Author's Note: Guess what? I just figured out how to do author's notes! Sorry for no update on Saturday or Sunday, I was super busy with theater stuff. Enjoy!
"NO TIME FOR DRAMA, YOU SISSIES!" shouted the angry Irish girl at her "incompetent team of males."
"But I was just-"
"DON'T USE BUTS WITH ME, NUMBUH TWO!"
Grumbling, Sokka opened the door and hopped out. All else followed, and landed upon the gravel with five distinct crunches. "Jeez, I just wanted to know where that burrito came from..." the hat-clad boy muttered under his beath.
They all sneaked up to the warehouse door, weapons prepared. Numbuh Eighty-Six made some sort of a signal with her hands that would indicate an order, except no one knew exactly what she was trying to say. "Did none of you pay attention in Basic Training?" she asked in a hushed, yet harsh, tone. "Just follow me." She slowly, very cautiously opened the door. She took one step in, and motioned for the rest to follow. It was completely pitch-black dark in the room. Not a thing could be seen. Moving swiftly through the shadows, Numbuh Eighty-Six decided it would be safe to turn a flashlight on. She flipped the switch on one, and a beam of light illuminated the floor, as well as many dust particles floating in the air. She moved the ray around in search, when suddenly a crash could be heard. Not a loud, booming crash, but a small, tiny crash. More like the sound of someone dropping a jar of mayonnaise on the ground after just receiving the shocking news that mayonnaise contains egg whites, which said person hates, prompting them to drop it. She quickly moved the beam in the direction of the noise, and the edge of some box-shaped thing could be seen. Moving closer, it became apparent that the box-shaped thing was like a cage, with bars all around it for holding something captive. Although it couldn't be a cage, as there was no top to it, which was completely open, defeating the point of keeping something captive. It also was obviously not designed for discomfort, as there was quite a bit of padding on the inside, and the bottom resembled that of a rocking chair. Then they realized a few of the bars were missing, and lay on the ground. It seemed that these could have fallen out, thus creating the thumping sound. Then it came to them; it was a cradle. Almost as soon as this realization struck them, the theory was proven by childlike giggling coming from the darkness. Of course, the team immediately knew who it was. Numbuh Eighty-Six didn't. "What was that?" she asked quietly.
"It's Joey, my little brother," replied Zuko.
"She got your little brother, too?" asked Numbuh Eighty-Six.
"Yeah, I gave him to Numbuh Three at the beginning of the fight to hold onto him," replied Zuko.
"What?" the higher-up was now seething with anger, which was not an unusual sight, and she attempted to keep her voice low through the reprimanding. "Why on earth would you give him to Numbuh Three? Should have just kept him to yourself and let a real fighter take on the teen. Probably wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you!" She gave him a little shove, and he was about to shove back when the lights all suddenly came on, temporarily rendering them a group of confused blinking.
Slow footsteps came towards them, and when they turned, saw that it was none other than Cree herself, cradling the infant in her arms as she approached them. "Ooh, my, you managed to find my hideout. Well done, well done..." she said sarcastically.
"Look, Cree, just give us back Numbuh Three and no one gets hurt," threatened Eighty-Six.
"Ooh, I'm so scared!" out came more sarcasm. She placed the baby into the cradle, which now, when seen in full light, was revealed to be darkly colored and menacing-looking. She grabbed a chair, and harshly turning it around, revealed Toph with a gag in her mouth. "You can have her back." She pushed the chair forward onto the ground hardly, and the girl was thrown face-first against the concrete floor with it. An expression of pain quickly followed. "She was really annoying me. Kinda useless, anyway. I don't even know why you guys let her be a KND, being blind and all." She began to walk out of the room. "Guess it just proves how stupid you all are..."
Her friends quickly ran to the aid of Toph, untying her and removing the gag as well as helping her to her feet. She looked worn and beaten, but still the glimmer of determination ceased to fade from the pale eyes. "Wait, what's the catch?" the former captive asked. "You wouldn't just let me go like that. What, did you put a tracker on me or something? Did you give me some infectious virus? What?"
