Chapter 3
B.C. threw her suitcase on the soft bed in the hotel room where she decided to spend the night. It took her several hours to drive to Citiesville and she was officially sick of travelling. But her main concern was James's progress in finding the Powerpuff Girls, the girls who now haunted her thoughts. 'What the hell is taking so long.' She thought irritated from the lack of response from her boyfriend. On cue, her cell phone rang. 'About friggin time.'
"Beth?"
"Oh, hi Dad." 'Aw crap.'
"So, did everything go alright in Townsville."
"Yeah, I was just starting to type up my report until you called."
"Oh really, that's not like you. You usually wait until the last minute before you do anything that doesn't involve having fun." Her father laughed. 'Called my bluff' B.C. thought upon hearing her father's response. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. I look forward to seeing you soon, dear."
"Bye, Dad, love ya lots."
"I love you too."
B.C. hung up and turned her attention toward her laptop. 'Guess I should do something productive while I wait for James to call.' B.C. opened the computer and began typing her report. Her father was right, she would have put the report off and gone nightclubbing if it weren't for the fact she didn't want to leave the quiet hotel room so she could talk to James when he finally called.
An hour past, until B.C. gave up on trying to accomplish anything. She was too distracted by her thoughts about the family picture she found in Townsville Cemetery. Frustrated and annoyed, she flopped down on the hotel bed and sighed. 'Maybe they're too well hidden. I don't know. I feel like I'm going nuts. Maybe I just saw them before. I mean, I always did want sisters. No, I've never seen them before. But why do I dream about them? This is too weird.' B.C.'s thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone's ring. B.C. grabbed the device and checked the screen to make sure it was James, it was.
"Hello?"
"Hey babe, found something for you."
"R-Really? What, what is it!?"
"It turns out one of them owns a comic book store in Citiesville."
"No way. Do you have a phone number, a name?" 'What luck.' B.C. excitedly thought.
"Ha-Ha, yeah, her name is Bubbles Utonium, the name of the shop is Dragonfly Comics.." B.C. wrote down the information as James gave it to her.
"Oh man, I owe you big. I really appreciate this James."
"Anything for my one and only."
"Ha-ha, thanks again James. See you when I get back."
"Alright, hurry back now. Everyone is starting to miss you. Love ya, bye."
After James hung up, B.C. dialed the number that her boyfriend gave to her.
"Dragonfly Comics, this is Ed." A loud, male voice answered.
"I need to speak with Miss Utonium, please."
"Who?"
"The owner."
"..?"
"Bubbles?"
"Oh, Okay. HEY BOSS, YOU GOT A PERSON ON THE CALL!!!" B.C. winced as Ed loudly called out for the owner whom B.C. was trying to reach.
"(click) This is Bubbles, thank you for calling, how may I help you." A squeaky, cute, female voice answered.
"Um, hi, I'm Bethany Luceid."
"Oh, how may I help you, Miss Luceid?"
"Well, my company was considering making a bid on the reconstruction of Townsville and I'd like to talk to you about it, if you don't mind."
"Reconstructing Townsville? "Bubbles had a hint of anger in her voice, "I thought you guys were into electronics and stuff."
"Well yeah, we do that too, but the Luceid Company also has a construction division."
"I see. Sure, I'll talk to you. Why don't you meet me tomorrow at my shop, say around nine."
"That'll be fine."
"Great, let me tell you how to get here." Bubbles gave the directions how to get from B.C.'s hotel to Dragonfly Comics. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thank you, goodbye."
Bubbles hung up the office phone. 'Reconstruction of Townsville, huh? Not if I can help it.' Bubbles thought. The thought of the city that robbed her of her beloved sister being rebuilt filled her with a silent rage. Bubbles vowed that Bethany Luceid and her company were going to leave that awful place a pile of smoldering rubble.
Bubbles thought about the events that happened so many years ago. It was a day like any other day. The hotline rang, as it always did and Blossom answered it as always.
"C'mon girls, Mojo Jojo is attacking Townsville." Blossom ordered.
