CONTINUING TRANSMISSION...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION
OPERATION:
F.A.R.R.A.H.
Family
Acquaintance
Returns
Reporting
Alarming
History
TRANSMISSION TEN:
DROWNING IN RESOLVE
WRITING OPERATIVE:
Sgamer82
Screams filled the hallway as Numbuh Five reached the end of a hallway in the city courthouse.
A dead end... Numbuh Five thought to herself.
Looking back, Numbuh Five thought to herself how much she hated the name "dead end".
The father of the Delightful Children From Down The Lane was standing in the hall, some distance from Numbuh Five and taking his time walking up to her. Beside him was a large hole in the wall. Five had moved as fast as she could, but Father had simply blasted his way through courtroom after courtroom after lawyer's office to catch her. People in the building were running around all over the place, panicked by the sudden appearance of the man of flame.
Seeing nowhere to go, Numbuh Five prepared to stand her ground. She pulled her S.Q.U.I.R.T. out and took a split second to get a bead on the adult walking towards her. The instant before she could pull the trigger, however, a ball of fire from Father's hand shot the S.Q.U.I.R.T. right out of Numbuh Five's hand. Five watched it land on the ground and melt into a useless hunk of plastic. Father suddenly ran at Numbuh Five, grabbed her at the throat, and lifted her up. Father's hold both burned and choked Numbuh Five.
"Look at you, Kid Next Door." Father sneered. "Look where you are. About to die. About to die because you tried to help your enemies. About to die... because you did what an adult asked you to!"
Father laughed a hateful, spiteful laugh.
"I hope you appreciate the irony of it all as you burn!"
Numbuh Five wasn't listening, though. Her thoughts had gone to something else entirely.
Farrah was wringing her hands and looking down at the carpet on the floor.
"Abigail..." she said.
"I prefer Abby." Abby said in reply.
"Right... Abby..." Farrah muttered. She cleared her throat and continued. "Abby, I came here because I need help with something. Something only you can help me with."
"Me? What can Abby do?" asked the girl aloud. Does she know 'bout the Kids Next Door? she wondered to herself.
Farrah reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a photograph. She handed the photo to Abby, who didn't believe what she saw.
"I need your help to save them!" said Farrah.
Abby looked at the photo for a second. Unable to believe what she was seeing. If indeed it was what she thought she was seeing. Her... and the Delightful Children From Down The Lane...
Farrah hadn't said a word. She was only looking at the floor. It took Abby a moment to realize she was crying.
"I... I can't do it..."
"Come again?" Abby asked.
"I can't ask for your help... I want to... I need to... but I can't..."
"Abby don' understand..."
"Abby... I came here because I wanted to ask for your help to help my children. To free them from their father's grasp. He's turned them against me. But I doubt he ever considered you, some kid they knew when they were little. You could get through to them. Especially her..."
Farrah looked at the picture, and pointed to the Delightful Child nearest Abby, the girl with pigtails.
"Abigail..."
"Abby." Abby said curtly.
"Abigail..." Abby realized Farrah wasn't talking about her. She was referring to the child in the photo.
"You and my Abigail were so close..." Farrah started sobbing "You both had the same name..." a small laugh interrupted her crying, "and you thought it was the most amazing thing."
Anybody else, and Abby would think they were full of it. But something about Farrah, something... familiar... made Abby feel confident she was trustworthy.
"Look, if this is all true, 'den of course Abby'll help ya!"
"No! You can't!" she cried out. "If you help... and something happens to you... even if we succeed... I wouldn't be... I wouldn't be worthy of them!"
"What?" asked Abby.
"Their father, he doesn't care who he steps on. He doesn't care who gets hurt... so long as his goals are accomplished! Even if those who get hurt are his own children! If I do the same... If you get hurt because of me... then what kind of mother can I be for my children! I'll be no different than their father!"
Farrah held her head up, wiped the tears from her eyes, and calmed herself down.
"Abby... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I wasted your time."
As Farrah left the room, Abby thought about what she had just witnessed. She felt the sincerity of Farrah's words. And she made up her mind then and there.
Back in the present, Abby, still in the Delightful Father's grasp, looked upward and saw her chance. She used what strength she had left and lifted her right hand towards her head. She then turned her head to look right into Father's eyes.
"Everythin'... Numbuh Five's done..."
Father was impressed, he was burning her throat from the outside in, and she was mustering up the strength to speak.
"Everythin'... I done... it wasn't 'cause... Miss Farrah... asked me to..."
Numbuh Five grabbed her hat and took it off her head, holding the bill of the cap in her hand.
"IT WAS BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T ASK ME TO!"
She swung her right arm up, hooking the back of her hat onto a sprinkler that was attached to the ceiling, and pulled down. Hard. She broke the water main. Causing herself and father to get suddenly drenched in water. Father let go of Numbuh Five and was holding himself. Clutching his body as if it had been entirely covered in acid. Numbuh Five hit the floor backside first, breathing in as deeply as she could while suppressing a coughing fit.
The breaking of the water main caused a chain reaction causing all sprinklers on that floor of the courthouse to activate. The floor suddenly started to flood a bit. But by the time the water level had gotten to about half an inch, Father had had enough.
Using the same trick he had used when attacking the tree house, Father used his body to elevate the temperature in the building so high that all the water splashing on the floor and from the sprinklers evaporated in an instant.
Numbuh Five looked up to see Father staring right at her. Pure hate etched into his otherwise featureless body. Numbuh Five had gotten out of his hold. But she had also made Father very, very angry.
She reached into her pocket and pushed the button on a small device hidden inside. It was time to finish this plan.
END OF TRANSMISSION TEN