ARCTIC BASE

"First thing I'm gonna do when I get in there and have one of those terrorist punks in my sights, I'm gonna try that spinning crescent kick I practiced yesterday. Take away his weapon and knock him unconscious in one move…"

"Oh boy, here we go." Grumbled Numbuh 5. The flight through the Arctic circle had mostly been made in silence, but now that Numbuh 4 was getting into his combat mode and getting riled up about the imminent fight there wasn't going to be any chance of respite from his rant until the fight began.

"…then when I find a whole gang of 'em in a close circle I'll jump in and do lightning wheel kicks all around. 'Like wheat under a scythe' is how my old master described it…"

"Great for you, now shut up." moaned Numbuh 2.

"…And if any of them tries to go hand-to-hand I'll give 'em a good solid joint-lock, and maybe an arm-bar and lay 'em flat…"

"NUMBUH 4!" Numbuh 1 interrupted, "If you fought with half the energy that you use to brag about what moves you'll use you could probably level that whole base single-handedly."

"Hey you really think so Numbuh 1?"

"Ugh…" went Numbuhs 2 and 5.

"I don't know why you're so excited about this Numbuh 4 – I mean these are children we're talking about," came the caring and compassionate voice of Numbuh 3, "Even if they are terrorists I think it's because they just don't know any better. Frankly I think we should be focusing on ways to reform them and prevent any other kids from going down such a destructive path, not beating them senseless for making a few wrong decisions."

"Ah, don't worry Numbuh 3. After we all get through with that Arctic Base I'll bet'cha Kids Next Door operatives all over will start handing in their resignations just so they won't have to face any of us."

Keep dreaming… thought Numbuh 5.

"Come on guys am I the only one who's excited about this mission?"

Evidently… thought Numbuh 2.

"Ah you're all a bunch of wet blankets, this is gonna be awesome…"

"Radar says we're coming up on something guys… looks like… a tree."

"Is it one of their giant Treehouses Numbuh 5? Like the ones we saw in the briefing?"

"No boss, it's just a little pine tree out in the middle of nowhere. But how's that possible, there ain't nothing but ice up here, how's it surviving?"

"It's our target Numbuh 5 – and it's where you're going to enter the base. Numbuh 2, get us in position over that tree so Numbuh 5 can jump out, but don't hover too long. We don't want those Kids Next Door to get wise to our plan."

"Roger that, Numbuh 1."

Numbuh 5 slipped a white hood over her head – which proved difficult with her long braid. Coupled with her white jumpsuit she would blend in perfectly with the snow and ice landscape. Numbuh 2 slowed the chopper as he flew in over the tree, he stopped to hover and switched the side door open.

"Good luck 'Snow White'." Saluted Numbuh 3 with a giggle.

"Well thank you 'Happy'." Numbuh 5 retorted with a wink and a smile. "Just keep 'em distracted for me." And with that she jumped from the chopper to the highest pine limb. It swayed slightly after catching her, but was strong enough to hold. As soon as she caught herself on the tree limb, Numbuh 2 swerved the chopper away, heading toward what his diagrams showed to be the perimeter of the base.

"ETA 30 seconds you guys."

Numbuh 4 fastened his last glove and gave a signal of preparedness by tightening his knuckles into a fist, causing them to crack. Numbuh 3 placed her goggles around her eyes, delicately setting them in place so they were snug and comfortable, she was very apprehensive. Numbuh 1 stood by the door with the firm resolution of a general about to guide his troops into the jaws of destruction.

"Ready when you are Numbuh 2." He stated very simply.

Numbuh 2 turned the fuselage about to angle the door at one of the base's concealed entrances, dropped down fast and caused a jolt in the cabin when he stopped just short of the ground. Pressing the control button on the control panel the door slid open and Numbuh 1 hopped down to the snow, followed close on his left by Numbuh 4 and a little slower and more delicately on his right by Numbuh 3. Once the craft was empty of passengers, Numbuh 2 ascended slightly as he closed the door and brought the nose of his craft to face the wall of ice before them.

