Chapter 1: Remnants

"Remember, my children. Father is always there to help you. Father loves you, and he always will."

A short boy with spiky blonde hair glared angrily at the giant LCD screen atop the Wetzler building. Father had finally concluded his over rehearsed and stilted speech, and his face was now replaced by an ad for Rainbow Monkies. The police that had been standing at attention for the past ten minutes relaxed and went back to their mindless tasks.

"Right, Father. And I love you too," scoffed the boy. He longed to smash that giant screen to pieces. But doing that wouldn't be the smartest idea, considering the cops here would shoot him in an instant. He left with a sigh. It was hard for him to believe the world had changed so much in just a few years. Cleveland used to be a relatively beautiful place. Now it looked like hell. All of the buildings of the new, bustling "uptown"with it's rich, fat cat tycoons, were beautiful. But the rest of Cleveland, where 50 of the public lived, was essentially one giant ghetto. Everything had changed since Father had taken over.

He pulled his dark blue hood over his head and hurriedly left uptown. If he stuck around too long, some cop might harass him for dirtying up the clean streets. He preferred the ghetto anyway. He knew the entire place like the back of his hand. And the people there were actually human, with fears and hopes and dreams. Not like those rich bastards of uptown, who never knew a moment's pain or a day's hard work. He hated those bastards.

"Now, come on, babe, there's no reason to be such a prude," giggled a drunk cop near the edge of uptown. He was trying in vain seduce a cute rich girl that had wandered into the ghetto. He grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to kiss her, with poor success. Dumb bitch, thought the boy. What the hell is a rich girl like her doing in the ghetto? She can't handle herself here!

"Please, just let me go! I've got to deliver something for my boss," she pleaded.

"Really? I've got a package I want do deliver, too," he smirked. Now that was a crappy pickup line. He pulled her off into an alley, so the whole rape thing would be slightly less obvious. The boy followed them, careful not to make any noise. The cop threw the girl by her long blonde hair into a corner. She sank to the ground.

"Oh god, please, don't!" the girl cried. Tears were pouring down her face. She can't be more than two years older than me, thought the boy. Well, now he was pissed. Nothing was worse than someone roughing up a helpless girl. His brother had taught him that.

The cop had started unbuttoning his shirt. Before he was halfway through, the boy tackled him from behind and knocked him into the wall. The cop turned around and threw a punch, but missed by a mile. He was overweight and old, in his late forties. The man didn't have a chance. The boy kicked the cop in his stomach. The cop knelt to the ground, clutching himself. His face was wide open, and the boy sank his fist into it. The cop fell to the ground, and the boy kicked him repeatedly, the ribs, the face, the crotch, anywhere his foot could land. He picked up a lid from a garbage can and smashed it into the cop's bloody face over and over again. The boy finally stopped and sat down, panting.

"You all right?" he asked, glancing at the terrified, but very cute, blonde girl.

"F-fine, thanks," she replied, gazing nervously at the still form of her assailant. "Is he...?"

"Hell, I don't know. And I'm not bothering to check, either." It started to rain. The boy pushed his hair out of his eyes and got up to leave.

"Wait. What's your name?" she asked.

The boy froze. Could he trust her? Eh, didn't make much of a difference anyway. "I'm Joey.
Beatles."

It took a moment for his last name to sink in. Her eyes grew wide once she recognized the last name. "Beatles?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah. Well, I gotta go. Plenty of other dimwitted babes I need to save," he muttered.

"Don't leave yet! I haven't even gotten a chance to thank you. Let me treat you to a cup of coffee, or something," she said.

Joey eyed her warily. It could be a trap. "All right, but I get to pick the place. You know a place called Zanzibar's?" he asked.

"No. But you can lead the way, I guess," she replied, reaching out her hand. Joey glanced at it and then moved past her, ignoring it. The woman drew her hand back and gave a little laugh. She turned to follow him.

Zanzibar's wasn't much. But it was warm, cozy, and considerably more friendly than many of the other establishments in the ghetto. Joey picked a table in the corner, and ordered some coffee. He pulled off his hood, showing his rugged, but handsome face. His new friend let out a small gasp.

"You look just like him!" she squealed. Okay, now Joey was relieved. If this chick was out to get him, she wouldn't be squealing with glee because he looked like his brother.

"How observant," he muttered dryly. "So, tell me, what's your name, my damsel in distress?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot! I'm such a ditz!" she laughed. Got that right, thought Joey.

