Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[ Genius Grove ]

It was a Normal morning in the Suburbs, the alarm went off, I ate my sunny side up eggs and bacon, I brushed my teeth, put on my clothes, and then I was off to school. I lived in genius grove Where the home of one of the greatest child geniuses lived Dexter. “Oh good morning Dallas” a voice was heard behind me. The voice came from a young girl who wore a red hoodie and a red skirt. She had a coffee brown skin and two black braided pigtails.

“Oh good morning Penny,” I said with a smile, "want to walk with me to school?”

“Sure i'd love too” she said growing a larger smile on her face

[ Pokey oaks South ]

The two walked down the streets heading to pokey oaks South, one their way they met another familiar face, she was a middle aged woman with a standard orange skirt and red vest. “Oh good morning kids” she was one of the teachers at the newly rebuilt pokey Oaks middle school
“Good morning ms Keane'' Penny said while Dallas gave a gentle wave “why aren't you at the school by now?” ms. Keane was the two previous middle school teachers before graduating to high-school. “Oh well for some reason only the high-school has class today, i'm not sure why the weather is sunny and warm, and the email i got mentioned nothing about power outages usually when we need to close down one school we close the entire district” she said as she was watering her garden “ i love to teach without it i have no clue what to do with myself” her bright expression said otherwise. While the two set off, the Pokey Oaks North Dexbots made by Dexter himself began to float by “Dexbots? That's strange” Dallas said to His friend, as she was about to speak a bot approached both of them

“Please state your age” . . .

“Uh” penny said confused “16. . .” Dallas agreed “same here”

“Please state your names and verify” the bot opened a holovid stating for identification. “What's this all about?” Dallas questioned the machine as the two typed in their names

“I am programmed not to say until after you've completed your school day, in the school you will receive a special message in the form of an assembly” the two screens changed “please verify” the screens displayed information of the two students including Birthdays, Names, Addresses, and even displayed a small picture of the two students yearbook photos from the year prio, dallas looked into the screen at his blonde hair and dark skin although it appears younger due to not taking the yearbook photos yet this year. “Seems about correct” he said “same here” Penny agreed.

Without hesitation the bot hovered past them “very nice weather we are having” were its final words before turning the corner on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, . .

[ Sector V ]

There stood a young man waiting at the bus stop, he had brown hair and big blue eyes, he wore a necklace dawning the logo of his idol Ben Tennyson. He sat there on his phone at the bench waiting patiently for the big yellow bus to hover by, he got bored and looked around noticing the giant Tree House a few blocks down. He never fully knew who was in it but whoever it was must have had a lot of cash. Soon the yellow bus hovered by and opened its doors instead of the average bus driver in it was a blue robot dawning the DexLabs logo

“Please state your age and full name” . . .

“Uhh ok My name is Elliot Smith and i am 16 years old”

“Thank you i have found you on my registry for this route please take your seat”

Elliot had zero clue why a robot from a corporation on planetary defense was driving his bus but now he couldn't exactly leave. He took his seat next to a blonde kid in a red hoodie, he wore a baseball cap with a brain on it and his skin was a very tan color, his book bag had a sewn on pin stating “ Stay Eternal at the Eternal Vistas” weird he had a pin stating where he probably lived but who was Elliot to judge. The kid with blonde hair noticed Elliot sitting “oh hey man” He introduced himself “names Milo, you?”

“Uhh Elliot” Elliot was inching to ask him about the sewn on pin but kept his cool, he had never meet anyone from the outskirts of town his family often forbid him from going and the only time he's visited was when he is on the Slider to visit the City

“The bus is at maximum capacity changing route to Pokey Oaks High now” the bot echoed on the buses speakers

[ Pokey Oaks North ]

Entering the school zone Dallas and Penny both split up as they have different classes each at different sides of the school, on Penny’s way to her class she got a notification on her phone, it was a news report.”buttercup still missing day three of searching” as penny was about to open the notification she bumped into someone nearly knocking her over “oh sorry i wasn't looking where i was going- “ she looked up and saw a girl with shiny clear skin, jewelry, and flowing pink cherry blossom hair “well excuse you” she walked away scoffing at Penny “i'm so sorry i didn't mean to- “

“Don't bother i really could care less what some pedestrian girl thinks accident or not watch it” she swayed her pink hair and walked off again

“sorry” Penny whispered under her breath.

Dallas was at his locker when a dexbot approached him reminding him to get to class “im going im going” he said scoffing as he shut his locker. Entering his classroom he found that his teacher wasn't there either but instead a blue robot as well except this one was different, although she dawned the Dexlabs logo she was much taller and slimmer, she hovered yes but it was higher, her face was holographic and actually showed emotions. "Hellos students please call me computress I will be your substitute today" the classroom was mesmerized by the robot claiming to teach the class "Today will sadly be cut rather short as we have an assembly everyone must attend'' a student with violet hair and Dawned a yellow hoodie raised her hand "yes miss Valentina"

"So what's with the robot uprising?" She said curiously but with a side of snide

"I'm afraid I am unable to answer until after the assembly, which should start at three. Two. One" the bell rang and motioned the students to the door. "Please meet up in the gym I will be right behind you"

[ Pokey oaks highschool: Hallway ]

The girl with cherry blossom pink hair was wandering the hall searching for the gymnasium, she had in fact never attended the school until that day, she was a resident in downtown in marquee row and was recently transferred to the smaller highschool, she hesitantly searched around the school hallways slowly becoming emptier “excuse me? Anyone here still i don't know where the gym is” she said out loud it was quiet for a moment until the locker behind her started to shake

“Is anyone out there?” a muffled voice said inside “please let me out”

She turned around and noticed the locker “uhh i don't know the pass-code”

“It's 030206” the voice said “how did you get in there?” She said typing in the code “i was shoved in here by Ryker, he hates me for some reason” the voice said, the girl got the locker open and out fell a kid with brunette hair and silver blue green eyes “oh thank you i couldn't breathe” he looked up to her “hi my names Champ what's yours?” he held up his hand signaling her to help pull him up “the name is Lyra Nicos, daughter to Daniel Nicos and Martha Nicos” she hesitated to grab his hand but lifted him anyways “we are needed in the gymnasium but i don't know where that is can you help me . . . Champ?” she said with a half forced smile “oh yeah i know where that is, follow me!” he said, pulling her by the hand.