Numbuh 1 spoke into his microphone as he trudged forward. "Do it Numbuh 2," and a bright beam of light shot from a mounted cannon on Numbuh 2's helicopter, cutting the great ice sheet along its seal. The wall fractured, began to sag, and then collapsed in a cascade of snow and ice crystals. When the cloud of ice particles dissipated it revealed a great window into an enormous hangar, filled with vehicles, boxes of supplies and a horde of stunned Kids Next Door operatives, stupefied by the site they had just beheld.

One of the kids on the base floor, an obvious leader by the way he composed himself in this crisis, wasted no time in reacting: "Kids Next Door! BATTLE STATIONS!" And the fight began.

Meanwhile, Numbuh 5 was working her way down the pine tree, branch by branch, looking for anything that may suggest an opening.

Near the tree's base she found a large knothole that did not have the appearance of being natural. She suspended herself from a higher branch with a rope and harness and descended until she was level with the knothole, then placed a hand on its unusually smooth surface. The flat surface receded into the tree and a section near the base swung open on hinges like a door, offering an opening just big enough for Numbuh 5 to squeeze through.

She dropped to the ground and wiggled her way into the tree and down into the Arctic base.

Numbuh 4 was racing around like mad, dodging the random shots from KND sharpshooters and the occasional punch or kick thrown by one of the kids on the hangar floor. He'd pulled off a few takedowns and even incapacitated the leader that spurred the rest of the base into action, but for the most part none of his enemies were looking to pick a fight hand-to-hand with an adult. And certainly not one with such speed, agility and obvious fighting expertise.

As for the rest of his team, Numbuh 1 had had to take cover behind ammo boxes and grounded vehicles several times to avoid being hit by enemy fire, Numbuh 4 guessed that his leader probably wasn't in the best shape and couldn't keep up with the speed that he and Numbuh 3 were having to match.

Numbuh 3 was dodging fire with flawless grace and precision. One would think she was just doing an elaborate dance if not for the many streaks of laser fire and odd projectiles that flew her way and narrowly missed hitting her. If she ever occasioned to come within striking distance of any of her adversaries, she'd jump away and just keep up her dodging rather than try to disarm any of the kids.

Numbuh 2, meanwhile, had never had to react so fast in his life. The helicopter that the DAFDTL had provided him with was unspeakably fast and maneuverable, but even with it's high level of engineering and performance, Numbuh 2 was having difficulty negotiating how to dodge the shots being fired at him from the turrets around the base. He couldn't withdraw to a safe distance because he would jeopardize the team, but staying so close required him to keep a split second reaction time in order to dodge the various projectiles flying at his aircraft.

Bet dad never had to fly anything like this… Hoagie thought to himself and he imagined his father would be looking down on him with pride.

Though none of the team had been injured, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed of so many enemies for very long. They were all secretly hoping Numbuh 5 was near to fulfilling her part of the mission and that the Code Module wasn't long from being retrieved.

Numbuh 5 had meanwhile been running through the icy corridors of the base, hiding from the many operatives that raced through, heading for the central hangar where the rest of her team was holding the diversion.

As Numbuh 5 raced through the corridors, looking for the room with the Code Module she heard what sounded like a reply come in over the intercom.

"…Affirmative Arctic Base, Global Command is sending reinforcements to assist. ETA five minutes…"

Five minutes! She needed to move fast. Before that timer ran down she would need to take down the guards around the Safe, use the stolen access code that the DAFDTL Base Command had provided her with, steal the Code Module without damaging it, get back to the hangar or up the ventilation shaft in the tree, and leave Numbuh 2 with the time necessary to get her and the rest of the team clear of the base before they were overrun.

She looked up at the signs above the rooms she passed while running down the corridor. She'd just passed the Decommissioning Office and she had seen the arrows pointing down the hallway, saying that she was heading towards the Armory.

Well if it's in alphabetical order I should be getting pretty close… she was hoping.

Down a new corridor: C.

All right, some good news.
Communications… Commissary…CODE MODULE! BINGO!

Numbuh 5 stopped in front of a great wooden door to catch her breath.

A Wooden door?

She'd expected something as important as the Code Module would be kept behind a door of titanium or heavy steel that she would have to wire explosives to, but then again these were kids she was dealing with, they used what they had, not necessarily what was most practical or intelligent.

