Operation: P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

[sgamer82]

This is the first KND fic I wrote (though far from my first fic ever). It is currently available at Fanfiction.Net, but I prefer to post stories in actual threads. For those who prefer links, click here to go to the FF.Net version. This centers around Numbuh Three, so Three fans will (I hope) enjoy it).

I don't think I really need to say it, however, I do not own Codename: Kids Next Door. KND and its characters are the sole property of Mr. Warburton. Unless they were created by me, specifically for this story.

UPLOADING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION ONE:
OPERATION: F.L.U.O.R.I.D.E.
Fighting
Loyally
Under
Orders -
Ruin
Incisors,
Destroy
Enamel

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker

In a small building, in a small elementary school, in a small town, a huge battle raged. The heroes of childhood everywhere, the Kids Next Door, were in a desperate battle to prevent the adults of this school from conditioning their students in the most horrible manner possible.

The Kids Next Door had learned that the principal of the school had instituted a policy forcing children to, once a week, clean their mouths with fluoride provided to them in little packets. The Kids Next Door feared that, with enough such cleaning treatments, the children would be irreversibly brainwashed into keeping their teeth clean all day, every day. The school's faculty had to be stopped.

Enter Numbuh One, and his companions, Numbuhs Two through Five. They had determined the location of the fluoride's storehouse. It was a small building on the northeast end of the campus, up until now used for supplies, it had a sign on the door reading "Fluoride Storage."

The Kids Next Door hadn't expected an easy mission. And the adults hadn't disappointed. They had a small entourage of dentists guarding the fluoride. They were armed to the teeth with novacane dart guns, drill shooters, and heavy water jets which they kept aiming at the Kids' mouths. To make matters worse, they had even hired the Kids Next Door's foe, Knightbrace, to guard the candy. This move hadn't been anticipated and, as would be anticipated, was causing the Kids some problems.

Fortunately, the environment around them worked in their favor. The storehouse was stocked nearly to the ceiling with boxes filled with fluoride packets, which created a somewhat confined fighting space for the adults, while giving the much smaller adult-fighters an upper hand. Numbuhs One, Three, Four, and Five were engaged in combat. Using the small spaces between boxes to hide while they performed hit-and-run attacks on their elders. Numbuh Two was above the building in the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H., which had been specially refitted for this mission, preparing for the attack that would rid the school of the fluoride menace. All he awaited was his leader's command to let loose the coup de grace.

When Numbuh One felt confident that all was ready, he gave the signal.

"Kids Next Door! BATTLESTATIONS!!" he called out, spurring his teammates into action.

Five!

Numbuh Five maneuvered her way through the boxes, close to Knightbrace, who had armed himself with a drill gun. She climbed up the stacked boxes and prepared to jump a gap between one box and another. But not before calling out...

"Hey, ya dentist wannabe! Com an' drill Numbuh Five if ya got the guts!"

With that, the dark-skinned girl attempted the jump. Knightbrace, alerted to her presence, shot a drill out straight up to hit Five. However, Five's momentum carried her past the drill's trajectory, and it ended up hitting a high window on the wall. The spinning drill hit the window, putting some cracks in it before sputtering out and falling back to the floor and rolling into a corner.

Four!

Numbuh Four was already on top of the stacked boxes, waiting for Numbuh Five to make her move. When she did, he did. He took out a rubber band shooter out from his coat pocket and carefully aimed it at the crack Knightbrace's drill had put in the window. He fired the gun, causing a rubber band shot at full speed, finishing the job of destroying the window. It was now wide open. A few more rubber bands cleared the window of any excess glass.

Three!

Numbuh Three got a running start and jumped up to the now cleared window. She grabbed hold of the window sill and pulled herself up just long enough to wave out and alert Numbuh Two it was time, then call out to the others.

"Hey, guys! Look how high I am!"

A dentist saw Numbuh Three at the window and shot one of his novacane darts at her. Fortunately, she let go of the windowsill just in time to dodge the dart.

Two!

Up above the storehouse in the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H., Numbuh Two began activation of the weapon that would put an end to this school's teeth-cleaning brainwashing for good. He looked through a scope and, after seeing Numbuh Three's signal, aimed for the window she had been in. The instant Two had a lock he activated a switch on his console and a small hose shot out from under the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H., going right through the window.

One!

Numbuh One ran to the center of the room and caught the hose in his hand. He then turned towards the enemy dentists. With a smile on his face he flipped a switch on the ordinary looking garden hose with goggles attached, fully activating the Kids Next Doors' new weapon: The S.U.G.A.R-R.A.Y. (Sweetener Unleashing Garden Apparatus Really Revolts Adults, Yes?).

Stored in the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H.'s backside, several gallons worth of sugar began pumping through the hose. Down in the storehouse, the hose sprayed the sugar at a speed powerful enough to break through the crates and fluoride packets inside, totally corrupting the fluoride and preventing it from ever being used. The power of the hose was almost too much for Numbuh One to hang onto without being thrown around, but he held on. Numbuhs Four and Five lined up behind him, bracing him and easing the pressure on One a bit. He began turning the hose through the entire complex, destroying every crate the torrent of sweetener hit. There was only one major drawback to this part of the plan, it made all of the Kids Next Door open targets, vulnerable to attack.

Knightbrace picked up again and aimed a re-loaded drill shooter right at Numbuh One, who was spraying the S.U.G.A.R-R.A.Y. in another direction. He fired, but Numbuh Three, who had been momentarily distracted by a fly that had flown into the room via the broken window, saw out the corner of her eye the gun firing. She made a mad dash and tackled Numubh One to the ground. The drill missed Numbuh One entirely but it grazed Numbuh Three's forehead, causing a nasty cut just above her right eye.

Numbuh One had lost his grip on the hose when Three knocked him down but Four and Five immediately grabbed it and aimed it at Knightbrace, hitting him full blast square in the jaw. If the force of the sugar flow hadn't knocked his teeth out, the sugar itself would've rotted them. The dentists, seeing Knightbrace fall, retreated and left the Kids Next Door to complete their mission.

Upon doing so, Numbuh Four gave the S.U.G.A.R-R.A.Y.'s hose a sharp tug, and Numbuh Two began to reel it in. The Kids Next Door hung on to the hose as it was pulled back out of the window and back aboard the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. The near-hit by Knightbrace's drill had left Numbuh Three a bit disoriented, so Five and One held on to her arms in case she lost her own grip on the hose.

* * * * *

Aboard the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H., Numbuh 1 congratulated all the Kids Next Door on a job well done.

"That's one school that will think twice before making kids clean their teeth." Numbuh One said.

The other Kids Next Door agreed on that point.

"I'd also like to thank Numbuh Three for saving me from that drill."

"Awww..." Numbuh Three blushed a bit in her seat.

"Looks like yer the hero of the day, girl." Numbuh Five said.

"Yay!" Numbuh Three shouted as she jumped out of her seat, but then stumbled a bit "I... ooh... dizzy..." Three nearly fell over. Fortunately, Four caught her before she hit the floor.

"Do that again!" Numbuh Three said, once the dizziness passed.

"Hmm..." Numbuh One said, thinking out loud, "I think that cut is a bit worse than it looks. We better get it treated when we return to headquarters."

