Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, they're much appreciated. Well, here
it is, Chapter 3.
Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter One
Chapter Title: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad WOLF?
Nerd Star Space Station, low-earth orbit
"Report." Alden said in a squeaky yet curt tone.
"WOLFs 068 and 071 have reported encounters with Numbah 274." Jane reported.
"274 seems to have evaded capture and has also rescued Numbah 30C." Maria added.
"Hmm..." Alden mumbled. "That isn't a surprise, 274 is the best. Where is he now?"
Klaus looked at his monitor before answering. "Heading for der base of Numbahs Von to Five." He answered in a German accent. "It seems dat VOLF 084 has not yet neutralized them."
Alden scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Monitor them and keep me informed of the situation."
Jane, Maria, and Klaus nodded and turned back to their monitors. Alden sat down on his command chair. He turned to look at his brother who was off to a corner, flicking a piece of paper between his fingers. Alden smiled, sometimes he wished he could find pure pleasure in the simple things like his brother did. He turned away and awaited the others' reports.
Numbah 274's craft
274 gritted his teeth as his damaged craft plummeted toward the ground. It shook violently as pieces of its fuselage came off. Alarms screamed in the cockpit, but 274 ignored them. He had to concentrate on aiming his craft.
"Oh Lord," muttered 30C beside him. "Protect me so that I may not come to harm..."
"I didn't know you were religious." 274 said.
"I'm not." 30C said in a scared tone.
A loud noise that sounded like metal being torn apart reverberated through the craft. It started to shake even more violently. "There goes our tail fin."
The craft started to veer off slightly after it lost its tail fin, but 274 struggled to keep it aimed. Sweat fell from his brow as he manipulated the controls of his craft.
"Prepare..." he panted. "To eject..."
"Oh man..." 30C groaned.
274 looked at the altimeter, he watched and counted off the feet as they kept going lower and lower. 1000 feet... 900 feet... 800 feet... 700 feet... 600 feet...
"NOW!" he shouted as the craft hit 500 feet. Both he and 30C pulled their ejection switches and flew out of the craft.
As their parachutes deployed they watched the unpiloted craft continued downward. It seemed to go in slow motion as large chunks started flying off its fuselage. Through all that the craft still kept its course.
274 looked down at his craft's intended target. The WOLF robot was slinking slowly and menacingly toward its targets. 'Good, keep going slowly, don't move around too much...' 274 mentally urged the WOLF. He kept on repeating the urge in his mind until the craft finally slammed violently into the robot, exploding in a large fireball and scattering debris in all directions.
"All right!" 30C cheered. "Take that you stupid robot."
274 kept silent, he was looking intently at the ground as the dust settled. Did his plan work? Or had the WOLF survived? He had to know. He looked at the debris strewn around, none seemed to be coming together and reassembling themselves. But he had to be sure.
Then, he saw a piece of debris start to move. 'Oh no, don't tell me that it didn't work.' 274 thought. The piece seemed to vibrate for a while before it suddenly flipped over. It was a WOLF head, it seemed to open its mouth in an attempt to roar. But no sound came from it, it continued to move for a short while before it finally stopped.
274 breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least I know it worked."
On the ground
Numbahs 1, 2, and 5 dusted themselves, stunned. One minute an angry WOLF was ready to pounce on them, the next it blew up. Numbah 5 straightened out her hat.
"What the heck happened?" she demanded.
"I think they had something to do with it." 2 said, pointing up.
1 and 5 followed his gaze. They saw two parachuting figures. "274?! 30C?!" they exclaimed together.
The two operatives in parachutes landed with a slight puff of dust. 1, 2, and 5 approached them as they unhooked their parachutes.
"274, 30C," Numbah 1 greeted. "What are you two doing here?"
"Long story." Muttered 30C.
"Well," 274 began as he dusted himself. "You guys are the only operatives that haven't been captured. And since all the other operatives and bases were neutralized we decided to come here."
"Yeah, well Numbah 5 thinks our base is effectively neutralized as well." 5 said, jerking her thumb at their severely damaged Tree House.
"Where's 3 and 4?" 30C asked, looking around.
"Huh?" 2 said absently. "Oh yeah, I forgot about them."
