(I do not own any of these properties! All rights go to their respective owners and affiliates!)

A/N: Hello awesome readers! I just wanted to let everyone know what they're in for in this episode. Firstly, because this picks up with Numbuh 1, who had left to join the "Galactic Kids Next Door", this chapter is obviously going to have quite a few OCs on his side of things, but please just bear with it because it ties directly into why everything is crossing over. At the same time, though, I'm continuing the plot that I started in the last episode, so no worries. Thank you all!

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(Opening Theme: Dragonforce - "Heroes of Our Time" - 00:00 to 02:12)

Codename: Warriors Next Dimension

Season 1: Quantum Genesis - Episode 2: End of the Multiverse?! Numbuh 1's Ultimatum!

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(Planet J-036, Dimension Q-02, Five years after Codename: Kids Next Door, Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.)

The smell of blood filled the hot, dry air.

The desert planet, codenamed J-036, or rather, Planet Kiato, according to the primitive, blue and red-scaled, reptilian natives, had been the site of an extremely difficult and bloody defend-and-extract operation for the past week and a half. The large city-village's population, though surrounded by a wall, decreased more and more as the days passed, until there was nobody left, save for the surviving and desperately stranded operatives.

Nigel Uno, also known by the codename Numbuh 1, formerly of the Kids Next Door of Earth, sat silently, looking up through a whole in the roof at the darkening purple sky, and sparse pinkish-red clouds, lost within his varied thoughts: of friends, both old, new, and recently lost; of the hopeful arrival of reinforcements; and of his feelings of loss, sorrow, and desolation. He slowly rose up as his current best friend and mentor, as well as team-leader, Captain Numbuh 529 walked into their makeshift barracks, which were hastily built out of the destroyed buildings that populated the city-village's eastern quadrant.

Numbuh 529 had aided, rescued, and even trained Numbuh 1 since his placement within his unit, gaining Numbuh 1's trust. He was human (though not from Earth, but rather, an alternate version called Tierra) and 20 years old. He had light-brown skin, dark-brown eyes, a thin goatee, short, black, slicked-back hair, and wore the tan, minimally steel-plated, ballistic armor that was standard issue in their ranks for desert warfare. On his waist, he carried two Latin-style machetes that had blackened, rust-proof 18-inch blades (unlike the others, whom only carried one) and on his back, an LZR-32 Solar-Rifle, which concentrated sun-rays into powerful beams – perfect for fighting this particular breed of enemy.

The only downsides to these devastating weapons were that they only fired about fifteen shots before they overheated, and took about twenty seconds to cool down, which Numbuh 1 knew was more than enough time to die several times over in these battles, hence the machetes. But on the flip-side, they basically had infinite ammo, assuming you weren't on a planet that was permanently night time. Those had been total nightmares.

But not as nightmarish as this planet – no, the harsh desert sandstorms and extreme heat and cold were but small concerns when compared to the constant death that this damned operation brought about. Whether they were team-mates or Kiatoan villagers, many people's lives ended every time the hordes of those – things – showed up. And now, they were powerless to hold off another attack, as there were currently only ten out of the initial one hundred First-Class Operatives left.

It was still a bit strange for Numbuh 1 to trust any adults other than his mom and dad. But even stranger to him was losing any of his friends, which was the one feeling that he hoped to never get used to. It was so horrible, that he sometimes felt like quitting and going back to Earth. But he never did, because he felt that this cause was not only greater, but that it needed him, and if he left, then all of their sacrifices would have been for nothing.

So it actually turned out that the "Galactic Kids Next Door" was a false-front for an even bigger organization that did not fight adult tyranny as the Kids Next Door did, but instead waged a war on an even bigger front. Even though the battles, motives, and issues back on Earth were real, Numbuh 1 and every other KND operative, regardless of their planet, were really just being trained from a young age and tested on their respective home-worlds to one day qualify to join the Rebels Next Dimension. The RND, as they called it, was an interdimensional, technologically advanced, multi-species organization that combated an enemy faction known only as The Fallen Hand, who had been invading different dimensions and conquering every planet that they could find by means of gathering intel on new worlds to conquer, and then dispatching invasion units comprised of Xenomorphs and any other horrible thing that they could send through their permanent wormholes. The RND would send reinforcements to the various different worlds that needed to either be defended or retaken, as well as other operations such as the location and rescue of certain V.I.P.s that could turn the tide of the war, as well as the elimination of any highly dangerous targets that actively supported the Fallen Hand's twisted subjugation of the Multiverse.

"Are you alright, Numbuh 1?" asked Numbuh 529 as he refilled his canteen with water. They were out of food, and only had enough water for three more days if rationed out properly, since this planet sustained its life with a strange, light blue, oily liquid that was harmful to humans.

"I was just thinking," Numbuh 1 looked down sadly as he continued, "we might die here, won't we, Captain?"

Numbuh 529 was dumbstruck. He wouldn't admit it, but he had recently, though briefly, thought the same thing. But he snapped out of it quickly, for he was not about to give up. "No, we won't. Don't you dare think that way! We'll be out of here soon." He quickly rushed into their equipment room, and brought out a rocket flare. "I'm going to go launch this, it will be our last shot, but we never know if they'll at least respond with some reinforcements this time," he promptly walked out, reaching for his lighter.

"Thank you," said Numbuh 1 just before Numbuh 529 was completely gone. He's right; there is no use in giving up! I must remember that.

This whole tragic operation, already dubbed as the "Kiatoan Suicide-Mission" by the surviving members, began when Numbuh 1, by then a highly experienced soldier and already considered an RND First-Class Operative, volunteered to protect the capital village of this planet from the alien hordes that were emanating from a wormhole in the desert canyons to the south on random nights. The main goal was to extract the village's population to safety aboard a large, quartering ship. A few of the other first-class operatives, being Numbuh 1's friends, also volunteered to assist him in this incredibly dangerous mission, bringing their teams with them as well. But when they launched four infantry transporters off of the massive, interdimensional mobile space-station that acted as the main headquarters of the RND, and came into this planet's atmosphere, they were mysteriously attacked, causing them to crash land on the planet's harsh desert. But what was stranger was that HQ didn't even respond to their communication efforts, nor did they even send the quartering ship, or at least a team to check up on their situation! This was supposed to be a five day operation, and it was now nearing the end of its eleventh. They were stranded, severely outnumbered, and seemingly forsaken. Thankfully, nobody blamed Numbuh 1 for their predicament (at least, not out loud), but he still felt guilty.

There were many theories within the survivors, chief among them being that HQ had actually been destroyed by whoever caused them to crash, which did make a lot of sense, since it was the perfect opportunity to strike, due to so many first-class operatives being in such a vulnerable and unsuspecting position, but Numbuh 1 couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to it. Numbuh 529 seemed to think so too.

Gathering his gear and weapons, and then putting on his trademark sunglasses, Numbuh 1 decided to head out for a long walk to clear his mind. There was still a good bit of time left before night time completely came over them.

