Author's note: Rated K+ for slightly crude references and intense sequences of sci-fi, fantasy, and crime action and violence.

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kids next door mission

operation:

s.c.a.r.e.k.i.d.

snarling

creatures

abduct

rebellious

encroaching

kids

in

dark

founding operative:

mr. warburton

writing operative:

blackdragon812

The sun is close to setting, causing the black night sky to replace the once blue day sky. It is ten minutes till 7:30 p.m. and Numbuhs 1000 and Numbuh 2000 are racing back home to their treehouse via the use of their flying motorcycle-like bikes (which match the color scheme of their respective outfits): the KND S.K.I.C.L.E.S (Super Kool Intense Cycles Levitate Everywhere Speedily).

Numbuh 1000 is a handsome boy with golden-blonde hair that partially doubles as long bangs that cover his right eye and a side of his left eye. His choice of clothing is a black leather jacket, a short-sleeve dark green T-shirt, black jeans, and green and black sneakers. He also has a mini-twizzlin clutched in his mouth.

Flying alongside him is his best pal Numbuh 2000, a Black-American boy with black hair and an obviously fake tattoo on his right forearm that read in black letters, "born to fly". His choice of clothing is a thick-collared red T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. He is drinking a bottle of root beer while riding, which Numbuh 1000 notices.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What'd I tell you about hype-driving?" Numbuh 1000 scolds calmly.

"Not hyped, bro!" Numbuh 2000 burps.

"Not yet!" Numbuh 1000 snatches the soda with a smile. "Remember last time you were caught drinking in the sky? You twitched and bounced your way right into Numbuh 4000's room…right after she changed clothes. She appreciated the visit you gave her, but I didn't appreciate you using my treehouse as a runway for non-dry guys!"

"I helped fix the place up!" Numbuh 2000 defends.

"For 6 seconds!" Numbuh 1000 swallows his twizzlin. "6 hours later, you woke up with a headache...just like every time you drink."

There is brief silence before, "What's really up, man? You usually laugh about me getting hyped till eleventy-hundred pounds of snot come out of your nose. Now, you're hounding me worse than my mom. Worse! Worse than Numbuh 3000! Worse! Worse than the supreme leader! Worse!—sorry, I'll stop." Numbuh 2000 stops in fear of his friend's look, despite the latter looking calm and casual. The two acknowledge what is below and stop in mid-air to talk.

"The place we just came from, Eadsin, it's got…memories. Some good. Most bad." Numbuh 1000 explains. "Thought by going there I'd feel better, but…my pocket of good feelings is empty. Guess it's something I just better live with."

"Or ignore!" Numbuh 2000 said cheerily, hoping to make his friend happy again. Taking the soda back, he continues "And as your buddy since the sandbox wars, it's my job to help you do that!"

"Nice try!" Numbuh 1000 swipes the soda back and pours it downwards to the dismay of his friend. "C'mon, let's go tell him. Wanna be home in time to watch the Toon Fights on pay-per-view."

The two descend towards the ground in the hopes of finding and speaking with someone they both know. They land in a cornfield and walk towards a bunch of older kids (about 12), who are having a wild party; some are dancing to the music on top of their go-karts; others are drinking soda and getting hyped; but most are picking the corn out of the crops around them and eating them. Why? Because it isn't ordinary corn. No siree. It's candy corn! The size of actual corn!

"Corn's always good fresh, eh bro?" Numbuh 1000 picks out one and eats it whole! "You-know-who would go nuts and become the most wanted kid in the state if she saw this."

"Theee oher gy wod be worse off sice he steals!" Numbuh 2000 adds, his mouth full of candy corn.

"There he is!" Numbuh 1000 points to a tall 12-year-old redheaded kid who looks a lot like him; his hairstyle being identical to his and his clothing being a reverse of his (Numbuh 1000's) own. Approaching the kid, who is speaking with a brunette ponytailed girl, a blonde girl, and an Asian boy his age as they ate the candy corn, the Sector L leader speaks, "Hey, Roland. Mom says time to come in. And that if you're a minute late, she's gonna strap you to a golden horseshoe and dunk your head in whiskey until you're a bald ginger."

"You just made that up!" says the redheaded kid (now known as "Roland), who had a slight Irish accent, a departure from his younger brother's completely American one.

"Yeah, to be nice." Numbuh 1000 inserts another mini-twizzlin in his mouth. "You don't even wanna know she really said. Made Dad and the baby cry. Mostly Dad."

While Numbuh 1000 converses with his elder brother, Numbuh 2000 sneaks a bottle of orange soda and just as he starts to drink, his attention shifts to a nearby scarecrow. Approaching it, he flinches in disgust when he smells the product it is composed of. Unlike most scarecrows that are composed of straw, this one is composed of, "Asparagus! Yecch! Just smelling it makes me wanna…drink."

