Heightened Tensions- Chapter Two
"MWA HA HA! I've got you now Powerpuff Girls!"
Mojo sat perched atop his latest robot, swinging a remote control madly through the air with one hand, the other shaking an angry fist in their direction. The next second Mojo leapt off of the robot gracefully, and landed on top of a nearby shelf, his strange eyes glowing maliciously at the two girls below him. With one motion he pressed a button on his complicated remote and hung back to watch his work.
With one fatal swoop the robot swiped with its left arm in an attempt to grab Bubbles, but she leapt out of harm's way just in time. People around them gave a cry of surprise as the fist of the machine tore a gaping hole in the ground, missing Bubbles by mere inches. Blossom bristled.
"Godamnit Mojo, when will you learn?!" she cried angrily. Blossom leapt into the air as the other fist bore down on her just seconds after the first attack. It left another exploding crater in the ground, and people screamed in alarm. Somewhere from the sidelines, they heard,
"Girls!"
"It's okay Professor! Just stay away!" Blossom cried, waving him away hastily. She didn't want him, or anybody else to get hurt. This robot seemed much more dangerous than all of Mojo's other scrapped together tin cans. This one definitely seemed different, and she wasn't about to take any chances.
"Blossom!" Bubbles cried, narrowly avoiding a blast from a laser cannon. A rack of magazines behind her exploded in a burst of singed paper and burning plastic. Mojo suddenly turned to Blossom, and once again began beating the air madly with his fist.
"Looks like you're cornered! There's no way to escape! You're trapped! There is no possible way for you to leave! Therefore I have you caught! BWA HA HA HA!" and Mojo pressed another button, this time the robot responded by leaping straight for Blossom, its mechanical claws outstretched to grab her.
"WAAGH!" Blossom cried in surprised, and she stumbled sideways just as the robot sped past her, nearly brushing against her with its metallic hide. It skidded to a halt just a few feet away, crumbling the floor in its wake.
Holy Crap that thing is fast!
Bubbles!
The robot had suddenly turned its attention onto Bubbles, who was standing across the way, watching both Blossom and the robot with horrified eyes.
"WHERE THE HELL IS BUTTERCUP!?" Blossom screamed, lifting herself from the ground where she'd stumbled. Bubbles just shook her head quickly, and then screamed as the robot suddenly kicked off the ground, Mojo's laughter following its movements like some sort of ethereal phantom.
Its clawed arm was stretched out as if to grab Bubbled by her head. For some reason she didn't dare move, but only watched as the strange electric beast lunged for her, a wordless metallic shriek rising around her as it drew closer.
"Bubbles! Don't just stand there!"
And it was as if that suddenly got her moving. In a split second she flipped out of harm's way, her body twisting backwards to avoid the razored fist that tore into the floor just inches from her body.
Instantly the machine recovered from its miss, and was suddenly on Bubbles again, who had no time to dodge. Its other arm swung around to grab her, but this time Bubbles managed to catch the strange arm in her powerful grasp. She tried to swing her body around, to throw the iron beast.but squeaked in alarm when she realized-
- She couldn't move the blasted thing. It was just too heavy! How was that possible?!
"Confused Powerpuff pipsqueak?! Perhaps I've finally done it!" Mojo was leaping up and down excitedly from the top of the shelves he was perched on, merchandise crashing to the floor.
Bubbles looked up at the robot that loomed over her. She didn't know what to do.
"Bubbles! For God's sake move!" Blossom's voice carried over the sound of rendering metal as the robot's other arm became what looked like a giant saw. As it revved up and began spinning, the high pitched whine making the crying people around them cower back in fear, Bubbles barely even moved.
"Why isn't she moving- Augh, damnit!" and Blossom leapt up from her crouch and ran for the robot's back, leaping up at the last second to latch onto the monster's shoulders just as it was about to strike with the spinning blade. She bunched her fist and gritted her teeth, suspecting it was going to hurt like hell.
