Wonder-Kid! - The Agents of the Underworld

Chapter 4

Picture: http://w1.wallls.com/uploads/high-thumbnail/201602/13/62355.jpg by Andrea

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"Hello? Err...Mr. Melvin?"

Kid was already calling out for his mentor, who did not answer for some reason. He felt the cool air underground, sending chills down his spine. All the while he was walking along, with the aid of torchlight, for it was gloomy down there.

A crackling sound could be heard on his earphones.

"How are things down there?" asked a very much present Melvin.

Kid replied, "Not that good. It is cold, but then I am getting some unpleasant smell coming from..."

"The sewers," Melvin continued his protégé's sentence.

"The sewers?" Kid asked in disbelief. "Euww! Disgusting."

"Get over it."

The young boy realized that he was really in the sewers. He was a little annoyed, for Melvin did not tell him about having to go through it before, but it did not matter, for he had better things to do. On his way, he noticed the sight of rats running off, as if in a hurry. Then, he noticed another one, this time carrying a cheese with a friend. It looked like they were having a good time.

"Mr. Melvin?" Kid started talking to stop the boredom.

"Yes?" Melvin asked.

"Am I heading in the right direction right now?"

Melvin paused for a while, before replying, "Yes, you are, but please watch your steps, else you will drown in a pool of sewage drain."

"Yuck!" Kid exclaimed. "And I have not even taken a shower."

"Then, you are one with the sewers."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Look, just focus on your job and do not mind my jokes."

Thus, Kid made his way through the sewers again. At the same time, he looked all around, to be sure that there were no cameras spying on his movements.

Suddenly, he trembled across a rat, which surprised him a lot.

"Yaarrghh!" he screamed in fear and utter disgust.

Afterwards, he heard voices coming from not very far.

"Who was that?"

"Let us check."

In an instant, two men appeared. One dressed like the punk thugs he stopped earlier, and the other wearing a mask with an 'X' marked on the top. Both of them were of strong build, probably they were guards put in charge of the sewers, or some otherworldly creatures who dwell in the underground.

"I thought I heard a scream," said the punkish thug, who wore a shirt with pink logo representing his gang.

"Well, are you sure?" asked the masked thug. "You know, in the sewers, you could hear many things. Probably was just a rat."

"Yeah," the punk replied, "probably just a rat. Might as well return to our base."

They flashed the torchlight around the sewers to be sure, but found nothing again. So, they gave up and headed back to where they were told to work.

Little did they know, young Kid climbed up towards a wall using a rope, and hid on a dark shade. Kid breathed a sigh of relief before returning to the ground and continued on his quest to find the kidnapping victims.

He was not expecting anything when in the sewers. For sure, Kid is a boy who loves adventure, but he did have some fear that he was yet to overcome. Fortunately, people like his parents, sister, and the ever helpful Melvin, helped a lot. Still, he did not expect to come across otherworldly beings, or any beings that looked very different, some that he never seen or heard about.

That was when he stumbled across a yellowish white robot, which hid on a small gap in a secluded wall.

"Gasp..." he closed his mouth with his left hand, trying to control his excitement.

"Little man, what a pleasant surprise," replied the robot, which had backlit eyes and mouth when it spoke.

Kid spoke softly to avoid attention. He asked, "Who...what are you?"

"My name is Jon Smith," replied the robot. "You can call me Jon, or Smith, or just say my whole name out loud."

"But there are people out here."

"I know, that is why I am hiding here."

"They did not hear you?"

"I believe they did not. Maybe the running water saved my life."

Kid took the time to know Jon. Melvin initially was skeptical; fearing that the robot was a parasite or a mere distraction, but it looked like it could not do any harm.

"I was created by master Azlan Muhibudin," Jon said in fluent English. "Actually, I am one of his android models, the J001 to be exact. Look at my serial number if you do not believe."

Kid checked and Jon was really a J001 android model, created by a certain person he never heard of.

"Jon, do you know where I can find kidnapped people?" Kid asked politely.

"Why, I heard of stories, of people being brought down here, from above," it explained. "I believed I have seen two times, that sort of event. If I can recall, the last I saw was...14 hours ago. A young girl, brought by a man in a coat..."

Kid's eyes widened. "That is it!"

"What is it?" asked a confused Jon.

"The kidnapped girl, the man in the coat...where did they head to, if you can remember?"

"I...," Jon paused for a moment.

Kid waited for a while, folding his arms. He was getting tired anyway, having walked a long way away from home, adding to his adventure-filled day. A thought in him missed home, worried that his actions might worry his parents. Melvin did create a brilliant plan, but how far will his parents believe it? In fact, free tuition is something very rare, especially in these days, where quality services usually come with a hefty price tag.

"I remember!" Jon exclaimed, its eyes and mouth lit up like a fully-lit bulb. "They went that way," it pointed to the path previously taken by the two guards who attended to Kid's scream.

Kid gulped. "Looks like I have to go through the guards again."

"Not to worry," Jon said firmly, "for you have potential in you, you funny-looking person. Go beat them up!"

"I am afraid..."

"Thing is," Jon stopped for a moment, before replying, "I am, too. I am no match for those atrocities."

Kid then decided, by hook or by crook, he would get through the stronger-looking guards. He stepped out of the narrow gap, leaving Jon there.

All of a sudden, as Jon was flat on the ground, it saw the legs of someone else. Someone other than Kid, someone who also happened to possess a long weapon that shone brightly. Bright enough, to light up the sewers, or even to decorate Jon's backlight to make it more appealing.

Kid was on his way, when he heard a footstep from behind. Slowly, he turned around and saw someone, or something, he never seen before. He saw a being, with small ears and pale grey skin, dressed in fully black robe, and wielding a potentially destructive weapon: the light saber. His face was grey, so was his hands, and he had an expression on his face that was hard to read. For Kid, it looked like the saber-wielding being was in between anger and hate. He looked straight at Kid's little eyes.

"I do not know you," Kid said, his body shivering, "but you are not from around here, are you?"

Without much hesitation, the rather quiet man ran towards Kid and jumped, his saber gripped firmly on both hands, fully prepared to strike his smaller, possibly weaker, opponent. Kid gulped. It looked like he would face an otherworldly being, for the first time in his life.