FUSIONFALL OR:

HOW WE GOT TOGETHER TO FIGHT THE INVASION

PART 5: OPERATION P.U.B.L.I.C.

now loading: kids next door mission

operation: p.u.b.l.i.c.

people

unaware

but

learning

is

critical

8AM. The weekend. Kids around the world were waking up early to catch their Saturday morning cartoons. A bowl of cereal in one hand, TV remote in the other – the usual fare. Except… "We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you an incoming transmission."

At the exact same time all across the world, the population of Earth found its device screens being highjacked by the image of a strangely dressed girl wearing what appeared to be a colander on her head. The noise of crackling static sizzled out as she fiddled with her camera, adjusting it so that they could see her properly. She sat back, satisfied, then her eyebrows raised as a boom mic dropped in front of her face. Off-screen, the sound of other children profusely apologising could be heard as they scrambled to yank it out of the frame, dipping it back in once more before making it disappear permanently. The girl shot them a stern glance before focussing back on the lens pointed at her.

Try as they might, no one could turn off this broadcast, nor figure out where it was coming from. Who was she? It seemed that they would have no choice but to find out.

The girl began speaking, tucking her blonde her back under her colander-helmet.

"Greetings, citizens of the world.

I am Numbuh 362, Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, a top secret organisation with bases in every nation of this planet. You do not know of us, but we know of you. Since our inception, we have preferred to operate in secret, but dire times have forced our hand.

The world as you know it is under threat. A danger greater than history has ever seen is approaching. A danger that the KND has had to realise it is not able to handle, and that after observing you, no adult defence will react to in time. And so against all principles the KND stands for, we have reluctantly decided to contact you to protect the greater good – because we need to join forces now, before it is too late.

Those of you whom the KND have deemed important will be targeted for contact. To facilitate the introduction process, each of you is already being approached by an operative of your Sector as we speak. Good luck to everyone.

Numbuh 362 out."

The image of Numbuh 362 flickered off just as spontaneously as it had switched on. In his lab, Dexter perched on the edge of his stool, still staring at the blank screen. He turned his face to look up at Computress, who was hovering at his side, having glided over to watch the strange footage with him. The content of the message had barely registered with Dexter – rather, what had concerned him much more was how in the world the broadcast had managed to slip through the Dexlabs firewalls. It was an extremely serious security risk that needed to be addressed as soon as possible-

"Hello, Dexter."

Dexter's train of thought crashed at the sound of someone greeting him from inside of his private laboratory. He jumped three feet into the air, diving off his chair and stumbling backwards into Computress, who caught him before he fell completely. He spun round to see the intruder, and found them to be a small bald child wearing sunglasses indoors.

The child, a boy, stood there calmly watching him. In addition to the sunglasses, he also wore a black utility jacket over a red turtleneck jumper, and cargo-style shorts above military boots. Each of his many pockets seemed to have a peculiar object sticking out of it – sets of coloured pens and pencils, rolls of duct tape, craft scissors, bundles of elastic bands, bits of rope, and three different kinds of slingshots. But what drew Dexter's eye the most was the gun that clearly hung from his hip. Perhaps unsure if he had been heard, the boy stepped forward and his extended his hand, a distinctly English accent confirming itself as he repeated his words, "Hello, Dexter. I am Numbuh 1."

Dexter stared at him. Then began screaming.

"HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET IN HERE?!"

"I have come as my Supreme Leader, Numbuh 362's message informed you."

"This is the most secure laboratory on the planet! Who let you in?! How did you slip through security?!"

"That isn't relevant. Now-"

"Not relevant?! How dare you infiltrate my laboratory and claim it's not relevant!"

"Dexter, we must-"

"I've spent years building this place! It is impossible that anyone, let alone a little kid, should be able to-"

"Look, it really wasn't that hard. Your security's pretty good, it's just lacking a little in some parts."

"Why you little-"

"Dexter, we really do not have time for this. As I've already stated - I am Numbuh 1, leader and head operative of Sector V. I've been dispatched to meet with you while the rest of my team establishes contact with the other VIPs in this Sector. I've instructed them to rendezvous here at Dexlabs, so how's about we hurry up and go to your office."

With that he turned and began walking briskly towards the lab's door.

"What- hey!" Confused, befuddled, and highly offended, Dexter chased after him – but definitely not to follow, oh no he was going to give this child a huge piece of his mind as soon as he figured him out.

