I'm back! Managed to finish what I wanted to for this chapter to I'm set for the semester here! Still have some drafting to do for Favor's Fortune but I'll be able to focus on that now that I have this drafted up. Still have lot's of edits to do. I probably should have given this one a last read through since I know there was a point or two I really wasn't the happiest with but I was happy enough that it made it through the other rounds of edits so it's fine. Maybe one day I'll read through this whole thing and smooth out those points I'm only like 75% happy with (probably won't happy for a while with how long this thing has gotten!).
Anyways, thanks as always for all the follows, likes, and comments! I love that you guys are enjoying this story! Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
"Mojo! You better be in!" Buttercup yelled into the observatory as she threw the front door open. Boomer quickly followed her in, Bubbles cradled carefully against his chest.
"What is the cause of your infernal, insufferable shouting, that is to say the very loud-"
"Can it chimp. We need help," Boomer said cutting him off. He wasn't in the mood for his creator's rambles at the moment. He followed Buttercup further into the observatory. She grabbed Mojo as she went past him causing him to squawk.
"Cease and desist you green brute of a Powerpuff girl!"
"Yeah, ain't happening. We need you to check Bubbles now monkey."
"Let him go Buttercup," Brick's voice rang out as he flew into the observatory. She turned and glared, and Boomer couldn't help but agree. They needed the chimp to move quickly which didn't seem to Mojo's M.O. anymore so what was wrong with speeding this whole thing along a little?
Blossom followed shortly after and her glare cut through them both. Buttercup let Mojo go at the look and Boomer swallowed. The pink puff was not happy. She turned away from them though and looked to the kitchen, the edge in her eyes sharpening. If looks could kill...
...it wouldn't do anything as the literally devil himself walked into the room.
"Blossom my dear, how nice to see you!" Him said as he threw his arms open. Boomer swallowed at the sight of Him and Buttercup tensed. Neither Brick nor Blossom reacted though.
"Him. Were a little busy right now so we don't have time to play games," Brick said, the glow in his eyes dangerous. Boomer gulped at the sight. His brother was seriously pissed.
"And I was enjoying my Tuesday tea with Mojo meaning he was busy too."
"Him, unless you plan on helping please just stay out of it," Blossom said as she turned back to Buttercup and Boomer, all but dismissing the devil lobster. Him made a face at that but didn't say anything. Brick kept an eye on Him regardless.
"We need the med room. You still got one?" Boomer asked Mojo. The chimp sighed before gesturing down the stairs.
"Down the stairs, third, that is not the first nor the second, door on the left."
Boomer nodded before heading for it. He heard everyone, Him included, follow. He kicked the door open once he got there and ignored the indignant squawk Mojo let out. He went to the first bed and gently laid Bubbles down. He tried not to wince at the sight of her in this room. It brought back too many memories of his time under Mojo's care and he didn't want to think about her in any of the situations he went through in here.
"The monsters are doing something that puts people essentially asleep. One of them got Bubbles when she protected me. I want you to examine her and tell me anything you can. We need to know why people aren't waking up as well as anything you can about the monsters. Butch should be bringing one by soon," Blossom said as she followed Mojo into the room.
"Why must I, Mojo Jojo, be the one to do this? The professor-"
"Is all the way across town. We don't have the time. We need information to handle the monsters and we need it now Mojo. Move it," Brick said as he followed Him into the room. The reds weren't taking any chances it seemed.
The chimp huffed but made his way over to the blonde puff. "Boomer get me the tools, that is the instruments, that I will need to assess and examine the youngest puff."
Boomer glared but, as quickly as he could without wrecking the lab, did as asked. He thrust the bag of things at Mojo. The chimp snatched it off of him grumbling and set to work.
"Heart rate is elevated, shallow and quick breaths, eyes show an increase in movement, body temperature raised. She appears to be in the REM cycle of the sleep stages."
"What's that mean?" Butch asked as he stepped into the lab. Mojo jumped, startled, and turned to glare at him only to yelp when a dead monster was tossed into his face.
"What is-"
"Present for dear old dad. We know you love your experiments. Tell us things."
Blossom sighed lightly but didn't reprimand him. Boomer supposed that even the pink puff only had so much sympathy for Mojo.
"No need," the sing song voice of Him rang out. All four awake supers not already watching Him spun to face Him.
"What do you mean?" Brick growled out. Butch was at his side in a fraction of a second and Boomer would have joined but he didn't want to leave Bubbles's side, especially with Mojo right there.
"Simple. I know what the problem is~."
"Then you'd better start talking."
"Tsk. I know I taught you better manners than that my boy."
"Him," Blossom said cutting in before Brick could say anything. He huffed out a cloud of smoke but otherwise didn't react. "Please. If you know something, please tells us."
Buttercup was glaring and Boomer guessed that if Him didn't say, and soon, he'd be forced to. Greens weren't known for patience.
"Wellll it's siiimple. The monsters aren't that thing there. That thing is essentially just a limo."
"Oh, please don't tell me you're implying what I think you are," Blossom said with a horrified look on her face. Brick didn't look much better.
"What? What are you saying?" Boomer asked.
"He's saying that the actual monster we were fighting aren't the flower things. They're in the flower things," Brick said. Both he and Blossom were looking at Bubbles with the X-ray vision before they made faces and looked away. "It looks like the actual monster is a spore of some sort that invades the host."
There was silence as they all processed that.
"Uh-uh. I ain't down for no Alien styled monsters. Nope. I'm out," Butch said as his face turned a little green. "What's this mean for sugar cube there?"
"Weeeell, they won't burst out of her stomach. Chances are they reproduce in the hosts nervous system and then use the body to create a new vehicle to move to a new host in. I imagine that they would use the host's mouth to keep the host alive longer. They also feed off of nightmares it seems. Exactly my type of monster," Him said. He was the only one in the room who didn't look disgusted.
"If you were behind this-" Brick stared. Him waved him off.
"Now now my dear. I have faaar more class than that. Still, this should make things easier!"
"How?" Blossom asked. She sounded slightly panicked and Boomer couldn't blame her. Electricity was sparking up and down his arms and it was only a matter of time at this point before he lost control.
"Eeassy. They share a hive mind my dear."
Blossom's brows furrowed in thought. "So if we attack them there..."
"You can kill them all! Isn't it fantastic?"
"But how?! We can't exactly go into Bubbles!" Buttercup yelled as she slammed a fist against a table. Butch frowned at her but didn't say anything. Neither did Blossom. She was too busy thinking.
