Chapter 5. A Queen and Her Warriors

"Is…she…?" Numbuh 363 asked cautiously, staring at Numbuh 362.

Numbuh 60 placed his pointer and middle finger to her neck, "No, she's alive. But we have to get her to the Sooper Triple Emergency Med Lab. This is not good."

Numbuh 60 lifted Numbuh 362 from the ground and slung her gently over his shoulder. "Let's go."

With that, Numbuh 60 ran down long and winding hallways with little Numbuh 363 clearing the way with an, "Emergency! Gangway! Supreme Commander down! A clear path would be nice people!"

When they finally got there, Numbuh 60 was panting too hard to talk to the dainty-looking girl in a furry, lavender cap and matching scarf. It was Numbuh 977. She asked kindly, "Vell, can I help you?"

"Yes, Numbuh 362 is out cold and we can't wake her up. It's an emergency!" Numbuh 363 told Numbuh 977.

"Oh dear!" cried Numbuh 977. She picked up her microphone and shouted into it, "Emergency! Emergency! Numbuh 362 passed oot and ish ink trooble! Emergency!"

Two KND doctors came right away wheeling in a bed. Numbuhs 698 and 203 (if someone has used those numbuhs, it was just random) lifted Numbuh 362 onto the bed and wheeled her through the double doors. Numbuh 60 and Numbuh 363 were about to follow when Numbuh 977 got up, "Shtop vright dere! You two hash to shtay 'ere. I'm shorry, but it ish der rules." (btw, I type accents, good luck deciphering!)

Both boys took their seats in the waiting room reluctantly. At that moment, Numbuh 86 burst into the waiting room.

"Where is Numbuh 362?" she screeched at the unfortunate Numbuh 977.

"I'm shorry, but I can't let you shee 'er at the—"

"Give me the number of the room she's in, now!"

"But—"

"I said now, Bianca!"

"Room 49."

"Good girl."

Numbuh 86 ran through the double doors in search of room 49.

Meanwhile, in room 49, the two doctors were trying every method to wake Numbuh 362 up. They tried loud noises, roughly shaking her, water, and anything else they could think of.

"It's not working," Numbuh 203 said, wiping off her brow.

"What else can we do?" Numbuh 698 asked his partner.

"I'll tell you what you can do," Numbuh 86 told them as she entered the room. "Attack her. I know it sounds crazy, but that's the only way to drive off Father. Whatever you do to her, you're doing to Father as well."

Numbuhs 60 and 363 came in next, "It's true, she told us earlier herself," Numbuh 60 explained. "I don't want to do it, but it's either we do or we loose her."

Numbuh 60 then took off his glove, jumped onto the bed, grabbed the front of Numbuh 362's shirt, and struck the side of her face with a scratching blow. "Sorry, Numbuh 362," he mumbled as he did it again.

Numbuh 363 regretfully took hold of his older sister's arm and bit it, hard. Numbuh 86 withdrew her M.U.S.K.E.T. and shot it at Numbuh 362. The two doctors also dealt their share of blows upon their Supreme Commander.

Father had Numbuh 362 by the throat, attempting to strangle her. Numbuh 362 held on a struggled fiercely, her breath getting raspier by the moment. Father squeezed tighter, causing Numbuh 362 to yell weakly at him in pain. She tried to reach out and strike him, but he was holding her out away from his body. Things definitely did not look good. It seemed like she had met her end.

But had she?

Fire blazed in her eyes as she sunk her nails in Father's arm. He loosened his grip just enough for Numbuh 362 to break free. She jumped at him and struck a blow at his face, clawing it as she did. Then she did it again, with more force. She clamped down on his arm with her teeth as mustard shot out from nowhere straight into Father. Numbuh 362 punched him, but Father grabbed her arm and used it to throw her. Father ran over to her and kicked her while she was down.

Numbuh 362 leaped up and dragged Father down, like a lioness would bring down her prey. She grabbed his ankle and threw him across the realm of her dream. Bounding high into the air, she landed right on top of him, pinning him down.

In a dream, anything could happen, and they were both suddenly on the edge of a cliff. Below was a bottomless pit of darkness.

"Have a nice day," Numbuh 362 said sarcastically in Father's face.

"Don't worry, I will." Father then kicked up his legs, catapulting Numbuh 362, screaming, off of the cliff.

Father laughed and looked down the hole, seeing nothing but darkness. From her hold on the cliff wall, Numbuh 362 used all of her strength to jump up and grab Father, and they both plummeted down. But as they did, Numbuh 362's sleeve caught on a branch jutting out from the cliff. She pulled herself up onto a rocky ledge, wounded and shaking. Numbuh 362 then lay there, still as a stone.

"So long, Father," she mumbled.

Numbuh 362 opened her eyes slightly to see a blurry glimpse of the room she was in and who was in there with her. Her brown, misty eyes closed as she gently uttered, "Thank you,"

Numbuh 203 and 698 got out three large rolls of bandages, plenty of ointment, hydrogen peroxide, and several boxes of tissues. Numbuh 363 started the waterworks as he clung to his sibling's arm and mopped up some blood dripping down her hand. Numbuh 60 tenderly stroke the spot on Numbuh 362's face he had cuffed with his un-gloved hand, and got off the bed. Numbuh 86 told them both, "Let's leave the doctors to their work. We did what we could. All we can do now is hope."

Hope. They would need a lot of it to get their leader back. But hope is always abundant, if you know where to look.