AUTHOR'S NOTE: I did not expect the readers who reviewed the previous chapter to respond so strongly against the shorter-than-normal length of the previous posting. :) Rest assured, this chapter is much longer in length. As always, helpful commentary is encouraged.
CHAPTER TWELVE
"Help me…someone, please! HELP!"
Blossom, trapped in a pitch-black abyss, was on a desperate search. Somewhere, in the distance, the cries of her sister Bubbles screeched that of unmistakable terror. The red-headed girl didn't know what to do: she had nothing to show she was actually moving, and the direction of the sound would always shift whenever it seemed that she was closing in.
Blossom knew she was on a wild goose chase: an obvious intent of the Rowdyruff, whose sadistic laughter occasionally echoed to her, chilling the leader's nerves to the near-point of collapse.
"The day I become your amusement is the day a snowball survives July!" Blossom yelled outwards, her open signs of frustration mixed with the drops of cold sweat.
On a whim, Blossom shot a blast of her laser beams, hoping the glowing aura from the concentrated light would somehow illuminate the never-ending void. Instead, the shafts of light merely sped away until it disappeared from her sight forever.
The Rowdyruff's voice boomed back to Blossom in retaliation. "It would seem that you lack any skills of actual worth. It is such a pity. I suppose you'll just have to listen to my descriptions."
"What are you talking about!?" Blossom cried back, petrified from the possible meanings of his words.
"Well, it's quite simple, really. Right now I have your pathetic sister bound and howling before me. Since your inability to take action has made you as slow as a sloth, you'll never have the grand opportunity of seeing me impale her through the stomach. You'll never see the blood pouring out like milk, nor will you get to see the way her eyes will widen and gleam from the shock of a mortal wound. However, I can let you hear her unheeded wails for help, followed by her climatic, last gasp from the lethal puncture. Too bad, really: your sister's death throes are best when you get the whole picture. But don't worry: you'll get a first-person account soon enough."
No…no! That MONSTER!
Immediately, Blossom shot through the very air around her as she broke the sound barrier with extreme speed. She had to get close enough…close enough to end this torture and banish the Rowdyruff to the depths where he came from!
"No…No…Why…Why are you doing this!? I don't want to die!"
The wails of her blonde sister tore Blossom's soul into irreplaceable fragments. If she was to fail now, self-forgiveness would never be possible. Life itself would never be possible.
Keep yelling for me, Bubbles! Don't lose hope in me! I'll save you! Blossom pleaded in her mind.
After an agonizing moment, Blossom's determination was beginning to pay off: There before her was the snow-white Rowdyruff clad in obsidian black, posed with a deadly, piercing blade in hand. Bubbles, her eyes flowing with tears, squirmed in her bonds like a caterpillar in the zero-g void surrounding them. The strength of her cries surpassed that of a deafening klaxon.
The Rowdyruff frowned. "Well, it looks like you're about to ruin my fun. I'll just have to start on you first!"
The albino monstrosity swung his weapon back and charged the rocketing streak of pink energy. Blossom reacted with a quick shift in direction, and escaped a gruesome end with a small cut on the side of the chest.
"You're more agile than I thought," Commented the Rowdyruff as he U-turned for another strike, "But you cannot evade my attacks forever!"
Blossom knew this fact all too well; but fortunately for her, she was not a slouch in the fighting department or in strategy. The Powerpuff leader quickly about-faced and, while still zooming away, released a massive salvo of deadly lasers in the Rowdyruff's general direction, hoping the sheer number of lethal shots would surprise and eliminate the villain. In fact, it nearly did catch him off-guard; but alas, not only did he elude the attack with ease, he even whacked one of the shots right back at Blossom!
Blossom only had a moment to gasp before her own laser attack blew a hole in her shoulder. Never had anything ruptured her body before: not like this. The resulting rush of pain pulled no punches, and sent a shocked Blossom tumbling away into the void defenseless, paralyzed, and shattered.
"Bye-Bye, Blossom!" bellowed the victorious Rowdyruff, "Enjoy your ultimate failure! Relish in your last moments of suffering! And be certain to look for your sisters: They'll be joining you in death soon enough!"
