Jysella: I am in such a very good mood today, the sun isn't shining, the
rain is pouring and it's cold! What a relief
Audience of delusions: you are weird
Jysella: and yet, I'm not bothered by that. Not when I have Sachi-Chans entire supply of pixie stix on me and Sachi can't escape
Numbuh four: I agree with the creepy audience; you are weird
Jysella: yeah well pixie sticks ::begins to pass out pixie stix to everyone that reviewed:: thank you so much for reviewing. at least some people like me
Numbuh five: now why are you in such a good mood?
Jysella: because she, ::jerks thumb at closet where Sachi-chan is:: is tied up
Numbuh five: who now?
Jysella: Sachi-Chan ::looks over at closet where Sachi-chan isn't:: uh-oh
Sachi-chan: First you lock me in the closet to force me to beta random chapters, and I was fine with that since I had internet access and could do oekaki. Then, you stole all my pixie stix, which I could understand.After all you are not blessed with a Nakaru persona. BUT STEALING MALIK'S IMAGE!?!?! NO WAY!! Malik-chan, Ryou-chan, Yuugi-chan, the other Yuugi- chan, and Bakura-chan are all MINE! On yes, for good measure, so is Eriol- kun :P
Jysella: firstly Eriol is mine, all mine.or Tomoyo's really but let's just not get into that.and secondly, while I run away from my psychotic sister, delusions you know what to do!
Audience of delusions: the authoress owns nothing except her own characters
Jysella: so don't. ack Sachi put the phone down.we don't have to call them again do we? ::continues pleading while she runs away::
Numbuh's four and five: don't sue, the authoress has enough problems right now
Chapter two
Getting out of the closed facility had not been a problem for the blood- trailing girl. Not while she had the rush a finished battle created raging inside her. No it was not exiting that created a problem but instead returning to her room that created it. With the roar in her ears quickly ebbing she could feel each of her injuries screaming attention. Her breathing, previously unnoticed to the dazed girl, now assaulted her mind in ragged formation. The blood loss from her arm was beginning to claim the edges of her vision and the stability of her legs was not for the first time that day, questionable. Thankfully her arm, whose tissue had separated from bone at some junction of her struggle, wasn't paining her at all and, in the corner of her mind she knew this was not a good sign. A cold trickle had begun to make its way out of her mouth traveling down her chin. Though she couldn't gather the energy to lift an arm to be sure she knew it was blood. Steps past the door she collapsed and heaved the meager meal she had eaten before her fight. The contents of her stomach emptied she continued heaving producing brown acidic bile and a rust substance resembling coffee beans. Her mind entering the first stages of shock she saw the blurred vision of sandaled, olive colored feet.
"Fate?" a worried voice called to her from what seemed miles above. The word, seemingly alien to her ears, was beyond comprehension.
"Fate?"
She coughed again, attempted to focus her vision, and looked forward, unable to raise her head and greet her soon to be savior. In her line of sight was now a blurred face, olive skin and blonde hair stood to be all she could make out. But even this was enough.
"'Sy?" she whispered, or at least thought she had. The boy began to shake her forcing her to the realization that the whisper had not made it past her chapped lips.
Worried at the lack of response the boy tried a last ditch effort " sang?" he whispered hopefully, wet tears hitting her cheeks and singing salty pain in cuts she hadn't yet discovered.
"'Sy" she called again, louder, and it reached her ears a rasped whisper, difficult to hear but at least it was sound. The boy's eyes instantly showed relief at the notice that his friend was still among his world. "Sang?" he said, his face next to her ear amplified the sound and worsened a headache she hadn't known to exist seconds earlier. Seeing the pain on her face the boy lowered his voice.
"Sang," he whispered, "can you move your head?" rather then replying with words that took their toll on he waning strength she nodded. The icy-hot pain that resulted made her instantly remorseful of her actions.
"Good" the boy said and stooped, switching his position, to lift her. With slow, solid, movements the olive skinned boy shifted her legs over his left arm and supported her head and neck with his right. It was an awkward position with the girl being only two inches shorter then him but it was necessary to transport her. Her crimson hair, scrunchie having been swept away in a preliminary blast, swept the floor causing him to readjust slightly and wrap it around a muscular arm. With the slight movement the crimson haired girl winced and, crying out with pain, writhed in his arm.
"Shh, it's okay sang. I'll get you to the med. sector" he said as he walked quickly. Regaining her sight from the momentary fit, the girl looked up and recognized the olive skinned, green eyed, blonde haired boy to be a member of her sector. One of three.
"Osy' you don't have to." she said weakly trailing off at the look the boy supplied.
"Sang can you support your own weight?" the girl started to shake her head but thought the better of it and voiced a harsh no.
"Then let me carry you there" again the girl verbally disagreed and the boy put her on her feet. Sang took a few shaky steps before collapsing a second time. The green-eyed boy sadly shook his head and helped his fallen comrade to her feet. She shook off his help and made her shaky way, alone, trailing blood down the corridor. With a final burst of energy, before collapsing into a silver doorway, she swept the blood off her lip.
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It was long past midnight. The raven-haired Numbuh three was collapsed against a slowly fading Numbuh four. Numbuh two, having eaten more then his fare share of the party goods, was snoring loudly on the couch, a discarded doughnut dropping from his grasp. The capped Numbuh five surveyed the trashed wooden room with a sense of disgust and left off in search of a garbage bag to clean up. Streamers hung lonely in lofty rafters, bright colors fading after the nightlong party. Cups of soda, many more then the party's attendance of five, lay on every surface reachable, overturned and dripping now syrupy drink. A plate, many still bearing a treat that had been tasted and forgotten in place of a more appetizing morsel, graced any surface not piled by cups. Numbuh one had left when the partiers had crashed in attempt of procuring Motrin or some other weak painkiller to alleviate the sugar induced hangovers they would all indubitably have in the morning. Sighing with the enormity of the project laid out before her, Numbuh five commenced picking up left behind objects.
"Want some help," the familiar British-accented voice of her leader had said behind her, startling the capped girl.
"Numbuh five thought she was the stealth agent" the girl had whispered handing the boy a garbage bag in answer. The two worked in comfortable silence until Numbuh five was shocked out of her silent thoughts by a cold ice cub on her back.
"Numbuh one" she squealed in a most uncharacteristic manner, eliciting a groan from the sleeping Numbuh four. The bald boy put a finger to his lip and, smirking slightly, began to once again pick up garbage until he too felt the cold sensation of ice against skin.
"You do realize, Numbuh five, that this means war" he asked picking up a sticky jam filled doughnut to throw. Before he released the sugary confection from his grip he was met face on with a half-eaten chunk of cake. Whipping his glasses off he was met with the vision of Numbuh five smirking like the cat that ate the canary.
"Numbuh five knows" the girl said continuing her eager smile. Numbuh one grinned.
"Well if you think that was funny," he said, concealing a tube of whipped cream in his hand, "you should try this" at this he unleashed his attack but the stealth agent was too quick for his slow movements and ducked before she was hit. As a result the sleeping form of Numbuh two got a face full of the non-dairy whipped topping.
