Based on The Powerpuff Girls by Craig McCracken and The Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi by bleedman.
THE CITY WITHOUT HEROES.
Story by Riddle Glitch. CHAPTER EDITED AND UPDATED.
Chapter 02: Bleach Killer.
The next day, after classes ended. The Powerpuffs and some of their friends went towards Hey Arnold!'s. The restaurant that in which they usually hanged out.
Its owner, Arnold Bartlett let them use as a base for their own personal investigation before the restaurant opens up at night.
Bringing some fries and milkshakes, Arnold gently handed them over to his favorite clients.
"Thanks Mister Bartlett!" Bubbles said.
"Call me Arnold. So how's it going guys?" The adult asked quite interested, since the picture of his ex-wife was there on the board: Helga Pataki.
[Arnold Bartlett. Hey Arnold! Show.]
The board included the names of all the companies involved: Big Bob's Telecommunications, The Angry Beavers' Furniture Company, Montana Max's Hotels and The Eds' Jawbreaking Candy Company.
Giving a sip to her milkshake, Phineas answered.
"Well, we found out the ties with Big Bob's, which mean yours… exwife is indeed one of this city's Kingpins."
"I figured as much." Arnold sighed.
Eating some fries, Dipper Pines asked. "While you were married, did you ever noticed there was something odd with Big Bob's Company?"
[Dipper Pines. Gravity Falls.]
"Well, when we were kids, Helga's father Big Bob founded that company, that man was a tough guy, almost intimidating, but he wasn't a criminal. He might have been a very bad father... Helga would usually speak about her relationship with Big Bob, they... didn't get along most of the time. Soon enough, he died... to Helga's surprise, she inherited the company instead of her older sister Olga." Arnold said.
Clearing his throat, Arnold continued. "There was something about Helga... when she was head of Big Bob's Telecommunications, that me wonder why was she so interested in the company when the first weeks, she spoke of nothing but to get rid of her responsibilities as Chairman."
"We had some intense fights, I would ask her what was going on in there, cause she was working all night long and sleeping all day long. I knew something was up. Her friend Phoebe... I found out Helga had hired her as her consultant, then she hired another friend of ours, Harold. I saw... I found out that Harold was involved in some serious trouble, he was mixing himself with very dangerous people."
Then Arnold sighed. "Not long did it take, that we fought again, and I told her I wanted the divorce... there was a girl who would come to my restaurant, she studied with us when we were younger... I knew she had a thing for me. I mean... back when we were younger, I was interested in that girl and not Helga. But now I was married to Helga. I loved her."
"That girl would come here and well..." Arnold smiled sadly. "She flirted with me a couple of times. Helga knew... that she was coming, someday... she was gone." Arnold sighed again.
"Did she...?" Dipper asked concerned.
"Well, I asked her if she had anything to do with her disappearance..." Arnold gave a serious look. "She didn't respond. And I left... she didn't argue with me about the divorce papers...but I was frightened... what kind of person had Helga become?"
"Do you still…love her?" Bubbles asked and everyone was surprised she would ask.
"Ha-ha. Gee Bubbles, I don't know. But I do feel bad about her, because she...took some bad decisions."
"Sorry to hear man." Dipper added.
"Thanks Dipper, well, I guess I'll let you guys continue with your case. Best of luck." Arnold said as he went back to prepare everything for the restaurant.
Then Buttercup asked. "So care, to fill me with your research?"
"Oh, right!" Phineas began. "The accounts on GreenBank that we found were that of Big Bob's, as we discussed. There were some ties with other companies, such as Angry Beaver's Furnitures and JawBreaking Ed's Candy Company."
"I see."
"You guys captured already Daggett Beaver and Edward 'Ed' Green, both tied with criminal activities."
Then Buttercup took a look at the board. "So all these guys are all the Head of the Criminal World in Megaville?"
"Eeyup." Ferb added.
"There's Norbert Beaver, Helga Pataki, Eddard 'Double D' Wolfgang, Eddy Smith, Maxwell 'Max' Montana and some other guy called Jack Red. We haven't identified the last one, we were led to a phantom company, but we managed to triangulate his activities to Conglom-O, we'll have to hack in there to see if we can find him." Phineas said.
"I assume, most of them are hiding now that we captured Ed and Daggett?"
"Seems to be. According to the newspaper, Angry Beaver's Furniture Company is currently in bankrupcy and under investigation." Dipper added.
The discussion kept on, Blossom far away from the action on a alone table, sipping at her milkshake and look at the window. She was still having flashbacks of the previous day incident.
She was a super hero, she had fought super villains all her life.
There is nothing special about Daggett.
Yet...why was she frightened by what that man did yesterday?
Back in Townsville, she missed the count of how many times she and her sisters fought against Mojo. The monkey would usually come with very complex and in some cases unnecessary and extravagant plans to destroy them.
This man however was simple, he grabbed a bunch of his thugs, a bunch of weapons, robbed a bank and killed someone.
Why had she spent the whole night tormented by such scenario?
Every time she wanted to relate to the incident, she just couldn't recall a situation back in Townsville where someone would die in front of her.
"Hey, you alright?" Blossom gasped at the sudden voice, her hand shook and she looked in front as her friend Isabella took a seat right in front of her.
"Oh...I'm alright. Don't worry." Blossom sipped at her milkshake, but Isabella knew she was hiding something.
"C'mon Bloss. I know you better than this. What's going on?"
