Allies and Rivals
Disclaimer:I don't own the Powerpuff Girls
Chapter 18
Blossom's Apology
The City of Townsville…
Professor Utonium stepped on the chair to begin his plea and his defense of the girls. He knew this was his chance to save the reputations of his daughters and to reverse the fortune of the girls. The entire scene was covered by the Townsville media and broadcasted to the entire city.
The Professor, as he stood above the crowd, surveyed the entire scene before him. He knew that he could be lynched if he failed to squeeze the last ounce of sanity from the mob who was deceived by that demagogue, Smith. 'Who could have thought that that neighbor of mine can do such a thing?' he thought, looking with hatred at Harold Smith and his family.
"Friends, neighbors—" he began.
"We ain't no friend of yours!" one suddenly shouted.
"Alright, neighbors, acquaintances and citizens of Townsville. I come to you here before you to plead on behalf of my girls—"
The crowd booed and jeered when he mentioned the girls.
"Please listen to me, leave the booing later when I've made my case. I am aware of what my daughters had done to this town, and I deeply regret it, and I apologize. Yes, the Powerpuff Girls had done a terrible thing, and there's no excuse for it. But whatever they had done, I assure you, they were only thinking of Townsville's good. They were thinking only for the good of Townsville, and for your welfare, my fellow citizens."
The citizens were by now quiet, and listening intently on the Professor. Harold Smith was also quiet, confident that the people will listen but not buy the Professor's plea.
"How? How could beating the boys up while another one of them is saving the city be for the good for us?" asked one sceptical citizen.
"It's hard to explain. My girls were wrong, wrong and wrong, but when they did it, they thought they were right, right and right! They thought the boys were evil, even though they're clearly not. The girls made a mistake, not a deliberate calculation intent on destroying the town. They did what they did because of a mistaken perception, not because they are jealous of the boys. They did it for noble reasons, not for selfish reasons like Harold Smith would like you to believe."
He then dramatically pointed his finger at Harold Smith.
"You are a big fat liar who hasn't got a life so you have to ruin someone who has! Just because you ruined your own life by a pathetic attempt at becoming a supervillain doesn't give you the right to ruin the girls' life," the Professor said, making a gagging sound, mocking Smith. "Now you descended into depths that makes Mojo Jojo look like an angel! Citizens of Townsville, do you really want to follow a maniacal freak who was jailed for trying to kill their family guest and who was pardoned only because the mayor was too lazy to check the list of prisoners to be pardoned? Whose family are all criminally insane? Who has no life to speak of?"
"No!" the citizens of Townsville shouted.
'It still amazes how the people could easily be swayed,' the Professor thought, rubbing his hands. It had been easier than he thought.
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In Dr. Edwards' home…
"Ha, at least those people are as pliant as they are gullible and stupid. Good thing I wished you luck, John," Dr. Edwards' shouted at the TV screen. 'I have to hand it to you, Utonium, I didn't think you have the nerve do face them. Guess I won't have to go there and save the day for you!'
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Meanwhile…
"Do you really want to follow a man who is a certified freak, a maniac, crazy, and is pathetic in every conceivable measure?"
"NO!" the crowd shouted.
"Then who is he to judge the Powerpuff Girls? Who is he to judge when his own record is full of grime? I say, if there is any person that you should be angry at, it's not the Powerpuff Girls! It's Harold Smith for deceiving you and making you look like idiots!"
The crowd turned and looked dangerously at Harold Smith and his family.
"N-n-n-no! U-utoni-i-i-um's lying," he stuttered, sweating profusely and stuttering indicating his fear. "It's the girls, nn-n-n-ot me, b-b-b-elieve me!" he said, but the crowd clearly didn't believe him as they began to close upon the Smiths.
"Uh, I think I better go home now," Harold Smith suddenly said, but before he could get away, the crowd suddenly pounced on them and tied each of them to a tree.
"Let go of me, you're making a big mistake—" Harold Smith shouted.
"Oh shut up!" one of the people shouted, and stuffed his mouth with a dirty smelly sock, and covered his mouth with duct tape to keep him from spitting it out.
"Now that he's taken care of, let's lynch both Smith and the Professor!" one of the citizens shouted.
"Yeah!" the rest of the angry mob shouted as they approached the Professor with ropes, clubs and guns.
"What the hell are you doing?" the Professor said, terror returning to him. "I thought we had an understanding!"
"You're right about Smith," one citizen shouted, "but that doesn't change the fact that your girls caused the destruction of Townsville!"
