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

9. Gamma's Wisdom (Part 1)

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Galactic-Kids-Next-Door mission

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

Story written by Cris Carvalho

Check out the cover art of this chapter on my Tumblr – Twitter - IG: KicaCris

Chapter 9:

"Gamma's Wisdom"

-PART 1-

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[KND Moon Base]

The squeaky sound of rusty wheels echoed through the long hallway towards the Global Command Meeting Room. The shadow of a boy pulling from a small cart emerged from the corner.

"Holy guacamole! These books are heavy!" Matt, aka Numbuh 101, complained as he gave another good pull to the red cart to make it turn. There were two boxes on the cart: one with a large pile of books and another other one sealed with the number "100" written on one side.

Matt stopped for a second to catch his breath and clean the sweat off his face.

"Why did I agree to work on this alone?" He sighed tiredly.

"Need any help, Numbuh 101, sir?"

Matt perked up in surprise and saw the members of Sector W and Trixy Johnson blinking back at him with curiosity.

Numbuh 101 beamed with relief, "why yes please! You are my saviors!"

Tommy nodded at Lee and Patrick and the three quickly rushed to the back of the cart and began to push it.

Sonia and Trixy came closer to the cart and peeked curiously at the boxes on it.

"What's with the many boxes, sir?" Trixy asked while noticing the box marked with the number "100".

Matt began to walk ahead while the boys easily pushed the cart behind him and started to follow him.

"Well...it's a bit confidential but you guys are close friends of the Global Command Sector V anyway so...I'm kinda helping the Supreme Leader to find some clues about Sector Alpha!" he suddenly revealed excitedly.

Tommy, Lee and Patrick halted immediately, and Sonia and Trixy gasped loudly. "Clues about Sector Alpha?!" They all repeated in unison.

Matt nodded eagerly with pride, "Yup! I've been waiting for this day my entire career! Finally all the theories I have collected over the years will be put to good use! Here!"

He came closer to the cart and cockily tapped the box that was filled with many books, "this one here contains all the books that have any mention, big or small, about anything related to Sector Alpha: testimonies, inspirational vintage kid art, mysterious sightings, everything!"

"Oh my gosh! Can we give a quick peek?!" Tommy asked excitedly.

"Certainly! All of them are public authorized material from the KND Museum anyway" Matt said and handed Tommy one of the books for him to check.

The others came closer and started to open more books. Sonia picked one full of old Kid art while Patrick had one with black and white pictures of old KND Tree Houses.

"And what's in this other box?" Trixy suddenly asked as she curiously looked at the box marked with "100".

Matt rushed to the box and stopped Trixy from open it. "This one...well this one contains old Supreme Leader Numbuh 100 left behind mementos!"

The members of Sector W were now just as curious as Trixy.

"No way!" Patrick exclaimed.

"Supreme Leader Numbuh 100?!" Lee was so shocked his eyes popped big as plates under his thick black bangs.

The 5 younger kids came closer to the box.

"Oh please, please, please! You HAVE to let us see what's inside!" Tommy dramatically went to his knees and begged him while pulling from his white lab coat.

"Numbuh 100 is my TOP FAVORITE of all the previous KND Supreme Leaders! Look! I even have all 5 cards of his rare holographic edition from the official KND Card Deck!" And to Matt' surprise, Tommy picked up from his pant's pocket a deck of cards and showed him the 5 ultra-rare glittering cards.

Matt gasped loudly, "OMG those are soopah extra rare! Who did you have to kill to get them?!"

Tommy grinned cheekily, "I won them on a bet against my older brother," he said as he handed the cards to the senior operative.

"Makes sense!" Matt paused for a second and silently formed an idea. Surely he had promised Supreme Leader Numbuh 5 to keep his investigation secret, but the truth was he needed help to get things done fast. Surely she would trust in Sector W too, right?

"Tell ya what, if you guys promise to keep this between us and not share the information with anyone, not even with other KND operatives, I'll let you guys check all this cool stuff while helping me find clues about Sector Alpha."

"Deal?"

/

[Present time - Somewhere dark and cold]

Cold…Nigel Uno suddenly felt a bone-crushing cold pierce thru his body, making his body tense and tremble uncontrollably. He opened his eyes sharply and found himself in a strange unknown place. A vast empty esplanade covered in snow and ice was everything he could see around him.

"Where-where am I?" he shouted against the wind, hugging himself tightly in a futile attempt to keep some warmth. "I have to get out of here before I freeze!" He said with panic and he began to walk blindly thru the powerful snowstorm.

The more he walked, the stronger the chilling wind pushed him back, making it impossible to have a steady march. Each step he gave he would feel the chilling wind stab him as if millions of needles were pinching his skin.

It was unbearable.

"Argh! Blasted wind, where the hell am I-?" he wondered as he looked around again and tried to identify his surroundings.

But all he could see was snow and a few mountains.

Wait…those weren't mountains. Nigel re-focused his vision and noticed the 'mountains' he was watching were the remains of…buildings?

"uh?"

He looked around himself again and slowly began to notice other frozen and destroyed objects: vehicles, traffic signals, a toilet?…

The wind blew again, this time much stronger, pushing him forward and forcing him to keep walking. He then crashed blindly against something solid and hard that made him lose his balance, landing ungracefully face down on the snow.

"What now?" He rose on his palms and knees but couldn't see a thing as his visors had been completely covered with frost.

His hands went forward and blindly tried to feel the object with his fingers and palms to deduce what it was. The surface felt sleek and cold like ice.

Suddenly, the stormy wind stopped completely and a thick icy mist engulfed him.

Nigel breathed with relief and quickly brushed the frost off of him and his clothes to see clearly.

"Prrr! Thank heavens! I almost thought I was not gonna make it! Now, let's give a good look at-"

He went speechless as his vision cleared and saw the 'object' with which he had just crashed. It was a frozen statue of Numbuh 5.

"A-Abby?!" He stepped back with horror and again stumbled with something hard with his back. Turning around he came face to face with the frozen form of his best friend Numbuh 2.

"Hoagie?!"

The thick mist then began to clear and more frozen figures began to appear around him. The icy statues of Numbuh 4 and 3, hugging each other in fear were next to Numbuh 2.

Then more frozen KND operatives appeared and he noticed they had seemingly been frozen while running away from something. He glanced to his left side and noticed other figures, much taller figures, also frozen.

There were adults and teenagers too.

"No...no!" He shouted as the mist showed him then the frozen figures of his mom and dad, Sector V's parents, his uncle Benedict, Cree, the Teen Ninjas and a lot of the villain adults also turned into giant ice statues.

He collapsed on his knees right in front of the frozen figures of his friends, not understanding what had happened.

"No! NO! What happened?! What's going on?!…" tears formed in the corner of his eyes while looking desperately at his shadow.

"It's really a tragic thing, isn't it?" His shadow suddenly spoke back to him.

Nigel almost jumped out of his skin upon seeing his own shadow speak.

"Wha-what-?!"

"Relax Nigel! It's just me!" His shadow snickered with fun before morphing into a different form.

Nigel's eye went wide as he recognized Numbuh Omega' silhouette.

"I have to admit, planetary decommissions aren't exactly…a pretty picture to behold. But oh well… what can you do when you run out of options?" He continued to speak as Nigel' shadow.

"This is-?" Nigel looked again at his surroundings. "No! This can't be" he whispered with horror.

"Well not yet at least…This is just a dream, of course, a very vivid one if you ask my opinion" the alien child Emperor chuckled mockingly.

Nigel looked at the shadow in a mix of confusion and relief, "so…this isn't real? You aren't real either?"

"Oh no, I'm very real alright. I was just wondering how were you doing after your friends took you back to the Moon and decided to come by and visit you through the dream bridge! But this whole thing?" Omega said while moving his right hand around to refer to Nigel's surroundings, "all of this will certainly become a reality if your friends keep insisting on their obnoxious rebellious intentions".

The wind blew again strongly and Nigel watched in horror how the frozen statues quickly began to disintegrate into icy dust.

"No! Everything is just a big misunderstanding! I gotta talk to them! I know my team, I know they will come around once I have explained everything to them!" he insisted with renewed resolution.

The shadow emerged from the floor and Numbuh Omega fully materialized in front of him.

He looked at Nigel with his brow furrowed, "I don't know Nigel, things have taken a difficult turn now that your Supreme Leader friend has decided to side with my sworn enemies" he said with venom.

Suddenly four mysterious silhouettes glowing in red, blue, yellow and green emerged from the floor and towered above the two with menacing white eyes.

Nigel gave a few steps back while Omega floated next to him with his arms crossed behind his back and looking completely unfazed by the threatening giant forms.

"Who-who are they?" Nigel asked.

"Sector Alpha".

Nigel looked at him with shock.

"Sector Alpha?!"

The emperor's brow turned into a glare, "one has to wonder how many times in a lifetime one will have to deal with these traitors" the Galactic Emperor growled next to him without tearing his eyes away from the 4 forms.

The red glowing silhouette then morphed and Nigel recognized the familiar form of Chad, while the other three reminded still unrecognizable.

"But why? Isn't Sector Alpha supposed to protect Earth's KND?" Nigel asked him in confusion.

"Hahahahaha!" Omega let out a sharp bark of laugher, "Protect the-? They FAILED to protect MY SISTER! HA! Please! They can't protect none!" he said in an angry pitchy tone.

The Emperor's glare returned to the glowing forms, "They are just a bunch of worthless, pathetic insects that my sister naively thought worthy of bestowing them with her power."

Numbuh 1's looked at the menacing figures and then at Numbuh Omega, not really knowing what to think or say.

"However" The dark-skinned nebula alien continued to speak, "…I won't make the same mistake this time…I didn't consider them a real threat back then and I paid the price for that…" he said, looking at his clawed hand pensively.

Nigel then saw images of Chad using the Delta Sword and the Falcon Alpha firing laser shots at GKND space ships flashing behind the 4 large silhouettes.

"This time I'm prepared to fight them!" he closed his hand into a fist and smirked sinisterly.

"Not only do I have more military power to crush them, but I also now have a team of my own! A team meticulously and perfectly designed to fight them!" Numbuh Omega said grandiosely with his arms wide open while floating high over the ground.

Nigel' surroundings went completely black for an instance, and then he felt something raise behind his back. Turning around he saw new 6 neon-colored silhouettes raise tall over him.

"Sector Omega?!" he gasped in alarm as the 6 shadows took the form of a bear, a cobra, two raccoons, a bat, and an insect.

