Chapter 8
The sun had arisen to signal morning though it was not as peaceful now that there was an ominous green sky threatening to consume the planet any second. Within the KND treehouse, Kyle was soundly asleep in his new and temporary bed. Kyle had slept in his current outfit since it was the only clothes he had. Numbuh 2 offered some of the clothes in the Lost & Found, but Kyle was quick to refuse. He personally was not fond of wearing other people's clothes. Numbuh 5 had given his new room near the center of the treehouse. It was close enough to Numbuh 2's laboratory so Kyle could quickly meet with him for his next assignment.

The alarm next to Kyle's bed had been buzzing for the last quarter-hour, loud enough to fill the entire treehouse. Kyle had always been a deep sleeper, requiring others to forcefully wake him up if they needed him early. Apparently, he neglected to inform others about this condition. Numbuh 5 was eventually forced to burst in, covering her ears, and smack him awake.

"Geez, boy. You're a heavy sleeper... We should've made this room soundproof if we knew you were gonna sleep through that alarm."

Kyle was still yawning and rubbing his cheek in slight pain. He wasn't exactly used to be woken up like that except when his mother did it (But even those moments were rare).

"Sorry..." Kyle mumbled. "Um...what's going on?"

"Nothing big right now. It's getting close to noon. You should straighten yourself out and get some breakfast... "

"Yeah, yeah, Mom." he replied sarcastically trying to fix his bedhead.

"What did you say?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Nothing."

"By the way, Numbuh 2 wants to see you outside. You two still have to fix the time machine."

"I know. I'll get on it."

Numbuh 5 left as Kyle was getting his things in order. He left his rifle and sword on the nearby table. He picked up the blade, stared at it, and was soon lost in his thoughts for a moment. Snapping back to reality, Kyle placed it inside his Nanocom's storage. As for the rifle, he wore green sash Numbuh 236 had given him and attached the rifle to the back. Numbuh 236 had suggested using a new and different weapon, seeing Kyle as a jack of all trades, but Kyle felt changing now would throw him of.

Kyle eventually exited onto the platform after getting lost in the treehouse. During his little sidetracking, he came across the treehouse's main generator room. He was confused why it was a room full of hamsters running on spinning wheels attached to the walls. When used, the wheels provided energy to the large battery in the center of the room. Other rooms Kyle came across seemed to belong to other members of the KND, evident by the numbers written on the doors in a similar fashion to Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5's rooms. The room marked with a "3" was filled with colorful stuffed animals. They all had the number painted on them somewhere, usually on their bellies if they had one. The towering piles were mostly comprised of Rainbow Monkeys, a toy brand which were popular among female children and teens. Even the bed was one large stuffed animal. The other room marked with a "4" was fairly large. Parts of the tree's large branches were still there, emerging from the center and branching out in four separate directions eventually exiting the room through smashed open holes. Using the branches as the supports, a blue wrestling arena was placed there along with other workout equipment. This apparently served as a bed to whoever this belonged to judging by the lone pillow and blanket.

Outside, Kyle found Numbuh 236 doing a patrol round of treehouse. Asking for Numbuh 2's whereabouts, Numbuh 236 directed Kyle to Hero. Riding the zipline, Kyle found the operative speaking with Computress.

"Hey guys." Kyle greeted them. "You wanted me?"

"There you are." Numbuh 2 responded. "I managed to locate some material we need for the time machine, but we need you to head on over to Genius Grove to actually get them."

"Genius Grove? That's...Dexter's hometown, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Why'd you ask?"

"Just...curious... Where is it anyway? I'm still trying to figure out the controls of the Nanocom's map..."

"West of the southern Pokey Oaks. Take the SCAMPER. The pilot'll land behind Dexter's old house. His sister, Dee Dee, should be there. She has the parts we need. Just ask for them."

"Dee Dee... Sounds familiar..."

"Kyle." Computress said. "I have taken the liberty of acquiring a bank account for you at Morbucks Savings and Loans seeing as how you neglected to do so during your stop in Peach Creek. We will automatically forward Taros to you upon completion of your tasks as a reward. Your Nanocom has a withdrawal feature so you don't actually have to use a terminal, but it is more traditional. Whatever you prefer."

"You couldn't have picked another bank?" Kyle asked slightly annoyed.

Morbucks Savings and Loans was the biggest bank in the country, the biggest in the world. Though large, people were still wary of it. The bank was owned by a very wealthy family. There were rumors and suspicions that instead of business, the family used people's money for their own selfish benefit. The only reason Kyle knew about this was because their headquarters were in Townsville. He grew up hearing tons of gossip. He thought these stories were the reason why the family lived outside the city and why the company head's daughter, Princess Morbucks, didn't attend school in Townsville. The latter was further justified when she became one of the Powerpuff Girls' main enemies.

"I apologize," Computress answered, "but that bank is the one we have with the closest relationship with. Plus it's the most stable one left after the invasion."

"Alright..."