END OF TRANSMISSION ONE

[sgamer82]

CONTINUING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION TWO:
RETURN TO NORMALCY

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker

Kuki Sanban, also known as Numbuh Three, stood before the front door of her house. She was feeling better after the Kids Next Door got her back to Headquarters. They had bandaged her cut and she wasn't experiencing anymore dizzy spells. By the time her injuries were patched up and the Kids Next Door mission debriefing had finished, it was nearly seven o'clock. Kuki had opted to return to her home instead of staying over at the treehouse as she often did. She had already done so four times this week and, while Kuki's parents usually didn't mind, she knew they would prefer she slept at home more often.

So there she was, getting ready to enter her moderately-sized suburban home. It wasn't much different from other houses on the block. Two stories, white on the outside with a blue roof, good sized yard. Three began to open the door when she suddenly realized something she had to do. She looked at the stretched out sleeves of her green sweatshirt and rolled them up to her wrists. Her father often made a big deal about Kuki stretching out her clothes. She also ruffled up her bangs a bit, trying to get them to hang down lower over the bandage on her forehead. Her mother would freak if she saw it. She was very protective of Kuki.

Kuki unlocked the door using the key she wore around her neck and walked in. It was dark inside so Kuki assumed her parents had either gone out or were already asleep. But she no sooner closed the door when she heard someone lazily mumble "Kuki?" from the couch in the living room. The back of the couch was to the door so the speaker, Kuki's mom, had to get up a bit to see if it really was Kuki.

"Hi, mom." Kuki said happily, "What're you doin' down here in the dark?"

"Your daddy an' me were watching a movie and I guess we fell asleep." Mrs. Sanban said as she got up off the couch and stretched out a bit. Kuki now noticed the TV was on, though whatever movie they were watching had long ended. Kuki saw her father's head on the edge of the couch, sound asleep.

"So, dear, how was your day?" Mrs. Sanban asked her daughter as she walked toward the kitchen. A walk that would take her right past Kuki.

"Oh, it was okay." Kuki said, slowing inching her way to the staircase in front of the door before her mother could see the bandage on her head. However, she didn't get halfway there before her mom turned on a nearby lamp and lit up the room.

"Kuki... what's that on your head?" her mother asked as her eyes got used to the light.

"Um.. nothing." Kuki said, trying now for a full dash to the stairs.

"Kuki." said Mrs. Sanban in a much more stern tone. Kuki stopped in her tracks and braced herself for the inevitible. Her mother lifted the bandage, which was lightly taped on Kuki's head, and saw the cut underneath, slightly healed but still looking pretty gruesome. As expected, her mother freaked.

"Oh my goodness! Kuki! What happened?!"

Before Kuki could answer the question her mother scooped her up and carried Kuki to the upstairs bathroom. Mrs. Sanban wasted no time in putting Kuki down on the toilet and opening up the medicine cabinet.

"Iodine... iodine..." she muttered to herself before pulling out a bottle.

"NO! Not that!" Kuki shouted. She attempted to make a run for it, but her mom caught her and held on to her.

"Kuki, this will go a lot quicker if you just stay still!" her mom told her.

"But I don' want it to go at all!" Kuki whined. She was flailing her arms about and squirming trying to break her mother's grip.

"Kuki, I promise it won't be as bad as you think it will."

Kuki hesitated.

"You promise?" she asked.

"Yes, now please, sit down."

Kuki did as she was asked and gritted her teeth. It really wasn't as bad as she thought, though it wasn't very pleasant either. When her mom was done she walked out of the bathroom, rubbing her re-bandaged head from the sting of the iodine. She was so busy trying to rub out the lingering sting that she ran right into her father's legs.

"Oof..." Kuki muttered as the impact knocked her on her backside. She looked up to see her father looking down at her.

"You okay, sweetheart?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"What was all the screaming up here about?"

"I got a cut on my forehead and mom got idoine-happy again."

"Ah." said her dad, showing no surprise.

This happened fairly regularly. Kuki's mom was just a teensy bit overprotective of her daughter and would often overreact at even the smallest of injuries. Cuts would often result in a trip to the bathroom and a couple of drops of iodine to help the cut heal. Needless to say, Kuki never enjoyed this. She went along with it, though. It wasn't like her mom was trying to be mean. She was just scared for her little girl, and Kuki knew it.

"By the way, Kuki." her father called as Kuki started heading to her bedroom. "Why are your sleeves so stretched out?"

"Oops..." Kuki had accidentally undone the tucked in sleeves when she was fighting her mom. After a brief lecture on keeping her clothes in good condition, Kuki sighed and headed to her bedroom. She was tired after the excitement of today.

She got into a nightdress and went to bed. Her room was a bit more drab than the one in the treehouse. It was decorated in pastel wallpaper and had a small collection of stuffed animals on top of a toy chest. Though the amount was incredibly small next to the collection that took up the first three feet of her treehouse bedroom.

Nevertheless, after the long day she'd had, the bed felt good. Kuki drifted off quick.

* * * * *

The next morning Kuki got out of bed and dressed in her usual green sweatshirt & black pants. She ran downstairs and headed towards the kitchen for breakfast.

"G'morning." Kuki said to her folks as she sat at the table.

"Good morning, Kuki." said her father.

"Or," her mother said, "should we simply call you Numbuh Three."

* * * * *

Kuki's head suddenly jerked straight up. She saw she was still in her room, the morning sun starting to peek throught he windows. It was just a dream. A nightmare, really.

Ugh... she thought to herself, Why can't I have more Rainbow Monkey dreams? I like those!

Her parents had no knowledge of the Kids Next Door, or her membership in it. Her mother being how she was, Kuki knew her mom would never let her be a Kid Next Door if she knew. So Kuki was determined to make sure they never knew. Though sometimes, the deception got to her.

Most of the time, her dreams included ice cream, Rainbow Monkeys, her bunny robot Hippy-Hop. But every so often, she had a dream like that one. Where she was busted, her secret exposed. She always hated waking up from these nightmares. Her heart was always beating double-time when she awoke. She was almost always sweating. She especially hated when she woke up in the middle of the night because it was near impossible to go back to sleep.

Fortunately, it was already morning. While Kuki normally slept for a while, she wasn't feeling tired anymore. So she went ahead, got dressed and left for Kids Next Door HQ. Her parents called her for breakfast before she left but she didn't feel like breakfast at home today.

END OF TRANSMISSION TWO

[sgamer82]

CONTINUING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION THREE:
A SPY IN THEIR MIDST

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker

Despite leaving earlier than usual, Numbuh Three was the last one to arrive for the morning briefing. She came into the briefing room to see Numbuhs Five and Two staring at Numbuh Four. Numbuh One wasn't present but it wasn't hard to figure out why when Three saw Four.

Numbuh Four had a small fly on his nose. He was practically cross-eyed trying to look at it. He just stood there, still as a rock. When Three asked what they were all doing Five quickly hushed her. Three sat down next to Numbuh Two and watched along with them, trying to figure out what was happening.

After a few more moments, Numbuh Four suddenly moved his hand so fast it was a blur. He took a swat at the fly, which was still perched on his nose. The fly flew away before Four could hit it. Numbuh Four himself wasn't so lucky. He hit himself in the face with his right hand so hard he knocked himself backward a bit. Numbuh Five suddenly jumped to her feet and shouted to Numbuh Two.

"Ya see. What'd Numbuh Five tell ya? I knew he'd smack himself silly to get that fly. You owe Numbuh Five a Choco-Crunchy bar!"

So that's what they were doing. Five and Two had bet on whether or not Four would actually hit himself to get the fly. Obviously, Five had bet he would.

