Disclaimer: Note I do not own any of the characters or anything else from My Life as Teenage Robot created by Nickelodeon. This fanfic is only meant for entertainment and nothing else.
Note: The markings of, "(" and, ")" represent any characters actions, and italics represent inner though.
Author's Notes: Words nevah express how much all your comments meant and howz much your patience will awarded you'se. For a while I'ze was caught up wit many things, leavin my fic work behind really hurt me a lot, especially wit the uncomforting feeling of not finishing the story for all the people that took their time to read my fic. And over the last set of days I worked harder than I'ze ever had wit dis here fic and I'ze can only cross me fingers ta hear your responses once more.
Author's Responses:
JPElles – Groovy! Hope ya might like this newest addition to my Nine is the Loneliest Number fic.
stormrider7 – I'ze love to make my chapters long, hopefully likez you'se said dats a good thing, lol. Big thankz for your thoughtful comment, made sure to work my can off ta ghet this newest one up. – Indeed, I'ze tend to do that a lot with da majority of me fics, lol. Very much enjoyed your response, looking forward to what ya have to say with chapter 2!
kittychobit – Well den enjoy the second chapter! Sorry again for itz taking so long, lol.
calamite – Aye, I doubt dere be anything thatz be stopping me from finishing this tale, greatly appreciated your kind comment.
warlord-xana – Hey thank a lot, I'ze most appreciated your response. Hope ya enjoy this one as much as you'se did wit da first.
blazething – Can't say thank you'se enough for the comments, enjoyed reading it I'ze did. Can't wait ta hear whatz you has ta say next wit my newest chapter.
Hanae Nakasome – So you'se have commanded it, so shall it be! Hope itz to your liking!
Connections – Disappoint……….. (hands Connections the next chapter) I'ze nevah disappoint. -
Nine is the Loneliest Number
Chapter 2
By Timmy22222001
By the time school had finally finished, both Jenny and Brad were totally beat as they walked their way home.
'That surprise Biology test in class today," said Jenny in a disgusted tone, "talk about a nightmare huh Brad?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," replied Brad rolling eyes, "and it was all because we didn't bother to save his van from getting smashed in by big ugly in the parking lot. I mean really, give us a break here!"
"Tell me about it." said Jenny with a small smirk on her face, "how are doing Brad, broken anything serious?"
"Nothing a few bandages and good nights sleep couldn't fix," answered Brad with both his thumbs up, "Speaking of which, how's your leg been?"
Jenny then paused for a moment and began to study her leg. After a small scanner emerged suddenly from her left arm, Jenny began to run the machine over the hole and replied, "It looks like nothing too serious from what my systems are telling me. Despite some minor damages, I'm pretty sure it's nothing more than just a scratch."
"Phew," said Brad as he continued his walk with Jenny, "was wondering if you were going to be okay or not."
Jenny smiled, looked at Brad and said, "That's sweet of you Brad, but you don't need to worry about me so much." Of course I don't mind it really.
"No, I wasn't worrying" immediately replied Brad with a light blush on his face, "I was just a little bit concerned about you…. I mean your leg that's all!"
Jenny let out a small giggle and answered, "Nice to see you're concerned on my legs well-being."
He really is sweet.
"Well you never know what going to pop up next do you?" said Brad.
Just as Brad has finished his sentence, a large cheer had rung out from in front of him and Jenny. Before anyone could realize it, there was Tuck clinging to Brad's face much like the odd creatures of Extraterrestrial. Tuck then cheered, "Brad!!!!!!! I'm so glad to see you, I was home alone for the longest and I was so bored out of my mind! I thought at first there was going to be a monster that would come get me if I didn't if I didn't eat enough broccoli so I went and…"
As Tuck seemed to go on and on with his never-ending chatter, Jenny was helping to pry him from Brad's face when she asked, "Tuck you do know that's its really only been a couple of hours since Brad and I left for school?"
With an odd popping noise, Tuck's grip was broken and with that Brad was free again to see more than a red shirt with a black stripe occupying his view
"Speaking of which," followed Brad as he put his hands on his hips, "What are you doing home so early Tuck, don't tell me that they didn't suspend you from your school again?"
"I beg your pardon!" said Tuck with his arms crossed, "I have no idea what you two are talking about!"
Some Hours Earlier
"Ladies and gentlemen," said Tuck, "for your eyes only, contained behind this curtain here is a marvel that has been hidden from mankind for thousands of years! A creature of pure phenomenon and fantasy that had let alone sparked a new revolution in the dawning of civilization. Horrendous, monstrous, and vile that……"
"Tuck," said his teacher as she kept her face covered by a small clipboard, "just please show the judges here your science fair project so we can go onto the other contestants."
Tuck blinked, smiled and replied, "SowithoutfurtheradueInowintroduce……The Man-Eating Chicken!"
With that Tuck pulled the cord in his hand, which opened the magnificently decorated drape to reveal a man in fact actually eating a bucket of fried chicken.
"Absurd!" screamed a judge.
"Foolishness!" yelled another.
"Completely unsatisfactory!" yelled the third one.
"I say, could I grab nibble with one of the wings?" asked the last one.
Tuck smiled and nodded as the judge was handed to him a large chicken wing by the man-eating chicken.
Immediately Tuck's teacher yelled, "Tuck, what is the meaning of this?"
"What?" shrugged Tuck, "He's my next door neighbor and he totally agreed to do this. I can see nothing wrong with any of my actions!"
Tuck watched as his teacher's eye began to twitch and then she immediately spun around the judges and said, "Now how about we move onto the other projects shall we?" (aggressively points off to another science project)
As Tuck's teacher and the group of judges walked away, a small boy with a set of large glasses and bleach blonde hair approached Tuck and said in a sarcastic tone, "What a very interesting science project you have for us today Tuck, might I suggest a bearded lady for next year?"
