Now reloading: Kids Next Door mission...
Operation: M.I.N.D., Chapter Two
Writing Operative: Vtbots
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"We're heeeerrrrrrre!" cheers Numbuh Two as he switches the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. to land to where Numbuh One's 'voice in the head' told them to go to: The outskirts of town not too far from the Delightful Children's mansion.
"Very good. Everyone, arm your weapons and keep an eye out for them. They could be waiting somewhere and jump us when we least expect it," commands the accented leader. His comrades do as told and ready their little arsenal created by their "2x4 Technology," but as they do so Numbuh One glances at each of them suspiciously. As much as he wishes to not believe that there is a traitor, he has no choice but to keep an eye of his own out for his teammates. His blood boils at the thought of someone pretending to be a friend and then later backstabbing the others like the dirty rat he or she is. The moment he discovers the betrayer, they're gonna cry to their mommy!
When Numbuh One's eyes lay on Numbuh Three, she suddenly frowns and quickly turns away from him. He hears her say something like "Yucky, icky boy!", which leaves him curious as to why she keeps calling him that. He hasn't done anything to her today. Hmmmmmmmm.
"Numbuh One, you comin'?" Numbuh Five snaps him out of his thoughts. Everyone except her has already gone.
"Huh? Oh yes, sorry." The KND leader nods, arms his S.C.A.M.P.P. weapon (Soup Can And Magnified Photon Phlazer; first seen in the episode N.O.-P.O.W.U.H.), and follows his 'friends' out of the vehicle.
* * * * *
"They're here."
"Good. Now we shall launch Phase Two!"
* * * * *
All is quiet in the outskirts of town. Not a creature is stirring... and no fitting word here rhymes with town. Five little youngsters train their weapons in various directions, for the Delightful Child could spring up at any moment. But as long minutes pass by, everyone except Numbuh One begin to have their doubts and lower their weapons.
"I knew it, you were hearin' things, Numbuh One!" Numbuh Five says.
"I was not!" he shouts indignantly. "I promise you I heard a voice telling me that the Delightful Children are preparing some type of weapon at this spot!"
"Maybe you should ignore that imaginary friend of yers," smirks Numbuh Four in his strong Aussie accent.
"Or your Supersockem Girl dolls," Numbuh Five adds with a smirk of her own.
"ACTION FIGURES! And I'm positive that this 'friend' of mine is real. She just wouldn't... uh... show up or something."
"Uh-huh," all four of the others stare at him. Numbuh One sighs and whirls around, slapping his free hand over his bald-headed face. Maybe they're right. Maybe he was just imagining things back at Kids Next Door Headquarters. But... it all seemed so...
CRASH!! A large, silverish machine with tentacle-like arms bursts from under the ground, towering the poor Kids like ants! In the cockpit sit their sworn enemies. Numbuh One holds back a snicker, imagining the surprised looks on his comrades' faces.
"Why, hello Kids Next Door!" greets the zoned-out Delightful Children.
"Hiiiii!" squeals Numbuh Three, cheerfully waving at them.
"We have absolutely... nooooo idea how you figured out the location of our new Groundbot. It seems almost as if you knew about our surprise attack we were going to unleash upon you. But that does not matter. Instead of wasting time and energy digging our way through your headquarters, we can defeat you all here and now. We ought to thank you. Ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!"
They don't even complete their emotionless laughter before they raise one of the mechanical tentacles and slam it violently on the ground, but luckily the Kids jump out of the way before they could become Kids Next Door: Pancake Special.
"Kids Next Door, our weapons are of no use against a machine that huge!" yells Numbuh One. "Our only chance is inside the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H.!"
So the KND run like crazy back inside their large vehicle as the Groundbot unleashes its tentacle and laser attacks like a bull seeing red. It is not until the gang make it inside their own little mech when Numbuh Five tries another go at getting her girl friend to open her mouth. This may not be the right time, but still... it could be serious.
