Swimming Solo
Narrator The City of Townsville, late May.
Blossom found herself on the beach docks again, wanting to clear her head. Her sisters, Bubbles and Buttercup, had gotten into yet another massive argument. And at this point, she was getting tired of doing this.
She sighed. "I'm beginning to see why Bubbles doesn't like arguing," she said to herself out loud. "It gets irritating, especially if you're the third wheel in the conversation."
The pink Powerpuff looked out into the vast blue expanse. Although she was lost in thought already, she did have some inkling of an idea…better than just sitting on her duff for the umpteenth time. "Hmm…maybe a good swim will calm me down."
Blossom stood up and did a few stretches. "It's a pity I didn't bring my swimsuit…ah well, just something I'll have to explain later." She did a few practice breaths before finally diving into the water.
She resurfaced not long after, taking in her surroundings. The ocean at this time of day was nice and peaceful, and yet…
"Hm, not much to see up here," Blossom said. She looked down to the water, giggling. "I wonder what I can find underwater?" With that, she took a deep breath and went under.
Luckily for her, the view from below the surface was quite clear. The ocean floor wasn't too far down, and she could see some reefs up ahead. Intrigued, she swam down to take a look.
The reefs were diverse and beautiful to look at, with many fish surrounding them. Blossom swam slowly through, not wanting to disturb the locals. The cute little redhead couldn't help but feel tickled at the sight—looks like the City above wasn't the only thing hustling and bustling around here! She barely managed to hold back a gurgled laugh.
Blossom had a good, long while before she needed to come up for air (she was a Powerpuff Girl, after all), so she took this time to find a resting spot. Spying a likely comfy rock near her, she swam up to it and sat down on top, giving her an excellent view of the reefs.
Everything looks so gorgeous, Blossom thought. This beats the docks by a long shot! She smiled through her puffed-up cheeks. Boy, am I glad I came down here!
Narrator Just then, to her surprise, Blossom heard someone speaking from a ways behind her…and speaking quite clearly, from the sound of it. She actually jumped a tiny bit at this.
What the…? Blossom turned slightly so she could hear these mysterious voices a little better. Her supersonic hearing was slightly hindered underwater, so she couldn't utilize it too well. …Scuba divers? That was the first thought to enter her mind. It would explain how they could speak so clearly, despite being surrounded by water.
"…Bobble." Curious, Blossom started to swim over to where she thought the voices were coming from.
After a good minute or so of swimming, the redheaded Powerpuff managed to follow the voices down a cliff face and into a small submarine canyon. Peeking out from behind some coral, she managed to get a good look at who was speaking. Strangely enough, it wasn't a pair of scuba divers at all, but instead, a pair of fish people.
One of them was tall and burly, and didn't appear to be too bright at first glance. The other, the apparent leader of the two, looked smarter and was quite shorter, about Blossom's size if one took the hairbow into account. They both seemed to be standing in front of a large mechanism similar to a marine dome.
Blossom was baffled at this. What could these two fish people be talking about? She listened closely, her curiosity having peaked.
"…And you're sure even the mass-produced ones are sturdily built?" the short one inquired.
"O' course, mister Brittle," said the top-heavy one. "Everything' ye see 'ere was made from rare minerals ye can't get up on the surface. We 'ad tae scour the dark abyss tae find most of 'em."
The short one, Brittle, took one last look at the mysterious mech. "Hmm…excellent work, Stevenson," came his reply. "By noon tomorrow, we should launch our invasion. If everything proceeds exactly as planned, and those Powerpuff Girls are taken out of the picture quickly, the City above should become nothing more than a manmade atoll come nightfall."
They're planning to destroy Townsville…and dig up an atoll in its place?! Blossom became shocked at this revelation. So many innocent lives will be lost! I've got to stop this before it starts! Determined, the pink Powerpuff jumped out from her hiding place and swam into the canyon.
Stevenson the Stocky managed to catch Blossom swimming near them, and freaked out. "'Ey, Boss? Y-ye might wanna look behind ye! I-I-I think it's one o' dem Powerpuffs!" Brittle turned around to see Blossom plant her feet firmly onto the canyon floor. Despite this, he did not seem the least bit stunned. "Hm…so it is."
Blossom's stance was proud and heroic, and she tried coming up with a defiant speech to try and shake their resolve.
