January 17th - 12:00am

"And now it's time for the late night news. A battle at Hero's Hollow commenced at approximately nine this morning, lasting for hours. It was interrupted by a malfunction at the fault of an imaginary friend, causing a dexLabs war machine to send its shields towards the troops."

Ace drowned out the sound of the Kids Next Door news as he fiddled with his guitar. Lil' Arturo was snoring on the couch next to his own and he could hear Snake playing table tennis with Grubber in the back room. Big Billy was asleep upstairs, he knew, as he always was at this time of night, leaving the only member of the band unaccounted for Belladonna.

He wasn't stupid. He knew who Belladonna really was and had known ever since she had washed up on the shore. When she told him she had amnesia, he was more than willing to tell her everything, but she kept getting distracted by their instruments and songs. By the time he finally had an opportunity, she said she didn't want to know. She was a member of their band by then and, as far as she was concerned, that was all she had ever known. Even though he was respecting her wishes, he felt like he was doing her a serious injustice. She was Buttercup, after all, the green Powerpuff Girl. The toughest fighter.

The television's image changed from the two news anchors to footage of the battle. He saw Blossom take advantage of her flying powers, twisting and twirling to get the upper hand. Bubbles hadn't been captured on tape, but he knew she was there. There was no way that they wouldn't participate in the war. It was their job, after all.

"Why so down?" He felt a sudden weight on the other side of the couch. Buttercup (no matter how many times he was forced to call her Belladonna she would always be Buttercup to him) grinned at him, that cheeky smile that reeked of mischief. The one he'd fallen for, no matter how much he had tried not to.

Ace gave a small smile back. "I'm not down, Bells. Just looking at the battle exhausted me." He gestured to the television which was showing a picture of a yellow imaginary friend. Cheese was its name.

"I heard about that," she said, frowning slightly. "I have this really strong will to fight. It's weird, I know, but I just want to get in the action and help out."

He didn't find it weird at all. From what he remembered of his crime days, Buttercup had always been ready to fight. Some thought she was just power hungry, and maybe when she was little that was the case, but as she grew older she realized the weight in what she was doing. She had the power to prevent criminals from making the world a bad place, something she had acknowledged during an interview right before she went missing.

"It's not weird," he said, unable to look her in the eye. It was suddenly very stuffy in their small headquarters in Marquee Row. He needed some air. "I'm gonna get some fresh air. Wanna come with?"

She jumped off the couch and headed to the door. Taking that as a yes, he smiled and followed her, the cold night air hitting his face as he stepped onto the front balcony. They had a perfect view of the faraway beach from where they were. Their house may have been small, but it was high up. That was the thing Ace loved most about living where they did. That and the fact that they were close to the auditorium. Not that they could get into the place now.

Screw the infected zones.

"Hey, Ace."

He turned to look at Buttercup. She was staring at the sky, a serious expression on her face. "What is it?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

She hit him in the arm, and boy did she have a powerful punch. He rubbed the spot she'd hit, wincing. Whether she remembered it or not, she was still a human powerhouse.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, the person I was before I joined the band. Would she have joined in that fight earlier today?" She looked at her watch. "I mean yesterday."

There was no use lying to her, even if he wanted to. "Yes, she would have."

The silence after that was comfortable. He could tell she was deep in thought, and he had to admit he was as well. He was contemplating just telling her outright, disregarding everything she had told him concerning her memory, but thought better of it. She would probably end up hitting him if he did, and he didn't want to go through that. In his lifetime, he had survived through too many hits from the Powerpuff Girls. It wasn't an experience he recommended.

He almost missed what she said when she spoke up again. "I'm not ready to know. Not yet. But I think I'll need to sooner or later. When that time comes, will you tell me?"

It was then that he realized she was scared. Terrified, even. Forgetting one's past would be a tough thing to go through, of course, but he didn't know it had affected her this much. He should have known, he really should have, but he was stupid. School was looking better every day.

"I'll tell you," he finally said. "When I do, though, you'll probably hate me. Just a warning."

She frowned at him, a small crease appearing just above her nose. "I could never hate you, Ace."

The amount of sincerity in her words astounded him. He felt like he was on cloud nine just from a simple sentence, but his conscience brought him back down to planet Earth. She couldn't be so sure, he knew she couldn't. Even so, it was nice to believe his feelings could be reciprocated, even a little.

"That's good to hear. But remember that you don't know what type of person I am back in your memories," he said, smile sad now.

His words must have had a bigger effect on her than he thought, because she turned around with such force that he almost fell over the railing. Her expression was one of anger, but he could see the tears glistening in her eyes. They were in the corners, but they were there.

