Categories > Cartoons > Codename: Kids Next Door > Nextgen Kids: The Nature Wars
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to begin the Nextgen Series of the Gameverse. We will begin with this long one-shot and it will be followed by a series of smaller one-shots that will introduce the Nextgen Kids Next Door. But first, I wonder what Nolan York is up to in the future?/
The NEW Adventures of Sandman and Coldman
Nighttime in Quahog, Rhode Island was rarely beautiful. The streets were dark and damp, and the only lights came from that of the streetlights. Things were not peaceful. At least, not for a certain theater. Hundreds of people forcibly tied up, sitting in rows along the audience as they faced ahead at the stage. Standing upon the stage, a short figure, dressed like a king, in gray pants, black shoes, red shirt, and king’s crown stood, holding up a gray puppet-holder with colorful, glowing spots on the ends of it. The figure himself was designed like a puppet, standing atop a small stand as a row of puppets floated above the stage.“Silence, my dear audience.” The Puppet King spoke in a low tone. “And let my friends perform. From the top, my puppets: OHH, Old King Coal was a merry old soul!”“Yodeladi-yodeladi, lo-HEE-HOO!” The puppets sang as the King made them dance around in midair. A grappling hook suddenly shot from the side of the stage, zipping by and pulling back to chop the strings which the floating puppets hung from, dropping to the floor. The Puppet King looked with confusion, and a laser zapped over and burned the stand he stood on, dropping him to the stage. “You know, you shouldn’t force people to watch crummy shows like this.” The Puppet King turned his attention toward the side of the stage, seeing a figure in black cargo pants, gloves, grey hoodie, and a gas mask sitting in a wheelchair. “Matter of fact, you shouldn’t be here at all.” The figure said, moving closer, out of the shadowy corner to give the Puppet King a better look. “Shouldn’t you and the rest of your Brotherhood cronies be posing as ice sculptures?”“Well, well, what do we have here? Sandman, isn’t it? I hardly recognized you with the wheelchair.”“That guy’s old news. You can call me: Sandman II: Now It’s Personal!”“…What the hell kind of name is that?” Puppet King asked.“Forget about it! The point is, I’m here to kick your butt. Now, we can either do this the hard way,” he readied his gas gun, “or the /hard way.”“Or, we can simply do it my way. I bet those limp legs of yours would make great puppetry. Come, my puppets: show our guest the true beauty of puppetness and strings.” At his command, some people walked out from the other end of the stage. The puppets he was previously making dance appeared to be designed from these people, and they had glowing blue eyes. Sandman could tell he had switched their souls with the puppets. He also recognized one of the puppets as Officer Swanson. Puppet King sent the possessed people after Sandman, who was careful when fighting them, seeing as they were actual people. He merely punched his punching glove from his wheelchair at their faces to knock them unconscious, and also used his gas gun to make them cough and fall asleep. Puppet King, unable to breathe in the gas, shooed the gas away to get a look at the hero again.“You know, you remind me of this other guy I know that was in a wheelchair. In fact, it was his fault that all of my Brotherhood friends had been frozen.”“Really? He sounds neat. I’d like to meet him.”“Unfortunately, you won’t even get the chance.”“GRR!” Sandman was suddenly gripped by a massive hand, looking up as the giant alien villain, XL Terrestrial lifted him up. “What? You, too?!”“You see, Sandman,” Puppet King began, stepping closer, “while all of the other villains were frozen, XL Terrestrial and I were able to make a miraculous escape. Now it’s time to squeeze you like jelly out of a plumb. But first, perhaps we’ll see just what lies under that mask of yours…” XL Terrestrial reached his other arm over, about to grab Sandman’s mask in his fingers and pull it off…To Sandman’s good fortune, a pair of icicle missiles shot over and struck Terrestrial’s arm, causing him to drop the hero and his chair back to the floor. “What the-“ Puppet King tried to say, taking notice of another figure standing on one of the balconies over the audience. The second hero jumped down to their floor, and appeared to be dressed in an icy-blue Eskimo-like coat, with black pants, black shoes, and a silver Eskimo-like metal mask, with metal points along the side that were designed like feathers. The figure also wore a pack full of ice on his back, with a hose attached to it. The figure launched various icicles from his fingers, slicing the ropes which held the audience captive. “Now unless you wanna be on the news for being injured in a hero/villain’s line of fire, I’d suggest you scram now.” He ordered. The audience immediately piled out of the auditorium.“Oh, great. And who are you supposed to be?” Puppet King asked.“You can call me…” the icebender stepped closer, “Coldman II: A Frosty Comeback.”“What is this, Cheesy Name Tuesday?” XL Terrestrial asked.“Well, whatever the case may be, these so-called heroes are getting on my nerves. Puppets: attack them!”The controlled people rose back up and started attacking Sandman again. Coldman ran around the chamber as XL Terrestrial tried to stomp him, but the giant alien’s feet were too slow, and the frosty hero dashed around and shot ice chunks at his head from the hose on his pack. Terrestrial was pelted in the face and fell over, his hand crushing and destroying part of the stage, but Puppet King jumped away and dodged. The possessed citizens kept coming at Sandman, but the half-crippled hero kept shooting them away with gas blasts. He noticed the glow emitting from Puppet King’s holder, and yelled, “Coldman, grab his Control!” The ice-themed hero took notice of his magical puppet-holder, but XL Terrestrial recovered and snapped the hero in his hands, binding his arms. Coldman tried to shake away, and was able to blow Ice Breath through his mask and into the alien’s face. Terrestrial dropped Coldman and tried to rip the ice off, then ended up tripping and falling over.“No!” Puppet King gasped when Sandman shot his grappling hook over to take his Control. He tossed it to Coldman, who unleashed ice from his hands and froze it in midair, afterwards making it shatter to pieces. The souls were freed from the lifeless puppets upon the stage, flowing back into their actual bodies. The two heroes then turned and watched as the defeated XL Terrestrial shrunk back to normal, too. Not too long after, the police had come. The crippled officer Swanson, now looking pretty ancient, handcuffed the two criminals and led them into the back of a police van. “You guys give freakshows a bad name.” the Chief of Police told them. “And by the way, uh… I don’t suppose either of you know what a poopsack is.” The two villains exchanged weird glances and shook their heads ‘no’. “CRAP!!”The heroic duo of Sandman and Coldman watched from atop a building as the villains were locked into the van. “And the day is saved once again.” Sandman simply stated. “Thanks for the help, Yuki.”“Anytime, Nolan.” Yuki Crystal said, taking off his mask and hood. “But why do I need the ice pack again? I have icebending powers, you know.”“Hehe, you never know. Might encounter a chi-blocker some day.” Nolan chuckled.“Well, I suppose you don’t need to worry about that.” Yuki joked. “Anyway, I gotta go. Olive wants me to be around for dinner. Later, Nolan.” With that, Yuki conjured an ice path in the air and used it to ski away.“Heh… speakin’ of which…” Nolan spoke, shooting his grappling hook in the distance to haul himself away.York Household“And just when the Imperial Guard was about to strike his spear in the two operatives,” Danika York explained to her 5-year-old son as he happily sat in bed, blanket halfway over his body as he listened to her exciting story, “your father shot over, and STABBED him right in the back!”Dillon York then gave a tired yawn.“You should get some sleep, now, Dillon.” Danika smiled. “I’ll tell you more in the morning.”“Okay. Goodnight, Mom.”“Goodnight, Sweetie.” Danika switched the lamp off in his room and kissed her son’s forehead as he covered up in his blanket and cuddled with his shadow, Mario. Danika gently shut the door of his room as she turned and saw her husband rolling in, and Midna immediately flew over and smacked Nolan across the face. “Ow!”“Where on Earth have you been?? Your son was getting tired, and had no one else to give him story time!” the spirit shouted.“Shouldn’t you be in the Spirit World or something?”“A Pokémon always sticks with its master. Eee hee hee! Later!” Midna wiggled her fingers and flew away as Danika approached Nolan.“Sigh, Danika, I’m sorry I wasn’t around, I was-““Don’t worry about it, Nolan.” Danika smiled, sitting on his lap. “It’s not easy being a superhero. Always having to save the world and junk like that.”“I still wonder how Yuki got to be Mr. Oldman’s successor.” Nolan chuckled.“Maybe he just needed to pick a snobby child and just didn’t have any other choice.” She joked. “But at least you both have a loving wife to come back to. Now whaddya say we get some sleep ourselves? If we’re lucky, you might be able to get a few stories in to Dillon before school.”“Heh, yeah…” Nolan smiled. “Sleep would be nice.” Nolan then proceeded to follow his wife in the bedroom. He removed his gas mask and other articles of clothing which made up his alter ego and hung them up before joining his wife in bed.This next segment takes place a couple years later./
First Day
