Thanks so much everyone for reading and reviewing! Here's chapter 11, another long one!
"Wow," Mona said in amazement as she gathered all of Blossom's hair up into her arms. "I don't think I've ever had someone with this much hair before."
"Well, that's what happens when you've had your hair sheered a grand total of 3 times in 10 years. It get's pretty long." Blossom answered with a half smile, poking her grown out fringe out of her face.
"I can see!" Mona said, placing her scissor wielding hands on her hips. "So, how much do you want off?"
"Oh don't have it cut too short!" Bubbles cried, whose hair was now shoulder length and once again tied in its signature pigtails, she'd had hers cut first.
"Yeah, you wouldn't be bossy Blossy with short hair. I for one can't wait to get all this chopped off though." Buttercup added.
"How fortunate is it that Blossy and bossy rhyme huh? It's like the Professor knew or something." Butch commented, to which Blossom narrowed her eyes at him.
"How about, to your tailbone?" Mona asked, putting her hand there to show Blossom how long it would be.
"Okay. That'll be fine. Could you cut my fringe back in too?" Blossom asked, and Mona nodded.
Within 15 minutes Mona had cut off lengths and lengths of bright orange tresses, and cut Blossom's bangs back in. Once she was done, Blossom had gone and sat with Beatrix, scooping her up for a cuddle, the latter willingly obliging.
Buttercup had sat in the chair next and flipped her long jet mane over the back of the chair excitedly.
"So just how short are we talking?" Mona asked, looking a little nervous as she pulled her fingers through Buttercup's hair. A look from Buttercup was enough to make you nervous, Mona had learnt this from the matter of hours she had been around her sister in law, so being the one in charge of cutting her hair made her a tad anxious. Dylan had assured her she was a pussycat really, but Mona wasn't so sure.
"Chin." Buttercup said, smiling determinedly. "Just chop it all off." She very much associated the long hair with being kept captive. Chopping it all off signaled a new beginning in Buttercup's mind.
"Okay." Mona smiled as she got to work. Once she was done, Buttercup was transformed from long-haired, softer, and sadder looking, to her usual edgy, tough and ready self, her bangs cut in and her chin length hair that naturally flicked at the sides in big chunks.
"That's the woman I married." Butch grinned, pecking her on the cheek as she took a seat again, happy with her transformation.
"Why don't you lose your hippy hair now so I can see the man I married once again?" She answered cheekily as Butch took a seat.
"I hope you've got a pair of clippers in that bag of yours." Butch said as Mona pulled the cloak around him.
Within an hour, the six puffs and ruffs had had their manes tamed into looks more like what they were used to: Blossom's still long hair had been styled by Blossom herself into a high bun, some chunks falling by the side of her face. Bubbles' was in its former pigtails, Buttercup's edgy, flicky bob was back in, Butch had his shaved at the sides with his spikes long at the top. Boomer's beach waves were back and Brick had his cut a little longer than Boomer's, but not as long as his sons, which reached his chin.
Mona turned her hair styling eyes on the four puffruff children that were in the room too.
"Say, hasn't it been awhile since you four had a haircut?" She asked, finishing sweeping up the remains of Boomer's hair.
"It's got to have been a good few months." Sandra added with a smile.
"I don't need a hair cut." Blair said, pulling her shoulder length hair around to the front of her so she could stroke it.
"No, she need's a hair brush." Beatrix added with a snide smile.
"Coming from you and your lion's mane! Not only is your hair long and thick, but it's wavy, and knotty!" Blair spat back.
"At least I comb mine everyday." Beatrix said prissily.
"Normally with my help! Anyway, what's the point in brushing it, it just sticks up in whatever direction it wants to anyway. It was made to look messy." Blair shrugged.
"She inherited your unruly hair." Buttercup said, ruffling Butch's spiky black hair that pinged back where it had been before Buttercup had touched it.
"It has a mind of it's own, I'm afraid." Butch apologized to Blair, who looked like she knew what he was talking about.
"So does Blair." Beatrix added with a smile.
"You've got one more strike missy then you're out!" Blair threatened, Beatrix only laughed.
"Hey chill out." Buttercup said, trying to smooth out her daughters hair, but just getting her hands tangled up in it. "Why don't you let Mona at least try and untangle it?"
"She couldn't last time. I had to sit for like an hour and brush it out myself." Blair shrugged.
"I wanted to cut it short but –" Mona started saying but Blair cut her off.
"I don't want it short. I like it how it is. I'll brush it later."
Buttercup reached forward and handed her a brush. "Why don't you make a start now?" She suggested, and Blair rolled her eyes but complied.
"What about the others? Don't they have to have a hair cut?"
"I'll have mine trimmed." Beatrix volunteered, hopping into the chair, and Blair grumbled under her breath what a brown nose her cousin was.
Benjamin decided it was time to split, slowly opening the door and sidling half way out of it, when a hand caught his shoulder.
He stopped, closing his eyes and sighing.
"Where are you off to Ben?" Brick asked, a knowing glint in his eye.
"Oh just, you know. Here and there." Benjamin shrugged casually.
"Ducking out on having your hair cut?" Brick asked, and Benjamin nodded reluctantly. "It aint gunna kill ya."
"I don't need it cut. Anyway, this is wasting time! We should be sorting out what the next plan of action is!" Benjamin reasoned. "Not getting our hair done."
"We can't do much until we know what state the headquarters is in, you know that. Just relax. Sandra and the others only arranged this so we can have a bit more normality. Plus, you don't want your Dad looking like a hobo right?"
Benjamin cracked a smile.
"Just chill." Brick said, pulling him back in and closing the door.
"Well then, we should be training. We could possibly have a fight on our hands when we go back into headquarters, we should be in the training room." Benjamin continued anyway.
"When you say training room, do you mean like the simulator?" Blossom asked, intrigued.
"He means the same training simulator you and your sisters used." Sandra said.
"Really?!" Blossom asked, shocked. "How on earth have you managed that?"
"Well," Sandra began explaining. "We told you Alliance X is large, and you know from having walked around it that it can take as little as 2 minutes to get somewhere, to a 45 minute walk or longer, because you're practically walking around Townsville, except underground. We made a link to our old house, your childhood home, so we had access to the laboratory. And the training simulator is in there, still working perfectly well."
"Oh wow." Bubbles said breathlessly. "That's amazing."
"And risky." Blossom added.
"I didn't realize that lab was at your old house Grandma." Brandon said, sounding just as amazed as his mother was.
"Can you enter the rest of the house?" Buttercup asked.
"No," Sandra said, looking a little saddened. "We had someone go on the other side and take the door down and plaster over it, you wouldn't even know a laboratory was even there. It's too dangerous to go wandering up above. Especially at my old house. And Ramiro had already ransacked some of it anyway. A lot of it is just debris. We told his people it was destroyed at his command, when it's actually just concealed."
"Of course." Blossom said, looking just as downtrodden. "At least we have his lab."
A forced trim each later, then they all headed down to the training simulator. Alliance X seemed even more surreal to the girls now as they walked up a hill then through a door to the laboratory.
It was like taking a step into the past, it didn't look much different to how it had been the last time they'd all set foot in there. His desk, it even still had some of his notes splayed across it, his reading glasses folded atop of them.
Blossom felt a knot form in her throat as she observed his mug was still there. It was white, with large black writing across it: No. 1 Dad.
"We had to clear it up a lot after Ramiro and his men searched through it. We tried to leave things as close to how he left them." Sandra said, her face going soft and solemn as she watched her stepdaughters examining the Professor's workspace.
"It's like stepping back in time." Bubbles said, feeling nostalgic. A knot formed in her throat instantly, it took everything in her not to break down in tears.
"This place does hold a lot of sentimental value. I mean; it was your place of birth." Sandra said; picking up a pen and examining the bite marks on the end the Professor had left there.
"Wow really, you were born in here?" Beatrix asked her mother, sounding astounded.
"Your grandfather created my sisters and I in this very lab." Blossom confirmed.
Buttercup had gone very quiet as she looked over the Professor's many experiments and inventions, remembering each item and what it had been made to do. A lot of them had been smashed open or had massive dents in them. Knowing that had been Ramiro and his henchmen's work, it angered her. But she felt her heart breaking all over again as she thought of the Professor. She couldn't even remember what the last thing he'd said to her was.
"Remember all the things we did in this thing." Bubbles said to her sisters, patting the simulators dashboard.
Buttercup joined her blonde sister's side, looking at all the buttons and knobs too. "Yeah, hey remember when you cranked it up to level – Jeez, who's been in this last? This thing's at Danger Level 22!"
"Danger Level 22?!" Blossom cried, dismayed.
"Is that high for the simulator?" Boomer asked. Him or his brothers had never been in it, they didn't know a whole lot about it.
"Yes, very high!" Blossom answered. "In fact, I didn't know it went up that high!"
"It goes up infinitely, your father just liked to keep it low and controllable for you three, even in your teens." Eugene had stepped inside at some point to operate the simulator for the puffruff's.
