Ok, well, so much for the "once every couple of weeks" idea. I'm still going to try to hold to that statement though. Don't worry, the next chapter will come out sooner, hopefully. I'm excited about the next chapter too! It's going to be mostly about Numbuh Four.
Disclaimer: I know that many of you out there will be sad, depressed, shocked, and angered to find out… I don't own Kids Next Door, or the song Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park… It's ok to cry, I understand. And if you need to visit a therapist after hearing this shocking news, I'll understand that too… I had to go to a therapist several times after learning that I didn't own them as well.
~*~
She hobbled to her yellow bike, the air was obviously starting to deflate in the back tire, but she stubbornly rode on it anyways. Her knee bled like any cut does, but only in minimal amounts. She found that for some strange reason, the smallest of cuts could hurt the most.
Four kept looking at her; he didn't know what to do. It was obvious that her left knee was in pretty bad condition, though she seemed to not notice; instead opting that it was just a minor cut, nothing to worry about. He glanced at her knee again, the skin was peeled back in several places, and the wound was deepest in the middle. It bled, but only slightly, and he could see bits of gray rock underneath her skin. That would hurt to take out, but in able for the damage to heal, it would need to be taken care of.
The ride back was by far slower than the ride there, even if the original 'there' wasn't attained. Three could feel her eyes begin to close when they stepped off of their bikes, ready to head back into the sanctity of the tree house. Snow crunched dimly below their feet, echoing in the still outside; as they neared the tree house, they could hear the phone ring, and someone answer it.
"Hello?" Came the sound of Two's shaky voice. There was then a long pause. "WHAT?! No, you must be mistaken!" Two now sounded frenzied. "Yea dad, I'll be ready to go in five minutes. Be outside in ten? Ok, bye," They saw Two hang up the phone as they finished climbing the ladder. His face was stretched into a worried position, and his eyes were about to burst from the amount of tears he contained, not allowing them to fall.
"What's wrong Numbuh Two?" Three asked him as she hobbled towards the couch that he was at. Two looked up at her.
"My mom is in a coma," he stated simply. He then walked towards his room and began to pack. They could hear him crying from inside, but no one made to comfort him. Finally, after five minutes, with him still not out of his room, Three stood up.
"Two? If you need to talk about it-" She began, and then she looked around his room. On his computer desk sat a picture of his family, and she gasped. "Oh my God! Two! I was there! Four helped your mom out of the car that she was in!" She began to ramble, and Two looked at her, his eyebrows creased together. Three noted this, sighed, and began again. "Four and I are back so soon from out mall trip, because we had to stop and help some people from a car-accident. But every-one was fine in the car that your mom was in! She was talking the most!" She smiled; hoping that it would some-how comfort the now disoriented Two.
"Three…. Thanks," was all he said as he lugged his bulging bag outside of his room. She could hear his grunts as he lowered himself down onto the tree house ladder. Deciding that she needed to tell Four, she slowly walked out of Two's room.
The tree house was unusually quiet; everyone had gone into his or her own room to think about what had happened. The floorboards creaked as she stepped on them, every now and then there was a puff of dust that would rise into the air, gather, and sift back into place. She walked past her room, and stopped in front of Four's. Raising her hand, she knocked. There was a muffled grumble from behind the wooden door before it was flung open.
"What?" He asked, his blonde hair covering his eyes, but even so, you could feel his agitation. Three looked at him, and then walked into his room. The door creaked from behind her, and he then asked once again, "What?" This time he didn't seem as agitated.
"Remember that red-headed lady that was in the passenger's seat today?" She began, Four nodded his head, "That was Hoagie's mom…" She stopped there, and looked at him. He seemed surprised, "Just thought you'd want to know," she then walked out of his room, and towards hers. Still hobbling, it wasn't until she sat down on her giant stuffed-animal bed that she noticed how bad her knee really hurt. "Great, yet another thing that I have to worry about," walking over towards her dresser, she looked up into the mirror. Her hair was tangled, and her shorts had some slight bloodstains on them from the little boy she had sung to.
"Oh joy! Now I have to change as well!" Her red eyes started to droop as she walked towards her door. She needed some water to ease her scratchy throat. Her legs seemed to lag behind her, if that was possible, and her hands weighed her down. It was official, she was a breathing zombie. A zombie that needed sleep very badly. 'No! You can't sleep! You'll have that dream again!' Her mind yelled out at her, causing her eyes to open once again.
She reached the kitchen, and grabbed a plastic cup. She then turned on the faucet; her hand testing the water until it got to her desired temperature. Once her cup was full, she turned the water off and began walking back towards her room. She opened her cracked door with a glance at it, she then decided that she'd put a poster over the crack. Setting down her water, she went to turn on her radio, then shut her door.
She searched for some comfortable Pjs, but only found long shirts. 'Ugh, don't I have anything besides overly-large shirts?' she thought as she threw her fifth shirt out of the drawer and onto her giant stuffed-animal bed. Finally getting fed up, she drank her water hastily, and sat on the floor. Her throat was no longer scratchy or tight, and her mind had cleared up some. 'Just because I'm going to stay up doesn't mean that I can't be comfortable,' her thought pattern went down this path for a while, before she stood up. 'I'm gonna' go ask Four if I can borrow some of his Pjs…. That sounds weird even when I think it,' she laughed lightly at what his expression would be when she asked him. Opening her door, she made her way down to Four's room, she seemed to be spending a lot of time there lately.
Her knock echoed in his still room, but there was no answer. She knocked again, still no answer. Deciding that being killed was better than being uncomfortable, she opened his door, and walked in. He wasn't there. 'Well, I'll just borrow some of his boxers and if he gets peeved… Oh well, I'll be too tired to care,' she concluded. This was definitely the weirdest thing she had ever done. Borrowing boxers, yep, that was her. ' I should create a comic about an evil villain that steals boxers,' she thought, her mind fogged to where she couldn't think completely straight.
Rummaging through his dresser, she found a pair that she liked. They were black with yellow smiley faces. 'Why does he have happy boxers?' she asked herself, amused by the fact that the "tough guy" had, in her opinion, girly boxers. Tucking them under her arm, she walked out of his room, making a mental note to blackmail him with his happy boxers if he ever pissed her off.
Once reaching her room, she could hear the song "Easier to run" by Linkin Park playing on her radio. "Well, at least my radio isn't against me," she said aloud as she grabbed one of the shirts off of her bed. This one wasn't as long as the others. It was white with a yellow Tweety on the front, the shirt read "It wasn't me!" and she smiled lightly as she pulled on the boxers. The shirt was by far shorter than her other nightshirts, it only covered half of the smiley face boxers, of which she was glad of. Flopping back onto her bed, she turned up her radio and began to sing along to the very familiar song. Her eyes closed shut after several minutes, and she was happy when she was awoken by a loud knock on her door. Standing up, she staggered over to answer it. "Damn, I have to clean out my knee too," the door was open when she said it, and she heard Four agree with her.
"Tha's why Ah'm here," he told her as he walked into her room carrying some tweezers, a wet wash cloth, some Band-Aids, and that anti--germ cream that she always forgot the name of. It was just too long of a word for her to bother even trying to memorize. He pushed her back onto her bed, and leaned over her knee to get a better look at it. She could hear him mumbling something about how hard it was going to be to get out all the rocks, and then watched as he grabbed the cream. He began to apply it to her knee (it stung pretty damn bad), when she finally spoke up.
