It's time for our heroes to finally infiltrate the Galactic Kids Next Door's headquarters and start doing some REAL damage! Also, before I forget again, since I revealed 417, 666 and 6 Shot's species, here's the other aliens' species.
4.3 Light Years (and everyone on Nevolla): Nevollan
8 Infinity/Infinity: Owlin
Hang 10: Selachion
6 Shot: Scorptaur
9L: Felainous
Dreads: Morsnesse
Vine: Bloomoid
XXX: Dirtian
"They are really in the middle of nowhere, huh?" Numbuh 8 Infinity marveled once Numbuh 666 revealed the results of his labor. Much like Dreads had predicted, he was able to use it to track the location of the Galactic Kids Next Door's ship. The massive, cake-like ship was quite literally in the middle of nowhere. The closest system was several light years away.
"The only way you'd end up there would be if you ran out of fuel during a hyperspace jump," Numbuh 4.3 Light Years commented.
"Then you got a whole new set of problems," Numbuh 417 joked, causing a few chuckles. Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 60 both laughed as well, even if they didn't really understand it.
"Anyways, from my awesome hacking skills…" Numbuh 666 paused, seemingly to watch his teammates roll their eyes at him. "I was able to get a lot more information than I was expecting to find. First off, their planet buster." The holopanel in the middle of the room lit up, showing an utterly massive looking laser. "Obviously, stopping this thing from firing again is top priority."
"Er, don't cha mean firin' period?" Numbuh 6 Shot questioned.
"Sadly, no," Numbuh 666 revealed, causing several people to gasp. "It was set off a few hours ago. Luckily, it was blocked and now the gun has to recharge."
"Well, that's good," Numbuh Hang 10 pointed out. "Uh…where was it aimed?"
"Uh…" Numbuh 666 glanced back down as his own tablet and his eyes went wide. "Earth."
"WHAT!?" Numbuhs 362 and 60 both exclaimed, pretty much jumping over each other to see Numbuh 666's report for themselves. Sure enough, their eyes weren't flying tricks on them. Earth had been targeted, but something blocked the laser, preventing it from destroying their home.
"So…everyone is okay?" Numbuh 362 had to ask.
"From the looks of it," Numbuh 666 replied. "Now can I PLEASE continue or do I have to remove your vocal cords temporarily?" Everyone stayed quiet, much to his relief. "Thank you. Now, our second target is the prison level, located at the bottom of the ship." The image on the holopanel changed, this time to a mockup of the prison.
"Wow, and they still think they're heroes?" Numbuh 362 couldn't help but comment. No one else disagreed with her. After all, a prison consisting of cages dangling over a pit of lava wasn't exactly something one would consider to be all that heroic.
"I'm convinced some of them know they're evil, they just won't admit it," Numbuh 417 bluntly replied as she crossed her arms.
"Luckily for us, the prison is mostly empty!" Numbuh 666 continued once he was sure everyone was done talking. "There are still four prisoners inside that we need to rescue through. First up, Numbuh C55H72O5N4Mg or Vine of Biollante, civilian name, Zylenna "Lizzie" Lianas." Numbuh 666 paused upon noticing Numbuh 362's eyes going wide like something just made a lot of sense, but he continued on. "Numbuh 9L of Felis, civilian name, Meowal Beanus. Next up, Numbuh 274 of Earth, civilian name, Chad Dickson." Once again, Numbuh 362's eyes went wide, with Numbuh 60's eyes going wide as well, but they didn't comment. "And finally…" Numbuh 666 trailed off when he saw the last name on the list. He gave his sector leader a sympathetic look.
"Doc? What's wrong?" She asked, still oblivious as to what he was going to reveal.
"...Numbuh Infinity, civilian name, Chsin Spestrio," He read. Almost instantly, Numbuh 8 Infinity looked utterly horrified.
"They have Chsin? That's where he's been all this time?" She softly said, staring into space. "But…how did they go unnoticed?" Sure, Niter had a…massive crime element, one that encompassed all ages, but surely, someone would have noticed the Galactic Kids Next Door recruiting, right?
"Well, if he's locked up, at least that means he's good still!" Numbuh Hang 10 pointed out, smiling almost obliviously. Still, Numbuh 8 Infinity couldn't help but smile upon realizing that as well.
"So, we're splitting into two teams, right?" Numbuh 417 asked as she pounded her fist into her open palm. "Cool, I want to be on the destroying team!"
"Oh believe me, sister, I know," Numbuh 666 replied in a playful manner. "We're still playing this as a stealth mission, but there will no doubt be some destruction. Does anyone else have any requests on where they want to go? Oh, and Via? You're already going to the prison. My mind was made up as soon as I saw that name." Numbuh 8 Infinity, who had already opened her mouth to speak, merely nodded.
