TW for blood violence
Numbah 5, the newly elected Supreme Leader of the K.N.D was laying in her bed in the dead of night, tossing and turning. It had been three days since the G.K.N.D had been driven away, so she should be feeling relief.
But no, her mind was plagued by fear, uncertainty and stress. Numbah 1 was still missing, her dad was constantly exhausted from pulling double or triple shifts at the hospital due to all the patients that were recovering from being cryo-froze or beat up by the G.K.N.D and the Kids.Next.Door were still cleaning up the mess left behind by the Galactic Invasion. Those stressors swirled together into the melting pot of her mind, producing nightmares aplenty.
This nightmare was more of a flashback then a nightmare, but it was still nightmarish nonetheless. It should've been a happy occasion, their friend was returning to them after being gone for a whole four months.
But it was only Numbah 1 in appearance. In truth, he was little more then a puppet, with his mind being the unwilling strings. That dreaded visor and those who made and applied it and had taken everything that made Numbah 1 who he was and scooped it out, leaving an empty void in it's place.
--Flashback--
Numbah 5 dangled her legs over the side of the metal crate, practically bursting with ancipation as she sat in the K.N.D Moonbase hangar, anxiously awaiting the return of Numbah 1. Numbah 5 pushed the helmet of Supreme Leader back up on her head, no wonder Numbah 274 wore a chin strap to keep it in place. She'd need to ask for one soon.
Numbah 5 looked over at the rest of Sector V, Numbah 2 was standing by the large window of the hangar of the window that overlooked the glittering collection of stars against the backdrop of inky black space. Numbah 2's back was to the rest of the hangar, so Numbah 5 couldn't see his face. Even still, she knew that Numbah 2 was nervously awaiting Numbah 1's return just like the rest of them.
Numbah 3 and 4 were visibly giddy with excitement, both of them spewing out guesses of what Numbah 1's journey through space was like. They rambled about daring adventures, saving space princesses from danger, epic battles in zero gravity and working together with the forever praised G.K.N.D to fight adult tyranny in the stars.
"It would all sound much better in person." Numbah 5 thought. The only member missing from Sector V was the newly added Numbah 362, having stepped down from being Supreme Leader and joining Sector V on the basis of having worked closely with them in the past, as well as Sector V needing someone to fill in the gap Numbah 5 left behind whe she became Supreme Leader.
The reason she wasn't in the hangar with the others was that Numbah 362 was currently taking care of some final loose ends as Supreme Leader before she could join Sector V.
The sound of an engine whirring, followed by a small, round ball of a metal ship with the letters: "G.K.N.D" inscribed onto the side caught everyone's attention. "He's back! He's back!" Numbah 2 shouted excitedly, nearly tripping over his own two feet as he sprinted towards the hangar doors, Numbah 3 and 4 following close behind.
Numbah 5 hopped off the crate she was sitting on and walked over to the hangar doors as they opened with a low hiss, white wispy smoke crawling out from the other side as the ship docked.
The white wispy smoke cleared, shooting new excitement through Sector V's veins. Their friend was home, now everything could go back to normal and they could keep having adventures together!
But nothing will be the way it was before. Not ever again.
The circular door to the ship rolled open and Numbah 1 pulled the top half of his body out of the ship. Numbah 1 looked slightly different then before, his red turtleneck sweater had a hood sown onto the back of it and the shoulders of his sweater were adorned with the same G.K.N.D symbol but in different colours, the symbol on the left was neon yellow and the symbol on the right was neon green. He was also wearing, grey, mechanical looking fingerless gloves with metal knobs on the knuckles. In place of his sunglasses was a visor, black on the outside with it being golden yellow on the inside.
"Hi, Numbah 1!" Numbah 3 said cheerfully.
"How was your trip?" Numbah 2 inquiried
"What'cha do in space, mate?" Numbah 4 asked excitedly.
Numbah 1 turned his head to look at Sector V, looking right through his teamates with a blank frown on his face. "Hello, Sector V." Numbah 1 replied cordially. His voice was...wrong. It was monotone and dull, cold like a block of ice with no emotion present whatsoever.
