Disclaimer: Even if it's been over a month, I still don't own this stuff.
A/N: It's been forever, but at least I'm updating now! I realize I have a million spelling and grammatical errors all over this story, but bear with me, please.
Thanks to all the reviewers!
This chapter is short, and in about two minutes, you'll know why.
…
The life after
Chapter 5
I was locked into a glass bulb sort of thing in the back of the ship that was going to take me to the Moon Base. I could barely move in there. I can't stand being locked into small spaces like this one. I freak out and get a little claustrophobic. Fear grew inside of me. The fear of losing all that I had been working so hard in my subconsciousness to achieve. I always knew about the Kids Next Door, even after being decommissioned, or else I wouldn't have been able to force it all back. And now I was going to lose it all. I wasn't going to remember Nigel, Abby or Hoagie. But most of all, I wouldn't remember Kuki – the love of my life, obviously. I thought about all the things we did together back when we were a team. I had a major crush on her, and I still had. I really didn't want to lose all of that now.
I had to force myself not to cry. It was hard not to, though. All the memories, all I knew and lived for would be gone in a matter of hours, or minutes even. It ached somewhere inside of me, my stomach twisting and my heart sinking.
I leaned my head back and listened to the sound of the engine as we made our way up to the moon. It felt like it took forever. Finally we reached the space docks up at the Moon Base. The decommissioning team got me out of the glass bulb and cuffed my hands.
"No funny stuff, Wallabee," the leader for the decommissioning team, codename Numbuh 93, told me. "We've only grown in number since you were a part of this organization. There's no way you can escape us. If you try to get away, someone will catch you sooner or later."
"We'll see about that," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at him. "You really can't do this to me. Just think of all the things I did for this organization."
"That was long before we came along, so we don't really care," one of the others replied. "Now, move it!" He grabbed a hold of my shirt and pulled me out of the ship. Operatives moved out of the way as they saw me being lead towards decommissioning room 1. I heard some of them say something to each other, pointing at me as if they recognized me. I couldn't seem to recognize them, though. They were way too young. They became operatives a long time after me.
Numbuh 93 strapped me to one of the seats in the decommissioning room. Things hadn't really changed in there. Some technology had been switched out, but that was pretty much it.
Suddenly, the door into the room was opened and a girl entered the room. She looked at me with two serious brown eyes as she came walking towards us.
Numbuh 93 glanced over his shoulder, then he looked back at me. "Oh, good," he said. "Numbuh 877 is here to chat with you." He saluted her and walked off.
Numbuh 877 stopped in front of me and stared at my face. "Numbuh 4," she greeted with a sweet little girl's voice. "How are you?"
"What do you think?" I replied with a sneer. "I feel like crud! You guys are taking away the only thing I know that I have left to live for."
"In a few minutes you won't even know that," she replied. She sighed. "I'm really sorry things had to turn out this way. It hurts me to see you like this. I know you were a grand operative back in your days. I've read all about former Sector V, and especially about you. Since your brain wasn't completely erased, we had to keep an eye on you."
"Yes, I know that," I growled. "So why didn't you just decommission me again right away so you wouldn't have to do this now when it hurts me the most?"
"We did!" she answered. "Well, the decommissioning team back then did. They tried to get rid of your memory, but the data told us something was wrong. It was impossible to get rid of the rest. So we figured that if you one day got your memory back, it would be easier to decommission you again. Everything would be removed then. We can't fail this time. We have improved."
"Why is it so bad if I get my memory back?" I muttered. "I won't hurt anybody. I just want my life back, and I want my friends to remember, too."
"The rules, Numbuh 4!" she exclaimed. "You know the rules. You can't know about the organization because we're afraid that you could go 'teen' on us and become one of our worst enemies. Remember what happened with Cree and Chad!"
"They've changed!" I replied. "They're not evil anymore. Besides, I'd never betray the organization – not now, not ever. I'm on your side."
"How can we know that for a fact?" she asked. "We don't know that, so we can't take chances. Anybody could turn evil! We're not willing to take a wrong step here only because we want to believe a former operative on his word! Do you see my point here?"
"Yes, but I still think it's wrong!" I cried. "I just want to live a normal life, knowing that I had the best childhood a guy could have! And I want the others to remember, too. We'd never turn our backs on you. We'd rather help you! Think about it! Having teens working with you against other teens. You'd be unstoppable!"
"There's a reason why it's called the Kids Next Door, Numbuh 4," she said. "We don't trust teenagers, adults, or old people! We only trust ourselves. We hardly trust 12-year-olds anymore either, because so many of them have become evil and joined the teens earlier." She looked over at the decommissioning team that was standing over by the control table, and gave them a sign. Then she looked back at me. "It's been a pleasure to meet someone like you, Wallabee Beatles. You and your sector really did something for this organization. I respect that. I'm sorry we have to do this to you, but that's just the way it is." She then turned around and walked over to the decommissioning team. She said something to them, and then she left the room.
Numbuh 93 looked at me with two evil eyes. "Say your prayers, teenager!" He lowered his hand to a button on the control table.
I tried to get out of the seat, but it was impossible. I was frightened, so scared of what I was about to lose. I squeezed my eyes shut. Every sound around me seemed to become louder. A high frequency whistling sound made my head hurt. A ship was heard from outside the base. It sounded like it flew right by inside the room! I swear I could hear the blood pump in my veins, my heart beating faster. I clenched my hands around the sides of the seat I was sitting in, just waiting for the moment it would all be over. The moment I no longer was Numbuh 4. The moment that would change my life forever – again.
I realized I was sobbing. I opened my eyes and let a few tears run down my cheeks.
Numbuh 93 glanced over at me and frowned. "This is it, Wallabee. Your time has come."
"No…" The word I had expected to be uttered in a loud cry only came out as I tiny whisper.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion. Numbuh 93's hand was now nearly touching the big button.
So long, guys, I thought. Goodbye, Kuki. So much for our future together…
I heard the click, and a large object shot out from a device in the ceiling and covered my face. It was as if I could feel how my brain was being drained. All of my memories of the Kids Next Door and my dear friends were being sucked out.
And that was it. I remembered no more…
