I might not be the best at self restraint once my material is ready. Lucky for you, that means I'm posting this early.

So here's a question I've pondered related to the KND: after the Annoyingly Cute Triplets, why is Grandfather's line the only ones with Fire Powers? Shouldn't there be several lines of fire weilders with the names of familial authority figures running amok?

What if the KND weren't the only ones to suffer losses at The Alamode?

Operation THAWS

The

Heat

Awoke

Wicked

Siblings

Chapter 1:

Some Time in the Early 19th Century

Catherine paced impatiently as Isabella dug through the box. "Would you hurry up! We shouldn't even be back here right now!" She swiped a red bang out from in front of her face, having not taken the time to brush it back into place it as she usually would.

Her golden haired sister looked up and said, "Gertrude is sick with pneumonia and we just had to move. She might die, even with Mother there to help her. Her homemade rainbow monkey will make her feel better."

"The trap has already been set, whatever it is. Those stupid KND boys will be here any minute! And if Mother finds out we came back when she specifically forbade it…"

"I'll deal with whatever punishment Mother will dish out as long as I can see Gertrude hug her rainbow monkey first!"

Despite how worried she was, Catharine couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. Mother may be able to keep her safer than most kids in her condition, but that was no guarantee. If having her doll would make her more comfortable and braver in the face of this threat to her health, it was totally worth the danger of coming back here and the consequences of their mother finding out.

She glanced out the window again to see the first of the swarm of KND troop arrive at the foot of the hill. Not good. "Emily…"

"Found it!" her sister called out.

"Good. Lets get back to the secret tunnel before those stupid boys catch is in here."

Emily nodded and they rushed down the hall.

Suddenly, Catherine gestured for Emily to pause as they hid in a shadowy hallway. She could see into the dining hall where many villain dinners had been held over the years.

Never again.

Suddenly a familiar blond figure ran past, at the far side of the table. Numbuh 19th Century…honestly, what type of kid had the gall to take up a title like that? He paused, and neither of them moved a muscle as he looked down their hallway. She knew that the darkness was enough to conceal them but if he decided to come down this way, there was nowhere to run and they were only armed with their parasols, not having time to grab anything else in their rush to get away to come back here. It might even cost them this whole trap their mother had spent ages preparing.

Instead he moved on, more interested in the promise of a cake recipe than some shadow in the hallway. Both girls sighed as Catherine came to a bookcase at the edge to the hallway. She pulled a book shaped lever and the bookcase swung inward, revealing a set of steps. Out of habit, Emily closed the entrance behind them before they darted downward, disregarding their usual behavior of not running down stairs out of desperation.

Suddenly, there was a rumble. The girls heard something roaring down the steps and only had time to clasp hands in their fear before a wall of pink coldness fell upon them from the stairs above.

And thus the two unaccounted for victims of the Alamode were trapped in the dark beneath their own mansion on the hill, as the boys of the KND were trapped above. Both sides lost a lot that day.

Present Day…Thursday

Numbuh 50 Million BC looked at the diagrams again. He had been continuing the search of the Alamode after the decommissioning of Numbuh 19th Century in the slim hopes of finding another copy of the secret recipe to the best cake ever, or at least some of the Obnoxiously cute Triplet's Mother's lesser, but still excellent, ones. Her cookie recipe was rumored to be almost as great.

The Moon Base had continued to fund the dig in such hopes too, but they were starting to slow down. All the kids trapped had been rescued and there seemed to be nothing left of value to find. It was sad.

Suddenly a girl came charging in.

"What is it Numbuh Forever Ago?" She was his closet trainee and he was sure she would take over the KND archeological team when he was too old to do this anymore.

"We might have found something! We discovered a secret tunnel not far from where the great dining room used to be."

"Really? I thought all the super secret tunnels in Mother's Mansion had been found, like, ages ago."

"I know. That's why we're so excited about this one. A secret tunnel this hard to find must be important."

"It might just be a secret bolt hole for the family."

"Maybe, or it could be a tunnel to a secret room full of super important stuff."

