anouncer: ladies and gentlemen. the cracker jack theater proudly presents-dah dah dah DAH -CHAPTER TWO! audience: -applauds and cheers-
O.O
me: since when do I have an audience here!
audience: -cheers-
me: SHUT UP!
audience: -silence-
me: ALRIGHTY THEN! -ahem- moving on...
disclaimer: I uh...um...uh...
fat guy in frontrow of audience:OOH, I KNOW!YOU DON'T OWN THE KND!
O.O um, sure. thanks, fat guy.
disclaimer: uh...right...I don't own the KND. I do, however, own an entier audience of imaginary people.
audience: HEY!
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Wally examined his bandage. There was a dot of blood where his cut had bled through. Nigel had told him before hand to change into a short sleeved shirt, so the sleeves wouldn't interfere with his bandaging. Wally had picked out a dark green tee that he rarely wore andthat was ready toget stained by blood. He had been seated in an old wooden chair that they kept in the infirmary next to theother, newer chairs, swinging his legs idly.
"Well," Nigel said calmly, as he stood up, wiping his now-bloody-hands on a towel, "You're as good as new, Numbah Four."
Wally opened his mouth to say 'Thanks,' when Hoagie's yelling broke the silence, "Guys! There's something you should see, like, right now!"
Wally sprung up from his chair (a soft 'bang' from behind told him that he had broken it), sped out of the infirmary, down the winding hallways of the tree house, andstraight to Numbah Three's room. He whipped past the curtain and stopped dead.He opened his mouth to swear, but all that came out was a soft squeak.He had been expecting the worst; the worsthad happened.Numbah Three was no where in sight. Breathing hard from his run, he turned to Abby and managed to gasp, "We-have-to-go-after-her…"
"We don' know whare she is. We gonna have ta wait till the gurl comes back on her own," Abby said, although disbelief was evident in her voice.
"Numbah Five is right, team," Nigel said, now fighting to re-gain his leadership-like composure, although he was undoubtedly worried. "We are going to have to waitfor her return. Numbahs Two and Four- stand guard here, in case she comes back. Numbah Five and I will search the tree house."
As Nigel and Abby stepped out of the room, Hoagie elbowed Wally and whispered loudly enough for their leader to hear as well, "You ever notice how Numbah One always goes with Numbah Five when we split up?"
"I heard that!" Nigel yelled from the hallway. And while Hoagie couldn't see his leader, he already knew that, at this point, Nigel was blushing.
Hoagie broke out in fits of laughter. When Wally didn't join in, he turned to see what was wrong. He asked quietly, "You okay, man?"
Wally just stood, eyes not visible under his hair, not even listening. Hoagie looked on, beginning to feel slightly scared, and suddenly aware of what Wally what capable of doing when he was angry.
"Ah'm not goin' ta stand 'ere waitin' for somethin' bad ta happen ta Kuki. Ah'm goin' afta her." Wally said, his voice hardly audible.
"But Numbah Four," Hoagie said, not caring to lower his naturally loud voice, "We've got orders! Numbah One wouldn't-" Hoagie's jaw dropped as the Aussie swiveled around so he was facing the window. "Wait- Numbah Four! Don't…..jump…." But Hoagie's warning was too late. Wally had climbed out the open window and disappeared from view. Hoagie gaped at the window for a moment before he jogged over to it and stuck his head out. He sighed with relief as he noticed that Wally, being the extremely athletic person that he was, hadn't jumped; he had climbed. Wally had his hands and the toes of his shoes (which hehad left on when he went to bed, as he had many times before)holding expertly onto the bark of the tree house,and wasclimbing steadily downward.
Upon seeing Hoagie's shocked expression, Wally stated, "Don' tell Numbah One about what Ah'm doin'. Ah'm sure he'd disagree with it-" Wally dropped his left foot and lowered his right hand's grip, dropping down once more. "An' don' tell Numbah Five either-" he dropped down again, "Ah'll be back eventually. If Numbah One asks questions, make up some kinda story for meh."
Hoagie let out a long sigh and stepped away from the window. He sat down on Kuki's soft, pink bed and began to think up a story to cover for Wally. "Okay…" He murmured to himself, sleep beginning toquickly overpower him, "So the rabid chipmunk with the…the…" he yawned. "The left hand, and then my mom says…about a leprechaun with a pocket knife…" He fought to keep his eyes open, but he knew he was fighting a loosing battle; one that his eyelids were about to win. "And then at the picnic….Smokey…The Bear…" His eyes closed. "AndSanta tookthe bunny's tutu…." He fell asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
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Kuki loved to take walks at night. Every so often when she felt she needed to clear her head, she would wait until she was sure that everyone was asleep, take her walkman and headphones, and sneak out of the tree house. She loved the feeling of freedom; the knowledge that she could go anywhere, do anything, so long as she did it that night.
She walked down the sidewalk until she got to the park. Kuki looked around for a moment until she found her favorite bench. She plopped down on the old, wooden bench, and put her walkman on 'pause' so she could listen to the silence.
She had been overwhelmed by so many strange thoughts lately. Thoughts like, Wally looks cute when he's mad, and Numbah Four has the nicest, emerald green eyes… At times, she wondered if the thoughts were even hers. "That's silly," She told herself quietly, "How could you be thinking thoughts that aren't yours?"
She shifted her weight to her left side and laid down on the bench. Then, just as she was about to shut her eyes and doze off, a small noise caught her attention. He eyes shot open. When she heard the sound a second time, she realized it was the sound of dead leaves cracking and breaking. It was fall, so stepping on dead leaves was unavoidable. It's like someone's walking toward me…She thought, sitting up. Her eyes darted around, searching for any sign of movement.
