The Adventures of Kid Combat Volume One: A Secret Lost (14 page)

“Two! Get over here!”

“Yes, sir. Right away.”

Kid and Samantha zoomed down Sunnydale Drive
and headed for Samantha’s driveway. The two friends, tired after
their long adventure, rode in silence, both with grins on their
faces. Jones’s plans had once again been thwarted by the band of
friends. Elmcrest was a safer place for it.

Kid piloted the four-wheeler up Samantha’s
family driveway and parked the vehicle inside the newly cleaned
Jameson garage. The two friends then covered it with a blanket and
shared some parting words. Kid needed to get home. Samantha agreed
to stop back by The Playground and let the boys know that the
mission had been a great success.

“I wish I could go with you, but my mom will
freak if I’m out much later,” Kid said. He stepped behind a
strategically arranged pile of cardboard boxes and quickly changed
out of his three-piece suit and put on the reserve T-shirt and
jeans he kept in Samantha’s garage for situations like this.

“It’s okay. The boys will understand. Give me
your suit. I’ll make sure it gets hung up properly,” Samantha said
with an outstretched arm.

“Thanks,” Kyle said as he threw her the
various pieces over the box wall of his makeshift changing room. “I
better get going,” he said, emerging in his regular clothes. “I’ll
talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Samantha said as she headed out of
the garage and toward Maple Forest. She made it about four steps
before turning back toward Kyle.

“Kyle?”

“Yeah, Sam?” Kyle said as he stopped.

“Thanks. Thanks for coming to get me.”

“You would have done the same for me,” Kyle
said with a smile. “After all, that’s what friends are for.”

Samantha grinned back. “Yeah, maybe …” she
said as her grin got a little bit bigger. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

Just then, the back porch light of Samantha’s
house came on. The single-bulb fixture sprung to life the same
second the backdoor swung wide open. Standing in the entryway was
Samantha’s mother. The look on her face was a dangerous mixture of
relief and anger—relieved that her only daughter was once again
home, and angry that she was gone so long without any word of her
whereabouts.

“Samantha Ann Jameson!” her mother said as
she started down the back stairs, stopping at the base. “Get over
here right now. Don’t you know you’ve had us worried sick!”

Samantha turned back to Kyle and rolled her
eyes. With one motion, she threw the suit back to Kyle.

“You’ll have to take care of this yourself,”
Samantha said. She then turned to her mom, who was about twenty
feet away and said, “Coming, Mom!”

Kyle couldn’t help but laugh as Samantha went
unwillingly into her mother’s arms. Samantha’s mom wrapped her arms
around the small girl and told her that if she did this again, she
would be grounded until she was twenty. The two disappeared into
the house, and the light went dark.

Kyle hopped the side yard fence and headed
home. His day was finally over. His friend had been rescued, The
Playground was open, and a Jones plot was foiled once again. He
radioed ahead to Gears at The Playground, telling him that plans
had changed and that the crew should head on home for the
night.

Then, Kyle retreated back into his own home.
Another day of being Kid Combat came to an end.

Epilogue

Three weeks later, summer vacation was in
full swing. The boys were holding daily baseball tournaments at the
park, and the girls had their tea parties and picked wildflowers up
and down the trails of Maple Forest. It was truly a glorious time
to be a kid.

As the day’s games were about to start, Kid
and Samantha sat in Research Lab C of The Playground, watching the
end of a local news report.

“Seems no one has seen or heard much from
Jones since the last incident at his mansion on Cottage Hill
Drive,” the reporter said

“The same can be said of the mysterious Kid
Combat,” added the anchor. “His whereabouts are a true mystery. And
it is now being reported that the claim of there being a whole gang
of Kid Combat’s was nothing more than a false rumor …”

Kid picked up the remote and turned off the
TV.

“Well, that’s good news,” Samantha said as
she got up.

“Totally,” Kid rebutted. He stood there with
a look of great comfort and satisfaction. “Let’s go. I have a game
to get to.”

Kid and Samantha continued down the main hall
of The Playground to meet up with their unsuspecting friends in the
park. It had been a busy couple of weeks for the two friends, but
everything was running smoothly for the members of SOCKs. The
baseball games were in full swing, The Playground was in full
swing, and much to the surprise of Kid and Samantha, not a word had
been heard from Jones after that frightful night. There were
several rumors about what had happened to him, but all were false.
The only accurate report came from Gears. He found out that Jones
would be taking an extended “vacation” away from his beloved
Elmcrest. Apparently, he needed some time away.

As the two friends continued down the hall,
they passed by Computer Lab 1. CL1 was the primary computer room in
The Playground and was one of the first rooms to be completed after
the Jones affair. The walls, that were finished the day before,
were made of large glass windows that allowed anyone to look in
from the hallway.

At a round desk that was messier than Kid
Combat’s room at home, Gears sat at his computer, typing
feverishly. He was working on an assignment that was of utmost
importance. As he typed, the results were displayed on a large,
flat-panel monitor that was embedded into the wall. Next to that
monitor was an identical one. It belonged to the person sitting
next to Gears, and the newest member of SOCKs.

It was Ricky. After about a year of waiting,
Kid finally approached him to join the alliance. It had only been
about a week, and Ricky was extremely excited.