"Didn't you listen to anything I said? And didn't you even know the news?" Professor Utonium shouted in desperation. "Those monsters—" he then pointed to the corpses of the dead creatures, "are the ones responsible for the destruction of the city, not my girls. And even if the boys are the one responsible for defeating them, and my girls had no part in defeating it, that doesn't mean the girls are guilty."
"The Powerpuff Girls are innocent, and have nothing to do with the destruction of the city. They didn't know of the monster attacking. Heck, you could lynch me with red hot spiked iron chains made from duranium on the highest skyscraper in the city and shoot me in the process if the girls had any involvement in this. I mean, they didn't make a secret deal with the monsters to beat up the boys, did they? No, they didn't, nor did they do anything else like that that would make them direct accomplices to the city's destruction. And because of that, you have no right to lynch me or denounce my girls!" the Professor passionately defended.
The crowd seemed to have regained its senses with those words, though it still continued to glare dangerously at the Professor.
The Professor decided to come clean with the crowd, as he had nothing to lose because he was already in enough hot water.
"Look at you, the great people of Townsville," the Professor said sarcastically, "and also considered very grateful. Tell me, people of Townsville, where is your gratitude to the superhero trio that time and again had saved your worthless hides?" the Professor bitterly said. "These three girls for over the past year had risked life and limb so you could live your idyllic existence. Tell me, who among you had the privilege of breathing here tonight who otherwise would have been under six feet of ground whose decayed body would have been steadily devoured by worms if it were not for the Powerpuff Girls?"
The crowd didn't respond.
"Tell me, o great and grateful citizens of Townsville, whose gratitude is so famous and so endearing," he said with dripping sarcasm, "how many of you would have been homeless, if not for the Powerpuff Girls saving your homes? Tell me, o citizens who always appreciate their heroes, how many times have you've been saved from bankruptcy? Tell me, o citizens who had always been free as a bird, who always had taken for granted its freedom to riot and to lynch, yet whose freedom would have been taken away by Mojo Jojo or Him or any other would be invaders including yes—the Rowdyruff Boys before—if it were not for the Powerpuff Girls? O tell me citizens of Townsville, how many times have the girls did what the police should have done, arrest ordinary criminals, or perform tasks which they shouldn't be doing, like fixing plumbing, rescuing a cat from a tree, and others, but for the goodness of their hearts? Did you know how many hours they did not sleep or how much energy they lost everyday making sure you don't even have to tie your own shoes? Don't you know how many nights they didn't sleep, how many times their teacher Ms. Keane came to me to complain about their sleeping habits? How many times they just dropped from exhaustion after a days' work? And this doesn't include the housework they are supposed to do!"
"And this is how you repay them, o grateful citizens of Townsville," the Professor continued. "For all their hard work, dedication to your town, even if by your actions tonight you clearly don't deserve it, what did you do? The girls made one measly mistake, one mistake, and you all pounce on them. Oh how great your memory, Townsville, that you forget at the first minute what the girls had done in over a year. Shame on you, Townsville! Shame on you, that you forget the labors and hardships that the Girls had in order that you could sit lazily on you sofas. And shame on you that in your memory lapse, you listen to a man who is half crazy half criminal half mad half maniac who has his own reasons for trying to destroy the Powerpuff Girls! I am ashamed to be living in the same city with people who would backstab the girls at the moment of their darkest hour after saving them continuously for a year. Where is your gratitude, people of Townsville?"
"How could you, people of Townsville? How could you not only abandon the girls, but turn against them after all they've done? How could you not forgive them their mistakes when they so clearly forgiven dozens of yours? The Powerpuff Girls made a mistake of judgment, haven't we all have? And don't they deserve more leeway because of their past services?"
"So, great people of Townsville, if you have any sense at all, stop this once and for all and forgive the Powerpuff Girls for the mistakes that they have done."
The people were silent, and not a few bowed their heads in shame.
"You're right," one of the people shouted, "but we demand that the girls personally apologize to us in order for us to completely forgive them!"
"Yeah!" the rest of the crowd shouted.
"The girls will do no such—" the Professor began.
"It's alright Professor," Blossom suddenly said from behind him. "It's our fault, and we needed to do this anyway."
The Professor turned around and was surprised to see the three hovering above him, all bowing their heads, ashamed of what they've done, yet at the same time remorseful.
"Girls, you have nothing to prove to me by doing this," the Professor firmly declared.
"Yes professor, we know you understand," Bubbles said. "But Townsville doesn't, and they deserve an apology from us after what happened to the town."
