“Lets, see here,” Kid said as he stalled some more. “Should I move this…no. Not that one.”
Gears sat there and rolled his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to beat the one and only Kid Combat in a game of chess. He would have bragging rights of The Playground and actually be better than Kid Combat at something. By the way Gears was playing, it looked like that would become possible. If it wasn’t for the interruption.
As Kid Combat moved his mouse over and clicked on his Rook, Samantha came barging into the room.
“Guys. It’s, it’s terrible!” she said, almost out of breath.
Kid and Gears, a bit startled by her appearance, both turned sharply and didn’t really process what she was saying.
“Huh?” Kid asked of her.
“It’s Jones,” she said, a bit more clearer this time. “He’s, he’s gone to far. It’s coming on. Follow me,” Samantha said as she turned and left the room. The two boys sat there looking at each other for a second.
“Guess we have to postpone our game,” Kid said. Gears shook his head in agreement. “You played well, we’ll do it again sometime.”
“Hurry up!” was the sound of Samantha’s voice booming from down the hallway.
Kid Combat and Gears got up from their chairs from within Main Research 1 and followed the orders by Samantha to get back to the Computer Lab. The panic was thick in Samantha’s voice – which lately, spelt sudden doom. As they were running down the hall, Roller came up from behind and joined the two boys and Samantha in Computer Lab. There, Samantha, Rocket, and Wedge huddled up and focused deeply on the flat screen TV on the back wall.
“What? What is it, Sam?” Kid said, walking up to her.
“It’s about to begin,” Sam said, turning towards Kid.
“What? What’s about to begin?” Gears asked. The six friends were now in a semi-circle looking up at the TV.
“Jones. They said Jones came to some sort of agreement with the schools. They said, oh here it is…” Sam was interrupted by the news report coming back from the break. She reached for the remote and turned up the volume.
The news anchor came into focus as an Action News logo disappeared from the TV. The next logo to the left of the anchor simply said “Breaking News”. It then splashed to read “Jones to save schools”.
“Welcome back,” the anchor started. “As we mentioned before the break, Phillip Arthur Jones and his company, Jones Industries, has reached a tentative agreement with the Elmcrest School Districts to help out with their growing financial concerns. Details are still coming in, but it appears that Jones has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow afternoon at Lincoln Elementary to elaborate further.”
“What?” Samantha said furiously. “He’s going to be at Lincoln?”
“What does that mean – he’s reached a deal? Is he going to be in charge of the schools now, too?” Rocket said in a panic.
“I ain’t going to school in ‘Jones School’!” Wedge yelled out. “Uh – uh. No way – no how!”
“He’s gone to far. He can’t do this. There’s committees, PTA, boards that would have to approve this,” Roller said. He took out his laptop and started looking for any information on the internet.
“They must have already approved it – if he’s having a press conference tomorrow,” Kid said.
The children went back and listened to the reporter give some general facts about the news conference that was set at Lincoln School. As the reporter talked, images of Lincoln appeared on the TV, followed by directions to the school.
The kids stood there in silence – unable to comprehend fully what Jones had planned. The news reporter finished his story and the children were left with their thoughts.
“What do we do now, Kid?” was the first words spoken by Rocket. The rest of the members SOCKs turned and looked at Kid.
“There’s nothing we can do now,” he said, “not until we hear his press conference and know what he has planned.”
Chapter Six
Lincoln Under Siege
1:00 PM
Lincoln Elementary had never looked like this before. The small, modest school on the south side of town usually blended into the shadows and was hardly talked about. It was never featured in any of the papers, nor was it ever on the evening news. The two story brick building was ignored for the better part of fifty years.
Today, Lincoln was the epicenter of a media storm.
The news conference was scheduled to start at one o’clock sharp, but in true Jones fashion, he made his people wait just a bit longer for him to make his grand entrance.
The usual Jones propaganda was covering Lincoln Elementary. Banners for Jones Industries blanketed the small school, covering up most of its windows. Flags were on poles and lined the entire playground. A stage was erected over night and a podium and PA system with speakers throughout the schools grounds were constructed.
By the time the news conference was to start, Lincoln’s grounds were covered by thousands of people. New reporters, their cars, vans, and cargo were seen all throughout the parking lots.
Parents brought their children in anticipation of what might be happening at their school. Business men and women came to see Jones speak and to possibly learn something more from the man they followed.
As Kid Combat walked deeper into the crowd, he felt sick. He looked around and the more logos for Jones Industries that he saw on his schools property, the worse he felt. He wasn’t the only one.
“This is horrible,” Samantha said as she walked behind Kid and fought through the crowd.
“Dude, this is totally bogus,” Wedge answered from behind Samantha. “Jones at our school. It ain’t right, man. It’s just not right.”
The group of friends continued into the mass. As they walked, Kid was able to pick up on different conversations going on around him. As he walked past a group of businessmen, they analyzed what the profit margins would be for Jones and his company. A few women past them were discussing how this would affect them. Another group discussed how the school looked with all the Jones Industries banners around it.