Just as he is about to take a sip, something strange happens in that brief second. Something abnormal. Something weird. Something…terrifying. At the corner of his eye, Numbuh 2000 shifts his head to the direction of the scarecrow when he thought its eyes…turned red. Evil red. Before he could touch the object for a closer investigation,

"You're smart, but you're not slick!" Numbuh 1000 comes from behind him and snatches the soda from him, throwing it with great strength to another part of the field. He smirks, "When I said you're not drinking, I meant it! Next time I see you with a bottle and you're close-by a set of wheels or wings, I'm gonna shove it so far up your butt, you'll be crying out soda! Now, let's go."

"Hey, man." Numbuh 2000 stops his friend and points up at the scarecrow, "Any weird stories on these scarecrows? I mean, I know farmers use them to scare off birds 'cause they mess with the plants but-"

"These are "scarekids", man." Numbuh 1000 touches his friend's shoulder. "My rebel pepperhead brother's spent enough time out here every week to learn a few things. Like how these ugly dummies are supposed to keep us "snot-nosed city rascals from eatin' the profits!" He says with a southern accent and air quotes. "Course if the sugar-hogging hick grown-up who put them out here wanted to be really effective, he should've used spinach or broccoli."

"Know that much." Numbuh 2000 continues, "But are they supposed to…you know…have twizzlin-colored eyes?"

Numbuh 1000 laughs briefly before he pulls his friend away, "Better get you away from the asparagus before you end up in a rehab sector with Numbuh 1100!"

The two operatives fly home to Sector L on their respective S.K.I.C.L.E.S.

In the cornfields, five minutes later, Roland and the other kids are bagging all of the candy corn in sight and heading home in their respective go-karts before they get in trouble.

"Tomorrow morning?" Roland asks his friends as he walks up to his green go-kart on the street.

"Yeah! Sure! Awesome! See ya there!" They agree.

"AGH!" With a single, sudden cry of distress from one child, the group of four develop a mixed bag of emotions. Regardless, they race off to find the source of the cry, knocking down cornstalk after cornstalk along the way. But when they get there...there is no one in sight.

"Ugh, probably another group of lames who had too much to drink!" the ponytailed girl scoffs annoyed.

"Or some losers trying to act like the scarekids came to life and snatched them like in some of those even lamer movies!" The blonde girl folds her arms and snickers.

However, the Asian boy in the group takes a look around the cornfields and notices something that frightens the living daylights out of him. He expresses this by asking his friends, "Uh…where are the scarekids?"

Just as his friends cease laughing to take a look around, they hear multiple cries of distress from their fellow partygoers in addition to loud, violent, and aggressive rustling coming from within the cornstalks around them. Now instilled with fear, they turn around frequently and frantically as the sounds of the cornstalks rustling continues to fill the air. Shish! Shish! Shish! Shish! When the unseen events around them suddenly stop…

Roland looks at his friends in disbelief, "No! There's no way…"

"AGH! AGGH! AGHH!" The blonde girl is snatched by a living, breathing scarekid with moist asparagus skin and gleaming red eyes! They try to get her from it, but it was too strong for them to handle and they are thrown backwards and forced to watch her get dragged away!

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Roland and his remaining two friends make a run for the former's kart on the street, once again knocking down cornstalk after cornstalk!

"AGH! AGH! AGH!" The Asian boy is overpowered and dragged away by a scarekid, which displayed a powerful jumping ability along with the rest of the creatures!

"AGH! ROLAND!" The ponytailed girl is taken away by another scarekid, this one covering her mouth!

Roland is kept from reaching his kart by two scarekids, forcing him to take a detour and go even further into the cornfields. He runs and runs and runs, but has no idea that the dozens of scarekids surrounding and pursuing him are about to catch up with him! He looks back and doesn't see anything, but upon looking in front, he runs right into an empty scarekid post!

"Oh! Uh!" Roland rubs his head in pain, but remembers he is being chased and stands up swiftly. Despite being no match for the creatures, he is prepared to fight for his life. Paranoid and terrified, he swiftly looks and turns around repeatedly for the preying scarekids. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Roland then hears a creaking noise coming from above. Slowly looking up, he finds, to his horror, that a scarekid is bearing down on him and is preparing to pounce on him!

"MOMMY!" The scarekid pounces on Roland, keeps him in a headlock, walks casually back to the post, and just as the creature grabs it, it (the scarekid), the post, and the screaming Roland are pulled underground!

The cornfields are now completely deserted and silent. Not a single speck of animate life is around. Not even crickets and grasshoppers. Only crushed cornstalks and abandoned go-karts remain. Although not too far away, the forty-something-year-old Farmer George Levi, having stepped outside and heard the commotion earlier, smirks knowingly into a walky-talky with a southern accent, "It's done."

The Sector L headquarters resembles a treehouse-possessed version of the white house, but has tall pillars on every corner and the dome is more akin to the one on the Taj Mahal. From the bottom four floors to the dome at the very top are the numbers designated to the operatives living there; 5k, 4k, 3k, 2k, and 1k on the dome. The two-story home it is growing out of belongs to the "Grove" family. Numbuh 1000's family.

Within the treehouse, Numbuhs 1 and 2000 are sitting at the long wooden kitchen table sharing their collected candy corn with their friends, intent on eating it for breakfast, which they do.

