Numbuh 789's occupation on the Moonbase used to be a simple, easy job. For eight hours during the third shift, he'd watch over the Kids Next Door satellites that floated around in space, keeping a close eye on the many adult satellites that ventured the Milky Way Galaxy. His companion, Numbuh 987, considered it a babysitting job, but Numbuh 789 didn't mind. He could read his Yipper comics and catch up on the latest Hokeymon episodes.
However, over the last three days, seven of their satellites weren't responding, throwing Numbuh 789's peaceful time into absolute chaos. Soopreme Leaduh Numbuh 362 was demanding to know what happened to their satellites, and Numbuh 789 had no answers to give her. He couldn't retrieve any data off of the fallen satellites, and it wasn't like he could have another satellite go and check the area. They had sent off a team to investigate, but there was no response from the team. The Soopreme Leaduh was not willing to send another manned team after that.
Numbuh 789 did notice that there was a pattern to their satellite losses, making him believe that this was a deliberate act and not an accident. Whatever was destroying their satellites was on its way to the Moonbase, and Numbuh 362 wanted it stopped before it reached them.
So, with a Rainbow Monkey mug filled to the brim with freshly made hot chocolate, Numbuh 789 sat and stared at the display screen up on the wall, looking for any sign of the destroyer. Just as he was taking a sip, the proximity alert sounded off, drowning the room in a red light.
"No, no, no," the operative whispered desperately, pulling up the security feed from the exterior cameras, searching for their intruder.
Based on previous experiences, he was expecting to see Stickybeard's Sweet Revenge, or maybe even something from Father, but that wasn't the case. Something flew by the Moonbase quickly, but it didn't hit the Kids Next Door central headquarters, which had Numbuh 789 sighing in relief. The object was heading for Earth, and considering there was nothing he could do on the matter, Numbuh 789 turned off the alarm. The superheroes down on Earth would handle the object.
"Just a false alarm," he sighed to himself, pulling out a Spore comic book from his stash under the desk.
With the alarm turned off and his attention put on his comic, Numbuh 789 completely missed the shadow of a ginormous green planet encroaching upon the moon.
"Sir?" Plumber Jim called for his boss. He continued when Max Tennyson arrived at the plumber's station, "We just received a scrambled message from the Galactic Enforcers."
"Where are they sending it from?" Max asked, leaning over the plumber's shoulder to get a better look at the console.
"X'Nelli. It arrived moments ago," Jim answered.
Max put his hand to his chin, frowning at the information. The Galactic Enforcers and the Plumbers were allies, and while they didn't have constant contact with each other, sending a scrambled message sent a red flag in Max's head. Something important was being sent, and the Enforcers didn't want anyone else to get their hands on it.
"Notify me when it's done," Max said to his subordinate.
Jim saluted his boss and immediately turned his attention to his station, getting to work unscrambling the message. Max walked away from the control room and entered his private office, taking a seat in his chair. Laying on his desk was his tablet, which he picked up and checked. There was a message waiting for him, having arrived just seconds before. He almost thought it was the same message from the Galactic Enforcers, but it was from the Galactic Guardians instead.
The Galactic Guardians and the Plumbers had a long history of being allies, though Max had some personal reservations about the Galactic Council. Admiral DeGill had reached out to Max a week ago, asking for assistance in searching for one of their lost crews manned by Atomic Betty, a figure whose popularity in the universe rivaled his own. Their personnel were searching the galaxy and was asking Max to have his people search around on Earth for either Betty or her spaceship. Max had instantly agreed and sent out a small team to look for the team, but they hadn't yet found them.
Max opened the message, frowning at what he read:
BE ON ALERT. SOMETHING IS COMING YOUR WAY.
Max re-read the message again, his frown growing more concerned at the implications. The last time they had talked, only one of Admiral DeGill's team was missing. Now, it was twenty-five percent of his fleet. And something was coming to the Earth? None of their satellites had picked up anything entering the Milky Way that wasn't common to this part of the universe.
Almost as if it was reading his mind, his tablet beeped. Instead of a new message, he was watching a live feed from one of their satellites. A purple mech was hurtling toward Townsville. Below, he could make out two colored light streams shooting up at the falling mech. He put his tablet back on the desk, assured that the matter was being handled.
"MAGISTER TENNYSON! MAGISTER TENNYSON!"
