Nigel woke up early. What he heard the night before from the bogeyman was still echoing in his head. He was starting to be truely interested in his powers and their origins. He had the feeling he'd learn something unpleasant but it was a necessity. Nigel got up, dressed and went to the common room right next to his bedroom, where he let Father slept on one of the couches. Ben was still sleeping on it, completely still and silent. It was weird for Nigel to see his worst enemy with a soft expression on his face. Father was always the kind to have a constant angry face, and whenever he was smiling, it was more of an evil smirk than anything else.

Nigel was hesitant to wake him up, not because it would have disturbed his uncle, he didn't care about that, but because Nigel knew how cranky adults could be when kids wake them up. Even though he wouldn't risk a lot since Father was pretty much harmless in his current state, Nigel was still a bit afraid to anger him over something so little. But since he wanted to get this situation over with, in this case it would be worth being yelled at, the quicker Nigel learn how to control his powers, the better it would be for everyone. So he nudged Father slowly on his shoulder by whispering him to wake up.

-"Wait, what- what's going on?", asked Ben, a little groggy from the lack of sleep. -"Something happened?"

-"Um, noooo... It's just that I'm ready for my training." Nigel replied.

Ben was about to stand up but upon hearing his nephew's answer, he stopped and demanded:

-"What time is it?"

-"7:30 am." Nigel said after checking his watch.

-"Numbuh One... we're on a Saturday..." Ben commented tiredly as he let himself lie down on his pillow.

-"So?" Nigel asked, not knowing why that was so important.

-"So go back to sleep, oh my God!" said the drained adult by pulling his blanket over his head.

Nigel wasn't so happy about this reaction so he insisted:

-"Hey! It's you who want to be yourself again! I'd have thought you'd like it to be quick!"

-"Yeah, well... It can wait a few more hours." Ben flatly said as he waved his hand outside of the blanket to shush the loud kid. -"With what happened last night, I fell asleep at least around 5 am, so I'll train you when I'll be ready." he ended the conversation.

Nigel wanted to slap Father really hard. To wake him up and just for the sake of it, but before he could do that, his friends came in and shouted a big 'hello'. Their greetings surprised Ben to the point he fell on the ground.

-"Why are you all up so early...?" Ben managed to say, still on the floor, too tired to get up.

-"Well DUH! For the Saturday morning cartoons!" Wally explained with contempt as if it wasn't an obvious answers.

-"But why coming here? You literally have another living room with an even bigger TV screen and where I don't sleep." Ben said, scratching his head, cross-legged on the floor and on the verge of losing it.

-"The snack fridge is also here for the best breakfast for cartoon time!" Hoagie answered as he was reaching for something in the said fridge.

-"You Kids Next Door complain about getting up early for school, but you're fine to do it for silly cartoons?" Ben asked with a huge salty tone while he was looking for his glasses that fell at the same time as he did.

-"Of course, silly!" Kuki responded without noticing the harmful tone of the boy. She picked up the glasses to give them to him and gasped widely when she approached him.

-"What? Is there something on my face?" Ben wanted to know, a little embarassed at the idea those brats might find a thing to mock him once again.

-"How pretty!" the young japanese girl giggled. -"You have deep blue eye! Just like Numbuh One!"

The sector leader let a genuine surprised 'huh?' and came closer to verify Kuki's discovery. The others did the same. Ben quickly put his glasses back on but it was enough for the kids to confirm his eye colour.

-"Oooh, it's true!" Hoagie said. -"But it's really hard to tell with those tainted glasses, though."

-"That kind of blue is pretty rare." Abby added. -"Who knows? Maybe you two are related!" she jokingly stated.

-"NO WE'RE NOT!" the two boys in question answered vehemently at the same time.

They both looked at each other in disgust for saying the same thing simultanously with the exact same tone. They started a glaring contest wich left the rest of Sector V in an awkward silence.

-"Um, what Numbuh Five was trying to say was: it wouldn't be the first time Numbuh One would find out he has an extended family. It happened with Numbuh Ten, his cousin." Abby precised.

-"Whatever." Ben cut short the discussion. -"I might as well get a proper breakfast now that I'm up." he said while leaving for the kitchen.

Hoagie and Kuki were a little disappointed to not share their Saturday ritual with their guest, Wally let out a loud scoffed 'good riddence' and Abby was more concerned about her leader, who was still glaring at the door where Benedict left.

-"Should we do something for him?" she asked Nigel.

-"No, I think it's best if he's not surrounded by all of us. At least for now." the boy answered.

He was more bothered about Father accidentally spilling the beans, so he decided to follow him. He said to his friends to enjoy the cartoons while he'd try to calm their guest down.

Nigel caught up with Ben who wasn't happy to have company.

-"What is it now?" he gruntled without looking at the kid.

-"I just want to make sure you won't get lost this time." Nigel replied with a facetious tone.

Benedict kept walking but still gave a quick death glare to Numbuh One.

-"I hate you." he simply said.

Nigel was still amused by the situation. No matter what he could do or say, he knew that Father couldn't retaliate, so the KND operative enjoyed every second of messing with his worst enemy. They arrived at the kitchen, and Ben was looking for an oven to cook his breakfast but didn't find any. There wasn't even any cooking plates.

-"How am I supposed to have a proper meal in this dump?" the man exclaimed.

-"We have some Rainbow Munchies, if you want." Nigel offered, mostly as a joke. It was funny to think that even adults would eat 'kiddie stuff'.

He knew the villain was fond of the famous cereals. They even fought over a last box of it a while ago. In the end, his sector teamed up with Father and the rest of the villains to fight the common enemy of the day, Knightbrace who wanted to destroy the Rainbow Munchies. When he was thinking about it, Nigel realized it was the only actual moment he and Father had spent time together without much animosity between them. Their truce allowed them to hang out peacfully. At the time, Nigel was far from imagining he was actually related to Father, but the man definitely always knew who the boy was to him. Nigel was wondering what his uncle was thinking about that morning. Did he think it was nice to be with his nephew or did he not care at all about that detail? Nigel was lost in his thoughts when Ben answered:

-"Oooooh, that's actually a great idea!" he accepted, genuinely happy about this outcome.

-"It's not exactly a 'proper' meal suited for an adult." Nigel teased him.

-"Just because I like cooking my own meals it doesn't mean I can't go for a simpler solution from time to time." Ben retorked. -"And especially when I'm tired."

Nigel couldn't argue with that. Nigel gave the bowls and cereals because Ben couldn't find them in, what he called, 'this stupid dumb illogical place'. Ben looked astonished to see Nigel putting the milk before the cereals, calling him in a whisper a 'little anarchist punk', then proceeded to put the cereals first and added the milk after, mumbling that was the way it should be. Nigel was pleased to annoy Father with something so insignificant, and showed him the biggest smirk he could make. They started to eat in silence. Nigel stared at his uncle's eyes, still curious about this discovery. After a few minutes, Ben finally realized he was being watched a little too close.

