Operation D.A.T.E:
Dance
Actually
Threatens
Everyone
Back to going by episodes! Might have one more chapter after this and then I'll do Operation UNDERCOVER.
My Pov
It had been a few weeks since both David and I had returned home and it was almost like we hadn't been gone even a day. Almost, but we didn't let the obvious things bothers us. Dad was going to AA meetings and staying sober, Mom had become as social as she had before and Marty seemed to be his old self according to Mom. We had to do a lot of things to rearrange our rooms and need new clothes. I actually decided to keep the jumper I took from Father's mansion and altered it a bit by painting KND in black fabric paint on the bottom left. David wore a dark red T-shirt with a long-sleeved white undershirt, blue jeans and sneakers. Sector V had agreed not only to allow David to take up a spot in their treehouse, but also agreed to keep his recommission a secret for a while. One day, Numbuh 1 called all of us to important meeting.
"Kids Next Door, reporting for duty!" Numbuh 3 announced.
"Bad news, team." Numbuh 1 said, opening the ice chest and pulling out a piece of paper with salad tongs. "When I opened the Kids Next Door super-secret mail drop this morning, I discovered this. Numbuh 5 walked up and started to read.
"You are cordially invited to-" she started but Numbuh 1 yanked the paper away.
"Don't touch it!" he exclaimed.
"What?! It's just an invitation!" Numbuh 5 said. Numbuh 3 looked at it and got excited.
"An invitation to the Kids All-Town Cotillion!" Numbuh 3 exclaimed.
"We got invited?" Numbuh 2 asked.
"That's the biggest shindig in town." Numbuh 4 added.
"It's only kids?" David asked.
"Yep. Last year's was amazing from what I was told." Numbuh 2 said. That's when Numbuh 1 interrupted and pointed to the bottom corner of the invitation.
"Read the fine print- With your hosts the Delightful Children From Down The Lane." Numbuh 1 pointed out. There was the catch.
"Does that mean we can't go?" Numbuh 3 asked sadly. She was worried about not going more than who was hosting it?
"Of course we're going!" Numbuh 1 said. While Sector V was happy about, me and David weren't. Neither of us wanted to go back to that house if we could avoid it. However, more than likely an invitation was mailed to our house and Mom, not knowing the situation as we didn't want her to worry every time we left the house, didn't know that the owner of the house was the one who kidnapped David and the others.
"Numbuh 0.2? Numbuh 0.6?" We snapped our attention at Numbuh 5's voice. "You two okay?" David shook his head.
"No. I just don't know if I can muster up the courage to go back in the house. It's too soon." he said.
"You'll both be okay. You're Sector Z! The best sector of the Kids Next Door." Numbuh 4 said. While everyone was busy chatting about, I heard David quietly mumble; 'We use to be'. I felt a tug in my chest. While it was sad to admit, he was right. We were no longer Sector Z. We were two lost and broken operatives who had been trapped within ourselves for a long time and now were out of place. We would never be Sector Z again until everyone was back and justice was served to Father. Numbuh 1 asked for us to be part of the mission and we reluctantly agreed. We went home and, like I thought, an invitation had been sent to our house with an added "Please attend".
"We weren't getting out of this even at the beginning, were we Mel?" David asked.
"Nope." I said. So, a few hours before the party, Mom spent a lot of time helping us get ready. She combed David's hair and brushed mine, putting it into a high ponytail a clipping a light pink hair accessory that looked like butterfly wings just above it. David wore a long sleeved, dark red dress shirt with a black tie, pants and dark brown dress shoes. I wore a long-sleeved white blouse tied with a bow on the chest over a pink dress and pink shoes with white bows and soles. Dad drove us to the Delightful Mansion and the whole way there, we were both shaking.
"I'll be back to get you kids in two hours." Dad said. We just awkwardly nodded our heads and got out of the car. We waved good-bye(hopefully not for the last time)and turn to face the mansion. I saw a bunch of kids, all dressed in fancy clothes. That's when a huge blast of wind came from behind us. Sector V finally arrived and had brought Lizzie too. Great. I had met her the one time and that was enough for me to draw the conclusion that she was needy and clingy.
"Numbuh 0.2, these are for you and Numbuh 0.6." Numbuh 1 said, handing David two corsages. One was a red rose and the other was white. "They're communication devices. I especially want to make sure you're both within sight during this mission." We nodded and took the corsages. David wore the white one and I wore the red one. David took my hand and we walked in behind Sector V. As soon as we stepped past the doorway, I heard the voices of the Delightful Children. Soon, we came face-to-face.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Nigel Uno and his little playmates." they said with a snarky tone. Then they turned toward us. "And our older brother and the homewrecker." I shrank behind David as he pushed me behind him. After some back and forth we went into the main hall. "Hope you enjoy yourself, Mellie." I heard the emphasis put on my nickname. David rushed us in before I could say anything.
"Chill out, Mel." David warned.
"Only you and Marty are allowed to call me Mellie. Everyone else calls me Mel or Melody." I said, crossing my arms in frustration.
"And Bruce is the only one allowed to call you Lanie." David added, smirking. Pink dusted my cheeks before I lightly punched him in the side. We did our best to enjoy ourselves, which was hard seeing as Numbuh 1 was so paranoid and would keep us from eating or drinking anything. After a while, I lost track of David. I quickly started looking for, finding him sitting on the steps in the back that led to the garden.
"Davie?" I called. He turned around and saw me.
"Hey Mellie. I just... needed some air." David said, pulling at his tie. I knew this was more stressful for him than it was for anyone else. That's when I saw a flash out of my peripheral vision.
"What was that?" I asked. We went back inside and noticed everyone was gone. Okay, not a good sign. We went in where it said 'photo room'. We peeked through the curtain and saw Numbuh 1 and Lizzie. I then heard a humming noise. We looked and saw a laser pointed right at them! We ran and pushed them out of the way.
"What is your problem, Melody?!" Lizzie exclaimed, angry that we were interrupting her picture.
"That's not a camera. It's -" Numbuh 1 started, but the Delightful Children finished his sentence.
"A neurosuggestion ray- you three know you're optical mind control devices, but we're afraid that puts you all sadly in the minority." That's when the curtains pulled back, revealing all the guests were Delightfulized. The boys grabbed us and we ran through the mansion, running from multiply Delightfulized guests which included the rest of Sector V. We managed to find a closet to hide in. I saw David crouched down in a ball and hyperventilating. I wrapped my arms around him and he gripped my arm so hard.
"David, breathe and count backwards from 100. You always told me to do that when I got anxiety." I said. While my brother was having a panic attack, Lizzie was more concerned with getting a picture. Lizzie snapped a picture with her own camera just as the closet door opened. The flash from her camera was apparently powerful enough to cancel the neuro ray's effect. Numbuh 1 took her camera and managed to undo the ray's effect on all the other kids. We escorted them out while he went back inside by himself. After a while, fireworks erupted from the mansion and everything was okay now. Everyone's parents came to pick them up, including our dad. We were quiet the whole way there, but Dad chalked it up to us being tired. We got home, threw off our party clothes and changed into PJs. I was about to head to my room, when David stopped me.
"Mel, can you sleep here? Just tonight?" David asked, almost pleading. I knew why. He tried to be the tough older brother, but I knew he was scared. I nodded and crawled into bed. He hugged me close and we did our best to fall asleep. Several times during the night, David started to whimper and would toss around. I had to wake him to help him to calm down. I knew this incident was going to stay with him for a while.