Cowritten by PuniPuni
Story is also published on AO3.
Numbuh 9L woke up shaking in her bed. She was holding onto her knees while sweating. She felt the cold metal of the headband clench her head, so she grabbed the headband to fling it off, along with few strands of her hair.
"What was that?!" she screamed in agony. She started to cry. "Wh… why…"
Footsteps came down from the glass room into where 9L was staying. The door opened, revealing Numbuh 74.239 with a clipboard. She could see him out of the corner of her eye.
"Numbuh 9L? Are you OK?" the boy asked with a mixture of worry and awkwardness.
"74-boy? That you?" 9L asked with shaky breaths.
"It's 74.239," he corrected.
9L poked her head out from her curled position to see him stare at her as if he had seen a ghost. Her vision was blurry from the tears.
"Look, I'm here to ask you some questions so I can write down what you experienced. Can you do that for me?"
She slowly nodded.
74.239 grabbed a pen from his pocket. He held it to the clipboard. "All right. Can you tell me what the most pleasant experience was?"
9L still stammered in her speech. "W-when Mom came to lick and cuddle me."
74.239 did not respond, but he wrote on his clipboard. "OK, and when did you realize the simulation was not real?"
"When my little brother turned into sand and I couldn't smell my family."
74.239 continued to write. He occasionally glanced back at 9L, who had her head in her hands, trying to keep her composure.
"At what times did the simulation not reflect reality?" 74.239 waited for a response. He looked around the room to wait. "Um, Numbuh 9L? You all right?"
"When the vacuum monsters turned into dogs, and my brother being sand, too. And…" 9L whispered. She could not finish her sentence.
74.239 started to write sloppier as he stared at the poor girl. He took a deep breath before his next question. "Can you tell me what the worst experience was?"
9L remained silent. When she closed her eyes, remains of the hounds chasing her still scattered in her imagination.
"…9L?"
"I don't want to talk about it," she sniveled, trying not to burst into tears again.
"Listen, I need to write this technical simulation experience down!"
9L took a deep breath. She uncurled herself to look 74.239 in the eyes.
"When I was in there… Mom's head came clean off. But it was goopy. I knew it wasn't real, but…" 9L clenched the sheets of the bed with her fingernails. "It scared me so much."
74.239 was left starting at her. He shook out of it once he remembered he had to write it down.
"I heard you, you know," 9L whispered.
74.239 stopped writing to look up at her.
"I heard you arguing with Infinity. You didn't want to stress me out."
74.239 rolled his eyes in embarrassment. "Look, I just didn't want him to kill you with stress. His methods can be extreme. Now, how much did you hear so I can write this down?"
9L became annoyed with the lack of sympathy from her fellow operative. However, she finally stood up to sit at the edge of the bed. She then sighed, explaining to 74.239 the details of her controlled dreams.
Bonnie groaned as she entered the kitchen to follow the sounds of loud clanking. She saw Lizzie with scattered magazines and paint with her lunchbox. She then noticed the pans that fell onto kitchen floor from Lizzie climbing the shelves.
"Lizzie, it's four in the morning. What on Earth are you doing? You're going to wake everybody else up, and I'm not even halfway charged!"
"Nigel promised me that we would have lunch together today without any of his stupid missions interrupting him, so I'm putting together the perfect romantic lunch for us to have today," Lizzie explained with blush on her face.
Seeing Lizzie so excited made Bonnie perk up slightly. "Since when do you care about having lunch with him?"
Lizzie covered her cheeks. "Like you would know what it's like to have a boyfriend."
Bonnie crossed her arms. She gave Lizzie an eyebrow raise. "I have a boyfriend."
Lizzie widened her eyes. "No you don't," she whispered as she jumped down onto the kitchen floor.
"Clyde's my boyfriend."
Lizzie gasped. "That freak?! I thought you were done studying him! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Don't call him that! And I just haven't found the right time to tell you," Bonnie hissed as she turned away from Lizzie.
"Does anyone else know about this?!" Lizzie growled.
Bonnie opened her mouth to try to say something, but she closed it to nod instead.
"Why would you keep that secret from me?!"
"I didn't! You're so impatient with Nigel anyway, I didn't want that to rub off on me!"
"I'M JUST DOING MY JOB!" Lizzie roared. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She then stuck out her tongue at Bonnie, who promptly stuck her tongue back out at her. She then started to walk away back to her room.
"Yeah, go back to bed!" Lizzie yelled.
"I will!" Bonnie huffed. As she trotted up the stairs, she muffled to herself, "Have fun with your little test subject," she mocked.
"I HEARD THAT!" Lizzie yelled while stomping her foot.
"GIRLS! GO TO BED!" was yelled by Mrs. DeVine upstairs before slamming her bedroom door shut.
