Falsely Accused
Summary: One night, after saving the day, Blossom passed out, and woke finding herself covered in blood. Later arrested for murder, what really happened that night? Not wishing to see pink Powerpuff fall, Brick commits the Rowdyruff Boys to help the Powerpuff Girls solve this mystery. Can they clear Blossom's name before it's too late? Or will it forever tarnish her reputation?
Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerpuff Girls.
Chapter 1
The Night
A. The Call
The City of Townsville, about ten in the evening.
It was Friday, April 5. The Powerpuff Girls were at home, lounging around, doing nothing in particular. Blossom was reading her school textbook. Not that she needed to study her current lessons. No, she already knew that by heart. What she was reading was advance lessons to get a head start on her classmates, and to ensure her place in the honor roll.
Bubbles was already in her nightgown, and brushing her teeth. It was a school night, and despite them being superheroes, they would need to have a good night's sleep since they were growing fast. She hummed her favourite tune as she put her toothbrush back in place and prepared to wash her face in preparation for bed.
Buttercup was not in the mood to sleep early. She was in the living room, in front of the TV, watching some Professional Wresting. "Go get 'em, John Cena! Undertaker, you are going down! No, not the Tombstone piledriver!" she shouted as she saw Cena get smashed and counted out.
Suddenly, there was a call at their watches. It was a gift of a friend of the Professor's to replace their hotline, in order to cut the Mayor and the incompetent police out of the loop and make the calls more efficient. Instead, the person on the spot, usually a police with his radio, or an agent with the express mission of reporting crimes or villain or monster attacks, would call the girls directly. It cut the time between the commission of the crime and the arrival of the superheroes at the scene of the action.
"There's an emergency at 42 Fleet Street. A jewelry store is being robbed!"
"Girls, the jewelry store is being robbed!" Blossom announced as she dragged Bubbles to the living room. She immediately switched off the TV.
"Hey, I was watching that," complained Buttercup at her leader's highhanded action.
"Now's not the time. There is jewelry robbery at Fleet Street," Blossom proclaimed.
"A robbery? We don't need to go there. Well, not all of us," Buttercup said. "One of us can handle it, and it's your turn!"
"My turn? Oh yes, how could I forget!" the red puff declared.
Over the years, the Powerpuff Girls had increased in power and efficiency. One of the changes that happened was that although all of them continued to go out and fight monsters and villains, ordinary criminals would usually merit only one superhero. Only if that particular superhero found out that she could not handle it by herself would the others help. They took turns in trying to bust ordinary crooks. Buttercup thoroughly enjoyed doing that small stuff, but Bubbles and Blossom seemed irritated that their time could be consumed by such petty happenings. After all, it had been eight years since they were first created, and now that they were thirteen, they much prefer to fight the really dangerous villains and monsters. But still, they had an obligation to the city.
Blossom zoomed out of the house towards Fleet Street. It was a cold spring night, so she was wearing a thick pink sweatshirt over her usual pink shirt and pink knee length skirt. She was also wearing white tights to protect her legs from the cold. Even though she could use her powers to warm herself, it would be a waste of energy for a problem that could be easily remedied by wearing thicker clothes. Buttercup of course would complain, but as leader, Blossom enforced the 'thick clothes over use of energy' policy in cold weather.
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B. Mr Fleetwood
There was a thick wind blowing, and the puddles testified to the spring rains earlier in the day. Then she saw it. At the side of Fleet Street, she saw the jewelry shop. The sign above the door says, F.F.F. Jewelry Shop. The window of the shop was broken, and she could see four masked armed robbers carrying the jewels to their van outside.
"Not so fast!" Blossom shouted as she flew into the jewelry shop.
She could see a man, presumably the owner, bound and gagged in the corner, watching helplessly the precious stones being carted away. A tinge of hope could be seen in his eyes as he saw the pink powerpuff.
"Who are you? Isn't it a little too late for little girls like you to be out at this time of night?" one of the robbers asked.
"Untie him, return the jewelry you stole, and surrender. If you do that, maybe I'll be lenient and won't beat you up," Blossom declared.