Seven-year-old Dillon York stood nervously at a massive, circular landing pad hidden in the woods, alongside several other kids. Knowing what was to come, Dillon felt unsure, and was afraid something might go wrong. He turned to his right as his mother and father were arriving to see him off, with his mother pushing his father’s wheelchair."Hey, Dillon. You ready for your first day at Arctic Training?" his father, Nolan York asked."Dad, I… I'm not so sure. I mean, what if I'm not good enough to be an operative? What if I get kicked out because I'm a bender?"Nolan chuckled, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Son, I already told you they don’t discriminate, anymore. I named you and your shadow after two of the greatest operatives the Kids Next Door’s ever had. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t think you would become just as good, if not greater, than they were.”“But if they give you trouble, I’m sure Midna can straighten them out.” his mother, Danika York replied. The shadow spirit as mentioned then came out of Danika’s shadow. “Awe, you just love using me to threaten people. What an honor for me. Eee hee!”“Besides, Mason and Sheila and your other friends are gonna be there.” Nolan said. “Oh! Here they come now.”As he said, the Uno family, Dimalanta family, and Frantic family were arriving with their kids. "Hey, Dillon!" Mason ran over and greeted. "You all set for KND training?""Is it gonna be ripper or what?!" Sheila shouted.“You bet I am!”“Oh, yes, of course.” Midna said, floating beside Dillon. “Any bit of encouragement gets any child ready for action, doesn’t it?” She smirked, making Dillon blush a little.“Hm hm hm! Tell me about it.” Rachel replied. “Took us forever to get Cheren here to come along. Thankfully, we had Azelf to help give him a boost.”“But I’m only six years old.” Cheren said.“Come on, Cheren!” his brother, Chris Uno, nudged him. “Why wouldn’t they let us in? Our mom and dad were two of the best operatives back then! They even took out a whole army of demons!”“I still don’t believe that either!”“Oi, the ship’s almost ’ere.” Marine said. “Ya’d best be gettin’ ready, mates.”The massive 4x4 aircraft was finally coming down for a landing. The doors of the ship opened as all the kids were piling on. At this time, Danika’s shadow, Cheshire, seemed to be scolding Dillon’s shadow, Mario, waving her finger at him. “Come on, Cheshire, he’s good and ready.” Danika told her, pulling the shadow back. Cheshire only shrugged.“Good luck, Dillon!” Nolan called.“I will! Good-bye, Dad!” The excited shadowbender waved and ran onto the ship with the many other cadets. The adults smiled and waved as the ship lifted off for Antarctica. “I hope he’ll be okay.” Nolan said.“Ah, quit worrying, Nolan.” Danika replied, playfully slapping him. “Who wouldn’t let him in? He’s already got a reputation thanks to us.”“I know. That’s what I’m worried about…”Quahog BankCitizens were sent screaming and flying out of the bank by the attacking wind-themed villain. The former teen villain, Teen Tornado (who was currently an adult) spun around rapidly in a tornado and sucked all of the dollar bills he could inside, stuffing them all inside a bag. “This might actually be a cliché villain thing to you bankers, but trust me, it’ll all be worth it, after I-“ He quickly ducked when a grappling hook shot by and almost caught him. The windy villain looked and saw none other than Sandman and Coldman standing in the entrance (or rather Sandman was in his wheelchair).“Well: I never thought anyone else besides those two bozos from before would’ve been able to escape their frosty prison.” Sandman spoke snarkily. “What’s wrong, Tornado? Losing your edge as a decent villain, you’d have to resort to robbing banks like Dr. Light?”“Hey, if you’re an adult now, why do you still call yourself /Teen Tornado?” Coldman asked.“Well, I couldn’t think of a decent alliteration involving me being an adult, and something to do with wind!” the villain responded.“Why not ‘Airy Adult’?” Coldman asked.“Ehh… I’m not really feeling that.”“Or you could just call yourself ‘Tornado.’” Sandman suggested.“Mm, I guess so… Anyway, I’m robbing this bank for the Brotherhood’s sake, so they can be ready after their return!”“It doesn’t matter!” Sandman decided. “The villains are staying where they are. And you’re going back to your nice, comfy straightjacket.”“Bring it, Sandy!” Tornado immediately shot a blast of wind to push them out, but the duo stood their ground as Coldman shot an icicle, chopping the bag of money open. Tornado grit his teeth in anger and spun into a tornado, zooming over to catch them inside and shot them across the room. Sandman got back onto his chair and fired his gas gun, swallowing the entire room in green smoke. To avoid sucking it in, Tornado simply twirled around to blow the gas around. But as a result, Coldman unleashed a breeze of ice that was also sucked into the tornado, and the villain was frozen in an ice cube. Moments later, the police had arrived and hauled the supervillain into their truck and closed the door. “Well, boys, I’d stand and salute you, but this is the best I can do.” The crippled officer, Joe Swanson spoke, saluting the two heroes.“Hehe. No problem, Officer Swanson.” Sandman chuckled.“Alright, we’re takin’ this guy back to headquarters and thawin’ him out so we can fit him in the straitjacket.” Joe decided.“Wouldn’t it be safer to just leave him frozen?” Coldman asked.“Yeah, but Mayor West doesn’t want us to do that just in case he happens to be the Avatar.”A few feet away, Mayor Adam West himself glared at them and spoke, “You’ll thank me when there’s no war with the Fire Nation. You’ll thank me…”/“Eh, it could happen. He is an airbender, after all.” Coldman reminded.“Alright, let’s get ’im out of here, boys. Take care, Sandman.” With that, Officer Swanson and his police gathered into their cars and sped off.“Ahh, well-p, another day, another hundred dollars saved from being stolen, eh, Nolan?” Yuki asked.“Heh, guess so.” Sandman chuckled.“So, how’s that son of yours doing? He went off to Arctic Training, didn’t he?”“Yeah. Yours, too?”“E-yep. Miyuki already started yesterday, same with her friends. She wasn’t too excited. I bet Dillon was excited, wasn’t he?”“Yeah, but he needed a little encouragement.”“Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t end up having /exactly the same experience. Anyway, later Nolan.” With that, the ice-themed hero skied off towards the heavens on his floating ice trail. The Sandman proceeded to head back home as well.York HouseholdThe half-crippled hero entered his home and hung his outfit along the hanger. The house was completely quiet, with the exception of Nolan’s wife, Danika, taking a shower upstairs as she hummed a tune to herself. Just a few hours ago this morning, their son had gone off to his very first day of Cadet Next Door Arctic Training, so the house was more quiet and empty than it usually is. Nolan moved his wheelchair up the stairs using the built-in lift and made his way to the bedroom. He noticed steam coming out from under the door to their bathroom and could strongly hear Danika’s humming in the shower, humming the same tune that her sister sang when Danika was depressed. Nolan stopped beside his bed and released an exhausted sigh, his mind filled with thoughts. Though hearing the sound of his wife’s beautiful humming was enough to sooth his mind a little. After a while, Nolan heard the rushing of the water stop, and Danika was stepping out of her shower. Moments later, she came back into the bedroom, her hair a dry-wet as she wore only a short, sleeveless top that showed her bellybutton, cleavage, and a long black skirt. The goth woman smiled at seeing her husband. “Hey, hey, there’s my Sandyman.” She cooed as she stepped over to sit down on his lap, putting an arm around him. “Back already? Who’s the unlucky sap that got thrashed today?”“Uh, Teen Tornado, actually.” He blushed and chuckled. “He was robbing a bank.”“Is that all? Boy, villains aren’t what they used to be, huh.” she stated, getting up off him. “Need any help?”“Hang on, I got it.” Nolan grunted, using all the strength he could in his legs to stand up. Nolan trembled a little as he was almost at full height, struggling to limp over. Nolan looked up as Danika took hold of his hand, his wife smiling at him. Nolan smiled back as Danika lifted her husband up and set him on the bed on his back. Afterwards, Danika plopped onto the bed beside him and rolled on her side, putting an arm and leg around Nolan. “Well, can, you, believe, that? Dillon’s first day at KND Training. It feels like only yesterday when we were in his shoes.”“Yeah, but with a few major differences.”“Still, it’s been a while since we’ve had the house to ourselves. But since Dillon’s at training, Midna’s out at town, I don’t need to work today, and you’re all done with your superhero duties… we might as well make the best of things.” The woman pulled Nolan’s head in closer and embraced him in a kiss, and Nolan peacefully shut his eyes and returned it.“Hehe, not now, Danika!” Nolan laughed after they broke apart. “I’m tired. Plus, I got a lot on my mind right now.”“What? Bad guy threatening to reveal your secret identity or something? I thought everyone knew by now.”“No, it’s not that.” Nolan frowned. “It’s…It’s about Dillon. I’m worried.”“What? You know it’s always been his dream to be in the KND. It was always your dream, too.”