Author's Note:  In the spirit of the giving season, I did some overtime work to get this chapter (though somewhat shorter than the norm) ready within the same month that I posted the previous one. I tried my best not to rush the work,  but be as honest with your criticism as you always are.

Second Note: For some reason the website's preview feature shows no sign of italic formatting in this document. I do not know how to remedy this if the final upload appears as such, so you'll have to pretend that characters are actually thinking and that Pathie isn't REALLY speaking English. Sigh…

CHAPTER 22

Blossom and Buttercup faced the maw of defeat. Their mechanical adversary was sapping their endurance with each passing moment of the battle. When the tentacles weren't clawing at the girls, tearing holes in their outfits, they were whipping the superheroines with cruel abandon. The girls' flesh lost its childish beauty as blood, bruises, and lacerations ravaged the skin.

When the fight first began, it seemed that Blossom and Buttercup stood a chance at overcoming the machine. Now they merely delayed the inevitable. The robot will pummel them into submission, sap their bodies of Chemical X, and discard the lifeless remains in the ocean, eager for more prey.

"Buttercup, I can't take much more of this!" Blossom yelled, as she barely evaded one attack only to be walloped by another, "Everything hurts! If we stay out here in the ocean we're done for!"

"But what about the city!?" Buttercup yelled back, her voice quivering from her gigantic bruise, "We can't go back there!"

"We must! We need time to recover and come up with a different approach!"

"But-!"

"No buts! This is do or die!"

Blossom, who knew Buttercup would want to fight to the bitter end, immediately grabbled the brunette and rocketed away from the robot with her sister in tow. Buttercup, whose skin now felt every ounce of pressure like barbed wire, at once screamed in protest and pain. As always, the tentacled machine gave hot pursuit, its dedication a testament to its lack of soul.

"No! We gotta fight it!" Buttercup yelled, "It'll tear up Townsville like paper! BLOSSOM!"

Back towards the land did they race, their telltale trails of light stretching behind them, tantalizing the robot like a sensual aroma. Thanks to the girls' speed, they were soon back within the concrete canyons of the city, scarred by the marks of destruction. By now, the streets were empty of stampeding humans, but there were still a few familiar stragglers the two superheroines made sure to avoid.

Blossom, her grip tight on the brunette, searched desperately for a way to throw the robot off their tracks. She attempted a maze of backalleys; the robot plowed through the brick like paper, apparently not willing to fall for the same strategy twice. She tried the narrow tunnels of the sewers; the robot proved versatile, crashing through the entryways and squeezing through the halls of filth like soap in a wet hand. In a state of panic, she even tried to find sanctuary in the interior of a skyscraper; the robot's indiscriminate destruction brought the tower down in the same manner as Jenga blocks, forcing the redhead to escape back into the open to avoid the fatal strike of crushing metal.

Blossom flew along the avenues, the anxiety of no escape scrambling her mind. Buttercup cried to be set free in order to topple the mechanical monstrosity once and for all, but Blossom ignored her. Survival was all that mattered now. She would sooner have killed herself than toss Buttercup into a death-trap.

The redhead's desperation forced a hysterical cry for help: "Bubbles! Help! Please! We're dying!"

Blossom could not think of any other choice. Anyone else would've been instantly squashed like an ant by the sheer ferocity of the machine pursuing her. But was she even the best choice? Wouldn't Bubbles end up as helpless as Blossom and Buttercup? Could SHE handle the pressure of saving her sisters' lives? But there was no time to question these things, for Death was knocking on the door and would soon barge in to do his job.

Buttercup hated the notion of being totally helpless. "We're NOT dying! Just let me FIGHT!"

The brunette violently struggled to break free of her sister's grip. Blossom responded by tightening her clutch even further. Their opposing views prompted an internal struggle, distracting them from the real problem threatening both their lives. And like all internal struggles, it proved to be their undoing.

The metallic predator, sensing opportunity, burst forward with a boost of speed, bringing the girls within range.  Like an avalanche of steel the tentacles slammed down upon Blossom and Buttercup, pinning them helplessly to the asphalt. It wrapped the two girls in its icy, suffocating grasp and set forth to bang them sadistically against every solid object in sight. The screams were blood-curdling, echoing to the farthest reaches, as though it originated from the eternal nightmare of hell.

And then, silence.

The robot once again pinned the girls down upon the pavement. No struggle emerged.

**************

"NOOOOOOO!"

Taking the robot completely by surprise, a blue fury erupted from the sky, rippling with supernatural strength. A large, steel girder emerged from this fury, whacking the perplexed machine into the sky like a golf ball.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTERS, YOU MONSTER!"

