The X-Citing Entry Syndrome
Part Three: Who's Hunting Who?
If there's one thing more dangerous than a deranged Bug out to destroy the human race, it's an army of Bugs intent on devouring the population of New York City. Uvark was hostile all right but a pushover compared to his pals lurking behind the woodwork. So while Uvark stalked after the feuding Elle and X, Kay and Jay were wandering off into aliens' stronghold.
Jay walked up to the overturned cart near the end of the hall. "Well, whoever bumped into this laundry hamper on wheels is gone now."
"Wouldn't count on that Slick." Kay warned cautiously. He really wished that he hadn't lost his gun.
A shadowed figure darted behind the pair and slammed the door shut as it entered Room 414. The agents spun around (Jay being the only one armed with his Noisy Cricket), "Who's there?!" the younger MIB demanded.
"Not there," Kay corrected as he twisted the doorknob of the hotel room, "in here."
Jay tugged at his collar with his free hand, "Y-yeah, right Kay, I knew that."
A low hiss emerged from somewhere in the darkness of the dim room as the partners crept inside. Kay was getting a bad feeling about this, and if there was one thing that he'd learned in all his years as an MIB agent (something no Neuralyzer could make him forget) it was that a good agent should always trust his gut.
"I don't see anything." Jay whispered, his finger twitching uneasily on the trigger of his weapon.
"That's the problem," Kay stated, "the Bugs don't want us to see anything, it's a trap."
"Very clever---Agent Kay." a gruff voice unexpectedly remarked.
Spinning around Jay nervously fired at the coat closet. Kay waited a few seconds then opened the door. "Congratulations kid, you've saved the world from an army of plastic hangers."
"B-but," Jay protested, "where'd it go? I mean, I heard that thing's voice coming from right behind that door. You heard it too, right??"
The more experienced agent pointed to a hole in the side of the closet, "There's all kinds of Bugs in the universe Jay, these kind just happen to be skilled at tunneling through walls."
"Yeah well these termites are getting on my last nerve." Jay mumbled, "C'mon out and fight like men!"
Beneath the kitchen's bar Oomparf turned to the colony's leader, "Want me to break this rookie in half Bletch?"
"No," the other Bug-of a considerably larger stature-answered, "just wait for it Oomparf. Vermin pierced that human with his stinger. The poison's gonna take effect on the worthless biped soon."
"What about Agent Kay?" Yenn growled as she watched the two MIBs poke around the room, "He knows too much about our species and his trigger happy partner almost disintegrated me with that puny pistol of his!"
"Don't worry about it Yenn," Bletch seemed unfazed by the close call of his comrade, "Kay will be too busy rushing his partner back to headquarters to uncover our little army."
"Besides," Oomparf began sniggering, "these puny humans still think we're just here to feed off the hotel guests."
A shot through the cabinets shut the pesky aliens' traps. "Curse your stupid yapping Oomparf!" Yenn snarled, "You've led them right to us!"
Jay grinned widely as he prepared to fire a second shot, "Like shootin' bugs in a barrel."
"Don't get overconfident Junior," Kay grabbed his communicator and flipped open its cover, "Just keep 'em cornered until Elle and X get here with the Bug Zapper."
"Will do partner," Jay turned his attention back to the three Bugs emerging from beneath the bar, "Attention alien scum, you have the right to remain, anything you say can and will get you exterminated."
******
Another hall down Elle and X were warily making their way towards the stairwell, checking rooms for pest problems as they went. After stepping out of yet another empty hotel suite the cranky partners were mere seconds away from being at each others' throats yet again.
Agent X held the Bug Zapper tightly in his grasp, agitated by the fact that he'd only been able to fire it once. "It's quiet out here, too quiet."
"Oh please," Elle rolled her eyes and purposefully lagged behind.
"What?!" X asked.
"I can't believe that they brought me back into the MIB just to stick me with a human-hating hothead like you." the blonde grumbled.
"Better stick close to this hothead Little Ears," the JeeDangian chuckled, "last time you wandered off you were nearly eaten by an overgrown cockroach."
"I didn't wander off!" Elle snapped, "I was doing my job while you stayed behind to scoff at magazine articles!"
X just huffed to himself, "Humans, can never admit when they're wrong."
Elle prayed for the strength not to wring her partner's big green neck as she absentmindedly let the icer drop to her side.
