Cowritten by PuniPuni
Story is also published on AO3.
"Yes, come in."
The automatic door into Numbuh Infinity's office swiped open. The young girl with brown hair appeared in front of him.
"Ah, Numbuh 9L, what would you like to speak to me about?"
The girl had a worried expression in her eyes. "Numbuh Infinity, I appreciate working for the Galactic Kids Next Door and all, but I find it strange that I don't get to visit Waksei when it's currently the planet of top priority!"
Numbuh Infinity leaned back in his chair. "Your home planet is specifically instructed to be analyzed by Numbuh 10V and Numbuh 445M. These are orders from Numbuh Aleph Zero himself."
"Infinity, please!" The operative pressed her hands against his desk to make herself stand taller and closer. "I'm homesick! I miss my brothers and sisters! I miss my fellow nekomata operatives!"
"I'm sorry, Numbuh 9L. These are strict orders."
9L groaned. She licked her hand to slick back her hair. "Why don't I talk to Numbuh Aleph Zero himself?!"
Numbuh Infinity frowned.
"I don't even know if he's real!"
Infinity clenched his fist calmly. "Numbuh Aleph Zero is not to be questioned." He then slammed his hands on his desk table while standing up to startle 9L. "He is our soopreme leader. He knows what's best for us. When has he stirred you wrong?"
9L shook slightly. She had never heard Infinity raise his voice before.
"That's right, you can't think of anything. Who brought our combat troops to fight the giant vacuums on Waksei? Who tightened security when the adult population spiked? Who lead us to your planet in the first place?!"
9L brought her arms to herself as Infinity cleared his throat and sat down. "Pardon my rant, but I believe you need to find the importance of our soopreme leader. He knows what's best. Remember that."
9L hesitated to try to think of what to say then. Infinity continued to stare at her.
"Can you just… let him know I'm homesick? Or just ask him when I can go back?" 9L smiled nervously.
The boy nodded his head subtly. "That he may know. Now, you are dismissed."
As 9L exited the room, she took a deep breath. She still felt skeptical.
"The Delightful Children from Down the Lane are evil, devilish children whose only goal is to oppress kids further!" Nigel ranted. "I feel guilty for not warning you about them before. I assumed everyone in town knew about them. But you just moved here not too long ago, so for that, I'm sorry."
On the couch of the treehouse, Nigel was sitting next to Lizzie, addressing to her the dangers of the children she had previously met.
"They stole my camera!"
"Well… they wouldn't have if I didn't drop my S.C.A.M.P.P.. It was foolish of me to leave that behind."
Nigel noticed how Lizzie was still moping over the loss of her camera. However, she was more irritated over the fact that she was not told about this group of delightfulized children by any of the Galactic Kids Next Door.
Nigel glanced around the room. "Hey, look," he whispered as he scooted closer by Lizzie. He pulled out a Polaroid from underneath his turtleneck. It was the first photo Lizzie took at the cotillion, the couple being in front of the rest of Sector V.
"Nigie!" Lizzie cooed as she went to hold the photo from the other side. "Aww, your mom's right. You do have this cute face when you're shocked."
"L-Lizzie!" he stammered, blushing. He started looking around again as she giggled. "I'm going to keep this photo… is that OK?"
The girl nodded with a smile.
Nigel felt himself lean closer to Lizzie as he took a deep sigh. He put the photo down to lean his face closer against her neck. He started to rest his eyes.
As soon as he heard the door open to the room, he shot up and yanked the photo off the couch, hiding it in his turtleneck sweater.
"Hey Numbuh 1," Numbuh 2 held his hand up to wave. Three of his teammates then walked closer to him.
"Oh come on! Why's Lizzie allowed in the treehouse?!" Numbuh 4 complained.
"Because she is!" Nigel barked. "Hey, wait, where's Numbuh 5?"
There was silence for a moment. Numbuh 2 shrugged, Numbuh 4 shook his head, and Numbuh 3 raised her hand.
"Maybe she's sick! She said she was feeling groggy before she went back home," Numbuh 3 mentioned.
"Of course!" Numbuh 1 slammed his fist into his other hand. "The adults have infected her! Numbuh 2, you and I will head over to the Lincoln household!
"What about us?!" Numbuh 4 yelled.
"You two stay here," Nigel ordered.
"But Nigie—" Lizzie interrupted.
"Not now, Lizzie." Nigel then turned to Numbuh 2. "All right, Numbuh 2. Let's head out."
The three kids were left alone as Nigel and his teammate rushed out of the treehouse.
Silence followed for a moment. Numbuh 4 rolled his eyes.
"So, Lizzie, do you like rainbow monkeys?" Numbuh 3 asked excitedly.
Numbuh 4 turned away and gagged. "No, no, no! I don't wanna hear about any rainbow monkey crud! You girls have the room to yourself now!" Numbuh 4 stomped out of the room, the door closing behind him.
Numbuh 3 ignored what had just happened. "Well, do ya? Do ya?"
"What?" Lizzie replied.
Numbuh 3 became slightly mad. "Don't tell me you don't know what rainbow monkeys are!"
Lizzie tried to remember where she heard the words "rainbow monkey" before. "Of course I know what they are!" she lied.
"Oh goodie! Let me show you my collection!"
Lizzie had nothing else to do, so she followed the operative to her bedroom.
"Tada! Rainbow monkeys rainbow monkeys," Numbuh 3 started to sing. She picked up a plush toy of a bright yellow monkey with a rainbow atop its head, showing it to Lizzie.
The galactic operative immediately became aware of what rainbow monkeys were. Lizzie moved her face away from the toy.
"Oh come on! Rainbow monkeys bring a smile on anybody's face!"
Lizzie continued to feel slightly uncomfortable. "No, I'm not really a big fan of those things."
Lizzie recalled when she turned into a human. She was given a rainbow monkey before, but now that her eyes could see them better, she recognized them as creepy mascots that circle Saturn. Her planet had not always looked like that from clear skies, but suddenly the rings would collect those faces. Now she could see the full picture of what those faces actually were. They were called rainbow monkeys.