Bonnie and Lizzie promptly stuck their tongues out at each other again before Bonnie marched upstairs. Lizzie then continued to prepare what would be this day's lunch.
Lizzie stomped through the school halls clenching onto her backpack handles. She looked straight down the hallway, ignoring anyone who tried to interact with her.
When Lizzie opened her locker, she took off her backpack to reach for her books for class. She then tossed the backpack in there, then slammed the locker door. When Lizzie turned around to walk off, she bumped into a kid that made her fall backwards.
"UGH! Out of my way!" Lizzie complained as she went to pick up her books. When she tried to pick up the last one, a hand already reached for it, with the other gesturing to help Lizzie stand up.
"Oh. It's just you, Jimmy. What's with the black?"
"Oh, just a change of attire to match my influencer." Jimmy reached for Lizzie's hand to help her stand on her own.
"Yeah, if you could hand me my book, that would be great," Lizzie brushed off as she attempted to reach for it. Jimmy stopped by pressing his hand against her.
"Let me walk you to class, first."
"JUST GIVE ME MY—"
Jimmy pressed his finger against her lips, then stroked it under her chin. "Come with me."
Lizzie had no choice but to follow him begrudgingly to their classroom.
"My assembly is exactly one week from today. I expect you to be present, Miss DeVine."
Lizzie rolled her eyes. She tried to grab her book instead, but Jimmy continued to keep it out of her reach.
"You will be attending the assembly, right?" Jimmy addressed in a more serious tone.
"It's not like we have a choice when the teachers make us line up to go for it anyway." Lizzie sighed as she rolled her eyes.
"I'm saving a front row seat just for you."
"Yeah yeah, just give me my book already!" Lizzie exasperated before snatching it out of his hands. They had already made it to the classroom, so Lizzie's patience wore thin.
As Lizzie entered inside the room, Jimmy stayed in the hallway to chuckle to himself, grinning devilishly.
Bonnie gently knocked on the side of entryway to her parents' bedroom door. She peaked her head and one hand inside the door, awaiting a response from her mother. Her mother was putting on her makeup, looking in a pocket mirror while sitting by her desk from across the bed. She did not move her eyes away from her reflection. "Yes, Dear?"
Bonnie fully entered the room holding two outfits. She had a bright smile on her face. "Which one looks better on me?"
Pausing her lipstick routine, Mrs. DeVine moved only her pupils to see her eldest daughter holding up two tops. Her index finger snapped the pocket mirror closed. "Where's he taking you?" she said in a lower, concerned voice.
"I— Mom!" Bonnie tapped her foot anxiously as she lowered the tops. "Why are you acting like this?!"
Mrs. DeVine sighed. She stood up, rolled up her lipstick, and came closer to her daughter.
"Bonnie, Darling, you know what we were made for. Don't get too comfortable in this world, because we weren't made for it."
Bonnie's shoulders dropped. "What?"
Mrs. DeVine put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I don't know what's in your programming to make you interested in that man, but it's not love. He's a human, and you're… a machine."
Bonnie turned to face the floor. After a few seconds, her eyebrows furrowed as she fixed her gaze on her mom. "No. I love him. I don't care what I am."
"Bonnie, you're still a robot."
"A robot who wants to enjoy this planet's splendors. Mom, how could you say that? Don't you love me? Lizzie?"
Mrs. DeVine took a step back, putting her hands on her hips. "That's different."
"How?"
"We're family. We were made for it, and our love is based on our programming. It's not real."
"I may not be real, but my love is. Maybe I was made to love beyond that.."
"Trust me, you're not."
Bonnie growled while stomping her foot harshly. She clenched her fists around the hangers. She then left her parents' room.
Mrs. DeVine reached for her pocket mirror again to continue touching herself up.
"I'm still going to that party!" Bonnie yelled from her room.
Mrs. DeVine's head shot up. "What party?" she hissed concerningly.
As recess was finished for the class, and Lizzie finished her extra credit work, she went into the hallway to look for Nigel. Unfortunately, the bald boy was nowhere to be found. "Of course," she groaned to herself.
The next best option was to find another one of his teammates. The closest teammate in her vision was Numbuh 2, so she approached the boy.
"And then I said, what's so bad about Switzerland? The flag is a huge plus! Ha!"
The kids by Numbuh 2 rolled their eyes, walking away as the boy continued to laugh to himself.
Behind Numbuh 2, Lizzie slammed his locker shut, which startled him enough to squeak and turn around.
"Where's Nigel?!" Lizzie hissed.
Numbuh 2 leaned away from her. "He's probably in his locker," Numbuh 2 replied as he pointed to the direction of where Nigel would be. "I finally upgraded it to a L.O.C.K.A.H.S.O.C.K.A.H.! It's got canons that shoots used gym clothes! Pew pew!" Numbuh 2 mimicked while pretending his arms were the canons.
