Go Team Go 1: Origins
(A/N: Third up today. I wanted to get this chapter up really badly.)
Getting a Foothold
With Mego, Shego, and the twins at school, Hego finally had time to look for a place they could move, and a job he could get. "That much?! For an apartment in the slums?" Hego exclaimed, now so desperate that he was forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel for a rental; the bad part of the city. If this didn't pan out… He didn't even know. He listened a moment then said, "Look please, is there anything cheaper? Anything…? You'll keep me posted? Thank you." He hung up and stressfully rubbed his forehead. This was a disaster. They needed to be out of this house by the end of the week on Saturday. It was Thursday now.
He began searching through the job ads. Nothing even relatively well paying was listed. There had to be something. He flipped the page and started. "Bueno Nacho now hiring," he read aloud. Maybe this was what he was looking for. It was better than nothing, at least. He scanned it. The pay was slightly higher than minimum wage, and there was opportunity for advancement, which meant bigger salaries. Fine, he could give it a shot. He was pretty much ready to do anything by now. Except streetwalking, that was a big no.
KP
Mego looked through the bulletin boards, reading them for a sign of something that could be helpful to his family's situation. He sighed in exasperation, finding nothing. Would the councillor have something? He would take a chance. Maybe he could get right in. He headed towards the counselling office and knocked lightly. "Come in," the voice called. Mego entered the room and shut the door. "Why Mego, what brings you here? Finally beginning to look into colleges. Your sister already has a plan mapped out to get her Child Development Degree. Do you have a plan?"
"Like I care what my little sister does with her life," Mego said, rolling his eyes. He hated being compared to Shego, hated it. Little miss perfect had everything planned. Although to call her little miss perfect would be a death sentence. Really she was sort of half and half. Half Miss Perfect half rebellious little snake. Actually, more rebellious little snake than Miss Perfect, but still. "Look, I'm looking into places for rent. Do you have anything cheap and affordable?"
"Looking to move out? Things must be tough, what with the accident…" the councillor said.
"Just… Just look," Mego said, looking down.
The councillor cringed and obeyed, bringing up a few listings. "Have a look, Mego. Can I get you anything? Water?"
"I'm fine," Mego answered, sitting at the desk and scrolling down the listings. He felt like crying, for a moment. Even the slum apartments in this city were too pricy for them. They could manage for a year, maybe, but with only Hego working they wouldn't be able to stay for long. There was food and necessities to take into account, utilities bills, cost of living, etc. He had almost given up hope when he came upon one last entry and paused.
He blinked at it. There was an island, a ways off the coast of Go City. It was basically a rock, actually, not even an island. On said rock was a small and old house, rickety, hardly fit for living, but it would be a roof over their heads. Nobody wanted it, so it was dirt cheap. They could actually manage to pay it off if they combined their assets. Plus they'd have a little extra left over! It was the best they were going to get, given the size of their family and their current circumstances. Oh, Shego would murder him for this, but he'd like to see her do better. For the first time since their parents' deaths, he didn't feel helpless.
KP
Shego grimaced as she worked in the Home Economics room. Ugh, she hadn't taken Home Ec. for a reason. However, they had ingredients, they had supplies, and she and her brothers needed to eat. They couldn't afford takeout. She finished the ratatouille she was making and tasted it. It needed a bit more salt. She sprinkled some in and tasted again. That was better. At least they'd have dinner.
"All done, Shego?" the teacher asked.
"Yep, I'm out of here," Shego answered, pouring the meal into a large container.
"You're taking it all?" the teacher exclaimed.
"Doy, I have brothers to feed," Shego answered. "Not like they can take care of themselves." Before the teacher could try and offer sympathies, Shego hurried out. Ugh, this was so degrading. She should be out having fun, not staying late after school to cook for her family. "I knew it would all be me," she grumbled to herself.
KP
"What are we doing Wego?" Wego Two asked as they took the bus downtown.
"Wego, we need to help our brothers and sister," Wego One answered. "What better way than to get money?"
"The teacher did say earning money was fun," Wego Two agreed, thinking it over. The two got off the bus and put down a case.
"We can do tricks with our powers!" Wego One exclaimed.
"Yeah, we totally could!" Wego Two agreed. The two twins giggled and began performing tricks on the street, just the two of them. People thought it odd that two little boys should be doing such a thing, but nonetheless they dropped money. It was adorable, after all, and the duo was very good.
"Watch this!" the two said to the gathering crowd. They focused their energies desperately and suddenly ten more Wegos appeared! The crowd oohed and awed, clapping and wondering what sort of magic trick this was. The Wegos quickly formed a large pyramid and began pulling off stunt after stunt. Finally, after two hours, the case was almost full. Wego One and Wego Two knew their siblings would be getting worried, so they picked up the money they'd gotten and headed back towards home. They weren't sure how to get rid of the clones, but eventually they disappeared.
KP
"Where are they?" Shego asked, pacing agitatedly.
"They were supposed to be back on the bus an hour ago," Hego worriedly said. He couldn't possibly have failed so easily.
"Maybe they ran away," Mego said, worriedly looking at Hego.
"We're back!" two voices exclaimed together, and the two boys walked in.
"Wegos!" their siblings exclaimed, racing to them and pulling them into tight hugs before suddenly snapping back to themselves and pulling away.
"Where have you been?" Hego demanded.
"Making money," the two answered together, proudly revealing their case. The mouths of the three eldest dropped.
"But-but how?" Shego asked, confused.
"Like this," Wego One said. Instantly he sent out three clones, all of which bowed to the three eldest.
