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Codename: Kids Next Door

Operation F.I.N.I.S.H.

Finding

Indecisive

Nigel

Is

Sure

Hard

Cover Page: http:// .com/art/Operation-F-I-N-I-S-H-Cover-161982749 (without the space between // and genincat) This cover shows both what Numbuhs 2-5 look like as teenagers, as well as what Numbuh 539 looks like (ast this age).

This entire story was inspired by a certain Journey song, called "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)". If you happen to listen to it while reading this story, you'll notice the story line fits in pretty well with the song.

DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor have I ever, owned the Kids Next Door or its franchise. If I did, this fic would have become an episode.

Chapter 1

Flashback, 5 Weeks Ago

Numbuh 539 was nervous. Not butterflies-in-your-stomach, regular everyday nervous. More like this-whole-organization-is-in-my-hands-and-we-might-just-lose nervous.

She, of all people, was both the one who was supposed to be the strongest of them all and never get worried, yet at the same time the one expected to be worried the most.

Numbuh 539 was standing on the main deck of the Global Kids Next Door Moon Base, staring out the full pane window into deep nothingness. No one else was on the deck, just her, talking to herself.

"Common, Hantell," she muttered, shifting her gaze down at the contraption in her hands. "It's not like you haven't done this before. Heck, you've done this hundreds of times. They'll find them, you know they will, and you have to be ready!"

What she held in her hands looked like a simple box of wood, with a hand crank sticking out the side of it. But the power it held was far beyond what anyone could believe, what anyone could begin to understand. This simple machine, by a not-so-simple name, could do wonders for the race of children on Earth, the races of children all over the galaxy.

This machine was called The Recommissioning Module. And with it, Numbuh 539 had the power to bring back any Kids Next Door operative's memory. With it, she could stop the horrible menace bent on destroying the childhood race. With it, she could become a hero, a savior.

Yet she had doubts if she could even use this machine anymore, for two reasons. One, because she didn't consider her a hero at all, not for one second. She was simply doing her duty as a Kids Next Door former operative, her duty as a kid.

Her second reason, because once she was faced with these final former operatives to recommission, she might get a bit thrown off emotionally.

Suddenly, a kid in battle armor, who looked about fourteen years old, ran to her shouting at the top of his lungs. The kid tripped over his untied shoelaces and fell face first onto the deck of the ship. Numbuh 539 turned to face the boy, who scrambled to his feet and quickly saluted her.

"Numbuh 539, sir!" he exclaimed, his helmet slightly askew.

"At ease," she replied, and the boy dropped his hand. "Status report."

"Sir! Sector F-J has located the allies and are now bringing them to the main deck, sir!" the boy announced.

She simply nodded. "Let them in."

"Yes sir!" The boy saluted once again, then ran off.

This was exactly the kind of thing she was thinking about. She hated being saluted to, being called "sir" or "ma'am", being given any type of special treatment. It was the only reason she regretted being the creator of the Teens Next Door. She would have preferred anyone, anyone in kid race, to be leader besides her. She shook her head; she knew no one would have been ready anyways. And it was unanimous throughout both the Kids and Teens Next Door organizations: she, Numbuh 539, was the only one in the world who could do it, and do it right.

The boy returned a moment later, again interrupting her thoughts. He stood at one side to let the others through: F-Numbuh 1-Love, F-Numbuh 20-Love, and the allies they had found.

Despite the fact they were on the Moon Base, the most phenomenal kid-made tree house in the entire universe, the allies looked more or less completely uninterested. One girl was texting on her cell phone and had headphones on her head over a large red hat, the music up so high the others could have sung along if they wanted to. Which was exactly what the boy walking next to her was doing. Off-key and sounding like a hurt cat, but nevertheless singing along.

The other boy was playing with the wheels on his skateboard, not even paying attention to where he was walking, only avoiding walls narrowly thanks to 1-Love and 20-Love. The last girl was also not paying attention to where she was walking, rather examining her nails and laughing loudly into a cell phone. The wire from a pair of ear buds could barely be seen through her long hair. How she could talk on her phone and listen to music at the same time, only teenagers could know.

The six of them came to a stop in front of Numbuh 539.

Both F-Numbuhs 1-Love and 20-Love saluted her just as the other boy had, 1-Love announcing, "Sir! The allies you have requested!"

"At ease. Thank you, you may go." The two left the main deck. "At ease" was a constant line all KND and TND operatives heard after saluting her. Though she often told everyone she preferred not to be saluted, it was a tradition since the KND had first started, and kid traditions are often harder to break than to keep.

She looked over the allies in front of her, and as she predicted, she was completely thrown off, though she had been preparing for their arrival emotionally for some time now. She couldn't believe that one of the best KND sectors in history was here in front of her, reduced to teenager-hood.

She sucked in a deep breath, then said, "Uh, hey guys?" to get their attention. None of them stopped their activities, almost as if they hadn't heard her in the first place.