"You know, I can do it myself, it's not like it's the first skinned knee I've ever gotten," she announced, apparently, to an empty room. Four didn't seem to pay attention to her. Sighing, she just sat there and allowed him to clean her cut, and she began to mouth the words to the song again. Once the song was over, she noticed Four picking up the tweezers, ready to pick the rocks out from under her skin. At this, her leg shot out of his grasp, and she clasped her wounded knee to her chest like it was the only thing she was living for. "Look, I said I can do this, so let me do it!" this time, her words didn't fall on deaf ears, and Four placed the tweezers down next to her.
"Fine, but when I check on it tomorrow, if it's not done…" He trailed off in his warning, partially because he was outside in the hall, but mostly because he didn't know what he would do.
Sighing, Three picked up the tweezers, and began to pick at the rocks. "OW!" she yelled, as a particularly stubborn rock hit a soft spot, and then fell onto her bed. "Stupid rocks-Why's there have to be so many in the world anyways?" She asked herself grumpily as she picked out the last rock. She then inspected her knee closely. It was bleeding much worse than before, and she'd have to put on some more anti-biotic cream. She had read the tube.
After grumpily applying the stinging, goopy mass onto her knee, she applied several bandages. There, now she was ready to thoroughly hate the night in peace. Her radio continued to play some of her favorite songs. Currently, it was playing "Break things" by Limp Bizkit. Of course, there were several words left out of the song that Three's mind filled in for the listeners in the city, not that they could've heard her had she been saying them out-loud in the first place; but still, it was the general concept of the idea. After several songs, her eyes began to droop. She didn't notice, however, because she was busy thinking about Numbuh Four. 'Ugh! How come he treats me like a little girl? I mean, I AM eleven! It's not like I can't take care of myself, either; I've had to do a lot of that with my grandma getting as old as she is. And who does he think he is- Just coming in and deciding that I can't clean my own boo-boo…' her mind continued to wander, until it eventually shut down, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.
Shivering from the cold, her body raged at her to open her eyes and find a blanket. Finally abiding, her eyes opened, and she groped for a blanket. However, when she found one, she was unable to fall back to sleep. "I really should get some thicker curtains," Three told the cold and morning-lit room as she stood up to brush her hair. "No more tangles," she mouthed to no one specific once she was done brushing her hair. Being too tired to change into proper breakfast-eating attire, she just slouched out of the room, the heavy blanket around her like a cape, and trailing dismally behind her.
Bacon… Bacon and hash-browns, yes, that was the smell that lingered in the air, wafting over to her sense of smell; gently persuading her to follow it, telling her of the reward for succumbing to it's will: A full stomach. Three didn't have any objections as she followed the smell that came from the kitchen, Four was once again cooking. Entering the kitchen, she sat down in her usual chair, the blanket cascaded in wrinkles down either side of the chair, and her back slouched slightly.
"Finally, we tried to get you up earlier, but you just lay there. I was beginning to think that you were never going to wake up or something," One yawned as he helped Four with breakfast. Nobody bothered to speak; one, it was too early in the morning to waste such precious energy on talking; and two, their numbers had significantly decreased. It was always gloomy when someone left, but when someone left for something serious, as in Numbuh Two's case, it was downright scary. The way everyone just, sat there….
A plane white plate over-flowing with greasy foods landed in front of her. Her eyes widened, "Numbuh Four! You could feed TEXAS with this much food!" Three whined, causing One to snicker slightly. Glaring at him, she continued, "I can't eat this much," then, picking up her fork, she ate several pieces of bacon and half of a hash-brown. Standing up, she took her plate with her, intending to feed the rest to the hamsters.
"Here you are Winker, and Yellow," Three smiled as she handed the brown and orange hamsters the last pieces of bacon. "I didn't think hamsters could eat meat…." stretching, she walked down the long row of hamster cages, they had all eaten their fill of bacon and hash browns. "I TOLD Numbuh Four that I had enough to feed Texas," Three sighed exasperatedly in the hamster-filled room. Wisps of black hair fell around her eyes as she trudged towards the door, blanket in-toe, with her head looking at the coffee-colored wood below her.
"Hey, aren't those mah boxers?" Four's voice asked Three as she continued to walk towards the door. He heard her mumble something of a 'yes.' "Well, wha're you doin' with mah boxers?" He asked, slightly amused that she clung to the bottom of the boxer's leg; her hand crumpling up a yellow smiley face.
"I was getting tired of long shirts, they get all messed up when I sleep, and aren't very comfortable," Three answered back, she was beginning to tire again. Her eyes were half-shut as she walked to where Four stood, blocking her path out of the room. The noise of happy, full hamsters running on their wheels filled the room.
"Well, yah could've asked ya know," Four explained, his face turning just barely pink at the thought of her in his room, rummaging through his underwear drawer. What if she had found his portfolio? Yes, Numbuh Four enjoyed drawing. He also enjoyed writing- and taking pictures…. Of, certain people….
"Yea, I was going to, but you weren't there. I didn't want to bother you, so I just went in and found some," Three tried to walk around him, but alas, thanks to his growth spurt she could no longer just step over him.
"Ya just can't go an' take things from people's rooms ya know!" Four's eyes narrowed slightly, and his fist clenched the side of the door tighter. Three looked up at him, her tired eyes now alert.
"You're right Numbuh Four, I'm sorry; I won't do that again…" She trailed off, a yawn stifling the word 'again.' Trying to get around him once more, Three noticed that her movements were considerably slower. In fact, her legs were weaker too. "Four, can I get by? I'm really tired," Three attempted, but her voice began to quiver. Four wasn't looking too up either. His face was turning from an already not Four cream, to a clammy white. Stepping aside, he nodded.
"Y-yea, Three, let's just go back downstairs to see what One's up to." Four's voice also shook slightly, however it wasn't as bad as Three's did. It took the pair ten minutes to reach the stairs that would lead them towards the large red couch, and twenty minutes to carefully climb down them. Needless to say, neither one of the two was feeling up to their usual self.
"Numbuh Three! Yo' feelin' k girl?" Five's voice screamed through the room when Kuki walked off the last step and practically crawled towards the couch.
"Wh……en," here Three took a deep breath and continued, her eyes continuing to close tighter with each word spoken. "Did, you…. Get here?" Three's eyes were closed, and she was about to fall asleep when Four landed centimeters away from her, shaking the couch and awakening her with a vicious jolt; causing her to yelp at the new-found headache forming between her nose and right eye. Four mumbled an apology, though it went unnoticed by all because of how quiet he had spoken.
"I got here jus' a couple a minutes ago… Darn guys, looks like ya got what Numbuh Five had, yo' should get home," Five's red cap covered her eyes as she spoke, and her braid bobbed back and forth as she sadly shook her head.
"Ah can't… mah parents, are on a business trip. Again," Four wheezed at Five and One, while trying to stop the rumbling sensation in his stomach.
"I can't, either… Don't wanna'… Grandma get sick…." Three was talking lightly, while leaning her weight on the spot of her headache. She had gone on a slow yet mad search try8ing to find the perfect spot to lay her head. She had found it, Four's shoulder: his cotton hoodie giving his shoulder the false feeling of a pillow, and just the right texture to make a headache feel better. In Three's state, she had believed his shoulder to be some creepy-looking pillow, or perhaps a Rainbow Monkey that she had forgotten to get rid of. In Four's state, well, he was just too tired to care.
