Wow, it seems like I only started this fanfic a few days ago…and it's almost been two weeks (I think…Have you been keeping count?). It's already down to the big showdown. Yes, I'm sorry to say that this will be the final chapter. I kind of think I should have made it longer, but hey, when it's done it's done. I like it this way anyway, short and simple. Ok, well enjoy the last chapter of The Words Inside My Head, min'na, and arigatou for reading this far!

Oh, and about Numbah 1's sunglasses: he doesn't look natural without them, and he almost never takes them off, so I like to think he needs them to see. I hope you don't mind. Ah! Blood! Call the censors! OoO Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard you hit a Kid Next Door operative, they never bleed? Well, even the KND have blood, so they can spill it like we do. It's nothing too extreme, but if you don't like even reading about blood I suggest you find a better, less suggestive theme-ish story to read. And yes, I know they don't use rocks in their slingshots…They use gumballs or something…but if I were to hit you with a gumball or two, would you instantly be knocked out? I didn't think so. Chapter 3: Showdown

Numbah 1 awoke with a massive headache and chained to a wall. When he had blinked all the sleep from his eyes, he looked around at his surroundings—he seemed to be in a large room, probably underneath the hallway he had been in, considering the lighting was so bad. His prescription sunglasses where missing, so he had to squint to see the other rather shorter person standing off to the side of him. The person cackled, then stepped closer, waving a black object in front of his nose that Numbah 1 was sure were his sunglasses. He tried to grab them, but, because of the chains, his arm fell back at the futile attempt. The mystery midget continued to laugh.

"What's this?" he said in a nasally voice, "is Numbah 1 all tied up? I thought you were the leader of the Kids Next Door; aren't you supposed to be a least a little bit more experienced?" Numbah 1 recognized the voice as that of King Sandy immediately, and struggled against his chains, only to fall back again like he had before. Sandy laughed at his pathetic effort, and advanced closer. Numbah 1 sat on the floor, squinting up at Sandy until he was close enough to see without doing so, and tried again to move his arms so he could at least grab his glasses. The chains held fast, though, so he couldn't move them even an inch or more forward to reclaim his lost spectacles. Sandy waved the glasses just out of reach, making Numbah 1 clench his teeth. Before he could say anything, though, Sandy walked back to a machine that Numbah 1 couldn't see. He heard a few beeping noises as Sandy pressed a few buttons, but that was all—and he couldn't even see what Sandy was doing. He hung his head in fatigue. What had happened in the last few hours to make his head hurt so bad? He vaguely remembered being attacked from above, but after that everything went black. He also knew he was underground, beneath the pool, because every now and then a drop of chlorinated water fell on his head from above. He sighed as the drops fell on his head and on the ground, as Sandy pushed buttons, until slowly he started to fall asleep again. His last thoughts before he fell asleep were of his team, and how more now than ever he needed their help.

"Achoo!" Numbah 5's loud sneeze made her entire team turn around to face her. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Guess I caught a cold or something," she said, and they continued to walk to the lifeguard base. Once there, they looked carefully for any lifeguards who might be lurking inside or any that might have been approaching. Once sure the coast was clear, they walked inside the small room, and looked around.

"Well, this is worth risking my life for," Numbah 4 said sarcastically. "This place is a dump! What was Numbah 1 planning to find in here?" Numbah 2 shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats the tar out of me," he said. "But maybe he wasn't looking around in this room." Numbah 4 rolled his eyes.

"And just where else is he supposed to go in here?" he asked. "Maybe in that giant first aid kit on the wall." Numbah 5 tapped Numbah 4 on the shoulder irritably.

"No, down there," she said, pointing to the hall. Numbah 4 was baffled—why hadn't he seen that hall before? Numbah 5 walked down the hall, motioning for the others to follow her. "Come on!" They followed hesitantly, looking around the hall like it would swallow them alive if they ventured too far. Numbah 3 clung to Numbah 4, but he didn't shake her off—he was a little scared, too, though he didn't want to admit it. They had walked halfway down the hall when there came a chuckle from above them. Numbah 5 looked up and the ceiling suspiciously, while her other comrades looked around elsewhere for the source, shivering at the phantom laughter. Numbah 5 looked at a certain nook in the ceiling that looked slightly off-color—and her eyes widened.

"Everybody, get out of the hall!" she shouted, but it was too late. Before anyone could move, a giant, armor-covered teenager jumped down from the rafters to land in front of the shocked children. Numbah 5 cursed, and tied to run out the other side, but another teenager jumped down in front of her, blocking the other way out. She cursed again, and backed up against her fellow comrades, thinking rapidly about how to get out of this mess. Her mind came up blank when it came to strategies—so that meant using brute force. She tightened her grip on her makeshift slingshot, then carefully passed it on the Numbah 4, who was right behind her. She felt him take it, then looked at Numbah 2 and Numbah 3 to see if the had gotten the message. They both nodded, so she turned back to face the over-sized teenager in front of him. The large young man smiled and grunted, and, as if this were a signal, him and his partner moved in closer to the four kids. They were just about close enough to grab the "unsuspecting children," when Numbah 4 cried out.

