okay here is an update... Its been ohh almost 2 years since i wrote this story, unfinished. I've been noticing though that people have still been reading it and even reviewing. I had forgotten about it and frankly I lost all my file on it since I have changed computers in 2 years. But after rereading the story it all sorta came back to me, and i think, if i watch some knd I might just be able to bring it back. I'm two years older, smarter, and a little better a writing, so why not see where it takes me. I'm sure there will be some surprise alerts for the people who started watching this when I was actually writing it.
To the Dogs
Chapter 4
Abby sat with Nigel in his room at the tree house. They both had different feelings about tonight. It was going to be a full moon, meaning Nigel would become a Were-Poodle whether he wants to or not. Nigel was quite calm, but would panic if a bad thought crossed his mind. Abby on the other hand was very uneasy. She felt responsible that he was in this situation. If something would happen to Nigel, she would take full responsibility. She took it almost as a duty to help him through and protect him. But right now she sat next to Nigel, silent and tense. Nigel took one look at her and noticed this immediately. He rested his hand on hers.
"What's wrong Numbuh 5?" He asked softly. She looked into his eyes and could see the concern in them.
"Just worried that's all. Can't a girl worry 'bout her friend?" She asked sarcastically. Nigel chuckled to lighten the mood, but Abby being worried made him uneasy. She must have a good reason to worry, since what he is going to go through, she already experienced. Nigel gave her a warm smile. It did comfort him that she would help him through this. But the whole thing of Were-Poodles and Were-Wolves and Were-anything was so obscured by movies and TV, Nigel was clueless as to what was going to happen to him. Or how Abby was going to help him. From what he has heard from her, he'll have no control over his body. Nigel feared that he would attack Abby. But she said she had a plan, so Nigel had some confidence in her. Numbuh 4 burst into the room.
"'Ey I'm not interrupting anything am I?" He asked, "'Coz Numbuh 2 needs to see Numbuh 1 about the Adult Defense System. Dunno what for. He's a confusing mate." Abby followed Nigel out of the room.
"Just meet me in the woods at the end of town. I'll be there." She said before leaving him.
Darkness was about to settle on the town. Nigel had just finished up with helping Numbuh 2 and was on his way to the woods were Abby told him to meet her. He had no idea what she could possible have planned, but he hoped it goes off without a hitch. Nigel could feel an immense amount of power deep down in his muscles. He began to run. His body felt lighter then normal, his steps were silent. Right now Nigel could sneak up on somebody and they would never catch him. He reached the woods and couldn't feel an ounce of fatigue. He walked into the woods searching the area for Abby. He reached a part that had very few trees and some of the sky could be seen. Directly in front of him was Abby, already in Were-Poodle form. She sat looking almost menacingly. She growled deeply when he entered, and Nigel immediately felt like an intruder. He felt as if he had entered her territory and he was a guest. Nigel stood on the edge of the tree unsure of what to do. Abby's position and actions had scared him slightly so he didn't dare go to her. He looked to the sky. It had become much darker in the shadows of the trees but the moon wasn't visible yet. Nigel stared at Abby, who stared back. He knew she could talk, but figured there was a reason why she wasn't. So Nigel looked back to the sky and waited. It was like taking the bus ride home after getting a bad report card, or sitting in the waiting room of the principal's office for doing something bad. It was silent other than various noises from birds or crickets, and the thumping of Abby's tail hitting the ground. Finally just over the tops of the trees the moon became visible. It looked like any other full moon. Larger, brighter, more vibrant then any of the other moon phases. Almost as soon as Nigel got sight of it, he lost sight. He keeled over from pain as his began to slowly grow. He clenched his fists as long as he could to keep from yelling. His body felt as if it was on fire. He could feel a tail growing, as well as large fangs. He quickly noticed that he had also grown claws and had now cut his hands from clenching his fists. They had started to bleed and now Nigel had nothing to focus his pain on. He let out a deep yell, filled with pain and agony. He yell turned into a deep throaty roar, to a wolf-like howl. Nigel opened his eyes, which had been closed the entire