"I'm Jessica. I was delivering this parcel for my boss when that cop tried to, well, you know. My boss is an inventor, and he was sending one of his new gizmos to a plant in uptown. He thinks they'd be interested in it.

"You look just like him," she repeated, whispering this time. "You're his brother, aren't you? I remember that he had a brother."

"Yeah, I'm Wally's brother," he sighed. "Did you know my brother, or something?"

"Not really. I mean, he was about seven years older than me. I do remember he was one of the top Kids Next Door agents though," she said in a hushed voice, looking around to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

"Relax. This place is safe. No one's going to care if you love my big brother," he said in a mock assuring voice. A waitress deposited their coffees on their table and left. There was a long silence that Jessica seemed to find uncomfortable.

"You know, you're brother's a hero, even to some of the uptowners. Not all of us like Father, you know," Jessica smiled.

"Thanks," he sighed. What, did she think he was five? Was that statement supposed to brighten up his day?

"Why were you in the ghetto, anyway? Doesn't your boss live in uptown?" asked Joey.

"He certainly has enough money to. But for some reason he prefers to live in the ghetto. Weird, huh?" she laughed.

"Not really. I wouldn't live in uptown if you paid me. But I guess it's just different for some people." He drained his cup of coffee and got up to leave. "Well, thanks for the coffee. I've got to be headin' out."

She looked a little disappointed as he left. Probably expected me to tell her some terrific stories about my big brother. Well, forget it, babe. I'm not in the mood for that. He walked nonchalantly through the rain. He wasn't in a terrible hurry to get back home. After a few blocks, he reached an old two story brick building. Instead of going through the front, he climbed up the fire escape and hopped through the broken window.

"BOO!"

Joey jumped about two feet and threw a punch at his assailant. The spiky brown haired youth dodged it and fell on the ground laughing. "Now that was priceless!"

"Was it worth getting your teeth knocked out?" asked Joey. He launched himself at his attacker and the two wrestled on the ground. A pretty girl with long, braided brown hair jumped down from the rafters, landing on Joey and the other boy, knocking the wind out of them and stopping the fight. She jumped off and laughed at the two boys.

"Still as idiotic as ever. What took you so long, Joey? The speech was done a long time ago. Did a cop give you some trouble?" she asked.

"I bet he found a pretty girl to talk to," taunted the other boy, running a hand over his spiky brown hair. "Isn't that right, Joey?"

"Shuddup, Zak," growled Joey.

"Look, he's blushing! He did find a pretty girl! Oh, man, Katie's not gonna be happy about this!" Zak exclaimed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" shouted Joey. He lunged at him again, but Zak nimbly dodged him and jumped downstairs, landing on the couch below, almost crushing the person sleeping on it.

The brown haired girl sighed. "If he keeps doing that he's going to totally ruin the couch. And it's not in great shape as it is."

"I'm gonna knock his block off," growled Joey. Geez, best friends could be so annoying sometimes.

"So, tell me, did you find a pretty girl to talk to?" she asked, fixing him with her piercing stare. She had these unique green eyes that were both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. They were commonly referred to by the gang as "tiger eyes," which was also the gang's nickname for her. No one could stare into those things and lie. It was physically impossible.

"Well, yeah. But I was helping her!" he added, seeing the look on her face. "She was going to get raped by this drunk cop!"

"What's her name?" she asked cooly.

"Jessica, but that's not the point!" he pleaded. "Jade, come on, you know I'm not lying to you."

"True. But Katie doesn't know that," she grinned wickedly.

"What is it with you people!" he shouted. "Why is it that you imbeciles think I have the slightest attraction to her? Why? Why!"

"I dunno. What do you think, Katie?" asked Jade, glancing behind Joey. He turned around slowly to find a girl with long platinum blonde hair and violet eyes staring at him.

"Uh, hi Joey," she mumbled, glancing at his feet. "Just wanted to...say hi." Embarrassed, she headed back down the stairs to her room.

"Awkward," commented Jade.

"You little bitch!" whispered Joey. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Well, it wasn't my intention, though I'm certainly glad it happened. Maybe this will speed things along."

"Speed what along!" he exclaimed. Jade merely shook her head and gave him a pitying look. She headed downstairs to what served as the living room, dining room, and kitchen of the building. In other words, she went down to the first floor. Joey followed her. At that moment, he hated everything about Jade, from her terrifying eyes to her tank top to her torn, faded bellbottoms. And that annoying, swishing braid of hers. Damn, was that thing annoying.