"Brblittlebl, ybloubl wblillbl nblotbl blbe tblakblingbl thblisbl rbloblbotbl upbl tobl thble sblurfblacebl wblithbl ybloubl tobl dblestrbloybl Tblownsvblillebl! Asbl abl prblotblectblorbl ofbl thblisbl prbloudbl Cblitybl, Ibl wblon'tbl allblowbl anbly innblocblentbl lblivesbl tobl blbe clblaimbledbl blby yblourbl hblandsbl! Fblorbl Ibl ambl Blblossblombl, lbleadblerbl ofbl thble Pblowblerpbluffbl Gblirlsbl, anbld Ibl…"
"Okay, okay, okay, save your breath, Powerpuff." Brittle's interruption came swiftly. Blossom blushed red, embarrassed—the two fish men weren't even a little bit unnerved by her speech. Of course, her being surrounded by water meant that all that came out of her mouth was gurgles.
Brittle walked up to her in a very business-y, almost casual fashion. "So, I take it you were sent here to try and stop our plans at the source?" He chuckled slightly. "I must say, your family's quite resourceful, at least for air-breathing humans…or in your case, whatever you're supposed to be."
Blossom glared at Brittle, offended by his remark. Was he implying she and her sisters weren't real humans just because they were created in a lab? Stevenson the Stocky couldn't help but laugh as Brittle was making his way back. "Oh good gravy, the look on 'er face! Ye got 'er good, boss!" "Yes, I'm aware, Stevenson," came Brittle's reply, with an added smirk on his face and a high-five for good measure.
Brittle turned his attention back to Blossom. "Now then, if you insist on beating me, Blossom, then go ahead and try." Brittle grinned maliciously as he pulled out a remote and pressed a red button. "I'm going to love using you as my power source."
The red button activated the machine, revealing it as a giant robot. It emerged from the ground, its hand lifting Brittle and his brawny accomplice up into its chasse.
Blossom readied herself, swimming up to face the mechanized menace, while Brittle and Stevenson made their way up to the cockpit.
"Now, be a good li'l Bloss an' come quietly," the bigger one said. "Tetra Corallia could benefit from yer so-called 'Chemical X'." He pushed a lever forward, making one of the arms extend out towards Blossom.
Blossom narrowly avoided the oncoming arm, and got ready to chop it off…but as soon as her hand came down, all that could be heard was the sound of a metallic "clang!" "OWBLW!" She ended up pulling her own arm back and rubbing it tenderly.
Stevenson the Stocky chuckled evilly, looking to his diminutive higher-up. "What'd I tell ye, Boss? Finest minerals the deep abyss got." Brittle was rubbing his tendrils in pain. "Uurgh…yeah, sure."
The robotic arm retracted, and its fingers began launching out missiles, aiming squarely at Blossom. Seeing the missiles coming straight for her, Blossom made an effort to dodge every single one. She then grinned and blew a bubbly raspberry at her two adversaries.
Again, the two fish men weren't frightened at all by this—Brittle gestured for Blossom to turn around. When she did, she yelped in shock—the missiles were coming back for her! In a panic, Blossom dove down out of their way…leaving the robot that fired them in their path.
KABOOM!
As soon as the bubbles cleared, Blossom could see noticeable scorch marks on the robot, and cracks on the cockpit. She couldn't help but smirk. So this bionic bathysphere isn't so invincible after all!
Brittle and Stevenson were still reeling from the explosion. "Ye alright, bossman?" Stevenson asked, rubbing his head. Brittle, flat on his back, could only reply in exasperation. "I DON'T KNOW."
Getting back up, Brittle pulled a lever, making one of the robot's feet lift up. "This has been fun, Powerpuff," he quipped, "but prepare to taste de-FEET!" He pushed the lever back, causing the robot foot to come down towards Blossom. Thankfully, she managed to dodge just in the nick of time.
Blossom fired up her laser eyes and worked her way up from the leg to the chasse. Surprisingly to her, it did little other than leave char marks. Nevertheless, it did at least manage to tick Stevenson off. "Oi! Watch the paint job, will ye?" Blossom could barely contain a gurgly snicker.
Brittle growled. "Grab her!" Stevenson the Stocky pushed both of his levers forward, causing both of the arms to extend towards Blossom. Surprised, she only had time to bat one hand away before being snatched successfully with the other. The arm that grabbed Blossom ended up extending so far out that the hand actually hit her side of the canyon, knocking some air out of her.
