A/N: Here we go! Joey's finally there! That's all I amd going to say about this chapter.
Proceed.
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Kids Next Door Mission...
Operation: F.O.R.G.E.T.
Fragments
Of
Recovery
Gradually
Enable
Team
Chapter 18 - Revealed
Joey stood in the midst of one of the most important objects in the entire Kids Next Door. The code module. Well, the door to the containment unit that held the code module, anyway. Right in front of him. Huge, it made him feel like an ant standing this close. But he couldn't focus on it properly.
He was worried about Robert. Joey had always kind of suspected that he and Jamie may have been closer than met the eye, andd now he knew. His leader, after hearing the news of what had become of his... Joey didn't even know what to call them. Friends? More than that? Anyway, Robert had stopped. Stopped talking, stopped moving in any way other than necessary, and stopped registering what was going on around him. He had aqquired a glassy look in his eyes, and his breathing was slower and louder than usual, loud enough that you could almost be sure that he was trying to convince himself that he still had the ability to breath.
But, as they had reached the very bottom floor of the Arctic Base, he had started talking again. Put on a little smile and started saying things like; "Wow, can't believe we're here," and "So excited to find out." There was something forced about his enthusiasm.
Yet, they stood there, about to answer the question that Joey had wondered for so long.
He was nervous. Not sure why, but he was.
~(*)~
'Anna! Where did you put my papers?' I demanded, rubbing the right side of his head. Those boys had left a couple of bruises here and there, but nothing that would stop me. Not now. he was already too close. I can already taste the victory, feel the triumph, see the defeat in the Kids Next Door's faces. It was all just a heartbeat away.
But I still needed those papers. And my stupid assistant seemed to be too busy planning a friend's sweet 16th birthday party to be bothered helping destroy the Kids Next Door. But whatever, I mean, pink streamers and table cloths are more important than vital information reports anyway.
'Anna! Bring me those papers!' I persisted, louder this time. How dare she defy me? Me, Dr. Nicholas Colter? The only one (in my opinion, anyway) capable of taking the KND down for good? Ugh, no-one respects the power of the evil scientist anymore.
'Yeah, yeah, I'll be there, just hold on a minute, would you?' came the arrogant reply.
'No, not in a minute, I need those papers now!' I insisted, trying to remind her that she was the intern and I was the boss.
I heard her mumble something less-than-innocent, but chose to ignore that. For her sake.
She tossed the sheets on my desk, letting a couple of them skid along out of order. Remind me to get a new assistant. Soon.
So, the Joey Beatles project had not gone to plan. It didn't matter. What would a couple of survivers be against thousands and thousands of turned operatives? He wouldn't stand a chance.
Just a few more, and they'd all be gone. Then, I swoop in and take over, and then, in a perfect world, a year from now, the world is rigged up so that a child reaches the teen-adult mindset by age three. But that would take time. Oh well, I wanted to savour every moment of my gradual victory anyway.
Just you wait and see, Kids Next Doom, you'll be mine. I will win this time.
...I'll win.
~(*)~
'Robert, are ya sure ya're up for this?' Joey asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder in an attempt to bring him back to reality. Robert only exhaled loudly, as if he had just been caught doing something he shouldn't and was giving up on thinking of an excuse. He shrugged.
'I don't know, Joey. I guess I kinda want to just go home and never come out of bed again. A bit,' he said solemnly. Joey nodded in sympathy.
'Ah know tha feeling,' he said, even though he wasn't completetly sure that he did. But Robert seemed determined to get into that code module and dig out the files on sector V. He took a step forward, and sighed. Joey joined him.
'Are we gonna do this?' Joey asked, eyes not leaving the giant locked metal door in front of him.
'Yep,' Robert said slowly, his gaze also locked in front of him.
'Foinding sector V and savin' tha world?'
'Yep.'
Robert entered his password. Clearway. Jamie's last name, Joey thought with a sad smile. He wondered how much his friend missed the girl. Enough to be sure he wanted to track down five ex-Kids Next Door and- wait, how were they meant to recommission them? The recommissioning module was-as far as Joey knew, destroyed ever since numbuh 0 accidentally dropped it from the top of the sector V treehouse. At least, that's what Joey had been told had happened. He suspected it was a cover for something else. But he guessed they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.
Then, once Robert had disabled all the alarms and entered all the codes, the doors slid open like curtains on a show that was just about to start. That's what it felt like to Joey, his big adventure about to begin. He'd been waiting, wondering, imagining what this moment would be like ever since he was first in his treehouse bedroom, lying there staring at the ceiling when it hit him; who am I trying to be? What do we have to live up to?
That was another thing. Joey missed the treehouse. All KND operatives had been warned weeks ago against sleeping in their usual treehouse headquarters, for safety. Some of the kids had even taken to sleeping with their whole team in one room, taking shifts between uneasy sleep and sitting up nervously as a lookout.
Things were tough for adult-fighting child secret agents in times like these.
But none of that mattered anymore. In his head, Joey pictured it unfolding. He saw him and Robert tracking these now teens down, saw them helping the KND once more, saw them saving the organisation after months of turmoil and months of wondering whether you were next.
This was it.
The code module was sitting in there like, Joey thought, it could have been waiting for them. Like; oh, there you are. I was starting to think you weren't going to come. The small round disk shone in the light, and, as they walked closer to it, pulled by its power, Joey could see his own reflection in its chrome surface. Now, all they had to do was find the file that held the names of the first sector V.