"Yes!" Omega cheered with a large confident evil grin, "I perfected my sister's original plan and created the best and most flawless Team Sector there is!" he said arrogantly.

Nigel gulped, "But sir! With all due respect sir, isn't sending Sector Omega a bit of an extreme measure?"

"Extreme?! Ha! Oh no, I can assure you, my friend, there are simply not enough extreme measures when dealing with Sector Alpha! They are worst than a plague!"

"But-"

Nigel blinked and suddenly Omega has appeared a few inches in front of him, with his angry lilac eyes glaring dangerously and very close to his face.

"Nigel boy, listen to me! Sector Alpha has been the source of ALL my problems for CENTURIES! You can't just 'play' fairly against them! We are going to have to use ALL of our power to get rid of them DEFINITELY! Otherwise, they will keep popping out every few centuries again and again! Like Chad! He's Numbuh Delta because he must be a long distant descendant of that annoying Wendy! I should have known! He looks a lot like her!"

Nigel lost his balance and fell on his butt as Numbuh Omega kept ranting non-stop like a maniac close to his face.

"And If Chad is part of the team now…" the emperor's eyes grew large with realization, "chances are the rest of them might also be teenagers just like him! That would be a dangerous notion! The most powerful weapons cannot fall into the teenagers' hands! I WON'T ALLOW IT!"

Numbuh Omega then flew high above Numbuh 1 as a musical beat started to play in the background.

"I'll crush them! They and anybody else who dares to side with them! I won't let the same story repeat again! This time I'll make sure to get rid of their existence from the universe ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

*A.N.: listen to "Emperor's new clothes" by Panic! at the Disco when reading this part*

The 6 neon-colored silhouettes of Sector Omega smirked and began to chant.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

Nigel's empty pitch-black surroundings suddenly changed. Snow and ice once again appeared alongside the ice statues of all his friends and family.

"Welcome to the end of eras,

Ice has melted back to life!

Done my time and served my sentence,

Dress me up and watch me die,"

The Emperor sang and the frozen statues of Sector V suddenly came to life and started to dance around Nigel.

"If it feels good, tastes good,

It must be mine.

Dynasty decapitated,

You just might see a ghost tonight."

The statues twirled with their eyes completely empty, their mouths moving lip-synced with the Emperor's singing.

"And if you don't know now you know"

Numbuh Omega then surprised Numbuh 1 by blowing some purple sparkles from his hand to Nigel.

Nigel instantly sneezed and the force of his lungs made him float uncontrollably off the ground.

Omega chuckled and flew high to catch up with him. He latched his right arm around Nigel' shoulders with a cocky grin and then swinging his right hand he created a holographic image of Earth.

He frowned at it with disdain.

"I'm taking back the crown!

I'm all dressed up and naked,

I see what's mine and take it!"

Again, the abstract forms of Sector Omega chanted.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

"Oh yeah!"

The emperor then crushed the translucent image of Earth with his two hands and the planet morphed into the form of a crown.

"The crown...

So close I can taste it

I see what's mine and take it"

He took the crown and made it hover above his head.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers"

"Oh yeah!"

The music and Nigel' surroundings changed again. Gravity suddenly pulled him down and he fell flat on his stomach.

Numbuh 1 whined as he weakly tried to raise again and noticed a fancy castle made of ice materializing around him. Elegant drapery with alien symbols hanged over the walls and large stained glass windows illuminated the hallway that led to a throne made of black ice.

Omega reappeared in a cloud of purple sparkles, standing proudly in front of the throne with an elegant golden cane and black and purple top hat that had a golden crown on its base.

"Sycophants on velvet sofas

Lavish mansions, vintage wine

I am so much more than Royal"

Nigel blinked and Omega teleported to where he is. The emperor grabbed Nigel by his sweater's collar and made him dance with him.

"Snatch your chain and mace your eyes"

He grinned mischievously, twirled, and let Nigel spin around out of control and away from him.

"If it feels good, tastes good

It must be mine!"

"Heroes always get remembered"

Dizzy and confused, Nigel still managed to stop twirling. When his vision finally stopped spinning around, he saw a large stained glass with a familiar image. There were 4 geometrical human figures raising their weapons to the sky and a fifth figure with long flaming-like hair colored in white floating above them.

Omega sang as he floated triumphantly in front of the image with a big victorious dark grin.

"But you know legends never die!"

Numbuh 1 blinked and the art on the stained glass changed. Now the white figure was all black and had a sinister grin. It was Numbuh Omega, now surrounded by several armed space ships while 6 animal figures seemed to lead the alien army with glowing vicious red eyes.

"And if you don't know now you know…" the stained glass version of Numbuh Omega sang darkly.

"I'm taking back the crown

I'm all dressed up and naked

I see what's mine and take it!"

The stained glass art in the other windows morphed and each window became the form of a member of Sector Omega.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers" the figures on the windows chanted.

"Oh yeah"

Numbuh Omega twirled in the air.

"The crown...

So close I can taste it

I see what's mine and take it!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

"Oh yeah!"

Suddenly, the icy palace and the stained glass windows broke into million pieces and Nigel found himself free falling again.

As he fell, he went thru the mouth of the shadowed forms of a bear, a cobra, a pair of raccoons, a spiral-eyed bat, and between the eyes of an insect as they sang mockingly at him.

"Mortal kings are ruling castles

Welcome to my world of fun

Liars settle into sockets

Flip the switch and watch them run!"

"Oh yeah!"

Numbuh 1 screamed at the top of his lungs until his body suddenly stopped in mid-air. He opened his eyes and found himself floating in the middle of outer space, with planet Earth glowing majestically right in front of him.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

Nigel turned over his back and saw an enormous army made of hundreds of alien ships coming closer towards Earth.

"I'm taking back back, taking back back the crown

I'm all dressed up and naked

I see what's mine and take it!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers"

Numbuh Omega suddenly materialized at the top of the biggest alien ship, the Omega Ship. His right hand went to the diamond-shaped centerpiece of his armor and a black bolt came out of it, shapeshifting into his legendary weapon: the Omega Saber.

"Oh yeah!"

"The crown...

So close I can taste it

I see what's mine and take it!"

He pointed his sword towards Earth and Nigel saw with horror a black hole starting to form behind his home planet.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

Numbuh Omega chuckled suavely as he floated elegantly in front of his large alien armada.

He then reached out a hand for Nigel to grab, "Help me help you save your friends, Numbuh 1" Omega invited.

The former leader of Sector V looked at the stretched-out hand in front of him and then looked back at the luminous planet on his back.

He hesitated, "I-…"

"Nigel! Nigel wake up!"

Suddenly a female voice was heard.

The Galactic Emperor frowned in confusion, "wha-who is this?"

"Nigel open your eyes!"

"Open your eyes!"

"Nigel!"

The voice grew louder, so loud that it started to hurt Numbuh Omega and Nigel's ears.

"WAIT!" The eternally young alien growled in annoyance.

"NIGEL COME ON!"

Numbuh 1 hunched in pain at the loud voice and then gasped just as a bright light hit his eyes and blinded him completely. For a whole minute, no sound was heard.

"NIGEL LISTEN TO ME! I CAN HELP YOU!" Numbuh Omega's angry voice echoed in his mind.

"NIGEL!"

"Nigel!"

He heard the voice again, this time much softer and clear. Very slowly, he started to open his eyes and after blinking a few times he saw a silhouette close to his face.

He felt a force shaking his body and shoulders.

"Open your eyes!"

He gasped for air and his eyes were finally fully open. He nervously looked at his surroundings and noticed that he was no longer floating in space, but instead, he now was in a room, a medical room.

"what-where am I?" he looked at the person in front of him and finally recognized the owner of the voice that had successfully pulled him out of his dream.

"Numbuh 10?" he said with a confused tone.

The red-haired girl sighed in relief, "oh thank goodness! You were screaming bloody murder and we got so worried! Are you ok, cousin?" she asked him sweetly with her emerald eyes full of concern.

"I…wait, we?" he asked in confusion.

Just then he saw the alien plant form of Lizzie timidly peeking behind his cousin's head.

He frowned angrily back at her, "ah…she's here too…traitor!" he whispered the last part.

But Numbuh 10 didn't miss it and she frowned at him, "don't be like that, Nigel! You wouldn't be here safe and sound if it weren't because of Lizzie and Sector V's help!"

He went wide-eyed immediately, "Sector V! Where are they? I need to speak with my team!"

He tried to move but soon discovered he had been handcuffed to the hospital's bed.

"What the-?! Why am I handcuffed?!" he angrily said while pulling from the handcuff's chains.

"Supreme Leader Numbuh 5's orders…" Numbuh 10 told him with her frown burrowed in concern, "she ordered for you to remain in custody until further notice" she explained.

Numbuh 1 seemed surprised by the revelation, "in custody?! What?! Why is she treating me like a prisoner?!" he pulled from the handcuffs stubbornly.

Numbuh 10 looked quizzically at Lizzie and then back at her cousin, "uhm…because you kinda attacked them when they tried to bring you back from Pluto?"

Nigel was taken aback, "I WHAT?!-NO I DIDN'T-" he paused as he desperately tried to remember what had happened. He remembered the reunion, the group hug, the looks of relief in their teary eyes…and then…nothing.

He couldn't remember anything else.

His confused eyes returned to Numbuh 10's and her cousin understood it right away.

"You don't remember", she deduced with surprise.

"I don't remember anything else after I hugged them" he whispered to her, "what…what happened?"

Lizzie mutely sobbed next to them.

Numbuh 10 didn't know where to start, "well…short story version, you pretty much went Terminator on Sector V. You even broke Numbuh 2's arm", she saw the horror in his eyes.

"No…no! Why would I-?!"

"Numbuh 74.329 said Numbuh Omega used his powers to force you to fight them. He said it was thanks to the visors they gave you when you joined GKND", she explained to him.

Nigel covered his face in shame. He didn't want to believe her but something in the back of his mind told him his cousin was telling him the truth.

"Why would Omega do that?! It doesn't make any sense!"

Lizzie fumed angrily and moved her veins erratically, obviously furious at Nigel's words.

"No…no, no, no! Numbuh 5 is misunderstanding everything!" he said.

Numbuh 10 arched an eyebrow at him, "what do you mean?"

"I know he seems odd and scary but Omega isn't our enemy! Sure his ways seem a little bit unorthodox but-"

"Are you serious?-"

"BUT! He is not a bad guy! He-he's just…he's just!-Argh!" he pulled from the handcuffs again in complete frustration.

