She was leaving her plate of food in the sink when the alarm on her violet sweet smile rainbow monkey alarm clock started flashing. She was happy when she saw the signal because she hadn't received any mission for several days and waiting to receive news from Kuki was taking too long. She needed some action.
She told her parents that she would go up to her room early because she had homework to do as the good responsible girl that she was. She had a profile to maintain. Mushi wasn't going to let himself be defeated by her sister, or by anyone.
She entered his room and locked the door and went to her windows and drew the curtains. The night had already entered so the only bright thing in her room was her watch. She touched a few buttons on his rainbow monkey watch and her closet opened automatically. They pushed their things to one side, revealing a small control center with a monitor that turned itself on.
Mushi's little cockpit was installed by Tommy before he was 13 years old. She was infinitely grateful. The girl belonged to sector Q, or at least what was left of it. She had a partner, Number 223, a guy who she said wasn't up to her potential but was at least good at creating backup plans under pressure. She was almost sure that he only worked that way.
Because many in the KND already operated more secretly, they only saw each other when they had missions and between classes at school. He was in another classroom because he was a year younger.
The screen displayed the letters "INCOMING TRANSMISSION" and she pressed a pink triangle button and then a rather cute boy with braces appeared. He corresponded to Number 65.3, the cousin of 63.5, that overweight communication officer, who had already left KND a few years ago when he turned 13.
"This is a pre-recorded message for all the operatives of Kids Next Door. The next mission consists of using each active and available operative for the invasion of a teenage party in the mansion of the already known, The Delightful Children From Down the Lane.
"Delightful dorks? I thought they were inactive since Numbuh One disappeared"
"According to our informants, you know, the younger brothers of the teenagers who were invited, you can only enter by invitation and many ninjas are also involved. We think they're up to something and our job is to figure out their plan and end it before it starts. By the way, I would like to remind you that the KND remains firm despite our casualties." he took off a hat he was wearing and bowed his head a bit, then put it back on "It is mandatory that each operative be present unless they have been assigned a high-priority mission . Mission instructions will be sent to everyone at the end of the broadcast."
The letters "End of transmission" appeared on the screen and from the small box next to it, a piece of paper with instructions was printed. Mushi took it once the process was finished and she began to read it.
"Operation P.U.N.C.H."
Perfect
Opportunity at
Night for
Combat and
Hide
"Definitely 65.3 doesn't know how to name the missions," Mushi spoke to herself before continuing to read the mission instructions.
"Day: Saturday night
Time: 9:00 p.m.
Place: Delightful Children Manor
Instructions:
All operatives must be ready in position 5 minutes before the agreed date. The more children in the area attacking at the same time, the more likely it is to succeed.
It is recommended to carry several weapons on you in case the mission becomes complicated.
Analyze escape routes in the event of any possible dangerous scenario and…"
The screen flickering and the computer reporting another incoming transmission interrupted Mushi from reading her mission.
"Hello, what's up Numbuh 333" Sonia greeted him on this occasion. She wasn't wearing the helmet and from what she looked behind the blonde, she was at the lunar base.
"Oh, it's just you Numbuh 83."
"You don't seem very happy to see me."
"Traitor," she whispered, then sighed in annoyance, "Do you need me to go on some rescue mission or something?"
"I'm afraid not. Your mission instructions should be coming your way by now." Mushi watched as the instruction sheet printed out and it seemed to be much longer than the last.
"What's all this?" She wonders more to herself as she takes the instruction sheet and begins to read it, "Tommy? Do you want me to take Tommy to the party?"
"I want you to ignore all the previous instructions and follow the ones I send you in great detail."
"Joey approved of this?" She raised an eyebrow at herself. "Who would have thought, even the Supreme Leader gets away with it."
"Show some respect to your Leader," she sighed heavily. Talking to Mushi took a lot of energy but she had no one else to entrust something so important to. "I know you don't get along with 444 but he knows what he does. Now back to the mission" she made a short pause "It's against the rules for an operative older than 13 years to be assigned a KND mission but since Numbuh 87 doesn't seem to be doing his job well, we'll take advantage of Tommy as much as possible. After all, you somehow work well together and understand each other."
