AnimeGirl 144 A/N: Hiya everyone. Thanks for your reviews of the last chapter. Guess what folks? Three past people are showing up again. Also, there's a reference to my side story here in the chapter. I'll explain it at the bottom.
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. And I do not own iTunes. Seriously? Do I look like Steve Jobs? Nor am I George Lucas (you will figure this referrence out later).
Title: What Gets Me Through the War
Author: AnimeGirl 144
Chapter Twenty One: In the Wilds
We stayed at Uncle and Aunt Bagge's house with Courage, Juniper, and Kevin for the rest of the week. It seemed with the Totems in place, everyone felt safer. Dexter had contacted us and congratulated us, giving us the time off. On the last night of our mini-vacation (as Brent fondly called it), we found ourselves around the dining table. Juniper and Kevin were trying to out-do each other in hero saving ("You're just a sidekick," Juniper argued, "while I'm a hero."; this earned a "Burn!" from Brent). Courage stayed on my lap, happily enjoying the company of the home while my aunt and uncle stayed in the living room, giving us "young people" our space.
We were called into the living room to watch the evening news; the only channel that was up and running was the KND Nightly News. With Numbuh One's and Numbuh Ten's consent, the TV channels were allowed to run it to adults and teenagers. Providence Base was attacked by two Fusions earlier that day and a disc with important information was stolen. I didn't recognize the female Fusion, but I did recognize the Fusion version of Holden. Surveillance failed after that, but Rex was a witness, stating that a Fusion version of myself came, fought, and killed the Fusion female. In the meantime, Fusion Holden had broken into Dexlabs and stole a disc. The two operatives that were reporting the news had no information on what the two discs held.
"Well that's weird," Juniper said. "What would Fuse want with discs?"
"Maybe he's trying to upload his iTunes?" Kevin joked terribly.
Courage hopped from one leg to the other by the staircase, making whining noises to grab our attention. He then proceeded up the staircase, myself, Palmar, Trent, and Juniper following. Kevin and Brent had gone off to the shed to check out his car. Courage led us to the attic that had nothing but a computer, chair, and desk. Courage sprinted up to the chair and sat on it and turned on the computer. The screen flickered and brightened as the computer turned itself on.
"Hello, stupid dog," the computer said. "To what do I owe this displeasure?"
Courage typed at his keyboard.
"So, we have company. Greetings, I am the Computer."
"A live, talking computer," Trent said with a massive hint of awe. I swore I thought I saw him drooling at the mouth. Courage typed at the keyboard, and following his movements, he was rewriting what Trent said.
"Yes. So glad you noticed," the Computer remarked with dry sarcasm. "Now why did you wake me? I was sleeping happily."
Courage began to type on the keyboard.
"Two discs? Why should I care if two discs were stolen?" the Computer remarked.
Courage looked frustrated and typed furiously at the keyboard.
"Very well, dog," the Computer snipped. "I shall look into what the discs held. One moment."
We stood in silence, waiting patiently for the Computer to return with the answer.
"Alright," the Computer said two minutes later. "I have discovered for you the information on the discs. It seems Dexlabs and Providence have been studying and keeping data and surveillance on a Fusion and Planet Fusion."
"What Fusion?" Palmar asked.
"A Fusion Alice," the Computer responded after Courage typed to him.
"Oh great," Brent sighed. "Her again."
"If you are all quite done with my intelligence and time, I am going back to my internet chess game with dexlab_computer001," the Computer said, turning off its screen.
"Well now we know what happened, who did it, and why they did it," Palmar commented.
"Will you go after her?" Juniper asked.
"No. She's probably back with Fuse on his planet," Trent responded. "It'd be pointless now."
"Probably," Juniper agreed with a nod.
"What do we do then?" I asked.
"Stay here till someone needs us," Palmar answered. "We need to save our energy until it's really needed.
So we stayed with my aunt and uncle for another few days before Mandy called us. She required our help. She needed us to go to the Ruins and defeat some Dagger Mantis. She believed they had a Fusion Scanner, and after defeating a few, we found one.
"How did Mandy...?"
"It's Mandy. You simply don't question her and how she knows," I responded.
We were directed from Mandy to head up to the upper corner of the Ruins and defeat some Necromashers. We needed to make some Necromasher Mash. After beating enough Monsters to make the mash, we then headed over to Fuzzy Lumpkin's house. Mandy didn't really explain why we needed to go to his house, but we followed her orders and found his house by Leaky Lake. Once there, we would need to distract him with the mash and run a scan. We approached his house carefully after seeing the "Stay Off the Propriety" sign. The sound of a musket being loaded made us freeze right as we got to the top of the hill.
"Didn' you read that there sign?" Fuzzy demanded, his musket pointed at us. "No trespassers allowed."