"Please Victoria, take me to them! I have to save my team from committing a big mistake!" he begged her, his voice was full of panic.

Victoria came closer and gently grabbed her cousin by the arms to stop him from hurting himself with the handcuffs "Nigel I…please calm down. How about you rest for a bit longer-"

"No, please! I need to speak to them NOW before they arrive!" he grabbed her hands pleadingly.

Numbuh 10's emerald eyes showed deep concern. She had never seen her cousin in such pure nerve-wracking state, "cousin please calm down, who are you talking about? who is coming?"

"Sector Omega".

The words made all of Lizzie's vines go rigid instantly.

/

[Planet Earth's Orbit – KND Moon Base - Global Command Meeting Room]

Gabe walked to the front of the room with Numbuh 9L at his side. He cleared his throat, picked up a small tv remote control, and then pressed a button to turn on a large holographic screen.

"Now Numbuh 9L, since you're the galactic-level-weaponry-expert, please explain to our friends the wonders of the legendary Alpha Weapons!" Numbuh 74.239 exclaimed excitedly as he stepped aside to allow the giant purple cat alien to do what she was best known for.

Everyone in the room blinked curiously as the large alien cat very slowly limped forward. Her rear and front left paws had been hurt badly during their escape but Numbuh 3 and the KND medical team had managed to treat her wounds and now she was recovering smoothly.

Very gently, Numbuh 9L sat down next to Gabe and then waved one of her tails over the holographic screen. Five images showed up instantly: a yellow archer's bow, a blue staff, a pair of green axes, a large red sword, and finally above all these four was a big question mark with the symbol of Alpha next to it.

Numbuh 9L began to purr and meow continuously while animations of the weapons appeared on the screen to exempliftcate what were their powers.

First, they saw the animation of the Delta Sword, which was the weapon they have all seen Chad wielding; the sword was apparently capable of creating columns of fire while also being able to cut thru different materials. Its blade was believed to be as hot as the Sun.

Then came what looked like a long staff with two concentric rings attached to its top; the name "Gamma Staff" blinked brightly blue under it, and it was shown being used to manipulate water into different forms of defense and attacks. The legendary staff was said to be capable of raising the whole ocean.

The next weapon was the pair of green twin axes that were called "the Double Axes of Epsilon", and the animation showed them being used to shake the ground and produce large rocky formations out of it. The graphics indicated the axes were able to handle 100 times their weight and were capable of cutting thru stars.

The fourth weapon was a bow with the shape of a pair of wings. The animation showed the bow was capable of creating its own arrows, which could be shot as powerful laser shots, capable of destroying large space ships on their own. A second screen with alien symbols then appeared showing what looked like a math formula that hinted the possibility of combining the Beta Bow with the Falcon Alpha, resulting in a very massive electric attack.

Suddenly the animation changed, and a black-colored humanoid silhouette with flaming hair appeared; it was a representation of Numbuh Omega and the whole room grew awfully quiet when he was shown using a black sword to create a giant black hole that instantly swallowed any planet near its proximity.

Sector V gulped as they wondered if the weapon they have seen Omega wielding the day of their escape was the same Number 9L was now showing them.

Finally, the animation ended with a simple image of the white silhouette of Numbuh Alpha being surrounded by the 4 Alpha Weapons while she raised a smaller sword towards the sky and made the whole screen go completely white.

The holographic screen dissolved and Numbuh 9L purred happily. Numbuh 74.329 began to clap effusively and the feline operative bowed at him in gratitude.

"Bravo, Numbuh 9L! I can't believe you did that incredible presentation in such a short time! It was so simple and cohesive-"

"Uhm…you do know we don't speak Canadian, right?" Numbuh 4 suddenly interrupted him.

Gabe blinked confusedly at him, "Canadian?"

Numbuh 3 giggled, "oh come on, Wally! You have to admit the cartoons were still pretty cool!"

"I-I don't understand," both Numbuh 74.329 and 9L tilted their heads at them.

"Numbuh 5 did understand a bit, although Numbuh 5 too cannot speak the language of the alien cats of the Leo Star System, the animations helped her to understand" the Supreme Leader finally explained politely while also chuckling with fun.

"Oh!" Gabe looked at Numbuh 9L and both blushed in embarrassment. They had been so focused on quickly assembling a simple and comprehensive presentation about the Alpha Weapons they had completely forgotten the fact none of the other operatives were fluent in their alien language.

Numbuh 9L bowed sadly next to Gabe, "my apologies, Supreme Leader Numbuh 5!"

"It's alright Gabe, don't sweat about it. Numbuh 2 is already working on giving Numbuh 9L a translator. Now, why don't you tell us briefly what you personally know about the Alpha Weapons and how we, the Kids-Next-Door, can help Sector Alpha find them."

"Right, right" Gabe looked at Numbuh 9L and she encouragingly nodded at him, "Boy, where do I begin?…" The scientist began to tell.

"Now, I don't think dueling into the origins of the Alpha Weapons would help us much, especially because there is not much known about the matter and Numbuhs Omega and Alpha are probably the only ones who know the story-"

"Gabe!"

"Right, right!" The alien operative tried to refocus his rambling, "But what we do know is pretty much what I witnessed with my own eyes when Lizzie and I came with the GKND to this galaxy, approximately 817 years ago-"

"WHAT?!" Numbuh 4 rose from his chair in shock, "Hold a sec! How old are you guys exactly?!"

Numbuh 74.329 tilted his head while pondering the answer, "Uhmmm…I believe we must be around our 990s or something?"

Now everyone in the room seemed taken aback by the revelation.

Kuki raised a hand as if asking for permission to speak.

"Yes, Numbuh 3?"

"Uhm…aren't you like….super old? Like…adult old-old?" she asked timidly.

"OH!" Gabe then understood what had shocked them all and chuckled, "Well, I guess for human standards we would be, but believe it or not, Lizzie and I are still in our 'sprout' phase which is considered the 'childhood phase' for Plantians!"

"Plan-what?" Wally scratched the side of his head in confusion.

"Plantians, that's how our people from Planet Planti are called" the undercover alien operative smiled.

"You and Lizzie are from the same planet? But you look like two different types of plants!" Kuki seemed curious at the revelation.

Gabe nodded at her, "yes we are both from the same planet, but we're from two different Tribes-ANYWAY! I think we lost the focus here" he blushed apologetically at Numbuh 5.

"But I want to know more!" Kuki whined sadly.

Abby shook her head in fun, "Gabe will tell us more about his people later. The point he was trying to make was he and Lizzie were actually here when Alpha and Omega first came to Earth to establish our KND base. That means you saw first hand when the first Sector Alpha was formed and given their signature weapons, correct?"

"Yes! Very good, Supreme Leader Numbuh 5, ma'am!" he cheered happily.

Gabe pushed the button of the tv control and turned back Numbuh 9L's animation until the part where the 6 floating holographic images of the Alpha Weapons were shown.

"Alright so, according to GKND records, these 4 Alpha Weapons were last seen approximately 1003 years ago," Gabe said as the shapes of the bow, the staff, the axes, and the long sword pulsed brightly. "Right when the original members of Sector Alpha were self-decommissioned. There is no official information about what the members of the team did with the weapons but we theorize they probably hid them before their memories were wiped out, to protect the weapons from falling into wrong hands. Somehow, the Delta Sword ended up on one of the KND Orbital Shipyards near Mercury."

Numbuh 2 hummed in confusion, "how on Earth did that one end up there?" he questioned. "I would have imagined for these super-powerful weapons to be hidden inside, I don't know, some big secret-maze-like dungeons or something. Like in the video games!"

Gabe chuckled, his brow furrowed in confusion, "yeah me too…kinda makes you wonder if perhaps Numbuh Omega's version of the story has some once of truth".

Abby frowned at him, "and what does the freak think happened?" she said with a hint of annoyance.

Gabe pulled from his shirt's collar, "well…he thinks the original Sector Alpha betrayed his sister and tried to cover up the truth…finding the Delta Sword buried under space trash seems to prove his version, because the weapon wasn't being guarded in some secret place on Earth... it had been discarded away into space instead".

Abby frowned at the notion, "Numbuh 5 thinks the emperor would need more than his childish grudge to prove his version of the story ", she said in a calm but angry tone.

Gabe shrugged, "I didn't realize it before because I was barely a "seed" when we came the first time to Earth. For us, Alpha and Omega were always right no matter what. Nothing they would do would seem wrong in our eyes".

"Seed?" Numbuh 2 asked and then went wide-eyed en realization, "oh! You mean, you were a baby back then?"

"That's right! And because I was too young and naive back then, I never realized the…wrongness of a lot of the things that were happening around me…I guess I never did until Lizzie and Chad kinda punched the truth to my face…figuratively-"

"Gabe, with all due respect, there is no time to duel into what could have been done in the past," Abby interrupted his train of thoughts.

"We have at least 5 days before Numbuh Omega arrives with all his galactic armada and we don't have the numbers nor the power to stop him. Sector Alpha and the Alpha Weapons are our only real chance against them."

Gabe shook his shame away and straightened himself up with his brow furrowed in determination, "yes Supreme Leader Numbuh 5!"

He then nodded at Numbuh 9L and the feline operative used her tails to tap into each one of the holographic weapons on the screen. Alien texts began to pop out next to each of the weapons.

"Alright so, Numbuh 9L and I have been thinking about it and…we came to the conclusion it will be nearly impossible for the Kids-Next-Door of Earth to find all the remaining Alpha Weapons-"

"WHAT?!" the members of Sector V exclaimed in utter shock.

"BECAUSE!" Gabe quickly interjected to calm their worries, "it was because of pure luck GKND managed to find the Delta Sword in the first place!" he admitted.

"Oh!"

Hoagie, Abby, Wally, and Kuki looked at each other dumbfounded and one by one sat down again on their seats.

Gabe cleared his throat as Numbuh 9L passed her paw through the holographic icon of the Delta Sword. Another holographic square appeared with more alien texts.

"According to the official GKND report, the Delta Sword was found during a programed espionage mission on Mercury" Gabe blushed in embarrassment as everyone's brow furrowed angrily at him.

He cleared his throat nervously, "The GKND team sent there were assigned to…ehm…well" he coughed a few times, "put into operation a hidden GKND satellite that was going to be used to highjack Earth's KND communication channels-" he said very fast without even breathing.

