It was midnight, and all was quiet in the Sector V treehouse. The TV room was empty. The snack bar was empty. The flight bay was empty. No one could be found in any of the bedrooms or any of the equipment sub-levels.

Deep in the control room, surrounded by thousands of blinking lights and flashing screens, Nigel Uno sat in a ripped old easy chair. His head was leaned forward in meditative silence, and the blinking lights gleamed off his cold sunglasses as if he did not even notice them. He did not start at the sudden beeping from the radar warning system, nor did he jump as a dull boom shook the Treehouse.

Nigel Uno did not move, but his left eyebrow did cock upwards. "They're early." He noted.

Wally raised an eyebrow as Kuki ran up. "Hey! What're you so early for?"

"Hey Wally, hey Heinie!" Kuki waved happily as she bounced up the creaking dock toward the dark boat at the end. "Numbuh One told me to run over here and tell you guys to get going!"

"Vhat for?" Heinrich cocked his head, puzzled. He sat in the front of the boat, under the careful guard of 4's mustard pistol.

Kuki shrugged as she jumped in, letting the boat dip slightly in the dark waves. "I dunno. He was looking over some files on the computer and he just told me to go down here and go with you guys.'

"That vas not der plan!" Heinrich looked rather alarmed.

"It's what Numbuh 1 said!" Kuki answered, looking very earnest

Numbuh 4 shrugged. "Ah, whatevah. I was getting bored of sitting here anyway. Let's shove off."

Silently and swiftly the boat vanished into the darkness.

Nigel turned to the door and nodded familiarly at the shapes materializing from the darkness. "Ah, Numbuh 44. And Numbuh 44. And Numbuh 86. So pleased to see you."

"Not for long, you won't be, Numbuh One." The global tactician snarled. "Figures you'd be in the computer chamber. Been spending a lot of time in here lately?"

Nigel shrugged. "I suppose so."

"Whatcha been doing?" Fanny arched a dangerous eyebrow. "Checking the radar, or just making polite conversation with the thing?"

"It's better than talking to some people." Numbuh 1 just barely restrained a smile at Fanny's furious expression. "Which reminds me… What did you come here for, again?"

Numbuh 86 signaled the twins, and they moved on either side of Numbuh One. "Nigel Uno, you're under arrest for insubordination, conspiring with known KND enemies, releasing prisoners without authorization, and releasing information to ex-KND operatives."

"Such as…?" Nigel raised an eyebrow.

"Tommy Gilligan." Fanny snorted. "And ya should've gotten someone else. The boy's a-BOUT as sneaky as an elephant in a cherry tree."

Tommy Gilligan crouched low in the front of his Tommyboat as the dark shapes of the towers on the shore drew closer. Once again, as the world cries out for justice. He thought. The Tommy is called to bring justice to the… un-justified. Or something. He frowned and crouched lower in the Tommyboat, wishing it didn't look so much like an inner tube. The last hope of the Kids Next Door rests in his capable hands, for if he fails, the world fails with him.

For a moment the thought actually frightened him, but he shook it off and continued. Deep within the fortress of the enemy, lies a poor, forsaken operative, denied justice by all the world. In his darkest hour, he cries out to the Tommy, and… Ouch!

A quick jerk of his foot drew it back from the spiny green weeds that seemed to line the shore. They might not hurt so much, but they were grosssss.

With a little sigh, Tommy straightened himself out and continued to paddle forward, being careful to keep his feet high up. He wondered if he should have done this. Mom would be awful angry if she found out how late he was past his bedtime, and this wasn't exactly the most 'Tommy-like' work. Besides, Numbuh One had never exactly helped him before.

But wait! The Tommy gives justice to all! Wherever children cry for justice, the Tommy will be there! And besides, it was so coooool to do stuff with Hoagie and his pals! And Sonia had been all gapey and wide-eyed when he had told her at lunch!

Yes, the Tommy would do it! Tommy straightened up in the inner tube, forgetful of the weeds. The Tommy will save the day as never before, and kids for ages to come will remember the name of the Tommy as a harbinger of hope and justice! For he is a rumor in the shadows, a whisper in the darkness…

The black night was suddenly split apart by a piercing white beam of light sweeping back and forth across the waves.

