Hey everyone! Sorry for the updates taking alot longer then they used too. Been super busy with school and life in general. I've also taken a long time because I felt that I needed to develop the characters more, especially Nigel and Rachel. I'm trying to develop the couple without making this one of those "fluff" fanfics (nothing wrong with those, just not my style of writing).

I'd like to take a moment to once again thank all of the people who have favorited, followed, reviewed, and are currently reading my story. I really appreciate it.

I'm sure many of you who are big fans of 1x362 will enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 14: Uncertain Fate

...Connection Re-Established...

Far above the chaos and destruction that was unfolding on Earth below, several KND commanders and scientists stationed on the Moon Base were posted in a large control room, awaiting to witness the final outcome of their years of hard work. They were part of a secret program known only as "Project: ZEUS", and was kept even unknown to the Supreme Leader. It was ordered by global command when it became apparent that the Kids Next Door would need to posses something in it's arsenal that would provide as a deterrent to hostile powers as well as a way to launch a pre-emptive strike on any enemy targets.

The personal in the room were performing last minute inspections of the project, and if proved successful, would mean a new era in history and a swift end to the war. There were many possible dangers that could arise if the weapon in question became unstable. Many scientists who worked on the project had many theories, ranging from the weapon being a total dud, all the way to opening a black hole that would spell the end of mankind.

The weapon was being tested on the other side of the Moon, which was open and barren, a perfect place to test a weapon. The weapon came in the form of a satellite, mounted with a large rail gun. Several cameras were placed around the target perimeter, which would allow the operatives to observe the weapon's capabilities without being put in harms way. Of course, if the weapon did open a black hole like some speculated, it wouldn't matter where they were on the Moon anyway.

Around the control room were several large screens that were receiving feedback from the camera's mounted on the satellite. After the final preparations were complete, the scientist in charge of the project then nodded at one of the commanders, who then signaled for the control room personal to begin powering up this strange weapon.

A voice then signaled over the intercom in the control room as well as outside of the Moon Base, warning any stray operatives who might've been in the weapon's target area to evacuate immediately.

"15%"

"45%"

"80%"

"100%"

"Weapons systems engaged."

In front of the commander lay a holographic monitor, which gave him the option to fire or to disengage the rail gun. The commander thought about it, what he was about to do would change the course of history, for better or worse.

He then pushed on the button that would fire the weapon.

Several seconds later, the cameras showed a large pulsating energy blast shot out by the satellite, which then hit the targeted area.

Almost immediately upon contact, the surface of the dark surface of the Moon was replaced with a blinding white light, which reached all the way to the Moon Base.

The operatives witnessed in both horror and amazement at their new creation. The impact caused Lunar debris to fly up into the air, creating a massive white cloud that spewed out into space.

The results were shocking.

The destruction it left was even more powerful then that of a nuclear bomb. The target area, which was flat and barren, was now a large crater several miles wide.

It was at this moment did the Kids Next Door realize what they had truly created.

"Serena get down!" Rachel forcefully grabbed Serena and laid her on the ground. She had never seen Serena caught off guard like this ever before.

"For god sake, what were you thinking?!"

"Sorry, just got a little distracted." Serena responded back softly.

Rachel looked out in between a set of books and spotted the individual Serena was staring at. It was Chamenos, which explained why the girl was unresponsive.

She felt sympathy for the girl. It must be extremely tough and heartbreaking going back to the very place where she lost the one most dear to her.

Rachel couldn't imagine losing the person closest to her in such a tragic way. She couldn't comprehend the feeling of sadness and loss that Serena was feeling at this current moment.

"Hey, like you said, that isn't him anymore right?" Rachel whispered, hoping to snap Serena out of her shocked state.

"Yeah... I guess." Serena answered back.

They watched as the boy quickly headed towards the desk where his journal sat on.

"So that's where I left it." he muttered to himself before pacing back to the doorway.

Just as he was about to leave the large room, he abruptly stopped. He then turned back, and scanned the room. He felt like someone was watching him, causing him to turn around fully and briefly scan the room. This caused the two KND operatives to stay completely still and nearly hold their breaths.

He walked five steps back into the room before a Hasayan soldier came into the room, interrupting the boys search.

"Leader requests your presence."

Chamenos sighed, and followed the soldier. The boy looked back one last time, nearly making eye contact with Serena.

"Probably just my imagination." He whispered to himself right when he exited the room.

The door closed, and the two finally let out the air that was building up in their lungs.

