Before They Were Kings, Part IV: Loyalty

Kingston Crossing, Year 2002

Kingston was a peaceful neighborhood – a mobile home park that was set on a hill in Devon, England. Lamp posts lined up along the street, set to activate when night fell. The park was clean, the people were nice, and children freely played outside even after dark. The horizon was seeing its last moments of twilight as a team of kids were on an adventure. Wielding sticks and pillows as swords and shields, the five kids crept around some houses. Fireflies fluttered about, and when one lit up beside a seven-year-old girl with orange hair, blue eyes, and no shoes, she gasped and backed against a fat boy with brown hair.

"Stay calm!" the leader said quietly. He was a 9-year-old boy with brown hair, blue eyes, a blue button-up shirt, and blue jeans with brown boots. A tooth was missing in the front of his mouth, so little whistles blew through when he talked in his soft high voice. "Thunder Dragons react to fear. Keep your wits about you and keep your eyes peeled. We're close to the place I found the Thousand-Legs."

Henry was a friend of the neighborhood kids even though he didn't live in the park. In fact, they all knew Henry was a rich noble from the mansion beyond the hill. When he first came to visit them five months ago, they thought his only intention was to mock them or find some new servants. Instead, he asked them to go on a make-believe adventure to the moon and mine for Moon's Tears to feed to the thirsty Moonflower buds, which bloomed and lit the night blue. It was all imaginary, sure, but they could picture it perfectly. So since then, they loved going on fun adventures with Henry.

"The Thousand-Legs journeys down from the mountain every night and tramples across the village." Henry explained as they climbed the makeshift rock wall of the park's playground. "It wakes up on the final minute of twilight. This is our chance!" They crossed the playground's bridge. "David, don't step there." The fat boy gasped and stopped before stepping on an imaginary cracked board, causing the other three explorers to collide with his overweight backside.

"This is why we need to go first on these things." A black-haired boy named Rodney commented.

"It's here! The Thousand-Legs is on that pillar!" Henry pointed at a pole holding up a small roof. There was a tiny centipede.

"That's all we came up here for?" Rodney asked. "I can crush it with my finger."

"Don't get cocky!" Henry raised his stick-sword. "It's as big as a train and shakes the earth as it scampers! Split up so we can confuse it!"

"Oh, right!" They reignited their imaginations and divided around the cavern. The seven-year-old girl, Elizabeth, made a high leap onto the beast's face and rapidly kicked her bare feet against its eyes, blinding it. David became round and rolled through a row of legs, making it fall on its side. A blonde, ponytail girl, Evelyn, performed a spin attack with her sword and sliced part of the beast's belly.

"Boop!" Evelyn flicked the centipede off the pole as it fell on its back. "Crush it, Henry!"

Henry stood on the monster's head with his sword pointed down. "You shall meet your maker, foul beast!" He would lower the stick and squish the squirming bug.

"Noooo!" A pair of little hands grabbed the centipede and took it away.

"AAAAHH!" Henry jumped and hid behind Rodney, fear clear on his features. As adventurous as Henry was, he had only one great fear. It wasn't demons, it wasn't witches, it wasn't aliens… "It's her… the Hairstress!"

Henry's greatest fear was people with strange colored hair. And Crystal Wickens stood out among the neighbor kids with purple hair, and gold eyes that seemed to glow in the night. She was four years old and wore an indigo dress with brown sandals. "I don't like that name!" she shouted. "Am I some kinda witch??"

"Normal people have normal hair." Henry was shuddering, much to Rodney's disbelief. "My parents taught me people only have these hair colors: brown, black, blonde, orange, and grey or white if you're an old person. No purple, no blue, no green, no pink, but I see people with them! You're not normal!" Henry had no tragic history regarding a person with colored hair, but he once had a nightmare that a witch with blue hair boiled him alive. He asked his mother, who would comfort him by saying no person has blue hair. (She proceeded to list other colors as well.)

"My brother and my dad have purple hair!" Crystal argued. "Dad said my grandpa had it! What's so bad about it?"

"The Hairstress is protecting the Thousand-Legs!" David pointed his stick. "She must be its master!"

