An Uneasy Truce
Chapter 4: Of Murders, Mysteries and Reunions
The General of Maldire's army paced back and forth anxiously. His plan and his army had failed to capture the key figures in Maldire's plan. Questions swirled through his head. How had they known the girls' locations? How had they arrived before them? How had his plan failed? However the most important of all these questions to the generals was; what was going to happen to him? Maldire was notorious for his cruelty and non-tolerance. When a mission failed, someone almost always died a horrible gruesome death for their "incompetence". And on some occasions the victim had been an innocent foot soldier turned scape goat. Maldire was all about retribution, fair or unfair. And now that he had ruined what should have been their greatest success, the General's fate was sealed. He was officially a dead man walking.
Many walked by the General on that average miserable day, yet none stopped to offer words of comfort. No soldier would acknowledge his very existence. The eyes of the soon deceased were avoided as each soldier walked mechanically to their next task. Even before the announcement of his death penalty, everyone knew what would befall their young general. It had already been decided the moment that the six super powered teens flew up in a rainbow of light, escaping the General's deadly grasp. Death on the camp was so common, so every day, that it left no emotion in the hearts of the soldiers. They travelled on like robots, rigidly and with single-minded purpose, uncaring of the death of their very own leader. As the General watched the blank faces of the soldiers passing by he had only one thought, "Is this what it's like to be dead yet alive?"
Morosely, the General made his way back to his cluttered desk. Plans lay scattered haphazardly across the table while a radio chattered away on the corner. Plastered on the walls were aerial pictures of the enemy bases and many notes on how to destroy them. At the front of the desk sat a gold scripted name plate that read "General Saber, General of Maldire's Own Imperial Army". It was then that his eyes landed on a faded photo in a silver frame. It was a picture of his family; a wife and 3 kids. As he picked up the photo in his unsteady hands, his eyes began to fog over with tears. They would never see him again and without his military support to protect them, they would become mind slaves to Maldire. As grief exploded into anger, the General violently wiped everything off his desk with a clatter. Finally, General Saber sat down and held his head in his hands. Hope was lost.
It was at that moment that the big flat screen descended from the roof of the General's office. Saber did not even bother to lift his head. He knew who it was and he knew why they were here. The grim reaper had landed and it was time to pay the piper.
"General?"
"Yes, sir."
"You know why I'm here do you not?" Maldire's voice had taken on a tone of eerie coolness.
"Yes, sir. I failed the mission."
"Oh, and not just any mission either. You just screwed up the most important mission in the history of the Army! However, I must give you some congrats. You have just made my little game so much more interesting now that the enemy has a "secret weapon". I was growing tired of their feeble attempts to survive. Regardless, the penalty for failing to successfully complete a mission is death. And I shall be particularly…creative on your death. So, are you ready General? On the count of three." a wicked smile passed over the thin, pale face of Maldire. He was taking sure delight in this.
"1"
"…"
"2"
"…" The General now looked out at the sunset with absent eyes
"3!"
At first, nothing appeared to happen and a look of confusion made its way onto the General's face. Suddenly, the door to the office was forcefully kicked open. Standing there were his soldiers, rigid and eyes turned red. Each had the murderous and delirious look of a killer. Horror struck the General as he finally comprehended Maldire's plans. He had taken manual control over their minds. The lead soldier took a staggering step forward toward the cowering General. Frantically, he looked around for another route of escape. Yet there was only the front door. He was trapped.
"Whoever kills the general first and shows me his badge gets his position."
That was all it took. A flood of men piled into the room until no space was left to breath. The poor general had no chance as a wall of man assaulted him with a flurry of punches and kicks. Soon he was knocked flat onto the ground and piled on top of. Punch after punch, kick after kick, slowly he was eliminated. Then, whether it was luck or misfortune, one lone soldier pulled a knife and stabbed him in the chest. It was then that the general took his last breath. Seeing this, men grabbed greedily at his shirt hoping to get his collar brass. The blood, the heat, the smell, none of it mattered. When one finally ceased it the others beat him down to obtain it themselves. It was an all out brawl. In the end, the man who had delivered the final blow brought the badge to Maldire.
"Good job, General…Say, what should we call you?"
"Cuts, sir."
"Welcome, General Cuts." Maldire's sickeningly cheery voice had returned yet again as he congratulated his new leader. "Now why don't you show off your new badge for everyone to see?"
A single figure in a room filled with greed and murder stood tall. And clasped in his raised hand was the badge of General Saber which had once been polished with pride, now dripping with thick, red blood.
"Are we there YET?" Buttercup complained as she crossed her arms, clearly annoyed.