The boy led Dexter and Computress to Dexter's office as if they were going to his own. Upon arriving at the door, the boy stopped and turned to look at Dexter expectantly. Dexter stared at him. "Are you serious?" he said. The boy didn't say anything, just continued staring back. Grumbling under his breath, Dexter unlocked the door, in disbelief at his compliance. But he needed to know how this armed child was able to break in so easily – and the implications it had on how much truth might actually lay behind the broadcast that came before him.

The boy strode in and stood to attention in front of Dexter's desk, hands clasped behind him. Dexter and Computress followed, unsure of what to do next. The boy still wouldn't speak. In fact, much like a soldier he remained a blank wall, apparently content to wait until the next appropriate moment. At first, Dexter waited too, but after a very short while he found his patience wearing thin. He opened his mouth to try to prompt the boy to at least say something, when he heard voices coming down the corridor outside.

As the voices approached, Dexter could hear that they were in the midst of an argument. He moved to open the door, Computress following closely behind, and poked his head out. Just a couple yards away, there was a gaggle of people who had stopped to stand in a loose circle. In the middle was none other than Ben Tennyson, who was at the moment bent forward so he could holler back into the face of another younger boy Dexter didn't recognise. The other boy glared up at Ben through a mess of beach blonde hair that was almost as bright as the orange hoodie he was wearing, stabbing his finger into Ben's chest as he yelled over him, "… And I told you mate, we ain't saying anything else 'til we see Numbuh 1! He's the one who does the proper explaining, you hear?"

"That's enough, Numbuh 4," Numbuh 1 called out as he stepped out from behind Dexter. He brushed past, his footsteps the only sound that commanded attention as they all watched him walk towards the group. The blonde boy known as Numbuh 4 span round to see Numbuh 1, and his glare vanished to be replaced by what could only be described as a friendly scowl. He shot Ben a dirty look before marching up to meet and salute his leader. Numbuh 1 met him with a nod, then looked past him to see even more strange children breaking from the group to join them. As they rushed forward to greet Numbuh 1, Dexter could hear them also being identified by a respective "Numbuh". There was Numbuh 2, a short, heavier boy who wore an aviator's hat and goggles; Numbuh 3 was an Asian girl who had enveloped herself in a comically oversized green sweater; and completing the squad was Numbuh 5, a Black girl who wore a blue football jersey-dress and a red cap pulled low over her face, arms crossed as she stood coolly with them. These so-called operatives laughed and chattered over each other in excitement, like a group of friends catching up in the playground… Yet each and every one of them was armed to the tooth with at least one sort of weapon.

Meanwhile, Dexter could see that alongside Ben, Utonium, Blossom, and Bubbles had also come. Dexter and Computress moved around the children to meet them. They all had the same look of utter confusion painted on their faces, evidently just as in the dark as Dexter as to what was going on. Ben stepped up to greet the two, offering his fist for Dexter to awkwardly bump. "Hey," he said. "So… Who are these guys?" Ben stuffed his hands into his pockets and tilted his head towards the kids, hoping that Dexter and Computress might know something the others didn't.

Dexter shook his head to answer. Ben sighed, visibly annoyed. "Man," he said, "I get my first day off in I don't know how long, finally get to sleep in when this 'Numbuh 4' kid jumps in right through my bedroom window! Then he points and goes 'Oi mate, yoor coming with meee'. Obviously I freak out, and I'm totally about to go hero on him when I'm like wait, he's just a kid. So I start asking him what the heck he's doing in my house and he starts talking about this broadcast? And of course I have no idea what he's talking about because up until five minutes ago I was fast asleep, so he gets all exasperated and shows me this video on his phone, saying we need to meet you guys here. So then I'm like well that's all you had to say, let's go! But he wouldn't even let me call Rook or Grandpa Max, saying they're not VIP or something. Man, I'm just this close to going Rath to get it out of him."

Ben gestured vaguely as he rambled his frustrations about not knowing whether he was meant to hit something. Dexter narrowed his eyes. He didn't know Ben – not really. Of course, they were familiar from meeting at numerous public events and from their time helping out the Utoniums after… the incident, but those interactions had always been brief and superficial. He was sure that Ben was a good person, but there was something about his overly laid back, chummy persona and that Bellwood drawl that Dexter found somewhat off-putting. Ben was the kind of person who liked to hear himself talk, and unfortunately it seemed that more often than not he didn't actually have that much to say.

