Return to the Moonbase
Back to the Galactic attack on Sector Z's ship, Chad is thrown into the escape pod via the explosion. After the wiring short circuits, it launches him into space.
Inside the pod, Chad is beyond panicking. He begins trying to find a way to turn the pod around, but to know avail. He notices a screen that shows that the escape pod is set to return to the KND Moonbase. He begins attempting to get the pod to turn around and return to Sector Z's ship.
"Come on you son of a bitch, turn this shit around!" He rants at the screen.
"Escape pods cannot return to ship when launched, return to Moonbase standard protocol." The computer voice informs him.
"No, no, no! Turn this fucking thing around!" Chad rants, hitting the screen in vain. It is no use, as the pod still makes it way towards Earth.
Traveling at a ludicrously fast speed, he manages to arrive with in the solar system within less than a day. Slowing down, but still very fast, it approaches the Moonbase. Unfortunately, because he doesn't know how to operate it, the pod crashes through the Moonbase and lands in front of the state of Numbuh Zero. Barely able to walk, he crawls and falls out of the damaged pod. In front of him stand Numbuhs 60, 86, 35, and 23; all staring at him in shock. 86 then gets on her telecommunicator.
"Numbuh 5. There's someone here you should see." 86 says.
"Is it Sector Z." Numbuh 5 replies back.
"No. It's… Numbuh 274." She nervously replies.
"I'm on my way down." Numbuh 5 replies. Less than a minute later, she arrives at the crash site to see that what 86 had told her was true.
"Chad. What the hell happened to you?" Numbuh 5 asks, still in disbelief that she is seeing him.
"Ma'am, what do you want done with him?" Numbuh 60 asks.
"You and the others clean this mess up. Fanny, help me bring him to my office." Numbuh 5 orders.
"Yes sir." With that, Numbuh 86 escorts Chad to Numbuh 5's office. When the three arrive, nobody is sure what to say until Chad speaks up.
"I need your help with something." Chad requests.
"And what would that be?" Numbuh 5 asks.
"I need the scientists' help with that pod. I need to get back to space." Chad says, trying not to sound desperate.
"Did that pod come from where Numbuh 5 thinks it came from?" Numbuh 5 asks, as if she knows the answer. Chad feels almost too ill to answer but does so anyway.
"Yes this is from Sector Z's ship. And before you ask, I have no idea if Sector Z or Nigel are even alive." Chad confesses, though on the verge of tears. This leaves both Numbuhs 5 and 86 shocked.
"What? If you were on their ship, how did you end up here without them?" Numbuh 86 asks.
Chad then spends the next half hour explaining what happened to him and Numbuh 1 on the Galactic Mothership, how they had been temporarily rescued by Sector Z, admitted his feelings to Numbuh 1, being attacked with EMP's by Galactic, and how the escape pod ended up on the Moonbase.
Both of the girls are left teary-eyed with this new knowledge.
"Those… " Abby isn't quite sure how to Finnish her thought.
"Those fucking cunts!" Fanny screams as she throws her helmet across the room.
"You can say that again, girl." Abby quips.
"So what do we do? Can you help me get back out there. I need to get Nigel back. We need to…" As Chad begins to ramble, Abby puts her hand up.
"Chad, Numbuh 5's gonna stop you right there. We ain't risking losing anyone else. We sent the best out there already, and if they're alive they can make it on their own." Abby explains.
"Are you serious?! You're really just gonna abandon them out there?! Why would you…" Before he can finish that thought, Abby smacks him hard across the face.
"Chad! Calm the fuck down! I know how you feel, and it sucks!"
"How do you know Abby? Do you truly know how it feels not to know if the person you love the most is…." Before he can finish, Fanny steps in front of him and makes several hand gestures telling him to stop.
"What?"
"She does know how you feel." Fanny explains.
"How so?" Chad asks curiously.
"Because, Cree almost to my Hoagie away from me once. I ain't seen her since. But I ain't been lookin. She left on her own, nobody made her." Abby explains, trying to hide the difficult emotions of remembering that night.
"Christ. I'm sorry, Abby. I had no idea. Is that why you want me here? You want me to find her?" Chad asks.
"No. Don't bother looking for her. I got other plans in mind. But I need you to promise not to go back out there. We need you here." Abby explains to him.
"I'll do what I can here on Earth. It's just…. hard not to worry about Nigel out there in space. I don't wanna lose him." Chad says. Fanny and Abby stare at each other, having heard talks like this before.
"Chad. Let me ask you something. Is Nigel alone out there?" Abby asks.
"No, Sector Z is with him."
"Is there someone there that would do anything for him, and would love him as much as you did?"
"Yeah, Rachel. But when we were talking together, we ended up screaming at each other over who should get to have Nigel."
"And what happened to end it?" Abby asks, and Chad tries hard to keep his composure.
"When I told him I wanted a life with him, and he told me that he doesn't feel the same way about me. That he's not gay." Chad explains.
"But if you can't have him in the way that you want, what do you want for him?"
"I want him to be happy. I would want Rachel to be there for him in ways I can't be." Chad answers.
"That's good Chad. That's the first step." Fanny says.
"What do you mean by that. Admit that you have a special place for him in your heart, that what you really want is to see him happy, and move on." Fanny says.
"You seem to be very knowledgeable about this Fanny." Chad quips.
"Well it's what I did." Fanny says under her breath.
"Nevertheless, Nigel is safe Chad. You needn't worry about him. We do want you to do something on Earth for us." Abby informs him.
"Anything, anything to take my mind off the insanity that Galactic creates for me."
"Good to know. There's a villain meeting at the convention center. Ever since Numbuh 1 went to Galactic and there are no more Delightful Children, Father's been more angry at the Kids Next Door. But he's at a loss because he doesn't have his Sector Z as his minions, and the Teen Ninjaz can't do shit without Cree running it. I want you to spy on them. And don't worry about being seen by the teenagers. Maurice tipped me off to this, he'll be the only one there. You'll be safe, but try to stay incognito." Abby informs him.
"Yes ma'am." Chad salutes.
"Good luck. Numbuh 86, lead him to a ship."
"Yes ma'am." Fanny salutes and leads Chad to ship on standby.
"I can see why Rachel chose Abby to be Supreme Leader." Chad says to himself.
End of the Chapter. The next chapter is going to take place at the convention center with the Villains. When I originally wrote this, Chad was gonna wander into the convention center before being taken to the Moonbase, but I think this works better. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next update should be within a couple. Until then, happy reading!