Max jumped to his feet, alarmed by the sudden cry of his subordinate. Plumber Carol burst into his office, keeping one hand on the door's frame to stop herself from flying forward. The plumber's face was white as snow and her eyes wide as saucer plates. She was breathing heavily, like she had run a marathon in a short amount of time.
"What's the matter?" he asked her. "Is this about the mech?"
"N-no, sir," she answered, shaking her head. "It's a planet!"
The giant mech that had sped past the Moonbase entered the Earth's atmosphere. Its entry had done little to slow the mech's descent, and it only seemed to speed up as gravity took control and pushed the mech further towards the ground. The citizens of Townsville screamed when they saw the mech coming right for the Downtown area, but they didn't really have to worry. Moving at the speed of light, the two Powerpuff Girls intercepted the falling mech, slowing its descent. They lowered it to Townsville Park, the only area in the Downtown district that was empty enough for a giant mech. They recognized it as one of Mojo Jojo's.
The mech did not look to be in good shape. The right leg was missing at the knee, and the left arm was dislodged at the shoulder, hanging limply at the side. The body unit had puncture wounds scattered haphazardly, and the girls could see that while the helmet was still in one piece, there was an obvious, hasty patchwork at the top of the dome. Hitting the outside button, the dome's hatch popped open and revealed the user of the mech.
Mojo Jojo was still in his seat, harnessed in. He was barely conscious, with one eye swollen shut. His helmet that hid his giant brain was cracked and had holes scattered about. His body had some cuts and bruises, but he still had all limbs attached.
With a frown etched on her face, Blossom reached in and pulled Mojo out of the mech, ripping him out of his harness in the process. The advanced simian grunted from the action, blearily staring up at the Puff leader with his good eye.
"What did you do, Mojo?" Blossom demanded, her eyes narrowing in accusation.
Mojo didn't answer her. His head lolled backward to look over her shoulder, his dull eye making contact with something far away. Bubbles leaned forward so she could be in Mojo's line of sight. Unlike Blossom, her face was filled with worry for the villain.
"Mojo, what happened to you?" Bubbles asked, more compassionate.
Mojo coughed and, using whatever energy he had in him, raised his arm upward and pointed at something over them. The two Puffs looked over their shoulders as one, staring wide-eyed up in the sky. Up, up in the sky was a giant green planet. With their supervision, they could see several somethings exiting the planet, entering the Earth's atmosphere with a loud sonic boom.
"Will you be coming in for lunch support today, Alice?" Mr. Green asked the girl as she passed by his desk on her way to the door.
The girl stopped steps away from his desk and nodded her head in agreement.
"Yes, sir," she answered him.
The substitute teacher smiled and went back to looking over his paperwork. "See you at lunch."
It would be Alice's third time spending her lunch in Mr. Green's classroom for lunch support. Mr. Green and her P.E. teacher had excused her from the work she was missing while she was away in Nowhere, but the rest of her teachers still asked for all those missing assignments, putting Alice far behind in her classes. Mr. Green, on the Monday she had returned, told his class he was offering lunch support to catch up on work from his or other teacher's classes, an offer that a few kids took him up on. Alice was one of those students (because it wasn't like she had any plans at lunch), and, with Mr. Green's help, was able to complete a third of her work.
As Alice made her way to her locker, she tried desperately to not pay attention to her fellow students staring at her from a distance. Without needing to look at them, she could sense their eyes on her. Things hadn't been the same since she'd returned to school two days prior. Before leaving, students didn't know she existed. Now, after returning from a long hiatus, all eyes were on her. She was the gossip of the school, and she absolutely hated it.
She swung her backpack onto her back once she was finished switching out her supplies, and was in the process of closing the locker door when she paused, the hair on the back of her neck standing at attention. Something in the pit of her stomach felt wrong, like something bad was about to happen. She glanced up and down the hallway, but found nothing out of place. Nobody seemed to have noticed either, which sent chills down Alice's spine. What was the cause of this feeling? Why did she seem to be the only one affected?
A sonic boom above their school startled Alice. Everyone else around her didn't even flinch, probably assuming it was the Powerpuffs or even the Rowdyruffs flying by, maybe even a military jet. But none of that made sense. The Powerpuffs would never fly over the school so fast, the Rowdyruffs avoided school like the plague, and the nearest military base was situated in the Nowhere desert, far, far away from the school.
In the pit of Alice's stomach, she knew something was coming.
