Allies and Rivals III


This fic happens after Allies and Rivals II: Commander and the Leader. But reading that fic and my other fics is not necessary for understanding or enjoying this fic. There are references to my other fics, notablyAllies and Rivalsand Allies and Rivals II. However, the only thing that needs to be understood in this was that a certain Dr William Edwards was the one who recreated the Rowdyruff Boys, not Him, after they were first destroyed by the girls by being kissed, and under his guidance, they were not evil anymore. And they were in alliance with the girls, called the Ruff Puff Alliance, with Blossom and Brick alternating as leader.


Summary:The Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys race against time to prevent an evil from escaping to this world. Who are your true friends, allies, and enemies?


Disclaimer:I don't own the Powerpuff Girls or their characters. The Powerpuff Girls are owned by Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network. I only own my own characters, the most prominent of which is Dr Edwards.


Chapter XI

The Girls' Rescue


A. Professor Utonium's Possession

The City of Townsville, and the Powerpuff Girls had been the prisoners of the boys at the training room. Not only were they locked-up in the duranium-covered room, but also their hands were also tied behind their backs, and so as for the moment, there was no chance that they would escape on their own.

However, not all hope was lost for the girls. They had gained two new allies in Ms. Lawrence and Ms. Keane. Nevertheless, they had been shocked by the news that the Professor had been possessed.

"Oh no! No! No! No! It can't be!" Bubbles cried as she finished reading the letter.

"So that's why he didn't rescue us. He was possessed, just like Dr. Edwards was."

Blossom was disappointed, but not surprised by the news. "I was hoping that this wouldn't happen, but it did. Oh well. After, after the Mayor, the Police Chief, the entire police force, Ms. Bellum, and Dr. Edwards, only the Professor remained, or if not, then he is next on the list. Don't worry, he'll be all right. Remember when Him possessed all of Townsville in an attempt to turn the City against us? Well, after we broke the spell, he returned to normal."

"But we don't know how to break the spell! And even if we know, we can't, because we're prisoners, and even if we can, we still don't know who did this!" Buttercup argued.

"I know. I know. But there is hope," said Blossom.

"Yes. Now I know for sure that Dr. Edwards didn't really become evil by choice," said Bubbles.

"We already know that!" said Buttercup.

"But we got proof!" said Bubbles. "We know that whatever happens, the Professor will never become evil by choice!"

"But it won't convince the Rowdyruffs!" said Buttercup. "They already know that the Professor was possessed, but that didn't shatter their belief that their father willingly become evil."

"Anyway, all we can do now is to wait for whatever kind of assistance we can get from Ms. Lawrence and Ms. Bellum. I can only hope they won't be caught with whatever attempt they might make," said Blossom.

"But how can they even try? It's not as if they have superpowers or anything?" Buttercup countered.

"But, but, it's the only hope we've got. It's the only hope," said Blossom.

"So we just wait?" Buttercup asked.

"No. Not just waiting. We prepare!" said Blossom.

"But how can we prepare? And our hands our tied twenty-two hours a day for crying out loud!" Buttercup replied.

"We don't change to our pajamas and nightgowns at night," replied Blossom. "That way, if their attempt is at night, then we would be properly dressed to escape, and we won't have to waste time trying to get dressed."


Later that night, the Rowdyruffs as usual served the girls their dinner. After that, they each gave them thirty-minute breaks at the bathroom to wash, to bathe, to freshen up, and to change clothes.

The boys, Buttercup, and Blossom were talking among themselves when Bubbles finished her jaunt at the bathroom.

The boys were surprised when, instead of her usual nightgown, she wore an ankle-length jumper dress over a blouse. The sleeves of the light blue blouse reached the wrists.

"Huh? Aren't you supposed to wear something like your nightgown? You are sleeping after this you know," said Boomer.

"Oh, I just felt like wearing this for the night," said Bubbles.

"Oh never mind. Let her sleep in that if she wants to," said Brick. "Tie her up Boomer."

Boomer just sighed as he took a meter length piece of hardetal rope and flew to Bubbles. Bubbles automatically put her hands behind her back, as it had become a habit after seven days. Boomer, as usual, tied it tight.

"Ouch! Could you loosen it a bit? It's tight and uncomfortable," Bubbles requested.

"Um, no. I know it doesn't hurt, and I'm sorry if it's tight and uncomfortable, but any looser and you can easily slip your hands free like butter," said Boomer.