"I'll also rescue the prisoners," Numbuh 4.3 Light Years spoke up. "With Numbuh 417 going to destroy the laser, you'll most likely require strength to lift the cages onto safe ground."
"Er, I also want to go find the prisoners," Numbuh 362 piped up. What she meant by that was she wanted to confront Chad again, but she felt like that was something she couldn't say. Thankfully, no one seemed to care enough to question that.
"Alright! Anyone else?" Numbuh 666 asked as he looked around. No one offered any other comments. "Alright! We'll sort the rest out once we're closer! Now let's get moving!" Everyone filtered out of the meeting room to head for the docking bay. Numbuh 4.3 Light Years moved to join them, but Numbuh 8 Infinity stopped him.
"Leo…you know you're going to have to face him again, right?" She asked in a concerned tone. Numbuh 4.3 Light Years sighed once he realized what she meant, clenching his fists.
"I know…and I know it's unavoidable," He replied. "But maybe I'll finally get answers after all this time." He then headed out, and Numbuh 8 Infinity knew the conversation was over.
"OH COME ON!"
Everyone was snapped out of whatever they were doing to prepare for the raid on the Galactic Kids Next Door's mothership at the sound of Numbuh 417's exclamation. The Dragconious was staring at her phone, from the looks of it.
"Numbuh 417? What's up?" Numbuh Hang 10 asked as he tried to see what his friend was glaring at.
"My parents decided to take a trip down memory lane once they found out what we were up to. And they decided to remind me about this," Numbuh 417 grumbled as she turned her phone around, showing a very interesting picture to the group. While her former Galactic Kids Next Door comrades all instantly burst out laughing, Numbuhs 362 and 60 couldn't help but cringe. It was a flag of some king, albeit one that was clearly made by a pack of kids with no real art knowledge. It was not a pretty sight, between the fact Numbuh 417 had clearly run out of black ink when writing the title, everyone's messy and strangely sized handwriting and the fact over half the group wrote in random colors.
"It's…" Numbuh 362 trailed off. The last thing she wanted was for someone who was a dragon in everything but name with a gun in place of their tail mad at her.
"You can just say it's bad," Numbuh 417 said as she put her phone away. "A group overexcited 9-11 who wanted a battle flag are not good designers…or have good handwriting for that matter."
"Maybe you should make another one once we have the time!" Numbuh Hang 10 suggested.
"That's…actually a bad idea," Numbuh 417 admitted. "We've all got better handwriting, after all."
"Because that was the only flaw of that flag," Numbuh 6 Shot mockingly noted, Silvo seemingly snickering.
"Oh, because YOUR handwriting was perfect!" Numbuh 417 snapped back.
"Alright, no need to fight over something we made ten years ago," Numbuh 8 Infinity said as she pushed the duo apart. The two operatives glared a bit before dispersing. The owl-like alien then smirked. "Looks like I've still got it."
"Hey!" Numbuh 666 called out from the cockpit. "We're there!" Rushing to his side, everyone looked out the window to see the massive ship coming into view.
"...Why does it look like a cake?" Numbuh 60 had to ask.
"Maybe they wanted to have their cake and eat it too?" Numbuh 666 joked, only to realize he was the only person laughing. "Tough crowd."
"So how are we getting in?" Numbuh 417 asked. "Can't exactly fly in the main hangar, can we?"
"I found an access port on the lower levels of the ship. Luckily, that's around where we need to go, so if worse comes to worse, we can make a quick getaway." Numbuh 666 explained as he slowly maneuvered the ship towards the access port. Whether it was because the ship was cloaked or because he was just that good of a pilot, the group went in completely undetected, even with all the ships patrolling around the area.
"Here we go…" Everyone thought as the hatch opened.
Team Laser Destroyer (Numbuh 417, Numbuh 666, Numbuh 60, Numbuh 6 Shot (plus Numbuh 1849))
"Stay alert, we can't get spotted," Numbuh 666 reminded his team.
"Seems easier than we woulda guessed," Numbuh 6 Shot noted. He thought the ship would have been crawling with guards. Yet, they had only encountered a few.
"Must be because most people don't come this far down," Numbuh 417 guessed, trident at the ready.
"They're really overconfident no one will find them, huh?" Numbuh 60 said as he checked down another passage. No one was there, causing him to lower his weapon.
"Must be because no one did find them for all these years," Numbuh 6 Shot pointed out. No one could argue with that.
