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Codename: Kids Next Door
Operation F.I.N.I.S.H.
Finding
Indecisive
Nigel
Is
Sure
Hard
DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor have I ever, owned the Kids Next Door or its franchise. If I did, this fic would have become an episode.
Chapter 10 (NI)
Numbuh 4 was completely stumped.
He had been searching Numbuh 1's room for ages, and still couldn't find anything. Which it didn't help the fact that he didn't even know what a clue would have looked like.
"Geeze, if Numbuh 1 wanted us to find the cruddy clue, he shoulda put it in plain sight!" Numbuh 4 mumbled to himself, kicking a pillow out of his way. He pulled out his communicator for the millionth time, hoping someone had found something, mostly so he could stop looking himself.
The communicator, as it had been every time he pulled it out of his pocket to check, was still blank.
"Ugh…won't someone just FIND SOMETHING ALREADY?" he yelled at it, stuffing it back into his pocket.
Having nothing else to do, Numbuh 4 continued searching through Numbuh 1's things for a sign of…well, anything unusual. Again, he wasn't really sure what he was actually looking for, just something Numbuh 1 would leave behind for them.
"Cruddy Nigel with his cruddy clues..." he kicked another pillow out of his way. "Cruddy pillows, cruddy everything!" Fed up with his search that came up with no results, he considered leaving the room and going back to where they started, and wait for the others to show up. He was about to do just that when something caught his eye: a piece of paper sticking out of the pillow he just kicked.
"Hmm, maybe THIS is the clue thing…" Numbuh 4 mumbled, picking up the piece of paper. It looked like it had been ripped from a notepad, and had writing on it in black ink.
My dear friends,
I cannot say much here, it is against the rules in the GKND. Use this list to help you. I hope to see you soon.
- Nigel
-GUATEMALA-
-HOME-
-TOKYO-
-PARIS-
-SYDNEY-
DELIGHTFUL MANSION?
Numbuh 4 whipped out his communicator once again. "GUYS, I THINK I FOUND SOMETHING!"
"So, what's it mean?" Numbuh 2 asked to no one in particular.
They were all gathered back in the first room, pondering over the note Numbuh 4 had found. For the last 10 minutes, they all had been pondering exactly what Numbuh 2 had asked: what did the note mean?
"Well…Numbuh 5 thinks something's up with the locations he's set. Guatemala we just came back from, we're at our old home now…" No one corrected her; to them, even though Numbuh 1 had been the only one of their team to actually live here, they all thought of the tree house as their home away from home.
"And what about the others? What's makes them so important that he'd mention them?"
"Is zere any importance in zose places? 'ave you all lived vere before, per'aps?" Henrietta pondered.
Numbuh 5 shook her head. "Numbuh 5's only lived here in the US and in France, that's all."
"Same here," added Numbuh 3. "Only, I've lived in Japan and the US, not France."
Numbuh 5 suddenly looked up excited. "That's it!"
"What's it?" Numbuh 4 asked.
"Think about it! Wally, where did you live before the KND?"
"Australia."
"Right! And where did you go after the KND?"
"Back to Australia."
"Right again! The same goes for Kuki, but replace Australia with Japan! And I moved to France after the KND!"
"So, what you're saying is, he's going to all our hometowns?" Numbuh 2 cut in.
"Bingo!" Numbuh 5 smiled. "That's probably why he started here after Guatemala, so my hunch was right!"
"But vat are ve supposed to do vith vis information?" Henie thought aloud.
Numbuh 5 started pacing the room absentmindedly. "Well…the places he crossed off, it seems he's already been there. And the only one not crossed off is…?"
"The Delightful Mansion," Numbuh 4 read from the note.
"So, we can either go check each location individually, or go straight to the mansion."
"I say we go straight to the mansion, I mean, it's right here, we don't have to travel very far," Numbuh 2 said.
"Yeah," Numbuh 4 added, "the faster we find him, the better, right? That's the whole point of this mission."
Numbuh 3 looked doubtful. "Then again, what if he put the locations there for a different purpose? He had to have some reason to go everywhere. Like…maybe he left stuff there for us to find!"
"Numbuh 3 'as a point, iz like a scevenger 'unt. Maybe ve need to go to each locasion und get somezing, und zen go to ze mansion," Henrietta said.
"Well…that makes two votes mansion, two votes…well, everywhere else. It's tied."
Everyone looked expectantly at Numbuh 5.
"Wha- oh no, Numbuh 5 ain't deciding. I ain't leader, and I'm not getting on anyone's bad side."
"So what, we pick straws or somethin'?" Numbuh 4 asked. Everyone else shrugged. No one was really sure how to decide, so something as simple as drawing straws seemed fine with them.
"'kay, I'll go get some straws!" Numbuh 2 declared, running out of the room to find some.
"So ve just…pick eh straw?" Henie asked doubtfully.
"Yeah!" said Numbuh 3. "Just pick one and take it from the bunch. Whoever's straw is shortest wins."
Numbuh 5 grabbed the four straws and held them in her hand, reached out so everyone could reach.
"So if, let's say, Numbuh 2's straw was shortest, we'd go straight to the mansion. But if, say, you're straw is shortest, we'd check all the locations," Numbuh 3 concluded.
