MY EVERYTHING
By Max Jordan and Grand High Idol
CHAPTER SIX
It was the next morning, now, and the Cybersquad were now currently back in Control Central. They had been very paranoid with Digit when it came to watching Nezzie for the night, but she had managed to sleep pretty well for a few hours-after completely wearing Digit out, that is. Inez, being the parent, had to stay with her and try to get her to calm down, but of course that was like trying to stop a superball-you had to be fast, or it wouldn't work. Eventually the kids all had to stay and try to keep her at bay-which was a difficult task, even for the entire group.
Now all four of them were sitting around one of the tables in the other room, and they all looked haggard and worn down. Inez was currently holding an ice pack to the back of her head, and Jackie still had a few white splotches on her clothes from the powder; she appeared to be much too tired to even bother to try and remove them, however. Matt, who had recently ejected his lunch-or, to put it more appropriately, dinner-on the carousel earlier, was now slumped over the edge of the table, absentmindedly drawing invisible circles with the tip of his finger.
"Man," he declared, shaking his head, sounding incredibly tired. "Who knew that taking care of a kid could be this much work?"
Jackie nodded. "Oh, man, I know," she replied, leaning back in her chair, her head tilted over the edge. "Baby sitting wasn't this intense.ugh.and I haven't even checked my hair yet. I hope that it's not messed up like it usually-"
"Well, yeah," Inez interrupted, yawning. "I've got to admit that Nezzie does seem tireless. I wonder if Delete was like that, at her age." She shook her head. "Geez, I don't even want to think about what you had to put up with as a kid, Digit."
"Er." Digit replied, a rather pained expression forming on his face. He then looked off to the side, then, noticing that something was amiss, turned around in his chair and began to visually search the room. "Hey, speaking of Nezzie, where'd she head off to, anyway?"
"Dr. Marbles is giving her a tour of Control Central," Inez replied; she then clunked her head down on the table and sighed. "Not that she's already had one already."
"Well, on the bright side, maybe we can get some peace, now," Matt replied, holding up his hand, but he quickly dropped it and slumped to one side in the chair. "Yeah, we're going to need it.I suddenly feel very old, and that's not a good sign."
"Oh, well, then, how do you think I feel?" Digit asked, hitting his head on the table as he fell over; this didn't seem to bother him in the least, however. "I'm twice as old as you are. And what about the Doc?" He shuddered. "Well, hopefully she'll be out of our hair.and my feathers.for awhile.I could use the rest."
* * *
Elsewhere, on the Grim Wreaker, namely, Hacker, Buzz and Delete, after a few hours of working, had finally cleaned up the mess that they had made last night while watching the clips. Shortly after he had choked on his popcorn Buzz had ended up getting quite a few of the kernels lodged in the couch cushions; Hacker, being a neat freak, made him dig through the couch and pull them out.along with a few snalfoos and an old stick of gum.Buzz didn't know where that had come from; he didn't chew gum. Shrugging, he tossed the stick aside, then finally climbed down from the couch, dusting his hands off.
"Bout time," he sighed to himself, "Although I gotta admit 'dat was fun."
Delete, still feeling very heavy from last night, looked up at him sadly, then sighed and walked off down the hallway. Buzz stared after him, starting to feel concerned, then finally shook his head and took his seat atop the now spotless couch, staring down the hallway almost dumbly.
"Man, he's been in a funk ever since yesterday," he said to himself, leaning against the side of the couch. "Wonder what he's so worked up about.I mean, it's not exactly like he knows 'da kid personally or anything.someone's gotta snap him out of it, quick."
"I believe I know a way to fix that," a voice replied from behind him. Buzz jumped in surprise, then whipped around in time to see Hacker, who had been standing next to the couch and had apparently heard every word that had been spoken.
"Huh?" Buzz replied, still rather confused. Hacker grinned, showing most of his teeth.
"Buzzie, my boy, it's time for the 'Net phase of the plan to begin," Hacker replied, patting Buzz on the head falsely. Buzz cringed as Hacker touched him, then looked back up at him uneasily and rubbed his head where his boss had patted it. "We need to retrieve the girl, and soon."
Delete, meanwhile, had snapped out of his funk, putting responsibility ahead of his sadness.that, and he didn't want to disobey his boss's orders. Thinking that he should probably go back and help Buzz move the couch back into the trophy room, he had turned around and had come back down the hallway.just in time to hear their conversation. And, needless to say, he didn't like what they were saying one bit.
"What about Deeds?" he heard Buzz ask. He then heard Hacker laugh one- sidedly.
"Ha, never mind him," he heard his boss reply. "It's clear that this situation is clouding his judgment; there's nothing that he can do if this continues. Just do what I told you before, and everything will work out just fine. Get my drift?"
"You got it, boss," Buzz agreed; he then jumped down from the couch and began to run off into a different hallway. Delete, meanwhile, having overheard and clearly understood every word that had been spoken, turned around and angrily stormed off in the other direction, actually beginning to get angry for one of the very few times in his life.
* * *
A few moments later, Buzz was in the driver's seat in one of Hacker's smaller ships, heading in the direction of Control Central. Looking out the front window, almost feeling a little sorry for the kid.and Delete, at that. Trying to shake it off-he couldn't think this, he was a loyal follower to Hacker-he parked the car to one side of the main building, then slowly crept out and began to slink off along the edge of the wall. It wasn't long before he came to the window of what he knew, by watching the clips the night before, was Nezzie's room.
Easily managing to slide the glass pane open, he squeezed in through the window and fell to the ground, only to see Nezzie on the floor, playing with a couple of toy horses and babbling joyously to herself.
"An' then the horsy goes 'neigh'! An' eats some gwass, an' the udder horse goes-" She stopped when she heard Buzz hit the floor, then turned around and looked up at him. However, she didn't appear frightened of him at all; in fact, she seemed almost happy to see him. "Oh, hi, Uncle Buzzie," she said, waving at him gently.
Buzz stopped, then narrowed one eye, out of disturbance more than confusion. "Uncle Buzzie.?" he repeated, suddenly feeling very awkward in this situation.
Nezzie didn't seem to notice, however. "Wanna play?" she asked, anxiously approaching the shorter robot, who drummed his fingers together nervously, trying to think of what to do in this situation. Finally managing a weak smile, he shrugged one shoulder.
