Disclaimer: I don't own WordGirl, this is a fanfiction based on the show.
A/N: Sorry I have not thanked everyone who posted a signed review. Please know I appreciate and have read them all. Might next couple of updates might be slow; there's this crazy thing called 'school' and its keeping me really busy. I'm very sorry to make you all wait. Enjoy the chapter and R&R.
He . . . was out, of breath. That monkey had been pulling on him for what felt like hours now. His heart wanted to burst from all the stress suddenly placed on it, his legs burned and felt filled with lead. Even his own beads of sweat seemed to hurt as he allowed his body to be lead by the small animal. He couldn't stop, oh, but how he wanted to.
Captain HuggyFace had been dragging Tobey as far away from Adler as he possibly could. He had to get away from that face, that smile . . . Huggy sent a worried glance behind the boy to find that they were not being followed. He then sent his gaze up to rest on the flushed face of Tobey. The kid looked as if he might faint if he were pushed any further. So Huggy slowed their pace to a hurried walk.
"Where," Tobey gasped. "Are we, going to? I, I've got to find Becky."
All Tobey got in response was a soft chirp from the monkey. This only added to the boy's aggravation. Tobey yanked his arm from Huggy's hand and proceeded to the curb to sit. Huggy screamed at Tobey in protest, but the boy only crossed his arms.
"I'm too tired to keep running."
The boy couldn't be serious; that man was trying to kill him! Huggy screamed again and went to Tobey's hand to pull on him again.
"Leave me alone you . . . animal."
The sky was black.
On the streets there wasn't a sign of life anywhere. Lights glowed faintly from the street lamps only providing enough light to see one's next step in the rain. The vacated buildings seemed to moan in their loneliness as what appeared to be a single shooting star fell from the heavens; perhaps WordGirl still in a panic.
Huggy looked at the boy. How could he not have seen it before? Theodore MacCalister III; What were the odds that a living heir to the Britannican throne would reside in the same city he had crash landed in. Huggy was overwhelmed.
That man, that tried to kill Tobey; though he had aged, it was clear that he was the same man that had allowed Huggy to escape with Becky years ago. This man had come to finish what he started. He was going to kill the royal family . . . and now, thanks to Tobey, Huggy knew why he had let them go. This man let them leave so that he could track them down in the future and kill them. He wanted to be king of Britannica and this would be a sure fire way of doing it since there was no heir . . . but now,
Tobey was here. The king of Britannica had only one child, a son, but he died at age twenty-eight with no children . . . well obviously not. Something historically wasn't making any sense. How would the grandson of the king be on Earth? Did someone bring him here for his own protection? Maybe that was it, a CRA agent must have brought him here, but why? All children were supposed to be taken to the neutral state Thesauria.
Regardless, the real issue at hand was that some man was after Tobey and Becky and he wouldn't stop until he finished his mission . . . maybe it was time Huggy finished his.
Huggy began waving his arms at Tobey. The young genius raised an eyebrow just as his body was beginning to relax from its overexertion.
"You stupid monkey." Tobey removed his glasses and quickly dried them of the rain on a corner of his shirt. "We need to do something about that man before he hurts somebody, mainly me."
Huggy grabbed onto Tobey's arm and again started pulling.
"I told you to let go of me!" Tobey yanked his arm free. "I'm going to look for Becky. Even if I have to search all night to find her." The boys got to his feet and began marching off as Huggy rolled his eyes.
The monkey needed to think of something to get the boy to listen to him. It was clear Tobey didn't fully understand the severity of the situation he was now in. Hmm . . . WordGirl! Tobey would stay with him if he could promise him a visit with WordGirl. Perfect!
The monkey ran out in front of the boy and began his game of charades. Tobey only watched in confusion until Huggy produced a picture of the beloved heroine from within his costume. Though Tobey would deny it, a grin plastered itself to his face.
"Are you saying WordGirl is looking for Becky?"
Huggy nodded knowing full well that was a lie, but whatever it took right?
"Is it possible for me to assist her?"
Nod.
"Well, where is she?"
Huggy pointed out toward the bay. Due to the rain one could hardly see the horizon apart from the water making the waters look quite ominous. Tobey questioned the monkey.
"I'm not going to go drown out in the ocean."
Huggy smacked his head in frustration, but continued to gesture out into the water. It was then Tobey remembered there was an island a little ways out from the shore. Maybe WordGirl was there . . . but how was he supposed to get there?