He liked her optimism. "Well, lets start the excavation and find out."

A few days later, the excavation team had made it down several flights of stairs with no sign of some super-secret special room. Numbuh 50 Million BC stood beside Numbuh Forever ago, watching the dogs at work, clearing away the strawberry ice cream. He asked, "Has there been any signs of anything else."

"Not in at least a day and a half."

He sighed, disappointed.

They'd found a side room near the surface that had been a root cellar and a second one deeper down with some old weapons and defenses of the mansion that would be documented and eventually be put on display at the Villainous Tech Through the ages exhibit at the Kids Next Door's museum. Still, no sign of any of recipes he'd been hoping for.

Suddenly there was a commotion below and both operatives looked down.

"What's going on?" Numbuh 50 Million BC asked.

"We've found a home made Rainbow Monkey!" A girl called out excitedly and half the rainbow monkey's head could be seen sticking out of the ice cream.

Numbuh 50 Million BC rolled his eyes before he was rudely shoved out of the way by Numbuh Forever Ago shoved as she shrieked, "Let me see!" Old Rainbow Monkey memorabilia from before the time of the actual Rainbow Monkey corporation were collectables worth mountains of candy to collectors. And it was no secret that Numbuh Forever Ago was one such collector.

She rushed up to the doll half hanging out of the wall and was bubbling with joy as she pulled an ice cream scoop out. She carefully pulled the layers of icecream out around the doll to avoid getting it soggy with dog spit via the hounds usually used to remove the strawberry ice cream. "Look at the condition it's in. Almost perfect! I don't know if any fully intact rainbow monkey dolls this old have even been found before. Why, I bet…" She trailed off as the scooper came in contact with something else not ice cream. An arm, she realized, wrapped around the Doll. "Oh my gosh. There's someone in here!"

"What?" One of the excavators asked.

"That's unpossible!" Numbuh 50 Billion BC stated. We've gotten all the KND Operatives that were trapped in the explosion, already!"

"Well there is someone in here, unpossible or not! We've got to get the kid out. ASA-Now!"

Chapter 2:

Nigel looked up at his dad with a smile before taking another spoonful of Minestrone soup. If a kid had to eat vegetables, this was one of the ways to do it!

At first he'd been skeptical about the need for the vegetables but he'd found that, if you ate the right amount of them (much less than what most grown ups were forcing down their throats), you had an increase in regular energy, which while not as powerful as sweets, didn't lead to a crash later. He had to admit, shoving amounts down kids throats that made the stuff bad for them was a good way to hide it's importance. He wouldn't have guessed while Father had surrounding them with Broccoli that a little of the stuff actually was good for kids… even if it's still disgusting.

Nigel's dad had been showing him a variety of tricks to get the different vegetables down too. Sure, there was always cheese, but that didn't taste good with everything. So he'd been introduced to soup and stir fry and grilling. Heck, there was even a squash to prepare like a spaghetti, even if it still wasn't as good. There was even a zucchini bread for a desert. It was weird, but the sample at the store, while by no means measured up to pistachio ice cream, wasn't too bad. These were all preparations that his dad had slowly been introducing him to over the last few months.

But Minestrone (and the e is silent, go figure) had always been fine with him. His dad had been careful to bring things like this up to inadvertently help the KND and kids as a whole. It had long ago become apparent that they would not be going on missions together (unless he didn't come back from a fight with the members of the Delightful Mansion) because he was an adolt but he was still willing to help in other ways.

"How's the dental tracker detection technology coming along?"

Nigel's smile fell a little and he swallowed, "we're making a little progress but for now, the best way to keep our teeth free is…"

"I know what it is, I've seen your teammates smile."

"Do you think we enjoy rotting our own teeth out, dad? I can't even bring myself to do it. It's why I would always disappear when it's a day for a dental checkup after the first one was removed when I joined the Kids Next Door. I plan on keeping all my teeth but I can't afford to have Adolts know where I am." He sighed and added, "but I've brought it up with the scientists, who have it as one of the top priority studies." He decided to change the subject by asking, "what's next weeks new vegetable introduction?"