"Yeah, Blossom…" Bubbles yawned, "We're tired…"
Blossom simply sighed after hearing the same question for the 12th time that day. Ever since their narrow escape from the army, they had been flying non-stop. The inky blackness of night was now quickly setting in on the wrecked city. The damage to the town had been worse than she feared. For miles around, the scenery stayed the same; a deserted city in ruins. And to make matters worse she had no idea where they were going and with no surviving landmarks she couldn't figure it out either. Where was this base that Brick talked about? The whole situation was unsettling to Blossom, and yet she knew that she had no choice but to trust Brick. Even if her mind adamantly told her otherwise.
"We're here." Brick's sudden statement halted Blossom's thoughts.
"FINALLY!"
"Yay!"
The group stopped and came to hover over what looked to be an old abandoned warehouse. Automatically, alarms were going off in Blossom's head. What if they had been lying this whole time? What if this was just another plan to destroy them? A million doubts began to fill her head to the brim. Her apprehension began to show as she visibly stiffened. Blossom prayed that Brick wouldn't notice. No such luck.
"You don't trust us do you?" Blossom could barely contain her shock when she felt Brick whispering into her ear. Out of instinct, she quickly darted a few feet away from him and stared back with wide eyes. Brick simply raised an eyebrow and after a few seconds began to laugh.
"Ha ha ha…you're reaction…ha ha..priceless!" Brick was now rolling around in the sky laughing. Seeing his reaction, Blossom turned defensive, "Hey! That's not funny!" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared indignantly at her counterpart. Brick suddenly stopped laughing and looked over at Blossom with the most serious face she had ever seen. Blossom was taken completely off guard until…
"Yes it is, babe!" The serious face began to quiver and soon returned to hysterical laughter. Blossom's face was the picture of disbelief. The transition from disbelief to fury was quick and unfortunately for Brick he was too preoccupied to notice it.
"BRICK, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Blossom finally exploded and rushed to tackle Brick. Brick saw the tackle coming just seconds before it hit. "Uh oh." Unable to avoid the charge, the two collided with a thud. Brick quickly threw Blossom off of him and flew off into the sky, Blossom quickly on his tail. All four siblings watched on in amusement. Butch simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Redheads." The other three nodded their heads in agreement.
Up higher in the sky, two streaks of pink and red were fighting on. Or at least one was. Blossom grew increasingly frustrated as Brick continued to dodge every single attack thrown his way. He was obviously toying with her again. An entertained smile stayed glued to his face as he weaved in and out of his opponent's attacks. Blossom felt her anger boil over again when a familiar smirk formed. "Did you slow down over the years, or am I just that good?" His eyes bore challengingly into Blossom's pink orbs. She was about to gladly accept when a loud ringing sounded from his pocket. Brick reluctantly picked it up and a loud voice immediately erupted from it, "WHERE ARE YOU? I SENT YOU OUT 6 WHOLE HOURS AGO! 6 HOURS, BRICK! THIS IS MOST UNAMUSING!" Brick held the telecommunicator away from him as the monkey continued to ramble on.
"Mojo!" Blossom gasped in surprise
"What, who's that? Ah, I see you have completed your mission." Mojo's voice had changed from furious to pleased in mere seconds. "Bring the girls back to base as soon you can. I simply can't wait to show them their new family." With that last foreboding sentence the telecommunicator clicked off. Brick quickly shoved the telecommunicator in his pocket. His face clearly revealed his disappointment, "Well, babe, it looks like we'll have to save this fight for another day." Blossom just glared back at him and muttered a quiet "Fine." A few seconds of silence passed as the two returned to their siblings until Blossom voiced something that had bothered her since Mojo had called, "Brick, who exactly lives at this base?" He pretended not to hear her question and refused to look her way. "Brick" It was a warning. "There'll be some familiar faces…" Brick attempted to skirt around the question. "Really?" For the first time since they had found them, Blossom's voice was full of hope. Brick instantly felt guilty.
They were soon reunited with their siblings, who were waiting impatiently at the entrance of the warehouse. "It's not fair, man! Why do you always have all the fun?" Butch complained to Brick as they entered the cool storage building. Brick simply smiled and said, "Because I'm cooler than you." He blew a wisp of his ice breath to prove his point. Butch was about to punch Brick in the head when Boomer shot him a warning glance. There was no time for that. Forced to surrender for the moment, Butch crossed his arms and glared daggers at his back muttering, "Smart ass."
