Disclaimer: See the prologue and Chapter 2.

I was on vacation. That excuse is getting old.

Chapter 6

Number 1 fell into what felt like a cold, deep void of a black hole out in space. Her jaw dropped as the words came out of Mary's mouth, and her stomach tied itself up in knots. Her throat closed up, not allowing any air to escape her inflated lungs or any new oxygen to enter her body. She held her hands at her heart and felt it beating at an alarming rate. Her fingers started to twitch just when her legs felt like jell-o. She did not want to say anything. The only thing she wanted to do was to run back inside the safe house and program the time machine to take her home. This was the last thing she could take in the crazy future, and she had only been there for under an hour!

"Say that again, Bitch!" Number 6 shouted to the Delightful Leader, making fists. "Don't you dare begin to insult my leader like that!"

"Yeah!" Numbuh 3 agreed. "It's not nice to say things like that. What if you hurt Number 1's feelings? I won't take it!"

"You assholes will have to get through the rest of the Teens Next Door before you can even begin to say something like that again!" Number 8 chimed in. "Damn Delightfuls can't say anything to a Teens Next Door operative."

"And we know all about what you, your stupid little siblings, Mother, and Father did to these poor children," Number 86 barked, pointing to the four kids. "We won't let you hurt anyone else."

"You may have killed our future forms," Lizzie began, "but you have yet to kill the real us! We'll take you on!"

The Delightfuls and their apprentices just kicked back and listened to the fireworks go off. They figured that the operatives would tire themselves out soon enough, and then they could get down to business. They had a lot of explaining to do and very little time before they had to report back to Mother and Father with any progress on the mission. So what if all the operatives made it to the future? It was just more amusing to see them even begin to fight. The smaller kids (by that I mean Tommy and Mushi) looked on with anxious faces. Tommy knew what it was like to go on a mission and be a Kids Next Door operative, but he never went to the future before. Mushi continued with that goofy, carefree smile on her face.

"This is fun!" she cheered. "All the happy people are together, and we are able to be happy!"

"Circular logic," Tommy muttered, crossing his arms. He let out a small huff and looked at Hammie. For some reason, he felt a strong connection to that boy. He didn't know why because the boy looked nothing like he did.

"This is getting boring!" the Delightful Children shouted together. "Are you stupid operatives going to start listening or just keep your jaws going at a bazillion miles a minute??"

The KND and TND operatives stopped shouting to the enemies as soon as the Delightful Children brought that up. They listened closely to what they had to say, especially Number 1. Everyone was curious on why Mary had made that statement. It did not make sense! All this time, Megan and Mary were related? It was not possible. Sure, their names sounded the same, but that was it, right?

"Tell me why you said that, Mary," Number 1 ordered. "If you're lying, I have a sharpened axe at home in my closet."

"You keep a sharpened axe in your closet?" Number 5 asked, his body shaking. Number 1 let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head.

"It's for my textbooks after I finish a year of school."

"Oh, okay, I feel a little bit better now."

"That was amusing!" Mitchell announced. "Megan, just out of curiosity, do you mind if I borrow it when we get home?"

"Hey, yeah!" Number 1 realized. "How the hell did you guys get to the future?"

"We'll explain it later!" Number 274 called.

"Not you!"

"Oh...alright! Continue!"

Mary crossed her arms and smiled simply at the strange antics going on in front of her. She grinned happily and closed her eyes. Number 1, getting the hint, stopped whatever she was doing and focused on the explanation she was about to receive.

"I'm sure you Teens Next Door and Kids Next Door are aware of those legends all those years ago," she began. "Most people would just think that they were myths passed down from generation to generation, and that they were stories parents told kids to keep them quiet. Well, that's not true."

"What?" the mystery operative asked. "The legends or the thoughts on the legends?"

"The thoughts on the legend!"

"So the legends are real?"

"What do you think I'm saying??"

"Oh...by the way! My name is Number 30C!"

"Shut up! I can't believe the stupidity of you guys!" Mary let her arms drop and turned back to her Teens Next Door counterpart. Their gazes met and they did not move for the longest time. "I suppose you want an explanation for why they're real," Mary finally said.

"That was the plan," Number 1 replied. "Most evil villains tend to explain plans and their own stupid explanations."