“Yeah, and look what happened. I’ve always wanted to be in the KND, and when I was, I ended up having some maniacal super-genius stalking me and testing me through my entire time. I ended up betraying my friends and crossing over to the Dark Side. And I’m thinking… what if the same thing happens to Dillon? What if, some maniacal shadowbending lord discovers him and wants to use him/?”Danika sighed, “Nolan, you’re being paranoid. Even if that would happen, Dillon would never give in to the Dark Side. He’s one of the kindest kids I know. You need to have faith in him, Nolan. He’ll be fine.”Nolan released another sigh. “Maybe…”“Damn right ‘maybe.’” Danika smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Now how about we take a little nap? It’s been a long day for you, and the sleep could relieve the stress.”“Heh, you’re tellin’ me…” Nolan chuckled, remembering he’s rarely gotten much sleep because of his Sandman duties.“Yeah… good night.” Danika switched the lamp off behind her and kept her arm around Nolan as she drifted into sleep, her head rested against his chest, and her breasts pressed against his side. Nolan’s mind was still plagued with his thoughts and worry. The man gave a tired yawn, kicking his boots to the floor before going to sleep with her. Nolan’s mind was still plagued with his thoughts and worry. The man gave a tired yawn, kicking his boots to the floor before going to sleep with her.Nolan suddenly found himself in the middle of a plain of darkness, looking around. “Huh? Where am I?”“Hehehehehehehehe.” He heard a creepy, though familiar laughter. He looked up behind him as Peter Griffin lied on a floating bed of fruit with a fountain of juice, more fat than Nolan had remembered. “Hiya, Nolan. It’s me, Peter Griffin, that guy who lived close to your house and always did the crazy shenanigans. In your dreams, you see me as a fat and lazy guy, lying on a bed of fruit and scratching my tummy. You didn’t really like me that much.” He smiled mischievously.“Uh-huh, um… is there a reason I’m having this dream?”“Don’t look at me, I ain’t the super genius. He’s over there.” He pointed behind Nolan.“Hello… Nolan.”The man gasped and turned at this familiar robotic voice. “Brain!”“It’s been a while, Nolan…” the Sith Lord spoke, wearing a chef’s hat on his dome as he used a mechanical tentacle to flip burgers on a grill. “How has life been treating you these days?”“Just fine, thank you for asking. And… why are you flipping burgers?”“This is a dream, Nolan. Dreams have very unnatural things. Why would I take any interest in burgers whatsoever?”“I dunno. To bathe in their grease?”“So tell me, Nolan, you have a son, yes? What’s he like?”“Hey, you stay away from him, you hear?” he yelled in anger.“I was only asking. It peaks me… so curiously… how a simple boy like him dreams of being like his father. I am curious to know if everyone will treat him fairly; the son of one of the Kids Next Door’s biggest traitors.”“I never betrayed the Kids Next Door. You tricked me.”“Then you betrayed them. Sticks and stones may break your bones… but words are a far more efficient method, wouldn’t you agree? Because of my outstanding persuasion, you willingly betrayed your organization because you saw the accuracy of my words. There was no brainwashing involved or any of the sort, and therefore, you betrayed them.”“Fine, but whatever it is you’re trying to pull, it won’t work.”“I am not trying to ‘pull’ anything. I am just trying to warn you, Nolan. The Dark Side has always been strong around you, it still is. You may have redeemed yourself, but the past cannot be forgotten. Who’s to say your son will have a fair treatment? Sure, some operatives may take an interest in the boy whose father vanquished the last of the Sith Lords. But others will despise him. They will see the darkness inside him long before it awakens. And it will be their fault that the darkness will awaken at all.”Nolan remained silent and glared at the Sith Lord. The disembodied brain turned and proceeded to roll away. “Well, I must be off now, to the Underworld. I have nowhere else to go seeing as you murdered me. Jerk. Oh yes: one more thing.” He turned back around. “If you happen to see Lehcar, please inform her that her father was rather impressed with her actions at the wedding. Good-bye, Nolan.” With that, The Brain rolled out of Nolan’s vision.“Hey, can you hand me one of those burgers?” Peter Griffin asked Nolan, who remained motionless. “Nolan? NOLAN?” Peter’s voice faded to an echo as whiteness engulfed Nolan.“Guh!” Nolan yelped, shooting awake in his bed. He looked to his left at the digital clock on his nightstand. It was 11:30 a.m., half an hour later since they went to sleep. He glanced down and found Danika’s arm still wrapped around him, her head still rested on his chest as she peacefully slept. Not wanting to wake her, Nolan quietly lied back down and sighed.KND Arctic BaseThe Kids Next Door had seen massive changes 17 years ago. Their organization was once based on childish principals, decreeing that vegetables were bad, school was bad, cleanliness was bad, but eventually, the previous generation saw the error in those principals. They learned the importance of eating healthy and of having a decent education. The true value of childhood was not to shun adulthood, but to make friends, be curious, explore the world, and keep an open mind to anything. And there was no cooler way to do those things than becoming a KND operative. Those who joined would be encouraged to build their skills and develop early independence. Naturally, a huge part of becoming an operative involved fighting all kinds of strange villains, whether they were comical supervillains, alien overlords, or even demons. It was a tall order, and though it seemed like there were many operatives, their numbers were dwarfed by how many kids attempted training, but failed. Not every kid had the physical or mental resolve to undertake this career. Arctic Training was the first step to separate the talented from the untalented. And even among those who joined, there was a hierarchy. Some operatives were more capable and stronger for higher tasks than others. That said, every operative had their own skills that defined them. Some were better at combat, others excelled at technology, some were great at stealth, or perhaps they possessed some other talent that would benefit their sector. Arctic Training required cadets to be proficient in at least one skill. They were put through all kinds of tests ranging from acrobatics, piloting, stamina endurance, fighting, etc.. The cadets had to warm their selves up to these trials and prepare for what might be expected of them, but not every cadet would be good at everything. However, there was another massive change that occurred 17 years ago: the arrival of element benders, aliens, and general metahuman types. When the existence of gods and spirits became officially known to the KND in the previous era, their minds and teachings became far more broad and open. Their universe stretched far wider than their single planet, their single organization. Ever since then, element benders or aliens have become the norm, and as such, Arctic Training had to improve its training regimen. The base had new courses set up for metahuman and bender types. Most of the operatives were inside rooms where stuffed dolls of different people popped out, good guys and bad guys. Sheila stood her ground and kept a focused look as she readied her Light Fist. A dummy popped out, designed like Mad Mod, and she punched and destroyed it, a dummy of Nigel, and she held back, one of Lyle T. Rourke, which she destroyed, one of Magolor, which she destroyed, one of Patton, and she held back, and then one more of Dimentia. Sheila was about to punch it, but remembered the story about Dimentia’s reform, so she smirked and wagged her finger in a ‘no-no’ fashion. Sunni and Darcy Chariton had blindfolds over their eyes as both of them held lightsabers; Darcy a green one and Sunni a blue one. Both of them stood back-to-back as various dummies popped out around them. Sunni gave a battle cry as they raised their swords to begin slicing the enemies. Darcy jumped around and kept a calm look as she quickly stabbed dummies of Wintergreen, Consuela, and Monsieur Mallah, avoiding dummies of Yang, Kami, and Matthew Dimalanta. Sunni kept a fierce look, giving battle cries as she rapidly swung at dummies of Zant, Bokkun, and the Ice King, avoiding dummies of Fanny, Wally, and Marine. Afterwards, two dummies of the Almighty Tallest, Red and Purple came up, and both sisters did a spin-leap over and sliced the heads right off of them. That’s when another dummy popped up right behind Sunni and pushed her, and she angrily spun around to slice the head off the Buddy dummy. As she panted angrily, both of them removed their blindfolds as red alarms blared. /“Ally slain. Ally slain. Ally slain.” The computer repeated. Darcy smirked at her sister and wagged a finger, and Sunni only glared in annoyance. Lee and Leanne Grayson were currently sneaking through a dark chamber with searchlights, using their Shadow Veil to quickly sneak around and hide behind barrels. At one point, Leanne tripped and fell, and the girl looked back and gasped as the searchlight was looming in, too frozen with fear to hide in a shadow. But to her good fortune, somebody pulled her into their own Shadow Veil just in time. The other shadow carried her to the safe place where her brother waited and dropped her out, coming out as well to reveal to be Dillon York.“Phew, thanks!” Leanne sighed in relief.“Heh, don’t mention it.” Dillon smiled, scratching the back of his head.“Heh, come on, Leanne! You can’t always have someone saving your butt!” Lee taunted.“Oh, shut up, Lee! Anyway, thanks again for the save. I’m Leanne Andrea Grayson, and this is my brother, Lee Andrew.”“Oh, cool! My name’s Dillon, Dillon York. And this here’s my shadow, Mario. Say ‘hi’, Mario!” the shadow of Dillon smiled and waved.“Your name sounds familiar, Dillon.” Leanne said, rubbing her chin in thought.