A/N: Shout-out to Tziput13 and Sagittarius12 for leaving their thoughts on the last chapter! The support is much appreciated!
Chapter 15
"Let's see...Fudgy Ripple Supreme, Whipped Raspberry Cheesecake, and, finally, Strawberrilicious Choco-Swirl." Sera replaced the lid on the last ice cream vat she'd forced open, shivering in the chilly atmosphere of the ice cream factory she'd snuck into. She carefully wrote down the names of the hidden flavors she'd discovered in a small notebook. That made for a total of fifty flavors (as opposed to the very-publicized list of only thirty-three flavors), one for every state in the U.S. Which, of course, only lent credence to the theory about a secret Ice Cream Man plot that would eventually result in a massive attack against each and every kid in the entire country, though the exact details were, admittedly, still a little sketchy. Nevertheless, the conspiracy forum would definitely be grateful for the update on Topic 11,403.
Using the rope she'd tied to the skylight, Sera left the factory the same way she'd come in, climbing back up to the roof, and she quickly took to the sky using the jetpack strapped to her back. She only used it until she reached the edge of the factory's property line, at which point she landed back on the ground, stowing the jetpack in her duffle bag. After all, jet fuel wasn't cheap in the underground markets, so she never tried to use hers longer than she needed to for her work.
She slung the duffle bag over her shoulder, then set off down the sidewalk, checking the time on her phone. It was just past midnight, which was just what she expected. Sera always did her best work during the dead of night, when she could be doubly sure she wouldn't run into anybody who'd give her trouble.
She stopped under a street lamp and flipped her notebook open, looking to review some of her notes first. She flipped past all the ice cream stuff, finally stopping at the section where she'd written down the audio she'd gotten from the Sector V bug, thus far. Five days' worth of those kids' dialogue stared back up at her, and her eyes flicked over the script. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a little dejected, not to mention frustrated, at the lack of concrete results.
Since Cree had managed to bug Numbuh 5, Sera had been diligently spying on their treehouse during the day, as well as recording whatever conversations they had as they went about their days. For the first few days, the topics those kids had gone over were endless, from Rainbow Monkeys, to Yipper trading cards, to training for upcoming missions, to crab cannons, of all things (she was pretty sure that last one was Numbuh 4's idea). They seemed to go out of their way to talk and argue about anything and everything under the sun...except the one person she was hoping they'd finally talk about, which had been frustrating to no end.
Then, she'd finally gotten something yesterday when Sector V had returned from a mission, and the Australian kid, Numbuh 4, had solemnly said, "Man, I sure miss Numbuh 1. He would have loved going up against those Delightful Dorks again."
There'd been silence from the others, before Numbuh 5 finally drawled, "Yeah...yeah, he would have. But...the work he's doing now is just as good as fighting those creepy kids."
"What...what do you think he's doing now?" Numbuh 2 had asked, a level of uncertainty in his tone.
"Meh, probably flying around in a cool spaceship, blasting all those loser adults," Numbuh 4 had said dismissively. "I hope he gives those tentacled freaks what-for!"
"Ooh, or maybe he's found a super cute, fluffy animal to keep him company and be his friend! Something just as magical and eternally loving as a Rainbow Monkey!" Numbuh 5 had chimed in next, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"Well, either way, I guess it's nacho business anymore!" Numbuh 2 said, and the rest of the kids had groaned at the joke. "Get it? NACHO business?!"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Numbuh 5 had said, and Sera had practically heard the eye-roll she'd undoubtedly shot at the pilot. "Let's just get a move-on. We've still gotta give the report to Global Command."
And that had been the end of the conversation, which was...interesting, but hadn't really given anything concrete about Numbuh 1's location. Just a single allusion to space, which was interesting...
Sera paused in reviewing her notes, looking up as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up forebodingly. Her eyes flicked back and forth around her, her instincts telling her something wasn't quite right. The expected quiet night was, all of a sudden...too quiet. There was no shifting breeze, no whining dogs, no sounds of night-time insects. It was like everything just...stopped.
Then, Sera heard a distant, faint whistle pierce the air, echoing around her. Her brow furrowed, trying to place sound that struck her as familiar as it steadily grew louder. The last time she'd heard anything like that...