"You're right, Alex." Numbuh 3000 agrees with Numbuh 2000. "If you try, you can smell a hint of asparagus on this stuff. In which case, you shouldn't try. Though I kinda wish you tried getting more."

Numbuh 3000 is a very beautiful girl who bears a striking resemblance to Numbuh 10, the only difference being that her long hair is brown and that she does not have a beauty-mark (though she does have green eyes). She is wearing a long-sleeved blue denim jacket with a long-sleeved purple T-shirt underneath, blue jeans (lighter than 2000's), and purple and white sneakers. She is so busy munching hungrily on her share of the candy corn that she doesn't acknowledge Numbuh 4000 glaring at her for her "getting-more" comment until…

"Okay really, sis?" Numbuh 4000 scolds her sister. "I know you're greedy, but ungrateful, too?"

Like her sister, Numbuh 4000 is a very pretty girl. She bears a striking resemblance to "Katie" from Operation U.T.O.P.I.A, from her vivid green eyes to her long hair being in a ponytail at the bottom. Her hair itself, however, is orange rather than brown. She is wearing a short-sleeved white T-shirt, pink jeans, and white low-heel boots. She is merely five months younger than her sister, having been prematurely born into the world around her.

"I'm just saying, he knows I love candy and that I'll eat most of it! So, why not get enough to make sure I can't eat all of it?" Numbuh 3000 shrugs.

"Are you kidding?" Numbuh 4000 scoffs. "You get a look at that cornfield, you'll get so reckless with stealing the sweet stuff, before you know it, you'll end up the most wanted kid in the state. If you can, you'll eat—gasp!"

Numbuh 3000 holds up a light-green stuffed rabbit toy to shut Numbuh 4000 up.

"The limited-edition lime-emerald Gemstone Bunny! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Numbuh 4000 snatches and squeezes the toy tightly, reverting back to her usual cheery self.

"Next time, sis, when referring to one of your friends as someone who steals, look at the one on the right." Numbuh 3000 taunts.

"Hey, keep me out of this!" Numbuh 5000 admonishes insulted. "And it's not stealing! It's borrowing without asking."

"Borrowing without caring to ask." Numbuh 1000 corrects, inserting yet another mini-twizzlin in his mouth after finishing his "breakfast".

"Not like they'll miss it…much." Also the tallest of his friends, Numbuh 5000 is a biracial child, having Caucasian and Hispanic heritage (though he leans slightly more towards the latter). As his vision is clouded, he is wearing contact lenses. His choice of attire is a gray hoodie with a long-sleeved orange T-shirt underneath, black/gray jeans, and orange and white sneakers.

"Let's talk about something more…interesting." Numbuh 3000 looks to Numbuh 1000, "Like what you found back home in Ireland yesterday. You went to Eadsin, right?"

"Yeah and I found the same thing most adults do when they try to think. Nothing." Numbuh 1000 sighs disappointed, though strangely with a smile.

"Then why the-" Numbuh 3000 starts.

"Upside down frown?" Numbuh 1000 replies, "I didn't spend a lot of time in Ireland before coming here. I was hardly a couple months old. But I don't even need to be born there just to know a good luck and/or bad luck sign. This sign is telling me I need to find a way to forget what's there and keep on moving on."

"Robin! Come downstairs! I need to talk to you!" A woman with an Irish accent calls out to Numbuh 1000.

"Bad luck for breakfast." Numbuh 1000 walks off to meet with his mother.

"You should go with him." Numbuh 2000 advises Numbuh 3000, finishing up his candy corn.

"You're the best friend and war buddy." Numbuh 3000 reminds.

"You're the girl friend and boss buddy." Numbuh 2000 retorts.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Numbuh 3000 defensively shouts with a blush.

"Chill, Renee! I meant you're a girl and his friend. Like you are with me. Geez." Numbuh 2000 put his hands up and scoots back in his chair.

"Oh." Numbuh 3000's blush now resembles embarrassment, especially when Numbuhs 4 and 5000 glared at her with taunting smiles. Getting up, she walks off, "I'm gonna go with Robbie."

"Finally! Can't do nothing with those two in one place hounding me." His other superior officer out of sight, Numbuh 2000 zips over to the tall fridge and grabs a lemon-lime soda. Popping the lid, "7 hours dry. Way too long!"

"Alexander Harris!" Numbuh 4000 swings her hip with a scowl, causing him to turn around. "Do you wanna fix my room again? This time for more than 6 seconds?"

"Aw, c'mon!" Numbuh 2000 whines. "You're not gonna tell your sister or Rob over a stupid-"

"Only if you promise to see the Gemstone Bunny mini-marathon with me, later today." Numbuh 4000 propositions with a sweet, cheery smile, to which Numbuh 2000 replies by putting the drink back in disgust. Numbuh 4000 then glares at 5000 for snickering.

Meanwhile, in the Grove house living room, Numbuh 1000 is told by his mother (whose face is unseen and is holding a baby girl with red hair like her oldest brother) that Roland never came home last night and never called. She assumes that he went on a sleepover without her consent, but Numbuh 1000 instinctively knows something else is up.

"I'll find him, Mom." Numbuh 1000 assures. "I've got a pretty good idea about where he is."