"Guys" he whined causing Numbuh four to wake.
"What?" the Aussie cried bolting upright and displacing Numbuh three, whose head landed in his lap.
"Ohayo" the Japanese girl said at the impact. Numbuh's one and five looked at each other and smirked before turning their combined forces against their newly awakened teammates. Before the first confection was thrown Numbuh four ducked behind the couch dragging a still dazed Numbuh three with him. Numbuh two, however, didn't think as fast as the blonde and was hit with the first wave of the attack. While Numbuh two was being pummeled with various sugary items the two hiding children tallied their ammunition. Numbuh five had done a decent job of cleaning that half of the room and their only hope lay in the few sticky glasses of coke that lay next to them. The two exchanged furtive glances and popped up from their fort, spraying one and five with the sticky concoction. The two were stuck to the floor and resorted to stationary attacks but they were virtually ineffective against their nimble teammates. Three and four quickly took advantage of their stuck fast teammates and pummeled them with their own ammunition.
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The crimson haired girl was sitting alone at a desk in a room walled in by filing cabinets. At the desk in front of her lay six manila folders of varying shades of ivory. Each folder was marked, in block letters, with a different number denoting the folder's contents. She sighed lightly, the sound reverberating around the empty room, and spread the files in front of her to better see the numbers. She shifted a folder bearing the letter "t" and nothing more to the top of the pile, moving slowly so as not to move her right, casted, arm. A thin line of rust colored blood had made it's way through the pristine bandage and was beginning to stain the sling which held the appendage in it's correct position. Sang looked down at the painful mess disdainfully and rose from her seat to get a breath of air.
Five minutes into her research and she was bored. So bored. Subconsciously she reached to smooth her paper gown. Technically she shouldn't have been out of the recovery room but an assignment was an assignment. She walked over to the water cooler and stared at the so-familiar picture that was pinned behind it. There were sixty children in the picture, a mismatched collage of images supplied by the twelve children and teens living in the underground; all of them were smiling. Bright never fading smiles that stayed on the eyes long after one stopped looking at the picture. All but twelve of those happy children were dead. Sighing sang sat down before her mind could seek out the four pictures that haunted her dreams, and opened the first folder. Five photographs were paper clipped to the folder each bearing a name and brief description along with a note to see file four a or five b with a more complete history. She glanced over the pictures, memorizing their names and codenames. The glossy, high color, images assaulted her eyes, causing the injured girl to blink back with the sheer brightness they brought to the empty room. In an act of desperation she turned away from the blinding images only to be presented with a follow up of each child. She skimmed these promising to go over them with more detail later and turned to the next section, briefly wondering if the torture would end or just stop bothering her. Following the overview of the team was a detailed description of every mission the five had ever been on along with several add on's directing her to folders she hadn't thought to pull. Her afternoon shaping up to be research filled, sang couldn't help but think that the recovery room sounded very fun in comparison.
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Numbuh three woke up and opened her eyes only to be blinded by sunlight pouring in from somewhere. The Asian groaned, put a hand in front of her eyes to block the golden beams, and sat up, instantly regretting her decision to change position. Her head screamed in protest as she moved a chorus her muscles soon happily joined. Her throat felt as though something fuzzy had been stuffed down it and her face felt tight like it had dried overnight. The girl groaned again with this surgence of sensation, mostly pain, and opened her eyes to be assaulted by visions of a trashed wooden room. For a second the girl was disoriented, wondering why her stuffed companions were not within arms reach until she remembered the events of the previous night. Her movements shook a certain blonde out of his peaceful slumber causing him to awaken with similar results.
"Why is the sun so bright" the raven-haired girl grumbled to Numbuh four when she was sure his adjustment to awareness was complete. In reply she received grumbles. Across the room a sleep hazed mechanic had come into awareness and was trying to collect his scattered thoughts when he heard to voices drifting in from what he assumed to be the kitchen. Though with his thoughts in their scattered state he was unable to decipher more then "rumor, fate, hope, and teen" before loosing his patience with the whole ordeal. Hearing noise in the common room the two in the kitchen walked in bearing bright smiles.
"Sleep well?" Numbuh one asked mockingly of his compatriots only to receive a face full of pillows as a reply. The slightly more tactful Numbuh five pulled out a bottle of the mystical Tylenol with the all-healing properties only pills of such high magic could possess, and offered around tablets before adding her two cents.
"Numbuh five thinks that was a wild party." The capped girl received as reply three groans and one dirty look from Numbuh one as she hadn't gotten the pillow treatment. Numbuh five shrugged. Five minutes later, when the magical properties of the pink tablet had come into effect, there was a group migration to the kitchen where they found, to their complete surprise, a breakfast buffet laid out. Numbuh five smiled as the three children, previously asleep, stared in awe at the veritable feast.
"Well Numbuh five saw no reason for the party to end last night," she said jokingly. In an equal sense of joviality Numbuh two dropped to his knees before the already embarrassed agent and grabbed her hand
"Marry me" Numbuh five snatched back her arm and the group shared a laugh before sitting down to eat the feast before them. Though, eating was hardly the word to describe what the starved kids were doing, piling mountains of food into their mouths at lightening speed. No, perhaps inhale was a better word for the way they ate. And a table full of food was gone in less than ten minutes.
"You know," started a content Numbuh three "we have to clean up" several forkfuls of hash browns were thrown at her rather then a response.
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The quiet peace of the room was suddenly disturbed a manila file hit one of the few patches of wall space not covered in filing cabinets and hit the floor. Behind the folder, at a long mahogany table, sat Sang. Her annoyed face was reflected clearly, if slightly distorted, in the table's high gloss surface.
" This is so boring" she screamed in frustration as she got up to gather her now spread papers. " Why in the world did I ever take this assignment" the papers had fallen on the stark white floor in puddles of two or three papers, their slightly creamy complexion creating the illusion of a stain on the pristine floor. The girls crimson hair swept the floor as she knelt, grumbling about the unfairness of assignments that can't be refused and the aging process in general. The vehemence of her grumbled complaints betrayed her mood to be annoyed in the most extreme connotation of the word. Upon gathering the last of her strewn possessions she stood and brushed her bare legs off; a useless motion that betrayed her bandaged arm complete with a coating of bloody rust. Though she was no longer wearing the papery thin hospital gown of the previous hour the girl remained partial to clothing which left little to the imagination, though the temperature was less then comfortable for such a choice. Her shorts cut off four inches down her thighs, tapering out at the bottom so as to create the illusion of a skirt, while as her shirt clung tightly to her torso and tapered at the top. Every so often the shirt would slip off one of her slender shoulders giving her the burden of replacing the slippery cloth, though she could have gone without the onerous task as her hair, which was remained loose and cascading about her shoulders, covered any movement of the black material. Her red hair created a veil around her face, bent over, as she read the papers. Every few seconds her hand would dart out to make a note on a pad next to her before reverting back to the space beneath her hair.