Finally they arrived at what appeared to be a security door. It stuck out from its surroundings like a sore thumb. Unlike the rest of the shabby warehouse this area was polished metallic and looked brand new. Brick approached the door and rapidly punched in a series of codes into the keypad. As they watched, even Blossom couldn't keep up. A few seconds later a robotic voice chimed its acceptance, "Access Approved. Welcome back to Central Headquarters." With that the welded metal doors slowly opened with a swoosh. Beyond the door was a long white hallway which slanted sharply and opened up to a large room ahead. Before they entered the hallway Brick looked back at Blossom and asked a seemingly harmless question,
"Are you ready for this?"
Blossom instantly froze; her whole body went rigid as her eyes took on a faded look. The world around her began to quickly fade and was replaced with fragments of memories, horrible, dreadful memories both of her own and of others. Emotions of anger, fear, and hopelessness came flooding in unrestricted. Even more frightening were the visions of the future which were filled to the brim with blood and sadness. The Rowdyruff Boys and her sisters looked on in horror as Blossom fell to her knees. She seemed to struggle against whatever was happening for a while until she collapsed for good.
Brick was at her side in a second, scooping her up hastily into his arms.
"To the Infirmary!"
No one wasted any time in following his orders, each sprinting closely behind him. As they rushed forward they soon entered what appeared to be a grand hall with high white walls and marble flooring. Much more interesting then the room itself were its occupants. Several high profile villains from Townsville's heyday were scattered around the room, walking busily to one meeting or another; Princess, the Gang Green Gang, Sedusa, HIM and Mojo Jojo just to name a few. Among these were also a bevy of common foot soldiers for the rebellion. Upon Brick's dramatic entrance, everyone in the room stopped everything they were doing to watch the unfolding scene. Mojo was the first to make a move. Hopping on a hover board Mojo soon caught up to the panicked teens.
"Brick, I demand to know what happened this instant!" Brick ignored and continued to run full speed ahead. "How dare you ignore me, your creator? Why I ought to…" Brick tuned out Mojo's voice as they neared their destination. A turn left, a turn right, and there they were. He quickly shoved the door open and called out to the one man he knew could help, "Professor!"
A familiar figure in a lab coat twirled around to greet Brick, "Why, hello Brick what seems to be the…" Time stood still for a moment. Many emotions passed through Utonium in that instant: Horror, relief, disbelief, and elation. The daughters that he had thought lost for 10 years had finally returned. His only family had finally returned to him. However this was definitely not the reunion he had wanted. In the arms of her counterpart, was the limp form of his daughter Blossom. Her clothes were tattered and she was breathing very faintly. And behind her were Buttercup and Bubbles. Bubbles was sobbing quietly while Buttercup looked down at the floor with absent eyes. Upon hearing his voice, both looked up in surprise. Bubbles immediately ran to the Professor's side and began to choke out explanations through the tears, "Blossom *sob* fainting *sniff* no reason…" The Professor put one comforting hand on her back.
Then the Professor quickly jumped into action. After yelling a few stern orders at his assistants, he walked over to Brick and his daughter. The Professor looked deep into Brick's eyes and held out his arms to take Blossom. At first, Brick was reluctant to hand over Blossom but quickly yielded. Picking up his daughter with fatherly tenderness, he walked over to a cot and placed her down. Then the real treatment began; tests were run and treatments were given.
After a frenzied hour of constant movement, things began to slow down. Blossom's condition steadied and the Professor was now able to take a sigh of relief. Poking his head out into the small waiting area, he saw that all of the teens were now fast asleep in the chairs. There would be no real point in waking them up. It was then that he returned to his daughter's bedside and sat in the small wooden chair next to the bed. It was unbelievable. She and her sisters were alive, after so many years. Alive, after all the rumors. Not only were they alive, they were actually here, with him. He smiled warmly down at Blossom and moved a strand of hair from her sleeping face.
"I told them you were alive…I told them…not to lose…hope…" Exhaustion finally overcame the Professor as he dosed off at his daughter's side.
Somewhere in another realm Maldire's wicked laughter run through the air. "So some fool already hit the trigger phrase that I planted all those years ago, hmm? This makes things so much more…interesting. Soon, my dear, you shall be mine." The laughter revived with more vigor than ever and soon broke out into wicked song,
A trap hidden in the mind,
Far from where the eye can see,
You'll leave your kin behind,
And belong only to me.
Eyes so caring,
Now turn black,
Leave the world despairing,
In your track.
So come to my world,
And you shall see,
It's not much fun working for me.
(Author's Note: Sure hope you like it! Sorry for the wait…life got REAL busy all the sudden. A LOT changed unexpectedly in this chapter from my original idea, however I think most of it was for the best. Please enjoy and thanks to all my readers out there!)