DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR

A/N: Aiight, in an attempt to make up for all the stupid-short chapters, here's a nice, lengthy one. Since you've stuck with me this far, I think you'll enjoy it. lol

Apologies again for the delay in posting. I actually had this halfway done when I posted the last chapter, only to get writer's block during my free time since. I do despise writer's block.

Also, I realized too late that I had uploaded the wrong version of the last chapter; the one I put up had a few of my personal notes remaining that I leave myself when I'm writing, in this case, Fanny's eye color and favorite food. I feel pretty dumb, but I fixed it now. That's what I get for not prood-reading. lol

CHAPTER 10: OH, YEAH, THE STORM

"C'mon... c'mon... Yes!" Wally leapt to his feet, throwing his arms victoriously into the air. "We did it! We beat the campaign!"

Hoagie sighed in relief. "Finally! I was starting to think we were never gonna see the end of that Doctor Ned!"

"You said it, Gilligan!" Patton exclaimed, dropping his controller and cracking his knuckles. "Wasn't worried or nothin', but he did put up one heck of a fight!"

Wally threw several punches at the air. "He was no match for us, though! We're the greatest zombie-conquering team there is! Man, I am in such a good mood right now! Nothin' could ruin-"

The Aussie was interrupted by a monstrously loud boom of thunder. He yelped, tripping on his own feet and falling right off the edge of his bed, faceplanting right next to Hoagie.

"Haha! What's the matter, Wally? Scared of a little thunder? Afraid it might- YIKES!"

Hoagie's taunting was interrupted by the house's power cutting out, which caused him to emit a frightened yelp himself. Wally laughed at him as Patton and Nigel turned on their flashlights.

"Who's a chicken now, tubbo? Hey, what's that beepin' comin' from?"

"Sounds like a distress call," Patton said. "Somebody got an emergency transponder around here someplace?"

"Yes, I brought one," Nigel said, pulling a modified pingpong paddle out of his bag.

"You would bring that to a game night," Hoagie said, activating his own flashlight.

"And it's a good thing I did! Patton was right; it's a distress beacon, right here in our sector!"

"Aw, man! I don't wanna go outside in this weather," Hoagie whined. "Just listen to that wind! And it's a wonder the rain hasn't reached us yet!"

"Then let's roll out before it gets here!" Nigel's statment was met with the moans of his team. "Oh, come on! It's not even that far away. Besides, it's on an official Kids Next Door frequency. Someone may have crash-landed, or something!"

"So where's it comin' from, Numbuh 1?" Patton asked, standing up with the others. "I'll head out with you."

"The storm is interfering with our satellite feed, but it looks like... uh-oh!"

"Uh-oh? What's uh-oh, Numbuh 1?" Hoagie asked, digging around in his bag for something.

"It looks like the signal might be coming from... Numbuh 3's house!"

Wally jumped to his feet. "Kuki?!"

"...And the others, yes."

Wally's cheeks reddened slightly. "Uh, yeah! 'Course!"

Hoagie exchanged amused glances with Nigel and chuckled. "Don't worry, Wally. We know that you consider her a- heh heh- close friend."

"That explains the drawing of her on your wall," Patton said, looking at said picture.

"It's her picture! She drew it! From her!" Wally hastily retorted. "She gave it to me, and I didn't wanna be, like, rude or nothin', so I hung it up!"

"Stop wasting time, guys," Nigel said, pulling a blue all-weather suit from his bag. "The girls need our help! We need to get over there!"

"Then I hope you're ready for a shower," Hoagie said, gazing out the window, "'cause it's starting to rain! It's gonna get bad real soon!"

"Then hurry and suit up! There's no time to lose!"

"Right!" Hoagie slammed the window shut, and leapt over to his bag. He withdrew a remote with a single button on it. He pressed the button and dropped it back inside his bag.

"Pretty convenient that we all brought our gear, huh?" Patton commented, already halfway dressed out.

"Sector V is always ready for anything, Numbuh 60!" Nigel stated proudly.

"Well... most of the time," Wally muttered.

A few minutes later, the four boys congregated downstairs in the dark living room.

"Everyone ready?" Nigel asked through his suit's communicator. Everyone nodded. "Numbuh 2, what's the status of our transportation?"

"It should be here any moment."

