Chapter 2
"Are you sure you want to go? It's too dangerous. There's no telling what could happen!"

"Whatever, I have nothing else to lose..."

"Don't say that! It's not like that incident was your fault! I'm sure he wouldn't want this!"

Thoughts and memories were racing inside Kyle's mind. He was subconsciously reminiscing his time just before he decided to go to Dexlabs. The feeling of the dream-like state felt so nice and relaxing that he thought it could last forever, but Kyle finally grabbed a hold of reality when the sound of explosions rang in his ears.

"What?...Ugh, where am I? What was that noise?"

Kyle slowly opened his eyes and saw he was lying on the ground. He scanned the area in front of him. He recognized the surrounding area as Townsville, but everything was different. Buildings were left in complete ruin, covered with large gaping holes and shattered or missing windows. Some were even sunk into the ground. Kyle looked up to see the once blue sky had transformed into a ominous green color. Partially hidden behind the clouds, Kyle could see a gigantic planet in place of where the Moon should be. Even its structure was strange. It more like a cluster of planets fused together, the center or original being the large dark green one in the center. It looked like it was made of a sticky substance as it was how the other planets were fused to it.

"What the heck is happening?...Or...what did happen?"

As he turned around to further analyze the area, Kyle almost fell back in shock of what he saw. He realized he had just awoken near a cliffside. Everything beyond of the horizon of it was completely gone, vanished into thin air. Kyle approached the cliff's edge carefully and gazed down on his knees. There was not a hint of anything that once stood there. All that was left was a vast green-colored ocean.

"Oh man, this can't be happening!"

Another explosion rang in his ear. Kyle looked back to see dozens of airships battling winged creatures in the sky. The ships were slowly driving the creatures in Kyle's direction. Kyle couldn't make them out from the distance, but the flying creatures seemed to resemble dinosaurs or dragons. Knowing this could be dangerous if one of the creatures spotted him, Kyle scanned for a safe haven. He was greatly relieved to see the Dexlabs building nearby. What looked like fissure had caused the building's grounds to be elevated to what was now a plateau. Kyle noticed a series of makeshift ramps had been constructed to lead up to it. It was his only chance. Dexter might be there to help him. As he started for the ramps, Kyle felt something buzz on his wrist and remembered about the Nanocom. He took cover under the shade of a nearby tree to answer it.

"Hello?" Kyle asked,

"Bzzt-Kyle, come in." a voice said. "Bzzt-Kyle, come in. Are you reading me?"

It sounded like a woman, but how she sounded was off, like a computer-automated voice.

"Um, yeah. It's me." Kyle replied as he sat down. "I know it looks like a bad time to ask this, but what exactly is happening here?"

"My name is Computress, Dexter's personal computer. Although I never spoke, I was overseeing the time travel experiment with Dexter. As for right now, I'm sure you remember Dexter's sister, Dee Dee, correct? Because of what she caused, the time machine sent you farther into the future than Dexter had intended, about one year. I can give you a more detailed explanation at Dexlabs. It's not safe where you are right now. Please make haste to the Dexlabs building and take shelter. The nearby ramps will take you here."

"What have I gotten myself into?"

Kyle sat a little while longer to take all of this in. Looking to his right, he came across a green glowing pod attached to the tree. What looked like plant roots were burrowed into the tree and surrounding ground. Like a net, the roots also covered the green surface of the pod with "holes" where it could ooze out. The pod began to glow on and off like a light bulb as he approached it. It was hypnotizing. Completely forgetting about his predicament, he slowly approached so he could touch it. As he reached for the surface, the pod suddenly shot green slime at Kyle's arms. Awakening from his trance in shock, Kyle dropped to the ground in pain trying to get it off; the substance was burning his skin. The green pod began to glow brighter and released more globs of slime, but the form was different from before. They were shaped like spheres with a little point on top. Kyle saw bright red eyes and mouths forming. Soon, the slime took up lives of their own and slowly and began to hop towards Kyle with their twisted and sinister grins. Kyle was still on the ground as they approached. He managed wipe the slime that was burning his arms, but he was still in too much pain to get up. The creatures leapt at him.

Kyle tried to shield himself from the creatures, but he it would be hopeless. As he closed his eyes awaiting his impending doom, a gun fired. Kyle opened his eyes to see his attackers become simple puddles of slime before his eyes. He turned to see two people standing before him. One was a black-skinned female wearing a blue jumpsuit-like outfit with white outlines. She wore a red cap which covered her black hair that she braided into a ponytail. Clutched in her hands were two pistols. The one on the right was a teenage male with brown hair. Kyle could tell he was older than him. He wore a green jacket with the number "10" on it, a pair of jeans, and a pair of black and white sneakers. One thing noticeable Kyle caught sight of was the strange device on his wrist. It was glowing strangely, just like the pod from before.