He pushed open the door and walked out. They were surrounded by what they called the ghost town, for no one lived there anymore, and the sandstone buildings were crumbling apart, due to their past battles. He took a short-cut that he knew down a debris-cluttered alley, passing a destroyed hospital. He stopped as he spotted Numbuh 860, who rushed out to greet him as she always did – by jumping onto him, landing into a tight embrace, and then giving him a kiss.

She and Numbuh 1 had begun a romantic relationship about eleven months prior while on a critical mission, and it was still going strong, as they always comforted and strengthened one another. She too, was fifteen, and just like Numbuh 529, was also a non-Earthling human, for they were from the same planet, except that she was much more – exotic – in that she had cherry blossom-pink skin, naturally large, dark-purple eyes, and very long, sky-blue hair that she had to keep tied back and bundled up, minus two strands that she let hang down the sides of her extraordinarily beautiful face. All of these were normal human physical traits back on her planet, and to make things weirder, Numbuh 529's physical traits were actually the ones considered to be uncommon –almost even, alien.

Numbuh 1 made it a goal to visit her world, Tierra, one day, for it sounded both very familiar, yet very strange at the same time. The only thing that Numbuh 1 wasn't too keen on was that her codename was one digit away from being Numbuh 86, a thought that always made him shudder, as back on Earth, she was the person that annoyed him the most. So they both referred to each other by their real names.

"How did it go, Keilana?" he asked worriedly, still embracing her. She had been gone with Numbuh 2476, their best pilot and mechanic, who had assured everyone that she could fix the ship. They'd been venturing out everyday since they crashed into the bright orange dunes, in order to conduct repairs.

"Hello Kitty (Keilana's ironic nickname for Numbuh 2476) made some good progress, but she still needs to repair an essential part before it will be able to fly," she broke the embrace and took his hand, leading him down the rest of the alley-way, then eventually to the makeshift female barracks where Numbuh 2476 was busy fidgeting with a particularly complex-looking device, causing sparks to fly out of it.

"Yo, Pinky-Pie, back so soon?" she said in her usual laid-back tone through her welder's mask as she noticed them coming her way, "Oh, and what's up, Baldy?"

"Nice to see you too, Numbuh 2476. Enchanting, as usual," said Numbuh 1, in mild irritation. They got along well enough, but on top of lacking basic manners and self-control, was also the type of socially awkward girl who never learned to think before she spoke, and thus, "Baldy" was more of her instinctive way of referring to him, rather than a playful nickname like that of "Pinky-Pie" that she had for Keilana. She was really just there to look after her, as they were best friends.

Numbuh 2476 was a 16 year-old "cat-girl" (Numbuh 1 couldn't quite remember the correct pronunciation of her race) with lightly colored, snow leopard-like fur. She also had very long, golden hair in the same style as Keilana's (they liked having the same hairstyle). She was born but not raised, on some strange planet that Numbuh 1 really thought was made up when she first described what she herself could barely remember (surprisingly, one of the very few things that she clearly remembered from her original home planet was the name that she had received, which was Vashiri), as it was supposedly filled with the kind of stuff that he'd only seen in Numbuh 2's RPG videogames back on Earth. He could have sworn that she called it – Nirn – or something along those lines.

As a little kitten, she supposedly wandered away from her clan's campground in the middle of the night, and stumbled into a research ship belonging to a person who was studying her planet, and accidently stowed away when they left. Not willing to go back so soon, the researcher on that ship kindly took her in and raised her as his own on another world, where she was eventually recruited into the Kids Next Door of her planet as a pilot, eventually also learning to be a damn good engineer while working her way up, and was finally scouted into the RND at about the same time as Numbuh 1, give or take a month. Her initially off-putting personality was what made her nickname of "Hello Kitty" ironic and thus so damn funny because of it.

"This part is basically finished now. I just need to finish this little part so I can clean it out, install it, and then we're good to get off of this dying rock." She turned back to her work and continued, causing even more sparks to fly out.

Numbuh 1 turned to look back at the large, empty city-village. He felt immensely guilty and angry at himself for not having saved all those villagers. I'm so sorry, he thought, we failed to protect you.

(The Cul-de-sac, Ed Dimension)

Samurai Jack slowly eased back into consciousness. He was able to hear faint voices, but nothing more than that. His eyes tried to open, but they just couldn't yet, though he faintly detected flashes of light through his eyelids. A little later, as his consciousness finished coming back to him, he felt that he was on a bed, at which point, he opened his eyes immediately and saw the three boys that he had seen the night before, "Who . . ." he looked around at his strange surroundings, ". . . are you?"

They had brought Jack into Eddy's room, since Ed's and Double D's houses were huge messes from their ordeal, two days prior.

Double D could hardly restrain himself and immediately began talking. "Good sir, did you know that you have recently become the first human to experience first-hand, the super-scientific phenomena known as interdimensional travel?!"

"Um . . . no?" said Jack, hardly understanding Double D's rapid-fire inquiry.

"Please excuse my rather overly excited friend," said Eddy, pulling Double D away, "but allow me to introduce, um, – us – my name's Eddy, and this loveable lump over here is Ed," he pointed to a smiling, Ed, who stared blankly while scratching the back of his own head with his long, green tongue, "and of course, you've met the other Edd, or as we call him, Double D, since his name is spelled with two Ds."

Jack still looked very confused. "I don't get it, why am I here? I must go!" he attempted to get up, but got a sudden rush of light-headedness and simply collapsed back onto the circle-shaped bed (Eddy had a taste for both the tacky and the vintage, as evidenced by his record player, complete with stacks of vinyl records, and his disco mirror ball that hung from his ceiling, among other things throughout his room).

"Whoa there, mister!" said Double D, getting serious now, "You are in no condition to be running about! You've been in an unconscious state for two days! Not to mention the infection that you just barely avoided when I treated that cut on your shoulder!"

Jack gained a shocked look on his face, and looked down into his hands, which now felt relatively weak. Did Aku do this? Did he disrupt the portal while I was going back?!

"Ed, go bring our guest some food, he must be starving!" said Double D.

"Okey-dokey, Double D!" yelled Ed, saluting as he quickly ran out of the room, chuckling to himself.

Jack looked at his caretakers and wondered if all of this was a dream, or if he had really veered into the wrong path within the time-portal, but now that they had mentioned it, he really was hungry – very hungry, in fact, which confirmed to him that this was no dream.

"Where exactly are you from?" asked Double D, setting up a camcorder beside himself before sitting down holding a pen and notebook. He looked excited enough to pass out.

Jack considered it for a moment, and then finally decided that there was no harm in telling them his story, "Well, it all began so long ago, I was born and raised in –" he stopped as Ed busted into the room, carrying a large plate of butter toast with gravy, chanting "yum" repeatedly as he handed it to him, "thank you," said Jack, eyeing the food intensely, then immediately began devouring it. After a while, he continued his story in between bites, and eventually explained important moments in his history up to that point, much to the three Eds' utter admiration and amazement. Later, as he finished, each of their lower jaws was nearly hitting the floor.

"So . . . cool!" yelled Ed, excitedly.

"Jeez," said Eddy, retracting his jaw.