"Hey that's actually a pretty swell idea," said Tuck in a rather joyous tone, "Hey wait a minute Gregory, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh nothing," answered Gregory, "I just like it to see it get beaten by my project this year so I can rub my shiny blue ribbon in your face like I usually do."
"You!" replied Tuck pointed and shook his finger at Gregory.
"Well I love to stay and chat with you Tuck, but I have a science fair to win, so good day to you then." said Gregory in a cocky tone.
Tuck began walking his way out of the gymnasium when all of sudden he caught notice of the gym teacher's office door open with nobody inside.
By then the judges and Tuck's teacher had finally reached Gregory's science fair booth and one of the judges burst out in an excited tone of voice, "So Mr. Gregory what do you have for us this year?"
Gregory smiled and responded, "You know, just a little something I cooked up in my spare time."
"Well don't keep us waiting dear boy," said another judge, "show us what you have made."
"Right then!" answered Gregory as he pulled his chord to open the booth and reveal a large smashed pile of metal junk along with Tuck holding a large baseball bat.
Jaws dropped as the entire gymnasium was filled with silence while Tuck dropped the bat behind him, began waving his arms and said, "This is all an illusion! OOOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOoooooooooOOOooo….." (smiles)
An Hour after the Incident,
As a car screeched it tires to an immediate halt in front of Brad's house, Tuck then was flung out from the back seat onto the sidewalk.
Having instantly gotten back up on his feet, Tuck watched the small car speed away as he shook his fist and yelled, "I'll be back tomorrow!"
Back to Now,
"Other then that, I have no idea why they would send me back home so early." said Tuck as he scratched his chin.
Brad just put his hand over his face and shook his head while Jenny just burst out laughter.
"What?" asked Tuck with a slight shrug of his shoulders..
Taking his hand from his face, Brad let out a small groan and answered, "Tuck, just please go back inside the house."
"Okey-Dokey!" responded Tuck in a rather cheery sort of tone.
As Tuck ran his way back to the house, Jenny smiled and said to Brad, "Well……..good thing that wasn't weird."
Brad formed a smile and nodded, "Oh yeah."
"Anyways," said Jenny, "I got to get going home now Brad, but as soon as I finish my History homework….."
"I'll already have the DVD system warmed up," interrupted Brad, "and remember be there around our place for eight or….."
"Or else you'll have to start without me," countered Jenny with a warm smile, "I wouldn't miss it for the world Brad."
Pausing for a moment, Brad turned his head towards Jenny and asked, "What was that last part again?"
Jenny panicked as her face had blushed with a bright blue, in which she immediately responded, "Uh….I'll see you at your place for eight Brad…..look you brothers trying to burn the kitchen down!!"
Brad instantly panicked as he spun around to the direction of his house and yelled out, "Tuck, don't do it, we still have leftovers!"
After noticing that there were no flames erupting from the kitchen nor from any other part of the house Brad slightly paused and then added, "Hey wait a minute, there's no…."
Turning his head to where Jenny had stood, he only saw a small cloud of dust and then heard a door slam which was more than likely the one from Jenny's house. Scratching his head in confusion, Brad then shrugged his shoulders and continued his way back home.
Meanwhile Aboard a Cluster Flagship,
"A thousand curses!" screamed Vexus as she slammed her fist on the controls, "why hasn't XJ9 been affected yet?!"
"But my queen," squealed a small Cluster drone as it ran over to Vexus, "the virus has already been planted and is already working at full capacity to infect XJ9!"
"I don't care about that," yelled Vexus as she punched a rather large hole into the wall, "I want results!"
Just then another drone ran over to Vexus and said, "My queen, the virus is now fully active, and has now begun its mutation sequence!"
Vexus formed a sinister grin and said, "Now that my virus has been planted all I have to do is watch XJ9 destroy herself and then I can release the Cluster's Apocalypse and the world will be at my fingertips!"
After letting an evil laugh, the small drones poked Vexus's leg and asked, "My queen, who are you talking to?"
Vexus just closed her eyes and shook her head, "Never mind drone, just call me when XJ9 notices her mutations taking effect."
As Vexus mumbled to herself and made her way to her personal chamber, one of the drones said to other, "Geez what her problem?"
"I head that!" screamed Vexus.
Meanwhile Back on Earth,
After making her hasty retreat to her house, Jenny let out a deep sigh and then leaned herself on the door with her arms around her chest.
Where did all that emotion come from, and why did I say and think those things about Brad? Why is this happening to me? (bonks head repeatedly on the back on the door)
Jenny did in fact know some of the answers to the many questions she had running in her head, but even then she still felt doubtful and sometimes lost at how to answer them all. Although she had felt like most of them had to do with the feeling of love, Jenny still felt puzzled as to what it was and why she had yet to have it before. From what her mom told her earlier before when she first met and guys like Silver Shell and Don Prima, she was told it was only a regular crush she experienced like any teenage girl, "Nothing as close to what love is." always said Ms. Wakeman.
Before Jenny could sort anything else out, her mom had walked into the room and asked, "X-9-Nein exactly why are you propped up on the door like that?"
"Sorry mom," answered Jenny as she removed herself from her short-lived thinking spot, "I was just……ahhh……..testing the door to see for its….uhh…durability!"
Ms. Wakeman raised her eyebrow and took a sip of coffee before saying, "Sure. Now why exactly is it that the left portion of your is leg damaged?"
"Oh that," said Jenny as she presented the small cut in her leg to her mom, "some ugly Cluster thing attacked me at school, shot a small claw into my leg, and gave me a shock. It's nothing too serious mom."
"Hmmmmmm, have you already done an internal system analysis?" asked Ms. Wakeman as she inspected the damaged section a few more times.
"My system says that everything's fine mom," said Jenny as she pulled her leg back to herself, "despite minor damage, I'm sure it's nothing that serious."
Ms. Wakeman nodded before taking another sip of her black coffee and replying, "Well after I cook some dinner, I grab my tool kit and see what I can do about it. Till then try not to think too little of it X-J-Nein, the Cluster are a tricky race and it's hard to say exactly what they're up to next."
