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Post by C7Angelocas12 on Sept 8, 2008 15:19:53 GMT
A Nigel/Abby fanbrat, lead Courting Commander? Well, how... interesting. I can only wonder if she ever imagined this.:
“Presidential Conventions, Unconventional Adventures”
Chapter 2: “To Cheer and Dance to the Lights Above”
The next three days saw the Kids Next Door gather more and more information about possible entry points into the two presidential convention sites before their special investigation into the 2008 Republican and Democratic National Conventions began. At the same time, Wally, Kuki, Hoagie, and Abby were somewhat intrigued to learn from their sector commander and their Supreme Leader just who else was supposed to show up at these two events. Among the Democrats, Lawrence Anderson, who was the President of America right before Daniel Wolf, was scheduled to attend and speak, as was his wife, Senator Helen Anderson, who used to participate in the campaign leading up to the Democratic convention before one Senator Kibwe Oromokengo defeated her, for practical purposes. As for the Republicans, Wolf was the practical leader of the party nationwide, given his position, but since he could only be President of the United States for no more than eight years, the Republican convention would end with a new practical leader for the party, in this case, one Senator Baldomero Santiago. Strangely enough, Santiago had picked as his deputy, who would succeed Armstrong as Vice-President of America if Santiago won the election, Alaska Governor Catherine Baylene, a woman who’d left Democrats and[/b][/u] Republicans supercharged at what she could do to how the election would work out in the coming weeks... if with diametric reactions but for precisely similar reasons. Even more strangely, scheduled to speak about an hour before Baylene was one Senator Dennis Goldstein, who happened to be the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee when Armstrong became Vice-President of America for the first time. Disturbingly, two more documents revealed by the Israeli Kids Next Door seemed to confirm those two separate memos. One indicated a flood of money poured into the Andersons’ bank accounts by Kingdom Islamic Bank deputy chairman Majid Tasfiriki, and the other indicated a flood of fake voter registration forms in Chicago, Houston, and Orlando traced to the Islamic Council of North America, safely listed as a Muslim Brothers’ Society front in and a landowner for hundreds of mosques across the United States. In the end, Nigel and Rachel were left to conclude that Oromokengo and Santiago were the two most important people to watch as both presidential conventions unfolded, perhaps with some focus on Santiago as well as Baylene, given how important Goldstein was -- and how undeniably persuaded he, Wolf, and Santiago were that the Sacred Strugglers were the most dangerous threat to freedom in at least these early years of the 21st century.
As for actually investigating both conventions, Sector CO tracked all possible entrances into and exits out of Invesco Field, and Sector MN did the same thing with the Xcel Energy Center. Both sectors guessed that the convention sites would be full of adults, but also quite a few teens and kids, which left Nigel and Rachel quite intrigued, to say the least. Since this was a presidential convention, but also something like a genuine party, the Kids Next Door chose special dress outfits into which they could switch when the day of the conventions arrived. The timing might have been better than either sector estimated: Oromokengo was supposed to officially accept the Democratic presidential nomination several hours before Santiago officially accepted the Republican presidential nomination. It would be appropriate for the Kids Next Door’s new mission to have two parts -- and the Kids Next Door to possibly split up and investigate the Democratic convention before moving on to investigate the Republican convention. It might have been immediately obvious that the Kids Next Door had not encountered in person this level of activity by adults in not just one, but two places at the same time. Fortunately for them, Timothy Wallington’s parents seemed friendly enough in simply letting them visit the Republican convention site... as long as those kids stayed together if they wanted to head off somewhere inside the building. However, as Wally and Kuki walked steadily behind Lee, Sonia, Nigel, and Rachel at what presumably was the top level of the Xcel Energy Center, looking around at all the men and women talking with each other at various spots and running all over the place almost like, quite strikingly, little kids, those eight kids were certain that while researching the 2008 Republican National Convention -- and its Democratic counterpart -- was one thing, seeing it in person was another.
