Disclaimer:
My sincere apologies for any grammatical mistake presented, english is not my first language.
Please check the cover art for this chapter on my KicaCris tumblr page! I always post art related to this story there and on my other social media ( KicaCris )
Codename: Kids-Next-Door is a show created by Mr. Warburton and co-owned by Cartoon Network. Characters presented in this story are of their intellectual property.
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Galactic-Kids-Next-Door mission
Operation:
A.L.P.H.A.
Chapter 2:
Welcome to the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door!
"DON'T DO IT NIGEL!"
"THIS ISN'T WHAT THE KIDS-NEXT-DOOR IS ABOUT!"
(6 days and 12 hours before)
A red screen with a beeping typing bar flashed in front of the eyes of a shadowed figure.
[INSERT NUMERICAL IDENTIFICATION]
[INSERT PASSWORD]
"Welcome galactic-level operative, Numbuh 1. Do you wish to start a new log date?" Press Y or N for confirmation" the computer greeted in its usual female mechanical voice thru the visor glasses of Nigel Uno.
He raised a hand and swiftly began to type over a holographic keyboard that his visors produced for him.
[LOG DATE 02 08 15]
[OPERATIVE NUMERICAL IDENTIFICATION: NUMBUH 1]
[DAILY REPORT ENTRY # 365]
[CURRENTLY LOCATION: PLUTO'S ORBITAL HUB]
"You may now start recording" the computer confirmed as Nigel cleared his throat and sat comfortably on his bunker bed, leaning his back on the wall while crossing his arms behind his head.
"Log date 2-8-15, this is Numbuh 1 reporting from Pluto's orbital hub. Last training mission on Neptune's base was a success…another cleaning emergency by Numbuh Ordinal commands…my team and I performed a janitorial diploid with no issues to report aside from the obvious lack of complete effort from Numbuh Geo-4, who I'm still 100% sure he's just a rock and not a supposedly great operative from Sediment Minor…GKND continues to troll me with these useless training missions…."
Numbuh 1 rubbed his temples tiredly, his patience running thin as he continued his log date. "It's been 365 days already and I'm starting to seriously consider the only reason GKND chose me as their first Earth operative was to make me work as their galactic janitor!" he grabbed a pillow and threw it to the other side of the room angrily.
The pillow landed on a large ball of fur that lowly growled back in a complaint.
Numbuh 1 jumped slightly in surprise as the large furry purple ball moved and the big head of a cat-looking alien glared at him. "Oh sorry, Numbuh 9L, I didn't turn on the lights of the room so I didn't see you already sleeping, so very sorry!" he nervously apologized to his fellow roommate.
Numbuh 9L angrily purred and with a large yawn, she curled herself back into her usual balled sleeping form.
Nigel signed in relief and smiled down at one of his only friends in this whole adventure.
He had met his feline friend during his very first day at the GKND main Omega-Ship at one of the many tests the galactic command had given them to try their "endurance", as they still continue to insist to this day. Together they have managed to free the ship' sewers from a giant asteroid that had been blocking the toilets' water system for weeks, and Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 9L had ended up becoming friends after saving each other's butt from almost getting drown in the process. She had grown especially overprotective of him ever since then, always walking beside him and hissing away any alien bully who even thought of doing a practical joke on him.
Numbuh 9L was one of the biggest GKND weaponry expert he had ever met so far, a massive two-tailed purple striped cat that always had a belt/saddle full of different cool artifacts and weapons with her. She didn't speak human English but Nigel seemed to still understand her just fine without the need of using his visor glasses to translate for him, as her large curly eyebrows usually expressed more than any bug-eyed operative in the force.
Sadly, she was the sole survivor of a cat alien race from Leo Stars System as her planet had been completely overrun by adults and GKND had had no choice but to destroy it.
They had had no choice.
Nigel glanced over the large round window of their spacious shared room and looked at Pluto with a pensive frown. The room he now lived in was big but simple, with a bunk bed right next to a small desk with a computer desktop, a sofa in front of a flat TV screen and a bookshelf full of video games. Next to the room's main entrance was a second door that leaded to a full-equipped bathroom and next to that door there you could find a closet full of GKND uniforms. Numbuh 9L had her own large cat bed next to the main entrance of the room but sometimes she would be found sleeping on the sofa next to the window. There were no decorations as GKND was against personal customization, so the walls were all of the same metallic green copper colors and the interior "lamps" were the same magenta luminescent trees similar to the one the KND Moonbase had always stood up from the very first KND era.