"Now you mind tellin' me what's goin' on between you an' Numbuh One?" she asks her.
"That Numbuh One... He's trying to do something to me."
"Do what?"
"... uh, we should really be worrying about those other kids right now." And with that she jumps into her seat without another word.
Numbuh Three... focusing on a battle? 'Now Numbuh Five is really suspicious...' the dark girl comments in her mind. 'Maybe Numbuh Three... is finally behaving like an adult-fighter should?'
The dark girl smiles at the thought... until the green sweater girl suddenly shrieks cheerfully and presses buttons at random.
"Numbuh Two, ready the ice cream cone cannon!" Numbuh One orders.
"Readying the ice cream cone cannon!"
* * * * *
"Oh no, not that!" groan the Delightful Children as they watch the cannon taking direct aim at them.
"Don't worry," says Manasa from behind them. "I'll take care of things. Just keep watching." And with that, she hovers out of the Groundbot and floats over the Kids Next Door's M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H., smiling a rather crafty smile.
* * * * *
"We can fire whenever we're ready, Numbuh One!" says Numbuh Two, not taking his eyes away from the lock-on screen in front of him.
"Wait for my command. We have to have the perfect aim." He glances around at each member while maintaining his leaderly facial. Everyone seems to be behaving normally (that includes Numbuh Three playing around); no one is deliberately missing the round of shots they're firing at their foes, and he can't see anyone talking on some sort of communicator to somebody. Maybe he IS just imagining things.
{"No, you're not imagining things, Nigel Uno."}
Numbuh One nearly leaps out of his commander chair-- he sure didn't expect this mystery voice to be talking to him now. Looking around to make sure nobody is watching him, he whispers but not so loud that the others would hear.
"What do you want now? We're in the middle of a battle here."
{"Have you checked on Number Three lately?"}
"Well, yes... She's been acting rather strangely, calling me names and walking away from me for no apparent reason."
{"Yes, that is rather strange. You want to know what I think? I think that when you announced of a possible traitor... she panicked."}
Numbuh One cocks a curious eyebrow. "Panicked?"
{"Right, panicked. She never acted that way toward you until this morning during breakfast, right after you gave your little speech about a traitor. Am I right?"}
"... What are you trying to say?" asks the Kids Next Door commander, although he has an unsettling feeling what this mystery voice could be trying to say.
{"I'm saying that maybe... just maybe... SHE'S the traitor!"}
"No way..." Numbuh One shakes his head. "This is Numbuh Three we're talking about; you're pulling my leg." He takes a quick glance at the aforementioned girl, his thick sunglasses hiding the suspicion in his eyes.
Numbuh Three suddenly feels like she is being watched, and when she whirls around in her seat to discover that it is her leader, she frowns deeply, crossing her arms all pouty-like. "Stop staring at me, you yucky, piggish poopmeister!"
"WHY!?" Numbuh One yells frustratedly. "What did I ever do to you!?"
"It's not what you did do, it's what you're gonna do!" she smirks proudly, as if she just said the most intelligent thing in the entire world.
"What?" asks the boy, blinking multiple times.
"You know what it is!"
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!"
"No, I don't... times two!"
"Yes, you do... times infinity!"
"Ohhhhh, you're good," comments Numbuh One, rubbing his chin.
"You think so?" smiles Numbuh Three. But she remembers what her teddy bear told her earlier and she frowns again, rolling her chair back to her controls, 'hmph'ing.
"I'm telling you, Numbuh Three, I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"OH, I don't feel like talking to you!" she backtalks, not even bothering to turn around.
Numbuh One leans back in his chair, grumbling. If he weren't so busy trying to convince her that he hasn't done anything to her, he would have noticed that the other members were watching the exchange the entire time. They scratch behind their necks confusedly before going back to what they're doing.
Numbuh One sighs exasperatedly again when the voice re-enters his head. {"My, that was one entertaining show you two put on."}
"Quiet..."
