FusionFall: Braving the Wake

The war rages on. What just happened? The battle was so sudden and so fierce. As quickly as it began, it ended; but to what means? The tables have turned in this war. Whether this is good or bad remains to be seen. Dexter, what did you do?

!~!~!~!~!~!
FILE 1: Memories and Nightmares
!~!~!~!~!~!

It was really almost a comical sight… To her, he looked like a ticked off gopher, tangled in its bed sheets, poking its head up out of its den to investigate what stupidity had awoken it from its hibernation. She would have laughed, had the circumstances been different. After all, she reminded herself: she had a reputation to maintain.

The world was utterly silent and still around them; yet there was a definite tension in the air. He stood there totally alone in the middle of the yard amidst snow drifts so deep that he had to stand on tiptoe to see over them. He was bundled up in so many layers that only his eyes were visible…and even then, those inquisitive blue orbs were shielded behind his thick glasses. They darted this way and that as he stood there in the yard with an expression of mostly annoyance and touch of paranoia on his face.

Her mouth twisted into a sinister smirk. This would just be all too easy. She was ready to move in for the kill.

From her hiding place behind the tree, she slowly, silently, carefully gripped her weapon and guided her arms into the ideal attack position. He would never know what hit him.

She stood poised, beginning a mental countdown to signal her strike….

…3…2…1…

“THINK FAST!” She shrieked, hurling her weapon with all her might. She grinned madly as she watched it soar through the air, dead on toward her target…

Then, he ducked. Her weapon shattered harmlessly and was lost among the snow drifts. She froze, absolutely dumbstruck that he had actually managed to evade her attack. No one had ever done that before. She was even more shocked by what happened next…

Rather than turning and running away screaming as she had expected him to, he crouched and swiftly procured a weapon of his own.

What was going on? Since when had he gotten up the guts to retaliate? She simply couldn’t believe it! She was so flabbergasted by the whole concept that she was unable to register the projectile that had left the boy’s hand and was now soaring straight at her…

She was jolted out of her state of shock when a burst of freezing cold exploded over her face. She stumbled and fell into the snow, bewildered.

From where she lay in the snow, she looked over at the boy. He was staring at her, still frozen in the throwing position with an incredulous look on his face. His blue eyes bore into her own.

For a moment, hunter and prey stood utterly still with their eyes locked…

Then, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. The boy relaxed his posture a bit, but his gaze was unwavering.

She started to laugh, loudly and heartily. The boy’s head tilted slightly to one side, much like a curious puppy.

“Nice throw! You got me good!” She laughed. A bright smile exploded onto the boy’s face; the kind of smile that as much in his eyes as it was on his lips. He chuckled and ran toward her.

“I did, didn’t I?” He exclaimed, offering her his hand.

“I’ll say you did!” She chuckled as he helped her to his feet.

“Its about time, too!” She said proudly, patting him on the shoulder. He blushed and chuckled at her pride, and she couldn’t help but giggle at his embarrassment, thus setting off an endless cycle of laughter from both of them.

Once the giggles had worn off, they found themselves standing in silence once more; the tension of before having been replaced with bubbly warmth, despite the temperature. They stood smiling at each other.

“Of course, you know…” She began casually, dusting the snow off of her face and clothes. The boy looked up at her with attentive eyes.

“…This means war.” She finished calmly. For a moment, they both stood absolutely still, eyes locked. Simultaneously, a sinister grin broke out across her face and the boy let out a squeal, whirled around, and started running, laughing and screaming as she gave chase.

They left various impressions all over the yard as they romped and tumbled around in the snow in the throws of their play. It was a whir of joy and warmth and laughter as they carried on their games…until…

She scooped up what must have been her 80th snowball in the last 5 minutes…time seemed to slow down…she was suddenly fixated on the snowball in her hand…

It was the same as any other snowball in appearance, but something about it felt so very wrong…she was helpless to do anything as her body automatically proceeded to throw the icy projectile...she could only watch as it left her hand, seemingly in slow motion, and soared toward the boy…

The boy, completely oblivious of anything amiss, saw the projectile coming and shifted his weight to his right foot, causing the snowball to soar right over his shoulder and splatter harmlessly on the tree behind him.

