Disclaimer: See the prologue and Chapter 2.

I've been away on vacation recently. I still am. That is why I have not been writing or drawing much. I'm sorry. Still, I am going to try to make the finale to the TND Saga great! It's bound to be something of a wild ride from here.

Chapter 5

Number 1 watched for a few more seconds as her friends from Moon Base and home battled their worst enemies and their henchmen. Somehow, Number 86, Number 274, Tommy, Mushi, and a mystery operative had made it to the future. That was very strange to the TND leader, but it was not her major worry. The primal concern was the number of enemies they were fighting. They were outnumbered! Those five were against all ten Delightfuls as well as Chad, Chris, and Cree. Watching in horror at the battle, Number 1 gently walked down the ladder and turned to her team.

"Teens Next Door, battle stations!" she shouted. "Numbuh 1, call your team for a little piece of combat. We've got a traitor, an older teenager, a college student, and a few Delightfuls to kick."

"They just don't know when to quit, do they?" Numbuh 1 huffed. "Oh well. Kids Next Door, battle stations!"

The Kids Next Door started climbing out of the safe house one-by-one followed by Number 6 and his team of operatives. Number 1 started herding her team up the ladder with any weaponry they could hold. She handed Number 4 a mustard gun and went to climb up after her.

"You should stay here," she told her. "Melanie and the rest of the kids need someone to look after them. We can handle this fight on our own. Plus, the Delightfuls are totally at a disadvantage with all of us. So what if Chris, Cree, and Chad are fighting, too? We can handle them."

"Number 4," Number 1 whispered, climbing back down the ladder, "I've always admired you for your endless supply of advice. You're always such a great friend and comrade. You're so smart..."

"What's with the formal good-byes? I'm not going away forever."

"I don't know. I just feel like something bad is going to happen. This battle is going to tell us something we need to know."

"You're freaking me out. Just watch the kids."

Number 4 hopped up to the surface and shut the door behind her. Number 1 stood in the faint darkness and looked at Melanie walk up next to her. She frowned. None of this nonsense with battles and death could be good for the four of them. The four of them had witnessed the deaths of their parents and relatives. She would never be able to forgive herself if she knew one or all of them had to watch someone in a team die. What would be worse, what if the past forms of one of their parents died? There would be no way to save that person! Even if they could have done something about it in the past, it wouldn't do any good now that the person was dead. Time was so complicated. These timelines did nothing but confuse Number 1. She began thinking if time really was an illusion of something more destructive and powerful.

"Number 1," Melanie mumbled, tugging on her skirt. Number 1 broke from her trance and smiled down at her.

"You can call me Megan," she replied. "I don't think you guys have to call me by my codename. That's just for TND and KND members."

"I see," Melanie agreed. She looked up at her. "Why do you look so anxious? Your team should be able to handle them. After all, there's only, like, sixteen of them including Lizzie."

"Lizzie!" Megan cried. "Oh crap, this really isn't good! There's no way in hell that Lizzie can defend herself out there. Yet again, she's got the entire team to protect her. She's also helped us in the past. She helped us defeat the Common Cold once."

"Are you sure the team can protect my mom?" Hammie asked. "I'm getting an uneasy feeling about her. Who would do most of the protecting?"

"She'd probably make Numbuh 1 do it."

"How come?"

"Numbuh 1's her boyfriend."

Hammie froze. His eyes opened wide in terror. Megan could have sworn that she saw his mouth hit the floor. Nervous to say anything else, she said:

"What's so wrong with that?"

"Okay," Hammie began, trying to calm down, "had anything between Nigel and Lizzie happened before you guys came to our future?"

"Well, Nigel broke up with Lizzie for Abby, but I don't him that it wasn't right. I thought I made a mistake in telling him it was okay to do," Megan explained. "That's all really. Nothing else that serious has happened other than you guys coming and scaring the crap out of us when you just showed up out of nowhere."

"You idiot!!" Hammie shouted. "After all that we've told you, you don't even have enough common sense to understand what's right and wrong here?"

"I know this future is wrong..."

"There's something else wrong though. My dad always used to tell me that Mom and Nigel got into a fight and broke up when they were about ten or eleven. That's when my mom started going into depression. That's when my dad found her and cheered her up. He told me that's when he fell in love."

