Meanwhile, the other KND forces were getting creamed. Numbuh 2 and the mystery pilot had destroyed over 30 enemy craft each, but that was a mere dent in the teenager forces. Numbuh 5 hadn't managed to destroy any, as she was in constant combat with her sister, Cree. Numbuh 3's disruption tactics, while brilliant, weren't meant to actually do anything other than confuse the enemy, and at the rate they were going, Numbuh 3 would run out of ideas and the teenagers would win. Numbuh 1 was trying his best to warn the armada of threatening squadrons, but there were too many to keep track of, and not all the ones he warned could do anything about their situation.
"Numbuh 3, if you have any ideas left, now would be a good time to use them!" shouted Numbuh.
"I've only got one left, Numbuh 1, and its pretty desperate! Do you want me to use it now?"
"Yes! If you don't do anything now, we're doomed!"
"All righty, then! Dragon and Flame squadrons, use tactic C94!"ordered Numbuh 3.
A few seconds later, the Rainbow Monkey theme song started blaring through the radios of both armies, effectively driving them both crazy.
"Geez, that's annoying!" shouted Numbuh 2, trying his best not to cover his ears. "How long can that go on?"
"Not much longer, or I'm going to blow up that battleship myself," growled The Kid.
"Is this the best you can do, Abby?" taunted Cree, trying to ignore the noise.
"You aint seen nothin' yet, sis!" Numbuh 5 retorted.
"You know, after I kill you, I think I'll kill that lard ass friend of yours for tricking me back at the diner."
"You don't have the guts to kill me, Cree!"
Her sister cackled. "Wanna bet?"
Wally and the other Aussies weren't having much luck either. After a half hour, they still couldn't find Father.
"We're going in circles, Wally," said Dingo. "Let's double back and–urk!" He collapsed on the ground, a tranquilizer protruding from his neck. The team turned around to face their assailants and began firing. After a few shots, they realized no one was there.
"What the crud?" asked Numbuh 4.
"I see you've found your way inside the Mantra." came a dark, sinister voice. "Well done. But it's a good thing I disabled surveillance. If Father had seen you, I wouldn't get to have you all to myself." The squad searched frantically for the source of the voice.
"Come out and fight, you bloody coward!" yelled Dizzy.
"Well, if you insist." With that, a dark, shadowy figure leapt from above and executed a split kick, knocking out Walker and Silo. He landed with his legs split in opposite directions, but showed no sign of pain, and leapt to his feet. Dizzy threw a strong right, pistol in hand, but the dark figure caught his arm, disarmed him, and backhanded him across the face, knocking him back a foot. Wally dropped his gun and tried some kicks and jabs, but the dark figure dodged them all, his long black hair sweeping back and forth. He gave Wally an uppercut that knocked him into the wall. Wally sat down hard, groaned, and looked at his assailant.
He was a pale teenager about Cree's age with shoulder length black hair, a growth of facial hair, and a muscular body. He smiled over at Numbuh 4. "That was pretty good, you almost had me worried. You're quite a fighter, Number 4. It's a shame you've come so far only to run into me." He gave a small sigh. "I suppose Father wants me to take you to him." Numbuh 4 remained stoic. "But I'd rather not. There are some escape pods down the hallway. I'll escort you to them." And with that he picked up Numbuh Four's team one by one and heaved them over his shoulders. Dizzy and Wally, the only ones conscious, protested, but he ignored them. He tossed each one of them into an escape pod, leaving Numbuh 4 last.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Numbuh 4, bemused.
"I don't care for Father very much. Besides, I'm kind of fond of you, Number 4. You remind me of myself when I was your age. Of course, I was smarter than you, but other than that we were very similar." The teenager gave him a small smile. "See you around, kiddo."
"Kiddo! Look who's talking, you can't even grow a full beard yet!" exclaimed Numbuh 4. The teen glared for a moment, then laughed and closed the hatch of Numbuh 4's escape pod.
"Oh, you're a keeper, Number 4. I hope Number 362 sees what you're worth. Still, a little respect wouldn't hurt. I'm sending you back to the moon base. Be grateful."
"Grateful! There isn't gonna be a moon base when we get back there!" shouted Dizzy.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that, Number 23," said the teen, with a small smile. With that, he launched the escape pods. Numbuh 4 pressed his hands and against the window of escape pod, looking bemusedly at the dark teenager. The escape pod lurched forward as the thrusters kicked in, and consequentially, he was tossed backward. What did that teen mean? How were the KND supposed to survive, now that they had failed to destroy the Mantra? Numbuh 4 gazed out the window of his escape pod and saw the others shooting towards the moon base. Then he noticed one was missing.
"What the crud?" thought Numbuh 4. He looked over to the Mantra, and saw that an escape pod's thrusters had failed to kick in, and pod was simply floating around. Numbuh 4 accessed his radio and called out to the pod.
"Dizzy, is that you?" called Numbuh 4.
"Wally, my thrusters haven't kicked in! This escape pod must be defective! I'm going to try to hot-wire it!" said Dizzy.
"Hurry, Dizzy! We don't want you to get captured!" cried Wally. He sat back down, contemplating his current predicament as he hurtled toward the moon base. How were they going to survive? Maybe the teen was part of that secret group he had heard about, the teens that actually aided the KND. But if that was so, then why hadn't Numbuh 362 said anything? Was he being honest? Did he choose to let them go just because he liked them and disliked Father? Maybe he's just a lunatic, thought Wally.