Uvark eyed the pair hungrily from his stance on the ceiling. His species never really did care much for the taste of JeeDangians but this poorly disguised MIB had ticked him off just enough by rescuing the blonde so that he was willing to stomach the bland taste. Besides, thanks to these inferior meddlers his best buddy Vermin was just a smear on the windshield of life. And now he was see to it that these goody-goods paid!
X tried the knob of the last door on the hall. "Locked," he sneered, "looks like we'll just have to bust our way in."
"Forget it Cowboy," Elle held up a scanner and waved it over the door, "I'm not picking up any signs of extraterrestrial lifeforms in the room."
"Ph, you humans and your substandard technology," X took a few steps back and prepared to deliver a kick to the door, "back in the JeeDang Galaxy we rely on action not gadgets to catch the criminal scum."
"You're going to blow our cover with your pea brained cop act," Elle sighed. She could hear the lecture from Zed now.
"Heh, watch and learn," the JeeDangian retorted.
A happy distraction from X's lunacy came in the form of a beeping communicator. Agent Elle gladly answered as X proceeded to discover the durability of a thick hardwood door. "Elle here, what's the problem?"
Kay raised an eyebrow when a sudden "OW!!!" followed by a string of alien curses resounded over the line. Shaking his head as Elle's image smirked at someone in the background (no doubt the arrogant Agent X) he spoke, "Jay and I have cornered three of the top bugs, including their leader. The kid's holding them at bay with his Noisy Cricket but the Bug Zapper would be a bit more persuasive in this situation."
"Right," Elle nodded preparing to close off the link, "we'll be there as soon as X decides to stop making a fool of himself."
"I HEARD THAT!" the debased alien was clutching his foot before a dented door.
Uvark had to bite down on his lower jaw just to stop from laughing hysterically at the bumbling showoff. It wasn't often that his dinner provided him with a show.
"Stop the sobbin' you big baby, I told you breaking down the door was a bad idea." Elle felt embarrassed just watching as X hopped forward on one foot to counter her.
"Oh yeah, well if you weren't chatting away on your communicator then maybe we could've cornered some perps of our own by now!"
"Don't blame me for your incompetence X!" Elle shot back, "Just because you weren't the first one to nab a bug doesn't mean you get to take it out on me!"
"I knew I should've stayed back on my own planet." X continued to rant, "At least back home we had Peacekeepers who knew how to do their job right and use muscle instead of relying on machines to handle things!"
"I think those muscles of yours have crushed your brain! When I say there's nothing hiding in a room then there's no reason to break into it!" Elle couldn't believe how childish X was being about all this, and she'd thought Jay was immature.
"Well if you're so sure that you're a better agent than me why don't we just put your little theory to the test?" her partner suggested.
"Fine by me!" Elle agreed.
"Good!" X exclaimed, "You go ahead and play with your little scientific toys and I'll stay right here and solve this case!"
Unable to stand there another minute and listen to her partner's idiotic ramblings Elle turned on her heel and stormed off towards Kay and Jay's last location. She'd show that conceited, big eared, showoff a thing or too about real investigating. Maybe then Zed would assign her a new partner with a little more manners and a lot less mouth!
'What's this?' Uvark thought interestedly to himself, 'Looks like my rations have just been cut in half. Oh well, at least she left me the big guy. And once I've finished with the alien I can follow Blondie back to the all-you-can-eat human buffet!'
X watched, fuming, as he annoying beady eyed partner rounded the corner. 'Well good riddance! Now I can handle this case MY way. No humans, just me and a few soon to be zapped bugs.'
Testing the pain of his foot as he applied weight to it he decided that he'd be able to walk on it again. He ignored the slight throbbing that accompanied each step, grudgingly thinking to himself that maybe kicking the door down had been a dumb idea. He'd never tell Elle of course, she was already too convinced of the accurancy of her own observations.
After a split second of deliberation X decided that any bugs on the hallway must've been scared down the stairwell when they sensed a professional peacekeeper approaching. Sure he looked like a weak little human now, but Bugs would be able to smell the difference, and he knew that they weren't particularly interested in chomping down on JeeDangians. Bugs would much rather eat a disgusting human, just further proof of their poor taste in meals.
But no sooner had X opened the metal door leading down to the next level then he was tackled from above by said 'scared Bug'.
"AAHHH!!!"
******
Bletch drummed his fingers impatiently on the countertop, staring at the agent with the raised weapon. Oomparf and Yenn exchanged puzzled glances as Agent Kay checked his watch.
"Um." Jay fought off the urge to drop his numbing arms, ".you sure Elle and X said they were coming with that Bug Zapper?"
