Cowritten by PuniPuni
Story is also published on AO3.
"Hurry now! Back to school supplies are 50 percent off! Shop now to get your little brats— I mean— kids ready for school!" the television burst. Bonnie turned to her side to see Lizzie lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling fan that was spinning slowly.
"What are you thinking about, Lizzie?"
"I'm scared about school."
Bonnie reached her hand to place it on top of Lizzie's. "It'll be OK. There will be more kids than adults there! Sector V goes to this same school, too. With kids like that, you'll be safe!"
Lizzie did not react for a moment as the television continued to play back to school commercials.
"I'm still scared. This will be the longest span of time I'll be without someone I trust. And I need to do it five days a week!"
"Oh Honey, don't be so scared. Every kid goes to school," Mrs. DeVine chimed in. "I have all your supplies ready for you, and I've figured everything out," she beamed as she placed her backpack in the living room. "Besides, Nigel and his team will be there with you."
Lizzie did not respond. She continued to sit with worry seeping through her mind.
"Oh my darling, don't worry. You're a tough girl, you'll get through this," Mrs. DeVine comforted as she came up to the couch, kissing Lizzie on her forehead.
"Why don't you talk to Nigel?" Bonnie suggested. "He or his team members might be in your class."
"That actually sounds like a good idea, but I'm not in the mood to go outside right now."
Lizzie's mother nodded and headed off. Alone in the living room, Bonnie glanced at Lizzie back and forth in an internal query.
"Lizzie," Bonnie finally spoke.
"What is it?" Lizzie asked, turning her head away from the television to her.
Bonnie looked away from her sister in a sense of guilt. "…You're something called an… uvinea, right?"y
Lizzie's eyebrows raised.
"I was told it was none of my business, but I really want to get to know you. What was your life like before you came here? Do you miss your family?"
Lizzie thought about what to say for a moment. "Where did you hear that?"
"Mike accidentally spilled what type of alien you are."
Lizzie then smiled warmly. "I wouldn't mind letting you know what I look like."
Lizzie lead Bonnie to the backyard of their house. Lizzie looked around at all the beautiful plants with a bright expression on her face. Bonnie smiled knowing how cheered up her sister now was.
"Oh, this. This is what my head looks like!" Lizzie pointed at a flower pot. "Although, it's not so flat in cylindrical shape. It's more rounded. And bigger."
Lizzie held up the small pot to Bonnie. The older sister grabbed it to stare. "This is your head? Your head shape?"
"Closely. It's just an upside-down version of my head. Oh! Here, look at this."
Lizzie lead Bonnie over to a lattice near the side of her house.
"This is what I usually sleep in. And my limbs are vines like these. Mostly off in color, but this is the closest shape of tendril I can compare myself to."
Bonnie reached her hand out to touch the vine. "Wow, you must be so pretty if you look like that. Do you have any flowers?"
Lizzie shook her head. "Not until I get older."
Bonnie picked up a fallen flower from one of the plants in the yard. She placed it in Lizzie's hair. Bonnie noticed how wide Lizzie grinned when she received the opportunity to talk about herself truthfully.
"Hey Lizzie, do you think you could draw what you look like?"
Lizzie gasped. "That's a great idea!"
Lizzie rushed to the door to grab the handle until Bonnie interrupted her.
"Um, Lizzie, do you think we could keep this a secret from everyone?"
Lizzie smiled and nodded. She went back inside. Bonnie happily followed behind. She felt herself being more than a machine.
Lizzie knocked on the door to the Uno household. From the door appeared an angry Nigel, but he turned relaxed once he realized it was only Lizzie.
"Oh thank goodness. Adult solicitors have been on the premise lately. Come inside where it's safer," he gestured by waving his hand toward the inside.
Lizzie stepped inside the house as Nigel closed the door. He then made his way to close three different locks that were attached to the door.
"Hmm… this isn't enough. I'm going to need more 2x4 locks…"
"Nigel," Lizzie prodded.
"Were you attacked by adult solicitors? I should have known! I need to fire up the protocol on—"
"Nigel! No, I wasn't! Can you listen to me for a second?"
The worried appearance on Lizzie's face made Nigel change his attitude to care about her. "Is something wrong? Did any other adults hurt you? Oh, I should have known your robotic parents—"
"Nigel!" Lizzie shouted.
"Yes, go on," he nervously smiled.
Lizzie sighed. "Nigel, it's my first time going to… this particular school, and I'm nervous."
