Chapter 1 – Duty Bound
Blossom's POV
The city of New Townsville! A shining metropolis that wowed the masses and humbled even the most skilled architect! It's tall skyscrapers defied the laws of physics with their twists and turns. The bright city lights reflected dozens of times across the slick glass paned towers and showered the streets below with multi-colored rainbows.
It was truly the most beautiful city on earth!
Or at least, that's what they wanted their visitors to think.
Blossom drew her brown coat closer to her as a strong gust blew past. Her long red hair tried its best to escape the prim ponytail she had bound it in. She was glad she had decided on such a quote unquote unprofessional hair style. Free and flowing might have been pretty but it was terrible for guard duty, even the glorified guard duty she was currently doing.
Her eyes scanned the crowd as they packed together in front of the platform on which she stood. She sat on a chair placed on the far right corner, but it offered her a good view of the masses. There weren't very many, perhaps only four hundred people or so. This was a controlled event. Press only.
They wouldn't want any rabble rousers disrupting the ceremony now would they?
"Not only is this a museum dedicated to our illustrious heroes who fought against insurmountable odds, this place is for the people who persevered and survived the horrible reign of the dictator Mojo Jojo!"
The booming voice came from the man at the center of the stage, President Marcus McCoy. His bravado was perfect for the type of crowd they had today. The press loved him. They also loved the Powerpuff Girls, which explained Blossom's current position on stage.
Her part to play was twofold. One, sit pretty and look good for the cameras. Two, make sure nothing terrible happened that would look bad for the cameras. Simple, no?
If only.
Another gust of wind flew by and nearly blew off the President's hat. He managed to stuff it down on his hair in a dignified manner. Then again, that described pretty much everything President McCoy did. He was dignity personified. When one thought of a man that fit the presidential mold, McCoy was the one you thought of. Blossom only hoped that she too displayed the same sort of confidence he exuded.
They needed to put their best foot forward today. The press had to see only the best of what the Resistan-ahem the Alliance had to offer.
Unfortunately, the state of city was rather hard to hide which was why this ceremony had to go off without a hitch. There might be riots going on blocks away, but here behind the large museum walls there was only the calm boredom of a ceremony that had dragged on a little too long.
But if Blossom's mental clock was correct, it should be wrapping up right about…
"And so it is with great pleasure, I get to officially declare the Museum of Victory open!"
Now.
The crowd cheered with applause as President McCoy snapped his gaudy pair of giant scissors down on a large red ribbon. The fabric danced in the wind and would have flown away if not for the quick reflexes of several stage hands.
The small snafu went unnoticed by the crowd as the series of double doors behind the stage were thrown open. The President and his staff led the way into the gigantic museum as his security started siphoning reporters through.
On his way to the doors, President McCoy gave Blossom a smile and a pat on the shoulder. "This museum wouldn't be possible without you and your sisters Blossom. Thank you for your hard work."
"My pleasure sir." She replied in turn.
The gaggle of state officials exited the stage, passed through the entrance, and were lost to her sight. She and her partner on stage stayed where they were. They were on guard duty remember?
"The Museum of Victory? What an absolutely mediocre name. Pray tell, who came up with such an austere and magnificent title?" Her partner murmured.
Blossom tore her eyes away from the crowd and shot Brick a small glare. "The President did. So you should probably show some respect. It's not that bad."
"But it's not that good either. Someone should tell him to leave the christening to the professionals. Someone like maybe his personal assistant?" He replied throwing a pointed look at her.
Blossom rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not his personal assistant Brick. I work for Vice President Bellum and that's it."
"Could have fooled me." He replied dryly as he returned his eyes to the masses of people forming lines to enter the museum. He did not look impressed with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding them. The chill wind didn't even seem to bother him in his nicely creased leather jacket.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh come off it. He pulls you into so many meetings as a 'consultant' that you might as well be working for him. Tell me, when's he going to elect you to his cabinet? You'd get full support from everyone in the city you know. Then together you could spread peace, love, and all that other bullshit he spouts."
Blossom frowned at the redhead beside her. The insinuation that she was the President's lackey was not lost on her. Brick was a surly bastard at times to be sure, but even this was a little more venomous than normal for him. In fact, she was inclined to call him pouty right now.
