Same As It Never Was
Chapter 4
Lost
*Townsville – 5 years ago, 2 weeks after Blossom went missing.*
"WHERE COULD SHE HAVE GONE?!" Bubbles wailed, sitting on her bed. Her crying began to annoy Buttercup who had been sitting in the opposite corner of their bedroom.
"BUBBLES, WOULD YOU SHUT IT ALREADY!" Buttercup complained. "If she truly cared about us, she wouldn't have run off like that."
"D-don't say that." Bubbles sniffed. "She said she would be back. M-maybe something happened to her, maybe she got lost, o-or something. Oh, I hope she didn't get kidnapped… or worse." Bubbles said, trying to stay positive.
"Yeah, like that would happen." Buttercup said sarcastically. "Face it Bubbles, she hates us! She doesn't care about us anymore, after all those mean things she said to us, she decided to just get up and leave!"
Bubbles' eyes began to overflow with water at this point. "No, no, no! That's not true! She would never abandon us!" Bubbles bawled. She continued to sob loudly while Buttercup stayed in the corner, arms crossed and enraged with anger. "Believe what you want, I don't care." Buttercup said.
The door to their bedroom suddenly opened up to Professor Utonium standing in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. His appearance was disastrous; unclean and unshaven, eyes droopy and bloodshot, hair in a mess and large beard stubble had grown around his face and chin. He also had some stains on his lab coat, that he didn't bother washing out.
"Did you two find out anything after your patrol?" He asked his daughters.
"No, we got nothing." Buttercup responded.
The Professor let out a depressing sigh. "Well, we can't give up. Can you two please take these papers and fly down to the police station? Tell them it's another file for a missing person's claim."
"But Professor, we already…"
"Sure Professor, we'll take care of it." Bubbles interrupted Buttercup.
Bubbles flew over and took the file folder and papers from the Professor. "Thanks Bubbles." The Professor told her.
"No problem, but um, Professor, you really need to look after yourself. You don't look to well." Bubbles told him.
Professor Utonium looked down at his lab coat and stretched it a bit, scratched his beard, and sniffed his arm pits, to breathe in a revolting smell that left him with a disgusted expression. "You're right on that one. I've been so stressed lately and I haven't been able to take proper care of myself."
"I know, but don't worry Daddy, we'll find her." Bubbles said as she hugged her father.
He hugged her back tightly as he shed a single tear. "Thank-you sweetie, I know we will."
They let go of one another and Bubbles turned towards Buttercup. "C'mon Buttercup, let's go." She said as she flew towards one of the windows. Buttercup reluctantly got up and floated towards her, frowning and arms still crossed. "Okay Professor, we'll be back soon." Bubbles waved to the Professor.
"Alright, you two be careful now!" He called back. With that, the both of them shot off into the sky. As the Professor finished waving, his smile quickly turned back into a frown. Now I have to deal with that damn lawyer. The Professor thought. That son of a…
Bubbles and Buttercup flew across the sky towards Townsville. They descended below into the city, flying just above street level. Along the way, they started to converse. "Why didn't you tell him we were already at the Station earlier?" Buttercup asked Bubbles.
"We have to deliver this file anyway Buttercup, just calm down for once, please!" Bubbles retaliated.
"What's the point Bubbles? Why even bother? You know how Townsville's law enforcement is. It's pointless going to them half the time." Buttercup argued.
"Listen, I'm just trying to help the Professor out. Can't you see his condition? How he's feeling hurt on the inside? That I'm feeling hurt? You're the only one who seems like you don't care that she's gone!" Bubbles said.
"That… That's not true! Buttercup hesitated. Of course I care for her!"
"Yeah, well why don't you act like it?" Bubbles rebutted. Bubbles increased her speed and passed Buttercup who trailed behind. Buttercup kept flying at a steady pace, feeling depressed and a little embarrassed from what Bubbles told her.
Later that night, Bubbles and Buttercup were getting ready for bed, when they could overhear the Professor talking over the phone in another room. They stopped what they were doing, looked at each other for a brief second and floated to the door to listen.