Numbuh 1 looked at the silver planet and began to ponder about his solo adventure. Ever since he left Earth a year ago, he had learned a lot of things from GKND. Some of them have been good and amazing discoveries but there were also some other… more controversial stuff. The Galactic-Kids-Next-Door had proven to be so much more than what he had initially expected it, more than just a huge intergalactic organization made of children from all over the universe that had been fighting universal adult tyranny for thousands of years.
They had had no choice.
Nigel had discovered that, although they have never officially said it out loud, the Galactic KND were truly so committed to their cause that they had never hesitated on taking the most extreme measures to accomplish their goal. According to Numbuh 74.239, they were certain adulthood was, in reality, a mere deadly virus that had been spreading across the galaxy for eons and GKND had taken the duty of eradicating the deadly disease from the universe at all costs.
Adulthood was a plague that had managed to consume entire planets to the point of no possible salvation whatsoever, like in the case of Numbuh 9L's home planet.
"It's like in those human zombie movies, you know? If you find the cure to the virus then the planet is saved, but if not…well, it's definitely doomsday!" Numbuh 74.239 told him once.
He thought about his parents, his friends…was it that really it? Adulthood could really be just a virus? He had never liked the concept of vaccines or medicines before, as he had always believed those where just mere control mechanisms the adults liked to force kids to accept, but he wondered now… if GKND was right then, could the disease be cured?
He looked at his reflection on the window and carefully noticed every single change his body was already going thru as he was getting closer to his 12th birthday. He had gotten taller, he knew, as the GKND had given him new clothes 6 months ago, his chin had gotten more angular and his voice now sounded a little bit deeper. Of course, there were still barely noticeable changes but his over-analytic mind was already firing the alarms in his head.
He thought about his friends…Numbuh 5 and 2 were probably 12 by now. He clenched his fists in determination.
"We'll save you guys" he mentally promised.
A hissing electronic sound suddenly startled him and turning his eyes from the window he saw the door of his room getting opened. He blinked silently as a taller blond boy, dressed in a shabby navy blue hooded sweater, ragged brown knee length pants and dirty gray space boots entered the room escorted by two fully amored GKND operatives. The teenager had many bruises and scratches all over his skin but didn't seem tired nor in pain albeit his apparent beaten up condition.
"You did good on today tests, Numbuh 274," one of the masked operatives said while he helped to release Chad from his handcuffs. "Numbuh 74.239 will soon come to report to you and Numbuh 1. A message will be sent for additional tests-"
"Yeah, yeah I know. More tests" Chad replied with no interest as he massaged his wrists freely.
"Good night then, Numbuh 274, 1 and 9L" the two guards turned around and the door once again closed.
Chad turned to glare at the door as Numbuh 1 hurried out of his bed to check on him.
"So, how were today's tests?" Nigel asked excitedly, his eyes brimming with hope.
Numbuh 274 looked at him with an arched eyebrow, "What do you think? Same old same" he walked past him towards his bunk bed, which was the one on top of Nigel's.
Numbuh 1's face faulted, his hopes crushed once again "no progress then? What did they make to you do this time?" he pressed on but his vision suddenly went blind with a discarded smelly sweater thrown at his face.
"They made me run about 20k in the treadmill, then ordered me to fight some big crab-like alien adults they had for their experiments with a bunch of sensor stickers attached to my arms and legs, then they gave me another brain-scan, they checked my vision, my reflexes, my heart-beats" Chad enlisted as he changed to a new and cleaner navy blue hooded sweater and a new pair of dark brown knee length shorts.
"The usual lab-rat treatment," Chad said lowly, "at least they let me shower after the tests this time…but I had to dress again on the same dirty clothes I was wearing…I might need another shower now that I think about it" the ex-Supreme Leader rambled as he took off his boots and socks to be completely barefoot.
Nigel took the shirt off his face to look again at the veteran KND operative. Contrary to him, Chad had purposely worked very hard to be noticed by the galactics, to the point in which GKND ended up acknowledging his undying resolution and loyalty to the fight against adult tyranny despite him being technically a "teenager".
However, Nigel and he would later discover the real reason the GKND had ended up taking Chad too was for the purpose of studying closely the effects of the virus in him, in an attempt to develop a cure or a vaccine for the people of Earth.
Nigel had seen this as the most ultimate altruist mission any Earth KND operative could ever aspire to accomplish, a mission worth being written in the Book of KND even, a legendary tale of how one turned-13 KND operative redeemed himself and ended up saving his entire planet from the complete annihilation of a deadly aging virus.
But Chad had an entirely different opinion about the mission.
"Nigel stop giving me that sad hopeless look, you know I'm not really sick" Numbuh 274 scolded him with his arms crossed over his chest, "It doesn't matter how many tests they make me go thru, the results are always going to be the same because adulthood is not a virus!"
