The Search for Christmas
Disclaimer: I do not own the Kids Next Door organization or show. I just wish I did. Oh, yeah, but own Numbuh 192.
Summary: After much thinking, Numbuh 1's philosophical sense is awakened and he finds that this Christmas he is encountering is apparently meaningless. Seeing this, he goes in search around the whole town to find what Christmas is truly about. But peering from above, a new threat watches his unexpecting victims and impending doom seems close at hand.
Notes from the Author: I HAVE RETURNED! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Did you miss me? Anyway, Here is a story I have cooked up for you guys for the 25th of December. Sorry for the long wait. Thanks for waiting and God bless! Merry Christmas to all!
PS I hope you enjoy. Sorry for the drop in quality. It has been quite some time since I have done this but I'll try my best. Read and Review!
Chapter 1: The Question
It was Christmas Eve and the Sector V Tree House was filled with the usual hustle and bustle of Christmas. Numbuhs 1-5 were all busy putting up the decorations on the whole tree house and preparing the gifts and planning what the food would be for the Christmas Feast.
"So," Numbuh 5 inquired as she and the rest of the team were finishing the task of decorating the living room, "What do you think of this?"
"Huh? What?" the British Commander, who was shaken from his state of deep thought, asked his Second-in-Command, "What did you say, Numbuh 5?"
"I said," Numbuh 5 reiterated as she turned from her display to her presently absent-minded leader, "What do you think of this?"
"Uh, it's okay, Numbuh 5," he said nonchalantly looking at what she had done and then returning to just piling some Christmas balls one on top of the other.
The girl sighed and returned to arranging the Christmas trinkets on the table. Then Numbuh 1 turned to his Second-in-Command and asked in a confused manner, "Numbuh 5, what is Christmas all about?"
Everyone almost stopped at that question.
"What?" Numbuh 3 asked with a shocked look on her face, "You don't know what Christmas is all about?"
"Well," the leader said as her looked at them, "with all the mixed messages from all sorts of places, I'm getting confused."
"Let me explain then," Numbuh 4 said with a smile, "It's all about presents. It's the best part of it."
"Of course not," Numbuh 3 exclaimed in disapproval as she placed her red and green Rainbow Monkey above the fire place, "It's about giving to others. That's the spirit of Christmas."
"You're both wrong," Numbuh 2 said putting on red apparel with white wool lining and a fluffy beard, "It's Santa Claus. He brings presents to all around the good kids from around the world."
"You're all wrong," Numbuh 5 joined in, "Christmas started because of Jesus Christ. That's why it has 'Christ' in the word Christmas."
"That's why we changed it to 'the Holidays,'" the American pilot argued back pushing the Nativity scene to from the center to of the coffee-table the side of the table and placing a porcelain Santa on the center, "There are those of other religions celebrating this, too, you know."
"That's why it's all about giving," the Japanese agent barged in from her side, "That's why —"
"And that's why it's all about the presents," Numbuh 4 interrupted, "It's the time everyone gives you the best stuff."
"Of course, not!" Numbuh 3 shouted at the short one, "It's all about —"
"SANTA CLAUS!" Numbuh 2 added with a shout, "Christmas is about —"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, WAIT A MINUTE!" the leader cried out to stop the argument, "THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! There are so many things being said about what it, I don't even know what it's all about anymore!"
Everyone looked at each other and started to speak at the same time. But in the midst of the babbling for words, Numbuh 1 rose from his chair and got up.
"Hey, Numbuh 1," Numbuh 5 asked as she noticed the him leaving, "Where are you going?"
"I'll just go out for a walk, Numbuh 5," Numbuh 1 responded as he was covering himself with more layers of thicker clothes, "I just have some things to think about."
"Okay, then," she said walking up to him while the others were still arguing about Christmas, "I understand. I'll take over from here. You've got a weapon?"
"Check," he responded taking one of the 5 mustard-bottle hand-guns on the table beside the elevator doors and hiding the weapon in one of his pockets, "I got it."
"How about your communicator and a radar beacon?" Numbuh 5 asked to make sure, "You got that?"
"I got the communicator, Numbuh 5," Numbuh 1 said holding it out and stashing it away, "but I doubt I'll need the beacon."
"I know," she said going to one of the drawers and handing him a small, red disk the same size and shape of an Oreo™ (not mine) cookie, "But we always have to bring one just to make sure."