"That's what Elle said Slick," Kay answered with a hint of agitation in his voice, if those two were somewhere down the hallway deep in an argument again he'd personally see to it that Zed sent them to a counseling session with Agent Quirk.
A few drops of sweat rolled down Jay's brow as he struggled against his blurring vision to hold the Noisy Cricket steady. He wasn't fortunate enough to have his struggles go unnoticed. Bletch was watching with eager anticipation of what was soon to come.
With a hint of annoyance Kay pulled out his communicator again and pressed down a few keys (for the second time). Jay shifted in place, 'Is it hot in here or is it just me?'
Oomparf shook with eagerness as he realized that the poison was taking full effect. "Easy," Bletch said with a low growl as Jay raked one sleeve over his forehead, "don't make a move just yet."
Yenn gave a toothy smile while Agent Kay frowned at his communicator's blank screen, 'Now who's dropping like flies?'
Snapping the cover closed on the device Kay suppressed a groan before feeling a set of cold eyes fixated on him. Looking up to meet Yenn's gaze he saw the Bug shift her sights in Jay's direction.
THUD!
Kay turned to find his partner sprawled out unconscious on the floor with the Noisy Cricket still held loosely in his hands.
"NOW!" Bletch shouted.
Kay dove for the weapon as the three Bugs leapt over the countertop and sprang for the agents.
"How's your partner like Vermin's poison Kay?" Yenn cackled grabbing the elder agent by the collar and slinging him back against the dresser.
"Wonder if it'll ruin his taste?" Oomparf questioned.
"One way to find out," Bletch lifted Jay up by the back of his jacket and prepared to devour the knocked out agent. But a blast from Elle's icer sent him crashing into Oomparf.
Yenn spun around to see the blonde agent with her weapon held high, "Hands up or chill out!"
"Where's your little partner?" Yenn chided refusing to comply, "I thought he had a bigger gun?"
"This icer's got more than enough firepower to take you out." Elle informed her.
"You may have squished Edgar but my breed's got a much tougher exoskeleton human," Yenn raised her stinger high to strike.
"Uh.Yenn?" Oomparf cried uneasily from the floor.
"WHAT?!" but once she'd glanced back at her fellow insect Yenn noted the problem. Bletch had been turned into the universe's ugliest ice sculpture and had Oomparf pinned under him. "Oh great."
With a grin Elle spoke, "Looks like it's just you and me."
"And me." Kay grabbed the Noisy Cricket and aimed it at the remaining Bug.
"With an aggravated cry of rage Yenn sent a barrage of nearby furniture and decorative items flying around the room. As the agents dunked out of the way Yenn shoved Bletch off of Oomparf and the two hauled their leader out through the balcony.
Once the debris had stopped soaring throughout the room the two conscious agents got to their feet again. "What happened to Jay?" Elle inquired as she regarded the sweating agent laid out on the floor.
"Vermin's stinger left some poison in his bloodstream." Kay answered. "Where's X?"
"X is off playing Cowboy." Elle grumbled, "Seems he'd rather be a JeeDangian Peacekeeper than a MIB agent."
"We can't just leave him behind," Kay decided, "I'm taking Jay back to Zeeltor's lab; you go find X and meet us back at Headquarters. Use the communicator if you run across a Bug."
"I think they're preoccupied with thawing out their leader." Elle remarked grudgingly heading out to find her stubborn partner.
While Kay dragged Jay into the elevator Elle trudged down the hallway where'd she'd left X who'd literally been 'hopping mad'.
She gasped at what she saw at the end of the hallway, a large gaping hole in the side of the building. "X!" rushing over to the opening she found it was actually a tunnel. "So this is how the Bugs have been moving around this level without being detected."
Flipping open the communicator she was about to call Kay back upstairs when she heard a faint cry echoing through the tunnel. "Help!"
'X?' the Bug hadn't devoured her partner yet? With the faint (and surprising) hope that X might still be alive she wriggled up a little ways into the tunnel and called out, "X?! Are you all right?!"
"Help!" the cry sounded even more distant now, "Little Ears, help me!"
'That's gotta be X.' Elle concluded. Forgetting about contacting Kay she tucked the device back into her jacket and crawled deeper into the tunnel, intent on rescuing her partner. ________________________________________________________________________
*I know, I know---it's been forever since I've updated this. Over half a year in fact. But I won't let the story die. So keep reading and reviewing cause I finally got some time to update! ^_^ And besides.if X gets rescued and nobody's around to read about it, will Elle ever get to rub it in?*
Part Three: Who's Hunting Who?
