TRIGGER WARNING: Panic attacks and mild violent anger. This is the second part to the Death of Professor Utonium. Enjoy this last part of the two-shot.

The Death of Professor Utonium: Part 2

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Rating: T

Additional Notes: This took me quite a long time X'D

A lot has changed in the past two weeks. For one thing, Mojo Jojo has been imprisoned until his life sentence passes. The evil genius gladly took that offer and tortured himself with memories of the time he's spent with his now deceased owner. Maybe I should give up my life of crime? Mojo thought to himself. Or at least until... I figure myself out? As a person...?

About a few days later, there was a funeral held for Professor Utonium. All of Townsville is there, the Powerpuff Girls were there, even Mario and Luigi were there with them. Everyone was looking into the Professor's funeral, all of them with the same expression... the expression of hopelessness. All hope was lost. The girls were just... extremely depressed. They've lost their only family, the person who has created them, took care of them as if they were his own children- which they were- and the person who's saved the entire town, just by creating super hero children, reducing the crime rate.

Blossom was still in complete shock, but was also in a deep state of depression. Bubbles was tearing up, hugging Buttercup in high emotional pain. Buttercup was just... destroyed. She hid her tears trying to deny she was feeling anything, but on the inside, she was devastated and lost... without him, who was she?

Mario and Luigi just held the girls for a while, trying their hardest to comfort them. However, deep down, they were worried for their future. What would the girls do now without their amazing dad?

A week after the funeral, Mario and Luigi came over to Townsville and stayed with the girls in their old house. Before that, the girls stayed with the two brothers because they were more worried about their future. Yesterday, one or two crimes popped up and the girls took care of it, but otherwise... nothing. It was like there was a lull in the area. After what had happened, none of the villains, not even Princess Morbucks, wanted to fight them. They just didn't want to deteriorate their mental health even more. Besides, what was the point?

During that time, Mario kept blaming himself for not doing something sooner. What could've been done differently? Why did this have to happen to the man he looked up to the most? More importantly... why wasn't it him? He should've been the one who sacrificed himself instead of Professor. But no; instead, he was the coward and stood still because he was scared. He didn't admit it to anyone, not even Luigi, but he was scared of failing the people he loved.

Luigi on the other hand was extremely distraught by the whole thing. He was traumatized and he too wished he could've done something differently. But every time Mario tried to get him to talk about it, the green clad would avoid the subject altogether and tell Mario, "I'm fine."

Blossom's anxiety worsened day by day and was having more frequent panic attacks, but had to hide it in order to be strong for her sisters in case they needed a shoulder to cry on. She also didn't want anyone else worrying about her. She was the leader of the Powerpuff Girls, after all.

Bubbles, on the other hand, just stayed in the girls' room and sobbed the entire time. She didn't want to come out, draw, or even eat when some food was handed to her. Almost anything would trigger a memory of Bubbles and the professor and she would just start crying into hysterics.

Buttercup was just angry. Angrier than usual even. She went down to the now empty lab, where the Professor always worked on his latest projects. The lime green clad vowed to take down Mojo, assuring herself that the professor's death would NOT be in vain. But right now, that wasn't important. What was important was destroying everything she could see in plain sight.

First she pushed the shelf full of empty potion bottles violently, leaving them all to shatter. Then she pushed off all of the folders off his desk, grabbed one giant book full of science-y stuff, and then slammed it against the desk, causing it to break in half. She kicked one half of the broken desk and let out a scream of anger and anguish. She flew to a wall and punched it aggressively. Finally, she flew to another wall, punched it aggressively, and flipped a table over and threw it against the wall. When she was done, she was panting aggressively.

Buttercup tried to calm herself down but she couldn't. She slammed her fist onto the floor, sat down and started sobbing. "Professor..."

Mario and Luigi heard all of the noise from the living room, assumed it was Buttercup and rushed down to the lab. "What's going on here?! What are you doi-"

Mario stopped mid sentence when he saw all the damage done to the lab. When he finished looking around, he saw a scared Buttercup look up at the two brothers and inch backwards. "D- DON'T LOOK AT ME! IT NEEDED TO BE DONE! I- I just wanted to redecorate-" she spat out. Once she spoke, words got all tangled up. "I needed to... he would've-"

She started crying softly, not able to find the right words. Mario was pretty shocked when he saw her like this; he knew she had a tough shell on the outside, but he didn't think she would eventually break down like that. Mario and Luigi looked at one another, walked over to the sobbing girl and kneeled down beside her. The red plumber patted her back softly and the green plumber held her hand.

"Buttercup, listen... I know how hard it is right now. But it's going to be okay," Mario said.