Sera's eyes widened, every spy instinct she had screaming, DANGER, DANGER, DANGER! She immediately jumped away from her spot under the street lamp and threw herself down, just as a loud BOOM! rocked the ground behind her. Looking back, she saw a smoking crater right where she'd been standing only seconds before.
And standing just beyond it, with weapons primed and aiming right at her...was a squad of KND operatives. Decommissioning operatives, to be precise. Sera's eyes widened in shock, surprise, and, most of all, flat-out fear. She didn't know why, or even how, but it was obvious this squad was onto her, and were looking to take her to her decommissioning by any means necessary. Her worst nightmare...had finally come to pass.
But that didn't mean she'd be going without a fight.
She didn't waste any time scrambling to her feet and making a run for it just as they opened fire, her heart pounding in her chest. She dived into a nearby alleyway, just barely dodging the volley of MUSKET fire, but not before a few blasts managed to singe her coat. Sprinting down the darkened alley for all she was worth, she used the few seconds she had to scatter the various boxes and garbage cans in the agents' paths, along with shooting some return fire with one of her sidearms. That bought her another few seconds of delay, and she exited out the other side, the duffle bag on her shoulder slapping at her heels with every frantic step.
Her eyes frantically searched around her as she ran down the sidewalk, shooting her blaster back at them the moment the squad appeared out of the shadows, which was fine, but wouldn't hold them off forever. After all, the odds were against her. There was only one of her, and way more of them. Simply put, the odds were against her in this situation. She needed to craft some sort of plan, and she was not about to go charging at them in desperation, like the last time the decommissioning squad had hunted her, back when she was a stupid kid.
By a stroke of luck, she spotted an open manhole in the street, and she wasted no time jumping down it into the sewers, not even bothering to use the ladder. She ran down the underground path, her chest heaving from all the sprinting, but there was no way she going to stop for a breather. Not with a decommissioning squad on her tail.
Sera could hear their footsteps behind her, echoing ominously, but she didn't look back or return any more fire. She knew it was best to save her ammo until the best opportunity came to escape them.
The path forked off into two paths, and she chose the left one, even though she wasn't entirely sure where it would take her. And, honestly, she didn't really care. Just as long as it got her away from them.
She ignored every ladder she passed going back to the surface, not even considering using that as a route. It would take too much time, and chances were they'd be on her before she managed to get to the manhole cover. Finally, she spied the end of the path up ahead, emptying out into the nearby river. And while it was covered up by a sewer grate, one shot of her blaster swiftly took care of that, and she jumped out of the opening into the river, diving beneath the cloudy water.
Sinking like a stone (one of the pitfalls of carrying a duffle bag all over the place), she pulled a small, hand-held breathing device from one of her bag's pockets, sticking it in her mouth to get some much-needed air. After the previous experiences she'd had of almost-drowning, Sera always made sure she never left her house without at least one of those things, just in case. She kicked her feet, found she was still able to swim, even with her bag weighing her down, and she followed the current as it swept her downstream much faster than she'd be able to run. Which was a good thing, especially when another explosion followed just a few seconds after she jumped in, shaking the riverbed with the force of the impact.
After several minutes, her head broke the surface, and she saw that she'd reached the town park. Her mind instantly saw the possibilities in this. She was pretty sure she'd lost the squad that was after her, at least for the moment, and they'd have a hard time pinning down where, exactly, she'd ended up, so that gave her some time. She knew there was a midnight bus stop somewhere, so this was the plan: lose these guys, sneak onto that bus, get out of here, and go off the grid again, probably to either Canada or Alaska. It didn't matter which one, as long as it got her far away from these guys.
She pulled herself out of the river, but had barely taken a step when a bright spotlight shone down right on her from a KND chopper that had seemingly come out of nowhere, making her stand out like a beacon. The doors on it opened, and several ropes were tossed out, with decommission agents sliding down them towards the ground.
"Found her!"
She winced at the blinding light, wishing she was wearing her sunglasses right now, but managed to sprint into the park, hoping the trees would shield her from the hunting helicopter. The branches from the trees and bushes scratched at her face, and pulled at her hair as she ran through them, but she didn't dare stop, not for a second. She knew if she did, it would only be her doom.
