A/N: Shout-out to Sagittarius12 and Tziput13 for their reviews of the last chapter! The support is much appreciated!

Chapter 11

Sera barely had time to sigh in relief from the knowledge Maurice and Cree hadn't actually managed to rip a kid's face off before she grabbed Maurice's arm, pulling him and Cree out of the way of the rampaging robot, who smashed into the side of their van. He quickly recovered, though, training his laser-red eyes on the teens. Sera quickly fired off rounds from both her pistols, but soon found that to be pointless. All the shots did was tear through Numbuh 2x4's clothing and fake skin, revealing the rest of his metallic body, completely undamaged from the blasts.

Her mind whirled as the robot advanced with a cold menace that chilled her to the bones. "Now, now, if it was that easy to take me down, I would have been found out ages ago, Numbuh 221B." She stiffened at the mention of her old codename. "Yes, we know who you are. We know everyone who's ever been in the Kids Next Door. After all, our eyes see everything in the KND. Always watching, always waiting, and always acting to protect our interests, should the need arise. Like now, for example."

Sera and Maurice (along with a still-incapacitated Cree) dodged away from the robot's next charge, but just barely. If this robot decided to go any faster, they'd all be toast before long. A plan forming in her mind, she quickly hissed to the younger teen, "Distract him!"

She didn't have the time to explain why, but Maurice's face hardened in determined understanding, and he passed Cree off to her. He grabbed some debris that was lying around, and threw it at the robot with a deft swiftness befitting of his KND skills. It was quickly deflected, but kept the droid's attention on Maurice as he ran in the opposite direction, separating him from the other teens.

Sera, now weighed down by one Cree Lincoln, made her way to the back of the Teenz van, taking care to open the doors as quietly as she dared. She set Cree down next to her, and unzipped her trusty dufflebag that was sitting on the floor. She rooted around inside, her eyes lighting up when she finally grasped the barrel of the weapon she was looking for, and pulled it out. An EMP pulse gun, a last-ditch, but obviously necessary, effort in a situation like this. She doubted something like Numbuh 2x4 would be powered by any hamsters, but there was still no guarantee of anything right now.

"Ugh...Sera, when did you get here?" Cree said, managing to sit up on her own, but clearly still kind of out of it. "And where's that...stupid kid? I'm going to teach him...a real lesson...when I get a hold of him..."

"Shut it, Cree," Sera hissed, "I really don't have time to deal with your sass! For one thing, 2x4's a freaking robot, and Maurice is distracting him while I get this EMP gun ready, so keep quiet and-"

Suddenly, Sera's foot was grabbed in a firm, hard grip, and she cried out in surprise as she dropped her weapon and was pulled away quick as a whip, getting slammed right into the wall, hard. Groaning with pain, and practically seeing stars, she was greeted by the sight of the robotic Numbuh 2x4, one hand lifting a struggling Maurice into the air, who was doing his best to get free. The other arm had drastically extended, obviously so he could successfully attack both teens, no matter how far away he was.

"A valiant effort on your ends, Numbuhs 9 and 221B," the robot said, still with the Scottish accent he'd affected while masquerading as a human, "but this is all laughable. I've easily gotten you cornered, and I'm not even using 8.7% of my complete capabilities. Resistance against me is futile. There is no escape-"

That was when Numbuh 2x4's body abruptly jolted, pulses of electricity arcing over his body, and the glow from his red eyes faded into dark cavities. Maurice dropped down, finally free of the machine's hold, and the robot stiffened, finally falling right on his back to reveal a smirking Cree holding the EMP gun Sera had dropped, its barrel smoking from the fired round.

Once the robot had gone down, Sera didn't waste any time grabbing the sharpest, heaviest piece of debris she could carry. Then, she returned to the robot's side and, with barely any hesitation, smashed it right into the robot's face, over and over and over, her heart beating erratically from fear and exertion. Finally, she deemed it abundantly destroyed. All that was left of Numbuh 2x4's face was a mess of ruined metal, barely held together by sparking wires and any bolts that hadn't popped off from the force.

"That stupid robot kid should have known better than to mess with me." Cree proclaimed triumphantly, her excitement canceling out whatever grogginess she would have still been dealing with. "I always get back at my enemies, one way or another."

Sera rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we know. Let's just get out of here. After that stunt you pulled with those MARBLEs here, there's no way the KND wouldn't have noticed all...this." She gestured to the facility around them that had effectively been reduced to shambles.

