Me: Dum-dum-de-dum-dum. Back again for more true readers?

Chloe: Caro, I highly suggest that you work on your other stories before moving onto this one.

Alexis: Yeah. Didn't you say that you were going to update "The Bearer of Memories" very soon?

Me: Yes I did but I said I would update it before "The Years Ahead" not this one. I didn't plan on starting this one.

Cipher: Yeah, you're starting this one before ours.

Sienna: Yeah.

Me: Sorry. Anyhoo, you know what I don't own and what I do own. There's only going to be one KND operative other than Numbuh 10 mentioned in here for now. Don't get mad at me Numbuh 5.

Numbuh 5: Why?

Me: You'll see in a bit. Places everybody!

Now downloading Kids Next Door Mission…

Operation: R.E.S.C.U.E.

Real

Evil

Situations

Cause

Real

Unhappy

Experiences

Log 2—First Impressions

Time: ???

Location: ???

How do you fly this freaking thing? Siri thought frantically as she adjusted the dials on the dashboard in front of her. Great, Numbuh 12 forgot to install an autopilot on this infernal contraption. You think that would be the first thing he'd install if another person had to fly instead of him.

She had been soaring through clouds for the past three hours. The ship was fast, that was guaranteed at least, but she didn't know what she was flying over. Darn old map is busted too. The next time I see Numbuh 12, I'm gonna kill him.

A faint flashing light appeared on one of the buttons next to the dashboard. Siri looked at it. Terrific, I'm almost out of gas too…gas? She peered at the tank powering the flying vehicle on the wall. That's not gasoline; that's water! So I'm almost out of water. Heh, funny.

Siri sighed and pushed forward on the joystick that Numbuh 12 established in place of a steering wheel. The whole ship lurched forward and began a nosedive down through the clouds. The clouds parted, revealing a scattering of houses and such. Small suburbs twinkled with tiny lights. Okay time to pull up.

Unfortunately, the joystick was not known for pulling-up and snapped in half as soon as she pulled it. Oh this can't get any worse can it?

Siri peered out of the windshield. The ship was a goner and she knew it, but there might still be a chance for her to live. The only option was to jump.

She strapped on one of the emergency packs of food and clothing she had found inside the ship and looked around. Nothing else worth taking. She opened the back door.

The wind nearly whipped her off the ship. This was not how I was planning to spend my day. Oh well…it's been nice knowing me, Siri thought. She closed her eyes and jumped.

The sun was starting to set over the roofs of the houses but no one was outside watching it. No one save for a pair of 11-year-olds sitting next to each other in the park.

One of the 11-year-olds, a plump girl with red-brown pigtails, was staring at the golden orange sunset with absolute rapture on her face. Her large eyes, magnified even more by her glasses, gazed dazedly at the streaks of pink across the sky.

The other 11-year-old didn't seem to find the sunset or the girl so enchanting. He actually seemed rather bored but then again, it was hard to tell due to the dark sunglasses he wore over his eyes.

In reality, Nigel Uno, codenamed Numbuh 1 of the Kids Next Door, was bored. Not that his life was always this monotone, far from it. It was just that nothing exciting had happened all day—and hanging out with Lizzie did not qualify as exciting in his department.

Lizzie sighed as she continued to stare at the sunset. "Isn't it beautiful Nigey?"

"Uh-huh." He raised his eyes to the clouds, wondering what the rest of his team was doing right now.

Lizzie sighed again and leaned her head against his shoulder. Nigel did his best to ignore her sudden gesture, heartily wishing that something would happen. What am I supposed to expect? That someone's going to just fly out of the sky and plow into the ground?

No sooner had he thought that, something hurtled out of the sky towards their spot.

Nigel wasted no time. "Lizzie!"

"What?" she asked dreamily.

"Get off! Quick!" He disentangled himself from her arm and stood up.

Lizzie sat up straight. "Nigel, what is it?"

POW!

The "thing" slammed into her, plowing her into a crater. The force of the blow knocked Nigel off his feet but he got up again.

"Lizzie!"

A hand reach up from the crater and a kid around Nigel's age climbed out. A helmet concealed most of the kid's face so there was no way to see if it was a boy or a girl. He or she was slim but not much shorter than Nigel.

Nigel walked up to the kid. "Hey you!" he snapped angrily. "What right do you have plowing someone in the dirt like that?"

The youngster looked up at Nigel, then at the crater where Lizzie used to be. "Oh my gosh!" It was a female-sounding voice. The kid tugged off the bulky helmet and tossed it aside. "I'm really sorry!"

Nigel blinked. "Uuuh…" The kid turned out to be girl after all, and a very pretty girl at that. Long blonde hair tumbled down to her shoulders and her hazel eyes stared at him with a chagrined expression. The moonlight made her skin look almost as pale as her sleeveless shirt.

