Operation: S.T.E.V.E

Steve. Totally. Expresses. Violent. Epicness.

Friday nights were the best nights a kid could ever experience. The tremendous relief one felt after surviving another week of school, the thought of staying up all night playing video games and watching cartoons, the assurance that there would be no annoying alarm clocks or fussy parents the next morning: it was great. Friday nights were supposed to be the best nights ever.

For one group of children, however, this Friday night would be remembered as one of their worst yet.

Hoagie stood alone in the room, the flicker of the monitor before him acting as his only company. His goggles were lifted over his forehead as his tired eyes scanned the screen the eleventy billionth time for error.

All systems were green and the board was clear, yet despite writing the code and projections himself, he still couldn't stop himself from second-guessing the calculations. His fingers worked on their own, his hands numb as he let them take over to go over the data another time.

There would be no foul-ups this time. There would no goofy "oops" moments. There would nothing left unaccounted for. He would make doubly sure of it.

The stakes were far too high this time.

"…you can't expect me to just go along with this."

"I expect you to obey the chain-of-command."

As the voices neared, Hoagie flicked a switch and the lights hummed to life. He blinked and lowered his goggles to allow his eyes time to adjust. The boy could hear the footsteps nearing and he rose from his seat and looked at his watch. It was almost time.

The chamber doors swung open and in came Nigel, hands folded harshly behind his back and his face etched into a permanent frown. His turtle-neck was scarred and Hoagie could catch the whiff of laser residue in the air. Despite his battle-weary appearance, the bald one carried it effortlessly and it only added to his demeanor.

On his tail were the last three of the team, Abby coming in looking just as bad as Nigel with Wally and Kuki flanking her sides. Abby rubbed at her arm, dipping her head as she mumbled. Wally and Kuki marched with blank expression, and Hoagie could not recall a time he had seen them so serious.

That old urge to crack a joke to lighten the mood came bubbling up, but he quashed it down with a soft grunt. This was not the time for that.

Nigel stopped in the middle of the room, his head rising to inspect the contraption before him. There wasn't a hint of emotion in his features as his eyes went over, checking for any possible inconvenience.

"Good work, Numbuh 2," was the final verdict. His stoic posture never broke, but Hoagie could pick up the hint of sympathy in his tone. "It's precisely what I asked for."

Hoagie wasn't convinced. "It was on such short notice. I don't think it'll be enough."

"It has to be," Nigel said. "And if it's not, we'll simply have to make up for the rest."

"Y'all ain't gonna have to make up for anything," Abby spoke up with heat in her tone. "Because Numbuh 5 is not going in there."

Nigel never turned to face her. "This is not up for discussion."

"The heck it ain't!" Abby snapped. Her fists were clenched tightly, and Wally and Kuki actually took a safe step away. "Look at us, Nigel. We barely got back to the treehouse in one piece. I'm not letting this happen. None of you are getting hurt because of me!"

Hoagie gently approached her. "Abby, listen; we all know the risk. We know what could happen and we're doing it anyway." He grasped her shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze as his expression hardened. "I…we won't let them take you."

Abby hesitated before knocking off his hand. She spun on her heel, attempting to go back down the hall. "S-Stop it! You guys are not doing this. C'mon, we're wasting time with this crud when we could be-"

She halted when Kuki suddenly jumped in front of her, blocking her exit.

Abby was shocked but quickly shook it off. "Kuki, let me through. I'm not playing around."

Lips trembled, Kuki's hands went stiff at her sides as she shook her head.

"I mean it, Kuki. Let me-"

"Get into the room, Numbuh 5."

Abby snarled as she whipped around to glare at Nigel who finally decided to face her. "No."

"Number 5," Nigel said, voice raising an octave and tone coated with steel. "I'm ordering you to get into that room right now!"

The girl scoffed. "Sorry, boss, but that's one order Numbuh 5 ain't gonna-"

"Please."

Everyone froze, including Nigel. Abby turned to the source of the plea and found Wally gazing up at her. A storm of sadness and anger raged across his face despite his attempts to quell it.

As soon as Abby looked at him, he stubbornly crossed his arms and looked down to hide the tears picking behind his eyes. "Just…just get in the stupid room already. Please."