"Don't be nervous Lizzie," Nigel reassured, gesturing her to follow him. Lizzie walked with him. "I'm sure it's a very similar experience to where you used to go in California."
That sentence was not helpful. Lizzie prodded more. "But I don't know anybody here! I don't have a lot of friends…"
"You have me and the rest of my team!" Nigel confidently replied. "There's a chance you'll be in the same class with me too!"
Lizzie, lacking context, decided to play it by ear. "Well, all right…"
The two arrived in Nigel's room. Lizzie looked around to see how interesting his room was, reflecting who he was as a person.
Nigel reached for his backpack hanging from his desk chair to rummage through it. "Well, there's a chance that the teachers want to imprison us to do slave labor for them, have us do tons of homework so they can feed it to weredogs, or they're evil parasites that want to suck the brains out of kids!"
Lizzie stood shocked, speechless.
"But you'll be fine with us around."
Lizzie dropped her shoulders.
"Nigel! Oh, Nigel!"
The call from outside of Nigel's room startled the boy enough to reach for his bedroom door to close it, but his mother pushed the door open to walk inside.
"Mom! Don't come in here!"
"You didn't tell me you were bringing Lizzie over!" Mrs. Uno beamed.
"Mooom!"
"I oughta thank you for my interest in photography, Lizzie! Oh, you look so pretty with that flower in your hair! Mind if I take a picture?"
"Mom! Can't you see we're in the middle of something?!" Nigel protested.
Mrs. Uno snapped a picture of Lizzie, who giggled at her gesture.
"All right, Nigie, I'll leave you two lovebirds at it."
Mrs. Uno handed Nigel the Polaroid she took of Lizzie after she shook it. Nigel's face turned red as he held it, leaving his mother to close the door behind her.
"Your mom really knows how to get my good side, Nigie."
"Never mind that," Nigel brushed off as he put the photo in his pocket, hiding his red face in his backpack.
"Well, is there anything romantic you want to do for me at school, Nigie?" she prodded sweetly.
"I'll… take you to the junior high football game or something."
Lizzie gasped excitedly. "You will?! You promise?"
"Yeah, whatever," he brushed off. "There's no need to be worried about school, Lizzie. I plan to check all the perimeters and possible traps the adults could have set up over the summer."
"Eee! Thank you thank you thank you!" Lizzie squeezed her boyfriend in a tight hug, cracking his back. "I'll see you later then, Nigie!" She then walked out his door.
Nigel shrugged playfully. He was thrilled about Lizzie's sudden change in mood, but he brushed it off to see the photo he saved in his pocket. He smiled at the photo, moving his eyes around to make sure no one was looking at him. After reaching for some tape on his desk, he crawled on his bed to tape the photo on his wall. He giggled to himself, in love with the picture of her.
"Hey Lizzie, are you ready for your first day of school?"
Lizzie nervously walked into the kitchen to see Bonnie packing her a lunch. She poured herself a bowl Rainbow Munchies, much to her dismay.
"Dont worry, I'll drive you to school today. Then after that, you'll have to take the bus."
"The bus?"
"Yes. It takes you to school everyday."
"And I'm guessing it's driven by an adult."
Bonnie's silence gave Lizzie the confirmation.
"Great."
"Hey, look on the bright side! You'll see Nigel every day now!"
Lizzie finished up her breakfast quickly to hurry herself for school. Bonnie handed Lizzie her backpack.
"Is everything in there?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Lizzie stepped in the backseat of the car. As Bonnie prepared to drive, she kept an eye on her little sister.
Lizzie was twiddling her fingers around, looking out the window and back to her hands. She felt her stomach turn from the anticipation that was school.
Time passed quickly for Lizzie, being alerted that the car had made its stop to the front of Gallagher Elementary. Bonnie parked to let herself and Lizzie out of the car.
"Try to find Nigel and his friends. I'm sure you'll feel better once you see them!"
Lizzie glanced around, seeing all different types of kids. Eventually, her eye caught Sector V with backpacks from a distance. They seemed to be talking as a group. Eventually, Numbuh 3 saw Lizzie and waved at her. It brought the group's attention to Lizzie.
"There they are!" Bonnie remarked.
Lizzie waved at them back. She gave one final look to Bonnie.
"Bye-bye! Have a good first day of school!"
As Lizzie hesitantly walked off, she turned around back to Bonnie who was waving. The girl darted back to give her sister a tight hug, then run back. "Bye, Bonnie!"
Bonnie shyly smiled at the gesture, watching her little sister run to hold hands with Nigel. She then walked away to get back to her car.
