TS: *matter of factly* Kersplat.
#1: You know, for once I have to agree with you.
TS: *nods head* Kersplat kersplat.
#1: Yes, this is the good part. Indeed. Possibly because I don't have to put up with you any more.
TS: ........... *buries him in a hole*
~
An hour and a half had lapsed since the two scouring parties had left the treehouse on the mission to find the missing Numbuh Seven, and the first team, that consisting of Numbuhs Four and Five, had just returned.
"Any luck?" Numbuh One asked them as they took off their overcoats and deposited their weaponry on the floor.
"No, nothing at all. We took a wide loop east and came back in through Delightful Territory to the north." Numbuh Five informed her friend as Numbuh Four trooped off to the kitchen for a hot chocolate. "The others back yet?"
"No." Numbuh Two cut in with the answer. "We're still waiting for them."
As though he had heard them talking about him, Numbuh Six burst through the door. However, he was not a pretty sight. All the exposed areas of flesh were battered and bruised, and his face was stained with tears and blood. He was wide-eyed and trembling, and could barely get his words out when he spoke.
"Triple Six... they've taken her!" He moaned, "They've taken Triple Six!"
There was a strangled cry. All heads turned to see Numbuh One sink to the floor in a dead faint.
~
With a groan of pain, Triple Six came round as her vision began adjusting to her new surroundings. It was dark, mostly, but she could make out lights, and, if she squinted, she could see the outlines of test tubes.
A small fire towards the corner illuminated the whole room. It was cold where she was and she attempted to get up so she could sit by the fire, but fell back with a groan of protest, finding she was bound securely to something that was digging painfully into her back.
Someone was approaching her. The form silhouetted against the fire didn't look warm, nor did it look inviting. It looked scary and evil. Could this possibly be the man Numbuh Seven had been talking about?
It had all happened so quickly, she could barely comprehend... one minute, she and her Jamaican friend had been walking peacefully along the road. She had been laughing at one of his jokes, and then... they had come out of nowhere... five fully grown adult males who were probably in their twenties...
Numbuh Six had rushed protectively in front of the Irish agent, and that was when the leader of the adults had plunged his bread knife straight into the boy's unprotected chest. This was like a signal, galvanising the rest to attack. Triple Six had watched, horrified, as they beat her friend to death, punching, kicking, stabbing... one of them, she thought, had a cosh that he had used to hit her poor friend over the head with...
Triple Six begun screaming as they dragged her away. Numbuh Six's blood was spattered all up her tunic, and she could not tear her eyes away from his body, which was lying in the gutter unmoving and limp. She had struggled and resisted until the one with the cosh had beaten her into submission. Then they had hauled her off and she was sure that, at one point during the rough journey to her current destination, she had lost consciousness.
A sharp pain in her upper arm caused her to inhale sharply. Looking at the stinging area she saw the shadowy figure holding a hypodermic syringe, the point embedded somewhere inside her limb. The liquid inside, she noted, was rapidly being squeezed out into her veins. She suppressed a shudder, as she had always hated needles.
The man drew away, the syringe empty. A strange light-headedness stole over Triple Six, and her vision began swimming.
Images flicked past her eyes as though they were on fast forward. There, pasted in front of her eyes, was Numbuh Six's body. And then suddenly it was Numbuh Ten's sneering face that she saw.
She saw her father and family back in Ireland. She saw her mother, who had died of cancer three years back. She saw Numbuh Three, who was blissfully unaware of the dangers that were approaching. And she saw Numbuh One. She saw Numbuh One when she met him, with the bruises on his neck. She saw Numbuh One as she remembered leaving him to go on the scouring party before her capture. She had asked him to the cinema on a date and the look of pure happiness on his face as he accepted had touched her soul.
She saw only his smiling, joyful face as the room around her faded and she lost consciousness yet again.
~
Numbuh One opened his eyes to see Numbuh Five's concerned face peering at him. He sat bolt upright, startling his friend, who hadn't noticed he was fully awake.
"I was dreaming, wasn't I?" He pleaded, seeing that the rest of the team was in the room with him. "Please tell me it's not true..."
