Chapter 117: Self-Purging

[Townsville Park, Downtown Townsville, 10.10pm]

Shit... Bubbles never cracked her knuckles before, Butch watched Bubbles cracking her knuckles and he felt that something had went over a level that it should not have, and Butch saw a pair of sky-blue eyes looking at him with a saddened look.

"Sorry for what I'm about to do to your brother's body." Bubbles apologized.

"Don't be. Besides, whatever Brick will do to himself to get rid of It will be worse." Butch chuckled, but Bubbles knew that the jade-eyed Rowdyruff Boy's attempt at joking it off did not work.

"Yes...I know." Bubbles replied with an underlying tone of concern.

"Anyway...please make it up to Brick later." Butch advised the Powerpuff Girl and Bubbles smiled faintly.

"I will make it up to Brick later, with lots of loving. But right now, It is mine." Bubbles turned to face the demon once more, her kind and gentle expression hardened into a scowl and her eyes immediately ignited into a pale-blue glow.

Bubbles is pissed at so many levels.

Firstly, a demon had taken over Brick's body.

Secondly, she is now fighting Brick with all her might.

Thirdly, the demon is using Brick's body to fight back.

Fourthly, the demon knew that despite her anger, she will stop short of grievously hurting Brick.


Bubbles whipped the chain of plasma towards the demon-possessed Rowdyruff Boy, but he parried the plasmas with the weird weapon in his arm. Bubbles had never seen such a weapon before, for it appeared to be made out from the bony remains of a predator. The spine formed the core of the weapon while the guard of the weapon are made of digits of a predator's claw. The fossilised ebony-colored bones combined with the dark red ruby blade gave the weapon a very terrifying appearance, and for a weapon to be able to deflect her plasmas without even having a chip is almost unheard of.

The demon made more slashes towards her, and she dodged all the attacks with her acrobatic grace. Bubbles shudder on what such a weapon would do to her, as she had learned that any weapon that looked like it came out from hell should be able to inflict an equally hellish wound. Without any consideration for her surroundings, Bubbles rained down a hail of plasma on the battlefield, causing a yell of extreme anger and inconvenience.

Butch did not even have the time to say anything to Bubbles as Bubbles fired several dozen plasma orbs towards the possessed Rowdyruff Boy. The entire field erupted in a carpet of explosions, and Bubbles enter into the carpet of explosions with several large orbs connected to the disk behind her back by filaments of electrical current. All Butch can see are more explosions, before his jade eyes caught the sight of several black crescents cutting through the carpet of explosions.

"HEY WATCH IT YOU DAMN BIMBO!"

Ah yes, Bubbles recalled. Butch is also here with them, and she had honestly dislike him from the beginning. Bubbles rarely dislike people, and she often reserved that to particularly evil villains or particularly difficult people to deal with. Butch falls into the latter category, and she is reluctant to admit that she will need his help.

"THEN DO SOMETHING!" Bubbles yelled back, knowing well that she hated his guts and needing his help at the same time.

Butch appeared beside Bubbles before she registered his presence in her mind, and the charcoal-haired Rowdyruff Boy entered into close-range combat with his possessed brother. Large, explosive sparks were seen as the two Rowdyruff Boys clashed their weapons with each other. Bubbles tried to enter into the combat, but Butch's timing is something she is not familiar with and she is unable to capitalize on Butch's gain. If Buttercup was here, she would know her particular combat rhythm and complimented her. However, Butch is a different beast altogether.

"Damn, you're good!" Butch grinned, his heart filled with a respect for the demon being able to defend itself with one hand.

If Buttercup's style can be likened to that of a tempest, then Butch's style is like those of an earthquake. Each blow that the self-styled Baron of Berserk land is a destructive force of nature, parried or deflected only with great effort. The motions of the blows appear to be slow to Bubbles, but the sound of each punch betrayed the number of blows being inflicted upon Butch's target. Each strike appear to be a wide-angled punch that by all logic easy to dodge, but Butch is able to land each hit in such an extend that it had to be parried away.