Kid overheard a lot of conversations as he weeded his way through the crowd – not one of those conversations was focused on the children of the town.
Kid finally stopped at a spot about thirty feet away from the main stage. “This seems like a good spot,” he said to his crew. They all stopped behind Kid, and started to look around.
There still was no sign of Jones. No one really knew for sure if he was scheduled to make an appearance or not, but Jones never did miss a chance to speak in public. No one also really knew what to expect from this conference.
It was fifteen minutes passed the scheduled start time and a small murmur was going through the crowd. Anxiously, they waited for what Jones had in store for them next.
Artificial smoke, powered by a machine, started pouring out along the stage. It laid a condensed three foot high batch of smoke down, engulfing the stage. At the same time, music started to play and it was apparent the press conference had started.
As the music blared, and the smoke continued to flow, a well dressed woman emerged from behind all of it. As she walked up the three steps to the top of the platform, others followed. All of them wearing a very similar outfit. The women wore a light khaki color dress that went down to their knees. It had a flipped collar on it and a V-neck. Just below the right shoulder was a black path that had the letters “J I” running down them diagonally. They wore black shoes, a black belt, and they all had their hair up in a pony tail.
The men were dressed almost like the women. Instead of the dress, they wore a short sleeve button down shirt with a collar and white buttons. The primary color was the same as the dress. They also wore the same Jones Industries logo just below their right shoulder. Black shoes and a black belt were also worn by the men following the lone lady.
The men and women filled a single file line along the back of the stage, as one woman made it up to the podium. She wai
ted a few seconds, tapped the microphone and spoke.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Shirley Kerr. I come here today representing Phillip Arthur Jones, Jones Industries, and the Elmcrest Board of Education. As you may have heard last night on the news report that was released, the Elmcrest BoE has reached an agreement with Jones Industries to help bail out the school systems during this tough economic time. Not only has Mr. Jones and his company donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help save the schools, Jones has agreed to become the principal contractor on all renovations that are planned for Elmcrest schools – at a discounted rate I may add.”
Shirley was interrupted by a round of applause. She waited for a few moments, accepted the accolades, and continued.
“Thank you. As Jones Industries has been so generous, and since they are far better suited at this sort of thing, the Elmcrest Board of Education has allowed Jones to become the principal voice in all school matters.”
Another interruption brought on a pause. “What does that mean?” Samantha asked out loud to anyone who would answer. No one did.
“With that said,” the lady continued, “Jones’s first order of business is to create a unified front across all of Elmcrest’s schools. With that, he has created this uniform. The uniform I and the models back here are wearing will be worn by all teachers, principals, and workers at all Elmcrest schools.”
Shirley stopped for a minute, stepped out from behind the podium and modeled the new uniform style for the crowd to see. The reactions that came from the crowd were mostly positive. Most not working at the schools in Elmcrest, the patrons in the crowd would be effected very little by the changes. Shirley did a few turns, walked a few feet, then returned back to the podium.
“Huh? The teachers have to wear those?” Samantha said with a questioning look on her face. “Maybe we’ll get out of this, eh Kid?”
“Doubtful.”
“And here, is what the kids will be wearing,” Shirley said as she returned.
“See,” Kid said.
From behind her came a group of kids walking up the stairs of the stage – each wearing the new Jones uniforms. They were the same ones the adults on the stage were wearing.
The girls started the processions and had the same dresses, belts, and shoes as the adults before them did. The girls walked in a straight line and up to the front of the stage – all with huge smiles across their faces.
Samantha, not one for dresses, started to panic. “I’m not wearing a dress to school everyday! Uh-uh. No way. No how!” Her voice was higher than usual and you can tell she was in a state of fluster. It would only get worse for the young girl. The girls on the stage whipped out a baseball cap, and put it on their heads.
“I’m definitely not wearing that!” Sam said, grabbing onto Kid’s arm. She pulled him into her. Kid turned, and looked at a startled Samantha. “Im dropping out of school. You here me? I’m dropping out of school!”
“Relax, Sam. It’ll be OK. Just breath,” Kid said. In the trying moments, he tried to push a smile out. He had never seen Samantha this worked up.
After the girls came out, the boys then followed. The boys wore the same uniform as the men, but were wearing shorts. They already wore their caps and walked in and stood next to the girls.
“Ugh,” was all Wedge was able to say. His brother, Rocket, was worse. Becoming frantic from his own panic, Rocket started spouting out almost as much nonsense as Samantha did earlier.
“He’s gone too far. He can’t do this. I can’t do this. How are we suppose to go to school wearing Jones uniforms? It’s crazy. He’s our enemy!” Rocket blubbered.
“Would everyone relax, please,” Kid finally said. “It’s just a ploy to get us to do something irrational. Nothing will come of this. Too many people will need to approve this. There is no way this can take place.” Kid finished. He stood there hoping he convinced his friends.