Nigel gasped as he turned to look at Numbuh 9L who was now awake and looking heartbroken. "Don't say that in front of Numbuh 9L! There's gotta be a way to cure-"
"No there is not" Chad insisted with a knowing arched eyebrow.
"Look, if you really believe there's no cure then why do you keep taking the GKND tests?!" Nigel barked back at him and Numbuh 9L glanced to him and then to Chad expectantly.
"I keep doing the tests not because I believe it's going to work, you 8-ball-head" he walked towards Numbu 9L and softly scratched one of her ears fondly, making her purr happily. He smiled sadly at her "Sorry about that girl…but if you really want to know, I keep doing the tests because I know I will eventually get the attention of the Galactic Supreme Leader".
Numbuh 9L and Nigel went wide-eyed at his revelation, "You want to speak to the-why?!" Nigel grabbed his head in shock.
"Well, first of all…" he patted Numbuh 9L's to calm her down again, "because he had never faced us not even once ever since we boarded the ship almost a year ago. What kind of Supreme Leader is he if he doesn't meet the new recruits-"
"Please tell me you're not expecting me to believe you have a beef with the Galactic Supreme Command because they are not following the right welcoming protocols" Nigel cut him mid-sentence with a bored frown.
Chad blushed embarrassed; "well I do find it quite disrespectful! Especially because I'm an ex-Supreme-"
Nigel rolled his eyes largely.
"Ok fine, that's not the only reason I want him to notice us…" he smiled as Numbuh 9L curiously titled her head at him.
"This whole purging and destroying planets that supposedly get overrun by adults…it's just not right!" he whispered to just Nigel and Numbuh 9L.
Numbuh 1 didn't know how to answer to that.
"The Earth KND wasn't created to eliminate all forms of adulthood on the planet, that's a ridiculously dangerous notion! Not all adults are bad! I can't really speak in favor of my own parents but do you think your parents are evil?" Chad questioned him.
"No!" Nigel quickly answered him, "my parents are good adults-"
"Exactly! And not all kids are good either, take for example the Delightful-"
"But they were good BEFORE!"
"…ok fair enough, that was actually Father's fault I guess, but what about the Interesting Twins Beneath the Mountain?"
"The twins? Wait-how do you know about them-?"
"Remember when I told you about how I helped you and Sector V on the sidelines?"
"Oh right…well as far as I know, they could probably have a similar story as the DCFTL…" Nigel shrugged as he remembered how the twins had the same scary looking eyes and talked in a similar manner as his arch nemesis.
Chad pondered the possibility for a second, "uhm! you might be right about that…Well, there are still the Six Gum Gang, who were the bullies in your old school, the Rowdy Hooligans, the Annoyingly cute Triplets who lived upon the hill, and let's not forget about Numbuh Ome- "
"Alright! Alright! I admit it! Sure there are SOME evil kids too, but they all had been direct consequences of evil adults doing so your case has no point…and please, were you really going to name Omega just now? He's just a KND fairy tale-"
"A KND FAIRY TALE?!" Chad suddenly snapped at him outraged.
"Well look at you both finally getting along after a whole year, isn't it quite nice?"
Chad and Nigel turned towards their room's main door as Numbuh 74.239 entered alongside Lizzie who had a silver box in her hands.
Numbuh 1, 274 and 9L quickly straightened themselves up and military greeted them.
"Good evening Numbuh 74.239…Numbuh Vine…" Nigel said sourly making Lizzie look away embarrassed. It's been months since he had found out about Lizzie's true identity as the undercover plant-alien operative named Numbuh Vine and was still resentful at her. He just couldn't believe the nerve of her! Especially since she always had made it pretty clear to him how much she hated the constant lies and cover-ups he had had to come up with when they were still dating only to discover later that she too had been lying to him about who she really was the whole time.
"Oh please Nigel, there is no need for such formalities! We might not be the same species but Numbuh Vine and I have spent so much time on Earth that we barely remember now that we actually don't need to eat food like you humans do, right Lizzie?" he friendly nudged his female companion.
"Yes, of course, we're still friends…right?" she timidly said but Nigel only frowned deeper at her
"Sometimes I wish photosynthesis could taste as good as-"
Chad cleared his throat loudly to refocus Numbuh 74.239 attention, "weren't you going to report us about something, Numbuh 74.239-"
"Oh please Chad, just call me Gabe, it's way shorter than saying that obnoxious long numerical identification" he waved his hand in an annoyed gesture, "and yes I do have two important things to report to you!... Well actually three-well ok, first of all, congratulations Numbuh 1, you have FINALLY been promoted and will no longer be part of the janitor team- I mean – the Sediment Minor Sector! Yay!" he clapped as Lizzie smiled happily.