As the operatives started firing at her again, Sera remembered her training back on the KND Arctic Base, and did just as Numbuh 711 had once taught her, zig-zagging through the foliage at random intervals to confuse them and keep them from getting a decent lock on her with their weapons. However, there was one moment where she accidentally tripped on a rock, and lost her footing, practically rolling down a hill as a result. But, despite the added bruises, she got back on her feet, and kept going.
Just as she finally dared to look back again, she immediately smacked into the fence that circled the entire park. Sera climbed it as quickly and hurriedly as she could, knowing the agents were right on her tail. She couldn't help but wince as the bottom of her coat snagged in the fence, leaving long, jagged rips in the fabric. Still, she didn't stop, not for a second. She just had to keep on going, going, going.
She couldn't go back to the Kids Next Door. She wouldn't. Not when she knew the only thing waiting for her was a decommissioning. After what had happened to her team, she'd sworn that she would do everything to escape that fate, no matter what.
There was the faint whistling sound again, and Sera immediately jumped off to the side as another rocket exploded, throwing her off her feet. She leaped up, ready to run again, but there was a sharp tug on her hair, pulling her back. She jerked her head around to see a decommissioning operative clutching it in her hands, her face triumphant and smug.
"I got her! I got her! I got-"
CRUNCH!
Sera whipped her duffle bag back and sent it flying right into the operative's face with all her strength. The second the grip on her hair loosened, Sera was off again like a bolt of lightning. At the next block, she turned to the right and sprinted with everything she had. If she played her cards right, she could shake them off long enough to hide someplace they'd pass on by, and then-
Suddenly, with no warning, a neon green whip flew out of the darkness, wrapping around her leg. The second it touched her, every molecule in her body felt like it was on fire. A long, agonizing screech burst out of Sera, and she fell to the ground. She was completely immobilized from the pain that wracked through her. No matter how much she wanted to, needed to keep going, she just couldn't.
No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! She was supposed to escape, not lie on the ground, forced to writhe in pain until the decommissioning squad finally caught her, like she was stuck on some silver platter. She couldn't be decommissioned! She couldn't!
Out of the corner of her eye, Sera spied her phone as it vibrated. It was lying on the ground just out of reach, along with her sunglasses, both of which had fallen out of her coat pocket when she fell. She couldn't see the name on the screen, but she knew exactly who was calling. Usually, she'd be hard-pressed to answer him, but now, she struggled to fight the pain coursing through her body long enough to reach her phone. If she could just answer it, maybe, just maybe...she'd be able to escape the threat of decommissioning one more time. If she managed to reach just a little closer...
But, just as her fingers brushed the phone, the glowing whip that was responsible for her pain suddenly tightened around her leg, and she found herself being whisked away, closer to her pursuers...and farther away from what might be her last chance for escape.
"No!" Sera cried as she was thrust out of the alley, and was immediately surrounded by the decommissioning squad. Glowing blue handcuffs were slapped over her wrists with a sense of finality. The chase was over. She...had lost.
"Well, you put up a good chase, but you should have known better than to think you could get away, 221B." Sera froze at the sound of that annoying, lisping voice. It was a voice she hadn't heard in five years, but would never forget. Her eyes snapped up as the whip was finally retracted, and she was relieved of that paralyzing pain. As for the kid who was holding the whip...she recognized that lab coat, the orangish-red hair, and especially those terrible, icy-blue eyes.
Numbuh 74.239. The last time she'd seen him, was when she'd lost everything in the Kids Next Door...because of what he did to her team. And if he was here...
"YOU!" she shrieked as her vision turned red from a blinding rage, and she instantly leaped into action. Despite the handcuffs, she managed to pull a small, seemingly innocuous coin out of her coat pocket but, with a click of the coin's face, a small, but deadly-sharp blade popped out. She lunged straight at him, the blade aiming right for his face. "You little-"
"Restrain that pubescent Dicrocoelium dendriticum, if you please," Numbuh 74.239 said lazily, dodging the erratic attack, and the squad immediately fell on her in response, working to tie her up with fortified yo-yo and kite strings that were, despite appearances, definitely as strong as steel. She desperately fought back, punching and kicking wherever she could, practically growling as she did everything to get free. But she knew it was no good when she finally landed a good hit right in one of their faces, only to realize the truth when her fist bounced off with a dull, metallic echo. Pain immediately erupted throughout her hand, and the operative she'd hit acted like it hadn't even happened.
