Well…I think it's time to finally wrap things up. I have plans for an epilogue, but first…it's time to bring Sector Z back…and this time, for good.

"Okay…I think I've got it," Firecracker thought to herself as she looked over her blueprints. It had taken a lot of trial and error, plus some dubiously legal methods to get the parts she needed, as well as the blueprints for Father's own invention, but she finally managed to create a "De-Delightfulization" chamber. She'd run a couple tests on a couple things, but still had yet to run a living test.

Mostly because there was only one realistic option.

Through various mission reports, Firecracker had learned about a pair of likely Delightfulized twins in Japan, but she didn't really have the method to get over there without raising suspicions. There were also rumors of a trio of Delightfulized kids in England, but there were just as many reports claiming they were just brats who sided with the adults, which sadly wasn't that uncommon. So her only real option was Sector Z.

"Now I've just got to figure out how to get the Delightful Children alone…" Firecracker said to herself. She knew that would be the hard part. Father likely wouldn't let them out of his sight considering how the secret was out. Not to mention, even if she did manage to restore them, Father would likely just turn them back into the Delightful Children or worse, just straight up try to hurt them or Firecracker. Still, she'd wait as long as she needed too. She'd bring Sector Z home.

"Bruce. David. Alessandra. Lenny. Constance…I can't wait to see you all again."

As it turns out, Firecracker didn't have to wait very long.

The past couple weeks had been very strange. First, after a failed attempt at a Kids Next Door and Teen Ninja peace treaty, Chad had vanished. Reports were vague, but some stated he outright teleported away. Firecracker had her doubts, but considering that she and Maurice couldn't find anything about him, she knew something strange was going on. Some other member of the KND had also vanished, but Firecracker didn't care about him. What she cared about was the disappearance of yet another friend. Still, given her luck, she had a feeling that he'd turn up somewhere someday.

But the strange disappearances weren't done.

As Sonia would later reveal, a mass scavenger hunt for the Delightful Children's latest supposed cake between the entire Kids Next Door had ended in the disappearance of Numbuh 1. While Firecracker wasn't close to him, she still wondered just what had happened to him. Sonia said that, when she saw them again, she and Lee had tried to ask Sector V what had happened, but they said nothing, only that it was a personal thing. Again, Firecracker had shrugged it off

Mostly because of what else they had revealed about the scavenger hunt.

During a final brawl with Numbuh 1, the Delightful Children had gotten dropped down a massive pipe and Father was more focused on hunting down Numbuh 1 for stealing his pipe then looking for his kids.

Which meant it was a perfect time for Firecracker to go hunting for the Delightful Children and hopefully return them to normal. While Father would still be a possible issue, he would likely still not be focused on his so called kids and where they were.

Which brought her back to what she was currently doing.

Along with Lee and Sonia, who wanted to get away from their idiot of a leader for a bit (if it wouldn't get her in serious trouble, Firecracker would have beaten the crap out of the little snot for nearly getting her sister and her sister's not boyfriend roasted to death by Fire) and also wanted a chance to meet the legendary sector, Firecracker was looking around the area where the Rainbow Monkey Let's Learn About The Lavatory Amusement Park's pipes let out.

"Gross," Lee said as he stepped in what all three explorers hoped was just random sludge or mud. Shaking his foot off a little, he kept looking around.

"Why would adults make a place like this?" Sonia had to ask, voice nasally due to her holding her nose to block out the horrible smell of the place.

"Because, when it makes you money, you will do anything with it to make more money from parents that don't care and kids that just want the newest thing related to it," Firecracker bluntly replied, shuddering as she remembered the birthday party she had to entertain at the park. The amount of toilet humor and questionable theming was enough to make a low budget cartoon blush.

"Hey. I think I see something," Lee said as he pointed forward. There was something trying to pull itself out of the sewage. Or rather, five somethings.

"That's them!" Firecracker realized as she rushed forward, Sonia and Lee hot on her tail. Trying to be gentle, she slowly pulled the Delightful Children out of the sewage. They looked up at her briefly before falling unconscious, likely from getting flung through a pipe that likely wasn't exactly safe. Firecracker looked over them and couldn't help but feel saddened at their filthy state. Still, she knew she had to stay strong.

"So…now what?" Lee asked.

"We're bringing back Sector Z," Firecracker declared firmly with a smile.

Once they finally managed to drag the Delightful Children back to where Firecracker's De-Delightfulization chamber had been set up, Firecracker made a mental note to take a long, hot shower. Still, she didn't regret anything. The Delightful Children still had yet to wake up, but due to Firecracker's own paranoia causing her to constantly check for a pulse, she knew they were still alive.

Still, that didn't make her any less nervous about how the chamber would work.

"Firecracker? Are you okay?" Sonia asked.

