Chapter 19 - Trinidad and the Last Letter
As dawn approached, the rain stopped and the sunlight felt warm on their skin. They landed outside of Trinidad and surveyed the city limit.
"OK, where now?" Buttercup asked.
"We have to find Santuario Chuchini. I don't know if it's a museum, a city ruin or what, though." Blossom stated.
"That doesn't sound like a name for a building," Bubbles said. "More like a name for something you don't know what else to call it."
"Huh?" Blossom asked.
"Like, you call a TV a TV 'cause there's really nothing else to call it." Butch explained. "I don't know, it's kinda hard to explain."
Bubbles pulled their Spanish travel book from Butch's back pocket. "OOO, wait, let's see..." she paged through the book. "OK, Trinidad. Let's see, 'founded in 1686 by Padre Cipriano Barace...', he was a monk. 'Originally on the shores of Mamore river...relocated in 1769 due to bugs and floods...capital city of the department of Beni...about 68,700 people...', OK, attractions." she said. "Make sure you see the Santuario Chuchini."
"That's not a big help." Buttercup pointed out.
Bubbles continued. "It's a collection of prehistoric earthworks they think were made by the Paititis over 5,000 years ago. That's an old Indian tribe from around here." she finished.
"What kind of earthworks?" Blossom wondered.
"Aw, man, more dead people?" Butch grumbled.
Bubbles giggled. "No, these are like pottery. You know, pitchers, bowls and stuff. The people dig them out of the ground and sell them as souvenirs."
"No mention of cremation urns or coffins, right?" Brick asked.
Bubbles scanned the page. "Nope, not here."
"I was joking." Brick pointed out.
Blossom nodded. "OK, we know what we're looking for now. Let's go."
They walked into town and looked around the narrow streets. They saw a group of children playing catch as a mutt of a dog chased the ball back and forth between them. A woman was beating a long rug with a broom over a balcony over their heads and they saw some elderly men lounging in front of a restaurant.
"Everything looks quiet here." Blossom noticed.
"Maybe we beat 'em here." Buttercup suggested, referring to those following them.
"Let's not count on it, OK?" Brick said.
Bubbles tried to wipe some dirt from her lavender skirt. "Oh, I'm dirty!" she complained.
"So?" Butch snorted. "We all are."
"That reminds me," Boomer spoke up. "Why did you make me change my jeans when you guys still have yours?"
"'Cause you stunk, Boomer," Butch replied, "You still smelled like the sewer."
Brick chuckled. "Yeah, like Mojo snatched you right as you crawled out."
"We all crawled into the same box in the same alley that night, guys," Boomer pointed out, "Remember that?"
"Yeah," Butch snickered, "Difference is, you stunk!"
"Oh, like you guys are any better?" Boomer shot back.
"Actually, yeah," Brick answered, grinning, "We are better!"
"Professor Utonium made us take a bath." Butch groaned.
Bubbles giggled. She leaned towards Blossom and whispered "...and they don't wear any underwear!" in her ear.
Blossom covered her mouth to keep from bursting into laughter. She then told the secret to Buttercup who laughed out loud.
Boomer rolled his eyes. "You told 'em anyway?" he asked Bubbles.
Bubbles grinned. "Well, yeah, of course. Duh!"
Blossom giggled and replied, "Don't worry, you're secret's safe with us."
The three Girls continued to laugh as the group walked along. Brick, after Butch told him what 'the big secret' was, shrugged and asked, "So? What's the big deal?"
They wandered around Trinidad for hours looking for the Santuario Chuchini with little success. It was hot, muggy, and their frustrations were mounting as the heat increased. Finally, Butch spoke up.
"This is stupid. I'm gonna ask." he told the group.
"No, Butch, every time we've done that, we get caught!" Blossom grabbed his arm to stop him.
Butch pulled loose from her grip and continued on. They watched him go into a small store. After what seemed like hours, he came back out. He looked extremely annoyed and continued passed them. They chased after him down the street.
"Well?" Boomer asked.
Butch continued on in silence.
"What did you find out?" Blossom insisted.
Still, Butch continued on.
Brick grabbed Butch by the back of his shirt and spun him around to face them. "C'mon, what did you find out?" he demanded.
Butch threw Brick's grip off. An angry look remained on his face. "We passed it already." he stated.
