Hello again! Happy Labor Day! A day I always feel like is the last "hurrah!" of summer before school really starts to kick in.
I got into a little bit of a block, but I think I'm getting out of it. At least enough that I feel comfortable putting out this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.
LUNCH-TABLE
Little
Unpleasant
Ninja
Compensates
Hasty
Thoughts
And
Begins
Layout
Early
"You're going to WHAT?!"
Right now, Fanny was sitting with her friends at their usual lunch table. She had just finished telling them about her master plan, and the reactions were…not the best.
"Come on, it's the perfect opportunity" Fanny tried to make her case better. "It's such close contact inside the Kids Next Door. Just SITTING there WAITING for the taking!"
"...And you're gonna get this guy involved in all this", Abby raised an eyebrow. "He isn't even a Teen Ninja."
"Yeah, but he USED to be," Fanny pointed out. "Even if he's completely untrainable, he HAS to remember some of his time there."
"I think Abs' got a point" Hoagie piped up. "We could just leave him out of this."
Abby looked over at Hoagie a bit surprised. "...Thanks man."
"Besides, if you REALLY wanted KND intel that close, I could just plant a bug on my brother or something", Hoagie shrugged. Abby sighed and shook her head. "I got a sale going on-"
"At YOUR prices?! Fat chance Gilligan", Fanny glared at Hoagie. "Not when THIS opportunity is sitting here for free. It's SO simple. All we gotta do is butter up to him, ya know get him to trust us. Then, we get to him to join us again, actually shape him into a top Teen Ninja. Eventually he's gonna want ALL of his "friends" together, and then bam! He'll realize how lame they are and totally help us with a double crossing ambush. Easy!"
"B-But...it's Dork-lovsky," Wally argued again. "I mean- Just look at him!"
The 6 teens looked over at Patton, who was sitting by himself as usual, eating a bite from his salad. Chewing, he looked over at his milk carton and stared at it for a moment, contemplating whether or not he wanted a drink, even with a full mouth. Suddenly, he smiled as he got up from the table. The group watched as he grabbed 2 straws at the front of the cafeteria. Their gaze didn't falter as Patton sat back down at his table in the back. Patton ate another bite of his lunch, took the 2 straws he grabbed, and, to the group's surprise, stuck them into his nostrils and began to loudly snort, gaining the attention of the tables around him. They watched in shock and disgust as the milk began to flow through the straw and up his nose as he continued to eat.
"I-Is he drinking through his nose?," Kuki asked.
"Yes," Rachel said, as she started to look slightly green.
"Shh. Look behind him," Wally whispered excitedly and he pointed back to Patton. The 6 teens saw Pete and Peter creeping up behind Patton, who didn't even seem to notice. Right behind him, Pete took a paper bag and blew it up, handed it to his brother, and Peter popped it.
Patton jumped in shock from the sound, causing milk to forcefully spew out of his nose all over his table. The cafeteria erupted in laughter as Patton sputtered and coughed.
"Way to drink, Dork-lovsky!"
Patton started to calm down as he took large breaths, and saw the milk stream down his face onto his hoodie. "Yeah," he nervously laughed with everyone else, "p-pretty funny you guys," he said to the twins as they snickered.
"And that," Hoagie said, gaining Fanny's attention back to the table, "is who you're going to trust your foolproof plan to."
"Look, I know he's a little…odd," she said, almost pausing before the word "odd", "but he said he'd do anything for me and this is it. I can feel it. It's a GREAT idea!"
"Well you haven't always had the BEST 'great ideas', Hoagie rolled his eyes. "Remember when you said Ninjas counseling summer camps was a great idea?"
The table started snickering. Snickering that Fanny quickly noticed.
"Not my fault those cruddy adults only got 1 teen for like every 10 kids", she brushed it off. Clearly her friends would see the logic and move on.
"Oh oh", Kuki got their attention. "Or how about raiding the Rainbow Monkey Pizza Party Palace?"
