I still don't own anything KND related. So you don't sue me. I'm not making any money off of this.

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Numbuh 5 struggled under the weight of the figure pinning her down. The first thing she noticed was how surprisingly small it was. She opened her eyes to behold her attacker. Still bathed in shadow, she could make out the outline of its body. Its face was dark but she could tell its teeth were gritted tightly. One hand was occupied holding closed the cloak it was wearing while the other was repeatedly punching her in the chest. Punching? Since when does the slasher punch? Her fear subsided despite the pain being inflicted on her and started to sit up, getting closer to the face of the aggressive form.

The creature let out a grunt and began using both fists punching and trying to force her back to the ground. She could hear a soft accent in its voice, which became gruff with its familiarity as it finally spoke.

"Try ta sneak up on me will ya! Well, you got ya self anotha' thing comin'!"

Numbuhs 3 and 2 stopped their cowering. They knew this voice. Numbuh 5 quickly reached up and tugged at the top of the "cloak" which swiftly fluttered off its wearer's head and shoulders revealing the corn flake halo of hair of a very confused little boy.

"Numbuh 4! If I wasn't so tired right now I'd kick yo butt!" Numbuh 5 shouted with a little snarl.

"Numbuh 5?" The now identified Aussie exclaimed with surprise equal to his teammate's anger.

In response she curtly pushed him off her torso. His petite body fell a foot away and landed with a light thud. He yelled in protest but she ignored him, readjusting her hat and robe. He too got up and rewrapped the long sheet he was wearing around his body. It wasn't a cloak, just a blanket he had draped over him, cloak-like.

During These quick passing events, the mood for both Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 3 had changed from fear, to shock, to relief, and then to annoyance and anger. Their faces showed this as the duo loomed over their shorter friend.

"What do you think you're doing Numbuh 4?" Demanded Numbuh 3, a hint of hurt and betrayal in her sternness.

"Yeah" Numbuh 2 piped, poking Four in the chest.

Numbuh 4 took a step back, a defensive gleam in his eyes.

"What am I doing? What are *you* doing?"

Numbuh 3 crossed her arms, glaring at him. Her enforcing stance loosing a bit of effectiveness with a teddy bear in the fold.

"We were looking for the slasher." She told him glowering.

Numbuh 2 leaned closer to Four, his eyes furiously narrowed behind the tinted lenses of his goggles.

"And it looks like we found him."

Four wasn't sure what to make of his partners' unsettling newfound hatred for him. It wasn't like he had really hurt Numbuh 5 when he had jumped on her. He looked to them with confusion.

"What?" He flustered, "The slasha'? You mean like the movie?"

Numbuh 3 frowned at him.

"How could you Numbuh 4? Wasn't scaring me before enough for you?" She pouted, clinging to her bear. Numbuh 4 raised an eyebrow as his mind clicked to a blank.

"What are you talking about?!" He demanded, waving his arms beneath his blanket.

"Drop the act Numbuh 4." Two fingered him again. "You've been following us around all night trying to scare us!"

"No I'm not!" Four yelled, sounding appalled. The look in their eyes told him they didn't believe one Australian accented word.

"Then why are you wrapped in your blanket like that?" Numbuh 3 pointed out his sheet swathed over him like a cape.

"I was cold!" He lied. He surely wasn't going to tell her the truth about the blanket, but in all honesty he never intended to scare her.

"And why were you holding your flashlight near your face so it looked like it was glowing?" Numbuh 2 asked picking the flashlight off the ground and holding it under Numbuh 4's chin replicating the glowing effect that had scared them earlier. Four snarled and plucked the light stick from his comrade's chubby hand.

"For shame Numbuh 4." Numbuh 3 scolded, waging her finger at him.

"I was holding it like that so I could see betta'!" Again they did not buy his explanations. Then they unleashed the big question.

"And what were you doing out of bed?"

There was a beat. Four knew he had to guard his answer carefully or his cover would be blown.

"I 'erd a noise, an' I went ta see what it was. The next thing I know you guys are sneakin' up on me an' nah ya accusing me a bein' the slasha'!"