"So what you're trying to say, assuming monkeys can think linguistically at all, is that WordGirl is on that island?" Nod. "And I'm supposed to get there, how?"
Huggy couldn't appreciate Tobey's sarcasm, but he could stew over that later when someone wasn't trying to kill the boy. Huggy grabbed Tobey's arm and began leading him out to the shore. Tobey followed this time, a bit slower than before, but defiantly an improvement when compare to standing still.
Standing on the shore line made the bay look even creepier. The water mirrored the black sky above to create the effect of black paint washing over the sands of the shore. It was almost like looking at the edge of a flat world.
"We're going to go out there?!" Tobey almost couldn't believe what Huggy was asking him to do.
The little monkey was currently climbing onto the dock to retrieve a small row boat tied at its end.
"Forget it monkey," Tobey crossed his arms and turned to head back up the beach. "I'm not dim enough to row out there, and in the middle of a rain storm to boot."
Huggy screamed in objection, but the boy ignored his every cry. Tobey was off the beach and back on the street in no time. There was no way he was going to row out into the middle of the bay, especially with a monkey at the helm.
"Stupid animal's trying to get me killed. I'll take my chances with the weapon wheedling maniac if you don't mind." Tobey sent a quick glance behind him to see if the monkey might be following. The silly thing wasn't. Good.
As Tobey faced forward again, he was startled by a new face crouching in front of him.
"Well, evening there young man." The woman spoke to him in a soft, inviting tone. "I hope you don't think me rude, but I couldn't help but over hear your dilemma; a crazy gun wheedling lunatic, eh? Maybe I can help you, my name's Nona."
At first Tobey was startled by the woman's sudden appearance, but Tobey quickly settled his nerves and sized the woman before speaking.
"I don't need your help." Tobey tried to push past the woman but she blocked his path and remained in front of him.
"I wish that were true Mr. MacCallister, but I'm afraid circumstances are against us." Nona reached out and moved a patch of Tobey's matted hair out of his eyes, in a motherly kind of way.
"How do you know my name . . ?" Tobey stopped his desperate attempt to leave.
"Come come little dear." The odd woman began walking toward the beach, twirling an umbrella over her head as if performing in a dance routine. She skipped and began humming a familiar tune. . . All of Tobey's better judgment told him to leave this loon, but there was something about that lady that felt . . . familiar and yet, very, very distant. Maybe it would be okay to follow, if she was going to help him get to WordGirl that is. Tobey ran to catch up with the woman. Tobey watched the woman trying to place where he might have seen her before. It would also be helpful to know how she knew he'd be here. This wasn't something normal people did.
Just as the young genius caught up to Nona, she stopped. She was watching Captian HuggyFace give up his futile efforts of untiring the boat.
"Roget!" The cry was a happy one. The woman dropped her umbrella to scoop the monkey up in her arms. The monkey seemed pleased to see her as well, and Tobey just felt confused. Who was this lady? "It has been too long my dear friend."
Huggy chirped back at the lady and they both shared a long embrace. At long last Nona held Huggy out so she could see his face. She didn't even seem disturbed by the fact that she was getting soaking wet. She stood listening to Huggy for quite a long time as the monkey rambled on about something in his animal language. They then shared another long embrace.
Tobey causally came alongside the duo and retrieved the umbrella for his own. Finally being out of the rain, Tobey dried his glasses again; wet lenses made it so much more difficult to see. As the frames were put back on his face, Nona leaned in very closely to Tobey's face startling the boy once more.
"So Adler found out you were here huh?"
"Who? What are you talking about?" Tobey took a step back to lessen the woman's proximity.
"The man who just tried to kill you; did he find out your secret identity? How about your mother; is she still hiding?"
Huggy then popped in between the two, chirping and babbling in his monkey language. Tobey could only wonder what it was the monkey was telling Nona. She seemed to understand him. Maybe this lady was from Lexicon . . . was WordGirl's whole planet out on that island?
"Will someone tell me what's going on here?!" Tobey was losing his patience.
Huggy finished his thought before Nona spoke on his behalf.
"Sorry Mr. MacCallister," Nona reached out to brush some of Tobey's wet hair from his face, but the boy blocked her hand. "Roget . . . I mean, Captain HuggyFace tells me that you don't have the slightest as to why Adler wants to kill you." Tobey could see Huggy roll his eyes at the woman's explanation, but the woman kept on speaking. "And for your own protection we'll keep it that way."
