"Yuck."
That was the first thought that formed in Father's mind when he woke up that morning. It was the first thing he felt, too.
Father woke up with a pounding headache, a lingering dizzy feeling and his limbs felt like they were made of melted play-dough. When he wiped his forehead, he was suprised to find himself sweating and that his forehead was quite warm.
However, there was plans to carry out and children to terrorize, so Father shut off his beeping alarm clock, slipped his red rimmed glasses on his face and sat up in bed. He regretted it immediately though, as a bubbling, horrible, sick to his stomach feeling jumped up from the pit of his stomach and nausea crashed over him in heavy weaves. Father was barely able to lean over the side of his bed and grab the trashcan sitting at his bedside in time before the nausea ripped upwards in his throat and he puked violently into the bin.
As Father coughed up the last bits of the aftermath of his sudden sickness and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his fuzzy pink and yellow bathrobe, he heard the sound of footsteps entering his bedroom before the light clicked on. "Oh dear..." The voice of Jenkins, Father's main butler muttered out before the elderly man rushed over to the younger man's beside as Father threw up once more. "Sir, I believe that you've caught a stomach bug. It would be in your best interest to stay home today." Jenkins politely stated as he tenderly plucked Father's glasses off his face and putting them back on the bedside table while Father sunk back into the mattress of his bed. "For once...I agree." Father mumbled tiredly.
Once the Delightful Children had heard of their father's illness, the first thing they did was rush to Father's bedside and ask if he was okay. "I'm fine, my children. Just a little sick is all." Father had said to reassure them as Jenkins quietly worked around them, placing a box of tissues and a water bottle at Father's bedside table. The Delightful's had offered to stay home and take care of their beloved father but he was adamant that they go. After much persistent reassuring, the five children finally agreed to go out and battle the K.N.D on his behalf.
Father sniffled, his face scrunching up in annoyance as he could feel his nose getting stuffy. "Jenkins." Father hissed, trying to sound indimidating and demanding like always but his sickness making it come off as a pathetic whine.
"Get me my pipe. I need a smoke to blow off some of this horrible sickly feeling." Father continued. The butler did pick up the smoking pipe, but instead of handing it to his boss, Jenkins kept it out of reach. "My apologies sir, but with your lungs and nose not in the best condition due to your sickness, it would be best for you to stave off smoking for today. I won't have you aggravating your condition." Jenkins explained calmly.
Father felt his usual impowering anger rise up in his chest at this denial, temporarily overriding his illness. "My 'condition' is that I need a sm-!" Father lurched his body forward and sat up quickly, his voice rising along with his anger. However, the sudden movement rocked his body and sent him back down to grabbing the trash can, luckily he didn't throw up but it was clear that for the time being, the sickness had a firm hold on Father's body and it intended to keep it that way.
After that, Jenkins had served Father a light breakfast, gave him some medicine, gotten him a new puke bucket and put a cold compress to his head.
"I have already informed your co-workers that you are sick and will not be coming in today. Please try and get some sleep, sir. I'll be back in an hour." Jenkins said before clicking off the light and leaving the room, Father was too tired to protest and soon drifted off into a light sleep.
Father would be sick three more times that day, once from trying to form his shadow suit out of curiosity and the other two times from just the sickness being cruel. "I'm actually pretty happy I didn't go into work today." Father thought as he blew his nose. "I cannot afford to look like a weakling in front of my employees. Besides, I'd never hear the end of it from Mr. Boss. He'd probably say something like: 'Damn it, Ben! Now look what you've gone and done to yourself, this is what you get for being a workaholic!' and all that." Father's train of thought carried on.
Father knew exactly why he was in this situation, he was honestly suprised he didn't get sick earlier. He often worked long hours hunched over at his desk signing off paperwork, answering business emails or reading over damage reports from whenever the K.N.D decided to make his life harder. Pulling all nighters were like second nature to him, working until 3 or 4 in the morning and relying on copious amounts of coffee to get him through the rest of the day. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gone a full week without pulling at least one all nighter, this dedication to his work also resulted in Father putting off or skipping meals entirely.
However, he'd never displayed this workaholic behavior in front of The Delightful's, always making sure to eat a proper meal around them at dinner time and waiting until they were asleep in bed before he began his all nighters.
He didn't want or need them to pick up his bad habits.
"No wonder I'm sick." Father mumbled as he looked himself over, he was pale, sweaty and disheveled. "But what else am I supposed to do? Take a day off and let my company go to hell? No way. Besides, there's no rest for the wicked and I'm the most wicked of them all." Father grumbled as he could feel exhaustion creeping back over his body, seeping into his muscles and bones. Father gave in without resistance and drifted off to sleep again, hoping that when he woke up he'd be well enough to go to work tomorrow.
A ringtone screeched out into the quiet-as-a-church bedroom and jolted Father from his slumber. The evil adult clambered up in bed, still half asleep as his head snapped around the room to locate the source of the invading noise.
