PPGD

Love And War

Chapter 9: Playdate

Mid-September was turning out to be a wonderful season for Buttercup despite the reason for her glee being a secret from everyone, even her two sisters, to whom she could certainly trust with her life. For the last week Buttercup had been secretly spending her recess hidden in the trees beyond the playground, nestled beneath the shade of many colored leaves. It wasn't the place she was that brang her joy; it was the girl that was leaning against her, holding her hand.

The girls who had once despised each other passionately were now inseparable. Buttercup had always been to tough for any boy to approach, but Samantha was strong and fearless, the two were a perfect match if they had not both been girls. Buttercup looked down at Samantha's hand (beneath the skin existed metal and a vast array of wires) and wondered if Samantha even felt her hand due to it being artificial.

"The doc wants me to be able to feel stuff. He says that no matter how advanced I get, I should keep some human parts of me. That's why I can feel warm and cold and pain in my cybernetic parts." She seemed very happy with this fact. Buttercup had been informed that the doc was Doctor X, the man in charge of conquering Earth for Queen Vexus and that they really didn't stand a chance. These conversations were so light harded that it really didn't seem like there was a war for the planet going on. Blossom and Bubbles had been affected painfully by the Dark Star Council already, but Buttercup had actually gained from it and just hoped they would leave and Samantha could come live with the Utoniums.

When the bell rang for students to leave the school, Samantha hesitantly approached the Powerpuff Girls and Dexter, who were exiting the main doors of the school. "Do you guys want to come over my house to watch some TV?" This was a shocking question as Samantha's house was infested with malicious robots and supervillains from all over the world. Dexter took his glasses of and wiped the lenses while muttering something about an experiment before bidding them a good weekend.

Bubbles was the one to speak up, "Is it okay with the doctor? I'd love to go," she said happily. Samantha assured her that she could keep all the kaijins out of trouble and that they would just avoid the earthling recruits. "Alright!" Bubbles said, now hovering in the air and Blossom tugging on her foot, highly embarrissed that some Mac was staring at the underside of her skirt.

Samantha used a teleporter built into her watch to transport them to her room. She quickly ducked into her closet and found a pair of jeans and t-shirt and shed her cute school uniform as quickly as possible. The other girls marveled at the room which looked like a cross between a robotics lab and a castle. There were pipes coming from the ceiling and computers built into the wall with some bazookas stowed under the bed(oddly enough with unicorn sheets). Samantha apparently had a unique taste in musical bands as expressed by posters of heavy metal bands with painted faces and leather jackets. And then there was the strange assortment of fireworks in a box underneath another box that contained some teddy bears.

"Let's go secure the big screen before someone else gets it. We've only got one since Bell blew up the other." Samantha suddenly realized that she had mentioned Bell's name(something she tried to avoid due to Bell killing Boomer, Bubbles' boyfriend) and tried quickly to change the subject, "I think Scooby Doo is on right now!" Bubbles looked as though she would cry for a moment until quickly looking up and smiling, begging Samantha to lead the way.

While walking down the hall the girls had an encounter with Montray, Samantha's guardian who also happened to be a six foot mechanical monster. He was a dark shade of gray, human shaped with a reptilian sort of face and huge bat wings on his back. He had grabbed Samantha by her pony tail and pleaded with her to take her friends away from HQ before anyone else saw them, but was met with a defiant voice that ordered him to mind his own business.

Bubbles found herself on the right side of the couch, laying her head on tha arm rest while Blossom sat opposite with her legs pulled inward and her chin on her knees. Buttercup was on the floor next to Samantha slouched and tapping the remote's channel button. Apparently the television picked up 8,942 channels from satellites in Earth's orbit and planets from all around the cosmos and there was still nothing good on.

"Look who it is, the Powerpuff Brats!" An irksome voice from behind them bellowed. The girls turned around to see a red haired girl in a yellow sweater and orange skirt glaring down at them with a maniacal smile that meant she was happy to see them. And if Princess was happy that meant everyone else was about to be very unhappy.

