Year Zero - Death

"Can I ask you for a favor, Numbuh 274?"

A nasty curl of lips stretched on Chad's features, opting to ignore his traveling companion to watch the stars and planets stretch angrily in hyperspace. The alien transport was much too small and cramped for someone like him. It was never meant to hold teenagers, but somehow they managed. You'd think that the Galactic Kids Next Door would be happier with the extra leg room, but no. Everything was uncomfortably compact. It made him feel even more adult, more out-of-place with the very organization he fought tooth and nail for.

"Chad!"

"What. Do. You. Want?" Chad growled, turning in his seat to finally face the eternal annoyance that was Nigel Uno. Numbuh Infinity was heavily snoring somewhere in the back, far too used to this kind of travel and too much out of it to wake up and simmer the two operatives down. It was weird staring down the boy now that he was minus his trademark sunglasses.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Nigel repeated. His edgy voice was near gone, completely raspy due to the tearful goodbye of his best friends and his family back on Earth. He knew he would not be returning for a long, long time.

Chad didn't know which was more unfair, he or him. Unlike Uno, who obviously had close ties to so many people back on Earth, Chad had burned all of his bridges for what Uno would probably take for granted. He didn't care for his insane parents, his school, or his so-called friends. His reputation in the KND, which was the only thing that had mattered to him the most at the time, he willingly tarnished for the very chance that Nigel Uno had stolen from him.

It had to be Uno. Always Uno.

He was bitter. He needed to be bitter. Uno had unwittingly stolen everything from him that he worked so hard for. What's another request? Another perfect way to kick the two-faced Chad Dickson, right?

With a defeated grimace, Chad slid a bit in his seat and quietly began to nurse the beginnings of a headache. "Go ahead, Uno. Want me to polish your shoes? Shine that bald head of yours? I'll bite. You've taken everything else of me, why not what's left of my dignity too?"

Nigel sighed at this pointless struggle. "I didn't ask for this, Chad."

"Whatever." A teen response, but oddly appropriate at the moment.

"I just…" Nigel twiddled his thumbs, suddenly looking very embarrassed for someone who seemed so adamant for Chad's attention. The blond had to ruefully admit that it was peaking his interest now. "I won't be here to do it. I just want you to watch over someone for me… until I return, you know?"

Many scenarios played in his head. Taking care of Sector V was most likely what he was asking for, but it didn't explain his embarrassment. Cree's sister had been leader of the group before. She could do it again. "KND will already…"

"…it's not the guys I'm worried about," Nigel immediately shot down with a tight sigh. "It's a… personal thing."

Chad couldn't help but sneer at such a weakness. "Let me guess. Want me to feed your dog? Read to your grandma at the old folk's home? Fold your underwear?" That was when he realized the implication of this 'personal thing' and the way Nigel was blushing like a lovesick buffoon. "Ugh, personal right? Don't tell me you want me to take your girlfriend to the dance or something. I want nothing to do with what's-her-face." Nigel had a girlfriend, right? That red-head girl, Lizzie something. The Teen Ninjas had an extensive file on her.

Nigel had the decency to roll his eyes. "No. Not Lizzie. She…" He faltered for a moment and then glared at the seat in front of him. That piqued Chad's attention even more.

"Girl trouble at such a young age, Uno? I don't know whether to be pleased or grossed out." Chad had his own share of dancing around the cheerleaders back at Hendry, but it was always for the sake of appearances. The Teen Ninjas' prerequisite to a high rank was having a girlfriend, a literal rank up just from that alone.

"I need you to take care of Numbuh 362." It was so quick and to the point that Chad had to double take in case he was just hearing things.

"What?"

"I'll be back, y'know." Nigel continued staring at the adjacent seat, continuing to blush furiously. "I'll be back to Earth. One day. She… she's always been important to me. Always there for me. And I never… well… don't let her go to the other side, Chad. I know the Teen Ninjas want her when her decommissioning comes. Don't let them take her."

Chad's brow furrowed in confusion. "Rachel McKenzie?" That was the last person he would ever hear from Uno. He knew they were comrades, but intel had never said anything about them… "Are you guys together?"

Nigel seemed to blush even brighter at the question. Any brighter and he might as well change his species to tomato and be done with it. "No, but… I know that she… I never said goodbye. This is my goodbye to her. If you… can you do this? That's all I ask from you."

One Year Later

"Strike One-Oh-Nine, do you read me? Strike One-Oh-Nine!"