"So who was in it last?" Buttercup asked again.
"Blair, I do believe." Eugene answered casually, taking a seat at the control panels and pushing a pair of reading glasses onto his face, much like the pair on Professor Utonium's desk.
Buttercup, Bubbles and Blossom turned stunned glances to Blair, who looked a little confused but mostly unfazed. "What?" She asked.
"I made a decision when these four began training, based on the Professor's notes: I wouldn't be happy for them to enter RC headquarters undercover until they could all easily tackle and complete Danger Level 16." Eugene began explaining, taking a notebook from a drawer by the dashboard and flipping through it. "But, I was surprised by how quickly your children took to the training. It took Beatrix and Brandon a week to get to Danger Level 16, Benjamin 4 days and Blair 3. She reached Danger Level 11 the first time she set foot in there."
Buttercup let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's amazing. I don't think I ever made it past –"
"Danger Level 16. It's here in the Professor's notes. He didn't want to push you or either of your sisters any harder, he thought what you tackled daily in real life was worse and enough practice. But we don't have that luxury, so I have pushed these four. Not that they needed pushing. More of a gentle nudge." Eugene answered, giving the four children a pleased look.
"They are remarkable in combat." Sandra added.
"Can you get seriously hurt in that thing?" Boomer asked, beginning to worry a little about how high up Eugene was saying they handled.
"Well, yes, you can get hurt. But they won't. Because they can handle it." Eugene answered a little cryptically.
Boomer gave Brandon a worried glance.
"Nah don't worry about it, we heal quick." Blair brushed it off.
"Yeah, don't worry Dad, I can handle it." Brandon said proudly.
"So who's going in first?" Eugene asked, spinning the chair around to face the others.
"I will." Blair said, hopping off the side she had sat on, yanking her sleeves up excitedly.
"Fine, but only a quick one please, Blair. I want you all to warm up, then I want all four of you in there."
Blair agreed, taking a step inside. She started to slightly bob from foot to foot with excitement, the corners of her mouth twitching.
"Damn, she's got the twitch, like you do." Boomer said, whacking Butch on the arm. Butch only grinned, eager to see what Blair could do.
"All four of us are going in?" Benjamin questioned Eugene, pulling a seat over to sit beside Eugene at the controls like he normally did.
"Yes, I want you to work on your team maneuvers." Eugene replied, winding the time range down to short, and the Danger Level down to 18.
"What level we working with?" Blair asked devotedly.
"18." Eugene spoke into the microphone as he pressed the start button. She clapped her hands together and rubbed them excitedly.
The inside of the simulator went dark, and Blair found herself surrounded by a woodland scene. It was suddenly cold, really cold, and a strange whistling noise howled around her.
She looked around sharply, taking in her surroundings. Sensing something was coming, she put her hands together in front of her, throwing up her shield just in time. Just as her shield came up, something hit it, landing on the ground with a thump.
But when Blair looked around, nothing was there.
She heard two more thumps hitting her shield then the ground behind her, but once again when she turned around to figure out what it was, nothing was there. Then something hit her face on. Bouncing against the shield, was what looked like a small black ghost like creature with a menacing face and grabbing little hands.
But as soon as it hit the floor, it disappeared. Blair blinked. What an anticlimax, the things were dead as soon as they touched her shield.
Eugene sensed her disappointment, so he turned the level up one to 19.
Blair, not knowing this, put her shield down and raised a fist in the air, ready to hit the next one that came. She did, landing it square in the face. It hit the floor and disappeared.
Suddenly there were four of them, emerging from the ground. They hadn't died; they were going invisible while they couldn't attack.
The ghosties latched onto her arms, one pouncing at her head. Blair growled, shaking her arms to get them off, just a little bit grossed out. She raised her hands in the air, her hands tight fists as a ball of green energy appeared in her hands. She used each one to swat the ghost creatures in the face, as soon as they connected with her orbs they fizzled and died.
The moment these four were gone, four more launched at her from nowhere. With such speed that if you blinked you'd have missed it, she threw her shield up, they all bounced off and disappeared.
Before they could spring up and attack her again, Blair concentrated, mumbling: "I know, Inferno!" under her breath. A mint green flame erupted over her. The sound of the creature's sizzling could be heard at her feet.
She smirked. "You can hide but you can't run!"
A barrage of the creatures sprung on her then. She spun round fast, grunting in pain as they bit and gnawed at her. Faster and faster she spun, so fast that many of the creatures fell off and had to scramble back up.
In a whoosh, she was a whirling, twirling mint green tornado, knocking all the ghost like creatures away, they spiraled into the surrounding trees and bushes so fast that the last thing that would have went through their minds would have been their butts.
"Jeez, the girl knows her powers." Brick commented as they watched the whirlwind Blair attacking creature after creature.
"She's using powers I've only seen you girls do a handful of times." Boomer added.
"Yes, Blair does like to use everything she's got. And then, when she's done with that," Eugene said as he watched her.
Benjamin finished his sentence. "She gets the big guns out."
Blair only stopped when she started to get dizzy. She came to a halt, shaking her head a little, but she didn't have the time to gather herself. She growled, launching into the air and just beginning to punch the creatures out.
She was frenzied, landing hit after hit, the creatures would get back up and she'd hit them straight back down again, seeming to never get tired. But the simulator wasn't getting tired either; it just kept throwing more and more ghostie creatures at her. She high kicked, swoop kicked, double punched and laser eyed them. The puffs and ruffs watching were waiting for her to get tired out but it just didn't happen.
She carried on, for what felt like hours but must have only been 10 or 15 minutes. "Is she okay in there?" Buttercup asked, concerned and stunned at the same time.
"I also have another rule. I don't intervene unless the situation is very dire, or I am asked to." Eugene answered flatly, concentrating on Blair as she hit and kicked and punched.
Buttercup gave Eugene a skeptical, almost incredulous glance.
"I had trouble dealing with this rule too." Benjamin said. "But, we've had no accidents yet."
"She'll soon let me know if she's in any kind of trouble." Eugene said, very sure of himself.
But Buttercup shook her head. "If she's anything like me she won't."
"Here here." Blossom mumbled with a smile.
The creatures suddenly stopped, and Blair finally showed some sign of feeling a little exhausted, as she floated down to the ground and caught her breath.
"Is she done?" Butch asked, almost sounding a little disappointed. Unbeknownst to him, he'd been jumping up and down in his seat while he watched his daughter training.
"She's still got 5 more minutes." Benjamin answered, looking at the timer.
Blair wiped her brow and turned around. "Is that all you got for me Eugenie?" She asked, smirking.
Behind her, a huge black octopus like creature with one huge staring blue eye had emerged from the depths of the forest.
"Look behind you." Eugene answered bluntly.
So Blair did, a wild, excited grin on her face at the sight of the ugly beast, who was glaring down at her.
"That's more like it." She muttered hungrily, whipping into the air after it.
But the octopus grabbed her with a tentacle straight away, wrapping its suckers round her tightly.
"Well that was familiar." Blossom commented with a smirk. Buttercup arched an eyebrow at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Buttercup asked indignantly.
"Just flying right at it, guns blazing. Familiar, that's all. Especially from a certain green streak." Blossom said, still smirking.
Buttercup realised what she was referring to. "Oh, and I suppose you'd rather go in with some analytical attack? Fancy patterns aren't everything."
"I am telling her this all the time! She always wastes energy by going in without a second thought!" Beatrix cried, looking at her mother, so glad she understood what she was talking about.
"She should search for a weakness first. Then attack there." Benjamin added, and Beatrix nodded in agreement.
"Oh god, your kids are nerdy fighters already, and you've not even been there to train that into them." Buttercup cried, sitting back and watching Blair again.
"Not nerdy, Buttercup, smart. It's different. Benjamin or Beatrix wouldn't have got caught by the tentacles. Again." Brick said, as he observed his niece struggling to get out of the octopus monster's big tentacle once again.
Once Blair did escape from its clutches once more, she let out a feral war cry, and lunged for the monsters massive head. She shot straight through it, coming out of its other side, the monster in two halves.
The others watching from the outside didn't quite know what to make of that one.
But Blair wasn't done. She grabbed one half of the monster, and hurled it into the air. Then, before the first half had landed, she picked up the other bit and threw that too, aiming it precisely at the first airborne chunk of octo-monster, both halves sailing off into the distance. Blair landed, covered in monster gunk and entrails, catching her breath, with a satisfied grin on her face.
And she still had 1 minute to go.
"Analyzing and smarts couldn't get it done in 4 minutes." Buttercup said proudly.
"It could if it was done right." Benjamin said, rolling his eyes.
The world around Blair faded, her clothes dried instantly and the gunk on her face disappeared. Her hair was still a mess, but really, when wasn't it? She jumped out of the simulator with an accomplished grin.
"Woo, nothing like beating a ton of monster up in the morning." She cried happily.