"But I had no idea where you were last night, young man!" Mrs. Grove points in her son's face, making the baby cry. "You came home before curfew, but you didn't call me like you normally do! Don't start acting like-"

"Uh, he was with me, Mrs. Grove!" Numbuh 3000 comes from behind Numbuh 1000 and touches his shoulders, having heard everything from behind the couch. "We were playing on my trampoline and lost track of time. You know us kids. All we think about is sweets and fun. Mostly sweets, though."

"Oh, well then." Mrs. Grove then says in a cheery voice, "Next time, if you're going to stay over without looking at the clock, at least remember to call. What would he do without you, Ms. Benjamin?"

"Couldn't tell you!" Numbuh 3000 replies with a smile.

Once Mrs. Grove goes back upstairs, Numbuh 1000 glances at Numbuh 3000, "I owe you for the save. But now, we gotta save someone else."

KND

In the treehouse conference room (the living room), Numbuh 5000 is typing on the mega-large computer to meet Numbuh 1000's request, but replies when he doesn't get results, "If there was trouble, you know the alarm would go off. You sure your Mom isn't right about Roland sleeping over somewhere else without telling her?"

"Yeah, isn't it just like Roland to stay out and forget to call?" Numbuh 2000 points out.

"Nah, pepperhead hasn't done that since last month." Numbuh 1000 folds his arms. "Mom practically ripped his hair out and put it in the chili as a warning. You tried tapping into the phones of his friends? Callie, Nina, and Rico? You should be-"

"-Able to track them down through the KND satellite, I know. I tried that." Numbuh 5000 explains, "But I didn't get anything but a ripple."

"Ripple?!" The other operatives repeat confused.

"It's a visual version of communication static." Numbuh 5000 elaborates, "When in the process of trying to track something or someone down, if the attempt fails, it's because there's a ripple. And if there's a ripple, there's two reasons for why it's there: 1; something's up with the satellite."

"Which is unpossible since you and the nerd herd perfected it before you launched it into space." Numbuh 3000 smiles.

Ignoring Numbuh 3000, 5000 continues "And 2; most commonly there's some form of transmission interference."

"Transmission interference?" Numbuh 1000 repeats. "Last I saw them, they were in the candy cornfields making the likes of these two look like amateurs at their own game."

"HEY!" Numbuhs 2 and 3000 retort in offense, believing no one is more passionate than they are at consuming what they love.

"Call me crazy, but I think there's something…out there in those cornfields besides candy corn." Numbuh 5000 stands up in deep thought.

"Yeah, a farm ran by a guy named Brown." Numbuh 1000 scoffs. "Given his reaction to kids that aren't his, I'd say he used high-tech haystacks to snatch my brother and the others."

"I thought his name was Levi?" Numbuh 4000 holds her finger up, her friends staring at her in frustration at the fact that she doesn't get that her leader is being sardonic as usual. "I'm just saying! That's what it says his name is in the ads."

"Know what? That's not the weirdest idea you've ever had, so let's take it seriously." Numbuh 1000 inserts another mini-twizzling in his mouth. "Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go to those cornfields and see if we can find anything that doesn't belong. Let's roll!"

KND

On their respective S.K.I.C.L.E.S, the team has just recently flown into the cornfields in search of anything out of the ordinary. But because the fields are so large and tall, they haven't had much luck the first two minutes until…

"Hey guys, I found something!" Numbuh 5000 shouts, garnering the attention of his teammates. He shows them a tilted pink go-kart that is covered in cornstalk.

"Hey, that's Nina's kart! And my brother would never leave her! They sit in a tree and you-know-what too much!" Numbuh 1000 realizes. "Awesome job, Numbuh 5000! See if you guys can find anymore and drag them back here!"

And sure enough, they do; using the strength they've derived from their exposure to the sugarsoldier serum years ago as a tool. Numbuh 4000 finds a blue kart. Numbuh 3000 finds a yellow one. Numbuh 2000 finds a black and white one. Numbuh 1000 finds Roland's red kart and an upside down green one, dragging them both back to where he and his team have agreed to meet up.

"My idea's not so weird now, huh?" Numbuh 5000 glances at Numbuh 1000, "Obviously some of these guys never made it out of here."

"But do you really think there's some sort of transmission interference or whatever out here in the countryside?" Numbuh 3000 asks.

"That's what I'm trying to find out!" Numbuh 5000 takes out a square device made of wood, metal, and the antennae of a toy robot.

"Well, you'll never find the source all by yourself in Crop County." Numbuh 1000 utters. "You got anymore of those tracers?"

"Yeah, built into a few of the treehouse's examination drones." Numbuh 5000 points to the sky at several crop-duster-shaped machines flying over the cornfields. "They're the ones you-know-who trashed flying into Numbuh 4000's room. Waste no scrap, my dad says. Should find the source of the interference in no time."

"Sweet!" Numbuh 1000 touches Numbuh 5000's shoulder impressed.

"So, what's the plan el capitan?" Numbuh 2000 asks his friend. "And does it involve getting a drink? I'm thirsty."