Lizzie grabbed Numbuh 2's arm firmly. He slightly yelped.
"Why would he be in his locker?! It's lunch time!"
Numbuh 2 laughed nervously. "Well, beats me! Bye!"
The boy narrowly released himself from Lizzie's grasp to trot away to the cafeteria.
Lizzie grumbled to herself. The girl made her way around the hallway to find the locker that her boyfriend would be in.
Nigel's locker was closed, but Lizzie heard Nigel tampering around with an automated voice. She started to bang on the locker. Not getting a response from him, she grabbed the locker handle to use her force to rip the door open. Nigel slammed onto the ground and rubbed his head.
"Nigie, what are you doing in your locker? It's lunch time!"
As he stood up, Nigel dusted himself off. "I don't have time for eating, Lizzie. I've got to run like eight-thousand more tests on my new—"
Lizzie pressed her finger against his chest. "Oh no you don't! You promised me we'd eat lunch together today!" she complained. "Besides, I spent all morning making us the perfect romantic lunch!" she crooned while showing him her lunchbox. It contained the initials NL.
Nigel faintly smiled while looking away. "Aww gee, Lizzie."
"SO MOVE IT, YOU!" she demanded as she pointed to his chest again. She kept her eyes on him as she squeezed the lunchbox. He slowly followed behind.
Entering through cafeteria doors, Nigel started to protest as he followed her down the food hall. "But Lizzie, eating is a waste of my valuable time. There's all sorts of adult tyranny to fight! I need to be alert at all times!"
Lizzie stopped in her tracks to turn to him. "You work through lunch every day, Nigel! But today, I'm gonna make you sit down and enjoy a love-filled, work-free lunch with me," Lizzie flirted.
Nigel's smile rose from her flirtatious behavior. He reached for his arm to hold.
"IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" Lizzie lashed back, making her boyfriend wince from her extreme tone.
"Sheesh!" Nigel whispered as he went to scratch his ear.
Arriving by the entryway of the dining area, Lizzie pointed out to a table further away from them. "That looks like a romantic table!"
The couple both noticed the area bustling with kids of all grades eating and chatting amongst themselves. Lizzie guided Nigel to a table in the corner, approaching three younger students in their seats.
"Nigie and I are having lunch together today," Lizzie announced.
Nigel awkwardly smile at the kids who looked at them.
"ALONE!" Lizzie screeched, scaring the kids to grab their lunches and run away from them. The two then sat down by each other.
"So, what did you make? PB or tunafish?" Nigel asked.
"Even better!" Lizzie grinned, changing her attitude. "I made—"
Suddenly, a loud horn played a tune that struck an invasion. Men in Medieval archer outfits crashed through the cafeteria windows while displaying their bows. They used plungers as arrows to swipe the food kids were eating out of their very hands. Some stole the lunches in bags as this was happening. Each of the men chanted "yo-ho!" While stealing food.
There was a particular man dressed in forest green with a prominent chin that stood atop one of the lunch tables.
"Yo-ho! All right, kiddies! Hand it over!" he announced.
A small blonde girl raised her quarters to the man on the table. "Here, take it!" she shook.
The man slapped the coins out of her hands. "We don't want your money! We want your lunch!" he announced. "For I am…"
His men then came in to chant and sing his name. "Robin Food! Robin Food! Not your average thieving dude!"
They continued to sing while stealing lunches from kids while performing a song about Robin Food, singing about how they steal lunches from children at school to give to the elderly.
"Little Juan! Relieve these children of their lunches!" Robin Food commanded.
The smallest of them, an African-American man with a goatee, came across the lunch tables to steal more of the children's food. Eventually, he came closer to Nigel and Lizzie. "Baldie. Babe. Hand over the lunch." Little Juan reached for Lizzie's lunchbox to toss it to another one of his partners. "OK? Dig?"
Nigel leaned his head back. "Oh, I'm sorry. Right away, Sir."
But Nigel jumped out of his seat onto the table with his Pepper Pistol to land next to the short man, reaching his arm around his neck while pointing his weapon at the men in front of him. "ALL RIGHT! No one moves or your friend here gets covered in hot sauce!"
The rest of the hungry men drew their bows at Nigel.
"WAIT!" Robin Food interrupted. "Little Juan cannot handle spicy foods. Just look at him!"
"It's my indigestion, man. Oh, it is murder."
Nigel squeezed his hand around the man's neck tighter. "All right then, give everyone back their lunches and clear out of here before I—"
"Nigie, let him go," Lizzie politely interrupted.
"What?!" her boyfriend slowly replied in bewilderment.
"I told you, you're not allowed to work during lunch today," Lizzie felt was a valid response.
"But…" Nigel looked the group of men, who seemed confused in her subtle hospitality. "What about the lunch you made?"
