Okay, here we go. This is my first chapter over three thousand words, and it took about three hours to write, to I'd be most grateful if you'd spend just two minutes reviewing it at the end. Even if you can only think of bad things to say. Thanks, enjoy!

14. Fate of a Murderer

Blossom trust herself out from under the Prince's leg and slid across the smooth floor, back into the middle of the room. She needed to stay in space, it would be more difficult to defend her self it she was backed up against a wall.

The Prince took his time turning round. He now looked even more confident then when the fight had started. Maybe he knew how much energy Blossom had used in that earlier attack. Blossom tried to stay focus, her chance would come.

The Prince attacked again, but this time he didn't over commit himself. Blossom was forced to Block the punch, and it stun her arms. The Prince was quite happy to take swings at Blossom calmly, while the Puff backed off, searching for an opening. Any opening!

Soon Blossom found herself up against another wall, but due to the circular nature of the room, she was able to swing round and move along it. The Prince's attacks were gradually building up in speed and strength, Blossom's arms and legs having to move equally fast to block. Eventually, he was concentrating so hard that Blossom saw a chance. She lazar eye zapped him in the face, putting him of balance, and giving her the opportunity to take a swing of her own. Blossom wasn't the only one who could doge however, and she only succeeded in denting the wall, and leaving her self open. The Prince kicked her in the leg, and then brought both his hands down on the top of her head, smashing her chin into his raised knee, before flicking the leg out and sending her flying into the air. He waited for her to smash back down to earth again, so was only semi-disappointed.

"Of course you can fly," he murmured, "silly me."

Up above, Blossom tried to hide her pain. She was normally good at this, but mostly it was mental pain, not physical. She was sure that she'd cracked a few ribs, she was bleeding from her chin, and was heavily winded.

Then, she realised something. The tactic wasn't going to work, because she couldn't hurt him enough to rely on a few opportunities. Her hands were going to brake if she did much more blocking anyway. Form now on, she'd have to attack, she needed to wear him down with lots of small injuries.

The Prince charged up to her, so Blossom flew out the way, firing lots of small energy balls at him as she did. They didn't bother him much, but they kept him distracted, as Blossom headed higher and higher. Eventually, just as the Prince was catching up, Blossom grabbed one of the huge spotlights and hurled it down on to him. He couldn't avoid it, but in a shower of glass smashed through it. Blossom had been out of his sight for a moment though, and she hurtled down form just behind him, landing a blow foot on the back of his neck. He was hit downwards, and Blossom followed feet first, stamping on his shoulders repeatedly, intending to smash him into the floor.

The Prince was never worried. He even had time to decide which foot he was going to grab, before hurling her away parallel to the floor, and sending Blossom crunching front first against a wall. Blossom prepared for the counter attack, but it never came. The Prince just smiled calmly at her, hovering in the centre of the room.

"Come on Blossom, can't you see you can not win. Perhaps you should make this less painful for yourself? I can end it without you suffering a thing, if you let me."

Blossom spat blood, and charged again. The Prince scowled.

"Not very talkative, are we," he said, as he smashed Blossom face, sending her hurtling away again. She managed to land on her feet, and Blossom swung her hands up, and fired an energy blast up towards him. The prince produced his own, and the two clashed in the middle, lighting the room up once more. It quickly became clear who was winning; the Kryptonite beam far outstripped the Puff's. But Blossom didn't need to win the energy duel.

The Prince watched, feeling very pleased with himself, as his blast exploded as it hit the floor where Blossom was. Or had been. The puff managed to swing in behind the surprised Kryptonite, and kick him as hard as she could in the back. The vibrations of the impact rattled up her leg all the way to the brain, and her toes stung from the force of it. Yet the Prince barely blinked. He turned round slowly, and Blossom started shaking. I had just struck he in the face, she had absolutely no chance of winning. And she had even less chance once the Prince's narrow lazar eye blasts had gone straight through her shoulder.

As she grabbed the wound, (the same one that she'd been shot in by Nack) she slumped towards the ground. The Prince flew over and grabbed her by the throat. He smiled grimly.

"I think that qualifies as a warm up," he said. And then Blossom felt new levels of pain.


"Shouldn't we be going to the command bridge rather then the Prisons," asked Butch as the Puffs and Ruffs followed Sonic through the dank passageways to the cells. "I mean, isn't the plan…"

"I know the plan!" Sonic said huffily, "but I don't think the five of us charging onto the bridge is going to be subtle enough. It has to happen without anyone noticing."

"Stealthily?" said Buttercup. "He's got a point there; I used to hate it when Blossom made us do that."

"So who is going to the Bridge," asked Boomer. Sonic smiled to himself.

"They're just in here," he said, as they reached a cell door. He stood aside so Butch could kick it open. That having been achieved, they entered the dark room slowly. Once the eyes had adjusted to the light however, it was clear to see what Sonic meant.

