A lonesome girl walked through a small, white corridor. Her movements were calm yet stiff, her ruby eyes locked forward while her ginger hair swayed after each step. Her red bow sat neatly on her head, a black jumpsuit with a red sash adjusted tightly around her slim body. In her hand was a small tablet, the other rubbing two fingers together out of a sign of anticipation. She was holding her breath, keeping down the pent up anxiety from within.
Blossom, the only remaining powerpuff girl, calmly made her way across the medical wing. Her eyes occasionally glanced at each window, peering down at every soldier who suffered greatly. Back to back were there lines of agents at death's door, catered to individually by their own staff. A stiff robot, painted in Dexter's Lab blue, each analyzed their patients closely. Dexbots, state of the art, worked tirelessly to ensure the survival of each man.
The girl came to a halt and looked into one of the rooms, witnessing another patient on his bed. His hair had been a ruffled mess, bandages wrapped around his body like he were a recently awoken mummy. Even with tan skin did he look pale, his head leaning off toward the side and his eyes closed. His chest softly rose and fell, wires hooked onto him like a lab experiment. His Dexbot remained idle, looking up at a monitor hooked to the wall above him; it watched his vitals quietly, rubbing its metallic hands together in anticipation.
Blossom swung the door open and stepped inside, quietly shutting it and spoke hushly. "Good evening, Dexbot. How's he doing?"
The automaton turned to look at her, giving a nod and held its arms at its sides stiffly. "His vitals appear to be stable; his injuries are not severe, however he has exhausted himself. He lost a lot of his blood, although thankfully we had some donations and medical fusion to spare!"
The man stifled, squinting his eyes open at the two talking with one another. A slight grumble came from him as his arm moved, sliding a hand on his stomach to adjust his position.
"Good to know, you did a great job taking care of him." Blossom grinned. Despite it being a robot, a part of her always showed kindness toward robots. It was something she couldn't handle, often showing kindness toward anyone if given the chance.
She took a couple of steps forward and widened her eyes, "Oh, you're awake. Sorry for disturbing you, Niles."
The robot watched with interest, slightly tilting its head.
A hand instinctually gripped his side out of pain as Niles sat up, positioning his head on the pillow and turned to look up at Blossom. "No, no it's.. okay. I missed you."
She smiled, her tired eyes lighting up somewhat in his presence. "I missed you too."
Out of courtesy, the Dexbot slowly drove its body over to a chair in the corner of the room and dragged it under the girl.
She cushioned herself down on it and nodded to the bot, leaning forward a bit so that they were a bit closer.
"I saw your distress signal," she began. "It was very sweet of you to hold Jack."
The other man frowned, looking into her eyes as he breathed in. "I couldn't let him die alone like that." His voice was tender, holding great weight.
Blossom nodded, frowning in response and felt his distress internally. "No one would've; I'm sure he's grateful." Her hand took his weakly, holding onto it firmly.
Throughout all this time, almost no one was nearly as important to Niles as Blossom was. She was his teacher, the one who taught him all of his moves in the first place. On one hand, he was an ordinary agent against Fuse with gear and guns; on the other: a superhero in training, powers gained by the metal suit he built for himself. Day in and day out did he work hard, guided by the Powerpuff Girls into becoming the next superhero to fight alongside them. They were powerful, dangerous when put together. To think that a fourth super were to be created, or better yet: an army of supersuit agents, one would wonder how powerful they could be.
Niles fought his pain a bit and sat up, gripping his side and breathed heavily. Their hands grew clammy a bit, causing him to let go and hold his own together. "I don't think I had ever fought so hard in my entire life; I hate to say it, but the suit is destroyed. It was practically eaten up when Mandark's ship blew up."
Blossom blinked, listening to him curiously. Her tablet had been placed aside on the foot of the bed, resting her hands in her lap. "What happened in the valley?"
"The fusions launched an assault; the creatures collected themselves in a hivemind and coordinated an attack on our ship." Niles explained. "We had found the journal by then, so Fuse must have known which is why we were seized."
She rocked left and right.