Robert seemed entranced by it, but he soon shook himself out of the state and flicked a switch on its side. A hollographic projection opened up, sweeping the room then declaring;
'Area secure. Please enter genetic material code,' in a loud, mechanical voice. Joey didn't exactly like this part. He watched Robert "extract the genetic code" from his nose and stick his finger into a slot next to the switch on the side of the small disk. The hollogram changed.
Welcome, Soopreme Leader Numbuh 263, appeared in big block letters on the semi-transparent display.
Robert touched icons and typed in passwords faster than Joey could keep track of. He kept a straight face, but inside, Joey knew he was feeling the same combination of nerves, excitement and anticipation deep in the pit of his stomach as himself.
Suddenly, Joey found himself staring at a list of all the exsisting sectors of the KND. All the way from the Amish sector A to the missing-for-who-knows-how-long sector Z.
Then, unexpectedly, Robert stopped. Just stopped, and looked to Joey.
'Would you like to do the honours, numbuh 404?' He said, his eyes locked on Joey's, his gaze holding both the dutiful responsibility of a mature leader and the carefree excitement of a young child. Joey smiled uncontrollably.
'Certainly, numbuh 263.'
Joey's hands were shaking. He felt little. He felt unworthy to know who these amazing agents who had saved them all so many times before he had even qualified to be a cadet. They were so close, so close that Joey wasn't even sure he could do it. His breath caught in his throat, throwing his respiration out of time. He could hear his heart in his chest as he reached out a tiny, trembling hand, extended a finger and tapped at the thin air of the hollogram.
File Name: Sector V (original)
Sector History
Mission Logs
Timeline
Sector Members
Qualifications
Links
There it was. Easy as that. The link that would take him to the names of the people he looked up to more than anyone. Except his older brother. He didn't hesitate for a second before clicking that link.
Sector Members
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Numbuhs 1-5 of Sector V: Full names and current residences.
Numbuh 1- Soopreme Commander of Sector V- Nigel Uno – Currently resides at 36 Sycamore street, Suburb Unknown
Numbuh 2- 2X4 Technology officer of Sector V- Hogarth "Hoagie" Gilligan – Currently resides at 15 Lucia road, Suburb Unknown
Numbuh 3- Nurse and Hamster caretaker of Sector V- Kuki Sanban – Currently resides at 12 Sycamore street, Suburb Unknown
Numbuh 4- Hand-to-hand combat officer of Sector V- Wallaby "Wally" Beatles – Currently resides at 10 Lucia road, Suburb Unknown
Numbuh 5- Second in command of Sector V- Abigail "Abby" Lincoln – Currently resides at 56 Sycamore street, Suburb Unknown
The first thing that occurred to Joey was that something looked familiar. Without even reading it he knew that he had seen something in there before. His second thought was this, as he did a double-take while skimming down the readout;
What the crud?! Is that really? No, it couldn't be! But it is! But it can't be! WHAT THE CRUDDY HECK AM I SEEING!?
He froze. He was unable to move, to speak, to keep his jaw from dropping like his whole body had gone numb. He couldn't believe it. What he was seeing could not possibly be true. But there it was, right in front of him, glowing green with the artificial light from the code module. It could not be true. Had to be a mistake. But the code module didn't lie. His eyes felt like they were going to pop out of his head. He almost had to remind himself to keep breathing. His own- His own brother, numbuh 4. Wallaby Beatles, Joey's brother, numbuh 4. Joey was dumbstruck, still rooted to his spot, and everything else disappeared. He had been there the whole time. Joey had wondered why his brother had been so good at fighting, why he had been able to take down Dr. Colter when he had confronted them in the park. Now he knew. He had wondered why his brother had always been a naturally good aim, now he knew. He had wondered why he had never seen any baby photos of his brother. Now he knew. Then, the movement started up again. Started up in overdrive. He threw his hands up onto his head and laughed maniacally.
'Ohmigoshthisissocoolmybrothe risactuallyNumbuh4! I can't believe it! Ohmigosh, oh man, aw, dude, this is too cool!' He grabbed Robert by the shoulders and shook him hard.
'Can you believe it? I can't! It's so amazingly awesome my brother was in sector V he was in the Kids Next Door he did all that stuff he saved us from Father and from Grandfather and from- OH MY GOSH THIS IS AWESOME!' He said without taking a single breath. He didn't know what to do with himself. He ran in a circle. He felt like cartwheeling but he didn't know how. So he settled for jumping up and down like his feet were on fire. He hardly heard Robert telling him to calm down until he grabbed his arms, yanked him forward and yelled.
'Joey. Joey. JOEY! Calm down. We can't go and get your brother if you're acting like someone just gave you a dose of caffeine instead of your chicken pox shot. Just breath, okay? In..out..in..out. Better?' Joey nodded quickly.
'Can we go now? Can we find him?' He begged eagerly. Robert shook his head, seeming disappointed himself.
'No. It's too late to do it today. But I promise, as soon as I can get hold of the recommissioning module without raising any alarm, I'll pick you up and we'll go. Okay?'
Joey would have been saddened, but that wasn't possible when you were on an excitement high. He was breathing heavily and loudly, his eyes unable to stay in one spot for more than a couple of seconds.
'Okay, okay,' He managed, trying to calm himself.
'Alright.'
He and Robert left the Arctic Base, and Joey went home, knowing he was in for a night of torture trying to keep himself from letting anything slip to his brother.
His brother, numbuh 4.
His brother, the legend.
A/N: Haha! I loved writing that! I actually got really excited myself! Joey's craziness is infectious! Now, I'm a little nervous about what you guys think of that chapter. Pen, I hope I did okay! I know you've been waiting forever to see Joey's reaction, and I hope I didn't let you down after all that waiting. What did you guys think? Tell me please!