"Sure mom," said Jenny with a quick shake of her head, "I'll be upstairs doing my homework if you need me."
Ms. Wakeman gave a tiny nod and made her way off into kitchen while Jenny began to climb stairs to her room, letting out a rather deep sigh when she reached the top.
An Hour Later,
Just as Jenny had finished her Math and grabbed her History textbook, a sharp pain all of a sudden rose up in the back of her neck. Taking one her hands to check the back of her neck to check what was in fact going on that Jenny realized that some small spike that had somehow emerged from under her armor.
What the?
But before Jenny had the chance to do anything, she began to feel sharp electrical pains throughout her body which almost caused her to almost fall right onto the floor.
As Jenny tried to balance herself, she watched as her mirror in front began to fizz like a TV almost and then was replaced unfortunately by none other than Vexus, Queen of the Cluster and Cluster Prime.
"Vexus," said Jenny as she tried to keep her systems from going into their offline states, "what are you up to?"
"Oh hello Jennifer," said Vexus with sinister smile, "am I interrupting something?"
Jenny let out a small scream of pain while Vexus let out an evil laugh before continuing, "I can see my virus is already starting to do its job."
"A virus?" replied Jenny.
"Correct Jennifer," answered Vexus with a grin, "a virus specifically designed to put robots just like you out of my way once and for all!"
"That thing you sent after me," said Jenny, "it must have been a carrier!"
Vexus gave Jenny another cheery smile and replied, "Correct again Jennifer! Of course the "thing" that you're describing was actually a very loyal protector of Orbital Six."
Letting out another shriek, Jenny watched at the horror as her left arm was ripping apart with claws and more sharps spikes seeming to emerge from inside her.
"You see Jennifer," said Vexus, "the virus that was planted on you is very……unique."
"How so?" remarked Jenny in a bitter tone just seconds before a large set of spikes ripped out from her leg.
Vexus raised an eyebrow and answered, "At first it all started out as a simple enhancer that would benefit any robot that would use it. However, thanks to some minor alterations, we were able to turn it into a powerful weapon, and I have to say I'm quite impressed."
Jenny trying hard to pull herself up with whatever were her arms had transformed into her now commenting, "Vexus, you've gone too far this time."
"Jennifer," responded Vexus with a sense of glee, "your transformation has just begun. For you see, only if you're able to survive these "mutations," will you be worthy enough to join to Cluster. After which, the virus targets the mind directly and alters it, and in my case will make you into my most loyalist of warriors."
After letting out another painful scream when a long metal wing emerged from Jenny's back that Ms. Wakeman downstairs finally reacted for her daughter's cries for help.
"However," said Vexus, "If you are unsuccessful with your transformation, your body will be unable to take the pressure and then begin to fall to pieces like dear Pung of Orbital Six. But from the looks of you now, I'd have to say that everything seems to be going along with flying colors. Till then Jennifer, destroy the Earth for me till I get back to you."
More electric sparks and shocks flew out from Jenny's mutating body, one which caught one the lights, immediately setting each one in the room off as Vexus left Jenny with one last sinister laugh.
With that Jenny's mirror returned back to its original state and immediately following with Ms. Wakeman breaking through the bedroom door equipped with a large laser rifle.
"X-J-Nein, where are you!" cried out Ms. Wakeman as she aimed the rifle throughout every corner of the darkened room, "I had heard come horrible screaming from downstairs and I suspected that…….."
Meanwhile Back at Brad's House,
Tuck ran into Brad's room with arms waving yelling, "Brad, Brad something's dreadful is going on!"
"What is it Tuck?" immediately answered Brad as he stopped whatever he was doing.
"I don't know," said Tuck as he tried to catch his breath, "I heard someone screaming and I swear I thought it was coming from Jenny's house!"
Instantly reacting to his brother's warning, Brad jumped up from his seat, and ran to open to his bedroom window. Making no sudden movements or even the slightest of sounds, Brad's ears were his only reliable source of information as he prayed that Tuck was mistaken with pinpointing the noise from Jenny's house. After listening for another couple of minutes and still hearing nothing that compared to nothing that Tuck had described to him, Brad closed his window and patted his brother's head, "Nice one Tuck, you got me there." (shakes head)
"But Brad," answered Tuck in a high pitched tone, "I swear I heard something coming from Jenny's house!"
"Right," said Brad, "and I hear dead people talk to me whenever I make bologna sandwiches. Once again, give it up Tuck."
In fact Brad was already starting to worry about Jenny whereabouts. Although he still believed Tuck had played a joke on him, he couldn't help but shake the uncomforting feeling he held in the back of his mind. Taking a look at his watch on his left arm, Brad saw that the time was already 6:30 pm.
Thirty more minutes to go. Please be okay Jenny, please be okay.
Still trying to shake his negative thoughts from his mind, Brad went over to his computer and began booting it up.
"Besides," said Brad in a somewhat distressed tone, "I'm sure Jenny's fine Tuck. It not like she can't handle anything on her own."
Tuck paused for a moment and scratched his chin before answering, "Yeah but….."
"Don't worry about it Tuck," replied Brad as he moved the mouse around making some clicking sounds, "if Jenny doesn't show up in the next little while, you and I will go check up on it."
"I still don't feel right about it," said Tuck with a concerned face.
"Same here Tuck, same here." answered Brad with a similar look.
40 Minutes Later,
Much time had passed now and there had still been no sign of Jenny. By now Brad was getting really troubled with Jenny's disappearance so he got up from the computer chair and picked up his cell phone.
"Calling Jenny?" asked Tuck as he jumped onto Brad's computer chair and did a few spins.
"Who else?" said Brad.
Tuck watched his older brother stood silent for a while with the cell phone in his ear before it was placed back on the table and then replaced with a small flashlight.
"What's up?" wondered Tuck.
"Dunno," said Brad as he checked the batteries if the batteries still had some power left in them, "it seems like the line is dead or something. I think I'm going to go and check it out."
