So I've been hit with writer's block once again and wasn't sure where to put this chapter or even who I wanted to have star in it. In the end, I decided to do a Sector Z chapter. I was considering Cree, but she'll get her own chapter later. Anyways, let's go!

"As you all know, this will be one of the most important missions of our career!" Numbuh 0.1 declared to his Sector, who were all standing at attention. "While failure is never something we want, failure here is completely and utterly unacceptable!"

"Ugh, you say that like we fail all the time!" Numbuh 0.3 groaned. "We've got the highest mission success rate in the history of the KND! Even Firecracker's mission rate isn't that high!"

"Yet she was still so proud of us…" Numbuh 0.2 noted. "Pretty much begged her parents to take us out for ice cream."

"When isn't she proud of us?" Numbuh 0.3 asked.

"Well, she wasn't proud when you got her covered in tree sap," Numbuh 0.4 teasingly replied, earning himself a punch to the shoulder.

"Will you all SHUT UP!?" Numbuh 0.1 snapped at his sector as he rubbed his temples. "As I was saying, we can't fail! Especially since if we do, we won't have time to get Numbuh 451 a back up birthday present and I, for one, refuse to turn up empty handed to the 11th birthday party of the person who is basically our big sister! Are you with me!?"

"YEAH!" The others unanimously responded.

"So what's the plan!?" Numbuh 0.4 asked as he pounded his fist into his open palm.

"Recent Kids Next Door trackers have reported that a possible path to the Cave of Games has been found." Numbuh 0.1 began as he pulled up a hologram of said temple. The Cave of Games was a cave where some of the rarest and most valuable games were rumored to be hoarded. The Kids Next Door had been trying to breach the area for years, but had no luck. Sector Z, however, was made of far stronger stuff than most operatives and they knew it. If anyone could make it, it was them. "So let's see what we can find for Numbuh 451!"

"And for us too, right?" Numbuh 0.2 eagerly asked.

"...Fine, but Numbuh 451 is top priority," Numbuh 0.1 said with a sigh, just hoping his gaming obsessed sectormate didn't forget why they were going.

"Man! The trees here are thick!" Numbuh 0.2 exclaimed as he pushed aside another large leaf with his spear. The flight to the location of the Cave of Games-Japan-didn't actually take very long. However, Sector Z swiftly discovered they would have to make the journey on foot due to the thickness of the bamboo and other flora making up the forest that encased it.

"How long have we been walking!?" Numbuh 0.4 groaned after he tripped on yet another exposed tree root. "Are we there yet?"

"Please! This isn't even the hardest walk we've had to do!" Numbuh 0.3 scoffed. "Remember that gum volcano?"

"Ugh, don't remind me!" Numbuh 0.4 exclaimed as he swiftly pulled himself up and tried to forget about traversing that nightmare. Everywhere he stepped was so dang sticky it felt like he couldn't move most of the time!

"Stop," Numbuh 0.5 declared, holding up a hand to signal her teammates before pointing forward. The mouth of a strangely blocky looking cave stood in front of them.

"That's the place," Numbuh 0.1 said.

"What's up with how it looks?" Numbuh 0.3 had to ask. "Like, I'm pretty sure caves aren't supposed to look so blocky."

"They kinda look like pixels," Numbuh 0.2 couldn't help but note. "Wonder if that's for the theme?"

"It doesn't matter what it looks like!" Numbuh 0.1 barked at his friends. "Don't get distracted! We've got a limited time before the party starts and I don't want to be late!"

"Alright Mr. Killjoy," Numbuh 0.3 declared with an eyeroll.

"Fine. You can explain to a very disappointed Firecracker when we're late," Numbuh 0.1 replied.

"I never said I wanted to be late!" Numbuh 0.3 instantly protested as she hustled towards the mouth of the cave, prompting the rest of the Sector to get moving as well. Numbuh 0.5 was the last one to enter, mostly because she couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched.

"Dang, the block thing gets even crazier the deeper you go in," Numbuh 0.4 couldn't help but note as he and the rest of the Sector began their trek through the cave. Indeed, everything got blocker and seemingly more pixel-like the deeper in they went.

"Check it out!" Numbuh 0.2 exclaimed as he pointed towards a massive pile of video games, as well as various pieces of merchandise. "I didn't even know they made some of this stuff!"

"Would Firecracker like any of it? Numbuh 0.1 asked, reminding his friend who they were there for.

"Not really seeing anything she'd really like," Numbuh 0.2 admitted as he pocketed a few smaller items for himself. "So, remind me, are we all getting her something or is one from all of us?"

"Depends on how much we find," Numbuh 0.1 responded. "But do you think you'll know enough to help guide us on what to pick up?"

