Cowritten by PuniPuni
Story is also published on AO3.
"I am thoroughly disappointed in all three of you. Our specific target of research is clearly stated to be Numbuh 1, not Numbuh 4."
Numbuh Infinity was communicating to 74.239, 71.562, and Lizzie through a computer call in the Undersea Treehouse laboratory. He paced around the room he was in, only seen from the waist up. The three human disguised operatives all had their hands behind their backs, looking at the ground.
"Just so you know, I knew that something was off, but Numbuh 71.562 clearly didn't listen to me!" 74.239 argued. 71.562 sneered back, sticking out his tongue.
"I knew it was Numbuh 4, too!" Lizzie chimed in.
"I don't want to hear excuses. It does not change the past."
Silence followed for a moment. 71.562 kicked his foot. The three still had no confidence to look at each other nor Infinity.
"Well then. Numbuh 1 received an award earlier today for his hard work building a defense array system. Numbuhs 71.562 and 74.239, I have orders for you two to come to the Dark-Side-Of-The-Moonbase. Now, I wish to talk to Elizabeth privately."
71.562 and 74.239 dismissed themselves from the room inside the Kids Next Door laboratory. Lizzie remained with her head facing the floor.
"Elizabeth, do not interact with adults if the situation does not call for it. You let your guard down in front of multiple enemies of the Kids Next Door. That snow cone could have been poisoned, infected, or hidden with broccoli inside."
"What species was that adult?" Lizzie interrupted.
"I know nothing happened to you, but— wait, what?" Infinity paused.
"Yeah! It wasn't a costume, so what the heck was that? It looked human, but it had a shell and tail!"
"That adult villain is known as Professor Triple Extra Large, Elizabeth. He is a human who has genetically modified his body to be a hybrid between himself and a red-eared slider. His pet turtle, Professor Triple Extra Small, is responsible for the DNA transfer."
Lizzie did not seem to be satisfied with Infinity's explanation from her blank stare.
"There are no creatures as intelligent as humans on Earth, Elizabeth. Humans have dabbled in hybridism before. Just like when you met Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb."
"Well, that makes sense. It's what I learned while on Saturn. What else is it that you want from me?" Lizzie stepped closer to the camera with her arms out.
"Continue to work on observing Numbuh 1's brilliance. You gave him your phone number, correct?"
"Yeah," Lizzie breathed. "He said he was sorry for missing the date he promised. But how am I supposed to analyze him when he only cares about his work in the KND!"
"Elizabeth, calm yourself. This is exactly why you were chosen for this mission. We need to see exactly how much he cares about the Kids Next Door compared to his personal life. You need to keep pressuring him to see if he breaks."
"That's no problem, Infinity, but I need to know something. Aleph Zero gave me this mission, and you are receiving orders from him, correct?" Lizzie asked with gritted teeth, coming to the keypad by the computer.
"That is correct," he confirmed.
"Can I please know more about our leader? I have never met him! I want to know more about this mission!" Lizzie begged.
Infinity hesitated. Lizzie had a hard time reading him because of the beady sunglasses that covered his human eyes.
"You will meet Numbuh Aleph Zero in time. Now is not the time nor place to discuss him. We will obey him with no questions asked."
Lizzie lowered her head, looking away from the computer. "I understand, but I need to—" she paused as soon as she looked back up at the computer to see that call had ended.
"PHIL ANANSI!" She screamed as she slammed her fists on the control panel, enraged. She then sighed. She was not going to get any information about her leader from Infinity.
Bonnie held the phone close to her ear. She twirled the cord with her finger while listening to her friend speak.
"If it's not too much, I'd love to show you my studio. It's kind of dirty and stuff, but I haven't gotten the opportunity to show you my work. I don't just use pencil for my work, I use all sorts of mediums…"
Clyde went on about his skill to Bonnie while she stared at a piece of paper. It was her handwriting in red ink. The top of the paper had words like "sympathy""manipulation" and "delusional" with question marks by their side. There were some sentences written below that involved Clyde's behavior.
"What time is good for you, Bonnie?"
"I have some chores to attend to, but I can come on over tonight at seven."
"Tonight! Yeah," Clyde chuckled with joy. "OK, see you then."
Bonnie hung up the phone to walk into the kitchen to see that her father was making lunch. It was the weekend, so he spent his time doing some of the chores his wife would usually be doing.
He slid dry spaghetti into a boiling pot of water. "Ah… rest in peace, boiling water. You will be mist."
"Dad, is there anything else I have to do today besides inspect downtown?"
"Nah, not that Mike has told me. I'm just chillin' like a villain. Do you think Lizzie will like spaghetti?"
"I bet she will. See you later, Dad."
"Whoa! Where're you going? Don't you want some spaghetti?"
"I'll be charged up enough for the afternoon. I'll eat when I come home."
"Suit yourself," her father shrugged.
As Bonnie went to gather items for her purse, she was approached by her little sister who pulled on her dress.
"Bonnie, you're going to spy again today, aren't you?"
"Yes, I'll see you later, Lizzie," Bonnie informed gently as she gave her little sister a hug before heading out the door.