"Did they promote Numbuh 87? I didn't think that would happen." After saying this, she noticed how much the KND news was missing today which had been cut off indefinitely.
"His brother will soon be 13, it's something we already knew was going to happen" on the screen next to Sonia, Lee appeared, also without a helmet, without his characteristic hat; he looked so different.
"You guys have really grown up," Mushi said in a sad tone. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to them. They were her role models.
"Don't get whiny now 333" she replied Number 84 "I'm done talking with Number T."
"Seriously 84, you're the only one who calls him that," Sonia said. "Okay, we have to go. Please, Mushi, be very careful and contact Tommy later. Regarding your sister" she let out a heavy sigh when mentioning her "we have no news for now.
Mushi was going to reply but she decided to keep quiet. She couldn't ask for anything more from KND. She was going to act soon and end all of this once and for all. She was sure that this would ensure her success and would make her rise in the lunar base with a very high position.
She said goodbye to her superiors and then called Tommy and both, after finishing their conversation, were left with the question of the one they had to protect and who was the priority reason for the mission. Who was "The Subject"?
Nigel rubbed his eyes a few times before finally opening them. He had been a pretty heavy sleeper and was having a hard time getting out of bed and going to his classes. Then as if he took a cold shower, he suddenly remembered the events of the night before. This helped him get up in a hurry and put on a sweater to go outside.
"I can't believe this is true," Nigel spoke to himself as he left his house and saw her towering treehouse right where he remembered it.
A feeling of nostalgia filled him completely. He had to restrain himself from screaming and scaring his parents or his neighbors. He approached the large trunk and touched it with his hands to verify that it was real. When the computer asked for access and he said his name, a gate opened where the elevators were. He had to bend down a bit to enter the one that said number 1, again life reminding him that he was no longer a child.
When he arrived at the large room where everyone met when he dictated the mission guidelines, he couldn't help but let some tears escape him, it seemed like a dream. He was back in his home. It's a pity that none of his friends were selected to continue being part of KND in the TND division, which seemed strange to him, they were all exceptional, including Four, even though he deserved to have the privilege of staying with the memories of the.
He entered his room first, which he expected to be emptier. Surely by never being decommissioned he caused the thing to never be properly dismantled from his belongings. Even in some drawers there were still clothes from him when he was a child. However, his weapons and artifacts were not there, probably the others used them or simply took them when there were no agents left operating in the tree house.
Numbuh 2's room looked very dull, with many boxes full of junk and parts of who knows what weapon or ship they were. There was nothing that was in good condition, except his voyage ship which retained much of its original shape but even with all the pieces in place, he doubted that would still work. Later he would take care of obtaining or building a new one.
He was still flooded with stuffed animals in Numbuh 3's room, but other than that there was nothing more important in that room. He remembered once that in one of his galactic missions he found a castle full of stuffed animals and remembered the girl who lived in that room, Kuki surely wouldn't want to leave that castle if he saw something like that. She would go crazy and even with Numbuh 4's help she couldn't get her out of that place.
Nigel didn't go into Numbuh 4's room, just peeked in the door. The boxing ring shaped bed was still there but nothing else.
Without a doubt, the room in which he spent the most time apart from his own, was Numbuh 5's. His friend, his accomplice, his partner, and the girl who introduced him to KND. She had everything to be the best then, why didn't she stay on TND? Nigel thought that perhaps she had been offered the position but for some reason she turned it down. But then, she wouldn't be the Abigail Lincoln he knew. What will have happened?
He began to feel the emptiness of her 5-year absence in his chest. How much had the friends of his that he thought he knew like the back of his hand changed? He missed his birthdays, their adventures, their changes, growing up with them...
He checked the watch on his phone and realized that he would be late for school. There will be time later for regrets, for now he had to hurry up, after all today was an important day.
