"Please, Infinity! I'm loyal! I'm loyal!" Numbah 1 begged as the huge robots dragging him into the room slammed him to the cold metal table, immediately a pair of thick black metal cuffs shot up from the table, pinning his arms to his torso and locking his ankles together.
"I can't jeopardize this mission, Numbah 1. I need to make sure you stay in line and rid the planet of those disgusting adults without hesitation." Numbah Infinity's cold and condescending voice drifted out from behind the glass that separated him from the control room. Inside the control room he could see Numbah Infinity, Numbah 74.239 in his human disguise, and a distraught Lizzie who was being held still by two other robots.
"I trusted you! I believed in you! You were like a brother to me!" Numbah 1 pleaded, hot tears of betrayal welling up in his eyes and a sinking feeling of dread growing ever stronger in his chest. Numbah Infinity just shrugged. "Too bad. You're the strongest, most capable Earth Operative I've encountered in a long, long, time. I'm not letting you get away." He continued, before turning to Lizzie as one of the robot's grabbed her potted plant head to hold it still while the other robot forced her eyes open.
"Watch closely, Numbah Vine. Just because you're one of the only two operatives with knowledge of Earth, that doesn't make you invaluable. If I feel that you've stepped out of line, you'll share the same fate as him." Numbah Infinity warned. "Don't do this, Infinity. His family is down there! His friend's families, my friends!" Lizzie tried to bargain with him, but Numbah Infinity ignored her.
"The Toy Soilder-ifcation process is starting now." Numbah 74.239 announced as Numbah 1's head was jerked still by two small metal clamps, being forced to look straight up as a yellow and black visor started descending from the ceiling. "Wh-what is that?! What's going to happen to me?!" Numbah 1 shrieked, trying to wiggle away to no avail, his heart pounding in his chest and fear pulsing through every inch of his body.
"Just relax. The more you squirm, the harder a time I'll have calibrating the visor to your brain." Numbah 74.239 commented as the visor got closer and closer. "You've done this before?!" Numbah 1 asked, bewildered. "Only on testing droids." The lab coat wearing alien replied causally.
"If you hurt my family or friends, I'll hunt you down and make you pay." Numbah 1's voice was a quivering whimper as the visor got even closer, almost to his face now, so close it cast a small shadow over the Earth boy's eyes. Then, the visor finally clicked into his face. For a second or two, nothing happened. Everything was still and a deafining quiet hung in the air, almost peaceful.
Then Numbah 1 screamed in agony as a million volts of burning pain shot through his entire body, it felt like someone had injected acid directly into his veins. The visor started to hum loudly and Numbah 1's body shook violently as electricity bolted out from the sides of the visor and crackled through the air of the entire room.
While Numbah 1 shrieked in anguish, he saw a million colors move past him at light speed. His fear skyrocketed even higher as his mind started to go blank and slip away from him, invisible hands reached out to wrap around his neck and squeezed tightly, to choke every bit of individuality and personality out of him.
He kept screaming in terror, he could do nothing else. It felt like someone had set his mind on fire. His mind kept drifting further and further away from him like he was falling asleep. He could faintly feel warm liquid trickling down the sides of his head.
The colours got brighter and faster, so fast it was all a jumbled blur.
The pain got worse and worse, like someone was stabbing flaming pins and needles into his body from every single angle.
He could barley breathe from the invisible hands strangling him. He could feel himself becoming lightheaded as bright white started to wash over the colours.
Everything hurts--is this what dying feels like? I don't want to die!
Someone--anyone--HELP ME--!
Numbah 1 woke up with a gasp, eyes blurry with tears, temples pulsing, limbs wildly punching and kicking at nothing as he broke into a loud coughing fit.
He collapsed forward on the bed, gripping the soft sheets with white knuckled hands. His throat felt too coarse and restricted, everything felt restricted. He quickly sat up but fell back down again, thrashing about like a fish abruptly pulled from the ocean.
It took a while, but as he laid on the bed as a trembling mess in the dark, the violent carousel that was his panicked brain started to slow it's spinning. His ragged breathing started to soothe itself, he wiped the tears from his eyes with a shaky hand and the fear pulsing through his blood dissolved into nothingness.
"It was a dream. It was just a dream. You're fine, Nigel. Everything's fine." Numbah 1 coached himself to stay calm as he started to remember, the fog in his brain rescinding. He was at the Delightful Manor for a sleepover, his dad had brought him here earlier that day. Numbah 1 looked down at himself, he was wearing a black short sleeved sleep shirt, sky blue fuzzy sleep pants and white socks, his pyjamas further confirming that he was safely in the present day.