"Hope you're thirsty for milk, 'cause that's all you're gonna get when we head up to the Levi Farm." Numbuh 1000 explains, "While Numbuh 5000 is looking for clues to the missing 'burb and city kids, we're gonna talk to Levi's daughters about what they know."

"Why his daughters?" Numbuh 2000 asks.

"They're kids." Numbuhs 3 and 4000 answer in unison.

"And he's stubborn." Numbuh 1000 puts his arm around Numbuh 2000's neck buddy-style, "Word of advice since you've never been on a farm, buddy: never look the girls on the ranch in the eye. It'll make them flirty and the good ol' boy farmer's gonna shoot at you if you talk to them. Get it?"

"Got it." Numbuh 2000 gulps uncomfortably.

"Good." Numbuh 1000 smirks.

KND

At the Levi Farm, Numbuhs 1 through 4000 are speaking with the twin daughters of Farmer Levi, Hannah and Patience, both having an accent, blonde hair (though Hannah has hers long and Patience in pigtails), and an affinity for plaid clothing. Humorously, both Hannah and Patience flirtatiously and respectively have their hands on one of Numbuh 1000's hands as they speak at the kitchen table, which seems to annoy Numbuh 3000!

"So, you've never seen anything weird? Just heard?" Numbuh 1000 asks.

"Not till last night. Your other cute city folk and their floozies came out here and ate our corn for a few hours like they do every week and then…we started hearing screaming." Hannah explains. "At first I thought it was those scarekids out there finally doing some good, but then, we saw all these contraptions out in the cornfields and no one ridin' or even near 'em."

"They're called go-karts." Numbuh 3000 smirks seemingly agitated. "And sis, please stop Numbuh 2000 before he drinks that entire six pack!"

"What?!" Numbuhs 1 and 4000 turn around and see Numbuh 2000 drinking two bottles of grape soda down at once!

"Gimme those bottles!" Numbuh 4000 chases Numbuh 2000 out into the farm and seemingly enjoys it.

"Think that's somethin'?" Patience butts in. "One of those contraptions were next to where a scarekid post was supposed to be."

"Supposed to be?!" Numbuhs 1 and 3000 ask in unison surprised.

"Darn right." Patience utters. "One minute it wasn't there, I turn my back when Hannah tells me she found another contraption and 'round again, the post and the scarekid are back where they belong."

"Pa says ya'll we're tryin' to pull a prank." Hannah affectionately touches Numbuh 1000's chin, "Know what I say?"

"No, and he doesn't care!" Numbuh 3000 stands up and grabs Numbuh 1000 out of his seat. "Thanks for your time, hillie and billie."

Once outside, Numbuh 1000 asks his second-in-command, "So, what do you think? Truth…or cow patty?"

Numbuh 3000 gives him a stern look.

"Calm it down. So tense!" Numbuh 1000 shrugs. "But seriously?"

"To be honest, I was more caught up in their gross sense of style. Ugh! Hick or no hick, get a catalogue!" Numbuh 3000 shudders in disgust. "Other than that, I would say that their work isn't the only thing that's honest."

"You mean you believe those scarekids are…alive." Numbuh 1000 snickers.

Before she can reply, "I kn-kn-kn-kn-knew it!" Numbuh 2000, now all hyped up from drinking the six-pack of soda (despite 4000's efforts), comes crashing through the fence at his friends and flails in the air before falling to the ground!

"Oh, Jeez! Not again." Numbuhs 1 and 3000 pinch their respective foreheads, though the former is actually laughing.

Numbuh 2000 stands up while fidgeting, "S-s-see w-w-what did I t-t-t-tell y-y-you, b-b-bro? T-t-t-those a-a-a-asparagus-gutted c-c-c-creeps h-h-h-h-have minds of t-t-t-their own-n-n-n!"

"We won't know for sure until Numbuh 5000 comes back up here with some info." Numbuh 3000 replies. "And where's Numbuh 4000? She was supposed to stop you from getting hyped…again!"

"Was? Am I too late?" Numbuh 4000 hops over the destroyed fence.

"Way too late!" Her superiors told her.

"Guess what you're watching with me while you're drying up tonight?" Numbuh 4000 tries to keep the fidgeting Numbuh 2000 into place.

"I'm n-n-n-not watching any b-b-b-baby, g-g-g-girly cartoon with y-y-y-you!" Numbuh 2000 almost falls, but Numbuhs 4 and 1000 catch him.

"Guys! We got data!" Numbuh 5000 runs up to his friends with his device, his machines still flying over the cornfields in the background. "Looks like my other hunch was right! If the source of the interference isn't on the surface, then it must be burrowed under the cornstalks! Underground!"

"I think you're leaving out the part where the candy cornstalks stretch across for a least half a mile." Numbuh 3000 points out, "Not that I mind taking the challenge of eating it all just to-"

"Didn't forget that at all, Numbuh 3000." Numbuh 5000 interrupts. "The drones picked up signals where the ripples were at their strongest last night. And they were pretty strong, 'cause after a few hours, the signal of the averagely potent ripple would vanish completely. But anyway, the places where the ripples were at their strongest were…right up underneath the scarekid posts."

