A/N: It's been like a kabillion months. I really want to get into it now. You can find the pleading sorry note at the bottom.
Read on.
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Kids Next Door Mission...
Operation: F.O.R.G.E.T.
Fragments
Of
Recovery
Gradually
Enable
Team
Chapter 35- Boxing Day Sales and a Bunch of Lost Kids
Nigel and Rachel were in the treehouse, deep in conversation, the day after Christmas.
They sat cross-legged on the lounge floor, ignoring the couches next to them.
'So Dr. Colter has really been back?' Rachel said in disbelief, after Nigel had explained Sector V's endeavours in the past weeks.
'Yeah. Been and gone though, I guess. He's locked up in the Arctic prison right now. But I'm not so sure that that's the end. It was all too... easy.'
Rachel nodded thoughtfully.
'Hm, maybe. I guess we just keep an eye on him for now, right?'
'Yea, I guess.'
They sat in silence for a while.
Until Rachel remembered a very rushed, angry text from early on Christmas morning, and instantly blushed in embaressment.
'Uh, Nigel?' she said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwarly.
'Yeees,' Nigel replied suspiciously.
'You know that call at 3AM yesterday morning, where I got all angry when you told me that the rest of the guys were here too?'
'Uh-hu.' Nigel narrowed his eyes at Rachel's uncomfortable behaviour.
'Weeell, I might have gotten a little annoyed at that, and maybe I wasn't thinking straight, or maybe it was because I was feeling- betrayed...'
'Rachel, what did you do?'
'I sent Abby and Kuki a text telling them that I was really mad and that I needed to know what you were doing.'
Nigel's eyebrows shot up.
'It maybe might have come off as a little enraged.'
'Oh.'
'So, I maybe, just might get a few strange looks from them...' Rachel said, mentally cursing herself because of her stupid rash actions.
Nigel didn't take long to catch her drift.
'And you want to go explain to them,' he finished, leaning back on the wall.
'Yeah.'
'Okay, well let's go then.' Nigel began to get up.
'But isn't it a bit early?'
'No. Hoagie deserves a payback for the early morning calls he's been giving me. And I can bet that Abby will be wherever he is.'
'You mean-'
'Yep. Together again. About a week ago.'
'...Huh.'
And with that, the two of them left.
Sydney, Australia
For those of you out there who don't know what Boxing day is, that is the official name of the 'day after Christmas'. And in Australia, it is a pretty big deal. Other than the usual post-Christmas activities (toy-testing, leftover-eating, and couch-lounging) there is the boxing day test (a big cricket match that starts on boxing day), and the Boxing day sales;
The day when the more saving-crazed people go absolutely all-out in the clearance sales that the stores put on to get rid of excess holiday stock.
The Beatles family, despite not being the type to participate in these chaotic sales, had something planned for the day that was sure to make it interesting.
'So you're actually goin' ta let us do this?' Wally asked, raising an eyebrow.
Their parents- that is, Wally and Joey's parents, as well as their uncles and aunts, had just issued them a challenge;
a whole city of shopping centres, two hours and three-hundred dollars between them, to buy whatever they wanted in the crazy sales.
'Yep, it should be fun for all of you!' One of their uncles replied.
That resulted in a chorus of cheers from all of the kids.
'As long as ya don't waste all tha money or start fighting ova it.'
'This is going ta be awesome!' Joey cried. He had his eye on a couple of new videogames for his console back home.
'When do we go?'
'Now.'
US time- Kuki's place
Kuki was in her room, listening to her new CDs and beginning a few sketches in a new notebook, humming along to the music.
Knock, knock, knock.
Kuki looked up, in the direction of the front door.
'Mushi! Are you going to get that?'
...
No answer.
Kuki rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the end of her bed.
Stretching herself out and yawning as she walked, she reached the door.
'Oh, hi Rachel! Hi Nigel!' she greeted in her usual sing-song way.
'Good morning Kuki.' Nigel said.
Kuki suddenly remembered something. The text from Rachel. She blushed and bit her lip.
'You're not still mad, are you Rachel?' she asked.
Rachel smiled in a knowing way that Kuki could not explain.
'Oh, no. I understand everything now, Numbuh 3,' she replied.
Kuki froze. Her breath stopped in her throat. Her mouth dropped open like something had slackened the muscles in her jaw.
