Title: The Bruises On My Heart: The Return
By: Cerulean Shadow
Summary: The sequel to "The Bruises On My Heart"! Numbuh Five and Numbuh One decide to return to the island. Only to find out more...

Without anybody knowing, Numbuh Five and Numbuh One decided to go back to the island on the G.A.R.G.O.C.Y.C.L.E. As they arrived, Numbuh Five finally stepped on the sandy shore for the first time. She saw the island's trees. It was dark green with a full coated canopy. Slowly, Numbuh Five walked into the forest with Numbuh One following her.

"Everything's... the same." she said.
"It sure is. Anything else familiar?" Numbuh One asked.
"... Not yet."

As they walked, Numbuh Five realized that they were walking in the path that Numbuh Three and her were walking on back then. When they came down a small bank, Numbuh Five saw the patch of thorns again. It was still there. Blocking their way. Just like it did before.

"Are these the same thorns?" Numbuh One asked.
"Yes. The other side is an open space." she replied.
"... Want to see it again?"
"But we can't go through there again."
"Maybe not through."

Numbuh One clicked his boots two times and lasers pumped right out of it. He grabbed on to Numbuh Five and they both went over the field of thorns. As they landed on the ground on the other side, Numbuh Five froze. She stared at something on the ground. She was silent. It made Numbuh One worry.

"Numbuh Five? What's wrong?" he asked.

Numbuh Five pointed at the figure she was staring at. Numbuh One took a glance at it and saw... Maverick. He was lying in the ground, torn to shreds. Theron. He killed Maverick. But something taunted them. The cave of where he helped them was miles away from the thorns. How can Theron drag the wolf from there to here?

"... Maverick." Numbuh Five said quietly.
"He's dead." Numbuh One said.
"The wolf sacrificed his life for us. And we finally killed his attacker."
"But if you tried to avenge him, how come he attacked you before?"
"He didn't. Theron did."
"Huh?"

"At night, after we came back, something came up to me when I was asleep. It wasn't a dream... it was a vision. It told me that Maverick was never trying to kill me. Theron was. All those growls that he did was a sign that we were in his territory. He howled for Theron because he thought that he would scare us off. But he didn't know about the attack. Then he found out that we've been sent here by the Delightful Children. He knew how it felt. Being experimented and left out here. So he wanted to help us even though no one helped him. He trusted Theron, but didn't know that he was actually going to kill us."

"... And all of that came to you in a vision?" he asked.
"Yes. It felt like a dream, but it was actually a vision."
"... What do you think we should do with him?"
"There's only one thing we can do. Help me out here."

Numbuh Five picked up Maverick with Numbuh One assisting her. Together, they both carried the wolf to the nearest river. They buried him beside the river. The river was the place of where Maverick was born. They had to do what they had to do.

"... Ready to go back to your search?" Numbuh asked.
"Yeah. Maverick deserved better." she replied.

As they continued on their journey, again, Numbuh Five and Numbuh One finally came across the cliff of where they killed Theron. Right there, on the top of the cliff, they could see a speck of blood. They noticed that it was Theron's blood, of when Numbuh Five bit into his flesh.

"Things haven't changed here." she said.
"No. They haven't." Numbuh One said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She looked at him and smiled.

"Aww, how sweet. Coming back to the island? How surprising." a voice said.

Numbuh One and Numbuh Five looked up in the air and saw... the Delightful Children! They were on their ship, ready to attack them again.

"What do you Delightful Dorks want now?" Numbuh One asked angrily.
"Oh, nothing personal. Just... revenge." they said.
"Revenge?" Numbuh Five asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes, Abby." The Delightful Children said.

"You and what army?" Numbuh One asked, pulling out a weapon.
"Patience, Nigel. We only want to make sure that no experiment will ever have to see both of your faces again." they said.

Suddenly, a huge hand came and reached out for Numbuh One and Numbuh Five!

"Look out!" Numbuh Five yelled as she pushed Numbuh One out of the way.

The hand grabbed Numbuh Five and lifted her away from Numbuh One!

"No!" he screamed.

He grabbed Numbuh Five's hands and pulled her back to the cliff. He tried as hard as he could to get her back. The Delightful Children took her last time... but Numbuh One was going to make sure that they'll never take her away from him again. He pulled and tugged with all his might. His strength was getting weak. So with one hand hanging on to Numbuh Five, he quickly pulled out his weapon and shot a stream of gum balls at the hand. The hand finally let go of Numbuh Five. As she landed on the cliff, she fell in Numbuh One's arms. She wasn't going to be separated from him again... ever.

"That's it!" The DC exclaimed.

The machine started to fire blasts of desenograting acid towards Numbuh One and Numbuh Five!

Numbuh One picked up Numbuh Five, held her hand, and ran.

TO BE CONTINUED...