Abby was at a loss of words, gawking at the blond and her friends around her. Her mouth opened and close, her retorts dying before she could even sound them off. She finally stopped, and gauged all four of her friends one last time. Several habits had been broken from each of them in the last two minutes alone, and she didn't know what to say.

Deciding actions spoke louder anyway, Abby slowly slumped, then turned and walked. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, not looking at Nigel or Hoagie as she stepped over the threshold.

Once he was sure she would not try anything, Nigel gave Hoagie a curt nod. The portly boy responded by pulling a lever, and the lights of the room began flashing red as the klaxon alarms went off.

There was a hiss before the door behind Abby slammed shut. The force shook the entire foundation, but none of the five flinched. As the door closed, another series of armored doors and steel walls closed; encasing Abby in an increasingly fortified bunker. After a seemingly endless cascade of doors came down, chains shot out from the wall, looping around the entrance, and four hamsters in ninja outfits appeared from nowhere and took positions in front of the door.

Abby took a causal intake of the room. Were the situation different, she would admit to being impressed. In such a short amount of time, Hoagie had managed to create an impregnable panic room and managed to even model the décor after her own room. Back in the corner was a wide television screen, only instead of cartoons, it displayed a live feed of every nook and cranny of the treehouse. She arched a brow. Wasn't that a bit too much?

She looked up and was surprised to see a window and her friends behind it. She rolled her eyes, scolding herself for not expecting a one-way window. It was probably put in so she'd at least she trouble coming.

Abby watched as one by one as her friends filed out of the room, Hoagie being the last as he went over the computer one final time. He then turned to her, looking at the spot the window would be on his side. His lips quirked into a tiny smile, and he waved before walking away as well.

Even though he couldn't see it, Abby pressed a hand to the window as he left her alone. After a moment, she sank to her knees, hand still against the glass as she lowered her head, praying for her friends' safe return.

"Alright team, this is going to be a short debriefing," Nigel began, pacing in front of his podium before facing the others. The children had forgone their normal wardrobes and were decked out, head to toe, in their KND Sector Battle Armor. "We don't have time, so pay attention; understood?"

The three before him nodded.

"At 1500 hours, as Numbuh 5 and I were departing the bus stop, we were ambushed by a platoon of elite Teen Ninjas," he said, the screen behind him flickering to show a teen covered in full-plate Battle Ready Armor. "They came hard and fast, and had Numbuh 4 not rounded the corner to assist, I shudder to think how differently the outcome would've turned out."

Wally smashed his fists together, snarling at the memory. "Wasn't about to let those freaks make off with MY friends."

"Which brings us to the heart of it," he paused, allowing the screen to change to an image of Abby. "We managed to swipe one of their cell-phones, and before it self-destructed, we managed to decode very grave information: the Teen Ninjas have moved Numbuh 5 to the top of their most wanted list and her capture and retrieval is their current highest priority."

Kuki huffed as she stomped her boot. "What do those meanies want with Numbuh 5?"

"Abby is the oldest of us and the closest to turning thirteen," Hoagie began to speculate. "They must be stepping up their efforts to recruit her and get her to turn traitor before her decommissioning."

"And think about it," Wally said as he butted in. "Numbuh 5's stupid sister used to be one of the best operatives around and look what happened to her. If those cruddy teenagers managed to get their hands on Numbuh 5, they'd be in-stoppable!"

"Which is precisely why we won't let that happen," Nigel said. "Given the severity of the situation, I've called in Global Command for an immediate extraction of Numbuh 5 and for her to be moved to a more secure location whilst we deal with this threat. But it only gets worse."

He moved to the side as the screen changed again, this time taking on the appearance of a radar as tiny images appeared on the screen. In the center was a tiny V-shaped treehouse, and with every new ping of the radar, red blimps moved closer to the tree symbol. It only took three pings for the entire half of the screen to be covered in them.

Kuki awkwardly raised her hand. "Uh, I thought we were trying to save Numbuh 5, not play connect the dots?"

"Each of those 'dots' are a unit of highly trained Teen Ninja soldiers," Nigel clarified, Kuki snapping her mouth shut in response. Nigel's scowl only deepened as the red blimps got closer. "And they're headed straight for us."

"Sweet Rainbow Monkey Mary," Hoagie whispered. "There's gotta be like fifteen trazillion of 'em."

