It's time to reveal to the galaxy at large that Aleph Zero's back and make sure that everyone is ready for a brawl! Also, I guess I should clear this up, but if you haven't already guessed, for Sector Alpha's roles, 8 Infinity was the leader, 6 Shot was the second in command, 417 was the combat specialist, 666 pulled double duty as the technology expert and medic and Hang 10 was the infiltrator/spy. 1849 was pretty much the Bradley of the group.
After helping clean up the beach, the operatives had returned to their ships to travel to Leongar's home planet of Nevolla. The prince had decided to make a formal announcement that the Galactic Kids Next Door was going to return and that everyone, kid, teen or adult, had to be on high alert. No one objected to this idea and Octavia, Flarias, Hathor, and Witherton had all expressed interest in warning their families about their whereabouts, Hook having done so before the group left Hydraxicde.
"Honestly wish it wasn't so quiet," Rachel internally commented. No one was speaking to each other, with the main noise coming from Patton pacing the floor next to her. She didn't blame him. There was now a lot riding on everyone. It wasn't just about having to do extra homework or eat gross food anymore. Millions of innocent lives were riding on their success.
"Yo, doc?" Hook finally asked over the communications channel. "You, uh, you doing okay?"
"If by okay, you mean thinking of all the ways I'm feeding that jackass his own tail once this is all over, then yes, I'm okay," Witherton replied, the anger still clear in his voice.
"Numbuh 666…" Octavia trailed off, looking at the floor. Rachel flinched. She knew exactly what she was feeling. The feeling that you failed the operatives simply because you saw they were angry or sad.
"It's not your fault," She said to the owl-like creature. Octavia jumped a little at the sudden attention, but then tilted her head at Rachel's comment, prompting her to continue. "I get the feeling, the idea that everything that upsets or pisses off your underlings is your fault. I've felt it several times. But there's usually nothing you could have done. Sometimes, it's best to just help them get over it."
"...Are you sure that you're only twelve?" Octavia couldn't help but note in an amused tone. "Because that's pretty wise for someone who's not even a teenager yet."
"You learn to grow up quick as a leader," Was all Rachel had to say for Octavia to simply nod. Sure, Rachel couldn't dream of what it would be like to be a sector leader while in the middle of a literal war (although she knew she was about to learn), but being Supreme Leader certainly taught her many things. Granted, the main thing was that paperwork was the literal worst thing in the world but she certainly picked up many little tips and tricks.
"She's right, Via," Witherton commented. "What happened between me and that piece of shit isn't your fault. If anything, it's mine. But I'm still planning to throttle him with his own spine."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Octavia said with a chuckle. She knew that Witherton (and also Flarias) were certainly….eccentric, but they were still her friends.
"Looks like we're almost there," Hathor noted as he finished cleaning one of his pistols. As if on cue, the three ships came out of hyperspace in front of a decent sized planet.
"Welcome to Nevolla," Leongar said with a fond smile. "Home sweet home." The three ships then began their descent onto the planet. The planet seemed nice enough, with many nice looking buildings made of what seemed to be white marble. Somehow, Rachel and Patton weren't shocked when they landed near a large castle. Everyone wasted no time disembarking the ships, Flarias and Witherton taking the time to stretch their legs.
"Prince Leongar. I am glad you have returned safely," A voice greeted. Everyone turned to see what appeared to be wolf/lizard hybrid dressed in nothing but a cloak and foot wraps walking towards them. His body was overall that of an anthropomorphic lizard, but his face was also much closer to a wolf's and gray fur lined much of his stomach, arms and tail. He also seemed to have strange scaly dreadlocks coming off his head.
"Indeed I have, although the news I bring is sadly not good," Leongar replied before turning to the two humans. "This is my family's retainer. You may refer to him as Dreads or Numbuh 0%,"
"It is a pleasure to meet you two," Dreads said with a bow of his head. Rachel and Patton shared a look. Dreads was both kinda scary and confusing. While they understood now that the secrecy of the Teens/Adults Next Door was a lot different in space, seeing what appeared to be a middle aged…being (was man even the right word?) still answer to his codenumbuh was weird.