"C'mon," Numbuh 2 interrupted. "Time's of the essence!"

Numbuh 2 led Kyle to the nearby SCAMPER agent and gave the agent strict orders to take Kyle to Genius Grove. The ship departed once Kyle boarded and the pilot started the engines. The ship soon flew out of Sector V and over Pokey Oaks. At the southern portion of the town, the pilot turned west. Within a few minutes, the town of Genius Grove came into view. The town didn't have anything significant history that made it stand out other than it was the famed Dexter's hometown. Before Dexter became a teenager and founded Dexlabs, there would be the occasional instance of his experiments going haywire and affecting the town, but that was rare. Once Dexter moved out, chaotic incidents no longer occurred, making the town one of the actually peaceful towns for miles. Or at least it was until Fuse's invasion. Since the beginning, his minions had been trying to break inside Dexter's old laboratory located under his house. It was only known that Fuse is after something locked up in there, but even Dexter refused to reveal what that was. Kyle was just relieved that the heroes had managed to protect it all this time. Knowing Dexter's capabilities, it would be a sure disaster if the Fusion army broke through.

Kyle looked outside the passenger window to see this new town. It was an average one, but he came upon a strange sight. Kyle saw a large, menacing, black and red building contained within Infected Zone barriers. It was about six stories tall and cast a large shadow over the town. It seemed to be a laboratory though it was in a state of disrepair. Many parts of the building were suspended in midair. The entire building was partially submerged in Fusion Matter preventing normal access to the first floor and possibly the basement. Kyle thought a building that evil looking deserved to become an Infected Zone in the first place. The sight of a place like this always bothered him.

As the SCAMPER lowered itself in a park, Kyle's Nanocom reminded him that Dexter's house was right in front of him. What worried him was that it was directly across the street from the Infected Zone. It was a plain, simple house like the rest of the town although with a few technologic structures most likely made by Dexter. Kyle walked around and rang the doorbell. To his surprise, the same girl in a pink ballerina outfit from the time machine accident opened the door.

"Aren't you the... Wait! What are you doing here?"

"Um, I live here." the girl replied in a confused tone. "Have we met?"

"You...don't remember?" Kyle asked calmly. "You're the one who get me sent into this crazy future in the first place!"

The girl took a few seconds to realize what Kyle meant. It soon came to her with a shocked expression on her face as she suddenly knelt to the ground and grabbed Kyle's legs on the bring of tears. "Oh my- I am SO sorry! I didn't know that button would do this to you! I was just trying to have fun with my little brother and then-...and then-... I'm really sorry! Please forgive me!" The girl was beginning to cry in hysterics. Kyle tried to calm her down. It was obvious she had been dealing with this guilt her entire life.

"Listen... Just calm down. It's true I'm still a little mad, but...I guess I can forgive you now that I've...seen how sorry you've been if the guilt's been eating you up. Truth be told...I've been dealing with the same kind of thing."

"Y-You have?" she said, wiping tears from her face. "I was afraid that I accidentally killed you... Dexter said it didn't, but I just couldn't believe it..."

"But I'm here now, alive and well, aren't I?"

"...Hehe. You're right... I'm just glad you didn't end up in a place that Fuse didn't absorb yet. I bet you're having a terrible time here..."

"Well, yeah. I have no more home to go back to, but on the bright side... I've met tons of new people, made new friends, and I'm actually doing something with my life. That's something I probably never would've done. If anything...I should be thanking you for pressing that button..."

"R-Really?" Dee Dee was in disbelief, but she eventually smiled again. "Not just me, but Dexter too. The Time Machine would've never been built without him. Oh and speaking of Dexter, have you heard from him? He's not answering his phone whenever I call. He's probably too busy working with the others on sending you back, huh?"

"Oh, um..." Kyle was trying to quickly think of a convincing answer. Dee Dee had already gone through enough now that finding out her own brother had died would only makes things worse. "Y-Yeah! He's helping to rebuild his Time Machine. He wants me to get back to the past as soon as possible so he's been working nonstop. You want me to give him a message?"

"No, it's alright. Well, just tell him that his sister misses him... Oh, I forgot to ask why you're here."

"Numbuh 2 said he called you for some parts I needed to pick up."

"Oh yeah! Wait here a minute." Dee Dee went inside the house for a few moments and quickly came back with a box full of technological parts. "Here they are. I don't know what they do, but Numbuh 2 said they were safe to dismantle."

"Thanks. I'll be heading off. It was nice to fully meet you in person."

Kyle headed back to the park and spoke to the SCAMPER agent again. They immediately flew back to Sector V and parked in the treehouse's landing bay. Kyle then delivered the parts to Numbuh 2's laboratory. The 2x4 officer had already begun construction. The basic framework was set up and a few metal plates were already screwed in. Though looking at it, Kyle could clearly tell it didn't match the time machine design Dexter made.

"I thought you had the blueprints for the thing?" Kyle questioned as he walked inside.