"We ended up taking down almost all of them, but the losses were just.. too great." he spoke, visually recounting the events which happened. "Any agents who attempted to flee using their own ships or tech had quickly been blown out of the sky, or forced into the ocean. Jack and I fought until the very end, but… we were forced back to the edge of the beach."
"Is Jack still on the beach now?" Blossom quietly asked.
Niles replied, "Yeah, he is. I buried him with his sword, underneath the palm trees."
A hum of acknowledgement came from the girl, although she didn't say anything else and let him speak.
All Niles could do was sit and think, looking up at the ceiling as he recounted the events. Some of the agents he worked hard with were cut down, the grotesque forms of mutated dinosaurs ripping them apart. Jack was nearly an angel of death during that fight, having nearly cut down hundreds of them. He lost count, unable to keep up due to the stress and sheer numbers of the beasts around them. Stiil, now that he had time to safely consider it, the valley was quieter than normal.
"You don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to," Blossom softly reassured. "It's okay. You did great."
Niles nodded, breathing heavily and looked over at her. "For once, I genuinely thought it was over."
Blossom shook her head, "No, not yet. There's still time."
"When you said that this whole hero gig wasn't going to be easy," he weakly smiled. "I didn't believe you."
She smiled back, "Then you should know that I'm always right."
He playfully scoffed, then winced. "Yes, I know."
"Speaking off hero gig," she hummed. "I have a gift for you, whenever you get better. I think you're going to like it."
"Okay," Niles grinned. "I'll never not accept a gift."
Blossom nodded, patting him on the shoulder lightly a bit and got up from her chair. "I need to go see Dexter and Two about something; there's going to be a meeting soon and unfortunately you won't get to see it. I'll give you the rundown when we get finished; for now, orders are to rest and recover your strength."
Niles nodded, "Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, and one last thing," Blossom took her tablet and held it at her side. "I know losing Jack was hard on you, and I'm very sorry you had to go through that. To be honest, I don't know what I'd do if I was in your position."
Niles looked at her, his faint grin fading. "At this point, whatever this book Dexter won't shut up about better be worth it; we've nearly lost everybody having to find it, and never once did I actually see the man anywhere."
Blossom nodded, "I know; we're all thinking the same thing, Niles."
"Good to know I'm not alone," Niles spoke, turning to look up at the ceiling again. "I hated that feeling."
The Dexbot wheeled over to his side and held a pair of hands up, "It is time for dinner, agent Arachnid. I will quickly go and prepare it." It slowly turned its head to look over at Blossom and gave a wave. "Thank you for your visit, Miss Utonium! I hope your meeting goes well."
"So do I," Blossom sighed, giving a wave. "I'll see you soon, Niles."
Niles nodded, watching her disappear behind the white door and turned to look up at the Dexbot. "Please tell me it isn't pre-cooked meals again."
The Dexbot held a finger up, "Precisely!"
"Ugh.."
On the other side of the base, a large meeting room housed several individuals. There was small talk amongst everyone, a slight tumult in conversation as they made their way toward their respective seats. The dimly lit dark walls had a hue of blue, faint yellow lights contrasting this theater-like environment while the figures talked. Despite the large numbers the force against Fuse started with, many of the leaders had now been reduced to a small number of branch operatives. Over the years, in the fight against Lord Fuse, hundreds of thousands of agents were lost. Several important characters had fallen in the process as well, leaving only the most cunning and lucky to survive.
Dexter Mcpherson stood beside the main podium with his hands behind his back. The notebook rescued by Niles sat comfortably in his hand as he slightly rotated forward and backward. His legs were swaying in anticipation, his mind racing with thoughts on what to say.
Numbuh Two stood beside him, leaning on the round desk surrounding the podium dressed in his typical button up and overalls. He had his hand on the desk, the other on his hip as he watched Dexter worry. "Well, I could probably assist with the electrical engineering of the project, but otherwise this really isn't my thing. Sorry, Dex."
The scientist looked at him and shook his head, "Vhatever help you can provide is help; these are tough times."
A young, charming man approached the two of them and crossed his arms. He brushed a hand through his brown hair, his green eyes looking between the two of them with an eager look. A green jacket with white stripes stood out, the number ten engraved on his heart. A faint glow of green came from his wrist, idle next to his jeans. "Are we ready to get started, guys?"