"Okay," said Bubbles, as she lay on the bed. Bubbles went to the bed and lay on her stomach so that her hands would not be crushed between her body and the bed, soft as it may be. She turned her head so that it faced left.

"Good night Boomie," said Bubbles.

"Don't call me that unless we're alone!" Boomer protested. "Anyway, goodnight," he said covering her with a blanket up to her neck before going to Blossom to untie her so she can go to the bathroom.

Blossom and Buttercup didn't change to their sleeping garments too. Blossom wore a short-sleeved T-shirt and a skirt that goes to one inch below the knee, while Buttercup wore jeans, and a dark T-shirt. The boys also tucked Buttercup and Blossom, because the Rowdyruffs see it as their obligation to make the girls as comfortable as possible in their imprisonment.

That night, the girls were extremely disappointed when nothing happened.


B. The Plan

The next day, July 28, at about six in the afternoon…

"Ms. Lawrence, could you cook the girls' dinner first? Then cook our meal afterwards?" asked Brick.

"As long as your father approves," she replied.

"I already asked his permission, and he agreed. He says that he's got a ton of paperwork to do this night, and can only eat later," said Brick.

"But why the sudden change of schedule?" asked Ms. Lawrence.

"Because I want to sleep after eating dinner," said Brick. "It's as simple as that. I don't want to baby-sit them after we eat. We'd rather do it before our dinner."

"Okay then, if that's what you want," said Ms. Lawrence. She cooked dinner for the girls. The boys delivered the food to the girls, and fed them. After that, they gave them their customary thirty-minute bathroom breaks.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lawrence prepared the enormous amount of food that was the dinner of the Rowdyruffs and Dr. Edwards. She put in some white powder all over the food that dissolves and melts, giving no trace of the powder after few seconds.

So come dinner, the boys and Dr. Edwards suddenly felt very sleepy and went to bed early.

Ms. Lawrence slipped into her room, and using her cellular phone, dialled a number.

"Hello?" a voice in her cell phone answered.

"Sandy Keane. I have good news! Now's the night!" said an excited Ms. Lawrence.

"Are you sure we won't get caught, Tiff?" asked Ms. Keane.

"Yes. I put on enough sleeping powder in their food that they wouldn't wake up even using the trumpets of Jericho!" Ms. Lawrence exclaimed. "But I don't know how long it would take for the drug to wear off. According to the label, it would take a few hours. So that means that the drug would wear off at half-past midnight!"

"Okay. I'll be there. Just make sure the girls are ready to escape at midnight," instructed Ms. Keane.

"Okay," said Ms. Keane, "you can bet on that."


C. The Rescue

It was eleven thirty in the evening of July 28. The training room was pitch black, and all three girls were asleep in their beds. Like the night before, they wore their everyday clothes, and like in the past seven days, they slept with their hands tied-up. It was like any other night during the past seven days of captivity, with seemingly nothing happening that was that much different.

However, outside the training room, Tiffany Lawrence, still in her nightgown, wearing leather gloves to disguise her fingerprints, was wide awake. She went to the Doctor's lab, where, at the wall opposite the entrance to the lab was a door leading to another corridor.

Slowly, she navigated through the lab and went to the corridor leading to the training room. Quickly, she pressed a set of numbers to the keypad besides the hardetal room.

The first door opened, and she then used another combination to open the second door.

Switching on the light, she entered and quickly saw the three girls peacefully sleeping on three beds next to each other. Blossom was at the center bed, Bubbles on the left and Buttercup on the right.

"Girls wake up!" Ms. Lawrence loudly whispered. "It's time!"

Blossom woke and yawned, but she gave no indication of any desire to escape. "Boys, it's still dark. At least wait till six."

"Girls, it's me, Ms. Lawrence!" she said. "And I'm here to bust you out!"

"Ms. Lawrence!" Blossom exclaimed, her eyes popping wide open and all signs of drowsiness going away. She rolled to her back and sat on the bed. "We're going to escape tonight, right?"

"Yes! I said in the letter that I would rescue you. Didn't you read it?" asked Ms. Lawrence.

"Yes, we did, and you should have done a better job at giving us that letter! You shouldn't have left it in the bed in plain sight! What if the boys saw it?" Blossom replied.

