Disclaimer: I don't own WordGirl. This is a fanfiction and not a reflection of the shows creators or producers.
A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter. This one was hard to work thru. I've changed things hundreds of times to get it right, but I think it's pretty good now. Warning though, if you don't like cliffhangers you probably shouldn't read this chapter until the next one is posted.
"Okay, run thru it a bit slower this time." The police commissioner sipped his coffee as Claire and the three children tried to explain the situation again. They had been trying to convince the police that they had located the real kidnapper and the police were wasting their time looking for Two-Brains.
"Adler's the man who kidnaped kids, not Two-Brains." Claire started. Her fear for her son was increasing by the minute, yet remaining calm was the only option she had at the moment. It was hard for her to think that her only son was being pursued by someone as dangerous as Alder; even worse was her search party consisted of a villainous mouse and a pint-sized sidekick monkey.
"And he's extremely dangerous, he has weapons." Violet leaned over the desk of the commissioner. Her nerves were almost shot. She couldn't stand the thought of her best friend fighting Adler alone, but there was nothing she could do for WordGirl now. Before Violet had time to make another comment TJ pushed her out of the way.
"He plans on hurting WordGirl and I think he has my sister somewhere. We know where he is but you have to hurry!" He knew he was responsible for a lot of the mess-ups that night, but now wasn't the time to play the blame game. Becky needed him, and WordGirl couldn't be counted on. Adler might just be too much.
"He's in one of the houses around the lake," Todd came up to the desk. "He only has one accomplice so we could get him if we move now. We can point him out to you."
The police commissioner scratched his chin as he thought about the words of the people before him. He opened his mouth about to respond . . . however chose to take another sip of his coffee instead. He then cleared his throat, for yet another sip.
"Well," TJ asked impatiently as the officer set his mug down.
"So, what you're saying is that Adler is really the one to blame for the kidnapings and the recent disappearance of WordGirl. That he is the one to harbor possession of guns and he maybe on his way to destroy the world?"
"We, never said anything about the world," Todd shrugged. "But the rest is right."
"Look boy, if these aliens want world domination, then they're just going to have to wait. I have some missing persons I need to find first." The entire tattered group was shocked as the commissioner took a large gulp of coffee. "Odds are they're helping to build the cheese mines. Crazy aliens." The commissioner then called to one of the other officers in the station. "Hey, I need some pictures of those missing kids."
The officer ran in with several photos and handed them to her boss. She then did a double take on the small group at the desk.
"Oh my," the officer came around the desk and to look the kids over. "These are the children from the photos!"
"No, stop," The commissioner rose from his desk and looked at the group.
"Look sir. I'm the missing kid," the whole situation was becoming a bit too frustrating for Todd. He grabbed up the photo of himself and held it up to his face. "I'm right here, you don't need to look for me anymore; we have to stop Adler . . ."
"Wait, you're Todd Ming?"
"Yes."
The commissioner glared down at the boy, then the picture, then the boy. He scratched his chin again as if reading over philosophical text.
"No. This boy in the picture is wearing a hat," the commissioner straightened up. "I'm not falling for some alien trick."
The police officer shared a sympathetic look with the group as they began to complain to her boss. She then walked over to the coat rack and searched for a hat similar to Todd's old one. Bingo. She placed the hat down on the boy's head; the commissioner's eyes lit up.
"By Jove, it's the missing boy!"
Sighs rose from the group as they, once again, had to explain the whole Adler situation. At least now they would be getting some help, and soon be reunited with their families. Well, almost all. TJ was still upset that he was being forced to repeat this story over and over again. His sister was in great danger and nobody seemed to care. He hated this helplessness. If only there was a way to locate WordGirl.
"I bet she's almost busted Adler by now," TJ spoke to himself as the group around him continued to debate facts. "I just wish I could see her." The young boy came up to the stations window and looked out to the sky. There were no streaks of light, no 'Word Up' to be heard. It was almost as if WordGirl wasn't even in the city anymore. But why would she leave at a time like this; didn't she care?