time. Quickly he noticed that his eye sight had improved, and that his sunglasses had managed to stay on. Abby stood to his right, watching him in slight interest. She had kept her composure, and still looked like she owned the place. Nigel's animal mind immediately recognized Abby as an Alpha, and the leader of the territory. Nigel put one leg in front of him and in a un-animal-like behavior he bowed to Abby. This is was a sign that he respected her leadership. Something Abby had been hoping for. This means Nigel had just unofficial become a part of her 'pack.' She took a look over Nigel. He looked much like Valerie did as a Were-Poodle except much more raggedy. His tail was bushy, and he had less fluffy cotton-like fur. She stood up on all fours and began to lead him out of the woods. Nigel followed subconsciously. He sniffed the air and distantly smelt good homework. Nigel had the urge to run and get to the homework quickly, and began to run. Abby gave him a sharp bark and he stopped. That was a direct order to stay with her. The walked into the town though backyards and bushes. Ducking, and then moving quickly and quietly to another hiding spot. Abby found an open window and walked up to it, bringing in her human stealth tactics. She stood oh her hind legs and looked into the window. No one was in the room, and a backpack sat by the front door. She quickly looked to see if Nigel was watching before climbing in the window. She moved fast, grabbed a shoulder strap, and jumped back out the window. Nigel moved to her and feasted upon the homework with her. When they finished then took off leaving the torn backpack on the ground. They ran to another house. All the lights were off and no windows were open. Nigel pondered as to why Abby stopped here. Again she went to the window and looked inside. Abby turned to him and started speaking. But Nigel sat in confusion. She had been speaking plain English, but Nigel could not understand her, only a few words his human mind recognized. She noticed his confused stare and picked up that he couldn't understand her. She started barking quietly. Nigel's animal mind understood completely. She wanted him to sneak in and take the backpack that was right at the kitchen table. With her hand-like paw, she pointed to doggie door that looked to be for a medium sized dog, like a Labrador. Nigel tried to push his larger body through it. Finally after much effort and a little push from Abby, he was through. He could smell another dog in the house, which worried him a little. He moved to the table, only the sounds of his claws on the hard kitchen floor could be heard. He grabbed the bag and began to head back out. Standing in a far corner of the kitchen was a black and white Border collie. It was pushed as far against the wall as it could be and gave a low growl at Nigel when he looked at it. Nigel gave a deep quiet roar, in return, causing the terrified dog to whimper and retreat. Proud of himself Nigel squeezed back out the doggie door and treated himself to the contents of the backpack. Abby and him, having now satisfied their hunger, ran into the closest woods. Abby found an area with tall grass. She walked in small circles and packed the grass down into a nest. Happy with her resting area she lay down and curled herself up. Nigel watched her with intent then walked behind her. He laid himself down next to her and rested his head on her neck. Like this they slowly drifted of to sleep.
The next morning Abby woke and felt a body moving behind her. She turned quickly and saw Nigel lying on his side having an obvious running dream. His legs moved in a fluid motion that was almost hypnotic. Abby watched him for a few minutes before shaking him awake.
"Nigel, wakey wakey." She said warmly in his ear. He breathed in deeply before slowly opening his eyes. When he saw Abby's warm ones looking back at him he smiled. He sat up and grabbed his sunglasses which had fallen off during his sleep. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and then placed his sunglasses on.
"What time is it?" He asked voice slightly raspy from growling and barking.
"Uh…7:30ish." Abby sat pushing herself off the ground and wiping the dirt and grass from her shirt.
"We should get to the tree house." Nigel said looking around the woods, "Um…How do we get out?" He asked. Abby looked in every direction, but could not find a trail they could have taken.
"That's not good." She replied, and then looked to the ground. Nigel realized she was looking for paw prints that they might have made last night. He began to search too. In a matter of minutes they found some and followed them out.
"So Abby, How did you know what to do last night?" Nigel asked. Abby brought her head up from the ground to look at him.