"Perfect." Nigel turned toward the front door, grabbed the knob, and pulled. As soon as the door creaked open, before any of them could even see it, they could hear the torrential downpour, making the muffled tapping on the roof before seem like nothing. Even when the door was fully open, the room remained dark. Despite their flashlights, it almost appeared as though there were a black void outside. A rainy, windy void.

"Look at that," Wally muttered, still audible over their coms. "The street's already startin' to look like a stinkin' river!"

"That won't be an issue," Hoagie stated confidently.

Nigel took a deep breath. "Alright... let's move out!"

Patton exited the house last. He hesitated shutting the front door. "I wonder if our game saved..."

"Where's our transport? We're not just gonna walk over there, are we?!" Wally cried.

No one answered. They reached the sidewalk, where Nigel and Hoagie stopped to stare up at the sky.

"Quite the storm," Nigel commented.

"Biggest of the year," Hoagie replied.

"Oi, are you guys just gonna ignore me, or-?!"

"Calm down, Numbuh 4. My machines never disappoint. Here it comes now!"

As soon as Hoagie finished his sentence, they were treated to the sound of a low-flying jet rapidly approaching and then passing overhead. A moment later, a large object broke through the cloud cover, speeding right toward them. Right before impact, several booster rockets activated on the object's underside, slowing its decent until it came to a stop inches from the ground. Then it dropped, splashing the group with muddy street water.

"Hey! What's this?" Wally asked.

"It's an all-terrain troop transport and attack rover," Hoagie replied, walking up to the vehicle and opening a hatch on the side. The red glow of the inside lights spilled out, illuminating the group. "I call it the G.E.C.K.O. This baby will take you anywhere!"

"How smooth is the ride?" Patton asked.

"Man, why does everyone get caught up in the details? Everyone inside!"

Hoagie plopped down in the driver's seat and doffed his helmet. Once everybody else had climbed in, he sealed the hatch shut, and slammed his foot down on the gas.

"Coordinates are locked in," Nigel reported, removing his helmet. "What's our ETA?"

"Hard to say. If everything goes smoothly, then maybe ten minutes. There's a lot of debris on the road, though, and it looks like some places have already begun to flood out by way of Numbuh 3's house."

"So what?!" Wally shouted indignantly, he and Patton removing their helmets as well. "This is an all-terrain vehicle, right? It can handle runnin' over a few twigs!"

"The debris isn't the problem, it's the water. The G.E.C.K.O. is pretty awesome on land, but it's no boat."

Patton leaned forward. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Hoagie examined several of the screens before him. "We'll go as far as the G.E.C.K.O. will take us. Then, unless someone brought a raft, we'll hoof it."

Patton sat back in his seat, chuckling. "I was just thinking how perfect a night it was for a little stroll outside."

Hoagie glanced over at the boy riding shotgun. "What are you doing, Numbuh 1?"

"I'm analyzing the satellite feed."

"Looking for anything in particular?"

"...Not really."

"Warning! Warning!"

The urgency of the computerized voice caused all of the passengers to look around in a panic. Nigel examined several of the forward instruments and looked over at Hoagie. "We're losing power! Status report!"

"Um... It looks like a... uh... major... engine failure... totally unpreventable..."

Nigel poked his head over to the driver's side. After a moment, he turned to glare at his driver. "Numbuh 2... we're out of gas."

Hoagie chuckled sheepishly. "Oh... how 'bout that..."

Wally groaned with exaggerated aggrivation. "We're done for..."

Nigel turned around in his chair to face the Aussie. "We're not in any real danger, Numbuh 4."

"With him around, we are!"

"That's enough!" Patton shouted, standing up. "We've encountered a setback. We can sit here and whine about it like babies, or we can keep pushing and get the mission accomplished! So, get your butts outta those seats! Those girls ain't gonna rescue themselves!"

The Sector V operatives jumped to their feet. "Yes, sir!"

Patton smirked and donned his helmet, prompting the rest to follow suit. When they were ready, he spoke into his com. "The weather might not be our only enemy. This storm is perfect cover for a Teen Ninja attack."

Hoagie punched a button on the wall. "Then we'd better arm up!" A panel slid open, revealing numerous B.O.T.T.L.E.C.A.P. rifles. Each boy grabbed one.

"Yah really think the teens are up to somethin?" Wally asked.

