Alright, time to move into the main series and let the rest of Sector V meet this version of Cree. If you're wondering what episode I picture this replacing, it would be in the same place as Operation SUPPORT.
"Attention everyone!" Numbuh 1 announced, bringing Sector V's latest briefing to order. "Global Command has sent us an alert that a possible teenage villain may be on the prowl."
"Well, they won't be for long once I get my hands on 'em!" Numbuh 4 declared as he gleefully held up his fists. "So who are they?"
"I would like everyone to meet who Global Command has dubbed…the Candyperson," Numbuh 1 said as he pulled up footage of a figure seen in various places, such as walking around with a large bag of candy or lingering around the local high school. A lot of the pictures were taken either late in the day or at night. Their face was hidden under a hood and their body was hidden under a hoodie and long, baggy pants, all that was seemingly visible being some short dreadlocks poking out of their hood….
As well as what looked like a long metal hook in place of their left arm.
"In spite of their lack of any apparent hostility towards kids, Global Command has ordered us to keep an eye on them, due to recent reports of them being seen around our school," Numbuh 1 continued as his sector members watched the Candyperson walk towards Gallagher Elementary.
"They're creepy!" Numbuh 3 wailed, terrified of the idea of fighting this figure.
"Hey, they're taking someone with 'em!" Numbuh 4 called out as he pointed at the projection, which showed the Candyperson leading someone out of the school. And all of Sector V was horrified when they realized who it was.
"Numbuh 5!?" Numbuh 1 exclaimed. In truth, he hadn't seen all the footage, so this wasn't something he was expecting either.
"Is that why she's not here!?" Numbuh 2 exclaimed. It was then everyone realized that the spy/second in command of the group actually wasn't present for the meeting.
"Kids Next Door, Battle Stations!" Numbuh 1 called out as everyone scrambled to the hanger, hoping to save their friend before the Candygirl could harm her. As soon as they made it to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R, Numbuh 1 turned to Numbuh 2. "Where does it say the Candyperson took her!?"
"Here's where her tracker is!" Numbuh 2 reported as he pointed to a spot on his map.
"Step on it!" Numbuh 1 ordered the pilot. In their panic, no one noticed that the address was somewhere they were all decently familiar with…
Numbuh 5 contently leaned back as she tossed another piece of candy into her mouth. She wasn't normally one to ditch a meeting, but considering how often Numbuh 1 seemed to call meetings to pitch his latest conspiracies to the team, she figured that it wasn't important and she could just get the cliffnotes the next day…and then tell Numbuh 1 why he was wrong and how, no, adults aren't killing plants and trees to create fall to force kids back into school.
It was very very hard to keep a straight face for that one.
Hence why, as far as she was concerned, a movie night with candy and soda was exactly what the doctor ordered. And, of course, doing it with one of her favorite people in the world didn't hurt either.
"Numbuh 5 thinks we should do this more often," She declared before tossing another piece of candy into her mouth.
"And Cree agrees," Said older sister declared with a grin as she came over with a bowl of popcorn, taking her seat next to her sister on the couch. "You sure your boss won't pitch a fit when he notices you're not there?"
"He'll be so caught up in his ranting that he won't even notice Numbuh 5's not there," Numbuh 5 assured her older sister. No sooner had those words leave her mouth did Sector V all burst in through the windows, startling both sisters. "What the-!?"
"Numbuh 5! Are you okay?!" Numbuh 1 exclaimed with relief. "Did the Candyperson harm you?"
"The who!?" Numbuh 5 asked.
"The Candyperson!" Numbuh 3 cheerfully reported. "They kidnapped you earlier!"
"Uh…" Numbuh 5 looked at Cree, who looked equally baffled, before turning back to her sector as she tried to figure out what the heck was going on. "Er…Numbuh 5 wasn't kidnapped. Cree picked her up from school today and we were just about to watch a movie."
"Hi?" Cree offered, still not fully getting what was going on or why people thought her sister was kidnapped. Sure, a teenager fully covering their body and having what was basically a hook hand was pretty creepy and probably did look like a vill-
Wait a second.
