January 16th - 8:03am

Gwen heard the bang even before her NanoCom rang. She was near Leaky Lake, investigating and taking a simple look around when she heard the muffled sound coming from far, far off in the distance. It was in the direction of the Darklands, a place she had never been herself, but she had heard quite a few stories. Using her powers to make an airborne staircase, she started making her way towards the sky in an attempt to see over the trees. She only made it a few steps before the familiar tone of her NanoCom went off, sounding different to when she was inside. It reminded her just how vast the lake was.

Clicking the answer button, she watched Ben appear before her. It seemed so real, like he was right there, but she knew it was just a simple holograph. "Gwen! Come to Hero's Hollow. A whole army of monsters are gathering there. Someone set off a warning and two girls answered it, but no one knows where the person who set it off went. Anyway, just come here. We need you on the front lines!"

Without waiting for a response, Ben's image flickered away. Gwen looked for the nearest S.C.A.M.P.E.R., remembering there was one at Mount Blackhead. Despite not knowing the pathways of the Wilds too well, she ran at full speed towards the mountain base, wanting to get there before the airship departed. She managed to skid into the area just as the last passengers were climbing aboard. She waited for those in front of her to hop on before approaching the doors herself, greeting Kuki who was ushering everyone inside.

"Hi, Gwen! There should be some room in the back." Even in the face of danger she smiled. Gwen had to commend her for that.

"Where's Numbuh Four?" Gwen asked. Despite having called them their first names at school, she felt that it was appropriate to use their code names now that they were comrades rather than just classmates.

Kuki pointed over to the giant tree in the middle of the clearing. Wally was speaking to a young boy with a red shirt. The poor boy couldn't have been in high school yet, but she could tell from even this far away that he was trying to be brave. He nodded at whatever Wally said and, when the latter seemed satisfied, went to sit down by a bird-like creature. Or, at least that was what Gwen thought it was.

Wally ran over to them, leaping through the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. doors and shutting them just as quickly. He wasn't even out of breath as the three of them moved towards the back, sitting down and leaning back as the Kids Next Door pilot launched the airship into the air. Gwen had only been inside one of these once, on her way here, but she still felt the sensation strange. She had been in a number of air crafts before, but none of them had been made by ten year olds. She found it astounding how they could build something like this, but then again, she had also met a few young geniuses in her time.

"What did you say to Mac, Wally?" Kuki asked, moving her legs so she was sitting cross-legged in her seat. Gwen noticed that even when they were on duty these two never used each others' code names.

Wally blew his bangs out of his eyes only for them to fall back down a minute later. "I told him he was in charge. I know there aren't many other people there and he's definitely not the oldest, but he's the most rational. The most capable. He'll be fine. Besides, Mount Blackhead is a safe spot, just like Sector V and the Cul-de-sac. Monsters can't get in."

The two began talking about other things that didn't pique Gwen's interest, so she took to looking around at the other passengers. Ed was there, restrained by seat belts, but from what she had heard that was nowhere near enough to contain the sheer force of strength he was. She wondered whether he would be alright in the Darklands. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, after all. If Double D or Eddy were there to give him orders, then that would be a different story, but leaving him on his own would be dangerous. She didn't recognize anyone else, just a few familiar faces from school she couldn't put names to.

As they entered the Darklands, she could have sworn she felt the temperature drop twenty degrees. The sunlight that had been streaming through the windows just seconds before faded into a foggy grey and all the sounds of nature had been replaced with a foreboding silence. She knew it wasn't just her feeling these things as the entire ship had gone silent. Everyone was looking around at each other, concerned about what exactly they were heading into. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kuki take Wally's hand, neither of them batting an eyelid.

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. landed in Huntor's Crest. No monsters were around, contrary to what Mandark had reported the previous evening. Gwen guessed they were at Hero's Hollow. She could already hear the sounds of battle from the next area and she wondered if Ben and Kevin had already arrived. Maybe her grandfather was there too, on the sidelines commanding the Plumbers. She suddenly had the overwhelming urge to race into the battlefield, but she knew she had to remain with the others until she was told she could go.