"Yes, I know sir, it was very wrong of them and I will make sure it won't ever happen again. Yes, yes, I understand - Alright sir, thank-you. I will be in contact with the insurance company in the morning. Thanks, goodbye." Bubbles and Buttercup backed off the door and stared at each other with worried facial expressions.
"The Professor is going to have to pay for the damages we did to that guy's office building." Bubbles said.
"I know, it's all our fault." Buttercup said.
"I wish we could make it up to him." Bubbles spoke softly.
"I wish you didn't knock me into that other building in the first place." Buttercup scolded.
"You made me really angry, Buttercup. I'm still upset with you, yah know. From all the mean things you said, and how badly you hurt me!" Bubbles said, narrowing her eyes.
"Oh, sure! Blame me like always! It's not like you aren't at fault here either!" Buttercup said sarcastically. "You know Bubbles, why do you always have to be overly sensitive to certain things all the time? When you get emotional, cry and throw a fit, you crave attention. Pointless, stupid, attention."
"I DO NOT!" Bubbles yelled in a raspy voice, tears starting to form once again.
"Yes, you do! YOU ALWAYS DO! You always act so childish, naïve, and at times, even brainless! You can never take charge to do things for yourself! Why I bet… I bet why Blossom left… was probably something to do WITH YOU!" Buttercup said, harshly. Bubbles didn't say a word, and just continued to sob quietly. She grabbed Octi and headed for the door.
"GO AHEAD! CRY TO PROFESSOR! HE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE THERE TO COMFORT YOU, AIN'T HE?"
Just as Bubbles reached the door, she stopped. Her head still facing the door ahead.
"Buttercup, you are a stubborn, reckless, and selfish person. You think I was the lone cause of Blossom leaving? Think about it yourself." She turned her head to face her. "YOU ARE ALWAYS MEAN TO EVERYONE AND YOU HAVE TO PICK ON PEOPLE LIKE A BULLY! YOU ALWAYS PICKED FIGHTS WITH HER, INSTEAD OF TRYING TO REASON! NOW THAT SHE'S GONE, YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!" Bubbles was out of breath from her yelling and stopped to catch it back, while Buttercup just stared at her in complete shock and disbelief.
"What kind of sister are you… what kind of person are you, Buttercup?" Bubbles said, as she turned around to leave, slamming the door behind her. She floated over to the Professor's room to sleep, as he was still busy with things and had not come to bed yet. She settled down on the far-left side of the bed, pulling the covers over her. Bubbles' eyes were watery, but her face was still enraged with anger. Buttercup went to her own bed side, laid down, and stared at the ceiling while huffing under her breath and making her face up. She turned over on her side, facing the left side of the bed, where right next to her, was Blossom's pink sheets. As Buttercup glanced over at them, a worried expression crossed her face. Her eyes became tight and droopy, as a few tears began to seep out from them. She sat up in bed, sobbing quietly for a few moments. A little while later, Buttercup got out of bed to look outside of one of the circular windows. She stared off into the night sky, with the stars glistening brightly; her mind in deep thought about the previous events that took place. Buttercup turned back around and headed to her closet. She changed into her normal outfit and flew back towards the window. Buttercup slowly pushed the window sill open; a rush of cold air struck her upon impact. Still sulking her head in sorrow, Buttercup looked back at the bedroom once again before letting out a deep sigh. She turned back towards the window, floated outside and closed it behind her. With that, she flew off into the night.