"Uh, sure kid," he replied.
"Great!" Nezzie said. "Let's play horsey wide."
"Horsey wide?" Buzz stared at her oddly, then, finally realizing what she was getting at, held up his hands in defense and was about to object, but no sooner had he opened his mouth than had Nezzie leapt onto his back, grabbing a tight hold on both of Buzz's antennae in the process.
"Yay!" Nezzie cheered as she kicked both of her feet up, thus placing all of her body weight on Buzz's antennae in the process. "Horsey wide! Horsey wide!"
Buzz tried to get her to let go of his antennae, but his results proved unsuccessful. "No, Nezzie," he scolded, trying to reason with her, "Buzz doesn't want to be-OW!" He shrieked in pain as all of her weight went to his head. "Owowowowow! #@*&$!!! OWW!"
Nezzie jumped off, laughing at what her uncle had just said. "That's a funny word," she stated, obviously referring to Buzz's recent show of profanity. "What's it mean?"
Buzz, meanwhile, was gingerly rubbing his antennae, trying to get the pain to fade, then, realizing his slippage, grinned weakly again and shook his head. "Uh, heh, it's a fancy word," he replied. "Just never mind, it's not important." He sighed, then rubbed at one of his wrists. "And I ain't 'dat wide, ya know."
Nezzie blinked. Buzz sighed, then said, heading back toward the window, "Say, how's about we go for a real ride, now?" He leapt up onto the windowsill. "Come on, I'll show you how it's really done now." "'Kay," Nezzie replied; Buzz then reached down to pick up the girl and get her onto the windowsill, almost falling off the sill himself due to the contrast of his and her sizes. He growled in annoyance. Four years old, just four years old, and she was half a foot taller than him. Trying to ignore this (although it was rather hard considering that she was keeping pretty close to him the whole time), Buzz left through the window and began to head back down the wall, Nezzie following him close behind. They approached the area where Buzz had parked the ship.only to run into Delete, his hands at his sides, not looking at all pleased. Buzz stopped dead. "Delete?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Mommy!" Nezzie exclaimed happily, running over to Delete. Delete, happy to see her but not so happy to see his older brother, quickly picked her up, then nuzzled her with his cheek before glaring at Buzz. "How-how'd you-I mean-" Buzz unintelligibly stuttered, pointing off toward the side. Delete's eyes narrowed further, and Nezzie, sensing that her mother was mad, buried her head in his shirt. "Buzz, just what the heck do you think you're doin'?!" Delete demanded. Buzz looked at him, then, knowing that he had to keep his ground-he was the older brother, after all, backed up a few steps, then slowly shook his head. "Relax, Dee-Dee," he panted, looking his angry brother in the eye. "I wasn't gonna hurt her, honest." Delete made no response, but continued to shoot that poisonous look at him, as Buzz continued, "I was just following orders, you know 'dat. Da boss has just got a plan with her in it, 'dat's all. I ain't gonna hurt her. Honestly, I ain't." Delete was about to mouth off his response when Matt, Jackie, and Inez, having entered the room and finding Nezzie gone, came running out. Matt was the first one to notice that Buzz and Delete were standing there, face to face, along with Nezzie being held gingerly in one of Delete's arms. "HEY!" he shouted angrily, provoking the attention of them both and thus breaking their vengeful eye contact with each other. Buzz, instead of reacting in surprise, grinned, almost coldly. "Perfect timing, 'da kid's going for a ride with us," he told the kids, leaning to one side and crossing his arms. "If youse want her back, go get 'dat jewel you took from us 'da other day, and follow me in one of your Coupes." "Why you little-!" Matt began, but Buzz caught the insult immediately. "Repeat 'dat!" he shouted back, angrily pointing at the redhead. "I dare you!" "Oh, man, not again," Jackie sighed, smacking her forehead; she then lunged forward and grabbed Matt just as he was about to charge Buzz. "Hold it, Matt," she told him, shaking her head. "We can't go near him, not while he's got Nezzie." Matt growled and gritted his teeth, leering in Buzz's direction, but said nothing. Buzz responded by smirking at him, then sticking his tongue out at the boy. "Relax," he told him, using his most casual voice tone possible as so to taunt him further. "She won't get hurt, not so long as you follow my orders. Just get 'da jewel, and follow me. 'Dat simple." Delete leered down at Buzz; he looked just about ready to take Matt's place. "Is that what this is all about?" he demanded angrily. "Just getting that stupid jewel?!" "Look, I don't got time to argue with you right now," Buzz replied. "Just come on." Delete continued to leer coldly at him, but spoke no response. Buzz turned around, then began to head back toward the car, Delete following, still holding Nezzie in his arms. Except, despite the fact that he had his child back, he wasn't very happy with the situation at all. Nezzie sensed this, too, and she looked up at her mother, concerned. "Mommy?" she asked nervously. Delete looked down at her, then gave her a gentle hug before stroking her hair, speaking gently. "It's alright," he told her. "Mommy's just very annoyed at your uncle right now, is all. You'll be okay. I promise." Nezzie whimpered, then laid her head against the robot's chest, still visibly quaking. Delete sighed, then, deciding that her consoling was best settled later, stepped into the passenger's side of the car and slammed the door shut. Buzz then lifted off, heading off in the direction of the jungle cybersite. Inez, meanwhile, had gone to get the jewel from Dr. Marbles, and she had just come back out into the open when she saw their ship leaving. Jackie, now deciding that it was okay to let go of Matt now that Buzz was out of sight, released her grip from the boy and went over toward Inez. "I've got it," the Latino informed them, holding up the jewel. "Now all we've got to do is get them." "Okay, fine," Matt replied, still in a huff. "Come on, let's follow them." He turned around, then ran toward Digit, who had managed to get a Coupe out of the main landing area. Quickly slipping into the back seats and passenger's seat, Digit ignited, and the other ship shot off in pursuit of Buzz and Delete's ship. Sure enough, Buzz had led the Cybersquad back into the jungle site, where Hacker, of course, was waiting for them in the Grim Wreaker. Grinning as he watched Buzz and Delete's ship head across the monitor, followed closely by the kids', he clasped his hands together and rubbed them together delightfully. "Ha, I finally win for once," he laughed, then pressed the button on the ship's control panel that opened up the Wreaker's platform. The two ships quickly flew in, then landed, just as the platform slid shut behind them. The kids, along with Buzz and