"But you have to let me come along with you!" Candace cried at Carl and the girls, none of them answered her, no matter how much she cried and yelled and begged. She opened her mouth to scream again but one of them quickly covered her mouth, a group of robots drove past their hiding place, one of them stopped and looked around and all in the bushes held in their breath. But then it turned and caught up with the others. Everyone let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Are you crazy!" One of the girls hissed "Do you want us to get caught?"

The ginger-haired girl frowned and shoved the girl out the way, heading towards Carl who sat staring out onto the street and into the distance, where they could see the tall, devouring Doofenshmitz Incorporated building, looming over them like a tiger ready to pounce.

"You!" Candace spat as she approached the young man "You're the leader right? Let me come with you!"

"No," was all Carl said and took out a pair of binoculars from his belt and stared out down across the street.

"But you have to let me! Haven't I seen too much? What if I go tell the robots about you, eh? What will you do then? I'll get you arrested!" The girl argued and again, Carl remained silent and Candace's face turned red with inpatient rage "Look, I'm not kidding! I'll go tell, I know where you and those kids go and live! I can tell them everything! I've seen you, I've watched you, stealing things from the bots and going against Doofenshmitz! I can tell them if you don't let me come along! I will!"

"You won't though..." Carl insisted and lowered the binoculars and turned to the girl, her face still red with anger "Will you?" His words were not stern at all, they were serious and deep and as he stared right at her, right into her, Candace realised she wouldn't. It was a risk she couldn't take, she herself had her reasons. Carl turned back around and looked through the binoculars once more.

Candace sighed and sat back, pulling her legs up to her chest and quietly, trying to hold in the tears of her helplessness. How vulnerable she felt now, how cut off from the world she was and how much she hated Doofenshmitz and the robots. Inside her the lava bubbled and boiled, as if ready to burst. She no longer wanted to sit at home waiting for something to happen, she didn't want to sit cowering in the corner waiting for something to burst through that door and catch them. She refused to do nothing.

"Look, Carl is it?" Candace managed to speak and shuffled forward beside him "I have a family at home, two little brothers too and they all mean the world to me...Though I might not show it...and...I don't want them to get hurt, I don't want them to grow up and have to go to those horrible factories like my dad! Please...let me join you, I want to be able to protect the people I love!"

The ex-intern slowly lowered the binoculars and turned over to the girl, he saw the desperation, the determination and growing strength in her eyes. He could see the anger; he could see the sadness, the loneliness, the helplessness and most of all, which grabbed his heart tightly... was the love.

They sat like that for a moment and Carl felt her begging taking him over. He didn't want to put anyone else in danger, but...she wanted to do this, not for her, but for her family. He let out a huge, agonising sigh and dug into the small pack he was carrying, he took out a bandana and threw it over to her.

"Wear that, you don't want to be recognised," Carl said, the girl nodded and wrapped the black cloth over her head "Isabella, do you and the girls have any spare clothing on you for her to wear, we don't want ourselves being noticed."

"Yes sir, Firestorm troops are always prepared!" Isabella saluted and she and the girls brought out a vest top and a short skirt along with a pair of boots. "Sorry about the skirt being short, we don't have a lot of tall people in the group," Isabella explained as she handed them over.

Then Candace scurried away to get changed and soon she returned and as the other girls smiled seeing her dressed so, Carl turned and his jaw dropped a mile. She looked, spectacular, her long hair wafting in the breeze, the black bandana over it, the vest top and skirt wrapped tightly around her and the boots high up on her legs. It was as if she'd stepped into a whole new skin, she looked more or less like a warrior now and her serious expression showed them that she now felt part of something and her strength shined through.

"Sir?" Ginger asked the leader and Carl shook his head away from the new Candace, nodding and with a motion of his hand, they made their way out of the bushes and towards the Doofenshmitz Incorporated building.

It didn't take as long as Carl though to get to the building and he was surprised with how few robots were out tonight. He patted his pack gently and felt the CD in its case there; satisfied he edged closer to the building, hiding behind bins and boxes. The girls joined him by his side and together they stared up at the building, where all they hated originated from. The one who took away their homes, freedom, family and everything they once knew. Together, all at the same time, the hatred in their hearts grew stronger and they scowled up to the windows above and although they didn't want to be caught, they hoped he would see them, disobeying them, fighting against him. It would show him that they would not sit down and let him take over.

"Doofenshmitz is going down..." Candace hissed as they stared upwards.

"Okay," Carl said and retreated back into an alleyway "I need you to take pictures and make notes!" He tossed them all a notebook and a camera each "Draw as many diagrams and take as many pictures as you can, find out where the robots are patrolling and note it down, find out where the sewage systems are, find the air conditioning shafts, anything that can help us! Got it?"

"Yes sir!" The girls said in chorus and saluted before sneaking away into the darkness, Isabella with Ginger towards the side of the building and the other two girls went off together in another direction. Both groups barely made a sound.

Then Carl turned and jumped at the sight of Candace standing right there staring at him "Why don't you go off with the others?" He said and snuck his way forward.