"Look Brick, I know you don't want to be here and neither do I, but we have to. So suck it up and stop being such a grump. Just because you hate being in the public eye doesn't give you a free pass to act like a petulant child."
"Well it should." His pout grew even more peevish as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Now you're just acting like Butch when he doesn't get his way."
"I am not."
"Are too."
"Am no-" He cut himself off mid-retort and snapped his mouth shut. A small blush dusted his cheeks and he pulled at the baseball cap sitting on his head.
Blossom smiled lightly at the move. It was fitting to see him in a hat.
He had cycled through a number of them since he lost his old one in the blast that nearly took off his face. The red cap he currently wore didn't look much like its predecessor, not with the thick black stripe going down the middle of it. He said it felt similar though which meant she had done well when she gave it to him for his birthday two months ago.
He hadn't taken it off since so she was counting that as a victory.
Blossom let her smile fall away and tried to catch his eye. "Come on, what's bugging you? We only have to be here a few hours. Even you, Mr. Antisocial, can handle that."
"Maybe, as long as none of those reporters pester me for tabloid fodder. I swear to all that is evil if I see one picture of me on those stupid gossip magazines tomorrow…" He trailed off with a glare towards the crowd.
A smile turned Blossom's mouth again. "Oh so you read gossip magazines in your free time? Huh, never would have pegged you for that sort of literature Brick."
His glare snapped to her and her smile grew wider.
"That's not what I meant and you know it Blossy."
"I know but I was specifically told not to let you intimidate the press. Glaring at them counts as such. And hey, if you don't want to appear in any tabloids, I'd drop the glare. From their perspective, it probably looks like we're flirting right now." She finished with a big, fake grin.
Instantly his glare dropped and his sullen expression slid into something more stoic.
She couldn't keep from chuckling at his reaction, which of course only made his glare return. Then he realized what he was doing again. Letting out an aggravated growl, he turned away from her all together.
Poor Brick, she really shouldn't tease him so. She knew how he felt about being amongst the public. He was a Rowdyruff Boy, a former villain, and on top of it all, a recluse. He'd much rather be in the lab with the Professor than out here.
She could understand that, but orders were orders. The President wanted all the 'Heroes of the Last Battle' here for the grand opening of the museum. It'd be a slight not to come out and participate.
Plus the military needed all the help they could get for the event. There were a lot of people here and making sure nothing went wrong was key.
Blossom returned her gaze back towards the dwindling crowd. They filed into the museum in a surprisingly orderly fashion. The gardens in which the stage was setup in were already more than half empty. Honestly, she hadn't expected that.
Gatherings of hundreds of people were rarely so organized or civil…or maybe she was just cynical now? That was a strong possibility. The sheer volume of protests that had occurred over the last six months had given her a dim view on society as a whole.
Why were people so eager to protest the institution that was trying to help them? It didn't make any sense, although she worked in the government. Maybe that gave her a detached perspective from the citizens of New Townsville and the world at large?
She wasn't sure. It was a possibility. But then again also were riots breaking out. That never shed a great light on any cause, just or not.
Either way, she had to be here and make sure nothing bad happened. Even now there were marches going on. One was happening right here in the city as a matter of fact.
Would they dare march down the avenue that bordered the museum's premise? If that happened there would be an inevitable clash with security. The bad press to follow would ruin the entire event and papers everywhere would proclaim the Alliance's incompetency.
Wouldn't that be a PR mess? Given the many the Alliance had suffered in the last few months, she really hoped it wouldn't come to that.
They were trying their best but new governments were rarely without their hiccups. There was so much to do and never enough time to do it. Security. Health. Education. Infrastructure. Jobs. Foreign Relations. It was all so much.
She would admit they were doing better than most of the other countries reestablishing themselves after Mojo's rule. President McCoy had planned for this for ten long years. He and his cabinet had better have had an operational plan in place.
Still the human factor was taking them all by surprise. Yes, there were fewer health services and hospitals available to the population of New Townsville than they needed. And yes, there was only one over crowded school that was still trying to figure out its curriculum. And yes, there was barely a police force and a heavy military presence to keep the peace. And yes, there were no real jobs besides government ones available. And yes-
You know what? There were a lot a problems and she knew that. But every day they were working to create solutions. If the citizens would only see it that way things would be so much better.