Sector V's faces dropped and they stepped back as Numbah 1 hopped out of the pod, revealing that Numbah 1 had swapped out his usual brown sneakers for a pair of ankle high, black leather boots. A dark brown utility belt sat around his waist with a strange looking ray gun holstered at his hip. Numbah 1's movements were wrong too. He moved mechanically, every step was calculated and stiff.
"I cannot stay long." Numbah 1 said, walking right past the others to make a beeline for Numbah 4. Numbah 1 took ahold of Numbah 4's wrist with both hands. His grip was firm and unrelenting, like he didn't want Numbah 4 getting away.
"Numbah 4, the newly appointed Supreme Leader of the Galactic.Kids.Next.Door, Numbah Infinity, requests your presence." Numbah 1 said, before his head turned to look at Numbah 5. "You too, Numbah 5. You've been chosen as well." Numbah 1 said, before tugging on Numbah 4's wrists and pulling him back towards the pod, not noticing that Numbah 4 was resisting or that he was wincing from the other boy's tight grip.
"Woah, woah! Hold it, Numbah 1." Numbah 2 said causally, stepping in front of Numbah 1 and halting his path. "I know you're excited, I'm excited for you! But Numbah Infinity can wait five minutes. Let's have some soda, play some videogames and catch up with each other. Then you carry out whatever your mission is, I'm sure Numbah Infinity will understand." Numbah 2 said as he took and held Numbah 1's hands.
"No. Numbah Infinity will not be made to wait." Numbah 1 said, his voice going from a cold monotone to a bitter hiss. Numbah 1 tore his hands out of Numbah 2's grip and turned around to see that Numbah 4 was standing behind him, cradling his now bruised wrist in his other hand. Numbah 3 was standing next to him with a worried look on her face.
"Let's go, Numbah 4." Numbah 1's voice was back to being cold and monotone as he stepped towards Numbah 4, Numbah 3 stepped in front of Numbah 4 defensively. "You hurt Numbah 4 when you grabbed him. I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to apologize to Numbah 4." Numbah 3 ordered.
"Give him to me. Now." Numbah 1's demanded lowly, taking a step forward, almost right in Numbah 3's face. "No!" Numbah 3 rebutted. Numbah 5, who'd been watching this whole thing play out, didn't want an argument to be the first thing that happened upon Numbah 1's return, so she stepped in-between the two Operatives.
"Everybody calm down. How about we all talk about this over a soda or two? Numbah's 5 is sure Numbah 1 don't mean any harm, he's probably just jet-lagged from all the space travel." Numbah 5 explained, but Numbah 1 didn't move back and neither did Numbah 3.
Several beeps from Numbah 1's visor drew all eyes on him, Numbah 1 reached up and tapped the side of the visor twice. "Numbah 1, what's taking so long?" The irritated voice of Numbah Infinity came from the headset. "Apologies, sir. Sector V is intent on making the mission difficult. They wish to sit around and talk, I wish to complete the objective you've given me." Numbah 1 replied, ignoring the offended facial expressions from the rest of Sector V upon being called 'difficult'.
"Well now, we can't have that, can we?" Numbah Infinity asked rhetorically. "Numbah 1, you are to take Numbah 4 and Numbah 5 to the G.K.N.D Mothership by any means necessary. I'm also permitting you the use of non-lethal force. Go." Numbah Infinity ordered.
Before anything else could be said, Numbah 1 suddenly grabbed ahold of Numbah 3 by her jumper and roughly shoved her off to the side, the ebony haired girl slammed against the right wall with a loud thump. Numbah 1 went to go forward and grab Numbah 4, but Numbah 2 and 5 grabbed one arm each and held him back.
"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Numbah 2 asked angrily, infuriated that Numbah 1 would not only attack one of his friends, but the sweetest member of Sector V for no reason.
"Stop right there!" Numbah 5 ordered. She wasn't sure what was wrong with Numbah 1, but she wasn't going to allow him to harm anyone else.
"Get off!" Numbah 1 demanded as he first threw Numbah 5, then Numbah 2 off to the right with inhuman ease. Numbah 2 landed on his back with a pained groan, while Numbah 5's Supreme Leader helmet flew off her head from the force of the throw as she landed on her stomach. Numbah 5 pushed Numbah 1's sunglasses back up on her face, it was a miracle they hadn't broken yet.