TJ closed his eyes as he felt them water. He wanted so much for this to change. He loved his sister, and this wasn't . . . why was it like this? Becky never did anything to this Adler guy, and neither did WordGirl. What was he after? TJ took a deep breath and opened his eyes. . . Standing outside . . .what couldn't be reasoned away, wished away . . . was the very source of TJ's anguish. Adler waved to the boy in the window before causally making his way to the police station doors. . . this couldn't be good.
o.
"Princess!" Zephyr closed the gap between himself and WordGirl with little hesitation. He dropped to the girl's level and hugged her for several long moments. WordGirl was still too put off to speak, so he spoke up first. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
" . . . for, what?"
"I wasn't forced to bring you here, I chose to, but not for the right reasons. I didn't mean to lie . . . Oh WordGirl, you must be horribly worried about your family."
WordGirl was shocked by this. No one since her arrival on this planet had mentioned her family in such a way. But that, didn't really matter, what about Alder?
"We did this to you; you don't want this, do you?" Zephyr must have worked himself into quite a frenzy. Even though it was dark out, the redness of the man's eyes were visible. "We shouldn't have let this happen to you. I shouldn't have . . . We need to hurry."
Zephyr got to his feet and grabbed WordGirl's arm. He pulled her along quickly to the house. WordGirl was still stunned; what was going on here?
"What are you doing?" She pulled her hand away from his grip.
"I'm going to send you home." Zephyr said clearly, shutting the door behind his guest.
"Wait, why? You people need me here to be princess, why would you send me back?"
"Ha, they want you to be princess. Those silly Lexiconians," Zephyr began shutting the curtains on the windows as WordGirl just stared on in confusion.
"What about Adler? You said you should have-"
"There were a lot of things I should have done, but I didn't. I'm not adding you to my list," the curtains were closed. "You need to get home and stop that man once and for all. You need to help save Earth, and keep all this madness away from it."
Zephyr smiled mischievously as he stood in the middle of his foyer. He clapped his hands twice which seemed to activate a tile of the floor. The tile dissipated as a code panel lifted from the ground.
"You have to promise never to tell Tyesha or Miena about this; I think they'd flip." He laughed as he began typing.
"I'm, really not sure what you're doing," WordGirl watched as the walls to the room began to change colors, screens began to emerge from the floor much like the panel had as lights in the foyer dimmed to allow holographic images to be seen. "But this is really contradictory to what you've been putting me thru." Earth appeared on some screens as did the loading docks of Thesauria.
"I think I can locate your ship," Zephyr waved his hands thru images as he searched. "Once you get back you can't dally at all, get to Adler and stop him."
"What is all this?" WordGirl stepped closer to see what the man was doing. She had no idea . . . how could she . . .
"This is some of the best technology Britannica has to offer. With their control over planets like Storia, we can use their technology to tap into any parts of history, science; whatever you want."
"Why are you doing this? I don't belong on Earth, I'm supposed to be the princess of Lexicon, remember?"
"Do you honestly believe that?" Zephyr quit his search and looked down at the young heroine.
"Well," did she? "I've failed at being a hero for Earth. I let Adler attack the city and hurt some of my dearest friends. I'm from Lexicon, so it's best I go there, isn't it?"
"And you're just going to let Alder ruin Earth then, huh?" Zephyr sounded cross.
"No, Gramma, mommy, whatever her name is, she said she was going to take care of it. To be honest, I don't understand what you're doing?"
"The Queen of Thesauria told you that," Zephyr bent down to WordGirl's level. "She said she was going to take care of Adler for you?" There seemed to be panic in his voice, but he quickly concealed it.
"Yes."
Zephyr turned back to the screen.
"Computer, contact Grammy." The computer did as commanded.
WordGirl tried to think thru this. Here Zephyr was trying to send her home . . ? He was one of the most admit to keep her here, but now he wanted her home. It wasn't like she didn't want to go home, there was such a large part of her that longed for the comforts of Earth, but she didn't belong there; nobody out here believed she did. She couldn't stop Adler, it was better that the queen took care of it. Besides, didn't Lexicon need its ruler back? Everything Zephyr was doing now just, didn't make sense. He was going against High Law by doing this, was he not?