Surprised and shocked, Numbuhs 1 and 3000 look at each other. Could it be possible for the scarecrows-made-for-kids to be the culprits behind the missing party kids, they wonder?

"S-s-see, didn't I t-t-t-tell you?! Those f-f-f-freaks are al-l-l-live!" Numbuh 2000 flails around wildly, but Numbuh 4000 barely manages to keep him in place.

"Oh, great! And he rode a bike here!" Numbuh 5000 comments. "Wait! Did he steal soda from that farmhouse or something? I don't remember seeing-"

"Oh, blonde city-boy!" Hannah and Patience wave bye to Numbuh 1000 and blow him kisses, which the latter responds to by looking down and blushing slightly, but not letting down his typical calm, cool look.

"Let's go, blonde city boy!" Numbuh 3000 irately pushes her leader out into the cornfields and towards the team's respective S.K.I.C.L.E.S, but not before sticking her tongue out at the farm girls in disgust.

"So while I'm workin' my butt off, 2k steals my thunder by stealing, er borrowing something from someone's fridge and 1k steals my stolen thunder by talking to two hot girls my age with blonde hair and accents?" Numbuh 5000 complains. "I hate both of you! I want you both to take a spinach pill and keel over!"

"And I want you to wear a diaper and whine on your own time and get one of those drones to get 2000's S.K.I.C.L.E. since he's riding with 4000." Numbuh 1000 swallows his twizzlin as he gets on his S.K.I.C.L.E. He smirks and shakes his head from left to right when he sees 2000 jittering around while sitting behind 4000 on her bike, his arms around her waist.

As the Sector L agents take to the skies back home, Farmer Levi, who has been watching and spying on them ever since they entered his house and walked outside, speaks into his walky as the agents fly off, "Them KNDogs got the scent."

"They certainly work fast, but the consequence will be relatively little on our part. Allow them access, but make it convincing. Their leader is more brilliant than some of his fellow operatives, so he'll recognize an ensnarement strategy when he glimpses one." A mysterious, deep, raspy voice utters on the other end.

"Bet he won't know a shotgun blast before he sees it! Fraternizin' with my lil girls!" Farmer Levi cocks his shotgun, which fires energy blasts rather than bullets, menacingly.

"No! No personal interference on your end. You may compromise us." The voice demands.

"Aw, dagnabit!" Levi pouts dejected.

KND

At the treehouse medical center, Numbuh 4000 happily hums a tune while she uses her medical expertise to cause the flailing Numbuh 2000 to fall asleep via a "Chocolate-flavored Naptime Candy Pill" placed in a cup of water before she places a bag of ice on his forehead in preparation for another impending headache.

In the treehouse conference room, Numbuh 1000 stands on the podium as he discusses the information gathered with Numbuhs 3 and 5000, who are sitting on the sofas in front.

"Let's face it. Scarekids coming to life isn't half as weird as some of the other things we've fought before. But what's weird is that they're snatching kids now. I mean, kids have been going up there and stealing corn for months!" Numbuh 5000 munches on a few mini-twizzlins.

"Did you seriously steal those from my room while talking about someone else stealing?" Numbuh 1000 folds his arms sternly, but calmly.

"Again, I don't steal. I borrow. Can't believe I didn't make that clear after all these years of fighting with you." Numbuh 5000 rolls his eyes.

"Hold on. When did we agree that those scarekids actually came to life and took Roland and all the other kids?" Numbuh 3000 interrupts. "How do we know those two country chicks didn't cause them to vanish?"

"And what would their motivation be?" Numbuh 1000 replies with a brief southern accent, "Just 'cause their Pa's lil' angel girls? Get real, Numbuh 3000. 5000's got a pretty good point. Why is this the first time kids have been taken and why now? Why-"

The sector leader doesn't finish his sentence. He bows his head down in deep thought instead.

"What's wrong?" Numbuh 3000 asks.

"You guys remember what time 2000 and I came home last night?" He asks suddenly.

"Uh…like five minutes till 7:30 or something." Numbuh 5000 scratches his head, confused at the question.

"7:30 is the statewide curfew for everyone under 13, right?" Numbuh 1000 asks, his two teammates nod in confirmation. "Levi knows that. And with his scarekids, he could be taking advantage of that. Since my brother and all those other kids are always trying to stay number 1 in the rebel game, it only makes sense that they stay beyond curfew just to look good. Not even knowing they made a bad call 'til it's too late and they get snatchified by those Wizard of Oz rejects."

"Wait, you think Levi is behind this?" Numbuh 3000 asks doubtful.

"He's our only suspect and he's got a motive typical of any rotten loser adult." Numbuh 1000. "He's obviously sick of kids eating his crops and when he finally gets that the scarekids don't work as dummies, my guess is he used some kind of fertilizing hocus-pocus to pull a Frankenstein and not just scare the kids…"

"…But snatch them, too! To make double-sure they can't mess with his crops again!" Numbuh 3000 stands up and points in excitement. "Duh! It's obvious! Why didn't I see that?"

