Author's Note: Is this the story that continues to thrive, or the story that refuses to die? Heck, I don't know, but I do know this: the waiting period for this chapter was longer than intended. I'll save you the various excuses I could entertain you with. :)
Those of you expecting more of Pathie and Bullet (that lovable duo :laughs:) may be a little disappointed with their conspicuous absence this time around. However, it has to be kept in mind that since both sides of the conflict are working for noble causes, both sides of the story deserve a more in-depth look at their actions. If this still disappoints you, I can assure you the next chapter's view will focus on the other side of the coin. Feel free to comment.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"Hello, fellow Townsvillers. I'm Bolf Wiltzer, reporting for the morning news hour:
"Residents of the Pokey Oaks suburbia were nearly rocked out of their beds last night when an unexpected explosion blew a hole in the house of the Powerpuff girls. Apparently, resident genius Professor Utonium was analyzing a few samples for his latest research project when an accidental mixtures of chemicals set off a nasty reaction. He was swiftly transported to the hospital by the Powerpuff Girls, and was lucky enough to regain consciousness this morning.
"Local pundits in the city have voiced their concern for the recent chain of events. They suspect that the explosion occurred not because of an experiment but because of the albino, black-clad Rowdyruff that they believe may not have been disposed of. Professor Utonium, however, set the record straight with these words: 'If the former Rowdyruff was the cause of that explosion, then a lot more of those pyrotechnics would've occurred last night, especially in the city.' Well said, professor.
"The scientist has since left the hospital bed, returning home to once again explore the unknowns of modern science- once the house has been repaired, of course, which is an easy task when you have three super powered children in the family.
"Coming up after the break: the recent period of near-total supervillian absence has been a boon for us all; but astrologers say this is the calm before the storm! Listen to how the experts in horoscopes have predicted the coming of the apocalypse- yet again!"
**********
Never before has Robin Snyder felt so drained (a feeling worthy of note when one is an energetic six-year-old.) Why? Because of two major things:
A. She came inches within being mercilessly spanked to death by an old, decaying hag.
B. She spent nearly ten minutes diving like Max Payne to avoid countless streaks of pink energy, for a supercharged Blossom cleansed the household of filth and disorder at record speed. Sure, the red-headed superhero was merely exerting stress, but poor Robin did not have a death wish.
Now the two girls are resting on the living room couch, killing time with the television as they waited for the blonde and brunette to return.
"Sigh…There's never much on in the morning," Blossom commented, flipping the channels with the remote.
"Not even on Saturdays?" Robin asked.
"Especially Saturdays," Blossom answered.
Flip…flip-flip…flip-flip-flippety-flippo-flip…
"Agh! I give up!" the super powered girl exclaimed, tossing the remote to the side.
"Maybe we can watch a movie?" Robin suggested.
"I guess we can do that," Blossom answered.
Robin promptly hopped off the couch. She walked leisurely towards the collection of videotapes housed below the television.
"Gee, there sure are a lot of tapes here," Robin commented, trying unsuccessfully to suppress the growing sense of anxiety in her home.
"I'm sure you'll find something good," Blossom said.
One by one the tapes were examined. The procedure, due to Robin's basic reading level and indecisiveness, proved to be excruciatingly slow. Blossom, attempting to keep herself occupied, watched a nearby analog clock.
What's taking them so long?
Tick-tock-tick-tock…
It's not like them to be slow.
Tick, tock, tick, tock…
What if they ran into trouble?
Tick…tock….tick…tock…
They could be fighting.
Tick…tock…
They could be losing.
Tick…
They could be dying!
"Found one!"
Blossom nearly leapt out of the couch: so focused she was in her thoughts that her friend's mild exclamation boomed like cymbals.
"Blossom, are you ok? You're acting weird again," Robin spoke, approaching the redhead with sincere concern.
"I'm ok," Blossom answered weakly, even though her heart still pumped vigorously.
"Oh, ok then," Robin said, still concerned but deciding to leave the subject alone, "This is my favorite movie. I hope you like it."
