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Oct 25, 2009 21:45:38 GMT -5
Post by CCACorn26 on Oct 25, 2009 21:45:38 GMT -5
(looking around at recent posts while raising eyebrow, then clearing throat) Greetings. I see some new faces here that I wouldn't have expected at the beginning of this month, but I should see some new cordiality about Nigel and Rachel's romantic friendship, just as Allie would welcome. My own fanfiction model regarding these two kids may be at least somewhat darker, starting with the last two pages. A focus on Nigel and Rachel's roles in this special chapter of mine might suffice to demonstrate my emphasis on these two kids' positions of influence for their fellow Kids Next Door, especially toward the end, even after the course of events I've gradually seen unfold from multiple perspectives throughout this story.:
“Vultures and Lovebirds at the Dragon’s Mouth”
Chapter 14: “The Moment of Judgment”
The four Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles hurtled through the outer regions of the Earth’s atmosphere as they adjusted their final trajectories to detonate exactly at their designated targets, but the tension and dread between North America, Europe, and East Asia at those missiles’ movements had leapt across the entire planet still more quickly, entering the collective consciousness of even adults, teens, and children in places considered to be distant from those regions through two news organizations scrambling to provide their viewers with all the information they could gather about this possible catastrophe -- even as reporters and analysts from those news organizations found themselves increasingly becoming part of the very story they had been dispatched to cover. While four remaining individuals from Fox News Channel’s Washington, D.C., team were clearing out any last pieces of equipment they deemed appropriate for their coverage away from that otherwise empty building, a group of about one dozen men and women chanting about the resurrection of what they called the “Ottoman Caliphate” and the final downfall of the United States almost mobbed a British Broadcasting Corporation helicopter preparing to take off just outside the recently-evacuated headquarters for Great Britain’s lawmaking body to join its understandably fearful companions elsewhere across the countryside south of the beleaguered city. To the perceptions of some in that crowd or aboard that helicopter, it couldn’t have helped matters that the Royal Air Force helicopter convoy carrying the House of Windsor -- and Prime Minister Oliver Hawthorne, who’d organized the evacuation in the first place -- had successfully reached the Royal Navy’s flagship and its escorts, which were patrolling almost directly south of the massive island. From the R12 letter-number combination confidently displayed on the side of the carrier’s control tower to the fighter planes and early detection aircraft purposefully streaking overhead, no one who looked directly at the floating behemoth of steel or the warships surrounding it could doubt its importance during an emergency as existential as this one.
As it happened, the control room at the United States European Command’s headquarters seemed to crackle with even more pronounced resolve and tension as soldiers, technicians, cooks, and fighter pilots scurried about to reach their designated positions in preparation to shoot down those incoming missiles once they were within range of the missile defense grid the European Command had set up piece by piece, agreement by agreement, with certain strategically ideal countries at the eastern and western ends of Europe, including the country that essentially produced the United States more than two centuries ago, no less. The other two happened to be countries that were beginning to emerge into the 21st century with ambitions of their own, under America’s protective umbrella, whether against comparatively secretive bombings and assassinations or more direct intercontinental ballistic missile launches. The personnel assigned to cover this task were already at their consoles, watching the large electronic map in front of them with dread as four missile icons indicating the Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles beeped eerily leftward across it. Their commanding officer, Admiral Nolan McDougal, stood gravely with his second-in-command, Admiral Matthew Lockett, at his platform overlooking the officers around him, focused as only someone in their positions could be on those same weapons of mass destruction -- and the repulsive, monstrous, hopelessly diabolical mission behind their activation, the essential components of which he’d learned from his counterpart in the United States Pacific Command, with confirmation from his superiors at the Pentagon. As McDougal then narrowed his eyes at the electronic map, a series of steady beeps and tones could only herald a level of alertness among the officers under his command that he would most certainly commend when this was over.
“Status report,” McDougal barked professionally.
“Our ground forces are mobilizing around Stuttgart and across Germany, and our first fighter patrols are already in the air, sir,” responded an officer responsible for coordinating the movements of the European Command’s diverse units across its area. “Polish President Steven Muzyka, Czech President Daniel Slavornik, and British Prime Minister Oliver Hawthorne are standing by to back us up if necessary.”
Just then, a different console starting beeping more frantically than before, followed by a calm but no less tense officer responsible for tracking the various weapons used at this base. “Admiral McDougal, Admiral Lockett, our targeting systems show green across the board. We can fire our interceptors at any time.”
“What about those ICBMs?” Lockett asked swiftly, almost instinctively, to the other officers.
The weapons officer let his fingers fly across his console for several moments that seemed to stretch beyond their typical lengths in time, darting his eyes at the electronic map for all of about three milliseconds before blinking at the missile icons. “Uh, Chinese nuclear missiles entering max range in three… two… one…”
The next order exited McDougal’s mouth with enough force to equal an iron glove, to the perceptions of anyone else who could hear the control room from the corridor outside. “And FIRE!!!!!”
The officer at the weapons console shot his pointing finger forward and slammed it onto the button controlling the launch sequence for the aforementioned interceptors, through which the soldiers, sailors, and fighter pilots of the United States European Command would attempt to stop the incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, outside the European Command’s main building, four interceptor missile launch vehicles began pointing their silos more and more directly into the sky, seeking the optimal trajectory at which to fire their invaluable cargo. It seemed that every officer ranking below McDougal had begun holding his or her breath at the defensive volley they were about to fire against an ally of the latest major enemy of freedom as one by one, the interceptor missiles activated their engines, then shot upward into the sky toward their respective targets, all at a quicker rate than that of those missiles during their collective launch from Bear’s Revenge Missile Base. Upward the interceptors climbed, propelled by their steadily-burning engines, piercing through the Earth’s atmosphere as through they carried within them the very determination of all those who wanted freedom for themselves and their descendants. Anyone watching the Earth from, among other possible locations, a Kids Next Door satellite holding a stationary orbit above Europe would have seen the distance between the American interceptor missiles and the Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles closing in just a few blinks, all while seeming to feel everything freeze intensely. Finally, one by one, the interceptors collided with the ballistic missiles, creating four explosions of light, separate from each other depending on their targets. The silence emanating from the electronic map did nothing to quell the cheers and applause that erupted across the control room, with smiles of sternness from United States European Command commander Admiral Nolan McDougal and deputy commander Admiral Matthew Lockett that the New Korean Order’s attempt to nuke Western Christendom’s main symbols and power centers -- and massacre millions of innocent men, women, and children -- had failed.
Yet, the aircraft streaking over the mountainous landscape below them would have told every single officer at Patch Barracks almost instantaneously that this global crisis most certainly wasn’t over, to the knowledge of the two top-ranking admirals of the United States in Europe. The skies over the northwesternmost part of the Korean Peninsula seemed to pale as wave after wave of People’s Liberation Army fighter planes cruised deeper and deeper into the region, carrying between them the ferocity of a dragon whose home and territory had just been obliterated, damaged beyond all possible repair. The order to hold nothing back upon finding any remaining New Korean Order forces had come in directly from the Great Hall of the People as soon as the leadership of the People’s Republic of China learned of the intolerable -- and unforgivably subversive -- humiliation that the top general of what used to be the Korean People’s Army had inflicted upon that burgeoning country, so that even if the United States of America and its troublesome allies could shoot those new intercontinental ballistic missiles down, it was far too late. As the fighter planes surged forward, however, a new atrocity had yet to reveal itself to them, as close as they were to stumbling across it.
“Thunder-Dog 3 to Thunder-Dog Flight Lead,” said one of the pilots urgently through the intercom between his teammates.
The leader of this group of fighter planes raised his eyebrow reflexively as he pressed a button to receive the transmission. “This is Thunder-Dog Flight Lead. Is something wrong, Thunder-Dog 3?”
“I’m picking up a strange disturbance about 60 miles to the south-southeast,” the pilot -- located within the flight leader’s left field of visibility -- said. “Whatever it is, it’s growing larger, but just barely.”
The flight leader glanced down at his console in time to see it pick up the same data from that third fighter plane, but when he looked outward to see the disturbance just over the horizon, leaning forward in the process to make certain that his view was accurate, he frowned with stern confusion. “Smoke plumes?”
