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 XIII
A New Found Hope
A. The Powerpuff Girls - Criminals
The City of Townsville…
"No! No! No! This can't be! We can't be criminals! We can't be the bad guys! We're supposed to be the good guys!" said Bubbles as she listened to the Mayor's speech. "Please say it isn't so!"
"Well, o great and wise leader who's always right! Look at what your great plan did! Now we're fugitives from the law that we're supposed to be protecting!" said a very angry Buttercup to a shocked Blossom.
"What? The nerve of you Buttercup! If you didn't bungle that one up by calling us when you did, then we might have succeeded, and we won't become criminals because no one else would know that we kidnapped those two men!" the pink puff countered.
"Well you wouldn't tell me to not do it!" the raven haired girl replied defensively. "I was just following orders!"
"I don't have to order you not to do it! Where the heck is your initiative, Buttercup?" Blossom replied. "It was certainly reckless!"
"Blossom, you stifle initiative with your bossiness, with your need to command everything!" said Buttercup. "You never wanted me to do anything not ordered by you!"
"Yeah! Look at what happened when you did something not ordered by me! This day! Remember? You should think, Buttercup! I never ordered you to call me when you caught them, remember?" Blossom replied.
Both girls gritted their teeth while they stared at each other intensely. Bubbles decided to break the ice.
"Girls, what about Harry? Wouldn't you think, that, with the ten million dollar reward, he might blab about us?" she asked.
"Harry? Oh no!" Blossom suddenly said when she heard about it, breaking eye contact with Buttercup and heading directly for Ms. Keane. "Ms. Keane! Ms. Keane!"
"Yes Blossom?" asked Ms. Keane who was preparing a snack for the girls.
"Do you know Harry's telephone number? I mean, with the prize on our heads, we gotta ask him not to tell anyone about us!" Blossom asked.
"Well, why do you want his number?" asked Ms. Keane.
"Well, there's a ten million bounty on our head, and everyone thinks we're criminals!" Blossom reasoned. "He might blab about us!"
"Well I don't think he'll do it, but if it'll reassure you, okay," said Ms. Keane. "Wait here while I get his phone number."
Blossom quickly dialled his number. "Bubbles, I think it's better if you're the one to ask him not to tell others about us. Ask him first if he told anyone about seeing us here. If yes, then we're out of here. We'll find some other place we can hide in. If not, then we're safe."
B. Tom, Dick, and Harry
Meanwhile…
"Harry, it's for you!" Mrs. Desmond, Harry's mother, shouted to Harry.
"Um, who is it?" he shouted while playing with his friend, Tom, outside.
"Some friend of yours! She's a girl?" shouted her mother.
"A girl?" asked Tom. "I thought you don't have female friends?"
"That's why I thought too," replied Harry. "Wait here."
Tom watched as his friend to his room. He decided to see what is going. 'Ha, Harry must have some female admirers. Wonder who could it be?'
He went in the house, and was going into the room, when he heard voices from just outside the room. He decided instead to listen outside.
"No Bubbles, I never told anyone. Yes, I said I'd tell my friends about meeting the Powerpuff Girls there, at Ms. Keane's house, but, um, I forgot. I was going to. You want me to tell all about me seeing you? By the way, did you really attempt to kidnap Dr. Edwards?"
Then, there were several minutes of silence as he tried to listen in.
"So it's all a big misunderstanding," Harry finally said after he listened to Bubbles' story. "And you're really innocent. Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me. I'm a big fan, you know, of you, and though I'm a bigger Rowdyruff fan, I ain't telling nobody I saw you at Ms. Keane's house. Don't worry."
Tom smiled as he eavesdropped. 'Dick would find this information very interesting. Very interesting indeed. In fact, Dick would kill for this kind of information! When he arrives from vacation in three days, I'll be his number one when I give it to him!'
"You're welcome, Bubbles. Tell your sisters they need not worry about it…"
At that point, Tom went back to the yard outside, and waited for Harry.
"Well, who was it? And what did she want?" asked Tom when Harry went out to play.
"Um, well, sorry, I can't tell! I promise her I won't say a word to anybody!"
"Aw come on, Harry! We're friends!"
"Sorry, I can't tell!"
"You have a girlfriend?"
"No!"
"Well, I won't force you to tell me!" said Tom. "Hey, race you to the backyard!"
C. The Idea of Going Into Dreams
Meanwhile…
"Thank God for that," said Blossom as Bubbles told her the result of the telephone conversation. "We're safe, for now."
"We can stay here for now," said Buttercup, who listened in.
"Yeah. So what do we do now?" asked Bubbles.
"Well, we won't try that again! Kidnapping the men I mean," said Blossom. "Well, I've run out of ideas. Anybody else have some?"
"I don't know. Maybe we can wreck the equipment and disrupt them again?" Buttercup proposed.
"Other than that. It's makes us no closer to our goal of freeing the Professor and the Doc," said Blossom.
"Look, unless we can enter their minds, we can't—" Buttercup began but was interrupted by Blossom.
"That's it! Buttercup, you're a genius! We enter their minds!" Blossom exclaimed.
"Are you mad? How are we going to do that?" asked Buttercup.
"Through their dreams, while we're sleeping. You remember the Sandman? How we defeated him even though we were put permanently to sleep by him?" Blossom suggested.