{"Hey, don't 'quiet' me. You go on and continue to not listen to me about Number Three. But don't cry to me if she happens to knock you and the others out and hand you over to your enemies. Now I must go!"}
The little leader boy begins to wonder. Could this voice be right? Could Numbuh Three possibly be the traitor? The voice is right about her acting weirder than she usually does right after the emergency meeting. She's been acting less like herself. She isn't really smiling, dancing around, or overall being her bubbly self. Instead she's frowning way too much, yelling (angrily anyway), insulting, and... being serious? Even though he would like her to focus on their missions more, he finds this abrupt change in behavior rather unusual.
The only time she had ever acted even CLOSE to how she is now was when the Delightful Children's lice monsters destroyed almost all of her stuffed animals. But she was provoked into her 'bad side' then, unlike in this case as far as he knows. Something's definitely not right here...
He snaps back into attention when the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. suddenly rocks violently, nearly knocking him out of his chair. Adjusting his sunglasses, a bewildered Numbuh One demands, "What's going on?"
"Um, I think they're attacking us," Numbuh Two answers half-sarcastically.
"What? Why didn't you blast the ice cream at them?"
"... you never told me to," replies the pilot, shrinking into his seat. "You said to wait till you say so, and I've been waiting since you were yelling at Numbuh Three. ... And just sitting there talking to yourself." He shrinks back even further when he realizes the tone of voice he's using against his leader.
But instead of chastising the air vehicle-lover, Numbuh One points ahead and commands, "Never mind that! Ready the main gun!"
"Readying..." chorus his comrades.
* * * * *
"Hmmm, didn't expect them to begin to fire this soon. Better prolong it a little longer just for fun..."
* * * * *
"Huh? What are you doing, banana?" The Kids Next Door leader asks a dancing banana in front of him with the most weirded-out of expressions.
The others almost instantly twirl around in their seats, thinking Numbuh One is calling them a name. But apparently he isn't. Instead they see him staring down at empty space below him with quite a confused look.
"Eh? Why you talking 'bout bananas?" asks Numbuh Five, beginning to question her leader's sanity.
"Yeah, I ain't seein' anything," adds Numbuh Four. "We hafta fight back an' use the main gun already!"
"Uh?" their commander shakes his head, shutting his eyes. When he reopens them the dancing banana is gone. Rubbing his eyes and slightly fearing for his mental state, he says, "Oh yeah! Ready to fire!" as if nothing happened. The master pilot of the team scratches his head again and continues to aim.
* * * * *
"Let's see, who have I not picked on yet?" Manasa asks herself. "I've gotten to Nigel, then Kuki... I know!" She snaps her fingers and extends her hand towards the cockpit of the KND's transportation/aerial battler.
* * * * *
Numbuh Two begins to fire at the KND's opponents when he suddenly receives a message on his monitor, which reads: "Numbuh One called you a big, fat piece of lard! You're going to let him get away with that?"
"WHAT!?" he yells, whirling to Numbuh One immediately. "You take that back!"
"Huh?" question the others.
"One just called me a big, fat piece of lard!"
"I didn't hear him say anything!" defends Numbuh Five. "Now will you fire already!?"
The chubby boy makes like he's going to do as told when suddenly he gets a tingling feeling in his head. The next thing he knows, he's angrily crossing his arms. "No. He just insulted me. I feel so offended! Humph!"
"Wait a minute! I'm the leader here and I say FIRE!" orders Numbuh One, impatiently.
Numbuh Four yelps when he sees the Groundbot suddenly lowering its tentacles and bringing its guns and cannons together. "Oh no! Those Delightful nerds are gonna use their own gun on us! We've gotta do somethin'!" he panics.
"I said fire the gun, Numbuh Two," orders Numbuh One again in a low but angry tone.
The aforementioned comrade opens his mouth to say yes, but that feeling returns and he glares defiantly, saying one simple word:
"... NO!"
