Suzy breathed in deeply through her nose, taking in the fresh, pine smell of the trees that populated Prickly Pines. The thick forest situated at the end of Wilson Way had been spared the brunt of Fuse's influence. While monsters ran around the forest, there were too many hotspots of Fusion Matter. The forest's canopy proved thick enough to have protected the ground from Fuse's invasion. Certain pockets of the forest had a Terrafuser, but the part of the forest Suzy and her compatriots were walking through was safe from the poisonous effect of the Fusion Matter. The redhead girl turned her head over her shoulder, flashing her friends a bright smile.
"I love the pine scent smell," Suzy breathed out in a sigh. "It never fails to put me in a good mood."
"If this puts you in a good mood, then what exactly puts you in a bad mood?" Junior questioned sarcastically.
Suzy hummed, placing a finger to her chin like she was actually giving the question some serious thought. Alice smiled at the action; she knew Suzy was smart enough to see he was messing with her, but the redhead liked to play along.
"When Aunt Katie's Farm was cancelled," Suzy answered with grave seriousness.
"That was four years ago!"
"I still wear the wound on my heart," Suzy continued with mock graveness, placing a hand over her heart just to further the act.
Junior rolled his eyes, but Alice could see the edges of his lips twitching in an attempt to keep them from spreading into a smile.
It was a beautiful day to be walking the dirt path through Prickly Pines. Taking a S.C.A.M.P.E.R. into Mount Blackhead would have been easy, but the day was just too nice to pass up being outdoors. Plus, Suzy wanted to check on Camp Kidney, which was their destination.
"Hey, Suzy, isn't Camp Kidney a summer camp?" Junior asked.
"It is," Suzy answered. "But considering what's been happening, Commander Hoo-Ha opened up Camp Kidney and Acorn Flats for the campers to stay at."
"How do you know this?" Junior asked.
Suzy sent the half-demon a Cheshire grin. "I told you, I know everyone." The look he sent her in return had her giggling. "I'm friends with the majority of the Bean Scouts and Squirrel Scouts, and one of them happens to be Patsy. She's Commander Hoo-Ha's daughter."
"Is it safe for them to be at camp?" Alice asked in worry.
"So far, but I'd still like to check," Suzy responded. She perked up when she spotted the Camp Kidney sign appearing in front of them. "And what good timing! We're here."
Alice would pass by Camp Kidney and its sister location, Acorn Flats, when she and her mother would go to Nowhere to visit her aunt. The camp's entrance was denoted by the large sign that sat to the left of the dirt path that continued on through Prickly Pines and to Acorn Flats. The camp was nestled up against Leaky Lake, which was the separating body of water between the two camps. Unfortunately, even from the park sign, the three friends could see the infected zone barrier set up around the water body.
The camp had blue cabins in a u-shape formation, just as Alice remembered when she'd go by the camp. For the most part, despite being right up against an infected zone, the property had a sparce amount of Fusion Matter littering the ground; no infection could be seen on any of the buildings.
There were some new additions to the camp. A S.A.C.T. tent was erected in the middle of the camp. She couldn't see any S.A.C.T. agents wandering the place, but she did catch some Monkey Skyway Agents playing a game at the tent. They were the only living bodies moving around; for a camp that was supposed to be in operation, Alice couldn't see any campers in sight. It was strange how empty the place was, especially since the place looked to be in one piece. Had they been run out by the Fusion Monsters and it was left abandoned to S.A.C.T. and the Skyway Agents?
"I don't like this," Junior announced, running his eyes over the empty camp.
"Let's go check it out," Suzy stated, passing under the archway.
Junior and Alice followed behind, each one keeping an eye out for a camper. During their search, the doors to the Mess Hall suddenly flung open, and a girl Alice recognized as May Kanker stalked out of it, holding a pot in both hands and what looked to be a book under her arm. She was in her typical clothing, but dirtier; although considering she was a Kanker, it was a little hard to tell if they were dirtier than usual.
"What's she doing here?" Junior whispered to his teammates.
"Dunno," Suzy answered back, her brows coming together as she studied the unkempt blonde. Then, much louder, she called out, "May!"
The Kanker stopped at the call, looking quizzically in Suzy's direction. As the group approached May, her confused look dipped into one of annoyance.
"What do you want?" the girl demanded in an irritated tone. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"With what?" Junior questioned, looking quizzically at the pot.
"It's none of your business!" she snapped, pulling the pot closer to her body.
Her movement caused the book under her arm shifted and fell from her grasp. May released a gasp, but Alice stopped it from hitting the ground. She had her hand out, using her telekinesis to keep the book in the air. She lifted the book upward, and studied it for a moment. Alice didn't know the Kankers very well, but she had always been under the assumption that they weren't the most avid-readers in the world. But the book Alice was staring at was ancient. Runes were stitched into the spine of the book, and its cover was faded and worn. The most surprising thing was that Alice felt something powerful hidden away in the pages.
"May," Alice began, looking up from the book to the girl. "What-"
"It's none of your business, freak!" May practically shrieked. She balanced the pot of water on her hip and swiped the book out of Alice's hands. "Why don't you leave me alone?!"
The girl stormed off past the group, practically pushing them out of her way as she hightailed it for a cabin that had a sign reading "Jumping" hanging over the doorway. She threw open the cheap door and slammed it behind her so loudly that Alice thought she saw the trees sway from the force. The group of three looked at the cabin and then each other in surprise.
"Should we deal with that?" Junior asked.
Suzy thought about it for a moment, and then shook her head. "It's May Kanker. Whatever she's cooking will probably blow up in her face."
Junior and Alice nodded in agreement, though the blue haired girl sent a weary look in the cabin's direction. She didn't feel right leaving the mystery book with a Kanker, but there was the reassurance that, of the sisters, it was May. The girl always seemed to have the worst luck of the three; maybe whatever she was planning would just be a dud.
They approached the S.A.C.T. tents, which still had no S.A.C.T. agents anywhere near it. Instead, Skyway Agents were hanging around playing a game, which was their typical M.O. whenever they weren't flying. The game they were playing was a card game based on the trading cards the Justice Friends did a year back. Junior and Alice hung back while Suzy, their social butterfly, approached the agents.
"Excuse me?" Suzy asked, interrupting their game. "We need some help."
"Looking for a ride?" one asked in a gruff voice.
"Nope. I'm actually looking for someone who goes here, or maybe even works here? Can you point me in their direction?" Suzy requested.
The Agent shrugged. "Whatever. The slug is over that way." He pointed in the direction behind Suzy.
The Skyway Agent was pointing at a two-story building, next to the tallest tower in the camp. Suzy smiled brightly at Mojo's troops and turned back to her friends. She jerked her head to the building, and then led the way. When the party of three arrived, Suzy knocked on the door, receiving no answer.
"Hmm," Suzy hummed. "Guess we're going in."
"Should we?" Alice asked in worry.
"I'm for it." Junior threw in his vote.
The boy approached the door and turned the handle, finding it unlocked. With a gentle push, the door opened inward. He nodded to his two teammates and entered the building first. Suzy and Alice filed in after him, Alice closing the door behind her because she had been raised with manners.
"Hear anything?" Suzy asked their half-demon.
He nodded. "This way."