"Well, then you'll have to go up to level nine, and into the sick room. It shall keep your germs inside this room, unless you open the door. So be sure you aren't sick before coming out." One began to usher the kids onto the stairs, but around the second level had to have Five and himself carry the two up to level nine. They then opened the door to the only sick room they had, and placed the two kids on separate beanbag chairs. Closing the door behind them, they could hear the sound of the room closing off all cracks, and recycling the carbonmonoxide breathed out; turning into germ-free air.
"Man, tha' was hard!" Five exclaimed as the machine that they had to walk through to get completely out of the room began to de-germify them (a/n Think like Sandy's bubble dome, off of Sponge Bob Squarepants).
"Yea, hey Five, did you notice that Three was wearing Four's boxers?" One said with an impish smile.
"No, Five's never really looked at people's boxers…. Why da ya think Three was wearin' 'em?" Numbuh Five walked down the stairs, stepping over Three's abandoned blanket around level three, and towards the kitchen. She hadn't eaten anything all day. One shook his head.
"I dunno'… I mean, Four certainly wouldn't let her borrow them," One was following Five closely. He could smell her hair that's how close he was; and just so you know, it smelt like soap.
"Well, I'll have ta ask her when she's not sick anymo'. Anyways, why's Numbuh Two gone?" Five asked as she placed two pieces of bread in the toaster, and got the butter ready to spread over her toast once it popped up. One's eyebrows crinkled in concern, and his lips pressed together slightly.
"His mom's in a coma…." One stated, and Five's toast went unnoticed as it popped up, light smoke emerging from its tips.
**
The white walls seared at his eyes as he sat in a maroon waiting chair. His dad was also in a chair, next to his mom's bed. The monitors beeped regularly, and they had lulled his dad to sleep. The door located behind Numbuh Two opened, and a doctor came in. Two's dad woke up.
"I've got some good news, on the Glasgow Coma Scale, your wife is at an eight. Usually only 27% die or remain in a coma, and about 68% will tend to have a good recovery or moderate disability. Also, her eyes are dilating just fine. Only 20% of patients that I've had who's eyes dilated fine have died. The odds are in our favor." The doctor paused, "but there is a great chance that she might not be at her full mental capacity if she were to wake up." The doctor looked at Hoagie's dad, and gave a sympathetic expression. Hoagie didn't care though, as long as his mom woke up.
"So… Mommy might wake up?" Tommy's voice sounded from Hoagie's left. The doctor nodded. "YAY!" Tommy was elated, as were the rest of them.
"Visiting hours are almost over, I suggest that you go home and get some rest. I'll call if anything comes up." The doctor's light brown mustache moved slightly as he talked, and his blue eyes looked at each member in the room as he talked. Hoagie's dad nodded, and ushered the boys out of the room.
Reaching into his back pocket, he produced a set of gleefully clanging keys, there was a palm-tree key chain that held them all together, and a black key stood out above the rest. Hoagie's dad grabbed this key as he made to unlock the door to his green car.
"Dad? Do you think I could go back to my friends' tree house? I wanna' tell them the good news," Hoagie asked as his dad backed out of the dark parking lot and moved forwards onto the busy main road. He got a nod 'yes' as his reply, and was soon climbing up the ladder towards his home; the one place where he could find his friends and feel comfortable at all times. "GUYS! GUESS WHAT?!" Two yelled out for all to hear him. Outside the tree house, he was Hoagie, but within the presence of his friends, he was Numbuh Two.
One and Five ran out of their rooms, eagerly awaiting any good news from Two. "My mom has a fairly good chance of coming out of her coma!" Two was excited, but not too excited to notice that two of his friends were missing. "Where's Three and Four?" He asked. Wanting to make sure that his friend Three, the only one that had tried to comfort him, knew about this great news.
"They're sick wit' what Five had," Numbuh Five was the first to answer his question, thus causing One to shut his mouth. "They're up at the sick room, level nine," she said, knowing that Two would want to tell them, no matter how sick they were. Dashing up the stairs, he made for level nine. Reaching the door fifteen minutes later, he hurriedly opened the first door, his hands stumbling a bit on the knob. He had to pause a second as the air in the space between the first and second door began to de-germify him. Opening the second door, he rushed in to greet a weak and trembling Numbuh Three, who was laying carelessly in a blue beanbag. Two could hear Four throwing up in the one bathroom that had to be shared.
"Three, guess what?" Two asked the sick girl quietly. She looked at him with tired and watering eyes, but somehow managed to smile at him, her eyes asking the question she couldn't mouth herself. "My mom has a good chance of waking up from her coma!" Two said, a little louder then intended. Three smiled again.
"Tha's great Numbuh Two!" She announced. "So're you staying here for Christmas?" She asked. He shook his head.
"No, I want to be there with my mom at Christmas. Don't worry though, I'll help decorate on the 24th," he assured her, causing her disappointed look to lift slightly. Something then hit Two. "Three…. Um, why do you live with your grandma? I mean, I could be wrong, but it just seems like she's always there, and your parents aren't…" He drifted off at the pained look on her clammy face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say anything to hurt you," he spoke to her softly. There was a sharp intake of breath, and Three began to walk towards him. Flopping down on the dark carpeted floor next to him, she stared at the ceiling for some time. Rolling over onto her side, she looked at Two. Four could be heard throwing up once again.
"You're lucky you weren't there to experience the accident that caused your mom so much pain…" Drifting off again, she just stared at the window-less walls around her. "I was five, and my parents were getting their snow-tires on. There was a red car to our right, and they couldn't stop. They crashed into us, killing everyone except me… That's the reason I have nightmares in winter," Three exclaimed. Her breath was short now, mostly because she was sick. She would've never told Two about her parents had she not been too sick to care about what she was saying. Two's mouth hung open slightly, but he managed to hug her.
"I'm sorry Three," was the only thing that seemed to magically congregate itself into his mouth.
"It's ok, it's been almost six years now, it doesn't hurt as much as it used to…. Just… Don't… Tell…. Anyone…" she was drifting off to sleep again, and smiled when she heard Two promise, then leave the room. Four had finally stopped throwing up, and opened the door heavily. He staggered over to his green beanbag and instantly fell asleep.
It was now Three's turn to get sick. She would later be thankful that she hadn't eaten as much food as Four had, but until then she was occupied with the thought that she was cold, she hurt, and she needed to empty her stomach of all its contents. Any nurturing substance she had was soon gone, and she only had dry heaves. Flushing the toilet, she gargled some water, spitting it back out into the sink. Opening the door, she walked over to her blue beanbag chair, situated right next to Four's, and fell asleep as well.
**Four's P.O.V.**
My eyes felt heavy, and my body ached with the effort I used to lift my left hand to my hair. Damn hair, I really should cut it. There was pressure on my right shoulder, and I glanced over to see Numbuh Three's head resting there, her arms wrapped around my upper arm, and her legs curled up against her body. She had goose bumps, so she was obviously cold. I lifted my left hand to feel her forehead, her fever had broken. That was always a good thing. I felt mine, and had the same outcome. Well, at least we were getting semi-better. I spoke too soon, I had to yank my arm away from Three (although unwillingly) to run into the bathroom. I began to empty my already empty stomach into the porcelain God that those who weren't sick called a toilet. Lifting up my head, I was soon pursued by a green-looking Numbuh Three. She leaned over the toilet as I gargled water, and began to throw up. Her hair was sticking to her face, and crept into her eye-site.