Delete, got out just as Hacker walked into the room. Delete, who had released his grip on Nezzie since they had gotten into the Coupe, now looked at Buzz in shock as he tugged the girl out of the ship and hoisted her up as much as he could off the ground. "I got her, boss," the stocky robot declared. Delete's eyes flashed with anger. "Hold it," he snapped, then, in a sudden movement, snatched the toddler out of Buzz's hands. Buzz jumped in shock, then looked over at Delete and glared angrily at him. "Delete, just what do you think you're doin'?" he demanded. "Y-you can't use her like that," Delete replied angrily, although his voice was obviously coming close to breaking. "Y-you can't!" Buzz rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on," he objected. "No way, Buzz," Delete snapped at him, holding Nezzie out of his reach. "You're not gonna get her, and that's final. I don't care what you're doin', I don't want her used like this." He set her down, as far away from Buzz as he could get her. "An' if you want to use her, you're gonna have to pry her from my dead, cold hands." "Okay, okay, 'dat's a little harsh, don't you think?" Buzz told him, raising an eyebrow. "It's not any more harsh than what you're doin' right now!" Delete snapped back. "Oh, shut up!" Buzz snapped back, angrily thrusting his fists down at his sides. "Just what do you know about evil plans anyway?" Nezzie, meanwhile, was becoming nervous from the two's conversation and was slowly inching away from them, her hand to her mouth, staring at them fearfully the entire time. Finally, she turned around, then began to head toward the direction of the computer monitors as Inez set the jewel down on the shelf, then turned around in time to watch Buzz and Delete's arguing reach its climax. Angrily, Buzz shot out and shoved Delete with all the force he had, but Delete reacted quickly and shoved back the moment that his hands made contact. The two both lost their balance and fell backward, Delete landing hard against the control panel, pressing quite a lot of the buttons on there in the process. Nezzie, meanwhile, had ignored these physical blows and had now turned all her interest over to the jewel. She had now picked it up and was looking at it, obviously interested in its incredible shininess. "Pretty," she said, her eyes wide as she stared at her reflection. However, moments after she said this the lower hatch opened. Since Nezzie was standing on top of it at the time, of course she fell directly through it. She let out a high pitched shriek of terror; this screaming caught Inez's attention, and she whipped around in time to see the girl disappear down the hatch. "Nezzie!" she shouted fearfully, then immediately made a dive for the girl, managing to catch her by the hand just in time. Both of them sighing in relief, Inez placed both hands around Nezzie's waist and was just about to lift her back up into the main control room when the engines kicked in, sending the ship out of control, flying around in all directions, now. "Whoa!" the girl exclaimed, then noticed, to her horror, that she was beginning to slip through the hatch as well. Delete had removed himself from the panel and was gritting his teeth, about to lunge at Buzz again, when he noticed Inez. Emitting a yelp of terror, he too dove forward, and managed to snag onto her leg. However, due to the monstrous air pressure the three immediately got sucked out. Delete just barely managed to extend his arm and seize the edge of the ramp. It wasn't a good grip, and he wasn't sure that he could hold on very well, however. Jackie, Digit, and Buzz, having seen the entire thing, quickly ran over to the edge of the ramp. Delete looked up at the three, his eyes filled with panic, but he could now see that Buzz had brought both hands to his mouth, and his eyes had become fearful. "Delete!" he called out, and although he was trying to hide it the taller robot knew that his voice was breaking. Delete whimpered at this show of affection, but quickly remembered that he was the only thing supporting the two girls, and thus concentrated back on keeping a firm hold. Matt, meanwhile, being the only one who wasn't occupied, quickly dove for the controls, trying everything to get the ship to fly right. When it refused all his commands and continued to careen out of control, Matt groaned, then said, bringing both hands to his head, "Oh man, how do I stabilize this thing?!" Buzz turned around. "Push 'da green button!" he called over to the boy. Matt looked at him, then nodded and chose the button nearest to him, pressing it quickly. However, instead of stopping the ship flipped upside down, nearly bucking the three-Nezzie, Inez, and Delete-off in the process. "Yipe!" Delete yelped as the three struck the bottom of the Grim Wreaker's metal surface. Inez looked over at the open part of the ramp. "What are they doing up there?" she wondered aloud, tightening her grip on her daughter's waist. Matt, meanwhile, hanging on for dear life to the edge of Hacker's Recharger Chair, quickly reached out and pushed the button again, and the ship flipped back into its original position, sending the boy to the ground. "I meant 'da other green button!" Buzz snapped at him, heatedly. Matt rolled his eyes. "Now you tell me," he sighed, slumping against the panel and slapping his forehead. "Well, we've gotta do something, quick!" Jackie told the two, frantically. "If we don't do something soon, oh man, I don't even want to think about what'll-" Buzz sighed, then looked over toward the far end of the wall, where he finally spotted one of the old grappling hooks hung up on the wall. They rarely used it in such cases, only in emergencies, if he could plainly recall, but considering the circumstances now. "Get 'da grappling hook," he ordered, pointing in the direction of the tool. Matt, deciding that agreeing with him would be better than starting another brawl, quickly ran over and got one of the grappling hooks, while Jackie took the hook off of it. She then sighed in disgust, then jammed it up into her shirt, so that the sharp ends of the hooks went through the cloth in her shirt. "I am so going to regret doing that tomorrow," she sighed, looking down at her shirt; she then ran over toward the open hatch. "Hang on tight, you guys," she told the others. Buzz and Digit nodded, then took hold of the rope, while Matt turned around and ran back over toward the control panel. Delete, meanwhile, wasn't having so much luck. His fingers were slipping, one by one, and he was pretty sure that they would plummet to the ground before anyone could get to them in time. Whimpering, he tried one last frantic attempt to pull himself up, but ended up failing miserably. "I-don't think I can-hold on much-longer," he groaned, struggling to regain his grip, but it was hopeless. Just as his fingers slipped from the edge of the platform, Jackie swung down on the hook and caught him. "Alright!" she exclaimed. "Jumpin' Jax has