Chapter 7
After getting both peppers sprayed and tased by her younger partner, April slowly regained consciousness and found herself in a comfy leather wheely chair right before taking the chance to gather her bearings. Once managing to move her neck freely she then took her surroundings and see where she has gotten herself into, and can not believe what her eyes were showing her. There right in front of April was the old-style version of NIB HQ with an actual brick-made circle fireplace burning black fire.
"What the?." April looked around to find a male slug-like alien calling his wife on the phone for bail money.
"Hey, honey, I got busted selling drugs. Can you be a good girl and bail me out...again." said the Slug alien man, talking to his wife.
Then, April looked to her right and saw a group of poisonous lizard mutants all chained up, and both hissing at her angrily. Indicating that they must have done something terrible that has caused them to have their mouths in a muzzle. And finally, April looked at what is right in front of her which is none other than the person who brought her to the old version of NIB. April looked straight at the young kid version of Karai, who was straight at her with a more look on her face. Regaining her memory, April slowly rubbed her left cheek and moved her tongue while slowly scolding the girl.
"I don't know who let you have that taser but, I freaking tasted the shock and pain in my tongue, Karai!." April spoke angrily.
"How do you know my name, Redhead?." Karai tilted her head to the right with curiosity. "Because you're talking to me as if you have known me all too well."
April slightly panicked for a quick second but luckily through the NIB training of making up convincing mendacious, she can simply outplay little Karai with little to no effort. April managed to relax her facial expression before looking at her very young partner and speaking calmly.
"To be completely honest with you...little girl. I call all little or no little japanese girls, Karai. It is what I like to say without the guilt. I mean you guys do look the same and all, right?." said April, chuckling a little bit.
Little Karai raised her brow. "Oh, really?. So basically you are telling me that you are a member of the White Supremacy. Because what you just said to me was downright racist. That and you are nowhere near as an excellent liar like I am."
With that being said, Little Karai reached the right side of her desk and pulled out her drawer. April slightly leaned to her right to see what her past partner was getting as she had a feeling that it was not good for her false defense. Just as April had feared. Karai from the past had pulled out April's weapon, instant neuralyzer, and time travel device and set them in front of April. Karai closed her drawer and turned her attention back to April while resting her right cheek with her right fist, and had a plain look on her face.
"I played a lot of games on Coney island and won many prizes." Karai used her left index finger and pointed at the three devices on her desk. "But these, however, do not look like any prizes that I have ever seen. I love winning stuff ponies but never win something quite like these."
"Well, you see, uh, those were limited edition prizes," April spoke with quick and clever thinking. "The guy in the booth said that these prizes were one time only deal. You can not believe how much cash I blow away on those things. Let alone getting encouraged by my lover."
"What's his name?." Little Karai can easily see that she baited April into a trap when she saw her slightly jump up with eyes a little bit widened. She further deeper into her question and said, "What is your lover's name?. He must have been some yummy hunk to persuade you in a successful attempt to get these prizes."
April thinks real hard about a perfect guy name that would be convincing enough to her little partner of the past. And it hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Casey. His name is Casey. Casey Jones." said April, looking relaxed and hoping that Little Karai won't ask any further.
"Where is he from?." asked Little Karai, when leaning back into her chair with her arms crossed with a head tilted to the right side.
"Um, let me think for a second." April quickly thinks hard once again and quickly answers. "New Jersey."
"New Jersey?. You're not seriously falling for that one, Karai?." came a voice.
This causes both April and Little Karai to look forward to seeing none other than Little Shinigami who had a can of chips in her left hand. She came up the front of Karai's desk and managed to stuff a mouthful of chips in her mouth.
"I've been to New Jersey so many times and I have yet to meet a dude name, Casey Jones," said Shinigami, with a mouthful of chips.
"You'll be surprised." Little Karai spoke before taking a look at a few papers on her desk.
April had her eyes on the other little girl who happens to be Shinigami aka Karai's original NIB partner. Of course, April had to do some research about this woman since Karai has never mentioned her or bothered to share it. What's so funny and fun fact about Shinigami that April had the privilege to read, is that she got neuralized on the same night that she met Karai. Plus, NIB had a three-strike rule before neutralizing any agent who messes up on either an investigation or arresting someone and Shinigami had hit all three. Which was kinda sad to say the least, since Shinigami must have been an outstanding NIB partner and best friend to Karai over the years.
"Well he is shy around new people and so he is not well known in New Jersey." lied April, still keeping her calm.
Little Shinigami looked at April with a displeased look and said, "I don't trust a single word you said. Karai if you need me I'll be at the cafeteria for lunch. Also, keep your eye on this silly little red bird. She's very sketchy."