Numbuh 5 however didn't miss a single word and her disapproving frown deepened more.

"But when the team arrived there, they found a strange anomaly in the orbital shipyard: a very, VERY hot and radioactive spot right in the middle of it, as hot as the Sun".

Numbuh 74.239 felt more relaxed as everyone's angry expressions changed to a much calmer and curious one.

"Upon close inspection, the team discovered that even though the spot in the shipyard seemed impossible hot, the radiation wasn't harmful nor disruptive. How could this be?" he grinned with excitement. "And that's how they found it!"

Numbuh 9L then showed them a recorded video of a GKND team made of camel-like alien operatives digging out from the space trash the rusty-looking remains of the Delta Sword's hilt.

Numbuh 9L paused the video as Gabe grinned from ear to ear, "See?"

Sector V looked at each other with worried glances.

"Well," Kuki gave a small smile, "I guess all we need is a ton of Lucky charms to increase our chances into finding the rest of the weapons," she said jokingly.

"Man…I don't think my luckiest Yipper Card number 77 would be enough to help us with this" Hoagie chuckled, which made Wally immediately face-palm in embarrassment.

"Lucky for you all, we might have figured out how to solve this riddle without the use of extra luck!" Gabe suddenly said.

The holographic images of the Alpha Weapons re-appeared again, with summaries of what it was believed they were capable of doing.

"Because it has been so long since they were last used, the Alpha Weapons have accumulated an enormous amount of unused energy. It seems now they have started to discharge this extra power in the form of these strange harmless radioactive waves. Think of it as if they were chunks of a delicious cheese: the older the cheese, the smellier it becomes," Gabe explained.

"Oh yeah, it's true! And the smellier the more delicious it gets" Number 2 chuckled in agreement like the cheese fanatic that he is, earning a collective disgusted grunt from the rest of the team.

Numbuh 74.239 nodded enthusiastically, "And as time passes, the more difficult it gets to ignore that 'smell'! So, the plan ladies and gentlemen is to simply find that 'stinky' trace of alien power… so to speak!"

The icon of the Delta Sword beeped and a text with the phrase "unharmful heatwave" appeared next to it, while several question marks appeared next to the remaining Alpha Weapons.

Gabe continued his explanation. "We believe the other weapons must be going through a similar process as the Delta Sword was, exuding whatever accumulated power they may have. We must look for any out-of-ordinary phenomenons that may be occurring out there on Earth which could lead us to the location of the Alpha Weapons."

Wally smirked confidently, "uh…well that doesn't sound too difficult!"

But Numbuh 9L purred in a worried tone.

Gabe too frowned with uncertainty reflected in his fake human features, "yeah it really shouldn't be but… I'm afraid the downside of our plan is the current 2x4 technology of Earth's KND is not exactly as advanced as GKND's, so it's probably going to take some time for you to verify every single anomaly that may be occurring on Earth."

"And time is exactly what we don't have," Numbuh 5 said somberly.

Numbuh 2 snorted offended, "oh please! Just give me a day and I'll show ya! I bet I can use Sector L's Main Satellite Base as a repeater to amplify the Moon Base's radar range!"

"But that's the thing, we can't waste a day on this! We only have 5 days to find all the weapons!" Numbuh 74.329 said while raising his arms in alarm. "If I'm honest with you all, I think what the Kids-Next-Door should focus on right now is to finish with the evacuation, and…prepare to resist the arrival of the GKND". Numbuh 9L nodded at Gabe' somber suggestion.

Hoagie, Wally, and Kuki looked at Abby with worry as the Supreme Leader looked pensive while clenching her hands into fists.

"No! There's gotta be something else we can do. Numbuh 5 can't just let Sector Alpha do this on their own! If only we could at least secure the locations where the weapons are-"

"Abby…" Gabe interrupted softly, "best case scenario Sector Alpha probably has already figured out the location of some of the Alpha Weapons because the other way there is to find them is to use one of the weapons to, call upon the others and they can do that with the Delta Sword and the Falcon ".

"The Falcon?" Wally repeated curiously.

A holographic image of the Alpha Falcon suddenly appeared alongside the images of the Alpha Weapons.

"In a way," Numbuh 74.239 began, clutching his chin as he looked at the graphics with a thoughtful frown, "the Falcon Alpha is another Alpha Weapon itself. It was created by Numbuh Alpha from the same technology as the Alpha Weapons. Back then, our lady was trying to find new ways to amplify their powers and some of her attempts had amazing results, such as the combined powers of the Falcon and the Beta Bow, which right now I can't remember what it does..."

"However, there were other attempts that were not as successful, such as the supposed rejuvenation powers of the Gamma Staff."

At that piece of information, the members of Sector V suddenly perked in attention.

"Wait-What did you just say?" Numbuh 4 mumbled.

"Rejuvenating powers?" Numbuh 5 repeated in surprise as the team collectively recalled a place where they found something with similar power.

Gabe shrugged dismissively, "yes but the effects weren't permanent, so the experiment was deemed a failure-"

"Could it be? The Fountain of Youth?!" Kuki interrupted him with newfound excitement.

Gabe arched an eyebrow, annoyed at her rude intervention, "the fountain of what-?"

Numbuh 2 chirped in too, "Gabe, how radioactive are these weapons? Like, let's say if one of them -I don't know- is submerged underwater, will the water be affected by their powers?" he elaborated.

Gabe was puzzled at what was going thru their minds now. "Didn't you pay attention to anything I just said?!" he yelled back at Numbuh 2 offended, "of course it's possible!"

Hoagie ignored his outburst and pondered out loud, "what if?… the Gamma Staff's radiation is what is giving the water of the Fountain of Youth its rejuvenating capabilities?" he said excitedly looking at Numbuh 4, who in response went wide-eyed as he too put 2 and 2 together.

"Can somebody please explain to me what is this whole 'Fountain of Youth' you all keep mentioning?!-"

"But the Fountain and the way to the School's old undergrounds were destroyed!" Wally remembered, "We would need a big driller or something to get to the place again" he scratched his head in thought.

"Or!" Numbuh 2 took out his L.U.N.C.H.B.O.C.K. and started to smash his keyboard rapidly, "we could instead look for the Fountain's water source…-AHA! BINGO!" He celebrated and turning over his computer he showed them the map of Gallagher Elementary School.

"There is a big underground water reservoir beneath the school! The Fountain's water had to come from that place so if my theory is correct, the weapon must be there!" he pointed with his finger at a big round space in the school's map. "The school's plumbing is connected to it so I think they could use the sewers to get there."

The Supreme Leader smiled from ear to ear, "you genius! I could kiss you right now, sugar cubes!" she said, making Numbuh 2 blush deeply.

"LET ME IN! I NEED TO SPEAK WITH MY TEAM!"

A loud ruckus was heard outside and right after the doors of the Meeting Room were suddenly slammed open.

"What's going on?!" Abby rose from her chair as a figure marched decisively into the room.

As the person stopped in the middle of the room, a pair of soldiers from the Decommissioning Squad rushed in, "Ma'am! We tried to stop him but-"

Numbuh 4 quickly stopped them with a gesture of his hand as they all recognized the character, "It's alright, we got this. Return to your posts" he ordered them.

The two soldiers looked at each other quizzically but still nodded at him, "Yes lieutenant Numbuh 4, sir!" they gave him a military salute and promptly left the room.

Abby sighed tiredly and very slowly sat down again as two other figures entered the room, "Numbuh 5 hopes you have a good reason for doing this, Numbuh 10" she said as she arched an eyebrow as her eyes looked at the red-haired operative from under her helmet.

Numbuh 10 walked slowly to stand next to his cousin. She glanced at Nigel, who was still dressed in his hospital bathrobe, breathing agitatedly after the long desperate run from his hospital room to the KND Global Command Meeting Room.

The alien form of Lizzie came closer and levitated silently behind Numbuh 10.

Nigel's cousin cleared her throat, straightened herself, and tucked her arms behind her back to look formal in front of them. "My apologies for the interruption, Supreme Leader Numbuh 5, Global Command Sector V …" she addressed them formally, "I believe my cousin has vital information he desperately wishes to share with you about our enemies."

"Enemies?!" Nigel suddenly snapped and glared at her, surprising Lizzie and causing some of her leaves to fall off her vines. "They are not our enemies! Argh! You don't get it either!"

Victoria looked hurt as Nigel took a few more steps away and distanced himself from her and Lizzie.

"Abby listen to me! You need to stop this! All of this! There is no need to fight the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door! They are not our enemies! "He sounded and seemed desperate.

Numbuh 5 suddenly saw red, "Listen to you?! Why should Numbuh 5 listen to you after what you did on Pluto ?!" She slammed the table angrily with one fist.

Numbuh 1's brow furrowed in pain as he looked at Kuki, Wally, and Hoagie. His heart sank at the sight of Numbuh 2's bandaged arm.

"I ... I don't know how to explain exactly what happened on Pluto. Hoagie, you know I would never, EVER, hurt you like this ... I'm so sorry that this happened," Nigel admitted with a heavy heart and his eyes full of remorse and confusion.

The corner of Number 2's mouth curved into a small, forgiving smile, "It's ok ... I know you weren't exactly in your right mind back then, boss," he said, though his good arm instinctively grabbed his broken arm protectively.

Nigel looked thoughtful for a brief moment, "I ... Victoria told me what happened but I ... I don't know why the Galactic Emperor did all that there ... all I know is that it's all a big misunderstanding - "

"I'm sorry, but what part of requesting a planetary decommission is Numbuh 5 misunderstanding?" Abby cut him off abruptly. "A planetary decommissioning you requested without even consulting us by the way!"

Nigel flinched for a second upon hearing the accusation, but nevertheless, he straightened up and looked at her in the eye with determination, "You would have done the same if you had been in my place! Abby, WE ARE outnumbered! There are more adults and teenagers than children on Earth and their numbers continue to grow as we speak! "

"And the best solution to this situation is to FREEZE the entire planet for all eternity?"

"It's just a temporary thing until we find the cure!"

"CURE OF WHAT?! THERE AIN'T NO VIRUS, NIGEL!"

Numbuh 5's loud outburst froze the entire room. She breathed in and out agitatedly while glaring angrily at Nigel.

"You…you don't know that!" Nigel said lowly at her.

Abby rolled her eyes at him, "Growing up is a natural thing! You can't just cure that! How can you even believe in that stupid idea?!"

"Shut up!" Numbuh 1 didn't want to hear it.

