Chapter 140: Boiling Point
The City of Townsville. Tenements. Sky.
23 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 1950.
"Are you sure you're alright, Buttercup?" Bubbles asked her now straight-and-narrow sister for the hundredth time.
"Like I said, I'm fine," Buttercup then replied for the hundredth time, burying her irritation as deep as she could so as to maintain her false pretenses. "Don't worry about me, I'm tough as ever."
"But you were 'elec-to-cuted'!" Bubbles pressed on, despite having been reassured for the hundredth time.
"It's electrocuted, d-" Buttercup stopped short of insulting Bubbles. It was a habit she would have to kick, at least until she reveals her true intentions. She fumbled for an alternative word to 'dummy'. "Er- darling- But even Dad said I'm 'good to go'." The truth had been more complicated than that. Professor Utonium had been reluctant to let her go, and it was only on her repeated promises that she was fine that she was allowed to fly.
In the present, Buttercup's new choice of words had raised eyebrows among her sisters. Buttercup had never called Bubbles 'darling' before, and it seemed completely out of place. It was a word only Dad, Mom and an exceedingly select few numbers of people had used.
Blossom air-braked as soon as she was close to the site. Bubbles and Buttercup were able to do so simultaneously with Blossom even without communicating, owing to their Sister Sense.
"Why did we stop?" Buttercup asked, trying her best not to sound impatient. She was hoping for some action, as always, and she secretly worried that Blossom might ruin the fun again. It then dawned on her that she might have failed to maintain her illusion of goodness. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, Buttercup," Blossom said while she was holding back the impatient Buttercup even though she didn't look like she was about to fly off on her own. "I just want you to promise me something."
"What?" Buttercup asked.
"Just- don't kill anyone," Blossom requested. "And don't hurt them without a good reason too. I don't want us to be like the Amoeba Boys…"
"Sure thing, Bloss," Buttercup promised, but she'd crossed her fingers and kept it hidden too. However, she knew that she would have to put up an appearance and do as she said… at least while she was right in front of her. If only she could go on missions alone… "Can we go now?"
Reluctantly, Blossom took Buttercup at her word and resumed flying towards the site, but deep down, she knew that she would have to watch Buttercup closely. She was still as eager to get into the thick of it as ever, which concerned her.
The City of Townsville. Tenements. Leighton Street.
23 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 1955.
Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup touched down next to an alley. There was no one here, at the site. It was where the Amoeba Boys wanted them, though Bossman's remaining contacts in the TPD had requested on his behalf for the Powerpuff Girls to be there. Normally, the reasons cited by the TPD and the Amoeba Boys' intentions were different; the former tended to be a cover. This time, however, they were aligned.
Apparently, they were there based on a tip-off from an insider that a corrupt cop was meeting a criminal in the alley of Leighton Street. The reason for the meeting was never given. Bossman wanted both men dead. Blossom had other ideas. She simply didn't want to kill anymore. Whether it concerned innocent lives or criminals, it didn't matter.
Blossom led her sisters into the alley, this time taking a more subtle approach by staying low to the ground. She was told that there wouldn't be any resistance, but she didn't like taking any chances, not after Bunny had gone and Dad was nearly killed by her own sister.
She could hear mumbling. She crept closer. Looking back at her sisters, she saw that they had followed her cue and crept up behind her.
"...you sure this is the case?" Blossom heard one of the men say.
"I'm positive. The drugs' all there," the other men said. Coming up closer and peeking from behind a dumpster, Blossom could only see the back of one of them, covered completely in a trenchcoat.
"Right, I'll get my men to hop on it," the first man mumbled. They were speaking in such low tones. If only she had enhanced hearing to match her enhanced eyesight…
"And get rich?" the second man quipped before laughing.
Clang! It came from behind. Blossom snapped her head back and saw a guilty-looking Bubbles freezing. At her feet was an empty soda can. The men in front of her turned around to face the sound. There was no time to reprimand Bubbles over it.
"Bubbles, Buttercup, grab them!" Blossom ordered before flying in herself, but something made all three of them stop short of restraining the men.
One of them had turned out to be Detective Mullens.
"Girls! What are you three doing here?" the detective cried out in surprise upon seeing them jump out and zoom towards him, stopping only a few yards away. They were like shadows in the alley, painted insufficiently by the lights in the alley. Their eyes glowed menacingly in the dark, like demons in the dead of night. How they managed to sneak up on them even while his contact was watching the mouth of the alley was beyond him.
"What are YOU doing here?" Blossom shot the question back at Detective Mullens.