The fashion show was about over. The kids made their final laps around the stage and one by one disappeared down the back stairs. The applause, which was minimal, died down, and Shirley was left alone on stage again.
“I would like to thank-you all for coming today. We are confident that with the help of Jones Industries, the financial situation of the Elmcrest schools will be turned around and will flourish once again – just like the rest of our town. We do have another announcement today, and for that I present you with – Phillip Arthur Jones…” Shirley stopped, turned half way and raised her arm out in the direction of the stairs.
“Uh oh,” Wedge said.
“What could that mean?” Rocket let out.
“I don’t know,” Kid responded.
“How much worse can this get?” Samantha exclaimed.
There was a few seconds of pause as the lady continued to point towards the empty stairs. Then, Jones started to ascend up the stairs. As he became more visible to the crowd, a round of applause started to build throughout them. Jones finished the few stair climb, and walked very slowly and direct towards the podium. He never acknowledged the crowd and stood waiting patiently behind the podium. Within a few seconds, the crowd quieted and waited for Jones to speak.
“I would like to thank Ms. Kerr for that fine presentation of the Jones Uniforms. It is imperative that we change the thinking and state of the Elmcrest schools. They, after all, house this town’s future. I am confident that with my help, the situation that plagues our fine school system right now can be reversed and I will personally guarantee that no school will be closed and each will get my personal attention.”
Another round of applause. None of which came from the five members of SOCKs. Kid read between the lines to realize what Jones was doing. This had little to do with helping out a school district. Or bailing out a town. It was about finding out who Kid Combat was. Jones continued.
“One last thing. The city has also granted Jones Industries with the exclusive rights to update the parks around this town,” Jones started. He then paused, on purpose, for a few seconds and scanned the crowd. “This includes the likes of Plunkett, Butterfield, and Pioneer Parks. As well as Maple Forest. All will be updated and modernized – as I see fit.”
“How could that be?” a young reporter yelled out from the crowd. The mob turned and faced the young man. Jones stood at the podium, annoyed at the interruption. “Maple Forest was protected from any type of demolition work for the next ten years,” he finished. The crowd turned its attention back to Jones. He stood there, grasping the podium, and glared out at the boy with a sinister stare.
“My boy, first of all, never interrupt me again,” Jones said deeply. “Second, I have met with your City Council on this matter. The key word in that phrase was demolition. We have no intention of touching any part of Maple Forest, nor do we plan on tearing down any trees. Our main concern is building adequate parks for the town's children – with state of the art equipment and exercise facilities. All of which will be owned and operated by a division of Jones Industries.”
The hook was baited. And Jones knew it. He knew that Kid Combat would be in the crowd. He knew that the thought of Jones stepping foot on any part of Maple Forest would force Kid into action. Jones would wait now for Kid to make his mistake.
The five members of SOCKs stood and watched Jones speak. Kid Combat made no move.
“I don’t understand how he can do this,” Rocket said. “We were protected. This isn’t right,” Rocket turned to Kid Combat. Kid was just standing there, taking it all in. Rocket became anxious and nervous that his leader was so quiet. Rocket nudged Kid. He turned and starred at Rocket. “Say something,” Rocket asked of him.
“He has the money. He can do what he wants, apparently,” Kid said back. He looked back up at the news conference. Jones stood there answering the reporter’s questions on what the plan was for the parks, and how this could help the city and the school districts.
“The problems are all tied together. To improve the quality of care and attention the students bring
to their studies, you must first start with outside the school. The renovations will be done quickly and will improve the schools. You shall see,” Jones finished. More questions were brought his way, but he put his arms up and backed away from the podium.
“I’m sorry ladies and gentlemen, this conference is over. I or Ms. Kerr will give you more details when they become available. Thank you for coming.”
And with that, Jones was gone – leaving the townspeople to make up their own minds about what just happened. Most walked away without a care. Parents throughout the crowd seemed to walk away with a feeling of hope and unity. Teachers had mixed opinions and there were talks of petitions and protests against the uniforms.
The largest objections came from the children. They cried, they screamed, and they objected to the announcement. Most felt like they were losing their individualism and not being allowed to wear what they want. Others didn’t like the colors, the hat, or the shoes. Most of their objections felt on the deaf ears of their parents as they only cared about leaving.
The press conference started to break up and people started going in their own directions. The members of SOCKs decided they too had seen enough.
“Let’s get back to TPG,” Kid Combat said. His friends agreed with him and each one of them turned and started to walk out of Lincoln’s grounds. The long walk back to The Playground took longer than usual as the friends walked especially slow – lacking any energy or care.
Chapter Seven:
Infiltrator
1:30 PM
Scanning…
Scanning…
Access Granted.
Not everyone was at Lincoln Elementary watching Jones unveil his latest plot. The Boy in Blue was one of them. He was, though, assigned by Jones, to go on a mission of his own.
The Adventures of Kid Combat 3: Jones Strikes Back Page 3