"Exquisite! Phenomenal! Your dimension sounds absolutely riveting!" exclaimed Double D, who had written almost everything down, "And what an incredible and courageous story! You are truly a hero, and an inspiration to aspiring adventurers such as myself!"

"Um, thank you," said Jack, who was now full.

"But then, you have no connection with the Xenomorph that attacked us recently?" inquired Double D.

"Xeno – what?" asked Jack, perplexed.

"Two days ago, a few hours before we found you, our little cul-de-sac was attacked by an alien, or Xenomorph as they're apparently called, that emerged from the same worm-hole that you came through. Miraculously, we – well mostly due to Ed, were able to barely dispose of it, and that was only against one! I'd hate to imagine having to contend with a whole pack of them!" Double D now looked serious again.

Jack thought for a moment, "Have there been any more of them?"

"No, thankfully, but we're not about to let our guard down." Double D then began drawing something in his notebook for a while, "If I remember correctly, it looked something like this," he held up the drawing, which was pretty basic, but still captured all of the main details.

Jack studied it for a moment, "I'm sorry, but even in my world, I have never encountered such a beast," he continued studying the drawing.

Eddy thought for a moment, "Maybe that worm-hole thingy is connecting more than just our two worlds, Double D?"

"It is possible that your theory may prove to be right, Eddy. But the problem that still persists is how do we close it?"

"No, you must not close it!" said Jack, quickly. "I must use it to get back to my original time!"

"But how can you be sure that it won't just throw you into another parallel dimension, again? And what if it were to be a hostile one next time?" asked Double D.

"I'm not sure," said Jack in a somber tone, "but I must try."

There was a sudden knock on the back door which, conveniently, was in Eddy's room.

Eddy walked over to it and opened it just a crack. It was the others, and they looked annoyed and angry.

"Open up, dorks! It's been two days! We want to meet him, already!" yelled Kevin. The others loudly agreed as well.

Eddy quickly shut the door and locked it. He then turned around, wearing a sinister smile.

Double D knew that smile all too well. Oh no! He's finally cracked!he thought, immediately springing into action by taking hold of Eddy's shirt collar, "Eddy, whatever you're planning on doing, please don't! Remember the progress that you've made!"

"But . . . I've gotta, Double D!" yelled Eddy, in a pleading tone.

"Eddy, please don't! If you relapse into your avaricious ways now, you'll eviscerate the miniscule shred of respect that they still have for us! I obviously understand how difficult it is to lose our acceptance after savoring such a brief taste of its oh-so-sweet ambrosia, but please Eddy, I implore you – no, I beg you – don't charge them!" Double D was now glaring at him with saddened eyes.

Eddy was in a moral pinch. He knew it was wrong, and so he desperately fought against his urge, but the prospect of the potential monetary gain was almost too much, until suddenly, Double D gave him a firm slap to the face.

"Ouch! Curse my fragile being!" yelled Double D as his right hand was pulsating bright red.

Eddy quickly snapped out of it, and then in anger, yelled, "Double D! Why I oughtta –" but then, forgetting his anger, he realized what had just happened. "I . . . I almost made things worse for us, didn't I, Sock-Head?!"

"I'm afraid so, Eddy," said Double D, massaging his still swollen hand, "I've got to say, I'm relieved, though disappointed that I had to snap you out of it – well, manually." Our acceptance, Ed's tub of gravy, and now, Eddy's moral resolve, thought Double D, sadly.

Eddy was at a loss for words, he couldn't believe what had just happened, and what had just been avoided as well. He had almost ruined everything for them. "Double D, I . . ." he looked down, sadly, and then turned towards the door, "I'm sorry." He then went to the door and opened it, putting on a fake smile, "come on in guys, sorry about the hold-up, but our guest wasn't decent. We don't wanna give our lovely ladies some mental scars now, do we?"

Nazz just giggled and smiled at him as she walked in, while Sarah just shot him a look of suspicion as she entered next with Jimmy in tow, as always.

"Is he scary, Sarah?" whimpered Jimmy, hiding his face as he cowered behind her.

"Alright, cut the crap, Dorky. How much is this costin' us?" asked Kevin in an annoyed tone.

Eddy briefly felt the choke of temptation, but with great effort, he quickly subdued it and responded, "What are you talking about, Kev? Don't be ridiculous, I'm not going to charge you guys! That's in the past!"

Everyone had the look of puzzled surprise, but then replaced them with those of gratitude.

"Wow, I guess you dorks have at least learned some decency for once," said Kevin, casually strolling past Eddy.

"This is so cool! Thanks, Eddy!" said Nazz, with an even bigger smile now.

Eddy felt a massive amount of relief. He was one more step towards gaining everyone's acceptance again. Now he just had to practice self control in case an opportunity for a scam came up again. You just wait and see, everyone . . . I'll prove that I've changed.

(Atop the Village Wall, Planet Kiato)

"Here they come!" shouted Numbuh 529, readying his Solar-Rifle.

The others did the same. They were all on the sentry posts that were on top of the fifty foot wall that surrounded the capital Kiatoan village. The only member who was absent was Numbuh 2476, as she was busy installing the last component on their ship that would allow them to escape this forsaken planet.

The immense horde of about six hundred Xenomorphs charged from the canyons towards the village, in anticipation of another night of feasting. Their echoing shrieks, in combination with the almost freezing temperature, sent shivers up everyone's spine.

"Steady!" yelled Numbuh 529, "Nobody fire! We don't want them breaking formation just yet! Numbuh 5120, on your mark, detonate."

"Yes sir!" he responded. Numbuh 5120 was their main tech-officer and weapons-engineer, as well as their explosives-expert. He was 21 years old, though he was still one rank under Numbuh 529, and just like him and Numbuh 860, was another one of those strange non-Earthling humans, who in this particular case, had light-green skin, yellow eyes, and very dark, forest-green hair.

The Xenomorphs were closing in fast, and were now about a quarter mile away. Their horrible shrieking got even worse.

Numbuh 5120 knew that they were now in range and flipped the switch on his detonator, causing a massive line of explosions along the aliens' front-line, instantly incinerating about a third of them.

"For our fallen friends!" shouted Numbuh 529, aiming down his sights.

The pressure and heat from the explosions reached even the operatives as they opened fire to roast the many that remained, sending concentrated beams of sunlight from their solar-rifles, which eventually overheated, forcing them to stop and let them cool down.

The aliens that weren't instantly fried continued their relentless charge, and when they finally reached the wall, they launched themselves onto it and began climbing up.

"It's almost finished, guys, over!" Numbuh 2476's voice came from their communicators.

At this point, everyone opened fire again, taking out many of the aliens that were climbing, but only more came to take their place and thus, they had to draw their military machetes while their main weapons cooled down. They spread out to avoid splashing the Xenomorphs' acidic blood on each other (the blackened blades were designed to be unaffected by it.)

Numbuh 1 quickly impaled one on its long, black, eyeless head, sending it falling to the ground, and did the same to the ones that were lined up behind it as they came up.