[ Pokey Oaks High: Gymnasium ]

Upon entering the large gym almost every student was there in the bleachers both Milo and Elliot took there seats and waited for the assembly to begin after a moment of silence it finally started, dead center of the gym was Computress

“Greeting students I am Computress, some may know me, some may not . . . i have come up with an important announcement” a large holovid played in the center of the room and a video began to play. A familiar voice started to play

It was the voice of Ben Tennyson

“All in all, you have to admit, this world is a pretty amazing place. I mean what's not to love? Mutant toddlers, imaginary friends, giant robots, child geniuses, EVOs, cryptids.....that guy.” the voice of Elliot's Hero himself kept him glued to the screen, he clutched his necklace

“Not to mention your occasional alien hero. Sure we have our fair share of danger, the occasional evil mastermind or tyrannical monkey set on ruling the world, but now we have an important message for everyone here” Lyra and Champ both looked curiously at the sudden change in mood, Tennyson's voice hit a heavier tone and the screen went dark

“Not too long ago the Agents of Sector V had discovered little to no contact with the moon and surveyors have found a large unidentified mass in the sky. We fear it could be monumental. Which is why we are working with Point Prep to make a special program called The Academy!”

The screen goes blank and soon disappeared, the room was dumbfounded and silent until a student spoke up “so we're basically being drafted?” the students began to uproar. . .

Chapter Text

[ Pokey oaks High: gymnasium ]

“So we're basically being drafted?” the students began to uproar. The gym grew full of whispers and a good amount of the students calling their parents “a draft?” Penny said to Dallas. Computress spoke to the crowd of students “I am afraid so, Everyone ages fifteen - eighteen are being drafted to a possible planetary war” Valentina stood up and questioned Computress “is this even legal? Why would we work with a large corporate company like Dexlabs to face off a possibly harmless event?” Valentina spoke out to the crowd “This is more than just Dexlabs noticing this event. Like I mentioned earlier KND, The plumbers, the Crystal gems, even TOM on the absolution is noticing some disturbance.” Computress spoke to the crowd. Conmputress pressed a button on the plate that projects her ghostly holographic face “Dexter it appears the students are against this draft”

“I noticed” an accented voice said back to her, “it seems i'll have to better convince them myself, tell the students to visit City Station i'll be giving a speech.” Dexter spoke to Computress. Computress looked at the large crowd of students ``Everyone I understand that you all probably need better convincing so Dexter himself has organized a Speech at city station, we please request you all attend until then the school day is dismissed." The students all began to leave the gymnasium to go to their lockers. Elliot went to his locker where he bumped into a girl with cherry blossom hair “oww is everyone just blind today?” She turned to face Elliot. “Sorry I wasn't looking where I was going.” Elliot shook his head as he opened the locker door “well maybe you should have watched where you were going then, me and my friend here were talking about how oppression of artistic expression can be good for the world, right Champ?” Lyra scooted over revealing Champ who was digging through his own locker “oh i thought we were talking about puffy ami yumi?” the confused boy looked up. “Well pardon me missy” Elliot snapped at her, grabbing his things and shutting the locker he walked off.

[ Genius Grove ]

Dallas layed in bed thinking about what had happened that day, drafting the students? Seemingly a very odd course of action to take especially for such a threat, he got up and went to the kitchen and poured himself some water. In the kitchen the tv was on his mother and father were in the backyard chatting about the draft also but there was a third person out there, it was a Dexbot

“So what should we do to just allow this child brainiac to just draft our children into a possibly huge war?” his father yelled

“Even if this war was actually going to happen, why sacrifice our children into a war?” his mother chimed in

“As I have said Mr. and Mrs. Jones, your son along with plenty of others will be trained under our world's best of the best. We can assure you that they will be fine and even then it's only precautionary we have no exact proof of this being an all out war.” the dexbot said “Dexter sends his invitation personality to your son and takes great interest working with him, Dexter has called for an Assembly at City Point downtown.”

Mr and Mrs Jones looked nervously at each other and to the Dexbot who eventually left the property. “What are we going to do? Our son is just a child” his mother said. Dallas walked out the door to his parents ``mom dad i know this is a huge risk but i feel i should at least attend the speech at city point to see what could be happening.'' His parents weren't all that sold on the idea but were open to having him at least attend the speech “fine man but please think rationally before making a decision” his father said to him.

[ eternal vistas ]

On the outskirts of town milo and his father were visiting an the eternal meadows, milo had flowers in his hand while his dad was calling on his phone “don't worry sweetheart were almost there.” he had a scratchy voice and a pair of sunglasses, his blonde hair and his artificially tanned skin almost reflected the creepy green yellow glow from the street light that glowed ever so somberly. Milo and his father reached the grave site leading to the eternal meadows

[ eternal meadows ]

“Alright kid you got five minutes, then Sheela is takin you too city point” his dad said “yes dad i'll make it quick i promise” milo said walking through the meadow searching for a specific tombstone, once he reached the Stone he kneeled down and left the flowers

“Hey mom im back, i made a friend today his name is Elliot. . .” he said to the gravestone “ i know i haven't been able to talk too much i've been busy trying to keep up good grades in school, i also have admittedly been messing with the Police droids. For Police machines the ones out by us just never activate so i have been leaving stickers on them” he said giggling
“it's so funny to watch them as soon as they activate to investigate a crime, as soon as they wake up they begin to rip off each sticker and it's funny how they act when they can't rip it off”milo had a huge grin on his face, he stood up adjusted his golden hair under his hat then walked off but stopped for a minute “goodbye mom i love you” he said as he began to run back to the entrance of the meadow to his father who had a car waiting for them both.

[ Sector V ]

Valentina was sitting at home at the dinner table with her family, she was monitoring the time on her watch “hey mom it’s almost time to start heading to city point for that speech Dexters going to give” although she is against the idea of being drafted she too was full of curiosity for what could be happening at city point “Darling why go to that silly little speech when you could be here with your loving family.” She said with a still smile. “Well I want to see what Dexter has to say, I mean the guy just randomly took over the school. I think I deserve to know what is happening.” Valentina said back, she made sure to raise her voice a little to edge in the fact she’s going

“ I’ll drop you off at the sky Slider stop so you can get there quicker “ her father interrupted “oh but darling she’ll get bit up by mosquitos, I’ll grab her some bug spray!” The woman waddled off in her tight dress, her heels can be heard all around the house.