"Are you crazy?" said Tuck as his teeth had started to chatter, "its pitch black out there!"
"Tuck its only late afternoon." answered Brad as he pointed outside where the sun could be seen setting
"Then what's the flashlight for?" said Tuck.
"For you." responded Brad as he set the black flashlight onto the computer desk.
"Hey!" answered Tuck, "I'm not afraid of the dark or anything else!"
Brad stood there for a few moments just staring at Tuck before saying, "Sock puppets."
"AAAGGGHHH!" screamed Tuck as he grabbed the flashlight and turned it on, "where are they?!"
After a few moments of waving Brad's flashlight around available direction Tuck said, "Phew, it's a miracle that your sock security devices still works."
"Oh yeah you got that right Tuck," said Brad as patted his brother head, "now I'm going to check to see what's up at Jenny's house."
"Hey Brad, can I still use the computer?" asked Tuck just as Brad reached the door.
"Fine," replied Brad, "but try not to "accidentally" reboot the entire system like the last four times."
"Yes!" cheered Tuck as he spun the computer chair towards the monitor.
As Brad continued his way down the stairs, Tuck was connecting to the net when he yelled, "Brad!"
Brad stopped for a moment, let out a brief sigh and replied to his younger brother, "What do you need now Tuck?"
"Can I check your emails and everything?" said Tuck as he poked his head out from the door.
"No Tuck." answered Brad as he started to reach out towards the front door.
Just before Brad was about to turn the handle of the front door, he paused and reminded himself to grab his coat.
Meanwhile back upstairs, Tuck was already making his through Brad's old emails when he heard his older brother call out to him, "Hey Tuck, do you know where mom tossed my jacket?"
When Tuck first heard his brother call out to him, he thought he was caught and somehow he immediately became frozen with any action. But after a quick glance through the empty room, Tuck wiped his forehead with his hand and replied, "I think mom put it in the closet underneath the stairs."
"Thanks Tuck." answered Brad as he slid his hand away from the railing of the stairs.
"Now," said Tuck and he cracked his knuckles, "time to take Brad's email and sign him up with girly sites."
But just as Tuck was about to grab the mouse, he heard a small, playful tone come from the speakers attached to the computer. Taking hold of the mouse, Tuck moved it around a bit and said in surprise, "Hey, Brad just got an email from Jenny."
Back downstairs, Brad pulled himself out from the deeps of the closet with his jacket and cheered, "Yes, got it!"
Just as Brad finished closing the small closet door, he could hear his brother yell out to him from his room, "Hey Brad, you got an email from Jenny! I'm going to open it okay?"
"Tuck," replied Brad as tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair, "I told you not to go through my stuff!"
Tuck had already clicked on the email to open it, but even with the fact that their internet was a high speed type and Brad had a decent computer, the email itself refused to open.
"Come on," said Tuck as continued to click the mouse on the open button displayed next to the email.
Fed up with the machine and its slow speed, Tuck jumped down from the chair and onto the floor and delivered a hard kick to the side of the computer, "Stupid junk, work faster!"
From downstairs Tuck heard Brad yell, "Tuck are you kicking my computer again?"
"It's not my fault it's slow!" commented Tuck as he jumped back onto the chair and turned it towards the monitor again.
Brad just sighed and said, "Tuck, just don't touch anything else, I'll be up in a second okay?"
"Hmmpphh," commented Tuck as he crossed his arms a bit, "why would something so small like an email take so long to open?"
But before Tuck could even begin to contemplate the internet situation, he began to hear a small static-like noise coming from speakers. Ignoring it for only a few moments, Tuck was shocked and rather confused to find the eerie sound growing louder and louder.
Tuck sighed for a moment and said, "Now the stupid speakers aren't working."
Reaching over to the speakers, Tuck froze for a moment as he noticed that not only was volume dial set to mute, but the regular green power light at the bottom was turned off.
"What the…" spoke Tuck as he leaned back onto the chair.
And with no warning the growing noise broke into a high pitched scream as Tuck immediately covered his ears and closed his eyes. Brad had his ears plugged too, but amongst the annoying screeching noise, Brad tried to yell to his brother, "Tuck what the heck are you doing?!"
Meanwhile upstairs Tuck was captivated in a moment of utter fear as he watched the computer screen itself was filled with an unknown language and bent and moved around like something was stirring in it.
Wasting no time, Tuck jumped from the seat onto the floor and was making the fastest way he could to the door when he heard a loud glass shattering noise come from behind him. His hand, no more than a foot away from doorknob was stopped as well as the rest of body as his eyes now watched in fright as a large figure was emerging its way through the computer monitor.
By now the horrible scream that filled Brad's room and as well as the rest of the house had finally stopped, and with that Brad was already upstairs and opening the door to his room. Before Brad could even say a word to Tuck, who was directly in front of his when he opened the door, Brad became totally silent as his eyes moved over to where his computer and his desk once was.
And there it was. A huge, black figure with spikes formed all across its body, with long tentacles and large cuts across its arms and legs, it was a horrible sight to see.
But even then, with its monstrous shape and disfiguring form, the beast had its hand and knees to the floor, almost like it was utterly exhausted.
Before Brad or even Tuck could make any move, Brad and Tuck could hear their unexpected guest try to talk as its unusual mouth moved slowly and said, "...Please….."
Repeating its phrase for only a few more times, the monstrosity continued its heavy panting all the while Brad and Tuck were still frozen while trying to back out of the room.
Slowly and so very cautiously, Tuck turned his head to his older brother and whispered the obvious question to him, "B….bbbb…..Brad! What t….ttt..the heck are w…..ww…we going to d..ddd..do?"
"Well," said Brad as some sweat ran down his head, "besides never letting you go into my room again, I say there's only thing we can do."
"Wha…..what's…….th…thhh….that?" replied Tuck as he tried hard to keep himself from panicking."