"Hi, Lizzie!" Nigel beamed.
"Hi Nigie~," Lizzie swooned, coming closer to him.
With other kids around, Nigel rejected her loving gesture as politely as possible by pulling away, blushing.
"Don't worry, Lizzie. You are truly safe in this school with me and my teammates around."
"Summer was nice while it lasted," Numbuh 5 sighed. "Just hope school's not as bad as Numbuh 5 thinks."
"Thank goodness I'm not going to boarding school. I'm going to get all A's in my class!" Numbuh 4 exclaimed.
"Numbuh 5 wants to see that!" the laid back girl replied with a giggle in her tone.
The group of kids entered into the school. The hallways were already bustling with kids hanging out by the lockers, kids trading school supplies, and friends reuniting.
Nigel released his hand's grip on Lizzie.
"Now, Lizzie, there are four teachers in this school that teach the entirety of the fourth grade. The odds of at least one of us being in your home room class are very high."
Lizzie looked behind Nigel to see a group of kids giggling and pointing at them. They could both audibly hear them chuckle "Bald!" as they pointed at Nigel. The boy noticed this but simply rolled his eyes.
"Bullies. Ugh. Just ignore them."
They moved a few feet away from the group, until he heard one of them say something different.
"Who's his fat girlfriend?"
Nigel immediately threw his fists back while sprinting toward the group of gossiping kids with gritted teeth. Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5 rushed in to hold the growling Numbuh 1 away from them.
"Hey, hey! Cool it, cool it!" Numbuh 5 coaxed.
"Slow down, Numbuh 1!" Numbuh 2 added.
As the group approached the middle of the hallway, dozens of kids were crowded by the beam that held lists of students. As Numbuh 1's temper died down, he stood up and dusted himself off.
"All right, team. First order of business: find our homeroom locations. Second order of business: locate all the entryways and exits. You never know what's changed over the summer."
The group attempted to slowly maneuver their way through the crowded kids to be able to read the list. Lizzie's patience was worn out quickly, screaming "MOVE IT!" to a group of younger kids in front of her. Sector V followed up with nervous smiles directed at the kids who were shoved away.
"YES!" Numbuh 4 cheered, pumping a fist. "Mrs. Thompson!"
Numbuh 5 raised an eyebrow while staring at the boy.
"I mean… she's all right. Nice I guess."
"Take a closer look," Numbuh 5 emphasized while pointing at the paper.
"The Delightful Children from Down the Lane?!" Numbuh 4 panicked. "Aw, crud! I don't want to share a class with them!"
Lizzie checked the list of their class. She did not see her name.
"YES!" Numbuh 2 cheered. "We're in a class together, Numbuh 1!" he held his hand up for a high-five, which was promptly given to him by Numbuh 1.
Lizzie then checked the list of their class. She did not see her name.
"Let's see if we're in the same class, Lizzie!" Numbuh 3 cheered. She pointed when she saw her name. "Here I am!" But bringing her finger up made her realize that Lizzie's name was not on the sheet. "Oh."
Lizzie noticed that the name "Elizabeth DeVine" was not paired with the names of any kids in Sector V. She was on a list that held no names she was familiar with.
"I'm not… with any of you?" Lizzie rhetorically asked.
"Thankfully," Numbuh 4 whispered to Numbuh 5.
"What?!" Nigel retaliated. He grabbed the paper from the wall to look at it closely.
A few of the kids started protesting Nigel's action.
"Mrs. Holloway… with none of us? This is absurd!" Nigel ranted, tossing the paper to the side. The kids scrambled for the paper as it glided away. "They must have done this on purpose! Putting the new student in a class without Kids Next Door operatives! That way, they can easily manipulate you, and—"
"Actually!" was interrupted in the middle of the crowd. A kid with glasses, braces, and a pasta strainer with a helmet came closer to Nigel. "I am in Mrs. Holloway's homeroom class, therefore Elizabeth is in a class with a Kids Next Door operative."
"Numbuh 65.3," Nigel saluted. "Yes, of course."
Lizzie was not familiar with this operative. The fact that he wore a pasta strainer on his head suggested to Lizzie that he was a higher ranked operative like Numbuh 86.
"Who is this Elizabeth DeVine anyway? I don't recall you being in Gallagher Elementary last year."
Lizzie smiled brightly. "I'm Lizzie! I just moved here. I'm Nigie's girlfriend," she announced.
Some of the kids in the crowd laughed upon hearing the nickname "Nigie." However, Numbuh 65.3 remained unbothered. Nigel, flustered, looked down.