"I do." Numbuh 2 replied. "We're just using a different model. Anyway, you have those parts, right?"

"Right here." Kyle set the box down on the nearby work table as Numbuh 2 immediately got to work at a breathtaking speed. "So..." he awkwardly began, "Dee Dee asked me about Dexter..."

"You told her!" Numbuh 2 exclaimed accidentally dropping his welder.

"I'm not heartless enough to flat out make a girl cry! But...was it the right thing to do? She already cried when she recognized me. I thought telling her about Dexter would only make it worse. But I also thought she deserved to learn about the death of her own brother."

"Well, what's done is done. You can't change the past... Er-, not without a time machine anyway, but you get the idea."

"Yeah, but..."

"I need you to go to the Cul-de-Sac." he said quickly, obviously wanting to change to subject. "Get some paste from Eddy."

"Paste? Can't you just weld it?"

"The amount of energy we have to use to power the time machine will break it apart. The Eds' special paste will manage to keep it together. If Eddy's gonna be cheap, then tell him the fate of the world relies on it. If that doesn't work...sigh, put it on my tab..."

"I'll try. Though I don't think I could convince him after my first impression of him."

Kyle left the treehouse and took a SCAMPER again to the Cul-de-Sac. As they approached, the pilot alerted Kyle of something troubling. Looking out the window, there seemed to be smoke coming from the fortress. Not taking chances of a possible Fusion attack, the pilot landed the SCAMPER in front of the Cul-de-Sac gates. Kyle quickly exited despite the pilot's warning and rushed inside also ignoring the Urban Rangers cautioning him as well.

Inside, dirt, sand, and smoke clouded everyone's vision. One could only see a few feet ahead. The sounds of panicking screams flooded the area. Kyle could only make out the dark shadows of people running in fear. He soon heard a loud monstrous roar from further inside. He was starting to think about getting out while he still had a chance, but he also thought stopping this thing would help him get the paste from Eddy. As Kyle approached the marketplace, he saw that portions of it left in ruin. Many of the stands and stores had been overturned along with their contents scattered across the ground. There were many shadows crowding around the Great Machine. Kyle assumed there were trying to protect it. As Kyle tried to approach the group, a large creature quickly ran by him. From the short glimpse, it looked like a large monster though it didn't seem to be of Fusion variety. It had purple fur, pointed horns that bent upwards, and wore pants with a belt that had a skull buckle attached to it. It seemed to be intelligent, bilingual even, as it was screaming in both English and Spanish.

"Los monstruos! Los monstruos! Help me!" it screamed.

The monster soon began charging towards Kyle in its panicked frenzy. Kyle immediately reacted by summoning his Buttercup Nano and ordered for her Misfire power. The Nano's hand glowed, charging up energy, and punched the creature directly on the forehead. Upon impact, the monster began to wobble back dizzily and fall on the ground.

"Monstruos...scary..." it mumbled as it fell unconscious.

"Hey!" a voice exclaimed. Sherri came running to Kyle from a nearby building.

"Thanks a lot for calming him down." Sherri said. "He would've destroyed the place if you never showed up."

"What's this monster doing here in the first place?" Kyle asked.

"He's not a monster, dummy. He's an Imaginary Friend. His name is Eduardo."

Imaginary Friends, a concept that continues to baffle scientists to this day. All people know is that it's only possible if the person had a creative imagination which usually reached its peak in childhood. When a child dreamed of a friend, he became real. Simple as that. There was, unfortunately, a downside. Eventually, the child would normally have to abandon the friend as he would grow up. These Friends would hopefully be sent to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends where they could be adopted by another child.

"Foster's was destroyed days ago." Sherri informed him. "Some of us are taking in the survivors like this guy here. He's been having a rough time after his friends...um...didn't make it. Anyway, thanks again for calming him down. So what're you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to-"

"Thank God that problem is over!" a voice interrupted. Eddy had come out of his hiding spot and was walking towards the group. "I thought this guy was going to destroy the place! Listen, I don't normally do this, but I'll let you have something. No charge...maybe no charge. Depending on the item. Still have to making a living, y'know?"

"Thanks...I guess? I need-"

"Only if you keep calming this guy down when he rampages again. He does this every freaking time he sees one of Fuse's creeps. So what'cha need?"

"I need some of your paste."

"Oh, um...there's a problem with that..."

"...What...?"

"Well, the stuff I need to make it is really hard to find and expensive to buy from sellers so there's no way I can give it to you without causing this place to fall apart especially around this time with Fuse. Unless you're willing to pay the million Taros..."

"Million! But Numbuh 2 really needs it for-"

"But, if you're really that desperate, then find Fusion Eddy. That jerk stole my last supply of that stuff. If you hurry, you may be able to get it back."

Kyle was strongly resisting the urge to punch Eddy in the face. He eventually pulled through, realizing that would accomplish nothing. He only turned around and headed towards the nearby SCAMPER pilot without a word.