"What? Every girl has a love for rainbow monkeys somewhere in her heart!"
"Well, I don't!" Lizzie barked. "They seem lame anyway!"
"WHAT?!" Numbuh 3 yelled. "You did not just insult Princess Chef Rainbow Monkey!" Numbuh 3 hissed while shielding the toy away from Lizzie.
"Well I did! I don't care about those toys!"
"Oh yeah?" Numbuh 3 growled back.
"Yeah!" Lizzie crossed her arms, then turned away from her.
Numbuh 3's lip quivered with her brows furrowed. She then started to cry.
"Hey!" was shouted from the hallway. "Don't you dare make Numbuh 3 cry!" Numbuh 4 fumed as he started marching toward the front of Numbuh 3's room.
"You just said you hated rainbow monkeys not too long ago!" Lizzie yelled back at the small boy.
"I don't care! I'm second in command when Numbuh 1, 2, and 5 are away, and that means I can tell you to get out!"
"Hmph, fine!" Lizzie scoffed. She marched away out the plush-coated room, not noticing the small boy sticking out his tongue back at Lizzie.
As soon as Lizzie was ready to exit the treehouse from one of the lower floors, she shivered slightly at the thought of those faces staring back at her when she was back on Saturn.
Bonnie gently placed Mike in the shopping cart as the two went to go get groceries for the day. Letting Lizzie to be with Nigel gave them a day out.
Bonnie paced slowly as she checked her list. Mike, who was being controlled, could tell that Bonnie was nervous.
"What are you thinking about?" Mike asked from the cart seat.
"Dad told me something the other day," Bonnie replied, looking away from Mike, then onto the shelves.
"What's that?"
"That we don't know what Lizzie looks like. That's not even her real name. We weren't told about her life before she came to us," Bonnie vented as she put bland cereal into the shopping cart.
"That's not important. You don't need to know about Lizzie's previous life. Your job is to adapt her to this one," Mike replied, sneaking the cereal back on the shelf when he grabbed it.
"I know it's not… 'important,' but I want to know her better. She's my little sister."
"Your 'little sister' is an operative who's on a mission that needs her focus put into that task," Mike gestured his fingers into quotation marks. He noticed Bonnie appearing guilty. "She doesn't need to think about her home. All you're doing is providing for her. You're not missing anything important about your task by knowing more about her. We'll tell you what you need to know. Got that?"
Bonnie continued to appear sad. She would not move the cart nor herself.
"Come on, pick up the pace. I don't want Dad giving us a lecture when we get home."
Bonnie started to push the cart. She sighed.
"Dad's not home. He went to a work party."
Mike hesitated. "He's not home? Then who is?"
"Isn't Grandma home? Mom went to do some spy work for the adults."
"Grandma went to the Moonbase to get her joints fixed!"
The two paused, turning to their side to see other grocery shoppers staring at them strangely. Bonnie nervously laughed. Mike smiled.
"Kids say the darnest things…" Bonnie spit out. She pushed the cart to a different aisle to get away from the other people. She then began to whisper to Mike.
"Are you telling me that nobody's home?"
"I guess so," Mike shrugged.
"This is bad! We've been told to make sure someone is home at all times!"
"Won't Lizzie be home then? She's out with Nigel."
"Even if she is, I don't want to leave her alone! This is her first time on Earth!" Bonnie yelled in a whisper. She clenched the handles on the shopping cart firmly.
"Listen, calm down. Uvinea are very independent creatures. She can handle being alone."
"U-Uvinea? is that what she is?"
Mike gasped quietly out of his realization. "Yeah, but that doesn't matter. Lizzie should be fine."
"Even if she is fine, it's a crime to leave her alone!" Bonnie whispered harshly through gritted teeth.
"Those are just more anti-kid laws…"
"Ugh! Mike, let's just finish up shopping quickly so we can go check on her!"
"There's a payphone right outside."
"Thank you! Now let's go!"
Bonnie swerved the shopping cart quickly before Mike jolted from the movement. Bonnie began to hurry.
Lizzie took the key to her house to open the front door.
"I'm home," Lizzie announced unenthusiastically as she went inside. She closed the door behind her, then paused.
"Hello?" she called out.
"Mom? Dad?" She walked into the kitchen to look around. Then the living room.
"Bonnie? Mike?" Lizzie called out as she checked the bedrooms in the hallway.
"Grandma?" She checked the end of the hallway bedroom. Lizzie could find no one.
She closed the door to her grandmother's room. "Ha, I guess I'm the only one here," she smiled.
"You're not the only one here."
Lizzie jolted. She slowly turned around to see five eerie kids at the end of the hallway. Their heads were tilted down, but their almost glowing, icy blue eyes pierced into the soul of Lizzie.
"What?! What are you doing here?!" Lizzie hissed. She backed onto the door with her arms spread out. "Nigie will get you!"
"We don't think so," the five kids said. The shortest boy in the front slowly reached for a pink telephone with the wire cut. The five children slowly creeped up to Lizzie in unison.
"Our birthday is coming up soon. We need you for something very special…" they smiled with their teeth. The child in the front dropped the phone as the tallest member in the back carelessly stepped on it. They continued to creep forward.
Lizzie clenched her fists. "Why would I do anything for you?"
"What a great point, Elizabeth," they affirmed in unison, finally cornering Lizzie. As she lifted up her fist, the girl to Lizzie's right gently grabbed it to bring it down.
"But we think we have just the material to convince you otherwise."
The tallest boy revealed a photo that was taken of Lizzie's youngest brother.
The girl gasped. "Mike?"
"Wouldn't it be such a shame if everybody knew that your little brother was a piece of artificial intelligence? You wouldn't want that, now would you, Elizabeth?" they devilishly smiled as they shook their heads.
Lizzie gritted her teeth. She started to breathe through her mouth.
"Now, you can come with us, or you can let this photo spread around the entire neighborhood."
"OK! I'll do whatever you want, just don't let anybody else know!"
The five children grinned eerily as they faintly laughed. "Good. Now come with us."
The girl on Lizzie's right grabbed her wrist, dragging her down her own hallway.