The boy in the pilot cap reached into his pocket, pulled out the candy bar they'd bet and handed it to Numbuh Five. Five put it in her pocket to save for later.

The fly buzzed around a bit then left the room. When it did Two called out that it was safe. Numbuh One came into the briefing room, scanning it to make sure it really was gone. Numbuh One hated insects. He'd told the other Kids Next Door that it went back to a bee-sting incident when he was two. When one of your first conscious memories is being put in the hospital by a bee-sting allergy, you tend to develop a dislike towards anything with more than four legs.

When One was convinced the insect had truly left, he regained his leaderly composure and began the Kids Next Door morning briefing.

"Good morning, team. It's good to see you all in good spirits." said Numbuh One, "Are you feeling well, Numbuh Three?"

"Yep, wet as rain!" Three exclaimed.

The others rolled their eyes at Three's slight mangling of the figure of speech. But nobody made a wise crack, they all figured they'd go easy on her today. Numbuh One continued, dropping the formalities and getting straight to business.

"Team, I have some disturbing news. As you all know, the appearance of Knightbrace at our last mission was unexpected. The fluoride operation we busted up was, compared to some that other Kids Next Door teams have found, relatively small. There should've been no reason for someone like Knightbrace to be present."

"That c'n only mean one thing." said Numbuh Five, picking up on where One was headed, "They knew we was comin' before we came."

"Yes, that's my theory as well." said Numbuh One. "Somehow, they learned of our mission to attack them."

"Ya don' think 'dere's a traitor here, do ya Numbuh One?" Numbuh Four said, "If there is a rat they're gonna deal with me!"

"I considered that possibility, Numbuh Four." But not happily. Numbuh One added to himself.

"I rejected it though. None of you knew any details of the mission until just before we left. There's no way they could've tracked down and hired Knightbrace in the time it took us to reach the school from the treehouse."

"Who could've known about it beforehand?" Numbuh Two wondered.

"There's only one guy here who coulda." Numbuh Five said, casting a glance at Numbuh One.

"Yeah, I know." Numbuh One said, looking at the floor, "I've known about the mission for a week. It was transmitted to me from moonbase headquarters. But I'm no spy."

Most of the Kids Next Door knew Numbuh One was one of the most loyal Kids Next Door there was. Even as the most likely suspect not a single one of them even considered One would betray them intentionally.

"So if none of us are traitors, how is it that our foes knew of our plans?" Numbuh One asked, wanting to see if any of the other Kids Next Door would come to the same conclusion he had.

Numbuh Three began jumping up and down and waving her oversleeved arms yelling "I know! I know!". Numbuh One wondered if he should hear her answer or not. He decided to risk it.

"Okay. Numbuh Three. How could they know?" Numbuh Three thought about it, as if trying to word her answer.

"Mmm.... they disguise themselves as bugs and sit on the walls?" she said, while looking around.

This time the Kids Next Door did react. They let out a communal groan.

"Um... I doubt that Numbuh Three." Numbuh one said, "They'd have to be pretty tiny for us not to notice them. Anyone else?"

Numbuh Three seemed disappointed her idea got rejected. But she quickly forgot it when she suddenly burst out into a fit of giggles. One was slowly getting irritated with Three. Though even he couldn't resist a smile when he caught a glance at what Three was laughing at.

Numbuh Four's face was starting to develop a red mark the rough size and shape of his right hand.

"Yeah, Yeah, yuk it up." Numbuh Four said angrily, his arms folded. Two and Five joined in the laughter. When they had gotten that out of their system, Numbuh One continued.

"Moving on. I do believe that somehow, our enemies are eavesdropping on us."

"But who is it? And how?" asked Numbuh Two, his curiosity starting to come up with possibilities. Numbuh one sighed.

"That I don't know, Numbuh Two. That I don't know."

[sgamer82]

In a mansion down the lane from the Kids Next Door's treehouse, five children sat quietly and watched TV. However, they weren't watching a TV show. They watched as the Kids Next Door, their adult-defying foes, researched ways to figure out how they were being spied on.

This was a slight problem for the Delightful Children from down the lane. Their surveillance of the Kids Next Door had proven an invaluable asset. It had provided them with much information on their enemies. But the Children had tipped their hands in alerting the faculty of the elementary school of the Kids plans to attack them. Now the Kids Next Door were on to their tricks. The Delightful Children had to figure out a way to make use of their advantage while they still had it.

They continued watching the Kids Next Door, to see if anything they did would yield something helpful. Their morning meeting had ended, and now they were checking out ways their security could've been compromised.

Numbuh One was poring over his notes from the briefing, trying to figure out just who was spying on them. He felt it was imperative to figure it out as soon as possible. The longer their security was compromised the longer every mission they went on would be jeopardized.

While Numbuh One worked on the "Who", Numbuh Five, the local expert in stealth & surveillance, was in the treehouse library working on the "how" and "what". She spent her time reading every comic book she could find with info on hard-to-detect spy equipment. If she could figure out what they were dealing with, then disabling it would a piece of cake.

Numbuh Two was assigned to trying to figure out the "when" part of the equation. Going on the assumption that what they were dealing with was electronic, he was charged with rigging up something that would detect when something other than Kids Next Door equipment was sending out signals to someone.

The Delightful Children made a note to try and do something about that device before it was finished.

Numbuhs Three and Four were assisting where they could. However, research wasn't really their thing. Three seemed to be handing out refreshments. While Four renewed his hunt for the fly that had invaded the treehouse. The Delightful Children remained mindful of him as their mechanical fly viewed everything within the house.

Once they had had to wait for the fly to return to them before they could view what it saw. But now it had been modified to the point that it could send live pictures. Father had been quite proud of his children for that development.

Unfortunately, their observation failed to gain them anything even potentially useful other than the fact that Numbuh Three puts way too much sugar in her lemonade (though Numbuh Five's reaction to trying some did earn a monotonous chuckle from the Children). They were just about to call the fly-spy back home when something happened.

The phone in the main briefing room began to ring. Numbuh Four was the first to reach it.

"Kids Next Door." he chimed in greeting, "Numbuh Four speakin'. Uh-huh. Kuki? Oh, yeah. I'll get 'er. 'Ang on.

Four put his hand over the receiver and called out in a loud voice.

"Yo' Numbuh Three, Ya Dad's on da p-oof!"

Before Numbuh Four could finish his sentence Three had tackled him to the ground and grabbed the phone out of his hand. She covered Four's mouth with her free hand and sat on his chest, pinning him to the floor.

"Oh, hi Dad. Yeah. I'll be here for a while." She said, with a slightly worried look on her face.

"Um, yeah... he did say "Kids Next Door". Uh... me an' Wallabee an' the others are... playin' spies. Yeah. We even get code-numbers. I'm Number Three! Yep. Be home by six? Okay. Bye-bye."

With that Numbuh Three let go of the phone and let Numbuh Four loose. Needless to say, Numbuh Four wasn't very happy with what just occurred.

"What th' bleedin' crud was 'dat all 'bout, Numbuh Three?!"

"I sorry Numbuh Four!" Three replied, "But I had to. My mom an' dad don't know about the Kids Next Door! If they did they'd never let me be one. My mom'd be too scared I'd get hurt. I'm so sorry."

Numbuh Four's anger seemed to diminish with the explanation. But he was still in a huff when he left the briefing room. He headed in the direction of his wrestling ring, possibly to work off some frustration.

