Reloading: Kids Next Door mission...
Operation: R.O.O.K.I.E., Chapter Four
Rookie Obtains Opportunities - Kooky Introductory Escapades
Writing Operative: Vtbots
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"You... You've got to be KIDDING me, Numbuh One!" Four exclaims. "You're sending off this rookie into the Delightful Children From Down The Lane's mansion!?"
"Yes, I am."
"Uh, Numbuh One," pipes Numbuh Two, "these are the Delightful Children we're talking about, here. Are you absolutely sure you know what you're doing?"
"Of course Numbuh One knows what he's doin'," Numbuh Five responds. "He IS the leader, afta all!"
"Yeah, precisely..." mutters Numbuh Four acidly.
Kenny, who has been sitting there confusedly while the others talked, finally raises his hand and asks, "Um, guys, who are the Delightful Children?"
Numbuh One, feeling slightly sheepish for not explaining any info about their enemies, adjusts his thick sunglasses and clears his throat.
"The Delightful Children From Down The Lane are our archrivals. They are five kids who are sort of our polar opposites. Instead of fighting adults, they, as Numbuh Four would say, 'suck up' to them. They have been our enemies since as long as we can remember."
"YEAH!" Numbuh Four shouts, jumping out of his seat and making body movements to emphasize his points. "And we've always seen them together; never separate! And they wear stupid 'proper' clothes! And they have this creepy stare! But the eyes aren't what make us nervous!"
"Yeah," continues Numbuh Two, "they all talk at the same time, never individually."
"And they sound kinda creepy when they do. Like zombies or something," finishes Numbuh Three.
"But in spite of all that, they are very dangerous," Numbuh One states. "There were at least two occasions where they could have beaten us for good."
Kenny takes this all in and suddenly becomes interested in his sneakers. If the Delightful Children really are that bad, he wonders just how he, a trainee, would be able to fare against them. A nervous shiver envelopes his body but he ignores it and tries to put on a brave face.
"All right, then, Numbuh One. What do you need me to do?"
"You are to infiltrate their home and steal their bags of tortilla chips."
"Steal their tortilla chips? But isn't there a deli just around the corner?"
"Them tortillas are a whole lot better when you take 'em from those Delightful dorks, hee hee hee!" Five snickers, snapping her fingers in declaration.
"Yeah, not to mention cheaper," Two remarks.
Numbuh One clears his throat and continues. "As I was saying, you are to steal the Delightul Children's tortilla chips. We occasionally have Numbuh Five do the job... But now it's your turn. This will certainly test your skills of stealth inside enemy territory."
"Are you sure about this, Numbuh One?" asks Four. "I mean, I know Kenny's gettin' better at this Kids Next Door stuff, but still... They're the Delightful Children!"
"I am confident that he will succeed on his mission. What do you say, Kenny? Can you do it?"
Kenny has just started on his "job" as a Kid Next Door and already a particularly dangerous exercise has been handed to him! Although a bit nervous, excitement also fills his mind and body. 'This is my chance to really prove myself!' he says inwardly. Determination swelling within, he stands up and points a thumb to his chest proudly.
"I'll do it! Don't you worry, guys, those chips will be yours in no time!"
"Pleased to hear you say that," the leader nods. "Your mission will begin tomorrow night. We will fill in the details when we arrive at their headquarters. You better get a good night's rest."
* * * * *
Wanting to ease his tension, Kenny decides to watch a few shows on the 24/7 cartoon station before going to bed. Of course, he cannot concentrate on the big screen in front of him. His very first mission... and he's going solo. He certainly better not mess this one up too badly, or he can most likely say farewell at a shot of becoming an official Kid Next Door.
Suddenly his vision becomes dark and he feels some type of soft fabric around his eyes.
"Guess who!"
"Uh... Numbuh Three?"
"Aw, you got it right!"
Numbuh Three uncovers his eyes and hops beside him on the sofa, smiling ever so cutely at Kenny.
"Isn't this great, Kenny? Your first mission already! You must be excited!"