April slightly frowned at Little Shinigami before watching her leave. She could not believe that she just got insulted by that little japanese girl. If only she was her age then she might bitch slap her. As soon as Little Karai was about to resume her integration another kid came up beside her on the right who happens to be a black boy. A little black boy NIB agent wearing a black heavy-duty ninja suit and gear with a fresh low fade haircut. He currently had a few stacks of folders filled with papers and had a serious look on his face.
"Hey, baby, Zed is on his way to speak with you about what had happened today. And he is not in a good mood today due to your brothers eating all the pizzas in the cafeteria," He informed Karai.
April raised her brow when hearing the word 'Baby' in the boy's sentence and had a feeling that this kid is someone she knows. Karai smiled and got up and did something that even April would see her do. Karai pressed her lips against his and did a five-second kiss before the two had done a quick look around to see if anyone is looking in their direction. It automatically confirmed April's suspicion of the little boy and can not help but to small grin.
"Thanks for the heads up beloved," Karai spoke while sitting down and grabbing her mug that something had something hot. "I'll make sure that I will make my report straight to the point."
After this, Karai took the moment to sip her drink and frowned at the taste of it and sat it back down on its pad. "Let me ask you something, love, why does my tea taste so bitter?."
The boy chuckled before looking back at her and saying, "Well, what do you expect, baby, it was..."
"Freshly Brewed!. I can not believe that it is you, Ron!." April laughed at this for a few seconds before stopping and realizing what she just said in deep shock.
Ron looked at April with confusion on his face as to how she knows his first name, while Karai raised her brow in seriousness. Mentally taking Shinigami's advice warning about this woman and being straight up cautious.
"Uh, I'm sorry but...do I know you?. More importantly, how do you even know my name in the first place?." asked Little Ron, both curious and concerned.
"Well, no." April now really has to cover up her mistakes and said, "You see, I call every boy Ron. It's silly but it is kinda my thing and my freedom of speech. You've just got to love living in America."
Little Karai was now officially not convinced about everything that the woman just said from the moment she woke up. Plus, the items that she carried that were on her desk were not prizes and were in fact looked like the type of stuff that NIB would have, only except that she has never seen anything like these before. Little Karai is determined to gain the real truth from this woman and knows how to exactly do so with ease. Which will start after both reporting and keeping Zed off her back as she immediately grabbed a few stacks of paper from her desk, and put them on top of April's gear to hide them from him. Zed came over with stress written all over his face for a few reasons both NIB work and wife issues.
"I have to cancel dinner tonight with my wife and rounded up hearing her complain about me not spending enough time with her. That and the issues at work are pure chaos," said Zed, with a slight frown.
"The story of your life," said Ron, smiling at his own comment and receiving a chuckle from Zed.
Zed looked at Karai with seriousness. "I was informed about what happened on Coney Island by Shinigami's report. So tell me how many casualties do we have, Karai?."
"Only one, sir. Roman the Fabulous. He's my favorite person to go see on the island." informed Little Karai with seriousness.
Zed nodded and said, "I feel the same way. Do we have any human casualties?."
Little Karai shook her head no and grabbed her tea to drink. Zed nodded in relief as he can not handle another handful of dealing with making multiple cover-ups and making up stories for the public who witnessed or inform the news about it.
"That's one positive thing to hear so far today." Zed took his attention to April and raised a brow. "And who on earth is this redhead?."
"Um, now you see..." April was thinking up another clever story to use but now had none to use and also Karai had beaten her to the punch.
"She was at the wrong place at the wrong time when it happened. I brought her here to see if she had seen anything suspicious or had seen the whereabouts of the killer. So far it is a fast no and a slow yes." said Little Karai, after done drinking her tea.
April looked back at Zed who was currently looking at her and felt strange about knowing her but never met her. Zed of course brushed off the idea before looking back at Karai. "Finish with your small questioning and please get her out of our building and property, asap."
"Yes, sir," said Little Karai.
"Now that we have got that out of the way, Zed we have an important and mandatory two-hour meeting with the council members of the Galaxy of Peace Organization on the planet X-5." Ron came over to his boss/father figure and guide him to the launch station since the two have to literally fly to the planet and meet the council members in person.
Zed sighed, "Oh, I really hate traveling and dealing with them at the same time."
As soon as and before the two were out of sight, Ron turned his head to look at Karai and winked at her with a grin, before resuming back to inform Zed that need to practice his opening speech before the meeting can go underway. Little Karai smiled sweetly at this and can not help but to kick her feet back and forth, which April can see with no problem and can not believe that her partner used to show emotion without limitation, much less romantic emotion. But that quickly ended when Little Karai stopped kicking back and forth and changed her smile to seriousness. Next, she returned her attention back to April and crossed her legs, and lean back into her chair.
