The Chronometal Panic
Tangent A: Dexter's Vision
Epilogue: Severing the Chains of Fate
Dexter looks through the glass panels that make up most of the control room of The Hangar. He sees Blossom... Buttercup... Him... Barasia... all following him on his perhaps mad quest to exterminate Humanity for the greater good of Earth, and perhaps that of the entire Universe.
In his solitude as he begins to spin up the Environment altering cannon, he talks to himself.
"Well, this is what this all adds up to I guess... ha." He spits monotonously.
"From the beginning... almost three years ago... my little slice of heaven crashed down on me again. And from what? Some guy named Michael, and his 'ideal world.' Well, there's no telling how it could have been if we didn't stop him. His 'pet' Model M is on the loose and this time it's going to kill everything..."
He sees the war machine closing in with Bubbles in toe. She seems so sure that Dexter is wrong. Dexter has no way of knowing whether or not he is wrong or right, but he knows that only one path is available to him now.
"For the sake of tomorrow..." He mutters to himself.
The War Machine, as well as Bubbles stop short of the Blockade.
"Bubbles..." Blossom slips out, almost in tears.
"Stop!" Bubbles yells out! "You can't tell me what to do anymore! I won't let you do this!" She yells as her entire being glows a blue coloration!
"Is there no way we can convince you to stop?" Barasia asks.
"'Convince me to stop?' Is that all this is to you? A freaking business arrangement?! As if there is anything in this world or any other that would convince me to let you kill the entire planet! Do you WANT Ruby to suffer?!"
"Of course not... but, she is going to be killed anyway..." - "SO GET DOWN THERE AND PROTECT HER!" Bubbles screams out!
"It's not that simple! There's no-where on Earth that is safe for her! I may survive the attacks, but she is just a little girl! There is no running from that!" - "So to stop her from being killed you are going to kill her?! Do you have ANY idea how insane that is?!"
"I will stop her from being enslaved, tortured and murdered by giving her a peaceful, painless and instant end..." Bubbles laughs and spits to her side, having it instantly crystallize in space and fly off at speeds untraceable. She raises her arm and goes into a battle formation.
"I will save the world from you all... I will save the world from Model M..."
"That; is impossible." A manly voice is heard behind Buttercup, who smirks at the words and lets Him talk.
"There may have been a time to stop the Model M invasion through other means, but that was a long time ago... now the one way to save this world is in front of you, Bubbles..." Bubbles snarls-
"Even you, a being of ultimate power comes before me and tells me I can't save the world... well here's what I think of that!" She says as she lifts her middle finger to the entire group before continuing; "I'm so sick of you guys; I will take you down for your own good!" Bubbles yells as she takes off along side the War Machine!
The three girls split into a tri-formed formation and flank both of them at the sides! Blossom and her Model B hold off the War Machine along-side Barasia, as Buttercup engages Bubbles! At first, Buttercup keeps un-amused; but before long she notices that Bubbles is keeping up with her attacks perfectly!
The War Machine bats Barasia away as it opens fire on Blossom, forcing her to defend with all her limbs! Before long the attack stops and it punches her away at unbelievable speeds! Barasia attempts to attack the machine at whatever conceivable weak-spots it may have, with very little results.
"How did you get so strong...?!" Buttercup asks as she fails to land even a single good hit. "It's been in front of you the entire time, Buttercup!" - "What has been...?" She asks, still trying to land any real blow.
"My power... my untapped potential, an amount of energy not even I knew I could control... until now... my sisters, my best friend... even the Professor has turned their back on me... the rage, the sadness I feel... it gives me a purpose. I AM THE HERO THE WORLD NEEDS!" She yells as she punches Buttercup hard enough to cause her to cough blood!
The War Machine lands a heavy attack on Barasia, sending her flying into the canon, sending it lazing in the wrong direction! The ramifications just as apparent as the horrified look on Barasia's face as she realizes what just happened.
"DAMN!" Dexter yells to himself as she tries to send the cannon back into the correct position! "It was knocked out of the sweet spot! Damn... DAMN!" He slams the controls as they refuse to respond.
"Let me help!" A voice is heard behind Dexter. He the turns around and smiles. "Always a pleasure, Professor!"
