Shot Through the Heart is written by Mandie LeScum with the help of SSAlse and DhamphirWings. Without them this fanfiction would have been nothing but a dream.
Chapter 1
Susan Silverbullet listened to the rain fall hard in the Twisted Forest, a wildly overgrown nature reserve full of giant mushrooms, colorful, twisted trees and a clean river running through the land in curves. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and one of Mandark's old black capes with the tapered ends and red velvet lining was drawn over her head to serve as protection from the rain. She brushed her short, black hair out of her eyes and pulled the cape tight around her. The sudden, unexpected end-of-summer rain made the temperature quickly drop. Right now she was wishing she wore more than just a black pleated mini skirt and the leather Racer D jacket she won in a sweepstakes that came with matching ankle-high boots.
Her Dexter, Mandark and Dee Dee nanos were snuggled warmly in the jacket together sleeping quietly, with Mandark's little arms holding Dee Dee's little body. Susan could feel herself drifting off, but she knew if she fell asleep she'd be at risk of being hurt or killed by a monster. She thought about Lord Fuse for a while, and she thought about what she saw when the planet attacked, and the motivational speech Dexter gave the day after.
The green balls of fire rained down on homes and people, destroying lifetimes of work and effort in one moment. Millions of people were killed worldwide in the attack alone, and many people comitted suicide when hearing of an alien invasion of this magnitude. Many people listening to the emergency news on the radio were hoping it was a new version of the old radio play that aired in 1938 called "War of the Worlds" which caused many people to kill themselves thinking the invasion was real.
The damage, chaos and fear created by the invasion overshadowed the alleged terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11th, the eruption at Pompeii, hurricane Katrina, the crusades, and any other tragedy that ever occurred on Earth. It was hell; a green, bouncy, glow-in-the-dark hell. How could we have not been prepared? Dexter, Mandark, the Plumbers even Mojo Jojo monitor outer space all the time, so how could it have been missed? How did no one notice Pluto, Uranus and even the gassy goliath Jupiter being engulfed by an enormous space booger?
Susan's mind wandered and began to think about her family that died in the spawn attacks; her mother Mary was a nurse, her big sister Ashley was a web designer and her father Henry was a botanist. Susan wanted to be a motorcycle racer and a gunner; something really cool and Mary-Sueish.
The rain gradually got lighter and eventually stopped and the rain clouds dissipated away revealing a brilliant blue sky ruined by planet Fuse looming above. She got up slowly so she didn't wake her nanos, and clipped the cape back on her shoulders.
Meanwhile, Dexter was pacing back and forth in his lab, and Computress nervously followed. "Dexter please calm down. You need a break," Computress said.
"There is no time for rest I must think of some way to get Fuse off of our planet and to undo the damage he has caused. The world is resting on my shoulders." Dexter said in a tone laced with frustration. Computress sighed, "Dexter you know you cannot think straight when you are stressed. You need to calm down. My sensors indicate that your blood pressure is too high as well as your heart rate."
"Well obviously I can't help being stressed!" he snapped, "and I know Mandark isn't doing anything to help us. The Plumbers haven't given me any word on what's going on either, and a lot of people have e-mailed me telling me their nanos are sick. I have a lot to think about and try to solve over here." Dexter sighed heavily and sat down into a cushioned swivel chair and kicked off of the side of his desk and slowly turned the chair for a while until he got a little dizzy.
"I apologize for your stress and I wish I could relieve it in some way Dexter." Computress crooned.
"It's alright Computress," Dexter said calmly, "I feel a little better. I think I'm going to take a nap or something." Dexter got up and started to walk away. When he got to the doorway he turned around and looked at Computress. "I'm sorry for yelling at you Computress."
"It is alright, apology accepted, Dexter." Computress nodded. Dexter gave her a weak smile and walked off to his room for a nap.
Dexter walked into his overly-sterile bedroom and took off his boots and laid back on his bed. He rolled over onto his side and snuggled his cold pillow; his mind racing a thousand miles a minute. His mind slowly began to stop churning, and Dexter's eyes got heavy and he was falling into that twilight-like zone of being half-asleep and half-awake in awkward and jumpy comfort when his cellphone rang. Dexter sat up and pulled a tiny cube out of his pocket and it expanded into a three-dimensional cube with Ben Tennyson's photo on the sides.
