Chapter 3-4 - Joking Around (The Hunt Pt. 2)
Sweet Island was a land rumored to be made out of candy, and only candy. The trees were made out of licorice strands. The bushes were made out of chewing gum. The rivers and oceans surrounding it were chocolate syrup and whenever it rained, it would rain thick, sweet syrup and honey. The mountains snowed ice-cream and at the peak of the mountain would be crystalized ice-creams of different flavors from classic chocolate all the way to blurbleberry blue. It couldn't get any purer than the ice-cream on the peak of a mountain on Sweet Island. Even the animals were made out of candy. It was virtually and endless supply of sugary goods that could satisfy even the greediest of children.
Of course this was all rumor. Most candy hunters didn't believe in its existence and to them it was real as the bogeyman hiding under the bed. Some rumors went as far as saying the place wasn't even on Earth; that it was on another planet far away. There were some, both children and adults, that attempted a trip to the fabled place, but most never returned. The one who did return apparently went hyper-crazy from all the sugar he had been eating there. Whenever people tried to ask him questions they could never get a coherent answer because he was too hyperactive to construct a simple sentence. Eventually he was deemed insane, was locked up and died in a mental hospital.
The few that still believed in its existence wasted their whole lives trying to find the island only knowing too late that their attempts were fruitless, dying in the world having accomplished nothing in their lives. Some hunters believe there was a map that led to Sweet Island, made by the explorer before he went crazy. Those who knew about the map stopped at nothing to find it. It created a legacy of killing and betrayal and after all that it was never found. It was a legend all candy hunters knew and never pursued for a good reason. No one wanted another fanatic starting an absurd hunt which cost the lives of hundreds of people.
Numbuh 5 naturally knew all this as a Candy Hunter. When the words 'Sweet Island' appeared on the giant computer screen she knew what she had in her possession. What others could only have dreamed of seeing she finally grasped. This whole time what her friend Henrietta and her were decoding was the location of Sweet Island. She now wondered whether Henrietta knew this whole time or if she was as unaware as she was about the map.
While the others listened to Numbuh 1200 talk about the legends of Sweet Island, Numbuh 5 thought about whether she should continue on this trip. She knew that her expedition would not go unnoticed. Even if the only people who knew about the trip were the people in this lab, other hunters always found a way. Word always spread quickly when it came to such things. Hunters would be waiting for her at key points along their route. And they most definitely will be very dangerous. She didn't know if it was worth such a risk.
"So this whole island is made out of candy?" Numbuh 4 asked, still amazed by the fact such a place existed. It was every kid's dream.
"Actually, most candy hunters aren't sure if it's even an island. It was just given that name because of the drawings on the map. For all we know, it could be a whole continent or even a planet!"
"So how did that explorer manage to find Sweet Island anyway? And how did he get there?" Numbuh 2 asked.
"Again, we don't really know. The legends and rumors don't say. I'm positive though that this place would not exist on Earth. It would have to be another planet. So if we're talking about space travel at that distance in such a short time, I would say there is a portal hidden on our planet that would lead us to Sweet Island."
"And the map shows us how!" said Numbuh 3.
"Precisely."
"Well," 1200 turned to Numbuh 5, "you're the one that's interested in all this candy stuff. You haven't said a word since the decoder solved the map. What do you think Numbuh 5? It's a Candy Hunter's dream come true and you're oddly silent."
"You know why Numbuh 5's being all quiet! You've read the rumors about Sweet Island. Nothing about it is sweet! It's dangerous and Numbuh 5 doesn't want you guys to get hurt."
"Numbuh 5, you've been wanting to do this your whole life. Even before you were in the KND! You should feel excited about this not worried. We wouldn't want ourselves to deter you from your decision. Candy Hunting is something you love and we don't want you to get in the way of it. I don't want to get in the way of whatever makes you happy." Numbuh 2 said.
"Thanks Numbuh 2. But you're my friends and Numbuh 5 is just worried is all you know?"
