Disclaimer: I do not own Codename: Kids Next Door and I never will. :'(

Awesome, an update! I was doing NaNoWriMo last month so I didn't have much time to work on this.

Chapter 14: Gone To Limbo

The cave was as dark and cold as ever. It was like it knew what had just happened and was representing the mood. The mud sloshed to different rhythms as six children stomped through it. These children were tired and upset from their recent experiences. Even the two loudest didn't dare talk. They didn't know whether to be triumphant, depressed, or ashamed.

Finally, the silence was broken. "I never want to do that again."

"We'll all get through it, Numbuh 361," reassured Melissa.

Harry nodded. He was sure they would, his teammates were all strong. It was all over now, anyway. Everything was back to normal. All they needed to do was find Father, Anne-Marie and Nixon and send them to the Arctic Prison Base.

Unfortunately, the time machine had dropped them off at the cave entrance and they had to go all the way back through the tunnels. It was annoying, but at least it gave them time to think. There were no more monsters to disturb them either, so they were hassle free, unless you called their feelings and thoughts a hassle.

After arriving in the place the large blobs had fought them, Harry thought of something. "Hey, Numbuh 52? How did you know AMSB meant Anne-Marie?"

"Oh, that was easy," Melissa replied. "The little idiot wrote her initials and then her actual name under it on the wall of the cage thing we were in."

"Cage thing?" Celeste asked, overhearing the conversation.

"Yeah. Anne-Marie decided she would trap me, Numbuh 43 and Numbuh 80 in a cage. It turned into a wall after it, though," Melissa explained. "She thought we weren't going to escape, so she wrote out everything on the wall. She said it was to keep us "occupied", whatever that meant."

"Oh." Harry didn't have anything else to say. His mind was too busy replaying every decommissioning, especially slowing down on his parents'.

"The maze isn't here anymore. Thank goodness." Kellie sighed in relief.

"Maze?" Truman asked.

Melissa nodded and told Truman, Celeste and Harry about the maze. Kellie and Thomas added information here and there, but it wasn't very helpful. By the end, the first three had wide eyes, but other than that showed no other sign of surprise. They stared at the clearing and saw that nothing looked any different from when they'd been there.

"It was really scary!" Kellie cried for the tenth time.

"Oh my gosh, we know!" Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Of course you know, you were the one holding her hand and telling her it was all right, remember?" Melissa pointed out.

Thomas and Kellie both blushed and avoided eye contact. The other four sniggered as they kept walking. Ten minutes later they arrived at the intersection. They could either go through the squishy swamp tunnel or the tunnel that led to the cage.

"Well, we should go the way me, Numbuh 43 and Numbuh 80 went. The wall should still be broken," Melissa concluded.

Even though the tunnel was dark and narrow, it was still the most efficient path. Kellie, who had been through here before, grabbed Thomas's hand. It was an instinct now. Celeste was the only one who noticed since she was the person behind them. She didn't say anything and decided to let them enjoy each other's company.

Many minutes of walking later, the light of the torches illuminated the passageway. Not long after, they arrived at the circular room. Everything was still in place from when they left. No rocks or debris had been moved and the throne and decorations were still there.

"Wait, where's Father and the others?" Truman inquired.

Three pairs of handcuffs lay on the floor. Their captives were nowhere to be found. The operatives could even imagine the cricket sounds as they stared.

Thomas cracked his knuckles. "If they've escaped..."

Celeste shook her head. "I don't think they escaped. Well, not on purpose. They don't exist anymore."

She looked around and was met with a lot of confused stares. Kellie was absolutely clueless. Next to her, Melissa was lost in thought, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Thomas's nose was scrunched up like it always was when he was puzzled. Truman kept blinking, which was very annoying. Harry kept opening his mouth to say something only to close it again.

"Oh geez," Celeste groaned. "I mean that because we stopped the decommissioning, we stopped the other timeline. That timeline doesn't exist anymore. That means that Father, Anne-Marie and that other guy... Nelson?"

"Nixon," Harry corrected.

"Yeah, whatever. They all disappeared because they technically aren't alive anymore," Celeste finished.

A chorus of "Oh" surrounded her. She smiled and shook her head. Everything was back to normal. Or, at least she'd thought so. She still felt frustrated whenever she looked at Harry and she could tell her felt the same way. After all, they had never had the chance to talk about everything.

"So, they're gone for good, right?" Kellie asked.

Celeste nodded slowly. "Ah, yes. At least, I think so. I can't tell for sure. It's not every day you change the past."

"True," agreed Melissa. "But we need to get out of here."

Thomas held out a hand to stop Melissa from talking. "I'm just gonna do something first."

He asked for a weapon from Harry, who gave him his dagger reluctantly. He smirked and cracked his knuckles again. He held on tightly and slowly advanced towards the throne and decorations. The others watched in anticipation, waiting to see what he would do.

'Smash!'

'Crack!'

'Snap!'

In the blink of an eye, the regal chair was in four pieces and the banners and streamers ripped and torn. Thomas cheered and the others' eyes were widened. They didn't want to admit it, but they were pretty scared of him right now.

Thomas grinned at them as he handed Harry the dagger. "Just making up for the action I lost before."

Instantly, the tension broke and they all burst out laughing. Things were definitely healing and they just needed to move on.

"Hey, anyone there?" a voice called from the wet, swampy tunnel. Out of it came the Soopreme Leader, his clothes soaked and muddy.

"Hey, Numbuh 679," greeted Harry uneasily. "I see you took the wet route..."

"Yeah..." Numbuh 679 glared at Thomas, Kellie and Truman, who were trying very hard not to laugh. Even Melissa had an awkward smile on her face.

"How did you find us?" Harry asked, also shooting a look at his teammates.

"We received a weird note from some girl. She called herself Anne-Marie. She was very..." Numbuh 679 trailed off.

"Mad? Psycho? Insane?" Celeste suggested. Just because this was all over didn't mean she hated the girl any less.

"...Arrogant," Numbuh 679 finished. "Anyways, there's a C.O.O.L.B.U.S. waiting outside for you. I'll take you to Moonbase where we can talk about all this. This was a very serious crime. They weren't just trying to capture you; they wanted to kill you. I know they're gone, but you'd be safer up at Moonbase. Plus, the hospital is there. We don't want our best sector untreated for wounds, right?"

Harry smiled. "Right, let's go."

The danger's over! Teehee! The whole story's almost over as well. Just two more chapters! So... Review? Pretty please?