The Adventures of Kid Combat Volume Two: The Heist of Spring Road Toys (12 page)

The twins, Wedge and Rocket, were out of
sight. Unfortunately KC hadn’t been able to secure waiter jobs for
them. They were stuck back in the kitchen, washing dishes. They
stood at the massive sinks, side by side, and scrubbed pot after
pot, dish after dish. Wedge let it be known every second to his
little brother that he was not too happy.

“Why are we even doing this? It’s not like we
are any help to them,” Wedge said.

“Dude, we’re running backup on this one. In
case KC or Sam gets in a jam, we can save them or take over the
mission,” Rocket said softly.

“Dude, my hands are dying in here!” Wedge
said as he shook his hands violently, making suds fly all over.

“Knock it off, you two,” the sound of Kid’s
voice came through their earpieces. “Stay sharp, and look for the
boys.”

“I can’t see a thing in this thing,” Sam
ranted. She complained about her costume disguise. “Could they make
the eyeholes any darker?”

Sam was forced to go back to work, waiting on
her tables as her guests started sparking demands at her. Fill my
water glass, get me some bread—the requests were coming in
fast.

“Whoops, sorry.” Sam poured water all over
some man’s plate as her attention was consumed in looking for the
two boys. The man gave her a sharp look.

“What?” Samantha said inquisitively. “It’s
just water. Relax!”

Kid Combat was off to Samantha’s left still
looking for the two boys, but he was doing a much better job at
waiting his tables. His guests’ glasses were filled to the brim,
without a drop being spilled. Everyone had enough bread, and all
their needs were met.

“Any luck, Sam?” Kid said over his voice
piece to Samantha. In her ear, Kid Combat’s voice ran true.

“Ah, little busy over here serving royalty,”
Samantha snapped back.

“Keep looking, Sam,” Kid answered back.
Samantha was getting frustrated by the situation she was stuck in
and snapped at Kid.

“What do you want me to do, Kid. I’m looking.
What do you expect me to do— look up and just magically …” her
sentence was cut short, for as she looked up and pointed at the
second floor of the museum, there stood Ace and Tommy. “Found
them,” Samantha’s voice said over Kid’s earpiece. His head swiveled
toward Samantha so fast he almost took a man’s head off with the
water jug. Kid looked at Samantha, and she motioned her head over
to the right. “Up there. Second floor.”

“There’s Scott,” Kid said to Sam. The two
were now next to each other talking face-to-face. “Behind you,
first floor. By the Tomorrow’s Technology exhibit.”

“What should we do?” Samantha asked of Kid
Combat.

“You go after the boys. I’ll go after Scott,”
Kid said back to Sam. “Remember, we need something of them on
tape.”

“I remember, don’t worry,” Samantha said. She
then vacated her table without a care for her seated guests. She
moved away, when Kid stopped her.

“Oh, and Sam,” Kid said. Samantha stopped and
turned around. “This time, don’t drop it,” Kid instructed with a
wink.

Underneath her disguise, Samantha roller her
eyes, and she started to follow the boys. She made her way up to
the second floor and followed the two boys, but not too close. They
made their way up to the third floor, which was off limits to the
party, and entered Alfred E. Scott’s office.

A very large and spacious office, it took up
almost a quarter of the entire floor’s total square footage. The
room was once a small exhibit room featuring antiquities from the
Far East. Once Scott became curator, he shut down the wing and kept
it for himself.

Ace and Tommy made their way deep inside the
room and never saw or heard Samantha sneak in behind them. She made
her way into a closet that had double doors. She snuck in, and left
the door open a crack.

“I can’t wait to get paid!” Ace said. He took
it upon himself to sit at Scott’s desk, put his feet up, and lounge
back as if he owned the place.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be sweet!” Tommy returned.
“All the pizza and candy and toys we can want!”

“Yeah, well, you waste your half on stupid
stuff like that. Me? I’m going to get a new ride—thick mag wheels,
the works!”