“Man, look at all these adults,” Wally said with cautious skepticism, remembering a few instructions that involved using real names rather than Kids Next Door identities before all of the kids assigned to this mission left the Moonbase this morning. “Feels a bit like that meeting at the Kids Next Door Super-Convention Center right before Rachel started that stupid game of tag.”
A cheerful giggle escaped Kuki as she happened to glance around at the incredible sight before the six kids, from the man now walking past them and talking into his cell phone to a small ticker with a black background across which slid the words “Putting America First”, “Putting” in red, “America” in white, and “First” in blue, then turned to face Wally. “Yep, and she and Nigel make a really cute couple.” She gasped with delight as another idea came to her. “Maybe if we see a restaurant, they can get some food and set together, like a date.”
Wally stared at Kuki blankly. “Eh...” He glanced down at the stuffed monkey his best female friend was carrying in her arms to her side. “Are you sure bringing that Rainbow Monkey was a good idea?”
“Of course, silly,” Kuki replied, holding up the creature so that it could be more visible to her best male friend, from the rainbow atop its head to a tiny box with a small opening at the box’s lid in its hands. “It’s my Get Out the Vote Rainbow Monkey, and this is a presidential convention, so why not?”
Meanwhile, ahead of Wally and Kuki, Nigel and Rachel looked around as cautiously yet thoughtfully as they could, seeing nothing that didn’t immediate stand out as being different from what they’d researched as the two Kids Next Door commanders proceeded along that floor of the Xcel Energy Center. It seemed that this building was originally built to be a hockey stadium, and they and their fellow Kids Next Door were walking around and above the main arena, which was where the speeches were supposed to take place. However, the Republican Party’s chairman, who led the party on Wolf’s behalf, had chosen this building at the site for this year’s convention. Nigel and Rachel each looked in different directions, finding themselves sincerely marveled at the preparations authorized by the other leaders of this party, especially what looked like small clusters of red, white, and blue balloons dangling from similarly-colored streamers hanging across various walls. Whatever Mr. and Mrs. Wallington were thinking when they volunteered to help these Republicans get their convention going, Nigel and Rachel found themselves struck by their audible determination whenever they talked about helping America move forward. As Nigel and Rachel moved forward themselves, approaching a certain section of the Xcel Energy Center that had stairs leading down to another level while glancing behind them to still see Lee, Sonia, Wally, and Kuki still as curious as that prominent Kids Next Door leadership couple was, they could only smile to themselves and at each other with calm bemusement at their current situation.
“I don’t see anything suspicious yet,” Nigel began, taking note of the woman and the man off in the distance now heading toward the bleachers around the places, most likely to get a better view of what was happening at the arena below... which was of special consideration to both him and his Supreme Commander. “Tim’s parents seemed nice enough, and with Hoagie and Abby keeping an eye on events near the main arena, it shouldn’t be too hard to find out when the scheduled speakers are supposed to show up.”
Rachel shook her head negatively, a small smile of bemusement still present as her top sector leader walked up right beside her. “No, we shouldn’t... but you know what’s amazing? Some of the Democratic and Republican Parties’ leaders have been thinking about these conventions for the past six months. The preparations they had in mind must have been ginormous.”
“As ginormous as the number of adults at both of these conventions?” Nigel countered warmly yet somewhat humorously, extending his hand outward at random points to indicate the adults around the two of them. “At least these adults seem more interested in keeping this convention going than specifically threatening kids. Of course, if there are any other evil adults out there besides the Sacred Strugglers, then the Kids Next Door will keep an eye on them.”
Rachel nodded with commanding determination. “Good, and I’d like to see you guys keep it that way, so that kids can continue to have fun being kids.”
The two Kids Next Door commanders shared an almost romantically friendly chuckle with each other, which might have fit Wally and Kuki’s guesses about Nigel and Rachel’s relationship quite well, before Nigel responded, “Ever the workaholic, aren’t you? Not that I blame you, of course, but maybe that’s what makes it exciting for you.”
