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Chapter 11

An End and a Start

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup on a lonely bench. Bubbles was kicking her feet in and out while looking at the ground, while Buttercup had her arms crossed, eyeing the various men and women who ran back and forth around them, busy with their own tasks.

Blossom, on the other hand, had her eyes fixed ahead, though she wasn't paying attention to the chaotic military compound… even if the remains of the front section of Gordon's HQ were still a sight to behold, more so for her who she hadn't seen what Huan had caused to the exterior of the building, when she tried to end Gordon the first time…

Yeah… that was something… and everything after that as well.

"You think these guys are going to take any longer dealing with the soldiers?" Bubbles said, almost whispered. A white cast had been placed on her leg, and her face was a collection of bruises, but otherwise she seemed all right. Thank god for healing powers… they were too far away from home to risk anything worse than the injury she got.

"Doesn't look like they are gonna finish things up anytime soon," Buttercup replied. "Man, there's a lot of people that worked for the General. He really had an entire army for himself… they just kept coming when we were up here earlier, Blossom…"

"Yeah…" Blossom said absentmindedly. Her thoughts ran fast as she tried to recollect what had happened.

After the chaos that the girls and the other puffs had caused, it was only a matter of time before the Police Corps of Yanjing and the nearest detachment of the Chinese Army took matters into their own hands. At first, they came pretty close to another confrontation with the disoriented puffs who had just survived a terrible battle with the General, but thank to Huan and Bubbles' report on what happened, the new arrivals were pretty fast in turning their back on Gordon and his army, dismantling the company in a matter of hours and arresting every person that they could catch.

The only contribution that the puffs gave was showing to them the way to subdue Gordon. After making sure they learned that they had lost, it wasn't hard to find one of Gordon's scientists spilling the beans on where the 'Antidote W' reserves that hey used for their gas canisters were located. After that, the puffs were asked to leave and let the authorities deal with it, and Blossom decided that they would still keep watch while they waited, making sure they saw him before they brought him away.

The rest of the time was spent communicating with rude army medics, but they were able to help Bubbles with her serious wound and do a check-up for Blossom and Buttercup. Donnie and Nuru were currently undergoing their own check as well, and while though Donnie was a bit more battered in that regard, both of them had manged to got away with relatively light injuries.

In terms of health, the situation was very much worse for Huan and her siblings… in fact, they were still being medicated right now, as far as she heard. And they were waiting for news on that front as well.

It was happening so fast…

"Blossom? You okay?"

Blossom turned her head to regard Bubbles. "…Is it obvious I'm not?"

"You've been bad at hiding your thoughts lately, yeah…" Buttercup said.

"Wait, are you accusing me of hiding my thoughts?"

"Don't you? Still, that's not the point," Buttercup grinned, and Blossom simply groaned. Well, she hadn't changed for one…

"What's bothering you, Blossom? We did it, right? We defeated General Gordon! We saved Ai, Li and Hui!"

"Yeah, we did…" Blossom looked over to the medical zone set up by the Chinese Army. Apparently, whatever Buttercup, Bubbles and Nuru did was enough to warrant erecting a dozen of tents only dedicated to tend to the injured. She would have felt bad… she should have felt bad for what happened to those soldier—if she hadn't seen the state Bubbles was in.

Shaking her head, she hoped that at least no one got serious wounds in the commotion. Then, she looked at Bubbles.

"I don't know… I still feel like we haven't finished things up… that there's a lot that we should tend to and shouldn't forget about."

"We can, though!" Bubbles chirped back. Buttercup eyed her, somewhat surprised by seeing her back so fast to her bubbly self.

"Yes, we could… but is it ending, anytime soon?" Blossom argued. "Guys, there's Huan and her siblings. What are they gonna do now? Will they stay here? These guys, they basically let Gordon do its own thing here…"

"They didn't know about Huan and her siblings either, I guess… and what Gordon did to them," Bubbles tried to reason. "I'm sure they can find an agreement, just like Donnie did in the end with the Mayor of Ultrapolis. It wasn't easy for him at the beginning as well!"