"Over here!" they heard 3 call out. "I think Numbah 4 is taking a nap though."
They turned, 3 and an unconscious 4 were on the ground. Both of them still encased in nets.
"I'll let them loose." 30C said, taking out a small cutting tool.
As 30C proceeded to cut 3 and 4 loose 274 turned back to the others. "You guys got any transport vehicles left?"
"I don't know." 2 said. "The WOLF pretty much wrecked everything."
2 pursed his lips thoughtfully. Then, he suddenly said: "Wait! I think there's a MOSQUITOH that hasn't been damaged that much."
"Good, that'll have to do." 274 said.
"What's the use of a transport?" 1 asked. "If all the other KND bases have been neutralized then we have no other places to go to."
274 was about to answer when they heard the singsong voice of Numbah 3. She was yelling. "Numbah 4! Wake up, sleepyhead!"
They turned to look at a now-free 3 who was vigorously shaking a still- unconscious 4. "Wake up. Numbah 4! This is not time for a nap!"
"W-wha... what..." 4 mumbled as he came to. "3... s-stop s-shaking... me."
"Oh, you're awake!" 3 said in a ditzy tone. She turned to face the others. "Hey guys, Numbah 4's awake!"
"Uh, we can see that, Numbah 3." 30C said.
4's head suddenly snapped up when he heard 30C's voice. He turned and looked balefully at the operative. "What's HE doin' 'ere?"
"He freed us from the nets, Numbah 4" 3 answered.
"So, I guess you'll be wanting mah thanks now, huh?" 4 said to 30C contemptuously. Apparently he still hadn't forgiven 30C for the Operation: ARCTIC incident.
"Hey, what's your problem, 4?" 30C asked.
"Problem? Ah don't got no problem." 4 said. "'Cept maybe being with traitors like you!"
"Whoa, take it easy, will you?" 274 said, stepping between 4 and 30C. "30C's been given full pardon for his actions in Operation: ARCTIC. After all, the guy he helped wasn't really the one you were after."
4 still looked at 30C with hostility. But, in respect of 274, he backed off. "Ah still say he's a good-for-nuthin' traitor." 4 mumbled under his breath.
274 sighed. "What ever differences you have with 30C you'll have to put aside. We already wasted too much time we need to go now."
"Go where?" 5 asked.
"There's this old abandoned KND base in Antarctica, not many people know about that place so we should be safe there." 274 explained. "Plus, before the base closed down there were experimental spacecraft being developed there. We could use those to strike at the Nerd's space station."
274 turned to Numbah 2. "Go prep the MOSQUITOH, we've got no time to loose."
"You got it." 2 said as he headed for the Tree House's hangar. The others followed him.
Nerd Star Space Station
"Alden, we lost contact with WOLF 084." Jane reported.
"What?!" Alden demanded. "How? The WOLF units are supposed to be self- repairing."
"Apparently, they must have damaged it far beyond its self-repair capabilities." Jane answered.
"Actually," Maria said. "According to the monitors 274 and 30C rammed an aircraft into it."
Alden grimaced. "What're they doing now?"
"They've boarded a MOSQUITOH und seem to be heading southvard." The German, Klaus, answered.
'Southward?' Alden thought. 'There are no KND bases down there, at least not to my knowledge.' He pursed his lips thoughtfully. 'Why would they head down there?'
He turned to Maria. "Send the HORNET after them, wherever they plan to go they mustn't reach it."
At Alden's order Maria depressed a button. A small bay opened beneath the Nerd Star, fron it flew a single metal pod. Retro-rockets on the pod fired to reposition the pod. Then, they sent the pod toward Earth.
"HORNET away, Alden." Maria reported.
"Good." Alden said. Suddenly, he felt a tightening in his chest and started to cough violently. He started to gasp for air.
"Alden?" Jane said, concerned.
"A-aden?" came the inquisitive tone of Allan.
Alden held up his hand as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out an asthma inhaler and took a few puffs from it.
"I'm okay..." he finally gasped out. "In fact, I fell better than those KND operatives are gonna feel once that HORNET is through with them."
He smiled thinly. "Yes, they're definitely gonna feel much worse..."
Author's Note: What is a HORNET, you ask. To find out you'll have to wait for the next chapter. I'll try to post it as soon as I can. Please review.
Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter One
Chapter Title: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad WOLF?
Nerd Star Space Station, low-earth orbit
"Report." Alden said in a squeaky yet curt tone.
"WOLFs 068 and 071 have reported encounters with Numbah 274." Jane reported.
"274 seems to have evaded capture and has also rescued Numbah 30C." Maria added.
"Hmm..." Alden mumbled. "That isn't a surprise, 274 is the best. Where is he now?"
Klaus looked at his monitor before answering. "Heading for der base of Numbahs Von to Five." He answered in a German accent. "It seems dat VOLF 084 has not yet neutralized them."
Alden scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Monitor them and keep me informed of the situation."
Jane, Maria, and Klaus nodded and turned back to their monitors. Alden sat down on his command chair. He turned to look at his brother who was off to a corner, flicking a piece of paper between his fingers. Alden smiled, sometimes he wished he could find pure pleasure in the simple things like his brother did. He turned away and awaited the others' reports.
Numbah 274's craft
274 gritted his teeth as his damaged craft plummeted toward the ground. It shook violently as pieces of its fuselage came off. Alarms screamed in the cockpit, but 274 ignored them. He had to concentrate on aiming his craft.
"Oh Lord," muttered 30C beside him. "Protect me so that I may not come to harm..."
"I didn't know you were religious." 274 said.
"I'm not." 30C said in a scared tone.
A loud noise that sounded like metal being torn apart reverberated through the craft. It started to shake even more violently. "There goes our tail fin."
The craft started to veer off slightly after it lost its tail fin, but 274 struggled to keep it aimed. Sweat fell from his brow as he manipulated the controls of his craft.
"Prepare..." he panted. "To eject..."
"Oh man..." 30C groaned.
274 looked at the altimeter, he watched and counted off the feet as they kept going lower and lower. 1000 feet... 900 feet... 800 feet... 700 feet... 600 feet...
"NOW!" he shouted as the craft hit 500 feet. Both he and 30C pulled their ejection switches and flew out of the craft.
As their parachutes deployed they watched the unpiloted craft continued downward. It seemed to go in slow motion as large chunks started flying off its fuselage. Through all that the craft still kept its course.
274 looked down at his craft's intended target. The WOLF robot was slinking slowly and menacingly toward its targets. 'Good, keep going slowly, don't move around too much...' 274 mentally urged the WOLF. He kept on repeating the urge in his mind until the craft finally slammed violently into the robot, exploding in a large fireball and scattering debris in all directions.
"All right!" 30C cheered. "Take that you stupid robot."
274 kept silent, he was looking intently at the ground as the dust settled. Did his plan work? Or had the WOLF survived? He had to know. He looked at the debris strewn around, none seemed to be coming together and reassembling themselves. But he had to be sure.
Then, he saw a piece of debris start to move. 'Oh no, don't tell me that it didn't work.' 274 thought. The piece seemed to vibrate for a while before it suddenly flipped over. It was a WOLF head, it seemed to open its mouth in an attempt to roar. But no sound came from it, it continued to move for a short while before it finally stopped.
274 breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least I know it worked."
On the ground
Numbahs 1, 2, and 5 dusted themselves, stunned. One minute an angry WOLF was ready to pounce on them, the next it blew up. Numbah 5 straightened out her hat.
"What the heck happened?" she demanded.
"I think they had something to do with it." 2 said, pointing up.
1 and 5 followed his gaze. They saw two parachuting figures. "274?! 30C?!" they exclaimed together.
The two operatives in parachutes landed with a slight puff of dust. 1, 2, and 5 approached them as they unhooked their parachutes.
"274, 30C," Numbah 1 greeted. "What are you two doing here?"
"Long story." Muttered 30C.
"Well," 274 began as he dusted himself. "You guys are the only operatives that haven't been captured. And since all the other operatives and bases were neutralized we decided to come here."
"Yeah, well Numbah 5 thinks our base is effectively neutralized as well." 5 said, jerking her thumb at their severely damaged Tree House.
"Where's 3 and 4?" 30C asked, looking around.
"Huh?" 2 said absently. "Oh yeah, I forgot about them."
"Over here!" they heard 3 call out. "I think Numbah 4 is taking a nap though."