Rachel paused for a few seconds, signaling to Nigel and the other four Kids Next Door behind them to slow down, then simply stop, and she said, “Thank you for that comment, and I’ll bet Hoagie and Abby are seeing a lot of excitement right now. Let’s check up on them.” As she and Nigel heard Lee, Sonia, Wally, and Kuki instinctively gather closely around the two of them, she pressed an activation button on her wrist communicator. “Hoagie and Abby, come in. Do you read?”
“Loud and clear,” Abby’s voice said smoothly from the communicator, despite the activity around the six kids. “Everyone down here’s gettin’ ready to see President Wolf and Vice-President Armstrong speak. As far as Tim’s parents and all these other adults know, we’re just two ordinary kids.”
“Yeah. You guys should try some of the food. It’s pretty good,” Hoagie’s voice was just as audible from the communicator... as was what sounded like calm gulping. “Hey, Abby, you want this piece of barbecued pork?”
A pause ensued over the communicator before Abby said as smoothly and warmly as she could, “Eh, no thanks, Hoagie. I think I’m gonna be juuust fine gettin’ some drinks.”
“You sure? There might still be a couple of plates and drinks near where Mrs. Wallington is,” Hoagie said just as calmly, yet a bit more energetically. “I think she’s right over the--”
Before Hoagie, Abby, or any of the four KND operatives gathered around Nigel and Rachel could say anything further, a female voice echoed across the loudspeakers scattered throughout the Xcel Energy Center, eager yet professionally purposeful in its tone as the unknown woman said, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the President of the United States, Daniel Jeffrey Wolf.”
The resulting cheers and applause from the bleachers all around the main arena signaled to Nigel and Rachel to head for the solid safety barrier separating the level from the bleachers, followed closely behind by Lee and Sonia, then Wally and Kuki, the six kids’ dress outfits noticeably bright as the six kids themselves. The two KND commanders reached the barrier first, placing both their hands atop it in front of them as they peered past the bleachers down toward the main arena, where at this moment, a lone figure, presumably President Wolf, stepped out from one of two doors opposite each other and directly underneath an electronic screen that displayed an American flag flying quietly majestically. Nigel and Rachel looked at each other thoughtfully for a few seconds, wondering what they were about to hear from, for all practical intents and purposes, the most powerful person on the planet. Even though Hoagie and Abby were at seats in the front row, which allowed them a direct and clear view of the stage, they were thinking basically the same thing, perhaps a sensible course of action to suit their curiosity.
As it was, none of the Kids Next Door present at the Xcel Energy Center had too long to wait before Wolf reached a podium that appeared upward from the floor, waited for the applause to die down, and began to speak by first stating what he thought about the position he’d held for the past eight years. While Wally and Kuki were standing to Nigel’s left -- and Kuki's Get Out the Vote Rainbow Monkey was tucked between Kuki's arms in front of her, as if it could see Wolf speak itself -- Lee and Sonia were standing to Rachel’s right, nearest to a barrier break indicating a path of stairs leading directly through the bleachers, but those two speculatively popular Kids Next Door couples found themselves looking between Wolf down at the center of the stage in the main arena and the two Kids Next Door commanders between them a few times. Wolf offered words of praise for Santiago and Baylene, especially for Santiago’s strength and resolve against the murderous hatred and the lies of the Sacred Strugglers, which immediately caught the attention of Nigel and Rachel’s comrades, but Nigel and Rachel themselves even more, even with the rounds of applause during various parts of Wolf’s speech. Even though Wally, Kuki, Lee, and Sonia didn’t normally pay attention to something like this specifically, they were still eager to support their commanding friends and defend the freedom to simply have fun being a kid. Yet, for some reason, the freedom that the President of America was talking about felt more powerful than anything any of those Kids Next Door were used to. To understand Wolf as correctly as those kids could, he believed firmly that freedom could lead humankind to a future of security, prosperity, and peace in ways that submission never could, and he was confident that by electing Santiago and Baylene, Americans would continue that fight for freedom’s defense. As American President Daniel Jeffrey Wolf ended his speech with, “Thank you, and God bless America,” then began walking away from the podium back toward the door through which he first appeared, another round of cheers and applause erupted from the bleachers around him, a distinct aura of sincere satisfaction perceptible as Wally, Kuki, Lee, Sonia, Nigel, and Rachel continued eyeing the arena, awe evident on their faces at the spectacle before them.