"No catch, sweetheart, you're just that useless," came the smug teenager.
This only served to enrage her even more. She couldn't see with her feet, but she could hear, and she knew full well the direction Cree was in. "I am not useless," she began to charge towards her, but her teammates held her back, not wanting something worse to befall her.
"Toph, calm down, it's psychology," said Sokka. "She's trying to make you angry."
"Come on, let's just get out of here," said Katara. "We don't want more trouble."
"Ugh, how anticlimactic," grumbled Numbuh Eighty-Six, clearly wanting to beat the living snot out of Cree.
Zuko walked over to the spooky cradle, and still feeling responsible for Joey, tried to take him out. As soon as his hand got close, a beam of red appeared out of nowhere and burnt his fingers. "Ah!"
"Oh, no, you can't have him," said Cree, looking in Zuko's direction. "Sorry."
"What do you mean we can't have him back?" asked Zuko.
"Well, unlike your girlfriend over here, he's actually worth something," she replied.
"And what do you mean he's worth something?" he asked again, getting into an offensive position.
"Well, Blondie Jr. is still a baby. He hasn't had time to learn certain things yet, like math, or how to talk in complete sentences...or the difference between right and wrong..."
"And what you're saying is-"she cut him off.
"Is that he'll grow up hating the Kids Next Door. Because of how they took him away from his family, and how horrible they are. And he'll be trained by his loving mentor, Cree, who rescued him from the cruel KND and raised him up into a fighting, powerful, teenage KND-destroying machine!"
Now her intentions were clear. The whole "kidnap and raise to be evil" ploy. Without a second thought (mostly due to the now ten-year-old mind), Zuko charged towards her and began firing his M.U.S.K.E.T. straight at her. She easily dodged the attack with a backflip. She hit a button on her suit, and a helmet formed on her head. When reaching for one of her ninja-style throwing stars, some of the gooey yellow scathed her back. She quickly got over this and sent three sharp stars straight at Zuko's head. He ducked just in time, and only the tips of his black hair were chopped off. The stars had lodged themselves in the wall behind him. Look just like Mai's, he observed in his head just before dodging three more. At this time, his fellow operatives had come to help him. They all fired their weapons at her at once, but she was able to dodge nearly every shot. Every once in a while she'd get a smear of mustard to the cheek courtesy of Zuko or Eighty-Six (who were awkwardly equipped with the same gun), or perhaps some ketchup from Katara (who had a variation of the same gun), or a gumball in the hair from Sokka, or some toothpaste to the arm from Aang. At one point, Eighty-Six even took off her helmet, letting loose a mass flurry of red hair, and threw it straight at Cree's head, temporarily stunning her but doing no real harm. Toph didn't have a weapon, but she was able to help by sneaking behind Cree. It was somewhat hard, as ninjas don't make much noise, since noise was all she had to work with. But the few grunts and the swinging of nunchucks were enough. The girl carefully approached behind her, hoping she wouldn't be seen. She wasn't, as the teen was occupied with five armed kid soldiers, and that gave Toph an opening to push her from behind. Losing her balance, Cree stumbled across the floor and fell on her side. She quickly got up, however, but then...she was knocked down again. This time, by a diaperless baby swinging across the rafters with his diaper as if it were a vine. At this fall, she was successfully knocked out. All five who could see looked at him with amazement. They didn't even bother to ask how, it was too absurd. Of course, this was a universe full of anthropomorphic asparagus and the like, so a baby who somehow managed to escape a laser prison twice and use his own bathroom as a method of transportation wasn't all that outrageous. So tiredly they all got back into the KND vehicle, and Team Avatar was just plain glad to be rid of Numbuh Eighty-Six when she left. On the way to the Treehouse, they had dropped Joey back off at Zuko's new house- not that Mrs. Beatles had noticed the difference.
"That girl was worse than you were, Sokka," said Katara to her brother.
"Hey, now I wasn't all that bad..."
"Not as bad as her, but still pretty bad," said Aang.