Despite that, dread mounted inside her at a rapidly increasing rate…her heart was pounding…her body felt numb…something horrible was about to happen, and she couldn’t move…she couldn’t speak…she could again only watch the world around her continue to move in slow motion…

There.

As the boy straightened from dodging the last snowball, his expression turned from joy to shock as he lost his balance. Instantly, she knew…his foot had caught on a fallen tree branch that was hidden under the snow…she wanted to scream as he began to fall in slow motion…

The world went red as he fell. The sounds of gunfire and explosions and screaming roared to life around them. Gone was the snowy yard. It was a battlefield now; lit by burning buildings all around. The chill of winter clashed with bursts of blistering heat from the fires. The smell of smoke, sweat, and blood assaulted her senses. Raw fear overpowered her mind. Her heart was pounding and her breaths came in rapid gasps.

Still the boy continued to fall in slow motion before her eyes, and still, she could not move or speak.

Suddenly, everything froze. For a long moment, everything stood still with an excruciating tension in the air; and just when she thought it was over, everything exploded to life, resuming its normal speed.

She screamed as the boy slammed into the hard concrete with a force 100 times greater than what such a fall should have been. A strangled yelp and a sickening crack accompanied his impact.

At first, he lay tense on the ground, obviously in great pain. He made a weak attempt to rise, but his head lulled in defeat to the pavement and his body went limp.

Still, she could not move…she could only scream his name in terror, begging him to rise before…

There was a thunderous boom as the building just to his right was blown apart. The sounds of war seemed muffled now, and again, the world began to slow down…

He raised his head weakly from the pavement. His eyes were half lidded, disoriented from the impact. Slowly, his bewildered gaze fell upon her, and their eyes locked. There was another brief moment in which everything froze…

“DEXTER!” She screamed…

“…Dee Dee?” He whispered weakly. There was the sound of a rushing wind growing closer and closer…snapped from his trance, his head whipped to the side to look at the building frozen in mid explosion…the wind was getting closer and closer…

The boy gasped.

The wind was upon them.

…then it all exploded back to life.

The boy let out a strangled cry as heavy steel beams and other debris from the building came crashing down on him, burying him.

“DEXTER!” She wailed. Other voices…familiar voices…joined her in her screams. Faceless figures…figures of people she knew, but could not for the life of her identify…raced over to the pile of debris and desperately began to tear away at the rubble.

Finally, she was able to move again…she too barreled toward the rubble and began to tear away at it with all of her strength and speed.

Suddenly, the sounds and feelings of war began to ebb away…The yelling of the people nearby grew softer and muffled, but did not cease entirely. The rubble under her hands was starting to turn white, and the voices and people around her began to fade…

The rubble was turning soft and mushy…she began to feel cold and wet coating her hands as she continued to dig. She found her intense fear and desperation beginning to melt away, and her digging became less desperate.

She gasped when she felt something stir under the debris…no…under the snow…

She smiled shakily…relief and a bit of confidence flooded back into her being. She gingerly brushed away the remaining layer of snow from the boy, excavating him from under the cold, wet fluff.

A gentle chuckle escaped her.

“Dexter, you oka-…” Her words died in her throat. Utter terror seized her once more as she looked down at the boy she had freed from the snow.

His glasses were broken. His eyes were half-lidded and filled with tears. They screamed of unparalleled agony, but at the same time, were eerily empty. His clothes were tattered and blood was rapidly staining the snow red beneath him. His breaths came in sharp, shallow gasps, and his body writhed in pain with each rise and fall of his chest.

His now dull blue eyes locked with hers.