"We're very sorry Mr. Lumpkins," I began in hopes to appeal to his softer side. "We only wanted to give you this Necromasher Mash."
"Yer wha' now?" Fuzzy questioned, lowering his weapon.
I took out the mash and presented it to Fuzzy. He took one whiff and smiled.
"Mmm. Smells good," he complimented.
"We made it for you," I continued, holding it out a bit more so he could take it.
"Thanks!" he said, grabbing the mash and beginning to devour it.
I quickly scanned him while he was busy eating. We quickly said goodbye and ran from his property. We returned to Mandy and handed over the scanner.
"Good work," she replied stoically, moving to a computer console behind her. "These scans should mess with Fuse."
"How can you be sure?" Palmar questioned.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," she replied without turning to look at us.
Palmar looked ready to question further, but I stopped him. It was useless to argue against Mandy; she had her own agenda and was not going to deter away from it.
"Is there anything else you need from us Mandy?" I asked.
"No. See if Hoss needs your help," she dismissed us, working at the console.
We walked over to Hoss who was busy calling a giant spider (Jeff, if I remember Mandy saying). Upon noticing us, he directed his attention to us.
"What do you four weaklings want?" he questioned in his gruff voice.
"Weaklings?" Brent asked in indignation. "I'll have you know we've saved this Earth way more times than you."
"Is that so, shrimp?" Hoss demanded.
"Yeah!" Brent answered.
"Brent," I whispered hurriedly. "Don't get into a fight with him."
"Yes, listen to the girlie," Hoss said with a smug smirk on his face. "Small fries like you can't fight in this war."
Before my teammates could argue with him, my Nano Buttercup appeared.
"Small fries? Who are you calling small fries, bub?" Nano Buttercup demanded.
"And what are you little missy," Hoss questioned.
"I'm a Nano," Nano Buttercup replied. "And I'm way more powerful than you."
"Ha! You and what army?"
Oh no.
Nano Buttercup smirked and that seemed all she needed to hear. She disappeared for a moment before returning... with all of my other Nanos appearing behind her. The Nanos glared at Hoss, who looked surprised. Before they could attack him, I placed a force-field bubble around them, stopping them.
"No," I said as firmly as I could. "You cannot fight anyone that is not a Fusion."
"Awh!" was the unified cry from my Nanos.
"Even if he deserves it?" my Nano Vilgax, surprisingly, asked.
"Can't I just take his eternal soul?" Nano Grim questioned hopefully.
"He was insulting you," Nano Demongo pointed out.
The other Nanos agreed whole-heartedly, but I sighed and shook my head.
"No. We do not harm unless we absolutely must," I explained, "and this situation is not a must. Now back in the NanoCom."
Dejectedly but without arguing, the Nanos disappeared into my NanoCom one by one. Nano Swampfire stayed out last, trying to come up with a reason, but he stopped when I shook my head and just disappeared back into my NanoCom. Hoss was at a loss for words.
"Spacebyte, get over here," Mandy called.
"Sorry Mr. Delgado, but we must be going," I said politely, nodding my head in his direction and then Jeff's, who kindly returned my nod with a smile and a wave.
I turned away from Hoss and Jeff and headed back to where Mandy stood, pulling the boys with me. She explained to us that she needed our assistance again. Some Desert Clawdads were forming into armies, preparing to head for Downtown to attack. She wanted us to go and stop some of the Monsters. We quickly headed off to Area 51.5 and found some Clawdads forming up. We quickly took out eight of them before I noticed something drop to the ground. I picked it up and held it in my hand. It was a small totem.
"How strange," I murmured.
"Let's take it to Juniper," Palmar suggested. "She's good with these kinds of things."
We headed back into Nowhere and found Juniper outside on the porch, waiting for fighters to acquire missions. She smiled when she saw us.
"Hey guys. Got something for me?" she asked, her eyes having already darted to the object in my hand.
"It's a totem," I answered, handing it to her. Juniper took the totem and blinked. "It feels... alien."
"Oh they're alien alright. Some of the Monsters around here have been collecting these little things, but I have no idea why," Juniper explained. "I'll keep this one and see if I can find some things out. Courage and Gwen have been keeping in touch, so I'll see if she can help shed some light on these things."
We nodded in agreement before my NanoCom went off.
"Quit stalling and head back here immediately. I know who's behind this army set-up," Mandy said in her crisp, commanding voice before signing off.
Not wanting to anger Mandy, we went back to Devil's Bluff only to run into a surprise.
"Viper?" I asked. "Holden? Ace?"
"Alice," the trio greeted.
"Didn't expect to run into you here," Holden commented.
"Where did you three come from?" Palmar asked good naturedly.
"We were up by the Ruins," Ace answered, nodding in the direction of the Ruins. "Ran into a Fusion copy of Holden here."
