Again, I apologize for the wait.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, cuz its a doosey!
Chapter 9: Blazing Fury
When Bubbles and Buttercup came home that night, they found Blossom pale as a ghost, sitting on the couch in the darkness.
"What's wrong with her?" Bubbles asked nervously.
"I don't know Bubbles.." Buttercup said, concerned. "Hey Blossom?...Come on Blossom, talk to us... What's wrong sis?"
But as much as they tried to talk to their sister, it was no use. Blossom just sat there, staring off into space.
It was around midnight when Bubbles and Buttercup finally gave up and went to bed, literally almost dragging Blossom along with them.
The moonlight was hidden by a blanket of black clouds. The only sounds inside the house were the soft breathing of Bubbles and Buttercup as they slept, while Blossom laid there wide awake, thinking furiously about the recent discoveries she had made.
I should tell Bubbles and Buttercup.. but they wouldn't believe me... I can't even believe it myself. Maybe I'm just going insane... its impossible...
She tossed and turned, debating what to do. There were no answers anywhere. They couldn't begin to know where to look for Quasi, and even if they found him, they wouldn't stand a chance against him.
The once fearless and confident leader of the Powerpuff Girls was now shrinking under the strength of such an inconceivable evil power. She had let everyone down. The Professor, her sisters, and Townsville. Feeling utterly defeated, Blossom had nothing else to do other than curl herself up into a ball and cry softly.
Blossom awoke to the shrill sound of Bubbles' voice as she screamed in panic. It only took an instant for the intolerable noise to register in her blurred and fuzzy mind, but when it did she shot up in bed, her heart beating rapidly in her ears.
Blossom looked around quickly to find Bubbles sitting on the floor, teary-eyed and sniffling. She looked next to her and noticed that Buttercup had also been woken up by Bubbles' screams, and was the first to jump out of bed to see what was wrong.
"What Bubbles!" Buttercup asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "What's wrong?"
"L-l-look B-buttercup.." Bubbles said, sobbing and pointing. "Our bunny ran away..."
Once again, both Blossom and Buttercup breathed a sigh of relief. They looked into the rabbit's cage to find that he was, indeed, missing.
Silence. Blossom watched Bubbles closely as she wept for her lost pet, but instead of caving at the sight of her crying sister, deep inside she felt herself growing furious. How selfish could Bubbles be? Meanwhile their very own father had just been attacked by clearly the most dangerous villain to ever plague the city of Townsville. The threat of danger this menace poses to the lives of the all people is continually growing and the true extent of the imminent amount of death and destruction cannot even be comprehended. And here she had the nerve to cry about her stupid pet?
All these conflicting feelings were building up within her, red hot flames of inner rage burning in her soul. So many people were so selfish and ignorant in times of great need or danger, and it made her furious to even think about. She just wanted to scream at Bubbles for being this way, so childish and self-absorbed, but it took all of her will power to remain silent watching the pitiful scene.
After a moment of silence, save for Bubbles' soft cries, Buttercup finally spoke up.
"I bet he'll come back Bubbles." She said as she gave her sister a hug. "But first, lets worry about the Professor..." She said, a look of sadness suddenly crossing her typically angry, arrogant face.
"Yeah.." Bubbles said, having suddenly remembered the events from the day before. Suddenly, her face lit up. "Lets all go see him right now! I bet that would make him feel better! Can we Blossom?" She asked excitedly.
The room went quiet again until Blossom answered in a soft voice that was almost unintelligible.
"Sure, Bubbles. Lets go." She slowly got out of bed and walked towards the closet to get dressed, followed by Bubbles and Buttercup's curious eyes.
She came out dressed for the day as usual, only her normally perfect red locks were a bit messier than usual and her hairbow dropped gloomily to one side. She had deep, dark circles under her bloodshot pink eyes, and began to walk sluggishly towards her now concerned sisters.
"Blossom?" Buttercup asked as she put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Are you okay, sis?"
"Yeah." She said unconvincingly, almost sarcastically. "I'm fine."
"You never told us about what happened last night... what did you find out?" Buttercup asked.
Blossom's eyes suddenly grew wide in fear, but she quickly masked her fear of that inevitable question with casual indifference.