"I'll take care of it," Lizzie replied. She felt she could have fun to handle another mission on Earth. "Just… just let the little ugly man go," she gestured with her hand.
"You mean, little gorgeous candy man, don't you, Babe?" Little Juan taunted back.
As Nigel let his guard down from his girlfriend's comments, one of the men shot their bow at him to remove the Pepper Pistol from his hand. Two more then came closer to aim their bows at him.
"A valiant effort my young wastrel, but I'm afraid it's time I got these tasty lunches to the old people that so richly deserve them!" Robin Food announced to Nigel. "Perhaps we shall have lunch together again one day." He brought the sack of food upon his back. "Yours that is," he sneered.
"YO-HO!" As Robin Food jumped out the cafeteria windows, his men followed him while repeating his words.
As little Juan was the last to follow them, he turned around to taunt one last time. "Nice gal pal you got there, Nigie! Eheheh!" he snickered as he jumped out the window.
After witnessing the scene, Nigel felt his blood boil by the mere idea that kids had their lunches taken from them. "URGH! Those tight-wearing freaks don't know who they're messing with! I'm gonna—"
"You're going to sit down and stop worrying about those guys," Lizzie cajoled. "I'll go get our lunch back!"
Nigel jumped down from the table. "What? How are you going to—"
In a mere second, Lizzie's patience wore out from his denial of her abilities. She raised her voice at Nigel while pointing at him.
"When I said you're not working during lunch, I meant you're NOT working during lunch!" She then grabbed his sweater, digging her nails into his chest to pull him closer to her. "So SIT DOWN, and don't move until I come back with our SPECIAL, ROMANTIC LUNCH, THAT I MADE JUST FOR US!"
As Lizzie shoved Nigel to the side, she started to march away from him. He stammered as to attempt to counter her "…But—"
"ROMANCE!" Lizzie shrieked at the top of her lungs, allowing every single kid in the cafeteria to hear her.
Nigel retreated and whimpered, shaking from her verbal attack.
Lizzie exited out the cafeteria doors, marching toward to the locker that belonged to Numbuh 1. Remembering what Numbuh 2 mentioned about it earlier, she easily entered inside and pushed a few switches to activate the machine known as the L.O.C.K.A.H.S.O.C.K.A.H.. Two lockers from each side protruded as limbs, two for arm cannons, and two for legs. With a firm grip on the yoke, Lizzie was determined to get her lunch back.
"Looks like I'm going out to lunch."
Clyde knocked on the DeVine household door. Bonnie rushed up and dusted herself off. She took out her pocket mirror. Looking into it, she pushed her hair back, fixing up her look.
Bonnie took a deep breath, then opened the door.
"Bonnie,"
"Darling,"
Clyde reached for Bonnie's hand to lead her down the steps of the house.
"Let's get out of here before my mom comes down and protests," Bonnie laughed.
"OK," Clyde laughed back.
They continued to hold hands as he led her to his car.
"You remember Shawn?"Clyde asked as they went inside the car.
"Yeah," Bonnie replied, buckling her seatbelt.
"Two other guys will be at Shawn's. They're Reggie and Tristan. I haven't met them yet," Clyde addressed as he put the key in, then started the engine.
"OK, cool," Bonnie replied.
The couple cruised down the street as Bonnie closed her phone, ignoring a missed call from her mother.
It was not far to make it to Shawn's place. Clyde was excited to see his best buddy again.
"Hey!" Clyde shouted as he ran up to his friend. He spread his arms out for a hug, but Shawn pushed him back.
"Not happening, Bud."
Bonnie caught up to the two. Shawn's demeanor changed to a more polite one as he held out his hand for Bonnie to shake.
"Since you're the first ones here, why don't you pick a movie we can watch later?"
"Ah, sure thing," Clyde chuckled. "Bonnie, wanna do the honors?"
Bonnie perked up at the offer. "Sure thing."
Being lead inside, the couple were brought to Shawn's basement. It had a large flatscreen television, a large couch, and even a a pool table.
"The DVDs are right there," Shawn pointed at a shelf next to the television before he fell back first on the couch. "Hey, Clyde, remember when I told you my dad was a huge baseball junkie…"
The words of Shawn faded out as Bonnie searched through the movies. Her problem was that she had never seen or heard of any of them. There was the time she watched a few with her little sister, but she did not have enough pop culture knowledge to keep up with her character of being a real person.
"Pick one you haven't seen before," Shawn gestured by waving his hand.
"I haven't seen… a lot of these."
Shawn stood up. He went near Bonnie to see what she was looking at.
"What are you talking about? These are classics," he laughed. He picked up one DVD near him a pointed to it by tapping on the cover. "You never saw this one as a kid?"
"I…" Bonnie felt guilt for not knowing popular movies. "I don't remember much of my childhood," she squeaked out.
