Link has been reestablished. Now Resuming Transmission.

"…and it's not like I ask for the impossible!" Nigel rambled as he paced back and forth. One would think these sorts of situations wouldn't phase the boy anymore, but that one person, whomever they may be, was sorely disappointed every single time. "I just want results like any decent leader. Why can't I ever get results, Numbuh 3?"

"Shush," Kuki said, waving her foam hand at the boy as she stayed transfixed on the screen. "They're finally starting to show the kitties!"

Nigel grit his teeth, fuming as he stomped over to Kuki's station. "Num-buh 3, this situation is far more important than some stupid cats!"

"Not cats, kitties," Kuki corrected. Nigel rose a lecturing finger, preparing to give the girl a very stern talking to, but she squeezed his cheeks together and dragged his face to the screen. "Look!"

"I don't want to look at any-aww," he cooed, his anger melting as the adorable fur-balls pawed around on the television. "Look at it, trying to get in and out of the box-Gah! Focus, Nigel, focus!"

He ripped his head away, writing the girl off as she went back to her commercials. He found himself beginning to growl, and pinched the bridge of his nose as he forced his mind into overtime.

"It's fine. Everything is fine. I can fix this," he reasoned with himself. His eyes flew open and he snapped his fingers. "New plan: I'll go down to the ship, flip the switch myself, and then call you over the communicator to start the broadcast. Do you think you can do that, Numbuh 3?"

Kuki gushed at the screen, oblivious to the world.

"Numbuh 3."

"Huh?" She blinked, looking over her shoulder. Nigel's hands were at his hips, foot tapping with a brow raised expectantly. Kuki fumbled to catch herself, awkwardly laughing to lighten his mood. "Of course, sillyhead! I can totally do…do the thing that is…?"

"Press the start button."

"Press the start button, duh," she scoffed, trying-and failing-to play off her earlier negligence. "It's just one itty bitty little button, how hard could it be?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I thought even Numbuh 4 could do that, but apparently, that's too much to ask for," he grumbled, eyes wandering off the side as dark thoughts clouded his mind. He shook his head, deciding to deal with the boy later. "Whatever. Look, we're short on time, so let me run you through it real quick to be safe."

Nigel went over to the girl, carefully explaining step by step what needed to be done to insure the broadcast went live. So distracted with teaching Kuki basic tech-know-how, he completely missed a dark figure moving across one of the security screens.

"-so all you really have to is simply press this button. Promise me you'll do that?"

"Course I will, Numbuh 1." To prove herself, she snatched the bald boy into a hug, squeezing him with a smile. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye!"

Nigel relaxed a tad, allowing himself a little hope that this mission could be easily salvage. "In that case, I should be on my way."

"Wait, do you think Numbuh 4's alright though?" Kuki asked, concern suddenly welling up inside her. "What if he got hurt?"

Nigel was about to respond, but stopped upon realizing he never considered that himself. He scratched his chin, mind whirling with numerous possibilities, but he shook them off. "Don't worry, Numbuh 3, I'm sure he's fine."

"Are you positive?"

"100% positive."

SMACK!

Kuki ducked behind Nigel as the boy himself whipped out his blaster, safety off. He glared at the window, only to lower his weapon, stunned while Kuki let out a gasp. Wally had smacked right into the window of the commentator's booth, his face awkwardly smooshed against the glass. He slowly opened one eye, and upon seeing his two friends, he gave a weak wave with one of his hands.

The two slowly blinked, waving back slowly as Nigel amended, "60% positive."

Wally then let out a muffled groan as he started to slowly slide down the glass until he slipped out of their sight.

"…you know what? Let's hurry and finish up here then go check up on him just to be on the safe side."

"I'm afraid he's going to have to be a little patient."

Nigel and Kuki tensed, slowly turning to face the voice that sent a collective shiver up their spines. It was then they noticed that the temperature had risen slightly, emanating from the shadow that stood in the doorway. Kuki gulped and Nigel grimaced, not anticipating this turn of events at all.

Father stood in the doorway, his figure imposing as he puffed on his pipe. At his side stood the Delightful Children From Down the Lane, his ever obedient lap-dogs. They all gave sinister grins as they watched the two, but did not move a muscle until Father gave the word. The man himself regarded the youngsters before him and swished the pipe between his teeth before speaking again.

"I'm sorry to say that you two trespassers won't be going anywhere anytime soon." He paused, his eyes traveling upwards in thought. "Well, not that sorry."

