AnimeGirl 144 A/N: Hiya everyone. Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, cause now we're on to the next. You get to meet two new characters. Who are they? Read to find out! Speedy-Shifter, I'll answer your questions at the end of the chapter in my notes, so don't worry, they are going to get answered.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except maybe my character (it's half-and-half because I use the name in FusionFall, sort of). Everything else in FusionFall is the property of Cartoon Network, except something that is owned by Teletoon, and then Toonami.

Title: What Gets Me Through the War
Author: AnimeGirl 144
Chapter Nine: Candy Cove Woes


After we had helped the school, we were given some time to rest. Nazz, who had gotten back with Kevin from searching the wildreness for the missing Ed, made us a pinic that we could eat later that day. We had asked Wilt if he wanted to eat with us, but he declined with 20 apologies. So, along with myself, the twins, Palmar, and Nazz, Jimmy and Sarah joined us in our picnic just behind the Cul-de-Sac. It was delicious, and it felt good to rest. After that we were called away by a frantic DeeDee who reported that she saw a Fusion version of herself enter Mandark's old lab. I calmed her down and promised to check it out. We had gone down, battled the Fusion, and returned one of her Pretty Princess Pony. I also gained Nano DeeDee. That was the excitement of the whole day. We stayed overnight once again.

We were given more time to rest the next day until Dexter called us in for a mission. Stickybeard had called for assistance. His Sweet Revenge was attacked and covered in Fusion Matter. No one can enter it and he wants his precious ship back. We agreed and walked the couple miles to Candy Cove. We headed down into where the pirates had set up came and were surprised by what we saw. Stickybeard was sobbing, blubbering about his ship.

"Uh... Captain Stickybeard?" Brent called.

"Huh?" he asked, looking up. "What are you landlubbers doing here?"

"Dexter sent us," Trent answered.

"Dexter?" Stickybeard asked, his eyes sparkling. "He sent you to help save me ship?"

We nodded. He jumped up and looked at us with a smile on his face.

"Thank ye!" he said. "I just want me ship back!"

"We'll do everything we can," Palmar said.

"What happened to it?" I asked.

"Fusion Matter has sunk it!" Stickybeard complained. "I'm afraid before you can go and raise it, you have to take care of those blasted Candy Buccaneers around me ship. Can ye do that for me?"

We nodded in agreement.

"Oh thank ye so much!" he said.

"It's no problem," Trent said.

"It's just what we heroes do," Brent said with a small sniff.

Palmar rolled his eyes while his brother grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him away from the pirate captain. Palmar and I followed after them, heading away from the camp and more towards the forest of Candy Cove. We were soon confronted by Candy Buccaneers who traveled in groups of three. We began to shoot at them, until a giant Candy Buccaneer appeared and hit me, sending me back.

I got into a sitting position and looked up to see my group mates fighting the smaller Candy Buccaneers while the giant Buccaneer advanced on me. I went to grab my weapon, but was discouraged to find that it was several feet from me. This was not good. I looked back up to see the giant Buccaneer over me. I felt my whole body go tense.

"Alice! Move!"

I couldn't, and that's what was so upsetting. As the Buccaneer brought down its lollipop weapon, three laser beams from three different weapons shot at the Buccaneer, drawing its attention away from me and onto the strangers. It strangely felt like déjà vu. The Buccaneer disappeared into a mess of Fusion Matter and I felt two hands on me. Looking, I found Palmar helping me to my feet. Trent jogged up with my weapon in hand, handing it back over to me. I sent thankful looks in their directions then looked to see who had saved me from certain death. Brent was beside the three of them, a girl with a bandana, a boy in a strange armor, and the last boy with an afro.

"Thank you for saving me," I said to them when we approached them.

"It was no problem," the armor wearing teen answered.

"We couldn't let that nasty Monster hurt you," the afro teen added.

"What are you four doing out here anyways?" the girl asked.

"We were sent here," Palmar answered. Did I hear a defensive tone in his voice?

"So you're here to help?" the girl asked.

"Yep," the twins answered.

"That's good to know," the girl replied. "My name's Viper Coyote. I'm best friends with Dexter. These are my two friends and traveling friends."

"Hi, my name's Holden Wren," the armored boy said. "I'm also the godson of Professor Utonium and best friend of Blossom."

