Author's Note: Hey everybody, I'm baaaaaack! Well, temporarily anyway. I'm still not free from finals yet, but I decided to take a break from writing by... writing. So here it is, the last chapter to OPERATION: D.O.L.L.S! Hope you all enjoy! *insert copyright hooplah here*
The flight from the moon to the Arctic Base felt excruciatingly long.
Numbuh 3 just looked out the window of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R, remaining uncharacteristically quiet. Numbuhs 2 and 4 tried breaking the tension by bringing up the previous conversation Sector V had with Numbuh 362 in the Moonbase cafeteria, hoping to get Numbuh 3 to smile… or get any reaction from her.
But Numbuh 3 didn't even seem to be listening; she just continued staring out the window, and Numbuhs 2 and 4 eventually decided to give up. It came as a relief for the group to finally land at the Kids Next Door Arctic Base. Numbuh 362 led the group out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R and down to the K.N.D prison block.
As they neared the prison block's entrance, they came across the head guard, Numbuh 53, sitting around and reading a comic book. When he noticed the Soopreme Leader and Sector V making their way toward him, he hastily stood up and tossed his comic over his shoulder.
"N-Numbuh 362, sir!" the young guard stammered as he saluted. "Uh, we weren't expecting you here so soon."
"I wasn't expecting to come here so soon." Numbuh 362 replied softly. "But, uh…" Her voice trailed off as she gestured to Numbuh 3 behind her.
"Oh." Numbuh 53 said awkwardly. Word had spread quickly through the base about Numbuh 3's condition when Numbuhs 92 and 93 brought Mushi in. While he didn't expect to see Numbuh 3 still doll-ified, he was still rather surprised by her appearance. She looked so tired and uncomfortable. He didn't know Numbuh 3 very well, but he did know that she never looked like this. That doll machine thing must've been even worse than we thought.
"Which cell is Mushi Sanban being held in?" Numbuh 362 inquired.
Numbuh 53 shifted his attention back to the Soopreme Leader. "Well, uh, she was put in solitary confinement."
Numbuh 3 looked at him questioningly upon hearing the words "solitary confinement".
"It's not like she was being violent or anything," Numbuh 53 explained. "On the contrary actually, she's been nothing but cooperative since she was brought in. We just figured it'd be for the best, ya know… Don't wanna get the prisoners started."
It was common for the adults that were locked away in the Arctic Prison to heckle and taunt new inmates. Normally the guards wouldn't care, but upon seeing Mushi, who looked so miserable and defeated, they couldn't help but pity the little girl and decided that she didn't need to be picked on by a bunch of stupid adults.
"Can you take me to her?" Numbuh 3 asked.
Numbuh 53 looked at Numbuh 362, who nodded approvingly. "Of course." he said as he pressed the button on the wall behind him, allowing the automated doors of the prison block to slide open. Usually he would not allow operatives to speak with prisoners in their cells, but he figured that this time he could make an exception.
He led the group down the central corridor, passing the cells that contained some of the Kids Next Doors most infamous foes. The adults grew surprisingly quiet and stared at the group as they walked by. Numbuhs 1, 2, 4, and 5 eyed them suspiciously until they noticed that it was Numbuh 3 who had their attention. It appeared as though word about the incident at the doll factory had spread among inmates as well. All of the adults looked at the girl curiously, as if they expected her to still be part doll.
Numbuh 3 could feel all of the inmates' eyes on her but payed them no mind; she kept her eyes focused on the end of the long corridor. But as they neared the entrance to the solitary confinement block, Mr. Boss noticed her and decided that the opportunity to mess with the child's head was too good to pass up.
"Well well, if it isn't Chatty Kathy herself!" the overweight CEO jeered.
"Shut up, inmate!" Numbuh 53 barked. Mr. Boss just smirked.
"I was so hoping that the effects of that doll machine would be permanent. If you would've stayed a doll, I was going to offer your sister a generous price; you would have made the perfect birthday gift for my daughter!"
Mr. Boss chuckled sinisterly to himself. Numbuh 3 continued to stare forward even though her hands were balled into fists underneath her oversized sweater. She just wanted to get this over with.
Numbuh 4, on the other hand, wasn't about the let the adult get away with that. He glared daggers at Mr. Boss, his body shaking with anger. The grown man just laughed at him.
"What're you looking at, shorty? Ya can't get me from out there!"
Numbuh 4 looked at the head guard. He didn't need to ask; Numbuh 53 already knew what the boy wanted. He shrugged. "Eh, why not?"
Numbuh 53 took his keys and unlocked the iron bar door to Mr. Boss's cell. "What're doing?!" the man asked as the guard held open the cell door for the Australian kid.