"Geeze that was close, next time can you please warn me if your going to have an episode of Post-traumatic stress?" Rachel joked patting Serena on the back.

Serena didn't laugh, and looked down towards the cold and marble floor.

"Hey, cheer up girl, we got a mission to do."

The brown haired girl agreed and quickly straightened her stance.

"Have any idea how we can get out of here?" Serena asked, looking around for any potential exits.

"Well I'd say we go back the way we came, but I think there might be some of Leaders men in those halls."

Rachel scanned the room, and finally looked above one of the bookshelves. Just above it was a vent, which was large enough to fit both of them. There was also the posibility that it could potentially go through the entire underground facility.

Rachel called Serena and pointed to the top of the bookshelf where the vent was located.

"Hey, Serena help me up there yeah? I think I found a way out of this room."

Serena nodded and the two hustled quickly towards the vent.

A lone S.C.A.M.P.E.R quickly zoomed over the Alaskan landscape, flying just above the tree tops to avoid any possible enemy detection.

"You gotta be freakin' kidding me. I thought we already took North America why we gotta fly so damn low?!"

"Because Numbuh 4, the Hasayan's or whatever those wackos are called could have radar systems in the area, and we wouldn't wanna risk being detected now would we?" Abby answered back.

Numbuh 1 was sitting in the command seat of the chair, clutching his abdomen area that was still producing pain.

This caught Hoagie's attention, and he questioned Nigel's decision to go on with the rescue mission.

"Hey Numbuh 1, you sure you want to go on with this mission? We can always turn back."

Abby jumped into the conversation, because she too was unsure if Nigel was combat ready. "Yeah Numbuh 1, I mean you just got shot up and you still want to go on another potentially life threatening mission?"

Nigel regained his posture, and tucked his hands on the arms of his chair, away from the healing wound.

"I'm fine guys, besides Rachel's out there along with Serena and I have a gut feeling they'll need our help."

"Awh! Numbuh 1 is going to save Numbuh 362! How cute!" Kuki butted in, causing the bald headed boy to blush.

"Um... just continue on course." Nigel ordered, trying to ignore Kuki's comment.

"Whatever you say lover boy." Hoagie smirked.

Nigel then brought the metallic cube he was given up to his face. What exactly was this damn thing meant for?

Deep within the Arctic facility, Rachel and Serena were crawling through one of bases vents, peeping out through the dotted windows that came up every so often. Many of Hasayan soldiers stationed in the facility were on high alert, and the two made the assumption that it was because of the Teen Ninja's attempt to assassinate Leader. They then overheard an interesting conversation between two of the masked soldiers. Rachel stopped and signaled Serena to do the same. She then peered through one of the dotted windows, in order to eavesdrop on the two Hasayans.

"So I heard Leader is givin' it a second go at that crazy 'Chamber' of his." one of them said

The other one answered back. "Yeah, do you know what it does? I've been hearing some crazy theories bout it."

"Naw, all I know is that its suppose to help create a 'perfect world' or so he says."

"Ah I see, well what's keepin' Leader from using that machine?"

"I think he's expecting some people, not sure who. Guess we'll find out when they arrive." The other replied.

Rachel felt uneasy, and maneuvered her body away from the vent window she was looking through.

"What did they say?" Serena whispered.

"They said that Leader is waiting for someone to test his new contraption of his."

Serena gulped, it had to be her.

"Regardless, he's planning to use it on all of us eventually so better we stop him now before he get's that chance." Rachel added.

They crawled for several minutes until they finally spotted a large room that appeared to be empty. Rachel decided it was safe, and they both jumped down from the vent's opening.

It was awfully quiet and poorly lit. The room was decorated with Hasayan Banners hanging from the roof. The ground was made out of pure marble, and situated at the very end of the room was a chair. A lone and dark chair.

"I think this is where Leader gives out all his orders..." Serena whispered.

"Is this where you remember the Chamber was?" Rachel asked.

A cold and familiar voice interrupted the quiet stillness of the room.

"Actually, that room is not too far from here."

The room lit up, and dozens of Hasayan soldiers rushed out of the many entrances and exits that littered the room. Their heavy armor, Nazi styled uniforms, and gas masks that emitted a red glow from the eye holes intimidated the two operatives.

"Wait what?!" Rachel was quickly knocked out with one of the soldiers rifle butts, and Serena soon suffered the same fate.