"But what are we going to do once we're in their minds?" asked Buttercup.
"I don't know, but it's worth a try," said Blossom.
"Didn't we swear off invading other people's dreams after that Sandman incident? You know, invading other people's privacy and all that?" asked Bubbles.
"I know, but what choice do we have?" Blossom replied. "I want this to end. But with the Professor back, Dr. Edwards back, and the boys once more at our side. If that is what it takes to achieve it, then so be it. Tell me Bubbles, Buttercup, is it too much to ask for living in peace, having the Rowdyruffs our allies and friends, and our father back? Unless it is clear, unless it is clear, that the Professor is irredeemably lost, then—", at that point she broke down and started crying.
"No, even if he's lost—permanently—I would not even give up then. Whatever happens. Rowdyruff or no. And when this is over—when this is over—for surely, this must end somehow, and however it may end—I'm sure, I can see it now. We're all in the yard, or let's say, the forest of Dr. Edwards, right besides the lake. We're all swimming happily, clad only in our bathing suits, splashing water at each other, having fun. Brick is again telling me I'm the ugliest girl in the world—wouldn't you believe it—I actually miss those teasings and our banter. I wouldn't mind being called ugly if the Brick that says it isn't our enemy. And Boomer blushing every time Bubbles go even near him. Heck even Butch completely ignoring Buttercup is so much better than this!"
"And at the shore, the Professor and Utonium, without those V marks on their head, with the Professor reminiscing about the earlier days, and the Doctor ranting about how much money he would make by taking over this or that company, all the while on our side, grilling barbeque and such. It's hard to believe, but I actually miss all those pranks that we tried to do to each other. Sure, it seemed cruel before—but compared to now—it was such fun for us! They'd always deny we're friends, saying that we're allies for convenience and self-interest, but we know better."
"Dr. Edwards was always kind to us, though like any parent he's biased towards the boys. He'd make sure the boys stay good and follow his instructions, and we all know the boys would commit suicide rather than to disobey him. Sometimes, the boys would just ignore us completely for days on end while they focused on their gang, but hey, we didn't complain because we like to spend some time with our female friends too."
"But the thing I miss most, and the thing I like to see when this is over, when we won, is that the boys are always there to help us when there is trouble. We always—we six—work together when there is a threat, and we always win. And after it, we all squabble on who gets the most credit for the victory, and who gets the blame for the blunders. Oh it was the good old days, and I for one, though it's not perfect, will see it come back—I promise—when this is all over."
"We'll forgive them, won't we?" asked Bubbles.
"Yes, we will. What else can we do?" said Blossom. "I just hope the boys aren't stubborn enough to wreck the fragile alliance once the men are back."
"Well Blossom, you're right," said Buttercup. "But I was not wrong either. But that's not the point. I'm sick and tired of this, but I wouldn't settle for anything less than what you've just said, Blossom."
D. Outraged Boys
Meanwhile…
"Dad, are you alright?" asked Brick as Ms. Lawrence nursed him in the medi-room. The Professor was in another bed in the same room, still unconscious. There was a bandage wrapped around his head where he had been hit.
"Aw. My aching head!" complained the doctor. "What happened?"
"Those girls tried to kidnap you. And the Professor," Brick said. "I never thought they'd sink to such lows as this! Targeting the parents of their enemies! They're no better than the common criminals they're fighting!"
"Yes!" Boomer angrily declared, looking at his Dad. "They have no right to do this to you Dad. Attack us, the Rowdyruff Boys—it's okay with us! But they never should have attacked you! You don't even have any superpowers! The Powerpuff Girls have stepped over a line that should never be crossed! I admit, I have much sympathy for them before this, but after this, they better hope that they won't be captured, because they won't like it!"
Boomer was genuinely outraged that the Powerpuff Girls would make an attempt at their parents. "I mean, all this time when we were enemies, when we were trying to kill them, we never attacked the Professor! We only attacked them, and we expected them to attack only us! Not Dad!"
Ms. Lawrence was just silent. She was at a loss for words. She of course secretly sided with the girls, but even she could not deny what she saw—Buttercup breaking in the house and taking Dr. Edwards and the Professor against their will. Whatever their motivations, she felt, it was a public relations disaster for the Powerpuff Girls and a propaganda coup for the evil authorities.
"I'm glad you feel that way, son," said Dr. Edwards, getting into a sitting position. "I'd take it that their kidnapping attempt was unsuccessful since I'm here and the Professor's in the other bed, while you failed to capture them."
"Don't worry, we'll capture them yet!" said Butch.
"But we won't scour the city for them, since that would leave you here unprotected. We can't split up, since that would leave us in weak position if we meet them in force. No, all three of us will stay here with you," Brick explained.
"But what about the equipment?" asked the Doctor.
"Fck the equipment! They could go to hell as far as I am concerned!" Butch shouted.
"Butch, watch your language!" Ms. Lawrence suddenly cut in. "Whatever you feel, those are not the words of a gentleman!"
"Sorry, Ms. Lawrence," said Butch. "But my point stands. As Brick stated a while ago, you can easily replace damaged equipment, but it would have been hell to find Dad once he'd been successfully kidnapped!"
Dr. Edwards looked at the faces and expressions of the boys. They were grimly determined and ready. Now, they're doing this for the simple reason of protecting their father, not advancing some obscure mission of some sort that even they don't know about.