Suddenly, something green slammed down through the roof at incredible speeds, imbedding itself into the floor. This caused the students to scream in terror and run for the exits. Students were getting pushed and trampled. A few, like Alice, were frozen, startled by what they were experiencing.
The green thing was bulbous shaped, almost looking like a plant based on its roots that were imbedding themselves into the floor tile. It was a strange sight, yet Alice found herself walking the nearly empty hallway to the plant without even thinking about it. Despite her wariness over the thing, she couldn't stop herself. Something deep down inside her was calling her to it. As she got closer to it, she realized that the mysterious plant was the same height as her. She also noticed that it was moving in and out, almost like it was breathing. Slowly, cautiously, Alice reached out a hand to touch it, but immediately recoiled when the plant began to ooze out a green, gooey substance. The gooey substance took on a spherical form, with a fin at the top of its body and red eyes. Before she had the common sense to run away, the gooey substance sprang out from the plant, aimed directly for her.
Alice raised her arm up and the gooey substance opened its mouth, revealing jagged looking teeth that bit into her arm. Alice released a shriek, and that section of the hallway went into darkness very briefly. Reflexively, Alice flung her arm to the side, and the creature flew off her arm, hitting the wall with a watery splat. It fell to the ground and bounced back, shaking off the hit it took. Alice brought her injured left arm to her body, noticing the blood flowing out of the puncture wounds, but her attention was pulled to the plant. It was oozing out several more of the same creatures.
Alice did a quick scan of her surroundings and found that she was the only student left in the hallway with the creatures. The others were gone, seeking exits, which is what Alice was supposed to do. Rising to her feet, Alice ran down the emptied hallway and took a right turn into a hallway that was scattered with students also trying to get away from the monsters. It was empty of any of the monsters, until a monster smashed in from the roof, blocking their exit way and raining debris on the students. This monster was different from the green ball shaped monsters of the other hallway. It was far larger than them, having the top of its head touching the roof above it. Unlike the green body the smaller monsters had, this one was almost nearly made out of telephone poles, giving it a metallic look.
Many of the students turned and ran in the opposite direction upon seeing this much larger, much scarier monster, pushing each other out of the way, but Alice was frozen in place. Alice had been the only one who spotted that a fellow student of hers - Suzy from her sixth period math class - was in immediate danger. When the monster had smashed in from the roof, it had caught Suzy underneath it, trapping her and making it hard to escape. The monster had its arm raised high into the air, preparing to smash Suzy, who threw up her arms to defend herself as a reflex. Alice's eyes widened in fright as the monster's arm swung down. Overhead, the florescent lights buzzed angrily, briefly brightening that part of the hallway.
Alice released a high-pitch scream and threw out a hand at the monster just as the lights shattered, throwing the hallway into darkness.
She didn't know what she could accomplish by just screaming at it, but something very strange happened. Lockers flung themselves off the wall and flew at the monster, striking it in the head before clattering to the ground. Because of the momentum, the monster was pushed to the side, hitting the wall and briefly falling through it. Both Suzy and Alice stared in surprise. Alice shifted her surprised gaze from the monster to her hand. She would have been freaked out by what happened if Max Tennyson's words didn't ring through her head.
"Some psychokinesis, some telekinesis, some energy manipulation, and more."
"Alice!"
Alice snapped out of her thoughts just in time to witness the monster rush at her with its arms raised up in an attempt to grab her. Before the monster could clear the distance between them, something small wrapped itself around her waist and tugged her backward, pulling her away from danger. Not a second too soon, either, because the monster smashed the spot where Alice had been. Nergal Jr stepped in front of her and pulled down his glasses. The monster froze in place and didn't move, behaving like a garden statue. Junior returned the glasses to their place on his face, his tentacle retreating back into his body. Alice stared at him in surprise, wondering where he had come from.
"Are you okay?" he asked out of concern.
"Yes," Alice answered. Her eyes widened when she remembered they weren't the only two in the hall, and looked in Suzy's direction. "Su-"
"Don't worry about me, I'm doing alright," Suzy interrupted Alice, stopping next to the girl and smiling brightly. "Just a few bruises. It would have been a lot worse if you two hadn't come to help me. Thanks for that, by the way."
"We're not in the clear yet," Junior responded to her, eyeing the large hole in the ceiling in which several monsters were beginning to circle around the opening. "We need to leave."
"What about the others?" Suzy asked.