They turned, 3 and an unconscious 4 were on the ground. Both of them still encased in nets.
"I'll let them loose." 30C said, taking out a small cutting tool.
As 30C proceeded to cut 3 and 4 loose 274 turned back to the others. "You guys got any transport vehicles left?"
"I don't know." 2 said. "The WOLF pretty much wrecked everything."
2 pursed his lips thoughtfully. Then, he suddenly said: "Wait! I think there's a MOSQUITOH that hasn't been damaged that much."
"Good, that'll have to do." 274 said.
"What's the use of a transport?" 1 asked. "If all the other KND bases have been neutralized then we have no other places to go to."
274 was about to answer when they heard the singsong voice of Numbah 3. She was yelling. "Numbah 4! Wake up, sleepyhead!"
They turned to look at a now-free 3 who was vigorously shaking a still- unconscious 4. "Wake up. Numbah 4! This is not time for a nap!"
"W-wha... what..." 4 mumbled as he came to. "3... s-stop s-shaking... me."
"Oh, you're awake!" 3 said in a ditzy tone. She turned to face the others. "Hey guys, Numbah 4's awake!"
"Uh, we can see that, Numbah 3." 30C said.
4's head suddenly snapped up when he heard 30C's voice. He turned and looked balefully at the operative. "What's HE doin' 'ere?"
"He freed us from the nets, Numbah 4" 3 answered.
"So, I guess you'll be wanting mah thanks now, huh?" 4 said to 30C contemptuously. Apparently he still hadn't forgiven 30C for the Operation: ARCTIC incident.
"Hey, what's your problem, 4?" 30C asked.
"Problem? Ah don't got no problem." 4 said. "'Cept maybe being with traitors like you!"
"Whoa, take it easy, will you?" 274 said, stepping between 4 and 30C. "30C's been given full pardon for his actions in Operation: ARCTIC. After all, the guy he helped wasn't really the one you were after."
4 still looked at 30C with hostility. But, in respect of 274, he backed off. "Ah still say he's a good-for-nuthin' traitor." 4 mumbled under his breath.
274 sighed. "What ever differences you have with 30C you'll have to put aside. We already wasted too much time we need to go now."
"Go where?" 5 asked.
"There's this old abandoned KND base in Antarctica, not many people know about that place so we should be safe there." 274 explained. "Plus, before the base closed down there were experimental spacecraft being developed there. We could use those to strike at the Nerd's space station."
274 turned to Numbah 2. "Go prep the MOSQUITOH, we've got no time to loose."
"You got it." 2 said as he headed for the Tree House's hangar. The others followed him.
Nerd Star Space Station
"Alden, we lost contact with WOLF 084." Jane reported.
"What?!" Alden demanded. "How? The WOLF units are supposed to be self- repairing."
"Apparently, they must have damaged it far beyond its self-repair capabilities." Jane answered.
"Actually," Maria said. "According to the monitors 274 and 30C rammed an aircraft into it."
Alden grimaced. "What're they doing now?"
"They've boarded a MOSQUITOH und seem to be heading southvard." The German, Klaus, answered.
'Southward?' Alden thought. 'There are no KND bases down there, at least not to my knowledge.' He pursed his lips thoughtfully. 'Why would they head down there?'
He turned to Maria. "Send the HORNET after them, wherever they plan to go they mustn't reach it."
At Alden's order Maria depressed a button. A small bay opened beneath the Nerd Star, fron it flew a single metal pod. Retro-rockets on the pod fired to reposition the pod. Then, they sent the pod toward Earth.
"HORNET away, Alden." Maria reported.
"Good." Alden said. Suddenly, he felt a tightening in his chest and started to cough violently. He started to gasp for air.
"Alden?" Jane said, concerned.
"A-aden?" came the inquisitive tone of Allan.
Alden held up his hand as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out an asthma inhaler and took a few puffs from it.
"I'm okay..." he finally gasped out. "In fact, I fell better than those KND operatives are gonna feel once that HORNET is through with them."
He smiled thinly. "Yes, they're definitely gonna feel much worse..."
Author's Note: What is a HORNET, you ask. To find out you'll have to wait for the next chapter. I'll try to post it as soon as I can. Please review.