-"What?" was his only question.

-"Nothing much, it's just true you have that peculiar blue eye colour."

-"So?" Ben kept questioning.

-"They are reminding me of Dad, that's all. He also has the same eye colour, but that's the only thing you have in comon with him physically." Nigel explained.

-"Well, that's a good thing. Can you imagine? Me looking more like Monty? Bleh!" Ben commented, turning back his focus to his cereals.

Nigel felt a little insulted by what Father had just said. Eve though he could suspect the two brothers weren't on good terms, he still didn't think his dad deserved this slander.

-"That's a little bit harsh, don't you think?" Nigel asked, slightly vexed.

-"Numbuh One, I'd like to have my breakfast in silence." Ben replied by ignoring the question.

-"Why? You can't do two things at the same time?" Nigel said, as he tried to contain his irritation.

-"No, it's because we're eating at the table and usually you 'eat' at the table, not 'speak'." Ben explained with a mocking childish tone to make sure Numbuh One would understand.

Nigel saw this conversation was going to nowhere, so he simply shook his head negatively, and finished his own bowl of cereals. Definitely, his dad and Father had extremely different personalities. No wonder NIgel never suspected a family resemblance with his archenemy. Afther they were done, thew were joined by the rest of Sector V. Hoagie spoke first:

-"Hey, Numbuh One? We've been thinking. Since it's the holiday, we could take a big day off!" he said, hoping his friend would agree.

-"Yeah and that way, whe can learn more about our new friend Benedict!" Kuki happily proposed.

-"Why am I included in this?" Ben asked, visibly displeased by the invitation. -"And I'm not your friend." he added dryly.

-"Well, it's because you look like you'd need to go outside for once!" Wally said with a slight mocking tone.

-"What do you mean by that?" Ben was clearly offended by this.

-"You know, with an outfit so nerdy you- aouch!" the australian boy continued before being interrupted by an elbow kick from Abby.

-"What Numbuh Four was trying to say was, it would do a great to all of us if we try to know each other while getting some sunlight. What do you think, Numbuh One?" the second in command turned to her leader.

Nigel had a quick look at Ben who discreetly checked out his shirt, probably thinking about his own style, which made the boy laugh on the inside. He answered his friend:

-"It would depend. What do you guys have in mind?"

Nigel wasn't really on board with going on a day off, he had other plans already, but he didn't want to be dismissive right of the bat. He was hoping the idea was something he didn't particularly like.

-"Since it's a sunny day, we could go to the beach!" Kuki happily shouted.

Thank God, they were thinking about the beach. Nigel never liked going there, so it was perfect to refuse the offer. But before he could say anything, Ben interrupted his thoughts:

-"Ugh, the beach? There is no place more boring than the beach." he started. -"And the sand is so annoying. It's coarse, rough, and irritating."

-"Exactly!" Nigel agreed genuinely. -"It also gets everywhere, it's a real pain and besides, there's nothing cool to do at the beach."

-"Not only that, but it's super loud and you have to squash yourself among hundreds of other people, you can't properly relax there." Ben finished adding to the list of why the beach was the worst place ever.

Nigel nodded in agreement before realizing he and Father had the same opinion about something. He looked at him and saw that Father had the same thought and winced in disgust once more at it. Sector V snickered at the situation.

-"Numbuh Five never imagined she'll met another kid who dislikes the beach as much as Numbuh One!" the second in command giggled, while still trying to contain her composure.

-"Are you sure you two aren't distent cousins or something?" Wally asked between a few laughs.

-"If not, they make a great comedy duo!" Hoagie laughed louder.

-"We're certainly not!" Nigel and Ben said once again at the same time.

They were both a little embarassed for thinking the same thing. They looked away from each other. Nigel was also anxious at the idea Sector V would really figure out him and Ben are indeed related. He had to be more careful with his secret than he anticipated. Seeing their faces, Abby got serious again, cleared her throat and stepped in:

-"We could still go tot he swimming pool, that would fix the sand problem."

Ben crossed his arms with a pissed off expression.

-"But it doesn't resolve the noise problem. I won't stay in a place where everybody is screaming."

-"Aw, come on! It's the only place where we are allowed to shout loudly without being yelled at!" Wally argued, with an equal angry tone.

-"I can't stand the noise, is that to hard to understand?" Ben defended his position. -"Besides..." he added on a much less furious tone as he grpped his forearm. -"I don't like swimming that much."

He had a quick concerned look at this forearm but Nigel was able to notice it. He was wondering if it has anything to do with what he tried to hide the night before. He put that thought on hold until he'd find the right time to talk about it.

-"Is it because you can't swim or can't do it well enough?" Hoagie asked, sincerely concerned. -"Because you know, there's nothing to be ashamed of, if that's the case. Numbuh Four learned to swim pretty recently so you won't be alone."

-"Hey! Don't you dare tell that to him!" Wally hissed at his friend, not liking to be embarassed like that.

Ben slammed both of his fists on the table.

-"I can swim perfectly fine, I just said that I don't like swimming that much!" he vociferated. -"In what language must I speak for you to understand?" he continued on the same tone as he gave Hoagie an enraged look.

The 2x4 tech officer and the rest of Sector V got scared at his yelling and stepped back a few inches. Nigel intervened:

-"You guys should go have fun outside today, it's fine. I'll stay here with Benedict." He then whispered in Abby's ears: -"I think it's better if I'm the only one who tries to get his trust."

Sector V were a little sad to go without their leader, but they still got permission to go on a day off: with Numbuh One, it wasn't an easy thing, since he always prioritized missions above everyting else. Hoagie, Kuki and Wally left immediately to prepare their expedition, while Abby stayed longer to ask Nigel:

-"You're not gonna leave for a solo mission just because you want to, are you?" she wondered, knowing her friend's habit to overwork.

-"I swear, I'll only stay here and get our guest's trust first before going anywhere." he reassured her. -"I think he needs time and a lot of space for that."

-"Alright, if you say so, Numbuh One." Abby trusted her friend and joined the rest of Sector V.

-"Finally! Some peace and quiet! I thought they would never leave." Ben said once they were all out of hearing range.

-"You know, it won't kill you to be less abrasive with us, right?" Nigel was fed up with the man's behaviour.

Ben's only reply was a 'tch' accompagned by his sempiternal resting pissed off face. After seeing his friends flying away, the coast was clear for Nigel to finally start his training in secret. He made Ben follow him to the big common room.

-"So, let's get this over with, Ben." Nigel insisted on the man's first name to annoy him on purpose.

-"Don't call me that." he responded with a dangerous warning tone. -"I don't let anyone to call me that."

-"You let Dad do it." Nigel recalled.