Her NanoCom rang again, hardly heard over the sound of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. engines. Taking it out, her cousin's face popped up again. "Gwen, you there? Meet us by one of the camps at Hero's Hollow, the one at the very right corner. Quick, and if you find anyone else who was at that meeting the other day bring them as well."

Hanging up, she turned to Kuki and Wally. They had been listening in on the conversation, and judging by the determined expressions on their faces, they were ready to fight just as much as she was. Putting her NanoCom away she said, "You heard him. Let's go."

The three of them ran on the barely there path, weaving through the crowd of troops that had gathered. The camp in question wasn't like the other camps. It was more of a portable building, possibly another one of Dexter's inventions. She was about to comment on that fact when she noticed that the colour scheme was different - black and red. The logo wasn't the usual lowercase 'd' but a pointy 'M', meaning it belonged to Mandark Industries. She didn't know whether she really wanted to go in anymore.

She found that she didn't have a choice as Kuki dragged her inside before she could protest, Wally following along behind them. The interior was dark, the only source of light being a small lamp hanging over a table and the bright glow of the monitors towards one side of the narrow room. There was already quite the crowd inside. Mandark and Dexter were there, of course, along with the rest of Sector V. The pink and blue Powerpuffs were hanging around the opposite side of the table, next to Ben and Kevin. Everyone was leaning over a map of the area, watching Dexter's glove hand trace the landmarks.

"Ah, Gwen, Numbuh Three, Numbuh Four. How nice of you to join us." Did Dexter's voice always sound that sarcastic? "We've just been going over battle tactics. We have Major Glory and Juniper Lee leading the frontlines for now, until we figure something out, so let's make it snappy. From what we've seen, Fuse's monsters are divided into three groups, also known as the centre, the left wing, and the right wing. We're going to need to form three groups and take them on from there. Battle tactics are not my forte. Blossom, Numbuh Five, what do you suggest we do from here?"

The two girls looked at each other, Blossom answering. "I'll lead the left wing troops, Bubbles can lead the right wing troops. We have speed and force that can possibly overpower them and move them into the centre, giving us the majority of the area under our control. I think Sector V should lead the centre and push them towards the back."

"Ben, come with us," Abby said. "Gwen can go with Bubbles and Kevin can go with Blossom. What are the rest of you gonna do?"

"Dexter and I will be controlling war machines. They're only prototypes. We thought we wouldn't need them for at least a few weeks, but Fuse had other plans. Dexter will be assisted by Double D, who should already be there. I'm with this pink person, or whatever," Mandark said, pausing to think the name over.

"Princess Bubblegum," Dexter said. "Smart girl. The rest of you may divide the troops up as seen fit. Mandark and I must go attend to our devices now. Good luck, everyone."

Those words should have been enough to lift Gwen's spirits a bit, but the way Dexter said it implied that they would need it. They probably did. Maybe it was the way Dexter always spoke, and if so she would have to change that. Or maybe she should convince Ben to. He saw the boy genius more often than she did, after all.

Shrugging the unpleasantness off, she moved over to Bubbles and Blossom as Sector V and Ben moved out. She guessed they didn't need many others when they had the Kids Next Door behind them.

"With the Kids Next Door at the centre we should spread the Plumbers and SACT Agents, a mixture of both, to the other two sides," Blossom was saying. "The two sides need to be equal for this to work, so we should spread them evenly. As for the remaining people, divide them into numbered squads and send odd numbers to me and even numbers to Bubbles. That should do it. Let's go!"

They all rushed out of the camp, Blossom and Bubbles giving their orders to the two officers standing guard outside. Gwen leaned on the wall of the small building as she felt a familiar presence move beside her. He would have blocked the sun if any light was visible.

"It's too early for this."

She smirked up at Kevin. "Any time before noon is too early for you."

"Damn right," he said, grinning. Gwen noticed how it was slightly crooked, giving off the aura of mischievousness he did so well. He looked away from her when Blossom called out to him, telling him to hurry. He nodded and said. "Be careful, Gwen."

Gwen smiled but didn't answer for he was already far into the crowd. Bubbles took her arm and, with her usual cheery expression, hoisted her up into the air. "Here we go!" she yelled, though the warning came a bit too late for Gwen, who had not been expecting the lift.