Stevenson the Stocky scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Hehehe…sorry, boss, I think I overdid it." Brittle sighed, annoyed. "Nevertheless, you did your part." He turned his eyes over to a big green button. "Now I'll do mine!" Balling one of his hands up into a fist, he slammed it down onto the button.
The two chest plates above the entrance opened up to reveal twenty-four torpedoes—twelve for each side. Without warning, they had all launched, and all were aimed directly at Blossom. Brittle snickered. "Checkmate, Powerpuff."
Seeing the torpedoes headed straight for her, Blossom struggled with the hand she was trapped in, managing to break free—and break the hand in the process. The five closest torpedoes were knocked off-course by this, flailing and exploding near different parts of the canyon. The nineteen that were farther back were still headed for her, leaving her little time to come up with a plan.
Acting on pure reflex, Blossom ended up catching one of the torpedoes…and then the next, and the next, and the next. This was what finally stunned both Brittle and his accomplice. "What the…?!"
Soon all of the torpedoes were piled up into one big ball, and Blossom was ready to return them all to their sender. She wound up and threw the ball with full force, resulting in an explosion large enough to make the robot topple over into the opposite side of the canyon.
While the two fish men were still reeling from the impact, a few rocks fell down from the canyon edge and ended up striking the cockpit's dome. As if the ball of torpedoes was not bad enough, now the two had to deal with headaches from harsh sounds coming from outside. Stevenson the Stocky put it best. "Jeez…is she tryin' tae give us migraines?"
Seeing this happen, Blossom got an idea. Grinning and giggling, she made her way over to the cockpit. All the while, Brittle looked up at her as she swam near. "Now what?"
Cracking her knuckles, Blossom wasted no time in drumming up a beat on the dome of the cockpit. This seemed to be working, as the fish men could feel their headaches getting worse. Brittle could barely hear himself speak. "She's trying to KILL us!" Stevenson the Stocky was likely close to breaking. "Find a 'apply place! FIND A 'APPY PLACE!" Regardless, Blossom kept on drumming, enough for the hard glass dome's cracks to start spreading.
Eventually, the dome had all it could take, and it shattered under the constant pressure. Blossom had worn the robot—and its pilots—down to total exhaustion.
The fish men looked completely frazzled. Brittle was breathing heavily and pale as a bleached coral, and Stevenson found himself in a fetal position whimpering in fear.
Blossom swam down to check on the two, touching down next to Brittle. The shaken fish man looked up at her, completely unnerved. "Well…I guess it's safe to say I never expected this." Even his voice had a tremble to it.
Blossom folded her arms and lowered her eyelids. "Inbl mybl dblefblensebl, ybloubl dblidbl trbly tobl invbladebl usbl." Brittle tried to steady himself and get up. "What did I say, Powerpuff? Save your breath."
Brittle took a moment to calm his nerves. "Heed my words, Blossom…all you've done is delay the inevitable. The surface invasion WILL happen, even if we have to go all the way back to square one. Tetra Corallia will make sure of this…"
Blossom raised an eyebrow at this. "…Tbletrbla Cblorblalliabl?" Before she could get a straight answer out of Brittle, he pulled on his own tie, encasing both him and his accomplice in floating bubbles. The two then floated out of the canyon, without even a "we'll be back" or anything.
Before Blossom could even think of tracking them down, her own lungs caught up with her. "Mm…blrbglp!" Covering her mouth, she began making her way to the surface, leaving a trail of pink behind her.
"Pwaaah-haa…!" Within a few seconds, the pink Powerpuff was back on surface level. She was panting rather heavily…she had been underwater for some time. "Well…at the very least, that got my mind off current events."
Blossom floated in the water for a few moments more, in thought. She folded her arms once again. "Still, I can't help but wonder…what was Brittle talking about when he mentioned 'Tetra Corallia'? …Someone he's working for, maybe?"
Blossom turned her head towards the beach—either she had started drifting away, or the canyon was just that far out. She sighed. "I guess there's no point in dwelling on it. In any case, the real threat we need to prepare for is Brittle's invasion. No knowing when exactly it'll happen…best to warn everyone in advance."
With that, Blossom began to float out of the water…and immediately noticed her wet clothes. She groaned at this, her dress stubbornly sticking to her, and her white socks showing off some of her skin. "…Y'know what? I think the clothes can wait." Her mind made up, she took to the skies, setting a course for home.
(The standard end shot comes up.)
Narrator: And so, once again, the day is saved, thanks…to Blossom!