While what happened in his nightmare did truly happen to him, now it was only a nightmare. It's all in the past, as his dad would say. The pitch blackness acted like a curtain to sheild him from the outside world as he laid there and decompressed for a few more minutes. He took a deep breath and let it out slow, then he sat up in bed and looked around the room. At this point, his eyes had adjusted to the dark so he could confirm that he was indeed in the Delightful Manor.
Numbah 1 swallowed thickly, his temples were still pulsing, not to the point of hindering him but enough to be noticeable. Plus, his throat was dry and scratchy. He carefully slunk off the bed, wanting something to drink to soothe his gravelly throat. Something like...milk! Yes, warm milk, that was just what he needed.
Numbah 1 crept through the dark house, honing his K.N.D stealth training to tip toe as quietly as possible. He hadn't screamed when he awoken, so he was most likely the only awake person in the house at the moment. Good, no one needed to be jolted awake because of his stupid brain.
As the boy neared the dark kitchen, his stealthy pace slowed a bit as he heard the sound of utensils clinking together. Who would be awake at this time of night? Did he wake someone up? Numbah 1 peeked his head into the kitchen to see the frame of Father, shrouded in darkness as he leaned over the kitchen counter, using a spatula to scrape something gloopy from a large bowl into a small pudding cup.
So this was the phenomenon Bruce told him about, known as Father's "stress baking". To be fair, his dad did something similar, he'd only seen it once but he remembered well. He remembered Monty pacing back and forth in the dark kitchen with his arms hugged against his chest. It seemed like his dad just woken up from a nasty nightmare, his face was pale and his expression was grim as beads of sweat ran down his brow.
Numbah 1 leaned against the entrance of the kitchen, he waited for Father to finish scraping the last of the goop into the final cup and put the cups into the fridge, the light of the fridge told Numbah 1 that Father had been making what looked like chocolate pudding and he wasn't wearing his shadow suit. He could see a yellow and pink fuzzy bathrobe with a bit of beige peeking out from underneath the bright sleeve, he was also wearing baggy grey pyjama pants and fuzzy yellow slippers.
"Can't sleep either, huh?" Numbah 1 finally broke the slience with a question. Father nearly jumped out of his skin, hissing out a trail of profanity and dropping the large bowl and spatula into the sink. Father turned around, leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms folded against his chest. "Nigel." He hissed, still regaining his composure. "What are you doing up so late?"
Numbah 1 felt a lump in his throat form, he swallowed hard but it stubbornly persisted. "I...I had a nightmare."
Father's shoulder's tightened and he turned his gaze away from his nephew. "Same here." Father muttered.
Things stayed quiet between them for a few more moments before Father broke the slience this time. "So, what brings you out here?" He asked again, this time in a more neutral tone. "I was looking for milk. A warm glass of milk always helps me sleep." Numbah 1 explained as he stepped into the kitchen. Father's eyes lit up, he turned around and reached into the cupboard to pull out two glasses. "I'll get you some milk, and perhaps some for myself." Father said as he put the glasses down on the counter before walking over to the fridge and opening it. "Do you want chocolate milk or regular milk?" He asked. "Chocolate milk sounds nice." Numbah 1 answered appreciatively.
Never in a bajillion years did the boy ever expect Father to be catering to him, even in a small way like this. It was rather nice.
Father poured them two glasses to chocolate milk and popped them in the microwave for 10 seconds, taking the glasses out just before the microwave beeped. Numbah 1 lingered around Father's the whole process, but why? Father's rather grim suspicion was that a part of Numbah 1 still didn't trust Father not to spike his drink. However, when Father handed the glass to Numbah 1, he gulped it the drink down without much thought. Was that progress? Trust? He could only hope.
Once both parties had finished their drinks, Father took their glasses and put them in the sink. But when he turned back around, the boy was gone. "Did he go back to bed?" Father thought as he looked around the kitchen, he felt rather disappointed that Numbah 1 had left so soon. "In here." Numbah 1 commented, his voice followed by light coming from the living room. Father walked into the living room to see Numbah 1 glumly sitting on the couch, his knees hugged to his chest as he landed on a sports racing channel, turning the TV down so that it was barely audible before tossing the remote aside.
"Don't mind me, I just need something to take my mind off things." Numbah 1 said, his voice bleak and quiet. "Mind if I join you?" Father asked, Numbah 1 shook his head no and Father sat down next to him. "Ben, you said you had a nightmare earlier. How often do you get nightmares?" Numbah 1 asked after a few minutes of idle quietness. He noticed Father's shudder of hesitation and added, "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."