From this angle, she had a better look at the battlefield. She could see the Kids Next Door in the centre, Sector V in a triangle formation at the front. Numbuh One was leading them, Numbuhs Two and Three diagonally behind him on either side, the same pattern continuing with Numbuhs Four and Five. Gwen couldn't help wondering how on earth they could work so well together with their conflicting personalities. Hoagie was, for a lack of a better word, dorky and Wally was your stereotypical athlete, or at least from what she heard, yet the two of them were the best of friends. Where there was one, you would usually find the other. That was just one crazy friendship among them.

Bubbles was fast, too fast for Gwen's liking, though she had seen the super heroine go faster before. She realized Bubbles was probably going slower for her benefit, though it wasn't doing much at all. Motion sickness had never really been a problem for her, but all humans had their limits. Eventually, the two of them stopped in midair, leaving them hovering above the very front of the right wing.

"Okay, Gwen," Bubbles began, "I'm going to set us down at the very front of the fight. You ready?"

Gwen swallowed loudly. "Yes."

And so they descended. The sounds of lasers, clashing, and screaming became louder, almost overwhelmingly so. Gwen had heard all these noises before, of course, but there hadn't been so many people or so many monsters. It was quite overwhelming once she really thought about it, so she put it to the back of her mind as her feet touched the ground and began fighting.

She didn't know how long she fought alongside Bubbles, leading the group of Plumbers and SACT Agents. She was only vaguely aware of their (extremely slow) progress in forcing the monsters to the centre. Time flowed fast and slow at the same time, unaware of how long this was taking. Hit after hit, she tried to count the seconds but she was always distracted, whether it be by the monsters in front of her or thinking, 'This is what happened to Bellwood. This is what happened to my home.'

After goodness knew how long, she and Bubbles had managed to meet Sector V and Ben in the centre along with Blossom and Kevin. She watched Ben open his mouth to call the all-out attack, but the sound they all heard was different. The crackling of something electric, something sparking, could be heard even over the clangs of the battle. She took the risk of looking behind her, eyes widening at the sight of something shooting out neck-level towards the front of the battlefield.

"Duck!" she screamed, her voice mixed with Dexter's echoing from the speaker, and all the people crouched down. Some were too late as the energy shield blasted horizontally across the clearing, some short enough so it only singed their hair. Others weren't so lucky.

The distraction was enough for Fuse's monsters. They charged through them, over them, into the fray. From her position on the ground Gwen could only shoot energy blasts at the enemies' feet. After the stampede, she managed to stand up, the energy shield having retracted.

"What the hell was that about?" Kevin was suddenly beside her, hands on her shoulders. Was it just her or had his voice gone up an octave or so? "That ain't normal."

She couldn't agree more.

January 16th - 2:45pm

Princess Bubblegum had never experienced something so frightening in her life.

In her kingdom she ruled over candy people. They weren't invincible, but they were harder to kill since they could just be remade, in a sense. Or, if she really needed to, Peppermint Butler could just take a trip to the Underworld. This was hard to watch, incredibly hard. As a princess, she felt it was her duty to protect her people, but these weren't her people. These were probably her ancestors, as strange as that sounded. Maybe they had been fused with bubblegum during the Great Mushroom War or something, perhaps she would never know, but all she knew was that they lived in the same world, no matter the time period.

"What in Glob's name was that?" she said, her voice only just managing to find its way out of her throat.

Mandark was fiddling with the buttons in front of him, a deep scowl on his face. "One of Dexter's shield generators just malfunctioned."

"Dexter made a mistake?" she asked, gravitating towards him to watch what he was doing.

The look Mandark gave her didn't leave any room for doubt when he said, "Dexter may be a rude, inconceivable jerk, but he doesn't make mistakes."

Bubblegum continued to watch as the boy in front of her tried to stop what was happening, but it was no use. The shields continued to malfunction every which way, soaring above and through trees and even tearing off the roof of one of the tents set up to the side. A bright pink glow could be seen in the middle of the battlefield, another shield deflecting the blows of those soaring at it. Whoever was controlling the pink shield seemed to be struggling, and it wasn't enough to cover all the allies caught in the crossfire.

