Wally's funeral was a sombre affair.
None of sector V had ever been to a funeral before, let alone to the funeral of somebody they knew personally. They were all dealing with the funeral in different ways:
Nigel as always, faced the situation with dignity. He was silent, barely speaking at the funeral of his dear friend and irreplaceable ally in combat
Hoagie was crying. He cried for his best friend, who he had shared many adventures with.
Abby was always cool in a crisis, including this. But when no one was looking she shed tears of her own for the short little boy, who was like the little brother she never had.
Kuki was heartbroken. She was still sobbing from the fact that her friend and crush (nolove) had died in her arms and she couldn't doanythingto save him.
Surprisingly Cree and evenMushiwere in attendance. Mushi spent the time trying to console her sister, while Cree just hung near abby, not talking to her but not letting her out of her sight either.
After the service, everyone went back home. Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure had been watching them the whole time...
"And so it begins..." said the dark ronin
AT THE SANBAN HOUSE
The funeral had taken a lot of energy out of Kuki, and right now she just wanted to go cry herself to sleep
"Hey, are you gonna be OK?" asked Mushi, sounding genuinely concerned for her sister.
Kuki didn't answer her baby sister, instead opting to just walk upstairs to her room and lock the door behind her. Then she proceeded to continue to cry.
AT THE LINCOLN HOUSE
"Sorry about your friend." said Cree
"Wait...Whatdid you just say?" asked abby
"He was a bit dense, but a good warrior and a great friend." continued cree
"Yeah..." saod Abby, still somewhat suspicious
"Are you gonna be ok, abby?" asked Cree
"Why do you care?" said Abby
"You just experienced a devastating loss. Of course I care, even though we're mortal enemies." said Cree
"Thanks I guess..." said Abby
TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED
After Wally's death, the KND held an in memoriam service for him. Each member of sector V was invited up to the stage to say a few words about him. Even Fanny (who never really liked Wally), was saddened by his death and said he was taken too soon.
Sector V visited Wally's grave almost everyday. But one day when they visited, they noticed something. A gilt samurai helmet, incredibly ornate (likely the work of a master craftsman) was resting on wally's headstone.
"Was that there before?" asked Hoagie
"No. No it wasn't." said Kuki, removing the helmet and inspecting it.
Inside the helmet was an inscription that read "To a worthy opponent." and a letter taped inside the helmet.
Kuki removed the letter and showed it to the others. Then she read it aloud
Dear sector Vit said in an untidy scrawl,I am so very sorry for the loss of your dear friend and colleague Numbuh 4 aka Wallabee beetles. He was a truly worthy opponent, and it was a shame that he had to die the way he did. So, by way of apology, I invite you all to my facility, so that we may discuss this delicate matter further. Here are the coordinates
Sector V stood in shock for a while, until...
"I'm going." said Kuki
"What?" asked Nigel
"I said, I'm going. Even if the rest of you aren't. I need to make this jerkpayfor what he did to wally, what he did toall of us!" said Kuki
"Girl, you're crazy if you think Numbuh 5's gonna let you walk into what's probably a trap... without her." said Abby
"Really?" said Kuki
"Numbuh 5 made a promise to look after you, right? Easiest way to do that is to come with you, especially since Numbuh 5 probably couldn't convince you not to go anyway." said Abby
"I'm coming too! We owe it to wally to take this guy down." said Hoagie
"So, fearless leader, are you in or are you old?" asked Kuki addressing Nigel
Nigel thought for a long time.
"Fine. I suppose I'm in. But, wehaveto be careful. I don't want what happened to Numbuh 4 happen to any of you. Agreed?" said Nigel
"Agreed." said everyone else.
Sector V rushed back to their treehouse to gear up. Then they piled into the C.O.O.L.B.U.S. and took off to the facilities coordinates. When they reached the facility, it was surrounded by people in samurai armour. They expected to have to sneak by them, but they spotted them and asked them politely to land. Sector V complied and when they exited the C.O.O.L.B.U.S., a young woman wearing samurai armour came up to them
"Welcome esteemed guests. The master has been expecting you." she said.
The armour clad people let them in without resistance. Sector V walked in cautiously, keeping close together.
"Alright team, we're in enemy territory now. We must keep a look out for anything suspicious-" Nigel began, but he didn't get to finish as he fell through a trapdoor.