"So, where exactly is this laser?" Numbuh 417 asked in hopes of changing the topic. She didn't want to think about how they pretty much slapped a band aid over the problem all those years ago. From what she could see, the others seemed to feel the same.
"It's about two levels up. Luckily, I know a shortcut that avoids the lifts," Numbuh 666 revealed as he pointed to what seemed to be a frozen vault door. "Flarias, you mind getting this?"
Numbuh 417 grinned before cracking her knuckles. "Step aside." The boys didn't see the need to argue. Taking a deep breath, Numbuh 417 released what appeared to be rainbow fire from her mouth, loosing up the wheel to the point it would be much easier to turn. And turn it, she did, opening up the path before looking inside. "The…ice cream freezer?"
"Seriously?" Numbuh 60 asked as he peeked inside. Sure enough, boxes of various flavors of ice cream and ice pops lined the walls.
"Come to mama!" Numbuh 417 eagerly declared as she licked the outside of her mouth with all three of her tongues.
"No!" Numbuh 6 Shot snapped as he grabbed Numbuh 417's tail, preventing her from running inside. "This is a dangerous mission and all yer thinkin' about is ice cream!"
"Oh come on! I was only gonna take one thing!" Numbuh 417 protested as she tried to pull herself away.
"And what if it's boobytrapped?" Numbuh 6 Shot asked. Numbuh 417 growled but nodded in understanding. Numbuh 6 Shot let her tail go, which she quickly pulled away.
"So…where too?" Numbuh 60 asked as he looked inside. The freezer seemed to stretch on for miles. From what he could see, it looked like there was a horizon.
"Follow me," Numbuh 666 said as he headed in. Everyone followed after him. Numbuh 6 Shot then smacked Numbuh 417 with his tail.
"OW! What was that for!?"
"Ah know you were thinking about taking some ice cream!"
"Honestly, fuck you!"
Team Prisoner Rescue (Numbuh 4.3 Light Years, Numbuh 8 Infinity, Numbuh 362, Numbuh Hang 10)
"So how exactly do they keep lava from tearing the ship apart?" Numbuh 362 asked as the group made their way through the lowest regions of the ship. They could already see the lava out the windows, although there was no sign of the prisoners. "Actually, what's the point in having lava in the ship anyways? Wouldn't it make things overheat?"
"My guess? They use it for fuel," Numbuh 8 Infinity replied. "We didn't have this back when I served and they can't go out and buy fuel anymore."
"As for how it isn't destroying the ship…we have no idea. That's a question for Witherton most likely," Numbuh 4.3 Light Years responded as he looked out one of the windows. He wasn't sure if he was sweating from nerves or the heat. Just being so close to Aleph Zero…it was unnerving to say the least.
"Yo Leo? How do you think Aleph Zero will react to seeing you again?" Numbuh Hang 10 chimed in, missing Numbuh 4.3 Light Years currently fretting over the same thing.
"Let's…hope it doesn't come to that," Numbuh 4.3 Light Years said before picking up his pace. "C'mon, the prison section isn't too far from here."
"So…what actually went down between those two?" Numbuh 362 had to ask. Pretty much every time Numbuh Aleph Zero was brought up, Numbuh 4.3 Light Years started to act extremely defensive.
"Well…" Numbuh 8 Infinity knew it was probably better for Numbuh 4.3 Light Years to reveal this, but considering that he most likely didn't want to talk about it, it was better for her to give an answer. Besides, with how things were going, 362 was going to learn sooner than later. "You know how Numbuh 666 and Numbuh XXX were close before the latter betrayed him?"
"Yes," Numbuh 362 answered. "Why? Is it like that?"
"It was worse," Numbuh 8 Infinity gravely responded, causing Numbuh 362 to gasp. "They actually were both considered to be the Supreme Leaders when Sector Alpha served. But Numbuh Aleph Zero discovered what he believed to be the secret to staying a kid forever-stealing someone else's youth. When he tried to show this to Numbuh 4.3 Light Years, Aleph Zero actually thought he would be excited, instead of horrified. Leo told him off, but something changed in Aleph Zero. He started rounding up operatives who did agree with him under our noses, then, one day, offered Numbuh 4.3 Light Years and the rest of us a chance to 'change our minds'. And when we still called him evil…"
"He attacked us," Numbuh Hang 10 chimed in, his voice completely serious for once. "Started suddenly having his goons and stuff blast us. We all ran for it, but some people still got their ages drained. If you ran, you were his enemy."
"So that's why the war started?" Numbuh 362 recapped. Two nods. "But…why did he think you'd all like the idea of draining people's ages?"