His cellphone was sitting on the bedside table, ringing to no end. Father grumbled out a string of profanity as he shuffled over to the end of the bed and snatched the cellphone off the nightstand, not even bothering to check who it was as he put the phone to his ear. "What?" Father snapped at whoever was on the other end, making no attempt to hide the anger and irittaion oozing from his voice.
"U-uh, sir I'm really glad you picked up. We need immediate back-up at one of the smaller coffee rigs." The voice of a random Ice Cream Henchman stammered out from the other end, the background noise of the call was flooded with the sounds of explosions and the unintelligible yelling of both low and high pitched voices. "What's the situation?" Father asked, his tone of voice grouchy and his voice itself scratchy and thin as he started to pull himself out of bed, moving slowly as to not make himself throw up again. "Sector V is kicking our butts pretty badly. Mr. Boss already told us that you're sick, so don't come if you don't feel like it--"
The Ice Cream Henchman was cut off by a nearby explosion followed by pounding footsteps with the rowdy jeering and whooping of children's voices somewhere off in the distance. "But we could really use the help, sir!" Father had now managed to pull himself out of bed, a bit wobbly but able to stand, although he hadn't formed his shadow suit yet.
Father sighed sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I'll be there in ten to twenty minutes, hold your positions and play it defensively until I get there. And if Fullbright says anything about me working sick, tell him he can take his cigar and shove it up his ass." Father didn't even wait for the Ice Cream Henchman to respond before he hung up.
Father braced for nausea to wrack his body as he formed his shadow suit, but thankfully his stomach held firm. Father then got dressed into his regular attire, brushed his teeth and combed his hair and so that he didn't look like the train wreck that he felt like and downed a handful of medicine. Then, he took his iconic pipe and boarded an airship to sort out the situation at hand. "Those brats just can't stop being a pain in my ass for one day, can they? No matter, I'll just have to make this quick." Father thought as he drove the ship through the sky.
After 15 minutes, Father arrived at the smaller coffee rig. As expected, the Ice Cream Henchman were getting their butts kicked as they were backed into a corner with their numbers slowly dwindling as more and more of them were bombarded with mustard before getting apprehended by the one and only Sector V.
However, no one had noticed him yet. Father smirked, as he now knew he had the element of surprise.
As Father booted up the airship one of four newly added lazer cannons, a blur of orange caught his eye. Father pressed a series of buttons on the keyboard which pulled up an image of Numbah 4 of Sector V in real time. The short tempered Aussie boy was bouncing all over the place and wailing on Ice Cream Henchman like they owed him money with a big smug grin on his face that Father wished to have completely eradicated.
Father pressed another button and the computer locked onto the Operative, a wicked smile crept onto his face as Numbah 1 had just now noticed his presence. "Say goodnight, you little shit!" Father cheered in a gravelly but still malice laced voice as the lazer fired. Numbah 4 turned his head to see the laser rocketing towards him, his expression dropping into a terrifyed, deer-in-headlights look and his eyes going wide with a fear that Father couldn't help but relish. However, right before the laser could pulverize Numbah 4, a blur of red dashed in front of Numbah 4 and the laser beam's target was gone. "Dammit!" Father growled, already pushing buttons to rev up the other three laser cannons, firing them at Sector V without mercy.
--On The Ground--
Numbah 1 helped Numbah 4 to his feet, the blonde having almost just been zapped by one of the newly added laser cannons on one of Father's airships before Numbah 1 had shoved him out of the way. Now, most likely Father, was firing all four lasers wildly, leaving the five members of Sector V ducking and dodging for cover, taking shelter behind a downed but thick metal pipe.
"Numbah 3, 4 and 5, take out the rest of the Ice Cream Henchman. Numbah 2, you're with me, I'm taking the fight directly to Father but I'll need your help." Numbah 1 ordered, the rest of Sector V agreed before Numbah 3, 4 and 5 readied their M.U.S.K.E.T's (Mustard. Sidearm. Kicks. Enemy. Tail) and ran to finish off the remaining cowering Ice Cream Henchman, leaving Numbah 1 and 2 behind the large pipe.
"I got just the invention for an occasion like this! Made it on a whim a few months ago, I'm so happy I did now." Numbah 2 said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a device Numbah 1 had never seen before. It was in the shape of a M.U.S.K.E.T but it was made of metal and completely mechanical, with a little black box that was about the size of a ring box taped to the top of it and what looked like a mini plunger for where the nozzle should be.
"What is it?" Numbah 1 asked. "It's my Tele RR Gun, that's short for Teleportation Radiation Ray Gun. When I fire it at someone, it automatically teleports them to whenever this little black box is located. You have to been 5 feet or closer for it to work, so when you get close enough just aim and pull the trigger." Numbah 2 explained as he tore the tape off the little black box and let it rest in his other hand. "Here, you take the ray gun. Fly it up to Father and blast him! When he comes out, I'll take care of the rest." Numbah 2 said as he handed the ray gun to Numbah 1.