"Can't help them right now," Junior answered, pointing at the ceiling hole. "Those things are multiplying fast, and I can't keep freezing them forever. We gotta leave and let professionals deal with it."
Suzy frowned at the idea, but she saw the logic behind it and nodded.
"Right, okay. The Powerpuff Girls will be here any minute to deal with this," Suzy agreed reluctantly. "Let's go."
Junior took the lead with Suzy following behind. Alice didn't follow after the two immediately. She looked back at the frozen monster. Although it was dark, she thought she saw something green starting to form where the monster touched the floor. What it could be puzzled the girl, but she didn't get to ponder the mystery for very long.
"Alice!" Suzy's voice called out to her. "We need to go!"
Alice turned at the call, spared the weird green spot beginning to form a quick glance, and then jogged to where Suzy and Junior had stopped to wait for her. As she was moving past a set of lockers, a ball shaped monster launched itself from the wall, latching itself to the girl's backpack with its sharp mouth. As Alice was in the process of dropping her backpack off of her, the monster leveraged itself upward, landing on her shoulder and baring its sharp mouth at her. Alice could feel the spot where it was sitting begin to burn. She swatted the monster off of her before it could take a bite out of her, feeling the back of her hand burn from contact.
The monster fell backward and bounced back, prepared for another launch at its prey. It was stopped midair by a gloved hand grabbing it by its fin and throwing it in the opposite direction. Mr. Green shook his gloved hand, like he was ridding it of the monster's gooey structure. He watched the creature hit the ground with a splat on the other side of the school.
"Mr. Green?" Alice asked, confused on why he would still be in the school.
The substitute teacher whirled around and grabbed his student's arm, hauling her to her feet.
"We need to leave, now," the adult stressed, his only eye momentarily noticing the blood stains on her sleeve. He frowned, and pulled the still confused girl over to where Suzy and Junior were still standing.
"We need to leave," Mr. Green repeated his warning to the students. "The school has been overtaken by these creatures and they're beginning to effect the school's structure. If we remain here any longer, we'll be caught in the collapse." His good eye surveyed their area, noticing that a few of the creatures were frozen on the spot. "Did you freeze these, Junior?"
"Yeah," Junior replied. "They'll recover eventually, but we'll be long gone by then. I can't use it constantly, though."
Mr. Green nodded. "Take the lead and freeze as many as you can. I'll take the back and make sure they don't ambush us. Head for the front doors."
Junior did as he was instructed, and started to jog for the front of the school. Suzy and Alice followed him immediately, with their teacher following behind them.
"Hey Alice, think you could move some lockers again?" Suzy asked, looking over her shoulder to talk to the girl.
Alice dropped her gaze to the floor.
"I...I don't think so," Alice admitted. "I don't know how I did it."
Suzy frowned, but shrugged. "Well, that's okay. We'll leave this to the boys."
The four only encountered a handful of monsters on their trek to the school's front doors. Junior froze any that tried to attack head on, and Mr. Green would occasionally toss aside a monster or two that tried for a sneak attack. None in their group was injured by the time they made it to the school's entrance.
The front doors were hanging by their hinges, one door swung inward and the other outward. The green substance Alice had noticed forming under the large monster was snaking its way up the doors. It was light, but it was there. Junior exited first, pushing the inward swung door forward so that it was now like its twin. Lined up along the school's sidewalk were police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. Further down the street, Alice could see that parents were being reunited with their children, while others were waiting. Once they were safely past the archway, Mr. Green herded the three teenagers to a group of paramedics huddled together, having a serious conversation about something that Alice couldn't really hear.
"Excuse me," Mr. Green interrupted their discussion, getting their attention. He ignored the way the human paramedics jumped back once they realized they were speaking to a demon. He gestured with his hand to the kids. "These children need to be looked over."
One paramedic zeroed in on Alice, a look of recognition in his eyes.
"You're..." he trailed off and shook his head. His eyes moved downward to her sleeve, where he could see the dried blood stains. "Jason, Kimberly, check over these two." He used his hand to motion at Junior and Suzy. "Alice, follow me."
Alice shrunk at the mention of her name, but Mr. Green put his arm on her shoulder, smiling at her in his reassuring way. He looked over at his other two students.
"Will you two be alright if I accompany Alice?" Mr. Green asked them.
