OPERATION: S.W.I.T.C.H.

Soopernaturally

Wierd

Incident

Terrorizes

Children

Horribly

...

"Are you sure this is safe, Numbuh 2?" Sector V's leader, Numbuh 1, asks in skepticism.

"Oh yeah!" the technology genius reassures. "It's just gonna make them float like balloons until I deactivate the effects."

"It's not gonna blow my insides out, is it?" Numbuh 4 inquires as Numbuh 5 straps him into the haphazard glass contraption. "Because I swear that will be last thing you'll ever do."

Numbuh 2 waves his hand as if he were physically swatting the possibility of error away. "Calm down, Numbuh 4. It'll just be for a moment."

"Yeah, Numbuh 4!" Numbuh 3 exclaims from her spot in the mechanism beside her teammate. "Just think about it. We'll be flying! Oh, I forgot my I'm Floating Around In Midair Because Of Homemade Technology Rainbow Monkey!"

"Calm down?!" Numbuh 4 screeches, wriggling against the restrains. "The only reason why I'm here in this cruddy thing is because the Deep Sea Lab won't give you any more test monkeys after you almost decommissioned the last ones!"

Undaunted by his past failures, Numbuh 2 scampers excitedly to his control box on the other side of the room. "Every scientist makes mistakes, Numbuh 4. Numbuh 1, Numbuh 5, step away from the masterpiece please. " Reluctantly, they comply and they huddle behind Numbuh 2.

"Normal procedure?" Numbuh 5 says to her leader. "You call Numbuh 362, and Numbuh 5 gets the hospital wing?"

"Yep."

"T minus five seconds!" Numbuh 2 says dramatically, a finger on a lever embedded into the wooden control box. Numbuh 4's struggles intensifies. "Four! Three! Two! One!"

The gargantuan machine containing the two operatives is filled with charges of electricity, the remainder of the room seemingly dark in comparison. Numbuh 3 squeals in glee and Numbuh 4 yelps in surprise. As the illumination recedes, the subjects hang limp and asleep in the straps. Eagerly, Numbuh 2 races forward and rips the confines off. They drop to the floor, not a hint of altitude in sight.

"Numbuh 2!" Numbuh 1 reprimands, darting to the operatives. "What did you do?!"

"Dunno," Numbuh 2 replies in confusion as he scratches his hat. "I checked and perfected the circuitry a buhmillion times, and I tested the model out on a hamster! It was fine then!" He yelps as fabric whips him across the head.

"Stupid!" Numbuh 5 scolds. "Clearly, it ain't working now! This is exactly why you weren't given volunteers!"

"Relax Numbuh 5," Numbuh 1 says from beside the affected. "They're breathing just fine, there're no injuries; I think they just need time."

Numbuh 5 glares pointedly at Numbuh 2. "Got lucky this time, Einstein the Second. Help Numbuh 5 carry'em to their rooms."

...

Numbuh 3's eyes ease open. The sudden light blinds her for a second, something moist pressed on her forehead. Her vision adjusts just enough for her of her room and the tops of the oversized Rainbow Monkeys lining the space. From the corner of her eye, her teammate looks down at her in relief.

"Numbuh 3," Numbuh 5 says in concern. "How you feeling?"

"Numbuh 3?" she mumbles groggily. "What the crud are you talking about?"

"What the crud are you talking about?" Numbuh 5 counters. "Gosh, did that dingus actually decommission you?"

"No," Numbuh 3 says indignantly. "Perfectly fine."

Her caretaker shrugs. "Here." She nestles an orange Monkey into the crook of Numbuh 3's arm. "You feeling better?"

"No," she repeats, pushing the toy over the edge of her bed that is merely an enlarged version of it. "Why're you trying to make me feel better with those Rainbow Dorkies?"

Numbuh 5 seems taken aback. "Numbuh 3, you love them!"

"I ain't Numbuh 3!"

"Yeah, you are!" Numbuh 5 insists. She grabs a fistful of the clearly confused girl's hair and lets it go over her eyes so she could see. "You're Numbuh 3."

The girl bolts upright, despite her disoriented state. The damp cloth resting on her forehead falls to her lap. Frantically, her violet eyes jump from one point of the bedroom to another. They eventually roam to her own body, and they widen. Numbuh 3 jumps from her plushie bed with a squeak.

"Numbuh 3?" Numbuh 5 asks in worry, approaching the frightened girl.

She jerks away. "Don't touch me!" she commands. Abruptly, she begins to quiver.

"What's wrong, Numbuh 3?"

"I'm not Numbuh 3!" she insists. "Wh-what is this madness?! Why am I this cruddy girly girl?"

Numbuh 5 blinks in surprise. "You were always a girl, Numbuh 3."

"Stop calling me that! I'm Numbuh 4, not Numbuh 3!"

Numbuh 5 splutters in bewilderment. "Numbuh 4?"

"Yes!" the apparent boy screams, hands in the air. "Yes! Numbuh 4, thank you very much! What am I doing like this?"

"NUMBUH 1!" Numbuh 5 bellows. "NUMBUH 1! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE, ASA-NOW!"

"WHAT?" Numbuh 1 replies equally as loud from somewhere in the treehouse of epic proportions? "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"For Numbuh 0's sake," she mutters angrily, marching out to the exit and to the hall. Supposed Numbuh 4 follows suit as Numbuh 5 sprints down to Numbuh 4's bedroom. As they run, Numbuh 3 collides painfully with Numbuh 4. Both are sent to the floor.

"Ouchie!" the usually tough fighter exclaims, rubbing his head from his place on the ground. "Watch where you're going, will you?"

The two's eyes lock momentarily. They shout in horror, skittering back.

"What is happening he-" Numbuh 1's inquiry is cut short as he rounds the corner with the company of Numbuh 2.

"Numbuh 3," Numbuh 5 pants. "Er, Numbuh 4 looks like Numbuh 3. Been saying she's Numbuh 4 since she woke up."

"I am Numbuh 4!"

"Numbuh 4's been doing the same," Numbuh 2 comments.

"It's Numbuh 3," Numbuh 4 says coldly. "And why does that look like me?" His finger hones on the child opposite of him.

"And why do you look like me?" Numbuh 4 asks in frustration.

Numbuh 5's hand flies to her mouth. "You don't think..."

"Think what?" Numbuh 2 questions.

"You don't think they switched bodies, do you?" The single sentence sends the operatives in question gasping for breath.

"It's possible," Numbuh 2 says warily. "I mean, it makes sense."

"Well you gotta switch us back!" Numbuh 3 exclaims. "I can't stay a cruddy girl!"

"You do know how to reverse them, right?" Numbuh 1 says. "They can't stay like this."

"I guess I'll use the deactivator for the human-helium experiment, but I can't make promises that it's gonna work."

Once again, a flash of red snaps the technology officer. "This is why you're banned from the Test Subject Distribution, Numbuh 2."