"Well, Lizzie, I'm assuming you're no Kids Next Door operative."
Lizzie shook her head. If only he knew.
"Well then, I'll see you in Mrs. Holloway's class. I need to get there early so I can—"
"Herbert! Oh, Herbie!"
The crowd of kids turned their heads to the entrance to see Numbuh 65.3's mother.
"You forgot your lunch, sweetie!"
"Mom!"
The operative's mother came through the crowd of pointing and laughing kids to hand his son a lunchbox. Numbuh 65.3's face turned red as his mom kissed him on the cheek.
"You need to start eating healthier, OK? And take that piece of junk off their head! Your hair will get greasy!" His mother took off the pasta strainer before he could act. He attempted to reach for it back.
"Mooom!"
As the operative's mother left, Numbuh 4 laughed the hardest before being promptly whacked in the head by Numbuh 5. Numbuh 1 seemed relieved he was not the focus of humiliation anymore.
"I-I'll be in class!" he stuttered. He marched away from the crowd of laughter with the dainty lunchbox in his clenched fists.
Nigel came closer to Lizzie. "That's Numbuh 65.3. He's the chief of global communications. You'll be safe with him."
Lizzie felt disappointed that the operative in her class was someone she was unfamiliar with, but surprisingly, she kept that thought to herself.
"Now if you excuse me, Lizzie, I must check the entire school for every possible exit."
As Nigel walked off, Lizzie grabbed his arm. "Hold on! Aren't you going to… walk me to class or something?"
Nigel released himself from Lizzie's grasp. "No time for that. This school needs my top and upmost inspection." Nigel pulled a S.P.I.C.E.R. from his backpack. "I need to inspect them as well for any potential traps and barricades. You never know what kind of adult technology they invent over the summer to put in schools," Nigel ranted as he walked off.
"Didn't you check the school's exits last year?" Numbuh 5 bickered.
"And the year before that?" Numbuh 4 added.
"And the year before that!" Numbuh 3 smiled.
"And hasn't nothing changed?" Numbuh 2 asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
"You can never be too sure!"Nigel retaliated by pointing at Numbuh 2. He then walked off.
Lizzie reached her arm out for her boyfriend, but she put it down, growling to herself.
"Well, I could um, walk you to class, Miss DeVine…" Numbuh 65.3 suggested as he blushed.
"Oh please," Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I'll find it myself—"
Lizzie was immediately interrupted by eerie familiar voices.
"Out of the way! Move it!" five in-sync kids badgered as they pushed kids in the hallway aside. A red carpet continued to be rolled out for them as they walked to the middle of the hallway by the class assignment papers. Lizzie's pigtails shot up in the air.
"On second thought, let's go right now, we wouldn't want to be late, Herbie," she rushed.
The nickname made Numbuh 65.3's face turn pinker. "Aw, well, shucks…"
Lizzie hurriedly pushed the boy to the direction he motioned to in order to not be seen by the Delightful Children.
"I'm Mrs. Holloway. It's so good to meet you all here. I see we have a new face at Gallagher."
The crowd of kids looked to the face in the middle. Lizzie was nervous receiving all eyes on her.
"Why don't you introduce yourself, Elizabeth?"
Lizzie held her hands together. She was worried that all of Nigel's paranoid thoughts were real possibilities for school, those being actual scenarios she was not taught about in her Earth studies.
"You can call me Lizzie. I'm from California," Lizzie awkwardly waved.
"That's a long way from here! I'm sure it's nice there," Mrs. Holloway mentioned.
"It… sure is!"
"Well, glad to have you, Lizzie. Now, to begin our class…"
Lizzie failed to pay attention after her teacher started to introduce the subjects. She was thinking about Nigel, looking around the room to see more kids her age, wondering about school.
However, class started to interest Lizzie. She was easily distracted and fond of the idea that she would learn more about Earth history, as well as breeze through science class. The more her classmates became bored, the more Lizzie became interested. All that worry that strained from Nigel's paranoid thoughts were washed away by how school actually was.
Eventually, recess time came before lunch. As the kids lined up to go outside, Lizzie remained hesitant about the idea of going outside for thirty minutes of the school day.
"Isn't there anything else I can do?"
It shocked Mrs. Holloway to say the least, but she complied to give her the chance to do extra credit work near the principal's office. Her knowledge in plants was impressive, but her lack of knowledge in history disappointed the teacher.
As Lizzie arrived to the cafeteria with her lunchbox, Nigel approached her as soon as he saw her.
"Where were you at recess?!" Her boyfriend exclaimed.