The unfortunate truth was that if things in the city and the surrounding nation didn't improve soon, they would be poised to fall into a mess of chaos again. And in chaos, evil thrived.
She couldn't let that happen. Not after all she had done to get rid of it in the first place. Blossom was dedicated to the Alliance and she was going to see it succeed. And if part of that meant she had to pose as a PR dummy to the cameras, so be it.
"Blossom!" The sound of her name drew the Puff out of her thoughts and she looked down to see an eager camera man smiling at her. "A picture for The Telegraph?"
"Of course." She answered demurely.
A sly elbow to the side got Brick to look their way as the reporter focused his camera on them both. She gave the camera a happy grin as the flash went off.
Brick did not.
"Thank you very much!" The reporter called out as he moved back into the crowd and disappeared inside.
"You could have attempted a smile."
"I don't smile." Brick emphasized that point with a glare. "Especially not for cameras."
Blossom sighed and shook her head. Somethings never changed.
Instead of fighting with him, she let her gaze wander over the masses and back towards the momentous building that celebrated their great victory. It was truly a sight to see and that was saying something in a city like New Townsville.
Amongst the metropolis of skyscrapers and towers, the museum stood out due to an entirely unorthodox reason: its gardens.
They were truly wondrous. The museum took up a whole city block but a little more than half of that was dedicate to its gardens. And yes, there was more than one. The main gardens encircled the building. Trees and bushes of all different kinds lined the museum's exterior walls while flower lined paths cut through the grass in sweeping patterns. The paths all led to the gleaming white marbled entrance which was a sight in and of itself.
But the flowers. Those truly took ones breath away. She couldn't name half of them. Bubbles probably could, but she herself was at a loss. They were gorgeous to look at though. It would be a miracle if they survived today with the hundreds of feet trampling about.
Too bad those feet couldn't trample the other staple to the gardens: the many topiaries.
Ugh. Just the thought of them made Blossom want to hide in her jacket. They were so embarrassing.
While the idea of having living statues to symbolize the new life and continued growth of humanity was nice, Blossom really wished they hadn't been made in the likeness of the Resistance's most famous members. It was terribly tacky and downright mortifying.
She couldn't help but cringe every time she passed the one dedicated to her. Yes, there was one made in her likeness and yes, it was in the main garden by the entrance along with the other ones dedicated to her sisters.
And yes, it was utterly humiliating.
She avoided it whenever possible. If it wasn't a felony crime to vandalize the museum property she would have asked Buttercup to cut it down in the middle of the night already. But it was unfortunately.
Blossom could do nothing but suck it up and avoid it as best she could. She bet she'd get several reporters asking her to take a picture with it today. Oh Maker preserve her.
"Platform Two, status check. Over."
The crisp voice coming from her radio snapped Blossom out of her thoughts.
"HQ, this is Platform Two. All reporters have moved into the building. Garden is clear. Over."
"Roger that Platform Two. Keep an eye open. Over and out."
Blossom let the button on her com go and shifted her weight. Then she noticed the side long glance Brick was giving her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Right. What is it?" She pressed, not believing him for a second.
"It's nothing." He tried to play it off, looking back over the gardens.
Blossom turned towards him and arched a brow. "Brick, We've been through dozens of life or death situations. Like it or not, I can read your face. Now what's bugging you?"
He let out a short sigh, almost a grunt. "Fine, but remember you pushed. I was just thinking, how long are we going to be stuck doing this sort of shit?"
Blossom blinked in surprise. It usually took more prodding to get him to open up. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. This." He waved a hand around them. "This posturing for the media and the guard duty and being in the public eye. This is bullshit. When will it end? I thought we paid our dues when we took down Mojo, but since then there's just been more and more crap piled on. Last time I check we were both retired from the army."
Blossom grimaced and bit down on her lip. "We didn't retire Brick. We were put on reserve duty."
"And who decided that? Not I." He shot back with some bite. "Not one damn time was I given the choice. Instead it's the same song and dance. I'm still playing the role of muscled stooge for these stuffy suits."
"Brick, you work in the government's science division. You'd be working for them regardless of your military status."
He huffed and crossed his arms. "Yeah but I chose to go into the science division. I didn't choose to be a guard dog that could be brought out and displayed as a show of power when Mr. President felt like it. I'm getting sick of this Blossom. Six damn months. That's how long we've been used."