"Afraid of bugs?" She asked to no one in particular. From the end of the white room came a reply
"Whose afraid of bugs?" The girl looked up in shock at the voice, all traces of annoyance falling out of view of her eyes
"Judgment?" she questioned hopefully, her voice wavering with each syllable. The until then hidden figure stepped out of the doors shadow revealing a tall, 19 year old boy with stark blonde hair and tan skin.
"Judgment? Now that's a name I haven't heard from your lips in a long while" the boy had said in a good-natured Texas drawl. Sang's until then cheerful yes suddenly grew defensive. Light lilac reverting to a deeper tone of the same color.
" Funny I was under the impression you hadn't heard any name from my lips in a long while" she said coldly. The blonde boy stared at her for a few seconds before clutching his side and falling in mock death.
"Touché, truce? Sang?" he asked getting up and offering her his hand. The girl looked at him for a few moments, as though expecting another head to grow from his shoulder and then accepted his hand
" Man Minos, I've missed you," she said. The Texan smiled and a glint showed in his eyes that truly startled the crimson haired girl, "Oh no Minos what are you going to-" she was cut off mid sentence as the blonde bypassed her outstretched hand and lifted her in a large bear hug, eliciting a squeak out of the now fragile looking girl. He gleefully spun her around twice before placing her back on her feet and planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Now," he said eyeing her bandaged arm. Sang followed his gaze and then self conscientiously hid the arm. Realizing the uncomfortable situation he was about to lead himself into the blonde changed the direction of his question,
"Who was it that was afraid of bugs?"
"Numbuh one" she replied as though any one should understand exactly what she was talking about at the mere utterance of the name. At his raised eyebrow she realized the need to elaborate " a new mission. It's a team of five children who are all nearing thirteen but The Sector" she emphasized the "the" as though it were a proper noun rather then an article. " Said that they were some of Kids next doors best members" the crimson haired girl sighed and looked up at her comrades pale honey eyes. The boy grinned darkly.
"So are you going to do the maintenance test?" He asked.
"Of course, what do you take me for, a fool? They'll find out I'm coming tomorrow. But by then I'll already be on the road. now about traveling incognito" she said, her voice trailing off as the two left the room. In her hand Sang held the data she had collected. The manila folders were mysteriously refilled and the room appeared as though no one had entered it. In a way no one had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~meow~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Numbuh three smiled and purveyed the finally clean common room. It had taken her and her four-team mates the better part of three hours to clean it. Of course the clean up had consisted only of removing all evidence of the multiple food fights and eating binges they had engaged in during the previous day and had done nothing for the general appearance of the room; which was bad. There was no proverbial sparkle of a spotless room, no blinding shine radiating off every surface. No instead there were tables empty of cups and food, they weren't sticky but they weren't shiny either, and there were walls with paint chipping off them in odd patterns; one looked like a rabbit. Yes, the room was clean but it wasn't pristine like the Kids next-door codebook required. Still Numbuh three smiled and, taking her ability to see the floor as a good sign, wiped the sweat from her brow.
" That was a long clean up" she said to no one person in particular. An exhausted Numbuh four responded by flopping down on the couch.
" Numbuh five thinks we deserve a break," the capped agent added upon completing the last look over of the room. Not perfect, but not bad. A piece of paint chipped off the ceiling and hit her head. Well not too bad, the capped girl amended in her thoughts as she sat down at a second couch. A droopy-eyed Numbuh two lay down on the remaining couch leaving the equally tired Numbuh's one and three with out anywhere to sit. Numbuh three shrugged and, with an evil glint showing in her onyx eyes began to walk over to Numbuh four. The young blonde was so tied up in his own, exhausted thoughts, that he didn't notice the hyper girl until she was mere inches from his bastion.
" Ah, three" he said, his accented voice quivering in fear " what are you doing?" the Asian girl said nothing in response and there was a tense silence during which nothing happened. Just as Numbuh four was sighing in relief the Asian pounced and threw him from the couch.
"Thank you for sharing" she said smirking. The resident tough guy growled at his friend.
" Oh so you want a fight, well come and get it" with that he jumped on the young Asian and wrestled her to the floor. As the two attempted, in vain, to pin the other Numbuh one crept around them and stole the couch. The three non-fighting members of the team spent several moments watching their fighting teammates in a shared silence before talking.
" So she's twelve," two said voicing fears that one and five had discussed earlier.
"Yes" Numbuh one replied, eyes radiating fear even through dark glasses.
"So what happens when." Numbuh two's voice trailed off. The normally bubbly mechanic was unable to finish his sentence for saying the words would have finalized it in a way that he would not be able to correct.
Numbuh one began to reply to his friends voiced query when five cut him off.
" Numbuh five's heard tell of fate coming and choosing some teams to continue to be kids next door members through teenager years" the girl had said quietly. The previously wrestling duo on the floor had ceased their fight and were now paused, mid scuffle, in order to hear the quiet one better. The capped girl, for her part, chose that moment to look down and then she burst out laughing. Both Numbuh one and two raised eyebrows at her and she pointed a wavering finger at the two on the floor. Indeed their position was a comical one, with Numbuh three's legs wrapped around a sitting up Numbuh four and their hands locked in combat. The two looked at one another and blushed lightly before disengaging themselves and moving to sit on opposite couches. The other three waited for this discourse to end before resuming their conversation.
" As Numbuh five was saying, Numbuh five has heard some teams were being allowed to stay together until the youngest member turned thirteen." At this point every one turned to glance briefly at Numbuh three.
"So twelve months" four had said after an abbreviated silence, the rest of the team nodded sadly and sighed at once thinking in unison how very short twelve months seemed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~pixie stix~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The train station was bustling, filled to the brim with people in search of a place to go or, perhaps, in need a different destination. With the hundreds of people inside the grand hall, noise echoed. Young children crying as their mothers attempted to figure out busy schedules, businessmen screaming into phones that had no service, tellers reporting the next time and train fair; all these noises and a variety of others had joined forces. They intertwined, creating a symphony of noise that no one wanted to hear but that assaulted the ears of any one entering the gigantic station and dulled the senses. To any one else this explosion of noise was annoying, something that had to be ignored and later added to, but for one silent fifteen-year-old it was the perfect cover. With everyone within the station wrapped up in his or her own affairs no one took a second glance when the girl stepped into the din. Though she was normally a girl whose looks demanded attention, she had dulled down her appearance. Normally bright, flowing crimson hair had been wrapped up under a blue bucket hat save for a length down to her shoulders, which had been dyed brown. Her lilac eyes as well were hidden behind a brown façade of contacts, specially fitted for her eyes. The blue, aforementioned, bucket hat matched an innocent dress that reached to her knees below which were white stockings and blue sandals. Over the innocent, tank top dress, she wore a floral print denim jacket to hide her still bandaged arm. As a final touch to her innocent demeanor she carried a suitcase filled with summer clothes that hid, among many other things, various files. It was a perfect disguise that no one in the station saw through. Disregarding the fact that no one in the station was paying her attention enough to see the few red wisps that had slipped through her hat or the fact that one arm was bulkier then the other, she smiled confidently and lifted her suitcase. Holding her head high the innocent looking figure made her way over to the ticket counter.
