Everyone thinks I'm the airhead. The brainless one, who's never focused on what's going on. They think I don't care about anything important, and that they don't really need to worry about what I can do.

Those stupid people. They don't know, they don't even guess what I can do if I put my mind to it. Every so often they get a little look, like when something really, really important is happening, and I get all mad and serious. Then they know what I can do. But most of the time, they forget, and that's a dangerous thing to do, because I can be plenty dangerous when I want to be.

Take now, for instance. My bratty sister has me and all the others locked up in these solitary cells of the moon base(or at least she has the others locked up there. I'm in a tube in the command room), and she's currently chasing down Wally, my last friend.

I used to have lots of friends. Not real ones, but they were still fun. And then I got even more, some who were even real, and I played with them all the time. In fact, the real ones were so much fun, I began to forget the others, and I think I lost them. I've been trying to play with them now, my old imaginary friends, but it doesn't work. I know they're fake, and they're mad with me for forgetting about them.

That's really too bad, because right now they're all I have. All my real friends are gone. Some of them are in prison, some of them are running away from prison, some of them are in another galaxy by now, and most of them don't even remember me. I don't even really have a family anymore.

"Pretty funny, huh sis?" My little sister grins up at me from behind the glass. I don't even bother to flare up and smash against the glass like I used to. I just sit, slumped in this narrow glass tube, turtleneck draped about me and over my legs, and just look at her. I don't even glare, I learned how much she likes that.

It must be working, because she seems a little disappointed, but she keeps on all the same. "I mean, you guys totally never suspected, did you? You were looking through all the files and all the manifests and not finding anything, and it never occurred to you it was because we kept deleting them or turning them off or whatever." She snickers. "And for some reason you never wondered how they got all this technology they were using either. I mean, boy, you guys were stooooopid."

I don't say anything. She's right, but I'm not going to show her that.

"It was even funnier," she giggles, caught up in glee. "even funnier when you came in here with your SCAMPER and came bouncing out so happy, ready to hand over Fanny and the others. And then when you got surrounded and arrested all at once." Her giggle becomes a bubbly laugh. "The look on your face! Oh, I wish you could've seen it."

That does it. She needs to be put down. "Too bad you didn't manage to get Numbuh 4."

Ha. I've hit a nerve there. Her smile fades, and she folds her arm in a pout. "Those stoopid elite troopers. Twenty of them, and they can't catch one stupid operative. It's not fair. He knew they were coming!"

"That's your fault. You shouldn't have made the broadcast." I arch an eyebrow, trying not to show how much I'm enjoying this.

She glares at me. She knows I'm right, but like me, she won't admit it. She shouldn't have made the announcement, shouldn't have warned Wally. But she had won, and she was WAY too excited. She was proud, and she didn't think Wally could do anything anyway.

Proud, Excited, and Foolish. Same mistakes I made with her

I was too excited about defeating Fanny and rescuing the Rainbow Monkeys, I didn't wait to check with other sectors, or send on the news to anywhere else. I was too proud, I didn't think there was anything else to do.

And I underestimated her. I didn't think my little sister had it in her. She seemed silly, airheaded, and… well, childish.

She's still pouting about my last comment. "…I told Fanny not to leave that thing on. Anyway, if I hadn't made the announcement, he might have told someone..." Her smile is back as she thinks about it. "...and then what would we have done?"

I don't answer. She'll say more if she doesn't think I'm listening.

"I mean, I suppose we could've come up with SOMETHING." She giggles and twirls around. "We've been doing fine so far, haven't we? I mean, we made up the stuff about the decommissioning... and the scanners… and the castles even, but nobody suspected us! And then we made up the stuff about you guys." She grins. "Which worked out really well, by the way, because we were wondering how we were going to get rid of the Fanny story. You guys weren't supposed to discover that—well…" She frowns. "Technically, you weren't supposed to discover any of this… but it's more fun this way."

I still don't answer. I stare at the glass, not at her, but even so I can see her frown. Mushi hates to be ignored.

"We managed to catch Numbuh 4, by the way."

That almost breaks me, but fortunately my mind kicks in and holds me in place. If they had caught Numbuh 4, I wouldn't even be here. I'd be in a decommissioning chamber, getting my brain wiped with him and the rest of Sector W. They don't have him. They can't.