It was her turn to sigh as she looked him in the eye. Not this conversation again. It seemed like it was cropping up every few weeks now.
"We're not being used. We're helping provide a sense of stability for the citizens of our nation and the world as a whole. We took down Mojo and we have a responsibility to make sure that chaos doesn't erupt again and put us right back where we started."
"No we don't! We corrected our mistake and that's it."
"How can you be so callous?" She said before she could stop herself.
Damn, she shouldn't have responded like that. This was quickly turning from a conversation into an argument.
"How can you be such a bleeding heart? You spent ten years of your life doing what the Resistance told you. Aren't you sick of being a lapdog?"
Blossom gritted her teeth and tried to push back her anger at the comment. Brick was just upset and he was taking it out on her. She wasn't going to fall for it.
"I'm not a lapdog Brick."
"Well you sure act like it. Every time McCoy says jump, you ask how high. When are you going to stop serving other people and live for yourself?"
"I live for myself!" She growled, her anger getting the best of her. They had been over this so many times already. Why was he pushing it? Now of all times?
"Oh so you chose to be here today?" He shot back with a glare.
Blossom raised a finger and pointed it at him to emphasis her words. "I choose to protect the city I fought to make. If you felt one ounce of compassion for anyone other than yourself, you'd see that I'm right!"
"Except you're not!" He barked. "Excuse me for thinking that saving the world was enough. Here I thought that deposing an evil dictator would actually let us be free to do whatever the hell we wanted afterward."
"Well that was ridiculously naïve of you wasn't it? Then again, you wouldn't know about responsibility since you've never been a hero before have you? " She snapped before she could think about her words.
….
Oh shit.
The silence that settled between was more than uncomfortable. It was downright painful.
Shit, shit, shit.
Why had she let herself get riled up like that? This argument was always the same yet they had been falling into it more and more recently. Responsibility versus self-autonomy. It was the crux of it all.
The truth was, she agreed with Brick. She really did. She had already given more than half her life to the cause. She too was tired of being told what to do and where to go. All she wanted was a break.
But none of them got that.
Who knew deposing an evil tyrant was only the beginning of the work when it came to making the world a better place? Setting up a replacement government was a lot harder than anyone had imagined it would be.
Six months in and there was still a tentative balance. The riots and unrest were supposed to be over by now but they still persisted as weekly events. The other governments of the world were forming and toppling every other month or so it seemed. Theirs could be next!
That didn't even begin to cover the terrorists and gangs and warlords running rampant. They sought power and wealth and no one really stood in their way. The provincial governments were hard pressed to keep their own citizens under control. They had no hopes of stopping villains that sought to fill the vacuum left behind by Mojo's downfall.
It was pure chaos on a global level. To use a term Buttercup was most fond of, it was a giant cluster fuck.
And Blossom was stuck in the middle of it all. It was wearing down on her and everyone else. Things were supposed to be easy after all the fighting, but that wasn't the case.
Goodness. She just wanted a break. She needed it. Yet she couldn't stop. There was always something that needed to be done.
Snapping at her friends wasn't one of those things though.
Blossom closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "Brick I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
A hand landed on her shoulder. The shock of it made her open her eyes and look up. Brick looked down at her with regret painted on his face. This was rare. The Rowdyruff hated physical interaction of any sort. For him to initiate it was even more unusual.
"It's okay Blossom. I shouldn't have said anything. We're all dissatisfied with the way things are right now and we're all stressed and tired." Here he cleared his throat and looked away. "I'm…sorry too. For being an ass, I mean. We've had this argument before and I knew how it was going to turn out but I pushed. I'm a jerk."
"You're not a jerk. I'm a jerk." She replied with self-deprecating smile.
"Alright, how about we're both jerks and we both let the issue go huh?"
She let her smile turn true and gave him a nod. He flashed his patented smirk back at her.
It was a moment of understanding…and that moment was then abruptly ruined by the flash of a camera.
Both of them turned to see the same reporter from earlier grinning at the duo like a cat that had just caught a mouse. "Damn I don't know what you guys were talking about but that picture's going to be front page material gold baby."
Blossom was quick to grab onto Brick's jacket as he took an angry step towards the man. The redhead was pissed and it was quite easy to tell. The reporter noticed the sudden turn in the air and back peddled with a frightened look.
