Required Disclaimer: I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door, or any associated intellectual property.
Review Responses:
Anonymous: Yep, it's a sticky position for her. Poor girl.
WallyKuki34: I'm glad you like it! 3x4 is hard for me to write, I can't get Three's sunny insanity to work out right. I might give it a shot in another fic sometime.
Pelorina651: Again, glad you like it. I'm continuing now, usually a chapter takes about a day.
Cindy Neutron: Yep, poor everyone. The fic will get a bit lighter by the end of things, don't worry too much.
This chapter would have been up quite a bit sooner, but "Document Manager" is offline, so I had to wait.
Operation: HOAGIE
Hoagie's
Obvious
Attraction
Generally
Irritates
Everyone
Chapter Four: PARTY
People's
Alliances
Revealed:
Teen?
Youth?
Numbuh One paced nervously by the treehouse telephone, waiting for a call from Numbuh Five. She had been at the Delightful Children's Mansion for three hours, far too long for a simple recon mission. He tried to console himself, tried to believe that even if something had gone wrong, she would call any moment from her house, or from a payphone, asking for a ride and talking about the plans she had filched. The longer it took, the less likely a good outcome.
Numbuhs Three and Four sat on the couch, worried about Numbuh Five. Numbuh Three was hugging a yellow Rainbow Monkey doll, grinning happily and thinking of the ice cream that Numbuh Five had probably stopped to bring them. A few feet away, Numbuh Four was throwing mock punches in the air.
"Whoever got 'er, I'll beat their butts! They won't want to deal with Numbuh Four! Their butts are mine! M-E-Y-N mine!"
"Relax silly! She is probably just having trouble bringing the ice cream back! It's hard to hold on to more than two cones you know!"
Numbuh Four grabbed his hair with both hands and tugged. "Agh! She's not bringin' any ice cream! She's captured! The Delightful Children prolly have 'er in a prison right now!"
Numbuh Three blinked at the blonde haired boy. Suddenly she grinned and laughed. "The Delightful Children? Yay! They can help carry the ice cream! EEEK!" Numbuh Three shrieked as she was chased from the room by an irritated Numbuh Four.
Numbuh One just looked sadly down at the phone. "Numbuh Five... Please be ok..."
Numbuh Five, in the meantime, was finally coming to. She peered out from under her cap at her surroundings. It seemed like an office of some kind, but it was too dark to see the walls. There were diagrams of 2x4 ships and weapons laying near her cage, on the floor. She crawled weakly over, her muscles still sore from the brutal fight. She skimmed the schematics, not sure what to make of the technical aspects, but certain of one thing, it was Numbuh Two's handwriting.
"Oooh, Numbuh Five is going to have to have a talk with that boy." She shook her head sadly, putting the papers back down. She felt her pockets for her lockpick. No luck, Cree had obviously searched her well. Numbuh Five heard a door open, and shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light that came on. She recognized the sillohuette as her sister's.
"Hello Abigail. I hope you slept allright." Cree laughed derisively. Her voice was thick with contempt. "You didn't honestly think you could sneak into the mansion without being caught, now that I had notice that you were coming, did you?"
Numbuh Five's eyes adjusted to the light coming in, finally allowing her to see. Cree was alone, and the office was obviously hers; there were pictures of her parents, as well as one of Numbuh Two on the desk above Numbuh Five's cage, and her missing stereo was sitting against the far wall. She frowned at her sister, who was currently standing next to the cage.
"What're you going to do now that you caught me, Cree? I know you ain' planning on inviting me to the Delightful Children's party." Numbuh Five sat crosslegged, folding her arms across her chest, trying to maintain her dignity inside this cage.
"I'm going to interrogate you, my dear, sweet Abigail. After that, it's no longer up to me. Father has his own plans for captured Kids Next Door. That's none of my concern, however. I couldn't care less where you go after I am done with you."
"You know you ain't gettin' any answers from Numbuh Five. I'm not like your new boyfriend, I won't sell out the Kids Next Door for anything."
Cree sneered as she looked down at the girl. "Oh, I think you will, Abigail. I think you will."
Numbuh Five gritted her teeth as she watched Cree looking down at her, cracking her knuckles.
After a mostly restless night, it was getting close to noon, time for the mission to begin. Numbuh Five had still not contacted them, and Numbuh One had made certain that the team knew that rescuing her was as important to the mission as defeating the Delightful Children. Holding his gumball gun at the ready, he surveyed his operatives. Numbuh Three was strangely resolute looking, carrying her teddybear launcher. Numbuh Four looked like he was ready to bash someone's head in, energetically swinging his PLANKER around, firing test shots randomly. Numbuh Two was standing near the bus aircraft, nervously tinkering with the SUGAR cannon. Numbuh One coughed pointedly, bringing the team to attention.