Dr. Edwards decided it unwise to undermine their loyalty by making more stupid orders. "Okay, if that is what you want, then it's fine by me. Boys, come with me to the lab. Ms. Lawrence, please prepare dinner."
"Yes sir," said the housekeeper as she bowed out and went to the kitchen.
"I've been thinking of ways on how to hold the girls once you've captured them. Apparently, our methods of incarceration were inadequate, so I've devised means make sure they don't escape," said Dr. Edwards once they have reached the lab. "First, I made a new set of cuffs."
He then opened his drawers and handed one large mettalic ring, as large as the top of a cylinder can and as thick as a pencil, and as flexible as rope, to Boomer. "Try to destroy it," asked the Doctor.
Boomer tried to do it, but was unable to. He was able to twist it, crumple it, but failed to break it or weaken it.
"It's made of hardetal, you know," said Dr. Edwards. "They are actually one ring cuffs. Now, you probably know how to use it but let me demonstrate nonetheless. To open it, you need a key." He then took a key and opened it. "Now put your hands together in front of you, palm to palm. Good. Now let me put it on you. Well? Is it tight? Does it hurt? Can you get out?"
"No I can't!"
"And there are slots in it that allows you to put the cuffs on perpendicular over the other cuff. Now, cross your hands. That's it." He then placed another ring with his hand crossed, over the ring that bound his wrists parallel to each other."
The result was that Boomer's wrists were stuck crossed and perpendicular to each other with no give, severely curtailing his movements further.
"Well, it certainly is tight," said Boomer as he tried to take it off. "No, it doesn't hurt, but it's not comfortable. And I can't get it off!"
"Well, I designed it that way," said Dr. Edwards as he took his key and removed the two one-ring-cuffs. "It's better than the previous hardetal cuffs you've been using. Use it on the girls when you capture them. I have made a hundred of these one-ring-cuffs. Only make sure that the locks aren't picked."
"Wow! This is awesome! Ha, they always seemed to get out of Boomer's knots. Let's see them get out of this!" said Butch.
"Now for the second part. I've redesigned the training room during the past few days. First, I've fixed the loose panel that allowed them to hotwire the door open. Second, I made access to the girls more difficult. For example, you now need retinal identification, and fingerprint identification to open the double doors. Let me show you."
Dr. Edwards, with the boys, went to the door of the training room. "First, punch the code. Then put you hand on the handprint next to it. Then look with your right eye into the hole over there."
Dr. Edwards did those.
"Voice identification please," a voice from a speaker said.
"Open the door," Dr. Edwards said.
At that, the door opened.
"Now, you do the same for the second door. And when you leave, do the same for the inner part of the room, okay?"
"Yes Dad," said the boys.
"Now come on. I'm going to put on your handprints, retinal records, and voice into it so you can open the doors of the training room whenever you like," said the Doctor. "Only one thing more. If you captured them again, you better not let them escape, okay?"
"Yes Dad," said the boys. Dr. Edwards nodded, and began putting on the data of the boys on the computer to enable them to have access to the training room at all times.
E. Professor Utonium's Dream
Later…
"Okay, here's the plan," said Blossom. "First, we sleep, then we meet in our dreams like before, then we enter the Professor's mind. Is that clear?"
Both her sisters nodded.
"Well good night. And good luck," Blossom said as she turned in for the night.
"Good night, Blossom, Buttercup," Bubbles said as she went to her separate room, went to bed, hugged Octi, and slept.
"Night, you two," said Buttercup, and she too went to her own separate room and fell asleep.
So they did.
In their dreams…
"Is that really you Blossom, or are you only part of my dreams?" asked Bubbles.
"It's me silly! Hey Buttercup! Let's go!" she shouted as soon as the green puff appeared.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, as they went their way. "Let's go to the Professor's dream. Maybe we can find the real Professor there."
When the three girls entered the Professor's dream, they were surprised. It wasn't like a dream at all. It was Townsville, looking very ordinary. There were no strange creatures, no dim lights, no irrational fears, nothing out of the ordinary in the real world.
"Um, are we awake, or are we in his dream?" asked Buttercup. "Because if I'm not mistaken, this is not like a dream at all. It's like we're awake."
"Yes. Very strange indeed," said Blossom as they landed on the ground.
"Hi girls," one of the people walking by greeted.
"Hello, upstanding citizen," Blossom replied.
"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Buttercup.
"Go to the Professor, silly!" said Bubbles.
Soon, they flew towards their house, but when they approached, Blossom changed her mind. "Wait! I think we should go to the Central District first. I just want to find out if this is really a dream."
"Whatever you say Blossom!" Buttercup replied as they went to the center of the city.
"Will you look at that! The central district is bustling with life! There's no bulldozers or wrecking balls around! It's very strange indeed!" said Bubbles. "Well, now I'm sure we're really in a dream."
"Yes. Let's go to the mayor's office," said Blossom.
"Yeah," said Buttercup.
"Hi girls! You're just in time to open my pickle jar. I promise you candy if you opened it!" said the mayor as he tried in vain to open his pickle jar.
The girls just smiled, as they did as asked and opened the jar.
"Yum! Yum! Pickles are delicious! Want some?"
"Um, how about our candy?" asked Blossom.
"Candy? What about the candy?" asked the Mayor.