“Man,” Wally managed to say after about 30 seconds since the President of the United States left, probably to allow whoever was in charge of the convention to prepare for the next speaker. “Who the crud was that guy, anyway?”
Kuki looked down at Wally, cheerful optimism instantly obvious in her eyes. “He’s the President of America, silly!!! He was talking about how we should defend freedom for humankind.”
Lee was rubbing his temple, confusion intermixed into the awe still lingering in him. “Uh... cool-ish, I guess.” He turned to face Sonia optimistically. “As long as we’re free, it’ll really be cool.”
“You mean that?” Sonia asked as joyfully as she could.
“Sure, why not?” Lee countered with increasing optimism. “Best friends fighting for freedom. It should be cool, Sonia.”
As Sonia wrapped her arms around Lee, then kissed him on the cheek, the cheerfulness in her eyes could have been enough to make anyone’s heart melt with quiet joy. “Thank you so much, Lee. That would be awesome.”
A distinct blush ran through Lee’s cheeks, perhaps more distinct than the blush on Sonia’s cheeks, as Kuki gasp. “Awww, look, Wally!!! Isn’t that cute?!?!”
Wally groaned with disgust. “Kuki, don’t tell me Lee and Sonia are becoming, like, boyfriend and girlfriend or something!!”
Nigel and Rachel simply stood as poker-faced as they could while looking between the two speculatively popular couples between which they’d been standing for what felt like about ten minutes, but before they could say anything about this moment between Lee and Sonia, a singing female voice began echoing through the loudspeakers, leaving the six kids -- and the adults sitting or standing in the bleachers or at the main arena -- waiting eagerly as this unknown woman began:
*Baby, you’re all that I want when you’re lying here in my arms. (My arms.)
I’m findin’ it hard to believe (believe) we’re in heaven.*
Starting here, Wally and Kuki felt themselves want to dance, along with Lee and Sonia, and as Kuki happily placed her Get Out the Vote Rainbow Monkey next to Nigel and Rachel, then patted it, and those two Kids Next Door couples moved back from the safety barriers to give themselves some more room, they increasingly looked ready to enjoy this part of their visit to this presidential convention for the Republican Party:
*(We’re in heaven.)*
All throughout the bleachers and even immediately around the main arena, men and women of various ages started either throwing their hands into the air, clapping quickly and steadily, or dancing themselves if there was any room, but Nigel and Rachel settled for simply clapping along, smiles of enjoyment on their faces as Wally began to dance with Kuki, with Lee and Sonia settling for their own dance moves as the song unfolded:
*Oh, thinking about our younger years,
There was only you and me. We were young and wild and free.
Now, nothing can take you away from me.
We’ve been down that road before, but that’s over now.
You keep me coming back for more.
Baby, you’re all that I want when you’re lying here in my arms.
I’m findin’ it hard to believe (believe) we’re in heaven,
And love is all that I’ll need, and I’ve found it there in your heart.
It isn’t too hard to see we’re in heaven.
(We’re in heaven.)*
By now, at least two men and three women could be seen standing at certain points around Wally, Kuki, Lee, and Sonia, curiosity and delight on their faces at the four kids dancing in front of them, but none of those four kids apparently minded as the song continued:
*Now, nothing can change what you mean to me.
