A short one-shot on the Eve of the New Year. Leave me a review if it's not too much trouble. Happy New Year everyone!

Operation N.E.W.Y.E.A.R.

New

Easily

Worrying

Year

Entering

Approaching

Regrets

The party was in full swing by the time it was 11:00pm. Everyone was waiting excitedly for those few seconds to come, the countdown that would have them say goodbye to this year forever and look forward to a new one. It wasn't as if anything particularly bad or traumatizing happened the past year. It was just the one time that all of them could get together in a large group and share their collective enthusiasm at counting down the clock, and of course, to go berserk right after the clock hit midnight. And with the Kids Next Door, you are sure to have a crazy and amazing time at their New Year's Eve parties.

For now though, the kids seemed to be able to control themselves. The party was held in main hall of the Moon Base treehouse, where the Supreme Leader would usually hold important speeches and announcements. The hall was full of kids chatting, laughing and having a good time. A couple of the more fidgety ones were eying the clock every few minutes, thinking that it would go faster if they kept looking at it. The atmosphere was chill and the noise of chatter was a little loud, but no one minded. There was ice cream, cake, chips, sodas, milkshakes, anything and everything a kid could want in a New Year's Eve buffet laid out on a large table in the center of the hall. There were multiple screens on the ceilings of the circular hall but only one of them showed the current time.

The members of Sector V were scattered. Numbuh 2 was hanging nearby the buffet table snatching anything he could get his hands on. Numbuh 3 was cheerily talking to some of the younger operatives while Numbuh 4 was having a bit of a brawl with Numbuh 60.

"You think you can hold off on your own just because you act all tough Beatles?" Numbuh 60 said. He was sporting his signature green winter jacket and brown boots, his snow goggles worn over his cap.

"I act tough because I know how to hold off on my own. While you're in your safe little treehouse training snot-nosed brats I'm going on real missions and savin' the world from adult tyranny and stuff." Numbuh 4 retorted. "I've never seen you go on any missions."

"That's because I'm busy with the new recruits! If it wasn't for me this whole organization would just be a bunch of kids who can't fight for themselves! What have you done anyway? Holding off on your own? Ha! You couldn't step into the kiddy pool even if I double-dared you."

"Hey! I can swim now ya dork! I'll have you know I've been to two different dimensions and saved them both. One was full of cruddy girly girls anyway so it was easy for me to fight my way through there." Numbuh 4 grinned seeing Numbuh 60's face in shock, thinking he had the upper hand. However, the Australian's grinned faded as he saw Numbuh 60's face turn to one of fear. Numbuh 4 looked behind him and saw a fuming Numbuh 86 closing in on them.

"Umm…hey…I think I hear Numbuh 362 calling me. I should better go!" Numbuh 60 quickly fled before Numbuh 4 could pull him back in, shouting at him for being a coward before Numbuh 86 was standing right next to him.

"Hiya…Numbuh 86," Numbuh 4's knees were shaking as he nervously spoke, "it's almost New Year's ya know? Excited for the countdown…?"

"CRUDDY GIRLY GIRLS!?" Numbuh 86 boomed. "You wouldn't know surviving by yourself if it hit you in the face!" the redhead scoffed. "Girls are obviously superior to boys anyway and there's no changing that!"

Meanwhile, Numbuh 5 was seeing the commotion from the bottom floor. She went over to get Numbuh 2's help.

"Not now!" Hoagie had his mouth full of cake. "They're about to hand out the triple hot fudge blurbleberry sundae bar! I can't miss this!"

Numbuh 5 rolled her eyes at his teammate. "Great. Numbuh 5's gotta do everything herself." She muttered.

The commotion between Numbuh 4 and 86 was heating up as it was drawing more attention from the kids.

"Boys are better!"

"No! Girls are!"

"No! They're too busy with their makeup and dresses to ever fight better than boys."

"You'll probably get distracted picking that booger off your nose!"

"Enough!" Everyone turned to Numbuh 5 who appeared between the two bickering operatives.