“Yeah… Isn’t your dad the legendary operative Numbuh 2030, who saved the Kids Next Door from the Brotherhood of Evil?” Lee asked.“He sure is!” Dillon exclaimed.“Wow! I never thought I would meet the son of a celebrity.” Leanne said. “Your dad was awesome! At least, in the stories he was.”“You bet he is! My dad was the best operative on the planet!”“Oh, please.” said a smug voice. Behind them were a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. The boy had black hair with green eyes, and the girl had brown hair, blue eyes, and a rather round head.“Hey, you’re Mr. and Mrs. Murphy’s kids.” Dillon remembered. “Zach and Maddy, right?“Yeah, then you should remember your dad wasn’t so great.” Maddy replied. “They said your dad betrayed everyone.”“Yeah, but he saved everyone.”“All so freaks like you could be legal in the KND.”“The heck is that supposed to mean?!”“You know how many of you benders were showing off their powers since we got here? You all think you’re better than everyone else ’cause of what you have, and it’s all your dad’s fault. Well, Zach and I are going to be even BETTER, just wait!”“That’s right!” Zach declared. “Just wait’ll I grow out my nosehairs and make whips out of them!”Maddy practically fainted from her brother’s ridiculousness. “Zach, you and I need to have a talk about that show you’re watching…” On that note, they left. “I thought Dad said they didn’t discriminate, anymore.” Dillon said.“I guess some people still do.” Leanne shrugged.Cleveland Milk BarShortly after his nap, Nolan had gone to Cleveland, Virginia, to meet up with Nigel and Doug at a bar made up of several milk-themed elements, such as cow wallpaper. “Whose idea was it to set up a Milk Bar?” Nigel asked.“They set it up as a place for adults to drink without getting ‘drunk.’” Nolan answered.“Well, it sure hasn’t worked for Marine over there.” Doug said, pointing over at the raccoon woman, who held a glass of milk in her hand in a drunk state.“Oi! …Ya rotten Tails drongo, you.” Marine yelled drunkenly at a random person. “Why didn’t ya, mmm, take me snowboarding at the mountain level. Ya-…” There was a rumbling sound before Marine released a loud, “BUURP, no good… drongo…” The woman had another chug of milk before fainting to the ground, the glass shattering.“Hey, guys, do you ever think about if our kids are ‘safe’ going to Arctic Training?” Nolan asked.“What are you talking about? You think their plane crashed or something?” Doug asked.“Oh, boy.” Nigel rolled his eyes, already knowing where this was going. “What’s on your mind this time, Nolan?”“It’s about my son. What if the other kids are treating him poorly? You only need a little bit of that to start turning evil.”“You need to stop worrying, Nolan.” Nigel told him. “Dillon went with a bunch of his friends. As long as he has his friends, he doesn’t have a chance of turning evil.”Nolan sat in silence, wishing to believe Nigel’s words. He continued to feel worried as he stared at the still milk in his glass.Brookfield Insane AsylumJoe Swanson and his officers, along with Mayor West, stood around and watched as a couple men were slowly thawing out Tornado’s body using blowtorches. “Okay, boys, just take it nice and slow and thaw out the head, then we’ll inject him with this knockout toxin.” Joe instructed, pulling out a syringe with some purple liquid. “That should buy us enough time to thaw him out fully and slip on a straitjacket.”“Hmph. Filthy metahumans.” Mayor West said with a smug look.“But, aren’t you a metahuman?” an officer asked.“Oh! Why, thank you, Memory Fairy!” Mayor West smiled. While they were all focused on the frozen villain, a tiny figure watched them and smirked from atop a security camera in the corner. “Hn hn hn. Foolish humans. Time for a wakeup call.” The demonic bean, Hannibal Roy Bean, jumped in front of the camera’s lens and spoke, “Play the song, Ying-Ying.”Inside the monitor room, the Ying-Ying Bird stood atop the control desk as two guards lay unconscious behind him. The bird smirked and saluted before inserting a disk into a slot. The bird pecked the start button, and the many inhabitants at the asylum put on faces of weirdness and confusion as the song began to play./“Yes, a lap dance is always better when the stripper is cryin’-”/“THE OTHER SONG, YING-YING!!”The bird flinched at her master’s shout and hurriedly pecked her beak at another button a few times and played something else.“AAAH! AAAHH! OH MY GOOOD!!” Joe screamed as the many inhabitants pressed their hands against their ears to shield them from the painfully loud guitar solos emitting from the speakers.“Sucks ta have ears.” Hannibal smirked, jumping to the floor below. “Thank ya, Steve!” The bean hurriedly hopped his way across the floor as the officers still trembled and shook from the painful sounds. The entire building was quaking as a result of the obnoxious rock-and-roll, and the ice that imprisoned Tornado was slowly cracking. In only a few seconds, the ice shattered and Tornado was free.“Oh my God.” Adam West stared with amazement. “It’s the Avatar!” he exclaimed and happily pointed. “Hooray! Hey, everyone! Everyone!” He ran out into the other rooms and started waving his arms. “The Avatar is back! We’re SAVED! The Avatar is back!”“Someone oughta check to see if he wasn’t an inmate here.” an officer suggested. Teen Tornado shielded his ears from the deafening music, too. Eventually, Ying-Ying pecked the button and made the music silence before soaring out of there. Regaining his composure, Tornado began rapidly spinning around as officers tried to shoot him, but was able to suck in all their guns and blow them all against the walls. The villain came to a halt as Hannibal Bean hopped onto his shoulder. “Feelin’ the cold shoulder?”“Shut it and show me the way outta here.”York HouseholdWhen Arctic Training had finally come to an end around 2:30, the cadets had been dropped off at their respective states and headed back for their homes. “Mom, Dad, I’m back!” Dillon yelled happily, dashing into his home.“Hey, welcome back, Honey!” Danika greeted, bending over to hug him. Nolan slowly entered the living room and approached them with a slight worried expression. “Heh, hey, Son… how was your first day at Arctic Training?”“It was great!” Dillon jumped. “I got to dodge searchlights, I got to kill robots, and I met new friends and everything! Of course, I DID meet up with a couple of jerks,” Dillon said with a grumpy look, “who were saying bad things…”“What kinds of bad things?”“It was Zach and Maddy. They were sayin’ bad things about us ’cause they don’t have bending. Well, I’ll show them! They’re just jealous!”Murphy HouseholdThe Murphy children had returned home and were eating dinner. “So, how was Arctic Training?” Gwen asked.“It was alright. Except…” Maddy began.“What?” Doug asked.“We met Dillon there. He kept talking about his dad and acting like a bigshot. Why did they have to let all those benders join the KND, anyway? They’re gonna try and hog all the glory and treat us like a trash!” “Maddy…” Gwen sighed with sympathy. Her daughter hated metahumans and benders ever since that incident. When they were 3 years old… Gwen wished she could’ve prevented it sooner. But this is something they may have to live with for a while.York Household“Dillon, it’s true that joining the KND is the most amazing experience,” Nolan began, “but you have to understand that not everything will be perfect. You may not get along with every operative you meet. I know Zach and Maddy hurt your feelings, but the fact is, they have their reasons for hating metahumans. One day, they’ll realize they were wrong to hate you, but for now, you can’t be angry at them, and you can’t act like you’re better. You have to look at each other as fellow operatives with the same goals in mind. Do you understand?”“I…I think I do. But what if they never do? What if they make benders illegal again?”“Then we’ll put a stop to it all over again. But I don’t think it’s gonna happen, Dillon. The world is different now. It’s growing. There’s going to be plenty of benders and even more amazing people, and the Murphys will have to get used to it. But let me ask one more thing of you, Dillon: don’t try to be like me.”“W-What? Why not?”“Because my story is already done. It’s your story now, Dillon, and it’s your friends’ stories. Become your own operative and make your own amazing tale.”“Heh heh heh. Okay, Dad. I promise.”“Yeah, but YOUR story isn’t done EITHER, Nolan.” Midna remarked, peeping out of Danika’s shadow. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be playing dress-up every night instead of making us money.”“Hey, Danika works for GUN now, they pay a lot!”“Then you had better show up for dinner when I tell you to, Nolan.” Dani said, flicking his nose. “I don’t want my hard-earned money going to waste.”“Ha ha! Yes, dear…” Nolan flushed.Forest areaNighttime has come just as Hannibal and Tornado made it to a forest, and the villain was panting heavily. “Boy, I’m glad we made it outta that. So, what’s the occasion?”“The occasion: an anniversary.” Hannibal spoke. “Those rotten Kids Next Door spoiled my plans long ago. But with Ganon defeated, Ah have the perfect plan of revenge. First of all, you are gonna free the other villains out of their frozen states. Secondly, Ah lost my Yin-Yang Yo-yos after that battle, and Ah need to get them back if Ah’m ever to bring the Kids Next Door to its knees. If everything goes accordin’ to plan, the world shall be consumed by the might of the Chaos Kin. YEEEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!” As Hannibal maniacally laughed, his Ying-Ying Bird screeched and joined in the laughter.Zach and Maddy are Numbuh 227’s future kids.