"So please, let us go through with this," Buttercup added. "This is something that we need to do to ease our conscience."
"Yeah Professor, it's really important for us," pleaded Blossom.
"Oh okay, but I don't like it," the Professor said. His experience in last past few minutes with the crowd was so distasteful that he decided that the girls would not go before the people of Townsville anymore. But his girls' pleading convinced him otherwise. 'Perhaps the girls would finally talk some sense into these idiots.'
The not-so-angry crowd quieted as it began to listen to the Powerpuff Girls.
"People of Townsville," began Blossom, taking the microphone from the Professor's hand, "I would like to begin by saying that all of what went wrong in the past few weeks was all my fault, and my sisters just followed me in my error."
Buttercup grabbed the microphone from Blossom. "Don't give us that. Don't blame only yourself. We're in this together and we'll stick with it together. So don't play a self-serving martyr, because you can only play the self-serving part convincingly." She then smiled at Blossom, indicating that the last part was only a joke.
Blossom decided this is not something worth fighting over. "Okay, I was wrong. This was all our fault, not just mine."
The professor slapped his hand in his forehead. 'This is a bad start.' He couldn't imagine how this could be more bungled.
Dr. Edwards too was flabbergasted. He, liked everybody else was surprised at the girls' sudden arrival at the scene. 'This isn't any way to start a defense!' But whatever doubts he or anybody else may have had vanished as Blossom began her speech.
"Citizens of Townsville, our actions in the past weeks had been disgraceful, and you have been most adversely affected by it. We came here knowing that we don't have the face to face you tonight." She then paused for a few seconds. "How can we, the Powerpuff Girls, heroes that you long regarded as protectors of Townsville, have the nerve to face you tonight? We betrayed you tonight by not facing up to our responsibility of taking care of Townsville from monsters and beating up those who did! We failed you Townsville, and we paid the price for it by the loss of your trust and confidence in us. And we deserved it too," she began, with hands shaking, and with eyes clearly holding back tears. Her voice is filled with emotion, and it was obviously sincere.
"Yet for all that, we decided that the right thing to do is to face all of you. Jeer, boo or even insult us, because we deserve it, but please listen to us," she shouted. It made the crowd quiet, and led to not a few tears in sympathy for the girls.
"We loved Townsville, and still do. People of Townsville, please understand that we didn't do the shameful thing we just did because we hated our fair city, it is just that we were too blind to see that we were misguided and too prejudiced to believe that the Rowdyruff Boys were sincere, and too proud to let them get away with beating us up twice before, even if we started both fights."
"We only did what we thought was good for Townsville, and in the end, committed a grievous mistake in pursuit of that. But that doesn't excuse our actions tonight. We were acted irresponsibly, rashly, immaturely, carelessly and foolishly, and the sad thing was, we knew better even if we denied it at that time. We blindly went through our course, ignoring pleas from wiser heads to change our course of action. We just hoped that everything will turn out right—and everything went wrong."
At this point, tears slowly began dripping on Blossom's face, as her voice became more emotional.
"We're superheroes, and tonight, we acted more like villains. There is no excuse. We regret from the bottom of our hearts what we've done, and we're very sorry. People of Townsville, we humbly ask for your forgiveness. Please, forgive us. We're very sorry for what we've done."
She then wept, and her voice, though clear, was garbled by sobs. She paused several times, staring at the crowd as she said the last part of the apology.
"People of Townsville, though we seek your forgiveness, we would like to say that we would understand if you refuse to do so. If so, then we have nothing to blame but ourselves because we brought it upon ourselves. Just give us the privilege of serving you and the town alongside the new superheroes—the Rowdyruff Boys—so that we could still do what we always wanted to do—to protect Townsville. I repeat, please forgive us, but if you don't, then please let us serve the town as superheroes alongside the Rowdyruff Boys."
The crowd was silent, with heads bowed, ashamed of how they just acted. Soon, some of them were at tears. The Professor's castigation and the girls' apology apparently penetrated even their thick skulls, and they saw through what they had done.
"Of course we forgive you! You're our heroes!" one citizen suddenly shouted.
"Yeah, we forgive you! And we still love and trust you!" another citizen said.
"And we're sorry for listening to that bastard Smith," shouted another one.
"Yeah, what you did is terrible, but you're sorry for it, and we forgive you," another citizen shouted. "And we're sorry for trying to lynch the professor."
"Yeah, now we have six superheroes, the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys!'
Soon, the crowd was sending a flurry of acceptance and forgiveness, some sermons on the terrible things that they have done, and congratulating them for apologizing.