[ Genius grove ]

In the car Valentina searched through her satchel pulling out her phone and headphones and began to play music. The steady hover of the car started to make her drowsy as she looked up at the peachy red sky. Valentina noticed the slider trailing next to them, she loves using the slider especially during summer nights. “We’re almost there sweetie” her father said gently to her, she sat up and stretched ready to hop out of the car. Once they made it to the stop they noticed a few others waiting at the stop for the slider. Valentina hopped out of the car and gave her father a hug then waited for the slow hover platform to lift her to the slider stop. At the top there were a few other people her age.

“Oh heya” a guy approached her “names Milo what’s yours?” The tan boy said to her “oh hi” Valentina said quietly to the boy, “you headed to city point too, I’m excited to see what Dexters going to say” Milo and Valentina dangled their legs over the edge of the stop while Milo talked about how excited he was Valentina pulled out a notepad and started doodling “ Computress mentioned something about KND and the Plumbers do you know what that means?” He asked Valentina curiously “WHAT uhh no no I know nothing about KND or plumbers do they fix your toilet hrmm I don’t know” she said frantically “hey look the sliders here let’s go” she said standing so quickly she nearly fell off the edge from dizziness, the slider showed up lowering a bridge to the slider stop.

Chapter Text

[ Morbucks Estates ] 

Lyra sat at her long dinner table, she was nibbling away at the steak that was prepared for her. Lyra lived in a beautiful estate funded by Morbucks Co. it was west of one of her favorite places to go when she was little the Townsville Zoo, out the large window behind her was a perfect view of the large tower mansion that the Morbucks family owned. Both of Lyra’s parents were eating at the table too except they both seemed very busy with work, Lyra’s mother Jewel was busy pressing the holo screens in front of her that she barely ate the food in front of her. Jewel worked for mandark industries as one of Mandark's personal professors. Lyra's father Talc was in the business industry as a banker for one of Morbucks Co’s many banks around the continent. 

“Hey mom dad did you guys hear about what happened at school today?” lyra said as she stabbed her fork into the steamed broccoli on her plate. “Oh the draft? Yeah we heard all about it Mandark was complaining about the amount of children that would be showing up to mandark industries because of it” her mother said, “mandark industries?” Lyra's father said curiously while he flipped through the newspaper. “ Of course this branched project between many of the companies and organizations around the continent is the perfect chance for Mandark to study the relationship between imaginary friends and children'' Jewel said. The room began to go quiet again

“Do you think I should apply for the draft?” lyra said curiously 

“Well sweetheart thanks to the amount of cash and funding from mandark and morbucks we can pay them not to draft you” talc said taking a whiff of his Cigar 

“Then what if I'm interested in going to the meeting in town? it's tonight” 

“Well then you can just take the limo of course, martin can drive you” Jewel said snapping her fingers and out came a Mandroid with a holographic bowtie “if you're planning on going i'd suggest getting ready now” her father said to Lyra “yes sir” Lyra said. Before she left she had one more announcement “oh i made a friend today” 

“That's sweet dear where are they from?” her father asked curiously

“He's from Peach creek commons” 

“Peach creek? He? No no no” her mother said ‘i'm so sorry cherry blossom but anyone that poor is a stain on the family name, i suggest you make some new friends.” Lyras face scrunched up “ like that ginger brat you guys made me hang out with all through elementary and middle school?” her father protested “that Ginger Brat’s father gave us a hefty amount of cash for being her friend, go get ready if you want to see the clown show from the Other ginger brat” Lyra stormed off to her room and began to pack her things “Martin get the limo ready” she yelled. She packed her Pink Guitar and her purse and left for the door.

[ peach creek commons ] 

Champ was wandering the peachy suburban neighborhood, it was turning dark out so he was on his way to the slider stop when suddenly a long black hover car drove by. It was trimmed with gold and dark red lining and tinted windows which slowly lowered down inside was Lyra? “Get in loser we're going to city point” she said with a big grin on her face. Champ was surprised by the sight of his friend riding a limo “wow i knew you were rich but i didn't expect you to be this rich” he said excitedly while he hopped in. “I was thinking after the meetup we could go shopping in marquee row? Maybe you can visit my town in Morbucks Estates?” she said excitedly 

“Wow thanks but after the meet up I promised mom I'd get home afterwards” he said with an apologetic tone ‘oh don't worry about it one bit just give you a ride afterwards” lyra said a bit disappointed. The two both ate snacks from the small table in the center of the limo. It was full of candies, pastries and other treats. “You mentioned your mom, what's she like?” Lyra questioned “oh she's wonderful she always is working but she makes plenty of time for me too ” he said with a smile forming again ‘wish my mom made time for me”

[ city point ] 

Penny was wandering city point waiting for more students from her school to show up, she was listening to music and was watching the ongoing crowds form, she noticed the sliders sliding on their rails dropping off families then sliding away with the next group, she noticed the many dexbots and mandroids hovering around together as if the rival companies were friends, she watched the tech drones scuttle around blocking cars from the streets. It was all very intriguing for one of the most peaceful politically safe cities in the world; it never felt unified until now. Penny noticed a shadow pass above her, she assumed it was some sort of hover car or jet full of agents from morbucks Co. but soon another shadow flew past then another. Penny looked up to see strange green apes in purple jumpsuits and jets on their backs flying past “mojo” she said under her breath, people around the place grew alarmed but the monkeys didn't do anything except hover around, they were oddly docile, it was almost cute.

Soon the large speakers over head began to play and started speaking “people of the continent we are pleased to introduce The mayor of townsville and his two companions and powerpuff girls Blossom and Bubbles” at the top of one of the shorter buildings was a large screen and beneath it was a podium where the mayor of townsville sat, he and his assistant ms. Bellum was waiting. Around them were Blossom and Bubbles hovering around seemingly as bodyguards. The Mayor looked honestly confused.

