One month before "The Future"

The darkness of night had engulfed the suburbs of Peach Creek Commons, but the normal twilight sky was tinged a hunter green. The latest invasion was to blame for the eerie palette... and also for that mild, yet unmistakable smell that hovered consistently in the air. It was the kind of unidentifiable stench that came bundled up in the same package with approaching destruction.

To say the least, it was quite unnerving.

Still, it had to be ignored at the moment, as one of the imposing Plank doors leading into the Castle-de-Sac was hesitantly pushed open, the beam of a flashlight showing through the crack. So very tiny in comparison to the walls above him, the youth looked out into the street, looking left, then right, then left again.

"...nothing," he spoke quietly to someone close by. "I wonder if the Fusion have sleep patterns like we do...?"

A soft whine was his reply, and he glanced down to find a tiny dog clinging to his leg, slipping his tall red sock slightly out of place. Judging by his trembling and the truly terrified look on his face, it seemed like he didn't care to find out.

Double D frowned forlornly. He hated bringing the poor thing into such a frightening situation, but he WAS coming along of his own free will. His loyalty was admirable, shown from the very first night the boy had taken the dog in, battered and bruised from roaming Fusion monsters. It was a strong loyalty that earned him his name despite his cowardly nature.

"I'm sorry, Courage... I just... I need to know he's gone."

The security footage sent to him by his agents was downright disturbing to analyze; a bizarre Fusion monstrosity had been stalking the innards of Delightful Developments, being generally destructive and enraging Father like, well, anything else would.

The worse part was... it looked exactly like Double D. That's what caused the whole mistaken identity mess.

Thankfully, that same group of agents had subsequently ventured into the Fusion Double D's lair and destroyed the imposter. The fight was brutal to watch. His Fusion counterpart was a terrible force to behold; sneaky, manipulative, and so very strong.

Everything HE wasn't.

That was some time ago. And it had been plaguing his mind ever since. Past the construction of his Thingamajig, finally finding big Ed, and all the madness of candy treasure hunting (and putting up with Eddy's madness as well), the image of Fusion Double D still invaded his nightmares.

This was not something he could send agents out to investigate; that was a waste of manpower that was needed elsewhere more important. No, he needed to conquer his inner demons himself. He tried to tell Courage that, but the dog was firm in his decision to stay at the boy's side. He didn't dare tell his other friends; more chances of unnecessary injury that he didn't need to deal with.

"...come on. Let's go."

Clutching the 2x4 blaster Numbah Two had leant him in one hand and his flashlight in the other, Double D patiently waited for Courage to climb down from off his calve before he ventured outside the safety of their fortress. The dog was right on his heels, eyes erratically darting every which way and scanning for Fusion creatures lurking in the bushes.

It was simple enough. Investigate the Peach Creek Estates infected zone. No need to actually step into the muck, just keep to safe ground and search the area. If he didn't see a green-skinned version of himself, he'd go home feeling much, much more secure.

If he DID see it...

Double D froze at a rapid sound of clicking. He swiveled around and turned his flashlight to the source—Courage's chattering teeth. He gave the dog an inward frown, to which he firmly clamped his mouth shut with a literal zipper. Double D moved on, having learned a long time ago to not to question the antics of the strange little canine.

Too soon, they reached the infected zone, just outside the woods. Below the hill they stood on laid the otherworldly ooze, glowing and smoldering and bubbling like a witch's cauldron. The smell was much more prominent here, almost to a suffocating point. It smelled worse than Ed's gym bag... and it WOULD take an extraterrestrial entity to beat that horrid stench.

"Ugh... let's get this over with."

"Mm-HMM," Courage nodded in agreement, retching slightly and plugging up his nose with a clothespin.

They moved along the green, tar-pit-like lake's border, mostly, occasionally hopping across the easier platforms and helping each other climb certain structures. They certainly weren't as fit as the agents, who traversed They moved along the green, tar-pit-like lake's border, mostly, occasionally hopping across the easier platforms and helping each other climb certain structures. They certainly weren't as fit as the agents, who traversed these obstacle courses daily without breaking a sweat, but what they lacked in dexterity they made up for in teamwork.

Making their way around, they were relieved not to encounter any Fusion monsters, at least directly. There was only one instance were they spotted a Crash Loader lumbering some distance away, looking confused. They hid under a pile of scrap metal for what felt like an eternity before it passed by and left the infected zone. But other than that frightening close call, there was nothing.

Standing above the same hill they entered the area from about twenty minutes ago, Double D sighed deeply, a great weight lifting off his chest. Courage mirrored it.

"...alright. I'm satisfied. Let's go ho..."

KRACK!/b

Both jumped at the sudden sound, Courage latching on top of Double D's head. He lifted his blaster warily, but a green blur too fast for the human eye to see sped by, knocking the weapon out of his hands. It dropped into the contaminated lake with a nasty plop, dissolving in the slime.

"Ooooh... too bad," spoke a voice like his, only distorted and sickening and harsh on the ears. "You kinda looked a bit tougher holding that."