"Listen up team. We know that the Delightful Children From Down the Lane are hosting their birthday party today. It is our duty as Kids Next Door to make sure that some of their cake gets to every kid they've detained. Also, I believe that Numbuh Five has been captured. I'm not sure what the adults plan to do with her, but I know it won't be good. After taking care of the Delightful Children, we must immediately infiltrate the mansion, find Numbuh Five, and then bring her back here. Everyone clear on the mission? Good. Numbuh Two, is the bus ready?"
Numbuh Five nodded. "Yes sir, Numbuh One! I'm ready to leave when you are!"
"Then let's go save Numbuh Five!" Numbuh One charged towards the bus.
The voices of nearly two dozen near-crying children rose in a droll song, which sounded like beautiful music to the ears of the Delightful Children.
"Happy Birthday, it's your birthday. Happy Birthday, It's not our brithday. Happy Birthday, here's your cake. Happy Birthday, it's not our cake."
"Thank you all for coming to our birthday party once again, you miserable, jealous children. Our cake today is exceptionally delicious, and we will enjoy watching you drool in envy as we eat it all." Their creepy laughing was suddenly cut short as they spotted an approaching flying bus. They calmly reached over and pressed a button on the console next to them, causing a spindled rooftop nearby to flip open, revealing a catapult loaded with dozens of small stones.
"Here comes the Kids Next Door. Don't be surprised if they cannot help you this time, children. We know their secrets now." Another pressed button flung the grapeshot at the schoolbus, which had just come whithin range.
Hoagie's eyes widened at the barrage of stone flying towards the ship. With this many projectiles, one would surely hit the-- a loud clattering noise, coupled with the sudden explosion from the controls, assured him that the gas pipeline had been smashed, just like he'd mentioned to Cree. There wasn't much time to get out. He hit the emergency eject button, causing large tubes to surround each member of the team, quickly flinging them towards the roof in seperate delivery vehicles.
The wooden barrels containing the four Kids Next Door operatives landed on the roof perfectly, shattering to allow the agents to quickly ready their weapons. In the distance, the schoolbus airship exploded in a fiery ball, showering the Delightful Children's perfectly groomed yard with auto parts. Numbuh One confidently stepped forward from the wreckage of his escape pod.
"No use in resisting, Delightful Dorks! This birthday cake will be shared with all the kids here, except you!" He aimed his gumball weapon directly towards them.
"Numbuh One, we expected you. We expected everything that could happen today; and for the first time, we are ready." The children reached out with four hands, pressing four different console buttons at once. Suddenly, a lot of things happened at the same time.
A high-pitched screech filled the air from a speaker that appeared on the Delightful Children's left side, shattering the glass globe holding the gumballs for Numbuh One's weapon.
A large, expensive Rainbow Monkey plushie was launched onto the balcony from below, causing Numbuh Three to drop her teddybear gun and run towards the doll, arms outstretched.
A small jar was launched from under the table towards Numbuh Four, smashing at his feet and throwing hundreds of hungry termites onto his weapon, quickly rendering it useless.
A gush of water hit Numbuh Two from the side, soaking his cannon, dissolving the sugar and making the bag stick to the inside of the barrel, causing an impossible jam.
The delightful children just smiled. "And now that you are once again weaponless, it's time to reveal our plan. Instead of creating a large monster, we have instead hired some help from our friends, the adults."
The team's eyes went wide as Stickybeard, Count Spankula, Mr. Wink, Mr. Pibb, and Cree rode elevators up from the mansion proper, all ready and raring to defeat them. Numbuh One, however, didn't hesitate at all.
"Kids Next Door, Battlestations!"
Numbuh One was in no mood for these trivial villans. He had his sights set on Cree, but she was waiting for the others to move first, smirking at his obvious frustration. He turned his attention first towards Wink and Pibb, who's lawnchair was growing long, spiderlike legs.
"A very interesting battle, Mister Wink."
"Indeed, Mister Pibb. It seems we finally have the right odds to defeat those pesky Kids Next Door."
Numbuh One, charged with adrenaline, immedately jumped on one of the spindly legs, climbing it quickly as he looked down towards his teammates. Numbuh Three was still happily hugging the stuffed doll, unaware or unconcerned with Count Spankula's approach. Numbuh Four was engaged in what looked to be brutal hand to hand combat with Stickybeard, and Numbuh Two was trying desperately to repair the SUGAR cannon. Numbuh One returned his attention to the two strange men on this suddenly enormous chair.
"You two won't be able to defeat us no matter what the odds, we are the Kids Next Door!" Numbuh One flipped gracefuly as he leapt from the leg of the chair up to the chest of the walrus-like man on top. "And I think I need to tell you, I've had a BAD day."
.....