"It was pretty easy, actually." Mushi cocks her head indifferently. "He was trying to break into the undersea lab, apparently to grab some 'clam cannon' that was under construction."

Now I know she's lying, and I don't even have to fake disinterest. Wally can't swim, or at least, doesn't think he can. Not even he knows quite what he can do.

Glancing, she sees I'm not buying it and frowns. "Fine then." She walks back to the door and yells back. "We'll get him, you big meany! He can't be that hard to catch! I know just what to do!"

No, she doesn't. She doesn't really know Wally, so she won't be able to trap him. She just thinks she can, because she's still proud and excited, and still doesn't think Wally can do anything.

Me, on the other hand… I know my sister. And I know exactly how to trap her.

"So… why did you say the thing was going to Pluto, Numbuh 4?"

"Cause that was the plan, duh! They got all the cruddy girls to get up there, and then they were gonna blast 'em all out to Pluto! That way they wouldn't ever be able to get back."

"But if you knew that, why'd you stay on board?"

"Oi didn't have time to jump out! The cruddy ship was lifting off!"

"Ohhhhhhh… well that explains why you ended up not going. Cause see, after you said that, and stayed on, I thought, you know, that you were going. But then when you came back down…"

"Yeah, yeah, Oi get the idea. Well, Oi didn't exactly wanna go to Pluto."

"Well why did you go?"

"Oi… Ah, never mind."

"How'd you know about that, anyway?"

"Well see, Mr Boss... uh..."

--silence--

"Uh… no reason. Oi just… yeah. Oi found out about it. Yeah."

"Oh! Well… how'd you find it out?"

"Uh…"

"Oh, wait, I know, silly! You found it out because you're so smart, that's why!"

"Well, that ain't really…"

"No? Well then how did you figure it out?"

"Ummmm…"--pause--"You know what, you're right. That was it."

There's been a sudden commotion, and all the technicians are running to and fro with messages. Sandy is at the top, looking bored, and my little sister is screaming commands left and right. "Get me a profiling! A lock on it! Call in all operatives we have in the area!"

I manage to stifle a grin. It's not hard to guess what the problem is.

"Why didn't we know about this Joe Balooka character before?" She's down on the ground level, griping with an unfortunate orderly.

"He wasn't listed on Numbuh 4's list of probable allies." The orderly tries to explain. "He had no connection…"

"Well, he sure does now!" She yells at him. "This kid must've been hiding him for days… who knows what Numbuh 4 told him?" She turns. "Why don't we have him under arrest yet? Maybe he can tell us where that stoopid boy went."

Another unfortunate orderly looks around for help. "He… ummm…. Ah…." He swallows and looks up. "He seems to have disappeared."

"WHAT!?" My sister is livid. I really can't help smirking now. She underestimated him. I knew she would. No one knows how smart Wally can be when he tries. "Whaddaya mean, he disappeared?"

"He's just vanished, ma'am. He helped Numbuh 4 break into that treehouse we had in the area, and then just…" the orderly gestures. "We lost everything on him."

Mushi throws a clipboard at him, accompanied with some indistinct raging noises. She takes a few moments to calm down, and then she says. "All right. Fine, take a look on where he might go. Look at stuff he likes to do, stuff his parents would make him do, stuff that might get him to come where we want him to, look at any STUFF we have on this guy."

Goals. Of course, very smart, sister, but quite hopeless. That might've worked before… well, before. Before he and I stopped being just members, obsessed with little idiotic things, and really became operatives. Before Nigel left and made us work things out ourselves. Before Hoagie and Abby left, and made me and Wally depend entirely on each other.

Before you kidnapped me, and completely changed the field.

Wally's goals won't be anything like they would have been two months ago, or even two weeks ago.

Just like mine aren't. Two weeks ago, all I cared about was a missing collection of stuffed animals. That was my biggest goal, and the only real priority I had. Oh, was I stupid. Stupid Rainbow Monkeys… a lot of good they're doing me in here. I should've focused on her, or even on the KND, or anything but them. It's because of that that I'm stuck in this tube, and because of that that Wally's running.

But I won't make that mistake again. I can't. Reality's been thrust upon me, and I need to deal with it. I don't have time to protect a bunch of imaginary friends, not when a real one out there needs my help. Not when the last real friend I have is the last real hope I have to defeat my sister.