"What do you want from me anyway?" She whispered in a yelling tone.
"Patience, Elizabeth," they demanded. They turned their heads to blink slowly at her. "You're a perfect fit," they all said in unison, but the girl grabbing Lizzie seemed to say it loudest.
"My purse, Mike," Bonnie asked gently.
"All right," he replied. "Here you go."
Bonnie took the purse out of Mike's hands to scramble through it. The two had made it to the nearest payphone after their grocery trip.
"I'm sure she's fine."
"Quiet!" Bonnie hissed. She hurriedly pushed the quarters into the slot. Mike rolled his eyes.
Bonnie put the phone close to her ear as it buzzed. She started to bite her fake, perfect nails.
"No one's picking up," Bonnie fretted.
"See? No one's home. Let's just go back. Everything will be fine."
Bonnie put the phone back on the handle after her failed call. She still had a worried expression on her face.
"Milk will get warm," Mike persuaded.
"Oh… all right," Bonnie sighed. She pushed the cart to the parking lot.
The five delightful children led Lizzie outside of her home, still grabbing onto her. All Lizzie could do was hope that anyone she trusted would come in time. She wanted her mom or dad to help her. She wanted Bonnie to help her. She wanted Nigel to help her the most.
"Come on! Pick up the pace!"
Lizzie was escorted to the limousine. It was fancy but dull, which was not at all like the E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.O.R.. The Delightful Children, still in their positions, sat down near the very front. The five of them made sure Lizzie was across from them in the general direction of their eyesight. They all blinked at the same time.
"Jenkins! Take us back to the Delightful Mansion from Down the Lane!" they shouted as they turned their heads.
"Right away," the older man in the driver's seat obeyed.
The group of children then slowly turned to face Lizzie. "Now, let's get to the matter of things."
Lizzie nervously held her head down, but continued to stare at the group of children.
"Like we said, our birthday is coming up soon. But your Nigel is always trying to stop such a celebration," they informed as they shook their heads. "We have a plan to keep him away from our birthday cake. That involves you and four other kids to dress up like us. Only they've been promised a taste of the frosting of our delicious birthday cake," they bragged. The children held up a photo of a delicious cake. "We'll keep your promise and tell the other four kids you're in it for cake."
"I want a taste too!" Lizzie yelled.
"Fine!" The Delightful Children rolled their eyes. "Do exactly as we say, Elizabeth. One slip up, and we'll drop the ball on everybody you know!"
Lizzie held her head down and nodded shamefully.
The Delightful Children laughed evilly as the limousine had finally arrived to the mansion. Lizzie could only await their orders as they exited first, gesturing her to follow them. Once inside the mansion, the children held their hands together.
"Oh Father, we have our final subject for the plans to distract those Kids Next Door for our birthday!"
"Why, isn't that swell…" an intimidating voice echoed. Lizzie looked around to try to find where it was coming from. "Now, gather the group of kids and tell them the plan. I don't want to deal with any more brats than I have to," he continued.
"Who said that?!" Lizzie yelled. "Who do you think you are?!"
The Delightful Children's eyes widened at her sudden questioning. They started to back away slowly.
"Excuse me?" was whispered. An intimidating, silhouette man emerged from the shadows against the wall. His head turned around to reveal glowing yellow eyes. "What did you say to me, little brat?"
"I…" Lizzie became spooked. She could not finish her sentence.
"Don't you know who you're talking to?" The shadowy man clenched his fists as he stood over Lizzie, inches away from the girl. She tripped, falling down while backing away.
"I will NOT be talked back to!" he yelled, bursting into flames.
Lizzie screamed, covering her face. She shivered at the sight of fire reflecting in her eyes. She tried to float away instinctively, but she lied there with gravity against her.
The silhouette man let out a chuckle at the sight of her fear. "Delightful Children, get this brat out of my sight," he demanded as he gestured his hand to shoo her away.
"Yes Father," they obeyed. They did not dare to touch Lizzie, however, as she still remained shaking from his sudden outburst.
"NOW!" the man shouted, unsatisfied with their pace, bursting into more flames.
The group of five children stammered in their agreement as they hurriedly grabbed Lizzie by both her arms to pull her away from the angry man.
"Pay attention!" the five kids snarled. "Always listen to Father!"
Lizzie continued to be dragged until she reached a room on the left that held a fancy couch with four other kids sitting on it. They lifted their heads upon seeing the doors open, light coming in.
"It's about time," the kid with the glasses sneered as he rolled his eyes.
"Silence!" the five children barked. "Now that we've gathered you all here, we'd like to go over the plan."
Lizzie was pushed near the group of kids as they stood up.
"Those pesky Kids Next Door are going after our birthday cake again this year. We need you to act just like us so you can distract them!" The devious children locked their eyes with Lizzie's. "If you refuse to cooperate, we have other plans in mind."
"Wh-what are you gonna do to us?" a girl from the group asked.
"We'll strap you in the football stadium so you can watch us eat our cake on the big Jumbotron!"
The group of the five independent kids was silent for a moment.
"And you won't get a taste of our delicious frosting!"
The group of five innocent kids gasped.
The Delightful Children laughed. "Now, each of you have an outfit to get changed into to look like us." The in-sync group pulled out an outfit that each matched what they wore. "Now take it and get to changing!"
Bonnie stepped on the breaks hard as she parked outside of the garage to her house.
"Bonnie! Jeez! You're gonna make me fly out of my seat!"
"Just hurry up and get the groceries and get inside and see if Lizzie's in there!"
Mike begrudgingly grabbed as many plastic bags as he could, then waited by the door. Bonnie scrambled in her purse for the key to open the door. Her hand was shaking. As soon as she opened it, Mike ran inside to drop his bags.
"Hello? Mom? Dad? Grandma?" Bonnie shouted. There was no response. Bonnie gritted her teeth and stared at Mike.
"No one's home! This is not allowed!"
"Well, we're here now. Nothing's happened. Let's just get to— hey, why do I have to help you with groceries? This is child labor!"