"I am not! I saw you picking on it like a bunch of meanies. This bug didn't do anything to you."

"Attack the Hairstress!" Elizabeth declared. The kids ran for attack, so Crystal turned and slipped down the slide before running across the park. Her small legs didn't go far, so she threw the centipede off, unnoticed by the kids when they piled on her. Henry watched the assault from the playground, his fear subsided. He had turned the kids against Crystal when he first encountered her, convincing them she was a witch who fried kids in her cauldron. Neither of them knew Crystal personally, so they ganged up on her for the sake of playing along.

A laser shot the ground a few feet away. "Back off, you jerks!" They looked up, seeing an 8-year-old boy who shared the same purple hair and yellow eyes as his sister. Travis Wickens wore black clothes and a purple scarf, and held a S.C.A.M.P.P.. "Or our hair won't be the only purple things in this park!"

The four kids got off Crystal, who happily got up and ran to her brother. "I told you not to go out by yourself at night." Travis stated. "What were you even doing?"

"Looking for bugs to cook in a potion!" Crystal replied as the two walked home.

"I keep telling you, nothing you make is gonna turn me into a frog."

"Bloody Travis has real weapons!" Rodney complained, throwing his stick on the ground. "Henry, you're rich, why don't YOU get us something like that?"

"I'm not even allowed to watch TV." Henry replied. "Do you really think my parents would let me buy weapons?"

"They wouldn't let you join KND, either." David said. "But hey, what if we all signed up? Then we can go on REAL adventures!"

"I bet Henry can get us in!" Elizabeth cheered. "He's rich!"

"Yeah, man, help us get in!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Henry gestured a 'slow down.' "This coming from a rich kid, that's a little unfair, isn't it? Do you guys really want to go through the stuff they do? Training in a frigid arctic tundra, flying ships that seem like they came from a dump, fighting dangerous adult criminals who possibly have years more experience than we could? I don't think David could endure a day of that."

The chubby boy looked downtrodden. "But we have make-believe to give us exercise." Henry swung his stick. "There are millions of kids who aren't operatives and still enjoy their lives. The Kids Next Door protect us so we can play these games. Why get involved with their dangers when we have this quaint little neighborhood?"

"I guess you're right." Rodney figured. "Still, this comes from the guy who lives it up in a mansion. Why don't you invite us to your place sometime?"

"Yeah, there's probably tons of adventure we can have in there!" Evelyn agreed.

"I've been trying to convince my parents." Henry blushed. "As a matter of fact, I should return home. They'll worry for me."

"Well, we'll see you later, then!" Eliza waved as Henry walked away. "Let's climb the swings like a tower next time!"

Outside the mobile home park was a gold car with clean white seats. Henry climbed in the back as his driver made the drive up the road around the park. "You've grown quite fond of these commoners, boy." The driver was a brown-haired man with a blue graduate's robe and hat. He was very skinny.

"I don't see what's so 'common' about them. They're kids like I am."

"Yes, but you are a noble. You must have studied the histories of noble families. They only desired slaves. The Pewterschmidts enslaved Africans, the Schnees enslaved Mobians, the Don Quixotes enslaved Minish… but you do the Churchill Family proud, son. Not a one in your bloodline has ever owned a slave. They have hired servants, but that's besides the point."

"Of course." Henry smiled and bowed. "Because true loyalty is won through kindness and friendship. So if I keep being their friend, they'll do anything I say."

"Indeed. Still, with an imagination like yours, I'm surprised you weren't born a psychicbender. It's good for kids like you to be so enticed in books. Television has such ill-mannered material."

"Oh, books aren't saints either, Teacher. I remember this one where the cover featured the protagonist making… an unpleasant gesture with his finger."

"Oh, my! I'll have to remove that from your library."

"Yes, please. It's not the gesture that makes me cringe, but the character had green hair."

After they returned to Churchill Mansion, Henry went up to his room. There was a small bookshelf with books he took from his house's library, either planning to read later or they were his favorites. Henry skimmed the titles, wondering which one to read. …Henry smiled and waved his hands. The books flew off the shelf and rotated in the air above him. Henry was a rare type of bender – a paperbender. It was a sub-form of plantbending and involved the control of dead matter. His tutor was also a paperbender, so he bonded the most with him.