"Sir, you should go inside with the other reporters. I'm sure there are much better photo opportunities to be had." Blossom said with a strained smile as she pushed her way in front of Brick. He still wore a glare and that glare could make even Butch flinch.
"Ye-yeah. I'll, I'll do that." The report blurted out before scurrying away.
"That son of a bitch." Brick growled as Blossom let him go.
"Now, now you can't blame the guy for trying to do his job."
"No, but I could track him down, break his camera, and then threaten his life." He replied, straightening his jacket.
"That's too much work and we both know it." Blossom said, calling out his bluff.
Brick favored her with a deadpan stare before sniffing and dropping the subject. The Pink Puff smiled as he scratched at his scarred face.
It had healed remarkably well from the blast damage done to it in the final battle. An explosion like that would have killed a normal man, but Brick had survived. The scar remained true, but wounds like that never truly went away.
Patches of red blotted the otherwise pale skin on the left half of his face. Almost vein like mounds of scar tissue trailed up his cheek and framed his eye. There were patches of hair still struggling to grow back but for the most part he looked remarkably normal.
At least to her he did. The tabloids and newspapers had other unpleasant remarks about it which was one of the main reasons Brick hated them so.
The scrutiny him and his brothers had undergone the first few months was horrible. The newspaper had questioned everything: their motives, their past, their relationships with the Girls. Hell! Even how they looked and what they wore!
It was ridiculous. Unfortunately, it was still ongoing too.
Here's hoping "The Telegraph" painted Brick in a better light with that picture.
Noticing her unintentional scrutiny, Brick shifted his weight uncomfortably and turned his head away.
"So um…what are we doing now? Continue guarding this place until the event's over?"
Blossom blushed pink at being caught staring and hurriedly looked over at the empty garden.
"Um. I think we're supposed to stay here? Yeah, um yeah. That's what we're supposed to do. Unless there's an incident or something."
"…Cool."
An awkward silence hung between them for a long few minutes as they stood next to one another. Blossom struggled to think of something to say but nothing came to mind. She couldn't stop mentally berating herself for staring at him so long.
It shouldn't have been awkward right? They were friends. They could stare at each other and it not be weird…right?
Obviously not if this was the result. Ugh. Why was she so emotional today? Oh who was she kidding, she was emotional most days. The underlying stress of helping running a government made her so. She was usually just better at controlling it.
"I'm glad Butch and the Banshee were able to make it back in time for museum opening." Brick spoke up, breaking the silence.
"You are?" She blurted out, reaching for anything that would put the odd moment behind them.
"Yeah. I shouldn't be the only one suffering this lame grand opening." He replied with a smirk.
Blossom let out a laugh as the last of the awkwardness fell away. "Ah, yeah that makes more sense now."
He turned to look at her. "You think they're having as much fun as we are?"
She let out another laugh and nodded her head. "Oh yeah. They have door duty. Rest assured they are suffering much more than we are right now. We get to be on this stage, but they're down in amongst the masses."
A smirk lifted Brick's lips. "Good. That brat pranked me before he left. He deserves punishment."
"And you deem that a worthy punishment?"
"I do. Just the thought of Butch having to answer a hundred different questions being thrown at him from those gossip hungry journalists makes me smile."
The both of them shared a laugh at the thought of Butch being swarmed by paparazzi. He was probably cursing up a storm right now. It would do nothing to help his image in the press but it was a classic Butch thing to do. She'd deal with the fallout later no doubt. For now, she'd laugh about it.
"I'm sure you'll hear about it later, in very vulgar and outrageous terms."
"Eh maybe." He said with a shrug. "I'll probably try and push it off on Boomer though. He actually likes listening. I blame that on your sister's influence."
Blossom smiled and bobbed her head. "I don't know. From what Bubbles tells me, Boomer has always been a good listener. Maybe you just never talked to him enough to find out?"
"And engage another person in conversation? You do remember who you're talking to don't you?" He jested.
Another chuckle escaped her as Blossom shook her head. And this was where things were weird with Brick. One moment could be so completely awkward but then the next everything was totally fine. It was like talking to someone she had known her whole life…yet they had only known each a little over a year.
It was odd. She could still remember when every conversation with Brick was hard fought and she had to pry each word from him as if by force. Now words flew between them easily. There wasn't a day that went by where she didn't talk to the Ruff in some fashion.