"Well, Darling, do you want to try some spaghetti?" Lizzie's father asked joyfully.
"Are you sure you should be that close to liquid? Aren't you a machine?"
"Don't be silly! We're not designed like that, but adult devices usually are!"
Lizzie curiously came closer to the boiling pot of water. Her vision became blurry when the mist pressed against her glasses.
"Whoops! Maybe don't get too close."
Lizzie took off her glasses to rub the glass on her shirt, but she took in how different everything looked without them.
"Is something wrong, Lizzie-bear?"
"Do you really not know what I look like? Or… what my life was like before I came to Earth?"
Lizzie's dad was startled by the sudden question. He knew what she meant.
"No, not at all," he informed bluntly.
Lizzie opened her mouth to say something, but she then closed it after realizing she there was no complete thought of what she wanted to say back. She watched her father take a noodle out of the pot.
"Whoa! This one's thicker than the others. It must be an impasta!"
The doorbell rang inside the DeVine household in the late afternoon. Lizzie paused working on her plant coloring book to go answer the door.
As she opened the door, she was surprised to see Nigel with a bouquet of flowers in his hands with a guilty expression.
"Listen, Lizzie, I'm sorry that I could not go to The Point with you a few days ago. Numbuh 4 said you were a great skater! I wish I could have seen that. Look, I want to make it up to you, so I got you these—"
"YOU KILLED THEM!" Lizzie gasped.
Nigel was flabbergasted by the sudden statement. "What?!"
"THE FLOWERS!" She panicked as she grabbed for them to examin their cut stems. "HOW COULD YOU?!"
"Lizzie, I—"
Lizzie rushed back inside to grab soil from a pot she previously ate dirt from, placing the cut stems carefully into the soil then pushing dirt toward the stems.
"I don't know what the natural soil pH for this species is, but this should suffice for now if they have a chance for survival.
"What's the big deal?" Nigel asked with bewilderment.
"What's the big deal?!" Lizzie repeated back. "Flowers are beautiful organisms that deserve respect! I don't understand why you'd cut them and bring them to me!"
"I didn't cut them, I bought—"
"You bought them?!" Lizzie panicked, lifting her head to stare at Nigel. "Why would you buy these dead flowers?!"
"Lizzie, I didn't mean any harm, I just knew how much you loved plants, so I just—"
"No, Nigel! I don't want to hear it…"
Nigel paused for a moment to think to himself that Lizzie was being too overdramatic. However, he refused to say anything on the matter, not wanting to make her more upset than she already was.
"Oh! Flowers!"
Nigel tilted his head to the side to see Lizzie's grandmother come closer to the pot. "How pretty."
"Grandma! They're real flowers!" Lizzie emphasized by taking them out from the dirt to show their cut stems. "That's just—"
"Nice, Dear…" her grandma interrupted. "When I was your age, I've always wanted a boy to bring me flowers like these."
Lizzie stopped speaking to realize what her grandmother was trying to hint at. However, she still felt ill about the idea of decapitated flowers.
"Nigie, if you want to bring me flowers, bring me fake ones. You know how much I care…" Lizzie dragged on, her tone turning flirtatious as she stared at Nigel with puppy eyes.
"Yeah, sure…" Nigel hesitantly replied. He tried his best to not argue back. "Anyway, I came here because I have yet to introduce you to my parents."
Lizzie turned interested. She was wondering if Nigel had something to say in retaliation.
"Who I wish would stop snooping through my drawings," he spilled while flustered, his face turning red. Then, he changed his tone to a more hurried one. "So let's just get this over with," he finished by waving his hand gesturing toward Lizzie.
"Oh Nigie, you can introduce me to your parents!" She said as she looked at her grandmother, who gave a thumbs up to her granddaughter.
"Yeah, but I'd rather spend time with you without them."
"It's OK Nigie, you can tell them all about us! I'll even bring my camera," she changed the subject to sprint to her room to retrieve the mentioned object. Nigel turned to look at Lizzie's grandmother to give her a suspicious glare.
"You're a nice young man, you know that?"
Lizzie entered the room again with her camera around her neck. "Come on, Nigie. Let's go now!" she blushed with excitement.
Nigel was embarrassed as Lizzie reached to hold his hand to lead him outside of the house. Lizzie had been around the outside of treehouse, but never in Nigel's home.
Nigel tried to release his hand from Lizzie's grasp, glancing around frantically to see if anybody in the neighborhood would see them. Lizzie shot back a disappointed look at him, communicating she did not wish to let go.
Lizzie and Nigel held hands all the way there, even when they arrived to the front door of the Uno household. Nigel's face turned bright red when he noticed his father approach.
"Nigel, ol' bean! Is this that Lizzie you're dating?"
Nigel lowered his head, refusing to meet his father in the eyes. "Yes…" his voice cracked.
"Honey, come here!"
When Nigel's mother came into their presence, Nigel covered his face with his free hand.
"This is Lizzie. OK, now you've met, let's go—" He pulled Lizzie's hand as he reached for the front door handle. He was then pulled back by Lizzie's grasp.