"Numbuh 5! Excellent." 86 cheered. "As the leader of Sector V, you're just in time to show me how much better girls are than boys by giving me an assessment of Numbuh 4's obvious lack of ability to hold himself in the field."

"Don't listen to her Numbuh 5! We both know I'm the toughest member in our group. Nothing gets past me!"

"What Numbuh 5 thinks you should do is to stop fighting! This argument is pointless! Boys are just as good as girls and girls are just as good as boys. We had both boy and girl Supreme Leaders. You can't deny that Numbuh 100 was one of the best." Abby pointed at 86 then turned to Numbuh 4. "And you know just as well as Numbuh 5 does that 362 is a more than capable leader."

Numbuh 4 and 86 both had moped expression after Numbuh 5's lecture. Abby didn't feel too good giving it in the first place. The last thing she wanted was to ruin the party mood by breaking up a fight and acting mature. They were all twelve, almost thirteen, a bit of maturity was expected from operatives in this age, but she knew that she was the one 'with any sort of common sense' as Numbuh 1 aptly described it. The one who acted more mature than anyone else. Maybe it was because she had an older sister, or maybe it was because she had to take a leadership role when Numbuh 1 left and felt responsible for her teammates.

Numbuh 1 would have handled that better. She thought to herself. He was a natural born leader. His leadership skills were efficient, inspiring, and firm, but at the same time he could also act like a kid if he wanted to. It was why so many KND operatives took a liking to him. He practically had charisma oozing out of him whenever he would hang out with his friends. Numbuh 5 knew how to have fun. She went on candy hunting adventures and joked around with the team. But ever since their leader left she was forced to act mature. She couldn't balance her childish side and her responsible side like Numbuh 1 could. The weight of her self-imposed responsibilities were slowly crushing her. She missed the times when all five of them were in their treehouse joking about and playing together without a care in the world.

What am I doing? I shouldn't be thinking about this. Now's not the time to be reminiscing. I need to enjoy the party.

Abby looked around the flashy decorated Moon Base, Numbuh 2 was still gleefully stuffing his face with hot fudge blubleberry sundae, Numbuh 3 was playing Rainbow Monkeys with the younger operatives. A wide smile appeared on Abby's face as the kids were laughing at Numbuh 3's silly faces. She could see Numbuh 4 was aimlessly walking about, hands in his pockets and his hoodie raised up. Numbuh 86 looked like she was getting a stern warning from 362. Abby's smile quickly disappeared as a sharp pang of guilt hit her gut. They were only having a little fun. So what if they argued? The other kids enjoyed it too and in the end no one was going to get hurt. Wally and Fanny were the two toughest kids she knew in the Kids Next Door. What happened just now wouldn't faze them. Abby shook her head and heavily sighed.

Abby felt the least she could do was apologize. She started to walk to Numbuh 4 when she felt someone grab her arm. Numbuh 362 was behind her.

"Numbuh 5, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." Abby desperately wanted to talk to Wally though. But it's not like you can say no to the Supreme Leader.

"Is it ok if we go in my office?"

"Alright."

Ten million light years away, a similar party was being held on the Galactic Kids Next Door mothership. The giant spaceship, which is shaped like a cake, acts as the central command for all the GKND treehouses scattered across the galaxy. Space is a huge place for only one command center, so the areas are divided into different quadrants, each containing their own central command for that specific quadrant. Those sub central commands then report to the highest authority on board the mothership.

The main atrium for Central Command was easily the size of Earth's KND Moon Base. Around a thousand alien operatives were partying their butts (and other related body parts) off as the strange techno sounding music played seamlessly into the background. Many of the operatives were high-ranking officials, leaders of certain quadrants, or operatives who have given themselves a name during their time in the GKND. Numbuh 1 just so happens to fall into this latest category.

During his first year in the GKND, Nigel Uno underwent intense training, both physically and mentally, to be able to cope with the harsh and unpredictable environments of deep space. He was then assigned to a sector in the White Noise quadrant. Shortly after he impressed his teammates and his quadrant leader with his ability to lead groups of people together. But more importantly, the training brought on by the GKND revealed another side of Numbuh 1 to be much more deadly. His combat abilities.

