Chapter 107: Without Warning

The City of Townsville.

The Tonton Macoute, whom existence is now revealed to all, are now embarked on a campaign of terror unlike anyone had seen in Townsville(and that is utterly terrifying in itself). Such is the campaign that the citizenry of Townsville are slowly sealing themselves in their homes, though they knew in their hearts that it is a futile gesture.

This is because the city is engulfed in a quagmire of crime and violence between the governmental forces and the underworld. Every citizen can be a victim at any given moment, and at the most inopportune and unexpected time. The ever increasing dangers of the city had seeped into the psyche of the citizens and all cower in fear. From the rich to the poor, from the young to the old, everyone knew fear.

However, not all the citizens are cowering in fear from such an oppressive environment. One such citizen is Blossom, the commander of the Powerpuff Girls.

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.30am]

Blossom munched down on a piece of toast as she observed the white board with various drawn arrows mapping out the web of relationships between all the actors involved in the quagmire that they found themselves in. The Powerpuff Girl first gave her attention towards the center of the entire diagram where an aged picture of the demon is out from the picture are the other main players in the situation like the rays of the sun. Her rose-pink eyes soon trailed towards a branch leading towards the Lunatics, and from the name several more branches appear to show several known associates of Him.

Blossom quickly ignored one of the persons, nicknamed the Hornet had a 'X' marked on his picture, for the person had been deemed neutralized. However his present whereabouts are unknown, and it is still an issue. Blossom decided to look at the other members who are still at large.

Murcielargo, the leader of the Hispanic super-street gang Los Noches.

Medved, the burly leader of the Medved Bratva, the Russian organized crime outfit consisting of various former Russian armed forces personnels.

Lou Fu, or otherwise known as Tigress, the leader of the White Tigers Triad organization.

Ananse, the mysterious spider-like member of the group, whose purpose in their outfit eludes all that wish to know.

Last but not least, Blossom saw the trail of Fennec, the French woman who appear to be Him's second in command. Her role other than that is unknown, but among the others she is perhaps the one that Blossom knew the best. Blossom's eyes slowly traced the lines linking towards the Rowdyruff Boys with the bottom of the line marked as 'Former Allies' though Blossom knew that it is not the best description of their particularly complex relationship.

From the pictures of the Rowdyruff Boys, Blossom soon moved her attention towards the picture of Lilith Morningstar.

Despite Lilith Morningstar's apparent position of being the District Attorney would normally suggest that she will be an ally to the Powerpuff Girls and everyone against Him and his cronies, Blossom is not convinced that she is as innocent as she appear. Blossom is particularly concerned about how she came to be the adoptive parent of the Rowdyruff Boys, and Blossom had drawn a particular line between Him and Lilith with a question mark on the line. Blossom may be wrong about what she believed to be the relationship between the demon and the district attorney, but she preferred to be proven wrong than to be caught offguard.

There are also several lines drawn between Him and the two new entities that made themselves known and Blossom labelled them as 'Of the Same Kind'. The being known as Her and It are something new to Blossom, but not too significant in terms of what trouble Him like to bring upon the city of Townsville. And then there are some elements that Blossom had labeled as 'Disruptive Parties' and Blossom had inserted a name; Red Dragons Triad.

For this particular one, Blossom's sources in Chinatown had assisted in providing her with the particular intelligence needed to place the triad into this convoluted web. There appear to be a relationship between the Red Dragons and the White Tigers, and somehow there were some clues that the triad had made contact with Brick. The lines linking the two disparate actors to the Red Dragons is particularly odd, and Blossom had decided to label the relationship between the two triad groups as 'Competing groups' while the Red Dragon's relationship with Brick is labelled as a question mark.

To make matters more confusing, Red Dragons appear to have a relationship with what appear to be the 'Chinese Men in Black' (as Blossom would call them), the men that had assaulted and caused the turf war in Little Moscow. The TOCTSeF reports that was compiled for the incident showed that there were signs that the 'Chinese Men In Black' were linked to the Chinese government, and that would imply some sort of foreign intervention in the country. How does a criminal outfit like the Red Dragons be 'allies' to the Chinese government is beyond Blossom's understanding.