In the mansion, the Delightful Children thought of the scene they had just witnessed. Kuki Sanban's mother and father didn't know of her membership in the Kids Next Door. That was a very useful bit of intel.

As all their thoughts do, the Delightful Children realized simultaneously what had to be done. It wasn't proper for children to deceive their parents so. The Delightful Children From Down The Lane decided that now might be a good time to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Sanban about their daughter's... extracurricular activities.

END OF TRANSMISSION THREE

[sgamer82]

CONTINUING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION FOUR:
FAREWELL

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker

Kuki was glad to be home. The day had been pretty dull. Nothing but research and more research. The only exciting thing that happened all day was the incident on the phone with her father. Numbuh Four still seemed pretty upset about being tackled when Three left. She made a note to try and remember to maybe draw him a picture or something in apology. The other Kids Next Door spent their day studying up on how someone could be eavesdropping on them. Three didn't join in it. It was too boring for her. When she tried to study on something like One or Five had been doing, her mind would always wander. So she just made some lemonade and, when that made Numbuh Five's face do things Three didn't know were possible, poured glasses of soda for everybody.

Just as she did the night before, Kuki used her key to open the front door. This time the inside of the house was well-lit. Her mother and father were standing in front of the front door. They seemed upset. But she couldn't fathom what.

"Hello, Kuki-chan." her father said.

"Or, perhaps," said her mother, "We should just call you Numbuh Three."

She didn't just say that! Kuki told herself, her heart beating triple-time, It's a dream. Just like all the other times... It'sadream!It'sadream!It'sadream!It'sadream!

"Well, Numbuh Three," her mother said again, "Which would you prefer?"

It'snotadream!It'snotadream!It'snotadream!It'snotadream!It'snotadream! They knew. Somehow... some way... Of course! That had to be it!

"Mom... dad... I told you... we were playin' sp-"

"Sanban Kuki! Don't you lie to us!" her father snapped. Kuki knew she was in for it now. Her father had just said her name in the Japanese style of family name first, then given name. For Kuki, that was the rough equivalent of when most other parents used their child's first, middle, and last names all together. In other words, uh-oh.

"I- I'm sorry..." Kuki said, starting to tear up. "I'm sorry I lied..."

"It's not just that you lied!" her mother said, "How could you go putting yourself in danger."

"It was for a good reason!" Kuki yelled.

"Yeah, sure." her father replied, "Vandalism, disobedience, causing all kinds of trouble. Those delightful children from down the lane told us all about it."

The Delightful Children?! Kuki suddenly realized, They're the spies! Numbuh One would be happy to know that... but then she remembered her current situation. She probably wouldn't get a chance to tell anyone.

"And fighting!" her mother said, continuing from where her father left off, "Fighting?! Kuki we raised you better than that!"

Kuki didn't know what to say. She just bowed her head down and tried to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"It ends now, Kuki-chan." her dad told her. Kuki's head instantly shot up.

"NO! You can't!" she cried.

"We can and we are." her mother replied, "There will be no more Kids Next Door in his house."

Kuki was speechless. She always knew her mother would ban her from the Kids Next Door. But she never really been prepared for it actually happening. She couldn't stop herself anymore, tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"No..." she said softly, "Please... no..."

Her parents seemed to soften a bit at the sincerity of Kuki's sadness. They knew the difference between real tears and fake this'll-get-me-what-I-want tears. But they stood firm.

"I'm sorry, Kuki." said her mother, "I know you consider them your friends. But you cannot be with them any more. First thing tomorrow, while you're at school, you're going to tell them that you are not a Kid Next Door any longer."

That was it. Any desire to hold anything back left Kuki at that moment. She ran past her parents, up the stairs, into her bedroom, and slammed the door hard. Mr. and Mrs. Sanban could hear Kuki's loud sobbing.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Kuki's mother asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Sanban considered what had happened. Kuki had taken their forbidding her from the Kids Next Door harder than they had thought she would. To Mr. Sanban, he had taken his daughter away from a band of troublemakers who would only drag her down with them. It had been for her own good. He wasn't so certain of his wife's feelings though.

He had been home alone when the Delightful Children had revealed all about the Kids Next Door. His wife had been putting in a few extra hours at work when it happened. He had explained to her what the children had told him. But her reaction hadn't been quite the same as his. He had been horrified to learn that his little Kuki-chan had been involved with such hoodlums. She seemed more stunned than anything.

"I'm sure we did. We dont' want Kuki being part of a gang of troublemakers like those kids."

"Yeah. Besides, now she won't be putting her life on the line." said Kuki's mother.

"Her life?" asked Mr. Sanban, "This is a pretty quiet neighborhood, dear, I doubt there's anything life threatening around here."

"Yeah... of course." she said.

Always worried aobut Kuki-chan. he thought.

"Still, Kuki shouldn't hang out with kids like that." said Mr. Sanban, "She may hate us for this now. But later on she'll be grateful we kept her out of trouble."

"You're right..." said Mrs. Sanban. Though she sounded like she wasn't entirely convinced.

"We did the right thing." said Mr. Sanban.

* * * * *

Kuki laid on her bed, curled into a fetal position, crying her eyes out. She held one of her stuffed animals close, hugging it to her tightly.

How could they do this?! She thought. The whole incident had been worse than she ever dreamed it. For a brief moment, when her mother told her that she was going to have to tell her friends she was out, she hated her parents. She wanted to sic the Kids Next Door on them and then run away to the treehouse to live there forever.

She'd calmed down a bit now. She wasn't sobbing so loudly, but she was still crying. Her head was a little clearer. She understood that her folks were just worried about her. But it didn't do anything to alleviate her sadness.

What am I going to do, now?

She soon cried herself to sleep.

* * * * *

The next day, Kuki sat in school, wondering what to tell her friends. She had avoided them most of the day and school was almost over. She couldn't bear to tell them what her parents had told her to do.

She sat at her desk in the middle of the classroom, her head resting on her hands, waiting for the final bell to ring. Her parents had practically had to drag Kuki to school today. She wasn't looking forward to what she knew was coming.

The final bell rang and Kuki headed out of the school building. She found the other Kids Next Door out front waiting for her, but farther up the path she saw, parked on the street, her father, waiting for her. Well, she'd put it off long enough.

She walked over to the other Kids Next Door, where Numbuh Five, who shared her class with the Delightful Children From Down The Lane, was saying that they'd been acting strangely all day.

"All day, they'd glance at Numbuh Five an' just start laughin', like they knew something Numbuh Five didn'."

"Very strange..." Numbuh One said, rubbing his chin.

They almost didn't notice Kuki walking up to them. But Numbuh Two saw her and greeted her. But they immediately noticed something was wrong.

"Guys..." Kuki said, "... I have something to tell you..."

"Numbuh Three, what's wrong?" Numbuh One asked.

"Yeah, you look like you just received the worst news of you life." Numbuh Two said.

"I can't be a Kid Next Door anymore..." Kuki said, so quietly the other Kids almost didn't hear her. But they did, and they realized, she did receive the worst news of her life.

"What?!" Numbuh Five shouted, "Why not?"

"They know..." said Kuki, "My parents found out... and now... now...." Kuki started crying. She couldn't do this. She ran off towards her dad's car, but stopped halfway there. She turned to the other Kids Next Door.

"It was delightful knowing all of you! Take care of the hamsters!" she called to them, before finally getting into the car with her dad and driving off.

The other Kids Next Door watched the car drive off. Their mouths all hung open from the shock of all that had happened. Numbuh Three was gone? How? Why?