That was soon taken care of when I lifted her hair for her with my right hand, and rubbed gentle circles on her upper back with my left hand. Once she was done, she stood up and gargled water as well. Then grabbed a cup of water and drank it.
"Thanks Four," she told me as she made her way back towards her beanbag. I followed her example of drinking water, and then flopped down onto my chair
"Three, what were those nightmares about tha otha night?" I asked her, thinking that her guard was low enough for her to answer me truthfully.
"You know, Two's mom has a good chance of waking up from her coma," she told me.
'Oh no, you're not getting out of answering me,' I thought. "Really? Well tha's good. Ah hope that she does. But Three, like Ah asked before, what were tha nightmares about?" She would answer me if I had to drag it out of her through repeatedly asking or not. Three looked up at me from her laying position, and sighed.
"Between you and Two…" Then, she rolled over so I couldn't see her face. "I was five, and there was a red car to our right, they couldn't stop. Crashing into us, they killed everyone except me… I remember it too, why did we have to go to Wal*Mart that day?" She asked herself. My eyes widened.
"Three… Do you remember a little blonde boy that asked his dad to call 911?" I asked. Three shook her head.
"I only remember my mom's blood all over me, and almost dyeing from a deep cut I had on the left side of my forehead… I still have a small scar; why?" She finally asked me.
"Well, when I was six there was a car crash at Wall*Mart, and it happened exactly how you described, right down to the cut she had. I asked my dad to call 911 when I saw that a little girl was still alive." I told Three. I really believed that she was that little girl. Three didn't answer me, and mumbled before falling asleep once again. 'Great, now I have to wait until she wakes up to ask her more questions. I think she planed this all out!' My mind was getting foggy once again, and I too fell asleep.
**
"Hey, Five, could I talk to you?" Two asked Numbuh Five, his feet nervously kicking at the ground. He knew that Three didn't want anyone else to know about her parents, but Five was the one she ran to when she had a nightmare; so logic told him that she probably already knew.
"Sho' Two," She led him towards her room, and once inside, she closed her door behind her. Ushering Two towards her blue couch, she offered him a drink, which he politely declined. Sitting next to him, she stared at one of the puzzle-like paintings she had. "So, what'd you wanna' talk abou'?" She asked him.
"Well, it's about Three… Do- do you know why she has her nightmares?" Two asked the dark girl sitting at his right. He needed to know everything about what had happened to Numbuh Three, she was one of his closest friends, and wanted to comfort her; only problem was that he didn't know how to go about doing that.
Five looked surprised, "No, she jus' comes in and tells Five she had a nightmare. I don't question her, if tha girl wants ta tell me, she'll tell me," Five then averted her attention from her painting, and looked at Two. "Why?" she questioned him. Two's eyebrows creased together slightly, and his nose scrunched up in thought.
"Well, she came to my room when you were sick. She wanted to know if she could sleep in my room, I turned her down, but now I want to know why she has nightmares that bad; and if there's anything I can do to help her." Two looked concerned, and Five smiled.
"Jus' let her know you're there if she needs ta talk or somethin' of tha like. She'll appreciate that more'n anythang else; except maybe a rainbow monkey," she laughed, and Two smiled his thanks. Getting up, he left Five's room. He was going to do just what Five suggested, when Three wasn't sick of course.
**
'Oh great, another wave,' Three thought in her mind as she jumped up from her comfortable spot on the floor, and ran towards the already occupied bathroom. Four was throwing up as well, so, thinking fast, she stopped in front of the sink. Once she finished, she turned on the faucet and allowed the water to wash away all the filth. Taking a sip of water to clear out the acidic taste from her mouth, she turned around to see Four still throwing up. 'Poor guy, he has less then me in his stomach, yet he's the one that throws up the most,' she thought as she grabbed a rag and dampened it. Sitting down next to Four's heaving body, she wiped off his bare back and neck. It had, for some reason, gotten extremely hot in the sick room an hour ago, so Four had taken off his nightshirt; both were too tired and sick to really care much about their situations. Three had rolled up the sleeves on her nightshirt, but that was about all she could really do.
Four continued to have dry heaves, and she began to rub at his sore shoulder muscles. His hair was damp with sweat when he was able to stand up again, and he decided that he'd take a shower. Three left the room in favor of playing a PS2 game that they had recently noticed was in the room with them as well.
Inside the bathroom, the barely warm water coursed down Four's body, cleansing him of the sweat that had previously occupied his skin. Grabbing the bar of soap that was waiting for him on the edge of the bathtub, he washed his face, then the rest of his body. The shampoo oozed out of the Herbal Essence bottle, and dribbled onto his soaked blond hair. He took a minute to rub it in, allowing the shampoo to create a thick lather before he rinsed it out. Turning off the water, he stepped out and grabbed the towel that was placed on the toilet tank. Drying himself off, he pulled on his boxers, and opened the door. There was a rush of air as a blurred Three pushed him out of the way, heading towards the toilet.
Deciding to leave her alone, he walked over to her abandoned PS2 controller, and took over the game for her. He was so thoughtful, the way he didn't want her to loose on account of being sick. He was on the fifth level when he started, and was on the eleventh by the time Three came out of the bathroom. Evidently she had taken a shower as well. She sat down next to him, her hair clinging to her back and dripping every now and then.
"Three, about the conversation we had a while ago," Four began, but Three stopped him.
"What conversation?" She asked, Four paused the game to look at her when he spoke.
"The conversation about you parents," Four continued.
"Hey, how come there aren't any windows? How're we supposed to know if it's night or day? And what time is it?" She asked Four, trying to shift the attention away from this particular conversation
"Ah don't know, but Three abo' your parents-" he couldn't talk anymore because he had to jump and make a mad dash towards the bathroom. 'At least it's not as bad as it was last night,' Four concluded as he finished his business and drank some water. Walking back out of the room, he started up the conversation again. "Sorry 'bout that. About your parents." Four paused for a second, he didn't exactly know what to say.
"It was six years ago, and I'm almost over it, it's just these nightmares. They keep coming back, you know?" Three started up. Four understood what she meant.
"Yeah, I understand. I still 'ave nightmares abo' the time my aunt's thumb was cut off," he visibly shuddered. Three's mouth was hanging open now.
"That's sick… Is she ok?" She asked Four, who nodded. "Do you think Two's mom'll be ok?" Three's eyes filled with tears at the thought of one of her friends having to live life without a mom. She knew how bad it felt, and she didn't want anyone, especially her friends, to have to go through that pain. Four nodded.
"Yea, I thin she'll be ok," he looked at her once again. "Three, if you ever need ta talk or som'thin', I'll be there for ya." Three smiled at him.
"Thanks Four," hopping up, she walked towards the bathroom. Four could hear her attempting to throw up from his spot in the corner, and grimaced. Neither one of them had anything in their stomach, and it hurts to throw up without actually throwing anything up. Coming back out, she flopped down next to Four, and the lights then went out inside the room.
"Well, it's either time for us to go to sleep, or tha hamsters are retaliating because you aren't taking care of 'em," Four joked, and Three smiled at him. "I dunno' 'bout you, but Ahm gonna' get some sleep while Ah still can." Four got up and walked to his beanbag chair, Three followed him. Sitting down on the blue beanbag next to Four, Three attempted to fall asleep. There were just too many noises though, and Three was getting scared.
