By Kevin Larry Ivy
I don't own the Powerpuff girls or any related characters. I do own Leviathan, Sezu, Kisu, Delu, Glyja, Beelzebub, and the six dark puffs.
Blaze is the first to snap out of the tangible stupor all seven of the girls have been left in upon Blood and Blitz's deaths at the hands of Beelzebub. Still crying hysterically, she shakily finds her voice.
"Why…WHY DID YOU DO THIS!" She screams at him, her voice cracking. Beelzebub chuckles and bursts into hysterical laughter. This just fuels the fire in Blaze, making her cry harder. "Stop laughing! How could you do this! WHY DID YOU KILL THEM?" she screams again. Her screaming has snapped the others out of their individual dazes. Belial nervously puts her arm around Blaze's shoulders. Blaze collapses against her sobbing uncontrollably.
"You work for Leviathan…why did you kill them, that can't be what he wanted!" says Buttercup. Beelzebub stops laughing and shakes his head.
"You poor deluded girls. You simply have no idea what you are up against. You think I'm just the annoying henchman you have to get through to stop the crime lord…well I'll let you in on a little secret. Leviathan is now the least of your worries." The girls are taken back by the change of his tone. He is being completely serious…Beelzebub really thinks he is a bigger threat to them then Leviathan.
"What are y-you talking about you m-monster…?" asks Battle shakily. Beelzebub tightens his gloves; the eyeholes in his mask begin burning once more.
"I mean exactly what I'm saying. You should stop worrying about fighting Leviathan." He says coolly. Blaze pulls away from Belial's comforting (though awkward to Belial) embrace and glares at him.
"Shut up! You're just a stupid soldier! You're nothing compared to Daddy!" Beelzebub bursts into hysterical laughter when Blaze finishes screaming. The girls are all very confused…and slowly becoming more and more terrified. Belial hugs Blaze again, keeping her from screaming at Beelzebub a fourth time. She hasn't said a word yet, she's too busy staring at Beelzebub…fearing the worse…knowing for some reason, that deep in her heart what he's saying is completely true.
"What do you think you are? Leviathan is the most powerful demon in the entire…" Blossom begins to say. She is cut off by Beelzebub's condescending laughter. He shakes his head and crosses his arms.
"Poor deluded children…unable to see beyond the veil of reality. Leviathan and I differ greatly. I am just an Omega Class demon and he is the second Shimekiri. Logic dictates that he should forever be my superior…" he begins laughing again, "But where he is concerned, logic holds no meaning. He says what is fact and what is fantasy. He governs every thought, every decision, every ripple in the stream of time." The girls become more confused now.
"What are you talking about? Leviathan?" asks Bubbles. Beelzebub snorts and turns around, walking to the center of the pentagram on the floor.
"Don't walk away from us!" screams Blaze, the fire within her slowly growing. Belial again hugs her in an attempt to calm her down, but she's lost in her own little world where there is only Beelzebub…for some reason. Beelzebub turns around and faces them. He laughs a little and his eyeholes stop burning.
"Because of the nature of the Shimekiri, Leviathan may seem invincible…but he is limited. Fate dictates that every Shimekiri must be able to die. Leviathan is forever bound by his limit. I suffer no such restriction. I…am endless." Beelzebub laughs again the lights flickering in the cathedral. The girls move closer together, drawing the strength and courage to keep going in the face of what is quickly becoming a darker nightmare than they could ever dream. Bomb gulps and finds her voice.
"What are you t-talking about? Fate? You mean like destiny or something like that?" she asks nervously. Beelzebub sneers and holds his hands out, black winds whipping around them all.
"No kid…Fate…the essence that commands all of time and space. The being that commands history itself. Destiny is simply an unavoidable action toward Fate's ultimate goal. Every move you make, every morning you wake up again, every step you continue taking, it is all by the will of Fate." Beelzebub laughs, "and I am merely the Messenger of Fate. Everything I do, I do in His name." The girls are quickly becoming more and more terrified. The wind in the room is filling everything with unholy screams and cries. "It is Fate who commands me, not Leviathan. I no longer need Leviathan for my needs. Once I have finished with you, Fate's work will be done, and Leviathan will die." He stretches out his arms and a blue light fills every gap, every inch of the cathedral. The light explodes and fades away, leaving them all feeling somewhat different.
