Villain: The Epilogue
A/N: I apologize for the huge delay. Free time for writing has been scarce, and when I finally got some time back for writing, I focused on original works for a while and writing lyrics for my girlfriend's band (see my profile for a link to one of their awesome songs!). But those works are done now, so I hope to resume fan fiction once again. Hopefully the inspiration and motivation to continue updating will stick with me!
Chapter 6
Blossom, Cherry and Candy stared silently in shock as they watched the villain, Jojo, take Cat's hand and help her onto her feet. Cat did not notice her sisters and Blossom until she was standing again. She was grinning at Jojo and still so happy about just discovering her own very special super power. Then she glanced over her shoulder and her smiled vanished quickly. She physically jumped back a little at the sight of the three of them.
Jojo looked at Blossom, Cherry and Candy and smiled casually as if expecting the visit all along. "Hey, Sis!" She waved at Blossom, "Long time no see!"
Blossom still wore a shocked expression on her face. Yes, she expected to see Cat with Jojo… but smiling? Hand in hand? Just what did she walk into? It took a while before the surprise look melted into seriousness, as her ex-sister approached her. As Jojo came closer, Cherry and Candy retreated backwards by two steps.
"Well, I just have to say: You have the most perfect timing, Bloss," Jojo continued. "Our little Cat here just discovered her very own special power." The villain slung her arm over Blossom's shoulder as if they were old pals. "And I just have to say: It's pretty damn awesome."
Blossom flinched under Jojo's touch. She stepped to the side, pulling away from her. "You're lying. Cat has no special power."
Jojo laughed a little. "Oh, I know you wish that were true, Red. Because I know just how much you love to prove me wrong. But unfortunately for you, I ain't lying. Isn't that right, Cat?"
Everyone's eyes fell on Cat who still stood at the opposite end of the room by herself. She blinked at everyone silently for a while before slowly nodding. The little girl began to sweat from the tension felt in this extremely awkward situation.
"See!" Jojo exclaimed as soon as the little yellow Puff shook her head. "And! I would love to add: this power of hers is just perfect for her! Perfect for any villain really! Just absolutely… villain worthy!" She began to laugh maniacally just as a villain would.
"Cat is not a villain," Cherry stepped in, placing her arms firmly on her hips and hovering up to Jojo's eyelevel.
Blossom held her breath in nervousness. "Cherry…" she warned quietly. "Cherry, remember what I told you, Sweetie…."
Jojo stopped laughing and smirked at the little red Puff. "Is that so?" she said. She looked the preteen in the eye and smirked slyly. Cherry swallowed hard, feeling uneasy being under the villain's stare.
Jojo glanced over her shoulder at Cat and then back to the brave leader, who still stood her ground. "Well," Jojo began again with a sigh. "I guess this isn't any of my business. I mean… it's probably Cat who should break the news to you herself. I mean, she's your sister and everything."
Cherry's eyes fell on Cat. She signed intentionally to her sister so that the conversation was private from the villain: "What does she mean?" Cherry signed with a sad and concerned face. She descended back to the ground.
Cat bit her lip nervously. She slowly flew over to her sister and stood in front of her and beside the villain. She looked up at Jojo who just smiled down at her. She then looked Cherry in the eyes and conveyed the deepest amount of sympathy that she could: "I'm sorry," she signed slowly, "…A lot happened."
Blossom saw the conversation happening and was the only other person in the room who could read the sign language. She felt her heart turn into a block of lead. As it sank, she mentally began to panic. "What are you talking about, Cat? What could have possibly happened? What have you done? Cat? What have you done? Answer me! Answer me this minute, Catherine Utonium! ANSWER ME! RIGHT NOW!" Blossom heard herself screaming and knew she probably came across as the bossy mother that Cat hated, but she could not help it. She needed answers and she need them instantly. She needed answers before her mind exploded from every horrible possibility and scenario that began playing in her brain.