And it did. As she plunged her fist into the neck of the beast she cried out as she felt her skin split and her hand become suddenly slick with something moist. Something about this robot was VERY different.
The robot roared in protest as it suddenly started to fling its arms around wildly, Bubbles still attached. With a terrified wail Bubbles was thrown backwards, crashing into a clothing display that nearly exploded on impact.
Blossom did all she could do to hold on, trying to bite the pain away in her stinging hand. She fished around for what she was looking for, found it, and held on with all her might. The robot was putting up quite a fight, thrashing and shrieking metallically as it tried to buck her off, but to no avail. She shut her eyes, knowing more pain would come, and yanked her fist out as hard as she could, pulling wires up and crying out at the same time.
The cords split and there were gigantic sparks as the robot shuddered, angry black smoke billowing from the hole Blossom had punched through. Coughing and gasping as smoke filled her eyes, Blossom momentarily loosened the grip of her legs on the robot's shoulders, and in that brief interval she felt something hard and cold grab hold of her ankle.
"No!"
But it was too late. Mojo was shrieking madly, screaming orders at the robot as it peeled Blossom off of its back. She kicked her other leg and swung her fists wildly, trying hard to break free of its grasp. Her mind was had gone blank, partially distracted by the pain in her hand, and she couldn't think straight through her panic. She hollered angrily, managing to land a good kick on the robot's abdomen, but it had absolutely no effect.
"Bubbles! Little help here!!! WHERE THE HELL IS BUTTERCUP!?"
"No! Not that one you fool! The other one!" Mojo's screaming voice met Blossom's ears, and she froze. Oh shit-
Before she even had time to comprehend what was happening Blossom was sailing through the air, having been flung away from Bubbles and the robot by its sheer strength and power. She came to a crashing halt in a bike rack, landing against about a dozen bikes and destroying them all with her passage. She finally landed, bent metal and torn plastic lying around her.
She looked up, and screamed. The robot had Bubbles by her hair. She was putting up an amazing fight, trying to claw the robot's hand off of her scalp, but was clearly getting nowhere. She punched at its fist, gritting her teeth, tears of pain running down her cheeks as strangled growls of anger escaped her throat. Blossom had to do something.
She stood shakily, ignoring her hand, a plan forming in her head even as she moved forward, the scene become larger as it loomed closer. Bubbles's face had gone a brilliant red as she continued her attempts to jerk away, but nothing seemed to be working.
Blossom stopped a short distance away and shot one glance at the professor who curiously enough was still standing about ten feet away, completely horrified. He was staring at her hand, but she paid absolutely no attention to it. She nodded to him, heard Bubbles let out another angry cry of pain, and put her plan into action.
She took a deep breath and let the air fill her lungs. This would work. It had to work.
As soon as Blossom knew that her lungs were filled to capacity, she concentrated hard on what she wanted her body to do, and let the air escape from her throat. It came in a thin stream of frigid cold that slapped at the robot's legs and whipped around them like a merciless storm of dry ice. Very soon the machine found itself stuck completely to the ground, its legs now useless as the icy material glued them in place to the floor. It stopped jerking Bubbles around in its confusion, and Blossom saw this as the time to act.
"Bubbles! Heat rays!"
And without hesitation Bubbles did as she was told, her eyes narrowing and focusing on the robot's legs on front of her. Simultaneously two angry red beams blasted from her eyes and attacked the icy growth that was once the robot's legs. Instantly the ice began to melt, creating a growing puddle of boiled water that splashed to the floor.
Come on. come on.
Mojo was shrieking angrily, Bubbles was whimpering, then-
The robot suddenly lost its balance and slipped on the slick floor, which was just what Blossom had wanted. But so did Bubbles, and she began to fall backwards, the two of them falling in opposite directions. The robot still had her by the hair, and didn't look as if it was planning on letting go. The force, the inertia. This was not going to end well.
Damnit this wasn't supposed to happen! The bastard was supposed to let go!