"What…what did you d-do?" asks Bubbles. Beelzebub floats into the air, still holding out his hands. His beautiful voice invades their ears as he sings once more.
"I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's throne. To this kingdom where all must pay homage to music…music! You have come here for one purpose and one alone. From the moment I first came awake, I have needed you with me to fight me to die…by my music…my music!"
Everything around them quakes and rumbles as the blue light enveloping Beelzebub explodes outward, releasing the full potential of his fearsome power. He floats down to the floor and begins laughing once more. Blaze glares, growling deep in her throat as the flame becomes larger. Belial hugs her protectively, feeling unimaginable terror welling up in her.
"What can we do? He easily killed Blitz and Blood…" asks Blossom.
"M-maybe we could tickle him?" suggests Battle softly.
"We don't even know if he's ticklish…" begins Buttercup, but Belial cuts her off.
"Not like us, but he is. The only problem is we'll never get the chance to exploit it. Its all his upper body and there's no way he's going to let us get the chance to try." She explains. The girls gulp and take a step back from Beelzebub. All except Blaze, who tugs against Belial as the flame explodes, becoming a raging inferno. She screams and is engulfed by blue-white fire that sends Belial crashing into the wall. The light fades and once more Blaze has gone nuclear, her eyes simply two balls of blue-white fires.
The Bomb, Battle, and Belial are all shocked immensely by Blaze's sudden transformation. The puffs; however, begin feeling hopeful that they'll make it out alive…when she went crazy like this Blaze become so much more powerful it wasn't funny. She screams again and in a flash of fire she is in front of Beelzebub throwing a punch at him. Beelzebub dodges and throws a kick at her. To everyone's amazement Blaze manages to block the kick, though it is very clear she's struggling. Beelzebub spins around and kicks her in the face, sending her flying off her feet. Blaze's eyes snap open and before Beelzebub's follow up assault hits her she vanishes in a flash of fire.
Beelzebub turns and throws a punch. Blaze appears, holding Beelzebub's fist trying her hardest to hold it back. Beelzebub jerks her forward, and punches her across the face. Before she hits the ground, Blaze is gone in another flash of fire, once more attacking Beelzebub. The other girls watch this with a sickening feeling of horror. Belial is still sitting against the wall staring at Blaze and Beelzebub. Beelzebub hits Blaze hard in the face, knocking her back against the wall. He then holds up his hand, unholy blue light gathering right in front of Blaze's face. At that moment Belial finally snaps out of her daze and stumbles to her feet.
"Don't just stand there, let's help her!" she yells at the others before lunging at Beelzebub. Her fist collides with the side of his mask, making him turn to her. He punches her hard in the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs and driving her to the ground.
"…Don't think I'll go easy on you Belial," he says before kicking her in the face. Belial slides across the ground and sits up shakily. She spits out some blood and wipes her mouth. She stumbles to her feet, just to double over once again coughing up blood when Beelzebub's fist crashes into her stomach. She falls to the ground holding her stomach. Beelzebub begins gathering his unholy blue energy to finish her off. Blaze rams into Beelzebub from the side, making him discharge his energy. He turns to backhand her, only to be assaulted by a barrage of explosive energy balls. He steps back, then looks down as fire explodes up from the ground at his feet. He puts his arms down from his face as it fades away.
Buttercup appears in front of him and begins punching him rapidly and powerfully in the chest. Beelzebub chuckles and knees her in the stomach, knocking her into the air. He grabs her by her throat and throws her into Battle. Bomb throws more explosion balls at him, which Beelzebub walks through as Blaze fires a massive wall of blue-white fire at him. He stops and spreads his arms out, creating a blue dome of energy around him. It explodes outward, knocking all of the girls to the ground.