"Let me see… The Eight Wonders? Yes, let's pretend to bake a cake. Majora's Mask by Sanula Kinsei? Why not don some pretend masks with super powers. Curse of Habaraki? A shrinking adventure, that could be fun. My Days in the Gallery, oh how mysterious."

Henry eventually fell asleep while trying to choose. The next morning, Henry had breakfast and got ready for school. He didn't go to an official school, but he had five teachers to teach him all he needed to know.

One of them called himself Super Principal, a short man with orange hair, a blue suit, and a red cape. He made class entertaining by flying with some metahuman power and solving equations at the speed of sound. Then there was Heli-Teacher, an old woman who flew on a wooden chair with a built-in propeller and taught him English and history. His PE teacher was Mad Dad, who sparred with Henry using boxing gloves as he taught the boy combat. Then there was Midwestern Mom, his nanny, and also his cooking teacher… he guessed. Well, she liked to bake pecan pies, but she was… loud.

But as mentioned previously, his favorite was Samuel Wilson, who called himself the Terrific Tutor. He taught Henry history and helped him with any subject he had trouble with. He also taught Henry the different forms of element bending. Not many got to learn such a subject, since most benders were encouraged to keep their powers secret. Together, they were the Parent Teacher Organization of Educating Youngsters. Whenever they weren't available, a group of substitute teachers called the Faculty 4 came to teach him. They were a group of metahumans who… He was less fond of them.

At 5:00pm, Terrific Tutor drove Henry down to Kingston Crossing, where he regrouped with his friends. "There's a lot of fluffy clouds in the sky today. I say we make an adventure to the heavenly land of Skypia!"

"Time to see if the angel people are only legends!" Elizabeth cheers.

"Are you just going to talk to birds?" a girl retorted. The kids turned to find Crystal Wickens, glaring sharply with hands on her hips.

"Eeeek!" Henry hid behind Rodney. "The Hairstress is back to exact revenge!"

"Look, I'm going to leave. But first I wanna show you something." She stepped aside to show a video projector.

"Blimey, we just got out of school!" Rodney complained.

"Just look!" Crystal pushed a button, and the device projected a hologram of a large knight. "Oooooo…!" The four minus Henry gazed in awe.

Crystal got a stick and stood in front of the knight. She dodged swings from its lance and swung her stick through it. "My brother fights loads of bad guys in the Kids Next Door! And he puts them all in this box and practices fighting them!" She jumped high and stuck her stick through the knight's helmet hole. The hologram faded. Crystal held the stick over her shoulder and turned to them proudly, "It's way better than squishing bugs."

"Oh, silly little Hairstress and her magic box." Henry remarked. "Her own portable television set. It's stuff like that which ruins imagination, and imagination is great mental exercise. Friends, don't waste your attention with this."

"It is not!" Crystal yelled. "My brother taught me how this works, and I can make anything!" Crystal opened the back of the projector and crawled in, fiddling with it. "Like… a dragon!" A large purple dragon was projected. "And it fights like it's here!" She got in front and dodged the dragon's fangs, slashing her stick. "So you can make whatever you want and fight it!"

She's five years younger than me! Henry thought. How could she understand a shred of engineering or… even fight like that?

"Can we fight the monsters from our videogames?!" David asked excitedly.

"Uh-huh!" Crystal beamed.

"I think you guys are missing the point here!" Henry shouted. "As I've been telling you, what strengthens our minds greater than knowledge is imagination. The more you stand here, fighting these simulations, you are discouraged to imagine for yourself. And besides, can this device simulate a moon forest, a candy mountain, or a potion that grants you wings so you can fly to Skypia?!"

"Um… no…" Crystal frowned. Her smile returned as she said, "But my brother told me a story of a mountain made of ice cream! It's a Kids Next Door legend! And one time, he chased some bad guys in a soda temple!"

"Are you making this up, too?" Eliza asked.

"No, it's for real! He records his missions and brings them back to show me! I still have them, want to look at them?"