"Yeah. But I'm nervous, too. Are the Delightful Children as bad as the others say they are?"
"Mmhm. They build machines an' stuff, and theirs are about as strong as our stuff, if not stronger. They sometimes hire villians after us, too, but after what happened last week I don't think they'd want to anymore."
"What happened last week?" Kenny inquires curiously.
Numbuh Three shakes her head. "I'm not too sure if Numbuh One would let me talk about it to ya. Things turned out okay again in the end, but some bad stuff happened before then."
"Oh..." Not wanting to pry Numbuh Three anymore, he decides to get back on-topic. "So, I'm about to penetrate the fortress of your arch-enemies. It's gonna be tough, but I think I can do it."
"I know you can do it," his friend says sweetly, her long sleeve on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. Just remember what Numbuh One said an' try your best."
"Right! Thanks, Numbuh Three."
"Hey, what are best friends for?"
The words 'best friends' send a warm, comfortable feeling inside Kenny and he smiles. He is certainly glad Numbuh Three and himself are so close. He wishes he could carry on the conversation with his friend even longer, but he really needs to heed Numbuh One's advice.
"Well, I better get some sleep if I want to be in tip-top shape for tomorrow's mission."
Numbuh Three nods as Kenny gets up and heads for his bedroom.
" 'Night, Numbuh Three."
"G'night! Oh, and remember your promise to me!"
'D'oh!' Kenny mumbles. He remembers his promise alright. Earlier today he lost a game of Tic-Tac-Toe against Numbuh Three. Had he won, Numbuh Three would have bought him his favorite candy at the Kids Next Door's favorite candy store. But he lost. And so now he is forced into a pretend tea party with her.
'Oh well,' thinks Kenny. 'At least I can finally see the inside of ONE of their bedrooms. And hey, I can just pretend that it's another training exercise! At least the others won't tease me too much then.'
With a small smile forming on his lips, he sighs and heads for his room to turn in for the night.
'Tomorrow, it all begins...'
* * * * *
The big night arrives. The KND flying bus soars high in the suburbs, in a low speed so that it would make little noise. It doesn't have to travel far, anyway-- The Delightfuls' mansion is right down the lane, after all.
Numbuh Two parks the bus behind the walls of the entrance gate, and Kenny (equipped with a tie-dyish backpack) and Numbuh Five disembark. Numbuh Five uses her speed and agility to hop on top of the wall with little effort, if any, then helps Kenny over it. They sneak towards a side of the Delightfuls' household, ducking behind bushes and trees along the way.
When they get there, the stealth expert leads Kenny to one part of the mansion wall with a large shrubbery. Five pushes through them to expose the wall. Then she pulls along a particular spot on the wall to reveal a secret tunnel. Kenny's eye widen in amazement.
"Awright, Ken, you remember the debriefing?"
"Sneak into their headquarters, steal the chips and come straight back."
"Right. Also remember not ta not be spotted. Gettin' into a confrontation wouldn't be cool, 'specially since it's one of you against five of them.
"But if things don't go your way, here." She hands Kenny the PIPER. "Call us an' we'll come in and bail you out."
"Thanks, Numbuh Five," says Kenny, taking the device and putting it in his tie-dye shirt.
"No problem. This tunnel should lead you to the kitchen, but be on your guard. Now getcho butt down there."
So Kenny does as told and crawls into Five's secret tunnel. A shiver runs down Kenny's spine; it's so dark! But he musters up his courage and braves the darkness. Eventually, he makes it out and finds himself inside a large, fancy kitchen.
"Now to find those chips," Kenny says to himself.
He searches through the kitchen, being sure to set things back where they were. He opens the refrigerator door but doesn't find any chips in there. He then decides to scan the cabinets. Opening each one, he finds seasonings, mixings, canned stuff, bags of tortilla chips, peanut butter, bunch of miscellaneous junk....
"Tortilla chips!" Kenny exclaims as he snatches them and holds them up triumphantly.
"Yes, mission complete already! Now to get out of here!"