They work at different consoles, one for cannon control and the other for booster navigation. The heavy hit is still causing the space station to laze out of its position, but on such a large scale, even an inch could mean the difference between a perfect chemical deployment and a complete failure!
"We can't regain attitude without expending all our energy to stop the movement!" –- "Then we have to compensate for it!" Dexter yells out.
"Compensate? But we will only have such a small window to aim for... if we miss, there is no second shot!" –- "If we expend our energy to stop our movement, we may not have high enough power to deploy the chemical to the right area! We have to try!" Utonium nods and returns to Booster control.
"Tracking trajectory and scanning for the perfect window... this is going to be close..."
The battle continues as Barasia and Blossom begin to feel weak.
"D... Damn..." Barasia slips out as she lands several ineffectual attacks against the machine. Blossom uses her B-Saber and slices into rivets, but the machine is so large she can't do any real damage! They are both smacked away as the machine draws closer to The Hangar!
Bubbles kicks Buttercup out of the hundreds of different times, before she too begins to show exhaustion... but Buttercup is incapable of feeling such a thing with regenerative energy and immortality.
"Give up, Bubbles!" - "N-Never! I will save this world!" - "Stop saying that, it's impossible! GIVE UP!" Bubbles pants and huffs through her clenched teeth. "GIVE- UP!" She yells as she charges for Bubbles!
"HYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Bubbles roars as she fires a giant laser from her hand toward Buttercup, incinerating her and blinding all who look at it directly! The laser grazes The Hangar and causes one of the floors to depressurize, sending it further out of orbit!
Floating in space, Bubbles merely views the charred Buttercup.
"B... Buttercup...?" She timidly asks as her mighty aura begins to wane. But before her eyes she begins to snap back into place and her skin reforms to its original position... a truly disgusting display, only serving to enrage Bubbles further!
She grabs Buttercup by the head and yells at her body! "COME OUT AND FIGHT ME YOURSELF, HIM!" As she yells that, Buttercup regenerates fully and looks her in the eyes no longer sure she is a match for her... she eyes Bubbles, who is obviously her superior. She has a mixture of fear, sadness and pride shown on her face.
Her clothes fade from brown to green and the man himself floats in front of Bubbles. His arms are crossed and his face is twisted, obviously agitated. He looks down upon Bubbles.
"Such an arrogant display, Bubbles... challenging me. Have you forgotten who it was who saved you in Townsville those two or so years ago? Who saved your sister, Blossom and Buttercup multiple times?" Bubbles' face scrunches-
"Who seeks to destroy the entire world?" He merely laughs and covers his face in the gesture! "Don't you see, Bubbles? From the beginning of these wars, it has ALL lead up to this! One single line along time's torrential river, leading to this one moment!"
"Time is a tricky thing, who can say this is even real...?! That THIS is the one true path?" Bubbles spits out, almost philosophical.
Him raises an eyebrow...
"Almost... Got it..." Utonium grunts as the cannon reaches peak power, but auxiliary energy is nearing 0% fast! He views the panel as the aiming subroutines constantly try to lock on, but always slip out at the last second before Utonium finally notices a pattern! The level that depressurized affected the orbit on a Y axis, while the hit affected their X! Compensating for the hits, he gets the closest thing to a stable lock that he is ever going to get!
"Dexter, this is it! It's going to be like getting a home-run with a stick hitting a golf ball through three donuts from a mile away, but this is the best we are going to get! We have to fire, now!"
Dexter aims, but the battle outside is directly in front of them! Auxiliary power is at 1% and dropping before he gets a semi-clear window!
"HERE GOES EVERYTHING!"
The Hangar unleashes a soft pink laser that pierces the battle-field; everyone's eyes are on it!
"NO!" Bubbles yells out as she fires to intercept it, only to be backhanded by Him! "You are going no-where!"
The War Machine also lunges for the light, under constant resistance from Blossom and Barasia, but also this time Buttercup! They attack the engines, but they are so big they can't do any real damage! That is, before they hear someone behind them!
"Sorry I'm late!" Dexter yells as he fires a giant ball of energy for the War Machine! It slows down, but turns around for a small moment to bash all of them away, but doing no real damage.