"Yeah Ben, we're just waiting for Blossom to get here." Two replied, giving a nod. "How ya been?"
Ben Tennyson smiled, "As good as I'll ever be, for now."
Dexter grinned, "It is good to see you, Benjamin. I trust things south are stable?"
"For now." Ben replied. "but we haven't much time left before Fuse strikes. Whatever you've got here Dexter, everyone is nervous about."
"Trust me," Dexter used a hand to pinch his glasses and adjust them. There was a flare in the lens as he grinned ambitiously, "It vill be worth it."
Pacing in from the front pair of doors with haste came Blossom on the other side of the room, holding her tablet by her side and quickly took her seat at the desk. "I'm here!"
"Great timing," Two turned to look back, waving widely from across the room. "Let's get to it!"
Dexter nodded, taking a deep breath and prepared to get up on the podium.
Ben quickly approached his seat and sat down, collecting his thoughts and folded his arms on the desk. His omnitrix continued to flash, rubbing his hands together with anticipation.
The other members of the room slowly tired their chatter and took their seats, pulling out their papers and tablets in order to take notes. From left to right there was Dexter, Ben, Numbuh Two, Major Glory, TOM, Professor Utonium, Blossom, The Scotsman, Demongo, Hoss Delgado, Rex and lastly Lance. Each had their own respective outfits for the occasion, indicating the direness of the situation. The panels in the ceiling had completely gone out, the bright blue hologram in the center of the room. The back doors were closed, any visible light gone except for the middle. Two agents stood firmly beside the doors, guns pressed against their chests while they watched from a distance.
"Gentlemen and Vomen of the team, I thank you for coming to this meeting of utmost urgency." Dexter ushered, tightly folding his papers and placed the notebook on the desk. "These past few months have been hard, for all of us, and we are on the cusp of moving once again. Rest assured, ve vill not lose hope."
The room remained quiet; nearly half of the members here expressed tired looks on their faces. Despite what Dexter was encouraging, he didn't have the charisma to keep them motivated, an unfortunate cost to his incredible genius.
In the center of the room, the hologram revealed a man dressed in a black operator suit. He wore a pair of big grey goggles covering his face, as well as a black flat cap with a pop gun in his hand. Bundles of grey hair curled out from his hat, including a couple of deep scars on his face. The position he took was defensive, holding a hand out to block something while the other had the gun on the side. He grit his teeth, slowly rotating three hundred and sixty degrees for all of the operatives to see.
"Throughout the past few years, a secret group of agents have been assigned to track down an operative who goes by the name of 'Rick', a mysterious man who appears and disappears for months on end." Dexter explained, looking at the hologram while adjusting his little mic on the podium. "Ve have had numerous reports of agents who claimed he had the solution to defeating Fuse; at first, ve denied this and left him to his own vices. However, quickly enough I came to realize just how right he vas. This is no conspiracy, but a warning."
He lifted a hand, holding it out to Numbuh Two in his seat and continued. "Recently, a group of operatives had been dispatched to search for this man in the Forbidden Valley led by operative Two. Ve did not find him, but found this." The notebook, dried although somewhat damaged, was held up in the air. Everyone looked at this notebook, a few expressions of confusion but remained silent.
"This man was a genius; his methods, although nuclear and dangerous, proved scientifically correct. I vill be passing the book around now; feel free to look for yourself." Dexter quickly reached over and tossed the book to Ben, who flipped it open. "My friends, he has solved a problem I have been meaning to solve for years."
His excitement grew with each word, a few of the people getting antsy. The Scotsman smacked his desk as he sat up, spit flinging from his crooked mouth as he raised his voice. "Well? Out with it boy!"
Dexter's smile widened, almost crazed as he adjusted his posture in his seat. The book was passed onto the next person as the hologram quickly began switching over. It suddenly formed the image of a loop, putting two spheres representing earth on opposite sides of each other with the infinity symbol. "My friends, this operative has graciously left the answer to..
time travel!"