"Huh?" they asked in unison.
"La hacienda pequeña a la derecha de la ciudad." he said.
"On the right?" Bubbles asked. "I don't remember anything there."
"Well, trust me, that's what the guy said. Mojo's messing with us still." Butch explained. He led the group back to the city limits to a small tent now on their left. He pointed to it and said, "That's the one."
They stood gaping at the tent. "That's it??" Buttercup exclaimed. "We've been looking for..."
"...something bigger, I know." Butch cut her off. "Everyplace we've had to look up 'til now has been large scale. We just figured this would be the same, right?"
"The Witches' Market, the soccer game..." Blossom stated.
"...the mummies." Buttercup finished.
"This really has been a game to him, hasn't it?" Brick stated. "Anything to throw us off track and..."
"...and tear us apart." Butch stated. "He knows that if we don't stay together, we'll never catch him. Anything to make us mad at each other, and aggravating us is one way to do just that."
"Well, if anything, that should make us want to stay together that much more, right?" Bubbles asked.
"You got that right." Blossom replied. "OK, we go in that tent and find this letter. I don't care if we have to trash the place and break everything in there. We find that letter."
Buttercup cheered, "All right!!"
They entred the tent as the couple within looked up at them. Seeing their determined faces, the couple decided to head for more hospitable surroundings and fled the tent. Pottery of various shapes, sizes and usages was stacked everywhere within the tent. Blossom walked over to one stack and kicked the bottom bowl out from under it. The entire pile crashed to the floor in a shower of clay fragments. She toed through the remnants, but found no letter.
"You know some of this stuff is over 5,000 years old, right?" Buttercup asked her.
Blossom turned toward her with a crooked smile of grim satisfaction on her face. "So?" she replied.
Buttercup grinned as well. She, too, smashed a pile of pottery, looked through the pieces, and found no letter.
They spread out around the tent and began destroying everything in their path. The Boys flew around the uppermost regions of the tent and pushed pots over to the floor. The Girls searched the pieces and still found no letter. They continued until Bubbles and Butch called for their attention. They motioned the rest back down and into a huddle near the tent's entrance. Bubbles smiled, giggled, and said, "Now, cover your ears!"
Bubbles and Butch let out ear-splitting shrieks using their sonic voices. The pottery in the tent began to shake with the blast of sound, then the mass tumbled down, exploding with the shock waves that penetrated it. When the dust cleared, the rest of the group uncovered their ears and looked around. There, on top of the pile of dust and clay pieces was the letter, showing through like Excalibur from its stone. Bubbles flew over and plucked the letter from the pile, then flew it back to Blossom.
"You take the fun outta everything." Buttercup added.
Bubbles hovered over them and just giggled.
Blossom tore the letter open and read aloud:
"Dear Powerpuff Girls AND my "precious" Rowdyruff Boys:
"Hey, he mentions you guys in this one!" Blossom stated. Then she continued.
"You have almost reached the end of your journey. I await your arrival with open arms for my 'Boys'. By now, you must be prepared to kill each other, but alas, Boomer and Bubbles still need your rescuing.
"Gee, guess he didn't plan on us having you guys out by now, huh?" Buttercup snorted.
"Butch was right, too. He hoped we'd be at each other's throats by now." Brick pointed out.
"What's the 'open arms' bit for us about?" Boomer asked.
"Who knows." Brick replied. "Better yet, who cares. Keep going, Blossom."
Blossom continued:
"Here is the final clue for you:
'My second coming has been long awaited as a glorious event. Now, they shall see just how glorious it will be! My rays of wisdom will ensnare them all. They will be powerless to oppose me! Then, they will serve my every command for I am their king and my name is Jesus!'
Do you think you can keep from killing each other long enough to find me? I am certain things will be quite unlike what you expect should you find it in yourselves to come here and challenge me.
Should you decide to continue the game, go now! I am waiting...
Blossom turned the letter over and saw no map as the others had had. She furrowed her brow, confused by Mojo's last letter.
"OK, monkey-boy, go where?" she thought out loud.
Butch sighed. "I guess we're supposed to have figured out where he is by now." he suggested.
