GKND: Operation ALPHA

by KicaCris

A year has passed ever since Nigel was recruited by the GKND to become their very first Earth representative and Sector V is now part of the Supreme Global Command. Peaceful times come to an abrupt end when GKND suddenly sentences Earth to a planetary decommission. Now it's up to Sector V and a Secret Teen Sector to team-up and save their home. This is the legend of Sector Alpha

4. I choose to grow up!

Now loading :

Galactic-Kids-Next-Door mission

Operation: A.L.P.H.A.

Story written by Cris Carvalho

Complementary art can be found in my social media accounts at KicaCris

Chapter 4:

"I choose to grow up"

When you're eternally young like me, time seems to go by in a different phase compared to those around you.

Time affects your memory, as the longer you live, the most you will forget. I no longer can remember my home planet nor the faces of my parents. I know I come from the Andromeda Galaxy but I can't remember how it looked like. There are records that said my homeworld was destroyed long ago and the ship you're currently standing is the same ship we used to escape, stolen from a galactic space pirate I think.

I'm not sure, my memory is really foggy now.

I have met thousands of different creatures: mermaids from Aquarius Constellation, savage tribes from the Aries and Leo star systems, and even fire breathing dragon-like aliens from bigger stars than your Sun.

Fascinating kids.

We recruited them all, had so many adventures for so long just to inevitably see them grow up.

I don't remember them anymore. I have lost count on the many worlds I have visited, all the battles and friends lost.

However, there is this tiny piece of memory I seem to be unable to forget: the memory of my sister.

Oh my dear sister Alpha…she was the brightest comet of the Andromeda Galaxy, a true princess and warrior. She was my light and I was her shadow, two faces of the same coin.

I would follow her to end of the universe if she wished me to. She guided me and protected me when there were just the two of us.

Only when I think of her is when some sparks of the past shine in my memory. I remember her laugh, light and sweet like bells. I remember her fierce bravery and unwavering confidence. She loved dancing and fencing, something she liked to combine in her fighting style. She liked to tell me stories about knights and princesses, pirates, fairies and savages. I would listen to all her stories and never get tired of them. I would always gather the others around her so they could too listen to her fantastical stories.

I don't remember if I learned how to fly and fight from her or back when we lived at our home planet. But I do remember how much I loved to fly with her across the starry space. She always wanted to try teaching other lost kids to fly like us but they could never do it, not unless we give them some of our own power to do so of course, and yet they would only be able to do it for a brief moment.

After losing our parents and home planet due to…that awful virus, she took as her heroic quest to rescue all lost children from all over the universe and to lead them to a place where together we could protect them all with our eternal power…a place where children could play whatever they wanted and eat all the candies and pizza they ever wanted, where they would always be free to be themselves, free from the hook of the adult threat…

That place…she liked to call it Neverland…

At first, we would just rescue other lost kids with the only ship we had. As time passed, the number of lost kids grew and we had to make more ships for all of them. By the time we reached the 1000 lost kids, my sister grew fed up with the universal adult tyranny and that's when we made the decision to no longer stand by and do nothing. We knew how to fight so we only needed to teach the others how to fight too.

It also helped we happened to had the most brilliant kids with us, so that greatly increased our power. With their aid, we built the greatest galactic kids armada of the universe. We would go galaxy-by-galaxy, planet-by-planet, to any world that needed our help and end the suffering of billions of children.

And then…we came to this galaxy, to your "Earth".

Something about your planet made my sister believe she had found our "Neverland".

We explored it far and wide until we finally found them…Earth's lost children, abandoned and forgotten by the adults who were too preoccupied with their war to even notice them.

But these children…

Numbuh Omega quietly growled as he remembered.

Those four …they caught the attention of my sister with their apparent courage and thirst for justice. I didn't see anything special in them, just four ordinary human kids like so many others we had met.

But Alpha liked them…way too much.

And they seemed to like her, way too much too.

My sister would take them with her everywhere. She would sprinkle them with some of her power so they could too fly and follow us around. She would play hide and seek with them and then teach them how to fight. She liked to tell them stories of our adventures in space, tho, in the beginning, they didn't believe we were from another world. Humans had so little contact with other species outside their world after all, still being so primitive to have the capacity to explore outer space.

Eventually, I got bored with Earth and told my sister I would leave to explore the other planets of the Milky Way. Alpha insisted to stay on Earth to ensure the establishment of another planetary KND colony so I let her be.

Sometime after, Alpha came to my orbital base in Pluto to tell me she had had the most ridiculous idea ever: she had named those four her own team sector.

I was shocked of course. Alpha and I were the supreme leaders of the whole GKND, so having team sectors was something we had never needed because we were the strongest. We were siblings, we naturally always teamed up together, so while other lesser operatives needed to band together with other 4 or 5 to increase their combat chances we were just strong the two of us.

So imagine my shock when she told me their new numerical identifications. I was mad! And then she had the nerve to gave them weapons! And not ANY kind of weapons, but actual super-advanced weapons that were supposed to be only given to our very best and most loyal agents! Those weapons had belonged to the very first lost children we had found and who traveled with us before we even formed GKND! Their DNAs were engraved in those weapons! And she had the AUDACITY to re-program those weapons and gave them to the HUMANS? without even consulting me first?!

I was beyond mad!

That was our very first big argument. Alpha angrily returned to Earth and I remained in the outer ring of the Milky Way. Ironically, that was the same day I was informed by our scientist about the "aging virus" that was the main culprit of adulthood, but the fight made me forget to tell her.

I should have told her…

She returned to me one day, with tears streaming down her eyes. Nothing in the universe was more heart wrecking than seeing my sister, the strongest and bravest there was, crying her soul out. Her human friends were aging and for the first time, she was truly affected by the realization. She should have known better than to get attached to them, especially because humans age way faster than any other species we had met.

I calmed her down and told her about the virus. I tried to reassure her that we could find a cure and save her friends. That seemed to give her hope for a brief moment, so I asked her to go back to Earth, get the weapons and return to me again so we could travel to another galaxy and find the cure.

So she returned to Earth...but she took longer to return to my side.

I grew worried so I went to Earth to find her...

That dreadful day...the second-worst day of my life...she told me...

"I want to stay and grow up with them!"

I really wish she hadn't said those awful words...I wish I could forget that day forever and convince myself that it never happened.

She wanted to grow up? That's impossible for us! She had gone mad! She was delusional believing she was like them. I realized right then and there that somehow she had gotten infected with Earth's virus, and I needed to get her out of the planet ASAP.

So I tried to reason with her! Your people think I challenged her authority when all I wanted was to save her!

But I couldn't! If it wasn't because of those four human and the Alpha Weapons!...

And so I left the Milky Way.

" I let her be as she requested and decided to look for the cure to save her in the meantime...I was sure she would eventually come to her senses and return to my side once the humans had long grown up and gone"

But then, sometime after…I received the crushing news of her fall during a war with the human adults…I couldn't believe the confirmed reports...my sister was gone?...why? How? Who had defeated her?

The questions plagued my mind for decades...so I ordered my spies to find me the answers.

It took some time but one day, the truth came out like a poisonous sting.

"My beautiful sister...had been betrayed by her own Sector Alpha!"

"LIAR!"

/

Chad' sudden furious roar interrupted the emperor's narration, catching off guard everyone in the room. Numbuh 74.329, Infinity and Vine paled nervously while Nigel looked at the teenager beside him with utter shock.

For a minute, Numbuh Omega blinked silently in surprise at the angry teen in front of him but then his shock was soon replaced by outraged anger.

"What-what did you just called me?!"

"Sir!" Numbuh 1 quickly tried to save the situation, "Chad didn't mean to-"

"I said, LIAR!"

"Oh boy" Nigel slapped his bald face in resignation.

Omega glared dangerously at the teenager, his sharp teeth showing as he growled, "watch your tongue teenager, this is the only time I'll be warning you!"