"Again, you guys are only looking on the surface." Numbuh 5000 touches his chin. "If those scarekids were brought to life by some fertilizing hocus-pocus, then that means the stuff had to have been given to him by someone. I mean, you can't just throw manure on asparagus and animate the body it was shaped into."

"You're right." Numbuh 3000 agrees.

"And if you keep in mind that I found signs of ripples beneath the posts where the scarekids are, which are all over the cornfields by the way, then that should tell you that the guy supplying Levi with the means to bring those creeps to life might actually be there." Numbuh 5000 deduces. "And if we're lucky, with everyone there. Roland. Nina. Everyone!"

"An underground base." Numbuh 1000 adds. "And so that the candy corn isn't kept from growing by the disturbance of the base's being there at their roots, I'd say it's deep underground! But that's not gonna keep us from finding it!"

"Then let's go!" Numbuh 3000 cracks her knuckles.

"Not yet, Numbuh 3000." Numbuh 1000 touches her shoulder. "If I'm right, those Halloween freakshows only play creep n catch past curfew. So, we need to wait several hours; way more than enough time for my popaholic pal to dry up and take us back to hick candy-land."

"And just enough time to shoot and record our news segments for tonight." Numbuh 5000 adds.

KND

It is 15 minutes till 7:30 and the entire team (including the "dried-up" Numbuh 2000) is standing in a hangar filled with many different aerial, aquatic, and ground vehicles that they have ridden in over the years; each one built by Numbuh 5000 and his subordinate-droids. Though, Numbuh 5000 is prepared to unveil his latest transportation machine underneath a giant cloth.

"Can't believe you made me watch that lousy Gymshort Bunny mini-marathon after I woke up!" Numbuh 2000 complains at Numbuh 4000, who cheerily regrets nothing. "That so-called "show" distracted me during the news shoots!"

"It's Gemstone Bunny!" Numbuh 4000 scolds, slightly angered.

"I know what I said!" Numbuh 2000 pouts. "Made me and 1000 miss the Toon Fights!"

"Oh, please! That was a rerun!" Numbuh 4000 retorts. "Besides, you need to learn how to love nature!"

Numbuh 2000 fires back, "Yeah, well you need to be punched in the-"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Flirt on your own time you two!" Numbuh 1000 calmly interrupts.

"Flirt?!" Numbuhs 2 and 4000 blush and look away from each other in embarrassment.

"Here it is, guys! New and improved!" Numbuh 5000 and his droids (resembling the "Hammerdrones" from Iron man 2, but with an orange/gray color scheme) pull down the cloth to reveal a red/white vehicle identical to a cement truck, but where the cement mixer is supposed to be is replaced by a giant, shiny drill! The ingenious operative continues,

"Re-introducing the-"

KIDS NEXT DOOR: D.I.G.G.E.R.

Digging, Instantaneously, Garners, Great, Excavating, Results

"Doesn't look too different." Numbuh 3000 points out.

"You'll love this, 2000! D.I.G.G.E.R, commence aeronautical alteration sequence." Numbuh 5000 commands, causing D.I.G.G.E.R to change into an F22-like aerial machine with the same color scheme as before, but also with the drill where the nose usually is!

"Snap!" Instantly excited, Numbuh 2000 rushes onboard to take the lone pilot's seat. The others enter the aircraft before Numbuh 2000 flies them out of the hangar and into the night sky. Inside, we can see Numbuh 5000 sitting next to 2000 at the very front, the former studying something on the computer screen before him. Numbuh 3000 is sitting across from Numbuh 4000 on the left side of the craft, the former admiring herself in the portable mirror before her and the latter playing with her lime-emerald Gemstone Bunny in addition to the more common emerald-green Gemstone Bunny. Numbuh 1000 is sitting in the middle of the ship in a black recliner chair. Having already told everyone of the plan before they left headquarters, the sector leader is now using the silence he has just ordered around him to meditate and get in the fighting shape. At first, he struggles due to some resurfacing, horrid memories from his past prior to joining the KND.

He is 7 years old and is wearing a black/green ninja uniform with what appears to be a green chocolate-chip-shaped symbol on his back and strangely, having dark red hair and multiple small bangs. His memories depict him using some form of martial arts to brutally fight and defeat a group of teenagers in a small Irish village (presumably Eadsin) while rain is heavily dropping from the dark clouds above. He is ordered by a bigger and older kid with brown hair to "finish them". He refuses at first. When the older kid points an energy-tipped arrow at the back of his head, the young future operative snatches a long sword from a fellow uniformed kid and while it looks like he is going to strike them with it, he actually strikes the barrels close to them, which spill a liquid that causes the group to develop acne and zits, much to their horror (they are teenagers after all). The level of remorse for this action causes him to shed a small tear.

"Mm!" Numbuh 1000 grunts as he awakens. He sees that they are not yet at the cornfields, so he goes back to his meditation attempt, trying harder this time. He manages to get focused, but not completely due to the fact that…

"Destination: Hick Candyland!" Numbuh 2000 promptly tells everyone that they have made it to their destination just five minutes after Numbuh 1000 closed his eyes a second time.