Damn, now that she thought about it, she talked to him more than she did her sisters now a days. That wasn't hard to do mind you, what with Buttercup running around the globe putting out threats to national and global security and all. Bubbles was stationed in New Townsville, but she was so busy with her various jobs that it was hard to find time where the blonde wasn't working.
Same could be said for Blossom herself. It did help that Brick worked in the same building as her. Maybe that's all it was. Close proximity usually made friends from the oddest of couples. She and Brick were no exception.
She valued that friendship. All day long she was surrounded by politicians and bureaucrats twice her age if not more so. It was good to have someone close by that was within her same generation. Most young adults like her were working in factories or stores. She had to get friends where she could find them.
And Brick was a pretty good one…when they weren't arguing.
"Hey you see that?" The Ruff's voice drew her attention and Blossom looked towards him.
He nodded towards the museum entrance. "That guy wearing the sunglasses and the bulky coat?"
The Pink Puff scanned the crowd milling by the doors and located the man quickly. He didn't stand out much, but something did draw her eye to him. Blossom squinted as she took in his appearance.
He was of average height, wearing a puffy grey coat with a ballcap and sunglasses on. Now that wouldn't have been unusual…if the sun was actually out. As it stood, the overcast skies were dim and even her sensitive eyes weren't strained in the slightest.
The only reasonable explanation her paranoid mind could come up with was that this guy wanted his face hidden for some reason. Reasons like that were never good.
Blossom flicked on her radio and murmured into it. "HQ, this is Platform Two. We have a suspicious character coming towards Door Three. White male, grey coat, black hat, and sunglasses. Immediate action is advised."
A few seconds later a reply cracked through the com. "Roger that Platform Two. HQ is advised and is sending word to Door Three now."
Blossom turned off her radio and nodded towards her counterpart. "Good eye Brick. That guy is up to no good. Our men are moving to apprehend him now."
Brick frowned as he continued to watch the man get closer to the door way. "You think he's got an explosive of some kind."
A grimace fell across Blossom's face. "Goodness I hope not. I'd much rather have the regular loons who think we're all part of some secret society and want to show the world proof. But if this guy is dangerous, he's heading towards our best defense."
Brick's frown momentarily turned into a savage grin.
"Punk won't know what hit him."
Butch's POV
"Door Three, suspicious persons entering your domain. White male, grey coat, black hat, sunglasses. Threat level unknown. Take care of it. Back up in route. Over."
The words spoken through his earpiece shocked Butch out of his boredom induced coma and sent a thrill through his veins.
A suspicious person? Hallelujah! The perfect excuse to get away from these damn reporters!
He was much too professional to let a grin split his face but damn if it didn't try. A smirk might have shown but that was it! Schooling his features into something more menacing, he glanced at his partner and gave her a nod.
If Buttercup was excited she didn't let it show. She probably wasn't though. She had become quite the fuddy duddy since being promoted to Major Utonium. Ooo, so special.
Bleh. More like Major Buzzkill.
She still liked to kick ass but now there were rules to think about and such. It made her a drag to be around when they were working. Don't do this Butch, don't do that. No you can't break the terrorist's arm. No you can't do the interrogation.
Rules, rules, and more rules!
Like he had said, bleh. She was technically his commander though so he had to follow her rules. It sucked balls but he'd rather do that than be trapped at some desk job like his dumb brothers.
You'd never see him wear a tie.
"Butch." A harsh whisper came from his counterpart and a glare followed it.
Oh right! Bogey approaching!
Butch straightened up and located the target. He was maybe fifty feet away and fast approaching. He glanced at Buttercup and lifted a brow. She responded with a few quick hand gestures and he nodded back.
Ah yes, the old Bait and Tackle. Butters did the baiting and he did the tackling! Damn he loved that maneuver. Seemed a bit odd to do in such a crowded area but he wasn't one to question an order.
…Unless that last hand sign had meant Escort…Shit. He was still trying to learn all of them. There were so many! It was hard to remember what went with what.
Butters must have seen the confusion on his face cause she let out a sigh and repeated the hand gesture again, more slowly.
Yep. It was Bait and Escort. Damn.
That was much less fun.
The Green Ruff frowned but nodded anyway. Direct orders and all. Butters rolled her eyes but then pointed him off towards the perp.