If there's one thing more dangerous than a deranged Bug out to destroy the human race, it's an army of Bugs intent on devouring the population of New York City. Uvark was hostile all right but a pushover compared to his pals lurking behind the woodwork. So while Uvark stalked after the feuding Elle and X, Kay and Jay were wandering off into aliens' stronghold.
Jay walked up to the overturned cart near the end of the hall. "Well, whoever bumped into this laundry hamper on wheels is gone now."
"Wouldn't count on that Slick." Kay warned cautiously. He really wished that he hadn't lost his gun.
A shadowed figure darted behind the pair and slammed the door shut as it entered Room 414. The agents spun around (Jay being the only one armed with his Noisy Cricket), "Who's there?!" the younger MIB demanded.
"Not there," Kay corrected as he twisted the doorknob of the hotel room, "in here."
Jay tugged at his collar with his free hand, "Y-yeah, right Kay, I knew that."
A low hiss emerged from somewhere in the darkness of the dim room as the partners crept inside. Kay was getting a bad feeling about this, and if there was one thing that he'd learned in all his years as an MIB agent (something no Neuralyzer could make him forget) it was that a good agent should always trust his gut.
"I don't see anything." Jay whispered, his finger twitching uneasily on the trigger of his weapon.
"That's the problem," Kay stated, "the Bugs don't want us to see anything, it's a trap."
"Very clever---Agent Kay." a gruff voice unexpectedly remarked.
Spinning around Jay nervously fired at the coat closet. Kay waited a few seconds then opened the door. "Congratulations kid, you've saved the world from an army of plastic hangers."
"B-but," Jay protested, "where'd it go? I mean, I heard that thing's voice coming from right behind that door. You heard it too, right??"
The more experienced agent pointed to a hole in the side of the closet, "There's all kinds of Bugs in the universe Jay, these kind just happen to be skilled at tunneling through walls."
"Yeah well these termites are getting on my last nerve." Jay mumbled, "C'mon out and fight like men!"
Beneath the kitchen's bar Oomparf turned to the colony's leader, "Want me to break this rookie in half Bletch?"
"No," the other Bug-of a considerably larger stature-answered, "just wait for it Oomparf. Vermin pierced that human with his stinger. The poison's gonna take effect on the worthless biped soon."
"What about Agent Kay?" Yenn growled as she watched the two MIBs poke around the room, "He knows too much about our species and his trigger happy partner almost disintegrated me with that puny pistol of his!"
"Don't worry about it Yenn," Bletch seemed unfazed by the close call of his comrade, "Kay will be too busy rushing his partner back to headquarters to uncover our little army."
"Besides," Oomparf began sniggering, "these puny humans still think we're just here to feed off the hotel guests."
A shot through the cabinets shut the pesky aliens' traps. "Curse your stupid yapping Oomparf!" Yenn snarled, "You've led them right to us!"
Jay grinned widely as he prepared to fire a second shot, "Like shootin' bugs in a barrel."
"Don't get overconfident Junior," Kay grabbed his communicator and flipped open its cover, "Just keep 'em cornered until Elle and X get here with the Bug Zapper."
"Will do partner," Jay turned his attention back to the three Bugs emerging from beneath the bar, "Attention alien scum, you have the right to remain, anything you say can and will get you exterminated."
******
Another hall down Elle and X were warily making their way towards the stairwell, checking rooms for pest problems as they went. After stepping out of yet another empty hotel suite the cranky partners were mere seconds away from being at each others' throats yet again.
Agent X held the Bug Zapper tightly in his grasp, agitated by the fact that he'd only been able to fire it once. "It's quiet out here, too quiet."
"Oh please," Elle rolled her eyes and purposefully lagged behind.
"What?!" X asked.
"I can't believe that they brought me back into the MIB just to stick me with a human-hating hothead like you." the blonde grumbled.
"Better stick close to this hothead Little Ears," the JeeDangian chuckled, "last time you wandered off you were nearly eaten by an overgrown cockroach."
"I didn't wander off!" Elle snapped, "I was doing my job while you stayed behind to scoff at magazine articles!"
X just huffed to himself, "Humans, can never admit when they're wrong."
Elle prayed for the strength not to wring her partner's big green neck as she absentmindedly let the icer drop to her side.