Their home certainly wasn't much. It was fairly spacious, considering there was almost nothing in it. The concrete first floor had a stove and a microwave shoved in a corner way in the back. There was an old TV in the middle of the room, and a worn out couch directly in front of it. On the couch was a snoozing teen wearing an old Guns N Roses sweatshirt and sunglasses. Past the couch was a hallway that led to Katie and Jade's room.

"So tell me, did Father have anything interesting to say? Or did you waste over an hour for nothing?" asked Jade.

"He didn't waste it. He got to bang a pretty girl. If you ask me, that's not a waste," said Zak.

"Enough already! Would you guys just lay off! Besides, she was a real ditz anyway. Total and complete Barbie Doll," he spat, acting more bitter than he really was.

"Sounds like an uptowner. What was a cop trying to rape an uptowner for?" asked Katie, finally back to her normally spunky self. "Was he on crack?"

"Just drunk," replied Joey, taking a sip of some of the tomato soup Katie was making.

"Get your head out of the pot, you'll get your hair all over it!" admonished Katie, smacking him upside his spiky blonde head. He pulled his head out and grumbled.

"This is fucking ridiculous. The cops are getting worse every second. We've got to put a stop to this, now," growled Zak. He had that look in his eye again. While Joey was no one to mess with when angry, Zak was far, far worse. He was getting angry more frequently too. Just the mention of cops got him angry, and for good reason.

"We nearly got killed last time, Zak. Yeah, we took out some cops and got some money, but we need to lie low for a while," pointed out Chase, the kid in the GNR sweatshirt that Zak had nearly jumped on.

"If we don't hurry, they might try something like that on Katie or Jade next," said Zak. "I'm not going to let that happen no matter what. We've got to send these bastards a message."

"What, that we're a bunch of teenagers that they could swarm easily? Easy, O Fearless One. Katie and I can take care of ourselves. We didn't get this far by caving in to every pervert that came a knockin'," Jade pointed out.

"Has anyone managed to fix the TV yet?" asked Joey.

"Yeah, I finally got it to work," answered Chase. "The picture is a little fuzzier, but hopefully that'll clear up in a day or two. Let's see what's on." He walked up to the TV and turned the dial(their TV was pretty damned old) and the six o'clock news, or, as Zak liked to call it, the "Bullshit propaganda clusterfuck hour" came on.

"Last night, Father's Museum of Art and Literature was bombed by terrorists. The explosion completely decimated the museum and damaged several other nearby buildings. Approximately forty five people have been killed. The perpetrators in this explosion are the two notorious terrorists Lady Madonna and Hellfire. They sent our studio this video a few hours ago."

A video appeared on the screen of two people dressed in armor, standing amidst the wreckage. One was wearing black armor and held a flamethrower with a fuel pack on his back, with grenades lining his belt. A helmet with a V-shaped gold tinted face plate completely covered his head. The other person wore dark violet armor and a black V shaped face plate on her helmet. She held two laser whips in her hands that glowed a pale red.

"Good evening, ladies and gents. As you all know, I'm Hellfire, and this is my lovely friend Lady Madonna," said the black armored man, gesturing towards his partner. "Today, we've burned Father's little propaganda house to the ground. Can't say I feel any remorse, but who knows, maybe it'll come later."

"We are waiting, Father. But we will not wait much longer. Come meet us head on, and we'll settle this once and for all. If you don't, then I promise you: We will find you. Just keep that in mind," snarled Lady Madonna.

"We'll keep in touch," said Hellfire, bowing. He and Lady Madonna ignited their jet boots and took off.

"Remember, citizens, if you have any information on Hellfire or Lady Madonna, contact your local authorities immediately. It is imperative to the General Good of our country that these criminals are apprehended. That is all. Now we go to Kenneth Jones with the weather."

"See? That's what we should be doing. Sending a message to those bastards. Spitting right in their fucking faces," growled Zak.

"Are you kidding me? You know how many innocent people got killed in that?" asked Katie. "You want us to be like them, to massacre people?"

"They're massacring us every day! How much longer do you think we can last until we do something? We've got to find a way to contact those guys," urged Zak.

"Forget it. We have no clue how to contact them. Besides, what do we need those guys for? You think we've gotten soft or something?" countered Joey.