"But seeing as how you're tied-up, how can you find it in a hidden place without asking the boys to find it for you?" Ms. Lawrence answered back. "Buttercup, Bubbles, wake up!"

"Ms. Lawrence! It's so good to see you!" Bubbles said, trying to hug her.

"Ms. Lawrence!" Buttercup exclaimed. "The boys! How did you get past them?"

"They're asleep. Now come on, let's get out of here!" said Ms. Lawrence.

"They're asleep? And they're oblivious to what is happening here?" Blossom asked.

"Yes. Now come on!" said Ms. Lawrence.

"I have an idea! Since we're free and their asleep, we can surprise them and capture them ourselves! They'll have no chance! A little payback won't hurt a bit!" said Buttercup.

"That's a good idea! We can properly interrogate them to find out what it is that made them think Dr. Edwards willingly became evil," said Blossom. "In one fell swoop, we can totally reverse the situation! Ms. Lawrence! Quick! Untie us so we can surprise the boys while they're still at bed."

"Okay," she said. She then went to try to untie Bubbles' hands first. Except that she could not. She fumbled, pulled, and tried to remove the mass of ropes encircling her wrists, but she could not even locate the ends of the rope. In addition, since it was made up of hardetal, she could not just cut the ropes.

"Damn these knots!" she exclaimed as she failed to even dent it. Finally, she found some slacks and tugged, but it was very hard. "It'll take at least an hour to untie you all, and we don't have much time. Come on, I'll put on your shoes."

"Yeah, Boomer's a demon on knots," said Blossom. "Now if we could persuade Butch to do the tying, then we can easily untie ourselves. In fact, it would only take one second after we're alone."

"How about the gravity belts?" asked Bubbles.

"Well, the buckle and the lock are buried in the knots around your wrists, so I can't remove the belt till the ropes are removed. Anyway, since I cannot remove it immediately, you'll have to get out of here as quickly as possible. Ms. Keane will be waiting outside in her car in a few minutes. Besides, we don't know when the boys might wake up, so it's better that we hurry. Don't worry, once you are out of here, Ms. Keane would have all the time in the world to untie you!"

"But what about our plan to take them out while they're asleep?" asked Buttercup. "This is a golden opportunity."

"We would still lose three on one if our hands are still tied and we can't fly!" said Blossom. "We'll have to make another plan." It was clear, however, that she was very disappointed.

"Um, Ms. Lawrence, could you take Octi with us?" asked Bubbles.

"Okay," she merely said before grabbing the stuffed purple octopus.

"One more thing. If someone asks you why the boys are doing evil things, please tell them that they were also possessed," Blossom requested.

"But why are you protecting them?" asked Ms. Lawrence. "You're asking me to lie, you know."

"Yes, but I don't want the reputation of the boys to be sullied because of this," Blossom said. "We've talked it over, and my sisters agreed. The boys are just too decent to really be evil, and too loyal to really be bad. Besides, all things considering, except for the part where they falsely imprisoned us and tied-us up, they were really nice to us, in fact, even nicer than when we were allies."

"Well, I agree. I love the boys as if they are my sons. I did take care of them for the past four years—ever since I was hired as a housekeeper, you know," said Ms. Lawrence.

Ms. Lawrence then took the girls' shoes and put it on their feet. The girls and Ms. Lawrence then stealthily went out of the training room, with Ms. Lawrence closing the two doors. They then went outside as quietly and as careful as they can to avoid making a mess.


D. Ms. Keane

Finally, at exactly twelve midnight, they went outside to the front yard where they saw Ms. Keane waiting in her car outside the gate.

Ms. Lawrence opened the gate, and led the girls to the car.

Ms. Keane looked at the girls and frowned. "Why haven't you untied them, Tiff?"

"Look, if you can do it in two minutes, or even less, I'll give you a gold medal! Sandy, those knots are very difficult, and I don't know when—"

"Okay, okay, I believe you. Just put the girls on the back seat," she said.

Ms. Lawrence opened the back door, and helped the girls into the car. She gave Octi to Ms. Keane. Ms. Keane put it in the front seat. Ms. Lawrence then put the seatbelts over the girls.

"Well, goodbye girls. I wish you the best of luck. And somehow, I wish that you will find something that can bring William back to normal," Ms. Lawrence said as a parting shot. She closed the gate, cleaned her tracks, and went back to bed.