"What... what happened?" Numbuh Two asked.

"Numbuh Three's parents... didn't know she was a Kid Next Door." Numbuh One explained, "It's really... it's quite common. Most kids are afraid the adults will try to get info from them regarding the Kids Next Door. In Numbuh Three's case, though, her mom and dad are very protective of her and she worried that they'd never let her put herself at risk the way a Kid Next Door does."

"So Numbuh Three kept it a secret." Numbuh Five said, understanding the situation.

"It's mah fault." muttered Numbuh Four. He was looking down at the ground, his fists were clenched, he was shaking.

"Her dad called, an' I blabbed we were the Kids Next Door... I blew it for 'er."

"There, there, Numbuh Four..." Numbuh Two said, trying to console his friend, but it was no good.

"I even called 'er Numbuh Three!" Four said, "I shoulda known betta'."

Nobody corrected him. Nobody really knew what to say, or to do. It was a very depressed group of four Kids Next Door who went to the treehouse that day.

END OF TRANSMISSION FOUR

[sgamer82]

CONTINUING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION FIVE:
COPING

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker


"Kuki?" she called through the door, "Kuki, honey?"

"Go away!" Kuki called back. Her mother opened the door a crack and peeked inside. Kuki was in bed, lying on her stomach, her face buried in a pillow.

"I made dinner. Are you hun-"

"NO!" she yelled, her voice muffled a bit by the pillow. Kuki moved her arms over her head as if to block her ears. Her mom noticed her sleeves had gone over her hands gain.

"Kuki," Mrs. Sanban said with a sigh, "I wish you wouldn't stretch out your sleeves like that."

Without moving her head, Kuki responded by taking hold of one of her sleeves and pulling at it as much as she could. Mrs. Sanban took the hint and just left her be. She'd come down when she was ready. She went downstairs to eat with her husband.

* * * * *

Upstairs in the bedroom, Kuki was sulking to herself. She was wondering if she should've kicked her mom out like that. Kuki was starving. But she didn't have any appetite. She wanted to eat, but at the same time didn't want to. She rolled over onto her back and sighed. There had to be something she could do. Some way to convince her folks to let her rejoin the Kids Next Door. But nothing was coming to her.

* * * * *

It was well past dinnertime and Kuki still hadn't left her room. Mr. Sanban was starting to worry she'd stay in there until she was near starving. Mrs. Sanban seemed unconcerned. She knew Kuki had to come out of that room eventually. Despite how Kuki was handling this, she had convinced herself that taking her daughter out of the Kids Next Door had been the right thing to do. However, with her increasing confidence in the decision, Mr. Sanban was beginning to feel less convinced.

As the parents got themselves ready for bed, Kuki's father was beginning to get distressed by the Kids Next Door situation. Neither parent had expected Kuki to take this so hard. She had taken the news that Rainbow Monkeys weren't real better than this. Mr. Sanban was beginning to wonder if those kids meant more to Kuki than it seemed. The Delightful Children had made it sound like they were a bunch of vandals that would turn on each other as soon as it suited them. He knew Kuki wasn't like that and, judging by how sad Kuki has been, he wondered if the rest of the kids were as bad as he'd been told.

"Dear," he said to his wife, "have you heard anything before now about these Kids Next Door?"

"Um... a little bit..." she said, "Hey, do you know if any good movies playing this weekend?"

Mr. Sanban wasn't about to let the subject change though.

"I'm starting to think those kids from down the street didn't quite tell me the whole truth."

"Perhaps..." Mrs. Sanban said absently.

"You think we should've waited and found out more before forbidding Kuki-chan to hang out with them?"

"No." replied Mrs. Sanban matter-of-factly, "Keeping her from the Kids Next Door was the right thing!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"At first, I wasn't. Kuki took it so hard I almost took it back. But, then I remembered my own time with them and knew it was for the best."

"Your own time?" asked Mr. Sanban. His wife jumped a bit, as if she'd let slip something she hadn't intended to say. She looked at him, obviously trying to decide what to say next. After a second it seemed she'd come to her decision. She went to the bedroom's dresser and pulled out a small wood box. Mr. Sanban had seen it plenty of times before, though Mrs. Sanban had always kept it hidden away. It was clearly something precious to her.

She opened the box, inside was a small, crudely made badge. It was red and had two lines written on it in white paint. Mr. Sanban took the badge from his wife's hand and read what it said.

"KND. Numbuh 30." he was confused, but then he remembered what Wallabee Beatles had called Kuki when they'd spoken on the phone.

"You... you were a Kid Next Door?!" he said. Mrs. Sanban nodded. This was a shock, he had thought they were just a little kids' club.

"The Kids Next Door," Mrs. Sanban began, "is a long standing group made up of kids from all over the world. Their cause is to fight for the rights of kids, and against the oppression of adults who would try to force their will on children. I was a part of the group when I was a kid, but was decomissioned when I turned 13, the, sort of, madatory retirement age."

Mr. Sanban was taking it all in, but it was hard to believe. A worldwide group dedicated to protecting kids. It was a bit hard to swallow. But he saw his wife's eyes and knew she was speaking the truth. He wasn't sure what to think of it all.

"I don't get it. If you were in this group, wouldn't you be proud of Kuki for finding it, too?"

"I am..." she said, her voice growing quiet, "but the work the Kids Next Door do is very dangerous. You'd be amazed how many adults out there are just plain crazy. The Kids Next Door are the most important, most imperiled, line of defense against those grownups.

"I remember every mission I ever went on." she continued, starting to get teary eyed, "I remember being very frightened a lot of the time. It's dangerous work, and I was almost happy to be decommissioned. When I was, I swore to myself, that if I ever had kids they would never put themselves in that kind of danger. Kuki can hate me for the rest of her life if she wants, but I will never let her put her life on the line."

"But..."

"And not you, or anyone else, will convince me otherwise."

Mr. Sanban went to bed that night a little wiser, but still unsure of what to do about his daughter and whether or not his wife is right.

* * * * *

At the time that discussion was happening, the Kids Next Door, meloncholy bunch after the day's events, sat in the treehouse base. The shock of Numbuh Three's resignation was still affecting them. Fortunately, there were no missions scheduled for the day, and there had yet to be an enemy attack, so the lack of morale wasn't affecting their work, yet.

They had tried to take their minds off of their sadness, but nothing they tried worked. They had tried Hide and Seek, but ended shortly after realizing that some of the best hiding spots were under Numbuh Three's stuffed animals. All the hiders could be under there and the seeker would never find them. So that was out.

They attemtped watching TV, but it just happened that today was the day of the annual 12 hour Rainbow Monkey marathon. Just the mention of the apes made them think of Numbuh Three, one of their biggest fans.

They tried to busy themselves with some maintenance work, but soon the lights started dimming. The hamsters missed their caretaker already. And it was showing in that they were less motivated to do their job as power generator for the treehouse.

Finally, they attempted playing cards. Even stayed up most of the night doing it. But even that wouldn't work.

"It just isn't the same without Numbuh Three!" Numbuh Two cried out as he put his cards on the table.

"Yeah, I can still pic'cha 'er sittin' 'dere, yellin' "Go Fish!" lamented Numbuh Four.

"Then one of us would have to remind her we was playin' Gin Rummy." said Numbuh Five with a sigh.

"Then, ten minutes later, she would forget and we'd do it all over again." said Numbuh One, "I can't believe it. It was so sudden."

