AnimeGirl 144 A/N: Hiya everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and its little twist. How will this affect Alice and the story later on? Or in the future? You'll just have to stay tuned to see.

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 Twenty Six: Cheese and a Beach

Dexter called two days after my fuse with Aku to see how we were doing. I hid the fact that Aku was embedded in my being; I didn't want this to be a public thing. He seemed to be skeptical of my answer that we were fine, but he seemed to accept it and continued on. Frankie had been spamming his inbox for him to find Cheese. Cheese had somehow made it out into the Darklands and was roaming around there somewhere. He asked us to find the Imaginary Friend and send him back to Foster's where he would be safe. From Dexter's tone, it was obvious to us that he hated Cheese. Why was unsure until we learned about what had been happening in the Darklands during the course of the war.

There was apparently a Battle of Hero's Hollow, which accounted for all the damaged and undamaged Dexbots, Mandroids, and S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s that littered the land last time we were there. It was a jointed attempt between Dexter, Mandark, and the Kids Next Door to contain the Monsters in the area, but due to Cheese, the battle was lost. It was very sad to think about it, but it made me wonder why Dexter didn't call us in to help. Did he not want me involved?

Are you feeling well Alice? Arthena questioned as we used the Monkey Skyway for the Precipice.

Huh? Oh, yes. I'm fine, I responded.

You cannot lie to me, remember? What is the matter?

It's... everything Arthena. This war. It's taking so much out of me. Every time I think we're getting ahead, making a difference, something comes up and only shows that are efforts are meaningless. I answered, feeling distressed.

It is not meaningless, my dear. What you and everyone on planet Earth are doing is more than any planet has done in regards to this enemy planet. It may not seem like it right now, but little by little, you are winning this war. You have already killed 35 of his Fusions. You are crippling his forces.

Do you really think we'll win?

Of course. But in order to do so, you must believe you will.

I nodded to myself, which must have seemed odd since I wasn't talking out loud. No one in the area commented, so they probably weren't paying attention to my actions.

I do.

And I shall be here to assist, my dear.

I was never going to get used to the fact that Aku and I were infused together. I didn't feel any different with him inside me, yet I could feel him within me. Arthena gave me her word she would never let him take over or hurt me, so I was not worried. It was still just very hard to get used to.

When we landed in the Precipice, we immediately headed for Hero's Hollow since that was the last place Cheese had been seen, and so it was the best place to look before we would move to another location. While looking for the Imaginary Friend, we caught sight of a group of Eyebulbs running after an object. We decided to see what it was they were chasing, and found that it was Cheese.

"He just loves causing trouble, doesn't he?" Brent questioned.

"Wouldn't be Cheese if he didn't," Trent responded.

"Unfortunately," Palmar added, taking out his weapon and firing at one of the Eyebulbs.

The chasing Monsters turned at the response of the hit and immediately headed our way. We took them down easily, saving Cheese who headed our way.

"Awh. The ponies," he whined.

"Come with us Cheese," Palmar ordered, sounding like he was reprimanding the Friend. "You've caused enough trouble in this war."

"But I want to see the ponies!" he whined.

"But don't you remember Cheese? There's ponies at Foster's," I persuaded.

It wasn't a total lie since there were Pegasus's there. Cheese perked up at the word.

"Chocolate milk?" he questioned.

"Yes. Chocolate milk too," I said.

"Yeah!" Cheese cheered.

"You need to come with us though, okay?" I said, holding out my hand.

Cheese made another whining noise, but eventually grabbed my hand. Just as we were heading into Huntor's Crest, my NanoCom went off.

"Yes Tetrax?" I asked as I looked at the NanoCom.

"Alice, are you still in Hero's Hollow?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good. I need you four to head into Green Maw and stop the Fusion. It just appeared on my scanner," he informed.

"Uhhh... can it wait?" Brent questioned.

"No. Take care of this, and then come back to the airship," Tetrax ordered. "Ending transmission."

"Well this is just great," Brent muttered. "Now we've got that little monster with us."

"Brent," I scolded, looking at Cheese.

I knew relatively little on Cheese since he was always running off in several directions at the Home. But by the look on his face, he didn't seem to have heard what Brent had said about him. Instead, he was talking to himself, muttering words like "I like ponies." He sounded strangely like Ed.

"Just deal with it," Palmar said. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we drop him off at the Home."

"Yeah yeah," Brent sighed, waving his hand. "Let's get this over with."

We entered the Green Maw Infected Zone, staring at the distant floating airship carrier. Around us, materials from Dexlabs, Mandark Ind., and the Kids Next Door floated in the zone. They looked like materials that were used during the battle that took place in the area next to Green Maw.

"So we got to head all the way over there?" Trent questioned.

"Man that's a long way down," Brent commented after looking over the edge of our floating platform.

"Alice, think you can fly us over there?" Palmar asked.

I nodded and floated into the air. A good distance away, I turned and formed a bubble-like shield around the four of them. I levitated them off the platform, and flew to the airship carrier. I placed them on the platform of the Dexlabs carrier and released them from the bubble. When I landed, I gripped Cheese's hand again, making sure he didn't run away since he seemed to want to. Once inside the lair, we moved through it, killing the Monsters like we always do. Except that Cheese was able to slip from my hand and began to run ahead of us, drawing the attention of the Fusion Monsters.

"Cheese! Come back here!" I ordered, following after him.

Cheese didn't seem to hear or care and simply continued to lead the way. The boys managed to divert the Monster's attention away from Cheese and placed it on themselves, allowing me to run after the Imaginary Friend. My blood ran cold when I heard him release a cry. I quickly followed his voice and found Fusion Tetrax stepping on Cheese's head.