"Girls, I'm so glad to see you," Ms. Keane said as they were driving toward Ms. Keane's house. "Those boys are horrible!"

"Yes, but like the Professor and Dr. Edwards, they were also possessed," said Blossom.

"Are you okay? How much did they hurt you? Did they treat you badly?" asked Ms. Keane.

"Yes, we're okay," said Bubbles.

"After the initial fight, they didn't hurt us at all," said Buttercup, "even if they were possessed."

"In fact, aside from the false imprisonment and the tying-up, they didn't treat us too badly at all," said Blossom.

"But don't blame the boys for the bad things that they did!" said Bubbles.

"I know. Ms. Lawrence told me that they were possessed a few days ago," said Ms. Keane. "Even though they had no mark like the others, it's clear, that the boys would never do such things if they weren't possessed so they have to be possessed."

"She told you that they were possessed?" asked Blossom.

"Yes—a few days ago. She called to tell me that the entire Edwards family was possessed and briefed me about everything that had happened since Police Chief Alexander Grulp was fired then murdered," said Ms. Keane. "She said she was remaining with that family so she can spy for us."

"But what else is happening?" asked Blossom.

"Well, aside from Ms. Lawrence and I, none of the others cares about this. They were busy raking cash from City Hall," said Ms. Keane.

"What exactly is happening at City Hall?" asked Buttercup.

"Well, the Mayor announced that the City government—using eminent domain—needs all the land in the Central District of Townsville and is forcibly taking it. Many people were very very upset about it. But once the cash compensation twice the value of the property taken was mentioned, they became very warm about the idea and began rushing to claim the compensation in City Hall."

"What's eminent domain?" asked Bubbles.

"It simply means that the government has the right to take any piece of private property if it deems it necessary to use it for the public good as long as there is the necessary monetary compensation," said Blossom.

"But why would they pay the citizens twice the value of their property? And more importantly, does the city have the money to pay them?" asked Buttercup.

"Yes. The city is rich, and despite the monster attacks, in the past few years, we had budget surpluses that accumulated to I think twenty billion dollars, though I'll have to check my almanac on that. Moreover, the entire revenue for this fiscal year could be used for that purpose. And I'm sure Dr. Edwards could simply make up for any shortfall of cash," explained Blossom.

"But why would they be doing it?" asked Bubbles.

"Obviously, they desperately want the center of the city and they want as little trouble as possible in taking it," said Blossom. "What they want there, I don't know, but it certainly is very important to them for them to start such a grand operation."

"Well, we're home," said Ms. Keane, as she drove up to her garage. She then assisted the girls to her living room, where she tried to untie the girls. However, like Ms. Lawrence, she found out that it was a very difficult and long process.

"Tiff was right. I can only untie you at a snail's pace. It's late and you must go to bed. Would you mind if you sleep with the lights on?" asked Ms. Keane. "I'm going to try and do it while you're asleep so you'd be free at daylight."

"Anything to get these things off me!" said Buttercup.

"Okay, here are your rooms," Ms. Keane said, directing the girls a large room with a king–sized bed in it. The three girls kicked off their shoes and lay on the bed. A few minutes later, they were asleep.

Ms. Keane started the laborious job. She began with Bubbles, and after two and a half hours, she finally was able to untie her, and remove her belt. Buttercup took a further three hours, while Blossom about two hours. It was only at six in the morning when she finally was able to free all girls from their bonds.


It was the morning of July 29…

The irony of the matter was that Tiffany Lawrence vastly underestimated the effectiveness of the drug. In fact, the drug that the Edwards males took in was so effective that it only wore off at seven-thirty in the morning, and they only woke up at eight. If Ms. Lawrence spent the entire early morning hours just trying to untie them at the lab, then, assuming that she unties them at the same rate as Ms. Keane did, then the girls would be free one and a half hour before the drug wore off.


E. Discovery of Escape

That morning…

"Oh shit! We overslept!" Brick shouted as he quickly dressed and went to wake his two brothers.

"What? It's eight!" Butch shouted as he looked at his watch soon after Brick waked him up. "I'll go get Boomer."

"Okay, I'll ask Ms. Lawrence if she had prepared the girls' breakfast!" said Brick.

