#n137

It was a cacophony of chaos, if Eris had ever lain sight or laid waste to one. The milisecond there was a hairline fraction between Numbuh 137′s foot and the bomb, Numbuh 429′s mouth was frozen in a screech, Numbuh 60 had a look of horror, and several other cadets had turned on their heel, already ready to run for their lives.

“NUMBUH 137!” Patton roared.

“RUN!” Numbuhs 133-136 had yelped.

“FOR ZERO’S SAKE-” Numbuh 429 had screamed. It was the last thing anyone had heard before the room erupted in the chili bomb.

Numbuh 137 sat in the middle, perfectly content and covered in chili. One bomb had been enough to cover the room. Numbuh 60 had his head in his hands, and Numbuh 429 was already wondering how to get the chili out of everyone’s parkas.

The other cadets laid on the floor, absentmindedly licking their lips. They had, somehow, been used to this.

Numbuh 60 had warned her about the little one with a soccer ball and a talent for knocking everyone down with it. Full of energy and a tongue that stung. Patton took care of everyone, only giving her a cadet when his class was too full, or if she didn’t have any- rarely because he ‘wasn’t good enough to handle’ anyone. A fleck of fear took her. If he wasn’t good enough, what made him so sure-

She caught the paperwork with a hand, nearly missing it. But then again, Numbuh 274 had selected this runt. She had absolute faith in the Soopreme Leader.

“Not to worry. We’ll whip you up into shape one way or another, there’s not a commissioned KND operative out there who hasn’t been trained by Numbuh 60 or I.” she grinned, propping her goggles up over her head and allowing her to make eye contact with the new cadet. She then glanced at the files, some information covering the basics.

“Ready, little one? Remember the plan, you kick first, then I’ll dash into the roo-” Numbuh 429 had her back to the cadet while fixing her own goggles and tech. One S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R. per person. one C.O.N.E.C.A.N.N.O.N. for the both of them, but a whine stopped her.

“Hm?” she asked, and turned her head, propping her goggles up. The little one had her hair tangled in her goggles. An irrational sort of maternal care swelled up behind 429′s parka, and her eyes swept the room, looking for a pair of scissors.

Happy birthday? In that moment, that operative felt three separate emotions. Glee, that the cadet had remembered her birthday- it was her birthday!- then a bout of confusion, because she realized that today, indeed, was not her birthday. The third was fear, because a giant soccer ball was going to hit her. 

With either battle-tried reflexes or the instinct of an operative that had dealt with Numbuh 137, she caught the ball, flinching when it hissed, but when it opened up, she had no idea what to feel.

Holy water.

Le Zap de Spi0n n°137

https://dailymotion.com/video/x31572q

26th August 1978

A year after the accident that almost took her life the killer whale Miracle still acts like a baby. “Litle things scare her” said Angus Matthews, her trainer and manager of Sealand of the Pacific. “Shes afraid of seagulls and cut fish. She’s more of a timid baby than the name ‘killer whale’ would suggest”