"And next on our agenda: I'd like to thank Grandma Stuffum for the disgusting yet appetizing broccoli and cheese casserole at the banquet last week..." Father spoke at the meeting table for all adult villains to hear.
Knightbrace yawned as his legs rested cross-legged on the table. Sometimes these villains' meetings were so boring, especially when Father was the one hosting them. Yet it's still very surprising that the man in dark silhouette who had feared broccoli with a passion since childhood can actually stand up to eating it, with the addition that is was smothered in a heavy cheese sauce...
And it was thanks to one of the Toiletnator's adopted daughters.
Speak of the moron, the toilet-based villain whom was sitting beside Knightbrace raised his hand wildly in the air, begging to be called upon.
"Uh, yeah, Lou?" Father groaned, always annoyed by Lou's eagerness and child-like ambition.
"You think maybe now that you, Father, have grown a liking for broccoli with the addition of a cheese sauce over it..." Lou began. "Maybe now all us other villains could start eating healthy, like maybe...asparagus?"
All the other villains openly protested to such a request, and some were giving Lou a deadly glare, making him sink in his seat.
"For Pete's sake, Lou!" Mr. Boss grumbled. "This is vegetables you're talking about! Leave it to bratty kids to eat them, not us!"
"And your wife married you, why?" Knightbrace sighed as he rolled his eyes at Lou.
"Because she loves me for who I am!" Lou sang, almost rubbing it in Knightbrace's face. "And FYI, she adores the fact that I am 'so strong, so fit, so healthy' about eating nothing but veggies!"
"Man, she is a rare woman..." Knightbrace muttered under his breath. It was still so hard to believe that Mr. Boss's boss, attractive and intelligent as she was, would love and marry a moron like the Toiletnator.
"Further on..." Father went on, dropping the conversation for Lou's so-called request.
As Father continued on with the meeting, Knightbrace barely paid any attention at all. He slipped a hand into the pocket of his purple jumpsuit and pulled out his Blackberry phone. Satisfied that all the other villains were giving their full attention on Father, Knightbrace gave full attention to his photo box. Scanning through his pictures, he came across one.
It was a picture of Destiny's face earlier when she gazed into the window of the villains' cafe-before her huge 'what the heck' expression.
Knightbrace thought it would have been funny to take a picture of her as soon as she saw his villain buddies getting coffee and getting sugar rushed, yet for some reason he took the picture before her hilarious expression.
In the picture, she seemed calm, at peace...and though she wasn't exactly smiling, Knightbrace thought he saw a hint of bright whiteness shining from her barely opened mouth.
I wonder if she has strong, white teeth...Knightbrace pondered.
"Hey, Knighty!" Lou sang as he gave him a friendly slap behind his back.
Knightbrace nearly dropped his phone before he turned to glare at Lou. The toilet-based villain was out of his seat and so were the rest of the villains.
"Meeting's over!" Lou went on as he took out his phone. "Got to get home to my wife and kids! And you got to get home to your..." He gave a careful glance over at Knightbrace. "...flossing."
"Ouch, Lou," Knightbrace growled, giving him a warning glare.
"Seriously, you floss like all the time," Lou told him honestly. "I'm just saying!" And he raced out the door with the others.
Knightbrace checked his phone one last time, the picture of Destiny...
He shrugged and shut off his phone before he was out the door.
_
Destiny held her purse close to her as she opened the door of her new house. Today would be her first day of her dentist job, as well as it was her little sister's first day of school. Molly told her she had already made new friends at the park, and that she would be having a lot of 'adventures' with them from now on. Molly especially kept rambling on about someone called The Tommy. Destiny was glad her little sister made new friends, nothing like those punk-ass kids who have learned the 'F' word before ABC's back in Quahog.
Their parents were out as well. Destiny had told them about almost having her purse robbed but then someone saved it for her. She never really got around to telling them it was a guy in a blue jumpsuit with major teeth gear. They would have thought she was insane.
She was thinking the same thing.
She still couldn't believe she had seen such people dressed as...well, dressed as something you would see in a cartoon!
Shaking the thought aside, she was out the door, and into her car. Destiny drove to Dr. Teef's dental clinic. There the dentist led her to her assigned room where her first patient was waiting.
"My assistant will be with you shortly, Dr. Smiles," Dr. Teef told her. "Take care and make sure she brushes her teeth." And with that said, he left the room.
Destiny smiled down at her patient. "So, what's you name again, little girl?"
"Kuki," the girl spoke in a loud Japanese accent, seemingly too happy.