Numbuh Four might be dumb when it comes to schoolwork, but he knew fighting. He knew enough about fighting to realize that he wasn't good enough to beat a swordsman like Stickybeard alone, especially unarmed. He dodged Stickbeard's wild thrusts with the candycane, careful to keep away from the edges of the balcony. He'd need a miracle to beat this guy. He looked up at the towering machine that Wink and Pibb had built. There was some kind of commotion up there, but he couldn't tell what, except that the machine seemed to be out of control.
Numbuh Four was only able to narrowly duck the swinging iron leg, but Stickybeard was far too large, instead being knocked powerfully sideways, crashing through the rooftop and falling somewhere inside the mansion.
"Yeah! That's what you get, you stinkin' pirate! I'm some kinda genius I am! I-Kick-bu-- oof!" Numbuh Four flew sideways a few feet, landing hard on the wooden platform. He looked up to see someone whose fighting skills he feared much more than Stickybeard's. Cree.
Cree laughed cruelly and lunged towards Numbuh Four, delivering a powerful punch to his jaw. She took advantage of his dazed state to connect with a strong kick to his lower back, knocking him flat on his face. She quickly knelt and tied his hands and feet with rope, kicking him over towards the center of the platform, and readying herself for the next Kid.
.....
Numbuh Three happily buried her face in the huge Rainbow Monkey doll, giggling and smiling. The Delightful Children were so nice! They bought this doll for her, and it was way too expensive for her to afford!
"Playing with other people's toys is wrong, little girl. You deserve a SPANKING!" Numbuh Three suddenly looked up to spot Count Spankula standing over her, hand already raised to deliver a spanking of epic proportions. Numbuh Three was faster however, rolling to the side before he could hit her. Instead, he hit the doll, causing a rip in the fabric on the stomach of the toy, stuffing spilling out everywhere. Numbuh Three went white as a sheet. Then she went red.
"Poor Rainbow Monkey! You can't hurt him anymore!" Numbuh Three ran back to her fallen weapon and begin to pummel Count Spankula with flying teddybears. The vampiric disciplinarian tried to defend himself against the barrage of stuffed animals, but was quickly driven back, forcing him to take flight as a bat and fly away, vowing spanktacular revenge on the Kids Next Door someday.
"Yah! No more spanking my Rainbow Monk-" Numbuh Three's victorious shout was cut short as she heard the long, sickening rip of fabric from the direction of the large doll. She turned to see Cree standing there, holding the recently removed head of the monkey.
"Ohh, I'm sorry baby, was this yours?"
Three's eyes burned with fire as she raised her teddy launcher and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened! She looked at the gun, she was out of bears! She looked back towards Cree, only to see an armored foot quickly approaching, too fast to dodge.
.....
Numbuh Two finally got a new bag loaded into the SUGAR cannon, looking up to stop whoever was coming. He looked around, the only enemy he saw was the towering lawnchair spider, which was hold Numbuh One high above the platform, using two legs to keep him secure.He aimed carefully and grinned.
"Sorry guys! 'Su-crose' and yet so far!" He fired the bag of confectionary goodness at the large machine.
The bag of sugar flew through the air, smashing through the spider's control console with ease. The large machine stuttered momentarily, then fell heavily off the roof, crashing noisily to the ground, five stories below them. Numbuh One fell from where he had been held, landing squarely in the Delightful Children's cake, splattering it all over the rooftop, and in the process sharing the cake with every kid that was still tied up in the chairs.
"Mission accomplished team! Let's get downstairs!" Numbuh One looked around. "Team?"
He stood up and spotted Numbuh Three and Four laying hogtied on the ground, and saw Numbuh Two reloading the SUGAR cannon. Suddenly he remembered which enemy he hadn't accounted for, Cree. He tried to look around to see her, but didn't have time, as he was knocked across the table by an unseen hand.
Numbuh One skidded to a stop on the oppisite end of the long table, springing up to face Cree. She was standing on the table, next to the destroyed cake, regarding Numbuh One with a look of arrogant superiority. She didn't fear him at all. She'd learn better, he vowed.
Inside the mansion, a girl was laying unconscious in a cage. Suddenly, a loud explosion woke her. She opened her eyes cautiously, looking around, and feeling grateful that Cree was no longer there. Numbuh Five rubbed her bruises gingerly and grinned. She'd made it. She could hear sounds of battle upstairs, and she hadn't cracked, hadn't leaked any info at all, despite the abuse from her sister. She reached up and felt her cap, looking for her secret pick. Yes! It was still there! Now that Cree was occupied with the battle, escaping this cage would be no problem.
A few seconds picking the lock proved enough, and the cage door slid easily open. Numbuh Five stood shakily, looking around the paper-filled room. She couldn't let all this information stay in the hands of the enemy. She grabbed a pen from the desk and walked over to the stereo system. After using the pen to pry off part of the casing, she looked into the electronics inside, quickly finding the power cord. She yanked the cord, disconnecting it from the stero, and looked at the frayed wires, sparks sporatically jumping from the ends.