Dexter's hands raised in the air and curled their fingers, posing like a mad scientist as he let out a stinging laugh in the room. "He has been gone for so long.. because he is not from here! Yes, I understand, he is a time traveler! A rugged inventor I vill admit, but an inventor nonetheless which I respect!" He continued his rambling as the book was passed down to each person, expressing their own looks out of interest. Major Glory seemed confused, while Professor Utonium's interest piqued.
"He has taken the blueprints of the far future, and brought them back to us! His book holds several tools, all possible for finally wiping out this green muck under our shoes once and for all! Never, in this tireless life, have I been so eager to experiment and create what man's greatest inventions really are!"
"Dexter," Rex spoke up from his seat, raising his metal hand. "What does this mean for us? Are you telling me we're going to put our resources into traveling forward or backward in time?"
The young scientist turned and pointed at Rex with his hand, "Good question, one in vich I have the answer to! I am aware of how unstable time travel really is, so I am hesitant to explore this prospect. Vhile ve continue to maintain our position against Planet Fuse, I am going to quickly construct what this strange traveler has perfected. His notes, his explanations, all make sense. The data has already been sent to Computress and at my lab we are quick to reconstruct this machine. Our potential loss in this war is close, so I must quickly work to undo the trouble Lord Fuse has given us. After some quick thought, I have come to a coherent conclusion."
The hologram quickly zoomed in, revealing the 3D outline of a sketched out agent. It quickly began tracing across the arrow and moved from one earth to the other, repeating over and over again. "I am afraid I don't have enough time to create everything this man has, but I can certainly prepare us. I humbly request that someone is my subject; someone capable must be sent back to the past vith this book and prepare us ahead of time. Why this man hasn't done so already, I don't know. His tactics perplex me, but I vith not question his genius nonetheless. I must nominate one individual, one vith the strength and intelligence to warn us in the past and prepare for what is to come. Our time grows short here, but perhaps in the past they vill have more."
Demongo glared, leaning in and took the book for himself. "Scientist, what if your plan falterss? You plan to use one of us for your scheme, but should this be a ploy by Fusse, or should the machine fail, what then? You will be a failure."
The man looked over at him, facing his challenge as he took the book and said, "Then I vill know I have run out of options."
"A last attempt," Lance replied, crossing his arms. "one more chance."
"I will work by your side Dexter," Professor Utonium spoke up. "surely we can work something out. This book holds advanced technological breakthroughs, something which shouldn't be taken lightly."
Ben scooted in his chair and leaned into the mic, grabbing onto it. "I would nominate either Demongo or myself; with all of the fusions and soldiers Demongo has trapped, he has become an incredibly powerful ally for our cause. As for myself, I am willing to take a second go at it."
"Dexter," Blossom began, looking up at him. "How will this form of travel work? What will happen?"
"I don't know," Dexter replied. "Ve haven't tried before, which is why ve much choose carefully."
Hoss announced, "Allow me to go, I have some.. issues I've wanted to resolve for a long time now."
"No," Major Glory slammed his desk on the table. "It should be me! As the leader of the Justice Friends, it should be my responsibility to go back and warn them, before they are gone."
Numbuh Two looked over, reaching a hand out and gave a worried look, "But Major, we need you on the field! You're one of our strongest heroes now! What if you don't come back?"
The room began to erupt in arguing as almost everyone began to shout over each other. Disputes were made very clearly as they started to interrupt and question one another. Numbuh Two and Ben both sighed, rubbing their temples while Blossom looked with disappointment. The table shook as some of them started to get up and motion toward one another, all giving decent responses although didn't once bother to listen to one another. Dexter sighed, adjusting his glasses and gestured for Blossom.
The girl slowly lifted up from her chair into the air and held her hands at her sides. Her hair slightly levitated as she took a deep breath, billowing from the deep confines of her chest,
"QUIET!"
The room had come to complete silence, all eyes on her finally. The members who had stood up from their chairs froze, or either sat back down as the fighting stopped. Everyone looked shocked, the only person in the room impressed by her shout being Major Glory with a proud smile on his face.
Dexter reached over on the desk and took the notebook back, placing it on the podium and adjusted his papers as he anxiously breathed. "Thank you, Blossom. Did you vant to say something?"
Blossom lowered herself back into her chair, her father giving an endearing smile. She grinned up at him, before turning to look at Dexter and nodded her head. "Yes, I wasn't given an opportunity since everyone decided to yell at each other."
