Chapter 16: "Surprise" Party
It was only seven o'clock in Gallagher, yet already the night sky appeared blanketed in tiny little stars, every last one a drop of light shrouding the night sky. To all appearances, they seemed to calm Nigel, his navy eyes lost as he kept them on the stars shining whimsy. Though in reality, it was all he could do to ignore the groan worthy gags coming from his uncle in the back seat. Unfortunately for him, all he could feel was his eyes rolling over, even feeling an unneeded sigh escape his throat as he continually listened to such a horrid sound Though oddly, this didn't seem to bother Monty one bit. In fact, he even smiled.
"Just like old times, huh Ben", asked a cheerful sounding Monty.
"You know, when I think of you catching fish, I always remember it being more tolerable", Ben replied in a clearly annoyed tone.
"Oh, it didn't matter; why I could catch fifty fish and you'd still find the stench vomit inducing", he jovially replied, his words peaking Nigel's sudden interest.
"Really", the bald boy asked with enthusiasm.
"Like you wouldn't believe it old bean! Why, I remember the time pappie came home with at least fifty bags of salmon, he got so sick he couldn't eat for weeks after they stunk up the house", he finished with glee as his son began to laugh, much to his brother's bemusement.
"Yeah, yeah, hah, I forgot how to laugh", the grouchy man replied in a rather sarcastic manner, feeling his attention return as the cramped truck stopped in front of his mansion. "Well, thanks for dropping me off Monty."
"Any time Ben", the old man happily replied. But only as he did did Nigel's head turn, his navy eyes filled with an almost anxious glaze as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Wait, Uncle Ben", cried the mildly hysteric bald boy as his words caught his uncle's attention.
"What is it kid", he asked in a less than interested tone.
"I just wanted to thank you for earlier", the British boy sincerely explained as he took in his uncle's reaction; first, he appeared surprised, almost touched even. But quickly did that look revert to his much grumpier composure.
"Yeah, well...think nothing of it kid...I just can't stand people acting all mopey around me, kapeish", he asked his nephew who said nothing in return at first. Why, he even smiled a little as he raised an eyebrow.
"Kapeish", the young boy said in a more all knowing manner.
"Good", the grouch said in a much more confident manner, unaware of the tiny smirk his nephew gave him as his feet carried him up the path to the front of his mansion.
"So, did you have fun today Nigel", asked a voice which surprised Nigel before he turned to face the gentle smiling face of his father.
"Yeah, I did actually", he calmly replied, only to feel concerned as he watched his dad let out a small sigh.
"Oh good, for awhile there I was starting to worry about you...But you know how parents are...", he jovially replied, allowing for Nigel to feel his own relief upon hearing his father's chuckles.
"I'm home my Delightful Children", Ben loudly announced as he entered the front door, though something didn't seem right; it was dark, too quiet even as his suspicious eyes depicted. " That's strange, where are those-"
Though shortly after did he feel himself being cut off by a rather loud explosion, one that sounded very near, one that made him feel himself gulp before making a small turn around. Sure enough, he turned to see smoke rising into the air, very little debris even flying through the air, and all from a few blocks away. Though oddly enough, it was confusion that grazed rather than confusion, much like it had done for Nigel and Monty.
"Oh dear, I sure hope those people know it's past the fourth of July", replied a mildly surprised sounding Monty.
Unfortunately though, Nigel could only feel his eyes widen upon seeing the location in which the explosion came from; why it was none other then Ebeneezer Way, directly in front of his property to be premise.
"Listen dad, I need to do something! You stay here", the bald boy replied, his growing ever more stern as he leapt from the car to the street, sprinting the instant he hit the ground.
"Wait, Nigel come back", cried the confused sounding Monty. "Nigel!"
But it was too late, for the young boy was already half a block away from where they parked by the time he heard his father say anything. Hi breath was hoarse now, even his eyes grew more stern in their determination the more he sprinted, with one glaring exception dancing in his head.
"Dammit", the one day I pick not to wear jet boots", the British bald boy cursed to himself, ignoring his comment seconds later as he continued on his way, growing more weary of the damage that had been done.