"My girl's got skills!" Butch beamed, grabbing her and giving her a noogie. He did this forgetting he didn't have powers though; Blair got him off easily.
"Dad! God, you're embarrassing already!" She cried, but she was smiling, it was in good jest.
"You fight just like your mother… And father. Ramiro's gotta watch his back!" Bubbles said, sounding pretty excited.
"All four are exceedingly powerful. I think it's due to the double doses of Chemical X in their veins from having super powered parents from both sides." Eugene said, looking at Blair proudly.
"Right, Benjamin, hop in next."
Within an hour, all four puffruff's were warmed up, and all six puffs and ruffs were suitably impressed by their children's fighting abilities. It made them feel the hope Sandy, Eugene and the others had felt when they found them: Ramiro should be shaking in his big black boots.
"So now we're all going in together?" Brandon asked, intrigued by the idea.
"Yes, it's all well and good that you are capable fighters alone, but you need to know how to work together as a team." Eugene said, fiddling with the buttons and dials on the simulator.
"Yes, if you ever find yourself face to face with a dozen R Trons, it's a little different to a giant monster or two. As I'm sure your parents can back that up, they've fought against more than that." Sandra added.
The four children looked to their parents expectantly.
"Fighting against even one of them can be a little difficult. So, imagine four or five, or maybe a dozen like Sandy said." Brick agreed.
"What makes them so hard to beat?" Brandon questioned.
"Well, they've got Chemical X in them, artificially. And, they don't give a shit who they hurt. They're programmed to kill. And they very almost match your own strength." Brick answered him, and Brandon's face fell a little. "Personally, I think the best way for them to grasp just how strong R Trons can be would be to go up against one another." He suggested. All went silent after he spoke.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Sandra spoke. "They could really hurt each other."
"They won't if they're clever about it." Brick reasoned.
"No lasting damage, anyway." Butch shrugged.
"We used to train against each other, didn't we?" Blossom pondered to her sisters.
"Yeah, that was how we came up with half our team manoeuvres. Messing around in the simulator." Buttercup reminisced. "The Professor created the 'T' setting cos we kept cutting up the yard practicing."
"Yes," Eugene muttered. "I saw that in the notes."
Blair laughed excitedly. "You better watch your back in there, Brandon Jojo, I still remember that rude awakening this morning."
Brandon looked a little nervous. He glanced over to Benjamin, then back to Blair. "Yeah? Well, urr, why don't we make this interesting?"
"Interesting how?" Blair asked, her eyes glittering evilly.
"Interesting as in, boys vs girls." Brandon said, folding his arms over his chest and standing beside Benjamin. Benjamin gave him a skeptical look.
"Fighting each other?" Benjamin questioned. "I dunno."
"I think it's a good idea. It'll help us work as a team. Unless you're scared you'll get whooped by your little sister Benji?" Beatrix said, winking.
Benjamin's faced changed into a serious, pissed off one. "Fine. Let's go." He muttered, turning towards the entrance to the simulator.
Beatrix smirked, knowing that would work, and lowered an open palm, Blair low fived it with her mitt.
"Let's put these boys to work." She grinned, zipping inside.
"Who's your money on?" Boomer hissed to his brothers.
Butch scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? Blair! She's a fucking animal!"
"But don't you remember Butch? It's always the quiet ones to keep your eye on." Boomer replied, winking at Brandon as he entered the training room with a smile.
The room the four stood in was just an open white space. Benjamin and Brandon stood next to each other, Beatrix opposite her brother and Blair opposite Brandon; a devilish smile on her face. She jumped from foot to foot excitedly, and Brandon gulped. His plan hadn't really worked; he was hoping this way Benjamin could take on Blair. They pretty much matched each other in strength.
"Right, play nice, well, as nice as you can. And please don't aim to seriously injure or maim anyone, Blair." Eugene spoke into the microphone, and Blair gave him an irritated glance but nodded lazily.
The others gathered around a little more to watch, Butch sniggering at his daughter and her wild streak.
"Remember the aim of this exercise is to learn to work together. So do that, utilise each other's strengths and weaknesses." Eugene instructed.
Benjamin stared at his sister and cousin intently, quickly analysing their potential weak spots, when suddenly he felt himself hit by a penetrating coldness, right from the tip of his toes to his neck. He looked down rapidly, only to realise him and Brandon had been frozen in place by ice, the work of his sister no less.
He glared up at Beatrix. "Hey, no fair!"
"No fair? What's unfair about that, I have ice breath and you two don't, so I used it, it's a weakness on your part and a strength on mine!" Beatrix cried conceitedly, high fiving a cackling Blair.
"Weakness on my part huh?" Benjamin asked, taking a deep breath, and unleashing a stream of blazing orange fire at his own body and Brandon's, melting the ice almost instantly. "Not when you have fire breath."
Benjamin was quick to aim his flames at Beatrix and Blair, but Blair threw a shield up, and it ricocheted off it, Benjamin and Brandon jumping back out of the way of it.
Blair laughed even louder. "You know, I could just keep my shield up and have myself a nice girly chat with Trix, while you two see if you can bust through it." She smirked, looking over to a giggling Beatrix stood beside her, protected by the large mint bubble.
Benjamin rolled his eyes. "So that's how you fight? Just hiding in your big green shell?"
Blair smiled evilly, a smile that she had inherited from her father, and her mother when she was feeling particularly evil, and she shook her head. "Now where's the fun in that?" She asked, letting the shield down and launching at Benjamin, fist drawn back.
Before her hit connected with Benjamin's face, Blair felt a sharp sting on her arm, that escalated into a full blown jolt, shaking her and making her yelp loudly. It stopped almost as soon as it started, and she felt her wild hair sizzling. Turning ferocious eyes on Brandon, she saw him stood holding onto a large electric blue bat in his hands, jolts of electricity fizzing around it.
Brandon chuckled at her intimidating glare as she swiped the charred black off her face with the back of her hand. He acted out hitting the bat hard. "Right out of the park." He mumbled, watching an invisible ball disappear in the distance.
Benjamin smirked, and even Beatrix giggled. "Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!" Blair roared at her.
"No sides, Blair, you're working in teams." Eugene spoke into the microphone.
"Whatever. You blondie, are toast!" Blair declared.
"You're the one who is sizzling." Brandon replied with a grin, dodging out of the way of her eye beams.
Steam might as well of blown out of her ears.
"Okay," Eugene said into the microphone, his voice tiresome. "I think that's enough for today."
"Enough?" Blair said disappointedly, her fist aimed high to slug Brandon across the face, who had consequently moved at her distraction. "But we've barely been in here five minutes!"
"You mean you've barely made any progress." Eugene replied, turning the simulator off and the door swinging open.
"He's right." Beatrix said dejectedly. "That was a complete shambles. You wouldn't listen to me! And all you wanted to do was hit them!"
"Wasn't that the aim? You know, boys vs girls?" Blair replied quickly.
"We were supposed to be working as a team!" Beatrix snapped at her, but Blair only smirked.
"I already work in a team. Meet Brucie and Brawnie, mwah mwah mwah!" Blair said, rolling her sleeves up and kissing her biceps.
Her parents sniggered at her but Beatrix rolled her eyes, not one bit impressed.
"Beatrix is right, you were focusing on yourself way too much. We need to learn how to work as a unit." Benjamin told her, and Blair rolled her eyes.
"Whatever Benji I kicked your butt."
"You are so annoying." Benjamin muttered.
"If only we had our powers. We could show you some of our old team manoeuvres." Blossom said with a wistful sigh.
"Yeah, ooh, remember 'Wing Plan R?' With the bow bomb? That was genius!" Bubbles cried excitedly.
"You had a bow bomb?" Brandon cried. "Awesome! Do we have a bow bomb?"
Benjamin gave him a skeptical look; shrugging.
"Well, if that's my bow in your hair Beatrix then I'd say you do have a bow bomb." Blossom said, smiling.
Beatrix's eyes lit up as she undone the knotted bow in her hair and began to peruse it. "I don't see no bomb."
Blossom gently took it from her hands. "We had it updated when we were teenagers. I wanted to wear my hair differently." Blossom winked. "Here," She said, carefully squeezing a thick bit at the end. "That's the bomb. We'll have to show you Wing Plan R. It's a bit of a doozy. We never used this updated version. Though it probably would have been a good idea."
"I did wonder what that was…" Beatrix mumbled; as she tied it gently back into her hair.
"It's a good thing you didn't press it too hard." Bubbles giggled.
"All these years, you've been wearing a bomb on your head, and we had no idea?" Brick asked Blossom incredulously.
"Hey, we gotta keep some tricks up our sleeves." Blossom said with a secretive smile.
"You girls are full of them." Boomer commented, mouth still a little agog at the thought.
"What else did we have? Fast ball special, Cosmic cannon ball, starburst ray, god we had so many!" Bubbles reminisced fondly.
"I always liked Cherry Bomb." Buttercup said, smiling at Blossom.
"That was a good one." Blossom nodded.