"Now back to you." started Little Karai with an eyebrow raised and said, "So let me summarize everything you just said regarding today's event. You were in Coney Island playing and winning these limited edition prizes while blowing away your money in the process, due to your lover's sexy encouragement. Let alone your boyfriend's name just so happens to be Casey Jones who is from New Jersey. Is that correct?. And that is your honest story, yes?."
"Yes. And double yes. That is my honest story. So can I please leave and return to my boyfriend?. He promised me a fresh hot soapy bubble bath and a wonderful foot massage when we go back to my place." said April, looking innocent and sounding sensitive with anxiety.
"Why of course, ma'am, I will let you go so you can joy your wonderful soapy bubble bath and fantastic foot rub. I mean that is what any girl would enjoy and value from their boyfriend," said Little Karai, mocking April's tone of voice before leaning over to her. "We just need to do one more thing to do before we're done here today."
April did not like where this was heading while feeling her stomach aching. But unfortunately, she dared herself to ask. "Which is?."
Little Karai gave April a big smile and said, "A good old-fashioned eye exam. Free of charge of course."
One led to another, April had found herself strapped down from head to toe on a wheeled standup table and was being pushed down by two NIB agents. April found herself being entered into a room where she sees a human-sized neuralyzer tank that is connected to a control station that was twelve feet away and had shields covering around it. Indicating that those were glasses-based shields to prevent memory loss once the device was fired. Little Karai skipped her way past April and did a little bit of hopscotch before making her way to the control station. April started to panic as she knows what was going to happen to her and based on the size of the neruralyzer, it is guaranteed to clean her memory out and more so compared to a regular neruralyzer.
"Hey, Hey, Hey, that is not a freaking eye exam device, Karai, that is a damn human-sized neruralyzer!. Girl, are you trying to scramble my brain here?!." yelled April, while trying to fight out of her hold but with no luck.
"Oh, that is wired for someone like yourself to know what a standard neruralyzer is. Much less say my name as if you know me personally," said Little Karai, while currently pressing a few buttons with the other agents to fire up the device with a plain facial expression.
April can hear the machine starting to warm up and did not like the sound of it. Literally. Next, she sees an agent unlocking the round door hatch to the long neruralyzer while being pushed towards it. Then she found herself facing the machine on her back before being pushed down and was about to get slid on in. One of the agents came over to April with a sturdy red bite guard in hand.
"To prevent any instant teeth decay and gum bleeding, please put this in your mouth." the agent informed her when attempting to put the guard in.
"Teeth decay?!. Gum bleeding?!. Oh, heck no, you guys!. Hey, Hey, back away from me before I bite you." warned April when threatening to bite him when chopping at him. "You're making a great mistake, Karai!."
"Well, hey, this can all have been avoided if you just told me what you really know. But instead, you want to try lying your butt off to me and so that's how you got yourself in this current situation," informed Little Karai, before inserting a key to activate the countdown from fifteen.
April got pushed and closed inside of the device and can feel herself along with the machine starting to spin around. She heard a female agent reading the countdown out loud which is important for April to consider her two options. One, either reveal who she truly is and explain why she is here to both save the earth's and Little Karai's future and prevent herself from being memory clean. Or two, walk around with no idea who she is or what she was supposed to be doing in the year 2006 and let Tiger Claw have his revenge and redemption against Karai and allow the invasion of earth. Sighing to herself, April had no better options at this moment with her time being limited before being flashed.
April heard the count of ten from the woman and had no choice but to take the first option. But in order for her to do so, she'll have to bait Little Karai into wanting to let her out and get the secret information from her. And she knows exactly how.
"Fine." started April. "You can wipe away my memories if you like, Karai. But do this one thing for me. If you ever come across a mutant by the name of Tiger Claw, then please kill him. Don't arrest him. Kill him. It's best and better to kill Tiger Claw now than to throw him in prison and regret it years later down the road after he breaks free and comes after you for playback. And when I say payback, I mean he wants to kill you. That's if his future self shows up and helps his young self in killing you this year."
With that clearly spoken without any doubt about the heads-up message, Little Karai made a quick second thought and took action. She reached for the medium-sized red button that had a black label that said STOP. April opened her eyes and looked around confused as to what is now going on. Was she flashed or Was she is spared?.
"Uhh, Karai, I don't know if the machine is working or malfunctioning. Heck, I can not say if I'll be able to remember everything," said April, before being pulled out of the device and getting unstrapped.
Little Karai had a plain look on her face when watching April getting off the wheeled table. Then she walked closer to the woman and looked hurt which concerned April.