Knock-Knock!
Blossom's heart skipped a beat. "It's them!" she cried, as she instantly zoomed for the front door.
"What took you guys so-" she began to say, but her voice died out when she was greeted not by her sisters but by an all-too-familiar pair of shoes. She looked up to their owner, and gasped.
"Y-y-you're…ali-"
That was as far as she got, for she collapsed like a marionette soon after.
**********
Earlier before….
Never before has Bubbles felt so joyful. Even though she suffered greatly ever since the Rowdyruff crashed into the City Park, none of the previous events- being kidnapped, nearly losing her life, etc.- stood a chance against the sight of her creator, the professor, approaching to embrace her and her tomboyish sister with open arms. When they merged each other's warmth, it felt as though time stood still, as if the gods wished for this glorious moment to last forever. It was enough to make even Buttercup cry tears of happiness- an act, Bubbles knew, her sibling would deny to the end of time.
Unfortunately, the occasion was rudely interrupted when a sea of reporters suddenly swarmed around them, asking questions up the wazoo. The scientist tried his best to answer a few of the more important questions, but it soon became obvious that answering them all would take an eternity. So, after making an official quote, the Professor was hastily escorted out of the hospital via a quick-and-dirty hole in the building as Bubbles and Buttercup flew out with him in tow.
"Whew! Thank you, girls. I thought I'd never make it past those journalists," Professor Utonium said, as the three coasted together with the clouds.
"We'd do anything for you, dad," Bubbles responded gleefully.
While in flight, the two children briefly told their father about the events of the previous night. Needless to say, the professor was quite dismayed…but also confused. But he did not have the time to think about the Rowdyruff's unusual actions.
"Listen, girls," The professor began, "You know that this is not finished. As long as he is still out there, we'd never know peace, and it wouldn't be long before he moves on to terrorize the town.. Because of that, I've already started on a plan that will end this conflict once and for all; but in order to carry it out, we must go back home."
The two children nearly choked, halting their flight suddenly, nearly lurching the professor out of their grasp.
"B-b-back home?" Bubbles stammered.
"Don't make us go back in, professor!" Buttercup pleaded, "We can just stay at Robin's house…right?"
"No," the professor stated succinctly.
"B-but-!"
"Buttercup, Bubbles, pay attention to me closely: I can tell you two have suffered greatly. I've suffered too, thinking all this time I had lost you. And I bet that Blossom has suffered most of all. But your feelings of despair will never go away if you hide from the harsh reminders of your pain.
"Bad things happen to people all the time. Bad things have happened to us before. But we've proved to ourselves constantly that we have the strength to go on and make the most of what comes to us. Don't let that strength falter now. Understood?"
The sisters nodded in unison.
"Now, I'll need you two to repair the house while I go fetch Blossom. Ok?"
The sisters nodded once more, continuing their journey with the professor in the big, blue sky together.
**********
"Blossom?"
"Unngh…"
"Blossom, wake up."
The redhead, not having anything better to do, reluctantly exposed her eyes. All she could see was a powerful, blinding aura of artificial light. The eyes squinted almost instantly.
"Blossom, please wake up."
That voice…high in pitch, sweet, mitigating…it rang a familiar bell…
"Robin?" Blossom asked, unable to see her, or anything for that matter.
Blossom pushed herself up, feeling a soft fabric against her as she did so.
"Robin…Where am I?" asked the super heroine.
"In your house."
Blossom immediately gasped, covering her eyes tightly. "Why are we here?! Why?! Don't you see how terrible it is?!"
The troubled child heard her friend shuffle away.
"Blossom, what are you talking about?" Robin said, a bit scared by the sudden mood swing, "Everything looks ok!"
"What kind of friend are you?! Don't you see the destruction, the debris, the blood all round?!"
"But none of that's here!"
Blossom could not trust those words; the horrific images were still burned into her mind. Fear paralyzed her in place, as if she was a statue of flesh and bone.