Numbuh 1 was swiftly reassigned, after a tearful parting with his new friends in the White Noise sector, to the Hammerhead quadrant where a small but elite group of operatives. Many of their missions were solo run, given to them directly from Central Command. Sometimes, they were assigned to help co-lead important missions, help with assembling new treehouse sectors by choosing appropriate applicants, or plan battle strategies against the impending adult virus threat. Codenamed: GU-013.

The human settled in well, and although he was at first intimidated by his more experienced (and much bigger) teammates, they all became fast friends.

Nigel had arguably made one of the most significant impacts in the GKND ever since he arrived two years ago. Many operatives, due to their varying lifespans, have been in the GKND for years, possibly decades. But Numbuh 1 rose to the top extremely quickly. He initialized a successful containment of the virus in the Merius sector, invented various combat moves and strikes against specific threats and trained them to his whole sector, put an end to the Yliandi teenagers. A group of teenagers with mastery of stealth and camouflage, they were responsible for many of the major outbreaks and spread of the GU-013 virus and seen the most numbers of defected operatives from the GKND. These were just a handful of achievements Numbuh 1 had accomplished in his time in the GKND, among other accomplishments. Including winning the contest for most burgers eaten in one minute. Three. Turns out many GKND operatives are allergic to bread.

Nigel was with Rocko and Quasgil, Numbuhs 808 and 809, two of his Hammerhead quadrant teammates. Both of them were Terra people, 'living earth' as dubbed by many operatives. Huge moving pieces of rock that towered at ten feet tall and look vaguely humanoid. Their different pieces were attached by what looked like nothing, but was in fact magnetism. Both were able to pull themselves apart at will and put themselves back together. They had seen their fair share of battles and, like Numbuh 1, were approaching the age where they would be considered teenagers.

"You know, you guys never told me you celebrated New Year's Day! I must have missed a big party last year." Numbuh 1 said to his two companions. They looked at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"We don't celebrate your Earth customs Numbuh 1!" Rocko spoke and slapped Nigel's back. His voice was a very deep masculine one. "Today marks the day of the end of a spacial cycle. It just so happens to fall under your planet's holiday as well."

"Umm…how long is a 'spacial cycle' anyway?" Numbuh 1 asked.

"About a million of your Earth years. A really long time." Rocko grinned. Numbuh 1 let out an uncomfortable laugh. "You lookin' nervous big man."

"Heh, when you're in front of some of the most important people in the Galactic Kids Next Door, it happens." Numbuh 1 smiled sheepishly.

"Don't sweat it kid!" Quasgil said. Although similar in size and shape, Quasgil had a very high-pitched voice, like being surrounded by helium. While Numbuh 1 was definitely surprised at first, he was able to look past it. "All you gotta do is to go up on the big stage, shake hands with the Supreme Leader and get your medal and do a short speech."

"What?" Numbuh 1 panicked. "A speech?"

"Yeah." Rocko replied. "Nothin' major. Just ya know, how ya feel and stuff."

"Oh no…" Numbuh 1 slapped his face. He was not ready for a speech.

How did I get over here? How did all this happen? Numbuh 1 was pushed right into training day three of his stay in the GKND. There were barely any introductions and he simply followed instructions for much of the first year. Only near the end of the year did he see any action.

The sector he was assigned to reminded him a lot of home. Clear skies, breathable air, even green grass in some places. His new teammates had similar personalities to his old friends on Earth and Nigel bonded with them quickly.

It wasn't meant to last however. His brief stay with his new teammates was interrupted when the GKND informed him he was being reassigned. Everything moved at that quick pace once again and before he knew it he was in the Hammerhead quadrant.

