Operation: A.P.P.R.E.N.T.I.C.E.

Chapter 8

"He got captured again! Bloody hell!" Numbah Four exclaimed, gripping his blond hair in frustration. Not that Numbah Four particularly cared about Numbah Thirteen, he was just shocked that anyone could get captured so much!

"Well, how should we handle this?" Numbah Three-Sixty-Two looked to Eighty-Six and the others.

"It's my professional opinion is that we should rescue him so we can get him decommissioned properly," Eighty-Six sighed. Decommissioning officers wasn't fun, but it was her job, the redhead often had to remind herself that it was necessary for someone to have to do her job.

"He should be?" Numbah Three-Sixty-Two asked, wanting clarification. Decommissions are permanent, once decommissioned it's impossible to rejoin the Kids Next Door.

Numbah Eighty-Six nodded gravely.

"Look, just because the bloke gets captured a lot doesn't mean that he's a spy," Numbah One interjected. It seemed rather silly to him, just because someone gets captured by the enemy a lot doesn't mean he's in cahoots with them. He had worked with Numbah Thirteen only once before, albeit that time the young boy was more of a liability than an asset, he didn't think the kid had the intelligence or the motivation to play the role of a spy.

Numbah Fifteen frowned, "Look, you don't know Thirteen very well, you've only worked with him one time. I've worked with him ever since he first BECAME a Kids Next Door operative!"

"Hey, Numbah One's knows what he's talking about," Numbah Five snapped, annoyed that Fifteen just ignored One's point. "Except if you have some sort of real proof that 'being captured' means 'is on the side of' Numbah Five thinks you should can it."

Numbah Eleven looked up gravely, "Numbah Thirteen has a FATHER who's a bad-guy, just based on that alone, doesn't that tell you guys anything?"

The Kids Next Door paused to figure out what the implications Numbah Eleven was reaching at were. Numbah Four broke the silence, "That the klutz is going to grow up to be like 'daddy' anyway, we shouldn't let him learn our secrets?"

"We don't know that for sure," Numbah Two finally added to the debate by pointing out. "Albeit, he already struck me as kind of bitter with his lot in life. But are we made by the choices we make or by the genes we inherit from our parents? Are our primal urges in our nature or nurture?"

Numbah Eighty-Six's brow furrowed- wondering why logic failed so many fellow operatives, "You do realize if his dad's a villain, he's got that going for him both in his parentage and in his environment right?"

"Both sides do have valid points," Numbah Three-Sixty-Two stated, her gaze going between those who had spoken up, as if trying to read if someone's face said "right" or "wrong" on it to make the judgment call easier on her. "I believe we should put it to a vote. And don't forget after this we need to go rescue him, regardless of how it ends."

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"Alright, Kids Next Door, let's go!" Numbah One said, pointing towards the Earth, as if instructing his teammates to run through space. Numbah Three was glad to try to oblige such a silly request, she jumped up and down and flapped her arms wildly, the ends of green sleeves wailed all over the place. She continued for several minutes before coming to the realization that, despite gravity being less forceful, she still could not completely over come it and joined the rest of her team in a rocket ship to go back to earth.

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"Why did you capture my son!" a man in yellow whined. The Toilenator sometimes just didn't understand Mr. Boss. "You do realize that he IS my son right?"

That's not good, Mr. Boss realized. He had been all giddy about having a child of a subordinate in the Kids Next Door. He had hoped the child would've been a decent spy, not a bumbling oaf like his father. Should've figured it was the kid that the Kids Next Door didn't even like who kept on goofing up so much that was the Toilenator's son.

"So your child is Numbah Thirteen," Mr. Boss stated coolly.