"No!" Blossom cried, but she stood there, time slowing to a crawl. Bubbles could lose her entire scalp-
-Then as if out of nowhere there was an angry cry that rose up out of the shocked silence of the crowd. There was a flash of green, followed by screams from the crowd, and suddenly the robot jerked its hand back violently as a portion of its forearm crumbled under the force of an impossible hit. There was a horrendous scream of pain, an angry roar from above and a chorus of cries from the terrified onlookers, the professor among them.
Bubbles fell, and so did the mechanical beast with a mighty crash. Mojo roared angrily, and leapt down from his perch and landed with a thunk on his precious creation.
"Curse you Powerpuff Girls!" He said angrily, slapping buttons on his control pad. The jet engines from under the machine came back to life with a burst of heated air, and the robot began to rise. "Ah. but it isn't a total loss." Mojo said wickedly. his eyes catching the gnarled hand of his robot, which was clutching a small wad of soft blonde hair. "Till next time you insufferable brats!" And with a final string of delighted cackles Mojo and the robot disappeared.
There was absolute silence in the vicinity after that. Blossom stood dumbfounded, staring up at the ceiling stupidly, not sure if she understood what had just happened. The people who had managed to stick around through their fear were all staring up too, their red faces flushed and sweaty. The only actual sound, while very faint, was Bubbles's continues whimpers and the professor's coos as he attempted to comfort her.
"What the hell was that all about?" the voice of Buttercup floated up from the silence and caught Blossom's attention. She looked furiously at her green-eyed sister, not sure of where to begin. She was just standing there, so smug and pleased with herself, completely clueless as to how much trouble she was in.
Buttercup was standing next to Bubbles. It was she who had broken the robot's grasp, but not good enough to save Bubbles some pain. She was on the floor, clutching her head and whimpering as the professor attempted to peel her hands away from her head.
"Where. the HELL. WERE YOU?!!?!?" Blossom roared, stomping towards Buttercup, her hair and clothes an absolute mess. Buttercup stepped back, offended.
"What do you mean-"
"You're LATE!"
"Oh. that. well. you see.. I was outside."
"HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE NOTICED!?"
"I had headphones on-"
"AAAAAARRRRGH!" and Blossom suddenly lunged at Buttercup, throwing her to the floor angrily. They both spun around and cursed at each other for a good five minutes, while people watched them nervously.
Bubbles sat up, rubbing her head limply. She shrieked when she saw Blossom and Buttercup duking it out on the department store floor, while newly arrived reporters were getting the whole thing on tape for the 10 o'clock news. They didn't even seem to notice.
"I'M SICK OF YOUR IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR!"
"Um. girls?" Bubbles tried to cut in, eying the cameras warily.
"I'M SORRY!"
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!?"
"Blossom." The professor was calling her, trying to get her to stop, because she hadn't noticed that she was bleeding all over Buttercup and everything else around her.
They kept fighting, not really hitting each other, but something more along the lines of wrestling together. It was actually quite amusing, save for the blood.
"Blossom stop! You're bleeding!"
And finally they stopped, and Blossom rolled onto her knees staring down at her hand with horror. She was bleeding. Her hand was actually dripping with it.
"Oh my god." she mumbled, shocked at seeing her own blood. It was her own blood, right there, coming out of her skin thickly. just as it had on that night when-
"Hey!" Bubbles knocked Blossom out of her stupor. Blossom turned to her, her eyes very wide yet her expression very blank. Buttercup was lying on the ground next to them rubbing her shoulder where she'd slammed into the ground.
"You may want to smile for the camera." Bubbles said, smiling sheepishly as she jerked her head upwards, motioning to the slew of reporters that had taken out their notepads. Blossom's head snapped up.
"Wha-"
And they all started asking questions about her hand at once. She was completely flabbergasted, and didn't know what to say. How did Mojo's robot hurt her? They'd never done that before.
Shakily she stood, Bubbles helping support her, and they shielded their eyes as multiple flashes exploded in their faces. Blossom glanced over at Bubbles and scanned her scalp, but Bubbles shook her head to dismiss it entirely. She then motioned to the reporters again. Blossom looked at her anxiously.