Junior and Suzy nodded in conformation, already letting the two paramedics look them over. Mr. Green kept his hand on the teenager's shoulder and guided her after the medic to his ambulance. The medic helped her up into the vehicle while Mr. Green stood at the door.
"You probably don't remember me," the medic said as he rolled up Alice's sleeve. "I went to the funeral. I knew your mom from work. Name's Curtis."
Alice looked away from the man, staring at her knees. She vaguely remembered seeing him at the funeral. He had been one of the many that told her to rely on him if she ever needed help.
"Huh, that's weird," Curtis remarked to himself, pulling Alice's attention.
"Is something the matter?" Mr. Green asked.
"No. Just based on the blood, I figured the wound would be wider," Curtis answered, studying Alice's injured arm. "They look like they're almost healed."
Mr. Green's eyebrow rose at the answer, and he looked over at the teenager's arm as well, studying it for himself. Alice looked down at her arm, amazed to see that the puncture wounds were nearly closed up. Was this part of her alien DNA?
"I'll just make sure it doesn't get an infection and wrap it up," Curtis stated, getting to work.
Alice watched the man work quietly, not answering any of his questions or making small talk with him. Mr. Green picked up on the girl's anxiety and drew the medic's attention away from his student, answering questions on her behalf.
"Alice?! Alice?!"
Alice's eyes moved up from her arm to the open doors, surprised to hear someone call for her. Aunt Muriel and Uncle Eustace were out in Nowhere, and there was no way they could reach the school in such a short amount of time. Plus, it didn't sound like either of them. She watched Mr. Green raise a hand and give it a quick wave.
"Over here, Professor," the demon spoke up loud enough for the man to hear.
A second later, the Professor appeared at the door, slightly out of breath. Alice blinked in surprise, wondering why the Professor was around.
"Oh, thank goodness," the Professor sighed in relief. "I came as soon as I heard."
"Have you any word on the Girls, Professor?" Mr. Green asked. "I haven't seen them yet."
"They're still in Downtown. They were called down there before all this happened," the Professor answered.
The Professor's eyes widened when he realized that Alice was in the back of an ambulance and was having her wounds wrapped up. His face went pale in fright.
"What happened? Are you alright?" he asked in concern.
"Minor wound," Curtis answered in Alice's place. "Just need to have it bandaged."
The Professor nodded, color coming back to his face.
"Okay, okay," he sighed in relief. "Will you be finished soon?"
Curtis paused in his administration and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the Professor.
"Why do you ask?" he asked.
The Professor's eyebrows flew up into his hairline, whether because of the medic's question or the way he said it.
"Her aunt asked me to look after her," the Professor answered.
"Unless you're her legal guardian, which I know you're not, then the school has to give the okay," the medic stated, standing his ground.
"I'm on her emergency card!" the Professor argued. His eyes travelled until they landed on a particular figure walking by. "Mrs. Atoms!"
Mrs. Atoms, Principal Goodvibe's secretary, arrived a second later, looking frazzled and stressed. In her hands was a clipboard. Her eyes landed on Alice and a relieved smile appeared on her face as she wrote something - Alice assumed her name - on the piece of paper attached to the clipboard.
"Mrs. Atoms, could you release Alice to my care?" the Professor asked the secretary.
"Does she need to go to the hospital?" Mrs. Atoms asked her question to the medic.
"No, just a wrap up," Curtis answered, taping up the end of the bandage.
"Is your aunt with you, Alice?" Mrs. Atoms asked Alice, her voice soft.
Alice shook her head and answered simply, "Nowhere."
Mrs. Atoms nodded. "Very well then. You are an emergency contact for her, so I'll leave her in your care." Her eyes darted around. "If you'll excuse me, I need to continue finding students."
"There's still missing students?" Mr. Green asked worriedly.
Mrs. Atoms nodded, a sad frown forming on her face. "Unfortunately, yes. I'm still missing four hundred and thirteen students."
Alice felt her blood chill at the number. Four hundred and thirteen was a lot of students to be missing. Maybe some of those weren't accounted for, yet, but the pit in Alice's stomach didn't loosen at the thought.
"I'll help," Mr. Green offered the secretary.
Mrs. Atom's sad frown turned into a thankful smile, and she moved away from the ambulance with Mr. Green in tow. With Alice's wound addressed, Curtis, reluctantly, released Alice to the Professor. The older man put a hand around her shoulder and walked her to his house, away from the school. Alice took one last glance over her shoulder and noticed that some of that green gooey substance was beginning to leak out of the school's exterior.