still got it!" Inez and Delete looked up at her, but decided that now wasn't the best time to comment on this situation. Matt and Hacker, meanwhile, were on the other side of the control room, heatedly fighting over the controls. And by the looks of it, Matt seemed to be the one winning. "Give me that!" Hacker exclaimed angrily, reaching for the controls, but Matt held him back. "Fat chance," he replied. "Uh, boss," Buzz called from across the room, straining from Jackie's weight, "Dis might be a good time to-" "What?" Hacker snapped at him. Buzz swallowed, then pointed at the monitor behind him. "Look," he replied, sounding rather blank as he momentarily released one hand from the rope and pointed past his boss, directly at the screen. Hacker stared at him for a few moments, then finally turned around and looked at the monitor himself, only to find out that the ship had finally decided on one direction and was now heading directly for the peak of a mountain. Inez, spotting the landmark at once, started screaming, while Matt jumped forward, grabbed the control stick, and began pulling backward, desperately trying to get the ship to go up. "Oh, man, guys," he said, sounding rather fearful as he eyed the mountain, "I don't know if we're gonna make it!" Hacker was not fazed. "Give me that!" he repeated, then grabbed the controls along with Matt, and began pulling back as well. Between the two of them, the ship slowly, but surely, began moving up. The two managed to get it at a good elevation the moment they passed the mountains, the four out on the grappling hook barely managing to make it. Jackie yelped, trying not to loosen her hold on Delete, then looked back at the mountains as they began to shrink behind her. "Oh man, that was too close," she sighed, relieved. That was when the alarm went off. "Now what?" Matt sighed, slumping forward onto the control panel. "Oh, great, we're running out of fuel!" Buzz exclaimed in a panic. "We're gonna crash!" "Great, just great, I needed that," Matt groaned; he then looked up at the monitor in time to see a small clearing up ahead. "Wait, wait a minute, I see a clearing in sight. Only problem is, can we make it there in time, or will we experience-" He swallowed. "The alternative?" Hacker laughed. "Ha! Just watch, you insolent brat." Then, with a sweep of his hand, he managed to level the ship off, just in the nick of time. Of course, this almost sent Jackie, along with Delete, Inez, and Nezzie, smashing onto the bottom of the Wreaker. Thankfully, they didn't. "Wow," Delete exclaimed, not sure whether to be impressed or frightened, "This is turning into a real interesting day." That was when the clearing came into full view. Jackie looked over at it, then shook her head. "What? Oh, come on. You've got to be kidding me." "Now what?" Inez wondered, but that was when she noticed that the Grim Wreaker was now quickly descending, heading for a very familiar looking mud pit. Matt, inside the ship, looked up at the monitor and saw this as well. "Oh, come on," he repeated, shaking his head. Before anyone else could speak up, the ship crashed directly into the mud, dragging Delete and the others outside the Wreaker at the moment down with it (much to Jackie's disgust). Mud flew out at all angles, and Matt had enough sense to duck, but Hacker went flying through the window, landing directly in the mud. Delete, Inez, Nezzie and Jackie, now covered head to toe in the stuff yet again, sat up. "Ugh, not again!" Jackie shouted, sounding like she didn't want to believe it. "Could someone please tell me why stuff like this keeping happening to us?!" Buzz and Matt then ran out of the ship, Buzz in the lead, with Digit following behind them in flight. "Delete?" Buzz called out, then, finally sighting his brother out in the pile of mud, ran toward him and, with a loud yelp of "Delete!", threw himself into his brother's arms. "Gad, I'm so sorry." He sadly shook his head. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like 'dat." "Aw, that's alright," Delete replied, hugging him back and getting mud all over him in the process. "No harm done, really, Buzzie." He looked around. "Well, unless you don't count all this mud we're in right now." It was then that Hacker, who had had his head buried in the mud, finally pulled himself upright, then, looking around, finally wailed, "No, not again, this can't be happening again!" He then started bawling like a baby. Nezzie, who was watching him, giggled, then gently pushed her father on the shoulder and pointed at Hacker. "He's funny," she informed her. Inez stared at her for a moment, then looked back at Delete. "Delete, what did you put in that egg?" she asked him, raising her eyebrow in confusion.
* * *
Later on, everyone had finally managed to dislodge themselves from the mud, and Hacker was standing in front of the kids, now scowling even more than usual. Inez was the one standing directly in front of him, her hands at her sides and a serious expression on her face.
"So, we're agreed?" she finally finished. Hacker groaned in defeat, then reluctantly nodded.
"Fine, Delete can see the girl sometimes, and I won't try to use her in any more schemes." He then crossed his arms and looked over toward the Wreaker, still half-buried in the stuff. He began walking toward his ship in a huff. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dig my ship out of the mud."
As soon as Hacker had left, Delete slowly walked up to Inez and Nezzie. Standing directly beside her, Delete shuffled his foot along the ground, then finally said, rather quietly to the girl, "Uh, Inez.can I ask you somethin'?"
Inez looked at him. "Huh?"
Delete leaned over toward her and whispered something in her ear. Inez's eyes grew wide, and she drew back, still looking like she had no idea what was going on. "Excuse me?" she said.
"Why not?" Delete asked. "It'd be good for Nezzie, wouldn't it?"
Inez looked at Delete, then finally looked down at their daughter, then sighed. "Yes, I suppose," she finally agreed, nodding her head. "It's the least we can do for her, anyway. I mean, technically she is our daughter, after all."
Delete nodded. "She is," he agreed. "She is."
* * *
A few hours later, after they had managed to get the mud off of themselves, Delete, Inez and Nezzie walked along through the forest, Delete and Inez each holding Nezzie's hand. They both were smiling, taking in their surroundings, then continued to walk along the path until they finally stopped at their destination, a pond very similar to the one Delete had seen in his dream.
Inez picked up Nezzie, then took her over to the edge of the pond to play. Delete, meanwhile, found a tree nearby the pond and, sitting down, stretched himself out against it, his hands behind his back. He looked out at the two, then smiled.
"It's not exactly my dream, but it'll do," he sighed; then he looked up at the tree and closed his eyes, hoping that he would feel Inez's touch soon, if only in his dreams.