"My protection!? Shouldn't I know why someone wants to kill me!?"
"Now, now, Mr. MacCallister. No need to get all huffy."
"Huffy? I'm not huffy!"
"Well, you look pretty offended and annoyed to me. That's what huffy means you know."
"No, I'm livid. I want to find WordGirl so that I can help find my friend and if you can't help me do that . . ."
"I promise you Mr. MacCallister, finding Miss. Botsford is on my highest priority list."
"How did you know . . ."
"But first things first; we need to get you somewhere where Adler can't find you; and then get WordGirl to follow." The last part Nona said more to herself. The woman turned back to the monkey beside her. "Roget, eh, Huggy (it's going to take me a great deal of time to adjust to that name) can you get in contact with WordGirl and have her 'meet' us someplace."
Huggy smiled and pointed out over the water. Nona tried to follow his gaze. She couldn't make out what it was he was pointing at, but listened closely as Huggy explained. The more Huggy spoke, the more Nona seemed to agree, and the more worried Tobey became. What was he doing? He needed to find Becky. This woman and monkey were wasting his time. Frustration gripped the boy as he fought within himself on the issue of leaving. This was all too weird; maybe he should have stayed home.
His mother must be worried about him by now; it was going on Sunday morning. She would be out looking for him . . . hopefully. . . Wait, this Nona person had mentioned his mother; was his mother hiding?
"What about my mother?"
"Huh?" Tobey's words had broken the conversion between Nona and Huggy. "Whatever do you mean, Mr. MacCallister?"
"Stop calling me that, my name's Tobey." The boy allowed his frustration to coat his tone. "You mentioned my mother. You said she was in hiding. What are you talking about?"
"Well I," Nona glanced back at Huggy for support but was brought back to face Tobey as he made his demand again. "I'm sorry to worry you Mr. Mac . . . Tobey, but you needn't worry about your mother. I assure you she'll be fine. Adler isn't going to go after her and your safe with me."
"That doesn't explain anything!"
Nona looked out in the direction of the bay. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small remote of some kind. It looked more sophisticated than the ones Tobey ordered for his robots; of course he wasn't going to tell her that.
"So, Tobey," Nona spoke. "Have you lived in this city your whole life?"
"Maybe."
"I'll take that as a yes," Nona smile pressing a few buttons on the remote. "So you've only seen row boats here?"
"No, motor boats have been around forever. What do you think I am, slow on the uptake?"
"Thank heavens; I'd hate to have to use a row boat."
There came a roar of an engine as a bright light was cast over the water in the small group's direction. Tobey could have guessed it was a speed boat, but its shape was unlike any boat he had ever seen. . . And it was racing their way!
"Stop the boat or it's going to crash into us!"
"Oh you silly boy." Nona giggled as the machine rapidly approached.
Well Tobey had no desire to be mowed over by a water vessel. The eleven year old ran up the shore several yards away from Huggy and Nona. He closed his eyes at the would-be moment of impact, but no such moment occurred. As the boy opened his eyes, the boat was resting perfectly still in the shallow waters in front of Nona; a boat which the likes of he'd never seen.
"Well Ahoy there landlubber!" Nona called out to Tobey. "We be shovin' off if ya'r interested? Arrg"
Was he really going to get in that boat? Was this lady really taking him to WordGirl or was she working for 'Adler?' And more importantly, did she just 'arrg' at him?
It would be foolish to try and walk home alone while Adler was still out looking for him, and Captian HuggyFace wouldn't lie to him. Even though this would probably end up being the biggest mistake of his life, Tobey found himself joining the woman-monkey team in traversing the black waters.
It was dismaying out on the water. There was nothing for miles around, just the boat and its engine's low hum. Tobey looked to Nona who had focused her full attention out into the bay, as if she could see the island they were heading too. Huggy did the same. It didn't take long for Tobey to notice that neither of them was driving the boat, but they didn't seem too worried. Nona was the first to break the silence of the morning.
"I'm so happy to see you alive, Roget," she looked down at the monkey. "For years I thought you and the princess were dead." The monkey chirped back to which Nona responded with a light laugh. "I can't believe you thought I was dead. I'm from Thesauria; they never would have killed me." Huggy made another response; Nona looked out over the water as she commented back. "The Britannican soldiers seemed to know the exact location of the safe room. King Flaccus and his family didn't have a chance. I was so heartbroken when Prince Marcus came back into the room. I was taken away before I could learn the fate of you, the princess or prince Caxton." Huggy responded somberly. "Oh, I see."