"Question," Cree said once she connected the dots. "Is this…Candyperson a tall, skinny teenager who wears a hoodie, long pants and has a hook hand?"
"Uh, yeah that's pretty much what they look like," Numbuh 2 honestly replied. "Hey, how do you know so much about them?" In response, Cree held out her left arm, which sported a matching prosthetic to what the group had seen.
"Wait…so Numbuh 5's sister is the Candyperson!?" Numbuh 4 exclaimed, which prompted all of Sector V to aim their weapons at her.
"Yes, but not in the way you all think," Cree declared in an annoyed tone as she pinched her nose. "How about I explain things to you?"
"...Fine," Numbuh 1 grunted. He didn't like the idea of listening to a teenager, but he also had a feeling that Numbuh 5 would have been the first to know if her sister was some kind of evil villain, so he'd given her the benefit of the doubt.
"Alright, so to start with, how much do you all know about the Kids Next Door's injury policies in regards to decommissioning?" Cree asked.
"Everyone gets decommissioned unless they get really, really hurt, then they don't!" Numbuh 3 answered almost instantly. While Numbuhs 1 and 2 seemed to get it, Numbuh 4 still looked very confused.
"To better explain it, if a Kids Next Door operative gets hurt in a way that completely changes their life, then they are allowed to simply retire when they turn thirteen, or even right there if they want," Cree explained as she began to run her hand along her hook. It had become something of a nervous tick for her ever since she got it.
"And how would you know this?" Numbuh 1 asked, his tone still extremely suspicious.
"Because I was Numbuh 11," Cree revealed, drawing four gasps. "I had an…accident on a mission and it got me this, plus some scars-"
"Can we see some?" Numbuh 4 eagerly asked.
"Numbuh 4!" Numbuh 5 began to snap at her sector mate, only for Cree to hold up a hand.
"It's alright, Abby," She assured her younger sister. "I have a few on my chest, which I don't really feel like showing, but for the others…" First, she moved some of her hair out of the way of her left eye, revealing a large burn scar covering most of the left side of her face. After letting Numbuh 4 (and the others, from the looks of it) admire it for a bit, she then rolled up her nightgown, revealing a series of burn patches running along her legs. Numbuh 4 moved to touch them, but Cree flinched away when he did so. Much to Numbuh 5's relief, he was smart enough to realize that Cree didn't want him touching them.
"Is that why you always wear pants and a hoodie?" Numbuh 2 asked.
"I don't always wear the hoodie," Cree said. "It's just been cold recently."
"Okay, but what about all the bags of candy?" Numbuh 1 asked, still clearly suspicious.
"Now I understand why my sister calls you a conspiracy theorist," Cree deadpanned. Numbuh 1 looked offended as the rest of his sector couldn't help but laugh. Cree let them settle down before continuing. "But, since I was never technically decommissioned, I still do some Kids Next Door work on the side-" Cree knew that she couldn't reveal the Teens Next Door, but claiming she was a freelancer was an easy excuse. "-and I've been dealing with this candy smuggling ring I found out about through spying on some kids at school. I've been trying to sabotage their shipments and, well, one of the easiest ways to do this is to steal their stuff. It's why Abby's had such good stuff lately."
"Teen Ninjas, no doubt," Numbuh 1 said. Cree just nodded. "Do you think you could provide the full details? I'm sure Global Command would like to know about this ring."
"As long as you also correct them about their theories on me," Cree offered. "Just tell them that the Candygirl is harmless."
"Wait, Candygirl?" Numbuh 5 questioned.
"I think it has a nice ring to it," Cree replied with a cheeky smile, prompting Numbuh 5 to groan at her older sister's antics.
"So…should we go?" Numbuh 2 offered.
"You're already here. Might as well join us," Numbuh 5 said as she patted the couch next to her. "Besides, Numbuh 5's sure that Cree would be happy to share some stories once the movie is over."
"You know it!" Cree proudly declared. One by one, the members of Sector V all took spots either on the couch or in front of it. Numbuh 1 was the last to lower his guard, but he still sat down all the same. Still, he did keep his eyes on Cree. He wasn't entirely trusting of her yet.