"You used to come up with team attacks all the time." Bubbles said, gesturing to Blossom.
"Well, we had to stay fresh." Blossom shrugged.
"Just like Benji and all his fancy attacks." Blair commented, and Benjamin narrowed his eyes at her again.
"Did you guys do any team attacks?" Brandon asked his father.
"We had a few. Ballastic barrage, afterburners." Boomer listed, snickering at the last one. "Though that one was only effective if we'd had the right lunch."
"To be honest, we didn't do much of the team stuff." Brick noted aloud.
"Most of our team stuff was just goofing around." Butch said, remembering a certain game of hockey many years ago…
"Well, when we get our powers back that will have to change. We'll have to work as a team, all of us." Bubbles said, fresh determination in her voice.
"If we get our powers back." Blossom muttered, causing everyone to look her way.
"What do you mean if?" Buttercup asked; her voice a little irritated.
"I mean if. If we get our powers back. We can't take it as a given that we're going to." Blossom said, her voice sensible. Buttercup looked down at the ground a little disappointedly, as did Butch and Boomer. Bubbles looked disheartened and Brick broody. They all knew she was probably right.
"This has never happened to us before. We haven't been doused in Antidote X and that's it. Our powers have been physically extracted from our bodies. We don't know the consequences of that. We don't yet know whether this is reversible. And until we do we need to face facts. We could be like this forever now. And the only person who might have known more about this isn't with us anymore." Blossom said, looking over at the Professor's desk sadly.
An empty silenced fill the room as the puffs and ruffs contemplated what Blossom had said.
"But," Blossom said, causing them to look up to her again. "That isn't to say we should give up. I've been thinking, whilst watching the kids train. We should be trained up too. In combat, and weaponry, whatever. If we can't fight with our powers, at least we can fight best we can. We have an advantage, we know how to fight, just this time it'll be without the use of powers."
"That sounds like a good plan to me." Buttercup said, a dangerous, excited glint in her eye.
"We can discuss that more once you're all more healed. You all need to get back to good health before any intense training. You need to put some weight on and perhaps get into the gym and work your strength up again. That reminds me, Dr. Shapiro wants to see you all today." Sandy said, getting to her feet and walking to the door, taking one last glance at the lab before leaving.
Beatrix dangled her legs off the chair and hummed a little tune out loud. She was feeling very contented, even Blair hissing at her to shut up couldn't dampen her mood.
She even felt happy still when Aoife and Eugene walked in, a worried looking Sandy trailing behind them.
"Hi Aoife, you're finally home." Beatrix smiled at her. Aoife Keane didn't even look at her; she took a seat in front of the four children and linked her fingers together.
"I've come back quickly to give you guys the skinny on what's happening down at RC HQ. You guys may all be lovey dovey reunited but we're still in a war remember." Aoife snapped irritably. Beatrix blinked; okay, her mood was spoiled a little.
"Yes Aoife, we remember there's a war on, pardon us for being glad to no longer be orphaned." Benjamin answered evenly.
Aoife ignored him. "Where are your parents anyway?"
"There with Dr. Shapiro. Just tell us what you need to tell us Aoife then be on your way, we can fill the others in, I don't want you getting into trouble." Sandra said, her brow creased.
Aoife grunted in response. "Well, repairs on the building are underway, and security has been doubled, if not tripled. The place is like walking around a minefield. It's awful, about ten times worse than it was before. You get ID-ed as you enter each room you're sent to. They've also tightened up on who enters the dungeons now."
"Surely they're obsolete now our parents aren't living in them?" Beatrix questioned.
"Naw, the prisons are huge, all twisty and turny and weird. There are other prisoners of war down there. But most of them die." Aoife said much too casually.
"Oh." Beatrix said bluntly, feeling a little sick at the thought.
"Yup. Oh, and he's got Elmer and some of his men snooping around doing surprise checks. It is not a good time to be an undercover spy in there."
"Elmer? The pale guy?" Benjamin asked, his eyes focused on Aoife.
"Elmer Sglue. One of Ramiro's main henchman. An insufferable suck up. He went to school with your parents, I'm sure if you asked them they could tell you more." Aoife answered, anger rising up inside her at the thought of Elmer.
"Wait wait wait," Benjamin said, flapping his mitt about. "Elmer? Why does that name ring a bell? What does he look like? Besides pale."
Aoife scoffed. "Like he's downed a few tubes of glue. The guys pale as a sheet; hair and skin. You can't miss him, he practically glows."
"It was him. It was him, that day! He was the one who took us away." Benjamin said exasperatedly. He remembered his face; he wouldn't forget his face. And to think he'd bumped into him in RC HQ and not even realised.
"That doesn't surprise me, Ramiro trusts him a lot. Anyway. My point in coming down here quickly before I'm due back was to tell you that even though security is so so high, you're probably safe to go back in when you're ready. RC HQ is supposedly one of the most safely guarded places in the world, which explains why so many people opt to work there, because they know the chances of them being killed out on the streets or in a normal type of job or worse, being turned into an R Tron are slimmer in the base, because they are needed as servants or whatever. So when explosions start being heard in the building, it was bat shit crazy in there. A lot of servers fled. It was almost like riots were starting, everyone was just keen to get the fuck out of there."
"So we can just say we fled the scene?" Benjamin asked.
"I think you'll get away with it. Miss. Krueger ran herself, she can't exactly get on anyone's backs for running too." Aoife shrugged.
"Well, that settles that then. We can go back in as our aliases to try and get our parent's powers back to them." Benjamin said determinedly.
"Word on the street is that they're locked away in Ramiro's office. The one he practically lives in. The one he only really left to sleep or go beat up your parents. He'll probably leave it a lot less now, considering." Aoife said, her expression hard.
"We'll have to think of a way in." Benjamin muttered, his mind ticking and whirring as he processed what Aoife had told them.
"Well whatever ends up happening has got to be done smartly. If that part fucked up, well we're all toast really." Aoife said, getting to her feet. "I better get back inside."
"Thank you Aoife. Be safe." Sandy said, putting her hand on her niece's shoulder as she passed.
Ramiro watched the red, pink, green and blue streaks disappear off the side of the screen. He stabbed his finger at the rewind button, and the CCTV went back to the beginning of the small clip of their getaway. His teeth ground together as he watched, his fists clenched so tight it was a wonder he could uncurl them again into normal hands.
A withered sigh escaped his lips as he watched them escape again. Ramiro Courtez was not pleased. Not one bit. But he wasn't the only one.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk Ramiro." A soft, effeminate voice rang through the room, making Ramiro jump with surprise; he had specifically asked to be left alone in his office.
"I didn't realise you were planning a visit today." He mumbled, his beady black eyes looking around shiftily.
The voice chuckled heartily. "I didn't realise I needed to book an appointment."
"Of – of course you don't." He stuttered, rising to his feet just as the owner of the voice materialised before him.
"Oh good. You wouldn't want to disappoint me anymore now would you." Him grinned, his yellow, evil eyes staring down at Ramiro wickedly.
"Disappoint you? How have I disappointed you?" Ramiro asked, trying to banish any fear from his voice.
Him tsk-ed again, shaking his head. "Ramiro, Ramiro, Ramiro. When will you learn to listen to your elders? To the ones who have been close before, who are not mere amateurs compared to you? Look at the trouble you've gotten yourself into! I thought there was a lot more to you, but it would appear you're just a little boy in a very big seat."
Ramiro raised an eyebrow. "Little boy? Excuse me my lord but I am not a little boy. I am a man almost in his forties."
"And yet you'd think you would know better." Him said with a lofty sigh. Banging and scrambling at the door made them both look in that direction. They could hear a deep, angry voice demanding to be allowed inside over and over again. Him smirked. "You know things are bad when even a monkey knew better then you did."
Ramiro growled under his breath. "Allow him inside Elmer!" He snapped, and the doors to his office flew open.
"What on earth were you thinking?!" Mojo Jojo cried loudly as he stormed inside Ramiro's vast office, Elmer and a few other R Tron henchmen scurrying in behind him. "All SIX of them escaped! Not only did you let them get away but you have allowed someone to INFILTRATE the headquarters!"
"Mojo that is enough." Ramiro barked but Mojo carried on regardless.
"You were and are a foolish, half witted and nonsensical bafoon to ignore the Jojo offspring! That is to say that I think your plans are laughable and I warned you that the four children of the Powerpuff girls and the Rowdyruff boys were to be seen as a massive threat!"
Ramiro silently simmered as Mojo Jojo unleashed a tirade of abuse onto him; Him chuckled lightly at the scene.
"Settle down Mojo, settle down!" Him oozed, and Mojo huffed, puffing up his greying fur as he caught his breath.
"How dare you speak to me like that…" Ramiro breathed through gritted teeth as he stared down the old monkey before him.