"You'd better do it," she whispered, and gave Blossom a light shove into the cameras. For a second Blossom was completely silent, staring at all the reporters who seemed to be leaning over her, all of their faces blank as they waited for her to say something.
"Wow. that robot was pretty strong." she said stupidly, cradling her cut hand in an attempt to hide it. Satisfied, the reporters then started asking questions about the attack, which Blossom answered, her mannerism becoming more and more enthused as the questions went on.
"Don't worry, I can help myself up!" Buttercup huffed angrily, picking herself up from the ground, glaring at the cameras from behind Blossom. There was some mention of ice-breath, but Buttercup barely heard it through her hazy red anger, and she only scowled more at Blossom's back as the talking continued. The people at home would probably see that, but Buttercup didn't really care too much.
"Oh sorry Buttercup!" Bubbles laughed, extending her hand to help her sister. Buttercup slapped her away, irritated.
She was just so perfect up there, so prissy and well spoken, speaking to the camera as if she was some sort of diplomat. Who gave her the right?!
"Don't bother. Miss Goody-goody might need your help-"
"Oh Buttercup, stop it, she's only giving the report-"
"Yeah yeah. Why don't you guys take care of the publicity while I stick around here and clean up the mess. like I always do." and she turned her back on Bubbles and the professor, who had meanwhile stood up next to his blue-eyed daughter.
"You going to be okay honey?"
"Yeah. whatever. go take Miss Super Spit home and wrap up her boo-boo." Buttercup put her hands on her hips and shook her head, looking at the mess before her. "Hey! Who's in charge of this dump anyway?!" And she stomped away, only to be joined by who looked like a group of employees, their faces sullen and exhausted at the prospect of the cleanup before them.
"Oh that BRAT!" Bubbles shrieked angrily, folding her arms and screwing her face up in a scowl. "She does this every time there's a job! Why can't she just accept things the way they arrrrrreoooooow. shoot it hurts." she finished, once again rubbing her head as it gave another throb of pain. The professor looked down at her.
"Well. we should get Blossom home and take a look at that hand. I wonder what happened?" he said. his voice partially distracted. The last time he'd seen any of them bleed had been over the summer, and that hadn't been pretty.
"Well. Blossom! Come on!" Bubbles said, still holding her head. Blossom turned, and her face was bright with pleasure, her trademark smile gracing her features. It was the same look she always had when she spoke to the public, the dignified expression that earned her the respect of a population.
But as her face moved out of the camera's view her expression fell into a grimace of extreme pain and sadness, something she would never let anyone see but her family.
Blossom glanced over at Buttercup once who was standing alone, glaring at her, almost like she hated her for something. Blossom was confused, and tried to wave to her sister with her good hand, giving her a small smile, but Buttercup never responded. She just shook her head and turned back to the cleanup work before her. Before Blossom could even call out to Buttercup she felt herself being pulled away by the professor.
Little did the family know that someone unexpected was watching the news report that night. As the shadowed figure watched the form of Blossom on his television screen, eyes narrowed into glowing slits of glowing emerald, he smirked to himself. She was just so happy. It amused him how she could stand and be so content with herself, even after everything she'd been through, even after everything he'd done to her. How could she not be so damaged?
And he saw her blood, and something rose within that he couldn't control. Yes, it was bloodlust, the very same swell of emotion that had taken over on that night in July. She was bleeding. again. and very soon she would be bleeding once more because of him, but not yet.
And he saw something else that perked his interest. Buttercup. was standing behind Blossom, staring straight at her sister with an expression of pure loathing. Blossom didn't even know. She had no idea what her sister was really thinking, what she was really feeling inside. This was interesting. perhaps he could have a little fun with this new development, mix it up into his new little plan.
"Let's see how happy you are after I'm through with you." he hissed, speaking into the darkness that no mortal had ever dwelled in.
Confused yet? Trust me, all will be explained in the next chapter. There's lots of different plot points running together here, so bear with me.