Numbuhs Three, Four, and Five gasp loudly, slapping their hands over their mouths in shock. None of the Kids Next Door have ever dared to deliberately disobey their leader!
"I said fire the gun, Numbuh Two!" Numbuh One's voice dangerously rises.
"Take back what you said about me and I might."
"You MIGHT? I'm not going to take back what I never said! And if you don't obey my orders, you're no longer part of this team!"
The spectators worriedly watch the argument before them. They've seen their commander angry before-- in fact, he's mad lots of times. But never was he so angry that he threatened to boot any of his fellow operatives out of his team.
And Numbuh Two knows that. He's angry about what Numbuh One said, or what he thinks he said. But he still loves being a Kid Next Door. So, reluctantly, he growls, "Fine!" and mashes the button. The M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H.'s cannon charges up and then blasts out a mighty large ice cream cone at the Delightful Children's Groundbot, and it connects before the Groundbot can unleash its most dangerous attack. With the machine creamed, its weapons and tentacles are disabled, rendering the Delightful Children powerless. The Kids Next Door win again.
* * * * *
The DCFDTL are, of course, not too happy with this turn of events. They expected the Kids Next Door to lose! Why? What went wrong?
As the Children drive their ruined Groundbot back to their mansion, Manasa appears from the shadows behind them, slightly smirking. Sensing her presence, the Delightful Children do not bother to face her when they chorus frustratedly, "The Kids Next Door stand victorious again. Mind explaining why?"
"If you'd turn around and turn on your Groundbot telescope, you'd see why we let them win."
So they make a 180-degree turn and switch on the scope, magnifying to the cockpit of the Kids Next Door's M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. The Children can't help but smirk: Instead of celebrating their victory, the KND are arguing among themselves, especially Numbuh One and Numbuh Two. It's almost as if they don't even notice that their enemies are retreating.
"Now you see?" asks Manasa, smiling a bit before ascending out of their machine again. The DCFDTL snicker... then burst out laughing their monotonous laugh.
* * * * *
Since there is nothing else to do, the Kids Next Door ride to their Treehouse headquarters and land on their port. When they enter the main room Numbuh Two almost immediately whips to Numbuh One, pointing at him accusingly.
"All right, Numbuh One, out with it. Apologize."
"Apologize for what?"
"For insulting me."
"Here we go again..." sighs Numbuh Three. She really doesn't like it when her friends fight, especially like this.
"I ain't hear him say nothin'!" Numbuh Four crosses his arms.
"That's 'I didn't hear him say anything,' Numbuh Four," Numbuh Two corrects the blonde boy, who responds with a shrug. "And Numbuh One too said something bad about me. A message on my screen popped up saying so."
"... wait, an on-screen message told you so?" asks the leader of the gang.
"Um, yeah?"
"Then leader-man couldn't've dissed ya, Numbuh Two, he was too busy dealin' with those Delightful chumps!" the capped girl tells him.
"Yea'," agrees the bubbly Numbuh Three, "something like that woulda came up on all of our little TV thingies; an' y'know I woulda heard Numbuh One say something..." She glances at her leader before turning away again, crossing her arms.
"But... but..." the pilot begins to protest but knows it's no use. They're right.
"Geez, first Numbuh One, now Numbuh Two is going crazy. Who's next?" wonders a slightly worried Numbuh Four.
Suddenly all eyes fall on a now confused Numbuh Three. "Wha'?"
"Well... I've always thought she was a bit loopy," mutters Numbuh One. 'Especially after today,' he finishes in his mind.
"Hey!"
"Hey, don't talk 'bout my girl that way. ... even though it is sometimes true," Numbuh Five playfully jokes.
"Oh, I don't hafta take this..." And with that, Numbuh Three walks to her room without saying anything else.
"How unusual. She handled that in a rather adult-fighter-like manner," remarks Numbuh One, being careful not to say 'mature' since he feels mature = adult.