Another fighter pilot, this one at the right side of this flight, spoke up, the colors most visible from that disturbance illuminating the area around it quite eerily and also encroaching into the Chinese fighter pilots’ focus, perhaps disturbing them if it could as he responded, “Confirmed, sir. It’s smoke… from a wildfire.”
The flight leader blinked with mounting confusion while maintaining his strictness, then looked down at his radar screen to see a signature that instantly dispelled any lingering thoughts he was developing about this situation, mentally contrasting with the microscopic shapes he could still barely make out directly above the wildfire, and he muttered loudly enough for the rest of his flight to hear, “And Khaybar One is right in the middle of it.” He pressed the same button from before to broadcast his new instructions. “Thunder-Dog Flight Lead to Thunder-Dog Flight. Has the New Korean Order sent any aircraft to intercept us?”
The pilot directly to the flight leader’s right was the one to reply. “Negative from Thunder-Dog 2. The Americans and the South Koreans are about to launch a direct attack on Dragon’s Shadow Missile Base itself, and I’m picking up seven attack squadrons of American fighter and bomber planes, attack and transport helicopters, and fixed-wing gunships heading straight for Mountain’s Light Missile Base. Another five attack squadrons of fighter planes and at least four early detection aircraft are closely behind them.”
The PLA flight leader nodded swiftly, narrowing his eyes as thoughts of the looming showdown blazed through his mind. “Very well. I will broadcast Khaybar One’s location to the Central Military Commission and the rest of our comrades” -- the pause the pilot took here would have been ominous to anyone still loyal to the NKO at this point, amplified however slightly by the tone in his voice as he continued -- “and inform them that total victory will soon be ours.”
While shouts of militarily firm agreement filtered through the intercom into the thingypit around the fighter pilot in command of Thunder-Dog Flight, even or especially through that the pilot let one hand fly without much effort across the console in front of him, pressing the necessary buttons to send that aforementioned signal out from the peninsula, all the way back to the headquarters of the People’s Republic of China, then prepare his aircraft to accelerate, all while keeping the other hand firmly gripped around the speed stick sitting solemnly to his right. Then, feeling his grip harden with outrage slightly less restrained than before, he rapidly pushed the speed stick forward, and the People’s Liberation Army fighter plane leading this particular flight within one of the main attack squadrons dispatched to take out the New Korean Order accelerated, signaling to its companions immediately around it to follow suit, toward the wildfire blazing beyond control and letting loose new bursts of flames here and there like a volcano that seemed to let loose an eruption that would bury the land surrounding it. Incredibly, the more the wildfire erupting from missiles fired by the New Korean Order attack helicopters and fighter planes strafing or hovering over their general area spread among the trees and along the ground, the more the Chinese fighter planes racing eastward to the southwest of that People’s Liberation Army squadron and the American aircraft surging northward to its south seemed to charge forward in their eagerness to utterly vanquish their common foe. Neither of the two diverse attack groups could have been aware of the ships of unknown configuration that were waiting at a certain point within the fiery maelstrom for their designated prepubescent cargo, but they might very well have been sternly surprised at these kids’ resoluteness that the New Korean Order would soon end… in fire.
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The four young United Korea spies managed to stay around Haneul, Min-Ki, and Jin-Chang as they hurtled down a new corridor into which the previous underground tunnel leading away from their main base branched, making certain that they had as much focus between them as they could muster in getting those three kids safely to the chosen rendezvous point with their new non-Korean allies. While Min-Ki and Haneul held hands as tightly as they could, Jin-Chang was quickly darting his head from side to side to sense any subtle shifts in the earth around them, including any new cavernous tunnels they happened to pass, as ideal a network through which they could get away from any enemies they would have encountered as they predicted. They felt more than a few rumbles throughout the tunnel walls as they ran, most likely from any exploding missiles directly at the surface as their greatest enemy was loosing his rage upon the rest of the Korean Peninsula… if they could have guessed as to the New Korean Order’s final method for ending their lives. Thus did the kids race down the slightly illuminated tunnels toward their intended destination, even with a few new thoughts of concern between Haneul and Min-Ki about their situation.
“Michael?” Haneul asked first, a few quick gasps between her as she gathered her thoughts. “Do you think Wally and Kuki will be okay?”
Min-Ki raised an eyebrow before jogging through his memory for a few seconds, then shaking his head. “I wish I knew, Hannah, but I know that their friends and my grandfather know how to fight Nam together.”
“Indeed,” said Jin-Chang from up ahead, most likely catching bits and pieces of that exchange as he spotted a new corridor down which he sprinted, cueing the other kids to follow in his footsteps -- and the spies among them to follow his voice as he told them as gravely as he could, “We will be reaching the end of this tunnel system soon. Whatever happens, we must protect Haneul and Min-Ki at all costs. Understood?”
The other four United Korea agents shared several rapid nods and yells of affirmation as they stayed close together, bolting down that final corridor before they reached the outside surface. Between the increasingly -- if apparently -- distant rumbles in the underground soil behind them and the increasingly visible and luminous circle of light ahead of them, they could only feel enormously relieved that they still had one last opportunity to get the two kids among them most likely considered to make an excellent couple to safety before containing the terrible darkness inevitably searching for them. Haneul and Min-Ki felt themselves shielding their eyes as their racing footsteps took them ever closer to the light indicating the outside world, which itself began to clear the corridor around them still further, and some of their United Korea friends thought such a course of action just as necessary for themselves. Yet, as the mouth of the cavernous corridor loomed in front of the group of kids, the male spy to Jin-Chang’s right felt his nose begin to wrinkle.
The boy sniffed the air as he felt himself slow down just a trifle. “Do you smell something?”
“Smell what?” said the one of the two girls among this United Korea group. “All I smell is the exit.”
“She’s right. Look over there,” the other United Korea boy, this one next to Haneul, added while pointing to a discernible clearing ahead of them. “I can see the path we need to take. Let’s hurry.”
“All right. Let’s get out of this cave,” Jin-Chang spoke with a distinct aura of confidence that his fellow soldiers could respect, and sure enough, just six or seven seconds later, the seven kids saw the cavernous walls of that corridor disappear behind them to give way to a few trees and small bushes outside, indicating a stopping point of sorts, if they could acknowledge it as such. “I don’t see any intruders. We’re clear.”
“Hey, guys, over here!!!” a young male voice that sounded instinctively friendly called out to the group of United Korea kids plus Min-Ki and Haneul from just beyond a patch of bushes.
“Yeah, we’ve got the reinforcements!!” said a young female voice to follow up on the previous statement. “Come on, hurry!!!!”
All but one of the four United Korea spies around Jin-Chang, Haneul, and Min-Ki let out breaths of relief before nodding to each other one last time, then racing forward in the direction of the two yells they heard once they cleared the cave. Jin-Chang’s recollections from his training told him that he and his friends were now north of Mountain’s Light, exactly as their two leading Kids Next Door friends had described. Jin-Chang signaled to his friends to follow him up the stone path once more, with Min-Ki and Haneul leaping out from the group to jog beside him, and sure enough, after about 15 more seconds, they arrived at a clearing at which a much larger group of unknown kids stood, many of them either holding or carrying weapons unlike anything they had ever seen. Indeed, the few vehicles accompanying this larger group of kids had similarly unknown designs of their own, but the letters clearly painted on the sides each of those vehicles persuaded Min-Ki, Haneul, and their prepubescent United Korea protectors to welcome the simple fact of the presence of these new kids here as vitally helpful. The United Korea spies accompanying Jin-Chang stepped aside to allow Haneul and Min-Ki to step forward, waiting to see what would happen next.
“Greetings,” the male voice from before spoke up professionally to Jin-Chang, Min-Ki, and Haneul, coming from a boy assumed to be the leader of this particular group, holding at least twenty kids, if one could count closely enough. “You must be the kids Numbuhs One and 362 told us about.”