"I was thinking of stuffed bell peppers. " Nigel must have made a face because his dad said, "I know you don't like veggies but I haven't given you much, have I. Besides, you've never had stuffed bell peppers. They're great."

Nigel took another bite from the bowl in his lap and paused before asking uncertainly, "Dad, my soups getting could. Would you mind if I…"

"By all means." But looked down at his own soup as he said it.

Nigel put his hand under the bowl and his eyes flashed behind his sun glasses, the bowl was instantly steaming again. He then put the bowl down and blew on his next spoonful before a bite. After he swallowed it, he said, "I still worry about your idea that villains use overexposure and subliminal messaging to make us dislike them so we aren't able to be as healthy. Although, I'll admit, the way my team has been since they took up your suggested amount, even before their sugar rush, is making me start to believe it. Thing is, there's no way I'll be able to convince many kids of it."

"That's because the villains have been so successful on that front. It doesn't help that many vegetables aren't exactly hard to dislike, either."

Nigel nodded his agreement and said, "well, I suppose I'd better get back to those math problems. They're so boring and repetitive."

"Not everyone can have the fortune of understanding mathematics as easily as you and Hoagie do, Nigel. Many people really struggle with it."

"You mean the way Numbuh Four struggles with words." Nigel asked pointedly.

"Nigel, Wallaby Beetles is seeing the words scramble on the page, his parents needed to know. The boys was not getting the proper help he needs. He could be one of the brightest kids in your class and you'd never know."

"So you went and told his parents? They're taking him to some sort of doctor next week."

"To see if he has dyslexia. I would think you of all people could relate," His dad said.

"Sorry," Nigel said, looking away. Both were painfully aware of his OCD, paranoia and insomnia. Not to mention the physical issues of the light sensitivity that had always been a problem and damage from his encounter with The Delightful Children from Down the Lane that kept his hair from growing back. And now with his newest addition quite truly flaming up…

A knock at the door abruptly cut their conversation short.

"Now who could that be?" Nigel's dad asked.

I don't know, but at this time of day, it's probably for you.

Montgomery Uno got up and walked to the door and opened it to see a child decked out in battle armor standing in the doorway, looking rather sheepish standing before him. "Hello Numbuh Zero, sir!" He saluted the man. Despite being too old to properly be considered a member of the KND, everyone still respected him. After Numbuh Zero returned the salute, the boy stated, "We require Numbuh One's aid, ASA-Now!"

"Looks like you get a reprieve from that boring math assignment, son. Although I expect it to be done later." He didn't give an exact time because he knew that there was no telling when Nigel would get back but that he would be vigilant with the work. Still, being homeschooled was easier for him then going to the main school.

Nigel worried about being separated from his team for such a large part of the day though. Even if his dad reminded him that the teachers wouldn't want to do anything that might make him angry later. One of the perks of becoming the type of being that had a reputation for being high on power and low on patience.

"We will also need to speak with you later, once the immediate emergency has been resolved, Numbuh Zero." The child added, which surprised both Unos.

Recovering from his surprise, Numbuh Zero said, "You know where to find me." Then to Nigel, he stated, "let me know what's up if you can, old bean."

Nigel nodded, knowing his dad meant if he could without compromising KND secrets. "Yes dad." Then he rushed out the door. He always carried enough concealed weaponry that he would be ready to go straight into battle if necessary. As a KND Operative not only in Cleveland but immediately next to the Delightful Mansion, it was an important habit to get into if he wanted to stay safe.

As the door closed he asked, "what's going on?"

"The Supreme Leaduh will tell you at the Alamode."

"The Alamode?"

"The rest of your team has been contacted at the school and will meet you on site. We will provide supplies for your mission once you get there."

As the Scamper landed, Nigel saw that a large number of KND ships had assembled both on the ground and in the air around the remains of the Mansion on the Hill, in battle ready formation although no attack had actually begun.

As Nigel walked through the crowd of KND Operatives, he sensed a tense mood fall over the kids around him. He pretended not to notice as he followed was led to the command tent.