Samantha tripped her earpiece. “Gears.
Roller. You getting all this?” she whispered.

“Yeah, Sam, every word. We’ll want some
video. Turn on your recorder.”

Samantha reached down and pulled her mini
recorder out of her pocket. She attached it to the harness on her
left shoulder and turned it on.

“Got the signal. Good picture too,” Roller
said back. “Now all we have to do is wait.”

“What is going on in here!” rang out behind
the twins. Startled, they looked at each other. A large, overweight
man approached them. He was not too happy with the two boys.
Wearing all white, the man was the lead chef for the night’s
dinner. He raced to the two boys and firmly waved his finger in
their face.

“I’ll ask you again. What is going on in
here?”

“How do you mean, sir?” Rocket replied.

“How do I mean? Just look at this mess around
you!” the man blurted out at the two boys. He was in a state of
rage and panic. “There is water all over the floor, you have suds
on every counter, and not a single dish has been washed! How do you
explain this?” The man stood a few seconds with his hands on his
hips, waiting for the two boys to explain.

“Well,” Wedge started, “it’s his first time?”
he said pointing at Rocket. Rocket stood there shaking his head
from side to side.

“Me?” Rocket said anxiously. “You are the one
in charge of the soap and water. I was in charge of scraping off
the plates.”

“No, you weren’t!” Wedge interjected. “You
were supposed to scrap and wash. I was to dry and stack.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Rocket
continued. The man stood there listening to the two kids bicker
until he lost his temper.

“Hold it! Hold it!” the man shouted. Wedge
and Rocket stopped arguing back and forth and looked up at the man.
“Get out of here! Both of you! I have no time for this stupidity in
my kitchen!”

“But, sir!” Rocket exclaimed. Wedge just
threw down his towel.

“Good, didn’t want to work here anyway.”

Meanwhile, Kid Combat followed the elusive
Alfred E. Scott. Scott walked down the halls of the second floor of
the museum, passing by the planetary systems that Samantha didn’t
have the time to look at a few nights ago. As Scott walked in his
black tuxedo wearing a rather small mask over his face, his cane
struck the solid floor and echoed throughout the halls. Kid was
close behind, ducking behind the large pillars that held up the
structure.

The pursuit went on for a few minutes. Alfred
E. Scott came to the staircase leading to the third floor. He
casually walked up the stairs and disappeared into the main
hallway.

Kid left his hiding place behind a pillar and
cautiously looked from right to left. He then looked up the
staircase and proceeded. He didn’t get more than two or three steps
before a voice rang out from behind him.

“Excuse me, young man, but where do you think
you’re going?” a woman’s voice said. Kid turned around, startled,
and stared at the woman.

“Huh?” was all Kid could muster from beneath
his mask after a few moments. The lady started to walk toward him,
obviously upset.

“That floor is restricted. You’re not allowed
up there!” she said, grabbing Kid’s arm and pulling him down the
stairs.

“But…”

“No “buts!” You have duties downstairs to
attend to. Now let’s go!” she barked.

“But…”

“Sounds like we have a problem,” Gears said
back at The Playground over the com. He typed away on his computer
some more. “Sam, Scott’s heading your way. But, looks like you’re
on your own. Good luck.”

Within seconds of Gear’s voice leaving her
earpiece, Samantha saw Alfred E. Scott walk into the room. He
walked in very slowly, with much dignity, and saw the two boys
sitting around his desk. Ace still had his feet up, while Tommy now
sat on the edge of the large, marble desk.

“What do you think you are doing?” Scott said
to the boys at their lack of respect. “Get out of my chair.”

“We’re here to get paid, Alfy,” Ace said
harshly.

“Yeah, where’s our money?” Tommy
followed.

“Boys, boys, don’t worry about it. I have
it,” Alfred said as he reached the desk. He motioned with his hand
for the boys to get up off his private desk—which they did. He took
a seat at his desk and unlocked the top drawer. He then produced a
metal box, which he opened with a key. Inside sat a wad of cash.
The two boys looked at each other, and their eyes grew as big as
beach balls with excitement. Scott counted some bills and handed
them to the two boys.