But with a sinking feeling he could already see the dejected looks on the faces of his fellow kids, some of whom were sporting tear tracks. The only one who wasn't in the least bit affected was Numbuh Ten, who was carrying on with his work as usual.
"I'm sorry, Numbuh One..." Numbuh Eight sighed. "Numbuh Six did all he could... they left him for dead, you know..."
Numbuh One felt a pent up rage and sorrow at the Irish girl's kidnapping, and he turned to take it out on Numbuh Ten.
"What is wrong with you?" He screamed at the street boy. "Are you completely incapable of displaying any emotions on your face? One of your friends... our friends... has been taken and you show no sorrow or regret? What id wrong with you?"
Numbuh Ten looked up at the British boy, and even though Numbuh One was his superior, it didn't stop him talking insolently back to the boy.
"You might not have noticed, Numbuh One, as you were sleeping over there in the times after Triple Six's disappearance," Numbuh One flushed slightly, "but while, it seems, everyone else has taken the poor girl's absence very hard, I am the only one who is doing anything to get her back."
"Like what?" Numbuh One asked heatedly.
"For instance, I have already been to the scene of the attack, and I have found a traceable path where your," he sneered, "ah... girlfriend was dragged away. I have analysed bloodstains left on the ground to check if she was at any point injured, but it seems that only Numbuh Six was foolish enough to let himself get stabbed. As of this moment, I have been modifying weapons for a full on attack."
"You got to respect Numbuh Ten," Numbuh Four said suddenly. "He knows what he's doing. Those gits that attacked Numbuh Six and Triple Six left a clear path to follow, and it leads right to a building. Numbuh Ten's been and checked it out, apparently."
Furious at being showed up by his inferior, Numbuh One rounded back on the street kid.
"Oh? I don't suppose you would like to inform us all as to the details of this building?" He hissed. Numbuh Ten blankly pulled out a map.
"It's right here," he said tonelessly, pinpointing a square block on the gridlines. "Taus Scientific Developments is its road name, owned by a certain Mister Limerick Taus, the renowned scientist and self-proclaimed genius."
#1: You know, for once I have to agree with you.
TS: *nods head* Kersplat kersplat.
#1: Yes, this is the good part. Indeed. Possibly because I don't have to put up with you any more.
TS: ........... *buries him in a hole*
~
An hour and a half had lapsed since the two scouring parties had left the treehouse on the mission to find the missing Numbuh Seven, and the first team, that consisting of Numbuhs Four and Five, had just returned.
"Any luck?" Numbuh One asked them as they took off their overcoats and deposited their weaponry on the floor.
"No, nothing at all. We took a wide loop east and came back in through Delightful Territory to the north." Numbuh Five informed her friend as Numbuh Four trooped off to the kitchen for a hot chocolate. "The others back yet?"
"No." Numbuh Two cut in with the answer. "We're still waiting for them."
As though he had heard them talking about him, Numbuh Six burst through the door. However, he was not a pretty sight. All the exposed areas of flesh were battered and bruised, and his face was stained with tears and blood. He was wide-eyed and trembling, and could barely get his words out when he spoke.
"Triple Six... they've taken her!" He moaned, "They've taken Triple Six!"
There was a strangled cry. All heads turned to see Numbuh One sink to the floor in a dead faint.
~
With a groan of pain, Triple Six came round as her vision began adjusting to her new surroundings. It was dark, mostly, but she could make out lights, and, if she squinted, she could see the outlines of test tubes.
A small fire towards the corner illuminated the whole room. It was cold where she was and she attempted to get up so she could sit by the fire, but fell back with a groan of protest, finding she was bound securely to something that was digging painfully into her back.
Someone was approaching her. The form silhouetted against the fire didn't look warm, nor did it look inviting. It looked scary and evil. Could this possibly be the man Numbuh Seven had been talking about?
It had all happened so quickly, she could barely comprehend... one minute, she and her Jamaican friend had been walking peacefully along the road. She had been laughing at one of his jokes, and then... they had come out of nowhere... five fully grown adult males who were probably in their twenties...