"I only speak the truth." Mojo said fearlessly. "I warned you. I told you 10 years ago the power those children would possess. Even as infants. They are not normal children. They're not even normal super powered beings! They are the spawn of two super powered beings; they are practically doubly powerful! You could have listened to me. You could have taken them in as well –"
"Oh dear, is someone getting sentimental about his grandchildren?" Ramiro interrupted, trying to rile Mojo into silence but Mojo only scoffed.
"I do not care for such relationships. If you let me continue I would have said you could have took them in and took their powers too; you could have destroyed them! But what did you do? You let them go!"
Ramiro opened his mouth to shout at Mojo, possibly punish him, but Him spoke before he could.
"For once, I agree with Mojo."
Those six words were enough to evoke fear in the ruler of the world. He swallowed, glancing at Him, who suddenly didn't look as amused as he formerly had done.
"It was a very foolish mistake on your part. And it has thoroughly disappointed me. Somehow, they have learned of their powers, and of their parents' existence and location. And they have rescued them. What do you have to say for yourself?" Him asked, his voice almost a growl.
"They were just children. Infants, even. They are absolutely no threat to me whatsoever regardless of their powers -" Ramiro began but Him interrupted.
"Need I remind you 10 years has passed, Ramiro? The eldest is now 15 years old." Him said, rather bored by his excuses. "Did you forget about the human ability to grow as time passes?"
"They're parents had powers and I still managed to capture them and take their powers for my own didn't I? More than either of you have ever managed. I know what I am doing." Ramiro spat angrily.
"Oh you do, do you?" Him said, his voice jovial again. "And what do you propose you will do now? Now that the Powerpuff's and Rowdyruff's are free and reunited?"
"They are no threat to me. They are powerless, underfed waifs, I have what made them such a threat to us. They are nothing." Ramiro said, trying to hide how angered he was that they had gotten away from his grasp.
"But the children, Ramiro! The children! What of them?!" Mojo yelled, and Ramiro shot him a furious glance.
"Unlike you, Mojo, I am not afraid of children." Ramiro said simply, to which Mojo rolled his eyes dramatically, looking at Him in disbelief.
"Maybe you should be of these children, Ramiro. Maybe you should realise there worth." Mojo said darkly.
"Like I said, I do not fear children. Children are insignificant."
"Regardless of age they got through your impenetrable fortress without being caught. The only trace of themselves they left is in the clip you are watching, which doesn't even show their faces. They even destroyed any CCTV you had in place without being seen. If I wasn't infuriated by their actions I'd be impressed. Yet you still sense no ill fated feelings toward their abilities?" Him said, his voice growing impatient.
"Children are insignificant!" Ramiro yelled.
"My my, they really drummed that into your head when you were a boy didn't they?" Him said pitifully.
Ramiro turned to look at him, his eyes angered. If he were not so afraid of him he'd have thought about hitting him.
"Silence!" He hissed. But Him smiled.
"And how insignificant they made you feel, poor little Ramiro."
Ramiro narrowed his eyes at Him, reminding himself that he would regret being rude to Him, he should let him have his fun, as someone who had the ability to find out almost anything he wanted to would.
"What have you come to tell me, Him?" Ramiro asked flatly, his eyes still narrowed, as if doing this was stoppering the rage that threatened to leak from within him.
"I have come to tell you that my patience is wearing dangerously thin. I am growing very bored of all this. I am seeing no progress." Him said seriously.
"I, I can assure you we have the best men we can find in the world looking into the powers –" Ramiro stuttered.
"The thing is, I just don't think that's good enough. And losing your six shiny trophies just quickened your fall. If you don't make your next move soon, then I am out." Him said in a low, threatening voice.
"Out?" Ramiro asked, his voice quivering.
"Out. And when I am out, I can promise you, that I can make things extremely difficult for you. I am growing weary of sitting back and watching all this unfold. I mean it's been a fun 10 years of going along with this but I think it's getting close to needing putting to sleep. I am sure Mojo would agree?" Him asked, extending a claw in the simian's direction.
"Whole heartedly." Mojo Jojo said simply, Ramiro sending daggers his way.
"The next time I see you, you better have something new to tell me. Or your whole little world will go up," Him said, waving his claw into the air. "in flames." A ball of fire appeared in the air for seconds, disappearing and amounting to nothing.
Ramiro nodded, swallowing fearfully.
"Until next time." Him grinned, his cheerful voice back as he winked at Mojo and disappeared.
Mojo rolled his eyes as he disappeared, then folded his arms in Ramiro's direction.
"Well, what are you going to do now?" He asked in a tone that was a little too taunting.
Ramiro growled under his breath, his fists balling tightly. "What am I going to do? What am I going to do?! I'm going to demote you!"
"Demote me?!" Mojo cried. "What on earth has that got to do with anything? Blaming me for your thick witted actions will not help you, or please Him!"
"In fact," Ramiro continued, striding towards his office doors and throwing them open. "I've just thought of the perfect position for you: prison inmate. Until I decide where else to put you. Elmer, please escort Mojo to the dungeon."
"Prison inmate?! You are a fool! You are an imbecile and a fool and you will pay for this! You will pay Ramiro! Unhand me! Get off of me!" Mojo Jojo screeched as Elmer Sglue and a few other henchmen carted the squealing monkey away.
Ramiro turned swiftly back to his office, sitting down at his desk and rubbing his temples together. He needed to crack their powers, and he needed to do it fast. He hadn't faced a threat in all his 10 year reign. He needed to figure out what to do.
Benjamin stared blankly ahead as his mind worked over time, thinking. In his head was the map of RC HQ, and he was virtually trying to think of scenarios and ways they could get inside his office and search it.
He was still in the Archives room with his family; Beatrix and Brandon had started pulling all the photos out and this had created an onslaught of memories and stories. He kind of felt like he should have been joining in but, his mind was too busy thinking about what they would soon have to face in the world that existed outside of Alliance X.
Feeling like he was being watched, Benjamin looked up to see his mother flashing him a worried look. She tilted her head to the side, a slanted smile on her face. Benjamin couldn't help but smile back, sighing lightly and getting to his feet, joining Blossom's side to look at whatever picture they were all looking at.
Blossom reached forward and scooped up a baby blue album that Benjamin had never cared to sift through before.
"What's that?" Benjamin asked, pulling up the chair beside her.
"Your baby album." Blossom said warmly, stroking the dusty cover. "I remember buying this and putting it all together."
"Wow, how did that old thing get in here?" Brick asked, looking at the photo album fondly as Blossom turned the first page, being greeted with a picture of a young looking Blossom, sporting a large baby bump.
"When we thought you were all gone, we made sure to go to your homes and take anything with any sentimental value. Ramiro had all three of your houses destroyed, especially when he got inside and anything he may of deemed valuable was gone." Sandy explained.
Bubbles gasped excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Ooh yay! Did you find Brandon's one?!"
Sandy leaned forward with a smile, pulling out three more baby albums; one blue like Benjamin's, a baby pink one, and a light green one.
"Why don't you all take a trip down memory lane? I'm going to go have a chat with Dr. Shapiro." Sandy said, excusing herself and leaving the three families to it.
Bubbles was hopping with joy as her, Boomer and Brandon began shifting through all the photo's, the album full of bump pictures, scan pictures, and images of a small blue eyed boy with fluffy blonde hair.
Buttercup felt herself zone out as Butch told Blair stories of weaning her and the food fights that would ensue between them. She couldn't help but feel a stab of pain as the album came to an abrupt halt when Blair was aged 3. Turning to look at the beautiful 13 year old girl that stood before her now, Buttercup felt angered and robbed of so many more memories that should have been photographed and stuck in this album.
The photo of the Professor holding onto Blair, who was giggling happily, stung Buttercup bad. It was close to where the photo's ended, so Blair had probably not long turned 3. It wasn't long before the Professor died. She knew, because it was how he looked in her memory, how she always remembered him.
She stroked the picture of the vibrant looking green eyed toddler on the last filled page of the thick album, and thought gloomily of everything she had missed, everything Butch had missed.
Butch was still telling Blair about what a terror she was animatedly. Blair was watching with wide, curious eyes, filled with joy at hearing such stories. Buttercup looked at them both, then down at the photo of the Professor. She even turned to look at her sister, her leader. All these people, she had grieved for them. They were gone; she'd thought they were gone for so long. She'd watched Brick and her sister grieve for them. In her own strange, bitter way, she'd made her peace with their absence. She'd made her peace with the constant, unending agony they had left inside of her when they'd been taken from her. But now, three of them were here. And one of them was not.
She closed the album shut loudly, dropping it onto the floor and got to her feet.
Butch had stopped mid story to look round at her, then at the album on the floor. "Buttercup?"
Swiftly and silently, Buttercup walked out of the room, the sound of the door slamming behind her seeming as loud as it would have been if she had done it with powers.
A few seconds of stunned silence followed, and was broken by the sound of Butch getting to his feet.
Blair looked at him as he walked to the door and he stopped momentarily, almost feeling her mint eyes on his back.
"It's, it's fine. Don't worry." He mumbled, opening the door and closing it quietly behind him.