"You promised us candy if we opened the pickle jar!" Bubbles replied.
"I did? I must have forgot!"
"Hi girls! What brings you here!" said Ms. Bellum. "It's nice to see you by the way."
"Um, nothing. We just wanted to open the Mayor's pickle jar. Well, bye!" Blossom hurriedly said.
"Wow! They're really nice! Not like the ones in the real world!" said Bubbles.
"Plus, they have no inverted V mark on their forehead," said Buttercup.
"Well, so far, so good!" said Blossom. "Let's go to the Professor. Since this is his dream, maybe we can finally see our real Professor Utonium!"
They went home, but stopped. In place of their home was a large mansion. "Whoa! The Professor must be loaded to live in such a house!" said Buttercup as she viewed with awe the house.
"Um, do you think our Professor would live in such a big house?" asked Bubbles.
"Well, there's only one way to find out!" said Blossom. "Come on! Let's go in!"
The girls went in through the mansion, and marvelled at what they saw. There were expensive paintings on the wall. There were expensive Persian carpets on the floor. There were rows of china displayed. And everything that they saw was expensive. And in real life they couldn't afford even a single item they saw.
They saw a man, about his forties, bald, walking down a corridor, wearing a suit.
"Look! A thief!" said Buttercup. "Hey you, stop!"
"Ms. Buttercup! Ms. Blossom! Ms. Bubbles! I thought you were at your friend's house! You told me this morning just before you left!" said the man.
"Who are you?" shouted Blossom. "And what are you doing here."
The man was surprised at the question. "Really, Miss. I have been in your service for the past month. I am Mr. John Chadwick, whom the Professor hired as his butler."
"We have a butler?" asked Bubbles.
"Yes. I am he," said Mr. Chadwick.
"Um, could you direct us to where the Professor is?" asked Blossom.
"He's at his office right now, right here at home," said the butler.
"Um, where is his office, Mr. Chadwick?" asked Buttercup.
"It's on the second floor, the third room to the left corridor," said the butler. "Anything else, Ms. Buttercup?"
"Well, thanks!" said Bubbles.
The girls flew to the Professor's office, where they saw him signing some papers. The Professor looked at the Powerpuff Girls, and smiled. "Hi girls. I thought you were supposed to be out playing all day?" he asked.
The girls smiled. This was indeed their Professor. But before they could say or do anything, they noticed one thing. There was a V mark on your head.
"Professor! That mark! On your forehead!" Bubbles shrieked.
"Oh this? What's wrong with it?" asked the Professor who stopped whatever work he was doing.
"Well, how did you get it?" asked Buttercup.
"Didn't I tell you a month ago how I got it?" asked the Professor.
"Well, um we forgot, so you better tell us again," said Blossom.
"Well, I was asleep, and while I was dreaming, there was a voice who offered me any wish that I would desire," the Professor began.
"Wait! Who is this? I mean the voice who grants wishes?" asked Blossom.
"I don't know. He just calls himself 'The Voice!'" said the Professor. "The mark here is a sign that he had granted me his wish. I wished to be rich and wealthy of course. And so I received this mark. And can you believe it? The next day, when I woke up, I found out that I won the lottery for one hundred million dollars, and the city and the University increased my salary to one million dollars a month! Can you believe it! I am so happy! And you were there too, remember? You were all jumping and stuff and keep telling me what you wanted me to buy you."
The girls were silent. "But Professor, this is only a dream! All a dream!" Blossom charged. "In the real world, your body was possessed by this voice and is using it for evil purposes."
"My my my! My girls certainly had an overactive imagination. What game do you want to play with me this time?" asked the Professor.
"This is not a game! We're telling you the truth! Please believe us! If you want proof that we're in a dream world, then, Bubbles, pinch yourself to wake yourself up. Then sleep again then come back again."
"Okay!" said Bubbles. She pinched herself, and suddenly, she disappeared out of thin air.
In the real world…
Bubbles suddenly woke up and looked at her arm where she supposedly pinched herself. "That was strange!" said Bubbles. "Well, I better get back to sleep!"
She did, but she found out that she just couldn't get back to sleep after that, no matter how hard she tried.
In the Professor's dream…
"See?" said Buttercup.
"She could have just used superspeed. You do know that my eye isn't quick enough to see you move at your fastest!" said the Professor.
"Oh yeah. One more thing, Professor," asked Blossom.
"Yes?"
"Oh Professor, I missed you so much!" Blossom suddenly said, hugging the Professor tightly. "It's been so long! So long since we last saw you!"
Buttercup also hugged him tightly. "Yeah! We miss you! Oh Professor, we're so glad we finally found you!"
"Huh? You just saw me this morning? It's only a few hours," smiled the Professor as he patted his two girls on the head.
"No! It's been weeks! It's been long terrible weeks!" said Buttercup.
"Yes! You don't know what we went through during that time! Oh it's terrible, Professor!" said Blossom, crying.
Suddenly, three girls entered the room. And to the shock of the two girls hugging the Professor, they were Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup! Identical to them in fact.
"Hey, what are you two doing with the Professor?" "Blossom" asked.
"What? Two Blossoms and two Buttercups?" asked a confused Professor. "And only one Bubbles?"
"Professor, did you make another set of Powerpuff Girls?" asked "Buttercup."
"No, I didn't!"
"You two are imposters!" "Blossom" charged.