Jin-Chang was the one to nod affirmatively in representation of his fellow United Korea spies and his two best friends, if for practical purposes. “That is correct. There’s no time to waste. Nam and his attack force must be searching for Haneul and Min-Ki right now, so we must get them out of here befo--”
Jin-Chang never got a chance to finish, for at that moment, an explosion rocked the ground beneath the kids, and they ducked instinctively to avoid anything that could injure them. Min-Ki threw his arm protectively around Haneul, and they both landed on the grass together, waiting for whatever powerful demon had just appeared to menace them. As they heard the other kids around them either scrambling toward their vehicles or opening fire into the sky, they would be horrified to later realize the identity of the helicopters streaking directly overhead, firing missiles around their broader area in an attempt to trap them as they were, waging total war against the Kids Next Door in the process, all on orders from their murderously dark ruler.
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Sector V’s personal SCAMPER raced across the tension-charged sky behind the Supreme Commander’s personal ROADSTAR, having been reactivated after being kept silent since the Kids Next Door’s stop at that abandoned village the night before this terrible day. While Wally, Kuki, Hoagie, and Abby sat as they originally did in the SCAMPER, Lee, Sonia, Nigel, and Rachel had taken up the ROADSTAR as they raced toward what they could sense to be their final showdown with Nam and the New Korean Order, as grueling as their initial encounter was already. Khaybar One and its escorts took off without any reason immediately discernible to many of the United Korea soldiers still fighting off their enemies at their very headquarters, but evidently to the rest of the Kids Next Door, Nigel and Rachel had thought that this would happen, so the two Kids Next Door leaders activated a special beacon alerting their comrades up at the Moonbase that it was time to activate their plan to counter Nam’s ultimate plan. As soon as Lee and Sonia confirmed that the signal had gotten through, Nigel and Rachel combined the attacks from their laser rifles and aimed directly at Nam’s deputy, effectively knocking him out of commission, leaving Tong and his men to continue defending their main base themselves while the Kids Next Door set out to find the girl they had formed quite a bond with and the special friend who shared a romantic interest for and in her as she did for and in him. Yet, as the two Kids Next Door ships raced onward -- followed not too far behind by a substantial juggernaut of American fighter planes and fixed-wing gunships whose crews and pilots had independently reached the same conclusion those prepubescent secret agents did -- something large covering the area ahead of them would grip their hearts with terror unlike anything they thought possible.
Nigel studied the map on that small device from three days before, exhaling sternly through his nose as a single white dot that indicated their destination beeped steadily -- next to a symbol much more ominously familiar to him and his practical girlfriend. “We’re approaching the rendezvous point with the Kids Next Door evacuation team, but it looks like Khaybar One is dangerously close to the area, as well.”
Rachel nodded seriously while keeping her eyes in front of her, Nam’s apocalyptic tirade against freedom before he left his main cohort to try to eliminate her, her practical boyfriend, and their friends still echoing in her mind as she replied, “All right, then. I didn’t want to have to do this, but if Nam wants Armageddon, then his actions have left us no other choice. Numbuhs 83 and 84, any sign of approaching enemy aircraft?”
Sonia looked out her side window tentatively, never suspecting the horrific sight about to appear beyond the back seat area of the ROADSTAR. “Uh, no. I don’t see any nearby ene--” She gasped instantly at the mass now flashing hideously below the vehicle. “Oh, no!!!”
Lee’s reaction was just as instinctive as he looked out his own side window, then frowned. “Not cool at all.”
Nigel and Rachel didn’t need to say even a word about the inferno directly below the ROADSTAR and the SCAMPER, nor did perhaps even the pilots for any American fighter and bomber planes and fixed-wing gunships that by now were bypassing Mountain’s Light and proceeding to take out every last New Korean Order unit on the peninsula on direct orders from the President of America himself. What used to be just a tranquil sea of brown intermixed with green was now a ghastly storm of yellow, orange, and red as flames erupted across virtually every single tree and shrub in sight. Any creatures caught in this fiery storm would have had to be desperately navigating through whatever remaining clear routes there were in order to escape if possible. Even more darkly for these young spies, directly ahead but slightly to the left, what appeared to be several dozen attack helicopters were hovering over or circling between an area that seemed to cover the horizon… and many of them were opening fire directly at the rocky and mountainous surface without any mercy. The land itself seemed to groan under the sheer wrath being poured out from those helicopters, no doubt on direct orders from the self-proclaimed Permanent Ruler of the New Korean Order himself. Nigel and Rachel could only feel their resolve and mounting outrage harden together as a new round of steady beeping alerted them to a new transmission from their comrades -- and friends -- straight ahead of them.
“Special North Korea Attack Force, this is… Evacuation Team… Ghost,” said the recognizably male voice urgently through a few crackles of static, giving Nigel and Rachel an initial hint of what was wrong.
The static continued, this time with a female voice. “Nam and his escorts just flew above us, and they’re… everything they’ve got… stop us from evacuating Michael, Hannah… If you can hear us, then we need he--”
The transmission cut off abruptly, and Rachel rapidly pressed the intercom activation button to try to retrieve the signal again as she yelled, “Numbuhs 1940 and 2040?! Are you still there!? Charlie!!! Sarah!!!” She let out a short and crisp growl of frustration as she returned her hand to gripping the steering wheel, if somewhat more loosely than her other hand. “We’ll have to pick up the speed. Numbuh One, I advise you to tell Sector V to do the same thing.”
“Gladly,” Nigel responded with a grim smile as he pressed that same button himself, feeling the flames outside match the intensity of the willpower burning within him. “Sector V, come in. The Kids Next Door evacuation team and the United Korea group escorting Michael and Hannah are under attack, and Numbuh 362 wants us to accelerate there immediately. They also told us that Nam is right in their area, so we’ll have to get our weapons ready. How are you guys doing right now?”
“All weapons are fully operational, and engines are running smoothly,” Hoagie said no-nonsensically, his voice crackling with purpose. “I’m ready to give it all it’s got.”
“I’m trackin’ at least five helicopters flyin’ right over Evacuation Team Echo-16-Ghost, and one of them is Khaybar One,” Abby said a bit conclusively, perhaps aptly enough by now.
“Oh… Hang in there, Hannah and Michael…” Kuki said with a hint of justifiable alarm which was then submerged underneath her own willpower. “We’re coming to save you.”
What sounded like a fist pounding into an empty palm accompanied Wally’s voice as he himself added his thoughts, “Let’s do this. Nothing’s gonna make me happier now than kickin’ Nam’s butt hard[/b].”
Nigel couldn’t help chuckling with sincere amusement at his teammates’ energy as he turned toward Rachel. “Well, Rachel, I think we know how my sector feels. Shall we proceed?”
Rachel exchanged a smile of anticipation with Nigel before replying, all while pressing the necessary buttons for the course of action she now had in mind. “With pleasure, Nigel. With pleasure.”
With that, Rachel’s finger waited above the final button in the sequence she had been inputting before she and Nigel pressed it together, symbolizing the synchronicity behind their thought processes as they, Lee, and Sonia felt the ROADSTAR’s afterburners activate, and just nanoseconds later, the winged vehicle accelerated over the raging wildfire below, with Sector V following suit as skillfully as they knew. The flames continued roaring across the landscape, consuming anything they could, and startlingly enough, at a few points, they erupted into the sky before returning to their previously infernal levels. One fiery tentacle even leapt upward from its former position, as if attempting to incinerate the Kids Next Door ships, but thankfully failing as they shot steadfastly onward beyond its reach. Ever more closely behind but slightly above the ROADSTAR and the SCAMPER’s flight paths, waves of American fighter planes roared through the sky, mind-bogglingly clear as it was at their altitude, in pursuit of the strange vehicles that must have had their own reasons for wanting to take out the leader of the New Korean Order, followed themselves by enough fixed-wing gunships to flood the sky like a flock of eagles searching for their main attacker, all having previously overrun the two Korean People’s Army factions more focused on each other than the rest of their region. The observably larger bomber planes covering their comrades completed the veritable mass of aircraft now rolling above the Korean Peninsula against those who threatened America’s defense of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as its most influential document stated. One might very well have considered a turn by the Kids Next Door toward defending such an idea in the future, a mission that its most prominent leadership couple could welcome as they and their comrades raced toward their final battle.