"The squad that attacked us was just the infiltration team. If they failed, all nearby teen cells were ordered to launch a deadly counter-offensive. They plan to take Numbuh 5 by force."

"But Global Command will get here in time, right?"

Nigel shook his head in negative to Wally's question. "By the time they get here, they'll already have Abby in a basement somewhere getting brainwashed into another teenage pawn. But that's where WE come in." He turned to his team, confidently jumping down to merge with them. "We will hold this position until Global Command arrives. The only thing standing between Numbuh 5 and early puberty are some of the toughest, bravest, most-teenage hating operatives I've had the pleasure of working with."

"Oh, neat! Where are they?" Kuki asked as she bounced on her heels. As the boys gave her a flat look, realization slowly sunk in. "Ooooooh. Oh! Aw, Numbuh 1, that's so sweet of you to say!"

"I mean that with fully sincerity, because it's going to take the toughest, bravest, most-teenage hating operatives to stop what's coming." At their curious gazes, his mouth thinned into a fine line. "The Steve is personally leading this assault."

"The Steve!?" Hoagie spluttered. "And by The Steve, you mean the THE Steve? The Leader-of-the-Entire-Teen-Ninjas-Steve Steve? That Steve!?"

Wally's brows knitted together as he used his fingers to keep tally. "Man, that sure is a lot of Steves."

"No, there's only one of him, but he apparently means business." Nigel ground his fist into his open palm as his voice went up a few notches. "And so do we! This isn't just another mission, this is personal. We're not just saving another kid; we're saving our friend. And if I can't save my friend, then I'm not worth the snot in my nose!" Pumped by his own speech, he punched his hands into the air. "Who's with me!?"

Wally loosened his neck and crackled his knuckles before putting a hand in. "Four."

Kuki fashioned her loose hair into a tight pony-tail and tied a green bandana around her forehead before putting her atop Wally's. "Three."

Hoagie shrugged on a back-pack and used one hand to cock his pickle-shotgun while the other joined his friends. "Two."

"One. Kids Next Door," Nigel said as he put his hand in. He looked to the others and they nodded in unison. "Battle Stations."

Chad looked around him, honestly feeling a bit unnerved. For as long as he had been in Teen Ninjas' ranks, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen any of the chumps in this tight of a formation. Even his Jets weren't this coordinated.

But he supposed that was to be expected of the Senior Squad. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit intimidated. With his line of work, he going on a mission with the Seniors was rare occurrence, and every time it happened, the elites always made sure to leave an impression.

That train of thought made him rub his arm out of instinct, already dreading the dead-arms he was going to get when this was over. He would bet Infinity's promised galactic level promotion that the only thing keeping the brutes in check was his close proximity to The Steve.

Speaking of The Steve.

"Sir, are you sure this is wise?" Chad asked the young man to his right. Beside him stood the tall, imposing figure of The Steve. The youth walked forth, jacket tied around his waist and head bobbing to the beat of music. Chad groaned, poking the boy to get his attention. "Sir?"

"Wha?" The Steve suddenly stopped - everyone around him nearly tripping to halt themselves as well. Curious, Steve plucked out a head-phone and greeted Chad with his trademark smirk. "What's up, man?"

Chad sighed. "I was just making sure this is a good idea. I'm not comfortable with the fact you're so exposed like this."

"Dude, it's not even cold outside," Steve pointed out. "Plus, I totally got my jacket. I'm, like, all sorts of prepared here, yo."

"I was talking about the fact that you're leading this assault and risk putting yourself in danger."

"Oh." Steve blinked. He then pounded a fist against his heart. "That gets me right here, man. I'm, like, psyched that you care."

It was times like these Chad wished he could tell apart snarky-Steve from serious-Steve. "Uh, yeah, but I still think it'd be best for you to wait in the ship."

"Dude, you sound like my mom. Not gonna lie, it's kinda weird."

"I'm just trying to think about this tactically!" Chad said exasperated. "We've amassed a huge force and all, but we can never be too careful. I mean sure, we got the seniors and they're cool and all, but I'm the only lieutenant here! Justin's nowhere to be seen-"

"He's sick with the flu, man."

"I don't even know where Maurice wandered off to-"

"Had to go to his sister's lame dance recital."

"And you didn't even bother to call Cree," Chad said. "Cree would be perfect for this mission; she knows the brats better than anyone here."