"She wasn't sick! She made her choice and Sector Alpha supported her! Just because she didn't agree with you doesn't make her mad! And Sector Alpha was the most loyal to her! They fought by her side until the very end! It was her choice to send them to the Moon with the rest of the survivors so KND could carry on even without her! They would have never abandoned her! They-"

Nigel arched an eyebrow as Chad continued to rant. Why was he so worked up about Numbuh Omega's version? What was written in the Book of KND about Alpha was very vague and yet, Chad seemed to have read more thru the few lines that were written there. He remembered when he was still a cadet, the old Supreme Leader Numbuh 100 also liked to tell the story of Alpha and her sector to the young trainees, something Chad and later Rachel will too mimic when they both became Supreme Leaders.

Perhaps the story meant something more to those who become Supreme Leaders?

"Oh, so THAT'S the lie they sold you? Isn't it?!" the voice of the Supreme Emperor broke Nigel out of his train of thoughts.

The ex-Numbuh 274 was trembling with fury, his teeth so tight you could hear them crunch under so much pent up anger and his fists were balled and painfully red.

"You're just assuming the worst of them because you-"

"Alright smarty pants, then PLEASE explain to me what was this doing in space?!" the emperor snapped his fingers and suddenly the translucid hologram of a purple diamond appeared in front of Nigel and Chad, with something floating inside of it.

Chad went silent, his eyes big as plates as he looked at what was floating inside the purple diamond.

Nigel, however, titled his head and came a little closer to see the object better. It was a large black piece of metal similar to the hilt of a sword, almost as long as half of his arm, partially melted and rusted. A strange symbol engraved in red could be seen on the base of where a blade should have been.

"I think I have seen this symbol before," Numbuh 1 said lowly, his eyes never leaving the strange floating object.

"That-that is-" Chad was having now trouble to speak, "that can't be-"

"Oh? Do you recognize it, Chad?" Numbuh Omega smirked smugly, looking much calmer now. "You seem much more knowledgeable on the story of my sister than Numbuh 1 here".

Nigel flinched and blushed in embarrassment but still looked at Chad with curiosity.

The senior KND operative seemed lost, completely entranced with the semi-melted piece of metal that Numbuh Omega had made appear.

"The Delta Sword" he finally mumbled in disbelief.

"WHAT?!" Nigel turned his head sharply at the object again, "no way! Are you telling me this is the legendary elemental weapon capable of burning as hot as the Sun?!" he yelled while goggling at every single detail of what he thought was just a piece of space trash.

"Well, it USED to be," Numbuh Omega said sourly, walking towards the object with elegant steps. "my wise sister made sure the weapons were only meant to be used by the members of Sector Alpha, so without Numbuh Delta's DNA this melted thing you now see here is beyond possible repair. Such a shame, it was definitely one of my favorites" he said with calm resignation.

"Where did you find it?"

Omega and Nigel looked at Chad who now seemed way calmer although completely awestruck.

The emperor smirked smugly again, remembering their previous conversation topic, "my soldiers found it buried in one of the abandoned KND Orbital Shipyards near Mercury" he looked down at Nigel, shining with utter confidence.

Numbuh 1 looked up at him and then at Chad, who frowned confusedly at them, "it was in space all this time? Why?"

Numbuh Omega walked towards him and half embraced him with one arm, "I know, my teen friend, I made the same question myself. The version of the story you were told mentions my sister using the 5 Alpha Weapons to send her team and all KND survivors to the moon. But that version itself has 2 very telling flaws: the first one is this evidence of course, the Delta Sword, found buried under space trash when it should have been on Earth since that's where my sister fell in battle", the emperor explained.

"And the second fact is something that I personally know" his voice sounded annoyed, "my sister didn't need the other 4 weapons to send everyone to the moon. Her own weapon, the Alpha Rapier, was capable of doing so on its own although it would have probably drained her of all her energy…surely that must have been what caused her fall in battle".

The heavy arm of Numbuh Omega left Chad's shoulder as he continued to explain, "obviously I only have assumptions of what really happened, but the way the Delta Sword was buried in this orbital shipyard makes me believe it was hurriedly hidden as if in a desperate way to cover someone's guilt. The last time I saw Sector Alpha back then, they were all teenagers so it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up abandoning my sister…but Alpha's heart was pure and loyal so I know that nevertheless their betrayal she still chose to save them from the adults…they didn't deserve her" Omega whispered while patting the teen' shoulder in a strange encouraging manner to try to shake him off his stupor.

Chad was breathing heavily now, his pulse agitated and his frown burrowed deeper in confusion at the floating remains of the legendary sword in front of him.

"So…they regretted what they did to her and decided to rebuilt Earth's KND as a way to repaid her sacrifice?" Numbuh 1 asked with painful realization.

"Most likely" Numbuh Omega shrugged nonchalantly, "and they hid the weapons to cover up their remorse. But the fact they lied about what truly happened, selling themselves as these poor heroes who supposedly tried everything for her?!"

"I won't forgive them!" upon saying the words, a purple jolt of electricity came out of his body and shocked the purple holographic diamond with force.

Numbuh 1 jumped out of the way right before the hit, not understanding what just happened.

However, when the smoke cleared, they all saw with surprise the remains of the Delta Sword's hilt hadn't been really damaged.

Omega and Chad blinked with shock while Nigel, Numbuh 74.329, Infinity and Vine looked with their mouths wide open.

"Argh! My apologies, I let my emotions took the best of me" he said while rubbing his temples exasperatedly.

Numbuh Omega walked towards the diamond and made it float towards his hand. "The Delta Sword might not be usable anymore but somehow it's still pretty resistant nevertheless its current condition so, I have hopes it can still be saved. Hopefully, Gabe will find a way to overwrite the DNA lock it has so I can give it to a new Numbuh Delta, right Numbuh 74.329?"

Gabe shook himself out of his blow and gave a military salute with its leafy branches, "Yes my lord! We're working on it!"

"And once it is fully usable again, we'll be able to track the location of the rest of the weapons easily for you, sir!" Numbuh Infinity suddenly interjected nervously as if trying to gain his leader approval attention. "It would be my honor to find them for you!"

But he only got an annoyed glare from his emperor, "you better do, Numbuh Infinity. Especially since you failed me so pathetically in your last mission on Earth!" he treated with a low menacing voice, making the Squirrel flinch with fear.

Numbuh Omega snapped his fingers and made the Delta Sword teleport once again. He looked over to Chad whose eyes followed the holographic trace of the sword without missing a beat.

"Are you ok, ex-Supreme Leader Numbuh 274?" Numbuh Omega asked him, with one of his brows raised in question, "I notice you have grown oddly quiet and less moody now"

Everyone in the room looked at him again with worry. Chad had already trespassed so many boundaries in such a brief meeting with the Galactic Emperor, regardless of the warnings Numbuh 74.329 had given them before so naturally everyone was at edge with his next reaction.

But the supposedly temperamental alien leader didn't seem as bothered as Numbuh 1 had expected. In fact, Nigel found the Galactic Emperor much more sympathetic than what they had made them believe at first. Understandably, the fall of his sister had deeply affected him, but he still seemed more level-headed than any average kid. Heck, he was way more collected than Chad, Rachel or even Numbuh 100, he thought.

Chad was definetly calmer now, his body language didn't seem tense anymore although the expression in his eyes told he still seemed troubled by the recent revelations.

"..Why did you bring me here?" he suddenly asked lowly and with a strange defeated tone.

Numbuh Infinity and 74.329 sighed in relief upon hearing his change of voice and tranquil smiles returned to their faces.

Numbuh Vine, however, looked with worry at the now smirking Galactic Emperor.

"Oh, I see where the question is coming from. Worry not, my teenager friend! I might have given the impression that I find teenagers dangerous, hateful and disgusting-well fine that is actually 100% true" Numbuh Omega quickly admitted with his hands raised apologetically, "But YOU are the only exception and I think Numbuh 1 here will agree with me, right my boy?"

Nigel smiled largely at the Galactic Emperor, "ye-yeah of course! Chad is the only teenager who is still fighting on our side despite his condition" he excitedly said with full admiration, completely dismissing the brief look of disapproval on Chad's eyes.