Finally, after at least one grueling minute over the raging wildfire, which saw Lee and Sonia holding hands behind Nigel and Rachel’s seats aboard the ROADSTAR and Wally and Kuki exchanging faces of affirmation, most likely at their strategy to defend their three Korean friends, the Kids Next Door vehicles began approaching an area of clear grass interspersed with burning shrubs and bushes, as well as a few flaming tree branches from a single tree that now appeared drained of its energy. Over that area hovered a small group of sinisterly familiar helicopters exchanging fire with several miraculously familiar ships that must have successfully taken off to defend whatever they were trying to protect down on the ground. None of the young secret agents in the special attack force organized to head right for Mountain’s Light needed to say a word as two of the New Korean Order attack helicopters separated from their group and moved to intercept the ROADSTAR and the SCAMPER, launching any remaining missiles they had at the incoming Kids Next Door ships. In response, the SCAMPER let loose two beams of bubbles and the ROADSTAR let loose a volley of laser beams of ice and electricity that hit the missiles and caused them to explode, then followed up with a different volley of combined blasts at the two attack helicopters themselves. One of the helicopters tried to maneuver to dodge the incoming blasts -- only to crash into the other. The eight young spies had no choice but to ignore the resulting explosion as they moved on, training their eyes on the remaining attack helicopters as they, too, detected the two incoming unknown ships, one of which was sufficiently familiar to tell the NKO pilots that they could shoot it down. The bombardment from three of the other airborne Kids Next Door vehicles ended up putting an end to those helicopters’ targeting abilities.
Meanwhile, further ahead on the ground, at least twelve to fifteen New Korean Order boys and girls attempted to hold the Kids Next Door evacuation team at bay while their leader watched with about the same emotionless satisfaction he had as he beheld at the terror he’d rained upon his archenemy’s missile base. All of a sudden, the man’s two intended prepubescent victims looked in the direction of the stone path leading into that cave as two ships each carrying an aura that disgusted him to the innermost portion of his being streaked into view and began to land along the clear but slightly even stones. While the two ships began landing downward, the KND evacuation team continued brawling intensely with these newly-arrived NKO kid spies, backed up ardently and illuminatively by multiple beams of different elements in the Kids Next Door’s weapons. It was all that New Korean Order Permanent Ruler Nam Myung-Sung could do as the two ships finally touched down, and from them emerged Kids Next Door Sector V leader Nigel Uno and Kids Next Door Supreme Commander Rachel McKenzie, followed by Wally Beetles, Kuki Sanban, Hoagie Gilligan, Abby Lincoln, Lee Curtis, and Sonia Mason, all steadfastly aiming their weapons at the tyrant.
“Hold it right there, Nam!!!” Nigel and Rachel called out defiantly.
Nam felt his rage crackle and boil inside him as he turned himself to face the kids directly, a part of his mind turning to the new device secured on his left hand during the flight here, pondering how useful it would be as he growled, “You. You dare to interrupt my moment of total victory!?!?!?”
“Oh, yeah?!?! We’re the ones who are gonna win this, so why don’t ya just shut the crud up already?!?!?!” Wally countered.
“Yeah, and leave Michael and Hannah alone, you selfish, stuck-up, nasty, evil jerk!!!!!” Kuki added.
It was though all remaining lingering thoughts in Nam’s soul had been expelled as he raised his left arm and aimed that new device directly at Nigel and Rachel, who stood directly next to each other with their friends directly behind them, then said with an echo that seemed to emanate from a realm of terror beyond human imagination, “I will incinerate all of you and preserve your flaming corpses for eternity.”
Nam fired a beam of eerily golden light directly at the two Kids Next Door commanders, but they yelled for each other for jump out of the way before it could hit, with Wally, Kuki, Hoagie, Abby, Lee, and Sonia following their lead soon afterward. The flames around them seemed to pick up their intensity at the two diametric forces colliding with each other at this spot as the Kids Next Door took turns firing their weapons and dodging or even deflecting whatever other attacks Nam launched to force them to back off. By now, Haneul and Min-Ki had crawled slowly along the grass to just near a shrub that had yet to be touched by the battle raging around it, increasingly having split into pockets between the Kids Next Door’s most prominent operatives and the New Korean Order’s self-proclaimed ruler near the cave entrance and the other Kids Next Door and New Korean Order operatives elsewhere across the battlefield. It was all Haneul and Min-Ki could do as they watched their friends around them, not expecting what those two would do next.
“Michael?” Haneul said, just enough for her special friend to hear amid the continuing explosions.
Min-Ki couldn’t help glancing at his special friend as he registered her tone. “What is it, Hannah?”
The two kids stared without a word at each other before Haneul exhaled decisively, her next few words guided by the certainty of her new purpose. “If this really is the end… then I’m glad that we’re together.” She felt herself move closer to Michael’s face as she continued with finality, her mind as clear as it could possibly be amid these flames, “I love you, Michael, now and forever.”
Min-Ki blinked his eyes for about one or two seconds, taking in the implications of Haneul’s words, before realizing his own thoughts and feelings most sincerely, and with a sense of inevitability about himself and his own mind, he placed his hands on her shoulder as he replied, “I understand. No matter what happens, I, too, am happy that we found each other.” He paused. “I love you, as well, Hannah, now and forever.”
That confession vanished into the air around the two kids, but strangely enough, as soon as it did, practically every skirmish around the battlefield, from the clearing to the cave, seemed to stop, and the flames themselves somehow seemed less harmful to any of the kids across the area, whether they worked for the Kids Next Door or the New Korean Order. As for Nam himself, a distinct aura of confusion intermixed with dread had entered his mind, as though the terror he’d sought to unleash upon this planet for embracing freedom was about to fall completely and utterly apart. Perhaps even more startlingly, the similar tension across the planet had itself ceased almost completely, from the USS George Washington south of Yokosuka to the Taj Mahal in Agra to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the HMS Queen Victoria between Great Britain and France… all the way to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. In a room inside that last building stood several men and women who had awaited this day after first learning about it during last year’s presidential election -- along with the presidential and vice-presidential candidates themselves. None of the lawmakers gathered around three mysterious cloaked figures in front of a large viewscreen imagined that they would come this far, not even after that Colorado passenger train explosion, but they were willing to see this through to the end as the viewscreen began displaying the information they were searching for.
“At last, it has happened,” one of the cloaked figures said with an air of recognition.
Another cloaked figure nodded silently, sharing that recognition. “60 years ago, the light of joy, love, and peace went out from our land, but now that our young couple has admitted their feelings for each other, we can restore that light with… the Judgment Cannon.”
The leading cloaked figure nodded at the commander near a console that controlled a weapon about to be announced to the general public, a vital component of the intended global missile defense system that began during the last two decades of the 20th century. The other men and women could not help being amazed at the potential of that new weapon, among others designed to help their country accomplish its founding mission in the 21st century, but at the same time, they felt proud that they were able to approve such a tool for their country’s arsenal before its enemies could overwhelm it… despite any specific focus on the part of the new President of the United States on certain companies in the wake of the Great Financial Freefall of 2008. As it was, not even Ghalib Oredinga or his executive companion quite believed exactly what they’d learning during the briefings in that election, even if Thomas Cullen had indeed gone on to warn that crowd about an “international crisis” beginning somewhere in the world that the lawmakers could already suspect. It was therefore left to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Central Intelligence Agency to make certain that the right people continued to remain informed of this coming showdown until the time was right, and as the officer at that console pressed the button to activate a satellite unlike any other the guardian of freedom had launched until now, orbiting the beautiful blue planet almost perfectly above the Korean Peninsula, a sense of finality as powerful as what the two regular kids near that cave north of Mountain’s Light Missile Base were experiencing crept simultaneously between the top leaders of the United States Congress and the cloaked figures among them at that building and every Kid Next Door at that practical battlefield, signaling a terminative course of events that could only change them forever. Having kept an eye on the miserably rotten tyranny imposed on the northern part of that peninsula and now collapsing into a literal inferno of carnage and hatred, each of the figures extended an open palm at the viewscreen, activating the final phase of their resistance to Moon Kwang-Tan, Moon Hwan-Il, and their generals. Despite the distance between North America and East Asia, as the cloaked figures unleashed the energy they had been restraining, Tong Min-Ki, Sang Haneul, and Hun Jin-Chang felt themselves, or their souls, lighten as if they’d just gained a sense of silent triumph shared between Nigel Uno and Rachel McKenzie first, Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban second, Hoagie Gilligan and Abby Lincoln third, and Lee Curtis and Sonia Mason last but not least, increasingly perceivable to the Kids Next Door ships still in the air above the clearing and the American aircraft now closing in from the southwest, south, and south-southeast above and around the larger inferno, but especially to Nam Myung-Sung himself as horror and dread revealed themselves ever more chaotically.