Courage howled, the typical shriek when he was faced with a such a circumstance. He had to get one of those out of his system before he could do anything else.

Double D turned back around towards the woods, looking up to what Courage was screaming at. Throwing his light into the branches above, there was revealed exactly the being he dreaded to find.

Fusion Double D flashed them a demented smirk.

"Miss me?"

"...you...!" Double D breathed, short of breath. "H-How!? You were...!"

"Blown to kingdom come, right?" The Fusion tapped a sharp finger to its chin in mock thought. "Mm... I guess so. But really, do you think we're taken down that easily?"

Double D's eyes enlarged. "You mean... the others might...??"

"Pfft! Hardly!" it scoffed. "Not with the way they failed spectacularly." It then leaned casually backwards until it fell off the branch it was perched on. It performed a nimble flip, landing flawlessly before them. Straightening up, it slowly began walking towards them, proudly placing a hand on its own sternum. "Fuse was impressed with my performance, so he re-synthesized me to carry out... a brand-new tactic."

It halted right in front of Double D, leaning forward coyly, to which its human counterpart leaned back, causing Courage to fall from his perch. The Fusion was grinning delightfully, its crimson eyes shining with malice.

"And you get to be a part of it. Aren't you lucky?"

Double D was frozen in place, his feet seemingly rooted into the ground. His brain was telling them to move, to escape from this monster, but his body was too stiff with fear to respond.

"...whoaOOP!"

It would be brave little Courage that would take the initiative in a pinch, just like always. With the kind of physics that can only be explained in cartoons, the tiny dog grabbed Double D and lifted him up over his head, swiftly carrying the boy away and dashing into the woods.

Fusion Double D stared at the odd phenomenon for a second, growled in annoyance, then regained its slick talk. "Hey, come on, don't be like that! Stick around!"

It smashed a fist into the tree next to it, and a large, decaying branch broke off in the canopy above, landing with a crash in their path. Courage cried out again, braking too suddenly and falling backwards, with the boy three times his size landing on top of him.

Rubbing his sore bottom, Double D glanced up into the sly smirk of his evil twin.

"Don't leave just yet. I've got a proposition for you."

Hit with a sudden burst of courage himself, Double D took on a glare. "I'd choke first."

At that guarantee, Fusion Double D's smirk grew, opening to reveal sharp, yellowing teeth.

Underneath the human's rear end, a bruised Courage groaned and giggled dizzily. He was taken by surprise, however, when the weight on his back was suddenly lifted away with a painful yelp. He looked up and cried out when he saw his new friend suspended above him, his Fusion self holding him in the air with one arm clenched tightly at his skinny throat.

The flashlight clattered to the ground as Double D's hands shot up to futilely try and escape the choking grip. He clawed at the Fusion's massive fingers, but they would not budge. He could hear the bones in his neck groan as the choke grew stronger. He gagged and swung his feet, becoming lightheaded, as the Fusion below him grinned in spiteful elation.

Until a firm set of teeth chomped down on its leg.

"/bARRRGGGHHHHH!!/b"

The Fusion shrieked as Courage latched on, determined to save his current owner. The strike was successful in making it release its hold on Double D, who dropped limply to the ground, clutching his freed throat, gasping, coughing, and dry vomiting.

"GRAGH! Stupid dog!!" Angrily, Fusion Double D kicked Courage off, grappling him by the nape and delivering a nasty punch that knocked him into a nearby tree. He left a dog-shaped imprint in the bark before peeling off and collapsing on the ground.

"C...Cour...age...!" Double D barely managed to choke out. He squeaked when the Fusion grabbed him by the wrists, tugging him to his feet and pinning him against another tree. The raging humiliation in his Fusion counterpart's glowering red eyes made him freeze up again.

"Enough," Fusion Double D muttered, dropping the wily act. "I'm through playing games."

"...wha... what are you!?" Double D breathlessly demanded.

"Stupid human!" it snarled, gaining a flinch in response. It grabbed the droop of the terrified lad's beanie, yanking him into submission to make SURE he listened. "You know what I am. I'm your genetic copy. I'm you... but better. I'm not held back by such trivial things as rules and regulations. Morals are nonexistent. And kindness for others is useless."

Double D shivered at his very core when the Fusion leaned in to whisper close to his ear, its chilly breath prickling his bruised neck.

"You can be this powerful, Eddward... all you have to do... is let go."

Deep down, he knew what that meant. He gave the Fusion a look of horror, beginning to shake his head. "...no..."

In response, it slowly nodded its head. "Yes."

"No... no, please...!"

"I'm here... to show you."

"No...no...!"

It was his nightmares all coming true at once. He continued to plead on as the Fusion version of himself began to dissolve into a green gas, leaving him with a most evil smirk.

"No! NO! No no no noN...!"

He gasped again as the gas rushed in through his mouth, ears, and nostrils. He could feel it collect in the cavities of his cranium, leaving him extremely shaken and barely able to stand up straight. There was a moment of silence except for his heavy breathing, until his brain was hit with a migraine that increased in intensity by the second.

