(Title Change! YAY! Anyway, I'm glad to be back as you guys are to have me back, so we're all even. Anyway, this story gets darker as it goes along, so a fair warning. And I really would enjoy reviews from people who aren't reviewing, because reviews are, as I've said many times, the fire that keeps me writing. So, enjoy the next chapter, and thank you to Kezzer and HG. You guys rule.)
Chapter II
Blossom hovered over the town. So peaceful and blissfully unaware of the threats that tried to consume it on a nearly daily basis. She felt a twinge of guilt, then a little frustration at the fact that they couldn't find another damn city to live in.
They're like children, Blossom thought to herself. Always whining…always hurting…I just…why don't they all just…die?
The last thought shocked her.
How could I…think that? I…never…nevermind. More important business to take care of right now…
But the thought kept coming as she grew closer to the crash site and only increased as she and the team landed. It was an odd site, even for a meteor.
It was in a small crater, where ash and flame all resided. In the center, like some altar of death was an oddly menacing orb, next to it were two things that might have once served as some kind of wings. The orb had a hexagonal window on it, and Bubbles was the first one to notice:
"Hey! Blossom! There's someone in there!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"Yeah…I see it too!" Buttercup added. They were referring to a human-like shape within the cockpit.
Blossom floated toward the cockpit, and moved her hand toward the glass. There was an abrupt explosion of steam as the hatch on the top opened. The steam boiled at Blossom's eyes and she was sure that if she wasn't so super-durable that it would give her at least a second-degree burn. After the scorching pain ended, she looked inside the hatch.
An armored figure sat within the ship, badly burned. There was no need to check the pulse, and she looked at the mask. There was something oddly familiar about it.
Glass
"What?" Blossom said audibly.
"Bloss, you OK?" Buttercup asked.
"Yeah, ya seem kinda…freaked."
"Nothing…it's nothing." But she knew that wasn't true. The mask was dark black, probably not from the fire, and had an odd symbol on the forehead. That, too, stirred some long-lost emotion from within. She began to lift the helmet—should she? Would that desecrate the body?
"Blossom…is he…?" Buttercup managed to say.
"Yes."
Bubbles and Buttercup bowed their heads in respectful silence.
"We need to…bring this ship to the Professor," Blossom managed to say.
No one said a thing.
"Well?" Blossom exploded with anguish. "Just do it for god's sake!" The tears came now, for a dead man she never had known, and now never would.
---
Isaac Utonium looked at the portrait of him and the girls. They had grown so much. He hadn't expected them to become so…powerful. It was far beyond his expectations. And, the ultimate irony, he had grown to love them like his own daughters, which was the last thing he had suspected, especially since he had been trained not to.
The doorbell rang.
A vague possibility came into the Professor's mind, but he ignored it and opened the door. Just as he had suspected, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were all standing in the doorway.
"Girls! Nice to see you!" he said joyously. He had been wrong, thank God.
"Look, Professor, could you analyze this?" Blossom said. "It's in the garage."
"Sure."
Isaac walked closer to the garage door, and was about to open it…
I've got a bad feeling about this.
He opened it, and, in front of him, was something he hadn't seen in twelve long years.
A TIE fighter.
He backed away in horror. He thought they would be safe. It was all wrong. They would die, after his defection. After his banishment…
"Oh…g-god…" The Professor stammered. He felt his stomach churn.
He burst out of the garage, eyes wide.
"Girls…we need to leave. Now."
"…What?" Buttercup whispered.
"They're coming. I know they're coming. They sent a scout and they've found us. Oh god…" he whispered, tears running from his eyes.
"Who's coming?" Bubbles said quietly, distraught.
"Them…the Empire," The Professor managed to croak out. He then collapsed to the floor, pulled into unconsciousness…
To be continued…