-"Monty is a different story. You're not him. So stop that."

-"Okay, Benedict." Nigel kept playing with his uncle.

-"That too." the adult said in a much angrier intonation. -"When it's just the two of us, you don't need to keep up the appearences. It's always 'Father' to you."

-"I'm just trying to start a habit. I don't want to spit out our secret by accident in front of my friends or anyone." Nigel riposted, not looking at him.

-"And I don't like being called by my first name, so do it only when it's absolutely necessary."

-"Why don't you like being called by your first name?" Nigel raised an eyebrow at the man, more out of annoyance than curiosity.

Benedict's eyes showed a threatening expression. Nigel slightly backed away. It seemed he touched one of Father's nerves, but not in a funny way.

-"I have my reasons that you don't need to know. In fact, you asked me to help you with your powers and not to know about my private life, nothing more. You will refrain from asking too many personal questions, got it?" he warned for the last time.

Nigel might had the upper hand here but Father still knew how to be terrifying, even as 'Benedict'. Nigel never underestimated his foes, especially his uncle, but the temptation to mess with him was too great, and made him forget how dangerous it was to play with the most feared villain the KND have ever known. He decided to get to the heart of the matter.

-"Okay, fine. Teach me how these powers work. And mostly, I want to know how to keep them in check. Have them dormant for the most of the time."

-"That's not possible, you will need to use them as some point."

-"Why is that?"

Ben looked around to find something to use as an exemple and noticed the water fountain, then asked:

-"You don't happen to have water ballons and needles, by any chance?" his tone seemed to have calmed down a little bit. -"And perhaps a box of matches too?"

-"Why do you need that?" Nigel said, suspiciously.

-"Just give it and you'll see." Ben said impatiently.

Nigel complied by staying on his guard. Benedict got near the water fountain for his demonstration.

-"Okay, first thing you need to know, our type of fire is special and doesn't need oxygen to burn." He lit a match and took a plastic cup from the water fountain. He held the match between his fingers and put the cup on it. The lack of oxygen stopped the flame. -"See that? It won't happen with your fire because, you probably already noticed it by now, our powers are fueled by emotions. Very strong negative emotions. Anger has been the basic emotion for generations. You follow until now?"

Nigel didn't like being taken for an idiot, but he didn't want to piss off Ben more than he already did, so he just nodded.

-"Theoretically" Ben continued, -"It means our powers are limitless: as long as you feel that emotion strong enough, you won't run out of 'ammo'. But it's not as easy as it might look. You need to balance the right ammount of anger, if you don't feel enough, you can't get any powers out and, on the contrary, if you keep too much emotion in you..." he stopped to present the water balloon. -"This is you, okay? And the water is your powers being stocked inside of you." He put the balloon on the water fountain's tap and let the water filling the elastic recipient. It grew bigger and bigger until it broke. -"And that's what could happen to you-"

-"Hold on, you're saying I could implode?" Nigel interrupted in horror. He was definitely not feeling well about this.

-"N-no, not literally-" Ben tried to reassure him but Nigel's panicking was getting in the way of his explanations.

-"How else am I supposed to understand it, then?" Nigel shouted.

Ben facepalmed. Not one minute in and it was already too much for the brat.

-"Listen, boy." Ben said more firmed. -" The metaphor is: you might lose control of your powers and they could go haywire. Ever seen a fire hose going crazy because no one is holding it firmly? That's what I'm saying. You don't physically implode, but emotionally, you can still be overwhelmed by your powers. If you don't control your anger, you end up by causing only trouble for everyone."

Nigel gulped. It seemed he really didn't have a choice but to use them. He calmed down a little bit, but was still nervous.

-"That's funny coming from you. You're constantly imploding, you're not exactly controling your anger." he accused.

Ben squinted dangerously.

-"On the contrary, Mister Uno." his voice was uncomfortably low. -"I have perfect control of my powers. I know exactly how to balance my emotions, it took years of practice to achieve such a fit. I can redirect my anger at the target I set my mind on. I use my powers a lot, sure, but it doesn't mean I don't control them."

Nigel could tell Father was daring him to counter argue, but also that he would really regret to do something this foolish. So he let the villain continue his explanations.

-"From what I saw about your powers, your situation is more like this." He pecked another water balloon with a needle, then filled it with water. -"What do you see now?"

-"The balloon has leaks." Nigel observed. -"But I don't really get it."

-"You don't know how to redirect properly your fueled powers, therefore you subconsciously use them without goal and it ends up in crazy stuff. You might have grasped the general idea of how these powers work from our previous encounters, but you're still unbalanced." Ben sighed as he explained. -"That is why it's a bad idea to either keep your powers to yourself or letting them out without actual control."

Ben stopped the water flow and was trying to remove the balloon but it broke and all the water dropped on this hands and forearms. His shirt's sleeves started to get transparent. He let out a bad curse word that Nigel wouldn't even dare to think about. He got a towel nearby, anticipating Ben's demand. His uncle snatched the towel quickly when it was in his reach and hid his forearm with it. Nigel noticed again that Father was certainly hiding something and gave him an interrogated look, but Ben's expression was clearly saying: 'Don't you dare ask me about it.' Nigel really wanted to talk about it, but took the hint and asked something else:

-"So how do I know I achieve balance? Do I feel differently?"

-"This is where I'm not much of great help, Numbuh One, because that's something you must find out yourself."

-"Couldn't you give me a hint or something like that?" Nigel asked cautiously.

-"Not really." Ben's voice seemed calmer. "What works for me won't necessarily work for you." he finished drying his sleeves and put the towel on top of the water fountain, then hid his arms behind him.

-"Why not?" Nigel was honestly curious.

-"We're different people. We may have similar basic powers, but we still end up by having different abilities nonetheless." Ben let Nigel processing the information before continuing: -"That being said, while these powers are being emotion based, they are still physically draining. So you'd have to be careful to not faint in the middle of the day when you use them. Eating a lot of calories is the only solution for that."

-"You mean... I can eat anything I want? Even the junk unhealthy food?" Nigel asked gleefully.

-"Basically, yes."

-"Okay... that's... that's kinda cool." Nigel admitted. It was like some superheroes from his favorite comics where they could eat all the greasy stuff and still look fit.

-"Want know what else is cool? You're completely immune to regular fire." Ben completed. -"You are also more resistent to physical injuries. It's been a constant ability in the family for generations."

-"For real?" Nigel started to actually appreciate the discussion. -"Like, could I survive an explosion?"

-"Not exactly." Ben scratched his head. -"While the fire won't hurt you, whatever was in the explosion could still hit you at extreme speed. I said 'more resistent', not 'invincible'. But you can heal from some injuries faster than usual though."

Nigel was amazed. He didn't expect these powers to actually be a good thing on certain points. They were less scary than what he originally thought. He was still scared of something. He looked at his hands.