By Max Jordan and Grand High Idol
CHAPTER SIX
It was the next morning, now, and the Cybersquad were now currently back in Control Central. They had been very paranoid with Digit when it came to watching Nezzie for the night, but she had managed to sleep pretty well for a few hours-after completely wearing Digit out, that is. Inez, being the parent, had to stay with her and try to get her to calm down, but of course that was like trying to stop a superball-you had to be fast, or it wouldn't work. Eventually the kids all had to stay and try to keep her at bay-which was a difficult task, even for the entire group.
Now all four of them were sitting around one of the tables in the other room, and they all looked haggard and worn down. Inez was currently holding an ice pack to the back of her head, and Jackie still had a few white splotches on her clothes from the powder; she appeared to be much too tired to even bother to try and remove them, however. Matt, who had recently ejected his lunch-or, to put it more appropriately, dinner-on the carousel earlier, was now slumped over the edge of the table, absentmindedly drawing invisible circles with the tip of his finger.
"Man," he declared, shaking his head, sounding incredibly tired. "Who knew that taking care of a kid could be this much work?"
Jackie nodded. "Oh, man, I know," she replied, leaning back in her chair, her head tilted over the edge. "Baby sitting wasn't this intense.ugh.and I haven't even checked my hair yet. I hope that it's not messed up like it usually-"
"Well, yeah," Inez interrupted, yawning. "I've got to admit that Nezzie does seem tireless. I wonder if Delete was like that, at her age." She shook her head. "Geez, I don't even want to think about what you had to put up with as a kid, Digit."
"Er." Digit replied, a rather pained expression forming on his face. He then looked off to the side, then, noticing that something was amiss, turned around in his chair and began to visually search the room. "Hey, speaking of Nezzie, where'd she head off to, anyway?"
"Dr. Marbles is giving her a tour of Control Central," Inez replied; she then clunked her head down on the table and sighed. "Not that she's already had one already."
"Well, on the bright side, maybe we can get some peace, now," Matt replied, holding up his hand, but he quickly dropped it and slumped to one side in the chair. "Yeah, we're going to need it.I suddenly feel very old, and that's not a good sign."
"Oh, well, then, how do you think I feel?" Digit asked, hitting his head on the table as he fell over; this didn't seem to bother him in the least, however. "I'm twice as old as you are. And what about the Doc?" He shuddered. "Well, hopefully she'll be out of our hair.and my feathers.for awhile.I could use the rest."
* * *
Elsewhere, on the Grim Wreaker, namely, Hacker, Buzz and Delete, after a few hours of working, had finally cleaned up the mess that they had made last night while watching the clips. Shortly after he had choked on his popcorn Buzz had ended up getting quite a few of the kernels lodged in the couch cushions; Hacker, being a neat freak, made him dig through the couch and pull them out.along with a few snalfoos and an old stick of gum.Buzz didn't know where that had come from; he didn't chew gum. Shrugging, he tossed the stick aside, then finally climbed down from the couch, dusting his hands off.
"Bout time," he sighed to himself, "Although I gotta admit 'dat was fun."
Delete, still feeling very heavy from last night, looked up at him sadly, then sighed and walked off down the hallway. Buzz stared after him, starting to feel concerned, then finally shook his head and took his seat atop the now spotless couch, staring down the hallway almost dumbly.
"Man, he's been in a funk ever since yesterday," he said to himself, leaning against the side of the couch. "Wonder what he's so worked up about.I mean, it's not exactly like he knows 'da kid personally or anything.someone's gotta snap him out of it, quick."
"I believe I know a way to fix that," a voice replied from behind him. Buzz jumped in surprise, then whipped around in time to see Hacker, who had been standing next to the couch and had apparently heard every word that had been spoken.
"Huh?" Buzz replied, still rather confused. Hacker grinned, showing most of his teeth.
"Buzzie, my boy, it's time for the 'Net phase of the plan to begin," Hacker replied, patting Buzz on the head falsely. Buzz cringed as Hacker touched him, then looked back up at him uneasily and rubbed his head where his boss had patted it. "We need to retrieve the girl, and soon."
Delete, meanwhile, had snapped out of his funk, putting responsibility ahead of his sadness.that, and he didn't want to disobey his boss's orders. Thinking that he should probably go back and help Buzz move the couch back into the trophy room, he had turned around and had come back down the hallway.just in time to hear their conversation. And, needless to say, he didn't like what they were saying one bit.
"What about Deeds?" he heard Buzz ask. He then heard Hacker laugh one- sidedly.
"Ha, never mind him," he heard his boss reply. "It's clear that this situation is clouding his judgment; there's nothing that he can do if this continues. Just do what I told you before, and everything will work out just fine. Get my drift?"
"You got it, boss," Buzz agreed; he then jumped down from the couch and began to run off into a different hallway. Delete, meanwhile, having overheard and clearly understood every word that had been spoken, turned around and angrily stormed off in the other direction, actually beginning to get angry for one of the very few times in his life.
* * *
A few moments later, Buzz was in the driver's seat in one of Hacker's smaller ships, heading in the direction of Control Central. Looking out the front window, almost feeling a little sorry for the kid.and Delete, at that. Trying to shake it off-he couldn't think this, he was a loyal follower to Hacker-he parked the car to one side of the main building, then slowly crept out and began to slink off along the edge of the wall. It wasn't long before he came to the window of what he knew, by watching the clips the night before, was Nezzie's room.
Easily managing to slide the glass pane open, he squeezed in through the window and fell to the ground, only to see Nezzie on the floor, playing with a couple of toy horses and babbling joyously to herself.
"An' then the horsy goes 'neigh'! An' eats some gwass, an' the udder horse goes-" She stopped when she heard Buzz hit the floor, then turned around and looked up at him. However, she didn't appear frightened of him at all; in fact, she seemed almost happy to see him. "Oh, hi, Uncle Buzzie," she said, waving at him gently.
Buzz stopped, then narrowed one eye, out of disturbance more than confusion. "Uncle Buzzie.?" he repeated, suddenly feeling very awkward in this situation.
Nezzie didn't seem to notice, however. "Wanna play?" she asked, anxiously approaching the shorter robot, who drummed his fingers together nervously, trying to think of what to do in this situation. Finally managing a weak smile, he shrugged one shoulder.