"I don't care! You could have beaten me up for all I care! What matters now is that you're the one who took me in. No matter what you may have thought of me, no matter what I may have thought of you, you gave me a home! You know everything about me but respect what I want and don't tell me anything even though I know you want to - and don't tell me you don't. I'm not blind." She paused, shaky breaths racking her body as she calmed herself down. "Can you, um. Could you tell me my real name? That should be enough for now."

Happy that he didn't have to call her by her fake name anymore, he said, "Buttercup. Your name's Buttercup."

"Buttercup, huh? That sounds familiar."

"It should. It is your name."

He studied her face. Thoughtful but content was how he would describe it. It was one of his favourite expressions she made, second only to when she was laughing. This time with her was something he would cherish since he had no faith in her forgiving him once she regained her memories. Even if she did, he doubted her family would approve of him.

Wait, approve? He really shouldn't talk like he was already her boyfriend.

"Ace, do you like me or something?"

Her boldness, while not entirely unexpected, did startle him. He hadn't wanted to confront this problem so soon, if at all, but if he had to he was going to tell the truth.

"Uh, yeah."

Smooth.

And there it was - the cheeky grin, but this time it had a faint tinge of relief.

"Good."


January 17th - 5:20am

Eddy couldn't sleep.

Ever since word had spread to the Cul-de-sac about the battle at Hero's Hollow, he had been concerned for Edd's safety. Ed was someone he didn't need to worry too much about, not with that blockhead's strength. Besides, Ed hadn't been at Hero's Hollow according to Sarah. With Mac, whoever that was, looking after him Eddy didn't need to worry as much.

Edd was a different story. He wasn't the strongest person ever, and he could become overwhelmed very easily. Eddy would never admit out loud that he was worried, but he really was. This was one of his best friends, after all. One of the only people who had stuck with him through thick and thin, the other being Ed. They had been through everything together - pranks, schemes, travelling to find his brother. All of it was a team effort, and Eddy knew that even though he took all the credit most of the time.

He looked out the window. The Cul-de-sac had calmed down as it was night, but there were still a few people loitering around. Some had probably just woken up, wanting to get an early start on Fuse butt-kicking. Others may have been in the same situation he was, too worried about someone close to them to slip off into dreamland.

After coming to the conclusion that nothing was of interest outside, he turned in bed, ready to try falling asleep again. It almost worked when he heard someone close to his window say, "Oh, Double D's back."

Eddy was wide awake now. Forgetting that he was in his pajamas, he kicked the blankets off and dove out the window, not worried about hurting himself. He caught sight of the sock hat before the rest of the boy and ran at full speed towards it. The force he used was enough to make the more intelligent of the two fall to the ground, beginning the protests.

"Eddy, please! Release me," Edd choked out.

"Right, sorry." He rolled off the scrawnier boy and stood up as other residents of the Cul-de-sac gathered around them.

Nazz spoke up almost instantly. "Double D! What happened? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Edd shook his head. "No, I'm relatively unharmed, only a few scratches. I only had to stay for a discussion with Dexter and the other scientists."

"Until five-thirty in the morning?" Eddy thought that was ridiculous. People needed sleep.

Edd shrugged, moving further towards the centre of their small street. "I know, but we had a lot to account for. Right now I need to check the names of residents in the Suburbs area and highlight those who have, uh, tragically passed. It will probably take a while, so don't mind me."

His attempts to wave them off made Eddy feel angry. This was one of his best friends working himself to the bone while other people just slept and had a carefree time. The back of his mind told him that was a generalization, but he didn't care about that at this point in time.

"I'll help you," Eddy said, tone insistent.

Edd actually looked surprised at this, eyes widening and almost concealing the giant bags underneath them. "You would do something like that? What do you want in return? I don't have any jawbreakers, so -"

Eddy was quick to interrupt. "No, no, sock head! Just let me help you. I wasn't getting any sleep anyway."

"Me too," Nazz said, smile as sweet as ever. She nudged Kevin in the ribs and looked at Jimmy and Sarah, all of whom had been outside. Eddy guessed they hadn't slept either, judging by the way they carried themselves. Rolf and Jonny were outside the Cul-de-sac on guard duty.

Everyone agreed to help Edd who looked like he was about to cry out of relief. They made their way inside Eddy's house, much to his annoyance, and sat in the living room. "The list I have is in my NanoCom, so I should be able to transfer it to yours."

And so they got to work. Eddy had never even known there were so many people living in the Suburbs, and most of them were people around his age or younger. That was a scary thought. They were in the middle of a full-fledged war with weapons and everything. These children could die any moment, yet they were ready to stand up for a cause they believed in. Maybe they were Kids Next Door operatives who were just trained in combat, but then again there were a lot of children on here.

He decided to ask. "Hey, Double D. How many of these kids were Kids Next Door people?"