"Well, this one isn't stupid! This one is totally true, and we are descendants of that harsh ruler. Don't you get it? This future is all your fault! You were the one that screwed up the timeline, and you are the one that destroyed all your precious friends!"

"That's a lie!" Numbuh 2 shouted to the Delightful Teen. "Number 1 may have something of a criminal record, but that doesn't mean she's go and purposefully hurt her friends. Even when a plan of hers seems crazy, she always has a reason on why she did it!"

"Then how come she let you guys be killed by us?" Mary fought back. "If she was truly your friend, she would have been here to protect you instead of joining us, don't you think?"

"You lying bitch!!" Faith exploded. "Melanie saw the whole thing. Megan didn't join you!"

"That's right!" Melanie agreed, remembering what she had seen. "I remember the day you killed my mom and my dad and my aunt!"

"WHAT???" Cree screamed, turning to the Delightfuls. "Well, that explains why we haven't met a future form of me!"

"And aren't I here either?" Chad continued. "Why aren't Chris and I in this future? Why isn't anyone here? None of us have future selves!

"Do you mind explaining that?" Chris asked, narrowing his eyes. All ten Delightfuls shrunk back in fear, watching their three apprentices gang up on them. They each bit his or her own lip and turned nervously to one another.

"Now, now," a voice began, "Chris, Cree, Chad, that's no way to show any respect towards your masters."

Father and Mother started walking over to the battlefield, looking angry and yet almost satisfied. They stopped in front of their children and looked at the operatives. Both of them eyed Melanie more than they eyed anyone else. She was the one that spilled the beans to the KND and TND. She had told them the part of the plan they were trying to cover up this whole time.

"Wh-why did you kill our future s-selves?" Cree was able to mumble. "We thought you said you'd make a perfect future for all of the super villains of the world. Why did you go and get rid of us?" Her voice sounded like that of a scared child, and her eyes had the same expression. She looked seriously heartbroken.

"Had to get rid of all the former KND idiots, now didn't we?" Mother replied with a question. "There was no way we could go and risk everything we were planning. We couldn't have some decommissioned brats rebelling against us. It was bad enough when that stupid Mushi started fighting back."

"My sister is not stupid!" Numbuh 3 interrupted. "She was doing the right thing by telling you guys what you were doing wasn't nice."

"She deserved to live in this future!" Craig finished. "She was doing nothing wrong."

"I was probably just an innocent college girl, wasn't I?" Mushi asked, scratching her head. "College years tend to be like that."

Chris cocked his head and asked, "How'd you know that?"

"Enough of this!" Father scolded. "We need to stay focused on the explanation at hand. Now then, Miss Megan Un, I'm sure the children have already told you that you are responsible for this future. Well, you most certainly are. Think about it, Child. You were the one that started the Teens Next Door because you harmed the timeline. You were not supposed to have run away from home that night when you were little. Since you joined the Kids Next Door, you obviously felt different after you were decommissioned."

"Times were different," Number 1 picked up. "I still have memories of being a KND operative. They actually weren't bad days. The only thing I want to know is why you know I ran away from home one night."

"As I was saying," Father continued, completely ignoring her remark, "the Teens Next Door was never supposed to exist. By creating that organization, you created a mess for everyone in the world to fall within."

"You abandoned your team," Mother explained. "You were too scared to even set foot on our property or say a single word to us. You were so frightened that you fled from us and later committed suicide."

"I couldn't have," Number 1 mumbled. "I can't be responsible for this debacle. I couldn't have turned everyone down when they needed me most. What the hell was I thinking? I...I...I just can't be that type of person in the future."

"Too bad," Mother replied, "you were. And now, you'll be responsible for this, too!"

With those words, Mother rose into the sky with her water-based shield covering her. Closing her eyes, she was able to take control of the Delightfuls. Father started to flame and tossed fire at the rest of the group to keep them away. The KND and TND ran away to any safe spots they could find. Craig and Faith grabbed onto Mushi while Hammie and Tommy hid behind a set of boulders. Melanie was trapped, trapped in a ring of fire. Number 1 was still standing before her enemies, and she could not believe her eyes.

"Oh, stop! Please stop what you're doing to that child!" she cried. "She has nothing to do with the fight between you and me."