"But you still didn't catch him." Nigel pointed out.

"Don't look at me, BOY!" Fanny sneered at him. "We had him covered from Day One. Your little plan never had a chance of getting past us."

Leaning back in his chair, Nigel risked a grin. "But you still didn't get him."

"We could have if we wanted to!" Numbuh 86 screamed at him, livid with rage. "In fact, we almost did get him! The only reason we didn't pick him up is because the operative watching him forgot to tell us in time!" Feeling that a glare at Nigel was not getting anywhere, she moved it onto 44 and 44, who shifted nervously. "Anyway, it's not like we even need to worry. That little squirt couldn't rescue a hamster in a block of cheese! He won't even get as far as 3 and 4." She smirked. "They at least have a girl along."

Nigel ignored her. "You're a little early." He noted. "I didn't think Kid's Next Door Artic Prison would piece it all together for another five minutes or so."

"Of course they wouldn't, with that BOY in charge there." Fanny snorted. "But as Global Tactical Officer, I figured things out a lot faster than…"

"Fanny, stop it already." Numbuh 362 pushed her way through the surrounding troops. With a curt nod, she motioned 44 and 44 back and faced Nigel. "We didn't have to wait for that, Numbuh 1. Numbuh 60 told us all about it before they even bothered to search."

"Numbuh 60?" Nigel could not hide his surprise. "But how did he know?"

"I just talked to him for a minute while we were leaving Artic Prison." Numbuh 4 leaned against the side of the boat, comfortable, at ease, as the boat slid through the water. "Talked over some of the old days and the stuff we usedta do."

"You used to know Numbuh 60?" Numbuh 3 gazed at him, wide eyed. "When was that?"

Numbuh 4 cast an annoyed glance at her. "Back in basic training, whaddaya think? We was the top wrestlers in the place. Anyway, I just thought'd I'd talk to him for a sec, and he was real friendly, even asked what all we were doing down by the Artic base and everything." Numbuh 4 smirked as he looked over at Hienrich. "Cool guy, Numbuh 60. Got a lotta grit, knows how ta get things done. A real man, ya know?"

Hienrich, who seemed a little bored by the conversation, shrugged. "Vhatever."

Wally frowned, feeling that he was not getting a proper degree of respect from the boy. "How much longer before we get to your cruddy Candy Bar, anyway?" He asked. Straightening up, he hefted his pistol for emphasis.

Hienrich glared at him, but shifted on the seat a trifle uneasily. "Very soon. Your Kids Next Door motorboat goes very fast. We should be coming in sight any moment now."

"We should be picking them up annnny minute now!" 86 sneered into Numbuh One's implacable sunglasses.

"Fanny!" 362 snapped at the girl.

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Numbuh 1 did not smile, but neither did he appear daunted. "By this time, 3 and 4 should be well into the staging area, which we were told was somehow stealthed against KND sensors. That is why we have never been able to locate Stickybeard's base." He tilted his head contemplatively. "And if they leave that area, they should be protected by the Cloaking device Numbuh 2 installed on the boat. He was working on it just before he left, you know."

362 glanced sharply at 1, then at 86. The redhead's mouth opened, closed, and her eyebrow twitched rather dangerously, but she said nothing.

"And Tommy has rather… unorthodox methods." Numbuh 1 pushed his glasses up on his nose in a completely unnessecary gesture. "If you could find him, I'm sure you already would have."

"NOW LISTEN HERE…!" 86 burst through the soldiers.

"86! Outside! Now!" 362 shot orders at the girl. "Take a squad to Numbuh 2's room and look for evidence of this cloaking device. Move it!"

86, for once in her life, almost disobeyed a direct order. "B.. But… You're not going to just let him…"

"NOW!" 362's eyes widened.

86 flinched and ducked back through the ranks, stopping only to throw a hasty salute at 362 and a venomous glare at 1.