"REALLY?!" Nigel lost his military stance and gaped excitedly. "OH THANK NUMBUH ZERO FINALLY!" he jumped with his fists raised in the air.
"Well that's actually some cool news, congrats baldie" Chad patted his shoulder and proudly smiled at him just as Numbuh 9L licked his bald head in a congratulating manner.
"Second of all…Chad, today's tests came out with no changes so…I'm afraid we still haven't found any clue to stop your aging condition…I'm really sorry-"
"That's fine" Numbuh 274 cut him dismissively, "we just have to keep trying" he monotonously lied, earning an arched eyebrow from Nigel.
"That's the spirit! You really are the bravest KND operative, Numbuh 274! Always looking after others' well being first. Oh, you certainly will give a great first impression to our Galactic Supreme Leader tomorrow-" Gabe suddenly revealed.
"Wait-what?!"
"Chad is going to meet the Galactic Supreme Leader tomorrow?!" Numbuh 1 shouted and Numbuh 9L's fur bristled in shock.
Lizzie suddenly frowned worriedly.
"Not only Chad but you too Nigel! He wants to meet both of you personally tomorrow morning!" Numbuh 74.239 produced confetti from one of his lab coat's pockets.
"YES!" Chad fist bumped.
"Oh what an honor! What should we wear? What should we say?" Nigel began to question nervously while pulling from Chad's hoodie.
"Don't worry! Numbuh Vine, Numbuh Infinity and myself will be there with you to back you up. I believe one of the reasons he wants to finally meet you is because he's going to personally assign Numbuh 1 to his new galactic-level mission" he explained, "and as for Chad, well he surely has heard a lot about your achievements and must be really impressed about all the things you have done for the GKND cause-"
"Wait a minute" Numbuh 274 interrupted again, "you don't know why he wants to meet us?".
Numbuh 74.239 paused and scratched his orange curly hair as Lizzie kept frowning with worry. "Well, I mean, no…his message just said he wanted to personally meet you tomorrow, nothing else, but it doesn't matter! He never summons anybody to the Omega Main Orbit Base unless he has a very good reason!" he snickered and waved his hand good-naturally as if it was a well-known fact about all the galactic operatives.
Chad and Nigel exchanged questioning glances but said nothing.
"In other news" Lizzie suddenly spoke again, shaking the metallic box in her hands, "I have brought your communicators to call your parents as per weekly protocol, here".
Lizzie handed Nigel a heavy old block shaped cell phone, "I still think Numbuh Zero should have given you a better communication device to call home" she commented sarcastically and finally earned a small smile from Numbuh 1.
"If dad had managed to keep his memories, he would have probably given me something cooler but this still works fine" he took the old thing from Lizzie's box and fondly smiled.
Numbuh Vine nervously shook her head as she caught herself smiling dreamingly at him, "oh, and I also have yours here Chad" she said as she grabbed a much modern red iPhone, "You don't have to be so shy and always text them you know? You should actually speak with your parents!" Lizzie rolled her eyes at what she thought was his usual teenager antics while handing the phone.
"Nah, texts are fine with them, trust me, I don't really want to hear my mom crying over how much longer this abroad study trip is going to last or if I speak Spanish fluently already" he mimicked his mom's pitchy voice while turning his iPhone on.
"Teenagers! What can you do? Right, Lizzie?" Numbuh 74.239 laughed, oblivious at Chad's offended glare.
Lizzie did notice it so she quickly decided to continue explaining her instructions to lighten up the tension.
"Remember, you'll have your usual 10 minutes to speak with your parents and then a GKND guard will come to take your phones back so please speak as much as you can with them 'cause you won't be allowed to speak with them until next week. Remember your script: You're both studying Spanish abroad, specifically in Madrid, it's nighttime in your current time zone while it's barely noon in America, if they ask you if you have received any presents from them, you must say 'yes'" Gabe handled them both a list of the objects both their parents have been sending them so far to the fake address they assigned in Madrid. "if you sense the minimal insinuation of them wanting to visit you, you must proceed as per protocol. If they ask you when are you returning home, you must respond vaguely by insisting there are still other language levels to achieve. Here I made a list of possible Spanish phrases you can say in case they-"
"Thank you, Lizzie and Gabe, uhm I think we're already familiar with the standard communication protocol by now" Nigel rubbed the back of his head and smiled awkwardly at them.