"All righty!" Numbuh 1000 coolly inserts another twizzlin in his mouth. "Bring down the toys and let's start playing!"

Numbuh 5000 complies, "Computer, unearth weapons tech immediately."

From an opening in the ceiling, two large trunks are lowered down via a small machine and open automatically. The first one has "handguns" and strap-rifles that are composed of wood, a special kind of futuristic metal that provides stability, shiny disks in small packs that provide ammo, and belts with at least two holsters for the handguns. Though each of them are painted to look like harmless kids' water pistols/blasters, adding to the deceptiveness of their approach. Numbuh 3000 takes two handguns and four disk-packs. Numbuh 2000 takes a rifle and two disk-packs. Numbuh 5000 takes a special-looking handgun (it is all metal, no wood) and one disk-pack. And Numbuh 4000, being the trigger-happy one of the team, swipes a rifle and two handguns, but no disk-packs as she feels she won't need them with three guns in her possession.

As for the second trunk, it has weapons exclusively for Numbuh 1000. In it, there are three quivers, each one possessing seventeen arrows with energy-irradiated arrowheads. There are also three identical compound-like bows for the arrows; all of them composed of metal and wood. In addition, there is a sword-handle that extends into an energy-blade once it is gripped by its owner. Though Numbuh 1000 prefers unarmed combat altogether, he couldn't take the risk. So he grabs a quiver, a bow, his retractable blade, and joins his team in jumping out of the aircraft, which he witnesses fly up out of sight into the night sky.

"Time, 3000?" Numbuh 1000 asks with a confident smile.

She looks at her phone, "7:31."

"Missed it! And I didn't even start shooting yet!" Numbuh 4000 pouts dejected.

"What happened to loving nature?" Numbuh 2000 taunts.

"Not freaks of nature that snatch poor, innocent kids!" Numbuh 4000 replies.

"See what I don't see?" Numbuh 5000 looks up at a scarekid post. Only there is no, "Scarekid."

Shish! Shish! Shish! Shish! Suddenly, the team hear wild rustling within the cornfields all around them. They remain back to back (to back-to-back-to-back) in preparation for whatever is approaching them.

"Get ready." Numbuh 1000 orders calmly.

The objects around them get closer. And closer. And closer. Then…shish! It suddenly stops. The rustling. The sounds of approach. While 2, 4, and 5000 lower their guard…

"Heads up!" Numbuh 1000 shouts, though is still completely calm. "Asparagus dummies at 12!"

"GNAGGGGGH!" Above the quintet, to their surprise, are at least two dozen scarekids sinisterly descending towards them with the intention of attacking and abducting them!

Numbuh 1000 readies three arrows (at once) in his bow. Numbuh 2000 cocks his rifle. Numbuh 3000 pulls out her two handguns and points them upwards. Numbuh 4000 aims her rifle upwards with a smile. Numbuh 5000 points his handgun upwards confidently.

"GNAGGGGGH!" The snarling scarekids drop closer to the group. And closer. And closer. And closer! Until…

transmission interrupted

Author's Note: As you've probably already guessed, the Gemstone Bunnies are the future version of Rainbow Monkeys, which have declined in popularity during this time. And about the lower case introduction above and below, that is actually how the old show formatted it and as I have said before, I want to do my own thing, but also stay true to the spirit of the KND as much as possible; the reason for why I have incorporated the whole candy-corn-farm thing into this. It is also why I retained things like the KND Nightly News and the nature of the true names of the primary operatives. By that I mean, real world references to the operatives' real names; Numbuh 1/Nigel Uno ("Uno" being Spanish and Italian for "One"), Numbuh 5/Abigail Lincoln ("Abraham Lincoln"'s face being on the five dollar bill), etc. Well, check out my version below!

"Robin Grove", the true name of Sector L leader "Numbuh 1000", is named after "President Grover Cleveland", whose face is on the $1000 bill.

"Alexander "Alex" Harris", the true name of Sector L Transportation Expert "Numbuh 2000", is named after "Jason Harris", who hosted the game-show "Double Dare 2000" (and interestingly, started this job in the year 2000!). Also, Harris voiced Numbuh 274 in the old KND show btw!

"Renee Benjamin", the true name of Sector L Second-in-Command "Numbuh 3000", is named after rapper/actor "Andre' "3000" Benjamin", who if you recall, produced and created that cool, but short-lived cartoon show, "Class of 3000"!

Okay, so it was more character introduction and development than action, but next chapter, ohh! You better hold on! There'll be so much action that you might just beg me to tone it down for further chapters! And as for Numbuh 1000's past and this fictional place called "Eadsin", there will be more references to that next chapter and for chapters afterwards, it will be greatly explored! And just so you know, Numbuh 1000's being an archery expert and having the name "Robin" is not a reference to Robin Hood, but to me. Part of my name is Robin and I've been into archery since I was 13; and later I thought, it would be awesome to write a character with archery skills! Well, until I update, Dragon out!

P.S- A little trivia for you: "Farmer George Levi" is named after "George Renninger", the inventor of candy corn!

The Ks in "1k, 2k, 3k, 4k, and 5k" stand for "Kilo", meaning "Thousand".