"Numbuh 1!" said Hoagie
"Booby traps! Everyone, becareful" said Abby
The remaining members of sector V tried to tread lightly, but unfortunately both Hoagie and Abby got taken away by traps, until only Kuki remained. Kuki almost started crying again. She had just lost Wally and now the rest of her team and closest friends had disappeared. But, she steeled herself. She couldn't give up. She had to keep moving forward.
When Abby woke up, she was alone in a dark corridor.
"Where is Numbuh 5 now?" asked Abby
"That's none of your concern." said the voice of a young boy
"Who's there?" asked Abby
The voice didn't reply. Instead a crossbow bolt shot at Abby. She dodged, which allowed her to escape the blast radius of the explosive bolt.
"So that's the way, you wanna play huh? Well bring it on!" said Abby.
When Hoagie awoke, he too was alone.
"Hello" said the voice of a young girl.
Hoagie looked at a hooded figure, dressed in hooded rusty red out with tiger stripes on it. She as wielding two fighting fans.
"Um... who are you?" asked Hoagie
The girl didn't reply. Instead, she held out her fans and spun around until she was a tornado. She then proceeded to ram Hoagie, which sent him flying.
"I guess it's time to fight now..." said Hoagie, as the girl ran at him, fans in hand.
When Nigel awoke, he took note of the fact that he was in an area he didn't recognise without his team. As he took in his surroundings, he heard a noise
"Who's there? Reveal yourself!" said Nigel
Out of the shadows came a portly young boy wearing a hooded rusty red outfit with tiger stripes on it.
"Who are you?" asked Nigel
The boy didn't reply
"I don't suppose you'll let me leave without a fight?" asked Nigel
The boy remained silent but took out a pair of coconut nun chucks and proceeded to do impressive tricks with them
"Didn't think so. Alright, let's do this!" said Nigel, as he and the boy rushed at each other.
Kuki continued to cautiously make her way through the facility. Eventually she came to a large room where the dark ronin was playing the piano.
"I'm sure we'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when. But I'm sure we'll meet again some sunny day!" sang the dark ronin as he played. Then he noticed Kuki watching him.
"Hello kuki." said The dark ronin
"It's Numbuh 3 to you!" said Kuki
"You sound upset." said The dark Ronin
"Of course I'm upset! You killed Wally!" said Kuki
"Yes. A real shame that. Would you believe me if I said that killing Wally wasn't my original plan?" said the dark ronin
"Then whatwasyour original plan?" asked Kuki
"I originally planned to get Wally to join me, but after watching him for only a little while, I realised that Wally would rather eat every piece of broccoli in the universe for every meal than betray you guys. So, I had to... get him out of the way." said the dark Ronin
"Why?" asked Kuki
"Wally was your strongest fighter. He was the only one to defeat me in single combat. Without his strength, you would be significantly weaker and easier to defeat." said the dark ronin
"Where are my friends?!" asked Kuki
"They should be arriving... now." said the dark ronin.
A panel in the wall opened up, revealing three children dressed in rusty red outfits with tiger stripes on them, with black belts. On their shoulders, they carried Abby, Hoagie and Nigel who were unconscious.
"What did you do to them?!" asked Kuki
"Relax. They're just unconscious, courtesy of the dark shark clan, some of the greatest fighters in my army." said the dark ronin
"There's Jake," said the dark ronin pointing at the tall boy holding abby, "Izzy," he continued pointing to the girl holding hoagie, "and last but not least Cubby." he finished pointing at the portly boy holding Nigel.
The three kids nodded at Kuki and gently put the rest of sector V down.
"So, when do I fight the dark shark clan?" said Kuki
The dark ronin laughed.
"I wanted the privilege of defeating you all to myself" he said grinning evilly
He tossed her a katana.
"Here, it's only fair if you have a sword too." he said, deciding to use only one katana against Kuki.
Then, their battle commenced. It was awesome, it was epic, it shook the entire facility, literally. The entire facility was shaking.
"W-w-what's happening?" asked Kuki
The dark ronin brought up a holographic interface.
"It seems all out battles have damaged the buildings structural integrity." said the dark ronin
The dark ronin and Kuki stared at each other for a minute and then came to an understanding. This battle would not be decided today. The dark ronin began giving the order to evacuate to his people, while Kuki woke up her team.
"Kuki...? What happened?" asked Hoagie.
"No time to explain, We need to get outta here! This place is coming down!" said Kuki.
Sector V ran all the way to the exit andjustmade it out before the building collapsed.
"So... I suppose we should go home, right?" asked Hoagie
"Yeah. Ley's go home." said Kuki