"Ms. Lawrence, sorry for waking up late. Anyway, quick! Have you prepared the girls' breakfast yet? I don't want them to hear their whines about their breakfast being late. They're probably awake and fuming why we haven't delivered their food," Brick said, almost panicking, when he saw her in the kitchen, just finishing something she cooked.

"Yes, I was surprised. The last seven days you came to me to get food for the girls at exactly seven, like clockwork," said Ms. Lawrence.

"For some reason, I overslept! That's never happened before," said Brick. "Quickly, the food!"

"Don't worry," said Ms. Lawrence. "I doubt that they'll be upset about their breakfast being one hour late." She then showed him the prepared food in their trays.

"Thanks!" said Brick. At that point, his two brothers joined him and the boys quickly took one tray each.

Arriving at the lab, they were surprised at the non-appearance of the girls.

"Girls, you're breakfast is here," Brick shouted to draw attention to himself.

But there are no girls.

"What the? Where are the girls?" asked Butch.

Boomer put the tray on the table, and went to the beds. "Well, the beds haven't been made."

"They must be hiding, or playing some kind of prank," said Butch.

"Well, we'll put a stop to this," Brick said, putting his tray on the table. "This training room is large enough for them to hide. Search for them! They couldn't have hid that well since they're tied-up."

The boys made a very thorough search on the place, trying to find the whereabouts of the Powerpuff Girls.

"Where the hell could they have gone. Don't you think, that, they could have escaped?" asked Butch after the fruitless search.

"No, no, no, no! How could have they escaped? I mean, not only are they locked up, but they're tied up tight for crying out loud!" said Butch. "And nobody else but Dad and we know the security codes of this training room!"

"Well, yes, but the girls aren't here, we don't know where they are, ergo, they must have escaped," said Brick.

"But how?" asked Boomer.

"Well, nobody knows the codes but Dad and we, and Dad programmed it a few days ago so only those who knows the codes could open the two doors on this training room. So they must have used that panel up in the wall to hotwire the two doors open."

"But they can't fly! To do that, they must be untied! I sure as hell know they couldn't get out of my knots! Nobody has ever been able to get out of it ever without outside help!" Boomer declared.

"Well, they did, so your knots aren't really that impressive against the Powerpuff Girls. God, they're really good Houdini's, aren't they?" Brick said. "Now that we've established the fact that they got away and what their method of escape is, we must find out what they'll do next."

"But what do we tell Dad?" asked Boomer, his mouth shaking at the prospect.


F. The Punishment

At the mention of his father, Brick's face suddenly became pale as fear overcame him. The fact that the girls escape did not ruffle him too much. What he feared was his father's reaction.

Butch was also terrified, and it showed. "What if we just keep it from Dad? After all, he never visits the girls himself," Butch reasoned.

"But sooner or later, the girls might make a move that would blow our cover," reasoned Brick. "No, we'll have to face the music."

"Y-y-y-y-you mean t-t-t-t-t-tell Dad?" Boomer stuttered.

"Yes," Brick said, fear and nervousness slipping out of his voice.

"When?" asked Butch.

"Now. If we keep it from him, he'll be more enraged when he does finds out," said Brick.

The three boys gulped as fear took over them. They descended to the floor, and as slowly as possible, they walked towards their father's room.

"Come in," Dr. Edwards voice shouted after Brick knocked.

There, they saw that their father was already awake and had taken his bath. He was now changing into his suit. He had already worn his pants, shoes, shirt, and an unbuttoned vest. His father is facing the mirror, currently putting on his tie.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well, Dad, the girls escaped," said Brick.

"Sorry. What's that again? For the minute there I thought you said that the Powerpuff Girls escaped. Clearly, I am mistaken, right?" asked Dr. Edwards as he finished putting on his tie and began buttoning his vest.

"Yes, Dad, they escaped," Boomer said. "You didn't hear wrong."

Suddenly, the look on their father's face changed completely. Pure rage and anger and supreme disappointment was shown in his face, his teeth gritted.

"What? How could they? Didn't you assure me that they wouldn't escape? Didn't you assure me that there wouldn't be any more trouble from them? Now you're telling me they have escaped? What kind of boys are you? Are you my sons or are you not? I trusted you. I believed in you. And look what happened."

"You three are worthless pieces of shit! You brats are the most incompetent whelps I have ever seen! Oh God, how ashamed I am that I could be your father! What can I say to the Mayor, the Professor, to Ms. Bellum and to Mr. Kaczinsci? I assured them that the Powerpuff Girls are no longer a problem! How could I face them when I say that my assurances are no longer to be trusted?"