"D-Dude, she's got the night off!" Steve said. There was an awkward pause as no one present ever recalled seeing The Steve this flustered. Noticing this, he coughed into his hand and recovered. "You saying I can't handle this? That's really uncool of you man, just cause you're some fancy ex-Supreme Leader doesn't mean you can totally throw stuff in my face like that! But hey, what do I know, man? It's not like I'm the leader of all the teenagers or something."

One senior felt the need to say, "But, you are, sir."

"Sarcasm, Smalls. Sarcasm," Steve said as he pinched his nose. "C'mon, man, we talked about this."

Chad accepted the fact he wasn't talking Steve out of this, and decided the brats would have to just deal with it. He had done them enough favors by sending out the sloppiest infiltration team they had, if they hadn't prepared for The Steve after all that, then oh well.

Though he'd be lying if he didn't say he was intrigued to actually see Steve out in the field as a teenager.

"Okay, okay. Enough! We're almost there, see?" Steve said, drawing back Chad's attention as he pointed to the Sector V treehouse upon the horizon. They simply had to go past a few more back-yards before they were on top of them. "Alright, so I'm gonna lay this down one more time, alright? Alright. So, we're totally just gonna go in there, kick their butts, and we capture Numbuh 5. Got it?"

"Really? Just like that?"

"Dude," Steve grumbled, Chad raising his hands defensively in response. Steve decided to just ignore him. "I thought we could all just read-in-between the lines with all the technical stuff but whatever apparently! So we're Squad Awesome, got it? We sneak in, gauge their defenses, and check in with Squad Radical. While that's going down, Squad Epic is gonna fly in the laser mobiles and just go to town from a distance," he said with multiple finger bangs in the treehouse's direction. "It's gonna be tight. Once we got that satellite down so they can't call for help like wussies, we hook up with Squad Radical, push inside, and get the party started! We good?"

Chad nodded in agreement along with the rest of the seniors, but he was the only one to pause as he noticed something. He let out a tired sigh, then turned to the Steve again. "Good plan. One tiny little problem."

"Really?" Steve then pulled out a piece of paper, unfolding it and looking it over as he scratched his head. "Aw man, you're right. I totally forgot about Squad Kind-of-Just-Winging-It."

"No. The brats probably just figured out our entire attack plan."

"No way. How?"

Chad simply pointed down, and Steve lifted his cheat sheet to see what the fuss about. He was greeted to the cute face of Kuki whom was smiling innocently as she had a MUSKET aimed at his face.

"Hi there!" She blinked, suddenly finding herself covered in red dots as the seniors took aim. "Oooh, pretty."

"That's…that's cute. Real cute," Steve said. He rose a hand, and all the seniors retracted their sights on Kuki. The brunette then bent his knees as he lowered himself. He used his finger to point Kuki's blaster away and ignored her protests as he nodded. "Sup, lil dork?"

"Nothing much, doo-doo head," Kuki said with a smile. "I'm here to give you one chance to surrender and to ask that you leave Numbuh 5 alone and never ever come back. So will you do that? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

Steve dramatically landed on his rump. He brought up his knees, folded his arms, and let his head rest on them as he let out an exaggerated groan. "Bummer. Guess since you asked all nicely, why not? Me and the boys will just back right off."

One of the seniors was confused. "Seriously?"

"You're killing me, Smalls," Steve grunted as he stood. He took a moment to give the senior in question a long, pointed look. The guy sheepishly fell back in line and Steve addressed Kuki. "As to your surrender offer thing? Big spoiler alert, but I think The Steve's gonna say no."

Kuki shrugged. She reached to her belt and spoke into her walkie-talkie. "He said no."

And then she began humming to herself, swaying back and forth on her toes. Steve looked to Chad, hoping he would explain this. Sadly, the blond boy just shrugged. Quite fed up with this, Steve frowned and was about to order that the brat be taken out of his face. Permanent like.

Oddly enough, the exact moment before he got out a word was the moment they all heard a scream from the back. The teenagers quickly turned, stunned to see one of the seniors out cold on the ground, his helmet dented inward and a wisp of smoke trailing up.

"Look out!" Chad screamed as he tackled Steve to the ground.