"Again!? Geeze, why do they keep letting him out of jail?" Buttercup griped.
"I thought you liked kicking Mojo's butt, Buttercup." Bubbles commented innocently.
"Yeah-yeah, let's just get this over with." Buttercup snarled.
The girls flew to where Mojo was attacking. The mutated simian was piloting another one of his giant robots, this one was armed with a huge laser on its side. Bubbles was more worried about Buttercup than she was about Mojo. She could have sworn she heard her sister mutter, "Same thing, we stop him, throw him in jail, and then they let him back out." Mojo noticed his adversaries and grinned wildly. The laser began to glow and whir as Mojo Jojo charged the device.
"Get ready girls." Blossom said in a low voice. The trio prepared to dodge the expected attack, but suddenly, Mojo Jojo did something unexpected. He swiveled the top half of the robot and pointed the laser at the crowd of onlookers.
"Omigosh, he's gonna shoot the townspeople!" Bubbles exclaimed in sheer horror. They were to far away to physically stop Mojo from discharging the lethal blast. A red light streaked from Buttercup's eyes striking the device. The blast from the resulting explosion threw the girls a few hundred feet back in the air, nearly crashing into the building that was behind them. The deafening boom had shattered nearby windows. The girls quickly recovered and flew over to the remains of Mojo's robot. The top half, which once threatened the lives of the people, was now a shredded piece of scrap metal. Buttercup stopped in midair staring at the remains, her expression was one of pure terror. Blossom picked up a piece of debris from where the cockpit remains were. She dropped it when she saw what was beneath.
"Mojo Jojo, he-he's gone." Blossom stammered.
"N-n-no-no way! That's impossible." Buttercup rushed up to smoking wreckage and saw for herself what Blossom had seen. "I-I didn't mean.. It was an accident.. I didn't want to.. Oh God, I'm sorry, I'M SO SORRY!!!" Buttercup flew off nearly crying.
Blossom sadly sighed and looked at Bubbles, "Follow her and make sure she's alright. I'll take care of things here." Bubbles flew off after her sister, but it was too late, she was already gone. Bubbles searched Townsville for hours, trying to find her missing sister. Finally giving up, Bubbles rested on the top of a skyscraper and began to cry, fearing for Buttercup, when a small voice called out to her. Bubbles looked up to see Buttercup looking at her with sorrowful eyes.
"Bubbles, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Bubbles rushed over to the green eyed puff and hugged her. "Where were you, I was looking for you and I couldn't find you and Igotscaredthatyouranawayforever.."
"Hey, take it easy. I just went to talk to Miss Kay, that's all."
"Who's Miss Kay?"
"She's a friend. She's been helping me out with.. myself lately." Bubbles looked at her sister and sniffed, still worried about her sister. "Let's go home, the Professor and Blossom are probably worried about us." Buttercup gave the frightened puff a weak smile in a vain attempt to reassure her. The two flew home silently together. When they got home, Blossom and the Professor had been waiting for them. The professor took Buttercup aside to talk to her, to make sure she was alright. Bubbles watched sadly as her father led the black haired child to the lab, still worrying about the girl and consequences of what she had done.
As the days went by, people started talking. Suspicious and disapproving glances were thrown Buttercup's way. The toughest fighter seemed to blow off the scorn, but Bubbles could tell it really hurt poor Buttercup. Then one day it happened, Bubbles was playing in the lab and accidentally broke the Professor's latest invention. When the Professor discovered the machine, Buttercup was immediately blamed. Bubbles stayed silent, she didn't want to get into trouble. Of course, Buttercup denied she was the one, but the Professor and Blossom would hear none of it. Buttercup was banished to the girl's room, until they got the truth. Blossom followed her sister, angered at her lack of cooperation.
"Why can't you take responsibility for what you've done. The Professor worked real hard on that invention and you destroyed it."
"For the last, it wasn't me. I'm not gonna fess up to something I didn't do."
"Right, like you didn't kill Mojo." A cheap shot on Blossom's part, Bubbles had thought.
"THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!"
"Sometimes I wonder." Buttercup's eyes were filled with shock and hurt when Blossom said that.
"Just stay away from me." Buttercup then took off to their room and slammed the door with enough force to crack the surrounding walls. Hours had past and the guilt Bubbles had been feeling had festered up to the point that young girl could no longer stand it. The blonde flew up to the Professor and admitted that she was the guilty party.
"Bubbles, why didn't you say anything? You know your sister is going through some hard times right now." The Professor admonished the child.
"I-I'm sorry. I was scared and I-I didn't want to.." Bubbles's eyes filled with tears as she tried to explain her lack of actions.
"Never mind, dear. Let's just go upstairs and apologize to your sister." When the pair had entered the girls' room, Buttercup was gone. There was a note on the bed. 'Oh no, Buttercup ran away.' Bubbles had thought when the Professor took the note and read it.
"What does it say, Professor?"
"It's to the people of Townsville. 'Because of your ingratitude and lack of respect, I, Buttercup, will only offer protection to my family and the few friends who haven't turned on me. I no longer wish to act as your entertainment. I know you've been releasing criminals just so me and my sisters can fight them for your pleasure and then you treat me like dirt when an accident happens. Well I've had it with you jerks. From now on, I'm not going to bust my butt so you all can get your kicks.. ' Bubbles, did you know she felt this way?"
"She did seem kinda mad about fighting crime lately. But where is she?"
"I don't know dear, let's just hope she comes home soon."
Unfortunately, Buttercup didn't come home. Days had past since Buttercup had come home. One day the remaining girls were attending class, when the hotline rang.
"What's the.. Professor? Okay. Miss Keane the Professor says he needs to talk to you." Blossom handed the phone to Miss Keane.
"Yes Professor?" Miss Keane nearly went pale, "I see. Yes, I'll send them home right away." Miss Keane looked at the girls solemnly, "Girls, your father needs you to talk you at your home." Miss Keane gulped before continuing, "It's about Buttercup." Bubbles was frightened, 'Please let her be alright.' She silently prayed. The girls got home as fast they could, fearing the reason why their father would pull them out of school. They had found the Professor in his lab, staring at something on a table. He sadly looked up at his daughters and addressed them.
"Girls, I have some bad news. The police found your sister's dress in the woods. I did some test on the blood and I'm afraid.." Bubbles couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Professor, no, that's impossible. This is Buttercup we're talking about. She's the toughest person in the world. She can't be.." Blossom protested, tears welling up in her rose colored eyes. Bubbles didn't say anything, she just began to cry.
"Blossom, Bubbles, I'm sorry, your sister, my daughter, she's gone." The Professor held his daughters and cried with them.
After that, day, no one was the same. Blossom had lost her faith in humanity, knowing the people of Townsville had turned on Buttercup, and faith in herself, regretting the hurtful words that she last spoke to her lost sister. The Professor had become more protective of his remaining daughters, he had forbidden them from fighting crime and after they had moved to Notte Falls, he took away their powers, "You two deserve a normal childhood," he told them. Bubbles had forsaken reality, she preferred the world of video games, trading card games, comics and when she got older, role playing games, to the world where her inaction led to her sister's demise. She had loved this world so much, she decided to share it with those who also needed an escape, and started her business in Citiesville.. But Bubbles, could not escape from one thing, her hatred of Townsville. They scorned her sister, they helped push her over the edge and drive her away, and they dared to accuse the Powerpuff Girls of abandoning them, when it was they who had abandoned the girls.
Bubbles got up from her desk, left her office, and called to her oafish employee. "Closing time, Ed."
"Aww." The large man groaned.
"Sooner we close up, sooner you can go home and go to bed, and then you can come again tomorrow."
"Yay, tomorrow good for Ed!"
Bubbles giggled at her sole employee. She went back into her office and began mentally prepping for her meeting with Bethany Luceid. 'Townsville is a dead city, and once I'm done speaking with Miss Luceid, it's going stay that way forever.'