Disclaimer: I do not own KND or any other related titles. Sorry I didn't put it on the Prologue; my computer screwed up.
Chapter 1
A giant robot looks at the monstrous lizard and booms, "I will crush you!"
The lizard rears its head and attacks, as if saying, "Godzilla will crush you first!"
As it starts its rampage, the robot raises his laser cannon and fires. Milliseconds later, the lizard is atomized and dissolves into nothing. The screen goes black, save for the giant red letters shouting
GAME OVER
A small Aussie boy, whose face moments before had been screwed up in concentration, threw aside his controller and jumped up in triumph.
"Take that, you cruddy lizard! I just shot you into the next-"
"Hey Wally?"
His victory shouts stopped as a girly voice cut through them. The blonde, named Wallaby Beatles, turned around so fast he nearly fell off the coffee table he had leapt onto.
"What?" he asked with irritation, staring at the girl before him. Her long black hair swayed as her green-sleeved hands moved back and forth in a manner that Wally know only too well.
"What?" he asked again, more warily.
"Well…"
"Get on with it, Kuki," Wally said impatiently.
"It's-Birthday-Party-Rainbow-Monkey's-birhtday-today-and-he's-having-a-party-cause-it's-his-birthday-and-he-wanted-me-to-ask-you-to-come-and-he-also-wanted-me-to-ask-you-to-ask-Numbuh-One-to-ask-Numbuh-Five-to-ask-Numbuh-Two-if-they-all-wanted-to-come-too!" She sat there for a moment, breathing heavily, but looking at Numbuh Four all the same.
Wally stared at her blankly. Kuki Sanban stared back, her Asian eyes waiting for an answer.
"Could ya' run tha' by me again?" Wally said.
Kuki sighed loudly. "It's Birthday Party Rainbow Monkey's birthday today and he's having a party and he wants you to come and he wants you to ask the rest of Sector V to come too!"
"Oh," Wally said, not knowing how to politely refuse. He looked at her happy face, and just couldn't find it in him to say no. He shot a side-glance out of the window, where the sky was still laden with clouds. I've got nothing better to do, he said. During the past three days, when the storm first came, he had done everything in the tree house except play with Kuki's Rainbow Monkeys. Wally hid a sigh, convincing himself that desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Sure," he said, and Numbuh 3's face positively glowed with excitement. "I'll go get the others while you get everything ready."
"Okay!" Kuki sprinted off in the direction of her room. Wally, on the other hand, drug his feet across the floor to find his friends. If someone told me two hours ago that I would willingly go to some cruddy party of Kuki's, I would have laughed in their face, he thought crossly, beginning to wander the endless halls.
Wally took a good look at the strange scene before him. Sitting in a circle were his four friends: Kuki, humming happily as she cut the 'cake'; Nigel Uno, a.k.a. Numbuh One, looking thoroughly out of place without either a gun in his hand or rifling through endless papers; Hoagie Gilligan, a.k.a. Numbuh Two, looking put-out that the plastic cake slices weren't real; and Abby Lincoln, known in the KND as Numbuh Five, leaning on the wall in an intimidating manner, her red floppy hat shadowing over her eyes. Kuki passed out the plastic cake slices and some empty teacups to the rest of the sector, as well as her humongous collection of Rainbow Monkeys. Wally found himself thinking that it was a good thing that not all of the Rainbow Monkeys were invited; no one could afford that many plastic teacups.
The party seemed to pass fairly quickly; either that, or Kuki ran out of things to do. Soon fading sunlight was shining through her window, reflecting off of Nigel's bald head. He looked up.
"We should be getting home soon," Hoagie said, stealing the words from their leader's mouth.
"Numbuh Five thinks our parents will call for us soon," Abby remarked.
"No doubt," Nigel agreed.
"Well, that's okay," Kuki said cheerfully. "Birthday Party Rainbow Monkey has had enough partying for one birthday. Haven't you, Birthday Party Rainbow Monkey?"
Wally resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the group stood up. Hoagie, playing along with the theme, shot a "Happy Birthday" in the direction of the white speckled monkey as he left the door. Kuki smiled and skipped out of the tree house and to her road. Wally gave a slight farewell to the rest of them and started jogging towards his house.
As the neared his yard, he saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway. He hurriedly checked to see if he had the right address (Getting it wrong once is quite enough, Wally thought) and saw his father in the open window. Curiosity growing, he strode to the front door and opened it without hesitation.
Two strange people were sitting on the couch: one adult and one teen. As a member of the KND, Wally immediately saw them as potential enemies. He mentally prepared his guard as his father caught sight of him and smiled.
"There's Wally!" he exclaimed. "Was about to get worried…thought I'd forgotten about a sleepover you were having or something. This is my friend from work, Chuck, and his son, Garrett."
Wally gave a slight nod, unable to do more when an inner instinct told him they were bound to attack sometime.
"Well, son, show him your room, get to know him," said his father. Wally gave him a steely glare, but gestured Garrett to follow him all the same. He trumped up the stairs, flung open the door to his room, and sat on his bed, watching Garrett unblinkingly, but not saying a word. He took in his spiked brown hair, his deep blue eyes, and baseball-player build. Garrett looked around, nodding his head.
"Nice place," he commented. "So…how old are you? Eight?"
"Ten," Wally said through gritted teeth.
"Ah," Garrett replied, drifting towards the dresser. "I'm sixteen. My dad said we were close in age, but six years is a big difference. Well… maybe not if you were as old as he is," he added as an afterthought, shooting a side-glance at Wally. His face remained as impassive as ever. Not put down in the slightest, Garrett began to rifle through the belongings on the top of the dresser. He picked up a picture of Kuki.
"Who's this?" he asked, a sly smile playing at his lips.
"A friend," Wally answered firmly.
"Aren't you a little young for relationships that serious?" Garret teased.
"She's a friend," Wally repeated. "Nothing more."
"I see," Garrett said disbelievingly. "She is pretty, though. But-" He stopped abruptly, spotting something he hadn't taken notice of before. He picked up a notepad, on which Wally had doodled "KND." He looked at him angrily, a sudden fire burning in his eyes.
"Do you have any idea what you're dealing with?" he asked coldly.
"Just a club of me friends and I," Wally stated nonchalantly.
"Really? Just a clu…" Garrett trailed off, a sudden understanding sweeping over his face. "What did you say your name was again?"
"…Wally," he replied, nervousness fluttering inside him.
"Wally. Short for Wallaby Beatles, I'm guessing," Garrett said frighteningly, holding up the notepad. "Otherwise known as Number Four from Sector V of the Kid's Next Door."