Chapter 14 – Time Squad
Author Notes:
- as much as I hate Lizzie with an extreme passion and wish she'd go die in a fire or through the most gruesome way possible (and want Numbuh1xNumbuh5 to be canon), I'll still leave the two Sector V members as really close friends
- I'll have to remove the part showing the Fusion Mama Blowfish since I ran out of important characters and the "Messages Across Time" mission adaption was redone
Morning came as Kyle, Numbuh 2, Computress, and Mandark were all in the tree house's lab with the Time Machine. Computress was helping Numbuh 2 make sure the Time Vortex was applied correctly. Mandark was programming the circuit boards using the data Dexter had given him to correctly handle the time traveling process. Kyle was sitting in the back couch, reading some comic books Numbuh 2 had loaned him. He had felt that Kyle deserved a small break from the work he had given him.
"You have anything else besides these Yipper Comics?" Kyle asked.
Yipper was a popular series of comic books, mainly with young and teenage males. It even had its own complex trading card game. Kyle had played it occasionally with Adam since he was an avid fan of the game. Kyle mainly read the comics as he found the jokes inside quite humorous.
"Those are from when I was ten-years-old," Numbuh 2 replied, "and still kept my comics in the treehouse. My mom made me get rid of my other ones when I became a teenager."
"Wow, Numbuh 2." Mandark said in an amused tone. "You couldn't have at least stashed them somewhere safe?"
"Shut up! I had a lot going on in my mind back then. I could've lost my memories!"
"Whatever, Hoagie."
"I thought I told you not to call me that . . . Susan."
"Augh! Shut up about that! Anyway, we still need one last piece if we want this thing to start running."
"Aw, c'mon. Just leave it for tomorrow. Kyle needs a break from the stress."
"Look who's talking . . . You guys shouldn't be soft at times like this. Numbuh 2. Of all people still alive, you should know that."
"Yeah, but-"
"Kyle. We need you to hunt someone down. If my last scans are correct, he should still be around."
"Okay," Kyle responded, "but who?"
"Well, Jack should be back there already, but that's not who you need to locate. You need to find a robot: Larry 3000 of Time Squad. He'll have important and beneficial coding to set our time destination. Without it, there'll be a possibility something will go haywire even with the data Dexter gave me."
"Time Squad?"
"A group of time travelers like you and Jack."
"Then why can't they have used their time-traveling technology to stop Fuse?"
"They have strict rules and an oath on how their time-travel is used. They are only allowed to use it to fix problems in the past."
"But the war is a problem. Why aren't they fixing it?"
"According to Time Squad, time is like a rope. It's woven at one end, ages, and gradually unravels and frays at the other. The 'rope' is history and the 'unraveling' is when people pick a different choice in their lives. That causes history to be changed and altered. The war with Fuse is part of history so they can't mess with it."
"Okay, this confusing."
"I don't get it either myself. What I just told you is what I memorized. There was, however, a group who decided to go against the rules and somehow transported their entire space station back and joined the fight. I think there were three of them. I don't remember the names of the other two and I believe they perished during the destruction of Townsville."
"Otto and Buck." Numbuh 2 corrected him.
"Whatever!"
"So where can I find Larry?" Kyle asked.
"That's the problem. We don't know. I last saw him helping us out at Tech Square. I'm not sure what happened to him."
"Maybe you should ask Numbuh 5." Numbuh 2 suggested. "She should be outside the tree house right now."
"Alright, I'll go talk to her." Kyle replied.
Kyle descended the tree house. Outside, he found Numbuh 5 leaning against the garage wall. She held a pair of dark sunglasses in her hands and was staring at them.
"Numbuh 1 . . ."
Battle of Tech Square
Numbuh 5 and Ben had left Kyle with Numbuh 2 to follow Numbuh 1's orders. Numbuh 1 was the leader of Sector V. If asked, most of the members in the Kids Next Door would agree that he was one of the best and if not, the best, member they ever had in history.
"What's so important that Numbuh 1 needed us to join Jack?" Ben asked. "I thought that guy could handle things himself."
"I don't know, but it must be big if Numbuh 1 wants us to help him."
The two came to an entrance the park that stood between Dexlabs and Mandark Industries. The steel fencing surrounding it was now bent, missing, or destroyed by Fusion Matter. Trees were missing and toppled over leaving many littered leaves on the ground. Park property like benches and fountains suffered the same fate.
"I've always used like this place." Ben commented.
"C'mon. We need to go."