“What’s going on?!?!” Nam shouted, raising his right arm defensively, feeling his soul beginning to come undone at certain parts as though he could sense that force out there, wondering where it was coming from.
At an odd look from Abby, Hoagie fought down an urge to say anything mocking this breakdown in Nam’s final plan, and the two watched wordlessly while Wally and Kuki started holding hands, followed by Lee and Sonia, leaving Nigel and Rachel to stand with authority, still holding their weapons, but also some confusion. Just then, the eight Kids Next Door making up the main attack force for this Korean Peninsula mission felt their eyebrows arch upward as Min-Ki and Haneul appeared from the nearby shrub after having made their confession, with Jin-Chang appearing just moments later from up the clearing, probably having joined the rest of the Kids Next Door in taking down Nam’s prepubescent minions. The three kids stood together, with Min-Ki and Haneul directly ahead of Jin-Chang, and three spheres of light appeared above each of them, ready to fulfill the purpose predicted long ago once the embodiment of darkness arose on the Korean Peninsula. The Kids Next Door could only watch with awe as those spheres of light shot off in three differing directions, noting the intriguing pattern to them. While the spheres of light above Haneul and Min-Ki leapt across the inferno in what ended up being directions opposite each other, the light sphere above Jin-Chang had headed in its own direction, most likely southward, past the American aircraft increasingly together, their crews more than likely thoroughly surprised by the light spheres’ intended destinations.
Min-Ki was the first to intone dramatically and solemnly, “It’s over, Nam.”
“You’re finished,” Haneul intoned just as dramatically and solemnly in turn.
A strange echo could have been picked up within Min-Ki and Haneul’s voices, increasingly audible at the last moment as Jin-Chang spoke, “Now, you will be defeated, and we will be victorious.”
The three Korean kids fell silent, letting their greatest enemy’s face contort slightly between rage and horror and their newest allies look between each other as they attempted to determine exactly what was happening, never suspecting that to the south in the distance on three sides, after the shots of light faded away into their destinations, the three airborne laser planes, originally deployed to shoot down any remaining nuclear missiles launched by any Korean People’s Army remnants during the course of this new Korean War, if it truly was to be called that, were now maneuvering around from their past patrolling patterns to properly aim their laser turrets deep into the peninsula on their own, without input from their calmly surprised crews, seeking a target known only to those cloaked figures at the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense for now, but to the Kids Next Door, the coalition of American and South Korean warplanes, and the rest of the world soon enough. The nods from Min-Ki and Haneul told Nigel, Rachel, and their friends that something major was about to happen, putting an end to Nam’s reign of terror once and for all.
The next six statements of justifiable retribution first Hoagie Gilligan, next Abby Lincoln, then Lee Curtis, Sonia Mason, Wally Beetles, and last Kuki Sanban as they aimed their weapons at the man they and their friends worldwide now considered to have exceeded even Grandfather as the World’s Most Ultimate Evil, knocking him more and more forcefully backwards with each new hit, with some reactions harsher and other reactions quieter, perhaps complementing the finality of the outrage between these six kids as the rest of their fellow Kids Next Door watched from their distance with mounting awe:
“Okay. I never thought I’d see a day like today, but this is for taking away the ability to have fun.”
“And this is for attackin’ common sense completely. Numbuh Five thinks your head needs serious fixin’.”
“This one’s for blowing up that passenger train in Colorado. Not cool at all.”
“And this one’s for keeping that ban on Christmas, Yipper, and Rainbow Monkeys!!!!”
“This is for threatening my friends around the world and launching those cruddy nuclear missiles earlier!!”
“And this[/b] is for attacking Michael and Hannah’s love for each other!!!”
With each passing blow, Nam could only lurch more and more backward, falling to the ground as he felt his body drained of its past strength. His malevolent defiance could only increase as he registered each blow to him from those kids, but when he blinked his eyes a few times to regain his sight and focused it on his tiny enemies, a strange bout of incomprehension crept into his eyes to amplify the dread already surfacing in them. He could see the two kids leading this group as their countries of origin led this world standing as one in front of their friends, the bald boy’s left hand and the shoulder-length-blonde-haired girl’s right hand aimed directly upward at the sky, almost as though some new weapon had appeared to their senses.
The next twelve words Nigel Uno and Rachel McKenzie took turns stating dramatically, symbolizing the terminative blow they were about to deliver to the apocalyptically evil tyrant before them:
“This is for threatening to annihilate freedom…”
“And replace it with submission.”
The leader of Kids Next Door Sector V and the Supreme Commander of the Kids Next Door aimed their respective open palms directly at their main enemy as soon as their declaration vanished into the air, oddly but perhaps aptly freshening as the flames around this battlefield and across the Korean Peninsula began to slowly but perceptibly die down. As soon as Nigel and Rachel’s arms stopped moving, the cloaked figures at the Pentagon gave barely perceptible nods at the viewscreen to signal whatever they were trying to reach to accomplish its final task. By now, the satellite orbiting above the Korean Peninsula had opened its main door to reveal a laser cannon whose tip began to pulse between pure white, pure red, and pure blue, and the airborne laser planes were positioned and charged to open fire, despite any confusion still lingering either aboard Air Force One or the American and British carrier strike groups tracking this global crisis or at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Patch Barracks, the Pentagon, or the Great Hall of the People, and that said nothing of everywhere else where people were tracking this final phase of the new war on that turbulent peninsula, sensing that somehow, it was about to come to a most impressive end. While the airborne laser plane off South Korea’s western coastline pulsed somewhere between cyan and diamond blue, the airborne laser plane off the eastern coastline pulsed somewhere between magenta and pearl pink, and the last airborne laser plane, just off the southern coast of the peninsula, pulsed straightforwardly golden yellow. Then, after seven more seconds, the four spheres of light increasingly visible across the skies over East Asia, one much higher than the other three, which could have formed a triangle of sorts between them, coalesced into beams of energy that shot directly outward from their points of origin, colliding just over what could have been discerned as the center of the Korean Peninsula. A full minute passed before the four beams combined still further into a single peacefully illuminative beam of energy that dove directly at Nam… and engulfed the murderous general, carrying the collective willpower of every person on Earth who still wanted freedom.
The pure white beam froze the monster of a villain into place despite his “struggle” to break free and lash out at the kids surrounding him, and as he extended his arms outward without any possible expectation of surrender on his part, then felt himself steadily fading into the light, his words were bitter to the end:
“You may have won this war, Kids Next Door, but now and forever, SUBMISSION IS GREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAT[/b][/u]…………!!!!!!!!!!!!”
His new device disappearing from his hand, New Korean Order Permanent Ruler Nam Myung-Sung, the man who sought to outdo North Korean Dear Leader Moon Hwan-Il’s form of tyranny, with all the totality that it indicated, dissolved inevitably and completely into the tranquil beam generated from the three airborne laser planes and the United States’ newest laser satellite… and subsequently, into utter oblivion. Whereas the other New Korean Order kids stayed almost soullessly silent, cheers and applause erupted from not only the surviving members of the special Kids Next Door evacuation team, but also all over the Kids Next Door Moonbase and the entire planet once they realized exactly what Nigel, Rachel, Wally, Kuki, Lee, Sonia, Hoagie, and Abby, working together with Min-Ki, Haneul, and Jin-Chang, had just accomplished between this clearing and that cavernous tunnel at this moment, even as a tranquil sphere of light remained exactly where Nam used to be. Min-Ki and Haneul looked at each other and smiled with approval and sheer happiness that they were safe, more certain about themselves than they had ever been in the past. Nigel and Rachel prepared to high-five each other for this accomplished mission, no doubt to their friends’ approval, but they stopped as the sphere of white light flashed before steadily expanding to engulf them, the American and Chinese aircraft now patrolling about the area, the entirety of the Korean Peninsula…
… and ultimately, Earth and its Moon themselves.