"Girls, you don't understand," the detective tried to explain, well aware that what he was doing looked suspicious. "Remember what we talked about? I need this to get to Don Ricci and the Lombardi."
"But what was that about getting rich?" Bubbles asked. Buttercup, who was on Blossom's left, was simply rearing to go smash some people up, familiar or not.
Detective Mullens looked stunned. Blossom thought it looked like guilt.
"He- he was just joking!" the detective explained as he was pointing at his informer, a stereotypical street gangster in casual clothing, with a gold chain around his neck and silver rings on his fingers. "You know guys like him, how they talk."
Blossom glared at Detective Mullens. Her trust in him was eroded. If it was true that Detective Mullens had betrayed her, he wouldn't be the first one. The now-dead Police Chief Paul Feig had forever soiled her perception of the police in Townsville as the enforcers of right-and-wrong who could do no wrong.
Yet at the same time, Blossom knew that she was here because of the Amoeba Boys, and if their latest overtures to assimilate them into their 'family' was anything to go by, they couldn't be trusted either.
"What do we do?" Bubbles asked her leader sister.
One thing was clear: Blossom trusted Mister Mullens more than the Amoeba Boys. Still, finding him in some dirty, lonely alley with a crook had cast doubt on his honesty. She thought hard about her options. Killing Mister Mullens would keep the world from knowing about her involvement with the Amoeba Boys, but letting him go would allow him to continue on his warpath to dismantle the Lombardi crime empire… at the cost of everyone's trust in her.
"There's only one thing we can do…" Blossom muttered as she moved in on Mister Mullens.
The City of Townsville. Outskirts. Precinct 82.
23 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 2009.
"You're making a big mistake, Blossom," Detective Mullens chided the Powerpuff Girl as a uniformed police officer slammed the gate on his cell. "Is this what it's all about? You working for the Amoeba Boys now?"
"Are you?" Buttercup shot back at the detective.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Mullens exclaimed in exasperation.
The moment Mullens had guessed it, a deep well of shame had burst forth in Blossom. All of a sudden, looking at the detective she had betrayed despite her best efforts was harder than trying to beat Lumpkins.
"I'm right on the money, am I?" the detective returned his focus on Blossom.
"N-no… I got a call… and- and-" Blossom fumbled for an explanation, but she knew it was a battle she had already lost, just like the ones before.
"You're not a good liar, Blossom. You never were," Detective Mullens said, shaking his head. "So you've been working with the Amoeba Boys all along." He slumped against the jail bars he was leaning against. "How long, Blossom? Why?"
Blossom had fallen silent, hoping that Mullens would either change the subject or go away.
"Was it when you started knocking the other gangs of Townsville off the list? Or was it even before that?" the detective guessed.
Blossom remained silent once more. How could Detective Mullens know so much?
"WHY, Blossom?" the detective pressed on. Somehow, despite being put behind bars, Blossom could still feel the power and authority emanating from him. As before, she said nothing. "Is it because he's got dirt on you? Some dirty little secret he found out?"
Detective Mullens had decades of experience. He knew how the criminal underground worked. They would try to recruit someone with money, and when that did not work (and it certainly wouldn't have worked with Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup), they would recruit using another form of currency: dirt. They would dig something up and extract service in exchange for burying it, and if there weren't any skeletons in the closet, they'd just stuff one in it.
How Mullens could figure out her secrets, Blossom had no idea, but every word he spoke about them had sent shivers down her spine. And so, Blossom did the only thing she could do. She turned tail and walked away. Bubbles followed reluctantly, taking one last, sad look at Mullens. Buttercup had no such sentimental reservations, and she didn't need to act to the contrary this time.
"You know he's not going to let you go, right?" Mullens added as Blossom was walking away, causing her to break into a run. "He won't let you off the hook just because you tap-danced for him like a good little girl!"
Blossom did not want to hear any more of it. Running was too slow, so she flew right out the door.
"BLOSSOM!" she could still hear Detective Mullens while she was flying through the police station on her way out, followed by her sisters.
It was the only thing Blossom could do, but it did not diminish the regret and guilt she felt. She had 'saved' Mullens' life. Though she didn't know how long she could continue doing it, she knew one thing: Bossman would not be pleased.
The City of Townsville. Outskirts. Lombardi Family Estate.
23 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 2018.
It didn't take long for Bossman to know about what had happened. On her way back home, Blossom had received another call from the police to assist in an investigation, but she knew what it was really about even before she saw Mister Palladino and his car.