"MWA HA HA! I've got you now Powerpuff Girls!"
Mojo sat perched atop his latest robot, swinging a remote control madly through the air with one hand, the other shaking an angry fist in their direction. The next second Mojo leapt off of the robot gracefully, and landed on top of a nearby shelf, his strange eyes glowing maliciously at the two girls below him. With one motion he pressed a button on his complicated remote and hung back to watch his work.
With one fatal swoop the robot swiped with its left arm in an attempt to grab Bubbles, but she leapt out of harm's way just in time. People around them gave a cry of surprise as the fist of the machine tore a gaping hole in the ground, missing Bubbles by mere inches. Blossom bristled.
"Godamnit Mojo, when will you learn?!" she cried angrily. Blossom leapt into the air as the other fist bore down on her just seconds after the first attack. It left another exploding crater in the ground, and people screamed in alarm. Somewhere from the sidelines, they heard,
"Girls!"
"It's okay Professor! Just stay away!" Blossom cried, waving him away hastily. She didn't want him, or anybody else to get hurt. This robot seemed much more dangerous than all of Mojo's other scrapped together tin cans. This one definitely seemed different, and she wasn't about to take any chances.
"Blossom!" Bubbles cried, narrowly avoiding a blast from a laser cannon. A rack of magazines behind her exploded in a burst of singed paper and burning plastic. Mojo suddenly turned to Blossom, and once again began beating the air madly with his fist.
"Looks like you're cornered! There's no way to escape! You're trapped! There is no possible way for you to leave! Therefore I have you caught! BWA HA HA HA!" and Mojo pressed another button, this time the robot responded by leaping straight for Blossom, its mechanical claws outstretched to grab her.
"WAAGH!" Blossom cried in surprised, and she stumbled sideways just as the robot sped past her, nearly brushing against her with its metallic hide. It skidded to a halt just a few feet away, crumbling the floor in its wake.
Holy Crap that thing is fast!
Bubbles!
The robot had suddenly turned its attention onto Bubbles, who was standing across the way, watching both Blossom and the robot with horrified eyes.
"WHERE THE HELL IS BUTTERCUP!?" Blossom screamed, lifting herself from the ground where she'd stumbled. Bubbles just shook her head quickly, and then screamed as the robot suddenly kicked off the ground, Mojo's laughter following its movements like some sort of ethereal phantom.
Its clawed arm was stretched out as if to grab Bubbled by her head. For some reason she didn't dare move, but only watched as the strange electric beast lunged for her, a wordless metallic shriek rising around her as it drew closer.
"Bubbles! Don't just stand there!"
And it was as if that suddenly got her moving. In a split second she flipped out of harm's way, her body twisting backwards to avoid the razored fist that tore into the floor just inches from her body.
Instantly the machine recovered from its miss, and was suddenly on Bubbles again, who had no time to dodge. Its other arm swung around to grab her, but this time Bubbles managed to catch the strange arm in her powerful grasp. She tried to swing her body around, to throw the iron beast.but squeaked in alarm when she realized-
- She couldn't move the blasted thing. It was just too heavy! How was that possible?!
"Confused Powerpuff pipsqueak?! Perhaps I've finally done it!" Mojo was leaping up and down excitedly from the top of the shelves he was perched on, merchandise crashing to the floor.
Bubbles looked up at the robot that loomed over her. She didn't know what to do.
"Bubbles! For God's sake move!" Blossom's voice carried over the sound of rendering metal as the robot's other arm became what looked like a giant saw. As it revved up and began spinning, the high pitched whine making the crying people around them cower back in fear, Bubbles barely even moved.
"Why isn't she moving- Augh, damnit!" and Blossom leapt up from her crouch and ran for the robot's back, leaping up at the last second to latch onto the monster's shoulders just as it was about to strike with the spinning blade. She bunched her fist and gritted her teeth, suspecting it was going to hurt like hell.
And it did. As she plunged her fist into the neck of the beast she cried out as she felt her skin split and her hand become suddenly slick with something moist. Something about this robot was VERY different.