"Numbuh Four?" She asked quietly as another noise was heard. There was no reply, "Numbuh Four?" She tried again, still no answer. There was another noise, like scratching, only it wasn't coming from outside. The noise was inside the room. The scratching continued, and Three became even more frightened when the scratching got louder. Eyes wide, she waited out ten minutes of the noise, finally it stopped. She sighed a breath of relief, but her moment of peace was short-lived when a loud 'clunk' was heard from a corner of the room. Her body went rigged in her chair when the noise continued, and the scratching came again, this time it got louder because it was heading in her direction. Turning her back to the noise, she stared at Numbuh Four, who was asleep. She reached out an arm to shake him awake when she heard the clunking noise right behind her. "Numbuh Four!" she breathed out. Four responded this time by opening his eyes.
" 'S it T'ree?" he asked with a heavy jaw, his accent covered with the unmistakable sound of someone who was too tired to talk. Three's eyes widened again when the clunking noise stopped, and she could feel a presence behind her. Turning over slowly, she caught a glimpse of brown shoes, and then heard a very British accent.
"I came up to make sure you were ok, the hamsters went on strike," One's voice cut through the air clearly. Three and Four nodded, and One left. They could hear the de-germifing process through their door, and then they both relaxed. Three fell asleep once the clunking noise One's shoes made disappeared, and Four could be heard snoring.
Once Three's eyes were open she cast a look around her. 'Where am I?' She asked herself, 'Ah yes, the sick room,' her mind concluded when her eyes landed on the bathroom. The door was open, and she could see Numbuh Four gargling some water. Rolling over onto her side she attempted to go back to sleep, she was still very tired and her mind didn't want to handle the complications of every-day life until she was alert and ready. Unfortunately for her the light decided it was going to turn on. "Ugh, the hamsters not on strike anymore?" she asked aloud. By the time she reached the light switch her mind was fully awake. 'Great, now I won't be able to sleep no matter how hard I try,' she thought. Deciding she would at least try to great the day, she walked over to a cupboard along the left wall. Opening it up, she found some soup, Clam Chowder. "Don't they have any better soup?" checking, she concluded that it was either this or tomato soup, "yuck, Clam Chowder it is, then." She opened the can and threw away the lid. She then glopped the contents of the can inside a pot, that was currently on a burner, and poured a can full of milk inside the pot. After several minutes of stirring, the soup was ready to eat. Grabbing an oven mitt and two bowls, she poured the creamy soup into each bowl evenly. She then grabbed two spoons and looked around the room for Four. "Hey Four, you want some soup?" she asked him.
"Yea, sure, thanks Three," Four said as Three handed him a bowl of hot soup. Sitting down next to him, Three blew on the soup until it was cool enough to eat, and then shoved a large mouthful down her throat. She hadn't eaten in a day or so, however long they'd been in that room.
"Hey Four, how long do you think we've been in here?" Three asked as she ate another large spoonful. Four shrugged.
"Ah dunno, two, three days maybe? Ah can't tell without windows," he responded, also eating large spoonfuls. Three looked over at him while he was eating, she had just finished and was getting up to put her bowl into the sink. 'He's a good friend,' she thought. He ate another spoonful and got up to put his bowl in the sink as well. 'Of course, I wouldn't mind him being more than a friend,' she almost blushed at this thought, and furiously berated herself. 'NO! He's a friend who you don't want to lose; nothing more!' she shook her head and sat down at her beanbag. Glancing back up at him, she smiled at how he walked to sit down next to her. She watched every move he made until he was sitting right next to her, she then turned away to face the blank wall in front of her.
They didn't throw up the rest of the day, so deciding that they were fine they left. Going downstairs to find their friends, they came across a note:
'Numbuhs Three and Four (assuming you aren't still sick),
We went Christmas shopping and we'll be back around three or four,
Numbuhs One, Five, and Two'
Three glanced at the clock, they had about an hour or so until the others came home. "Well, I dunno' 'bout you Four, but I'm gonna' find a calendar," Three said as she walked into the kitchen. There, on the side of the fridge, sat a calendar. "The twenty-first," she exclaimed as she walked out of the kitchen. Four sat on the couch watching TV, and he nodded when Three told him the date.
"We should go Christmas shopping tomorrow, only three more days," he told her. She sighed and sat down next to him, turning her attention to the TV. However, she wasn't really watching the TV, she was studying Four through the reflection on the TV screen. 'Do I really like him? No, he's just the friend that's always there, and he just happens to be the male friend that's always there…' she couldn't stop her thoughts anymore. She sighed once again, and leaned farther back into the couch. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, he was smiling and seemed happy about something. She returned her attention to the TV. 'Ah, that's why, some guy just won against some other guy…. I really should pay more attention to these wrestling matches,' Three didn't have the slightest clue what was going on during the matches, all she knew was the she should cheer when someone beat someone else. 'You're pathetic,' her mind told her, 'I know,' she agreed happily as she jumped around the room waving her arms in the air and yelling, "YAY! THE ONE GUY BEAT THE OTHER GUY!!" Three could hear Four laughing at her and she stopped to look at him. "What?" Four just shook his head.
After about an hour of this Three was getting tired of watching sweaty men with huge muscles beat each other up, so she picked up the remote and changed it to Nickelodeon. It was currently still showing Nick Jr. and Face came on. Three shuddered at the creepy face that changed colors often, and quickly changed the channel to Cartoon Network.
"YAY! Scooby Doo's on!" She exclaimed as she smiled at Four. Four didn't like Scooby Doo, but hey, if Three was smiling at him like that 'cuz she was watching Scooby Doo, far be it for him to change the channel.
Numbuh One came into the room soon after the first commercial break, and he was carrying at least three boxes, Two wasn't much different, and Five was carrying four boxes plus bags. Three jumped up to help her friends, and Four joined in as well.
"What'd ya get?" Four asked One.
"I'll tell you when we get into my room," One told Four, and smiled appreciatively when Four grabbed a couple of his boxes. One opened his creaky door, and flopped the boxes he was carrying onto his trampoline bed. One of the boxes bounced off and made a soft 'thud.'
"So, what'd ya get?" Four asked again. One held up a finger as he searched through the boxes. He came across the one on the floor, opened the lid, and then picked up the box. He walked over to his closet and placed the box on the floor.
"Ok, here, let me show you," One picked up another box that was on the trampoline bed, and opened the lid. Inside the box were CDs, magazines, comic books, and a stuffed animal. The CDs consisted of Linkin Park, Good Charlotte, Cold, Staind, and System of a Down. "These're for Five," One said as he placed the box back on the trampoline, the dark blue stuffed bear fell out of the box and toppled over to where One sat on his bed. He then opened another box, this one contained a video of Jay Jay the Jet Plane. Four smirked.
"Two'll hate you forever," Four stated, Two hated that cartoon.
One chuckled, "I know, I thought it'd be funny to get it for him," there was also a computer simulation game in the box.
"Well, Two might not hate you forever," Four said as he picked up the computer box. "So, what'd you get for Three?" He asked as he placed the game back inside the box. One sighed.
