Operation L.O.S.T.

Longtime

Operatives

Suddenly

Teens

Set three years after the GKND video, the decommissioned members of Sector V discover they share a mysterious past and a secret that could change everything.

- Post-GKND video and pre-adult INTERVIEWS

- A Kids Next Door decom with 3x4, 2x5, and some other random goodies

- Slightly AU because they're teenagers. But otherwise, all characters are canon. Except one. Props if you can figure out who ;)

- rated T for language, mild violence, mild suggestive content

AN: Is it customary to have an author's note? Well, here's one! Anyways, enjoy the story!

Also, you should watch the G:KND video if you haven't yet... it's on YouTube... :P


Chapter 1. Fragments


~1~ Trouble at the Bus Stop

"Do you ever feel like you're forgetting something?"

The man peered down from a scruffy mustache, frowning at Nigel's question.

"No."

"Well, I don't mean in like the oops-I-forgot-to-pack-my-toothbrush kind of way, more in the I-feel-like-I-used-to-be-different-and-now-I-don't-know-who-I-am-anymore kind of way. D'you ever feel like that?"

The man squinted at Nigel, his old stubbly face like a potato trying hard to concentrate.

"No."

"Ah, well." Nigel sighed and spilled out a handful of coins onto the counter to pay for his Chewy Pellets. The man scratched his coarse face.

"Look, kid, I'm just a guy who sells snacks at a bus station, but here's some advice. Don't ask so many questions."

"I'm not a kid," Nigel said angrily and took his Chewy Pellets.

What was he then, a dumb teenager? A loser with no friends? That's what he felt like, and that's what he got treated like at school.

Even though he was a nobody, Nigel still dreamt about wild and impossible things, like battling monsters, exploring outer space, talking to enormous cats with blades on their tales. Dreams from a past life, he told himself with his eyes closed, lying on a bench, resting his head on his backpack. One where I'm not such a nobody.

Maybe that's why he was so eager to follow that mysterious message that appeared in his mailbox one day. It was a slip of paper that said, If you want to know about the Kids Next Door, come to this address, and then it listed an address at some nearby university. At first, Nigel thought it was sent to him by accident- he wasn't exactly cool enough to be chosen for any kind of secret organization- but part of him was hoping it was. He wanted to be somebody. Somebody who could make a difference.

Or fight crime.

Maybe save the world.

Yeah, something like that, he smiled to himself as he waited for his bus to arrive.

Suddenly, cold fingers curled around his wrist.

"Where are you going?"

Nigel was half expecting to see his parents, but it wasn't them. It was a boy his age, tall and mousy-haired, who looked like a skinny mushroom.

"What do you want?" said Nigel, trying to twist his arm free. "Who are you?"

The boy didn't let go. "Come with me, Nigel."

"How do you know my name? ...Are you from the Kids Next Door?"

The boy shuddered at that question. "I know a lot of things about you, Nigel," he said. "Come with me and I'll explain everything. I'll explain who you really are."

Nigel stop struggling for a second. He didn't have any reason to trust that slip of paper any more than this teenager. But there was something really weird and creepy about this boy, and Nigel just couldn't shake that feeling.

The boy looked down at Nigel, and Nigel caught a brief glimpse of two crystal blue eyes that chilled him to his core. He knew those eyes.

"No!" he yelled, but the boy tightened his grip.

"Don't go asking questions about the Kids Next Door, Nigel. You won't like what you find," said the boy and twisted Nigel's arm even harder.

Nigel shouted in pain. Why was nobody doing anything? All the adults seemed to be completely ignoring the fact that he was getting attacked.

The boy reached for Nigel's other arm, but Nigel smacked it away with the side of his palm.

The boy growled. This time, he swung his arm around Nigel's neck and pulled him down, choking him.

"Uh-arrrgh!" Nigel doubled-over as fast as he could and flung the boy over his shoulder, who crashed into the ground with a thump. He let go of Nigel's wrist.

Just then, Nigel's bus pulled up, and the driver looked at Nigel, then at the boy on the ground, then back at Nigel, and shrugged. Nigel grabbed his knapsack and sprinted on, glancing over his shoulder. The boy was still lying on the ground.

He was shaken, but impressed that he'd gotten out of that chokehold. Defending himself had come naturally to him, as though he'd been in hundreds of fights before.