There was another pause, this time for computing the boy's answer. Numbuh 2 leaned in closer to Numbuh 4's face.

"So you're not trying to scare us?" he inquired, his voice thick with suspicion, eyeing the small blond.

"Not on purpose." Four was getting angry at this interrogation. He decided to get the pressure off himself with one of his own. "Hey, how do I know you guys weren't trying to scare me?"

Numbuh 2 quickly pulled away from Four, his eyes suddenly wide.

"Why would we?" He asked, shocked to be so rapidly accused. Numbuh 4 smiled slightly at his friend taking a taste of his own medicine.

"Ta get back at me fa' scarin' Numbuh 3 with that whole 'bloody vengeance' crud." The aussie explained.

"Well, that would have been funny---" Numbuh 3 grinned entertaining the thought of playful revenge, but her face hastily returned to her angry grump. "But we wouldn't do that to you because we you friends."

"Yeah, some friends." Four scoffed and grumbled to himself, "Sneakin' up on me---"

"We weren't sneaking up on you, we thought you were the slasher." Numbuh 2 defended. "Right Numbuh 5?"

They all turned to the Quiet One who up until now had been living up to her nickname. She was leaning, back up against the wall, head down, breathing softly. She snapped back to the land of waking at the calling of her name.

"Huh? Wuh?" She mumbled groggily, "Oh, whateva'," she yawned, "Can we go back ta bed nah?"

Numbuh 3 stomped to her sleepy friend's side.

"Yeah," she answered rudely. Rudeness of course directed at Numbuh 4. "I'm not scared any more of Numbuh 4's dirty prank."

He frowned at her, a jumble of feelings stirring inside him.

"It wasn't a prank!" He felt a tightness in his throat. He wanted to tell her the truth. He hated her being angry at him, but his stubbornness would never allow it. Wallabee Beatles never apologizes to anyone.

The girls started back to the dormitory area of their arboreal home, Numbuh 2 close behind. Numbuh 5 paused and looked to him and Three.

"Duz this mean ya'll not sleepin' in Numbuh 5's room no mo'?" She slurred.

"Well," Numbuh 2 gave this some thought. But the intensely loud thunder crack that happened to assault at the moment decided things for him. "I wouldn't go that far!" He shrieked, huddling close to the girls.

"Fine," sighed Five, "Let's go."

They resumed their sojourn down the hall. Numbuh 4 stayed in his spot watching them, clenching and unclenching his fists under his blanket cloak. Heart, brain, pride, gut, all screaming different emotions at him to feel, but he pressed them down into a tight lump, causing them to mix and bubble until they became confused and monochrome, bursting forth as a furious rant.

"Ha! Ya scardy cats! I'm goin' back ta my room all by my self cause I'm not scared a nothing! Not like you guys, scared a ya own shadows. Thinkin' I'm the slasha'. Ha! Ya just lookin' fa a scapegoat cause ya too ashamed ta admit ya scared!"

The pressure released, he felt better, but he could feel more starting to build up. He hated the all too familiar sensation. Standard procedure for dealing with his emotions; bury them, swallow them down until he couldn't hold them anymore, then allow them to explode, either through his mouth or his fists, although sometimes he confused the two during the eruption.

He glared down the hallway as his teammates started to walk out of sight, he then turned down the other hall to return to his room. It was a dark trek; his wing too had lost its power. Holding his flashlight close to his face, hand shaking with rage and another emotion he refused to acknowledge.

"Stupid guys." He grumbled, "Believin' in the slasha an' that cruddy movie. Blamin' me on them bein' scared. Well, I don't care about them. Don't need them, no sir. I got all I need right 'ere. Sure showed them, sneakin' up on me. Anythin' else tries ta sneak up on me they're gettin' their buns handed ta them by yours truly. Then we'll see what's really scary. Cause I ain't scared, no way. Not a shadows an' not a dumb movies. Even if it was scary---"

He stopped himself. His wandering mind almost confessing to the darkness. Another peal of thunder and lightning tore through the tree house. Four bit his lower lip but was unable to suppress the whimper that escaped him.