Soon realizing that was a horrible excuse, Shawn squinted his eyes and smiled. "Oh, no wonder you're Clyde's. He doesn't either."
"Hey man," Clyde said from the couch.
"Here, I'll remember it for you: You wore a pasta strainer on your head and built crazy things out of wood. And then you just stopped one day!" Shawn teased.
"You're making that up!" Clyde protested while leaning forward, but his tone was genuine enough to be a lighthearted sign to stop.
"You two are childhood friends?" Bonnie asked with a smile.
"Yeah. We were acquainted in grade school, but he never had time to hang out. And then he got all creative in his middle school years when he felt like a piece of him was missing," he teased in the last sentence.
Clyde was blushing. "Stop!"
"Oh you little artsy boy drawing your little girlfriend cuz you're sensitive—"
Clyde promptly threw a couch pillow at his friend, which made Shawn laugh.
"OK! I get it now!"
Bonnie started giggling. "You never told me that, Babe."
"Ah, well…" Clyde faced away from his girlfriend.
Shawn interrupted them as soon as be heard knocking. "I think someone else is here. Be right back."
As Shawn left to go upstairs, Bonnie stood up to sit next to Clyde. "So you don't remember most of your childhood too, huh?" he asked.
Bonnie gestured her head to the side. "More or less."
"So you don't think I'm weird for that?" he slightly smiled.
Bonnie responded by kissing him on the cheek. "I think the reason why you don't remember is something you don't know about."
Clyde smiled shyly. "What do you mean…?"
Before Bonnie could answer, Shawn came down the stairs with his other friend. "Hey, this is Tristan and Reggie. Tristan and Reggie, this is Clyde and his girlfriend, Bonnie."
Bonnie stood up from the couch first to shake her hand with the man in front, who grabbed it firmly to shake.
"Hello, Bonnie. Hello, Clyde," Tristan greeted as he looked over to see who Clyde was. "Sup?" Reggie greeted. "What're we watching tonight?" he asked.
"Uhh…" Bonnie went back to the side of the TV to scramble for movies. "This!"
"Ah, guess you're a fan of aliens? Me too," Tristan laughed.
The Sure Would Forest Retirement Home was not a far distance from Gallagher Elementary. Lizzie used the L.O.C.K.A.H.S.O.C.K.A.H. to smash through anything that came in her way, even the walls.
Approaching the retirement home gave Lizzie the aggression enough to make her entry clearly known. Through the cafeteria windows, she saw the very men that stole her lunch, so she smashed through the glass with the vehicle to approach them.
"Beware, ancient lady!" Robin Food announced as he pushed an early woman to the side. "Merry men, attack!"
The rest of the men wielded their bows and plungers at Lizzie and the vehicle, but she was prepared.
"Super action locker punch, GO!"
Lizzie wielded the machine to use the locker fists to swipe and punch the men in her way. The rest that retreated wielded their bows in unison to launch a full attack aiming for her head, but the long arms of the machine covered her to dodge the attack. Lizzie then jumped forward to prepare another attack.
"Sticky gym shorts canon blast, AWAY!"
She aimed and fired the gym shorts at the men in her way. They seemed baffled at the weapon of choice before it blasted them in the walls behind them.
Robin Food grabbed a large wooden pole for his weapon of choice, darting head first toward the girl. His first swings aimed for her head, but his continued swings attempted to unbalance Lizzie from her control on the L.O.C.K.A.H.S.O.C.K.A.H.. Now all Lizzie could do was attempt to dodge him as he aimed for the pipes connecting the lockers together.
"Today's lunch special is brat! With a side of ouch!"
"GIMME BACK MY LUNCH!" she stammered as she attempted to control the vehicle.
A harsh swing of Robin Food's pole pushed Lizzie back enough with her dodging maneuvers to retreat subtly. With this, the man in green swung clockwise from his pole to deliver a kick to Lizzie, which narrowly avoided her head, but pushed the lockers back. Lizzie struggled to maintain the vehicle balance while also dodging the man's attacks.
"Ha! Lunch time's over for you!" He then jumped into the air. "YO-HO!" he chanted. Lizzie spared her time to use the claw of the locker arm to grab his wooden pole in midair.
"Oh rubbish."
"This lunch is on you."
Robin Food yelped as Lizzie pushed her right yoke forward, blasting the man with a large amount of dirty gym clothes. It planted him against the wall before promptly sliding off.
Lizzie approached the defeated men with a furious glare. "Just try stealing lunch from my school again, and you'll be eating more than gym shorts!" she threatened. "NOW HAND OVER MY LUNCH!"
"You… ANIMAL!" Robin Food scoffed, standing up to approach Lizzie. "Are you so cruel, that you would deny food to the mouths of the poor, toothless, and starving senior citizens of the Sure Would Retirement Home?" He took a gasp of air before gesturing to them. "I mean, look at them!"