"Because no one really wants to grow up," Numbuh 8 Infinity pointed out with a scowl. "He thought that the thought of never age would erase the fact he planned to target innocent adults and teenagers for his plan. And that's before we learned that forcing your body to never age had bad effects on it."
"So…he doesn't even realize what he's doing is wrong?" Numbuh 362 questioned, noting that sounded a little too familiar for her tastes.
"To be honest, we aren't even sure," Numbuh 8 Infinity admitted. "Like, we aren't sure if he knows why we all rejected him all those years ago."
"He's just crazy," Numbuh Hang 10 piped up, causing the two girls to giggle as they headed after Numbuh 4.3 Light Years. Numbuh Hang 10 wasn't sure what was so funny, but he was happy to make people smile.
Team One
"This is actually torture," Numbuh 417 groaned as the group continued through the freezer. And how could it not be? It was freezing, it was taking forever and worst of all, she couldn't even eat any of the delicious ice cream laying around the place!
"We ain't actually having fun either," Numbuh 6 Shot said as he hugged himself. He was not meant for the cold. Numbuh 666 seemed to be unaffected by anything and Numbuh 60 was dressed for colder weather already.
"Er, Numbuh 666?" Numbuh 60 asked. "I hate to be the one to ask, but are we almost there?"
"From the looks of it!" Numbuh 666 said before beginning to turn around. "So that means you two can finally stop whin-Flarias what's wrong!?" Everyone turned to Numbuh 417 at that, shocked to see her leaning against the wall, seemingly in pain.
"Phantom pains…" She grunted out, gripping at one of her wings. "Old war injury…"
"I gotcha," Numbuh 666 said as he pulled out a syringe from his coat, jabbing into his friend's neck. Within a few seconds, she began to calm down.
"Thanks…" Numbuh 417 said as she stood up. "Let's get out of here. I don't know how long it'll last with all the cold." All three boys nodded, although only two knew exactly what had happened to Numbuh 417 to cause her so much pain. Numbuh 60 did, however, know that pain could make old injuries hurt again.
"It's not too far from here," Numbuh 666 revealed. "And then I know a different way out."
"Then let's get movin'," Numbuh 6 Shot said. No one felt any need to argue. Everyone walked much faster, avoiding a run in case of ice, but still quicker then they had been moving before. Much like Numbuh 666 had said, a ladder wasn't far from where they were. Everyone quickly climbed up, even Numbuh 6 Shot, with Numbuh 666 opened the hatch.
"Whoa…" Even though he knew what was coming, Numbuh 666 couldn't help but be in awe and the others he was with were the same. The laser was utterly massive and didn't look like anything else that the Galactic Kids Next Door had to offer. "I almost wish we didn't have to blow this up with how impressive this is! I may have to steal the design for some of my own projects!"
"The last thing we need is you with a planet buster," Numbuh 6 Shot grumbled.
"So…where are the bombs?" Numbuh 60 asked. While it was impressive, seeing the laser only made him want to blow it up more.
"Now we're talking!" Numbuh 417 agreed as she rubbed her hands together. Numbuh 666 just grinned and held his coat open. Dozens of bombs lined the insides.
Team two
"There they are!" Numbuh 362 called out as she pointed towards a series of cages that had come into view. She could see four people stuck in them.
"So…how are we gonna get them to safety?" Numbuh Hang 10 asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I see a winch," Numbuh 8 Infinity pointed to said object with the rifle Numbuh 666 had given her. "If we use that, we should be able to safely pull them up."
"No chance it won't be guarded," Numbuh 4.3 Light Years pointed out.
"Then we'll just have to be quick," Numbuh 8 Infinity replied, a smirk on her face. Her boyfriend couldn't help but smile himself. The four of them broke into a sprint, quickly rushing down the path. No one was there to stop them, making it easy to ambush the guards waiting.
"Hey, what are you doing here?!" One guard demanded, only for Numbuh Hang 10 to bite down on his weapon to rip it away, followed by whacking him into an open closet. The guard attempted to rush back out, but his fellow guard was thrown into him, followed by Numbuh 4.3 Light Years slamming the door shut and blocking it with a large stack of crates.
"Hey, what's going on up there?" A voice asked. Numbuh 362's ears perked up. She knew that voice…
"CHSIN!" Numbuh 8 Infinity called out, looking over the edge. "Are you okay!?"
"Via? Is that you?" Numbuh Infinity asked, his voice sounding a mix of relieved and hopeful.