As Blossom tumbled away helplessly, the final booms of laughter from the one villain that destroyed her life forever enraged her mind to the point of feral madness. In her thoughts she roared out obscenities never heard by other kindergarteners, cursing herself for her irreversible actions and cursing the Rowdyruff in turn. At last, she proclaimed that all who stand for peace will do anything in their power to forever exterminate the abomination that was the Rowdyruff…
And then her revival took place, bringing her back to the realm of the real world.
*****
Around the same time that Blossom arose from her nightmarish slumber, a certain female squirrel was also coming about. She casually opened up her eyes, and was greeted to the sight of the morning sun shining through the forest canopy, along with the quiet gossip of the wind and the trees and the cool touch of a big, smooth rock below. Concern occupied the little mammal's mind, for the scene of trees and bushes surrounding the area had not the marginal scent of familiarity.
Jeez, this is pretty bad, the squirrel thought, as she stretched some muscles and scanned the premises further. No…make that "really, really bad." How in the name of Tamiasciurus did I end up HERE?
Bullet attempted to get on her feet, but as soon as she rose from the ground a pounding headache pushed her back down again, confining her to lie upon her stomach once more.
Oy…where did THAT come from? Did something happen to me last night? Hmmm…
At that point she managed to regain some memory: Touching the mysterious shell had surged an unknown but rattling pain through her tiny frame, blowing her away into some part of the grand tree that was nearby. She had phased in and out of consciousness, clinging on to her life, until…
I can't remember that part. Sheesh, I must've been pretty banged up. But something must have healed me. I know that for certain.
Bullet's second try at getting up proved to be more successful; however, the pain in her head did not completely subside. It did not matter to her, though: she needed to find someone- friendly, of course- who could direct her back to known territory. If that peculiar human child proved to be hostile, the other animals would need her special talents soon, if not immediately.
Sniffing the air, Bullet caught wind of a fellow mammal's scent…or, at least that's what she thought it was. The unique traits of this particular essence proved difficult to identify.
This might be the scent of a human, Bullet thought. And that human might be a hunter. I'll have to be careful until I get a sight of it. And to do that, I'll have to go up…quietly.
This task proved to be easy for the squirrel, for her superpowers allowed her to float to the upper reaches without sound, while a tree trunk provided cover from any watchful pair of eyes. Now in the ideal lookout position, she peered down to the roots of the sylvan landscape, searching for the mysterious entity in the premises.
Hunters…they usually wear the color of dawn, dusk, and blood…have to spot them first, before they spot you…There!
Having spotted a rustling section of bushes, Bullet quickly magnetized her vision until the intricate vines within the leaves appeared as clear as water. Even so, the details of the creature were hard to make out: if anything, it seemed nothing more than a distortion of the air itself.
What is that THING? Bullet pondered, her curiosity piqued.
The bizarre form went on the move again, leisurely approaching the very rock where Bullet had found herself moments before. The squirrel instantly pressed herself down, hugging the branch she stood on: She was not one to assume trust for an unknown species and did her best to be undetected. She peeked over the side of the branch as the creature finally halted in front of her former resting place.
That scent…it's stronger now. THAT is what's producing it? No way! That can't even BE a creature!
The pain in Bullet's head now seemed absolutely pathetic compared to the feeling of awe and fear flowing through her body. Nothing could have torn her eyes away from the extraordinary sight of this unnatural presence. And so she witnessed every second of the magical scene that followed:
The abstract mass of distorted air collapsed onto the earth like an abandoned piece of cloth, revealing none other than the albino human child!
Holy freakin' CRAP!
At once, the black-clad child threw his arms up in the air. "Oh, this is real peachy! I rescue this creature from imminent death, heal its wounds, and what does it do? It runs away! Well, with the way things are going, what else should I expect? I'm bleedin' cursed!"
Upon hearing the child's ranting, Bullet's shock jumped a hundredfold.
I…I can understand him!?
The poor, confused, flabbergasted squirrel lost all of her senses. The world seemed to spin around like a motor top as she toppled over the edge and plummeted to the earth below.
Pathie Zimbogous spun upon hearing the sudden thud nearby.