The light traveling very slowly, due to actually being a canister of some sort. A modified nuclear missile specially designed to change atmospheric settings! In this certain shot, it is carrying the concentrated chemical! If it detonates above the Amazon Jungle will cause a circulation throughout the entire planet, causing rapid spreading if it reaches...
The war machine aims its right arm as it opens up into some kind of cannon!
"That is the secret weapon! It only has one shot, but it can take that canister out easily! We have to stop that attack!" Dexter yells as he dashes in front of the machine to try to bash his way into the cockpit, with no success!
Bubbles constantly tries to stop them, but she cannot break out of Him's blockade! "Dammit, let me GO!" - "I can't do that, Bubbles." - "Yes you can! You helped us all the time! Help me!" - "Sorry, but I only helped Buttercup. Helping you along with her was just a bonus." He says flatly, continuously batting her away, but not doing any real damage.
"I don't believe that! What about in Townsville?! You saved us both and you served no-one but yourself!" - "That was a long time ago... things change..." - "WRONG! This is the same thing it's always been! Saving the world from Model M!" - "Buttercup never wanted me to help her save the world; she wanted me to save her sisters... you and Blossom. A world where you can all live in safety from Model M!"
Bubbles chokes up with rage and tears before she thinks of something. She breaks into an unsettling smile. "What is it, girl?" He asks before she starts to choke herself!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He yells as he tries to loosen her grip, but she only squeezes tighter, forcing herself to cough up blood! "STOP THIS!" - "Ern...ly... eef, yew lhet... mee gohhh...!" She says as she unflinchingly inflicts serious harm upon herself! Her fingers are imbedded into her very neck, to force them away would kill her!
"Model M may win if you stop them..." - "I... musht... shtawp dem from... doing... dish...!" She huffs as she continues to choke herself, blood coursing over her entire being!
The machine aims its attacks, but is constantly interrupted by the gnats buzzing around. The heroes are stunned at just how ineffective they are at combating this menace!
As if things couldn't get worse, a bloody visage of horror bellows over the machine! BUBBLES! Her face, neck and body so soaked with blood and eyes so filled with rage it is impossible to know what she is thinking. But they can take an educated guess-
"DIE!" She roars as she fires a giant beam from her hand, completely engulfing Barasia! The others around her had barely enough time to react or be caught in it themselves!
"B-Bubbles, you killed-" - "An enemy of humanity..." She sneers with anger dripping from her fangs. "You're next...!" She yells as she charges for Blossom, knocking her far away from the Machine and she begins to charge after her before an interrupting voice is heard from behind her.
"ENOUGH!" Dexter bellows as his D-Saber blasts her other arm off! "HYAAAAAHHHHAHAHAAA!" She lets off a blood curdling scream as her divine blue aura instantly fade and blood crystallizes in space as crimson snowflakes. As she screams Dexter grabs her by the bleeding throat and looks her in the eyes.
"Is enough..." He finishes as he impales her with his sword. He retracts the sword and pushes her dying body into the spatial vacuum. Buttercup looks upon his actions in shock and disgust. "B... Bub... Bubbles...? B-Bubbles? BUBBLES!" She stammers and screams as she flies to her body!
Dexter merely gives her interjection a passing glance before chasing the War machine down once again.
"BUBBLES SPEAK TO ME!" She yells at her unfocused eyes as she struggles to even keep them open. She coughs red snow as she tries to respond, but her body is too far damaged. No words can come out; only blood. "H-HIM! SAVE HER!" - "Alri-" - "No..." Bubbles spits up.
"Bubbles...?" - "Him... don't..." She lets out simply as her eyes close and her pulse wanes. "DO IT HIM!" - "She has denied it..." - "I COMMAND YOU TO FUCKING DO IT!" - "I CANNOT!" He yells and imposes over her, but she doesn't startle or falter.
"I cannot embody another being if they do not will it! She has denied my intervention... she is gone, Buttercup..." - "FUCK THAT! FUCK YOU!" She yells as she punches Him away and embraces her dying corpse. "BUBBLES! BUUUUBBBBLLLLEEEESSSS!"
