"Learn to seek out your innermost self. There you will find your greatest strength."
Dee Dee, clad only in a silk dress and a flower necklace had her eyes closed, her legs folded so that she was in the lotus position.
"Oh? Should I use my magnifying X-Ray scope for that?"
Dexter was facing his sister. He was clad only in pants and lab boots. His legs were crossed as well.
Dee Dee stirred and opened her eyes. She turned to face her brother and stared into his spectacled eyes.
"Dexter…before we proceed, I need you to promise me something."
Dexter looked into his sister's eyes. He saw a look of sadness in her eyes.
"What?" he asked, eyes wide with confusion and a tad of worry.
"If something should ever happen to me, promise you won't ever use your knowledge of science for my sake."
Dexter raised his eyebrow in even more confusion as he asked, "What on earth are you talking about?"
Dee Dee stood, a gentle breeze blowing at her dress, making it flutter in the wind. She grabbed her arm and stared off into the distance with a melancholy look.
"Listen," she began, her voice unusually serious and calm, "with all your scientific works, like time travelling and stuff…you have to understand that man was not meant to interfere with the laws of nature." She took a deep breath and sighed. "Every event has a purpose and every cause has a reason. If it's my time, then it's my time…" her voice trailed off.
Dexter's brow furled. "Dee Dee, you're starting to creep me out. I'm not sure I understand what you're saying."
But on the inside, he knew exactly what she was saying, and it scared him to think that she was thinking that far ahead. It was like she knew something that he didn't, and it terrified him.
Dee Dee turned back to her little brother and sat next to him.
"In time, Dexter, you will." She pulled him into a hug as she said, "But for now, I want you to promise me this. Okay?"
In another life, probably, Dexter would have appeased her sister's wishes to get her off his back.
But not this time. The severity of what she was asking struck Dexter. He grabbed a hold of Dee Dee's arms and gently pulled her away so that he could look directly into his sister's eyes.
"Are you asking me not to save you if you die?" he asked, hoping against hope that that wasn't it. She nodded somberly.
"Dee Dee, please don't ask me to do that," he said.
Tears began to well up in Dee Dee's eyes. "Dexter, please…"
He put a hand up to silence her. "Let me talk, please, just this once. I've wanted to say this to you for a very long time, but I thought you were so immature that you wouldn't listen. But now, I know you have the capacity to be serious. Dee Dee, this may sound strange, but even though you annoy me to no end and are constantly getting me, yourself, and the entire world in trouble almost on a daily basis, I'm not sure I could handle if you were suddenly gone."
Dee Dee wiped her tears away and stared at Dexter, not able to comprehend what he was saying. "What are you talking about Dexter?"
He sighed, trying to find the right words. "It may surprise you to know that on certain nights I've been so angry at you that I've wished you were dead. But the world I imagine without your constant distractions is a scary and frightening world. Remember when those aliens took you and you thought you were in Candyland?"
She smiled and nodded.
"I'm ashamed to confess that I gave you up so that I could get work done, but I couldn't get you of my mind. I missed you too much. Remember the time when I 'fired' you? I couldn't work without the constant distractions."
"Dexter, please make sense. Remember, I'm not as smart as you."
"No, Dee Dee. You may not be smarter, but you are wiser than I can ever hope to be. Let me try and say this simply, however. I need your distractions in order to work productively. I never wanted to admit this to even myself, let alone to you. It may not seem like it on the surface, but we're a team. Asking me to not save you is like someone asking you to give up dancing and ponies for good and all. It's impossible. I may be being selfish, but I depend on you. You are one of the only true friends I have."
"Dexter…" Dee Dee said, the tears returning to her eyes, "do you really mean that?"
"Yes, yes I do Dee Dee. You're my sister, and I love you like a brother should love a sister. I may not act like it, and I'm sorry if I don't. Please don't ask me to not save you."
Dee Dee didn't say a word. She pulled him into a hug and began to cry.
"I love you too, little brother," she wept. Dexter could feel her body twitch slightly every few seconds while she cried.
Dexter held his sister close. She seemed so frail and weak at the moment, not anything like her vibrant, happy self.
They pulled apart and he looked into her tear stained eyes.
"We're an inseparable team," he said, smiling. She smiled back.
"Dee Dee and Dexter," she said, a happy grin on her face. "I like the sound of that."
"So do I," Dexter replied. "C'mon, let's go back inside. I'm starving."
She laughed and stood back up. "So am I."
Three months later…
Metal creaked and groaned around Dexter as he dodged the laser blasts of the Jackbots. Behind them, Mandark, Dexter's most hated rival, laughed.
"This time I will finally destroy your laboratory, Dexter. I will not leave this night until I have finally incinerated all of your inventions and prove to the world that I, Mandark, am the greatest scientific genius of all! Ha ha ha, hahahahaha!"
Breathing heavily, Dexter took a defiant stance against his rival and shouted, "Bring it on, Mandark!"
Mandark smiled evilly and ordered the Jackbots to attack. They moved in and began to fire.
"Yeah? You want some of this?" Dexter shouted at the robots as he fired his pistol at them, destroying three in succession.