The other operatives did this as well. But then, the horrid creatures seemed to catch onto what they were doing, and so when they were about ten feet from the top, they launched themselves up the rest of the way, landing near where the operatives stood. Everyone fought fearlessly and ferociously, dodging teeth, claws, and spiked tails as best as they could.

Numbuh 1 struck down the next Xenomorph, and dodge-rolled away from another. He then heard a series of beeps from his solar-rifle, as did the others, at which they all quickly sheathed their machetes and opened fire once again, but there were just too many.

"Hey, derps, start heading over here! It should be finished by the time you arrive, over!" said Numbuh 2476's voice from the communicators again.

"Understood, and good job, over." Numbuh 529 turned to the others, "Fall back, then! Head to the Doom-Buggies!"

Just then, Numbuh 3765, who was their assistant weapons-engineer, was dragged off of the side of the wall by two aliens.

"Bastards!" yelled Numbuh 529, shooting into the cluster of Xenomorphs, flash-frying seven more with well placed shots. After a few more shots, his weapon soon overheated again and he took off after the other operatives, drawing his two machetes to deal with any enemies that attempted to intercept him. A group of them soon got in his way, but he just sliced through them all without even slowing down.

Numbuh 860 did the same, for she was ahead of everyone else as they headed down the stairs that went down the side of the wall, leading into the ghost town. She ran through entire packs of them when they got in her way, slicing what she could, never losing momentum, and fully confiding in her comrades to finish off whatever she didn't.

Numbuh 1 was right behind her and scouted for any danger that came from the sides or from the roofs of the surrounding buildings.

Suddenly, Numbuh 5120, who brought up the rear, slowed down, eventually stopping in his tracks and then fell to his knees.

Numbuh 1 quickly turned around to check what happened, as did Numbuh 860, and they saw that he had collapsed completely now, and was lying in a small puddle of blood.

"Numbuh 5120, what the hell happened?!" they yelled as they rushed over to him.

They noticed that he had a severe wound on his chest that continued to bleed.

"Talk, damn you!" yelled Numbuh 860, tears forming in her eyes.

"Go on! I've lost too much blood… I'll just slow you down and die on the way to the ship anyway!" he pointed to a long trail of blood droplets on the path behind them.

"When did it happen?" asked Numbuh 1, worriedly.

"Happened up on the wall. Damn Xenomorph got me pretty good with its tail!" he was now nearly whispering, "Just go! I've prepared for this!" breathing heavily, he took his hand out of his pocket and held a detonator that had a plastic cover over the switch. "Pinky-Pie, if you ever head back home . . . please tell my little sister that I love her, and I'm sorry." He took the cover off and then pushed them away with what little strength he had left, "Go! Before they get here!" he strained himself to yell.

Numbuhs 1 and 860 were shocked, but they understood and left quickly, with their hearts full of sorrow. Numbuh 860 still cried, even while she ran.

Numbuh 5120 had been the leader of her unit, as well as a sort of mentor, though he was only six years older than she was. On top of that, he had been her first real friend when she first came to the RND about six months before Numbuhs 1 and 2476 did.

Numbuh 529 had actually been the first human, since the founding team many decades ago, to join the RND, followed by Numbuh 5120 (at age 15) about six years later, and then Numbuh 860 (age 15 as well) another six years after that. She didn't fit in with the other species, nor did they attempt to make her feel welcome, that was, until Numbuh 5120 took her under his wing and made her his second in command, always telling her that she reminded him of his little sister from back home.

They continued running through the streets, and suddenly heard an explosion, followed by the usual cacophony of shrieking, behind them. She cried even more intensely now. Numbuh 1 wanted to as well, but he held in his tears. He needed to be strong for her.

They sprinted towards the sandstone bell-tower where they had parked their Doom-Buggies (one was gone, for Numbuh 2476 had taken it), which were large, six-person, high-tech, armored dune-buggies that had a swiveling platform on the back that held a turret which could alternate between solar beams or rockets. They reached them and briefly awaited the others, who quickly showed up as well. Since there were only six of them left (another operative apparently didn't make it), they took three Doom-Buggies by splitting up into three pairs, with one person driving, and one person shooting.

"We started a really big fire, so they should be held up a little while," yelled Numbuh 529 as he ran over to one of the Doom-Buggies, and climbed into it.

Numbuh 1 turned towards Numbuh 860 and gently pulled her in close, "Are you sure that you're okay to drive?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah . . . I'll be okay," she responded, wiping her tears away.

Numbuh 1 held her a moment more, and then pulled her into a loving embrace.

Numbuh 860 also held him just as tightly, and thanked him for always making her feel better.

They parted and he gave her a pecking kiss on the cheek before climbing into the turret operator's seat. "Alright, let's roll out!" he looked over to his left and saw that Numbuh 529 had manned the turret on his buggy as well.

"Where's Numbuh 5120?" he asked, perplexed.

Numbuh 1 looked down sadly, and just shook his head.

Numbuh 529's face became evident with anger, but he nodded, both in response as well as in understanding of the explosion that he had heard earlier.

They all reversed out of their respective parking spots and, talking on their communicators, decided on which route to take. They quickly headed out to cross the village, for the ship was in the desert beyond the western wall. Numbuhs 1 and 860 brought up the rear as they sped through bumpy dirt-roads, and zipped around sharp corners, navigating the streets as fast as they could without wrecking.

Numbuh 1 switched the settings on his turret to solar-beams and took aim. The horde was going to show up any second.

The sound of shooting emanated from the buggy at the forefront.

"The damn things flanked us!" yelled Numbuh 529, who then begun shooting towards the top of the buildings. They were running along the rooftops, and though they weren't as fast as the vehicles, they made up for this in sheer numbers, for many had clambered onto the buildings ahead of them.

Now all three of the turret operators opened fire on the top of the buildings and stopped many of the aliens from jumping onto the vehicles. But the creatures would not give up. Numbuh 1 turned around to face the streets and fired on the few extraordinarily fast Xenomorphs that were able to nearly match or even surpass their speed. He took many of them down before they rounded a sharp corner, causing the many that remained to slip as they tried to turn as well, thus crashing into the opposite buildings. Numbuh 529 shot a rocket to that same building, effectively blowing it apart and therefore blocking the road behind them. But there was still the danger of those that were above them. They were now about a half-mile from the western gate, which was going to have to be blown apart.

"There's the final stretch!" sounded Numbuh 529's voice from their communicators. "I'll open the gate, Numbuhs 1 and 13,292 (the other turret operator), you guys cover me, over!"

And that they did, shooting at every alien that came within so much as one-hundred feet from them, while Numbuh 529 shot three rockets at the massive double-gate's center, flinging both of its doors open. Once out in the desert, they broke from their single-file formation and drove side-by-side, with Numbuh 529's buggy in the center. They immediately accelerated now that they were on an open road.

The Xenomorphs from the village continued their chase, but some were already in the desert, and pounced out of the sand, landing on the buggies.

"Did these freakin' things just ambush us?! Over!" yelled Numbuh 529, as his and Numbuh 13,292's drivers barely managed to shake theirs off. They then proceeded to fire on the other packs that emerged as well.