The concussive effect of each blow can be felt in the air, and Bubbles felt the slight vibrations of each blow in her body. The uppercut, hooks and straight punches are pressuring the demon despite the demon's dark abilities and the demon is forced to manifest several more tendrils to counter the blows and also to strike back. Butch's head movements and upper body movements had allowed Butch to weave through the offense while driving him his own brand of offense.

Seriously how does Buttercup even land blows on this guy?, Bubbles wondered as Butch is weaving through the attacks and striking at such close ranges that the two combatants might as well hug each other. Butch's particularly close and personal combat style also impeded Bubbles' efforts to strike at the demon, for they are too close for her comfort. Some of the blows appear to be launched from just an inch away, and yet the demon is also able to keep up with it with the dark tendrils forming from Brick's body.

"Not bad, but how about this?" Butch asked the demon, and he wound his fist up like a discus thrower preparing to throw a disc.

"That will not hit." Bubbles' doubted.

However, Bubbles' doubt about such an obvious attack being able to hit is immediately shattered with a rapid accelerating punch that caused the demon to block with the broad side of the blade. Several dozen layers of thin glass-like field formed in front of Butch's punch and as they all compressed with each other, they were pressed until they formed into one single paper-thin field. The field shattered, and a shockwave spreading out in a circle engulfed the area, causing all the debris, smoke, and dust to be blown away. The demon was holding both hands on the pommel of the handle of the bladed weapon, allowing Butch to launch another large arching fist towards the demon's temple.

"SNAP OUT OF IT YOU DUMBASS!" Butch roared as his blow finally met his brother's face.

With an overhead punch thrown like a pitcher throwing a curveball, the punch crashed into Brick's jaw with a loud resounding crunch. Bubbles recognized the sound of a broken jaw, and the figure dropped his bladed weapon. The tendrils dissipated in the air, and Bubbles saw Butch's lips turned upwards. However, a tall geyser of blood erupted from Butch's body towards the skies and Bubbles saw a upward-turned blade slicing up in the air drenched with blood.

"You let your guard down, boy." The demon smirked with its slacking broken jaw before it turned the blade around and slashed down, causing another violent burst of blood to escape Butch's body.

"BUTCH!" Bubbles yelled out as she watched Butch collapsing limply on the ground.


Butch's eyes strayed away, looking around to see what else he can see as a parting gift from this world. Butch felt lonely, and he honestly wanted something more warm and nice to gently ease him from the odd sensation he felt within himself. It is not pain, as his mind had shut it away. His mind flickered with the thought of a fiery, flowing copper strands and he honestly wished he could touch it once more. But he knew his mind is playing tricks on him, and he looked up to see a hateful sight. His jade-green eyes looked up to see the demon looking down on him with a half-skull visage and the face of his brother looking down upon him with gleeful abyss-colored eyes. Butch hated that the last thing he will see from this world is the face of his killer being his brother taken over against his will.

"You little vermins...how dare you hurt It." The voice escaped from the broken jaws of the demon possessing the young demon spat with disgust as it flicked the blood off the blade. Without hesitation, the demon swung the blade at Butch's neck.

"STOP!" Bubbles yelled, and Butch knew that will be the last thing he would hear.

However, Butch still hear more sounds and he wondered what happened. An appearance of a woman's voice caused the abyss eyes of the demon to open widely, and Butch saw the alabaster-white woman with claw-like tear-shaped marks running down her pale ice eyes holding the tip of the blade that was just a hair's breadth from his neck. .

"Re...nee..." Butch saw the woman with the black blood running horizontally over her chest staring at the dark demon.

"Fennec!" Bubbles gasped, failing to notice the woman earlier. Butch is perplexed at Bubbles' reaction for Renee had been here in the park since the beginning.

"Well done with the illusion... I didn't even spot you at all woman." The demon voiced his amazement.

"Those two bought me the time I need demon." Fennec informed.