"hohoho right, right, it's been already a year!" he laughed "we'll go now, make sure to program your alarms at 06:00 hours galactic time 'cause a ship will be departing to the Omega Orbit Base at 06:30 hours. I have a feeling it's going to be a memorable morning tomorrow!" he turned around and walked towards the door.
Lizzie stood immobile for a second and Nigel though for a moment she wanted to say something else.
"Come on Numbuh Vine, let's give the boys some privacy and see if the tech department has already figured out how to turn off these ridiculous human disguises already! I can't deal with everybody staring at us all the time on the hallways" Lizzie heard Gabe said and she hesitantly looked back at Chad and Nigel before stepping out of the room too.
The door closed and the trio was once again alone in the room.
"Was Lizzie-?"
"Who knows?" Numbuh 1 shrugged annoyingly, "I wouldn't be surprised if she's hiding more stuff from me-"
Numbuh 274 smirked cheekily at him, "wow, who would have thought Nigel Uno would be the type of guy who holds a grudge against an ex-girlfriend" he mockingly said.
"Shut your teen mouth!" he grumbled with a crimson blush, "I'll call from the bathroom this time!" he quickly made a run to the bathroom and slammed the door hard before the older operative could even react.
Chad just shook his head and looked at Numbuh 9L who seemed to be smiling under her whiskers, "pre-teens, what can you do?" he chuckled and walked towards the sofa with her.
/
A few minutes later, Nigel emerged from the bathroom with the old cellphone in his hands and an annoyed frown.
"I don't know who is the current KND Supreme Leader, but if he or she had the NERVE to re-locate Sector W to MY tree house!-I really hope I'm just misinterpreting dad's words but Tommy playing in the tree house with Sonya and Lee EVERY DAY doesn't sound right to me – I know there is extra space left in my wing but I don't think our base is big enough for two sectors-"
Nigel sharply stopped his ramblings upon noticing something very very odd.
Chad Dickson, tough guy, the best there was KND operative, ex-Supreme Leader, was smiling uncharacteristically lovingly at his cell phone with glossy eyes.
"uhm…are you ok?" Numbuh 1 cautiously asked, not sure of how to approach this unheard reaction coming from the teen.
Chad looked up from his cellphone at him still smiling, "oh yeah it's fine, I'm just talking with mom and dad and felt a bit nostalgic".
And for the first time Numbuh 1 actually thought something was terribly wrong with the teen, "ok maybe we should call Numbuh 74.239 'cause something must have gotten you bad if you suddenly feel nostalgic about your parents!"
Chad rolled his eyes at him, "for the last time, .SICK. You're so paranoid" his phone made a wobbling sound as a new message was received. He chuckled and began to tap an answer.
Curious as ever, Numbuh 1 walked towards to sofa and peeked at Chad's cellphone screen. He was still very unfamiliar with the teenager concept of 'texting' but he had been trained on the basics. He knew teens preferred to use cellphones as their primary communication device and it was pretty common among them to partake in different 'chat groups' to talk about different nonsensical topics. But since they were taken by the GKND, Chad had been bound to only communicate with his parents and nobody else, and so he willingly created a chat group with both his parents so he could communicate with them at the same time without a problem. GKND would always check the transcripts of the conversations to make sure they weren't infiltrating any kind of information to the adults and so far neither he nor Nigel had gotten any problems.
Numbuh 1 arched an eyebrow as the blue label with the name "MOM" wrote to Chad about how happy she was for having been accepted in some sort of exclusive Golf Club, while the green label that read "DAD" sent a thumbs and a laughing emoji in response.
"Uh, they don't sound as bad as I remember…that's one strange way of communication thou" Numbuh 1 commented as the blue and green labels kept sending different silly messages using emojis.
"Meh, they're trying to be 'hip' I guess" he continued to smile softly at the screen.
"Your uncle Antonio is going to be in Madrid next week! It would be nice if you have time to visit him!" Nigel read the blue label of Chad's mom text.
"Yeah or if you need anything, you know you can call him!" the green label of Chad's dad immediately wrote after.
Numbuh 1 side-eyed at Chad who suddenly stopped smiling and seemed deep in thought.
"Uhm maybe tell them we have to study this weekend for another exam so you can excuse yourself?" he suggested and Numbuh 274 quickly shook his head to wake himself again.
"Oh yeah, you're right…" Chad quickly wrote his answer right when a knock was heard on their room's door. Numbuh 1 found quite odd the way he always seemed to behave differently whenever he texted his parents.
"GTG now, I'll write to you again next week. Bye!" he sent the message and in seconds both his parents quickly answered back.
"Ok, good luck son, we miss you!"