Tommy shot up from under the water, jumped up on the shore, ducked behind a bush and rolled to safety. Pretty good. He smirked to himself. The unjust seek the Tommy with all their unjust might, but their strength is as nothing before the awesome…"

A sudden flare of the searchlights atop the buttressed tower suddenly drove the Tommy back under the bush.

The glaring lights swept back and forth across the beach, then returned to study the sea. Yellow goggles peaked out from under the shrubbery, and then, satisfied the danger was past, Tommy dashed across the shore. A quick splash into the moat, and there he sat for a moment, treading water. The lights swept past once more, and then he leapt out and clambered onto the bridge and through the gateway. He paused in the shadow of the wall for a moment before starting a dash across the courtyard.

Cape swirling behind him, small arms and legs pumping, The Tommy shot across the desolate patch of land separating the outer wall from the citadel. The Tommy is an unseen hope. He thought. A whisper in the night, the dark flicker of a shadow in a forgotten corner. His enemies seek for him in vain, for he is little more than the night itself, in its silent cry for vengeance and just… YIKES!

The Tommy threw himself on the ground and lay still, eyes keeping careful watch on the shadowy forms of guards on the wall.

Satisfied they were not looking at him, he crawled on his belly toward the gates. The Tommy adapts readily to the unexpected. He thought. Though he was not told about the many watches of the unjust, he eludes them with all the elusion of justice itself. He allowed himself a few delightfully eloquent sentences about how stupid Numbuh 1 was for not telling him about the guards before, then returned to normal. Silent as a shadow, the Tommy approaches the gate of the unjust citadel.

'The gate will be closed, and probably locked.' He heard Nigel's voice in his ear as clearly as the day he had come to the house. 'Don't try to get in through there, but look around by the base. If it fits the standard design for their bases, it should have an alternative entrance. They call it a sally port, used to attack the enemy during sieges. It'll be locked, but you should be able to pick it with Numbuh 2's TOOTHPICK device.'

Tommy wriggled up to the cold stone wall and jumped up. He felt pleased at locating the port so quickly. Having found the secret entrance, the Tommy now puts his flawless skills to work to pick the lock. He thought

All the same, he felt nervous as he maneuvered the tiny device into the keyhole. Okay Nigel, you better be right…

"Okay, Nigel." 362's eyes were no longer furious, but her voice lost none of its authority. "So you pulled one over on us. Congratulations." Stepping forward, she stared hard at him. "Now that you've had your fun, you need to tell us exactly where your agents are, call them, and recall them to base."

"And why would I do that?" Numbuh 1 arched an eyebrow.

362 blinked for a moment, but her gaze did not waver. "I know we've made a mess of this whole thing, Nigel, but I tell you that we will get 2 and 5 back…"

"No, no." Nigel seemed a little disturbed by her answer. "Not that. I mean, when they come back, the only thing you'll do is probably court-martial and decommission the lot of us." He thought. "Maybe you'll throw us all in the Artic prison, but considering we broke someone out of there already, I rather doubt it."

"I would be right to do it." 362 tipped her chin up, still glaring at him. "You've disobeyed a clear directive and endangered a vital Kids Next Door undercover operation."

"Yes, you would." Nigel looked at her, a little puzzled. "I know. That's why I don't see why I should call back 3 and 4."

"Because they're in danger, and because as an operative of the Kids Next Door, it is your duty to recall them!" The commander ground out at him. Her voice was firm as stone, but her eyes were just starting to waver. "Please Nigel. We already have one crisis. Don't give us two to deal with."

"I'm trying to give you none at all." Nigel's sunglasses gave back her reflection. "You don't have to worry about my team. I trained them, they know how to handle themselves."

Something snapped in 362's face and she stared at him with a strange incredulity. "You fool." She whispered. "That's not what I'm worried about."

"That's not what I'm worried about, you idiot!" Numbuh 4 jumped up on the counter and shoved his pistol into the quivering bartender's face. "I KNOW they're not HERE, what I want to know is WHERE they are."

"But I tell ye, I dinnae ken where they…"

"NOW, ya idiot!" 4's finger itched dangerously closer to the trigger.

"Butterbar." Heinrich spoke up from the door. "His name ist Butterbar."