"To do what exactly?" The demon mocked the fox-like demon. Instead, the woman shook her head and smiled with a satisfied look on her face.


[Brick's Mindscape, Time Unknown]

Brick had run out of ideas.

Brick watched as the rat-demon continued to pin the Break-Hound down on the ground with its mighty arms despite its grievous wounds. The hellhound struggled but the rat-demon's strength is far too overwhelming. Brick seriously wondered how will it be able to stop this being from ending him right now. Brick looked down to see that he is still gripping on the Hound's Vengeance, and he knew that this is the sword that will slay the beast. But where will he get the strength to do so, Brick wondered.

"You little vermins... How dare you hurt It." The rat-demon expressed his deep displeasure.

And now it is pissed, Brick observed.

The anger of the grotesque demon is making its mark on Brick's mindscape, and Brick is feeling worse from it. The demon's corruption is spreading in the metaphysical grasslands, withering the blood-red grass into dust. The ground below the demon's feet started to crack and the vein-like roots soon emerged from the ground. Brick felt a pulsing pain in his head, and he understood that the demon is now gaining its influence with strength.

That is when Brick felt something else had entered into the mindscape.

Brick noticed that he is not the only one sensing the disturbance, for the rat-demon is now looking around to pinpoint the source of the new presence. Brick felt a change in the air within the mindscape, as the clouds started to clear away and the grasslands caught in the gale that entered into the world. Brick grabbed on the blade that he had used as a support, and he clung on as the winds became a storm.

A bright white flame soon erupted around Brick, and the contrast of the white burning flame with the darkness around Brick almost blinded him. However the flame does not emit any heat, spreading out in a ring around Brick. Brick looked down upon his blade to see that the ebony color of the bone-like blade had turned into a pale, ghost-like white and the blade's ruby-colored blade had turned into a bright blue crystal.

"You needed help." The voice warming Brick's body in a way he never knew it could, and he recognized the owner of the voice.

"Re...nee?" Brick is unable to hate on the presence of the voice that had just invaded his mind, despite his dislike of things entering into the inner sanctum of his subconscious.


Bubbles watched as the eye of the possessed Rowdyruff Boy cracked, with an underlying red glow beneath it. The broken arm and jaw started to have a coat of charred ash forming over them, and the jaw and arm reformed itself once more. However, instead of being relieved by the healing injuries, the demon is incensed. The arm that is holding the one-bladed weapon distanced itself from Butch's neck and is now pointing towards the demon's own throat, and it took the demon every ounce of its control over the possessed body to hold it back.

"You witch...what did you do to me!?" The demon hissed at the fox-like Lunatic.

Fennec replied instead with her pointing down to the ground. Bubbles immediately looked down on the ground to see that the ground is etched with a maze-like lines of energy spread around the ground like a spider's web. The lantern above changed the lighting of the area from a bloody red hue to a ocean blue hue.

"This ability...how..." The demon's arm trembled as it held back the blade that was about to stab its own neck.

"A gift really." Fennec tilted her head and shrugged as she walked past Butch. The demon's eyes frowned and the demon pulled the arm away with much difficulty. The arm wielding the bone-like blade continued on trembling as the demon stared at the fox-like woman.

"You vixen...you will pay dearly for your trickery." The demon hissed as the cracks in its abyss eye spread.

"I'll pay for it with your death." The woman answered as she formed a blue floating flame in the palm of one hand, followed by her other palm.

Bubbles watched as the two combatants staring at each other. Despite her disapproval of almost killing the demon and also Brick himself, Bubbles managed to appreciate the insult from the fox-like Lunatic for an insult is like a finely-crafted blade in three ways. It can cut deep when wielded with competence. It appreciate pageantry. And like a blade, it does not care for gender.

The ground continued on to glow and a hedge raised up from the line of the ground, trapping the two combatants and also blocking Bubble's line of sight. Bubbles immediately levitate to get a better view, but soon bumped her head over the ceiling of the structure. Bubbles immediately was surprised that there was a ceiling over her and she looked around to see that she is now trapped in a maze created by Fennec's power.