“Here you go. And here you go,” he said as he
closed the metal tin. “It was worth every cent to see that store
demolished. You boys did an excellent job smashing up Spring Road
Toys. You should be very proud.”

“Not as proud as all this cash, Scott,” Ace
said.

“Now, not a word of this to anyone, you hear?
Not one word!” Scott said angrily at the two boys.

“Don’t worry, we have no intention of telling
everyone we busted up a toy store for a crazy old man. What would
that buy us besides trouble?” Ace said.

“Good,” Scott said, sitting back in his
chair, a little more content. “Let’s keep it that way. But if one
day you do decide to feel the need, just remember—I will deny ever
knowing you and certainly deny ever paying you to get rid of that
awful toy store next door. And everyone will believe me over a
couple of kids.”

There was a pause in the room as Ace stared
the curator down. Samantha stood quietly twenty-five feet or so
away. She had gotten the evidence she needed. A voice came over her
earpiece.

“Sam, this is great stuff. We are having a
picture issue. Can you adjust the camera?” Roller said. Samantha
reached up with her right hand and fiddled with the camera a little
bit. “That’s better. Now move a little to your left.”

Samantha obliged and moved a small fraction
to her left, but with Samantha’s luck, it was a fraction too much.
A large bang ensued as soon as she put her foot down on the side of
an object, which sent it spinning into another object.

“What was that?” yelled Scott, looking in the
direction of the closet.

“Ugh. Not again!” Samantha said to herself,
and she stumbled. The doors of the closet flung open as Samantha
busted out.

“Hey! Who are you?” Scott asked. Samantha
tumbled out of the door and fell to the floor, her mask still
hiding her identity. Immediately, she sprang back up and stood
there for only a second.

“I’m the one not having any luck here. Now,
if you would excuse me …” Samantha said as she turned and ran out
the door.

“Follow her!” yelled the curator, pointing at
Samantha, but to the curator’s dismay, the two boys just stood
there.

“Sorry, dude, we don’t work for you anymore,”
Ace said as he flapped his wad of cash in the curator’s face.

“I’ll double it if you catch her! Now go!”
Scott yelled.

With newfound motivation, the two boys ran at
full steam after the little girl. Behind them, the curator tried to
keep up. The three had a lot of ground to gain but were doing a
good job. Samantha was bogged down by her costume, along with the
fact that once again she was outsized in her chase.

Samantha made it to the third-floor
staircase, sat on the banister without hesitation, and rode it down
the flight of stairs. Making a rather smooth dismount, she leaped
off the railing and landed squarely on her feet. Upstairs, the boys
and the curator made a dash down the flight of stairs, not risking
such a stunt.

“I’m in trouble boys. Where is everybody?”
Samantha said as she huffed and puffed her way down the
second-floor hallway. The staircase leading down was at least a
hundred yards in front of her. As she flew down the hallway,
onlookers made startled comments and gawked at the spectacle in
front of them.

“You have to get to the first floor, Sam.
KC’s trapped there, and the twins have been outed. Make it there.
We are working on the transmission, but it will take a few more
minutes.”

“Great,” Samantha said as she chugged along.
Her legs were getting tired, and she started to slow. Behind her,
the older boys were gaining ground by the second.

Back at The Playground, Gears and Roller
typed away in silence. Their little hands made mad dashes across
the keys.

“Come on. Come on!” Gears exclaimed. He
looked up at his monitors.

“Almost there,” Roller said back. He too was
typing faster than ever. More images and screenshots appeared on
their monitors. It was going to be close.

Sam made it to the second-floor staircase,
but this time she would have to run down them as there was no
banister to ride. The boys were steps behind her. As she raced down
the stairs, the boys attempted to reach out and grab her. As she
hit the last stair that led back into the main dining room, the
boys leaped from the staircase and tackled the young girl, bringing
her to the ground.