DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR

A/N: Aiight, filler chapter time! Well, kinda. It's significant, but it's really just setting the stage for Chapter 6. Whatever, let's just get to it. lol

CHAPTER 5: MUSHI, THE CHAPTER FILLER

The girl stepped back into the dark hallway. She looked up at each of the three towering silhouettes blocking her path. Most people would have been intimidated by these behemoth figures; she took the first step toward the stairs regardless. The giants quickly stepped aside to make way for her, and fell in behind her once she passed.

As soon as her hands touched the banister, a muffled gasping caught her attention. She slowly rescinded her hand, eyes narrowing in the direction of the one door with light spilling out from underneath. She cautiously approached this door, attentively listening for further clues as to what was on the other side. She pressed her ear against the door. Someone was talking, though their words were indiscernible.

The girl grabbed hold of the doorknob. After quick glance back at the trio of shadows, she twisted it, and pushed it open.

The sudden motion was noticed by the four girls by the mirror on the far side of the room.

"What the...? Who are you?!"

The group leapt toward this intruder, assuming ready stances a few meters away. All four had procured 2x4 technology-based firearms somewhere in the process, not the least bit surprisingly.

The Asian girl spoke again. "Who are you?"

What? Who was she? Was this girl serious? Even in the dark of the hallway, how did she not recognize her?

The girl stepped into light, smirking. "There's some two-foot-tall girl walking around your home who looks exactly like your sister. Wonder who it could possibly be?"

Kuki lowered her weapon. "Mushi! Where have you been?! Mom and dad are furious with you!"

Mushi waved her hand dismissively. "They'll get over it. Well, probably not. I don't care. Look, I was just on my way out; just needed to pick up my beach towel. I heard some weird noises, so I thought I'd check it out." Her eyes came to rest on Abby. She looked... girlier than usual. "What's with you?"

Abby growled. "Don't you start."

"Whatever. I'm out, losers."

Kuki raised her weapon. "Oh, no, you don't! You're grounded! You're not going anywhere!"

Mushi's glare locked with Kuki's. "Oh, I'll do whateeeeever I want to." She held her gaze; it was Kuki who looked away first. She, along with her friends, lost her confident composure as her eyes fell on something above Mushi's head. Mushi knew this was because of the three leviathans behind her. She loved their expressions of awe, almost as much as much as she would love their looks of defeat.

"Goodbye, sis. You guys enjoy the rest of your, uh, slumber party." Mushi spun around, and glanced over her shoulder before making her dramatic exit. "Oh, and, you might wanna close your window; storm's abrewin' outside."

The symphony of zombie conquering pandemonium practically shook the house. Perhaps this was what triggered the interruption.

The door to Wally's room swung open, making way for a noticeably annoyed Mr. Beetles. "Wallabee!"

Someone paused the game. Wally intended to ignore his father, pretend he couldn't hear him. Couldn't do that now. Stupid pauser, whoever it was.

"Yeah?"

"Turn it down, son! It's loud enough to wake up the whole outback from here!"

Wally groaned. "Fine, I'll turn down the cruddy volume..."

Mr. Beetles nodded with satisfaction. "Thank you. Now you boys have fun!"

Wally watched to ensure his father closed the door on the way out. Hoagie handed the remote to him. He stared at it for a second, shrugged, tossed it aside, and resumed the deafening video game just the same.

"WALLABEE!"

After verifying that Mushi was nowhere to be found, the girls had resumed their circle on Kuki's floor. Now, no one talked, not even Kuki. Abby was bothered by this, and had taken to examining each of her friends: Kuki, who was clearly angry with her sister, and probably upset with the current state of her slumber party; Rachel, who Abby figured was still contemplating everything from her earlier episode, judging by her pensive, distant look; and Fanny, who had returned to her normal self during the short confrontation with Mushi, but was now back to nervously combing her fingers through her hair.

Not to be rude, but this was the worst slumber party. Ever. Fortunately, Abby wouldn't be Abby if she couldn't formulate a plan for nearly everything. She calmly put her hair into a ponytail, and then went to work.

"So, girls..." They each looked up at her. "Talked to any cute boys lately?"

To Abby's surprise, all three girls began rubbing the back of their necks and mumbling indiscernibly over each other. They then all stopped at once, and stared at each other with wide eyes.

Abby chuckled. Mission accomplished.

A/N: Apologies for such a long wait for such a short chapter. The last two weeks were really busy (as I knew they would be), so I didn't get much time to write, and I admit I spent most of that working on something else. If it makes you feel any better, I'm back to putting more time into writing.

Also, for those interested, I'm working on a Call of Duty fic, circa Modern Warfare 2. It's almost ready, so keep an eye out for it.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

- Marty