The NEW Adventures of Sandman and Coldman
Nighttime in Quahog, Rhode Island was rarely beautiful. The streets were dark and damp, and the only lights came from that of the streetlights. Things were not peaceful. At least, not for a certain theater. Hundreds of people forcibly tied up, sitting in rows along the audience as they faced ahead at the stage. Standing upon the stage, a short figure, dressed like a king, in gray pants, black shoes, red shirt, and king’s crown stood, holding up a gray puppet-holder with colorful, glowing spots on the ends of it. The figure himself was designed like a puppet, standing atop a small stand as a row of puppets floated above the stage.“Silence, my dear audience.” The Puppet King spoke in a low tone. “And let my friends perform. From the top, my puppets: OHH, Old King Coal was a merry old soul!”“Yodeladi-yodeladi, lo-HEE-HOO!” The puppets sang as the King made them dance around in midair. A grappling hook suddenly shot from the side of the stage, zipping by and pulling back to chop the strings which the floating puppets hung from, dropping to the floor. The Puppet King looked with confusion, and a laser zapped over and burned the stand he stood on, dropping him to the stage. “You know, you shouldn’t force people to watch crummy shows like this.” The Puppet King turned his attention toward the side of the stage, seeing a figure in black cargo pants, gloves, grey hoodie, and a gas mask sitting in a wheelchair. “Matter of fact, you shouldn’t be here at all.” The figure said, moving closer, out of the shadowy corner to give the Puppet King a better look. “Shouldn’t you and the rest of your Brotherhood cronies be posing as ice sculptures?”“Well, well, what do we have here? Sandman, isn’t it? I hardly recognized you with the wheelchair.”“That guy’s old news. You can call me: Sandman II: Now It’s Personal!”“…What the hell kind of name is that?” Puppet King asked.“Forget about it! The point is, I’m here to kick your butt. Now, we can either do this the hard way,” he readied his gas gun, “or the /hard way.”“Or, we can simply do it my way. I bet those limp legs of yours would make great puppetry. Come, my puppets: show our guest the true beauty of puppetness and strings.” At his command, some people walked out from the other end of the stage. The puppets he was previously making dance appeared to be designed from these people, and they had glowing blue eyes. Sandman could tell he had switched their souls with the puppets. He also recognized one of the puppets as Officer Swanson. Puppet King sent the possessed people after Sandman, who was careful when fighting them, seeing as they were actual people. He merely punched his punching glove from his wheelchair at their faces to knock them unconscious, and also used his gas gun to make them cough and fall asleep. Puppet King, unable to breathe in the gas, shooed the gas away to get a look at the hero again.“You know, you remind me of this other guy I know that was in a wheelchair. In fact, it was his fault that all of my Brotherhood friends had been frozen.”“Really? He sounds neat. I’d like to meet him.”“Unfortunately, you won’t even get the chance.”“GRR!” Sandman was suddenly gripped by a massive hand, looking up as the giant alien villain, XL Terrestrial lifted him up. “What? You, too?!”“You see, Sandman,” Puppet King began, stepping closer, “while all of the other villains were frozen, XL Terrestrial and I were able to make a miraculous escape. Now it’s time to squeeze you like jelly out of a plumb. But first, perhaps we’ll see just what lies under that mask of yours…” XL Terrestrial reached his other arm over, about to grab Sandman’s mask in his fingers and pull it off…To Sandman’s good fortune, a pair of icicle missiles shot over and struck Terrestrial’s arm, causing him to drop the hero and his chair back to the floor. “What the-“ Puppet King tried to say, taking notice of another figure standing on one of the balconies over the audience. The second hero jumped down to their floor, and appeared to be dressed in an icy-blue Eskimo-like coat, with black pants, black shoes, and a silver Eskimo-like metal mask, with metal points along the side that were designed like feathers. The figure also wore a pack full of ice on his back, with a hose attached to it. The figure launched various icicles from his fingers, slicing the ropes which held the audience captive. “Now unless you wanna be on the news for being injured in a hero/villain’s line of fire, I’d suggest you scram now.” He ordered. The audience immediately piled out of the auditorium.“Oh, great. And who are you supposed to be?” Puppet King asked.“You can call me…” the icebender stepped closer, “Coldman II: A Frosty Comeback.”“What is this, Cheesy Name Tuesday?” XL Terrestrial asked.“Well, whatever the case may be, these so-called heroes are getting on my nerves. Puppets: attack them!”The controlled people rose back up and started attacking Sandman again. Coldman ran around the chamber as XL Terrestrial tried to stomp him, but the giant alien’s feet were too slow, and the frosty hero dashed around and shot ice chunks at his head from the hose on his pack. Terrestrial was pelted in the face and fell over, his hand crushing and destroying part of the stage, but Puppet King jumped away and dodged. The possessed citizens kept coming at Sandman, but the half-crippled hero kept shooting them away with gas blasts. He noticed the glow emitting from Puppet King’s holder, and yelled, “Coldman, grab his Control!” The ice-themed hero took notice of his magical puppet-holder, but XL Terrestrial recovered and snapped the hero in his hands, binding his arms. Coldman tried to shake away, and was able to blow Ice Breath through his mask and into the alien’s face. Terrestrial dropped Coldman and tried to rip the ice off, then ended up tripping and falling over.“No!” Puppet King gasped when Sandman shot his grappling hook over to take his Control. He tossed it to Coldman, who unleashed ice from his hands and froze it in midair, afterwards making it shatter to pieces. The souls were freed from the lifeless puppets upon the stage, flowing back into their actual bodies. The two heroes then turned and watched as the defeated XL Terrestrial shrunk back to normal, too. Not too long after, the police had come. The crippled officer Swanson, now looking pretty ancient, handcuffed the two criminals and led them into the back of a police van. “You guys give freakshows a bad name.” the Chief of Police told them. “And by the way, uh… I don’t suppose either of you know what a poopsack is.” The two villains exchanged weird glances and shook their heads ‘no’. “CRAP!!”The heroic duo of Sandman and Coldman watched from atop a building as the villains were locked into the van. “And the day is saved once again.” Sandman simply stated. “Thanks for the help, Yuki.”“Anytime, Nolan.” Yuki Crystal said, taking off his mask and hood. “But why do I need the ice pack again? I have icebending powers, you know.”“Hehe, you never know. Might encounter a chi-blocker some day.” Nolan chuckled.“Well, I suppose you don’t need to worry about that.” Yuki joked. “Anyway, I gotta go. Olive wants me to be around for dinner. Later, Nolan.” With that, Yuki conjured an ice path in the air and used it to ski away.“Heh… speakin’ of which…” Nolan spoke, shooting his grappling hook in the distance to haul himself away.York Household“And just when the Imperial Guard was about to strike his spear in the two operatives,” Danika York explained to her 5-year-old son as he happily sat in bed, blanket halfway over his body as he listened to her exciting story, “your father shot over, and STABBED him right in the back!”Dillon York then gave a tired yawn.“You should get some sleep, now, Dillon.” Danika smiled. “I’ll tell you more in the morning.”“Okay. Goodnight, Mom.”“Goodnight, Sweetie.” Danika switched the lamp off in his room and kissed her son’s forehead as he covered up in his blanket and cuddled with his shadow, Mario. Danika gently shut the door of his room as she turned and saw her husband rolling in, and Midna immediately flew over and smacked Nolan across the face. “Ow!”“Where on Earth have you been?? Your son was getting tired, and had no one else to give him story time!” the spirit shouted.“Shouldn’t you be in the Spirit World or something?”“A Pokémon always sticks with its master. Eee hee hee! Later!” Midna wiggled her fingers and flew away as Danika approached Nolan.“Sigh, Danika, I’m sorry I wasn’t around, I was-““Don’t worry about it, Nolan.” Danika smiled, sitting on his lap. “It’s not easy being a superhero. Always having to save the world and junk like that.”“I still wonder how Yuki got to be Mr. Oldman’s successor.” Nolan chuckled.“Maybe he just needed to pick a snobby child and just didn’t have any other choice.” She joked. “But at least you both have a loving wife to come back to. Now whaddya say we get some sleep ourselves? If we’re lucky, you might be able to get a few stories in to Dillon before school.”“Heh, yeah…” Nolan smiled. “Sleep would be nice.” Nolan then proceeded to follow his wife in the bedroom. He removed his gas mask and other articles of clothing which made up his alter ego and hung them up before joining his wife in bed.This next segment takes place a couple years later./
First Day