Numbuh Five gathered a few peices of paper, balling them up loosely, and held them close to the exposed power cord. Then she pressed on the cord, causing the two frayed contacts to connect. A shower of sparks and burning electricity flared from the powerwire, and the lights in the hallway dimmed. The paper burst into flame. Numbuh Five grinned, and threw the burning paper into the pile of papers near the desk, watching as the flames quickly spread.
"Numbuh Five thinks it's about time to get outta here."
She kicked open the door into the hallway and looked around, immediately recognizing the second story of the mansion. She ran hastily down the hallway, leaving the door open for the quickly spreading fire. There seemed to be no one around as she sped up the staircase, finding herself once again in the dark hallways on the top story of the mansion. She heard a voice outside.
"Sorry guys! Su-crose and yet so far!"
Numbuh Five rolled her eyes. How did he come up with this stuff?
A few moments later she reached the ladder to the roof. She gritted her teeth, preparing herself for what would certainly be the final battle with Cree.
Numbuh One panted heavily, this was not going well. He blocked another flurry of punches from the teenaged spy, and then ducked a powerful kick. He moved to sweepkick, but was dodged easily. He fell on his back to avoid the sudden wild punch, and then kicked upwards, sending the girl back a few feet.
"Numbuh Two, what's taking you so long? Take the shot!"
Numbuh One reeled from another quick punch, his jaw numbed by the impact. Before he could react, he was smashed in the stomach by another powerful blow. He fell to his knees, out of breath.
"Take... the... shot..."
Numbuh One's world went dark as he collapsed. Cree grinned with satisfaction, then looked towards Numbuh Two.
"Hoagie baby, it's time to put down that toy and come on over here."
Hoagie stood where he was, still pointing the SUGAR cannon at Cree. He had to stop her, he knew that his friends would never be seen again if he didn't. But he couldn't pull the trigger. His brain told him that it was the only way, that he'd never be able to join the adults yet, but his heart and soul screamed to him to just run to her.
The Delightful Children had, as always, been watching. They could see the doubt in Numbuh Two's eyes, and this meant that he was not loyal to the adults. However, they could see that he hadn't fired on Cree, meaning he was not loyal to the Kids Next Door either. This did not confuse them. Father had only been half right in making Cree date him. He was loyal only to Cree now. They smirked. Stupid boy, they would never find themselves attached to some lover instead of their sworn duty.
They did, however, see this as an oppurtunity to discern Cree's loyalty. They began to speak, their monotone breaking the strange tension in the air.
"Agent Cree, you have done very well. We will take it from here. We order you to go back downstairs and see to your sister."
Cree turned sharply towards them, hate in her eyes. "No way, you brats. I'm taking Hoagie with me, and you can't stop me!"
The Delightful Children all smiled in unison. "But we CAN stop you. You see, we thought you might have gotten confused while dating Numbuh Two, so we've decided to eliminate the distraction. You will stay where you are, Cree, if you wish to stay an ally with the adults." Two of the children reached over to the command console, pressing two buttons.
Cree watched in horror as a floor tile catapulted Hoagie towards the edge of the roof. She was paralyzed with uncertainty, she had to stay with the adults, the Kids Next Door would never let her join at her age, and there was nowhere to hide from the adults. However, every part of her wanted to rush to save Hoagie. Torn between these sides, she could only watch as he slid across the roof. He fell from the side of the shingles, but caught himself, left hanging on with one hand.
Suddenly she was aware that Chad had ridden an elevator up behind her. He was the Delightful Children's protection, she realized. She also heard the trapdoor open, and her sister Abigail crawl out from the ladder.
"Go ahead Cree, ignore Hoagie and go after the girl. You know it's the only choice." Chad narrowed his eyes and glared at her. Smoke rose from the burning mansion, giving Chad a demonic look, and making him seem much more dangerous than normal.
Numbuh Five quickly saw what was going on, she hadn't survived years of spy training without being observant. She still didn't dare move yet, knowing that Chad would simply knock them both off the roof if she tried to help, she just wasn't strong enough to fight him off while helping Numbuh Two up.
"Come on Cree! You know you ain' the kinda person to kill anyone! Save him! I'll take care of Chad. Just go!"
Numbuh Two's hand was slipping, a five story fall was beneath him. Cree had a choice to make.
She closed her eyes, focusing for a moment. When she opened them, she was ready.
A/N: Woo, another chapter done. A longer one this time. Cree is at the point of no return, what happens next? The final chapter will be out in a day or two, then perhaps an epilogue afterwards. I hope you are looking forward to finding out how it ends! Read and review, and as always, enjoy.