Elliot was wandering around city point until he saw multiple limos and cars driving past each decorated with different kingdoms and corporate logos and flags, he followed the cars and limos and soon one parked and out came Lyra and Champ ``make sure daddy doesn't know” she said looking through the window until she turned to Elliot “oh it's you” Champ scurried past her excitedly “hiya” he said excitedly. The three were interrupted by a tech drone, the big metallic ant let out a monotone scratchy voice “please meet at the tower” the three started walking together to the large crowd. “So are you two thinking of joining?” Elliot asked curiously “i quit the urban rangers to join” Champ said, Lyra sighed “i'm not sure if im allowed to” soon the announcements played again “ we are proud to introduce our head in planetary defense Ben Tennyson and Rook Blonko” Elliot looked at the screen in excitement as his idol Ben Tennyson waved to the crowd “guys look!” he said pulling out his necklace “he gave this to me years ago” elliot showed champ and lyra proudly. On the stage alongside ben and rook were three others his grandfather Max, his cousin Gwen, and his friend Kevin all who soon sat to hear the next announcement 

“ladies and gentlemen the one who rehabilitated all of gem kind and assisted in the education of little home-school Steven universe and the crystal gem” a dark brown haired boy in a pink jacket waved to the crowd alongside his companions Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. “And for our final introduction, the princess of the candy kingdom and her two protectors Princess Bubblegum, Finn, and Jake” a princess made out of bubblegum all the way from ooo although surrounded in scandal she was a ruler worth believing in.  

Milo and Valentina had arrived just in time for the announcements to begin finally landing off the slider, the slider went relatively slow due to the amount of people using it, this announcement felt less like a speech and more like a strange festival noticing people from all over the continent and famous heroes lining the streets, the Mayor began to speak “thank you thank you all for showing up to this . . announcement” ms. Bellum handed him a note card “oh yes Hello people of Townsville and other towns nearby, as you all have heard students from many of the local school districts are being drafted into a new program collaborated with Point Prep Academy.” the mayor went quiet then Ms. Bellum handed him another card “oh thank you” 

“For gaia sake this guy is our Mayor?” valentina whispered to Milo 

“I know but at least his hottie assistant has her head straight” he snickered 

“How do you know you can't even see her head?” she replied.. The mayor began to speak again “now we understand that there has been a . . . disinterest but we can assure you it will all be fine” he said nervously. "As a matter of fact, how about we call out the CEO of dex labs himself!” mayor motioned to someone “thank you mayor” a heavy accent was heard and out came Dexter himself following him was Computress 

Dallas watched from a park bench nearby taking an interest in Dexter's words “yes i am fully aware of the backlash i have faced from this large task but i feel if i gave you all the facts that i could convince you all that this is for the greater good.” Dexter pulled out a series of documents and began to speak once more “the first time we heard of this ‘mass’ in space was from operatives of KND’s moonbase which was later found destroyed, survivors of the base were luckily picked up by the Absolution piloted by TOM'' he put on a aggravated face as the crowd grew full of whispers and even snickers 

“yes yes the robot that streams your anime, either way all contact to the moonbase is gone but they were definitely attacked. Now we are trying to start a program that will be in the case of an attack, this program for now is only a new curriculum that every student in the fifteen to eighteen age range must attend.” Dallas started to stand and record the screens in front of him Dexters words grew more and more Fearful and his tone started to shift “ i understand this issue is very unfortunate but we wouldn't be lying when we say it's serious, serious enough that Dexlabs and mandark Industries are working together on this project as well. Every attempted view of this Mass has been terminated the only surviving few that have come close to it is the KND agents in the absolution and Mojo jojo” he said with a solemn tone, the crowd gasped and started whispering to each other “you all must understand this is the time for action” Ben tennyson stood up 

“We will suit you all with the latest high gear tech we can gift you” princess bubblegum stood

The crowd began to cheer and chant “Yes the time is now for a call to action! You all are our future, you all have the Strength, Imagination, and Will power! We have the tools, you have the Talent!” 

Dexter roared into the microphone but once his words left his mouth a bash of thunder erupted from the sky, the air picked up a cold summer breeze ,and grew a distinct smell one can't describe as anything but ‘ ah yuck ‘ the sky turned green and the sirens began to wail…

Chapter Text

[ City Station ]

a bash of thunder erupted from the sky, the air picked up a cold summer breeze ,and grew a distinct smell one can't describe as anything but ‘ ah yuck ‘ the sky turned green and the sirens began to wail…

The crowd went from a cheering mob to dead silence to screaming and panic as the sky began to rain down large meteors. The heroes dawning the microphones all stood up ready for action “bubbles get the mayor out of here, blossom fend to the citizens” Garnet yelled to the two floating kids “on it!” they both said as bubbles scooped up the Mayor and Ms Bellum and flew off. “Stay here princess, we'll be right back” Finn said as he hopped on Jake who began to grow huge and stretch off the tower. One by one each of the heroes sprang into action Steven grabbed the microphone “Everyone follow the Dexbots and Drones to the nearby evacuation stations.

Dallas was running through the crowd of civilians until he bumped into Penny “Dallas?!” she yelled

“What's going on?”

“I'm not sure but we need to get out of here now” Dallas said to the frightened girl. They both began running as another meteor landed close by, the impact nearly launching them both back when they regained their balance they saw the meteor it was green and glowing and was giving off steam, the sound of it sawing back and forth almost as if it was moving, it mesmerized the two unable to look away. The green blob soon started to deploy roots that dug into the ground lifting it properly into place “what's it doing?” Penny said to Dallas curiously, as they spoke a pair of red eyes formed in one of the crevices of the blob protruding from the tangled roots around it the red eyes grew a mouth and out squeezed a blob like creature that let out a giggle. The Blob squished and wiggled ready to lunge “oh crap we need to go” Dallas hastily grabbed Penny's hand as more blobs formed from the Impact site. Penny and Dallas were running with the crowd as another meteor crashed into a building nearby which began to fall, as rubble began to fall Dallas was scooped up by a monkey minion nearby and flew off “Penny!” Dallas yelled trying to reach for her as he was taken away. Penny ducked on her knees but the ruble never landed, looking up she saw the building suspended in mid air “There is only one who can destroy townsville and that's Mojo Jojo!” Penny saw the monkey man over her wielding a cannon shooting a tractor beam “get the girl out of here” he demanded as another monkey flew off with Penny “Thank you!” she yelled