"Good morning" she said sweetly to the old man behind the counter when she had reached it. The old man looked at her closely for a few moments, wrinkles in his forehead forming a forest around cheerful, scrutinizing eyes.
"And good morning to you, lass. What can I be doing for ye?" He responded after a moment's hesitation. The politeness of the obviously teenaged girl had startled him causing Sang to reevaluate the way she was behaving. Briefly she toyed with the idea of introducing a slight hint of teen angst but opted to continue on the path she was headed, hopefully it was the path of least attention.
"I'd like a ticket to-" her voice was cut off by a babies scream somewhere in the line behind her. Its shrill tone seemed to bore into her head and wake up her, until then dormant headache.
" Well that's a very small town lass, what makes you head out there?" the old man asked, a slight chuckle building at the back of his throat. He had failed to notice the pained expression on the girl's face and the contacts deleted any trace of injury from her eyes.
"My aunt lives there, she invited me up for the summer" the girl replied thinking quickly. Her head hurt, badly, and her arm was beginning to throb. She needed more painkillers, many more painkillers, but knew the guards of the station wouldn't take kindly to her popping pills.
" But surely you would rather stay at home during the summer, with friends. There's barely anything in that town"
" I moved recently all my friends are in that town" sang replied. Her teeth were clenched to keep her mind off the pain and it added an annoyed undertone to her voice. Though the man deserved it for asking her so many questions, why was he so curious any way? Why did he need to know so much?
" Oh," he had said dejectedly causing his entire face to droop visibly. Through the pain sang thought she saw a piece of plastic beginning to peel from the far corner of his forehead but she hardly trusted the observation. The headache was beginning to claim the edges of her vision and the world was growing fuzzy. Without any more conversation the man handed sang a ticket which she graciously accepted and paid for before beating a hasty retreat in search of a bathroom. With her vision growing blurry it wasn't as easy a task as it should have been.
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In his room, finally alone, Numbuh one sighed and drew his glasses off. Turning to his desk to place them in their protective case he was met with a glaring twelve-month calendar marked with his thirteenth birthday.
"Three months" he declared, in a sighing tone, to what he believed to be an empty room.
"Numbuh five thinks your fixating on this" a familiar voice called from his doorway. Numbuh one was shocked at having been met with a reply rather then the still room he had expected. " You should have fun while we're still together". Though he had not yet regained speaking capabilities Numbuh one raised an eyebrow at the girl's statement.
"Numbuh five meant while we're all still together," the capped agent said, cheeks growing red.
"Perhaps I am fixating on this five but you must admit it is a frightening thought" he responded, tactfully ignoring her crimson cheeks.
"Everyone has to grow up Numbuh one"
"But it's so soon. Why did I destroy that age-changing ray? With it we may have all gained a few more years" A soft red light from the monitor saved five from responding.
"You better go check that" but the mandate was unnecessary as Numbuh one had already crossed the room and switched the screen on. Instantly it flared to life, flashing grays and blacks at the two as it attempted to reboot. After what seemed like an eternity of silence the familiar message board appeared with a fresh message. Numbuh five anxiously stood at the back of the room, twisting one finger around a strand of hair subconsciously, as she awaited numbuh ones next comment. For his part, the teams fearless leader stood nearly stock still reading the file that had been sent to him, his eyes rapidly scanning beneath the obsidian surface of his glasses as he attempted to make sense of the dull file that flashed before him on the screen. The letters flashed green, reflecting on the wall behind the boy, though not in a manner intelligible for numbuh five to read, indicative of it's importance.
"Numbuh one?" the capped agent chanced after a moment silence. Numbuh one merely grunted in reply. Several minutes after numbuh fives intrusion upon the silence the bald agent spoke.
"We need to gather the others. kids next door satellites have pinpointed Count Spankalot's location."
"So?" Having expected such an answer from the quick thinking agent numbuh one grimaced, his face convulsing into a pattern common to those people who have been in the city after years of country air.
"He is very close to a playground" the quiet ones features quickly grew to match her leaders and the two left the room in search of the other members of their quintet. Though both were observant they failed to notice the appearance of a second message marked urgent. Every few moments a subscript flashed beneath the bold letters reading FATE.
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The window of the train was cool to the touch as sang leaned her forehead against it. Mere moments before she had boarded the train, pain killers in tow, only to find that the child who had restarted her headache was traveling not only in the same train but the same car. Despite her painkiller's best efforts the headache had returned at the first sign of the babies scream. The window began to rattle as the train moved which further deepened the girl's pain. She squinted and drew her head away from the window, eliciting an immediate sting of pain at the loss of the cool surface. Several critical gazes turned over to her at this outburst and she smiled softly.
"I saw a spider" she offered weakly, unable to think of a better excuse. The passengers seemed to accept this answer as plausible and returned to their own worlds of thought leaving Sang to hers. She sighed and lay her head back on the seat, it was warm and entirely unpleasant but the window's rattling would only worsen the pain, and mentally went over her assignment. Finding the stress on her memory to be too much she removed a file with a detailed description of the first test; the maintenance test. In the manila folder lay a scrap of paper bearing the tests outlines. She smiled as her mind filled in the familiar procedure. Walking in, her first impression on their headquarters was important, providing the preliminary evaluation and determining whether continued evaluation was necessary. Generally in this test the rule of thumb was the messier the better as the children were only informed of her impending arrival the day before providing little time for preparing the base. She wanted to observe the children in as normal a state as possible and if that meant mess, so be it. Quickly she did some mental calculations and smiled. The Kids next door sector in question would receive news of her arrival that day; in fact she wouldn't be surprised if they had just received the message. Vaguely she wondered if they were scurrying to fix their tree house as she drifted to sleep against the rattling glass, unnoticed by the girl a thin strand of red hair fell across her face, stopping at her chin
Sachi-chan: SEE!! MALIK'S IMAGE I TELL YOU ::referring to Osirus::
Jysella: well I didn't do it on purpose. now can we let me out of the straight jacket please?
Numbuh five: while they sort that out.
Sang: ::appears::
Numbuh five: who are you?
Jysella: go away. they don't know you yet. this thing is itchy
Sang: fine ::disappears::
Numbuh five: ri-i-ght well, any ways, read and review please
Jysella: I'm sicking numbuh four on the flamers
Numbuh three: but what about s'mores?
Jysella: anything just let me out of this thing
Numbuh four: whatever.