Cat did not look at Blossom. She tried to ignore her. She wasn't talking to her. She was still angry with her so called mother. No, she was definitely not talking to her. She was talking to Cherry. She kept her head low, as she continued to sign: "I asked Jojo to teach me how to be a villain. I know it sounds crazy but… it's something that I need to do… or at least… try… for a little while. Please, don't be angry with me."
"Don't be angry with you? Don't be ANGRY? Cat how on Earth could you possibly-"
"Mom!" Cherry turned around and yelled at her mother. It came out almost involuntarily. Cherry was just as shocked to hear the tone escape her own lips as everyone else was in the room. "Mom," she began again more calmly, but still sternly, "Let me talk to her. Just… relax, OK? You're not helping."
Blossom gaped at her daughter. She felt enraged, shocked and above all else: gravely embarrassed that all this was happening in front of her worst enemy who was loving every little bit of this. The villain just stood there with her arms crossed and smiling to herself. She absolutely loved it.
Candy wrapped her arms around her mother and hugged her tightly. The young girl hated seeing her family fighting, and this was the worst fight yet. "It's OK, Mom," she whispered softly. "Cherry's smart… let her talk to Cat. We'll bring her home just like we planned. Don't worry."
Blossom closed her eyes and tried to focus on Candy's hopeful voice. "Please, be right…" she thought to herself.
Cherry turned her attention back at Cat. "Cat look at me," she said. Cat slowly looked up at her sister. Cherry began to sign to her again: "I don't know what is going on, but you have to understand that this all sounds completely… insane. What are you doing, Cat? You can't be a villain. You just can't!"
"Why not?" Cat signed. "I'm not allowed to be a hero anymore according to Mom and even you! You said so yourself that I can't do it. What am I supposed to do? You guys don't believe in me. Jojo believes in me. She's already helped me discover my own special power. You guys could never do that. Remember? No matter how hard I tried, we could never figure it out. Mom, didn't even want me trying! Remember? Maybe I was never meant to be a hero… that's what Jojo said."
"You have to remember, Cat… Jojo is evil. You can't trust her as easily as you appear to be trusting her! "
"Says who? Mom? You've never even met Jojo or talked to her before!"
"Because she's evil!"
"Not any more evil than Mom!"
"Don't say that! That's not true!"
"It is! Mom's a different kind of evil who thinks she's better than everyone else! At least Jojo is a superior evil that realizes her own faults and is trying to make the world better for outcasts and monsters!"
"What are you even talking about, Cat?" Cherry signed. Her sister sounded brainwashed… just as Blossom warned her would happen under Jojo's care. All this insanity from just one day with the villain?
Cherry took a deep breath and tried a different approach. " Cat, if you were to become a villain… we would be enemies. Do you want that?"
Cat bit her lip. "I don't know," she signed.
Jojo stepped in, "Hey, Kids… Now I don't know very much sign language, but from what I can tell, there's a bit of a conflict here, am I right? Cat, if you need to go home with your sisters and think about it a bit more, that's OK," she began calmly, "My offer to train you as a villain will always stand."
A small smile swept Cat's face as she looked up at the villain. The expression made her family cringe.
"…Thank you," Cat signed.
Jojo smiled. "No problem," she answered in voice and sign language, remembering the phrase she learned from Cat the day before. Seeing the villain pick up on sign language made Cat grin big. It felt as if Jojo actually and really cared about Cat.
Cherry tried to push the sickening feeling that began to overwhelm her out of her mind. Cat seemed to already favor the villain. This was not good. "You don't know?" Cherry continued their conversation again via signing. "You don't know if you want to fight your own sisters in battle for the rest of your life?"
