...Made Him...

Dizzy. So very, nauseatingly dizzy. Ugh, it was a bad idea to eat all that ice cream before coming here. Where was here? She couldn't bring herself to recall at the exact moment. That and her back felt super sore. Like she had been slammed into metal. But why would she be slammed into metal? When did she get slammed into metal?

And when did the sky get so red. And fuzzy. Wait …

Her hand rose, at least what she hoped was her hand, to grab around at her face. Yep. Something was on it. Her fingers got a firm grip then gently pulled the object away form her dark pupils. She winced at the afternoon sun. Way too orange, but it didn't stop her. The thing was far away from her face to see it was a red hat. Her red hat. The one her sister gave back when…well there's really no point into getting into that right now.

Abby slowly sat up from where ever she was and scanned her surroundings. She lifted her right arm up to glance at what she was sitting on. The slide. The was part of the playground. She was at the playground. Well, what was left of it anyway. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as she took in the destruction around her. Scratch that last statement, she wasn't sure if any of the playground was left. Misshapen craters were scattered about here and there, the sea-saw was in splinters, the monkey bars were broken and bent in a fashion similar to a silly straw, and then there were children covered in speckles of dirt, crying that their play area was ruined.

It was…horrible. The young girl found herself cringing at the sight of it. This was a kid's worst nightmare! What sort of monster would do such a thing. Abby knitted her brows in thought as she practically banged at her skull to get her memory working. Suddenly she froze as it all came back. A monster didn't do this. It was five little monsters.

The Delightful Children From Down The Lane!

Abby growled as her fists clinched and trembled. Those uptight freaks did this! They their dad build up the playground just so they could tear it back down and laughed while they tormented other kids. The whole battle was replaying itself. She told Nigel to stay put, and charged ahead to stall until backup arrived. Everything was going smoothly until she accidentally latched onto one of the merry-go-rounds. That was when they flung her aside like nothing and probably planned on finishing her while she was incapacitated.

Suddenly her brows shot up as she thought of that last sentence. If they were going to get rid of her, then why was she still here? The dark-skinned girl placed her cap on its rightful place atop her scalp and frantically looked around to see where the Delightfuls had ran off to. A rumble and more dirt balls flying made her look to the left. When she saw the scene she did a double take. The Delightfuls were still here in that menacing machine. But it wasn't the five spoiled brats who had her attention. It was the kid fighting them. Nigel.

Abby's jaw unhinged as she watched the kid scramble about. He ducked and rolled in an unprofessional manner, his untrained sloppiness shining. The boy was making use of the G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A and blindly firing when he had an opening. The sector leader couldn't believe it. His form was flawed, he was handling the weapon all wrong. He probably had no earthly idea what he was doing. But even with all that, he was somehow... winning?

The Delightfuls snarled as a merry-go-round aimed straight for the annoying twerp, only to hold themselves from ripping their hair out when he got out of the way. This was embarrassing! Here they were putting Father's new mech to its full capacity and they still couldn't land a blow on this pesky untrained brunette. It was an outrage, a disgrace! They took down Numbuh 5 no problem, but now some little coward had them on the ropes? They were at a level of anger they had never reached before.

The short blond gripped the lever, his knuckles turning white. He reared back his arm and slammed forward wanting to end this punk once and for all. "Hold, STILL!"

Nigel snapped his head up as he heard them roar. He quickly stepped back to avoid the blow, but tripped on a nearby rock. He panted as he hit the ground, but didn't let it deter him. He flung up the G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A and fired. "Make me!" He yelled as the gumballs flew.

The sweet chewy candy went everywhere. Despite Nigel's sudden rush of bravery, he still couldn't dismiss the fact he didn't know how to properly wield 2x4 technology. With their protective glass broken, any normal operative would've taken the fore down before they could recover. Nigel had tried that, but the weapon's strong recoil scrambled his targeting sense. But the child pressed on nonetheless.

But he did have an ace up his sleeve. While he was lacking skill, the Delightfuls were lacking in focus. The fact they were on the verge of defeat by some worthless nobody had angered them to insane levels. Their calm and control aura had already been tested to its limits by Numbuh 5's taunts. But this? You could almost see the smoke spouting from their ears. So blinded by fury, it was no surprise the children were facing such slip-ups.