Dexter finally catches up with the machine- the canister is mere seconds away from deploying! He tries his best to attack the weapon, but his D-Saber just isn't strong enough. Blossom shows up, having chosen to chase the machine rather than check her sister's fate.
They don't speak to each other, but they both focus their energy on the weapon. They keep the machine occupied long enough for something to appear above it.
"RAAAHHHHGGGG!" Buttercup, in her now demonic form yells as she digs her gruesome hands into the cockpit and rips the Pilot out! She tears him in half and the machine finally stops in its tracks. She slams it into the atmosphere of the planet and it begins to burn up.
"Great going Buttercup!" Blossom lets out, happily! There is no response from Buttercup however... "Buttercup?" Buttercup turns to Dexter- still in her demonic form. She seems to have rage and regret in her eyes.
"DEXTER..." She says loudly. "AFTER THIS IS OVER... YOU WILL NOT RETURN TO THE PLANET TO DIE TO YOUR OWN CHEMICAL... NO... I WILL BE THE ONE TO KILL YOU WHEN THIS IS OVER..." - "B-Buttercup, what are you-" Blossom tries to ask before she is cut off by Dexter. "I understand..." He says plainly causing Blossom to sputter.
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" As she asks that a bright light engulfs the open space! Dexter and Blossom can barely look at it, but Buttercup is more than capable without even squinting. The missile has detonated...!
They have won...!
A voice reaches their Chronometals. "Great job everyone!" It is the professor! "Y-Yeah..." Blossom says, before the mood sours again. "Look... I know that what we did seems evil... but it had to be done." - "Yeah, Professor... I know..." A short pause engulfs the space.
"What happened to everyone? Is everyone alright? I can't see you from the station..." - "Dexter, Buttercup and I are all fine." - "That's good..."
Another pause permeates the area as Buttercup and Dexter stare at each other. Her large demonic wings splayed out and his saber still drawn but they aren't attacking each other yet.
"What about... Bubbles?" Blossom looks to her left and right, but doesn't see her anywhere. "I... don't know, Professor." - "Did she run away?" They are both cut off by Dexter.
"No. She's dead." Blossom gasps! Buttercup and Dexter still eye each other. "D... Dead...?" Utonium asks timidly over the intercom device. "Yes... she killed Barasia... and I killed her." He says before he rips the intercom device from his Chronometal and throws it to the Earth. Blossom seems speechless, as she frantically looks around.
"We aren't done yet... there is still one thing that needs to be done." Dexter says as he points to The Hangar. "We need to crash it into the South Pole and take out the Mother Model M. It has been weakened with the Chemical's distribution, and we should be able to easily take it out." After he says that he flies to the landing bay and enters The Hangar, leaving Blossom and Buttercup.
"Dead?" Blossom asks. "YES..." Buttercup somberly hisses. She then begins to fly away. "Where... are you g-going...?" Blossom asks, choking up.
"I... I see... I just... I-" - "You don't have to forgive me. This entire endeavor was to save Earth..." He looks out the window to the Planet. The chemical is spreading quickly, killing more and more humans by the second. Within the hour it is likely that they will all be dead and they will have never seen it coming.
"I knew she would resist us, but I didn't know she would resist us to her grave. She was a hero, I was the villain, yet here we are." - "Dexter...?!" - "There is one last thing we have to do. I am setting this base to crash into the South Pole Model M. I have one question for you professor." As he punches in the last command, he turns around.
"Do you want to be on this station when it happens?"
*On Earth...*
In the mountains, outside Megaville, Buttercup in her demonic form places Bubbles in a tomb. A tomb labeled 'Here lay the heroes of the Chronometal Wars.'
"Bubbles..." Blossom whimpers to herself. Buttercup closes the tomb and sighs.
They leave the tomb and look into the sky. They see what looks like a meteor crashing down, but upon closer inspection, it is The Hangar! "I guess this is it..." Blossom says.
"YEAH. BUT, WAS IT WORTH IT...?" Buttercup growls sadly. Blossom shakes her head. "I don't know... but, the world is finally saved... right?" Buttercup begins to fly back upward into space.
"W-wait-" - "DON'T FOLLOW ME BLOSSOM... I'LL BE BACK..." She bolts off leaving Blossom behind. "Dexter..." She says to herself in hushed tones.