Nona returned to silent reflection. Tobey wasn't certain what they were talking about. None of it seemed to make any sense, but then again, what did in this moment? The group remained quiet until the island came into view.
"We're almost there Tobey." Nona smiled. "Are you, worried about anything?"
"I'm worried about my friend whom you still haven't helpped me find."
"Tobey," Nona sighed as the boat slowed its speed to dock on the shoreline of the island. "I know tonight's been very mean to you, and there will be no lack of joy when all these dark matters are settled, but for now I need you to trust me. Everything is going to be fine."
Tobey glared at the woman. She had taken a standing position and had offered her hand to help Tobey up. The boy merely stared at her, almost daring her to touch him. It was clear he didn't trust her. He was only doing this because Huggy was here, and that meant WordGirl was here. The heroine he could trust. Nona sighed again as her hand fell to her side. The woman stepped off the boat and onto the sand.
"Huggy?" the woman waved to the monkey. "I've packed a lot of supplies in the boat."
Huggy jumped out to join her and they spoke on for a while as they walked. Tobey remained in the boat clutching the umbrella he still possessed from earlier. The rain wasn't as bad out here, but it was still enough to irritate his vision. It was olnesome sitting on the boat being bobbed about by the waves. He did eventually follow the two out into the wooded island. He kept his distance as the two babbled on about what he could only guess was Lexicon.
Just as the rain ceased, Tobey's eyes were met with the most amazing sight.
"Is this WordGirl's ship!?"
Of course it had to be! Tobey ran ahead of the two adult figures to examine the ship himself. He just couldn't believe that he was standing close to, no, touching WordGirl's ship!
Sigh.
Tobey's blushing checks did not go unnoticed as Huggy grunted in disapproval. Nona only laughed.
"With that kind of 'enthusiasms' we could end the war with one big ceremony."
Huggy again made his criticism to such a remark while the metaphor went over Tobey's head.
"Well Tobey," Nona stood before Tobey and bent down to his eye level. "Would you like a tour inside?"
"Would I ever!"
"Huggy why don't you show him around while we wait for WordGirl to arrive. I'll go get the supplies, eh?" Nona winked at her monkey companion.
"Supplies?" the boy pulled on Nona's sleeve to gain her attention again. "Why do we need supplies? We need to go out and look for Becky."
"Because Tobey," Nona smiled sweetly. "Adler is still after you children. You need to hide out here for a while until he can be dealt with. Now don't worry; you can trust me." With that Nona took back her umbrella and began a merry skip back to the boat. Tobey could only watch her silly antics for a second before a noise brought his attention to the ship.
Huggy had opened a door . . . or the side of the ship rather. . . alien technology never did function the way they portrayed it in movies. The inside of the ship, was, awesome. Tobey couldn't contain his excitement. He wasn't so much attracted to the games and toys as much as he was drawn by the other worldly technologies. Huggy could hardly keep up with Tobey's 'enthusiasm.' Worst of all, Tobey was taking the liberty of removing a few things Huggy was certain WordGirl would miss.
In the game room Tobey took WordGirl's ping-pong paddle; from the bathroom, her hand towel; he took three pictures off the walls; from the kitchen Tobey took several pieces of silverware, none of which were clean.
Huggy tried yelling, he tried jumping in front of the boy. There was nothing Huggy could do but follow the boy and keep track of the items stolen. Sigh. Tobey just ran into the ship's library. Surly he would try to steal something there too . . . wait . . . the Dictionary stand was in the library!
Huggy tore after Tobey to find his fear's confirmed. The boy was standing on the bottom shelf of the stand flicking through the Dictionary's pages.
"This spiteful read is vacant." Tobey griped as he thumbed the blank pages. "One might sincerely prognosticate that a lexicon from WordGirl's celestial domicile would embody engrossing and substantial information as is contradictory to these unengaged pages."
Oh dear. Huggy quickly jumped onto the open book.
"You can't read this!"
"Quite the opposite you cretinous beast. I reserve the right to register these empty pages at my discretion."
" . . . what?"
"I'll read it if I want to. Now move." Tobey pushed the monkey only to receive Huggy's hand gripping firmly to his arm. The boy fought with the monkey for several moments until he lost his footing and fell to the floor.
"Oww." Tobey rose and rubbed his afflicted backside.
"Well that should teach you not to stick your nose in places it doesn't belong." Huggy spat jumping back onto the stand.