Zak grumbled and stormed off to his room. The place was covered in inch thick dust, the walls were cracked and the paint had peeled off long ago. His few belongings: his spy gear, some clothes, and some CD's were all piled in his tiny closet. He ignored the dust and collapsed on his creaky bed. Was life always like this? No, no it couldn't have been. Zak remembered sleeping in a comfortable bed, in a nice room, and actually having parents and siblings to greet him every morning. Wait. Did he have siblings? It had been so long he couldn't remember.

You're not thinking straight, Zak. Just let it go. Whatever you had in that life, parents or brothers or sisters, that doesn't matter now. They're all dead. And if they're not, you don't care enough to find them. So fuck the past and start thinking about the future. That's something you can control.

"I'm guessing Zak doesn't want his dinner," said Jade, helping herself to his meal.

"We need to plan another raid. Zak's right, we've been biding our time for too long," announced Joey.

"Oh, great. Another raid. 'Cause Lord knows we didn't have enough fun on the last mission from hell. What are you planning this time, Joey?" asked Chase.

"Not sure, yet. Anyone have any ideas?" asked Joey.

"How about the armory?" asked Jade with a smirk.

"Ha ha. Right, any realistic ideas?" queried Joey.

They remained silent for awhile. No one was sure how far they wanted to push themselves. A wrong decision meant death. And if they died, so did their dream of overthrowing Father and freeing America. It was a tricky situation. So, naturally, someone fell back on the old question–

"What would the Kids Next Door do?" asked Katie.

"Katie, that's not even relevant. The Kids Next Door is gone, and so is everyone that was in it. We live in a different time now, a different world. We can't keep thinking about what Nigel or Abby would do. That's only going to get us killed," argued Joey. "Besides, we're teenagers."

It was the old argument that Katie and Joey had had as far back as they could remember. Katie believed that the ideas of the Kids Next Door were timeless and could be applied in every difficult situation. It had been her dream to join Sector V one day and become an operative, and she had never let that dream die. Joey was convinced that the ideas of KND were hopelessly naive and would only lead to their downfall. So far, no one had really won the argument.

"Your brother was still a teenager when he was a member of the Kids Next Door," pointed out Katie. She had a point there, Wally was a teen next door.

"My brother is also dead. And so is every single one of his teammates. His teammates all tried to do things the Kids Next Door way. And they were all killed first. The only reason Wally survived as long as he did is because, even though he was a complete idiot, he was smart enough to know that he had to be ruthless if he was going to make a difference."

Katie fumed. She wasn't mad about Joey accusing Wally of ruthlessness. Katie herself was ruthless. She wasn't so naive as to act otherwise. But she always hated how Joey constantly put down his older brother, for no apparent reason. Why didn't he idolize him like nearly every other person?

"There's a reason why there aren't any operatives left. Once they were thrust in a world they weren't familiar with, they fell apart. The reason we've had any success at all is because we don't do things like the Kids Next Door. It's a different time, Katie," continued Joey.

"So we abandon the Kids Next Door? We abandon what they stood for, abandon ever trying to bring it back? We abandon your brother?" asked Katie.

"I told you, my brother is dead–"

"Because you're trying to kill his memory! What the hell is wrong with you, Joey? Just because you hate your brother, just because he's a bigger hero than you'll ever be, doesn't mean you should try to tarnish his memory to make yourself feel better!" Katie shouted.

Silence. Jade and Chase stared open mouthed at Katie. She had never talked to Joey like that. She'd yelled at him, sure, but over stupid things. Never for something like this. Katie's face was red, and she was breathing a little heavy. Oh, God. What have I just done?

Slowly, all eyes turned toward Joey. He was staring at the table, his thick brow hiding his eyes, so they couldn't see his reaction. He got up from the table and walked over to Katie without looking at her.

"You know, it's a shame you weren't there with Wally when he died," he whispered, a slight smile on his face. "You could've died right there with him, and I wouldn't have to hear your voice anymore." He walked past her and went right out the door.

Katie got up to go after him, when a voice stopped her. "Leave him. Joey's good at controlling his anger, but right now, I suspect he wants to kill you." Katie turned to find Zak staring at her, smiling. "Not that you wouldn't deserve it."