"Father," Nigel hissed, keeping his weapon steady, yet making sure he stayed a fair distance back. He cursed himself for coming in this under-armed. He hadn't come prepared for a tough fight, much less one with Father himself. He then remembered the man wasn't alone, and greeted the other children with a snarl. "And I see you brought along your little entourage of brown-nosers too."

"Is that anyway to greet your dear old friends, Nigel?" They smiled, stepping forth, but never coming between the two and Father. "It's been quite a long while since we've last seen one another."

"Not long enough if you ask me," he muttered under his breath. "What are you losers doing here?"

Father narrowed his eyes. "Now if anyone should be asking that question, it should be me."

"Well why don't you ask us then-EEP!" Nigel yelped, a spark of flame blasting the floor mere inches from his feet to bits.

The man lifted his smoking finger to his mouth, blowing it off as the Delightfuls snickered behind him. "I am in no mood to be coy with you, boy. You have some nerve trying to defile one of the most sacred days in all of adulthood! Have I ever barged in on your moments of solace and joy for the heck of it?"

Nigel and Kuki shared a look before replying with a hesitant, "Yes."

Father rolled his eyes, popping off another warning shot. "Children, after I've destroyed these brats, remind me to educate the rest of the Kids Next Door on the subject of rhetorical questions; followed by another reminder to promptly destroy the rest of them as well."

The Delightfuls nodded as they scribbled it down in a notepad. "We've already marked it in your planner, Father. May we suggest using eradicate instead? It sounds much more painful."

"Such diligent little minions," he said, wiping a proud tear from his eye. "They grow heartless so fast."

"Aw, you guys are clearly having a moment," Kuki sweetly tried to dissuade, swinging around Nigel, and gently pushing the boy towards the exit. "Why don't we give you some alone time so you can-AAH!"

Father chuckled, firing off another round. The mirth he felt seeing the girl jump was priceless. "That is way more entertaining than it should be."

Nigel growled, ripping the VIDEOTAPE from the wall as he addressed Father. "If you're done tormenting my friend, then can we please get to the point? I'm quite busy destroying your subliminal messaging campaign, and would rather have this finished by dinner time."

Father raised a brow. "Subliminal messaging campaign?"

"It's too late to play dumb, Father. I have you all figured out," Nigel spoke, staring the adult down. "Every year you force these inane super bowl ads down our throats, brainwashing us into buying mushy carrots, green beans, and broccoli. Well no more! The Kids Next Door will shut down your evil corporate agenda once and for all!"

"…oh drat, you've found me out," Father said sheepishly, making hand motions behind his back to his children. The Delightfuls quickly caught on, and went to scribbling more in their notebook. "Well, too bad it'll never work, because I'm going to fry you brats once and for all!"

"Really? Because all I've been hearing is a lot of empty talk. It's about the only thing you old windbags are good for."

"I'LL SHOW YOU A WINDBAG YOU NO GOOD-wait a second," Father halted his wrath, flames dying down as he pointed to the case in Nigel's hand. "What's that?"

Nigel blinked, looking down at the VIDEOTAPE. He nervously chuckled, hiding it behind his back and quickly stepped into Kuki. "What's what?"

"That thing in your hands."

"What thing in my hands?"

"The thing you just hid behind your back!"

"Behind my back?" Nigel ask, presenting his empty hands. "There's nothing there, see?"

"No, I know what I saw, and I saw something in your hands."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't you play games with me, young man!"

"Games? What games? The only game I see is the soccer game outside."

"Soccer game-oh no, I'm going through that again. You tell Monty that this is AMERICA and in AMERICA we call the gosh-darned sport-"

"Father! Numbuh 3's trying to escape!" The Delightfuls suddenly called out, all pointing towards Kuki who was mere steps away from the exit with the VIDEOTAPE in hand. She turned to glare at the five, and they simply stuck their tongues back at her.

Father fumed, turning back to Nigel upon realizing he had almost been had. "Why you sneaky little-AAH!" He screamed as Nigel shot him, mozzarella blinding him as his hands clawed at his face. "My eyes!"

Seeing her chance, Kuki whipped out her blaster, taking a hip-shot at the Delightfuls and shooting away their booklet. "Our notebook!"

"Run for it!" Nigel pushed Father aside and sprinted towards the door. The Delightfuls tried to block him off, but Kuki reacted quicker, kicking the five away and trailing closely behind Nigel as they made to exit the booth.