"Whatever." 4 snorted, sparing just a glance away. "Now listen here, Butterball, you've got exactly ten seconds to tell me where those pirates have got to. I'm starting at one… twenty-three…"

"He also," came Heinrich's voice from the doorway, "has und assistant named Fingers"

Numbuh 4 looked up just in time to see an enormous fist coming towards him.

"Most of the pirates call him Butter's Fingers." Heinrich noted helpfully, as Numbuh 4 flew across the bar and crashed into three tables and thirteen chairs. "Und affectionate term, it vould seem."

Numbuh 4 growled as he got up off the floor, picking splinters out of his hair. "Thanks a lot."

'Fingers' stood at the far end, next to the counter, a massive, hulking giant. His flabby chin was covered with a stubbly orange beard, and a tattered blue tunic hung from his body. Two small beady eyes peered down at Numbuh 4.

Numbuh 4 got to his feet, swayed a little, and then steadied, fists at the ready.

The boards creaked under Fingers' heavy tread as he came forward. Somewhere behind him, Butterbar was squeaking out some pleas about 'not wrecking the place.'

A roaring filled the bar as the enormous thug descended on the boy.

Chairs splintered. Tables crashed. Orange blur dashed over blue ogre. Wood and metal rose and smashed in mad tumult as the two battled from one end of the bar to the other. Fingers' feet broke through the rough planking and splashed in the water just below. Wally flew backward and smashed into the wall, becoming hopelessly entangled in the narrow sticks of its frame. Back and forth the struggle raged, while just above could be heard the excited squeals of Numbuh Three and the terror-stricken exclamations of Butterbar.

In the interests of history, it is too bad that the fight did not last longer, as it might have been truly something to remember. Unfortunately, however, at this juncture, Heinrich, who seemed rather annoyed at the loss of time, grabbed Numbuh 3's weapon (which she had completely forgotten) and fired it at Fingers.

The teddy bear struck him dead in the chest. Fingers groaned once, doubled over, and crashed to the ground, smashing through ten chairs, two tables, and fourteen floorboards on his way.

Numbuh 4 dug his way out from under a smashed cabinet and looked once at the fallen giant. He glanced over at the other two. "Thanks, Numbuh 3."

"Huh?" Numbuh 3 looked down at the gun that was suddenly back in her hands before being elbowed into silence by Heinrich. "Oh! Right! You're welcome, Numbuh 4!"

"Enof of dat." Heinrich snorted, pushing his way up to the counter. "You! Butterbar!"

Two elderly eyes under a sprouting mass of gray hair peeped over the counter.

"Yes, you." Heinrich nodded. "Get out from behind dere."

The blubbering bartender crawled out from behind the table. "Ah, please ye kind sirs, take mae money and go, but dinnae harm me no more…"

"Silence, old vun!" Heinrich barked. "Ve haf no interest in your life!"

"Hey!" Numbuh 4 elbowed Heinrich aside. "I'll handle this, thank you very much! Now look here," He said, turning to the bartender. "We don't really care about you, we're after those pirates who were here. Just point us in the direction where they went, and we'll be on our way with no trouble."

"Listen, Numbuh 1." 362 was speaking slowly, in a slow, controlled tone. "Obviously we don't want to go through more trouble than we have to. The matter isn't official, I can tell you neither you, nor your team, will be court-martialed or decommissioned. Just recall them, and I promise you, there'll be no more trouble in this matter."

"Give my team five more minutes." Numbuh 1 responded, eyes steady, unreadable. "And there'll be no more matter to have trouble with."

"You don't know that." She glared. "We've already lost one team to this problem, Nigel. One of our best. What makes you think your operatives can do better?"

"I trust my team." Nigel arched an eyebrow. "I know what they can do. And I know that they know their friends. Numbuh 20,000 is capable, but he didn't know 5 or Stickybeard very well. My men know both." He looked at her. "Your plan was good, but it didn't take the people into account. This should take care of things quite well."

Rachel blinked once, twice. "Nigel, please." She whispered. "Now."

Now. Now! NOW! Tommy put on a sudden dash of speed and shot across the dark hallway, just as the two guards turned. He flattened himself against the wall and held his breath, listening in tense silence.