"I wasn't there," Lizzie brushed off.
Nigel then grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Are you OK?!"
Lizzie could faintly see the rest of Sector V watching the two behind him, Numbuh 5 facepalming at the comment.
"I just don't see the point of recess! Isn't the purpose of school to learn? I'd rather spend my time doing that!"
Sector V refused to sit with Lizzie, which meant Nigel had to be careful enough to convince Lizzie to make some new friends in the cafeteria without him.
It did not take much effort for Lizzie to be approached by one her classmates before she could eat.
"Lizzie, was it?"
A boy with a more southern accent reached his hand out to her. She was lucky to recall what a handshake was.
"Yep, that's me."
"Didn't you say you were from California?"
Far from it. "Yup!"
"Sure is nice over there, isn't it?" The boy remarked, reaching his hand to be on top of Lizzie's. She awkwardly looked at the gesture.
"Oh, where are my manners? The name's Jimmy. I'm this here class president of the fourth grade. Mind if I sit down with you?"
"Sure," she suggested, removing her hand away from Jimmy's.
"That's a very pretty name by the way," Jimmy complimented while taking out his lunchbox. "I reckon you don't know a lot of people 'round here."
Lizzie giggled. "Nigie's my boyfriend," she mentioned.
Jimmy's eyebrows raised. "That Nigel Uno?"
Lizzie's nodding confirmed this.
"Well he's one lucky boy. You sure are a pretty thing."
Lizzie laughed at the comment.
Eventually, a hand tapped the shoulder of the boy Lizzie sat next to.
"Mr. President, we should be discussing the matter of the hall pass rules today," a blonde girl informed.
"Not now, Anna. I oughta welcome the new folks to our school. You know how it is."
"But Jimmy, you promised that we'd start our school year addressing the priorities!"
"This is a priority, Anna. I would like to know more about our new students this year."
Anna scoffed as Jimmy turned around to talk to Lizzie again. She seemed thoroughly annoyed, but she never took a moment to bother Nigel.
Sitting in a cafeteria chair further away from Jimmy, she noticed the Delightful Children in their own space. She tapped her foot, wondering something to herself.
After school, Lizzie was picked up by Bonnie. She told her all about her first day. She then told her mother about what Nigel promised, so feeling happy for her daughter, she allowed her to take her credit card for anything the two could purchase while there.
Then Lizzie made her way to Nigel's treehouse, having Earth culture on her mind. She climbed up to go inside, shouting Nigel's nickname as she approached. Unfortunately, nobody was inside. She assumed the team was on a mission, so she took her time to explore the treehouse.
There were many rooms that gave Lizzie a headache to keep track of. Despite being around before, she continued to find new rooms to pass the time exploring. The idea of living inside a grand plant such as this one made Lizzie feel some sort of connection to the human species, giving her a faint smile from touching the leaves.
Eventually, Lizzie found herself sitting on top of the bed of Nigel's room. She eagerly awaited his arrival, humming the Rainbow Monkey theme song to herself. She snapped out of it once she realized she hated those things.
"Ew, sticky and gross, I don't even like strawberry…" Nigel ranted, walking into his room. There he was, but covered in the residue of pink ice cream. He walked right past her.
"Hi Nigie!" Lizzie greeted.
"Oh hey, Lizzie," Nigel mentioned. "Lizzie?!" he realized, turning around. "What are you doing here?!"
"Don't you remember, Nigie? You promised to take me to the big junior high football game tonight!"
"Can we do this another time? I've just finished a mission, and I'm tired and sticky!" Nigel emphasized by tugging at his wet sweater.
Lizzie hopped off the bed to nuzzle her head under her boyfriend's. "Poor Nigie! Always working so hard on those missions…" Lizzie flattered. Nigel reacted by smiling, feeling sweetness in his heart.
"It's a tough job, but some kid's got to do it!" Nigel proclaimed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean up, I'm filthy." Nigel then walked away to his bathroom, hanging his sunglasses on a handle beside the door.
"Poor Nigie…"
Lizzie heard static from a communicator across the room. Going toward it, she heard a voice.
"Calling Numbuh 1! Hello?"
The screen then showed a familiar operative.
"This is Numbuh 65.3, with a— Hey! Where's Numbuh 1?" he inquired upon noticing Lizzie was in front of the screen. "I've got important mission specifications to send him!"
"He'll be right back," Lizzie answered. However, she felt the spark of a devilish idea come to her. "But, um, you can just transmit those specifications now and I'll give them to him!"