"No, you don't understand," Blossom replied. "We're not from this world. In fact, this world only exists in the Professor's mind."
"Well, if you don't get out of here, you two won't exist in any world!" said "Buttercup" as she and her two sisters advanced towards them.
"Look, this is all a big misunderstanding! We meant no harm!" Blossom tried to explain.
"You tried to impersonate us and take our place!" shouted "Bubbles." "And we won't let you get away with that."
In the real world…
"I can't sleep!" Bubbles said to herself. "I better tell my sisters."
Bubbles first went to Buttercup's room, where she saw her sister sleeping soundly. "Buttercup, wake up," Bubbles said as she began shaking her to wake her up.
Meanwhile…
"Look, I am the real Buttercup!" Buttercup asserted, and pointing to "Buttercup" declared, "you are the fake one!"
"Prove it!" said "Buttercup".
Suddenly, she just disappeared.
In the real world…
Buttercup woke up. "Bubbles, why did you wake me up! And why don't you go back to sleep so you can help us in the Professor's dream?"
"Well, I can't sleep! I just can't!" said Bubbles.
"Oh great! Why did you wake me up?" asked Buttercup.
"Well, maybe you know why I can't sleep. I thought you know how to make me sleep!"
"Well, it's not my problem if you can't sleep!" said Buttercup. "Now go and try to sleep so we can help Blossom!"
At that, Buttercup then closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But like Bubbles, she found out that she couldn't sleep after waking up from somebody else's dream.
In the Professor's dream…
"Ha! Where's the fake Buttercup now? It seems to me that if you are the real ones, then you wouldn't just disappear into thin air, now would you?" "Blossom" taunted.
"This is just a dream, and you know that the Powerpuff Girls can enter anyone's dreams like we did the Sandman!" said Blossom. "They woke up, that's why they disappeared."
"That is a pathetic excuse!" shouted "Buttercup." "Now tell us why you're trying to impersonate us!"
"I am not an impersonator! I am the real Blossom. And you three are just the figments of the Professor's imagination," Blossom shouted.
"So you won't take, eh? Girls, get her!" shouted "Blossom."
"Drat!" said Blossom as she bolted of the window.
"After her!" shouted "Blossom."
The three Powerpuff Girls chased after Blossom. Blossom flew as fast as she could. She finally found a forest at the edge of town and decided to hide there.
Unfortunately, he landed at the very spot the Rowdyruff Boys of the Professor's world were playing.
"Blossom?" "Brick" replied. "It's about time! You told us that you were only going to get something from the Professor's office so we can get on this meeting! And it took you so long! What did you do? Did you take a bath and changed your clothes too? Look, I am the leader for this month, and this meeting is very important!"
Before Blossom could reply, the three "Powerpuff Girls" suddenly arrived and stood on opposite sides, trapping Blossom between the six.
"Two Blossoms?" asked a confused "Boomer."
"Do you have a clone, Blossom?" asked "Butch." "And who is the real one?"
"Great. One ugly Blossom is bad enough. Two ugly Blossom would really push up the ugly scale of this world!" Brick replied.
"She is an imposter!" "Bubbles" accused.
"Who?"
"She is!" Blossom said, pointing to "Blossom."
"Really! No she is!" "Blossom" accused back.
Blossom, seeing she is surrounded, decided to escape. "No! All of you don't exist in the real world!" Blossom charged. She then pinched herself in the arm, causing her to disappear.
In the real world…
Blossom opened her eyes, and saw through the dim light the ceiling of her room in Ms. Keane's house. She looked at her watch and saw that it was one in the morning. She closed her eyes to sleep, but found out that she couldn't. All night long, she twisted, turned, and twisted again, but she just couldn't sleep.
F. Making Conclusions
The morning of August 13…
Bubbles looked at the window and saw the sun rising. She jumped from her bed, made her bed, then went and changed from her nightgown to her long ankle- length day dress. Despite not sleeping almost the entire night, she wasn't tired or sleepy at all. She went to the bathroom, and washed her face. After that, she went to the kitchen where she saw both Blossom and Buttercup, sitting on chairs opposite a round table, drinking hot milk while talking to each other. Blossom wore a knee length dress, while Buttercup wore jeans and T-shirt.
"Let me guess, you can't sleep?" asked Buttercup.
"Yes. But how'd you know?" asked Bubbles.
"We're all in the same boat here, you know," Buttercup replied. "Plus, you forgot that you're the one who woke me up to tell me that you can't sleep."
"Oh yeah. I forgot about that," said Bubbles, grinning and scratching her head.
"Well, it's obvious, that if we wake while we're in another person's dream, we can't sleep, for at least, well, we'll have to see, won't we? For now, we have to avoid waking up while we're in another person's dream," Blossom explained.
"What is happening? I know what I saw, and I'm confused," said Buttercup.
"Well, I've been thinking about it all night, and I've come to the following conclusions," said Blossom.
"First, our enemy is the voice who the Professor said grants wishes. And I think he's called 'The Voice,' for lack of a better term.
"Second, the Voice is the one who possessed the Professor. And he did this by making the Professor and his other victims make wishes. He grants their wishes, of course, but unknown to that person, what really happens is that that person would be stuck on his own mind, and the target person wouldn't even know about it. He would think that he is still living in the real world, with his wish is fulfilled, when in fact, it wasn't. The body of the person would stay indefinitely asleep as long as that person is stuck in his own world in his own mind.
