VICTORY… FOR MOST

(For the rest of that afternoon, the Kids Next Door tried to clean up the damage done in the attack, as Numbuh 362 had so ordered. But it was hard to keep all their celebratory feelings penned up, especially when they had just weathered the greatest direct threat to Kid-dom since the fall of their Great Treehouse and the foundation of the Kids Next Door.)

(Everyone was in high spirits, everyone looked upon their place in the Kids Next Door with renewed pride and gratitude. And everyone, at some point or other made a point to approach Numbuh 4 and thank him for his help in the battle or compliment him on his undeniable prowess in hand-to-hand fighting.)
(And though Numbuh 4 greeted his admirers with a smile and a 'thanks' he was not in high spirits. He helped some with the clean up, but when Numbuh 1 excused him from that task and Numbuh 362 gave him personal thanks for his efforts, Numbuh 4 was beginning to grow tired of the attention, and was eager to find some place where he could be alone.)

(He walked down a corridor, leading to the infirmary where he hoped to catch a last glimpse of his old friend before Global Command sent him to the Arctic Prison.)

(When Numbuh 4 entered the infirmary, the scientists delightedly shook his hands and the nurses flirtatiously batted their eyes at him. The amount of gratitude they were giving him was starting to grow sickening, but he tried to be polite, just stand there, smile, and take it.)
(Dark Grinder was starting to come around, the coffee had mostly been drained from his system and left him feeling weakened and drained, not to mention sick to his stomach. At Numbuh 4's request, the staff left the room to allow the two battle veterans some time to talk in private.)

(Numbuh 4 had come here, hoping to gain some closure with his once master. Now that he was here though, he couldn't think of anything he either needed or really wanted to say. But he hated seeing the great warrior in such an undignified state.)
(Numbuh 4 looked upon the broken man and could only ask a single question of himself. One that never went passed his lips.)

Numbuh 4: (in his head) How did it come to this?

(In the end it was Master 4 who spoke first.)

Master 4: (faintly) Hail the conquering hero…

Numbuh 4: (with some indignation) Please don't. No one will give me a rest about that. Everyone keeps asking me for autographs and pointers on fighting and… gah! I can't take it! I wish they'd just get over it and let me do my job like everyone else!

Master 4: (chuckling slightly) And I always had you pegged as a show-off who would love that kind of attention… heh heh …(gasp) (cough)
Sorry, the withdrawal from coffee is pretty painful. Can't say I don't deserve it though.

Numbuh 4: Come on Master 4, I know it wasn't you doing all that. It was the coffee, it was all…

Master 4: No Numbuh 4…

(Shocked at this denial, Numbuh 4 waits for Master 4 to continue.)

Master 4: I resisted the coffee at first, maybe I could've resisted it all if I had wanted to… but it was my fault. I saw the futility in all of my work, in everything. I thought I bore no ill will to the Kids Next Door. But I did; and I gave in…

(Incredulous, Numbuh 4's eyes go wide in disbelief.)

Master 4: (eyes closed, tears of shame coming through his lids) The coffee was only a wake-up call for what was inside me the whole time. I felt so angered for the way I had been treated. Angry at the betrayal of Numbuh 11 and Numbuh 274. I let myself be governed by my own ambitions and disillusioned with my own power. I betrayed everything I ever held sacred and everything I hold dear to me Numbuh 4.

And look what has come of it...
My dojo is lost, Moonbase is in ruins, and I have forsaken everyone… even you Numbuh 4.

Numbuh 4: (fighting not to show tears) Don't talk like that Master 4. Please don't.

Master 4: I'm not Master 4 anymore, by my actions I have forsaken my own name. In a single night and day I have gone completely askew from the Way that I spent a lifetime trying to cultivate.
I am a broken man. A traitor to all and a friend to none.

Numbuh 4: You'll always be Master 4 to me.

Master 4: (turns to the side, facing Numbuh 4) If ever there was one meant to bear such a name… it's you. We were brothers, Numbuh 4, and disgraced the both of us.
I remember that first day of your training. When you gave me your oath to live by the principles I so espoused. I have failed my own oath to those principles Numbuh 4… you are the greater of us.

Numbuh 4: Please Master 4, don't say that…

Master 4: I release you from that vow you made Numbuh 4. You are a more righteous one than I, make your own choices and stick to the vows you make yourself.

Numbuh 4: (angered) Enough Master 4! You made a mistake, but that's no reason to shut me out or put yourself down like that. You're the only adult friend I've ever had, and you're a better person than you give yourself credit.

Master 4: (squeezing his eyes tight to slow the tears) I won't ask for any mercy or understanding. There's nothing to understand…
(Opening his moistened eyes and facing Numbuh 4 again.)
Master 4: All I'll ask is for your forgiveness, my betrayed brother. You don't need make that decision now, just search within yourself, see if there is room to forgive even one so wrong as me… (gasp)

(Numbuh 4 clutched his Master's hand, the ripped glove crumbled ever so slightly as he did, exposing Master 4's emaciated hand.)

Master 4: I have nothing left to be proud of, save one thing…
(pause)
…I am grateful…(swallow) …to have been so honored…(swallow) …as to be your teacher…(swallow) …for as short a time… (swallow) …as it was. (swallow)

(Numbuh 4 was at his emotional breaking point. Even his normally resilient Tough-Guy front was starting to crack as he heard this last speech from his fallen comrade. Through the synchronized swallowing, so closely akin to the grinding of Dark Grinder, Numbuh 4 could sense his old master using all his resolve to overcome his own warped mind and speak these few words.)

(As Master 4 lay down to rest, his body stiffened and relaxed, one moment tugging at his restraints, the next sitting quietly as if in a peaceful slumber, and Numbuh 4 knew that though still living, the once wise, all-knowing warrior that he had so idolized was gone. Only a hollow shell of that remarkable man remained, while his insides were abuzz with a conflict between his ambitions and his very humanity. A battle that in the end would either completely corrupt or destroy him.)

(Numbuh 4 walked out of the infirmary and stood silently for a moment in the corridor. He didn't know whether to feel happiness that some of his Master remained untouched within that evil shell or remorse that so much had been lost. There would be a departing ceremony when Master 4 would be sent to the Arctic prison. And more than likely, Numbuh 4 would never see him again.)
(Numbuh 4 looked within himself and he could sense a feeling of complete forgiveness for all that Master 4 had done, while at the same time he felt strangely unaffected by the idea of never seeing him again.)
(Numbuh 4 and Master 4 had both experienced a feeling of brotherhood in their short friendship. Both had said what they needed to say. Both had been the other's teacher. Both had been the other's student. And in a way, both had parted ways a little wiser than when they met.)

(As Numbuh 4 stood in the corridor pondering these feelings, Numbuhs 1,2,3 and 5 came down the corridor, visibly relieved that they had finally found him. Numbuh 2 was about to start giving his best friend some more congratulations, but upon seeing the listless expression on Numbuh 4's face he dared not speak.)

(Without acknowledging the friends he had fought so hard to protect, Numbuh 4 walked across the hall, opened the door of a small utility closet, entered the tight space, and closed the door behind him.)

(Now alone in the shadows, Numbuh 4 loosened his hard expression, allowed his lips and eyebrows to slope down, and started weeping bitterly.)

Numbuh 4 (through the sobbing) How did it come to this?

Author's Note: Hang with me people, just one more chapter to go, you'll like the ending