Jysella: fine Sachi you don't let me out and I don't tell you where your candy is. put down that knife. I was just kidding.Sachi. delusions take it away
Audience of delusions: read and review. please. and flamers use the kosher marshmallows. no gelatin allowed
Jysella: oh wait I actually have a vote this chapter. if Sachi would just take the knife out of my back. thank you.I can breathe again. okay should the kids next door:
A. return in time to read the letter and be expecting sang
B. show up and find sang on their doorstep
Audience of delusions: you are weird
Jysella: and yet, I'm not bothered by that. Not when I have Sachi-Chans entire supply of pixie stix on me and Sachi can't escape
Numbuh four: I agree with the creepy audience; you are weird
Jysella: yeah well pixie sticks ::begins to pass out pixie stix to everyone that reviewed:: thank you so much for reviewing. at least some people like me
Numbuh five: now why are you in such a good mood?
Jysella: because she, ::jerks thumb at closet where Sachi-chan is:: is tied up
Numbuh five: who now?
Jysella: Sachi-Chan ::looks over at closet where Sachi-chan isn't:: uh-oh
Sachi-chan: First you lock me in the closet to force me to beta random chapters, and I was fine with that since I had internet access and could do oekaki. Then, you stole all my pixie stix, which I could understand.After all you are not blessed with a Nakaru persona. BUT STEALING MALIK'S IMAGE!?!?! NO WAY!! Malik-chan, Ryou-chan, Yuugi-chan, the other Yuugi- chan, and Bakura-chan are all MINE! On yes, for good measure, so is Eriol- kun :P
Jysella: firstly Eriol is mine, all mine.or Tomoyo's really but let's just not get into that.and secondly, while I run away from my psychotic sister, delusions you know what to do!
Audience of delusions: the authoress owns nothing except her own characters
Jysella: so don't. ack Sachi put the phone down.we don't have to call them again do we? ::continues pleading while she runs away::
Numbuh's four and five: don't sue, the authoress has enough problems right now
Chapter two
Getting out of the closed facility had not been a problem for the blood- trailing girl. Not while she had the rush a finished battle created raging inside her. No it was not exiting that created a problem but instead returning to her room that created it. With the roar in her ears quickly ebbing she could feel each of her injuries screaming attention. Her breathing, previously unnoticed to the dazed girl, now assaulted her mind in ragged formation. The blood loss from her arm was beginning to claim the edges of her vision and the stability of her legs was not for the first time that day, questionable. Thankfully her arm, whose tissue had separated from bone at some junction of her struggle, wasn't paining her at all and, in the corner of her mind she knew this was not a good sign. A cold trickle had begun to make its way out of her mouth traveling down her chin. Though she couldn't gather the energy to lift an arm to be sure she knew it was blood. Steps past the door she collapsed and heaved the meager meal she had eaten before her fight. The contents of her stomach emptied she continued heaving producing brown acidic bile and a rust substance resembling coffee beans. Her mind entering the first stages of shock she saw the blurred vision of sandaled, olive colored feet.
"Fate?" a worried voice called to her from what seemed miles above. The word, seemingly alien to her ears, was beyond comprehension.
"Fate?"
She coughed again, attempted to focus her vision, and looked forward, unable to raise her head and greet her soon to be savior. In her line of sight was now a blurred face, olive skin and blonde hair stood to be all she could make out. But even this was enough.
"'Sy?" she whispered, or at least thought she had. The boy began to shake her forcing her to the realization that the whisper had not made it past her chapped lips.
Worried at the lack of response the boy tried a last ditch effort " sang?" he whispered hopefully, wet tears hitting her cheeks and singing salty pain in cuts she hadn't yet discovered.
"'Sy" she called again, louder, and it reached her ears a rasped whisper, difficult to hear but at least it was sound. The boy's eyes instantly showed relief at the notice that his friend was still among his world. "Sang?" he said, his face next to her ear amplified the sound and worsened a headache she hadn't known to exist seconds earlier. Seeing the pain on her face the boy lowered his voice.
"Sang," he whispered, "can you move your head?" rather then replying with words that took their toll on he waning strength she nodded. The icy-hot pain that resulted made her instantly remorseful of her actions.
"Good" the boy said and stooped, switching his position, to lift her. With slow, solid, movements the olive skinned boy shifted her legs over his left arm and supported her head and neck with his right. It was an awkward position with the girl being only two inches shorter then him but it was necessary to transport her. Her crimson hair, scrunchie having been swept away in a preliminary blast, swept the floor causing him to readjust slightly and wrap it around a muscular arm. With the slight movement the crimson haired girl winced and, crying out with pain, writhed in his arm.
"Shh, it's okay sang. I'll get you to the med. sector" he said as he walked quickly. Regaining her sight from the momentary fit, the girl looked up and recognized the olive skinned, green eyed, blonde haired boy to be a member of her sector. One of three.
"Osy' you don't have to." she said weakly trailing off at the look the boy supplied.
"Sang can you support your own weight?" the girl started to shake her head but thought the better of it and voiced a harsh no.
"Then let me carry you there" again the girl verbally disagreed and the boy put her on her feet. Sang took a few shaky steps before collapsing a second time. The green-eyed boy sadly shook his head and helped his fallen comrade to her feet. She shook off his help and made her shaky way, alone, trailing blood down the corridor. With a final burst of energy, before collapsing into a silver doorway, she swept the blood off her lip.
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It was long past midnight. The raven-haired Numbuh three was collapsed against a slowly fading Numbuh four. Numbuh two, having eaten more then his fare share of the party goods, was snoring loudly on the couch, a discarded doughnut dropping from his grasp. The capped Numbuh five surveyed the trashed wooden room with a sense of disgust and left off in search of a garbage bag to clean up. Streamers hung lonely in lofty rafters, bright colors fading after the nightlong party. Cups of soda, many more then the party's attendance of five, lay on every surface reachable, overturned and dripping now syrupy drink. A plate, many still bearing a treat that had been tasted and forgotten in place of a more appetizing morsel, graced any surface not piled by cups. Numbuh one had left when the partiers had crashed in attempt of procuring Motrin or some other weak painkiller to alleviate the sugar induced hangovers they would all indubitably have in the morning. Sighing with the enormity of the project laid out before her, Numbuh five commenced picking up left behind objects.
"Want some help," the familiar British-accented voice of her leader had said behind her, startling the capped girl.
"Numbuh five thought she was the stealth agent" the girl had whispered handing the boy a garbage bag in answer. The two worked in comfortable silence until Numbuh five was shocked out of her silent thoughts by a cold ice cub on her back.
"Numbuh one" she squealed in a most uncharacteristic manner, eliciting a groan from the sleeping Numbuh four. The bald boy put a finger to his lip and, smirking slightly, began to once again pick up garbage until he too felt the cold sensation of ice against skin.
"You do realize, Numbuh five, that this means war" he asked picking up a sticky jam filled doughnut to throw. Before he released the sugary confection from his grip he was met face on with a half-eaten chunk of cake. Whipping his glasses off he was met with the vision of Numbuh five smirking like the cat that ate the canary.
"Numbuh five knows" the girl said continuing her eager smile. Numbuh one grinned.
"Well if you think that was funny," he said, concealing a tube of whipped cream in his hand, "you should try this" at this he unleashed his attack but the stealth agent was too quick for his slow movements and ducked before she was hit. As a result the sleeping form of Numbuh two got a face full of the non-dairy whipped topping.
