The World's Smartest IV

"I know this is sudden, but I couldn't take him to any hospital the way he's dressed. They'd ask questions."

Blossom slowly floated in with the injured brother of Dee-Dee, who stepped aside as she looked at his wounds. "I was thinking since your brother's a genius, maybe he'd have some medical kit in his secret lab that can help."

Upon hearing that, Dee-Dee smirked. "You thought right."

Hitting a hidden button on the wall right next to her window, she jumped right next to Dexter & Blossom, as a large glad tube emerged from the ground, encompassing them. "Please keep your arms & legs in the tube at all times. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The panel of the floor disappeared, dropping the three into a network of pipes that webbed its way through and under the house. It was only a 30 second ride, but from what Blossom saw the network was expansive, and spread out further than just Dexter's home. Before long, they had reached the end of their destination; Dexter's Lab.

"Warning: Dee-Dee sighting in south quadrant of Lab!" Dexter's computer alerted.

"Can it, chrome-dome." Dee-Dee responded. "We got an emergency, Dexter's been hurt!"

The lab-wide system took a moment to validate Dee-Dee's words as several cameras examined Dexter's state of health, and found she was right. "Acknowledged. Preparing Emergency Medical Treatment Pod. Ms. Utonium, would you be so kind as to step away from Dexter?"

A robotic arm descended from the ceiling to assist Blossom in the hand off. "Uh…sure." She said, passing off the wounded teen genius. The robotic arm carefully carried him over to a medical table which sprouted up from the floor and gently placed him on top. A glace dome closed around the top of the table, sealing him in as a strange gas began to fill it.

"Initiating anesthetic protocol."

"Don't worry, he'll be OK." Dee-Dee assured Blossom. "He took worse than this when that alien invasion…huh?"

She stopped her sentence when she noticed Blossom looking around herself in awe. She had seen almost countless sights in her life, but a laboratory that seemed nearly endless was not one of them. "Incredible…"

"Yeah, he just added two more quadrants a week ago." Dee-Dee commented.

"If only we had access to this when we fought Him." Blossom said.

"Who?" Dee-Dee asked.

"Him."

"Who's him?"

"You don't wanna know."

"Apparently." Dee-Dee said, feeling confused.

"Wound Sterilization: Complete." The computer informed. "Wound Treatment Procedure: Complete. Initializing Wake-Up Procedure."

"Don't worry Computer, I got it." Dee-Dee said as Dexter's pod reopened. Walking over to a nearby control panel, the pig-tailed sister merely held up her hand, fell to her left and leaned against it.

"Dee-Dee, quit touching my things and leave my laboratory!" Dexter demanded as he sat up, awakening from his slumber to Blossom's surprise.

"Whoa…"

"Yeah, it's like hard-wired into him." Dee-Dee revealed as she walked over to her brother. "You OK?"

Dexter took a moment to examine himself; his chest injury was now bandaged up, though he still felt the residual pain that was normal for that kind of wound. "It appears that I am recovering well, though the healing process will no doubt—OWW!"

A hard punch in the shoulder from Dee-Dee abruptly cut him off. "THAT'S for doing whatever it was that got you hurt like that in the first place!" She followed with another.

"OWWW!"

"And THAT'S for making me miss my favorite show! If I missed the Silver Pony Puff…"

"You are aware that I have set up DVR on your TV, right?" Dexter asked, rubbing his shoulder.

Dee-Dee thought to herself for a moment, before realizing her brother was right. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. But I still meant the first one!"

"I can tell from the amount of pain you've inflicted on me." Dexter replied. "By the way, would you mind enlightening me on why you and her ARE IN MY LABORATORY!?"

"It was my idea." Blossom chimed in. "I figured you'd have sufficient medical equipment in your lab…just didn't expect it to be big enough to fit several hospitals."

"Um, yes…" Dexter responded, forgetting that Blossom was still with him. "Well, this has been an interesting day."

"You can say that again." Blossom agreed, before turning to his sister. "Dee-Dee, would you mind punching him in the shoulder again?"