"Yeah, we saw that on the news," Brent said.
Holden nodded. "Somehow, Fuse was able to steal something of mine from the girl's home when it was being raided."
"Well what happened?" Trent asked.
"We fought it, but it was stronger than we thought," Viper answered.
"Did you win?" Brent asked.
"No, not exactly. Fusion Alice came and gave a final blow," Ace answered.
"She then took his Fusion Matter and made it into an orb before joining it with her body," Holden continued. "I honestly thought we were going to have to fight her too, but then she left."
"That's strange," Trent muttered.
"Spacebyte!" Mandy barked, making all seven of us jump. "Get over here now."
"Yes Mandy?" I asked.
"Fusion Mandy is behind the Clawdad's forming an army. She's over in Really Twisted Forest," Mandy explained. "If you do this favor for me, I promise I won't forget it when the time comes."
"When the time comes for what?" I asked in confusion.
"Nothing. Just do as I say," Mandy replied.
"O-okay," I answered, turning back to my friends.
"'Nother Fusion?" Ace asked.
I nodded, not really needing to explain.
"We'll come with you. We need a good Fusion fight to get Fusion Holden out of our systems," Viper said with a grin.
"Sure," I said with a smile, nodding my head.
We used the Monkey Skyway system to get to Mount Blackhead and then Really Twisted Forest. Once there, we entered the Infected Zone. We began to look around for the Portal before coming across it. We were stopped, however, by Brackish Beasts. As we were fighting off some of the Monsters, Viper and I were able to step onto the Portal. Sensing my presence, it activated and dragged us under, without the boys. We then appeared underground.
"What just happened?" Viper asked, looking for her teammates.
"I stepped on the Portal without them," I answered. "You were the only one who was on the Portal with me, so you were taken in too."
"I see," Viper said with a nod. "Just like with getting into an Infected Zone."
"Yes," I said with a nod.
"Well, no time to cry over spilt milk. Let's go defeat this Fusion Mandy," Viper said with a confident smile.
I nodded and followed her. We defeated the ten Brackish Beasts that stood in our way before coming upon Fusion Mandy. I called upon Nano Bloo and had him use his Bloo Glue to snare the Fusion. This allowed us to fight her at a farther range, while she was trapped in place. She could still throw her Fusion goo, but at our safe distance, we could dodge them easily. I then called on Nano Billy and had him use Snot Rocket. With the combined forces of my two Nano's and mine and Viper's weapons, we were able to take down Fusion Mandy. Her Fusion Matter turned into her Nano form which quickly disappeared into the NanoCom.
"That was fun," Viper said with a smirk.
I smiled and began heading for the Portal, but Viper stopped me. I looked back at her in question.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I acted back when we first met," Viper apologized. "I was really jealous."
"That's alright," I said quickly. I was a quick forgiver. "But what were you jealous of?"
"Dexter giving you attention," Viper answered. "But I know now he was only doing it because you're our only hope for saving this world."
"You're making me sound like Luke Skywalker," I said with a blush.
"But it's true. I've seen it twice now," Viper said before nodding. "You'll definitely win this war."
"Thank you," I said with honesty. I was really touched by her comments.
"And while you're off fighting these Fusions, me and my pals will be doing the little stuff," she continued.
"Everything is important," I quickly said.
She just smiled and shook her head.
"If you say so," she said. "C'mon. We need to get you back to your friends. They're awfully protective of you."
We stepped onto the Portal and off of it once we met daylight.
"Alice!" five male voices cried, followed by, "Viper!"
"Are you two alright?" Holden immediately asked.
"We're fine," Viper answered, waving off her teammate's concern.
"You sure?" Palmar questioned, looking me directly in the eyes.
I nodded and patted him on the arm reassuringly.
"I'm fine. And if I was hurt, you know my Nanos would have helped me," I said, hoping to calm him of his worry.
He nodded in consent.
"So you've got a new Nano?" Ace asked.
I nodded and called upon Nano Mandy. She appeared, hovering over my shoulder.
"She looks just as mean as her counterpart," Brent commented.
Nano Mandy sent a glare in his direction while I shook my head.
"Be nice to her," I advised.
"Just saying," Brent replied, although he did take a step back.
I shook my head again and returned Nano Mandy to the NanoCom. We exited the Infected Zone and returned back to Really Twisted Forest.
"Where will you be going now?" I asked.
"We're heading up into the Monkey Foothills," Viper began explaining. "Some Jordan Almond wants to join the Candy Pirates, so Grandpa asked if we could check it out."
"Good luck," we said.
"Hope to cross paths with you all again," I added with a smile.
"I'm sure we will," Viper said, holding out her hand.
I smiled and shook her hand. They left, and we headed back to Mount Blackhead to see if anyone there would need our help. No one did, but Numbuh Three invited us to a picnic under the Magic Tree and we couldn't decline. Despite the fact that a war was going on, I couldn't help but feel like it was peaceful in the Outpost.