"He's all yours."
Numbuh 4 smirked as he cracked his knuckles and stepped into Mr. Boss's cell. "No, no, no, no, no!" the man pleaded just before the kid's fist collided into his nose.
As Numbuh 4 continued to beat up Mr. Boss, Numbuh 53 continued to lead to the rest of the group to the end of the corridor. He opened the automated doors and led them through another corridor similar to the last one, except the cells were sealed by doors of solid ice rather than iron bars.
"This is the one." Numbuh 53 stated as he stopped in front of one of the frozen doors. "She's right through there."
Numbuh 3 stared nervously at the door. "Are you sure about this?" Numbuh 1 asked, concerned.
Numbuh 3 closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. "Open it." she told the guard.
Numbuh 53 nodded and did as he was told. He held it open for her expectantly, but Numbuh 3 hesitated.
"We'll be right out here for you." Numbuh 5 whispered reassuringly.
"Call us if you need anything." Numbuh 2 added.
Numbuh 3 gave her friends a little smile before walking into the cell. As she heard Numbuh 53 close the door behind her, her eyes fell to Mushi sitting in the corner with her face covered by her hands, crying softly. Whether Mushi didn't hear her come in or was simply ignoring her, Numbuh 3 wasn't sure. She stood there silently.
Mushi did in fact hear her enter the cell, but assumed it was a guard. She didn't feel like answering anymore questions, so she refused to look up until she was given direct orders.
After a few more minutes went by with nothing but silence, Mushi slowly looked to see if she actually heard someone enter the cell. Upon seeing her visitor, she gasped.
Mushi hadn't expected hear from her sister so soon, and she certainly didn't expect her to come directly to her cell. She had gone over everything she wanted to say to Kuki in her head several times, but now that the girl was right in front of her, Mushi was a loss for words.
She didn't like how her sister looked at her, giving her no indication to what she was feeling or thinking. It was so unlike her, and it didn't help Mushi's struggle to find something to say.
Mushi finally opened her mouth, ready to cry and throw herself at Numbuh 3's feet in apology, when Numbuh 3 finally broke the silence.
"Are you cold?"
Mushi was taken aback by the question. That's all she has to say? she thought. She spent her time thinking about how she was going to apologize to her sister, Mushi never even payed attention to the cold.
"Um… no, I'm alright." She answered timidly. "Uh, how are you feeling?"
Numbuh 3 looked at the floor. Another few minutes silence went by before she decided to speak again.
"I'm sorry."
Mushi looked at her sister, baffled. "What? You're sorry!? What are you talking about!? If anyone is sorry, it's-"
Numbuh 3 knelt down in front of her sister, tears welling in her eyes. "This whole mess started because I hogged our Posh Party Rainbow Monkey! And then if I had just talked to you about how I felt instead of ignoring you…" Tears started spilling from her eyes. "…I've been a terrible big sister!"
Mushi started to cry as well. "But you were right to be angry at me! I told myself that I didn't need to apologize, that you should've just felt sorry for me and play with me again! I blamed you and your friends when all along it's been my fault! And then I hurt you…"
Mushi started sobbing uncontrollably. She tried to say more, but her sentences just turned to incoherent blubbering. Numbuh 3 held Mushi's hand in her own until Mushi calmed down enough to speak.
"I'm so sorry, Kuki." she whimpered. "I know I don't deserve it, but all I want is to have my big sister back."
"Mushi," Numbuh 3 said hesitantly. "It's gonna be real hard for things to get back to the way they were before."
Mushi nodded understandingly. "I know… But can we try?"
Numbuh 3 looked in her sister's pleading eyes for a moment, and could see the sweetness that she once had before this whole mess between them began. She didn't see the insane spoiled brat that she saw at the factory; she saw her sweet, loving, and occasionally sassy little sister.
Numbuh 3 smiled. "We can try."
Mushi leapt up, cheering and laughing joyfully before she threw her arms around Numbuh 3.
"Owwww!" Numbuh 3 winced as her sister squeezed her still-aching body.
Mushi recoiled in horror. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she repeated again and again, fearful that her sister would get angry with her again.
Numbuh 3 looked at her apologetic little sister with a smirk. "See? Now was that so hard to say?"
Author's Note: The End! WHOO, my first FanFic done! What did you guys think? What I wanted to do with the chapter is emphasize that neither sister is perfect. Yes, one is a little more sane than the other, but they ARE sisters. They'll work on it! I had a great time writing D.O.L.L.S, and I hope you guys had a great time reading it! As always, please share your thoughts, as reviews/comments are always appreciated! Until the next story, my friends! Have a lovely day!