-"But what if... what if I get burned by my own powers? Can I heal from that too?"

-"It's impossible for you to get burned by your own fire. So you can use your powers without fear for yourself." Ben reassured him. -"The only way you could get burned by this type of fire is by being hit by another user of said fire. Like me, for exemple."

-"So, in theory, I could burn you too?" Nigel asked, with simple curiousity and without actual malicious intentions.

Ben looked away and winced at this question before answering:

-"Yes, but your flames should burn with the right intensity of emotion. Making a fire with them isn't enough to burn someone like me, as I do have this resistance I mentioned. You have to feel more deeply in order to succeed."

Nigel took a moment to process all of what Father said. It was a lot. He was thinking about his encounter with the Delightful Children the day before. It seemed that Father was right and Nigel could trust his words: he did feel some heat but never pain from a possible burn. Same thing when he faced Father or the bogeyman.

Speaking of which...

-"Father... Is there something else I should know about thes powers?" he asked carefully.

-"Like what?"

Nigel took a deep breath. He was about to find out if his suspicions were correct or not. He would have preferred to not ask about it but he needed to get to the bottom of it. He didn't want to admit to himself but he couldn't ignore the possibility no more.

-"Where... Where do our powers come from?"

Ben stared at NIgel, visibly annoyed.

-"I told you: from our emotions."

-"No, that's not what I meant." Nigel felt anxious about the matter.

-"Then what is it?" Benedict replied impatiently, not knowing where the kid was going with it.

-"Is it possible that we're not entirely... human?" Nigel finally dared to ask after collecting his courage.

Ben's expression didn't change. He wasn't even phased by the question at all. Nigel felt like he had his answer, and it wasn't the one he wanted to hear.

-"And how exactly does knowing that fact have anything to do with learning to control your powers?"

Ben had zero sympathy in his voice. Nigel wasn't sure why he was surprised by it. Father wasn't known for his compassion.

-"Well, it's a pretty big deal to me!" he yelped in distress.

Not so long ago, his girlfriend Lizzie dumped him and right before that happened, his treehouse computer had a crush on him to which he answered it couldn't have worked because a human and a computer was a stupid idea of a relationship. But knowing that he himself might not be entirely human, he was thinking if his relationship with Lizzie wasn't doomed from the start either way. Or if he would have a normal relationship with another girl, for that matter. Sure he was the living proof it could still work, since his dad had him, as he assumed Monty wasn't fully human either, but Nigel wasn't sure how to deal with his 'true nature' if it had to be the reality.

-"And what would you do if I answer you?" Ben kept eluding Nigel's original question.

-"Uumm, well... Actually, I'm not sure..." he admitted, a bit sheepish.

-"On the great scheme of things, it really doesn't matter. The answer won't help you in controling your powers. That's what matters the most."

Father had no intention in being completely clear about it, Nigel concluded. He understood this conversation was over for Ben and it would just end up in circle if Nigel insisted more, so he dropped the topic for the moment. But the answer seemed to be 'yes'. Nigel started to be anxious again. It certainly ruined his previous improbable joy about his powers.

-"Okay, enough theory. Time for some practice!" Ben clapped in his hand but not as cheerfully as he probably intended. He was more impatient than anything.

They went to the training room. It was a big circular place where Sector V often trained, either for hand-in-hand combat, of for testing some new 2x4 technology weaponry. Nigel had a sudden realisation.

-"Wait, I don't think it's a good idea to train anywhere in the treehouse." he started. -"It's made at 95% of wood, and last time I checked, fire burns wood."

-"Regular fire perhaps, but I told you our flames are a little special. They don't exactly burn normally." Ben casually explained as if it was obvious.

-"It can burn people but not wood?" Nigel asked genuinely confused.

Ben scratched his head before answering:

-"Well, I don't know the exact reason why, but it just does."

-"Wow, and here I thought as an adult you had all the answers." Nigel taunted the rejuvinated man. Adults awlays like saying they knew everything about everything. So it was satisyfying for Nigel to point it out to Father that, for once, he didn't know everything. -"I could have just learn it myself. I probably shouldn't have asked your help." he finished with contempt just to annoy his uncle.

Obviously, it wasn't of the man's taste, but Nigel didn't care. He was still enjoying his revenge whenever he could.

-"Wow, that was super rude and extremely ungrateful from your part." Ben got offended. -"You have the chance to have a mentor and you're spitting on it? Typical of you brats! I wish I had someone to teach me and guide about my own powers when I was your age!" he exploded.

-"Didn't you have your own father for that?" Nigel asked with disdain but regretted his question when he saw Ben's hateful look. He took his distances from his uncle.

-"As a matter of fact, no." Benedict answered with venom in his tone. -"When I was your age, Pappy had been decomissioned for a while and on top of that, I was on my own fending for myself alone!"

Nigel got puzzled by this reveal and his feeling of vengence left place to curiosity with a slight concerned in his voice:

-"What do you mean, 'on your own'?" Nigel stopped his malicious teasing for good and got serious. -"But... what about Dad? Weren't you together when you were kids?" he asked, assuming the answer was yes.

Ben's expression changed fromt hatred to confusion and Nigel understood his uncle said too much about himself that he didn't want to divulge. After some incoherent awkward mumblings, he finally answered:

-"Anyway, the point is, usually the predecessor teaches his successor, so when we were kids, Pappy spent all his time with teaching Monty about our family's legacy, and never said a word to me. I risked a lot to listen behind doors whenever Pappy had this talk with Monty."

Nigel didn't want to dive too much into that topic, even though he wanted to. It was too delicate to give Father more reasons to hate him, he already did a lot in that department. It was clear that Ben was trying to deflect the information he had let slip. Nigel decided to ignore it for now and talked about something else that got his attention more.

-"So, wait: Dad was supposed to get powers too then?" he wondered and saw that Ben was relieved to not be the center of the discussion anymore.

-"Well, that was what Pappy wanted, but Monty never showed a hint of his powers despite all the training he recieved."

Nigel thought for a moment.

-"If these powers are based on strong emotions, it seems logical that Dad can't develop them: he's a pretty chill guy."

-"No, I truely believe Monty had enough anger back then against Pappy to unlock his potential, but it just never happened." Ben said frankly. -"Monty tried to hide it from me but there were a few times when I saw him with such a heinous look that could have rivalized with our father's."

Nigel was pensive once again. The more he was thinking about it, he realized that sometimes his dad could get scary when he was angry. It was just so rare Nigel completely forgot about it. He remembered the tuba/sousaphone discourse and recognized that his dad wasn't as chill as he'd thought initially.

-"So Dad is the only one without powers then?" he demanded for confirmation.

-"Posssibly, but that's as far as we know." Ben shrugged. -"I wouldn't be surprised if some of our ancestors didn't have powers either, but looking through the family archives would take more than a lifetime. If there was one, he didn't stand out that much to be highlit."