Dexter turned his attention instead to Professor Utonium and the girls. He nodded at Blossom and Bubbles, and reached out to touch Utonium on the arm. "Professor. I'm glad to see you," he said gently. Utonium smiled, but he looked tired. The girls did too. Wanting to avoid dwelling on the obvious, Dexter picked up the thread that Ben had laid.

"So, I was approached by Numbuh 1. Ben, Numbuh 4. Am I correct in saying you all were approached by one of the others?"

"Yeah," Blossom responded. "The Professor and I were at home when Numbuh 5 and 2 knocked on our door. Same story as Ben, we'd just seen the broadcast when they arrived and they explained that they couldn't tell us why yet but we needed to come with them to Dexlabs. We figured that if we were coming to your place, you might have something to do with it."

"I see."

"But actually, Bubbles is probably the one who knows the most. She already knew Numbuh 3."

Dexter turned to Bubbles in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah!" she confirmed. "Kuki and I are part of Wildlife Conservation Club. Dee Dee knows her better than I do, but I've spoken to her a couple of times and she's really lovely! I had no idea she was part of this kind of thing, though." Bubbles shrugged to indicate that was all she could offer on the subject. Either way, it wouldn't have mattered – it was clear that they had been gathered here together for an important reason, and if these kids were capable of the skills that they had already demonstrated, then they weren't to be underestimated, child or not.

Numbuh 1 cleared his throat to get their attention. Either side of him, his team looked up at them expectantly. He made eye contact with Dexter, and tilted his head to indicate behind him. "We're ready."

Dexter held the boy's gaze, recognising a familiar determination in his expression.

"Let's go."

The two groups filed into Dexter's office. Numbuh 1 led them to crowd around the main desk, signalling Numbuh 2 to set his laptop up on its surface. Dexter folded his arms as he watched them. Utonium and the girls joined his side. Ben hopped up on a windowsill, hands in his pockets. The other kids wandered around the room, touching everything while Computress flew to tidy up after them.

Numbuh 2's fingers danced across his keyboard, entering dozens of passwords as he descended through the layers of encryption he had set to lie in waiting. The speed of his movements were furious, blurring through software in a way that impressed even Dexter. Finally, Numbuh 2 seemed to reach his destination, bringing up what appeared to be a simple gallery of images on the screen. He looked up to nod at Numbuh 1, who reciprocated before turning to address the operatives of Sector V.

"Greetings, fellow Kids Next Door, and welcome – to the most important mission you will ever undertake. Operation P.U.B.L.I.C. will challenge everything you know, everything you have believed in, and push you to the very limits of your training." Numbuh 1 paused to take a breath, before turning now to acknowledge the others. "Dexter, Professor Utonium, the Powerpuff Girls, and Ben 10 – you have all been recruited because the KND have deemed you useful to our cause."

Dexter and Blossom raised their eyebrows. Ben snorted. Numbuh 1 ignored them and continued.

"You each possess unique or advanced enough skills and experience that will enable you to support us in preventing the disaster that is imminently approaching. We will require your fullest cooperation, but we are certain that together, we can do it-"

"What disaster?" Dexter interrupted.

Numbuh 1 looked at him meaningfully. "As we speak, the Earth is being rapidly approached by a planet-sized threat. Any attempts to make contact with it have been met with extreme hostility, whilst any attempts to damage or slow it down have failed completely. The KND believes that if it is not stopped, Earth will be destroyed."

The entire room stared at Numbuh 1. Then, Dexter and Ben burst out laughing.

"What?!" Dexter guffawed. "That has got to be the biggest load of crap I have ever heard! You can't be serious?"

"You guys seriously don't think that uh, maybe a little intergalactic group known as the Plumbers wouldn't know anything about this?" Ben chimed in. "I mean, wow, I gotta give it to you, you guys you really had us going with the codenames and the whole operative shtick. Man, these pranks just get more elaborate every day, don't they?"

The boys shook their heads as they continued sniggering, totally and utterly dismissive of Numbuh 1's insane claim. Professor Utonium and the girls winced as they watched them, not in disagreement but made a little uncomfortable by how they were mocking the kids. They looked back to reassure Numbuh 1, who was surely feeling humiliated, only to be surprised by him looking unfazed. Instead, he exchanged a knowing glance with Numbuh 2, and waited for the boys to finish laughing.