"On that, we can finally agree on, especially since I had to use all those MARBLEs on that dumb robot." Cree said, pumping her fist triumphantly. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

"Wait, Cree," Sera's voice rang out before Cree jumped into the driver's seat, and the older teen huffed in clear annoyance. "Just one more thing before we leave."

"Well, whatever it is, make it fast," Cree said haughtily. "I'm not hanging out here any longer than I have to."

Sera shook her head, bending down to the robot and slinging its arm over her shoulders. She almost buckled under the weight, which was way heavier than any regular kid could ever be, and called out to Maurice. "Hey, help me with this, will you?"

Maurice took the other robot's arm without complaint, though it was obvious that he was struggling under the weight, too. "We're...we're taking this thing with us?"

"No sense in us not," Sera said flatly, her eyes flickering over him. "If there's a chance he's got some hidden secrets, we've got to salvage it."

"What if it, like, reactivates, though?" Maurice asked as they hefted the heavy robot into the back of the van. "I know you messed up the head, but for some machines...those pulses don't deactivate them forever. At least, that's what I've, like, heard. From the science nerds, I mean."

Sera didn't miss the way his eyes flicked to Cree, who was sitting in the driver's seat, and definitely within earshot now. Ah, hiding his KND knowledge behind the classic oblivious teen demeanor. "Well, you don't have to worry," Sera said, laying her EMP rifle across her legs as the she sat in the back, eyes trained on the ruined robot, ignoring the all-too-familiar tremble in her hands. After a night like this, that was only to be expected. "If that does happen, I'll blast him before he has time to move so much as a finger."

Cree started the van the second the doors were shut, and their van flew back through the opening, rocketing into the starry night sky, leaving behind the smoking remains of the facility for the KND to find. "So, turns out Numbuh 2x4..." Cree started with a smirk, "...is made of 2x4 tech, huh? I feel like there's a joke somewhere in there."

Sera rolled her eyes, but her eyes flicked over the robot again before moving to Maurice, who was sitting in the back with her. "...I don't know about that. I mean, he clearly wasn't made from some kid's blender or microwave or whatever."

"Your point?" Cree said, her questioning eyes peering at them from the rear-view mirror.

"My point, is that whoever made this thing is clearly on a whole other level than the usual KND tech." Sera subtly took a deep breath, still trying to calm herself down from the earlier ordeal. After all, she wasn't exactly used to being in the field to the extent Maurice and Cree were. That, coupled with the fact that they'd almost been destroyed by a killer robot...none of that was boding well for her already-plenty-paranoid nerves. If Cree hadn't managed to pull herself together and take the shot when she had...somebody would have definitely paid the price, and she doubted it would have been herself. "And whoever that was...is still out there."

(And the fact that Sera now owed Cree Lincoln, of all people, for saving her and Maurice would never fail to grate on her. She just knew the other girl would try milking it for all it was worth when she got the chance. Ugh.)

"Well, I'm the one driving, not you, and that makes me in charge. So, I say-"

"No, Cree."

"But it's, like, totally out of the way, and I have to pay for this thing's gas, you know, and-"

"No."

"Oh, come on! We're almost there, and you said it was okay to take that dumb robot with us, so I don't see why-"

"No!"

"Would you stop interrupting me for like, five seconds?! Seriously!"

"No, I won't, because you're not listening! I'm not going to that dumb mall, and that's final!"

"OW! Let go of my hair, you brat!"

Maurice watched as Sera and Cree's argument reached a crescendo, knowing better than to even try to get in the middle of the whole thing. Sera had admitted that her salvaged tech probably wouldn't be able to help much in figuring out the robot's secrets, so she had, reluctantly, given her permission for it to be analyzed at the Teen Ninja headquarters instead. And, of course, since Cree had already been driving in its direction, the older teen had decided that they'd all go down there instead of dropping one of them (cough cough, Sera, cough cough) back home, as had been the agreed-upon plan earlier. And, surprisingly, after everything that happened tonight, that was the one thing that seemed to finally set Sera off, as was evidenced by her grabbing a lock of Cree's thick hair and pulling it back. Hard.

"I said NO!" Sera said, her pale face flushed red, and her eyes sparking with anger. "Don't you dare test me about this, Cree! I mean it!"

