BEGINNING OF THE END

CHAPTER 3

OPERATION

Totally Opposite Xtremely Invincible Clones

Mac and Bloo could only watch as the assembled heroes unleashed everything they had against the strange green pod they had found in the maze. Dexter, Numbuhs One, Three, Four and Five attacked from the ground, while Numbuh Two (in the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.), Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup attacked from above. It was a spectacular lightshow, and anybody passing by would think it was a fireworks display. Nobody noticed the thin tentacle of Fusion Matter that crept along the ground and entered the cage in the maze's center. A roar of fury sounded out as the Extremeasaurus battered its' way out of its cage, dripping with Fusion Matter. It slammed down one of its tentacles into Dexter and shattered the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. with a single blow. Numbuh Two burst from the side as the shabby camper hit the ground. Now armed only with a small pistol that greatly resembled a trumpet with a bag of jelly-beans stuffed in the back and a trigger attached to the bottom, Numbuh Two jumped behind a tree and contacted the moonbase.

"362, we need back up. Now!" he cried, as a large explosion took off the top half of the tree.

"Don't worry, Numbuh Two. Sector Q is on its' way," the Supreme Commander of the Kid's Next Door replied. "They should arrive in about two hours."

"TWO HOURS! WE'LL BE DEAD BY THEN!" he yelled in fury. He turned and ran back into battle. Across the battlefield, Dexter unleashed an onslaught of rockets firing off at the Extremeasaurus. They collided with the imaginary atrocity and tore off two of its' tentacles. Buttercup swooped in from behind and took out the third, leaving only the head, which was swiftly crushed by a flash of light and a yellow sphere. Cannonbolt climbed from the wreckage and flashed into Heatblast. The other heroes lowered their weapons from the Pyronite. Numbuh Two raised his hand to his communicator.

"Cancel that backup." he ordered. "We got some reliable help instead." He began to chuckle. "In fact, you might even say we got- "

"What the bloody hell was that?" Numbuh Four cut his teammate off before he could make another terrible joke.

"It was a…an Extremeasaurus." spoke up a small voice from the house. Mac stepped towards the group, his imaginary friend following close behind. "It's a violent imaginary friend made by teenage boys. They aren't usually green, though."

Heatblast turned and looked at the Terrafuser. "Guys, we need to destroy this thing. It made these weird, indestructible clones of the Circus Freaks."

"This isn't the only one." Dexter informed the uninformed alien hero. "There are six more at the Foster's Home alone. So far, we have detected forty-five of them."

"Excuse me, but did you say indestructible Circus Freaks?" Numbuh One inquired.

"Yeah. So?" Bloo rang up from behind Mac. "Circus freaks can't be that bad. I mean, what's the worst that could happen, a bearded lady or a shaved bear?"

A long tentacle of hair snaked up behind Bloo and tossed him towards a nearby ring of stones, which surrounded a glowing pool of Fusion Matter. From this pool snaked six luminescent tentacles that encased Bloo and pulled him down into the ring of rocks. Mac cried after his friend as Bloo was taken through the Fusion Portal, and once again, the fight was on. Buttercup attacked first, throwing herself into the Fusion Thumbskull, sending the two into the building's wall. The operatives of Sector V launched themselves at Fusion Frightwig, leaving Fusion Acid Breath to battle against Dexter, Ben, Blossom and Bubbles. Heatblast threw a massive blaze in the doppelganger's direction and flashed into Big Chill, icing the alien over with a breath of cold air. Dexter and Blossom blasted into the steam, and Bubbles flew into it head on. Once the smoke cleared, Bubbles was in the monsters grip, and being coated in Fusion Matter. Once she was fully encased, the goo released her to the floor, before taking a twisted version of her form. The clone Powerpuff flew at Blossom, while Fusion Acid Breath emptied another load of toxic Fusion Matter at Dexter and Ben. Dexter's Armour began to break down from the exposure, collapsing into a pile of twisted and melted metal glazed with toxic Fusion Matter. The Boy Genius ejected from the mech at the last second drew a blaster from his holster, blasting the Fusion Acid Breath to pieces. Big Chill turned to Dexter.

"What are you wearing?" he inquired, and rightly so. Dexter was clad in a black uniform with a white streak running down the centre. He wore an orange utility belt and bright orange boots and gloves. Two purple parallel lines ran up his back, and a large orange star was emblazoned on his chest. In addition, his glasses had been replaced by goggles. Dexter looked down at himself.

"Uh… my Dextar uniform?" he answered unsurely. His embarrassment was saved when Fusion Bubbles and a newly formed Fusion Blossom jumped him and Ben. Dexter threw several throwing stars at Fusion Blossom, while Big Chill attempted to freeze Fusion Bubbles. Neither was successful. Across the yard, the Kid's Next Door operatives of Sector V battled Fusion Frightwig with all of their might. Numbuhs Two, Three and Four were trapped in the monsters entangling locks, leaving One and Five to take her out. Numbuh One tossed his empty T.H.U.M.P.E.R. (Teddy Hurling Ultra Microwave Powered Ejection Rifle) to the side and pulled out a S.P.I.C.E.R. to match Numbuh Five's. The captured teammates began to scream as Fusion Numbuhs' Two, Three and Four dropped from the aliens grasp. One and Five stopped.

"Numbuh Five thinks we'd best get runnin'," Abby decided.

The two turned and ran from their teammate's Fusion counterparts, the monsters chasing right behind them, getting closer every step of the way. The duo leapt to the side to avoid Fusion Thumbskull, whom Buttercup had just punched through to the other side of the maze. The green Powerpuff pounded her fists into the doppelganger's chest while blasting its' face apart with her heat vision. The monster roared in fury, then in agony as the attack tore it to pieces. Buttercup slowed and calmed, then turned to the Fusion KND.

"Who else wants some?" she goaded, smirking.

Fusion Numbuh Three reacted almost instantaneously, beating Buttercup to a pulp. A shard of diamond took out the attacking clone from the other side of the maze, as Diamondhead battled profusely with Fusion Bubbles, who refused to be beaten. A flash of light heralded Four Arms, who swung wildly at the Powerpuff to no avail. The clone grabbed the Omnitrix logo on the Tetramand's belt and a surge of green electricity surged through his body. Fusion Bubbles pulled away and revealed the small, red Omnitrix logo in the palm of her hand. Ben realised a second too late what that meant, as the Fusion turned and sped away and into the portal. Fusion Acid Breath ran up to him and unloaded another bout of Fusion Matter, only to have it disappear. The other Fusions vanished too, and the infected maze was surrounded by an energy field. The heroes looked up and saw a large, black and red Helicarrier flying above them. They vanished, and found themselves on board, face to face with Mandark.