CONTINUING TRANSMISSION...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION
OPERATION
F.A.R.R.A.H.
Family
Acquaintance
Returns
Reporting
Alarming
History
TRANSMISSION TWELVE:
BURNED!
WRITING OPERATIVE:
Sgamer82
Numbuh Five sat on the courthouse floor coughing herself silly. She had a horrible pain in her throat from Father's burns. Her little moment of truth speech hadn't helped much either.
Next time, she thought, Numbuh Five's gonna be heroic quietly...
It was hard to see exactly what was around her. The vapor from all the water Father had evaporated was fogging up her vision. She could see Father very clearly though, he was looking right at her, absolutely furious.
"HOW DARE YOU!" he roared as the fog cleared.
He walked over to her and opened his hand, inside of which a fireball began forming.
So this is it, then. Numbuh Five thought, staring right at the fireball. She was determined to face this with dignity. She refused to close her eyes or cringe away.
"Kids Next Door! Battle Stations!"
Suddenly Father was being hit from behind by something. Numbuh Five couldn't see what it was. But the voice she heard told her who it was. The others had arrived. And not a moment too late, fortunately. Two small baseballs appeared in the corridor and shot off a large amount of smoke.
Five felt her arms being grabbed as two of her teammates hefted her up. Through the smoke bomb's smoke she thought she could see the shadows of Numbuhs Two and Four. As they helped her get clear of Father and out of the corridor, she saw Numbuhs One and Three firing full blast fire extinguishers taken from the "Break in case of fire" cases throughout the building. They couldn't use any Two-by-Four technology. Not for this one.
When the smoke finally cleared, Father lay motionless on the floor of the courthouse. He was breathing, but unconscious. It was then that security guards and police showed up and saw five kids, one of them supported by two others, and the once-flaming man out cold.
Two of the officers immediately saw to Abby, calling an ambulance as some balm from a first-aid kit was applied to her neck. Other officers saw to Father, hauling him off and calling for special assistance to keep him contained should he wake up. One of them, thinking quickly, got the idea to take him to a nearby public pool, where the water would keep him under control until other arrangements could be made.
Security also saw to the other Kids Next Door, making sure they were uninjured, unaware of their role in what just happened. As Abby was guided outside to the ambulance, which was due any minute, she passed by the judge who had been presiding over Father's and Farrah's hearing.
"I'm more surprised at myself." she heard him say. "To think I was about to rule in his favor! I almost gave him custody! I can't believe how close I came to putting those children in the hold of that man!"
And there it was. Numbuh Five smiled to herself.
Mission accomplished!
"Why, Numbuh One, does Numbuh Five detect a plan formin' in yo' smooth skull?"
"I am getting an idea."
Numbuh Five jumped out of her seat and looked at One.
"Well, what is it?"
"You won't believe it when I tell you." said Numbuh One with a smirk. "I had a hard time figuring out what to do. Partly because of the fact that we can not just go in and take the Delightful Children."
"Yeah." Numbuh Five concurred, "If the ol' man can make anyone think Farrah put us up to it, that'd be the end right there."
"Exactly. I hate admitting it, but there's nothing that we as the Kids Next Door can do for them. However..."
"However...?"
"However, we need to keep in mind the whole objective is to get the Delightful Children back to Farrah, and that Farrah can only do so through the Adult court system. If Father's influence is as great as we believe, then Farrah would have no hope under normal circumstances. No adult would go against Father unless left with absolutely no other option. That's where we come in. We're going to make sure that that courtroom judge can't do anything but give the Delightfuls to Farrah!"
"Well, yer right. Numbuh Five don' believe what she hearin'."
"It's a real risky plan. It counts relying on those we've fought against for years. But it's the best shot we have."
"Yo right." Numbuh Five agreed, then smiled, "'Sides, might be interestin' to actually beat an adult at their own game."
And so they had. By attempting to murder his own daughter in front of witnesses Father sealed his fate. No judge could allow the custody of a group of children to go to someone who had so clearly demonstrated no qualms about hurting them. The fact he had also gone after an "innocent bystander" didn't do him any good, either. Add that to the witnesses of his chasing Numbuh Five, and the security cameras set up around the building which caught much of the chase on tape, and Father was destined to go away for a long, long time.
The guard led Numbuh Five away from the other Kids Next Door and to a pair of paramedics who had been called to the scene. They would take her the rest of the way to the ambulance. They led her down the steps, where she saw Farrah and the Delightful Children from Down the Lane all together. When she saw Abigail in her mother's arms, she flipped them a quick thumbs up. She saw Abigail mimic the gesture.
It was with a great sense of relief that Abby Lincoln allowed the paramedics to help her into the ambulance and take her to the hospital. It was done. The Delightful Children had been saved by the Kids Next Door, with the help of a little bit of State law. Abby began feeling drowsy and fell asleep during the ride. Truth be told, it was the first real bit of sleep she'd had since the whole operation began.
But, now it was all done. All that was left to do is make sure Farrah and her children would be all right together.
END OF TRANSMISSION TWELVE