Taking the beacon, he opened the elevator doors and walked in. He turned to Numbuh 5 and said, "Numbuh 5, expect a big supply plane to send us extra food and Christmas candy. It should come be within radar range any time now."
"Don't worry," she said to reassure him as he stood ready to leave, "We'll take care of it."
"Okay, Numbuh 5," the British leader said with a smile before pressing the 'close the door' button, "Thanks… and Merry Christmas."
And with that, he left.
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Meanwhile, many miles away…
"Come one, maties," Captain Sticky-Beard shouted to his crew which was busy decorating the ship with candy-decorations, "what do you mean that we're starting to run out of candy? It's Christmas Eve, for crying out loud! How are we supposed to decorate the ship for tomorrow?"
"Sorry, sir," his first mate replied, "But we are running out. The ship is too big to decorate with just the amount in out storage."
"And where do you expect us to get some more candy when we've already drained everything from this here neighborhood?" the captain demanded.
"INCOMING, CAPTAIN!" came a sudden cry from the watchman on duty, "FROM THE STARBOARD!"
Immediately, the captain pulled out his trusty spyglass turned to the right and peered into the wide and open sky.
"What's this?" he said out loud for the others to hear, "it's just one of those blasted Kids Next Door supply planes. There's no threat here."
"But, capt'n!" the watchman shouted out below to the naval officer, "It's bigger than the planes they usually send! It's got to have at least more than half the candy we need."
The captain looked again.
As the plane zoomed past them, Captain Sticky-Beard noticed something. The plane was bigger than the usual supply planes sent to Sector V. He took a deep breath. Then, he turned to his crew and said, "Okay, maties, that supply ship has exactly what we need. I can smell the peppermint in those candy canes and we're gonna gett'em all."
"How do you know that, boss?' one of the crew men asked the captain, "I mean, there could be anything but the candy we need."
"I know it has," the candy-loving captain said pondering a bit and telling the others "It's Christmas and they always have candy canes and chocolate Santas and sugar-coated snow man-shaped marshmallows. This time, the plane is bigger and that means that the candied sweets are more… much, much more. I can feel it in my bones."
"Well," one of the said turning to the others, "The captains said it. So, he knows what he's doing."
"But there's a problem," one of the pirates complained loudly, "Their leader Numbuh 1 always has back-up plans and, when he's around, our attacks always fail."
"He's right," someone agreed, "He always beats us down."
"Yeah," another one shouted back, "We have to get rid of that Numbuh1 somehow or at least distract him from his base."
"But if we really want him out of the way," a pirate cried out, "we have to hire someone to take him out for good."
"And who do you suggest?" Captain Sticky-Beard asked, "You don't expect some experienced fighter to come out on nowhere to destroy him for just a couple of bags of gold coins do you?"
"I do," an unfamiliar voice replied from the side of the ship, "And here I am."
Everyone turned their attention to the stranger on their ship and saw that he was a thin, scrawny man wearing a black clothes and a green trench-coat. His entire head and hands were covered in bandages, except his big, red right eye which was fully exposed.
"And who might you be?" the captain scrawled at the uninvited guest who had entered his ship without permission, "And how did you get in this here ship of mine?"
"The name's Jack the Slasher," he replied folding his hands together and leading on the wall beside him, "The other question doesn't matter. Anyway I'm here and I'm willing to take down this 'Numbuh 1' you're talking about. What does he look like? Where does he live? What info have you got about him? Should it look like an accident? Should I bring him down in public or when he's alone?"
Everyone of the pirates burst into laughter at this.
"Look," one of them shouted as he pointed at the scrawny man and laughed, "All of us tried to beat Numbuh 1 down and failed. Now, one guy expects to bring him down for good alone?"
The whole ship was roaring with loud, continuous laughter.
"Quiet, everyone!"" the snickering captain cried out in a loud voice to silence the whole crew, "Let's see what exactly this 'Jack the Slasher' actually can do."
Then, the crew stopped to look at the one who had presented himself to them.
"Here's a photo of him," Captain Sticky-Beard said taking from his pocket a picture if Numbuh 1, "I'll give you 3 bags of gold coins for him. Just bring him here to my ship alive. If he dies, you get no pay. Now, what kind of weapons do you use?"
In response, he pulled out from his sleeves two curved, sharp daggers that could easily be concealed in the hand.
At this, everyone, including the captain himself, nearly fell to the floor bursting into roaring laughter.