"Well it's a good thing that I was here for tea isn't it? This monster is feeding in my realm after all."
Blossom glared at Him. "If you're just saying things and taunting us Him..."
"No, my dear. I'm offering to help."
None of the ruffs trusted it.
"Why?" Brick asked. Him shrugged.
"If Mojo here decided to turn over a new leaf and it's working why shouldn't I? I couldn't even take the city when just the Powerpuff Girls defending it. With you boys helping now too? I'll just wait until you're all gone and try then instead. Plus, the drama you all are providing me with is just too good to pass up!"
Mojo sighed heavily at that. "Him, please be honest and I mean tell the whole and actual truth that is without lies."
Him huffed as Brick narrowed his eyes at the lobster. "Fine. Mojo has convinced me that you three deserve better and maybe I'd like to take a chance to make things up. Maybe arrange a deal that you join us for Tuesday tea."
"As long as it's not interfering with school, I'll personally bring them every Tuesday for you if it means you'll help," Buttercup growled out. Butch made a face.
"Wait, hold up-"
"Deal!" Him yelled as pink mist invaded the room. Brick groaned and glared at Buttercup.
"Seriously? Next time, let me do the deals with Him!"
Buttercup shrugged not really looking like she minded. "Have to visit the flea bag here Tuesday afternoons anyways."
Blossom shook her head. "It's already done Brick. I'll take care of organizing the okay with the city later. For now, Him has to get us into Bubbles's dream."
"Weeeell my dear. To be honest, it's more of a nightmare and I can only put one of you in it."
"Wha- hey! That's not fair!" Buttercup yelled.
Boomer shook his head. "That's why deals with Him are tricky. Always want all the facts before you sign your life away."
Buttercup grumbled under her breath at that.
"Fine," Blossom said. "Send me."
"Whoa, hold up. Why you? Us ruffs are more familiar with the dream realms. Send me!" Boomer said.
"Hmmm, my dear boy. You'd be a horrible choice. We need to send someone to help dear Bubbles fight the nightmare not be a part of it."
Boomer felt his face heat up and he wasn't sure it was just from rage. "What the hell does that mean?!"
"Calm down Boom. Him's just trying to get a rise out of you," Brick said.
"Maaaybe. But I was telling the truth about what you need. To kill the monsters, you have to kill the nightmare," Him purred out. He seemed to be enjoying the slight chaos he was making.
"All the more reason to send me. No, sorry Boomer," Blossom said, cutting him off, "this isn't the first time I've done something like this." She shot a pointed look at Him who simply shrugged.
"What can I say? It was an excellent idea that simply failed. Again," Him's voice went dark for the first time as he glared at the pink puff. She glared back.
"Plus, Bubbles is most likely to recognize and follow my lead. You going in would just confuse her."
"How?!"
"Because blue for brains, you're already in her dreams. Why the hell would she dream of leader girl or me though? And she's right, Bubs is most likely to follow her lead. I say we send leader girl," Buttercup said. She glared at Him. "I'm more than happy to stay here and help keep certain creatures in line after all."
With two sisters under some sort of influence, Buttercup would be best left out of dreamland. She wouldn't hesitate to end any threat to her sisters and ask the questions much, much later.
"She makes sense Boom," Butch said with a shrug.
Brick nodded. "Sorry, Blossom is the best choice here Boomer."
"Great! Are we ready then?" Him asked. Blossom frowned before turning to Butch and Brick.
"Can you two head out and try take out as many monsters as you can?" Brick immediately turned, ready to argue with her, but stopped when he saw the raised hand. She sent him an odd look that Boomer couldn't read. "Boomer and Buttercup should be enough here. I don't think either Him nor Mojo are looking to cause trouble."
"I just want my tea and a banana," Mojo said wistfully. Him sighed dramatically.
"I suppose I'll be good for now."
Blossom rolled her eyes even though Brick didn't look convinced. "I'm worried about the town's people. Everything is still covered in snow. We need to help emergency services get to them to make sure they don't die. That's always priority number one."
Brick's teeth audibly ground together as he and Blossom stared off. After a few seconds he turned to the door with a growl.
"Let's go Butch," he said. Butch swung to follow but not before sending a glare at Mojo and Him.
"If either of you decide to pull any shit, I will kill you," Butch said before leaving the room.
"See? This is why I said we should have had them take etiquette lesson," Him said to Mojo. The chimp sighed as he sat in a chair.
"Please just hurry up. I want my tea."
"Hurrying would be nice. Him, if you don't m-" Blossom didn't even get it finish her sentence before, with a click of his claw, Him sent her into the dream realm. Her body fell limp as her consciousness left her. Boomer zoomed over to catch her before she hit the ground. He glared up to Him.
"I hope you seriously understand that if you're screwing around, you'll have four supers after your head."
Him chuckled. "Oh, I know my dear. I hope you understand after this works that you can trust me."
Buttercup snorted. "I'd sooner trust that the sea was red."
"I can make that happen."
"Try it and your dead lobster."
"How rude."
Boomer sighed before picking Blossom up and moving towards another bed while keeping both Mojo and Him in sight. This was going to be a long wait.
"You sure this is a good idea bro?" Butch asked as he followed Brick to where the line of monsters now was. Brick puffed out a cloud of smoke.
"No but it's our only idea. If you can think of anything else, feel free to speak up Butch."
Butch couldn't think of anything really and the few things he did come up with were things the red had probably already ruled out.
"I just don't like it. They never cared about us and with everything Boom went through in that room..."
"I know Butch, but the city needs us to do something and we both know that no one knows the dream realm better than Him does."
"Still wish there was another way. If they make a move while we're out here-"
"Then they're dead, both of them. They know it too. That's part of why Blossom asked us to go. Buttercup can handle them both to give Boom the time he'd need to get to us. Mojo and Him know it too. It's a sort of insurance. They attack any of us and they won't be dealing with the girls for once."
"Okay, I really don't like it now. Is this just your plan? Is Bossy actually okay with this? And how the hell did you all communicate that?!"
"We didn't but I'm pretty sure that's what she had in mind. Buttercup has the fastest reaction time out of all of us and with her complete control over her X she can handle a surprise attack. Boomer is the fastest ruff and based on the prof's test, is way faster than Buttercup. If those two pieces of shit try a surprise attack then the best two to handle it are Boom and Buttercup. Once Boom gets to us, the element of surprise is gone. If Him and Mojo have half the brain we know they do, they won't chance backstabbing us ruffs and letting us get a chance to recover."