Elliot, lyra, and Champ were trying to return to the limo “we can go back to Morbucks Estates princess had that place filled with so much defense it could kill a powerpuff girl” Lyra said pointing to the limo in the distance. “You live in morbucks estates? Explains a lot” Elliot said snidely “could you two stop it this is life and dea-” Champ was interrupted as a meteor crashed near the limo “Martin Run” Lyra shouted watching the robot in the limo hobble out escaping the glowing green blobs, the blobs turned and noticed the three and began to lunge. “We gotta go,” Elliot yelled, grabbing Lyra by the hand and running off. “Look at the tech drones!” Champ pointed out to the robotic ants and spiders fighting off the blobs, one of the blobs jumped onto the machine and began to seep into the machine. The Tech drone let out a roar and attacked other tech drones “They're controlling it?!” another meteor landed nearby “i can't hear anything!” Champ said covering his ears, he was losing his balance and was looking exhausted “Champ? Are you okay!” Lyra said, concerned. Champ pointed to the sky “look” he said pitifully as three people landed from the sky “The crystal Gems!” Elliot said excitedly

“Don't worry we got this” Amethyst said, grabbing Elliot and hoisting him over her shoulder “what's going on?” Elliot said confused “Garnet i'll get the girl you grab the little boy” Pearl said lifting up Lyra, The two jumped into the air out of sight “its ok we're here to help you” garnet said comforting Champ.

[ city Station: Slider station ]

Valentina and Milo were near the Evacuation point assisting people reach the evac point when the slider above them was derailed from a meteor “Look out!” Valentina screamed jumping into Milo pushing out of the way from the ruble “woah the cologne said ladies would be jumping for me i didn't think it was true” he said snickering “smells like crap” valentina said getting to her feet. “You two get to the shelter well hold them off” a kid in a suit that looked almost homemade demanded them pointing to the entrance, the kid was dawned with the initials KND and soon more showed “were not leaving until everyone is safe, unlike KND i care about the adults too” she said as she started directing civilians to the entrance “fine missy if your gonna give me snide how about you two make yourselves useful” the kid said tossing the two weapons ‘woah woah is this a popsicle on a gun?” Milo said, confused. Valentina grabbed the gun it was labeled a Zip Zapper “i may be rusty but i haven't forgotten this” Valentina ran towards the blobs firing quick bolts of energy at them splatting them instantly “hey uhh how do i use this thing?” Milo yelled to Valentina

“it's a gun you pull the trigger duh doy”

“Oh well it has a popsicle on it so i assumed-” he pulled the trigger blasting a blue bolt of ice piercing the blobs in front of him “damn this is . . . Cool” he said grinning, causing a sigh from Valentina and the KND operative. Out of the blue three shadows formed above Valentina and Milo “look out humans” Pearls voice was heard as the crystal gems landed onto the ground “you two help this kid” garnet demanded Milo and Valentina “yes ma’am” Milo said with an impressed tone “Milo?” Elliot said with a confused grin “oh hey Elliot look at my uhh. . . whats this thing?”

“Oh for gaia sake just call it a pop gun”

“Yep a Pop Gun” he said to Ellliot with and lower pitched voice trying to impress him and Lyra

“Look out kiddos” monkey minions carrying a group of civilians into the Entry and followed suit was Mojo Jojo. Dallas and Penny stood on their feet brushing off monkey hair that shed on their clothes “hey i know you! You're the blossom haired girl from earlier today!” Penny pointed out to Lyra “oh miss blind spot good to see you cant say the same you see me hah” she held out a hand towards Champ and Milo, Milo gave the stranger a high five. “Look you two now's not the time to get in” Dallas said helping Valentina with Champ who fainted from the loud sounds and exhaustion.

[ city station evac zone ]

The entrance led to a staircase that led farther and farther into an underground bunker, many people were gathered together, most were huddled up and wearing blankets provided by Dexbots and Mandroids. In the farthest portion of the room was a stage you'd see in gymnasium or auditorium, this bunker wasn't just some random gym it was one of the first few labs Dexter had built downtown

“Everyone alright?” Dallas said checking up on the other six that followed “champ isn't looking too good” Lyra said to Dallas brushing Champs head as he laid on her lap “i'm sure he'll be fine it was probably just over stimulation, a lot was going on and it took a toll on his energy” Valentina said walking over with water and blankets “trust me i've worked with alot of kids” she said with a tired expression “hey Val can we lick the Pop guns?” Milo and Elliot said in the distance

“If you lick it your tongue will get frozen too it”

“Really? Now i really want ot lick it” Milo said excitedly

[ city station: evac backroom ]

“Alrighty we have to make this quick the people are scared and perfect for manipulation”

“Would you stop it with this manipulation junk were here to help the people”

"Doubt them seeing a skeleton in black robes is gonna be all that comforting aye grim?”

“Juniper tell this fool to stop teasing me?”

“ . . . “

“Dexter help me out here”

A door to the stage opened and out came Dexter and four figures behind him shrouded in the shadows ‘everyone i know you're scared but we have a plan at least a starting point” the room was silent as Dexter spoke “grim how many casualties” one figure said to the other “a few broken bones but no casualties” one of the figures spoke into dexters ear “oh-okay, i understand that we are scared but luckily no casualties have been found were all safe here now for my plan i have created a special invention that will send a group of people to the future there we will see the severity of the damages and report back with a plan to action. Whilst that happens we will start work on the Academy watched by a friend of mine here The Grim Reaper!” The looming figure revealed himself to be a skeleton dawning dark robes and holding a scythe. The crowd all gasped and some children even started to cry “yeah real smooth introduction dexter”

“Shut it mandark” Dexter whispered under his breath “ while your students will be trained at point prep grim will make sure no one dies”

“Uh yeah something like that” the reaper responded “as long as you keep your deal”

“Yeah yeah no Billy or Mandy now as for the rest of you currently you will all be under protection by my friend here Juniper Lee” a tall tan teen revealed herself from the shadow “hello everyone” she waved to the crowd now we need volunteers for the machine”

“Anyone?”