"How can you be so careless, how can you be so reckless? You are a disgrace for our cause! You do not even know how to properly hold someone as prisoner! You are miserable scum, you juvenile delinquents! I'll be damned if you fuckwits can even do something right! What now? You have defeated the girls, yet you refused to kill them, then you let them escape? What kind of morons are you? You imbeciles! You nincompoops! You idiots! You retarded oafs! Not enough pejorative adjectives can describe what I feel about you right now!" Dr. Edwards ranted, his voice very loud, veins appearing on his forehead. He was shaking, and raging mad, his hands moving up and down when he was making a point.

"Dad, I'm sorry. It's all my fault they escaped, and my brothers just did what I told them," said Brick.

Dr. Edwards said nothing, but in his rage, took his cane and hit him hard in the head. The wooden cane broke, with Brick unharmed. It only infuriated him further, went to his locker, withdrew a hardetal cane, and hit Brick in the head with it.

Brick was wounded in the head for all of that, and his head began bleeding. Still not satisfied, he then began caning the rest of his body—on his chest, on his stomach, and on his back. Over all, he received twenty blows from the hardetal cane. Brick did not move; only bore it as his entire body throbbed in pain. He refused to complain, or even shed tears, though he was by now a physical and psychological wreck.

"Now what are you going to say?" asked Dr. Edwards after he caned his son.

"I'm sorry for failing you, Dad," Brick said, even as his head bled and his entire body was aching.

His brothers just watched in horror. They could not believe that their own father had beaten up their brother. Never in their entire lives have they seen Dr. Edwards physically beat up one of them. Even at his angriest, he mostly shouted, but he never punished them by beatings.

After Brick was caned, Butch suddenly stepped forward. "Dad, I feel that I am as responsible as my leader and brother, Brick, in this fiasco. Please punish me as well, for I can't see it is fair that you only punish him!"

Dr. Edwards was still fuming mad, so he then went and turned to Butch and took out his anger by also caning him. Three hits on the head, the rest of the fourteen blows on the body. Soon, Butch was limping and on his knees. His head was also bleeding.

He turned to Boomer, who was frozen by what he saw. He was shaking and afraid he would next. "What? You want to be caned too?"

"N-n-n-n-n-n-no Dad," Boomer stuttered, with tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Brick, now hear this. I want you to recapture the girls, you here me? I want them caught! I want them alive!" said Dr. Edwards. "I want them back, you here me?"

Brick, despite the enormous pain, said, "Yes Dad. We'll catch them. We won't let you down."

"Now get out of here," said Dr. Edwards. "You're messing my bloody carpet by your bloody bleeding. Boomer, go and fix your brothers up."

Boomer then picked up his two brothers and left. Outside the room, Boomer openly cried, while Butch held back his tears as he clung to Boomer as he was too weak to walk. Brick walked on his feet, too proud to let himself be carried, limping, and blood continuously dripping to the carpet.


G. Planning Future Moves

Ms. Lawrence suddenly appeared at the corridor and gasped before running towards the boys like a mother. "My poor poor boys," she gently said, as she took and hugged them close to her. "What happened?"

"Dad caned us for letting the girls escape," Brick said. Suddenly, Brick sobbed bitterly. "Dad hates us! We tried everything and he still hates us!"

Butch cried at that moment and hugged Ms. Lawrence, finding strange comfort in her as she soothed the boys.

"Come on. Let's get those wounds treated," she said as she led the boys to the medi-room and wrapped bandages around their heads.

"Thank you, Ms. Lawrence," said Brick.

"Yeah. After the fiasco of the girls' escape, I'm surprised that you didn't get angry with us," said Butch.

"Look, whatever mess you made, your father does not have the right to cane you," Ms. Lawrence said. "Oh look at you. I should report him to the authorities for child abuse."

"Please don't," said Boomer. "If you do, we'll deny that he ever caned us. We just don't want him to be in trouble."

"Well, what he did was wrong," said Ms. Lawrence.

"Yes, but what can I do? I can't fight him. He's my father," said Butch.


Meanwhile…

The girls opened their eyes, and yawned. They stretched their arms, then, they were totally surprised. "Look Bubbles, I'm able to stretch my arms!" said Buttercup. "I'm not tied-up anymore!"