He spotted her walking determinedly down the hall and called her name. "Buttercup! Buttercup what are you doing?!"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She called back, not stopping.
"Where are you going?!" Butch cried, raising his arms in the air pointlessly.
"I'm leaving." She answered flatly.
"Leaving?" He cried, dismayed.
"I can't do this." She said, and her voice sounded so firm.
"What, what do you… Hey stop walking and talk to me! You can't just go!" Butch shouted after her. He felt a brief burst of relief when she did stop walking, but the look on her face as she turned to look at him was not a particularly welcoming one.
"I can't do this." She repeated. "I can't do this! It's too much! When I think about everything, everything I've missed out on, we've missed out on I," She paused, her teeth grinding together, her fists balled up tight and breathing erratic with anger. "I just wanna scream! I just wanna rip his head off, rip him to shreds, then maybe, just maybe he'd feel the pain I feel when I look at my daughter, and my sister, and, and you. And how I feel when I think about what I've missed, and the people I miss, and everything she's, they've been through, everything you've been through." She panted as she took a small pause, gathering her thoughts again. "I can't take it! I can't just pretend. I can't. I just, can't. So. I'm going."
Butch had been listening with wide eyes and open ears. He felt almost everything he could feel as he watched his wife borderline break before him. But the last thing he felt was anger, at the last words she'd said. "Oh yeah? And where are you gunna go? You walk out there and they'll kill you."
"Maybe I don't care!" Buttercup hissed, her voice hollow.
Butch scoffed, but it wasn't with disbelief, it was more shock. "Stop being ridiculous and come back in here."
"No!" Buttercup yelled. "You can't make me! You're not even supposed to be here! None of you are!"
"Get back here now!" Butch growled; his temper lost. He didn't even hear the sound of the door opening behind him.
"No. I'm getting out of here. I told you, I can't do this, and I meant it, I mean it."
"Buttercup you have to do this!" Butch yelled furiously.
"Who's making me? You?" Buttercup retaliated, that old fire, that old flash of 'bring it on' in her eyes that Butch had missed so deeply.
"Buttercup, I get this. All of it. So come on." Butch said, his voice a little softer.
But Buttercup just shook her head, and turned to leave once more.
So Butch went after her. By the time she'd heard his footsteps and shot round to flash him a deadly look, he was standing right in front of her.
"Buttercup –" He began, his voice still softer, lowered, but she interrupted.
"Butch. I can't do this, you say you get all of this, so get this: I. CAN'T. DO. THIS. It's too hard." She warned him.
"You have to do this. We all do. And you know that. So stop being silly." Butch told her, his voice no nonsense.
"I can't lose you all again." She mumbled, and Butch did a double take as she looked up at him, eyes shimmering with tears and fear. He'd never seen her looking so frightened. Not since that day they'd been separated at least. But, fortunately, Butch knew his wife best; he knew how to reach her.
"So you're scared." He said simply, folding his arms across his chest.
"What?" She bit out, brows furrowed.
"You're scared. Too scared to do this. To face all this." He oozed, looking the slightest bit smug. She screwed her face up even more.
"Scared?" She scoffed. "You know I'm not scared of anything. I just, I can't do it!"
"Yeah, so you keep saying." Butch said sarcastically, and Buttercup fumed at his jovial tone.
"You think this is funny?! I have grieved for you guys, and now, now you're here?! And I'm expected to just accept that? To just swallow it, and carry on with my day? No, I can't do that."
"Well you don't have a choice. Buttercup," He took her hand. "We have been handed a miracle here. We all thought we'd lost everything. Our children. Our spouses. Each other. But we haven't. How often do things like this happen? Never. Things like this never happen. But this has happened and the sooner you get that into your head the better. This is like a once in a lifetime situation, and we have to do all that we can. And you know that."
"I know." She whispered, her voice so quiet it almost wasn't there.
"Now, our beautiful, crazy daughter is inside that room, probably worrying we're leaving her again. Could you really leave her?" Butch asked, and Buttercup looked up at him with wide, astonished eyes.
"Of course not!" She hissed.
"Let's go then." Butch said, pulling her gently along back towards the Archives room. Blossom and Bubbles had been stood at the door, Blair not far behind them.
They didn't say anything, Blossom only nodded encouragingly at Buttercup. She rolled her eyes back at her, but Blossom didn't feel offended. It was wonderful to have Buttercup back.
"So, Great Uncle Eugene had us watch a load of news bulletins and stuff, that had footage of you guys fighting. We used it as a study aid. In some of them you were young, really young. And erm, also, in some of them you were fighting each other." Beatrix said, going a little awkward as she spoke to her family.
"Fighting each other?" Blair repeated. "You mean beating the shit out of each oth –"
"Blair!" Beatrix cried. "Couldn't you have just said… really fighting each other?"
"But I'd have meant beating the shit out of each other." Blair answered, arching a brow at her cousin, who shh-ed her mercilessly, her cheeks going as pink as her eyes. The adults in the room only laughed at the way Blair and Beatrix were with each other, and although no one said it, all were thinking about how similar they were to their mothers…
"Anyway!" Beatrix cried. "How did all of this happen?" She asked, indicating herself and her brother and cousins. "If you used to fight each other?"
"Until the age of 10, we were sworn enemies." Bubbles said, smiling at Boomer warmly.
"Yeah, the boys were created to destroy us by a major villain of the time, and kind of arch nemesis of my sisters and I, Mojo Jojo. And until we were 10, we spent most of our days trying to kill one another." Blossom explained.
"So what changed?" Brandon asked, all four listening intently.
"They needed our help." Blossom said, looking over to Brick with a smug expression. Brick rolled his eyes, looking away.
"You needed their help?" Benjamin said, looking at his father and trying to figure out if there was a hint of embarrassment in his eyes.
"Yeah, they came crawling to us with their tails between their legs, because they found out Mojo Jojo and Him had plans to destroy them because they hadn't fulfilled their duty." Buttercup said, the same smirk on her face as Blossom.
"What duty?" Blair asked her mother.
"To kill me and my sisters." Buttercup said, far too casually.
"Oh." Blair replied.
"Hey, we didn't come crawling to you!" Butch cried, looking butt hurt.
"Yeah! We flew!" Boomer defended dimly.
"I think what you did was very brave." Bubbles assured her husband, making him smile valiantly.
"So Mojo Jojo and Him were going to do you all in because you hadn't killed the Powerpuff girls?" Benjamin asked.
"I overheard their plan, so we left, and Mojo and Him started looking for us. Eventually, I figured we had a better chance of beating the two of them if we had an extra three people on our side, so, we went and requested a talk with the girls and the Professor and, well the girls obviously said no, but the Professor kind of made them agree to a truce, with the threat of a lab filled with Antidote X." Brick explained a little begrudgingly.
"Meanwhile, I missed all of this discussion because I had Buttercup cackling in my face." Butch said, to which Buttercup elbowed him in the ribs.
"So we helped them beat Mojo and Him and they backed off. The boys suddenly found themselves branded traitors by every evil doer known to man kind, and of course homeless, by the age of 10." Blossom said, patting Brick's hand gently.
"So what happened next?" Beatrix asked, concern in her eyes as she looked at her Dad gravely.
"We ended up in a children's home too." Brick said, surprising the four puffruff's.
"Yeah, which was why we were so angry to learn you four were raised in one. Although, I don't think ours was as bad as yours. They sent us to school, the same one as the girls, and we got to know each other a bit more, forced to be friendly and all." Butch said. "Plus there was the truce of sorts, thanks to the Professor."
"It only took the blue's over here 4 years to fall head over heels in love with each other." Buttercup said, looking around at her blonde sister and brother in law. "But it took Butch, Brick, Blossom and I five years to even become friends."
"Where did you go once you turned 18? They turf you out on children's homes then don't they?" Blair asked.
"We didn't have anywhere to go." Brick said, fiddling with the corner of a photo album he was holding. "We planned to spend our first night on the streets, but Bubbles wasn't going to let that happen."
Bubbles shook her head. "No way! I told them to come to ours, just until they found their feet, and Blossom had a chat with the Professor and Sandy about them having nowhere to go and realistically they weren't going to get anywhere on the streets, and how everyone deserved a second chance. So, they allowed them to move in with us, they all shared one of the spare rooms. And not long after that, Blossom and Brick, and Butch and Buttercup started dating too."
"So when did you and Dad finally become an item?" Beatrix asked, clearly in her element talking about romance.
"We were 18. Not long after they moved into our house. Butch and Buttercup were 19." Blossom answered, and Beatrix's eyes widened with surprise.
"Wow, it took you that long to trust each other?"
"Well, they did try to kill us for 5 years." Blossom reasoned.
"Didn't you have me when you were 21?" Benjamin asked, surprised they'd been together so little time. He'd imagined they dated throughout school.
Blossom smiled warmly, looking to Brick. "We were 20 when I fell pregnant with you."