The bus sputtered and trundled away as Nigel stared out the dirty speckled window, and he couldn't help feeling that he had stumbled across something that was a lot more sinister and complicated than it seemed.


~4~ Don't Touch Me

In the schoolyard, freshman boys scurried across the grass out of his way. Even the upperclassmen boys would stiffen and avoid eye contact with him, though the occasional upperclassmen girl would tilt her head and flip her long ponytail, watching him with thin steely eyes, before being lured back into conversation by one of the boys determined not to acknowledge Wally's existence.

Wally was used to it. Being simultaneously stared at and purposefully not being stared at. It was like the other students couldn't decide whether they were afraid of him or in awe of him.

He walked across the grass, fresh cut and still covered in morning dew, brushing past a freshman. The boy stared at Wally, sour-faced, sandy-freckled, with a massive overbite. He looked like a chipmunk trying to give Wally the stink-eye.

It was easier when they glared at him. It almost gave him a reason to do what he did.

"Oi." said Wally, flatly.

That freshman Harvey scowled at him. "What? I didn't do nothing. Idiot." He muttered the last word under his breath.

"Say that again." Wally grasped the neck of the boy's maroon sweater.

"Don't you dare touch me," scowled the boy. "I could take you. My sister knows aikido, and I've watched her do stuff, so you better leave me alone!"

"Shut up, brat. Give me your lunch money." He held a finger from his free hand just above Harvey's nose, and the little freshman glared at it, sweating. "Give me your lunch money," Wally repeated, "and I won't touch you."

Harvey gnashed his teeth. "No!" he yelled, and tried to sucker-punch him in the stomach, but Wally was too fast for him.

In one swift motion, he had let go of Harvey's shirt, caught his outstretched fist, and twisted his arm behind the freshman's back. And he still had one finger above Harvey's face, which he now lowered and gingerly booped Harvey on the nose, as if he were playing with a kitten.

Harvey went nuts. He screamed and thrashed and kicked, but Wally had a grip so tight on him, he couldn't do anything and eventually just tired himself out.

"Fine," Harvey spat, panting. "Take it." He grabbed his backpack and unzipped a pouch, pulling out a few crumpled dollar bills and some coins.

Wally took the money and jammed it into his pocket, letting go of Harvey's arm. He walked away, not saying another word.

"You're a terrible person, you know that?" shouted Harvey behind him, rubbing his arm. "You're nothing but a stupid bully!"

Wally bristled but didn't turn back.

Something else caught his attention up ahead. Through the slats of the fence around the pool, he saw something dark in the shimmering water, and he realized it was a person, just floating there. Was there actually a dead body in the school's pool?

Curious, he jogged over.


~3x4~ Move.

Ten minutes earlier...

There was something green in the water.

It looked kinda gross, if you asked Kuki, like a ball of green snot floating in the pool. To see what it was, she'd have to get into the pool for a closer look.

Suddenly, she got the urge to jump into the pool.

That was a stupid urge. Where did she come up with that? The pool was probably freezing this early in the morning, and she had another wonderful day at school to get to. She was kinda popular, she had friends, her grades were okay. So why did it feel like the water was pulling her in?

There was something in the black depths of the water, a pale image, translucent, like a ghost sitting in darkness, alone.

Come into the water, said the ghost, pale and white and frozen, like a little porcelain doll. Come into the pool.

"No," said Kuki aloud, though nobody was around. "I don't want to. That looks lonely." Why would she jump into a freezing pool? She couldn't be late to class, she had to keep up her good grades. Even if her grades weren't good enough for parents. Her friends would be waiting for her. Maybe. Even though they only hung out with her because they felt sorry for her.

This is where you belong, said the ghost. Don't you know? I'm you.

Kuki gasped. The ghost was a pale reflection of her, curled up, crying alone in the darkness, just like from her nightmares. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the ghost wouldn't go away. The ghost was sitting in her head, in the dark spaces of her mind, alone and crying. The ghost was her.

She fell.

Her body plunged into the water, where it was calm and quiet, the school bell muffled. Her eyes opened halfway into little slits, drinking in the dark, rippling depths, her muscles frozen still. She had to move but had no energy. Maybe she should float just a little bit longer.

