Author's Notes: Don't you just hate cliffhangers? Don't worry. I hate 'em
to. So, I'll give you a heads up whenever a chapter calls for one. In this
case, there isn't one since this is the last chapter (aside from the
epilogue). Enjoy.
CODENAME: Kids Next Door
"OPERATION: N.I.N.J.E.R.K."
Nearly Invincible Ninja Joins Enemies Rivaling Kids
Part 7: "The Paths We Choose"
Numbuh 3 waited for the pain of Ginsu's sword to scorch every inch of her. Time seemed to stop as everything grew silent except for the beating of her own heart. Waiting for the end, she silently said her goobyes and her apologies. Her life flashed before her closed eyes as she awaited her fate, but it never came. She was still in the laboratory. Furthermore, she didn't feel anything except the sudden freedom of her arms. Slowly opening her eyes, Numbuh 3 noticed that the wires were at her feet. They had been cleanly cut away from her body, freeing her. But how? And why? Shifting her vision upwards she saw that Ginsu was still there, clutching his sword. Behind him, the barrel of Mr. Eezy-Freez began to create a chilling breeze as it charged up for second shot. This time, the target was Ginsu. "How dare you betray us!" the Delightfuls shouted. "Now you can become a living popsicle along with your friends!"
"Numbuh 3!! Are you alright up there?!" cried Numbuh 4 as he watched her step away from the pipe. She smiled at Numbuh 4. "I'm ok!" she called out. "But Ginsu is in trouble! I have to help him, but I'll come down and get you out as--" "No. You and the others can't stay here." Ginsu interrupted. With strain, he then wrenched the steel pipe off of the catwalk and handed it to Numbuh 3. "Go. Free them, then get yourselves out of here! I'll try and buy you some time!" he cried as he looked back at the Delightfuls, who's ice beam was beginning to fully charge. "But... what about you? We can't just leave you here!" protested Numbuh 3 as she yanked on Ginsu's arm. Ginsu then shoved her backwards and nearly off of her feet. "I said go!" he hollored. Gripping the pipe tightly, Numbuh 3 paused for a moment. Then, with a nod, she climbed down a steel ladder and rushed to her friends. She immedaiately began hammering away at the thick sheet of ice which imprisoned her teammates. Three swings later, the ice began to crack and finally gave way as the other four Kids Next Door pushed themselves free. Once on his feet, Numbuh 4 ran up to Numbuh 3 and hugged her tightly. "Good goin' Numbuh 3! Thank goodness you're alright!" he said with a large smile on his face. Numbuh 3 blushed and hugged Numbuh 4 back. "Same here!" she said cheerfully. "Hey, what's Ginsu doing?" asked Numbuh 2 as he pointed up at the catwalk. The others turned their heads in the direction the young pilot pointed and watched in awe as the young ninja leapt from the catwalk just as the Delightful's ice beam fired.
The entire catwalk was frozen in a huge block of ice the moment the energy beam made contact. Soaring through the air at the large barrel, Ginsu winced slightly as part of the beam hit his left foot and froze it solid. However, it wasn't enough to alter Ginsu's course. With a massive swing of his sword, Ginsu severed the barrel of the ice beam. A massive surge of blue electricity surrounded Mr. Eezy Freez as Ginsu fell to the hard steel floor below, nearly knocking him unconscience on impact. With horror in their faces and in their eyes, the Delightful Children strapped on parachutes and jumped from the cockpit of the massive robotic eskimo. The moment they drifted to the ground, they ran screaming to a platform in the corner of the laboratory which lowered them out of sight.
"Numbuh 5 thinks we should take a page from the Delightful dorks' book an' get outta' here before this thing blows!" shouted Numbuh 5. Ginsu slowly got up as the electricity surrounding the giant robot turned into explosions, which rocked the entire house. Numbuh 1 could hardly hear himself above the thunderous explosions as he tried to call out to the injured Ginsu. "Numbuh 3-0!! If you hurry, you can still make it!! Come on!!" he shouted. Ginsu looked down at his frozen foot and began to limp towards Numbuh 1, but stopped suddenly as he realized the grim truth.
