Chapter 29

"Hmm… much too late."

Floating on a spiraling pink cloud, the darkest of all shadows, the sweetest of all temptations, the embodiment of all evil, was Him. Glistening green, cat-like eyes sat above a long hook nose, right above a spine-chilling smile that made even the coal-black hairs on his chin curl. He wore a red suit with puffy pink trim, held tight with a fine black belt over dark red skin. Around his shoulders lay a fluffy pink feather boa that trailed down his arms to his large lobster claws. He was a complete composition of incongruous sin: repulsive yet captivating, frightening yet fascinating. And he sat there, two bright pale streaks blazing from his eyes, aimed straight at the six heroes below.

None of them could move. They could only blink and they could only breathe. But they were frozen in place like sculptures, all staring wide-eyed at the grotesque creature on his cloud. Him giggled, two vocal tones, one low, one high, clashing together in one eerie chord. He flicked one claw casually to the side and all the pictures in the sky came to a halt.

"Let's check the time, shall we?"

He flicked his claw again, and every screen, every frame, switch to the same digital clock reading: 11:58:03 PM. 11:58:04 PM. 11:58:05 PM.

"Two minutes until we can wish you a 'happy birthday!'" Him exclaimed. "Ohh! I'm so excited! Make a wish?" Him giggled again, his deep undertones becoming more prominent, despite the higher, chilling register. "Oh, I'm sorry. You'll have to wait a minute. I know, I know, we're wasting time, but we can't spoil it, right?"

The six stayed there, helpless. Blossom felt words bubbling to her throat, but she could not speak. Tears welled up in Bubbles's eyes, slowly falling down her cheeks. Buttercup could feel the rage spiking through her nerves, and Butch, his hand still on Buttercup's shoulder, could only feel the heat burning through her skin. Thoughts raced through Boomer and Brick's heads, their breathing quickening as the clock's timer grew closer and closer.

11:59:13 PM. 11:59:14 PM.

"Ohhhh," Him moaned, sounding oh so irritated. "Such long agonizing seconds… if only you had finished your little fight early, maybe you would have had more time to escape? Oh. Sorry, that wasn't an option, was it? Maybe you would've had time to do something before the timer ran out. Hmm…"

11:59:46 PM. 11:59:47 PM.

"Oh! Oh! Let's count down! Ohhh! Ten… nine… eight… seven…"

Boomer's eye twitched; his best effort to fight back. Buttercup closed her eyes tight, hoping the clocks would disappear. Brick looked away, his eyes settling on the battered ground. Butch and Bubbles stared helplessly at the clocks, as Blossom looked up and awaited their fate.

"…three… two… one…"

12:00:00 AM.

Him blinked, and several of the heroes stumbled over, their bodies released into action. He continued to watch them, his eyes sparkling with delight. Buttercup scrambled up with a roar, ready to wring the ruby neck of Him until… she collapsed. Butch jumped up and caught her, but just barely. He slowly pushed her to her feet, but she felt… off. She felt much heavier than usual, and strangely enough, so did Butch. Both of them felt the heaviness of their bodies, as if several extra pounds clung to their limbs. Blossom slowly pushed herself off the ground, also noticing a difference in her weight. Brick rolled his head around on his neck, cracking several, painful kinks. Bubbles took step forward and stumbled. Boomer took a great, deep, staggering breath, realizing that the air was much harder to breathe than before.

Buttercup pushed herself up again, and jumped, attempting to zoom off after Him. But… she just jumped, landing back onto the ground with a thud, her knees buckling under her. Butch grabbed her waist and held her close, not willing to let her fall again. She struggled against him, but she proved much weaker. She did not take this lightly.

"What… what the fuck is this, Him?" she cried, her voice cracking.

Bubbles blink several times, harder and harder each time, focusing her vision straight at Him. She stopped. No eye beams shot from her eyes, no matter how hard she tried. More tears leaked down her face as she turned to Blossom.

"Blossom, I can't shoot lasers. I… I can't."