Bubbles woke up the next morning and stretched her arms upwards, yawning a great big yawn. She rubbed her eyes to adjust them to the daylight peering in from the window into the Professor's bedroom. Bubbles wearily got up out of bed and floated out of the bedroom into the hallway. She passed her bedroom door where her sister resided, not bothering to look inside, and went straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She washed her face with some water to help waken up her senses a bit more and began to brush her teeth. Once she finished up in the bathroom, she went downstairs, still in her PJs, to have some breakfast. As she wondered into the kitchen, she grabbed a bowl and some cereal from the cupboard, and floated towards the fridge for some milk. She saw that the Professor had left her a note on the door. It read "Gone to do some groceries. Will be back soon. – Love Prof." She sighed as she reached for the milk and began to fix the meal together. She poured the cereal out into the bowl and slowly filled the bowl with milk. As she took a bite and chewed her food, her eyes glanced around the room, noticing how something felt off. The house seemed eerily vacant… She knew she hadn't seen the Professor before she had woken up, but she also hadn't bothered to check on Buttercup. Bubbles knew that they were on bad terms, but she thought she would at least check on Buttercup. She slowly swallowed her food and called out to her seemingly missing family member.
"Buttercup? You up yet?"
No response.
"You're gonna sleep in all day? Okay then."
Bubbles shrugged it off at first and continued eating. When she finished her meal, she got up from the table and floated upstairs to their bedroom.
"Buttercup? Hello? Can't you answer someone when they call your name? Sheesh!"
As Bubbles opened the door to the room however, there was no sign of Buttercup anywhere.
"She's not here." Bubbles said upon realization. Bubbles sighed, rolled her eyes and went to get dressed.
She came back downstairs into the living room, thinking Great. I'm all by myself now. Maybe… Maybe she went to help the Professor to get the groceries or something. Well good, she definitely needs to help out more anyway... I guess I'll just wait for them to come back, sit and watch some TV for now. Bubbles floated into the living room and sat down on the couch to watch the TV. She started casually flipping through the channels to see what was on, but stopped when something caught her eye as she was browsing. A Townsville live news broadcast was in session, with several news crews and cameras catching a scene unfolding in the middle of downtown Townsville. Crowds of people were gathering nearby and a blonde-haired woman was reporting the event live.
"We are here in downtown Townsville with initial reports of an attack earlier today on one of the Townsville stock exchange buildings." The news reporter said. "It appears that the building was hit by a massive explosion, with witnesses claiming that some sort of 'robotic being' flew through the air and fired two missiles simultaneously at the building. Police and paramedics are on scene right now tending to any wounded. More updates on the w…"
The reporter stopped speaking all of a sudden and stared wide-eyed in the distance behind the camera's view. The camera operator turned 180 degrees in the direction to where the woman was staring at. In that instance, the camera got a glimpse of a militaristic humanoid robotic figure, hovering high in the air. A sleek black exterior hid its chrome metal exoskeleton, with a dark menacing stare from its pulsating red eyes.
"Oh my God." A man from the crowd said.
"What's it doing?" A woman from the crowd said.
"Is it going to attack us?" Another crowd member spoke up.
"What is that thing?" Bubbles said, while watching the live broadcast.
From the robot's point of view, it looked down upon the crowd in the distance and began to scan them through its technologically advanced heads-up display unit. Within its sensors, the robot detected the bio metric information analysis of each of the citizens.
"SCANNING." It said in a typical deep low robotic voice. "MULTIPLE ORGANIC LIFE FORMS DETECTED. ASSESSING… MULTIPLE TARGETS CONFIRMED."
It held out its right arm, instantly morphing into a laser canon. "OBJECTIVE: TERMINATE ALL LIFE FORMS WITHIN AREA."
The laser canon started charging up, as a bright red light started glowing from the barrel. The crowd of people immediately erupted in panic, as they witnessed the beam fire in a deadly straight line towards them. Bubbles gasped in great fear, covering her mouth, but still keeping watch. Many citizens were caught in the crossfire, and were left on the ground severely wounded. Some of them not moving. The camera operator, while still being able to capture some of the carnage, was hit by one of the beams, dropping the camera to the ground, showing a fixed street view of the sidewalk upon impact, while people were still fleeing in terror from the attacks.
"Oh my God! Jeff! JEFF!" The news reporter hollered out of view. "Oh God… NOT JEFF! NO… NO PLEASE!"
The news reporter sobbed in the background for a brief couple of seconds. She looked over and saw the camera laying on the ground and ran over to it. As she picked it up, she pointed it directly to her face and shouted into it "POWERPUFF GIRLS! WHEREVER YOU ARE… PLEASE SAVE U…"
The camera feed was instantly cut and went to a static picture on the TV screen displaying the message 'PLEASE STAND BY' in capital letters.