Just as they were about to breach the threshold, a shadow slithered underneath them. It quickly shot upwards, two hands forming and gripping the shocked operatives by the scruff of their sweaters. Nigel and Kuki looked up to see the shadow taking the form of Father, the stench of bubbling mozzarella cheese greeting their noses as it sizzled away. The man's face became clear of the gunk, and the two were privy to his furious scowl.

"You know, I don't ask for much," he began, ignoring how the two tried to squirm out of his grasp. "The occasional groveling, you brats to line up-single file-in front of a delightfulization chamber; hardly anything at all. Yet when I decide I just want a nice day off to enjoy America's greatest pastime, that's suddenly asking for too much!"

"Um," Kuki mumbled, "I think you're talking about the wrong sport."

"Kuki, dear, don't interrupt your elders; it's rude," he scolded before turning his attention to Nigel. "As for you, my insufferable nephew, any last words before I turn you into the world's first one-kid firework display?"

Nigel's eyes frantically searched the room, looking for anything that could aid in their escape. Just when he was about to accept his trip to the big treehouse in the sky, his eyes landed on Kuki's foam finger.

"Well Father, it appears you've finally –NUMBUH 3! WHAT'S THAT?"

Kuki gasped as she suddenly snapped her arm out. "Where!?"

BAP!

"SON OF A DOODIE!"

"Run!" Nigel shouted, dragging Kuki down the hall the second Father lost his hold. The man himself rubbed at his face where he had been slapped. He looked in his hand, seeing that the kids had escaped. Furious, he morphed into a fiery bolt and shot off after the two, his Delightful Children not far behind.

Once it became quiet, Nick and Chip poked their heads out from behind the couch. The portly boy adjusted his glasses, fearfully searching the room for any signs of the villains. "Are they gone?"

"I think so," Nick slowly answered. He then stepped out, his friend following him. The boy then took stock of the room, the screens showing nothing but static, keyboards and recording instruments strewn to the floor. Finally, he looked at the two adults stilled entrapped in cheese, one of whom was his own dad.

"First the KND shows up, now Father-this day has officially gone crazy!" He then looked to the commentator seats, the headsets and mics still operational. He then turned to Chip with a curious glance. "Wanna commentate on it?"

"I'd thought you'd never ask!"

"Numbuh 1," Kuki cried, still being dragged along by her leader as they ran down the hall. "You almost made me drop my foam finger!"

Nigel rolled his eyes, not slowing in the slightest. "Numbuh 3 now's not the time to-"

"GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"Run faster!" Nigel screamed as fireballs flew past them. He looked over his shoulder, nearly wetting himself as the blazing shadow of Father streaked after them. He then yelped, Kuki making a sudden left and pulling him with her. Father slammed into the wall, shaking the foundation before burning a path after the children.

The Delightful Children followed on his heels, wincing and hopping on their feet as they tried to avoid the hot magma pits Father had left in his wake.

Nigel and Kuki were nearly out of breath, but pressed on. They smiled as they saw an exit, but their relief was replaced by terror as an inky-like vortex overtook them, forming into Father as he raised two giant flaming fists. Acting quickly, Nigel kicked against the wall, activating his jet-boots and flying back down the hall, grabbing Kuki with him and nearly dodging the massive shock-wave as Father attacked.

Coming around the corner were the tuckered group of Delightfuls, leaning against the wall to catch their breaths. They shook off their exhaustion, then took a confident step forward to continue the chase. That's when Nigel and Kuki rocketed through them, the five children scattering to the wind like bowling ball pins.

Nigel flew down the hallway, one of Kuki's arm around his neck while the other held on to the VDEIOTAPE. The bald boy fumbled in his pockets, awkwardly trying to call in for support. "Numbuh 5, come in! We have a code: WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! Class F!"

"Run by me again how this helps us find Numbuh 4?"

"Can't be afraid to ask around," Hoagie said confidently, leaning against counter. "These guys have eyes and ears everywhere.

Abby folded her arms, looking up to the man in question with a highly critical gaze. She settled on shaking her head, leaning against the wall as she went back to keeping an eye on the crowd. "Yeah right."

"You'll see," Hoagie said before turning to the man. "Excuse me, sir. Have you seen a friend of mine? About yay tall, blond hair, little on the scrawny side and claims to know how to spell Minnesota with an X?"

"Sorry kid, ain't seen anyone like that."

"That's a shame. Well, since I'm here, can I get an order of chili dogs: extra sloppy with a side of mustard, hold the onions?"