"Third, the Voice then takes advantage of the person loosing control over his own body by taking over the body himself. As manifested by what we saw, they would resemble many of the characteristics of the person originally owning the body to fool the people around them. For example, the evil Dr. Edwards still has good business acumen, has most of the memories of the original Dr. Edwards, and has the same brilliance and intelligence and inventive mind. The Professor also retained his competence and his memories and as was demonstrated by events. The friendship of Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium in real life, for some reason even I don't know, carried on when the Voice took control of their bodies. The only difference is that they use their talent to do evil instead.
"The only exception to this is the Mayor's intelligence. But it couldn't be helped since a stupid Mayor wouldn't help, and perhaps they underestimated what a moron Jay Mayor really is."
"Fourth, having known all this, I still have no idea how to bring back the Professor in control of his own body. Most of our world had been perfectly reproduced in his mind, and they have a version of us there, who thinks we're imposters," Blossom concluded.
"Oh I see. So what do we do now?" asked Bubbles.
"We continue with the wrecking of the wrecking equipment and we continue with visiting the Professor's mind until we figured a way to free him," said Blossom.
"But how about the fake Powerpuffs in the Professor's mind?" asked Buttercup. "I think we should kidnap them, tie them up, stash them away, then pretend we're the Powerpuff Girls from his dream, then 'accidentally discover' that his world is really in his mind and tell the Professor the truth. He'll believe us when we show him some kind of proof. Since the fake Powerpuffs are only real in his mind anyway, no harm would be done. We pretty much agree anyway that the only thing real in his mind is the Professor himself."
"Very good Buttercup! I like your plan. Okay, we'll do as you suggest," said Blossom.
"But don't you think that we should reason with our equivalents?" Bubbles asked.
"It's too late for that," said Blossom. "They think we're imposters, trying to take over their places. Since, I think, there's no convincing them, then we should act like imposters by actually doing what they thought we would do at that time."
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Bubbles. "I mean, we can't still sleep at this time."
"Well, what I said we'd do. Let's wreck the equipment," said Blossom.
"What about the Rowdyruff Boys?" asked Buttercup.
"It's five-thirty in the morning," said Blossom. "The boys are still asleep. And so are the construction crews."
G. Planning the Capture
Later that morning…
Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium were at Dr. Edwards house, chatting about the events of the past few days.
"That was a close call," said the Doctor. "It's a good thing the boys have enough sense to get back here and rescue us. I take back my statement that they're incompetent. They are not."
"Yeah. Imagine what the girls would do to us once we're in their hands. I shudder at the thought of it!"
"What about the wrecked equipment?"
"William, we can easily replace all of it. We have money to burn, remember? As long as you are willing to provide the dough, then we'll just replace damaged equipment."
"Well, at least, John, there's some good that came out of it."
"And that is?"
"The boys. The attempted kidnapping really ticked off the boys. It's kinda like Pearl Harbor, to their psyche, you know. It became personal to them. Not that they hate them. No, no. Things had gotten too far for this, but, their antipathy and dislike for what they are doing was gone, to be replaced by a determination to get the girls for what they attempted to do and failed. Right now, the boys are very very very angry at the Powerpuff Girls, and would like nothing better than to lay their hands on them. Hell, even Boomer is very angry at the girls about this."
Suddenly, the phone rang.
"It's for you," said William Edwards, handing the phone to the Professor.
The Professor took the phone. "Hello, this is Professor Utonium. What? All our equipment, destroyed? How did that—during the early morning hours you say? Well, get more bulldozers! Get more dynamite! Get more wrecking balls! Get more cranes! I don't care! Dr. Edwards will pay for it all! I just want that place levelled!"
"Let me guess, the Powerpuffs made another attempt at the equipment?" asked Dr. Edwards after the Professor hung-up the phone.
"And they bloody succeeded at it too! Everything was thrashed. The crew was surprised when they got to work and found all of the equipment wrecked. The night watchman told them that it was the Powerpuffs."
"Boys! I want to talk to you!" Dr. Edwards shouted at the top of his voice.
Ten seconds later, all three boys were in front of him.
"Yes Dad? Professor?" asked Boomer.
"What is it? Who do you want beat up?" asked Butch.
"Well, last night, the Powerpuff Girls totally thrashed the equipment, and I have to order new ones to get the job done. Now, if you spend twenty-four seven shadowing me to protect us, how about the equipment? I know that your priority, and my priority too, is our safety, and all those destruction that they are causing might well be just a distraction so they can get John and I, but goddamit! We can't get anywhere if the Powerpuffs would always wreck the equipment! Now, I want to know how to deal with this. How are you going to capture the Powerpuff Girls? I mean, I gave you the tools by which to hold them, so I demand to know how you are going to get your hands on them!"
"Dad, you know that we're determined to capture them. And so we would. I have a secret plan, that, I assure you, in the next few days, would have the girls trussed up like a turkey and locked up in that training room," Brick assured. "I have a secret plan to capture the Powerpuff Girls! And it wouldn't compromise your security, Dad!"
"And what might be that secret plan of yours?" asked the Professor.
"Well, if I tell you, it ain't secret anymore. Don't worry! This plan is effective. But I need it to be absolutely secret for it to work."