Yet, Nigel could only wish to know just how powerful that explosion was. In fact, it was powerful enough to send the GUMZOKA-weilding Abigail back a few feet, why she was lucky even to find herself landing on her own two feet as gracefully as she did. In fact, it even sent the telekinetic magatama-weilding Alex back a few feet, causing her to wobble a bit before landing to her own two feet, though not as gracefully as her friend had done.
"Don't these beatniks ever take a break", Alex asked in a rather annoyed sounding tone.
"Oh come girl, if they did that they'd be out of a job...Either way, it's gonna make that food taste all the sweeter", Abigail said in a rather jokey yet spunky tone, causing her friend smile.
"I concur...Even if that does sound like something Hoagie-kun would say", the mutant brunette replied.
Seconds later though did the ground shake, catching the duo's attention as they looked up to face their target; the Really Really Incredibly Destructive Machine, a group of sinister looking Delightful Children calmly placed in its cockpit.
"We must admit; this certainly beats drinking tea for a whole evening", the creepy children spoke in sinister unison.
"Awe, I wouldn't count on that Delightful Dopes, we all know you can do better than that. If anythin', you look like ya' startin' ta' get bored ta' Numbuh 5", the spunky black girl replied in a teasing manner, though never once did their smirks leave their perfectly synchronized faces.
"On the contrary Abigail, we're having oodles of fun. And putting a final nail in your coffins will prove a most satisfying end to a perfect evening", they replied in a creepy, almost joyful monotone.
"OH please, just be lucky we're going easy on you. Why if I had my way, I could flatten you and that machine in three seconds flat...But I guess you probably already know that...wouldn't you", the curly haired girl asked, her tone as confident as it was arrogant, it even caused the middle Delightful boy tighten his grip upon the control sticks as she spoke.
"Has anyone every told you to keep your mouth shut", the children asked, their harmonious unison a tad bit angry, not that it mattered to the curly haired mutant.
"Well, I wold but it's not prohibited by law", she replied in a snarly tone, able to watch their enemy twitch with anger before allowing their faces to relax into evil smirks.
"Perhaps we can arrange that for you", the children said in sinister unison as they lifted the machine's left leg straight into the air, catching the attention of a concerned yet determined looking Abigail as she opened her mouth to speak.
"You take the left, I'll take the right", the stern second-in-command screeched to her friend.
"Hai", her friend screeched back, all the while muttering the Japanese word for "yes".
Quickly, they shot off like bunnies, their timing couldn't have been any better as the mechanical arms came down to the spots they just recently stood in. The spunky black girl ran fast against the machine's right side as she took her shots, cursing as those shots merely grazed the legs and nothing more. The mutant brunette moved fast as well as she threw her telekinetic rings towards the machine, unable to dent the protective casing, but impactful enough to send the machine on a course to the ground. Unfortunately, it was on a collision course with a frightful looking Abigail.
Lucky for her, she had zero time to cower as her hazel eyes stared in awe at their surprising amount of balance, only to find one of the legs being supported by the telekinetic ropes of of a struggling Alex. Seeing her opportunity, the braided beauty leapt atop the machine as she fired her dual GUMZOOKAs once more, only to stare and grimace before landing on her feet once more.
"Damnit! Not even a scratch", cursed the determined sounding Abigail.
"Well then what do we do now", asked the struggling Alex, unable to see her friends hazel eyes light up with assurance.
"Ooh, what indeed", she coolly replied, confusing the mutant girl before she took a glance towards the horizon.
The ground began to shake as a figure ran in from the distance, its red eyes menacing yet determined in spite of its cute appearance. Why it was none other than HIPPIE-HOP itself, piloted by Kuki no less. The bunny grimaced, it growled even as it leapt into the air, landing with a great big thud as it clawed a big dent in the back of the machine's casing, catching the surprised attention of the Delightful Children in the cockpit.
"I told you I'd be back", replied sassy mixed tone of the little Asian girl and the mecha in harmonious unison, frightening the Delightfuls while sending a cringe worthy look to Alex's face as she let go of the machine.
"Okay, does that thing have a mind of its own", she asked, still rather shocked by what had just occurred.
"You seriously want an answer ta' that question", the cool girl asked as she watched her friend think the question over.
"You know, I don't think I do", she finally replied.