"I wasn't exactly sure what to get her. It's been obvious for a year that she's getting tired of those Rainbow Monkeys, and I don't know what type of music she likes…" One trailed off as he opened the third box. Inside the box was one of the neatest dresses that Four had ever seen. Of course, he also hadn't seen that many dresses in his life. It was a dark purple, with a jungle-like background, it had spaghetti straps and the neck was cut straight.
"That's cool Numbuh One, I've neva seen a dress like tha'," Four admitted. One lifted up the dress, and underneath it was a black dragon candle. "Three'll like this, Ahm positive of it," Four reassured One. One nodded at this, and closed the box. "Me an' Three need ta go Christmas shopping too," Four told One, who just nodded again.
"Well, I forgot to get some things today, so we'll go tomorrow," One said to Four as he placed all the boxes in the closet. Four stood up.
"Well, Ahm gonna' go to mah room, see ya," he waved to One's back and walked out, heading towards his room. Once his door was closed behind him, he climbed up the ladder towards his wrestling ring. "What am Ah gonna' get 'em?" He asked himself aloud. "Well, at least I have the rest of the day ta decide." Closing his eyes, he fell onto the mat in his ring, and thought about what he could get his friends.
"Four! Wake up! We're going shopping in ten minutes!" Three yelled at Four. It was currently nine fifty, still too early for Four's mind to tell him to open his eyes. Rolling over, he groaned a little, and waved his hand. Three sighed exasperatedly and flung her arms in the air. "Four, if you don't wake up now, by the time you do wake up your room'll be surrounded by stuffed animals and frilly things!" Three then walked out of the room, knowing that Four would be downstairs in, tops, five minutes.
She was right, Four was downstairs in three minutes, although his hair wasn't brushed. 'Who cares? He looks hot like that….' She blushed at the thought as she walked towards the ladder, she paused and checked to make sure she had her Citi Card. Yup. Five's mom was going to drive them to the mall, and Three was excited that she'd be going shopping with most of her friends, they usually didn't do things like this. The only thing missing from the picture was Two, he had left earlier in the morning to be with the rest of his family.
"Ok kids, buckle up!" The mature voice of Numbuh Five's mom said happily, a smile playing at her full lips. Her hair was pulled back in a French-braid, and she was wearing a red sweater with dark blue jeans. Once she was sure everyone was wearing their seatbelt, she pulled out of the driveway, heading towards the mall. She had to stop at three red lights and one stop sign before she came to the mall. Once there, she parked on the bottom level in the parking garage, and got out. "I'll meet you kids at the Taco Bell in the food court at…. Two, ok?" Five's mom announced after looking at her watch. The four kids nodded, and walked into the mall. Soon they split up in groups, Four and Three because they had to shop for everybody, and One and Five because they only had to shop for their families.
"Four, what do you think Numbuh One would like?" Three asked the blond boy next to her, who was currently looking at a group of girls with a disgusted look. Three glanced in his direction. "What's wrong? Why're you glaring at them?" She asked, wanting to know what he didn't like in girls.
Four continued to glare at them while he answered, "Look at 'em, they're all fake!" He watched them as one of the girls turned down a regular looking boy. "They 'ave fake everythin', and they hide behind they're make-up. Then, when a nohmal guy, not a "hot" guy asks 'em on a date, they get all prissy, makes me sick!" Three stopped in front of him, causing him to run into her back. "'Ey! What was tha' for?" He asked. Three just stifled a giggle and walked into a girl's store.
"Come on! I know exactly what to get Five!" She said as she waved Four into the store. He looked mortified, but walked into the store anyways. Three couldn't hold it in any longer, she burst out laughing.
"Wot? Wot is it?" He asked, his voice showing evident frustration, and his hands balled up into fists.
"It's just-" she continued to laugh, "I never thought I'd see you in a girly store!" She pointed at him, then calmed down and skipped off towards the back of the store. Four grumbled and followed her lead.
"Ah'm only doin' this fa Numbuh Five," he said meekly as Three looked at shoes. Three giggled again, and handed a pair of glittery shoes to Four.
"Here, Five'll like these ones, she was looking at them in one of her magazines," Three then skipped off to find a pillow and slippers to give to Five. When they finally left the store, Three had gotten a monkey pillow with monkey slippers, and some brown, black, and silver with glitter nail polish. Four had just gone with the shoes and some lip-gloss. Still grumbling about being forced to go into a girly store, he announced that he'd be choosing the next store. "OK!" Three happily obliged, especially since she had no clue what One or Two would like.
Three glanced around the store they were now in, and frowned. This store was boring, nothing but mechanical stuff. "Four, I don't know anything about this stuff, why're we in here?" She asked.
"'Cause Two'll like it!" He said, looking up from a power tool. He picked one up and handed it to her. "Here, get this for Two, it's an electric drill," Four then walked off and found some other sort of tool he thought Two would find useful. Shrugging, Three went to go pay for it.
Half an hour later and they were finally out of that boring store, Three had to practically drag Four out. "Come ON Four! We still need to get something for Numbuh One!" Three said as she tugged on Four's arms.
"Ok, Ok!" Four then began to lead Three towards another store. "Here we are," he announced as they walked into a clothing store.
"You're getting him clothes?" Three asked with a disgusted look as she picked up the ugliest pair of pants she had ever seen. "Why?"
"He needs a new wardrobe, red sweaters can get a little boring," Four explained as he picked up a dark green hoodie with a dragon picture on it. He then picked up some black jeans, and decided that these clothes would work. Three looked through the sunglasses while Four paid for the clothes.
"Nope, no cool sunglasses," she sighed as she tried on a pair, then glanced in the mirror. She heard laughter behind her, and she turned around, still wearing the sunglasses. They were purple tinted lenses with fake purple jewels along the top part of the frame, the price tag tickled her neck when she turned around. So naturally, she made to scratch her neck, in the process, she lost her footing and fell. Four laughed harder "What?" She asked Four once he had stopped laughing and helped her up. He reached out his hands and gently took the sunglasses off her face, then placed them back on the rack.
"Sunglasses aren't you," he then began to walk out the store, with a hurrying Three following him.
"And why not?" Three asked once she caught up to him. Four then glanced over at her, and smiled.
"You shouldn't hide those eyes behind sunglasses," was all he said. Three stopped, then pretended like she wanted to look inside the store to her right. Inside the store she found life-size cardboard pictures of actors and movie characters. Upon further inspection, she discovered that the whole store was dedicated to selling movie items.
"Ooh! One'd like this!" Three exclaimed happily as she picked up a Spirited Away picture book. One loved that movie, and because he watched one anime he just had to watch others. Smiling, she picked up some Gundam Wing action figures, the ones that come with their pilots. "I hope I can get him hooked on this series as well, it'd be nice to talk to someone who knows what I'm saying for once," she then went to buy them, glancing at Four over her shoulder. 'Man, that was the weirdest thing I've ever heard him say… It was the mushiest thing I've ever heard him say too,' paying for the items, she walked out of the store. "Well, we should split up now, I only need to get your present. I've had my grandma's picked out for a month now…." she trailed off as she looked at him, he nodded, and headed in a different direction.