*Quickly, in space...*
Dexter has his saber drawn and stares down Buttercup. "I guess this is it..." He says, getting no response. He takes an aggressive stance as he stares her down.
"I'm sorry, Buttercup." - "I DON'T CARE!" She roars as she charges for him! He attempts to parry, but she grabs into his saber and shatters it with one snap. The battle seems horribly one sided.
She bats him away, but he does not fly away, instead he sticks to her hand and he launches himself onto her back! His gauntlets open up to their secondary weapons and he strikes her in the head with the frost-turbine, freezing her!
He jumps away, but she breaks out of the ice faster than he expected and she grabs onto him! She attempts to snap him in half with no mercy, but he flares his armor and fires out of her grasp! She charges him down, but he activates his power-piston and sends her careening backwards!
While she is flying away Dexter catches her by the tail and rebounds her back, where he power-pistons her in the face! The pain is short lived before her rage returns and Dexter is once again embraced. "This is totally unfair..." He thinks to himself.
He manages to wriggle one of his arms free and he arms his D-Pistol and shoots her in the eye- causing excruciating pain! As Dexter once again barely makes it out in one piece he notices his armor is at less than 20%. "Well I guess this is it..." He thinks to himself again.
As Buttercup regains her sight, she sees Dexter just floating there. "WHY AREN'T YOU ATTACKING?!" He says nothing and does nothing, his right hand behind his back. "WHATEVER, JUST DIE ALREADY!" She bellows as she careens for him, her demonic wings tucked in and her demon tail snaking its way behind her.
As she approaches to land a terrible blow, Dexter lets out a battle-cry of his own, showing his right hand! "DRAGON FIST!" He yells as his gauntlet fires forward of its own power at over the speed of light! It lasts for less than a second... then they are both left with what has happened.
He has punched through her core, a look of terrible pain crossing her face. "DAMN... YOU...!" She whimpers as she backs away, Dexter almost looking sorry. Her demonic form wanes, and she is left with a gaping hole in her chest.
Him leaves her body as well, but not as an observer, an attacker, nor does he seem all powerful or omnipotent.
He is also in terrible pain, panting and wheezing.
"That... That hit was extraordinary...!" Him coughs out. He begins to regain his posture, but Buttercup's vision begins to fade and she coughs up blood. "Buttercup...!" Him exclaims. Dexter looks to Him and asks: "Why don't you just regenerate her?" - "Because the damage you did knocked my energy out, I will be spent for at least an hour... *cough*"
Her eyes close, with a bloody scowl across her face. "Dexter..." Him says under his breath, and he makes a most uncharacteristic demand. "Save her..." He says as he fades into a red mist. Likely returning to the Ark in which his power is still kept.
Dexter floats to Buttercup and holds her in his arms. He can feel her pulse waning.
"Well... I guess it's up to me, again." He says as he taps his counter. "5%... enough for two round trips. Better make it count."
*Hours pass and Blossom Looks into the sunset- worried.*
"Where are they? I haven't felt either of them in so long..." She says to herself. "And... Bubbles... and the professor... everyone..." She begins to breath quickly and shallowly, showing signs of fear and anxiety.
"Am... Am I all alone? Am I alone? Is the world empty...?!" She huffs to herself as something spooks her! She looks over and sees that it is a Deer.
She's not sure why, but the Deer seems to calm her down. She looks around. She sees insects building a nest... she sees and hears birds flying and singing. The sunset reaches the mountains in the distance and it casts a beautiful auburn sheen.
"Even... even if I am alone... this is the world I... we fought for." She says to herself as she notices something in the distance. A smoke plume... coming from Megaville elementary. "DEXTER?!" She flies over, wasting no time.
She walks through the lab doors, noticing the lights are very dim. "Hello? Dexter? Where are you!?" She yells, noticing it is unusually loud in here. She thinks to herself why Dexter would even be on Earth... won't the chemical kill him if his Chronometal loses power? Maybe it's not Dexter? So many thoughts.
She sees something, and almost dismisses it until a stray thought possesses her to stay. It is a large tube, with thick bluish green liquid in it. She views a monitor by it. It all seems very familiar to her... before she remembers.