There’s a lot that I could say, but just hold me now,
‘Cause our love will light the way.
Baby, you’re all that I want when you’re lying here in my arms.
I’m findin’ it hard to believe we’re in heaven,
And love is all that I’ll need, and I’ve found it there in your heart.
It isn’t too hard to see we’re in heaven.*
As Nigel and Rachel looked at each other quizzically and warmly, they realized that they didn’t feel as bothered by the increasing but still small number of men and women gathering around Wally, Kuki, Lee, and Sonia, perhaps increasingly intrigued as Wally and Kuki looked directly at each other, as did Lee and Sonia, while the techno-dance melodies slowed down just a bit, replaced by what sounded like a guitar:
*Now our dreams are comin’ true through the good times and the bad.
I’ll be standin’ there by you.
(We’re in heaven.)*
As everyone felt the song beginning to wind down with one last round of techno-dance melodies, Wally and Kuki gripped hands as if to form a bridge with their arms under which Kuki slid smoothly and safely, then Wally, while Lee whipped out his trademark yo-yo from his pocket and flung it outward to his side once, then back toward him, cueing him and Sonia to transitionally kick their previous dancing impulses back up again:
*Love is all that I’ll need, and I’ve found it there in your heart.
It isn’t too hard to see we’re in heaven.*
While Lee twirled Sonia around once, Wally and Kuki began to spin, coming together and wrapping their arms that were closest to each other around each other’s shoulders while extending their other arms outward just in time for the conclusion:
*(We’re in heaven.)*
As Nigel and Rachel smiled with retrospectively sincere satisfaction, recalling a similarly festive mood described by the Kids Next Door operatives assigned to Invesco Field, the men and women around Wally, Kuki, Lee, and Sonia applauded, cheered, and whistled, just as sincerely marveled at the unexpected performance they just witnessed. None of them had any idea just who those energetic kids were, but as far as they were concerned, those kids were just as eager to have fun at this convention as they themselves were. Lee and Sonia simply stood together and smiled at each other, while Wally and Kuki definitely looked like they’d just had the biggest dance number they’d yet seen at a particularly big party, which, for all practical purposes, the 2008 Republican and Democratic National Conventions were. Several seconds later, Wally, Kuki, Lee, and Sonia proceeded back toward Nigel and Rachel, and Kuki picked up her Get Out the Vote Rainbow Monkey once more, cueing the men and women around those kids to disperse and continue on their way toward whatever they were doing.
“Wally, Kuki, Lee, and Sonia, Nigel and I would like to commend all of you for your performance to that song,” Rachel said laudatorily.
“Indeed. Rachel and I didn’t see that coming, but all of you did an excellent job impressing the crowd -- and us,” Nigel finished just as laudatorily.
“Thank you, Nigel and Rachel, sirs,” Sonia replied, smiling confidently at Lee. “It was pretty neat, right?”
Lee chuckled just as confidently. “Yep. It was cool.”
Wally folded his arms in front of him, his energy still audible even though he was eager to simply get the rest of this convention over with. “Yeah, I know, it was kinda fun. So, what do we do now?”
Kuki gasped with sudden recollection. “Hey, yeah!! We haven’t heard that Baldomero Santiago guy speak yet.”
The leader of Sector V and the Supreme Commander of the Kids Next Door paused for several seconds, possible courses of actions flashing through their minds before Rachel faced Nigel seriously yet also warmly. “So, how do finding the rest of your team and watching Senator Santiago accept this presidential nomination sound to you?”
Nigel returned Rachel’s serious and warm look with his own serious and warm smile. “Why not? We have the freedom to do so.”