Seven-year-old Dillon York stood nervously at a massive, circular landing pad hidden in the woods, alongside several other kids. Knowing what was to come, Dillon felt unsure, and was afraid something might go wrong. He turned to his right as his mother and father were arriving to see him off, with his mother pushing his father’s wheelchair."Hey, Dillon. You ready for your first day at Arctic Training?" his father, Nolan York asked."Dad, I… I'm not so sure. I mean, what if I'm not good enough to be an operative? What if I get kicked out because I'm a bender?"Nolan chuckled, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Son, I already told you they don’t discriminate, anymore. I named you and your shadow after two of the greatest operatives the Kids Next Door’s ever had. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t think you would become just as good, if not greater, than they were.”“But if they give you trouble, I’m sure Midna can straighten them out.” his mother, Danika York replied. The shadow spirit as mentioned then came out of Danika’s shadow. “Awe, you just love using me to threaten people. What an honor for me. Eee hee!”“Besides, Mason and Sheila and your other friends are gonna be there.” Nolan said. “Oh! Here they come now.”As he said, the Uno family, Dimalanta family, and Frantic family were arriving with their kids. "Hey, Dillon!" Mason ran over and greeted. "You all set for KND training?""Is it gonna be ripper or what?!" Sheila shouted.“You bet I am!”“Oh, yes, of course.” Midna said, floating beside Dillon. “Any bit of encouragement gets any child ready for action, doesn’t it?” She smirked, making Dillon blush a little.“Hm hm hm! Tell me about it.” Rachel replied. “Took us forever to get Cheren here to come along. Thankfully, we had Azelf to help give him a boost.”“But I’m only six years old.” Cheren said.“Come on, Cheren!” his brother, Chris Uno, nudged him. “Why wouldn’t they let us in? Our mom and dad were two of the best operatives back then! They even took out a whole army of demons!”“I still don’t believe that either!”“Oi, the ship’s almost ’ere.” Marine said. “Ya’d best be gettin’ ready, mates.”The massive 4x4 aircraft was finally coming down for a landing. The doors of the ship opened as all the kids were piling on. At this time, Danika’s shadow, Cheshire, seemed to be scolding Dillon’s shadow, Mario, waving her finger at him. “Come on, Cheshire, he’s good and ready.” Danika told her, pulling the shadow back. Cheshire only shrugged.“Good luck, Dillon!” Nolan called.“I will! Good-bye, Dad!” The excited shadowbender waved and ran onto the ship with the many other cadets. The adults smiled and waved as the ship lifted off for Antarctica. “I hope he’ll be okay.” Nolan said.“Ah, quit worrying, Nolan.” Danika replied, playfully slapping him. “Who wouldn’t let him in? He’s already got a reputation thanks to us.”“I know. That’s what I’m worried about…”Quahog BankCitizens were sent screaming and flying out of the bank by the attacking wind-themed villain. The former teen villain, Teen Tornado (who was currently an adult) spun around rapidly in a tornado and sucked all of the dollar bills he could inside, stuffing them all inside a bag. “This might actually be a cliché villain thing to you bankers, but trust me, it’ll all be worth it, after I-“ He quickly ducked when a grappling hook shot by and almost caught him. The windy villain looked and saw none other than Sandman and Coldman standing in the entrance (or rather Sandman was in his wheelchair).“Well: I never thought anyone else besides those two bozos from before would’ve been able to escape their frosty prison.” Sandman spoke snarkily. “What’s wrong, Tornado? Losing your edge as a decent villain, you’d have to resort to robbing banks like Dr. Light?”“Hey, if you’re an adult now, why do you still call yourself /Teen Tornado?” Coldman asked.“Well, I couldn’t think of a decent alliteration involving me being an adult, and something to do with wind!” the villain responded.“Why not ‘Airy Adult’?” Coldman asked.“Ehh… I’m not really feeling that.”“Or you could just call yourself ‘Tornado.’” Sandman suggested.“Mm, I guess so… Anyway, I’m robbing this bank for the Brotherhood’s sake, so they can be ready after their return!”“It doesn’t matter!” Sandman decided. “The villains are staying where they are. And you’re going back to your nice, comfy straightjacket.”“Bring it, Sandy!” Tornado immediately shot a blast of wind to push them out, but the duo stood their ground as Coldman shot an icicle, chopping the bag of money open. Tornado grit his teeth in anger and spun into a tornado, zooming over to catch them inside and shot them across the room. Sandman got back onto his chair and fired his gas gun, swallowing the entire room in green smoke. To avoid sucking it in, Tornado simply twirled around to blow the gas around. But as a result, Coldman unleashed a breeze of ice that was also sucked into the tornado, and the villain was frozen in an ice cube. Moments later, the police had arrived and hauled the supervillain into their truck and closed the door. “Well, boys, I’d stand and salute you, but this is the best I can do.” The crippled officer, Joe Swanson spoke, saluting the two heroes.“Hehe. No problem, Officer Swanson.” Sandman chuckled.“Alright, we’re takin’ this guy back to headquarters and thawin’ him out so we can fit him in the straitjacket.” Joe decided.“Wouldn’t it be safer to just leave him frozen?” Coldman asked.“Yeah, but Mayor West doesn’t want us to do that just in case he happens to be the Avatar.”A few feet away, Mayor Adam West himself glared at them and spoke, “You’ll thank me when there’s no war with the Fire Nation. You’ll thank me…”/“Eh, it could happen. He is an airbender, after all.” Coldman reminded.“Alright, let’s get ’im out of here, boys. Take care, Sandman.” With that, Officer Swanson and his police gathered into their cars and sped off.“Ahh, well-p, another day, another hundred dollars saved from being stolen, eh, Nolan?” Yuki asked.“Heh, guess so.” Sandman chuckled.“So, how’s that son of yours doing? He went off to Arctic Training, didn’t he?”“Yeah. Yours, too?”“E-yep. Miyuki already started yesterday, same with her friends. She wasn’t too excited. I bet Dillon was excited, wasn’t he?”“Yeah, but he needed a little encouragement.”“Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t end up having /exactly the same experience. Anyway, later Nolan.” With that, the ice-themed hero skied off towards the heavens on his floating ice trail. The Sandman proceeded to head back home as well.York HouseholdThe half-crippled hero entered his home and hung his outfit along the hanger. The house was completely quiet, with the exception of Nolan’s wife, Danika, taking a shower upstairs as she hummed a tune to herself. Just a few hours ago this morning, their son had gone off to his very first day of Cadet Next Door Arctic Training, so the house was more quiet and empty than it usually is. Nolan moved his wheelchair up the stairs using the built-in lift and made his way to the bedroom. He noticed steam coming out from under the door to their bathroom and could strongly hear Danika’s humming in the shower, humming the same tune that her sister sang when Danika was depressed. Nolan stopped beside his bed and released an exhausted sigh, his mind filled with thoughts. Though hearing the sound of his wife’s beautiful humming was enough to sooth his mind a little. After a while, Nolan heard the rushing of the water stop, and Danika was stepping out of her shower. Moments later, she came back into the bedroom, her hair a dry-wet as she wore only a short, sleeveless top that showed her bellybutton, cleavage, and a long black skirt. The goth woman smiled at seeing her husband. “Hey, hey, there’s my Sandyman.” She cooed as she stepped over to sit down on his lap, putting an arm around him. “Back already? Who’s the unlucky sap that got thrashed today?”“Uh, Teen Tornado, actually.” He blushed and chuckled. “He was robbing a bank.”“Is that all? Boy, villains aren’t what they used to be, huh.” she stated, getting up off him. “Need any help?”“Hang on, I got it.” Nolan grunted, using all the strength he could in his legs to stand up. Nolan trembled a little as he was almost at full height, struggling to limp over. Nolan looked up as Danika took hold of his hand, his wife smiling at him. Nolan smiled back as Danika lifted her husband up and set him on the bed on his back. Afterwards, Danika plopped onto the bed beside him and rolled on her side, putting an arm and leg around Nolan. “Well, can, you, believe, that? Dillon’s first day at KND Training. It feels like only yesterday when we were in his shoes.”“Yeah, but with a few major differences.”“Still, it’s been a while since we’ve had the house to ourselves. But since Dillon’s at training, Midna’s out at town, I don’t need to work today, and you’re all done with your superhero duties… we might as well make the best of things.” The woman pulled Nolan’s head in closer and embraced him in a kiss, and Nolan peacefully shut his eyes and returned it.“Hehe, not now, Danika!” Nolan laughed after they broke apart. “I’m tired. Plus, I got a lot on my mind right now.”“What? Bad guy threatening to reveal your secret identity or something? I thought everyone knew by now.”“No, it’s not that.” Nolan frowned. “It’s…It’s about Dillon. I’m worried.”“What? You know it’s always been his dream to be in the KND. It was always your dream, too.”“Yeah, and look what happened. I’ve always wanted to be in the KND, and when I was, I ended up having some maniacal super-genius stalking me and testing me through my entire time. I ended up betraying my friends and crossing over to the Dark Side. And I’m thinking… what if the same thing happens to Dillon? What if, some maniacal shadowbending lord discovers him and wants to use him/?”Danika sighed, “Nolan, you’re being paranoid. Even if that would happen, Dillon would never give in to the Dark Side. He’s one of the kindest kids I know. You need to have faith in him, Nolan. He’ll be fine.”Nolan released another sigh. “Maybe…”“Damn right ‘maybe.’” Danika smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Now how about we take a little nap? It’s been a long day for you, and the sleep could relieve the stress.”