Review Responses:
Anonymous: Yep, it's a sticky position for her. Poor girl.
WallyKuki34: I'm glad you like it! 3x4 is hard for me to write, I can't get Three's sunny insanity to work out right. I might give it a shot in another fic sometime.
Pelorina651: Again, glad you like it. I'm continuing now, usually a chapter takes about a day.
Cindy Neutron: Yep, poor everyone. The fic will get a bit lighter by the end of things, don't worry too much.
This chapter would have been up quite a bit sooner, but "Document Manager" is offline, so I had to wait.
Operation: HOAGIE
Hoagie's
Obvious
Attraction
Generally
Irritates
Everyone
Chapter Four: PARTY
People's
Alliances
Revealed:
Teen?
Youth?
Numbuh One paced nervously by the treehouse telephone, waiting for a call from Numbuh Five. She had been at the Delightful Children's Mansion for three hours, far too long for a simple recon mission. He tried to console himself, tried to believe that even if something had gone wrong, she would call any moment from her house, or from a payphone, asking for a ride and talking about the plans she had filched. The longer it took, the less likely a good outcome.
Numbuhs Three and Four sat on the couch, worried about Numbuh Five. Numbuh Three was hugging a yellow Rainbow Monkey doll, grinning happily and thinking of the ice cream that Numbuh Five had probably stopped to bring them. A few feet away, Numbuh Four was throwing mock punches in the air.
"Whoever got 'er, I'll beat their butts! They won't want to deal with Numbuh Four! Their butts are mine! M-E-Y-N mine!"
"Relax silly! She is probably just having trouble bringing the ice cream back! It's hard to hold on to more than two cones you know!"
Numbuh Four grabbed his hair with both hands and tugged. "Agh! She's not bringin' any ice cream! She's captured! The Delightful Children prolly have 'er in a prison right now!"
Numbuh Three blinked at the blonde haired boy. Suddenly she grinned and laughed. "The Delightful Children? Yay! They can help carry the ice cream! EEEK!" Numbuh Three shrieked as she was chased from the room by an irritated Numbuh Four.
Numbuh One just looked sadly down at the phone. "Numbuh Five... Please be ok..."
Numbuh Five, in the meantime, was finally coming to. She peered out from under her cap at her surroundings. It seemed like an office of some kind, but it was too dark to see the walls. There were diagrams of 2x4 ships and weapons laying near her cage, on the floor. She crawled weakly over, her muscles still sore from the brutal fight. She skimmed the schematics, not sure what to make of the technical aspects, but certain of one thing, it was Numbuh Two's handwriting.
"Oooh, Numbuh Five is going to have to have a talk with that boy." She shook her head sadly, putting the papers back down. She felt her pockets for her lockpick. No luck, Cree had obviously searched her well. Numbuh Five heard a door open, and shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light that came on. She recognized the sillohuette as her sister's.
"Hello Abigail. I hope you slept allright." Cree laughed derisively. Her voice was thick with contempt. "You didn't honestly think you could sneak into the mansion without being caught, now that I had notice that you were coming, did you?"
Numbuh Five's eyes adjusted to the light coming in, finally allowing her to see. Cree was alone, and the office was obviously hers; there were pictures of her parents, as well as one of Numbuh Two on the desk above Numbuh Five's cage, and her missing stereo was sitting against the far wall. She frowned at her sister, who was currently standing next to the cage.
"What're you going to do now that you caught me, Cree? I know you ain' planning on inviting me to the Delightful Children's party." Numbuh Five sat crosslegged, folding her arms across her chest, trying to maintain her dignity inside this cage.
"I'm going to interrogate you, my dear, sweet Abigail. After that, it's no longer up to me. Father has his own plans for captured Kids Next Door. That's none of my concern, however. I couldn't care less where you go after I am done with you."
"You know you ain't gettin' any answers from Numbuh Five. I'm not like your new boyfriend, I won't sell out the Kids Next Door for anything."
Cree sneered as she looked down at the girl. "Oh, I think you will, Abigail. I think you will."
Numbuh Five gritted her teeth as she watched Cree looking down at her, cracking her knuckles.
After a mostly restless night, it was getting close to noon, time for the mission to begin. Numbuh Five had still not contacted them, and Numbuh One had made certain that the team knew that rescuing her was as important to the mission as defeating the Delightful Children. Holding his gumball gun at the ready, he surveyed his operatives. Numbuh Three was strangely resolute looking, carrying her teddybear launcher. Numbuh Four looked like he was ready to bash someone's head in, energetically swinging his PLANKER around, firing test shots randomly. Numbuh Two was standing near the bus aircraft, nervously tinkering with the SUGAR cannon. Numbuh One coughed pointedly, bringing the team to attention.