"Nothing really." Blossom said plainly.
"It's all so confusing..." Buttercup thought aloud. "This is Quasi we're talking about here... a ruthless, heartless, merciless killer... what made him decide to let the Professor live?"
"Because he got what he wanted from the Professor," Blossom wanted to say. But instead she simply shrugged and said, "I don't know."
"Okay.. But if there's something you wanna tell us, don't be afraid. We're here for you Blossom, that's what sisters are for right?" Buttercup said with a smile.
At these words tears came to Blossom's eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.
"Yeah, I know."
Bubbles and Buttercup exchanged worried glances, and started to ask Blossom something else.
"Blossom, what .."
"Well, hurry up girls! If we want to see the Professor, we'd better get moving,"she ordered, her leader-like attitude coming back suddenly.
"Okay.. Sure" Bubbles said as she and Buttercup walked towards the bathroom to get ready.
By the time the four of them came home, the sun had already begun to set, and the quiet evening twilight cast a pink and orange glow over all the city. Professor Utonium accompanied them home, having recovered enough to return from the hospital. The bruises on his face had begun to turn yellow, and his right arm was in a cast. Other than that, his presence still radiated the joy that he had always had.
Despite the horrific experiences from before, Professor Utonium seemed unscathed, even seemingly stronger than before. He was more determined than ever to catch this criminal, and felt lucky to be the sole survivor of a Quasi attack.
He seemed almost excited about it as he told his girls about his experience in excruciating detail.
"Well I was working in the X lab, just doing some simple tests with some Andiseanic Acid, to study its potentially destructive and radioactive effects, when I got this strange feeling of another presence in the room with me."
Bubbles and Buttercup sat wide-eyed and open-mouthed on the couch with the Professor, listening intently to the his story. Blossom, however, sat quietly on the recliner nearby, an unreadable look on her face.
"Just as I had this thought, something grabbed me around my neck and pulled me roughly to the ground. I jumped up, scared to death, when suddenly the very foundation of the room began to shake violently."
Bubbles and Buttercup listened with wide eyes, in awe of the incredible power that Quasi had. Blossom looked almost uncaring as the Professor told them his dreadful experience.
"Air rushed past me at lightning speed as this... force ..jumped across the room, destroying everything around it with the sheer might of its movement! It moved so fast that it looked invisible!"
"Then what happened Professor?" Bubbles asked eagerly, as though it was some sort of exciting game.
"Well, then it finally stopped and I got a good look at it."
"What did it look like Professor?" Buttercup asked excitedly.
"It was this huge monster, maybe nine.. ten feet tall. He had huge red eyes and sharp teeth. It was very odd though because it was just black... no other features whatsoever. It seemed almost like a black hole rather than a monster; everything about it except its eyes and teeth were so undistinguishable. All I could do was stand there, staring."
"Wow!" Bubbles and Buttercup said in unison, while Blossom listened quietly.
"Then, suddenly, it disappeared. It appeared behind me, having grown smaller and weaker than before, and grabbed my arm, and yanked it behind my back. He pushed me to the ground, and that's how I smashed my face." Professor Utonium said as he pointed to the bruises on his face.
"Ouch.." Buttercup said as she and Bubbles cringed and shuddered. Blossom flinched, if you could call it that, but then resumed her indifferent state.
"He kicked my side so that I rolled over on my back, and I looked up into his hideous face. Then, before my very eyes, he morphed into an even smaller, more human-like form."
"Really? Wow... what did it look like this time, Professor?" Bubbles asked.
"It looked like a human, except half of him was black, and the other half was white...but it was all mixed around like some sort of bizarre spin art. Its hard to describe really what he looks like, because, again, it was hard for me to even tell... but the way he acted and moved, he almost seemed to be made of a liquid! He had those same red eyes as before, but the his fangs had become smaller and turned into an evil grin."
"Woah... creepy.." Buttercup said, captivated by the Professor's story.
"I had figured out by then it was Quasi, so there was nothing I could do except watch helplessly as he grinned downed at me, chuckling in this awful ghost-like voice. Then, as he slowly lifted his hand of long, boney fingers, my life began to flash before my eyes. I just knew it was the end. Expecting a quick final blow, I was surprised when he simply snapped his fingers instead. In an instant I was out. I don't know how he did it.. but he somehow put me to sleep with the snap of his fingers."