"Ah!" The five gasped in surprise as Nigel suddenly rounded on them. The wild volley of gumballs caused a wave of panic to overcome them and their hands fumbled with the controls. The metal limbs flailed about and they could not raise them to defend themselves in time. So as gumballs came closing in on them, they clenched their eyes such and waited.

BAP! BAP! SPLAT! BAP!

"OWW!" They all cried as the candy hit them hard. They could feel the bruises on their skin, and soreness following. But they still managed to stand. Nigel had stopped his fire to try and find out to reload, so the Delightfuls took the moment to take in the damage. They felt all gooey and sticky and looked down at their bodies to... "AAAAHHHH!" They screamed as they viewed the horror.

The absolute horror that had befell them.

"O-Our clothes." They whispered in out of sync terror as they glanced down. Their clean, neat, and shapely dresses and suits were ruined! Gum stuck to them like glue all over their ties and skirts. The more they tired to get it off, the messier it became. They were nearly in tears. Father had brought these for them. But even with that tragedy, it wasn't the worst of the damage.

They five glanced up to share a look with each other, but then their eyes bulged as they screamed bloody murder. "OUR HAIR!" Indeed. Bubblegum had got stuck all in their locks. The tangles, the stickiness, the never ending split ends. I need no description for that. All of the Delightfuls just gaped like fish out of water.

Except for Lenny. He just crossed his arms and huffed. That's what they got for making fun of his helmet. Who was laughing now?

The Delightfuls' (Exempting Lenny) faces contorted into a look of pure unadulterated hatred. Their forms trembled, their teeth snarled, their brows knitted, their faces colored red, and their eyes glowered down at Nigel who was just now looking back up. "You." They hissed as their glare petrified the Brit. "You'll PAY for this." They gritted as they reared up both merry-go-rounds, the weapon charging and being spun dangerously past their limitations. "YOU'LL PAY!"

"!" Nigel made a surprised noise as he fumbled with the switch on the G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. Why wasn't the stupid thing working? But it was too late, for the merry-go-rounds came crashing down. Cutting his losses, the boy screamed as he jumped out of the way. He barely made it, but at the cost of his only weapon, it being crushed as the merry-go-rounds tunneled into the ground. He landed with a plop, but his gauntlet wasn't over. The earth under him crumbled and he instinctively rolled away as a merry-go-round came barreling upwards. Knowing there was one more, he jumped to the side as the second one tried to deliver its own twirling uppercut. His eye searched for something to assist him, but then the earth tumbled again as he lost his balance. The Delightfuls jerked the metal tentacles from the ground not caring if part of them was still buried. The force caused the ground to cave in on itself and it crumbled away into a trench, Nigel falling down in it.

The Brit quickly got up and wiped all the soil from his clothes and hair. Man, his mom was going to kill him! But he didn't have time to think on that as another merry-go-round landed right beside of him. "YAAH!" He shrieked as it graced his shirt. He placed a hand to his pounding heart and placed his other arm down on something as he caught his breath. "Whew! That was...close?" He uttered frighteningly as he slowly looked down to see what his hand had gripped onto. His pupils shrunk and his glasses nearly fell off.

He had held on to the metal limb. But before he could yank his arm away, the tentacle was swung back into the air with him on it as the Delightfuls reeled him in.

Nigel's other hand joined the first one as he gripped for dear life. His body was being carried into the air and he clenched his lids shut as he waited for it to end. Movement halted and he opened his eyes when he heard five evil little chortles coming from his front.

"What do we have here?" The Delightfuls giggled as they reveled in the Brit's fear. "Looks like we caught ourselves a chicken." They taunted. A look of sadistic glee overcame their expression as they rose the other merry-go-round up and pointed it at the hanging kid. Its spin was sickeningly hypnotizing as Nigel watched the weapon twirl. He broke out in cold sweat as he predicted what they would do with it. He was right on the money as they began to laugh insanely. "Let's see if you can still run around after we TAKE YOUR HEAD OFF!" They proclaimed, overcome by anger at what Nigel did to them.

Untidy attire plus Delightful Children, equals homicidal maniacs apparently.