"Ight Numbuh 1, according to these coordinates the base should be right here." Hoagie pointed at a small hill that was in the clearing.

"Good." Nigel said shivering. Despite wearing a thermal suit, his wound was causing him to lose body heat at an accelerated rate. He needed to get out of the freezing environment or risk getting hyperthermia.

Just as Nigel was about to proceed, Numbuh 5 signaled all of them to stop.

"Something's not right..." she announced to the whole group. The air had a strange stillness to it.

Wally was eager to kick some ass, and could wait no longer.

"Aw cmon Numbuh 5, your just..." Several shots rang out from around them and they quickly found themselves engaged in a shoot out.

Sector V ran back into the forest that they had just exited, seeing that they would stand no chance in the open field. They fired blindly into the forest on the opposite side of their location, hoping that they would do damage to whoever was firing at them.

"I told you!" Abby shouted while firing back at the Hasayan soldiers now emerging from the forest on the opposite site of the clearing. Their camo, which almost entirely blended in with the snow, made them difficult to spot. However, the red glow emitting from the eye part of their masks gave away their position once the group looked in closely. Nigel peeped out, careful of the enemy bullets that pummeled their position. He could count see 6 sets of red lights, indiciating 6 nemy soldiers, nothing they couldn't handle.

"Looks like we can handle them." Nigel announced. But too his surprise, no one responded.

He turned behind him and found that none of his team mates were behind him.

"Guys...?" Nigel suddenly felt a rifle butt hit the back of his head, and he quickly dropped to the ground dizzy.

He looked up, and saw a familiar face. It was the same person who tried to kidnap him at the Arctic Base.

"You... you tried to kidnap..." Nigel then blacked out.

"Gotcha." Chamenos mocked.

Rachel awoke to a loud metal door opening, followed by what sounded like someone being thrown into the cell she found herself in. The cell was dark, and the only source of light was coming from a dim light on the ceiling. As far as she could make out, the cell was relatively large, had no windows, and had a large metal door with a small window that served as both the exit and entrance for the room.

The girl still had a concussion, but she attempted to figure out the identity of the person who lay before her. The boy was groaning, and upon turning him over, immediately recognized his identity.

"Nigel?!" Rachel exclaimed.

Nigel looked up at Rachel's face, still dazed from the large blow he took to the back of his head.

"Rachel...?" He answered back.

Rachel felt angry at Chester and Patton for disobeying orders, she could've sworn she told them specifically not to let Nigel follow her. But that was in the past, and there was nothing she could do about it now. She then noticed Nigel clutching his stomach, the main source of pain he was feeling.

"How's your wound...?" She asked.

Nigel didn't respond, he was in far too much agony.

Realizing that she was the only one who could help the boy, Rachel gently lifted the thermal shirt he was wearing and took a look at the wound. It was in pretty rough shape, and she noticed that it was beginning to slowly bleed again due to the events that had just unfolded. The Hasayan's literally threw him onto the ground, which may have irritated the wound. It wasn't life threatening, but at the same time it made boy very uncomfortable.

"Shh.." Rachel hushed at the boy. Her warm and sounding voice made the boy stop squealing in pain. Seeing that the bleeding could get worse and put the boy in more pain, she took out the small medic kit she kept on her belt. The kit was relatively tiny, and was about the size of a small pouch. In it contained antibiotics, several bandages, and other small but helpful medical equipment.

She slowly rubbed antibiotic cream around the wound with a small q-tip and then applied one of the larger band aids of the kit on the wound.

She got up, helping Nigel walk by putting his arm on her shoulder. Rachel brought both of them to a wall, which would provide a more comfortable position opposed to laying on the cold stone floor.

They sat on the edges of the wall, not saying a word, wondering what their fate would be.

Nigel's breathing suddenly became more frantic, and she noticed that boy began to shiver. The blonde girl took the sweater covering her thermal suit and used it as sort of a blanket for the two of them.

The blonde girl then did something that surprised Nigel and even herself. She gently rested her head against the boys chest and then slowly but surely cuddled up with him, providing a sense of warmth and security both of them so desperately needed.

Even though the situation may appear to be bleak and it became more apparent that they may not make out of this place alive, at least they were still in each others company, and if their time was up, that was all that mattered.

"Numbuh 900, are you sure you wanna stay back alone? I mean I just don't feel right leaving you, Nigel, and Rachel with in this crazy nuthead facility by yourselves."

"Yeah I'm sure Numbuh 5, just remember to call in for back up."