Narrowing his eyes in on the creature for a moment, Brad then turned his head back to Tuck and whispered, "The only thing that we can do in a drastic situation like this. Follow my lead Tuck?"
Tuck nodded his head at a slow pace all the while he eyes remained bugged and the rest of his body kept still.
"Good." said Brad as he clenched his fists and slowly rose up.
"RUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!" hollered out Brad as he grabbed his brother, shoved the door out of his way and booked it down the hallway.
Immediately, the creature raised it head and let out a horrible shriek as the red along its body started to fiercely glow brighter and brighter. And wasting no time whatsoever, the beast stood up, and began a chaotic charge at Brad and Tuck.
Just as he reached the railing at the top of the steps, Brad heard a loud hammering sound as he watched the freakish being storming through the door of his room like it was paper. With no hint of it stopping, Brad immediately jumped onto the rail and slid down the stairs as the creature made a direct collision into his parent's room behind him.
"Ha-ha your mother was a toaster oven!" cheered Brad as he continued to slide down the stairs with his Tuck underneath his arm.
Not paying too much attention to the ride, Brad and Tuck hit the slope at the bottom of the railing and were sent into the air for a small duration before landing with Brad's face to the floor.
"Ouch." said Brad as he began to lift himself up from the wooden boards.
Only getting half a foot up, Tuck then landed on Brad's back and sent him back to comforting, hard wooden floor.
"That was awesome Brad!" applauded Tuck with his hands in the air, "let's do it again!"
Yet before Brad could even comment on Tuck's remark, a huge shriek and a number of crashing noises broke out upstairs from his parent's bedroom
Outside of Brad's House
"AAAAAAGGGHHHHH!" screamed both Tuck and Brad as they bolted out from the door and onto the front lawn with their arms in the air.
And no sooner then that, right across the street Ms. Wakeman kicked her front door open and emerged outside looking like a mess and armed with a another weapon and said, "That young lady is so getting grounded!"
Yelling over to Brad and Tuck who were still in the midst of fleeing she waves her arm and called out, "Boys over here!"
Turning their direction immediately towards Jenny's mother, Brad yelled out, "Ms. Wakeman what's going on?!"
Starting to make her way over Brad and Tuck she replied, "There's no time to explain, something has corrupted XJ-Nein's system!"
"That can't be possible," yelled Brad back to Ms. Wakeman as he and his brother finally made it to the exhausted scientist, "that thing couldn't be Jenny!"
And with that the entire front porch of Brad's house burst apart with the beast emerging from the debris letting loose another horrible yelp of both pain and terror.
Not too far down the Street,
There was Sheldon pulling a large red wagon behind him full of gifts and other miscellaneous items with his face stuck in a bunch of cards saying to himself, "Okay…..Jenny I know you can't help but find me attractive…..no wait that doesn't sounds right…..how about…..I know you find it hard to go on every day without me. There we go! Oh, even better, Jenny you…"
The annoying squeak of the wagon's wheels had halted as Sheldon was frozen in his tracks as some howling scream made its way to his ears. Lowering the of cards that in front of him, Sheldon's jaw dropped when he saw a horrible creature not far off causing panic as cars and people began taking off from theirs home.
Instead of taking sides with the families, Sheldon's hanging jaw formed itself into a brilliant smile as he proudly announced, "This looks like a job for the Silver Shell"
Just as he had finished his sentence, the oncoming hordes of people suddenly ran through the Sheldon like an army of bulls to a lone matador.
Now on the ground and having been covered by a number of footprints across his body Sheldon slowly raised his right arm up and said, "Right after…..regaining………consciousness." (KO's)
Back Around Jenny's House,
"Get down now," commanded Ms. Wakeman as she sprung in front of Bradley and Tuck already the large weapon began to hum and glow a bright yellow.
Brad instantly took notice of the gun and pulled its sights away from Jenny replying, "What do you think you're doing, you can hurt Jenny!"
"It's not what you think," quickly responded Ms. Wakeman as she pulled the weapon back from Bradley's grip, "I would never fire anything harmful at my daughter, this is only meant to stun her for now!"
Another tug was given to by Brad again as he continued, "That can't be the only way, there has to be something else we can do!"
"What makes you….." trailed off Ms. Wakeman and her and Brad continued their argument all the while Tuck was busy pulling at Brad's pant leg saying, "Uh……..guys…….guyyyssss…….."
Finally having stopped all bickering, Brad and Ms. Wakeman both turned to Tuck and said, "What is it Tuck!"
Tuck only glared at the two and commented, "Ohh……I dunno, but what about THAT!!!!! (points)
A quick turn of theirs head and Brad, Tuck, and Ms. Wakeman were staring eye-to-eye to the monstrous beast that resembled their once beloved Jenny.
Jenny shifted her head back for a moment only to come back with a full powered roar that sent both Tuck and the weapon flying back into a set of garbage cans not too far away.
Brad and Ms. Wakeman still stood there utterly petrified in fear, Jenny's massive jaws began to open wide and immediately lunged forth.
Seconds before the sharp, jagged teeth could chew up Brad and Ms. Wakeman a huge metal fist seemed to emerge from nowhere, scoring a heavy blow to the right side of Jenny's face. Only barely gracing the top of Brad's hair, the set of jaws missed its mark and instead took a large bit out of parked car on the side of the road.
"Ha-ha, evil doer!" cried a strong robotic voice, "Thought you could take a bit of some defenseless citizens? Well, you better think again when the Silver Shell is….."
Immediately Jenny countered The Silver Shell with a punch of her own, sending the overconfident metal hero spinning into the air and then crashing into to the ground below.
Quickly rising back up from a number of mailboxes that somehow caught his fall, the Silver Shell cracked his own knuckles before saying, "So you wanna play it rough now do you cretin?"
Jenny took charge at the silver bot, leaving all Ms. Wakeman, Brad, and Tuck still motionless from their recent brush with death.
Brad was the first to click back to reality who ran his hands over his face and said, "Oh no not they Silver Shell, he doesn't know that thing is Jenny!"