"Guys please!" Kuki tried to stop their fight, "please stop yelling!"

But Numbuh 5 couldn't hold herself anymore, "and even if it was real, It's been thousands of years Nigel, if there was a virus the galactics would have proved it by now and found the cure-!"

"You don't know that! Gabe, tell her!" Nigel suddenly ordered desperately. "Tell her the virus is real! Tell her how it even infected the great Numbuh Alpha!"

Numbuh 74.239 rose his hands at him nervously, "I-I…Nigel, please calm down…Supreme Leader Numbuh 5 isn't entirely wrong, for thousand of years we in GKND have always believed the theory of the adulthood virus, yes. And granted Numbuh 9L, Lizzie and I also believed in it for many, MANY years…But I have to admit…"

Gabe glanced up at Numbuh 9L who suddenly looked sad and anxious, "I…I do have my reasonable doubts about the veracity of the virus' existence. All those tests we did to Chad were merely to discover his physical weakness and strengths-!"

"So you're saying what happened to both your planets was all for nothing?!" Nigel suddenly yelled at him with an angry vein pulsing on his forehead.

Gabe sighed as Numbuh 9L whimpered with tears on her feline green eyes.

"What…what happened to your planets?" Kuki fearfully asked.

Gabe looked at Lizzie with his brow furrowed in remorse. Numbuh 10 looked at the plant form of Lizzie and noticed big blobby tears falling down her alien eyes as she mutedly sobbed against her veins.

"Just like you, the Kids-Next-Door of Planet Planti refused the order of the planetary decommission…we went into a war with GKND and we resisted as much as we could…but in the end, it was all over when the Galactic Emperor Numbuh Omega used the power of his Omega Saber to create a giant black hole that swallowed our planet in a blink of an eye".

Kuki gasped in horror while everyone else in the room went pale in shock.

Nigel remembered his dream and paled as the image of a black hole behind Earth flashed in his mind.

Gabe kicked the floor and shoved his hands inside his lab coat's pockets, "Lizzie and I were part of the group of plantian cadets who had been previously evacuated to a nearby planet…we were lucky the planet wasn't close to the black hole's proximity-"

"And now you want the same thing to happen to Earth!" Numbuh 1 accused him.

"What-NO! Of course not!"

"At least Numbuh 9L did the right thing and saved her planet! There are still chances for her to see her people again!" Nigel couldn't understand why they couldn't see the situation as clear as him.

Numbuh 9L meowed and roared angrily at Nigel while tears rolled down her whiskers.

Gabe translated for her, "she says it wasn't worth it. She's the last soldier of her species among the GKND forces and once she gets decommissioned…she doesn't believe she will ever see her family, her people nor her planet wake up from the galactic frozen slumber".

Numbuh 1 was surprised at the change of heart of Numbuh 9L and for a second looked hurt. "No! You are wrong! You all are wrong!", and then in a blink of an eye, his eyes darkened, and glared disapprovingly at her. "I believe in Numbuh Omega's promise!" he said and the light in his eyes disappeared, "He will find the cure to this illness and finally defeat universal adult tyranny forever! This is the only way!" he sounded robotic again.

"You're just a coward!" he snarled at Numbuh 9L uncharacteristically mean, "You are just like Chad! If he had just accepted Numbuh Omega's mission and captured the teen leaders for the GKND, the planetary decommission wouldn't have been necessary!-"

"So you would have rather had my big sister be taken prisoner by them to be tortured like another of their lab rats too? You are really willing to let them freeze your dad and your mom and risk never see them?!" Abby's eyes were glossy, like if she was close to crying, but she did not shed a single tear. Her eyes simply burned with rage.

Nigel was silent for a whole minute. Everyone in the room held their breath as they waited expectantly for his answer. The tension was palpable in the air.

"Yes, I would have done it..." he suddenly said coldly in a monotonous voice. "And I know my dad would have done the same if he had known he could have saved us from growing old, so yes, I would do anything in my power to save everyone and assert victory for our cause!" his voice boomed loudly across the room

The four members of Sector V silently stared at their former leader with sadness and confusion brimming from their eyes.

"Who are you?" Numbuh 4 whispered and clenched his teeth in anger, "You are not the leader I remember…you are not the friend we have been missing for an entire year".

Numbuh 1 growled in exasperation at the way they were now looking at him, "You are all being insane! You can't be seriously thinking about going on a war against the GKND!"

"Oh, we are serious!" Wally suddenly said with a serious frown, "you bet your bald head I won't let them just freeze my parents as popsicles and brainwash my baby brother into becoming one of their mindless soldiers...no offense" he apologized to Gabe and Numbuh 9L.

"Non taken" Gabe chuckled.

"Yeah me neither!" Numbuh 2 said with a newfound resolution. "Not all adults are bad and my parents certainly don't deserve such punishment".

"Me three!" Numbuh 3 said bravely, "my sister might be a little crazy, but she and my parents mean the world to me! I can't imagine leaving them behind just because some alien bully says so!"

Nigel then looked at Numbuh 5 again.

She nodded, "Numbuh 5 is going to do what she feels is the right thing to do, even if the odds are against us".

A loud beeping sound coming from Numbuh 2's L.U.N.C.H.B.O.C.K. suddenly disrupted the tense atmosphere in the meeting room.

"I FOUND HIM!" Hoagie cheered as he looked at the screen. "The Kid logged in

into his League of Legend account just a few minutes ago, I think I can trace the signal and call him to his cellphone!" he said, ignoring the confused faces of Nigel, Victoria, and the alien operatives.

/

[McClintock High School – Lunch break]

In a desolated hallway full of lockers, a teen is heard speaking thru her cellphone.

"But mooooooooom! I have plans for tonight! Can't you ask dad to pick up Moose instead?" Pepper Ann Pearson whined while talking on her cellphone in the empty hallway.

"You know your father won't leave his blimp job when it's game night" Her mother answered her from the other side of the line, "I'm really, really sorry Peppy but it's inventory day at my job so my hands are tied".

The red-haired banged her forehead against the lockers, "why is she even staying up so late at school anyway? She's just 8 years old for crying out loud!"

She heard her mom briefly talk with somebody before answering, "I don't know, must be some school project with her friends - sorry ma'am, the boutique's policy is final: no refunds - please Peppy, do this for me and I promise to compensate you for the trouble another time."

Pepper Ann sighed, "How many more favors am I going to be doing this month?!" she mumbled out loud.

"What?"

"Nothing!" She quickly said, "Fine mom! But in exchange, I want my next 15th birthday party UNSUPERVISED!

She heard her mother laugh loudly in response, "Oh Peppy, I believe you aren't one for negotiating something like that after I found you coming home way later than what I allowed it, last time you went on a date with Craig!"

The teenager slapped her face upon remembering, "ARGH! FINE! FINE" she said in defeat with a crimson blush on her cheeks.

"Thank you, sweetie, I know I can always count on you!" her mother said in a singing tone before hanging on her.

Pepper Ann sighed for the 10th time that day. What was with the universe being so unfair with her lately? She wondered if It was probably due to Mercury being retrograde this week or something, but nothing lately seemed to be going in her favor.

She put her cellphone back inside her skirt's pocket and turning around, she opened again the twin doors of the cafeteria and returned to her table with Nicky and Milo.

"What happened?! Did I miss the big musical number?!" she asked upon sitting down, just when a loud guitar riff was heard.

*A.N.: please listen to "The Greatest Show" by Panic! at the Disco when reading this part*

"Woah!"

"It's just about to start!" Milo said excitedly while Nicky handed Pepper Ann a big bucket full of nachos.

Suddenly, the lights of the cafeteria went off and a single spotlight came from the ceiling and washed over one person. The Steve stood dramatically over one of the tables while making a cool pose.

" Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for!"

"Woah!"

"Been searching in the dark, your sweat soaking through the floor"

"Woah!"

The leader of the teenagers began to sing with excitement, while members of the Cheerleader Squad and some other teen athletes did the backing vocals.

" And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore

Taking your breath, stealing your mind

And all that was real is left behind"

Chad went pale and sweated in confusion alongside Rachel, Maurice and Ace as they all witnessed with horror the whole cafeteria joining the Prom King in their impromptu, clapping and smashing their plates with their forks and spoons to create a drum-like rhythm to go along with the music.

Then, to everyone' surprise, members of the ScumBucketPunks band jumped on the tables and began to play their instruments alongside the drumming sound of the cafeteria's crowd.

Steve started to march decisively as he continued to sing, gesturing to different students in every line he sang.

"Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya

It's only this moment, don't care what comes after

Your fever dream, can't you see it getting closer

Just surrender 'cause you feel the feeling taking over"

The Prom King jumped off the tables and landed perfectly right in front of the serving table just as columns of fire erupted from behind it. When the fire disappeared, the lunch ladies came out and started to dance and sing along too.

"It's fire, it's freedom, it's flooding open

It's a preacher in the pulpit and you'll find devotion

There's something breaking at the brick of every wall, it's holding

All that you know"

"So tell me do you wanna go?"

"Where it's covered in all the colored lights

Where the runaways are running the night

Impossible comes true, it's taking over you"

"Oh, this is the greatest show!"

"We light it up, we won't come down

And the sun can't stop us now

Watching it come true, it's taking over you"

"Oh, this is the greatest show!"

Chad, Rachel, Maurice, and Ace then saw with shock the cheerleaders jump down the cafeteria' second floor and start forming two tall human pyramids at each side of Steve.

"Woah!"

"Colossal we come these renegades in the ring!"

"Woah!"

"where the lost get found in the crown of the circus king!"

"Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya

It's only this moment, don't care what comes after

It's blinding, outshining anything that you know

Just surrender 'cause you're calling and you wanna go"

More cheerleaders came and began to make a choreography as Steve kept singing.

"Where it's covered in all the colored lights

Where the runaways are running the night

Impossible comes true, intoxicating you

Oh, this is the greatest show!"

The whole cafeteria shouted now singing along with him.

"We light it up, we won't come down

And the sun can't stop us now

Watching it come true, it's taking over you"

"Oh, this is the greatest show!"

The music momentarily stopped but the banging of plates, forks, and spoons continued as all teenagers were now fully chanting the lyrics.

Steve began to clap along with the drumming sound and the whole school followed him suit.

"When it's covered in all the colored lights

Where the runaways are running the night

Impossible comes true, it's taking over you"

"Oh, this is the greatest show!"