Blaze gets up and growls, the fire around her burning brighter than ever. She gasps, the fire fizzling slightly as she watches Beelzebub easily thrash Belial, who is desperately trying to find some way to hurt the singing psycho. Bubbles fires a massive blast of lightning at Beelzebub, who becomes transparent and easily avoids it. He solidifies near Buttercup and rams her against the wall. Buttercup growls and a bunch of giant, thorny roots shoot from the ground and try to tear Beelzebub away from Buttercup. While this is happening, Blossom fires her eyebeams at Beelzebub's back. Bubbles joins her and soon both are joined by Bomb and Battle. Blaze flies to Belial's side and gently helps her up, the fire around Blaze not harming Belial probably due to Blaze not wanting it to. The two stand up and add their eyebeams to the others. Beelzebub throws Buttercup across the cathedral into her sisters. Then in a massive burst of blue fires his own eyebeams, which easily rip through the four combined eyebeams and hit Battle and Bomb.
Blaze and Belial stop firing theirs and regroup with the others. Blaze's fire hasn't died out, even though it appears she now has some kind of control in this form. The girls all stand weakly, running on their last reserves against this monster.
"Okay…that didn't work…maybe if we all attack him independently but at the same time?" suggests Blossom. The others nod and quickly the seven vanish. Beelzebub laughs to himself and runs his hand across his mask. In seconds he is dodging and blocking the attacks of all seven girls. Battle and Bomb join together their attacks, hitting him with a swirling vortex, which pulls him into a massive explosion. Beelzebub runs through the smoke and drives them both to the ground by driving his fists into their stomachs. He pushes them over and jumps over a Starburst Ray fired by the puffs, which tears open the ground as it goes flying through.
"You really don't think you can beat me do you?" asks Beelzebub as he turns around. His eyeholes begin shining bright blue as a fist smashes into his mask. He slaps Blaze away, holding his mask. He floats to the ground and moves his hand revealing a long crack running across the left eyehole. He growls and clenches his fists, the eyeholes burning brighter. He grabs his mask and laughs.
"Well girls…I can't let this ruined mask hide my beautiful face any longer. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, I'd like you capable of still fighting back" He pulls his mask off, blue light completely flooding the entire room. The girls look into the light, not knowing what to expect…what they do see is the last thing any of them expected. The light fades…revealing the face of the monster at long last.
They had all been expecting something...something that would terrify them or take their breath away. Beelzebub's face certainly took their breath away…but for a completely different reason. His perfectly smooth skin, perfectly chiseled features, in every way his face is perfectly handsome and beautiful. His most captivating feature is his eyes; two orbs of crystalline blue, shining with beauty and power. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup find themselves immobilized by infatuation at the very sight of Beelzebub's handsome visage. The remaining Darkpuffs; however, are somewhat protected due to a few important life choices they have made. Beelzebub chuckles, the Puffs watching him closely and intently.
"Not what you expected…am I?" The heroines all struggle to reclaim their voices as Beelzebub bursts into psychotic laughter. "Now that the beast has been unmasked…let the battle resume," He vanishes, crossing the distance between them almost instantly. His fists are driven into Bubbles and Buttercup's stomachs, knocking the wind out of them. He laughs and jumps firing his eyebeams at the Puffs, driving them against the wall. He is blasted by several energy bombs from Bomb, accompanied by waves of blue-white fire from Blaze, Belial's eyebeams and cutting bursts of wind from Battle. He stops and turns to them, grinning through the pain.
"This is hopeless! He's just too strong!" says Battle over the roar of the tornadoes she's creating.
"We have to keep trying! We still have Leviathan to deal with when we're done with him!" yells back Bomb. The girls look up and shriek when Beelzebub punches Belial across the face, sending her spiraling backward. He spins and kicks Blaze's legs out from under her, then grabs her and throws her into Bomb. While the two are falling, Battle runs up and catches them, just as several beams of blue energy crash into them. Beelzebub laughs and lifts his hand, firing off a massive ball of blue energy right in front of Bubbles, who had been charging at him. She screams as it rips into her skin before sending her flying away. Beelzebub shifts back and begins dodging and blocking Blossom and Buttercup's combined assault.
Blaze, Bomb and Battle stumble to their feet. Blaze immediately runs to Belial and helps her up, while Bomb and Battle join Blossom and Buttercup against Beelzebub. Beelzebub grabs Buttercup's leg when she kicks at him then swings her into Bomb, throwing them both back. They get up and are on him again, trying desperately to win a battle it seems they've already lost. Beelzebub bursts into hysterical laughter and jumps into the air. He takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. The girls all look up, and shriek in disgust as millions upon millions of flies, each the size of a baseball, fly out of Beelzebub's mouth.