Wally's coming, I know. I just need to get everything ready for him.

"Yay! Mission done! We can get back in time to have things ready for Tommy's graduation!"

"Bout time we got the cruddy code module back. Those delightful dorks took a whupping, but it'll be a while before they think to mess with us again. Haha!"

"Oh yeah! We TOTALLY took them by surprise, Numbuh 4! That was fun!"

"That cruddy Numbuh 12 too… 'bout time we showed her to betray the KND. Hah! Cruddy girl. Serves her right."

"Ohhh… Poor Numbuh 12… She must feel soooo terrible about making Numbuh 86 feel so bad! I wonder if I should send her a Feel-Better Rainbow Monkey? Yeah, I'll do that. What about you Numbuh 4? Do you want to send her a Rainbow Monkey TOO?"

"What? No way!"

"I'll send her a Heart of Happiness Rainbow Monkey for you, okay? After all, you're a special friend now, since you went to the Slumber Party with her."

"Numbuh 4? What is Numbuh 3 talking about?"

"Uh…. Nothing! Nothin' important, Numbuh 1! Don't worry about it! Jest a little… yeah. It's nothing to worry about Numbuh 3's jest talking about a… a game we was playing! Yeah…"

"Huh? But I said…"

"Shhush! And I am NOT sending Numbuh 12 some cruddy Rainbow Monkey!"

--sigh—"Okaaaay. Fine. "

"I was just at that cruddy slumber party cause of the cruddy code module! Got nothing to do with any cruddy girl."

"Oh! Well, how'd you know it was about the Code Module? I just thought it was a slumber party!"

"I uh… I guessed… I mean I thought… I mean I knew! I jest knew!"

"Wow! You're smart Numbuh 4!"

"Yeah… right…"

--silence—

"Say, Numbuh 4, you still went to the slumber party."

"So?"

"So you're part of the special friends slumber party sisterhood!"

"What? Ah, crud no!"

"And that means you and I are special friends too! Isn't that wonderful, Numbuh 4?"

--grooooooan--

"ANOTHER short circuit in the central Computuhmabob?" I hear my sister's voice echo in disbelief. "That's the fourth this month! Haven't you tracked down the problem yet?"

I doubt it. I smile to myself

"No, mistress Mushi, we are unable to pinpoint any common cause." Numbuh 8-bit is nervous, and it shows. "Unfortunately, we are hampered by a lack of knowledge about the system, it seems to have been…"

"Don't tell me about the system!" Mushi screams. "Tell me about how you're going to fix it! We can't keep having technical failures like this! Not when we're busy tracking down a Level-9 fugitive! Now get back in there and FIX it this time!"

The poor operative ducks out of sight, and Mushi turns away, grumbling. She catches sight of me and brightens suddenly.

Oh boy. Here we go again.

"Hey, sis." She snickers, sauntering up to the tube. "Enjoying yourself, I hope? Say, you know, I think I finally figured out how to trap that boyfriend of yours."

Boyfriend? Huh?

"Oh yeah, its simple." She grins again, and I realize I've let my surprise show. "Really can't think why I didn't think of it before. See…" Here she leans in close and taps the glass like I'm some goldfish. "…I was keeping you guys all in prison so I could decommission you people all together, just cause it'd be more fun."

Typical. Little airhead.

"But then I thought…" She puts her hand on her chin, trying to look thoughtful, and failing very badly. "Why put it off? You guys are a security risk anyway. I should just take care of it. And then I got a really brilliant idea."

She leans forward, beaming at my irresponsive face. "Suppose I planned your decommissioning. And then I announced it over the internet. Kinda strange, I know, but you're a most wanted person. Now, if Numbuh 4 saw that, he'd go all 'ooooh nooooo!' and run right over here to rescue you guys. And then…" She skips and does a little turn. "…then, we'd be ready for him and we could just capture him, and then we could just decommission you all together, like we planned before!" She squeals and claps her hands. "Won't that be fun?"

She's crazy. That won't work. Wally's on the run now, he's doing everything he can to stay OUT of her clutches, he won't fall for such an obvious trick as that.

Will he?

Too late I realize I've let my face show what I'm thinking, and Mushi laughs. "It's a great plan, isn't it? I mean, he's all by himself, so he can't be too hard to take down. And he's not the most subtle person, so it's not like stealth will be an issue."

