Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own KND or any related titles, logos, or any other special thingy I might have forgotten to type. Whoopie. On with the story.

Chapter 2

Wally froze, his heart beating against his ribs as if in a frantic escape attempt. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly becoming dry. "Who are you?" he asked, reaching into his orange hoodie pocket for the KND communicator he always kept there in case of emergencies. It would automatically send a live audio recording to the tree house. Wally did not realize that no one was there.

"What are you doing in your pocket there?" Garrett asked.

Crud, thought Wally. However, he said, "Nothing. I have…uh…fiddleitis."

"What the crap is that?" Garrett asked suspiciously.

"Never heard of fiddleitis? Well, it's when people's hands fiddle a lot. And my hands happen to be in my pocket."

"That was the lamest excuse I've ever heard," Garrett scoffed, starting, once again, to give Wally that sly smile. "Now why don't you turn off that communicator you've turned on."

"I don't have any comm…commun-thingy," Wally said, feigning ignorance on the situation. The teen gave him an icy glare.

"The cat's out of the bag, little mister," he said. "Now turn it off, and we're going to have a little, private man-to-man conversation. Oh, and toss it here: no need to have it sitting in that sweatshirt the whole time."

Wally resignedly drug out the communicator and tossed it to Garrett, who then crushed it under his foot.

"Now," he began, acting as though he hadn't just destroyed one of Wally's most important possessions, "Listen, and listen closely: you are going to go to the baseball field next to the park right after school tomorrow. You will then meet a certain someone you seem to know very well. You will do everything they ask of you without question and without protest. Comprende?"

Wally didn't fully understand all of the words that Garrett had just used, but he got the gist. However, Wallaby Beatles was not the kind of guy to sit around and be bossed around (unless it was someone from the KND). He stared right back at Garrett.

"And what if I say no?" he asked.

Garrett raised his eyebrows triumphantly as he reached back and picked up Kuki's picture. "Then say good-bye," he said, ripping the photo in half, "to your Japanese girlfriend."

The next day flew by. Garrett had made it clear to not tell anyone else in Sector V what was happening, not that it would have made a difference. Wally had been placed in I.S.S. (in-school suspension) for trying to punch some kid the week before after he had called him short. Therefore, Wally did not get to see anyone from Sector V all day.

Today had to be the only day in the history of time that Wally didn't want to hear the dismissal bell. And this had to be the only day that it seemed to sneak up on him. He slowly grabbed his books and walked to his locker, stuffing all the papers and books into the bottom, and grabbing his backpack. He walked right past Hoagie, who seemed to be having difficulty with his lock combination, and walked home. Usually he took the bus, but he needed to stop by the tree house, which was on the way if you walked. The bus drove right on past it, so it would be quicker this way.

He got to the door and was about to pin a note on it when he remembered something that Garrett had said the night before:

Don't let your friends have any idea to where you've gone. Don't even lie about it. Make them think you've gone missing. Make them think you don't care about their worry. Cause now you have a job to do.

Wally took one last look at his letter, then crumpled it up and threw it into the nearest wired garbage can, walking to the baseball field as slowly as he could. Finally he arrived, and he sat nervously on the bleachers, looking around the bases for an approaching figure.

"We have been waiting for you, Numbuh Four. We thought you wouldn't accept our invitation."

Wally froze. He would recognize those perfectly chorused voices anywhere: the voices of The Delightful Children from Down the Lane.

"Come with us. We have a very special surprise just for you at our house."

Wally was about to refuse when he remembered Garrett ripping apart Kuki's picture the night before. Knowing he wouldn't care to do the same thing to the real girl, Wally resignedly stood up and followed them to their mansion.

It loomed above, same as always, but this time seemed different. Maybe it was the fact that he was weaponless, or the fact that the rest of them weren't there with him, or maybe it was the fact that he was willingly following the Delightful Children. Anyway, whatever it was, Wally didn't like it. His stomach bubbled in fear as the Delightful Children led him to a door near the center of the mansion. Then they knocked three times on the door, and a voice answered them.

"Come in, my children."

Wally had just been thinking that his situation could not get any worse when he heard the reply. Now he was proven wrong. He followed in suit and saw a fiery silhouette seated behind a desk. He was thoroughly confused at this point; what in the world did Father want with him? Except for revenge, of course. The figure smiled. At least, Wally thought it would be smiling if he could see its mouth.

"Welcome, Number Four. You have been here before, I know, so there is no need to tell you that." At this point he stood and began to pace around the desk. "I wanted you here because I have a plan."

"Ah crud, another one?" Wally asked, rolling his eyes. "How many times is it going to take you to figure out you ain't gonna-"

"ENOUGH!" Father flamed up for a few seconds, then took a deep breath, his flames receding. "This isn't like my other ones, Number Four. This time I know I need help."

"Well I don't know if I can give ya' that sort of help, if you know what I'm saying."

Father chose to ignore this comment. "What I mean is that I know I need something different, because I have been missing something all these times, and failed because of it. What I need, Number Four…is you. Ingenious, really. You are one of Sector V's top agents. I need your wits and strength and," Father swallowed, as if forcing these words to come out of his mouth, "your skill in melee combat to aid me."

It occurred to Wally that he had used the words "wits" in a sentence about him that didn't contain the word "no" before it. It fact, the only reason he knew what that word meant was because Number Five had had to explain it to him so many times when describing what he didn't have (this usually happened after Wally made a big screw-up). Wally felt proud and intrigued, his instinct yelling, "Father is bad! Shoot him! SHOOT HIM!" slowly fading away. Wally cocked his head, an annoying habit he had picked up from Kuki in the past week.

"Why me?" he said.

"Like I said before, you fit the bag. You are perfect for the part."

Wally had a nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him to refuse, to say no and run like Kuki did when one of her Rainbow Monkeys was 'calling for help.' But, having ignored his conscience so many times in the past, he paid little attention to it and asked,

"And what's in it for me?"

Father made one of those movements that Wally guessed was a smile. "What do you want, dear child?"

Wally thought for a moment, scratching his chin. Then he gave a small smile.

"I want to be taller, and smarter, like someone everyone looks up to."

"Done," Father said. "All you have to do is follow Garrett's instruction every other day after school."

"I can't tell my friends about it? And how do you know Garrett?"

"No, you can't tell your friends, just say your parents are making you go to a special class or something." Wally noticed he ignored the second question. "What do you say?"

Wally nodded. "All right," he agreed. "When do I start?"

So now Wally's working for Father. I know he really wouldn't, or he would fight more, but this is part of the story. I have it planned out in my head. Thanks for reviewing! Keep them coming! You all are awesome! I want to personally thank Nerd-434, who gave me my first review EVER!!