This is where she woke up! She looks as hard as she can into the pod, and can barely make out a being inside. It looks female. As she observes it, she notices another pod behind her. She walks to it and the same is apparent. A female is inside, but she cannot make out details, before she notices something ghastly!
"DEXTER!" She yells as she sees him lying on the ground! She turns him over, and her expression almost completely turns around.
He is dead... but he is smiling. His mask is open as well, not circulating the air if he were alive. "Dexter..." She whimpers as she embraces his lifeless body, before she hears something behind her. A beeping noise, a very faint one she hadn't heard until now. A monitor has the words "To Blossom" splayed across it.
She gently lets his body down and approaches it. She accesses the file.
"Bloss...om... *cough* if you are reading this... and I hope you are, I want you to know that... *cough* your sisters are safe... *hack* I, however... am going... The Chronometal is failing, its power is so low... *cough* that it's letting a little bit of the chemical in... I'm not dying fast... I'm dying... slow... ha, I guess I deserve it... and besides, it is giving... me enough time to save... your *inhale* sis...ters... If you are hearing this, I want... to say I'm sorry... I love you... and thank you for standing... by my... side..."
The recording doesn't turn off, but continues as she hears him walking away from the recording device and coughing all the way. She hears footsteps and then a jet of air. "Fresh... Air...!" Dexter yells... Soon after, a giant thumping noise is heard, and the rest of the recording is empty noise.
Blossom clenches her fists, though she is not sure why. She turns around and walks to Dexter. She picks him up and begins to fly away.
*Several minutes later, Blossom is seen leaving the grave of the Chronometal Wars, Dexter's body now within.* She inhales a deep breath of fresh, chemical laden air that is not fatal to her in the slightest. She lets out a sigh, as night animals begin their usual routine as if nothing has changed. She can feel someone behind her, but she knows who it is and merely smiles.
"I guess it's just us now, eh?" - "Not true. Once Bubbles and Buttercup awaken you will have your sisters to share this new, fertile world to share." - "Ha... yeah..." She takes another reassuring deep breath.
"I don't know... I think... I think everything is going to be okay..."
And with that, this chapter closes. Dexter has died for what he believed in and he has given those he cut down a chance at a new life in this new world. Bubbles and Buttercup will awaken, not nearly as long as it would have taken Blossom to awaken, but it will still be a few years.
Blossom has the entire world to herself, as Him remains contented in his underworld castle. As the world came to its end he ran a few errands. Yet he is still baffled about the area Briarus had locked off from the rest of them.
"I don't know Barthandelus... maybe Blossom is right? Maybe everything will be okay?" He says, sitting on his throne. To his back, the enormous crystal, a faint single winged being present within. "Perhaps, Him. The next generation will be free of Model M... even the Lunar Model M has retreated, knowing there is nothing this planet has to offer. Perhaps the future is secure... for now."
Him closes his eyes and chuckles.
"Good work, kids. You saved the entire world. Now what? Now I watch... don't throw this blessing away!"
AFTERMATH
There is a slight drizzle in the air. A lone girl in the middle of an expansive forest cups her hand in the air, catching the rainwater. She drinks it down and then ends it with a satisfied sigh.
She wears old clothing, ratty and tattered, almost unwearable, intolerable to wear. Yet wear it she does, she has chosen to wear nothing else for several years.
She has spent such a long time alone, but she has kept herself busy. To her own surprise, this area overgrew in such a small amount of time. She keeps it tilled and pristine, regardless of how the rest of the world looks.
She sits atop the building with a blank expression on her face. The weeds are tilled, the sprouts are moved... she's not hungry or thirsty. Everything for the day seems more or less done, so she finds herself once again with nothing to do.
"I could use a hobby..." She says to herself. She jumps from the top of the building to start her rounds over again. As she falls the large banner labeled 'Megaville Elementary School' passes by her vision. She walks in, but regardless of how thorough she was in her 'gardening' she couldn't help but let a few plants break through the walls.
The desks lay either on their sides or rooted in place, the wooden tops rotten and covered in bugs. She remembers what it looked like when she came in years ago. There were bodies, everywhere... but not in a way that would entail slaughter or cruelty... if anything they looked slumped over their desks asleep.