"Okay...that's bad. It couldn't possibly get wo-" Bubbles was cut short by the sudden inversion of all her senses, and she was reminded once more of what the woman can do.


[Brick's Mindscape, Time Unknown]

Brick watched the brunette with the braided hair and cross-shaped scar on her cheek patting him on the shoulder, and he seriously wondered if this is something he imagined or Renee had just intruded into his mind. The woman winked, and Brick Brick hesitated for a second, but then he gripped his blade tightly before using his blade to stand up. Brick mustered his strength in his legs, but he felt wobbly as he is losing much strength in his body.

"Your mind is weak, and your body is not doing too well either." Fennec answered.

"So you are here." Brick sighed.

"Right now, I'm fighting your possessed body. So I am both here and not here at the same time." The sky-blue eyed woman jested.

"Can't say I resent your presence here." Brick said with unhidden relief.

"So...what is that?" Fennec pointed towards the three-headed grotesque hellhound with multiple eyes being held down by the rat-like demonic abomination.

"That is Break." Brick explained.

"Break?" Fennec raised an eyebrow, but Brick ignored the Lunatic's puzzled expression.

"Usually he looks like a shadowy version of me, but...this guy came in." Brick pointed his head towards the grotesque sight before him.

The utter mess of muscle and sinew hissing and chittering is enough for the brunette to understand that they are facing an extraordinary situation at their hands. The brunette woman immediately loss all the color in her hair, skin and clothes, appearing as a whitewashed alabaster being while several strands of blood red flowing lines ran down from her eyes and down her cheeks like clawed lines of tears. Her sky blue eyes turned into a pale, ice-colored hue and a lantern formed itself above her head. Nine white bushy, brush-like tails protrude out from behind her hips like the rays of the sun.

"You really have a really bad pest infestation, Brick." Fennec joked, and Brick chuckled.

"Yeah, and this pest is a real pain in the ass." Brick said with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"Weak in the knees?" Fennec asked the fatigued Rowdyruff Boy, and he nodded.

"Still got one strike in me, if I can move my legs."

"Do you really need your legs?" Fennec asked, and it is now Brick's turn to raise his eyebrow.

"What are you thinking about?" Brick asked, not liking where the conversation is leading up to.

"Can you fly?" Fennec continued on, and Brick understood what was about to happen to him.

"No, and no, I do not want to be thrown." Brick iterated, and Fennec smiled. It was at that very moment that Brick realized that her hands is still behind his back.

"I must tell you one thing though Brick." Fennec warned, and Brick felt a great uneasy feeling in his stomach. No, Brick thought, the unease is not of the anxiety of what is about to happen next, but the unease is that of what is happening right at this moment.

"Open your eyes. I'm not here." Fennec advised.


"Fuck!" Brick opened his eyes and realized that he is falling down from the skies, and his eyes are now frantically looking around to absorb in the situation he found himself in.

Brick had no idea how he ended free-falling from the sky, but he knew that whatever it is he will have to make sure that he did not crash with a splat. Unfortunately, Brick spotted the only thing that will help decelerate the force of his landing. The countless heads of the rat-like demon looked up in the air, and the sounds of screeching vocal chords and chattering teeth informed Brick that the demon is ready for him.

Brick knew that if he is swatted away, he is as good as dead.

Brick knew that if he is chomped by one of the heads, he is as good as dead.

Brick knew that if he miss the demon, he is as good as dead.

Brick knew that if he miss the vitals of the demon, he is as good as dead.

Brick knew that if he messed up, he is as good as dead.

Brick pointed the blade above his head, slicing the air resistance as he descended rapidly and in the process making himself into an impromptu missile. This is not what he planned when Fennec had came into his mind, and this is not the assistance he is looking for. He was expecting something more akin to someone beating the living daylights of the monster, not making Brick into a lightning bolt that will strike the demon.

No, Brick realized, Renee had turned me into a red meteor.