"Hey, aren't you that Powerpuff?" asked one of the robbers, fear taking over as he fired his pistol at the puff. The bullet bounced harmlessly off the stomach of the pink puff.
"Wrong answer," Blossom shouted. She quickly pummelled the four robbers. In just a few seconds, the four were beaten up, a writhing mass of flesh, unconscious on the floor. She quickly untied the captive, and tied up the crooks.
"I think we better call the police," he said. He was about forty five years of age, had black hair, thin as a stick, and about six feet one inch tall. He had a high pitched raspy voice.
"Are you okay, Mr—?" asked Blossom.
"Fleetwood. Frederick Fulton Fleetwood," he answered. "I've seen better days. Now could you help me a bit by retrieving those jewels in their van?"
"Of course, anything for you, Mr Fleetwood," Blossom replied as she went to the van and retrieved the stolen jewelry.
"Now I suggest you call the police," said Blossom.
"Of course, of course, but first, I need to thank you," said the proprietor of the jewelry shop.
"No need for thanks, Mr Fleetwood. Just doing my job as a Powerpuff Girl, you know, saving the day and stuff," said Blossom.
"No I insist. Thank you. And won't you please come and have some cookies and hot chocolate?"
"Well I guess it won't hurt," said Blossom as she followed the man to a room at the back of the shop, where she saw a table with chairs around it, a refrigerator, a door to the bedroom of the proprietor, and a couple of containers. He quickly put some cookies on a plate, presented it to Blossom and prepared a large cup of hot chocolate.
"Thank you, Mister," said Blossom as she took her place in one of the chairs around the table and began munching one of the cookies.
"Thank you very much, Ms Utonium. This business is my life. The value of the things that would have been stolen would far exceed whatever money the insurance company would give," Mr Fleetwood said as he prepared a cup of coffee for himself. "So how's life?"
"Good, I suppose. School is okay," said Blossom.
"No problems lately?" he asked.
"None at all," asserted Blossom as she gobbled another cookie.
"I heard Brick's the leader?"
"Yes. It's his turn this time," said Blossom.
"How are your sisters?"
"Not bad."
After Blossom ate the cookies and drank the chocolate, the proprietor finally called the police. As Blossom was leaving, he said, "Wait. Can you do me a favor?"
"Oh sure," said Blossom.
"Could you return this to Mrs Carmichael, on 77 North Drive? I know it's on the way to your home, so if it isn't too much trouble?"
"Of course," said Blossom as she accepted the small box and pocketed it.
"Thank you," said Mr Fleetwood.
Blossom looked at her watch and was horrified. It was eleven in the evening.
"I'm so sorry, but I've got to go," said the Powerpuff Girl before she flew off.
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C. Out Cold
However, as soon as she was in the air, she began to get dizzy, AND tipsy, even though Blossom never felt that before. "I must be getting sleepy," she said as drowsiness began to overcome her.
She started to accelerate, but remembered that she had one last obligation to do. Going to the home of Mrs Carmichael at 77 North Drive, she stopped by the door, and was about to knock, when a feeling of tipsiness and weariness overcame her. She slumped on the door mat, unconscious.
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Blossom woke up, and looked at her watch. It was three in the morning.
"Oh my God!" she said in panic. She then saw the door, was about to knock, then hesitated. 'She must already be asleep. It would be rude to wake her at this time in the morning. I'll just give it to her at a better time.'
However, she noticed something. Her hair was wild and free. Her bow was missing. Searching around, she could not find the missing head accessory. She then noticed that her sweater, skirt and tights were covered in blood.
'I must have squished through some monsters while I was asleep,' she thought. It wasn't new. Several times before, she went through the bodies of monsters, covering herself with blood. And it wasn't the first time Blossom kicked some monster ass while sleepwalking. 'I probably lost my bow in that monster fight.'
She then noticed something. She smelled herself. She smelled weird. She couldn't place it. Then she got it. She remembered when she busted some fight between drunken men. It was exactly the same. For some reason, she reeked of alcohol. 'That monster must have been drinking beer when I fought it.'