The flies instantly attack the girls, tearing at them with their venomous, sharp teeth. A hoard of them manages to drive Battle to the ground, screaming hysterically as they slowly and painfully tear her apart. Belial knocks several of the flies attacking Battle away, blasting several more with her eyebeams. Before she can finish saving Battle; however, a massive wave of flies hits her and knocks her to the ground. Bomb screams and releases a massive explosion, vaporizing the flies attacking her. She runs to Battle and does the same, killing several of the flies by brushing them with her hands and releasing the explosive energy in them. Soon Battle is saved, though she is bleeding moderately from the attacks. Bomb helps her up, and hugs her tightly. Battle gulps and hugs Bomb back, cherishing the feeling of being in Bomb's arms, despite the nightmare around them. Bomb draws back and pecks Battle on the cheek, before rushing off to help the others. Battle holds her cheek and smiles, and then screams when Beelzebub begins laughing high above them.
Bubbles bursts into flames and releases a dome of fire around her that manages to incinerate the flies. She breathes heavily, wiping some of the blood out of her eyes, or attempting to, but the blood on her arm just makes it worse. She shakes her head then runs to her sisters' aid. Buttercup is handling the situation the best of the seven of them, though it is clear she's having a hard time killing the thousands of flies attacking her. She lifts her hands and a massive pillar of green energy erupts from the ground around her. She puts them down and falls to her knees panting. Bubbles kneels next to her and puts her arm around her shoulders. Buttercup gives her a thumbs up, before the two turn to see the bulk of the flies focused on Blossom…Beelzebub probably commanded them to attack her to try to kill off the "brains" of their little super team. The two quickly begin slaughtering the flies attacking their sister, though it seems like an endless process.
Blaze is screaming hysterically, doing absolutely nothing to fight back against the hoard of flies attacking her. The pain…coupled with her innate fear of insects due to quite a number of pranks pulled on her by her sisters prevents her from reacting. Bomb and Battle arrive and manage to fight off the flies, mostly thanks to Bomb's explosion powers. Blaze continues lying on the ground crying. Bomb hears Belial scream, but chooses to ignore it and instead kneels down beside Blaze awkwardly with Battle.
"Hey Blaze…are you okay? C'mon we killed the flies so help us beat Beelzewhatever," says Bomb. Blaze hiccups and opens her eyes, wiping away some of the blood which has covered them. She sits up, holding herself painfully. Battle wipes away some more of the blood on Blaze's face and smiles. The two get up and rush over to Bubbles and Buttercup to help them. Belial screams again, which snaps Blaze out of her terrified state. She weakly stumbles to her feet and gulps, nervously running over to Belial, but too terrified to do anything to save her. Belial blasts a few flies with her eyebeams, but when they try to attack her eyes she quickly closes them to prevent that particular injury. She falls to the ground, still swatting and blasting at the flies, but she just manages to anger them and make them attack her more. Blaze gulps and nervously raises her hands to fire at them. At that time a fly rams into her and begins biting her. Blaze freaks out and begins screaming. The blue-white fire around her erupts and explodes outward, filling the entire cathedral. The light fades away, revealing an infinite number of ash piles that used to be flies. Blaze is on the ground panting and crying. She feels someone touch her on the shoulder and shrieks. She looks up and sees Belial, who slumps forward and lands on Blaze's lap. Blaze pants and shakes her.
"Bel-Belial…Belial are you okay!" Belial groans and pushes herself up. She looks at Blaze and nods then slowly falls back into a sitting position. In truth, Belial is far from okay, she is still pulling her punches a great deal due to the strange feeling she has just looking at Beelzebub. A sort of déjà vu feeling that keeps her from attacking him with everything she's got. The others are already locked in combat with Beelzebub once more, who is finding sadistic pleasure in puffing out a fly every time one of them hits him. This of course has led to a great number of flies being produced, which manage to cause some harm before they are destroyed. Belial stands up and helps Blaze up. She looks down and laughs a little, hugging Blaze.
"Bl-Blaze…you k-kinda lost your shoes somewhere in here…" Blaze giggles a little and hugs Belial back.