He stuffs the bag into his backpack and makes his way toward the secret tunnel... When he suddenly hears footsteps heading this way!
"Hang on a minute, I'm going to get us some more tortilla chips," comes a soft, feminine voice from down the hall.
"Uh-oh!" yelps Kenny. Whoever she is, she is way too close for him to retreat back into the tunnel now. So, he ducks into the best hiding place he can find: a cabinet under the sink.
Quite uncomfortable. Even with his small body it is still too cramped with all the junk and pipes and all in there. Trying to resist whining he listens in as the girl's footsteps come closer. He hears her searching through the kitchen, mumbling about where the tortillas are located.
'She must be one of the Delightful Children,' Kenny muses to himself. 'But wait, didn't the others said they're always together? Why is one of them alone?'
Becoming bold, he opens the cabinet door a tad to get a look at her. But it's not enough. Becoming bolder, he leans in.
Bad idea. His foot slips on something and the sudden lost of balance forces Kenny to fall right out of the kitchen cabinet, landing facefirst on the floor.
And in front of the Delightful Child.
"Owwwch..." he groans.
The Delightful girl (the sandy blonde wearing a pink bow) stands there, blinking, wondering who invited this unexpected guest.
Kenny opens his eyes... to discover the feet of the girl in front of him wearing white shoes and pink socks. He closes his eyes quickly and grumbles. 'Great, my first mission and already I screwed up!'
"Um, excuse me... Who are you?" the sandy blonde speaks up.
Kenny finally sits up, his head down, dusting himself off. Trying to come up with some way to get out of here, he begins. "Well, you see, I'm..." He lifts up his head, finally facing one of the Kids Next Door's worst enemies...
And that's when he freezes. The moment his eyes lay on her, he becomes utterly speechless. He just stands there, staring at her while his heart thumps at an unusual speed, his hands become somewhat sweaty, and his legs feel like they could give out anytime. During these brief seconds (which feels like eternity to Kenny), the rest of the world seems to blur around him and the only thing completely focused is the girl standing right in front of him...
"You're what?" she asks, apparently unaware of what poor Kenny is going through.
For some reason her voice sounds almost melodic to the newbie Kid Next Door and he bears a somewhat goofy smile.
"I-I-I-I-I..." he stutters. Just when he thought his bashful personality significantly reduced thanks to his new friends, here it comes again, two-, no, threefold! Kenny meekly folds his arms behind his back, digging the floor with the sole of his shoe, trying to think up something, anything, to say to her.
"Okay..." she finally says, "I guess I will be getting my siblings now."
That snaps Kenny right into attention. He almost forgot that this girl is one of the Delightful Children, his new friends' worst enemies! He certainly cannot let her warn her 'siblings' of his invasion; if they catch him with their tortilla chips this whole mission would be blown to insignificant pieces! And that would not be good for his friends' evaluation of him... assuming he'd make it out of here.
Regaining his senses he makes a dash to block the girl's way.
"Wait, you don't want to do that!"
"You are an intruder. Why should I not warn my siblings?"
"Because... I'm not an intruder?"
The Bow Girl just looks at him.
"Um, you're probably wondering who I am. Okay, uh..." Kenny's nervousness returns. "I'm... I'm... Bennie Zingsley... no, wait, I'm Finley Ringsai... no, that's not right, I'm Kenny McCormick! Ugh, wrong last name..." He takes a breath and finally says, "I'm... Kenny Rangsey."
"Charlene."
'Charlene... what a wonderful name,' Kenny thinks dreamily.
"So what were you doing under the sink?"
"Oh, that, uh... I was... inspecting for termites! Yes, I'm a termite inspector!"
"A termite inspector?"
"Mmhm! You never know when you'll have those little bugs! Eh-heh heh heh... heh." 'Okay, that was pretty lame; way to make yourself look dumb,' Kenny mentally curses himself.
"We do not get termites."
"Right, uh, that is what I saw. So, you passed! Hehehe..."
"You seem much too young to have a job like that... How did you get inside, anyway?"