Brick's hands shook as the winds blew over his face and body, and Brick had no other course of action other than moving his body to aim himself like an arrow to strike at the monstrous demon. Brick watched as the muscular pillar-like arms of the demon rose up to intercept him in mid-descend, and he wished that he can move three times faster than he does right now. Brick aimed the blue-bladed weapon before him and he watched as the moment of reckoning dawned upon him.

"Let me help you with that." Brick heard Fennec's voice once more and suddenly a bright blue light immediately flashed from his weapon.

The flash immediately illuminated the dark atmosphere of the mindscape, and before Brick knew it he felt his blade piercing itself into something solid. Brick opened his eyes to see that he had struck the weapon directly into the demon's shoulders like an arrow. The blade penetrated deeply all the point to the guard of the bladed weapon, but the weapon did not manage to mortally wound the monster.

Brick immediately shrimped his body, landing his feet on the monster's body, and with all the momentum that he got from the descend he pulled down on the blade like a lever and tore through the demon's body with all his remaining might and descending momentum. The tearing sound of flesh deafened Brick's ears, but he cared not.

Brick only want to make sure that his last remaining attack will be as damaging as possible.

Brick roared as he tore through the demon's body, not knowing when the attack will end. The blade dug deeper into the flesh of the demon, and Brick felt his body slowly decelerating. Brick understood that it will all come to a grinding halt, and he will need to know what to do next. When Brick felt that the blade will not move anymore, Brick lets go of the weapon and landed down on the ground with his feet but soon stumbled as he made an imperfect landing. Brick looked up to see that he had inadvertently replicated the same large wound that he had made on It's humanoid form.

"But he is not down." Brick clicked his tongue, realising that he is now utterly helpless. Brick's legs are now trembling with weakness and he can not feel any sensation in his arms either. Worst of all, the blade is stuck on the demon's body, sticking out from the demon's Broad chest.

The demon pointed with one of its large distorted clawed fingers, and it roared with an unbridled rage at the Rowdyruff Boy. Brick sighed, knowing that he is screwed in so many different ways. The demon had announced that the young man will pay for what it had done to it, and Brick is far too weak to move his body to get away from the clear and present danger.

No strength to run.

No strength to crawl.

No strength to roll.

No strength at all.

This is it huh, Brick thought to himself, wondering on how he will be killed by the creature. Brick honestly wanted a painless death, but the demon will not give him that respite. Brick watched as a large palm opened up and swung downwards towards Brick, and Brick closed his eyes as he accepted the fate of how he will be killed. Another roar, and Brick knew that the beast is victorious. He only wished that his brothers will be able to live on without him.

Bye guys, Brick thought. But the immense pressure that he expected to experience before the pain did not come at all. Brick hesitated for a moment, but he soon found the courage to open his eyes to find out what happened.

Several will-o'-the-wisps hovered about the arm that was about to strike Brick, holding the demon's arm in place. The countless heads looked around to find where the source of the ghostfire came from, and Brick wondered as well. However, that lull is all it took for the pinned three-headed hound the opportunity it needs to turn the rat-demon over with its brute strength. Loud screeching sound accompanied the fallling demon as Brick's alter-ego managed to be position itself on top.

With a swing of a paw, the blade is hammered into the creature's chest, causing a bright blue light to erupt from the wound and lighting up the otherwise dark universe around them. Brick shielded his eyes from the blinding light as the three heads of the hound-like monster dived towards the demon with wide open jaws towards the large wound that Brick had inflicted on the demon.


[Townsville Park, Downtown Townsville, 10.15pm]

Bubbles tried to fight through her disorientation as she maneuvered about the maze, but the inversion of all her senses had made it particularly difficult for her to figure out what on earth is happening to her. The pigtailed blonde girl felt sick to her stomach, but not enough for her to expel the contents of her stomach. At least not yet.

"Era uoy thgirla?" Bubbles heard Caspar speaking to her, but even the words that came out from the MAGI is inverted. Bubbles had no idea how words being uttered being inverted even works, but magic is as magic does, strange that way.