The fury revealed itself to be Bubbles, the blonde who rushed to her sisters' aide. The emotion that exploded from the sight of her pulverized siblings elicited the "hardcore" aspects of her personality, transforming the typically sweet girl into Death Incarnate. The girder became her scythe – or rather, her baseball bat – as she violently reaped whatever traces of "life" the machine barely possessed. Left to right the machine bounced in the air, the tentacles flailing wildly as its programming failed to comprehend the severity of the new threat. Its trajectory soon passed into the open expanses of the ocean, where, at the total mercy of the blonde, the robot received the finishing blow:

An underhand swing rocketed the robot straight into the air. Bubbles flew upwards past the hurtling projectile of steel and swung the girder high over her head. When the robot reached the point of weightlessness, the girl brought down the girder with the full brunt of her superhuman strength, sending the robot plummeting to the ocean blue well past terminal velocity. It cannonballed into the water, evoking a gigantic splash that reached high into the salty air.

"And don't come back!" Bubbles proclaimed, as she threw the girder into the chaotic swirl of white and blue, watching it disappear along with the splash itself.

Floating in the sky, the blonde watched the now-calm surface of the ocean, waiting to see that the threat was neutralized. Satisfied with her work, she at once flew back to the siblings lying sprawled and motionless upon the pavement. The Reaper subsided as the sweet little girl saw the severity of the wounds up close…and realized she had no idea what to do.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no…." Bubbles said in panic, her worst fears materializing before her. "Girls? Blossom? Buttercup? Please, say something…I don't know what to do…."

Nothing.

"Please…don't…"

Nothing.

"DON'T DIE ON ME!"

The cathartic cry boomed in the air, shattering whatever hope of peace had been left in the town.

And still, nothing.

*************

 "Bubbles? Bubbles! Where are you?"

Pathie, who had been searching aimlessly until Bubble's cry had echoed in the air, flew cautiously over the Pokey Oaks suburbia towards the city in ruins. Like when he first emerged from his ship, the human habitats showed as much life as a ghost town. They were most likely hiding…or dead…with all the chaos one cannot be certain.

"Bubbles! Please answer me!"

Entering the city, he saw that a force more violent than he had already ravaged much of the area. Gashes pried open mortar, brick, and steel, craters pocked the asphalt, and glass from shattered windows created fields of unforgiving blades. Some buildings had even been toppled entirely, leaving saddening piles of scrap that once held comfortable offices.

"So much destruction…but where is all the life? Hell, where is the girl?! She might be dead for all I know!"

Distressed by a fruitless search, Pathie turned to the help of the MPSD attached to his arm. "Computer, remember the three sources of estroxilium-46 that you detected when you first scanned this particular area?"

"Yes, Pathie, their unique signatures are in my databanks," The small, floppy device chimed.

"Scan for those exact same sources as fast as you possibly can. Bubbles' life depends on it!"

The disc at once emitted three long, whiny beeps. "Error. Action cannot be executed."

"What?! Why not?!"

"Records show that primary objective is complete. Scout unit 'Pathie Zimbogous' should now focus on returning home to cure infected Malukians of the pandemic outbreak."

"I don't have time for this! There are survivors stranded on this rock, computer! I am not going to leave them here to suffer, especially Bubbles!"

"It is more important that the population receives their cure before the pandemic outbreak leads to extinction."

"Ok then…let me put it this way, computer. If I head back now, and it turns out that the female population has died off completely, having the cure would be pointless because we'd lose our ability to continue the species, right?"

"That is correct."

"But here on this god-forsaken rock are three unique females. For some reason, estroxilium-46 flows through their veins like it was their blood. Perhaps they OD'd in fear of the pandemic, but now…they are perfect females, computer. No pandemic will ever harm them. They will never lose their defenses, nor will they ever lose their beauty…even in old age they will look like youthful goddesses. And if these traits become genetic…the Malukians of future generations would never have to worry about another outbreak again.

Hell, even if everyone back home dies, the race can still live on without fear, because then it'll be up to me to-."

Pathie froze. My god, what am I saying?!

"I understand now," The MPSD chimed, the words cold and mechanical. "It would appear that you are willing to sacrifice all Malukians in order to sate your lust."

"No, that's not what I-!"

"Though I am not programmed to perform the tasks of a therapist, it is safe to say that you are significantly deprived."

"I am NOT depr-!"

"Your actions are extreme. The severity of it would warrant a court-martial back home. However, due to the circumstances I have no other choice but to fulfill your demands. Perhaps if you find your meat puppet quickly enough the inevitable loss of life due to delays will be minimal."

"But…I did not mean…"

"Three sources of Estroxilium-46 have been detected five miles to the west. Try not to lose yourself when you carry out your fantasy."

Pathie's heart sank to the deepest depths of depression. Defeated by the MPSD, he flew off towards the girls –or rather, Bubbles- in silence.

Maybe it is only sex that pushes me…I will have to remedy that…

************

\\SLEEP...

\\SLEEP..

PRESENT-THR = False

+set SLEEPM: 0

\\HUNTER SEEKER ONLINE

\\ENTER COMMAND:

run scan.dll

\\scanning........................

\\ACTIVETHR = 2

\\WARNING- ANOMALY THREATS

+set ATTACKPWR: 13

run huntseek.exe

\\SEEK AND DESTROY: MAXIMUM FORCE