Numbuh Omega walked towards the center of the room again, "I want to be completely honest with you, Chad. I was NOT going to bring you aboard our endeavor in the beginning due to your current infected condition and well, you know? that awful traitor label you had" Numbuh Omega chuckled with fun, "I mean, you even used to be in our galactic top list of KND betrayers 'who-must-be-immediately-be-arrested-and-decommissioned-ASAP'" he remembered.

"But after the failed TREATY mission" he made a reproaching side glance at Numnbuh Infinity, "I obviously had to change plans".

Numbuh 1's eyebrows went up in surprise, "The TREATY? So GKND was really behind it all this time?"

Numbuh Omega gave out a loud chuckle, "Ha! Of course we were, boy! We've always intervened whenever there's the slight chance of the Teenagers and KND to come together in any form of alliance! Who do you think orchestrated the Great Junior High Rebellion of 1999? Spoilers: It wasn't really the teenagers!" he winked at him.

Nigel gaped while Chad's frown returned, "wait, what do you mean by that? I thought the whole idea of the TREATY came from GKND" Nigel questioned right away as he remembered what Chad told him that day before he had gotten taken by GKND.

Numbuh Infinity cleared his throat and bowed to Numbuh Omega for permission to speak. The emperor nodded, "well yes but we only decided to interfere when the rumors of a slight actual possible alliance started to resonate strongly among our spies"

"WHAT?!" Numbuh 1 shouted and Chad's eyebrows flew up to his head in surprise.

"Yes, apparently the ex-Supreme Leader Numbuh 362 was considering meeting with the teenagers' leaders in secret to arrange a negotiation, something I consider high treason and unacceptable," Numbuh Omega said darkly.

Numbuh 1 shook his head in negation, "No! Rachel would have never done that! I know her! With all due respect sir, your spies must have been mistaken!"

Numbuh Omega frowned at him, "she was already a pre-teen by then, Numbuh 1, I'm sure you are familiar with the possibility of KND operatives having doubts of being decommissioned and doing the most out of character things to ensure they keep their memories" he reprimanded him.

Nigel looked at his feet not believing the possibility of Rachel betraying KND, "but…but she was the first operative who willingly choose to become Supreme Leader after Chad left…she was so loyal to KND…"

Omega looked down at him with empathic eyes, "I'm so sorry my boy…I know it's hard to discover your heroes true colors, believe me, I know of this first hand…"

Chad looked at Nigel with worry as he hopelessly saw Numbuh 1 spiral down on a dark train of thoughts.

"Maybe she had good intentions!" Chad defended, "maybe she just wanted to prevent another war with them! Teenagers do have reasons to also fight the adults, you know?"

Numbuh 1 looked at Chad, a bit of hope seemed to return to his eyes while Numbuh Infinity shook his head with resignation, "Oh Chad, you keep saying that after all this time? Seriously…"

"HA! Please! Teenagers only want to become adults, they don't have reasons to fight them at all" Omega dismissed the thought and then snapped his fingers once again, making a huge screen appear behind him.

Numbuh 1 and Chad saw the mug pictures of an 11-year-old Rachel and of The Steve appear in it.

"As I was saying, our original plan with the TREATY was to ensure Earth's KND didn't get lured again into allowing teenagers in their forces. The plan was to make an anonymous attack during the signing between the ex-Supreme Leader Numbuh 362 and the Teenager's Prom King"

They then saw a holographic simulation of Numbuh 362 and The Steve signing and then being both blown away suddenly.

Chad growled while Numbuh 1 paled.

"The confusion would have made both sides blame the attack on each other, chaos would have followed suit escalating the current conflict even more and therefore eliminating any intention for any future desire to join forces ever again!" Numbuh Omega finished his explanation with a smug grin.

"But" Numbuh 1 looked with horror at the loop animation of Numbuh 362 and The Steve being blown away, "Rachel would have been a casualty" he whispered.

Numbuh Omega straightened himself in a formal military stance again, "considering her already harboring treacherous intentions, I believe the sacrifice was worth it and it would have even redeemed her"

Numbuh Vine looked with shame at Numbuh 1 and then noticed Chad once again trembling with fury.

Numbuh Omega rolled his eyes largely, "Don't give me that face Nigel. You humans are so easily emotional attached! Chad too voiced his concern about the plan to Numbuh Infinity many times"

Numbuh 1 looked up to Chad whose eyes were now unreadable under his blond bangs. Nigel didn't know what to think of any of this. Part of him was glad Chad had been against the original TREATY plan too, especially because for Rachel's protection…but the other part was sincerely angry and disappointed of the possibility of Rachel's intention of betraying the GKND rules.

"Regardless, it seems we wasted our time designing this plan as apparently SOMEONE underestimated the Teens leader's own double-crossing agenda!" Numbuh Omega stressed verbally and once again glared angrily at Numbuh Infinity.

Numbuh Infinity kneeled and bowed his head to the ground, "And I'm forever sorry about this, my lord. I should have listened to Chad's warning! I promise I would never fail you again-"

"That's right! You Chad tried to warn us about Steve's real intentions!" Omega cut it with now happy excitement, "that changed my mind completely about you! Your unwavering loyalty to not only to Earth's KND but also to us, the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door! You did so much for us regardless of being a full teenager! That day I saw where your loyalty was really standing so I told Infinity to bring you along with Nigel"

Chad looked at him with determination.

"You fought for us and you even accepted to be tested by our scientists in an effort to find the cure for this dreadful decease!" Omega seemed really moved, curling his fist with passion.

"And although the tests have proven to be futile so far, I still think you can be of great use for our cause. That's why I, Galactic Supreme Emperor Numbuh Omega, am personally assigning you, our first teenager operative, one of the highest rank galactic-operative-level missions ever!" He announced boisterously with his arms wide open

The Galactic Emperor then snapped his fingers again and the screen behind him changed. The shape of a pyramid appeared and at its top the mug pictures of The Steve and Cree Lincoln materialized, floating along with the labels "Teen Prom Rulers".

Numbuh 1 looked confusedly at the graphic but Chad immediately recognized it.

"Nigel boy, it's ok if you don't recognize this image, I'll gladly explain it for you: this here" he reached out one of his dark hands towards the pyramid, "it's the updated version of the Teenagers' modern hierarchical structure. It's been a titanic work to collect all this information ever since the Teen Ninjas were created but thankfully my spies have succeeded on finally gathering the most Intel possible!"

Nigel was in awe, "oh wow that would have been so useful to have when I was in Sector V!"

Omega giggled "For sure", the emperor grinned like a fox, "anyway, as you can see here at the top, the Prom Rulers are the two figures who command all the levels of the teen society! The Prom Queen commands the Teen Ninja Forces, who act as not only her personal spies but also ensure total obedience from the lower levels of the pyramid. She has developed quite an iron rule, becoming a feared figure among the teenager population. She's regarded completely different in comparison to him".

Numbuh Omega signaled the picture of The Steve, "The Prom King. He commands the Sports Army, which is actually the strongest power source of the teenagers' military forces but oddly enough they are rarely used in combat".

Numbuh Omega turned around to face Nigel and Chad again, the glow of the screen behind him gave him a gloomy appearance.

"It has become a top priority for the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door to eliminate Earth's Teenager Forces once and for all. Their technological power has increased way too much and has become even more dangerous ever since they joined forces with Father", he said darkly.

"I used to think that by taking out the Prom Rulers out of the equation, it would be enough to weaken and ultimately destroy the teenager forces once and for all. But it seems that won't actually be enough to cause the permanent damage I was initially calculating!"

Numbuh 1 looked at him with shock, "how come?"

"Because strangely their power is co-dependent of the approval and influence of other figures that I haven't really realized their importance until I noticed their utter absence in the failed TREATY mission!"

Numbuh Omega snapped his fingers and Nigel was shocked to see the pictures of 4 well-known teenagers.

"The 4 General Sports Captains"

Numbuh 1 looked between the serious-faced Chad that was standing next to him and then at his picture in the screen, next to the ones of Rachel, Maurice and that mysterious kid he remembered had seen a few times with Numbuh 2.

