PhantomLordHelix: I will neither confirm nor deny that…(even if the answer is pretty clear at this point)
Not gonna lie, I have been waiting for a long time to write this chapter. If only because of what happens in it. I see no reason to keep you all waiting, so let's begin!
Chad Dickson, formerly known as Supreme Leader Numbuh 274, was confused.
That day was special. It was his thirteenth birthday and, while he had already known in advance about the plan to induct him into the Teens Next Door, he had gotten word that a Teen Ninja was going to infiltrate the Moonbase and set it to drift into the sun. Naturally, he couldn't let that happen.
What better way to show someone that a plan wouldn't work than to do it yourself?
And, while the plan didn't go without a few major bumps, he was able to set the plan in motion while also having it get stopped. He even managed to convince said Teen Ninja that he was now a traitor to the Kids Next Door, meaning he could serve as a spy for the Kids Next Door. So there he was, having just made it to the Teens Next Door base, fully intending to get a heroes welcome.
And while he was getting some of that, he was getting a lot of "nice knowing you" or "you are so freaking dead!".
"Dude, you really should have just stuck with the teenagers," Firecracker mocked as she pulled a few bags of popcorn out a microwave, passing them around to some other teens. Chad snarled at her, knowing those bags were for everyone to enjoy while…something happened to him.
"Okay, seriously, WHAT THE CRUD IS GOING ON HERE?!" He finally snapped.
"Wait…do you really not get it?" Firecracker asked, genuine confusion etched onto her face.
"She can turn a stove into an active bomb, yet she can't pick up on basic facial expressions," Chad internally groaned, wondering just how different a wavelength Firecracker could operate on sometimes, not that he dared to say it aloud. "No. I truly have no clue why you are all telling me I'm about to die."
"Head to the training room," Another operative, whose name Chad was pretty sure was Dylan, told him.
"And try to think about who your little scheme got decommissioned while you do," Firecracker chimed in. With that, everyone seemingly headed off, although Chad had a feeling they were all taking other roots to either the training room or the camera room so they could watch whatever was about to go down. Still, Chad wanted answers, so he began his trek to the training room.
"Admittedly, I should have watched out for Numbuh 86…" Chad admitted to himself. His original plan was to get discovered fairly quickly into his scheme of hacking the Kids Next Door database to change everyone who got invited to his party's ages, which, in turn, would allow him to stop the Teen Ninjas plan before it could even be launched. However, Numbuh 86 was someone who he would call…both too overager to decommission people as well as too loyal to the organization to really think things through. Thus, she dutifully decommissioned everyone who Chad had altered the ages of, including Sector V, even though she had been attending schools with them since kindergarten. That had made Chad worried that things wouldn't go to plan, but, luckily, Numbuh 1 had pulled through and managed to fix what he had arranged.
And it was then that Chad clued into what everyone was implying.
"Wait…if she decommissioned everyone other than him in Sector V that also means she decommissioned Numbuh 5 and…oh no," Chad realized what exactly he'd done and, more importantly, which of his new comrades was going to be after his head.
"Hello Numbuh 274," An eerily calm voice from behind him chimed in. Slowly turning around, Chad found himself facing Cree, who slowly closed the door to the training room, an all too calm smile on her face. "Glad to see you made it!"
"Look, Cree, this was…I wasn't planning for Numbuh 86 to actually decommission your sister!" Chad frantically attempted to explain as he slowly began backing away. Even with only one arm, Cree was still one of the greatest fighters that the Kids Next Door had ever had and Chad didn't want to be on the end of one of her beatdowns. "It was a plan! I had to stop-"
"You and I both know that girl is a moron, Chad," Cree interrupted, her smile turning into a maniacal grin. "And you did nothing to correct the mistake you made and left it up to my sister's sector leader. Even without blowing your cover, you could have just said something! And then you tried to launch her into the sun…" Cree then suddenly lunged forwards, grabbing Chad's shirt and pulling him close. "And what kind of big sister would I be if I didn't get some revenge on her behalf? Now, I'll be nice and let you pick where I start."
"...Mercy?" Chad tried. Cree merely gave him an unamused snort before pulling back her left arm, which had a boxing glove covering the hook. Chad let out a very uncharacteristic whimper. This was so not how he was hoping his introduction to the Teens Next Door would end up going.
"Geez, I didn't know an arm could bend like that," Firecracker noted as she tossed a few more pieces of popcorn into her mouth. Most of the other Teens Next Door members had opted to watch Cree's one sided beatdown on Chad from the safety of the monitor room. A few had been placing bets on whether or not Cree would actually kill him or not and how long it would take.