After Robin Food gestured to the crowd of elderly people, one of them asked, "What did he say about bunions?"
Lizzie looked back at Robin Food as he reached for the front of the locker to pull down to himself. "You kids are so selfish! You cannot even bring yourselves to part with but a small morsel of your luncheon so someone older, scalier, and wrinklier can put food in their mouths?" he gestured to an elderly woman before shoving her away.
Lizzie felt heartbroken by the plea. She was disturbed by the idea that she may have been selfish.
"I… I never looked at it that way. I didn't know they were so hungry!" Lizzie wailed.
"Oh, enough already!" said an elderly woman from the crowd. "Maurice, Sheldon, agetize!"
The three senior citizens announced their mobility aids as they transformed into a larger machine of a high-tech vehicle that an adult villain would use.
"We are Senior Citizen! This ends now, you crazy meshuggeneh!" the elderly woman announced.
"No, wait!" Lizzie begged as she reached her arm out. "I don't wanna fight you! Keep my lunch! Keep all our lunches!"
"Yeah, great," the lady on top mentioned. "Now if you'll just—"
"We didn't know you were so… hungry!" Lizzie bawled, thinking of her grandmother.
The elderly woman tried to continue again. "Yeesh, thank you! That's very nice, but—"
"I don't want you old people to starve!"
"WOULD YOU JUST TAKE YOUR LUNCH AND GET OUT OF HERE, ALREADY?!" the old lady boomed. "So we can beat the stuffing out of the guy wearing the tights, thank you very much. Move!" The machine stepped forward closer to Robin Food on Lizzie's right.
"You don't want my lunch?" Lizzie sniffled.
"Of course not!" she complained. "Every day this lazy cafeteria worker and his pals are supposed to make us a good old-person lunch, but instead, he brings us all this munchkin food! What, with the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the salty potato chips…"
As she ranted, Lizzie looked at Robin Food, who awkwardly scratched his head. Lizzie fetched him an irritated glare.
"Feh and yuck! Do you know what peanut butter does to my bridgework?"
"Just once we'd like some good old-fashioned liverwurst on rye!" One old person mentioned.
"Or some nice, mushy, oatmeal!" Another chimed in.
The rest of the retirement home started uplifting their voices in agreement.
"But he just brings us all this fatty kid stuff! I haven't been able to go to the bathroom in weeks!"
Robin Food stepped his foot atop the table of the old folk who expressed that concern. "No need to thank me! Rejoice! For tomorrow, we shall rob Gallagher Elementary of their spicy Cajun pizza burgers with fatty dipped chili fries! For I am…"
As the music started to continue from their singing, the old lady in the machine gently handed Lizzie her lunchbox with the claw. "You might want to get out of here, Sweetie. Things are about to get messier than Maurice's bedpan around here!"
Holding onto her lunch tightly, Lizzie used the L.O.C.K.A.H.S.O.C.K.A.H. to tiptoe away.
"Shut up, already, Mr. Tights!" the old lady yelled. Her machine then started beating the rest of the merry men to disrupt their singing. Out of the hole she burst into the retirement home, Lizzie exited without bothering the area anymore.
The sun had set when she made it back to Gallagher Elementary. When she arrived, she noticed that Nigel had already set the table nicely for them, and he was still in the same spot from earlier in the day. Lizzie finally arrived to sit down to his left with her lunchbox, not a scratch on it.
"Well, I guess a late lunch is better than no lunch. Huh, Nigie?"
"Well, yeah! I'm starving!"
"Then you're going to love the lunch I made for us!" Lizzie giggled as she opened her lunch box. Inside, she reached for what she had prepared for them. "Here!"
It was a single piece of celery.
Nigel hesitated, and briefly, he thought she was joking. "That's it? One lousy piece of celery?
"I didn't want anything in front of all those people, Nigel, but…"
Lizzie continued to rant on about Nigel's looks to the point where he became so frustrated, he planted his face onto the plate. Nigel's groans drowned out her noise. He would not be having it.
As the group of five young adults finished the movie, Bonnie was the first to speak up."That's insane! The movie was just about… violent aliens?!" Bonnie addressed in a concerned tone.
"It's a classic, though!" Reggie laughed.
"Aww…" Bonnie sighed, disappointed.
"Well, grab a soda from the cooler, and let's play pool," Shawn suggested.
In which they all did, Bonnie still held the idea of the movie on her mind. "I mean… what are the chances of aliens being so… cruel?"
"Well, it's a fear of the unknown," Tristan replied. "There's no evidence of aliens actually existing, so the scariest option is interesting."
Bonnie laughed awkwardly, then smiled. "What if aliens are friendly?"
"Then it wouldn't be a good horror movie."