Cat's smile disappeared as she returned her attention to her sister. "I'm not thinking that far ahead, Cherry. I'm just thinking about right now. I'm just thinking about getting away from… her." Cat's eyes fell on Blossom shortly and then returned to Cherry. "She makes me so angry, Cherry. So angry, and I can't stand it anymore. I can't stand the lying and I can't stand the secrets and I can't stand her. I'm so angry, and I don't know what to do. I can't go back to her. I don't want to leave you and Candy, but… where else would I go? Every cop in Neighborfield is after me even if I wanted to go back," Cat paused. "I'll be fine. Jojo has been really nice. She isn't anything like Mom has said. She-"
"That's because you don't know her like I do, Sweetie!" Blossom could not help but interrupt. "You do not know what she's done! How many people she has tormented- how many people she has killed! Cat, as your mother, I forbid you from staying here! Why do you think you even have a choice in something like this? You cannot stay here! Absolutely no way! Have you completely lost it? We are going home! Cat, are you listening to me?"
Cat threw her hands over her ears. Her mother was driving her crazy. She couldn't even have a serious conversation about what was happening. She couldn't even explain what she was thinking without being interrupted and forced silent. She wasn't even talking to her! She was trying to explain things to her sister! Not her! And it wasn't like she could yell over her mother to shut up. Whenever Blossom started talking over her, she had no choice but to listen until she finally decided to shut up.
Cherry watched her sister cling to her ears in frustration. She didn't know what to do. She understood what Cat was trying to do. She really did. Blossom had this horrible effect on Cat for some reason. She literally drove her insane, and seemed to do so more now than ever. It wasn't a healthy environment for Cat. If it was only making her angrier, why would it be best for her to return home? It would only send Cat farther down this dark path. Cat needed to get away from Blossom… at least for the time being. Before things got really bad. Cherry knew this.
And if Cherry needed any more confirmation to this, she then noticed a soft yellow glow surrounding her sister Cat's palms and she grasped her ears tightly. Everyone else in the room was too preoccupied to notice this except for Cherry and Jojo. Cherry glanced up at Jojo whose grin temporarily faded at the sight of the yellow waves growing stronger and brighter around Cat's fists. Once Jojo recognized the glowing, an even wider grin swept her face.
Cherry quickly realized this had to be Cat's new special power. And if it was indeed "villain worthy" as Jojo called it, then it needed to stop now.
"You should stay here," Cherry said aloud.
Blossom stopped shouting and stared at her other daughter in disbelief. Candy also stared at Cherry with her jaw dropped. Cat's glow immediately shut off and the young girl slowly lowed her arms to her side, as she stared at Cherry in complete surprise.
Jojo's eyes widened, and then a bigger grin swept her face. She only understood a portion of the conversation (the portion that was said aloud) but she fully understood that. "Wow!" she clapped her hands together. "Just… wow!"
"Cherry what the heck are you doing?" Candy screamed. "Are you insane, too?"
Cherry gulped hard, but tried her best to remain brave and confident, looking her sister in the eye. She wasn't sure if she was making a huge mistake, but she did not know what else she could do at this very moment. "Do what you need to do, Cat. If you change your mind… you know where to find us, right?" she smiled weakly.
Cat smiled back at her. "Thanks," she signed.
Cherry nodded and turned back to her mom and other sister. "Let's go."
Blossom was still frozen in shock as her daughters began to carry her back to the whole in the ceiling where they had made their entrance. Suddenly, she snapped out of it. She fought against their grasp and managed to wiggle free from them. As soon as she jumped to the ground, she ran straight up to the villain without any hesitation.
Blossom reached out and smacked Jojo hard across the face with her right hand. Of course the slap did not hurt the super powered villain in the least bit, but the brave move certainly shocked her. She hadn't seen a move like that from her sister since… Well, she couldn't even remember.
She stared back at Blossom who glared at her meanly. The redhead gritted her teeth hard and breathed equally hard. Her eyes were on fire with madness. Blossom had completely forgotten that she was just a vulnerable human being, that could easily be killed at any moment by Jojo. She stood there, and challenged Jojo with her stare.
Candy, Cherry and Cat stared at the scene, unsure of what to do.
"Go home," Jojo said finally. "She's made her choice."