Cree finally hit the brakes on the van, stopping it in its tracks on the road before ripping Sera's hand away from her hair and turning to face the other girl. She was clearly just as irate as Sera, her eyes practically spitting sparks. "Well, would it kill you to stop being such a baby about this stuff?! So we're going to Teen Headquarters first, big deal! You're a teen, for Pete's sake, just like Maurice, just like me! It's about time you buck up and accept that, and stop looking at the rest of us like we're sooo beneath you!"

Sera narrowed her eyes, and Maurice could feel the temperature practically drop at the ice in her stare. "Of course that's what you'd think of," she spat out. "You've just proven you don't know anything about anything that actually matters. As usual."

"Oh, is that so? And what could that possibly be, seeing as you're sooo much more enlightened than the likes of me!" Cree hissed, clearly getting more offended with every word Sera uttered.

"Well, how about the fact that I'm still not even part of that Teen Ninja club you're always so sickeningly proud of! There's no way I'll ever be one of you, so excuse me for not wanting to be around your headquarters, the very hub of Teen Ninja activity, where I'd only be reminded of how much I don't belong! In fact, I can guarantee that I'll be on my deathbed before I'd so much as dare to step one foot into your Teen Headquarters!"

"Oh, please, you're really going to go back to that lame excuse?" Cree sneered haughtily.

"It's not an excuse! Plus, I still have my own report to make, in case you've forgotten. And I'd really rather do that in my own bunker, which is a place that I can guarantee is, at the very least, relatively safe for me, which is more than I can say for your hideouts."

"Right. That boss of yours." Cree rolled her eyes dismissively. "And, who exactly is that, again, if they're sooo important they managed to convince you to get off your butt to help us?"

"No one who concerns you, Cree." Sera said flatly, finally managing to calm down back to her normal tone of voice. "Just know they have just as much to gain from taking these kids down as you do. And take me home, now. I won't ask again."

"Well, tough." Cree tossed her head as only she could, with plenty of sass and flair. "In case you've forgotten, I don't work for your dumb boss, whoever that might be. And I think reporting directly to The Steve (who, in case you've forgotten, is just the leader of all the teens in the entire world) is a whole lot more top-priority than whatever random freelancer looked you up."

Maurice watched as Sera sighed tiredly. "Fine, then. You can do what you want, but just leave me out of it, and take me home first. Please."

"No." Cree said, looking haughtier than ever as she smirked victoriously.

"Then, I guess you leave me no choice," Sera said as she narrowed her eyes and stood up straight. "Your diary's got a lot a secrets, you know. It'd sure be a shame if any of those managed to get out to your...friends."

Cree snapped her head back, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "...what kind of secrets? And, I swear, if you start going on about guys I used to have a crush on-"

"Not boy trouble, Cree. Girl trouble. For example, on May 13th, you went shopping with Stacey, where you said her new skirt definitely didn't make her look fat." Sera rolled her eyes. "Of course, what you wrote in your diary, on the other hand, is a whole other story. Do I need to say what you really thought about how she looked?"

"No, no, let's not do that," Cree said quickly, her eyes flicking over to Maurice in the back, who quickly acted like he wasn't paying any attention whatsoever. "But, that's not a big deal. So I lied about liking her skirt. So, what? Stacey'll get over it."

"But you didn't just write about her, did you? Jeanette, Barbara, Amber, Julie, Tiffany, Audrey, Brittany, Rose, Crystal, just to name a few, according to your diary, have got more than a few things wrong with them that you think make them all inferior, especially compared to you. Would it be so easy for all of them to just 'get over it,' too?"

"S-so?" Cree sputtered, her face turning red. "That's...that's not a big deal. We're teen girls, so we insult each other now and then! It's practically a rite of passage into teen-hood by now! Besides, it's not like they haven't thought of just as many insults about each other as I have!"

"Well, sure," Sera said without batting an eye. "For most teen girls, it's their nature to be catty. Especially if they've been taught by you. But it's one thing to secretly insult them. After all, they can suspect, but they don't really know, do they? It's another thing entirely, though, once those insults and barbs are made public, and they have actual, legitimate proof of what you really think. They can't exactly ignore that, then, can they? Their teen pride won't allow them to, something you know better than anyone. And we all know what'd happen after that. They'd band together against you, make sure you became a social outcast, and, of course, you'd be lucky if you somehow managed to keep your top Teen Ninja status after that. At best, you'd be nothing but a gofer, only considered useful and worth someone's time if you're fetching your superiors' sodas. Are you sure that's something you can survive?"