"Please! She taught me everything she knows! Of course I'll know!" Numbuh 0.2 confidently responded. "Let's head deeper!" As the boys headed deeper into the cave, Numbuh 0.3 moved to join them, only to feel a tug on her sleeve.

"Numbuh 0.5? Are you okay?" She asked once she saw who was pulling.

"...I think we're being watched," Numbuh 0.5 admitted. Numbuh 0.3 moved to say something, but now that the idea was put in front of her, she couldn't shake that the feeling that something was…off was now present.

"...Look, as soon as we find Firecracker's gift, we can run for it," Numbuh 0.3 promised her fellow Sectormate. Numbuh 0.5 nodded, but couldn't help but look behind her. Even though she didn't see anything, her paranoia didn't really go away. Unknown to her, something was watching…and it wasn't happy.

"Alright, we've all got something," Numbuh 0.1 said with pride. They'd gone fairly deep into the cave and everyone finally had a present. Numbuh 0.1 himself had been directed to grab a poster of a blue colored hedgehog advertising a game that had never been released.

"I still wish we could have given her something from all of us together," Numbuh 0.4 admitted. "But I really hope she likes everything we got her." For his find, Numbuh 0.4 had grabbed a golden statue of a round, ball-like creature that was usually pink.

"It's her!" Numbuh 0.3 replied as she tossed her own gift-a limited edition copy of some game she'd mentioned wanting. They had sold out fast and the fact only adults had been allowed to buy the copies cost their older, gaming loving friend a chance to get one. Her father had tried, but due to being from a different company, he wasn't able to reserve one in time.

"Numbuh 0.2 doesn't," Numbuh 0.5 piped up in her usual quiet manner. For her own present, she had opted to pick up a large dolphin plush. She wasn't even sure if Firecracker had even played the game it hailed from, but knowing her love of dolphins and especially plushies had made it an easy choice.

"Oh don't worry! I see exactly what I want to give her!" Numbuh 0.2 declared with flourish as he pointed towards a large pile. On top of it rested a golden, old school video game cartridge. "You know how much she loves her collectables and she is pretty into retro gaming!"

"Oh she'd KILL for something like that!" Numbuh 0.3 agreed. His mind made up, Numbuh 0.2 easily managed to scale his way to the top of the pile. With a grin, he grabbed his prize before jumping back down to join his friends.

"Alright, let's head out!" Numbuh 0.1 declared. As Sector Z began to head back towards the entrance, a large shadow suddenly loomed over them. "What the-?" The group of five all slowly turned around to find themselves face to face with a MASSIVE pixelated dragon.

"...Did we just steal from that thing's hoard!?" Numbuh 0.3 exclaimed.

"Don't care! Just run!" Numbuh 0.1 called as he broke into a sprint back to the entrance of the cave. Much to his relief, his usually battle ready sector was quick to agree with his unspoken order that they were not fighting that dragon. Said creature, clearly not happy by the kids stealing from its hoard, unleashed a mighty blast of pixelated fire towards them, which was only barely dodged. Letting out a roar, the dragon wasted no time in giving chase. However, its massive size, plus it clearly not wanting to damage any of its hoard, prevented it from moving as quickly as it would have liked, allowing Sector Z to easily put distance between themselves and the dragon. However, the dragon was still easily able to make up the range with its fireballs.

"You know, this is just like a video game!" Numbuh 0.2 couldn't help but note as he ran.

"Stop enjoying this!" Numbuh 0.3 snapped back at him.

"I'm not! I'm just saying!"

Much to Sector Z's relief, the monster didn't follow them out of the cave, instead opting to simply roar at them in anger as they fled into the thicket of bamboo. No one was sure why, but they all weren't about to pass up the chance to catch their breaths for a second.

"Let's just hope this thing doesn't follow us when we get airborne…" Numbuh 0.4 groaned once the sector finally made it back to their ship.

"...Why are all my friends self sacrificing idiots?" Firecracker couldn't help but think to herself. Just about the only people that had gotten her presents in a normal way were her parents! She could tell exactly where everyone else had gotten theirs, in spite of their non answers about where they had actually come from.

Cree? No doubt having led her Sector into the ice cream mountains to search for a legendary ice cream scooper that would make all ice cream taste extra good.

Thomas? Oh he'd tried to convince her that he'd just painted a painting of her standing in uniform and posing heroically, but she could tell that he'd gotten the paints from the paint rivers in Italy.

And Sector Z? She could tell right away that video game merch that rare could have only come from the Cave of Games.

All of them could have easily died getting her that stuff! The thought would have been more than enough if they'd just gotten her a normal gift.

"But…I guess I can't say I'm not happy," Firecracker admitted to herself as she enjoyed another cupcake. She was living well. Good friends, good food and still two more years to go.

So yeah. Firecracker is now 11 with Sector Z all being 8. See you next time.