"Hold on! We are not doing this again!"
Nigel gulped. He realized he had to power through the embarrassment.
"Monty, aren't they just the cutest together? My little peanut is growing up so fast."
"MOM!"
"How did you two meet?" she continued to pester.
"I… I rescued her!" he hesitated, but finished proudly.
"Aww, from what? Was it those fifth grade bullies, I assume?"
"No!" Nigel denied. "It was from the evil adult duo Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb! They were trying to destroy a playground," Nigel heavily gestured with his hands. "And she was caught in the mix, and I swooped down and rescued her!"
"That's my Nigie!" Lizzie cooed.
Mrs. Uno chuckled at the story. "Well, that's nice, Dear," she smiled as she pat him on his bald head.
"It's true! They had a giant machine and everything! She could have been hurt!" He expressed as he went to hold her hand gently.
"You're a lucky girl, you know that, Lizzie?" Mrs. Uno grinned.
"Well, what are we all standing around for? Come on, come inside. Make yourself at home," Mr. Uno welcomed.
As they walked inside, Lizzie leaned closer to her boyfriend.
"Are they usually this clueless?" Lizzie whispered to Nigel.
"Yeah," Nigel confirmed disappointingly.
As the two followed the adults to the kitchen, Mrs. Uno went to get two glasses of apple juice for the kids. As they sat down, Nigel began to drank it quickly.
"So, tell me about yourself, Lizzie."
Luckily for Lizzie, her grandmother formulated the perfect backstory for her and the family based off what lies were already formulated.
"Well, I moved here not long ago from California. We had to take care of my lonely grandmother. My dad also works here now."
"You're from California? What's it like there?"
"It was nice, but I like it here better."
Nigel rolled his eyes at the small talk the two women were engaging in. His father smiled and nodded to the conversation as it went on.
"Really? And how many siblings do you have?"
"It's just my little brother and big sister."
"What does your sister do?"
"Well, she got me this camera."
"Wow! That's a brand new one, too!"
"Watch this!" Lizzie beamed as she snapped a flash photo of her boyfriend. He blinked suddenly out of surprise. He was glad his sunglasses were on.
"Ah! Hey!" he protested.
A Polaroid came out from underneath the camera. Mrs. Uno grabbed the sheet to shake it out. "Aww, my little peanut makes that face when he's shocked. He's done it since he was a baby!
"MOM!" Nigel yelled with more urgency and embarrassment.
"Oh, I should show you more photos I have of him. He's such a cutie pie. He even used to have hair!"
"MOM!" Nigel screamed. His face turned red as he frowned, defeated.
"I don't see anything wrong with her getting to know you a bit better too, Nigel!" Mr. Uno commented.
"Ugh," he face planted.
Out of curiosity, Lizzie took another picture of him. This whole taking pictures thing was actually really fun to Lizzie. A memory stored on a single image? She was sold!
She readied her camera to get a picture of Nigel again.
Bonnie drove not too far to Clyde and his parents' house for the evening. She parked outside, leaving the car to take a manual breath before knocking on the house door.
A middle aged woman with a bob cut answered the door. She chuckled at the sight of Bonnie. "You must be that Bonnie my son keeps ogling over."
"Mom!" was yelled from the room across the front door. Clyde walked into Bonnie's presence to greet her.
"Hello, Bonnie."
"Hi Clyde," she smiled. She stepped inside and took off her shoes.
"This is my mother."
Clyde's mother went to shake hands with the young girl. Bonnie's hands were cold.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Hughes."
"Oh it's a pleasure. Robert! Come say hi to Bonnie!"
The robot noticed the father stand up from a couch across a football game on television. He was a hearty man who gave Bonnie a firm handshake. "Well hello, Bonnie."
"Well, you two get to whatever he called you over for. We won't bother you," his mother affirmed.
"No, it's fine, really. It's nice to meet you both," Bonnie smiled.
Clyde had gestured Bonnie to follow him. He had this eagerness to lead Bonnie to his art studio. She had no idea what she was in for.
"Watch your step," he warned her as she followed him to a steep set of stairs that lead to the basement. She held onto the railing as she wobbled from the sudden steepness, Clyde turning around ready to catch her if she fell. Clyde reached to hold her hand as she stood down to the final floor, letting go of the railing.
Bonnie looked up from the floor to have her eyes painted by the fantastical colors of murals in front of her eyes. She had to pause for a moment in order to close her jaw.
"It's nothing much, and, I'm not finished with that one," he stammered as he shyly pointed to the large colorful octopus painting. It was incredibly realistic with the exception of the unnatural colors.
Bonnie slowly walked around the room staring at all the paintings, projects, and sculptures that surrounded her. She then turned to the in-progress piece that Bonnie could not see any flaws in. She almost could not believe it.
"I know, it's merely amateur for someone who graduated with an art degree—"
"Are you kidding?! This is incredible! I've never seen something so…" Bonnie paused to look at Clyde. "Beautiful."
Clyde's face turned red smiling at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but his nervousness prevented anything from coming out.
"I never expected your art to be so gorgeous. I have never seen any work so beautiful in my life," Bonnie gasped. It was true, as she never appreciated the art of humans so close.