"I'm sorry... but I can't. It's too late for me." he said with hauntingly calm look in his eyes. Numbuhs 2 through 5 gathered around the door and looked back as their leader tried to save the former operative. Numbuh 1 shook his head and cupped his hands around his mouth. "What are you saying?! We can carry you out of here and we will all escape together!!" Hobbling closer to Numbuh 1, Ginsu replied. "No, you can't! If you do, I'll slow you down and we'll ALL be destroyed. It has to be this way, Nigel Uno. It's better this way." "Are you hearing yourself man?! You can't throw your life away like this! As a Kid Next Door, I can't allow you to do this!" Numbuh 1 shouted. It was then that Ginsu reached behind his neck, undid the knot of his scarf, and pulled it away from his face with his left hand. His face was triangular like Numbuh 274, but held a gentler complexion in both appearance and in color as his skin was yellow like Numbuh 3's. "You have about 35 seconds to get out before this place goes up." he said with a serious look. He then smirked, which even further suprised the Kids Next Door. "We all choose what path we take in life. This is the path that I've chosen... and I'll follow it to the end." he said as he held a thumbs-up to Numbuh 1. The catwalk which was sealed in an enormous tomb of ice by the Delightfuls squealed loudly as the metal support beams gave way, then crashed between Numbuh 1 and Ginsu, blocking the view between them. With a sad smile on his face, Numbuh 1 gave a thumbs-up to the unseen ninja and slowly turned to his team. Numbuh 3 placed her sleeve covered hands over her mouth as Numbuh 1 began to run towards her and the others. "Go! Quickly! We're running out of time!" he shouted. "B-b-but what about Ginsu?" Numbuh 3 squeaked. Numbuh 4 put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her towards the open door. The five Kids Next Door were now running for their lives.
25 seconds later, the small agents watched from across the street as the entire left half of the Delightfuls' house exploded from the inside with a massive burst of blue energy. The humid summer air suddenly became as cold as winter. Beams of the sub-zero energy shot into the sky and transformed it from clear and blue into grey and cloudy. Snowflakes began to drift from the sky as the explosion subsided. The remaining half of the Delightfuls' home had completely frozen over and there was no sign of life anywhere amongst the wreckage. Exhausted and chilly, the five kids sat down on the frost covered grass and rested as they contemplated everything that had happened that. Numbuh 2 was the first to speak. "Should we go over their and see if we find anyone?" "It's best if we didn't Numbuh 2. We should leave it up to the police and the rescue squad. Otherwise, we could get into even deeper trouble if anyone sees us." replied Numbuh 1. The others nodded and got up, longing for the comfort of the treehouse. As Numbuh 4 walked with the others, he noticed that Numbuh 3 had stayed put. "You ok?" the Aussie boy said as he put an arm around his friend. Numbuh 3 stared at the wreckage of her enemies' house for a moment longer, then turned to Numbuh 3 and nodded with a small smile on her face.
As the two began to walk back to the treehouse base, Numbuh 3 looked back one last time. Amongst the scattered remains on the laboratory, a long green scarf wrapped around a steel pole flapped and flowed with the dying wind. Snowflakes fell harder from the sky as the scarf finally came to rest atop the wreckage.
TO BE CONCLUDED...
CODENAME: Kids Next Door
"OPERATION: N.I.N.J.E.R.K."
Nearly Invincible Ninja Joins Enemies Rivaling Kids
Part 7: "The Paths We Choose"
Numbuh 3 waited for the pain of Ginsu's sword to scorch every inch of her. Time seemed to stop as everything grew silent except for the beating of her own heart. Waiting for the end, she silently said her goobyes and her apologies. Her life flashed before her closed eyes as she awaited her fate, but it never came. She was still in the laboratory. Furthermore, she didn't feel anything except the sudden freedom of her arms. Slowly opening her eyes, Numbuh 3 noticed that the wires were at her feet. They had been cleanly cut away from her body, freeing her. But how? And why? Shifting her vision upwards she saw that Ginsu was still there, clutching his sword. Behind him, the barrel of Mr. Eezy-Freez began to create a chilling breeze as it charged up for second shot. This time, the target was Ginsu. "How dare you betray us!" the Delightfuls shouted. "Now you can become a living popsicle along with your friends!"
"Numbuh 3!! Are you alright up there?!" cried Numbuh 4 as he watched her step away from the pipe. She smiled at Numbuh 4. "I'm ok!" she called out. "But Ginsu is in trouble! I have to help him, but I'll come down and get you out as--" "No. You and the others can't stay here." Ginsu interrupted. With strain, he then wrenched the steel pipe off of the catwalk and handed it to Numbuh 3. "Go. Free them, then get yourselves out of here! I'll try and buy you some time!" he cried as he looked back at the Delightfuls, who's ice beam was beginning to fully charge. "But... what about you? We can't just leave you here!" protested Numbuh 3 as she yanked on Ginsu's arm. Ginsu then shoved her backwards and nearly off of her feet. "I said go!" he hollored. Gripping the pipe tightly, Numbuh 3 paused for a moment. Then, with a nod, she climbed down a steel ladder and rushed to her friends. She immedaiately began hammering away at the thick sheet of ice which imprisoned her teammates. Three swings later, the ice began to crack and finally gave way as the other four Kids Next Door pushed themselves free. Once on his feet, Numbuh 4 ran up to Numbuh 3 and hugged her tightly. "Good goin' Numbuh 3! Thank goodness you're alright!" he said with a large smile on his face. Numbuh 3 blushed and hugged Numbuh 4 back. "Same here!" she said cheerfully. "Hey, what's Ginsu doing?" asked Numbuh 2 as he pointed up at the catwalk. The others turned their heads in the direction the young pilot pointed and watched in awe as the young ninja leapt from the catwalk just as the Delightful's ice beam fired.