"HOW?! The Professor's gone and Mojo's probably planning to escape from jail, and I can't let the criminal get away!" Buttercup shouted. "I wish HE died instead of..."

The lime green clad cried even more, causing Mario to hold her protectively. Meanwhile, Blossom and Bubbles heard all of the noises coming from the lab and peeked in, concerned for their sister. Seeing Mario and Luigi down with her, they came down the lab wondering what was going on. "Buttercup...? Are you okay?" Bubbles asked timidly.

Buttercup sighed softly. "I miss the professor..."

Blossom rubbed her sister's back, almost about to tear up but held it together for her. "I know Buttercup... I do too..." she muttered. "We all do."

Luigi gathered the girls around and held them and Mario close. "Your sister's right... we miss the professor very much, but he wouldn't want us to... dwell on it," he added. "He's watching over us from above. And he would've been proud of you girls for being so strong."

Mario nodded sadly and hugged Luigi and the girls as well. "It'll be okay... don't you worry."

Over the next couple of weeks, Mario and Luigi fought long and hard to adopt the Powerpuff Girls. The Mayor opposed to that idea only because he needed the girls to fight crime, and besides, who was going to open all his pickle jars? Mario argued that the girls weren't mentally ready to go back to fighting crime and they needed to recover from their trauma. Ms. Bellum had to agree with the plumber; they were just kids, after all. Even as super heroes, no child should have to witness a family member dying in front of them.

"Well, Mayor, I do believe these Justice Friends would be helpful in these situations. They HAVE fought crime before," Ms. Bellum said.

The Mayor stopped crying after a few minutes before he finally agreed to the idea. "Why, that's a splendid idea, Ms. Bellum! Let's call 'em on the phone! Mario, Luigi, you got yourselves a deal. You are now the new parents of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup!"

Mario and Luigi sighed of relief at the great news.

A few days later...

"Hey girls! We got some good news!" Mario exclaimed. He seemed to be hiding something behind his back and he and Luigi were smiling. The girls looked up at them, faces still filled with numbness- except Bubbles, that is.

"Did you destroy Mojo for good?" Buttercup asked quietly.

"Did you make a clone of the Professor?" Blossom chimed in.

"Did you get us a puppy?" Bubbles added.

Luigi laughed softly. "No... even better," he answered.

The girls looked at the brothers curiously. What was so special then?

Mario held up a certificate that said, "This is to certify that Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup Utonium have all been formally adopted into the Mario family by fathers Mario Mario and Luigi Mario, and they are legally entitled to all the rights and privileges there are to become, as all of their kids on this day of April 2019."

The girls gasped in shock and stayed silent for at least 30 seconds, until Bubbles broke the silence by... crying happily. Blossom and Buttercup tackled Mario and Luigi and hugged them tightly. For the first time in for what felt like ages, they truly felt like something was worth living for. This was a start of their new lives. "T-Thank you... dads..." Bubbles blubbered through her tears as she hugged Luigi.

The two brothers sat up and hugged the kids back softly smiling. "Welcome to your new family, girls," Mario whispered.

The next week, the Powerpuff Girls moved in the Mario Brothers' house at the Mushroom Kingdom. After the girls gathered up their things and put them in the living room, Mario and Luigi showed them to their new rooms; the girls now had their own rooms, which is something they weren't used to just yet.

Blossom's room was the same color as her dress was; a shade of pink that wasn't too dark, but not too bright either. It was just right. The bed was a bubblegum pink, and there was a red bookshelf that stored all of her favorite books and a dark pink heart shaped rug. It even had her very own mirror, which was also heart shaped. When she saw the room, the pink clad was pleasantly surprised, but was also curious of how this came to be. Mario explained to her that he and Luigi had to expand their house just for them, and Blossom just hugged him after that.

Bubbles' room was painted a baby blue, filled with all of her favorite stuffed animals, had a sky blue mirror shaped like a big bubble with tiny little bubbles, a little table and a chair for her to draw her pictures, and a picture of her, her sisters, the Mario Brothers, and the professor on her nightstand. Plugged in next to it was an octopus night light, so she wouldn't be so scared of the dark anymore. The pig tailed clad hugged Luigi tightly and thanked him and Mario for it all. Luigi returned the hug and Mario patted Bubbles' head softly.

Buttercup's room was a lime green, filled with motivational posters, had a punching bag for her to let out her frustrations or pent up anger, a star shaped mirror and a rock garden on top of her nightstand so she can balance herself in between violence and Zen. Her prized possession, her blanket, was also resting on top of her bed. Buttercup jumped in joy and tackled the Mario Bros in happiness.