But Numbuh One erases that thought when she suddenly pokes her head out and sticks her tongue out, going "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyahhhhh nyahhhhh!", and exits again.
"Never mind."
Feeling very awful, Numbuh Two shamefully twiddles his fingers as he steps up to the leader. Without even looking into the sunglasses-covered eyes, he nervously says, "Um... Numbuh One... I'm... uh... I'm...."
"Forget about it," the kid commander says seriously, adjusting his shades. "It's all right. We're just stressed from the fight."
"This is too weird," the hoody-wearing boy comments. "It's like this team is falling apart or something."
"Yeah!" Numbuh Five agrees. "This ain't cool."
"We're just having a bad day, team. Maybe after we get some shuteye it'll get better the next day," suggests Numbuh One.
"Maybe," says the inventor boy. "But I still smell something fishy."
"Yer smelling somethin' fishy 'cause yer always thinkin' about fish. An' other food." Numbuh Four couldn't help but crack that joke. And he pays for it when his victim chases him around the room, aiming to play a souped-up version of Tag.
"Heh heh heh. Well at least some things are still normal 'round here," Numbuh Five comments, lowering the visor of her cap as she heads for her upper middle class-style room, barely avoiding being run over by the two boys.
* * * * *
The rest of the day is pretty much uneventful. Since there have been no reports or sightings of evil adults terrorizing somewhere, the Kids decide to spend the rest of the day playing games or watching television. They even manage to avoid the traitor subject during dinnertime.
Then later that evening, just before the time where the Kids would usually retire for the night (except for Numbuh Two who usually stays up a bit later than the others to work on his planes, toys, or inventions meant to aid the KND), Numbuh One flops on his rectangular trampoline bed with a sigh. He begins to wonder if his imagina-- 'mystery voice' finally went away.
Boy is he wrong.
{"Numbuh One! Nigel!"}
"Now what?" he asks impatiently.
{"Are you still concerned for Numbuh Three?"}
"Well, yes, a little. But she seems fine now."
{"Oh, really? She could be pretending to be fine, but she could really be hiding something. Like covering up an injury, an illness... or some treachury."}
"... I was really hoping to drop this ratfink business for the day."
{"But you can't, Nigel dear. The traitor could stab you and the others in the back anytime. Numbuh Three is your first suspect, right? Then interrogate her.}
"Interrogate her?" asks Numbuh One in surprise.
{"No, no, you don't have to hurt her. Just convince her to crack up somehow. Better safe than sorry, I say. Now I must go!}
* * * * *
Numbuh Four releases his stress from today against his punching bag hanging over the wrestling ring-like platform, while listening to some rock music on his small stereo. Numbuh One and his imaginary friend... Numbuh Two and his accussing their leader of making fun of him when he didn't... Numbuh Three and her being weirder than she usually is... Something very cruddy is going on. If only he can find out what.
The boy growls when the music abruptly stops playing. Thinking his stereo is "crudding up," he goes over to attempt to fix it. But he stops quick in his tracks when he feels and hears something enter his head. Now what?
{"Sorry, Wallabee Beatles, but you wouldn't be able to hear me over that ruckus of yours."}
"Oh, no!" Numbuh Four freaks out. "Numbuh One is spreading his imaginary friend disease to me!"
{"Ha ha ha ha! 'Imaginary friend disease'! Where do you kids come up with this stuff?"}
"What do ya cruddy want wit' me? How do ya know my name, anywho?"
{"To give you some words of advice,} says the invisible person, ignoring his second question. {What do you suppose Number Five could be doing?"}
"I don't know. Stupid girly stuff?"
{"Maybe. Or perhaps she could be selling information to the Delightful Children From Down The Lane!"}
"An' what gives ya that ridiculous idea!?"
{"You're still worried about who the traitor is, aren't you? Admit it, Wallabee... you really don't think it's Number Three."}
"Of course I don't! She's my friend! They all are! None of them could be traitors."