A dark-skinned young woman no older than sixteen lounged against the pilot's seat, long legs draped over the wheel and wondering if her new nail color clashed with her dark samurai armor. The radio continued to cackle asking for a response, but she was much too preoccupied with her nails to care. Her companion let out a low sigh and reached over to flip the switch.

"This is Strike One-Oh-Nine. What's your damage?"

Cree let out a languid smirk, checking her nails one more time before fitting dark gloves over them. Another AWOL, another member for the Teen Ninjas. The radio answered. "We've got two AWOL KND operatives attempting to leave Moonbase dock number twelve. Give 'em a hand will you?"

"Roger that." Her all too professional companion responded curtly before shutting off communications. The last words from Strike 110 was them asking who 'Roger' was.

"Newbs." Cree sneered at the silent radio and began to put their shuttle into first gear. "They get more stupid every year."

"Just get me down on dock twelve in one piece. Father will kill you if you pull another stunt like last time." Her companion began to lock his dark armor into place. Cree glanced sideways to get an eyeful of his strong profile.

Knowing her well enough to feel her eyes upon his back, her companion snorted before turning back around, straightening his breastplate. "Like what you see, Cree?" She smiled hungrily at him.

"Yes sir." He wondered if Maurice was keen to know that Cree was a man-eater. He'd rather not stoke any unnecessary fires lest Father got suspicious. It made for good TND intel however, so he put it away for future reference. Or blackmail.

They were nearing dock twelve where they saw two slightly older operatives being blockaded by the off-duty kitchen staff. So long as the Decommissioning Squad hadn't arrived yet, they can go in quick and clean without interruptions.

"Don't forget the Supreme Leader." Cree purred at him when she opened the shuttle doors above the group. The young operatives gawked in alarm at their arrival. "I hear she's turning thirteen today. You might wanna hit her up with some extra retirement options if she's not too keen on getting her brain sucked by a plunger!"

Unresponsive to Cree's quip, her companion flipped off of the shuttle, putting himself between the KND and the newly teen operatives. "No child left behind, twerps!" He sneered at the defiant kids. With a gesture, his newly escaped charges quickly jumped into Cree's shuttle before it flew off. "It's the law. Allow me to show you what the law does to rule breakers!" He snapped up a giant black ruler which brought much of the kids to tumble backwards in horror at the sight of his grin. Punishment was imminent.

"Now who's first?"

Tears had been shed already, but Rachel wished to shed more until she was literally unable to do so anymore. Her thirteenth birthday had come and now she was obligated to do what so many others before her had to do. It was time for the final walk.

"Ye… ye understand the KND tradition of… decommission." Fanny recited with great difficulty. It was the same speech since the dawn of the new era and it would continue to be said after she was long gone as well. This, however, was the hardest to say. As hard it was when they had to let Patton go just a few months ago, if not more because this was Rachel she was sending away. She was losing her best friend. Forever. Her small shoulders began to random hitch as she tried to suppress a sob. "Think of this as not a goodbye, but as a… uh… a new beginning. Ye have upheld yer greatest duty as our Supreme Leader and while others shall take yer place, yer numbuh will never be forgotten, and while ye forget yer greatness, the Kids Next Door will never forget."

"Never forget!" Said a chorus of the Decommissioning Squad, saluting their Supreme Leader. A hand reached over and tapped Rachel on the shoulder, causing her to turn. Rachel smiled. "Hello Abby."

The dark-skinned twelve-year-old lowered her sunglasses, a memento from a friend long gone from this world. "Numbuh 5 gonna miss you, Numbuh 362. We all are."

Her smile turned fond, almost wistful. She wasn't going to run like the others though. She would finish what was necessary of her. "This is what I want, Numbuh 5. I'm not leaving with a heavy heart. I'm leaving the Kids Next Door into capable hands. I know I am. Zero speed, Supreme Leader."

Abby lowered her head as Rachel turned away and the doors to the Decommissioning Chamber finally opening up to her. This was it. This was the end. Another hand grabbed her own before she could even take a step forward. Fanny stared at her, almost fighting something internally with herself.

"I… you 'ave been a good friend to me." Fanny's bottom lip began to quiver, eyes shining with tears. "The best leaduh we ever 'ad. I'mma gonna follow ye one day. I swear. No question about it!" The former Supreme Leader tried to smile again, but ended up squeezing Fanny's hand instead. Despite her flaws, the redhead had always been devoted to her duty. She couldn't have asked for a better second-in-command.