The table started laughing harder.
"How was I supposed to know kids just have bad pizza taste?" Fanny slowly got redder.
"And of course", Rachel added on. "Who could forget the Totally Awesome Maximum Protector Opposing Nemesis-"
"It would've worked if those BOYS just broadened their horizons!"
That didn't stop the hysterics. The 6 friends laughed at the memories, each one ending in failure. And looking on was their leader, whose face was as red as her hair in frustration.
The Fan looked around the construction of the newest Ninja hangout. Her sunglasses proudly stood on the bridge of her nose. It was still weird actually wearing them, and seeing out of them. Her view was only half tinted from the triangular form. But she shrugged it off; it was only a week since she earned them. Her eyes would surely adjust.
Teenagers were carrying snacks from the minimart above into below ground. Moving lockers inside, wiring speakers to TVs. But what really caught her eye was a group of seniors lounging around on a couch, watching some sports game on the large TV.
Fanny grimaced, and walked over to the group, laughing at some joke.
"Hey", she got the teens' attention. "Don't you dudes think we can catch up on this stuff AFTER the hangout is done?"
"Pfft", one of the seniors, a brunette, rolled his eyes. His friends snickered. "What do you know KID?"
Fanny felt her fists clench, but kept her cool. "I KNOW that this should be done, and I have 3 Ninjas just slacking off. And I'm NOT a kid."
"Well you sure could've fooled me", another teen, looked like some blonde cheerleader, giggled. "Just chill kid, it'll get done. We're not gonna take orders from The Steve's little pipsqueak."
"Yeah, we've been here longer than you", the brunette nodded again. "I think we know more than some eighth grader on how this works."
The trio brushed Fanny off and continued back to their show. Fanny's mouth was agape at their dismissal of her orders. She looked at the ground, eyebrows furrowed, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
"I'm not The Steve's little pipsqueak. I'm the Teen LEADER now", now Fanny was getting annoyed. "And he put me in charge of this for a reason."
"Uh huh", the cheerleader rolled her eyes. "I'm sure not many other teenagers could smooch their way to the top like you did."
She laughed at her own comment, and the 2 boys beside her joined in, their laughs filling up the cavern like space.
And that was what did it for Fanny.
It didn't take long for her S.R.I.R.A.C.H.A. to hit the TV, the acidic sauce melting the plasma away.
"Hey! What the-" was all one of the teens got out before they were tackled by a small screaming redhead. The 3 fought back, but despite the fists and B.R.A.s, the 3 were beaten into the ground.
Fanny brushed her hair out of her face, finished with her smackdown. She looked down at the pummeled teenagers below her feet, glaring daggers.
"THIS is why I'm the Teen Leader", she looked down to the 3. "While you 3 can't even beat up an eighth grader."
Fanny jumped off the 3 Ninjas, groaning. "NOW, you're gonna GET UP, and you're gonna LIFT stuff and GET THIS PLACE SET UP!"
The 3 looked at their leader, and got up as quickly as they could, heading towards the entrance.
Fanny watched them leave, that frown never leaving from her face. She was their Teen Leader for a GOOD reason, and she wasn't gonna let ANYBODY forget that.
Fanny looked on at her table, still cracking up. She finally slammed her fists on the table to get their attention
"It's gonna work!" She yelled over their laughs. "And I can PROVE it!"
Fanny took her lunch tray and walked away from the table.
"Uh, The Fan", Kuki wiped a tear away, watching the redhead leave. "Uh, where ya going?"
More tables turned their heads, slowly stopping their conversations, watching the Teen Ninja Leader moving towards the back of the cafeteria. Near the trashcans.
"What the-", Virginia elbowed Bartie to get his attention away from his lunch.
"Hey what was that for", Bartie turned to Virginia, who just pointed. "Gasp! No way!"
Fanny finally stopped at a lone table, holding only a tall dork with milk dripping down his scarf.
"Hey", she got Patton's attention. "Mind if I sit here?"