Abby's hand lifted to her cap, ready to rip into the boy, but decided against it. Not worth it. She then grumbled, fingers tapping against her arm as she kept studying the crowd. The game was back in full swing, and with how everyone was moving around, it would be next to impossible to finding Wally in this chaos. They were pretty sure he had landed somewhere on this side of the stadium, but they hadn't seen a sign of him yet.

"Will you hurry it up? We gotta find Numbuh 4 before Numbuh 1 starts chewing us out again," Abby sighed, suddenly reminded that they hadn't heard back from Nigel either. But given how the mission was going, she would like to avoid further conversation with him for as long as she could. "And could ya at least get Numbuh 5 a milkshake?"

"-for the love of gum, Numbuh 5, ANSWER ME!"

Abby flinched, fumbling with the communicator before finally responding to her leader's call. Speak of the devil. "Uh, Numbuh 5 here. Listen boss, we haven't found Numbuh 4 yet but we're getting pretty-"

"CODE: WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Abby lifted away the communicator from her ear as Nigel screeched and an explosion went off in the background. "CLASS F! I REPEAT: CLASS –zztztzzz."

Abby's eyes widened in horror as the signaled die. "Oh no. Numbuh 2, we gotta go; Father's here!"

The boy nearly choked on his food, turning to her with a stricken expression and three chili dogs stuffed in his mouth. "Famthmph hmre!?"

"Yes! Now come on!" she shouted, grabbing the milkshake the vendor sat down as she and Hoagie took off down into the stands.

"Hey! You kids didn't pay for that!" the vendor protested, shaking his fists in the air. He then tumbled back as a barrage of quarters pelleted him in the face.

Further inside, Nigel and Kuki had stumbled their way into one of teams' locker rooms. The odor of sweaty gym socks and sports cream was almost overwhelming, but at this point, anything was preferable than facing the full extent of Father's fury. The two lowered their heads, muffling their steps best they can as they moved about. As they reached the far end of the room, Nigel hugged the lockers, keeping a look out while Kuki slid down to the floor.

"I'm pooped," she sniffled, her legs burning; from either fatigue or Father's pot-shots-she wasn't too sure. Probably both for all she knew. She cradled the VIDEOTAPE case, looking up to her leader for guidance. Nigel would get them out of this mess; he always did. "Did we lose him?"

"Yes," Nigel whispered, not seeing a scorch mark or third degree burn in sight. "I think we gave him the slip."

"You sure about that, kiddo?"

Nigel sucked in air through his teeth, twisting around to see Kuki cowering under the mass of Father's posture. The man had his arms crossed, staring down at them with malice written all in his body language.

"H-Hello, Father."

"Hello, kids," he smiled, raising his hands to produce a swirling blade of flame. "Goodbye, kids."

SNAP!

"YEOW!" Father yelped as something cracked against his backside. The man rubbed at his stinging hindquarters, turning to decimate the newcomer while Nigel and Kuki took the chance to slip away. "What was that for!?"

Hoagie chuckled, rolling up his towel again as he prattled off. "Couldn't help myself. Your butt's gotten so big, it was like hitting the broadside of a whale."

"T-That's not nice," Father shot back, checking his figure self-consciously. "Sure, I may be hitting the Rocky Road a little bit more often, but it's only because you whipper-snappers put me under so much stress!"

"In that case, if you need to exercise, allow me to whip you back into shape!" Hoagie threw his arm back, attempting to crack the towel against Father again. The man's hand simply snapped out and caught it, the item fizzling away in his grip. Hoagie blinked, then gave a nervous chuckle as he reached into his pocket, producing a half-eaten frank. "Uh, chili dog?"

Father's fists enveloped in flame as he rose them. "No thanks."

"Then how 'bout a milkshake, sucka!"

A vanilla milkshake was thrown in his face, sending him off-balance. Hoagie jutted out his leg, tripping up Father and sending him falling back into one of the open lockers. Abby quickly ran up, kicked the door shut, and used her blaster to seal the lock. Nodding towards Hoagie, the two made a break for it, meeting Nigel and Kuki near the entrance before running deeper into the stadium.

"I swear on my Pappi's name that when I find you brats you'll be in for A WORLD OF-hey, is this Clayton Fanning's locker?" Sounds of ruffling slipped through the cracks before Father 'hummed' in amusement. "Get out of here! Wonder if I can get him to sign something for me…"

-/-/-/-/-

Transmission Interrupted