"Well a little research on Were-Wolves, told me that if someone gets bitten by one, that they can become a pack, and the Alpha wolf, is the one that cursed the others. And I had read somethingat schoolabout lion tamers, How if they are in the ring first, they a showing the lions that it is the their territory, and by crackinga whip and blowing a whistle they are showing that theyare dominant. So I made sure I was the first one in the area, making you think it was mine. And I growled and thumped my tail to show dominance." She explained. Nigel was impressed that she had gone to that length to ensure his safety. Nigel smiled at her warmly, although she wasn't looking at him.
"Numbuh 5…" Nigel said, breaking a small silence.
"Yeah Numbuh 1?" She asked.
"Do you think we should tell the team, about…our, umm…little problem?" He asked almost timidly.
"I dunno Numbuh 1, I mean they have noticed that something's up with Numbuh 5, they should notice you soon. They are smart, well, Numbuh 2 and 3 are smart…They could figure it out soon enough." Numbuh 1 didn't look happy about keeping a secret this big from his team. "If worse comes to worst we'll tell them." Nigel was pleased with her answer this time. They remained quiet all the way back to the tree house. They hurried up and were greeted warmly by the Numbuh 2 and 4.
"Where have you guys been all morning?" Numbuh 2 asked once they entered the main room. Abby looked to Nigel.
"We've, uhh, been on an, umm, important mission." He said almost as if he was asking the team. Numbuh 2 accepted the answer but Numbuh 4 had become angry.
"How come you guys got to go on a mission?" He huffed. Numbuh 5 stood up to him.
"Because it was a personal mission for me, and I had Numbuh 1 join me." She said. It was the truth after all, even if it was altered. Numbuh 4 mumbled something inaudible. Numbuh 3, who had been out, returned. She had 2 paper bags in her hands, which means she had taken the liberty of doing the weekly magazine/comics, and candy run. She passed out the comics and their requested candy to the boys.
"Sorry guys, I didn't know what you wanted." She said when she saw Nigel and Abby, "But I did get you magazine Numbuh 5. I knew you would have wanted it." Abby thanked her and laid herself out in her favorite chair. Nigel looked to Numbuh 3. He noticed that she had another paper in her hand.
"Numbuh 3 why do you have a newspaper? You know that is an adult menace." He demanded. She looked down at the paper.
"Oh, the front page had something about puppies." She said excitedly showing Nigel the paper. He looked at the picture when feature the backs of two large dogs running away. In the foreground you could see white shreds on the ground.
"Numbuh 5 we have to talk." He said walking away from the room. Abby raised an eyebrow at him, and looked to the team for some help. They all shrugged and she followed Nigel to his room.
"What's up?" She asked in a slightly worried tone. He handed her the paper. Eyeing the picture, her worry grew fast. She moved on the article that was accompanying the photo.
"Okay," She started after reading it, "So know people know that there are two large dogs attacking homes and stealing backpacks. Hey, look, they even linked it to when Valerie attacked me." She said pointing it out. Nigel just nodded in response.
"This isn't good Numbuh 5, aren't I supposed to keep transforming every night until I gain control?" Abby nodded slowly, "Well then I'm likely to get caught, and if you are with me then you are in risk too." Again Abby nodded. "Maybe you'd be better off not coming with me…" He trailed off.
"No way, Numbuh 5's not going to leave you like that. I got you into this mess; I'm going to help you get through it too." She stated defiantly.
Numbuh 2, 3, and 4, sat in the main room, in a stilled silence, after their two leaders left the room. Numbuh 4 was the first to speak up.
"Numbuh 3, what was that article about?" He asked her. Numbuh 2 perked up at the question.
"Um, puppies?" She replied questionly
"What kinda puppies?" Numbuh 2 added in, having now lost interest in his comic.
"Big ones and mean ones too. They ripped up peoples school bags." She answered. Numbuh 2 and 4 looked at each other.
"That sounds like…" Numbuh 4 started.
"The Were-Poodles." Numbuh 2 finished. Numbuh 3 looked at them.
"What are you guys talking about?" She asked placing her hands on her hips.
"Little more then a month ago, Numbuh 5 was attack by a Were-Poodle. Me and Numbuh 4 helped her out then, but I'm beginning to suspect something more is going on here." He explained.