Numbah 4 scrambled away from Numbah 1, terror in his eyes as he ran for the hangar's exit. But Numbah 1 leapt forward, clicking his heels together and using his new rocket boots to fly in front of Numbah 4 before roundhouse kicking the Aussie boy in the chest and sending him tumbling backwards.
Numbah 4 scrambled to his feet, now in a reluctant fighting stance with his fists raised. Numbah 4 leapt back to dodge a punch from Numbah 1. Numbah 4 then threw himself forward and managed to land a soild punch to Numbah 1's side, but the other boy barely reacted.
"The heck?! He's like a zombie!" Numbah 4 thought, being inturupted when Numbah 1 suddenly delivered a flurry of relentless punches to Numbah 4's face and torso that took Numbah 4 by suprise. Numbah 1 even broke Numbah 4's nose in one swift punch, causing liquid crimson to flow down his nose and stain his sweater.
Numbah 4 booted Numbah 1 in the chest, pushing Numbah 1 back and giving himself the opportunity to run towards Numbah 2 and 5 who were now standing up with one M.U.S.K.E.T each in their hands. Numbah 1 was faster though, he grabbed the back of a fleeing Numbah 4's sweater and dragged him backwards. Now having a firm grip on the back of Numbah 4's sweater, Numbah 1 started to kick Numbah 4 in the stomach with his knee about six or seven times in ruthles, rapid succession, ignoring the pained yelps from Numbah 4 as the other kid's flailing hands tried and failed to grab onto Numbah 1 and push him away.
Numbah 2 and 5 tried to get a shot at Numbah 1 with their M.U.S.K.E.T's but Numbah 2's hands were shaking too badly to get a clear shot at Numbah 1. Numbah 5's hands were shaking as well and it was only through luck that she managed to land a hit on Numbah 1, a splat of mustard staining the back of Numbah 1's sweater.
However, much like Numbah 4's punch, the shot of mustard barely affected Numbah 1.
Now winded, Numbah 4 had no energy to fight back as Numbah 1 swiftly dragged Numbah 4 over to the right wall and slammed the blonde up against it. Numbah 1 reached for his utility belt and pulled out the strange looking ray gun. He pointed it at Numbah 4 and pulled the trigger causing a thin black rope with a green outline to wrap around Numbah 4's body and bound him tightly.
Leaving Numbah 4 leaning against the wall, Numbah 1 turned to face Numbah 5, breaking into a sprint in her direction. Numbah 2 and 5 fired off more mustard shots at Numbah 1, all of which he dodged with perfect execution. Numbah 1 fired his ray gun at Numbah 2, hitting Numbah 2 in the left arm, the black tendrils stabbed into the ground and took Numbah 2 down with it. It also caused Numbah 2 to drop his M.U.S.K.E.T by accident, the mustard gun slid across the floor and out of his grip.
"Stop it!" Numbah 3 pleaded tearfully as she unexpectedly jumped in-between Numbah 1 and Numbah 5. Numbah 3 rushed forward and threw herself into Numbah 1, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his chest. Numbah 1 threw his arms up in protest, giving Numbah 5 the chance to rush over to Numbah 2 and tear off the black tendrils pinning his arm down.
"Stop it, Nigel! This isn't you!" Numbah 3 begged. Numbah 1 ignored her and kept trying to walk forward. But with Numbah 3 in front of him, pushing him backwards to halt his path, it proved quite difficult to make any soild movement forward. "You don't have to do this! Whatever's going on between you and Numbah Infinity, we can fix it together!" Numbah 3 pleaded, tears brimming in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. Numbah 1 stopped trying to walk forward and looking down at the girl desperately clinging to him, his expression stayed cold and unfeeling.
"Nigel, please stop it...I know you're in there somewhere! You have to be! You don't have to do this, you don't have to be bad just because something's telling you to be!" Numbah pleaded, looking up at Numbah 1 with tear filled eyes. Even as Numbah 3's tears rolled down her face and dripped onto his sweater, Numbah 1 showed no change in expression.