"Something is missing from this picture." Blossom commented, as there is nothing being highlighted in particular about why would a foreign government will be interested in the affairs in Townsville. Blossom took one of the marker pens and uncapped the pen before writing down another name in the white board.

Russians, Blossom recalled of where the Lunatics had smuggled some of Mojo Jojo's beam weaponry. Blossom wondered if the Russians had sent their own operatives to investigate the matter. Blossom drew a line between Russia and Medved and just wrote ' Trying to get back weapons' for their particular relationship. But Blossom sensed that perhaps something else is involved, but it is not something she can see right now.

This is because Blossom felt that there are some things in Him's plan that are slowly drawing more and more people into the mess.

Blossom reasoned that there are phases in Him's particular plans, and Blossom is right, she would reason that the first phase is already completed. The way the Declaration Attacks are made and also the disappearance of the Townsville Prison population is anything to judge at, Him must had achieved something or else the other elements will not come in suddenly into the city and reveal themselves.

"What could the thing be?" Blossom asked herself, knowing that the key to everything lies in that particular question. That in itself will allow her to know where the villains will strike next.

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.30am]

"Urgh... This again." Lilith Morningstar woke up to feel her heart pounding like a jackhammer pounding on asphalt.

Lilith had been surprisingly busy for the past few months, and thanks to the mess of Townsville she had not been resting very well. As she got up, she looked around her room with her silver-gray eyes, and wondered why it is particularly quiet in the house. She decided to get up from her bed and make her way towards the living room to see if the boys are at home. As Lilith recalled, the boys tend to laze around the living room more than their own rooms as they do not stay in their own rooms during the day unless the others are not at home as well. Brick had once told her that they felt more comfortable in each other's company whenever possible.

The silver-eyed woman walked towards the kitchen and as she entered into the kitchen, she started looking around for something particular. Her eyes soon caught on the object that she is looking for; the refrigerator ator. Without hesitation, Lilith head towards the fridge.

Lilith opened her fridge to see that it is almost empty and she was reminded once more that she is no longer living alone in this home. The three boys that she had adopted are particularly voracious eaters and it is only thanks to Professor's Utonium advice that she is able to sustain their feeding habits. However, boys being boys, Professor Utonium had warned her before that their dietary requirement will be more than the girls.

Fortunately for her, Lilith saw a few eggs and a pack of bacon and figured that will be sufficient enough. She took them out from the fridge and with a brief moment of searching, found a plate to put the items on. Lilith took out her phone and opened up her Spotify app and decided to surprise herself with the music selection for the day. She pressed on the button and a rather old song played itself in the jukebox, and Lilith went about to prepare her breakfast.

"That is a very depressing song." Lilith turned around to see a teenage boy wearing a black tank top and red track pants entering into the kitchen, with his long and braided bottom burnt orange ponytail moved with every slight movement of his head. Lilith is familiar with various scars showing itself on the Rowdyruff Boy's body, and she had made it a point to not ask about them. Indeed, the boys all had their own scars from within and without from their particularly violent life.

"Morning Brick. Want to have some breakfast?" Lilith offered as she heated up the pan.

"Nah, had some cereal earlier." Brick politely declined Lilith's offer.

"You looked particularly depressed." Lilith pointed out as she placed the slices of bacon into the pan, the sizzling sound of the searing bacon slowly becoming louder.

"Been a rough few weeks I guess." Brick sighed as he pulled a chair and took a seat at the dining table.

"Sounds real tough there Brick." Lilith pushed the bacon aside with her spatula and cracked a few eggs into the open space in the pan.

"... Yeah." Brick answered, and a purring sound echoed his response. Brick looked down to see an orange tabby cat looking up at him before hopping on his lap.

"You're not alone Brick." Lilith winked at the young man, as she finally took the pan from the stove and placed it aside to let the cooked items cool down.

The smell of the cooked meat and eggs permeated throughout the kitchen, causing Brick to instinctively salivate. This is not lost on Lilith and she soon prepared another pan and head once more towards the fridge and took out a small stick of butter. The dark-haired lady placed the butter at the center of the pan and soon moved back towards the stove before placing the new pan on the stove. She waved it for a while in a circular motion, and as the smell of molten butter slowly introduced itself into the kitchen. As the butter melted, she took a few slice of bread and placed it into the pan, allowing it to toast.