"Just lightnin'." He assured himself. "Nothin' ta be afraid of. No reason ta be scared--- I'm NOT scared! Just be cool, justa little thunda'. No need ta be scared a thunda'. I AM thunda'! Thunda' from down unda' that's what I am."

He pulled his blanket tighter around him, trying to calm his tittering nerves. Sure, when he first heard the crash he could have grabbed a sweater and gotten dressed. But a freshly woken mind tainted with panic and fear doesn't think very clearly, especially one as impulsive as his. Instead he had grabbed that blanket to hide himself. It felt like a warm hug, an embrace of comfort that kept his hidden fear somewhat under control, as well as did the important job of hiding his lean, scrawny arms.

The winds outside picked up, slamming millions of fat raindrops onto the roof and walls. Four stopped to listen, telling himself that rain was nothing to fear. He felt shamed for being afraid to begin with. He was the tough one, the enforcer, the one everyone relied on to protect them. Now he felt that horrible doubt gnawing at the back of his mind, wondering if he was weak for being scared. No. He couldn't be weak. If he was weak, he was nothing. He forced the doubt into his stubborn space along with all the other feelings he didn't want to deal with. Now he wanted to punch something.

"Nobody messes with thunda'." He continued, "No, they mess with thunda' they're playin' with fire. An' anybody messin' with fire's gonna get burned!" He released his anger on a nearby wall, making a nice dent in it.

The wall responded with a loud scratching noise rattling throughout. As if his punch had disturbed something alive hiding behind the planks. It scrambled around until it surrounded him, untraceable in source.

"Who's tha'?" Four demanded from the nothingness around him. "Show ya self! I'm warnin' you! Ya don't wanna mess with me!"

The scratching continued and sounded as if it was getting louder, closer. Whatever it was could be right on top of him and he wouldn't know it until it was too late. He didn't want to know it. So he ignored everything his pride was telling him; he ran.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

The storm had picked up within the last few minutes as Numbuh 2 had noticed. He was currently holding onto Numbuh 5's shoulder much to her annoyance, but she protested not. A long as the slasher problem was over and they could go to bed she wouldn't have cared if she had to carry the tubby lad. Numbuh 3 walked behind them busying herself with her teddy bear. The fierce winds outside rocked the tree house slightly, but not enough to be felt by the denizens inside. Numbuh 2 tremored fearfully. The threat of being attacked was gone, but he wasn't going to take any chances in dropping his guard. Shadows were still spooky, jumping around with lightning at them. Thunder roared like a fearsome beast, rattling nerves. He was still jumpy as anything, pessimistically fearing the worst could still happen, but he tried to collect himself. At least he didn't have to worry about the slasher anymore. He hoped. The hall suddenly lit up behind them with a dim glow. Numbuh 2 yelped as the trio turned, accidentally knocking the flashlight from Numbuh 5's hand.

"Thought you guys could use a body guard." Numbuh 4 stood there pointing his flashlight at them. The others couldn't tell how tightly he had his blanket drawn about him or how his eyes nervously quivered beneath his sloppy bangs.

"Go away Numbuh 4." Numbuh 3 snapped, "We don't want you to body guard us."

"Yeah, you'll just try to scare us some more." Numbuh 2 added just as mean.

'Great, what was the point of coming to them if they still hate you?' Numbuh 4 thought, his emotions churning inside him. It was easier to push them away in the presents of his friends though. Their judging eyes gave him incentive to hide the feelings that made him feel weak and small as opposed to when he was alone with these sensations and was forced to face their company.

"I wasn't doin' nothin'!" He protested.

"So you just came out of the goodness of your heart to protect us from the boogieman." Numbuh 2 spat with sarcasm, "Except that the boogieman was YOU."

"Ooh, I'll give you a somethin' ta be scared of." Four balled his fist, anger rising.

"And what were yo gonna protect us from?" Numbuh 5 piped in, more trying to change the subject then having any kind of malice.

"There might be something runnin' around 'ere that we don't know 'bout." Four tried to explain without directing attention to the quiver in his voice. Only the owner of some almond shaped eyes heard it, and it began to soften her demeanor.