"You're my friend, Nigel. Please...I don't want to hurt you. I just want my friend back..." Numbah 3's begging softened to a pitiful whimper, her forehead thudding against his chest. Numbah 1 stayed still for a moment, before his hands went down to grab onto the back of Numbah 3's jumper.
"Let me explain something to you, Numbah 3." Numbah 1 said, his voice was a cold sting. "I am perfect in every way. My Supreme Leader, Numbah Infinity, made me perfect. Unlike you, I am not weighed down by emotions. Nor can the emotions of others weigh me down. I will not allow you to interfere with my mission." With that final, cold declaration, Numbah 1 threw Numbah 3 away from him. Numbah 3 shrieked in pain as she was thrown back into a collection of metal fuel barrels, collapsing to the ground and laying there in a trembling, crying heap.
"Numbah Infinity..." Numbah 2's voice was a scowling hiss, the child genius slowly raised his trembling arms to make two fists. "GET OUT OF MY FRIEND'S HEAD!" Numbah 2 yelled in a desperate battle cry as he rushed at Numbah 1, wildly throwing punches as Numbah 5's orders for Numbah 2 to back off fell on deaf ears. Numbah 1 perfectly dodged every punch thrown at him, calmly stepping backwards with calculated precision.
Numbah's 1 hands clenched into fists and he swung at Numbah 2 with no hesitation, Numbah 2 threw his arms up to defend himself.
But instead of a bruise, rivers of blood started to trickle down Numbah 2's now slashed arm. Numbah 5 realized that, when Numbah 1 made a fist, he activated the metal knobs on the knuckles of the gloves which caused sharp blades to shoot up from the knobs. Numbah 1 swung again, spilling more blood from Numbah 2's other arm.
Numbah 2 scrambled backwards to try and get away but Numbah 1 was merciless and kept slashing Numbah 2's arms, drawing more and more blood until Numbah 1 finally booted Numbah 2 in the chest and sent the genius boy hurtling to the ground. Numbah 2 made no attempt to get up, he just curled up into a whimpering ball as he pressed his bleeding arms against his chest.
Numbah 1's hands relaxed and the blades went away, crimson blood was now staining his hands and dripping off his fingers like raindrops. The visor started beeping again, Numbah 1 tapped the side of the visor twice to answer. "Numbah 5, what are you doing?" The disappointed yet condescending voice of Numbah Infinity asked, his voice floating out from the visor. "You...you can see Numbah 5?" Numbah 5 asked, her voice and body trembling with fear. "Of course. I see everything through the visor your friend is wearing." Numbah Infinity replied calmly.
"But, enough about me. Let's talk about you." Numbah Infinity continued. "Numbah 5, you might feel as if you've accomplished everything you can. But, you can do so much more if you join my side. You can travel the stars, meet new friends from all across the cosmos, even avoid decommissioning! All you have to do is give up your mind to me. The process to do so is quick and pain free." Numbah Infinity explained.
"You want Numbah 5 to wear the same visor Numbah 1's wearing? And then what, Numbah 5 becomes an emotionless puppet for you to control? Forget it!" Numbah 5 scowled. Numbah Infinity sighed in annoyance.
"Oh, come on, Numbah 5! You're too good for this sorry rock of a planet! When your sister broke your heart and went rouge, you could've easily leaked everything embarrassing thing you know about her and humiliated her! But, you decided to be the bigger person and leave the past in the past. Not many people have the self-control to do that." Numbah Infinity continued. Numbah 5 felt her heart jump into her throat and she stumbled back in suprise. "How did you know about Cree?!" Numbah 5 asked accusingly.
"Numbah 5, stop holding yourself back by hanging around these pitful meat sheilds you call friends. You're too good for them, anyway." Numbah Infinity said, ignoring Numbah 5's earlier question. Numbah 1 held out his hand to Numbah 5. "Leave these nobodies behind and join me. Join me, and we can mold the galaxy into a world where kids hold ultimate power!" Numbah Infinity offered.