Across the room, Dee Dee looked in horror at the devastation. She called out for Dexter, hoping she wasn't too late.
"Dexter? Dexter? Where are you?" she called out
"Is that all you got?" Dexter taunted Mandark. Unbeknownst to Dexter, a Jackbot had snuck up behind him and was about to fire. Mandark looked at the Jackbot for just a second and laughed again.
Dexter caught the imperceptible glance. At that same moment, he heard Dee Dee crying out, "Dexter! Look out!"
He turned around quickly and saw the Jackbot. Time seemed to slow. The air became as hard as jell-o. He saw Dee Dee rushing towards him slowly. It was as if the gravity in the lab had become that of the moon.
In his mind, he extrapolated the trajectories of the incoming Jackbot laser and Dee Dee's run. He knew what she was doing.
No, I won't allow her to throw her life away like this, he thought. He slowly rushed forward ahead of Dee Dee and jumped.
He knew that there was little hope of survival for what he was doing. His Undershirt Armor wasn't tested against laser as powerful as the Jackbots, but at least he had more of a chance of survival.
The blast met his upper chest. He could smell burning fabric and flesh as the laser penetrated his armor like a hot knife through butter. Pain came an instant later.
The blast threw him back against some fallen walls. The impact knocked the wind out of him. His pistol flew away from him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Dee Dee's form rising from where she had fallen. Something wet and warm covered his chest. He didn't need to look down to see that it was a deep red. Smoke rose from the corners of the singed lab coat and Armor. He could taste copper in his mouth as he spat up blood.
Everything was strangely silent. He saw Dee Dee shout out something, but he was still shell shocked and couldn't hear what she was shouting. He saw tears begin to stream down her face as she crawled over.
"Get out of here!" he shouted. He still couldn't hear his own voice.
She seemed ready to protest, but he shouted again, "Get out of my laboratory! Quickly!"
She nodded, weeping tears of sadness. She ran until she was no longer in sight.
A shadow loomed over him. Dexter attempted to reach over and get his pistol, but a black boot kicked it away. It followed the same path that Dee Dee ran away form. It hit a wall and went out of his sight. His hearing was slowly returning.
He felt robotic hands grabbing him and picking him up. He screamed, pain shooting through him. He felt a harsh hand grabbing his chin and pulled his head up to face the face of Mandark.
"Admit it, Dexter, I've won. My genius finally won in the end."
Dexter spat blood all over Mandark's face.
"Never," he said defiantly, "In the end, you own technology couldn't help, so you borrowed some from Jack Spicer."
Mandark became more angry and struck Dexter violently.
"I don't even care that I'm going to die. Because in the end, I've won. I have never ever taken a life. You're now a marked man. Good luck in juvie."
Mandark punched him, and he fell down. He heard his own bones breaking, adding its pain to the already overwhelming pain. Mandark's lean figure loomed over him
"Any last words?" Mandark seethed as he raised his own weapon.
Dexter groaned and took what he thought was his last look at Mandark. His teeth were clenched, but unbeknownst to him, there was a point of red light.
Dexter smiled and said, "How about assault rifle?"
Mandark looked momentarily confused. A look of fear crossed his face as he saw the laser point.
Dexter looked up. There, in the middle of the room holding a laser assault rifle up to Mandark's head stood a very pissed Dee Dee.
Mandark backed away slowly.
"I have every right to kill you where you stand, Mandark," Dee Dee seethed. Mandark backed up, the hatred on his face replaced with a look of fear.
Dexter watched with detached fascination at the unfolding scene. He could hear his own breathing becoming more labored as his life began to seep away from him.
"But I won't," he heard Dee Dee finish the sentence. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dee Dee lower the weapon.
"Dexter was right," she continued, "You have lost today. You have become a heatless soul, nearly impossible to redeem. Not get out of my brother's lab, before I change my mind and decide to kill you where you stand."
Dexter heard and saw no more as darkness consumed him.
Light filled Dexter's vision. He heard beeping in the background. He could smell the smell of antiseptics in the air.
Either heaven is vastly overrated, he thought, or I survived and am in a hospital.
He breathed in, and the pain was unbearable.
Hospital it is, he concluded. He slowed his breathing a bit and the pain lessened. He opened his eyes.
He was in a hospital, all right. The bright white of the walls told him that. He turned to face the window. There was a second bed in the room, and Dee Dee was sleeping on it. When she heard him stir, she woe instantly.
She looked terrible. Here normally well combed blonde hair was disheveled, her eyes were red from what Dexter assumed was crying.
"Dexter? Are you really awake? Or am I just dreaming?"
Dexter smiled and sat up. "I'm really awake, Dee Dee."
She rushed over and pulled him into a hug. Dexter returned the affectionate gesture.
"Thanks's for saving my life, Dexter," she sobbed.
"Right back at ya, sis," Dexter replied.
As Dee Dee continued to cry, Dexter closed his eyes.
I will always do my best to protect you, Dee Dee…
Another oneshot based off of Bleedman's PPGD comic.