Kenny gulps and beads of sweat form on his forehead. He tries to think of a way out, and replies goofily, "Uhhh... That's for me to know, heh heh. Well, I better be going; wouldn't want to keep my boss waiting."
"And who is your boss?" asks Charlene suspiciously.
"Oh... some cool guy!" Kenny's voice trails off as he sprints out of the kitchen.
"What a strange boy. Hmmmmm. Now where are those chips...?"
* * * * *
"What happened to me in there!?" Kenny exclaims after making it to safety in the hall. "I was cool, I was calm, I was collected! So why was it that when I saw her I... went nuts!?"
Then he wonders... Could Charlene have known what he is really here for? Maybe she secretly sprayed something on herself that causes the victims to... lose their minds or something. But when he thinks about the ridiculousness of it, he sighs and droops his hands to his sides.
"The only other explanation would be that I... like her-like her. Great, when Mom said I'd find that 'lucky girl' soon, I didn't expect it to be THIS soon."
Then he remembers something.
"Aw, man... Of all the girls to fall for, why did it have to be an ENEMY!? How would the others take this? Not so good, I bet. I better keep this to myself. Now, I have to find a way out of here. But this place is so big! And I certainly cannot go back to Numbuh Five's secret tunnel now..."
Kenny reaches down to retrieve the PIPER he managed to hide from Charlene, when he suddenly has a thought. If he calls the others for help, then that would prove he did not do his mission well. If he wants to impress them he has to do this right. So with a confident nod he changes his mind and decides to find a way out all on his own.
Kenny traverses across the hallway, admiring his surroundings. Never before has he been in such a fancy (and expensive) mansion his entire very young life. He practically leaps up to the ceiling in a panic when a door flies open, and he ducks behind a hiding spot.
Out comes a boy wearing a football helmet, which clashes terribly with his all-blue schoolboy outfit.
'Must be another Delightful Child,' he muses to himself. More confusion fills him as he discovers yet another Delightful separate from the group, in spite of what his teammates told him. If they are really always together, why did he just see two of them on their own?
Kenny decides to think about this matter for another time and follows the helmet-headed Delightful down the hall. 'Maybe he can lead me the way out,' he thinks.
Suddenly Kenny accidently moves against the wall creating a loud sound that alerts the Delightful. The enemy whirls around, wondering what that sound was, only to see nothing in particular. Shrugging, he turns back around and continues toward his destination.
Not knowing that a walking potted plant with sneakers is following him.
The plant continues to follow the Delightful until he enters a large living room. The walking potted plant stops right beside the door. Out pokes the head of Kenny, who takes a peek inside. He finds the football helmet-headed Delightful boy, along with a shorter blonde boy and a taller boy whose brown hair covers his eyes. The latter two are similarly dressed as the helmet boy, and they are sitting on a very comfortable-looking couch watching a large-screen television.
"I just beat the third game this week!" exclaims Helmet Boy. "This is so sweet! I've never had this much free time before!"
"Shhhh. TV," drones the Tall Boy.
"I am happy to see that you have accomplished something," says the blonde Delightful. "I wish I could say the same for me. I have yet to come up with a plan worthy of carrying out."
"Aw, don't you get it? With him gone we don't have to worry about that anymore. We have absolute freedom!"
"I am quite aware of that, Jason," says the blonde boy. "But I still would love to show those Kids Next Door off somehow. We have to proof that we Delightful Children are better than they are."
"Hey, I said TV!" says the Tall Boy frustratedly.
"Fine, fine, Nathan," replies the blonde, who resumes watching some kind of sitcom.
"You really need to learn to chill, Brandon," says the helmet boy Jason, sitting next to the blonde. "He's gone, remember? It's not like we're FORCED to beat them now. We can just sit back and relax whenever WE want to! So enjoy it."
'I am enjoying it. But I am not sure we should let the Kids Next Door be aware of how much we're slacking off without him...' Brandon says to himself. 'Hmm. Maybe I should go ahead and take Jason's advice after all. But still...'