Blossom stared at her fists vaguely, in utter disbelief. Mouth hung loosely, she glanced at Brick, he furiously taking big breaths and exhaling them. Boomer spun around several times on spot, looking at his arms and legs curiously. He became more and more fearful with every spin. Butch clung to Buttercup, not willing to see what he no longer could do. Blossom looked back at her hands and gulped.

"Our powers…" she whispered. "They're… they're gone."

"Tsk… tsk… tsk…" Him clicked his tongue. He stared at them, and put on his best impression of sympathy. "I'm so sorry. But, at least you're still alive… for now."

"What's going on, Him?" Brick demanded, taking a few shaky steps forward. "What have you… what happened to…how?"

"Your time as super heroes is over," Him said simply. "You're just humans, now. Powerless, defenseless, average humans."

"How?" Brick demanded again.

"Our thirty days are up," Blossom said blankly. She turned to Brick with a face so expressionless, he actually felt a tinge of terror. "I'm sorry."

"Well," Him cooed. "You could thank these two beings here for failing to make a chemical that would, you know, last."

Without taking his eyes off the heroes, he lifted both his claws and summoned two small platforms from the air. On one platform lay a person with tussled black and gray hair and a dirty white lab coat, sprawled out with his face on the ground. On the other platform, lay a creature covered in a tattered purple cape, a striped helmet, cracked, covered a now exposed brain. It was the Professor and Mojo Jojo.

"No!" Bubbles choked. She stumbled forward and fell, falling to her knees pathetically. She looked back up, her eyes dripping with tears. "What did you do to them?"

"Oh, they'll be fine," Him assured. "They're not dead! Cross my heart!" He made an 'X' over his chest, then flicked his claw casually again. The platforms shot out of sight. "But as for you kiddies…"

"What's going on?" Brick repeated, his hands curled up into very tight fists, holding all of his anger.

"Where should I start?" Him asked himself, crossing on leg over the other, and then looking up in the air and tapping his cheek overdramatically.

"The beginning would be nice," Brick grumbled. He gingerly knelt down, his eyes targeting Him. Blossom nearby stared blankly to the side. Butch continued to hold Buttercup, the two keeping each other stable. Bubbles sat near Boomer, who stood with his arms across his chest and his eyes to the ground, deep in thought.

"Well, I suppose you deserve to know everything," Him said. "But maybe you could tell me what you already know? Saves precious time, right?"

"Princess and Sedusa were your accomplices," Blossom answered suddenly. The others all turned to her. Him raised an eyebrow and smiled. Blossom slowly looked up, the blank expression still on her face. "And you promised them power if they delivered us to you."

"How ever did you figure that one out?" Him asked, still smiling.

"They told us," Blossom said emptily. "They told us their plan, and they told us their reward. All that leaves is why we're here and what you did yourself." She turned to Him. "So why are we here, Him? And what did you do until we got here?"

"Well, let me answer the second one first, okay? The first one is a little too juicy to reveal just yet," Him looked at Sedusa's and Princess's bodies. He scowled and made a quick move with his hands. The bodies disappeared. "I hate distractions. Anyways, what I did until you arrived… hmm…"

He sat quietly, relishing in the suspense. Brick seethed, feeling very out of control of the situation. The rest waited silently – what choice but to wait? Him clapped his claws together.

"I waited."

Him hooted with laughter, as if he had said the funniest joke on the planet. As for the heroes -- silence. They stared at him, various looks of frustration and exasperation. Brick licked his lips, biting back foul words to say.

"You waited," he repeated slowly.

"Yes, yes," Him said happily. "Princess went on her cute little tirade, wreaking havoc all over the place, and Sedusa watched everything unfurl, informing me when necessary and keeping track of progress. I just sat around and waited, enjoying your final days, shivering with anticipation for your arrival."

Him giggled, whipping back his feather boa. Bubbles shuddered, anxiety skittering along her spine. Brick wiped a layer of sweat off his forehead and sighed. Blossom continued to stare at Him, though some emotion was beginning to fall back on her face. She winced and took a deep breath.