'Numbuh 362? Rachel you're back! Ah, this is so awesome!'
Then, she got her movement back, and grabbed Rachel in a tight hug.
Nigel laughed to himself, as Rachel slowly turned blue, telling Kuki in a strangled voice that she 'would rather keep breathing'.
Kuki finally released Rachel, though she still had a large smile across her face.
'Have you told Hoagie and Abby?' she asked.
Nigel shook his head.
'Not yet. We were going to now. Do you want to come?'
'Of course!'
The three of them left Kuki's house as soon as she had gotten her shoes on, with Kuki babbling on and on in the background.
~(*)~
Joey and Wally sat in the back of their uncle and aunt's car, looking in awe at no less than fifteen twenty-dollar notes.
They were on their way into the central shopping district, right in the centre of Sydney.
'Ah can't believe they're letting us do this!' Gabbie exclaimed from the seat next to them.
'Ah know! We can pretty much get anythin' we want, in tha whole of Sydney!'
The car pulled into the main road, grabbing a park on the outskirts of the roads. It was about five or so minutes before the car holding the other half of the kids pulled up, found a park at a reasonable distance, and joined them on the sidewalk.
'Okay,' the boys' father began, 'it's undoubtably goin' ta be chaos in there, so Ah want you kids ta be careful, okay? And we want you all to meet us at the Cafe on tha corner in two hours, roight?'
All of the twelve kids nodded eagerly and excitedly.
'And Ah want you all ta stay togetha, and make sure ya take care of tha little ones.' Uncle Grant added.
More nodding, even from those who their uncle had meant by 'little ones'.
'Alroight then!' Their mother called, clapping her hands together.
'On ya marks.'
The children span and set their sights on the main shopping complex, which was a fair way down the block.
'Get set.'
They took a deep breath in.
'GO!'
And off they went, barreling down the pavement, much to the surprise (and annoyance) of the other pedestrians present.
It wasn't long before the group had reached the mall, rocketed through the doors and stopped dead in their tracks.
It.
Was.
Mania.
People everywhere, running, hurrying, yelling to friends and yelling at people who got in their way.
These were adults, grown men and women running around like this was the last time they were ever going to buy anything, ever.
And in less than two seconds flat, the feeling; the desperate, flighty, hyperactive feeling, caught on to the twelve children standing there.
And they were off.
'Where do we go first?' Sharon yelled to the others over a small riot.
There was a cacophany of shouts and requests, until Jack held up his hand for people to stop.
'Why don't we start with Big W? We can all find something there, roight?' he reasoned. Big W was pretty much the equivalent of Wal-mart in Australia; clothes, electronics, music, toys, lollies, and a lot in between. Jack was right; everyone could at least find something they liked in Big W.
They looked up to the directory sign, which listed Big W as straight ahead.
With one look across at everyone in their little band, they were once again sprinting like their life depended on it.
The store, housing aisle after aisle of slashed prices, seemed like a warehouse to the kids.
Katie, the oldest girl of the group, being nineteen, headed straight over to the clothing rack, calling back something about 'meeting them out the front in fifteen.' while the others began towards the back of the store, where the toys and games were.
But it wasn't as easy to find what they were looking for as they thought.
There was people everywhere. The whole kids' area was absolutely jammed with people, kids, grabbing things and running and shoving things under the price check scanners; nobody remained stationary for longer than two seconds.
The children were frozen in shock. Until Jack snapped out of the daze and yelled;
'What are we waitin' for? Go, guys, go!'
And they, too, shook themselves out of it and ran off in the direction they wanted; board games, electronics, girls.
Of course, Danny and the twins, being too little to go off on their own, were instead picked up by Sharon, Sammy and Wally, and with hands grasping tightly so as not to get lost, they were taken as well to the aisles in which they could find something they liked.
~(*)~
Hoagie had arrived at Abby's place that morning, jittery and excited. He was getting his present from her this morning.
What would it be?
She had said it was going to be good, and to Hoagie, that meant the best ever.
He had fidgeted in the cold outside her door, his breath misting in front of him, knocked on the door, and smiled his awkward smile to Abby when she opened the door.
'Morning, Hoags,' she said, ushering him in so she could shut the cold out again.
'Morning,' Hoagie replied.
Abby said nothing, but just beckoned for him to follow her upstairs, with a small, excited look on her face.