"Listen up team. We know that the Delightful Children From Down the Lane are hosting their birthday party today. It is our duty as Kids Next Door to make sure that some of their cake gets to every kid they've detained. Also, I believe that Numbuh Five has been captured. I'm not sure what the adults plan to do with her, but I know it won't be good. After taking care of the Delightful Children, we must immediately infiltrate the mansion, find Numbuh Five, and then bring her back here. Everyone clear on the mission? Good. Numbuh Two, is the bus ready?"
Numbuh Five nodded. "Yes sir, Numbuh One! I'm ready to leave when you are!"
"Then let's go save Numbuh Five!" Numbuh One charged towards the bus.
The voices of nearly two dozen near-crying children rose in a droll song, which sounded like beautiful music to the ears of the Delightful Children.
"Happy Birthday, it's your birthday. Happy Birthday, It's not our brithday. Happy Birthday, here's your cake. Happy Birthday, it's not our cake."
"Thank you all for coming to our birthday party once again, you miserable, jealous children. Our cake today is exceptionally delicious, and we will enjoy watching you drool in envy as we eat it all." Their creepy laughing was suddenly cut short as they spotted an approaching flying bus. They calmly reached over and pressed a button on the console next to them, causing a spindled rooftop nearby to flip open, revealing a catapult loaded with dozens of small stones.
"Here comes the Kids Next Door. Don't be surprised if they cannot help you this time, children. We know their secrets now." Another pressed button flung the grapeshot at the schoolbus, which had just come whithin range.
Hoagie's eyes widened at the barrage of stone flying towards the ship. With this many projectiles, one would surely hit the-- a loud clattering noise, coupled with the sudden explosion from the controls, assured him that the gas pipeline had been smashed, just like he'd mentioned to Cree. There wasn't much time to get out. He hit the emergency eject button, causing large tubes to surround each member of the team, quickly flinging them towards the roof in seperate delivery vehicles.
The wooden barrels containing the four Kids Next Door operatives landed on the roof perfectly, shattering to allow the agents to quickly ready their weapons. In the distance, the schoolbus airship exploded in a fiery ball, showering the Delightful Children's perfectly groomed yard with auto parts. Numbuh One confidently stepped forward from the wreckage of his escape pod.
"No use in resisting, Delightful Dorks! This birthday cake will be shared with all the kids here, except you!" He aimed his gumball weapon directly towards them.
"Numbuh One, we expected you. We expected everything that could happen today; and for the first time, we are ready." The children reached out with four hands, pressing four different console buttons at once. Suddenly, a lot of things happened at the same time.
A high-pitched screech filled the air from a speaker that appeared on the Delightful Children's left side, shattering the glass globe holding the gumballs for Numbuh One's weapon.
A large, expensive Rainbow Monkey plushie was launched onto the balcony from below, causing Numbuh Three to drop her teddybear gun and run towards the doll, arms outstretched.
A small jar was launched from under the table towards Numbuh Four, smashing at his feet and throwing hundreds of hungry termites onto his weapon, quickly rendering it useless.
A gush of water hit Numbuh Two from the side, soaking his cannon, dissolving the sugar and making the bag stick to the inside of the barrel, causing an impossible jam.
The delightful children just smiled. "And now that you are once again weaponless, it's time to reveal our plan. Instead of creating a large monster, we have instead hired some help from our friends, the adults."
The team's eyes went wide as Stickybeard, Count Spankula, Mr. Wink, Mr. Pibb, and Cree rode elevators up from the mansion proper, all ready and raring to defeat them. Numbuh One, however, didn't hesitate at all.
"Kids Next Door, Battlestations!"
Numbuh One was in no mood for these trivial villans. He had his sights set on Cree, but she was waiting for the others to move first, smirking at his obvious frustration. He turned his attention first towards Wink and Pibb, who's lawnchair was growing long, spiderlike legs.
"A very interesting battle, Mister Wink."
"Indeed, Mister Pibb. It seems we finally have the right odds to defeat those pesky Kids Next Door."
Numbuh One, charged with adrenaline, immedately jumped on one of the spindly legs, climbing it quickly as he looked down towards his teammates. Numbuh Three was still happily hugging the stuffed doll, unaware or unconcerned with Count Spankula's approach. Numbuh Four was engaged in what looked to be brutal hand to hand combat with Stickybeard, and Numbuh Two was trying desperately to repair the SUGAR cannon. Numbuh One returned his attention to the two strange men on this suddenly enormous chair.
"You two won't be able to defeat us no matter what the odds, we are the Kids Next Door!" Numbuh One flipped gracefuly as he leapt from the leg of the chair up to the chest of the walrus-like man on top. "And I think I need to tell you, I've had a BAD day."
.....