"You guys just gotta promise you won't be mad if your idea loses. Numbuh 5 doesn't want any bad blood between us," Numbuh 5 warned them. Then thinking as an afterthought, "At this point, bad blood could mean the difference between winning and losing this war…"
"Pfft, like some stupid straws are gonna tear us apart!" Numbuh 4 said, grabbing a straw.
Numbuh 2 followed suit, laughing. "Hey Numbuh 5, remember the last time we drew straws?"
Flashback 5 years ago, Gallegher Elementary Playground
One sunny afternoon during recess at Gallegher Elementary, Numbuh 4 was pushing Numbuh 3 on the swings. From across the playground, Numbuh 2 pointed out the scene to Numbuh 5.
"Heh, he denies it so much, yet he's not making any effort to prove us wrong, huh?" Numbuh 5 laughed.
Numbuh 2 nodded. "I don't see why he doesn't just tell her. You can see it, it's practically killing him."
"Yeah, like Numbuh 3 would actually shoot him down. Maybe be a little naïve in the beginning, but once she'd get it, she'd probably be ecstatic."
"…does she…?"
Numbuh 5 shook her head. "Hasn't said anything to Numbuh 5. Looks like she just wants to keep us in the dark."
"Or she really is that naïve."
"Nah…she's smarter than we're giving her credit for. The naivety is just cuz she wants everything to be…okay, ya know? If she fools herself into thinking something isn't happening, it goes away."
"So maybe she doesn't feel the same way…"
"Or just wants things to stay the same. I donno."
"…"
"…Numbuh 5 says she'll tell him before he can tell her."
"Yeah right, Wally will get over his fear soon enough, he'll tell her first."
"Put it to the straw test?"
Numbuh 2 nodded. "Put it to the straw test."
Quickly checking her pockets, Numbuh 5 declared she had no straws on her. Numbuh 2 did the same and came up with the same result.
"…stick test then?"
"Stick test."
They quickly grabbed a couple twigs lying in the ground, taking one and snapping the end so it was slightly shorter than the other. Numbuh 5 took one in each hand and hid them behind her back, shuffling them back and forth as she said, "Okay, pick left or right."
"And whoever has shorter is right?"
"Yep. So choose."
Numbuh 2 chose the right.
"Alright then," Numbuh 5 said, handing over his chosen twig. She paused a moment before holding out the other to compare. "Do you care who wins?"
"Nah, it's just for fun. I really doubt sticks can decide someone's relationship anyways."
"Yeah you're right, s'not like they're sunflowers or anything!"
"Plus either way, they get together, so it's win-win."
"Huh, good point."
With that, Numbuh 5 held out the other twig, and they compared their lengths.
End Flashback
"Heh, yeah Numbuh 5 remembers."
"And neither of them actually came true…" he said, examining his straw.
"Yet, Hoagie. Ya never know…"
Numbuh 4 looked at the two of them strangely. "What are you two going on about?"
Numbuh 5 shook her head at him. "It's nothing, Wally. So, does everyone have their straw?"
"I've got mine!" Numbuh 3 exclaimed.
"I've got one es vell," Henie added.
"Alright then, everyone compare straws," said Numbuh 5. "Girl has the shortest, we check out all the locations. Boy has the shortest, we go straight for the Delightful Mansion."
Holding out all their straws, the four of them compared how long each one was to the other. One was easily declared the shortest.
"Hey, I win!" Numbuh 3 announced, holding her straw in the air. It was indeed shorter than all the others.
"Great, we got a road trip ahead of us…" Numbuh 4 mumbled, chewing on his own straw.
"Do ve 'ave enough fuel for zat long a trip?" asked Henrietta.
Numbuh 2 nodded. "As long as we don't have any unforeseen side trips, we should be good."
"…you do realize how much of a cliché movie plot that sounds like, right?" Numbuh 5 pointed out.
"All the more reason to say it, Abby," Numbuh 2 said brightly. "All the more reason to say it."
Sorry I haven't updated in FOREVER. Summer coming around, and then starting school yesterday, plus a whole lot of drama…ugh it's been hectic. But I'm NOT giving up on this story, I assure you. What I AM slightly ending is the illustrations on DeviantART. Instead of every chapter having a picture, every two or three chapters will have pictures (I can update stories faster that way). This chapter, for instance, is a no-illustration, or NI. Any chapters from now on marked as NI at the beginning (next to the chapter number) means there is no accompanying pic, so don't go crazy looking for it.
And btw, in Nigel's letter all of the locations (except the mansion) should be crossed out. Unfortunitly, FF won't let me.
Henrietta Accent Translations (btw, if you guys can generally understand what she's saying, let me know; translations also eat up a lot of time).
Is zere any importance in zose places? 'ave you all lived vere before, per'aps? means Is there any importance in those places? Have you all lived there before, perhaps?
But vat are ve supposed to do vith vis information? means But what are we supposed to do with this information?
Numbuh 3 'as a point, iz like a scevenger 'unt. Maybe ve need to go to each locasion und get somezing, und zen go to ze mansion means Numbuh 3 has a point, it's like a scavenger hunt. Maybe we need to go to each location and get something, and then go to the mansion
So ve just…pick eh straw? means So we just…pick a straw?
I've got one es vell means I've got one as well
Do ve 'ave enough fuel for zat long a trip? means Do we have enough fuel for that long a trip?