"We light it up, we won't come down

And the walls can't stop us now

I'm watching it come true, it's taking over you"

"Oh! This is the greatest show"

Just as the Prom King began to play the guitar solo, Chad, Rachel, Maurice, and Ace suddenly felt their table rumble and then be completely lifted off the ground. They were now being carried by the team members of their respective 4 sports teams: football, basketball, volleyball, and soccer.

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

"This is the greatest show!"

"Oh!"

The song finally ended and the whole cafeteria erupted in applauses and cheers.

The 4 General Captains looked pale and confused just as their table was once again lowered down on the ground. The members of their sports teams laughed and cheered welcoming phrases around them.

"WELCOME BACK CAPTAIN CHAD!"

"ALL OUR CAPTAINS ARE FINALLY REUNITED!"

"WELCOME BACK!"

"WELCOME BACK!"

As things seemed to slowly go back to"normality" with everyone walking back to their food tables, Steve's voice caught back their attention.

"Thank you! Thank you everyone! Hahaha! You all did amazingly! Well done! That was spectacular!-CHAD!" The Steve exclaimed, jumping off the table he was currently standing on and landing cooly where the captains were sitting.

The teen leader handed over his guitar to another teenager with thick wooden framed glasses, who bowed respectfully before grabbing the instrument and leaving with a fanatic squeal.

"The prodigal son has finally retuuuuuuurned! Come here you!" The Prom King came closer, grabbed Chad by his shoulder and playfully nudged his head.

"Ouch! Cut it out, dude!" The blond one complained, slapping his hand off of his hair.

The Steve chuckled with fun "That was for worrying us all, right my dudes?" he winked at the other 3 captains who blinked silently in confusion.

"I always knew you were going to return eventually! I kept telling Cree the same on and on because my man, you are like a coooooomet! Get it? Ha!" Steve slapped Chad's back a few times while laughing at his own joke.

Rachel, Maurice, and Ace sweat dropped not understanding the King's humor one bit. The Steve brushed off his laughing tears and promptly sat down on the table with them.

"And you returned just in the right time too! Things have gotten a bit crazy weird since last Friday- Yo! Please bring some tacos for my captains and me!" Steve shouted and winked to the lunch ladies, who giggled at him in response.

Chad and the rest then saw the oldest of the lunch ladies promptly bring a tray filled with a ridiculous amount of tacos, all piled in the shape of a pyramid.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rose, please tell the rest of the ladies the firework show was flawless!" He said while giving the old lady a playful wink.

The lanky old lady giggled, "oh please! We should be the ones to thank you for allowing these old bones to have some well-needed fun, hehehehe. The girls and I were wondering if perhaps we should rehearse a different option for the Prom Night".

The four teens perked in attention as Steve nodded, "Oh yeah! That would be totally cool! We should think of something BIGGER and FLASHIER since we're going to be doing it in the Gym! We're starting all rehearsals for the Prom Night this afternoon, you guys MUST come!"

"Excellent! We won't miss it for the world. Your highness" she bowed to him and turning around she walked away and returned to the kitchen.

"Ahm, isn't Prom like in a month or something?" Ace asked in confusion.

Steve returned his attention to his 4 General Captains, "well-"

"Attention! Attention! This is an important message to all students and teenagers! Attention!" the voice of Principal Hickey suddenly echoed loudly throughout the school's PA system.

"Per request of our schools' main patron, the E.A.I. Inc. (A.k.a.: Evil Adults Industries Incorporated), the main academic calendar has suffered an urgent modification and now our annual Prom Night Party will be held - the sound of rustling paper could be heard in the back - uh…Friday next week?" the principal announced while sounding unsure.

All teenagers in the cafeteria made a collective gasp.

"WHAT?!" The 4 General Captains exclaimed while The Steve remained completely calmed next to them.

"Are you sure this is what Mr. Father has ordered-?" Principal Hickey was heard whispering to someone.

"YES! Just read the script, old man!"

Maurice frowned upon hearing a second voice, "That's Cree" he said to Steve, who simply shrugged in response.

"Alright! Alright! No need to point your weapons at me, geez!" the principal was heard complaining.

He coughed a few times and continued with his message, "Friday next week it is then! All students' committees must start immediate preparations and report to their correspondent Class Presidents and, as per usual, the General Captains will be in charge of assembling the Prom Court while also coordinate the necessary security protocols with the teachers…and all the yada yada yada, I'm sure your current Prom Queen will be more than glad to remind you all your usual duties for such an important night for all teenagers…"

"Remember to keep all your crazy misadventures in check. I don't want any troubles that night and I MEAN IT! Good day to everyone, Principal Hickey out! "

The PA system went silent again and chaos began to unfold in the cafeteria as all teenagers were now collectively talking about the same thing.

"How on Earth are we going to pull off a Prom Ball in two weeks?!" Maurice exclaimed what was in everyone's minds.

"Now now, calm down my dudes, I know this seems very sudden-"

"'Very sudden' falls kinda short to describe this MADNESS, your grace" Ace said and pointed at the table where the class presidents were currently sitting in complete panic and desperately checking their phones, probably sending chained text messages with the news.

"Well yes but orders are orders, so-"

"But WHY do we have to do what Father orders us?!" Rachel suddenly snapped angrily, slamming the table and standing up to look at the Prom King directly to his face.

Chad went pale next to her, "Rache-"

"Why can't we decide on an event that only concerns us? Why does he have a say in our most important celebration of the year?! Isn't having the Teen Ninjas and the Prom Queen under his command enough for him?!"

Maurice and Ace started to sweat nervously too, "Uhm Rachel maybe we just need to calm down-"

"WE don't own him anything, what has he done for us teenagers anyway?!-"

"Rache-!"

"Well look at Captain Mckenzie here!" The Steve cut her rant shortly and laughed with fun, "Now I get why you got to be the Supreme Leader of KND just like Chad! It's good to see decommission didn't take away that fiery spirit of yours!"

Rachel froze and all colors of her face disappeared. She looked at Maurice, Ace, and then at Chad and mentally kicked herself. She wondered in panic if the Steve has caught on something suspicious about her.

"You do have a valid point, my lady captain" The Steve continued, seemingly oblivious of the panic brimming out of the 4 teenagers' faces sitting in front of him, "if I'm honest with you four, I too don't like the guy much. He constantly kills my vibes, you know? Sure, his firework tricks are cool and whatnot, but man he's such a pain in the butt."

"But hey, a deal is a deal, and the guy has kept his word so far and hasn't really bothered us since we started to help him out with keeping the brats in check" The Steve explained suavely.

Rachel's annoyed frown returned to her features, "Yeah but-"

"I know, I know, he should still be kept out of our biz, but you have to admit that something big must be going on if this whole thing with KND has finally stirred him out of his retirement jazz!"

The captains looked at him with their eyes big in surprise.

"Wait, hold on Steve" Chad stood up in shock, "are you saying Father is doing this because of Numbuh 5's message?"

The teens' leader shrugged nonchalantly while leaning on his bench with his arms crossed behind his head, "seems so! And here I thought the whole thing sounded bananas, you know? The Queen doesn't agree with him though. She still believes everything is just a big setup against us, but like, Benedict insists we don't have a week before something blowing up or whatever."

The four teens looked at each other in confusion at this new information. Does Father believe in the threat of the Galactic-Kids-Next-Door? How much does he know about them and WHY he knows about them?

"Hey!" Steve suddenly pointed his index finger at Chad, "since you are the only ex-KND Supreme Leader here with his memories intact- right Rachel?" he winked at the girl and chuckled upon seeing her go pale again.

"hahaha! Just kidding! But seriously Chad, what's your opinion of this whole situation? Do you think Cree is right and all this mess is just a huge fantastical-over-the-top-made-up plan of her sister to take us down?"

The Steve asked dramatically.

Rachel coughed nervously while Chad sweated bullets next to her.

"Well…" he rubbed the back of his neck as he calculated his next words.

"Cree' sister is the only down-to-Earth member of Sector V…I don't particularly see her as the type who would make such a world rumbling decision just to set a trap, you know?" he admitted.

The Steve lowered his eyeglasses at him, "What about that whole "alien" part?" he remarked mockingly with air quotes.

"Well!" Chad raised his hands and laughed nervously, "The alien part might be a bit of a stretch haha! Aliens? That sounds crazily dangerous if it were true!" his brain desperately tried to come up with a reasonable explanation that could be believable enough for the most popular teenager of the planet.

The corner of his mouth curled in a smile as a plan was quickly formed in his mind, "I think what they are dealing with is what I know as the 'KND Splinter Cell'".

"Splinter Cell?" The Prom King repeated in awe.

He briefly side-glanced at his teammates and noticed their eyebrows raised in surprise. Then they secretly smirked, clearly getting where he was going with his explanation.

If the truth was too unbelievable for The Steve to buy, chances were the teenagers' leader would certainly go with Cree's version of the story and support any attempt she had of fighting KND's recent movements. So instead of giving him the full picture, Chad decided to give him something more plausible and simpler for him to digest.

"Yeah! Rachel knows about it too, right?!" Chad suddenly said without really thinking.

Once again blond girl went wide-eyed in horror, "wha-what?! I don't know what you're talking about, CHAD!" she laughed nervously and almost seemed to have yelled his name with her teeth tight in anger.

Chad mentally kicked himself for such a brain fart, "OH YEAH RIGHT YOU DON'T REMEMBER-Hahahahaha! Sorry!" boy, now she had another reason to beat him to a pulp.

The Steve laughed with him unaware of the whole mistake "Ha! Buddy you better get used to her not remembering anything KND related!" he said with another mysterious wink.

Ace looked at Maurice, and they both looked at Rachel and Chad with all the alarms going off in their minds as the Prom King kept playing with them.

"ANYWAY!" Chad tried very hard to remain as unfazed as possible and once again stirred away from the main focus of the conversation, "the KND Splinter Cell is a traitorous shadow group hidden within the Kids-Next-Door who intend to destroy all adults on Earth, good or bad. Remember the kid who tried to convince you to do the TREATY with the KND?"

"Ah yeah, the one with the cool-looking bow tie and sick black suit" the Steve remembered.

The Foot Ball Captain nodded, "his name was Numbuh Infinity" Chad explained, "and he's part of that group. They were actually planning to attack you AND Rachel that day to provoke more tension between the KND and us!"

"THEY WHAT?!" Maurice exclaimed angrily as Ace and Rachel gaped in surprise at this new information.