She single handedly buried everyone in Megaville in a single day, a truly biblical act if she does say so herself.
As she walks down the empty halls, a deer scampers out of one of the rooms and runs down to the entrance. She enters the library and heads through the rotten bookcase to a hollow in the walls.
The stairs echo endlessly as she walks down... and before her eyes the once closed off lab of Dexter's past is little more than a great atrium! Birds and wildlife fly and crawl around as the entire lab has been broken into by nature, well, almost the entire lab. The section holding her sisters are completely weed free... give or take.
She begins her rounds again before she notices something... both of the pods are open! She darts her eyes across the room to view anyone who might be in here, to no avail.
"Hello?" She asks, her voice echoing down the halls, but quickly drowned out by birds and other wildlife. Something catches her eye and she looks up. Two silhouettes stand over a gaping maw in the roof of the lab. One of them relents their standing posture and sits down, looking down but not seeing Blossom.
... ... ...
"I never had a choice in the matter... I told Him not to revive me, but Dexter did... as if it were a cruel joke to bring me back in a world I failed to defend." She continues to look down, somber.
"To make matters worse, the only way to escape from this hollow shell of a world would be to die again, but who's to say I'm even alive...?!" She seethes as she looks at her own arms and body. "THIS ISN'T ME!" – "Calm down... look here." The other girl says as she points to something on the other girl's shoulder.
"What the...? A... bunch of buttons?" – "There is a pattern here, it's very long... but it looks like an Off Switch of sorts." – "Isn't that convenient... Dexter put in a damn off switch..." She sighs.
They merely sit and stand around, not really doing much else but soaking up the scenery. "Beautiful... isn't it?" The green one lets out. The blue one raises her head to look at the forests around them. "How long have we been out? A hundred years? Is Blossom even still alive?"
"Oh I'm still alive!" Blossom says as she fires out of the lab, scaring the two causing them to recoil! She lands on the ground and they all seem to merely gaze at each other. One of them finally breaks the ice soon after.
"So uh... how's it been?" Buttercup asks. "Boring as heck... these years have been taxing on the mind, but now you guys are here!" – "How long were we out?" Bubbles asks. "Three years, almost on the dot." They merely exchange small-talk for a while, before Blossom reaches out slowly and rubs Bubbles' hair.
"Y-Yes?" She lets out, confused. Blossom says nothing as she continues to feel Bubbles, making sure she is really there, making sure she is really alive. She switches to Buttercup soon after, who seems to have no real objections.
Hours pass, they talk, they laugh and they cry... time goes by. Before that is, someone breaks up the little reunion.
A red haze mists over the area and Buttercup's ears perk up. A being coalesces into focus and everyone looks upon it. Him, of course... who else could stand to wear such gaudy clothing, even in an apocalyptic future?
"So the gang's all rounded up, huh?" Buttercup merely nods and gulps, conveying uncertainty across her face and body. "What's wrong, my Buttercup?" – "Wh... why are you here, Him?" He raises an eyebrow and breaks into a small scowl.
"You know why I'm here..." – "Can't I spend a couple days... weeks with them?" He rolls his eyes and shrugs. "Why not, sure, whatever. It's not like it's lonely down here or anything. Everyone who ever was is here! It's fun! But whatever, come at your leisure, my Buttercup. Enjoy your world... I'll be waiting." He says as he fades into red mist once more, with a grin slicing his face.
Buttercup gives a sigh of relief as the other two ask what that was all about. Buttercup shrugs it off and they all drop the issue and begin to talk of other things.
The rest of their days are spent like this. Sunrise, Sunset, with no real goal in mind. They press on. It's not a bad way for the world to end... but boy it sure is boring!
Author's Note: Certainly one of the more divisive endings. Not a serious amount of closure, not to mention it doesn't really leave the story open for a lot of new possibilities. A lot of small things were dropped, like with Buttercup and Him, but nothing concrete. This ending is probably, admittedly, my least favorite. The tangent itself was wicked to write, but the lukewarm ending was inevitable, if this was a goal, this was to be the ending. It's definitely not the happiest one, is it?