{"You're really going to take that chance? Your leader did say so."}
"Yeah, his own imaginary friend told him so; that's pretty reliable," Numbuh Four replies sarcastically, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
{"Suit yourself. But if you ever change your mind, I recommend you sneak to her to find out what she could be doing. You won't regret it... but then again, you might... Now I must go."} The moment the voice finishes, the music cuts back on again.
The boy stands there, blinking. He really doesn't want to believe that any of his friends could be betraying the team. But then again, if they are, he should check it out. Maybe if he keeps telling himself that there's no traitor, there really wouldn't be one at all. One thing still puzzles him, though:
What did the voice mean by, 'You won't regret it... but then again, you might...'?
* * * * *
Numbuh Three hums a cheerful tune as she gets ready for bed. As she does so, she takes a look at her teddy bear on her bed -- the same one that "talked" to her this morning -- curiously. How can a stuffed animal talk? And how can it know what Numbuh One is thinking? Maybe it was just her imagination. Yes, maybe. She mashes that thought into her brain, gets into her large, pink stuffed animal-like bed, pulls the covers over her, and just about readies herself for slumber when her teddy bear suddenly hops up on top of her bed, smirking at her.
"Boo!"
"Eeep!" the girl cries. But she sighs with relief after seeing it's just her teddy bear, somehow come to life again. "It's you. Are you gonna tell me how you're alive yet?"
"Nope, not yet. But I have new information for you. I want you to listen, Kuki dear, and listen good. Tonight he's coming to getcha!"
"What? That yucky, icky boy is coming to get me? Oh no!"
"Yes, while you're sleeping. But now that you know that, you'll be prepared. Then when he comes in, WHAM!"
Numbuh Three seems reluctant. "Gee, I don't know... I was thinking of talking it out, not beating him up or anything like that. I don't wanna hurt him."
The teddy bear rolls its eyes. "Okkkaayyy... Let me put it THIS way!"
Suddenly, the girl feels something strange in her head and she suddenly frowns a rather scary frown.
"You're going to get HIM before he gets YOU!"
* * * * *
Numbuh Four crawls through the airducts; Numbuh Five's room is simply straight ahead. He finally makes it there and he peers around through the vent. But he doesn't see the dark girl anywhere. Numbuh Four scratches his head suspiciously before taking another route through the ducts. Eventually he hears Numbuh Five's voice. It sounds more like humming than actual talking, but he still has to check it out. So he finds the vent leading to where her voice is coming from. It's Numbuh Five's voice, all right, but the room she's in and what she could be doing isn't quite what he expected...
* * * * *
Numbuh One knocks on Numbuh Three's bedroom door a couple of times before he slowly enters. "Numbuh Three?" he whispers. No response. He makes his way through the forest of stuffed animals and monsters, also being careful not to step on the piles of her toys. Eventually he finds the bed. He whispers her name again but still gets no response. He lifts the covers up...
And sees no raven-haired girl sleeping there.
"What the...?" is all the bald-headed boy can say. He rubs under his chin and begins to think suspicious thoughts about his 'friend,' when he suddenly hears what sounds like a footstep behind him. He only gets a chance to turn around halfway before a pillow gives him quite a rude greeting right there in the face, forcing him facedown unto the bed.
"Now I gotcha, you ickmeister!" yells a ticked-off Numbuh Three as she punishes the boy with repeated pillow smacks to the head. Numbuh One tries to get away but unfortunately the girl has greater speed than he does -- she simply kicks his behind when he tries to get up, and that of course doesn't feel quite as good as the pillow-pummelling he's receiving.
"Numbuh Three, OW, what are you doing-EEE!?"
"I should be asking YOU that, you yucky boy! Trying to play 'Doctor' with me!"
"I was NOT going to, OOF, play Doctor with you, UGH! I just thought that, EEE, you were the traitor! Besides, I thought you, OUCH, like playing 'Doctor' with your toys and stuff!?"
