Work Text
Title: It Went Like ThisFandom: Johnny TestSummary: Mr. Black told Johnny that he blew up Malaysia. Johnny learns exactly what happened.Notes: based on s04e03a Runaway Johnny"Johnny," Mr. Black grins at him and Dukey, hands on his hips, "Do you have a way to get back into the house undetected?"The eleven-year-old boy quirks an eyebrow. "Tons. Why?""Let's just say you're gonna see what makes Cow Movie 4 so hilarious," answers the white-haired man."Say wha…?" Johnny blinks.Mr. White flashes a thumbs up. "It's a very cruel thing for you to not be allowed to watch the funniest movie in existence. So we'll convince your family to let you."A wide smile eclipses the confusion on Johnny's face. "No way! Are you serious?" he asks the government agents ecstatically."Absolutely," Mr. Black nods, cordial as ever. "Big boy or not, you're our friend, and what are friends for?"Johnny pumps a fist up in the air, cheering, "Awesome!""This is wholesome and I'm all up for it," Dukey says, "Guess spending the night running away from home with our family none the wiser worked out after all.""Yep," Mr. White concurs with the talking dog, "and, hey, at least you didn't blow up anything. Wouldn't you agree, Black?"Mr. Black slumps his shoulders, pointedly avoiding the judging eyes of his dark-skinned friend. "I won't ever live this down, will I?"Johnny pauses, taking a moment to process the exchange between the two men. There's definitely some kind of story hidden behind their banter, one that piques his interest. Come to think of it, one of them brought it up earlier, back in the car on which they rode to his house. He can remember it word for word…"Okay, we want answers," Mr. White questioned the boy and canine, "Why did you resist a police officer?""Why are you police officers?" he asked back, genuinely confused."I blew up Malaysia," Mr. Black answered.Snapping out of his thoughts, he looks at Mr. Black. "Y'know, I didn't think about it because I was too busy sulking over the double standard of being a "big boy", but now I gotta ask–what exactly happened?""What do you mean, Johnny?""How did you guys blow up Malaysia?"Surprise flickers across Mr. Black's features. Johnny can just imagine the agent's eyes widening behind those shades. "Ermm, well…" Mr. Black hesitates, evidently having not expected such an inquiry, "It's a long and complicated story…""HIS FAULT! IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!" Mr. White points an accusatory finger at his partner.Raising his hands, Mr. Black speaks up defensively, "Okay, true, but I swear I didn't know Malaysia would blow up! Had I known, I never would have pushed it. My curiosity got the better of me.""Curiosity killed the cat!" Mr. White retorts.Mr. Black becomes a spluttering mess, struggling to get a word in edgewise.Johnny does a double take. "Whoa, back up. Did you just say cat? Are you talking about Mittens? You mean to tell me that Malaysia blew up because Mr. Black murdered Mittens?"Dukey face palms."Murdered?!" balks Mr. Black in bewilderment, his baritone voice going up several octaves.Mr. White pinches the bridge of his nose. "…Not remotely what I meant. It's a figure of speech. No cats were involved. I'm trying to say that my partner here just couldn't resist being inquisitive about something he should have left alone."Dukey takes the words out of Johnny's mouth. "What exactly did he do?" the talking mutt raises his brow.Mr. Black lets out a melancholic sigh. "You see, it went like this…"
Earlier today, at Area 51.1
There it was on the wall, just beneath that screen. The red button.In all his years working for the Super Secret Government Agency, Black had never seen that button inside the base before. It had to have been a new addition, he assumed. And judging from the puzzled expression on White's face, his partner clearly didn't know about it either."Just look at it, man," Black scrutinized the button. "Makes ya wonder what it does."White shrugged. "Beats me. I don't see any signs to tell us.""The General must've put it there recently," he theorized."That is certainly a possibility," White assented."I'd call this an unsolved mystery, the button that does… something.""Can't disagree with you there, partner.""…hmmm…"That big, round, protruding button was taunting Black, and he couldn't stand it. If it were a living being, it'd have the most derisive voice imaginable. He could almost hear it: Push me. I dare you. You know you want to.Like a crawling sensation on the skin, it bugged him to no end. He was itching to comply. And at that moment Black knew he had to scratch the itch, so to speak.That settled it."I am actually gonna press that button," he declared, his index finger already reaching for the electrical switch.White, however, had different plans. "Whoa, hey, hold on!" his partner seized his wrist. "Neither of us know what pressing the button'll do.""Precisely," Black acknowledged with an inclination of his head. "It's all the more reason to find out for ourselves.""But for all we know, that could be a "Nuke Canada" button!""Preposterous. Why would Area 51.1 wanna nuke Canada?""…Point taken," White acquiesced, "Still, it's too risky. Pressing the button might do something bad."He argued, "Or it could do something good. Like, oh, I dunno… teleport us to Fiji! Don't you wanna go to Fiji, man?" The prospect of going to the archipelago, where the tropical heat and sparkling ocean danced as well as the friendly locals, was enough to get him salivating from the thought alone.For a moment, delight flashed across White's face, though the euphoria disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Uncertainty took its place. "As enticing as getting teleported to Fiji sounds, I doubt the button will do that. It might just nuke France, if not Canada.""Well, we won't know that for certain unless I press it, now will we?" Black tried bringing his finger over to the button.Only for White to grip his wrist tighter. "No way, man!""Don't worry, my guy, I'm sure it'll be fine," he reassured.His partner shook his head. "Now you're just saying platitudes!""Okay, look," Black yanked his hand away from White. "I feel compelled to push that button so bad you don't understand. It's an enigma, and I hate enigmas! So how about you lemme sate my curiosity, all right?""The day I let you press it is when pigs fly," White affirmed."Susan