The two ran inside towards the center. They to the ruined fountain court to see Jack clashing with his Fusion counterpart as well as the Fusions of Numbuh 5 and Dexter. Fusion Dexter mainly stayed back and watched the fight for his own amusement. Fusion Numbuh 5 stayed back as well, but she fired shots from his pistols occasional to get a cheap shot at Jack while he was distracted by his Fusion's movements.
"Ah, crap! Of all Fusions, those three are here!" Ben exclaimed.
Fusion Dexter noticed the two's arrival when he heard Ben's voice.
"Ah, it's you two." he said. "Not just us, Benjamin. Your counterpart is here as well. He's probably dealing with those annoying Powerpuff Girl friends of yours right this very moment."
"Why are all of you here!" Numbuh 5 questioned as she began attacking her Fusion.
"We just wanted to see the downfall of your last pathetic city." Fusion Numbuh 5 replied.
"Big . . . Chill!" Ben suddenly exclaimed.
Ben had transformed into a blue and black, humanoid, moth-like alien. He was flying using his four wings and had an Ultimtrix symbol on his chest. His body and the spots lining his arms and legs were light blue and his eyes glowed a bright green color. Ben flew at Fusion Dexter and unleashed a vapor from his mouth. Everything the vapor touched was encased in thick layers of ice. Fusion Dexter jumped back till he was a safe distance. He drew a gun and fired shots of Fusion Matter. Ben countered by making himself transparent, completely intangible. The shots merely went through his body.
"I won't be able to win like this, guys." Fusion Dexter told his allies.
"Just distract him long enough for the bomb to go off." Fusion Numbuh 5 replied as she dodged one of her counterpart's kicks.
Fusion Jack remained silent. He never spoke that much.
"Bomb!" Numbuh 5 exclaimed.
"Powerful enough to take out the entire area if you don't do something." Fusion Dexter added. "And I have the only key to access the controls."
"Ben!"
Ben nodded and flew towards Fusion Dexter again, still continuing to use his intangibility. Fusion Dexter ran away down a cobblestone path. He used rocket powered shoes to increase his speed and glide across the ground. Ben and the Fusion were both going at the same distance. No one would catch up or get away now. Ben only needed to use up his energy to fall behind or Fusion Dexter's fuel supply had to run off before he started running again. The Fusion was about to reach the park's exit when a figure appeared ahead and fired a gun. The shot caught Fusion Dexter off guard and it fatally struck him directly in the chest. As he dissolved into Fusion Matter, the figure picked up the bronze key from his remains.
"Nice job, Nigel!" Ben exclaimed as he returned to his human form.
"Ben. For the last time, I prefer being called my codename during operations."
"Yeah, yeah, Numbuh 1."
Numbuh 1 himself was bald. He preferred to keep the reason a secret so only a few people know what happened. He always dressed himself in a red turtleneck sweater, gray shorts, and specially modified brown shoes. As he grew older, he eventually started wearing small black vest over his sweater and dark green combat shorts.
"Where's Numbuh 5?" Numbuh 1 asked.
"Fighting her Fusion." Ben replied. "Jack's doing that as well. C'mon! With four versus two, we'll care of them easily!"
"No. We need to disarm that bomb. I was listening to that conversation through Numbuh 5's Nanocom."
"But we have no idea where it is."
"The fountain court. That's where Jack encountered the three. They were there for quite some time before he got so it's logical."
Ben and Numbuh 1 headed back to meet up with the other two. When they arrived, the Fusions were still battling their counterpart. Jack and his Fusion were considerably worn down, but they still continued to clash swords. Numbuh 5 and her Fusion were still actively going at it. None were willing to back down, but they were at a farther distance from the fountain which gave Ben and Numbuh 1 less distractions.
"They'll hold off those two for now." Numbuh 1 said. "Check the fountain."
Ben ran over and stared deep inside the fountain water. Lying at the bottom was a small, blinking device in a glass box. There was a small keyhole to open it.
"Found it!" Ben exclaimed. "But it's too deep for our hands to reach. Give me the key."
Numbuh 1 handed the key to Ben. Ben then proceeded to use the Ultimatrix and transform into a small alien that was half a foot who he nicknamed Grey Matter. He was now grey-skinned and had large green eyes with minus sign-like pupils. He wore a white jumpsuit with a black stripe running right down the center. The Ultimatrix symbol was also on his chest as well.
Ben took a deep breath and jumped inside holding the key with boy hands. It was dense enough to drag him to bottom. He slowly undid the lock and the glass case fell apart. He then quickly swam upward to get another gulp of air.