"My pleasure!" Dee-Dee answered, before laying her fist into him.

"YEEOUCH!"

"What were you thinking going against Mojo-Jojo!?" Blossom yelled.

He knew this was coming. "I apologize for my actions. But I—!"

"YOU acted recklessly!" She interrupted. "I told you that this wasn't for amateurs!"

"Which I understand, but—!"

"You could've had a LOT worse done to you, considering who you faced!"

"I KNOW that—!"

"Do you even KNOW how many people he's hurt!? And you went after him for a stupid remote!? What does—!"

"BECAUSE IT WAS MY INVENTION!"

The loud reveal was enough to silence the Powerpuff leader as Dexter gritted his teeth. Pain coursed through his chest, but it wasn't enough to keep him stationary as he climbed off the table and slowly made his way to the nearby control panel.

"Dexter…" Dee-Dee uttered.

"The Animal Atomizer, the Phono-Neutralizer…all of them created by my hands." He continued. "And all of them fell into the hands of villains. You saw the damage that those inventions could do, so now you understand. I built this Laboratory to increase my knowledge and to help benefit mankind; and to find out what the fruits of my labor have been turned into…I am not stopping."

He turned to Blossom. "Even if I come into conflict with you and your sisters, I will not stop. You do not have any idea how it feels to have your technology, your inventions, your ideas become corrupt and harm mankind instead of help it. But I will not allow this to continue! So you will do what you must…but I have inventions to destroy!"

With his point spoken, Dexter gingerly began to make his way towards the incinerator, before Blossom replied. "You're right. Me and my sisters, we don't know what it's like to make something for good and have it used for evil…but my father does."

Those words stopped Dexter in his tracks as his sister gasped. "Professor Utonium?"

Blossom nodded. "My father told me the story, and I'll never forget it…it was the same moment when he created me and my sisters. He had a monkey

lab assistant, and that monkey ended up interfering in the experiment that created me, Bubbles and Buttercup. He was the one responsible for the Chemical X being added to the formula, and the explosion it caused led to him becoming super intelligent. And almost since they day I was born, I've been fighting that mad monkey tooth and nail because my father still blames himself for his creation. To this day he calls it the gift and the curse, so I DO have an idea of what it's like to have my ideas do harm, because I was part of it!"

They stared at each other for a moment, both motionless as they took in their words and the emotion behind them. They stayed that way until Dexter broke the silence. "Pure nonsense." He debated, to Blossom's shock. "By that logic it would mean that you and your sisters were accidents. And no one as smart, powerful or beautiful as your could have been created by a simple accident."

Blossom was almost left speechless; Dexter's words resonated with her, but there was one that really stood out to her. "Did…you just call me beautiful?"

Now it was Dexter's turn to be speechless. "I, uh…I…that is to say…"

"Dexter likes Blossom! Dexter likes Blossom!" Dee-Dee sung. "Dexter likes—!"

"DEE-DEE IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE MY LAB SO HELP ME EINSTEIN –!"

"Dexter!" He ceased his tirade as his computer's voice crossed his ears. "3rd fingerprint analysis on the Phono-Neutralizer is complete."

"You've been scanning your inventions?" Blossom asked.

"Ever since I have been able to re-obtain them." Dexter answered. "I must know just how many are involved."

"Won't do much good. Mojo-Jojo wears gloves, and he has little patience for those who aren't even close to his intellect. So—!"

"Identity of the fingerprint owner revealed." Dexter's computer interrupted, showing the image on the screen of his control panel. It was an image that brought out varied reactions from all three. Confusion appeared on Blossom's face as her first reaction, but anger grew on Dexter's. He mentally kicked himself for not seeing it sooner, even with how obvious it was. But the bowl haircut, thin glasses and sinister smirk told him that it was indeed true. The fingerprints belonged to his arch foe, Mandark.

"I should have known." Dexter growled.

"Yeah, even I saw this coming." Dee-Dee commented.