"I have known Roman the Fabulous since the day I became a NIB agent. I visited his apartment one time and hang out with him and his family. His wife can only cook homemade new york style hot dogs which are the best dogs ever. And I mean EVER. And for his sons, they sure know how to play some good Xbox 360, which by the way was just released last year and those two were great at trying to make me their girlfriend that one time. But besides that, I'm giving you one last chance to tell me what you know before I change my mind. The ball is in your court." said Little Karai.
April took a deep breath and said with all honesty. "Ok. My name is April O'Neill aka Agent A. I am a Ninja In Black aka NIB agent and also your partner who you just so happen to recruit me, twenty-two years in the future. I traveled back here from the year twenty-twenty-eight to stop a mutant by the name of Tiger Claw, who you arrested and now escaped, and soon jump travel back here to the past to succeed in aiding in unleashing a full-scale invasion of Earth for the alien race called the Boglodites. We literally have forty-eight hours tomorrow to both catch and kill him. Soooo, we really need to double-time it right now."
Little Karai looked at her with a plain stare look at April who was wondering what was going to happen next. Little Karai broke the stare and smiled brightly.
"All right then let's do it!." Little Karai spoke with enthusiasm before leading the way out of the room.
April had a blank facial expression. Now, she was trying to comprehend that Karai actually smiled and spoke with great enthusiasm. Even though she told her what is going to happen in the next forty-eight hours starting tomorrow. Shaking that off just this once she followed the little girl and found themselves back in the main part of NIB headquarters. Surprisingly how the old HQ originally had room steps and whatnot and guessed that Zed had upgraded the whole place once the tax returns came. April walked side by side with Little Karai and could not help but asked.
"I'm surprised that you believe me on the second go-around. Why?." asked April, when stepping into the glass elevator with her.
"Simple. I believe what I heard and know it was the truth. Well, half of it." said Little Karai, before pressing the white-up button.
"Half of it?." April felt offended by this. "Um, hello, I told you everything in great honesty. You know that lying can only lead to more trouble just like the book character Tom Sawyer, who..."
"I read the book and watch the movie. In my personal opinion, in the live-action film, Tom Sawyer should have been a black boy, and Becky Thatcher should have been a japanese girl," said Little Karai, before looking back up at April.
April was about to ask what type of race would Karai would say for Huckleberry Finn until she was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Agent K?."
Both April and Little Karai turned around and looked down to see Zed, Ron, and Shinigami who were all wondering what was she still dealing with the so-called eyewitness.
"Why is she still here?. Did you not neuralized her?." questioned a suspicious Zed.
"The machine had overcooked her too much and made her intelligent level from average to ignorant. We should really need to dismantle that thing and just flash them with regular old neuralizers. Anyway, I'm walking her home and make sure she gets there safe." lied Little Karai, before secretly nudging April to act simple-minded.
"I used the bathroom in my pants. And it felt great," said April, putting on a fake dumb accent acting.
"Did you go number one or number two?." asked Ron, receiving strange looks from both Zed and Shinigami.
"I did both. And I feel like I might have to do it again," said April, before being pulled back to face the entrance.
"That was both funny and gross. Did you see the looks on their faces?." asked Little Karai, with a toothy grin.
April could only nod in response while still not believing that this Karai has an actual sense of humor. Heck, whenever she cracks a few zingers, Karai never breaks a smile or laughs her butt off. It was wired to say the least. After the two had successfully managed to exit the building, they soon got into an old Toyota Camry which April can tell was the same car that Karai had once owned during her time of on-the-job training. Once putting on their seatbelts the two drove off the property of NIB HQ and went down the road.
"Next stop, Chuck E Cheese." Little Karai spoke with purs happiness.
"Chuck E Cheese?." April looked at the little girl who was able to drive the car all thanks to having her seat customized to fit her needs to drive. "Why are we going there of all places?. We should be getting ahead of our investigation."
"Well, in case you did not know, which you do not know, my shift ended not too long ago, and I do have coupons to spend at Chuck E Cheese before they expire tonight, and really felt that I deserve to treat myself. Besides, Chuck E Cheese is the place to be a kid. Plus, I am on a case that just happens to be located at Chuck E Cheese." Little Karai looked at April and smiled brightly at her.
"You don't say," said April, leaning back into her chair with her mind wondering while studying the young little japanese girl.
Wondering that if she was in the car with her best friend/partner from the past or was it just some little girl that looked exactly like Karai and just pulling her leg. So far she is slowly being convinced and also wondered how her personality and character had all changed after the events of the fourth of July. Only time will tell for April. Literally. Right now her next move is going to do a so-called case that just so happens to be located at Chuck E Cheese. Which is quite wired for April, especially when it have to do with Little Karai.