Yet another robot wearing a mask. Dimly, she wondered if that held true for the rest of these so-called 'operatives.'
Sera did manage to burst out of the crowd for a brief moment, and she made the most of her opportunity, getting one good shot at Numbuh 74.239 with her blade before it was ripped out of her hand, and she was grabbed by his cronies again. When the dust settled, Sera was tied up from head-to-toe, lying on the ground, each operative keeping a firm grip on their section of the string, making sure there was no way for her to so much as twitch.
Even as Sera glared back up at Numbuh 74.239, her anger simmering, she also couldn't help but feel a little smug at the sight of the cut she'd managed to leave on his face, just under his eye. She managed to get one good hit on him, at least. The scientist pulled out a napkin, casually wiping away the light amber liquid that oozed out in place of blood, raising his eyebrow at the downed teen.
"Yes, yes, so you managed one measly cut on the likes of me. Big deal. Of course, just like when you attacked me in front of the entire Moonbase all those years ago, it still changes nothing," he said with a nasty smirk, raising his foot to bring it down on top of her head, pushing her face into the ground. "You're still down on the ground, whereas I'm standing far above you, with your fate, once again, completely resting in my hands. Just like it was five years ago."
Sera's eyes flashed darkly, but she couldn't say anything, not with his foot keeping her face in the ground.
"Of course, I'm sure you have your questions," the scientist went on with a pompous air. "Why, after all this time, did I wait until now to finally hunt you down? Well, the answer is really very simple. See, in the grand scheme of things, you never really mattered to us. Sure, you might have been lucky enough to sneak a peek of my true form back then, but the only one that would have ever been believed about something like that (considering your reputation, and all) was Numbuh 231. And, of course, we both know what happened to her."
He gave a cocky wink, and Sera trembled with rage, wanting nothing more than to tear him limb from limb for what he'd done to her team...and especially to Gwen. "Now, don't go trying to blame me for how it all went down. I would been more than happy to leave her alone if the two of you had just been decommissioned with the rest of your team. But when you both escaped, well...that left me with no choice but to use...other alternatives. And, of course, everything naturally took its course after that, just as I calculated. Well, almost." He smirked. "I have to admit, my calculations may have failed to accurately predict just how violent your outburst would be, but it all worked out, didn't it? Even if I did get stuck in the infirmary for way, way longer than I wanted."
Sera tried to raise her head up, but Numbuh 74.239 forced her back into the concrete sidewalk, grinding his heel down on her head for good measure.
"Of course, there was that one hiccup with Supreme Leader Numbuh 100 still wanting to help you, even after you attacked me, of all operatives! No idea why he thought you were still worth something." The scientist shook his head before a self-satisfied smile crossed his face. "Of course, it didn't take much to change that, as I'm sure you remember. And, yes, we were aware of your file saying you'd been 'lost,' but I, for one, never believed that you'd let yourself go out like that. And, it turns out I was right, just as calculated. But, you never tried coming back to the KND, you were no longer considered any threat whatsoever (not that you ever really were, if you ask me), and we all had far better things to focus on than one unstable rogue operative whose credibility had been completely shot. So, we let you go, but we made sure to still keep an eye on you, just in case. Which, as it turns out, was a good thing."
Numbuh 74.239 bent down to Sera, his hot breath in her ear. "You've sure been getting cozy with those despicable, execrable teenagers lately. You even teamed up with them to ruin one of my projects. I can't help but wonder if you've been tempted to share certain...information about your little tragedy, especially to two who rank so highly in your teen hierarchy. Am I wrong?"
Sera managed to turn her face to the side, finally able to talk, though it was a little hard with half her face smushed into the pavement. "You're...wrong. I didn't...didn't say anything...not about you...or Numbuh 231. I know better...than to get them mixed up in that. You have...nothing to worry about there."