"It's nothing, really."
Bonnie gazed around to take in all the projects Clyde had scattered around the basement. She noticed a really small painting next to a bunch of sketches on a nightstand.
"Wait, what's this?"
"Um, that's…" Clyde came forward, gathering the pieces of paper and piling them up. "It's nothing. It's stupid."
"No, I want to know. What's this treehouse?"
Bonnie's genuine curiosity warmed Clyde up to hold his miniature painting close to his face. He brought it over to Bonnie, gesturing her to hold it.
"I just have a really fuzzy childhood. I don't remember much up until I was thirteen or something. I do remember big treehouses, so I try to capture my childhood into my paintings. Growing up is a pain, you know?"
Bonnie slowly looked up from the painting to see Clyde's innocent eyes. She then peered at the sketches down on the nightstand.
"This really is something… Clyde, you're a brilliant man. I want to pick at your brain," she chuckled.
Clyde blushed and scratched the back of his head.
Bonnie peeked over past Clyde to see a table holding sketches of a familiar woman poorly hiding behind other pieces of paper. She laughed innocently. "What's that?"
"AH!" Clyde shouted. He shuffled the pieces of paper to hide it, some pencils rolling off the table. As he went to go grab the pencil, he bumped the table, making the paper pile fall loose. Bonnie gently picked up the sketch paper. It was her.
"Ooh, it's me!" Bonnie smiled.
"I— um. I draw people. I hope you don't mind."
"Oh, don't be embarrassed. You captured me perfectly."
Bonnie and Clyde locked eyes for a moment. The innocent look Bonnie gave to the artist made butterflies flutter in not just his stomach, but his chest. With this feeling still present, he mustered up the courage to say something.
"If you're OK with it, I can draw you now, since I have reference…"
"I'd love that."
They giggled together for a bit. Bonnie laughed out of the expense of feeling joy in interacting with such a free spirit. Clyde laughed out of the expense of his deep feelings.
There was a devilish giggle that came from the front door. Lizzie entered the house carrying a mass amount of Polaroids of Nigel which were blocking her view. As soon as she placed them on the kitchen counter, she saw Bonnie in front of her without an arm or face.
Lizzie screamed as loud as her lungs could handle. She fell and landed on her back.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down!"
"DAVE!"
Lizzie wobbled on her legs when she realized what was going on. The screws, tweezers, and bolts on the counter were scattered around, but near the operative.
"I'm just fixing her up! I apparently need to install some more advanced emotions and more memory terabytes in her brain."
"Is Bonnie OK?!" Lizzie screamed in desperation.
"She's a robot, Lizzie," 74.239 sighed as he rolled his eyes.
Lizzie carefully peaked around to see the endoskeleton of the robot. She was terrified by the hollow face.
"What the heck are those?" the ginger winced in discomfort while viewing the Polaroids.
"They're photos of Nigie!"
"Ew! What do you plan to do with those?!"
"Frame them!" She laughed as she grabbed a photo of the back of Nigel's head to waved it in front of the scientist.
"Ew! No! Get those things away from me!"
"You're gonna get cooties! You're gonna get cooties!" she chanted playfully.
In retaliation, the young boy screwed off the head of the hollow Bonnie to shove it in front of her. Lizzie screamed and covered her face.
"What is going on in here?!" Mrs. DeVine boomed. The two kids slowly turned their heads to see the angry mother tapping her foot like a rabbit.
"She started it!" 74.239 blamed.
"What?!" Lizzie protested.
"Both of you, knock it off! Stop playing with my daughter's head and put it back on! Lizzie, take your photos elsewhere if he's creeping you out!"
"But—" they both said in unison.
"NOW!" The mother pointed at the both of them.
74.239 hurriedly screwed the head back on the body while Lizzie hurriedly scooped the photos and ran to her bedroom.
A good chunk of time had passed as Lizzie was giggling over the funny Polaroids she was putting all over her room. She nearly forgot about what happened earlier.
She was then interrupted when she heard a gentle knock on her door.
"Lizzie? Lizzie may I come in?"
Lizzie recognized the voice as Bonnie's. She hesitated at first. "Come in…" she stammered.
Bonnie came to Lizzie with a worried look on her face. "Lizzie, are you OK? Mom told me what happened."
"Oh… yeah. I didn't expect Dave to just be in our house like that," Lizzie avoided the main subject she was thinking about.
"No no, not that. You saw my skeleton and it creeped you out," Bonnie faltered as she came closer to Lizzie, rubbing her neck.
"Do you see me any differently, Lizzie?"
The girl stared at her older sister for a few seconds, then laughed. "No. No I don't. Do you want to help me hang these up?"
Bonnie nodded excitedly.
Lizzie woke up and dressed herself for the day. As she entered the kitchen, she saw Mike staring at her with an intrigued look.
"Lizzie! It is within my duty to tell you that the Kid's All-Town Cotillion is tonight. If my calculations are correct, Nigel will reach out to you and invite you over with him for the dance."
"My first mission?!" Lizzie beamed with excitement.