"Uh, sure kid," he replied.
"Great!" Nezzie said. "Let's play horsey wide."
"Horsey wide?" Buzz stared at her oddly, then, finally realizing what she was getting at, held up his hands in defense and was about to object, but no sooner had he opened his mouth than had Nezzie leapt onto his back, grabbing a tight hold on both of Buzz's antennae in the process.
"Yay!" Nezzie cheered as she kicked both of her feet up, thus placing all of her body weight on Buzz's antennae in the process. "Horsey wide! Horsey wide!"
Buzz tried to get her to let go of his antennae, but his results proved unsuccessful. "No, Nezzie," he scolded, trying to reason with her, "Buzz doesn't want to be-OW!" He shrieked in pain as all of her weight went to his head. "Owowowowow! #@*&$!!! OWW!"
Nezzie jumped off, laughing at what her uncle had just said. "That's a funny word," she stated, obviously referring to Buzz's recent show of profanity. "What's it mean?"
Buzz, meanwhile, was gingerly rubbing his antennae, trying to get the pain to fade, then, realizing his slippage, grinned weakly again and shook his head. "Uh, heh, it's a fancy word," he replied. "Just never mind, it's not important." He sighed, then rubbed at one of his wrists. "And I ain't 'dat wide, ya know."
Nezzie blinked. Buzz sighed, then said, heading back toward the window, "Say, how's about we go for a real ride, now?" He leapt up onto the windowsill. "Come on, I'll show you how it's really done now." "'Kay," Nezzie replied; Buzz then reached down to pick up the girl and get her onto the windowsill, almost falling off the sill himself due to the contrast of his and her sizes. He growled in annoyance. Four years old, just four years old, and she was half a foot taller than him. Trying to ignore this (although it was rather hard considering that she was keeping pretty close to him the whole time), Buzz left through the window and began to head back down the wall, Nezzie following him close behind. They approached the area where Buzz had parked the ship.only to run into Delete, his hands at his sides, not looking at all pleased. Buzz stopped dead. "Delete?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Mommy!" Nezzie exclaimed happily, running over to Delete. Delete, happy to see her but not so happy to see his older brother, quickly picked her up, then nuzzled her with his cheek before glaring at Buzz. "How-how'd you-I mean-" Buzz unintelligibly stuttered, pointing off toward the side. Delete's eyes narrowed further, and Nezzie, sensing that her mother was mad, buried her head in his shirt. "Buzz, just what the heck do you think you're doin'?!" Delete demanded. Buzz looked at him, then, knowing that he had to keep his ground-he was the older brother, after all, backed up a few steps, then slowly shook his head. "Relax, Dee-Dee," he panted, looking his angry brother in the eye. "I wasn't gonna hurt her, honest." Delete made no response, but continued to shoot that poisonous look at him, as Buzz continued, "I was just following orders, you know 'dat. Da boss has just got a plan with her in it, 'dat's all. I ain't gonna hurt her. Honestly, I ain't." Delete was about to mouth off his response when Matt, Jackie, and Inez, having entered the room and finding Nezzie gone, came running out. Matt was the first one to notice that Buzz and Delete were standing there, face to face, along with Nezzie being held gingerly in one of Delete's arms. "HEY!" he shouted angrily, provoking the attention of them both and thus breaking their vengeful eye contact with each other. Buzz, instead of reacting in surprise, grinned, almost coldly. "Perfect timing, 'da kid's going for a ride with us," he told the kids, leaning to one side and crossing his arms. "If youse want her back, go get 'dat jewel you took from us 'da other day, and follow me in one of your Coupes." "Why you little-!" Matt began, but Buzz caught the insult immediately. "Repeat 'dat!" he shouted back, angrily pointing at the redhead. "I dare you!" "Oh, man, not again," Jackie sighed, smacking her forehead; she then lunged forward and grabbed Matt just as he was about to charge Buzz. "Hold it, Matt," she told him, shaking her head. "We can't go near him, not while he's got Nezzie." Matt growled and gritted his teeth, leering in Buzz's direction, but said nothing. Buzz responded by smirking at him, then sticking his tongue out at the boy. "Relax," he told him, using his most casual voice tone possible as so to taunt him further. "She won't get hurt, not so long as you follow my orders. Just get 'da jewel, and follow me. 'Dat simple." Delete leered down at Buzz; he looked just about ready to take Matt's place. "Is that what this is all about?" he demanded angrily. "Just getting that stupid jewel?!" "Look, I don't got time to argue with you right now," Buzz replied. "Just come on." Delete continued to leer coldly at him, but spoke no response. Buzz turned around, then began to head back toward the car, Delete following, still holding Nezzie in his arms. Except, despite the fact that he had his child back, he wasn't very happy with the situation at all. Nezzie sensed this, too, and she looked up at her mother, concerned. "Mommy?" she asked nervously. Delete looked down at her, then gave her a gentle hug before stroking her hair, speaking gently. "It's alright," he told her. "Mommy's just very annoyed at your uncle right now, is all. You'll be okay. I promise." Nezzie whimpered, then laid her head against the robot's chest, still visibly quaking. Delete sighed, then, deciding that her consoling was best settled later, stepped into the passenger's side of the car and slammed the door shut. Buzz then lifted off, heading off in the direction of the jungle cybersite. Inez, meanwhile, had gone to get the jewel from Dr. Marbles, and she had just come back out into the open when she saw their ship leaving. Jackie, now deciding that it was okay to let go of Matt now that Buzz was out of sight, released her grip from the boy and went over toward Inez. "I've got it," the Latino informed them, holding up the jewel. "Now all we've got to do is get them." "Okay, fine," Matt replied, still in a huff. "Come on, let's follow them." He turned around, then ran toward Digit, who had managed to get a Coupe out of the main landing area. Quickly slipping into the back seats and passenger's seat, Digit ignited, and the other ship shot off in pursuit of Buzz and Delete's ship. Sure enough, Buzz had led the Cybersquad back into the jungle site, where Hacker, of course, was waiting for them in the Grim Wreaker. Grinning as he watched Buzz and Delete's ship head across the monitor, followed closely by the kids', he clasped his hands together and rubbed them together delightfully. "Ha, I finally win for once," he laughed, then pressed the button on the ship's control panel that opened up the Wreaker's platform. The two ships quickly flew in, then landed, just as the platform slid shut behind them. The kids, along with Buzz and