END OF CHAPTER 14
Wow. This I didn't expect, but maybe it will be appropriate for Nigel, Rachel, and the Kids Next Door in general. Fourteen chapters are complete, and I've two more to go... after having pondered the premise of this story. Nigel and Rachel's willpower stands out to me most clearly, inspiring their fellow Kids Next Door in the process, and as "Vultures and Lovebirds at the Dragon's Mouth" comes to an end, I should feel quite all right with such an arrangement.
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Dec 24, 2009 15:31:08 GMT -5
Post by CCACorn26 on Dec 24, 2009 15:31:08 GMT -5
Greetings once more... after quite a while, admittedly. Perhaps it took me long enough to think this latest chapter through, but I should say that I myself am rather satisfied with what Nigel and Rachel have managed to do in my story up to this point.:
“Vultures and Lovebirds at the Dragon’s Mouth”
Chapter 15: “The Ascension and Ascendancy of Freedom”
Nigel and Rachel felt themselves shielding their faces with their arms as the light around them began to fade away, their free hands lowered just as they were about to high-five victoriously. When the two Kids Next Door commanders slowly opened their eyes and lifted their heads to look around, the sight in front of them was as mysterious as it was serene: an ocean of pure white as far as they could see. Neither flaming shrubs nor continuous explosions nor darkened skies were present to wreak havoc on Nigel and Rachel’s senses, an undoubtedly welcome sight for the two of them, but strangely, as they tried maneuvering their feet, they felt something solid beneath them, as through an unseen surface were preventing them from falling into an abyss that seemed to stretch forever. Nigel and Rachel stepped toward each other instinctively before stopping.
It was Nigel who spoke first, reaching a hand out to his practical girlfriend. “Rachel, are you all right?”
Rachel’s nod just before her reply told her practical boyfriend that he could withdraw it. “Yeah, Nigel. I’m fine, but where are we?”
Nigel turned his head to look out at the ocean of whiteness… only to shake his head briefly in slight disappointment. “I don’t know, but I don’t see any of our friends anywhere.”
Rachel nodded once more, having regained her professionalism. “Let’s go look for them.”
Nigel and Rachel gripped hands as reassuringly as they could before setting out in a certain direction together, looking out from their separate fields of view for any sign of their fellow Kids Next Door, but the continued silence of the white void around them remained unchanged for what felt like several seconds. Fortunately for the Sector V leader and the Kids Next Door Supreme Commander, neither of them needed to walk much longer, for walking up to them from some distance ahead were none other than Abby, Hoagie, Sonia, Lee, Kuki, and Wally, still in their standard outfits, but no less sincerely confused.
Nigel and Rachel smiled with satisfaction as they called out together, waved their hands to emphasize their point, “Guys!! We’re over here.”
Abby and Hoagie raised and waved their hands to affirm Nigel and Rachel’s words before Hoagie said, “Oh, hey. Numbuhs One and 362. What happened to you guys?”
A hint of grimness crept onto Nigel’s face as he tucked his hands firmly behind him, seeing Rachel take a similar course of action. “Actually, we were wondering the same thing.”
Rachel eyed Nigel alertly before turning back to the six Kids Next Door in front of them, then raised an eyebrow at a certain absence she perceived. “Hey. Where are Hannah, Michael, and Chang?”
At that question, the other prepubescent spies looked around the vast white void, puzzlement and concern crossing their faces as they did so, but it was Abby who caught sight of a single group of figures from some distance away, more instantly recognizable to her than a few other figures just arriving from different directions, and as those figures approached the spies, her eyebrows inched upward for a brief moment and her arms folded in front of her to accompany her response, “Well, start askin’ more questions, guys, ‘cause those three kids ain’t the only ones Numbuh Five sees right about now.”
Nigel and Rachel were the first to turn their heads in the same general direction Abby indicated, followed by Hoagie, then Kuki, Wally, Sonia, and Lee at once. The three kids and one man walking together almost directly ahead of the Kids Next Door, aside from the first man’s seriousness, wore expressions of relief that increased with each step as they proceeded toward their new friends from the final battle against their common archenemy, unlike the two figures, of whom one was looking around with equal puzzlement, to their left and the single man walking sternly from their right. Group by group, the non-KND figures converged on the young secret agents almost as if a new mystery before them could only be solved together.
“Uh… where are we?” asked the steel-haired man next to the darker-haired man.
The younger-looking man shook his head. “I don’t know, Tom, but we’re definitely not alone here.”
“Yay, Hannah and Michael are here!!!” Kuki yelled cheerily before running up to the aforementioned kids, then gasping no less ecstatically at what she saw before her. “Oh, my gosh. Are you two holding hands?”
Min-Ki and Haneul both nodded with an aura of confidence that appeared strange to the Kids Next Door -- and the three unknown men surrounding them -- but it was their main United Korea friend and Min-Ki’s grandfather who nodded with a hint of triumph in their eyes before Jin-Chang exhaled with more easily detectable relief, then replied, “They are, indeed… thanks to their courage in themselves and each other.”
Wally couldn’t resist rolling his eyes with skepticism before folding his arms before him. “So, this is it, then? After three days since we first met ‘em, Hannah and Michael finally found each other.”
Kuki nodded with an aura of approval that could have easily filled her soul. “Yep. Isn’t this great, Wally-kun? Now, they’re together forever, and that meaniehead of the millennium will never bother them again.”
A strangely ironic chuckle escaped Wally’s mouth before he responded, “Well, at least you’re happy, Kuki-chan, but how the crud are we supposed to get back home? We’re right in the middle of nowhere.”
An older male voice laughed patiently, echoing across the whiteness. “Leave that to us.”
The eleven children and four adults looked upward or around in surprise before realizing the direction of that voice, then turned their heads to look there… and many of them gasped shortly, except for the commander of Mountain’s Light Missile Base and the last figure, still sternly silent as he beheld this turn of events. In front of the group were three cloaked figures standing serenely still in the middle of the void, all emanating congratulatory triumph out from them, unlike the two men now gaining an aura of astonishment and recognition after what may have felt like about ten seconds, as if it wouldn’t be long before the other people standing around them were about to learn a secret that had been guarded for decades.
“It’s you,” the darker-haired man said quietly, but not enough to escape the ears of the others. “The cloaked figures from our CIA briefings during last year’s election.”
The grave-looking man, the three kids and the man targeted by the New Korean Order, and the Kids Next Door could have shared the looks of instant surprise now crossing their faces, but it was the lone man whose voice also became infused with mounting annoyance as he turned toward the two men opposite him and said briskly, “What? Do you mean to tell us that you recognize these… figures, President Oredinga?”
The eight Kids Next Door gasped with increased surprise before the man next to the aforementioned person sighed and nodded in odd resignation. “That’s about it, President Zhu.” The young spies -- except their two leaders -- gasped with still greater surprise before the steel-haired man continued, “Neither Ghalib nor I had thought this possible when we first heard about it, but it looks like they were right all along.”
By now, Nigel and Rachel were looking at each other in confirmation of what they both figured out, and it was Rachel who spoke first, pointing calmly at the first two unknown men. “You’re just as we thought. You two must be Ghalib Oredinga, the President of the United States, and Thomas Cullen, the Vice-President.”
It was left to Nigel to look between the lone unknown man and the cloaked figures, saying conclusively in the process before tucking his hands behind him once more, “And you must be Zhu Ganglong, the President of China, but I have a feeling that the three of you would like to explain what’s going on.”
One of the cloaked figures regarded Nigel and Rachel with bemused approval before turning to the other two and speaking in a distinctly female -- and cheerful -- voice, “Quite a perceptive couple, aren’t they?”
“And brave, as well,” added the second cloaked figure in a slightly but still notably younger male voice, letting out a brief chuckle to emphasize his point.
The last cloaked figure nodded authoritatively before speaking in the male voice from before, “The time has come to reveal everything that led us to this moment… beyond the boundaries of time and space.”