The four kids exchanged thoughtful glances. "Yeh, we might as well see what's so great about Kids Next Door." Rodney shrugged.

"Yeah, like watching a show nobody else saw!" Evelyn said excitedly.

"Sweet!" Crystal jumped. "Oh, can one of you carry that for me?" She pointed at the projector. "It's kind of heavy. MUUUM, I'm bringing friends over." She ran ahead.

"What?! Where are you guys going, what about Skypia?!" Henry yelled.

"Oh, we can do that later, Henry." Eliza said. "Come on, let's go visit Hairstress's house!"

"But what if it's a trap?!"

"We'll just make David crush her if it is. But if you don't wanna come, we'll see you later!"

Henry could only watch in defeat as they all piled into Crystal's house (with David getting stuck in the doorway briefly).

Churchill Estate; living room

"The violet-haired sorceress stole my team!" Henry complained, pacing back-and-forth while Samuel sat on a chair and sipped tea. "Brainwashed them with that magic box! What if they decide to join Kids Next Door, imagination will be out the window! It's maddening, I tell you."

"With all due respect, Master, why do you not join the Kids Next Door?" Samuel asked. "Certainly, you could attain a high position of power. The Prince of the World Government works for Kids Next Door, so if we had more nobles in their ranks, we could make sure they work to our satisfaction."

"I have no intention of being under their services. And if those guys could experience the dangers the Kids Next Door go through, they'll ask for the sweet embrace of Imagination Land once again. Ahh! An idea strikes!" Henry beamed. "Teacher, perhaps you and your colleagues can stage a scenario. Pose as typical supervillains performing an uncoordinated attack and see how they fair."

"Are we in some sort of comic now? We're teachers, not clichés."

"Oh, just do it for a few minutes, at least scare the wits out of that Hairstress! Since her brother isn't around, we have a green light."

"Oh, if it's what you wish, Sir."

"But before we proceed with this plan, perhaps we could hold a quick paperbending tutorial…"

Kingston

"Eliza, now's our chance, let's get her!" Evelyn declared.

"Yah!"

"I heard that!" Crystal whipped around and waved her staff. "Try to get over this lava pit!"

"Aaaaah!" Elizabeth jumped back from the imaginary lava.

"Guys, I'm still in a glue trap." David said, standing in one place.

"Too bad! I'm turning you into a centipede!" Crystal shot a spell.

"My belly's so bouncy, it comes back!" David retorted.

"Ahhhh!" Crystal fell on her front. "I'm a buuuuug!"

"I'm gonna squish you!" Rodney raised his foot above her. "AHH!" He was swat away by an unusually strong purse, flying against a bush in front of Crystal's house. Crystal and co. looked over in confusion.

"You kids should be doing your HOMEWORK!! Midwestern Mom is gonna WRECK YOU!" exclaimed a fat woman wearing a blue dress that had a large "M".

"Midwestern Mom?" Evelyn cocked a brow. "What the devil is this?"

"I'll tell you what this is!" Super Principal flew in the sky. "We're the Parent Teacher Organization of Eradicating Youngsters! And cursing is forbidden in my classroom, young lady!"

"Prepare for an education you've never experienced, young'uns." Heli-Teacher had harmless laser cannons attached to her chair. ("I knew getting that master's in engineering wasn't a waste.")

"They're just crazy Americans." Rodney commented.

"CRAZY?!" They were charged at by a man in boxer shorts, a hunched back, and boxing gloves. "Mad Dad is VERY ANGRY!"

David ran against the mad father and bounced him back with stronger momentum. "Wow, that was pretty awesome!"

"Get your heads in the game, you fools!" The Terrible Tutor flew by standing on books. "Attack them!" He sent a swarm of spinning papers, Crystal ducking to avoid getting cut.

"Well, Liz, wanna see how high you can jump?" Evelyn asked.

"You bet!" Eliza ran around Heli-Teacher and swiftly dodged her lasers. Evelyn got under the teacher and positioned her hands, so when Eliza ran at her, she bounced the younger girl up to the old woman. Eliza made Heli-Teacher drive out of control and hit the ground.