"Neither it was for us…" Buttercup added.

Blossom wasn't fully convinced. "Then there's Gordon as well. I want to make sure that they actually put him in prison, well watched. I don't want him to get away like how it went with Doctor Porter… who has helped him. And who knows what kind of bad people those two have somewhat helped as well…"

Blossom became more and more restless as she talked. "And then there's the whole thing with W. Girls, there must be hundreds of canisters and containers full of the stuff back there, that and the Antidote they manage to create on their own. I… I don't think I like the idea of letting them go unattended."

"They won't let Gordon put his hands on that stuff, again," Buttercup said. "Come on Blossom, nobody would be that stupid."

"Yes, but… what if there is another 'Gordon'?" she said gravely. "What… I don't know. I don't know! We don't know anything! We thought Chemical X was ours, but then Donnie and Unidentified Y happened! And now W!"

She let out a groan of frustation. "I wouldn't be surprised if Nuru was created out of another 'mysterious substance' as well… they're all out there and we can control what people do with it… everytime someone beside the Professor or Donnie's father tried to experiment with it, it ended up hurting us… or our friends."

Bubbles and Buttercup didn't reply at first.

"Listen, Blossom… I understand. But… you shouldn't—"

"Am I interrupting something?"

The girls turned to someone who was standing in front of them.

"Actually…" Buttercup started, but Blossom raised a hand. This was a Chinese man wearing the uniform of the army.

"We're listening," she offered.

"Very well. Before we discuss, I reckon you will be interested in this," the man said. Despite the accent, he spoke in very good English.

He walked out of the way, letting the girls look that behind him there was a line of men and some women walking. They were all mostly in shackles, and the girls immediately realised that it was a large portion of the company's garrison.

"We finished rounding them up, and now we'll take the ones who can walk into our custody… to be judged of their crimes of course," the man explained.

The girls looked at them, hovering up in the air to get a better look. And inadvertently, they were able to recognise a few familiar faces

Buttercup recognised the first two guards who she and Nuru had stunned. Cooper and 'BT' looked back at her with not so welcoming expressions, but Buttercup simply glared back defiantly.

Blossom recognised the soldier who had helped her in finding Ai, Li and Hui. She saw that right behind him was the same man who was knocked out cold by her, and that was a friend of him. When the man looked at her, she saw gratitude in his eyes.

Bubbles recognised the man who had took her captive in an attempt to save his own life, only to let her go afterwards. When their eyes met, the man looked down in shame, though Bubbles showed no animosity towards him.

And then, they all saw him. Encircled by a squad of ten riflemen, two of which were armed, much to Blossom's worry, with enhanced guns. And well distanced by the other captured soldiers, at the centre and in shackles, was General Damian Gordon. Or who used to be a General.

He stood taller than everyone still, at least half a meter, but he had long since lost most of his mutant appearance. He had a jacket and a pair of jeans covering him that were not the same uniform he wore originally, thus hiding what he had to go through.

But as much as the clothes hid it, it was clear that both of the General's arms were still missing.

When Damian Gordon looked at them, the girls flinched. They had learned to recognised annoyance when they defeated Mojo Jojo, anger when they stopped Princess from wreaking havoc, and resignment when they kicked the Gangreen Gang's butt. Hatred was somewhat seen when the villains lost their patience, but what they saw on Gordon's face was something on another level.

Gordon looked at them for only a couple of seconds, before looking forward, refusing to give them another glance.

"We have a dedicated prison cell with his name on the label already. He's going to be watched 24/7 until we're sure that most of the mutations and powers that he gained have been reverted. Then, we'll make sure to put him on trial. You wanted that, didn't you?"

"Yes… we did," Blossom looked at the man. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am a spoke-person for the government of the city of Yanjing, but I'm also temporarily speaking for the Chinese army as well. I'm here to make sure that the events of today have the least painful transition to normality, for all parties involved."

"What do you mean?" Bubbles inquired.