"Erm, no, not really… we are not sure if this is a normal event, or something disastrous behind the scenes."
"Wait, then why are you telling me this?"
"Well… I need to make up for my last mistake with letting you date Numbuh 4… and if this happens to be a regular dance, I won't get in trouble for warning you beforehand."
Lizzie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "So I don't get to do anything cool?!"
"No, you're still a regular girl! But keep your eyes peeled for any immediate danger."
Lizzie sighed.
"Remember to keep pushing Numbuh 1. Just have breakfast and wait for him to invite you, all right?"
Lizzie pouted. She reached for a box of cereal. Mike scratched his neck.
"You'll have a lot of fun! There'll be music, and dancing, and free food—"
Lizzie shot up at the list of exciting opportunities Mike was listing. "That sounds like fun!"
"Exactly! Now, just wait for Numbuh 1."
Lizzie hurriedly ate her breakfast then returned to her bedroom. She was awaiting a call.
After a few moments passed, the phone in Lizzie's room rang. She was right on the mark. She picked up the phone in no rush. "Hello?"
On the other end, she heard her boyfriend. "L-Lizzie? It's uh, i-it's Nigel," he stammered with a soft voice. He then spoke firmly. "Listen, the Global Kids Next Door organization requires your cooperation on a mission of the upmost importance."
Lizzie lied on her bed and kicked her feet.
"Should you choose to accept, you will be deputized and given the temporary Numbuh of 49."
Thinking about the idea of her first mission, she hit Nigel with a curveball of her thoughts. "I'd love to go on a date with you, Nigie."
"IT'S NOT A DATE! It is a—"
The voice on the phone was changed to that of Numbuh 3's. "Pick you up at seven!"
"What should I wear?" Lizzie inquired.
"Something with feathers! Ooh! Or maybe a pretty pretty princess dress!"
The phone was hung up on Lizzie's end. She was assuming Nigel stole the phone from Numbuh 3.
"Bonnie! I'm going on a date with Nigie!" She yelled as she exited her bedroom.
"I heard! What do you want to wear tonight?" Bonnie kneeled down to Lizzie's level as she came from the living room.
Numbuh 3's idea came to Lizzie's mind.
"Bonnie! I want to wear that dress you bought me. And I want to wear my hair like that princess in that movie we watched!"
"Sure thing, Lizzie."
"Nigel should be here any minute," Bonnie mentioned as she was fixing up Lizzie's hair.
"Do I look good?"
Bonnie smiled warmly, handing Lizzie a pink handbag with her camera inside. "You look beautiful."
A rumble came from outside. Lizzie and her sister checked the windows.
"What is that?!" Bonnie gasped.
"It's an E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.O.R.,"
The two girls turned around to see Mike who was being operated by same boy who informed Lizzie about the dance.
"It's a 2x4 vehicle designed for comfort and transportation!"
"Oh goodie! He's here!" Lizzie cheered as she was ready to walk out the door.
"Good luck on your date, Lizzie," Mike mentioned with a sly smile.
As the E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.O.R. landed on the DeVine household's front lawn, Bonnie walked Lizzie outside. She placed her hand on Lizzie's shoulder.
Nigel walked out of the flying vehicle by himself. He was wearing a fancy black suit.
"Nigel! Don't you look handsome!" Lizzie giggled.
"Right. Now then," he grabbed Lizzie's hand to pull her away from Bonnie.
"I don't trust you, Bonnie," he bickered with a condescending tone. "Keep your hands off Lizzie!"
Bonnie rolled her eyes playfully with a smirk.
"Now then, let's go," Nigel continued as he held her hand and walked her inside the E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.O.R., watching her step up.
"Watch your step," he mentioned.
As Bonnie confirmed Lizzie was ready to leave, she went back inside to see Mike. "You told her about who's hosting the event, right?" Bonnie asked.
Mike lifted his finger up to speak. He realized that he forgot to tell Lizzie about the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. "…Uh oh."
As the two entered the vehicle, Lizzie saw Nigel's other four teammates inside. They were dressed up as well.
"Ew, I was having a good night until I saw that!" Numbuh 4 commented, pointing at Nigel and Lizzie holding hands.
Nigel quickly released his grip from his girlfriend's hand. He eyed Numbuh 4.
"All right, Numbuh 2. Take us to the mansion."
"On it!" The boy replied. The E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.O.R. rose up into the air then cruised through the night.
Nigel held out a pink fake flower that he placed on the right side of Lizzie's chest. "Now, this device is specifically designed to communicate to you through a speaker. Should you need any assistance, you can speak through the center to call me if you see anything suspicious.
The E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.O.R. landed onto the front lawn of the mansion. Everyone inside then exited the vehicle.
"Thank you so much for the corsage, Nigie."
"It's not a corsage, it's a two-way communicator! An essential component of our—"
A voice from the flower on his suit spoke. "Calling Numbuh 1. Calling Numbuh 1!"
He lifted it close to his chin. "Yes, go ahead."
"You're neat," Lizzie cooed.
Nigel groaned.
"Look, let's just go inside," he suggested.