"That means there's no telling how far he'll go to defeat her!" added Ms. Wakeman with a horrified look upon her face.
"Come on Tuck," yelled Brad as he ran over to his half-conscious brother who had a banana peel on top his head, "we got to go and warn the Silver Shell about Jenny!"
"Wait Bradley, Tuck, you can't!" pleaded Ms. Wakeman as she tried to grab the passing teen.
It was too late for Ms. Wakeman to do anything more now, Brad was on a mission and even with countless dangers ahead of him, there was nothing that could stop him.
As Brad continued his run towards the Silver Shell who was busy fighting amongst his best friend Jenny, Tuck was already at the point of consciousness when he muttered to Brad in a rather broken up voice, "Brad…..why are we running…and whats…"
"No time to explain Tuck," said Brad as he made his dash towards the battling machines, "we got to warn the Silver Shell about Jenny. Now hold on!"
There was a slight pause with Tuck, but just as Brad ran his way under Jenny's legs, Tuck looked up the monstrous face of Jenny again and then lost consciousness yet again.
Brad just rolled his eyes and as he turned his head back, a huge claw slammed hard itself hard into the road causing Brad to lose balance and briefly roll along the pavement until he made a full stop using his hands.
Hearing a familiar wailing sound, Brad looked up to see another heavy claw making its way onto his head and Brad quickly grabbed his brother and shielded him with his body.
But luckily there was crushing at all. Before the brutal arm could squish anybody the Silver Shell grabbed hold of it and threw it back to Jenny with all of his might.
"Citizen, which I have no idea who you are, what are you doing here?" asked the Silver Shell as he landed to the ground and picked up Brad and his brother.
"Listen," said Brad, "there something you have to know about this particular monster your fighting!"
A heavy roar went off before Brad could continue and the Silver Shell placed them both to the ground and quickly added, "No time now citizen, you must hide until I have defeated this brute from the streets of our beloved Tremorton!"
"But.." and again before Brad even had a chance to continue the plea, his voice was interrupted by the blasting noise created by the Silver Shell's rocket boots powering up and sending the him into the air.
Off went another solid hit from the Silver Shell but this time he made a heavy hit with Jenny's gut causing her to lower her head enough for the Silver Shell to score another punch with her jaw.
Screaming out once more, Brad bellowed out to the Silver Shell, "You have to stop Silver Shell that thing your fighting is really XJ-9!"
Unfortunately Brad's voice had been somewhat muffled by the on-going fight and the only thing the Silver Shell caught was the word, "XJ-9!"
The Silver Shell and Sheldon inside froze as it then grabbed hold of Jenny's head and said, "What have you done with XJ-9, tell me!"
But Jenny did not answer. All the fighting, smashing, and her horrible transformation had left her almost lifeless, leaving her with barely anything to answer with but only a brief grunt.
Letting go of her head, Jenny's mutilated, and still red glowing body feel to the ground as the Silver Shell continued, "Then you will prepare for what you have to done to XJ-9."
"No, No!" yelled Brad to Silver Shell as he waved his arms frantically in the air.
Yet the Silver's Shells final attack was already starting to set in motion, and neither Brad nor anybody could what was already set in motion.
The Silver Shell's chest whirred and clicked until the legs and the arms themselves had straightened out and each end began to glow with dark amounts of energy. His limbs then started to almost condense back into the chest, leaving nothing more than his head and his chest.
"For whatever you have done to XJ-9 you vile monstrosity, this last attack will surly make you pay for it tenfold." stated the Silver Shell before his head began to sink itself within his chest.
Brad of course was still trying to warn the Silver Shell to stop, but just as he was no more than some feet away from where the Silver Shell was hovering, a bright grey halo began to form around the silver chest piece.
"Oh no," said Brad as he watched the grey halo keep growing and growing with size, "this isn't good."
Taking a glance at his unconscious brother he was still carrying, Brad switched his movements backwards and retreated at least for his brother's sake.
Taking the next step with his attack, the chest itself began to form his own spikes and began to spin around in circles gaining more and more speed for every second. And then the halo itself seemed to grow in size causing small shocks of energy to be created along the spinning chest piece.
The halo then disappeared, almost being somehow absorbed by the chest that was already emitting a powerful glow of odd electrical energy. Followed with a very annoying humming sound, it and the heavy electrical field grew larger and larger until…..
SMASH!!!!
Jenny slammed the Silver Shell her gigantic claw-like arms together exactly like a person squishing a bug with their hands.
Opening her hands up, the crumpled Silver Shell began a fall to the ground below when one of Jenny's massive tentacles emerged from nowhere and then caught the beaten hero.
Inside the Silver Shell,
Thankfully Sheldon was unhurt by any of this, being a clever inventor that he is at times, he made sure to armor the interior part of the suit to prevent any chance of damage getting to him.
Of course still being disorientated by the radical amounts of spinning from his failed final attack, he grabbed his off balanced head and said, "Did I win?"
Looking through the screen that provided his view from outside his battle armor he saw a number of spiked covered tentacles coming at him. He paused for a moment and then said, "Aww crud."
Outside the Silver Shell,
The tentacles wrapped themselves around the crumpled Silver Shell, tightening and tightening until the offbeat chest piece was turned into a ball shape. Then a bigger tentacle grabbed the metal ball and dropped it into Jenny's left arm, which then swung itself and heaved forth the Silver Shell off into the distance.
Elsewhere,
Along a sunshine covered beach there was seen a mass amount of people playing, swimming, socializing, and doing whatever else without a care.
A small girl looked up at the sky for she could swear she could hear a whistling sound and with that a huge grey meteor formed out from the sky and collided far into the water ahead.
Everyone turned to where the odd sphere had fell, but with that they also were staring at a massive tidal wave that had also been formed by the crash.
As the tidal wave began to close its way quickly onto the beach, one boy near the tide turned to another who was busy building sandcastles in the sand and stated, "I so hate you."