Evelyn had to quickly jump and duck Midwestern Mom's purse, before grabbing a knife from her pocket and cutting the purse's strings when it swooped by. "Why in tarnation do you carry that thing in your pocket?!"

"Self-defense, duh." Evelyn remarked before opening the purse to find a hammer. "Why do YOU carry THIS in your purse?"

"I like other things besides cookin'."

Midwestern Mom was tackled by David. "Oi, this hag makes me feel skinny!"

"Come down here and fight, Stupid Headmaster!" Rodney taunted.

"It's Super Principal! And you'll have to get your grades up if you want to come up here."

"I bet you can't do anything besides fly."

"Incorrect! I have knuckles of steel."

"Then come down and punch me."

"You don't want that!"

"Yes I do."

"You're really asking for it."

"Quit being a puss and punch me!"

"FINE! Eeeehhhh-!" Principal flew down with both fists ready. Rodney ducked and kicked him in the crotch. "OIIII!" The man fell on his side.

"Heh. Not everything is steel."

"These children are more clever than I anticipated." Terrible Tutor said as he made a whirlwind of flying books.

"Maybe YOU'RE uneducated!" Crystal had grabbed and was riding one of the books before it got above Tutor's head. She dropped and grabbed his head, breaking his control as the teacher hit the street. Evelyn and Eliza proceeded to gang up, with the latter biting his arm.

"OUCH! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Oi, how thick can you get?" Rodney said. "You don't suppose these were KND villains, do you?"

"They look like people they'd fight." Crystal replied. "Except really stupid."

"Yeah, they couldn't find any better targets besides a trailer park?" David questioned.

"That was fun, though!" Eliza cheered. "I wish Henry could've seen it!"

The ground trembled under rhythm of footsteps. "Um… What the heck is that?" Rodney pointed.

A dinosaur composed of books stomped across the trailer park, glaring at the kids and roaring ravenously. His teeth were sure to give the worst papercuts imaginable. "Uhhhh, anybody have any fire?" Evelyn asked.

"I know what to do!" Crystal yelled. "Keep him busy!" She ran into her house.

"How is something like this even possible?" Eliza asked.

"It's just a bunch of books, let's push 'em down!" David charged stalwartly at the Thesaurus Rex's left leg, trying to shove it down, but the Thesaurus kicked its leg and shook him off.

Elizabeth grabbed onto the tail and climbed up its back, successfully reaching the head and stomping its eyes. "I call this the Thousand-Kick Attack!" However, the dinosaur seemed to be unphased as it lightly shook the child off. The Thesaurus Rex swiped its claws and sent books to hit them, then they would fly back onto its body. The dinosaur ignored their petty attacks and continued toward Crystal's house, threatening to tear the roof off.

"CRYSTAL, GET OUT OF THERE!" Elizabeth cried.

"You know, you have bad breath!" Crystal ran out holding a hot sauce bottle attached to a trigger. She blasted a ray of fire up into the monster's mouth, setting it aflame. "Eat the KND's S.P.I.C.E.R.! It's a normal hot sauce bottle with a lighter to give it extra spice comin' out."

"ROOOAAAR!" The Thesaurus shook its burning mouth before collapsing on its side. "NO!" Henry climbed out of it, taking off his buttoned shirt to smack it against the fire. "I wasn't finished reading The Thunder Island!"

"Henry?!" Evelyn exclaimed. The boy gasped and turned to face them. "So that was YOU controlling that thing?"

"You tried to destroy my house!" Crystal yelled. "Are you mad that I took your friends or something?!"

"Oh, give me a break!" Henry argued. "Wouldn't you have done the same?! I was happily enjoying playing with them until you decided to brainwash them with your magic box! Did our adventures mean nothing to you guys? How could you leave me for the Hairstress?!"

"I was only trying to make them jealous of the Kids Next Door because you kept beating me up!"

"And most of the time, we thought she was in on these games, that's why we attack her." Evelyn followed. "But Henry, after what we've just been through, don't you think we'd be great for Kids Next Door? It's fun to pretend to go to awesome places and fight scary monsters, but I want to do it for real! Let's have real fun and really help people!"