"Dude! Do you hear yourself?! You're saying that if we get backstabbed here that the puffs are pretty much chop liver!"
They were coming up to the monster line quickly. They'd have to stop talking soon to focus on that. Even over the noise of that and the wind Butch could still hear Brick's teeth grinding together.
"I know! I don't like it either Butch! But with one puff down and the two teams not exactly meshing all the way yet it's the best insurance we can get! If they have any sense, they won't try anything though so it should be fine!"
Butch glared at his brother. He couldn't believe that Blossom would actually have thought of something like this, but she had been the one to suggest they leave. Brick hadn't even wanted to. He didn't know the pink puff could be so calculating with her own sisters' lives.
"I'll kill them. If they hurt the puffs, Mojo and Him are dead."
"I'm sure they know that. Why do you think I'm pretty sure everything'll be fine? I'll personally find a way to burn Him alive if I need to."
Well, Butch would settle for that. He still didn't like it though.
It was dark. Pitch black kind of dark. Blossom could barely make out the shape of her hand and that was with her X enhanced vision.
...at least, she was pretty sure she had her X enhanced senses still. It was hard to tell. As far as she could tell, there was nothing there. No sound. No smells. No wind. Nearly no light.
It seemed Bubbles never would get over her fear of the dark. Then again, with things like this happening Blossom couldn't blame her. Having what you fear most thrown in your face against your will time and time again could definitely make it hard to get over.
She had to give this monster a personal piece of her mind for doing this to her baby sister.
Thinking of, Blossom wondered where Bubbles was. It was her nightmare. She had to be here somewhere. The question was, what else would be here too?
"Bubbles?" Blossom said hesitantly. She kept as alert as possible but there was nothing. Slowly, she started to walk forward. "Bubbles? Are you there?"
Nothing. It was actually pretty unnerving. Blossom didn't have a problem with the dark, but this darkness was different. It was heavy, and Blossom didn't doubt that she wasn't alone. Something was there.
"Bubbles!" She yelled. Would it alert whatever else was in here? Yes. Did she care? Marginally. The important thing was finding her sister. Everything else she could worry about after.
"Blossom?" A faint voice from the left drifted over. It sounded somewhat like Bubbles but again, who knew what else was there? Blossom had to be cautious.
She made her way over slowly. "Bubbles? Is that you?"
"Blossom," the voice said, slightly louder. Blossom bit her lip. It sounded familiar but it didn't actually sound like Bubbles after all. What was it?
"Yes, I'm here. Where are you?"
"It hurts."
That definitely wasn't Bubbles but she knew that voice. She couldn't quite remember from where though.
"What does? Who are you? Please, I'm here to help."
Again, Blossom cursed her lack of information about this monster. She should have asked Him more questions! If the monster was a hive mind like creature did it link the nightmares of the people it attacked? Or was each nightmare separate? If they were separate did, they have to break out? If they weren't, then was this another person who was attacked?
Too many questions with no time to answer them.
"Please, it hurts. Make it stop," the voice sobbed.
Blossom was close now, but she still couldn't-
A squelch sound hit her ears as Blossom stepped in something wet. She froze. Someone, in pain, in the dark, with a squelch sound.
She should have flown.
"Make what stop? Please, I need to know more. Who are-"
A light went on and Blossom flinched away with a slight hiss. Her eyes watered at the sudden change and she blinked rapidly to try and get her bearings faster.
"Please, big sis. It hurts."
Blossom froze. There on the ground, in pieces, was Bunny. Oh god, it was Bunny. This wasn't how it had happened. She looked older and didn't look as deformed. She looked like she would have fit right in as the fourth stable puff. Well, if she was in one piece she would have.
Blossom covered her mouth and turned away. She felt her stomach heave at what she'd seen. She could hear Bunny whimpering in pain and couldn't help but wonder as to how she was even still alive. Was the X-
No. She wasn't going to think about it. This was a nightmare. That's all. Even if her and her sisters were torn apart, they were still human. X couldn't keep their hearts pumping when there should be nothing left to pump. And from the amount of blood-
"I'm sorry. I'm so so so sorry Bunny!" Blossom cried before taking off and flying as fast as she could away from her youngest sister. She could hear her crying, screaming for Blossom to come back, to make it stop.
She covered her ears. Trust Bubbles to have the worst nightmare imaginable.
She wasn't sure how long she flew for but eventually, Blossom uncovered her ears slowly. She couldn't hear anything, and it was dark again. Almost as if it hadn't happened. Blossom wasn't sure she was ready to find out what else was in here. She really needed to find her sis- Bubbles. She needed to find Bubbles.
"Bubbles, please! Are you there?!" Blossom shouted again. Thankfully, she didn't hear anything from behind her. Instead, she heard a growl from in front of her. She flew up a little higher and squinted into the dark.
Two red eyes blinked back at her, and not a familiar pair either. Blossom froze. She'd just now flown about a good 8 or 9 feet upwards. For her to be eye to eye...
It growled again and a slow red light filled the space. The monster was unlike anything she'd ever seen. It was mangled and torn and ripped. It looked like a hundred different things all messed together and its skin shifted and molted as new things were gruesomely and magically added to the creature. It barred its teeth and Blossom saw red on white. Bones, small human looking bones, were stuck in between its teeth.
She didn't have time to think any further before the creature roared in her face. Without hesitating, Blossom shot off as fast as she could to her left. A loud boom followed her as she broke the sound barrier. The monster followed just as quickly.
Gritting her teeth, Blossom tried to move faster as she felt the teeth snapping just shy of her foot. Which was ridiculous! There have only ever been a few monsters that could even come close to their max speeds!
When she got out of this, she was never going to let Bubbles watch anything scary ever again!
She could feel it getting closer too. With a short growl, Blossom tried to move faster but she knew she couldn't. Her X was pumping as fast as it could, and it couldn't support a faster speed. She needed something else.
Her teeth ground together. She'd have to outmaneuver it if she couldn't out fly it. Which would be hard in a completely open space. With a huff, Blossom got ready.
She waited until she felt the breath of the monster heavily against her legs again as it opened its mouth and shot at a 90-degree angle to her right. The monster clamped down again on air as she turned again to try and loop behind the monster. It caught the movement and its head quickly turned to follow her. Blossom groaned. How good was this thing's peripheral vision?!
Then again, the thing might not even be tracking her using sight alone. That would be her kind of luck and apparently, Bubbles's kind of nightmare.