The rest of Nigel's team followed behind him and Lizzie as they entered the mansion. A group of five strange kids were greeting the guests as they arrived in couples. Upon seeing Nigel's team, they spoke in unison.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Nigel Uno and his little playmates."
"Listen you snotty little punks! I've got my eye on you, and I don't blink."
"Relax, Nigel. We only wish to have fun with our guests, for who we provided free food and entertainment."
"So? Let's party!" Numbuh 2 shouted. He and the rest of his team besides Numbuh 1 started to run further inside. Nigel remained locking eyes with the strange five kids.
"Aww, come on, Nigie. It'll be fun!" Lizzie persuaded, eventually leading her boyfriend to follow her.
Nigel was interrupted by one last comment from the kids. "Good luck on your date, Nigie."
He growled.
When the group of six entered the main room, they became enamored by the grand layout of which was inside. There was a buffet, a set of dinner tables, and an open dance floor for all the kids. Everyone but Nigel was blabbering about how fancy it all was.
"Steady, team. Remember, we're on a mission."
"Hmm, Numbuh 5 is gonna do some reconnaissance on those sandwiches," Numbuh 5 remarked as she walked toward the buffet table.
"I got your back on that!" Numbuh 2 rushed toward the buffet tables as well.
Numbuh 1 scratched his head in disappointment. He groaned, turning around. "Numbuh 4, keep an eye out for— Hey!"
Numbuh 4 and Numbuh 3 were already on the dance floor together.
"I think there's a slow song coming up, Nigie," Lizzie teased.
Nigel laughed nervously. "Uh, would you excuse me for a moment?"
Nigel whipped out a piece of Kids Next Door technology equipped with a syringe and calculator. He then ran over to the buffet table to scream at Numbuh 5.
Lizzie, left alone, took a moment to laugh to herself. She was most certainly wowed by how fancy this dance was, but she was even more wowed at how persistent Nigel was at not letting his guard down.
"Nigie!" Lizzie called over. "Yoo-hoo! Oh, Nigie!" Lizzie waved.
As the band began playing, Nigel agreed to dance with Lizzie. As she leaned closer to him, he strayed back to reach for his B.O.N.G.O.S.K.O.P.E. to look around the room. Lizzie caught him not paying attention to her. She glared darts at Nigel, who sheepishly dropped the B.O.N.G.O.S.K.O.P.E. to pay attention to her.
When dinner was being served, Lizzie had brought Nigel over to the table they had to themselves. Lizzie could tell Nigel was antsy, but she ignored it to stare at him lovingly. When the waiter arrived, he nearly announced what was to be served, right until Nigel pulled out a S.C.A.M.P.P. to directly aim at the waiter. The man fled in fear from the weapon, dropping his plate. Lizzie saw a shrimp land on the table in front of her. Curious about the taste, she ate it.
"Nigie! Don't you want some?"
"No thank you, Lizzie. I don't trust the food here, and I already ate at home," he mentioned.
Later on, the two would go outside on the balcony per Lizzie's request. As she leaned against Nigel, she took a deep breath to view the lake's water reflected by the moonlight below. As Nigel turned his head, she gasped to realize that it was not her boyfriend, but a replica of him with a radio signal for a face. She looked to her left to see the real Nigel with a set of headphones scanning a device next to him. As she leaned closer to him, he smiled sheepishly upon being caught.
Lizzie had dragged Nigel inside from there, the lack of danger persuading him even more. With no other kids around, he agreed to dance with her.
"Oh Nigel, this has been almost the perfect evening."
"Well, I must admit, nothing seems amiss, and well, this is kind of—"
Lizzie's attention was immediately caught by the sudden white flash from a room behind Nigel. She gasped.
"Photos?!" Lizzie's mind raced with the idea of taking more captured memories.
"Come on, Nigie! Follow me!"
Lizzie dragged Nigel by the hand as they entered a room with the label "Photo Room." She brought him to an area crowded with roses that were luckily grown from pots.
"OK, now, put your arm around me, and hold my hand like this!" She asked as she brought Nigel's hand up toward both their chests.
"This is stupid!" he protested, trying to bring himself away.
Lizzie gently pulled Nigel toward herself in a slight hug, holding his hand the way she wanted again. "Oh come on, Nigie. It's not a date without an official picture!" She snuggled up against his chest with a big smile.
"Say cheese!"
Looking up, they both saw the five strange children operating a large device. To Lizzie, she saw it as a big fancy camera.
"Nigie…" they devilishly grinned.
"LOOK OUT!" A blast from the device nearly beamed them as Nigel pushed Lizzie with himself out of harm's way. Lizzie screamed.
"Nigel?!"
"What are you doing? Stand still!" The five kids commanded. The machine turned toward Lizzie.
Lizzie smiled wide. "Cheese!"
Nigel pushed Lizzie with himself away again.
"What is your problem?" Lizzie chided.
"That is not a camera! It's—"
"A neural suggestion ray." The device turned to the two kids once more. "You know your optical mind control devices, but we're afraid that puts you sadly in the minority."
The curtains that held the doors to the other rooms were lifted open. Nigel turned around to see kids with blue eyes and outfits that matched the five devious children.