"Always. Numbuh 2, get this hatch open!"

"Yes, sir!"

The hatch dropped open, landing with a splash. Patton engaged his night nision, and stepped out first.

"This rain is unbelievable!" Hoagie noted out loud. "Visibility is terrible, and the water's almost up to my knees!"

"All the more reason hurry," Patton said. "I sure don't wanna be out in this crud any longer than I have to!"

"The Sanban residence is that way," Nigel said, pointing down the street. "We should be able walk straight there."

Without another word, Patton started off toward the objective, his comrades close behind. They made it maybe twenty feet before Nigel reported trouble. "Numbuh 60, I'm getting reports of flash flooding in the area!"

"Roger that, Numbuh 1."

"What do you want us to do?"

"Keep pushing."

Behind their fearless leaders, Wally was sticking close to Hoagie. "F-flash floods? Those aren't really, like, real or nothin', right?"

Hoagie glanced at his short friend. "What? Of course they're real!"

"Ooh... I got a bad feelin' about this..."

"Just relax, would yah? We're only a few blocks away. We'll get there way before any flash flood reaches us."

"You sure? 'Cause I don't swim, yah know, and-"

"Look, if you somehow end up in deep water, just pull this cord on your suit to inflate into a human life raft."

"Ohh... cool!"

"But you still don't need to worry about it. We're not gonna find any water deeper than this."

"Huh. Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right! I'm always right! We're in no danger whatsoever!"

"Numbuh 2!" Patton bellowed through the com. "Are you trying to tempt fate back there?! It's like you want us to get swept away in a torrent of raging irony!"

"What? No! I'm just sayin' that-"

"Flash flooood!"

The group spun around to confirm Nigel's warning. Indeed, a two-story-tall wave was barreling down the street toward them. There was no way they would have enough time to avoid it; they had only seconds before they'd be swept away.

Patton turned to Hoagie. "I just want to go on record here... I blame you for this."

Wally's suit suddenly ballooned into a boy-sized sphere.

"Not yet, Numbuh 4!" Hoagie cried. "You pull it after you're in water!"

"Whatever. I'm mad at you, too."

The boys shouted at the top of their lungs as the wave hit them with a vengeance. Even for the already-inflated Wally, the rush was disorienting. He surfaced after only a few seconds, albeit upside down. Gravity quickly corrected him. Once he collected himself, he checked his surroundings in a panic. He didn't see anyone else.

"Guys? Guys?!"

Hoagie exploded out of the water next to Wally, grabbing hold of a large plank of wood.

"Numbuh 2!" Wally shouted, his relief evident. "W-where's Numbuh 1? And Numbuh 60?"

Before Hoagie could answer, Nigel surfaced next to him. Immediately after, Patton surfaced on Wally's other side.

"Alright, new plan!" Patton said after catching his breath. "We need to get out of this mess!"

"Solid plan," Hoagie replied. "How?"

"Workin' on it... There! That tall tree up ahead!"

"I see it!" Nigel reported.

"Can we reach that?"

"You bet your behind we can reach it, Numbuh 4!" Patton replied. He raised his right arm, fired off a grappling hook at the tree, and accelerated ahead of his comrades. Climbing onto the branch lowest to the water, he looked back at them. "Grab hold of one another!"

Hoagie grabbed hold of Nigel's forearm and reached for Wally's, but a rogue boulder came between them, pushing them apart.

"Numbuh 4!" Hoagie cried.

"There's a hole in my suit! Heeelllp!"

"I think I'll still be able to reach him! You two, get up here!"

Patton hugged the branch he was on, reaching down toward the water. As Nigel passed underneath, he grabbed hold of his rescuer's hand. Patton grunted under his breath at the sudden strain, but refused to relent. He mustered up his strength, and retracted his arm enough for Nigel to grab hold of the branch. The two then pulled Hoagie up with them.

"Here comes Numbuh 4!" Hoagie shouted, pointing. "His suit is deflating!"

"I know it's deflatin'! I already said that!"

"Numbuh 4," Patton said calmly. "I need to you try and steer this way."

Wally was far too panicked to comprehend any orders. Fortunately, the tide brought him in close enough for Patton to grab hold of his arm. Unfortunately, the tide was too strong, Patton was yanked right off his perch.