Nigel went numb as the weapon came towards him. His fear caused his hands to slacken, and he let go of the tentacle he was hanging off of in the nick of time. The boy was saved by lady luck yet again, and the woman wasn't finished. The Delightfuls failed to abort their strike, so the merry-go-round kept charging forth until it cut right through the other tentacle. Sparks crackled and wires spasmed as the limb was cut in two. The end with the still spinning merry-go-round crashed into the ground, and its rotation caused it roll off like a wheel. It dug a crude path into the ground as it zigged and zagged until it crashed into a nearby tree. The oak creaked and bent over the totaled merry-go-round, slowly trying to reach the ground as gravity built up around it.

The Delightfuls stared blankly at the destruction they had brought to their own machine. They then turned to Nigel in a slow, eerie manner. "Congratulations." They mockingly praised as their tank centered fully on him, the remaining merry-go-round twirling so fast you could hear it. "You have officially evoked our full wrath!" They raged as they charged yet again.

With no weapon, and no other options, Nigel did the only thing he could do in a situation like this. He put those legs of his to good use and hightailed it outta there. He ran in circles, squares, whatever shape you could think of, but he still couldn't shake those freaks. The boy ducked every so often to make sure they didn't keep good on their threat to take his head off. He made a quick right and looked back to see that they failed to make a sharp a turn as he did. Yes! Now he just had to find a way too-

"WHOA!" His foot caught underneath something and the Brit fell flat on his face. With a groan, he propped himself up, his other hand feeling around for his fallen glasses. Once he re-obtained the specs, he quickly slapped them on and looked up. It was the tree the torn merry-go-round had rammed into. His gaze lowered to the still twirling tentacle swinging around. That what must have tripped him up. "Of all the stupid..." He trailed off as his frustration was replaced with fear as a large shadow loomed over him. His blood ran cold as he turned to face the grins of five deviants. "C-Crud!"

"Crud indeed, you brat!" The Delightfuls chuckled as their features darkened. "You've ruined our outfits, our machine, and our villainous debut! But your luck has finally run out boy, and it's high time we got some poetic justice!" The exclaimed as they raised the merry-go-round for one last spin. "So long loser, it's been delightful!"

Back at the slide, Abby's eyes widened in horror. If she didn't do something, Nigel was done for. The girl managed to get to her feet, but then pain and weariness from earlier slowed her efforts severely. She trudged through the ruble, but it would do no good. She wouldn't make it in time!

Nigel sat frozen as the merry-go-round came closer and closer. This was how he was gonna go huh? Well then it sucked. He wasn't even eight-years-old. Besides, he didn't want to be buried under some old falling at the seems oak tree. Honestly, the thing looked like it would give if someone gave it as much as a... The Brit gave off a cocky smirk he would soon be famous for.

The Delightfuls arched a brow, but paid it no mind. "Enjoy your meaningless smile. It'll be the last one you'll ever have." They grinned themselves as the merry-go-round was practically hovering over the brunette. "Any last words?"

"Just one." Nigel suddenly reared back his legs, and gave the tipping oak a swift kick at its weak point. "TIMBER!"

"Timber? What the heck is that supposed to-"

CRACK!

The five snapped to the source of the sound and looked on astounded as the oak toppled right over there machine. "AAAAHH!" Their wail was cut short as the oak smashed the wooden sand-box tank into into nothing more than a pile of splinters. Smoke erupted as something fell out of the front, and as it cleared, it was shown to be the Delightfuls. Their uniforms were blacken by smog, covered in sticky gum, and they sat on the verge of tears.

It wasn't fair! They were the most well behaved children in the entire world. They weren't supposed to lose! But sadly, for them anyway, they did indeed lose. Father would be most unsatisfied with their performance.

And since they lost, that could only mean that Nigel,

"I...I won?" Nigel asked himself in a quiet voice. Not quite believing it himself. His hand shot up to wipe off hiss glasses and looked around him. Sand-box tank thingy crushed. Check. Merry-go-rounds disabled along with new found fear of said ride. Check. And five smoking, crying, evil, gum covered children. Check. Yep, he won. "I won." He reaffirmed, a bit louder and a smile creeping up the corners of his mouth.

