Alright, so we'll be taking a bit of a break from the angst. I've got some more stuff I need to get too, plus some other things to set up. Don't worry though! There's still gonna be a little angst though. Anyways, let's begin.

"Dang, they got them good," Numbuh 451 couldn't help but think to herself. She'd been summoned, like most operatives in the area, to Numbuh 9's house, as a pack of Teen Ninjas had tried to ambush him. Sector V, however, had been ready and fought back. While they were able to get the teens to retreat, Numbuhs 8a and 8b were both hit by their newfound Chicken Pox guns. Numbuh 451 shuddered at the thought of the stuff. She never wanted to get it and as much as she hated needles, was thankful her parents had insisted on getting her her shots as soon as possible.

"Hey, Numbuh 451," Numbuh 11 greeted her. "You missed the party."

"Guess my invite got lost in the mail," Numbuh 451 joked as she took notice of her friend's appearance. "What happened to your hat?"

"Thought it needed a new owner," Numbuh 11 responded as she pointed to the newly christened Numbuh 5, who was now wearing the hat.

"Looking good, Numbuh 5," Numbuh 451 said with a smile. Numbuh 5 merely smiled back, prompting Numbuh 451 to playfully pat the younger kid's head a few times. Numbuh 11 took the chance to walk over to Numbuh 9, who looked rather regretful over what happened to his teammates and Numbuh 100, who was chatting with him.

"Numbuh 100, as team leader of Sector V, I take full responsibility for the failure of this mission." She declared.

"No! This mission is MY idea, Cree. It's my responsibility," Numbuh 9 began before he took a breath. "And from this day forward, I will lead my sector and scour the earth in quest to find the teens' pox! I swear I will NEVER–" Whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sound of a woman knocking on the door.

"Hello... sorry to interrupt your pretending, but I thought you kids would like a break and have some of mommy's homemade oat meal cookies!" Numbuh 9's mother said. Numbuh 451 instantly perked up at the sound of the word cookie, as did several other operatives."

"Mooom! I'm in the middle of a life-defining speech here!" Numbuh 9 whined.

"Sorry, hon. I'll just leave them in the kitchen!" His mom replied before heading off.

"Well I know where I'm going after this," Numbuh 451 mumbled to herself.

Maurice groaned. He was going somewhere! The speech was going to be really awesome and inspiring too! "Now, where was I?"

"That you will never rest…" Numbuh 11 trailed off, intending to allow her sector mate to finish the sentence.

"...until you?" Numbuh 5 added in. Numbuh 9 perked up. He knew what he wanted to say now.

"Oh, yeah!" He exclaimed before clearing his throat again. "I swear, I will never rest until I discover the source of the teens' pox! And totally, I really will completely destroy it!" This sparked cheers from every operative in the room. Even Numbuh 100 nodded his head in approval.

"So, heading off to regions unknown?" Numbuh 451 asked from her spot on the wall. True to his statement, Numbuh 9 had requested permission for a private mission of unknown length that Numbuh 100 was happy to grant and although his Sector was sad to see him go, they knew he had his heart set on it.

"Maybe you could give me some tips, considering what you've been doing in your spare time," Numbuh 9 replied. Numbuh 451 flinched a little, but did her best to hide it.

"Heh. Most of those areas had nothing in them, but if you want a map of where I've been exploring, I'd be happy to make one," Numbuh 451 said with a smug looking grin.

"Best to check. You know how Teen Ninjas are," Numbuh 9 replied as he turned back to keep working on his ship. "They always seem to make their bases in places you wouldn't think to look. They're like rats."

"Considering how most of them are traitors, I'd say rat sounds about right," Numbuh 451 said bitterly. "I've already started writing myself notes for when my decommissioning comes not to join the Teen Ninjas, no matter what."

"Can't picture you as a Teen Ninja, even though you love destroying things," Numbuh 9 admitted with a grin.

"Hey, I like destroying evil things," Numbuh 451 protested with her arms crossed. "Like the factory that was making those horrible school uniforms!" Numbuh 9 chuckled at the memory of that. The school didn't even have a CHANCE to put those into practice before Numbuh 451 had set the factory ablaze.

"I think all those broccoli farms you blew up certainly says that plenty," Numbuh 9 said. "But…I'm gonna miss hanging out with you all the time. Considering you were pretty much an honorary Sector V member anyways."

"Yeah well when you're best friends with the leader, you get the perks that come with it," Numbuh 451 smugly replied before her face took on a more upset look. "But…I'll miss you too. And I hate to ask because I hate even thinking about this but…you'll be back for my decommissioning, right? I just…I want to have everyone I can there so I can say my last goodbyes. No sense in making it a lonely affair, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Numbuh 9 said earnestly. He didn't like to think about anyone getting decommissioned but he realized that between Sector Z's disappearance, Sonia's age meaning she likely wouldn't be considered as a operative until long after Numbuh 451 had been decommissioned and the fact that both Numbuh Red 7 and Numbuh 11 were older than her, Numbuh 451 wouldn't have a lot of people to send her off outside of general admirers.

"Thanks Maurice," Numbuh 451 said as she held her arms open. Maurice wasted no time in returning the hug.

"No problem, Firecracker," He replied. For a few minutes, the duo stood, hugging each other, before finally letting go.

"So…you want that map or not?" Firecracker asked.

"Could come in handy, if I decide I want to double check or just know they've already been pretty thoroughly looked over," Maurice replied.

"I'll have it in about ten minutes! Just give me a minute to find something to mark up," Firecracker replied before rushing off.

Looking out of the cockpit of his ship, Maurice saw that the rest of his Sector, along with a number of his friends like Chad, had come to see him off. Even the Numbuh 8 twins, who had recovered enough that they could stand up (albeit, stand far away from everyone else), were waving goodbye. At the front stood Abby, Cree and Firecracker, all of whom had tears in their eyes. Wiping the tears from his own eyes, Maurice waved back before flying off. It hurt him to leave his friends behind, but he knew that he'd create a world where they and all kids wouldn't have to be afraid of stuff like the Chicken Pox any longer.

And he'd never stop until he found the source and destroyed it.

Shorter one this time, but I wanted to do a little something with Maurice's sendoff, considering that Firecracker is shown to be his friend and she'd likely have a reaction to seeing him go.