"Numbuh 60!" Nigel yelled, grabbing Patton's leg. Hoagie, acting on pure instinct, grabbed onto Nigel. This, of course, led to them both following Patton back into the surging flood.

Wally's would-be rescuers all joined him in shouting at the top of their lungs as he led them through the wild ride. They dodged between debris and obstruction, though it was all luck; none of them had any sort of control. Bouncing between waves and being thrown around between clashing tides, they were completely at the mercy of the flood.

"We're goners!" Hoagie cried.

Up ahead, a sideways semi truck came into view. It was positioned directly in their path, right in the middle of the street. It must have been caught on something, because it wasn't moving. There was nothing they could do; they were going to hit it.

Just before impact, the flow shifted. The boys were sucked underneath the truck, just barely avoiding the underside. A instant later, they shot out on the other side, like being ejected at the end of a long waterslide. Their voices combined into a collective "WHOOOAAA!" as they flew through the air. Several loud thuds and grunts later, they found themselves sprawled out on a rooftop. No one moved; they were too busy trying to catch their breath.

Wally sat up first, panting heavily. "What… who… a-are we dead?!"

"No, we're not dead. Ow…" Nigel rubbed his lower back as he got to his feet. "Where are we?"

"Looks like we're on top of a two story house," Hoagie reported.

"I see that. Where are we in relation to our objective?"

"Hold on. Satellite needs to re-lock on to our position."

Nigel nodded, and turned to look at Patton, who was standing at the edge of the roof. He strode over to his side.

"Looks like the water level is receding," Patton observed. Indeed, the flash flood had moved on. A moment later, only puddles remained.

Wally approached his superiors. "Right, I vote we hurry up and reach the cruddy girls before another flash flood hits!"

"No need," Nigel said, gazing at the yard below him. "We're already here."

"Huh? Oh… well. How lucky is that? What's our plan, then? We just gonna bust in there and beat up some teenagers?"

Nigel opened his mouth to respond, but Patton beat him to it. "Sounds good to me. Let's do it."

"Wait, what? We're not going to plan this out or anything?" Nigel protested.

"Nope," Patton answered, taking his position next to a smirking Wally. "Sometimes the best plan is to just jump into it and go from there." He shot another grappling hook from his suit into the roof. "Now come on!"

Wally and Hoagie promptly followed Patton's lead. Though he hesitated, Nigel wasn't able to argue with Patton now; the boy was one of the KND's toughest fighters, surely he knew what he was talking about… right?

"Three, two, one, go!"

In a single motion, each boy leapt backward off the roof. They hit the window with all the force they could manage, causing it to shatter and shower down around them as they landed. Well, each boy except Hoagie; as it turns out, the window wasn't quite wide enough for all for of them. He ate a faceful of wall instead.

"Freeze!" Patton bellowed as he and his team energized the flashlights taped to their B.O.T.T.L.E.C.A.P.S. and swept the room. They were met with shrill screaming. "Hey! Leave-!"

He was cut off by a swift kick to the side of his helmet, which sent him tumbling into Nigel. Before either could react, two black silhouettes pounced on top of them, restraining them.

"Oi! Back off, or I'll-!" Wally's threat apparently failed him as he found himself kissing the floor right next to his comrades. If they weren't in such a bind, Patton probably would have laughed at him.

"W-what's happening?" Kuki's voice asked from somewhere in the darkness.

"Kuki?!" Wally growled, and threw his attacker off his back. He jumped to his feet and balled his fists, ready for a fight. He could make out the outline of his attacker jumping back onto their feet, and assuming a similar stance.

"Ugh, sorry about that, guys," Hoagie groaned, lowering himself from the windowsill. "Guess I miscalculated the entrance trajectory…"

The figure over Patton released its hold and spun around. "What?!"

Hoagie shined his light on her. "Numbuh 5!"

Kuki stepped into view of one of the fallen weapon's lights. "Numbuh 2?"

"Numbuh 3!"

"Numbuh 4?"

The silhouette facing Wally facepalmed, and spoke with a very clear Irish accent. "Ugh! Not this again!"

Patton and Wally snatched their weapons up as Abby, Kuki, and Fanny switched on their own flashlights. Hoagie chuckled. "I'm sorry, did we cause too much of a dim and wake you girls up? Haha- Ow! Why're you always hitting me, Numbuh 5?!"