The steps continued, quiet, steady, unhurried. He allowed himself a small breath of relief.

The Tommy has entered deep within the fortress. He thought to himself. The steps of injustice, they draw ever…. Hokey smokes, why on earth did I ever agree to do this!?

He stopped the thought before it could go any farther. The sound of the shoes was growing louder, clearer. He heard the slight squeak of leather on the stone floor…

"Oye! Francis!" The sudden shout made Tommy jump, but he quickly calmed himself. It had come from the other guard further down the hallway.

The shoes stopped, then squeaked as they turned. "Que, mi amigo?"

"Sabe el barca grande del cielo ayer? Que esa?"

Shoes laughed. "Oh, si! Es una arma nueva por la guerra con los Mores. Padre Hoagie hace este."

Hoagie! The word leapt out of the meaningless gibberish, striking Tommy upon the ears. He jumped to his feet and leaned to the corner, desperately listening for more.

"Si? Yo pienso…"

"Oh, si, es una arma grande. Padre Hoagie esta un soldado del cielo."

Aha! Tommy grinned. He didn't get the whole thing, but he'd heard the last word clearly. "Cielo." That one was easy, at least. The ceiling. Hoagie must be…

No wait. That didn't make sense. Hoagie couldn't be on the ceiling. Tommy stopped and frowned. This was hard.

"Es interestante." Came the voice down the hall. "Muchas Gracias por informada, Francis."

"De nada, Salvador." Chuckled Shoes. "Buenas Noches."

"Y usted tambien." The other guard replied, his voice already fading into the darkness. Shoes seemed to have forgotten his position, his steps came no farther, but began to walk back the hallway, away from Tommy.

'Del cielo.' Tommy thought. It must mean the ceiling, the top, the utmost floor. The top floor! Of course! They must be holding Hoagie in a dungeon at the very top of the castle!

Filled with new purpose, the Tommy dashed into the dark hallway. The Tommy would fulfill his mission.

"My team will fulfill the mission." Nigel Uno stated. His chin was up and his glasses implacable. "They will. Just give them a few more minutes, and you'll have no problem. You don't have to record this on the files, you can say 20,000 pulled them out." His glasses slipped for just a moment and he pushed them back up. "I'm trying to help you, Rachel. Why won't you let me?"

"Because it's not that simple." 362 closed her eyes. "You fool, don't you see what the real problem is here?"

"It looks scary." Numbuh 3 whispered, eyes wide at the enormous black hull looming against the darkness.

"Behurigan… Quiet!" Heinrich hissed. "It is a vonder ve haf gotten zis far wifout being noticed. Now silence!"

Numbuh 4 cast a quick look back. "'E's right, Numbuh 3." He whispered. "Ya gotta…"

"Zilence!" Heinrich shot a glance back at them.

Numbuh 4 glared at him. I shoulda left him chained to the motor. He thought.

"You two vill haf to be more quiet." The german boy hissed. "Clearly, you do not understand the dangers of zis."

"You're a good commander, Nigel, but you don't understand the dangers of undercover work." 362 rubbed her forehead as if nursing a sore. "You've only done one real covert ops mission, and that wasn't a real undercover operation… really a charade more than anything else. You danced around with the enemy and fooled them for a day, no more."
Tommy dashed around the corner. The Tommy has fooled that sentry back there. He thought. Now, while he's gone, The Tommy will just pick the lock on this door, and then he'll be on the top of the tower!

Hoagie's device worked wonderfully well. The door sprung open. Like a phantom, Tommy shot through and shut it behind him, locking it behind him. That sentry won't know what happened! He grinned smugly. Now, for…

Hokey smokes.

A huge black bulk hovered above the stone tower, a black whale against the blue ocean of the night sky. A few frail cords linked it to the roof, and the scattered lanterns guttering in the wind threw light against its wooden undercarriage, revealing strange and dangerous-looking weapons. The dull crash of the waves far down below was drowned out by a new sound, a whirring rasp of many thousand of propellers.

The Tommy gulped. This is a lot different than the Tommy was expecting.