Uvark eyed the pair hungrily from his stance on the ceiling. His species never really did care much for the taste of JeeDangians but this poorly disguised MIB had ticked him off just enough by rescuing the blonde so that he was willing to stomach the bland taste. Besides, thanks to these inferior meddlers his best buddy Vermin was just a smear on the windshield of life. And now he was see to it that these goody-goods paid!
X tried the knob of the last door on the hall. "Locked," he sneered, "looks like we'll just have to bust our way in."
"Forget it Cowboy," Elle held up a scanner and waved it over the door, "I'm not picking up any signs of extraterrestrial lifeforms in the room."
"Ph, you humans and your substandard technology," X took a few steps back and prepared to deliver a kick to the door, "back in the JeeDang Galaxy we rely on action not gadgets to catch the criminal scum."
"You're going to blow our cover with your pea brained cop act," Elle sighed. She could hear the lecture from Zed now.
"Heh, watch and learn," the JeeDangian retorted.
A happy distraction from X's lunacy came in the form of a beeping communicator. Agent Elle gladly answered as X proceeded to discover the durability of a thick hardwood door. "Elle here, what's the problem?"
Kay raised an eyebrow when a sudden "OW!!!" followed by a string of alien curses resounded over the line. Shaking his head as Elle's image smirked at someone in the background (no doubt the arrogant Agent X) he spoke, "Jay and I have cornered three of the top bugs, including their leader. The kid's holding them at bay with his Noisy Cricket but the Bug Zapper would be a bit more persuasive in this situation."
"Right," Elle nodded preparing to close off the link, "we'll be there as soon as X decides to stop making a fool of himself."
"I HEARD THAT!" the debased alien was clutching his foot before a dented door.
Uvark had to bite down on his lower jaw just to stop from laughing hysterically at the bumbling showoff. It wasn't often that his dinner provided him with a show.
"Stop the sobbin' you big baby, I told you breaking down the door was a bad idea." Elle felt embarrassed just watching as X hopped forward on one foot to counter her.
"Oh yeah, well if you weren't chatting away on your communicator then maybe we could've cornered some perps of our own by now!"
"Don't blame me for your incompetence X!" Elle shot back, "Just because you weren't the first one to nab a bug doesn't mean you get to take it out on me!"
"I knew I should've stayed back on my own planet." X continued to rant, "At least back home we had Peacekeepers who knew how to do their job right and use muscle instead of relying on machines to handle things!"
"I think those muscles of yours have crushed your brain! When I say there's nothing hiding in a room then there's no reason to break into it!" Elle couldn't believe how childish X was being about all this, and she'd thought Jay was immature.
"Well if you're so sure that you're a better agent than me why don't we just put your little theory to the test?" her partner suggested.
"Fine by me!" Elle agreed.
"Good!" X exclaimed, "You go ahead and play with your little scientific toys and I'll stay right here and solve this case!"
Unable to stand there another minute and listen to her partner's idiotic ramblings Elle turned on her heel and stormed off towards Kay and Jay's last location. She'd show that conceited, big eared, showoff a thing or too about real investigating. Maybe then Zed would assign her a new partner with a little more manners and a lot less mouth!
'What's this?' Uvark thought interestedly to himself, 'Looks like my rations have just been cut in half. Oh well, at least she left me the big guy. And once I've finished with the alien I can follow Blondie back to the all-you-can-eat human buffet!'
X watched, fuming, as he annoying beady eyed partner rounded the corner. 'Well good riddance! Now I can handle this case MY way. No humans, just me and a few soon to be zapped bugs.'
Testing the pain of his foot as he applied weight to it he decided that he'd be able to walk on it again. He ignored the slight throbbing that accompanied each step, grudgingly thinking to himself that maybe kicking the door down had been a dumb idea. He'd never tell Elle of course, she was already too convinced of the accurancy of her own observations.
After a split second of deliberation X decided that any bugs on the hallway must've been scared down the stairwell when they sensed a professional peacekeeper approaching. Sure he looked like a weak little human now, but Bugs would be able to smell the difference, and he knew that they weren't particularly interested in chomping down on JeeDangians. Bugs would much rather eat a disgusting human, just further proof of their poor taste in meals.
But no sooner had X opened the metal door leading down to the next level then he was tackled from above by said 'scared Bug'.
"AAHHH!!!"
******
Bletch drummed his fingers impatiently on the countertop, staring at the agent with the raised weapon. Oomparf and Yenn exchanged puzzled glances as Agent Kay checked his watch.
"Um." Jay fought off the urge to drop his numbing arms, ".you sure Elle and X said they were coming with that Bug Zapper?"