Patton arrived earlier than usual at school to meet Wally and learn about the secret hideout and his new obligations. He felt a little bad for not picking up Fanny that morning but with a message from her telling him that her father would take her he felt that he could breathe easier. He had to work on her detachment from her, it couldn't be that he felt everything from her and she felt nothing.
But how can you command the heart?
"And this is your key," Wally said, handing him a card. "If you can memorize the code so you don't always carry the card with you, it would be much more effective." It was a 10-digit code, even though he was surprised that someone like Wally could memorize so many numbers, they had truly transformed him into another person.
They were both leaving the cafeteria when an angry teenager approached them with hasty steps. "WALLY!" Tyler yelled at him when he was in front of him. The difference in size was very noticeable and yet Wally's imposing bad boy countenance was unaffected. "Can you explain to me what this shit is?" He pointed at Patton and he just cocked his head to the side, "How do you think of taking my position away from me to give it to Drilovsky?
"Oh shut up, I'm sick of your tantrums. Plus Drilovsky seems to be more capable of doing the job you didn't want to do."
"But what about my office?"
"Believe me, neither I nor anyone else wants to go in there, your code will still work with that thing you call "office", I seriously don't care about the dirty things you do there. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other more important things to do." Wally reached into his leather jacket and left the two teens alone.
"Oh great, now who can put up with this spoiled millionaire" thought Patton seeing how he was left alone with the enemy.
"Listen to me, Drilovsky," he stood in front of him. "I don't know what's going on, but I'll get to the bottom of this. Nobody, absolutely nobody, passes over me."
Patton just rolled her eyes at his threat. Before Tyler could say anything else, he just walked out of the room. He wasn't in the mood to fight this early in the morning.
Passing the kitchen of the cafeteria, behind some pantries, he comes to a small room that is used to store kitchen implements. There is a reader who leaves behind a door where you go down some stairs and there is the main entrance of the happy hideout for teenagers where Patton now had access, only he did not imagine that the underground place was so big and complicated. Too many rooms, corridors and there was even an elevator for more lower levels. It would take him a while to run through everything and be able to make a good map and study the security weaknesses of the place, but it was his job and he had to do it. He was sure that somewhere in that underground trap where the disappeared were, there was Rachel...
"I hope the information you give me now is important, I still have paperwork to do and homework to finish" Fanny complained as always at the mall.
"This will serve as an excuse in case they see us, that we really did spend time together outside of school and besides, you wanted to buy clothes for the party and in the end you tried on a lot of things and didn't buy anything."
"Men never understand" she crossed her arms angrily "That explains her lack of good taste when it comes to dressing."
"Hey, it may not look like it but I take great care of my image."
"Anyway, now tell me what we're up against."
As if on command, Patton's face changed and his voice grew more serious as he spoke.
"It's an underground base, it has security cameras but not enough in my opinion, there are too many corridors and rooms and everything seems to be numbered and classified in numbers and letters, I guess so they don't get lost themselves. There are two elevators, one that I use with Matador and with that I could see that they are 9 levels lower. The other elevator looks at it from afar, it seems to be bigger but I'm not sure if it also has access to the 9 levels or if there will be more.
"I wonder, how did they build something like that under the school without anyone noticing?"
"Maybe that was already there, some base from a previous villain or something. When I have that information I will let you know with details."
"You may be right…" she stopped when Patton stopped walking alongside her. "What's wrong?"
"I think the ones sitting there are Tyler and Matador. It is the perfect opportunity."
"What are you talking about?"
Wally had gone to the mall to eat a good hamburger to de-stress and get rid of his obligations for an afternoon, but he didn't count on Tyler following him to talk or claim what happened with his lost rank either.
"Don't you have a mission to the moon base that you must execute perfectly?" Wally asked, giving him a serious look as he grabbed his burger to take a big bite.
"I don't know why you send me to supervise the work of the Bartie and Veronica duo if you already know how expert they are," Tyler commented as he played with his chili fries. "They're one of the best teams in all of teenage ninjas, sometimes I think. that you only do it to annoy me, like taking my position and giving it to stupid Drilovsky."