Joey was glad it wasn't raining. His blue hoodie was already soaked once today, and he had torn the sleeves out. He stared at himself through a puddle and smiled. An exact replica of his brother, minus the color of the sweatshirt and hairstyle. He'd often been asked by the others why he let himself look so much like Wally, why he didn't dye his hair or wear something besides sweatshirts. He told them it was because it got him a free meal occasionally.

He lied. It was because he loved Wally, more than any other person claimed to.

He kept walking along, not paying much attention to where he was heading. He noticed he was headed in the direction of the old water tower. He shrugged. Good a place as any. He climbed up the huge, decrepit tower and settled down on the top. Then he closed his eyes and let himself sleep.

"Glad you could make it, Wally," said Patton Divolsky, hailing the approaching Aussie. Wally was a wild card, an invaluable, but unreliable, ally.

"You chose the old fire station as headquarters, huh? Smart move, Patton," complimented Wally, peering around the fire station. Not too many people had arrived. It was probably better that way. They didn't need a bunch of idiots screwing up the plan.

"Most of the others have arrived already: Maurice, Fanny, Rachel, Herbie. We're still waiting on Cree and Chad, as well as your old teammates. Do you know when your friends are arriving?" asked Patton.

Wally grimaced and stared at the ground. "They're not. They're dead, Pat. Father got to them already."

The others gasped in shock. Sector V, gone? The greatest operatives of their generation had already been killed?

"That can't be," whispered Fanny, tears welling in her eyes. "Wally, how did...how did he get all of them so fast?"

"I dunno. They almost got me, too. If I hadn't been away from home when they attacked, I might not be alive either, sheila." A sniff came from behind Wally. The others peered around him and saw a little boy of about eight years clutching Wally's leg.

"Oh, christ, Wally," moaned Patton, covering his face with his hands, "why in God's name did you bring the kid along? Doesn't he know what this mission is about?"

"He knows it's a suicide mission, if that's what you mean," scoffed Wally. Leave it to Wally to put things bluntly. "And he wants to come along anyway. Hell, I couldn't stop him even if I wanted to."

"I want to fight!" exclaimed Joey, a mad glint in his eye.

"Just like his big brother. Isn't that sweet?" came a taunting voice. Chad was standing in the doorway, smiling. "Brother and brother dying together on the battlefield. Almost makes me wish I wasn't an only child."

"Look who showed up. Thought you were going to chicken out, traitor," growled Wally.

"Oh, come on, Wallabee. Are we going to let little things like that come between us? That was eight years ago. Besides, you know you love me," smirked Chad.

Wally let out a small laugh. "Never thought I'd see the day when you and I would work side by side. I guess that shows just how crazy things have gotten."

"Is Cree...?" asked Maurice cautiously.

"No clue. Her house has been blown to hell, but I didn't find any bodies. I assume she escaped. Why?" asked Chad.

"Wally says Abby and the others have already been killed," Patton explained softly.

"I see. Well, maybe Abby is dead, but Cree's too good to let herself get killed that easily," replied Chad.

"Damn straight." A tall, thin, and gorgeous black girl swaggered in after Chad. "Did you all think that I was gonna get killed just like that?"

"Cree!" exclaimed Fanny.

"I haven't been living at that house for weeks. Did Father really expect me to stick around for that long? This rebel doesn't die so easy," she smirked.

"She's dead, Cree. Your own sister was killed. Doesn't that bother you at all?" asked Wally, simmering. Cree stiffened and glared angrily at Wally.

"Anyways, enough of this crap. What's the plan, folks?" asked Chad.

"We already know the basics. Once we infiltrate the factory where Father's new war machines are being built, we blow it all to pieces. Plans, schematics, scientists, everything, so no one can build them ever again. That way, the Allied Forces in Europe have a shot at overthrowing Father," said Patton. He continued explaining the rest of the plan while Joey stared at Chad nervously. Wally had never liked Chad, and Joey was automatically wary of him. Chad leered back at him, and then interrupted Patton.

"So each squad infiltrates a different part of the factory. Right. Who's in each squad?" asked Chad.

"Well, A squad will have myself, Fanny, Herbie, and Rachel. B squad will be you, Wally, Maurice, Cree, and, um–"

"Joey," finished Wally.

"Right, Joey," sighed Patton.

Chad chuckled softly. "Sounds like fun."

(A/N) Well, I'm back. It's funny, I tried to upload this yesterday and the site acted like I didn't. Strange, huh? Well, hopefully it works this time. Sorry this took so long to write. The next chapter should be coming up son