"Guys" he whined causing Numbuh four to wake.
"What?" the Aussie cried bolting upright and displacing Numbuh three, whose head landed in his lap.
"Ohayo" the Japanese girl said at the impact. Numbuh's one and five looked at each other and smirked before turning their combined forces against their newly awakened teammates. Before the first confection was thrown Numbuh four ducked behind the couch dragging a still dazed Numbuh three with him. Numbuh two, however, didn't think as fast as the blonde and was hit with the first wave of the attack. While Numbuh two was being pummeled with various sugary items the two hiding children tallied their ammunition. Numbuh five had done a decent job of cleaning that half of the room and their only hope lay in the few sticky glasses of coke that lay next to them. The two exchanged furtive glances and popped up from their fort, spraying one and five with the sticky concoction. The two were stuck to the floor and resorted to stationary attacks but they were virtually ineffective against their nimble teammates. Three and four quickly took advantage of their stuck fast teammates and pummeled them with their own ammunition.
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The crimson haired girl was sitting alone at a desk in a room walled in by filing cabinets. At the desk in front of her lay six manila folders of varying shades of ivory. Each folder was marked, in block letters, with a different number denoting the folder's contents. She sighed lightly, the sound reverberating around the empty room, and spread the files in front of her to better see the numbers. She shifted a folder bearing the letter "t" and nothing more to the top of the pile, moving slowly so as not to move her right, casted, arm. A thin line of rust colored blood had made it's way through the pristine bandage and was beginning to stain the sling which held the appendage in it's correct position. Sang looked down at the painful mess disdainfully and rose from her seat to get a breath of air.
Five minutes into her research and she was bored. So bored. Subconsciously she reached to smooth her paper gown. Technically she shouldn't have been out of the recovery room but an assignment was an assignment. She walked over to the water cooler and stared at the so-familiar picture that was pinned behind it. There were sixty children in the picture, a mismatched collage of images supplied by the twelve children and teens living in the underground; all of them were smiling. Bright never fading smiles that stayed on the eyes long after one stopped looking at the picture. All but twelve of those happy children were dead. Sighing sang sat down before her mind could seek out the four pictures that haunted her dreams, and opened the first folder. Five photographs were paper clipped to the folder each bearing a name and brief description along with a note to see file four a or five b with a more complete history. She glanced over the pictures, memorizing their names and codenames. The glossy, high color, images assaulted her eyes, causing the injured girl to blink back with the sheer brightness they brought to the empty room. In an act of desperation she turned away from the blinding images only to be presented with a follow up of each child. She skimmed these promising to go over them with more detail later and turned to the next section, briefly wondering if the torture would end or just stop bothering her. Following the overview of the team was a detailed description of every mission the five had ever been on along with several add on's directing her to folders she hadn't thought to pull. Her afternoon shaping up to be research filled, sang couldn't help but think that the recovery room sounded very fun in comparison.
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Numbuh three woke up and opened her eyes only to be blinded by sunlight pouring in from somewhere. The Asian groaned, put a hand in front of her eyes to block the golden beams, and sat up, instantly regretting her decision to change position. Her head screamed in protest as she moved a chorus her muscles soon happily joined. Her throat felt as though something fuzzy had been stuffed down it and her face felt tight like it had dried overnight. The girl groaned again with this surgence of sensation, mostly pain, and opened her eyes to be assaulted by visions of a trashed wooden room. For a second the girl was disoriented, wondering why her stuffed companions were not within arms reach until she remembered the events of the previous night. Her movements shook a certain blonde out of his peaceful slumber causing him to awaken with similar results.
"Why is the sun so bright" the raven-haired girl grumbled to Numbuh four when she was sure his adjustment to awareness was complete. In reply she received grumbles. Across the room a sleep hazed mechanic had come into awareness and was trying to collect his scattered thoughts when he heard to voices drifting in from what he assumed to be the kitchen. Though with his thoughts in their scattered state he was unable to decipher more then "rumor, fate, hope, and teen" before loosing his patience with the whole ordeal. Hearing noise in the common room the two in the kitchen walked in bearing bright smiles.
"Sleep well?" Numbuh one asked mockingly of his compatriots only to receive a face full of pillows as a reply. The slightly more tactful Numbuh five pulled out a bottle of the mystical Tylenol with the all-healing properties only pills of such high magic could possess, and offered around tablets before adding her two cents.
"Numbuh five thinks that was a wild party." The capped girl received as reply three groans and one dirty look from Numbuh one as she hadn't gotten the pillow treatment. Numbuh five shrugged. Five minutes later, when the magical properties of the pink tablet had come into effect, there was a group migration to the kitchen where they found, to their complete surprise, a breakfast buffet laid out. Numbuh five smiled as the three children, previously asleep, stared in awe at the veritable feast.
"Well Numbuh five saw no reason for the party to end last night," she said jokingly. In an equal sense of joviality Numbuh two dropped to his knees before the already embarrassed agent and grabbed her hand
"Marry me" Numbuh five snatched back her arm and the group shared a laugh before sitting down to eat the feast before them. Though, eating was hardly the word to describe what the starved kids were doing, piling mountains of food into their mouths at lightening speed. No, perhaps inhale was a better word for the way they ate. And a table full of food was gone in less than ten minutes.
"You know," started a content Numbuh three "we have to clean up" several forkfuls of hash browns were thrown at her rather then a response.
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The quiet peace of the room was suddenly disturbed a manila file hit one of the few patches of wall space not covered in filing cabinets and hit the floor. Behind the folder, at a long mahogany table, sat Sang. Her annoyed face was reflected clearly, if slightly distorted, in the table's high gloss surface.
" This is so boring" she screamed in frustration as she got up to gather her now spread papers. " Why in the world did I ever take this assignment" the papers had fallen on the stark white floor in puddles of two or three papers, their slightly creamy complexion creating the illusion of a stain on the pristine floor. The girls crimson hair swept the floor as she knelt, grumbling about the unfairness of assignments that can't be refused and the aging process in general. The vehemence of her grumbled complaints betrayed her mood to be annoyed in the most extreme connotation of the word. Upon gathering the last of her strewn possessions she stood and brushed her bare legs off; a useless motion that betrayed her bandaged arm complete with a coating of bloody rust. Though she was no longer wearing the papery thin hospital gown of the previous hour the girl remained partial to clothing which left little to the imagination, though the temperature was less then comfortable for such a choice. Her shorts cut off four inches down her thighs, tapering out at the bottom so as to create the illusion of a skirt, while as her shirt clung tightly to her torso and tapered at the top. Every so often the shirt would slip off one of her slender shoulders giving her the burden of replacing the slippery cloth, though she could have gone without the onerous task as her hair, which was remained loose and cascading about her shoulders, covered any movement of the black material. Her red hair created a veil around her face, bent over, as she read the papers. Every few seconds her hand would dart out to make a note on a pad next to her before reverting back to the space beneath her hair.