"Whatever. I'm thirsty," he said, looking into a fridge. "Hey, what's this root beer stuff...?"
The rest of his friends looked on in interest.
Numbuh Five entered the room to find her friend curled up on the bed, sobbing into a pillow. "...Numbuh Three?" she asked, walking over to beside the bed. "What's goin' on?"
"I don't want to talk about it," was the muffled reply.
"Come on now," said Numbuh Five. She sat down on the bed next to her. "You can tell Numbuh Five." She wasn't used to these kinds of situations, but she knew what to do when they came along.
Numbuh Three lifted her head from out of the pillow and rested it back down on top of it. "It's-it's just..." she gulped down another tear. "I was so sure. I was so sure he liked me. I was so good at hiding how I feel, but I was just so sure he liked me back." She turned over to face away from the older girl. "And...and I saw him. Kissing that new girl. I mean...we haven't even known her for a day, and...and..." she could no longer contain herself enough to talk through the tears. She burst out in another loud wail, face ever puffy and red.
Numbuh Five couldn't believe what she was hearing. Numbuh Four? That's who she was talking about, surely. But Numbuh Four? Wally? "Kuki," she said, "you let Numbuh Five worry about what Mister Hothead does next. For now, just forget him. Can you do that for Numbuh Five?"
"Okay," was the sniffling response. "Thanks, Abby." She wiped her face on her sleeve.
The two girls engaged in a hug. "It'll all be okay," whispered Numbuh Five to Numbuh Three over the latter's shoulder.
"WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!
TERRORS OF THE SEA!
WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!"
"And I'm a lady who likes tea!"
The previously tired children were now as full of life and energy as ever due to the newly-discovered root beer, which effects were much like that of what a mix between the herbal concoction Aang took in attempt to trigger the Avatar State once and cactus juice would be. They had discovered a new song to sing, and quite enjoyed belting it out as loud as they could. And yes, "they" is a group term meaning "all five of them." Even Zuko, while being far less exuberant than the others, was still singing along with them.
"Okay! Okay! It's my turn," said Aang. He hopped up on top on the couch and began; "I was sitting on a cloud one day,
When I saw something and I had to say,
'My oh my,
How can they fly?'
It was giant bunny rabbits!
So they pulled me off the cloud,
And my screaming was loud,
For the giant bunny rabbits!"
And all together they joined in for the chorus.
"WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!
TERRORS OF THE SEA!
WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!"
"And I'm a lady who likes tea!"
"And I'm jumping off a cloud, whoopee!"
They all were overtaken with laughter. "Toph's turn!" said Sokka.
"Hmm...what should I do?" she asked.
All kinds of suggestions popped up from the others, "A spaceman!"
"A platypus bear!"
"A pirate!"
"Okay, I'll do a pirate!" she said.
"I was lounging on the deck one day,
When I saw something and I had to say,
'What be those
With the ears? Who knows?'
It was giant bunny rabbits!
So they pulled me off my ship,
And then they took a dip,
Those giant bunny rabbits!"
"WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!
TERRORS OF THE SEA!
WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!"
"And I'm a lady who likes tea!"
"And I'm jumping off a cloud, whoopee!"
"And I'm as crazy as can be!"
"Whoo! My turn!" exclaimed Sokka.
"I was eating a fruit one day-" suddenly he was cut off by Zuko.
"Guys, we're out of root beer!"
"Oh, no!" came everyone else.
"Look, I'm sure there's some more around here," said Sokka. He scrounged around a bit, playing with things here and there. This futuristic setting (well, futuristic to them, anyway) meant that any little button or switch could open up a secret compartment. Suddenly, after hitting one of the buttons, the same screen that had lit up earlier came to life once again.
Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two appeared once more. She seemed to be occupied with something at the moment, but soon noticed she was being contacted. "Sector V!" she yelled. "What are you all doing? I told you to get your sorry butts back up here once you're done finding Numbuh Three!"