"Bubblegum." She turned back to Mandark. "I know it's dangerous, but can you check on Dexter's machine? Something has to be done about what's happening. If you go through the tunnel that connects these two machines together you should be safe."

She nodded once and ran off to the ground level, darting into the tunnel. It was dark, but that wasn't the biggest problem she was facing. The room she had just previously been in was sound proof, so she couldn't hear the carnage even if she tried, but now it was echoing all around her. Harsh metallic sounds and cries of those whose reflexes failed them filled her ears, and as much as she wanted to she couldn't stop. She had a job to do. Besides, she was a leader. It would be unbecoming if she showed her weaknesses, even if there weren't any others about.

Recollecting herself, she dashed in to the DexLab's war machine only to run smack-bang into Edd. She had been introduced to him right before the battle had started, and it wasn't hard to recognize him with the hat he constantly wore. The boy himself seemed exhausted, panting like no tomorrow, and with the situation they were in right now that just may have been the case. Regardless, she knew she couldn't waste any time.

"Double D! What's going on?!"

"Cheese!"

"Cheese?"

Edd shook his head and grabbed her wrist, dragging her upstairs to where Dexter was. Or, at least where he was supposed to be. Bubblegum could barely see him among the mess, running after a yellow blob that was pressing all the buttons on the console at break neck speeds. The entire place was a mess, toilet paper and tissues (where had they even come from?) strewn everywhere, mustard dripping from the ceiling. It was enough to make her gag.

"Cheese, please stop!" Dexter had finally grabbed a hold of the yellow creature, but in doing so made the young thing cry.

After being let go, Cheese screamed, "Chocolate milk! I like chocolate milk!" He grabbed Dexter's arms and climbed on top of him.

Dexter caught sight of Edd and Bubblegum and shouted, "Good, two people! I need you both to shut off the generator. Quickly, quickly!"

Before she could ask where the generator was, Edd pulled her into a small room next to the main console. The generator in question was a small box, smaller than she would have thought. She watched as Edd opened a small panel, revealing a screen with two outlines of a person's right hand. Only two words were written as an instruction: 'identify yourself'.

"Place your palm on one of the hands, if you please, princess," Edd said, voice small as he did so himself. She followed suit.

The face of Computeress appeared on the screen. "Eddward AKA Double D and Princess Bubblegum have been identified. Shutting off generator."

The lights dimmed then flickered back on again just as a crash was heard from the main room. Bubblegum rushed out to see a Cheese-shaped hole in the glass and Dexter coughing on the ground, looking exhausted. She dropped to his side, feeling Edd's presence behind her as she brushed some glass off the boy genius. Probably not the safest thing to do in hindsight, but there were more pressing issues at the time.

"Are you okay, Dexter?" she asked, helping him up while avoiding the scattered glass.

Dexter fixed his goggles, sighing. "I'm fine, but there are casualties out there that we need to deal with."

Right. She had almost forgotten about that. The battlefield was a mess, a place of carnage. The shields had stopped and people were running around, looking for their friends and caring for the injured. She couldn't even bare to look at those crying for their friends, the lifeless bodies unmoving among the fray. It was enough to make her gag, and she knew then that she had to look away completely.

"How did Cheese sneak his way inside?" Edd asked, pulling at the base of his sock hat.

Dexter was already making his way towards the door by this point. "I have absolutely no clue, Double D, but if I had a time machine I would make sure he couldn't."

Something clicked in Bubblegum as she watched the two boys travel back down to the ground floor. Time - her time, their time, and wars. This was the beginning of a war, and whether that war would last for months, years, was still yet to be seen. They didn't know the severity of the battles to come, nor did they know their long-term effects. Nothing was clear right now, and she would probably have to do more research, but the possibility was there, and it terrified her.

If this was the Great Mushroom War, at least the beginning of it, and she and the rest of her companions assisted in stopping it, that would mean they were going to alter the future. Ooo probably wouldn't even exist, which meant she and most of her friends wouldn't exist. They wouldn't have a home to return to, stuck in a place that wasn't there own for goodness knows how long. Time paradoxes were a tricky thing, and it wasn't like they could just leave. Them simply arriving in the past was enough to change the future.