"I got it!" Ben exclaimed. "Do you have anything to weigh me down now?"
Numbuh 1 picked up a rock from the ground. It was heavy enough to drag Ben down and not let him get caught or stuck. Ben took in another deep breath as Numbuh 1 placed the rock in his hands. Once at the bottom again, Ben used his alien form's superior intelligence to disarm the bomb and did it with plenty of time left on the timer.
Ben climbed out and transformed back to his original self again, still dripping wet. He was just in time to see Jack finally deliver the finishing blow to his Fusion by stabbing him in the stomach. Numbuh 5 had also managed to pin her Fusion down as well. She finished her off by shooting her in the chest. She then ran over to check on Jack's condition. He was still doing relatively well. He had some cuts and bruises, but he seemed to be enduring them as he could still run if he wanted to.
"You disarmed the bomb?" Numbuh 1 asked Ben.
"Yeah. It should explode any time soo-"
A sudden and powerful tremor interrupted Ben mid-sentence. The ground below him and Numbuh 1 instantly collapsed and they started to plummet downward towards the Fusion Matter ocean below. Numbuh 1 managed to grab onto a small pipe extending towards him. Ben did the same a few feet downward.
"What's happening!" Ben exclaimed.
"This must've been their backup plan." Numbuh 1 answered.
Numbuh 5 ran over to the hole that the two were now dangling in. She could go down herself since there wasn't enough footing to get to them.
"Numbuh 1!" she exclaimed. "Why can't you use your rocket shoes!"
"They were damaged by an Oil Ogre while I made my way here!" he responded.
"I don't think I can hold on anymore!" Ben exclaimed. "My hand's too wet from the water! I'm slipping!"
"Hold on!" Numbuh 5 told him. "Um . . . Um . . ."
"Just stop . . . It's useless . . . Hey. Can you say goodbye to the others for me?"
"Ben! Just hold on for a little longer! I'll just go- . . . um . . . Wait! What about an alien that can fly!"
"The Ultimatrix needs more time to be used again. Sorry, Abigail."
Ben's hand finally slipped off the pipe and he continued to fall. He slammed his Ultimatrix with his hand and was enveloped in a green light for a second. Once it subsided, Ben was holding the Ultimatrix in his hand. With the last of his remaining strength, he tossed it upwards to Numbuh 1 who managed to catch it.
"Protect it with your lives!" Ben exclaimed right before his body was submerged in Fusion Matter.
Numbuh 1 threw the Ultimatrix to Numbuh 5. The earthquake was growing worse. He could feel the entire landmass sinking. He then heard the sound of his pipe slowly breaking apart. He removed his sunglasses and quickly tossed them to Numbuh 5 as well.
"Take them, Abby!"
"Numbuh 1!" she exclaimed. "Not you too!"
"You've been a great comrade, Abigail. Hurry! You'll end up like this if you stay there any longer!"
"B-But-"
"You're the leader of Sector V and the Kids Next Door now! I know you'll do great!"
The pipe holding Numbuh 1 broke, leaving the Fusion Matter below to embrace him. Numbuh 5 kneeled where she was, paralyzed with shock. She couldn't move after see two of her closest friends disappear before her eyes. She wanted to move, but all she could do was stare at what remained of the two, the Ultimatrix and Numbuh 1's sunglasses. The concrete below her cracked open. She would've fallen had it not been for Jack carrying her off at the last minute. He ran towards the exit as fast as he could with Numbuh 5 in his arms. A SCAMPER was waiting at the other end, originally for the four of them. The KND co-pilot was waving his arms in a frenzy from the open door to tell Jack to hurry up as they were taking off. Jack took the Ultimatrix and sunglasses from Numbuh 5 hands and threw her upwards. The co-pilot caught her by the hands and pulled her inside while Jack used his superhuman jumping abilities to get inside. He returned Ben's and Numbuh 1's belongings once she was properly seated.
"I know it's hard." he said. "But there was no possible way we could've saved them. You should at least let their legacy live on."
"This is just like Mount Blackhead . . ." Numbuh 5 said to herself.
"Numbuh 5?" Kyle asked. I need to ask you something."
"Oh, Kyle. Sorry about that. What do you need?"
"Mandark needs to know where Larry 3000. I need to find him."
"Ol' Larry? Um . . . well . . . The truth is he was destroyed during the beginning of the battle. I Cyberus got to him, but we managed to save his parts."
"So where are they?"