"What do you want with us?" she asked quietly.

"That's an easy one, Blossom," Him said, calming himself down. "But it goes along with why you're here."

"Gee, I wonder if it has anything to do with destroying us?" Blossom said. Brick glanced over at her, and he noticed a strange twinkling in her eyes. He smiled. Blossom flicked her hair back and grimaced. Meanwhile, Him fluttered his eyelashes.

"Of course," he said. "But you see, I couldn't just go to earth and kill you, or summon you and kill you here. This took a lot more planning this time than you would ever imagine. See, I had to get you all here at a certain time, in a certain way, and under a certain impression."

"What might that be?" Brick asked.

"Well," Him continued. "I needed you all to be here when you, heh, lost your powers. And I needed you to come here exhausted and frustrated. And, I believe Sedusa said it the best, I needed you 'ready to fight, ready to know, and ready to go home.' In order for my plan to work, you needed to be in the right state of mind.

"You don't think it was just a coincidence the way everything came out, do you? You have thirty days left to live, and suddenly, all these strange things are happening. Then you are all separated from each other, and then paired off with your worst enemies (besides myself of course). Then you each must go through all these obstacles and missions and whatever, and surprisingly, you all succeed. Then, on the last day, you all happen to make it to my cozy lair, hours before your time is up. The timing was awfully brilliant, don't you think?"

"You set us up," Blossom said. The others turned to Blossom, then to Him, all confused. Blossom pushed herself up and stood tall. Her eyes narrowed.

"You set us up," she said. "You made all that happen. You, with Princess and Sedusa at your side, set up this stupid chase to get us all here. You had Sedusa send the spiders, you had Princess cause trouble, you probably even had the Professor and Mojo rip us all apart, right?"

"Hmmm, I didn't even mention that!" Him exclaimed.

"Mind control devices, right? In Professor and Mojo's brains. It was easier to control them and have them convince us to do this in the first place. And you paired us off, counterpart to counterpart, to stir up more trouble, since we were enemies. Then you sent us on all these tasks, knowing full well we would succeed, probably guiding us, even, because it would get us here in the end, at the right time. You were wasting our time, screwing with our minds, and putting us in danger until the right moment," the words spilled from Blossom, as if she had known it all along. The others stared at her now, everything making more sense as she spoke. Blossom's face twisted in puzzlement, and she looked back at Him.

"But why?" she questioned.

"Why," Him sighed grandly, and grinned, baring his sharp, glistening teeth. "Why, indeed. First, you are correct about the Professor and Mojo. I'm sure you all heard the chimp trying to remove his device? He was turned more troublesome than I needed. And it was cute pairing you all up! I hoped you'd clash a little more, though. I forgot that opposites attract. Right Buttercup? Butch?"

Buttercup and Butch had been eerily quiet for a while now, and the others turned to them. Buttercup did not look at the others, but tilted her head up to Him.

"Big mistake, huh?" she sneered. Butch chuckled to himself.

"A teensy one, really," Him corrected. His tone suddenly changed. "It actually works in my favor even more now."

Buttercup looked at him strangely, when Butch carefully let her go. He spoke.

"Hey, you know, why did you drag us into this to begin with?" he asked. "Us as in me, Brick, and Boomer. What the hell do we have to do with the girls?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Him said delightfully, jumping back into his original tone. "Well, besides keeping appearances, you were just pawns! As Blossom said, I threw you in to cause trouble. Give the girls some hell before they disappeared. If I informed you beforehand, things might not have worked as well."

"You just used us?" Boomer cried, outraged. "You put us through all this bullshit for the hell of it? And what appearances are you trying to keep, anyway?"