Because of the Professor's speech and Blossom's apology, the fickle citizens of Townsville forgave the girls in the same night that they condemned them by listening to Harold Smith. With an act of humility, they regained their reputations that had been lost that same night.
"Professor," Buttercup, "we're sorry for what we've done. We really are."
"Yeah professor," Bubbles added, "we really can't tell you how sorry we are, but we are."
"Professor," Blossom said, looking at the ground, not even looking at the Professor, "could you ever find it in your heart to forgive us?"
The professor took pity on his girls. He gently placed his hand under Blossom's chin and slowly lifted it up so that they were eye to eye. He then motioned Buttercup and Bubbles to come closer to him.
"Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, of course I forgive you. Don't be silly. I'll always forgive you, and welcome you to my arms no matter what you've done, even if it isn't something to be proud of. You're my daughters, my precious little angels, and no matter what you do, I'll always accept you."
"And even if I'm not proud at what you did earlier this night, I'm very proud of you girls, for having the courage to come here and talk to the people. And I'm proud that you've realized your mistakes, and apologized to the citizens," the Professor gently said. "And I'm proud of your performance tonight Blossom. Frankly, I never thought that the crowd could come to its senses, but then you came along and proved me wrong. There's hope for this town yet."
"O thank you Professor, you don't know how much those words mean to us," the girls said as they tightly hugged their father.
"Now girls," the Professor said as he led them into his car, "I want to know everything that happened, and I mean everything."
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Meanwhile…
Dr. Edwards was watching the TV news, and was touched by Blossom's speech.
'What an apology! At least those idiots believed you, Blossom. And you showed that you're sincerely sorry. Now, the only thing you have to do to fix this all up is to go here and apologize to me and my sons. I'll forgive you, but I don't know about my boys. I can only hope…' he then turned and looked at his sleeping sons.
'Sleep and rest, my sons. We're staying in Townsville and you have a life ahead of you. Your future is bright. I could only hope that I could raise you right so that you could even make it brighter.'
He then watched the TV for more news.
"This is Stanley Whitfield. In an unprecedented move, the Powerpuff Girls asked for forgiveness from the people of Townsville for their actions earlier tonight. And in an even more surprising development, the people of Townsville, who moments ago was ready to lynch the girls' father, Professor Utonium, accepted the apology and cheered the girls."
Dr. Edwards then turned off the TV.
'Things has gotten much better,' he thought.
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In Professor Utonium's car…
"So that's what happened, Professor," Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles explained, omitting the part where they made an alliance with the monsters, but otherwise telling everything, from the boys' confession during the second fight, their small jealousy of the boys' success, Bubbles doubts and efforts to persuade her sisters of the boys' innocence, Blossom's stubbornness and headlong charge into disaster, their 'victory' in the last fight, and the realization of truth that the boys were not truly evil.
The professor just listened, occasionally asking questions, and generally approving.
"Of course, even if I forgave you, and you did a very good job apologizing, you still need to be punished to learn and serve as an example," the Professor said. "Blossom, you're grounded for two months because you're the leader and you've got more responsibility than anyone else. Buttercup, you're grounded for a whole month. Bubbles, because you followed you're conscience, you're only grounded for three days. You can only go out to go to school."
"But Professor," the three girls whined.
"No buts, my decision is final. The Rowdyruff Boys will save the day while you three are grounded. Now let's go home. You need to rest because tomorrow, you'll apologize to Dr. Edwards and the Rowdyruff Boys."
They arrived home, and Ms. Bellum, Ms. Keane and the Mayor congratulated the girls for their apology, but also approved of the punishment the Professor gave them, though Ms. Keane thought it was unduly harsh.
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Soon, they were at bed, ready to sleep.
"Do you think the doctor and the boys will forgive us?" asked Bubbles.
"I don't know, Bubbles, I don't know," Buttercup replied.
"We can only hope, Bubbles, Buttercup, we can only hope," Blossom replied. "Besides, we have to persuade them not to spill the beans on the monsters."
"Yeah, at least things are beginning to go back to normal, with the boys and all that, I mean," Buttercup said in relief.
"Not quite, Buttercup," Blossom said.
"What do you mean?" asked Buttercup.
"Yes, we were again Townsville's superheroes, and the people forgave us and still love us, but we forever lost the moral superiority we have over them. In the eyes of the town, where before, we are superior to the boys, now we're just equal. We basically stooped to their level, and we have no right to lecture them on morals," Blossom then paused for a while, then smirked. "Though it won't stop us from trying."