Buttercup jumped up, prepared to pummel Princess, and coming near to it before Samantha snatched her hand and pulled her back. "Lemme at her!" Just then, another girl entered the doorway behind Princess looking very interested in the situation. The girl had red skin and donned something similar to Santa Claus' outfit except that it was obviously modified for a girl, with the addition of a skirt and some rather sexy boots. The girl also possessed lobster claws for hands, a long spiked tail, and horns on top of her head, accompanied by long, dark, flowing hair. She was creepishly beautiful.

When the girl finally reached Princess she spoke, "Did you find new friends?" She sounded as if she were daydreaming. It was an airy voice that gave the impression she was a few cards short of a full deck. "Are these new friends? I don't think so," she said looking at the girls, "They don't have anything to eat." She rested her head on Princess' shoulder looking bored and asked Princess if she felt like a movie.

The hot tempered Princess couldn't stand her roommate, supposedly one of the most powerful demons ever. Princess banked on Her to be just as evil and tyrannical as her father, Him, but that was a wrong assumption. All Her really did was lounge around, feeding off the super villains' anger and hate. Princess approached Blossom, who was now on her feet, and gave her a hard look in the eyes, "This lounge is only for Dark Star Council members, so that means you have to leave! AND IF YOU DON'T LEAVE, ME AND CRAB GIRL HERE ARE GONNA KICK YOUR BUTTS!"

BAM! Princess had been kicked hard in the face and sent flying against the wall. Blossom turned to see Samantha smiling at her, apparently awaiting a "High five!" or something. Princess was rubbing holding her throbbing head, attempting to figure out what happened. Her's eyes became a bright, glowing red as she leered at Samantha and the other girls. And before anyone knew what happened, Her made a fierce swipe at Blossom with one claw, narrowly missing, but then using her tail to wrap around Samantha's leg and swing at Blossom.

Bubbles and Buttercup weren't going to take that sitting down; Bubbles flew at her only to be shot with a rocket that Princess had fired from a wrist gun. Princess was now in battle attire, wearing her signature gold Powerpuff-wannabe outfit and jetpack. Buttercup had made her way to Her and was savagely swinging away, hitting nothing, but air. The demon girl moved elegantly, like a dancer in a performance. She seemed unaware that she was being attacked as she smiled dreamily watching Buttercup's grimace.

Blossom and Samantha got to their feet and were watching the commotion when some more of Princess' rockets went in their direction. Samantha ran at Princess, who had still decided not to go airborne, though the room's size permitted it. Princess was caught off guard by the new combatant and was taken to the ground immediately. "Doctor X is gonna be so mad at you for letting them in! And he'll be really mad if you do anything to me! I can't wait to see you beg for forgiveness, traitor!"

"Shut up, you little brat! You don't know anything!" She was furious with the situation at hand. Of course the Doc would be outraged, why did she think she could keep the Powerpuff Girls coming here a secret? They kept getting new recruits and there was no privacy anymore.

"It would be nice if you were Bell, she gets away with everything, being the Doc's daughter and all." Samantha's hand were tightly clenched around Princess' throat causing her to choke and gasp for air.

"She's not his daughter! You have no idea what he's done to his real daughter!" Princess was blue now and had given up struggling. It took Blossom and Bubbles to pull Samantha off, leaving Princess on her back crying.

That evening, the four girls found their way to the school playground and sat on top of the jungle gym, watching the stars. The three sisters had all laughed at memories of Princess and speculated on the demon girl, Bubbles being the one to point out the similarities between Her and Him.

"So, what happened to Doctor X's real daughter?" Bubbles asked inquisitively.

Samantha, who had remained quiet since their departure from the base took a moment to answer, "He got rid of her. He found Bell and forgot about his real daughter, he just gave her away to some aliens to experiment on and didn't give her a second thought." The thought of Professor Utonium replacing her entered Bubbles' mind, giving her a dreadful feeling.

Blossom, sitting on Samantha's left, had a sudden epiphany and couldn't help but say, "It's okay. Maybe that girl is better for it." Samantha gave her an indifferent look. "Maybe she's found new friends that she wouldn't have ever met if he hadn't shunned her." It was supposed to be an uplifting note for the conversation, but Blossom had the feeling she just made it worse.

"You're probably right. Guess we'll never know."