But Numbuh 860 wasn't so fortunate, as the Xenomorph that landed on her Doom-Buggy happened to land in a position on the front passenger window that wasn't so easy to shake off. It stabbed its tail at her, but thankfully couldn't reach. "Nigel, help!" she shouted, swerving some more in order to at least get it off-balance.

"Hold on, Keilana!" shouted Numbuh 1 as he unbuckled himself from the turret seat and hopped into the vehicle's back-row.

"Numbuh 1, do you want me to try to shoot it off? Over." sounded Numbuh 529 through the communicator.

"No, leave it to me, besides, on the off-chance that you miss, it would cause some damage to the vehicle, over," he responded, as the creature climbed up onto the roof.

"Fine, but, you do know that I wouldn't miss, right? Over."

"Yeah, I know, but I want this one, myself! Over," Numbuh 1 exclaimed, unsheathing his machete, but the creature was nowhere to be seen.

Then, a sudden bump on the trail bounced him up, causing him to hit his head on the vehicle's roof. As he fell to the ground, the alien struck through the window with its tail, but Numbuh 1 was already on the floor, making it miss. He quickly took a swing at it from the floor, but it retracted its tail in time and climbed up onto the roof again. He then quietly got into a kneeling position and waited for it to strike again. Another bit of turbulence in the trail caused the Xenomorph to bump into the side of the buggy that it was holding on to, which Numbuh 1 heard. He immediately ran over to the corresponding window and stabbed in its general direction. A very high-pitched shriek followed, and then the buggy's balance shifted, indicating that the Xenomorph had fallen off. He then immediately rushed back onto the turret platform, buckled himself in, and fired on a nearby pack that was inching closer and closer.

"Nice! I saw that from here! Over," cheered Numbuh 529.

"There's the ship! Over," yelled Numbuh 13,292, who was now ahead of them all.

Numbuh 1 looked back and noticed that the Xenomorph hordes were long behind them. "Now's our chance to make an escape, Captain! Over."

"Alright, good. Numbuh 2476, we need you to open the vehicle ramp now! Over," shouted Numbuh 529.

"Sure thing, Captain Handsome! Also, I finished, like, a minute ago, over," replied Numbuh 2476 as she initiated the ship's start-up systems, and pulled the control lever for the ship's spacious cargo area.

I hate it when she calls me that! thought Numbuh 529, shuddering.

Upon arrival, they drove up its ramp, where once inside, they parked on three of the eight vehicle-holding spaces, thus activating large slabs of metal that came out of the floor and hooked into specially designated slots on the sides of the vehicles.

Once they were all off, they proceeded into the also spacious personnel area, which was really just a big recreational room, usually full of stuff to keep operatives entertained on long voyages. It included a massive monitor on which to play video games or enjoy movies, both from alien worlds, as well as from Earth (provided by Numbuh ∞'s department, as he was the Kids Next Door of Earth's ambassador to the RND), fitness equipment, sparring equipment, pool tables (which actually got popular among the alien races), and other assorted pleasantries. Almost everything had been broken when they crashed, though. Passing it, they went down a long hallway into the command bridge, where Numbuh 2476 was manning the ship's main controls. "I didn't have enough time to fix the heating system in here, so it might get a little chilly once we hit space." She pushed some buttons on the control deck, "but if you would like, Captain, I can warm you up!"

Numbuh 529 shuddered again, "Just get us out of here." he then plunked down in the Captain's seat. The others, who were all laughing, proceeded down the steps surrounding it and sat out in the other stationary chairs, finally relaxing.

"Already on it!" said Numbuh 2476, flipping the switch for the ship's anti-gravity engine. The entire thing shook violently as it rose from the sand, and when it was a good eighty feet in the air, she took hold and slid forward its thruster controls, allowing it to accelerate forward, at which she then twisted the handles back (which, to Numbuh 1, always looked like she was revving a motorcycle) so that it could gain altitude, eventually going up into the higher layers of the atmosphere, and then finally into space, where they accelerated even more.

It suddenly grew very cold, but that was soon a mere afterthought when they made a startling discovery.

Numbuh 1, in particular, shot up out of his seat, as angry as he had ever been. "What's going on here?! What the hell is this?!"

(Back on the Eds' world)

Kevin, Nazz, Rolf, Sarah, and Jimmy (who had fainted a few times) listened in awe as Jack relayed his story once more.

"Whoa, man," mumbled Kevin.

The others were just speechless.

"Alright everyone, let's leave Mister Jack to his rest," said Double D, slightly pushing them all out.

"Fine, we'll go, but when he rests up, we wanna hang with him, alright!" yelled Kevin as they all walked out.

"Yes, yes, we'll be sure to bring him along," said Double D, quickly shutting the door. "Whew!" he turned back towards Jack, "I'm so sorry about that! I didn't think that they would ask so many questions!"

"Do not worry about it. I enjoy making new friends," Jack smiled in assurance as he relaxed back onto the bed.

"Well, then, I think it's only fair that we explain our history as well," said Double D, I'll begin.

Then, for the next two hours or so, all three of the Eds explained how they had met, some of their more memorable past adventures, which made Jack crack up in hysterical laughter at times, and then told him of their recent rise to and fall from acceptance, detailing the incident with Eddy's brother which led into their battle with the alien that had put them in their current position, at which he offered his condolences, and put them at relative ease, both with ancient Japanese proverbs as well as with lessons learned from his own experiences, which they thanked him for.

When he was feeling better, they all took Jack on a tour of their neighborhood, trying their best to avoid the others while they did, so as not to overwhelm Jack with their incessant questions, after which, they led him to the bright and dark worm-hole in the alley, which he kneeled down to examine.

"Indeed, these are the same elements that composed the other portals," he said.

"Which are . . . ?" asked Double D.

"Light and darkness."

"Wait . . . what! You've got to be kidding me!" Double D kneeled down, as did the other Eds as well, and examined the portal more closely, "Impossible! Shouldn't the light overtake the darkness?" asked Double D in total confusion.

"Yes, but when the light is in complete and total harmony with the dark, it creates an abnormality that defies time and space," answered Jack.

The Eds looked at him in surprise.

"Of course, I may just be repeating what I learned from a trusted friend, back in my world," laughed Jack, scratching the back of his head in modesty.

They turned to walk away, but the air around them began to swirl at an almost unnatural consistency. They immediately turned to see not one, but four Xenomorphs quickly climb out of the worm-hole.

"Run, get out of here!" Jack shouted to the Eds, "I'll deal with them!"

"But Jack, they have acid for blood, man! And you don't even have your swords!" responded Eddy.

He's right. I'll only cause further injury to myself if I fight them like this! thought Jack as he sidestepped the lunge of one of the aliens. He then turned and fled, along with the Eds. They shouted warnings to the others who were playing street-hockey, at which they all ran to Rolf's house again. Jack and the Eds ran to Eddy's house, as that was where the swords were. They ran into the backyard and went directly into his room through the backdoor.