“Heh, you’re tellin’ me…” Nolan chuckled, remembering he’s rarely gotten much sleep because of his Sandman duties.“Yeah… good night.” Danika switched the lamp off behind her and kept her arm around Nolan as she drifted into sleep, her head rested against his chest, and her breasts pressed against his side. Nolan’s mind was still plagued with his thoughts and worry. The man gave a tired yawn, kicking his boots to the floor before going to sleep with her. Nolan’s mind was still plagued with his thoughts and worry. The man gave a tired yawn, kicking his boots to the floor before going to sleep with her.Nolan suddenly found himself in the middle of a plain of darkness, looking around. “Huh? Where am I?”“Hehehehehehehehe.” He heard a creepy, though familiar laughter. He looked up behind him as Peter Griffin lied on a floating bed of fruit with a fountain of juice, more fat than Nolan had remembered. “Hiya, Nolan. It’s me, Peter Griffin, that guy who lived close to your house and always did the crazy shenanigans. In your dreams, you see me as a fat and lazy guy, lying on a bed of fruit and scratching my tummy. You didn’t really like me that much.” He smiled mischievously.“Uh-huh, um… is there a reason I’m having this dream?”“Don’t look at me, I ain’t the super genius. He’s over there.” He pointed behind Nolan.“Hello… Nolan.”The man gasped and turned at this familiar robotic voice. “Brain!”“It’s been a while, Nolan…” the Sith Lord spoke, wearing a chef’s hat on his dome as he used a mechanical tentacle to flip burgers on a grill. “How has life been treating you these days?”“Just fine, thank you for asking. And… why are you flipping burgers?”“This is a dream, Nolan. Dreams have very unnatural things. Why would I take any interest in burgers whatsoever?”“I dunno. To bathe in their grease?”“So tell me, Nolan, you have a son, yes? What’s he like?”“Hey, you stay away from him, you hear?” he yelled in anger.“I was only asking. It peaks me… so curiously… how a simple boy like him dreams of being like his father. I am curious to know if everyone will treat him fairly; the son of one of the Kids Next Door’s biggest traitors.”“I never betrayed the Kids Next Door. You tricked me.”“Then you betrayed them. Sticks and stones may break your bones… but words are a far more efficient method, wouldn’t you agree? Because of my outstanding persuasion, you willingly betrayed your organization because you saw the accuracy of my words. There was no brainwashing involved or any of the sort, and therefore, you betrayed them.”“Fine, but whatever it is you’re trying to pull, it won’t work.”“I am not trying to ‘pull’ anything. I am just trying to warn you, Nolan. The Dark Side has always been strong around you, it still is. You may have redeemed yourself, but the past cannot be forgotten. Who’s to say your son will have a fair treatment? Sure, some operatives may take an interest in the boy whose father vanquished the last of the Sith Lords. But others will despise him. They will see the darkness inside him long before it awakens. And it will be their fault that the darkness will awaken at all.”Nolan remained silent and glared at the Sith Lord. The disembodied brain turned and proceeded to roll away. “Well, I must be off now, to the Underworld. I have nowhere else to go seeing as you murdered me. Jerk. Oh yes: one more thing.” He turned back around. “If you happen to see Lehcar, please inform her that her father was rather impressed with her actions at the wedding. Good-bye, Nolan.” With that, The Brain rolled out of Nolan’s vision.“Hey, can you hand me one of those burgers?” Peter Griffin asked Nolan, who remained motionless. “Nolan? NOLAN?” Peter’s voice faded to an echo as whiteness engulfed Nolan.“Guh!” Nolan yelped, shooting awake in his bed. He looked to his left at the digital clock on his nightstand. It was 11:30 a.m., half an hour later since they went to sleep. He glanced down and found Danika’s arm still wrapped around him, her head still rested on his chest as she peacefully slept. Not wanting to wake her, Nolan quietly lied back down and sighed.KND Arctic BaseThe Kids Next Door had seen massive changes 17 years ago. Their organization was once based on childish principals, decreeing that vegetables were bad, school was bad, cleanliness was bad, but eventually, the previous generation saw the error in those principals. They learned the importance of eating healthy and of having a decent education. The true value of childhood was not to shun adulthood, but to make friends, be curious, explore the world, and keep an open mind to anything. And there was no cooler way to do those things than becoming a KND operative. Those who joined would be encouraged to build their skills and develop early independence. Naturally, a huge part of becoming an operative involved fighting all kinds of strange villains, whether they were comical supervillains, alien overlords, or even demons. It was a tall order, and though it seemed like there were many operatives, their numbers were dwarfed by how many kids attempted training, but failed. Not every kid had the physical or mental resolve to undertake this career. Arctic Training was the first step to separate the talented from the untalented. And even among those who joined, there was a hierarchy. Some operatives were more capable and stronger for higher tasks than others. That said, every operative had their own skills that defined them. Some were better at combat, others excelled at technology, some were great at stealth, or perhaps they possessed some other talent that would benefit their sector. Arctic Training required cadets to be proficient in at least one skill. They were put through all kinds of tests ranging from acrobatics, piloting, stamina endurance, fighting, etc.. The cadets had to warm their selves up to these trials and prepare for what might be expected of them, but not every cadet would be good at everything. However, there was another massive change that occurred 17 years ago: the arrival of element benders, aliens, and general metahuman types. When the existence of gods and spirits became officially known to the KND in the previous era, their minds and teachings became far more broad and open. Their universe stretched far wider than their single planet, their single organization. Ever since then, element benders or aliens have become the norm, and as such, Arctic Training had to improve its training regimen. The base had new courses set up for metahuman and bender types. Most of the operatives were inside rooms where stuffed dolls of different people popped out, good guys and bad guys. Sheila stood her ground and kept a focused look as she readied her Light Fist. A dummy popped out, designed like Mad Mod, and she punched and destroyed it, a dummy of Nigel, and she held back, one of Lyle T. Rourke, which she destroyed, one of Magolor, which she destroyed, one of Patton, and she held back, and then one more of Dimentia. Sheila was about to punch it, but remembered the story about Dimentia’s reform, so she smirked and wagged her finger in a ‘no-no’ fashion. Sunni and Darcy Chariton had blindfolds over their eyes as both of them held lightsabers; Darcy a green one and Sunni a blue one. Both of them stood back-to-back as various dummies popped out around them. Sunni gave a battle cry as they raised their swords to begin slicing the enemies. Darcy jumped around and kept a calm look as she quickly stabbed dummies of Wintergreen, Consuela, and Monsieur Mallah, avoiding dummies of Yang, Kami, and Matthew Dimalanta. Sunni kept a fierce look, giving battle cries as she rapidly swung at dummies of Zant, Bokkun, and the Ice King, avoiding dummies of Fanny, Wally, and Marine. Afterwards, two dummies of the Almighty Tallest, Red and Purple came up, and both sisters did a spin-leap over and sliced the heads right off of them. That’s when another dummy popped up right behind Sunni and pushed her, and she angrily spun around to slice the head off the Buddy dummy. As she panted angrily, both of them removed their blindfolds as red alarms blared. /“Ally slain. Ally slain. Ally slain.” The computer repeated. Darcy smirked at her sister and wagged a finger, and Sunni only glared in annoyance. Lee and Leanne Grayson were currently sneaking through a dark chamber with searchlights, using their Shadow Veil to quickly sneak around and hide behind barrels. At one point, Leanne tripped and fell, and the girl looked back and gasped as the searchlight was looming in, too frozen with fear to hide in a shadow. But to her good fortune, somebody pulled her into their own Shadow Veil just in time. The other shadow carried her to the safe place where her brother waited and dropped her out, coming out as well to reveal to be Dillon York.“Phew, thanks!” Leanne sighed in relief.“Heh, don’t mention it.” Dillon smiled, scratching the back of his head.“Heh, come on, Leanne! You can’t always have someone saving your butt!” Lee taunted.“Oh, shut up, Lee! Anyway, thanks again for the save. I’m Leanne Andrea Grayson, and this is my brother, Lee Andrew.”“Oh, cool! My name’s Dillon, Dillon York. And this here’s my shadow, Mario. Say ‘hi’, Mario!” the shadow of Dillon smiled and waved.“Your name sounds familiar, Dillon.” Leanne said, rubbing her chin in thought.“Yeah… Isn’t your dad the legendary operative Numbuh 2030, who saved the Kids Next Door from the Brotherhood of Evil?” Lee asked.