This could be more disastrous than she thought.

January 16th - 7:24pm

In all of his career, if it could really be called that, Grim had never taken so many souls to the underworld. He had been present during the battle, helping at the back so he wouldn't get caught up in the crowd. It had been Mandy's precaution, of course, since she needed him accessible if she were to call on him. That had all gone down the drain when Dexter's machine had malfunctioned due to some creature, as explained by Dexter during a post-battle meeting, and everything went crazy.

It had only been the initial blast of a shield that took victims, and if there were any others there weren't many, but that had been the perfect cue for the monsters to go crazy. Many of them had been destroyed by the shields as well, but a good number of them had remained, acting like animals hearing a loud noise. They had scattered, trampling on the people who were already down. Usually, such havoc would have made him laugh a little, but that was when he hadn't been in danger himself. He may already be a skeleton, but bones could break, and if that were to happen he would probably just topple to the ground, useless to anyone.

He had finished sending the last soul down when noticed the time. Almost seven-thirty. On a normal day, he would be stuck in either Billy or Mandy's home, watching reruns of some sitcom until they got bored. It had been what? Two days, tops? He was already missing his life in captivity, though it wasn't like he was free. Who knew what Mandy would have him do with a war approaching. No, 'approaching' wasn't the right word. It was already here.

Hero's Hollow was practically deserted now, at least compared to earlier. Most of the troops had returned to their original base of operations, wherever that may be, but there were still people loitering about. They were mainly the people he had seen before, perhaps a few workers. The biggest group was the clump of scientists - Dexter, Mandark, Edd, Professor Utonium, and a pink girl he didn't know - standing by the abandoned war machines. Whatever they were discussing, it was bad enough for them to be packed in together, almost whispering.

Grim coughed, alerting them to his presence. They whirled around as if they had just seen death - well, technically, they had, but that wasn't the point.

"Ah, Grim, how nice of you to join us. I presume you have, erm, sent everyone off?" Dexter asked, hesitant to speak of the matter. He may have been a scientific genius who refused to feel anything but satisfaction, but even he feared the topic of death.

"Yes," Grim said. "I doubt dat's what you wanted to talk to me about, so let's cut to the chase, shall we?" It wasn't just for his benefit. Today was a tragedy, and while they would all have to talk about it at some point, it could wait until everyone had been given the opportunity to rest.

Dexter nodded, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "Since you have power over death, we need your assistance. It's for the better of the earth."

"I'm not sure if you realize this, Dexter, but I've never really been interested in doing things for the earth."

"I'm aware," Dexter said. "You are not the only one. But if you do this one thing, it will be a lot less work for you and better for all our chances in winning the war."

Grim raised an eyebrow. "And what would dis 'one thing' be?"

"A way to prevent death."

Under normal circumstances, Grim would have been shocked at this suggestion. As the embodiment of death, it was against all his principles to encourage cheating the system. If someone was to die, they were to die. That was how it had always been. Wars were no exception, sadly enough. It was fair that way. He couldn't take sides as they were both countries on their planet, and it was just the natural order of things.

Then again, an alien invasion wasn't exactly a natural occurrence.

"There may be a way I can make dat happen," he said, stroking his jaw out of habit. "It will take some time, but it should be up within a day or so. In the underworld there is a system, or device, called a Resurrect 'Em. Once dead, a person goes into the underworld and comes out again at a portal. I can put one in most places. It shouldn't be too hard."

"Good," Dexter said. "If you need assistance, please tell us. We need this to work." His fists clenched by his sides. "We don't want a repeat of today."

Grim had to agree. Most of these people were young, innocent. Kids Next Door operatives and the like. Just because it was his job to take the dead down below didn't mean he was heartless.

Without another word, he turned and set to work.

And thus, the battle of Hero's Hollow came to a close. I was excited to use this as part of the plot because it can branch off into many other possibilities - the Resurrect 'Ems, Bubblegum's theory, etc. I hope you enjoyed it despite the tragedy in the chapter.