"Everyone already had a partner, you didn't," the teen answered.

Carl rolled his eyes and quickly hid behind a nearby dumpster; another group of robots went past and thankfully, didn't notice them. But still, Carl thought it was strange that not as many robots were out and about, it wasn't like Doofenshmitz to set up so little patrols. He took out his binoculars again and stared up to the building, there were windows there now, lots of them, a screen and in there he colour just see the purple and black of which the doctor's office now consisted of.

If they could find a way up through the windows they could take Doofenshmitz hostage right there and then. But it would way to dangerous and much too risky. For all Carl knew, he could have a whole bunch of robot guards up there ready to protect him. Then there was Perry...Who was more robot now than Platypus. The memory made him shiver.

He turned to Candace who was already zooming in on the roof and snapping some pictures with her camera. Carl admired her persistence and determination, but she would have to do a lot more than just follow them around and take pictures, there were a lot more challenging things ahead of them.

"How did you become the leader then?" Candace suddenly asked, catching Carl off guard. The ex-intern cleared his throat and hurried across the street when he leapt behind another dumpster; Candace followed a little hesitantly and managed to reach the other side before another group of robots passed by.

"Well?" The girl asked and leant against the dumpster beside the young man.

"It just sort of happened I guess..." Carl replied and looked over the top of the bin, after seeing that no one was watching, he proceeded down the side of the building, scanning the wall and the ground for any tunnels or shafts.

"Then they must look up to you then," Candace suggested and Carl halted, looking down to the ground in thought. Maybe they did, but he wasn't a good leader for them, he'd put them all in enough trouble as it is and maybe it was because of him that Doofenshmitz was now in power.

"I shouldn't be the one they look up to..." Carl whispered out loud and Candace frowned at this, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Don't say that, you must have done great things to become that you are today, look at you, you took in all those kids and taught them how to survive and get along, you're like a hero!" She said and a slight smile appeared on her face, her eyes looked upwards to the scar oh Carl's head, shielded mostly by his head that had begun to grow. Then she looked down to his leg, of which he always limped on when he walked.

Carl followed her gaze and shook her hand off of him, staring at the sky, clouds shielded the stars and the beautiful midnight blue sky, they were more like smoke than anything, from those dead and dull factories that the doctor had made.

"No, I didn't do anything great..." Carl admitted and hung his head in shame "I ran when they needed me most, I was a coward, I left them all and saved myself... And...I don't know what happened to them; maybe I'll never know..."

Candace remained silent, not knowing why the so called 'fearless leader' was telling her all this and to be honest, neither did Carl. It seemed that after all this time in keeping it locked up inside him; it had finally driven Carl to the point where he couldn't keep it in any longer. All the lies and pain he'd kept had rotted inside of him and built up into a guilt he couldn't be rid of.

He lifted a hand and felt the scar on his head, hidden beneath his unkempt hair. The painful memories swimming inside his mind, the scar was a reminder, a reminder of the past and that awful day in the agency. That was all gone now.

"Look, Carl," Carl felt the teenager's hands rest upon his shoulders again and she forcefully turned his around, so they were eye to eye and Candace showed an expression pressed with anger and force. "These kids wouldn't have put you in charge in they didn't believe you were the right leader for them, they would trust you and do what you say if they didn't believe you were brave. Its true though, you're scared, you feel guilty, but truth is, we all do. We all feel guilty that we left our families and we all feel like we could have done something to save them and our friends, we're all afraid, Carl, but we choose to be strong now so we can make it better for the future." Carl stared deeply into her eyes, a deep sense of respect and pride flowing into his heart "You got that fearless leader?"

Dimly, Carl nodded slowly.

"Oh and one more thing..."

Carl looked up to her.

She pointed a finger to the floor behind him "Manhole."

He turned and sure enough, there was a manhole that seemed to lead right into the sewer system. He smiled at her and went over to it, Candace came in from behind him and took a few pictures of the manhole and the area around them.

Carl slid the lid of the hole and looked down into it, there seemed to be tunnel leading one way towards the other side of town and another that lead straight under the Doofenshmitz inc building. Maybe this was the key to getting inside and if the other girls had found tunnels close by, they could even plan an attack. They could bring down Doofenshmitz. It wasn't hopeless.

"You see," Candace said, hand on hip "We can do this!"

Carl nodded and rose to his feet, bringing his watch up to his mouth and pressing a button.

"Isabella," he spoke into it and an image of the raven-haired girl appeared on the mini screen "Have you found anything?"

"Yes sir, we found a few manholes and sewer systems my end, I've yet to hear from the other group." She replied.

"Good, call them in, we're heading home!" Carl ordered and the girl nodded the other end.

"Understood sir!"

The screen went blank and Carl lowered his arm. "Time to go Miss Flynn," He said to his partner and they both turned to leave.