The boy led the girls through the building, bringing them to another door. From behind the door, they could hear a conversation being had. Without consulting his teammates, Junior put his hand on the handle and pushed the door open. It was unlocked as well, and opened without resistance.
"Hey, we're looking-" Junior stopped mid-sentence, taking in a good look at who the occupants in the room were. With a sigh, he covered his eyes with his left hand. "Why are you here?"
In the room, sitting behind the desk was a two-legged banana slug. He was wearing a brown uniform and a little hat on his head, between his eye stocks. The other occupant in the room was the D-list villain, Toiletnator. Both occupants of the room looked to the intruders in surprise. The surprise wore off quickly for the slug and he ran his hand over his eyes. When he removed his hand, Alice caught how tired the slug looked. Suzy must have caught it, too, because she moved around Junior and entered the room. She crossed the space between the door and the desk, and stood directly in front of the tired slug.
"You work here, right?" she asked.
"Are you ignori-"
"Shut it, Toilet," Junior grounded out, coming to stand next to Suzy. "We're not here for you."
Toiletnator deflated at the remark, looking pathetic. Alice did feel a pang of sympathy for the guy, but she didn't dare approach him. D-list villain or not, he was still a villain and Alice wanted to deal with him carefully.
"Yes, I work here," the slug answered. "I'm-"
"Mister Slinkman," Suzy supplied, grinning when she saw the surprise in his eyes. "Lazlo mentions you a lot."
The name seemed to spark some fire in Slinkman, because the slug sat up straighter in the chair.
"You know Lazlo? Have you heard from him?" the slug questioned.
"No, not recently," Suzy answered. "It's why I came up this way. I wanted to check on him and the other Bean Scouts."
"Oh."
Slinkman slumped back into the chair with a heavy-hearted sigh. He dropped his head to the desk, bringing his hands to the back of his scalp. Junior, Suzy, and Alice shared equal looks of concern and confusion before refocusing their gaze on the banana slug.
"Mister Slinkman, is everything okay?" Suzy asked.
"No." Slinkman's response was muffled into the desk.
"Did something happen?" Junior further prompted.
"Some campers are missing," Toiletnator spoke up, getting the kids' attention. "They disappeared two days ago. Plus, my toilet paper supply is-"
"Not a priority right now," Slinkman interrupted, lifting his head from the desk. He swiveled his eye stocks in Toiletnator's direction and narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "The campers are more important than paper."
"Who is missing?" Alice asked.
"The Jelly Beans," Slinkman answered, sighing at the end.
Suzy's eyes widened considerably, and a surprised gasp escaped her. Alice and Junior looked at her in concern.
"What happened?" Suzy asked.
"We don't know," Slinkman answered, his eye stocks drooping to fit his mood. "They just suddenly disappeared. Some of our other campers said they spotted a green-skinned woman leading them away into the forest, but the account differs between the campers." He put a hand to his head, giving it a rub to stave off a headache. "Jane Doe called just moments earlier saying that one of her Squirrel Scouts disappeared, too."
"Patsy," Suzy whispered.
Slinkman looked surprised that she knew the camper, but shook his head. It honestly didn't matter. "Yes. Unfortunately, no one can get in contact with her either."
Suzy's lips pursed in thought. She looked to Alice and Junior, and it was a testament to how much they'd worked together that she didn't even have to say the question out loud. With just one look, the two knew what she wanted, and they both nodded back at her in agreement. Smiling in thanks, Suzy turned back to the assistant scoutmaster. She puffed out her chest and placed her fists on her hips.
"Very well," Suzy said with an air of seriousness. "We'll go look for them."
"What?" Slinkman asked in surprise, his eyes doubling in size.
"We'll go look for them," Suzy repeated.
"No way, this is too dangerous," Slinkman argued. "I can't have more kids-"
Suzy held up her green NanoCom. "We're fighters, so we're prepared."
"This green skinned lady is probably a Fusion," Alice spoke up.
"And we've had experience with Fusions," Junior contributed. "If you want to find those missing campers, we're your best option."
Slinkman didn't give an immediate response. He stared at the three preteens, clearly weighing his options. Finally, his shoulders slumped and his eye stocks drooped a little.
"Fine," he said reluctantly. "But be careful. You have to report to me when you find them."
"Naturally," Suzy said with a bright smile on her face. "I'm going to try getting in touch with Patsy's friends. Gretchen or Nina has to know something about her."
The redhead stepped out of the room, already making the call on her NanoCom. Alice turned from the closed door to look at Slinkman, who was slumped in the chair.
"Sooo, since this matter is being handled, what about my-"
"No, Toiletnator," Junior snapped, leveling a glare. "We're not here for you."
"Awwwh," Toiletnator whined, slumping over.
"Come on, Alice," Junior said, turning and heading for the door. "Let's go see what Suzy has."
Alice nodded, following behind her friend. She stopped at the doorway, turning back to look at the slug sitting behind the desk. She smiled at him, hoping that it would provide some comfort, and then left, exiting out to the outdoors. Suzy was standing at the bottom of the stairs, placing away her NanoCom. She turned her head to her two friends, both of whom were still standing by the front door.
"Nina spoke to Patsy an hour ago. She's followed the Fusion's trail up to Mount Blackhead," Suzy reported to the two.
"So we're heading up that way?" Junior asked.
Suzy nodded. "There's an outpost there. We'll gather some information and see if we can't find her."
"What if she isn't there?" Alice asked.
"It's a gamble," Suzy admitted. "But it's all we have at the moment."
"We'll figure it out when we get there," Junior cut in. "First, let's get there before we start forming all these plans."
It was surprising how dramatically the forest changed after the group left Camp Kidney. While Prickly Pines had looked fine up to Camp Kidney, showing almost no signs of Fuse's influence outside of the roaming monsters, the forest past Camp Kidney looked sickly, with many of the trees having Fusion Matter mingled into their bark. What were once perfectly straight trees were now bending and curving in unnatural ways due to the Fusion Matter's influence. Small groups of tree were spread out farther from each other, leaving a lot of open land. It made it harder for Fusion Monsters to sneak up on the team. Even with the barrier around Leaky Lake, the team could see that the entire lake was covered in Fusion Matter, which was the probable cause for the local flora's infestation. Acorn Flats was in operation like Camp Kidney (there were even some Squirrel Scouts mingling outside, unlike the Bean Scouts who were hiding out in their cabins), and even as they passed by the camp, Alice could see it was spared from Fusion Matter influence as well. A few Slime Serpents were slithering the camp's outskirts, but the Squirrel Scouts were easily fending them off, so the group passed by without stopping.
"Did you go to Acorn Flats?" Junior asked the redhead as they continued on the trail to Mount Blackhead.
"No," Suzy answered. "Why?"
"You know the campers to both places," Junior answered. "Just wondering how."
"As a Buttercup Scout, I've mingled with the Bean Scouts and the Squirrel Scouts," the girl replied.
Junior crossed his arms with a sigh. "Yeah, I should have figured it'd be that."
"Suzy, what will be at Mount Blackhead?" Alice asked.
"You haven't seen it yet?" Suzy asked, glancing over her shoulder.
Alice shook her head in the negative.
"Haven't seen what's out here, either," Junior added.