Walking aimlessly, she had time to think. "What would Four like?" She asked aloud, half hoping that someone would answer her. "I could get him some wrestling stuff, but I bet that's what everyone is getting him. I want it to be something at least semi-original." She then trailed off in thought as she continued to wander around the mall haphazardly. She stopped at a promising store. Walking in, she could smell some type of incense burning, and heard the faded sound of an Enya CD playing. "Wow…." Was all she said as she walked through the comforting store. "Oh! Four would love this!" She shrieked happily as she checked the price tag. "One Hundred?!" She thought about if this was what she really wanted to get Four, before she nodded and went to ask the clerk a question. "Could you delivery that on Christmas eve?" she asked, pointing at the medium-sized, rounded couch that was in the far corner of the small store.
"Yea, sure hun, ya just need ta give us the address and pay us for the couch, plus twenty for shipping and handling," the pink-haired lady said while snapping her purple, grape-flavored bubble gum. Frowning slightly, Three handed the lady her Citi card.
"Credit," she announced as she showed the lady her I.D. card. They pink-haired woman scanned the card, typed in a few buttons, then handed Three a receipt to sign. Three looked at the receipt before signing, everything seemed right, she handed the slip of paper back, and was handed her half, then another sheet of paper.
"Ya need ta write your address on this," the lady announced, still snapping her gum. Three shuddered at the sound, and quickly wrote the KND address, then walked out of the store. Glancing at her clock, she noticed that it was almost two, and headed towards Taco Bell, several heavy bags in her hands. Apparently, she was the last to arrive at their meeting spot, and was handed a taco with some fries when she sat down.
"Thank you!" Three was happily gnawing into her taco when Five's mom came back, handing her a root beer drink. Smiling, Three took a sip from the pop, and was the first to finish her food, soon followed by the others.
"Uh, Kuki? You've got some meat on your chin," Five said, while wiping at her own chin, indicating to Three where the pesky meat was located.
"OH! Thanks Abby!" Three wiped at her chin, getting the meat off, and then skipped up ahead of the others, catching up with Five's mom. "Thanks for everything Mrs. Lincoln!" Three smiled at the lady, who smiled back.
"You're welcome Kuki," the clanging of her keys drowned out some of her words, and soon the kids were buckled up and waiting to go home. The car pulled up to the KND tree house, and several 'clicks' were heard, then the rustling of bags. Opening the doors in the van, four tired children stepped out and began to head towards the tree house. "Bye! Thanks again!" Three yawned as she climbed up the ladder. Once inside the dark tree house, she announced to the other occupants "I'm gonna' go to bed, night guys." The others waved and walked towards their rooms as well.
Kuki dumped herself onto her bed miserably, and closed her eyes. She hadn't changed into Pjs, and she was too tired to brush her teeth. The day hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped. Finally falling into a shallow sleep, she could forget about her feelings; all of them.
"THREE! GET DOWN HERE NOW! WE'VE GOT A MISSION!" One's voice broke through her thoughts, and her eyes flew open, revealing her room to be bathed in red light, and the once quiet space to be filled with the screeching noise of an alarm.
"How'd I sleep through this?" She asked herself as she flung open her door and ran towards the couch, waiting for the alarm to stop so One could debrief them on their latest mission. Once everyone was on the couch, the alarm turned off, allowing One to be heard clearly.
"Kids Next Door Operatives, I have just received news that an evil penguin is planning on forcing Santa to give out sweaters and oranges to children, instead of candy and toys. Since tomorrow is Christmas Eve, we must work fast. Now come on, we need to get into the S.N.O.W. - S.U.B." Walking off, he stopped when Three questioned him.
"What about Numbuh Two? Don't we need him to defeat this creepy penguin thingy?" She asked One, who just shook his head.
"No, we can do without him, only because I don't want to take him away from the rest of his family. It'll slow us down some, but I think that we can handle it," with that said, he walked towards the S.N.O.W- S.U.B, followed by the remaining three.
OPERATION: P.I.S.S.E.D. (Penguin Is Seriously Stressing Entire Deal)
"Numbuh Five, keep it straight!" One snapped as Five's inattentiveness to pay attention to where she was going. Five quickly jerked the wheel to the left to keep the S.N.O.W- S.U.B. on course. "Please Five, refrain from staring at the 'pretty snow-flakes' during this mission, as with you Numbuh Three, you need to be getting the weapons ready with Numbuh Four," he turned his head when addressing Three, and then walked off stiffly with his arms folded behind his back. Behind him Five grumbled, and Three continued to stare out the window.
"Three, could ya 'elp me with this?" Four grunted as he picked up some various KND 2x4 technology. Three tore her eyes away from the gently falling snow, and made to help Four with S.P.L.A.N.K.L.E.R. and handed out P.I.P.E.R.s to each member of the team. "Thanks," Four said as he walked into another room to grab some soup. He came back minutes later with a steaming styrofoam bowl of chicken noodle soup. Sitting in his designated chair, he ate rather noisily. Three gawked at him, how could someone eat SOUP that loud?! Finally he slurped up the last noodle from the bowl, and cast it aside. Three scowled and picked the bowl up off the floor, and placing it in the trashcan to the left of Numbuh Four.
"Four, the trashcan is right next to you, how about using it?" Three asked, her face turning slightly red with anger, she hated it when people littered. She then turned on her heal, P.I.P.E.R. in hand, and walked to the other side of the room, sitting next to a rather large window. The snow was so beautiful, and it contrasted almost perfectly with the orange sky in the distance. "Guys, it's getting late, when're we going to get there?" She asked as the sky began to turn a slight pink. One turned to look at her.
"We should be there in a couple more minutes Three. And how about being just a tad more useful and get some soup for everyone?" Numbuh One asked, trying to keep the girl occupied, heaven knows what kind of trouble she would get into if she got bored. Three sulked slightly, her sleeves almost trailing on the cold steel floor. She then glared at Four.
"None for you! You eat too loud, and litter!" She quipped at the blond boy. He glared at her, and when she was behind the door, safely out of earshot, he chuckled to himself. Three came back in the room with two bowls of soup, one tomato, and the other cream of celery. She handed the tomato to Five, and the cream of celery to One. "Here you go! I know that cream of celery isn't your favorite One, but it was either this, tomato, chicken noodle, or clam chowder. And I KNOW you hate all of those. So, yea…" Three trailed off as she went to go get her own soup from behind the heavy door. She came back out with a bowl of clam chowder with extra clams, her favorite, and a cup of extremely chocolaty hot cocoa. She walked over to Four, and handed the cup to him. "Here, I figured you couldn't make as much noise with this as you could soup, and I felt bad that we all have something and you didn't." She then sat down in front of the window on the other side of the room, and ate her soup silently, still watching the snowfall.
By the time they had arrived at their destination, it was past being just a light pink, and was now dark blue with barely a hint of crimson red along the horizon. Three shivered, she still didn't like the color red, and thought of it as a bad omen. The snow seemed, in her opinion, to crunch a little too merrily below her dark green boots, and her hood kept creeping into her eyesight; forcing her to push it back up with her red hands, she had forgotten gloves on this mission, and had been forced to wrap them in her long sleeves. Though that hadn't helped much.
"Here we are, Kids Next Door, be careful, we don't want the penguin to know we're here," no sooner had Numbuh One said this then Numbuh Three had created a rather large noise.
"Ding-a-ling-a-ling!" She shouted outside the igloo's door, "Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling!!!!" She was pretending like she was pressing the non-existent doorbell on the icy igloo. "DING-A-LING-A-" she didn't finish her mock-doorbell though, because Four had rushed up behind her, pulling her back around her waist and covering her mouth with his gloved hand. It was, however, too late. There came rather loud sounding footsteps towards the door of the igloo.
