Chapter 125: The Test (Part 2)

The City of Townsville. Pokey Oaks North. Juana-Berg Library.

20 JAN (Friday) 1989. 1521.

Blossom had been looking at Dad, Bubbles, and Buttercup once in a while. They were sharing their own corner of the library, with the father lying down on a huge beanie seat while Bubbles and Buttercup each occupied a thigh. They were reading a kid's book on astronomy. Bubbles, as usual, was a good sport, but if nothing else, she liked the pictures in the book even if she wanted a book full of furry animals at first. Buttercup was yawning, but at least she seemed curious. Blossom wished she could join them, but the reason why she wasn't with Dad was that she already had her turn.

She turned to look up at Mom, who had been reading a book about furry rabbits. Watership Down. She had been at it for twenty minutes and… Blossom found it surprisingly cozy, and Mom was friendlier than usual.

It had been a long day, waking up early, school until past noon, and finally the trip to the library. It was so warm and cozy too… so very warm and cozy. Blossom dug deeper into Mom, hugging her like a pillow, her eyes falling shut, but resisting sleep as hard as she could. It was a weird feeling, falling asleep on Mom. It wasn't something she would have allowed.

Selicia closed the book she was reading, putting it aside. Reluctant, she wrapped her arms around Blossom, pulling her close.

For a time, they stayed that way, as if frozen in time, moving little. Blossom curled up into a ball while Selicia stroked her long, flowing red hair lovingly, for what seemed like the first time.

"Mom?" Blossom muttered as she sucked her thumb, something she hadn't done in months.

"Hmm?" Selicia said as she was leaning back, herself falling asleep too. Months and months of work had taken its toll.

"Why don't you love me?" Blossom said, her eyes, those pink jewels, finally closing from the weight of it all.

Selicia stayed silent. It was true that she couldn't bring herself to love this red-headed thing, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't normal. Anyone would have fallen for Blossom and consider themselves lucky to have a kid like her, even without considering the enhancements to the kid.

"I like it like this," Blossom mumbled, half-asleep. "Can it be like this forever?"

"No," Selicia said, at the same time still stroking her hair anyway. There was no going around it. She couldn't help but feel some sort of hard-wired hate towards Blossom as if it was burned into her. She never liked the know-it-all, and neither would she ever. She would never forgive her for her transgressions against Buttercup, nor will she ever accept who she was: someone who reminded her of everything she hated since she was a child herself. "I'm afraid not."

"Why not?" Blossom asked after yawning again.

"We're… just too different and…" Selicia said, stopping just short of stating her other reasons because one was the wrong reason to hate a kid while the other was impossible to divulge due to USDO protocols. "It happens. Not all mothers and daughters get along. We're just one example."

"Oh…" Blossom mewled, falling asleep regardless. "I'm sorry."

"If it means anything, so am I," Selicia said.


The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

14 MAR (Tuesday) 1989. 2334.

Minutes had passed. The USDO operative in black gear continued to wait, for the sake of redundancy so that the job could safely be executed and the Powerpuff Girls… safely executed. But then something went wrong. The operative could hear coughing inside, followed by blankets being tossed aside, and the Girls wondering loudly about what was going on. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. The Girls were supposed to sleep through it, slipping into their final sleep quietly.

The mist was rising out of the gap underneath the door. It was the Anti-X solution. It was too thick that the Girls were reacting violently against it.

It might be premature, but it was time to act. The operative threw open the door and rushed inside, Duranium anti-material rifle up and night-vision goggles down. Only one of them was in bed, standing on it to be precise. The one named Bubbles. The others were on the floor.

It would have been possible to see them even without the night vision goggle. Their eyes, though dimmed from the diminished Chemical X concentration in their blood, continued to stand out in the dark.

The operative trained the Duranium rifle on Bubbles and was just about to fire when she backed away and fell off the bed, screaming about the 'shadow' in the room.

"I- I can't fly!" Bubbles yelled in shock after falling off the bed trying to fly away to some corner of the room, like an animal in a cage.

"My power! It's gone!" Buttercup yelled from where she was, hiding behind a pink table.

"It's the mist! It took away our powers!" Blossom yelled, putting two and two together. The shadow before them was barely illuminated. With the door closed, the only light source they could see by was the streetlamp outside. The operative turned around and lowered the Duranium rifle down at Blossom upon hearing her voice. Blossom's heart stopped at the sight, but she jumped out of the way when the operative fired the weapon; training and experience had prevailed, even if their enhancements hadn't.