The screen flickered to life with the image of the queen staring coldly at Zephyr.
"How dare you call me like this," the queens eyes droped to WordGirl's confused ones before looking back to the man. "And in front of the princess no less. She is not to utilize Britannican . . ."
"Save it," Zephyr interjected, and quite rudely. "Adler; what are you doing about him?"
The queen looked surprised by Zephyr's words. WordGirl almost couldn't believe that this exiled Lexiconian had the nerve to speak to the queen like that.
"How do you, know. . ? I've alerted Far Side Authorities. They will handle him."
"Far Side?" Zephyr looked troubled by the words; WordGirl didn't know what it was, but she didn't like the route of this discussion. "You know as well as I do he's doing a whole lot more than just looking for the princess," his tone carried a certain acidity to it that caught both the queen and the princess off guard. "He'd be out here if that were his only goal."
"Far Side is trained in handling this kind of danger . . ."
"No Grammy, they're not! WordGirl's city already knows about her, Far Side's going to see that city as a threat to High Law!"
"That's, a risk we have to take." The queen diverted her eyes.
"No, it's not! There are other people who matter down there, and you don't even care! We can't leave this to Far Side . . ."
"Shut-Up!" The elderly woman silenced Zephyr; WordGirl just glanced to her guardian and back up to the screen. "Everything is taken care of; you must trust me in that. Adler will be dealt with; besides, WordGirl's presence would have been told to Far Side by the University of Sociological Studies anyway. The fate of the city would have come about eventually."
"What does she mean?" WordGirl came beside Zephyr. "What's the city's fate?"
The queen tried to speak but Zephyr answered faster than the older woman could anticipate.
"They'll erase your city. Because they know about us, because they know you, they'll erase it. And since you're not there, Far Side doesn't have to feel bad about it."
"Don't tell her that!" The queen nearly choked on her words as she tried in vain to mask the man's words. "Hush!"
"You see WordGirl," Zephyr continued. "I brought you here to help restore Lexicon because I thought, maybe I could stop this war if I raised you right. I wanted, a second chance to fix what I messed up for Earth, I wanted to fix my life. . ."
"Silence!"
". . . But that was selfish. I shouldn't have agreed to take you away from Earth. It needs you. We were stupid, this is our war and you've got to get out of it. High Law is stupid, Lexicon is stupid, all of this is stupid. And I'm Sending Her Back!" Zephyr screamed up at the screen to quiet the cries of the queen.
WordGirl's heart was still pounding at the thought of the city being erased.
"Do you Hear me!" Zephyr screamed again, breathing heavily as he did so. Then, he paused. It seemed he was thinking about something and the pieces were finally fitting together. " You know he's found out, don't you? That's why he's not coming here. . . You've got to stop him some other way, because if Far Side sees that the city knows about WordGirl then, they'll erase it."
"Mr. Comte's school already knew the city had discovered WordGirl. For, whatever reason they have chosen to become a Britannican state, and they've shared that information with them. If you send WordGirl back Britannica will defiantly have it erased; we might as well do it while we have control . . ."
"No, you want to do it while we have WordGirl; What about my . . ."
"Don't go there! I'm telling you to trust me because I have it under control!"
WordGirl couldn't understand everything that was passing between the two adults, but things were becoming clear. This war was to blame, and yet Zephyr was right; it wasn't her war to fight. The war had made Adler bitter and had killed many people including her real family, and was now affecting Earth. Her place wasn't out here, she needed to keep this from her home. Adler was going to bring all of this mess to the people she loved most, and there was no way she was going to let that happen. Maybe WordGirl had made her mistakes in the past; she wasn't honest all the time, her family had to deal with the backlash of having a superhero as a member, and her friends had to pay for her absences as well; but at the end of the day, this wasn't her fault and she could only control the present. She had to get back to Earth.
"I'm going back your highness," WordGirl looked the old woman in the eye. "I'm going to save Earth, my home planet, and I'll fight all of Lexicon and Britannica if I have to."