"Oh, because a dictionary is loaded with WordGirl's 'personal' information." Tobey made quotations in the air with his fingers. He couldn't understand why this animal was so agitated by him reading a dictionary. It wasn't like it was WordGirl's diary . . . Tobey then couldn't help but wonder if she had one.
"I can only hope its effects will wear off soon." Huggy shut the dictionary before jumping to the floor next to Tobey.
"Effects?! What Effects?"
"Just that bigger vocabulary you had for a second there, but it doesn't seem to be lasting."
Pause.
"You can understand me?!" Huggy jumped up to grab the Tobey's collar knocking the boy back to the ground. "How much of the dictionary did you read?!"
Tobey's mouth hung slightly ajar. Did, that monkey just, speak!? This wasn't possible. There was no way he could understand what that monkey was saying. This, this had to be a trick . . .
"Answer me Tobey! How much did you read!?"
"I, I only looked at the middle . . . and then I flipped to the back of the book. But there's nothing written in it. The pages are blank." The pages of the dictionary were indeed blank, a least to Tobey's eyes.
Huggy slapped his forehead. What was WordGirl going to do when she found out? She was going to kill him, that's what. Tobey watched the monkey's anguish for a moment before speaking. "I'm not speaking monkey, am I?"
"Either that or I'm speaking idiot."
"Hey," Tobey got back to his feet. "You're not going to talk to me like that. . . you're not supposed to talk to me at all!"
"Look we have to find a way to undo this before WordGirl . . ."
There came a sound from the ship's entrance lobby. The two males sent one more glare at each other before rushing to see who had come to the ship.
WordGirl had finally returned to her ship, but made no effort to look for Huggy. She went straight to the super computer located in the center of the vessel. She never looked more focused in her life. The frazzled girl was scanning through hundreds of city maps in hopes of finding just one place where Scoops could be. Just one clue to who would take him. She just needed, something . . . anything. Why wasn't anything showing up!? What hadn't she searched?
WordGirl slammed her fist onto the computer's keyboard as her face flushed in frustration.
Tears.
"Where are you Scoops? Where on Earth could you have gone?"
"Scoops?" The soft voice came as a surprise to WordGirl as she turned sharply to face it. She hadn't expected anyone to be at her hide out, needless to say not this voice. "I thought you were looking for Becky?"
o.
What was he supposed to say?
"Becky! Todd!"
The search parties had been out for over three hours now; there wasn't a sign of the children anywhere. In fact, another child was reported missing at around eleven. Tim hung his head in despair as his son pressed his face against the bookstore's front window. He and his son had been on the streets searching since he heard the news from Mrs. Heaslip.
"Maybe Becky's in there, dad," TJ spoke. Both father and son joined the search party in hopes that both the children were simply lost. "She really loves books; I bet she's just locked inside."
"Come on TJ, she's not here."
TJ looked to his father. TJ could never remember a time when his dad sounded like this. The words didn't seem to fit his father's normally positive disposition. It was almost as if his father adopted a foreign tongue.
"We're gonna find her, aren't we dad?"
The question was innocent enough; Tim felt his heart stop at the sound of his son's words. The confusion and fear of losing his child made Tim's throat dry and tight as he reached for an answer to give his son. Not even sure what the fear was from, the father felt his eyes burn with the lack of knowledge to produce tears. What could have happened to Becky? What did her disappearance mean? What was a kidnapping? What was there to be afraid of?
But this wasn't like him to worry, and he certainly did not wish to worry his son.
"We'll find her, TJ," Tim mustered all the courage he had as he spoke. "No matter what happened, we'll find her."
Tim continued walking, unaware that his son was more moved by his word then he ever thought possible.
TJ stood in the rain. There were times he didn't like his sister, but there was never a time he didn't love her. If he could have just one wish right now, it wouldn't be that his parents would adopt someone as cool as WordGirl, but that he had never wished Becky would leave.
"TJ?" Mr. Botsford turned as he noticed TJ wasn't following. "Son?"
The young boy could no longer withhold the sob building inside him as he ran into the waiting arms of his father. The boy let all his fears stain his father's shirt.
"Come on, son, we need to call mom. This isn't working."
The voices of the other searchers echoed in the streets as if the abandoned roof tops where crying out themselves. They rose to such volumes that it hurt to try and make sense of them.
But one voice did resonate louder than the others.
Tobey stood face to face with WordGirl now, just as frustrated as she.
"Where's Becky?"