Her lungs started to hurt. Ok, now it was time to go. Move, she told herself. Get out of the pool. Dark shadows rippled through the water. On the count of three, I'm going to move.

One.

Two.

Three.

She didn't move.

But she was going to move, she had to get out of the pool! Her head was a big black cloud. Just move. Her lungs screamed for air. Move! She didn't want this. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She wanted to get out! But she just couldn't move. Blackness trickled over her eyes.

Her waist was grabbed by a hook and then she was jerked out of the water. Her lungs exploded, gasped at the sweet, sweet air, the sunlight blinded her. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever experienced.

The hook turned out to be an arm that raised her over the pool edge and lay her down, followed by a boy climbing out.

She was dizzy, vaguely aware of the boy pushing back wet bangs out of his eyes, and then the wet bangs out of her eyes, curious to see if she was alive. Her skin prickled, either from the cold or from his hand on her forehead, she couldn't tell.

Kuki gazed up at her golden savior, his blond hair glowing like an angel in the morning light. She coughed and smiled at him between gasps of air.

The angel looked back down at her.

"-the crud is wrong with you?"

Wally was no angel. His overgrown blonde hair dripped water down his face and he wrung out his T-shirt, scowling at the girl he had just pulled out of the pool.

What kind of idiot jumps into a pool, fully clothed, in the cold, and then just floats there? When he first saw her, he thought she was dead.

"Oi! You stupid, or something?"

She sat up, smiled like an idiot, and shook her head.

"I was about to get out," she lied. She grinned nervously and her teeth started chattering in the cold.

"Hold on, do we know each other?" He squinted at her and suddenly felt the urge to tell her something really important, but he couldn't remember what it was. "Nah, nevermind…"

"Th-thank you. Wow. Breathing has never felt so good," Kuki said, taking a deep breath and coughing, and she meant it.

"Whatever." He grabbed his backpack and jacket from beside the pool, where he'd dropped them before jumping into the water. The late bell had already rung and it was going to be one more tardy on his rap sheet.

The girl stood up, dripping, shivering, heading slowly towards the classrooms. She looked pathetic and cold.

He was about to put on his jacket, but hesitated.

Crud. She looked like she needed it more than he did.

He threw his jacket at her and ran away.


~2~ Two Bad Eggs

"Cha! Yeah!"

Hoagie thrust his hips out in time with the music.

"Uh-tiss! Uh-huh!"

He grabbed a wrench and spun around, ear buds in his ears. He flopped down onto his creeper and pulled himself underneath his car, where he kept humming aloud while tinkering with his wrench.

He pushed himself back out, used his wrench as an air guitar for an especially exciting Scumbucket Punks guitar solo, and struck a dramatic pose at the end of it.

"Nice dance moves."

The wrench clattered to the ground and Hoagie quickly popped the ear buds out of his ears.

At the entrance to the garage stood two tittering girls. One had poofy blonde hair pulled into pigtails and vaguely resembled a poodle. The other had short plain hair and a plain face. The blonde one called Valerie grinned and whispered something to her friend Marybeth.

He grinned back sheepishly at his two classmates. "Heh-hey ladies."

The two girls glanced at each other, and then Valerie stepped into the garage. "Niiice ride," she said, looking at Hoagie's small two-seater car, running her fingers along its metal frame. Marybeth followed her shyly.

He beamed, leaning against the hood. "You like? I built her myself!"

"Wow," said Marybeth unenthusiastically.

"That's the chassis," Hoagie said, pointing to the metal exterior Valerie was touching.

She opened her mouth in fake surprise. "Chay-see? Oh, pleeease, tell me more!" Marybeth scrunched her brows and tried not to laugh.

Hoagie stood up proudly, excited to have visitors. "Well, it's like the skeleton of the car. Chassis is actually French for frame!"

The girls giggled again. Hoagie didn't know what was so funny, but he was glad they were having such a good time. "You know," he said leaning forward with a mischievous glint in his yellow glasses, "It's fully road legal. You'd have to take turns, but I could give you girls a ride in it."

Marybeth let out a snort and clapped a hand over her mouth. Valerie, on the other hand, leaned into Hoagie, batting her eyes at him. "You know what…" she whispered, slowly forming the words with a pink puckered mouth.

Hoagie grinned.

"NOW!" she yelled.