"Still undefeated, Numbuh 0%?" Flarias asked, fangs bared.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Dreads replied as he inspected his claws. "Although you do still hold the record for lasting the longest with me,"
This caused Flarias to smirk. "I'm still counting that as a victory."
"Wait, why would lasting the longest in battle counter as a victory?" Patton had to ask.
"Because no one has ever beaten Dreads," Hathor explained as he walked over to the older alien. "We've all tried…some of us several times. But no matter what, Dreads beats us."
"Let's make sure Numbuh 4 never meets this guy," Rachel whispered to her friend.
"Are you kidding?" Patton replied. "That would be the funniest thing ever!"
"Now then, what brings you back with your former sector in tow?" Dreads asked, reminding everyone what exactly the plan was and why they had returned.
"I want to put out a message to everyone we can reach," Leongar declared. "Aleph Zero has returned and he's already attacked Hydraxicde, although we were thankfully able to prevent any injuries."
Dreads sucked in a breath. "That is…indeed something worthy of a message. Come. We must also alert your father," He then began walking back towards the building he had come out of, prompting everyone to follow. Once again, the journey, although thankfully much faster. The walk through what they could only guess was a castle also meant that Rachel and Patton had a bit more to look at than just the emptiness of space. The main thing of interest was the many paintings on the wall. Several seemed to be of a young Leongar, with more than a few showing him with his Kids Next Door awards and decorations. Yet one picture caught their eye. It appeared to be Leongar on his first day of KND training…and there was a second kid in the picture with him. They were the same species from the looks of it, only with slightly darker fur.
"That's my brother, Dormax," Leongar said once he noticed the duo staring at the picture. "He appears in a few other pictures, but my father…does not like to display his image around the house."
"How come?" Rachel asked.
"He…let's just say there's a reason I don't mention him that often and leave it at that," Leongar said before continuing down the path. Rachel and Patton both got the basic idea. He probably became an adult or teen villain or something like that and since Leongar's family was full of Kids Next Door operatives who were never decommissioned, he was considered the black sheep of the family.
"So how's King Morfusta doing these days?" Flarias, who was spinning her tail gun's barrels as they walked, asked.
"The king is well," Dreads spoke up, beating Leongar to the punch. "I am sure he will be eager to see his son again."
"He was literally here last week," Octavia chimed in. Sure, she loved her future father-in-law (she and Leo hadn't hit that point yet, but she knew it would be sooner than later), but his love for his son could be a little..smothering at times.
"You know how my father is," Leongar said to his girlfriend. "Besides, since mother passed and Dormax is…in no position to be near my father, I'm really the only family he has left."
"Can we talk about literally anything else?" Witherton groaned, overdramatically putting his hand on his face. "This is making me depressed and we're going to get plenty of that once we have to deal with Aleph Zero more often!"
"Witherton, would it kill ya to show some sympathy every once in a while?" Hathor asked as he smacked his sectormate across the pack of his head.
"Hey, I am plenty sympathetic!" The doctor/mechanic fired back. "I'm just not in the mood to be right now." Hathor glared at him, which was soon moved to Flarias, Rachel and Patton, who couldn't stop themselves from giggling (or in Flarias' case, laughing uproariously).
"We're here," Dreads announced once the group reached the end of the hall, causing everyone to snap to attention. Once everyone was ready, Dreads pushed the door open and ushered everyone inside. At the end of the room was a set of throne and an older member of Leongar's species sat on one. He slowly stood up to meet the group in the middle of the room, revealing his face was marred with wrinkles and the constellations in his mane appeared to be blue rather than white like his son.
"Your highness," Dreads spoke as he bowed before his king. Everyone sans Leongar quickly moved to do the same. "Your son has returned home and he comes bearing important news."
"I would assume so, considering he has brought his friends back with him," King Morfusta replied in a warm fatherly tone. "Am I finally going to be welcoming Octavia into the family?"