Cringing, sweating, and whimpering, he fell to his knees, his own hands clawing into his pounding head. It throbbed and pulsed in unspeakable pain, until at last, he threw it back, his body thrusting forward, and screamed to the heavens.

Fallen just out of reach, Courage had half-consciously watch all this unfold, but was too disoriented to help. The tormented scream was the last thing that echoed in his ears before everything went black.

--Foster's--

"Whoa!" Bloo nearly fell out of his chair from the sudden terrible noise outside. "What the heck was that!?"

"I dunno," his best friend replied, sitting opposite of him, a game of checkers settled between them. Warily, Mac jumped out of his own chair, approaching the window. "Looks like it came from... over there."

"Th-Th-That's...!" Big Eduardo trembled, easily intimidated by the shadows of the place Mac was pointing out. "El Infected Zone... at Peach Creek...!"

"What??" Wilt sat up. "Okay, seriously, that's NOT okay! That area's totally restricted!"

"So?! Someone out there's in trouble!" Without thinking twice, Mac ran for the front door of the Foster foyer, grabbing his backpack. "Come on!"

The eight-year-old held such a confident conviction, no one bothered to question further. Well, almost no one.

"Aww... but I was winning..."

"Come ON, Bloo!"

--Peach Creek Estates--

"...it LOOKS clear..." Wilt observed as he gazed over the primordial-esque ooze. "You sure it was someone in trouble, Mac?"

"No Fusion monsters make a scream like THAT," the boy replied. "It kinda sounded familiar, but..."

"...but obviously it WASN'T, 'cause there's cause there's nobody HERE," Bloo abruptly finished, already beginning to walk away. "Can we go back now so I can whup your butt at checkers?"

"Hang on! I see them!" Mac exclaimed, pointing ahead. "On the other side!"

"AGH!!!" Innately worried for whoever was in trouble, Eduardo bolted off, thundering along the lake's edge to the area of interest. His friends had trouble of their own keeping up, until he screeched to a halt, bumping into him all at once.

"Ow..."

"Can we install brake lights on him or something?"

"El perro Courage!!" Eduardo suddenly exclaimed, hurrying over to the fallen dog, who was groaning and barely awakening.

And when he woke up to a monstrous face, Courage did the only thing he could think of doing. He screamed. Then Eduardo screamed. And Mac facepalmed.

"Hey, hey, relax!" Wilt got between the two, calming Eduardo down and looking a battered Courage over as the pup rubbed his aching head. "You okay, buddy?"

Courage moaned in response, but nodded anyways. He's had worse.

"You were right, Mac." Wilt threw him a thumbs up after lifting the weak dog on his shoulder. "Good call!"

Mac, however, looked less than pleased with himself. "As predictable as it looks like... I don't think that scream came from Courage."

"Huh?"

"His scream's distinctive. Not like the one we heard before. It was somebody else."

"Somebody who owns a black ski cap?"

All of them turned to Bloo, who held up the said cap he had found on the ground nearby. Knowing only one such somebody, the reaction was identical shock all across.

"...oh, no..."

"Senor Doble D..."

--

It was so unexpected, so hard for everyone to swallow. Kind, sweet, good-natured Sockhead, leader of operations in Peach Creek, loyal Guide to countless agents, and natural pacifist, even during an alien invasion... gone.

It was known that Courage the Cowardly Dog was with him the night of his disappearance, but a mysterious bump to his head made him forget the events of that night. It saddened and greatly frustrated him, the one time he tried to saved someone and failed. And now his new best friend, the one who had the heart to take him in out of the cold, was gone.

This must've been what it felt like... to lose someone.

But no one came close to being affected by the loss than his two best friends since childhood.

There was a small ceremony at Hero Square, where those who knew the lad well, heroes and agents alike, were gathered to pay respects to their fallen comrade. There were a lot of tears that afternoon.

Reverently, as well as forlornly, Numbah One had presented the beanie, the one thing the one thing they had left of their friend, to Ed and Eddy. It was difficult to watch a sobbing Ed take it into his shaky hands, burying his face in the dark fabric and washing it with his tears. Eddy was less expressive, but the sorrow was plainly there in his downcast gaze and clenched fists.

Why? Why Double D? Why'd it have to be HIM?

Standing at a control panel, Dexter waited patiently for the signal, then hit a few switches. Up within the massive structure, holograms were displayed of people that had fallen or where missing. These holograms came and went as others were found and rescued.

Today, Double D's image joined theirs, flashing his bright smile up for everyone to see.

Blossom quietly watched this from a fair distance away, Bubbles hovering next to her for comfort's sake. She knew how her sister felt about this sort of thing, and their other sister hadn't been found yet.

First Buttercup. Now Double D. Things were getting out of hand.

But Bubbles also knew that if her sister had her way, then neither of them were goneBut Bubbles also knew that if her sister had her way, then neither of them were gone yet. It was tiny hopes like that that kept Blossom in line with herself.

But who knew? Maybe they were alive. Maybe their sister and the gentle genius were hidden right under their noses.

Or, more accurately, just downtown...

--