The two girls reached into their bags and each pulled out a fat white egg, and then simultaneously smashed their raw eggs over Hoagie's gray cap and shrieked. Valerie grabbed Marybeth's hand and they raced out the garage door, laughing breathlessly.

"S-sorry!" yelled Marybeth, still giggling, not sounding sorry at all.

"Loser!" yelled Valerie as the girls fled laughing into the night. "Who'd ever wanna hang out with you?"

Hoagie hadn't moved from beside his car.

Cold egg whites dribbled down the side of his head. Honestly, he didn't know what else he had been expecting.

He stared quietly out into the ugly black night and let the eggs drip, drip, drip all down his face.


~5~ The Treehouse

"We found it."

What they found was an enormous oak tree, gnarled and shabby, but not as shabby as the treehouse in its branches. Perhaps "shabby" was not the best way to describe this treehouse, maybe "forsaken" or "destroyed" was better, because this treehouse looked like it had been attacked a long time ago and then completely abandoned. In fact, the whole treehouse was ripped apart into two halves, as if something huge and powerful had torn it right down the middle.

They snuck up into its wooden remains and Lenny looked around warily. He wondered how Abby had found this place. Like everyone else from Sector V, she was supposed to be decommissioned.

"See?" Abby pointed at chipped yellow paint on the walls. "The letters K, N, D. I'm swear I'm not crazy, the Kids Next Door is real!"

"I've always believed you," said Lenny. "I'm not like the other kids at school who make fun of you. You can trust me."

The treehouse looked like nobody had been there in many years. Everything was either broken or covered in dust.

On the floor, a stuffed bunny with stuffing spilling out of its stomach. Broken and frayed wires dangling from the ceiling. Dark splotches all over the floor and walls, which looked an awful lot like-

"Look," said Lenny, interrupting Abby's thoughts. "A computer. Let's see if it still works."

He tapped its keys. Abby scoured the debris next door and something caught her eye. Out of the wreckage she pulled out two wooden planks held together with magnets and springs. It was heavy and seemed like it could seriously hurt somebody if used the right way. She liked it. She put it into her knapsack when Lenny wasn't looking.

Lenny called out. "It won't start without a password. Abby, what do you think a bunch of 10-year-olds would use as a password?"

"Probably something all 10-year-olds love, like rainbow munchies." Abby jutted out her hip, waiting for a response. "Well, is it working?"

"Umm, nope," said Lenny as he joined her in the room next door. "Guess there's nothing left for us to see. We should go, you can leave this way."

He motioned towards a doorway, and Abby went through it, walking out onto what used to be a balcony, but now was burnt and turned to charcoal.

"Careful," said Abby, stopping, and held out a hand to keep Lenny from following her. The blackened wood in front of Abby crumbled into the dark nothingness below. "No Lenny, we can't leave this way. It's unstable."

"Oh, right, wouldn't want you to fall from here or anything..."

Before turning back, Abby caught the view from the balcony. Yellow lights of quaint suburban houses peppering the blackness below, small and artificial, but above them, the twinkling vastness of outer space, deep and dark and full of mysteries. Abby couldn't help thinking how majestic this treehouse might have once been, at least before it got destroyed.

Suddenly, something fell from the sky onto the balcony with a plop.

"Gross, what is that? It looks disgusting," said Lenny. It was a snot-green liquid, and it stuck to the railing, dripping slowly. Abby looked up but couldn't see where it came from.

"What the f-" Abby said before being interrupted by a loud, mechanical whirring coming from the treehouse. She pushed Lenny aside and ran in to find the computer printing out sheets and sheets of paper.

"I thought you said the computer wasn't working!"

"I- I- did I?" Lenny ran up behind her.

Abby grabbed the endless roll of paper shooting out. There was only one message repeated on it, printing over and over and over again.

"They're coming," read Abby. "They're coming. Get out."

Lenny froze.

"Abby, we gotta go! They know. They know we're here and they're coming after us!" He stumbled backwards, panicking.

"Wait," said Abby. She pointed at the document. "Look at this date! This message is over three years old."

Lenny didn't stop trembling until he saw the date for himself. Abby glanced around at the forsaken, destroyed treehouse.

"They were coming, three years ago," she corrected. "And by the looks of it, whoever they are, they got here."