Great, he was the Bait.
Holding back a groan, Butch put on his best cocky grin and walked right up to the man. "Hey there pal! Bet you were wanting an autograph huh? I could see it a mile away."
He looped an arm around the guys back and turned him around. From the corner of his eye, Butch could see Buttercup motioning to the other guards to surround them.
"Wha? No, no. I uh, don't want an autograph. I'm just trying to get into the museum." The guy sputtered.
Butch gave him an indulgent grin and held up a hand as he pushed him back down the steps. "Dude, it's totally cool to want an autograph. Doesn't matter that you're a grown man. I get it a lot trust me. Besides, why go into the museum when you have a chance to talk to living history right here?"
The man looked super uncomfortable as Butch escorted him down the steps. The last of the press that were filing through the doors seemed to have finally noticed the activity and were turning around to get footage. Butters already had a good six men backing her up as they advanced behind Butch.
He just needed to stall for a few more seconds.
Butch waved his hand in front of the both of them. "Just think of it! Exclusive one on one interview with one of the heroes who took down Mojo Jojo. Do you know how many reporters ask me for that? Daily?"
The dude continued to struggle to get out of Butch's grip, but please. There was no way that was going to happen. He might not have had super strength but he could still toss a man ten yards away. Probably closer to twenty.
"I'm not a reporter though! I don't want an autograph. I just need to get inside! Let me go!" His voice changed from confused to indignant as he realized Butch wasn't letting go to him.
And that of course made Butch hold on even harder.
"Not a reporter huh? Curious to how you got into a press only event then." Butch's tone changed from jovial to menacing as he glared down at the perp.
Puffy Coat realized he slipped up and the panic bled back into his face again. "What? No, no, I meant-"
"It doesn't matter what you meant you're coming with us." Butters interrupted as she came up behind him and seized his arms.
With quick efficiency, the other six guards moved to surrounded them and the man was cuffed. It all happened in less than twenty seconds which Butch was pretty sure that was a record.
The guards did a quick pat down and found only a single pistol and a suicide note. Both were handed off to Buttercup as she moved in the front of the man and looked him square in the eyes.
"I'm only going to ask this once, what were you trying to do and who are you working for?"
Puffy Coat raged against the soldiers holding him tight. The effort he put into getting free was sorta impressive but ultimately futile. If he did manage to shake them Butch was right here to snatch him back. And ain't no way he was getting out of his grip.
"Argh, let me go!"
Butch looked towards Buttercup and raised a brow. "Should I calm him down a bit? A quick punch to the stomach, that's all it'd take."
Butters shook her head. "Nah, last time you did that we had to clean up puke and I am not risking that right now. I just shined these boots."
"Killjoy." Butch muttered as he looked back at their captive.
A solid minute passed by until the man calmed down somewhat. He still occasionally thrashed but at least he wasn't frothing at the mouth anymore. Maybe they could get some information out of him after all.
"Hey! The lady asked you a question." Butch gave him a little shove for good measure.
"I'm not saying anything to you freaks! You deceivers! All you do is lie and pull the puppet strings! We will not be controlled! You hear me?!"
Oh great, a bonafide nut job. Butch frowned with disgust and looked at Butters. "Send him up the river? Let the commander deal with him?"
"Yep. Take him away boys. And for goodness sakes, shut him up. We've already made too much of a scene."
Two of the soldiers holding the man gave Buttercup nods and proceeded to wrestle him across the grass to the mobile command center. The other guards returned to their posts as the Green pair strolled back to their own.
"What a nutcase. I'm surprised he didn't try anything at speech."
Buttercup shook her head. "Too many eyes on the crowd then. Our sniper team would have taken him out the second he did something suspicious. There's going to be another little speech held inside at the memorial later. That would be the better opportunity."
Butch conceded her point with a shrug. "I guess you're right. Who do you think he's working for? Germany?"
"No way. The Prime minister is here and he's a one of our closest allies from what Blossom was telling me."
"Maybe he's part of the radical fringe? I mean, did you hear that accent?"
"He's probably in a separatist organization. There have been a few of them gaining power recently, and from what I hear, they're causing a shit ton of ruckus all across Europe."
Butch frowned. "You mean like 'Humanity Released?'"