"Well, there's the problem. That scumbag, Eddy, somehow managed to get his hands them and is now trying to sell him for profit. We can't get them back because he refuses to tell us where he hid them. Maybe he'll tell you now. You did get rid of his Fusion and I also remember stopping by the Cul-de-Sac him dancing for joy because of it."
"It's worth a shot. Thanks for the info."
Kyle took a SCAMPER to the Cul-de-Sac. As he exited, he found Eduardo sitting on the lawn across the street, calmly licking a giant lollipop.
"Hey, Ed." Kyle greeted him. "Does your leg feel okay now?"
"Oh señor Kyle! Si! No need to worry! My leg is fine!"
"Alright, big guy. Just checking."
Kyle headed to the marketplace and approached Eddy's cardboard throne. He was just sitting there with a bored expression on in his face until he saw Kyle.
"You're the Kyle kid that killed my Fusion, right? Thanks a lot, man. I hated that guy. Anyway, I'm guessing you want something from me."
"Numbuh 5 told me you managed to get a hold of Larry 3000's parts."
"Larry 3000, Larry 3000 . . . oh, you mean that dumb robot? Yeah, about that . . . you're out of luck . . . well, both of us. Nobody I could find wanted to buy that piece of scrap from me so I sent him to the junkyard."
"You what? Do you know exactly where in junk yard he is?"
"Nope. Not a clue. Try that cool samurai guy. 'Jack' was his name, right? I'm sure he's seen it since I've heard he goes inside the junkyard a lot. He just went back there this morning."
Kyle headed to Goat's Junk Yard. He found Jack in the same place a he always was. It was beginning to be a little funny for Kyle.
"Do you always have sit on that car?" Kyle asked as he walked through the front gate.
"What can I do for you?" Jack responded, completely ignoring Kyle's question.
"Eddy told me you might know where Larry 3000 is. Do you think you can show me?"
"Of course. I was wondering why he was there, but I saw that he was broken so I left him. Oh, and take this air mask. You may not be able to handle the smell in there."
"I understand."
Kyle placed the air mask over his face as Jack took him inside the Infected Zone. Seeing as how it was the only junkyard left in the world, he wasn't really surprised about the amount of junk. It was enough form mountains. The two walked north from the entrance. Giant piles of old, worn out cars and broken furniture prevent them from taking a shortcut to the east side where Larry 3000 was located. On the right were two large processing factory buildings. They were in terrible condition, but Kyle could see the silhouettes of people working through the broken windows.
Jack led Kyle through a very small trailer park. Nobody seemed to live there anymore, but their belongings still littered the place. They finally came to an opening in the garbage piles where they could access the eastern side. Kyle immediately noticed the large structure up ahead and was amazed by the sight. It was a robot of gigantic proportions standing in a lake of Fusion Matter, the robot known as Megas. He was a popular story in the news at times. People usually saw the robot fighting monsters or other giant robots in large cities which would result in lots of property damage. Some even saw it casually wander the streets at times.
"Megas?" Kyle wondered aloud.
"Yes." Jack assured him. "He's a robot from the even more distant future. A long time ago, a man known as Coop found him buried in the scrap piles here. Later, he somehow managed to attach his car where the missing head was and made it serve as the robot's controls. Right now, only he knows how to control him. We could've had a bigger advantage over Fuse if Coop used him, but one of Fuse's first moves was to trap Megas in a Fusion Matter prison rendering him unusable."
"Interesting how he knew to attack him first . . ."
"Well, there's another back-story to that, but I can't explain it here. Larry 3000's head is over there."
The two walked past Megas and towards some piles of garbage next to an abandoned factory building. Jack began to search to the piles, trying to remember where he saw Larry 3000. In a few minutes, he found the head hidden behind a broken off car door and hand it to Kyle. His head dome-like as the head itself was shaped like a silo. He had two round eyes and a bendable mouth to express emotions. The mouth even had white panels to give the illusion that he had teeth.
While talking the head from Jack's hands, Kyle accidentally activated the rebooting mechanism. Larry 3000's lights, panels, and lens glowed with a light blue color.
"Oh my goodness gracious!" he exclaimed upon seeing Kyle. "Where the heck am I? And who are you?"
"My name's Kyle. I would shake your hand for a formal greeting, but I since you're a disembodied head . . ."
"What in the sam's heck are you talking abou- Oh my goodness! I'm just head! Where's the rest of my body!"
"It appears they may be somewhere else or someone else took them." Jack told him.