"Of course, please go ahead." The young scientist encouraged.
With a shaky breath did Blossom sigh, folding her arms on the desk and leaned in. "I want to emphasize that everyone here is important to our cause; if one of us were to go back to the past, we would be missing a chunk of our power and hurt ourselves. Whoever we choose, it must be strategic. Demongo, you are nearly one of our strongest members here. I believe if you were at your fullest potential, you could decimate Fuse's forces alone. Major Glory, you know everyone here looks up to you as one of the best superheroes we have. We need you now more than ever before; I know that the Justice Friends are gone, but they would all want you to still keep going for their sake, not take a risk like this."
Demongo crossed his arms with a smirk, his blue fire brightening a little bit more as he watched Major Glory crumble.
The man didn't verbally reply, but nodded and looked down at the desk solemnly.
"I would like to humbly offer up my successor, Niles. Although he is a strong soldier, he hasn't taken a leadership position yet and serves to be a great messenger for this risk. I have tirelessly trained him to be a, well I guess not Powerpuff Girl, but a Powerpuff Boy. I haven't told him this yet, but I have created a new dynamo suit to fit his needs, courtesy of Dexter's lab assistants. If we lose him, we lose another strong soldier, but I can guarantee he will diligently get this notebook to the right people in the past. Not only could he take the notebook, but his suit can store the data provided as a copy. We can guarantee our past selves will receive this information, if that is what your goal is, Dexter."
"If the suit is so important," Hoss began, leaning in and rubbing his thumb and pointer finger together. "How come we can't just send anyone back with it?"
Ben chimed in, "You're missing the point, Delgato. We can't afford to send any one of us here in the meeting room back." He turned to look at Blossom, "I think it's a safe bet, if you believe he's capable. I noticed that you two were pretty close."
"Blossom," Numbuh Two leaned in. "Are you sure you want to go with this?"
The girl frowned, "As much as it pains me to, yes. He's ready for a mission like this."
"He nearly died getting that notebook to us," Rex replied. He shrugged, raising his eyebrows. "but he lived."
"You forget I saved his hide, Rex." Two smirked. "Technically I brought the book back, but you know-"
Major Glory held a hand up, "Did you find the book, let alone fight for it?"
"Well, no.." Two poked his fingers together. "but I did save the agent! I just thought I'd pitch in my effort. Heheh.."
"Hoagie, I am thankful that you saved his life. I think we would've lost that book if you hadn't arrived so quickly." Blossom nodded, smiling and then turned to look at Dexter. "I know he would agree with it too; he and I will give you more than enough time to prepare for this."
Dexter scratched his chin, taking in Blossom's suggestion and looked to the rest of the operatives. He motioned with a hand and placed it on his chest, "As the one who offered up this idea, I vill not suggest anyone but take anyone you all provide. I vill be busy at work vith this, so all of you vill have to come to a decision."
Lance took a long look at Blossom and leaned in, tapping a finger on the desk. "You make a good point, although I would like to offer myself as backup in case things go wrong."
One by one did the group begin the voting process, counting out every single person who offered themselves for Dexter's experiment. Each individual person raised their hands or kept their hands to themselves old fashioned, leaving an ounce of formality about this decision. This went on for a little while, until they finally came to a coherent decision.
"Then it is settled," Dexter nodded, picking up his papers by the end of the vote. "Niles vill be our messenger for the past. Should he fail, ve vill send Lance as a reinforcement to get these notes to my past self pronto!"
Professor Utonium sighed, rubbing the side of his forehead, "I have a feeling that this is going to be a lot of work.."
Demongo crossed his arms, "Who would have thought we would be altering time? Aku would be proud.."
"I think it's important to bring this up: we will be hosting a funeral service for Samurai Jack within the upcoming week. All are incentivized to come but if your conditions are critical, stay on the front lines." Ben spoke up.
"I'll go no matter what," replied the Scotsman, wiping a tear from his eye. "I'm goin' ta miss 'im. Friends carry no debt.."
Demongo awkwardly leaned in, stiffly patting him on the shoulder. The strong man's sniffles quickly turned into cries as Demongo gave a sour look.