"Well, regardless of the fact on whether you will or won't, I, for one, don't believe in leaving these things to chance." Numbuh 74.239 said, the look in his eyes sending a chill down Sera's spine. "I can't risk leaving you to your own devices, not with the likes of Numbuhs 9 and 11 hanging around all the time. For reasons my calculations can't fathom, they seem like they'd listen to you, even if you were going on about something as preposterous and ludicrous as there being aliens in the Kids Next Door! Besides, you're still investigating those little MARBLE attacks, aren't you? It'd only be a matter of time before you managed to connect the dots back to me. Would you still keep what you know from them, then?"
Sera growled, but was kept from saying anything when Numbuh 74.239's head snapped up, squinting into the dark alley she'd just been pulled out of. She had no idea what he was either looking at or hearing, so when he entered that alley, all she could was wait with his squad. He came back after a minute with a haughty smile on his face, waving around a familiar silver object.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Numbuh 74.239 sniggered as he waved the vibrating phone in front of her face. "Don't tell me you have a friend?"
"We're not friends," Sera snapped, taking the opportunity to spit right in Numbuh 74.239's face, and was rewarded with him howling in disgust and rage.
"EEEEWWWW! You got your microbe-infested deoxyribonucleic acids all over me, you...you degenerate!" The scientist jumped back, pulling a container of antibacterial wipes out of his lab coat. He frantically ripped out several wipes, smearing them all over his nerdy face. When he finally deemed himself properly disinfected, he snapped his fingers, and one of the operatives took away the used wipes. Laying them on the ground, the robot (yeah, at least some of these guys were definitely robots) opened its mouth, and fire roared out, promptly burning the wipes to ash.
Now that the germ-riddled crisis had been averted, Numbuh 74.239 turned his attention back to Sera, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Of all the nerve to do to someone like me," he growled dangerously. "I should have expected as much from someone so disgustingly adolescent. Mute her," he nodded at one of his underlings, and Sera found herself being promptly gagged with a material that was so thick and tight over her mouth, she could barely make a sound.
"That's better," Numbuh 74.239 nodded with satisfaction. "Much, much better. Now, about this phone of yours..." he reached into the pocket of his lab coat, pulling out a device that made Sera instantly tense. It was none other than a VOCAL-YOKEL, a device capable of either disguising someone's voice...or perfectly replicating another's. There were slight differences in this one's design (likely from custom modifications), but there was no mistaking that gadget. "I, for one, would very much like to know who would go out of their way to call someone like you."
With the click of a button, a small scanner popped out of the modulator, easily scanning the teen before folding back up, and Numbuh 74.239 held it up to his mouth. Sera struggled against her binds in a panic, but there was nothing she could do to escape them. The scientist shot her a nasty grin as he answered her phone in a perfect replica of her own voice. "Like, hello?"
He listened to the caller, and his eyebrows jumped up in surprise. He glanced down at Sera, and an arrogant smile slowly made its way onto his face. "Oh, no, no. There's been nothing of note as of yet. I have a few leads, though, so don't you worry. What's that?"
He listened intently to the caller. "Oh, no. No, thank you, sorry. I'm far too busy for anything like that. But, what about you? Found out anything?"
Sera glared daggers at the smug scientist as he finished the call with a prompt, "No, huh? What a shame that is...but I'm sure you'll get something. Just be sure to tell me all about it when you do. I'll let you know when I have something. Buh-bye!"
He clicked the phone shut, raising his eyebrow at Sera. "So, he's in the picture, too. What an...interesting development, to say the least. How ever did you manage to get on his radar?"
When Sera said nothing, Numbuh 74.239 slapped a hand over his forehead. "Oh, right, you can't talk right now. Forgot that for a second. Well, no matter. The way he is now, I'd be surprised if he could find his way out of a paper bag, let alone be much of a threat to us!"
The scientist laughed heartily before turning his gaze back on Sera. "And as for you, it's obvious we can't just let you go, not now. Not a decommissioning, as I know that's exactly what you were thinking when these guys first found you. No, I can see a far better way to get some use out of you. Of course, by the time we're through, you'll probably wish you were decommissioned."
Based on the cruel look in his eyes, Sera knew whatever he had planned for her would not be painless.