"Yes, Ben?" Dexter asked sleepily.
"Dexter, we have a little problem at the spaceport with Vilgax, Mandark and Mojo Jojo. They're planning on having a big fight tomorrow and they're going to hurt themselves. Do you have any idea on what to do to stop them?" Ben asked nervously.
"I don't know how to stop them but I can tell you Mandark won't walk out of that mess alive. Um…my educated suggestion is to stop the fight before it starts." Dexter said.
"Well I tried calling Mojo and Mandark and neither will answer, I won't bother with Vilgax because he would never take anything I say seriously." Ben was on his cell phone pacing back and forth in front of the fountain by the hospital at the space port. He turned around and looked at Vilgax who was standing on a nearby building's balcony probably plotting some cruel but fun way to tear Ben apart after Fuse was defeated. Vilgax noticed Ben turned around, "What?!" Vilgax yelled angrily, Ben turned around.
Dexter rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "Well, there's only three people I know that Mandark will listen to besides Dee Dee, it's Alse Kai, Artemis Light and Susan Silverbullet. I think the three of them would be able to talk him out of doing something stupid, but I really feel that Mandark needs to have some sense beaten into him. Literally." Dexter smirked a bit thinking about it. "I don't think they know eachother though."
"How do you know if they will make a difference?" Ben asked curiously.
"Well," Dexter replied, "once Alse talked him into giving her way more missions than she probably deserved; Artemis nearly beat the living daylights out of Mandark for insulting her Him nano so he fears her a little and Susan is good friends with his cousin Sugar."
"You keep tabs on everyone don't you?" Ben asked.
"Yes; I keep records on everyone with a nanocom. It's a matter of global security." Dexter nodded to himself.
"I'll try and contact the girls, can you send me their numbers?" Ben asked.
"Uh sure, Alse's nanocom number is 667, Susan's is 383 and Artemis' number is 446. Don't ask why I remember them." Dexter yawned a bit. He had experimented on himself a bit a few years back in hopes of extending his memory's capacity. It worked, but now he absorbs and retains all sorts of useless information about random people who have talked to him; for example Dexter knows Silverbullet's blood type and Alse's shoe size. Dexter almost regrets the memory extension.
"Thanks Dex," Ben said, "have a good day. Bye bye." Ben hung up before Dexter could wish him a good day too. Dexter's cell phone cube retracted into its tiny form again and he put it back into his pocket and fell asleep for a cat nap in the middle of the afternoon.
Ben called Susan's phone first. Susan heard her ring tone go off and she picked it up, a little round nanocom phone in solid white. "Hello?"
"Hi! This is Ben, I have a mission for you."
Susan hated doing missions for Ben, "what do I have to do this time?" She asked.
Ben explained the situation, "Mandark and Mojo Jojo were insulting Vilgax's appearance and angered him, now they're all going to have a big fight tomorrow in the space port's weapons vault. I need to have you and two other people go in and try and stop the fight before they kill eachother."
"Let Mandark get roughed up you know he deserves it." Susan said. She looked down at her nanos and saw they were still sleeping so she lowered her voice a bit. "Besides, it's not like any of them are all that particularly good looking."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
"We need to work together so we can defeat Fuse, and they can't work together if they're going to fight."
"Aha," Susan said, "what's in it for me?"
"Um, you'll get some Fusion Matter for it, can you come down here soon? I need you to meet the other two people I'm hoping who will help you."
"Who are they?"
"Alse Kai and Artemis Light."
"Ah, I don't know 'em. Alright I'll be there in a while, I'm in the Twisted Forest."
"Take a nearby SCAMPER then, see you soon."
"See ya," Susan said, hanging up. "Tch, I'm taking my sweet time." She stood up slowly as to not wake her nanos and walked toward Mt. Blackhead to get on a SCAMPER to City Station downtown.
Ben dialed Artemis next. Artemis was sitting with Him in a pleasant outdoor resturaunt sipping tea and nibbling on delicate cookies and biscuits. Her Him nano was sitting in her lap holding a cookie in his tiny claws.