Finally, he laughed and jumped up into the air. "YEAH! In your faces delightful creeps!" He taunted, laughing even harder at the five's weak glare. "That's right, you lost and I won. Ya wanna know why? Because I'm that awesome! Yeah, who's the losers now? Huh? Huh? Not me!" He went on, bragging over his first victory. The boy stood up straight and proudly stated the fact again. "You dorks just got your preppy butts handed to you. Courtesy of-"

"Nigel!" He jumped a bit at the call of his name, but just as quickly calmed down when Abby finally reached his side. Her hands moved behind her back, and she girt her teeth as pushed it back into place with a crack. After that was done, she turned to check over her brunette. "Are you CRAZY? Takin' on them creeps by yo'self! You al'ight?"

"Alright? I'm better than alright. Look Abby, I won!" He exclaimed excitedly as he pointed to wreckage of the Delightfuls tank. "I beat those guys. Me!"

The dark-skinned girl rose up the rim of her cap as she took in the sight herself. "Yea... you... won." She said with a certain gauge of surprise. She knew her friend had it in him, but to beat the Delightful Children. The girl made a noise of approval as she took her hat off fully, it and her hands traveling hips. "You really did beat 'em."

"Yeah I know!" Nigel nodded as he let it get to him. "It happened all so fast. It... It was..."

"Terrifying?"

"Fun!" He answered vigorously, shocking Abby. "I mean sure, it was terrifying. But in a good way! My heart was racing, blood pumping. Ah, it was all just so cool and thrilling!" He laughed. "Did you see me out there?" He asked as he held his arms up and moved his body around in a agile like fashion. "I was like a-"

"An untrained young gun." Abby finished as she regarded Nigel. While she was proud of her companion, she didn't want to let this victory go to his head. Not if his earlier comments were to go by. "You need some heavy work, boy."

Nigel waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Cadet camp and all that, but I'm sure with a little tuning I could-"

"Nigel, you didn't have any idea what you were doing!" Abby interrupted. "Your lucky ya didn't go and get yourself killed!"

"I beat them, didn't I?"

Abby sighed before she began a lecture. "Honestly Nigel, ya got lucky." She started as she waved her hat around while she explained. "The Delightfuls were so angry, that they were making mistakes. Had they been in their right minds, they woulda taken you down easily. They would have never chop off dey own limb, and if that tree hadn't been right there, then you woulda been buried!"

Nigel gaped at Abby words. Here he thought she would be proud of him for stepping up to them. Thankful that he risked his life to save her's. But here she was trying to downplay everything he did just now. Who exactly beat the Delightful Children? He did. He beat them while they knocked her- His eyes widened in realization before they settled into a frown. "Oh, I see." He rattled as he folded his arms. "You're just jealous!"

"WHAT?"

"You heard me! You're jealous because I beat them when you couldn't! I succeeded where you failed and it makes you mad."

Abby just stared at the boy with an emotionless look. Finally her lips crinkled into a frown and her eyes narrowed. "Are you outta your...!" Her face lit with alarm as she caught something moving behind the Brit. She dropped her hat and leapt forward to tackle him down. "Look out!"

The kids went down as a laser beam flew over their heads. They looked on the where the energy traveled, then back to where it originated from. There standing after finally coming to their senses, were the gummed up Delightful Children, only they didn't look so delightful. Not saying that they ever did. "You good for nothing idiots!" The children berated as they kept their laser trained on them. "You ruined everything! Our clothes, our hair, our mech, our playground! You won't stop until you've demolished everything! You rotten Kids Next Door!"

Abby stood up despite the laser and scoffed at her foes. "Yea right. You fools ain't got no one ta blame but yo'selves. It was either all or nuthin for you. If couldn't have this playground then no one could."

"Quiet you!" The Delightfuls growled as they took a step up. "We're not leaving without something to show for all of this!"

Nigel rose his fist up and snarled. "Bring it on creeps. I beat you once, I can do it a second time if you'd like!" He threatened while Abby silently rolled her eyes.