"I'm really sorry," she repeated sincerely. "Was that your girlfriend? I didn't know."

"Well…" Nigel began and stopped. "Look, are you okay?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

"Are you okay? After the crash I mean."

"Oh. I'm fine," she stuttered. "Sorry."

Nigel looked down into the crater. "Lizzie, are you all right down there?"

"(cough) Yeah!" came a voice. "I'll be up and out in a minute Nigey!"

The blonde girl looked up at Nigel, her bemused expression speaking her thoughts: Nigey?

Nigel smiled at her and held out a hand. "Need some help?"

"Oh yeah. Thanks." She took hold of his hand and he hauled her up. "Sorry about—Lizzie."

"It's okay," he said kindly. "Things like this happen. Well, not always like this but you get what I mean." He cocked his head. "What's your name?"

A smile lit up her face. "Siriah Kaldorei. Everybody calls me Siri. What's yours?" Neither kid had let go of the other's hand but they didn't care.

"Nigel Uno," Nigel replied. "Pleasure to meet you Siri."

While the pair stood there smiling at each other, Lizzie heaved herself out of the crater. Her clothes were scratched and covered with a light coating of dirt. However, her glasses nearly fell off when she saw them together.

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF MY NIGEY!" she shrieked, darting up to the pair and pushing Siri's hand, and Siri, away from Nigel. "IF YOU WANT TO HOLD SOMEBODY'S HAND, THEN GET YOUR OWN BOYFRIEND!"

"Lizzie!" Nigel scolded her. Lizzie ignored him and snuggled herself against the front of his red shirt. He glanced at Siri apologetically.

"Um…your name is Lizzie right? I apologize for um, crashing into you earlier," said Siri nervously. "I just…couldn't control where I was going."

"It was my pleasure to help you," said Nigel.

Lizzie nodded. "It's okay," she said cautiously, but her eyes narrowed at the pretty blonde girl suspiciously. "But not my pleasure to meet you."

Siri crossed her arms, her expressions suddenly cold and disapproving. Man, I say I'm sorry and what does it get me?

Nigel chose to intervene, sensing the tension between the two females. "Um…Lizzie, isn't it time for you to go home?"

"You're supposed to walk me," said Lizzie adoringly. She shot a death glare at Siri. "She can walk herself home."

"Y'know, normally I would regard that as a smashing good idea," Siri retorted sarcastically. "But I can't walk home. I live in Florida…which reminds me, where am I anyway?"

Lizzie and Nigel's jaws nearly hit the floor. "That's a long way to walk," said Lizzie after she recovered.

No duh Genius!

"I have an idea," said Nigel brightly. "You can come with us Siri and afterwards, you can come with me to my house. I'll find a means of arranging transportation for you there."

Siri shrugged. "Fine by me."

Lizzie nodded once but she was still glaring at Siri. Siri responded by spinning a chicken-shaped gun around her finger. Her cold expression read: one more evil eyeball from you and you'll get something right through your forehead. She stuck the gun into a pouch that hung around her waist before picking up a worn bag.

Nigel noticed the symbol on the corner of the bag but said nothing. Hmmm…it appears this Syria Kaldorei is a lot more than what she makes out to be.

"Bye Nigey!" Lizzie called from her window. "See you later!" She blew him a kiss.

Nigel flushed out of embarrassment while Siri snorted with laughter. Rolling his eyes, he proceeded to lead her up the street to his house.

"So which house is yours?" Siri asked him.

"You don't need to worry about that. My house should stand out."

Siri nodded and focused on the ground. Every now and then, she glanced over at Nigel. She wasn't sure why she did. He was about an inch taller than her with dark sunglasses that concealed his eyes and most of his face. Although his choice of clothing (red sweatshirt, khaki pants) was traditionally plain, she couldn't help feeling very unsettling around him. It was probably his voice, yeah, that was it. He's got a really cute accent…

Nigel noticed her staring at him out of the corners of his eyes. "What?"

Siri blinked, turning red. "Nothing."

Hn, now would be a good time to ask her. "Siri…"

"Yes Nigel?"

"Um…" Oh well, might as well say it straight out. "Are you…are you a member of the Kids Next Door?"

Siri's head shot upward. What? Her hand closed around the handle of her Sniper Chicken. "What…did…you…say?"

Nigel didn't appear to have noticed her agitated state. "I asked if you were part of the Kids Next Door," he repeated calmly. "Why, what's wrong?"

Siri whipped her gun out and pointed it straight at his chest. Nigel blinked, startled. "And just why do you ask that?"