"Well, shortly after the war started, the KND came out this way and set up a Jungle Outpost, which, full disclosure, you two are going to be blown away when you see it," Suzy remarked, spinning around so that she was walking backwards. "It's as cool as the Cul-de-Sac fortress. It became a safe haven for travelers."
"Is it sturdy?" Junior asked.
"Mhm," Suzy agreed.
"Good, 'cause it's under attack."
Suzy spun around, eyes falling on the Jungle Outpost ahead of them. The outpost on a hill, protected by wooden logs like the Cul-de-Sac was protected by wooden boxes, was under attack by oversized trees. The Ghoulish Growths were banging their wooden fists against the outpost's defense structure, attempting to break it down. KND operatives were standing at the top, firing down shots to keep the enemy out of the outpost. The entire scene caused Alice to have flashbacks to the High Hydrant Hammer, but she shook it off. The three ran up the path to the outpost, preparing to fire at the Growths, but stopped when they noticed an extra body.
Hovering up over the horde of Ghoulish Growths was a green-skinned Bubbles. The Fusion Powerpuff was throwing its arms around, almost like it was directing the Growths on what to do. Based on the way the Ghoulish Growths were attacking the outpost's defenses, Alice guessed it was doing that.
"Looks like we found our Fusion," Junior remarked.
"Let's take it down," Suzy ordered.
Alice raised her hand upward, and fired the first shot at the Fusion Bubbles. It hit the Fusion in the back, right between the shoulder blades. The Fusion spun around with a hiss, spotting the three friends on the ground. Suzy fired off a shot from her Crayon Cannon and Junior shot his tentacles at her, but the Fusion deftly dodged their attacks. Growling in annoyance, the Fusion jettisoned away from the scene, heading to the left of the outpost.
"Follow that Fusion!" Suzy ordered, taking off running after the Fusion.
Junior joined her in running, but Alice's eyes turned to the Ghoulish Growths still attacking the outpost.
"But the outpost-"
"Will be taken care of by the KND!" Suzy answered back, turning her head over her shoulder just long enough for Alice to hear her. "We need to stop the Fusion!"
Although conflicted on leaving the outpost, Alice took to the air, following and passing over her friends. She wasn't as fast as the Fusion, but she made it in time to see the Fusion entering the infected zone. She waited for her teammates before entering the infected zone. The Fusion Portal was easy to spot, being situated on a tiny hill that was only a few feet away from the Dexbot pad. The problem was that the ground between the pad and the portal was covered in Fusion Matter, poisoning the ground (ironically, the patch of land the portal was situated on was spared from Fusion Matter poisoning). Alice flew over the infected ground easily, and Suzy and Junior used the floating pieces of wood to land on the other side. As a group, they entered the Fusion Portal, and reappeared underground.
"You think the Fusions all have the same interior decorator?" Junior asked, giving the area they appeared in a look around.
"I was starting to think the Fusion Portals all go to the same lair, but the Fusions have a time table on when they get to use it," Suzy joked back, waving her hand over her NanoCom. Nano Raj appeared, hovering next to her. "Alright Nano Raj, do your stuff!"
"You got it," the nano-sized elephant said. "Mappy!"
"Mappy?" Junior asked in a deadpan tone of voice.
"Shush," Suzy snapped at the boy, lifting her NanoCom up closer to her face. "I'm tracking Fusion Monsters with Nano Raj's radar power."
"You can see where they are?" Alice asked, leaning forward so she could look.
"And how many, but only within a certain amount of feet," Suzy responded. "Looks like there's two just around this corner. C'mon, let's go pay them a visit."
She led the three around the corner, where they were able to surprise the two monsters - which turned out to be Ghoulish Growths - without taking a hit from the enemy. They continued inward, finding that the Growths were teaming up. At first, they were travelling in pairs, but as the team continued inward, they were finding that the growths were quadrupling up.
"Is it me, or are there more monsters down here than we've encountered?" Junior asked, wiping his brow of the sweat build up.
Alice looked behind them in the direction they'd come from, frowning when she sensed something coming their way. Suzy was studying her NanoCom, frowning in displeasure.
"You're right. I've got some of the ones we beat coming back this way," Suzy announced. She glanced up from her NanoCom, looking grim. "They've regenerated."
Junior cursed, running a hand through his hair.
"Alright, you to go ahead," Junior decided.
Alice and Suzy looked at the boy in surprise.
"We don't have time to discuss this. It'd be stupid to bring all these monsters with us when we find the Bean Scouts. I'll handle them and follow up behind you. I'll meet you at the postal," the boy argued. He spun around when he heard the Ghoulish Growths approaching, spotting them advancing forward. "Get moving!"
"He's right," Suzy agreed, grabbing Alice's wrist. "Let's go."
Alice allowed Suzy to pull her along the path, glancing back briefly to check on Junior's progress. He seemed to have the situation handled, although five Ghoulish Growths was an awful lot to deal with.
The girls' pathway was not met with much resistance; it seemed the majority of the Growths had been concentrated at the start of the lair, and thinned out as the girls progressed. According to Nano Raj's Mappy power, there were only three or so monsters along their way. The girls turned a corner and found two of the Growths standing guard at an alcove with a cage situated between the two. Inside the cage the girls could make out four shapes.
"Suzy, do you think...?" Alice asked in a hushed tone of voice.
Suzy nodded. Quietly, the girls dispatched of the two Growths and approached the vines. Behind the vines were Fusion Bubbles' prisoners. Suzy approached the cell, grabbing onto the bars of the prison.
"Lazlo, Raj, Clam, Patsy!" Suzy called, relief coloring her tone. "Are you four okay?"
"We're fine!" Lazlo declared cheerily, despite the fact that he was captured. "But this little squirrel isn't."
Alice and Suzy looked to the squirrel Lazlo was pointing at, and they found an obviously injured squirrel resting on Patsy's lap. The pink haired mongoose was softly petting the creature's fur, attempting to provide it comfort. Alice couldn't figure out why she recognized the squirrel, but she didn't want to waste time asking about it. That wasn't what was important at the moment. Pulling out her NanoCom, Alice sent off a text message to Junior, to see how he was doing. He replied back quickly, informing her that he'd cleaned up the Growths and was on his way. Pulling her head up from the NanoCom, she looked to the left of her, where she sensed another entity just further downward. Frowning grimly, Alice looked to Suzy, who was searching for the lock.
"Suzy," Alice spoke up, getting her friend's attention. "I'm going to continue forward."
"Huh?" the redhead asked, spinning her head around to look at her friend.
"I'm going to find Fusion Bubbles," Alice clarified. "We have to fight it to leave, and to stop the attack on Mount Blackhead. We can't bring them along to the fight, because they may get hurt. Stay here and break them out. Junior is on his way, and you can send him to help me when he gets here."
Suzy stayed quiet for a moment, probably thinking over the plan, before giving a sharp nod.
"Be safe, okay?" Suzy asked.
Alice nodded, ascending up into the air. She flew through the rest of the lair in the direction she had sensed the powerful entity. The Fusion was in an open clearing, hovering off the ground like Fusion Boomer had back in Candy Cove. Alice ran her hand over her NanoCom, calling forth Nano Boomer.
"I'm going to hit it, and I want you to move in and hit it with your ability, okay?" Alice informed the Nano. "We're going to try and get it off-balanced."
Her Nano saluted. "Got it! Let's do this!"