Steve grabbed his chin pensively, "uhmmmm I see…man, I'm glad you warned us about the thing beforehand. They were gonna cross us but WE double-crossed them first, in da face!" the leader of the teenagers huffed out cockily.

"You should thank him, girl!" Steve nudged Rachel on her arm, "You might not remember anything, but hey, he did save ya!"

Rachel said nothing but instead gave Chad a thankful glance with her hazelnut eyes.

"Alright so, I guess these guys are truly everybody's problem then. The more reason to do the Prom Ball now!" The Steve said while standing up from his seat.

Ace rose his glasses in confusion, "come again, your grace?"

Suddenly the Steve climbed dramatically on top of their table and pointed his index finger up to the ceiling, "I, THE STEVE, your super cool legendary leader, I promise you all that If I'm re-elected -again- as Prom King I will make sure no teenager is ever harmed by these freaks!"

The four captains sweat dropped in unison as the whole cafeteria went into a fit of hysteria with applauses and cheers.

Rachel rolled her eyes largely "Great…now he's making the whole conflict the center of his election campaign " she whispered to Maurice, who sighed wearily in agreement.

"I'll do everything necessary and gather ALL OUR FORCES, and show this alien version of KND who is da boss!" The leader of the teenagers declared loud and most teenagers in the cafeteria loudly cheered in response.

The four captains sighed tiredly at his remark.

Rachel narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the current Prom King. "I see what you're doing. This whole show you pulled off wasn't just to welcome back Chad. You want to make sure you have our support for your reelection as Prom King" Rachel deduced quickly.

The older teen let out a loud horselaugh, "well rules do say all candidates must have the approval of the 4 General Captains to be eligible for the crown."

Ace smiled and shook his head, "but you're the current Prom King and you have been elected 3 times in a row by now...you don't need our approval, your grace. You must run against anyone who wishes to be crowned by default."

Steve nodded "Yeah I know, but I'm an old-fashioned guy who loves to follow the protocol" the 4 captains narrowed their eyes suspiciously at him as he continued with his speech.

"And I want to set a good example for any future rulers that may come after I graduate… someday," he said with a tranquil grin as he began to play an air guitar.

Chad and Rachel arched their eyebrows in surprise. Something about his words…sounded oddly familiar to them.

The 4 General Teen Captains exchanged confused glances with each other, completely puzzled at the Steve's hidden intentions. In all the years they have known the guy, they have never truly pinpointed what was the guy's agenda in the big picture.

"So, what do you kids say? Do I have your approval?"

Chad waved his hand dismissively, "Sure thing dude, you have our support...just keep the musical numbers for the Pron Night, ok?-"

"HOLD IT CHAD!" Ace suddenly cut him shortly, "We will give you our super-tetra-shinning-captain-support on ONE condition!" he said with that familiar mischief look on his face that told them a crazy idea had just popped in his head.

Chad, Maurice, and Rachel looked at Ace as if he had gone crazy, but the Steve still grinned.

"Name it, Captain Banderas!"

Ace winked at his friends and then looked at the king straight in the eyes, "if, and only IF you promise us that you will make sure to do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING necessary to protect the teenagers from…whatever peril may come!" he said dramatically and then stretched out his hand for him to shake.

Steve arched an eyebrow at him, "I'm offended by the insinuation! I have ALWAYS done the best for all teenagers!" he said and crossed his arms now seemly upset.

"Certainly, your grace" Ace bowed apologetically while continuing with his act, "we're just following the protocol and making things official, for good measure," he said, waving his eyebrows playfully.

Steve lowered his sharp sunglasses and looked at Ace pensively. He then looked at Chad, Rachel, and Maurice with a suspicious eyebrow arched, "Why? Should I be worried about something? Is about this thing with KND?"

Ace sweated nervously for a second, "well uh-I don't know- we don't know yet-"

"We may have to investigate a bit further!" Chad suddenly interjected.

"Yeah exactly! And who knows? Maybe KND will solve the problem on their own!" Rachel shouted in a nervous high pitched tone.

Steve's eyes jumped from captain to captain as he continued to think silently, making them sweat even more profusely. The tension in the air thickened as the teens waited expectantly for the mysterious Prom King's answer.

After a long minute that felt more like an eternity, he finally gave them a large toothy grin, "Alright kids, you have my word!"

The four captains smiled in relief.

"But" he suddenly said, "I also want your word that you will get to the bottom of this situation with whatever KND is dealing with. I know you kids like to keep things neutral, which is in your right of course, but if things do get out of hands, if these freaky alien brats do come after us, I want your word that you and your teams will be there in the front lines with us…and when I mean us, I mean Cree, the Teen Ninjas, the Cheerleader Squad, the Class Presidents, the nerds…every-single-fighting-teenager."

The secret KND undercover operatives looked at him now taken aback, completely caught off guard at the serious tone of his request. It suddenly felt like they were actually negotiating some kind of deal and they now wondered if perhaps the teenagers' leader was more aware of what was truly going on than what he was letting them see.

"Just making the deal feel more real, for good measure" he repeated with a mysterious confident grin.

Ace looked at the other three captains and shrugged. The other three seemed uncertain but still nodded at him in response.

The Soccer Captain smirked and stretched out his hand again, "alright su majestad, you have our sacred captain word. Welcome to the Prom Race, officially!"

And so the cafeteria became loud with millions of whispers right at the moment the Steve stood up and vigorously shook Ace's hand.

"Rock on, bro!"

/

The four teenagers quickly stormed out of the cafeteria before anyone from the Students Council or the School's News Paper could tackle them with questions about what just has happened.

Because, truth to be told, not even they knew the answer to that.

"You weren't kidding about The Steve, he definitely knows more than what he shows!" Chad breathed out all the anxiety he had kept at bay during the whole lunch break.

"We have to wire him!" Maurice was sweating bullets as if he had just run a marathon, "that wink, man! He kept winking knowingly as if implying he knew Rachel-"

"But how he could know?!" Rachel almost stumbled as she hurriedly walked next to him, constantly glancing back and ford at the cafeteria.

"You know…there's something familiar about him" Ace suddenly said and the other three teenagers noticed the pilot was the only one of the team who wasn't completely freaking out.

"But I can't pinpoint what it is" he kept walking calmly while tapping his chin pensively.

Chad growled angrily at him, "there's nothing familiar about that freak-!"

Suddenly, Ace's phone began to ring soundly inside his aviator jacket. He picked it up from his pocket and the caller's number on the screen made him stop harshly on his tracks.

"Ay Dios!" he exclaimed to his friends.

He turned around his yellow iPhone and his friends blinked confusedly upon seeing the caller's ID: "#2".

Ace grinned excitedly and gestured to his friends to keep quiet before answering the call.

"Memo mi hermano, tanto tiempo sin saber de tí" he greeted in spanish.

"DON'T YOU CALL ME 'HERMANO' MISTER I'M-JUST-TOO-COOL-TO-BE-PART-OF-KND-SO-I-WORK-ALONE YOU STINKY LIAR!"

Chad, Rachel, and Maurice's eyes grew large in utter shock upon recognizing the unmistakable angry voice of Hoagie P. Gilligan, aka Numbuh 2.

Chad and Rachel desperately began to gesture silent 'no' and 'x's with their arms while Maurice begged him to hang up the call immediately.

Ace however simply scratched the inside of his ear after such an earful yell, "didn't your parents teach you it's not very polite to call somebody a liar after not having spoken to them in so long?" he waved his hand at his friends in a way to tell them to calm down.

"And honestly, I don't know where are all these accusations coming from" he chuckled.

"Don't you dare to play dumb with me- I KNOW YOU ARE THE PILOT OF FALCON ALPHA!" Numbuh 2 spat him from the other side of the line.

"Do you have any proof of what you're saying?" Ace suddenly questioned.

"Well no but-"

"Then your accusations have no funding, Hermano. Good day!"

"Wait Ace, don't hang up! We have information about the whereabouts of one of the Alpha Weapons! It's at Gallagher's Fountain of Youth!" Hoagie said fast enough before the other teenager had the chance of ending the call.

Maurice arched an eyebrow intrigued as Ace's aviator glasses suddenly fell on his nose while going wide-eyed in surprise. "How? How did you guys figure that out?-"

"Chad?"

A voice suddenly startled the 4 teenagers, and turning around they found the owner of that voice was no other but the current Cheerleader Captain, Teen Ninjas' lieutenant, and Chad's ex-girlfriend: Stacey Lance.

"You really are back!" she squealed and hugged Chad tightly with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Chad froze instantly with his arms held in the air, completely caught off guard by her action. Of all things he had in his mind that day, the thought of meeting with his ex-girlfriend had never occurred to him, so granted, the whole situation was beyond awkward.

"Ace listen! The Fountain and the school's undergrounds are gone but there's a water reservoir beneath that we think might the place where the weapon is. The sewers might take you there!"

"Oh look at the time!" Ace said nervously while glancing nervously at Chad and Stacey, "Memo my friend I'm afraid I have to go now but THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CALLING! I'll see you tonight at Gallagher's for the soccer match, ok? ADIÓS! " Ace quickly ended the phone call before Stacey could hear anything and mentally hoped Numbuh 2 had taken the hint.

The cheerleader captain looked at Chad with a mild blush on her cheeks, "I'm so glad the rumors were true! The girls told me the Steve had called them for a big musical number at the cafeteria but Cree had asked me to go with her to talk with the Principal so I didn't get to- OH CHAD I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE HERE!" she spoke fast in between sobs.

Chad didn't know what to do nor say as she continued to cry on his jacket. He looked at his friends with pleading eyes as if begging them to save him from the situation.

Ace grinned and chuckled with fun, finding the whole situation hysterical, "buddy, we can give you some privacy if you need it" he winked and gave a thumbs up to the other blond one.

Chad's deep frown and annoyed muted 'NO' made him laugh loudly.

"Uhm-I think we're gonna be late to our afternoon practices?" thankfully good old Rachel was the only merciful one of the team and threw him the perfect excuse to bail out of the situation.

Chad smiled largely in relief, "OH YEAH THAT'S RIGHT!" he said and gently pushed Stacey off of him. "Sorry, Stacey but I have to go now. I have a lot to catch up with the team and then the captains and I will have an emergency meeting related to the preparations for the Prom Night- I'm going to be pretty busy so let's uh, catch up later, maybe?" he smiled apologetically as he began to walk back towards his friends.

"But-but Chad, we should talk about the Prom Night too-!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, don't worry we'll text all the captains and lieutenants of all the sports divisions later with more instructions!"