She shot straight down this time and the monster continued turning for a second as it lost sight of her. It quickly followed and Blossom groaned internally as she changed direction again to quickly shoot underneath it.
She felt the blood, puss, and other bodily fluids that the monster was sloughing off land all across her back. The smell was awful and she willed herself not to gag. A claw swiped out at her and she rolled to dodge the worst of it. It clipped her arm slightly but she refused to flinch. A second later and she was out from under it and again turning rapidly up. The monster lagged behind slightly but that was all Blossom needed.
She heard an earth shakingly loud crunch as the monster collided with the ground of the nightmare. She stopped and looked down only to quickly look back up.
It had literally burst along the seams and the sight was a strong reminder of what was now plastered along her back. And her arm.
Thinking of, she turned to look at it. It throbbed painfully and she frowned at that. Would a cut like this transfer to her physical body? Another question she'd love to ask Him. Her X wasn't healing it though so that was one question answered.
She wasn't invulnerable in here. She could get hurt. And if she did get hurt? She couldn't trust on her X to heal her.
Right. She really needed to find Bubbles now.
"What's that smell?" Boomer said, cutting in between the verbal tennis match of Him and Buttercup. They all turned to look at him. "It smells like..."
He sniffed a little heavier and turned to follow the smell. His eyes landed on Blossom. More specifically, they landed on her arm. He launched out of his chair and over to her. Buttercup was beside him in a heartbeat.
"What the hell?! How did this happen?!" Buttercup yelled, glaring at Him. Boomer was quick to join. Him simply shrugged at the two angry super teens.
"What happens in dream realm doesn't always stay in dream realm. It's not Vegas you know," Him said. Both Buttercup and Boomer growled at Him.
"You mean to tell me that if she gets hurt there-"
"That it transfers back to here? Well of course it does! This is the dream realm after all! Haven't you ever wondered why you wake up with weird bruises sometimes? It's because dream you was bruised obviously."
They blinked at Him and it took Him a second before he realized.
"Aaah, yes. X. I forgot about that. I supposed you don't wake up with mysterious bruises because of that. Well, normal people do. They never know how it happened either. Not there going to bed, there waking up. You'd think they'd understand but apparently not. They even say if you die in a dream you die in real life so why would getting hurt be any different?"
"That's bullshit. I've dreamt of some pretty crazy injuries and never woken up with even a scratch!" Buttercup said. Him shrugged.
"Obviously because the real dream you was watching a fake dream you go through that. It's only when the real dream you get hurt that you get hurt."
"This is hurting my head and doesn't matter anyways! Why isn't it healing? A scratch this small shouldn't even be open long enough to bleed on one of us!" Boomer yelled. It was still bleeding and the scent of Blossom's blood was putting him on edge. He didn't like it.
Him simply shrugged again. "Her body isn't aware of the injury. You don't truly feel pain in a dream after all, not physically at least. That comes after you wake up. While normal human processes start healing these things right away, I believe X is different, isn't it dear Buttercup?"
The green puff was frowning down at her sister. Boomer nudged her after a second and she sighed.
"X only works towards healing wounds when we become conscious of them. It isn't part of an unconscious process. Everything X does for us, we have to tell it to do."
"But that's not what the professor has said before! He said things like how it keeps our body in perfect shape and other things like that," Boomer said. Buttercup shook her head.
"It keeps our bodies in what we believe to be our perfect level of fitness. It's why I have the most muscle mass and Bubbles has the least. Unconsciously, Bubbles doesn't want to be as fit as me, so she isn't. Of course, we do also need to work out to get there but the X helps a lot. There's a limit obviously too. I'm never gonna be able to take Butch in terms of pure strength, X or not. Works the same for other things too. We don't ever get diagnosed with the cold, ignoring the Ameba Boys' flu, but we've all coughed once or twice and thought we don't want to be getting sick. If we were infected with something, our X starts to look for it and gets rid of it."
"How can you be so sure? I mean if the professor said-"
"He was keeping it short and sweet. I know because I'm aware of every movement of my X. It's why the professor knows as much as he does. Think of it like walking. We can control it when we think about it but if we don't think about it we can still do it after starting the process. Our X has been conditioned kind of like that."
"The green puff is correct. When you were younger, that is when you were a child just after you were created, I ran a test using a radioactive isotope to track the movement of your X. If you weren't aware of a problem then your X wouldn't move," Mojo added. Boomer grumbled.
"So, we all have been controlling our X to do everything we want it to?" He asked. Buttercup shrugged.
"Pretty much. It's why leader girl has you run through exercises in X control. The better your control consciously the better it is unconsciously too."
"This hurts my head."
Buttercup frowned as she looked at her sister. A cut appeared on her leg just above her knee.
"It's pretty complicated and I don't totally get it. Neither does the professor. We're still trying to figure a lot out. Either way, it means she needs to be careful. Bubs too."
"Little sweet Bubbles will be protected by the monster. She is its food after all. It'll scare her but won't try to kill her. Dear Blossom, is an invader. The monster will do everything it can to kill her," Him said. Buttercup snorted at that and glared at Him.
"You know what happens if she dies right? Even if you weren't the one to kill her."
Him gave her a look. "I'm not an idiot. I was well aware of the risks. I only did this to prove to you three that I really am trying to turn over a new leaf. Well, for now at least. I trust that the leader and commander will emerge victorious. Like she always does."
Despite the fact that Blossom dying would mean them all working to kill Him, he didn't sound too happy about the thought of her winning. Buttercup supposed that made sense though. They did all have history after all. Hard to get over years and years of trying to kill someone.
She turned to look at her sisters again and clenched her fist. Trust Blossom to give her the crappy job. If this all went sideways, she would be left alone. Either that or she'd be dead at Him's hands. She couldn't blame her though or argue. This was for Bubbles as much as it was for the city now. This thing had gone after their baby sister and Buttercup knew her sisters like the back of her hand.
This monster had pissed off the wrong puff and she was coming for it too. Hell have no fury like Blossom Utonium.
"Oh. My. God. I'm done. This is ridiculous! Give me Bubbles now!" The Blossom looking...thing shouted. Bubbles was sure it was another trick. Another nightmare that was going to try and break her again somehow. Still, how dare this monster use her sisters. How. Dare. It.
The Blossom thing groaned loudly before dropping into a crouch and burying her face in her knees. Bubbles had seen her do that before. Usually in relief but sometimes out of frustration too.