Alice nodded in agreement with her Nano, and turned her focus to the Fusion. Cupping her hands together, aimed straight at her opponent, Alice fired off an energy beam at the Fusion, which hit it at the base of the neck. The Fusion stumbled from the surprised hit, and so it didn't see Nano Boomer rushing forward. Using his Batter Up! ability, he slapped it in the head with a conjured-up baseball bat. The Fusion reared back, but recovered quickly. It pulled itself together and flung out an arm to grab the Nano. Nano Boomer flew backwards, trying to avoid getting caught. Just when it seemed like Fusion Bubbles would get its hands on him, a small energy shield appeared, separating the two.
The Fusion spun its head around, seeking out Alice. When it spotted the blue-haired girl hovering in the air, the Fusion Powerpuff flung globs of Fusion Matter at the girl. Alice threw up a shield to protect herself from the hits. Growling, the Fusion rocketed forward, straight for the alien. It only took three hits for the Fusion to break through the force shield. The Fusion reached out and wrapped its green hands around Alice's neck. It was a move Alice remembered from her solo fight with Fusion Boomer, but instead of lifting the alien up into the air, Fusion Bubbles slammed Alice to the ground, pushing her in so that there was an Alice-sized crater in the dirt. As Fusion Bubbles pushed Alice into the ground, the Fusion tightened its hold on Alice's neck, cutting off air supply for the blue-haired girl.
Nano Boomer dashed across the clearing to get close to the fight. The outline of his body was glowing a faint blue color, and conjured his bat again, but it was doubled the size it normally was. He pulled back briefly and then he slammed it forward, hitting the Fusion at the base of its neck. It released a scream, and the hit was enough to distract her. It eased up its hold on Alice. Alice was able to get in a breath of air into her lungs, giving her the opportunity to think straight. She raised a hand and placed it at the Fusion's abdomen. She fired off an energy sphere, which had the Fusion falling backward and hitting the rocky wall behind it. Nano Boomer hovered by Alice's side, helping her get up into a sitting position.
Staring at her opponent head on, Alice raised up both of her hands. Two nearby rocks, just a little smaller than Alice's body, lifted from there spot along the cavern walls. She flung her arms forward, and the rocks sailed through the air, hitting the Fusion on either sides of it. Then, with the Fusion sandwiched between the two rocks, Alice began to move her arms inward, bringing them closer to one another. Similarly, the rocks began to move together too, crushing the Fusion. Fusion Bubbles made attempts to get out from the predicament, like hitting the rocks to crush them or to contaminate them, but nothing it did work. Alice was able to bring the two rocks together, crushing Fusion Bubbles into Fusion Matter. The Fusion Matter flew into Alice's NanoCom, and an object fell in the place the Fusion had once been.
Alice released her hold on the rocks, heaving a sigh of relief. Nano Boomer settled down on her shoulder, and she touched his head and smiled gratefully at him. After her momentary respite, she got back up onto her feet. She went over to investigate the dropped item, scooping up a doll, surprised to see that it was the super popular character, Octi. Despite being the formation for the Fusion, it didn't have any Fusion Matter residue on it. Deeming it safe, she placed it away in her NanoCom. She'd make it into a Nano at the earliest opportunity.
The sound of footsteps indicated that several people were coming her way, and since she couldn't sense them, she knew it was her friends. Spinning around to greet them, she watched as they approached her. All of them, except for the squirrel, seemed to be unharmed.
"Great job, Alice," Suzy congratulated the alien.
"Are you hurt?" Junior asked.
"It tried choking me, but I'm healing," Alice responded, bringing her fingers to the spot where Fusion Bubbles had been strangling her. The marks were already disappearing. "It dropped an item."
"A new Nano? Sweet!" Suzy cheered. "There's a station at the outpost. Let's get everyone there."
"With that Fusion down, we should be able to get in," Junior remarked.
"And we can get help for Bullet here," Patsy added in, pointing at the squirrel that was now being held by Lazlo. "She took some beatings when we were down here."
Bullet. That's how Alice recognized the squirrel. It was the only known creature to possess the same abilities as the
"She'll be okay," Suzy assured the campers. "Bullet's got a regeneration ability, which should be kicking in any time now. We'll still leave her with Numbuh Three to make sure she's being properly watched."
"Before we go, why are you four down here?" Junior asked the campers.
"Ask Lazlo," Raj stated, sounding a tad annoyed with the monkey.
"Well, I saw the green skinned girl near the cabins and wanted to see if she needed some help," Lazlo began telling the story.
"Which I told him was a bad idea!" Raj inputted.
"Clam follow," Clam added in unhelpfully.
"And eventually she led us all the way here and put us in that cage," Lazlo finished.
"And you?" Junior asked the Squirrel Scout.
"When I got word of their disappearance, I started searching. I found some tracks and followed them here. I was able to fight off the Ghoulish Growths that I encountered, but that Fusion was able to stop me and throw me in the cage," Patsy explained. "I was looking for a chance to break us out when you guys came in."
"And it's a good thing we got you all out and safe," Suzy stated, shining a bright smile on the campers. "Now let's get to the outpost."
The Ghoulish Growths were missing, so they had either left shortly after Fusion Bubbles' defeat or were turned to Fusion Matter goo. With the threat gone, the Jungle Outpost's gates were open. Two KND operatives waved their party through, giving the group respectful nods as they passed. Numbuhs Three and Four of Sector V and a brown-haired boy were standing next to the guard's tower, holding some sort of conversation that was cut off by the party's appearance.
"Suzy!" Numbuh Three cried, rushing forward and throwing her arms around Suzy's person.
Suzy returned the embrace with a bright smile. She pulled out of it a moment later.
"Hi, Kuki," Suzy greeted back. "Could we ask a favor?" She used her head to indicate to the injured squirrel held in Clam's arms. "Bullet here needs a checkup."
Numbuh Three gasped when her eyes landed on Bullet. She rushed forward and plucked the fallen squirrel into her arms. She cuddled the forest creature to her person, rocking it slightly like it was a baby.
"Oh, the poor thing. I'll take care of it right away!" Numbuh Three declared, turning and rushing back into the outpost.
"You all should come in, too," Numbuh Four pointed out. "It's safer in the outpost."
Numbuh Four led the party into the outpost, which was larger than Alice had anticipated. She had figured something on the scale of the cardboard fortress, but the Jungle Outpost blew it out of the water. A S.C.A.M.P.E.R. was up on a ramp to their immediate right, almost exactly like it was in the Cul-de-Sac. A group of Monkey Skyway Agents were to the left, participating in a Sumo Slammers game on their communicators. Trees populated the area, and simplistic tree houses were set up in the tree line, not at all fancy like the Kids Next Door were known for. Simple buildings with Kids Next Door operatives were spread out around the outpost, not unlike what could be seen in the Cul-de-Sac. In the very center of the outpost, different looking from all the other trees was a giant, purple tree with glowing green eyes and an oddly formed mouth.
As Numbuh Four was guiding the group to the purple tree, Alice spotted a familiar person running up to greet them. The sight of the tallest Ed boy had Alice staring at him in surprise.
"Greetings, subjects!" Ed declared joyfully. "As King of the Jungle, I tha-"
"Ed, please, we've been over this," the brown-haired boy practically begged. He was covering his face with a hand over his eyes.