"Oh my god! What the heck it that?" Just as he has planned, the big, and unmistakeingly stupid, teenager turned around and looked over his shoulder—and turned back around to meet a roundhouse kick in the face. Numbah 4 landed a little less than gracefully, then punched the air in triumph.

"All right! It feels good to do that! Take that, you big teenage jerk!" He quickly turned around to face the other one—big mistake. The one he had kicked recovered fast, and grabbed Numbah 4 by his ankle, lifting him into the air.

"Think again, Little Dude," the teenager said, "I'm not going down that easily." Numbah 4 dangled in the air from his hands a moment longer before the teenager dropped him onto the hard cement. Numbah 4 cried out and recoiled as he landed on the cement, just barely missing getting his head split open. He sat up slowly, his nose bleeding freely, and lifted up the slingshot Numbah 5 had handed him. He took careful aim, taking care not to get caught by the teenager again, and let go, sending a small but heavy rock sailing towards the teenager. It hit him square in the head, causing him to fall over again, dazed. Numbah 4 ran over before he could get up, took a wild leap, and landed on his stomach, knocking the breath out of him. He jumped on him a few more times until the teenager finally law unconscious.

Numbah 4 got off his stomach, and turned around to help his other friends with the slightly larger of the teenagers, aiming for the teen's head like he had the last one. He waited for Numbah 3 to stop hitting the teen on the head with her paddleball weapon before he let go of the sling, sending the small stone flying. The teen stood still for a moment, dazed, then shook his head and continued to ward off the attacking kids. When the rock didn't work, Numbah 4 ran over and started kicking him the best he could without getting hit back. Numbah 3 continued to bop the stubborn teenager with her paddleball, Numbah 2 snuck around the back to prepare his aerial weapon without the risk of being hit, and Numbah 5 was using the same tactics as Numbah 4. With her slingshot in his possession, she was left no other choice but to attack using nothing but her hands. Numbah 4 kept shooting rocks until he ran out, almost none of them having met their mark, then joined Numbah 5 in her mortal combat technique. He tried to land a kick on the teen's right side, but when he tried to get in close the teen kicked him hard in the gut, and he fell on the floor sprawled out and coughing. Numbah 5 was thrown back a second later, and skidded across the floor until she rammed into the wall—the impact left her lying there limp. Numah 2, in the meantime, had gotten his flying invention to actually work, but he was grabbed out of the sky by the teenager and thrown just like the others. The only one who seemed to still be attacking the teen was Numbah 3, which didn't last long. The teen picked her up forcefully, but instead of throwing her he held her up to his gaze.

"So you're Sandy's little girlfriend?" he asked, grinning evilly, "I guess I won't be hurting you then. You're a little young for my taste but…my brother has some pretty good taste in girls, doesn't he? Heheh." He then started walking away with a screaming Numbah 3 under his arm. Numbah 4 took a sharp intake of breath, and tried to get up—his breath hadn't yet caught up with him quite yet. He struggled to stand, then tried to run after them, stumbling as he did so. Numbah 3's screams still permeated the air in the hall, and the teenager kept getting farther away. His breath slowly returning to him, he started to run after the two, not minding to check if his comrades followed. Numbah 3 was still screaming, but now it sounded as if she were cheering him on.

"Help! Help! He won't let go!" She was struggling to get out of his grip on her, but the strength of a ten your old girl left something to be desired against a muscular teenager. She even tried biting his hand, but he only grunted and acted like he didn't feel anything. She was about to scream again in the hopes that a lifeguard would hear, when a figure flew past her, and towards the head of the teenager holding her captive. In the next five seconds, the teenager made a stricken sound, fell to the ground, and Numbah 3 was released. Numbah 4 stood over the unconscious teenager, breathing hard like he'd run a marathon, and holding the fist he had used to knock the brute senseless. When he seemed to catch his breath, he turned around to face Numbah 3, who was even more shocked then their comrades who had come running over.

"I couldn't let him just take you like that," Numbah 4 said breathlessly, trying not to meet Numbah 3's eyes, "and he was going to take you to Sandy. You look like you didn't want me to knock 'em out for you. And it's not like he's dead, so stop looking at me like that." He turned away and started to walk in the direction that the teenager had been heading. After a moment of silence, his team followed after him, and they all walked in stillness for a few minutes. When the silence got to be too much, Numbah 3 ran to catch up with Numbah 4—and hugged him from behind. Numbah 4 froze mid-step, and turned around to look at the girl squeezing him so tight, his face turning a deep scarlet as he saw who it was.