"ARGH!" Dexter shouted out in frustration, swiping his hand across his desk and knocking off everything on the surface.
His A.I. secretary stood on the opposite side of the desk, staring unflinchingly at her boss' display of aggression. Dexter fell into his seat, hiding his head in his hands. Behind him, Ultimate Exposure and the Kids Next Door Nightly News were reporting on the alien invasion happening in the Suburbs and Downtown. They had been reporting on the invasion all day, showing the efforts being made by the heroes - the Kids Next Door, the Powerpuff Girls, and Ben - to keep the aliens at bay, but the strategy was defensive and was doing little to stop the advancing aliens who were multiplying faster than the heroes could put them down.
He hadn't been able to go out on the front lines and help much against the aliens since his Dexo-Transformer suit was still being repaired after someone borrowed it and broke it. He kept an eye out for the Justice Friends, or Monkey, or Imaginary Man, or Captain Planet, or the military, or one of the giant robots, either Megas or Titan, but with each passing hour, he grew more and more disturbed by their absence. So, he immediately made some calls.
His calls went absolutely nowhere. The Plumbers, Kids Next Door, and the Professor had answered him, but they had no information that was useful. The military and Global Security were silent, not answering his calls. He didn't know how to get a hold of Imaginary Man, Titan, Captain Planet, or Megas. Providence demanded to know how he got their number and to lose it. Overall, it was a wasted day with no solution in sight.
With his calls doing nothing productive, he turned his attention to what else the two news programs were reporting on: the environmental damage. Already, parts of the Suburbs and Downtown were being infected by strange bulbous looking plants that were pumping out tiny, ball shaped aliens. The infection was harmful to humans, but without a sample to test on, Dexter had no way of studying it, let alone curing it. That would have to come later, which left him with nothing productive to do, which made him even more furious.
"What am I supposed to do!?" Dexter demanded outloud, venting his frustrations.
"Dexter?" his assistant called to him. "May I make a suggestion?"
"What?" Dexter snapped, still on edge.
"I believe you should go through with your video conference," Computress told him.
Dexter removed his head from his hands, turning to give his robotic assistant a look of disbelief. Dexter had planned the video conference a day prior, before everything slipped into chaos. The intention of the conference was to talk about the bus slider's new feature. The new feature was a force field that would be activated while the bus was in motion to keep the passengers safe. With all that had happened so far, having a conference was the furthest thing on his mind.
"What good would that do?" Dexter demanded. "How do you think the public will react to my talking about the bus's new feature while there's aliens running around on their front yard?"
"You are mistaken. I did not say you should talk about the bus slide's new feature," Computress countered in her programmed calmness.
Dexter blinked, stumped.
"You should reassure the public about the invasion and tell them what is known so far," Computress continued.
"We don't know anything," Dexter countered. "That's my frustration."
"That is true, but no one has spoken to the public yet," Computress answered. "It will make the public feel better if someone can go and reassure them that information will be found out and shared."
Dexter blinked again and leaned back in his seat. It was true, no one had come forth to reassure the public. The Mayor was probably hiding away in City Hall, trying to stay safe from the aliens, and Ms. Bellum would be busy keeping him safe. The military wasn't answering his calls, so there was no chance General Specific was going to make a public statement (not like it would have been reassuring to begin with, anyways). Ben and the Powerpuffs were busy handling the situation on the ground, so they wouldn't get the chance either. If Dexter couldn't help in the fight, he could at least do this small bit to reassure the public that things would be okay.
Besides, with Global Security and the military on radio silence, and the aliens multiplying their forces every second, they might need to ask for volunteers, and now was a good time as any to plant the seed.
"Alright then," Dexter agreed. "Let the media know." Computress nodded, preparing to follow through with her orders. She was about to make contact with the only news sources still working when Dexter stopped her. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."
"Of course, Dexter," Computress said easily. This honestly wasn't the first time she'd seen him so angry, and so she didn't take stock in his emotional outburst.
With Computress taking care of the media, Dexter leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"Time to write," he muttered.
Alice sat on the Professor's couch, her knees tucked up against her chest and on arm wrapped around her legs. Her hair was wet, fresh from the shower she had just taken. Her clothes had been put into the washer so they could be cleaned, and the Professor had given her a spare shirt and shorts to wear in the meantime. Her bandage was off, having done so prior to the shower. Curtis would probably be mad, but she hadn't wanted it to get wet. Besides, it didn't matter. The wound wasn't there, leaving no trace of injury. The burning she had felt from the creature was also gone, but that had stopped hurting even before she had evacuated from the school.