"Look, everyone," someone shouted in laughter, "We have long swords and muskets but we failed. Now, this is gonna beat him with 2 small butter-knives? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Humiliated, the scrawny man went to the group of barrels and crates in front of the pirates and struggled to lift the kegs up.
"What's he doing now?" one of the sailors asked with a crazy look on his face, "I think he's gone crazy! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"What's the matter, boy? Need a hand there?" the captain asked in a jeering manner as the Slasher was finally able to lift the wooden containers above his head, "Maybe you need some help… some professional help! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Even more irritated, the guy in a green trench coat threw the crates and barrels at the buccaneers. Then, he jumped up behind the cover of the wooden containers, drew the daggers out from his sleeves, made a few quick slashes, and kicked the barrels forward.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the Captain Sticky-Beard and his crew cried out and scattered as they saw the big projectiles headed their way fast.
As the things were just a short distance from the crew, the containers split apart into small, neat 2cm x 2cm cubes and fell on them with their sliced contents.
"Grrrraaaa!" the captain growled in anger as he looked around his now-messy deck for the one responsible for this, "Where is he?"
"I guess that Jack the Slasher's tougher that he looks," one of the pirates muttered in shock.
"Over there, capt'n!" the watchman shouted as he pointed to a green blur zooming past them and out into the horizon, "Over there!"
"The man's fast," the captain thought to himself aloud, "I can't see him anymore."
"Well," one of the crewmen replied, "It least we don't need to worry about Numbuh 1 ruining our plans anymore. We can now raid the Sector V Tree House at will."
Remembering the need for candy and the abundance bound to be with the Kids Next Door, he cried out to his crew, "All men to their stations! Clean this mess up! Helm, set a new course for the blasted Kids Next Door. Bring down all the sails! I want his ship moving at full speed immediately! All men to arms! Fix 'em up, sharpen 'em, clean 'em, polish 'em, and prepare them for engagement! I want all those weapons running at optimal performance when we storm that tree house!"
And the ship turned its course and prepared for battle.
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Meanwhile, at the Sector V Tree House…
The Kids Next Door were busy decorating the Security Early Detection Radar Room.
"Numbuh 5," the 2x4 Officer said as he hung one side of the Christmas lights to his side of the wall, "are the lights balanced?"
"They're way okay, Numbuh 2," the Second-in-Command replied to the master pilot and turned to Numbuh 4, who was close to the wall, "Numbuh 4, plug in the lights."
"Right," he said taking the green plug and turning to the group of full electric sockets beside him, "Just a moment."
He looked at the first label on one of the plugs. It read, "Radar Device." The other said "Monitor." Yet, the third had the word "Computer" inscribed and the fourth said nothing.
"Wait a minute," he thought to himself, "This one doesn't have a label. Oh, well. I guess it's not important."
He pulled out the unmarked plug, which turned out to be the plug for the "Security Alert Speakers and Sirens," and put in place that of the Christmas lights.
"Hey, guys," Numbuh exclaimed as she burst into the room with the TV Guide on her hand (er, sleeves), "Patrick Stewart's A Christmas Carol will be playing in 15 minutes!"
"Just in time," Numbuh 5 said writing a check on her list of places to decorate and walking to the kitchen, "Good work guys; the job is done. Let's watch some TV. I'll get the pop-corn."
"Cool," Numbuh 4 exclaimed as he got up and ran out of the room, "I'll look for the remote."
"I'll warm-up the sofa," Numbuh 2 said following Numbuh 4.
"Hey, guys," Numbuh 3 shouted as she, too left the room, "Wait for me!"
As the sliding doors hissed shut, a green flashing dot appeared from the north with a box around it. The box had a black and white outline of the aircraft and beside that was a message box with the warning: "Attention Kids Next Door Sector V, this is supply ship SP-Am-4290 headed for nearby Sector U. A giant, heavily armed pirate ship has set a course directly for your sector's tree house. It's ETA(Estimated Time of Arrival) is 10h:53m:42s. Be prepared. PS The supply ship scheduled for you will delayed. Sorry about that and Happy Holidays. Message sent 11:15 AM Dec. 14, 2005."
But this message fell of deaf ears for none was present to read it and there was nothing to alert the team of the message. Sector V was utterly vulnerable.
End Transmission
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That was Chapter 1 of The Search for Christmas. What do you think about it? Love it? Hate it? Read and Review! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Ramadan, Happy Kwanza, Happy Birthday, and (if none of these apply to you) "Happy (insert your holiday here)!"