In the split second it all happened, Steve noticed a fiery sizzle zipping through the air. It passed where his head was just a few seconds ago and collided into the face of the senior behind him. Whatever hit his face exploded with a quick pop, and sparks rained from his face as he went down like his comrade

Taking advantage of the chaos, Kuki leapt into action. She jumped into a round-house kick, easily taking down the unaware senior. The closest one gasped and fired his laser gauntlet. Kuki used the force to twirl herself around the laser, landing on neatly on one hand. She let loose a small "ta-da" before she snapped out her MUSKET and shot the offender away.

Kuki jumped to her feet, grinning as she dusted herself off. One last senior crept up behind her, but was shot down by an unknown assailant. The girl peaked over her shoulder, noticed the fallen teen, and then turned to wave at her mysterious savior.

A block away, Nigel suckled on his lollipop as he watched Kuki wave through the scope. He smirked, lifting his head away from the barrel to reload his repurposed toy-nerf gun.

"Stupid teenagers," he said as he went back to aiming. "Should've kept their eye on the-"

Kids Next Door: B.I.R.D.E.

Bee-bee. Incendiary. Rounds. Demolishes. Irksome. Enemies.

From behind the doghouse they took cover from, Chad rose up and quickly analyzed the situation. His eyes widened as he ducked, the bee-bee pellet whizzing past his ear. Despite the severity, he chuckled. "Well, well, well. Looks like Nigie decided to play seriously today."

"Dude's camping. That's so lame," Steve grumbled as he looked over his cheat sheet. He peaked around the corner, seeing Kuki making short work of the last of his seniors. He let out a tuft of air as he crumpled the paper and threw it away. "No worries. Didn't take notes for plan B, but I got it memorized. I think."

Chad ducked again. "Plan b?"

"Oh yeah. Gotta take care of that loser first."

Just when Chad thought he couldn't be any more surprised, he nearly lost it as Steve stood up; to his full height, even. The boy motioned for Chad to stay silent as it all went quiet. Steve lowered his shades as he narrowed his eyes and his tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth as he counted down.

Suddenly, he ducked down behind the dog-house as a bee-bee zipped through the air his head was taking up not even a second ago. One hand gripped the roof of the dog-house, keeping the boy balanced as a finger pointed to where the shot had originated from.

"Yo, sneaky people," The Steve called into his wrist communicator. "We got a total loser hanging out on the blue house, 20 degrees north and 50 degrees west from where I'm chilling."

Chad watched in awe, having only seen Steve perform that maneuver once before. "You still remember how to do that…"

Steve blinked. "Remember what now?"

Chad shook his head and stuffed down nostalgia before he said anything more. "Nothing."

"Darn it, missed him," Nigel growled. Shaking it off, he gazed down his sights again as he scanned the horizon for the teen reinforcements. "Fine then. We can play hide and seek a little longer."

"Too bad we just found you!"

Nigel rolled to the side as a spiked foot crushed the barrel of his BIRDE. His hands snapped to catch the other foot, and he spun the heel around and knocked the teen ninja over. Before the other could react, Nigel kicked himself forward and fell into a slide down the roof. He reached for his side-arm and blasted the two off the other-side right before he flipped over the edge.

His cover blown, Nigel let the force of his landing activate his jet-boots. The tiny rockets flared to life and he shot off across the street as he noticed a dozen more teens fly out from behind various houses and fell into hot pursuit. Nigel scoffed before speaking into his head-set. "Numbuh 3, get ready for piggy-back!"

Kuki stopped in her tracks and squealed, "Right!"

Overly excited, Kuki giggled as she skipped away, Chad missing her as a result. He growled as he looked up and saw Kuki jumping on a fence before jumping up again to land on Nigel's back as he flew by. "Getting sick of these brats and their stupid tricks!"

"I feel ya," Steve casually said as he watched air-show. Nigel zipped around and Kuki picked off the flying teens expertly. One took a direct hit and went spiraling down into a pool a few houses over. He slowly rose his wrist-communicator again. "So, those laser mobiles here or what?"

"Affirmative on that one, sir." Two teen carriers flew by overhead, dropping three large objects down upon the neighborhood. The platforms dug into the ground, rising up and shifting to bulging laser turrets. "We are ready to rock!"

"Cool." Steve simply pointed to treehouse. "Shoot that."

They shot that.