*KABOOM!*
All of a sudden, a loud explosion set off in the middle of downtown Townsville, mere miles away from the Utonium house. This immediately startled Bubbles, as she reacted by yelping in fear. Bubbles flew over to the sliding glass door leading to the backyard and gasped at what she saw. In the distance, she could see fire and smoke rising, filling the air from one of the buildings.
"Oh no." Bubbles spoke softly. "I… I have to go! I need to help them! Buttercup, Professor, please be okay." Bubbles rushed for the front door, ready to fly off towards Townsville, when right on cue, the Professor burst through the door, panting heavily. He quickly locked the door from the inside and turned towards Bubbles.
"Professor! There you are!" Bubbles said, somewhat relieved.
"Bubbles, sweetie, are you okay? I just went out to do a few errands and on my way driving home, I heard a loud…"
"Explosion, right?" Bubbles said, finishing his sentence.
"Yes, precisely!" The Professor exclaimed. "I'm not sure what had caused it though."
"I saw a news report on TV about it! There was this evil looking robot thing firing laser beams and stuff in downtown Townsville. Oh, I hope those people are okay." Bubbles sounded concerned.
"Oh dear. Sweetie, you and Buttercup need to head there straight away!" The Professor commanded.
"Sure thing, but… I thought Buttercup was with you, helping to do the groceries." Bubbles responded.
"Wait, you mean, she's not home here with you?" Professor asked, dumbfounded. Bubbles shook her head worriedly.
"Oh no… No, no, no, no, NO! W-where could she have gone?" The Professor stammered. "I-I-I didn't even check on you two before I left. Y-You two have been working so hard this entire past week, so I thought… I-I'd j-just let you sleep in today… b-but Buttercup… I never thought she would… Oh dear God… WHAT KIND OF PARENT AM I?" The Professor broke down, falling to his knees, sobbing heavily, and covering his hands with his face.
"Oh, Professor, please, don't… *whimper* don't cry." Bubbles looked down at the Professor and felt so much sorrow and guilt, that her eyes started to tear up once more. Instead however, something changed within her. She closed her eyes tightly, her expression enraged, as she gritted her teeth and scrunched up her face. She re-opened her eyes with a determined look, wiped the tears from them, and flew face to face with the Professor. Moving his hands away from his face, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him violently to snap him out of his distressed state.
"Professor… PROFESSOR! LISTEN TO ME!" Bubbles shouted. "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT! DO NOT BLAME YOURSLEF, ALRIGHT!? If the blame should be put on someone, it should be the three of us! But the fact is… None of us would EVER… think about leaving you, or each other. The three of us may fight, but we all love each other so much, that we would never, not in any lifetime, ever think to do that!" The Professor looked up and stared into Bubbles' big blue eyes, as he listened carefully at what she had to say.
"Look, I don't know what made those two just get up and leave like that, but you know what? I don't think they would ever leave on purpose. I know I wouldn't." Bubbles said, with the most confidence she ever had.
"Y-you're right Bubbles." The Professor sniffled, wiped the tears from his eyes and embraced his daughter, hugging her tightly. "Thank-you so much my little angel… For keeping my spirits up in times like these. We'll find them. No matter what it takes, we will find them."
"Yes… we will." Bubbles said, reassuringly. The two of them let go from one another, face to face once again. "Alright, I'm going to head into Townsville now to stop those things. I'll meet you back here as soon as I'm…"
*BOOM!*
A loud explosion ruptured the house, startling Bubbles and the Professor. "What in the world?" The Professor said.
"It's that robot! It came here!" Bubbles squeaked. "Professor, go down into the lab and hide for now. It's too dangerous for you to stay up here."
"But sweetie, I can't just leave y..."
"Professor please! I don't want you getting hurt. These robots are really dangerous. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just need you to be safe." Bubbles explained.