Kenny ducks back behind the plant, pondering about the conversation he just heard. He also wonders why the helmet boy says they are free without this particular person; whoever 'he' is. Again, he decides to think about the matter later.
Kenny knows he cannot just walk across the open doorway; they would spot him for sure. Closing the door would not help; a door mysteriously closing on its own would certainly alert them, assuming they do not actually see him close it first. He looks at his surroundings trying to find something to aid his escape. He then spots a quarter beside him.
"What luck!" he whispers, smiling. He picks it up and is about to slip it in his pocket, when he gets an idea. Smirking, he quickly tosses the coin into the room.
"Hey, look, a quarter!" shouts Jason (the helmet boy). This follows by the sounds of the floor being leapt on with Jason and Nathan (the tall Delightful with hair covering his eyes) alternating "It's mine! No, it's mine!"
"You two are such little fools," sighs the voice of Brandon. "It is only a quarter, after all.
"And besides... IT'S MINE!"
His plan successful, Kenny snickers and walks safely across the doorway, leaving the plant behind. With that obstacle passed he continues searching for a way out of the mansion. He happens upon another room (without a door) and heads there, hoping it would be empty and he could escape from the window.
The inside is filled with many books, bookshelves, and cushioned-chairs. 'It must be the reading room,' Kenny muses. Unfortunately, he also discovers that the reading room is occupied by a girl with pigtails and glasses, similarly dressed as the Bow Girl, Charlene. The remaining Delightful Child.
The girl, sitting on one of the chairs and hearing his footsteps, lifts her nose from her book and frowns at her intruder.
"What the...? Who are you!?" she demands, getting up and walking towards him.
Kenny nervously replies, "Uh, termite inspector?"
"What? We don't get--"
"I know, and you passed, and I was JUST leaving! But I'm kinda lost..."
"You're not far from the entrance; just go straight down the hall. Our mansion is not as large as it may seem."
"Oh, thank you so much! Well, gotta go, see ya!"
"Wait, you--!" But Kenny is long gone before she can finish. "What a rude boy he was. Humph! And I sure do not remember anybody calling in an inspector in the first place..."
Kenny dashes down the hall until he enters a very large room with stairs... and a large entrance door right across from them.
"I made it!" he exclaims excitedly. He makes a mad dash toward the exit.
* * * * *
Meanwhile back at the living room, the Delightful boys are watching their large TV once again. Their clothes are roughed up and they generally look un-Delightful. The blonde one is satisfied, however.
"You should never challenge the master of coin-grabbing," he smirks, patting his shorts' pocket. (Yes, they're shorts, not pants like the other boys.)
"Aw, shut up..." his brothers grumble.
Just then the pigtailed Delightful bursts in, glaring at the boys and looking a little miffed.
"Geez, Naomi, what's with you?" her brother Jason wonders.
"I just met a very rude boy. He came busting into the reading room like he owned the place and claimed he's a termite inspector!"
"... But we never get termites," the three male Delightfuls say together.
"EXACTLY! So no one could have called him in..."
Right after she finishes, a confused Charlene comes strolling in.
"Excuse me, boys, but did you call in a 'termite inspector'?"
"No, we did not."
"So you ran into that discourteous boy, too?" asks Naomi, the girl with the pigtails.
"Yes, but that is not the problem. I can not find the chips. They are all gone."
"How could they be gone already?" wonders Brandon. "I saw the chips earlier today. None of us could have eaten them that fast-- not even Jason."
"Yeah, that's-- HEY!" frowns the aforementioned boy.
Suddenly Naomi pauses and adjusts her glasses as a great deal of suspicion rises. "Wait a second. An unexpected intruder. And the tortilla chips happen to disappear at the same time."
It is then that all the Delightful Children get a blank stare as full realization finally hits them. In their standard monotone they chorus, "It could only mean one thing..."
* * * * *
Kenny bursts from the front entrance of the household. Much to the surprise of Numbuh Five, who sees him come from somewhere that is not her secret tunnel.