"Afraid of bugs?" She asked to no one in particular. From the end of the white room came a reply
"Whose afraid of bugs?" The girl looked up in shock at the voice, all traces of annoyance falling out of view of her eyes
"Judgment?" she questioned hopefully, her voice wavering with each syllable. The until then hidden figure stepped out of the doors shadow revealing a tall, 19 year old boy with stark blonde hair and tan skin.
"Judgment? Now that's a name I haven't heard from your lips in a long while" the boy had said in a good-natured Texas drawl. Sang's until then cheerful yes suddenly grew defensive. Light lilac reverting to a deeper tone of the same color.
" Funny I was under the impression you hadn't heard any name from my lips in a long while" she said coldly. The blonde boy stared at her for a few seconds before clutching his side and falling in mock death.
"Touché, truce? Sang?" he asked getting up and offering her his hand. The girl looked at him for a few moments, as though expecting another head to grow from his shoulder and then accepted his hand
" Man Minos, I've missed you," she said. The Texan smiled and a glint showed in his eyes that truly startled the crimson haired girl, "Oh no Minos what are you going to-" she was cut off mid sentence as the blonde bypassed her outstretched hand and lifted her in a large bear hug, eliciting a squeak out of the now fragile looking girl. He gleefully spun her around twice before placing her back on her feet and planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Now," he said eyeing her bandaged arm. Sang followed his gaze and then self conscientiously hid the arm. Realizing the uncomfortable situation he was about to lead himself into the blonde changed the direction of his question,
"Who was it that was afraid of bugs?"
"Numbuh one" she replied as though any one should understand exactly what she was talking about at the mere utterance of the name. At his raised eyebrow she realized the need to elaborate " a new mission. It's a team of five children who are all nearing thirteen but The Sector" she emphasized the "the" as though it were a proper noun rather then an article. " Said that they were some of Kids next doors best members" the crimson haired girl sighed and looked up at her comrades pale honey eyes. The boy grinned darkly.
"So are you going to do the maintenance test?" He asked.
"Of course, what do you take me for, a fool? They'll find out I'm coming tomorrow. But by then I'll already be on the road. now about traveling incognito" she said, her voice trailing off as the two left the room. In her hand Sang held the data she had collected. The manila folders were mysteriously refilled and the room appeared as though no one had entered it. In a way no one had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~meow~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Numbuh three smiled and purveyed the finally clean common room. It had taken her and her four-team mates the better part of three hours to clean it. Of course the clean up had consisted only of removing all evidence of the multiple food fights and eating binges they had engaged in during the previous day and had done nothing for the general appearance of the room; which was bad. There was no proverbial sparkle of a spotless room, no blinding shine radiating off every surface. No instead there were tables empty of cups and food, they weren't sticky but they weren't shiny either, and there were walls with paint chipping off them in odd patterns; one looked like a rabbit. Yes, the room was clean but it wasn't pristine like the Kids next-door codebook required. Still Numbuh three smiled and, taking her ability to see the floor as a good sign, wiped the sweat from her brow.
" That was a long clean up" she said to no one person in particular. An exhausted Numbuh four responded by flopping down on the couch.
" Numbuh five thinks we deserve a break," the capped agent added upon completing the last look over of the room. Not perfect, but not bad. A piece of paint chipped off the ceiling and hit her head. Well not too bad, the capped girl amended in her thoughts as she sat down at a second couch. A droopy-eyed Numbuh two lay down on the remaining couch leaving the equally tired Numbuh's one and three with out anywhere to sit. Numbuh three shrugged and, with an evil glint showing in her onyx eyes began to walk over to Numbuh four. The young blonde was so tied up in his own, exhausted thoughts, that he didn't notice the hyper girl until she was mere inches from his bastion.
" Ah, three" he said, his accented voice quivering in fear " what are you doing?" the Asian girl said nothing in response and there was a tense silence during which nothing happened. Just as Numbuh four was sighing in relief the Asian pounced and threw him from the couch.
"Thank you for sharing" she said smirking. The resident tough guy growled at his friend.
" Oh so you want a fight, well come and get it" with that he jumped on the young Asian and wrestled her to the floor. As the two attempted, in vain, to pin the other Numbuh one crept around them and stole the couch. The three non-fighting members of the team spent several moments watching their fighting teammates in a shared silence before talking.
" So she's twelve," two said voicing fears that one and five had discussed earlier.
"Yes" Numbuh one replied, eyes radiating fear even through dark glasses.
"So what happens when." Numbuh two's voice trailed off. The normally bubbly mechanic was unable to finish his sentence for saying the words would have finalized it in a way that he would not be able to correct.
Numbuh one began to reply to his friends voiced query when five cut him off.
" Numbuh five's heard tell of fate coming and choosing some teams to continue to be kids next door members through teenager years" the girl had said quietly. The previously wrestling duo on the floor had ceased their fight and were now paused, mid scuffle, in order to hear the quiet one better. The capped girl, for her part, chose that moment to look down and then she burst out laughing. Both Numbuh one and two raised eyebrows at her and she pointed a wavering finger at the two on the floor. Indeed their position was a comical one, with Numbuh three's legs wrapped around a sitting up Numbuh four and their hands locked in combat. The two looked at one another and blushed lightly before disengaging themselves and moving to sit on opposite couches. The other three waited for this discourse to end before resuming their conversation.
" As Numbuh five was saying, Numbuh five has heard some teams were being allowed to stay together until the youngest member turned thirteen." At this point every one turned to glance briefly at Numbuh three.
"So twelve months" four had said after an abbreviated silence, the rest of the team nodded sadly and sighed at once thinking in unison how very short twelve months seemed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~pixie stix~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The train station was bustling, filled to the brim with people in search of a place to go or, perhaps, in need a different destination. With the hundreds of people inside the grand hall, noise echoed. Young children crying as their mothers attempted to figure out busy schedules, businessmen screaming into phones that had no service, tellers reporting the next time and train fair; all these noises and a variety of others had joined forces. They intertwined, creating a symphony of noise that no one wanted to hear but that assaulted the ears of any one entering the gigantic station and dulled the senses. To any one else this explosion of noise was annoying, something that had to be ignored and later added to, but for one silent fifteen-year-old it was the perfect cover. With everyone within the station wrapped up in his or her own affairs no one took a second glance when the girl stepped into the din. Though she was normally a girl whose looks demanded attention, she had dulled down her appearance. Normally bright, flowing crimson hair had been wrapped up under a blue bucket hat save for a length down to her shoulders, which had been dyed brown. Her lilac eyes as well were hidden behind a brown façade of contacts, specially fitted for her eyes. The blue, aforementioned, bucket hat matched an innocent dress that reached to her knees below which were white stockings and blue sandals. Over the innocent, tank top dress, she wore a floral print denim jacket to hide her still bandaged arm. As a final touch to her innocent demeanor she carried a suitcase filled with summer clothes that hid, among many other things, various files. It was a perfect disguise that no one in the station saw through. Disregarding the fact that no one in the station was paying her attention enough to see the few red wisps that had slipped through her hat or the fact that one arm was bulkier then the other, she smiled confidently and lifted her suitcase. Holding her head high the innocent looking figure made her way over to the ticket counter.