"Yes! It's me! Hang on, we're gonna get you out!" Numbuh 8 Infinity called down. She could hear the other prisoners begin to speak up, but it was all blocked out, her sole focus on her younger half brother. Behind her, Numbuh 4.3 Light Years and Numbuh Hang 10 began to crank the winch, slowly raising the cages. Soon, four very grateful prisoners were back on solid ground.
"Via…" Numbuh Infinity trailed off once he was able to face his sister. "I am beyond sorry for this. I truly believed Numbuh Aleph Zero's claims of his benevolence. But he only wanted to corrupt me to hurt you. And-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off by his half sister scooping him into a hug.
"Chsin, all I care about is that you're alive. I was so worried when I heard from dad that you just vanished!" Numbuh 8 Infinity revealed, tears in her eyes. Numbuh Infinity smiled and hugged back. Everyone displayed at this display, Chad included. At least until he was punched in the gut by Numbuh 362.
"What was that for!?" He snapped at his successor.
"That was for trying to launch the moonbase into the sun!" Numbuh 362 snapped back before punching him again, this time in the face. "And that was for trying to join these nuts in the first place!"
"You knew about that!?" Chad asked in shock as he rubbed his cheek.
"Did a little research after Numbuh 1 went missing," Numbuh 362 revealed before letting her face soften. "I missed you, Numbuh 274."
"Now that's more like it," Numbuh 274 said with a bitter chuckle. "So, I'm assuming you guys know about the planet buster?"
"Indeed we do," Numbuh 4.3 Light Years said. "Another group is already in the process of dealing with that." As if on cue, the ground shook several times, which was followed by alarms beginning to blare. "And it would seem as though they have just destroyed it."
"Then let's book it before more guards come looking!" Numbuh 9L suggested. "We can all get introduced on the escape ship!"
"Sounds good to me!" Numbuh Vine agreed as she tried to avoid looking at Numbuh 362.
"Follow us!" Numbuh Hang 10 declared as he started back in the direction of the ship, everyone on his tail.
Team one
"Why are those robot fuckers everywhere I go!?" Numbuh 417 growled as she rubbed her jaw. As soon as the bombs withered away much of the laser's machinery and structuring, which caused several other things to blow up as well due to the laser trying to fire pretty much right afterwards, the laser destroying group had begun to run for the escape ship. One of the Project Z mechs had arrived on the scene to check up on things and, much like before, had sucker punched Numbuh 417. Said mech was promptly shoved into a nearby room, which was then blocked with a piece of debris.
"Maybe they just don't like you," Numbuh 666 taunted his friend.
"Pretty sure they don't like any of us," Numbuh 6 Shot grumbled. "But they do seem to really dislike ya, Numbuh 417."
"I'm not sure why. I consider myself to be very lovable," She joked, causing eye rolls.
"There's the hatch!" Numbuh 60 called out, blasting two operatives who happened to be running down the same hallway they were in. All five operatives pretty much dove inside, Numbuh 60 only barely remembering to shut the hatch.
"Now we just need to check on the others," Numbuh 6 Shot pointed out. No sooner did those words leave his mouth, however, did the hatch open back up and the other operatives all filter in.
"Go! Now!" Numbuh 8 Infinity ordered, one arm around Numbuh Infinity while the other kept the rifle aimed at the hatch.
"Roger that!" Numbuh 666 replied as he pulled the ship away from the access port.
"That was close…" Numbuh Vine noted as she slumped against the wall.
"No kidding," Chad agreed as he leaned back in the seat he'd managed to claim.
"Uh guys? Why are the ships going back to the mothership?" Numbuh 9L noticed. Anyone who could rushed to one of the windows. Sure enough, all of the smaller ships that had been patrolling were suddenly returning to the hangar.
"Shouldn't they be trying to stop us?" Numbuh 60 asked. Sure, he didn't want them to stop them, but considering what had just happened, that made the most sense.
"The computer says that the ship is getting ready to make a lightspeed jump," Numbuh 666 noted with some confusion. Almost on cue, the mothership blasted away.
"Any clue where it's going?" Numbuh 4.3 Light Years asked. Pulling out the tracker he'd used before, Numbuh 666 entered a few commands.
"Uh…it's going to Earth?" He noted, still sounding confused. No one else was sure why the ship would be going to Earth either, until the answer hit them all almost at once.
The laser had been blocked by someone most likely KND affiliated.
They had just destroyed the laser.
Numbuh Aleph Zero still wanted Earth destroyed.
And what was the old saying? If you want something done right, do it yourself.
Aren't I evil? But our villains are heading for Earth to try and destroy it themselves….let's hope anyone still there can hold them off. Also, the flag that Numbuh 417 made is on my DeviantArt page under the same username if anyone is interesting in seeing it!