Patton blinked, a bit shocked, before nodding. "Uh….sure."
Fanny obliged, sitting across from him. It was only then when Fanny noticed the silence around her. She turned around, noticing the other teenagers in the cafeteria, jaws and eyes wide open, looking at their coolest leader with the resident dork, at the same table together.
"WHAT", Fanny frowned defensively. "You lot haven't seen 2 teens eating lunch before?!"
The cafeteria quickly shuffled back to themselves, though with a lot more whispers and stares. Fanny rolled her eyes, and turned back to Patton.
"So", Fanny grabbed a handful of chips. "How was gym?"
"Uhh", Patton rubbed the back of his neck. "It-it was fine…I guess."
"Bartie and Virginia didn't hurt you too badly did they?"
"Uh, not TOO badly", Patton took a bite into his own salad. "...Why are you here?"
Fanny swallowed her bite as she thought about an answer. "...Well because a bunch of cruddy adults made this system trapping teenagers into this "mandatory education"-"
"No I mean", Patton looked around, noticing the whispers. "Why are you sitting here? With me? No one sits with me."
"Well, I just noticed you were pretty nervous and it just seemed like you were kinda lonely over here", Fanny lied in between chip bites. "So, I thought I'd offer a solution."
"You mean", Patton's eyes lit up. "Like WE'D be friends?"
Fanny nearly choked on her current bite. "Uhhhh", Fanny rubbed the back of her neck. "Well….maybe?"
A large grin spread across Patton's face, a loud excitable gasp accompanied it.
"Aww this is GREAT", he practically jumped across the table to pull the shorter teen in a hug. "Oh there's so many things we can do! We can go to each other's houses and play rounds of Yipper and watch a whole bunch of movies and-"
"LOVSKY! Can't…breathe", Fanny struggled against the taller boy's grip, but her small stature was at her disadvantage. "Let..go!"
"Oh sorry", Patton let Fanny go, the latter immediately gasped for breath. After a few seconds, her breathing regulated and she could actually respond.
"That all sounds fun", Fanny looked down at the ground. "But, how bout we start off slower? Just a simple Saturday hanging out and stuff?"
"Really", Patton's eyes lit up.
"Heck yeah", Fanny shrugged. "Ya know, hang out, go to the mall, just goof off and get to know each other better over the weekend.
Patton thought about it. "This weekend? Oh, but Sonia and I were gonna have our tea party and a Rainbow Monkey marathon-
"Hey, she rainchecks you all the time, Lovsky. I'm sure she'll probably get busy then or something that day anyway."
Patton looked down at his scarf. He felt bad about canceling on Sonia, but Fanny DID have a point. "...Ok."
"Cool", Fanny took a sip from her soda. 'Perfect. Get him into the Ninjas slower than last time.'
"Here's the place", she pulled out a piece of paper with a scribbled address. "Come over there the first thing you get up."
"Ok."
The 2 ate their lunch in relative silence for a little while, not really sure what else to say. It changed suddenly when a milk carton hit the back of Fanny's head.
"WHO THREW THAT?!" she whipped back out to the crowd.
"Sorry The Fan", Bartie spoke up meekly. "That was meant for the dork!"
"Well work on that aim, you stoopid boy!"
Patton nearly choked on his salad, his eyes going wide.
"You stoopid boy!"
Patton looked at Fanny, who was still shouting. He had seen her around before, she was the Teen Leader. She was hard not to notice, even with her short stature. But even though this was their third convo, something about that phrase. It sounded so familiar…..like he heard it before…
Fanny rolled her eyes, and went back to her food. She looked up at Patton, who was staring her down.
"...What?"
Abby and Rachel sat on one end of the round wooden table. Hidden away in the woods, under the ground buried in a web of roots, laid a secret even to the second highest of KND authority.
The Teens Next Door base.
"Interesting intel, Numbuh 5. Numbuh 362." On the other end of the table sat an older teenaged boy. An eighteen year old adult, but still eightTEEN nonetheless. He looked down somewhat remorsefully. "...Never would've guessed Sector W would be breaking such a big KND rule."
