another bullet silently shoots and knocks the door stand to blitz. It closes and from the outside its locked. Thanks Viridi heheh, I also see Pit appearing on the other side of the door window watching us with a 'you messed up' look.

Craige is pretty much hyperventilating, his eyes full of terror but he didn't scream. "Dart... Man, please I swear I didn't mean to walk in on you guys."

Quick dialing Viridi and putting her on speaker I say, "aye V.V. idk why but, I trust him."

On the other end, "are you crazy? You just met the kid!"

"He just got good vibes V.V." I shrug and Perseph grabs the phone apologizing for everything and debating if they should take out Craige. "For the kill? Accidental home death? Drugs? Fake suicide?" She listed off and the poor junior shook in fear crying my name.

I say, "Craige. If I explain everything to you, can I trust you to keep it a secret?" Ignoring the screams from Viridi I slowly walk towards him, taking out my gun and loosely holding it up by a single finger. "I won't kill you, Aria over there is just joking she-"

"Persephone," he corrects his expression not even changing.

"Why yes, Persephone- WAIT HOW DID YOU-"

He points, "Persephone Amazon. A-And you're James Icarus. The person who shot the door was either Pitten Icarus, Pandora Amazon or Viridi."

"HOW DO YOU EVEN..." I was still 'what the f-ing'.

"I didn't realize since you look so different in person... You guys are famous on the web." Craige explained, "well I'm positive I'm the only one who knows really. That information is kinda blocked from the public, the whole 'Disaster Ave Heroes' headline stuff." I watch him relax a bit and I can tell from his voice that he's more comfortable talking. But still it's obvious that he's scared cakeless from his shaking voice. "I can bet you no one is a bigger Internet geek than me."

Eh what? He's totally up in the ranks, I can just tell by his looks and his buddies, "what do you mean geek, Craige? ... You know what, never mind. Since you know about us, I guess this makes things a little easier. Craige... We don't have to kill you! Haha! Aye Viridi, we don't have to kill this guy! Yay woo!"

From the phone she sighed, "alright fine! Just clean this up you guys, and get back to class - lunch break is almost over." The call ended and Perseph handed back my phone, I ordered her out along with Pit who unlocked the door. Craige and me left alone.

"So you're really Thee James 'Dart' Icarus huh?" He finally says.

Snickering, "I try."

"So all of that stuff in Deldin is true?" He asks, amazement beginning to sparkle in his eyes.

Nodding, "yup."

"Why are you here then, like isn't Deldin your home?"

Seeing it was safe, I began to tell him a little about Viridi, and what she could do. That brought up the Pit topic and then the whole group coming together. Ave happened and the Kid House formed, along with teaming with Sarge and finally ending the search for Palutena and Ashe. I told him about having to leave because of Viridi's life in danger, how people started to look for her again to use her for her talent.

"Craige," I start, shifting my view towards him. My eye glaring him down, "if word gets out, not only will we be in trouble but all of this city too. The VX9 Corporation is our biggest lead, we'd bring hell before fleeing this opportunity. Even if our bones break or our lungs swell, we ain't much for cowards, we'll leave everyone with scars to remember us. They all will know who we are."

I could see he was trying not to be offended, his quick distrust expression speaking for itself. Looking back to the view of the city, he finally said, "I know it's hard to believe me or anyone really. But I, I- someone like me look up to people like you. They, they want to be you or live out your amazing epic lives. I, I'm just here, school and homework." He began to hesitate continuing, until, "my friends don't understand me. I used to tell them about how we're wasting our time here, heh I'd go on and on about how our lives are boring. Some don't care and others just question me asking, what's better than this? - I'm ungrateful I know, asking for something I don't have... But I watch all these shows, animes, movies, whatever! And their lives - the things they do, all of it - is just so amazing and so much more exciting than preparing for more years of boring work. Don't get me started on different jobs, my parents already reserved a special spot for me in our hospital business." He shook his head in disgust before continuing with an almost angered snicker, "the funny thing is, this school worships me even though they don't know what I'm really like. This... This act, I kept it up for so long I'm a natural at it huh? You couldn't even see through it."