Then suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "Numbuh One!" And the next thing he knew, he was enveloped in Numbuh Three's arms. "You look like you needed a hug." She said cheerfully.

"Hey Kuki," Nigel said and looked up to see the other members of his team. He smiled as the enthusiastic girl unwrapped from around him. "Hi guys, good to see you during school hours again."

"Yeah, schools not the same without you there." Hoagie said. "Thank goodness there's still the evenings."

"But it's so long to wait," Numbuh Three said.

"Enough talk about when Numbuh One's not around." Numbuh Four stated. "We're out of school and he's here now. That's what matters. I say we go see what this super important mission is about."

"Numbuh Five agrees with you, although it is good to see you early, Numbuh One."

As Sector V approached the command tent, they could hear voices from within."C'm on sis, if you let us in there, we can deal with them easily." Nigel recognized Numbuh Three Sixty Three's voice. He'd never had to deal with the kid personally before, but he'd heard rumors.

"Those girls have just awoken to find themselves stranded in a different time, surrounded by enemies. The last thing I want to do is fight with them, if we can avoid it but I won't let any operatives get hurt either." He cocked an eyebrow at Numbuh Three Sixty Two's response.

As they entered the room and Saluted the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, the younger McKensy growled as his three team mates, Numbuhs 83, 84 and 85 watched quietly, looking torn between happiness and nervousness at the sight of them. Rachel turned and visibly calmed down a bit. "You brought them here?" Her brother asked in a whiny tone. "We can handle this perfectly well."

"That's enough Three Sixty Three. Sector V has experience in this field."

"And what would that be?" Nigel asked.

"We have a hostage situation."

"At the Alamode?" Numbuh Five asked, surprised.

"How does that even happen, here?"

Rachel rubbed her forehead and said, "About 0200 hours ago, we received a call that started with some kid getting overexcited about an old rainbow monkey in a recently discovered tunnel but quickly became…

Numbuh Three shrieked excitedly and said, "An antique Rainbow Monkey! Do you know how rare those are? Oh, can I see it? Can I?"

At seeing everyone's annoyed glances at her, the girl settled down.

"You were saying," Numbuh One asked, prompting the frustrated looking Supreme Leader to continue, "It became a report that someone had been found in the Ice Cream before there was screaming and then we lost the signal altogether."

"Please tell me that there wasn't a cave in." Nigel raised an eyebrow and said, before adding "and I thought, with the recovery of Numbuh 19th Century, we'd rescued all of the Kids Next Door Operatives."

"There were no cave ins and this was no operative, Numbuh One. A few minutes later we received a call from Numbuh Forever Ago about who'd been let out of the tunnel. The rest of the excavation team that were down there, including Numbuh 50 million BC, are being held hostage by the two girls that they freed from the ice cream. She said it was two of the Annoyingly Cute Triplets who live in the Mansion upon the Hill.

All of the children of sector V let out startled responses as this was revealed.

"But how did Numbuh Forever Ago escape?" Numbuh Two asked.

"They let her go with a message for us to send down a negotiator, to hear their demands, didn't they." Nigel said even as his mind went to work. He was combing over the information about the time after the Alamode, which was rather lacking as the Fifth age came to an end shortly after, the KND unable to support itself with the loss of so many Operatives in one blow. Still, he could recall no mention of the triplets afterward, although it was assumed that they and their mother had just gone into hiding, as the next family member to rise to power would be the son of one of them, Grandfather. "Are you sure?" He finally asked

"Positive."

"What do you want from me?"

"For now, I just want to rescue the operatives from them, preferably without anyone getting hurt. Once we do that, I want a truce offered to them, due to their current predicament, which they may or may not know about by now."

"Are we?" Nigel asked, thinking about the group of kids he saw outside who looked ready for a fight.

"Yes. And I think they'll listen to you in particular better than anyone else here."

Nigel sighed and said, "because I'm family and I can prove it."

"Yes."

Nigel stopped for a moment before asking, "What type of vehicle capabilities did the Kids Next Door have in the beginning of the 19th Century?"