Numbah 5 stayed in quiet contemplation for a moment, looking around at her wounded friends. Numbah 3 had tear tracks staining her cheeks as she wrapped Numbah 2's arms up with bandages, the poor girl was trembling so badly it was hard for her to make a loop around Numbah 2's arms. Numbah 2 was whimpering in pain as he flinched and hissed at every touch to his arms, not even a gentle touch was safe. Numbah 4 was still tied up, leaning against the wall with his head was hung in exhausted defeat as blood leaked from his broken nose and dripped onto his pants. Numbah 1 was being puppeteered around and forced to do awful things, to Numbah Infinity he was nothing more then a toy to be ordered around.
"Never!" Numbah 5 snapped, anger rose up in her chest as she clenched her fists and took on a fighting stance. Numbah 1's hand shrunk back, he put up his fists and took on a fighting stance as well, blades shooting out of the knobs of his knuckles again. "Numbah 5 would never allow herself to become a puppet for a tyrant like you to boss around! Numbah 5 would rather die!" Numbah 5 boldly declared. "You'd rather die then join us? That can be arranged." Numbah 1 said coldly, then the two rushed forward and began to fight.
Numbah 1 threw the first few punches, Numbah 5 managed to dodge the punches but she barley had time to react, let alone think of a plan. Numbah 1 threw a punch and Numbah 5 parried it with a kick, Numbah 1 tried a kick and Numbah 5 dodged it. "C'mon, Nigel! Snap out of it! I don't want to have to hurt you!" Numbah 5 pleaded, blinking back the hot tears in her eyes. Numbah 1 remained unfazed and slashed Numbah 5 across the left cheek with the knuckle blades, but Numbah 5 shrugged it off as the adrenaline pumping through her veins made it feel like nothing.
Numbah 5 landed a punch to Numbah 1's shoulder, it pushed him back a bit but didn't seem to hurt him. Numbah 5 tried to land a punch to Numbah 1's face but it was quickly dodged. Numbah 1 grabbed Numbah 5's wrists, clicked his heels together, and sent them both flying, Numbah 1 slammed Numbah 5 into the wall, ignoring Numbah 5's pained shriek.
Numbah 1 let go of one of Numbah 5's wrists and slammed his forearm into her throat. Numbah 5's eyes went wide as saucers as she realized what was happening. She gasped for air, but no relief came. Numbah 1 wasn't trying to hurt her. He was trying to kill her! She started pushing at Numbah 1 to try and get him off, but it was in vain.
"N-Nigel! Can't...breathe...st-stop it!" Numbah 5 pleaded in a raspy voice, still trying in vain to gasp for air in-between the words she was able to croak out. Numbah 1 didn't respond at all, not even as Numbah 5 started kicking at Numbah 1 in the hopes of getting him off. Leaning against the same wall, Numbah 4 had been watching the whole fight play out. As soon as Numbah 5 uttered out that she couldn't breathe, Numbah 4 started to frantically wiggle around, trying to escape his bonds. Numbah 4 scrambled to his feet, ignoring the aching pain in his stomach and face as he ran towards Numbah 1.
He managed to slip one arm out of his bonds as he ran, all he could see was Numbah 1 and all could hear was Numbah 5's raspy begging in-between gagging as she went longer and longer without oxygen. "STOP IT!" Numbah 4 shrieked as he kept running towards Numbah 1, the mind controlled Operative turned to look at Numbah 4 just as Numbah 4 made it to him and punched Numbah 1 in the face, right in-between the eyes of his visor.
Numbah 1 was thrown back and landed harshly on his back, he shifted slightly but just laid on the floor for the most part. Numbah 5 gasped for breath and coughed as she slid down to the floor and dropped to her knees, gently holding her now sore throat as a now free Numbah 4 knelt down and held her to make sure she didn't fall over. Numbah 2 and Numbah 3 ran over to her as well, Numbah 3 helped Numbah 4 over to the wall and got him to sit down so the young nurse could attend to Numbah 4's wounds while Numbah 2 helped Numbah 5 up, never taking his eyes off the groggy but still awake Numbah 1.
"Nnnhhmm...what...?" Numbah 1's groaned, his feeble, normal sounding voice made everyone jump. Numbah 2 and 5 instantly took up fighting stances and put themselves in front of their friends. Numbah 1 sat up slowly, his movements were sluggish and unconordinated as he looked around. In-between the eyes of the visor, a thin lighting bolt shaped crack had formed.