"And I'm Ace Wiltarrow," the teen with the afro greeted. "I'm also Blossom's best friend. Holden and I were stationed with her in Sector V till Viper asked us to join her on this journey."

"Who are all of you?" Viper questioned.

I allowed the boys to introduce themselves first, then I would. I didn't want to be rude.

"And you?" Viper questioned.

"My name's Alice Spacebyte," I greeted politely. "Nice to meet all of you."

I noticed something change in Viper's look. I couldn't see her mouth, but something in her eyes surprised me. I noticed her eyes had done a quick glance up-and-down my body. Almost liked she was seizing me up. The look in her eyes almost looked... disdainful. She turned her head to look at Palmar with a quiet, "I see." I somehow felt small and took a step behind Trent, trying my best to hide away from them.

"So... Did Dex send you?" Viper asked.

"Yeah. Tell me though, what's with the weapons?" Palmar questioned.

"We're part of the Earth Alliance*," Ace answered.

"The what?" Brent asked.

"Earth Alliance," Holden answered. "It's what Dexter's calling all the fighters against Fuse. He said it in his rally for fighters."

"Rally?" I questioned in surprise. Dexter had a rally?

"Yep," Viper answered. "Dexter needed more people to take up the fight with Fuse and called forth a rally for us."

This information, for some reason, troubled me. Did Dexter have little faith in me that he called on more fighters? I shook my head and tried to rid myself of such a troubling thought. It was none of my business what Dexter did.

"So there's more?" Palmar questioned.

"Yep," Viper answered.

Palmar looked a little displeased, which was surprising.

"Well, I guess we'll be heading off to the Sweet Revenge now," Palmar said. "We've gotten rid of most of the Buccaneers."

"The Sweet Revenge? Why are you four heading to my grandfather's ship?" Viper questioned.

"Dexter and your grandfather asked us to take care of it. There's probably a Fusion somewhere on board," Palmar stated.

"A Fusion?" Viper asked with interest.

"You've faced Fusions?" Ace asked.

"I've heard they're powerful and strong," Holden commented.

"They're no problem," Palmar said.

"Besides, we have a secret weapon," the twins said.

"Secret weapon?" Holden asked, genuinely curious.

I felt two sets of hands grab my arms and pulled me forward, presenting me like a toy to make another kid jealous.

"Alice," the twins and Palmar announced.

"Her?" Viper asked critically.

I felt the heat go to my cheeks, and lowered my gaze. Why must they put me up on display? I was happy being hidden and out of sight.

"Yep. Not only is she a secret weapon against the Fusions, she's Earth's secret weapon against Fuse!" Brent boasted.

Please Brent, please be quiet. I'm no one special.

Oh, how wrong you are.

Who are you?

My question went unanswered, but I was brought back to the real world by Ace saying,

"Oh! So you're the Alice Dexter was talking about."

"It's nice to meet you," Holden said. "If Dexter believes in you, you must be powerful."

"Yeah well, we really should get going," Palmar said, sounding impatient.

"Good luck," Holden said.

"We'll go with you," Viper said quickly.

"Huh?"

"I said, we're going with you. It's my grandfather's ship, and you're going to need help defeating the Fusion," Viper explained, "If there is one."

"No offense," Palmar started, "but we don't need you three."

"Yeah. Alice here beat two Fusions all on her own," Brent boasted.

I blushed and avoided Viper's look. Was she glaring at me? I gulped and looked up at my group mates.

"S-still, more safety in numbers," I said, smiling meekly.

"Alright. Alice wants ya in, so you three can join, but for this Fusion beating only," Palmar stated. "This group is a quartet."

"Fair enough," Viper agreed. "I just want to help my grandfather."

"Then let's head off!" Brent said, pumping his fist in the air.

Palmar shook his head and began to lead the way while Trent slapped the back of Brent's head. Viper, sending a look at me, ran ahead to stand beside Palmar. She knew the way, after all. Her two friends followed closely behind her while I decided to take the back of the group. We soon came upon the Sweet Revenge and after taking a look at it, I felt pity for Captain Stickybeard. It was in a force-field, causing the ship to be an Infected Zone. It won't be cured till Fuse was defeated.

"Down there is the Dexbot pad," Brent said.

"That's not what it's called," Trent said.