"This weather is so pleasant today." Him spoke.
"Yes," Artemis nodded, "it is." Artemis was wearing blue jean shorts, a green hoodie jacket with a winking skull on the back, green and blue sneakers and short, choppy blonde framing her solid black irises which stood out against her pale skin. Although she had slight bags under her eyes she was never a tired person and rather peppy when around Him and other friends; Artemis referred to them as 'part of her characteristics'. It was certainly
"I wish I dressed up a bit more for today, you're always so well dressed Him."
"Thank you Artemis." Him said, lifting a teacup gently in his claw and drinking. "You are absolutely fine, believe me."
Artemis blushed slightly, "thanks."
Her nanocom rang. "Excuse me," she said answering it. "Hello? I'm kinda busy right now make it quick." She said.
Ben explained the same thing to Artemis that he did to Susan.
"Mandark really made me angry, why should I help him?"
"Please Artemis? I'll give you Fusion Matter for your trouble."
"Why can't you do it?" She was getting agitated.
"Well because it involves Vilgax and I am trying to avoid having to fight him right now, I'm trying to hold everyone together right now."
Artemis thought for a second, she was a bit embarrassed that her luncheon was interrupted. "Alright fine, I'll help but I am in the middle of a very nice lunch with someone so I'll get to you when I get to you. See you soon." She said, hanging up. Ben sighed, "why are girls so difficult?" he said to himself.
"I am so sorry about that Him," Artemis apologized over and over, "Ben has a semi-emergency mission for me." She helped out her Him nano having trouble reaching for a cookie.
"That's alright Artemis," Him said. "You need the Fusion Matter."
Ben was saving the worst, or rather the scariest, for last. He knew Alse. He was scared of her after she nearly killed him over one of the rushed, timed missions in the space port that involved defusing some gooby traps. He shuddered, remembering how cruel she was when screaming at him, but she certainly wasn't the only one to complain about his missions.
Oh the pain Alse inflicted on Ben, his left arm still tingles when he thinks about it. Ben gulped a bit, he decided he'd suck it up and find the courage to call her. "I hope she isn't going to be disturbed and get upset…" he said to himself, dialing.
Alse Kai was sitting at the very top of Dexlabs with her legs dangling over the edge, she had her Dexter, Mandark and Utonium nanos sitting in her lap sharing a sandwich slice between them. Her short, choppy silver hair made her blue eyes look brighter than they normally were. She wore a corseted red and black shirt with long, puffy sleeves, black jeans and red and black sneakers. Although it was very warm out at Tech Square, she didn't feel hot at all. She jumped a bit when she heard her phone ring, she answered it. "…yes?"
Ben sighed, 'please let this go well,' he thought to himself. "Hi Alse, it's-."
Before he could finish the sentence Alse hung up. "Who was it?" Dexter looked up at her.
"Ben," she said. Her phone rang again, "Y'ello?"
"Alse don't hang up!" Ben yelled. Alse hung up again; she'd sooner deal with a feral dog than Ben Tennyson after that hellish mission. Ben was getting angry at playing phone tag with Alse.
Ben decided to try one last time. Alse picked up the phone but didn't speak into it for a moment.
"Alse! Alse? Alse Kai, are you there?"
"Of course I am here you numbskull! Stop calling me you no-brained dork! I thought I made it clear that I never wanted to see you again or hear from you or I would hunt you down and skin you alive and make myself some really nice moccasins out of your freckled hide!" Alse screamed into the phone. Her sudden screams startled her nanos which huddled together for a moment. "Oh, sorry sweeties," she said, gently petting their heads.
"It's about Mandark!" Ben yelled over her.
"Oh," Alse paused, "that changes everything." Her tone changed drastically.
Ben sighed and explained why he needed Alse's help.
"I'll be right there Ben." She said, hanging up. "Finish eating guys, we've got a dork to save."
Alse quickly helped her nanos finish eating and left the top of Dexlabs to make her way to the space port. She walked quickly, with her three nanos floating behind her trying to keep up with her fast pace.