"Yeah," said Numbuh Four, "one minnit she was 'ere, the next, she was sayin' how delightful it was knowin' us..." Numbuhs One and Five suddenly had a strange look on their faces.

"What?" Four asked.

It was only just now registering that Numbuh Three had used the word "delightful" when she'd said good bye. The Kids Next Door usually avoided using that word, considering their worst enemies were the Delightful Children From Down The Lane.

"That's it!!!" One and Five shouted simultaneously.

"What's it?" Numbuh Two asked.

"She was tryin' to tell us!" said Numbuh Five.

"The spies, the ones who were eavesdropping on us..." said Numbuh One.

"They were the Delightful Children From Down The Lane!" Numbuh Five finished.

"They're the ones who exposed Numbuh Three!" said Numbuh Four, feeling both anger, at the Delightful Children, and relief, at the fact that it hadn't been him who did it.

"We have to do some-"

That was as far as Numbuh Two got before the explosion blew apart the treehouse wall.

END OF TRANSMISSION FIVE

[sgamer82]

CONTINUING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION SIX:
RETURN TO AGENCY

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker

The explosion was sudden, catching the Kids Next Door completely by surprise. The card table they were sitting at was thrown down to its side and the Kids Next Door had been knocked off their chairs onto their seats. A big gaping hole was in the west wall, out to the clear night.

Easily visible through the hole was a fairly large reptile. It was green skinned and bipedal. It had a long snout and spikey scales all along its back and tail. Hovering next to the creature, in a small flying saucer type device, were the Delightful Children From Down The Lane.

"Hello, Kids Next Door." said the Children in their monotone, "We heard you had an opening in your ranks, and thought we'd bring in someone to fill it." They gestured to the large reptile, "This is Goda Zira, Father imported him all the way from Tokyo. Since your lost member was Japanese, we deemed it...appropriate."

The Kids Next Door had recovered from the initial attack and gotten back to their feet. Upon seeing the large beast in front of them, Numbuh Five made a bee-line for the big gun turrets. She jumped into a crow's nest located just outside the north end of the treehouse and whipped out the cannons, aiming them right for Goda Zira. She let loose as much firepower as she could muster.

Goda Zira seemed to slow down at the assault but it didn't seem to be really hurting him. Zira looked right at Numbuh Five and opened his mouth wide, a blue light starting to form in his mouth. Numbuh Five had seen enough monster movies to know what that meant and abandoned the crow's nest just before a blast of light from Goda Zira's mouth fried it.

Fortunately, Numbuh Five's assault stalled Goda long enough for the other Kids Next Door to get to their own weapons. Numbuh Two donned his fly-suit, which used a set of tennis raquets to mimic the wings of an insect. He also grabbed a S.C.A.M.P.P. and readied for battle. He flew up and began shooting at Goda at every opportunity, easily dodging the lizard's attempts to swat him.

Numbuhs Four and One headed for the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. Numbuh Two hadn't finished refitting it so the S.U.G.A.R.-R.A.Y. was still installed. Four pulled out the S.U.G.A.R.-R.A.Y.'s hose while One ran to the cockpit and activated it. Numbuh Four aimed the hose right at Goda Zira's chest as One put the S.U.G.A.R.-R.A.Y. at full power.

The blast of sweetener seemed to push Goda back. The force of the sugar and Numbuh Two's S.C.A.M.P.P. blasts from above seemed to push Goda backwards accross the street. It wasn't meant to last however, as the S.U.G.A.R.-R.A.Y.'s ammo ran dry within seconds. They were disconnecting it so nobody had thought to reload it.

Goda Zira recovered from the blast of tooth rotting goodness and sent a blast from his mouth right at the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H., completely blowing apart the back end. One abandoned ship and parachuted down to the ground. He then shot his clawed hand out at where Numbuh Four was standing. Four dove for cover as Goda tore out more of the already blown apart wall. Goda then stopped and watched carefully for Numbuh Two. The next time the chubby Kid Next Door took a shot Goda was able to swat him easily, knocking Two down to the street.

Numbuhs Five and Four ran to the street as well, bringing more S.C.A.M.P.P.s with them. They probably wouldn't do much, but at least they weren't unarmed.

* * * * *

The Sanbans had been asleep when the explosion that rocked the Kids Next Doors' treehouse carried over to their home. The parents leaped out of bed instantly, their first instinct to check on their daughter's safety.

They were surprised, and not very happy, to see Kuki was already out of bed and pulling on her sweatshirt, getting ready to head out.

"Kuki-chan! What are you doing?!" Mr. Sanban asked.

"I'm going! That explosion came from our treehouse! I gotta go help!"

Before Mr. Sanban could react, Mrs. Sanban grabbed Kuki's shoulders and kneeled down to look Kuki right in the eyes.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Kuki didn't look away when she answered.

"Yes, I am." she told her mom, "I'm going. 'Cause my friends need me; and not you, or anyone else'll tell me different!"

Both parents were shocked by their daughter's words. She'd occaisionally do things she wasn't supposed to, sure, but she had never so openly defied them. This worried Mr. Sanban, Kuki was determined to go, and nothing the two adults did, short of chaining her to her bed, was going to stop her. But he was also worried about the rift this would cause between Kuki and her mother. He feared that if something wasn't done to diffuse this situation right now, Kuki and her mother would resent one another for the rest of their lives.

But what can I- yeah, that could work.

Mr. Sanban gently took hold of his wife's shoulder and pulled her aside, out of earshot from Kuki. He had to do something, even if it meant letting Kuki risk herself. His gut told him it was what had to be done.

"We've gotta stop her!" Mrs. Sanban whispered to him.

"I have to ask you something..." Mr. Sanban began.

"Is now really the ti-"

"Would you do it again?"

"What?" Mrs. Sanban asked in surprise.

"I'm asking you, if you could go back in time and be a Kid Next Door again, knowing everything you do now, would you do it again?"

Mrs. Sanban just stared at her husband for several seconds. This question had never occured to her. Ever. She had to think about it. In doing so, she remembered much of her days as Numbuh Thirty. A lot of the missions were scary, and she remembered being frightened much of the time. But she also remembered other times. Where she and her friends shared a box of candy, played games, or otherwise enjoyed themselves. She realized that the good times with the Kids Next Door were some of her most precious memories. Memories she would always cherish... and would never give up. Her eyes widened a bit as the realization came to her.

This is exactly how Kuki feels!!

She looked at her daughter, seeing her child in a whole new light. Kuki had unknowingly taken up the same cause her mother had fought for so long ago; while her mother had become what she once fought against. Kuki watched her mother, unsure of what the changes in her expression meant. But Kuki's father knew what was happening. It was a long shot, but it was working. Kuki's mom was realizing what it had meant to her to be a Kid Next Door. Kuki's mother once again kneeled down in front of her daughter, and looked her right in the eyes.

"Kuki," Mrs. Sanban said, tears starting to form in her eyes, "This is what you want? To go and aid your friends?"

"Yes." Kuki replied.

"And... and you know how dangerous it'll be?"

"Yes." Kuki replied, wondering where this was headed.

"Then..." her mom said, "then... go. Help your friends."

For a moment Kuki didn't believe what she'd just heard. Her mom had just given her permission to be a Kid Next Door. Kuki was suspicious at first, her mom had a strange look in her eyes. When Kuki looked up at her father, he had a similar expression in his. She wouldn't realize it for a while, but what was in her parents' eyes was a newfound pride in their daughter. A daughter who, at the young age of ten, was already trying to help others, even if it cost her.