Everything in the GKND was methodical. They were quick and precise, and when they say they mean business, they mean business. It wasn't like the Kids Next Door back on Earth where the kids had time to relax and play with each other. Here was a much harsher world, one that had to be taken more seriously. With a very real and very dangerous threat looming over them. The GKND was almost militaristic in their operations. Nigel rarely found a day to himself, where he could think about his thoughts and recall on past events and memories. The KND back home was always about fun in the end. They were there to defeat adult tyranny and right injustice done to kids by evil adults, but they always had fun doing so. If the GKND's goal to eradicate the virus resulted in themselves acting like…adults, then what was the whole point of it all? They were fighting the virus, yet slowly turning into adults by the way they behaved, the way they spoke, the way they did things.

Nigel somehow found himself thinking all these things. For the first time in a long time he was left to his own thoughts, to ponder and reflect what happened in his time in the GKND. What am I doing here? Am I doing the right thing? Do I like it here? Am I having having fun? I'm missing something. What am I missing?

The thought suddenly hit him as it became obvious. My friends. My home…my family…I never had any time to think about them at all. Are they missing me?

Before there was enough time for Nigel to let those thoughts sink in there was a loud announcement from the large stage in the middle of the atrium. A scaly lizard like alien standing on its hind legs, and multiple arms protruding from his torso, was wearing a small earpiece. This was Numbuh Millennium. The Supreme Leader of the Galactic Kids Next Door.

"Galactic Kids Next Door! We are only minutes away from the end of our third spacial cycle. And as it is fitting, I would like to invite our guest of honor, which I'm sure many of you know already. Numbuh 1! Center stage please!"

"What's wrong Abby?" 362 poured her a glass of soda and offered it to her where Numbuh 5 took it and gulped it down.

"I don't know. Did I do the right thing back there with Numbuh 4 and 86?"

"I'm sure you did." 362 assured her. "If you hadn't done something I would have had to give them clean up duty on Moon Base or something."

"Don't you get tired of ordering people around Rachel?" Numbuh 362 was taken aback by the wording of the question but let Numbuh 5 elaborate. "I mean, giving all these orders around, doesn't it make you feel a bit like an adult? Telling kids what they can or cannot do?" Rachel's face softened after hearing what Abby meant.

"You're feeling like that huh? That bossing other kids around makes you like an adult?" Abby nodded.

"Well, order has always been the way people do things, Abby. I can't say I don't feel bad about ordering the kids around, because I do sometimes. But I know when I do tell them to do something it's for the Kids Next Door. We're doing this for other kids. A lot of adults, they use their power to boss other kids around and make them do meaningless work. And it's not like we give orders all the time right? We have fun too!"

"Yeah, that's right. But…how do we manage both? How do you do it Rachel?"

Rachel fell back on her chair and leaned back. "I don't really know Abby. I like what I do here. I like knowing that what I do is for kids everywhere. So at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if I'm too harsh on the operatives because they signed up to be a part of this. To help kids worldwide. I guess you don't feel comfortable telling kids what to do."

"No…" Abby simply said.

Rachel reached under her desk and rummaged through before pulling out a rather thick file with 'Sector V' printed in large bold font. She dropped it on the desk with a heavy 'thud'.

"This is the file about your Sector under both yours and Numbuh 1's leadership."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Your file only got so thick when you took over after Numbuh 1 left."

"I don't understand…"

"Your mission success rate doubled after he left. There were fewer childish incidents, your team was more organized. Arguably, your team has been more successful than it has ever been under Numbuh 1."

"A-are you sure?" Numbuh 5 was processing this new information.

"Positive. And you don't feel too good when you give orders to your teammates?" Numbuh 5 shook her head.

"I think you should relax a bit Numbuh 5. You don't feel comfortable ordering your teammates around, and I think you should cut them some slack. We are still kids after all!"

"But I can't!" Numbuh 5 cried out. "I don't know why! Every time I see Kuki goofing off, or when Hoagie and Wally pick a fight, some part of me," Abby struggled to continue as she tried to find the words, "some part of me wants to stop it! I feel…icky and tight whenever they play or bicker. And I don't know why!"