"Real undercover work—spending weeks, maybe months, in a secret life—is a lot different than what you'd think." Rachel paced back and forth in the control room, between Nigel and her forces. "It's more tedious, sure, and there are more chances that you'll slip up, but there's something else, something you wouldn't think of until you meet it, until you come up against it yourself."

Nigel raised an eyebrow. Rachel noticed and shot him an annoyed look. "I wasn't always in this job, you know. I used to be a black ops agent."

"I vasn't alvays a prisoner in the Artic base," Heinrich spoke in an angry whisper. "I vas once a vorld-famous treasure hunter. The line will hold."

Numbuh 4 cast another anxious glance up. It looked a long distance from the tiny dingy to the railing high above on the dark wall. The rope, thrown up to the deck, swayed and knocked gently against the side.

Unable to look any longer, he turned his head down. He nodded. "Ok." He muttered. "3" He pointed. "After me. If it goes wrong, you get back down."

"But I…" Numbuh 3 looked from the line to 4 and back again.

"Kooks." Numbuh 4 stopped her. "ya gotta." He pointed at the german boy, who they had now lashed to the motor. "Heinie, she comes down, you get out of here. Fast."

Heinrich nodded curtly. "Ja."

Numbuh 4 drew a last deep breath. If he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to do it. "Okay." He whispered. "Let's go."

He hopped off the boat and grabbed onto the line, using it to climb up as he walked up the outside.

"Understand, I'm not talking about an outside danger." Rachel stopped pacing and gestured impatiently with her hand. "This is the sort of danger that comes more from yourself, more than anything outside."
So I can't depend on outside help here. Tommy thought. I need to work this out myself. If I grabbed onto the line, I could maybe climb up to the deck and… nah. I'm not that stupid.

He cast an anxious look around. Now what to do? Hoagie didn't seem to be up here, and Nigel had said nothing about gigantic flying creatures.

Well, he reasoned, Kids Next Door would want some info on this new… thing, whatever it was. Maybe he could find out some stuff quick before he left.

A quick look around showed him some scaffolding erected on the far side. Maybe he could climb up that. With a whip of his cape, he disappeared into the darkness.

"Veterans of the service call it 'disappearing into your work'" Rachel smiled, a little sadly. "It's a somewhat humorous term."

She pressed her fingers together. "Understand, Nigel, when you work for weeks undercover, you need to make sure your story is consistent. You need to make sure every fact hangs together and that you react how you're supposed to in every situation, even unexpected ones. In essence, you need to create a whole new persona for yourself."

"Good spies can do this naturally, even make the new persona so near themselves that they can slip in and out quite easily." A frown pained her mouth a moment, and then stiffened into a commanderly line. "But that's the problem."

Numbuh 4 hopped up on the deck and crouched low. His mustard pistol swept left, then right.

Nothing.

He tapped his fingers against the railing twice. Kuki came clambering over, gasping to the wooden deck. "Oh yay! I was wondering when…"

"Shhh!" Numbuh 4 silenced her. "We need to find the lower decks. Come on."

The two darted over to the steps, staying as low and quiet as possible. Numbuh 4 peeked down the hatch, then turned back. "Okay, I'm going down there. You keep watch, okay?"

"But Wally.."

"C'mon, Kooks." Numbuh 4 gave a little smile. "We do this all the time. It's like a second nature or something."

"That second nature is a problem. When you have to be a person, another person, for weeks at a time," 362 began to pace again, "you have to constantly be pretending to be that person, feeling what they would feel, doing what they would do. And if it's almost a second nature, doing it for long enough begins to make it a first nature."

She stopped, wheeled, and faced Nigel. "If you become a new person, with a new life, in a new world, with new friends, sometimes, Nigel, the new world feels better than the old. It becomes more you than then your first was. After all, who hasn't wanted the chance to restart their life, without any of the memories?"

Tommy stood on the deck, breathing hard. It looks quiet enough. He thought. Let's see what's all around.

A quick jog across the deck, and he was at the steps. A quick run down, and he was amidst the workings. He could see there were thousands of tiny wheels around him, but what they were doing and what drove them, he could not see.