Bubbles decided that she will not answer unless she wanted to make her disorientation even worse. Fortunately, her inner thoughts are not affected by the inversion and she thought about what she needs to do to get herself to where the fox-like Lunatic and the demon possessing Brick's body are now waging their battle. Bubbles felt more uneasy with every passing moment, for each second is a second escaping from her control over her fate. There is no possible way for her to pinpoint where they are, and that further frustrates the Powerpuff Girl. This labyrinthine maze of confusion is indeed an impossible structure, and no mortal can even comprehend the absurdity of the hedge maze made out of an opaque, glass-like crystal combined with a sensory disorientation ability.

Bubbles felt around the maze despite knowing that her senses are betraying her at every was with great surprise to Bubbles then that the maze dissolved itself, and Bubbles found herself where she stood before the maze engulfed them. Bubbles' eyes immediately caught a particularly odd sight.

Fennec is no longer present, and the demon that possessed Brick's body is grabbing the skull part of its face. The bone sword with the crimson is stabbed on the ground with the teenage boy supporting his weight on it, but it lost the sinister lustre it had moments ago. Bubbles saw the hand clawing itself into the arm holding the mask until it bleeds. The teenage boy ripped away the skull-like mask from his face,revealing a bloody mess of exposed muscle and sinew. The dark tail-like object fell from Brick's hip, and the Rowdyruff Boy's legs gave way.

Bubbles rushed towards the collapsing young man, and she managed to catch him before he truly fell down on the ground. Bubbles' armor is colored by the blood escaping the large wound on Brick's face. Her blue eyes watched as the cracked abyss-colored eyes faded away to reveal the two red irises in a sea of black sclera looking up towards her.

"Bu...Bubbles..." Bubbles felt a warm feeling within her as she heard the voice of the Rowdyruff Boy once more, a sense of calm tranquility flooding her body.

"Thank goodness you're alright." Bubbles immediately hugged the Rowdyruff Boy, but it was at that moment that she felt that something is wrong.

A dark flow of hands escaped from the disfigured face and slammed directly towards Bubbles' chest, knocking her down on the ground. The arms slowly wrapped itself around the Powerpuff Girl like a constricting python, and Bubbles struggled to get out from its coiling clutches. A dark sinister laugh is heard, before one of the ends formed itself into a rat-like skull. The two pit-like holes that formed in the rat-like skull stared directly at Bubbles' light-blue eyes, and Bubbles stared back into the abyss. The serpentine rat-like sceptre was about to strike when an arm grabbed it by the neck.

"Fuck. Off. Demon." Brick said weakly.

Brick's actions betrayed his fatigue as he yanked the dark matter from Bubbles' body, holding on to the serpentine entity with all his might. Bubbles sprang into action to help Brick, trying to pull the constricting creature away from Brick's arm. Brick opened his mouth and to Bubbles surprise, he bit the skull of the rat-like skull with his teeth. A writhing wail rang in the air, and Brick pulled the serpent away from Bubbles. Brick slammed himself on the ground with the serpent and with his last ounce of strength, Brick wielded the blade and stabbed it directly to the entity's skull. The demon wriggled and writhed for a while before finally falling limp on the ground.

"Punk-ass demon..." Brick cursed before his eyes rolled into his head and collapsed on the ground face first, letting go of the headless black serpentine body.

"Brick!" Bubbles stooped down to the side of the collapsed Rowdyruff Boy.

"Looks like he prevailed." A nasal feminine voice with an accent caught Bubbles' attention, and she turned her head to see a pair of ice-blue eyes staring at the sight of Brick.

"Where...how...when?" Bubbles had no idea where the Lunatic came from, but Bubbles saw that she is carrying Butch in her arms. The woman handed Bubbles the unconscious dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy, and Bubbles was taken aback by the sudden weight she have to handle.

"They need treatment, Bubbles. See to it." Fennec advised before a reddish fog enveloped her body and the fox-like demon is gone from Bubbles' sight.