"There's freakin' four of them!" yelled Eddy, panting for breath, he turned towards Jack, who had opened the closet to search for his sword. "Oh yeah, they're under the bed, Jack. I had to hide them from my parents. They never check under there."

There was a shriek just beyond the door as Jack kneeled down by the bed. He reached under and, being in a hurry, pulled out one of Eddy's dirty magazines. Double D's face went red as he looked away, while Ed just laughed.

"Gimme that!" yelled Eddy, snatching the magazine from him, "These are for . . . research!"

Jack just smiled in mild embarrassment, and then reached under again, this time pulling out both his sword and the Time Guardian's light-sword, which he handed to Eddy.

"What do you want me to do with this?" he asked, reluctantly taking it.

"I need you to protect your friends in case one of those foul beasts comes in here when I'm not around," said Jack, strapping his holy-sword into place, and then unsheathing it. The shrieking from outside of the door continued, followed by a scratching noise. "Eddy, I hope you forgive me for this," Jack said as he went up to the door and cleanly stabbed through it. There was a short, sharp screech, and then silence. Jack pulled his blade out and opened the door. Once outside, he ran out to the center of the cul-de-sac, where two of the remaining three Xenomorphs ran out to him. He effortlessly cut down the first one but just as he did, the second lashed its tail out to him. Barely missing, it jumped back, and circled around him. Jack was completely stationary, relying on his eyes when it was in front, and relying on his ears when it was behind or on either side of him. When it was at his side and lunged, he simply raised his left hand, which already held the sword, and impaled it in mid-air. That was easy, but weren't there four of them? Oh no... the boys! he immediately ran back to Eddy's house.

Meanwhile, Eddy held the completely white blade in his hands, really unsure of what to do.

"Eddy, we better hide! We don't have our Canadian squirt-guns!" yelled Double D.

Almost as if on cue, one of the Xenomorphs broke through Eddy's window and landed on the circle-bed.

"Run away!" yelled Ed, who simply turned and broke through Eddy's bedroom door.

But the others were half-frozen with fear, particularly Eddy, who shook as he tried to raise the brightly shining sword. He began backing up and swung out of desperation, but it was too early and he missed. The Xenomorph then stabbed its tail at him, at which he instinctively flinched, making it graze his right cheek. He was now completely against the wall, and had the possibility of death repeatedly racing through his head.

"Eddy, duck down!" yelled Double D, who had somehow regained some sense.

Eddy quickly let himself go limp, dropping down just as the alien stabbed its tail into his wall, and quickly, though sloppily, rolled away from the alien, stopping just five feet away from it, and swung the katana again, lopping the alien's tail off. The creature turned around and, in a rage, lunged at him. Eddy was sure that he was going to die, and closed his eyes, but then in last minute desperation, he struck out with the blade.

The Xenomorph landed just short from him, dead.

Jack, with Ed beside him, stood behind its carcass and sheathed his sword. Eddy had missed, while Jack had delivered the killing-stroke.

Eddy dropped down to his knees and began sobbing profusely, at which Double D immediately ran over, helped him up, and led him over to a chair.

"Eddy, what's the matter?" he asked in genuine concern.

"I was useless, Double D!" his tears continued flowing, "I could have sworn that I was about to die, and I would have, if not for Jack!" he then leaned forward on the chair, resting his elbows on his knees, and cupped his face with his hands, "I couldn't even protect myself, much less you guys!"

Jack looked away out of respect, as Eddy's tears continued. He was truly sad for him, and understood what he was feeling. He had once felt the same way after his first battle with Aku.

Finally, the crying stopped, and Eddy attempted to stand, though he still had wobbly knees, at which Ed and Double D helped and supported him up. "Jack," he said, with his head hanging down, "I need . . . to ask you a favor," he picked his head up to now look him straight in the eyes.

Jack looked back towards him, and nodded in response.

"I need to know . . . if you would please train us," said Eddy in a very serious tone, "to protect our own skins, and our friends and families too!"

Jack didn't even need to think it over. "Of course . . . we shall begin tomorrow."

(Back on the RND Ship)

"This can't be right!" yelled Numbuh 529, enraged. "What the hell were they doing this whole time?!"

There, about one-hundred thousand miles ahead of them, was their HQ.

"Sir, should I attempt to contact them?" asked Numbuh 13,292, holding the ship's transmitter.

"No, let them contact us when they detect us. Numbuh 2476, I want to get in there as soon as possible, so activate the auxiliary boosters," Numbuh 529 sat back down, absent-mindedly gripping the handles on his machetes while he shivered a little, "I don't like this one bit."

They sped up considerably, and were soon three-quarters of the way there in less than fifteen minutes.

A voice sounded from the ship's speakers, at first it was mostly static, then it cleared up, "(static). . . yourself! (static) . . . I repeat, identify yourself, over!"

Numbuh 529 didn't answer back.

"Captain?" asked Numbuh 1 as he and Numbuh 860 held each other for warmth.

He thought for a moment, and then pressed a button on his arm-rest. "This is First-Class Operative-Elite and Leader of the RND's Metal-Dragon Close-Quarters Assault Unit, Captain Numbuh 529 of Planet Tierra, along with my surviving troops, reporting in from the Planet J-036 extraction-operation, over."

There was a brief silence, and then the voice came again, "Holy crap, Captain Numbuh 529! We thought you guys were dead! Go ahead and dock the ship in Bay 4. Be careful though, we've been under siege for a while! The shields are up, but I'm going to authorize a temporary opening near your location, over."

Numbuh 529 grew even more intrigued, "Proceeding to dock then, over."

Once inside the huge landing bay, the ship violently crashed down, barely missing other operatives who were now running away for dear life.

"Oh yeah, I also didn't have time to fix the landing system," said Numbuh 2476, in amusement.

"And you mention this, now?!" yelled Numbuh 1, who was on the floor.

Leaving their solar-rifles, they all got off of the ship and were immediately greeted by a team of dark-blue steel-armored soldiers, known as the Honor-Guard, who surrounded a very tall figure that Numbuh 1 recognized as Numbuh 1-Trillion, the Supreme Commander-In-Chief of the Rebels Next Dimension.

Numbuh 1-Trillion wasn't human, but was a seven-and-a-half foot tall, male Ilumari, who had light-grey skin, and just below shoulder-length black hair that he kept combed-back. His facial features resembled those of a human, except that he had completely white eyes and pointed ears. He wore a black, formal, military-dress suit that was decorated with his many medals and honors, and though he had no physical ailments, he always walked with a huge, fancily decorated walking stick that would slide open to reveal an Ilumari great-sword.

The Ilumari were the near-pinnacle of sentient creation, just one step below the Angels themselves, and it was their job to monitor and protect the dimensional boundaries of the Multiverse. The Fallen Hand, however, were a splinter-cell of defected and escaped Ilumari war-criminals who strove to conquer every dimension that they could find.

"Sir!" they all yelled and knelt down as he approached them, except for Numbuhs 1 and 529.

"You may stand," he said upon arrival.

They stood, but continued to look down.

"You all have no idea how sorry I am that we could not help you," he said in his almost echoing voice.