"That's what I'm calling it," Brent replied.

"Have you tried to enter the ship?"

"That bot won't let us pass," Viper answered.

"Really? It's let us pass many a times," Palmar said. "Here, I'll show you."

Palmar walked down the path to the waiting Dexbot with the rest of us following him. We all stepped on the pad, and the Dexbot teleported us inside the Infected Zone. While Ace and Holden looked in awe, and though I couldn't see her mouth, I could have sworn that she was scowling. Before we could step off the pad, my NanoCom began to beep. I grabbed it and pressed the touch-screen, revealing Numbuh Five.

"Hi Numbuh Five," I greeted, before noticing her sullen look. "Are you alright?"

"No, Numbuh Five just lost some of her candy to some nasty Monsters," Numbuh Five replied.

Before I could give her sympathy, Ace interrupted.

"Candy? You mean some of the candy we got off of the Spawns, Bashers, and Buccaneers?" he questioned, revealing the candy.

Before Numbuh Five could utter a word of either gratitude or exclamation, Numbuh Two appeared on the screen.

"Bad news," Numbuh Two interjected. "That candy's radioactive."

"Radioactive?" Ace questioned, dropping the candy.

"Numbuh Five's candy is radioactive!" Numbuh Five said angrily.

"'Fraid so Numbuh Five," Numbuh Two said.

"Alice, girl, you need to stash that lousy candy. Somewhere on the Sweet Revenge," Numbuh Five instructed.

"Like a treasure chest?" Brent asked, picking up the candy.

"A treasure chest? Isn't that a little cliched?" Holden questioned.

"If it'll hold the candy, it'll do," Numbuh Five said.

"I know where one is," Viper announced. "Follow me."

Numbuh Five signed off and I placed my NanoCom on my waist while following the group along the floating objects and onto the Fusion Mattered ship. Viper guided us to the back of the ship, where there was a treasure chest. Brent dumped the candy into the chest. My NanoCom went off again, and it was Numbuh Five.

"Hey Alice, Numbuh Five's got a strange reading on her SCANNUH," Numbuh Five reported. "Numbuh Five thinks it belongs to a Fusion. Do you see a portal around there somewhere?"

We spread out till Trent alerted that he found one. Numbuh Five told us to enter it and defeat the Fusion. Both boys of Viper's group looked ecstatic to enter, though Viper looked more determined. We stepped on the portal and were brought underground via the portal.

"Whoa," the boys said.

"Yeah. Does that all the time," Brent said.

"You get used to it after a while," Trent added.

"Enough chit-chat. We're here to defeat this Fusion. Now stick close; there's Monster's down here as well," Palmar ordered as he took the front.

"I want to defeat a Fusion," Viper stated.

"Then let's go," Palmar said, leading the group, before stopping and turning to look at me. "Alice, we're going to make a path for you to go and defeat the Fusion. I'm going to have Viper go with you, understand?"

I nodded and looked over at Viper, and could have sworn she scowled even more but she nodded. With that all settled, we continue through the lair. Either Fuse was worried or he was getting stronger, but there was more Monsters than I remembered at Fusion DeeDee's lair. We seven took to fighting off the Barrel Bashers. We made a path, killing all that was in our way. Viper stuck close to me and I followed her. We came to a two-way.

"Which path?" Viper asked herself, looking between the two paths.

I looked both ways before having the feeling that we had to go left. I made a step in that direction, and Viper had made up her mind by then.

"Right. The Fusion is this way," Viper said, pointing in the right.

"I think it's left," I mentioned.

"Left? No no. It's right," Viper persisted.

"But-"

"Look, you go left and I'll go right because right is the right way," Viper said before heading off in the direction she had chosen.

I was going to follow her, to follow Palmar's instructions, but decided to go to the left. I walked down the empty path and took another left and found myself in the clearing with Fusion Numbuh Five who was pacing around the clearing. It spotted me and threw a goo ball at me. I dodged it and shot at it as it advanced, throwing more of its attacks at me. I was soon joined by more laser beams, all coming from my group mates and Viper and her friends. Viper looked upset, but the closest to the Fusion. We killed the Fusion which turned into a Nano Numbuh Five that floated over my cupped hands.

"I'm a spy," Nano Numbuh Five said.

"What's that?" Holden asked.

"A Nano," I replied.