"Yeeeeeesssss?" a suspicious voice asked. One didn't know what to say.
"Um… Yes, we're here to, er, talk, to the penguin that is planning on forcing Santa to give out only sweaters and oranges to the kids this Christmas?" One's voice cracked slightly on the last word, and he was shuffling his feet in the snow, apparently attempting to dig up any remnants of grass there might be left.
"Aaaah, so he has sent negotiators?" The voice behind the door was then revealed as the Kids Next Door were ushered in the igloo and out of the cold, then pushed down a set of stairs, followed by the loud thumping of the penguin's feet. One turned around once they were in a small room that was made-up to resemble a living room, however everything was crudely made of snow, and very few items were actually finished, a couch was among the few, along with several pillows. Three smiled happily and attempted to pick up a pillow, however it was frozen solid and too heavy for her, so she frowned slightly, and just sat on it, placing her S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R in front of her, and the P.I.P.E.R. into one of her various coat pockets.
One however was busy looking at the so-called villain penguin standing in front of him. It was a rather small penguin, very small indeed, maybe half a foot to a foot tall, however he toward over One due to the ridiculous looking platforms he was wearing, about three, four feet tall and purple with red sequins splayed unevenly here and there. "Er, yes, about this negotiating thing?" One asked. The penguin smiled and rushed into another room, coming out several minutes later with a platter of fish.
"Yes, yes, but before we start, would anyone like a fish?" The penguin asked, almost falling over as he walked towards the middle of the room. One and Five looked mortified, the fish were raw for crying out loud. Four wasn't paying much attention, he was busying himself with trying to sit up from the frozen snow-chair he had sat down in a couple minutes ago, and Three looked at the fish smiling.
"FISHIES!" She cried, running over to the tall penguin and picking up a slimy, limp trout. She looked at it with a frown, and walked towards the back of the room, needing to bend over to pick it up once again.
"Er, yes… Anyways, about the negotiating?" One turned away from Numbuh Three, and looked at the penguin that was now sitting in the chair that Four had successfully pried himself off of. The platter of trout sat on the lop-sided table next to him.
"Yes, yes. So, I want Santa to honor the deal he made with me, or to give nothing but sweaters and oranges to the children around the world. If he doesn't comply with either, I shall melt the North Pole with my soup-ray." The penguin turned slightly in his seat to pick up a fish. One looked on, grossed-out as the penguin swallowed the fish whole, stretching his neck out every now and then to help the fish slide down easily.
"And, what was Santa's deal?" Five asked as she switched her weight from her right foot to her left. The penguin turned to look at her.
"Well, we were playing poker, and we made a bet. If I won the game, he'd allow me to be one of his elves and make toys. If he won, I'd shovel the reindeer's stalls for a month. Well, I won, and he didn't allow me to be part of his elf team. Needles to say, I was upset, so I told him to let me become on of his toy-making elves, or give children nothing but oranges and sweaters. Of course, he refused both, so I told him that I'd melt the North Pole with my soup-ray. He then said he'd send in negotiators," the penguin finished off his fourth fish, and turned towards Numbuh One. "Any other questions?"
One nodded, "Yes, why would you want to become one of Santa's elves?" He was curious. The penguin thought out his reply for a moment, finished off a fifth fish, and began to speak.
"Well, I haven't had children of my own, and I always wanted to have some so I could give them toys for Christmas. Obviously, after several years that never happened, and I doubt it ever will, so I though 'hey, if I can't have children of my own, why not make toys for other people's children?' thus, I made the deal with Santa." The penguin then picked up the empty platter of fish and walked into the other room once again, coming out empty-flippered.
Three was laughing in the background, and Five turned to see what the girl was doing. Three was throwing the fish she had up in the air and attempting to catch it. "Freffick! You get back here! Bad fish! Very bad fish! You're supposed to stay with me. I told you not to go wandering off, there are weirdoes every where! Who KNOWS what could've happened to you!" She yelled at the fish, causing everyone to turn around and face her. She continued to scold the fish for sliding off near One's feet, and got up to grab him. "Freffick, get back here NOW!!!!" Five jumped slightly at how loud Three's voice was, and One picked up the fish.
"Um, Three? I think we should give this fish… Freffick back to the penguin," Three pouted, but handed it back to the penguin, who gladly ate it. "Now, me and my team will call Santa over so we can smooth this whole thing out, shall we?" One said as he talked into his P.I.P.E.R. "Santa? Santa, come in!" Two had readjusted the P.I.P.E.R. so they could reach Santa. A crackling noise came through the ear-piece, and then Santa's voice.
"Hello? This is Santa, to whom am I speaking?" The jolly voice sounded stressed and tired. One lifted the mouth-piece next to his lips and spoke again.
"This is Numbuh One of the Kids Next Door, I am requesting that you come over to the penguin's igloo so we may straighten this whole issue out," One demanded of Santa.
"Yes, yes, I'll be over in a couple minutes," Santa then hung up his phone, causing One to receive only static on his end.
"AAAHHH! Santa's coming?!" Three screeched happily at this news, One just nodded. "I want a pony and a Barbie car with a dragon and pretty princes. No, scratch that, I want music, and a new CD player, well, I also want the dragon and pretty princes…" she continued on for a while, and during the couple minutes it took Santa to arrive, the penguin served out several more fish, which everyone politely declined. The door then opened, revealing a large man dressed in red. "SANTA!" Three launched herself into Santa, causing him to fall back into the snow outside.
"Three. THREE!! Get down here!" One yelled up the stairs. Three sulked as she trudged over to a corner of the room. "Er… Yes, anyways… Santa, about this deal you made with the penguin? I'm afraid there's nothing we can do, you made a deal and you either honor it or the North Pole will be melted." Santa nodded and turned towards the penguin.
"Fine then, you can come make toys with my elves if you really insist," he didn't sound too happy, but was resigned to his fate. The penguin gleefully ran out of the igloo, ready to follow Santa towards his shop. Santa then nodded at the kids as he left.
"Roight… Remind meh why that was a mission?" Four asked, still confused at to why the whole ordeal was created in the first place. The only answer he got was a sigh.
"Let's just go home," One drug his feet along the ground until the got to the S.N.O.W -S.U.B. once inside, he didn't criticize Five on her driving abilities, and Three could tell that her whole team was tired.
"So… Are we gonna' decorate tonight so we can celebrate Christmas a day early like always?" Three asked.
"No, we're too tired Three… We'll celebrate, we just won't decorate," One answered her, Three frowned and looked out the window. The white snow contrasted so well with the dark night.
"Why's it so importan' Three?" Four asked her, she turned away from the window to answer him.
"It's always the same every year Four, we're always gone on Christmas Day, so we celebrate Christmas at the Tree House on Christmas Eve. I just want it to feel like Christmas, that's all," she then resumed looking out the window.
Once they reached the tree house, everyone sifted into their respected rooms and fell asleep, too tired to look forward to the early Christmas gifts tomorrow.
~*~
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
~*~
Ok, well, this chapter probably sucked, but I'm hoping that the next one more than makes up for it *wishes* and flames will be accepted, as long is it's not just like, "This story totally sucks," or some-such. I want to know WHY it sucks, and how I can make it NOT suck. *is desperate for criticism*