Two
In all honesty, Lenny thought he would be used to seeing his friends delightfulized by now, numb to the shock of seeing his friends as zombies. But, apparently, that's not just something you can brush off in a few hours.
Somewhere beneath those unnerving, ice blue eyes were his friends. They could see him through whatever peephole the hive mind allowed them, he just knew it. They had to know that he was acting on his own accord. So maybe, just maybe, that would give them hope, the power to resist their overbearing delightfulization…
Lenny would be lying if he said he wasn't discreetly looking for out of sync movements like his. He just held onto a vague hope that maybe his sector could miraculously overcome the effects of the Delightfulization Chamber. However, the satisfaction of such reality never came.
Throughout the entire mission, right to the very moment they sauntered down the lane to their glorious mansion, the Delightful Children were just that: delightful. And it was awful.
Lenny sighed to himself, shaking his head to clear out his wishful thoughts. He had bigger fish to fry.
As soon as the Delightful Children were in their beds, sound asleep for their after mission nap, Lenny slowly untucked his covers. He tried, he really did, to focus on the mission instead of the Delightful Children, but he couldn't stop himself from looking back.
When they were all snuggled up in their covers, they almost looked normal again. A sense of determination and revenge rush through him.
I will get you guys back, no matter what it takes, he thought before quickly dashing out of the room.
Lenny rushed down the stairs as quietly as possible. After a mission report from the Delightfuls, Father always retreated to his office, so for now, Lenny was safe. He ran as fast as he possibly could to the garage…
…which was much bigger than he remembered it. Perhaps it was because he was there alone. He glanced around at the different vehicles and technologies that were just sitting in the garage, waiting to strike against the Kids Next Door.
"Sure would be a shame if a little birdy tipped off the KND about this place, huh?" Lenny mumbled to himself as he analyzed the jets, chuckling.
All of the jets in the garage were, much to his dismay, very large. Ferocious attachments were wedged on to make them look terrifying, though their sheer size would likely make an unsuspecting kid wet their pants on sight. There was no way he was getting one of these out of here without disrupting the entire mansion.
Sighing, Lenny climbed into the smallest jet he could find, trying his best to mute the sound of his shoes clambering against the metal. He plopped down in a ginormous seat meant for five, gingerly grabbing hold of the controls. It had been forever since he'd flown a jet, on his own, at least…
"Now or never," he mumbled, turning on the engine.
The jet roared to life, creating obnoxious rumblings that spread throughout the entire garage. The turbulence was strong. Clenching the controls tighter, Lenny thrusted the fuel lever forward, causing the jet to immediately crash through the garage door and soar upwards into the sky.
And, of course, Lenny took this experience like the true Kids Next Door operative he was and screamed like a banshee.
It took all of his strength to dominate the controls of the jet before it spiralled out of control, especially since he was trying to do the work of five as one, but he managed to stabilize the aircraft. He refused to let himself get caught like this, not when he was so close to escaping, not when he was one step closer to potentially saving his friends.
And just like that, he was on a course to leave the atmosphere. Lenny gave a huff of relief, relaxing his grip on the controls ever so slightly.
And I haven't even gotten to the hard part yet, he thought dejectedly.
His journey was heading towards the stars, and it was nowhere near over.
The Moonbase creeped into sight, and geez, it had gotten big.
Lenny marveled at the advanced 2x4 technology buzzing around the base. The last time he was here, the Moonbase was probably only as big as two or three treehouses combined… But now, it had to be at least as big as twenty, maybe even more!
...How much happened when he was delightfulized?
Thinking about his delightfulization caused Lenny to look down at his clothes, that stupid uniform. It dawned on him once again that he wasn't truly free from whatever Father did to them all those years ago. He would still be considered the enemy. Going in there like this was sure to cause a ruckus.
Lenny slapped himself, stopping the rockets of the jet before he was completely in view of Moonbase security. How could he be so thoughtless? He quickly put in the code to the Supreme Leader's Moonbase Module, drumming his fingers on the dashboard as he waited.
A monitor sprung out of an opening on the dashboard, revealing a stern-faced Chad. The Supreme Leader's gaze softened when he noticed only one of the Delightful Children were present, the one who currently wasn't delightful.
"Did you complete Phase One?" Chad asked.
"Yes, and I successfully escaped the Delightful Mansion. But, eh… All of the Delightfuls aircrafts are… less than subtle. I took the smallest one I could find, but if I go in, I'm certain I'll get caught," Lenny sighed, slouching back in the ginormous chair he was sitting in.
Chad seemed to mull over this information for a second. "Hold on," he said. He left the transmission, leaving Lenny floating aimlessly in space. Lenny sighed, slouching down further in his chair.
Suddenly, a strange voice he'd never heard before boomed through one of the speakers, "Operative, you are clear for landing on the Moonbase. I repeat, operative, you are clear for landing on the Moonbase."
Lenny raised an eyebrow, gingerly sitting back up. He cautiously crept towards the Moonbase, and sure enough, a docking bay was open.