It was Buttercup's turn to shrug. "Possibly? Who knows? The boys in Interrogation will figure out the details. The only thing we have to focus on is making sure no other funny business happens today."
"Oh but come on Butters. You gotta admit, it's pretty damn important if we got crazies hoping the pond to come terrorize the biggest ceremony of the Alliance. That's like a whole shit ton of other problems we gotta deal with now."
"Look at it this way Butch." Buttercup said coming to a halt. "Even if this guy is part of 'Humanity Released' or some other type of organization, we're already on the case. We've been scouting those guys for months and plotting their movements."
"Yeah, but we don't have a freaking clue who the leaders are. Every hotshot we think is the head guy turns out to be some lame spokesman that don't know nothing. How can we stop them if we don't know who's leading the bastards?"
"I don't know Butch." Buttercup gave a frustrated sigh. "But it's not our problem right now. When the higher ups figure this mess out, they'll send us and the ATA Squad to go take care of it. Until then, we do as we're told. The important thing is that we stopped him and prevented a press field day."
Butch grimaced and looked over his shoulder at the masses pointing cameras and microphones their way. "I'm not too sure about that, Butters. Fuck, I hate paparazzi."
Buttercup matched his frown with one of her own. "Me too, but look at it this way, it could be worse. You could be wearing a tux."
His face went from disgusted to even more disgusted as he pretended to gag. Or maybe it was real. He couldn't tell. The amount of hate he harbored for formal wear was very real. Thank evil he hadn't been forced into one of those pieces of shit.
He much preferred his regular reserve uniform thank you very much. He would have liked to have been wearing his regular cloths but stupid protocols apparently had to be followed.
At least, that's what General Allen had said when he threatened him this morning.
Just 'cause the guy was technically his boss he thought he had the right to order Butch around. If he didn't have the power to ground him from any tactical operation, Butch would have socked the big guy months ago. As it stood, that was high military offense or some nonsense.
He probably would have laughed it off and punched Butch right back but he wasn't really willing to take that chance. Butters would be pissed at him for getting in the trouble. He was her responsibility afterall.
That still bugged him.
Sure, he was now an official member of the Alliance army, but he still had to have a keeper. He might have had a bad past but he thought he had proven himself with the Last Battle. He had helped take out an evil dictator for evil's sake!
That didn't amount to much in the generals' eyes apparently.
Whatever. He still got to go on the most dangerous and awesome missions. They were with Butters too so that made it cooler. She was a badass, you know, for a Puff. And a plus, Mitch wasn't with them anymore.
Stupid bastard had been promoted to Captain and now led his own section of the ATA Squad. ATA Bravo they were called. Not as good as Alpha but they got the job done, and there were plenty of jobs to do.
Who knew the world would be such a mess after Mojo? Riots all over the globe, warlords running amuck, and terrorists galore. They had been to over thirty different countries in the last six months. Thirty! It was just work, work, work for him and Butters.
He wasn't saying he didn't like it. He got paid to professionally beat people up. No better job for him than that. But still, a vacation would have been nice. Hopefully they'd get some down time after this stupid ass event was over. Speaking of which…
"Come on." Buttercup said, pulling open the double door. "We're on inside duty now. Remember to smile for the cameras."
"Fucking A." Butch groaned as he followed her inside.
AN: HEY THERE FANFICTION PEEPS! Yes, after six months and a week delay it's finally here! Convictions! Thank you guys so much for your patience! I know you've all been really wanting this but posting it earlier just wasn't an option. There is so much going on in my life right now I'm actually proud I was able to make this deadline!
Anyways, enough excuses. What did you all think? Pardon me for any typos or bad writing. I'm a little out of practice but I'm feeling much better about the new direction of the story. I think you're all going to like it too.
So please follow/favorite the story and be sure to leave a review! I will be replying to them just like last time. I'm looking forward to hearing from old friends and gaining new one!
Oh one major note! I will be updating on a bi-weekly schedule this time around. I simply have too much on my plate to keep up the weekly updates like on Misconceptions. I hope that doesn't upset you all too much.
So thank you everyone that's been eagerly awaiting this sequel! I hope it lives up to expectations.
Next Week: We've seen what the Reds and Greens are up to. But what of the Blues? What part do they play in this new world? Find out next time! Chapter 2: The Power Couple.
See you in two weeks!