August 29 would be a memorable date for the girls. On that date, they made a deal with the monsters to defeat the boys, they discovered that Dr. Edwards was the father of the Rowdyruff Boys, humiliated him in front of the Professor, Ms. Keane, Ms. Bellum and the Mayor by making him look like a fool, unwittingly caused the destruction of a large chunk of the city, defeated the boys in battle, destroyed their reputations in the process, learned the truth that the boys were not evil in a tortured way, apologized to Townsville, regained their reputations back, and was grounded as punishment. Boy, what a day!
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Meanwhile…
The place where the Professor spoke and Blossom apologized was deserted, except for four people tied to the trees.
"Mmmpphhhh!" Harold Smith shouted in his gag, vainly trying to get someone to release him.
"You and your stupid plans, Harold," Mary Ann Smith shouted. "I should have listened to mother when she told me not to marry you, but no, I had to marry you. Now look at what you've gotten us into…" and she ranted on and on to poor Harold Smith's ear, who has no way of replying because of the gag.
"Help, someone untie me, better yet, adopt me! Anything to get me away from this stupid family!" Julie Smith yelled, still stuck in the tree.
"I hate this city," Bud Smith simply said.
And so the Smith family was stuck, tightly tied to the trees for the rest of the night.
Author Thanks
To Ud the Imp,I agree. They did take it pretty hard, but as you pointed out, who wouldn't? Well, Blossom and Buttercup are really good girls. And it shows on how they felt after realizing they were wrong. On Bubbles, I agree completely.
As for Dr. Edwards reaction to Utonium's proposal, bear in mind that Dr. Edwards was friends with the girls before all of this happened, so he doesn't anything else to happen to the girls.
As for the lynch mob, this chapter pretty much answers it.
To Uncle Sam,I hope this chapter is as good as the other ones. As for Smith, I hope their punishment satisfies you. Well, Dr. Edwards is staying in Townsville, though you'll have to see if the boys are going to study in Pokey Oakes. After all, its August 29 in this fic, and September is very near.
To Hairy Gregory,yup it did. As for Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium, it's good that they are on speaking terms to each other, but they are still basically hostile to each other. And I agree that there's no point in pointing out the truth at this stage. It would do nothing but harm.
And thanks for liking Dr. Edwards' last line and Mojo's last rant.
To sum-jackass, yup, it did hit her hard, especially her conscience. Well, as for the boys forgiving the girls, you'll have to read the next chapter.
To Laserwriter 8, thanks for the compliments. Yup, the PPG knows that the RRB are not evil.
To Somewei,Blossom did something to fix it this chapter. As for Dr. Edwards and Prof. Utonium, they are already talking to each other civilly, as for the boys and girls, we'll just have to see.
To TJ Rose,yup, Blossom's really strong. She stubbornly held on to her belief that the boys were evil until nearly the very end. Well, as for the Professor convincing Townsville, this chapter answers it. And thanks for liking that line.
To nightglider-star,well sorry for the cliff hangers, it's a bad habit of mine. But please, bear with me.
To scorpionfreak23,I'm sorry you didn't read it all. But thanks for considering my story anyway. And I do have a social life with my family and friends. I just type really fast and had my thoughts organized before typing it so I can type three pages in three to four hours a day. And I typically devote about two hours each day (sometimes, I don't type at all on some days) to updating this fic.
To Intel Inside,thanks for reading and reviewing. And the Professor, nor anyone else, won't die anytime soon.
To BrYtt BRatt,and it has become more unraveled at this point. As for feeling sorry for everyone except Smith, my sentiments exactly. As for the boys forgiving the girls, wait for chapter 19.
To Bethany,well, he realized that the girls had done something wrong and as a father, he felt obligated to discipline them. Well, the actions of the girls made the town susceptible to that geek Smith's words. Yup, I agree that the Smiths should pay for what they've done, but they already did in this chapter. Well, they redeemed themselves before the town in this chapter.
To Dooly,yeah, me too. I agree about the girls being hard on themselves part. As for the boys forgiving the girls, wait until the next chapter to find out. As for the admiration of each others abilities, you'll know from previous chapters that Brick and Blossom had respect for each other's tactical and strategic abilities plus leadership skills. As for the others, just wait and see. Yup, Harold made a fatal mistake. Thanks. I always try to think if their personality fits the actions, or vise versa. And when they did act differently, I tried to think of a reason why. Thanks again.
To Mr. Cola, thanks.
To Ego Waffle,(accepts the $100.00), because of the money, I just updated! LOL!