Blossom crumpled up the letter in anger and threw it on the ground. She turned and left the tent. They watched her go in stunned silence. Buttercup knelt and picked up the letter and stuffed it in her pocket. They followed Blossom out of the tent. They caught a glimpse of her entreing a shop and hurried to catch her. They went inside and saw her sitting at a round table with her head in her hands.
" Cómo están?" the waitress at the counter said to them.
"Bien, señorita, seis colas, por favor." Bubbles replied. The group joined Blossom at the table. Bubbles sat next to Blossom and took her hand. She tried to comfort her sister. "It's OK, Blossom." she said.
Blossom let out a long sigh. She looked up at the group and they could see that she was on the verge of tears. "This has been the worst trip I've ever had." she explained. "I want to beat Mojo so badly, but can't figure out how. How are we supposed to beat him if we can't find him?" she asked. "Worse part is, what if we're too late to stop him?"
Brick shrugged. "We just gotta put our heads together and figure it out." he stated.
"Bolivia's a big country," Blossom continued, "There's literally thousands of places he could be hiding!"
The waitress brought their sodas, passed napkins to each one of them, then left. When she was out of sight, Buttercup slammed her fist on the table. She glared at her sister.
"What, are you giving up now?" she asked Blossom, "After all this, you're gonna sit there and tell me you're quitting?!"
"No, but..." Blossom began.
"But nothin'!" Buttercup yelled at her. She pulled the crumpled letter from her pocket and slammed it on the table. She smoothed it out as best she could then shoved it toward Blossom.
"You take this, get the other three out and we all go over the clues and figure this out!" she raged.
Blossom nodded sadly. She pulled the other three letters from her pocket. She sat back and looked out the window, fighting back tears.
"I'll be right back." she said, "I'm going to the ladies' room." She left the table and disappeared around the cashier's counter.
In the ladies' room, she leaned over the sink, turned on the cold water, put her hand under it, and wiped her face. The cool water made her feel better, but she couldn't shake the hopeless sinking feeling in her heart.. To have dragged all of them this far only to fail was gnawing at her.
She turned off the water, regained her self-control, and left the ladies' room. As she passed the cash register, she noticed a picture calendar on the wall behind it. She blinked and rubbed her eyes to make sure it wasn't a hallucination. The waitress who had brought them their sodas walked by. Blossom grabbed the woman's apron and pointed to the picture. "Excuse me, but where is that?" she asked.
" Qué?" the woman answered.
Blossom rolled her eyes and pointed to the calendar again. "What is that?" she asked slowly.
The woman shook her head. " Qué?" she repeated. "No comprendo inglés."
Blossom became enraged. She flew at lightning speed over the cash register, frightening the waitress badly enough that she dropped the tray of food she was carrying. Blossom ripped the calendar off the wall, then flew to the table to the others. The other customers in the shop took off running, crossing themselves and screaming.
Blossom showed the others the calendar. "I got it!" she exclaimed as she hovered over the table, a gleam of excitement flashing in her eyes. The picture was of a huge statue of Jesus Christ. The statue was gleaming white and stood with his arms outstretched on a rocky hill . The picture description on the bottom read 'El Cristo de la Concordia, Cochabamba, Bolivia'.
Brick grinned and pulled the map he had in his back pocket out. They looked at it together and found Cochabamba less than 200 miles from where they were. Buttercup also noticed that La Paz was close to Cochabamba and she sat back with a huff.
"Geez, we were right near there already!" she pointed out.
"More games from Mojo." Butch added. "That's where we started this trip." he explained to Boomer.
Blossom traced a route on the map through the river they had already been on as well. "Well, we can take this way, go back to Santa Cruz, or..." she stopped. A wicked grin crossed her face, confusing the others.
"Blossom?" Bubbles asked cautiously, "What's'a matter?"
Blossom snickered and replied, "...or, we take the short cut." She pointed at Trinidad where they now were and drew her finger straight across the map to Cochabamba. She looked up at the rest of the group with a smile on her face.
Brick nodded and grinned. Butch chuckled. "Short-cut." Buttercup threw her arms up and shouted, "All right!!"
"Shall we go?" Brick asked humourously, extending his hand towards Blossom as if asking for the next dance.
Blossom took his hand and replied, "Oh, LET'S!"
They blasted through the roof of the restaurant and streaked across the sky towards Cochabamba and El Cristo monument.