Nigel gulped. This wasn't how I was expecting it to go. "There's no need to get paranoid Siri," he said nervously. "I was just asking."

"What's it to you Uno?" she demanded fiercely. "Are you part of some evil adult plan? Or are you just a spy disguised as a kid?" She pressed the gun closer to his chest. "Well?"

Nigel didn't really want to fight her. It wasn't because he was afraid of losing; it was because he was afraid of hurting her. But if it's what she wants… He reached down and pressed the button on his shoes.

Instantly, jet packs roared to life beneath the soles of his shoes. He rose into the air about two feet higher than Siri was. She fired the gun but he easily dodged the egg blasts by flying around. "Siri!" he called down to her, irritated. "I just want to talk!"

"There's nothing to talk about Nigel!" she shot back angrily. She took aim and fired again. This egg blast barely missed his ear. "And I don't want to talk!"

"Well I do!" He flew down at her and wrestled the odd chicken gun away from her hands. Holding it, he soured up again and aimed it at her from his position. "Now will you talk?"

Siri glared at him and then crossed her arms. He's good. "Fine. Yes I'm a Kids Next Door operative. I'm Numbuh 10 from the Florida branch and the weapons master. That thing you have in your hands right now is a Sniper Chicken, capable of homing in on a person if desired. " She scowled. "Happy now?"

To her surprise, Nigel smiled broadly. "Very." He landed on the ground and gave her back the Sniper Chicken. Siri blinked. What?

"Nice to see you on your guard Numbuh 10," he said seriously, still smiling. "But a little too forceful if you ask me." He crossed his own arms. "Surprised? I'm Numbuh 1, leader of the Kids Next Door in this residence."

Siri's eyes widened to side plates. "Num…Numbuh 1?" Then that means I…oh man! "I am sooooo sorry!" she moaned, dropping the gun at her feet and covering her face in her hands. "I didn't know! Boy, I'm such an idiot!"

"You couldn't have known," Nigel replied, placing a hand on her shoulder and forcing her to look up. "Don't worry Numbuh 10. All's forgiven and forgotten."

"Not really," said Siri. She shook her head. "Now that I'm here…with another operative…I need to ask you for your help."

Nigel frowned. "On what?"

"My teammates back home are in trouble. We were attacked by a group of five freakish kids and their cronies. I was…" she bit her lip. "I was the only one who escaped." I bet they've got everyone now…even Matt. She shook her head again, trying not to feel too afraid for her best friend.

Nigel thought about it. Five freakish kids…sounds like five very familiar foes to me. "There's no need to worry Numbuh 10," he said briskly. "Leave everything to my team. We'll help you in any way we can."

Siri's face split into a grin and she threw her arms around him. "Thank you."

Nigel's face turned as red as his shirt. "Uuuuh…no problem."

Siri realized what she was doing and pulled away, blushing as well. "S-sorry Numbuh 1. I didn't mean to do that. Guess I got a little carried away."

"It-it's okay," he replied, breathing heavily.

"Can I ask you something Numbuh 1?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Is Lizzie…are you and Lizzie…really a couple?"

Nigel stared at her. She gazed back at him, her eyes wide and childlike. "That's well…yes you could say that."

"Oh." There was no trace of disappointment in her voice, only confusion. "What do you see in her?"

Nigel flushed uncomfortably behind his shades. "Well…um…uh…"

"Forget it." Siri waved the thought away with her hand. "You'll only hurt yourself if you continue to think like that."

He nodded and grabbed her hand, leading her up the sidewalk again. "My teammates are waiting."

"And mine are in captivity," she reminded him."

"I know. We'll get them back Numbuh 10. I promise you."

Me: Wow! Another chapter completed just like that!

Alexis: Why can't you be like this with your other stories?

Me: Um………….I dunno.

Alexis/Chloe: -_- (groan)

Numbuh 9: I have a question Caro. Where are we?

Me: Oh you'll see Numbuh 9. You'll see. BTW, this story is NOT going to be a 1/10 couple story! They're only going to be friends, really good friends. That's it.

Numbuh 1: Thank God for that.

Numbuh 10: Yeah really.

Numbuh 12: Good. I can't stand Numbuh 1!

Numbuh 13: (rolls eyes) Ah think he's kinda cute.

Numbuh 1: Oh…no…

Numbuh 12: Well what do you know?

Numbuh 13: You can't stand anybody who Numbuh 10 likes!

Numbuh 12: Shut up Tex.

Numbuh 13: You shut up!

Numbuh 12: You shut up!

Numbuh 13: No, you shut up!

Numbuh 12: You!

Numbuh 13: You!

Me/Chloe/Alexis/Numbuh 1/Numbuh 9/Numbuh10: -_-; Oh brother.