Right now, the only thing running through Kuki's mind was the feeling that her friends needed her. Much to her parents' shock, Kuki jumped out the open second story window, grabbed on to a branch of a nearby tree, and from their dropped to the ground, landing on her feet. Kuki pulled up her left sleeve, revealing the wrist-communicator she wore. Into it, she spoke only one phrase.

"Code X79."

[sgamer82]

Deep within the lower levels of the Kids Next Door's treehouse base, a machine activated. It was created by a former Kid Next Door agent, Achika Nijuuten, but she had been de-commissioned before she would see it in action. The machine was a large, bunny shaped vehicle, about as big as a house. It was Numbuh Three's favorite weapon, the R.A.B.B.I.T. (Robotically Activated Bunny Blasting Infrared Torpedoes), or, as Numbuh Three preferred to call it, Hippy-Hop.

The robotic rabbit responded to the X79 command by turning on its autopilot and going straight to the location the transmission had come from. Hippy-Hop was on the other end of the treehouse, away from the fighting, so nobody noticed its leaving.

Numbuh Three waited on the sidewalk for Hippy-Hop to show up. Her parents stood at the front door, behind Three, wondering what she was waiting for. They got their answer when Hippy-Hop appeared. It stopped right at the curb (in a perfect parallel park, no less) and Numbuh Three jumped right in when the cockpit hatch opened up for her. Within the vehicle's cockpit, a screen prompted Three for the operator's password. Calling Hippy-Hop was one thing, but only Three knew how to actually work it. She entered the password 'Nijuuten', her own little tribute to Hippy-Hop's maker. The console in front of Three lit up. All systems were go.

Numbuh Three drove off, making a U-Turn and then heading straight for the Kids Next Door treehouse. But not before making one more stop in front of her house. She stopped, raised the pilot's hatch, looked her to her parents.

"By the way..." she said, "Rainbow Monkeys are real!"

With that, she closed the hatch, and hopped off to battle. Her parents just watched, Kuki's dad with a very surprised expression on his face.

"They have robots?!" he asked

"Yep." answered his wife.

"And Kuki-chan knows how to pilot them?"

"Yep."

"There's a lot I don't know about the Kids Next Door, isn't there?"

"Yep."

* * * * *

Numbuh Three made her way to the treehouse and saw the battle between the Kids Next Door and Goda Zira. The Kids Next Door were all in the street, despearately trying to run from the large, house-sized creature. They were running in Three's direction, though nobody had noticed the bunny robot yet.

Most people, in this situation, after all that had happened, would grit their teeth, get serious, and fight their hardest. However, most people weren't Kuki Sanban.

This is gonna be fun! she thought.

END OF TRANSMISSION SIX

[sgamer82]

CONTINUING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION SEVEN:
OPERATION: G.O.D.A.Z.I.R.A.

Godzilla's
Obvious,
Deliberate,
And
Zealously
Intentional
Ripoff
Acknowledged

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker

The Kids Next Door ran from Goda Zira, the monster the Delightful Children From Down The Lane had sicced on them. They were armed with S.C.A.M.M.P.s firing at Goda as they ran. However, the shots had little effect on the large reptile and eventually the Phlazers ran out of power, forcing the Kids to just run. They were almost at the end of the block, almost to where Numbuh Three was waiting with Hippy Hop.

Numbuh Three's friends were ecstatic when they saw her in her bunny robot. They were even happier when Three launched a pair of carrot-shaped missiles at Goda Zira, which actually seemed to hurt him a bit. He staggered back and watched, taking an opportunity to examine this new player.

"Hi guys!" Numbuh Three called out to her friends through Hippy-Hop's external loudspeakers.

"Numbuh Three!" Numbuh One said, "What are you doing here?"

"Me an' Hippy Hop came to help." she replied.

"Numbuh Five thought yer folks didn' wan'cha in the Kids Next Door." said the stealth operative.

"I don't know why, but they changed their minds."

"Well, I fer one ain't complainin'!" Numbuh Four said.

"Yeah," Numbuh Two said, "With Hippy Hop, we might be able to beat this thing."

"You mean the big lizard?" Numbuh Three asked.

The Kids Next Door looked at Goda Zira, who was standing about 30 feet away, still watching the Kids Next Door.

"Uh-huh." Numbuh Two confirmed, "We tried everything we could get to. The defense turrets, the S.U.G.A.R.-R.A.Y., even my fly suit and S.C.A.M.P.P.s"

"That's what you used?" Numbuh Three asked, "Well no wonder you didn't beat 'im."

"And just what is that s'posed ta mean?" Numbuh Four asked.

'Don't you know? The best way to stop giant lizard monsters is with a GIANT ROBOT BATTLE!' Numbuh Three said, emphasizing the last three words.

"Numbuh Five did not know that."

"Well yeah," said Three, "You gotta have a big robot to beat a big monster. Either that or have another big monster, or maybe be a Powerpuff Girl. Which would be kinda cool 'cept white stockings make my legs look fat and-"

"Numbuh Three!" Numbuh One called, "He's coming back!"

Indeed, Goda Zira had decided the big rabbit was nothing to worry about, and was renewing its attack.

"Maybe, since you're the only one here with a weapon, you should do something about it."

"Okay." Numbuh Three said. The other Kids took cover while Numbuh Three readied for battle with the approaching enemy. The Delightful Children From Down the Lanes' hovercraft landed right next to them.

"Well, it seems the cavalry has arrived... too late." they said, then started their monotonous laugh.

"Numbuh Three can beat your lizard!" Numbuh Two yelled.

"If our past encounters are any indication, Numbuh Three will probably get distracted by a something shiny and get crushed." the Children taunted.

Numbuh One didn't believe what they said, though. He knew something only a veteran of several battles could know; in any conflict, be it a simple game or a all-out war, there is one element that is always beyond the control of the participants. One element, on whose whims a well thought out plan can be a complete failure. One element that can turn a reckless charge into the battle-winning strike. Most call this element 'luck', or 'fate'. However, the Kids Next Door had their own special name for this element: Numbuh Three.

And right now, she was ready to fight. Inside Hippy Hop's cockpit Numbuh Three armed her weapons and readied herself. Goda approached. When he was close enough, Numbuh Three dove Hippy Hop between the monster's legs and under its tail. Now behind the creature, Numbuh Three turned and faced her enemy.

"Are ya hungry, Hippy Hop?" she asked the robot as she pushed a button, which caused Hippy Hop to start biting into Goda Zira's tail like a real-life rabbit would a carrot. Goda roared in pain. He swung his tail, flinging the still chewing Hippy Hop into the air and onto its back. Numbuh Three was rocked a bit, but not too badly, since she was buckled in tightly. Three quickly righted herself and prepared for the next attack.

Goda Zira opened its mouth, and a blue light began forming from within it.

Ooh, Pretty. Thought Numbuh Three, but she suddenly heard her friends shouting warnings at her. That usually meant she should move from wherever she was. She hopped straight up in the air, just barely ahead of the blast from Goda Zira's mouth.

That wasn't very nice, trying to hit me while I was down. Three thought. She activated another switch and, outside, Hippy Hop's mouth opened, revealing another set of carrot-torpedoes which launched right at Goda's still-open mouth. He performed another mouth blast to destroy them. He blasted them just as their were inches from his head, causing them to blow up right in his face.

Goda Zira staggered, his eyes were briefly blinded by the close explosion. This gave Numbuh Three ample time to land back on the ground and leap up again, this time tackling the monster right in the gut.

The Kids Next Door were cheering Numbuh Three on, while the Delightful Children just stared. Goda Zira getting knocked onto his back by a giant bunny rabbit wasn't what they had planned.

Numbuh Three waited for Goda Zira to get up before trying to attack again. Though that turned out to be a mistake, because this time Goda anticipated Three's attack and managed to get Hippy Hop in a headlock. Goda might've ended up tearing off the robot's head, but Three activated a defensive weapon. An electric shock ran through the outside hull and shocked Goda. Three managed to squirm herself away and, as Goda stumbled around from the shock, made Hippy Hop leap into the air, landing a jump kick right between the monster's eyes.

This time, when Goda Zira recovered, he had had enough. He let out another mouth blast, right at Numbuh Three. This time, though, Numbuh Three wasn't fast enough to dodge it. It hit Hippy Hop in the back and almost completely immobilized it. Goda approached Hippy Hop. Numbuh Three searched frantically for something she could do, but that last attack left Hippy Hop's systems completely fried. It seemed that it was over. But Goda stopped in front of Hippy Hop and, to everyone's surprise, spoke.

"(You pilot your robot well.)"

Nobody was surprised by this at first. Mostly because the monster had spoken in Japanese and only Numbuh Three had understood that he was actually talking. Her father had a strong belief in knowing the family heritage, so he had made sure Kuki could speak fluent Japanese. Upon hearing Goda Zira's complement, she opened her hatch.

"(Thank you, Mr. Monster!)" she answered.

Now it was starting to dawn on everyone that Numbuh Three and Goda had started speaking to each other.

"(What is your name, little one?)" Goda asked.

"(My name is Sanban Kuki. But my friends call me Numbuh Three.)" she replied.

"(Well, Numbuh Three, for one so young, you are a strong pilot.)"

"(Really?)"

"(Yes, I hadn't expected a challenge. Those, what did they call themselves?)"

"(Delightful Children from Down the Lane?)"

"(Ah, yes. They said this would be easy. I almost didn't take the job, but the money was good. Now I'm glad I did.)"

"(You're so sweet.)" Numbuh Three said, blushing a bit at the praise.

"(Perhaps, one day, we can battle again.)" Goda said.

"(But didn't they hire you to destroy us?)"

"(Yeah, but that would mean destroying an opponent with a lot of potential. Farewell.)" with that Goda started walking off.

"Bye bye!" Kuki yelled.

"Hey! Wait!!" the Delightful Children called. Goda stopped and looked at them.

"We hired you to destroy the Kids Next Door! Now do it!" they ordered. Goda looked at Three.

"(What does 'Delightful' mean, anyway?)" he asked her.

"(Um... it means 'goes well with ketchup'!)" she answered.

"(It does, does it?)" Goda asked, a gleam in his eye. He suspected she wasn't quite telling him the truth. But then... what did he know? Goda turned on the Delightful Children who, upon seeing him lick his chops, got the idea and ran back to their hovercraft, making a mad dash for home. But not before swearing revenge on the Kids Next Door.

The Kids Next Door cheered as Goda chased after the Delightful Dorks. Their enemies had been beat and, more imporantly, Numbuh Three was back!

END OF TRANSMISSION SEVEN

[sgamer82]

CONTINUING...
KIDS NEXT DOOR MISSION:

OPERATION:
P.A.R.E.N.T.S.

Parental
Attention
Readily
Exposes
Never
Told
Secrets

TRANSMISSION EIGHT:
EPILOGUE

WRITING OPERATIVE:
Stephen 'Sgamer82' Barker

The Kids Next Door got to work immediately in repair work on their treehouse. They used some of their lifting equipment to put Hippy-Hop and the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. back in their respective hangars. It was tiring work, but after their victory over the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, and the return of Numbuh Three, the Kids Next Door had no problem with a little extra work. Besides that, all the excitement had left them buzzed, they weren't sleeping anytime soon anyway.

The Kid Next Door hamsters also aided in the repairs. They were ecstatic at their caretaker's return and actually ended up doing a lot of the little jobs while the Kids Next Door themselves handled the big fixes. When all the repairs were the Kids settled into their usual routine after a successful mission: Big party!

The Kids Next Door were standing over a table of various snacks when Numbuh One asked everyone to quiet down and let him speak.

"First of all." he began, holding up a cup of soda, "I'd like to make a toast. To Numbuh Three. We missed you."

Three blushed a bit as everyone clinked their cups together.

"I'd also like to say you did a wonderful job at getting rid of that monster."

"Yeah," said Numbuh Five, "If we're lucky maybe he'll catch those Delightful Brats."

The Kids Next Door all laughed. Three had filled them in on her conversation with Goda Zira, including what she had told him 'Delightful' meant. They didn't really think he'd eat them. The Delightful Children From Down the Lane had a good arsenal at their disposal. The Kids Next Door figured he would just mess with the Delightful Children a bit before heading home.

"What made you come up with that, anyway?" Numbuh Two asked the girl.

"I dunno. It just came t'me." Numbuh Three admitted.

The party went on for a while, until the Kids Next Door had finally started to run out of steam. Numbuh Three was getting ready to head to her bedroom, she missed it and planned to stay over tonight, when Numbuh One pulled her aside.

"Um... Numbuh Three..." he said to her, "I didn't want to ask you this in front of the others... but..." he was trying to figure out a way to ask this that wouldn't offend or embarrass her.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Well, you were very impressive tonight. And, it kind of begs the question... well..."

"Well..." Three said with a smile, she was liking this game.

"Well... It would certainly have made our missions a lot easier if you would've taken them seriously... so... why aren't you like that more often?" One asked.

"Oh, that's easy." Numbuh Three said, "I don't wanna."

Numbuh One just stared, his mouth hanging open, as Numbuh Three skipped off to her room.

* * * * *

The Sanban adults watched from their bedroom as what seemed to be a big job of construction went up up the street. It was clear that the Kids Next Door had won their battle and were making repairs. Mrs. Sanban stood in her husband's embrace, watching the lights from their tree house in the distance. After a while, they finally went out, the kids had gone to bed. Mrs. Sanban let out a sigh.

"Try not to worry too much." Mr. Sanban told her, "Kuki's a bright kid. And it isn't like she hasn't got friends to watch out for her."

"Yeah, I know." she said, "But I'm still going to worry. You can't tell me you aren't."

"No, I'm just as scared as you are that something could happen. But you said it was only until she was thirteen, right?"

Mrs. Sanban nodded.

"Well, then, I'm just going to look at it as a reason to actually look forward to her reaching puberty."

Mrs. Sanban chuckled a bit. That was definitely one way to look at it. The humorous thought helped ease her fear a bit. She looked at her husband and gave him a quick kiss before breaking form his embrace and getting into bed. He walked over, got into bed, and turned out the light.

"Good night, Kenji." said Mrs. Sanban.

"Good night, Achika" said Mr. Sanban.

END OF TRANSMISSION EIGHT

END TRANSMISSION

[knd861724]

*****
5 stars

Oh Yeah!!! I remember reding this one @ FF.net! I REALLY enjoyed it!

I liked the fact that it took a look into what the parents must be thinking about all of this.

I enjoyed the fact that u made her mother be part of the KND, it proves that u understand that the numbuhs' are recycled, and that the KND has been around for awhile.

**really liked it**

[creelincoln]

Good job!!