Buttercup bolted for the walk-in closet while the operative was occupied with Blossom. However, running and opening a door without their usual powers was hard work, and before Buttercup could do it, the operative had already taken notice of her. Running up to her, the operative planted a foot on the door, slamming it shut just when Buttercup had opened it a little.

"No guns for the three little pigs," the operative said in digitally-scrambled voice. Buttercup tried stubbornly to open the door despite this, but the operative's weight was too much.

"RUN!" Blossom screamed as she went for the door, clutching her arm; despite jumping out of the way, she had been hit in the arm. Although it was just a graze wound, it was as painful as getting shot square in the chest, if not worse.

Together, the three Girls piled onto the door as the operative was hurrying to cycle the Duranium rifle, pulling open the bolt to remove the spent cartridge before drawing a fresh one into the chamber.

"Stop! Come back here, cowards!" the operative screamed in an ambiguous voice. The Girls were quick to open the door and run out. By the time the operative pointed the rifle at them, they had already disappeared out of the room. The operative cussed, realizing that the weapon wielded was deadly to the Girls but cumbersome. It was a sniper rifle, and it wasn't meant to be used in close-quarters combat.

Outside, the Girls ran. They ran as far as their disempowered little legs could carry them, slow compared to what they used to be able to do.

"Blossom, what do we do!?" Bubbles cried as she ran.

"Dad! We have to go get Dad!" Blossom exclaimed. At some point, they had reached the corridors near the stairs and Dad's room. Bubbles tripped on the carpet along the way, tumbling on the ground, the ordeal more painful than it should have been. Blossom and Buttercup turned, about to help her, only to find that the operative had appeared close to the stairs.

"Run! Blossom, Buttercup, run!" Bubbles screeched and in a burst of speed, ran at the operative, tackling the assassin by the legs, managing to topple the adult surprisingly. As it turned out, the disempowerment was, once again, incomplete, and the Girls still had some of their strength left, enough to put up something resembling a fight.

Blossom stared in horror as Bubbles had practically just sacrificed herself. Buttercup had to pull her along, not because she wanted to save Blossom, but because she could use an ally during such circumstances. Together, they ran for the professor's door, the door leading to the master bedroom.

Meanwhile, Bubbles tried to wrestle the operative while the operative was on the ground, reaching for the arms in an attempt at restraining the operative, but she was easily pushed away. Jumping to his feet, the operative kicked Bubbles in the face while recovering, and when Bubbles tried to get up again, the operative seized her by the arms and threw her over the railings of the corridor overlooking the living room.

Bubbles plummeted down to the ground floor, screaming. The operative, meanwhile, recovered the Duranium sniper rifle that was dropped.

Blossom and Buttercup were banging their fists on Dad's door when this happened, screaming for Dad to come out.

"Girls, what's going on!?" Dad's voice came from the other side, quite readily. It was impossible for the professor not to be. The gunshot had been quite loud that it could be heard from every corner of The House. "The door's stuck! Open the door, quick!"

"Dad! I can't! My powers are gone!" Blossom cried as she tried desperately to wrench the door open. Despite twisting the doorknob and pulling and pushing, it wouldn't give way. Buttercup searched the door for a reason, only to find a metal blocker at the bottom of the door, something which had fastened the door to the wall.

"It's stuck! Something's blocking the door!" Buttercup said as she tried to yank it free, but the metal blocker was locked down tight.

The sound of a gun's bolt being opened and shut, however, got Blossom and Buttercup to flee deeper into the dark corridors. Looking back while she was running away, Blossom saw that the shadow wasn't even pursuing them, wasn't even aiming the Duranium rifle at them. She crashed into a wall after that before falling on her bum.

"Ow!" Blossom said. Even navigation without her enhanced senses and reflexes was a chore. It didn't help, either, that they couldn't use their eyes as flashlights. Buttercup had to pull Blossom to her feet. Both of them continued fleeing deeper into the second floor of The House.

Looking back before she turned a corner, however, Blossom did not see the operative pursuing them, still, and that troubled her more for some reason.


The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

14 MAR (Tuesday) 1989. 2340.

The operative turned around, going down the stairs instead, the Duranium rifle in tow.

On the first floor, Bubbles moaned, half-unconscious after being tossed over the railings from the second floor. She had landed head-first, something which would have killed any other little girls, but even without most of her Chemical-X-induced enhancements, she was still tough enough, held together by what little of the chemical remained in her blood.

A shadow padded down the stairs, silent despite the heavy-looking all-black gear it was wearing. Light that was flooding in from the front windows made it clear who it was: a rather shapely woman in black uniform and black tactical gear. Bubbles could recognize it as USDO. She had a submachine gun hanging on her shoulder, a pistol on her belt. A full helmet, face mask, and night vision device obscured the assassin's identity.