"Things just worked out better with you all involved together. I could use more sources to guide the girls," Him said carefully. He glanced at Blossom. "Remember, I did steer you in the right direction occasionally. If you ran off-schedule, I sometimes had to tweak things. Bubbles, did you happen to figure out where that squirrel came from? Or how about the stone wall, Buttercup? Or for all of you, who sent that last message to get to North Townsville? Of course it was all me! You're not that lucky."

"That's bullshit!" Boomer exclaimed. "And you're changing the subject!"

All of a sudden, smoke rushed from beneath Him's platform, and his face twisted into demonic rage, his body growing several times, and his eyes flushing blood red.

"I WAS TRYING TO GET RID OF YOU USELESS FOOLS, YOU FOOLS WHO HAVE BEEN AS MUCH TROUBLE AS THOSE INFURIATING GIRLS!"

Him snorted billowing, black smoke from his nostrils, then abruptly, snapped back into composure, the air magically clear, and his body back to his normal size. There was a dreadfully long silence, before Blossom sighed and stepped forward.

"So now that we're all here, right on time, why are we here?"

"Before I answer that," Him said, raising a claw. "I have to ask you all one question: how do you feel?"

"Are you serious?!" Buttercup screamed. Butch turned to grabbed her, but she swatted him away and made a dash closer to Him. "How do we feel?! We're pissed! We're tired! We're sick of your shit! And we all want to kick your ass, but…" she stopped. She shook violently, not finishing her sentence.

"You are exactly the way I wanted you when you got here," Him said finally. "Powerless. You're all powerless. After all this time, winning battles, solving mysteries, and saving lives, you want it all to end, all of it to be done… but you can't finish it. You don't have the power anymore."

Buttercup wavered again, and Butch ran to her side, holding her in his arms once more. The others rushed over close together, glaring at Him from their platform several few below. Him shrugged his shoulders, and leaned forward. His eyes glittered dangerously.

"You want it all to be over now, don't you?" he asked, his voice barely audible. "But you can't escape, can you?"

Him spread his arms wide, and snapped his arms down. Suddenly, the platform all around the heroes crumbled, chunks of rock and specks of dust plummeting into the abyss below. The six crushed themselves together, back to back, fear now bursting through all of them. Blossom shuffled some rocks off the edge, only inches away from her feet. She grabbed onto Buttercup and Brick, clinging for dear life.

"I brought you all here…" Him started leisurely. "…to give you the choice to finish the adventure. You may stand there, cramped on hunk of rock, or step into the unknown below."

"You want us to kill ourselves?" Butch yelled. The others looked at Him, completely shocked.

"That's what you brought us here for?" Blossom demanded. "You brought us here to jump off this platform and kill ourselves."

"What else can you possibly do?" Him asked quietly, his excitement so overwhelming, he could barely choke out words. He stepped off his ledge, and his foot sank into a deep red cloud, his body following shortly. His cloud swirled around the heroes, engulfing them.

Blossom heard his voice, quiet, like a voice whispering in her ear. She held her face cold and poised.

"The mystery is still unsolved, isn't it? What would have become of you if all of this didn't happen? What if you lost your powers at school? On a job? Who knows what else you lost. Perhaps you aren't as clever anymore? Perhaps not as wise? Maybe you're not as smart as you used to be. Can you bare the thought of being a brainless, unsophisticated fool? Jump. Jump while you still have your wits."

Blossom shook her head, her hair fanning around her furiously, swishing the cloud away. She looked around, wondering if the others had heard Him speak, but the others seemed too distracted. Brick glanced at Blossom, a lock of hair gliding past his neck. Then, he, too, heard Him's voice.

"Blossom is such a clever girl. Clever, beautiful, classy: the prime example of a leader. How do you compare? A young man, as intelligent, as charismatic, as refined as she, but not nearly as successful. You barely contributed anything to your mission. You failed. You are a failure, especially compared to her. Where is your pride? Your dignity Have you any left? Surely you do. Why not take what you still have, and jump? Jump, and die with what little pride you still have."

Brick gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt his face flush with fury, fury with Him, fury with Blossom, fury with the situation, and above all, fury with himself.