"What in blazes was that?" he asked himself, "Wait a minute- That could be the creature!"
He hurried towards the source of the unexpected crash upon soil. His hunch proved correct: There was the four-legged animal with the large front teeth and the brown, bushy tail, standing on its head in a bizarre fashion along with a glaze in the eyes.
"Ah, so you didn't run away!" Pathie exclaimed happily, "You little bugger. Nice to see I did something right for a…hello?"
The scout noticed right away that something was not right with the creature. He kneeled down to get a closer look.
"Oh, great…I snapped its mind!" Pathie exclaimed, picking up a limp vegetable of an animal. "I knew it was too good to be true…waking up with a completely different language would be too much for a basic life form, I guess."
He stared into its eyes once more. "What am I going to do with you now?"
That question was quickly answered when the creature snapped back to life, screeched, and promptly pounced upon Pathie's face.
"AGGHMPH-MPHHNH-MAAUGH!" The scout wailed painfully, as he frantically tossed himself to and fro like an ape gone bananas while trying to rip off the hysterical psycho-mammal from his delicate countenance. When that proved unsuccessful, Pathie resorted to punching the creature; but it jumped out of harm's way moments before the first blow made impact, thereby dooming the scout's left eye to unspeakable, horrible pain.
Pathie grabbed his throbbing eye and cursed: "Bloody hell! What in blazes did you do that for!?"
"Get away from me!" The creature started to shriek, but no sooner did it speak that than it froze like a bag of imported peas.
"My…What…you…Why am I not cheeping?!" The animal shouted.
"Don't you see?" Pathie replied, still holding his now-blackened eye, "You can speak in my language now. I rewired your brain so we could communicate! Now calm down, I'm not here to hurt-."
"I don't want to speak your language! I want to CHEEP, dammit!" The panicked animal cried, before it charged Pathie and, unfortunately, grabbed on to his face like a barnacle once more.
Fudge! Pathie thought, as the eerie feeling of déjà vu mixed with the torturous feeling of claws digging into his facial flesh. This time, Pathie opted to crush the assailant upon the heavy bark of a nearby tree; but the creature was yet again one step ahead, and the foolishness of the scout's decision bared itself when he was rewarded a pulsating concussion for his efforts. The following string of obscenities would've made the devil blush.
"For the love of god, can't you see I'm trying to talk to you!?" Pathie snapped.
"You're trying to hurt me!" The four-legged creature rebutted, hovering over the injured soldier.
"I'm defending myself, you dolt! YOU'RE the one who's clamping on to me like a parasitic facehugger!"
"But…but…"
"And just so you know, I'm the one who saved your life last night! So perhaps you should consider giving me a bleedin' benefit of a doubt!"
"How do I know you're telling the truth? You could be tricking me like predators do!"
"If I wanted to kill you, creature, I would've already done so when you were completely defenseless in that tree!"
The animal could not produce a reply.
"I can understand you're frightened of me: Everyone here has treated me like the worst freak of nature to ever exist," The scout continued, "But if you allow me to explain my intents, then you will see that I am no enemy of yours."
The animal's panic finally diminished in the face of rational thinking. It floated back down to the earth and looked up towards the battered expression of the scout.
"Well…er…I guess I should apologize." The creature said.
"No need. Your rationality is apology enough," Pathie responded. "My name is Pathie Zimbogous. I'm a male malukian. And yourself?"
"Um…my name's Bullet. I'm a girl squirrel."
"Bullet," Pathie reiterated. "Peculiar name. Doesn't sound very feminine, though, but that's probably just me."
"Heh, and yours isn't 'peculiar'? 'Pathie Zimbogous' sounds real zany!" Bullet commented.
"I think it suits me well," Pathie replied, chuckling. "Remove the 'I' and 'E' and replace it with an 'O' and 'S', and the resulting word would sum up my whole life pretty well."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind." Pathie spoke, disappointed that the meaning was lost on the little squirrel. "Now, before I start, we need to find a comfortable spot. This explanation of mine is going to take awhile. A long while."
"Er…how about that rock I was on?" Bullet suggested, pointing towards it.
Pathie smiled. "I suppose that's as good a place as any."