Bonnie still held her doubts, subtly trying to stick up for what her little sister was. So as the two continued their talk, Bonnie sat down on the couch with her drink to watch her boyfriend play pool with Shawn and Reggie. She remained content as she watched the boys squint and hit the billiard balls.
Tristan sat close to Bonnie enough where she shuffled away to give him more space. He however leaned closer to her.
"You know, tell me more about yourself. Where are you from?"
"California," she lied.
"Oh yeah? Is it true what they say about California?"
Bonnie focused her gaze on her boyfriend, but his back was facing her for his next move.
"What do you mean by that?" Bonnie asked plainly without looking at Tristan.
"You know, it's a nice place. I'd like to move there."
Bonnie held her hands together and continued to lean away. "Haha, yeah."
"Maybe we could hang out more sometime?"
Clyde turned around to see his girlfriend. Tristan had placed his hand on her thigh.
"DUDE!"
Clyde used the cue stick to slap Tristan's face. It brushed across his nose enough that let him hold it after the strike.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Tristan screamed, holding his nose.
"That's my girlfriend, man!" Clyde yelled while grabbing Bonnie's hand to pull her away from Tristan.
Shawn and Reggie turned around to see that Tristan was bleeding. Clyde gritted his teeth in a sense of shock that he was able to strike such a blow against the guy's nose.
"I wasn't even doing anything!" Tristian protested.
"You put your hand on her thigh! That's weird!"
Reggie put himself between the two young men to push them apart. "All right, cool it down you two!"
Bonnie had not seen Clyde so visibly angered. She slowly backed up to hide behind him.
"Bonnie's my girlfriend, why would you do that?!"
"You didn't have to hit him," Reggie replied. "He barely did anything!"
"So you're fine with him doing that?!" Clyde protested.
"If all he did was that, then yeah."
"I can't argue with this," Clyde raised his hands in front of the boys. "You were weird. We're leaving."
Clyde reached for his girlfriend's hand to pull her away toward the stairs.
"Clyde, wait," Shawn halted, but Clyde and Bonnie kept walking away.
Outside of the house, Clyde sighed to himself. "I'm so sorry. I should have turned around sooner. I didn't mean to whack him that hard, I just—"
"That's really considerate of you."
Clyde blushed.
"I don't know what to say, but you're a good boyfriend." Bonnie lifted her head, giving the boy a romantic gaze. She reached for Clyde's hand to hold. She gently kissed it. "Actually, I do know what to say. …That was very hot of you."
"All right, let's get out of here," Clyde whispered with a blush. He lead Bonnie to his car as he drove her home.
Lizzie marched into the front room from outside the house. She was grumbling to herself. To the left of her in the kitchen, Bonnie perked up when she saw her little sister.
"Lizzie! What are you doing home so late?!"
Lizzie threw her backpack down and carried her lunch to the kitchen.
"What are you doing home so early? Didn't Mom say you were supposed to be at a party?"
Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, attempting to counter her reply, but she felt herself hesitate. "Actually, that's what I want to talk to you about. But first, answer my question!" Bonnie huffed while crossing her arms.
Lizzie slammed her lunchbox on the kitchen table. "These stupid thieves wearing tights came into our school and stole all our lunches, and tried to give them to senior citizens! And when I finally got our lunch back, Nigie wouldn't eat it!"
"Oh, what'd you try to give him? A piece of celery?" Bonnie joked.
Lizzie squinted her eyes.
Bonnie wanted to laugh, but she quickly turned it into a cough.
"Now what did you want to tell me?" Lizzie begrudgingly asked.
Bonnie took a deep breath, turning her exposure into a serious one. "Look, I need to talk to you about something important."
Lizzie gasped. "Is it because I ate the last bit of Rainbow Munchies…?"
"No. Sit down, Elizabeth."
Hearing her full name made Lizzie realize that this talk was more than just that. She felt a sensation of worry enter her mind.
Bonnie faced her head away from Lizzie as she started to speak. "Um… I don't know how to put this lightly, but you're a girl. A female human, to be exact. And on this planet, sometimes boys think they can do what they want. Do you know what I mean?"
Lizzie was not sure how to respond. She tilted her head slightly.
"Look, I know we're not actually humans, but that's what we look like to everyone. We live in a certain area on Earth where girls can do things as much as boys, but sometimes…"
Lizzie still seemed puzzled.
"My point is, don't let a boy control you just because you're a girl."
Lizzie felt disappointed. "That's it? That's what you wanted to tell me?"
"I'm serious!" Bonnie stood out from her chair to lean closer to her sister. "A guy I barely knew tried to… flirt with me at that party when my boyfriend was already there!"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, isn't it the other way around sometimes?"
"Yes, but that's not my concern. There are injustices in this world, and I'm trying to teach you something you could face when I'm not there, like in school." Bonnie then placed her hand gently on Lizzie's shoulder. Her eyes held a deep love and concern as she stared at her sister. "I just want you to be safe."