"Texts us if you need anything, xoxo"
And with that Chad turned off the phone as a GKND guard entered with a silver metallic tray. Nigel and he walked towards him and handed over the phones to him. The guard made a military salute and left the room.
"So…what do you think the Galactic Supreme Leader is going to be like? Numbuh 1 thought out loud as he rushed towards the closet to change into his pj's, "I don't even know what his numerical identification is! Numbuh Infinity and 74.239 always refer to him as Galactic Supreme Leader"
"Uhmm…" Chad wondered too as he climbed the top of the bunk bed, "now that I think of it…he's not exactly a fan of showing himself, isn't he? Always hiding behind that ridiculous blinding yellow light and sounding so omnipotent by using many overlapping voices…" he commented as he laid down on his bed.
"Well, I guess he's allowed to be a little 'extra' if he's the Galactic Supreme Leader, right?" Nigel turned the lights off and jumped on his bed excitedly, "I don't think I'll be able to sleep much tonight, can't wait for tomorrow!".
But Chad didn't answer him anymore.
/
The next day, Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 274 arrived at the famous Omega Main Orbital Base around 10:00 am as scheduled. The space ship was the same ship Nigel had boarded a year ago when he had been informed about his acceptance among the ranks of the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door: impressively massive and threatening regardless of its birthday cake-like shape and all. The ship could easily contain 5 times the KND Moon Base and still have extra space for all other space ships and vehicles.
Nigel and Chad walked behind the alien forms of Numbuh 74.239 and Numbuh Vine as they stepped out of the space ship that had picked them up at Pluto's Orbital Hub.
The hangar was that day specially crowed, with many alien operatives working on the space ships that were currently parked there.
"Welcome back to the Omega Orbital Base, Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 274" a talking big-eyed weasel alien wearing a bowtie greeted them. Nigel and Chad immediately recognized him upon noticing the trademark bowtie of Numbuh Infinity.
"Good morning, Numbuh Infinity, sir!" they both saluted him respectfully while trying to not look too surprised at his real alien form. They kinda always considered him some sort of a 'weasel' but never imagined he was ACTUALLY one.
"At ease soldiers! Today is a grand day! The Galactic Supreme Emperor is already waiting for us so please follow me!" he turned around and began to walk ahead of Lizzie and Gabe.
"Did he just say 'emperor'?" Numbuh 1 whispered.
"I think our translators misworded that part" Numbuh 274 tapped one of his earplugs and tried to reboot the auricular translators they always carried on with them.
The way to the commanding bridge was very long as it was located at the top of the space ship. Walking thru the many corridors, they would occasionally meet with alien operatives who upon recognizing them, they reacted in the same disgusting manner Nigel and Chad had been used to by now: the disapproval glares, the whispers, the hurried marches to get as far away from them as possible…
"People seem to be extra delighted of seeing us around here once again…" Numbuh 1 commented sarcastically.
"I bet they aren't exactly happy to see me walking around with no handcuffs…by the way, thanks for that Gabe" Chad sounded genuinely grateful for the gesture.
"No problem! I want to leave it clear now that I never agreed on the handcuffs, such an unnecessary thing to be honest, but you know how Numbuh Nominal is. She sometimes reminds me of Numbuh 86, you know? But instead of detesting boys she hates teenagers with some raging passion" Numbuh 74.239 shrugged, his branches squeaking with the gesture.
"You can't blame her for taking precautions, no offense Numbuh 274, but you must know how unpredictable teenagers can be, right?" Infinity chipped in the conversation as they rounded a corner and stepped on a very long holographic stairway.
Nigel glanced at Chad who kept quiet after Numbuh Infinity's remark. Before working with Numbuh 274, he too had regarded teenagers with the same disdain and prejudice most KND and GKND operatives felt but now…well, at least he didn't feel like that towards Chad, not after everything he has done for their cause.
They were approaching the top of the stairway when Numbuh Infinity turned around and cleared his throat before speaking again, "All right listen up. The Galactic Supreme Emperor –(oh no it definitely wasn't a mistranslation)- is the most respected and high ranked operative of the entire universe, so you must regard him with the highest respect your carbon-based brains are capable of. Do not talk unless he allows it and always answers him if he directly addresses you. You must refer to him as 'his grace' instead of 'sir´, as that is his rank and nothing less. Refrain from using any kind of 'slang' nor any other human cultural reference he can't understand because he's not exactly a fan of humans in general" he pulled from his bowtie nervously as Chad and Nigel digested everything he had just explained.
"Wait a sec-what do you mean with him not being a fan of humans in general?" Chad couldn't help himself to ask.