Bonnie dropped her bags onto the kitchen counter, then slowly came closer to an open window she noticed.
"Why is this window open?"
Mike shrugged when Bonnie looked back at him, the boy hiding sugary cereal behind his back.
Bonnie came to the bedroom hallway, then immediately gasped upon seeing the pink phone with the wire cut.
"LIZZIE!" Bonnie screeched.
Bonnie rushed to the kitchen to see Mike putting groceries away in the fridge, staking items horribly.
"Lizzie's gone and the window's open and the phone! The, the…" Bonnie fell to her knees. "I'm such a horrible sister!"
Mike closed the fridge, then went to Bonnie. "No! No. Give me your cellphone. She could still be with Nigel."
"The phone line?!" Bonnie huffed.
"Just give me your cell!"
Bonnie reached for her purse to give to Mike. He scrambled the inside to find a tacky pink cellphone.
"Let me call him!"
"Nuh uh! Nigel doesn't trust you!" Mike pulled the cellphone away from her. "As he should."
"Can I just listen?"
Mike rolled his eyes. Bonnie then shuffled closer to him as he dialed the number.
A moment of silence followed. Mike heard a familiar Australian voice.
"Yeah yeah, whad'ya want?"
Mike cleared his throat to give his best impression of an innocent toddler.
"Where's Lizzie? She's my big sister. She's where you are."
"Oh, it's you. Numbuh 1 told me about you, squirt. Look, your cruddy sister isn't here."
Bonnie tapped her nails together. Mike hesitated.
"Are you Nigel?"
"No, I'm Numbuh 4. Numbuh 1 is on a mission right now. Do you have an emergency, or is this just about that cruddy Lizzie?"
Mike pouted. "No. Bye."
The boy closed the phone as Bonnie sighed deeply in regret. She covered her eyes.
"Don't panic just yet. We'll find out where Lizzie is."
"Who could have done this?!" Bonnie cried.
"Maybe Lizzie threw a fit or something," Mike suggested to calm Bonnie down.
Bonnie gritted her teeth, grabbing Mike by his shirt to pull him closer to her.
"Listen to me. I may be a robot, but my intuition tells me my little sister is in trouble. We have to find her."
Mike, wide-eyed, nodded his head quickly.
"Now move left! No! Your other left!" The Delightful Children commanded. They were giving orders to the group of kids that mirrored them, making sure they were in the same position.
"Jenkins! This girl's right ponytail is too loose! Tighten it!"
The old butler came over to Lizzie to yank her hair harder, spraying it down with hair spray which made the group of kids cough up a storm.
"Perfect!" The Delightful Children grimaced. "Now practice more! We aren't getting any younger here… thankfully!"
"I'm tired!"
"I don't want to do this!"
"I'm hungry!"
The group of kids started complaining, which pushed Lizzie's buttons easily enough to get her to complain with them.
"Knock it off!" The Delightful Children protested. However, the group of kids continued to argue and complain. "Stop that!" they barked, but the kids did not listen. "Shut up! You'll anger—"
"WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RACKET?!" was burst from the door behind the Delightful Children. They cowered and covered their heads, shaking from the sudden outburst. Flames roared from the tall man known as Father, who clenched his fists so tight that they started to shake.
"It was them! They started it!" the Delightful Children stammered, temporarily breaking harmony.
As Father came closer to his trembling children, he ignored them as he walked past to get closer to the impatient kids. He noticed Lizzie trembling the most, terrified of the fire that surrounded him. She squeezed the arm of the boy with glasses to her right and hid behind him.
"BE QUIET AND FOLLOW ORDERS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" the shadowy man raged.
Lizzie, still trembling, nodded her head along with the rest of the kids.
The man blinked slowly as he started to walk away. "If I so much as hear another complaint…" he raised his voice, but did not finish his sentence.
"Yes Father," the Delightful Children agreed, lifting their shoulders closer to their faces. As soon as the door slammed behind them, the devilish children turned their heads to angrily grit their teeth at the kids. "Now then, practice your synchronization, then we can tell you about the gazebo…"
Mike grabbed his blanket, then rushed into the living room. Voiceless, he tugged at the dress of Bonnie.
"It's OK, Mike. We're going to formulate a plan."
Bonnie sat down on the couch as Mike started to hug her from his nervousness.
"Based on the indents of the carpet in the hallway, there were five people here besides Lizzie's footprints. There was a bit of dirt from the shoes in the hallway as well…" Lizzie's grandmother analyzed. "Lizzie did not run away on her own."
"I swear, when I find out who did this to her, I'll… I'll…!" Lizzie's mother growled, tensing up.
"Could it be those Kids Next Door?" Lizzie's father wondered, biting on his fake nails.
"No. Mike had called the treehouse emergency contact and found Numbuh 4 on the other end. There's no reason for the Kids Next Door to enter through a window and cut Lizzie's phone line!" Lizzie's grandmother gathered.
"Honey, are you all right?" Mr. DeVine coaxed as slowly approached his furious wife.
"They're going to pay! My Lizzie is in trouble, and I don't know what they're doing to her! Oh, when I find out who did this… I'm going to KILL THEM!" Mrs. DeVine steamed with anger.
The family in the living room paused once they heard the sink from the bathroom turn on briefly, then turn back off. The family watched a boy with ginger hair enter the room. "Sorry, I was using the bathroom. Listen, we can't interfere with an investigation without looking suspicious. We can't let Sector V know that Lizzie is missing."
"WHY NOT?!" Mrs. DeVine burst while leaning over the child.
Lizzie's grandmother shielded the boy from the furious woman. "We can't look for Lizzie as adults! That's the KND's job! If we let adults search for Lizzie, who knows what could happen!"
"Precisely," 74.239 stepped around to face Mrs. DeVine. "And if the KND searches for Lizzie, we cannot risk the discovery of her galactic status being uncovered!" he added.
"So we're just going to do nothing?!" Mrs. DeVine yelled.
The group of three adults continued to argue as the ginger boy was caught in the middle of them. Lizzie's mother was protesting, Lizzie's father was trying to reason, and Lizzie's grandmother was explaining the logic. Mike continued to squeeze Bonnie in his worry, but in a brilliant moment, Bonnie had a thought.