Within the organization of teenage ninjas, many tend to work in groups, among them the duo of Bartie and Veronica, a couple of teenagers who could accomplish any complicated mission. Together they were unstoppable.
"I have my reasons" he finally said after choking on his food, he should eat more slowly "Besides, I'm tired of your lack of commitment in the missions and that you always bother the girls we have as test subjects."
"You're so boring Wally, get yourself a girl or something."
The blond fell silent upon hearing that. He had a girl or so he thought, one he cared for, but no one had to know. Suddenly, he noticed that Tyler was staring at one point and he saw that he was looking at Patton with Fanny who did not seem to realize that the other was looking at them disapprovingly.
"I don't understand your obsession with Drilovsky's girl when clearly she doesn't want anything to do with you and you have a pretty pretty girlfriend in my opinion."
"What are you going to know, Wally? It can't be that girl rejected me."
Patton stopped and moved to face the redheaded girl. This was the opportunity. Tyler wouldn't know that they know they were already detected by them and the whole scene would seem natural to anyone's eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Listen to me carefully" the boy got closer to the girl, making her nervous "Tyler is here and I'm sure he doesn't know that we noticed that he's looking at us, you can hit me later but I need to do this so he can let you in peace and believe that our relationship is real."
"Wh-what?" You're crazy."
"Of course I'm crazy about you"
"I'm going to kiss you but the longer we take, the more suspicious it will be, it has to be now. I'm sorry."
Kiss her? You're not serious, are you? Before she could react, Patton gently took her shoulders and approached her face. She thought about moving, hitting him, slapping him, kicking her in the ribs but her body didn't move. She just let him do it.
When her lips touched, Fanny could almost swear that she sent electricity through her entire body. She thought it would just be a touch but Patton pulled her closer to her body and kissed her harder, deepening the act with her tongue and tugging lightly at her lower lip. They had never kissed her like that and she felt strange but at the same time, she felt warm, ticklish, something in her chest grew every time she heard how he sighed, savoring her lips.
The kiss took longer than they both could control.
"Oh great, now I have to watch them eat each other alive outside of school too, and I thought they didn't like each other at all," Tyler commented irritably to Wally, who had already finished his burger. "Can we go now?"
"You really are a nuisance in my shoe" Wally said getting up from the table and Tyler followed him with a hurried step, he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. He couldn't bear to look at them anymore.
Patton gently separated from the girl who had her cheeks red and her lips parted. How to resist that image? He was practically urging him on, where was his self-control when he needed it? Before he could do anything else, the girl turned quickly and mumbled something like "bathroom" and she hurried away to the restroom area near where they were.
She turned on the faucet and washed her face. It couldn't be that her face was so red. Was it pity, shame, anger? Rachel's image appeared as if it were a reflection in the mirror. She was failing her friend.
She was always so rude and she felt so bad for letting a man seduce her like that. Where was the Fanny who hated men above all things? She inwardly cursed her adolescent hormones. Damn Patton knew how to kiss well and he hoped that with such a show she had put on, Tyler Remington would finally leave her alone. Why was that moron still so determined to make her one more girl of her conquest plan? She didn't make sense.
She took several deep breaths and calmed down before walking out of the bathroom and facing the boy who had disturbed all of her senses. Even her legs weakened, she felt stupid.
She didn't say a word until they got to the truck. Once Patton put on his seatbelt and turned the key to turn it on, he received a slap from the redhead who after that just looked out the window. To tell the truth, he expected an explosive Fanny, screaming, and hitting him at least 50 times but nothing. Nothing happened.
Something was wrong.
She was hurt, she wasn't angry.
"You idiot Patton, you screwed up."
The boy drove in silence and dropped her off at her house. They didn't even say goodbye or say a word to each other.
He had hurt her, and he felt terrible about it.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as she got out of the truck and went into her house, sure she hadn't heard him.