Boomer felt his brother's skin burn, and he looked over at Brick, who was clearly repressing his rage. Boomer gulped, not liking Brick's expression, and definitely not liking his toes hanging over the edge. He glanced down and wiggled back. He felt a squeeze in his right hand, and he turned to Bubbles, tears still rushing from her eyes and her face twisted in anguish.

"The only beacon of optimism in your cold, pessimistic world," Him's voice hissed into his ear. "Probably the best, and only friend, in your lonely life, yes? Oh, imagine the adventures you could've had. Imagine the adventures you did have. A shame that you spent most of it doing nothing, observing everything around you but yourself. Do you know anything about yourself? Do you know anything about life? What a waste. A waste of time, and a waste of life. Why are you still around? Jump. Finish your bitter, meaningless existence."

Boomer faltered, whizzing through the words echoing in his head. He felt his lip quiver as he realized – he was right. He was a waste. He was cold, he was pessimistic, and was nothing but frowns for this entire journey. And what about Bubbles? How callous was he to her? She didn't deserve it. What was wrong with him? But that was the problem. Boomer never thought about himself, really. He thought about everything else but himself. Maybe he should just… jump.

Bubbles noticed Boomer's foot slide forward a little. She tightened her grip on his hand and pulled back, fearful to what he might be thinking.

"You can't save him."

Bubbles jumped, her shoulder brushing against Butch's.

"What can you save now, Bubbles? What can you do now that you're powerless? You can't brighten any more days. You can save anymore lives. You can't protect anymore creatures, anymore family members, or anymore friends. What can you do now? Be a naïve, hackneyed animal rights activist? You're nothing special anymore, Bubbles. You – are – powerless. Jump. Why not save yourself the pain of seeing things you can't change? Jump. You can't help anyone anymore. Jump."

Bubbles sobbed, frantically fighting the agonizing words burning through her brain. He was wrong. He had to be! There was so much else she can do. There was so much more out there. She was special! She was…

Butch had both arms wrapped around Buttercup, using all his strength to hold her up. She seemed to be getting more fatigued, obviously overwhelmed. He clung tight, contemplating how in the world could they get out of this.

"What has gotten into you?"

Butch closed his eyes, trying to block out the insinuating hiss of Him.

"A helpless puppy dog, in love with ferocious, finicky feline. What happened to the careless, fun-loving playboy from before? How could you let her mean anything to you? How could you let anyone but yourself mean anything to you? What happened to your priorities? You have no strength left. You have no power left. You have nothing left but her, and what will happen when she leaves? You poor, hopeless little boy, running aimlessly through life, no longer caring what happens to you. Think about yourself for once. Think about Butch, the happy young boy you're putting aside for this. Why not do yourself a favor and jump? Jump, just to be yourself again. Make one last decision for yourself and jump."

Butch held Buttercup tighter, unwilling to let her go, and unwilling to let himself go. If he didn't help her, they'd both go, and he was not going to let that happen. Fuck you, Butch cried out in his head. Fuck you, Him.

Buttercup's eyes drooped as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Her thoughts were short and unfinished, her mind too exhausted to think properly. Him's cloud brushed against her face, and she inhaled sharply.

"All that fighting is finally taking a toll on you, isn't it, Buttercup? Too tired to go on, aren't you? That's a shame, especially for that thing, growing in the pit of your stomach; the physical manifestation of silly things like love and devotion…"

Buttercup's eyes shot open, a fresh moment of clarity. She grabbed at her stomach and gagged.

"That's right. Stupid girl, letting her emotions take over, and making profound mistakes. And now you can't fix them. You're too weak to go on. You've failed yourself. You've failed yourself, and you failed that… manifestation. What could you possibly do for it now? End it. End it before it really begins. End it before you hurt it and before you hurt yourself. Jump, ."

"NO!"