A jump down to the next level. Gears and wheels, turning grinding. Doubtless driving the rotors above. Tommy knew enough of 2x4 technology to get that.

Now another jump. This section seemed much more unstable, boards were lying around, hammers, saws, and nails were scattered with an air of obvious disarray. Guns and weaponry, obviously new, were bolted onto makeshift carriages, poking out of new-cut holes in the underside.

Tommy gazed about with childish interest. I wonder if Nigel knows about all this. He thought. This is the sort of thing he and his friends wouldn't know anything about.

"My operatives wouldn't do anything like that!" Nigel jumped to his feet, eyes narrowed. "And if you thought they would, why'd you send them in?

"We didn't think the mission would take so long." Rachel replied, steady as ever. "And we thought Numbuh 5 had sufficient experience to keep her and Numbuh 2 on track."

"Hmmph." Nigel adjusted his glasses. "And what makes you think differently now? Numbuhs 2 and 5 would sooner die than betray the KND! They're true and loyal, they'd never turn against us!"

"Nigel, Nigel." Rachel shook her head, eyes inexpressibly sad. "Are you so blind to the things right in front of you?"

Numbuh 3 was almost dozing off when Numbuh 4 came exploding out of the hold.

"Go! Go!" he yelled, giving her a rough shove. "It's a trap, it's a trap! Run for it, Kooks!" He fired at a pirate face that popped out of the hold. "Get back to Numbuh 1, tell him we were wrong! Tell him… Oh, just get out of here!"

"But I… what…" Kuki stammered, she was still just waking up, and beginning to realize the deck was filling with pirates.

She felt a sharp tug on her turtleneck, and suddenly her face was yanked around to within inches of Wally's. "You need to get out of here, and you need to get out NOW!" he hissed. "Now get DOWN there!"

He did not wait for a reply, but half-dragged her to the side, still firing at the rushing buccaneers flooding the decks, and shoved her against the railing. "GO!" He yelled, turning to face the pirates.

Stammering, sobbing, still completely unable to understand even what she was doing, Kuki clambered over the side and began to descend.

Tommy was just turning to leave when he bumped against one of the guns.

The cannon exploded into life. The sound rebounded against the walls and thundered upon the ceiling. It echoed up and down the staircase, and Tommy heard, or fancied he heard, the sudden sound of squeaking footsteps.

He dashed up the stairs to the deck in a moment. A light was on in the cabin, but he paid it no heed. Over the side he hurried, clambering down the scaffolding at breakneck speed. He felt the stone floor rise up to meet him as he landed.

Soldiers were coming out of the door. One of them gave a shout and pointed at him.

Rats!

Tommy did not even stop to thing what he was doing, he simply dashed away from the door, away from the ship. A light, kite-like contraption was sitting near the edge of the roof, facing out to the wild, open sea. He did not stop to think where it came from or where it came from, but, as quick as thought, grasped it with both hands and tossed it onto his back. With a wild yell, he jumped out into the night air.

"You of all people should know the danger." Rachel looked at him with almost an air of disappointment, or possibly sorrow. "You were there at the POOL incident."
Numbuh 4 shot right. He shot left. Stickybeard came at him and he dodged down and gave a quick jab in his general direction. Paying no attention to the thud and following curse, he whirled around and threw a fist into the face of a tiny red squirt who was coming at him, kicking out at the small blue squirt who was right behind him.

Get outta here, Kuki...

"The POOL incident?" Nigel's glasses slipped, showing nothing but confusion. "What does that have to do with this?"
Tommy felt the wind tug at his cheeks, twisting them into a smile. The breeze soared up, caught under his wings, stopped his fall. Slowly, easily, his kite tilted to meet the wind…
"Isn't it obvious?" Rachel looked at him, paying no heed to 86's sudden entry. "That was a negative world, Nigel, exactly opposite our own. Whatever they were, you were not."

"Yes." Nigel nodded, but his face was still confused.

"And whatever they were not, you are."