"Yeah! And I can fly too!" said Bubbles.

"Thanks Ms. Keane," said Blossom as she saw her enter and stand by the door.

"It only took me six hours to figure out how to untie those knots," said Ms. Keane. "In fact, I haven't slept at all because of it. Anyway, I've already cooked your breakfast. Feel free to eat. I'm going to bed. Wake me up at eleven."

"Oh Ms. Keane, thanks for rescuing us!" said Bubbles.

"Thank Ms. Lawrence, not me," said Ms. Keane before she yawned and went to her room to sleep.

"So what do we do?" asked Bubbles.

"We fight them and defeat them! We attack head on!" said Buttercup.

"But the boys have armored hardetal clothes, and we don't. We'll surely lose and be captured again if we tried that," Blossom reasoned.

"Oh yeah. Drats! How about we stop whatever they're doing? You know, forcing people out of their homes in the Central District?" asked Buttercup.

"Problem is everything they did is legal," said Blossom. "Besides, they're paying them twice the value of their property to leave their homes, and all indications indicate that Townsville likes it."

"Then we can take them out for the murder of Mr. Grulp!" Buttercup countered.

"Yes, but we still have to deal with the Rowdyruffs," said Blossom. "Besides, we don't even know who our enemy really is."

"So there isn't anything we can do to stop whatever they're doing?" asked Bubbles.

"Well, we can kidnap all of them. Problem is, we would still be facing the boys," said Buttercup.

"The only thing I can think of is try to free the Professor and Dr. Edwards from whatever is controlling them," said Blossom.

"But how do we do that?" asked Bubbles.

"I haven't got the foggiest idea," Blossom replied.

"Well, where do we stay? I think we should go our home," said Bubbles.

"Problem is, that's what the boys expect. If we stayed at our home, we might as well put in a big neon sign saying that we're hiding there and announce it on TV," Buttercup replied.

"But our stuff!" said Bubbles.

"Well, we can go there and get our things as quickly as possible," said Blossom. "We don't want to be spotted by the three boys—yet."


That afternoon…

The boys were already completely healed by the blows they received from their own father. They were bitter over what happened, and it was still on their minds.

"I don't believe that was Dad. Look, we know Dad for four years ever since he recreated us. He never ever caned us before!" said Boomer.

"Look, that man is Dad! In my dream, I accepted the Voice's wish, and I became evil to be able to have my wish granted. Do you remember what I did when I became evil? I killed the Powerpuff Girls just so I can be tough. Yes, I did that. I was fully conscious. I was fully aware of it. And I finally did it because I wanted to be tough. It was I! Nobody possessed me! We've been caned. Big deal! What I did to the girls in my dream makes Dad look like an angel," Butch argued.

"But Dad can't do this to us!" Boomer argued. "He hates us, Brick. When he became evil, his attitude towards us changed too. I never realized it until this morning, when I saw him hitting you over and over."

"No, he can't, but he's our father. He gave us our life, and a life, and treated us very well in the past four years. I loved him, and still do, and I pledged my life to serve, obey and protect him, and whatever happens I am keeping my pledge. I owe my very life to him, and just because he caned me won't change that," said Brick. "No matter how much he hated me, how much he abused me, how much he treated me like dirt, I will always follow him. Yes, it's painful, and my heart still aches that Dad could do such a thing to us, but whatever he thinks of us, I'll always admire and serve him. How about you, my brothers? Where do you stand?"

"I agree Brick, every word of it," said Boomer. "But it's like Dad died, even though he's still alive, and it's very painful to lose our old Dad. But the new Dad is still our father, and I am as loyal a son to him as ever before. Even though it breaks my heart to think that he hates us, you're right. I owe too much to him to change course."

"I just want the old Dad back. I really do," said Butch. "Is it too much to wish for it? For the old happy days? But Dad is Dad, and I'll still follow him, like you two, even now that he hates us now. Miserable days are ahead of us, Brick."

"Yes, but at least we still got Ms. Lawrence. She actually treated us better than Dad this day," said Brick.

"She's like a mother to us, you know," said Boomer. "I always wondered how it felt to have a mother like all the other kids, now I know. In fact, we took her for granted this past four years."

"Yes, she was very comforting, very, and, well, let's just say I'm glad she's our housekeeper. And I consider her part of this family, you know," said Brick. "Especially after this morning."