"That's what Elle said Slick," Kay answered with a hint of agitation in his voice, if those two were somewhere down the hallway deep in an argument again he'd personally see to it that Zed sent them to a counseling session with Agent Quirk.
A few drops of sweat rolled down Jay's brow as he struggled against his blurring vision to hold the Noisy Cricket steady. He wasn't fortunate enough to have his struggles go unnoticed. Bletch was watching with eager anticipation of what was soon to come.
With a hint of annoyance Kay pulled out his communicator again and pressed down a few keys (for the second time). Jay shifted in place, 'Is it hot in here or is it just me?'
Oomparf shook with eagerness as he realized that the poison was taking full effect. "Easy," Bletch said with a low growl as Jay raked one sleeve over his forehead, "don't make a move just yet."
Yenn gave a toothy smile while Agent Kay frowned at his communicator's blank screen, 'Now who's dropping like flies?'
Snapping the cover closed on the device Kay suppressed a groan before feeling a set of cold eyes fixated on him. Looking up to meet Yenn's gaze he saw the Bug shift her sights in Jay's direction.
THUD!
Kay turned to find his partner sprawled out unconscious on the floor with the Noisy Cricket still held loosely in his hands.
"NOW!" Bletch shouted.
Kay dove for the weapon as the three Bugs leapt over the countertop and sprang for the agents.
"How's your partner like Vermin's poison Kay?" Yenn cackled grabbing the elder agent by the collar and slinging him back against the dresser.
"Wonder if it'll ruin his taste?" Oomparf questioned.
"One way to find out," Bletch lifted Jay up by the back of his jacket and prepared to devour the knocked out agent. But a blast from Elle's icer sent him crashing into Oomparf.
Yenn spun around to see the blonde agent with her weapon held high, "Hands up or chill out!"
"Where's your little partner?" Yenn chided refusing to comply, "I thought he had a bigger gun?"
"This icer's got more than enough firepower to take you out." Elle informed her.
"You may have squished Edgar but my breed's got a much tougher exoskeleton human," Yenn raised her stinger high to strike.
"Uh.Yenn?" Oomparf cried uneasily from the floor.
"WHAT?!" but once she'd glanced back at her fellow insect Yenn noted the problem. Bletch had been turned into the universe's ugliest ice sculpture and had Oomparf pinned under him. "Oh great."
With a grin Elle spoke, "Looks like it's just you and me."
"And me." Kay grabbed the Noisy Cricket and aimed it at the remaining Bug.
"With an aggravated cry of rage Yenn sent a barrage of nearby furniture and decorative items flying around the room. As the agents dunked out of the way Yenn shoved Bletch off of Oomparf and the two hauled their leader out through the balcony.
Once the debris had stopped soaring throughout the room the two conscious agents got to their feet again. "What happened to Jay?" Elle inquired as she regarded the sweating agent laid out on the floor.
"Vermin's stinger left some poison in his bloodstream." Kay answered. "Where's X?"
"X is off playing Cowboy." Elle grumbled, "Seems he'd rather be a JeeDangian Peacekeeper than a MIB agent."
"We can't just leave him behind," Kay decided, "I'm taking Jay back to Zeeltor's lab; you go find X and meet us back at Headquarters. Use the communicator if you run across a Bug."
"I think they're preoccupied with thawing out their leader." Elle remarked grudgingly heading out to find her stubborn partner.
While Kay dragged Jay into the elevator Elle trudged down the hallway where'd she'd left X who'd literally been 'hopping mad'.
She gasped at what she saw at the end of the hallway, a large gaping hole in the side of the building. "X!" rushing over to the opening she found it was actually a tunnel. "So this is how the Bugs have been moving around this level without being detected."
Flipping open the communicator she was about to call Kay back upstairs when she heard a faint cry echoing through the tunnel. "Help!"
'X?' the Bug hadn't devoured her partner yet? With the faint (and surprising) hope that X might still be alive she wriggled up a little ways into the tunnel and called out, "X?! Are you all right?!"
"Help!" the cry sounded even more distant now, "Little Ears, help me!"
'That's gotta be X.' Elle concluded. Forgetting about contacting Kay she tucked the device back into her jacket and crawled deeper into the tunnel, intent on rescuing her partner. ________________________________________________________________________
*I know, I know---it's been forever since I've updated this. Over half a year in fact. But I won't let the story die. So keep reading and reviewing cause I finally got some time to update! ^_^ And besides.if X gets rescued and nobody's around to read about it, will Elle ever get to rub it in?*