She was yawned. She was extremely sleepy. Fighting her drowsiness, she flew as fast as she could towards home. Entering the living room, she walked towards the couch, and collapsed on it, never even reaching the bottom of the stairs.
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D. First Morning Interview
The morning of April 6, Saturday…
She heard a loud knock on the door. Being on the couch, Blossom groggily woke up and looked at the clock. It was six in the morning at Saturday, and Buttercup and Bubbles, not to mention Professor Utonium, were still asleep. She got up and answered the door.
It was two men, one in police uniform, and the other in a blue suit.
"Blossom Utonium?" the one in civilian clothes asked.
"Yes?" she sleepily replied.
"Is this your bow?" he said, showing it to her.
"Yes," Blossom said, grabbing it. It was covered in blood.
The two men looked at the bloodstained clothes of the powerpuff leader and also noticed that she still reeked of alcohol.
"Sorry for this, but what happened? Why are you covered in blood, and why are you smelling like that?" the uniformed police officer asked.
"Oh I fought some monster while I was asleep," said Blossom. "The monster must have been drunk."
"Can we get a sample of the blood on your clothes? We'd like to check the DNA," said the one in civilian clothes.
"Go ahead," Blossom said, removing the blood stained sweater from her body and handing it to him. "I've got more where that came from."
"When did you fight that monster?" asked the plainclothes officer.
"Between eleven in the evening and two in the morning last night," she said. "I fell asleep at Mrs Carmichael's doorstep, and when I woke up, I was already covered with blood."
The men looked at each other after hearing that piece of information.
"Um, could we have a sample of your blood?" asked the plainclothes officer.
"Is it necessary?" asked the powerpuff.
"I'm afraid so, Ms Utonium," said the plainclothes officer.
Blossom quickly flew to the Professor's lab and returned with a special syringe and hypodermic needle. "Use this. Ordinary needles would break in our skin," she explained.
The uniformed police officer carefully extracted a small amount of blood from her shoulder. He then put the blood in small test tube he carried in a small bag.
"Thank you Ms Utonium," said the officer.
"Thank you for returning my bow," said the pink puff.
"Anything for the Powerpuff Girls," the plainclothes police officer said, with a trace of sadness in his voice.
"Wouldn't you like to come in and have some coffee?" asked the redhead politely.
"Thanks, but we have to go," said the officer in the suit, before they left.
Thinking nothing of it, Blossom quickly closed the door and returned to her peaceful slumber on the couch.
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E. Household Interrogation
Later…
Blossom opened her eyes and saw the clock at the opposite side of the wall. It was nine thirty. She quickly got up and stretched, thoroughly refreshed and well rested.
"What happened?" a voice asked.
Blossom looked and saw the Professor standing right besides her. "You know that your curfew for fighting crime is eleven o'clock."
"I'm sorry," apologized Blossom.
"What happened to you?" Buttercup asked as she went down. She went to bed a few minutes after Blossom left so she had no inkling of what happened. "Why are you covered in blood, and did you drink?"
"Yeah Blossom, you look like, well, you don't look well at all," said Bubbles.
"Well Blossom? I'm waiting for an explanation," the Professor demanded in a soft voice.
Blossom then explained what happened, right until she received the small box from Mr Fleetwood. She then retrieved from her pocket the small box and showed it to her family. She then resumed her tale, right up until she passed out in front of the house.
"You passed out?" the Professor asked, worried.
"Yeah," said Blossom. "I must have been more tired than I realized."
"But you never pass out just like that!" he said, worry evident in his voice.
"And why are you covered with blood?" asked Buttercup.
"I'm not sure. I woke up in the same place about three in the morning. I was already covered with blood, smelled of alcohol, and my bow was missing," she explained. "I must have fought some monsters while I was asleep."
"How did you know that?" asked Bubbles.
"Well, remember when the Professor was sleepwalking, and we encouraged him to steal toys for us? And do you remember the time when he also punched that burglar while asleep? Same thing must have happened. As to why I smell like I'm drunk, whatever monster I fought must have some alcohol content that rubbed in on me."