"You're not the king of the outpost, mate," Numbuh Four grouched. "You're not even an operative."
Ed whined loudly. "Awwwh, but I wanted to thank my subjects for saving my kingdom."
While Numbuh Four was grumbling under his breath, giving Ed a side eye in annoyance, the brown-haired boy perked up like what Ed had said sparked a memory.
"Oh, right, we should properly thank you," the boy said. "If it wasn't for you, they would have gotten their hands on Coco."
"Coco?" Alice repeated as the name rattled around her head.
"Coco?" a bird shaped creature with the body of an airplane and the neck and feathers of a plant popped up in front of the group.
Alice stumbled back in surprise. Lazlo, who was following right behind her, was in danger of being stepped on, but Junior reached out and stabilized Alice. The creature didn't look perturbed that it had spooked Alice, and hopped around the group, getting in all their faces. The creature took an extra liking to Clam, who was given permission to sit on its back.
"Sorry about her," the boy apologized to Alice. "Coco's been under some stress since we've been here."
Alice looked from Coco to the boy, and the dots in her head finally made a connection.
"Mac?" she addressed the boy.
"Oh, have we met before?" Mac asked, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Sorry, I don-"
"No, we haven't," Alice said with an accompanying shake of her head. "I heard about you from Frankie. She's been worried about you two."
The boy's face flushed into a pink color and he scratched at his cheek.
"O-oh, did she? I'll have to call her and let her know we're okay," Mac said. "It's just been so busy with all the monsters trying to get their hands on Coco."
"You mentioned that before. What exactly do you mean by it?" Junior asked.
"Is that why Fusion Bubbles was leading an army?" Suzy further inquired.
"Yeah," Mac answered. "For some time now, monsters have been trying to get into the fortress. The Kids Next Door have been able to push them back, but today was rough. If you guys hadn't stepped in and taken out Fusion Bubbles, they may have succeeded."
"Actually, it was Alice," Suzy stated, raising a hand to indicate the blue-haired girl. "She soloed the Fusion and got rid of it."
"Coco co co cocococo coco," Coco said, raising up one of her feet.
Alice looked at the foot of the Imaginary Friend, then the face of the Imaginary Friend, and then to Mac in confusion.
"She wants to thank you for keeping her safe," Mac supplied.
Alice nodded in understanding and took the foot offered to her, shaking it.
"Why would the monsters be after her?" Patsy asked, a hand resting on her chin as she narrowed her eyes to study the Friend. "No offense, but I don't see it."
"It is because of her ability to lay eggs," a deep voice declared.
Alice and the group swiveled their heads to find the source of the voice, which turned out to be the giant purple tree. The tree was staring at them, his eyes glowing especially bright.
"What is that?" Junior asked, not in surprise by confusion.
"That's the Magic Tree. Numbuh Three says it just sprang up here one day," Mac answered.
"Not one of ours," Numbuh Four confirmed. "Never had one so mouthy."
"I was put here by Gaia, the Spirit of the Earth, to assist the people of Earth in their fight against Fuse," the Magic Tree answered.
"He's super magical. His leaves were able to clear up the water supply next to the outpost when some Fusions contaminated it," Mac further elaborated. "He also seems to know everything."
"Really?" Junior challenged. At Mac's insistent nod, Junior turned to the tree. "Let's test it out then. You mentioned the bird thing can lay eggs, why does that interest Fuse?"
"Because they are imaginary eggs. He wants to use this ability to further his own goals," the Magic Tree answered. Then, his eyes glowed an even brighter green, completely washing out his pupils. "But she is not the only one he is after."
Alice visibly trembled at the statement for reasons she didn't know. Maybe it was the way the tree spoke the line. Maybe it was because of the implication behind it. Looking around, she found that the others, even Numbuh Four, all looked as disturbed as she felt. Raj even had his arms wrapped around himself, as if that would ward off the bad feelings.
"So spooky!" the elephant declared.
"I wonder who he was talking about?" Lazlo wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure, but it sounds like there's a new mystery."
Alice turned, locking eyes with the newest voice that had joined their group. Her eyes nearly doubled in size when she found herself face to face with the Mystery Inc. gang. Although they weren't super heroes like Ben or the Powerpuff Girls, their ability to solve mysteries that even stumped the police had made them legends in their own right.
"But like, Fred, don't we already have a mystery on our hands?" Shaggy asked.
"Raggy's right," their dog, Scooby-Doo, contributed, nodding his head. "Ralready on a rig rystery."
"I guess so," Fred relented, frowning a little at having to drop a new mystery.
"We could always come back to it once we're done with this one," Daphne added in a comforting tone of voice, patting the blond on his shoulder.
"You guys are on a mystery?" Suzy asked, her eyes lighting up the way they did when she was excited. "Can I ask what it is?"
"Sure, we were actually coming over to see if we could ask some questions," Fred answered in an amicable tone. "See, we're actually on a job for Gwen Tennyson."
"She's looking into a book known as the Book of Prophecy," Velma picked up explaining, pushing up her glasses so that they stayed on correctly. "It's said to be an ancient, powerful book that could help turn the tide in our favor."
"Unfortunately, it went missing," Daphne contributed. "Which is why we're looking for it."
"Yeah, I even called an old boss of mine, Miss Grimwood, to see if she had it. But like, no dice," Shaggy added in. "She hasn't seen that thing in a thousand years."
"We asked everyone here, but they haven't seen it either," Velma continued.
"Only clue was that it was possibly somewhere in the Wilds," Fred finished up.
"Not a lot to go on," Junior snarked.
"No ridding," Scooby agreed.
"Hey, Junior. If this thing is supposed to be ancient, do you think Grim would know where it is?" Suzy asked her male teammate. "He's had to have come across it at some point in his undead life, right?"
"I guess. I wouldn't know since I haven't seen him since this whole thing began. Billy says he went down to Orchid Bay for some reason," Junior replied.
"Wait, hold on man, you know the G-G-Grim Reaper?" Shaggy asked, his voice raising an octave. A visible shiver ran through his body.
"Yeah," Junior responded nonchalantly. "The novelty wears off pretty quickly."
"Hmm, so this Grim character may know where it's at?" Fred asked the bespectacled boy, seemingly unperturbed that the child was friends with the Grim Reaper.
"It's worth a shot," Junior answered. "I don't know if he'd have it, but he's gathered a lot of trinkets over the years. He may have collected it."
"Then it sounds like we're heading down to Orchid Bay to-"
"W-wait," Alice broke in, raising her hand as if she was back in school. All eyes fell on her. "I think... I think I've seen the book."
"You have?" the Mystery Inc gang asked.
Alice nodded. She dropped her arm and placed it across her chest, holding onto her other arm. "I don't know if it is the book, but earlier today, when we were in Camp Kidney, a girl named May -"
"NOT MAY KANKER!" Ed shouted loudly, his tone indicating his alarm.
"Shut it, mate!" Numbuh Four hissed, stepping on the big Ed's foot.
"Uhm... May had a book with her, and it looked ancient. There were runes on the spine and when I touched it...there was power in it. I could feel it," Alice finished explaining, flexing her hand to release her anxiety. "It might not be it-"
"Or it could be," Daphne cut in. Seeing how worried Alice looked, Daphne reached out and put a hand on the girl's left shoulder. "Thank you. This is the first lead we've got."