The bunny gave another great roar before it hopped into the air, landing hard on top of the machine. Fortunately the Delightfuls came prepared this time as they grabbed the sides of the mecha with their arms, wasting no time to throw it far into the air. But luckily, Kuki was quick to land, wasting no time before charging towards the monstrous mecha once more. Quick to see this, the Delightfuls thrusted one of their arms towards the bunny, only to find it literally being ripped out of its socket by the bunny's powerful teething grip. What came next made the sassy girl's violet eyes widen as she saw another arms take the previous ones place, giving her no time to react before the machine grabbed her mecha, throwing into the ground with violent impact as it left a great big hole in the ground it collided with.
Within the cockpit, Kuki could only feel herself groan, feeling the stiffness in her neck as her eyes made contact with the slightly damaged screens. Through one though, her violet eyes could only widen as she saw the Delightfuls approach her, their faces revelling in sinister intent. Though that panic in her eyes only became more prevalent as she found she could not start up her mecha. She begged, she even pleaded as she continually turned on the engine, but to no avail. For sure, she thought she was a goner. That is until she noticed a familiar looking plump figure land on top of the machine before taking a big leap off, surprising the step ford children before they came to realize what was going on.
"Hey guys, remember me", asked a delighted yet determined sounding Hoagie as he watched his enemies faces twitch with annoyance.
Quickly, he began to fly almost as fast as lightning as he found the machine's mechanical arms begging to follow him. Though fortunately for him, he managed to catch the arms in time as he began to continually avoid at every turn. And surely enough, he saw his opponents were too late to realize that he had sent them into a lop around their own cockpit.
Truthfully, the plump nerd could only give a hearty laugh to the sight. Too bad the next minute though, he found himself screaming as the mechanical arms came his way. Fortunately for him though, it was intercepted by Alex's guard shield, surprising both him and the Delightfuls in the process. Before they could react however, the mutant girl took control of the arm as she swiftly planted it into the ground. This gave the now present Wally enough time to leap onto the arm as he began to leap onto various parts of the machine, allowing his emerald eyes to shine with cockiness
as he came closer towards his target. With one swift leap, he fired his towards the casing, only to feel a grumpy face settle in at the decently placed hole in the casing.
"Oh come on, that's all we can give ta' this thing", Wally loudly announced in a whiny tone as he landed on top of the still grounded arm.
"But I got a pretty good dent though", replied the cheerful sounding Kuki.
"Yeah, like that's all it's gonna take", he loudly explained, feeling surprised by the arms sudden movement before feeling the arms of his plump friend wrap around him, carrying him off in an instant.
"Numbuh 4's right; we need to crack that casing and fast", replied the more serious sounding Hoagie as he and his friend watched the machine pull its arms from out of the crater it was stuck in.
"Numbuh 2, you got the missiles ready right", asked the serious sounding Abigail he heard over his headset.
"Yeah, but we can't fire them now; we've barely scratched the surface", the plump boy explained in a somewhat panicky manner.
"Yeah, but that hole Numbuh 4 made was big enough, and we only got one shot ta' pull this off", she explained through the headset, unable to see the plump boy's expression softening before nodding his head.
"Roger that", Hoagie replied before letting Wally off onto the ground.
"Alex, get ready", cried the spunky black girl to her levitating friend.
"Hai", the mutant brunette screeched in reply, landing swiftly from the sky to the ground in a matter of seconds.
Shortly after, she closed her eyes as her body became engulfed in pink energy, her hair even began to defy gravity. From where they sat, the Delightfuls watched with confusion on their faces; "just what is she doing?" the wondered. Unfortunately, this distraction gave them less time to react before they heard another loud roar; it was HIPPIE-HOP, fully fine and operational as its claws grabbed a hold of the machine itself. Realizing what had just happened, they struggled mercilessly to be free, giving both Abigail and Hoagie enough time to run across the sides again, only his time using their GUMZOOKAs to pin their arms to the ground rather than to destroy. Once they were finished, the spunky second-in-command gave a swift look towards her power charging mutant friend.
"Now", she screamed, giving her friend enough time to spin in a circle as the power began to move in synch with her graceful arm movements.
"Dividen Guard Shield up" screamed Alex as she flexed her arms out form side to side. In an instant, creating two giant shields of pink energy that reached as high as the night sky, protecting both sides of the neighbourhood block.