"He's managed to hide from you."

Hah. That makes up for letting down my guard. I've just struck down one of her main points, and she growls at me. "It's not quite so easy to get into the moonbase, you know. Especially without any help…"

"Ma'am!" The door bursts open and in comes another technician. "Numbuh 4 just popped up in Texas! He and some 'Lasso Lass' villain just stole all the archives from Sector Amish!" He frowns at the sheet. "Not that there were many…"

"Ma'am!" The technician from earlier comes in. "There was another short in the Central…"

I allow myself a small smile as she turns away, groaning in frustration. You're clever, my sister, but you're too proud. You think you know everything, and you think nobody can stop you, and you think no one can see through your plans. And you think I can't do anything while I'm stuck in this tube.

Wrong on all counts, little sister.

I nod at a red light I see in the ventilator shaft, and it disappears. Then I turn my gaze down, just as she turns to glare at me. She didn't see me look, she still doesn't know. But I see her, and I know everything she's planning. I have an advantage, even if she doesn't think so. Especially because she doesn't think so.

And Wally has an advantage over her too. She keeps thinking he's dumb. Over the last week, she's been continually learning how smart he really is, and yet still she thinks he'll be dumb enough to try and come rescue me. He'd never do that.

Would he?

"Hey Numbuh 4? Have you seen that one Present of mine? You know, the fries you gave me? I can't find them anywhere!"

"Uh…. No, I haven't, Kooks. Sorry."

"Oh. Okay. Say, what are you eating, anyway?"

"Ummmm…. Potato Chips?"

"Oh cool! I want some too! Where'd you get them?"

"The… uh… the cupboard. Yeah. But they're all… uh… gone. Yeah. They're gone now."

"Awww… rats. Well, I guess I'll have to find something else then. You know, maybe Hungry for Happiness Rainbow Monkey ate those fries! He's been looking a little less plump lately."

--nervous laugh-- "Oh, yeah, them Happy Hungriness things sure are tricky."

"Say, why did you decide to come in and give them to me just then? You know, while I was all… grem-lim-y. I mean, I KNOW you were going to give them to me later ANYWAYS, but why'd you do it right then? Numbuh 1 said I looked really scary."

"Uh… well, um… You were kinda crazy… we thought… Uh…." --pause—"You… you seemed really upset. Yeah. And I thought it might make you… um… you know… feel better."

"Awwwww! That's so ADORABLE Wally! And you knew right away I was upset? Even though I didn't say anything?"

"Well… uh… it was kinda obvious... with the flames and the…"

"Oh WOW, Numbuh 4, you're REALLY good at telling what people are thinking! I mean, I do that around my mom and dad all the time, and they don't even notice!"

"Uhmmm… Really?"

"Oh yeah! You must really be good at telling what people are thinking!"

"Uh, well…"

"Well, anyways, I gotta find that PRESENT you gave me. I'll have to ask Hungry for Happiness…"

"Uh… wait Numbuh 3. I… uh… I got something for ya."

"Huh? But you already got me something, silly!"

"Uh… well, since ya lost that, here's, uh… yeah… this!"

--delighted shriek—"Oh WOW! A Secret Surprise Santa Rainbow Monkey! Oh WOW! Where'd you find one? They're really, really hard to get! Mom and Dad have been trying to get me one for Christmas, but they couldn't manage to… Oh wow, THANKS, Numbuh 4!"

"Uh… you're welcome?"

"Where'd you get this?"

"Oh, it was a present. From… Ah… From… From Santa. Yeah. Asked him for it and he gave me one. It was meant as a present."

"Wow, that was SMART!"

I hear Sandy's voice long before I see him or Mushi. "Pretty cool idea, huh? And see, we call it the 'Serfs Next Door' because the Acronyms make that…"

"Yeah, yeah, SND." Mushi sounds peeved. Must have something to do with that explosion earlier. Three within the last four days, and she still doesn't suspect anything. "Yeah, that's a great idea. Hey, how're the search parties on Numbuh 4 coming."

"Hmmm?" Sandy comes through the doors, Mushi at his side. Yup, she's peeved. "Oh, fine, fine. I put the Japanese KND on it. They'll take care of it."

"Great." Mushi sighs, rolling her eyes. Sandy seems completely oblivious. Ha, and she says I've got the stupid…

I stop that thought. Wally's not my boyfriend.