"Yo, Kenny!" she shouts as she runs up to him. "How'd you get ova there? You were suppos'ta come out from the secret tunnel! And what took you so long?"
"I'll explain later, Numbuh Five! Right now we have to get out of here, and fast!"
Numbuh Five opens her mouth to say something else, but...
"KIDS NEXT DOOR!!" erupts from the mansion.
"You don't hafta tell Numbuh Five twice!" she says as she and Kenny quickly make their way over the gate and back inside the KND bus, just as the not-so-happy Delightful Children emerge from their home. The flying bus lifts off and zooms back toward the Treehouse.
The Delightfuls grumble something under their breath. Once again they let their chips be stolen by their rivals. One thing puzzles them, however: Who was that kid?
* * * * *
Back in the KND aerial bus...
"Sorry I took so long," says Kenny. "I, uh, ran into one of the Delightful Children and couldn't get back into the tunnel..."
"Well, that's all right," says One. "You have the tortilla chips and you're still in one piece. So your mission is successful. And you did it without calling for help, too. Good job."
Kenny smiles, a bit of confidence restoring inside. His confidence boosts even more when Numbuh Three whispers "You did great!" to his ear and Numbuh Five gives him a thumbs up. Even Numbuh Four can't help but smile a little.
Numbuh Two, piloting the bus, wants to compliment Kenny on a job well done, but is contemplating something important on his mind. "Hey Kenny... Did you say you ran into ONE of the Delightful Children? As in... not with the rest of the group?"
"That's right."
The others finally notice what Kenny said earlier and also turn serious.
"Three of them were together but I saw another one alone, too."
"But... But the Delightful Children are ALWAYS together. Aren't they?" says Numbuh Four.
"They didn't sound too zombie-ish when I saw 'em, either."
"Hmmm. Mighty strange," says Numbuh One, scratching under his elliptical chin.
Then Numbuh Two has another thought. "Guys... You don't think Manasa (gulp) killing their dad has anything to do with it, do you?"
"Who's Manasa?" Kenny asks curiously.
Numbuh One looks at him for a moment, sighs, and reluctantly explains. "Well, last week the Delightful Children hired their most powerful 'villian' employee yet. Her name was Manasa. She had some sort of mind power, and she used this power to turn us against each other. It eventually worked, causing us to break up.
"When I went to confront the Delightful Children I ran into Manasa herself. The others came back and we all found out that it was Manasa's mind tricks causing us to fight with one another. We made up and fought her. We eventually defeated her.
"She explained to us that she broke us up so that she could get the Delightful Children's father at the 'perfect moment.' And apparently... she successfully destroyed him."
"What? Why did she do that?" asks Kenny.
"She told us their father was planning to kill all disobedient children worldwide. ... Including his own children, for their past failures in stopping us."
"That's terrible..."
"Yeah," agrees Numbuh Two. "The last time we saw Manasa, the Delightful Children were attacking her and she told us to get away. We haven't seen her again since. I hope she's okay..."
"I'm sure she is," says Numbuh One.
"So that's what happened..." whispers Kenny to Numbuh Three, who silently nods.
"Wit' their pops gone," says Numbuh Five, "maybe his control over them is gone, too. Might explain what Kenny saw."
"Maybe they'll be easier to beat for now on!" suggests the Aussie.
"Maybe, maybe not," states the leader. "They've been held back by their father in the past. Now that he is no longer with them, they're in control. That could be both a good thing... and a bad thing."
Numbuh Four silently nods, having no choice but to agree with him.
"Well, let's not let this get us down!" smirks Five. "Let's go home an' have us some chips, dipped in some deeeelicious cheese!"
The others whole-heartedly agree. Numbuh Two's mouth waters as he speeds up the bus with new motivation.
Kenny, however, looks back out the window, looking towards the direction of the Delightful Children's mansion. There is one thing he left out about his mission. Something he thinks the others might not approve of. Something he knows would jeopardize his chance at becoming a Kid Next Door.
He has a crush on one of their arch-enemies....
* * * * *
TO BE CONTINUED...