"Guys, calm down. I think I know who would have done this."
Days passed. Lizzie and the group of kidnapped kids continued to practice moving in sync. They were given instructions about their predictions of when the Kids Next Door would attack. They set up holograms. They showed them the Gazebo Ship and told them not to activate it until their very day.
Eventually and finally, the day of the Delightful Children's birthday arrived.
The group of kids with tired eyes watched children be strapped to large dining table chairs. After that, Father went inside the limousine with his children to drive all the way to the stadium where their cake would be. In a final gesture, the Delightful Children turned around to stare into the souls of the mimic kids.
"Remember, if you mess this up, there's no cake for you," they laughed as they entered the limousine. When door shut, their laughs were silenced from the outside. The group watched the limo drive away as they sighed.
"How on Earth do they come up with all this planning?! I almost don't even want the cake anymore!" The kid with glasses argued.
"The Kids Next Door do this five times a year. They can probably predict their next moves to a tee," the tallest kid replied.
"Whatever," the kid in front replied. The group entered inside nearly in sync, walking past the tied up kids in chairs with a motion activated hologram. The boy in the front grabbed a solid metal cake replica as the group walked outside to await the presence of the Kids Next Door.
Sooner or later, the hologram set off. The group of five kids jolted in unison, realizing it was time the Kids Next Door arrived.
"Look over there! That must be them!" the kid in the helmet exclaimed.
The group of kids noticed a large orange vehicle charge directly toward the mansion. It failed to slow down.
"That's a S.T.A.N.K.!" Lizzie recognized.
"What?! That's what that thingy is called?" the tallest boy asked.
"How did you know that?" the other girl asked.
Spooked by revealing her knowledge about the Kids Next Door, Lizzie decided to brag.
"Numbuh 1 is my boyfriend!"
"No kidding!"
The conversation was interrupted by the sudden crash of the orange vehicle making its way through the walls of the Delightful Mansion. The group of operatives shot out from the vehicle and inside the mansion which they just crashed through.
"Do we go now?" was whispered in the group.
"Not until they notice it isn't them!" was replied. "We're still the backup plan!"
The group of five kids practiced being in sync, tip-toeing through the yard to take a closer peek at the mess the Kids Next Door had just made to burst through the mansion. Though once the group of kids recognized Numbuh 4 looking through the window at them, they held onto the fake cake and made a run for it.
Once they stepped inside the gazebo, colorful walls surrounded them as the machine activated. There was an intense tremble that revealed the ship to be much, much larger than it actually was, bursting through the entire front lawn of the mansion. The gazebo took them into the sky, away from the direction of the stadium where the real Delightful Children were. The S.T.A.N.K. started to follow them.
"How do you fly this thing?!" one of the kids panicked.
"I got it!" Lizzie burst. She took control of the ship, lifting the control stick up. She pushed a button, then slowly brought the control stick back. The ship was cruising smoothly.
"Wow! Where'd you learn that?"
"Nigie's my boyfriend," she giggled.
A note was read for the group of kids to read. It instructed them to place the cake just behind the control room, and if any operatives were to realize the falseness of the dessert, they could launch the front of the gazebo to escape further in order to be chased more.
Lizzie continued to keep the ship steady. A bit of her heart raced upon realizing she could see her boyfriend during this ordeal.
Suddenly, a small dragging noise was heard from behind them. The group turned their heads. The cake was further away from them. It was their sign that an operative was falling for the trap, luring the cake in.
Turning back without noticing anything more, the group continued to keep the ship steady. They listened to the familiar voice of Numbuh 1.
"Wow! It sure does look good! A little taste wouldn't hurt…" he whispered. The sound of his fingernail touching the cake echoed quietly in the ship. Another metal clang echoed, as if he had flicked the cake. "What the? Huh?" his realization hit. "Bye bye?"
The cue for the top of the ship to detach from the main component was given. Lizzie pressed another button to activate the detachment. "You're good at this!" one of the kids exclaimed.
However, all was not over since the glass inside revealed that Numbuh 1 was remaining attached to the ship through rope and a piece of gum, equipped with an air helmet. Lizzie started to steer the ship upwards and around to fling him off. She slowed down the ship in attempt to push him forward, but the rope only brought him up and around, smacking the boy into the glass windows. Numbuh 1 was seen from above, immediately breaking through the glass above them with his guard up.
"Ride's over you—" the chair turned around to reveal the group of kids, smiling in the presence of their local hero. "…not the delightful children from down the—"
"Hi Nigie!" Lizzie cooed as she waved her hand up to him.
"Lizzie?!" Nigel gasped.
"I'll bet you're wondering what I'm doing here, huh?" she playfully asked, attempting to prove to the group of kids she was close with Nigel.
There was an alarm beeping through the ship. "Um, yes, that and why nobody seems to be steering this ship," Nigel replied as the room became unsteady through gravity.
The group turned around. There was button mashing and panic, but despite Lizzie's attempt to bring the ship back on its level, it hit the ground hard and bounced up into the air, the gazebo crashing into a forest as the jets burned out.
Nigel made an instinctive move to grab his girlfriend to shield her from the sudden movement. However, the sides of the ship broke, opening to launch all of the kids outside. They all fell, scattered and hurt from the sudden landing.
Nigel took off his air helmet to slam it against the ground. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" he screamed.
Lizzie felt the need to explain immediately. She rubbed her head from the fall, then stood up. "Isn't it obvious? The Delightful Children promised us we could have a taste of their cake's frosting if I tricked you guys into chasing us!" Lizzie smiled widely. To her, it was exhilarating to pilot a ship and see her boyfriend.
Nigel walked up to her with despair in his eyes as he reached for her arms, starting to shake her lightly. "Lizzie! How could you?" he lamented. "How could you double-cross me?"
Nigel's emotional reaction hit Lizzie. "I… I don't know. I mean… it looked like really good frosting, Nigel," she harped.
