Epilogue

It was a few hours before the Earthen ships were repaired and ready to fly again, but the Galactic Kids Next Door helped the process along. As they did that, Numbuh 2 analysed the adult elimination ray, trying to figure out what made it work.

"Let's see…" said Numbuh 2. "AH-HA! That's how he did it."

"What? What is it?" asked Numbuh 362.

"Numbuh Gajillion never did anything to any of our planets," said Numbuh 2. "Well, nothing that can't be fixed at least."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Numbuh 9L. "I tried contacting my planet a few times after I was forced to shoot it, and I never got any response."

"Yeah, it's hard to do that when your planet's been hit with a signal blocker," said Numbuh 2. "That's why Numbuh 0 didn't know I'd called until later. Yeah, he was busy, but he'd at least have called me back when he realised he'd missed a call. And by the time he knew about the call, everyone was heading here. Every call we tried to make to our home planets was blocked before it could get through."

"Why would he do that?" asked Numbuh 362.

"My guess is to make us ruthless fighters," said Numbuh 9L. "How many millions do you think we thought we'd killed? When you think you have that much blood on your hands, you stop feeling much emotion. It'll just overwhelm you." Numbuh 362 rested a reassuring hand on Numbuh 9L's shoulder.

"Numbuh 2, can you do anything to help those who thought they'd lost their planets?" asked Numbuh 362.

"Of course," said Numbuh 2, readjusting some wires. "Once I'm done with this baby, they'll be able to contact all their home planets."

"Thank you," said Numbuh 9L, saluting the chubby genius.

"There's still one thing that we need to figure out though," said Numbuh Π. "Who will lead the Galactic Kids Next Door?" The room fell into a hush as the members of the Galactic Kids Next Door considered the question. No-one in the group seemed to be willing to step forward as a leader.

"I'll do it," said someone, and the group parted to reveal…

"Numbuh 1?" asked Numbuh 5. "But…but you can't…"

"Abigail," said Numbuh 1. "I have to. These guys have been oppressed by Numbuh Gajillion for years. They don't know how to handle themselves. They need me. I will lead them against the reign of adult tyranny."

"You know we're right here, dontcha?" snapped Mr. Boss.

"Ah, shut up, pops," said Numbuh 86, guiding him back to his ship.

"I'm sorry Abby," said Numbuh 1. "But I'm needed here more than on Earth."

"Well…" said Numbuh 5, wiping away a tear. "Just…don't be a stranger, okay? Call in occasionally, ya hear?"

"Of course," said Numbuh 1, giving her a hug.

"And hey, if you ever need help kicking some alien adult butt…" said Numbuh 4.

"You'll be the first one I call Wally," said Numbuh 1, shaking his hand.

"So, when will you be coming home Numbuh 1?" asked Numbuh 3.

"I…I don't think I will be Kuki," said Numbuh 1. "There's going to be a lot to do here, and…"

"Oh, I know silly," said Numbuh 3, giving him a hug. "But…you will come back one day, right?"

"Of course I will Kuki," said Numbuh 1.

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise," said Numbuh 1.

"Yay," cheered Numbuh 3, running past him towards one of the Kids Next Door's ships. When she was sure no-one was watching, she dropped her happy charade and wiped away a tear, then boarded the ship.

"So I guess this is goodbye again?" asked Numbuh 2.

"Don't think of it like that Hoagie," said Numbuh 1. "This is more like see you later."

"Yeah, a lot later," pouted Numbuh 2. "Just come back and visit sometime, okay?"

"I will," promised Numbuh 1, shaking his hand. "I promise I'll be back one day."

"You better be," said someone behind him. Numbuh 1 turned to find Numbuh 362 standing behind him. "Because if not…I'll…I'll…"

"You'll what, Rachel?" asked Numbuh 1.

"I'll…" started Numbuh 362 again, then sighed heavily. "Screw it." Numbuh 362 grabbed Numbuh 1's head and pulled him in for a kiss. "I won't give you any more of those," she said as they broke apart.

"Oh…" said Numbuh 1, unsure how to react to that. "Um…thanks? Yeah, I'll…yeah, okay, sure."

"Goodbye Nigel," she said, heading into one of the ships as the doors were closing.

"Heh heh, I knew it," said Numbuh 5, as Numbuh 362 took a seat.

"Quiet, you," said Numbuh 362, punching Numbuh 5 in the arm, but giving her a friendly smile. "Take us home, Numbuh 2."

"But first, remember to drop him off," said Numbuh 5, pointing at a confused and dazed looking Father at the back of the spaceship.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" asked Numbuh 9L, standing with Numbuh 1 as he watched his friends leave.

"I'm sure," said Numbuh 1, wiping away a tear. "It wasn't an easy decision, but it was the best decision."

Numbuh 9L grunted in agreement. "Well, whatever you decide to do, know that I'll always be at your side. If you need help with anything, I'll be right here."

"Thank you, Numbuh 9L," said Numbuh 1, as the door to the hangar closed behind his friend's ships.

It had been two weeks since the battle with the Galactic Kids Next Door, and things had gone back to normal. Adults tried to force kids into doing whatever they wanted, and the Kids Next Door retaliated. The only difference was that Father was no longer helping the adults. However, that day a group of kids appeared on Father's doorstep, a group that hadn't been seen in months…

"Oh, hello," said Father. "Are you from those delightful Kids Next Door? It's so nice of them to check in on me from time to time after I got that nasty case of amnesia. Though, I must say, I haven't seen you kids before."

"Oh, trust us, you have," the kids said at the same time. "And it's a Delight to see you again, Father."

"Father?" asked Father. "You must be mistaken. My name is Benny Uno, and I don't have any kids."

"Oh, but you do," said the Delightful Children from down the Lane, holding up a device of some kind. "And we're going to make you remember, so you can help us find and defeat Nigel Uno once and for all, even if it takes us years."

Author's note: And…done…What? You're expecting a sequel after I ended it like that? No, sorry, not happening. The reason being that I'm trying to keep this (sort of) canon. And, going by the end of Operation: I. N. T. E. R. V. I. E. W. S., after Numbuh 1 leaves, Father doesn't find him for years, so I feel like maybe Father should be out of commission for a while, possibly being reprogrammed by the Delightful Children until they can get him back to normal. So, no sequel.

Anyway, as for my next writing project: I'm going to be writing another novel. I haven't finished editing the first one (in fact, I thought I'd lost a lot of it when my hard drive died on me. Luckily I had some old drafts for most of it), but if I have a few novels ready to go, I feel like I'm more likely to get published (especially since both of these novels are going to be so drastically different from each other). As soon as I finish it, I'm going back to the thing you want me to write: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Abridged. I want to start it before the end of the year, but at the moment it's looking more like next year. Again, sorry for the delay, but I don't like bringing out content I don't like. In the meantime, I'll still be bringing out Total Drama, so there's that. Until next time guys…