She stared at her hand, the one she had thrown out at the creature when it went to attack Suzy. She wasn't sure how she had done it, but she was positive it had been her doing. And then there was the way the hall had mysteriously gone dark in that moment. There had also been a flicker when she had been bitten by one of the creatures. Coupled with that time back in the principal's office when she had learned the fate of her mother, there seemed to be a pattern.
Alice was alone in the Professor's living room, watching Ultimate Exposure, the only news program that was in operation. With all the chaos going on, the Girls wouldn't be returning home till maybe late into the night. The Professor had been in the basement after he sent her to take a shower, and when she had passed the door on her back to the living room, she had heard him talking to somebody on the phone. Whatever it was that he was doing down there, it was important and she didn't want to interrupt him.
She had been able to talk to her aunt before she took her shower, reassuring the older woman that she was fine. Her aunt, uncle and Courage were okay, too, just shaken up from what was going on around the world. Alice's school hadn't been the only place that got hit by those strange creatures. The news was talking about the creatures, showing that these things were taking on newer and scarier forms, some of them much larger than a regular human being. Every thirty minutes, they mentioned how many people were missing, and the number kept rising. She had to close her eyes and cover her ears when the reports came up. She didn't want to know; she didn't want to think about it.
"Is the T.V. not working?"
Alice almost fell off the couch in fright, startled by the Professor's sudden appearance. She whirled around and stared at him with wide eyes, which must have spooked him because he held up his hands in a gesture to calm her down.
"Sorry, Alice. I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized, moving around the couch and taking a seat inches away from her.
"Sorry," Alice murmured, pulling her knees closer to her chest, embarrassed for her outburst.
"It's okay. You've got a lot on your mind," he reassured her, smiling his fatherly smile. "Oh, the T.V.'s working again."
She looked to the screen, finding that they were reporting on the creatures down in Orchid Bay. She shivered when she saw the large creatures roaming the area, looking even more terrifying than the creature she saw at the school.
"Professor, do you know what those things are?" Alice asked, gesturing to the screen.
"No. Nothing except that they're not from our planet," he admitted, his eyes moving away from the T.V. screen to the girl. "The news mentioned there was going to be an announcement from DexLabs, right?"
Alice nodded in answer, remembering about them mentioning it and also silently wondering how he knew since he was in his basement. Was there a T.V. down there that he was watching off of? Was the T.V. loud enough for him to hear? Did someone call him?
The Professor smiled and then his eyes fell on her arm, the one that was supposed to be injured. His eyebrows raised up into his hairline; he looked surprised, but not shocked. It was a curious look to have, but it made Alice feel self-conscious, so she placed her hand over where the puncture wounds used to be, hiding it away from the adult.
"It healed," Alice supplied, feeling like she had to explain her injury's sudden disappearance.
The Professor nodded his head in agreement. "Your mother mentioned it to me when you were littler."
"I never noticed before," the girl said, moving her hand off of the healed section. "When I wouldn't get sick, mom always told me my immune system was stronger than others." Alice began playing with her hair, frowning at it lightly. "I guess there were a lot of signs I wasn't normal."
The Professor shook his head, leaning back further into the couch.
"Our world is filled with super humans, - some of them created, some of them born with it - aliens, talking animals, EVOs, demons, Imaginary Friends, and more." He turned and grinned at her. "I think the definition of normal shifted years ago."
Despite herself, Alice returned his grin with a small smile of her own. She wasn't comfortable yet with her heritage, but when the Professor listed out all the different kinds of people that made up their world, her being an alien really didn't feel like such a strange phenomenon.
"...This just in, Dexter McPherson has begun his live video feed," Diane Farrah announced, calling their attention to the T.V. set. "Let's listen in."
The Professor looked at his watch and clicked his tongue. "Five minutes late."
The T.V. showed DexLab's logo moments followed shortly after by a live video feed of the boy genius himself, showing Dexter sitting at his desk, his arms resting against the mechanical surface.