"DAD!" cried Sonia.

"Sonic, I knew you'd be back," said Tails.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Knuckles. Shadow said nothing. The four of them were chained to walls, just like Sonic and Blossom had been earlier.

"Hia red, it's good to see you too," said Sonic cheerfully, (as he always did when he had the upper hand over Knuckles.) "Come on guys," he said to his earthling companions, "don't just stand there, free the four of them!"

They did so. "Even Shadow?" asked Boomer just in case. Sonic only nodded briefly, because he was busy. As soon as Sonia had been released by Bubbles, she'd ran over to her father, and Sonic was now occupied in an activity that he hadn't partaken in for almost sixteen (earth) years; hugging his daughter. Sonia sniffed quietly.

"I've missed you Dad," she whispered. Sonic chuckled.

"I've missed you to," he said. Then he looked round (still hugging Sonia.) "Right," he said authoritatively, "I need to have a word with the old guys… and Shadow, so if you Puffy things want to go outside and guard the cell, that would be great. I suspect a welcoming comity will be here soon, so you won't be board for long.

They left, and Sonic turned his concentration back to his old friends.

"Okay, err… Tails, do you think you can do something very important for me?"

"Sure I can!"

"Course you can little bro. I want you to take Sonia and go up to the bridge through the air vents. Once there, everyone will be distracted by the fight me and the puffs will have started, so you can sneak up to the ship's computer, and I want you to type in these instructions…"


Outside, Buttercup was listening through the door.

"We're going to get to cause a distraction!" she said excitedly.

"Great!" said Butch, rubbing his hands together. "Lots of violence purely for the sake of it! Just my kind of fight."

"Hang on a minute," Boomer came running back from round the corner, "we've got company."

"How many?" asked Butch, brandishing his fists.

"Only one, but he looks really mean," Boomer said. Butch laughed.

"Do you want him or shall I," he asked Buttercup.

"If any of you little pipsqueaks can take me it will be a major surprise!" said Arm-OR as he rounded the corner. "I reckon I can take all four of you, seeing as my lord is having such an easy time with your sister!"

"Blossom?" said Bubbles, "You'll pay for this!"

"Hey, I was about to say that!" said Buttercup, but Bubbles ignored her completely. Her Blue eyes blazing, she stepped forward and fired a huge blast from her hands that went careering down the corridor toward him, ripping panels off the walls as it went. Arm-OR, with an angry roar punched it as hard as he could, sending the beam flying straight back towards them.

"Bubbles, you idiot!" shouted Buttercup as they spilt in avoidance, but Arm-Or was very quickly among them. He elbowed Butch in the face, sending him through a wall, and then smashed Boomer in the chest, winding the Ruff so badly that he lost consciousness. Arm-OR then swung a punch at Bubbles, but the Chaos Emerald strengthened blue puff managed to catch the punch in her hand, and with an evil glare, she began to crush it.

Arm-OR was caught off guard at the amount of pain being dealt out to him by the weakest looking of all the puffs, and as he tried to free his hand, Buttercup took the chance to wap him round the back of the head, repeatedly. Unable to escape, but doing well to keep his cool, the huge Kryptonite warrior raised a foot and kicked Bubbles hard in the side, at about the point where her pocket was.

The Chaos Emerald inside shattered and Bubbles suddenly yelped in pain, as bits of it dug into her leg. The energy of it exploded over her body, sending her writhing in pain, as blue blots crackled across her body, burning her skin. Now free of Bubbles' grip, Arm-OR swung round to smash Buttercup, but the green puff dogged and backed away, taking a moment to look at her agony stucken sister. Arm-OR paused, and laughed.

"Yes," he said menacingly, "I like this. Like your sister, yet you too haven't lost your shape slightly through child birth. I think I'll take you two as reward once we've enslaved this planet."

"YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO TOUCH HER YOU SICK BASTARD!" screamed Butch, as he charged back in, blood flying from his face. Arm-OR calmly smashed him into the ceiling, and then to the floor. Buttercup screamed aggressively and charged him her self, but he effortlessly stuck out a hand and grabbed her by the throat. He smiled as he slowly choked her.

"Just something for you to think about," he said quietly, "by lord the Prince is at least twice as strong as me…"


"SHE CAN'T LOOSE!" screamed MJ desperately through the glass. "SHE HAS TO WIN!"

"Oh mum…" Edward mumbled as he watching the battering taking place below, "I do wish you weren't watching MJ."

"Shit watching!" said MJ, misusing one of those words she wasn't meant to know, "we have to help her!"

Edward sighed. "You may be right," he said. "There have to be some things I'm willing to use my Powers for, and helping mum is top of the list!"

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," said Hump-RE from the desk at the back of the box, not even looking up from his paperwork.

"Why, are you going to stop us?" MJ said menacingly, acid dribbling from her mouth and her muscles beginning to throb as her Spider-side started to build up in her mind. Hump-RE turned round.