From his position in the command center, Hoagie was rocked from his seat as the treehouse was bombarded. He fumbled back into his chair, looking at the security feed to see a storm of lasers raining down on him. Slowly, monitors went snowy as cameras were shot down, and Hoagie lifted his walkie-talkie. "We're taking heavy fire here. I can activate the long-range defenses, but I'd have to disengage the lockdown!"

"I don't care if Rachel herself ordered you otherwise; you do NOT disengage that lockdown for anything!" Nigel yelled into his head-set. He diverted his attention to the girl on his back. "Kuki, it's time to bring her out!"

"Yay!" Kuki shot the last teen chasing them, then suddenly back-flipped off of Nigel to the suburb below.

That plan put into motion, Nigel twisted mid-air until he was flying straight towards Steve. The leader in his sights, Nigel let loose a wild battle cry as he shot blindly.

"Whoa!" Steve yelped as he awkwardly dance-dodged Nigel's volley. He grit his teeth as he ducked, but was forced to quickly re-position himself out of the way. He partially successful. He dodged the brunt of the blaster, but the strings of mustard grazed his pants. "NOT COOL MAN! These were new slacks!"

"You're going to need a new face when I'm done with you!" Nigel declared, barreling straight towards the brunette. Just when he thought he had him, he was tackled to the ground. He scraped along the yard and his face was forced into the dirt by the traitor that had overtook him. "Chad!"

Chad grinned, but then he groaned as Nigel brought an elbow into his gut. The boy quickly took advantage and switched positions; Chad forced on his back and left to parry blows from the child. "Loser!"

Steve pinched his pants and whined. Those stains were never going to come out. Growling, he righted himself, then began marching towards Sector V's treehouse.

"Squad Radical, I could really use some, like, radical news right now," Steve said. He continued marching forward, not noticing Nigel jumping to catch him from behind. Chad suddenly appeared, pulling the child down by his ankle. "I'm down to plan B and half of the dorks haven't even shown up yet."

"Well, we got to the base of their treehouse," was the reply. Steve smiled, oblivious to Chad stumbling up to his side. The blond was about to report his success when Nigel screeched and bull-rushed him from the side. "But the fort's locked down tight. Brats are trying to act like no one's home."

"Well in that case, let's just knock harder," Steve said. While he was busy flipping through the channels, Nigel was coming up from behind madly swinging a piece of pinewood. Before he could connect with Steve, Chad punted him away, chasing after him to beat the boy when he landed. "There we go. Squad Epic, gonna need you teen-up and crack that egg wide open! Feel me?"

"Oh yeah. We feel-wait, what the heck is-"

Steve lifted the communicator away from his ear as an explosion went off. He heard another go off not too far away, and he turned to see a sight he would have to remember to jot down later.

Two of the laser mobiles had been torn to shreds, and the cause of said shredding was currently repeating the same process on the final mobile. The teen manning the mobile abandoned ship as a giant, metallic paw crushed the mobile under its weight.

As the smoke cleared, Steve was greeted to the sight of HIPPIE-HOP roaring into the night.

"Agh! Why do the losers get all the cool giant robots?" Steve asked himself as he covered his ears. "I want a giant robot. 'Cept it would be something cool like a giant dog, or a giant badger. Wait, no, a giant raccoon! Man, raccoons are totally aweso-"

His train of thought was derailed as HIPPIE-HOP landed in front of him. Steve waved away the dust, coughing as he glared into the glowing red-eyes.

"GAME OVER, STEVIE!" was the booming reply. The mech-hare bared her fangs, oil and slick slipping out like drool. "LAST CHANCE TO RUN AWAY!"

The Steve rose a finger. "See, we COULD do that and be all lame. Or, and just hear me out here for a second, we could totally NOT do that, and instead I can, like, blow your mind."

HIPPIE-HOP trembled as an assortment of cannons, rifles, and laser splitters popped from her body, all charging and locking dead on the teenager. "THE ONLY THING GETTING BLOWN AWAY IS YOU!"

"No, no, just watch me for a second," he smirked as he unfastened his jacket from his waist. "I swear this is gonna be awesome."

While it would be far too late for Kuki to understand the full weight of the event she was witnessing, she would go on to be known as one of the rare few that forced The Steve to put on his jacket.

And that was never a good thing, dude.

transmission interrupted