"That's amazing..."Bubbles said.
"When I woke up, he was gone... I was shocked to find myself very much alive... I couldn't believe my luck.. the first and only survivor of a Quasi attack..." Professor Utonium paused for a moment, truly thinking about what he had survived, and how fortunate he had been.
"The only thing I could think of to do was to call you girls.. I couldn't believe all of what had just happened, but mostly that I was still alive.."
"Wait 'til the kids at school hear THIS!" Buttercup exclaimed suddenly.
"Yeah! This is so exciting! Our own dad.. the only survivor!" Bubbles squealed.
Bubbles and Buttercup were nearly bursting with excitement and chattering eagerly about the recent events. Professor Utonium just sat there, beaming with pride as though he was some kind of hero.
Suddenly, Blossom cried out, startling her sisters and the Professor.
"I.. I can't believe you, all of you!" She shouted, trying not to burst into tears.
"You talk about this whole thing like its so exciting... you can't wait to brag to everybody about how great your own dad is because he survived a deadly villain. What we should be doing is thanking whatever twist of fate allowed the Professor to live at all!"
Bubbles, Buttercup and the Professor sat in stunned silence, wide-eyed and mouths hanging open.
"This is not some fake action movie or epic story meant to be shared with the world.. This is REAL!"
"Blossom.. its not like that we just" Buttercup tried to say.
"No, don't even start. You all don't care about stopping Quasi at all. You think it will be like this forever, if he's still on the lose? The Professor... all of us have been lucky thus far, but we can't ever be safe unless Quasi is stopped!"
Buttercup opened her mouth to speak, but then lowered her head in dismal understanding. Blossom was right, nobody was safe unless this killer was stopped. Bubbles' eyes began to fill with tears, while Professor Utonium sat frozen on the couch, staring distantly ahead.
At those words Blossom, too, began to cry. After a few minutes, Professor Utonium finally broke the awkward silence.
"There's no need to get all upset over this girls. Lets just be thankful I'm okay, right?" Professor Utonium smiled and sat Bubbles and Buttercup on his lap.
"Come on Blossom, we're your family! We didn't mean to sound like we didn't take all of this seriously. Now, come here and lets all have a group hug." Professor Utonium smiled that kind, fatherly smile and gently patted the seat next to him on the couch.
Blossom's crying abruptly stopped, and she looked up toward the Professor, her eyes hollow and empty once again.
"But you still don't understand. None of you really understand the extent of danger we're in. If you did, you'd be spending less time sharing stories and more time figuring out what to do."
Professor Utonium's smile faded, and a quiet hush fell over the room. All eyes were on Blossom as she sat silently in the recliner. Professor Utonium spoke again in a serious voice, almost bordering on angry.
"We will figure out what to do, Blossom, we just need time. How can we even begin to know what to do? We barely know anything about Quasi."
"Well it's not helping anybody by sitting around doing nothing, waiting for the answers to come to us. We have to be on our guard at all times, and be prepared to fight. You're just living in a fantasy world if you're wasting your time sharing exciting stories to brag about to the world. Either we do something now, or we all die." Blossom shot back coldly.
Professor Utonium lifted Bubbles and Buttercup from his lap and sat them on the couch. He stood up very slowly and walked towards Blossom.
"What's really wrong, Blossom? What's at the root of all this?" He said in a concerned voice as he knelt in front of the chair.
"There must be something else wrong... sweetie, please tell us what's on your mind."Blossom just kept staring at the Professor as he spoke, his words seeming to go straight through her.
"Blossom, dear, we love you and we want to make sure that everything is okay. We only want to help." He caressed her cheek, a warm smile on his bruised face.
Blossom looked up at him, her ice cold eyes still burning with uncontrollable rage. Without warning, she suddenly pulled back her fist and punched him hard in the face. The force sent him hurdling across the room, knocking over the couch until finally crashing into the wall.
Blossom just sat there, that emotionless look still on her face.
Mwahaha! Cliffhanger!
And if you think you know whats going on.. YOU'RE WRONG:P