In short, the step ford children were actually quite impressed with such a sight. Yet again, their concentration should have been focused on a cocky looking Wally, pulling out not one but two giant missiles out of literal hammer space which he aimed directly towards the towering mecha.
"Astalavista, baby", said the cocky sounding Wally as his fingers reached their respective triggers.
With one swift pull of the trigger, this missiles were sent packing. Seconds later, they made their contact with their target of impact, allowing for a glorious explosion of fire to ensue just seconds after. Truly, it was glorious sight the now cheering friends, at least it would have been if the smoke hadn't pulled back to reveal an intact looking machine. Surely enough, the faces of Sector V could only twitch with horror while their opponents faces reverted to their usual sinister appearance.
"What", the five friends asked in surprised unison.
"How the heck is that even possible", asked the shocked yet angered sounding Aussie.
"On the contrary, did you really think that two measly missiles was all it would take to defeat us", the children asked as their sinister tones reached as far as their cold blue eyes.
Sure enough, Abigail and her friends had very little time to react before they found themselves wrapped in the tight grip of the mechanical arms, feelings their bodies flying through mid-air before finding themselves cringing from the pain impact of the hard pavement grounds. Even Kuki had barely anytime to recover before she felt herself being lifted into the air, screaming her lungs out before HIPPIE-HOP hit the pavement. Yet even though all that remained of the great mecha was fire and smoke, the little Asian girl gave one last yelp before hitting the pavement after a forceful ejection, she even felt herself being blanked by a soft parachute as this occurred. Slowly yet surely did the quartet lift themselves at least to heir knees, giving them very little time before they looked to gaze at the mighty mecha once more.
Have a nice trip Kids Next Dumb", the children said with cold malice, their opponents only able to watch in horror as they catapulted a giant fire beam towards them.
Fortunately for them, Alex had appeared to have awaken from her "zen" state, her now pink tinted eyes opening to find her friends shocked faces at the sight of such a massive fireball heading in their direction. The image was enough to widen her eyes, but soon enough they cringed with anger as she dashed towards the small group, bringing the large walls of telekinetic energy to form a small shield as she blocked the large fireball with just seconds to spare. Yet despite the surprise forming in the Delightfuls eyes and the shock forming on her friends faces, she merely stood her ground, her pink eye snow fierce in their determination.
"Alex!...Alex, please be careful" cried the concerned sounding second-in-command.
"Daijoubu...", the mutant girl replied in serious, almost deadpan tone. "I'd rather watch these pests fry before they hurt-"
Was all she could muster before she heard a sinister laugh echoing in her head; a familiar laugh which widened her pink tinted eyes, a laugh which made her cringe before she found herself being forced back by the ball's immense power, widened the quartet's collective eyes once more. Though her resistance proved strong, it proved futile as her mind became completely distracted, surprising her as she came to find herself being pushed away by the impact.
Her friends however, shared her same surprised as they were dragged along for the ride, their screams loud yet varied as they felt their bodies being pushed further into the paved streets, only to stop upon feeling not only their bodies aching with stiffness and pain, but upon watching their mutant friend collapse to the ground in a heap. Yet despite their concern, she quickly rose to sit herself up, even as she grit her teeth while doing so.
"Well, well, how the mighty have fallen..." replied a familiar, sinister sounding tone the surprised group of friends looked up to gaze at; the sinister unisoned voices of the Delightful Children.
"Any last words", they asked in sinister yet perfect unison as they began to charge another fireball once more.
"Oh, I knew I should have told all my Rainbow Monkeys that I love them", cried the clearly upset sounding Kuki.
"Oh, I knew I should have finished watching Sailor Moon", cried the upset sounding Hoagie, his response one which not only made his friends turn with wide eyed curiosity, but also made him reply with a nervous chuckle.
"Actually, that was a slip up; what I meant to say was...Oh who am I kidding...I like Sailor Moon!"
"Oh, don't sweat it Hoagie-kun; I know plenty of guys who like Sailor Moon", Alex replied in a casual, yet reassuring tone.
"Really", he asked as if seeking reassurance.
"Oh yeah, they just don't want to admit it", she casually reassured him.
"Enough", the Delightful Children yelled as their tone made their enemies cringe, their cringe worthy faces remaining ever so as the sinister looking children aimed their cannon at the group once more. "You should have known you were no match for us without your leader."