"Hey Brick, two slices of bread good enough for you?"

"... Yeah." Brick conceded, and he felt embarrassed seeing that earlier he mentioned that he will not need breakfast.

"Not even a demon can resist the smell of toasted bread, bacon and eggs in the morning." Lilith smiled as she turned the slices of bread around.

Brick's expression paled for a moment, and that is all it needs for Lilith to know the source of Brick's problems. The two individuals stopped conversing for a while as Lilith continued on preparing breakfast. Deciding that it is best to not press on with the inquiry for the time being, Lilith brought the pans with bacon, eggs and toast to the dining table and placed it between herself and Brick.

"Dig in while I get some of the orange juice." Lilith once more heads towards the fridge.

Lilith watched Brick from the corner of her eyes as she took out the orange juice from the fridge. The Rowdyruff Boy hesitantly took a pair of eggs and bacon before placing it on his plate. The boy with the burnt orange hair stared at his plate for a moment before digging in to his meal as if he will never see another serving of bacon and eggs ever again.

"If only you would ravish Bubbles as if you ravished this breakfast." Lilith's remark caused Brick to choke on his meal. Brick wanted to say something witty and sharper as a response, but what came out from his mouth resembled a mewing kitten's purr. Lilith in turn gave Brick a smile, and it is such fun to tease the usually taciturn boy.

"Hey Lilith, your phone rang." Another voice appeared in the kitchen and Lilith turned her attention towards a sand-blonde teenage boy holding up her cellphone. Lilith walked towards the teenage boy with the orange juice carton in her arm and stopped just half a feet before her eyes caught the caller's name on the screen.

"Boomer, can you help me call back that number?" Lilith's eyes narrowed, and she knew that something bad had just happened.

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 11.00am]

What a sad song, Bubbles thought to herself as she looked outside her window.

The snow had started to blanket the rooftops of the other houses with a pristine white coat, and the skies are surprisingly gray for the day. But that is to be expected when the announcement came that school is canceled for the day due to the heavy snowfall. . It is a surprisingly dull day, and Bubbles turned around to see Blossom looking at a chart linking everyone of importance in Townsville.

It is just like her sister to try and investigate the links between anything and everything, and yet at the same time Bubbles felt that nothing much can be gleamed from the chart. It is simple enough for Bubbles to know that Him is involved in everything and it has plans, and that trying to know what the demon is thinking about is a cosmic horror all on its own.

Bubbles turned her attention towards her other sister and saw her texting on her phone. It is surprising to see her sister not working out today, given that she is trapped in the house for today. Bubbles was expecting Buttercup to use the Danger Room to let off some steam, but for the entire day she is glued to her bed texting on her phone.

Seeing that her sisters are engaged with their own activities, Bubbles decided to get up from her bed and get herself a cup of hot chocolate. The blonde Powerpuff Girl duly got up from her bed and made her way towards the door, stretching her hands as she did so. However, Bubbles felt a particularly odd sensation as she closes in on the door and she found herself stopping just short of the door.

"What's wrong Bubbles?" Bubbles turned around to see Blossom's attention is now turned on her.

"Oh, nothing. Maybe I'm cooped up in the room for a little too long." Bubbles gave her best smile and tried to waved off the situation.

"Okay, just take a walk around and it should be fine." The fiery copper-haired girl appear to had taken Bubbles' reply at face value and turned her attention once more to the chart. Bubbles continued to smile as she turned the doorknob and only dropped the smile once she exited the room and closed the door behind her.

Better an easy lie than to explain the uneasytruth, Bubbles comforted herself. There is something wrong, and it is something supernatural. Bubbles is particularly sensitive to such matters, and it had been burdening her for quite some time. It comes and goes, and often at the most unexpected of times. Bubbles placed both her hands on her chest, holding it tightly to placate the uneasiness within...

[Downtown Townsville, 12.00pm]

A body slumped in the snow-covered alley, stained with blood and deep scars that made it hard to recognize the poor unfortunate victim. The perpetrator looked down upon the hapless victim with cruel green eyes, with the droplets of snow falling down on the person's face. The perpetrator's hands is now dripping with blood, the droplets of blood turning into frozen droplets as soon as it touched the snow-covered ground.