"Yeah you remember the other night we heard Numbuh 1 telling Numbuh 5 that they could go 'home-work hunting' together. Then Numbuh 5 saying something about the next full moon." Numbuh 4 interjected. Numbuh 3 whimpered slightly at the thought that was growing in her mind.
"You mean…?" Her eyes stared at the boys in question.
"Numbuh 5's been a Were-Poodle for a while now, and she must have been the one that attacked Nigel that night. Then, because of that, he's a Were-Poodle now." Numbuh 2 filled in where she led off. Numbuh 4 nodded in agreement.
"What should we do?" Numbuh 3 asked, her voice quivering.
"I dunno." Numbuh 4 replied.
"We should at least let them know, that we know." Numbuh 2 said.
"Hmpf." Numbuh 4 had thrown himself on the couch in a huff, causing him to get Numbuh 2 and 3's attention.
"What's your problem?" Numbuh 2 asked.
"Our leaders, the people we trust our lives with, are blood-thirsty, cruddy, Mutts." He growled. Numbuh 2 looked slightly taken-aback, while Numbuh 3 looked completely appalled.
"How can you say that?" She exclaimed.
"Say what?" Everyone turned to face Numbuh 1, who stood in the doorway, Numbuh 5 just behind him. Numbuh 4, unfortunately, wasn't shy.
"You! You two are stinkin' home-work savages." He exploded. Abby raised an eyebrow at him. Nigel looked pretty shocked, but it was soon wiped from his face and replaced, by pure anger.
"Numbuh 4, I can understand why you would be upset, but we were planning on telling you." Nigel reasoned in a calm voice. Numbuh 4 just blew him off.
"You of all people should be upset Numbuh 1. She did this to you!" He yelled, pointing to Abby. She had tried to push Nigel out of the way to get at Numbuh 4, but he stopped her.
"Numbuh 4, do not go around pointing fingers. I want you to sit down so we can talk this…SIT DOWN NOW!" He had yelled when Numbuh 4 started to protest. Numbuh 4's left eye twitched once, and he sat down obediently. Nigel took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
"Now as you can see this is a hard time, and my emotions are not fully under control. I understand that you are upset, Numbuh 4, but we have not and will not hurt you. Numbuh 3, don't look so scared." He responded to Numbuh 3's terrified look after his outburst, "We were not on a mission last night. Numbuh 5, here, was helping me, since she had control over her transformations." He could see Numbuh 3 let out a breath, obviously relieved. "We will be spending every night out until I can learn to control this too. We will still go on missions and I will still remain leader, unless of course you have any objections." He looked at his team, who all shook their heads. "Good then, I feel we should just get back to our normal routine, Numbu…" He was cut off by an alarm followed by a bright red flashing light. The team jumped up and headed up to the Mission Headquarters. Nigel looked up to his large computer. Numbuh 65.3 looked down on the team through the screen.
"Sector V we have reports of Father acting very suspicious. I want you guys to check it out." Nigel nodded and turned to his team.
"Kids Next Door move out" He commanded. They got into one of the various aircrafts and moved towards Father's mansion. They moved inside as stealthily as they could, but were quickly spotted by Father's security system. Soon they were surrounded by three of Fathers teenage army, one of them being Cree, who immediately went after Abby. They ended up in a secluded corner, while the other 4 fought off the other teenagers.
"So what brings you here Abby?" Cree asked during kicks and punches.
"None of your business!" She answered dodging a kick. Abby retaliated quickly and kicked Cree forcefully, sending her back.
"My, such a temper lately, Crabbigal. What's up with you?" She asked picking herself off the ground.
"More then you want to know." Abby mumbled to herself and got back in her stance as Cree came at her. She jumped out of the way of Cree's attacks and took a brief second to check on her teammates. When she did Cree punched her in the side of the face and knocked her down. Abby was about to get up when Cree's foot held her to the ground.
"What are you and you little friends doing here?" She demanded. Abby didn't respond and tried to pry Cree's foot off. In return Cree pushed down harder. Abby could feel her anger growing, and tried to take deep breaths, but Cree's foot was constricting her lungs. Slowly she could feel the animal begin to overtake her.