Both sat in silence for a long time. Rachel had an idea on why Abby was starting to act this way, she suspected Abby knew as well but was simply trying to deny it.

"Numbuh 1 always knew when to act like a kid and when to act like a leader. He was always better at this than I was…" Abby sniffed and wiped her eyes, looking at the ground.

"You always did act older than your age, Abby." Rachel spoke softly. "I guess it's starting to show."

"Numbuh 1 did too, at times. Maybe it wasn't nearly as much as me, but it showed whenever we would go on a mission. He was always a kid though; he could switch between those two personalities. I can't do that…"

"I wish there was something I could do." Rachel said, not knowing what else to say. She moved over and sat next to her stricken friend. They both knew the reality of what was happening.

"Can't we talk to him?"

"What?"

"Can't we talk to Nigel? You're the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door. You must have a way to contact them somehow!" Abby pleaded. She hoped talking to Nigel would give her some kind of comfort or closure. She wanted, needed to talk to him.

"I'm sorry…there's no way for me to contact him or the Galactic Kids Next Door."

Another painful silence swept through them for what seemed like hours, even though it was only six minutes till midnight.

The button under Rachel's desk could allow her to contact Galactic Kids Next Door Central Command. Every day when she would sit at her desk, she was confronted with feelings of whether she should press the button. They told her it should only be pressed in emergencies, but what they really meant was that she could never press the button for any reason.

They didn't get to say goodbye the day Nigel left. No one told Rachel anything. She was left completely in the dark. When she found out about his departure a whole month later, she locked herself in her room. Feelings of hurt, pain, and regret boiled within her all at once. They were never particularly close, not as much as other operatives were led to believe, but whenever she had a chance to see Nigel, her heart would beat faster and she would always feel better.

Abby was leaning on her shoulder; she could feel her tears on her clothes. She didn't deserve this. The button was right there.

5…4…3…2…1…

What's the point of all this? How did I not see it before myself? Everything here is just…ordered. Ordered and structured. It doesn't feel like working with kids at all. I'm not playing with them. We're not having fun. They said so themselves! 'This isn't a game anymore. Playtime is over!' Yet I was so engulfed with being with them, working with them. I was working.

The closest I ever felt to home was with my teammates in the White Noise sector. I never thought about my home, or my family, or my friends after that. That's what they do. They brainwash you…fill your head with all that nonsense of stopping that adult virus. They never told us anything about the virus either. The only thing they did tell us that it turned kids into adults. They blinded us. All of us.

The crowd parted as Numbuh 1 walked toward center stage. It seemed like the entire audience had their eyes on him. His mind still reeling in with all these thoughts. Everything he fought for, everything he believed in; if this whole thing was a farce why was he here? Why did it take so long for him to question any of the GKND's actions?

They made me forget about my parents, my teammates in White Noise, my old teammates in Sector V. They sent us on hundreds of missions while telling us we did the right thing. They never showed us anything.

Look at how we're acting. Look at this.

Nigel began to see things in a different light. Numbuh Millennium was holding the golden medal in two of his hands, his smile spreading across his whole face. It looked somewhat sinister, the way he was slightly hunched, how the lighting was focused on him. The audience followed his every move. Some of them wore matching uniforms to indicate what sector they belonged to. Uniforms. Like in school. Like in the military. Something adults did.

He slowly went up the steps and stopped in front of the Supreme Leader. He towered over him. He had his hand out and Nigel shook it while he put the medal on at the same time. The crowd applauded, but there was no noise. They didn't cheer or yell or shout. They politely clapped.

He felt the Supreme Leader's breath on his ear. "I think they want a speech." He gave Nigel a microphone.

What would he say? Should he something about his friends? Should he say how he was excited when he first stepped into the mothership and stared in awe at the inner workings of the GKND? Can he keep pretending that he felt his time here was something meaningful? Should he just say what they wanted to hear?

The entire audience was now still. They were anticipating his speech. What should he say? The microphone was shaking in his hand.

A lifetime past before he raised the mic.

"I don't like it here."