"I… I can't believe you of all people would do this to me!" Nigel walked away from his girlfriend, his back facing her. "I thought we had… I don't know, a special relationship or something."
"Oh Nigie, I'm so sorry!"
Nigel held out his palm to face her. "No, it's… it's too late."
Lizzie, with her mouth open, consciously decided to cover it. She felt guilt.
"Hey, man! Cut her some slack! She said she was sorry," the kid with glasses pointed out, coming in with the two other boys to back her up.
"Yeah! What choice did she have?" the tallest member chimed in. "Otherwise she'd just be tied up at the stadium watching the Delightful Children eat their cake on a Jumbotron like all the others!"
Numbuh 1 turned around. "Stadium?"
The rest of Sector V rushed to the scene to see their leader and a group of kids that were not the Delightful Children. "Freeze!" they commanded, then became shocked upon seeing Lizzie.
"Hi Lizzie!" Numbuh 3 exclaimed excitedly.
"Hi guys," she moped.
"Don't waste your ammo. All we've got here is a bunch of dirty double-crossers," Numbuh 1 emphasized by bringing his hand up to Lizzie. He then started to walk away. "Numbuh 2, power up the ship. We've got work to do."
Lizzie felt remorse inside her heart as she watched the group of kids walk away, failing to look back. She held her head down in shame.
"Well, what do we do now?" the kid with the helmet asked.
"Let's just go back to the mansion," the other girl said, kicking a rock on the ground. "They probably won't even give us a taste of their cake. How were we supposed to if we had to fly all the way away from the stadium?"
"Better than being strapped to a chair," the kid with glasses groaned as he kicked a rock as well.
"Let's just go home," the kid with the helmet added.
The group of four started to walk away. However, the kid with glasses stopped to turn to Lizzie.
"Hey, you all right? Like I said, you didn't have a choice," he consoled.
Lizzie clenched her fists. "No. I'm not all right," she sniffled as she went to wipe her nose with her forearm.
"Nigel will come around. Let's just—"
"No. I need to make things right."
The other three kids turned around to face Lizzie.
"We went through all this effort, and for what? Just some…" Lizzie hesitated, remembering about the blackmail. She gritted her teeth. "Just some stupid frosting!"
"Well, what are you going to do about it?" one of the kids asked.
"We need to help the Kids Next Door! You guys go back and untie those kids! I'm going to get the ship working again!"
"Oh, so you're going to order us around now?"
"JUST DO IT!" Lizzie screamed back, making the kids pull their faces away from her. They quickly ran to the direction they flew from.
"I'm going to make things right," Lizzie whispered to herself.
The girl rushed to the ship, noticing the entrance she could enter from was way too high for her reach. She then moved around to the side to see the smoke from the busted engine, in which she had struggled to open to fix and rewire. The heat had hurt her hands, but she endured what she could to fix the wiring of the engine, growling to herself in frustration to fix it, but mostly at herself for letting this happen. She did not want to let the Kids Next Door down, galactic or not.
Once Lizzie felt like everything was in place, she struggled to climb up the back of the ship to get inside to the glass control room. Bruising herself along the way with her human body, she fell into the ship to gasp for air after her struggle to climb up. She breathed through her mouth as she stood up, fueled by anger, to lift the ship up again. She pressed a button to launch the ship like from earlier. Frustrated in no response, she continued to press the button rigorously to start the engine. There was a loud and tremendous burst, the engine running with exploding fire to launch the gazebo further. The ship cruised through the forest, knocking down trees. Lizzie instantly grabbed onto the control stick to lift it up, shakily moving through the sky. She used one hand to remove her own glasses for a moment, her eyes seeing the world similar to when she was an uvinea, looking at the sky. There was a curvature in the sky she could see surrounding the Earth that no human could see.
Lizzie continued to lift the stick up, but as she went too high, she could nearly see the entire tristate area. Realizing she needed to move back down, she thrust the control stick forward. It pushed her against the control pad. She aimed for the stadium.
"NIGIE!" She screamed. "Hang on, Nigie!" she yelled. Glancing up at the control screen, it burst under pressure, sparking in her general direction.
"I'm coming!" she continued to yell. She needed to fix things. She needed to fix things now. "I'M COMING, NIGIE!"
The entire engine burst behind her. Smoke filled the room. She was crashing down, lifting the control stick up despite it being no use.
The gazebo ship splatted into a colossal white birthday cake. Lizzie was slammed against the ship wall, and all was still.
The control room became so hot with pressure it burst. Entire pieces of the ship scattered, along with thousands of splatters of cake frosting, landing everywhere around the stadium, going into the mouths of hungry kids.
Lizzie remained lying in the middle of the explosion, her ears ringing and her heart pounding. She rubbed her head from how much it hurt. She could hear a crowd cheering and the Delightful Children crying, "No! No! NO!"
"Lizzie, Lizzie!" was called out in her boyfriend's voice. She opened her eyes, sitting up and recognizing she was successful.
"Oh… yes, Nigie?" she smiled.
Nigel came closer to her to reach his hand out. She grabbed it as he pulled her closer into a warm embrace. "Apology accepted."
Once released from the embrace, they held hands tightly as Nigel pulled her closer to him. "Thanks for the cake, Delightful Dorks!" he yelled up to the column that held the dubious kids. "We'll see you next year! And make sure to bring enough cake for everyone!" he mocked with satisfaction. The crowd continued to cheer as the Delightful Children cried.
Nigel continued to hold Lizzie's hand as he and the rest of Sector V cheered her actions on, as well as continuing to lick up scattered cake frosting. They exited the stadium happily, feeling proud of themselves.
"Are you OK after that explosion?" Nigel asked, taking a towel to wipe the frosting off of Lizzie's cheek. The two were outside near the S.T.A.N.K. from where it had crashed. Numbuh 2 was attempting to repair the ship with an uncooperative Numbuh 4 and a playful Numbuh 3.
"Oh, I'm fine, really," Lizzie smiled.
"Look at you! You're bruised! And… How on Earth did you manage to get that ship off the ground again?!"
Lizzie played dumb by giggling to him. "Oh, Nigie, don't worry. I'm fine, really."