Blossom looked at the three. Bubbles, she could see, was buying it, but Buttercup, and especially the Professor, were sceptical.
"Are you sure that's what really happened, Blossom?" asked John Utonium.
Blossom shrugged. "What else could have happened?"
"Where's your sweater?" asked Buttercup.
"Oh yeah, that, you see, I lost my bow while I was unconscious fighting that monster," Blossom said.
"But your bow's right there!" Bubbles said, pointing to the table besides the couch.
"Let me finish. I thought I had lost it, so I went home. I was too exhausted to go up so I just slept on the couch," she explained. "Then at six this morning, some police officers showed up and brought my bow back. Then they asked to test the blood all over me. So I gave them my sweater, which was also soaked in blood."
"Why would they want to do that?" asked the Professor.
"Probably want to ID whatever monsters that I fought," said Blossom.
"Well, you look terrible Blossom. Young lady, go upstairs, change, and shower, then you can have your breakfast!"
Blossom flew to a nearby mirror and agreed. "I do look terrible, don't I?" she said, and headed upstairs to do as she was told.
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"Strange," said the Professor.
"What do you mean?" asked the blue clad puff.
"You have Chemical X, and it's very strange that she would just fall asleep in front of Mrs Carmichael's house. It's as if she was drugged or something."
"Well, nothing's bad has come out of it, except leader girl getting wasted," said the raven haired puff.
"True, but I would have to conduct some check-ups on Blossom just to make sure," said the Professor.
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Later…
They were in the lab, with the Professor doing various check-ups on the redheaded powerpuff.
"I'm sure I'm fine," said Blossom.
"I'm just making sure," he said. "Strange. It seems to me that last night, if this test is right, you drank enough alcohol to make a normal human drunk several times over, but with your Chemical X, it only made you 'normal' drunk. And that's also the reason you don't have a hangover."
"But that's impossible! I didn't drink anything last night. Only milk after dinner, some tap water, and that hot chocolate Mr Fleetwood gave me!"
Before they could continue, they heard the doorbell ring.
"I'll get it!" said Blossom, flying out of the lab, glad to get out of that awkward situation.
But the door was already opened by Bubbles, and there were a couple of police officers in the room. Outside the house, there were several police cars, and a paddy wagon.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," said a plainclothes officer. It was the same officer who talked to Blossom earlier in the morning. "I'm Lieutenant John Sanchez." He was about six feet tall, and was a hispanic, but with no trace of any accent that would indicate his heritage.
"What's going on?" Professor Utonium asked as he joined the girls in the living room.
"Oh I just want to ask Ms Blossom here some questions," said the officer.
"Ask away," she replied.
"Well, where were you between twelve o'clock and one o'clock last night?"
"Last night? Well, I'm not sure. After saving Mr Fleetwood's jewelry store, he asked me to give this," and Blossom showed them the small box, "to Mrs Carmichael. It wasn't too late, so I decided to try my luck to see if she was still awake."
"What time was that?" asked Sanchez.
"About eleven. But I suddenly felt drowsy, tipsy even as I flew there," explained Blossom. "When I reached the house, I was about to knock, when suddenly, everything was black, and when I came to, it was three in the morning."
"So you were passed out in front of her door all this time?"
"No, probably not. I must have fought some monster that was filled with alcohol while I was asleep. Why else would I be covered with blood?"
The police officers looked at each other.
"Could you open the box?" asked the police officer.
"Sure," said Blossom, and she again showed the box, and opened it. There were three precious stones. One color blue, in the center, and which obviously was in its proper place. There were two rubies on either side of it which was not supposed to be there, as when she opened it, it fell to the floor.
"Oops," Blossom said as Bubbles grabbed it and gave it to the officer.
Lt Sanchez examined it, grabbed a magnifying glass from his coat, and examined both rubies, and the blue gem on the box.
"I'm very sorry. But I have enough evidence to charge you, Blossom Utonium, with the murder of Mrs Mary Carmichael, at twelve thirty in the morning of April 6," Lt Sanchez said.