Out. She had to get out. But she could not. Not unless she demolished what was left. Blossom could not bear to destroy what remained of her old home. Until she mustered up the courage to once again look upon her violated abode (which would never occur,) she would be trapped.
But then, Blossom suddenly remembered the face she had seen…that thin, square-jawed countenance, smiling with benevolence. Didn't that mean he was alive? The one who always guided her right? The one who loved her more than anything?
"Robin, I want to see the professor again. I want to hug him. I want to kiss him. I want to feel his warmth. Bring him to me, and I will open my eyes."
Tiny feet scurried away on carpeting. They faded into nothingness, only to morph into a new sound: a slow, rhythmic clopping.
Is that him?
Clop, clop, clop, clop…the sound grew louder until it halted right in front of her, stopping suddenly. Two gentle hands began to lift her upwards. Then, one brushed back her long hair while the other brought the girl close…close to him.
At last, his deep, reassuring voice spoke to her: "Open your eyes, Blossom."
Blossom, now totally convinced, opened her eyes to see her loving father.
"Professor…dad…"
She hugged him around the neck, planting a kiss on his cheek as she did so.
**********
Never has Buttercup felt so anxious. Everything seemed to be back the way it should be: Their house no longer looked like a piece of Swiss cheese from within; The professor was back on his feet; Robin no longer had to fear her evil, walking zombie corpse; Bubbles and Blossom finally regained their annoying, lame, girlish (but happy) personas; and, most importantly, the professor was back on his feet. Wait: didn't she think that already?
Buttercup is glad not because everyone's happy again: she's glad because she no longer has to endure the super-emotional, "Oh-my-god-my-world's-gonna-end" crap everyone seems addicted to in tragic situations. No longer would she be tortured by mushy feelings. Now everything was set for what she should've done earlier: kick some major gluteus maximus!
But what's this? Her family doesn't want to act! They just want to sit their cowardly butts in their newly-repaired home and PLAN!? What a load of bull! As if they really needed a plan: any monkey would see that they just had to corner the bum, pummel him, and viola! Albino Rowdyruff on a rotisserie!
Don't they know that hesitation is weakness?
Disgusted, Buttercup had retired to her bedroom, lying on the deluxe bed as she enjoyed the comfort of her new clothes. If she was going to fight, she might as well be prepared. Torn pajamas don't exactly scream "badass superhero." At least her sisters had the same line of logic.
The minutes began to stretch pretty darn long. Buttercup searched desperately for things to do. Tossed the ball against the wall…That got boring real quick. Threw darts…pffh! No challenge at all! Played her videogame…jumping over the water got painfully boring the 100th time around.
"Gah! I can't take it anymore!"
Her patience drained, the brunette child of super-powered ferocity zoomed out of the room, down the wall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where she cried out: "HAVEN'T YOU BIG, FAT SISSIES FINISHED PLANNING YET!?"
Everyone else, seated at the kitchen table, looked at her with a slight expression of annoyance.
"Actually, Buttercup, we have," said the professor.
Finally! "Well, what are we doing?" Buttercup asked impatiently.
"We're going to wait until he shows himself, trap him, inject him with Antidote X, and then eliminate him."
"Pffh! I could've come up with that!"
"That was just the short version. The long version has many more intricacies."
"Oh…but can't we just look for the guy?"
The scientist sighed. "No, we must wait here. Searching for him would be pointless since he can travel around the world as fast as you, Blossom, and Bubbles can."
"Gah!" exclaimed Buttercup, throwing up her arms, "This stinks! I want action, gosh darn it!"
Bubbles chimed in with a question: "Is Robin gonna be safe here?"
"I'm certain of it, Bubbles," Blossom answered, "You know why? Because we're the Powerpuff Girls! Protecting the innocent is our profession!"
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Buttercup said sarcastically, earning herself a one-way trip back to her bedroom.
"Besides," Blossom continued, as her feisty sibling left the room grumbling, "I doubt he even knows how to get here. He'd more likely trash some buildings in an attempt to get our attention. But we'll be ready for him!"
"I hope so," Bubbles said.
"I know so!"