When she saw something move swiftly in the corner of her eye, she swiveled around so quickly that it hurt. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, not quite believing what she was seeing- or, more accurately, who. "Numbah Four!"
Sure enough, there was Wally, with a tee shirt on (it had to be thirty degrees out, maybe less) and a bandage one his arm. "'Ey, Kuki," he said, blushing slightly.
"Wally, why- what happened to your arm?" She asked, getting up and walking over to him, worry evident in her voice and on her face.
"It's nothing', Kooks," he assured her, his voice barley more than a whisper, "Ah was so worried 'bout ya…"
Kuki took his hand in hers. "I'm sorry," she told him, her voice almost as quiet as his, "You can tell me about it on the way back to the tree house."
Wally smiled gratefully, and gave her hand a loving squeeze. "Yeah," he said, sighing, "Let's go home."
And so the two walked in silence for a while. Wally explained to Kuki exactly what happened to his arm and in the kitchen.
"It's a shame…" Kuki said thoughtfully, "I really liked that picture. We'll have to find a new frame for it…"
"Tomorrow," Wally promised. He paused, and then asked, "Do ya rememba our first day in Secta V?" A smile played across his face.
"How could I forget?" she said, her eyes flashing mischievously.
.:Flash Back:.
"Alright, then, Sector V! We should probably introduce ourselves, and well, I'm leader, so…I'll go first. My name is Nigel Uno. My codename is Numbah One. Who's next?" Nigel said, clearly excited to meet his new team.
"Uh…I'll g-go next," Hoagie suggested. He had been a lot less outgoing then, and a lot more overweight. Not to mention the fact that hehad never beenvery good at making friends to begin with. "M-my name's h-Hoagie P. g-Gilligan Jr. ...an-and my c-codename is Numbah t-Two."
"Numbah Five will go next," Abby offered, putting her hands on her hips and lifting her chin so her team could see her face, which was usually hidden by her red hat; she rarley took it off. "My name's Abigail Lincoln, an' my codename's Numbah Five."
"OOH! ME NEXT!" Kuki yelled, jumping up and down. "MY NAME IS KUKI SANBAN AND MY CODENAME IS….um…Mr. Numbah-One-person? What's my number again?"
Nigel sighed. While his team didn't knoweach other yet, hehad already met with each of them privately.He told her gently, "Your codename is Numbah Three, Kuki."
Wally rolled his eyes. "Cruddy gurls. Neva rememba anythin' ya tell 'em."
Nigel glared at him as Kukiwimpered. Within seconds, she was crying (she hadbeen extremley sensitive at the time, evenmore sensitive than she was now). With hersleeve-covered hands over her eyes, sheran to her room, which she had been showed that morning when the Sector had toured the tree house.Nigel continued to glare at Wally as he spoke,"State your name and codename."
"The name's Wallabee Beatles. If any of ya eva call meh that, Ah'll beat the crud outta ya. Wally's foine. Mah codename is Numbah Four."
"Well then, Numbah Four, I think you had better go apologize to Numbah Three." Nigel said coolly.
"What!" Wally yelled, his voice cracking slightly, "Ah'm not gonna apologize to a cruddy gurl!" His hands tightened into fists.
"Do it," Nigel said harshly in an 'I'm-really-not-kidding' tone. "Now."
If glares could produce flames, then Wally'sright thenwould have burned a rather large holestraight through the wall. "Foine," he growled.
He dragged his feet down the hallway to Kuki's room, and knocked on the wall next to the curtain. "Um…Numbah Three?"
"Go away!" She wailed. A rainbow monkey whizzed by Wally's ear as she threw it through the curtain.
Hecarefully picked up the toy and stood by the curtain as he spoke again,"Ah'm uh…sorry for what Ah said earlier. Ah didn't mean ta call ya a cruddy gurl."Not even a momentafter he said that, Kuki came running out of her room and hugged him.
"RAINBOW MONKEY FORGIVNESS HUG!" she yelled. Wally gaped at her. He wanted to inform her that 'He didn' loike gettin' hugsfrom cruddy gurls.' But something about Kuki's smile stopped him. Suddenly, she let go of him and jumped up and down. She squeaked as she yelled, "I KNOW! LET'S TAKE A PICTURE!" she rushed into her room and back out again, a camera now in her hand. "I LOVE PICTURES!" she sang asshe grabbed Wally's wrist with her free hand and half lead, half dragged him back into the main room.
They huddled together, and Kuki set the timer on the camera. In the picture, Hoagie madebunny ears on Wally's head, whose fist was inches away from Hoagie's cheek (Wally was in the process of punching him for the rabbit earswhen the picture was taken), Abby had her elbow propped up on Nigel's shoulder (Nigel was blushing madly), and Kuki had been running into the picture (the timer hadn't been set for nearly long enough). The photo wasn't particularly good, but the teamhad kept it for sentimental reasons, looking back at it now and then, simply to remember.
.:End Flash Back:.
Wally and Kuki laughed at the memory as they walked home, hand-in-hand.
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Well, folks, that's chappie numero DOS! or number two. either one. anyhoo, R&R. flames are fine. Just don't go on a flame-a-palooza cuz I said they were 'fine'.
audience: -boo's-
me: excuse me! who's runnin the show here! I AM! when I say no 'flame-a-paloozas' I mean no 'flame-a-paloozas'!
audience: -mumbles-
me: -sigh- people these days...everybodys a critic. -.-
audiance: -boo's-
me: -glares-
anywaaaaaaays...
Peace out
-Jack