"Of course I do... But you're planning to p'form a 'check-up' on me... that certain form of check-up where I'd have to... to..."
"To what? What do you think, OWIE, I'm trying to... Ohhhhhhhh. Oof!" Numbuh One suddenly feels his cheeks becoming slightly hot when he realizes what she means. "I wasn't going to do THAT to you!"
"Yes you were. My teddy bear said so!"
"What...!?"
"An' I can't believe you would think I'd betray the Kids Next Door! I'm not the traitor, so there! Just get out of my room! Out, out, out!"
So Numbuh Three finally lets Numbuh One go and whips her finger to the door. A severely pillow-whooped Numbuh One promptly obeys and he dashes out of her room and back into his.
Okay... so now he knows the traitor isn't Numbuh Three after all. The voice was wrong. The question now is, if there IS a rat, who is it? How can this mysterious voice know something like that? And how can a stuffed animal talk to her? One thing he is sure of, though: He now knows why Numbuh Five frequently loses to a pillow fight against Numbuh Three.
* * * * *
"Uh... wrong room," mumbles Numbuh Four. He discovers why Numbuh Five sounds like she's humming all right, but unfortunately the other sounds coming from the room she's in stops..., telling him he'd better leave now. In his nervousness he stands. And standing, or trying to stand, in an airduct is a very bad idea, and he learns that the hard way. The pain of the bump immediately settles in his head, and in his haste in crouching down to favor his sore temple he accidently falls through the air vent all the way down to the floor of the room! A screech follows immediately afterwards.
Shaking the aftereffects of the fall, the blonde boy rubs his eyes, gets up...
And stands there, shocked, finding himself blushing feverishly. Well, the good news is that Numbuh Five isn't apparently selling information to the Delightful Children or any other villian after all.
The bad news is...
"YOU'VE BUSTED IN NUMBUH FIVE'S SHOWER TIME!!"
Numbuh Four can't help but tremble as he is seriously glared down by the un-capped girl, who is just now wrapped in a red towel. The boy laughs nervously and stutters. "U-U-Ummmm... I... I like your towel."
Numbuh Five charges him before he can even attempt to flee.
* * * * *
Numbuh Two emerges from the kitchen, carrying his late night snack: two apples and a drink, and heads back into his room. He stops, however, when a seriously wrecked Numbuh Four with his boxers sticking WAY out slithers by, groaning and holding back tears of pain.
"What the heck happened to you?" asks Numbuh Two, concerned.
"I just learned the hard way why you should never intrude into a girl's bathroom," the boy moans before crawling back into his own room, saying 'Ow, ow, ow' the rest of the way. Numbuh Two blinks, shrugs and continues eating.
He doesn't even notice a certain fly zipping out of the headquarters.
* * * * *
"Ah, it has arrived!" drawl the Delightful Children as their mechanical fly streaks into their room, sitting itself on top of a platform. An adapter extends out of its back and attaches itself to an outlet. The fly rumbles a bit and then a large, cylinder object emerges, unfolding into multiple monitors. They show footages of pretty much every incident that happened in Kids Next Door Headquarters this evening. Numbuh One and Two's argument, Numbuh Three showing her pillow-fighting skills to the leader of the ruffians, Numbuh Four learning a valuable lesson about privacy...
And all the while the Delightful Children sit there, eating their popcorn and drinking their sodas, laughing annoyingly throughout the entire "movie."
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Manasa, outside, stares at the moon lighting up the night sky, her long red hair flowing in the calm wind. The plan is working perfectly... Yes, perfectly indeed...
"Those silly children," she says to herself. "Those silly children have absolutely no idea what I'm truly capable of. ... And... what I'm truly going to do in the final phase of this ultimate plan. Hee hee hee hee heh heh heh heh HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!!!"
* * * * *
TO BE CONTINUED...