"Yeah, little miss perfect had a shotgun wedding." Buttercup snickered, receiving a glare from Blossom.
"Shotgun wedding? What's that?" Brandon questioned, brow furrowed in confusion. He looked to Beatrix, his usual source of answers, but her cheeks had gone pink and she was perusing through a photo album like it was the most interesting thing she'd ever laid eyes on.
"It was not a shotgun wedding! We wanted to get married! …Eventually. So what did it matter if we did it early?" Blossom defended lamely.
Bubbles giggled. "When the Professor found out Blossom was pregnant –"
"If you don't mind, I don't think this is the most appropriate subject to discuss in front of our children!" Blossom snapped, blushing furiously.
"They're not 5 or 1 anymore Bloss." Brick said, finally speaking up. He was smirking, but had the hint of a blush on his cheeks too.
"We both know what a shotgun wedding is." Benjamin said, a little offended at being expected not to know.
"I don't!" Brandon cried persistently. "What is it?!"
"When the Professor found out Blossom was expecting Benjamin, his immediate reaction was 'So when are you getting married?'" Bubbles told Brandon quietly. He still looked a little puzzled.
"Then Brick had to smoothly give him a date he'd just made up in his head." Boomer said, looking at his brother and trying not to laugh.
Brick rolled his eyes. "You're making it sound worse than it was!"
February 2014, 15 years previous…
"Brick? Brick? Can you give me some kind of reaction, please?" Blossom hissed desperately, kneeling down in front of the chair he was sat on.
Brick stared dead ahead; his vision only coming into focus when Blossom's distressed expression came into his view. He blinked several times, looking at her with the same shell-shocked look.
"You're sure?" He asked again, and Blossom sighed heavily.
"Do I have to get the positive tests out again? Yes, I'm sure." There was a pause in which they stared at each other. "Brick, what are we gunna do?" Blossom asked breathlessly.
He scraped a hand through his hair, his cap falling into his lap in the process. "How could this have happened?! I mean, we were careful! We're always careful! I don't understand?!" He cried, getting to his feet and beginning to pace the pink carpet of Blossom and her sisters' bedroom.
"What is there not to understand? We've had sex, remember?" She said in a low quiet voice. "That's generally how this sort of thing happens." Blossom got to her feet also and folded her arms across her chest.
"But we used protection! We used protection to prevent this happening!" Brick cried, nearing hysterical.
"You can't solely rely on contraceptives Brick. Condoms are only like 98 percent effective." Blossom said, watching him pace the room mid air.
"98?! 98 percent effective?! What the hell? Do they put that on the goddamn packaging?!" He cried, patting down his pockets, as if he could find a condom in there to check.
Blossom rolled her eyes. "Brick, can you stop focusing on condoms?! It's not the important thing! The important thing is, I'm pregnant?!" She cried, swallowing hard at having to say it again. "What on earth are we gunna do?"
Brick felt guilty, and enveloped her in his arms. "Its gunna be all right. It'll be fine. I promise."
The bedroom door opened swiftly then, making Blossom and Brick stiffen as they held each other.
"Hey guys, hope I'm not interrupting anything. Boomer and I were thinking of going out for a bite to eat later, and I'm gunna wear that really cute new paisley dress I bought? And I was thinking, oh my god, Blossom's little white cardigan would look so cute with that dress, can I borrow it?" Bubbles burbled, making a beeline for Blossom's set of drawers, pulling the top one open before Blossom or Brick could stop her.
"Bubbles no!" Blossom cried, leaping forward to stop her but she just wasn't quick enough.
Bubbles pulled out two used pregnancy test sticks, her mouth dropping open slightly. She turned them so she could read them, and her mouth formed a perfect O as she saw the prominent POSITIVE reading.
"OH. MY. GODDDDD! BLOSSOM! Are you PREGNANT?!" Bubbles squealed loudly, Blossom managed to clamp her hand round Bubbles' mouth, as Brick shut the door, leaning on it with a sigh.
"Bubbles, please, you can't –" Blossom began, but was interrupted by three thuds at the door.
"Whose pregnant?!" Boomer cried from outside.
"It's not you is it?" Butch asked Buttercup nervously.
"How could it be me when I'm out here with you?" Buttercup answered.
With a groan, Brick opened the door, and the three of them zoomed inside.
"Blossom's pregnant!" Bubbles declared excitedly, as Brick slammed the door shut again.
"What's going on up there?" Sandy called from downstairs.
"I hear door's slamming, you know our rule about door's being shut!" The Professor yelled.
"Seems like it was a pretty pointless rule." Butch snickered, grinning at Brick, who covered his face up in his hands…
An hour later, and Blossom and Brick had managed to shake their siblings off their backs, after rounds of 'OHMYGOD A BABY! CUUUUUUTE!', 'Blossom getting pregnant at 20, this is too good!' and 'Dude, you are so dead.'
Brick had sunk onto Blossom's bed, hands still covering his face. Blossom was hovering over him nervously.
"I can't believe this has happened. It was always Butch I worried about knocking someone up. Or even Boomer, before myself." He groaned.
Blossom's mouth went into an offended line. "Knocking someone up? That's lovely, Brick, real nice. You know, I don't know why you're freaking out so much, surely I'M the one who should be freaking out as much as you are; I'm the one with a baby growing inside of me! With someone who I've only been with 2 years, who is currently more concerned about condom's effectiveness, and the fact he's impregnated someone before his brothers!"
Brick took his hands away from his face to look at her, and began to feel guilty. She didn't look half as panicked as he felt, but then he really looked at her, and her eyes were just a little wider, and when he focused in on her folded arms he could see she was slightly shaking. He sat up, readjusted his hat on his head and pulled her close to him.
"You're right. I'm, I'm not handling this best am I? I'm sorry. Does the fact that we've only been together 2 years really matter? We've known each other practically all our lives." Brick said, his voice soft.
"I guess not, when you put it that way… It's just, what are people going to say? Pregnant, at 20 –"
"20 isn't that young." Brick interrupted.
"It is in my eyes! I mean, I had so many more things I wanted to do before I did this, you know? People are going to talk, it's going to be in the headlines, what about the city? I can't defend Townsville if I'm expecting?!" Blossom began to burble.
"Blossom there's five of us living here. Townsville will be fine."
"And the Professor, and Sandy? Oh my god, they're going to kill us. They're going to be so disappointed." Blossom said morosely.
"Well, maybe we can let it sink in in our own heads a little first, before rushing ahead and –"
Blossom interrupted him now. "Are you suggesting we don't tell them?!" Brick opened his mouth to defend himself but she carried on regardless, prompting a roll of the eyes from Brick. "We HAVE to tell them. As soon as possible! I mean, what are we going to do without them?! We don't have jobs or any prospects because we're too tied down to saving the city – which we're not getting paid for. They're going to have to help support us! This isn't just about me being pregnant Brick; this is a baby! In like, 8 months time there'll be a baby that is our responsibility!"
Brick felt himself inadvertently swallow hard. "When do you wanna tell them then?"
"Girls, boys, dinner!" Sandra called up. Brick gave Blossom an uncertain look.
"After dinner. We'll get rid of Dylan and your brothers and my sisters and tell them."
So dinner at the large table in the Utonium household proceeded as usual. Professor and Sandra Utonium could see something was up with their daughters and they're boyfriends, but didn't say a word until the plates were cleared. Dylan had near enough dozed off at the table, so Sandra went to lay him down for a nap, then seated herself back next to her husband.
"Blossom, is everything okay? You've been awfully quiet over dinner. And fidgety." Sandra noted, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Erm, really? Well, no, I mean, I'm fine. It's just that, well, funny you should mention that, because –" She babbled, until Brick saved her.
"What Blossom means to say is, we were wondering if we could have a word with you and the Professor," He turned to look at his brothers and they're respective partners. "Privately." His last word had a hint of threat in it.
"Oh, well, okay." The Professor said, smiling warmly at his redhead daughter, who gave him a sheepish look. Sandra gave her a look that said, 'I already know what you're going to tell me'. Blossom felt herself gulp this time.
"I'm not going anywhere." Buttercup said boldly. "I'm just sad we aint got popcorn."
Butch cackled, as did Boomer, but Bubbles, feeling bad for her nervous sister, grabbed both boys by the upper arm and wrenched them from their seats. "Buttercup, come on. Blossom, good luck."
"So Blossom, Brick, is everything okay?" Sandy asked, closing the door behind the other four and sitting back down again.
"Yes," Blossom said briskly. "Everything is fine. Just, Brick and I have some news." She placed one mitt upon the other nervously.
Brick looked at her confidently, then gazed at the Professor to gauge his reaction as Blossom said: "I'm pregnant."
There was a stunned silence. Sandy blinked, grabbing at her drink and gulping down a couple of large sips. "You're pregnant?" She asked, her voice fairly even, though her face was the opposite of even.
Blossom nodded. Brick took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"You're sure?" Sandy reiterated and Blossom told her yes.