"YOU are a Teen General?! And Rachel and Maurice too?!" he exclaimed in surprise while pointing a finger at Chad in complete disbelief.

Omega nodded, "This is all ex-Numbuh 11 doing obviously, Cree Lincoln, she had been recruiting decommissioned KND operatives to her forces ever since she rose to power. It's a clever strategy if I have to admit. Obviously, ex-Numbuh 9 and 362 don't have a clue of what they're doing 'cause they don't remember their time in KND anymore and therefore don't know they're working with the enemy. Such a sad thing…but still, apparently both decommissioned operatives continue to prove their exceptionality and managed to raise among the Teenager Forces with ease so now they're regarded by GKND as highly dangerous"

Chad didn't say anything so Numbuh Omega spoke again.

"Oddly enough ex-Numbuh 274 here didn't mention anything about this in any of the interrogatories" the emperor raised a questioning brow to him and Nigel mimic him.

"It's just a symbolic position, Cree and Steve probably must have substituted me already," Chad said without much concern.

"Actually they can't do that. The intel we have says the election of the General Sports Captains is something very special. It must be decided among the teenagers and the rulers cannot interfere, completely contrary to the election of the Prom Rulers who actually depend on securing the approval of the Generals to be at least nominated".

Chad turned his eyes away from Numbuh Omega but Nigel already put two and two together.

"So technically, the ones who truly are in command are the General Captains?" Numbuh 1 asked.

"It seems so" Numbuh Omega smirked, "but they don't seem very interested on doing so by looking at our teenager friend's face"

Chad sighed, "our job is to guide, defend and assert the victory, not to rule. The Steve knows this that's why he ordered the sport forces to stay put the day of the TREATY in case of an emergency, although Cree still took the Teen Ninjas with her".

"Right, right! Still, you and ex-Numbuh 9 along with the Soccer General and the previous Volley Ball General accepted The Steve and Cree's nomination to be re-elected as Prom Rulers last year, am I right?" Numbuh Omega pressed on.

Chad growled with annoyance at the awestruck face Numbuh 1 was making besides him, "it's just bureaucratic protocol, people are happy with the way they've been ruling so far-what does this have anything to do anyway?!" He protested, crossing his arms.

"What-YOU DON'T SEE IT?!" Nigel shouted at him, which made a vein pop on Chad's forehead. "Chad you could have done so much more damage from inside! You-you could have helped KND!"

"And I did help, remember?" He growled down at him.

"Yeah but come on! You just scratched the surface of the many possibilities! Heck, you could have dethroned Steve and Cree on your own!" Chad looked away.

"And he will do exactly that!" Numbuh Omega suddenly said with finality.

Chad looked at him in surprise, "what?"

"But you won't deal with Cree and Steve yet. We'll destroy the Teen Forces from inside-out, but we'll start with the other 3 General Captains" Numbuh Omega revealed, freezing both Nigel and Chad.

"I want you, Chad, to capture and bring me the other 3 General Captains".

"WHAT?!" Chad snapped angrily at him. "What do you want with them?! What are you going to do to them?!"

Numbuh 1 looked at Chad and then to the Emperor with worry.

Omega rolled his eyes, "does it really matter? They're teenagers, therefore traitors regardless of whether they were KND operatives or not! Maybe I'll keep them to experiment with the cure once we find it" he shrugged, "I just want to break the order that keeps them strong, that's all!"

"Wait! Sir, please reconsider it" Chad suddenly begged, "I know them, they're not bad teens, they aren't even interested in the conflict between KND and the Prom Rulers! They even have refused to answer to Cree's call to battle every time she had asked because they prefer to be neutral!"

Numbuh Omega glared deeply back at him, "I don't care" he said with finality, "you will bring them to me and it's an order, soldier!"

Chad growled and Numbuh 1 quickly step in front of him before he made any movement, "Chad it's alright! I know it sounds like an awful big sacrifice but it will be worth it! Think about it, Cree and Steve won't know what to do without you and them to guide their forces! Chaos will eat the teenagers from within and then KND with the help of GKND will end them!"

Chad couldn't believe him, "-are you listening to what you're saying, Nigel?! It's Mo and Rachel we're talking about! Do you want them to treat them as rat labs as they did with me?!" He yelled at the boy.

"But Chad! You're alright, you said it yourself so they will be alright! This will end all the wars, not only with the teens but with the adults too! Earth won't ever need a planetary decommission and you will end becoming the greatest hero of all! Even greater than my own dad! You would save EVERYONE, my friends too who are still in KND!".

Chad was completely confused about his reasoning, "what does destroying the teenagers have anything to do with saving KND?! Nigel, you make no sense!"

"It's a mercifully chain reaction" they both heard Numbuh Omega said softly.

"We destroy the teenagers and then the adults who had been dependent on their assistance until this day. They will be weakened enough to succumb easily to our combined forces with Earth's KND. We'll be able to save the planet and make it the all-kid paradise my sister always wanted it to be..."

"Neverland," he said darkly.

Numbuh 1 smiled and looked up at Chad with anticipation, feeling in his mind this was the right way to save his friends. He could see it clearly; a world free from Father and all those pesky villains Sector V had been fighting against for so long.

"NO!"

Nigel's beautiful dream broke into pieces like glass upon hearing Chad's loud response.

Numbuh Omega's eye grew large with shock, making Numbuhs Infinity, 74.329 and Vine gasp loudly at his bold refusal.

"Let me say this as clear as possible for you, my Emperor: I-WONT-DO-IT!" The teen said very slowly and loud, his eyes never leaving the furious glare of the most powerful alien KND operative of the universe.

"This is not what the Kids-Next-Door is about! This is NOT what Numbuh Alpha wanted! I won't betray my friends, nor my planet! I won't go against what I truly believe is what it means to be in KND! I don't buy your lies, I know there is no virus to cure, you only want a world shaped to what you think is right no matter who gets in the way! I WON'T PLAY YOUR GAME!"

The silence that engulfed them after was overwhelming. Numbuh Infinity covered his mouth in shock while Numbuh 74.329's branches grasped his trunk head in stress and Numbuh Vine's glowing green eyes were round and big as plates.

Nigel stood beside the teen, completely frozen and wishing Chad hadn't spoken those words. Why didn't he want to cooperate? Why was this the last straw after everything he had done for KND, why was he backing out of the greatest intergalactic quest they have ever had the chance to help with!

Numbuh Omega began to slowly rise from the floor, floating as if the gravity wasn't affecting him.

"You miserable scum! Here I am, giving you a chance to become the greatest hero of all the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door history despite your disgusting condition and your complete lack of manners and respect towards ME, you, a mere pathetic human teenager, you DARE to defy my orders?!" He roared, his nebula looking hair moved like a furious flame and his eyes glowed angrily white with power.

But Chad stood firm and defiant in his stance, looking straight in the eye at the Supreme Galactic Emperor with not an once of fear.

"so be it" Omega suddenly said with a silky dangerous voice as his body glowed dark purple with power. He snapped his fingers once again and under Chad's feet, neon blue chains began to spring out, catching his neck, wrist, and ankles in seconds.

"No!" Both Infinity and Numbuh 74.329 shouted in unison as the teen tried to fight the chains until they were tightened enough to completely paralyze him.

Nigel watched him in horror, feeling utterly hopeless.

"I, the Supreme Galactic Emperor Numbuh Omega, charges you, ex-Numbuh 274 with high treason!" Omega roared with anger.

"My lord, please!" Numbuh Vine quickly floated towards Chad and stood in front him with her long vines intertwined in a pleading manner. "Please have mercy of him!"

Numbuh Omega was taken aback by her sudden change of demeanor, "what?! Why?! Have you lost your mind Numbuh Vine?"

Lizzie trembled but didn't move, "he's just following Lady Alpha's dream, please have mercy!"

"NO! He doesn't know anything about MY sister's dream! He's just a filthy teenager who has clearly made his loyalty clear to me! He wants to fight for the teenagers then he's our enemy!" He hollered, making her flinch with fear.

"I want him put in the darkest and coldest cell we have and get his brain empty of ANY information regarding the teenagers!" he ordered.