They reached her room, and sat on the bed, talking for a while. Abby brought up the text from Rachel; Hoagie was just as baffled.
And then, Abby pulled out Hoagie's gift.
It was small, wrapped in simple red and green.
'Merry Christmas, Hoagie,' she said warmly, handing it to him.
Hoagie looked down at the little package for half a second, then immediately began tearing off the wrapping paper.
Inside was a box.
Hoagie opened the box.
Inside the box was a covering of tissue paper.
Hoagie tore off the tissue paper.
Bubble wrap.
He tore off the bubble wrap.
Underneath the bubble wrap was another box.
Hoagie opened the box... again.
It was empty.
Hoagie frowned in confusion. What? He looked up at Abby, looking for an explaination. She looked at him expectantly, as if he was supposed to have seen the most amazing gift ever inside that empty box.
'Soo...?' She beckoned.
'So what?'
'What do you think?'
'Well, to be honest, I'm not really thinking anything of it, uh... y'know, since it's- uhm...'
'What? You don't like it? I- I mean, I can return it if you want.' Abby said, in a concerned manner.
Hoagie was just confused beyond measure.
I mean, Abby could see the box. She could see that there was nothing in it. If there was meant to be something on it that had maybe been accidentally misplaced, she could tell.
Hoagie hesitantly, unsurely reached down to feel the inside of the box, in case of the unlikely event that the box might have contained something invisible.
There was nothing there.
And now that he thought about it, he must have looked pretty stupid trying to grasp at nothing.
Abby's smile grew.
Then grew again.
Until it was no longer a smile of anticipation, but of amusement.
'Abby-' Hoagie said after a while.
'There's- uhm, there's nothing in this box.'
And with that, Abby burst into fits of laughter.
That was when Hoagie realised that he'd been duped.
She shook his head in disbelief.
'Really?'
Abby nodded; 'Yup. I couldn't resist,' she said, still stifling laughter. 'Now do you want your real present?'
'Yes. Yes I do.'
Abby pulled out another, larger wrapped parcel from behind her.
'This is your actual present,' she said, handing it over.
Hoagie opened up this gift, to find a colourful package inside, with a big title across the front.
'Is this...? It is!' Hoagie cried in disbelief.
Sitting in that box, strewn with shreds of wrapping paper was an old model plane kit, from the old hobby shop that Hoagie used to go to. The box was slightly tattered, the corners even a little scorched.
This box was one of the original series model planes from Mr. Washer's hobby shop, before The Kidd had blown it up.
'I found it after the shop was destroyed. I don't know why I kept it all these years, but even when I was decommissioned, I just couldn't bring myself to throw it out. And then, when we were recommissioned, I... yeah,' Abby explained. Hoagie was dumbfounded. This was amazing! He hadn't seen old-school model planes like this in years!
'Th-thank you,' he stuttered.
'I love it.'
Abby smiled again.
'I thought you would,' she said.
~(*)~
Wally frowned in concentration as he tried to count out all of his cousins, making sure that they hadn't left anyone behind. It was hard to get an accurate number because of all the movement and bustling from the background, and the fact that the group was spread out, jumping and agitated from the atmosphere caused by the
a) Joy of getting money to spend
b) The rush of being left to spend it as they wanted and
c) The chaos that was the shopping centre at the moment.
In fact, a few of them had been in the wars over the things they wanted to buy. For example, Sammy had spotted a DVD box set of his favourite TV show, and ended up in a very competitive game of tug-of-war with another boy, who, in the end, was disappointed. But Sammy, despite being the victor, was still left with a scratch from the corner of a display shelf and a bruise from walking into the back wall.
Luckily though, after a lot of counting and yelling to people to 'stand still for a cruddy minute!' he got everyone accounted for, and made sure that they were still in one piece, before leaving the store, meeting Katie out the front and heading off.
'Where ah we goin' now?' Gabbie yelled over the top of the cacophany.
'Ah don't know!' Jack cried back.
Kylie gestured to them to follow her.
'C'mon!' We're goin' upstairs!'
The others followed, weaving in and out of people to get to the escalator.
Next stop was a beach store. That meant surfboard wax, cool hats, t-shirts and bikinis (for the older girls, of course). But it also meant piles and piles of gum-chewing, texting, OMG-ing teenagers, all competing for the same range of suftwear.