"Yes and no," I breathed, consuming all the information that was given. "I knew you were different, but I didn't know how. Craige, screw the popularity vs closet garbage, society is bull. I'm not saying you should ditch those buddies you have now but if this is really bugging you - take the chances, take the effort and find someone who listens and doesn't care about the things you call faults. They don't have to completely understand but just enough so you feel that smile. From there, know that dreams aren't dreams; you say you want a different life but think about this: if I had a hundred lives, would I really have a hundred chances to be happy? You are given this life. You don't have to be us, or anyone else to be happy - you can only accomplish a dream if you want it more than wanting to sleep at the end of the day. You have to want it more than your rep at school, more than just wishing it would happen. Dreams are more real than wishes."

There was a silence and I closed my eyes. Craige, you don't know what're saying - the world I live in is hell, but I couldn't ask for another life.

"I, I..." He couldn't find words.

"Just think about it," I sigh, waiting for the bell to save us from anymore deep talk.

"Thank you."

xxx

"0900 check-in number seven, target approximately 300 meters away - I have full visual. Updater notice, no caution needed, threat level zero. Target position has not changed, activity below mild, no signs of suspicion. Updater..." The tone of voice changed from professional to whiney, "can we stop this?! I'm 99.99% sure he won't throw us out."

There was an immediate response over the earpiece, it was Viridi. "Persephone take full caution under a situation like this. We nev-" a male voice, most likely Pit's, interrupted and his faint rant supposed on the youngest of the group to head back home. There was a sigh full of annoyance, "five return to base..."

She cheered respecting that her call was finished early, not able to say for the others who had to stalk Craige earlier. She relaxed from focusing through a sniper rifle that was propped up at a high story windowsill. It faced a somewhat busy side of the city; Craige being in Brewt's Bewster on the second floor. For the past three hours he hasn't moved from his secluded table doing nothing but watching anime with headsets and occasional refreshments. He ignored all calls, friends and family; and Craige avoided any contact with others all together - from accidental classmate to bumping into strangers. Being away from school grounds, Craige became more of himself by wearing his glasses and taking out the headband in his hair (he looks like Hiro Shirosaki from Glasslip). He seemed content by himself, probably had enough attention at school and pretty much had it with life in general. Happy solution, forget about troubles with some anime and video games. As for his background, Viridi ignored my protests and did a run down on Craige's official documents. If you get past the fact his parents own a hospital, he was basically just another kid. He's clean, but of course Viridi gotta go through her stepped caution rouge.

"You can never be too sure," she would say and I wave a hand ending a potential rant that no one needs to hear. And with that, Persephone comes back home in record time and as a team we sit together in the kitchen. We eat and laugh over Viridi's frustration, insisting we watch and study a criminal documentary. Pit jokes and puts away the device as he retrieves our meal. Pandora shares her story being a teacher and Pit continues with his side of being a janitor. I find myself smiling and glancing over to Persephone wording the words, "see? Everything's okay."

CHEFT:I do have another idea for this which may or not lead into a Chef Sample Dish part 4... I don't even know if I'll release it; spoiler alert Persph ends up with Craige. I thought it was fair since she's kinda left out in Kid House's couples. Anyways for the idea- Viridi finds out something hacked into one of the many devices she had Pit set throughout the city. So basically someone might be onto Kid House's operation. After it's concluded that someone isn't Craige (though it makes you not want to trust him eh? Haha that's what Chef wants you to think. CRAIGE. IS HE TO BE TRUSTED HMM? Of course heheh.) Viridi asks for a volunteer to look after the kid since he might be in danger as well. Dart gives Persephone a talk on making new friends and that this is her chance sooo... Yeah. I'm making her wear a bear costume and stalking Craige XD fun young love aww. Anyways review or PM me if you want to see yet another sample dish. Aight? Aight.

One last thing, yes... it kinda got romantic between Dart and Pandora... my apologies XD to be honest I actually cut some things out so yeah haha!