The operative stood over Bubbles, sticking the barrel of the Duranium rifle down on Bubbles' skull. The enhanced Girl tried fighting back, at first grabbing the muzzle of the weapon and pushing it away, not letting go despite being kicked in the face and the mouth several times, but the operative eventually gained the upper hand when she stepped on Bubbles' back and tore the gun away from her grip.

"Nighty-night, Bubs," the operative said with a digitally distorted voice as she pressed the muzzle of the Duranium gun on Bubbles' skull again. It was then that Bubbles had a realization, something that shocked her, disarming her completely. At that moment, she'd stopped fighting, and all hope was lost.

The operative depressed the trigger on her Duranium gun and would have hit home had someone not tackled the operative.

The operative crashed on the floor. Two little forms crawled over the operative, reaching for the gun as Bubbles sat up to watch, still in shock from what she had just realized. Could it be true?

It had been Blossom and Buttercup, who had returned to help Bubbles; they knew exactly why the operative did not pursue them when they saw that Bubbles wasn't with them.

While Blossom was scrambling for the gun, Buttercup wrapped her arms around the operative's face.

"Stop, damn it!" the operative screamed. "Stop it!"

Despite how Buttercup had a stranglehold on the operative's neck, the operative was still able to get up and whirl about, trying to throw Buttercup off. Upon seeing that Blossom was about to reach the Duranium rifle, the operative kicked her in the ribs, sending the disempowered Blossom rolling across the living room floor, clutching her chest.

"Blossom!" Bubbles screamed. Seeing the operative punting her across the living room floor like that had jolted her out of her shocked state. Jumping at the operative, Bubbles wrapped herself around the operative's right leg; without her powers, it was all she could do.

For a moment there, the operative was almost dancing, trying to shake the Girls loose. When that didn't work, the operative dropped down on her back, smashing Buttercup against the floor, which did the trick for half the problem, and when Bubbles still refused to let go, the operative, now with her other leg unoccupied, stuck a boot in her face, and that was it.

Now free, the operative ran for the gun. The Girls, however, were not down and out. Motivated by pure fear now that they were deprived of their enhancements, they booked it, scattering in all directions.

The first Girl the operative saw had gone through the airlock. The operative had seen a shape flitting into it just when she turned to look. The operative thought that it must have been Bubbles, so the operative gave chase.

"That brat! I'm going to kill you even if that's the last thing I do!" the operative said, voice still synthesized. The operative tried to open the airlock only to discover that it was shut. There was the sound of air venting inside, and another set of doors opening. Bubbles was escaping deeper into the complex.

By the time the operative was able to gain access to the airlock, her target was already gone, and what made it worse was that the airlock had to cycle again for her to pass through. Going in with the Duranium rifle up, the operative scanned the visible part of the stairs. Empty. The operative checked the elevator. The LED above indicated that it was coming up from the basement floor. Someone had used it before.

Aware that an ambush might be waiting below, the operative descended the stairs instead, Duranium anti-material rifle always pointing forward. But nothing jumped out at her no matter how many turns she made on the stairs.

"Clever girl…" the operative quipped upon reaching the foot of the stairs. Debating whether or not she should flip the lights on, the operative decided against it, preferring the cover of darkness and the safety it provided over risky expediency. There were things in the lab - instruments, equipment, and chemicals - that could be used as weapons, and the operative didn't want to be at the business end.

The only problem was, the operative's night vision goggles were damaged in the struggle, and it kept flickering. She had no choice but to take it off and search for Bubbles the old-fashioned way. Slinging her Duranium rifle, the operative opted for the submachine gun instead. Weaken the target before killing her - the operative had decided on a new tactic.

The operative continued moving forward, towards Professor Utonium's desk, gun pointing left and right. Despite her best efforts, however, something was still able to jump the operative. Clinging around the operative's neck, Bubbles pulled at the operative's helmet as she plunged some kind of a blade into the operative's neck.

When Bubbles pulled the blade back, the operative was able to seize her by the hand to prevent another stab. But something snapped, and the operative's helmet came off. Not only that, but so did the operative's face mask.

The operative threw Bubbles off after that. The Girl fell to the ground chest-first but had gotten up to run away immediately after that.

The operative gave chase, following the Girl into the tighter corners of the labs that were filled with little rooms mostly used for storage. The operative was clutching her neck as the bleeding was quite serious.

The Girl wasn't very fast. Without her enhancements, she couldn't run much faster than a normal child. The operative followed her closely and caught a break when the Girl made a wrong turn and ended up in one of the many little rooms.