Yet the Delightfuls felt shock overcome them as they felt the monstrous machine stagger back at the sensation of a powerful gunshot, having very little time to react before they felt another overcome the behemoth. Though in all honesty, the five friends were just as surprised as their sworn enemies by such a lucky occurrence.
"I'd say they've done just fine on their own. If anything, I'm just surprised you decided to start a fight without me", replied a suave, familiar sounding tone.
Though it didn't take the five friends long before their faces lit up with satisfaction at the reveal of their mysterious saviour; why it was none other Nigel himself, his cocky grin ever present as he stood valiantly before his friends and even his enemies.
"Numbuh 1", the four friends cried in delight.
"Nigel-kun" cried the mutant brunette in similar delight, their cries enough to catch the attention of the now unfrazzled Delightful Children.
"How unexpected to see you here Nigel...Did you have fun", the step fords asked in a monotone, almost mocking tone.
"I did have fun. But you know me; I couldn't possible resist a chance to kick your butts to kingdom come, especially as far as my teammates are concerned", the British boy replied as his cocky grin never faded for even a second.
"How sweet; maybe you'll be glad to know that we feel the same way", they replied in a sinister yet creepy monotone as they raised their foot high in the air above their target, wiping the smug grin off his face almost instantly.
Nigel could feel himself yelping in a girlish tone as he moved out of the foot's way, allowing it to land with a thud as it formed yet another massive crater in the paved street. Quickly, he made a run for it. Unfortunately, this did nothing for his frightful expression as he felt a thunderous thud behind his every footstep, making him turn his head to only realize just how close his opponents were; just how was he suppose to defeat them?
"Yo Boss, you got a plan", asked a familiar tone which made his navy eyes widen, only to turn and see a collected looking Abigail running right beside him.
"I don't know, it might be too risky for you guys to do anything in your current conditions", the bald boy explained.
"Ah don't worry about us Numbuh 1. Besides you should know we've been through worse", replied the optimistic tone the bald boy recognized as belonging to the pudgy boy running on his other side.
"I guess...but still, are you sure-"
"Yes! Now let's get this over with so we can go home home already", replied the annoyed sounding mutant girl, giving the the young boy all the assurance he needed as his face lit up with a confident grin.
"Alright then", he replied, stopping short only seconds later as his team followed suit.
"Kids Next Door; Hike Formation", he yelled as both he, and his team lowered themselves into football hike positions. "Go!"
With that one word, they took off together in a glorious sprint, yet regardless of their speed their faces remained as fertile as ever in their determination. Truthfully, the Delightful Children were as confused as ever, not that it stopped them from merely sending yet another arm towards the sprinting children. Unfortunately for them, Nigel had anticipated such a move as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Two-Seventy-Three", he yelled.
"Hai", the mutant girl replied, jumping out of the arms way before landing safely onto it, her pink tinted eyes fierce in their determination. Quickly, he clapped her energy soaked hands to form a grand ball of energy.
"Six! Baruken Fusion", she yelled as she shot the energy beam towards the right leg, taking it out with one swift movement.
Truthfully; this surprised the Delightful Children as they made a desperate attempt to balance themselves, only to be unaware of a determined looking Abigail sprinting their way.
"Five", she yelled as leaped into the air, a spunky grin clear on her face as she took out the other leg supporting the giant behemoth.
The children screamed as they felt themselves beginning to fall towards the ground, only to find themselves surprised by their surprisingly cushy landing. A quick glance however could only make them cringe as they saw Wally, a cocky grin on his face as he held the cockpit in his hands.
"Four", he cried as he threw the machine into the air like a Frisbee, right towards a smiling Kuki the Delightfuls noticed.
"Three", she cheerfully chirped as she blasted the machine with a single shot form her THUMPER, causing the Delightfuls to scream once more as they felt the machine land not only on its side as it made contact with the paved street.
"Two", Hoagie cheerfully said as he walked on top of the machine as if it were a hamster wheel.
Though it only took a few seconds before he hopped off the machine, letting it fall over flat shortly after. Soon after, the Delightfuls breathed a collective sigh as they wiped their foreheads in unison. Unfortunately, their faces were overcome by fear once more as they watched Nigel land on top of the machine. His grin was cocky, and his SCCAMP
was aimed directly at them.