The Delightfuls glared at that. Even though they would have normally shrugged that off, it would do them no good here. That stupid little twit had destroyed their machine, messed up their handsome good looks and would brag about it. They wanted to do something, but with Numbuh 5 back up and the only thing keeping the two back being the tiny laser they had... They wanted to take something. Anything that could- They jumped in surprise when the girl on the left stepped on something. She rose her foot up to reveal, a hat. A red hat. Grinning, the Delightfuls picked it up and held it up for all to see. "Now what do we have here?"

Abby's eyes widened as her hands shot to her scalp. When she felt nothing, she yelled. "That's MY hat!"

"You mean OUR hat!" The five giggled as they took the cap into their pockets. "You made us destroy our playground, and now you've made us want to destroy your precious headgear." They grinned as they began stepping back. "Yes. We shall be perfectly sated by watching it burn."

Abby looked at them as they retreated with a depressing aura overcoming her. "No." That was her hat. That hat was the only thing she had left to remember her sister for who she used to be. Her foot moved to try and stop them, but the threat of being shot at kept them at bay.

"This isn't over Kids Next Door!" The Delightful vented as Lenny pressed a button on his wrist. A round metal platform grew out from their shoes and began to levitate into the air. "We'll make sure you pay for this!" Their look then hardened as they centered in on Nigel. "Especially, you." The five dirty children said nothing more as they retreated off into the horizon, taking Abby's prized hat with them.

Nigel stood beside his friend, a bit shaken by the Delightfuls' attention to him. But then the Brit shook it off and tried to pull at the girl's shoulder. "Come on! We can't just let them get away!"

"We can't do anything now!" Abby grounded out as she slapped his hand away. Her hands then rose up and motioned to the area around them. "Look around you Nigel! Do you see what they did? If they did all this with one machine, then think of what they have back at their home."

"So that's it? You're just going to give up?" Nigel questioned bewildered. He had never been around Abby when she acted this serious. But he didn't understand why she was acting so serious on the first place. There was just five of them. If they both went after them now, then they could surely get Abby's hat back. "We can't just let them win!"

"Do you think this is a game?" Abby fussed as she turned on him. "I don't think you understand how serious this is, boy!"

"How hard could it be?"

"Agrrh!" The girl felt like ripping her ebony hair out. Nigel just wasn't getting how risky this whole thing was. He was still too hung over from his victory. Now he thought he could do anything. Finally, she just huffed as she marched right past him. "Abby don't have time for dis crud." She muttered.

"Hey!" Nigel exclaimed surprised. "Where are you going?

"To the treehouse." The dark-skinned kid answered as she kept walking. "Abby's got ta report these new villains to the moonbase."

"You're just going to report them? What about your hat?"

"It's as good as ashes now."

"But if we both went and-"

Abby had had enough of Nigel's arguments. The afternoon had got to her and she finally decided to let it out. "The both of us couldn't do a thing against them! We would get blasted the moment we walked in there because you and yo' cocky attitude would get in Abby's way!"

Nigel's retort died the moment he heard that. His hand slowly lowered and he just stared at his friend's back. His mouth opened and closed for a few minutes. Not believing it. Is that what she thought of him? An annoyance. "So that's it huh?" He questioned with a frown. "You don't think I can do it?"

The sector leader sighed before she turned to her friend. "We got lucky today. That's it." Abby looked back down the path and continued on, shaking her head. "You're just one kid, Nigel. You can't do it this time."

The Brit said nothing as he watched his friend exit the park. Leaving him there alone. The air began to chill as evening rolled in. The streetlamps flickered to life but Nigel was still there. They got lucky. Was that it? He was only one kid. He was always that one kid. That one kid who couldn't do anything.

"No." He uttered defiantly. His fist clenched as he gazed out to where he last saw the Delightfuls. "I'm tried of always lagging behind. This time is different. I'll show them. I'll prove to them what just one kid can do." He proclaimed, repeating his words from earlier. "I'm going to get that hat back. I'll get it and kick those Delightful dorks' butts once and for all!" He yelled to the stars as his fist shot into the air. The Brit adjusted his glasses and walked to his house to prepare for a trip to the Delightful Mansion Dane The Lane.

Never let it be said that Nigel Uno wasn't stubborn and reckless. And never let it be said that it didn't cost him.

Two updates in one day! Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. One more long chapter to go. R&R!

Later.