"That's a negatory! Mission specs are for leader's eyes only!" 65.3 insisted.
Lizzie remembered how easily Herbert was influenced by her charm.
"Why Herbie, is that a new pocket protector you're wearing?" she flirted.
The comment made the boy immediately blush and put his hands in his jean pockets. "Well, I, uh…"
That was easier than she thought. "Why don't you just transmit those big bad missiony thingies to me, and I'll make sure Nigie gets them!" she continued to woo.
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt," he giggled. "But just make sure he gets them!" He then ordered.
"Oh I promise. Bye!" They both waved as the call ended back into static. From her left, a part of the machine printed a long red receipt of information.
Lizzie took the paper and began reading. The information on the specifications made Lizzie realize that this specific mission was related to teenagers at the junior league game. What actually surprised her was to read that Chad Dickson was apart of this whole deal.
She read that Chad was thirteen now.
This information made Lizzie wonder what happened to him. As a galactic operative, he was also in line to be Earth's representative behind Nigel. Was he decommissioned? Set up as a spy? Betrayed the KND? The morbid curiosity grabbed ahold of Lizzie to find out.
"How hard can leading a mission be?" she asked herself after looking at Nigel's sunglasses that were left outside. She was heavily motivated even more by the fact that she missed being apart of the Kids Next Door. While Earth was different than Saturn, she took it upon herself to just have a certified mission again, even as a human girl. It would take some good excuses to get this started.
Lizzie took off her regular glasses, seeing the world in her uvinea vision again. Putting on Nigel's sunglasses, she predicted she would see the world the way he does.
Lizzie made her way around the treehouse to see the rest of Sector V hanging out.
"OK everybody! It's mission time!" she burst, gaining the attention of the other four operatives.
"You look really pretty today, Numbuh 1!" Numbuh 3 complimented. "Did you do something to your hair?"
"Nah, nah, it's the outfit," Numbuh 2 corrected. "But yellow is not your color."
Lizzie hoped they were joking, but she remained smiling.
"Lizzie, what do you think you're doing?" Numbuh 5 chimed in.
"Nigie has officially put me in charge of a mission!" Lizzie lied.
"You've got to be kidding," Numbuh 5 scoffed.
"It's true! I have the official Kids Next Door mission speccy thing, the glasses, and I'm prepping the team by treating us all to ice cream!"
"Works for me!" Numbuh 4 approved.
"Hmm, I don't know. But if Numbuh 1 says so, I guess Numbuh 5 is in." Numbuh 5 finally agreed.
As Numbuh 5 walked away, Lizzie grabbed her arm. "Not in that outfit! We've gotta get all of you some suitable clothes for the big mission!" Lizzie barely suggested, letting her position of power influence her impulsive ideas.
However, the team did not react well from their blank stares back at Lizzie, so she had to up the charm again.
"Double scoops!"
The team agreed, turning around to lead Lizzie to the vehicle room. They each muttered about how they approved of Lizzie getting them ice cream.
Lizzie laughed to herself, both in glee and in a devilish tone. Skipping around, she sang, "Being leader is fun~!"
Headed to the C.O.O.L.B.U.S., Lizzie was able to sit in the comfy chair Nigel usually placed himself in. As the team flew to the ice cream parlor, Numbuh 5 kept her eye on Lizzie.
"So what's this mission on about anyway?" Numbuh 5 asked.
"Well, the junior football league seems to be practicing anti-kid behavior. And that Chad Dickson boy is there too!"
"Chad?!" The team gasped.
"That sucka's gonna get what's coming to him," Numbuh 5 growled as she cracked her knuckles.
The team ordered their double scoop ice cream at the parlor. As Numbuh 3 received her order, she asked if Lizzie was going to get any. She shook her head, as being a Kids Next Door operative felt better than any ice cream could taste to her. For the sake of it, she yelled at the group of kids to move it to head over to the salon at the strip mall. The operatives were hesitant at first, but Numbuh 5 made her way to the front of the crowd from her sudden change in mood.
"And you're gonna pay for all this?" Numbuh 5 asked with a devilish smile.
With her mother's credit card, she proudly nodded.
"Hehehe, yeah baby, this is what I'm talking about."
With their ice cream cones still in hand, the team had entered under the same pedicure and hair treatment special for five guests. Numbuh 2 remained silent until he became bored.
"Uh, I'm pretty sure Numbuh 1 wouldn't take us here to prep for a mission."
"Well Nigie and I have different leadership styles, SO BACK OFF!" she retailed, scaring him.