“D-Dee dee…” He whispered, his voice weak and hoarse with pain. With great effort, he stretched a trembling hand toward her. “P-please…h-help me…”

Dee Dee bolted into wakefulness with a sharp gasp. She was trembling all over. Her heart was racing and her breaths came in quick pants. Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to regain her bearings.

The only light in the room came for a TV set with the volume turned down low. The door was closed and she was alone in the room. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was lying on a couch in a Kids Next Door Operative lounge.

She had fallen asleep there. Yeah. She had been sleeping…it was all just a nightmare…it wasn’t real…

A pang of anguish jolted through her body. She timidly crossed her arms and settled her knees beneath her.

Well…it may have been a nightmare, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t very real…sort of…

The snowball fight with Dexter was a memory that was both very real and very dear to Dee Dee. It had been such fun to romp around and play with her little brother in the snow…for Dee Dee, it was a memory as vivid as if it had just happened yesterday.

Dee Dee remembered when she had thrown that last snowball before her dream plummeted into a nightmare…in reality, when she had thrown that particular snowball, there had been no feeling of foreboding or anything of the sort.

Dexter had nimbly dodged it, and the fight would have carried on uninterrupted; had Dexter not lost his balance when his foot caught on a fallen tree branch concealed under the snow.

…But it was an unremarkable event. Dexter tripped and fell into the snow. Dee Dee hadn’t been sure whether to laugh or to be worried for a brief moment, but Dexter sat up and shook the snow from his head with an indignant “Bleck!”.

Dee Dee laughed. “You okay, Dexter?”

“Fine, fine you stoo-ped woman!” Dexter snapped playfully as he straightened his hat over his fiery red hair. Dee Dee just laughed as he stood and began to brush the snow off of himself. “…but you won’t be in a moment!”

Before Dee Dee could even register what he had said, Dexter had swiftly scooped up a handful of snow and raised it over his head, poised to throw it at his laughing sister when…

*SHHHLUNK!*

All that could be seen of her little brother was his hand, complete with the unthrown snowball, raised above his head. The rest of him was buried under the snow that had fallen from the tree.

Dee Dee snorted and laughed uncontrollably.

“Okay, okay…very funny!” came Dexter’s muffled cry from under the mountain of snow. There was a long pause. “Um, Dee Dee…it is really hard to move under all of this snow…and it’s getting really cold and wet in here…could you maybe…uh…lend me a hand here?”

With renewed laughter, Dee Dee had scampered to the mound and proceeded to dig her little brother out.

Normally, Dee Dee would have smiled at this memory…but after the nightmare she had just had, she was just too shaken.

It seemed so sick and wrong that, of all her memories to be perversely twisted, it had to be such a fond one.

Now, every time she looked back on that happy snow day with Dexter, she would forevermore relate it to that waking nightmare of a memory of the day that her universe was turned upside down…

Seeing her beloved baby brother in such agony…covered in blood and barely alive…it was an image that was forever seared into her mind. She wished with all her heart that it was just a terrible nightmare…that none of it was real…

In all honesty, it pretty much WAS a terrible nightmare, really…however, it was a –very- real incident. It was a memory that was a nightmare in itself.

Dee Dee shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around herself, willing herself not to think about that any more…she suddenly found herself longing to simply hear Dexter’s voice.

Her single greatest desire at that moment, lying curled up on that couch, was something so very simple; yet she knew that it was an impossible desire to fulfill. All she wanted was to pull her little brother close…to feel his warmth and listen to his steady heartbeat…just to reassure herself that she still had him.

…but she knew she couldn’t do that for a while…and deep down, she was beginning to fear that she never again would.

She knew something was up when Dexter told her that he was leaving shortly after a large platoon of Earth Forces were sent into battle. He looked somber…but at the same time, flustered…nervous…she also sensed a strange sort of sadness…even fear.

She became even more suspicious when she found out that he was leaving with Mandy, Mandark, Samurai Jack, Professor Utonium, the Imaginary Friend Eduardo, and Juniper Lee…a very strange combination.