"Holy Camole!" the girl exclaimed. "Where the heck did you come from? Everyone in the area should've been evacuated by now! Hurry up and follow us!"

"Wait!" Kyle exclaimed as he grabbed her arm. "Just what the heck is going on here?"

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" the boy asked him. "You mean you really don't know what's going on?"

"Yes! I was just helping Dexter with a time travel experiment and now-"

"Wait," the girl interrupted, "Dexter's time travel experiment? The only people who know about that are-...You're Kyle, right? You're that kid from the past he was talking about. Well, you're in a world of trouble now. My name's Abigail, 'Abby' for short, but call me Numbuh 5 and this here's Ben. Ben Tennyson."

Kyle felt idiotic that he didn't recognize Ben Tennyson on the spot. His name is practically a common occurrence news. A teen hero from the city of Bellwood, he had the ability to transform into many kinds of aliens thanks to the device on his wrist, the Ultimatrix. Kyle never thought he would ever meet him personally since he assumed Ben would always be busy fighting aliens in his hometown.

"I see you got yourself a Nanocom." Ben observed.

"Hm? You mean this?"

"Yup. Though the one you're holding is different from ours. Dex told us he gave you a watch model. Kinda reminds me of the Omnitrix..."

"Okay, we've talked long enough." Numbuh 5 said. "We need to get you to Dexlabs before something else shows-" A loud roar in the distance interrupted her. It sounded like a ferocious wild animal. "Aw man..."

The repeated roars began to grow louder in succession. They were also accompanied by numerous snarling sounds. Whatever was making the noises was quickly approaching the group's location. The three stood back to back and scouted their surroundings for a sign of where the noises were coming from. Towards his left, Kyle noticed something and directed Numbuh 5's and Ben's attention to a submerged skyscraper. Standing atop the building was a large mechanical Cerberus-esque dog. It leaped from the building and landed perfectly on the ground in front of them. The landing combined with the creature's weight was enough to shake the earth below them. Dashing to its sides were pack of the same creatures, albeit much smaller than the original creature.

"Tch, it's a Cyberus." Numbuh 5 remarked in an annoyed tone.

"And it brought along some friends..." Ben added.

"Kyle, I'm sorry to be suddenly telling this from you, but you're gonna have to fight with us. Here. Take this weapon."

Numbuh 5 handed Kyle a weapon which emerged from the PDA-like Nanocom in her pocket. It was a long-range rifle powered by a strange stone which turned a bright green color when Kyle touched the weapon. Kyle hadn't done so much as held a gun before besides videogame personas. He was a little worried if he could get it to work properly.

"We'll back up Ben while he attacks it."

"Let's take 'em down!" Ben exclaimed. He slammed his Ultamatrix and was engulfed in a bright green light. Kyle couldn't see what was taking place inside since he was shielding his eyes. But one once the light faded, Kyle saw Ben had transformed into a gigantic brown dinosaur-like creature. "Humongosaur!" he exclaimed.

Ben began to grow larger in size, obtaining even more dinosaur-like features such as plates on his back, a crest on his forehead, and spikes on his tails. Once he was ready, he charged at the Cyberus leader, knocking it to the ground upon impact. Numbuh 5 was rapidly firing her pistols in every direction, each shot hitting its mark with precision. She was trying to make an escape route among the Cyberus' confusion. Kyle was still struggling due to how fast he got involved in a battle and figuring out an unfamiliar weapon right away. Unfortunately, Numbuh 5 had to show him while holding off the nearby Cyberus at the same time. As the fight raged on, the Cyberus leader swiped his claw at Ben, scratching his chest, and managed to get knock him back. Ben was now pinned to the ground. Kyle was quick to notice his predicament and carefully aimed at the leader. Closing his eyes, he fired.

It was direct hit. The shot had pierced the Cyberus' armor and through the monster's radioactive core. The creature's entire body began to radiate a bright green light. It was on the verge of exploding, but still willing to fight to its last breath, intending to take at least one from the group with it. Ben, now free of the grip, grabbed the Cyberus' hind legs and with all his might tossed the creature off the nearby cliff directly into the green ocean. The Cyberus exploded a few seconds after it was submerged, creating a large pillar of rising water. Ben quickly rushed over to cover Kyle and Numbuh 5 from the raining droplets with his large scaly body. The water seemed to sting him upon touch his skin, but he didn't look too bothered by it.

"You guys, okay?" Ben asked as he transformed back to his human self.

"We're fine." Numbuh 5 replied. "Thanks, Ben. Okay, now that big problem is out of the way, we need to get out of here. Ben, clear the way for us. Kyle, just make sure you stay behind us. Don't fall behind. Got it."