Destiny smiled down at the incredibly-excited Asian girl before looking over her tools. "Alright, Kuki, I'm going to lay you back..." She turned the nozzle of a nearby canister before placing a breathing mask into Kuki for a few moments. "Alright, you may feel a bit drowsy, but it'll ease the pain..."
"Okay..." Kuki droned, feeling herself lured to near sleep.
As Destiny set right to work, there was a knock at her door.
"Hello," greeted a voice. Must be the assistant...
Destiny turned to greet the person, giving him a smile. And he gave her a look of shock in return...
Mr. Jelly blinked, his glasses nearly falling from his face as he looked at Destiny. "Oh, hi, Destiny..." He greeted quietly.
"Mr. Jelly, right?" Destiny asked him, having no idea who he actually was.
"Uh, yeah, that's me," he chuckled nervously.
"Cool, I'm going to need some assistance with Kuki here..." Destiny began as she looked over the Asian girl.
_
Molly dashes across the arena as she just barely avoided being smashes by a robotic foot. She held her beginner's gun close to her, as she kept an eye out for more attacks.
"Molly, look out!" Rocky cried out.
Molly turned around just in time and made a giant leap before lasers fired at her. She landed on her stomach with a loud grunt. She quickly picked herself unto her feet and took out her gun.
She missed a few shots, but she managed to fire directly at the robotic machine. The machine malfunctioned for a few moments, then it finally collapsed into unto the ground int front of Molly.
Molly panted and she dropped her gun to the floor, happy her simulation was over with.
Rocky, Tommy, Numbuh 13, and Numbuh 60 came unto the arena; both Rocky and Numbuh 60 clapped in approval.
"You okay, Smiles?" Tommy asked as he watched worriedly at her tired figure.
"How do you guys keep up with this stuff in real life?" The little girl asked in exasperation.
"It's all in here, man..." Rocky told her with a charming smile before giving her heart a firm thumb with her fist.
"Numbuh 2-Double-o-2 here is our best operative," Numbuh 60 said before placing a hand on her shoulder. "She knows more KND history, combat, and news then any of us could have ever looked up on!" He gave Rocky a smile of admiration.
"Oh, Patton!" Rocky chuckled. She gazed at Molly. "You're doing great, Molly. Keep it up and you'll be in the KND faster than you can say 'California Girls Come Close from Coast to Coast'."
"California girls come close..." Numbuh 13 tried to saying to himself.
"My leader is totally right," Tommy added, smiling at Molly.
Molly blushed. After learning so much about the KND, she had made the quick decision to join. Kids back in Quahog were boring and no fun, but here, kids were being kids to extreme measures. Plus, Tommy seemed kind of cute...
"Thanks, guys..." Molly said quietly, pushing aside a strand of her blonde hair. "So, is it time for lunch?"
"I thought you'd never ask..." Rocky chuckled as she placed an arm around both her and Tommy. "Come on, sloppies on me..."
_
"Well, that was easier than I thought..." Destiny chuckled as she watched the last child walk out of the room. She smiled to Mr. Jelly. "Thanks, uh...what's your name?"
Mr. Jelly gave her a nervous smile. "It's Candy..."
Destiny blinked. "Candy...Jelly?" She tried not to laugh.
"Yes, it's very ironic..." He rolled his eyes.
She looked at him in confusion. "How is it ironic?"
Suddenly, Candy realized his slip of the tongue. He sighed, glad that work was over for both of them today. "Destiny, you don't really know who I am, do you?"
"What do you mean?" She asked carefully. "Have we met somewhere before?"
"Well, yeah..." Slowly, Candy took out of his glasses to rub his forehead. "Although, I didn't look like this..."
That's when Destiny had a good look at his eyes. Where had she seen those eyes before...
Her eyes shot open. "Knightbrace?"
He gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm surprised you remember my villain name..."
"Oh, wow..." Destiny laughed. "An evil dentist villain and here you are as a dentist's assistant."
"Hey, just because I totally tried to ruin Sigmund in the past, he didn't put it against me when I applied for this job..." He said sternly, folding his arms in a pout.
"So the guy knows?" She asked, jabbing a thumb out the doorway.
"As well as almost every kid that's walked into this clinic today," he said with a sigh. "If you hadn't had them breath into this calm medicine, they would be screaming their heads off once I came in."
"You really are an dentist-themed adult villain..." Destiny said quietly.
"Wow, it took you this long to believe that, huh?" He chuckled.