"OK, OK! Sheesh," Numbuh 2 whispered.
Numbuh 3 seemed to be enjoying her time, while Numbuh 4 was not amused.
"Numbuh 5, you've gotta do something about this!" he whispered.
"Nuh uh! Numbuh 5 hasn't had her nails done in ages," the girl countered.
The team spent a long time at the salon. The boys were relieved to leave.
"I look ridiculous!" Numbuh 4 complained.
"OK, can we go on that mission now?" Numbuh 2 asked.
Lizzie grabbed his arm to pulled him toward her. "Not yet! We still need to get you out of those boring outfits!"
The tailor at the strip mall was Lizzie's next stop. She personally ordered specific hero costumes for the five of them. Numbuh 4 was the most hesitant to put it on, but he was motivated to through Numbuh 3's complimenting.
Everyone but Lizzie was disappointed walking back to the C.O.O.L.B.U.S.. Numbuh 4 especially sneered at her.
"All right, now we can start with the mission!" Lizzie smiled.
As they took off, Numbuh 4 started to complain. "Look at this crud! This isn't a mission! It's a… it's a… What's a word for worse than horrible?!"
"Lizzie," Numbuh 2 grumbled.
"Hey! I bought you guys ice cream," she pleaded. "So shut up!" she then hissed.
"Don't you tell Numbuh 4 to shut up!" Numbuh 3 hissed back.
"I'm the leader! I can tell anyone I want to shut up!" she jeered. "SO SHUT UP!" she shouted, slamming her fist down on the chair by Numbuh 5.
"Hey! Watch the nails," Numbuh 5 sassed.
"Shut up!" Lizzie continued to yell in a rampage.
"Dont you talk to me like that!" Numbuh 5 retaliated.
Lizzie continued to badger the team with her nasty attitude. The kids continued to argue. Numbuh 2 looked away from the control panel to focus his entire attention onto butting in the chaos. The C.O.O.L.B.U.S. started to gain heavy turbulence until the team realized that they were about to crash into another flying vehicle. They all screamed.
Crashing into a locker room full of teenage boys, the group of stylish kids coughed and groaned from the force of being launched out of the vehicle. The teenage boys surrounded them.
"Huh?" A familiar voice came forward to look at the group. "More stupid kids?"
"See?! They all dressed up!"
Lizzie turned back to see a familiar face tense up in rage. It was Chad. "BLITZ THEM!" he commanded.
A group of larger teenage boys started to charge at Lizzie. She screamed while running away from them. She was terrified of what would happen if they caught her.
Lizzie reached for an unlocked locker to hide inside.
Through the light from the top of the locker, Lizzie saw Nigel tied up next to her. "Lizzie?"
"Oh, hi Nigie. There's a bunch of big scary teenagers out there!"
"Nevermind that, just untie me!" he prompted.
Lizzie reached for the rope to loosen the knot. It took a few seconds, but Nigel was now free. He kicked the locker door down.
"All right, teenagers! Let's play ball!"
Lizzie interrupted Nigel to gently tap his shoulder. She dangled his sunglasses back near him. So with a sly smirk, Nigel put them on with confidence.
"Kids Next Door, battle stations!"
Numbuh 1's team stood up to physically fight back the teenage boys. With their delivery of kicks and punches, the team were occupied with their antagonists.
Chad reached for Lizzie's costume to grab and pull closer to him. "What are you doing here?" he whispered through gritted teeth.
"I could ask the same for you!" Lizzie whispered back, looking as if she was going to fight him.
Chad pushed Lizzie away, reaching for a red football on the bench. He was suddenly kicked in the face by Numbuh 1. Backed up the lockers, Chad swung at him. "You little—!" he grunted, missing the boy.
"You missed, Chadworth. Slipping in your old age?" Numbuh 1 remarked, taking a swing to punch Chad right into the lockers behind him. The football previously in Chad's hand landed into Numbuh 1's grasp.
"I've got their football! Evactuation plan X-42!"
The group of kids started to yell as they ran out of the locker room. Lizzie, reluctant, left Chad behind to follow Sector V.
The room the six entered became darker as they went inside.
"Huh?" Numbuh 1 spoke.
"Hey, where are we?" Numbuh 4 asked.
"I don't—" Numbuh 1 was interrupted as soon as bright lights above them suddenly flashed on. The group was surrounded by huge football players. The kids kept their guards up.
"Kids Next Dorks," Chad spoke as he came in the middle of the crowd. "Meet my invasionary force. The Jets!"