and Mary have probably figured that out, so…" Black reached for the button, too impatient to want any longer."No!" White tackled him to the floor.Black thrashed about furiously, desperate to shake off the other agent pinning him down, but to no avail. "Lemme go!"White shouted back, "You won't be nuking France! Not today!""I just wanna push a button!" he corrected."I forbid you from pushing the button!""White, please, I need this–""I said nooooo!""Gah!"However hard he tried, Black could not break free from White's hold on him. He couldn't even get the other male to loosen the tight grip. His hand remained poised midair, stretching toward the red button it would never touch. Not so long as……Not so long as White focused on subduing him.Light bulb.Black ceased his struggle for freedom right there and then. "Fine…" he let out an exasperated sigh, "I give up, okay? You win."White paused in disbelief, stunned at the sudden lack of resistance."Much as I want to press that button, it isn't worth getting pinned to the floor like this," he grumbled, "Now can you let go? You're hurting me," Noticing the hesitance from his partner, he added, "I'm not gonna try anything. I promise.""Well… You did promise…" White rose to his feet, albeit begrudgingly.Black followed suit. His hands swept away all the dirt clinging to his clothes. "I guess we'll never know what the button does," he murmured, his voice laced with disappointment and his gaze cast on the floor.White placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Maybe not, but you're doing the right thing. I'm proud of you, man.""For real?" he looked up at him. "You mean it?""I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true," White smiled.His face mirrored the warm expression. "I'm touched. Truly touched. In fact, I just wanna say–Good Lord, penguins!" Black promptly pointed at the wall behind the other man, loud and fast in his words."Wha…?" White spun around, alarmed.Heh. Rookie mistake.Black didn't waste any time. He sped toward the button, and he slammed it down with the palm of his right hand. A loud beep! filled his ears, the herald of a mystery to be unraveled deafening his thoughts."You tricked me."He glanced back at White.The smile on that face widened into something scary, betraying an urge to murder. "You actually tricked me.""I craved to press the button. I was dying to know what would happen," Black responded in a defensive manner."Congratulations. Now you're gonna die for fooling me," White advanced toward him menacingly.That was until he saw his partner suddenly stop, attention shifting to something else.Tracing White's gaze, Black turned around to find the screen above the wall now turned on. Greeting him was the bird's eye view of a tropical island, along with small text on the bottom of the screen that clearly read Malaysia."Why are we looking at a small Malaysian island?" asked Black.What appeared to be a purple beam descended down on the island without warning. In mere moments, a massive dome of similar color engulfed the entirety of the land.Nothing other than receding waves remained in the wake of destruction. Both government agents lapsed into stunned silence."…""…"Black could just feel the rage exuding from the other male beside him. He didn't need to turn around to know he was being glared at. If looks could kill, he'd be as dead as a man riddled with stab wounds.After what felt like an eternity, White clicked his tongue in vehement disapproval. "Well? Got anything to say, partner?"Black stared down at his feet, ashamed of his actions, "I… did not see that coming."White proceeded to smack him upside the head."And that was how I single-handedly blew up Malaysia. A part of it, at least," concludes Mr. Black.Dukey gapes at the Caucasian, his jaw looking as if it could drop to the ground at any moment. "That's what happened? Seriously?"Mr. White tries schooling his features to calm, though his lips twitch every now and then. Likely to stifle a tirade, or perhaps some kind of expletive reserved for his partner.Johnny eyes Mr. Black with concern. Conflict governs the very thoughts running through his mind. On the one hand, Malaysia is nonexistent. On the other hand, he can understand why Mr. Black would push the button. If he were to come across a button and didn't have any idea on what it could do, he'd be dying to find out as well…Either way, he can tell Mr. Black and Mr. White seem pretty upset over what transpired. And he can't ignore that.He won't ignore that."You know, if you guys want, we can use the Turbo Time Tea House to go back in the past and prevent that from happening," Johnny offers, much to the shock of the two agents."Really? You'd do that for us?" Mr. Black looks at him hopefully.He gives the guys a kind smile. "Government agents or police officers, you two are my friends… and what are friends for?"Sentimental, Mr. Black sheds a tear and sniffles, "Oh, Johnny, hearing you say that warms my heart! Thank you! Thank you!"Even Mr. White can't help the smile betraying his gratitude. "It means a lot how much you value our friendship.""Of course. We are practically like family at this juncture. It's only right I help you guys out–just as both of you have for me earlier," he says with sincerity.Mr. White ruffles his flaming hair. "We won't forget this moment.""Or Malaysia," adds Mr. Black."Wait wait, hold on, Johnny," Dukey chimes in, "Doesn't stopping their past selves from nuking Malaysia mean that they wouldn't become police officers and make us reconsider the running away thing?""Yeah, but don't worry, I'll think of a way to deal with that," Johnny replies. He then turns back to Mr. Black and Mr. White. "So do ya guys wanna prevent Malaysia's destruction right now?"The agents exchange glances before shaking their heads."Let's do that first thing tomorrow, Johnny," Mr. Black tells him, "We still gotta help you and Dukey out with your family. And besides," The corners of his lips curl up. "It's just time travel. We have plenty of time."Chuckles permeate through the chilly air of this long, peaceful night. Indeed. In spite of the numerous hiccups from today, things seem to be looking up quite nicely."But there's one thing that's bugging me," he thinks aloud."Hmm?" Mr. Black stares at him in confusion. "And just what would that be, Johnny?""Why does Area 51.1 have a "Nuke Malaysia" button?"