Someone shined a light over in Nigel's direction, revealing that it was Rachel pinning him to the deck. She had averted her attention when the talking began, but looked down upon being illuminated. It took a second to comprehend. "Oh, uh…" She blushed, averting her eyes again (though away from the others this time). "N-Numbuh 1…" Her eyes darted around the room, eventually finding their way back to him. That was when she realized he was still pinned beneath her. "Oh! Uh, here, let's, uh, get you up… Sorry…"

"So what the heck are you boys doin' here, anyway?" Abby asked, her question open but plainly directed at Hoagie as the boys all removed their helmets.

"We detected a distress beacon at this location," Patton answered, ignoring her cue. "Seeing as it was on an official Kids Next Door frequency, we were obligated to—"

"Oh, save it! We know the protocol!" Fanny interrupted.

"A distress beacon?" Rachel repeated. "We didn't activate a distress beacon."

"Wait, so you weren't being held captive by evil teenagers?" Wally asked.

"What? No! We were telling scary stories before you came barging in."

Hoagie scratched his head. "In the dark?"

"Well, no. We turned off our flashlights when we heard people walking around on the roof."

Abby chuckled. "We thought you were the evil teenagers!"

"Anyway, no one sent out any emergency broadcasts or anything from here."

Kuki chuckled nervously, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Weeell… actually… as it turns out, when the power flipped off, I maybe kind of tripped and accidentally activated mine because I was scared…" Her volume dropped with the last few words.

Everyone groaned.

"Well, good job responding to the call. It's nice to know I can depend on each one of you," Rachel told the boys with a smile. She noticed Fanny glaring in the corner of her eye, but thought nothing of it.

"Even if y'all got your butts kicked by a buncha girls," Abby jested.

"Ha! No way!" Wally shouted. "I was right about to beat the snot outta all o' yah!"

"Yeah, right! That's why you went down so easily, aye?" Fanny jeered.

"You just caught me off-guard! I got you off! Consider yourself lucky someone turned their light on!"

"I should consider myself lucky?! Oh, no, you are the lucky one here!"

"That's real rich comin' from a girl!"

Fanny took a step toward him. "Alright, Beetles! C'mon! I'm gonna shut that big mouth o' yours!"

Rachel intercepted them by stepping between them. "That's enough from both of you!"

"Hey, where yah going, Numbuh 1?"

Hoagie's question drew everyone's attention to Nigel, who had made his way back over to the window. He didn't acknowledge the question, only turned away and donned his helmet.

"Numbuh 1? Are… you leaving?" Rachel asked, sounding as though she was confused.

Nigel stared out into the dark night for a moment, before turning to the group. "I have to go check on Lizzie. Make sure she's okay."

"Seriously? She's fine, Numbuh 1!" Hoagie proclaimed, throwing his arms up dramatically. "You don't have to check in with her with every little thing that happens!"

Nigel turned back to the window. "I'm not with her because she makes me, you know."

"Why are you with her?" Wally asked, equally indignant.

Nigel opened his mouth, but no words came out. He twisted around, and climbed up onto the windowsill. "I'll see you back at Numbuh 4's house soon." And with that, he was gone.

The group he left behind gaped at the window in various states of disbelief.

Hoagie turned and started talking with Abby and Kuki. "Man, can you believe him? I swear, that guy…"

Fanny, for whatever reason, approached Wally. "Um, N-Numbuh 4?"

"Huh? What is it?"

"I, um, I hope you're not mad about me for, like, tacklin' you and stuff…"

"Ah, well, you know, sometimes a girl might get lucky, and-"

"What does that have to do with anythin'?! Why, I oughta…!"

Well, that escalated quickly. Fortunately, Patton stepped in to mediate. "Now, hold on you two…"

The room was teeming with energy. No one paid any mind to Rachel, still standing in the middle, still staring at the window. She was frozen. After some time, her shoulders slowly drooped, and her lips parted very slightly. "Oh…"

A/N: There. Just one more chapter left. I know it's bad to say, and I've said it already, but I just wanna be done with this one. lol

I wanted to embrace the more exaggerated, dramatic side of KND's "rescue" missions. It's a little more difficult to do in writing than animation. At any rate, I hope it was entertaining.

New poll on mah profile. Check it out.

Thanks for reading,

- Marty