Sighing in defeat, Blossom began to finally speak with Isabella about the bank incident. Isabella and Blossom had become quite close since they met and so she was comfortable speaking to her, when Blossom finished her story, Isabella tried to think of something to say.
"To be honest, I can't really say I understand what you're going through Bloss. You're a super hero. This city...however, has always been this violent. This city has seen worse things, believe me. Black White, McLean, Heinz Doofenshmirtz, among others, they had tested the sanity of the people and heroes. You couldn't save that man, I know, but you tried."
"Then why I still feel crushed?" Blossom gave a sad smile.
"Y'know what people say, right?" Isabella smiled. "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
They went silent for a bit.
"Don't let that man break you Blossom or we'll be in trouble. All of us." Isabella stood up and went to hug her friend, who she hugged back tightly.
"Thanks..."
Meanwhile, in the Megaville's Police Department.
Detective Velma Dinkley had reunited the people she trusted the most to discuss about the latest murder case.
"You're serious about it?" A cop asked.
"Like Velma, Black White's case is closed. Ten years ago Jake Reddington aka Rainbow the Clown was arrested, the evidence is solid, he carried Ben Tennyson's body all over the Street. You even commented that Rainbow the Clown was the most likely to fit Black White's profile." Shaggy Rogers said, he was a part of the Information Department.
[Shaggy Roggers. Scooby Doo show.]
"That's right, I said he was the most likely to fit Black White's profile. But back then I was in the Bureau, my partners and I agreed that the profile was incomplete. Jake Reddington fitted the profile, but it doesn't mean he was Black White. Don't get me wrong, Reddington had blood on his hands, he helped Black White, he was a tool. Not the intellectual mind behind the murders." Velma replied.
"What makes you think that this murderer is Black White and not a copycat?" A cop asked.
"Yeah, the victim is Isaac Roberts aka Baboon. He worked for almost every crime lord in Megaville. That guy doesn't fit with the victimology of Black White, he murders people who do great things for the city, this is a thug, this victim is not a hero." Another one said.
"I know." Velma said. "Isaac Roberts isn't part of Black White's M.O., that is what appears to be. But also, this is the first time that Black White leaves a message in his murders."
"Why is that so important?" Someone asked.
"The message is not to mock the victim, is to mock someone else. Isaac Roberts probably meant something for someone. It's a way to tell that person that he just bleached away one of his or her brightest colors." Velma said.
"Nobody came to claim for the body tho."
"Like…the message wasn't for the police either?" Shaggy asked.
"No. He wrote 'IR Baboon', obviously the initials of Isaac Roberts name. But whenever he was arrested, Isaac Roberts was always joking about the fact he never finished school. He didn't know how to read or write. So I think this was a way of making fun of Roberts, this indicates that he knew him. Black White has ties to the criminal world, probably. The message I think was also to taunt someone else."
"Who?" Someone asked.
"I don't know, probably he's too full of himself or too rusty for having slipped off so badly. But then again, Black White back ten years ago enjoyed that the police would fail to capture him even with him leaving his prints in the pool of blood of his victims." Velma sighed.
"Care to enlighten us with the case then?" A cop asked.
"Sure. You all remember Black White's case. Freak who would stab and pour bleach on his victims. Before this murder, he had murdered 27 people on a serial basis. He also murdered 68 more people outside of his M.O."
Clearing her throat, Velma continued. "He would usually leave his M.O. to taunt the police and super heroes just like he did with Generator Rex when Black White went on a killing spree and murdered 11 Providence Agency people, including Agent Six, one of the reasons why Providence was disbanded before Generator Rex's murder at the hands of Black White."
"Making Black White's reign of terror, taking a total of 95 lives, 96 with this new victim."
"Among those…12 super heroes were murdered. Only one survived. Ben Tennyson. Black White's last victim, he's still in a coma since his confrontation with that monster 10 years ago."
"One of the things that remain unsolved was the fact we never found Ben's hand, the government is still worried about his Omnitrix being in the wrong hands. But as we can see, Black White wasn't interested in using that piece of technology. Black White had remained inactive since that time. Because legally, Jake Reddington was blamed of the Black White's murders."
"The guy is a patient in Foster's Asylum. He's mute. But even if he could speak, he wouldn't tell us who Black White is. Sad thing is that because of him, a lot children were disappointed when he took the blame and the Colorful Smile Association funds towards Foster Care children were taken away."
"But the main reason why I think this is the real Black White is that usually copycats of those murders would usually make mistakes. Cause there is one thing about Black White's M.O. that they are incapable of reproducing correctly."
"Black White always stabbed men once. In the heart. Like…putting a puppy out of its misery. Women…was more dramatic, murdering females is messy…Black White showed a lot of anger, like he's punishing a female figure in his life. Like a mother…probably was a prostitute. The most dramatic scene was when he stabbed Rose Quartz 72 times...he stabbed her to death in her own home."
"Black White punishes his mother and puts his father out of his misery. That's Black White's sick fantasy."
"His father was probably a coward, never protected him of her abusive mother. Someone that should have protected him, his brightest color…never stood up to her. He blames them both."
"Boo hoo hoo. So what do you mean? We should feel sorry for this scumbag?" A cop asked.
"Nope. But these things are important to build a profile." Velma replied.
"We need to find children with records of abuse. If we're lucky, we'll find a lead to Black White." She continued.