"Of course not," he said proudly, "I'm a civil servant, not a mindless thug. I was educated at the universes top university, and came away with an honours in classics. I'm not going to use force to stop you. But I will remind you that if you intervene on your mother's behalf, she will automatically forfeit and his lordship will have the right to bring the entire arm down on her." He returned to his paperwork. Edward scowled.

"How can you be so arrogant as to do paperwork at a time like this?" he shouted, "are you so sure of your master's success that you won't even watch."

"The fight isn't important," Hump-RE said calmly.

"What!"

"The outcome isn't going to affect the work I do tomorrow, or the day after."

"Even if the Prince looses?"

"Even then."

MJ turned away from the fight momentarily. "But I thought it was the job of a civil…whatsitis to carry out his masters wishes?"

"No, the job of a civil servant is to run the country despite his master's wishes. How else do you think some loud mouthed berk can win an election and suddenly know how to run the economy? Sure, his lordship can have his little publicity triumph, and we can enslave all the people from your planet, but in reality, it will make very little difference to the paperwork I have to fill in. So win or lose, it doesn't affect me."

Edward and MJ shrugged, and returned their attention to the fight.


Blossom was trying to get back into this. She was trying to get angry. That was how she'd beaten Superman and Sonic had said that angry Puff's were more powerful. It made sense really; Buttercup was the angriest and also the strongest puff, while Bubbles had undergone massive increases in strength the times when she'd lost her temper (but that had been when they were young.) Blossom supposed the reason for this was the fact that Chaos Energy was naturally evil.

However, as she was battered around the room like a punching bag, she just couldn't do it. She couldn't get angry; heck, she could barely register a coherent thought. She just focused on trying to stay focused on something, trying to remain in the world of the living. It was hard. She needed a miracle.

Eventually, however, the beatings stopped. Blossom found her self down on all fours, no longer under attack. She knelt up, and started vomiting blood and bile. Her hair was torn and soaked in blood too, while her entire bruised body ached.

The Prince leant down to her height, and spoke gently into her ear. "Tell me," he asked, not even sounding out of breath, "how many hours of fight training have you done in the last… say, ten years?"

Blossom panted in agony, but she decided to answer the question. "None," she said.

"I see." He stretched satisfied. "I do four hours a day," he continued, "and you still put on a good show against me. Pretty impressive, for an ammeter." Now he sat down beside her. "Imagine, if you will, how close you could have come to beating me if you were a professional? I dare say we'd only just have completed the warm up phase now, and would be having a brief belittling session, before unleashing our true power on each other, ahe?"

Blossom said nothing, she was too tired. The Prince smiled, slightly evilly. "You've done a good job today, well enough in fact, for me to offer you one. Now before you turn it down, think about it. I will need someone to help communicate with the local slaves, and to help us keep the right balance of fear and satisfaction in there lives to save us the messy jobs of putting down a slave rebellion every other weak. If you where to help us with it, I could offer you anything! You could have the time to train, to become the powerful warrior you should be." He leaned in closer. "I could protect your family. You're sisters could continue there lives, you're husband would be safe from a live of misery, and your precious kids would be able to do what ever they wanted, and when they grow up, have anybody they wanted, as apposed to a life of suffering and torment. Besides, what do you owe the people down there? Yesterday they were trying to execute you!"

"And you weren't," spat Blossom.

"Consider it more of an extreme job interview," said the Prince. "Come on Blossom, I'm offering you you're life back, with bonuses. And all I require from you is a lifetime of loyal service, and the location of the Hedgehog that you helped escape. Now have a good rational think about it, and tell me where he is."

Blossom thought, breathing deeply to get as much air to her battered brain as possible. Could she really do it? Betray her own planet? Betray Sonic, again? But on the other hand, was it selfish of her to doom her family, all whom she loved, to a life of misery because she wanted to die a hero? She racked her brains. Which way was the easy way out? Was the easy way necessarily the wrong way?

Eventually, she came to a decision.

"I'll tell you where Sonic is," she said. The Prince smiled.

"Clever girl. Where?"

"He's in the space between your ears, because there is an awful lot of space for him."

The Prince sighed. "Fool," he said simply, and he kicked the knelt over Puff in the face, sending her barrelling away. Blossom tried to keep breathing, but it was hard. The Prince marched over to her, Blossom tried to get away, but she couldn't stand, let alone fly. He scooped her up by her battle torn clothes, and dragged her to the wall, where he opened a shoot in the side. Down it, Blossom could see a huge rotating fan blade, but she was too weak to resist.

"This is what we do with the likes of you!" the Prince scowled, and he throw Blossom into it. As she fell, she heard a cry of "MUM!" and saw a last-ditch web line narrowly miss her feet – and saving her – but it couldn't stop her falling away.

Keep fighting kids, fight to the end, she thought, as she tumbled helplessly towardsher end.


Okay, please Review. Thanks!