Disclaimer: I do not own Codename: Kids Next Door and I never will.
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Chapter 8: Alternate Timeline
A school hallway full of teenagers appeared on the cloud. Many unfamiliar faces passed by carrying books, bags and phones. One was holding a bright yellow chicken suit in his right hand, his face showing irritation. A group of girls behind him were chatting and giggling whilst pointing to a group of handsome boys on the other side of the hall. Every student was heading towards the exit. School was over for one day, and they all wanted to go home and rest.
The last person to disappear from their view was a fourteen year old girl with silky black hair. She was wearing a green shirt with black flowers sewn near the bottom. Her skirt was black with green around the edges and her black shoes were worn over black stockings. Her hair was completed with a green headband. She kept her books clutched to her chest as she hummed.
"Wait, isn't that..." Harry didn't finish when the others gave him a shut-up-before-we-kill-you look.
The girl never vanished from their view, instead keeping the focus on her skipping out the school doors. There were still students outside, including a dark skinned girl with a red cap sitting on her head. The first girl spotted the other girl and ran to her, her long hair lifting behind her.
"Abby! Wait for me!" she called.
The second girl, Abby, smiled her way. "I can't go without you, can I? I'm your partner for the assignment, Kuki."
Kuki beamed as the two girls started walking. At the school gates, a brunette boy waited anxiously. When he saw the two girls, he grew even more nervous. His finger tapped Kuki's back and she rotated ninety degrees. Upon seeing the boy, she smiled.
"Hi, Devon," she greeted.
"Devon?" Thomas repeated. "Isn't that a type of ham?"
"Shut up, Numbuh 80."
"Uh... Hi, Kuki. I was wondering what you were doing on Friday night." Devon's eyes shifted sideways as if he was scared that somebody was listening.
Kuki shook her head. "No, I'm not doing anything, why?"
"I was wondering, do you want to go out with me?" Devon questioned, his voice breaking on the last word.
"Uh..." It was Kuki's turn to do the eye shift. "Sorry, Devon."
Devon seemed surprised, embarrassed and disappointed all in one. "Oh, it's okay then."
The hole disappeared, leaving the team to wonder what just happened. What they had just witnessed was not what they were expecting. They were amused by the boy's predicament, but they still couldn't help but be confused as to why it was that certain point in time. They knew it was set in the past and Kellie and Melissa's mothers were there, but that was all.
"What was that supposed to be?" Truman asked, scratching his head thoughtfully.
Celeste shrugged. "Dunno."
She unconsciously poked her elbow into the cloud behind her. The cloud started morphing into random objects like the last one. Once again, it ended with time machine turning into a hole. They all peered down at the scenario, not knowing what to expect this time.
Before them stood the decommissioning chambers. Twelve year old Numbuh 86 A.K.A. Fanny Fulbright was shouting at the rest of the decommissioning team, who were cowering in fright. Apparently, one of the operatives had done something wrong. As expected, it was a boy that had committed the crime. After the yelling ceased, Fanny called in the unlucky birthday boy or girl.
"Numbuh 5 of Sector V and Moonbase Command! Report for decommissioning!"
Abby dawdled into the chamber, her hat pulled down over her face and her left hand holding her right arm. She looked miserable, and her face made the impression she was going to vomit as she stared at the four seats sitting back to back. She was directed into the nearest chair by Fanny, who didn't give her normal "Yeh stupid thirteen year old" speech. In fact, her expression was the same as Abby's.
"Wait!" A younger operative, possibly a new recruit, burst into the room. She leant against the doorframe, panting and bending down with her hands on her knees. When she regained her composure, she trotted over to Fanny and whispered something into her ear.
Fanny's eyes widened and her mood seemed to pick up a little. She was grinning from ear-to-ear by the time the operative ran out the door. She quickly changed it back to her normal scowl and shooed off the rest of her team. She ran to Abby and eagerly pulled her out of her chair, much to the latter's amazement. She had never seen the decommissioning leader as happy as she was now.