The queen couldn't find an answer. WordGirl knew she was about to head back to a war all her own. She had never met Adler but she was going to take care of that threat and, maybe if Zephyr was willing to help, she could deal with Far Side as well; whatever that was. Suddenly, something else popped up in her head,
"And I'm taking Tobey home too."
"Tobey?" Zephyr's face took on a look of astonishment as he looked back up at the queen. WordGirl knew she was told never to mention Tobey here, but maybe the rules needed to be broken in order for the city to be saved. "He's . . . Tobey's here?"
"Y-yes," the queen seemed a bit uncomfortable. "I told you I had this under control, so it is foolish to send the princess home to . . ."
"And you weren't going to tell me." Zephyr and the queen were about to have another fight WordGirl wasn't sure she could understand. "What about his mom, you would let her get erased . . ?" Zephyr quickly cut the transmission and looked to WordGirl. "Are you ready?"
"I guess . . . I don't know what I'm going to do. This is getting nuts."
"Expect it to get only crazier." Zephyr began addressing the computer's again. "Locate the University of Sociological studies' files of Earth. Locate the hometown of WordGirl."
The computers did as instructed and WordGirl's city appeared on the screens. Zephyr ran his hands thru several images.
"I'm going to find Adler for you, and I'll locate your ship. Your first mission is going to have to be getting rid of him."
"No, I'm going to get Tobey," It was clear that Zephyr must have known of Tobey's importance, he couldn't mask that now if he tried. "Grammy isn't ever going to send him back, at least not now that she wants the city erased."
"You think I want to send him there?"
"I thought you weren't planning on my city getting erased." WordGirl spat.
"I don't, but . . . one can never be too careful," the man sighed dropping his head for a moment to compose a reply. "Fighting Adler isn't going to be too difficult for you, but beating Far Side will."
"I promise I will do both; Nothing else is going to happen to my friends."
Pause.
"Would you die for them?" Zephyr looked to the young superhero beside him; she gave a questioning look.
"Well, yeah . . ."
"No, you don't 'well yeah' to that kind of question. Would you die for them." There was no mask here. Zephyr was being as transparent as glass; his words bearing much weight to them and even heavier truth. He wasn't asking a question, WordGirl knew this; she was going to have to die for them. Lexicon, Britannica, Storia, Thesauria, they weren't going to leave Earth alone with her there. The princess of Lexicon wasn't a secret anymore, she was alive and she was going back to that city. As long as WordGirl was there, so would be the Lexiconian war. "Would you die?"
". . ." There was a lot to think about in that statement. If a week ago, as Becky tried to dodge out of a family vacation, someone would have told her she would be facing this situation, she wouldn't have believed them. She was just an average city superhero trying to find a way to balance her hero work with her school work. How funny life could be. Suddenly the troubles of Monday morning were the troubles she longed for.
"Maybe," Zephyr broke into her thoughts. "I need to rephrase that. Is WordGirl willing to die for them?"
"As a hero. . . I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
"What a very brave facade you wear," Zephyr bent once more to the girl's level. "I think you'd know what I meant if I said, 'It's time for that facade to fade.'"
"A facade is a deceptive outward appearance; how am I being deceptive if I'm actually brave?" WordGirl was indignant that he would make such a remark to her.
"Because I'm not dumb enough to believe your parents would name you WordGirl."
Becky smiled, he was making sense now.
"If you honestly believe it will save the city?"
"If Far Side sees the princess is dead, and the city can move on without her, there's no reason to erase a thing."
"Why don't you come with me and help?" WordGirl knew Zephyr had a love for Earth, why should he stay here when his home was there.
"Because," he sighed. "I ran away the first time when I should have dealt with things then. I've got to make it right. You have an obligation to Earth, and I have one here." He smiled weakly. "Now we've got to do all of this fast. Tyesha and Miena won't stay out forever and I'm sure Grammy will start watching Tobey. Hurry and get the boy; bring him here and I'll give you the locations. But please, Hurry."
What more permission did she need; WordGirl was out the door in an instant.