"Keep everyone safe until then, Fanny. Until the end." Fanny sniffed, finally composing herself to at her words. With a nod, she saluted her. "Til the end, sir."

When Rachel reluctantly pulled her hand away, the weight of it all suddenly hit her. She was going to lose everything. Her friends, her ideals, and ultimately herself. Despite the inner turmoil twisting in her gut, she forced herself into command posture, and raised her chin up proudly for the audience of operatives before her. "KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES!"

"KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES!" Everyone in attendance shouted back, standing in attention in respect as their former leader took the long walk into the Chamber.

Then the atmosphere changed. A heavy siren bellowed in warning and the lights started to flicker red. Someone was escaping their decommissioning. No, three blares of the siren. Intruders.

They all looked to Rachel for guidance, but she was no longer their leader. She shook her head at them. "I need to finish my decommissioning. I can't waste time." Else, she'd waste it forever. She regarded Abby with a stern glance. "Looks like you've got a job to do, Supreme Leader!"

Abby nodded and began to bellow her orders sunglasses glinting against the glare of red. "Numbuh 86, Numbuh 5 want all docks under immediate shutdown, no ifs, ands, or buts! Numbuh 5 wants most of the Decommissioning Squad on all subdecks! The rest will escort Numbuh 362 and make sure she's successfully decommissioned!"

"YES SIR!"

As Rachel was led away by security without complaints, another operative bumbled on deck, handing Numbuh 5 the emergency report. "We've got Teen Ninjas on decks twelve, eight, and eleventy, sir! Two decommissioned operatives have already been captured by them!"

Numbuh 5 watched the video feed of the teenagers running amok on Rach… no, her Moonbase. One that was effortlessly taking down a dozen operatives at once. "Cree…" She growled at the familiar profile. "Numbuh 5'll handle her personally."

"Not permissible, Commander!" Numbuh 86 pulled out her weapon, summoning guards over. "The Supreme Leadah must be protected durin' invasions!"

Abby sputtered in defiance as she was being led away. "Numbuh 5 ain't gonna sit around while Moonbase is under attack!"

The process apparently ran backwards when you were decommissioned. Rachel had bitterly thought of that as she was strapped to the machine with a very large plunger in her face. Her walk to the Chamber in her mind had gone backwards, the long nights just simply working, and the people she had met the past year. Every single name she had meticulously learned on her Command Deck was wiping themselves way with ease. Familiar faces slowly became unfamiliar and halfway through the procedure, she realized with a stunning horror that she forgot why the red head who prevailed most of what was left of her memories was so important to her, or the name of her favorite drill sergeant.

The things that had something to do with KND, like her brother, remained. She couldn't forget him obviously, but she easily forgot how proficient he was at leading a team, or how competent he was at assembling the GLUMB together, and doing so at a base breaking record. She didn't even know what a GLUMB was. Or the Moonbase's emergency thrusters pass code. Or the names of her fellow sector mates once upon a time.

She forgot how to move silently in the dark, gathering intel over extended recess saboteurs in the school office. She forgot the training instilled in her and the laws of KND that she had followed until the end. And when she thought she couldn't remember her own name, the process continued, slowly stealing away the best years of her childhood until she couldn't remember anything but home and school.

It was goodbye to the person she once was. The leader that everyone could count on was fading into the woodwork. So what would be left after everything is gone? Everything she loved was within her former squad and the people she worked with on the Bridge. Who will walk out of the Chamber, confused and unsure of her place? Those were her last thoughts before those too were taken away, the process moving like a fine toothed comb to rearrange and suppress anything reminiscing of Numbuh 362.

Ironically enough, these were the same thoughts that plagued the intruder as he watched the process from the shadows. He had known Rachel once upon a time when she worked under him during his years in the KND. She was built on the ground that kids before her had walked for years, becoming the person she was due to the training instilled with her. Like him, she had found a place with kids from all over the world. It was home. A real home.

It was unfortunate that he was 'late'. Father would most likely be angry at him for missing the chance to steal another former Supreme Leader before her greatest assets were erased completely. The intruder, however, answered to someone higher than Father. Much higher.

He recognized her brother was there from his dossier, providing the familiarity and comfort she would need once she was finished and led home where she would live her life as a normal teenager. Her brother watched the procedure with a twisted look on his face, as if pained. After growing up with an operative he had aspired to be like, there was no doubt in the intruder's mind that Harvey would be conflicted, wondering what kind of person his sister would be left now that her mind had been successfully purged of anything KND. Anything of her real self.