"...And that's the story of how I stopped the molten chocolate eruption!" Cree finished yet another tale to applause. Once the movie had ended, Cree took up Numbuh 5's offer/suggestion of telling the group stories about her time in the KND and had them all completely engrossed. Even Numbuh 1 was now completely in awe of how much Cree had done, even in spite of her arm. The older girl had also shared more than a few stories about other legendary figures from her time, such as Numbuh 9 or Numbuh 274.
"Tell us another one!" Numbuh 4 begged. "Who were some other people you worked with!?"
"Hey, did you work with Sector Z?" Numbuh 3 asked. "I mean, I think they vanished when you were an operative and I know the treehouses were pretty close!"
"Yeah! You've got to have stories…about…them," Numbuh 1 agreed, at first equally enthusiastic about the idea of learning about Sector Z, only for him to notice Cree's expression change from enjoyment to dismay, while Numbuh 5 looked annoyed at the mere mention of the other sector.
"I…uh…don't like to talk about them," Cree said a little too quickly. "All I'll say is that they aren't the heroes you think they are." This got her gasps once again.
"But Sector Z is legendary!" Numbuh 2 protested. "They never failed a mission!"
"Yeah! They could kick all those cruddy adult villains' butts!" Numbuh 4 cheered as he mimed a few fighting poses.
"Were you just jealous of them?" Numbuh 3 innocently asked.
"I WASN'T JEALOUS!" Cree suddenly snapped. "I HATE THEM BECAUSE THEY LEFT ME TO DIE!" Almost instantly, her hand clapped over her mouth, but she knew she had already spilled too much.
"...What do you mean?" Numbuh 1 asked, genuine confusion in his voice. Cree sighed. She knew she had to tell the story at this point. Looking down, she noticed Numbuh 5 was holding her hand for support. Managing a small smile, Cree turned back to the small crowd.
"It happened when I had just turned twelve. My version of Sector V had been assigned to a mission with them. I think it was actually one of Abby's first missions in the Kids Next Door." Cree paused, unable to stop her face from taking on a fond smile at how excited her sister was to go on a mission with her. "We were sent to investigate some lab that had Evil Adult Industries funding. Sector Z went ahead to confront whoever was running the place while we were left to search for clues about what the purpose was. I guess I got pretty close to where whatever was being kept was because it ended up exploding…pretty much right in my face." Again, she paused to let everyone gasp. "I was so dazed that when I finally came too, everything was blurry and the main thing I remember was just being in complete agony from being pinned under debris. But I still remember clearly seeing Sector Z's silhouettes. I screamed and begged for them to help me, but…they just walked away. Never to be seen again. I ended up blacking out again not long after. When I woke up, I was in the hospital without an arm and with bandages all over my body." Cree looked down. "So I don't know where Sector Z vanished too, but I don't miss them…."
"Well now I don't either!" Numbuh 4 declared. "You don't just leave someone trapped after they got hit by an explosion!"
"Yeah! They sound like a bunch of meanies!" Numbuh 3 chimed in as she crossed her arms.
"Are you sure you weren't just hallucinating?" Numbuh 1 asked. He didn't want to doubt Cree, but he was also fairly certain that someone in pain from debris and fire wasn't someone who was seeing things clearly. "I don't want to doubt you, but you have to admit that you may not be the best source."
"That may be so, but I still know what I saw," Cree grumbled as she looked away. "When you see your flesh melting off your bones, you tend to hold a grudge for the person that walked away from the blaze."
"Sorry all that happened to you," Numbuh 2 said, trying to be nice.
"Thanks," Cree grunted. She then sighed again. She didn't want to think about what happened. "How about I tell you some better stories instead?"
"Yay! More stories!" Numbuh 3 cheered, causing everyone to perk back up. As Cree spun another tale, the group pushed down the negative thoughts to listen to a piece of the Kids Next Door no one thought they'd ever get to speak too and she was someone they all decided they wanted to spend more time with.
And also make sure that Global Command knew that Cree Lincoln wasn't any threat to kids.
For the record, I know that Cree would most likely get some sort of crazy 2x4 prosthetic hand were this the real show, but I feel like giving her a basic one actually fits the story better and also fits with the name of the story better (you'll see what that means later in the story).