Nigel nervously stared at Lizzie's left arm to see some of the bruises. He glanced around at his teammates to confirm they were in eyesight of the couple. As Nigel was looking around, he noticed Numbuh 5 take the band off her braided hair, shaking her head to let it flow out. She attempted the scrape the frosting out of her frizzy hair, but could not help herself but get a taste by licking the strands of it too, hoping no one would see.
Nigel wanted to chuckle upon seeing this. It gave him an idea.
Gently, the bald kid took the bands out of Lizzie's hair, running his fingers through to let it flow out. Lizzie allowed him to do this. As he continued to brush her hair with his fingers, he caught frosting in his hand from her hair, and reluctantly, he licked it off. This made Lizzie giggle more.
From a distance, there were cries of cheering kids. The group of six peered out into the distance to see multiple kids with party hats. Nigel recognized them as the kids tied up in the mansion.
"Yay!"
"The Kids Next Door!"
"You saved us!"
Numbuh 1 shot up and dusted himself off. The rest of the team stopped what they were doing to come closer to the group of kids.
"Did you save any cake for us?" One of the kids asked.
"Well, no," Numbuh 1 mentioned.
The kids' smiles started to fade.
"It exploded," Numbuh 4 said.
"Into eleventy billion pieces!" Numbuh 3 cheered.
"If you still want to catch some, you can go back into the stadium. Frosting practically got everywhere!" Numbuh 2 informed.
"I'd say the mission was nearly a success," Numbuh 5 smiled.
"NOT QUITE!" was yelled from afar in an Irish accent. This voice made a few of the team members groan, realizing who it was.
"The cake was destroyed into a gajillion pieces! It wasn't shared with everyone," shouted an angry girl with a pasta strainer for a helmet.
"Oh, come on, Numbuh 86! That was the most successful mission we've ever had!" Numbuh 1 argued back, shielding his team and Lizzie from her.
"I don't care! The cake was destroyed, not given out! So ya' failed!"
"Hey! Lizzie was the one who destroyed the cake!" Numbuh 4 pointed to the girl on Nigel's left.
Numbuh 86 marched up to Numbuh 1's girlfriend. He clenched a fist in anticipation. However, Numbuh 86 smiled.
"Well, ya' did a very good job of makin' sure those Delightful Dorks didn't get a taste!" the Irish girl approved as she pat the shoulder of Lizzie, walking away. "Who knows, maybe you should be apart of the Kids Next Door instead!"
Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 4 groaned at the blatant favoritism.
Lizzie giggled nervously. "No, I couldn't… Besides, Nigie's my boyfriend!"
"A shame," Numbuh 86 laughed. She then leaned closer to whisper to her. "Ya' oughta pick someone better than that to be ya' boyfriend."
"HEY!" Numbuh 1 growled.
"Can it!" Numbuh 86 turned around to him. "Anyway, headquarters wants ya' on a resupply mission for Moonbase. Get up there as soon as ya' can," she informed, immediately walking away from the crowd. Some kids were leaving the area, but some stayed because of the awkward situation.
"I need to get my sister," Numbuh 3 spoke in a slightly more serious tone. "Mom told me I need to watch her this afternoon."
After rummaging through the Delightful Mansion for her own clothes, Lizzie had put them on her shoulder, planning to walk outside. Eventually, she remembered the photo the Delightful Children took. Her energy was returned, attempting to navigate the massive mansion in order to find that photo. That was all she needed.
The girl came up with the idea that the photo may be in the Delightful Children's bedroom, but where? She scoured the halls, hoping to find a room with a bed or five. Going upstairs, she ran down a hall which made her shiver. She creeped closer, seeing the silhouette man that terrified her in the open room, asleep on his chair.
Lizzie could not control her shaking. An evil adult technically kidnapping her was one thing, but having fire powers? She was scared of the element so much that she could not keep her posture. She tiptoed faintly to get around the room. She held her breath and continued to step slightly.
"Jenkins…" was muttered gently.
Lizzie was spooked by the murmuring so much, her pigtails shot up in the air.
"Go clean the… hallway…" was muttered again, Father still in a snooze.
Lizzie made a dash for it. She passed the open room, then glanced around to see if any room appeared bedroom-adjacent.
Finally, she came across the large room she was looking for. Inside was a large bed perfectly made with five pillows aligned on top. It was stretched wider than it was long.
Lizzie hesitated entering the spooky room, seeing how dark it was inside. Turning on the light, she noticed the side of the room she entered on had a large conspiracy board against the wall. There were large pins and red lines going from Sector V to various different photos of places, objects, vehicles, and people. Lizzie especially noticed herself being tied to Nigel. There was a dazed look of bewilderment on her face, following the red line from her to the photo of Mike. She was looking for that!
But Lizzie moved her eyes onto her own photo to see a red line from Mike's photo to hers, the top written in red ink: "Not real?"
Lizzie came closer to reach for the photo of Mike to take, but looked at the photo of herself from the cotillion. She stared at it for a short moment, breathing with her mouth open, then shook her head to snap out of her racing thoughts. She tore up the photo of Mike, then put the pieces in her skirt pocket. Her brows remained furrowed as she stepped out of the bedroom, asking more questions about herself.
Lizzie tiredly entered her house as she put her original clothes on the hook next to the front door, still dressed in the delightful uniform.
"Mom, Dad, I'm—"
"HOME!" was exclaimed by Bonnie as she dashed across the room to reach and hug her little sister. Lizzie was squeezed tightly by her embrace.
"Lizzie!"
"Lizzie-bear!"
Lizzie's parents came over to hug her, followed by Mike and her grandmother. She felt secure, smiling warmly in the group hug.
"Bonnie, what's that?" Lizzie asked after being released from the squeezes.
Bonnie had water flowing out of her eyes, smiling happily that her sister was safe.
"Those are tears."
The DeVine family separated to reveal Numbuh 74.239 watching them. "I installed them last night."
"Dave!" Lizzie exclaimed as she went up to the boy, who immediately shoved her away.
"No no no! I don't know what cooties you have!"