"I'm starting to warm up to what I saw yesterday, to be honest..." She muttered under her breath.
Soon, they emerged out of the clinic together. Destiny watched from the corner of her eye as Candy took out something blue from his shoulder bag. She knew too well what it was...
"Playing villain again?" Shed teased.
"Well, I mostly wear this..." He said quietly as he removed the garment from inside his bag. He casted a nervous glance at Destiny. "You mind?"
"Hey, it's you," she told him nonchalantly. "This is America."
"Yeah, thanks," he muttered before he stepped into a dark hallway. A few moments later he emerged as Knightbrace, adjusting his teeth gear.
Destiny found herself unable to break away as she just kept staring at him...how the costume hugged his body and tightened around muscles she had never noticed before...strong legs...the whitest teeth he had ever seen...
She quickly shook her head as soon as he joined by her side once again and they continued down the street.
"Say, care to chat over coffee?" He asked after brief silence.
Destiny looked at him. Was he asking her out?
"Got your next file for you to look over and I'd sure like to discuss them with you..." He said as he took out a folder from his shoulder bag.
"Oh..." Destiny said, almost disappointed.
Soon, they were sitting outside a cafe, two steaming cups of coffee on their table. The file was right there on the table as well, but Destiny and Knightbrace never came to bring up the subject as they began chatting.
"So have you always been this way?" She asked Knightbrace. "Or what's the deal? Is this something totally Batman related or something?"
"No, not like the guys in DC comics..." He said. " I kind of adopted the getup after I got kicked out of Dentist school..."
Destiny stared at him. "Why did you get kicked out?"
"I, uh..." He said quietly. "I tried putting braces on babies..."
Destiny nearly choked on her coffee. "Braces? On babies?"
"See, that was the exact sane reaction my classmates gave me..." Knightbrace sighed.
"Well, it is kind of a nutso idea..." Destiny began quietly. "But kicking you out seems kind of harsh."
"Don't worry, I'm over it," he said. "Being a dentist's assistant is much better." He looked at her. "What about you? You've been dreaming of becoming a dentist since you were a kid?"
"Well, yes..." She said quietly. "...since I was thirteen." She strained on those words.
"Oh, thirteen, nice..." Knightbrace nodded, not catching the sudden change in her tone. "So tell me...were you born here or did you move from India?"
"I, uh..." Destiny's mind raced for a simple, easy, not-so-dramatic answer. "I was adopted."
Knightbrace's eyes widened a bit. "Oh...okay..."
"Trust me, people can already tell, judging by my parents and little sister..." She said with a light chuckle. "My dad use to be blonde until his hair turned white. My mom's brunette hair is slightly fading. My little sister, Molly, she's blonde..." She didn't dare ask him about his family, not sure if such a question was appropriate for a man such as him.
"Still, your folks sound like great people," he assured her. "Really, I think adoptions are the nicest thing in the world...at least a child gets a chance to have a family."
"You sound like you've had some experience with this," Destiny said carefully.
"Well, it's my buddy Lou," he said. "You remember? The guy whom I mentioned as a toilet-based villain?"
"Oh, right..." Destiny muttered.
"Well, he and his wife Cleo, they adopted like six kids."
"Six?" Destiny repeated with complete shock.
"Well, one of them was already Cleo's niece," he informed. "Man, Lou has one heck of a wife!"
"Uh, how hot are talking?" Destiny asked, slightly curious and nervous.
"Hot enough to bake cookies on," Knightbrace chuckled. "Any wonder she's a model?"
"Oh, a model..." Destiny muttered under her breath. She cleared her throat and smiled politely at him. "So...who else has someone normal in their life?"
"Well, there's Count Spankulot..." He replied.
"Count Spankulot?" She repeated in disbelief. "Are we talking about a vampire?"
"Well, he's not the biting kind," he assured her. "Nor is he one of those sparkly dudes with too much make-up. He's a spanking vampire, meaning he spanks kids."
"How...interesting..." Destiny said slowly.
"Yeah, he's a got a girl named Wish," he went on. "Cute girl, but kind of Goth-y."
"Oh, I see..." She nodded, almost too vigorously. Then she eyed him carefully. "What about you? You got a girlfriend?"
Knightbrace nearly spilled his coffee at the question. "Uh, no...I'm not the dating type."
Are you sure? Destiny suddenly thought.
"What about you?" He asked.
"Uh, no..." She shook her head. "I'm not into men right now..."
"Hey, can't blame you," he chuckled before sipping his coffee. "Honestly, there doesn't seem to be anyone good around here today..."