"We really should leave behind us what went on today. I'm sure you would like to forget about it, and we're willing to go on with your wishes."

"That's… not what we wish," Buttercup interjected. By her tone everyone knew already that she disliked him. "We want to make sure you have everything under control, which is different."

"Oh, rest assured we do," the spoke-person replied. "We just wanted to solve this little situation… without resorting to harsher methods, you follow?"

Blossom decided to leave behind her doubts for another time. She hovered up to the man. "We want to help make things transition without a hitch, that Is true. But you also let Gordon do its own thing before we came here, didn't you?"

"I assure you, no one in Yanjing knew about the true intentions of the Gen—of the traitor," Blossom noticed a sweat tear running down the man's forehead. She hovered a little closer, just for added effect.

"I don't want you to expect us to just let everything go like it is not our matter anymore. It became one once that man thought he could hurt innocents. And it still is!"

The spoke-person muted his behaviour. "I don't think you are in the place to make demands, Powerpuff Girls. I'm sure you know that."

"Actually… I'm pretty sure we are in that position," Buttercup flew up beside Blossom, except that she also agitated a fist in front of the man's nose. "You follow?" she said, mimicking the man's tone from before.

"Mr. Spokeperson…" Bubbles hovered up close as well, though her demeanour was much more diplomatic compared to her sisters. She didn't want things to go out of control again. "We don't want to cause any trouble… we're all tired. But… we just want to make sure nothing like this will happen again."

The man gulped, then made a step back. "V-very well… what are your demands?"

"We don't want to see any harm come to Huan, Ai, Li and Hui."

The spoke-person tilted his head, then his eyes lighted up. "Oh, you mean the Chinese infra-humans?"

Now even Blossom disliked him.

"They're not infra-humans!" she said. "They're puffs, and you better not call them like that again!"

Bubbles and Buttercup were surprised by her outburst. The man was less surprised, though he tried to remain respectful. "Right, excuse me for my mistake. We won't of course do any harm to them."

"You will give them enough time as well as a home, even if only for some time, to let them rest after what they had to go through, which happened because you didn't know what Gordon was doing in your own city," Blossom continued. "And after that… it will be up to them what to do. Their decision. Clear?"

"All right," the man nodded. "We had no intention to do any harm to, uh… the puffs. After all, they're under the care of our doctors right now, and last I heard, they are doing well. Nothing to worry, Blossom Utonium!"

Blossom sighed, somewhat relieved to hear the news. Bubbles smiled, and even Buttercup's frown relaxed for a moment.

"I trust that this ends it…?"

"No…" Blossom said. She put a hand on her chin, in thought.

"Blossom…?" Bubbles said, wondering what her sister had in mind.

"We can't let things go just to them, girls…" Blossom said. "We need something."

She looked at the man. "I want this facility and the rest of Gordon's camps, wherever he had laboratories active, detained and isolated. And I want all of the W to stay right where it is."

There was silence after that.

"…you can't be serious."

"I don't trust you to handle the W. I don't want anyone to put their hands on it, after what happened with the General."

"That W is China's property!" the spokesperson protested. "We gave it to him in the first place, it's only fair that it is returned to us!"

"Yeah right! Look what happened after you so kindly let Gordon borrow your precious W!" Buttercup retorted. The man said something Blossom and Buttercup didn't understand, though Bubbles flinched.

"…Even if we were to let you, you don't have any way to check on us, Powerpuff Girls. It would be in the best interest of everyone that you let us deal with it to our full extent. W will be under our custody and there won't be a second General Gordon incident."

"We have a way to check on you," Blossom retorted. "Huan will keep an eye on you. And she will not let you off the hook if you try to pull any stunt again with W."

The spoke-person glared at her, but Blossom simply kept her chin up, looking at him with her pink eyes. Her relatively big eyeballs had to have an effect as the man looked way, unnerved.

"…I'll see what I can do, Powerpuff Girls. But this shall be the end of it, and Yanjing will still retain the rights to make use of all ex-facilities of the company that do not have stocks of W or laboratories dedicated to its treatment. Do we have an agreement?"