Nigel glanced up at the dark opening from behind their piece of debris. "alright, are we clear on the plan?"

"Numbuh Five Doesn't like you going in there alone."

"We'll be okay as long as you can be where you need to be, when you need to be."

"We will be."

"Don't worry," Numbuh Two called out. "You can count on us."

"Yeah." Numbuh Three called out joyfully

"I just wish there was going to be more butt kicking." Numbuh Four stated.

Nigel smiled and said, "I'll see all you soon," before ending the call and turning off his device. He took one more look back toward the now distant command tent, where Rachel waited, counting on him and his team to resolve this situation. He then took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the debris, ready to begin. "I am Numbuh One, the Kids Next Door negotiator you requested. Do I have permission to approach?"

"You have a weapon on your person?"

Nigel picked up the weapon in view at his waist. "If you didn't see one, you'd have assumed I had it concealed." He'd been careful in choosing his equipment. The SPANKLER he carried was a construct that had been around since the first Two by Four technology became available. It would be familiar to someone from the 19th century. Besides, he really liked that weapon. It was one of his favorites.

The form in the shadows studied him for a moment before stating, "You will disarm, then follow me. If you try anything, our prisoners will pay the price."

Nigel nodded and placed the SPANKLER down, pulling out a few of his concealed weapons hidden in the most obvious places for show. When the girl cleared her throat, he pulled out a few more, all low tech by current day standards but advanced looking for someone from the 1800s.

The girl circled around him, looking for any more suspicious bulges before nodding, satisfied. Ha! He hadn't even pulled off half his stuff yet. "Come on then. I'm sure you'll want to see that our prisoners are unharmed before we begin our negotiations." She pulled out a candle and used a match to light it.

Nigel nodded as they started down the stairs, glad the flame was there to conceal the glow that would have otherwise been visible from behind his glasses. He wasn't ready to go there yet. "I'll take it your sister is guarding them?"

"Yes. And they are trying our patience. They keep telling ridiculous lies."

"Did any of them have to do with today's date?" Nigel asked.

The girl glanced over her shoulder, up the stairs at the boy. She looked like he did when he was starting to get scared but didn't want an adolt to know it, by hiding it with anger. "Are you in on their little joke? Was this all planned before you lot freed us from Mother's Ice Cream."

"I really wish it were so simple, for both of our sakes."

"No good KND boys, always more trouble than your worth."

"I'm sure the Kids Next Door has said the same about you. Numbuh 19th Century certainly seemed to think so."

"I suppose a kid with the nerve to call himself Numbuh One would fall in with someone who has the audacity to choose a title after the new century."

Nigel frowned at the insult. He hadn't thought about the title in that light but seeing it that way, he could hardly come up with an argument in the admittedly stuck up boy's defense. Instead, he said, "I'd prefer you not speak of the recently decommissioned that way."

The girl fell silent at this. They were quiet for the las few flights of steps before they came into view of the excavation site. The KND Operatives were all gathered down at the end of it, a little cold but otherwise fine.

Standing at the entrance to the new section of tunnel was another girl with a weaponized parasol. She was a red head whom otherwise looked identical to her sister. "Are you the negotiator?" She asked.

"That would be me," Nigel replied.

The girl walked up to him, studying him with the utmost suspicion. "I've never seen you before. What are those things on your eyes?"

"Shades. I wear them in respect for another KND Operative who came a few generations after the Ice Cream explosion."

Suddenly, there was a rumble and behind them and a KND vehicle that was most certainly not from the 1800s came drilling in behind them.

"What is that thing?" The redhead asked, horrified.

"It's a…"

P.I.P.E.P.O.D. (Pipe Interior Penetrating Electron Powered Oscillating Drill)

The PIPEPOD approached the entrance of the tunnel. "Stop right there!" A pair of voices called out, one from within the hole and the other from behind him. He glanced back to see the point of a pretty pink umbrella pointing at his head. A small part of him wondered what it did but he did as the girls said. "I've come to tell you that the Kids Next Door wish to call a truce with you due to your situation."