She had truly hoped she could get though to them normally, but obviously it wasn't going to work. This meant she had only one other option, the one she always hated using. In her finely tuned teenager language, she said, "Yo, dudes. Can I like, talk to ya for a sec?"

The allies perked up, and stopped everything. The girls shut off their music and hung up their cell phones, the boy stopped screeching, and the last boy leaned against his skateboard. They all nodded in unison.

"Killer. So listen, I've got this totally awesome soda machine here," she said, motioning to the Recommissioning Module in her hands, "and it needs some testing. It's supposed to, like, shoot a soda can like 5 feet in the air, straight to your hand. So could you dudes stand over on that x over there, and you'll all get free sodas."

Muttering sounds of agreement, they all walked over to the large red x on the floor. Numbuh 362 smiled to herself. It was one of the biggest advantages of being a KND Spy for so many years: you learned how to blend in, learned to speak the enemy's language. And the soda machine lie was also something she had picked up from her enemies, that two of the things they loved were soda and dramatic stunts. She had used the same trick time and again, for almost every single ally she had recommissioned.

With her targets in their spots, she pointed the Recommissioning Module at the teenagers, then told them, "Okay dudes, just stand still, and you'll get your soda." With her free hand, she turned the crank slowly. The module played a melody, one anyone in the world could recognize. As a blue beam shot out of the front of the module, the skateboard boy yelled, "It better be orange!" She simply rolled her eyes at his stupid comment, and silently cursed the day the idea of teenager-hood was created.

The allies were quickly hit with the blue beam, and they all instantly yelled at the pain, pain that could never be avoided, no matter how many times you'd been recommissioned. The blast, as it normally did, threw Numbuh 539 off balance, but this particular time, it threw her into the nearest wall with a huge crash. She shielded her eyes from the blinding light, and only when the yelling had finally subsided did she look over to see the allies.

The four of them stood at attention, slightly dizzy looking and confused. They looked around at both one another and at themselves, and also at their surroundings. Confused comments followed not a moment later:

"Whoa…you guys seein' what Numbuh 5's seein'?"

"W-why are you so tall?!?"

"Why do you look so short all of a sudden?!"

"WHAT THE CRUD IS GOING ON HERE!?!"

Staggering to her feet and wiping dust off her jeans, Numbuh 539 approached them and said, "I can probably help you guys on that last one."

They turned to face the seemingly new arrival, looks of shock on their faces. They suddenly turned to complete hatred, and they all quickly reached for guns and 2x4 technology they didn't have. One boy yelled, "Hey, where the crud's mah M.U.S.K.E.T.!?"

The girl with the red hat exclaimed, "Ah, forget the weapons! Kids Next Door, atta-!"

"NO!!!" Numbuh 539 yelled, "I'M ONE OF YOU!!!"

"Yeah, like we haven't heard that one before!" sneered a boy, "Like a teenager would be one of us!"

She relaxed slightly and smiled. "If you haven't already noticed, you're teenagers yourselves. So don't go judging me."

They glanced at each other and nodded. Three of them relaxed a bit, while the girl with the hat stepped forward, and Numbuh 539 could tell her guard was still up.

"Alright, look. If you are one of us, we're gonna need some proof," she said, eyes hidden by the rim of her hat.

Numbuh 539 nodded. "Okay, I'm cool with that. What kind of proof are ya looking for?"

"How 'bout I ask you a few questions, ones only a true KND operative woulda known."

"Fine. Shoot," she agreed, shrugging.

"Who started the 7th Age of the Kids Next Door?" the girl demanded.

"Numbuh 0 himself. He found the Book of KND, overpowered Grandfather, and freed kids from a tapioca factory."

A boy shouted across the room, "Ay, Numbuh 5! Ask her somethin' harder!"

"Alright then. Who can call a tag game, an operative or a cadet?"

Numbuh 539 smirked. "Trick question. Only a Supreme Leader can call a tag game. Cadets are too young, operatives too low in power."

"HARDER! Anyone could know that, Abby!" the other boy yelled.

"Who's the current Supreme Leader?!" the girl said, almost yelling it.

"No one."

"Ha! Gotcha! I'm the Supreme Leader, teenager!" she sneered, and the allies behind her got into fighting stances.

Numbuh 539 simply shook her head no. "Used to be Supreme Leader. The Kids Next Door hasn't had a Supreme Leader for years, not since your decommissioning."

"But she's not decommissioned!" yelled the other girl. "Only active operatives could know all that stuff!"

She shook her head again. "You were decommissioned, all of you. I just recommissioned you all. See?" She held up the Recommissioning Module to show them all. The girl in front of her snatched it quickly from her.

"What are you doing with that?! That's not some stupid teenager music player or something, idiot! And you can forget about recruiting us to the Teen Ninjas, 'cuz we ain't joining!"