Serena had luckily managed to open a small vent that lead outside of the base in the cell her and the other four members of Sector V were imprisoned. They had agreed on leaving Serena behind, because attempting to rescue Nigel and Rachel in their current situation would risk the possibility of all of them being killed or re-captured, dooming all of them for certain.

"Ight, go get'em girl." Numbuh 5 said following the rest of Sector V into the small vent.

Mean while, Serena had already managed to picklock the door, and slowly peaked through it after Sector V had completely left the room.

She spotted two guards near her door. She had to think of a plan that would take both of them out quickly.

"Hey you!" She yelled through the small barred window.

The guard took noticed and came right in front of the door.

"What the hell do you want?" He answered back.

Serena smiled, and immediately tackled the door, throwing one of the guards against the wall. The other guard raised his gun but it was too late, Serena slid on the ground, tripped him and knocked the guard unconscious with the rifle butt of his own gun, taking a set of keys in the process. Serena ran down the hallway, searching for Rachel and Nigel's cell.

This must've been where Leader kept all of his test subjects she though to herself, but her and Aiden we're never put down here. Must be a new addition to the place she noted.

The veteran operative searched frantically for the two, and couldn't find them in any of the empty cells that were scattered throughout the prison corridor.

She arrived at the last cell, they had to be here. The girl peeked through the window, and sure enough that was were they were. She also noticed that the two were cuddled up against each other. She smiled a bit, it's about time those two made a move.

Serena lifted up the keys and unlocked the cell door, quickly waking up the couple.

"Ok you two, cuddle time is over, now let's find a way out of here!"

Rachel was surprised, how did Serena...? Never mind, she had her ways.

They ran around the prison section for several minutes, finding themselves arriving at dead ends or hallways of more cells.

The three finally managed to navigate themselves out of the prison section of the large facility. They then stopped, and found themselves in a strange and large room. It was littered with Hasayan banners and several computer screens. Around them they could spot testing tubes, and other objects that indicated that experiments take place here.

In the middle, was a large chamber, and Serena recognized it off the bat.

"We should really get out of here." She whispered to everyone

As they turned back to find another way out of the facility, they heard the sound of guns cock all around them.

"Not so fast you three." Chamenos said coming out from the hallway they had just exited.

They were surrounded from all sides, and the only way they could possibly get out was blocked by Chamenos and a dozen Hasayan soldiers.

Serena felt that this was the time to comfront the boy, hoping that there was still a tiny shred of Aiden's essence in the boys body.

"Don't you remember me?" Serena hesitantly asked.

Chamenos looked at the girl and stared deeply. A number of images conjured up in his mind, past memories of events he didn't remember doing himself. Many of the images were of him and the girl together, happily embracing each others presence.

"Who are you... and why do you keep calling me Aiden?" He questioned.

Serena attempted to walk closer, as close as she possibly could without getting shot. She got within 5 feet in front of him before she sensed that any closer would get her and her companions killed.

"Don't you remember your true name...? We used to be friends. You have to remember... all the time we spent together, going out on missions, hanging out, and just being with each other, how could you possibly forget?"

Serena then raised her bracelet, the same one the boy was wearing.

"You gave this to me Aiden, how else do you think that both of us have this bracelet?"

Chamenos looked at his bracelet. He then began blinking even more irradicaly, and it felt as though another persona inside him was about to break out. He started to remember who he was, but his thoughts were rudely interrupted when another figure entered the room.

"Oh look who we have here! May I add Numbuh 900, your attempts to bring back your friend are futile. He is a much more obedient and efficient person then that Aiden you so desprately claim he is."

He patted Chamenos on the back. "Good work, I'll take it from here."

Chamenos stepped behind Leader , but he felt as something in him changed. He began wondering if the girl was right. But if that's who he really was, who was he now?

"Perfect, three of my test subjects arrived just on time! I can't wait to test it on all of you, especially you Numbuh 900... you may have escaped last time, but I can assure you it won't happen again..."

Leader ordered his men to subdue the three operatives. The three attempted to push the Hasayan soldiers off but to no avail.

Nigel instinctively jumped in front of Rachel, but he was quickly pushed aside and beat down. Rachel and Serena attempted to fight the soldiers brawling with Nigel but they were suddenly held back by several more Hasayan's

Rachel watched in horror as Nigel was brutally beat. The soldiers then turned their attention to Rachel and Serena, and they too underwent the same punishment.

...TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED...