Down an unknown road to embrace my fate
- "Go the Distance," Michael Bolton
With a groan, Misty regained her consciousness. She was laid out on her back until she pulled herself into a sitting position. She pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead as a way to stave off the growing headache.
"Ow, ow, ow," Misty whined.
She forced her eyes open through the throbbing pain, and what she found made her eyes widen. Her headache momentarily forgotten, she tilted her head as she got a look at a patch of green coloring next to her foot.
"Uuuhhh, what's all this green stuff?"
She reached down to touch it, but immediately retracted her hand with a hiss of pain. Literally the second she'd touched the green patch, it had burned her hand like it was a flame on the stovetop. She frowned and narrowed her eyes at the patch, trying to discern its origin when she noticed similar patches dotting the area. Her eyes inventoried all the patches and where they were, and it was then that she noticed the state of decay of her surroundings.
Hold up. Is this still the convention center? she thought, sweeping her head left and right.
If Misty hadn't just been in the convention center, she wouldn't have recognized it. The stage she sat on had floorboards missing, and the curtains were nowhere in sight; most likely deteriorated. The ceiling was caved in at various spots, and parts of the walls were crumbled, leaving a pile of debris where the concrete fell. Just like the stage, tiles were missing from the floor and replaced by grass that was clearly trying to take over. The once pristine convention center was now a dilapidated building, and it filled Misty with confusion.
"Am I in the future?" Misty whispered. "How far did Dexter send me!? This place looks so old!"
Her volume had increased and echoed in the empty building, causing her to wince when she saw bits of the ceiling drop to the ground.
"Okay, no yelling," Misty noted to herself at a quieter volume, eyeing the ceiling like she was waiting for it to drop on her suddenly.
The ceiling remained fixed in place, but Misty noticed something strange. She blinked and narrowed her eyes as she focused on the opening in the ceiling.
Am I concussed, or is the sky green? she thought.
Misty wasn't a top-notch student, but even she knew that the sky was blue; it was a universal rule. Yet to her confusion, the sky that was peeking in through the open holes of the ceiling was a vivid green color. Misty shook her head and got up, wiping the dust off her clothes.
Okay, I'm leaving. This place is giving me the creeps. Any minute now some creepy monster's going to pop out and attack me like in The Horror, she decided, carefully hopping off the stage. Gotta get a hold of -
"Oh crud! I left my bag with that nerd!" Misty yelped, gripping her hair and dramatically dropped to her knees again. She ignored the way the ceiling rumbled above her and just released another whine. "It had my phone and everything."
Misty was lost in her own misery, lamenting the loss of her technology and personal items. It left her oblivious to her surroundings, and so she missed the round figure hopping from the corner of the room towards her. She was made aware of its presence when it plopped down in front of her, releasing a rumbling growl. Misty lifted her head from where she had hung it and wiped her tears off her cheeks to see the thing better.
It was small, about the size of a soccer ball only it also had a fin attached at the top of its body. Its skin was gelatinous and green in color. It had red, empty eyes that reminded Misty of monsters from a horror film.
"Uhhh, hi?" she greeted the thing.
The creature responded by opening its jagged mouth and lunging for her. Misty screamed and dove out of the way, avoiding the creature. The ceiling did not appreciate the loud volume and responded by dropping parts of itself. Misty dodged the falling debris.
"Seriously?! Some weird green thing and the ceiling too!?" Misty complained to the open air.
More parts from the ceiling fell in response to her outcry, forcing Misty to leap out of their landing zones. The creature went on the attack, leaping for her in its eagerness to sink its jagged jaw into her flesh. Misty got to her feet and waited for the creature to get closer. When it was within range, Misty kicked the creature, making sure it didn't touch the skin of her toes. The creature went flying, hitting the wall with a loud thud.
"All right!" Misty cheered. She then winced as she looked at her shoe, spotting some goo remaining on her sandal. It was starting to burn, so she quickly rubbed it off in the dirt.
"Now for the escape," Misty told herself as she spun around.
She made a mad dash for the building's exit, a large opening where the convention's sliding doors used to be. She had only made it a few feet when the creature made a reappearance, coming at her from her right.
Crud it's back! she thought with dismay. But why's it coming from my right? Shouldn't it be coming from behind me?
She looked over her shoulder, just to see where she had kicked the creature. To her horror, there was a green creature hopping behind her. She looked back over to her right and saw that the creature was still following her. She looked back to the one over her shoulder, back to the one coming from her right, and once more to the one over her shoulder.
THERE'S TWO!? she cried in her mind. RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!
The creature coming at her from the right - the one she mentally labeled as Creature #2 - leapt into the air, opening its jaw to take a crunch out of her head. Misty released another scream and threw her arms up over her head to protect it from the creature. The creature didn't reach her because it was shot, sending it flying away from the girl. Misty blinked at the creature and then followed the path back to where the firing had come from.
Misty's eyes widened in surprise when she saw two figures standing at the opening. An elementary aged girl in a red hat was holding a gun - which weirdly had a popsicle attached - still aimed in the direction of the creature. Standing beside the girl was the popular teen hero, Ben Tennyson.
"Whoa, you were right Numbuh Five. Someone is inside," Ben said.
"Numbuh Five will tell ya 'told ya so' later. Gotta take out these Fusion Spawns," the girl - Numbuh Five - retorted.
Numbuh Five continued into the convention center, firing at Creature #2. Misty used this opportunity to get away from the two creatures that wanted to bite her. She came to stand next to Ben, figuring it was safer to be near a superhero.
"Thanks for coming to my rescue," Misty said. "I can't believe I was saved by the Ben Tennyson."
Ben smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, actually it's Numbuh Five who's rescuing you. I came to assist if there was a bigger monster. Luckily it's just those two Spawns."
"Right, right," Misty said, nodding along. "What are Spawns?"
Ben blinked and looked at her in confusion. "What? Everyone knows what a Spawn is. Where have you been?" He thought about it for a moment and then added, "Actually, what are you doing here period? I thought this place was evacuated of civilians long ago."
"Wait, you don't recognize me?" Misty asked.
"Should I?" Ben asked.
"Seriously? You don't remember?" Misty demanded with an accompanying glare fixed on her face.
Ben shrugged. "Sorry, I've got a lot of things on my mind."
"Urgh! I'm-"
"-the girl Dexter was supposed to send to the future," Numbuh Five finished as she came up behind Misty. "Or Numbuh Five guesses, the girl he did send to the future."
Misty spun around and looked at the kid. Numbuh Five was looking back at her from underneath her red cap. There was a look of surprise in the kid's eyes.
"You remember me?" Misty asked.
"Not at first. But then Numbuh Five pieced it together," the K.N.D. operative answered, resting the wrist holding her gun against her waist. "You caused quite a stir when you disappeared."
"Wait, you're that girl?" Ben asked, his eyes brightening with recognition.
"Ohhhhh, now you remember?" Misty questioned him, glaring.
"Hey, cut me some slack. Being invaded by an alien warlord kinda makes you forget about a girl dying in a science experiment," Ben defended himself.
Misty blinked slowly at the revelation. "Alien invasion? Dying?"
Numbuh Five shot Ben a look and raised her hand to her cap. Before she could swipe it off and use it against Ben as a makeshift weapon, the shaking ground and a roar interrupted the trio.
"Hold that thought," Ben said, running outside.
Numbuh Five followed behind him with her Pop Gun raised. Instead of waiting inside the broken-down lobby, Misty followed behind the two heroes. She came to a stop just behind them, staring wide eyed at the creature that had emitted the roar. Unlike what Ben had called Spawns, this creature was large and mechanical looking. Terrifyingly it had three heads, reminding Misty of the Greek monster Cerberus.
"What's that?!" Misty demanded.
"It's a Cyberus," Ben answered, raising up his fists and running at the three-headed monster.
Misty looked at Ben who was avoiding the jaws of the monster, then to Numbuh Five who had her Pop Gun raised and firing, then down at her own empty hands, and finally to the three-headed monster.
"I need something to fight with," Misty announced.
"What?" Numbuh Five asked in surprise, looking over her shoulder at the teenager.
"Well clearly I didn't come into the future with some weapon, and without one that thing'll kill me," Misty argued, pointing at the monster.
Numbuh Five looked at her for a second before nodding. She shrugged an orange weapon off of her back and handed it over to Misty.
"Here, take this Lightning Gun," Numbuh Five said. "You ever fired a rifle before?"
"Nope," Misty answered.
Numbuh Five threw Misty an incredulous look. Her attention was drawn back to the fight when Ben came skidding over on his side to the girls. He had been hit by the monster's snout and sent backward before hitting the ground and skidding. He picked himself back onto his feet, rubbing at his injured side.
"Could really use some cover fire," Ben complained.
"Yeah, yeah. Numbuh Five's got ya," Numbuh Five replied, raising her pistol and firing once again.
With Numbuh Five firing at the monster, Ben ran back at the Cyberus, throwing a punch that hit the monster on one of its jaws.
Misty had never held or used a real weapon before, but she'd played enough laser tag at the Game Hive to get the general idea. Shouldering the rifle like she'd seen in a number of Rod Tango films, Misty aimed the weapon at the Cyberus' middle head and decompressed the trigger. A blue bolt of lightning fired off from the rifle, traveled the space of the battlefield, and hit the middle head. The monster released a cry upon being hit, the middle head recoiling from the lightning strike.
"Woo!" Misty whooped in excitement. "I just did that!"
"Don't stop!" Numbuh Five shouted.
"Oh, right!" Misty called back, firing off the Lightning Gun again.
Between Misty and Numbuh Five shooting at the monster and Ben punching it up close and personal, their opponent was eventually beaten. When it took all the damage it could take, the cybernetic dog monster released a howl of pain and dissolved into a puddle of green goo. Misty blinked at it in surprise and then scrunched up her face in disgust. She looked away from the puddle, sweeping her eyes over everything.
Now that she was outside, she could see how awful the environment looked. The sky was the same green shade she had glimpsed in the decrepit convention center. That green substance she'd seen in the convention center was practically everywhere she looked. On top of that, it looked like entire sections of the earth had been carved out by an invisible hand. After getting her fill of what the future looked like, Misty directed her attention back over to the two fighters who had silently been watching her.
"So I have questions," she declared, putting her hands on her hips.
"About what we just fought?" Ben guessed.
"Sure, that's on the list. But I actually want to start there," Misty said, pointing her pointer finger up into the sky. "What is that?"
Up above the three was a giant green planet that was larger than the moon. Even from her spot on the ground, Misty could make out colorful planets literally smashed into the green core. The sky had been clear of a second planet for her five minutes ago, so it was quite the surprise to look up and see it there. Ben and Numbuh Five didn't have to look up to know what Misty was pointing at.
"That's Planet Fusion. It's run by a nasty guy named Lord Fuse. Fuse has covered the world in gross green goo we call Fusion Matter." At this, Numbuh Five pointed to the green material on the ground. "We call his minions Fusion Monsters and they're wrecking everything."
"They start off as Fusion Spawns, those little guys that chased you earlier," Ben added in, taking over. "The Spawns come from these things called Terrafusers and some can then evolve into uglier and deadlier monsters, like that Cyberus we just took down. The Terrafusers also get the double duty of infecting our planet. If Fuse can infect our planet enough, he'll be able to absorb it."
"We've done what we could to fight back, but it's been a losing battle," Numbuh Five took over once again. "According to Dexter, the planet's at a seventy percent infection rate, and it's only getting higher."
Misty thought over the information in silence. Whenever she had thought of the future, she had always figured things would get better. That's how progress worked. Hearing that the planet was doomed from an alien invasion was troubling news and ignited something inside of the girl.
"Okay, so how can I help?"
"Help?" Ben and Numbuh Five parroted in unison.
"Well, duh. I can't not help after hearing some creepy alien wants to absorb my planet. I kind of live here, ya know?" Misty responded, making it sound like the most obvious answer in the world. "Besides, I've already included myself in this since I helped take down that Cyberus. I'm already in it, so there's no turning back for me."
Ben and Numbuh Five looked back at each other, still surprised by how quickly Misty went from hearing the story on Fuse to wanting to help in the fight against him. At their silence, Misty began tapping her foot impatiently and raised an eyebrow expectantly at them.
"Well?" she demanded.
Ben broke out into a grin at the girl's moxie. Their side had so many losses that many of their fighters - even the best of the heroes - had become jaded and dispirited. Even Bubbles had a hard time keeping people's spirits up, and she was basically the definition of bubbly. Misty's lack of hesitation to throw herself into the fight felt like a second wind that had him energized.
"We were sent here to grab anything that could be salvaged before heading back to Sector V," Ben explained. "We still have our mission to pull off, so you'll need to go to Numbuh Two and see what you can do to help."
Misty smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Before you go, you'll need this," Numbuh Five said, pulling something out of her pocket.
Misty blinked at the glove Numbuh Five held out to her. It was black and fingerless. From the knuckles to the wrist was metal attached to it like it was armor for the glove, and on this metal, embedded to it, was a circular screen. Misty took the accessory and slid it on her right hand, surprised that it fit so snuggly. Misty flipped the new add on back and forth, admiring it.
"You gave me a glove?" she inquired.
"We call it a NanoCom," Ben explained. "Think of it like a phone on the back of your hand, but it does more than that."
"We don't have time to go over what it does right now," Numbuh Five said when she saw Misty open her mouth. "When this is over, Numbuh Five can tell ya how your NanoCom works. For now, Ben and Numbuh Five have other things to take care of."
Misty closed her mouth, looking slightly annoyed that her questions weren't going to be answered further. However, she hadn't missed the urgency in Numbuh Five's tone, and merely nodded her head in understanding.
"Okay, fine," she agreed. "Where's Numbuh Two then?"
"See that S.C.A.M.P.E.R.?" Ben asked her, pointing at a green camper-looking vehicle that had jets on the side. "He's going to be over there."
"Right, thanks. See you later."
With her next destination in sight, Misty ran across the Fusion Matter infected landscape to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. She kept her eyes open for any possible attack from Fuse's minions, but she was incredibly lucky that nothing interfered with her. She didn't see anyone when she arrived at the vehicle, so she walked around the side and found a boy in a helmet standing there. Misty was surprised because she recognized him from the DexLabs' showcase, while the boy was surprised because of her sudden appearance.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Misty," she responded. "You're Numbuh Two, yeah? Numbuh Five and Ben sent me here."
"Huh, you look familiar."
"I'm the girl Dexter sent into the future."
"Oh!" Numbuh Two said, slapping a fist onto his palm. "That's right! Wow, I didn't think you'd end up here."
"Well I am now, and I'm here to help," Misty said.
"That's great, because we need all the help we can get. This was supposed to be a stealth mission, but an Oil Ogre suddenly appeared and stole the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s transmitter," Numbuh Two said. "This attack was no accident."
Misty blinked in confusion because typically attacks weren't accidents in general; they were done on purpose. She kept that thought to herself and instead asked, "What does it want with a transmitter?"
"The Oil Ogre is using the stolen transmitter to broadcast our position, letting all the neighboring Fusion Monsters know our location. I need you to find that monster and get that transmitter! You ready?"
"Sure," Misty agreed. "But, uh... what's an Oil Ogre look like?"
"It's going to be a giant, slimy green looking monster. It'll have exhaust pipes attached to the back," Numbuh Two described.
"Okay, that should be easy to recognize," Misty commented. "I'll be back in a jiff."
Misty ran away from the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., swiveling her head left and right in search of her target. For an area that was supposed to be under attack, there was hardly any monster at all. Which made it that much easier for Misty to spot the Oil Ogre. It was uglier than Misty had imagined, though she could see where its name came from. The Oil Ogre wasn't that far from the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., which made sense since it was using the stolen transmitter to tattle on its enemy's location.
The Oil Ogre hadn't yet spotted the girl despite them both being out in the open, so Misty raised her new rifle and fired a bolt of lightning at the monster. The monster roared when it was hit by the lightning, and spun around to confront its attacker. The Oil Ogre used its large hands to scoot itself forward, approaching Misty rapidly. She kept her aim level and pressed down on the trigger continuously, sending bolt after bolt after bolt at the Oil Ogre. It loomed over her, easily twice as tall as her, and smelling way worse than she thought. It raised a hand up, ready to slam it down on the girl, but another bolt of lightning to the chest turned the Oil Ogre into a puddle. The puddle existed on the ground for a second before it suddenly shot at Misty, being sucked into NanoCom. Misty eyed the device on the back of her hand.
"Okay, another question for the list," she said to herself. "It's going to have to wait. Gotta grab that transmitter."
She didn't know what a transmitter looked like, but assumed it was the mechanical device sitting on the paved road. It was the only tech out in the open, and was in the same vicinity where the Oil Ogre had been. And on the off chance it wasn't the transmitter, she'd just ask Numbuh Two what it looked like and go find it again.
Numbuh Two wasn't alone when Misty returned to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Hovering just inches off the pavement was the Powerpuff Girls' strongest fighter, Buttercup. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but the two were speaking in stressed tones and their hands were gesticulating quite a bit for a normal conversation. When neither acknowledged her presence, she dramatically cleared her throat to get their attention. The boy looked delighted by her return, but the girl was confused on her appearance.
"Found it," Misty announced, holding out the device to Numbuh Two.
"Fantastic!" Numbuh Two said, taking the item off her hand. "Good work defeating the monster. You've been a big help."
"Who exactly are you?" Buttercup questioned. "All civilians were evacuated long ago."
"She's the time machine girl," Numbuh Two answered in Misty's stead.
"Time machine girl does have a name," Misty complained under her breath.
Only Buttercup caught the complaint and snapped her head back in her direction.
"Okay, what's your name then?" Buttercup asked.
Right, super hearing, Misty thought to herself, doing a mental slap. Aloud, she responded with, "Misty Cull."
"She may be able to help," Numbuh Two said to Buttercup.
Misty perked at the words, but deflated when she saw Buttercup sharply shake her head.
"No way. It's too dangerous."
"Uh, can I know what it is before you decide that?" Misty requested.
Buttercup's rejection was drowned out by Numbuh Two's explanation.
"Dexter's in trouble. He went after a Fusion and is now trapped in an infected zone. No one's been able to get to him."
"Not even a Powerpuff?" Misty questioned.
Buttercup narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the question and crossed her arms.
"No, okay? So if I can't save him then it's definitely too dangerous for you to do so, got it?"
Misty hummed for a second, tapping her finger against the corner of her lips. After a couple seconds of silence, Misty directed her attention on Numbuh Two.
"What's an infected zone?" she asked.
"The most infected areas on the planet are called infected zones," Buttercup answered in Numbuh Two's place. "Thanks to Fuse's Terrafuser machines, Fusion Matter is totally out of control inside, so Dexter set up energy shields to contain the infection."
Misty made a big show of looking around their environment, her gray eyes hitting every bit of infection on the ground. She then redirected her gaze back onto Buttercup and lifted up her eyebrow to silently say you sure about that chief? The green Powerpuff Girl glowered at the girl, her hands balling up into fists in her aggravation.
"There isn't any time for this," Numbuh Two broke in, holding up his hands in front of both girls to prevent them from fighting. "While you two are out here arguing, Dexter could be in big trouble."
"So point me in the direction of the infected zone and I'll go rescue him," Misty said.
"I already told you-"
"It's dangerous for me, yeah, yeah, I heard you," Misty responded flippantly. "But we aren't going to know until I try."
Buttercup opened her mouth for another argument, but stopped when Numbuh Two held up his hand to her.
"We have to let her try," Numbuh Two beseeched. "Besides, I have a good feeling about her."
Buttercup frowned. She looked like she wanted to argue against Numbuh Two's good feeling but never did. Instead she groaned and closed her eyes in defeat.
"Fine," she groaned. "I'll take you to the infected zone."
Misty followed the flying Powerpuff, though they didn't go very far. The infected zone was only a short distance from the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., which made the escorting seem a little unnecessary. She saw the energy shield Buttercup had mentioned, and was able to see past the shield to the inside of the zone. It looked bonkers inside. She could spot a mini-lake of Fusion Matter water covering the majority of the zone, and above the water were floating boards.
"The gravity inside the zones are totally messed up because of the Fusion Matter," Buttercup explained. "Blossom and Dexter know all the science behind it, but all I know - and what you need to know - is that the Fusion Matter is dangerous. Aside from messing with gravity, it's toxic to the skin and will burn if you touch it."
Misty frowned as she thought back to when she touched the patch of Fusion Matter and when she had kicked the Spawn with her sandal, and the resulting burning feeling from both events.
"Because of the dangers, Dexbots were set up to portal people in," Buttercup continued to explain, pointing at a Dexbot sitting atop a circular platform. "Only people with NanoComs can get in, however. You've got one of those, right?"
Misty held up her right hand, showing off the NanoCom. Buttercup looked disappointed, like she was hoping this would be a way to stop Misty from going inside. Seeing the device left her feeling defeated.
"Okay, then you can go in."
Misty stepped up to Buttercup and tested her luck. She patted the girl on the arm, surprising the superheroine.
"Don't worry about me. I survived a trip to the future, so I don't plan on dying here," Misty said in an attempt to encourage her.
When Buttercup didn't offer anything in response, Misty patted her arm a second time and then walked toward the platform. She was halfway up the ramp when Buttercup called out to her again.
"Hey, Cull," Buttercup called. "Good luck."
Misty closed one eye and flashed Buttercup a thumb's up. "I don't need luck. I'm Misty Cull," she said with an accompanying smirk.
Misty stepped onto the platform fully, approaching the Dexbot stationed on it.
"Nice weather we are having," the Dexbot greeted.
Misty recognized the dialogue as one of the many canned responses the Dexbots gave when interacting with the public. She found the dialogue to be slightly disturbing because of how cheerful it sounded despite the dark green sky above them and all the Fusion Matter infecting the ground.
"Send me in," she instructed the robot, holding up the NanoCom for it to see.
"Prepare for transport," the Dexbot responded.
In a flash of light, Misty was transported from the outside to inside the infected zone. She was standing on an identical platform with a different Dexbot operating it.
"Where should I go now?" she asked herself, looking around the infected zone.
It looked the same on the inside as what she had noticed on the outside. A giant bulbous green thing looking like a brain was tucked into a corner of the zone. Floating wood created a bridge over the Fusion Matter lake, just as she had seen from outside. The only other thing she noticed in the infected zone were green tendrils waving to and fro on the other side of the wooden bridge.
"Might as well check there," she said.
She stepped off the platform and then hopped onto the first floating wooden board. She crossed the wooden bridge, careful to not fall in to the green waters below. Misty made it to the other side no problem, coming to a stop on the last floating board that was situated just before the green tendrils.
It's like it wants me to go here, Misty thought.
She stepped onto the green portal and felt the tendrils wrap around her and fill her vision in green. When the green went away, she found herself in an underground cavern. Compared to the surface world, there didn't seem to be as much Fusion Matter in the underground cavern. She looked around in confusion before spotting that she wasn't alone.
"Hey is that...?" she whispered to herself, squinting her eyes so she could see better. Louder, she called out, "Hey! Dexter!"
The boy she had called to spun around, his mouth dropping open in surprise.
"Wh-who?" Dexter asked. His eyes widened when he saw Misty running toward him. "It's you! You've arrived!"
"Yep! Your experiment was a success," Misty said, standing in front of him. "Now let's go. Buttercup and Numbuh Two are looking for you."
"We cannot go just yet," Dexter said. "We're in Fusion Buttercup's lair and cannot leave until she's been defeated. If we do not put a stop to her, she'll continue to cause more damage."
"Hold on. What's a Fusion Buttercup?" Misty asked.
"Ah, yes, right. Ahem," Dexter said, coughing into his fist as he prepared for his explanation. "Fusions are dark, twisted versions of this planet's people - heroes, villains, animals, and ordinary citizens alike. They are extremely dangerous, but I think you can handle it."
"Uhm, yeah, back up though. You said this is a Fusion Buttercup? Like the Powerpuff Girl Buttercup?" Misty inquired.
"That is correct."
"Okay. I fought against the Oil Ogre and the three headed doggie and came out of it alive, but you want me to fight a Powerpuff? Do you hear yourself?"
"While a Powerpuff Fusion is terrifying, she does not have the full strength or abilities like her original does," Dexter said. "And as I've stated, I believe you can handle the Fusion."
Misty looked at Dexter like he had lost his mind before sagging her shoulders and sighing in defeat.
"Okay, fine. We'll go fight this Fusion Buttercup," Misty agreed.
Dexter looked pleased by her agreement and pulled out a giant wrench that had to be held in two hands. Without a word he spun around and turned around the bend, Misty following behind at his heels. Waiting for them around the corner, hovering near a DexLabs platform, was the Fusion. She looked exactly like Buttercup except with some big differences. The Fusion's skin was the same green goo like the Fusion Spawns, and her red eyes the same as all of Fuse's minions. The Fusion's clothes were all black instead of the green color scheme Buttercup wore.
Dexter ran at the Fusion with his weapon held up high over his head. The Fusion snarled and flew at the boy genius, throwing out punches. Dexter deflected the hits with his wrench. Because her weapon was a ranged weapon, Misty hung back and fired lightning at the enemy. She kept one eye on the Fusion and the other on Dexter; she didn't want to accidentally electrocute the latter and so she made sure to fire at the Fusion's back. The Fusion spun around to rush at Misty, but this left her open for a hit by Dexter and his wrench. Fusion Buttercup roared at the hit and threw a punch at the boy genius that managed to get past his defenses. The punch got him in the chest and sent him flying back until he hit the wall of the cavern.
"You alive?!" Misty called to the boy.
"Yes...although that hurt!" Dexter answered, getting back onto his feet.
Fusion Buttercup decided to leave Dexter at the wall and rushed at Misty, panicking the girl. Misty kept firing her lightning bolts at the Fusion, managing to connect all the hits since it was pretty impossible to deflect the lightning. When Fusion Buttercup was almost upon her, Misty did a tuck and roll, getting herself away from the attacker. She immediately brought herself up to her knee and fired at the Fusion from behind. It took three shots, but the Fusion monster finally screamed out in pain as it dissolved into Fusion Matter. Instead of disappearing into Misty's NanoCom, it instead formed into a new shape. Right before Misty's eyes, the shape solidified into a miniature version of Buttercup.
Misty blinked in surprise as the miniature Buttercup flexed, hopped around midair, and then floated over to hover by Misty. The purple-haired girl looked at the miniature Buttercup for a moment before opening her mouth in surprise.
"Uhhhhhh...?"
"Congratulations," Dexter said, approaching Misty. "You have made your first Nano."
"Nano?" Misty parroted.
"Yes, that is what Mandark and I coined them," Dexter answered. "They are the answer to defeating Fuse."
"This little thing?" Misty asked, pointing a finger at the Nano.
Nano Buttercup looked offended by the comment and pointed back at her.
"Who you calling small!" she snapped.
"Don't be discouraged by her size," Dexter said with a humored grin. "She may be small, but she is powerful."
Nano Buttercup puffed out her chest in pride, pleased by the compliment. Misty flicked her eyes between the two before shrugging.
"Well, if you say so," she said. "It's better to have a Buttercup on my side over fighting one."
All of a sudden, the cavern shook all around them. The force was so strong it knocked the two humans off their feet. Nano Buttercup hovered safely in the air, though she had to cover her head with her arms to protect herself from dirt falling from the ceiling above.
"That does not sound good!" Dexter shouted, getting back on his feet.
"What's happening?" Misty asked.
"Tech Square is too unstable. It's sinking into the sea," Dexter said. "You can escape to DexLabs using the warp gate I have set up." He pointed at the platform behind him, which explained why it was in the underground cavern.
"What about you?" Misty asked.
"I must stay and search this area to make sure Fusion Buttercup did not steal anything from my headquarters," Dexter answered. "I will catch up afterward. Now go!"
Misty looked at her new Nano for an opinion, but the Nano merely shrugged back unhelpfully. With a sigh, Misty nodded in agreement and ran for the platform. The ground shook again, almost throwing her off her feet, but she managed to stay upright and ran up the ramp onto the platform.
"Get me out of here!" she ordered the Dexbot.
In a flash she was taken out of the underground cavern and found herself standing on the walkway of DexLabs' building, which was very surprising. She looked out over the side, sucking in a breath when she realized how high up in the air she was. Then, she gasped in shock as she watched the ground beneath skyscrapers fall into the sea. Dexter was right: the island was disappearing into the sea like Atlantis! She looked around in fright. How was she supposed to get down? She couldn't fly!
Her answer came as the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. landed on the other side of the walkway. The side door slid open, and Numbuh Two poked his head out.
"Tech Square isn't going to hold anymore! Get to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.! Hurry!" he shouted, waving his arm to beckon her.
Didn't have to tell her twice. She started running on the bridge, but came to a sudden halt as a mechanical batlike creature suddenly landed in front of her. Misty released a scream and fell onto her butt. The mechanical creature growled at her, snapping its mechanical jaw at her. She made to raise her Lightning Gun, but Nano Buttercup flew forward, putting herself in between Misty and the monster.
"Miss Fire!" Nano Buttercup yelled, aiming her two open palms at the monster.
Fire erupted from the open palms and shot at the monster. The Fusion Monster roared out in pain and seemed to be stuck in midair, its head spinning around. Nano Buttercup flew back to Misty's side and grabbed the girl's arm. She began tugging on the arm incessantly.
"Run!" Nano Buttercup yelled.
"Right!"
Misty got back on her feet and ran under the monster's flapping wings. She ran at her fastest speed across the bridge and leapt into the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., hearing the door slid shut behind her. She sat on her butt and spun around, looking at Numbuh Two. The K.N.D. operative looked back at her with a frown before he went to the vehicles' controls. Misty watched him for a second before taking note of who was in the vehicle with her. Numbuh Five was sitting in one of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s chairs, and a Japanese man who looked to be a samurai sat cross legged in the back of the vehicle. A pile of greyish-brown metal parts was thrown haphazardly into one of the vehicle's corners, but Misty couldn't make out what the metal was or what it used to be. Maybe it was the important equipment Ben and Numbuh Five had mentioned.
"We need to get out of here," Numbuh Two said, flying the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. away from the bridge.
"Wait, Dexter..."
"It's too late," Numbuh Two interrupted. "Buttercup and the rest weren't able to handle the Terrafusers in time, and now Tech Square is sinking. The only thing we can do is get back to the airship and regroup."
The ride up to the airship was silent with the knowledge that Tech Square was lost. Misty especially felt a sense of dread and guilt pool up at the bottom of her stomach. When the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. touched down on the airship's deck and Misty hopped off, she felt that dread balloon when she saw there were no other S.C.A.M.P.E.R.s or flying vehicles except for theirs. The only person waiting for them was Buttercup, and there was a grave look on her face.
"We've got a message from Dexter," she said as soon as the four passengers stepped out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.
A giant projector was sitting next to her, and everyone fanned around it so they could see the message. Numbuh Five pressed a button on the side of the projector, and Dexter's image appeared as a hologram.
"I am sending this message as my final one. I have unfortunately fallen to our enemy's hands," Dexter's message began.
Misty slapped her hand over her mouth to smother her gasp. The faces of the others fell at the confirmation.
"Despite our best efforts, Tech Square has been lost. But this war is not over yet, not by a long shot. I believe that Misty is the hero we need to end this war."
Misty's mouth dropped open in surprise by the faith Dexter had in her. Where had that come from!? She knew the kid for all of, like, five minutes!
"She is the key to all of this. Between Mandark and Numbuh Two, I am sure you will be able to rebuild my time capsule and send her back to the past. It is already too late for me, but you need to get back to Sector V, where you will be safe. Dexter, out."
The hologram disappeared. No one said a word as they took the time to process the moment. Misty, in particular, was processing the fact that Dexter, a boy she didn't even know, was putting total faith in her in ending this war with an alien invader. She was all for helping out, but ending the war! Talk about expectations and pressure.
The silence was interrupted by the projector making a beeping noise. Numbuh Two startled into awareness and pressed the button Numbuh Five had pressed moments before. Instead of a projection of Dexter, it was Mandark looking at them.
"I assume you've already seen the message?" Mandark questioned, though Misty felt it came out as a statement. His eyes fell on Misty and he squinted behind his glasses. "You're the girl he was talking about? The time-traveler from his botched experiment?"
Misty narrowed her eyes back at the evil genius. While she did enjoy being remembered as the girl who traveled through time, she was getting pretty tired of everyone forgetting she had a name. You'd think if they were going to know she was part of the experiment they'd have the human decency to recall her name.
"First of all, the time-traveler has a name. It's Misty Cull," Misty said, holding up one finger. She then held up a second finger. "Second of all, it wasn't botched. I'm clearly in the future."
"Yes, six months in fact," Mandark responded sardonically.
Misty blinked owlishly. Her brain short circuited and rebooted. "S-six months?"
"You didn't think Fuse was able to do all this in a measly five minutes?" Mandark asked sarcastically.
"Obviously not," Misty defended herself, though her cheeks were stained red out of embarrassment. She had questioned how far Dexter had sent her into the future, but six months was such a surprise. She had figured, once she saw how unchanged Ben looked, that not much time had passed. "I guessed it was a month, two months tops."
Mandark looked unimpressed and seemed to dismiss Misty further since he directed his gaze to Numbuh Two.
"Given that my laboratory is in an infected zone, we'll have to rebuild it in your treehouse," Mandark stated.
Numbuh Two nodded in agreement. "Will we meet you there?"
"No," Mandark answered while scrunching up his nose. "I have another matter to look into. Once you've collected all the materials for the time machine, I'll join you in rebuilding it to make sure it works."
"How're we supposed to know how to build it if Dexter isn't here?" Numbuh Five questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the genius.
"Consult with Computress; she was his assistant," Mandark suggested in exasperation. "I'm sure she has a list of materials needed, as well as the blueprints for the machine." His glasses dripped to the end of his nose almost dramatically. "I shouldn't have to stress how time is of the essence here."
"A time machine is being built to send me to the past. Don't we have time?" Misty questioned.
Mandark eyed her in annoyance. "It doesn't work like that. With Tech Square's sinking, all of Downtown is lost. Only parts of the Suburbs remain."
Misty's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"Nowhere else? What about the Nowhere Desert? Or Twisted Jungle?" Misty asked.
"Sunk like Atlantis to the bottom of the Fusion Matter Sea," Mandark responded. "The Suburbs is the sole continent of the world."
"Actually, the Suburbs should be classified as archipelagos," Numbuh Two butted in. "Ya know, since they're not actually in one piece but actually eight islands connected by bridges."
Mandark looked irritated by the correction, but he didn't argue with Numbuh Two. It wasn't worth his time to argue over what the land mass should be classified as. Looking over at the newcomer, it seemed it wasn't necessary; from the way her mouth was dropped open, Misty got the seriousness of the situation.
"So as you can see, Miss Cull," Mandark addressed sarcastically, "we're on a tight schedule. We only have one chance to fix everything and prevent Fuse from consuming our planet. Don't take it lightly."
"Hey, watch your tone, pal," Nano Buttercup spoke up, defending Misty.
Misty smiled in thanks at her new Nano, who grinned back in solidarity. Mandark rolled his eyes at the Nano. He directed his attention back on Numbuh Two.
"Just get to Sector V and get started on collecting the materials," Mandark ordered. "Mandark, out."
His hologram disappeared, but not before Misty and Nano Buttercup were able to stick their tongues out at him.
"You heard him, folks," Numbuh Two said. "Next stop: Sector V!"
That's right, this chapter was basically the game's tutorial. It's sorta hard not to reference the tutorial if you're doing the future storyline since it lays out everything about the future so well. I made tweaks here and there obviously to fit the story's flow, and switched up where Misty met Ben and Numbuh Five in comparison to the game. It just dropped you off in a random place before sending your butt up to the rest of the square. Also, unlike the game that didn't want to acknowledge death except as a game mechanic, many characters did not survive the future. Not all characters are dead, but a majority are.
I didn't mean for this chapter to be so long, but it is what it is.
No explicit time is given on how much time did pass, or how far the character was sent, so my usual timeframe is like six to seven months. I guess it could be shorter since they wouldn't have had warning, but I wanted to give a longer time to establish everyone as rundown and tired. It contrasts nicely with Misty coming in fresh and new.
The glove that Misty wears is inspired by Kidzeus' Nano Tech Device, though it's not one-to-one since stylistically it's also like Ash Ketchum's gloves from the Pokémon series (specifically the original series). The glove that is given to Misty is how she can collect Fusion Matter, access her Nano (Nanos in the future), and store her items; basically, everything we saw in the game. I didn't want to rely on the NanoCom that I had used in my prior story, but I also needed to explain the holographic display we see in game, so I decided to use Kidzeus' Nano Tech Device as a baseboard. The glove will still be known as a NanoCom since that's the term used in game.