The Professor reluctantly nodded to Bubbles, and rushed to the door leading to the downstairs laboratory. Before closing the door, he peered out and asked Bubbles, "Are you sure you can handle them on your own?"
"I'm sure." Bubbles said, feeling completely determined.
"Okay… If you say so… But please be careful, alright?" Bubbles nodded back to him. The Professor gave a little smile back at her before finally shutting the door, leaving Bubbles on her own. Bubbles approached the area from where the explosion went off. It was near the side of the house, located next to the garage. A chunk of concrete wall was missing and had crumbled to pieces on the ground.
Alright Bubbles, you can do this. This stupid robot can't hurt you. I just need to focus, keep my eyes peeled and be ready for anything.
As Bubbles investigated the hole in the wall from inside the house, she saw no sign of the robot from the outside. I don't see it anywhere. Why in the world would it just leave a hole in the wall, without attacking. Unless…
"YEEP!" Bubbles shouted. An unknown force held Bubbles in mid-air. She tried with all her might to escape from its clutches, but it was too tight of a grip. "HRRRRNNGGH. LET GO OF ME!" She yelled. While still struggling, a few mechanical fingers mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, wrapped around her torso. Then, to a full mechanical hand, and finally, an entire arm. It was the robot, slowly fading out of an active camouflage. Bubbles looked up towards it and confirmed that it was the same type of robot that she had witnessed attacking the helpless people on TV.
"Wha… What do you want?" Bubbles spoke to it.
"MY MISSION OBJECTIVE IS TO TERMINATE THE POWERPUFF GIRL: BUBBLES AND PROFESSOR UTONIUM."
"Destroy us? Why did you attack those people in Townsville then?" Bubbles asked.
"FOOLISH HUMAN. THAT ACT OF TERRORISM WAS NOT GIVEN COMMAND TO MY PROCESSING UNIT. IT WAS INSTRUCTED TO DESTRTUCTO-BOT SERIAL NUMBER 0179 DASH 054361."
So that confirms it. Bubbles thought. There are more than one of these things and this one was sent to ambush us. Not given command though? Hmm… Wait a second… These robots… They most likely have to be controlled by someone, but who? I think I have an answer to that. "So, you weren't behind the attack in Townsville, huh? WELL WHO REALLY WAS?" Bubbles railed off.
"THAT INFORMATION IS CONFIDENTIAL AND IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO BE ACCESSED." The robot said.
"Oh really?" Bubbles replied smugly. "Well, I only know one other person in Townsville, or should I say… MONKEY, THAT BUILDS EVIL ROBOTS!" The robot stared at her blankly for a few seconds before responding.
"So… you've figured it all out, have you?" A familiar voice came through the robot's speakers.
"It was pretty obvious Mojo! Who else in Townsville would control these robots?" Bubbles joked.
"Well my dear, you are only half correct." Mojo said. "I do not control them directly, as their artificial intelligence succeeds a far greater level than any modern technological being. I simply give them a command, and they follow suit. All I have to do is sit back, listen, and observe."
DARN IT! I can't believe we never suspected him. He wasn't committing any crimes these past weeks, but we should have kept our suspicions up! "Alright, where are my sisters Mojo! I know you're behind their disappearances!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"Why Bubbles, I have no idea what you are talking about." Mojo lied sarcastically.
"DON'T YOU DARE LIE! I KNOW YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!"
"Well... if you insist..." Mojo said politely. "I may or may not know about the disappearances of Blossom and Buttercup. However, in exchange for this information, you must tell me the current location of Professor Utonium."
"WHAT? NEVER!" Bubbles shouted.
"Are you sure about that?" Mojo taunted. "DESTRUCTO-BOT, GIVE 500 VOLTS!"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
The robot shocked Bubbles with a large amount of electricity.
"AARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH." Bubbles closed her eyes and tensed up from the pain. The robot shocked her for a couple more seconds, until Mojo told it to stop.
"ENOUGH!" Mojo commanded.
Bubbles started panting heavily, not saying a word, or looking up at the robot.
"Are you sure, you don't have anything to say?" Mojo asked her.