“Jack help us out here”

A final figure loomed from the shadows being Samurai Jack he said not a single word but stepped from the stage and walked over to the Six teens circled together around Champ “you Seven” the group gasped and grew quiet until Lyra spoke “us but were like just a bunch of kids”

“Yeah we never went time traveling before” Penny spoke up

“Didn't the Plumbers cancel the time machine project?” Valentina spoke up

“I'll do it” champ said lifting his head from Lyra's lap “if it means helping the people i want to help” The six kids looked shocked but soon looked at each other and began to agree “if it helps against the invasion why not” Milo spoke “i mean it's the least we can do right?” Penny said unsure “i'm down with anything to be honest” Elliot responded. Dallas stood up and walked to Jack “we all saw what those things did i can't let anything hurt my friends”

Lyra whispered to Valentina “when did we become friends?” Valentina shrugged

“Well i guess you're just going to have to go with them then” Jack smiled patting him on the shoulder

“I guess you're right”. . .

Chapter Text

[ Tech Square: DexLabs ]

“It’s been three days since the invasion first began. All seven of us were put through a small amount of training from KND operatives. We were told to pack our things as when we returned we would all be moved to Tech Square for future assignments, we were recorded as the first agents for Dexlabs and Mandark Industries collaboration. In a few minutes our parents will be visiting all of us to say goodbye and watch us travel through time all though we're not the first Time travel is a very difficult mechanism to recreate so we’ll be rewarded handsomely or at least that's what Mandark said so who knows”

“Hey Dallas your parents are here to see you off” Champ peered his head through the doorway “oh ok ill be right there i just have to finish this logdate”

“Ok well be waiting” and in that moment Champ slid away “we will now be going three months into the future, doubt too much will have changed but i'm still nervous, i have an odd feeling about what could happen on our trip or how worse the invasion could have gotten but i'm sure everything will be okay. This was Dallas signing out” Dallas shut the recorder and made his way into the main room of Dexlabs where he saw his peers speaking to their parents, out of the corner of his eye he spotted his mother and father waiting for him “oh sweetie we’re so proud of you we’ll be waiting right here for you to come back” Dallas’s mother said to him, Dallas’s father stayed silent and gave him a hug

Milo was chatting with some of the press that had come to record the event until he noticed Lyra sitting in the corner of the stage on her phone “where's Lyra's parents?” Champ had heard Milo’s question and decided to speak “Lyra’s parents told her if she goes to the future they won't be here to visit her off. They both are very mad at her since if she gets hurt they lost a heir to the company or something like that”

“That's too bad, wait isn't your mom here where's she at?”

“Oh moms at work right now but she messaged me and packed all my things for me, she's always working but always makes up for it somehow i'll miss her” Champ said looking down at his phone “so how about you Milo where's your mom or dad” the question kind of took milo aback “oh well my dad can't make it he's. . . also working” Milo didn't want to worry Champ he seemed to innocent to understand his situation so to fix the mood he thought of an idea “so you and pinkie priss over there are awfully close you like her or something?” Milo snickered. The question made Champ blush from embarrassment “n-no it's nothing like that were just friends, after i helped her at school she's been attached to me and it honestly feels good to have a big sis figure so i just started hanging out with her” Milo got curios now “but multiple of us tried befriending her but she just seems so . . . restricted” Champ shrugged before they each received a message from Dexter to meet them at the stage

Dexter and a slim robot were waiting them to meet at the stage “you know Larry when you said not to mess with time i always wondered ‘ how can i time travel more ‘ and now an official time machine endorsed by the time squad i could just kiss you” Dexter said to the machine while looking to the crowd “if you try to kiss me i will have you arrested for illegally building a time machine” Larry whispered to him. Elliot reached the stage with Valentina and Penny “okay are we ready to head off?”

“Just a moment Elliot we have some small preparations to start, Time travel from a mediocre time machine can be very straining on the body so i'm going to give you all some warning before you go '' Larry 3000 responded. Lyra, Champ, Dallas, and Milo made their way to the stage as well Dexter walked to the group and began “all right you lot your going to be sent three months into the future to see if we've thought of a solution or to see the damage this invasion has caused, i'll have Larry 3000. stuff you all in the machine while i put in the commands'' Larry 3000 rounded up the group and sat them all in the machine “strap in everyone” out of the corner of the stage a girl in pink and two blonde ponytails had made her way to the stage “oh what's that button do?” Dexter began placing in the codes “alright it's ready to go” he made his way to the machine and turned on a holovid inside of it “alright you seven thank you for volunteering for this experimental time travel project

“Wait, experimental?” Elliot’s face faded blue. While Dexter was speaking a figure peered behind him she wore pink and had two blonde ponytails, she snuck past him tip toeing “oh what does this button do?” At that moment the emergency lights started flashing alerting Dexter “Dee Dee no!” Dexter at that moment lept for the button for before he could reach it the time machine began to flash and a large blast of light went off. The crowd of people and families gasped as their children and friends went into an unknown timeline. By the time the light ceased the time machine was gone and in its place was a pile of ash “Computress, Larry where did that time machine go to?” Dexter shouted to the two robots “were still tracking it down” Larry 300 said worriedly “were theorizing they went forward an entire year” computress tracked.

[ time rift ]

The seven teens in the time machine screamed in horror and anguish, the time machine was flung forward much farther than it was built for causing malfunctions to occur. They all felt as their bodies began to distort and split dimensions, they all felt as if they were put into a state of mind they couldn't perceive. Was it pain, was it sorrow, or was it joy? The alarms in the machine soon blasted “time-nado approaching” they all were too confused and in shock to understand the warnings and even if they did what they could do the controls were in the hands of Dexter and Larry 3000. Elliot and Dallas looked to each other in terror. What did we get ourselves into? How can we escape? But like a bright white light piercing through the endless distortion and void they were slingshot through a portal way opened up and a voice echoed into their heads
“It appears you kids were not properly trained in quantum travel, luckily for you chaps it's almost over, Gumball anyone?” the voice silenced as they blasted through what was either an entryway or exit however you feel makes sense

[ the future ]

Waking from the rubble, Dallas stretched and stood over the crash site, the air was still and the sky was dark green except for a single hole in the sky. The hole in the sky slowly but surely dissipated “is everyone okay?” Dallas walked to Penny who was unconscious her face was slightly bruised but luckily nothing too severe “ugh what happened back there” Elliot raised his head finally waking up