Samurai Jack, the wise, swift, reserved, powerful swordsman from another time, was always on the front lines whenever a major strike of the Earth Forces was carried out. There was obviously a big battle taking place, so Dee Dee couldn’t fathom why he would be with Dexter instead of putting his abilities to their fullest use on the battlefield.

Like Samurai Jack, Mandy, along with Mojo Jojo, was always close behind at the front of the secondary line of defense. She put herself in the midst of the battle where she could fight and observe the battle first hand, and could thusly relay first-hand tactical information and progress reports to the communications hub. Together, it was their joint decision that dictated the issuing of emergency revisions to battle plans as they were needed, and in initiating the deviations from the battle plans by commanding the troops accordingly. She absolutely excelled at her position; so, why, during such a chaotic battle, would the greatest force of order that the Earth Forces had be so far from the people who needed her most?

Juniper Lee, the famous, magical Te Xuan Ze, usually kept Mandy in her sights on the battlefield to warn her should she spot something occult. She, Gwen, and Grim were the Earth Force’s foremost experts on all things magical and occult. They were pretty much the ONLY ones who had sufficient knowledge on the subject. As such, her magical powers were an invaluable asset to the Earth Forces. They needed all the help they could get right now…so Dee Dee continued to wonder why she wasn’t with the troops.

Mandark’s job revolutionized the way the world viewed ‘Tech Support’. Either on the outskirts of the battlefield or from a nearby location, he led what many affectionately called ‘The Ninja Geek Squad’; a group of individuals that were evaluated, hand-picked, and personally trained by Dexter, Mandark, Numbuh 2, and Numbuh 4. First, Dexter and Mandark selected candidates based on memorization and comprehension capabilities. Numbuh 2 evaluated those candidates for ingenuity, creativity, and improvisational skill; and finally, Numbuh 4 would decide the final candidates based on their resolve, physical fitness, ability to follow orders, and ability to remain calm and clear headed under pressure. The final candidates were rigorously trained by all four of the boys, and the job of this team was to jump right into the chaos of battle to provide immediate tech support amidst the perils of war - whether it was fixing or operating anything from a weapon to a vehicle.

Primarily, Mandark led and guided them via a communications system. Usually, he guided them from a safe location near enough to the battlefield that, if he were needed, he could spring into action at any time.

During the battles before Dexter’s accident, if Dexter couldn’t make himself more useful elsewhere, he would join Mandark and the two would lead the squad together as partners…and no matter how much they disliked each other, even they themselves could not deny that they made an unstoppable duo when they worked together.

Numbuh 2 was too valuable as a pilot to sit out and take over for Mandark and Dexter...and…well…Numbuh 4 wouldn’t be filling in for anyone…Dee Dee was more and more inclined to believe that this team her brother was on was headed into battle.

Then again, if that were true, why did they have Eduardo and Professor Utonium with them? Dee Dee had never known Eduardo to have actually been sent out into a battle; but she did know that, despite being extremely timid and kind-hearted, he guarded Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends with an astounding ferocity. He was meant to be a guardian. He was not cut out to be a warrior. To attack continuously and without provocation was not in his nature.

As for Professor Utonium, Dee Dee knew for certain that he had never actually fought on the battlefield. Put in a combat situation, he could scarcely hold his own, and in addition to that, his safety would be too great of a distraction for his three super powered daughters, the Power Puff Girls, to function at their best. Great precautions were taken to ensure that he stayed out of danger. His skills in the sciences were too valuable to risk. He also happened to be one of the Earth Force’s finest doctors. There was no way they’d send him into a dangerous battle!

They couldn’t possibly be thinking of sending Dexter into battle either. Not in his condition! Even if some of earth’s greatest fighters were protecting him! It was suicide!

Even if Dexter was being sent into battle, there was no way in hell that Ben wouldn’t be right by his side to protect him. Ben was the closest and dearest friend that Dexter had ever had, and the same was true in the reverse. They understood each other in a way no one else did. To say that they were like brothers was a profound understatement.