"Bubbles, where are you?" The thing cried. Well, she supposed she might as well get this over with. If she was lucky the monster would show up again and she'd have another chance to kill it. She wasn't going to let that thing have its way.
"I'm right here," Bubbles said. The Blossom thing shot up and spun to face her. The look of relief was so much her sister that Bubbles nearly ran to her, but she didn't. The Blossom thing took a few steps forward, hands reaching out for her, before stopping. Its hands dropped and it swallowed thickly.
"Is that really you?"
Bubbles frowned. This thing was acting really weird.
"I think I should be the one asking questions? What are you? You're not like the other things in here," Bubbles said. She was proud that she was able to keep the quiver out of her voice. If this thing turned out the way Bunny did...
"It's me, Blossom. I'm not quite sure how I can prove it but Him was at Mojo's and he helped me get here. It's really me."
"Him? At Mojo's? Helping?" That made no sense.
The Blossom thing frowned. "I know it doesn't seem plausible but it's me Bubs. It's really me."
Bubbles really looked at the thing. She was wearing what Blossom had been wearing before Bubbles had been attack. Their winter uniform with what looked to be the usual two undershirts. And she could see the shirts too, barely, through all the cuts and gashes that covered the Blossom thing. Which was weird. They were all really mild injuries which was really weird. It didn't scream nightmare.
"How can I trust that? How do I know that it's really you?"
Its brow furrowed into what was Blossom's typical thought face. "I'm not sure. We're in your dream realm, although it's being twisted into a nightmare, which means we're in your subconscious. I'm not sure what I could say that would prove it's really me. Anything the real me would know that could prove that, in theory, a version of me summoned by your subconscious would also know. You just have to trust your heart I guess."
Well, it definitely sounded like Blossom but that didn't help her. It even said to trust her heart and not her gut. An inside thing for the three of them. Blossom trusted her head, Buttercup her gut, and Bubbles always trusted her heart. And her heart was saying this wasn't a nightmare. Which meant it had to be Blossom.
Bubbles launched herself at Blossom and buried her face into her shoulder with a sob.
"Blossom! This has been horrible and everything is scary and the monster keeps showing up and running away and I haven't been able to catch it but it looks scary too and and and-"
"Shhhhh, it's okay. I'm here. We're going to get you out of here and save everyone all at the same time. Don't worry, we can do this."
Bubbles sobbed for another moment or two before trying to get it under control. She pulled back to look at her sister.
"I'm so glad you're here. I didn't know what to do anymore!"
"We can figure it out together. Although, I do have to say...no more scary movies. Ever. I always knew you were the most imaginative of the three of us but this is ridiculous. I just about lost it at the demonic red rover game."
Bubbles winced. "Yeah, that one wasn't fun. Did you see..."
"Yeah. I did."
Bubbles swallowed at her sister's tone. This monster wasn't going to get off easy. Not that Bubbles could blame her sister. She was pretty unhappy with the thing too.
"So, what now?" Bubbles asked as she pulled away from her sister. She'd had her moment. They could properly comfort each other later. Right now, they had a job to do. A city to save.
"You said that you've seen the monster?"
Bubbles nodded. "Yeah. It shows up and tries to get close but every time it does, I try to kill it so it'll fly away again not long after."
"Right. Is it around the times that you run into a nightmare?"
"Yeah, usually right after."
"Probably when it decides to feed. Does it always wait until after?"
"Yes."
"Why after? If it feeds off of fear during would be the better time. Maybe..."
Bubbles waited as Blossom thought it over. She'd come up with something. Blossom always had a plan.
"Okay, we need to find a nightmare."
Nope! Bubbles was not liking this plan!
"Um...Bloss? Is that a good idea? They aren't very nice."
"Oh, I know. Trust me. I met the demented fluffy too. It's why I'm covered in muck." Okay. Ew. "We need to draw the monster out though and if it feeds after a nightmare attack then we need to get through a nightmare attack."
"I'm not liking this plan."
"I know. I'm sorry Bubs. Now, do you know where they are or what they are or anything?"
Bubbles sighed. "Have you seen the butterfly one yet?"
"Bro! I can't keep this up for much longer! There's too many!" Butch yelled. Brick agreed but didn't say so. They'd been at this for nearly an hour now and there was no sign of these things stopping.
They'd gotten as many people as they could, but it was spoonfuls compared to the ocean they needed to move. Even then, most of what they'd been doing was just moving people indoors and out of the snow. They hadn't even had the time to evaluate if the person needed emergency care or not. To say the least, it was bad.
"We have to! Kick it into overdrive Butch. We don't have any other option!"
All he could really hope for at this point was that Blossom was getting somewhere and they'd be done soon because it was really looking not good.
"Ugh. There's another one. Grab some more gauze blue boy," Buttercup said as she pulled Blossom's shirt up a little higher. Boomer winced but did as asked.
"That like the 20th one we've seen. Can she keep this up?"
Mojo sighed. "They are not healing at a speed that a super may be comfortable with, that is to say not as fast as you or she normally would, but the wound is clotting, and she is healing. They are all shallow wounds too and should not cause the Powerpuff too much trouble."
"He's right. Most of them stop bleeding quickly enough. She's fine Boom. She can take a hit, even without her X," Buttercup reassured the boy. He grimaced.
"I just don't like it. Why haven't they woken up yet? What the hell is happening to cause all this to begin with?"
"Nightmares, my good boy, are never pleasant," Him added before taking a sip from his tea. Buttercup swallowed and she dabbed at the new wound with the gauze Boomer had given her.
"It's going to be okay. I'm sure her and Bubs will wake up soon. Don't worry blue boy. Everything is going to be okay."
Boomer made a face. He wondered how much Buttercup still believed that.
"Why. The. Heck. Do they drink blood?!" Blossom shrieked as she took a deep breath. Breathing out, she froze the field and most of the butterflies. Bubbles shrugged.
"Dunno. I think I saw Buttercup watching something? Maybe it was Butch actually."
"He. Would."
Bubbles was a little worried about her sister. She'd never seen her looking so stressed. She supposed it made sense but still...she needed a spa day badly after this. Bubbles would mention it to Princess. If anyone could get Blossom to say yes to a spa day, it would be her.
"It should show up soon. It usually doesn't wait long," Bubbles said as she scanned the barely lit nightmare. Blossom huffed as she swatted at the few butterflies she missed. They'd be back but Bubbles would let Blossom be. She needed to blow some steam apparently.
"Good. We need to follow it so we can kill it. Him said they have a hive mind somewhere. The thing has to be retreating back to it when you can't see it."