Nigel and Rachel straightened up first to prepare their minds, followed by Wally and Kuki together with Tong, Min-Ki, Haneul, and Jin-Chang, then Lee, Sonia, Hoagie, and Abby, while Oredinga and Cullen simply stood as they were and Zhu folded his arms with firmer acceptance, all awaiting the next moves that these mysterious figures would make. As it was, none of them had to wait much longer to find out, for once the figures acknowledged the attentiveness present before them, they raised their arms and pulled their hoods backward, revealing their heads and opening their eyes to the people around them. It took about five seconds for the Kids Next Door to realize a certain connection between the figures and their three friends.
“Wow,” said Kuki with curiosity. “You guys look like Michael, Hannah, and Chang.”
The cloaked figures nodded, first in the direction of the Kids Next Door and their non-KND friends, then at each other, and it was the woman who began with joyful sincerity, followed by the two men next to her:
“Mm-hmm. That’s right, my young friend. I am Mespiritas, the Spirit of Emotion.”
“I am Valorus, the Spirit of Willpower.”
“I am Cuixiolus, the Spirit of Knowledge.”
Wally sighed grudgingly. “Great. I guess we’ve got nothin’ to do but stay here until you guys are done talkin’, but I mean, didn’t we already give that cruddy Nam guy the clobberin’ of the century?”
“And that, my young friend, is precisely why the three of us like to congratulate all of you on behalf of not only the people of Korea, but also humankind itself,” Cuixiolus countered confidently. “You did it. You stared into the face of death itself, relented not one inch, and joined together to defeat Nam Myung-Sung, save both Christmas and the world, and release the power of freedom onto the Korean Peninsula.”
“Wow, this is getting really good,” Hoagie replied intently, earning him a look of bemusement and annoyance from Abby. “What? What’s wrong?”
Abby couldn’t resist chuckling at the cluelessness she perceived from Hoagie. “What will Numbuh Five do with you?” She turned her attention back to the three figures after a couple of seconds. “Anyway, guys, go on. How did Oredinga and Cullen recognize y’all, anyway?”
At that last question, Mespiritas, Valorus, and Cuixiolus nodded slowly and soberly, exchanging looks of acknowledgement with Oredinga and Cullen, who themselves exchanged looks of bewilderment at their own situation, before nodding solemnly and facing the crowd of mostly children before them, and it was Oredinga whose words could be heard first. “A little over a year ago, one of my campaign staffers informed me about a special document circulating within the Central Intelligence Agency and among the Joint Chiefs of Staff describing a major event in the Korean Peninsula. I thought it was just another strategy report regarding crises around the world, but a few days after the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the CIA summoned Cullen and myself to its headquarters for a top-secret briefing about it.” He paused to let his words sink in. “Neither of us would have ever imagined what we were about to see.”
“It turned out that it wasn’t just Oredinga and me, but also our campaign opponents whom the CIA had contacted, and that was before we headed out to Langley, Virginia,” Cullen said transitionally. “When we arrived at the CIA’s headquarters, not only did we see our campaign opponents, Senator Custodio Vargas and Governor Mary Jameson, pulling up behind us, but a few minutes earlier, we saw President Eugene Hall and Vice-President Ralph Johnson’s motorcade parked outside the entrance.”
Nigel had been rubbing his chin deliberatively, and about ten seconds later, he nodded and stated, “That means that knowledge of these events has reached to the highest levels of America’s power structure.”
Rachel turned toward the three figures, still cloaked as they were. “Now, Spirits, if you really are who you say you are. Did you choose that meeting to explain who you were and what you were doing?”
Valorus nodded acknowledgeably to take up that question himself. “Yes, we did, and even though Oredinga and Vargas were as surprised as Hall was when he first learned of our activities against the Moon dynasty, they were quite willing to assist us as they knew, as it was with Hall’s predecessors.”
“Predecessors?” Zhu echoed, as increasingly aghast as the Kids Next Door as he digested the implications in his mind, still projecting strictness as best he could. “Exactly how long has the United States of America known about you three individuals?”
“Oh… the past 60 years,” Mespiritas replied with calm innocence, taking the surprise expressed by the President of China and the Kids Next Door -- however unpleasant it may have been for the former and more pleasant it was for the latter -- still higher, but she sighed more grimly before continuing, “That nasty revolution by Moon Kwang-Tan split the Korean Peninsula in two, a more submissive northern half and a freer southern half. We’ve had to keep an eye on him and his generals ever since.”
“Especially after Moon declared Christmas banned and ordered the Korean People’s Army to shoot Santa Claus’ sleigh down to prove it,” Cuixiolus said even more gravely. “Fortunately, Santa and those four elves of his escaped, but unfortunately, that was only Moon’s most diabolical decree aimed toward children in the country he and his son ended up running into the ground. By that point, the three of us had already scanned the planet for someone worthy to end the Moon dynasty and their generals’ reign of absolute control. Sure enough, when Moon Kwang-Tan started the Korean War by invading his southern neighbor, a vision came to us, stating that only one country had the knowledge and determination to end his nightmarish goal.”
Nigel and Rachel faced each other and exhaled alertly before saying in unison, noting the mounting awe their friends had between them, “The United States of America.”
“Correct…” replied Cuixiolus, this time with an odd smile as he now focused directly on the Kids Next Door and his fellow Spirits focused on Min-Ki and Haneul just directly. “Which brings us to you children. As America’s highest-ranking generals and spies continued informing its top executive leaders and lawmakers about Moon Hwan-Il’s coming collapse and the resulting crisis, our attention turned toward searching for children with the same attributes we found within America’s people.” The aura of triumph from before returned to the Spirits’ faces, mystifying the eight prepubescent spies, the one main non-KND young couple present, and that couple’s best friend in the process, before their practical leader continued, “Needless to say, the three of us were deeply satisfied with what we saw of you.”
The Spirit of Knowledge nodded once more to the Spirits of Willpower and Emotion, who each stepped forward together while staying parallel to each other, cueing the President and Vice-President of America and the President of China to each step back with solemnity and self-assurance, almost accepting any potential compliments these three strange figures had for these eleven stranger children. Nigel and Rachel stepped forward authoritatively, with raised thumbs of tacit encouragement from Hoagie and Abby and smiles of victorious delight from Lee and Sonia, while Wally ended up following Kuki in moving toward Haneul and Min-Ki, with steady nods of approval from Jin-Chang and the commander of Mountain’s Light Missile Base. Finally, Valorus and Mespiritas stopped in front of Wally, Kuki, Min-Ki, and Haneul, with the couples among those four kids holding hands and blushing slightly and Nigel and Rachel standing ever more triumphantly next to each other, almost eagerly awaiting the next words from the adults before them.
Mespiritas seemed barely able to contain her excitement for Min-Ki and Haneul as she giggled. “Ah. Look at both of you now. We always suspected that you two would make a great couple, and we were right.”
Valorus shook his head briefly with enthusiastic amazement. “Of course, let’s not forget the kids who helped the two of them… starting with the first two kids to realize and defend their bond.”
Wally blinked uncertainly a few times. “Hold it. Do you mean… Kuki and me?”
Kuki giggled with greater excitement. “Yaaay!!! Isn’t this great, Wally? I knew we could do it… together.”
Kuki planted a light kiss on Wally’s cheek, causing him to blush furiously while groaning with frustration -- and Abby to chuckle approvingly before saying, “Numbuh Five thinks those two are gonna be just fine.”
Hoagie chortled shortly afterward. “You said it. Rescuing Chang from the kids brawling outside that abandoned warehouse felt good, too, but we never imagined that meeting him would lead to this.”
“Indeed, Hoagie Gilligan and Abby Lincoln,” Cuixiolus said, beaming at the Kids Next Door in general -- and each of the four Kids Next Door couples present more specifically -- as he went on, “Your calm courage propelled both of you toward saving Hun Jin-Chang, thereby enabling him to share the necessary facts about Nam Myung-Sung’s dark purpose. You, Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban, accepted Sang Haneul as a friend, persuading her to share her concerns about her feelings for Tong Min-Ki, and later, you helped General Tong Ki-Bak draw a line against the coming darkness and defend his base. You, Lee Curtis and Sonia Mason, were willing to help your friends restore Christmas to kids across North Korea, proclaiming happiness as a good thing to work and fight for.” He paused to allow the Kids Next Door to take in a steady portions of the quiet satisfaction radiating from them at the magnitude of their accomplish before moving to the last couple he had in mind, and he faced this couple directly before stating as conclusively as he could, “Finally, Nigel Uno and Rachel McKenzie, your pursuit of the truth about the desolation and misery clouding North Korea’s horizons led you to combine the talents of your friends to defeat Nam Myung-Sung himself and end his agenda of total submission permanently. In doing so, you have restored freedom to the entire Korean Peninsula… just as your countries of origin have promoted freedom all over the world.”