He smiled. It seemed being Supreme Leader had its perks.
Very clumsily, Lenny rattled the jet onto the docking bay. The piercing noise of metal against metal rang in his ears. His immediate reaction was to shout for Constance, but then it dawned on him for the umpteenth time that she and the rest of his sector were brainwashed.
He was on his own.
He grunted, slamming on the breaks as forcefully as possible. The scratching of metals pounded in his ears. Slowly, the jet skid to a stop just before it hit the wall. Lenny found it in himself to release his grip and fall to the floor. Never ever was he flying a jet again.
The disgruntled operative exited the jet, seeing through the shadows of his helmet that the docking bay was essentially empty. It was a good thing, he supposed. At least he didn't hit anyone's shuttles, or get caught by Moonbase security.
As Lenny dusted himself off, he heard a voice from the end of the room.
"Delightfuls not fly much?"
Lenny looked up, his face immediately twisting into a smile. It was him.
"You know very well that I've never been good with 2x4 tech, Numbuh 274," he retorted.
Lenny approached Chad, and it became increasingly clear how much the little cadet he knew had grown. Most obviously and most disorienting was the fact that Chad was now taller than him, even if only by a few inches. There were prominent bags under his eyes, likely from working tirelessly as Supreme Leader, though Lenny could still see the same sparkle in them that he saw years ago when he worked as drill sergeant.
That had to be around six years ago, given how old Chad looked… He should be twelve at this point, or close to it. Close to decommissioning. Lenny chuckled in spite of himself.
"Last time I saw you, you just chose your numbuh. Now look at you," Lenny said, beaming.
"Time does fly, huh?" Chad lamented.
"More or less. Being trapped in your own subconscious does make time a little… strange."
Chad's shoulders visibly tensed. He looked away from Lenny, but did put a hand on his fellow operative's shoulder. "Numbuh 0.4, Sector Z was the best sector the Kids Next Door has ever seen. I was devastated when you guys went MIA, the entire organization was. But now that we know where you are and what happened, we can work on reversing it. We will bring Sector Z back, and the Delightful Children will be no more than a bad dream. I promise."
Just the mention of the Delightfuls gave Lenny a slight headache, but he nodded all the same. Chad proceeded to sneak Lenny through a secret hallway (presumably so people didn't fight him on sight) that led to the Supreme Leader's room.
Things suddenly became about business again, but Lenny could've spent an hour just talking to Chad about what he'd done for the Kids Next Door and how he climbed the ranks. The sheer memory of those days made him want nothing more than to be with his sector in the arctic, reprimanding Ashley and Constance for pranking cadets while Bruce and David claimed to have no part. But, of course, there were things to be done.
"Quick question," Chad blurted as soon as he closed the door, "how much do you know about coffee-based weaponry?"
Lenny raised his brow, tapping the side of his helmet in thought. Memories of the good days came rushing in his mind. "Considering Father was our main enemy, quite a bit. That is, unless it's changed."
"Eh, coffee doesn't typically get new developments, so that's good. That'll come in handy.
"Since we've last talked, there's been a rumor going around about a mole in the enemy camp. That, of course, is you. Once Sector V arrives, I'll explain this to them. You'll know when to reveal yourself. After some introductions and explanations, it'll just be you and Sector V. I put scripts in the helicopter for you to read once you get to Cuppa Joe's Coffee Rig so he thinks you're the Delightful Children. Sooner or later the actual Delightful Children will show up, and you'll give them the 'Top Secret Information' you promised, when in actuality, it'll be a popcorn bomb," Chad clarified, gesturing to a heavily locked briefcase. As he approached his desk, he added, "Also, for this mission to go smoothly, you're going to have to hold a cover."
Lenny crossed his arms, standing with an aggrieved eyebrow raised. "Why can't I just act like myself?"
"No offense, but you're just about as impulsive as half of Sector V. You did pretty well in front of the Delightfuls, and Sector Z is famous for their undercover missions, so I know you can restrain yourself."
Chad sighed, shaking his head. "What, with Nigel, Wallabee, Kuki… They go head first into disasters all the time. But, they're a very skilled sector. They can get out of it. I just don't need you leading that charge with them. You need to remain as unsuspicious as possible, got it?"
"Loud and clear," Lenny muttered.
He was slightly less excited about this mission now, given he still couldn't be himself, but then again, it wasn't like this was much different than any of his other spy missions. In his mind, he started to list off some of his traits that could land him in trouble… which turned out to be more than he'd like to admit. Maybe Chad did have a point…
"If you manage to combat the Delightfuls' influence after all that, contact the Code Module while the others are asleep and we'll go from there." Chad sat down at his desk, smiling knowingly in Lenny's direction. "I hope to see you on further missions, Numbuh 0.4. Today's mission starts now."
As if on cue, the faint sound of footsteps appeared. Lenny retreated to a dark corner of the room, part of his mind focused on molding his new cover, while the other was trying to pay attention to the scene about to unfold.