"Rah! Ranks a rot!" Scooby agreed, trotting over and giving her a lick on the cheek. "No Rim Reaper for rus!"
Alice lightly giggled at the feeling, since Courage liked to lick her face whenever he was happy to see her. The action helped relieve her anxiety, and her shoulders sagged in relief. Daphne smiled encouragingly at the girl, before removing her hand and turning back to her team.
"Let's get going," Velma announced. "The sooner we can get the book back to Gwen, the sooner we can use it against Fuse."
"Yeah, and maybe we won't get stuck in another seige," Shaggy agreed.
"Oh, since you guys are heading that way, could you do us a favor?" Suzy asked, stepping forward before the team could leave. She held out her hand to indicate at the Bean Scouts and Squirrel Scout. "These four need to be brought back to their camps. Mind taking them?"
"Not a problem," Fred answered with an easy-going smile. "There's plenty of room in the Mystery Machine."
Suzy smiled in thanks at the Mystery Inc. gang, and then turned to the scouts. Her smile turned into a strict look.
"Now no going off with Fusions again, got it?" Suzy warned the boys. "Mr. Slinkman can't handle this much stress."
"Ohh, we didn't mean to worry him," Lazlo lamented, his whole body wilting at the idea.
"Apologize when you get back to camp, got it?"
"Yes ma'am," the three Bean Scouts agreed, giving her a salute.
Suzy nodded in acknowledgement. She then gave each of them, and Patsy, a hug goodbye. The young scouts followed the Mystery Inc. gang - who waved goodbye to the group - to the Mystery Machine. Suzy watched them leave, only turning back to the group when she heard an engine sound throughout the outpost.
"Okay, now how about that new Nano?"
According to Mac, the Nano Station was behind the Magic Tree and to the left. Alice and her friends made their way to the Nano Station. When she arrived at the kiosk, she placed the Octi doll in the slot first, and then her NanoCom. She then imagined what a Nano Bubbles would be like, and the station began to operate. Nano Boomer, who had never seen the process before, hovered closer to the screen, watching as the green silhouette began to take form.
"It's a girl?" Nano Boomer complained, his voice raising in a whine.
"Weren't you there during the fight?" Junior asked the Nano, raising an eyebrow upward.
"Yeah, but I didn't know we'd be getting a girl Nano," the Nano complained, shrinking behind Alice's shoulder like it would shield him from the new Nano. "Is she going to be living in my house and getting her cooties all over it? I don't want girl cooties!"
Suzy released a merry laugh at the Nano's complaint, which caused the Nano to frown in her direction.
"It's not funny!" he cried, a grumpy look on his face. "Girls do too have cooties! And if their cooties spread, it'll cause lightning to strike and blow you apart!" Suzy laughed even harder and nearly doubled over. Nano Boomer pouted more in frustration at what he took for mockery. He looked to Junior, hoping for some assistance from a fellow boy. "Tell 'er!"
"Leave me out of this," Junior refused flatly.
Nano Boomer whined at Junior's refusal, draping himself over Alice's shoulder in misery. Alice pulled her attention away from the Nano Station and smiled in sympathy down at her Nano.
"It's alright, I'll make her a home of her own," Alice assured him. "But you will be neighbors, is that okay?"
The Nano grumbled a little in complaint. "So long as she doesn't touch my stuff."
Alice smiled at him, and then turned back to the station when she heard it chime. Instead of a Nano coming out of the slot, the screen indicated Nano Bubbles was in the NanoCom already since Nano Boomer was already in use. She pulled the NanoCom and began to get to work.
Alice copied Nano Boomer's house and placed the copy ten feet away from Nano Boomer's. Since she now had two Nanos with identical houses, she placed mailboxes in front of each Nanos' houses with their respective names on it. Nano Bubbles zipped into her new home, looking around it in excitement.
"See?" Alice asked her Nano next to her. "She has her own home."
The blond Nano stared intently at the NanoCom screen, and then whipped his head up to look at Alice.
"But it looks like mine!" he complained.
"Well... We could personalize it some more then," Alice suggested. Her Nano nodded his head at the suggestion, so she lifted her head to look at her teammates. "I'm sorry, this might take some time and-"
"Awh, don't apologize. It's not a problem since we don't have anywhere to go," Suzy assured her. "I can go and check in with Numbuh Three about Bullet. I'll let Bubbles know we found her. Oh, and I'll send word to Double-D about Ed."
"I'll go and check in with Numbuh Four," Junior inputted.
Alice smiled gratefully. The group left the Nano Station, with Suzy to check in with Numbuh Three and Junior to see Numbuh Four. Alice went to the fences lining up the pathway in the outpost and settled down on the fence beam, balancing herself on it before going back to her NanoCom. Nano Boomer sat on her lap, watching the work she was doing on the NanoCom.
She replaced the bed with a Sassy Cat bed frame, and added a Bunny Bunny sheet and comforter set to it. Sitting on the pillow was a Veronica Doll for Nano Bubbles to play with in her downtime, and a poster of Gabbity Abby was placed on the wall next to the bed. She placed a Pony Puff Princess lamp on the kitchen table, and Rainbow Monkey dishware in the cupboards. The T.V. was changed to a Darbie T.V. set, and she placed an Octi decal on the gaming consoles.
Nano Bubbles was thrilled with all the changes, and zipped around her new home with unrestrained glee. Alice smiled at her efforts, and looked down at Nano Boomer, who looked upset.
"What's wrong?" she asked in concern.
"Her house looks cool," he admitted grumpily. He spun around and gripped her dress, looking up at her with his lips twisted down in a frown. "But my house looks so boring now!"
Alice giggled a little and gave him a reassuring pet on his head. "It's okay. We can change that, too."
The little Nano's eyes widened in joy, his eyes lighting up like stars. She changed his bed frame to Tex from Dinobonoid and gave him a Sumo Slammers sheet and comforter set. Waiting for Nano Boomer on his new bed was an Action Hank action figure, and a poster of Mitch and Clem from Puppet Pals hung next to the bed. A lamp featuring a magician, woodsman, and paladin from Monsters & Mazes sat at the kitchen table, and Hokeymon dishware at in the cupboards. The T.V. became a Yipper T.V. set, and the game consoles had a Spore decal on them.
"How is this?" she asked.
"I love it," the Nano whispered reverently. He reached out and rested his two tiny hands on the screen, his eyes glued to it. "Send me back, coach."
Alice smiled at her Nano's answer, and returned him back into the NanoCom. From the screen, she watched as Nano Boomer flew through his updated home. Despite his earlier complaints of cooties, Nano Boomer allowed his fellow Nano into his home to show off all his new, cool items. Apparently, show off was more powerful than the fear of cooties.
The Party Wagon theme, which she had set as her Aunt Muriel's ringtone, began to play from the NanoCom. Alice touched on the talk button, and held the NanoCom up close to her mouth. Although her aunt and uncle did have a communicator, the elderly couple still relied on landlines, so there was no video chat option.
"Hi, Aunt Muriel," Alice greeted her aunt.
"Hello, dear!" Muriel returned. "I hope 'm not calling at a bad time for you, dear."
"You're not," Alice assured the woman. "Is everything alright?"