"Well, it better work," said Dr. Edwards. "Okay, you can go now."
"What secret plan? We don't have any secret plan?" asked Butch as soon as they were out of the room and playing in their own room.
"Well, it's secret, but I suppose I can tell you," said Brick. "The thing is, I don't have a secret plan. I just said it to mollify Dad."
"You lied to Dad?" asked Boomer.
"Yes. If I didn't, he would insist we would run whenever the girls cry wolf, and when we run out there like idiots to catch them, they would go back here and take Dad," Brick explained. "Anyway, we can't leave Dad alone until we can be absolutely sure that he won't be captured."
"So how the heck are we going to do that?" asked Butch.
"We'll let others find them," said Brick. "We can use our friends to find them, and the rest of the gang, but no. I think I'll use Hook instead, when he returns from vacation in two days. You all know that he's very good at gathering intelligence, but the best thing is that no one suspects him to be such a good sleuth. You see, as you know, most other kids consider him a nerd, a dork, and such, and they laugh behind his back. He is very short, had abnormally thick glasses, and is obsessive about comic books. Not even Mitchelson, York, Jenkins, Mike Believe, the Powerpuff Girls, Dickerson, Carsky and Wilson, all of whom, except for the girls, are our close friends and associates, know about how good Hook is. Not even one of the fifty members of the gang know about him. And most of them wonder why we continue to associate with such a nerd as him."
Brick continued. "Of course, we, the Rowdyruffs know about that, and we kept it a secret at his request. The only other person whom we know who knows about it is Hook's twin sister, Rachel. Those two are very good. Hook, I suspect, has very large assets among the kids in every part of Townsville and throughout the student body of our school, who for some reason I don't even know, regularly supplies him with information. The information he provides us is surprisingly accurate. As a result, Richard and Rachel Hook can obtain any information about anyone with just a few days notice. And I mean anything. Good thing for us is that we obtained his loyalty and friendship early on, four years ago. It really is our piece of luck."
Suddenly, the phone rang. "Brick! It's for you!" Ms. Lawrence shouted.
"Coming!" said Brick as he picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi Brick. It's me! Richard!"
"Hook! Where are you calling from?" asked Brick excitedly.
"Well, here in Townsville," answered Hook.
"I thought you weren't supposed to go home yet? At least not until August 15," said Brick.
"Well, there was a fire at Yellowstone, so they temporarily closed it," said Hook
"Well, can you come here right now?" asked Brick.
"Sure!"
"Thanks!"
"Well?" asked Boomer.
"We should thank our lucky stars!" Brick proclaimed. "Today, our chances of bagging the girls just increased!"
Hook arrived a few minutes later. "Hi Brick! Hi Butch! Howdy Boomer!" he cheerfully greeted.
"Good to see you, Hook!" Boomer said, shaking his hand.
"Well, can you do us a favor?" asked Butch.
"What kind of favor?" replied Hook.
Brick then requested him to find the Powerpuff Girls for them, and he explained all that happened.
"Let me get this straight, guys, you're telling me that the Powerpuff Girls are now your enemies, they are hiding, they attempted to kidnap your father, are destroying government property, and can't find them yourselves, so you need me to help find them?"
"Yes," said Brick.
"This is really confusing, but heck, if you want me to find the girls, I'll do it, though I can't promise you I'll find them," said Hook.
"That's good enough for me, Hooky!" Butch patted on his back.
"Well, when can you start?" asked Boomer.
"Tomorrow. Today, I still have to unpack my things and unwind from our vacation!" said Hook.
"Well, Hooky, take all the time you need," said Brick. "Just make sure you find them."
"I'll try my best!" said Hook. "Well, I better be going now. I promised Mom I'll help her this day. Well, see 'ya! I'll call when I have results!"
H. Going Back to the Professor's Dream
Later that night…
"Well, are you ready, girls?" asked Blossom when they were floating in the corridor, just before they slept.
"Are you sure we could sleep?" asked Buttercup.
"Well, I'm sleepy," said Bubbles.
"Just don't wake up or the plan would have to be postponed!" Blossom warned. "Good night. See you in our dreams!"
The girls went to sleep in their own respective rooms in Ms. Keane's house.
One important, but overlooked thing is that there is a wooden ledge above Bubbles' bed, where there was a vase filled with water and flowers as decoration.
The girls met during their dreams soon after all of them fell asleep. Before they went to the Professor's dream, they simply imagined armored clothes, a sunball, and hardetal rope and cuffs and duct tape, and a bag to put them, and immediately entered the Professor's dream. They could do it because they were in their own dreams and mind. However, once they entered the world of the Professor's mind, from the experience of last night, they couldn't do it there. They then tied white bands to their heads so they won't mistake each set of Powerpuff Girls.
"Well, search for the Powerpuff Girls of this world!" Blossom ordered. "We'll fight them if they don't cooperate or can be reasoned with. If they cooperate with us, fine. If not, then we'll have to put them out of the way."
The girls then raced towards the Professor's mansion, but suddenly, they were met before them by the "Powerpuff Girls!"
"Ah so the imposters had come back!" said "Blossom."
"Ha! As if! You're the real imposters!" Blossom shot back.
"Well, we knew you would come back," "Buttercup" said.
"And we set a trap!" said "Bubbles."
