Codename Kids Next Door: Children of Cleveland

Chapter 1: Meet Sector Z

Bruce Lombardi was short, but not stout; he was blue-eyed and handsome but he was not vain; and he was young, but not so naïve as most adults would assume this to be a trait of a young child. He knew things that most people didn't know. He knew things that some children his age didn't know; most importantly he knew things that most adults did not know. Bruce knew how long it would actually take for a person to actually reach the moon and how to get there as quickly as possible. He even knew how to make it to Mars in two days; that was superior to the methods regular astronauts would use, for they were slow while he was quick. He knew how to decode encrypting codes, and how to fly a makeshift airplane that had the exterior made simply from hard wood and old rusty iron. He was a proficient reader, he knew a little Italian, and he knew a little Japanese, and he could say "Screw you" in Esperanto to any random adult passing by on the streets who would assume that he was just some crazy kid speaking gibberish. Yes, and Bruce was very versatile, and his body was nimble, because he was flexible and had the energy of a five-year-old. Once he had even rescued a five-year-old, who was stuck inside a sewer, and ever since that day he had been deemed a hero by the townspeople, and he was thanked by the Mayor of Cleveland for his heroic efforts. Bruce felt good about what he did that day. In fact, that day was one of the many days he had actually saved the life of a mere child. Rescuing children was his job, it was his secret occupation; it was what he lived for and what he promised to do for the rest of his life. Bruce was not the only child who did this almost everyday, no; there were many children like Bruce who dedicated their lives to helping children and protecting them from the snares of vicious adults. These elders who these children saw everyday walking among the population of normal innocent people were child-haters. They were terrifying, and vile, and had such wanton desires to do things with children that were to simply put it, "just plain wrong". These adults were the corrupt corporate officials, the kidnappers, the abusers, the child-molesters, the rapists, the ones who would feed on the innocence of a small kindergartener or fourth-grader. It was Bruce's job, and the job of other children to fight these monsters that walked around in suits and glared at grade-schoolers playing and having fun at recess, while they sat in their car and plotted vengeance. He was actually a part of a group of children, no, an organization of children who kept a watchful eye on these "adults". Bruce lead one of the many groups affiliated with this big organization that spanned across the globe, and he was considered one of their best operatives; for Bruce was not just a member of the group he lead, he was the leader of sector Z, the backbone of an organization known as The Kids Next Door.

Now Bruce was not the not the only child who often deserved such mentioning of his heroic deeds. He had four other friends of his who he considered to be his most valuable and endearing companions. First off, there was the girl who was one of his closest friends, Ashley Erica Arota. She was a tall, blond, jubilant young girl with a bubbling and slightly eccentric personality that always filled the people around with both curiosity and amazement. Although she often appeared somewhat strange and ditzy, and overzealous about almost everything, this was simply a guise to hide her true demeanor. Whenever she went on missions that bubbly, ditzy young girl would disappear and be replaced by a competent, focused young girl with an eerie-looking glare that she always used when up against her foes. She was quite intelligent, and when others failed to see the meaning behind the result the most devastating, and cumbersome situations, she would think and often come to a conclusion that such things were probably a blessing in disguise, or just not needed to be further taken care of. She also had excellent fighting skills, able to hold her own in a battle of twenty seven villains in one fight. Flexible and nimble was she, who also loved to bend over backwards until her toes reached the floor while her legs hovered over her back as he would bend down to touch the floor with her stomach when doing yoga exercises. Another prized attribute of hers was her incredible strength. Ashley could lift a simple SUV and throw it across the streets if she wanted to. Despite the fact that she was a strong girl, she often used a weapon to defend herself in battle, her umbrella. This was no ordinary umbrella that she used. In fact, it was an all-purpose umbrella. She could use it as a sword to jab the stomachs of her enemies, or have it expand and turn it upside down to use it as a boat and sail through a body of water; she mostly loved using her umbrella for flying. Attached to it was a miniature propeller that would blow big gust of wind under the umbrella as she held the handle, and suddenly she would be soaring in the sky like Mary Poppins. She had a bit of a liking for her friend Bruce, among all of them he was the one whom she talked to most about her past and present-day worries. Sometimes he would come into his room at night and they would just talk for an hour before she would leave the room to go bed. Bruce admired her beauty and the way she would look at him with those soft innocent green-eyes whenever he was around her. She was so quirky too, always doing the strangest things and wearing the most –interesting fashion. Her daytime clothes often consisted of tie-dye shirts, and a matching vest, and bell-bottomed jeans with fringed edges; she wore a loose necklace around her neck, and she always wore open-toed sandals. She did not consider herself a "shoe-person". The other children at school sometimes whispered to each other, saying her retro fashion sense made her look like a hippie. But she didn't care; she felt that if they didn't understand or like how she acted or what she wore, it was something to be completely proud of, for she valued uniqueness.