Once over the wall of the Lexiconian garden, WordGirl was completely lost. Every building looked the same and nothing was written in pure English. WordGirl kicked herself for not paying better attention when Nona was bringing her to the house. Oh well, she could regret her mistakes later. The council was a very large building, so maybe she could spot it from higher up.
Thesauria was very muggy after the rain. The heat of the day still gripped the air and made the roads smell of the concrete that paved them. It was disgusting to feel, and even harder to fly thru. WordGirl felt the night cling to the inside of her lungs making it hard to excerpt great energy. Regardless she continued on.. . . OW! WordGirl unexpectedly smacked into, what appeared to be, a glass dome, over the entire city? Wait.
"How can it rain if there's a dome over the city?"
WordGirl knocked on the surface of the dome. Unlike the window in the council building it looked and felt like glass, and it was very thick. WordGirl just hovered near the glass watching her reflection take on an inquisitive look. She couldn't get any higher if she didn't get on the other side, but it would be impossible for her to break it. There was probably a rather important reason Thesauria put it there and it could spell disaster for the people below if she just busted thru it.
WordGirl looked over to one of the moons; the glass amplified their size. She heaved a sigh and could only hope Zephyr was calculating the dome into her escape plan. WordGirl began looking over the city. The only lights still on were in the windows of the late night shops. The city didn't shine like hers did. It was dull and quiet . . . maybe it was everyone's bedtime. WordGirl yawned at the thought; she hadn't gotten much sleep on this trip.
The heroine strained her eyes as she searched the landscape. She looked north, south, a little southeast . . . There! Poking just over the tops of some of the other buildings was what looked like the Victorian styled roof. WordGirl was there in a flash.
"Okay, think," WordGirl placed a hand to her chin. "I need to distract everyone so that I can get Tobey out without Grammy noticing. If Huggy were here I could just run plan 398. Hmm." WordGirl drifted closer to the window to assess the situation . . . funny. . .
WordGirl watched as the entire council hall ran thru the halls in complete pandemonium. Was this some kind of Britannican bedtime ritual? WordGirl's attention was drawn away from the halls as a light was emitted from the main entrance to the building. It appeared Tobey was way ahead of her on planning his own escape.
"Tobey?" WordGirl startled the boy as she came up beside him. "How'd you . . ."
"Gah! Don't sneak up on me! I mean," Tobey coughed off the embarrassment of his fear. "WordGirl, so nice of you to check up on me."
"Uh? Okay, we need to escape now. I've learned that your grandmother has no intention of sending you home . . ."
"I already know that," Tobey said, his tone dropping. "That's why I'm leaving on my own."
WordGirl frowned seeing that Tobey was upset about his grandmother lying to him, but now wasn't really the time to console him.
Bang! Both Tobey and WordGirl turned to see one of the council servants come running out of the house. He ran across the garden and out of the gate, the chaotic sounds of the council hall flowing out of the now opened door.
"What's going on in there Tobey?" WordGirl pointed a thumb in the direction of the noise.
"I built a few little robots," a mischievous smile crossed Tobey's features. "Nothing too serious, but enough to keep the old bat busy for a while."
"Tobey," WordGirl grabbed the boy up by his arms. "Sometimes I admire you."
"Naturally, my superior intellect is quite attractive."
"Eww, no, when I said I 'admire you,' I meant your ability to build robots is valuable; not that I think you're attractive."
"Yes, but it's a step closer is it not?"
"I thought you didn't like me anymore."
"No, just, upset over Becky . . . But I never liked you in the first place! I was just being . . . uh, gentleman like, that's all. . . just fly."
WordGirl shook her head at the boy's poor fabrication. She looked down to him ready to explain her and Zephyr's plan, but then she noticed Tobey's new attire.
"Are you wearing a skirt?" A broad smile formed on her face; a motion she was happy her face hadn't forgotten.
"It's Not A Skirt! You know it's a kilt; and I'll have you know it is the most fashionable thing on Britannica. So there." Tobey couldn't believe his grandmother wanted him to dress like this. In all the excitement of trying to escape he had totally forgotten to grab his old clothes, but that didn't matter right now. "We need to get out of here before grandma comes, so please, Get Flying!"
A/N: Tobey's skirt. He he