"No that's not what I meant-!"

"We'll talk later! See ya!" he waved and hurriedly pushed both Rachel and Maurice forward to make them walk away faster.

"That's cold bruh" Maurice whispered to him.

"I bet this is going to bite you in the butt later" Rachel agreed in another whisper.

"Shush it you two- ACE STOP GIGGLING I CAN HEAR YA!" he hissed lowly to them as they hurriedly left a very confused and heartbroken Stacy behind.

/

[Planet Earth's Orbit – KND Moon Base - Global Command Meeting Room]

Numbuh 2 sighed tiredly while taking off his headsets.

"What happened?" Abby asked him hurriedly.

"He sounded a bit nervous so I'm guessing he wasn't in a safe place to speak with me. They're going to Gallagher's tonight!" he informed her.

"Gallagher's? Like in Gallagher Elementary School?" Nigel repeated in surprise.

Numbuh 5 then immediately pressed a side button on her helmet, "Herbie, tell me which Sector is currently nearby Gallagher's perimeters?!"

"Sector G, ma'am! Lead by Numbuh 1997, Moose Pearson!" she heard him thru her helmet's speakers.

Numbuh 5 nodded, "we have to secure the place to help Sector Alpha. Order Sector G to guard the school today. I'll be arriving with a support team at 1700s sharp!".

"Yes ma'am! Right away, ma'am!" she heard him thru her helmet's speakers.

She then looked at Wally, Hoagie, and Kuki, "I'll ask Numbuh 86 and Numbuh 60 to come with me, I want you guys to stay here, continue with the global evacuation and stand by in case I need you" She said, and began to march towards the meeting room's exist.

"Wait! Abby no!" Numbuh 1 suddenly panicked and stood firmly in front of her with his arms open, blocking her path. "You can't go!"

Abby though wasn't having any of it, "Numbuh 5 is going to give you 5 seconds to move out of her way before removing you herself" she warned him.

But Numbuh 1 didn't budge, "No! I won't let you go! I can't get yourself caught in the crossfire between those traitors and Sector Omega!"

Sector V looked in confusion at Nigel, while Gabe, Numbuh 9L, and Numbuh Vine loosed their colors.

"Sector Omega?" Numbuh 5 repeated with an eyebrow arched.

"Wha-what are you talking about Nigel?" Everyone noticed Numbuh 74.239 stammering with fear, "How do you know-?"

"He said he had a dream" Numbuh 10 suddenly spoke from behind his cousin after remaining silent since entering the room.

She looked deeply worried, "And Numbuh Omega was in it… he told my cousin he was sending his own Sector Team to deal with Sector Alpha." she reported to them.

"Oh no!" for some reason Gabe's human disguise glitched and everyone saw the intense panic in his alien tree features as he grabbed onto Numbuh 9L's fur to prevent himself from falling on his root-like knees. He was breathing erratically as if going into a panic attack.

"A dream?" Hoagie said in confusion, "is this part of the visor' side effects you mentioned?" he sounded nervous to ask.

"No…it's worst!" The tree-like alien took out an inhaler from his lab coat and gave a quick inhale to calm himself. "It's the Dream Bridge! A special power the emperor has. He can PHYSICALLY materialize in the dreams of those who truly believe in him…"

He looked at Nigel and feared to ask, "Did it give you the impression the Emperor was actually there with you in the dream?"

Numbuh 1 nodded with a serious frown, "Yes".

"Then I'm afraid we are in more trouble than what I initially calculated". He weakly stood up again and looked at Abby hopelessly.

"Sector Omega is a team sector our Emperor created specifically to match Sector Alpha's power. It's formed by the 5 strongest operatives in the entire GKND army. They are capable of fighting one on one with Sector Alpha without the need of any special weapons due to their supernatural abilities".

An ire atmosphere engulfed the room as the new incoming threat stetted in everyone's mind.

"How much time we have before they arrive?!" Numbuh 4 suddenly asked urgently, "They still don't know about Gallagher-"

"But they now know…" Gabe whispered darkly as he looked at Nigel, "…because of the Dream Bridge…Numbuh Omega knows".

/

[Pluto's Orbit - Omega Main Orbital Base - GKND Command Bridge]

"Gallagher' Elementary School!" Numbuh Omega opened his lilac eyes and grinned evilly. He turned around to address his team sector again. "That's the location Sector Alpha will be showing up tonight" he explained.

A tall cobra-like silhouette came forward, "pleasssssse my emperor, allow me to get the Alpha Weapon for you", the feminine hissing voice said, flashing her long neon pink snake fangs to him.

Omega's sharp-toothed grin shinned menacingly, his eyes glowed bright purple with power.

"Go then!" He commanded with a sinister laugh.

"Galactic-Kids-Next-Door rules!"

/

"You!" Abby snarled angrily and went to grab Nigel by the hospital gown's collar, but Numbuh Vine's vines quickly wrapped tightly around him and swiftly moved him away from her path.

"No! Let me go you traitor!" Numbuh 1 complained and tried to fight the tight grip but it was no use. He had been completely immobilized. "Abby please don't go, please!" he begged her.

Number 5 snorted in exasperation and shook her head in disappointment. "Make sure he stays in his room until he gets back into his senses", she told Lizzie.

Numbuh Vine silently nodded and gave her a military salute.

Abby then looked at Numbuh 10, "thank you for your services Victoria. Please return to your post at Sector L and proceed with the evacuation protocol-"

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Supreme Leader?" Numbuh 10 suddenly cut her.

Numbuh 5 blinked in confusion as for a brief second she had sworn Victoria's voice had sounded different.

She looked at Nigel's cousin in confusion and saw nothing strange in her, except for a sudden stoic and serious expression in her features.

She didn't remember seeing such a serious expression on Numbuh 10's features ever.

"I..it's fine really. You have done enough" why was she now feeling intimidated by her? "Please make sure the KND Broadcast System is secured from an enemy attack?"

She noticed a small glimpse of disappointment in Numbuh 10's feature, but the red-haired operative still nodded and gave her a military salute. "As you wish, Supreme Leader Numbuh 5".

She then looked at Numbuh Vine with a small mile, "please take care of him" she told her before turning on her heels and walking away.

Nigel sighed in defeat as his cousin exited the room.

"Keep an eye on him," Abby said to Wally before speaking again. "Make sure he doesn't do anything that could earn him an immediate decommission".

She walked away without looking back at everyone' shocked expression.

/

[McClintock High School – Afternoon]

"Man! What a day!" the girls' soccer team lieutenant, Pepper Anne Pearson, sighed tiredly as she and her friends walked thru the empty hallways of the school. "Thank God Banderas decided to move the team's meeting for tomorrow morning, 'cause I'm really not in the mood for all this early Prom Night drama!"

"Prom Night is such a retrograde tradition!" Nikki Little complained annoyingly, "it only reinforces more social stigmas and inequality by awarding either the most popular kid in the school and/or the meanest bully there is!"

"Yeah…" Milo Kamalani agreed while loosely walking next to them, "if only we could elect any of the General Captains as Prom Rulers, right?"

"Milo that doesn't solve the problem at all!" Nicky scolded him.

"Heck no, I bet Banderas would make a terrible, TERRIBLE, Prom King! He's too much of a Playboy" Pepper Anne chuckled at the idea.

"You two are completely missing my point-" the blonde one complained.

"-And I still think Dickson is a potential bully," Pepper Anne continued.

Nicky face palmed in defeat.

"Ok maybe not Banderas or Dickson, but what about Williems or Mckenzie?" Milo proposed and then grinned teasingly, "it's even rumored Williams has a crush on Mckenzie" he whispered to them.

Pepper Anne and Nicky gasped at him, "WHAT?!"

"I KNEW IT!" Pepper Anne said, "you own me 20 bucks, Little!" the red-haired teased the other girl by elbowing her arm.

"Yeah! Lieutenant Bud says Williems refuses to admit it but it's super obvious-"

"hey, why are the gym's lights on?" Nicky suddenly pointed out at two wide-open twin doors at the end of the neighbored hallway.

The captain of the girls' soccer team archer an eyebrow, "uh! Well that's odd".

The three friends looked at each other and silently decided to come closer and give a quick look at what was going on inside the gym.

Cautiously, they peeked inside and noticed the gym crowded with members of the Teen Ninjas.

"A Teen Ninja meeting on Monday? Well now that's really, really odd" Milo whispered.

"My fellow Teen Ninjas!"

Pepper Ann, Nicky, and Milo looked at the top of the gym's bleacher and found none other than Cree Lincoln, fully dressed in her Teen Ninja armor with the red cape of the Prom Queen attached to her shoulders, smirking darkly at her soldiers.

The Teen Ninjas saluted her in a thunderous chorus, "All hail the Prom Queen!"

Cree smirked in satisfaction, "thanks to the spying efforts of our new Teen Ninja Private" she said as she glanced at Tessa, who was beaming with pride finally wearing a Teen Ninja armor of her own.

"We now have confirmation the Supreme Leader of the annoying Kids-Next-Door is planing something with other fellow brats at Gallagher' Elementary School… tonight."

Pepper Anne gasped in shock, "oh no! No no no no!" she whispered in panic.

The Teen Ninjas stomped their feet in a threatening rhythm.

"I believe the Supreme Leader needs to learn an important lesson after her last crazy message, don't you all agree?" the fearful Prom Queen asked with her arms wide open.

All the Teen Ninjas roared in agreement.

Cree nodded and chuckled evilly, "yeah I thought so too…LET'S GO!"

The gym's retracting ceiling came fully open and one by one the Teen Ninjas began to blast off to the sky.

Cree put on her helmet and then she too flew away with the rest of her soldiers.

"This is bad! This is bad!" Pepper Anne repeated on and on, grasping desperately her head as collapsed against the wall next to the twin doors.

"What do we do?! Can't you call your sister and warn her?!" Milo asked with worry.

"She's 8 years old! She doesn't have a phone yet!" the red-haired girl said and began to bite her nails.

Silence suddenly engulfed them as the last of the Teen Ninjas soldiers left the gym.

"The Captains!" Nicky broke the tension with an idea, "They are the only ones who can stop the attack"

Pepper Anne looked up at Nicky with renewed hope, "Of course! Nicky you genius! They must be at the lockers' room right now! Come on!"

And with that, the three stood up and sprinted out at full speed.

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[TRANSMISION INTERRUPTED]

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[LOADING PART 2 -]