Ben would never allow Dexter to be put in harms way. If he believed Dexter to be in danger, no force of heaven or earth (our outer space) could tear him from her brother’s side; so, Dee Dee decided, if Ben wasn’t with him, then Dexter was going to be staying well out of harms way.

After Dexter’s accident, there was no way they would make the same mistake twice and risk loosing him for good. He was one of the main forces powering the Earth Forces. Without him, Earth wouldn’t even be holding its own against Fuse…much less be making counter attacks. The earth would have been destroyed a long time ago, had Dexter not been around.

Looking at this team, she found herself looking at some of the most skilled individuals on the planet; each of them invaluable to the Earth Force’s troops. The troops needed them desperately…yet here those people stood.  All the bases were covered…magical, medical, tactical, strength, wisdom, skill…

For them to risk keeping Earth’s finest warriors out of the battle, Dee Dee knew that the team before her must have plans to attempt a feat that fell nothing short of earth-shattering… This team had a plan and a purpose…but Dexter refused to tell her what it was.

“Dee Dee…” Dexter said, his voice unusually soft…almost a plea…

“Hey, Dexter…” Dee Dee responded awkwardly, sensing her brother’s unease. “What’s wrong?”

Dexter took a deep breath and looked up into her eyes.

“Dee Dee…” He said again, reaching out to grasp her hands. This was serious. Dee Dee just knew it. She knelt in front of him, giving him her full attention. She reassuringly laced her fingers with his.

“…Listen…I…I am going to be going away for a little while…” Dexter explained slowly, locking eyes with his sister.

“…I’m not coming with you, am I?” Dee Dee more stated than asked. Dexter shook his head.

“Not this time, Dee Dee…” Dexter said.

“Where are you going, Dexter? And why right now?” Dee Dee half whimpered.

“I…I’m sorry, Dee Dee…but I can’t tell you…” Dexter said. Dee Dee almost winced.

“Dexter…you’re not doing something dangerous, are you?” Dee Dee asked. Dexter snorted.

“Technically, being in the middle of a war between two planets and all, just being on this planet right now is a danger in itself…” Dexter mused. He quickly realized by the look on his sisters face that that had not been the best thing to say at that moment.

“Er…I mean…that is to say…” Dexter stammered. A few yards away, Samurai Jack had overheard the two speaking and approached them.

“Dexter…If I may…” Samurai Jack said, his voice calm, deep, and soothing. Dexter nodded, and Jack turned to Dee Dee. He placed a hand on her shoulder and knelt to her eye level.

“There is little that your brother can reveal to you right now…but please, be at peace, Dee Dee…allow me to make this oath to you…” Jack said. He straightened up and drew his sword. He closed his eyes as he blessed it to his forehead. Gracefully, he lowered himself to his knees and held his sword parallel to his shoulders with both hands.

“On my honor as a Samurai, I do make this solemn oath…to never leave your brother’s side. No harm shall befall him while I still draw breath.” Jack vowed. He lowered his sword so that it was parallel with his knees, then elegantly lowered his forehead to touch it across the blade’s surface once more.

Dexter smiled.

“And he’s really good, too.” Dexter  joked. Dee Dee locked eyes with her brother, too worried to be amused. Dexter sighed and grabbed her hands again.

“Dee Dee – its going to be okay. I will come back to you.” Dexter assured her.

“But when? How long will you be gone?” Dee Dee asked.

“…I’m not quite sure…it may only be a few hours…or it may be several days…” Dexter explained sincerely. “But as I said…I will be back. I promise.”

Dee Dee leaned down and hugged him tightly. “I’m holding you to that promise, Dexter…you’d better not let me down.”

“I won’t…oh…and speaking of promises, Dee Dee, this is important…” Dexter said, pulling away from the hug to look her in the eyes.

“Listen…I need you to promise me something…” Dexter said.

“What is it?” Dee Dee said.

