Chaptah 5

While Abby, Nigel, and Hoagie were battling the fear world, Kuki and Wally were fighting a battle of their own. The Fear Finder had moved from the east side of the pier to the west, discovering the two final members of Sector V. Unfortunately for him, they had spotted him too.

"Numbah 3, quick, hit him with Hippity's ray gun!" Wally yelled, grabbing the back of Kuki's chair. She swirled to the left and hit the large red button that activates the ray gun. She missed the Fear Finder and the adult took that time to shoot them with his fear ray.

"No!" Kuki screamed as they got hit. "Wally..." she tried to say before loosing consciousness.

Kuki's Fear

"Who are you?" Wally asked. He stood with Nigel, Hoagie, and Abby looking down at me.

"You silly Wally, I'm Numbah 3!" I exclaimed. He gave me a confusing look and demanded again to know who I was and why I was at the tree house.

"You aren't Numbah 3, see?" Abby said, moving aside to show a foreign girl. "This is Numbah 3."

"What!?" I asked, tears in my eyes. "Why have you replaced me?"

"Replaced you, we don't even know you!" Nigel replied. He and Hoagie started laughing at me. I don't understand! These are supposed to be my friends!

"How did you get into the treehouse anyway?" Abby asked me.

"I walked in, duh. I told you I'm Numbah 3!" I said again. She laughed at me too. I turned to Wally with pleading eyes. "You remember me, don't you Wally?"

"I'm sure I'd remember if you were Numbah 3. You don't mean anything to me. Now if you don't mind, the real Numbah 3 and I are going to play with her Rainbow Monkeys." Rainbow Monkeys? This must be some weird dimension, because Numbah 4 doesn't like Rainbow Monkeys!

"This isn't real." I said defiantly. They looked shocked as the treehouse shook. I felt the ground swallow me up, everything becoming blurry as...

Kuki groaned as she woke up from her nightmare. She looked around until she found Wally on the floor behind her. Wally was crying silently from where he lay on the floor under Kuki's chair.

"Wally!" Kuki said as she ran over to him. She picked up his shivering head and laid it on her lap. "Wake up Numbah 4!"

"Numbah 3..." Wally whispered.

Wally's fear

"I don't love you." Kuki said to me. I started crying I couldn't believe she didn't care about me. I felt the tears stop as I looked at her. This wasn't my Kuki; her eyes, they were so cold. My Kuki would never say anything like that; she'd never want to hurt any of us. I smiled at her and turned away. I felt the room fade around me, I knew I had conquered my fear.

"Kuki?" Wally muttered as he joined her. Her pretty face stood out among the blurred background.

"Wally!" Kuki exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. "I was wondering when you'd come back to me!"

"Er, Numbah 3." Wally said blushing. "I can't breath."

"Oh, sorry Numbah 4." She replied, releasing him. "I think we need to get that Fear guy now, since his machine won't work on us now."

"Good plan." Wally replied. "Let's see if we can get Nigel on the communicator. I'll do that while you get Hippity over to the eastside. Got it?"

"Aye, aye captain Wally." Kuki said, steering the mechanical rabbit towards their teammates last known coordinates.

"Numbah 1, do you read me, over." Wally said into the communicator.

"Loud and clear, Numbah 4. How did you and Numbah 3 fare against the Fear Finder?"

"We successfully defeated our fears. How about you boss?"

"Successful as well. Meet us at these coordinates in three minutes, over." Nigel said.

"Way ahead of you Numbah 1." Wally said, putting away the communicator and turning to Kuki. "You ready for this?"

"You bet!" she replied enthusiastically. The KND met up in front of the old fisherman's café, where the Fear Finder stood boldly.

"I see you children have overcome your worst fears to capture me. I congratulate you. No one has ever beaten my Fear Ray. I will go peacefully into your custody, but on one condition."

"Name your requirements, adult." Nigel said, pointing the Bubblegum Blaster at the grownup.

"All I want to know is how you overcame your fears. I already know what they were, your fears I mean. That's the convenient thing about my machine, I get to see what the subjects are afraid of. You'd be surprised at the things I've seen." The adult said, with a slightly sad look.

"Why do you do it?" Kuki asked, taking a few steps toward the aged man. Wally made a step to pull her back, but she gave him a look that stopped him in his tracks. Walking up to the criminal, Kuki gentle laid a hand on his Fear Ray and aimed it at the ground.

"I'm afraid." The adult confessed. He started crying, his defeat coming not from the KND, but from himself.

"It's ok! Everybody is scared, you of all people should know that." Kuki replied.

"I know you're right, but I still don't know how to conquer my fears, and seeing how you all beat the machine, I was hoping you would give me a clue. In exchange for that information, I'll go peacefully."

"Deal." Nigel said, jumping in.

"So what did you do?" Fear Finder asked.

"I just realized that some bonds, like those between friends, are something that can't be broken, so it became easy for me to beat mine." Abby said, smiling.

"Oi, and I just realized that the person in mine wasn't real, because everything coughsaid was nothing like the real person." Wally added, blushing. The adult nodded at him, realizing what he was talking about.

"For kids, you're all very smart."

"Thank you adult. As for me, I had a little help from a friend." Nigel said, giving Abby a grin.

"I ate them." Hoagie said, causing Abby and Nigel to laugh.

"You ate who?" Wally asked.

"Oh, I was being attacked by giant chilidogs until Numbah 5 whispered that I could eat them. After that it was easy to beat them." Wally and Kuki held their laughter for a couple seconds before letting it flow. They fell against each other holding their stomachs from the laughing.

"So you're saying I have to face my fear?" Fear Finder asked.

"Yeah, you got it." Abby said. The adult thanked them and prepared himself for departure to the KND Moon Base without struggle. Nigel explained to Numbah 86 that he'd need to forget everything that happened except for having to face his fears. Numbah 86 gave him the affirmative and started to turn back to her ship until Nigel stopped her.

"Numbah 86, about decommissions. According to Numbah 362 we are exempt from decommission."

"Yeah, although I don't like this one bit. She said she's going to have Sector V be the starting sector of the Teens Next Door. Your team will embark on more difficult missions, all monitored by the KND, of course, and you'll be able to help us learn what the teenagers are up to. Don't fail us Numbah 1, because I hate failure." Franny said, giving Nigel a hard look before entering her ship. Nigel smiled and waved goodbye before joining up with his team.

"Numbah 1, what was that about?" Hoagie asked when Nigel returned.

"I, uh, just had some business to take care of." Nigel coughed. Abby raised an eyebrow to his nervous behavior, but decided to ask him when they got back to the treehouse.

"Come on gang, let's go home." Wally said, leading Kuki to Hippity. Nigel nodded and ordered Abby and Hoagie into the bus. It was a quiet ride home for both sides of the team. Kuki didn't understand why Wally hadn't ridden on the bus, but naturally she was oblivious to the reason.

A/N: This was the second part to my 2-parter chapter. Not sure what the next chapters hold for our friends, although I do have an idea that I'll be fitting into the story. Wish meh luck! Your writing extrodinaire, Signy