Lizzie merely responded by brushing Bonnie's hand off of her shoulder. She then walked away. "I am safe. I'm going to bed."
Lizzie grumbled to herself as she put on her pajamas. She took off her glasses to put them beside the nightstand so she could snuggle into her pink bed. She was tired enough to fall asleep in a couple of minutes.
Within Lizzie's mind, she felt attitude of anger affect her. The negative energy continued to follow her into her thoughts, which made an unpleasant dream.
Lizzie felt her hands chained up. There was a foot on her back.
"SHOCK HER!"
Lizzie panicked as she failed to free herself. She was outside. KND soldiers wore metal uniforms. Lizzie realized that she was in the negative world from Numbuh 4's pool.
"Nigie!" Lizzie called out.
She was shocked with electricity.
In her own rage, she attempted to free herself again. She did this by morphing into her real form. Her fingers transitioned into vines. Despite her efforts to float away, she was slower than a snail. She was grabbed easily.
Vine saw the negative soldiers, and most importantly, Negative Numbuh 4. They were horrified by her appearance.
"She's a monster! Burn her!" The goateed kid exclaimed.
Operatives came in clusters to grab her tendrils as she attempted to float away once more. Negative Numbuh 4 formed a torch in his hand as he inched closer to the alien. She shrieked as she saw the flame.
"NIGIE!"
In the mix of the crowd, she saw her boyfriend. He merely stood terrified as he ran away. Then, the fire came closer.
Lizzie awoke with a sharp inhale. Her vision was blurry with her own tears. She clenched her chest to feel the rushed heart beat of her human body, which she still had. She checked her shaky hands frantically, then pressed her pinky finger with the C.H.I.P. inside. She was still human.
Though after gasping for air, Lizzie broke down bawling. She held her eyes and nose as tears fell onto her blanket. She used it to wipe her eyes, then blow her nose.
A gentle knock graced Lizzie's bedroom door. Without a response, it opened.
"Honey, I heard you crying."
"Oh. Hi, Mom."
Mrs. DeVine opened the door fully to come closer to her baby. She reached for a tissue on Lizzie's desk to hand to her. "What's the matter?"
After Lizzie wiped her tears away, she reached for her mother's hand. "I h-had a bad dream… Th-they found out I wasn't human… and t-tried to burn me…"
"Who?" Mrs. DeVine snarled in concern.
"The negative numbers in the world on the other side of the pool…" Lizzie whimpered pathetically.
Mrs. DeVine opened her mouth to speak, but she was puzzled by the scenario planted in her head. "…Well, whoever they are, they can't hurt you right now," Mrs. DeVine reassured as she held her daughter's hands tighter.
Lizzie continued to wipe her eyes and sniffle. She planted her head into her mother's chest to continue to sob. Mrs. DeVine gently embraced her.
"There there… I'm right here."
Lizzie sniffled. She squeezed her mom back, nuzzling herself closer.
"You can stay in my bed if you're having trouble sleeping."
Lizzie looked up at her mother with hopeful eyes. "Really?"
Mrs. DeVine nodded gently.
Lizzie continued to latch onto her mother as she led her to the parents' bedroom. Lizzie sniffled the way there.
Mrs. DeVine tenderly started to pet the top of Lizzie's head as she covered her with the blanket.
"I'll give you as much comfort as you need, Darling."
"But you're not real, Mom."
Mrs. DeVine remembered something Bonnie told her. "I may not be, but my love for you is."
Lizzie pulled herself closer to her mother. In the embracement of her arms, she felt safe. A gentle smile came across Lizzie's face as she breathed shakily. She loved her mother.
9L ate her breakfast in the cafeteria with shaky hands. Rainbow Munchies were not sweet enough to take the stress away. She gently sobbed to herself as other human disguised operatives took glances at her, curious but unwilling to approach her.
"Numbuh 9L," was gently said behind the operative.
The girl dropped her spoon which made an audible clank against the table. She reached for her hair to pull gently.
"You did well with the first test. I see it exercised your mental strength to a large capacity."
"First?" 9L sniveled.
"Yes. We need to run multiple functional tests on the device. Then we plan to create a specific scenario for—"
9L swooped around to grab Numbuh Infinity's shirt collar. "I can't do that again! You almost gave me a… a heart attack!"
Infinity blinked slowly. The kids around him stared in the awkwardness. The silence enough made 9L embarrassed, so she removed her grip from his collar. As Infinity dusted himself off, she fidgeted with her hands.
"Sorry, Sir. No disrespect, Sir."
"You agreed to this. I will see you continue with our tests, do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. I will see you tonight in the same room," Infinity mentioned as he put his hands behind his back, walking away from her. "We won't repeat any scenarios given to you."
9L sighed. It was a slight relief, but she tears she consumed with her cereal overtook the taste.