"We used our powers!" Wego Two explained, as if it weren't obvious already.
"No way," Mego said in shock.
"At least you two are safe," Hego said, sighing in relief. "Let's sit down for dinner. Shego cooked.
KP
They ate the meal ravenously. "Meh, could use more seasoning," Mego remarked.
"Coming from the guy who hasn't so much as heated up a microwave dinner on his own?" Shego bit.
"So, sibs, what's new?" Hego asked, breaking up the pending argument between the two middle children. "Oh, on my end I have some good news and some bad news."
"Good new first!" Wego One exclaimed.
"I got an interview at Bueno Nacho. They hired me on the spot," Hego answered, grinning. First stroke of luck he'd had all day, and the last.
"And the bad?" Wego Two worriedly asked.
"I… couldn't find a place for us to live," Hego admitted.
"What?! Hello, Hego, we need to be out of here by Saturday," Shego stated.
"I know, I know, I'm trying, I really am," Hego insisted.
"Well stop. I've found the solution to our housing problem," Mego interrupted.
"You have?!" the others all exclaimed hopefully. Mego smirked and brought out the printed off advertisement. The others all eagerly looked.
KP
As expected, Shego balked at the idea. In fact, she'd chased Mego around the house firing plasma like crazy. At least it came out when she was mad. She couldn't control it yet, but it showed up when she wanted it. Hego had finally managed to pry them apart and the pressing for detail was on. "What makes you think this is the right choice?" Hego asked.
"Because it's the only place we can find, Hego. It's cheap, it's a roof over our heads, it's better than nothing. If we pool our money we can pay it off in cash and still have some extra," Mego stated.
"It's a rock!" Shego yelled.
"Shego's right," Wego One said.
"How do we even get there?" Wego Two asked.
"Ferry, duh," Mego answered.
"How much will that cost?" Shego asked. "Look, if we can find a cheap clunker of a boat to buy off of some sap with our extra money, we could end up saving in the long run."
"We can go down and look at boats tomorrow!" Wego One exclaimed.
"Our class is going to the boat docks!" Wego Two added excitedly.
"You were right, Wegos… None of us have to do this alone," Hego said, smiling proudly at his family. For once Shego found she agreed with him. Mego couldn't help but smirk himself.
KP
The Wego twins paid particular attention to the docks the next day. Last night Hego had worked out how much they'd need to pay off the house on the island. Everything that was left they had given to the twins, Shego threatening a painful death if they spent it on anything other than a boat, so they were being extra careful not to get distracted by goodies and toys. "What about that?" Wego One asked, pointing at a rowboat.
"No, it would take forever to get to the island," Wego Two said. "We need something like a motorboat."
"Those are expensive," Wego One protested.
"Maybe, but not that one," Wego Two stated, pointing at an ugly looking thing with an old motor and broken windows. It was for sale. The two slipped away from their classmates and went to the boat, looking it over.
"Looking to buy a boat, are we?" a smooth voice said. The two turned to see a distinguished yet sly looking man approaching casually. They blinked up at him with wide eyes. The man scared them but at the same time made them feel comfortable.
"We need to get to that island," Wego One said.
"We're orphans and our family is getting kicked out of our house," Wego Two stated.
"But we want to buy the house on the island because it's all we can afford," Wego One declared.
"Except we don't have a way to get there and ferries are expensive," Wego Two finished.
"We have money, see," Wego One offered, holding up one-hundred dollars.
KP
The stranger looked incredulously at them saying nothing. He really couldn't be bothered being here, he had his own big name company to be running after all, except he'd come to see an old friend who worked at these docks. That old friend had vented to him about being unable to sell this particular boat. No wonder, the businessman thought. The thing was a wreck. It would be a miracle if it got even a quarter of the way to that island. Of course for the sake of his old friend he'd volunteered to give it a whirl. He'd expected these two children to be with parental figures of some sort, though. To say he was surprised it was them looking to buy would be an understatement. They couldn't be serious.
"You think one-hundred can purchase this beauty?" the man asked, slipping into a slick salesman role.
"We can't pay much, we hardly have anything," Wego Two replied, looking sadly down. "All we have it five-thousand." The salesman's eyes widened in shock. These two boys couldn't be more than five years old and they were carting around five-thousand!
"It's everything we have left," Wego One said, and the stranger was again shocked.
"How big is your family?" the man asked.
"Five, including us," Wego Two replied.
The man was silent a long moment, summing the two children up. He recognized them from somewhere… The paper, he believed. They and their siblings had caused quite a stir at the hospital. After a moment he said as he knelt, "I'll tell you what, I was going to charge one-thousand, but I'll let you have the boat for three-hundred. It's not even worth that."
"Really?!" the Wegos exclaimed together, eyes bugging widely.
The stranger smiled mysteriously. "I'll even get a few people down here to patch it up for you, no charge," he said.
"And you'll paint it red, blue, purple, and green?!" the Wegos asked.
"Sure, kids, sure," the stranger answered.
KP
Suddenly the Wego Twins got suspicious. "Wait, what's the catch?" Wego One asked guardedly.
"Surprisingly there is none. You know, I have a son. He's about nine. Call it a sentimental reason. Why not do a good deed once in a while? Keeps me varied, keeps people guessing. Just remember one name…" the stranger answered, taking the three-hundred and rising, turning his back to walk away.
"What is it?" the twins questioned.
The stranger glanced back, smirking, and replied, "Jack Hench." With that the man walked away, leaving the twins gazing after him in awe.