A/N: Damn it, I did it again. Basically, I had to split this one up because it had gone on for longer than expected. The next part will be released sooner than usual as I have already written 2000+ words for it.


Chapter 76: A Normal Day (Part 1)

'Hi, voice recorder. I… can't sleep, so I sneaked out of my room to talk to you.

I just wish (cries) I didn't have to hide things from Dad. Dad… I know you've taught me to always be honest, and I know you've always said we could talk about anything but…

I... killed your friend, Dad. Mister Wiggums. He was nice to me b-but (cries) I killed him. General Blackwater said he was an enemy because he tried to tell on us, so I killed him. I chased him down on my bike and shot all his friends too. And then I just… I used a knife too. I'm sorry (cries). I'm so sorry…

I can't even show this recording to you. General Blackwater said not to. He said it's for your own good and mine. I'm going to try to be good from now on. I promise I won't do it again. I'm sorry… I… I guess I'll… go back to sleep now.' - Bunny Utonium, 03/02/89, 0015. Sound Record File 4


Pokey Oaks County. Highway 16. En route to the Town of Citysville.

01 MAR (Wednesday) 1989. 0637.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Hostile at six o'clock!" the lieutenant of the defecting humvee hollered.

"It's not just any hostile either man! It's B-50!" the sergeant, also the driver, reported. "Bulldog, man the turret!"

"Wait! Don't hurt her!" Wiggums, the chief of logistics sitting in the back yelled. "She's not the enemy!"

"10-4, sarge," the corporal clambered up the humvee and out of the hatch on the roof to man the machinegun there.

"Stop!" Wiggums clawed at the corporal, trying to pull him back down, but the lieutenant had stopped him and pulled him back.

"Our guns don't work on those enhanced girls, Wiggums!" the lieutenant said. "We're just going to stop her pursuit - we need to! 'Cause her guns are definitely going to work on us!"

"She feels pain just like the rest of us!" Wiggums hollered back at the lieutenant. But any change of decision would be too little, too late by now. Bulldog had already begun firing on Bunny.

"Well tough shit! It's our life we're talking about!" a fourth soldier sitting next to Wiggums, another corporal, shouted over the hum of the engine and the sustained bursts of the machinegun above. Expended cartridges were raining back down in the passenger compartment below. "And this 'Bunny' will get her life back too if we make it!"

An explosion rocked the humvee after that.

"Fuck!" the driver yelled when he saw Bulldog flying ahead of the humvee and landing on the road before him. Yet he couldn't stop. To do so would be death. There was a bump, smaller than expected, likely due to the sheer weight and force of the humvee turning its wheels into tonnes-heavy blunt blades.

"Why the hell did I sign up for this shit! Fighting for some lab-grown girl when I got my own kids at home!" the surviving corporal lamented when he was starting to feel the walls closing in on him.

"Funny we're now fighting THAT lab-grown girl. I'm going out," the lieutenant said before unrolling his bulletproof window and shooting at Bunny as she raced ahead of the humvee. To what end B-50 was overtaking them, he did not know. "She's too fast, damn it!"

"What the hell is she doing?" the driver wondered aloud. "Just what does she think she's doing?"

Wiggums saw Bunny zooming far ahead before stopping. By the time the driver realized that she was aiming the same rocket launcher she'd used to kill Bulldog at them, it was too late for him to react - not that they had packed any countermeasures against a HEAT missile. The ordnance was fired, the engine was blown, and acting true to General Blackwater's training regime, the lieutenant was shot dead within the second it happened.

"Sir! Shit! Officer down!" the driver screamed as he tried his best to control his now-dead military vehicle. Not only was their transport disabled, so was their insular chain of command. They were so close and yet so far - the emblematic suspension bridge of Citysville was just ahead of them, and now it might as well be on the moon with Bunny in the way and their legs as the next best transportation option. "Nash! Get Wiggums outta here! We should be clear of the jam - signal the FBI! I'll hold her off!"

The sergeant didn't last very long after that, and neither did Nash. Wiggums himself was shot in the back and sent crawling in the snow. His last defense had been to reason with Bunny, only for it to fail and for him to take a knife to his hand.

"Wait! Please!" he'd screamed even as the knife was withdrawn from his hand, only to be plunged into him again. He'd coughed blood out even as he continued to try to reason with Bunny, even if the only words he had left were-

"Wait… Please…" he'd pleaded even as Bunny continued to stab him over and over.

"Wait…" She was so close, and yet so far…


The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

02 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 0345.

Bunny shot up into a sitting position, having felt pain and fear as close to reality as a dream could get. Her hand had gone up to her forehead. It was hot and wet there. She felt sweat the moment she touched it, thick sheets of it. She was panting, even though it would usually take far, far more than sleeping to tire her out.

The morning was a lonely time for her, and it would continue to be so for the rest of her life. Being infused with Chemical X2, Bunny was enhanced even compared to her elder siblings, and as such, she could sleep just four hours and feel fine - or five, if she wanted to wake up feeling beyond refreshed.