The football players launched into the air with their rocket powered cleats. They curved around to launch themselves at the team.
"Here!" Numbuh 1 gasped, handing the football to Numbuh 3. Everybody else scattered around the field, Lizzie following her boyfriend.
"Why on Earth are you all dressed like that?!" Nigel asked.
"It's a long story!"
The two seemed to have found an exit, but Numbuh 1 stopped.
"Nigie! We have to get out of here!"
"No one gets left behind! You stay here and out of danger!" he shouted, keeping his eyes on Numbuh 5.
Lizzie picked up a pair of cheerleading pom-poms left on the ground. When her boyfriend received the ball from his teammate, she started to cheer him on.
"Go Nigie, go! Go Nigie~!"
Unfortunately, Nigel was too slow, getting immediately crushed by the Jets. Though, the red football was picked up by Numbuh 4 as he scurried away. Reaching the field goal, he cheered. "I did it! Yahahahaha! Touchdown!"
Chad, appearing near the center, saw the scene before him.
"Four! Four! He's our man! If he can't do it, no cruddy teenager can!"
As the blond boy jumped up with the anticipating motion of throwing the football down, Chad, Nigel, and the Jets protested his action as loud as they could. But Numbuh 4 threw the ball down, which made an explosion set off, destroying the entire backside of the stadium ship.
The teenagers crawled one way, and the kids crawled the other. Nigel helped everybody escape, and even asked Lizzie multiple times if she was OK.
It was not long after Sector V escaped the stadium to return to the treehouse. They complained to their leader about what Lizzie made them all do. She was, in fact, not in charge of leading a mission, making them do all these crazy side quests for her own impulses.
Nigel said that he would talk with Lizzie on his own in his bedroom. While there, Nigel explained a lot about the importance of being a leader and what it meant to be apart of the Kids Next Door. The ice cream, salon, and tailor were mentioned by Lizzie to Nigel, describing where they went and what they did after he asked for details.
Nigel then proceeded to rant about the plan that Chad and the teammates were planning. The mission specs that Lizzie gave to him described the speculations on his part. She learned from Numbuh 1 that Chad was a traitor.
"I'm sorry, Nigie. I had no idea how hard your job is!"
He warmed up to a smile, sitting next to Lizzie on his bed. "It's all right, Lizzie. Just promise you won't do it again."
"Oh, Nigie! I promise!" she swooned as she squeezed him into a hug, cracking his back.
Pushing her away, he laughed nervously in response. "OK Lizzie, how about I go get us some ice cream?" he suggested, sprinting away from the bed.
When he left the room, the communicator across the room produced static. "Calling Numbuh 1! Calling Numbuh 1! I have an urgent mission for you!" 65.3 appeared on the screen as Lizzie came up to it.
"Why don't you just transmit those big bad missiony thingies to me, and I'll make sure Nigie gets them!" She wooed again. Taking off her glasses, she put on a pair of identical sunglasses to Nigel's she bought while at the tailor's.
In the middle of the southmost arctic cold, a green ship lie as the wind blew snow onto the exterior. Within a foggy distance, a silhouette came closer to two young boys awaiting its presence.
A small red machine was tossed into the middle of the snow. "Take it," the figure growled.
"The Kids Next Door C.O.D.E.-M.O.D.U.L.E.?" 74.239 addressed. He picked it up from the snow. "Why did you get this? How did you get this?"
"How?" The boy came closer, his fists clenching in rage. The wind blew the blond hair away from the his eye. "Do you know how much shit I've went through to get this?"
74.239 and 71.562 started to step back. They looked at each other.
"Numbuh Aleph Zero instructed me to bring this code module to you two dweebs so you can come out from hiding. With your DNA in there, you'll be registered as a regular human operative."
"But what about Numbuh 362? Numbuh 86? They won't recognize us!" 71.562 countered.
"Oh please, there's so many kids in the KND that they can't keep track of them all," Chad sighed. "Besides, Numbuh 86 couldn't recognize Numbuh 4 with a wig on."
"So you're continuing to cover our tracks?"
"Of course I am. Now put your DNA in the module."
The two scientists looked at each other again and nodded firmly. Pointing their index finger out, they motioned a symbol to pick their nose. Using each of their boogers, they inserted them into the module.
"Good. I will prove to Aleph Zero that I am worthy of being Earth representative," Chad insisted as he took the module out of 74.239's hands. He started to walk toward his ship.
"But you're a teenager," 71.562 mentioned.
Chad stopped in his tracks. The silence was loud.
"So I am," Chad growled. "So I am."