"She is nothing but a nuisance," Jessica snapped, her fingers beginning to turn into ropes. As soon as she made a noose, Father hit her with a blast of fire, and she stood as a demon similar to him and Mother.

"She revealed part of the plan," Daimion continued. His hands formed into razor-sharp butcher knives. He, too, transformed into a demon.

"She doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut," Tina chimed in. Father hit her with a flame, and her body transformed into the demon shadow engulfed in flames. Apparently, she had the same ability as Father.

"She must die," Mitchell agreed. Electricity absorbed his body until he became a demon with lightning-based shields.

"And you caused it," Mary finished. Her fingernails jetted out to an incredibly long and sharp point that twinkled even thought the sun did not shine. She motioned for the Delightful Children to take cover behind them. As they did, Jessica extended her ropes out and grabbed Melanie by the wrists.

"Don't hurt this young girl!" Number 1 begged.

They didn't listen. Instead, Jessica brought her out of the circle of flames and to Father. He held the small girl in his strong grip. All of the operatives and friends were too petrified to even move, let alone attempt to save Melanie. Chris, Cree, and Chad looked on, remembering nothing but the betrayal Melanie had mentioned. They could not help but think that she had a serious point in her explanation.

"Don't kill that girl!" Numbuh 1 shouted from his hiding place. "I swear, if you so much as even think about hurting her..."

"You mean like this?"

Father suddenly dug his hand into Melanie's chest. She screamed in pain and wriggled in his arms until finally stopping and becoming very quiet. When Father removed his hand, it was not bloody, to everyone's surprise. Instead, he held a very shiny ball of light in his palm. He threw Melanie to the ground and marveled at his prize.

Finally getting enough courage to move, Number 1 ran for Melanie and went to kneel down next to her. Daimion brought his hands over to them and showed of the sharp blade. Number 1 had sweat rolling down her skin, acting like glue between her hair and her skin. She bit her lip and watched as Mitchell came by with the shield. He used his powers to bump the two of them off to the side. The rolled in the dry dirt and finally stopped when they crashed into a pile of rugged stones.

"She's dead," Tina announced, absolutely satisfied, "and you are responsible."

"Well said, Tina," Mother rewarded, slowly drifting to the ground. "Number 1, that is what you did to all of your friends, because you decided not to save them."

"Let's go home now please," the Delightful Children said together. "Father, may we go home now?"

"I think we'd like to go home, too," Daimion agreed, turning back into his normal self. His siblings followed one at a time until they were all the Delightful Teenagers again.

"We are very proud of you, Delightful Teenagers," Father told them. "Let's go."

The Delightfuls gave one last evil glare to the helpless operatives and headed off for their mansion with Father and Mother. Number 1 held Melanie in her arms as she gently lifted herself to her knees. Melanie could not keep herself against Number 1. She fell over and did not respond to any movements that anyone made. Number 1 slowly waved her hand in front of the child's eyes, but there was not even so much as a tiny breath that escaped her lips.

"Oh, Melanie," she murmured, "is this what I did to your parents? Did I do this to everyone? Did I really create this future?"

"You sure did."

Number 1 looked up and saw all of the Kids Next Door and Teens Next Door operatives looking down at her. Her eyes started to well up with tears that rolled down her white cheeks. She held Melanie close against the bare skin of her shoulders, hoping she'd be able to feel movement or a breath.

"You killed my daughter," Numbuh 1 continued. "Why didn't you do anything to stop the Delightfuls, huh?"

"They were right," Numbuh 5 agreed. "You abandoned all of us, Bitch."

"You caused everyone's death!" Lizzie accused. "I hope you're happy with that corpse, because it's the only friend in the world you have!"

A series of shouts from angry kids and teens flooded the ears of Number 1. She felt horrible. She thought there was only one thing she could do with this child. She got up on her feet, used her amazing ability to ignore, and climbed down the elevator to the safe house.

Number 1 sobbed on top of a closed box against the super computer sitting on the side of the wall. She took her glasses off and rubbed away the tearstains left on the lenses. She put them back on and heard the door to the safe house open.

"We thought you could use a little company."

"I know a way we can keep Melanie alive."

"Please," Number 1 began, "Chad, Cree, Hammie, Number 10, and Number 30C, can you please leave me alone?"

End of Chapter Six