"Please slow down for us," the professor nano begged, "you are going too fast." Alse slowed down a bit. "Sorry," she said, "I just want to get this over with." She gently grabbed Dexter's cheeks and nuzzled him. "Stop pouting, Dexter." Dexter smiled, "I feel better now." Dexter grabbed hold of Alse's hair and sat on her shoulder, the professor sat on her other shoulder and Alse held Mandark in her arms and continued going. "This is much better!" Mandark said, "I like being carried."
Alse smiled, she loved spoiling her nanos. In fact, who didn't? How could you not spoil something so cute and innocent-looking?
Meanwhile, Susan was on the SCAMPER alone with her nanos in her lap, waiting for the pilot to take off. The pilot was a young boy with dark skin and light green eyes, in the KND issued uniform that was green and yellow. "Ready to go?" he asked in a cheery voice. Susan nodded, "Alright let's take off then!" he said with gusto. Susan's heart jumped into her throat when the SCAMPER pilot took off at top speed, forcing her back into the seat.
Artemis on the other hand had just finished her tea with Him and made her way to Ben too, sad to have cut their very nice day so short. Artemis looked up to the sky and saw the clouds start to roll in, the same clouds that had just rained on Susan a while earlier in the Twisted Forest.
She took some comfort in knowing that the day would have been ruined anyway by sudden rains. Artemis walked under street awnings to stay dry, holding her Him nano in her arms. "I wonder what these other girls are like." She said to herself.
Susan arrived first. "Hi spaceboy." She said waving to him. "Uh, hi Susan, just call me Ben, ok?"
"You got it spaceboy." She said. Ben sighed, "great, another Alse." He sat on the edge of the fountain. "Hi Vilgax!" Susan yelled, waving. Vilgax turned around and saw her. "What?! Oh. Hi." He sort of waved back to Susan.
"I missed ya!" her Dexter nano chirped jumping into Ben's lap followed by Dee Dee who always traveled with Dexter and then Mandark following Dee Dee. Ben lightly pet the nanos. "Hey there."
"Do anything cool lately?" Dexter asked.
"Yeah yeah!" Dee Dee chimed. Mandark held Dee Dee's hand; she didn't seem to notice.
"No, not really;" Ben said.
"Um, hello." A soft airy voice suddenly made itself present. Susan turned around and saw that it was Artemis. "Oh you must be that other girl Ben said was coming. I didn't see you."
"I'm Artemis." She said, lightly blushing and shying away from Susan.
"I'm Susan, but most people call me Sue or 'Sooz'. I prefer either, but please don't call me Suzie." Artemis nodded. "Hello!" Artemis' Him nano waved a little claw at her. Susan eyed Artemis curiously. Something seemed very different about her, almost off or unnatural.
Susan's nanos jumped back into her arms when they saw Alse walking up the path. Ben stood up, "hi, Alse…"
"Don't talk to me like you know me, got it?" Alse said putting her hand up to Ben's face. Ben sighed, 'why am I doing this for Mandark?' he thought to himself.
Alse paused for a bit and looked the two other girls up and down to assess them based solely on their looks. "Hi girls you have to be Susan and Artemis. Ben mentioned he wanted me to work with you to save Mandark's sorry self."
"Shh!" Ben tried to hush Alse, "if Vilgax hears you..."
"LET HIM HEAR ME!" she hollered, "what are you so scared of huh Benji!?"
"You tell him!" Susan's Mandark nano cheered. Susan covered his little mouth. Artemis felt the back of her neck get hot. 'What have I gotten myself into?' she thought.
Vilgax heard the commotion and listened to them carefully, trying not to make it seem like he was listening by facing the other way.
"Stop calling me Benji, Alse!" Ben got flustered and angry.
"Please stop fighting," Artemis cooed. "It's unhealthy." She pet her Him nano gently.
Susan nodded, "listen I hate Ben's sugary goody-two-shoes guts too but I don't verbalize it." Ben was upset a bit more. Two of the three girls hated him; great.
"Ah stay out of it, it's a personal vendetta." Alse said, though they were right. "Well how do you want us to save Mandark?"
Ben sighed, "that's up to you three since you'll be working together. I hope so, anyway."
"I have an idea that might not work," said Susan, "but it involves some rope."