After kissing Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup in the forehead, with the green Girl swiping away at her even in her sleep (but missing), Bunny began stretching herself as if getting ready for a long day of exercise. She then began practicing the various styles of martial arts she knew, all the while remaining completely silent with her potentially catastrophic attacks; there was only the whooshing of retreating air behind her punches and kicks, not enough to wake the other Girls up.

Not even an hour had passed after the conclusion of her self-directed training. She turned her attention to the box of wooden blocks they were using to build their tower the previous day. She challenged herself to build the nicest skyscraper she could imagine without making a sound, and she did it on the pink kiddie table too. She'd ended up with a miniature ten-floor monster.

Not even two hours had passed. She couldn't help but spend the next five minutes thinking. Her dream came back to her, then the trauma of killing her friend - Dad's friend - in the name of duty. She cried but covered her mouth to be silent, just like how General Blackwater showed her in stealth training. She'd lost track of time then as she curled up into a fetal position on the carpet, in a corner of the room.

She looked at the clock near the ceiling of the Girls' room when she was composed enough. 0532, military time. She went to the bookshelves and pulled out a book at random. It was dark, but not dark enough for her eyes after many hours spent in it. She was hoping that she'd pull out the book that Dad had read her the previous night, Daedalus and Icarus, but she'd ended up with The Ugly Duckling instead.

Reading was a skill she had only just mastered, drilled into her head like an emergency surgery. Being still new to the concept, it took her time to read the sentences written in gigantic font sizes.

'On a fine spring day, Mama Duck sat in her nest, half asleep…' was the first sentence in the story. Spring? Bunny had never experienced spring before, like her elder sisters. She barely even knew the word. The illustration provided a glimpse of what it was. A world filled with vibrant colors, mainly green, with the snow removed.

Bunny plodded on with the story. The pictures fascinated her as much as the reading, but it was when it all came together as a story that Bunny was inspired. She could identify with the titular Ugly Duckling, and she knew, then, that she would persevere and grow into the swan she was meant to be.

The storybook had made such an impression on her that she would read it from cover to cover over and over, sometimes lying down on the carpeted floor to stare at the pictures she liked, reading her favorite sentences because they sounded good as they rolled off her tongue or simply because they were her favorite bits of the story.

When it was close to sunrise, Bunny had returned to her position in bed, simply because she was unsure of what was expected from her. She'd tried to sleep, but she was too energetic to do so. Instead, she'd spent whatever time she had left until wake-up time just observing her elder sisters snoozing away. She'd lost count on how many minutes she'd spent studying Blossom's face, peaceful and angelic in her somnolent unawareness, but what she didn't lose was her love for her sisters. Blossom didn't want her protection, but she will protect her nonetheless. General Blackwater had predicted this - that they wouldn't understand, or even appreciate her or the fact that she was better and thus in the position to shield them from the evils of the outside world, but Bunny would stand her ground as she was trained to do.

When enough time had passed, there was the thumping of heavy footsteps in the distance, outside the door. She knew the rhythm of it. Dad. Bunny slipped lower into her bed and closed her eyes as the door to her room opened wider.

"Rise and shine, Bunny," the youngest of the quartet could feel Daddy's large palm on her shoulder. She turned on her bed and sat up, feigning lingering drowsiness as she stretched herself - the latter wasn't faked as she needed it again. "How was your first night with your lovely old sisters?"

"They're really nice, Dad," Bunny simply said and left it at that.

The morning was more ordinary than everyone predicted. To Blossom though, it had started on the wrong foot. They'd tried to bathe altogether at once, in one bathroom, but found out pretty quickly that it was too cramped. The same arrangement as the day before ensued and Blossom soon found herself fitted between Mom and Buttercup as a third wheel, handled roughly before being tossed aside once more.

'Don't get angry… Don't get angry… Don't get angry…' Blossom had to tell herself repeatedly inside when she saw that, once again, Bubbles and Bunny had Dad to themselves.

The talk of the day at the breakfast table was Bunny. Dad did not tell the elder Girls about it, but Bunny would be joining them in school from then on. Arrangements were made over the phone, with approval from General Blackwater. The chanting in Blossom continued throughout breakfast. It'd felt then that Miss Alice's advice on anger management felt insufficient.


The City of Townsville. Pokey Oaks North. Pokey Oaks Kindergarten Complex.

02 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 1127.

School wasn't any better for Blossom. Bunny, again, became the center of attention. Owing to Townsville's crime wave, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup had to attend class fully equipped for operations. That policy extended to Bunny, who came in looking like some celebrity. Suited in her purple full body armor and armed to the teeth with her fully-modded P226 and MP5, even the Powerpuff Girls looked mundane next to her.

It didn't help that Bunny was riding her bike to school and parking in full view of her new schoolmates. There was no hiding from it; anyone with half a brain could tell that she was related to the Girls, likely the fourth addition to The Powerpuff Girls. The secret that she was their little sister had lasted only up to the beginning of class. It was over as soon as Miss Keane announced to the class that the Powerpuff Girls' fourth member would be joining them for the rest of the semester.