Lizzie rolled her eyes.
"See, I knew the Delightful Children did something to her!"
"Why are you dressed up like that?"
"Do you need to sit down?"
"Are you OK, dear?"
"Relax!" Lizzie burst. She then came to her composure. "The Delightful Children got me to dress up as one of them to trick Nigie and his team into chasing us so they couldn't get to their birthday cake!"
"You see, Bonnie had the idea that the Delightful Children were up to this," 74.239 explained. "They cut the phone line in your room. We realized that it was close to their birthday, which is a C.A.K.E.D. mission Sector V handles. We could not interfere with rescuing you, as it would draw suspicion. We cannot have your status revealed in any capacity."
"Heh… about that…" Lizzie nervously giggled as she twiddled her fingers. "The Delightful Children took a photo of Mike with his mouth open, and they took me because they were going to tell everyone about my brother being fake."
"A photo?" the group gasped, even the ginger. "Where is this photo?"
Lizzie reached for her skirt pocket to take out the torn up pieces of the photo. "They stole my camera from when I went on a date with Nigie. I found it in their mansion."
74.239 hurriedly scrambled for the torn pieces of the photo to put it together. He made out the photo of Mike that showed the speaker in the back of his throat. The toddler robot gently grabbed the arm of the scientist to see it. He frowned in disappointment.
"You're right. This photo would have devastated us."
The robotic DeVine family looked back at Lizzie. Bonnie softly reached for her sister's hand to hold.
"What about that third rule? No one is suspicious of me? Why does that not matter here?"
"That third rule, Lizzie," 74.239 explained as he took the pieces and put them in his own pocket. "Is about your lies, not evidence. You could go up to any adult and say you're from Saturn, and he'd be too stupid to believe you! But this…!" The boy waved his hands around to gesture to Mike. "This is serious. The Delightful Children are evil and way too smart. Are you sure they don't have any other evidence of this?"
Lizzie slowly shook her head.
"All right, good," 74.239 sighed as he pinched the top of his nose. "Once you change back into your normal clothes, we need to burn that outfit you're wearing. We don't know what delightfulized germs might be on there."
As 74.239 walked away, Bonnie leaned back down to Lizzie. "My goodness, you're bruised… let me get you something for that."
On the Dark-Side-Of-The-Moonbase, a red ship landed hurriedly in the entryway. Out came a tall human boy.
"N-Numbuh 274, sir!" one of the human disguised galactic operatives dropped stacks of paper to salute the boy.
"WHERE'S NUMBUH INFINITY?!" the human yelled, continuing to march by.
"I-in his office, sir!" the operative replied.
"Numbuh 274!" some human disguised operatives gasped. The blond boy was stomping to reach the office.
Numbuh 9L was carrying a medical kit when she saw the tall boy enter the hallway. She dropped the kit to salute him. He gave a disgusted sneer at her as he passed.
Eventually, the human made it to the office of Numbuh Infinity. The doors automatically opened upon his presence. "NUMBUH INFINITY!" was yelled at the chair, its back turned to Chad. The boy sheepishly turned around to reveal an ice cream cone in his right hand, his tongue pressed against the treat.
"Wha—? Numbuh Infinity, are you eating ice cream?"
"No matter," the boy brushed off, placing the treat on a cone holder on his desk. "What is so important that you must raise your voice about?"
"I need to speak with Numbuh Aleph Zero," Chad growled as he slammed his hands on the desk.
Numbuh Infinity blinked slowly, tilting his head down in a frown. "I assume this is about your upcoming birthday."
"More than that," Chad emphasized as he clenched his fists.
Outside of the office, Numbuh 9L slowly creeped up to the door to cup her ear close to it. She started to listen in.
"Well, if you must. Numbuh Aleph Zero, Numbuh 274 would like to speak with you."
Chad looked up inside the office. There was a white circle on the ceiling that started to glow brighter.
"Numbuh Aleph Zero, sir, I have a concern to address," Numbuh 274 mentioned. Staring too hard into the light, he turned away for a moment.
"Numbuh 274," was echoed masterfully into the office room. "For what ever could be an issue?"
9L, listening in, gasped upon hearing the booming echos of her leader's voice. She thought to herself that she was wrong: Numbuh Aleph Zero was real. But how did he get into Infinity's office? Numbuh 9L had more questions now.
"You still haven't called off the analysis of Numbuh 1! Numbuh Vine is still down there getting all buddy-buddy with him! You better make up your mind on who you want to be your Earth representative!"
The light from above the human boy continued to glow in a flicker. "These things take time, Numbuh 274. Nigel Uno is an interesting organism. Numbuh Vine is none of your concern."
"I've been in the KND long enough, I'm the soopreme leader, and I'm the only human who knows about this organization! Shouldn't that be enough for you?!" Chad barked to the light. A few seconds passed as Chad awkwardly looked to Numbuh Infinity, in which his head was down in a bow, obeying his leader's presence.
"These things do not merely matter in the grand scheme of time, Chad Dickson. Nigel Uno shall be continued to be studied."
"I'm turning thirteen soon! Then I'll be demoted to a… a… a teen spy operative!" Chad yelled with disgust.
"Buy yourself some time if you must. You have not yet convinced me you are worthy of being on the galactic operative level. Perhaps you should spend more time with the organization."
All Numbuh 274 could do was wince. He clenched his fists, not knowing how to reply.
"Your antagonist, Cree Lincoln, is on her way to send your moonbase into the sun. You must leave now, for you have work to do."
The bright light above the two operatives started to fade away until the ceiling held nothing on it.
"Numbuh 274, you must listen to Numbuh Aleph Zero. Return to your Moonbase," Infinity concluded.
Numbuh 9L from the outside heard footsteps approach the door. She scrambled to make herself not seem suspicious, running away from the door to grab her medical kit.
Numbuh 274 exited the office, grumbling inaudible words to himself. He passed 9L without noticing her, too distracted by his own disappointment.
9L was wondering in her head if Numbuh Vine was in trouble. Numbuh 274 was greatly upset, and with his high status, he could do the most he wanted.