Bubbles hesitated at first, she thought long and hard before answering.
I love my sisters dearly, but I can't risk the Professor's life. Besides, how can I even trust Mojo to tell me the truth of where they really are.
"I'D... I'D RATHER DIE THAN LET YOU HURT THE PROFESSOR!" Bubbles shouted.
"My, my Bubbles, that is a bold statement. We don't have to resort to such extreme measures now? Mojo spoke softly. "Tell you what, I'll give you a little riddle on your sisters' whereabouts. Your sister Buttercup, may be 'hanging about,' but your sister Blossom is 'out of this time.' "
"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Bubbles shrieked.
"Just a little riddle." Mojo said. "YOU CAN TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT!"
"THAT'S THE STUPIDEST RIDDLE EVER! AND I'LL NEVER TELL YOU WHERE HE IS, YOU DUMB-NINCOMPOOP, MONKEY BUTT DOO-DOO BRAIN!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Mojo snapped back. "THAT'S IT! DESTRUCTO-BOT! GIVE 1000 VOLTS!"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
The robot shocked Bubbles once again, causing even more pain to her than the first time.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Bubbles cried out in pain.
"No, need for your uncooperative nonsense. I have other methods..." Mojo sent out a message to the other robot in Townsville, contacting it through it's wireless communication signal.
"DESTRUCTO-BOT SERIAL NUMBER 0179 DASH 054361, REPORT TO THESE COORDINATES IMMEDIATELY!"
"AFFIRMATIVE. SETTING DESTINATION COORDINATES NOW." The robot said, stopping its massacre upon Townsville, and flew to the location set by Mojo.
Within a minute or so, the robot arrived at the Utonium household through the hole in the wall.
"NOW SCAN TO FIND ANY LIFEFORMS HIDING OUT IN THIS BUILDING!" Mojo commanded.
"SCANNING... LIFE-FORM DETECTED. DOWNSTAIRS, BASEMENT LEVEL LABORATORY."
"GO INTO THE LAB AND ELIMINATE UTONIUM!" Mojo Jojo commanded through the robot's speakers.
"UNDERSTOOD. OBJECTIVE HIGHLIGHTED: ELIMINATE UTOMIUM." The other robot said.
"NO! YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Bubbles screamed. She let out an ear piercing sonic scream right against the robot holding her captive, causing some of its circuitry to come loose and let go of her.
"MALFUNCTION. MALFUCNTION." The robot said, while holding the sides of its head.
"MALFUNCTION THIS!" Bubbles gave a fury of punches and kicks to the robot that was holding her hostage. Oil, circuitry and screws flew everywhere. She started tearing robotic limb from limb, until finally, there was only the head and torso left.
"MALFUNCTION. MALFUNCTION. CRITICAL ERROR." The robot said.
Bubbles showed no remorse, and punched the robot's head straight off it's body. The robot's body fell to the ground with a giant *THUD.* Sparks of electricity and smoke rising from the scattered pieces of machinery.
As Bubbles eyed upon her handiwork for a brief second, she heard a scream of terror come from the downstairs laboratory.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Professor shrieked.
"PROFESSOR, I'M COMING!"
Bubbles busted through the laboratory door and flew down the stairs in an instant.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She hollered.
The robot was holding the Professor up in the air by his lab coat, and upon Bubbles entering the lab, pushed him in front of itself, holding the Professor in a choke hold like state.
"DO NOT TAKE ANY AGGRESSIVE ACTIONS TO INTERCEPT." The robot said to Bubbles.
"Bubbles, sweetie, don't worry about me. Save yourself!" Professor said in a raspy voice.
"SILENCE INSOLENT HUMAN." The robot said, tightening his grip on the Professor's neck. While doing so, the robot's free hand reached on a counter behind, grabbing something nearby.
Bubbles gritted her teeth. "THAT'S IT! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Bubbles let out a battle cry of rage as she flew towards the robot at break neck speed.
*Time slows down at this point.*
Suddenly, the robot took the object it was holding onto and flung its contents towards Bubbles mid flight. It was a beaker containing a small amount of anti-dote X.