"Hey sis!" She walks up to me, grinning. These last few visits, she hasn't been bothered by my non-responsive face. She's so sure her plan will work she doesn't even care.

Arrogance. A weakness. One I will exploit.

"So, sis." She states leisurely, leaning against the command console. "How ya doing? Looking forward to your decommissioning tomorrow?" She smirks. "You should. I mean, it's gonna be on all the networks. Not many people of course… need top security, you know. But still a pretty big deal."

I don't even glare. The decommissioning only means my work needs to be done that much sooner. After my memory's wiped, I won't be able to help Wally. And Wally must stop Mushi, because I can't. But he will. I'll see to it. And even if she never knows, it will be me that's beaten her.

"Such a pity, really." Mushi muses at me. "I wanted it to be a big celebration. Y'know, streamers, confetti, all that stuff. But I guess I'll have to make do. Anyway, it'll be fun to trap him and watch the expression on his face." She giggles. "He probably thinks he's just gonna run in here, guns blazing, and save you." She grins up at me. "Should be fun."

My face doesn't change in the slightest. There are so many flaws in that plan I don't even want to think of them. And they don't really matter, in any case. I suppose I should be worried about my decommissioning, but it doesn't seem real. Nothing does, except defeating my sister.

My sister frowns. She's bored again, I can see, and she turns to leave. "Fine." She says, walking away. "We'll be here bright and early to take you straight to the chamber with your friends, and then we can get to watching your boyfriend get captured."

The door shuts, and the lights click off. My head comes up, now it's time for the main event.

The red light appears in the vent, and I nod to it. The cover pops free, letting a dark form slink out. It creeps over the walls and slides under the motion detectors. I smile. My baby's still as good as I remember

He comes right up to my tube, sniffing the controls, and cocks an eyebrow at me.

I shake my head. "Too obvious." I say. "Did you destroy the parts of the Computermabob?"

There's a glint of a grin and a nod.

"Good." I tell him. "Now, there's only one more thing. Check through the sensor array, and mess it up. But not so they notice. Just change it so whatever they see isn't where they think it is."

He nods and moves away. "and Numbuh 6!" I call after him. "Destroy the defense communication lines."

Bradley shoots a knowing look at me and clambers back up the wall, his long skunk tail disappearing into the darkness.

With a sigh I sink back into my unresponsive mode. That's that. Nothing to do now except wait. Don't know why I told him to mess up the sensors and defenses, it's not like Wally's actually going to come tomorrow. Still, it'll mess with Mushi's head a little.

Mushi underestimates Wally, and she underestimates me. She looks at what we were back when the sector was around, and she assumes we're still like that. Brainless, petty children who can't do anything by themselves.

That's what we were, or at least what I was. But not anymore. I need Wally, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything without him. And he may need my help (even though he doesn't know it.), but he can take care of himself.

Mushi underestimates him. Everyone underestimates him. He underestimates himself.

Nobody but me knows how smart Wally can be when he tries.

"Numbuh 4! I'm so proud of you! You learned to swim!"

"Hey! I did, didn't I?"

"See? I always told you you could! You're smart! Here.."—smack—"That's for coming to get us like that."

"Well… uh…"

"Y'know, that weird version of you was saying something about how you wouldn't be able to tell they were fake, because he thought you were stupid. Hahahha! You sure showed him, huh, Numbuh 4?"

"Yeah! Yeah I sure did!"

"I'll bet you knew as soon as you saw Eizzel and Ligen you knew it wasn't them, right?"

"Actually, I…"

"You didn't have to wait for this 'look into your love's eyes' thing or anything, did you? Haha! That stupid Other-Numbuh 4!"

"Uh…. Yeah… Heheh. That stupid Numbuh 4… yeah."

"I'm glad he didn't know how smart you were Numbuh 4. Otherwise we'd be goners for sure. You even thought how to keep somebody back to take care of him when he jumped back in! That was smart!"

"I… Hey… I did, didn't I?"

"You're smart, Numbuh 4!"

I'm in the hallway now, walking. It feels so strange to move my feet again, after simply sitting on them for so long. They had to hold me up on the way out of the control room, but now I think I'm getting some feeling back in them. So weird… to be moving around, passing through the hallways. It feels free, but I know it's not. I was more in control back in the tube. Here, flanked on guards on both sides, walking past blast doors and laser security systems and sooper-dense security bots, I can't do anything.