-"Really? There's so many papers about the family's archives?" Nigel questioned with great interest.

Ben marked a pause before answering:

-"That's an understatement. The family archives go way back to the oldest form of writing."

Nigel was speechless.

-"Seriously? You're telling me we can trace back our ancestors to Antiquity?"

Nigel saw that Benedict wasn't joking, and that left him stunned. Nigel never really thought about his ancestry beyond his maternal grandma, so knowing he could learn the story of thousands of people from his paternal family was a bit much to handle. Ben noticed that Nigel was being lost in his thoughts and couldn't wait to drop the next information.

-"Do you want to know what else is interesting about our ancestors?" he said with an evil grin. -"Something that even predates Great-Grandmother Victoria?"

Nigel didn't like where this was going but knew Father would still tell his story, so he listened.

-"Some of the highlights in the archives always mention a group of dissident kids that our ancestors had to get rid of. Seems familiar?"

Nigel understood perfectly what Benedict meant but it was still a crazy thought to actually believe it.

-"You mean that... For hundreds of years..." he couldn't finish his sentence, in fear it would seal the words, despite the fact it was already the case.

-"Our family and those bratty Kids Next Door have been at each other's throats for all this time. Yes, that's exactly what I mean." Ben continued for Nigel. -"But more importantly..." his smile faded in a serious and contemptuous face. -"You and your friends have been fighting a battle that you can't win. You can't never destroy us. Your so called mission is destined to never succeed. As long as we are there, and with other adults sharing our ideals, you pitiful organization is meant to fail either way."

There was some truth in what Father was saying but Nigel didn't want to be destabilized by him.

-"Perhaps, but as long as you don't win completely, that's enough for us!" he defied the man. -"The world needs the Kids Next Door, and I don't care if I'm part of a long time family of evil. I'll do what I esteem is the right thing to do!"

-"You have your own powers and you're still denying your heritage?" Ben crossed his arms with irony. -"You are only postponing the inevitable, you can't stay a child forever. At some point, you'll end up like me, it's in your blood."

-"Just because I have these powers it means it makes me evil!" Nigel exploded. Ben was really starting to get on his nerves. He couldn't stand the idea that someone was telling him with path he must choose, and especially Father. He clinched his fists tightly, and didn't notice at first that his hands were on fire. Ben did and flatly commented:

-"We just have to wait and and see, I guess. After all, there are a few missing documents from the last decades. Monty probably took them since he had access to the archives before me."

Nigel wanted to know more about it but was more pissed at Father for trying to deflecting the discussion again. He wanted to punch him but was interrupted:

-"Enough talk about the past. Look at your hands." Ben pointed out.

Nigel reluctantly executed Father's order. He hated the idea of doing what the man was telling him to, but in this case he didn't have much of a choice. His hands were completely black and flames were swirling around them. Even if he technically didn't have to be afraid of his own fire, Nigel still had the natural reaction of fright at the sight of flames on him. The fear replacing his anger extinguished the fire and his silhouette started to fade away.

-"Did you feel that sensation?" Ben smirked. -"That's exactly what you need to feel in order to use your powers." he made his point.

Nigel gave Father a spiteful look. It may had been his idea to train with the man, Nigel still didn't like when Ben was right. He looked at his hands once again to check their status.

-"I just noticed, Father." Nigel remarked. -"My... silhouette suit doesn't cover my clothes, only my skin. Is that normal?"

Ben crossed his arms again before answering:

-"Yes, you're only at the first stage of your powers. On the second and final stage, your complete silhouette suit will become like a second skin to you."

-"Eeewwwww, why do you have to make it weird!" Nigel was grossed out by this explanation and was shaking his hands, trying to get something off them.

-"I'm not." Ben answered angrily. -"Anyway, you will unlock your full suit and therefore more abilities after you reached your breaking point."

-"Um... 'Breaking point'...?" Nigel asked a little worried. It didn't seem a good thing.

-"It's when you finally become one with your powers, when you finally accept them as a part of you. We all had to go through this moment, and you will too eventually. So you have to stop thinking they're a bad thing for you. The faster you accept it, the better you will be." Ben sighed in his explanations. -"By doing the contrary, you will keep losing control and that will probably let people know about you and I being related, and you don't want that to happen, do you?"

Nigel mumbled some light swear words but he admitted that was true. He didn't want others to find out about his biggest secret. And with his rising powers, it was starting to be more difficult to do so. It was the whole reason he reached out for Father's help in the first place after all. Despite everything, he was the only person who could do it. Nigel had no choice to but to accept his powers. At least for now.

-"You said you had to go through this moment of realization. How was it for you?" he asked out of real curiosity.

Ben was visibly really raging on the inside, but he slightly turned his head away from his nephew to look into the void, with an expression that Nigel wasn't sure how to describe. It seemed like a mix of anger, obviously, but with some sadness attached to it. Or was it more of a shameful expression? He touched another of Father's sensitive points, it seemed.

-"I told you that my own experiences won't help you." Ben pestered. -"And that I won't answer to personal questions, did you already forget it?" he warned menacingly.

Nigel decided to stop messing with his uncle whenever they would have this talk. He really wanted to get this over with and if this constant bickering kept going on and on, he would never see the end of it. He learned a lot about Father than he could have ever imagined or even wanted. And that wasn't exactly a good thing. Father also liked his privacy about his family, considering not even the other villains were aware of Nigel being his nephew. It seemed he had his reasons for not talking about his past at all to anyone, and despite the fact that Nigel wanted to know now more about it, he took the decision to not push the topic any further. He could still ask his dad about Ben next time he'd have the chance. Being the bigger person into respecting Father's boundaries was a hard thing to do for Nigel, but he also felt some kind of concern for his uncle, as surprising as it was to admit it. He would get to the bottom of this one day, but for now, it wasn't his priority.

Nigel settled the training dummies to make them his targets. It was time to try 'redirecting' his emotions into flames. He started to think about stuff that made him mad, according to Ben's advices. It was pretty easy, he just had to think about Father. The man was annoying enough to push Nigel slightly over the edge. He was able to form flames into his hands and this time he kept his calm and didn't let fear getting in the way. Nigel put all his strenght to throw the fireball towards a dummy... only for it to dispel after a few inches away from him. Ben couldn't contain his hilarity and made fun of his nephew:

-"Oh my God, that was the weakest throw I've ever seen in my life!"

-"HEY! I don't make fun of your inability to even use your powers!" Nigel countered. -"Um, by the way, how exactly do I keep my flames up after I threw them?" he asked, genuinely curious.

-"You have to keep controling your fire even if it's not on you, I thought that was quite obvious." Ben replied, still laughing out loud. He pushed back his glasses. -"Your flames are your emotions and you must feel that emotion whenever you're using your fire." He added, after wipping a tear from his eyes.