Kyle nodded. Numbuh 5 gave the signal as Ben activated his Ultamatrix again. Once again enveloped in a green light, Ben soon emerged transformed into a humanoid alien made out of crystal, shouting out the name, "Diamondhead". The arms and facial area were light green while the rest of the body was dark purple. Ben placed his hands on the ground. Within seconds the ground began shaking as oversized walls of light green crystal erupted from the ground, knocking the remaining Cyberus into the air as well as creating an open path.

"Move, now!" Numbuh 5 commanded.

The Cyberus were even more aggressive and persistent after witnessing their leader being destroyed. They desperately attempted the climb over the crystal walls but usually ended up slipping and sliding back down. Those that did manage to climb up were immediately shot back down by Numbuh 5 or Ben. The group managed to reach the first ramp with ease and started to climb. It was large and steep; one misstep would send someone rolling back to a gruesome fate. Ben covered the rear as he raised a crystal wall to prevent some of the Cyberus from following them. Numbuh 5 pulled out a communicator from her pocket and contacted someone as they headed for the next level.

"Numbuh 2!" she exclaimed into the microphone. "Come in! Numbuh 2!"

"Numbuh 2 responding." a male voice answered. "What is it Abby?"

"Are you anywhere near me and Ben? We need you take care of these monsters tailing us!"

"Roger that. I'm on my way."

The group quickly made their way up the next ramp. Numbuh 5 motioned the two to make a break for it across the bridge up ahead which connected two large land masses. Once they were across, she turned to see the Cyberus pack still approaching them full speed. In a few moments what looked like a green rocket or missile-like aircraft zoomed past the three and dropped explosive charges made of oversized glue bottles, destroying the bridge and preventing the pack from getting to them. The more energetic ones attempt jumping the gap, but the distance was just too big and they ended up plummeting into the water below. Relieved that the pursuers were "gone", Kyle looked up to see the ship circling them, getting ready to land. Deploying its landing gear, the ship slowly came to the ground. The cockpit doors opened and another teenage boy stepped out. He was overwieght, dressed in a blue shirt and brown overalls. He wore an aviator hat with goggles attached to it; the number "2" was printed on the forehead in black.

"Haha! That sure was a sticky situation you guys got into. Haha! Hm? Who's this?"

"Now's not the time for lame jokes, Numbuh 2." Numbuh 5 said. "We're in the middle of a battle here. What's the current situation?"

"Numbuh 1 just sent orders to help out Jack. There's an extremely powerful energy reading heading towards him. It may be too much to handle for him"

"Right. Ben and I will head there now."

Reverting back to his human form, Ben followed Numbuh 5 as she headed off. Kyle turned to Numbuh 2 who was observing him more closely. There were a lot of questions racing through Kyle's head that he wanted to ask him, but he decided to let the boy go first.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Numbuh 2, 2x4 Technology Officer of Sector V of the Kids Next Door."

"Kyle."

"Alrighty then. Numbuh 5 relayed a message that you needed to speak with Dexter, right? Well, there's a problem. She and Ben were probably not told yet, but Dexter's gone missing. The Powerpuff Girls are still searching the battlefield for him, but they're still not enough with all these Tech Wings flying around. The best we can do is-"

"Numbuh 2!" a voice yelled in the distance.

A girl with black hair dressed in a green and black jacket and skirt suddenly came into view and landed in front of the two. She wore he black hair down and the vibe she gave off definitely told someone that he wouldn't want to mess with her. Kyle immediately recognized her as Buttercup of the Powerpuff Girls, the superhero trio who battle Townsville's many supervillains and evildoers on a daily basis. He had always seen the action from the sidelines, but now this is the first he's actually stood this close to one of the girls.

"We found out where Dexter is," she informed the officer, "but we're not sure how heavily guarded the place is."

"Alright, Buttercup." Numbuh 2 said. "We can at least get you, Blossom, and Bubbles to stay outside the entrance to hold off the monsters while someone goes inside to rescue him. Maybe I can still call Ben back here or..."

Kyle hesitated for a moment, but he had the strange urge to act and say something. "I'll do it!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"What? Are you crazy? I mean, not to insult you or anything, but you're just a random kid that we found in the middle of the battlefield. You probably don't even have any battle experience besides those Cyberus that chased you."

"I know, but...Dexter's the one who got me into this mess. I figure I at least should be the one who gets him out..."

"...You've got guts, I'll tell you that," Buttercup admitted. "Don't worry, Numbuh 2. Let the kid do what he wants. Anyway, just get some KND members who aren't too busy and tell them to cover us. Kid, you and Numbuh 2 will get in the SCAMPER and fly in when we've made an opening. You better be itching for a fight. You ready?"

"...Ready."