The perpetrator had managed to lure the victim into the alley with a simple cry of help, and when the victim tried to assist the perpetrator caught the victim by surprise and violently assaulted the victim. The perpetrator had observed the behaviour patterns of the victim for a few weeks, and had plotted the scheme by planting the trap along the usual route that the victim used to travel between the parking lot and the hypermarket.

The mediated crime had worked like clockwork, and now it is time to move on to the next phase of the plan.

The perpetrator blew a loud whistle to catch the attention of a passerby, and the perpetrator stood by and waited for someone to come by. The sight of a curious passerby entering into the lane is all it took for the perpetrator to walk calmly away. As the perpetrator walked out from the alley, the cry of shock is heard echoing through the alley. A cry for help soon reached the ears of the perpetrator, and a dark smile etched itself on the perpetrator's face.

"The deed is done." The perpetrator voiced out.

The perpetrator lingered for a while at the scene of the crime, and soon enough more people entered the alley after hearing the call of distress.

"Good." The perpetrator nodded, as the people in the alley broke out in a crescendo of worried cries and calls.

"OH GOD!"

"SOMEONE CALL 911!"

"HE'S ALIVE!"

Yes, that is what I want, the perpetrator thought before walking away.

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 4.30pm]

Brick sat by the window in his room, looking out at the carpet of snow blanketing the suburban neighborhood while he patted the orange tabby cat resting on his lap. The pristine whiteness of it all reminded Brick of the time he had spent in the harsh Afghan winters, and he wondered what happened to the people he had once fought with in that harsh environment. Brick felt that he had experienced a lifetime of being in the shadows of he world, seeing things that no man should ever see. People die far too often in Brick's world, but Brick is fortunate that his 'fear factor' had given him an option to not kill anyone. Whether making a person insane for life is worse than death is not something Brick wanted to think about.

Knock-knock.

Brick is little annoyed that his brooding was interrupted, but he soon realized that the knocking sound is coming from his window and not his door.

"It's me." The sweet and gentle voice surprised Brick and he gently carried the cat and placed it on his bed before reaching his hand out to the window. Brick immediately opened the window to see the presence of a young platinum blonde woman with shoulder-length hair with sky-blue eyes looking at him with red, teary eyes.

Brick is a little confused by the presence of the Powerpuff Girl and also the way she is looking at him. Brick is soon greeted by a hug and Brick felt her entire presence pressing on his body. Brick felt a tightening around his torso, and he felt her warmth seeping through his very fiber, and something about it felt...nice. Something that helped alleviate the broodingness within him, and gave him something more pure to focus on. It would be nice if it were not for the fact that he felt that something had gone terribly wrong. The wetness on his chest made him realize that Bubbles is crying in his chest.

"I just needed this. Now." Bubbles said softly, her trembling voice touching Brick's ear like the gentle snowdrop outside and her mind slip into the memories from moments before...

Bubbles continued running, unaware of where she is running to. All she know is what she is running away from. Her mind is a mess, and bits and pieces of information came to her in chunks. Her breathing is shallow and her chest grew tighter with every step, and the cold air entering into her lungs only constrict her lungs even more. Bubbles lose her balance and she fell down on the snow-covered ground, causing her face to fall face first into the soft and cold snow. Bubbles took a while to get up, not so much because of the shock of the fall but more to the realization that this is a reality that she must face.

Why did I run?

Why didn't I stay?

Why did it happen?

Why?

Why?

Why?

The eyes of the sky-blue Powerpuff Girl stared emptily towards the gray skies above, and her mind replayed the scene that she had ran away from.

Buttercup's mind is gripped by things she never knew, and it is overwhelming for Buttercup. She turned towards Blossom to see that Blossom is utterly cold and emotionless, and that angered her. However, before she could burst out in anger, she saw the shoulders of the red-haired girl trembling. The sable-haired Powerpuff Girl recognized the look on her sister, and she knew what her sister is thinking.

Blossom's eyes are cold and indeed appear to be lifeless despite the warm color of her rose-pink eyes. Blossom will not falter and need to keep herself in check. The situation required her to be strong for everyone, but her mind is not as strong as her body. Her eyes watered and her body trembled with fear and anxiety of what happening before her eyes. It is by the rigidity of her mind that her body remained upright in any capacity. In many ways, she is more in shock than her sisters, and she is helpless to escape from her shock.