“I always thought it was you, Kyle,” was the
first thing Ricky said after Kid asked him to join. The second
thing he said was, “I accept.” Just as Kid had anticipated, Ricky
swore to silence about the group and quickly was initiated into the
small fraternity. And much to the delight of everyone in SOCKs, he
fit in perfectly. From the first day he entered into The
Playground, Ricky—now known as Roller—made a difference.

Not only was he a hard worker, but also he
challenged the members to be better at their own work. This was
especially true for Gears. With another computer genius in the
group, Gears would have to work harder to be the best. And it was
amazing to see how their two minds worked together. Although the
banter between the two sounded like an old married couple, their
work did not suffer.

The two boys were working to find a break in
the Spring Road Toys case. Rumors had the small store marked for an
evil corporate takeover. SOCKs would have no part of that.

As Kid and Samantha walked into the room,
Gears and Roller were already going at each other. Most of the
comments were harmless, and the two boys knew that. What it
succeeded in doing, though, was getting the job done faster and
better.

“Did you get that access code yet for me,
Gears?” Roller said in a vain attempt to distract him. “Or, do I
have to do it myself?”

“I got the code five minutes ago and messaged
it to you. If you would check your screen behind all your windows,
I’m sure you’ll find it,” Gears retorted.

“Oh, right,” was all Roller could say. He
found the code, and within seconds, different screens flashed all
over his monitor. Roller became intensely focused on his monitor,
and his hands were moving almost superhumanly fast over his
keyboard. Not even Gears could type that fast.

“Did you get in yet?” Gears questioned as he
tried to type faster on his own keyboard. “Because, I did—about
five minutes ago.”

Roller didn’t immediately respond. He kept
his focus on the screen and continued to type away. “The difference
between you and me, Gears,” he started as he sent a file to the
printer, “is that while you do things fast, I do them
correctly.”

Pages spilled out of the printer, and Roller
went over to retrieve them. Gears never responded. Kid and Samantha
were right behind the two watching them bicker back and forth.

“Kids—why did we ever have them?” said Kid,
shaking his head and looking at Samantha. She couldn’t help
laughing a little.

“Huh?” Gears said, turning around looking at
Kid.

“Nothing. Do you guys have an update for me,
or have you been battling each other all day to no end?”

“I have it for you right here, Kid,” Roller
said as he picked up the pages from the printer and passed them to
Kid. Kid leafed through a few of the pages, then stopped. He
focused on one page for a few seconds, and Samantha could tell by
his expression that it was important.

“What is it?” Samantha asked as she grabbed
the pages.

“I think we just got our lucky break. In
fact, I’m sure of it,” Kid said. Samantha looked down on the pages
and read the same thing Kid had. She looked up at him, and their
eyes met. “We go tonight. Are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Samantha replied.
There was obvious excitement in her voice. “The real question is,
what’s our plan?”

“We’ll have plenty of time to figure that
out,” Kid said. He then turned his attention back to the two
boys.

“Start up the surveillance feeds. Alert the
twins. When their games are over, tell them to figure out ways in
and out of that place. We are only going to get one shot at this.
I’ll meet up with you guys later and go over the details. Do you
think you can handle that?”

“Yes, sir!” Gears rang out.

“We’re on it,” Roller added. Both boys turned
back to their screens and started typing frantically.

“Good, we’re on our way back up top. I need
to get to my game before everyone gets suspicious,” Kid said as he
turned to leave with Samantha. The two friends started out of the
room.

“I hope they can handle all of that,”
Samantha said with a bit of concern.

“We’ll need some new recruits when we get up
to 100 percent, but for now, Gears and Roller should be able to run
this place.”

“If they don’t kill each other first,”
Samantha said as the two members walked through RD1 and headed for
the hallway leading to the small cylindrical elevator. Kid hit the
switch and the door popped open. He signaled for Samantha to go
first. He followed right behind her.

Aboveground, the boys were already divvying
up sides for the ball game. They were all huddled in a circle
around home plate, picking the teams. The girls were out in the far
end of the park talking and laughing. The two friends emerged from
the trees in centerfield, undetected, and finished their
conversation.

As their conversation wrapped up, one of the
girls called out to Samantha and waved to her. Samantha waved back
and turned to Kyle.

“I better get going,” she said.

“Me, too. You sure you don’t want me to go
with you tonight?” Kyle asked with concern.

Samantha moved closer to Kyle and dusted off
his shoulder. She knew that Kyle was deeply committed to SOCKs, and
she worried that he was too busy being Kid Combat and not spending
enough time being a boy.

Samantha let her concerns go for the time
being. She didn’t answer Kyle’s question and simply patted him on
the chest.

“Have a good game,” she said and walked off
to join the girls.

“I will. I’ll meet up with you later at The
Playground to go over the details,” Kyle said as he was mobbed by
the other boys.

“You’re on our team, Kyle!” shouted Wedge,
known to the other boys as William.

Kyle went over and joined his teammates. The
games went on that afternoon without a hitch. Kyle and his team
were unstoppable as the tournament rolled on through the day. He,
the twins, and the rest of his team celebrated victory after
victory.

It truly was a great day to be an ordinary
kid. But for Kid Combat, that feeling never lasted long …

###

Be sure to follow Kid Combat in his second
adventure:

The Heist of Spring Road Toys

AVAILABLE NOW!

www.kidcombat.com

Check out our website for more information on
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and online stories – only at www.kidcombat.com.