"We can take care of ourselves ya know that?" Numbuh 4 brashly cut in. "We're not babies Numbuh 5. Come on! You should know better than anyone else that we can take a hit and fight back." Numbuh 4 swung his fist to make his point.
"Numbuh 5, all of us are behind you on this. It'll be great to go on an adventure together. Just like old times. And let's be honest. A place filled to the brim with candy! No one is going to pass up on that! We're all in!" Numbuh 2 said excitedly.
"Friends are supposed to help and care for each other. We all know how important this is to you Numbuh 5. We're going to go with you." Numbuh 3 smiled and gave Numbuh 5 a quick hug.
"And if any Candy Hunter, or teenager, or adult or whatever gets in our way we're going to do what we do best as a team and kick their sorry butts!"
Numbuh 5 smiled at her friends. She couldn't have felt happier knowing her friends would be with her on what she considered one of the most important quests as a Candy Hunter. She ran over and hugged her friends tightly.
"That was so beautiful I just might cry!" 1200 jokingly said and made a mock gesture of wiping tears from his eyes.
"Put a sock in it 1200!" Numbuh 2 glared at him. 1200 chuckled in response.
"Easy Numbuh 2. I was just joking. Anyway, guys, I think you should follow me. I wanna show you something." A small glint in his eyes appeared.
Sector V followed Numbuh 1200 as he went over to an empty side of the wall.
"What is it you wanted to show us exactly?" Numbuh 5 asked, clearly confused as to why they were standing next to a plain metal wall.
"Well, after the unfortunate incident of the mass decommissioning of KND scientists, the R&D department, that's research and development to you ordinary folks,"
"Hey!" Numbuh 2 cut in. "I know what that means you know!"
"Doesn't change the fact you're still ordinary folk." Numbuh 1200 giggled. "Where was I? Right. The R&D labs in the KND were massively understaffed. Inventions that have been on the drawing and developing stage we suddenly put to the back seat as we had much less people to work on them. Instead, we were forced to maintain current prototypes rather than develop new two-by-four tech.
"As you may have guessed, support and funding for the KND scientists, specifically the R&D department have dropped significantly due to the lack of actual brains in the department. There are now more security personnel in the KND Science Division than there are scientists! Now this sucks a lot. Because we can only maintain current tech, while all the other stuff under works is just sitting here doing nothing! We even have prototypes completed and they could have been implemented already if not for all this!"
"Cut to the chase 1200. We still don't know why we're standing next to a wall." Numbuh 5 said impatiently.
"Ok jeez. If you weren't Supreme Leader I would've gone on and on about this. Alright then, so you know about the Missions module right? You know how, like, it was supposed to improve our mission success rate and stuff. Make everything more efficient?" 1200's hands were moving excitedly as he started to explain.
"Yes…" Numbuh 5 said warily.
"Oh man this is great. Even Numbuh 2 doesn't know this!" 1200 looked jittery as his hands were shaking. His feet were also tapping the floor.
"Know what?" Numbuh 2 was surprised. He was usually on top of things when it came to secrets regarding tech. This one must have been something big if he didn't know about it.
"Well, the Missions module was only the beginning of it. Numbuhs 362, excuse me Rachel, and 36 were planning this entire overhaul of the KND. It was going to be huge and they were going to change everything. This, this Missions module. This was just the start of a bigger project. It was dubbed Project System. After the Missions module was infrastructure." Sector V looked at him confused. "It means stuff like buildings, hospitals, care centers, treehouses, structures in general. There was going to be a new design for them. Make them more efficient or something. Then it was weapons. Like the ones used by Sector BFTT. Rachel was going to make them standard issue. No more wooden flimsy duct tape two-by-four tech. She wanted to change everything! More firepower.
"That's where we came in. We developed new tech like there was no tomorrow and the funding. Oh my gosh the funding! We were rich! We could do whatever we wanted to. We were churning out tech everyday. At least, until you guys did that big reveal stuff on Rachel. Everything that resulted from it, it was a horrible chain of events. No staff, no facilities, no money." Numbuh 1200 looked at Numbuh 5 with a little more intensity. "You don't know anything about it because the program was dropped when the scientists were decommissioned."