The kids picked their way into the shop, pushing and shoving until they got a look at the racks of clothing.
Joey, who was in the middle of jumping up to try and get a look at a cap on top of one of the shelves, took a look down at his watch. It had only been forty-five minutes since they had arrived.
'This is gonna be a looong day,' Joey said to himself.
~(*)~
'I'm not saying we have to recommission everyone. I'm just saying that Fanny is one of my best friends, and that maybe there might be room for her to join in on the case,' Rachel was saying as she, Nigel and Kuki made their way to Abby's house.
'I know you want her back, Rachel, but just because you're friends, that doesn't mean that she is automatically allowed to be recommissioned. I'm already probably raising trouble just by recommissioning you without discussing it with Moonbase first.'
Rachel sagged. She really wanted Numbuh 86 back, but apparently, Nigel wasn't going to be convinced easily. Of course, Kuki had been persuaded with just a little nudging, but then, she and Fanny had a better relationship, since Kuki was a girl.
But Kuki had raised a thought about something that Abby had told her about concerning Fanny and a certain somebody.
'Oh, oh hey guys! I have to tell you something!' she cried, remembering what had happened.
'You'll never believe this. I heard from Abby that when she and Hoagie were out, that they saw Patton and Fanny out on a date!' Kuki bubbled, giggling madly.
Nigel and Rachel's reaction was simultaneous;
'What?!'
'Uh-hu! They're going out now! Can you believe that?'
Again, the two others spoke in unison;
'No!'
'Geez, I never thought that would happen! I mean- they- I thought they hated each other!' Nigel stumbled. This just made no sense to him. None at all.
Rachel, though, knew a little more on the subject.
'I'll admit, I didn't think it would ever happen either, but I did have my suspicions that they might have liked each other.'
They kept walking and talking, until they got to Abby's door.
Ding-dong!
They heard voices coming down the stairs, and Abby opened the door.
'Oh, hey guys,' she said, looking just a little confused.
'Hi,' Hoagie called from behind her.
'Okay, so we have something to tell you guys,' Nigel began, unsure of how to explain this. But Rach seemed to have it covered. Without hesitation she began;
'It's nice to see that you two are back together again.'
'Whaa...' Abby said, creasing her brow in confusion. Hoagie just stood open-mouthed until the moment that they both realised what that sentence implied.
'R-Rachel? You've been recommissioned?'
'Yep.'
'Wow... when did that happen?'
'Nigel did it. Yesterday.'
'Okay.'
Hoagie thought that this was just a little out of the ordinary. I mean, if he had had his guess, Hoagie would have said that Nigel would have been reluctant to recommission anyone. But maybe it was just because it was Rachel.
That would make sense.
'Well, it's good to have you back, Numbuh 362. Has Nigel told you about the situation?'
'Yes. I detail. I understand it's under control though?' Rachel reported, feeling the nostalgia of being back in work mode run through her.
'Yeah. We were actually just about to call you, Numbuh 1, and ask when we were going to start this whole antidote operation.' Hoagie added.
'Well, why not now?' Kuki chimed.
The others looked between themselves, as if to see the others' reactions.
'Okay, then, if we're all okay with that, we can start today,' Numbuh 1 said.
'Meet at the treehouse in an hour?'
There was a chorus of 'yeah's, and everyone went on their own ways, going back inside or heading to their own houses to grab anything they might need.
It was going to take a while to rally all the remaining operatives on moonbase, explain the antidote to them, and send them back to their own Sectors to cure their teammates and other operatives.
A long time indeed.
~(*)~
'Oi! Give that back, ya stupid teen! I -ugh- had it -guh- first!'
Sharon was at war. With a teenage girl.
Over a shirt.
'No way, little brat! I need that shirt!'
'Huh-uh!'
'Uh-huh!'
'Huh-uh!'
'Uh-huh!
'Huh-uh!'
'Uh-huh!'
'Give...it...to...me!' Sharon yelled.
That shirt was cool. Her parents were always on her to wear a shirt over her bathers. This was the only shirt that she would willingly wear.
She needed the shirt more than any stupid teenager who probably only wanted it so she could look good at a stupid party or something.
Gradually, the teen's grip on the shirt slipped. Until it altogether escaped her manicured fingers. Sharon was flung backwards, hit the ground hard, and was up and running towards the counter, all within five seconds. She thought she was safe in the crowd. But the teenager was on her tail just as soon as Sharon herself had gotten up.