"But-but sir" Numbuh 74.239 stammered unsure, "we already got all the info there is in his brain…"

Omega gave him the darkest glare, "then throw him to the cells where our adult prisoners are and feed them with him!" he sinisterly said with overlapping voices again.

/

Numbuh Infinity and 74.329 escorted Chad out, leaving Numbuh 1, Vine and Omega alone in the room.

Nigel looked pensive at the door where the chained figure of Chad had just disappeared from his view, feeling completely sad and disappointed. Numbuh Vine had effectively managed to calm down the angered Emperor and the teen had been just sent to a cell instead of the terrible punishment Omega intended for him.

With his shoulders lowered in defeat he turned his head towards the large windows and looked at the planets of the Milky Way. His eyes soon found the blue and green glow of his home planet and his thoughts again drifted towards Sector V. His heartbeat was agitated with desperation, not knowing what to do now that Chad had refused to do what was perhaps the only chance they had of saving at least KND of getting infected by the deadly virus.

He felt a slight breeze above him and looking up the glass he saw the reflection of Numbuh Omega's floating figure.

"Are you sad, Nigel?" Numbuh Omega tilted his head curiously, looking much calmer than before.

But Numbuh 1 avoided answering him, "I didn't know you could fly, sir".

Numbuh Omega chuckled softly and skillfully floated down to stand on the floor again, "I can do a lot of things but I'm pretty sure they didn't write much about me on the Book of KND" he straightened himself and crossed his arms behind his back again in his usual military stance. "If you accept to work with me I could take you to fly anywhere you would like" he offered him sympathetically.

Nigel smiled but then returned his eyes towards where Earth was, "I just…I want to help my friends back on Earth…I'm sorry Chad didn't accept the mission, sir".

Numbuh Omega looked sadly at his reflection on the glass, "don't take it too personal Chad's betrayal, Numbuh 1. As I said before, your heroes will always inevitably disappoint you once they grow up. My sister learned that hard lesson with her own team sector after all" he whispered with his eyes lost in the vast starry space.

Lizzie, who had been floating silently behind the two all this time, looked at both with her glowing green eyes full of concern.

"What now? What could possibly be done to save Earth now? I can't just stay still and just wait for the day all my friends are taken by that nasty virus!" he looked at the tall emperor pleadingly, his eyes were glossy behind his visors.

Omega didn't turn to look at him, his eyes now fixated on Planet Earth, "I don't know my boy… I returned to this galaxy with hopes of honoring my sister's memory by making her dream come true but…seems a bit impossible now…"

Tears threatened to fall down Nigel's eyes as his mind flashed him with images of Abby, Hoagie, Kuki, and Wally all being dragged by the terrible hook of adulthood without him being able to do anything to stop it.

"well, there's one thing" Numbuh Omega suddenly said and Numbuh 1 raised his eyes to him in surprise.

Numbuh Omega side glanced at Numbuh Vine who shook her head with pleading glowing eyes, "but I don't know if you will like it, my friend"

Nigel looked at Lizzie and then at the emperor as realization hit him, "a planetary decommission?" he murmured.

Numbuh Omega nodded silently at him, "it would certainly give us some time"

Nigel looked at Earth and then back at the galactic leader, "how exactly does it work?"

Omega looked at him with surprise, "they didn't tell you about it?" he asked and Nigel shook his head in response.

The young emperor rolled his eyes largely, "it figures much. Well Nigel, a planetary decommission is an extreme measure we only take when a planet is completely overrun by adults. My sister was deeply against it, so I established a law that strictly dictates that only a galactic level operative can request the planetary decommission of their own planet if they consider it lost" he began to explain.

"Yes, I understand that part, but what exactly means the measure?"

"Nigel-" Lizzie tried to cut in but...

"We freeze the planet and make all it's adult inhabitants fall into a deep slumber" Numbuh Omega finally revealed with a monotonous tone.

Nigel was taken aback, "what?!"

"Put into simple human words for you to understand"

Numbuh 1 blinked rapidly, his brain not grasping the magnitude of the plan. "How? How do you do that?"

Numbuh Omega smirked at him, "with our tech of course, which is far more advanced than the currently available on Earth. We use a canon to abruptly change the planet's weather and make the temperatures decrease until a freezing point and another laser ray shot to the planet's atmosphere to make all adults fall sleep instantly. With the temperatures so low, their bodies and the planet are completely preserved in that frozen state".

Nigel was shocked, his mouth opening and closing nonstop, "wait so, you don't destroy the planets?!".

Numbuh Omega's eye grew large with shock and then he laughed loudly for a long minute.

"What?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA No! Of course not! What made you think that?" the emperor continued to laugh, his stomach hurting now.

"Oh you humans! Gods no, we don't blow up planets! We freeze them to isolate the virus, silly. The idea is to have it awaken once we find the cure for the decease and so save everybody." Omega brushed off the laughing tears from his eyes.

Numbuh 1 felt like an idiot for having completely misunderstood the concept all along.

"My apologies sir!" his face was completely red as a tomato. He then looked at the glowing form of Earth again, "it certainly doesn't sound as bad as I imagined…"

Omega recomposed himself and cleared his throat, "still, it's a pretty extreme measure, my friend. There are no guarantees of you seeing your family ever again once it's done. I have had so many operatives who have aged before seeing their planets awaken…Your teammate, Numbuh 9L, had to make that difficult choice years ago"

The feline face of her cat-alien friend came to his mind. He now understood her better and so he felt his mind quickly switch gears with a newfound determination.

"But you didn't have me and my team!" Nigel suddenly said with purpose.

The emperor turned to look at him, "your team?" Numbuh Omega repeated intrigued.

Nigel made a military salute to the emperor and elaborated, "I won't fail you like Chad! Please at least spare my team from the planetary decommission and allow them to join me so we can help you find the cure to the adulthood virus!"

"NIGEL WAIT!-" Lizzie was suddenly enclosed in a purple holographic diamond that silenced her from being heard.

"Are you sure, Nigel? Would you really make the greatest sacrifice for them?" Numbuh Omega cautiously asked him with his lilac pupils enlarged like a cat.

The glasses of Nigel's visors suddenly turned from yellow to a dark shade of red, hiding his eyes completely, "I would do anything to ensure the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door ultimate mission, my emperor!" he said in a new robotic tone just as a small red light began to flash on one of the glasses' sides.

A large grin curled on Numbuh Omega's lips and he then chuckled knowingly, "Excellent my boy. I knew I could count with you, Nigel" he said in a singing voice and turning around he began to walk away from him, "please make sure to inform your decision to Numbuh 74.329 and ask him to call for a general assemble ASAP"

Omega's dark chuckle echoed throughout the walls as Lizzie watched helplessly the form of his former love walk out of the door with not a mind of his own anymore.

/

"That should teach him!"

A deep alien voice said as he threw the heavily beaten body of Chad inside a dark cold cell. He groaned in pain laying flat on the floor with one of his eyes peeking open to see the neon green bars of his cell raise.

"I'm glad the emperor finally decided to put this teen in his place once and for all" another guard said in a screechy voice, "disgusting infected creature. Let's get out of here and have the medics disinfect us!"

The guards dusted their hands off and walked away until his steps were no longer heard.

Chad began to softly chuckle, his side hurting with every breath and yet he allowed himself to laugh loud and with fun.

"I can't believe it was here all this time…this has to be some kind of dumb luck or twisted fate…it certainly wasn't in my original plan…"

He managed to gather some strength to support himself on his elbows and smirking knowingly he glanced at the only window of his cell.

"I just need to get that sword now"

/

[6 days and 12 hours after - Present Day]

"Oh come on, Tinker Bell. Stop your protests already! You're being way too noisy today!" Numbuh Omega said in annoyance while floating carelessly along with the still encased form of Lizzie.

She kept banging angrily the holographic purple diamond and the emperor couldn't help himself but sigh in resignation.

"What's the matter with my operatives growing fond of humans! You weren't like this when Alpha was still around! You actually disliked them just as much as I do. I remember you were especially jealous of how much Alpha liked to give them all her attention to them" he giggled nostalgically.