With that, Nigel and Rachel looked around, then saw the stairway leading downward to another level of the Xcel Energy Center, different from the stairs down which Lee and Sonia had peered to watch the President of the United States give his speech encouraging “my fellow citizens,” as he put it, to vote for the Santiago-Baylene ticket. They began walking toward that stairway, holding hands the entire time, which left Lee Curtis and Sonia Mason, then Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban to imitate the two KND leaders and smile between each other in the process. As the three couples of prepubescent spies reached the stairway and walked steadily down it, some men and women who happened to pass by couldn’t resist smiling at what they saw as three excellent -- and excellently cute -- kid couples. Overall, the rest of the journey to find Hoagie Gilligan, Abby Lincoln, and Timothy Wallington was a bit long, but not particularly troublesome. Given what they’d seen so far, the nine kids were eager to either talk with each other, get some more food and drinks between them, or simply wait to see Baldomero Santiago speak and officially accept his nomination by the Republican Party to become the President of the United States of America after Daniel Wolf retired.
Sure enough, after Joseph Armstrong and Dennis Goldstein, it was Catherine Baylene who was the last main speaker before Senator Santiago, but Nigel and Rachel were as intrigued to see Governor Baylene speak as they were to see President Wolf speak. Baylene’s defense of freedom as a basic idea caught the Kids Next Door’s most prominent leadership couple’s attention, which in turn caught their friends’ attention, if to a certain degree. Maybe in the end, the commander of Sector V and the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door would keep an eye on both presidential nominees as this election unfolded, thinking for themselves about the true value and power of the freedom to think. The two of them would compare and contrast what Santiago and Oromokengo said, but at the same time, they and their fellow Kids Next Door were essentially more interested in defeating the previously unthinkable evil of the Sacred Strugglers. Thus, as the introductory video to the practical presidential nominee of the Republican Party concluded and Senator Baldomero Santiago himself stepped out of that same door underneath the still-flying American flag displayed prominently on the electronic screen and walked with calm energy toward the same podium, the two Kids Next Door commanders and their friends watching more intently than they guessed when they first learned about this event, enthusiastic cheers and applause erupting all around them, Nigel Uno and Rachel McKenzie were eager to learn whether they would end up considering the man at the center of the 2008 Republican National Convention to be a good adult or an evil adult, their minds working to compare and contrast his words and actions with those of the man at the center of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all very much,” Santiago began, pausing with those first words of gratitude, then chuckle humbly before the audience of St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center stopped cheering and applauding and began to listen, no doubt as the audience of Denver’s Invesco Field had done for his Democratic opponent earlier today. “My friends, tonight, I am honored by your support and privileged to accept, with deep gratitude and humility, your nomination for President of the United States…”
THE END
If LyzziAnne and Numbuh 220 are becoming excellently funny thinkers on the Courting Commanders thread, then I trust that Allie will still support romantic fluff and humor between Nigel Uno and Rachel McKenzie. In retrospect, I had a lot[/b][/u] more fun thinking and typing my way through certain sequences in this special Kids Next Door story remembering the 2008 Republican (and Democratic) National Convention(s). Festive? My inclusion of DJ Sammy w/ Yanou & Do's "Heaven (Fast Version)" should be striking this time around. If I am to assume that we would like 64 total pages for the 14th Courting Commanders thread before moving on to the 15th one, then this second week of September 2008 should be interesting in its own way. As the anniversary that inspired my first Nigel/Rachel fanfiction idea appears on my patterns of thought for the next three days, this Nigel/Rachel, Wally/Kuki, and Lee/Sonia shipper should and will be fine sticking with freedom as a basic -- and powerful -- idea for humankind.
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Little brat... not meaning kid, just an annoying, cruel 1/5 fan. And I hate 1/5 fanbrats. They're at the top of my hate-list. I try to ignore them as long as possible, but these thoughts always keep coming back to bite me in the butt. Like, ... I forgot her name (it was your cousin, I think) She would read everysingle 1/362 fic I posted on Fanfiction.net last year--and always bash me in a review. aying like, "Oh, no offense, blah, blah, blah" Crap like that. I hate it. 