Sandy's changed the look of this place, I note. A lot of the old wood and ducktape has been replaced by some kind of stone-stuff, and he's starting to use torches. There are even some chains on the wall, and I grin. How idiotic. Next thing you know he'll be putting turrets on the runway.

The ventilator shafts are still there, though, and I watch the red eyes move from vent to vent. He's worried about me, I know, but I shake my head. He can't do anything, not against these numbers. Mushi is wasting a lot of troops. The whole Decommissioning sector is cordoned off, and the guards are practically stepping on each other. I suppress a smirk. Looks like she's more afraid of Numbuh 4 than she lets on. Doesn't matter. She's still underestimating him, thinking he's going to come here and rescue me. And if he did, these guards wouldn't…

No. Wally is NOT coming.

We're in the black ops section of the building. The hallways are more sleek now, metallic, and my sneering sister nods at us as we pass through a set of armored pass points. She gestures to the guards, and they start to seal off the door. The red eyes are on the other side—even the ventilator shafts are cut off here—and they stare at me mournfully as the doors slam shut.

"Time to get started!" I look down at my sister as she rubs her hands gleefully. "C'mon let's move, we don't want to be late!"

I roll my eyes as I'm jabbed forward by the guards. It doesn't matter what time we get there. It doesn't matter what happens when we do. Nothing about this even seems real. I suppose, on some level, I realize they're decommissioning me, but somehow I couldn't care less.

I see the chamber—beautiful, in a way, Hoagie poured his genius into these new things—and I see the prisoners too. Poor kids, they haven't even had a full two years yet. And yet they've done so well—they could've really been something. Shauny looks the most shaken, he's still getting past his sister's betrayal. Lee's taking it well enough, or at least I think he is. Sonya seems a little nervous, but she waves at me.

Fanny's there too, I note. Sitting up in the rafters, just out of sight, but I know she's there. I imagine Numbuh 12 and 363 are up there too, out where the Elites can't see. Mushi pulled out all the stops. If Wally was coming (which he's not. Definitely not.), he'd have quite a fight on his hands.

Just like he likes.

"Okay, c'mon, move it, move it!" They're shoving me into a tube now, and I sit down willingly enough. I smile brainlessly at them, still playing the airhead. Let them do whatever they like, but Mushi will never suspect how I've messed up her plans. Never, until Wally comes and takes her down.

Not now, of course. He's not coming now.

"Anything?" Mushi turns to a technician, and he shakes her head. She frowns and glares at me. Apparently they still haven't detected anything. Not surprising, Bradley will have messed up the sensors by now.

And there's nothing to see, of course.

Mushi stares at me, in thought, then finally seems to decide. "Well, he'll be here soon enough. Start it up."

It's starting. I see the blue glow light up the chamber, hear the roaring of the machine in my ears. I wonder for a moment what it'll be like. This has happened to me once already but I don't remember what happened (duh). And anyway they're all different now. I hear someone crying to the side… it sounds like Shauny. Go on and cry, no one's coming for you. Certainly not Wally. Of course not.

Wally's not coming.

The light grows, and grows. My sister looks impatient, edgy, she's got her gun out and pointing at all corners of the room. "Be ready!" She shouts. "Be ready!"

The hum reaches a crescendo and holds it, it's fully warmed up. It will begin any minute now, and I finally realize what I've been saying the whole time.

Wally isn't coming. He really isn't.

And I'm going to forget all about him without even being able to tell him what I did.

Wally, if you were here I could tell you, tell you how I never lost hope, how even now I still haven't. You'll find a way to do what I can't, you can get my sister. No matter what anyone says, Wally, you're smart, and you're good, and you're kind, and really sweet underneath all that tough-guy stuff you put up. And I know you're not here, but if you were, Wally, I'd like to say…

Oh.

"I wonder which one of us will go first."

"Huh?"

"Which one. Which one of us they're gonna take first and stick inside that brain-sucker. Probably me, I guess, since your birthday ain't for a while yet."

"Oh…. I'm sorry, Numbuh 4! I could have my birthday earlier if you want!"