Artemis observed Alse and Susan carefully.
"Are you alright Artemis? I sense some tension." Him talked to Artemis telepathically. 'I am alright,' Artemis thought to Him, 'I am just trying to figure these two girls out.'
"Alright then," Him said cheerfully, 'you know how to reach me." And with that Him disappeared from Artemis' thoughts.
"A rope?" Alse questioned. "What exactly do you think we will be doing to Mandark?" Susan shrugged, "He wiggles. We'd have to tie him up real well to keep him from trying to attack Vilgax or Mojo right?" Alse nodded, "I thought we'd just stun him or something and drag him out of there by the ankles."
"Well as long as we don't actually hurt any of them it should be fine right?" Artemis said.
"I think you should injure Mandark." Her Him nano said. "No no, you're just mad that he made fun of you. We got him back for it, remember?" Her Him nano nodded. "Ah yes, he'll never mess with us again."
"I should just go ahead and call Mandark and see what happens." Susan said taking out her phone. "Let's see Mandark's code is 002…" she said to herself, dialing.
Mandark was in his lab working on a sick Dee Dee nano when his phone rang. He answered it, "Yes?"
"Hi Mandark it's Sooz."
"Sooz; let me guess: you'd like another mission." Mandark sighed.
"No no, not today. " Susan said, switching her phone to speaker, "I wanted to ask you to not go through with this fight you're planning on with Mojo and Vilgax."
Mandark stood up straight, "you think I can't win?"
"Mandark, we know you can't win." Alse said.
"Alse? Susan, Am I on speaker?!" Mandark yelled.
"Yes you are," Susan said, "just listen to us Mandark. We don't want you to get killed so just apologize to Vilgax."
"I'm not going alone, Mojo will fight with me." Mandark said, "besides now I have even more of a reason to fight! I will prove to you ladies that I can take on Vilgax! With Mojo Jojo's help."
"Listen to them Mandark," Susan's Mandark nano said grabbing the phone, "If you get hurt who will I look up to?"
"Give me my phone," Susan said reaching for it. Artemis smiled, "that is so cute."
Alse smirked. Susan's Dee Dee nano floated up to nano Mandark and took the phone.
"Mandark if you die who will make other nanos? I'll have no one to play with!" She chirped.
Mandark's heart flustered, "Dee Dee…" Artemis saw out of the corner of her eye Ben face palmed.
"This is a disaster," Ben said, "I should have just broken up the fight myself."
"Dee Dee I will prove to you how strong I am by defeating Vilgax! In your honor!" Mandark triumphantly yelled into his phone, even striking a heroic pose even though no one could see.
Susan hung up the phone and sighed, "Maybe fish nets would be useful for this mission."
"So we need rope. What else?" Artemis questioned.
"My idea is to stun him, tie him up like a piglet and drag him out of there before Vilgax unhinges his face and eats him alive." Susan said.
"And then what?" Susan's Dexter nano questioned. "Leave him on top of Dexlabs!" Alse's Dexter said.
Alse hugged her nano a bit tighter, "I like how you think!"
Vilgax was listening closely. 'Hmm,' he thought to himself, 'this means I may have to fight three more earthling girls, this will be a slaughter.'
"Just leave him in front of his house." Artemis suggested.
"That's what I was thinking. I should go to the hardware store and buy some rope or something." Susan said. "Duct tape is cheaper and faster to work with." Alse's Mandark chirped. "Besides the only way he could get out of duct tape is if he licked it."
Susan looked at Alse's nano puzzled. "How does licking duct tape do anything?"
"The enzymes in your saliva easily dissolve the glue on duct tape and you can break free from the tape with little effort. It's genius!" Mandark raised his little arms.
"Interesting…" Artemis said. Susan nodded.
"They are planning on fighting tomorrow at noon. You have some time." Ben said.
"Oh I have an idea," Artemis said, "Why don't we just go to Mojo's place and Mandark's place and stop them before they leave?"
"They can warp, they have unlimited warp satellite abilities." Ben said.
"Huh," Susan said, "I thought everyone could only warp once a day."