This time, Numbuh 529 grew fully enraged and charged him, grabbing his medal-covered collar, despite being almost two feet shorter. He had been way too fast for the Honor-Guard, who had just barely pointed their rifles at him. "Sorry?! You're sorry?! I lost almost all of my men down there, and that's all that you can say?! You son of a bitch, I should kill you!"

"I can assure you that we were going to mount a rescue operation as soon as we were able to efficiently handle the siege."

"Liar!"

The others were shocked at his outbursts, including Numbuh 2476, as even she knew to guard her tongue when speaking to Numbuh 1-Trillion.

"Shall we throw him in the brig, sir?" asked one of the Honor-Guard in a robotic voice due to his helmet.

"That would be highly unnecessary, as I understand how the Captain feels, and would have done the same thing, were I in his position," Numbuh 1-Trillion simply smiled sadly as he said this, and then looked Numbuh 529 in the eyes, "you know that I have always respected and valued your friendship, Numbuh 529, even after you quit your position as head of my Honor-Guard."

Numbuh 529 held his grip on the Supreme Commander. He really didn't know what to do now. He was angry, but this man had been one of his mentors, just as he himself was to Numbuh 1. He then let go, and backed away.

"Numbuh 529, and you as well, Numbuh 1, come, have a quick walk with me to my office," he said, waving his Honor-Guard away, who reluctantly left him.

Numbuhs 529 and 1, who gave a goodbye-hug to Numbuh 860, did as they were told and took a position on either side of him, proceeding up the stairs onto the gigantic station's personnel level, and then took an elevator up to the Executive-Command level, eventually getting to his office, which was an open room with a blue glow to it that had marked maps of various planets pinned to the walls, a large, round table for meetings with the other officers, and a desk that was a mess with stacks of unprocessed paperwork.

He stood at the far end of the room and then broke the silence, "It's extremely tragic and unfortunate what happened, but please understand, Captain, that I was in no position to send a team, due to the siege."

They remained silent and unresponsive.

He sat down in his desk and continued, "We're being attacked because we've found out the true intentions of the Fallen Hand's leader."

This immediately got their attention.

"As you both probably already know, Warmaster Surt, the Fallen Hand's leader, was once an Ilumari General and inventor who went insanely power-hungry after he used one of his twisted machines to destroy an entire dimensional barrier between two worlds, thus causing them to catastrophically collide into one another. He then absorbed the resulting quantum energy, significantly increasing his own power." he shifted in his seat, and then continued, "Well, our official reports say that when his superiors found out about this, they confiscated the machine, and destroyed it, after which he and his subordinates were court-marshaled, and sentenced to death within the Dead-Zone, which held the Quantum Devourers. But what they didn't know was that he had smuggled in another one of his inventions, which was a small, personal version of the rift-openers on their war-ships, and thus when they arrived there, he struck a deal with the Quantum-Devourers to spare their lives, and in return, he would open a temporary portal to allow them all to escape. Needless to say, they agreed, for they could not eat their way out of the Dead-Zone's decayed and inedible matter, and this is when they made their escape," he shifted again, uncomfortably, and then proceeded to stand up before he continued, "well, my point is, that he plans to rebuild that infernal machine, and use it to destroy every barrier there is, effectively collapsing and ending the Multiverse!"

Numbuhs 1 and 529 were dumbstruck. They knew that he wanted to rule everything, but they didn't know that he wanted to collapse it all into one unified dimension as well.

"But he needs certain components that can only be found on specific planets within certain dimensions, of which we currently know none."

"So the Quantum-Devourers are the ones who have been opening all of the permanent worm-holes?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Correct," he replied.

"Why are you telling us all of this?" asked Numbuh 529.

"I tell you because I have deemed you both important enough to know."

"Well, after Planet Kiato, I don't fully believe that."

There was a brief interlude of tense, awkward silence.

"So the Fallen Hand has found us?" asked Numbuh 1, trying to change the direction of the conversation while staying on topic.

"Indeed. Right after you all left for your mission, we were found and attacked by Fenris and his stolen Ilumari war-ships," said Numbuh 1-Trillion, fixing one of the medals on his collar, "and we've been at a stale-mate ever since, though we think that some of his spies and assassins might have infiltrated us already when they broke through a small section in the ship's hull, which we had to seal off."

"Is that why you didn't send the quartering ship?" inquired Numbuh 529.

"No, we still went ahead and sent it, but Fenris blew it down as well, and it crashed clear across the planet from you guys."

"And the lack of response when we tried to contact you?" he asked, again.

"When he first attacked us, we immediately put up our shields which, as you both know, blocks any communication that exceeds 50,000 miles as well."

Numbuhs 1 and 529 remained silent, regretting their accusations.

"You know, Numbuh 529, I still feel safer with you in the room than with my entire Honor-Guard," said Numbuh 1-Trillion, smiling and reminiscing of old-times.

Numbuh 529 looked up at him, "Why? You're the better warrior."

"Actually, I like to think of you as the better warrior."

"What?" Numbuh 529 was surprised by this.

"Think about it, I taught you everything that I know, did I not? And on top of that, you've honed your own unique close-quarters combat techniques by combining that with what you've learned on other planets, and not to mention your intense training with your Grandfather, the famous Infinite Dragon himself! You're also a better shot than I am," he lightly laughed as he admitted this, "you're considered one of the best of the best, even among the other First-Class Operative-Elites, and finally, just as you see in Numbuh 1, a great leader and prospective commander-in-chief, so do I in you."

Numbuh 529 was dumbstruck again, and stood in even more regret, looking down as a few tears rolled down his cheeks from all the regretful shame that coursed through him. "Please, forgive me, sir. I truly thought that you had forsaken us!"

"There, there. I want you all to rest up. But first, I think some promotions are in order for you two, as well as for your friends, which I'll conduct later."

They both looked up at him in surprise.

"And I'll make sure that the operatives that we sadly lost will be remembered as heroes, with a great memorial service and even a monument, once we rebuild Universal Command."

Numbuhs 1 and 529 thanked him. It would not bring them back, but at least they would be revered and not forgotten.

Numbuh 1-Trillion then walked over to them, at which they knelt, and began speaking, "I now officially award you, Numbuh 529 of Planet Tierra, the rank of –" suddenly the entire station shook violently, and an explosion sounded nearby. "Damn! They've bypassed our shields!" He immediately picked up his communicator and called all units to mount a counter-offensive. He finally turned towards Numbuhs 1 and 529, "Are you well enough to fight?"

"Always, sir," they both said, immediately getting up and running out of the door. But just as it shut behind them, they heard the sound of a solar-rifle firing multiple times within.

They immediately ran back in, but they were too late. Numbuh 1-Trillion was dead, slumped over on the front of his desk. He had been horrifically charred alive.

They both looked away and Numbuh 1 even vomited as the smell of burnt flesh reached them.

Numbuh 529, turning away, yelled with all that he could muster, "Who the hell did this!"