Oh, crud. Yes, she had said that, and everyone had forgotten after the excitement of the rescue scene and the discovery of root beer. "I-I-we're sorry, sir-ma'am!" stuttered Sokka, knowing that his face would be front and center on the other end.
"Well sorry isn't good enough. We don't know why Cree had Numbuh Three in the first place and it all could have been a distraction to attack us up here, you know," replied the leader sternly.
"She asked me questions," piped up Toph, walking over nearer to Sokka. "She was trying to get information out of me."
"Did you tell her anything?" a now worried but just as stern Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two asked.
"No, not a thing," Toph replied.
The Soopreme Leader sighed a sigh of relief. "Well, good. And I'm glad you're safe. It's just, things have been getting real crazy up here and I really do need your help." She seemed somewhat apologetic for her anger before.
"Yes, right away, ma'am," said Aang, hopping up as well and saluting.
"All right. See you up here. Three-Sixty-Two out." And the screen became black.
"So, what next?" asked Zuko, stretching his arms.
"Next, we find out how to work one of these KND machines," said Sokka.
"WALLY BEATLES!" came the booming, thundering cry of the best friend of the woman scorned. Numbuh Five rarely ever got angry, and even now she wasn't so, just unable to find the king's bedroom. She eventually located the door, and swung it open. The blonde-haired boy was sitting on his bed in shock, just staring blankly at the window, no emotions. "Oh no, it's contagious, isn't it?" said Abby, taking in his face. Numbuh Five approached him. "What? You're not going to look at me?"
"Oh, hey, Numbuh Five," said Numbuh Four, apparently just noticing her presence in the room, still not moving his head. "Using first-person pronouns all of a sudden?"
"Understanding words all of a sudden?" was her dry reply. "What is wrong with you? You're not moving, your face is as white as a baby's butt, and Numbuh Three's a train wreck right now because of you."
Finally he turned his face to her, and finally he expressed a facial expression; one of confusedness. "What did I ever do to Numbuh Three?"
"Well, for one thing, you yell at her all the time and call her a baby for liking Rainbow Monkeys..."
"Yeah, yeah, but I mean what did I do to offend her? She never gets mad at that stuff normally."
"How about making kissy-face to someone you don't even know right in front of her?"
"WHAT?!" he burst. "Wha-wha...she saw that?! I didn't kiss Mai! SHE kissed ME! I don't even like her! I think maybe in this universe she's supposed to be my girlfriend or somethin'..." he gagged. "It makes me want to puke! Actually, I DID puke a few times before you came in. It's...it's all a misunderstanding."
"Well then, why don't you tell Numbuh Three that?"
"I don't think I can. I mean, what if I really mess some dude's life up by breaking up with Mai? Besides, why would she care, anyway?" he looked down to the floor.
"You really don't know?...And, also, since when have you cared about how you might mess up some random dude's life? We don't even know if what we do affects them. We don't even know for sure if there is a 'them' to begin with!"
"I don't know. I've just been thinking about things a lot more than usual. It feels kind of weird."
"What, using your brain?"
"Ha, ha, very funny. But in a way, yeah. I don't know what it is." He began rubbing his temples.
"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you're finally four-foot-eleven."
"Could you hold off on the short jokes for a-wait, that could actually be it..."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm supposed to be older now, right?"
"Yeah, you're sixteen."
"I'll bet that's what it is."
"Well, I'm happy for you. I'm fourteen. Numbuh Two's fifteen, Numbuh One's twelve and so is Numbuh Three. We're all enjoying being teenagers and having avoided the descent into evil. Now listen, you need to go explain this whole thing to Numbuh Three. And if you don't, Numbuh Five will."
"Fine, you go do it then. I may be older now but I'm still not good with words!"
The girl left, somewhat satisfied and actually glad for the revelation.
All done, all finished. With the Mai drama, at least. The story is nowhere near over. But stories never really end, do they? They just go on and on for infinity, and the listener has to be satisfied with whatever note the storyteller stopped on.
Numbuh Five was never more glad to be done with a problem causing so much trouble in so little a time. She moseyed around, coming once more to that wonderful location of so many events: the garden. She, while walking, stopped short at the sight of a large rock mound unnaturally jutting up from the ground. She smiled, and called "Numbuh Three?"