Nigel wasn't happy to being mocked by Father, but on the good side it was helping with feeling more anger. In fact, he was remembering all of his interactions with the villain he had. Nigel tried to imitate what he saw and created a huge fireball, then threw it. It missed the dummies again, but it was able to destroy the wall behind. Both him and Ben were shocked to see this impressive move.

-"How... How did you do that?" Ben asked, a little pissed to be amazed.

-"Um, well... I was thinking about your tricks, that's all." Nigel scratched his head, baffled about his own achievement.

-"Huh." Ben crossed his arms. -"When I think it took me at least a year to make a fireball this big... and you made one almost instently." he looked down on Nigel, extremly unhappy about it. -"But your aim is still lame!" he said to make him feel better.

-"My aim is not lame! It's because I'm not used into throwing a fireball!" Nigel defended himself. -"I have a perfect record when it comes to aiming with a laser gun!"

-"Oh yeah?" Ben defied the boy.

Nigel had enough of this. He reached for a S.P.I.C.E.R. in the arsenal box to prove his point, but the moment he grabbed the gun, it turned into something different, more elegent. Nige immediately dropped it out of surprise. Ben seemed to be as startled as the young boy. Nigel pointed the gun that was lying on the floor:

-"Is that normal? Tell me that was normal."

-"Well, it's something that can happen..." Ben started before he had an epiphany. -"Try to create its ray on your own."

-"What?"

-"Don't bother with aiming, just do it."

Nigel complied after a few seconds of doubt. He was visualizing the S.P.I.C.E.R. ray in his mind and he felt a sensation in his fingers, then a firey ray similar to his gun was coming out of his hands. Nigel wasn't sure what was happening and Ben didn't leave him the time to think about it. He went to take another gun from the box, this time the S.C.A.M.P.P..

-"Do the same with this one, but don't touch it before doing it."

Nigel saw that Father had a theory that needed to be verified and went along. He tried to visualize again, but this time only regular small flames were swirling in his hands.

-"Okay, now take it." Ben tossed the second gun into Nigel's arms.

Again, the S.C.A.M.P.P. was being recovered by a reddish aura and changed its appearance into something more fine-tuning. Nigel put down the weapon and tried again to visualize its ray and this time he succeded.

-"Interesting..." Ben said while rubbing his chin.

-"Uuuuh, could you share your discovery? I didn't really follow." Nigel admitted, completely lost.

-"It seems you can absorb energy." Ben explained. -"It's also close to mimicry."

-"Mimi-what now?"

-"It's a kind of immitation that allow its user to survive in the wild against predators, but more generally, it's an involuntary act of conforming to someone else. People usually change who they are in order to fit in certain groups, for exemple. Here, you did take me as an exemple, so that explains why you were able to do something I usually do, without much difficulty."

-"And the reddish glowing thing? Is it just me or did it look exactly like Grandfather's powers?" Nigel asked a little scared.

-"You were born with your powers, Numbuh One. Therefore, you might have absorbed energy ever since you were little without noticing. You were standing close to Pappy last time after all. But since your powers weren't active at this moment, you couldn't have use them, but still soaked up his energy. That's probably what happen."

Nigel was disgusted by the choice of words, but had to admit it was holding up.

-"You certainly have your own version, as that would explain why you turned me into a kid, and nothing else." Ben kept going. -"I suppose it reflects your soul or whatever you want to call it. Being a child yourself and all."

You could do much more if you put your mind into it

Nigel froze. It was this voice again. He didn't hear it the whole morning, but it was back. He got a shudder from hearing it once more and he felt his powers fading as well. Fear was definitely blocking his abilities, Nigel assumed. He asked one last question to Father:

-"Um, do you sometimes hear voices too? Like, you have a thought but it's not exactly your thought, see what I mean? Is that a family thing too?"

Ben was honestly surprised by that question, with a little bit of concern.

-"No, that's just a tired people thing. Your mind is just playing tricks because of different factors, such as stress, tiredness, or even anxiety sometimes."

-"Ah, I see..." Nigel tried to contain his disappointment. His face was clearly showing hint of distress. -"That was what I thought."

-"Damn kid, you need a vacation more than I do!" Ben exclaimed in compassion, surprisingly. -"Even I know when to stop working. You do need to train, but you can't do it properly if you're not in the right state. Maybe it's time for a break."

-"You think so?"

-"Sure, speed should not be confused with haste. You need to control perfectly your powers, and if you need a few breaks from here and there, then so be it, it will be better for you to achieve your goal."

-"You really don't mind this taking longer than what you anticipated?"

-"I know how to be patient, Numbuh One. I can play on the long term without problem. This is just a minor setback." Benedict replied with honesty.

Nigel heard a sound and recognized it to be from the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.. He was glad to be able to cut short to his training. Seeing his friends again made him happier and he felt the rest of his silhouette suit fading away. Benedict didn't mind to discontinuing the training for now since he considered that for a first try, it was pretty good. Nigel also thought it was a good start, considering he learned a lot too. He felt a ease more now that he had a better idea of how his powers work. All he had to do was to still be careful with his emotions in front of his friends. To make sure he wouldn't betray himself, he decided to follow Ben's advice and actually take some time off. His team would certainly appreciate it. They kept complaining about not having enough days off lately. And Nigel had to admit it, he truely needed some calm after everything that just had happened.

When Sector V arrived, Nigel welcomed them with warmth. Kuki jumped in his arms and started to tell how their morning had passed. Wally was deploring Nigel's absence and all the things he missed. Hoagie was about to share some embarassing fact about Wally, but was interrupted by him. While they were fighting over it, Abby saw that Benedict was leaning from afar, arms crossed. She took Nigel on the side.

-"Hey, is everything okay with the new kid?" she asked with concern. -"Were you able to get something out of him?"

-"Yeah, not really, nothing of actual value to help him." he admitted. -"But it was nice to have some time with him in private." Nigel didn't need to lie about that part. In a way, learning more about Father was kinda... interesting, for lack of better words.

Kuki saw that Ben was on his own, looking grim, and went towards him with her sunshine personality.

-"Hello! What are you doing here? Come join us!" she suggested with joy. -"We could watch a Rainbow Monkey movie! That will cheer you up!

-"Oh, that won't be necessary." he nonchalantly waved his hand to refuse the offer. -"I'm fine and besides, Rainbow Monkeys are a stupid thing to watch."

At these words, all of Sector V gasped in shock. Wally whispered an exasperated 'oh boy, the idiot'. Ben heard it well but wasn't sure what that meant until he crossed eyes with Kuki again. The young girl had one of the angriest expression he'd seen, and he would know what he was talking about. He wasn't expecting she'd react like that. It surprised him for real when she shouted at him:

-"Well! It seems Mr. Grumpy Pants NEEDS some good vibes from Rainbow Monkeys' love!" She took him by the wrist, determined to show him what her colorful monkeys were about. -"We're ALL going to watch the movie!" she ordered the whole group.