That is, until the alarms started blaring, ruining the illusion.
The Kids Next Door operatives scrambled around and got into their battle positions with Numbuh Four calling the shots. I remember Numbuh Three gossiping with me about how terrible a leader Numbuh Four had been a long while back. It seemed the war had changed that quickly.
He ordered all gates to be closed and for all operatives to grab their 2x4 weapons and stand guard. The operatives obeyed without a second thought and soon the Outpost was bundled up tightly. Fighters that had come to rest and receive any missions to help fight the war stood on guard, waiting for Numbuh Four to call the command to shoot (though what little good it would do considering they had no real targets to shoot at the moment). Mac and Numbuh Three were shielding Coco while Ed ran around screaming that his kingdom was under attack.
"What's all this for?" Palmar asked over the settling silence.
"Some of Fuse's Monsters have been trying to get in the Outpost to steal Coco," Mac answered.
"That's terrible!" I exclaimed.
"Do you know why?" Trent questioned, though his fist was securely holding onto his Super Scope Dragon.
"No clue," Mac answered with a grave look on his face. "Out of the blue his Monsters had attacked and almost took her. We were able to stop them."
"Perhaps it has something to do with her abilities?" I questioned, remembering that Coco could make almost anything come out of her eggs.
"Possibly," Mac said with a nod.
Or it has something to do with the fact that she is an Imaginary Friend?
But what of the other Friends?
I am unsure. I am only making a guess. The only way we'll ever know is if we confront Fuse himself and question him on it. But by the time that time comes, we will have other issues on our hands.
"Everyone stand down!" Numbuh Four ordered, pulling me out of my inner conversation. "The threat is gone."
"Is it like this all the time?" I asked.
"Sometimes three times a day," Mac answered. "It just started, which is why we give out missions to kill as many of the Monsters around this place."
"Do you want us to help?" Brent asked.
"Cococo cococo cocococo," Coco said.
"Some of the Grime Serpents have been getting aggressive. Coco was hoping you could get rid of some of them," Mac requested.
"No problem," Palmar said with a nod. "We'll handle this."
"Thanks guys," Mac said with a smile.
"No worries," Brent said with a grin.
We left the Outpost and made our way to the Really Twisted Forest, entering the Infected Zone and defeating some of the Grime Serpents. After defeating a few of the Serpents, we received a call from Ed.
"You knowith. I believith I sawith a weird birdie looking like Mac's friend in the Zone," Ed said.
"A Fusion," Palmar muttered.
"Here in the Zone," Trent added.
"Let's go Fusion hunting," Brent said with a grin.
We found the Portal and entered it, moving along the underground lair to find Fusion Coco, defeating all and any Monsters in our way, barely getting a scratch. Fighting them for as long as we have has left us with experience against the Monsters. Once we came upon the Fusion, we didn't hesitate to attack. She turned and advanced on us, intent on hitting us and causing bodily harm. She was surprisingly strong and was able to scratch my arm with her foot. Nano Numbuh One seemed to have known that I was hurt because he appeared out of the NanoCom and used his healing abilities. The scratch on my arm healed, as did my clothing which seemed to re-stitch itself. We killed the Fusion and it crumbled into Fusion Matter before turning into a Nano version of Coco. The Nano hovered around my head excitedly before entering the NanoCom.
"That's one energetic Nano," Brent commented.
"I think she was rather cute," I commented with a smile.
"Let's head back to the Jungle Outpost and inform the others we've gotten rid of the Fusion," Palmar said.
We left the Portal and left the Zone, coming to the Outpost and informing the others that Fusion Coco was taken care of. They smiled happily and we stayed over the night and into the next morning. The Monsters seemed to have stopped their attack on the Outpost. Perhaps it was Fusion Coco leading the Fusions to attack the Outpost.
The rest of the afternoon was left to us and we were given the day off. The boys found themselves talking with some of the recruits while I opted for some quiet time (too little girls to talk to). I sat myself at the base of the Magic Tree and rested against it (after asking if it was alright to, of course). A tiny breeze blew by, adding a cool feeling that moved past me. I could hear my Nanos exit the NanoCom, many of them sitting themselves on me or beside me. It left me feeling calm and safe as I closed my eyes and allowed myself to rest.
A/N: One day I'll get the hang of these endins. ^^
Anyways, hope it was a good chapter. The story that I was referring to was my Fusions story. Read it to understand the reference to the Fusions. Sorry that Viper and the gang had a little part in here. They'll return at the end of this story.
What's happening next time you ask? Why it's a Nano story. It focuses on the Nanos, so I can't wait for that!
Till, then, this has been AnimeGirl 144! Bye bye!