"Not yet father and sadly, the news isn't any type of good news," Leongar declared, doing his best to keep his voice steely. "The Galactic Kids Next Door has returned, and….Aleph Zero along with them."
"Hmm…are you sure?" Morfusta asked, his voice showing that he clearly didn't want to believe it.
"We struggled to believe it as well," Leongar explained before motioning to Rachel and Patton, prompting them to stand. "This is Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 60 from the planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. Octavia and I stopped a Galactic Kids Next Door transport ship where we found them being held prisoner. They told us they were captured by spies on their planet for trying to find out what they were up to. We decided to round up the rest of Sector Alpha and on Hydraxicde, we stopped an attempted attack by the organization. Numbuh XXX was leading the charge."
"We can back him up if you want," Octavia piped up as she stood up. The other members of the Sector nodded. Morfusta began to stroke the bottom of his mane, very deep in thought.
"What do you need?" The king finally asked his son. "I may no longer be able to fight as well as I could in the past, but I will support you and your friends in this fight no matter what."
"We want to warn everyone," Leongar said. "We want to use the broadcasting system to put out a message."
"I shall have it prepared within the hour," Morfusta said before nodding to Dreads, who promptly headed off.
"Thank you, father," Leongar said with a bow of his head.
"No, son," Morfusta said as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "It's you and your friends who deserve thanks. You are the ones who are going to once again restore peace to the universe."
"He has…a lot of faith in us," Rachel couldn't help but note. While it was certainly taking some getting used to, she was enjoying how supportive all these adult aliens were.
"Why wouldn't I have faith in my son and his friends to succeed?" Morfusta asked, his tone a mix of genuinely confused and amused at Rachel's answer. The human girl simply shrugged, a smile on her face. Oh yeah, she could get used to this.
Across the universe, dozens of screens had their images replaced with static, startling many creatures who were not expecting their usual routines to be interrupted. Before anyone could question what was going on, a new image appeared on every single screen and it was both comforting and equally concerning: A grim-faced Prince Leongar, with the rest of Sector Alpha, as well as two strange children at his side. This set off many more questions, but no one dared to voice them as the prince began to speak.
"People of the universe!" His voice was powerful and drew in those that hadn't been watching before. "I interrupt your programs to bring you grave news. The infamous Numbuh Aleph Zero has returned and he seeks to restart the gruesome war he raged ten years ago. Now, I understand if you are afraid. I know the horrors and atrocities that happened all too well. However, there is one major difference from ten years ago. This time, we know he's coming. We know what to be prepared for! And much like ten years ago, Sector Alpha will not fail in our mission! We will defend everyone-kids, teens and adults from the menace of the once noble Galactic Kids Next Door! And this time, we will ensure that Aleph Zero and his elk will NEVER again threaten the safety of the known universe! KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES!" At the end of his speech, Numbuh 4.3 Light Years raised his fist into the air, prompting those around him to do the same. Across the universe, millions more did the same. If Aleph Zero wanted a war, then that is what he would get.
"KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES!" The universe seemed to chant all as one. "KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES! KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES!"
"Yeah, I think that certainly got everyone hyped," Flarias noted as she looked out the window at the chanting crowd of beings of all ages, all of whom still had their fists raised in the air.
"Hey, Leo said he wanted to reach everyone he could," Witherton spoke up as he finished fiddling with a small device that vaguely resembled a rubix cube with a small satellite dish attached to it. "And that's what this did! I'll bet it even reached those little brats!"
"Then we're gonna be in for a brawl sooner than later," Hathor pointed out. "If Aleph Zero knows we know about him, then chances are, he ain't gonna just sit around."
"I'm aware of that, Numbuh 6 Shot," Leongar replied as he finished sharpening his poleaxe. "However, the sooner he attacks, the sooner we can begin to capture his minions and learn more about what is going on."