"I know…I'll f-find them wh-when this is over…" Before the two can finish this brief moment of togetherness, a blue light explodes in front of them. Belial pushes herself up and stares at Beelzebub's boots. She looks up and sees him holding Blaze by the neck. Blaze is struggling with all of her might, doing everything she can to get away from him, but Beelzebub's hold doesn't waver in the least. His deep blue eyes are locked with Belial's pale blue ones…the tension between them becoming thicker and thicker. Beelzebub chuckles and looks at Blaze, a frightening look in his eyes. Once more, as if out of nowhere music begins playing.
"Order your fine horses now! Raise up your hand to the level of your eyes! Nothing can save you now except perhaps Belial!" he stops singing and turns to Belial, the look in his eyes so terrifyingly familiar to her. Beelzebub goes back to singing, "Start your new life with me, buy her freedom with your love! Refuse me and you send your lover to her grave, this is the choice- this is the point of no return!" Belial stares at him in horror, trying to comprehend what he's asking her. Blaze tugs at his hand, but can't make even his arm waver.
"Belial forgive me…p-p-please forgive me, I just want you…it's all or nothing…" Beelzebub once more begins singing, glaring at Belial with a sadistic grin.
"Past all hope of cries for help, no point in fighting!" he sings. Blaze is crying now barely able to speak through the pain and the tears.
"Belial, either way…either way you choose he has to win!" she whispers out, her voice carrying over the music and Beelzebub's singing oddly.
"For either way you choose, you cannot win! So do you spend your days with me, or do you send her to her grave!" He tightens his hold on Blaze's neck while singing. Blaze cries harder and tries to escape more.
"Don't make her lie to you to save me!" she begs him. Beelzebub laughs and continues singing.
"Past the point of no return, the final threshold! Her life is now the prize, which you must earn! You've passed the point of no return," he sings to Belial. Belial stares at the ground, tears well up in her eyes, threatening to spill over. She hiccups and grits her teeth as she begins crying. She blinks and shakes her head, then without realizing it begins singing to herself.
"Pitiful c-creature of darkness…what k-k-kind of life have I known? D-D-Dad g-give me courage to show him…" she looks up at Beelzebub, still crying, "…I won't…I won't be alone!" She jumps to her feet and wraps her arms around Beelzebub's neck, pressing her lips hard against his. Beelzebub's eyes widen and he instantly drops Blaze as Belial continues to shove him backward with the fierce kiss, despite having to stand on her tiptoes to reach his level. Beelzebub slowly closes his eyes and returns the kiss, leaving his arms at his side. Blaze stares at the two, panting and crying.
"B-Belial…Belial d-d-don't…Belial please don't…l-leave-" she blinks when Belial opens one eye and looks at her. Belial winks and closes her eyes. Then in an instant she jerks back and swings around, jerking her arms upward and getting Beelzebub in an arm lock. Before he can react she leans backward until his feet are off the ground. Beelzebub jerks and thrashes, trying to get out of Belial's hold.
"What are you doing! Let me go NOW!" He snarls at her. Belial grits her teeth against the pain of his armor scraping against the wounds she received from the flies.
"What are you waiting for? BLAST HIM!" she screams at the others. The puffs blink in disbelief, but take Belial's words to heart and fire their Mega Bomb at Beelzebub. Battle and Bomb press against each other and fire out a swirling tornado of pure explosive energy. Blaze stumbles backward and fires a massive wave of blue-white fire at him, which hits him first and has no effect while it continues to pound on him.
"This is pointless! I can't be hurt by-" Beelzebub snickers and jerks his head to the side. Belial grins against the pain and begins tickling his neck with her other hand, making him jerk his head the other way. "What are you d-do-doing! If I d-die you will too!" he chuckles and snickers, unable to concentrate.
"Yeah…well that's just something I'll have to live with. I'll be back here anyway, at least Blaze can visit me." She continues tickling his neck, gritting her teeth against the growing pain. Soon the Mega Bomb slams into him, followed by Battle and Bomb's attack. Belial screams and Beelzebub roars, a massive explosion filling the entire cathedral…the blinding light hiding the aftermath of Belial's desperate plan.