Numbuh 1 noticed a solar-rifle that was by the desk, and then looked up. There was an open vent. But before he could say anything, all eight of the Honor-Guard came rushing into the room and saw the horrible scene, after which they immediately smacked both Numbuhs 1 and 529 with the butt of their rifles, knocking them to the floor.

"What the hell did you do?!" yelled the Head Honor-Guard, pointing to the burnt corpse.

"An assassin murdered him!" shouted Numbuh 1 in defense, "We didn't do it! I promise! They shot from up th-" They struck him a second time, infuriating Numbuh 529, who they hit again as well.

"If I recall correctly, the Captain, here, threatened to kill the Commander-in-Chief back in the Docking Bay!" yelled the Head Honor-Guard, hitting them both once more.

"Numbuh 15,677, look at this! The identification number on this solar-rifle matches the one that was issued to the Captain!" yelled another of the guards, who had scanned the rifle's code.

"That settles it, then!"

Another explosion sounded, this time even closer, and many operatives ran by the office, shooting behind them.

"Numbuh 1, we've got quite a nasty set of choices here: stay and protect the RND, just to be tried and executed afterwards, or let the RND be destroyed, as we run away to fight and clear our names another day!" yelled Numbuh 529, who was being restrained on the ground.

Numbuh 1 thought long and hard, trying to determine ways to prove their innocence even after protecting the station that had been his home for the past four-and-a-half years, but he could think of none. He soon decided. "I choose to clear our names!"

"Good choice!" yelled Numbuh 529, who effortlessly knocked over the guards that restrained him, and then swiftly kicked the one that was on Numbuh 1. The remaining guards drew their blackened combat knives and rushed at them, but they drew their machetes and, skillfully striking with the flat of their blades, knocked them all out.

"Alright, now how do we get out of here, Numbuh 1?" asked Numbuh 529, looking around, "we can't just go out of that door or we'll get swept up in the battle."

"The vent! The one that the assassin used!" pointed Numbuh 1.

"What?"

"Earlier, I noticed that the cover was missing, and being right over the desk, it was the perfect place to strike from!"

"I see. Alright then, let's go!"

"Nigel, it's Keilana, where are you and what's going on? Over," came her voice from Numbuh 1's communicator.

"I'll explain in docking bay 4. Meet us there!"

"Okay then."

Once they were inside of the vent, they crawled a long distance until they came to a wall that was conveniently in front of the elevators. They hesitated when they saw a bunch of operatives running passed it, but when the coast seemed to be clear, they removed the vent's cover, got out, and ran over to them, where Numbuh 529 used his emergency code to bypass all elevator stops, taking them straight to the bay level.

They ran out to their previous ship and found Numbuhs 860 and 2476 awaiting them.

"Captain!" shouted Numbuh 2476 in joy, jumping on him.

"Agh! Off! Off!" screamed Numbuh 529, desperately struggling.

"What happened, Nigel?" asked Numbuh 860.

"We've just been framed for Numbuh 1-Trillion's assassination!"

"What?!" She and 2476 yelled in unison.

"We'll explain later, but right now we've got to get out of here!" yelled Numbuh 1.

"But, where will we go?" she replied sadly.

"I don't know, but –"

"Maybe you should check on your home planet, Numbuh 1," suggested Numbuh 529, who had finally managed to escape from Numbuh 2476's affections.

"What? I'd like that very much, but I can't just abandon you guys!"

"But, you won't be. It'll just be temporary. We'll go to check on our home planets as well. We'll keep in touch, but minimally, cause it can be traced, and then, if your planet is safe, we'll meet up again and launch our own attacks on the Fallen Hand!" he exclaimed.

"But . . . Keilana . . ."

"It's okay, Nigel," she embraced him, "Just keep in touch with me, and I'll be fine. Besides, I need to inform Numbuh 5120's sister about what happened anyway, and this could be my only chance."

"Don't worry, Baldy, I'll keep a good eye on her for ya," said Numbuh 2476.

Numbuh 1 thought about it as the station shook again with another explosion, but they remained unmoving. "Just promise me that you'll stay safe."

She did and they shared a deep, passionate kiss, reluctantly parting when the station took an especially heavy hit.

"Numbuh 1, take Numbuh 5120's ship, it's the one just across the bay. I believe it's D-Ship 123. I'm sure he would have wanted you to have it. Oh and here," Numbuh 529 quickly wrote something down on a slip of paper that he had in his pocket. It was kind of smeared, but still legible. "Sorry, being a lefty and wearing gloves tends to smear the writing. Don't read it until you're in a safe spot." He smiled as he shook Numbuh 1's hand, "Until next time… Nigel."

"Same here… Salvador."

Once inside Numbuh 5120's large war-ship, Numbuh 1 started it up, and when it was thoroughly ready, he initiated its lift, and then proceeded to head out into the vast emptiness of space. He pulled out his small personal journal and looked up where he had written down his dimension and planet ID, and then started entering them into the ship's Rift-Opener control-panel.

I'm finally going to see everyone after such a long time. I hope that I haven't changed too much.

But then, just before the dark-purple and bright-yellow temporary rift could open, Fenris' ship launched a missile that struck the ship's rear, causing him to mess up the settings on his rift-opener.

"Oh no! Crap! Crap! Crap!" shouted Numbuh 1, trying desperately to change them back, but it was futile as the portal was already opening, and then sucked the ship in.

There was an incomprehensible mess of colors swirling all around him for a short period of time, until they finally opened up, revealing a moon-lit field of flowers, onto which the ship then crashed-landed and slid about two hundred feet before stopping, which caused Numbuh 1 to bang his head on the steering controls and black-out for a moment. After he slowly awoke, he immediately ran a system's check.

"Systems check online…" said the female computer voice, "complete… All systems normal…"

"Oh, thank God!" said Numbuh 1 as he slowly got up from his chair.

"… and one system depleted."

"Damn it!" he yelled, immediately switched on the Rift-Opener, which revealed that he was in a different dimension than he intended, and that it would take one week to fully recharge, which made him groan. He looked out of the window to investigate his surroundings.

This looks like Earth, he thought, looking around. He found his solar-rifle and machete, which he immediately slung and belted around himself, respectively, and then went into the ship's equipment room and turned on the light to behold a stunning array of various quantities of different armored-uniforms, as well as a variety of technological pieces, most which he had never seen before, even within the RND's First-Class Operatives. But then he came across what he was after – a simple pair of sleekly designed and compact, night-vision goggles.

After activating the ship's cloaking device remotely from outside, he turned and scouted the immediate area, following the direction of the moon, and eventually coming to a road.

Yes I was right! I seem to have stumbled onto a seemingly peaceful and normal alternate-Earth! At least I won't have to deal with any aliens or anything like that. He began walking along the road until he came across a sign that read "Peach Creek, 1-Mile".

Well then, I guess I'm going to Peach Creek tomorrow. He then turned back towards the ship to finally, after so many fearful and restless nights, get some well-deserved sleep.

(Closing Theme: Maon Kurosaki - "Return to Destiny" - 00:00 to 01:22)

To Be Continued. . .

Next Episode: Heroes United! The Quest Begins