"Oh don't listen to Numbuh Infinity, our Galactic Supreme Emperor has already moved on from his last…tragic encounter with the humans. Infinity is just being paranoid as his usual self" Numbuh 74.239 failed to calm their worries.
"Last encounter with the humans?! What do you mean by that? Aren't we the first human operatives ever selected to be part of the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door?" Nigel looked at the back of the floating alien figure of Lizzie who had remained oddly silent the entire trip.
"Well, of course, you both are but that doesn't mean he had never interacted with humans before, silly!" Gabe admitted again with no concern, "but it didn't go well the first time for him, you know? It took him a long time to finally decide to give anybody from Earth another chance".
Soon enough they reached the top of the stairs and came face to face with two large ornamented doors that had a several alien symbols circling around one sign that vibrantly shown neon purple.
Chad and Nigel recognized it as the Omega symbol.
"Numbuh Infinity…what's the name of our…Galactic Supreme Leader?" Chad finally decided to ask the question that had been bothered him for months.
Numbuh Infinity and Numbuh 74.239 raised their eyebrows in surprise, "you don't know? I thought we had mentioned it before-didn't we?" Gabe pondered while scratching his red leaves "I guess we always refer to him as Galactic Supreme Emperor"
"Numbuh Omega" everybody looked at Numbuh Vine as she silently revealed to them, her long green vines slightly shaking.
Chad held his breath and lost all his colors in seconds while Nigel blinked confusedly.
"Numbuh Omega? Seriously? He chose to name himself after the old fairy tale character?" Numbuh 1 put his hands on his hips not believing his own translator now, "and here I thought only earth KND cadets believed in that story".
Numbuh Infinity and 74.239 looked at each other and began to laugh loudly. They crunched and whizzed as they laughed, and laughed for an entire minute much to Nigel's annoyance.
"Uhm did I say something funny?"
"Hohohoho I'm sorry Nigel my friend. It wasn't our intention to mock you" Numbuh Infinity wiped a laughing tear out his eyes as he recomposed himself. "I completely forgot you humans know so little about GKND history"
Numbuh 1 looked even more confused.
"It's not a fairy tale, Nigie" Lizzie spoke again and Nigel looked at the worried pair of glowing green eyes that looked at him with concern under the flower pot helmet, "that story really happened thousands of years ago" her voice sounded small and frightened.
"Oh…Ok..." he didn't know how to process the revelation "ok well…that wouldn't be the first KND story that turns out to be true I guess" Nigel nervously laughed, "the Galactic Supreme Leader must be into that story very much if he decided to use that name again-
"Oh no no, you have it wrong Nigel" Numbuh Infinity interrupted him.
"Yeah, he's not a new Numbuh Omega, no. He's THE Numbuh Omega, the only one there has ever been!" Numbuh 74.239 said with his arms raised towards the giant Omega symbol that covered the doors.
Chad suddenly growled, "That's impossible! He would be a bazillion of years old! He can't be alive nor still be a KND operative!" somehow he seemed deadly pissed with this piece of news.
"That would be the case if he was like any common alien operative of the force, but Emperor Omega is the last prince of an extinct alien race from the Nebula Galaxy who had managed to be born with the rare gift of the eternal youth! So yes, even though he's essentially over the highest alien childhood age limit currently known, he's physically and mentally as young as Numbuh 1 here" Gabe scientifically elaborated to Chad' shock.
"He-he's e-eternally young?" Numbuh 274 stammered with furious clenched teeth.
"Yes! That's why he's the Galactic Supreme Emperor, you know? And well he created the GKND and stuff, so he's the only one who has always been and will always be the Supreme Leader of all!" Numbuh Infinity nodded in agreement.
Numbuh 1 didn't know what to say anymore. Of all the stories he had already read from the Book of KND, the story of the battle between the very first known KND sector against a foe named "Omega" was probably the last one he ever considered to have some certain veracity. There wasn't much detailed information about how it happened or why it happened, as it had happened during the foundation of KND and the only thing it was said was the outcome of the fight was considered to be the very first registered victory of a KND team. But that meant if Numbuh Omega was the same character of that story, then that meant…not only The Galactic-Kids-Next-Door had already been on Earth before, but they also… had been enemies of Earth's KND before too.
"You mean to tell me we're about to meet the bastard who had wanted to obliterate our planet since the 1st Era of KND?!" Nigel heard Chad snarl furiously.
"Now, now, Chad, please calm down! What happened thousands of years ago is in the past. Plus! Modern GKND regulations clearly say that only galactic-level operatives can request the planetary decommission of his or her home planet if they personally consider their planet unsalvable. That's a pretty new law that our Galactic Supreme Emperor wrote himself centuries after that battle on Earth, and trust me our leader takes the rules very seriously" Gabe cautiously explained to the taller blond boy in hopes to appease him.