"Oh, of course, dear," Muriel said to her niece. "Your uncle has been working on his truck. Courage has been spending his days up in the attic, doing who knows what."
Alice knew that the only thing up in the attic was the family's computer, which was smarter than many knew. Courage was a special dog, and knew how to operate the computer. But what he was doing on the computer was the real mystery.
"I was calling to see if you wanted to come and visit," Muriel continued. "It's been so long since I've seen you."
Alice frowned, feeling a surge of guilt rush through her. She kept in contact with Muriel as much as possible, but she hadn't made an attempt to see her since after her mother's funeral. Yes, circumstances made it difficult to do so, at first, but now that Alice could fly, visiting was much easier.
"I can come today," Alice proposed. "I've missed you, too."
"Oh, that sounds lovely!" Muriel gushed. "I can get your uncle to come and get you."
"No, that's okay. I'm in Mount Blackhead right now," Alice replied.
"Mount Blackhead? Why are you there?" her aunt asked, a chord of concern heard in her voice.
"I..." Alice hadn't told her aunt about her position in the war. She didn't want to have that sort of conversation over the phone. "I'll tell you when I get there. But I promise, I'll be okay."
"Well," her aunt drawled, debating on whether she was okay with it or not. "If you're sure."
"I am," Alice responded. She then remembered that she wasn't alone. "Uhm... would it be alright if I brought some friends?"
"Friends?" Muriel's voice brightened up considerably. "Of course, dear! I'll make some confectionaries for them. They'll be ready when you get here."
"Thank you, Aunt Muriel," the preteen said, a small smile crossing her lips. "I'll see you soon."
"I love you," Muriel said as her parting words.
"I love you, too."
Alice placed her NanoCom back on her hip, and hopped off the fence. She needed to find her friends and let them know.
"I don't think I've ever been to Nowhere before," Suzy said, making conversation. "I can't wait to see what it's like."
"You've never been here before?" Junior asked skeptically. "And here I was under the assumption you'd been everywhere."
"Well," Suzy drawled. "You know what they say about people who assume."
Junior sent an annoyed glare at Suzy, and the girl grinned in response. A small smile lit up Alice's face, but it wasn't because of the conversation. The group was currently leaving Devil's Bluff and entering Devil's Canyon, although it was actually hard to tell where one ended and one began considering how the environment was still the same. Alice had found each of her friends and explained the call with her aunt, and both didn't hesitate to agree. So, they were on their way to her aunt and uncle's house. The thought of bringing her friends to her family's house filled her with giddiness since she'd never done it before. It was a new experience, and Alice was excited to enjoy it.
They were probably halfway through the land when Alice felt her hair stand at attention. She stopped and whipped her head around left to right, seeking out the enemy. Suzy and Junior stopped immediately, taking one look at her before they also began looking around. Suzy was just about to wave her hand over her NanoCom when a Fusion Matter glob fell from the sky, hitting the redhead on the shoulder. The girl released a cry from the pain, raising a hand to the injury. Alice raised her hand, about to raise an energy dome, but more Fusion Matter globs fell from the sky, some missing and others striking. Alice ignored the pain that came to her whenever the globs of Fusion Matter hit her, turning her focus to Suzy. The redhead was on her knees, holding onto her injured shoulder. Junior was next to her, using his tentacles to bat away the Fusion Matter he could. By the way he was flinching, Alice could tell the hits were landing more than they were missing. The alien girl raised her hands upward and erected an energy dome to cover them, protecting them from further onslaught.
In the reprieve, Alice glanced over at her two teammates to check on their status. Junior was still on his feet, but he was hunched over. His tentacles were swaying through the air, and Alice could catch burn marks littering the appendages. Suzy's injured shoulder was easy to spot, but she was moving to her feet, calling upon her Crayon Cannon.
"Are you okay, Suzy?" Alice asked in concern.
"I'll be okay," Suzy answered. "It stings more than it burns. We need to get out of here and back to Mount Blackhead."
"That's going to be a problem," Junior announced, jerking his head skyward.
Alice looked upward. Scurrying down the walls of the canyon was a legion of Talon Titans. The first wave was spitting Fusion Matter balls in their direction, attempting to break the dome.
"Can you sneak us out of here, Suzy?" Junior asked his teammate, already calling Nano Megas out of the NanoCom.
"Not with this many here, no," Suzy answered, her voice as grim as the look on her face.
"Alright, so we're battling our way out of here," Junior told his teammates. "Are you ready, Alice?"
Alice nodding, calling on Nano Bubbles from her NanoCom. The Powerpuff Nano took one look at the situation and flew forward, putting herself at the edge of the energy dome.
"I'm ready!" Nano Bubbles hollered back, dropping into a stance.
Alice dropped her dome, tensing up when she saw the Talon Titans rush forward with new vigor. Nano Bubbles sucked in air through her mouth, her little chest expanding with the amount of air she was pulling in. Then, when she reached her capacity, she blew out the air directly at the advancing Titans. The released air spiraled into a funnel-shape, and when it reached the first batch of Talon Titans, it swirled them around in the air, pushing them away from the group.
"Hehe," Nano Bubbles giggled, placing her hands on her hips. "No one can run from my Tornado Trap."
"Keep it up, Nano Bubbles," Alice encouraged.
The newest Nano gave Alice a grin, and then turned back around, sending another Tornado Trap on a group of oncoming Talon Titans.
"Alice, behind you!" Junior called out.
Alice spun around, spotting three Talon Titans upon her. They were reared back, ready to strike her with their legs, but they collapsed to the ground unexpectedly. Glancing to her side, she found Nano Megas hovering next to her.
"Thank you," she said to the Nano.
The Nano gave her a thumbs up, and then zipped away, probably returning to Junior. She turned back to the sleeping Titans. Raising her hand, she charged up an energy beam and fired it at the sleeping monsters, cutting them in half with the energy beam. Alice's moment to breathe was interrupted by a glob of Fusion Matter connecting with her right elbow. Alice's good hand immediately latched onto the injury, momentarily closing her eyes as the pain rushed through her. Adrenaline kicked in and helped her power through it. Looking up, she found a herd of Talon Titans rushing her way, sending off globs of Fusion Matter her way.
"Nano Bubbles!" Alice called, raising a shield to protect herself from the globs.
Her Nano hurried to her side, using her Tornado Trap on the oncoming herd. The herd was caught in the tornado Nano Bubbles called upon, but more were still coming, having moved out of the way. Alice was about to have Nano Bubbles do it again, but she paused when she saw the way her Nano was huffing in air. The newest Nano was hunched over, her shoulders raising and falling in time with the large gulps of air that she was taking in. Nano Bubbles was tired, and couldn't keep going on.
"Thank you for your help," Alice told her Nano, running a hand over her NanoCom. "Please, get some rest."
Nano Bubbles returned to the NanoCom, and Nano Boomer took her place. The Nano stretched, giving a quick scan of the area. When it became clear he was brought in to the middle of a battle, a smirk formed across Nano Boomer's face.
"Let's do this," he said.
He raced forward, forming a bat when he got close to a Talon Titan. He raised the bat high up into the air and brought it down on the Talon Titan's head. Alice followed up the hit with energy spheres. When it turned into Fusion Matter, Nano Boomer zipped off to the next Talon Titan. Unfortunately, the monster had seen him coming. The Talon Titan opened its mouth and sent a sonic scream at the oncoming Nano. Nano Boomer was flung backward through the air, being caught but Alice before he could hit the ground. Instead of bouncing back like she had expected, Nano Boomer remained in her arms, whimpering.
