Sector SA, Part 1

This arc introduces a new sector made of several different crossovers. You don't have to know their original series as they are not tied to their canon selves.

Chapter 1: Hair Cut Day

Sugar Deserts

What's up? We're Sector SA. Never heard of us? That's only fair, we're pretty new. Here, I'll introduce ya.

A band of 10 thieves were marching out of a cave lodged within a small gorge, carrying large sacks. "This should be enough to impress those blasted pirates." The leader of the thieves, Al Sugarh stated. "After all, it all goes to their captain, right?"

"Big Mom is a picky eater, I hear." one of the thieves said. "Maybe we should ask one of her crewmates—" A person dropped from the sky and stomped him, then proceeded to kick the thief behind her. She was a girl in a white robe and wrapped mask, exposing only her magenta eyes, arms, and legs.

That's Morgiana, Numbuh Chapter. She's our Kickboxing Specialist. I thought she was an earthbender at first, but no. When those legs come for you, better cover yourself.

Three thieves raised candy swords and charged at her, but Morgiana swiftly and forcefully kicked them away. There were four thieves hidden above the gorge, ready to shoot her with sniper rifles. "HIYAH, HIYAH!" A pink mushroom with a long blonde ponytail and archaeologist helmet bounced on one's head using her own, bounced to the next, then made a stylish leap over the gorge to hit the next two.

That's Goombella, Numbuh Mark. She's a Goomba from a place in Oregon called Roguetown. A real fan of a hero called Sandman, not to mention a major bookworm. She kinda takes pride from being the only Goomba to not die from being stomped on the head.

Goombella bounced on the ground below, doing a twirl. "I bonked rocks that are harder than you! Index, light 'em up!"

"AAAH!" The thieves screamed when a blinding white light consumed them. When it faded the sacks were gone from their hands. "Where did it all go?!"

"I got them all!" A 9-year-old girl with shiny light-purple hair, green eyes, and wearing a white and gold nun's habit threw the last sack into a pile.

This is Numbuh Index. She won't give us her real name, so we call her Index. Apparently, she's a nun-in-training from the Arceist Church of England. Pretty cool, I say. She's also a lightbender, and a really heavy eater.

"WAH!" Al Sugarh grabbed Index and pulled her back, holding a Candycane Cutlass to her neck.

"You dirty Kids Next Door don't know when to leave adults to their work!" Sugarh yelled as Index struggled. "Stay your ground or I'll make the girl spill Kool-Aid!"

"Kool-Aid, huh? Sounds delicious."

Sugarh gasped—another girl got him from behind and swiped the sword, tipping it to his neck. She had long, sky-blue hair, same-colored eyes, and had a blue T-shirt with black jeans. "What?! Where did you come from?!"

"I wonder what your blood tastes like?" she said darkly. "Sugar, maybe?"

"Y-You're bluffing!"

The girl tipped the blade closer. "Try me."

That's me: I'm the leader. Nagisa Shiota. And no, I'm not a girl. I'm a boy. Can't tell you how many times I corrected people.

"HAOMP!" Index bit Sugarh's arm.

"OUCH!" The thief yelped and released her, and Morgiana seized the chance to launch forth and stamp his face with red feet. Goombella was bouncing between the remaining thieves like a rock-hard ball, landing when they all fell defeated. "I think we got them!"

"Good job, team!" Nagisa fist-pumped. "Now, what were these bandits taking?"

Index opened one of the sacks, and looked confused. "A bunch of little pebbles?"

"Pebbles?" Goombella jumped on the pile of green, purple, and blue rocks. She sniffed them and scooped some up in her mouth. "These aren't pebbles." She mumbled through chews. "They're Fruity Pebbles! An ancient type of rock candy!"

"CANDY?!" Index beamed with delight, grabbing handfuls of pebbles and throwing them in her mouth. "So delicious, I can't believe it!"

"Index, don't!" Nagisa grabbed her arm. "We have to take these to Moonbase and report to Cheren. Load the ship. Hm?" He noticed Morgiana was about to grab one, but stopped on his order. "…Okay, Morg, you can have a couple."

The Arab girl took off her turban mask and shook her magenta hair free. "Thanks." She ate a purple and blue one.

We're a pretty small sector—only four members instead of the usual five. We joined Kids Next Door in November last year, now it was February. As you can expect, we're not very popular. But hey, check out our ship! It's a S.C.A.M.P.E.R. III.

Sector SA's ship was shaped like a round triangle. The cockpit was in the front while a narrow corridor cut through the middle. It had boys' and girls' restrooms and a refrigerator. The sacks of candy were hanging by a giant net.

The scientists don't often hand an advanced model ship to new sectors, but that was before Index challenged them for it. She had five seconds to look at a screen with 54 digits. Then they turned it off and asked her to name the fifth number in the sixth row. The answer: 2. She guessed it like it was engraved in her memory, and the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. III was ours!

Okay, you're all probably wondering, why choose Sector SA? None of us but Morg are even from Saudi Arabia. Of all the hundreds of sectors, why choose one in a scorching hot desert? Well, we had a couple of reasons. For one thing, we bonded in Arctic Training and wanted to be our own team. The treehouse was unoccupied, and Goombella and Index for one wanted to get to know the culture. Then of course there's Morgiana. She-

"Nagisa, what the heck are you whispering about?" Goombella asked as they walked through Moonbase.

"Oh!" He blushed. "Uh, I'm just thinking out loud. Heh heh."

"You wanna be a television narrator when you grow up?" The Goomba smirked. "Maybe they'll let you announce on the Super Friends."

"That is what we are, right? Ha ha ha!" The team laughed.