"Leave him alone!" I screamed, sending a telekinetic blast.

The blast sent Fusion Tetrax back and away from the Imaginary Friend, hitting the wall of rock behind him. I placed a bubble around Cheese and moved him away from where he laid, keeping him safely behind me while I faced off against the Fusion. The Fusion snarled and lunged at me. I sent an energy-crescent blast at it, hitting it but not hindering it in its pursuit of attacking me. I threw up a shield at the last minute, managing to stop it from hitting me. It stumbled back in pain and released a snarl. Having been able to practice against the Fusions, I was getting better at killing them quickly.

I summoned Nano Jack and had him use his Samurai Slash on the Fusion. The Fusion released another snarl and punched at my shield, trying to force it to break. I held my defense while Nano Jack switched out. In his place was Nano Numbuh Four, who used Sabotage Strike. The attack momentarily stunned Fusion Tetrax as it adjusted to the drain of energy from it, giving me enough time to send an energy beam, hitting the Fusion in the center of its chest with it. The result was that it turned into Fusion Matter and then into Nano Humongousaur. I smiled at him and cupped him in my palms.

"I'll never understand the DNA change," I said to it.

"Alice! Are you alright?" Palmar questioned as he and the boys approached.

"I'm alright. What of you three? You look hurt," I said.

"Yeah. Those Slag Cephalopods were more dangerous than we thought," Brent said with a wide grin. "But they stood no chance against us three."

I smiled at them, helping Cheese off the floor. I then summoned Nano Numbuh Three, who used Share the Love on the four of them, healing their injuries. When she finished her job, I thanked her and sent her back to her NanoCom before we left the lair. After a long journey back, we left from Forsaken Valley to the Cul-de-Sac via the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and rode out to the Home on our vehicles. When we arrived at the gate of the Home, Frankie ran out to greet us.

"Cheese! What were you doing in the Darklands? You caused a lot of trouble," she scolded, wagging a finger in his face.

"Chocolate milk!" Cheese said, completely ignoring Frankie's scolding.

Frankie sighed.

"There's chocolate milk in the house, Cheese," she said.

"Yeah!" he cried, running into the house.

"Thanks for bringing him back, guys," she said with a tired smile. "Sorry if he gave you any trouble."

"He was fine," I said with a smile.

"Thanks again," she repeated. "Do you guys want some food? My grandmother just made some snacks."

"That sounds great," I said with a smile. "Thank you."

Madame Foster's snacks were delicious and easily filled us up. Eduardo was happy to see us, and while Mr. Herriman seemed to be happy to see us unharmed, he was not pleased to see that Cheese had returned. When we finished eating, Johnny called on my NanoCom.

"Yo. Bravo here. I've lost my things at the beach and now some Monsters have stolen them. Do you mind helping me find them?" he questioned.

"Sure," I said with a nod.

"Awh man! Can't that Elvis-wannabe take care of it himself?" Brent whined.

"Let's go Brent," Trent said, getting up from his seat.

"Thank you for the snacks," I said.

"Come back any time dear," Madame Foster said as we left the house.

Once we arrived at Bravo Beach, we found Johnny Bravo standing near the start of the beach sand.

"There ya are! I need your help. Those Sand Creeps have stolen my comb. Get it back for me," Johnny explained.

We found the Sand Creeps and began to attack them, looking for the comb. After the fifth Creep fell, we found the comb.

"Nice work!" Johnny hollered. "Now get the Beach Bullies. They stole my wallet."

"Why would they want his wallet? I doubt he has any money in it," Brent commented as we headed for the Beach Bullies.

"These Monsters will steal anything," Trent replied.

Getting the wallet back was easier to get from the Bullies. With both items in hand, we returned to Johnny and handed him his items.

"Thanks. But I still need my jacket. A green-me-look-a-like stole it from me. He went over there," Johnny said, pointing to the Fusion Portal on the sand.

We headed into the Portal and killed the Squish Scalers that roamed the lair. We came upon Fusion Johnny, who was checking his hair in the hand mirror that he made out of Fusion Matter. We attacked with his back turned, catching him off guard. The Fusion snarled and threw the mirror at us. We dodged and it hit the wall.

"Dude. That's 7 years bad luck for you," Brent said to the Fusion.

"Sadly for you, you won't last that long," Trent commented, continuing to fire at the Fusion.

The Fusion released a cry, threw off Johnny's jacket, and lunged in our direction. We managed to dodge its advance and I ran for the jacket, picking it up. The Fusion growled somewhere behind me, causing me to turn. I was sucker punched on my right cheek, sending me to the ground. The Fusion snarled as it loomed over me. I turned and flattened my palm, sending an energy beam at Fusion Johnny, sending it into the air and fall to the ground. I quickly scrambled to my feet and sent an energy ball at the Fusion. The Fusion released a cry as it received an onslaught of attacks from my friends from behind and me from the front. In no time, the Fusion turned into Nano Johnny.

"Ain't I pretty?" he said before entering the NanoCom.

"Let's get the jacket back to Bravo," Palmar stated.

"Are you alright Alice? It kind of hit you pretty hard," Trent said as we headed for the exit.

"I'll be fine," I said with a smile. "It didn't hurt that much."

"Are you sure?" Trent questioned.

I nodded, looking over the jacket as we headed for Johnny. The jacket survived without getting a scratch on it. We gave it to Johnny, who looked happy to have it back. He left us and headed for Pop's Diner, hoping to avoid Carl and Suzy there. This left us to ourselves with nothing to do.

"So... Who wants to relax on the beach?" Brent questioned as he stretched.

A/N: Cheese made an appearance. Sorry for this chapter being so short. I hope you enjoyed it.

We still have 4 more chapters to go, and five more Nanos.

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