"Exactly!" Numbuh Vine suddenly exclaimed while grabbing Numbuh 1 by one of his shoulders, "technically speaking, the only ones who can request a planetary decommission for Earth would be you or Numbuh 274 and none else! Not even our Galactic Supreme Emperor can enforce such decision…it's ok because Earth doesn't need such a drastic measure, right?" her translucent green face changed to a much blue hue in response to her emotions.
Nigel looked at Lizzie's eyes with uncertainty, as he remembered the last census report of Earth he had read had left him a bit alarmed at the terrifying increase of the adult population.
"Of course! There's no need for that!" he said but failed to sound convincing.
Chad took deep breath and pintching the bridge of his nose he forced his anger to subside, "All right then…" he said while looking suddenly very determined.
"That's more like it! Let's go!"
/
The GKND Command Bridge was very dark with the only source of light coming from the large window walls that went all along the large room and up to the ceiling, making it feel as if there were no actual walls at all and its occupants were actually walking in the open space. There was a magnificent view of several planets of the Solar System, with Earth looking as small as a tennis ball from where the Omega Central Ship was stationed near Neptune. The room was bigger than the KND Moon Base auditorium but was completely empty. There were no computer desks nor any furniture, no operatives walking around or working.
It was just a massive empty room with a spectacular view.
Upon reaching the center, Numbuh 74.239, Numbuh Vine and Numbuh Infinity suddenly kneeled. Nigel and Chad looked around them nervously, looking for any figure or anything at all aside from them but the room remained empty.
"Galactic Supreme Emperor Numbuh Omega, I, Numbuh Infinity, along with my colleagues of the GKND Delegation that were sent to Earth 5 years ago to scout for potential galactic-level operatives recruits, have come today to formally present to you the two humans operatives we chose as per your command!".
Infinity's voice echoed loudly across the empty room, the sound of their own breathing was the only thing heard.
Nigel and Chad looked at each other as if silently questioning what was supposed to happen now when a bright yellow column of light suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Galactic-Kids-Next-Door rule!" several synthetic voices said at the same time as Nigel and Chad looked up to see the same big round yellow light they were already accustomed to relate with the Galactic Supreme Leader.
"Galactic-Kids-Next-Door rule!" they all answered back at the blinding light as per protocol. Numbuh Vine discreetly moved two of her vines and tapped Chad and Nigel's shoulders to instruct them to also kneel and they quickly did as she recommended them.
"Ah yes, the new human galactic-level operatives, I've been anxiously expecting you hehehe" the voices chuckled sinisterly right when a humming sound began to be heard as the yellow light seemed to descend.
Numbuh 1 and 274 raised their eyes to discover the yellow light they have always seen was in reality a floating platform all along and was now slowly descending towards them. It stopped still several feet away before some holographic neon yellow stairs began to materialize in the air, reaching down the floor where they were currently standing.
Hearing their hearts loud in their ears, Nigel and Chad saw the most different alien they have ever seen in their lives so far.
He was as tall as Chad, slender but athletic, but what shocked them the most was his skin as it looked like a starry night sky, all dark and splattered with glowing freckles that seemed to shine. His hair, if you could call it like that, was wild like a flame but it didn't seem like it was a separated part of his head but just a floating continuation of his skin. His eyes were big and white, his irises colored light lilac, with more glowing freckles dusted under his eyes and over where his nose was supposed to be if he had it. He was clad in what they thought was a much-sophisticated version of their samurai armor, all shiny black with a few purple neon lines that went along the sides of his very pointy shoulder pads, his belt, and boots, and on his chest protector was a diamond-shaped piece that glowed neon purple with the Omega Symbol in the middle.
He was probably the scariest and most ethereal being their eyes had ever seen.
As he finally reached the floor, Omega smirked knowingly at them, with his flame-like hair floating as if he was submerged under water. "Please allow me to introduce myself" he said in his real nasal voice.
"I'm Numbuh Omega, Galactic Supreme Emperor…welcome to the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door, human operatives Numbuh 1 and …ex-Numbuh 274"
A.N.:
I want to credit Prisoner-24 (on tumblr) for Numbuh Infinity physical alien appearance (Go check their blog! It's really super cool). Also, Numbuh 1's mention of his time in the Sediment Minor Sector is from Tom Warburton's blog, just as the character concepts of Numbuh 74.239, Numbuh Vine, Numbuh 9L and Numbuh Geo-4 belong to him too.
Comments and reviews are really appreciated!