Numbuh Four might be dumb when it comes to schoolwork, but he knew fighting. He knew enough about fighting to realize that he wasn't good enough to beat a swordsman like Stickybeard alone, especially unarmed. He dodged Stickbeard's wild thrusts with the candycane, careful to keep away from the edges of the balcony. He'd need a miracle to beat this guy. He looked up at the towering machine that Wink and Pibb had built. There was some kind of commotion up there, but he couldn't tell what, except that the machine seemed to be out of control.
Numbuh Four was only able to narrowly duck the swinging iron leg, but Stickybeard was far too large, instead being knocked powerfully sideways, crashing through the rooftop and falling somewhere inside the mansion.
"Yeah! That's what you get, you stinkin' pirate! I'm some kinda genius I am! I-Kick-bu-- oof!" Numbuh Four flew sideways a few feet, landing hard on the wooden platform. He looked up to see someone whose fighting skills he feared much more than Stickybeard's. Cree.
Cree laughed cruelly and lunged towards Numbuh Four, delivering a powerful punch to his jaw. She took advantage of his dazed state to connect with a strong kick to his lower back, knocking him flat on his face. She quickly knelt and tied his hands and feet with rope, kicking him over towards the center of the platform, and readying herself for the next Kid.
.....
Numbuh Three happily buried her face in the huge Rainbow Monkey doll, giggling and smiling. The Delightful Children were so nice! They bought this doll for her, and it was way too expensive for her to afford!
"Playing with other people's toys is wrong, little girl. You deserve a SPANKING!" Numbuh Three suddenly looked up to spot Count Spankula standing over her, hand already raised to deliver a spanking of epic proportions. Numbuh Three was faster however, rolling to the side before he could hit her. Instead, he hit the doll, causing a rip in the fabric on the stomach of the toy, stuffing spilling out everywhere. Numbuh Three went white as a sheet. Then she went red.
"Poor Rainbow Monkey! You can't hurt him anymore!" Numbuh Three ran back to her fallen weapon and begin to pummel Count Spankula with flying teddybears. The vampiric disciplinarian tried to defend himself against the barrage of stuffed animals, but was quickly driven back, forcing him to take flight as a bat and fly away, vowing spanktacular revenge on the Kids Next Door someday.
"Yah! No more spanking my Rainbow Monk-" Numbuh Three's victorious shout was cut short as she heard the long, sickening rip of fabric from the direction of the large doll. She turned to see Cree standing there, holding the recently removed head of the monkey.
"Ohh, I'm sorry baby, was this yours?"
Three's eyes burned with fire as she raised her teddy launcher and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened! She looked at the gun, she was out of bears! She looked back towards Cree, only to see an armored foot quickly approaching, too fast to dodge.
.....
Numbuh Two finally got a new bag loaded into the SUGAR cannon, looking up to stop whoever was coming. He looked around, the only enemy he saw was the towering lawnchair spider, which was hold Numbuh One high above the platform, using two legs to keep him secure.He aimed carefully and grinned.
"Sorry guys! 'Su-crose' and yet so far!" He fired the bag of confectionary goodness at the large machine.
The bag of sugar flew through the air, smashing through the spider's control console with ease. The large machine stuttered momentarily, then fell heavily off the roof, crashing noisily to the ground, five stories below them. Numbuh One fell from where he had been held, landing squarely in the Delightful Children's cake, splattering it all over the rooftop, and in the process sharing the cake with every kid that was still tied up in the chairs.
"Mission accomplished team! Let's get downstairs!" Numbuh One looked around. "Team?"
He stood up and spotted Numbuh Three and Four laying hogtied on the ground, and saw Numbuh Two reloading the SUGAR cannon. Suddenly he remembered which enemy he hadn't accounted for, Cree. He tried to look around to see her, but didn't have time, as he was knocked across the table by an unseen hand.
Numbuh One skidded to a stop on the oppisite end of the long table, springing up to face Cree. She was standing on the table, next to the destroyed cake, regarding Numbuh One with a look of arrogant superiority. She didn't fear him at all. She'd learn better, he vowed.
Inside the mansion, a girl was laying unconscious in a cage. Suddenly, a loud explosion woke her. She opened her eyes cautiously, looking around, and feeling grateful that Cree was no longer there. Numbuh Five rubbed her bruises gingerly and grinned. She'd made it. She could hear sounds of battle upstairs, and she hadn't cracked, hadn't leaked any info at all, despite the abuse from her sister. She reached up and felt her cap, looking for her secret pick. Yes! It was still there! Now that Cree was occupied with the battle, escaping this cage would be no problem.
A few seconds picking the lock proved enough, and the cage door slid easily open. Numbuh Five stood shakily, looking around the paper-filled room. She couldn't let all this information stay in the hands of the enemy. She grabbed a pen from the desk and walked over to the stereo system. After using the pen to pry off part of the casing, she looked into the electronics inside, quickly finding the power cord. She yanked the cord, disconnecting it from the stero, and looked at the frayed wires, sparks sporatically jumping from the ends.