Blossom offered her hand. "We do."

They shook hands, then the man simply turned back, walking with fast steps without saying goodbye.

"I take that I can't just go and kick his butt, right?"

"Unless you want to cause an international incident…"

That was a boy's voice. The girls turned around and they saw Donnie, along with Nuru, hovering up to them.

"Donnie! Nuru!" Bubbles called. She unceremoniously flew up to them and hugged them both at the same time, much to their surprise. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Me and Nuru weren't really that injured… for me, the heads still hurts, but I'm good."

"No harm, I am all fine!" Nuru confirmed. She then pointed at her. "But I am worried. Bubbles, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm all right, Nuru! The doctors did a good job handling my injury," she said without concern. "And you're still making progress with your English, Nuru! Even after everything!"

Nuru smiled. "Lot of people don't know English well here. They, uh… t-taught? Yes, they taught me some tricks. And Donnie helped me as well. But, I can be even more good!"

"You're quite not there, but you're getting closer…" Buttercup laughed as she walked up to the three, who had hovered down.

Blossom joined them. "Aren't you the one who manages to fail English Grammar tests?" she commented off-handedly.

Buttercup's face turned red. "That's different! Written English is a nightmare, and you know it!"

Everyone simply chuckled, while Buttercup scoffed. Blossom laughed with them… forgetting for the moment about her worries… and everything.

It felt good.

"Sooo… how are Huan and her siblings?" Bubbles asked, regarding the obvious elephant in the room.

"We got here just to call you back in the med tents, actually. I'll let her tell you herself, girls. By the way, who was that man?"

"Oh, just some suck-it-up weirdo who thought he could just have from us whatever he wanted. Blossom showed him up alright," Buttercup quickly explained, shrugging.

Donnie let out an amused chuckle. "I can imagine that."

The five puffs quietly flew towards the med zone. The girls hoped that Huan was all right, but since Donnie and Nuru didn't look worried, they were positive that things went well.

When they finally got to the specific tent they wanted and they made their entrance, the girls found that things were indeed looking better for the siblings.

Huan sat on a chair, right beside a trio of beds where all of her siblings were resting. All of them were very much awake with their eyes open, though only Hui was sitting on the bed, right in front of his sister.

Huan had a bandage covering most of her face, following the trail of the wound that the General had left her with, and her clothes had been changed up considering her original ones had been thorn out and became grimy with her own blood. She was leaning on Hui's bed with her own arms, resting on them as she listened to whatever her brother was talking about.

Hui sounded agitated as he talked, though only Bubbles could understand him, and even then, she lacked the context of the entire conversation. Ai and Li were both turned on their beds to look at him as well. The three of them were weaking new hospital gowns, different from the ones they had inside Gordon's Headquarters.

It didn't take too much time for Huan to notice the girls, since the tents the puffs were in was actually pretty much empty. That was another… peculiar thing, but the girls just didn't have the time to think about it as the lime eyed girl straightened herself up. "Girls!"

"Hi, Huan…" Blossom greeted as she hovered towards her, followed by her sisters and the two boys. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… alright. I still feel like I don't have much strength to… do things. But I'm alright," Huan replied. She looked at her siblings for a moment. "They have had it a little worse though… but I think they'll be okay."

Hui waved at Blossom and the others, and also exchanged a few words of greeting with Bubbles. Ai simply raised her hand, and Li did the same while grumbling under his breath.

"You think so, Huan?" Buttercup eyed Li, somewhat irked by him seemingly still annoyed by their presence, after they had saved his butt along with everyone else. While looking over at the others she also noticed that Donnie shared her irritation somewhat as well. Nuru was oblivious as usual, his bright smile very much contrasting with Donnie's frown. In any case, the fact Li hadn't even sat up to face them, despite the obvious pride in him, was a bit worrying.

"Yeah… the doctor who visited us said that they were low on W flowing in their systems… that's the words he used at least. They got to rest and eat regularly to recover, but otherwise they should be all right."