Back around Jenny's Place Again,
Brad blinked a few times and kept his mouth in awe until he finally spoke, "Well that kind of solved that problem. At least we can….."
The scent of burnt oil began to fill the air around Brad as a repeating gust of warm wind ran all across his back and along his neck.
A small gulp came from Brad as he squeaked out the last of the words, "…help Jenny."
Swinging one of her tentacles at Brad, the unprepared teen wasn't fortunate enough to make any attempt to run and was hit hard on the back, sending him rolling across a patch of grass.
"Bradley!" shrieked Ms. Wakeman in horror as to see what her own daughter was doing to her friend.
Bringing the stun weapon up to bare, Ms. Wakeman immediately began firing shots off at Jenny screaming, "That is far enough young lady!"
Meanwhile Brad had risen up from the ground, and having to of course ignore the tender wounds along his back, he picked up his brother, and dropped him into a nearby trash can, making sure to close the lid on top.
Still firing yellow glowing shots into Jenny's body, Ms. Wakeman all of sudden stumbled as she tripped over a piece of silver scrap metal and accidentally let go of her firearm.
Having not even a chance to pick up the weapon again, a small tentacle flew from out of nowhere and broke the gun apart like glass. Yet even then, Jenny herself wasn't fully back and in control for she was still weakened by the effects of the gun on her already exposed systems.
Ms. Wakeman then immediately yelled to Brad, "Run now Bradley, she's only temporarily stunned for a few…."
A swing of a group of tentacles struck down Ms. Wakeman with no warning, causing her to instantly lose conscious but luckily enough not to lose anything else.
The roar that still had struck fear in Brad time and time again echoed out from Jenny as sparks and metal bits than began to break away along random parts of her damaged body.
Already in the motion of crawling backwards with his butt to the ground and his eyes locked onto Jenny's mangled and monstrous face, Jenny then shifted her weight over to Brad and moved one massive step in his direction.
"Jenny please you have to stop," finally spoke Brad as he continued his movements back, "it's me Brad, don't you remember?"
Jenny kept her silence as she made another large step towards Brad.
"Jenny, this isn't you, you have to fight whatever's controlling you now!" pleaded Brad.
Having only just finished his sentence, Brad was stopped all of sudden when his back then bumped into the back of an old trash can.
Tuck immediately lift the lid of his smelly bunker, rose up and yelled, "Brad what happened, all I remember is Jenny going crazy, Ms. Wakeman, the Silver Shell, running, and…." (looks up at up Jenny and goes silent)
"Well good luck then Brad!" said Tuck as he pulled down the lid of the garbage can.
Brad just frowned and nothing more.
Jenny was far from done however, reaching her huge arms along her back, she slowly grabbed held of some odd wing and then tightened her grip. With a painful scream let out and the screeching of tearing metal, Jenny pulled with all she could to strip the wing completely from her back.
Its sharp and rather fine looking wing looked to be nothing more than an oversized blade and once the last set of wires had broken away from the stem on her back, Jenny began to lift her heavy weapon high
Brad could see his life running through his eyes, his childhood, parents, brother, and finally Jenny, probably the only girl that gave him the time of day and that always stick with him. Now was memory lapse ended he could only see the horrible beast that had overtaken his dear friend and with tears in his eyes he looked up to beast and said, "Please Jenny, please don't do this."
The blade was heaved back and Jenny was ready for her attack but, her arms were quivering and her fingers had already started to lose grip.
She continued to stand there frozen, her breathing tightened into tiny breaths, and the pulsating glow of red along her eyes and body slowly started to diminish.
Her entire body now trembling and her eyes starting to turn a white light color Jenny formed the words, "……..Brad…." and then let her weapon fall to the ground.
She then took a step back, her breathing still short and her body still shaking, Jenny looked around at what she had created and cried, "No……No! What have I done?!"
"What have I become?!" cried Jenny again as she looked at her horribly mangled arms, "Nooooooo!"
Tears poured out from her eyes as she immediately covered her face with her arms, and took flight down the street and into the wilderness ahead.
Exhausted and still hurt, Brad tried to back up on him feet, but his legs gave out too quickly before he could react. And with his body spread along the green grass Brad could only now feel his mind beginning to quiet down and his vision already being clouded with darkness.
Some Hours Later,
Brad could then feel air running through his lungs again, and as his vision began to clear through, he leaned himself forwards and gave his head a few shakes.
Having finally woken up, Brad was surprised to find himself on a large couch with a few blankets draped over his legs.
Shaking his head once more, Brad reached up and began to scratch his skull. Whoa...what happened...Jeez, all I remember is...
"Jenny!" said Brad as he immediately froze in place.
"Hey Brad, your up!" cheered Tuck as he ran into the room with a few empty plates and a half a glass of milk, "You hadn't gotten up for a while so I thought I nibble a bit on your…"
"Tuck," interrupted Brad as he reached out and grabbed hold of his brother, "are you and Ms. Wakeman okay, what happened to Jenny?!"
"Oh," simply replied Tuck as he set the tray down on a tiny table and continued, "Ms. Wakeman and I are just fine really. She and I took you into her house here. You looked pretty beaten up Brad, take it from me when I say you should be taking it easy."
Brad just rolled his eyes slightly and asked again, "But what about Jenny there Tuck, do you know what happened to her?"
Tuck honestly replied with a shake of his head and said, "I dunno Brad, Ms. Wakeman says Jenny disappeared into the woods or something."
Sinking his head down and then letting out a depressed sigh, Tuck seemed at a loss as to what to say for what he himself obviously knew that went between his older brother and Jenny.
Having yet to find anything to provide comfort for worried Brad, Tuck was all of a sudden confused to see his brother's feet being set upon the floor in front of him.
Looking up Tuck instantly said, "Hey, where are you going?"
Brad slowly stood up with one hands on his back and the other on the armrest of the couch. Slugging away a minor groan he answered, "I'm going to find Jenny."