"Nano Boomer, are you okay?" she asked the Nano in worry.
"Noooo," he moaned. "I'm soooo tired."
Alice frowned in confusion. She expanded her shield into a dome to protect herself from the onslaught of the Talon Titans. She checked her NanoCom, surprised to find that Nano Boomer's vitals were in the red.
"What happened?" she muttered, staring at the screen.
Pounding on the energy dome, shook Alice from her speculations. Talon Titans surrounded her energy dome; if she dropped her protective barrier, the monsters would easily be upon her. Recognizing she couldn't keep her focus on Nano Boomer, she sent him back into the NanoCom; she could always send a message to Douglas about what happened to her Nano later. She got back to her feet, and drew the dome in closer to her, forming it into a bubble. She lifted herself up into the air, out of the monsters' reach. She surveyed the ground beneath her, looking for Junior and Suzy. To her horror, she couldn't see any sign of them. Talon Titans were roaming the ground, covering every inch to the point that Alice couldn't even see the ground.
Alice dropped her bubble and began firing off energy spheres at the monsters below her. The monsters screeched at the hits, and many jumped in an attempt to reach her; thankfully, none of them could jump very high. Unfortunately for Alice, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. A Talon Titan had climbed up the canyon wall, and when it reached the perfect level, it jumped, landing on Alice and sending her to the ground. She hit the ground face first, and the Talon Titan landed on her back, burning her back from its Fusion Matter makeup. Instead of crushing her into the Earth, the Talon reached down and pinched her with its pincers. Once in its grasp, it raised her up, and began pressing the tips into Alice's body. Alice screamed when she felt the sharp point breaking through the skin.
Because Alice's back was to the monster, she only had to flatten out her palms and send off an energy beam from each palm, directly at the monster. Her hits connected with the monster's face. The Talon Titan screamed in pain, and dropped Alice. The girl fell to the ground, but she scrambled to her knees.
Her body was starting to tire. She hadn't fully recovered her energy from her earlier fight with the Ghoulish Growths and Fusion Bubbles, and the ongoing fight with the Talon Titans was pushing her to her limit. She still had to fight, though, and find her friends.
Right before her eyes, Alice watched as the brown canyon dirt turned into a sickly green color. Alice's hands began to sting, so she wrenched them away from the ground. She was getting to her feet, wondering what had caused the ground to suddenly change color, when a blast of Fusion Matter raised upward from the green covered ground. Alice was caught in the middle of it, completely frozen and unable to move or raise a bubble to protect herself. She screamed in pain as the energy burned her body. Just when she wondered if this would ever stop, it did. The burst disappeared, and the green spot turned brown once more. Alice fell forward, hitting the ground with no way of cushioning the landing.
Any bit of energy she may have had left in reserve completely vanished. She couldn't form a dome to protect herself and her teammates. She couldn't fire off an energy blast. She couldn't fly out of the Fusion Monsters' clutches. She was in too much pain, and she had no power to call upon.
Alice's vision turned dark due to the amount of Talon Titans bearing down on her; there were so many she couldn't see the sunlight. They had waited while the Fusion Matter attack had taken its toll, and now they were springing in to consume her. Tears fell from her eyes as the thought of death brought a chill to her heart. It terrified her, but not even the brief spike of adrenaline could galvanize her body into action.
Just as Alice was losing her grip on consciousness the darkness the Talon Titans had subjected her to was suddenly replaced with a red-orange light. Heat accompanied the light, and it must have been a powerful light, because the Titans released a blood-curdling cry. The foul stench of something burning invaded Alice's senses, and her mind sluggishly connected the red-orange light to fire. The weight fell off of her, and she felt she could breathe a little easier. She tried to open her eyes wider, to see what exactly was going on, but her body refused to cooperate, and pushed her further into unconsciousness.
Just before she completely blacked out, Alice caught the hazy sight of a figure stepping through the flames.
Hello all! Welcome back to the latest chapter. The final part was my absolute favorite to write, and I've been waiting to do so since nearly the beginning of this story.
The depiction of Camp Kidney is a mix between what we would have seen in Legacy and the show. It always bothered me that Camp Kidney-Leaky Lake-Acorn Flats was incorrectly depicted, so I wanted to make that distinction here with Camp Kidney and Acorn Flats being tucked up against Leaky Lake. The book May is using of course the Book of Prophecy, and she's actually starting to make the love potion as seen in "The Book of Prophecy" Pts.1 & 2. I was seriously debating if I was going to write my favorite arc into the story, and I settled on letting the start of it be shown. If you want to see a well-done version of the Book of Prophecy arc, check out Buttercrush's A Girl Named Roxie. Slinkman's dilemma was also from Legacy. If I recall correctly, Lazlo, Raj, and Clam were supposed to be missing from the camp, so I adopted that here and threw in Patsy, too.
Alice wasn't originally going to get Nano Bubbles, but when the Nano Coco mission didn't fall in line with what I wanted, I changed the Nano and tweaked the mission line. So the mission is a mix of "Squirrel Squad" and "Bird Beast." I almost threw in Robo-Bradley, but it already had too many characters.
The Magic Tree's depiction is a little altered from the show. In Courage, The Cowardly Dog, it was depicted as a wishing tree, granting wishes. This wasn't shown in the game aside from a journal entry in "Root of Evil" (and considering one could just go up to it and say "I wish Fuse was defeated" kinda kills the plot), so it's not shown here. He still maintains his magical abilities and near omni-potent knowledge. I decided to tie his move to Mount Blackhead with Gaia from Captain Planet and the Planteers, since it seemed to make the most sense in my mind. Also, the mention of his leaves cleaning up the local water source is a reference to the "Cool Drink Stink" mission line. His eyes in the game are depicted as yellow (or at least look yellow), but they were colored green in the show, so I went with the green color.
So, the thing with the Mystery Inc. gang is that I don't have just a single show representation for them, they're more or less a mix of many shows (aside from the live action movies, Scoob, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo, and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!). I've based their appearance on what they looked like in Scooby-Doo, Where are You? (since it is there most iconic) but I wasn't going to pass up a chance to mention Ghoul School and, if I haven't mentioned it before, the Hex Girls do exist as a popular band. Putting the gang on the case of the Book of Prophecy makes so much sense for them, although since Scooby-Doo is in the present day, his likeness won't be on the totems, so instead it'd be switched out to Huckleberry Hound.
Party Wagon was a pilot pitched to Cartoon Network that never got picked up. I remembered it on Fridays and honestly I just want to remind you all that it did exist. If you haven't seen it yet, it's on YouTube.
Although Talon Titan is a monster found in Devil's Bluff, I liked its design out of all the monsters found between the two and just decided to have them move over to their sister location. Devil's Bluff and Devil's Canyon, environmentally, are so interchangeable that I can't see any reason why they wouldn't move between the two locations. We also get to see the first time a Fusion Monster uses a Corruption Attack on a Nano, and an Eruption Attack on a person.
Thank you for reading, and please come back for the next episode! Reviews are appreciated, but not required.