Delete, got out just as Hacker walked into the room. Delete, who had released his grip on Nezzie since they had gotten into the Coupe, now looked at Buzz in shock as he tugged the girl out of the ship and hoisted her up as much as he could off the ground. "I got her, boss," the stocky robot declared. Delete's eyes flashed with anger. "Hold it," he snapped, then, in a sudden movement, snatched the toddler out of Buzz's hands. Buzz jumped in shock, then looked over at Delete and glared angrily at him. "Delete, just what do you think you're doin'?" he demanded. "Y-you can't use her like that," Delete replied angrily, although his voice was obviously coming close to breaking. "Y-you can't!" Buzz rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on," he objected. "No way, Buzz," Delete snapped at him, holding Nezzie out of his reach. "You're not gonna get her, and that's final. I don't care what you're doin', I don't want her used like this." He set her down, as far away from Buzz as he could get her. "An' if you want to use her, you're gonna have to pry her from my dead, cold hands." "Okay, okay, 'dat's a little harsh, don't you think?" Buzz told him, raising an eyebrow. "It's not any more harsh than what you're doin' right now!" Delete snapped back. "Oh, shut up!" Buzz snapped back, angrily thrusting his fists down at his sides. "Just what do you know about evil plans anyway?" Nezzie, meanwhile, was becoming nervous from the two's conversation and was slowly inching away from them, her hand to her mouth, staring at them fearfully the entire time. Finally, she turned around, then began to head toward the direction of the computer monitors as Inez set the jewel down on the shelf, then turned around in time to watch Buzz and Delete's arguing reach its climax. Angrily, Buzz shot out and shoved Delete with all the force he had, but Delete reacted quickly and shoved back the moment that his hands made contact. The two both lost their balance and fell backward, Delete landing hard against the control panel, pressing quite a lot of the buttons on there in the process. Nezzie, meanwhile, had ignored these physical blows and had now turned all her interest over to the jewel. She had now picked it up and was looking at it, obviously interested in its incredible shininess. "Pretty," she said, her eyes wide as she stared at her reflection. However, moments after she said this the lower hatch opened. Since Nezzie was standing on top of it at the time, of course she fell directly through it. She let out a high pitched shriek of terror; this screaming caught Inez's attention, and she whipped around in time to see the girl disappear down the hatch. "Nezzie!" she shouted fearfully, then immediately made a dive for the girl, managing to catch her by the hand just in time. Both of them sighing in relief, Inez placed both hands around Nezzie's waist and was just about to lift her back up into the main control room when the engines kicked in, sending the ship out of control, flying around in all directions, now. "Whoa!" the girl exclaimed, then noticed, to her horror, that she was beginning to slip through the hatch as well. Delete had removed himself from the panel and was gritting his teeth, about to lunge at Buzz again, when he noticed Inez. Emitting a yelp of terror, he too dove forward, and managed to snag onto her leg. However, due to the monstrous air pressure the three immediately got sucked out. Delete just barely managed to extend his arm and seize the edge of the ramp. It wasn't a good grip, and he wasn't sure that he could hold on very well, however. Jackie, Digit, and Buzz, having seen the entire thing, quickly ran over to the edge of the ramp. Delete looked up at the three, his eyes filled with panic, but he could now see that Buzz had brought both hands to his mouth, and his eyes had become fearful. "Delete!" he called out, and although he was trying to hide it the taller robot knew that his voice was breaking. Delete whimpered at this show of affection, but quickly remembered that he was the only thing supporting the two girls, and thus concentrated back on keeping a firm hold. Matt, meanwhile, being the only one who wasn't occupied, quickly dove for the controls, trying everything to get the ship to fly right. When it refused all his commands and continued to careen out of control, Matt groaned, then said, bringing both hands to his head, "Oh man, how do I stabilize this thing?!" Buzz turned around. "Push 'da green button!" he called over to the boy. Matt looked at him, then nodded and chose the button nearest to him, pressing it quickly. However, instead of stopping the ship flipped upside down, nearly bucking the three-Nezzie, Inez, and Delete-off in the process. "Yipe!" Delete yelped as the three struck the bottom of the Grim Wreaker's metal surface. Inez looked over at the open part of the ramp. "What are they doing up there?" she wondered aloud, tightening her grip on her daughter's waist. Matt, meanwhile, hanging on for dear life to the edge of Hacker's Recharger Chair, quickly reached out and pushed the button again, and the ship flipped back into its original position, sending the boy to the ground. "I meant 'da other green button!" Buzz snapped at him, heatedly. Matt rolled his eyes. "Now you tell me," he sighed, slumping against the panel and slapping his forehead. "Well, we've gotta do something, quick!" Jackie told the two, frantically. "If we don't do something soon, oh man, I don't even want to think about what'll-" Buzz sighed, then looked over toward the far end of the wall, where he finally spotted one of the old grappling hooks hung up on the wall. They rarely used it in such cases, only in emergencies, if he could plainly recall, but considering the circumstances now. "Get 'da grappling hook," he ordered, pointing in the direction of the tool. Matt, deciding that agreeing with him would be better than starting another brawl, quickly ran over and got one of the grappling hooks, while Jackie took the hook off of it. She then sighed in disgust, then jammed it up into her shirt, so that the sharp ends of the hooks went through the cloth in her shirt. "I am so going to regret doing that tomorrow," she sighed, looking down at her shirt; she then ran over toward the open hatch. "Hang on tight, you guys," she told the others. Buzz and Digit nodded, then took hold of the rope, while Matt turned around and ran back over toward the control panel. Delete, meanwhile, wasn't having so much luck. His fingers were slipping, one by one, and he was pretty sure that they would plummet to the ground before anyone could get to them in time. Whimpering, he tried one last frantic attempt to pull himself up, but ended up failing miserably. "I-don't think I can-hold on much-longer," he groaned, struggling to regain his grip, but it was hopeless. Just as his fingers slipped from the edge of the platform, Jackie swung down on the hook and caught him. "Alright!" she exclaimed. "Jumpin' Jax has