She placed a hand over Hui's hand, who reciprocated it with a squeeze.

Bubbles got closer to them, smiling. "I'm happy to hear that, we all are," she said. "It was all we wanted since the start."

"You did much more than that, though…" Huan's eyes trailed off. "You saved all of us and stopped… him. I didn't think that would've been possible in the first place as well. A… lot happened back there."

There was a bit of silence after that, which was interrupted by Buttercup. "Hey now, what happened there was not your fault, if that's what bothering you Huan. There was a lot to think about… I guess, but it was you who eventually stopped before things could get out of hand."

"Yeah, but… I-I tried to… kill him. Twice. I actually… wanted him dead… and I don't think I've changed m-my idea."

Bubbles bit her lip, while Donnie frowned. Even Nuru was shocked, since that was the first time he actually heard about Huan's troubles from herself.

Blossom sighed, and hovered over to get closer to the conflicted girl. She decided to take one of her hands with her own. "Listen, Huan, I can't blame you. None of us can. I heard from the man himself what he planned to do, what he did to you… he was an evil guy, and he didn't care for you or your siblings well-being. I can't blame you for hating him… but taking his life was never not going to make a difference. We wanted to stop him, and that's what he did—and I assure you, we'll not let him go unscathed as long as we all are there to make sure he faces the consequences of his actions."

Huan looked away, refusing to face Blossom. "Hey, look at me for a moment."

The puff eventually respected the order. Blossom looked at her in the eyes with determination.

"But I always thought that we, me and my sisters… but really," she gave a glance to the entire group. Nine puffs, all together. "I think it's valid for all of us. That we should learn to distinguish between what is wrong and what is right to be done, when we fight crime and the forces of evil. That we should not fall to the same level of the crooks and enemies that attack either us, or the people we love."

"Yeah! Bad guys will be bad guys, Huan, but you still got you, and your brothers and your sister to back you up!" Bubbles added.

"And you can also get to be something new, now that you're free," Buttercup added. She thought about it for a moment. "And leave behind you whatever happened down there. It's your past, now."

Huan's eyes brightened up as she listened to what the Powerpuff Girls had to say. Even Donnie and Nuru were impressed, as they stayed silent after the girls had finished speaking.

The girl let out a sniffle. "T-thank you…" she managed to say. "I-I don' think I was e-ever… we never g-got people to give this, uh… trust in us, Blossom."

Blossom's brows relaxed as she smiled, mirroring Bubbles' and Buttercup's expressions. "There's always a first time."

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup stood outside the tent in wait. Buttercup walked in circles, as usual not keen on waiting and being patient, while Bubbles and Blossom gave side glances to the entrance.

After their first discussion, the girls had talked with the siblings further concerning their current situation. All of them had something to say to them, and thanks to Bubbles' and Huan's help they manage to tell what they wanted. Ai and Hui basically repeated their sister's thoughts, thanking the girls and her two friends for accepting to help Huan and to actually come into the lair of the General to save them from his death grip, despite not knowing each other at all. Li actually managed to 'growl' an apology of sorts for his behaviour as well, recognising that he didn't know how they would've gotten out of that hellhole without the Powerpuff's help.

In the end, the topics of conversation depleted, and suddenly an awkward silence fell over them. In the heat of the moment, the girls actually hadn't thought much if what was next was something the siblings were ready to talk about. Then, Huan had asked for a moment to be alone with her siblings again, to 'talk about things a little bit more' and that she would be out to tell them what she wanted to decide along with them.

Donnie and Nuru had followed them at first, but after a while the two boys had grown restless and Donnie opted to offer Nuru a flight over the city, something that no one of them had the chance to do since they were trying to stay undetected upon arriving in Yanjing at first.

The girls weren't of the same idea but in the end, Donnie resorted to some excuse about 'not wanting to let Nuru go without a proper view and to see how fast he flies' and the such, which prompted Blossom to think that he was getting worryingly close to the Rowdyruff Boys in some regards. Donnie had denied being involved with them again since their meeting right after their confrontation with Dr. Porter, but Blossom and Buttercup both suspected otherwise.