Buttercup turned towards her other sister, and she realized that Bubbles' lips are quivering and the whimpering sound escaping her lips is evidence of her distress. The platinum blonde Powerpuff Girl bolted away in away from the source of their distress. Buttercup tried to reach out to the sister but she was frozen in place. Buttercup wanted to call out to her sister, but she felt a lump in her throat.

Bubbles remembered once more, and that brought a tear down her eyes which slowly freezes as it ran down her cheeks.

Bubbles sobbed as her mind raced on to understand what she had just saw, but every pulse of memory led down to a single answer and it is not an answer she wants to listen to. Her heart felt heavy, and her heart felt a slow constricting pain. It is not a heart attack, Bubbles thought. This is nothing physical, but psychological instead. The cold slowly numbs her face as much as it is numbing her emotional response to her distress, and she decided to levitate and fly away, hoping that it will speed her flight away from the inconvenient truth.

Yet, that inconvenient truth was informed to her prior to the witnessing of the truth, and her mind recalled the truth once more despite the heartfelt desire to ignore the flashback of the revelation...

Better an easy lie than to explain the uneasy truth, Bubbles comforted herself. There is something wrong, and it is something supernatural. Bubbles is particularly sensitive to such matters, and it had been burdening her for quite some time. It comes and goes, and often at the most unexpected of times. Bubbles placed both her hands on her chest, holding it tightly to placate the uneasiness within."Bubbles."

The voice immediately elicit a response of danger in Bubbles' mind, and she readied herself in a defensive stance. There is no mistaking the voice, for it is a voice that had plagued Bubbles and her sisters ever since they are children. No, Bubbles corrected herself, it is a voice that still plagues them today. The voice spoke with a sultry, sweet and feminine voice reminiscent of velvet but at the same time caustic, strong and deep like that of a man. The two timbres of the voice combined together to provide a disturbingly discordant voice that chill the spines of mortals.

"What are you doing in my house?" Bubbles hissed, looking around to spot the unwanted intruder in her home.

"I am not in your house Bubbles. I am in your mind."

"Get. Out. Of. My. Mind. " Bubbles demanded, but she knew within her that it will not do so.

"I am here to warn you about-", The voice paused mid-sentence before revealing a shocked tone in its voice,"No...I am too late."

That itself triggered a sense of disbelief and shock on so many levels in Bubbles, for the demon is never altruistic. The demon lies and scheme, and there is no reason for it to help its enemies. However, a more dire and immediate response is that something happened that even the demon voiced its shock. The demon known as Him can be surprised by its plans being thwarted, but this time there is something in the tone of its voice that alarmed Bubbles and she feared that for once, Him is taken by surprise.

And that involved Him helping Bubbles. A sense of dread soon descended upon Bubbles and she was about to ask what happened before the demon's voice slowly dissipated in her mind. But not before it told her what will happen next.

"I am sorry that your sisters will be the one that will break the news to you. Be strong Bubbles."

The door behind Bubbles opened up, and the fair-haired young woman turned around to see the expression of dread and fear in their eyes, and she knew that the demon is telling the truth. Bubbles is not ready to hear what will be coming out from their lips, but somehow the earlier toiling maelstrom within had finally found meaning and pieced the information together for her mind to comprehend. Bubbles covered her mouth as her mind understood what happened.

[Townsville General Hospital, Downtown Townsville, 3.00pm]

Seeing that one sister is frozen in place and hyperventilating and the other one just ran out from the room, Buttercup turned her attention back to the source of all their distress.

A man in bloodied bandages hooked onto the life support system is lying in the ward before them, the sound of the beeping from the life-support unit showing the readings of the man's heartbeat. Buttercup soon managed to make herself move and she walked towards the critically injured man and she gently gripped the hand of the man. A tear soon escaped Buttercup's lime-green eyes, a sense of dark relief coming to her for she is able to express herself like her more emotionally fragile sister. However, a sense of dread and anxiety soon overcame her and she tightened her grip.

"Professor... Please don't leave us." Buttercup begged with her quivering voice.