still got it!" Inez and Delete looked up at her, but decided that now wasn't the best time to comment on this situation. Matt and Hacker, meanwhile, were on the other side of the control room, heatedly fighting over the controls. And by the looks of it, Matt seemed to be the one winning. "Give me that!" Hacker exclaimed angrily, reaching for the controls, but Matt held him back. "Fat chance," he replied. "Uh, boss," Buzz called from across the room, straining from Jackie's weight, "Dis might be a good time to-" "What?" Hacker snapped at him. Buzz swallowed, then pointed at the monitor behind him. "Look," he replied, sounding rather blank as he momentarily released one hand from the rope and pointed past his boss, directly at the screen. Hacker stared at him for a few moments, then finally turned around and looked at the monitor himself, only to find out that the ship had finally decided on one direction and was now heading directly for the peak of a mountain. Inez, spotting the landmark at once, started screaming, while Matt jumped forward, grabbed the control stick, and began pulling backward, desperately trying to get the ship to go up. "Oh, man, guys," he said, sounding rather fearful as he eyed the mountain, "I don't know if we're gonna make it!" Hacker was not fazed. "Give me that!" he repeated, then grabbed the controls along with Matt, and began pulling back as well. Between the two of them, the ship slowly, but surely, began moving up. The two managed to get it at a good elevation the moment they passed the mountains, the four out on the grappling hook barely managing to make it. Jackie yelped, trying not to loosen her hold on Delete, then looked back at the mountains as they began to shrink behind her. "Oh man, that was too close," she sighed, relieved. That was when the alarm went off. "Now what?" Matt sighed, slumping forward onto the control panel. "Oh, great, we're running out of fuel!" Buzz exclaimed in a panic. "We're gonna crash!" "Great, just great, I needed that," Matt groaned; he then looked up at the monitor in time to see a small clearing up ahead. "Wait, wait a minute, I see a clearing in sight. Only problem is, can we make it there in time, or will we experience-" He swallowed. "The alternative?" Hacker laughed. "Ha! Just watch, you insolent brat." Then, with a sweep of his hand, he managed to level the ship off, just in the nick of time. Of course, this almost sent Jackie, along with Delete, Inez, and Nezzie, smashing onto the bottom of the Wreaker. Thankfully, they didn't. "Wow," Delete exclaimed, not sure whether to be impressed or frightened, "This is turning into a real interesting day." That was when the clearing came into full view. Jackie looked over at it, then shook her head. "What? Oh, come on. You've got to be kidding me." "Now what?" Inez wondered, but that was when she noticed that the Grim Wreaker was now quickly descending, heading for a very familiar looking mud pit. Matt, inside the ship, looked up at the monitor and saw this as well. "Oh, come on," he repeated, shaking his head. Before anyone else could speak up, the ship crashed directly into the mud, dragging Delete and the others outside the Wreaker at the moment down with it (much to Jackie's disgust). Mud flew out at all angles, and Matt had enough sense to duck, but Hacker went flying through the window, landing directly in the mud. Delete, Inez, Nezzie and Jackie, now covered head to toe in the stuff yet again, sat up. "Ugh, not again!" Jackie shouted, sounding like she didn't want to believe it. "Could someone please tell me why stuff like this keeping happening to us?!" Buzz and Matt then ran out of the ship, Buzz in the lead, with Digit following behind them in flight. "Delete?" Buzz called out, then, finally sighting his brother out in the pile of mud, ran toward him and, with a loud yelp of "Delete!", threw himself into his brother's arms. "Gad, I'm so sorry." He sadly shook his head. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like 'dat." "Aw, that's alright," Delete replied, hugging him back and getting mud all over him in the process. "No harm done, really, Buzzie." He looked around. "Well, unless you don't count all this mud we're in right now." It was then that Hacker, who had had his head buried in the mud, finally pulled himself upright, then, looking around, finally wailed, "No, not again, this can't be happening again!" He then started bawling like a baby. Nezzie, who was watching him, giggled, then gently pushed her father on the shoulder and pointed at Hacker. "He's funny," she informed her. Inez stared at her for a moment, then looked back at Delete. "Delete, what did you put in that egg?" she asked him, raising her eyebrow in confusion.
* * *
Later on, everyone had finally managed to dislodge themselves from the mud, and Hacker was standing in front of the kids, now scowling even more than usual. Inez was the one standing directly in front of him, her hands at her sides and a serious expression on her face.
"So, we're agreed?" she finally finished. Hacker groaned in defeat, then reluctantly nodded.
"Fine, Delete can see the girl sometimes, and I won't try to use her in any more schemes." He then crossed his arms and looked over toward the Wreaker, still half-buried in the stuff. He began walking toward his ship in a huff. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dig my ship out of the mud."
As soon as Hacker had left, Delete slowly walked up to Inez and Nezzie. Standing directly beside her, Delete shuffled his foot along the ground, then finally said, rather quietly to the girl, "Uh, Inez.can I ask you somethin'?"
Inez looked at him. "Huh?"
Delete leaned over toward her and whispered something in her ear. Inez's eyes grew wide, and she drew back, still looking like she had no idea what was going on. "Excuse me?" she said.
"Why not?" Delete asked. "It'd be good for Nezzie, wouldn't it?"
Inez looked at Delete, then finally looked down at their daughter, then sighed. "Yes, I suppose," she finally agreed, nodding her head. "It's the least we can do for her, anyway. I mean, technically she is our daughter, after all."
Delete nodded. "She is," he agreed. "She is."
* * *
A few hours later, after they had managed to get the mud off of themselves, Delete, Inez and Nezzie walked along through the forest, Delete and Inez each holding Nezzie's hand. They both were smiling, taking in their surroundings, then continued to walk along the path until they finally stopped at their destination, a pond very similar to the one Delete had seen in his dream.
Inez picked up Nezzie, then took her over to the edge of the pond to play. Delete, meanwhile, found a tree nearby the pond and, sitting down, stretched himself out against it, his hands behind his back. He looked out at the two, then smiled.
"It's not exactly my dream, but it'll do," he sighed; then he looked up at the tree and closed his eyes, hoping that he would feel Inez's touch soon, if only in his dreams.