The robot roared in protest as it suddenly started to fling its arms around wildly, Bubbles still attached. With a terrified wail Bubbles was thrown backwards, crashing into a clothing display that nearly exploded on impact.
Blossom did all she could do to hold on, trying to bite the pain away in her stinging hand. She fished around for what she was looking for, found it, and held on with all her might. The robot was putting up quite a fight, thrashing and shrieking metallically as it tried to buck her off, but to no avail. She shut her eyes, knowing more pain would come, and yanked her fist out as hard as she could, pulling wires up and crying out at the same time.
The cords split and there were gigantic sparks as the robot shuddered, angry black smoke billowing from the hole Blossom had punched through. Coughing and gasping as smoke filled her eyes, Blossom momentarily loosened the grip of her legs on the robot's shoulders, and in that brief interval she felt something hard and cold grab hold of her ankle.
"No!"
But it was too late. Mojo was shrieking madly, screaming orders at the robot as it peeled Blossom off of its back. She kicked her other leg and swung her fists wildly, trying hard to break free of its grasp. Her mind was had gone blank, partially distracted by the pain in her hand, and she couldn't think straight through her panic. She hollered angrily, managing to land a good kick on the robot's abdomen, but it had absolutely no effect.
"Bubbles! Little help here!!! WHERE THE HELL IS BUTTERCUP!?"
"No! Not that one you fool! The other one!" Mojo's screaming voice met Blossom's ears, and she froze. Oh shit-
Before she even had time to comprehend what was happening Blossom was sailing through the air, having been flung away from Bubbles and the robot by its sheer strength and power. She came to a crashing halt in a bike rack, landing against about a dozen bikes and destroying them all with her passage. She finally landed, bent metal and torn plastic lying around her.
She looked up, and screamed. The robot had Bubbles by her hair. She was putting up an amazing fight, trying to claw the robot's hand off of her scalp, but was clearly getting nowhere. She punched at its fist, gritting her teeth, tears of pain running down her cheeks as strangled growls of anger escaped her throat. Blossom had to do something.
She stood shakily, ignoring her hand, a plan forming in her head even as she moved forward, the scene become larger as it loomed closer. Bubbles's face had gone a brilliant red as she continued her attempts to jerk away, but nothing seemed to be working.
Blossom stopped a short distance away and shot one glance at the professor who curiously enough was still standing about ten feet away, completely horrified. He was staring at her hand, but she paid absolutely no attention to it. She nodded to him, heard Bubbles let out another angry cry of pain, and put her plan into action.
She took a deep breath and let the air fill her lungs. This would work. It had to work.
As soon as Blossom knew that her lungs were filled to capacity, she concentrated hard on what she wanted her body to do, and let the air escape from her throat. It came in a thin stream of frigid cold that slapped at the robot's legs and whipped around them like a merciless storm of dry ice. Very soon the machine found itself stuck completely to the ground, its legs now useless as the icy material glued them in place to the floor. It stopped jerking Bubbles around in its confusion, and Blossom saw this as the time to act.
"Bubbles! Heat rays!"
And without hesitation Bubbles did as she was told, her eyes narrowing and focusing on the robot's legs on front of her. Simultaneously two angry red beams blasted from her eyes and attacked the icy growth that was once the robot's legs. Instantly the ice began to melt, creating a growing puddle of boiled water that splashed to the floor.
Come on. come on.
Mojo was shrieking angrily, Bubbles was whimpering, then-
The robot suddenly lost its balance and slipped on the slick floor, which was just what Blossom had wanted. But so did Bubbles, and she began to fall backwards, the two of them falling in opposite directions. The robot still had her by the hair, and didn't look as if it was planning on letting go. The force, the inertia. This was not going to end well.
Damnit this wasn't supposed to happen! The bastard was supposed to let go!