"We're cute, not clueless," The blond girl holding the umbrella stated. She was covered head to toe in melted strawberry ice cream. He was more than a little relieved to see that, despite the synchronized talking, they did not show demonstrate any other symptoms of a possible delightfulization.

"We know that. No one in the Wigglestine line would have ever been described as that."

"Ah, you've done your research, good for you." The girl with the umbrella stated before the girl in the dark, "but clearly you weren't smart enough to keep from getting caught. And now we have a new hostage to negotiate our way out of here and find out what really happened."

Nigel looked at the girl in the dark and said, "I'll tell you what happened, you got caught in an ice cream blast, along with five thousand kids next door operatives in the 19th century and were freed to find yourself in the 21st century."

"Stop spouting those lies!" Both hissed at once.

"They aren't lies. Your sister grew up and had a child of her own who grew up to ear the title of the most powerful villain who ever lived, Grandfather. He had two sons, the oldest of which started up the seventh age of the Kids Next Door while the youngest grew up to continue to promote the control of evil adults. And in the day Grandfather returned before being overthrown a second time, I found out that…" he removed his sun glasses so that they could see the glow of his eyes, seeing the blond child's eyes widened as she lowered her umbrella before spinning around and looking into the darkness, placing his glasses back on his face summoning his silhouette suit, "I am the son of the elder. Your great, great nephew."

The girl hiding in the dark stepped forward, her red hair messy with melted ice cream like the other. Her parasol was larger and had some sort of obvious gun on the end at the moment. She held herself with the air of a leader. He guessed that she was used to being in command. He drew himself tall as he could without manipulating his form as the girl approached carefully, studying him. Her sister circled around to stand beside her a couple feet away from him.

And suddenly, the dangerous, threatening figures transformed into two, scared lost looking girls. The melted ice cream dripping from them only added to the affect. The red head asked, "Is it true?"

"Are mother and Gertrude dead and gone?" the other asked.

"Is everyone we ever knew gone?"

"Aside from the last of the KND operatives dug out of here and decommissioned, yes. I'm sorry." The two girls started crying.

"Is there anything I can…" and the next thing he knew the two girls were hugging him, sobbing as they did so. "…do?"

He just wrapped his arms around them and let them cry, not caring that he was getting covered in melted ice cream as he did so, sensing they needed it for the moment. Had family really meant so much to his ancestors that they could throw their trust into some relative they'd never even met before?

His next thought was that Father could have them in his delightfulization chamber before they even knew what happened. With that thought he pulled them even closer to him, sure the villain would come for them and equally positive that, despite their having been enemies of the KND in the 19th century, he could not let that happen to them.

After a minute, they had recovered themselves and pulled away from the boy they had held. "You said this age of the Kids Next Door was started by one of our sister's grandsons?"

"Yes."

"Then they can't be completely hopeless, can they? We agree to the truce, for now."

"Good," Nigel said as he tore of his suit, watching it fray to nothing from where he tore it. At the looks of surprise from the girls, he said, "I'm not exactly comfortable in this thing and it makes the others nervous." Then he pulled out a walky talky to say, "the situation has been dissolved, the sisters accept the truce. They will be coming out with me.

He looked back to see the two girls looking uncomfortable. They looked at each other and then down at the ground, occasionally glancing at him.

"What?" He asked.

"We'd feel safer if you…"

"If I wore the silhouette suit when we approached the other operatives."

They nodded.

For a moment, Nigel looked back toward where he knew Rachel was waiting, unwilling to stand in front of the others with it on. Then he looked at the two thirds of the Annoyingly Cute triplets from upon the hill, living up to the unbearable cuteness part of their title in their sadness and desperation. Nigel sighed and recalled the shadows to him and the girls immediately perked up a little. "Better?"

"Yes" The blond girl said.

"Much," her red headed sibling said.

He was about to lead them out when he glanced back and said, "I don't think we've officially introduced ourselves yet. I'm Nigel Uno, formally known as Numbuh One of the Kid's Next Door."