'Come back here!'
Sharon ducked, weaved, and made it to the counter, pushing the rest of the line (okay, so there was no line. There was an almighty cluster of people waving things in the air and trying to get to the front. Sharon, being pretty small, managed to slip up to the front, handing a five dollar note to a completely overwhelmed casheir, grabbing the plastic bag that they put the shirt into, and running for her life out of the claustrophobic store.
She finally stopped once she was out, and stood for a minute, panting heavily.
Katie was waiting out the front again, with the little ones.
'Got caught in a one-on-one, eh?' she observed, noting Sharon's lopsided ponytail, untidy clothing and dazed look.
Sharon just nodded.
Mellie and Vinnie came over to her, holding up the little toys they had gotten with their money.
'Look!' Vinnie called to her. 'It's a mini-monster! This one's special!'
'Thats...great...Vin!' Sharon managed between deep breaths.
Mellie and Danny showed her their stuffed toys and craft sets, and they waited there until the others made it out, all of them breathing heavily and clutching bags like they were holding onto their lives as well. Joey was last to make it out, finally finding a small hole to shove himself through, then proceeding to proudly pull on the hat he had won from another boy.
'Okay,' Wally heaved, leaning back on the wall.
'That's enough for that store.'
They left, trying to find places that weren't as overly crowded as that particular store.
They visited a media store (a five-way battle for a pair of headphones between Junior, two ten year-olds and a mother-and-son), a bookstore (no major physical fights there, but there was a name-calling match between three year-old Danny and another toddler), and finally, a jewelery shop for Katie and Kylie, where they ended up in one of the 'biggest slapfights of the day', according to the girl at the counter.
By the time the two hours was up, everyone was overloaded with bags, a little bruised and a little battered, but satisfied with the results of their quests.
They finally escaped from the centre, the air outside seemed a lot more open than usual.
'Hey guys?' Wally asked, looking around for somewhere to go. 'Where were we supposed ta meet tha adults again?'
There was silence. In the chaos of the sales, nobody had remembered where they were meant to go now.
'Great. Just great,' Sammy said sarastically.
'We're lost in Sydney. On Boxing day.'
'Did anyone bring a phone?'
...
'Okay then, Ah guess we just wander around aimlessly until we find something we know then.'
Nobody objected.
So off they set.
They spent almost half an hour just trying to find a street directory.
And once they finally found it, it was a long time before it was any use to them, because they had no idea what the place they were going to was called.
'Any of this sound familiar to anyone?' Jack asked. He got a chorus of 'No', and a lot of shaking heads in response.
'Hang on,' Gabbie began, pointing at a point on the map.
'Wasn't the cafe called the 'City Extra' or something?'
Realisation moment.
'Yes!'
They tried to work out the directions from the map, and set off in the direction they thought they needed to go.
Ten minutes later, though...
'Dude, we're not meant ta be at tha monorail station!'
'Ugh, we musta' gone tha wrong way.'
'Look, here's a map.'
They figured out that they had taken a wrong turn here, gone too far down there... it was all very confusing.
So they backtracked, and by the time they had finally gotten back to their parents, it was getting late, and they had been getting worried.
But at least the whole ordeal was over.
And at the end of the day, they had gotten some pretty cool stuff.
~(*)~
It was about 10am by now, and Rachel and the others were in the treehouse, about to contact Robert to tell him about what was going on, about the antidote and Rachel and everything.
'So, you think you're ready to get back into work, Numbuh 362?' Hoagie asked. 'If I recall correctly, you once tried to get out of the job 'cause you thought it was too much.'
'What?' Rachel replied. 'Robert's the Soopreme leader now. I won't be taking that job back, right?' Don't get her wrong, Rachel really didn't mind being Soopreme leader. But after all these years, and being thrown straight back into a situation like this in less than a day, well, Soopreme leader?
Thanks, but no thanks.
At least, not at that moment.
Rachel had a lot to get reacquainted with before she even thought about something like that.
~(*)~
A/N: Please, please forgive me?
I'm sooper-double-mega-triple sorry!
And... and I love you.
I REFUSE to be this late again.
Goodbye!
-xoxo, Numbuh 25
(...Sorrry)