"No!" Blossom cried, but she stood there, time slowing to a crawl. Bubbles could lose her entire scalp-
-Then as if out of nowhere there was an angry cry that rose up out of the shocked silence of the crowd. There was a flash of green, followed by screams from the crowd, and suddenly the robot jerked its hand back violently as a portion of its forearm crumbled under the force of an impossible hit. There was a horrendous scream of pain, an angry roar from above and a chorus of cries from the terrified onlookers, the professor among them.
Bubbles fell, and so did the mechanical beast with a mighty crash. Mojo roared angrily, and leapt down from his perch and landed with a thunk on his precious creation.
"Curse you Powerpuff Girls!" He said angrily, slapping buttons on his control pad. The jet engines from under the machine came back to life with a burst of heated air, and the robot began to rise. "Ah. but it isn't a total loss." Mojo said wickedly. his eyes catching the gnarled hand of his robot, which was clutching a small wad of soft blonde hair. "Till next time you insufferable brats!" And with a final string of delighted cackles Mojo and the robot disappeared.
There was absolute silence in the vicinity after that. Blossom stood dumbfounded, staring up at the ceiling stupidly, not sure if she understood what had just happened. The people who had managed to stick around through their fear were all staring up too, their red faces flushed and sweaty. The only actual sound, while very faint, was Bubbles's continues whimpers and the professor's coos as he attempted to comfort her.
"What the hell was that all about?" the voice of Buttercup floated up from the silence and caught Blossom's attention. She looked furiously at her green-eyed sister, not sure of where to begin. She was just standing there, so smug and pleased with herself, completely clueless as to how much trouble she was in.
Buttercup was standing next to Bubbles. It was she who had broken the robot's grasp, but not good enough to save Bubbles some pain. She was on the floor, clutching her head and whimpering as the professor attempted to peel her hands away from her head.
"Where. the HELL. WERE YOU?!!?!?" Blossom roared, stomping towards Buttercup, her hair and clothes an absolute mess. Buttercup stepped back, offended.
"What do you mean-"
"You're LATE!"
"Oh. that. well. you see.. I was outside."
"HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE NOTICED!?"
"I had headphones on-"
"AAAAAARRRRGH!" and Blossom suddenly lunged at Buttercup, throwing her to the floor angrily. They both spun around and cursed at each other for a good five minutes, while people watched them nervously.
Bubbles sat up, rubbing her head limply. She shrieked when she saw Blossom and Buttercup duking it out on the department store floor, while newly arrived reporters were getting the whole thing on tape for the 10 o'clock news. They didn't even seem to notice.
"I'M SICK OF YOUR IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR!"
"Um. girls?" Bubbles tried to cut in, eying the cameras warily.
"I'M SORRY!"
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!?"
"Blossom." The professor was calling her, trying to get her to stop, because she hadn't noticed that she was bleeding all over Buttercup and everything else around her.
They kept fighting, not really hitting each other, but something more along the lines of wrestling together. It was actually quite amusing, save for the blood.
"Blossom stop! You're bleeding!"
And finally they stopped, and Blossom rolled onto her knees staring down at her hand with horror. She was bleeding. Her hand was actually dripping with it.
"Oh my god." she mumbled, shocked at seeing her own blood. It was her own blood, right there, coming out of her skin thickly. just as it had on that night when-
"Hey!" Bubbles knocked Blossom out of her stupor. Blossom turned to her, her eyes very wide yet her expression very blank. Buttercup was lying on the ground next to them rubbing her shoulder where she'd slammed into the ground.
"You may want to smile for the camera." Bubbles said, smiling sheepishly as she jerked her head upwards, motioning to the slew of reporters that had taken out their notepads. Blossom's head snapped up.
"Wha-"
And they all started asking questions about her hand at once. She was completely flabbergasted, and didn't know what to say. How did Mojo's robot hurt her? They'd never done that before.
Shakily she stood, Bubbles helping support her, and they shielded their eyes as multiple flashes exploded in their faces. Blossom glanced over at Bubbles and scanned her scalp, but Bubbles shook her head to dismiss it entirely. She then motioned to the reporters again. Blossom looked at her anxiously.