"I'm Cathrine," the red headed sister stated.

"And I'm Emily." Her blond sister added.

"We're the Annoyingly Cute Triplets Who Live Upon The Hill," The two finished as one

"Well Catherine, Emily, it's nice to meet you both."

"We wish it could be under better circumstances," the two sisters stated.

Nigel nodded in agreement.

Chapter 3

As the three forms came out of the Alamode, everyone tensed up. Nigel glided forth, covered in shadow, clearly uncomfortable presenting himself that way. The two girls following him on the other hand, despite being an absolute mess, managed to hold an air of proud arrogance as they walked almost at their great, great nephew's heels.

Rachel saw the masks crack only once to give her a glimpse of the true fear and loss hidden beneath the girls faces as Nigel drew up to her and saluted. "Mission accomplished, Supreme Leaduh, sir." She realized, that they must not be used to seeing anyone in the suit defer to another person.

"Well done Nigel." She gestured for them to follow into the main acheological tent. As he slipped in, the two other girls hesitated, staring her down.

"If it makes you feel better, he not the Supreme Leaduh because he's satisfied with the position he has."

The two girls seemed to relax at this and one actually said, "it's good to see the Kids Next Door has taken to being an equal opportunity group for girls as well as boys."

"I didn't ever think I'd see the day." The other added and the two giggled.

"Girls, welcome to the 21st century."

This elicited a small smile from both triplets. "Don't think this means we're any more likely to give you lot our cake."

"As long as you don't try to make everyone else watch while you eat it, we'll leave it be." She looked between them and asked, "Will you two be alright if I leave you here while I talk to Numbuh One alone for a minute?"

"We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much."

"Remember, this is a truce." Rachel declared loudly enough for the other operatives nearby to hear. "I expect everyone to behave." She cast an authoritative glance at both KND Operatives and the triplets before ducking into the tent.

As Rachel entered the space, she asked"What's with the shadow suit, Nigel?"

As he tore the wretched thing off, he said, "they felt more comfortable about coming out if I was wearing it." He looked back toward the entrance of the tent and said, "we need to figure out something fast. As soon as Father catches wind of this, he'll bring all of his forces down on our heads in order to get his hands on them. For all we know, he could already be assembling his forces. They trust their family members way too much, Rachel. The moment I put this thing on, they were willing to let their guard down completely, just like that. They'll see him and trust him right to the point he shows them the inside of his delightfulization chamber." His voice cracked momentarily as he said this. "They don't even have a parent to look for them."

"They really got to you, didn't they?" Rachel asked.

Nigel nodded.

"We need to get back to your house and talk to your dad. We're already setting something up and we need your dad's okay before we activate it but once we do, they will be recognized even in regular adult systems, which will make them that much safer.

Nigel nodded and asked, "What's the play by play?"

"I have a prison ship to the south. I will send it to the Arctic Prison with an escort, including myself. We are even currently looking for lookalikes that might fool any spies from a distance to load onto a ship while we can disguise the real deal. If Father is already waiting, he should take the bait and follow us."

Suddenly, Nigel looked away from Rachel and glared at something.

"What? What is it?" Rachel asked, scared by what could possibly cause Nigel to give such a baleful glare.

"Nothing, keep going." They young boy said as he slowly stalked past her.

"Sector W has to pass near your base on the way to their own treehouse. My brother will take you and the sisters to your house." She waited for acknowledgement that he understood. Unfortunately, he was busy stalking something across the room. "Are you even listening?"

"Yes, Sector W will be taking us home." He said as he summoned his suit, glaring at a spot across the room that seemed to have personally offended him somehow.

After an uncomfortable moment, she showed him some suits of KND tactical gear which he barely glanced at before continuing his hunt for a seemingly invisible enemy. She continued, "If they'll let us disguise them, no one should even bat an eye. Activate the video conference screen at your house and we will discuss… Nigel Uno, are you seriously ignoring me to chase after a fly!?"