Edd looked up from his own NanoCom and paused, thinking. "Most underage people I saw were either Kids Next Door operatives or Plumbers, and I think those in the latter category may have been only children of actual Plumbers. Other than that, there were only a few."

That explained a lot.

They all sat in silence for a little while, just working. Eddy didn't think he'd worked on something this diligently for a long time. Perhaps it was because it was so early in the morning and he had nothing to do, or perhaps he felt guilty for not doing anything during the battle. He could have gone if he really wanted to, but what could he do? His only skills were thinking up scams and eating jawbreakers. He wasn't strong like Ed or intelligent to the max like Edd. Now that he thought about it, his insecurities prevented him from doing a lot of stuff.

"Um, Double D?" Sarah's voice was hesitant. "All these people that died. You - you saw it, right?"

Edd looked even more tired if that was possible. "Sort of. I was behind the screen with Dexter when it happened. Everything was sound proof inside so I didn't hear the noises, but I could see everything."

"That sucks, dude," Kevin said, blunt as ever. Eddy guessed he didn't know what else to say.

They didn't say anything else, continuing to work. It took them a good hour and a half to get through all of their lists and the number of deaths was excruciatingly large. The six of them couldn't help but stare at the stack of names. Granted, most of the people had survived, but that didn't shake the absurd number from Eddy's head. Many of these people were younger than he was, and that was a terrifying thought.

"Thanks, every-"

Edd never finished what he was going to say as someone outside shouted, "Is that the Grim Reaper?!"

They rushed out the door to see what was happening. He heard Jimmy give a yelp, clinging onto Sarah. Outside was, indeed, the Grim Reaper. His cloak fluttered in the early morning wind, scythe shining from the already bright sun. Eddy gulped, his palms going sweaty. He knew the Grim Reaper lived somewhere in the Suburbs, having heard Billy and Mandy talking about him on occasion, but this was the first time he'd actually seen him.

"Don't worry. He's hardly scary." They looked at Edd. "He attempts to be, but it doesn't always work. He's helping us with this infiltration upon us, so we're very grateful."

Eddy looked back at death itself, watching as he tapped his scythe on the ground a couple of times. A circle began expanding on the asphalt, not right in the middle of the Cul-de-sac, but close to it. It seemed to be a green portal of some sort, but he couldn't be sure. He was used to traditional scamming, not supernatural abilities, so this was beyond him.

"I thought that was what he was doing," Edd said, walking over to Grim. Eddy reached a hand out to stop him, but Edd only motioned for the rest of them to follow him. "It's perfectly safe."

Grim had seen them before they stopped in front of him. To his surprise, he smiled a little at the sight of Edd. "Hello, Double D. Are these people friends of yours? They better be as tolerable as you."

That must have been it, Eddy realized. Grim probably appeared grumpy all the time because of the company he kept. Billy and Mandy weren't exactly the easiest people to get along with, after all. He couldn't help but wonder why the Grim Reaper, of all people, would hang out with people like them.

Edd avoided Grim's comment, and while in normal circumstances Eddy would have protested (people said they tolerated him all the time!), he didn't want to step a toe out of line. He didn't want to know how much a scythe could hurt.

"Grim's helping us put up, erm, what were they called again?"

"Resurrect 'Ems."

"Right, those." Edd looked at the Eddy and the others, eyes sparkling as they always did when he found something worth researching. "After today's awful tragedy, we enlisted Grim's help in preventing deaths of the troops and anyone else who has a NanoCom. When someone 'dies' in battle, they travel to the nearest Resurrect 'Em where they simply re-spawn, good as new. An interesting concept, I will admit, but one I am willing to study nonetheless."

Grim raised a bony hand. "Stop right dere. As interesting as it might be, the supernatural ain't something you want to mess with. Just ask Billy." The reaper let out a sigh. "Then again, Billy never learns from his mistakes."

After saying a quick goodbye, Grim left the Cul-de-sac, other residents going out of their way to make a path for him. Whether it was intentional or not, the power he radiated was incredible. Then again, he could probably kill someone with the swish of that scythe.

"So does that mean I can ride my bike over a cliff as many times as I like and I won't die?"

"Shut it, Kevin."


January 17th - 4:54pm

"Are you sure about this, Numbuh Five?"

Abby wasn't sure, actually. This was a risky move, one that probably shouldn't even be an option, but it was. With the Soopreme Leaduh stuck on the moon with no means of contacting him, she had no choice but to make the decision for herself. Of course, she would have to discuss the option with the Moonbase-Earth Correlation Officer, but she highly doubted she was going to disagree. Yes, recommissioning previous Kids Next Door officers was the only way to do this.

She turned to Numbuhs One and Two. The former looked unsure while the latter was just plain surprised. She could hardly blame them. This was technically against the rules under normal circumstances, but these weren't normal circumstances.