Buttercup screamed, louder than ever before, as she grasped her stomach mournfully. The red cloud swirled back into one puff and morphed back into Him. He looked at Buttercup, terrified. She screamed again.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

Him staggered back onto his own platform, clawing at his throat, sickening sounds erupting from his mouth. Blossom glanced at Buttercup, and then at Him, figuring out what was going on. Buttercup sobbed tremendously, and she fought her way out of Butch's arms. She growled and took one step off the platform…

WHAM!

Buttercup zoomed after Him, leaving a sea green trail behind her. She slammed one single fist into Him's face, and he rolled away, stunned. The others stood on the platform watching her, not believing what they were seeing. Buttercup knelt near Him, panting and still holding her stomach.

"Buttercup!" Butch whispered. Buttercup looked at him, as if demanding "what?" Then… she blinked. She looked at herself, then at Him, and then at the others. She did again. She laughed. She crawled over to him and rolled him over. He grumbled sickly and looked up at her.

"I thought we lost our powers, Him," Buttercup said. Him coughed.

"I looked away," was all he could muster.

Buttercup stood up and looked at the others. They remained hooked to their spots, too shocked to move. Buttercup smiled.

"Please, can we kick his ass like I said?"

The others carefully leapt into the air, and to their great surprise, they floated. Butch and Brick started chuckling, it slowly growing into joyful laughter. Bubbles grinned and looked at Buttercup. Blossom beamed.

"Yes, Buttercup, we can."

Ignoring the objective cries from Him, all six of them dove forward and began beating the life out of him. Six strong, angry, and powerful beings pounded fist and foot into Him, punching his chest, jabbing his jaw, kicking his knees, never giving him a chance to breathe.

After only seconds, Buttercup grabbed Him and smashed him into his platform, pushing aside the others to let him speak. He blubbered pathetically, blood spluttering from his mouth.

"I… yo--…"

"I can't hear you, Him!" Boomer sneered.

"You… you…" Him pushed himself up magnificently and spat.

"GO!"

Suddenly, the six heroes whooshed through a lightning fast cyclone, spinning faster and faster. Before they could even blink, they spun and fell onto… grass. The cool night wind flooded over them, and the moonlight shining brightly on their warm skin. Each of them inhaled the fresh air, barely realizing they were no longer in Him's lair. Blossom stood up shakily, shivering a little from the wind. She looked around, and immediately spotted the limp bodies of Princess, Sedusa, Mojo Jojo, and the Professor.

"Where are we?" Bubbles asked, rubbing her eyes. Brick stood up and took a look around himself. Boomer followed suit, and leaned over to help Bubbles up.

"I think we're in the Townsville Park," Brick answered, noticing the city bank a few yards away, and the famous duck pond nearby. Butch grabbed Buttercup and helped her on her feet, and she leaned against him sleepily.

"We're home?" she asked. Butch looked at the others. Brick, Blossom, Bubbles, and Boomer took one last look around, and turned back to him, all nodding simultaneously.

"Yeah, we're home," Butch answered with a smile. Buttercup chuckled.

"Good."

Then, she passed out. Butch shook her slightly, hoping she was just asleep, but she snored quietly. He shook his head and rubbed her back.

"You…"

He and the others looked up, and watched as a small red cloud blew up like a feathery balloon. From the center, Him's battered face faded into focus, blood dripping from his fangs, his eyes tiny and swollen.

"You idiots! You were supposed to believe me! You were supposed fall and destroy yourselves! One day, ONE DAY – I will get you. Just… wait…"

And then he faded back into the darkness, his cloud swirling into nothing like water down a drain.

"He won't bother us anymore," Boomer said. "Not up here."

"The Professor doesn't look so good," Bubbles said, hurrying over to the Professor. She knelt down and took his pulse. She sighed. "He's still alive though."

"Let's go home," Brick commanded. "Boomer, Bubbles – take Mojo and the Professor to the Utonium's. Butch, take Buttercup there, too. Blossom and I will join you after we drop off some garbage at the prison."

"Good idea," Blossom said to Brick, a proud smile on her face. "I couldn't have said it better myself."