"And maybe fight real dangerous villains." Rodney smirked at Principal, still holding his aching area.

"I set all this up to show you the dangers the world has!" Henry shouted. "It might not have been much, but would you really leave our safe and comfy village to go against who-knows-what??"

"Stop acting like a privileged prince and join KND with us!"

"Yeah, we don't wanna join without you." David said. "You'd be our leader. But you have to tell us how you made that dino!"

Henry looked stunned by that. "You… won't go without me?"

"No way, Henry!" Elizabeth said cheerily. "We need someone like you to take us on all the scary missions! You'll be the best leader ever!"

"So come on, Henry, let's do it!" Rodney encouraged.

"…My friends…" Henry almost felt like crying. "My loyal… friends…"

"What are you all doing here?!" Travis Wickens shouted from behind. He noticed the weird-looking teachers and the dinosaur made of books. "What in blazes… Crystal, are you all right?!"

"I am, Travis!" she replied happily. "I think these guys want to join Kids Next Door."

"Huh? You do?"

They all stared at Henry. The boy contemplated his answer for a minute. "…Yes, we do. And as proof of our skill, we'd like to turn in these supervillains!"

"SAY WHAT?!" the teachers exclaimed.

"Then I guess I'll call a S.P.R.A.Y.S.H.I.P.." Travis figured. "We'll take you guys to Arctic Base tomorrow. I think Andrew's going to like you guys."

"This is going to be the best thing ever!" Rodney jumped.

"And when I get older, I'm gonna join, too!" Crystal declared.

Henry turned to her with a smile. "Hairstress? Could I… ask for a favor?"

"Yes, Henry?"

"…Would you…" He took out a spray bottle, "allow me to dye your hair brown?"

"AAAAAAAHH!" Crystal ran as Henry chased her around the park. "No, I like my hair!"

"It'll look better with a natural color! If brown doesn't work, I'll make it blonde, or orange!"

"Spray that stuff on yourself, I don't want it!"

The five others merely stared in disbelief, but Henry's actions forced laughs out of them. For a rich noble, he was a fun kid and had the potential to be a good leader. They wondered if other nobles could be kind like Henry.

An unknown town…

A building was set aflame as people roared with hatred, throwing bottles at a wall. Three people were tied and blindfolded: a man with light blonde hair and mustache, a woman, and a 12-year-old son, all with same-colored hair and white robes. "DEMONS!" a citizen shouted.

"FALSE GODS!" another roared.

"DOWN WITH THE DON QUIXOTE FAMILY!"

"Please, stop!" Don Quixote Homing cried as people whipped the three of them. "Do whatever you want with me, but leave my family be! They're innocent! Please, just punish me!"

"Like we would ever trust you!" yelled a blonde woman. "We know you still have Minish slaves! You think it's okay because you think people don't see them?! You think people won't care because they're so small?! Well, we do!"

"They're not slaves, we give them food and homes!" Homing cried. "Honestly, I'm not a bad man! I love all people!"

"Since when do World Leaders care about anyone but their selves?!" a teenage boy shouted. "You guys act like gods, but you're pathetic!"

"Hey, what's all this gas?!" a woman yelled when a cloud of pink gas swallowed them, resulting in coughs.

"DOFFY!" A boy with black hair and yellow eyes ran up to the Don Quixote son, using a knife to cut him free. "Doffy, I'll save you! Vergo found a secret tunnel!"

"Caesar… don't…don't save Father!"

"But why?"

"He's a terrible man!" Doffy ripped off his blindfold when his hands were free. "We were GODS, Father, and you threw it all away!" His eyes teared behind his sunglasses. "When I grow up, I'm never gonna be like you! I hope I forget you some day!" He took Caesar's knife and stabbed his own father in the chest. "NOW DIE!"

"Cough!" Homing hacked. "D…Doflamingo… I'm sorry you had to have… a father like me…"

Mariejoa

"What a pity… Don Quixote Homing." The King said as he stared at the 8-ball in his hand. "So, who will be the one… to inherit your throne?" The powerful gem displayed Henry Churchill and his aspiring team at Arctic Base.