Zhu had comparatively silent this entire time, but the look on his face would have told anyone paying attention that he’d heard enough, perhaps further demonstrated by the seriousness and annoyance steadily perceivable in his voice as he interrupted, “So, let me see if I understand this correctly. These three ‘Spirits’ formed an alliance with a country has done more to defend and embody freedom than any other, then went around watching a trio of children form friendships with an entire organization of children their age, all for the purpose of defeating a general who sabotaged my country’s return to prominence?”
Oredinga rubbed his temple with uncertainty while looking around before clearing his throat with as much seriousness as he could muster. “Uh… I think that pretty much was the idea, President Zhu.”
Zhu snorted, then steadied himself before speaking in a voice that seemed designed to address the entire crowd, “Oh, really? Let’s get one thing brutally straight, President Oredinga: My loyalty is to China and China alone. My advisors had come to the conclusion that freedom was our road to wealth, prosperity, and power, so would you care to explain why you never informed anyone else of this alliance?”
It was Cullen who took up Zhu’s question of exasperation, with an assenting nod from Oredinga. “Well, to be, as you put it, ‘brutally straight,’ we didn’t think anybody else would believe this, anyway. Besides, with banks and companies dropping like dominoes, the general public was more focused on markets and money than anything else.” He tried offering a sad smile to reassure the others, to no avail, leaving him to continue as steadily as he could, “You could say that the Great Financial Freefall of 2008 gave us one more incentive to keep quiet about the Spirits and their ultimate objective.”
Zhu folded his arms with suspicion before exhaling and nodding his head with grudging assent. “Americans. Be nice to any friends you have, and they are more than happy to share their happiness with you. Take away any person’s freedom to think or dream, and they become angry enough to turn you into a massive pile of smoldering rubble. At least they defeated Nam before he could cause any more damage across the planet.”
“Oh, cheer up,” said Mespiritas with a seriousness subtle enough to underlie her typical joy, seeming to address both Zhu and Oredinga. “Now that the people of the Korean Peninsula are free, China and America will be that much more confident and prosperous, and East Asia itself will be a shining beacon of hope for peace and goodwill. I think the children will be happy with such a result. Wouldn’t you agree, Valorus?”
“Indeed, Mespiritas,” replied Valorus… before turning grim and continuing more steadily, “It is unfortunate that Nam’s own submission consumed him, and now, he and his followers have paid the ultimate price.”
Nigel and Rachel felt their eyebrows inch upwards with sober curiosity before asking at once, “What makes you say that?”
It was Cuixiolus who spoke up this time, a sense of grim finality about the fate suffered by those enemies of freedom visible in his eyes. “Our Judgment Cannon found Nam’s soul to be completely empty of life, and we ended up reaching the exact same conclusion with the rest of the New Korean Order… as well as the Sacred Strugglers, whether in the Middle East, North America, Europe, or any other region on Earth. Their lust for rage and terror in the entire human race was limitless, and in the end, it doomed all of them to permanent misery and nothingness. The United States of America and its allies, the People’s Republic of China, and the Kids Next Door proved confident enough to challenge and defeat this existential danger to freedom, and in so doing, you have created an order that will extend into the pages of history.” He extended his arms grandly in front of him to match his triumphant smile. “Thus, we will now return you to your original locations and allow you to explore and enjoy the benefits of your truly magnificent achievement.”
Oredinga gave an appraisive nod before turning to Cullen. “Tom, when we get back, remind me to have a talk with the Joint Chiefs and the Cabinet about my decision to continue funding that satellite.”
Cullen nodded, an aura of concern still lingering about him regarding that decision -- or, more precisely, the steps he and his boss had to take to get there. “Yes, sir, but what do we do about those medical malpractice lawsuits we streamlined? Some of the people who supported us last year will want our heads for that.”
“Eh, forget it, Mr. Vice-President,” Abby said calmly. “Anybody who can see why Christmas and freedom ought to be shared is A-okay with Numbuh Five.”
“You said it,” Hoagie said in agreement. “Herbie and Lizzie are gonna be really happy to find out what happened here, not to mention the rest of the Kids Next Door. So, Abby, what do you want to do when we get back to the Moonbase?”
A smile of odd satisfaction crossed Abby’s face before she responded, “I don’t know, Hoagie, but as long as you and I are together, I think we’ll be juuuuust fine.”
“Wow, thanks,” Hoagie said sincerely, then turned a bit slyly toward Wally and Kuki. “Although… I think Numbuhs Three and Four really pulled it off this time, too.”
Nigel nodded authoritatively. “Well, I think it’s safe to say that this was quite an adventure for all of us.” He turned his head slightly upward to face Tong, noting the solemn approval on the man’s face. “So, General Tong, would you like to say anything before these Spirits return us to the locations they first took us from?”
Tong shook his head. “No. Thank you. I am as happy with these developments as the rest of you are.”
It was Rachel’s turn to nod, no less commandingly than before -- but also with just a little more calmness. “We understand, General. The Kids Next Door will be happy to continue defending Michael and Hannah and promoting freedom and peace to the best of its ability.”
As those last words escaped into the void, Nigel found himself glancing at his practical girlfriend and Supreme Commander. “So, Rachel, what would you like to do once we head back?”
Rachel returned her practical boyfriend and top sector leader’s conclusive smile with her own. “Do pizza, ice cream, and soda sound good to you, Nigel?”
Smiles no less conclusive crossed Cuixiolus, Mespiritas, and Valorus’ faces as the whiteness surrounding them and the fifteen people present began to fluctuate, and it was the first Spirit whose voice carried the will felt between all three of them as he declared, “Enjoy this victory, Chosen Couples, General Tong Ki-Bak, and executive leaders of the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China. You earned it. May the power of freedom continue to inspire love, peace, and truth among and between all of you through the ages, and rest assured that the three of us will permanently recognize your achievement for what it is.” He paused as his open hands started pulsing pure red, pure white, and then pure blue -- along with his fellow Spirits -- before he continued in a triumphant echo, “On behalf of the people of Korea and the rest of the world, in pursuit of a global empire of freedom, success--and--good--luck[/b][/u].”
With those solemnly laudatory concluding remarks, the cloaked figures representing Cuixiolus, Mespiritas, and Valorus, the Spirits of Knowledge, Emotion, and Willpower, dematerialized into the pure white sea surrounding the Kids Next Door, the three main children of United Korea, and the four adults mentioned between these groups, leaving the five couples of kids in this group to lock hands if they weren’t already doing so and the four men to either fold their arms or tuck them behind their backs in anticipation, certainty, soberness, and assurance intermixing between them at everything they had learned and done this day and everything they would experience in the coming weeks, months, or even years. What seemed like seven seconds later, the fluctuating whiteness starting to roil around itself in pockets, Chinese President Zhu Ganglong was first to feel himself disintegrate, followed by American President Ghalib Oredinga and Vice-President Thomas Cullen, then United Korea General Tong Ki-Bak, Hun Jin-Chang, Tong Min-Ki, Sang Haneul, with Hoagie Gilligan, Abby Lincoln, Wally Beetles, Kuki Sanban, Lee Curtis, and Sonia Mason following milliseconds afterward and Kids Next Door Sector V leader Nigel Uno and Kids Next Door Supreme Commander Rachel McKenzie being last to disintegrate and leave this now-dimming whiteness, doubtlessly awaiting their other friends, comrades, and advisors during this thankfully-concluded crisis.
END OF CHAPTER 15
Fifteen down, one more to go. I may have had some new inspiration after the events in this chapter, so as ever, stay tuned for the conclusion of "Vultures and Lovebirds at the Dragon's Mouth".
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Besides, 7's bald.
...... Nevermind. ^^;;;;