"And you want it all...
I'll give you something more!! And you'll fade away!
One last kiss before you fade away
Lives you once adored will fade away
Lies you can't ignore... You'll soon repay
As you fade away..."

-"Psychopomp", The Tea Party

N O I R / A M B I A N C E

Part 2 of 2

When Nigel had woken he was taken aback by the harsh red glow that still illuminated the basement. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, crusty from the crystals of salt that had formed from his tears, and sat up on the cold marble. He stared at the walls.

The walls were staring back. He took a shaky breath, not ready to stand, but not willing to stay here.

'How long have i been laying here...?'

"My, my…how far the mighty have fallen…" A monotone stab and the silence ruptured.

Nigel's self pity party had faded (barely) with sleep, and now he could only be annoyed at this disturbance. Of course he felt sensitive...and somewhat faded... But, if they were here to add insult to injury he swore he would force feed they're words back to them.

"Beat it, brats," he said in a shaky accent. He began standing slowly, feeling as if he had been torn apart by hyenas. Feeling lke a child. How would he walk? He could barely get past his knees.

"Father's been quite busy lately with worthless brats like you, Nigel Uno. What do you want with him??" The Delightful's frowned grimly, their faces cast in shadows that danced in the red glow and made them all the more menacing. Their bright blue eyes pierced the crimson haze of the room.

"What do I want with HIM?!?!" Nigel started to move to his feet -eyes burning with rage- watching the Delightful children's every move. "Be careful with what you say, you brats, before I turn those hideous outfits into hospital gowns!"

The children chuckled darkly, there was no humor in this laugh, and it chilled Nigel to the bone.

'The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree...'

"Why, Nigel… you speak like a TEENAGER!!!!" They hissed the words as a snake might if snakes could talk, with every word elongated and precise and laced with venom.

Nigel, having made his way to the Nacho-gun he had tossed aside earlier, whipped the weapon from the floor and pointed the laser aim right in between the short, blonde boys eyes.

"I hope you like cheddar!"

Nigel, feeling the best he had felt since the mission had first gone wrong (because for once he had the upper hand) was grinning, and making his way toward the Rock-Candy Gem.

Devastation was still welled up inside of him, every other thought he had fleeted back to the memory of a cold floor… and a cold man. But now, at least, he felt a stroke of triumph, He felt like himself, even for just this instant. His veins were pumped with adrenaline, and he was going to get the hell out of here.

The delightfuls glared in Nigel's direction. One of them checked a wristwatch that introduced a faint glow of blue into the room and as Nigel went for the gem he became increasingly aware of a a creeping feeling up his spine. As if the room's temperature had suddenly dropped below freezing.

"Oh dear…" The delightfuls were looking at each other, then at Nigel, their breathing was disrupted and Nigel felt 5 separate heartbeats from them for the first time. He glanced at the door, adrenaline fleeting, and quickly reached for the gem, stuffing it in his pocket.

The room went dark.

Quiet...

BAM!!

Nigel froze in place, sweat dripping from his brow, and he was staring into the dark figure of a Man he knew too well. The door flooded fire-light into the room and Nigel noticed the delightfuls cowering out of the corner of his eye.

Had Father always been this terrifying? So much that he couldn't move? Couldn't breathe?

The man stared at the delightfuls, beckoning orders with his dark eyes and the the children moved, slowly toward the door.

"GET!!!" Father barked.

They got.

Nigel's pupils were large, his eyes wide, and his lip was quivering, he felt himself sink to the floor but stopped as Fathers voice filled the air it was deep, and despite his element of fire, very, very cold. He looked Nigel straight in the eyes and asked:

"You're Still here?"

And everything went black.

For the second time in less than an hour Nigel woke up disoriented. It was only after he stood that he realized he was outside of the mansion. He looked up eyes scaling the wall and resting on a spot where a window had been shattered, the gooey remnants of melted cheese dripped down onto the grounds outside. Nigel scooped a bit from the top of his head and licked.

"I didn't think I would run into you again..."

"I thought I told you to leave."

He flung a fireball at me, but instinct took over fear and I ducked under a pipeline- the blast hit above my head sending rubble down on top of me. His glow gave enough shadow in the room for me to still hide…but something made me positive he knew where I was…he could smell fear, I think. I climbed a ladder in the back corner making my way over to a small bridge that spanned the ceiling of the Basement Lab. He stopped and turned, looking up now instead of around. I heard a growl and felt a burning sensationg at my chest that sent me flying back several feet. The gem flew from my pocket, rolling across the ground.

My gut told me I needed to get it. Fake or not.

I ran for it, feeling fire miss me by just inches! My shoelace set a flame and i stomped it out with my other foot. Father had climbed onto the upper pathways and now looked at me from one side of the bridge to the other. He chuckled, and it reminded me of like a wolf howling, ready for the kill.

Fire chased me. And I ran like hell.

I picked up the gem as I ran and threw it straight at the window I was heading for. The glass shattered (One less thing my body would have to go through...)and the gem fell to ground below. I second guessed this choice of action, but by then it was the late, I had already followed the gem, and turned during my jumo to shoot cheese blindly back into the room.The fireball exploded through the open window. If I had hair…it would have been gone.

A bush caught my fall lucky for me, but the impact with the ground must have been enough to knock me out…

Nigel got back onto his feet, reaching for the gun that had fallen only a few inches from where he had woken up. The False Gem was a couple of feet away, laying in a patch of grass. Nigel sighed, groping for his pockets as he reached for the thing and stuffed it deep into the fabric of his pants.

'Where do I go now? What do I do?'

Now that he had no direct situation to face the sting of his body and pride returned to him. He felt dirty, and it wasn't just a feeling to shake off. It was like it had settled in the very marrow of his bones. Also, He was a teenager now, but would the KND still accept him? Would Secotr V? (Even after he abandoned them to do this on his own...)

After all, the real Gem was still out there, somewhere, and it was Nigel who had been given the mission to find it. That was what had led to this whole disaster. In his anxiousness not to have his memory erased he insisted on proving he was just the kid they needed to become a teenage operative and he had rushed into the lions den alone.

Oh, if it weren't for his reckless pride he might still have that one thing that now seemed so distant- His innocence. As a kid, it was a luxury and a wealth...But now, as a teenager, he faced all future confrontations without the sense of confidence that everything would work in his favor. He would have to find his own sense of hope now. His own source of pride.

He reached into his pocket, withdrawing the fake Gem that Father kept as a trap.

'Father...'

He turned, looking back at the Delightful's Manor.

A swell of some unbridled emotion took hold of him, and he gripped the Gem in his palm until his skin almost started to split. He turned his glare from the manor, and pulled his glasses from his pocket, where he had put them when he first entered the basement lab, and pushed them up on his nose (they were splintered, and a bit offset, but he didn't care).

Nigel was barely aware of the direction he was moving in or what he would do next, but this new emotion that had risen inside of him and gripped him like a pit bull. It was wrenching his gut and twisting his nerves. It was a familiar sensation, though he couldn't place it, but as he walked it reared its ugly head and spoke using Nigel's own thoughts.

'I swear on my enitre past as a Kids Next Door Operative. I'll find the real Gem, Father, whether or not I get help from the others... And I'll take you down FOR GOOD

To be continued...

Finally. :) I've always been terrible with updates! Anyway, this is the end of Noir Ambiance, but to anyone who likes it it will continue as a series with a bunch of different stories and a kinda prologue. All centered around the Rock Candy Gem, Nigel, and Father.

Tanks for reading. Please review :)