“Not sure but we need to be careful, this place looks wrecked”

“How long were we gone? This all couldn't have happened in just a few months”

“Not sure” Dallas looked up to the buildings leaning over and collapsed. It all looked oddly familiar “wait a minute this is tech square” Elliot stood to his feet and began to unbuckle the others all who were still knocked out “we should probably try to find help Dexter said he'd be waiting for us and he's not one to forget” Dallas picked up Milo and Champ and sat them up against some destroyed road that was sticking from the ground “dang everyone is knocked out cold” Elliot said wiping his brows. In the distance blasts could be heard as two individuals began to run towards the crash site “is that?” Dallas squinted his eyes through the fog

“four arms!” one of the figures yelled and soon a blast of green light shot through the fog revealing Ben tennyson in the form of four arms ‘Numbuh five i found them!” he shouted to the other figure in the distance “look out!” a kid wearing the KND symbol and a large number five on her suit pulled out two Pop guns and shot past four arms at more of those green creatures who soon surrounded them

“We have to get the kids out of here” Numbuh five yelled firing icy blasts at the blobs of glowing green goo

“I'll get the unconscious ones” four arms replied “wait Ben” Elliot ran up to him “i'll help you carry this one” he said lifting up Champ “right behind you” Dallas lifted up the heavy body of Penny. ‘Alright let's get out of here” four arms grabbed Lyra, Valentina, and milo and began to run towards an opening in the surrounding Slimes pit “I'll hold them off you three go!” Numbuh five front flipped over the Goo and rapid fired bolts of ice holding off the swarm

“Were almost to the Scamper” four arms yelled to the two boys following behind, numbuh five managed to catch up to the group speeding past them “Numbuh two were in bound”

“On it” a voice responded on the device Numbuh Five held. Out of the blue a dash of blue light flew past them it was Bubbles. She landed with a large impact sending the creatures flying into the green haze “we gotta go” she yelled picking up Champ and Penny from the two boys arms. Above the group was a green bus hovering downward, the door opened and out came Samurai Jack grabbing the two boys hands pulling them in, then he lifted each of the others into the bus from four arms who transformed back into Ben lunging into the Scamper followed by Nubuh five who jumped in as it started to fly off. As the Scamper flew off swarms of those creatures gathered almost engulfing the land Bubbles flew past the scamper directing it to Dexlabs “i’ll meet you there i gotta find Dexter” she blasted off leaving a trail of blue light.

Dallas and Elliot took this chance to finally catch their breath “what in the underworld is happening” Elliot said surprised Dallas felt his heart banging in his chest “how long were we gone for?” . . .

Chapter Text

[ The Collapsed Tree ]

Floating through the Airspace Dallas and Elliot looked through the windows in shock at the state of the places they once called home, they both looked to each other and looked to Ben Tennyson, Elliot was a little starstruck but was over all still shocked at the state of things heck even the state of ben himself. Ben was decorated in what looked like survival gear and his signature black shirt was covered with his white hoodie which was now ripped up. “How long were we out for?” Dallas questioned Ben, a sense of panic coated Dallas as a few of the Others woke up “hmmm my head” Penny woke up rubbing her forehead until she noticed her surroundings “Where are we?”

“We are now entering the airspace of The Collapsed Treehouse” a plumper kid in the front seat of the bus had announced to the group “wait is this Sector V?” Dallas looked through the windows, the place looked recognizable at least but the dead give away was the large crater where once was the Treehouse which is now floating away, the treehouse was in shambles but looked put together by large chains holding it in place. “Listen i know this must all be very difficult to understand but you might just be the last hope for all of us, let's get you all rested and later we'll get you all suited up” Samurai Jack spoke softly to the group, he looked badly injured his robes were torn and his body covered in scars, his face looked aged and had a beard growing along with a few gray hairs.

Once the group landed KND operatives had rushed to the scamper with cots and weighted blankets carrying away the group of unconscious teens all except for Dallas, Elliot, Penny, and now Champ who had woken up just a little while later. The four followed the cots to a collection of tents and a safehouse under the floating tree. Numbuh five walked next to the group giving a tour of the Safe Zone she called it “almost every large district in the suburbs has a safezone of some kind, Sadly a lot of us didn't make it through the war so we had to round up and evacuate the civilians whilst we did that we looted a lot of villain organizations and collected weaponry from them to give as self defense.” Numbuh five led them all to an empty safe house which is where they loaded up the sleeping teens, after a brief checkup they all were laid to rest in bunk beds. Dallas laid on his cot barely able to sleep as the slight dim yet frightening glow of green light shined through the windows, footsteps of the patrolling guard had also kept him awake until a yawn was heard next to him, Milo had woken up finally stretching his arms “where are we now? I felt like I got a rock thrown at my head” he rubbed his forehead.

“We in the future apparently but from the looks of things I'm not sure how far but we definitely went too far forward.” Dallas whispered to Milo “Damn” Milo said getting up from his bunk and tiptoeing over Champ and Valentina who were in sleeping bags, he walked to the window and viewed the place seeing the bits of tree floating away as the tree house crumbled ever so more above them. “The future looks bleak hah” he said laughing to himself as a tear rolled down his face “those were my moms last words to me, she was reading an eight ball or whatever it was my favorite toy back then.” Milo rubbed his cheek and looked at Dallas ``she died just a few days later, i was with my dad and i never got to see her at the hospital” Milo sat back on his bed as Dallas looked at him not sure what to say“ i. I'm sure she was an amazing person” Dallas wasn't used to comforting others when he sat in silence so many times himself ‘my mom always took care of me what kind of a mother wouldn't” Dallas said hoping to cheer up Milo. The silence broke when they both heard crying in the bunk above Dallas “oh M F G you guys are making me cry” Lyra had heard everything between the two “my mom never really is around she's always experimenting for Mandark and the only time i see her is every once and a while and i say i miss her but i never really knew her enough to miss her though.” She was sobbing quietly as both Dallas and Milo tried to comfort her but to no avail it wasn't working. “well maybe when we get back we all can make her see you again how about that Lyra?” Milo said trying to calm her down

“Could you three pipe down, I'm trying to sleep” Valentina whispered hostilely at the three shutting them up “whatever is happening will figure out in the morning now if you excuse me. I need my rest” Valentina was definitely not a night owl. The three laid back down all drying the tears they shed that night.