Blossom looked over at her father. He looked shocked, yes, but not disappointed. He was staring at Brick, his eyes looking pretty angry. The look was a look that simply said: 'You've been sleeping with my precious daughter? Now I want to kill you.'
"So, when are you getting married?" The Professor asked, his expression changing to an expectant one.
Blossom let go of Brick's hand, looking from the Professor, Sandy to Brick in confusion. "Married? What, what do you mean, married?"
"Well, if you're having a baby, you'll be getting married first, right?" The Professor said smoothly, a cheerful smile on his face as he looked at Brick.
"August 5th. Of this year." Brick said, almost as smoothly as the Professor had asked.
Blossom turned to him, looking just as shocked as her parents had just been. "What? No, no! We're not getting married! I mean, we've only been – no!"
"What a lovely answer to a semi proposal." Brick hissed sarcastically in a voice so low the Professor or Sandy wouldn't have heard it. Blossom gave him a deer in headlights look.
"August 5th? Well, that sounds like a lovely day of the year to get married. In the summer too." The Professor smiled. Sandy gave Blossom, then her husband an uncertain look.
"John, I'm not sure that –" Sandy began to say but was interrupted.
"So was this, planned, or?" The Professor asked, and both Blossom and Brick began talking at once.
"No! No, it wasn't." Brick said instantly.
"No, no! Definitely not, no. But, but wanted, much the same." Blossom smiled, looking down at her flat stomach then up at Brick. She'd only just realized this as she spoke.
"Good." The Professor grinned. "Well, this is good timing really. Sandy and I had been talking about all the work you and your sisters and respective partners do for the town, and how it inhibits your chances and time to further your education, or get a full time job. I mean, you're 20 now, and still living at ours, waiting on the hotline to call. Which I'm not knocking, but, in order to move forward you girls need some sort of finances coming your way."
"As much as your father would secretly love for all three of you to live here forever with us, he understands that you're getting older now." Sandy added, and the Professor winked at Blossom, who smiled back nervously.
"I have arranged a meeting with the Mayor this week. I think its about time you began to get paid for your services. And now, with a baby and a wedding to pay for, you're going to need it more than ever." The Professor explained.
"Wow, that, that would be wonderful." Blossom said. She felt extremely confused. Why was the Professor being so laid back about this? He'd always been very over protective when it came to the girls and dating, and especially sex. The no door shut rule had existed for years, probably from the moment a 14 year old Bubbles brought Boomer home and introduced him as her boyfriend. Sandy, though equally as strict, had always been the one to tell him to ease off a little. But right now she seemed to be reacting appropriately in Blossom's head.
"Professor?" Blossom asked timidly. "Are you not disappointed in me? In us?"
The Professor looked saddened at her question, and half smiled, reaching out to place his hand on hers. "Okay, honestly? Shocked, yes. Surprised, definitely. But, you're not a little girl anymore. You're a strong, sensible girl, no, woman, and I know you can do this. You've mothered the girls for years, I know being a mother yourself will be a stitch for you. We're here to support you."
"But, I'm supposed to be the responsible one…" Blossom began but the Professor spoke over her.
"As awkward as it is for me to even think about these kind of things, I'm sure I can trust that the pair of you were being… safe?"
"Yes sir." Brick answered, as Blossom had gone too red in the face to answer herself.
"Right. Well then, what more can I ask? Accidents… happen?" He was going red himself now. "And we'll leave it at that. How could I be disappointed anyway? I'm gunna be a Grandpa!"
Blossom handed Benjamin a wedding album. "See." She said, showing him the picture of her in a white gown, a baby bump prominent. "We got married August 5th, and you were born four days after your due date on October 9th."
"Did he really have a shotgun? He was so awesome." Blair said, in slight awe of her grandfather.
"He didn't have a shotgun!" Blossom said. "He just, believed in that sort of thing. And to be honest, I always imagined I'd be married first but, Benjamin was meant to be there and then." She said, smiling happily at Benjamin, who blushed lightly.
"Then Boomer and I got married a year later, Blossom's wedding gave me wedding fever!"
"Then that same year, 2015, the war started. Mojo and Him summoned us to his headquarters. We were told it wasn't too late; we could be forgiven for our treacherous ways if we declared what side we were on. We formerly met Ramiro then too, and he gave us the chance to join him." Brick said, coming to the end of the photo album he'd been holding and shutting it with a thud. "We obviously didn't need to discuss. We knew where our loyalties stood and what side we were on."
"Why the hell would we have taken sides with Mojo or Him, knowing that they planned to kill us when we were just 10 years old?" Boomer cried incredulously.
"Then end of the year, a couple of months into the beginnings of the relentless attacks, Buttercup discovered she was going to be out of action for 9 months minimum." Butch smiled, grabbing Blair around the neck and noogying her head. She complained loudly, shoving him off (but not too roughly, even for Blair, she didn't wanna break him).
"Yeah, which put our own numbers down to five for awhile." Brick added.
"Did the Professor shotgun you and Uncle Butch too?" Brandon asked, liking this new phrase he'd learnt.
"He tried that shit on me, but I refused." Buttercup said, remembering the conversation like it was yesterday.
"Yeah, only to give in and marry Butch a year after Blair was born anyway." Bubbles said, digging her sister in the ribs.
"Yeah well, it was hell in Townsville. I just thought we better do it in case we don't get the chance to at all." Buttercup mumbled, folding her arms over her chest grumpily.
"She couldn't resist really." Butch said, grabbing at her cheeks to pucker her lips up for a kiss.
"Uck you!" She replied, her face all squished up, yanking her head away.
"Then we had two extra little surprises right in the midst of the war." Blossom said, looking at her daughter fondly.
"I couldn't be happier that we did. Boomer and I didn't think we'd get the chance, what with how busy we were defending the city constantly, and looking after others. Ramiro had Him, Mojo, the Medusin sisters and more out spreading his powers and creating more R Trons." Bubbles said, squeezing ahold of Brandon tightly.
"And what about Ramiro?" Beatrix asked inquisitively, the atmosphere of the room changing at the mention of his name. "Grandma said you went to school with him?"
"We did. But to be honest we didn't really know it until someone told us." Boomer said, scratching his head, brow furrowed.
"I remember him at school." Blossom said, her expression a little far away. "He went to the same first school, junior high and high school as us. He was in the year above us. I don't particularly remember anything significant about him. He was a little strange, a loner, picked on a lot. But that's all I really remember about him. Odd to think that a simple student at school would be capable of turning our lives upside down as much as he managed to."
"And what about his wife? Hyacinth and Harrison's mother? Grandma said she went to your school too." Beatrix asked, inquisitive and curious.
Blossom's expression hardened at the mention of Princess, as did Brick's, and pretty much everyone else's in the room. The atmosphere had if possible gotten worse; Beatrix kind of regretted this question after she'd asked it.
"We've known her since kindergarten. She was a classmate. But we've never been friends." Bubbles answered her niece. "She was a bit of a wannabe, really. She always wanted to be a Powerpuff girl. But she was a bad apple. And she's always been jealous of Blossom. Always."
"She's always despised me just that little bit more." Blossom said a little tiresomely.
"Why?" Beatrix said; her brow furrowed as she looked at her mother.
"To begin with? Probably because Blossom always felt sorry for her. And she didn't like that. She was the rich, spoilt princess, she apparently should have felt sorry for us, not us of her. But then as we got older it was something more. She's had a thing for your father from the moment she first clapped eyes on him you see." Bubbles said, making Beatrix's eyes widen.
"Really?" She said, clearly astonished.
"Yep. Silly really."
"Yes. Interesting, too." Beatrix said, arching a brow and pointing it in Benjamin's direction.
"Interesting? How?" Bubbles blinked, a little confused.
Benjamin glared at his little sister and shook his head, a light red hue dusting his neck and cheeks as Beatrix grinned at him sneakily. The others had picked up on it, and all but Brandon and Blair had been confused by it. Brandon and Blair however knew that Beatrix was referring to Hyacinth, Princess' daughter's instant attraction to Benjamin; Brick's son.
"No reason." Beatrix said smartly.
"And now she's married to Ramiro?" Blair asked, receiving a thankful look from Benjamin for steering the topic away from Hyacinth's crush on him. He found the whole thing severely embarrassing.
"Yeah. Funny thing is, she'd have never have looked twice at him at school. But something changed once we'd left." Butch said, his voice flat and angry.
Buttercup scoffed. "Yeah, he came to see her and her filthy rich father and told them he wanted to destroy us and he knew how to do it. She fell in love instantly then I imagine."
"They don't love each other they use each other. That's all their relationship is based on and ever has been based on." Bubbles said bitterly.
"She's pathetic. And even after everything I still pity her. But let's not talk about her now. Why don't we take a look through some more photos?" Blossom suggested. The others nodded, grabbing at other albums and collections of photos. Blossom couldn't help but send an intrigued look her son's way though. His cheeks were still a little red.
r&r :)