"We'll also be able to get his prisoners back," Octavia pointed out. "Since, if he has been active this whole time, chances are that at least a few of his goons turned against him or found out and were captured like Rachel and Patton here."
"Then hopefully, they saw the message too," Leongar declared as the group joined Flarias at the window. They were in for the fight of their lives and they knew it.
Numbuh 74.239 flinched as Numbuh Aleph Zero continued his rampage. His Supreme Leader had been in a complete rage ever since the traitor's message had been sent out.
"Why couldn't he have done something good for once and just jumped off a cliff!?" Aleph Zero ranted. Just seeing that idiot Numbuh 4.3 Light Years made his blood boil.
"Er, Supreme Leader?" The tree alien nervously spoke up, only to instantly regret it when the raging leader's glare was turned on him.
"WHAT!?" He snapped at his scientist, who promptly started cowering. "SPEAK!"
"S-Shouldn't w-w-we be readying for our assault on Nevolla?" The tree-like creature finally managed to sputter out.
"We can't attack there!" Aleph Zero roared, prompting Numbuh 74.239 to curl in on himself further. "Since Numbuh 4.3 Light Years already knows, chances are he's already warned the old man! We don't have the power to do that without the element of surprise! So now everything is ruined!"
"Not everything…" Numbuh 74.239 realized.
"What are you talking about?" Numbuh Aleph Zero asked, legitimate curiosity in his voice.
"Well, if you recall, Nigel Uno has inputted his genetic material into our weapon! And Earth will be completely defenseless!" Numbuh 74.239 reminded his boss.
"Hmm…" Aleph Zero slowly calmed down as he began to think. As much as he would have rather done a demo on his home planet of his new army's might, getting rid of that stupid dirtball would be an easy and powerful blow. Sure, Numbuh Vine got a warning out, but it was apparently to two known morons. Not to mention, Numbuh 1 was very much indoctrinated into his way of thinking. Best to strike while the iron was still hot. "Perhaps that's not the worst idea. Tell the troops to begin preparations for a jump to Earth." Maybe finishing things off by beheading that stupid king and his stupid son would be far more satisfying anyways.
Deep in the bowels of the Galactic Kids Next Door's ship was the dungeon. Well, it was more like a lava pit with cages suspended above it, but everyone called it a dungeon anyways. And this dungeon was the current home of Numbuh 274, more commonly known as Chad Dickson, Numbuh 9L, Numbuh Infinity and, most recently, Numbuh Vine, who was caught trying to warn Earth about Numbuh Aleph Zero's plans. It may have seen impossible for Leongar's message to reach them, but nothing was impossible when Witherton put his mind to it (or at least that what he claimed)
"Do…do you really think Sector Alpha can beat them?" Chad to ask. He wasn't one to give up, but considering what he'd been through in the last couple days, hope was pretty hard to come by.
"They've got a solid track record with it," Numbuh 9L said as she tried her best to get comfortable in her cage, really wishing they'd given her a bigger one. She was a big kitten, damn it!
"And I saw Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 60 with him," Numbuh Infinity, who had been forced back into his normal form of an owl-like creature. "They are certainly capable operatives."
"We've just got to believe, Chad," Numbuh Vine, who was closest to him, reached out with one of her vines in a comforting gesture. Chad smiled and placed his hand on top of it. It was hard to hope, but he would be damned if he didn't hold on to anything that he could. He still had a lot he wanted to do with his life.
Pretty big chapter, huh? I mean, we've got everyone learning about Aleph Zero's return, our first look at what the guy's like, some more world building and our first look at how Chad, Lizzie/Numbuh Vine, Numbuh 9L and Numbuh Infinity are doing. Now, for the new character's voice actor headcanons.
Dreads: Wagner Moura (The Wolf/Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish)
King Morfusta: James Earl Jones (Mufusa from the Lion King)
Numbuh Aleph Zero: Mark Hamill (The Joker)
Numbuh 9L: (I know she's technically canon but we've never heard her speak so let me have this) Kate Micucci (Webby from DuckTales 2017)