General consensus was that she most likely would, but was dragging it out on purpose.
"Even I felt that…" Dylan whimpered as Cree kneed several times Chad in his manhood. Several other boys in the room cringed as well. "Remind me not to get on her bad side."
"It's not even getting on her bad side!" Another operative piped up. "It's hurting her sister!"
"I mean…that pretty much is her bad side," Dylan reminded everyone. "Well, that and bringing up Sector Z."
"Or Chloe Reginason in general," Firecracker chimed in, flinching as Cree tossed Chad across the room, before pouncing on him again. "But still, I don't think even that stuff has gotten her as pissed as messing with Numbuh 5 in any way."
"That actually reminds me of an old saying," Dylan noted as he turned back towards the screens. "The reason the oldest sibling is born first is to protect the ones that are born after them."
"...Doesn't Cree have an older brother?" Someone else commented.
"I think he was moreso talking about the spirit of the quote," Yet another watcher commented. For the most part, everyone just rolled their eyes and turned back to the beatdown.
One very painful (for Chad) hour later
"Gonna be honest, this is not how I pictured my thirteenth birthday ending," Chad admitted before moaning in pain again. After Cree finally decided she was done, she literally dragged him to the medical bay, ensuring he hit all the bumps on the floor, as well as several walls. Needless to say, every part of his body felt sore beyond all reason and he was shocked Cree didn't break anything bones.
"Well, next time, don't come with a plan that might lead to people getting decommissioned," Cree mocked before turning back to her prosthetic, which had been damaged due to how roughly she'd handled both it and Chad. "Dang it. My parents are gonna kill me for breaking this."
"I said sorry like five times!" Chad protested. "And I didn't have a choice! The real second in command of the Teens was behind the plot."
This gave Cree pause. "You don't mean…."
"Mallory Blackburn," Chad gravely revealed before groaning again. Cree flinched at that. Mallory Blackburn was, as many people said, the real second in command of the Teen Ninjas. She was about a year or so older than Cree and, while she passed up the main leadership mostly because she wanted to stay on the field, everyone knew her and everyone feared her. Pretty much the only reason she wasn't second in command was because Chloe had her hooks in the Steve. Even Father seemed to agree, having made Mallory his personal apprentice within the organizations.
"...I still don't forgive you, but I understand why you did what you did," Cree admitted as she turned back to her work. "And I wasn't lying. I am happy to see you here. I was just mad about what you did to my sister and her friend."
"Yeah, I don't blame you," Chad replied. "Like I said, I wasn't planning for it to spiral that out of control. I thought that maybe Numbuh 86 would decommission a few people, but then realize her mistake. I was not expecting her to get everyone. Honestly, we're lucky she didn't get Numbuh 1."
"That kid's going places," Cree noted before turning back to Chad with a smirk. "Might even surpass you someday."
"Okay, he's not that good," Chad replied bluntly, causing Cree to chuckle. "Still, gonna have to explain to Mallory why I'm gonna have to push my Teen Ninja induction back a while…"
"Just tell her that someone wanted revenge for your little decommissioning plot," Cree joked, managing to draw a wheezing chuckle out of Chad.
"Funny. But I feel like that would just put you on her radar, since, as far as everyone knows, you haven't been involved with the KND in years," Chad pointed out.
"I didn't say you had to say it was me," Cree fired back. "All you need to do is just say someone wanted revenge. Chances are that she'll just assume it was a disgruntled operative."
"Guess you hit me harder than I thought if I couldn't even realize that," Chad joked back. "So…you got any plans to get revenge on Numbuh 86 or was it just me?"
"Hey, this whole mess was pretty much your fault," Cree reminded Chad, who merely huffed and looked away. "But if I do have a chance to get revenge without blowing my cover, I will."
"I guess I should be happy to get the early warning to take things easy on Numbuh 5 if we ever end up fighting when I become a Teen Ninja," Chad admitted. "Eh, Candygirl?"
"Seriously, where did everyone learn about that nickname?" Cree questioned. "I only actually told Sector V."
"Let's just say Numbuh 3 doesn't really know the meaning of a secret," Chad revealed, causing Cree to groan a little, although she did still chuckle somewhat. Even if it didn't start the best way, Cree was happy to be able to interact with Chad once again.
So, when I was writing this story, I actually had Cree join Nigel and Tommy in trying to stop Chad from putting his plan into action, but then I realized that would cause too many questions and only serve to make Numbuh 1 look more guilty. So instead, you get a psychotically overprotective big sister moment from Cree and I honestly think this works way better! But let me know what you think.