The one thing that peaked Numbah 2's interest the most was that the eye color of Numbah 1's visor had changed from yellow to red and his eyes were now visible. "What happened? How'd I get here?" Before, I was..." Numbah 1's voice trailed off and his eyes widened as he saw his blood stained hands, he suddenly became much more lucid as he looked over each of his friends, studying their injuries.
"How long was I out for? What did you make me do?" Numbah 1 asked aloud as he quickly stood up and tapped the visor twice, almost falling over in his haste. Numbah Infinity could be heard laughing from the other end, it was a cruel and sinister laughter. "Stop laughing! What did you make me do, you crazy--aaAAAAAAGH!" Numbah 1 demanded as his hands grabbed at the sides of the visor and started to pull at it with all his might, but his question devolved into a scream of agony as a red electricity enveloped his body and he fell to the ground kicking and screaming.
The rest of Sector V scrambled to their feet, wanting to help their friend but having no idea where to start. "Run! Before he...takes over again! RUN!" Numbah 1 pleaded with a strained voice, still clutching and pulling at the visor as yellow started to creep back over the new red of the visor's eyes from the sides.
Those eyes...they were full of so much pain. His voice was an agonizing scream. Numbah 5 felt so much guilt, guilt over not being able to save him.
"Abby!" A voice jolted her from her slumber, Numbah 5 shot up in bed, gasping for breath with tears in her eyes. Numbah 5 whirled her head around to scan her surroundings, she was in her bedroom. It was dark, probably nightime. Numbah 5 flinched when someone's hand grazed her face to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Abby? It's okay, it's just me. You're safe." She heard her older sister, Cree, say in a coaxing voice. Numbah 5 was suprised to see her sister sitting at the foot of her bed in her pyjamas, a worried look on the teens face.
"Cree? How...how long have you been sitting there?" Numbah 5 asked rather sheepishly, sniffling as she wiped the last remaining tears from her eyes. "Just got here. I was coming from the bathroom when I heard you whimpering in your sleep, I tried to wake you up but I guess you couldn't hear me." Cree explained. "Oh..." Numbah 5 mumbled, sitting up on the bed and tucking her knees to her chest. Cree hesitated for a moment before scooting over to her little sister and wrapping her arm around her shoulder. "Bad dream?" Cree asked. "Bad dream." Numbah 5 mumbled, shuffling closer to Cree and letting her older sister hug her.
"Was it about Numbah 1?" Cree asked gingerly after a long moment of silence. "Yeah, they still haven't found him yet. I'm just worried that Numbah 1 might've been captured by the G.K.N.D and forced to wear that awful visor again, or even worse..." Numbah 5 couldn't bring herself to elaborate, instead she just shuffled herself a little closer to Cree. "Well, I can't tell you not to worry, because I know you will anyway. I can tell you that Numbah 1 will turn up eventually. Whatever happened to him, I'm sure he put up a good fight." Cree said. "Yeah, he's stubborn like that." Numbah 5 replied.
After a few more moments of silence, Cree sighed sharply. "Alright, scoot over. We're having a cuddle." She said unexpectedly as she crawled over and plopped herself down on the bed. "What?" Numbah 5 asked, before Cree gently pushed her down so that Numbah 5 was laying down too. "I said, we're having a cuddle. So scoot over." Cree said calmly, shrugging her shoulders as she pulled her sister close to her chest and held her. Numbah 5 snickered a little as she curled up next to her sister, embracing her big sister as she closed her eyes.
It was just like when they were younger, back then if Numbah 5 got frightened during a storm or had a nightmare, she would always go to Cree and curl up next to her in bed. And Cree would never hesitate to pull back the covers and let Numbah 5 climb into her bed, before holding her close and cuddling the fear away until Numbah 5 would fall asleep in Cree's arms.
"Don't worry, Abby. Nothing's gonna hurt you. Not while I'm here." Cree promised as Numbah 5 drifted off to sleep, content and cradled snugly in his sister's arms.