In Blossom's view, Bunny hadn't done anything to earn the attention heaped onto her, and though Bunny was shy about answer the gazillion questions were thrown at her by her classmates during her introduction and recess, she couldn't help but slip back into jealousy once more and throw her a dirty look now and then.

The beginning of class wasn't even the worst of it. During math class, Bunny was able to answer every question Miss Keane had opened to the floor before Blossom could even try until the teacher had to specifically ask Bunny to give the rest of the class a chance. It was no different when it came to reading and writing. Bunny could adaptively figure out new words where even Blossom was stumbling to do the same thing. It didn't help that Bubbles was rooting and cheering for Bunny, while Buttercup would chuckle at seeing Blossom being bested at her own game.

It was actually a relief when the Powerpuff Hotline rang. Blossom had practically zoomed towards it, with the rest of the quartet coming up behind her. When she picked up the phone, she'd expected Mister Mullens' voice on the other end.

"This is the Chief of Precinct 77. You know the drill," came the dry, gravelly voice of one of Townsville's many police chiefs. "Turner Street at the Tenements. The alley between Singh and Sons' and Katie's Emporium."

The chief hung up after that.

"Is it Mister Mullens!? Is it him!?" Bubbles had been screaming down Blossom's neck the moment she removed the phone from her ear. "Do we get to see Olivia and Stanley? Do we?"

Buttercup, in the meantime, seemed less excited than usual, what with one singular thing occupying her mind these days, something she would never dream of telling anyone.

"No... Bubbles, Buttercup, we have to go," Blossom merely stated mysteriously, before turning to Bunny, looking at her with that cold, emotionless stare before walking away and then kicking off into a hover before drifting off. Buttercup followed.

"We'll see you back at home, Bunny," Bubbles gave Bunny a hug before following her leader sister.

"Be careful Bubbles… I just wish I could help," Bunny said after her.

"Me too," Bubbles turned around and replied. "Maybe you'll get to help soon, I guess?" With that, she darted off after Blossom had screamed for her to catch up. Bunny could tell from that voice that Blossom had gotten mad again, though she had thankfully done so far away from her.


The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

02 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 1633.

Bunny had spent the better part of ten or twenty minutes staring at the family portrait Dad had put up in the living room. It was the wedding photo they had taken together, just before she had gone for her black ops crash course.

She couldn't recognize herself. It wasn't the way she looked that was different. As far as she knew, her brunette ponytail was still tied the same way, and she still had the same dress she'd worn on that day, though she hadn't used it since forever. No, it was her expression. Back then, she had not a single worry in the world. The smile she wore was unrestrained, pure.

She had tried to smile at herself in the mirror at school. That she had to practice in front of it had told her everything, and the resistance she couldn't help but put up against smiling fully had beat it into her head that everything had changed. It was as if smiling like she used to could cause it all to be taken away. Smiling like she used to simply felt wrong, especially with what she knew about how the world works.

When Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were back, she could hear them zooming towards the front door, where Dad was waiting. Bunny hopped down the stairs, still in her gear in case of a call, and joined Dad in welcoming back her elder sisters.

She was unsure of what to expect when the door opened. General Blackwater told her that her sisters were weak, but Blossom's lecture yesterday, while harsh, had told her otherwise. They could fly, shoot energy beams from their eyes and form energy shields to protect themselves - feats she was incapable of.

But General Blackwater turned out to be right. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were messed up when they returned. They were all riddled with so many bullets in the course of their duty that their protective gear was unsalvageable. Their uniforms, by this point, barely qualified as such. Not even Blossom's red bow nor Buttercup's vestigial ballistic goggles were spared. Bubbles was clutching an arm, congealed blood coated her hand and wounded arm, forming a crust where it had flowed, while Buttercup's gear was especially singed, likely from a molotov cocktail or several. Detonated flashbangs or smoke grenades still hung from the toughest of the three's vest - it was impossible to tell which was which.

Blossom hovered lazily towards Dad the moment the door opened, while Bubbles sought Bunny for comfort.

"The Rothstein Jewish Mob weren't a pushover, were they?" the professor said while hugging Blossom tightly.

"How did you know?" Blossom asked, with Bunny noting that there was a strange tinge of concern in her voice. Why would she be concerned?

"I was watching TNN news on television," the professor explained while he was leading the family towards the labs. "I thought I'd see the three of you there and I was right." Mom would appear out of the gym on the second floor later to help out.

Bunny could recall the news report from the television even though she wasn't paying attention to it; the family photo had caught her eye more. There was something about the Powerpuff Girls seen flying into an apartment complex uptown. Explosions, rapid-fire gunshots and bodies flying out the windows ensued. The news report had been positive; Townsville wasn't blind to the fact that the Girls had been clearing out gang after gang. However, it did state that it certainly wasn't the first time the Girls had left a crime scene all messed up.

It'd reminded Bunny of what she needed to do, and the urgency of it.