"Remember when you almost had Delta shot out of the sky by one of Beta's electric arrow?" He snickered, "Alpha was so angry at you that she even got you temporally 'banished'" he knocked softly at the holographic surface of the purple diamond, making her even angrier.

"You used to be so much fun back then, Think," he told her with a bored expression, "don't worry about Nigel, we just gave him a little extra brain encouragement thru his visors. It's not like the idea wasn't already in his brain, you know? We do this all the time, he's perfectly safe…I wish Infinity and Numbuh 74.329 had been more insisting on giving Chad his own pair though…" he grumbled.

Suddenly a soft electric bell was heard through the room's speakers, "your grace, you have a call from galactic-level-operative Numbuh 74.329. Would you like to answer?"

Numbuh Omega smiled knowingly and floated again towards the large windows of the GKND Command Bridge, looking at Earth from the distance.

"That was fast. Yes, link me computer" he responded gracefully.

A floating screen with the tree-like face of Numbuh 74.329 appeared, "Galactic-Kids-Next-Door rules" he saluted.

"I'm assuming Numbuh 1 has informed you about his decision, right Gabe?" Numbuh Omega quickly responded, going straight to the point.

Gabe cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, your grace-"

"May I congratulate you, Numbuh 74.329. This new versions of the GKND visors seem to be working way better than in your previous tests"

Numbuh 74.329 smiled but his frown was burrowed in concern, "Why thank you, my emperor…it certainly helped that he has been using them since he arrived a year ago" he said with uncertainty.

"Is it everything arranged for the announcement of the Planetary Decommission of Earth?" he asked with a small-satisfied smile on his lips.

Gabe stammered, "ye-yes, my emperor but…shouldn't we first inform Earth's KND Supreme Leader Numbuh 5 about it first, sir? I believe the rules say-"

"Yes, yes yes!" Omega waved his hand in irritation; "she shall be informed but only after Numbuh 1 has initiated the Planetary Decommission Protocol effectively. I guess Earth's KND will need at least 7 days for a proper evacuation too so make sure to inform her about it. I'm going to need you to start preparing the arrangements for her and Sector V's relocation at our base under Numbuh 1's charge".

"Right away sir!" Gabe answered still sounding doubtful.

Omega raised a suspicious eyebrow at him, "what's the matter now Gabe? I can sense you're having trouble telling me something else" the emperor glared at him.

"Well… I have some new news, sir" Gabe began, scratching the back of his trunk head, "It's still too early for official conclusions sir but…it seems the Delta Sword is starting to react"

Numbuh Omega's eyes went wide with surprise, "what do you mean?!" he whispered.

"After teleporting the sword back to my lab, I notice the symbol of Delta faintly glowing, sir," he said nervously.

Omega grinned largely like a fox, "so it is repairable after all?"

"It seems so but sir, I'm concerned about the reasons to why it seems to be starting to react-"

"Oh but that is actually good news! Perhaps the sword is sensing the other remaining missing 4 weapons nearby! Make sure to track down the source of whatever signal it's getting!" Omega told him with clear excitement.

"Yes sir, but-!"

"-Excellent job, Gabe! Please inform me immediately once you manage to fully repair the Delta Sword! I'll make sure you get a proper promotion after this. Maybe you should take Numbuh Infinity's position in our next planetary expedition after Earth is Decommissioned "

Numbuh 74.329 had stars shining thru his eyes with utter happiness, "Your grace is so generous, thank you so much! I shall not disappoint you!"

Numbuh Omega smiled proudly, "Oh please I recognize it when a good job is properly done. When is the meeting going to start?"

"In about 10 minutes sir, we're just waiting for Commanders Numbuh Negative Umpteen, Cardinal, Ordinal, Rational and Irrational to go online" he happily answered.

Omega nodded smiling like a cat, "I shall get prepared then!".

He then heard again the soft bangs of Numbuh Vine's protests and sighed heavily, "Honestly Think, if we weren't friends for so long I would have had you decommissioned already –Gabe!" he said angrily, "please take Numbuh Vine back to her quarters. Make sure she stays in her room until she has decided to behave her normal self. She's been acting out of her mind today and I don't have time to deal with her".

Numbuh 74.329 peeked from his screen towards where Vine was and frowned sadly, "yes sir" he pushed the bottoms of his screen and had her teleported out the room.

"Thank you, that would be all" Numbuh Omega waved his hand and the screen disappeared.

The dark nebula skinned alien looked at the distant form of Earth with a large sinister smile.

"Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you sacrifice everything else for it…right sis?"

/

[Present Day - McClintock High School]

"A meeting? Right now after the game?" Rachel fixed her hair as she stepped out of the gym's girls changing rooms, completely refreshed after winning another volleyball match with her team.

Maurice looked up from his green cellphone with his brow furrowed boringly, "yeah, that's what her message says. Wonder what the fuzz will be about now".

They both started to walk back towards the gym courtyard.

"I hope she doesn't try to make us help her on another plan against KND, AGAIN" she whispered only for him to hear.

Maurice chuckled and then noticed a familiar red-haired soccer colonel waiting at the entrance of the gym, "uh? Pepper Ann?".

The famous spirited red-hair turned towards them nervously, "oh yes! I'm not the only one summoned, thanks to Fuzzy!" she sighed relieved.

Rachel and Maurice looked at each other and then at her, "Cree messaged you, too?"

"Yes and I'm freaking terrified! What would she want now?!" Pepper Ann freaked out as she let Maurice open the door to the gym.

The gym's lights were fully on and Maurice and Rachel soon located Cree sitting at the top of the gym bleachers, with a few armored Teen Ninjas guarding on the sides and Chuckie Cavallaro standing firm beside her, fully dressed in the FootBall uniform.

"I have a bad feeling about this now" Maurice murmured and Rachel frowned in agreement.

They began to walk towards where the Prom Queen was waiting for them, with Pepper Ann walking behind the two General Captains, biting her nails nervously.

Cree smiled sweetly at them from her royal sit, "good evening my captains. I'm so glad you answered my call so fast!" she stood up with her hands clapped contently.

Rachel and Maurice made a slight bow while Pepper Ann stood straight and made a military salute.

Cree noticed the red-haired colonel, "I'm so sorry for bothering you again, Pearson. But you know how Ace is, he never answers to any of my calls so I hope you don't mind stepping in his-"

"BOOM BABY! Did somebody asked for the most handsome boy in school?!"

Everybody turned around at the loud sound of the gym's doors being slammed open in one blow by the boisterous flashy persona of the General Soccer Captain.

Cree frowned annoyingly, "well look who finally decided to show up!" she said sarcastically.

"FOR PETE' SAKE ANTONIO, STOP DOING THIS TO ME!" Pepper Ann shouted at him as he walked towards where she, Rachel and Maurice were standing.

"My apologies, Candela girl" he bowed graciously and smiled charmingly at her, "I know I own you big time. Please allow me to take this bullet for you" he smiled with a full handsome white toothy smile.

But Pepper Ann seemed immune at his sparkly Latin version of Johnny Bravo moves, so she rolled her eyes largely instead.

"May I be excused, my queen?" she requested nervously.

Cree waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "Yes of course, Pepper Ann. Thank you for your services, you're dismissed"

The Soccer Colonel made another military salute and quickly made her way out of the room.

Rachel and Maurice exchanged worried side-glances as if thinking the same thing.

If Ace is here, answering a General Captain summoning…this means bad news.

"Well, since everyone is FINALLY here, I suppose I can start this meeting by going straight to the point" Cree stood up with her hands on her hips, looking very serious now.

"It's about time we address the white elephant in the room: I cannot longer accept having the General Football Captain being MIA," she said severely to the trio' surprise.

"I'm aware it's is against the rules for the Prom Queen to stick her nose in General Captain's business, but you must understand my valid concerns on not having someone to lead our most offensive powerhouse…for an entire year" she was lowly growling now.

Maurice, Rachel, and Ace looked at each other with mild serious concern.