Cree practically growled, her face angrier and redder than Maurice had ever seen, and he fully expected her to wallop Sera upside the head. All she did, though, was put the van back into drive, driving in the exact opposite direction that she'd just been going. But the way her fists were clenched around the steering wheel made it very clear how much she undoubtedly wanted to thrash the other girl.

Finally, Cree managed to speak through gritted teeth. "You know, Sera, sometimes I think I could hate you almost as much as I hate my own sister. And you have no idea how much I can hate her."

Sera merely raised her eyebrow as she sat back down, her eyes trained on the robot. "I think I have a pretty good idea about that. I've seen your diary, remember? Don't forget where you stand in my book."

Both girls fell into a tense silence for the remainder of the trip, and Maurice felt like he'd just been caught up in a whirlwind of emotion from the two of them.

The way these girls interacted never failed to strike him as a constant contradiction of a conundrum. Cree, despite her dislike of the other girl, had managed to save Sera (and Maurice) from Numbuh 2x4, but whatever begrudging respect that most would expect to have resulted seemed to be completely forgotten, if it was ever there to begin with. Here they were now, barely five hours later, glaring and hissing at each other like everything was the same as always.

Okay, now that he thought about it, this wasn't quite the same as before. For one thing, Maurice had never seen Sera get so angry. She'd always struck him as having a constant choke-hold on her emotions, to the point that he'd thought nothing could really set her off. Clearly, he was wrong about that. But, he knew it was more than just anger. When Cree had decided on that change of plans, Sera's eyes had been filled with just as much panic as there was anger.

But, why? Why wouldn't she go to their headquarters when she let the robot go? What was it about that place that made her so...scared? But that was something only Sera knew, and Maurice knew it was more than likely that she'd never share those hangups with anyone.

The Steve casually gulped from his soda bottle as Cree and Maurice (minus Sera, finally) recounted the events of the KND facility. His trademark shades were covering his eyes, so it was hard to tell what his reaction was. Finally, Cree dropped the robot down onto the electric guitar-shaped table, and the teen leader raised his eyebrow at the sight. "Sweet-looking robot, Cree. Totally radical, and all. That face could totally use a tune-up from the nerds, though. It's, like, mashed potatoes or something."

"Yeah, that wasn't my idea." Cree said pointedly, still simmering from having to deal with Sera. That girl was just so...eeurgh! "Let's just say it was courtesy of a certain annoying weirdo I'd rather not name right now."

"Yeah, sorry that we kinda...failed, I guess?" Maurice said uncertainly, quickly clarifying at the look Cree gave him. "I just mean that...we still don't really know who was behind this whole thing. Numbuh 2x4's a robot, so the one who made him is still out there. And, he kept going on about his, like, superiors or whatever, so who knows how many are actually part of this whole thing-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," The Steve interrupted, holding up his hand as he stood, tossing his now-empty soda bottle at the trash can behind him without even looking. The bottle fell in like it was a slam dunk in basketball. "Cool down for a minute, my man, and allow me to summarize for you: so, you dudes totally blew that Kool-Aid facility to, like, China, or something, you took out those lame bombs that were hurting our teens, and you got a totally cool souvenir to boot! I don't know about you, but The Steve considers that a radical victory in his book!" He hooked one arm around Cree and Maurice's shoulders, steering them out of the room. "All that other junk can wait for another day, because you dudes did enough tonight. Besides, we've got a totally awesome party going on downstairs, and it'd be a crime to miss it!"

"Yeah, Maurice," Cree said, shooting a smirk to her dumbfounded boyfriend. "Lighten up a little, will ya? It's not like there's a time limit! We'll figure all this stuff out eventually, and then we'll really make those stupid kids pay!"

"Well, I mean..." Maurice said, clearly still having reservations, "...I feel like we should know more about this whole thing by now, but we just don't. It's kinda...disappointing."

"Well, The Steve is going to be mighty disappointed if you don't get out there and party for the rest of the night." The teen leader said with a casual smile, clearly unconcerned. "In fact, I'll make it an order: as the totally awesome and gnarly leader, I hereby order you to go and have some radical fun with Cree!"

"You heard him, Maurice, dear," Cree said with a smirk, pulling her boyfriend down the hall. "The world won't end if you have some fun tonight. Besides, I'm looking forward to having some alone time. I don't think we've been getting enough lately..."