Shoot right. Shoot left. Duck. Bob. Weave. Stickybeard again. Knock out his leg. Fire at that stupid looking pirate. Pray Kuki's down to the boat. Shoot right…

"That's enough of dat, baby."

"When you entered that world, you met a KND as evil as you were good. With your help however, you showed them how they were evil and turned them to the side of right."

Puzzlement, and then slow comprehension, grew across Nigel's face.

The wind caught him, it held him, it was pulling him out to sea, to freedom…

And suddenly something caught hold and would not let go.

"The mirror works both ways, Nigel. You were good, and they were evil. But Command has long realized an inherent danger. Even as the negatives had the potential to turn good, so the positives had the potential to turn bad."
Slowly, deliberately, Wally turned toward the voice, and toward the candy pistol that the owner of the voice held.

Long leather boots were on her feet. A sloppy, ragged blue tunic hung from her skinny frame, and a sturdy black belt girt about her waist, into which a sharp candy cane cutlass was thrust. Her raven-black hair was bound up in a tight ponytail, and covered by a blood-red bandanna.

And her eyes were bold and laughing as they gazed at him.

"You can't beat me, baby." Said Abigail Lincoln. "You know you can't."

Numbuh 4 drew a long breath. "Mebbe not." He admitted. "But I'm sure gonna try. And anyway, it'll get Numbuh 3 back to Numbuh 1 quicker."

A sudden change flickered across Abby's face, and then she smiled again. "I wouldn't count on dat, baby."

Against the wind's pull, against the tug of gravity, against the very straining of his tiny feet, Tommy tumbled back to the stone roof. The fragile wood frame cracked as it hit the cobblestones, the fabric tore.

Sobbing, whimpering, drawing out great heaving breaths, Tommy turned his head up to look at his captor.

Simple hemp sandals were on his feet, just poking out from a long green robe that covered him from head to toe. A celery stalk was thrust in one side of his cord belt, a pistol in the other. His orange-red hair was disordered and tousled as if startled from sleep, and covered only by a pair of sadly familiar yellow goggles.

And his eyes were troubled and shocked as they gazed at him.

"Tommy!?" Hoagie Gilligan asked, paying no heed as the guards ran up on either side. "What are you… What were you thinking? That model wasn't finished, if it hadn't been still tied to the roof, you might've…" he stopped and ran a hand through his hair. "What're you doing here?"

Tommy had only strength for one word. "H—H—Hoagie?"

Numbuh 4 watched, dumbfounded, unbelieving, as a pair of green sleeves came up over the railing. He gazed bewildered, shocked beyond all words, as they were followed by a frightened white face and a waving length of black hair. And as Numbuh 3 came hesitantly, timidly forward to him, he could do no more than shake his head, trying and miserably failing to ask why.

She came close to him, casting fearful glances around at the pirates, trying to huddle into a little ball, pressing into him for comfort.

And Abby, turning from the two, raised her eyebrows at the figure clambering over the railing. "Been a while since we seen you on the Sweet Revenge, baby. You sure you wanna come aboard? I'm first mate, ya know."

Heinrich Von Marzipan shrugged as he holstered a mustard pistol. "I bear no grudge."

TO BE CONTINUED...

DunDundun! Oh come on, you didn't honestly think Heinie was on the level, did you? At the very least, if you'd seen CARAMEL, you should have known he was going to turn evil at some point. Though it was kinda fun to think how he'd interact with 3 and 4, and the part with Fingers was pretty neat.

Tommy is the most impossible character to write for. Fun, but impossible. I had no idea what he was going to do in the castle, kinda played it by ear. Don't ask me why the Spinach Inquisition has searchlights, they just do.

Yes, I've updated. If any of you look out the windows and see pigs flying, I shall not in the least be surprised.

I must apologize for this. I've gotten back to college, and life has been crazy recently, and I just kinda forgot. I'll try to do this every week, but every other is much more likely. But what the hey. I will do my best, and I will finish this. Someday. I'd swear to that, but I don't swear.

Next Chapter. Nigel, broken by the news he has sent his whole team to their doom, agrees to anything. As the forces of the Moores and the Spinachians prepare for battle, Command makes the decision to abandon Operation SEPARATION.