Chapter 6
Wally woke up, blinking dazedly. He winced, shielding his eyes. Eventually, when his eyes adjusted to the glaring lights, he sat up, starting when he noticed four anxious, unfamiliar, teenagers observing him. Scratch that, three unfamiliar teenagers. He stared at Kuki for a moment, drinking in her worried, waiting expression. He shook the feeling of longing away from his muddy head. He peered at them, realizing that they had just knocked him out. He felt his fists clench.
"Numbuh 4?" Kuki asked timidly.
"What the crud are you talking about, Kuki?" he asked angrily. He watched in perplexion as the four teens exchanged shocked looks.
"You mean, you don't remember anything?" the goggle-clad boy exclaimed.
"You just knocked me out! I think remembering would be the last thing I do," he muttered. "And remember cruddy what, anyways?"
"Oh my god," Kuki whispered, covering her mouth with her sleeves.
"Why didn't it work?" whispered the dark skinned girl furiously.
"I dunno! Maybe it's outta juice," he replied, tapping a small device that Wally recognized as the thing they slapped onto his forehead earlier.
"What is that?" he asked curiously.
"Well, it's supposed to be a high tech recommissioning device. It worked on Kuki. I dunno why it didn't work on you," he said, scratching his chin. Before Wally could ask what a recommissioning device was, someone started speaking.
"We'll have to resort to Plan B," a bald boy with a British accent said.
"We don't have a Plan B!" the girl exclaimed, shoving him. He brushed it off, ignoring her.
"Wallabee Beatles. A few years back you were our best friend. We spent countless days, months, and even years with you. All five of us," he said, nodding towards the others. "This is Hoagie-"
"You can call me Hank," the boy called Hoagie cut in. The bald boy glared at him.
"Anyways, that's Abigail-"
"Abby," she said tipping her hat.
"And you already know Kuki," he continued. She waved at him shyly, blushing. Wally nodded at her. "And I'm Nigel." He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "A few years back, you were involved in an accident." Kuki's head snapped to attention. Wally pretended not to notice. "Terrible car crash. Luckily, no fatalities… but all the same, you suffered severe memory loss. Apparently, according to the doctors at the hospital, your memory of us was completely wiped. Your parents, worried that we might upset you or aggravate you in any sort of means, begged us to cut off all contact."
"No way," Wally said, shaking his head. "Not possible. And Kuki contacted me anyways."
"Not deliberately," countered Nigel. "She goes to your school."
"You're lying."
"Hey!" Kuki yelled in protest.
"Why," Nigel said, ignoring her as he spread his arms out, "would we have any reason to lie to you?"
"Well then, please explain to me what you meant by that techy thing working on Kuki?" he asked, jabbing his thumb towards Hoagie. "That recommayonaise thingy."
"Recommissioni-" corrected Hoagie. He was silenced by a dark glare from his leader.
"Yes, yes, Hoagie. We understand. Anyways, to answer your question, The brain is an organ that serves as the centre of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, adult sea squirts and starfish do not have a brain, even if diffuse neural tissue is present. The brain is the most complex organ in a vertebrate's body. In a typical human, the cerebral cortex, the largest part, is estimated to contain 15–33 billion neurons, each connected by synapses to several thousand other neurons. These neurons communicate with one another by means of long, protoplasmic fibers called axons, which carry trains of signal pulses called action potentials to distant parts of the brain or body targeting specific recipient cells." His teammates and Wally stared at him in a mixture of confusion, amazement, and wonder. Except for Hoagie, who was nodding along like he understood every word of it, which he did. Wally looked absolutely gobsmacked, and also apparently didn't notice that his question had gone unanswered.
"What?" Kuki, Abby, and Wally asked in unison.
"Ugh, nevermind," Nigel muttered, waving them off. "Nobody knows anything about anything these days." Before Hoagie could protest, he continued. "Forget that. The point is, we know what we're talking about, Wallabee," he amended, looking at him sideways through his sunglasses, smirking a little at his still confused expression. "Don't you think?"
"Well, yeah, I can see that." He scratched his head, pondering the situation. "But... how do I know I can trust you?"
"Easy," Nigel said, retreating into the shadows. A few tense moments later, the group heard a series of noises, and soon enough, he reemerged with a small photo frame. He displayed it proudly to the other four. They gasped, leaning in closer. "My most prized possession," he murmured softly.
In his hands was a photo featuring five young children, hugging each other tightly, arms wrapped around one another like they were holding on for dear life. They were laughing and smiling. A small bald boy with dark sunglasses, a pudgy little boy donning an aviator cap and goggles, a dark skinned girl with a large red cap covering her eyes, an ecstatic Japanese girl with her free, oversized-green-sweater-clad hand raised in enthusiastic greeting, and, beside her, a short but stocky blond boy that Wally immediately recognized at himself. He raised a hand, halting a few centimeters from the surface of the picture, not believing his eyes. He vaguely noticed the other teens blinking back tears.
"This is me," he whispered. Nigel nodded. The others were silent, watching."That's you," he said, pointing at the boy with the sunglasses. Nigel confirmed it with another nod. He compared the two. Spitting images, age the only discernable difference. He compared everyone else the same way, dragging his index finger along the glass pane of the frame, and then glancing up to match them. He stopped at Kuki, staring at her bright face, her contagious smile and sparkling eyes. When he looked up, none of the characteristics matched. She was just as beautiful, but her face was grim, her smile almost nonexistent, and her eyes dull. "That's… you," he said, pointing from little Kuki to big Kuki.
"Yes, Wally, that's me," she replied softly.
"You're different."
"No."
"Yeah."
"No."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," she agreed.
"No- I mean, what?"
"There's a part of me missing, Wally." He stared at her in concern. He was almost too scared to ask.
"…What?"
"You," she said, barely audible. She suddenly realized what that sounded like. "I mean, all of us are missing you," she amended quickly, blushing. Hoagie snickered in the background, only stopping when Abby punched him viciously in the shoulder.
"Really?"
"Well, yeah." Kuki shrugged.
"Oh," was all Wally could say. He frowned. "What can I do?"
"Well," Nigel cut in, clearing his throat. He stepped closer to them. "At the moment, nothing. But if we can figure out a way, then we'll be sure to let you know."
"Really?" Wally asked a little dubiously.
"Definitely," Nigel nodded confidently. He smiled then, clapping a hand on Wally's shoulder. "After all, you are our best friend."
Yah, hope you enjoyed it. How is Numbuh 4 gonna get his memory back?! REVIEW FOLLOW AND FAV to find out! THANKS FOR READING AND THANKS TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED I LOVE YOU GUYS