"Go away. Numbuh Three isn't here right now. Please come again later. Or don't. Please choose the second, thank you."
"Numbuh Three, it's just me."
Two baseball-sized rocks launched themselves from the cavern, revealing a set of wet brown eyes through the gap. "How did you know I was here?"
"Well, when your friend suddenly obtains the power to control rock formations, and a cave pops up right in the middle of an otherwise caveless area..."
"Okay, okay." Many more of the rocks curled back, opening a side of the cave almost completely. "Did...did you talk to him?"
"Yup," said Numbuh Five, coming in and resting herself down on a boulder. "And Numbuh Five's got some news you'd like to hear."
"Really?" the younger girl's eyes brightened up, and she leaned slightly forward in anticipation of the good news.
"Turns out Emo Freak and Numbuh Four are a couple in this universe, but he had no idea whatsoever. When she kissed him, he was just as shocked as you were. Probably even more. He was a real mess, you know. Freakin' out over the whole thing. In other words: Four doesn't like Mai."
"He doesn't?" asked Numbuh Three, sorting it out in her head. "He...he doesn't!" She jumped up, and suddenly the entire structure burst open around them. "He doesn't!" she shouted once more in complete excitement and glee.
Without warning, a humungous shadow overcast them. A voice was heard. "Hey! Be careful where you throw those things, you almost hurt him!"
"Numbuh Two?-OH MY-"
A massive, hairy, smelly mass with two large horns and six furry legs landed right beside the two girls, sending a flurry of fast wind in their direction. The creature let out a sound that could only be described as a mix between a roar and a very obnoxious yawn. Numbuhs One and Two were both sitting on its saddle; Two firmly gripping the reigns as if they were his last chance of survival, One firmly gripping the fur as if it was his last chance of survival. Both had unmistakably large grins spread across their faces.
"What is that thing?!" exclaimed Numbuh Three.
"We made a couple of new friends," said Numbuh Two. "This is Appa, 'The Avatar's trusty steed' and this," a smaller creature whose ears were bigger than the rest of its body scurried up onto his shoulder and made a chirping noise, "is Momo."
"Ooooh! He's so cute!" cried Numbuh Three, forgetting her momentary fear and showering the animals with her special Kuki brand of love.
Numbuh One could not say anything; he only sat there on the saddle with the look of pure fun, as he was far too winded from the ride to do much else.
"You guys would not BELIEVE the adventure we had just now," said Numbuh Two.
"Yeah..." said Numbuh One, finally breaking his haze and sliding off the animals' back, however no less happy than before. "It was cool, with the Ancient Blackened Mustard and everything. And we also met some other new people, too. Ty Lee and Suki, they called themselves Kyoshi Warriors. You guys should meet them, to, I don't know, talk about girl stuff I guess. They're staying in whatever passes for a hotel around here."
Numbuh Two giggled and blushed luminously. "And Suki kissed me on the cheek." He giggled again. "She's my girlfriend."
"And we never thought it could be done," said Numbuh One, patting his friend on the back.
"Good for you," said Numbuh Five. "Looks like we all need to get some rest after recent events, then."
"Why, what happened to you guys?" asked Numbuh Two.
"Numbuh Five does not want to go over it again. Just go ask Numbuh Four, he'll probably tell ya," said Numbuh Five. "Come on, Numbuh Three."
"Awww," said Numbuh Three, her face half buried in Appa's fur. "Can't I snuggle for just a little longer?"
"Appa probably needs a bath, anyway," said Numbuh One. "I wonder who we can get around here to do that for us..."
"Oh, okay..." said a disappointed Numbuh Three, retracting herself from the bison. "Bye-bye, Appa! Bye-bye, Momo! See you guys later!" Momo chirped again and waved his hand goodbye, seeming to understand and also seeming to miss her as well.
Author's Note: "Giant Bunny Rabbits" used with permission by my best melon who invented the song game.