"Join us," they chanted together slowly.
"See? They all got their pictures taken!" Lizzie yelled to Nigel.
"Fiends! You said you only wanted to have fun!" Nigel growled while pointing at the five children.
"This is fun," they said in unison. "Delightfulized minions, take them!"
"Join us!" The brainwashed kids chanted again as they came closer to the couple.
"We'd love to join you! Where are we going?" Lizzie beamed.
Nigel yanked Lizzie's arm, busting through the crowd.
"Nigel!" Lizzie protested.
"Join us!" was chanted by all again. More kids came from different doors of the hallway to try and grab them as Nigel ran.
"Nigel! Wait!"
"Not now, Lizzie!"
"But we didn't get our picture!"
"Forget about the stupid picture!"
Noticing a fork in the hallway, Nigel stopped running to figure out which way to turn.
"No! Don't you want to be able to look back on these treasured moments years from now?" she pleaded with compassion.
"I'd like to live that long!" Nigel barked as he ran to the left.
"Well, if you're not going to hold still for the official photo, I'll just have to take one of my own," she huffed as she reached for her pink handbag.
"Fine!" Nigel yelled. "Just keep moving!" He grabbed Lizzie to bring her to another door.
"I got a pretty good camera, you know. It's got autofocus with a built in star-filter!"
As Nigel opened the door, he shrieked in horror upon seeing his teammates in front of many other kids dressed up in the same outfits with bright blue eyes as the five strange children.
"Join us!" They chanted slowly.
"For a group shot? Great idea!" Lizzie cheered as she brought up the camera to her face.
Nigel pulled on Lizzie's arm to run away again as he screamed "RUN!"
Nigel started to pant from all his panicking when he lead Lizzie to a closet. "COME ON!"
He opened the door and lead Lizzie inside.
"Oh, Nigie! I definitely want a picture of this!"
"Shh! Be quiet!"
Lizzie wrapped his arm around him. She ignored the desperation of the situation to talk about her camera.
"And it'll work too, 'cause I have two-thousand speed film loaded, suitable for low lighting and fast action conditions!"
"Lizzie, they'll hear us," Nigel whispered.
Lizzie held Nigel close to her. "So I just hold it out here, set the dial like this, push this button, and…"
The camera flash went off as soon as Nigel turned around to see who opened the door. It was his teammates.
"Oh no…"
"My eyes!"
"Where am I?"
The group of kids were turned back to normal with their previous outfits!
"Man, that's some flash!" Numbuh 2 commented.
"OK, one more, just in case!" Lizzie beamed as she turned the dial to match the lighting again.
Nigel then swooped in to grab her camera. "Hey!"
"I should have guessed! One flash neutralizes the other!" he declared as he placed the camera into his S.C.A.M.P.P. "All right, it's time to get this party really started!" He aimed the S.C.A.M.P.P. at a group of delightfulized children. "So let's dance!"
Nigel darted across the room taking pictures of as many kids as he could. The kids changed from delightfulization to their regular selves in a single flash. It even made some kids dizzy from now strong it was.
As the team gathered the kids to the front entrance, Nigel began to speak.
"Kids Next Door, get these partygoers out of here. I'm going to go deal with the Delightful Children," he hissed his last few words as he stormed off.
Lizzie gritted her teeth and caught up to him, grabbing Nigel's arm.
"Just one second, mister!" She wagged her finger in front of him. "First, you spend almost no time with me the entire night. Then you say you don't want to take an official photo. Then you take my camera and take everyone else's picture instead!"
Nigel expressed a bit in confusion mixed with worry in his face.
"I don't know what your problem is, but if you don't shape up soon, I'm not even gonna let you walk me home."
Nigel gritted his teeth.
"And then you'll have to go tell all your friends how you how you blew it so bad on your date—"
"THIS IS NOT A DATE!" Nigel roared at the top of his lungs. He pushed himself closer to Lizzie.
"It was never a date, and even if you thought it was a date, I don't care!" He backed away and lifted his S.C.A.M.P.P. in the air. "I've got more important things to worry about than some girl who's… who's… DATE-CRAZY!" he yelled.
Lizzie was in complete shock. Nigel ignored her to leave and close the door behind him.
Despite playing an act, Lizzie was genuinely hurt. Nigel lashed out at her in front of everybody else there. She lowered her head to the ground, disappointed.
"All right, that's it, shows over," Numbuh 2 said as he shooed the kids out the front door.
"Ooh, you don't want to see this. Back up, people!" Numbuh 5 shooed as well.
Lizzie was left alone in the front room all by herself. She was thinking about the time they spent together. She pushed Nigel like she had to, but this…
No, Lizzie thought. She was going to set things straight. Nigel was right. Those five children were up to something devilish. He saved her countless times from what she thought was a camera. She should have paid attention. It was a mind control device. She tried to think of what to do. She burst into the empty dance room to scan her surroundings. There was nothing useful.
Adapt quickly. Adapt quickly.
That second rule raced in her mind as she looked under chairs and tables. Finally, she had a spark of brilliance.