"Good morning" she said sweetly to the old man behind the counter when she had reached it. The old man looked at her closely for a few moments, wrinkles in his forehead forming a forest around cheerful, scrutinizing eyes.
"And good morning to you, lass. What can I be doing for ye?" He responded after a moment's hesitation. The politeness of the obviously teenaged girl had startled him causing Sang to reevaluate the way she was behaving. Briefly she toyed with the idea of introducing a slight hint of teen angst but opted to continue on the path she was headed, hopefully it was the path of least attention.
"I'd like a ticket to-" her voice was cut off by a babies scream somewhere in the line behind her. Its shrill tone seemed to bore into her head and wake up her, until then dormant headache.
" Well that's a very small town lass, what makes you head out there?" the old man asked, a slight chuckle building at the back of his throat. He had failed to notice the pained expression on the girl's face and the contacts deleted any trace of injury from her eyes.
"My aunt lives there, she invited me up for the summer" the girl replied thinking quickly. Her head hurt, badly, and her arm was beginning to throb. She needed more painkillers, many more painkillers, but knew the guards of the station wouldn't take kindly to her popping pills.
" But surely you would rather stay at home during the summer, with friends. There's barely anything in that town"
" I moved recently all my friends are in that town" sang replied. Her teeth were clenched to keep her mind off the pain and it added an annoyed undertone to her voice. Though the man deserved it for asking her so many questions, why was he so curious any way? Why did he need to know so much?
" Oh," he had said dejectedly causing his entire face to droop visibly. Through the pain sang thought she saw a piece of plastic beginning to peel from the far corner of his forehead but she hardly trusted the observation. The headache was beginning to claim the edges of her vision and the world was growing fuzzy. Without any more conversation the man handed sang a ticket which she graciously accepted and paid for before beating a hasty retreat in search of a bathroom. With her vision growing blurry it wasn't as easy a task as it should have been.
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In his room, finally alone, Numbuh one sighed and drew his glasses off. Turning to his desk to place them in their protective case he was met with a glaring twelve-month calendar marked with his thirteenth birthday.
"Three months" he declared, in a sighing tone, to what he believed to be an empty room.
"Numbuh five thinks your fixating on this" a familiar voice called from his doorway. Numbuh one was shocked at having been met with a reply rather then the still room he had expected. " You should have fun while we're still together". Though he had not yet regained speaking capabilities Numbuh one raised an eyebrow at the girl's statement.
"Numbuh five meant while we're all still together," the capped agent said, cheeks growing red.
"Perhaps I am fixating on this five but you must admit it is a frightening thought" he responded, tactfully ignoring her crimson cheeks.
"Everyone has to grow up Numbuh one"
"But it's so soon. Why did I destroy that age-changing ray? With it we may have all gained a few more years" A soft red light from the monitor saved five from responding.
"You better go check that" but the mandate was unnecessary as Numbuh one had already crossed the room and switched the screen on. Instantly it flared to life, flashing grays and blacks at the two as it attempted to reboot. After what seemed like an eternity of silence the familiar message board appeared with a fresh message. Numbuh five anxiously stood at the back of the room, twisting one finger around a strand of hair subconsciously, as she awaited numbuh ones next comment. For his part, the teams fearless leader stood nearly stock still reading the file that had been sent to him, his eyes rapidly scanning beneath the obsidian surface of his glasses as he attempted to make sense of the dull file that flashed before him on the screen. The letters flashed green, reflecting on the wall behind the boy, though not in a manner intelligible for numbuh five to read, indicative of it's importance.
"Numbuh one?" the capped agent chanced after a moment silence. Numbuh one merely grunted in reply. Several minutes after numbuh fives intrusion upon the silence the bald agent spoke.
"We need to gather the others. kids next door satellites have pinpointed Count Spankalot's location."
"So?" Having expected such an answer from the quick thinking agent numbuh one grimaced, his face convulsing into a pattern common to those people who have been in the city after years of country air.
"He is very close to a playground" the quiet ones features quickly grew to match her leaders and the two left the room in search of the other members of their quintet. Though both were observant they failed to notice the appearance of a second message marked urgent. Every few moments a subscript flashed beneath the bold letters reading FATE.
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The window of the train was cool to the touch as sang leaned her forehead against it. Mere moments before she had boarded the train, pain killers in tow, only to find that the child who had restarted her headache was traveling not only in the same train but the same car. Despite her painkiller's best efforts the headache had returned at the first sign of the babies scream. The window began to rattle as the train moved which further deepened the girl's pain. She squinted and drew her head away from the window, eliciting an immediate sting of pain at the loss of the cool surface. Several critical gazes turned over to her at this outburst and she smiled softly.
"I saw a spider" she offered weakly, unable to think of a better excuse. The passengers seemed to accept this answer as plausible and returned to their own worlds of thought leaving Sang to hers. She sighed and lay her head back on the seat, it was warm and entirely unpleasant but the window's rattling would only worsen the pain, and mentally went over her assignment. Finding the stress on her memory to be too much she removed a file with a detailed description of the first test; the maintenance test. In the manila folder lay a scrap of paper bearing the tests outlines. She smiled as her mind filled in the familiar procedure. Walking in, her first impression on their headquarters was important, providing the preliminary evaluation and determining whether continued evaluation was necessary. Generally in this test the rule of thumb was the messier the better as the children were only informed of her impending arrival the day before providing little time for preparing the base. She wanted to observe the children in as normal a state as possible and if that meant mess, so be it. Quickly she did some mental calculations and smiled. The Kids next door sector in question would receive news of her arrival that day; in fact she wouldn't be surprised if they had just received the message. Vaguely she wondered if they were scurrying to fix their tree house as she drifted to sleep against the rattling glass, unnoticed by the girl a thin strand of red hair fell across her face, stopping at her chin
Sachi-chan: SEE!! MALIK'S IMAGE I TELL YOU ::referring to Osirus::
Jysella: well I didn't do it on purpose. now can we let me out of the straight jacket please?
Numbuh five: while they sort that out.
Sang: ::appears::
Numbuh five: who are you?
Jysella: go away. they don't know you yet. this thing is itchy
Sang: fine ::disappears::
Numbuh five: ri-i-ght well, any ways, read and review please
Jysella: I'm sicking numbuh four on the flamers
Numbuh three: but what about s'mores?
Jysella: anything just let me out of this thing
Numbuh four: whatever.
Jysella: fine Sachi you don't let me out and I don't tell you where your candy is. put down that knife. I was just kidding.Sachi. delusions take it away
Audience of delusions: read and review. please. and flamers use the kosher marshmallows. no gelatin allowed
Jysella: oh wait I actually have a vote this chapter. if Sachi would just take the knife out of my back. thank you.I can breathe again. okay should the kids next door:
A. return in time to read the letter and be expecting sang
B. show up and find sang on their doorstep