"One", he said in a suave yet cocky manner as his finger began to pull the trigger back.
With one swift pull of the trigger, it unleashed a powerful beam. A beam so powerful the step ford children could only scream as they felt themselves being forced back out of the cockpit. And even though they landed safely on the paved street, their faces reeked of of both fear, even disappointment as they turned to face their triumphant looking opponents.
"Remember this Delightful Children; if you ever want to get your butts kicked, you know where to find us", said the cocky sounding Nigel as his team chimed in with their own cocky grins.
"Nigel Uno", said a familiar voice that caught the attention of both groups; it was Monty, looking rather unsatisfied.
"Dad...What a surprise seeing you here", said a nervous sounding Nigel, he even chuckled a little.
"Phew! Talk about goin' out with a bang; I'm bushed", said a satisfied Wally, stretching his arms as he walked up the spiral stairs.
"I know what you mean, I feel like going to bed already", replied the exhausted sounding Kuki.
"Personally, I feel like taking a nice, hit bath", replied an exhausted yet happy sounding Hoagie.
"I hear on that one Hoagie-kun", replied the blunt sounding Alex as Abigail followed behind her, stopping short only a few seconds later.
"Oh come on man, it could've been worse; fo' all you know, he could have grounded you", the motherly girl tried to explain to Nigel as he came up the stairs with a mopey looking expression.
"All I wanted was a peaceful day with my dad...That's all I wanted! Was that so wrong", Nigel asked in a sorrowful yet exasperated tone.
"Yeah yeah, and I want someone to translate Rainbow Parakeet so I can finally read the damn thing. Doesn't mean it's going to happen",the mutant girl replied in a rather snarly tone as her British friend gave her a mere death glare.
"Would you mind if we postponed this discussion for another time", he asked as he kept his irritated tone at bay.
"Fine by me", she casually replied as the motherly black girl eyed her suspiciously.
"You sure seem pretty chipper now", the braided beauty replied rather suspiciously, catching her friend's attention shortly after.
"Yeah well; you win some, you lose some", Alex replied rather optimistically as her she watched her friend's face relax with a grin.
"I guess", she coolly said.
"Yes, now if you excuse me, I think I'm going to go and relax with a nice cup of hot-"
Was all Nigel could say before feeling his navy eyes widen with surprise; swarms of texture, colour, even aromas filled the area. In fact, it even livened the room's atmosphere as far as his shocked disposition was concerned.
"Wha...What is all this", asked the astonished sounding Nigel.
"Oh yeah...Surprise", both Kuki and Alex chimed in cheerful unison despite the disbelieving expression forming on their bald friend's face.
"Uh, you guys DO realize that my birthday's not for another few months right", he asked in a rather suspicious tone.
"Yeah, but we figured ya' might want some good memories of today boss", explained the spunky black girl as she put her arm around her astonished friend's neck.
"Yeah, then that way you'll know you're never alone", the little Asian explained with a cheerful tone and a sweet smile.
"Yeah", replied a sweet sounding Hoagie as he put a hand to his bald friend's shoulder. And though his navy eyes remained ever surprised, the young boy couldn't help but to muster up a smile.
"Thanks guys...I really appreciate this...", replied a sincere sounding Nigel, his navy eyes even began to soften as they revealed his sincerity to his smiling teammates.
"Well, that's good ta' know...Now, how's about some of that cake. I call first dibs of course", replied the cocky sounding Aussie as he made his way towards the buffet table.
"Ah come on Numbuh 4, it's Numbuh 1's party, he should get to "cut", the tension", the plump nerd cheerfully replied, even laughing a little at his own joke.
"Ah, save the puns for later Sailor Boy", the short Aussie replied in a mocking manner.
"Hey, no fair", replied an annoyed sounding Hoagie.
"Oh, I forgot, so who's your favourite Sailor Scout Numbuh 2", asked a curious Kuki.
"Oh, that's easy; Sailor Mer-"
"It's Sailor Soldier", cried the mutant brunette.
Though really, seeing such a sight was all it took before started to laugh alongside his friends as they made their way towards the buffet table. Their laughter, even their squabbling enough to light up the night sky.
End Transmission