"That...makes a lot of sense. Did you ever figure out how they were tracking people?"
Blossom shook her head. "No. If I had to guess though I'd say it has something to do with dreams or how imaginative a person is. I'm leaning towards the former since it would explain why someone blacked out from alcohol consumption wouldn't have been targeted."
"Will the safe zones be okay then? With all those people in one place..."
"Should be fine until we handle this. They have security around the safe zones."
That was true. Bubbles tended to forget that since usually they weren't able to handle monsters. These things though would probably die with a gun shot or two. That would keep people safe there for a bit. With how many of these there were though...
"Oh, I hear it," Bubbles said. A slight hissing sound was filling the space and Blossom was at her side in a flash of pink. The butterflies followed her and she continued to swat at them.
Soon, a long, thin green eel looking like thing slithered into the space. It didn't have wings but managed to fly. Its singular eye landed on the two puffs and it didn't hesitate to turn and start to fly away.
"Oh no you don't!" Blossom hissed before taking off to follow it. Bubbles was right on her tail. The thing hisses back at them and picked up the pace. "Don't lose it Bubs! Even if you have to lose me, just don't lose it!"
"Got it!"
There wasn't too much to worry about though. Brick, Buttercup, and Butch might have had a hard time keeping up being the slowest of them all but Blossom's max speed was just about as fast as it and so they were able to stay on it. It kept flying until a small distortion appeared. It flew through that and Bubbles and Blossom stopped just shy of the spot.
"Alright, here we go. I don't know what to expect so be ready for anything," Blossom said. Bubbles gulped.
"Right. Shall we?"
Blossom nodded. "We shall."
They flew through the distortion and had to blink at the sudden increase in light. In the two seconds they couldn't see they heard a large amount of shrieking. As soon they could see they looked out to see dozens and dozens of the worm like creatures flying at them.
Quickly, Blossom took off up and Bubbles dropped down. The later let out a scream that stunned the oncoming monsters, giving both girls a short chance to scan the area.
There were hundreds, if not thousands of them. They flew around a large column like structure that, upon a closer examination, seemed to be covered in eggs.
"Oh, that is so gross," Bubbles groaned. Blossom shot forward.
"That's probably what we need to take- shoot!"
The pink puff veered away as a large number of worms moved to attack with screeches. Bubbles was about to follow to help but a similar screech came at her from above. She looked up to see the earlier worms weren't stunned anymore. With a curse, she shot off in the opposite direction from Blossom. As she flew, she shot blasts behind her but didn't look to see if the hit.
A wave of cold hit her and she knew that Blossom had let out a blast of her frost breath. Bubbles took a deep breath and screamed as loudly as she could towards the center structure. The column shook from the force of her scream and most of the worms surrounding it stumbled in mid-air, stunned.
Bubbles took that chance to look behind her and saw that all the worms following her had stopped too. Not wasting a second, she stopped turned and let off a flurry of blasts at them. She kept firing until another screech came at her from the column. She turned to see a swarm charging at her and grit her teeth. She shot forward again and they turned to follow.
She pulled around the column and finally met back up with Blossom. She saw her sister take in a deep breath and kicked her speed up a notch while angling herself down to swoop behind Blossom. The second Bubbles was under her sister, Blossom let of an icy gale that the worms flew into. They dropped like flies at first until the ones at the back pulled back.
There was a groaning noise from the column and both girls looked at it. A giant crack echoed through the space and they watched as more eggs than they could even begin to count hatched.
"Um, plan Bloss?" Bubbles asked as the already large number of worms began to double and triple.
"Well, sort of. Sadly, it's more up Buttercup's alley than either of ours."
"So, keep hitting until there's nothing left?"
"Yup! Let's go!"
Butch startled as the person he was carrying jerked violently. He quickly set the person down and flew back. That was new. Please let it be a good new.
There was a gurgle sound from the person's throat and a second later a slimy, small monster forced its way through their lips.
Gross.
He could still see the person breathing so at least Him had been right there. Still, that couldn't be healthy or good for anyone.
The baby monster seemed to unfold once it was clear of the person's mouth, growing to be the same size as the others in no time. Wonderful.
He shot the thing before it could grow anymore, and it died with a more high-pitched shriek that the others had. Well, now he'd seen firsthand how they were replicating. He wasn't a fan. It was still way too Alien for him, even if the things weren't popping out of stomachs.
With a huff, Butch dropped back to the person to try and pick them up again only to pull back as they jerked again.
"The hell?"
Another tiny monster started to make its way out. Butch waited until it was clear before quickly shooting it. He waited a second before the whole thing began again.
"Yup. Nope. Sorry dude but I'm out. Brick!"
Something was obviously up. Hopefully, it was a good thing and not a bad.
"Oh my god! This is endless!" Bubbles cried as she flew away from more of the monsters.
"I know! But we need to take down that column!"
"Ugh! Do you think us killing these things here is at least letting people wake up?"
"Who knows?! It might be why those eggs are hatching. It could be that a new one hatches every time we kill one to take its place. That's the problem with a hive mind. They're all connected."
"So annoying!"
Blossom huffed. "I know. I don't know how long I can keep this up either! My X is draining quickly."
Bubbles frowned at that. She didn't feel drained at all.
"Um, your X is actually being used?"
"Yeah." Blossom shot her sister a quick frown. "Yours isn't?" Bubbles shook her head. "Really? Maybe..."
Bubbles felt more than heard the monsters behind her and quickly spun in the air to let loose another scream. They fumbled again and Blossom and Bubbles were able to pull away.
"Bubbles! Is your throat sore at all?" Blossom asked.
Bubbles shook her head. "No, actually it isn't. That's weird. That was my sixth scream. My voice should be gone by now."
"Maybe...maybe because you're actually dreaming? I'm not here the same way as you. Him sent me here so I'm my entire consciousness. You though, you're asleep technically. This is just your unconscious self. A part of your mind must still be back in your dream realm. Protecting itself maybe? Either way, you also didn't need to take a breath just now which makes me wonder how long you can keep a scream up right now."
Huh. She was right. Bubbles usually has to take a deep breath to scream, similar to Blossom and Brick with their special powers too. She shrugged.
"I dunno. How long do you want me to try for?"
"I want you to scream and not stop until I get to the column."
"But Bloss-"
"Its fine! Once were out of here my X should heal me. I just might need someone to record tomorrow's lessons."
"I don't like this plan!"