Tuck attempt to push his brother back onto the couch and failed due to a few obvious reasons, but surprisingly the thing that stopped Brad was Ms. Wakeman who added, "Don't event think it Bradley!"
Clicking on one of the larger lights in the living room, she moved her way to Bradley, and with the tiniest nudge to his chest, Brad fell back into the comforting softness of the blue piece of furniture.
Brad looked up at the angered scientist and not even having the chance to reply back she went on, "Now listen here mister, you already encountered some serious heavy injuries and heavens knows what else so don't you even think that you're going any but here tonight!"
"But….shouldn't we…" tried to add Brad.
Ms. Wakeman put one her hands in front of Brad's face to silence him just for at least another couple of moments so she could try to explain the situation.
"I know how much you wish to get have XJ-Nein back here with us Bradley, but you also need to realize that your not the only one that wishes for this. It's just as hard as for you as it is for Tuck here and as it would be for me." explained Ms. Wakeman with a hurt look all along her face.
"But……." replied Brad again.
Moving her hand up again in front oh his face, Ms. Wakeman waited for Brad to stop and she then went on again, "We're just going to have to wait till morning before we can do anything Bradley. We all need to rest and some time to think."
"Bu…." commented Brad.
Ms. Wakeman just glared at Bradley this time and stated in an annoyed tone, "What did I just say?"
The reply was a simple gulp and kept his mouth shut.
Brad looked upon everyone in the room, the last thing he needed to do now was to cause more dread in this already unfortunate day.
After a letting out a small sigh, Ms. Wakeman patted Bradley on his blanket covered legs and said, "I'll go get some more of my medical supplies."
Tuck turned to his older brother and watched him as he slowly began to lower his head and reply to Jenny's mom, "Sure."
Much Later Through the Night,
"I got to make, I just got to!" pleaded Tuck as he fled through the almost infinite length of hallways with his hands in between his legs.
Reaching sanctuary, Tuck quickly swung the door closed behind him. After a small courtesy flush that followed 30 seconds after, Tuck strutted his way out the washroom and said in cool tone, "Aaaaahhhhhhh, now that's what I call relief."
Now sneaking through the halls again back to his guest room, Tuck just couldn't help but check to see how Brad was doing in his bed below. Quietly as he could make his way down the stairs, Tuck then sped over to the couch in the living and was shocked to see what was before him.
The couch was empty, with only the pillow and the few blankets left there, Brad was no where in sight. Before he thought to check any other part of the house, Tuck shifted his head to the window instead and saw his house across the street with the lights on.
Meanwhile at Brad's House,
Just as Brad finished stacking a few more miscellaneous items near the doorway he was stopped in his tracks when he heard his brother's voice behind him go, "What are you doing?"
"Tuck, what are you doing up this late?" answered Brad as he spun around to his younger brother who was still in his blue cowboy pajamas.
Tuck just raised an eyebrow and said, "I was wondering the same thing Brad."
A brief amount of silence went through the room before Brad finally caved in and continued, "I'm going to go find Jenny."
"Brad," said Tuck as he watched his brother continue to ready his supplies, "you heard what Jenny's mom said, we all have to wait till morning before we storm off somewhere."
"And what about Jenny," commented Brad as he turned again towards his brother with a concerned look on his face, "How do you think Jenny feels right now Tuck? I can bet you anything when I say that she feels lost, scared, and alone at what happened to her today. I don't know about you Tuck, but I'm not waiting another minute to go find her."
Having readied his pack, Brad zipped the final zipper, and threw the heavy bag over his shoulders and began to make his way to door when his brother yelled, "Brad stop!"
Brad did stop, but refusing to turn around he replied, "I'm not going to stay Tuck and you know that."
"I know that," added Tuck as ran in front of his brother with his arm in the air, "but do you really think your ready to go out in the wilderness with your pack of whatever?!"
"Er……." commented Brad.
"You got to have flashlights," started Tuck as he began to count with his fingers, "matches, a first aid kit, a compass, and tons of other stuff. Tell me my dear older brother that you did intend to pack those things."
"Ummm…. (nervous smile) yeah….." answered Brad as he took a quick look at all the rather useless materials he had rushed to throw in his pack.
Tuck just crossed his arm and shook his head before he continued, "Wait here."
Just as Brad had finished setting down his pack on the floor, he saw his brother run down the battered stairs carrying an overstuffed dull green covered backpack that looked to have seen better days.
Strapping the his new survival pack onto his back, Brad looked to his brother and said, "I don't know what's more off here, the fact that you actually know what your doing and that you were able to find something in the house that wasn't smashed.
"Oh," said Tuck as he started to scratch an itch on his pajama pants, "Jenny destroyed yours, mom and dads room, she never touched mine."
Brad stared blankly at Tuck for a few more moments before he answered, "Well I'm off Tuck, and thanks for all the help."
"Hey no problem Brad," commented Tuck with a thumb up, "just watched out for spiders and other nasty things like the out there."
"Wait," paused Brad just as he stopped at the door again, "what about Ms. Wakeman?"
"No need to worry Brad," replied Tuck with a confident smile on his face, "I'll make sure to keep an eye on her."
Brad let out a brief laugh and said to his brother, "Sure Tuck, I'll be back as soon as I can with Jenny."
Taking full speeds, Brad flew through the front door and remembering which way he saw Jenny took off, he did a full right turn and disappeared into the night.
As he ran past streetlamp over streetlamp, his only thoughts were that of Jenny and her well being.
Finally making his way to the end of street where it began to curve did he make out a number of huge footprints that lead into the woods ahead.
Taking one last look at his own house that was way behind him, and then at the last streetlamp covering the road, Brad turned on a yellow flashlight, looked at his path ahead and said, "Don't worry Jenny, I'm coming."
End Chapter 2
Oh yeah! Well there ya are everybody, chapter 2 done an finished. You can bet your can that I'ze already starting on the next chapter. Let me know howz I'ze did with this one and catch you'se all again next update!