"Could you imagine where we would be if we had all this right now? We would be in the middle of phase two if we still had our scientists. All the treehouses would be improved. High-tech top-of-the-line stuff. But not anymore. And it's all your fault. All of it!" 1200's face became serious and he stopped jittering. From his back pocket he pulled out a red colored, small gun shaped weapon. Sector V gasped and flinched.
"Do you know what this is?"
"Numbuh 1200 what are you doing?" Numbuh 5 exclaimed in shock.
"This is concentrated extra hot chili sauce. It's powerful enough to burn through the hull of a KND Scamper, or if I were to aim it at your eyes, permanently blind you."
"Numbuh 1200 stop! This is crazy! We promise you it wasn't our fault. Numbuh Infinity was there and he tried to take us out!" Numbuh 2 tried to plead with 1200 and make him see some sense. 1200 took a step forward.
"You shouldn't have been so curious! Especially you Supreme Leader." He spat the words out of his mouth. "You had to find out what happened to your precious leader. Pathetic. This was your fault! See all this! Your. Fault. Now I get to take you out."
"Sam, no! Stop!" Numbuh 2 yelled. 1200 looked at Numbuh 2 and fired. A small stream of bubbles floated harmlessly from the gun and popped in front of the team. At that instant 1200 doubled over and laughed hysterically. He was rolling on the floor and clutching his stomach. As he continued to laugh the rest of Sector V stood in mute shock over what just happened.
"You-you should've seen the look on-on-on your faces!" Numbuh 1200 struggled to speak as he was still laughing uncontrollably. "Priceless!" 1200 shouted.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" Numbuh 2 yelled. 1200 ignored him and continued to laugh. "What is wrong with you Numbuh 1200? What was the point of that? How could you pull off such a senseless joke?"
Numbuh 1200 started to calm down. He didn't want things to get out of control. "I-I'm sorry Numbuh 2." 1200 said while struggling not to laugh. "I thought you could use a little joke."
"Yeah we could. But not like that!" Numbuh 2 yelled back. "That was extremely insensitive!"
Numbuh 1200 managed to pick himself up off the floor and held his hands in defense. "Ok I admit I went a little too far with the 'crazy scientist' act but–"
Before 1200 could finish he felt an excruciating pain in his stomach and yelped in pain as he clenched his stomach tightly.
"In case you hadn't noticed, Numbuh 5 is crying now!" he pointed to where Numbuh 5 was kneeling down while Numbuh 3 and 4 were trying to console her. "You're a sick person Sam. If you think that's funny then you really need to get yourself checked out by a doctor because there's something not right about you in that head of yours." 1200 could only grunt in response. as he was still hurting from the punch Numbuh 2 had given him.
Numbuh 2 went over to Numbuh 5 and hugged her. "You ok Abby?"
Numbuh 5 didn't speak. Still too numb from what had happened. Numbuh 2 stroked her back gently and kept whispering everything was ok to try and calm her down.
The timing couldn't have been worse as the doors opened and Numbuh 36 stepped inside. Seeing the Supreme Leader kneeling on the floor crying while her teammates surrounded her and a KND scientist lying on the floor in pain.
"What the hel-ermm-heck is going on here?" Numbuh 36 shouted. Numbuh 2 turned to him and shook his head. 36 pointed to Numbuh 1200 and Numbuh 2 nodded.
"Great…" 36 cursed under his breath. He lifted the scrawny scientist and carried him over his shoulder.
"Let's go idiot. You're lucky there's something else to be done. Or else you would be in a world of pain." 36 said loud enough for only 1200 to hear.
I would actually really like to hear what your thoughts are on this chapter. The idea just came to me one day. I wasn't originally going to put the 'joke' but I thought it would add a little more drama. So leave a review and what not. And thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: C:KND belongs to Mr. Warburton.