"We lost a good man, one we love dearly. Let his legacy be a beacon to all who know of him, to fight the good fight for the ones we love. Personally, I hadn't had the opportunity to fight alongside him often. When we did, he was legendary." Major Glory spoke up confidently. His words weighed heavily on the room, frowns and sadness shared between everyone.
Dexter sighed, holding a hand on his heart and looked out to the rest of the room. There was a moment of silence, before he finally spoke up. "I would like to thank everyone for coming to this meeting, and thank you for giving me this chance to share my recent discovery."
He turned to look at Utonium, "Professor, whenever you are ready, we will begin our construction."
Utonium gave a soft smile through everyone's sorrow, sitting up in his chair, "Of course, Dexter. I'll come find you. I'll provide a list for what I'm going to need before we begin."
With one final nod, Dexter looked out to the rest of the room. The panels on the ceiling softly began to light up, brightening the room just a little bit. Each individual person got up from their chairs and catered to one another, talking as they prepared to leave and eased each other's worry.
The quietest one in the room, TOM, calmly walked up to Blossom and waited until she stood up. He had his hands behind his back, giving a half bow to the girl. One hand was extended for a shake as he said, "I wish you good luck; for a better tomorrow, am I right?"
"Of course," Blossom replied quietly and took his hand, shaking it. "Thank you, TOM."
The robot bowed before slowly making his way out of the room, being the first one to leave as a handful of members crowded the door.
Dexter stepped off his podium and sighed, walking up to Professor Utonium. Numbuh Two, Ben and Blossom all came together, forming a group of five while the others began to leave.
"Professor, I entrust you vill put in the effort to ensure Niles' trip is safe. I vill work on the machine so it is functional, although I vill need some time." Dexter explained, his fingers prancing across the leather cover of the journal.
"It defies the law of matter, something.. I didn't think was possible." Utonium scratched his chin. "I will need some time to come up with some calculations; I trust you will provide me with the documents?"
Dexter nodded," Yes, professor." He turned to look at the other three, in their own conversation.
"So this is it, huh?" Two frowned. "One last chance?"
Ben crossed his arms, "We have to take a shot, for everyone's sakes. They all didn't give up their lives so that we could prolong an inevitable."
"I know we're grasping at straws," Blossom sighed. "but this is all we've got, Hoagie."
"Will Niles want to go back to the past? What if he wants to come back?" Two asked.
Dexter stepped forward, giving in his input from the side. "Who would vant to come back to a fusion-ridden wasteland like this one? My past self can send him back, if it really matters that much."
"You know, I never really thought we'd have to resort to time travel just to stop some big punk like Fuse." Ben commented.
Utonium shoved his fists in his pockets and smiled widely, "Yes, it certainly is a good day for science."
"An excellent day for science indeed, Professor Utonium!" Dexter held a finger up in the air and also smiled.
Blossom put her hands on her hips and looked down at the floor, frowning a bit. "Let's just hope it really works.."
4/17/24
Out of everybody who I could think of, Niles' path from being a soldier to a superhero was tricky. Knowing the roster of characters, I honestly believed he and Blossom would make a great pair. Given the grim state of the world, the relationships between the survivors is personal and earnest. They've lived to the very end, exhausted all of their resources and haven't fled to another planet just to stay alive. Many of them are willing to give their lives if it means they can beat Fuse, though sadly this is an unfortunate outcome.
Given with how long they've lasted, that he also knew her sisters, their relationship is tender and personal. Nearly like siblings, Blossom is his guide in a world of pain. Though she suffers through this also, Niles is a comforting hand. Being gone for months on end damages a person, though.
You know, something about having a team in an apocalypse makes me feel like it would bring everyone else together.
For those who might be confused, the Rick mentioned in this chapter is NOT from Rick and Morty. He is based on an OC of someone I knew a long time ago in an old forum; I loved the creative liberties the group had with their characters and for whatever reason, Rick the Time Traveler stuck with me. It's such a Fusionfall name and title to have that it just makes sense.
6/4/24
Finally got around to editing the format of this chapter! If you read it prior to the formatting update, you're a trooper. I salute you for some of my unorganized work! Haha.