But Ace smiled, shoving his hands into his aviator jacket's pockets in a chill manner, "your concerns are completely valid, your grace. But I guarantee you, the Captains and I have handled the situation with no problems, assisting the Football Team whenever they've needed us. Colonel Chuck here surely knows what I'm talking about".

Ace's golden eyes looked at Chuck with an imposing gleam that the colonel didn't miss. He sweated nervously and nodded.

"Yes, we're all very grateful to our General Captains for their help," he said weakly.

But Cree wasn't having any of it, "still, I believe Chuck has also done an excellent job covering up for Dickson's long year absence and the team surely trusts his leadership". She said firmly.

Ace still smiled, sensing the growing annoyance of Rachel and Maurice without really looking at them. This was a situation the three had been expecting to eventually be addressed if Chad's trip to space ended up taking longer than planned. When Chad was just starting to get the trust of Cree during his infiltration mission, he had made sure the Football Team assisted in must of all the Teen Ninjas crusades against KND, but only so he could personally sabotage their plans and help Sector V in the sidelines.

With Chad gone, the Football team's command was passed temporarily to Chuckie Cavallaro who could only do as much as to what the 3 remaining General Captains would allow him to do, something that obviously ended up interfering with Cree's villainous intentions as they always made sure to NOT send the most offensive teen force to assists her on any battle with the Kids-Next-Door, always blaming on their super busy sport agendas.

And so, with no General Captain available to guide them, the FootBall Team remained out of commission for the Queen to use at her own will.

But obviously, Cree Lincoln's inevitably became aware of the problem and her patience finally reached its boiling point.

The 17-year-old Prom Queen glared at the sassy Soccer Captain, "let me be clear, deary. I can't have the Foot Ball Team in a permanent out-of-commission status any longer" she said menacingly.

"I want to, unofficially, nominate Chuck Cavallaro as the NEW General Captain of the Football Team"

Silence engulfed the gym courtyard for a minute. The few Teen Ninja Soldiers who were present shifted uncomfortably while looking between their leader and the General Captains.

"And officially, that's against the rules, Cree" Maurice's deep voice suddenly broke the silence and surprised everyone. The Basket Ball Captain wasn't exactly known for verbally rejecting any of the Queen's orders so this was a shocking first time.

Cree herself seemed taken aback and her brow furrowed in a fake hurt expression, "sweetie, why do you always have to be so rightful?".

He knew she was referring to how he used to be back in KND days so he raised a questioning eyebrow to pretend being confused by her words.

"You don't understand, I need the Football Team to assist me in the Teen Ninjas mission ASAP. As you might now know, my baby sister has become the Supreme Leader of the Kids-Next-Door and she has proven to be a skillful menace to my power".

Rachel and Maurice couldn't help to internally smile proudly at that bit of information.

"And I realize the reason is that I have grown short-handed in the offensive! Especially now since Father apparently lost interest in fighting too due to Numbuh 1's disappearance! It is imperative for me to have a new Captain for the Football team so an exception MUST be made this time! I trust Chuck's leadership so I would appreciate having him elected now" she insisted.

"Of course you would, he's a loyal dog to you after all" Rachel thought angrily and Maurice seemed to think the same as his frown grew even angrier.

"Well your grace" Ace' sassy tone returned, "you have made your case very clear. We shall give your suggestion some deep thought and we'll give you our answer as soon as pos-"

"You didn't hear me, Antonio? I said: I need him to be my General Captain NOW" Cree repeated very emphatically, her tone even more low and aggressive now.

The Teen Ninja soldiers were now sweating even more nervously not knowing whose side to take on as the 3 General Captains now looked seriously just as pissed as their Queen. Who were they supposed to side with if a fight was meant to break? The Queen was clearly breaking the rules here so the Captains were actually in their right to be angry at her.

"What is this so-very-tense vibe I'm sensing? This is so not cool!"

The tension was suddenly interrupted as a familiar cool voice was heard from the entrance of the gym.

Everyone turned to see the Steve leaning on the doors with his arms crossed in a very cool pose.

"Your highness!" the Teen Ninjas made a military salute and kneeled in reflex.

Ace, Rachel, and Maurice bowed solemnly as Steve walked past them and began to raise the gym bleachers towards where Cree was standing.

"My King!" Cree nervously greeted him upon him reaching her level, "this was a last-minute emergency reunion, my apologies for not telling you-"

"A last-minute emergency reunion with my General Captains? I thank you for your so impeccable assistance, my Queen, but I would appreciate it if you at least send me a text message next time. If it wasn't because I stumbled with Pearson in the hallways I would have never known!" he sat down with his legs crossed and smiled to her.

Cree growled to herself but still forced a smile, "yes, of course, my love. It won't happen again" you could almost hear her teeth crushing with angry pressure.

The Steve then looked down at the angry faces of Ace, Rachel, and Maurice, "so, what are we discussing now? You seem to have pissed my Captains".

Cree crossed her arms in annoyance, "it's about what we talked last week, my King. The Football Captain situation? Remember?"

"Ah yes, I remember now. But what are they angry? Heck, even Ace looks pissed and he's the chilliest dude I know" he winked at Ace who smirked in response.

"Well" Cree blushed embarrassed, "I…may have, unofficially, suggested Chuckie Cavallaro take Chad's place as the new General Captain" she toyed with her fingers.

Steve looked surprised, his dark glasses slightly falling off his brown eyes while he regarded Chuck questioningly, "Is that right, Chuck my man?"

Chuck trembled nervously, "I-I-I-yes your grace, I just wish to be useful for my Queen's plans"

Steve pinched his nose now looking a bit annoyed, "my love, that's a clear violation of our rules"

"But my King! We NEED the Football Team to fight against KND!"

"Are you telling me you and your Teen Ninjas aren't strong enough to defeat your own baby sister's forces now?" Steve looked at her in disbelief.

Cree gasped offended, "of course not!"

"Alright, then we shall forget you ever unofficially suggested this crazy idea so it doesn't affect your nomination for the next Prom Ball, right my Captains?"

Now it was the turn to Ace, Rachel and Maurice to look surprised.

"But Steve!-"

"Besides, I had this crazy dream in which I saw Chad returning much sooner than we know. I'm sure the Football team won't mind waiting a little bit longer after a whole year without his bravest leader. Right, Chuck?"

The secret-under-cover trio went slightly wide-eyed, silently wondering what the mysterious Teenager Leader was talking about.

Cree sighed in defeat, "fine! But if he's not here before the next Prom Ball, I want them" she pointed at Ace, Rachel, and Maurice, "to fix this situation once and for all" she demanded.

Steve nodded and looked at Ace with a confident grin, "Is that ok to you, Captain Ace?"

Ace looked at Rachel and Maurice who both shrugged at him, not really having much of a choice.

"Sure thing, your highness. You have our word" he nodded with a grin.

"Great! Then this meeting is officially dismissed!" Steve clapped happily much to Cree's annoyance.

The Captain trio did a military salute and turning around they began to make their way out of the gym's courtyard.

Cree glared at Steve as the Captains left the courtyard, "I don't appreciate you undermining my authority in front of them!" She protested.

Steve smiled never the less, "oh because you didn't do the same to me by summoning this meeting without my knowledge?" He teased.

"Honestly Cree, you've ruled with me for years now, you should know better than to anger the General Captains. Our crowns depend on them being on our side, you know?"

Cree blushed angrily at him, "WE are supposed to command them, not the other way around! Three of them used to be the greatest KND operatives of their time! Chad and Rachel were even Supreme Leaders! And yet, I can't seem to use them to fight with me!" She lashed out frustrated.

Steve lowered his glasses to look at her in the eye. "Chad did help you for a while if I recall, and well you know not all teenagers are interested in your crusade against the Kids-Next-Door, my fearsome Queen! They prefer to remain neutral so just be cool so let them be. That's why we have the Captains, to protect those who wish to remain out of the conflict while you and I keep the balance between the kiddos and us in check. So cool your fury and check this awesome guitar solo I came up with the other day!"

He took out a black iPhone out of his pocket while Cree groaned in utter defeat.