I really love the Kids Next Door. It may seem like something out of a fairytale, but it's a happy place where kids are allowed to be who they are. We have benders like Index, non-humans like Goombella, but no matter who we are or where we come from, we're all good friends. And you wouldn't believe what kind of people we got here. One week in the Kids Next Door, we became involved in a war, where our Supreme Leader totally blew our minds.

"We didn't have a chance to interrogate the thieves before we left." Nagisa explained to Cheren Uno. "So we don't know if the thieves were planning anything with the candy."

"Hmm…" Cheren took notes. "Well, if the Psychic Sensors detected them regardless, they had to be up to something. Well done, Sector SA, I'll have the pebbles brought to the Candy Vault. But if I could make a suggestion… you four need a haircut."

It was then they remembered their unkempt hairdos. "I guess we do…" Nagisa blushed. "Well, we promised Aeincha we'd come to her if we needed one. Let's give her what she wants."

"I have to wonder what she did with our hair from last time." Goombella remarked.

Sector W7 Treehouse

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" Aeincha's little eyes glittered like stars. "Sector SA is back! The sector of colorful hair wants me to cut it again! Morgiana, and her sweet magenta goodness!" She climbed Morg's body and hugged her hair. Morg showed a hint of oddness on her expressionless face.

"Index, with hair so silvery shiny." Index lay on her back as Aeincha danced with some strands. "Arceus was kind when he chose this color.

"Goombella, sweet Goombella." Aeincha wrapped herself in the Goomba's ponytail and rolled. "A natural blonde, grown naturally on a Goomba. I am honored to behold such a rare sight.

"And Nagisa. Oh, Nagisa." Aeincha was lain down atop Nagisa's hair. "Your hair blue as the sky. When I lay on it, I feel like I'm floating."

"We're glad to see you too, Aeincha. Do you remember how we had it last time?"

"Of course I do! Alright, who's first?"

In early December, we signed Morg up for a Girls' Boxing Tournament. When it was over, we met Sector W7 and became friends. Morg bonded with Aisa and Index with Apis. Aeincha adored our hair and wanted to cut it, so we let her. I was skeptical at first, but despite her size, she did an excellent job.

Once Aeincha finished the other three, she worked on Nagisa's hair. She cut some off and smoothed the long hair out. "You aren't still mad about me calling you a girl, are you?"

"Not at all." He smiled politely.

"That's good…" Aein blushed. She still remembered that day.

"Oh my GOSH, I love your hair most of all! You are a beautiful girl with beautiful eyes and beautiful hair, just like your friends! You would win all the beauty pageants and your husbands will be the luckiest people alive, you ladies are just that beautiful!"

Aeincha pulled Nagisa's hair up and tied it in two spiky braids at the top. His hair was still long in the front, and it was the softest of his teammates. "There. But if you don't want people getting confused, why not cut it shorter?"

"I'm fine with it like this."

"Okay then. 'Shame I don't get to keep more of it." Aeincha hugged the hair. "It would make the most beautiful nest."

"Now you're starting to creep me out."

"Sorry. Well, thanks for dropping by, you four! I hope to see you soon!"

"You know it!" Goombella winked.

Sector SA Treehouse

One of the best parts about having a treehouse in a scorching hot desert was having a rooftop swimming pool. It really cools you down after a hard day of work. I didn't want to mess up my hair, yet, so I laid back and caught some rays. I was always more into hot weather than cool weather, and so do my teammates. I guess that's another reason we picked this sector.

"Huuuff!" Index and Goombella resurfaced from the pool, with the former holding her friend with her hands. Index was wearing a purple one-piece and looked much slimmer without her habit, and Goombella had a red one-piece on her stem. "How long was that?" Goombella asked.

"Three minutes, 30 seconds, 57 milliseconds, in which you swam one-and-a-half laps." Index counted. "You wanna take a break now?"

"No, I can do another lap!"

"Come on, Goombella, take a break." Nagisa told her. He was laying on a stretch chair, wearing blue trunks and sunglasses. "I watched you dive three times, you're gonna run out of breath."

"And besides, all this swimming is making me hungry." Index followed.

"Fine, I'll rest. I still made a good distance with small lungs."

Goombella had a drive to rise higher than was the norm of her own race. She wanted to fight, she wanted to swim, she wanted to be strong. One of a Goomba's biggest weaknesses is the fact they have no arms, but most of the time, that doesn't bother Goombella. Her inspiration was Sandman in that case, who was partly crippled in the legs.

Morgiana sat on the opposite end from Nagisa, soaking her feet in the pool and wearing a two-piece white swimsuit. She couldn't help but gaze at her leader. He looked different without his shirt on. In a good way. He had a slim physique and a nice smooth chest. The sunglasses went with his cool and confident demeanor. …Morgiana blushed.

Morgiana wasn't one with words. She's quick on her feet, but slow to speak. But she's reliable in a pinch and she gives it her all. She's just a little shy. She claims to be from a tribe called Fanalis, who are naturally skilled in the martial art, Red-Foot Style. I can't say if she's credible or not 'cause I've never heard of a race like that.

While Index was sitting on the corner and eating a banana, she gazed at her reflection in the water. Paying close attention to the way she wobbled and rippled.

Aside from being a lightbender and having an endless stomach, Index has a photographic memory. A Perfect Memory, she calls it. She says she can remember every inch of everything she sees, the shape of every droplet, the length of every hair strand… If I had a memory like that, my head would explode.

And as for me… well, what can I say? I'm the Sector Leader, so my teammates rely on me. It's worked out so far, but I'm not sure how my teammates feel about me. They think it's weird that I narrate my life, which… I guess makes sense. I know there are plenty of operatives who've gone on way more exciting adventures than we have, and some who have much more experience. But I love Kids Next Door, and I'll do my best to keep the trust and respect of my teammates.

…Still, if they knew what I was like back home, they probably couldn't look at me the same.