"Wha…what are you…?" he started to ask, but Numbah 3 interrupted him.

"Thank-you," she said, hugging him a little closer, "for saving me. I really mean it. You're always saving me, and I truly am happy. Thank-you, Numbah 4, for everything." Numbah 3's apology only made Numbah 4 blush harder, but he didn't push her away. His team passed them giving them odd looks, and Numbah 4's face turned an even darker shade of crimson, but he didn't push her off, and waited for his team to walk further ahead before he turned around to speak to her again.

"You dumb girl," he mumbled, tapping her head with his fist lightly, "I know you're happy, and I know you're thankful—we're friends, aren't we?" Numbah 3 still had her face buried in Numbah 4's back, but she nodded slowly. Numbah 4 tapped her head again, making her look up at his blushing face and serious eyes, and she cocked her head slightly—he looked like he had something to tell her.

"Kuki," he said, addressing his friend by her real name, "I…I've never thought of you as just a 'friend.' I think…there's something more there, but I can't really express it in just words. Do you understand what I mean?" Numbah 3 shook her head, but she knew what he was saying—they were the words she had been dreaming about recently, the words she had always kind of hoped to here from someone, in her heart. Numbah 4 looked away, blushing harder, and started walking away. Numbah 3 hesitantly let go of his waist, and followed after him.

"The team is waiting for us," he said quietly, walking faster as Numbah 3 got closer to him. Numbah 5 arched her eyebrows when she saw Numbah 4's flushed face and Numbah 3's curious expression, as did Numbah 2.

"What's up?" he asked. "You look like you got in a fight with that pink crap women sometimes put on their faces…and lost." Numbah 4 shook his head vigorously, and Numbah 3 giggled cheerfully, seeming to forget for the moment what Numbah 4 had been saying. Numbah 4, seeing the door that they had stopped at, charged through to see a flight of stairs leading underground. Be motioned for his partners to follow him, then started the long walk down.

Numbah 1 was shaken awake by a large teenager in green armor, and was surprised to see that his spectacles had been returned to him sometime during his slumber. His head also had bandages around it, and hurt at least a little less. He could see clearly where he was, and saw King Sandy hovering over next the behemoth teenager.

"So," he said with a sneer, "the fearless leader awakes. How was your nap, Numbah 1?" Numbah 1 clenched hi teeth.

"What's your plan, Sandy?" he snapped. "I know you're plotting something! What is it this time?" Sandy snickered and walked back to a giant computer in the middle of the room. Numbah 1 saw numerous cables attached to a giant machine in the middle of the floor, a machine that pulsed with a bluish light and buzzed very softly. It almost looked like a water filter. Sandy seemed to notice that Numbah 1 was staring at his machine, and sneered.

"You like it? It's my latest invention," he said, looking fondly at hi creation as he did so. "Would you like to know what it does?" Numbah 1 looked at the "king" suspiciously.

"Why tell me?" he asked slowly, "I'm your enemy—don't you think I'd try and foil your plan if you told me your objective?" King Sandy cackled at the very idea.

"Even if you could get out of those chains, and even if I let you go alive, who says anyone would believe you? And there's no way you can ruin my plans now—its far too late for that. But anyway, listen to me carrying on—I was going to tell you about my dear invention." He stroked the keyboard of his super computer, gazing at it with a mixture of adoration and greed. "You see, this machine is actually a lot worse than it seems—it can send shock waves all over to world, even to the center of the earth. When it sends out a large enough wave, a giant tidal wave will hit this city, causing it to form the biggest beach in the world. I'll rain over the entire city, in a newly manufactured castle, with my beautiful queen by my side, and not even the Kids Next Door will be able to stop me!" He cackled maniacally for a moment more, then turned to face the Kids Next Door leader. "So what are you going to do, Nigel Uno? Are you going to magically break free of those chains and just save the day like always? I don't think so! No one's here to save you—your comrades have abandoned you. You can't get out and you can't stop me!"

"Maybe he can't," said a voice from the bottom of the stairs, "but we can!" Sandy spun around, and Numbah one grinned broadly as he saw who was standing there—his team, led by his co-captain, Numbah 5.

"Hey, Numbah 1," she said, "we came to get you. And believe me, this is the last time you're going out on your own!" Numbah 2 gave him a thumbs up, and Numbah 4 waved at him, giggling. Numbah 4 was scowling at Sandy, and not paying attention to his leader.

"We head the whole thing from the stairs, Sandy," he said, taking a step closer to the smaller kid, "and you're about to get the beating of your lifetime." He walked steadily slower, Sandy baking up against a wall, looking frightened. While he was being taken care of, Numbah 5 ran over to Numbah one and unlocked his chains with a key she had found hanging by the door. Numbah 1 rubbed his wrists, which felt numb, and smiled at Numbah 5, who patted him on the back.