"I don't believe you Numbuh 4." Numbuh 2 put his hands on his hips. "You've been playing your joke on us all night. It's getting old.

"I'm not playin' any kind a joke!" The blond yelled back. "Do I look like I planned ta run around scarin' you guys? I mean, look at me. I'm in my cruddy unda' pants!"

He dropped the blanket from his shoulders allowing his teammates to see that underneath all he was wearing was a white wife-beater, dark blue boxer shorts and nothing but thick white socks on his feet. Numbuh 3 couldn't help but giggle. Four quickly picked up the blanket and re-draped it over himself, burying half his face in the folds to hide his reddening cheeks. Numbuh 2 eyed his friend warily. Pants or no pants, Numbuh 4 still could be trying to trick them.

"I'm not sure---" the pilot began before he was interrupted by the mysterious scraping sound filling the air again. Numbuh 4 covered his mouth so his whimpers wouldn't be heard.

"Not this again." Numbuh 5 moaned.

"It's not funny anymore Numbuh 4 so you can just cut it out." The porky one said.

"It isn't me!" Four shouted, scanning the surroundings nervously. "Somethin's out there."

Two glared seriously at his friend, expecting a confession but instead found the fear the blond was trying so hard to conceal in his eyes and found it reflected in his own.

"C, come on Numbuh 4." Two's voice shuttered, "We, we know it's you."

"I'm not doin' it!" The Aussie yelled back.

"Numbuh 5 thinks Numbuh 4 is tellin' the truth."

"Then if it's not Numbuh 4 then what is it?" Two began to shiver with fear.

"How the heck am I supposed ta know?" Four waved his arms madly.

A short thunder-burst entered the fray, accompanied by a strobe of lightning and followed by a scream.

Numbuh 3 pointed wide-eyed at what had given her such a fright. The others turned in time to catch a large, monstrous shadow rearing up in the glow of the fallen flashlight. Another lightning flash, then it vanished. The quartet gasped at the sudden appearance and disappearance of the frightening projection and huddled together until they were certain it was truly gone.

"Ok, Numbuh 5 is officially freaked." The dark girl announced strongly before cautiously going over to her flashlight and picking it up.

Numbuh 3 quivered, hugging her teddy bear closer then ever.

"Are you sure that wasn't you Numbuh 4?" She whispered.

"I told ya! It wasn't me!" he shouted back. She nodded, removing her teddy bear from her embrace and swiftly used it to bop Numbuh 4 on the head.

"Ey! What was that for?!" He snarled rubbing where she had been smacked.

"It's your fault the slasher is here!" She scolded.

"What?! Ey! If I 'ad known that 'ole 'bloody vengeance' thing really worked I wouldn'a done it!"

"Let's try to calm down here." Numbuh 2 said, mostly for himself rather then the others. "Remember, the slasher won't attack people in groups so as long as we're all together we'll be fine."

Numbuh 5 nodded at his logic. That's what always worked in the movies. And although she didn't really believe what was loose in the tree house was in reality the slasher, she didn't want to take any changes with anyone's safety. She then gasped, a sudden realization hitting her mind.

"Uh, in case you didn't notice, not all of us are in the group."

The others turned to her and quickly saw what she was talking about--- The member not in their mists.

"Numbuh 1!"

Numbuh 3 quaked in her bunny slippers.

"He could be in trouble."

Numbuh 4 grit his teeth, with determination.

"We gotta help him!"

The foursome ran in the direction of the main sector of the tree house where their beloved leader's quarters lay.

"Man, we should have gone to Numbuh 1 when this whole trouble got started." Said Numbuh 5.

"We would have thought to check on Numbuh 1 if Numbuh 4 hadn't been running around trying to scare us." Numbuh 2 glanced back at his mop-topped companion.

"Fa the last time! I wasn't tryin' ta scare you!" Four shouted desperately, frustration brimming in his words. "If anythin' it was you guys who scared the livin' crud outta me!" Hands swiftly clasped over a mouth too big for its own good, then dropped down as the other kids turned to stare. Did he just say that? After the denying and hiding the truth, did he just admit everything in one misplaced rant? 'Just play it cool.' He thought to himself 'Maybe they didn't 'ear that.'