Once she had caught her breath, she placed a small oxygen mask over her face, lifted her foot and drove it on home to the door latch. The door flew open with such force that its hinges came loose. Inside there were only two operatives, each armed with homemade rifles and pistols. Numbuh 5 pulled a small smoke grenade from her utility belt and threw it at their feet. The grenade erupted, filling the room with a blinding, choking cloud of gas that immediately knocked both her adversaries unconscious.

Numbuh 5 strode up and took a look at the safe. What a Safe! It was a large cylinder with tight chains, multiple dial codes and every conceivable lock ever invented by the hand of man or kid. But she had been told that the real way into the safe was through the computer, so she set to the access code.

For the whole afternoon and night before, Numbuh 5 had been practicing this code on the computer keyboards back at the DAFDTL base. She'd gotten it down so she could enter the twenty-digit code, then bypass the dual keycard activation procedure with another code (this one a full forty digits) and enter the last six characters (Y-I-P-P-E-R) in less than a minute without a single foul-up.

After entering the last code digit, the dozens of locks on the door flew open and the seals hissed as the vacuum seal was released. The door swung open, revealing a thick plastic and metal disk about the size of a hubcap: the Code Module.

Numbuh 5 snatched the precious cargo, started to close the safe door, decided there was no time to spare, slid the goods into the special pouch in her backpack, jumped outside the doorway to the corridor and took off running toward the hangar.

Numbuh 4 was fighting with all he had in him and he was relishing every second of it. His old master, Meng Jing kuang had schooled him in some of the most destructive and devastating physical arts ever known, and Numbuh 4 had absorbed those teachings with unrivaled excellence, but even those lessons and those experiences weren't going to keep him on his feet and fighting forever. Numbuh 4 wouldn't admit it, but he was slowing down, and his enemies were as unrelenting as ever.

Where are you Numbuh 5?

Suddenly his question received an unexpected answer when Numbuh 5 came racing out of one of the corridors like a white snow rabbit running out of foxhole. Numbuh 1 saw her too and reacted immediately, though he looked even more exhausted than anyone.

"There's Numbuh 5! Numbuh 2," he barked into his communicator, "we're ready, return to the hangar entrance to evacuate now."

"Roger that, Numbuh 1." Came the reply.

Numbuh 5 went running out of the hangar with Numbuh 1 while Numbuhs 3 and 4 lagged behind slightly, trying to draw the last of the enemy fire and provide an escape for their teammates. Soon enough the whole team was gathered outside the hangar under the eave of snow overhanging the base entrance, and their getaway helicopter came flying in.

Numbuh 2 set down below a distant snow bank to hide from enemy fire, much to the dismay, though general acceptance of the other four Operatives on the ground.

After the last of the team cleared the snow bank and jumped into the helicopter Numbuh 2 raised his craft off the ground, aimed away from the Arctic base and set off with all speed heading south to the cargo ship that would retrieve them.

"Well Numbuh 5 …(pant)… did you …(pant)… did you get it?" asked Numbuh 4.

Numbuh 5 was lying down on the floor of the craft, breathing fast and heavy, stripping off her goggles, helmet and even ripping at her jumpsuit to allow some of the heat to escape her and give her heart room to beat as her lungs struggled to keep up. Though she hardly looked capable of talking, as it was a struggle for her to breathe properly, she turned away from Numbuh 4, grabbed her backpack, turned back to him and slid it across the floor.

"Have a …(pant)… look …(pant)… yourself." She managed to say through her panting.

But Numbuh 4 was too exhausted to open the backpack and see. Numbuh 3 had her back up against the wall of the fuselage and was also gasping for air. Numbuh 1 had strapped himself into the copilot's seat up front next to Numbuh 2, and he clearly had no desire to get up again unless completely necessary.

It wasn't until Numbuh 2 had landed the helicopter on the deck of the ship and received confirmation that the Kids Next Door reinforcements had flown overhead and not seen them that Numbuh 1 finally summoned up the strength to walk into the back of the chopper, pick up the white backpack and open it.

As he pulled out the Code Module and held it delicately he couldn't help but smile at their success.

"Bravo, team. Bravo."

Author Now things are really gonna get interesting... please review and I'll have the next chapter up soon