The treehouse had been quiet for a while after the members of Sector V had left. Ashley, David and Constance had just been watching tv; though they were more interested in how the current was progressing than anything they could find to watch.
"I wish we could have gone too…" Ashley sighed, already knowing that they couldn't have possibly gone along. There was just too much risk for them, though it led the blonde girl to wondering if they'd ever be able to be active operatives again, or even lead a normal life, without fear of Father trying to capture them again.
She hadn't mentioned it to her friends and teammates, not after how they'd handled David's incident, but she'd had recent nightmares. She hadn't woken up screaming, to be fair, but Father had been prominent in her dreams. Ashley didn't want to say she was terrified, or worry her friends more than they might already be. She just wanted things to be like how they were before…
Crashing noises pulled Ashley out of her train of thought, startling her. David and Constance jumped off the couch, frowning in concern. Ashley stood just after them, the three of them instantly on alert as they drew weapons before carefully heading off to find out what exactly was going on in the treehouse at the moment.
What they found were teenagers. At least three of them were already inside, and the former operatives couldn't tell if there were more outside or not. Cree Lincoln was, as usual, leading the Teen Ninjas, and she just looked around the treehouse with a smirk.
"Good thing those babies next door are gone. Destroying this dumb treehouse will be even easier," she chuckled darkly. "Though it won't be as satisfying as destroying the dumb brats at the same time." The other teenagers laughed along with her, starting to attack the treehouse.
"We have to do something," Constance whispered to her teammates. "We can't just let them destroy the treehouse, and they'll find us either way. So let's get the drop on them," she continued, and the two other former operatives nodded in agreement. They split up to try to curb as much damage to the treehouse as they could, sneaking around the teenagers carefully, and attacked when they had their backs turned to them.
"Hey! There are some dumb brats here!" the targeted teenagers shouted, fighting back. Cree just scowled as Chad dropped into the treehouse beside her.
"It was supposed to be empty! What are they doing here?" she growled, going one way to find the operatives while Chad went another.
"Kicking your teenage butts, that's what," Ashley smirked, sending one teenager running after a skillful beating with her trusty umbrella sword. Even if 2x4 technology had advanced quite a bit since Sector Z became delightfulized, she felt most comfortable using an umbrella sword and refused to give it up very easily.
"The only ones who are going to get their butts kicked here are you dumb babies," Cree spat, glaring at the blonde as she found her. Ashley glared back at her.
"Bring it on, teenager," she growled, jumping forward to fight the Teen Ninja leader. Cree just smirked, settling into a battle stance as the former Sector Z member advanced.
Chad just smirked at the pre-occupied Constance, preparing to hit her from behind as she fought with another teen. He frowned deeply in annoyance when he was hit with a soda can, though it bounced off his armor harmlessly.
"Hey blondey, are you that much of a coward that you're going to sucker punch someone?" David called out to him, smirking. Chad just turned and glared at him, cracking his knuckles.
"Do you even know who you're talking to? I'm the best there is," Chad huffed at him, throwing a punch at the brunette boy.
"That's funny, that's what they used to say about us too," David grinned tauntingly at him, catching his punch. The teenager just growled at him, starting to fight the kid before him more seriously than he'd initially intended to. Constance just turned to watch them briefly once she'd sent her opponent running, just frowning a little before running off. Even if Sector Z had been the best of the best, there were just the three of them. They were far outnumbered by the armored teen, and Constance knew they couldn't win alone; she had to contact Numbuhs 2, 3, and 4 and let them know they were in trouble. She made it to mission control easily enough, fighting off a few teenagers on the way.
"Numbuh 2! Are you there? We've got a situation—teenagers are attacking the treehouse!" Constance shouted, when the transmission connected. "We're trying to hold them off, but there are a lot of them! We need help!"
"We'll be right there, you guys hold on!" Hoagie answered in response, the transmission cutting out just after. Constance just ran off to try to help her teammates and fend off more of the teenagers.
"Did you really think you could stop us?" Cree scoffed as she knocked Ashley away, smirking. "Although there is something familiar about you…" she frowned, feeling a little weirded out somehow. "Not that it matters. We're going to destroy this dumb treehouse, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Ashley stood back up, scowling. "We're going to stop you, because we never give up! We won't let you destroy this treehouse, if it's the last thing we do!" She rushed at the teenager again, umbrella sword ready to attack.
"You dumb kids never learn," Cree snickered, launching a kick at the blonde. Ashley dodged it, swinging her umbrella at Cree and landing a hit. "Wow, congratulations. You got lucky," the older girl sneered, continuing to fight the blonde.
"If you were considered the best, you're certainly all washed up now," Chad taunted, landing a punch to David's face and knocking him to the floor. "I won't hurt you too much if you just give up now."
"That one wasn't too bad," David said, standing back up. "You can nearly hit as hard as my little sister," the brunette smirked, watching Chad's expression turn sour.
"Kids Next Door, Battlestations!" Hoagie shouted when he and the team arrived, along with Lenny, running into the treehouse with weapons drawn. The teenagers all just turned and scowled at the extra operatives arriving.
"That's just great. Now there's more of you to deal with," Cree grumbled, watching the members of Sector V engage the teen ninjas. "This is just becoming a hassle, and we have more important things to do than to waste more time kicking your butts," she said, kicking Ashley away again. "Teen Ninjas! Time to go!"
The rest of the teenagers just turned at Cree's command, starting to fly out of the treehouse. "This isn't over, kid," Chad glared at David, flying upwards.
"Whatever you say," David replied, just rolling his eyes at the teenager. Chad frowned deeply in irritation, though just smirked after a minute, watching something else all of a sudden. David suddenly frowned, noticing the smirk and trying to figure out what the older boy was looking at. "Hey, what are you…" he started, getting interrupted by Chad suddenly swooping down to grab at Constance nearby. David ran towards her in response, managing to push her just out of the way and getting grabbed by Chad instead.
"You know, you dumb brat, I had a feeling you might do that," Chad said, his turn to grin tauntingly. "Hey guys, help me out with this," he called out to one of the other teen ninjas, the other teenager coming over to help Chad re-position the flailing operative so he could be carried away more easily. "There we go," Chad snickered. "So long, Babies Next Door!" he laughed, flying off through the hole the teenagers had created on their way in.
"David!" Ashley shouted, having noticed the struggling captive as she came running, and looking horrified. "No!"
"David?" Cree paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "There's no way…" she grinned evilly as she and the other teen ninjas left the treehouse. Constance just frowned, making her way over to Ashley.
"I'm sorry, if I'd noticed…He wouldn't have pushed me out of the way…" she said to her friend, feeling guilty.
"I-It's fine. We didn't expect something like that to happen," Ashley shrugged a little, starting to feel just a little bit sick to her stomach.
"We'll get him back, no matter where he ends up," Lenny spoke up, looking determined, and the two girls looked over at him.
"Lenny! You're okay," they both sighed in relief. "At least that's one less thing to worry about..."
Couldn't help it, needed to update again xD But I don't have chapter 9 done...So who knows when the next update will be! (Hopefully this weekend, I promise I'll try.) Don't forget to review if you'd like xD