The intruder eventually had enough of watching and emerged from the shadows, startling the officers in attendance as he raised his giant ruler and hurled it high into the large machinery overhead. The entire structure snapped from its support to crash down onto them. As smoke rose up from the permanent blockade between Harvey's crew and the decommissioning machines, the intruder moved quickly, tearing the plunger away as it finished its intended use.

Rachel coughed from the smoke, looking up at an unfamiliar young man in… was that black samurai gear?

"I'm dreaming," She said meekly to him. "What on Earth…?"

He couldn't help it, gaining her ire by revealing a lascivious grin. "Keep dreaming, sweetie." Time seemed to stand still for a moment. The former Leader continued to blink in confusion at him as if she knew him once. Perhaps she did once upon a time in a more unfavorable light, but she'll never remember that. Her expression suddenly turned sour when he unhooked her from the chair and pulled her up.

"Let go of me!" She screamed, squirming against her assailant. The intruder found the action pathetic. Her KND training would have already given him a black eye and a sore jaw by now, but she no longer had that training. She was as defenseless as any other normal thirteen year old girl.

"Rachel!" A voice squeaked out from beyond the rubble.

Rachel recognized that voice. "Harvey?! Where are you?!" Her cries fell on deaf ears for the intruder had no intention on handing her over to her brother, who was barking out orders to clear the rubble. He had a job to do and a role to play.

As the former Supreme Leader twisted in his arms, he had to admit that she was a fighter, KND or not. Eventually it reached the point where he had to pause to fish around his utility belt for something to calm her down, somewhat impressed that she refused to give up. Most decommissioned operatives ended up too scared and confused to do anything which made it easy prey to take advantage of. With a sound of triumph, he found the small bottle of spray and unleashed a noxious fume around the vicinity of her face. It was enough to knock out the most staunch adult. Eventually her flailing ceased and he was finally able carry her unconscious body towards the emergency exit with no trouble at all, ignoring the sounds of the operatives shouting her number.

That number no longer belonged to her anymore.

If there was anything remotely competent about Cree aside from how effective her fighting style was, it was her punctuality. As soon as the intruder stepped into the threshold of emergency dock six, Cree had arrived with the shuttle. Securing the former Supreme Leader over his shoulder, he jumped off the platform and landed inside with practiced ease. Cree beamed at the care package over his pauldrons.

"She's out cold! Must've caught her before the decommissioning. Father's gonna be pleased!" She grinned in triumph before blasting them out of Moonbase. Strapping their new captive securely into a seat, he watched the young teen's head gently lull around against the harness before taking a seat in the cockpit beside the older girl. He tossed his helmet aside.

"If you're done playing chicken with the twerps, drop me off on site thirty-two." He ordered, fingers already tugging the straps of his armor off as the elder of the two took out two opposing shuttles for kicks. Cree scared off three more KND fighter shuttles before she looked incredulously at him. "Are you nuts?! Father wants her delivered personally…!"

"Do as I say!" He growled, which had effectively shut up the wild Teen Ninja. She continued to glare at him before letting out a frustrated sigh and then focused back on her driving.

"Fine!" She spat back out. "But it's not my head on a pike when Father finds out, Dickson!" Old habits died hard, she supposed. Despite being his superior, there were rare times where Chad demanded to take the reins of command and, out of nostalgia Cree would allow him to do so, remnants of her time with him as a potential Supreme Leader before Numbuh 100 retired. This was one of those moments.

Chad tossed the rest of his pauldrons off of his shoulders before settling in his seat, pleased with the successful mission. With two new operatives, he doubted that Father would care for a decommissioned ex-Supreme Leader anyways. He looked over his shoulder out of habit. Rachel was strapped in and still unconscious. It had been a long while since he last saw her. She had been his protege a long time ago. How ridiculous that the years pass so quickly.

When she wakes up, she'll be… well, he wasn't sure what she'll be now. It was different for everyone who was successfully decommissioned. Sometimes they remained the same, other times they were radically different.

She wouldn't be truly Numbuh 362 anymore. That part of her life was considered gone for good.

He turned back and focused on the blue jewel of Earth beyond their windshield, resigned to his fate of never going farther than the moon itself. A long forgotten anger began to bubble up within him. He didn't know if he was angry because of the inhumane practice of decommissioning, or that everything he did so far for Uno's stupid request would just be in pointless vain.

How could Uno still be in love with the girl if the things that he fell in love with didn't exist anymore?