"Oh, and I should thank you for allowing this to fall into my hands," he waved her phone above her head, taunting her. "This might be very useful in staying one step ahead of those teens. But, we've wasted enough time in this dump. Time to get back to base."
Nodding his head at his squad, the other operatives started dragging Sera down the sidewalk, and her heart pounded in her chest eratically at the thought of being at this crazy kid's non-mercy. She thrashed around, doing everything she could think of to get free, or be able to scream, or something, but the string held tight and strong. There was nothing she could do as she was dragged away, trapped in the clutches of the kid she considered to be the most dangerous KND operative ever.
This was her worst nightmare.
Five minutes later, a door in the alley opened, and The Steve stepped outside. Bright strobe lighting streamed out the door, and loud rock music with screaming, partying teens sounded from inside the building, as was typical for a ScumBucketPunks concert.
The teen leader, having stepped outside for a second of fresh air, spied an old, hanging mirror and stepped towards it, intending to see if anything about his look that needed fixing before his band started the next set. After all, being the leader of the world's Teenz required a certain image to uphold, which meant his look had to stay impeccable at all times. There'd be no sign of droopy hair on his watch!
A small crunch sounded beneath his foot as he took the first step, and The Steve looked down to see that he'd stepped on a pair of sunglasses, obliterating the lenses and cracking the frame. He stooped down and picked them up, peering over his own shades. This particular diamond-gem shaped pair seemed...familiar, somehow, but he had difficulty remembering where he'd seen them.
"Hey, man!" One of The Steve's right-hand bros, Jason, leaned out the open door, a bottle of soda sloshing in his hand. "You ready to rock the next set?"
The teen leader shot him a lazy, but cool smile as he stood up. "Only if the rest of you dudes and dudettes are ready to party some more, man!"
"You know it, bro!" Jason said with a chuckle before pausing, his eyes peering over his own shades to stare at the broken sunglasses in the other teen's hand. "So, I guess that crazy chick's hanging around here, too?"
The Steve raised his eyebrow at that, and his bro quickly elaborated, tilting his head. "You know, that one chick who always steals our trash from headquarters, dude. Pretty sure those busted things are, like, hers, or something. At least, I've, like, sure never seen anyone else with those kind of shades."
The Steve nodded, now knowing what his dude Jason was talking about. She might have thought she was sneaky or whatever when she did that, but the nerds had a totally gnarly security system installed at headquarters that'd gotten her on their cameras more than a few times, her sunglasses almost always glinting on top of her head. She never did anything except take their trash, though, which was weird, but The Steve had never seen any harm in it, especially after Cree vouched for her as a supreme non-threat.
His head swiveled back and forth as he peered up and down the alleyway, his finger tapping on the pair of broken sunglasses. He knew this Sera girl was kinda crazy, but it struck him as unnatural that any teen, even one as weird as her, would just...leave their sunglasses behind. That was not the norm for teens.
Teens were typically very protective of their shades, if they had any to begin with. It might have been because of the instant cool factor they gave off, or the fact that they were actually rarer among teens, due to a reason that The Steve thought was pretty lame. The adults always got first dibs on any sunglasses sales, no matter where they were. They always went on and on about how the adults needed the shades more for protection from the sun, or something dumb like that. Either way, it meant that teenagers had few chances to get ahold of the hot commodity, with only a few of them being lucky enough to actually own a pair.
Based on that alone, something wasn't sitting right with The Steve, and his eerie feeling grew when he walked over to the sidewalk, something having caught his eye, just under the light of the street-lamp. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him (it happened from time to time), but he was pretty sure...that was blood. Not only that, but, based on the trail, it looked like something had been dragged away...or someone.
The Steve instantly felt cold at the implications that spelled out for one of his own teens. He thought she'd sounded weird on the phone call he'd just had with her, but he'd shrugged off his misgivings. Now, though...something definitely wasn't gelling with him anymore, and he aimed to find out what that was.
"Jason," his bro snapped to attention at the sound of The Steve's voice, its hard tone a far cry from his usual casual demeanor. "Wrangle up one of the nerds, and tell him to bring his DNA stuff, will ya? The Steve thinks he'd like to know just whose blood this is."