“I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone that we have all left together…can you do that?” Dexter asked. Dee Dee nodded.

“I promise.” She said.

“Okay…There are a few civilians left in the compound, and I’ve appointed Double D to manage them…so, he’s the boss. If you need anything, go to him. Listen to him, do as he says, and be on your best behavior for him, okay?” Dexter said. Dee Dee rolled her eyes.

“Sometimes you even make me stop and rethink which of us is older, Dexter.” Dee Dee sighed.

“Hey…” Dexter said softly, grabbing her arm. He stared straight into her eyes. “I’m happy that you’re my big sister.”

Dee Dee’s eyes widened.

“They say that knowledge is power…you’re someone who I know will love me no matter what happens…I hope you understand what a powerful piece of knowledge that can be…and has been.” Dexter said. Dee Dee was speechless.

“I love you, Dee Dee.” Dexter said. Dee Dee smiled and pulled him into another loving embrace.

“I know you do, Dexter. And I love you too.” Dee Dee said softly.

Dexter told her that he loved her before he left. He promised to come back to her. Jack vowed to keep him safe. All she had to do was wait…he’d be back soon...then she could give him the biggest, most embarrassing big sister hug he’d ever gotten.

She glanced over at the clock. It was 4:27 AM. He hadn’t even been gone for half a day; yet it felt like he’d been gone for months. She missed him so much already. As she buried her face in the blanket, she could almost smell the distinct medley of motor oil, chemicals, smoke, and latex that clung to Dexter’s clothes …

She paused suddenly. Really, she thought, she must have quite the vivid imagination, because she could swear that she really could smell the scent of her brother…

That was when she realized the odd feeling of the material of the blanket that was draped over her…she noticed its unusual size and shape…

She straightened up and held the blanket up so that she could see it properly. She smiled. It wasn’t a blanket, and she hadn’t been imagining her brother’s scent.

She would have recognized Dexter’s lab coat anywhere, even if it hadn’t had his name on it!

Dee Dee chuckled softly to herself and lovingly folded the lab coat over her arm. Now that she had calmed down from the nightmare, she could piece together why she woke up in the KND lounge rather than her own bed.

She could remember now…the building had been almost completely emptied of KND Operatives…they had all been called to battle…

It was very rare that an entire compound was emptied for one battle…it had happened so fast…all of a sudden, Numbuh 1 rallied all the troops in the compound and led them all into battle…

Not even the soldiers under his command knew what was going on. The civilians who remained in the compound could do nothing but worry and wait…

To take their minds off of things, they had all gathered together in one of the lounges to hang out.  She had spent several hours in the company of Mac, Bloo, Goo, Eddy, Ed, Billy, Courage, Jimmy, Johnny, Plank, Sarah, Naz, and Double D. She deduced that she must have fallen asleep while waiting with them; and that they must have turned out the lights and left quietly so that they didn’t wake her up…her brother had probably returned soon after, found her sleeping, laid his lab coat over her to make sure she was warm enough, then left to let her sleep undisturbed.

Boy, she really wished Dexter would hurry up and get back…

…Wait…something about that statement didn’t make sense in her still groggy mind…she was trying to pinpoint what it was, but those darned voices weren’t helping…

Wait…she was AWAKE now…the muffled voices from her dream should have stopped now that she was awake…unless…

Dee Dee shot to her feet. Her heart began to race once more. Her eyes were wide and her body trembled. She felt sick to her stomach with anxiety.

“Those voices…The Earth Forces are back…Dexter’s back…Oh my God…” Dee Dee breathed. She immediately bolted out the door.

~!~!~!~!
TO BE CONTINUED…
~!~!~!~!

I’ll probably have File 2 up tonight or tomorrow…my thermometer is easer to understand than I am right now ( ugh! I sound like a toad!); so I probably won’t be going anywhere tomorrow…

Reviews are my antidrug! You wouldn’t want me to do drugs, would you? Save my generation! Please leave a review! XD