The chemical splashed all over Bubbles' face and body, temporarily blinding her. It didn't take long for the dosage of anti-dote X to kick in however, as Bubbles quickly felt herself getting weak. She slowly descended onto the floor, falling to her knees.
"My... powers..." Bubbles weakly spoke.
"No! *cough* Bubbles! Run for your li..."
*CRACK*
In an instant, the robot snapped Professor Utonium's neck like a twig.
"PROFESSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
END OF CHAPTER 4
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Man... this took way too long. Honestly... I should have tried and released it sooner, but oh well. I've been pretty busy with school and work, so I've only had a little time to get some writing in here and there. Plus, I had a bunch of 'roadblocks' during the writing process, where I felt that certain sections felt sub par, or not satisfied. I'm going to try and release more chapters frequently though, and not go off on a long hiatus. Anyways...
Some clarification
- I meant for this to be pretty short, mostly detailing Mojo's rise and the Professor's death, but I wanted to have the tension between Bubbles and Buttercup present still, in order to have them show hostility towards one another in the future. I tried not to keep it one sided, with Buttercup being obnoxious, and Bubbles being childish. I let them point out each of their individual flaws within one another during their fight. Obviously, I've touched a bit on Buttercup's irrational behavior, but haven't told all the details yet. Also, making Bubbles take charge was a great idea I wanted to implement. Basically, her branching out from her normal self and seeing her personality change.
- The whole part with Bubbles doing a daily routine thing before finding out about Buttercup and the robot attacks was one of those tropes when in a story, it starts out 'like a typical day' before everything turns for the worse.
- I thought this was the best time to finally introduce the robots and to show how exactly Mojo took over Townsville in 5 years. The robot's designs are based off a typical Sci-fi style human looking robot, similar to the Terminator robots or a 'militaristic humanoid robot' like I described. (Red eyes, human body exoskeleton, computer heads up display vision).
- The Professor forgetting to check on the girls was something I wasn't entirely sure how to convey. Since Buttercup left in the middle of the night, I had to come up with a reason how Bubbles and the Professor would react. Let's just say he had been busy downstairs in the middle of the night and had not come up to check on them. As early morning hit, he forgot to do the groceries, and rushed out the door to do them, leaving only a note on the fridge. (He's not in a proper state of mind, okay. : P)
- Mojo's destructo-bots are portrayed with basic abilities for now, but in the future... Oh man. Things will get crazy.
- I liked having Bubbles starting to figure things out and put the pieces together of the robot attacks. (Character dev once again, lol.)
- The riddle I had Mojo say was kinda cheesy, honestly, but I wanted him to taunt her more, as he knows exactly what happened to her sisters, but he won't actually tell. As well as to give her a bit of insight.
- The final showdown with the other robot holding Professor had to be concise and to the point, so I just had Bubbles rush in recklessly out of pure rage, only to be hit with a bile of anti-dote X, allowing the robot to quickly dispatch Professor.
Trivia
- When Bubbles is temporarily held captive by one of the robots, I kind of re-created the dialogue from the episode "Bubblevicious."
Bubblevicious: "THAT'S THE DUMBEST PLAN I'VE EVER HEARD! AND I'M NOT A BABY!"
"I'M NOT GONNA CRY, YOU... DUMB-DOO-DOO BRAIN!"
SAINW (4): "THAT'S THE STUPIDEST RIDDLE I'VE EVER HEARD! AND I'LL NEVER TELL YOU WHERE HE IS, YOU DUMB-NINCOMPOOP, MONKEY BUTT DOO-DOOBRAIN!"
As always, thank-you for reading! I look forward to posting more chapters soon enough. I think when doing the 'present day' parts (basically the actual story) I get more creative in that aspect and have a lot of cool ideas I want to work with. I still like giving detailed backstories though, in order for the reader to make sense of it all and to fully flesh out each character.
Reviews, follows, and favorites are appreciated!
Thanks...
-GoldMatt 007, Matthew