-"Oh, crud, not agaaaaaiinnn..." Wally whispered, hoping it was low enough for Kuki to not hear it.

But she did, stopped, glared at him and turned back to catch Wally's hand and brought her two 'prisoners' to the living room. Ben tried to protest and escape from Kuki, but her grasp was really tight for a little girl. Hoagie and Abby snickered and followed them. Nigel did the same, he wanted to see where this was going. Everyone joined in the living room, Kuki pushed the boys into each side of the middle sofa, keeping the place between them for her. Abby and Hoagie went to the right one and Nigel had the left one for himself.

-"Now we're going to have a good time together and learn how to appreciate each other! Everyone sit down!" she commanded.

-"This is stupid." Ben mumbled while trying to get up.

-"I SAID SIT DOWN!" Kuki yelled with all the strength of her lungs that made Ben sink into the sofa, looking puzzled, not knowing what to do anymore.

Nigel was hiding his laugh behind his hand. This sight was so amusing to him. Ben asked him for help with a look on his left. Nigel raised his hands in defense, sending the message 'you did this to yourself. I'm not helping you' with a smug grin. Ben wanted to punch him but Kuki made sure that he would stay put. Nigel finally sit on the sofa and whispered to Ben:

-"I should have probably warned you about it: it's not exactly a fourth rule, but never, under any circumstances, make fun or insult the Rainbow Monkeys, especially in Numbuh Three's hearing range."

-"Duely noted." Ben agreed without difficulty. He turned to Kuki. -"May I know at least what we're going to watch?" he demanded softly, hoping to calm her down a little bit.

Kuki looked at him with angry squinted eyes, but quickly changed her mood to joyful by shouting a big 'okay' while she reached for the VHS tape box. After reading quickly, Ben commented:

-"So this is a loosely adaptation of Hamlet with... colorful monkeys?"

-"Wait, this is about food?" Wally got suddenly interested in the movie. -"Heh, might be fun after all!"

-"N-no, I said 'Hamlet', not 'omelet', it's two very different-" Ben tried to correct the aussie boy, but saw the other kids chuckling. -"Why do I even bother?" he gave up.

The movie was a super sugar coated version of the original story. Ben gave some looks at Nigel and saw the boy was enjoying his torture. Being forced to watch a silly cartoon, and a musical no less, was the second worst thing to happen to him after being turned into a kid again. The kids were singing along the songs, except for Numbuh Four. Numbuh Three was so into the movie from start to finish. She got sad whenever a sad scene happened, and rejoiced when things went better. She sometimes hugged Wally and Ben in the heat of the action. They both pushed her back softly, not wanting to offend her: they didn't want to make things worse for themselves. The movie was only an hour long, but Ben felt like a whole day had passed. When it was finally over, Kuki was in tears of joy:

-"Isn't it beautiful? The two brothers have forgiven each other and have become a true family at the end thanks to the protagonist!" she wiped a tear from her cheek. -"This movie shows that reconciliation is always possible when you believe it with all of your heart!"

-"You are truely naive to think things can get better between two brothers who have a deep rooted rivalry, especially if it's done with dumb songs." Ben spitefully hissed.

-"Oh, and how would you know about that, huh?" Wally defied him.

-"Speaking from exerience, duh." he answered.

-"Ooooh! Does it mean you have a brother? Or a sister? Or both? How many siblings do you have?" Kuki asked gleefuly.

-"Older or younger?" added Hoagie quickly, as interested as his japanese friend.

Ben got up to stretch and took a few seconds before answering:

-"Just an older brother."

He seemed to have concluded his part of the conversation, but Abby wanted to know more about it.

-"So if you have a family, you're not on your own, and we can bring you to him!" she started in order to get Benedict to talk more on the topic.

-"Don't bother, it's been a while we don't live in the same house." Ben said dryly. -"And I already said I don't want the help from the KND. You are all untrustworthy, just like my brother. No wonder he fitted so much in your organization."

His last words dropped like a bomb on Sector V. Nigel just pinched his nose in frustration. He did mention that staying closer to the truth would be preferable, but that didn't mean to be this precised. It was a detail that could have been left out without problem. But Father did what he wanted and that was something Nigle couldn't control.

-"He's in the KND?" Abby asked. She turned to Nigel: -"Did you think to ask about his relatives? It could have save us a lot of time!"

-"Actually," Nigel started to answer to Abby, but then glared at Ben: -"Benedict doesn't want to tell me anything about his family." he finished his sentence on an acusatory tone.

-"Well, that's great!" Abby tried to lighten up the mood. -"It will be easier to find him and-"

-"That won't be necessary." Ben cut her off. -"He'd been decomissioned a long time ago. I doubt you still have him in your database." he said spitefully.

Abby was a little disappointed to not be able to help more than that, Kuki and Hoagie were sad for their new friend, who apparently didn't live with his brother. Nigel was massaging his temples. Father had to give more details that weren't necessary. Wally had enough of this kid, and got up:

-"And that's the reason you have a beef with us? Or is there something else?" he interrogated on an irritated tone.

-"First of all, it does not concerned you and second, I don't want to talk about any of this, you got that, Shorty?" Ben replied with as many venom as he could manage.

-"Wow, did your mommy never teach you how to be nice to people?" Wally asked, more out of anger and annoyance than curiosity.

Ben answered with an equal amount of rage in his tone:

-"As a matter of fact, no, and it would be quite hard for her to do that if she died when I was little!"

His statement dropped a heavy silence on Sector V. Wally wasn't expecting this kind of come back. He looked away in embarassment. Hoagie scratched behind his head at this awkward situation, Abby was facepalming at Wally's inconsiderate behavior and Nigel felt truely sorry for Ben. He didn't know anything about his paternal grandmother since his dad never told a single thing about her, so learning her death like that was kind of shocking for him. Ben let slip out of anger another private information and probably the most uncomfortable for him, Nigel assumed. Ben looked away, angrier than before. Kuki had both of her hands on her mouth and got up:

-"Ooooh you poor thing!" she sobbed as she tried to hug him.

But Ben wasn't in the mood for that. He brushed her off before she was near him. He went outsied, grumbling some swear words that convinced Sector V to not follow him, except for Nigel. He got up and went to check on his uncle.

-"Um, Numbuh One?" Wally grabbed his friend's sleeve. -"I'm, um... I'm sorry, I didn't meant to..."

-"I know, Numbuh Four, I know." Nigel reassured his friend. -"But please, stop with the teasing. All of you. I get he's being difficult but it's counter productive if we tease him even more."