/

Once they were out of reach of the Teen Ninja's hearing perimeter, right deep into the locker's hallway, the trio finally dropped their act and their frowns burrowed in concern.

"What the hell was that?!" Rachel whispered aggravated.

"I think we should start paying more attention to Steve. I don't think he's as oblivious as we thought" Maurice whispered alarmed.

"Forget about that for now, when was the last time you two chatted with Chad?!" Ace suddenly questioned them.

Maurice and Rachel both took out their cellphones and noticed the date of the last message their friend sent.

"Almost a week ago, they should let him write again tomorrow" Maurice confirmed him.

"Ok then…" Ace looked up to the glass ceiling of the school with a pensive frown.

"Do you think he's in trouble?" Rachel suddenly said worriedly.

"I don't know, Golden Girl…let's hope he's ok".

The three looked up to the sky and mentally prayed their worries were wrong.

[The next day - KND Moon Base Headquarters - 07:00 am ]

"All right, I think this pre-decommission party for Numbuh 60 is going to be a total bombastic success!" Numbuh 2 cheered, stretching out in his seat of the Global Command meeting room.

He and Numbuh 5 had been in charge of fine-tuning all the remaining preparations for today's Farewell Pre-Decommission Party before Patton's 13th birthday tomorrow. Since Numbuh 60 was one of the most respected and loved senior operatives of the force, Abby had insisted on giving the greatest farewell event to thank him for all his amazing dedication, especially in the training and formation of the millions of the current active KND operatives. She even sent invitations to all the KND sectors so everyone could come, have some well-deserved fun while paying their respects to him.

"Numbuh 5 has to admit she's impressed with all the calculations you have taken for this event, sugar cube" she giggled with tired eyes.

Hoagie blushed upon hearing the pet name she had come for him this past year. The closer they got to their imminent 13th year, the more he sensed something was shifting between the two. Crushing was forbidden in the Kids-Next-Door rules as it was something related to puberty and teenhood so the feeling was constantly encouraged to be kept discretely and to never make it public. Of course, it was easier to say than to do it, as must operatives failed to hide their harboring feelings especially upon the brick of puberty.

Hoagie wasn't surprised when he started to feel different towards his cool teammate and current Supreme Leader. After all, he had crushed over Cree's once too so to discover himself one day getting nervous at a simple smile from Numbuh 5, he figured out right away what was going on. But this time it was different, because he KNEW Abby, he had had so many adventures with her that he knew he wasn't just crushing over her because yeah she was as pretty and more even so than her older sister, no, he knew he liked her too for who she was inside and that made the crush feel all the kinds of wrong and right at the same time. Wrong because it was forbidden FOR NOW, but it was right because they would grow together and he knew the feeling wasn't going to go away after his decommission.

Growing up didn't seem so bad now that he thought about it. He just hoped they wouldn't really forget much about each other after their brains got rebooted.

The sound of someone clearing her throat interrupted his train of thoughts as Numbuh 86 announced her entrance into the room.

"Supreme Leader, General Numbuh 2, good morning" Fanny greeted them formally while taking her seat in the large table with a mug full of hot cocoa in her hand.

"G' morning, Freckles. Did you check on our soon-to-be birthday boy?" Numbuh 5 asked her with mild worry. She wasn't honestly expecting Patton to try anything funny but still, they needed to be precautious with any random burst of second doubts from him.

Numbuh 86 nodded, her eyes unusually red, "yes, I just saw him picking up his breakfast and will join us soon...the tracker device Colonel Numbuh 4 gave to him seems to be working just fine" she sounded groggy.

Abby and Hoagie exchanged looks of worry. "Are you ok, Numbuh 86?" The Supreme Leader asked with kindness.

The famously boisterous Chief of Decommission rubbed her nose and forced a grin, "everything is fine, Supreme Leader".

However, you didn't need to be brainy to figure out what was going on with her. Fanny had grown up with Patton, they practically joined KND together with Rachel McKenzie years ago. The trio had been inseparable, even after Rachel's ascension to the Supreme Commandership. Losing her had been a giant blow to both Numbuh 60 and 86, to the point none of the two had had yet the courage to visit the ex-Supreme Leader in her new civil teenager life. And now that it was Patton's turn, Abby sensed things were a bit too much to handle for the current Chief of Decommission.

"If you don't feel well Fanny, you can go back to bed. I don't think there is anything really important to discuss in today's global briefing meeting anyway. You won't be missing anything big" Numbuh 5 tried to give her a way out without scaring the temperamental operative with too much show of affection.

But Fanny shook her head, "I feel fine. Besides, I just received the list of operatives to be decommissioned this next month and I think the Supreme Leader should know about them since a few of them are in key positions and substitutes will need to be selected ASAP".

She raised her head from the list and looked around the room, "Where are Numbuh 4 and 3?" She asked.

Numbuh 2 sighed, "probably still getting breakfast. Numbuh 3 is really picky with getting the perfect Rainbow Monkey pancakes and Numbuh 4 just love to give our chef hell for it".

"What?!" Now Numbuh 86 sounded more like herself, "argh! Never mind, would the Supreme Leader mind me doing the brief of the list without the Second Chief of Decommissioning? Pretty please?" It sounded like Numbuh 4 was going to receive his own dose of hell later.

"Yeah, yeah, just jump right to the positions we're going to need to cover most urgently," Numbuh 5 said while giving a bite to her Donna filled with egg.

Numbuh 86 cleared her throat and preceded, "well, first of all, there's the situation of who will take...Numbuh 60's place as the new Global Director of the Cadets-Next-Door Academy..."

"I'm still working on that, let's go to the next one" Abby quickly interjected, not wanting to put more salt on Numbuh 86's wounded mood this morning with more painful emotional tasks.

"Alright" Numbuh 86 flipped the pages of her pad until a neon yellow name caught her eyes, "well this is not exactly an urgent position to cover but it seems you'll need to appoint a new leader for Sector L," she said uninterested.

However, Numbuh 5 perked in attention while Numbuh 2 spat his hot cocoa in shock, "WHAT, Numbuh 10 is turning 13 next month?!" he shouted.

Numbuh 86 rolled her eyes largely, "please tell me you don't fancy her as much as everybody else in the whole KND?" She said sarcastically.

Numbuh 5 giggled while Numbuh 2 glared with his chubby cheeks red, "No of course not! Geez" he looked at Abby as if reassuring her he didn't, "but she's Nigel's cousin so she is kinda family to us"

Numbuh 5 arched an eyebrow, "family? We barely know the girl, Numbuh 2. I don't think even Nigel knew her that much. She's kinda like the daughter of a lost brother of Numbuh 1's mom or some jazz like that" she mentioned.

"Yeah, I remember now" Hoagie giggled and scratched the back of his head.

"Anyway" Numbuh 86 tried to refocus the conversation, "I understand Sector L is not a combatant sector, they're mostly in charge of broadcasting the news in the KND News Channel and also of keeping the KND Global Broadcasting and Communication System in function, so…Aside from being the sector's leader and the main anchor of the news, I don't think Global Command should worry much about who should take Numbuh 10's position-"

"Ah man but we have to do something spectacular for her pre-decommission party, she's a pretty popular operative after all" Numbuh 2 worried out loud.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!"

"NUMBUH 5!"

Suddenly Numbuh 4 and 3 came out running thru the doors of the Global Command Meeting room, their faces paled and their eyes big as plates with horror.

"What's going on?" Numbuh 5 stood up from her chair with worry burrowing her frown.

Wally and Kuki caught their breath and looked at them with the most horrified expression Numbuh 5 had ever seen them have since the incident with Grandfather.

Numbuh 4 swallowed heavily, sweat running down his golden hair, "we received an urgent message from Numbuh Vine… Something terrible happened! We must evacuate the planet NOW!"

/

A.N.:

Thank you so much for your patience and again, my apologies for this very late update! I hope the extra long chapter compensates for it!

Comments and reviews are really appreciated!

Please check out my Tumblr page and other social medias for the art of this and the previews chapters!

Have a nice weekend!

On the next episode of the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door: "War is coming"