"Yeah, but I guess they wouldn't be the first Maurice", Abby chuckled. Maurice looked back and shrugged, smiling. "Yeah, that's true. Still, there's not much we can do."
"What do you mean", Rachel pressed further. "We can stop this, he's not actually a Teen Ninja."
"Yeah but he's also not a TND operative. If we get involved, he might find out about us. And with this confirmed close contact to an operative, we don't want to risk getting exposed."
"I know Sector W Maurice", Rachel fought back, getting up from her seat. "They wouldn't tell anyone else about this. You trusted Ab- uh, Numbuh 5, when she was an operative, and the TND are still standing."
"Yeah, but she wasn't being recruited as a Ninja. That's not something we get involved with."
Rachel looked agape at Maurice in despair. "But..there's gotta be something…anything…"
Maurice sighed and walked over to Rachel. "Rachel, I know he was your friend", he put a sympathetic hand on Rahcel's shoulder. "And he WAS a really great KND operative. But this is REALLY selective, and…he just didn't make the cut. And right now what he does as a teenager, and whatever path he's led down…it's out of our hands."
Rachel sat back down in her seat, looking at the varnish on the wooden table. She was silent for a few seconds, before asking, "...Can we observe him?"
"What?"
"Just while he's hanging out with Fanny", Rachel continued. "Maybe he knows a little more about the Kids Next Door than we think he does."
Maurice and Abby looked at each other.
"Come on Maurice", Abby pressed further. "We won't get involved in anything. Just watching."
Maurice thought about it a little longer, before sighing. "...Ok. But JUST watching."
Rachel and Abby looked at each other and nodded. "Alright." "Thank you."
"Is there anything else you can report? Any progress on the treaty?"
Rachel shook her head. "No sir."
"Ok, well keep an ear out for anything", Maurice looked at his watch. "Ah CRUD! I'm gonna be late for my night class! I have to go", he scrambled to get his jacket and backpack, and looked back at the 2 girls. "Good intel report 5 and 362, we'll talk again later!"
Maurice ran out of the room to a hanger, the door closing behind him. The 2 teen operatives were left alone.
Abby raised an eyebrow at Rachel, the blonde getting a spark of determination in her brown eyes. "...We're gonna do more than just watching Patton, aren't we?"
"Yes."
Lee was watching some cartoons in the Sector Treehouse. Tommy was with him, on a different cushion playing a console.
"No no NO", Tommy shouted out, to no avail. "Aw man! I almost had it!"
"Sorry", Lee walked the dog on his yoyo. "You wanna play Yipper?"
"Sure!" Tommy threw the console on the couch, and pulled out his card deck. "You think we should wait until Sonia gets back?"
"Sonia probably won't want to play", Lee shrugged, still concentrating on his yoyo. "She's got that tea party and marathon with", Lee looked over at their surveillance cameras. "Him tomorrow, so she'll be prepping for that."
"Oh yeah", Tommy nodded, and placed his cards on the table. "Why weren't we invited to that? We already hang out with him."
"Do YOU wanna sit through 8 hours of Rainbow Monkey Love Stories?"
Tommy grimaced just at the thought of it. "Good point."
The boys shuffled their decks, ready to start a showdown, before the hangar to the base opened.
"Sonia", Lee looked up. "You're back already?"
Sonia, however, didn't answer. She just walked in with her head low, a plastic teapot dragging on the floor from one arm. In the other she carried popcorn and candy bags, alongside DVDs.
"Sonia" Tommy looked up alongside Lee, the boys worried. "What's wrong?"
Sonia stopped walking, the bags and DVDs dropping from her arm onto the ground. She looked up at her friends with big shiny eyes.
"He canceled."
Dang look at me writing Patton like he's the center of the universe and not just some minor recurring character XD
Ah well, at least I can admit that's what I'm doing