"Ugh, you don't get it, do you? I'm NOT with the Teen Ninjas! I'm running the show AGAINST them!" she was started to lose her temper, which was a rare occasion. Most ex-operatives trusted her more easily than they were, though these four had a better reason than others to mistrust her in the first place. "What do I have to do to prove I'm-''She suddenly stopped when her eyes wandered to the girl's pinky finger, and what was on it. Her eyes, as though they had a mind of their own, started to water.

"Oh, so now you're gonna cry?! Geeze, Father will hire anybody, won't he?" one boy said, elbowing another. They both started giggling.

She shook her head in frustration, getting rid of most of her tears in the process. "No…I just realized…I know how to make you believe I'm one of you. Look here…" She stuck her right hand out to the girl looking at her confusedly.

The girl glanced down at her hand, back up to her face, finally shaking her head and saying, "She's telling the truth, guys. It's cool, you can come over." The girl began to smile.

The others, as confused as she had looked originally, came to stand behind her, also peering down at Numbuh 539's hand. Two of them nodded understandingly. The last one, the boy who told the joke about Father, had the same confused expression on his face as before.

"Good to see you again, Lexi," the girl with the hat said, taking Numbuh 539's hand and giving it a quick shake.

She smiled. "You too, Abby." She saluted with her other hand. "Or should I say, 'Former Supreme Leader Numbuh 5, sir'?"

Numbuh 5 smiled back. "Nah, Numbuh 5's sick of the formalities. Just Numbuh 5."

"Okay, seriously, WHAT THE CRUD IS GOING ON HERE?!" the boy with the confused expression yelled. They all stared at him, surprised he didn't get it.

"Don't you remember the KND Ring, Numbuh 4?" Numbuh 5 asked him.

He just raised an eyebrow at her. "What ring? All I see on her hand is some girly hair tie on her finger!"

The other girl standing next to him grabbed his hand. "It's not just a hair tie, Wally! And it's not girly! You have one too, see?" On his finger was also a similar hair tie.

"Well, somebody probably just put it there! Probably you, Kuki, just to annoy me!" he countered.

"It's not just a hair tie. It's a system Numbuh 5 created, when she became Supreme Leader, remember?" Numbuh 5 said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I don't remember no cruddy system," he insisted, turning his head in frustration.

The remaining boy sighed. "Mine as well just tell him all over again, Abby. He's Numbuh 4, nothing you can do about it." He knocked on Numbuh 4's head, who grabbed wildly in the air for the other boy's glasses. "See, hollow!"

Numbuh 5 rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll explain it again, for your sake. The KND Ring is a simple hair tie or rubber band that you twist a certain way to get a special design. There are two main designs to them. The first," she paused to point to his hand, "is for regular operatives. The second," she paused once again to hold at her own hand, as well as point to Numbuh 539's hand, "is for sector leaders and other top operatives. It makes identifying each other easier, plus each has a small locator built in, where the piece of string is connected. Like the wax, or the little brass piece. That way, teenagers and adults can't just stick a rubber band on their finger and get away with it."

Numbuh 4 stared down at his finger. "I think I remember. But that doesn't explain why she was crying!" he suddenly accused.

Numbuh 539 smiled. "I was crying because I hadn't seen you guys in so long, and I was amazed you still had your Rings, even after your decommissionings. I thought for sure you woulda thrown it out by now. Plus, the teenage versions of you are so odd."

"Heh, I can imagine." Numbuh 5 smiled.

"But now I'm confused," Numbuh 3 cut in. "I get that you're an operative, but your numbuh isn't all that familiar."

"I wouldn't expect you guys to remember me all that easily anyways. I mostly talked with Numbuh 5, leader business stuff, ya know?" She paused a moment to think, then added, "But you probably remember my little sister. Does the numbuh 77 ring a bell?"

They all nodded. "Yeah, she's in Leo's sector, right?" Numbuh 2 added.

Numbuh 539 nodded. "Technically the other way around, she's their sector leader, but yeah. I've been with the KND Spies for awhile; I haven't really seen you guys too often since your cadet graduations. Come to think of it, I haven't been to anybody's actual tree house since Allai graduated…" she trailed off.

"Uh, sorry to cut off your memory lane trip Lexi, but we're kinda at a disadvantage here. We only found out like a second ago we're recommissioned, so obviously we're missing something here." Numbuh 5 tipped her hat absentmindedly. "Can you explain?"

So, the story has officially started. Numbuh 539 has been briefly introduced (more explained in the coming chapters) and Numbuhs 2-5 have their memories back. But the question is, just what is going on for them to be recommissioned in the first place?

Later I'm going to post something related to the KND Ring, I'll let you know when it's up. Explains it a lot better.

You might have noticed I typed "F-Numbuh" instead of just "Numbuh". This isn't a typo. It will be explained in the next chapter.