"I know! But I need you to do it!"
"But what if I can't keep it up?!"
Blossom gave her sister a serious look. "Then I'll need you to finish this."
"Bloss!"
"No! We don't have any other options! I need you to do this Bubbles."
Bubbles knew there was no point in arguing. Blossom couldn't keep this up if her X was actually draining. She tugged at a pigtail before nodding.
"Okay. Ready when you are."
"Right. On three."
Bubbles would do this. She would scream herself blue in the face if she had to.
"One."
She could do this. They were the Powerpuff Girls and they always won.
"Two."
She didn't have to, but she took a deeper breath than she had ever taken before, just in case. Blossom was depending on this.
"Three!"
Bubbles stopped and let out as loud a scream as she could towards the column. Blossom didn't hesitate. She let of a flurry of attacks towards it as the monsters were stunned by the hit. She saw her sister's ears begin to bleed bit Bubbles didn't stop. She kept screaming because that was all she could do.
She watched as Blossom took in a deep breath and let loose with an icy wind at the column. Monsters dropped like rocks when they were hit with it and Blossom kept flying. When her breath hit the column a large groaning sound resounded through the space. Blossom took in another breath and let loose as she began to fly around the column, freezing it as she went. Bubbles kept screaming and screaming. Normally this much would have her throat bloody and raw but she didn't feel anything.
In no time at all, Blossom had the column covered in ice. She didn't hesitate as she swept back and away before launching full speed at the column. She punched right through it and the sound of the structure cracking echoed loudly. A second later and the cracks from the hole Blossom made were spreading out.
Blossom pulled back again and punched another hole through the structure higher up. Bubbles could see blood covered her sister's hands and blinked the tears away. She needed to keep screaming.
Once again, Blossom swept out and back in, this time punching a hole through the bottom of the column. It was covered in cracks now and this final time had the structure crumbling into thousands of shards. Blossom pulled away and Bubbles finally stopped screaming. The second her noise was gone, the space was instead filled with high pitched whines and shrieks as monsters began dropping one by one, shriveling as they did so.
Bubbles looked across the space at Blossom and they smiled before blinking as the world around them went black.
"Fuck! I need more gauze!" Buttercup yelled. Boomer didn't waste any time.
"Jesus! What the hell is happening in there?!"
"I'm almost out of gauze by the way," Mojo idly commented. The two supers ignored him.
"I can maaaybe go grab some more but really, what would be the point? If she doesn't wake soon the blood loss will be too much," Him added as he sipped at his tea. Boomer glared at them.
"You do understand what happens if she dies right?! Like, do you actually get what that means for you two?!"
They waved him off. "Yes yes, we get it. Death and all that," Him sighed out. "Honestly, it wouldn't be the worst death. At least one of the puffs would be gone."
"Him I swear to god if you don't shut up, I won't wait until we hit the life or death part," Buttercup growled. The lobster shrugged.
"I'm sure I'll find a way to escape as usual."
Buttercup growled as she pressed the gauze against her older sister's hands. They were mangled beyond belief and getting worse.
Just then, the doors burst open as Butch and Brick stormed in. They didn't even hesitate as Butch flew over to pin Mojo against the wall and Brick was at Buttercup's side helping to stop the blood.
"What the actual fuck is going on?" The red ruff growled. Buttercup was about to answer before, for the third time, Blossom's hand erupted. They all heard the sound of bones crunching as scratches began to race up her arms.
"Fuck. We need more gauze. Hell, towels at this point!" Buttercup yelled, voice wavering at the damage happening to her leader and sister.
Butch, seeing that the other supers had their hands full, dropped Mojo and zoomed off. He was back in a flash of green with towels.
"This enough?" He asked. Buttercup, Brick, and Boomer snatched them and started trying to staunch the bleeding.
"Hopefully," Buttercup mumbled too lowly for anyone other than the ruffs to hear. Brick gave her a look.
"What's. Happening?' He growled out, eyes glowing a dangerous bright red.
"Hell if I know! Apparently getting hurt in dream realm means getting hurt here and since all of this is happening in Bubbles's unconscious Blossom's X isn't registering the damage so she's healing a human pace!"
"That makes no fucking sense!"
"Well, my dear boy, the dream realm rarely likes to make sense. It tends to do what it wants when it wants to," Him hummed out as he took another sip.
"You-"
Brick was cut off from saying anything else as, with a gasp, Bubbles sat up straight.
"Oh my god! We did it!" She cried out. They blinked at her in shock and in that moment, Blossom jerked violently on the table.
"Ouch ouch ouch! Off now!" She barked out as she came awake with a start. The pressure on the wounds was hurting and she tried to pull away from them. They backed off immediately. "Oh my gosh this hurts so much more that I thought it would!"
"Bloss?" Buttercup asked, sounding more uncertain than any ruff had ever heard her. Blossom tried to sit up only to hiss in pain as her hands hit the table.
"Yeah, I'm back Buttercup," Blossom said with a strained smile. Buttercup let out a wobbly laugh before bracing herself against the table in relief.
"Oh my gosh Bloss! Those-" Bubbles tried to stand too only to stumble off the table. Boomer was there in a second to catch her. He didn't even wait for her to ask before taking her over to Blossom.
"I'm fine! My hands though, I'll need to get back home-"
"You used too much X to fly!" Bubbles said with a glare. Blossom groaned as she held her hands up to see how bad things really were. She winced. Resetting these was going to really hurt.
"Used too much- Blossom what the hell happened?!" Buttercup ground out.
The pink puff waved her off, or tried too only to wince in pain and stop. "Later. First, I need to get back home. While Mojo has the knowledge to fix my hands, he doesn't have the equipment."
Before Buttercup could make a move to pick up her sister, Brick was there. He didn't hesitate to scoop her up.
"Well we better get moving then. Mojo, Him. You both got seriously lucky today."
"Wait- Brick put me down! Buttercup can carry me!" Blossom yelled, her face going bright red. Brick didn't even look at her as he turned to walk to the door.
"Nah leader girl, I think cap heads got this. Plus, technically speaking, he is slightly faster than me," Buttercup said. Blossom glared around Brick's shoulder. She wasn't fooled by that logic. Her sister's smile was too sneaky for that!
"In that case Boomer should-"
"Actually, I'm going to need to borrow Boomer for a bit Bloss. Sorry," Bubbles said with a smile similar to Buttercup's.
"Just chill Pinky. It'll only take a minute or two," Brick said as he finally reached the door. Blossom kept the glare up until he turned the corner. The second she was out of sight Bubbles and Buttercup exchanged looks.