So, when Huan finally got out of the tent, hovering up, she only found the Powerpuff Girls waiting for her. "Where are the others…?" she immediately asked.

Blossom shook her head. "Boys…" she simply said, and despite living for far less time than her, Huan somewhat managed to understand as she nodded with a little smile of her own. "We'll tell them once they get back, I guess."

"Okay… I think that's actually better…" Huan grew more serious. "Girls, I think that I won't be able to come and help Nuru with his issue."

The girls looked at each other, then at Huan. "Huan, you were never supposed to come, though. He came for our and Donnie's help first… and after what you went through…" Bubbles replied.

"Yes, but he was still here for me and Ai, and Li and Hui. He helped. I thought it was better if I at least did something in return for him… but I… I don't want to leave them alone here."

"Huan, we understand," Blossom affirmed without even thinking twice. "I believe you have been separated from your family for far too long already, and it's not in our right for us to make you leave them again. Take some time for yourself, just forget about what you went through… we can all deal with Nuru's issue and help him out even if you don't take part in it."

Huan's lips quivered for a moment, then she probably decided she didn't care about manners and went on to hug Blossom without notice. Blossom, taken by surprise at first, made sure to return it.

"Thank you… thank you all so much," she managed to squeal. "Y-You girls are amazing."

"Oh, now don't you exaggerate about it, we just save the world on a daily basis," Buttercup joked. Then, she went on to actually place a hand on her shoulder. "But thank you, I guess," she added with a smirk.

"We actually just save Townsville, most of the time," Bubbles corrected. Buttercup glared at her for a moment, but Bubbles ignored her and proceeded to join Blossom and Huan with a hug of her own.

"And don't worry…" Buttercup continued. "I knew Nuru for enough time to understand that he's way too good and thick to actually feel offended by your decision. I'm sure he'd even agree with you about it."

Huan smiled, not releasing Bubbles and Blossom from the hug yet. Just wanting to feel that moment a little more…

The feeling of not being alone.

Buttercup sat on a roof of one of the few skyscraper buildings that were a prime feature of Yanjing's city centre. On her right, her sisters sat in a similar fashion, as all three of them were staring at the bright sky. Their mission concerning the rogue general had started in the night, and by now the day was already in its prime.

On her right, Donnie and Nuru sat in silence as well, though both looked like they were more in wait for the girls to say something.

Bubbles let out a yawn, which Buttercup didn't miss. "I'm… a bit tired," she confessed.

"Ugh… we all are," Buttercup agreed. "As much as I enjoyed the action, I think I wouldn't mind not jumping straight to the next baddie. Hoping there are not baddies as bad as this one next… right Nuru?"

Nuru simply shrugged. "Not sure," he enigmatically replied. "I hope!"

"You really gotta explain to us what is up with you. Huan was… it was clear since the beginning that she was in dire need, but you were way more cool about your own problem."

Nuru scratched his head. "I… I think Huan w-was in a badder situation than me. I have a dad… a family. And they… are not in danger. She did not be in the same situation," he tried to express himself the best he could. Buttercup nodded.

"Well, I still hope we can get your own issue sorted out," Bubbles said. Then, she yawned again.

"Perhaps we should take a moment to rest, girls?" Donnie suggested. "If Nuru is good with it, of course. But…" she gave a glance to Bubbles in particular. "I think we got enough of a beat-down today, all of us."

His eyes widened for a second, an idea coming to him. "I'm sure my Aunt wouldn't mind giving all of us some space at home!"

"Thanks… but I think your flat is already crowded enough with five people in it," Blossom argued, though she was smiling. "Thanks… but I think we can do the honours in this case. Our home is big enough to get you two a couple of guest beds."

Donnie grunted. "Can't argue with that… As always, Blossom."

"You can," Buttercup interjected. "You just have to believe in it."

"Even when you're wrong?" Blossom raised an eyebrow.