She took a glass then filled it with as much fruit punch as she could. She heard commotion in the other room, heading to where Nigel would be.
"Nigel Uno! I'd like a word with you," she growled as she entered the room.
"What is the meaning of this?" The five strange kids questioned from a balcony up above.
"SHUT UP!" Lizzie interrupted loudly. She looked back at Nigel. "I want you to know that this was the worst date ever! All I wanted was a little attention! Some romance!" she backed the vulnerable boy into the corner by the fuse box. She then spoke truthfully. "But what do I get? You humiliate me in front of everybody!" She was genuinely hurt. "Well you know what? You're just a…" she sniffled a bit, trying not to express her sadness. "Just a… big bad date!" she cried as she threw the fruit punch right where Nigel was standing, making him duck. It worked.
The master fuse box sparkled.
Nigel instinctively pushed Lizzie away. "Look out!" he screamed as he shoved her away from the electricity.
The devices surrounding the area started to explode into bits and malfunction. On the ground, Nigel sat up on his knees to wrap his arms around his girlfriend.
"Lizzie! You're brilliant!"
Lizzie snuggled up against him. "Oh Nigie! Now was that so hard?"
The five strange kids ran downstairs and screamed as they exited the mansion.
Nigel followed them as he reached for Lizzie's hand to run outside. "Come on!"
Lizzie ran with him, aware of the danger present.
Meeting up with the other kids outside, they looked in front of them to see the mansion start to blow up. One of the towers exploded into fireworks, destroying the top of the building.
As Nigel and Lizzie watched the explosions together, he reached for her hand to hold it tightly. A warm smile rose on Nigel's face. His heart fluttered.
In the distance, a car drove up to the driveway of the mansion. It was Bonnie. In the passenger's seat was Mike.
"She better not be hurt!" Bonnie hissed at Mike.
"It was a genuine mistake!"
"A mistake?! You think risking my little sister's life in front of the most nefarious group of kids is something to slip up on?!"
"Bonnie, just don't tell the others!"
Bonnie grunted, swerving the car to see Lizzie and Nigel holding hands while watching the fireworks.
Bonnie did not hesitate to jump out of the driver's side and run to her little sister.
"Lizzie!"
Mike reached for Bonnie, but he fell flat. He unbuckled his seatbelt then tried to follow Bonnie.
"Lizzie! Are you OK?" Bonnie reached for Lizzie, who noticed her big sister coming behind her.
"Hey!" Nigel barked, shooing off the adult. "This is our moment! Get away from her!"
"Oh, thank goodness she's OK," Bonnie sighed in relief.
"Bonnie? Mike? What are you doing here?" Lizzie asked.
Bonnie hesitated, realizing a bunch of other kids were staring at her.
"I heard the commotion and… it's getting late. You should come home."
Nigel came between them to shield Lizzie with his arm. "Lizzie will come home when she wants to! She has a brilliant mind that doesn't need your controlling!"
Nigel then reached for his S.C.A.M.P.P. but quickly realized that he had dropped it inside the mansion.
As Mike backed away in the crowd, he bumped into the Delightful Children.
"What are you doing here? You're too young to be out this late without adult supervision!" the five of them said in harmony.
"Don't tell me what to do! You dubious Delightful Children think you can parade around and control other kids! But I don't think so!" Mike came closer to the group of five, pointing his finger at the child in front.
"Sector V's got their eyes on you!" Mike yelled in his toddler voice. He then stormed off to hold hands with Bonnie who was walking Lizzie back to the car with a protesting Nigel.
"What a peculiar kid," they said to each other. "Surely Father would want to know about this," they devilishly giggled as the tallest child revealed to his siblings the camera Lizzie brought. On the screen was a photo of Mike, the speaker in the back of his throat present.
"What did you BRATS do to my mansion?!" the silhouette man known as Father bellowed to his five Delightful Children.
"Father! It wasn't our fault! It was those stupid Kids Next Door and Nigel's stupid girlfriend!"
"You kids had one job! And you blew it!"
Father walked over to his chair to sit down in it. He pinched the skin above his nose. "Do you know how much this is going to cost me?!"
The five behaved children lowered their heads in shame.
"What are you doing just standing around? Go clean up what you can!"
"Um, Father, we thought you'd might like to see this."
The tallest child pulled out the S.C.A.M.P.P. from behind him to throw it at Father's feet. He lifted his chin subtly.
"I see… but that still doesn't excuse what happened to my mansion!"
"There's more, Father!"
The boy in front handed the man a picture of a yelling toddler.
"What's this random kid have to do with anything?!"
"Look closer, Father. This strange younger brother of Nigel's girlfriend seems to be a bit off."
"Ah, I see… do you know what that means?"
The five children smiled innocently while holding their hands up to their chests. They awaited his response.
"That YOU STILL have to clean up this mess! I don't care about some stupid toddler!" Father roared as fire surrounded him. He threw the picture to them. "Get moving!"
"Yes, Father!" the five children obeyed. As they walked out of their father's throne room, they reached for the slightly burned image to look at it again.
"We'll find another use for this," they devilishly giggled.