So this chapter originally wasn't going to be a part of the story, but I felt like it would be fun to let Firecracker meet one more member of the future Sector V that Sonia would look up too. Anyways, let's begin.

"Hard to believe that I'm going to forget all about this soon," Numbuh 451 thought to herself as she walked around the arctic base. She'd been brought in for a safety demonstration with some of her explosions (apparently, one of the new cadets had some…mishaps with some of her creations) and had opted to just stick around. Still, the thought of decommissioning reminded Numbuh 451 how the era of the KND she knew was coming to an end. Numbuh Red 7 had been decommissioned about a month prior. True to his nature, he'd been rather relaxed about it, bidding his friends a tearful farewell and from what anyone could tell, he hadn't changed much following decommissioning. Not that anyone expected him too, of course.

Numbuh 100 was a bit more of a shock, however.

No one was really sure what had happened, whether it was due to him finally snapping from being Supreme Leader for so long, his age tempting him or just going bad, but he'd tried to sell them out to the Teen Ninjas. The attempt had failed and he was swiftly decommissioned. Many were sad to see him fall so far, but most also knew that just about anyone had the potential too.

"Dang it. Now I'm making myself sad," Numbuh 451 thought to herself. Shaking her head, she decided to focus on the good. Like the new Supreme Leader. Ever since she'd met him, she knew Chad, or Numbuh 274, would be going places. The boy was beyond ambitious. Sometimes, it almost felt like too much at times. He'd pretty much already been Supreme Leader for the past two years anyways, so him taking the role was pretty much a formality, anyways.

"Hey! Numbuh 451! You've gotta come see this!" Numbuh 8a called out to her. Raising an eyebrow, she walked to where he, his brother, and the Lincoln sisters, were watching something. Looking out, Numbuh 451 watched as Numbuh 274 charged towards a younger boy who looked to be around Numbuh 5's age. He was wearing a blue shirt, glasses and, much to Numbuh 451's shock, was completely bald.

"Who's that?" She asked.

"That's Nigel Uno," Numbuh 5 spoke up, guilt in her voice. "The boy that…I told you about."

"Oh…" Numbuh 451 trailed off as she began to rub her arm. She knew the story all too well. Numbuh 11 had given her sister a chance to lead the sector, something that the younger girl was eager to accept. The mission was supposed to be a simple one-get the Delightful Children from Down the Lane's birthday cake. The five creepy brats had come out of nowhere, suddenly just becoming one of the biggest menaces the KND had ever seen. One of their worst traits was getting a delicious birthday cake every year, but refusing to share and even forcing other kids to watch them eat it. Needless to say, Global Command had made a mission that everytime they had one of their "birthday parties", the cake was to be stolen to be shared with others.

Success already tended to vary.

While Numbuh 5's attempt at it was a success, it came at a very heavy cost. The Delightful Children had responded to Sector V's attempt at stealing their cake via taking one of their "guests", Nigel, hostage and demanding that Sector V drop the cake or they'd do unspeakable things to him. Numbuh 5, not wanting to look weak, refused to hand it over and, in response, the Delightful Children did…something (no one ever actually told her what it was) to Nigel that not only rendered him bald, but would prevent him from ever having hair again. While obviously horrified, Nigel actually managed to prove a worthy asset to Sector V, successfully keeping the Delightful Children distracted enough that not only did they manage to escape with the cake, but also easily free the other kids who were being held captive. This got the young boy instantly scouted into the Kids Next Door and he was quickly showing a lot of promise.

"Kid's good," Numbuh 451 couldn't help but admit. Most people wouldn't even dare to go toe to toe with Numbuh 274, yet this kid was actually holding his own pretty well. At least, until Numbuh 274 pulled one of the oldest tricks in the book-sliding under someone and tying their shoelaces together. Numbuh 451 couldn't count how many times that trick saved her own behind when adults had spotted her and tried to chase after her.

"Not good enough to beat the Supreme Leader though!" Numbuh 8b taunted.

"Let's see you get in the ring with him, then," Numbuh 11 responded with a smug look.

"It's fine! I'm fine! No thank you!" Numbuh 8b quickly declared, backing away while holding his hands out.

"So, you gonna introduce me to this kid?" Numbuh 451 asked as she crossed her arms. "Wouldn't mind meeting Numbuh 5's new boyfriend."

"Ew! He's just Numbuh 5's friend!" Numbuh 5 instantly protested, causing Numbuh 451 to chuckle.

"Oh relax! I'm just teasing you," Numbuh 451 assured the younger girl, who grabbed her hand and started leading her to where the boys were fighting.

"Numbuh 451! Wasn't expecting to see you here!" Numbuh 274 greeted her.

"Could say the same to you, sir," Numbuh 451 replied with a salute.

"It's so weird that people older than me are saluting me and calling me sir," Numbuh 274 couldn't help but admit. "Feels awesome though!"

"Hey, you earned this," Numbuh 451 replied as she gave her old friend a friendly slug to the shoulder. She then turned to Numbuh 1. "So, this is the kid of the hour, huh?"

"You bet!" Nigel proudly declared as he looked over the person talking to him. "Wait…are you Numbuh 451!?"

"Well, duh!" Numbuh 451 smugly replied. "You know of anyone else this awesome?"

"Watch that ego, Numbuh 451," Numbuh 274 playfully chimed in. "Wouldn't want to charge you with insubordination, would you?"

"Oh please," Numbuh 11 piped up. "Neither of you would be half as impressive as you are if I hadn't been around."

"What are we, chopped liver?" Numbuh 8a angrily piped up as both he and his brother crossed their arms.

"You're all so cool!" Nigel gushed, cutting off any more fighting.

"Alright, I could live with that," Numbuh 451 joked, causing everyone to laugh.

"Do you think I'll get to go on any missions with you?" Nigel had to ask.

"With the way you are tearing through training?" Numbuh 451 asked. "No doubt I'll be seeing you in the field at some point." The stars in Nigel's eyes made her smile. She loved seeing the admiration towards her and the other people of her generation. It made up for the fact she knew she'd never see Sonia as a Kids Next Door operative…

"Damn it! Stop thinking about that!" Numbuh 451 internally growled. She still had, like, two months before her decommissioning! No reason to worry about it yet!

"Numbuh 451, are you okay?" Nigel asked, causing Numbuh 451 to realize that some of her internal frustration had become external.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Numbuh 451 quickly replied. "Was just thinking about those Delightful Children jerks."

"Yeah! Those guys are jerks!" Numbuh 5 agreed as she crossed her arms and looked down. "Sorry again, Nigel."

"It's fine," Nigel assured her. Numbuh 451 didn't pick up on any lying in his tone. "You were trying to stop the bad guy. Anyone would have done that!"

"See Abby?" Numbuh 11 piped up. "Told you he already forgave you."

"Numbuh 5 just feels bad," Numbuh 5 admitted.

"Well, I'm gonna make those Delightful jerks feel worse when I finally join the Kids Next Door!" Numbuh 1 declared proudly, causing the older kids to all grin. The Kids Next Door would be in good hands when they were gone.

Hey Numbuh 1! Couldn't resist having him show up, as well as revealing who's already been decommissioned. I had to do some thinking to explain why Numbuh 100 would get decommissioned even though all Supreme Leaders are implied to know about TND, making it less likely that they would even consider running from their own decommissioning. Thus, no one in the story really knows either. Anyways, next time…more tragedy. See you then.