"The Kids Next Door have lost too many operatives already. There may be ways to prevent death for now," she started, gesturing towards the Resurrect 'Em out in Hero Square, "but if there's one thing Abby's learned from being a Teens Next Door operative it's that kids are still kids. The KND is full of more than capable children, we know that, but compared to the missions we get, what they do is child's play. No pun intended. We need all the help we can get."

Hoagie seemed satisfied with this answer, but Nigel was still skeptical. "But the recommissioning module was destroyed, remember?"

Abby gave him a wry smile. "We have plenty of scientists on our hands. It may not be made the Kids Next Door way, but now isn't the time to be picky. I spoke to Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four about it yesterday and they seem to be okay with it. Abby wants the whole team on board before she does anything, okay?"

The two boys nodded, signalling that they were alright with it too.

Without any hesitation, she moved to her NanoCom, typing into the contact list search bar. There must have been thousands of people on there, the most 'important' of which were highlighted with a fluorescent green. She and her team were among those, as well as the Tennysons and co, the Powerpuffs, and everyone else in between. It surprised her how many people she recognized on that list, but that wasn't the point of digging in there. She had someone to call, and that person was way down in the 'Numbuh' category. The Kids Next Door needed their own little folder, naturally.

Pressing on the 'Numbuh 31.1' contact, she sat on the couch in their tree-house living room, holding the NanoCom so whoever answered would be able to see her face. After a few rings, a heart shaped face appeared on the screen, brown ponytails bouncing.

"Hello - Oh, Numbuh Five?! As in the Numbuh Five? Sector V's Numbuh Five?" The girl's voice went octaves higher with each exclamation.

Abby chuckled. "Yes, that Numbuh Five. Nice to meet ya, Numbuh Thirty-One Point One."

"Y-You know who I am?"

"Of course," Abby said. "Numbuh Five knows about most of the operatives in the area. Now, could ya spare a few moments to come to the tree-house? There's something I wanna talk to you about."

After a squeal and some incoherent babbling, the younger girl confirmed that she would be there and hung up. Abby looked at Nigel and Hoagie, both of which were trying to tame their laughter and failing miserably. She whacked them with her hat, shutting them up almost instantly.

"Don't laugh at her, fools! She probably thinks the same about you two."

Not even half an hour later, Numbuh Thirty-One Point One arrived at their door. She was shorter than Abby had thought, practically a stick in the baggy clothes she was wearing. Her smile lit up her entire face and Abby couldn't help but wonder if she had been like that once. No, probably not. Her smiles were smaller, more subtle. This girl reminded her of Kuki in a way.

"May I come inside?" Numbuh Thirty-One Point One asked, coming in when Abby moved out of the way. "Thanks! Whoa, this place is huge. And it floats." She caught sight of Hoagie and Nigel sitting on the sofa, shoving a hand on her mouth to stifle the squeal she made, and sat down next to them, her grin bigger than it was before.

Nigel raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Uh, hello. I'm Numbuh One, this is Numbuh Two."

"I know! You guys are awesome! I'm Numbuh Thirty-One Point One, but you can call me Briony!" Briony said, swinging her legs back and forth as Abby sat down on one of the armchairs beside the sofa. "So what's up?"

Abby took a few seconds to gather her thoughts before speaking. "Well, we have an idea on how to improve the KND's forces, but we want to see what you think first. You're the Soopreme Leaduh in Numbuh Sixty-Three's stead so we're obligated to run this by you." She took a deep breath. "We have geniuses who are capable of creating a recommissioning module to bring back the old members of the Kids Next Door. We know it's risky, but with the way everything happened yesterday we don't want to take our chances. Ultimately, this is your choice, but we hope you don't say no outright. They'll be decommissioned again once the war's over, of course."

Briony's face became serious. She may have been a massive fangirl, but when push came to shove she took her job very seriously. "I see where you're coming from, and I can tell you've been debating this for some time. I think it's a good idea and stuff, but we need to have the thing created first. We'll have to destroy the module as well since it's not two by four technology. If someone power hungry got their hands on that it would be horrible." She shuddered. "Okay, I say yes for now, but if the feedback we receive from other operatives is negative I'll have to reconsider."

"We understand," Nigel said, nodding once.

Hoagie smiled at the young girl. "For someone who's only stepping in you sure know what you're doing."

Briony flushed but tried to brush it off. "O-Oh, well I try my best."

As the two boys continued to praise her, Abby couldn't help but enter her deep thought mode. Being a previous Soopreme Leaduh, she knew how hard it could be when feedback wasn't exactly friendly, but she really hoped it would work out.

They needed all the help they could get.


Wait, how did I get this out so fast? Not even I know.