"A what?" Viper questioned.

"A Nano," I replied before explaining, "It's a miniaturized version of some of Earth's heroes. Dexter calls them Nanos."

"Pretty cool, but what can they do?" Ace asked.

"Variety of things," Brent answered.

"Nano Eduardo can heal, and Nano Buttercup-"

"Nano what?" Ace and Holden interupted.

"Nano Buttercup?" Holden questioned.

I nodded.

"But... but she's gone," Ace said, looking at Holden to confirm his statement. Holden nodded.

"But, I..." I stopped myself, knowing full well that Buttercup had disappeared. But that didn't mean dead, right? "Maybe she isn't dead."

"We'll have to talk to Blossom about this," Holden said.

"We can talk about this later," Palmar said. "Right now, let's head out."

We exited the lair and Infected Zone (Numbuh Five called and congratulated us on a job well done) and we broke the news to Stickybeard that his ship could not be salvaged till after the war. He cried a little but bucked up and swore revenge on Fuse.

"So, I guess that's the end of our travels," Palmar announced when Stickybeard left. "It's been fun."

"Yeah," Viper said, though she didn't sound excited.

"Where will you go? What will you do now?" I asked.

"We'll probably head over to Sector V and defend the Treehouse," Holden answered.

"Until Dexter calls and requests our assistance," Viper added.

"Good luck to you guys," Brent said.

"Hope to meet with you guys again," Trent said. "Bye."

We parted ways, but I had no idea where we were going. Palmar just decided to head towards the Cul-de-Sac, which seemed to be the, essentially, base for us. As we entered the Cul-de-Sac, we suddenly felt warm. Very warm, and the cause for it was down near the throne.

"YOU! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WAS DESTROYING MY HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS!" Father shouted, his flames surrounding his body.

We jogged up towards the throne to see who he was yelling at. He was standing over a cowering Double-D.

"I-I... I never did such a thing!" Double-D said with fear in his voice. "Honestly! I've never done such a thing!"

"I saw you do it you child!" Father shouted.

"Oy! What's going on here?" Palmar demanded.

Father turned and glared at us. I did my best to hide behind the boys, scared of Father.

"I saw this trouble-maker destroying my housing development," Father explained through his anger.

The three boys looked discreditably at Double-D, who was still cowering.

"Him? No offense to Double-D, but he's weak," Trent said.

"Doubt he could do such a thing like what you're describing," Brent said. "No offense to him, but he can't even throw a pebble."

"You honestly he could have done whatever it is to your housing?" Palmar questioned. "He may be smart, but I doubt he could do anything like that."

I looked over at Double-D's crest fallen face and felt the boys were too hard on him. I decided I had to help my friend, and so I stepped up and stood before Father who terrified me.

"Can we go to your housing developments and clear his name?" I asked. "Prove he is innocent?"

"Hmmmmmmmm... Very well," Father consented, his fire dying down. "Head to my housing development and clear your friend's name."

I nodded and motioned with my head to the boys to follow me. We headed out of the Cul-de-Sac and came to the housing development that now was an Infected Zone.

"Hey guys, I think the Fusion Matter has grown," Trent commented as we entered the Infected Zone.

"Huh?" Brent asked, looking at him. "You know, you may be right."

"A Fusion's doing?" I asked.

"Perhaps. Let's head in," Palmar said, stepping on the pad.

We got onto the pad and entered the Infected Zone. When we entered, my NanoCom went off. It was from Double-D.

"Maybe Father has some security footage that can prove my innocence and discover this imposter," Double-D said. "Can you find some?"

We nodded and began to look around the Infected Zone, avoiding the Fusion Matter on the ground. I came upon a security footage (it looked weird) and touched it. Double-D came back on the NanoCom.

"You found one! Now see if there's a computer terminal nearby and send the footage to me."

We looked once again for a computer termanial, and with Trent's help, sent the footage off. Double-D came back on the NanoCom.

"Receiving images now. Hey! That's not me! It's a Fusion Version of me! I'm going to show Father. See if you can stop the Fusion," he instructed.

"Now to find a Fusion Portal," Palmar muttered.

"Well, that one over there is Fusion Eduardo's," Brent said.

"Maybe that's the portal?" I asked, pointing at the one on a hill.

"Possibly," Trent said. "It wouldn't hurt to try."