"This isn't over, Buttercup," Blossom growled through her teeth, challenging her further.
Jojo's eyes narrowed and her fists became brightly engulfed with green fire and electricity.
"Go home, Red," she repeated, also growling viciously.
Blossom did not flinch for the longest. She turned around and walked back to Candy and Cherry.
Jojo relaxed and her death ray shut off. "Well, Kiddo," Jojo began as she and Cat watched the three leave just as they came, "I gotta say: That sister of yours is one interesting character. I'll give her that."
"What were you thinking, Cherry?" Blossom shouted over the wind as her daughters carried her back towards Neighborfield. "Why did you say something like that? Oh, God, we shouldn't have left! We should turn back!"
"No, Mom!" Cherry returned. "We can't do anything right now! I know this is a huge risk, but what choice do we have? If we drag her back by force, she'll just be angrier with us and side more with the villain! We'll check on her later! If Jojo is as bad as you say, Mom, then we should trust Cat to eventually see it, too! Trust me: Everything will be OK!"
Blossom was quiet for a while. She was angry with her daughter Cherry for disobeying her wishes, but she also understood her daughter's logic once it was explained to her. However, Cherry clearly underestimated what was happening. She paused to think for a moment. "Girls!" she shouted to her daughters. "Girls turn left up here! We need to stop somewhere!"
Blossom needed to let her daughters know just how serious the situation was. She needed to show them something- something that she hadn't seen herself in nearly a decade.
Cat spent the rest of the day with Jojo, not doing much of anything villainous really. They ordered pizza and played video games together. Jojo kept asking Cat how to sign different words, and seemed to pick up on American Sign Language fairly quickly.
Cat was beginning to feel as if Jojo was becoming a true friend which she had lacked in her life for a very long time.
"So then Blossom still refused to tell you the truth even while the reporters chased after you guys?" Jojo laughed as the two of them played video games in Jojo's old room.
Cat nodded and also laughed silently with her.
"She's such a bitch!" Jojo laughed.
The conversation stopped for several minutes before Cat pressed pause on her controller to write down another question for Jojo: "Was she always so bossy?"
Jojo nodded. "Yup. Isn't your sister Cherry that way, too?"
Cat blinked for a while. She thought about it and supposed Cherry could be bossy at times, and when she was it was pretty bad… but it didn't seem as severe as her mom's bossy issues. She wrote down: "Not as much. But why do you ask?"
Jojo shrugged. "I dunno… it just seems like Cherry is just like old Blossom when she was that age."
Cat signed: "Really?"
"Yeah."
There was a knock at the door, followed by Princess entering the room.
"Oh, hi, Baby," Jojo smiled.
"Hi…" Princess responded sounding less than enthusiastic.
"Is something the matter?" Jojo asked.
Princess sighed deeply. "No…."
"You sure?" Jojo repeated.
Another deep sigh. "Yeah…."
"OK," Jojo shrugged her shoulders, indifferently. "Press 'play' Cat!"
The two continued on with their video games as Princess stood there unnoticed. She watched the two high-five each other as whatever they were playing erupted loudly. Princess pouted as she watched her lover continue to ignore her presence.
"Joey?" She began, but Jojo again did not notice. "…Joey? … Joey? …Joey?" She stomped her foot angrily.
"What?" her girlfriend finally responded.
Princess glared at Joey and then at Cat who just blinked back at her innocently. Princess crossed her arms and turned her nose upwards. "Just forget it!" she huffed as she exited the room, slamming the door behind her forcefully.
Cat pointed at the door and expressed a puzzled look.
"Yeah," Jojo shook her head, "I have no idea what that was about." Jojo switched off the gaming system and stood up. "So tomorrow is a busy day. I got a lot of work to do. I was wondering if you'd like to assist me a little. Interested, Kiddo?
Cat smiled and nodded.
"Good," Jojo grinned. "Then be sure to get plenty of rest. It's going to be a long and interesting day."