Neither understood what happened next or how it came to be, but it happened. All that was heard was a loud, ear-splitting bang, like a bullet being fired from a gun and all that Carl felt next was an unbelievable and horrible pain sweep over him. Everything was in slow motion, Candace turned at the sound of the bang. Carl's face was a wash of shock and agony, he fell forward slowly, ever so slowly, his teeth clenched at the pain and as he fell, Candace saw was what behind him, arm outstretched, smoke steaming away from the palm of its hand.

A robot stood there, surrounded by others, it had its hand out, its metallic black hand burning still, making a slow, taunting, sizzling sound as if laughing at the fallen young man whom Candace caught in her outstretched arms. Her fear rising to the brim and along with it, a deep anger of which she had never felt before.

The robots stood there for a moment, staring at her whilst she stared back, the aching anger of a frown scraped across her face.

Then she ran, lifting Carl up off the floor with her, looping one of his arms around her shoulder and dashing for cover. As soon as she turned the robots began to fire, red lazar after lazar, burning through the dumpster they were once hiding behind. She dashed past it, holding in the screams of terror.

He headed to across the road, making her way towards the alleyway of which they came from; the night seemed to swallow them whole as soon as they took one step onto the road. Red eyes glared at them from all directions and Candace held in a breath of fear.

She halted, surrounded all around, there was no way out, no way out, no way out. She collapsed to her knees, Carl groaned as she fell. He was alive!

"Carl! Carl!" She cried and rested his head upon her lap, his face was filled with pain, cringing in agony and teeth gritted harshly, his face turned white as snow, whiter than before, the bags suddenly darker too. His hair wafted away from his face, revealing the scar hidden beneath the locks.

"Carl! Can you hear me? Are you okay!" Her voice was breaking, a mix of desperation and terror beneath it as she tried to keep in the tears, trying not to reveal the growing lump in her throat.

"C-can-dace..." The young man groaned and gasped as he tried to sit forward, he lifted an arm to behind his shoulder.

"Wait! Try not to move!" Candace said and slowly, as gently as possible, turned him over a little and what she saw there made her gasp and squeal at the same time.

There was a great, gaping hole in his back, raw red skin burning around it, his clothing ripped and torn, singed and battered. Candace brought up her hand and saw it was covered in crimson red. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened in a silent scream and then the tears fell, because she knew there was nothing, absolutely nothing she could do.

"Oh my..." She wheezed, her voice hoarse, as if she hadn't drank for years, she covered her mouth with one hand and the lump in her throat burned her intensely. "No..."

She heard voices calling to her, screaming and yelling, the sound of metal against metal echoed in the air, but she didn't pay attention, everything was gone to her, everything but herself and the dying boy in her arms and the crimson that painted the road. Her heart felt so heavy, burning and raging within her, the tears fell like waterfalls. Nothing she could do, nothing she could do and the pain of knowing that made her want to rip her own soul out.

"C-Can-dace..." the small, cold voice said amidst the banging and crashing around them and the figures dashing to and fro, surrounding them, protecting them, but Candace paid no heed to them. Instead, she looked down to the boy, whose face was twisted in desperation for what he wanted to say.

"Yes? Carl? What is it?" She sniffed and held his hand tightly, not wanting any of this to be real, nor true.

"C-Candace..." He gasped and leant further forward, as far as he could, his breathing heavy and jagged "I-I'm sorry..." He lifted up his hand and put it in hers, Candace felt something being placed there, cold and hard and black. "You'll be..." He gasped once more "A better lead...er than I w-was..." And he smiled slightly, his eyes growing dark "L-look..." He breathed and stared upwards, Candace stared up too "I can see the stars..." True enough, one of the clouds had made way slightly and just a small, tiny patch of stars could be seen through the gap.

"We'll clear that sky for you," Candace said in a small, weak voice "All the best for our fearless leader, okay?" She turned back to the boy, but he wasn't moving. His eyes were closed, a smile was on his face and his chest no longer moved in union to his lungs.

And the tears fell still, though Candace could say nothing. She opened up her hand and saw that there were a pair of black sunglasses there, she narrowed her eyes and lifted them up to her face. As soon as she put them over her face, all the sadness was gone, instead, a deep and loathing anger pierced her heart and there was nothing on earth that could stop it.

She rose to her feet and crashed into the nearest robot, fighting in a way she never thought she could do, from nearby she ripped a long piece of wood from a tall fence and fought her way through the ranks of robot soldiers, her backup fighting behind her. She smashed a nearby robot's head and found herself face to face with a street hover camera.

With eyes full of rage, he was watching, she knew he was.

"Doofenshmitz!" She cried at it "We are the rebels! You have taken something that belongs to us! Our homes! Our lives! Our freedom! You have forced us to stay in our homes, made kind people disappear, destroyed lives and homes and made us your slaves! No more! You are a cruel lying man! You sit on a throne of lies and terror! So let me tell you this! We're coming for you! We will free the people of the Tri State Area! We will free Danville! And YOU!" The girl ripped off her shades, her blue eyes burned with a wild and cold rage, she lifted a finger and pointed at the screen "You're mine!"

She smashed the camera and the battle was over.