We headed to the Fusion Portal and entered it, heading underground. We were immediately met by Crash Loaders.

"Man. There's more than before," Brent commented.

"Enough complaining," Palmar said as he brought out his weapon and shot at the Monsters. "More fighting."

"Who said I was complaining?" Brent said with a smirk as he joined in on the shooting.

We took down any and every Fusion Monster in our way, making our way through the underground lair. We were able to defeat them and ran through the lair, looking for the Fusion. We came into another clearing and found the Fusion walking around. We took aim and fired, the Fusion getting hit and firing back at us. But like all others, we killed it, and a Nano of it appeared before my face. Nano Double-D smiled at me and floated.

"Hi there!" he said with a wave.

He entered my NanoCom as we exited the lair and then the Infected Zone. We headed back to the Cul-de-Sac, where we were greeted by a happy and relieved Double-D and an expecting Father.

"Did you kill the Fusion?" he demanded.

I nodded, afraid to speak. He seemed to be happy, as well as Double-D who was smiling with relief.

"Good, then my housing development is fine," he said.

"Actually, no. It's now become an Infected Zone, meaning it won't be well enough until after the war," Palmar explained, standing unafraid to him.

"What?" he demanded. "Are you telling me that I'll be losing money because YOU COULDN'T CLEAN UP MY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT!"

His fire had returned and I flinched backwards. The boys remained unafraid as they stood their ground.

"Basically," Brent answered.

His flames grew, but died down as he scowled at us. Without a word, he passed us and left. I released a steady relieved sigh.

"That was interesting," Trent commented. "Should we get food?"


No P.O.V.

Dexter looked up from his work to look at the computer. He pressed a button, and Viper's face appeared on the screen.

"Hello Viper," he greeted.

"Dexter," she greeted. "Dex, why couldn't I enter the Infected Zones, yet when I met up with Alice and her-"

"You met up with Alice?" Dexter questioned.

"We ran into each other; I was helping my grandfather and you thought it'd be a good idea to send her," Viper replied. "Now, how come I couldn't enter the Infected Zone with my team, yet she could?"

"Because I designed the Dexbots to allow her entrance only. Anyone accompanying her can go with her, but she must be in the party," Dexter replied. "I couldn't allow anyone but her to defeat the Fusions."

"And why is that?" she demanded.

"Because she is the only one strong enough. Though she doesn't know it, she is. I've been keeping a close reading on her, and she is different than most with little fighting experience," Dexter said. "Hold on, someone else is calling."

He pressed another button and on the screen was a redheaded girl. He quickly recognized her to be Betty, Atomic Betty.

"It's good to hear from you again Atomic Betty. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"My team and I are on our way to assist you and Earth in the battle against Fuse," Betty answered. "We should arrive within days to provide firing power from space."

"That's very good to hear," Dexter said, "But I'd advise you go to the Kids Next Door Moonbase first."

"Understood. Atomic Betty, out."

"Dexter, why did you send Atomic Betty to the Moonbase?" Computress asked.

"Because then she won't take them on alone and will be able to have assistance from the Moonbase. And we need to know if they are still standing," Dexter answered. "We will need as much help in space as we do on Earth." He walked to the windows and looked out, seeing the planet that was their enemy and only commented, "He is getting closer."


A/N: Yeah! Another chapter! Did you like it? And we've met two new characters. I enjoyed playing with them, so expect them and Viper to appear in another chapter (don't know when, but soon). Hope I got all the personalities right. And I know that I used Edd in an earlier chapter, but I've decided to use Double-D. Also couldn't help but add in Atomic Betty. We'll hear from them soon.

*I kind of got the name from Gundam Seed. Another name that would have been used in another Fusion Fall story would be League Against Fuse (L.A.F, pronounced laugh).

Speedy-Shifter - I don't know which friend told Dexter, so... yeah. The hover boards and hoverbikes will come back in another chapter, and yes, Mandark will help Dexter with it. As for the Nanos, I'm not basing them off on how the game made them. In here, the Nanos are made because of the human DNA mixed with the Fusion DNA. Hope that answers your questions.

Next chapter will be all about the Junkyard and Megas (I LOVE MEGAS!) and a new Nano (I love the Nano too).

Till, then, this has been AnimeGirl 144! Bye bye!