"I'm just…nervous," Firecracker replied as she fiddled with the control pad, quadruple checking to make sure everything was okay. Sonia responded by hugging her leg, not even caring how dirty she was. Lee didn't say anything, but gave her a nod and a gentle smile. Firecracker managed to smile, before turning determined as she pulled her goggles over her eyes. "You guys may want to cover your eyes." With that, she took a breath and pulled the activation switch. The Delightful Children, who had finally started to wake up, were still too out of it to really react until they began screaming as the machine's power struck them. Much like Firecracker had theorized, all the power in the machine ended up causing it to explode. Firecracker threw herself in front of Lee and Sonia, shielding them from any debris. Once she opened her eyes again, she found a very welcome sight.

Bruce, with green eyes, offering a hand to her.

"You always had to play hero, eh, Numbuh 451?" He said as Firecracker took it, allowing herself to be pulled up. "...It might just be because we only really saw you a couple times as our other selves, but seeing you as a teen still feels weird."

"Bruce…" Firecracker said, a teary smile on her face. It didn't matter that they were still in their Delightful Children outfit. Wordlessly, she held her arms open, allowing all five members of Sector Z to rush into a hug. "I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH!"

"We missed you too!" Lenny, who had rushed into the hug as soon as he threw his stupid helmet and brace away, assured her as he nuzzled into his older sister figure, not caring about how dirty she was or how bad she smelled at the moment.

"For the record…we really liked your fireworks show when you came to the school," Alessandra couldn't help but comment. Firecracker only hugged her and the others tighter in response.

"Awwwwww!" Sonia gushed, causing Sector Z to turn towards her and Lee, causing her to blush and become rather sheepish.

"Firecracker? Who's that?" Lenny asked.

"Oh! Right!" Firecracker said as she stood up and walked over to Sonia and Lee, placing a hand on the former's shoulder. "This is my adopted little sister, Sonia and her boyfriend-"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Sonia protested as she covered her now even more blushy face. Lee seemed to be trying to hide his face in his hat, but didn't say anything more.

"...His name is Lee," Firecracker finished with a chuckle. "But…I've actually got a question for you guys. It's been…almost five years. How come you guys still look the same as when I last saw you?"

"We're not sure, but we have a theory," David admitted. "You see, the reason we believed the effects were permanent was due to the fuse blowing, which increased the power by eleventy-billion fold. Since the machine was designed to make us "perfect" delightful children, the increased power-"

"Meant you would be permanently children forever," Firecracker finished with a grim nod. "Heh, you got something every Kids Next Door agent would have dreamed of…but in the worst way possible."

"So…will the effects come back again?" Alessandra had to ask. The five members of Sector Z all looked at each other, along with Firecracker, Lee and Sonia. No one wanted to think about that.

"...There's a chance," Firecracker admitted as she rubbed her arm. "I think another fuse blew, which might have given it the power it needed to make it permanent and I ran a bunch of tests to see what it could do, but I'm not sure. I want to say no. Trust me, I want to say no and that this nightmare is over so fucking bad but I'm not sure."

"...We got about an hour with the recommissioning device," Bruce finally said as he sat down. "We can wait."

Firecracker merely smiled as she took a seat of her own. "I've got all the time in the world." Even if she didn't get that long with Sector Z again, the fact she could even talk to them again was all she needed.

As it turned out, they never had to worry.

Several hours passed, with Sector Z, Firecracker, Lee and Sonia all trading stories about their various adventures and all the ways the Delightful Children had gotten their butts handed to them. Soon, it became clear that Sector Z was free. The Delightful Children were gone for good.

"...So now that we're sure we're back to normal, there's something I need to know," Everyone turned to David, who nervously pressed his fingers together as he looked at Firecracker. "So, you clearly weren't decommissioned…are you a traitor?"

"...I didn't think this through, did I?" Firecracker groaned. Still, best to just explain "No, I'm not a traitor. But you can't tell anyone else this. I already probably wasn't supposed to tell Lee and Sonia. Zero above knows I'll get hell if they find out I told five more people."

"Okay?" Bruce offered for the rest of his sector, who gave uncertain nods.

"Long story short, the best and bravest of the Kids Next Door don't get decommissioned," Firecracker replied, letting Sector Z gasp. "It's a program called the Teens Next Door. We're still technically working for the Kids Next Door, but as spies and double agents."

"Cool…" Constance spoke for the rest of the Sector.

"So…how do we get in?" Alessandra cheekily asked.

"Hey, I've already told you enough. Not telling you all the secrets about it!" Firecracker jokingly snapped. "But if you all play your cards right, I know you'll make it."

"I just…I just hope the Kids Next Door will welcome us back," Lenny couldn't help but note sadly. While it was against their will, that didn't change the fact that he and the other members of Sector Z had tried to destroy the Kids Next Door for years.

"Don't worry! Lee and I will stick up for you!" Sonia promised. Again, Lee said nothing, but nodded his head.

"Just…whatever you tell them, leave me out of it," Firecracker said. "As much as I'd love the credit, can't risk too many people asking questions." All the younger kids nodded at that as Firecracker stood up. "Looks like the sun is gonna set soon. How about we go home?" She couldn't help but feel tears coming to her eyes as seven voices all gave a firm yes in response.

So yeah. Firecracker has Sector Z back. Like I said, next chapter will probably just be an epilogue showing how everyone is doing and how everything shook out.