Numbuh Six had rushed protectively in front of the Irish agent, and that was when the leader of the adults had plunged his bread knife straight into the boy's unprotected chest. This was like a signal, galvanising the rest to attack. Triple Six had watched, horrified, as they beat her friend to death, punching, kicking, stabbing... one of them, she thought, had a cosh that he had used to hit her poor friend over the head with...
Triple Six begun screaming as they dragged her away. Numbuh Six's blood was spattered all up her tunic, and she could not tear her eyes away from his body, which was lying in the gutter unmoving and limp. She had struggled and resisted until the one with the cosh had beaten her into submission. Then they had hauled her off and she was sure that, at one point during the rough journey to her current destination, she had lost consciousness.
A sharp pain in her upper arm caused her to inhale sharply. Looking at the stinging area she saw the shadowy figure holding a hypodermic syringe, the point embedded somewhere inside her limb. The liquid inside, she noted, was rapidly being squeezed out into her veins. She suppressed a shudder, as she had always hated needles.
The man drew away, the syringe empty. A strange light-headedness stole over Triple Six, and her vision began swimming.
Images flicked past her eyes as though they were on fast forward. There, pasted in front of her eyes, was Numbuh Six's body. And then suddenly it was Numbuh Ten's sneering face that she saw.
She saw her father and family back in Ireland. She saw her mother, who had died of cancer three years back. She saw Numbuh Three, who was blissfully unaware of the dangers that were approaching. And she saw Numbuh One. She saw Numbuh One when she met him, with the bruises on his neck. She saw Numbuh One as she remembered leaving him to go on the scouring party before her capture. She had asked him to the cinema on a date and the look of pure happiness on his face as he accepted had touched her soul.
She saw only his smiling, joyful face as the room around her faded and she lost consciousness yet again.
~
Numbuh One opened his eyes to see Numbuh Five's concerned face peering at him. He sat bolt upright, startling his friend, who hadn't noticed he was fully awake.
"I was dreaming, wasn't I?" He pleaded, seeing that the rest of the team was in the room with him. "Please tell me it's not true..."
But with a sinking feeling he could already see the dejected looks on the faces of his fellow kids, some of whom were sporting tear tracks. The only one who wasn't in the least bit affected was Numbuh Ten, who was carrying on with his work as usual.
"I'm sorry, Numbuh One..." Numbuh Eight sighed. "Numbuh Six did all he could... they left him for dead, you know..."
Numbuh One felt a pent up rage and sorrow at the Irish girl's kidnapping, and he turned to take it out on Numbuh Ten.
"What is wrong with you?" He screamed at the street boy. "Are you completely incapable of displaying any emotions on your face? One of your friends... our friends... has been taken and you show no sorrow or regret? What id wrong with you?"
Numbuh Ten looked up at the British boy, and even though Numbuh One was his superior, it didn't stop him talking insolently back to the boy.
"You might not have noticed, Numbuh One, as you were sleeping over there in the times after Triple Six's disappearance," Numbuh One flushed slightly, "but while, it seems, everyone else has taken the poor girl's absence very hard, I am the only one who is doing anything to get her back."
"Like what?" Numbuh One asked heatedly.
"For instance, I have already been to the scene of the attack, and I have found a traceable path where your," he sneered, "ah... girlfriend was dragged away. I have analysed bloodstains left on the ground to check if she was at any point injured, but it seems that only Numbuh Six was foolish enough to let himself get stabbed. As of this moment, I have been modifying weapons for a full on attack."
"You got to respect Numbuh Ten," Numbuh Four said suddenly. "He knows what he's doing. Those gits that attacked Numbuh Six and Triple Six left a clear path to follow, and it leads right to a building. Numbuh Ten's been and checked it out, apparently."
Furious at being showed up by his inferior, Numbuh One rounded back on the street kid.
"Oh? I don't suppose you would like to inform us all as to the details of this building?" He hissed. Numbuh Ten blankly pulled out a map.
"It's right here," he said tonelessly, pinpointing a square block on the gridlines. "Taus Scientific Developments is its road name, owned by a certain Mister Limerick Taus, the renowned scientist and self-proclaimed genius."