Numbuh Five gathered a few peices of paper, balling them up loosely, and held them close to the exposed power cord. Then she pressed on the cord, causing the two frayed contacts to connect. A shower of sparks and burning electricity flared from the powerwire, and the lights in the hallway dimmed. The paper burst into flame. Numbuh Five grinned, and threw the burning paper into the pile of papers near the desk, watching as the flames quickly spread.
"Numbuh Five thinks it's about time to get outta here."
She kicked open the door into the hallway and looked around, immediately recognizing the second story of the mansion. She ran hastily down the hallway, leaving the door open for the quickly spreading fire. There seemed to be no one around as she sped up the staircase, finding herself once again in the dark hallways on the top story of the mansion. She heard a voice outside.
"Sorry guys! Su-crose and yet so far!"
Numbuh Five rolled her eyes. How did he come up with this stuff?
A few moments later she reached the ladder to the roof. She gritted her teeth, preparing herself for what would certainly be the final battle with Cree.
Numbuh One panted heavily, this was not going well. He blocked another flurry of punches from the teenaged spy, and then ducked a powerful kick. He moved to sweepkick, but was dodged easily. He fell on his back to avoid the sudden wild punch, and then kicked upwards, sending the girl back a few feet.
"Numbuh Two, what's taking you so long? Take the shot!"
Numbuh One reeled from another quick punch, his jaw numbed by the impact. Before he could react, he was smashed in the stomach by another powerful blow. He fell to his knees, out of breath.
"Take... the... shot..."
Numbuh One's world went dark as he collapsed. Cree grinned with satisfaction, then looked towards Numbuh Two.
"Hoagie baby, it's time to put down that toy and come on over here."
Hoagie stood where he was, still pointing the SUGAR cannon at Cree. He had to stop her, he knew that his friends would never be seen again if he didn't. But he couldn't pull the trigger. His brain told him that it was the only way, that he'd never be able to join the adults yet, but his heart and soul screamed to him to just run to her.
The Delightful Children had, as always, been watching. They could see the doubt in Numbuh Two's eyes, and this meant that he was not loyal to the adults. However, they could see that he hadn't fired on Cree, meaning he was not loyal to the Kids Next Door either. This did not confuse them. Father had only been half right in making Cree date him. He was loyal only to Cree now. They smirked. Stupid boy, they would never find themselves attached to some lover instead of their sworn duty.
They did, however, see this as an oppurtunity to discern Cree's loyalty. They began to speak, their monotone breaking the strange tension in the air.
"Agent Cree, you have done very well. We will take it from here. We order you to go back downstairs and see to your sister."
Cree turned sharply towards them, hate in her eyes. "No way, you brats. I'm taking Hoagie with me, and you can't stop me!"
The Delightful Children all smiled in unison. "But we CAN stop you. You see, we thought you might have gotten confused while dating Numbuh Two, so we've decided to eliminate the distraction. You will stay where you are, Cree, if you wish to stay an ally with the adults." Two of the children reached over to the command console, pressing two buttons.
Cree watched in horror as a floor tile catapulted Hoagie towards the edge of the roof. She was paralyzed with uncertainty, she had to stay with the adults, the Kids Next Door would never let her join at her age, and there was nowhere to hide from the adults. However, every part of her wanted to rush to save Hoagie. Torn between these sides, she could only watch as he slid across the roof. He fell from the side of the shingles, but caught himself, left hanging on with one hand.
Suddenly she was aware that Chad had ridden an elevator up behind her. He was the Delightful Children's protection, she realized. She also heard the trapdoor open, and her sister Abigail crawl out from the ladder.
"Go ahead Cree, ignore Hoagie and go after the girl. You know it's the only choice." Chad narrowed his eyes and glared at her. Smoke rose from the burning mansion, giving Chad a demonic look, and making him seem much more dangerous than normal.
Numbuh Five quickly saw what was going on, she hadn't survived years of spy training without being observant. She still didn't dare move yet, knowing that Chad would simply knock them both off the roof if she tried to help, she just wasn't strong enough to fight him off while helping Numbuh Two up.
"Come on Cree! You know you ain' the kinda person to kill anyone! Save him! I'll take care of Chad. Just go!"
Numbuh Two's hand was slipping, a five story fall was beneath him. Cree had a choice to make.
She closed her eyes, focusing for a moment. When she opened them, she was ready.
A/N: Woo, another chapter done. A longer one this time. Cree is at the point of no return, what happens next? The final chapter will be out in a day or two, then perhaps an epilogue afterwards. I hope you are looking forward to finding out how it ends! Read and review, and as always, enjoy.