"Oh heavens me, I can't even feel or detect them anywhere, Jack! I guess I'll be doomed to be like this for the rest of my life . . ."
"Don't worry." Kyle assured him. "After we're done with you, I'm sure Numbuh 2 can make you a new body."
"Wait! What are you going to do to me! It's not going to be painful is it? Just so you know, I'm an intergalactic officer and if you happen to do anything serious, I'll make . . . sure you . . . get-"
Larry 3000's head deactivated. His emergency power supply had run out.
"I guess that takes care of things if he decides to argue on the way to the treehouse." Kyle remarked. "Thanks a lot, Jack."
"You're welcome, my friend."
Jack led Kyle to the exit. He went back to meditating just like he always does. Kyle immediately went back to the Numbuh 2's lab in a hurry. This would mean he could finally go home. When he arrived, the Time Machine seemed to be almost finished. Numbuh 2 and Mandark seemed to be putting the finishing touches on it.
"Hey, guys. I got his head. He needs to be recharged though."
"Don't worry about that detail. The power we'll use to power the Time Machine will reactivate him anyway. It'll take a lot of time to set our destination and stabilize it. You can just lie around here for a while."
"Wait." Mandark interrupted. "Kyle. I wish to speak with you in private."
"Uh, sure." Kyle replied. "What is it?"
Mandark led Kyle to another room in the treehouse. He had made sure that there were no security cameras to record their conversation. He even locked the door and sealed the windows to make sure nobody would come in.
"What's this about?" Kyle asked in a suspicious tone.
"Relax." Mandark replied. "There's something that I was told to pass on to you. I'm guessing you may be wondering where I had been all this time."
"Well, yeah, but I never paid that much attention to it."
"I've been collecting all the data I could recover and compiled them into four storage boxes. The boxes were specially modified to safely travel unstable vortexes in time to a certain date. My first test was in the shadow of night in Genius Grove and-"
"Wait. That was you I saw that night?"
"Ah, so you were there? If you're wondering why we didn't use that vortex and instead went for the one that Jack had hidden is because of the stability. Jack's was the least unstable one we knew of so we'd have a lot less trouble stabilizing it. As for the boxes, Genius Grove was a success so I went on to Pokey Oaks and the Cul-de-Sac and finally Hero Square when I got first got here."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Those boxes all contain messages to their recipients telling them to expect your arrival. Whoever they decided to spread this information to is up to them. They also contain other information that'll take me longer to explain, but I just needed to tell you this so there wouldn't be any confusion once you get back."
"And the guy who told you to do all of this?"
"Heh. I'll leave you to decipher that formula."
Mandark unlocked the door and went back to Numbuh 2's laboratory. Kyle followed soon afterward. As he walked under the doorway to the laboratory, Kyle felt a small breeze as Numbuh 5 dashed past him. The girl was out of breath from running. She must have been in a hurry to get back to the treehouse.
"Guys!" she exclaimed. "We've got big trouble. I'm talking a big-time catastrophe! Fuse is sending an all-out attack!"
"What's the status report?" Numbuh 2 asked.
"First, Fusion Coop has taken control of Megas and is destroying everything in sight. He still in Goat's Junkyard, but he'll be heading to Peach Creek is he's not stopped. Jack, Buttercup, and SACT agents are trying to hold him off. Second, the stolen Gravity Decelerator fell into the hands of Fusion Stickybeard. The Fusion Candy Pirates used it to recover the real Sticky's pirate ship. It's sailing in midair now."
"Is it actually flying?"
"No. Just a few feet above ground. They either haven't figured it out how to use it right or the mechanism got damaged. The real Candy Pirates are fighting back with everything they got."
"Anything else?"
"A Fusion Mama Blowfish has been spotted in the far west. It's slowly coming closer to land. We have some Plumbers holding it off. And worse is that a few Don Dooms and Bad Maxes have shown up everywhere. Anyone who's left is fighting them."
"What about you? You're our leader now."
"I'm heading to Candy Cove to help the Candy Pirates fight Fusion Sticky. I just needed to make sure you guys got the message since I was close by. The Time Machine's almost done, right?"
"Yeah, Mandark and I just need to attach the head and charge the power cores."
"Kyle. You better stay outside. We've gotten reports of monsters heading towards the treehouse so you'll probably have to hold them off and protect the Time Machine from damage. I've got every KND member here to help as well so you're not alone. You ready?"
Kyle loaded his rifle and looked at Numbuh 5 and the others with confidence.
"Ready!"