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A FusionFall fanfic by RoeBoat.

The war is messing with Kevin's life— he's stuck doing behind the scenes work when he'd rather be fighting, he doesn't have time to spend with his girlfriend (Gwen, as established in canon), and worst of all, he's growing jealous of Ben's friendship with Dexter.

He finds kindred spirits in post-amnesia Buttercup, whose relationship with Ace has taken a mature turn. While things are happy for a while, the fact of the matter is, they're children fighting a war. And every war has casualties...

Focuses on Kevin, a fairly unpopular character in the fandom because canonically, Kevin doesn't necessarily take the side of the good guys— he's on the side that benefits him the most. In this case, he's on the good side, but he gets upset when he doesn't get what he wants.

Told in third-person limited through Kevin, which has some... interesting results.

Can be found here on FanFiction.Net and here on Archive of Our Own.


Provides Examples Of:

  • Arc Words: "Sometimes being strong isn't enough. Being brave, and good, and determined isn't enough. Sometimes things just happen." Kevin says it to Blossom and Bubbles after Buttercup dies, and Blossom repeats it back to him at the end of the fic when it looks like Ben might not pull through.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Ben's okay, Ace establishes that he's a good father, the Utoniums are slowly accepting Buttercup's death, and Kevin and Dexter have agreed to be civil for Ben's sake. But... Ben and Kevin still need to work some things out, Kevin's betrayed Gwen's trust by keeping things from her, Buttercup and Mac are dead, Kevin and Dexter will never really be friends, and the war still isn't over. Ouch.
  • Blood from the Mouth: How Kevin knows that Ben's not doing well after the fight with Fusion Buttercup.
  • Death by Childbirth: Buttercup, by way of fusion poisoning.
  • Deconstruction Fic: While it's established in the game that characters die, they're given little time to grieve. This story examines not just the existence of the loss, but what happens when people have to move on from it so quickly.
  • Honor Before Reason: Everyone, constantly.
  • Hurt/Comfort Fic: The list of characters who feel some kind of loss goes on and on. Sometimes there's comfort, but it's usually the loss of said comfort that triggers the hurt.
  • In Which a Trope Is Described: The way the chapters are titled. Each chapter follows the formula "in which kevin learns [insert plot relevant thing here]..." The last chapter breaks from this, cutting the chapter name short: Chapter 20 is simply called "in which kevin learns."
  • I Will Only Slow You Down: Ben, to Kevin after Fusion Buttercup kicks their asses and bombs the building they're in. Kevin doesn't buy it.
  • Killed Off for Real: Buttercup and Mac
  • Mood Whiplash: Everyone's happy because Buttercup has given birth to a healthy baby girl. And then Kevin notices that there's no "mommy and baby doing fine!" announcement... Because Buttercup's dying .
  • Never Got to Say Goodbye: Well, that's kind of the way Buttercup wanted it, but it really effected Dexter and Blossom the most.
  • No One Gets Left Behind: At the end, when Kevin carries an injured Ben out of a crumbling building to safety.
  • Official Couple: All pairings are canon, at least in FusionFall: Buttercup and Ace, Kevin and Gwen, and Ben and Julie. All romance is established before the story starts, and with the exception of Buttercup and Ace's subplot, the romance is not the focus of the story.
  • Teen Pregnancy: Buttercup. Even though she's happily married, and everyone acts like they're much older than they actually are.
  • Unreliable Narrator: Holy, Kevin! Even in third person. He's got the best of intentions, really, but his perceptions of the way Ben is acting towards him are much harsher than Ben means them to, and his irrational dislike of Dexter makes the boy genius out to be the bad guy sometimes when they really have similar values and goals.
  • Wartime Wedding: Buttercup and Ace. Kevin doesn't really get the urgency of the whole thing... Until people start dying, and he does.
  • Wham Chapter: Chapter 18, when Dexter reveals that not only did Buttercup know she was dying all along, but nobody knew but Dexter.

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