Overall, the girls were very happy with their new rooms. But little did they know how much this was going to affect one of them...

Later at night, everyone was fast asleep in the Mario household. Everyone except for Blossom. She tried her hardest to fall asleep, but she just couldn't. The guilt was just overwhelming for her. She tossed and turned repeatedly, then tried to shut her eyes; however, every time she did that, all she could see was the Professor's dead body. Him sacrificing himself to... Mojo. His pained screams as he got hit. The blood pouring out of the scientist's chest.

The more she closed her eyes, the more she felt her anxiety rise. It was getting to the point where she couldn't feel anything else except her heartbeat going faster. She looked around her new room and although it was dark, she could feel her vision getting blurry and she curled herself up into a ball trying to calm herself down. Tears were pouring out of her eyes and she was breathing heavily, trying to tune out a voice that repeatedly told her, "It's all your fault. You should've stepped in."

Blossom hadn't even noticed Mario even came in her room until she felt him sitting on the bed and his hand petting her head. She could hear a couple of things that were muffled but she could decipher them- "...om. Bloss- come back to me. It's okay."

The pink clad looked up at Mario breathing heavily. He had a concerned and worried look on his face; he was asleep before but only for a short while. His main concern was how the girls were handling this, especially Blossom... change can be quite overwhelming, after all.

Blossom clung onto Mario and sobbed heavily, shaking after each sob. All that pent up anxiety had finally gotten to her and she just couldn't take it anymore. The death of her biological father, her having to comfort her sisters, having to stay strong for them, Mario, and Luigi... it was all too much. "Mario... I- I miss-" she started to say, but was interrupted by her weeps and hyperventilating.

Mario just held her close and stroked her hair softly. "Shhhh- shhh... I know, Blossom... I know," he whispered. "Breathe for me, okay? It's all right. I'm right here."

It was enough for Blossom to snap out of her trance and force herself to take a couple of deep breaths. She was still crying, but she was slowly getting better. Mario told her to do it a few more times and held her hand as she did so. After for what felt like hours, the pink clad leaned against the plumber tiredly, having cried out all her tears and feeling much more relaxed now. "What... happened...?" she asked.

"You just had a small panic attack. I heard you screaming the Professor's name from across my room a couple of times..." Mario answered. "But that's not really important right now. Why didn't you tell me you weren't okay...?"

"...I didn't want to worry you... or anyone else... I just wanted- wanted to be there for... you guys."

The red clad sighed softly and rubbed his eyes. "Mama mia, Blossom... you should've told me. I would've helped."

"I- I know... but..." Blossom looked down dejectedly. "I wanted to be strong. I don't want the Professor to..."

Mario put a hand on her shoulder and tilted her chin so she can look at him. "Remember what I told you before," he began. "You don't have to be strong for me, your sisters, Luigi, or anybody. We're all here for you if you need anything at all... don't feel like you have to bottle up your feelings. The Professor wouldn't want to see you suffer like this. Now, promise me you won't hide anything from any of us, okay?"

Blossom sniffed and nodded. "O-Okay... I promise," she replied.

"Good... good." The plumber rubbed her back soothingly and the girl was now calm and tired.

"Mario... can you stay with me tonight...?" Blossom asked. "I don't want to be alone..."

Mario smiled softly and laid down with his new daughter. "Of course. I'll stay with you as long as you need," he said.

The pink clad smiled back tiredly and then snuggled up to the plumber. He then stroked her head until she fell asleep and stayed with her in case she had another episode like this in her sleep. Mario had to admit, he couldn't believe the poor girl went this long trying not to succumb to her panic attacks; he knew she wasn't feeling herself ever since this whole thing occurred, but he didn't know it was THAT bad.

Either way, though, this was the start of the girls' new lives. Mario and Luigi would have to see where it went from there.

A/N: AAHHHHHHH- I'm so sorry for putting you guys through this. I'm not gonna lie, this is kinda sad, but I made it sorta bittersweet in the end. Honestly, I can kind of see Mario trying his best trying to keep his own anxiety in check while taking care of other people at the same time. If he feels he's failed someone, then he may go into a small anxiety spiral for a short time. Otherwise, he hides it fairly well.

And in other news, now that this two-shot is over, you guys can start requesting! I don't really care what you request as long as it's not too mature. I cannot, nor WILL not, write sexual things, over the top violence, sex in general, nudity, and incest. This will be full of family wholesomeness, but ships are welcome as well! And if you want, you can request a two part story as well! I can't wait to see what you request and start writing them :3 Until then, stay safe and happy!