"Greetings. I am Dexter, CEO and Founder of DexLabs Inc.," Dexter began, his tone professional and calm. "As you already know, we have been attacked by alien invaders." Alice curled in on herself a bit more, and didn't say a word when the Professor rested a hand on her shoulder. "Based on the field reports I have received, the invasion hit harder in certain parts of the world than others, spreading a toxic substance in the area, coupled with a larger number of alien creatures. I am looking into a way to contain the area and cure the substance. All I can say for certain is that this substance is harmful to humans, so do not touch it."
As Dexter was speaking, images of the areas that were heavily infected appeared over his left shoulder. Alice recognized a few of the locations, such as Father's development site in Peach Creek Estates and Goat's Junkyard. "There is still more to learn about these aliens that have invaded our planet. Unfortunately, I do not have all the answers at this time, but I will be seeking them out. For the time being, stay indoors and away from these creatures as much as possible."
Dexter's brows knitted together, looking troubled. It took him a few seconds to start again. "That being said, the current prediction is that we will require volunteers to assist in this fight against the aliens. These invaders are multiplying at a rate that cannot be matched, and our current roster of heroes might not be enough this time around. For anyone able and willing, any help would be appreciated. Anyone over the age of eleven will be considered. More details will be provided at a later time." His brows unknitted, and his face relaxed into its professional mask. "Thank you for tuning in, and good night."
The DexLabs logo appeared once more, before it returned to the news studio. The Professor turned down the volume, since Diane was now repeating Dexter's words and speculating over the future. The Professor used his free hand to run his fingers through his hair, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth.
"Not terribly enlightening, but it's only day one," the Professor commented. "Asking for volunteers so young, though..." He shook his head. "I guess there's the Kids Next Door... And my daughters were young when they began their crime fighting... And Dexter and Mandark both have businesses at such a young age... Even Ben was doing his alien heroics as a younger kid..." He hummed in deep thought. "Is it a statement of our society that we rely so much on kids?"
Alice didn't answer the Professor's question, though considering the contemplative look on his face, she didn't think he was actually looking for an answer and was merely posing a rhetorical question. She looked back over at the T.V. screen, taking in a sharp breath. The news was showing footage of the planet that was looming over theirs. Alice shut her eyes in fright and buried her head in her knees. The T.V. went black for a moment, and the lights around them shut off, temporarily throwing the room into darkness. A second later, the T.V. and the lights turned on.
"What the-? A power surge?" the Professor asked, looking around in surprise. "Must be those creatures. I'll go che-"
"No!" Alice interrupted, whipping her head to look at him. If he went outside thinking one of those aliens had done this and he was hurt or killed...Once again, the T.V. and lights turned off and on, surprising the Professor.
"Alice, what's going on?" the man asked, looking at her in worry.
Alice looked away from him, staring at her hand, the one she had used against the monster at the school. She wasn't prepared to tell him, but she had to tell someone. He had raised three superpowered little girls; who better than him would understand?
"The lights...that's me," Alice answered. "At the school... the lights went out when I moved some lockers...without touching them." She closed her eyes, pressing her clenched hand to her chest. "I-I have powers."
"...WHAT?!"
Welcome back! Thank you for reading my second chapter.
For those who may not recognize the name, Atomic Betty, and everything associated with her, comes from the show Atomic Betty, which is produced and owned by Teletoons. Of all cartoons out there that I would love added to FusionFall, this show is at the very top of the list. I included her and her team back in my original story, and I'm including it here once again. Another property, perhaps surprising to most readers, is Captain Planet from Captain Planet and the Planeteers. It's an out there suggestion, but I like the show and he did appear in Punch Time Explosion, so it's not out of the realm that he can fit in a Cartoon Network world.
Suzy in this story is an aged-up Lil' Suzy from Johnny Bravo. She doesn't have a surname in the show proper (at least none I could find), so I've opted to give her the surname Sunshine. With Johnny already in the game and Carl added a few updates back, I really hope Suzy gets her chance to shine in the game.
Plumbers Jim and Carol are from the game. Jim is in Sector V and Carol is in Forgotten Falls.
I tried looking for what Principal Goodvibe's secretary was named, but came back with nothing, so I opted to make a secretary and named her after the creator of the show.
Originally, I was going to have the military be more active, but then I realized it would take the point away from having volunteers, so I scrapped them and had General Specific from Sheep in the Big City be out of commission.
Imaginary Man is from Foster's Home From Imaginary Friends, and while I understand why he couldn't be in the game, I still wish we had some representation from him. (At some point you'll notice that I like to write in one-episode characters).