"Welcome back, boss," she said.

"Good to be back, Numbah 5," he replied. Suddenly, there was a loud beeping sound, like that of a sirens—they all looked up to see the machine was glowing red, and its hum had become deeper and louder. Sandy laughed in triumph, and pushed away from the stunned Numbah 4, watching as his invention came to life.

"This is it!" he said. "Soon the world's largest beach will be mine! Mine, all mine!" he cackled to himself as the Kids Next Door watched in horror, realization that they had failed their first mission hitting them harder than any wave from the machine. The machine continued the blare—and then, as soon as it had started, the beeping subsided. Sandy growled, and kicked the machine—it reared up again more than he had wanted it to. The machine shook and beeped and hummed, making all sorts of noises, and then started to vibrate. Soon the ground was shaking as though waves were shaking them roughly, and they fell to their knees.

"Wh-what's going on here?" shouted Numbah 3 over the noise. "Why is it doing this?"

"Because that nimrod Sandy messed it up!" shouted Numbah 4. The ground shook more, and it seemed like the ground below them was shattering, Numbah 1 struggle to get up, but it was futile—he only fell to the ground once more.

"Is there any way to turn this thing off?" he shouted. Sandy nodded.

"Yes, by a password!" he shouted back. "But if I say it my dream will be—"

"Forget about your stupid dream!" shouted Numbah 2. "Even if your dream comes true, you won't be alive to see it unless it shuts down!"

"I-I…No! Never!" King Sandy stood up the best he could and walked over to the circuit board, trying desperately to lessen the tremors. There was another wave, the sound of tripping, a scream, and then King Sandy remained silent—he had been shocked, and lay unconscious by his monster computer.

"Now what do we do?" Numbah 4 shouted, his voice shaking with fear and from the force of the tremors. "Sandy is out cold and we don't know the ruddy password! What are we going to do, huh?" Numbah 1 clenched his teeth, trying hard not to bite hi tongue.

"We'll just have to guess it!" he shouted. "King! Sandy! Ruler!" None of the words worked, and the machine seemed to be acting up more than it had before. They were all shouting words now, trying desperately to shut it down.

"Beach!"

"Volleyball!"

"Castle!"

"Tofu!"

"Rainbow Monkey!"

The machine continued to buzz still—they couldn't guess the password, and each time they made a mistake the machine seemed to get wilder. Numbah 1 hung his head, ashamed, as did the other operatives. Numbah 3 clenched her teeth—she didn't want this to happen, no before Numbah 4 told her how he felt! She got up, and walked slowly over to the machine. She was going to shut it down, even if she got shocked like Sandy. Her comrades realized her intentions and called her name over and over, trying to convince her not to go.

"Numbah 3! Numbah 3! Don't do it!" Numbah 4's cries rang above the rest. When he saw that she wasn't stopping, he tried to run after her but couldn't for the tremors kept knocking him down. He tried to get up again, but it was no use—and Numbah 3 was getting close to the computer. His eyes blurred—he didn't want to cry like some little kid, but he didn't want to lose her. He hadn't even told her how he felt. He wanted her to know, he wanted her to be alive—he wanted to say her real name for once, in front of his other comrades.

"Kuki! I love you!"

It was as if the world stood still—there suddenly wasn't any noise, no tremors, no anything. Just silence. Numbah 4 opened his eyes, blinked, and saw to his amazement that the machine had stopped, and so had Numbah 3. He had said the password, and it had ceased.

"'Kuki,'" said Numbah 1 quietly, "of course. He loved Numbah 3 of course. Why didn't we think of that?"

"Speaking of love…" said Numbah 2, trailing off. Numbah 4 realized that everyone's eyes were on him, but he didn't even blush—he ran over to Numbah 3, and, for the first time, hugged her.

"I love you, Kuki," he whispered, "and I could never bear to lose you. I know I'm always kind of rude and annoying, and I've been really hard on you on a lot of occasions…but it's the truth. I love you." It was Numbah 3's face that was red now. She hugged Numbah 4 tightly, and buried her head in his chest.

"I love you too, Wally," she whispered, "and I'm glad." They stood there for a moment more, until Numbah 1 coughed politely, making them both spin around, equally flushed.

"We should be getting out of here now," he said. "The lifeguards will kick us out of the pool for an eternity if we get caught."

"Yeah, and then we'll have to use one of those blow-up pools that only fit three little kids at a time," said Numbah 2, "or run through sprinklers. Bo-ring!" They turned around and headed up the stairs. As they walked out of the dreaded room, Numbah 3 held Numbah 4's hand, and squeezed it tight. Numbah 4 smiled at her, and she smiled back—he was so glad he had been able to express the feeling he had been holding so dear for such a long time, and he was even happier to know she felt the same.

FIN