"As I was saying," Numbuh 1 started again, "A massive unidentified object, resembling a grossly misshapen planet, is rapidly approaching the Earth as we speak. We need your help to stop it soon before it is too late."

Dexter stopped, now shocked and beginning to get annoyed by this boy's audacity. "Wait, you're still going? The joke's over, kid."

"I can assure you that I am most certainly not joking."

"Come on kid, it's not funny anymore." Dexter's voice became menacing. "Take your friends with you and beat it, before I call my Dexbots to force you out of the building."

Numbuh 1 stood his ground. "You can check if you don't believe me."

Dexter rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in exasperation. He sighed. "Fine. If it'll make you leave, I'll entertain you. Computress, retrieve reports from all Dexlabs satellites currently in orbit."

"Certainly, Dexter."

Seeing them do this, Ben jumped off the windowsill and pulled out his phone as he walked over to Computress' side. "Here, let me submit a request to the Plumbers too. Give this kid a 'second opinion' if he wants it," he chuckled. The pair stood waiting for a couple of minutes, Computress' eyes blank and Ben's glued to his screen. Almost at the same time, they both received the verdict.

Nothing.

"No unusual activity detected in this solar system as of late."

"Same, nothing outside of your typical alien ruckus."

They looked at Numbuh 1 smugly, who turned back again to Numbuh 2. Numbuh 2 stood up straight, scratching at his arm and clearing his throat. "Well, it's not really surprising that you wouldn't find anything, because most non 2x4 tech is pretty weakly designed, you see. The thing is, your systems are only going pick up what they're already looking for. You send off a signal, it gets reflected back, but the only way you're going to see anything new is if that signal changes."

Dexter scoffed at this nonsense. "If the 'signal' hasn't changed, it means that space hasn't changed. How else would you expect anything new to be detected?"

Numbuh 2 shrugged, as if to say, if you say so. "Well, Planet Fusion, or Fuse, just doesn't work like that. From what we've deduced, it seems to be eating everything in its path so far and then replacing it with a near-identical copy. Because of that, your system won't detect a change in signal because it isn't causing one. No change is being detected because it's producing the exact same signals as the things that were previously there."

"Oh, come on." Dexter was getting angry now. "How, then, did your so-called KND detect it?"

"Well," Numbuh 2 began to respond before he was cut off by Computress speaking up. "Dexter, I would like to amend my previous statement. There does, in fact appear to be a pattern in the data reported."

Dexter span round to stare at her. Computress continued. "Every so often, there appears to be a blip in the signals reported. Due to the infrequent rate at which they occur, this would normally be dismissed as noise falling within the acceptable margin of measurement error. However, if one considers what Numbuhs 1 and 2 are claiming… These blips do fit a pattern occurring across time and space that could be interpreted as something moving."

The room had fallen silent. Dexter narrowed his eyes as he listened to his assistant, in disbelief but also knowing her to never make a mistake. Ben, Utonium, and the Powerpuff Girls all watched him uncertainly. Only the Kids Next Door appeared unperturbed by this revelation.

Dexter felt his mouth become quite dry all of a sudden. The hairs on his upper back tingled. "Computress," he said. "When is the next blip predicted to occur?"

"In two minutes and nine seconds."

"Capture an image of the area as it happens."

"Understood."

Two minutes passed. "Image captured."

"Okay. Project."

Computress projected the image. An image of space, as seen exactly at the point of time when captured. And there, dominating the frame, in all its horrifying glory, in all its foul grandeur, offending all that was pure and good with its vile imminence, bastion of toxicity, was the proof.

They saw.

Numbuh 1 was not lying.

Fuse was coming.

Blossom snapped out of it first.

"How long do we have?"

"A couple weeks," Numbuh 2 answered. "Not long, I know, but enough time to prepare and evacuate if necessary."

"Oh man," Ben's voice started raising. "Oh man, this is bad. How could we have missed this? How could all of us have missed this?"

"It doesn't matter," Numbuh 1 interjected. "What matters now is that we act."

"Well that's easy for you to say, isn't it?" Ben snapped. "Up until this morning nobody knew who you people were, and you've been sitting on this for how long?"

"We came to you as early as we could."