Nigel froze, A small fireball in hand as a housefly darted away from him. The fireball dissipated as he guiltily stated, "I wasn't ignoring you, Numbuh Three Sixty Two. I would never do that, disobey your orders under certain circumstances from time to time? Maybe but never ignore you…just multitask…Ha!" he suddenly leapt into the air, swatted the thing and it fell away, going out in blazing glory. Then there was an interesting pop as the thing had a tiny explosion.

"Gotcha!"Nigel smiled proudly at the results as he used his powers to control and smother the tiny flame rising from the smoldering pile that crashed to the floor.

"Congratulations," Rachel stated sarcastically, "you've used some of the most feared powers in the world to accomplish a task generally relegated to flyswatters. Now can we get back to the task at hand?"

Nigel had been concerned that the sisters would refuse to cooperate in disguising themselves, but their desperation to get in to clean clothes in combination with Nigel's declaration that there was a relevant danger to them was enough to ensure that they did as were told. So, soon they were crowded into the Sector W Scamper, with a very displeased Numbuh Three Sixty Three glaring from his command seat at Numbuh One, once again looking his normal self, and the Two Triplets in full KND Battle armor, helmets included.

Nigel took up a place at the usually empty left rear gun control. He wasn't about to interfere with the chain of command here, but he refused to sit idle, either. As of yet, He and Numbuh Three Sixty Three hadn't exchanged more than a couple words.

Suddenly, the smaller boy turned to him and asked, "How come you get missions in my territory whenever high ranking villains like Mr. Boss are involved?"

Nigel saw Numbuh Eighty Five twitch in his seat, probably fighting the urge to look back guiltily.

"If it makes you feel any better, I also have to Negotioate with Mr. Boss about hostage trades, which was usually a task for the Decommissioning Squad," Nigel said quietly, just loud enough for Harvey to hear. It was true, since the when there were no villains of value to trade for captive operatives, the villains would often demand operatives at about the age of thirteen be handed over to them rather than brought to the Decommission chamber.

It was also a hint to Harvey to look into the real reason why he and his team would never face Mr. Boss. The KND prided themselves in upholding family dynamics of their operatives whenever they could. There was a group devoted specifically to the task. If the close family family of an operative was identified as also having villain ties, measures were taken to make sure that the family members never met on the field.

Of course, Sector V had been used to fill the gaps that make sure the Fulbright family never had to face eachother, leading to extra fights with Mr. Boss, increased conflict with Numbuh Eighty Six and now, with the initiation of Patrick Fulbright as Numbuh Eighty Five, ticking off Sector W by taking missions that would otherwise belong to them. And none of the Fulbrights were supposed to catch on that this was happening.

As if Sector V didn't have it hard enough already.

And judging by the way Numbuh Eighty Five was acting, they had failed on the last front for at least one member of said family.

Harvey, on the other hand, lacking a vital piece of information the other boy had, exclaimed, "I don't care who else you mess with. Stay away from the missions in my territory. My team has never failed one mission. We can handle Mr. Boss much better than a bunch of old farts like you and your team."

Nigel was about to argue when he glanced at the two girls who were watching the scene and instead said, "now's not the time to do this."

" 'Cause you know I'm right! Your team's a bunch of old has-beens."

"Whatever Numbuh Three Sixty Three…Numbuh Eighty Five, you really should stop gaping at me and get back to your own duties."

The other boy, who had not stopped staring at him since hearing his statement and realizing what it meant, suddenly nodded sheepishly and went back to the controls. He'd have to find a time to pull the kid aside and tell him not to discuss his realization with the rest of his family.

Suddenly, a shot rocked the ship

This is actually one of two story ideas I had for introducing the Annoyingly Cute Triplets. I will show the second with my next post.

In my plans for the series, since Grandfather was still roaming free and Nigel now had powers, the KND decided to have Numbuh Zero keep his memories, both to keep an eye on his older family members and so Nigel had a non villainous family member to turn to for support after gaining his newfound powers.

That fly was going to be the spy fly that the DCFDTL used to spy on the sector V base, except more advanced and able to relay what it was seeing remotely.