The operative entered it, switching to her Duranium rifle. It was the perfect place to execute one of the Powerpuff Girls, as there was no way she could escape from her. The room was preceded by its very own airlock, for some reason. The glass all around wasn't plain glass. It was bulletproof glass, which came with a steel mesh inside. It didn't take long for the operative to discover why. The room was used for Chemical X storage. There were rows upon rows of the stuff, shelves filled with huge glass bottles containing the black goop. Professor Utonium had been busy - at least before Bunny's death - with stockpiling the stuff like good wine.

Bubbles stood at the end of this room, pounding on the bulletproof glass, but the transparent wall rang hollow and wouldn't break.

"It's time to pay for your sins, Bubbles," the operative said, this time in an unfiltered voice as she was without her mask. The voice was familiar, way too familiar…

The operative came closer, Duranium rifle pointed at Bubbles' skull… Only to realize that the Powerpuff Girl she had been hunting wasn't Bubbles. It had been Buttercup, a fact the darkness had occluded during the chase.


The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

14 MAR (Tuesday) 1989. 2344.

Buttercup pressed herself against the wall of the Chemical X storeroom. The operative had cornered her, taking steps towards her, her shapely figure getting bigger and bigger, and all hope was lost until…

"Buttercup?" the operative before her said, a hint of surprise in her voice. Buttercup looked up at the operative, only to discover yet another surprise.

The operative had been Mom all along, Selicia Goodwin.

"Mom?" Buttercup said, her voice and the whole of her being shaken. For the entirety of the chase, she had been fighting for her life. Never had she been this afraid before, but confusion quickly replaced fear. "Why are you trying to kill me?" Buttercup's voice was almost cracking up as she was close to tears.

"Oh Buttercup, I didn't mean it!" Selicia said, herself close to tears considering how close she had executed her one and only favorite, Buttercup. "I thought you were Bubbles-" Selicia paused for a second, realizing how wrong that sounded, but that had been her intention: killing Bubbles. She was supposed to pick one to keep and kill the others. Those were the orders.

"I'm so sorry, Buttercup," Selicia said. "Why don't you come here? We'll leave all this behind and start over."

Reluctantly, Buttercup started forward, sticking a hand out for Selicia to take…

Only, Selicia would never be able to take it. Before Buttercup could reach her, there were gunshots, and bullets were ripping through her chest. Selicia stumbled sideways, grabbing hold of a shelf full of Chemical X for support, her free hand clutching her chest as she felt her life slipping away, still staring at Buttercup.

Buttercup could only stare in shock when she realized that Mommy wasn't going to be around for much longer.

The shelf Selicia was using for support fell forward, crashing down on her as she collapsed. Bottles of Chemical X broke all over her, and all around her. Buttercup saw someone behind Mom. A man holding a smoking gun.

A man wearing a lab coat. Professor Utonium. Dad.

And he killed MOM.

"YOU KILLED HER!" Buttercup screamed. If there ever was a time when she screamed like the little girl she was, it was now. "YOU KILLED MOM!"

It was as if Daddy didn't hear. Rushing over to Buttercup, pistol still smoking, he rounded Selicia's corpse to scoop Buttercup up and hold her in one arm. Buttercup screamed like a mad girl and started pounding at Dad with her fists.

"Let go of me! You killed Mom!" Buttercup screamed, and the professor heard every single word of it as if doing the deed of killing his own fiancee wasn't enough.

"I know, honey, I'm sorry…" the professor said, wiping his tears away with the sleeve of his free arm as he went out of the Chemical X storeroom. Blossom and Bubbles had been standing outside the storeroom, pale-faced from what they heard.

Buttercup would continue to scream and kick and beat the professor even as they crossed the lab and went up to the ground floor, living room before the professor had had enough and deposited her on the couch before the fireplace.

"She tried to kill you, Buttercup!" the professor shouted at Buttercup, more from fresh and old grief than anger.

"She wasn't trying to kill me!" Buttercup cried. All Blossom and Bubbles could do was sit by the fireplace, on the floor, and leaning against the masonry.

"She was holding her gun up at you!" the professor yelled. "She shot Blossom!"

"She said we could have a fresh start!" Buttercup cried. "She was going to take me away!"

The professor paused, his lips trembling. In his mind, it was all coming together, why Selicia would do such a horrible thing. Still, the uncertainty and pain of ignorance bit at him, and he wasn't sure if it would ever go away - if he would ever find out the truth.

"It was a trap. Period," he said without knowing for sure.