"That's funny, 'cause I'm not sure I-"

"Ben!" Dexter shouted. "Numbuh 1's right, it doesn't matter. I don't trust them either, but we've gotta throw that aside to do what needs to be done."

Ben's gaze was sobered by Dexter's words. "Fine," he said. "But we've gotta tell everyone and begin evacuation. Civilian lives are now at risk. The Plumbers are not going to be happy when they find out, but they'll begin coordinating with the mayor to get the people of Bellwood to a safe place."

"We'll do the same for Townsville," said Bubbles.

"I can also get Ms Bellum to send out a broadcast, calling upon all active heroes to step forward and be ready to protect their communities if necessary," Blossom added.

"Great," Dexter said. "People are going to be scared knowing that they are in danger, but they'll be reassured when they see you all in charge. As heroes you are their beacons of hope, and they will trust you to lead the way." He turned to meet Numbuh 1's gaze. "That's also why you called us, right?"

"Indeed," Numbuh 1 replied. "In all cases, the KND can help facilitate, but we needed faces the public can trust to make it all work."

"In the meantime," Numbuh 2 continued, "I need Dexter and Professor Utonium to help me with the investigation into how Fuse's forces work, so we can figure out how to counter it. The KND's Deep Sea Science lab will send copies of everything we've learned so far, as well as scans of everything we've salvaged from Fuse's warpath to Dexlabs so we can start immediately." Dexter and Utonium nodded their agreement.

"Hey, make sure you send that stuff over to the Plumbers too!" Ben said.

"Sure," Numbuh 2 acknowledged.

Numbuh 1 brought his hands out from behind his back so he could reach up to pull down his sunglasses, allowing them to see how he was truly feeling. "I know this is a lot for you all to take in at once." His voiced had softened. "By Jove, it did a number on us when we first found out. But you're our best chance at beating this thing now, and for that I have to say… thank you."

Plans agreed, the group left Dexter's office to make their way down to Dexlab's entrance hall. Ben was already on the phone, calling his grandfather to sound the alarm across all active Plumber bases, his tone slipping comfortably into a professionalism that starkly reminded the others that he wasn't just a goofy teenager, but one of the most seasoned heroes of their time.

They turned down the final corridor towards the exit, entering the hall, and it was here that they found waiting for them a face that none of them expected to see again.

Mojo Jojo.

In an instant Blossom was at his throat, lifting him up with one hand until his feet dangled beneath him. Her eyes burned red with heat vision. "What are you doing here?!" she roared. Behind, Bubbles and Ben ran to cover her, entering a fighting stance as they scanned the hall around them for more enemies. There, at the hall's doorway, was a troop of Mojo's minions. Bubbles sucked in a deep breath, ready to scream, and Ben began to twist the dial on the Omnitrix, but they both found themselves hesitating when they saw the minions were staying back, remaining at the doorway as they watched on with fear on their faces.

Mojo gasped for breath as he clawed at Blossom's grip. "Wait… Please… Listen… I beg you…" Blossom loosened her grip so he could speak properly. Mojo gulped in air, holding onto her arm to stabilise himself but without attempting to get free.

"I have seen something," Mojo panted. "Something big, something terrible. Something that is coming for all of us-"

"Yeah, we know, Planet Fusion." Ben cut him off. "We've already found out."

Mojo shook his head. "No, no, no. I had anticipated that I would not be the only one to see it, that you would have also discovered it, and had spotted it too. But I decided to go further, to outer space to witness it in person, and when it almost destroyed me, I barely escaped.

There is something you do not yet know. That planet, that thing, is capable of spawning some sort of offspring - creatures that do its bidding, that fly out to their master's targets before its arrival to prepare them for consumption… And they followed me back."

The Powerpuff Girls' once formidable foe gaped down at them like a lost and frightened child. His face still bruised, his lips quivering as he uttered his next words.

"The invasion has already begun."

Blossom set him down on the ground where he remained. She stepped over him to walk towards the doorway where the monkey minions were cowering. The others followed, joining her at either side to stand in a row, so they could all look out together, past the minions, past the empty Tech Square, the buildings surrounding it, and up at the sky to see it being streaked with thousands of projectiles descending upon the city.

Eyes still focussed on the sight in front of him, Dexter called out to his assistant. "Computress, prep the hangar. I think I may need to change into something a little more comfortable."

END OF PART 5