“He sure is!” Dillon exclaimed.“Wow! I never thought I would meet the son of a celebrity.” Leanne said. “Your dad was awesome! At least, in the stories he was.”“You bet he is! My dad was the best operative on the planet!”“Oh, please.” said a smug voice. Behind them were a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. The boy had black hair with green eyes, and the girl had brown hair, blue eyes, and a rather round head.“Hey, you’re Mr. and Mrs. Murphy’s kids.” Dillon remembered. “Zach and Maddy, right?“Yeah, then you should remember your dad wasn’t so great.” Maddy replied. “They said your dad betrayed everyone.”“Yeah, but he saved everyone.”“All so freaks like you could be legal in the KND.”“The heck is that supposed to mean?!”“You know how many of you benders were showing off their powers since we got here? You all think you’re better than everyone else ’cause of what you have, and it’s all your dad’s fault. Well, Zach and I are going to be even BETTER, just wait!”“That’s right!” Zach declared. “Just wait’ll I grow out my nosehairs and make whips out of them!”Maddy practically fainted from her brother’s ridiculousness. “Zach, you and I need to have a talk about that show you’re watching…” On that note, they left. “I thought Dad said they didn’t discriminate, anymore.” Dillon said.“I guess some people still do.” Leanne shrugged.Cleveland Milk BarShortly after his nap, Nolan had gone to Cleveland, Virginia, to meet up with Nigel and Doug at a bar made up of several milk-themed elements, such as cow wallpaper. “Whose idea was it to set up a Milk Bar?” Nigel asked.“They set it up as a place for adults to drink without getting ‘drunk.’” Nolan answered.“Well, it sure hasn’t worked for Marine over there.” Doug said, pointing over at the raccoon woman, who held a glass of milk in her hand in a drunk state.“Oi! …Ya rotten Tails drongo, you.” Marine yelled drunkenly at a random person. “Why didn’t ya, mmm, take me snowboarding at the mountain level. Ya-…” There was a rumbling sound before Marine released a loud, “BUURP, no good… drongo…” The woman had another chug of milk before fainting to the ground, the glass shattering.“Hey, guys, do you ever think about if our kids are ‘safe’ going to Arctic Training?” Nolan asked.“What are you talking about? You think their plane crashed or something?” Doug asked.“Oh, boy.” Nigel rolled his eyes, already knowing where this was going. “What’s on your mind this time, Nolan?”“It’s about my son. What if the other kids are treating him poorly? You only need a little bit of that to start turning evil.”“You need to stop worrying, Nolan.” Nigel told him. “Dillon went with a bunch of his friends. As long as he has his friends, he doesn’t have a chance of turning evil.”Nolan sat in silence, wishing to believe Nigel’s words. He continued to feel worried as he stared at the still milk in his glass.Brookfield Insane AsylumJoe Swanson and his officers, along with Mayor West, stood around and watched as a couple men were slowly thawing out Tornado’s body using blowtorches. “Okay, boys, just take it nice and slow and thaw out the head, then we’ll inject him with this knockout toxin.” Joe instructed, pulling out a syringe with some purple liquid. “That should buy us enough time to thaw him out fully and slip on a straitjacket.”“Hmph. Filthy metahumans.” Mayor West said with a smug look.“But, aren’t you a metahuman?” an officer asked.“Oh! Why, thank you, Memory Fairy!” Mayor West smiled. While they were all focused on the frozen villain, a tiny figure watched them and smirked from atop a security camera in the corner. “Hn hn hn. Foolish humans. Time for a wakeup call.” The demonic bean, Hannibal Roy Bean, jumped in front of the camera’s lens and spoke, “Play the song, Ying-Ying.”Inside the monitor room, the Ying-Ying Bird stood atop the control desk as two guards lay unconscious behind him. The bird smirked and saluted before inserting a disk into a slot. The bird pecked the start button, and the many inhabitants at the asylum put on faces of weirdness and confusion as the song began to play./“Yes, a lap dance is always better when the stripper is cryin’-”/“THE OTHER SONG, YING-YING!!”The bird flinched at her master’s shout and hurriedly pecked her beak at another button a few times and played something else.“AAAH! AAAHH! OH MY GOOOD!!” Joe screamed as the many inhabitants pressed their hands against their ears to shield them from the painfully loud guitar solos emitting from the speakers.“Sucks ta have ears.” Hannibal smirked, jumping to the floor below. “Thank ya, Steve!” The bean hurriedly hopped his way across the floor as the officers still trembled and shook from the painful sounds. The entire building was quaking as a result of the obnoxious rock-and-roll, and the ice that imprisoned Tornado was slowly cracking. In only a few seconds, the ice shattered and Tornado was free.“Oh my God.” Adam West stared with amazement. “It’s the Avatar!” he exclaimed and happily pointed. “Hooray! Hey, everyone! Everyone!” He ran out into the other rooms and started waving his arms. “The Avatar is back! We’re SAVED! The Avatar is back!”“Someone oughta check to see if he wasn’t an inmate here.” an officer suggested. Teen Tornado shielded his ears from the deafening music, too. Eventually, Ying-Ying pecked the button and made the music silence before soaring out of there. Regaining his composure, Tornado began rapidly spinning around as officers tried to shoot him, but was able to suck in all their guns and blow them all against the walls. The villain came to a halt as Hannibal Bean hopped onto his shoulder. “Feelin’ the cold shoulder?”“Shut it and show me the way outta here.”York HouseholdWhen Arctic Training had finally come to an end around 2:30, the cadets had been dropped off at their respective states and headed back for their homes. “Mom, Dad, I’m back!” Dillon yelled happily, dashing into his home.“Hey, welcome back, Honey!” Danika greeted, bending over to hug him. Nolan slowly entered the living room and approached them with a slight worried expression. “Heh, hey, Son… how was your first day at Arctic Training?”“It was great!” Dillon jumped. “I got to dodge searchlights, I got to kill robots, and I met new friends and everything! Of course, I DID meet up with a couple of jerks,” Dillon said with a grumpy look, “who were saying bad things…”“What kinds of bad things?”“It was Zach and Maddy. They were sayin’ bad things about us ’cause they don’t have bending. Well, I’ll show them! They’re just jealous!”Murphy HouseholdThe Murphy children had returned home and were eating dinner. “So, how was Arctic Training?” Gwen asked.“It was alright. Except…” Maddy began.“What?” Doug asked.“We met Dillon there. He kept talking about his dad and acting like a bigshot. Why did they have to let all those benders join the KND, anyway? They’re gonna try and hog all the glory and treat us like a trash!” “Maddy…” Gwen sighed with sympathy. Her daughter hated metahumans and benders ever since that incident. When they were 3 years old… Gwen wished she could’ve prevented it sooner. But this is something they may have to live with for a while.York Household“Dillon, it’s true that joining the KND is the most amazing experience,” Nolan began, “but you have to understand that not everything will be perfect. You may not get along with every operative you meet. I know Zach and Maddy hurt your feelings, but the fact is, they have their reasons for hating metahumans. One day, they’ll realize they were wrong to hate you, but for now, you can’t be angry at them, and you can’t act like you’re better. You have to look at each other as fellow operatives with the same goals in mind. Do you understand?”“I…I think I do. But what if they never do? What if they make benders illegal again?”“Then we’ll put a stop to it all over again. But I don’t think it’s gonna happen, Dillon. The world is different now. It’s growing. There’s going to be plenty of benders and even more amazing people, and the Murphys will have to get used to it. But let me ask one more thing of you, Dillon: don’t try to be like me.”“W-What? Why not?”“Because my story is already done. It’s your story now, Dillon, and it’s your friends’ stories. Become your own operative and make your own amazing tale.”“Heh heh heh. Okay, Dad. I promise.”“Yeah, but YOUR story isn’t done EITHER, Nolan.” Midna remarked, peeping out of Danika’s shadow. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be playing dress-up every night instead of making us money.”“Hey, Danika works for GUN now, they pay a lot!”“Then you had better show up for dinner when I tell you to, Nolan.” Dani said, flicking his nose. “I don’t want my hard-earned money going to waste.”“Ha ha! Yes, dear…” Nolan flushed.Forest areaNighttime has come just as Hannibal and Tornado made it to a forest, and the villain was panting heavily. “Boy, I’m glad we made it outta that. So, what’s the occasion?”“The occasion: an anniversary.” Hannibal spoke. “Those rotten Kids Next Door spoiled my plans long ago. But with Ganon defeated, Ah have the perfect plan of revenge. First of all, you are gonna free the other villains out of their frozen states. Secondly, Ah lost my Yin-Yang Yo-yos after that battle, and Ah need to get them back if Ah’m ever to bring the Kids Next Door to its knees. If everything goes accordin’ to plan, the world shall be consumed by the might of the Chaos Kin. YEEEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!” As Hannibal maniacally laughed, his Ying-Ying Bird screeched and joined in the laughter.Zach and Maddy are Numbuh 227’s future kids.
Sign up to rate and review this story