"What trap? Right now, we are evenly matched in numbers, and we have armored clothes!" Buttercup replied.
"This trap!" "Brick's" voice suddenly said from behind. The girls turned, and they saw "Boomer," "Butch", and "Brick." "And all of us are wearing armored clothes."
They were surrounded and outnumbered, and had walked into a trap.
"Drat! We weren't suppose to meet you until we defeated the Powerpuff Girls of this world!" Blossom said to the boys.
Meanwhile, in the real world…
A rat the size of a kitten was trying to find food at the ledge just above Bubbles' bed. Inadvertently, it accidentally pushed the vase with flowers off the ledge, and the rat itself slipped. The vase landed on Bubbles' head and broke. Bubbles, wet, woke up, and the first thing she saw was the rat.
"Eeeek! Rat!" Bubbles screamed. At once, she panicked, and went to Blossom's room and woke her up. "Blossom, there's a rat in my room!" She then ran and went to Buttercup's room and woke her up! "Buttercup! There's a rat in my room!"
"Great! You spoiled our plan," said Blossom. "What happened to you?" asked Bubbles.
"I don't know. All I know is, the vase above me fell on my head and broke," said Bubbles. "Then I saw a rat."
"What's this all about! It's ten o'clock at night!" Ms. Keane, who was awakened by Bubbles screaming, said.
Bubbles explained to Ms. Keane what happened. As a result, Bubbles washed her head, changed nightgowns, and went to bed in another room. Of course, none of the girls were able to sleep the rest of the night because they woke while in the Professor's dream.
The next day…
"Well, at least it saved us from the trap," said Buttercup as she ate her toast.
"Yes. I should have made plans on how to deal with the Rowdyruffs from that world," said Blossom.
"So we go back again to the Professor's dream tonight?" asked Bubbles.
"No. Tonight, we're going into the dream of Dr. Edwards. I know we all want the Professor to be back first, but consider this—if we get the doctor back, we also gain the Rowdyruff Boys in the real world back! Then, using our experience, we can free the Professor," said Blossom. "Remember, right now, our most imperative mission is not to free the Professor, but bring back the boys. If that happens, then we wouldn't have to hide anymore, and everything becomes a lot easier."
"At least in the Doctor's dream," said Buttercup, "there wouldn't be a trap waiting for us."
"Well, if you say so, Blossom," said Bubbles. "We'll go to Dr. Edwards' dream tonight. And I hope we get better luck than we had in the Professor's dream."
Author Notes
The names that are enclosed with quotation marks are characters from the Professor's Dream. For example, Blossom, refers to Blossom who went to the Professor's dream to see what is going on with his mind, while "Blossom" is the Blossom from the world created on the Professor's mind.
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 Lynx Sarnage, well, let's just say, during the past four years, the Powerpuffs managed to acquire some of the gadgets of the boys. How I will leave to the imagination of the reader.
Well, the boys failed to capture the girls at that time, so it really isn't a total victory for them.
To Tones, well, he didn't tell anyone yet, did he?
To Firespirit, yes, the only good thing that happened is that the girls escaped the boys once again.
As for Boomer, well, I don't he acted like a robot. He reacted very angrily in fact when he learned the attempt on his father.
But he interpreted his orders to guard the equipment no matter what, so that's what he did.
Well, in their eyes, the girls are fugitives from the law. Besides, the citizens don't take kindly to kidnapping.
The citizens also know that the mayor had a capable speech writer—Ms. Bellum. They would have assumed she wrote it and he merely read it.
To Kezzer, well, their location wasn't immediately revealed, as evidenced by Bubble's conversation with Harry.
Well it could get worst. And it could also get better.
To Somewei, yes, I agree. The boys are very stubborn and pigheaded here.
And you're right about the enemy. However, in this chapter, they already have a vague idea who the real enemy is. Problem is, they had no idea how to fight him.
Well, we should assumed that in any questioning, she'll deny having anything to do with the escape. They just assumed they were able to untie themselves then hotwired the doors open.
Well, Harry didn't tell anybody about his encounters with the girls—thankfully.
To PinkPuff, yes, it very nearly worked. And it's failure all the more made the situation worst for the girls.
To BrYtt BRatt, well, I wish you a happy recovery!
Well, Harry didn't tell anyone. And he did promise he would keep the girls' location a secret.
To Hairy Gregory, the girls assumed that the boys' aim was to capture them. So they thought that Boomer would come after them when they ran away.
Besides, the news that Buttercup took Dr. Edwards was enough to make Boomer angry. Only Brick's orders kept him from chasing the girls. Ironically, Brick wanted Boomer to chase the girls, but he worded it so that Boomer interpreted it to not leave the equipment.
The aim is not for the citizens to capture the girls themselves. The aim is to turn the city against them by making them criminals, and putting a bounty on their head. It is really difficult to operate when the city sees you as common criminals and may would want to get you to get the reward money.
Plus, it would encourage informers.
To Scott Boyo, well, Harry simply forgot about the Girls. He had more important things to worry about.
I agree. Buttercup really shouldn't have blabbed her successful kidnapping.
To Lil Fang, about the dying, we'll see.
To Dooly, yes, I agree with you about Buttercup. Well, having them on their hands, in their opinion, will make their job a lot easier. Plus, it would deprive the evil authorities of two of their most respected members.
To John, yeah, you're right.