"You'd better do it," she whispered, and gave Blossom a light shove into the cameras. For a second Blossom was completely silent, staring at all the reporters who seemed to be leaning over her, all of their faces blank as they waited for her to say something.
"Wow. that robot was pretty strong." she said stupidly, cradling her cut hand in an attempt to hide it. Satisfied, the reporters then started asking questions about the attack, which Blossom answered, her mannerism becoming more and more enthused as the questions went on.
"Don't worry, I can help myself up!" Buttercup huffed angrily, picking herself up from the ground, glaring at the cameras from behind Blossom. There was some mention of ice-breath, but Buttercup barely heard it through her hazy red anger, and she only scowled more at Blossom's back as the talking continued. The people at home would probably see that, but Buttercup didn't really care too much.
"Oh sorry Buttercup!" Bubbles laughed, extending her hand to help her sister. Buttercup slapped her away, irritated.
She was just so perfect up there, so prissy and well spoken, speaking to the camera as if she was some sort of diplomat. Who gave her the right?!
"Don't bother. Miss Goody-goody might need your help-"
"Oh Buttercup, stop it, she's only giving the report-"
"Yeah yeah. Why don't you guys take care of the publicity while I stick around here and clean up the mess. like I always do." and she turned her back on Bubbles and the professor, who had meanwhile stood up next to his blue-eyed daughter.
"You going to be okay honey?"
"Yeah. whatever. go take Miss Super Spit home and wrap up her boo-boo." Buttercup put her hands on her hips and shook her head, looking at the mess before her. "Hey! Who's in charge of this dump anyway?!" And she stomped away, only to be joined by who looked like a group of employees, their faces sullen and exhausted at the prospect of the cleanup before them.
"Oh that BRAT!" Bubbles shrieked angrily, folding her arms and screwing her face up in a scowl. "She does this every time there's a job! Why can't she just accept things the way they arrrrrreoooooow. shoot it hurts." she finished, once again rubbing her head as it gave another throb of pain. The professor looked down at her.
"Well. we should get Blossom home and take a look at that hand. I wonder what happened?" he said. his voice partially distracted. The last time he'd seen any of them bleed had been over the summer, and that hadn't been pretty.
"Well. Blossom! Come on!" Bubbles said, still holding her head. Blossom turned, and her face was bright with pleasure, her trademark smile gracing her features. It was the same look she always had when she spoke to the public, the dignified expression that earned her the respect of a population.
But as her face moved out of the camera's view her expression fell into a grimace of extreme pain and sadness, something she would never let anyone see but her family.
Blossom glanced over at Buttercup once who was standing alone, glaring at her, almost like she hated her for something. Blossom was confused, and tried to wave to her sister with her good hand, giving her a small smile, but Buttercup never responded. She just shook her head and turned back to the cleanup work before her. Before Blossom could even call out to Buttercup she felt herself being pulled away by the professor.
Little did the family know that someone unexpected was watching the news report that night. As the shadowed figure watched the form of Blossom on his television screen, eyes narrowed into glowing slits of glowing emerald, he smirked to himself. She was just so happy. It amused him how she could stand and be so content with herself, even after everything she'd been through, even after everything he'd done to her. How could she not be so damaged?
And he saw her blood, and something rose within that he couldn't control. Yes, it was bloodlust, the very same swell of emotion that had taken over on that night in July. She was bleeding. again. and very soon she would be bleeding once more because of him, but not yet.
And he saw something else that perked his interest. Buttercup. was standing behind Blossom, staring straight at her sister with an expression of pure loathing. Blossom didn't even know. She had no idea what her sister was really thinking, what she was really feeling inside. This was interesting. perhaps he could have a little fun with this new development, mix it up into his new little plan.
"Let's see how happy you are after I'm through with you." he hissed, speaking into the darkness that no mortal had ever dwelled in.
Confused yet? Trust me, all will be explained in the next chapter. There's lots of different plot points running together here, so bear with me.