"Dexter and Mandark own the warp satellites; they can use them as much as they like Sue." Ben said in an agitated tone, "and so the guides. Guides have top priority when warping too."
"Darn," Artemis said, "so there's no real nipping this in the bud." Susan shook her head.
"Well let's go get the duct tape! We're wasting time!" Alse said. "We should get at least two rolls! Maybe three! Like Susan said, Mandark is a wiggler."
Artemis nodded, "let's go then." Alse led the way to the hardware store nearby.
Mandark went back to work in the surgery lab. After taking off his cape he moved the Dee Dee nano onto a soft, rubber-lined pan on a large marble laboratory bench. Mandark put on black rubber gloves and a red laboratory apron and large goggles over his glasses. He was preparing for nano surgery. "This won't hurt you at all." He said soothingly to the nano.
"I'm scared Mandark; I want to go back to my owner." Dee Dee whined, on the verge of crying. Nanos hated being away from their owners; and their owners hated being away from their nanos. There was this sick, empty feeling inside the pit of your soul if you were separated. The longer you were separated the harder it was to continue living. Mandark put a white mask over his nose and mouth. "I promise you will be fine." A Mandroid wheeled up to Mandark holding a silver pan with operation tools and needles sitting neatly together. Mandark placed the silver pan next to the nano. He carefully removed her tiny clothes and set them aside folded neatly. Nanos were completely genderless, almost like rag dolls. He picked up a syringe full of a red, sparkly liquid.
"What's that?" Dee Dee asked. "It's going to put you to sleep so you don't feel any pain." He prepped the syringe by holding it up and removing the little bit of air that stubbornly occupied the needle.
"I'm scared! I don't want to do this! I want to go back to Green!!" Dee Dee cried, it was breaking Mandark's heart. He gently stroked her hair, turning her head to the side exposing her tiny neck. "I'm sorry my love." He pushed the needle into her thin neck and slowly injected the liquid while holding Dee Dee down who was wiggling trying to get free and attack. In less than a moment, Dee Dee was unconscious. Mandark picked up a scalpel and gently made an incision down Dee Dee's small stomach and held it open with his fingers. The refined Fusion Matter nanos were made of felt extremely hot to the touch, and it started to get uncomfortable for Mandark to touch even though he was wearing thick, tough gloves. Nanos had no internal organs aside from eyes, lung-like organs and tongues, and were full of semi-solid Fusion Matter. Although they were a craft of science; nanos were also partially magical. They didn't need to eat either; they just required a little love to survive.
Mandark was distressed; he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the nanos and neither could Dexter. Lately, some nanos have started to become weak, unresponsive or just die suddenly when not in battle. X-rays proved nothing and neither did all other uninvasive tests done on the nanos. Mandark took a small sample of the refined Fusion Matter and set it into a test tube and closed it with a rubber stopper. Mandark gave the test tube to the waiting Mandroid. "Have this scanned by the central computer." He commanded. "Yes, sir." The Mandroid said automatically and wheeled off with the tube.
Mandark looked over the nano's insides and saw nothing foreign or unusual. He picked up the suture supplies and gently sewed Dee Dee up, she healed nearly instantly. He took off his gloves, redressed and carried the sleeping nano to a small pink bed he prepared earlier. He set her in the bed and covered her in a blanket. He carried the bed over to his desk in a far away, quiet room and gently set it down. He took off his surgical supplies and handed it to another Mandroid which quickly wheeled it off to be incinerated. Mandark sat in his desk's chair. He took out his phone and called the owner of the nano. The owner of the nano didn't pick up but Mandark left a message. "Green Uno this is Mandark; your nano has successfully survived the surgery and the data from the Fusion Matter is being processed. I will call you back with the results." Mandark hung up his phone and put it back into his pocket. Mandark grew annoyed when he realized he left his cape in the surgery room, he didn't want to leave the nano alone although he felt naked without the cape. He looked over at the sleeping nano, breathing quietly snuggled under the little pink blanket. Mandark didn't know if he wanted to smile or cry when looking at the tiny version of the girl he was hopelessly in love with. He decided he would pamper and care for the little nano until the owner came to pick her up. He would've given anything to have his own Dee Dee nano, but he didn't have the spark.