"Brilliant plan, Numbah 2. Stay safe until I get back." Numbah 1 said before clicking his heels together to active his rocket shoes and then flying off into the sky and towards the airship. Father grimaced when he saw that Numbah 1 was flying towards him, because he could feel a pounding headache coming on and was focusing most of his energy to fight the slowly growing urge to vomit.
Father uttered a string of profanity under his breath as he aimed the lasers at Numbah 1, blasting at his would-be target without much thought or co-ordination. Unfortunately for Father, Numbah 1 suddenly dived down and out of Father's reach which caused Father to hiss out more profanity. Father turned his sights from Numbah 1 to the other members of Sector V, even if Father wasn't able take down Numbah 1, he was still able hit Numbah 1 where it hurt the most by destroying the boy's precious friends.
All four cannons locked onto the general area where the other four operatives where, Father holding down the trigger to initiate the countdown that would decimate the kids he hated most.
"10...9...8..." The computer counted down, Numbah 1 had now managed to sneak inside the airship and was hurrying to get to the helm of the ship.
"7...6...5..." Numbah 1 made it to the doorway of the ship's helm, Father hadn't noticed him yet as he held down the button so Numbah 1 sprinted forward. "Hey candlestick!" He jeered.
"4...3...2..." The computer kept counting down obliviously as Father heard Numbah 1's voice and spun around. He barley has enough time to think before Numbah 1 aimed and fired the Tele RR Gun at Father, Father yelped and recoiled as the ray gun enveloped his body in a light blue electric arua before he disappeared in a blip of blue light.
"Countdown has been halted. Try again?" The computer asked in a robotic monotone voice. Numbah 1 ran up to the keyboard and started tapping away. "Abandon countdown...go on autopilot mode...set course for Delightful Manor." Numbah 1 mumbled as he inputted commands into the computer. "Understood. Autopilot mode engaged successfully. Setting course for Delightful Manor." The computer stated. The whole ship started to rumble as it slowly turned around, Numbah 1 nearly tumbling to the floor. "And that's my cue to leave!" Numbah 1 thought as he activated his rocket shoes again and flew out of the airship the way he came in.
--Father's POV--
Father face planted onto cold metal and concrete with a yelp, immediately lurching himself up into a sitting position. His body was sore and aching, his headache was so bad now that it almost hurt, and the world around him was spinning like a deranged merry-go-round. It took him a few seconds to process that he was on the ground in a deserted watchtower.
"Well, well, well, look what the ray gun dragged in! Fancy seeing you here, Father!" The smug voice of Numbah 2 grated at Father's last nerve as the boy walked in front of Father, aiming his M.U.S.K.E.T at him. "You brat!" Father snarled as he let a large fireball swell in his hand before throwing it at Numbah 2, but Numbah 2 dodged it with ease given how skewed Father's aim was at the moment.
"Missed me!" Numbah 2 taunted as Father clambered to his feet, Father stumbled a bit and nearly fell but managed to stand up, fire encased his entire body and large fireballs swelling in both his hands. "Revenge mustard attack! Numbah 4 jeered out from behind Father as muiltple shots from the boys M.U.S.K.E.T splatted against Father's back, Father turned around and chucked a fireball at Numbah 4 but the attack was dodged again.
"Looks like someone didn't bring their A-game today, is that why you brought the airship?" Numbah 2 taunted again. "Shut up! Shut up and die!" Father roared as he spun back around, throwing two more fireballs at Numbah 2 who again, was able to dodge with ease.
A hail of little soild balls swarmed Father's back, Father turned around, nearly tripping over his own two feet as he stumbled out of the watchtower, only to meet with a splatter of mustard to the face. Father swayed and then fell to his knees, putting up an arm to sheild himself from the relentless hail of mustard and gumballs from the G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A (Gumball. Utilizing. Machine. Zings. Overabundance. Of. Kandy. Around.) that Numbah 3 was holding as she stood next to Numbah 4.
"ENOUGH!!" Father's yelled in anger as fire swelled up and swirled around him in a hot twisting wall of flame, causing the metal under and around him to melt slightly. Father was standing in the doorway now, with flames licking the walls outside of the watchtower there was nowhere to run. Father used his telekinesis to tear the weapons from their hands and incinerate them into ashes right in front of them.
Father now regretted yelling as his throat was miserably sore, but he didn't let the operatives see that as he stalked towards them, letting his rageful flames re-coat his body with two large fireballs brimming in his hands. "I'm going to reduce all three of you brats to ashes. One by one, slowly and painfully." Father's voice was a gravelly, low, hiss. The three defenseless children backed up against the wall, the fear on their faces and their frightened whimpers filled Father with a sadistic sense of satisfaction.
The sound of footsteps against against metal and concrete getting closer didn't deter Father from his mission as he crept closer and closer to his victim's, all three of them trying in vain to get away from the overwhelming heat in front of them, their faces caked with terror.
"Hey, matchstick!" A girls voice rang out to his left, Father had just enough time to turn and see a white Mary Jane shoe flying towards him before the shoe collided with his face and the world cut to black.