"No, actually, it's kinda better this way. Oi mean, I don't really know what I'd do if I was the last one left, the last operative from the old days. Especially if this cruddy Sandy's still in control. Not sure I could take much more of him."

"Aw, Sandy's not so bad. Didn't you just say he was gonna give us backup to take down Fanny?"

"Eh… Mebbe. He's always saying somethin' like that. Course, doesn't make a difference now."

"Haha. Oh yeah. This is a really smart plan, Numbuh 4! Using the Rainbow Monkey to track them down, and then using Hippy-Hop to break in… It's a great plan!"

"Should at least get us to where they are. I'm sick and tired of being one step behind this girl, 'bout time we caught up and did some butt-kicking. Helps that you had that list prepared."

"Oh thanks! I knew we were gonna rescue the Rainbow Monkeys EVENTUALLY! I just needed to wait until you thought of one of your really smart plans."

"Kuki… Ya know, I'm not really the brightest dingo in the ditch. Ya keep saying that, but I ain't…"

"Don't be silly, stupid! Of course you are! You thought this up, didn't you?"

--snort-- "Only cause I had to. If Numbuh 1, or Numbuh 5, or even Numbuh 2 was still here, I'd give it over to them."

"Well, duh. But you still thought of it. That means you always could, you just never tried to before! See? And all you needed was a little thing, like this thing! See? You just try hard and believe in yourself, like Annoyingly Overused Cliché Rainbow Monkey says!"

--sigh-- "Well, I'd rather that it never happened. Oi was a lot happier before I was this 'smart.' Numbuh 1, an' Numbuh 2 an' Numbuh 5… It was a lot better than it is now."

--silence—

"It changes, Kooks. Everytime Oi lose a friend, it changes, and I change too. An' Oi don't like it. That's why I hope I go first, 'cause if you do, what am I gonna do then?"

"Father is enclosed in his study." The five regarded the visitor perched in the armchair. "Otherwise he would doubtless be interested to hear what you have to say."

"I'm sure." The visitor was a mere dark form outlined in the armchair.

"Father himself no longer has any interest in the Kids Next Door." The Delightful Children narrowed their eyes. "He wishes to find Nigel Uno, and punish him for stealing his pipe." The Delightful children moved onto the couch across from their strange visitor and collectively picked up five cups of coffee. "Fortunately for you, our interest in destroying the Kids Next Door is quite the same as it was, and Father has placed no restrictions on us. However, we do not wish to 'show our hand' too soon." As one, they lifted the cups and sipped. "IF your information is useful, we MIGHT be persuaded to move forward and donate our… resources to your plan."

"Well then." Lamplight glinted on teeth. "Here it is. The KND is a little… distracted right now, and their leader's an idiot. Most of their leadership is stuck up on moonbase, still recovering from them treehouse attacks. One good strike there…" he gestured. "An' you got the KND as good as dead."

"And how would you get in there?" The children snorted collectively. "The KND's greatest stronghold is beyond even our abilities. Especially without our Father."

"Well." Their visitor studied his fingernails a moment. "I know a lot about that place. But there's more."

The visitor's voice grew low. "What if I told you I could get you a whole army of soldiers? Ones who hate the KND even worse than, say, you? Ones who knew the KND better than, say, me? Say… former operatives of the KND?"

"Do not trouble us with your fantasies." The children sneered. "All fugitive operatives of the KND have been caught and decommissioned already. Where would you get more?"

"Well, see, that's wot Oi need you for." Numbuh 4, formerly of the Kids Next Door, leaned into the light, his smirk clearly visible. "There's a recommissioning module I need to get my hands on."

A/N: I'm evil, aren't I? Give me a review and tell me so. I might even give you a hint about what's coming up in the next chapter, except I'm not yet sure myself. I'm toying between ending it next time, or dragging it on for one more chapter. Which, given my update time, might mean this will be done by Christmas.

Aggh. I promise I've been working on this. But something about college... they expect you to do work, for some reason. And they've been really insistent recently. The next one shouldn't take too long.

(That's what I said last time, but I mean it this time)

Anyway. This chapter... yeah. This is what happens when you read too many of those dark AU's where Barney becomes an evil dictator lizard king, or Sonic throws himself off a cliff because Amy's dead. This is why I try and keep my mind under control, because every so often it breaks loose and does this. This is why I don't write those fics.

Ah well. Once again, review! Next Chapter coming up!