"So that was my fault?"

"Duh,"

"Okay, so as soon as we get home after the battle, I'll explain to the three of them what you just explained to me. It's simple enough."

"I hope so,"

Hammie walked off and sat on top of a closed box. He sighed and held his face in his hands. Megan felt a tug at her heart. She grabbed at herself and squeezed the top of her left breast where her heart was located. She bit her lip and turned to Craig and Faith. She saw their hurt looks and immediately turned away before they could say anything. She then found herself staring in the face of Melanie again.

"I want to tell you about my family," she mumbled. "Since you know my mommy and daddy and aunt as kids, maybe you can tell me how different they are. Maybe it'll make both of us feel better."

"Maybe," Megan agreed. "Why don't you tell me about your Aunt Cree? I don't know her all that well in the past."

"Cree was the greatest!" Melanie cheered. "She would always take care of me whenever Mommy and Daddy were out at work. She'd take me shopping and out for lunch and always taught me so much. She would teach me all her moves from her Kids Next Door days."

"I always knew that Cree was cool, but I never thought she could be so nice."

"Oh yeah! I loved spending time with her. It's just too bad that Father killed her."

"Father killed her?"

"Yes, why?"

"I always thought that she would be his apprentice."

"Well, she was."

Megan had a confused look plastered on her face as she heard the door to the safe house open. She looked up and saw Number 10 climbing down the ladder. She was also looking confused and desperate.

"Number 1, something super-strange is going on," she announced. "The Delightfuls as well as Chris, Chad, and Cree are demanding to see you." She hopped down to the floor and brushed off her shirt of dirt and grime.

"Me?" Number 1 repeated. "Why would they want me when they could just as easily..."

"Kill the rest of us? I have no clue. But do you have any idea what this is like??" By now, Number 10 was jumping up and down from pure excitement. She was beaming and clapping her hands together like a happy-go-lucky child. Suddenly, Number 1 knew. Her face grew to be just as excited, and she joined her friend in a fury of bunny hops.

"Oh, my God!!" she shouted. "Isn't this just like an anime?"

"Yes!" Number 10 squealed. "This whole thing with the future and past and timelines is just like that one saga in 'Dragon Ball Z'!" Number 1's face grew happier and happier with every word. "Remember in that prologue saga before the Android and Cell sagas? That's the one with your favorite character." Number 10 was teasing her.

"That was the Trunks Saga!" Number 1 exclaimed. "Oh, I love that saga! And you're right. This whole thing with the terrible future is just like that. And I love the movie that goes along with it. It's so sad but so addictive!"

"Then I'll buy it for you for Christmas."

"You're the greatest!"

"Okay, shut the hell up!" Faith ordered. "We have no clue what you're talking about, so just be quiet and skip to the point. Number 10, the Delightfuls are kicking our asses out there, aren't they?"

"Uh, yeah," Number 10 confessed, slightly embarrassed. "We need Number 1 out there now. They all are demanding to see her. Why? I have no clue. Maybe they want to talk or something."

"I'm coming," Number 1 agreed, starting to climb up the ladder. Number 10 followed her before she felt a tug on her shirt. She turned and saw Craig.

"We're coming with you," he told her. "We want to help you. We still feel guilty for having to bother you guys during your summer vacation."

"Oh, damn," Number 1 whispered, "June 15 is Number 2's birthday. Tomorrow is Number 8's. The nineteenth is Number 4's. Shit..."

"We'll celebrate all three as soon as this mess is over," Number 10 reassured. "Let's just see what the Delightfuls want."

Number 1 nodded and continued to climb up the ladder. Her friends followed her until all of them were at the surface. Faith was the last one out, and she shut the door and locked the latch tightly. Looking over some rocks, they were able to see their team and the enemy team fighting one another. Nervously, Number 1 stepped out from the rocks' protection and walked towards the battlefield. Watching the kids follow after her, Number 10 came up behind her.

"I'm here, Delightfuls!" Number 1 called, walking out in the middle of the battlefield. "What do you want? And why have you terrorized the future like this?"

"It's quite simple actually," Chad replied, stopping his attack on Numbuh 4 short. He looked up at her and crossed his arms. "It's a little thing called 'revenge.' Maybe you've heard of it."