The entire catwalk was frozen in a huge block of ice the moment the energy beam made contact. Soaring through the air at the large barrel, Ginsu winced slightly as part of the beam hit his left foot and froze it solid. However, it wasn't enough to alter Ginsu's course. With a massive swing of his sword, Ginsu severed the barrel of the ice beam. A massive surge of blue electricity surrounded Mr. Eezy Freez as Ginsu fell to the hard steel floor below, nearly knocking him unconscience on impact. With horror in their faces and in their eyes, the Delightful Children strapped on parachutes and jumped from the cockpit of the massive robotic eskimo. The moment they drifted to the ground, they ran screaming to a platform in the corner of the laboratory which lowered them out of sight.
"Numbuh 5 thinks we should take a page from the Delightful dorks' book an' get outta' here before this thing blows!" shouted Numbuh 5. Ginsu slowly got up as the electricity surrounding the giant robot turned into explosions, which rocked the entire house. Numbuh 1 could hardly hear himself above the thunderous explosions as he tried to call out to the injured Ginsu. "Numbuh 3-0!! If you hurry, you can still make it!! Come on!!" he shouted. Ginsu looked down at his frozen foot and began to limp towards Numbuh 1, but stopped suddenly as he realized the grim truth.
"I'm sorry... but I can't. It's too late for me." he said with hauntingly calm look in his eyes. Numbuhs 2 through 5 gathered around the door and looked back as their leader tried to save the former operative. Numbuh 1 shook his head and cupped his hands around his mouth. "What are you saying?! We can carry you out of here and we will all escape together!!" Hobbling closer to Numbuh 1, Ginsu replied. "No, you can't! If you do, I'll slow you down and we'll ALL be destroyed. It has to be this way, Nigel Uno. It's better this way." "Are you hearing yourself man?! You can't throw your life away like this! As a Kid Next Door, I can't allow you to do this!" Numbuh 1 shouted. It was then that Ginsu reached behind his neck, undid the knot of his scarf, and pulled it away from his face with his left hand. His face was triangular like Numbuh 274, but held a gentler complexion in both appearance and in color as his skin was yellow like Numbuh 3's. "You have about 35 seconds to get out before this place goes up." he said with a serious look. He then smirked, which even further suprised the Kids Next Door. "We all choose what path we take in life. This is the path that I've chosen... and I'll follow it to the end." he said as he held a thumbs-up to Numbuh 1. The catwalk which was sealed in an enormous tomb of ice by the Delightfuls squealed loudly as the metal support beams gave way, then crashed between Numbuh 1 and Ginsu, blocking the view between them. With a sad smile on his face, Numbuh 1 gave a thumbs-up to the unseen ninja and slowly turned to his team. Numbuh 3 placed her sleeve covered hands over her mouth as Numbuh 1 began to run towards her and the others. "Go! Quickly! We're running out of time!" he shouted. "B-b-but what about Ginsu?" Numbuh 3 squeaked. Numbuh 4 put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her towards the open door. The five Kids Next Door were now running for their lives.
25 seconds later, the small agents watched from across the street as the entire left half of the Delightfuls' house exploded from the inside with a massive burst of blue energy. The humid summer air suddenly became as cold as winter. Beams of the sub-zero energy shot into the sky and transformed it from clear and blue into grey and cloudy. Snowflakes began to drift from the sky as the explosion subsided. The remaining half of the Delightfuls' home had completely frozen over and there was no sign of life anywhere amongst the wreckage. Exhausted and chilly, the five kids sat down on the frost covered grass and rested as they contemplated everything that had happened that. Numbuh 2 was the first to speak. "Should we go over their and see if we find anyone?" "It's best if we didn't Numbuh 2. We should leave it up to the police and the rescue squad. Otherwise, we could get into even deeper trouble if anyone sees us." replied Numbuh 1. The others nodded and got up, longing for the comfort of the treehouse. As Numbuh 4 walked with the others, he noticed that Numbuh 3 had stayed put. "You ok?" the Aussie boy said as he put an arm around his friend. Numbuh 3 stared at the wreckage of her enemies' house for a moment longer, then turned to Numbuh 3 and nodded with a small smile on her face.
As the two began to walk back to the treehouse base, Numbuh 3 looked back one last time. Amongst the scattered remains on the laboratory, a long green scarf wrapped around a steel pole flapped and flowed with the dying wind. Snowflakes fell harder from the sky as the scarf finally came to rest atop the wreckage.
TO BE CONCLUDED...