[ morning time ]

Penny wa the first to wake up, she climbed down from the bunk above Milo and tiptoed to the restroom, after enjoying the slight peace and quiet she was startled by Valentina who woke up and and surveyed the area through the window, it would have been sunny but the misty green dark fog that coated the eye was only an eyesore “Under Sector V’s treehouse huh, i always knew the kids would screw up somehow but the fact they let it get this bad is just sickening” Val spoke Angrily

“You know alot about KND and its weapons, how?”

“Well once upon a time a young girl with violet hair was offered a position at KND headquarters. I was a newbie and innocent, only a child. I learned from the best of the best of KND and its operatives, that only children in the suburbs can know about my position, not even the outskirts or the creek kids were allowed to know.”

“You were a agent huh no wonder your well with that zapper”

“Yeah I guess, well one day my mom and dad saw me sneak out for a mission and followed me, they saw me in the KND uniform and tried to intervene. KND found out and thought I purposely brought them to the mission to ‘expose’ KND, that's the problem with having an agency run by kids. Immaturity lingers. My role was taken away and my family was put through an experimental hypnosis therapy that failed and made them practically suburban zombies. A Mom who obsessed over her child and a father who didn't care. KND betrayed me and now I'm stuck looking to them for help.”

Penny walked to her friend and hugged her “that's terrible i'm so sorry for what happened”

One by one each teen woke up and got dressed, Dallas and Lyra peeked open the door where they were met with a girl no taller than they were, she wore a long green sweater and had Rainbow monkeys decorating her like they were ammunition “oh hello you two call me Numbuh three, is everyone up?” she had a jolly attitude especially for what the current situation was “Numbuh five should be waiting for you down by the barracks she calls them, Numbuh four will suit you guys up for sure” Three smiled and skipped away as the teens all grouped together taking in what was the possibly inevitable future.

While walking to the barracks the group saw as the place was bustling with activity, KND operatives were dispensed everywhere carrying materials, manding posts, and moving campsites in. “Everything looks so bleak, what could have happened to cause all this?” Lyra looked around in horror and disbelief “where are our heroes?” Elliot questioned himself. Gathering at the barracks in the center of the tree directly below it was a collection of storage containers full of gear and weaponry three kids stood digging through . Numbuhs five two and four were waiting for them already getting suits they'll wear “lovely the three most annoying members of Sector V” Valentina scoffed “great seeing you two numbuh 745” numbuh five chuckled “i see your already prepared weapon wise but how about your buddies huh?”

“Ya you all lookin like you need some weapons” numbuh four walked to the group “startin with tall boy over here i think you fit great with this sword, we snatched it from the forever knights one time” Dallas was gifted a greatsword surrounded by two sleek light blades “wow i always wanted a sword” Champ said admiring it “dont worry lil guy your next, i could see this old marshmallow launcher go to good use of course we'll give you something instead of marshmallows for ammunition” it was a large slingshot styled like a gun and along side it was little red grenades “wow thank you!”

“Next is the girly with the braids take this its a paintbrush gun firing three shots of pressurized ink” Penny grabbed her gun and equipped it to her belt “time to paint these baddies something other than green” she said smirking “that was terrible Penny” Dallas snickers to his friend “now time for the brunette, i see you like ben 10 well news for you never meet your heroes kid hah, take this wrench it was from Dexter perfect for grabbing things” Elliot held his weapon to his chest “Ben 10 is more than a hero he's my idol” he said proudly “yeah yeah anyone else?”

“Uh yeah me” Lyra said snarky “oh i thought that guitar was already yours”

“This is just a guitar though'' numbuh two then stepped in “well actually it's a weapon from mandark industries made to copy Vallhallen’s axe, if you flip this switch here” fiddling with the neon pink guitar it began to glow faintly “play it now” numbuh two said excitedly, one riff of the guitar sent a bolt of electricity into the sky “woah i didn't know it could do that!” Lyra yelled excitedly

The group made their way to a white board dispatched next to the barracks Numbuh one the leader of Sector V stood, next to him was Numbuh five and three ‘now i suppose you guys deserve a introduction to our enemy” numbuh five paused and pointed to the sky at a large hideous ball of goo “Look up at the sky. That's planet fusion, Ruled by some nasty guy named Fuse. Fuse had covered the world with gross green goo, and those disgusting fusion spawns are wrecking everything”

“Fuse Monsters have evolved and adapted to our planet, you should see some of them. They use these things called terrafusers to infect everything with goo. If it gets infected badly enough the planet will consume our own '' numbuh one chipped in. this news shocked the group “so what now? Can we even fight a whole planet? How long have we been gone?” Dallas questioned Numbuh one ‘well you've been sent about a year or two through time, your lucky we didn't give up on you guys'' the teens all shook at the information slapped across them when numbuh three spoke “hey you guys will get back trust me”

“Alright everyone here's the mission, rebuild the Time machine and send these teens back to where they came from” he began marking the map on the board, the map was covered in exes where major parts of the continent were showing what all had been destroyed. “First these three Lyra, Dallas, and Valentina you three will be placed in the most dangerous of the missions Contacting and traversing Tech Square, it's completely frozen over and we need to get into contact with Dexter and past that is the Eternal vistas you need to get us contact out there too”

“Wait, why me?” Lyra freaked out “Dallas is athletic and lived in Tech square and valentina was an Ex member of KND so i understand that but why am i stationed with them?”

“We heard that you were invited as a plus one the moment you landed, it appears black and you both share a friend”

That name freaked the group out even more “next is Penny and Champ you two will be placed in Candy cove contacting Princess bubblegum and Mojo Jojo. Finally Elliot and Milo will be placed in Peach Creek to deliver resources that Ben wants out of fused hands. You will deliver them to Ben himself in foster's home.” Numbuh one rolled up the white board and swerved out his hand implying they all left. Penny and Champ looked at each other curiously “Why Candy cove, Why Mojo?” Champ asked curiously

“I'm not sure but we'll figure it out right?”

“Will we?” . . .