"I soooo called it!" Bubbles giggled.
"No. No son of mine-" Mojo started. Butch spun around and growled at the chimp who shrunk back in response.
"Can it flea bag. Just cause you helped us out today don't mean jack shit. You ain't no pop of ours."
Mojo made a face but, with a huff, conceded defeat.
"Fine. Him, let us go back to tea at the table. I want my banana now."
Him shrugged before poofing out of the room in a cloud of pink smoke. Mojo huffed one last time before slowly making his way out of the room.
Buttercup turned to Bubbles. "Are you okay? Did you get them?"
Bubbles nodded with a wince, her hand coming up to her head. "I think-"
She started coughing violently.
"Bubs!" Both Boomer and Buttercup yelled at her sides. Butch was quick to join them.
"What's going on? What-" Butch asked.
A second later Bubbles let out a particularly wet sounding cough before the fit stopped. Making a face, Bubbles pulled her hands away from her face to see them covered in a green slime.
"Eeeeeewwww!" She cried. Buttercup made a face.
"Well, that's not gross at all," Butch was gone and back in a second with a damp rag. He held it out. "Here."
Bubbles thanked him before wiping the goo off. "I'm guessing that was the last bit of the monster. We should be sure though. Can you guys go check-"
"We got it Bubs. Don't worry. Come on snail brain. Let's go see if the town is okay. We might need to help emergency services out too," Buttercup said as she turned to the door.
"Aww, but I'm sooo tired," Butch whined. Buttercup ignored him and pointed at Boomer.
"I'm leaving you here to make sure she's okay. Once you're good Bubs, head home. Boomer can touch base with us then to see if we still need help. Text Brick too. If he isn't roped into helping with leader girl's hands send him out our way."
Bubbles nodded. "Sounds good. I'm feeling pretty good so I think I should be fine in a few."
Buttercup nodded before making her way out the door. Whining loudly again, Butch followed.
"Boomer? Could I get a glass of water maybe?" She asked once the greens were gone.
"Yeah, of course. Sorry, should have checked once you woke up," he said as he led her back to the table.
She shook her head. "It was a little crazy. I didn't realize how badly Blossom was damaged either."
Once she was steady on the table Boomer zipped out of the room and returned a moment later with a glass of water. Bubbles thanked him before taking it and drinking it all in one go.
"Better?" Boomer asked as he took the glass off her. She nodded as she watched him set the cup on the rather dirty table. They'd have to see about getting that cleaned. Mojo wouldn't be able to do it. Or, well, he'd not want to, and he was sure to cause a headache that would be better to just avoid by cleaning it for him.
"Boomie? I was actually being serious when I told Bloss I needed you for a second," Bubbles said, tugging on a pigtail nervously.
"Yeah, of course. Anything. What's up?" He asked, his full attention on her. She giggled nervously.
"Well, I guess it's not that I need something and more I'd like you to listen to something. See, that nightmare was really really not fun, and it really got me thinking about things."
His brow furrowed. "Okay? I've always got an ear to lend for you Bubs. Was it any one thing in particular that you wanted to talk through or what?"
She shook her head. "No, it's- well there's probably a few nightmares I do need to talk through, but I think I need to do that with my sisters. Especially since Bloss saw the worst of them. No, I just realized that I've wasted enough time and I can't do it anymore, not when anything could happen at any time. Yeah, we're supers and we heal fast but clearly, we aren't invincible and today was proof of that. I don't want to wait more only to never get to say this."
Boomer was confused but he'd listen. He'd always have time to listen to her. "Whatever it is I'm all ears Bubs."
She tugged on both pigtails and bit her lip lightly. Boomer raised an eyebrow at that. He'd never seen her look so nervous be-
"I like you!"
Boomer felt his brain shut down as it attempted to process that. Bubbles closed her eyes tightly before continuing.
"I really really like you and I'd love it if maybe, if you're interested, we could go out sometime and maybe, you know, go steady or something because I've wanted that for a while but I know you just got out of a relationship and so did I and I wasn't sure and I wanted time but I've had time and I know now and I really wanted to give you time because you were also working through things but-"
"Bubs, breath. Just-" he let out a short, disbelieving but very happy laugh. Bubbles's mouth snapped shit. "I just needed a sec to process." He let out another laugh.
"Sooo...you have an answer?" She asked as she slowly opened her eyes to look at him. His face was bright red, and he was smiling from ear to ear. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers.
"Of course I do. And of course, it's a yes. Please. I'd love to go steady with you and be able to call you my girlfriend."
Bubbles felt a smile just as wide as his creep across her face. She didn't doubt she was also bright red too. "Yeah?"
"Hell yeah. I'm done waiting too."
She giggled. "Good."
"They succeeded again."
"Perhaps they are worth our time then."
"Perhaps. I have my doubts though. To have a member fall prey to such a simple monster."
"Yes. That was disappointing. Further investigations then?"
"For some. I accept their teamwork. That passes."
"Ah, individual tests then. Yes, that would be a good idea."
"We will have to use smaller monsters. Those that will not attract all six."
"Hmm, yes or perhaps multiple monsters?"
"Yes, that works too."
"Yes, let us go choose who will fight what then sister."
"Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea brother."
Blues fans! You finally got your moment! I'm sure I'll find a wrench or two to throw in there so don't think it'll be smooth sailing. Also, let me know if you guys found the explanation about X confusing. That was the main point I was worried about so if I didn't make it clear enough then I will have to go back and fix that up.
Recognition time!
Marsnoesunplaneta! Glad it was a good cliffhanger though sorry I left you all for so long with one haha. Hope you enjoyed the resolution of it all! Greens defs to come. Promise. I have a lot in this next set that I drafted up that really get their stuff moving along. Get ready for it!
RainbowColoredHumanBeing! Congratulations on graduating! That's super awesome! I wish I could say it just gets easier after that but to be honest, it was the after part that I struggled the most with. Hang in there though! Even if you hit a rough patch, it'll get better and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't have any rough patches at all. Glad I was at least able to bring you some joy and I'll definitely have to check out your stories. I'm way behind on all my fanfic reading though so I probably won't get to anytime soon. Sorry! I'm also happy to hear you think I'm good with action. It's the part I edit the least so I always kinda wonder haha.
Now, with everything I needed drafted, drafted, I can go back to my normal release schedule! That means expect another chapter in two weeks time everyone! Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next time. Ciao!