"It's not like you're always right," Buttercup added a u-shaped tongue out for added effect. Bubbles and Nuru chuckled, amused by the exchange, while Blossom scoffed.

Donnie gave a glance to the city. "I hope Huan and her sister and brothers will be okay here… They haven't had the best welcome in the world, in the city they were born in."

"I'm sure she will! Everyone has warmed up to us with time. It happened to me and my sisters, it happened to you as well!"

"Yeah, I just…" he sighed. "I just hope they aren't going to get into trouble with the city… or that trouble finds them."

Buttercup thought about it for a moment. The boy did have a point, if only because the peculiar fellow that had come to talk with the Powerpuffs earlier that day, had basically made all alarm bells go off in her head for the entire time he spoke. She surely hoped that not everyone was like that guy here, but…

"Hey, if they ever need help, they can still come to us," she said. "It's not like they can't fly, right? The boys and the girl just have to recover a little, then they'll be as good as Huan with their powers, I'm sure."

"Yeah, and will all of us together, and even only a few, we basically can do anything!" Bubbles added. "If anyone even thinks of taking advantage of our friends here again, they'll have to answer to us!"

"They'll have to answer to us… yeah," Blossom repeated. Buttercup noticed that she was in plan-mode… which was weird, considering they were just chatting right now.

"Maybe… we should make that more than just a promise. We could make it official," she let out.

The other four puffs looked at her. "What do you mean?" Donnie asked.

"We could make us, all of us," she gestured towards Donnie and Nuru, then to Bubbles and Buttercup. "A group. Something that all of us can come to, if there is need of help from any of us."

"Wait a second… are you suggesting some kind of organisation? Like, a superhero one?" Buttercup didn't hide her scepticism. "Blossom, I thought we were not looking to the World Supermen Organization anymore."

"Oh, no!" she responded with vehemence. "That group is just a way for those superheroes to basically compliment each other, to meet and share the stories of their own deeds… and that's it. They actually never did something 'together', as far as we know… they tried once, and they failed at that." She sighed, then resumed with vigour.

"Our group can, will be something different. A safe heaven, even, for all of us, for puffs all over the world!"

"Blossom, are you sure you're feeling alright?" Bubbles patted her sisters' back, who had started to even flail her arms and whose speech had turned into shouting at the very end.

"Yeah, Bloss, I think you're taking this a little too, I don't know… personal?" Buttercup said. "I mean… we're just nine, uh, puffs, right? Unless you want to count the Rowdyruff Boys in."

Blossom's icy glare was an eloquent enough answer.

"Well. We've stuck with each other for a while, right?" Donnie added. "I'm sure Nuru wouldn't mind keeping in contact, after he sorted his problem out. Right Nuru?"

Nuru nodded. "We're friends, of course!" he said simply, as if he'd just stated the obvious.

Donnie turned back to Blossom. "And that's what we can keep doing. Watching each other's back… but I don't think we need some sort of official name, organisation to look up to, and the such right now, Blossom."

"Maybe…" Blossom wasn't convinced, but she didn't insist. "I'll… think about it."

"She's got her idea. Now there is no stopping her," Buttercup said.

"HEY!"

Everyone laughed aloud, and soon even Blossom joined the others. Buttercup still didn't know what to think fully of Blossom's idea, but she did agree with Donnie. They could stick with each other, keep in contact, and be ready to help each other if there were any problems to deal with in the future.

She couldn't really guess what was next for them… after what had happened to Huan, Ai, Li and Hui. But they could be ready for it, when the time came.

AN: And that's Part One completed! This story was always a side project of mine, but I'm still happy I've managed to reach this milestone. You can expect a similar rate of updates for Part Two and Three, but I think I can manage to keep writing at a steady pace once I manage to write down a good outline for both. So, next chapter is the beginning of Part Two, which should hopefully come out in a couple of months, as it's a prologue of sorts to this central part of the story that I already planned to make since the very beginning. Then, I'll take some time to write down a complete outline for the bulk of Part Two, and then we'll start with the main plot there.