Cree pressed the button on her Battle Ready Armor and let the shield covering her head fold back into its compact space. She brushed some hair behind her shoulder and smiled. "Father has also told us that this future would give us villains a great future."

"And we're happy that you decided to join the party," Chris finished, taking his helmet off. "It just wouldn't be the same without Megan Un."

She crossed her arms and corrected, "It's Number 1 to you three traitors. You know, there's nothing more horrible in this world than three dirty, evil villains. You three traitors are unfit, wretched creatures not meant to walk this earth. I want to know how you can dare to call yourselves former Kids Next Door operatives."

"Skip the small talk, Megan!" the Delightful Children commanded. "Our older friends over here walk to tell you something. We think you and the rest of your team will get quite a kick out of what they'll say to you."

Number 1 gave a sour face and narrowed her eyes. "It takes a lot more then some strange event to rattle me. You and the rest of those Delightful Dorks should know that by now."

"Oh, Sister," one of the Delightful Teenagers began, "how can you expect that to happen this time?"

The teams froze. The TND stood in complete shock. Number 2, 4, 8, and 9 had their mouths dropping to the ground. Numbers 3, 5, 6, 7, and 10 were drooling. Numbers 274, 86, and the mystery operative stood their ground and gritted their teeth at this happening. Tommy and Mushi stood together, totally clueless. Number 1's hands shook as she twitched her way out of her folded arms position. Her eyes grew wide, and her glasses started to slip off the end of her nose. Melanie, Hammie, Craig, and Faith did not look too surprised at all. They seemed rather calm about the whole situation.

"A Delightful just spoke out of unison!" Number 3 shouted. "How the hell can you four not be surprised??"

"You mean you didn't know they could do that?" Faith asked innocently. "I thought you guys knew."

"We knew the Delightful Children could speak separately," Numbuh 3 explained, "but we didn't know the Delightful Teenagers could, too! Aw, now we can all be friends! Isn't it great?"

"Mom's an idiot."

"Why do you want to speak with me?" Number 1 tried again. "What's so important that you couldn't throw it at my team mates?"

"This is something between you and me," the Delightful continued. "First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mary. These are my siblings. From left to right, it's Daimion, Mitchell, Tina, and Jessica."

"Why am I not pleased to meet you?"

"Well, I am going to explain something to you that will change your life. I bet you've always known that you Teens Next Door and we Delightful Teenagers have had a special relationship. Heck, the whole world knows it! Moon Base has been doing everything in its power to keep Father, Mother and the rest of us from taking over the world. That's all very nice, but what would happen if Moon base found out that the relationship went further than just a good guys/bad guys game?"

"Like this!" Daimion interrupted. He strolled out of his position and walked up to Number 2. At first, the rest of the team thought he was going to attack her, but nothing happened. He just stood there with a goofy smile on his face.

"You're scaring me," Number 2 announced flatly. "You do know that, right?"

"Is your heart racing?" Daimion asked smoothly, picking up his hand. He gently brought it towards Number 2 and played with a strand of her dark brown hair. She watched in confusion and curiosity until he brought his hand down to touch her heart. Number 2's eyes opened wide in offense, and she slapped him in the face.

"You pervert!!" she shouted, pushing him to the ground. Daimion got up right away and walked back to his siblings, rubbing the spot where she had slapped him.

"Uh, no," Mary countered, "not like that, Daimion." She turned back to Number 1. "What I'm talking about is another sibling relationship. I'm sure all of you are familiar with some legends that happened many years ago. There was a harsh ruler who picked up four human slaves for her own enjoyment. Some may think it was just a legend, but that's not true."

"Can you just skip to the point?" Number 274 asked. "This is getting really boring really fast."

"We want to get back to the fight!" Tommy chimed in.

"Yay for fights!!" Mushi cheered, flailing her arms in the air. Faith gave an exasperated sigh.

"And my aunt's an idiot."

"Shut up!" Mary ordered. "Okay, you guys want the bottom line? I'll give you the bottom line. Number 1, you and I are the descendants of that harsh ruler."

"Then that makes us..." Number 1 trailed off and covered her mouth in shock.

"Hi, Sister."

End of Chapter 5