"Yeah, I agree. I agree," said Butch.

"Now then, I think we must still find a way to recapture the girls. Okay, here's what we to do. First, we must never ever separate—"

"Why?" asked Boomer.

"Because they have superpowers! They are our equals in strength and speed, and if were are separate, even if we're wearing hardetal armored clothes, they could pick us off one-by-one, and we won't have a chance!" said Brick. "This brings me to our second point—"

"Agreed, but how could they pick us off? I don't think they'd kill us," said Butch.

"But they could easily capture us like we captured them, so unless you want to spend the next few days tied-up as their prisoner, then we will not separate at all. Now for the second point. We will always wear clothes that have hardetal armor at all times, so that next time we encounter them on a one-on-one fight, we will surely win. Remember, we hid all their armored clothes, so they won't have a chance. Now, here's what we're going to do. Starting tomorrow, we are going to scan the entire city. We will check the most likely place the girls could have been, and when we find them, we will capture them. Then we would present them to Dad as compensation for our failure to guard them adequately. Then we would make sure they won't escape the next time."

"But what if we don't find them?" asked Boomer.

"Well, we'll get them when they try to play hero. Sooner or later, they'll do something to stop Dad, and when they do, we'll nail them!" Brick said. "We'll start tomorrow. I want to rest and plan for the rest of the day."


Author Notes

This story was deleted along with all the reviews, but I decided to include my replies to the author notes as they could give some information about this story.


To Kezzer, yup! He just couldn't say no to such a cute face as Bubbles! LOL! To such an extent that the prisoner are giving orders to the jailor! Yes, they didn't react well, but the Professor had been possessed before, so they didn't react too badly at it.


To John, well, it seemed that they were really lucky this time!


To Firespirit, well, now you know how the girls reacted to the letter. I think now luck has deserted the boys. Will it come back to them? Who knows.

Well, now you know how Ms. Lawrence and Ms. Keane were able to bust out the girls.

Well, now it looks like Blossom had been vindicated. Then again, so would Buttercup had they not attempted the first escape attempt.


To Libertygirl0115, yes Vae Victis sucks for the victim.

Well, welcome back! And I hope you enjoyed your parties.


To Akum, again, thanks.


To Hairy Gregory, well, they won't gain anything by being mad, so as I said, they just have to make the best out of a bad situation. Yes, Bubbles is too adorable, I must say.

Yes, the Professor and Dr. Edwards' plan makes more sense than just brute force.


To Tones, yes, in a sense, Bubbles has him wrapped around her finger. Too bad he will follow his father, then his brothers, before he would follow Bubbles.

As for seeing the light, well, they haven't yet.


To BrYtt BRatt, yes, I'd wager Bubbles had fun wrapping him around her fingers.

Well, just consider the last chapter a transitional chapter. As you know, I like to make those kind of chapters in between action scenes.

Well, I simply type very fast. As for writer's block, I do get it too, but for future chapters. Usually, I have already figured out the exact sequence of events in the chapter that I'm going to write. For example, I already know what exactly will happen on chapter 12, and 13, but I don't have the exact details on 14, and only have the outline of 15, and so on. Know, I have writer's block on some details of 14, much of 15, and 16, but usually, by the time I actually have to write those chapters and upload it on , I already have filled out the details and know what to write and have writer's block on chapter 18, 19 and 20.


To Dooly, well, the boys just tied-up the girls and strapped a gravity wall in order to prevent the girls from reaching the panel.

And the girls had already escaped!


To Lynx Sarnage, well, neither the boys or Dr. Edwards had any inkling of Ms. Lawrence's or Ms. Keane.

Well, yeah. In the boys', the only way to keep them from escaping is to keep them tied-up.

Well, that would be cool, but it would be too much to write and it would be time consuming for my part. An author could only write so much.


To PinkPuff514, well, not that heartbroken, as you saw.

Well, Butch doesn't want the girls to know that in his dream, he willing killed them just to be tough.

Well, the escape did go very well.

Yes, I agree on you about Bubbles and Boomer.


To Scotty Boyo, yes, there will be questions, but I think Dr. Edwards and the Professor could invent a believable lie that most citizens would swallow.

Well, they took it quite well because all things considered, they're really coping well with the entire predicament.

Well, if there someone who can be too cute, Bubbles certainly is a candidate.