"You were scared Numbuh 4?" Numbuh 3 asked, her voice soft and sympathetic.

"No!" He denied, "I'm not scared. You guys surprised me, that's what I meant ta say. Surprised, not scared." His voice was stubborn, but his wide expressive eyes told them the truth.

"Gee Numbuh 4, why didn't tell us you were scared?" Numbuh 2 dropped his suspicious guard and showed his friend full sympathy.

"I'm not scared!" The Aussie shouted back. A quick crash of thunder made him jump, giving away his rattled nerves. "Stupid storm!"

Numbuh 3 laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Aw, it's ok Numbuh 4. We were all scared. You wanna hug Mr. Snugglebear?" She held out the stuffed animal at arms length for the boy. He let out a groan pushing the plush away from his face.

"Eh, no thanks Numbuh 3."

"Yo, we gonna check on Numbuh 1 or not?"

Numbuh 5 was already a good distance away from the group. She only yielded to make sure they were still behind her. Numbuh 2 sped up his sprint to catch up with her, Three and Four close behind him.

"Numbuh 5, wait up! We can't risk getting spilt up or the slasher might get us!"

Five turned and face the others, arms akimbo.

"Would you make up yo mind? Is the slasher followin' us or goin' after Numbuh 1?"

Numbuh 2 debated in his mind which rule of horror movie logic applied here. After a few moments he meekly stated his answer.

"I---don't know."

"Stupid movie." Numbuh 4 mumbled, sticking close to Numbuh 3, "Stupid storm, stupid slasha'.---"

A low creak droned through the house, stealing breath from the four children. The now too familiar scratching followed now sounding louder then ever.

"Oh no---" Numbuh 2 trembled.

Numbuh 5 prepared to console her companions but before she could speak something caught her attention that made her gasp.

"Guys---"

The remaining trio looked to where their capped friend's eyes were locked. Hearts leapt seeing what was responsible for her startled expression. Outside the window a dark figure stood, silently peering in from the catwalk exterior. It's form distorted by surrounding shadows. All the kids could really make out was an arm repeatedly tapping the glass.

"Looks like it's tryin' ta get in." Numbuh 4 whispered.

"Maybe if we stand really still it won't see us and go away." Numbuh 2 stood petrified. The others followed suit. Staying close to the wall, unmoving save for their trembles of fear. Numbuh 3 squeezed her teddy bear, whimpering quietly, her eyes shimmering with fear, growing more intense with every tap and scrape against the glass. Numbuh 4 looked into those dark, glittering, beautiful orbs with pity and guilt. Then ahead at the intruder trying to smash its way inside. If this was the slasher, he knew what it wanted and why it was here. He looked back up at Numbuh 3 knowing what had to be done.

"Uh, Numbuh 3?" he said delicately.

"Yeah?" She gazed down at him, noticing how he held his head was down so that his eyes were hidden. His hands fiddled with the blanket around him.

"I, um, I'm sorry I used that 'ole 'bloody vengeance thing ta scare you. I shouldn'a done that."

"It's ok." She whispered back. He raised his head slightly.

"I didn't mean ta do any 'arm, honest I didn't. But nah weh all in danga' an' it's all because a me." His voice had more determination then remorse as he allowed his blanket to slide off his shoulders to the ground. He picked it up and handed it to Numbuh 2. "Hold this." Then he walked to the other window.

"What are you doing?" Numbuh 2 shouted.

Four was silent a moment. He had many reasons explaining why he was going to do this act of insanity. Pride, responsibility, guilt, retribution for self-loathing, and that nameless feeling that made his heart soft and warm whenever Numbuh 3 smiled.

He carefully opened the second hall window, a few feet from the intruder. Rain began to blow in through the open portal, wind pushing back his hair, revealing his hardened eyes.

"Where are you going Numbuh 4?!" His portly friend shouted again. He looked to his companions, already climbing out the window.

"Ta take care a this freak m'self."

[TO BE CONTINUED]