"Congratulations, Numbuh 5. You have been accepted into the Teens Next Door. You are in Sector V, your leader is Numbuh 1 and the Soopreme Leader is Numbuh 362."
Abby held out her hand to stop Fanny from talking. "Ain't Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362 in the Galactic KND?"
Fanny shook her head. "They were told to come down when they turned thirteen. Even Galactic Kids Next Door operatives have to be decommissioned when they turn thirteen. You must keep this a secret from your fellow operatives and everyone else. You are not to address the your teammates by their codenames unless you are on a mission for security reasons. Do you understand?"
"Of course," replied Abby, nodding her head. "But, why me?"
"Probably because you were one of the ten main people to aid in that war with the future kids," Fanny answered immediately. "Now of you go."
The Future Sector V caught a glimpse of Abby running out of the chambers before the hole closed. The new flashback gave them more information, but that just meant even more confusion. They all looked around at each other, looking for a single sign that one of them knew what was happening. Of course, none came.
"Wait," started Melissa. "When Numbuh 86 said something about that war, did she say something about future kids?" The others nodded. "Does that mean us?"
"I guess so. And that also means the TND is real," remembered Truman.
Harry's eyes widened. "So does this mean that this is the timeline we created?"
"Yes, I'd say so. I mean, they kept on mentioning stuff that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone to the past," pointed out Celeste.
"Quick, let's watch another one." Harry's fingertips made contact with the cloud behind him. The procedure started again and they all watched as the familiar hole appeared.
Dust and smoke surrounded an area no one could see. Rubble was falling everywhere and screaming was heard from every direction. Gunshots echoed from overheard, followed by a buzzing sound. Through the destruction, three figures emerged, all of them teenagers. They ran behind something large, but they couldn't see what it was due to all the smoke.
"What do we do now?" asked one of the teenagers. He had goggles over his eyes, protecting him from the debris.
"Don't know, Numbuh 2," the boy next to him muttered hopelessly, his Australian accent evident.
The last teenager, an Asian girl, squealed in fright as a piece of the roof came crashing down next to her. "We have to wait until this eases down a bit!"
"We don't have time! The others are up there fighting there asses out! We can't just sit here and do nothing!" the second boy yelled.
"Wally..." The girl whimpered one word, but it was enough to make Wally's eyes soften.
"Kooks, I'm sorry, but we need to get up there!" He paused, then added, "We're not in the Teens Next Door for nothing!"
Hoagie moved from his crouching position so he was next to Wally. "Numbuh 4's right, we need to get to the others."
He poked his head out and scanned the place, ready to act at any sign of activity. When he decided it was all clear, he bolted to a metal ladder on the other side of the room. He reached it safely and made an "O" with his fingers, signalling to the other two that he was okay. The duo weren't paying any attention to him, instead sending suspicious glances to the very unstable looking ladder. Many of its metal rings were halfway off, or just off completely.
Hoagie shrugged, choosing to take a chance. He carefully climbed the ladder, almost slipping because his hands were sweating so much. He arrived at the top and grinned at the other two. He was about to call out to them when another, closer gunshot was fired. It hit Hoagie straight in the back of the head and he tumbled to the ground.
"Dad!" Melissa cried, tears beginning to pour from her eyes.
"Hoagie! Hoagie! Hoags! Can you hear me?"
No matter how loud Wally shouted over the noise, his words wouldn't reach the fallen operative. Kuki was sobbing near his body, Wally's arm around her. The two must have spent five minutes near the body before wondering what to do.
The scene dissolved, leaving the future team depressed. Melissa was uncontrollably crying and hugging Celeste, who also had a tear-stained face. Thomas didn't care that his shirt was wet from Kellie's tears. In fact, he, along with Harry and Truman, was silently crying himself. For what seemed like ages, all of them just floated there, mourning the death in the alternate timeline.
Aw, so sad. This is probably going to be one of my favourite chapters. Review!