Maybe? She thought silently.
_
Molly glanced over from her passenger seat and watched as Rocky sorted through some papers. Molly's papers. Since taking into KND training, Rocky had offered to do her paperwork on account of the stuff seemed complicated to understand and work on.
Basically, Rocky was helping Molly cheat a little, but the little blonde wasn't complaining. Rocky was just that good a friend.
"I remember when she helped me out."
Molly turned to see Tommy smile at her from his pilot seat. She blinked at him. "How?" She asked curiously.
"Well, a while back before she was part of the KND and became my leader..." Tommy began as his hands loosened on the wheel. "I wasn't part of the KND. I had lost my chance..."
"Lost you chance?" She asked.
"Long story," he said simply. "I saved the KND... then the Code Module couldn't take my booger identification for some reason...yeah..."
Molly casted another quick glance at Rocky. "How did she...?"
"She kind of had do some sneaky stuff..." Tommy chuckled. "Right after I helped her defeat some wacky adult villain, she talked Numbuh 362 into letting me join again. Rocky kind of forged something into a book to help me out..." He blushed a bit, recalling the memory all too well. He looked over at Molly. "Promise you won't tell anybody? Rocky is like the best KND operative ever, and I really don't want her to get in trouble just for doing what she believes is right."
Molly nodded slowly. "I would never, ever do that. You can count on me." She smiled sweetly at me.
Tommy, smiled back, his cheeks red. His hands loosened even more on the wheel.
"Tommy, careful!" Rocky shouted, breaking him out of trance.
Tommy whirled toward the window just in time to push the wheel down to raise the vehicle up. They nearly crashed into a mountain.
"Sorry, sir..." He apologized.
"Aw, don't worry, Thomas..." Rocky chuckled before petting him on the head. "It happens..."
He blushed at her touch, then looked over at Molly. She shrugged, giving him a teasing smile.
_
"And then Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb will be right here..." Mr. Boss went on as he jabbed a finger on the blueprints scattered over his table.
"You sure Lou said he couldn't make it?" Crazy Old Cat Lady asked carefully, petting one of her kittens in her arms.
"Miraculously, yes," Mr. Boss chuckled. "He said he needed to remain at work."
"Hope he remains there for a while..." Mr. Fibb said. "Because this plan must work. Right, Mr. Wink?"
"Indeed, Mr. Fibb," Mr. Wink nodded.
"Okay, CCL already knows that her kittens strike here..." Mr. Boss began. "Then Knightbrace, you-" He looked around the room. "Here, where's Knightbrace?"
"I'm sure the molars just need another examination..."
They all turned to see Knightbrace standing outside in the yard, chatting on his phone.
"Catrina, can you please tell him to shut his phone and get back to business?" Mr. Boss told the feline villainess with a sigh.
Catrina nodded before she proceeded through the door and was about to call Knightbrace over-
"I'm sure, Destiny, don't worry."
She immediately shut her mouth. Who was Destiny? Wasn't that a girl's name?
"Trust me, you're smart, you did a great job on your first day..." Knightbrace went on, not noticing that Cat Lady was standing in the doorway. "And yeah..." Cat Lady could have sworn she saw him blush as she scratched his head. "Of course I think you're smart...you made dentist school with flying colors..."
Catrina just stood there. She smiled as she adjusted her glasses.
"What's that?" Knightbrace asked as he pressed his ear into his phone. "D-dinner?" He nearly dropped his phone as he stuttered on that word. He clutched his phone and looked at it in surprise. "Uh, really?"
"I'm sorry..." Destiny's voice spoke on the other end. "You meant what you said about not being the dating type?"
"Oh, no, forget what I said!" He said quickly, his face flushed. "I, uh, I'll think about..."
Catrina stifled her chuckle as she left him alone before heading back toward the table.
"Well?" Mr. Boss asked, not tearing his eyes away from the blueprints.
"He's making a very important call..." Cat Lady said with a light chuckle.
"Oh, come on!" Mr. Boss groaned. "What could be so important that Knightbrace has to miss out on the plan?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'd know..." Cat Lady laughed.
"Whoo, sorry about that, guys!" Knightbrace said with a chuckled as he pocketed his phone and approached the table. "Important call about work! What did I miss?"
"Well, as I had just went over earlier..." Mr. Boss began again.
As he went on, Knightbrace felt a touch on his arm. He turned to see Cat Lady smile at him.
"I think dinner would be a great idea," she told him knowingly, giving him a wink.