Nigel did feel kinda bad for making fun of Father earlier, it was clear there was a lot of things he didn't want to talk about, probably bringing bad memories. Nigel understood that. After all, he was never able to talk about his kidnapping in details to anyone, not even his best friend Hoagie or the operative who saved him, Abby. And it wasn't a matter of trust, he did trust his teammates a lot, he just couldn't bring himself to talk about what happened. He was wondering if Father felt the same thing. Nigel asked to not be followed as he wanted to have another private conversation with Benedict. Outside, Ben was leaning on the fence, sulking with his lit pipe. Nigel tried to apologize sincerely:

-"Um, about what just happened with Numbuh Four-"

-"Don't even go there, brat. I'm serious." Ben warned vetween two puffs of smoke. -"I'm not in the mood, so drop whatever you're thinking."

Nigel was vexed for being cut off like that. He came in peace and with a sincere apology, and Father was being ever ruder. Since he was starting to get used to his uncle's behavior, Nigel went with a different approach:

-"You are breaking one of the rules. I told you to not use your pipe in the treehouse, and even if it's outside in fresh air. What if the others see you with it? Kids don't smoke, it will seem suspicious."

-"Give me a break." Ben groaned and turned towards Nigel. -"It's the only thing that can relax me right now. Your friends are exhausting me. When I think I could have been in a 5 stars hotel far away from all of you by now. I could have spent this week in peace without anyone to bother me."

-"You're still on that? What's so special about this week anyway that pushes you to take a vacation?" Nigel asked, but didn't really care about the answer.

Ben removed his pipe from his mouth, let a puff of smoke out and answered frankly:

-"It's the best season for a vacation."

Nigel was not expecting such a simple answer and didn't have the time to counter that Ben continued his speech:

-"Do you know how great the weather is on the other side of the country at this time of year?"

Nigel shrugged his shoulders. He didn't care much about vacations and holidays, he always prefered working on missions than having days off. Ben kept going but with a much harsher tone now:

-"And yet here I am, force to spend time twith you snot nosed brats. And as a kid myself, no less. Worst condition ever."

For a moment, Nigel thought he could have a 'normal' conversation with Father, but nope, the man had to complain avout everything all the time.

-"Hey, I survived as an adult for TWO weeks." Nigel accentuated by showing two fingers. -"It hasn't even been 24 hours since you were turned into a kid. Surely you can stand the situation longer, especially you've already been through there." he finished with the same angry tone as his uncle's.

-"AH! Take it as a peview of what awaits you in your future." Ben hissed spitefuly. -"And no, just because I used to be a kid it means I can do it again. You're supposed to grow up, not the reverse. Going back is not natural. And unnatural things shouldn't exist." he puffed more smoke.

He was getting on Nigel's nerves once again. Father had a blatant disrespect for his rules and was being rude just for the sake of it. He tried to snatch Ben's pipe, but he wasn't fast enough and Ben saw it coming, raised his hand holding the item above his head and used his other hand to push Numbuh One away from him. Nigel had a back up plan. Instead of aiming for the pipe, he went for his glasses. Ben yelled in surprise:

-"Hey! Give it back, you little shit!"

-"I wanted to stop teasing you, but it seems that you don't deserve it. Let's make an exchange, shall we? Your glasses for your pipe?" Nigel took a semi serious tone. After another insult from Ben's part, Nigel kept being facetious and with an opening, successfully stole the pipe.

-"I'm being merciful today Father, you can have your glasses back." Nigel declared with arrogance. -"I'm putting them right there." he said without giving more details.

As Ben was cursing at the top of his lungs, Nigel ran away as fast as he could. He went down to his house bedroom, because he thought that hidning the pipe somewhere in the treehouse didn't seem like a good idea: his friends could find it randomly and it would bring more questions to everyone. So it was better to put the pipe out of their range. Downstairs, Nigel passed right in front of his mother, who wanted to invite him for a family bonding time. He refused somewhat politely and quickly, as he had a more pressing matter to deal with. She was about tot return to her own activities, but stopped whe she smelled something weird. It was coming from his son, it seemed. She had a doubt and wanted to clear it. She followed her son to his room.

Nigel locked his door by habit, and didn't have an exact idea of where to hide the pipe. He was still pissed at Father for being so dang annoying. Nigel was thinking about the things he and Ben agreed on and it pissed him even more to share the same opinions on certain things with his archenemy. It disgusted him to be similar to Father in some way. Then, Ben started to say stuff without consulting Nigel and it took him off guard. How is he supposed to co-ordinate with Ben their story to avoid inconsistencies? If he kept doing that, it would become more difficult for him to come up with excuses and explainations. Ben just didn't give a crud about it and Nige got pissed off even more when he was thinking about it. His hands were on fire as he looked for hiding places for the pipe, and he was so angry he set on fire some of his paperwork on his desk. Nigel pestered, and he heard a knocking on his door.

-"Nigel dear?" his mom's voice called anxiously from behind the door. -"Is everything okay? Can I come in?"

Nigel got surprised by her sudden visit, he still had the pipe in his hand and he had now a pile of ashes on his desk.

-"Um, yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Mom. Don't worry about me!" he said without the confidence he wanted to use.

He was looking for a hiding place quickly. His eyes stopped on his trash bin and threw the pipe in it then cleaned the ashes into the bin as fast as he could. His hands were still shadowy, and he didn't like it. He tried to scratch it on his wrist to make the suit disappear faster, but it didn't work at first. Nigel scratched even harder and succeded, but the suit teared out his actual skin with it, making a trickle of blood flowing down his hand. He yelped a loud 'crud' and searched for a makeshift bandage. He took a handkerchief from his night table's drawer. Nigel did all of this in a big rumbling, noises that didn't reassure his mother on the other side.

-"Are you sure you're okay, Sweetie?" she asked more pressing and concerned.

-"YES I'M SURE, MOM!" he answered, irritated.

-"Nigel!" she gasped out of surprise. Her son wasn't often this blunt with his parents. -"Please, let me in! I'm worried about you!" she pleaded.

Nigel didn't have the time for that. Fortunately, his W.R.I.S.T.W.A.T.C.H. communicator rang the special mission alarm, indicating it was coming directly from the Soopreme Leader. Saved by the gong, literally. Nigel threw the bloody handkerchief into the trash bin, as it did its job at stopping the bleeding wound for now and ran back towards his treehouse, passing in front of his mother once again.

-"Sorry, Mom, don't have the time to talk, gotta go!" he told her without looking back.

His mother was quite puzzled by what just happened. She was about to give up trying to understand her son, but she was able to see in a haste that Nigel was holding his wrist weirdly when he ran away, which reinforced her doubt. She detected the weird smell from earlier and it brought her to the trash bin. She got horrified when she discovered the handkerchief and the rest of the bin. When her son will be back, she'll make sure to have a serious discussion about whatever he was hiding.