"It's about...at least three times a week. Maybe four, if I've had a bad day." Father responded after a few moments of hesitating slience. "I won't force you to say anything but, how often are you having nightmares?" Father asked apprehensively. "Oh. It's-um-they happen more often then I'd like." Numbah 1 quickly replied, hugging himself a little tighter then before.
Then it went back to awkward quietness, broken by the occasional yawn or sneeze. Another couple of minutes ticked by before Father felt weight on the couch shift around, he looked down to see that Numbah 1 was starting to sleepily away back and forth on the couch. The boy started to lean in Father's direction and the man stilled in suprise as if he was face to face with a T-Rex, he didn't want to ruin whatever moment was about to happen. His movements sluggish with sleepiness, the boy slowly shuffled next to and then leaned on Father, his eyes half closed. Carefully and cautiously, Father brought one arm up and then down around Numbah 1 shoulder. He inched the boy a little closer to him, keeping an eye out for signs of distrust but their were none, Father was suprised when Numbah 1 even snuggled into his touch.
"You're so warm, like one of those-" He paused to let out a yawn. "-heating blankets. It's nice." He mumbled, his words slightly slurred by tiredness. Father remained quiet all the while, it took him a few moments to process what just happened before he celebrated by pumping his fist into the air with his free hand. "Yes! Trust! He trusts me a little more!" Father internally cheered.
The sound of five pairs of feet pitter-pattering down the stairs caught Father's attention. It roused Numbah 1 from his semi-sleepy state as they both looked over to see the Delightful Children shuffle into the entrance. The five children were wearing footie pajamas, sky blue for the boys and red for the girls, along with yellow slippers jus like their father's. Lenny wasn't wearing his helmet, Alessandra was missing her bow and Constance's hair was free from her braids.
Father was startled to see tear tracks staining their faces and their eyes red and puffy from crying. David was holding Alessandra and Lenny close, Bruce was sniffling as though he was about to cry and Constance was half-hiding behind Lenny. "My children? What's wrong?" Father asked as he stood up, the five children's eyes widened and they stilled for a moment, then fresh tears welled up in their eyes and they staggered towards their guardian. Father got down on one knee and allowed the five to throw themselves into his arms, holding them close in a warm embrace. "F-Father! It was terrible! We-we-" Their voices were unsynchronized from fear, unable to form another word they broke down into sobs, clinging to him for dear life as Father gently shushed them and allowed them to cry into his shoulder. Numbah 1 got off the couch as well and joined in on hugging them.
"We were all alone. You deemed us...deemed us-" They struggled to form the desired word, their faces tightening as if the word carried a sour taste. "-as undelightful. You abandoned us! Then, monster's came and tore us to shreds!" Father kept holding the five as their rambling sobs devolved into soft whimpering. "We're sorry. Please don't leave us." The Delightful's begged through broken voices, Father instinctively held them a little tighter. "Shhh. Shh, it's okay. You had a nightmare, it wasn't real." Father whispered in a coaxing tone. The Delightful's trembling settled a bit as they looked up at him through teary eyes.
"But, it felt so real. You really aren't mad at us?" They asked. "No, of course not. Please understand that even though i-" Father paused for a moment to find the right words. "-tend to lose my temper sometimes, I would never abandon you. And even if those monster's were real, I would never let them harm you. Not my children." Father's confidant reassurance made them smile a bit, they nodded in unified agreement. "Thank you, Father."
Numbah 1 stepped back from them, Father stood up and yawned with the Delightful's still huddling around him. "I think it's time we all went back to bed." Numbah 1 commented. "Agreed." Father said before he took David by the hand and led the Delightful Children back upstairs with Numbah 1 trailing close behind.
"Are you sure you'll be okay with sleeping alone tonight? I know the children wouldn't mind if you crawled in with them." Father mentioned once they all got upstairs. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks for staying with me." Numbah 1 said before going into his room and closing the door. Father then turned to the Delightful's, who were standing in front of him with a questioning look on their faces. "What?" Father asked. The five children looked to each other, then to Father as they pulled the biggest, saddest puppy-dog eyes they could muster along with making grabby hands at him. "Can we cuddle with you, Father? Pretty please?" They asked in a synchronized voice so sweet it would put cotton candy to shame. Father thought for a moment, then he caved and let out a sigh.
"Of course you can. Now come along, it's far past your bedtimes." Father relented as he scooped Constance up into his arms and headed off towards the bedroom with the Delightful's happily trailing close behind. Father put Constance down on the bed and sunk into bed himself, the other four climbing into bed after him and curling up next to their beloved father. "Good night, my delightful children." Father said before drifting off to sleep.