Unknown to The Powerpuff Girls, Bossman already had men watching them as they descended upon Detective Mullens. Even before Blossom had dragged the hard-boiled detective to the nearest police precinct, the don was already informed that she had disobeyed him.
Now, the Girls were on their way to meet the Amoeba Boys again. All throughout the journey from the streets to the library at the top of the Lombardi mansion, Blossom and Bubbles could never be at ease. At times, they were even trembling in fear. Buttercup, on the other hand, thought that she had nothing to be afraid of. After all, Him was on her side, and she wasn't the one calling the shots - not yet, at least.
Once more, they were locked in a bedroom and forced to change into their black dresses before being hurried into the library; they weren't given time to mentally prepare for a confrontation with the Amoeba Boys. Before they knew it, they were facing them.
Surprisingly, all three of the Ricci brothers appeared calm, not at all angry with Blossom's disobedience. Bossman's eyes were pinned on Blossom, but they were more tired than angry. With one hand, he picked at his dates and put on in his mouth. Slim had his eyes on Bubbles as he played with his pencil. He had been writing something on a sheet of paper. A letter? A poem? Bubbles didn't dare look. The impish Junior, on the other hand, was cleaning his silver-gilded pistols with a fine silken handkerchief, all the while grinning mischievously at Buttercup. He looked like he was spoiling for a second round with her.
"Aren't you going to say something, Blossy darling?" Bossman prompted the leader of the Powerpuff Girls. "You know why you're here, right?"
"We didn't kill him," Blossom confessed her disobedience to him; with how Bossman had complete control over her and how clearly he knew about it, she thought that he might go easy on her if she just came forward and told him everything.
"Hah, I knew it! What did you do with him?" Junior asked, that mischievous grin still on his face. "I hope it isn't pleasant!"
"We put him in jail…" Bubbles came forward and added, hoping to alleviate some of the burden on Blossom.
Blossom trembled in fear when Bossman did not say a word after this. What he was going to do to her this time, she could only guess.
And then he smiled. And gestured for Blossom to come to sit on his lap. Reluctantly, Blossom walked over to him and hopped onto his lap. She didn't use her powers; she had learned just from their facial expressions that it would be rude for her to use them without their permission.
Blossom could see Bossman pick up a brush from the table, a brush she did not notice before. She felt the bristles running through her hair after that.
"You poor, confused little thing," Bossman said patronizingly. "You know that isn't what I want, right?"
"Yes…" Blossom admitted to her little act of rebellion. "I- I didn't want to kill Mister Mullens."
"So, you can't bear to let go now, can you?" Bossman said. "Mullens is a bad man. You should know that. He's as crooked as they come. He used to work with those old street gangs of Townsville even in his younger years. You were wrong to let him live." Bossman sighed, showing an exceedingly rare show of softness. "But I guess it's better that you locked him up than let him walk."
"I don't want to kill anyone anymore," Blossom said timidly as she felt every pull of her lusciously long hair with apprehension. There was some force behind every brush stroke. Bossman, like his brothers, was strong, probably even as strong as she was.
"Is that right?" Bossman growled. Blossom could sense anger boiling underneath that growl. There was a period of silence when Slim and Junior were just staring down Bubbles and Buttercup as if daring them to intervene.
Thinking back to her other encounters with the Amoeba Boys, Blossom knew that she was in for it. She hadn't made them happy, that was for sure. Yet, she was glad to take whatever punishment he had for her if it meant that she didn't need to work for him the next day. It couldn't be worse than what Buttercup had gone through, could it?
"I guess I've been too hard on you," Bossman finally broke the silence, and Blossom was surprised by his words. He seemed more forthright and soft than before. "Can't expect the three of you to change so quickly, can I?"
Even Slim and Junior looked completely taken off-guard by this.
Bossman picked Blossom up and flipped her around on his lap so that they could face each other.
"You've been a good girl… for the most part. Helping the family with business - which little kid could say he'd done the same?" he said. Despite his change of heart, Blossom didn't dare to look at him. "Anyway, how about a few day's break? You won't be bothered by this whole 'police and thief' problem in the meantime. You don't have to kill anyone if you don't want to. Your old man will take care of it everything."
"Really?" Blossom's face lit up and for once, she was smiling in front of the Amoeba Boys again. For once, she could look Bossman in the eye with the same sparkle of friendship as she did before.
"Yes, really," Bossman said. "How about a kiss? And call me 'Daddy'."
Blossom did not hesitate when she placed a kiss on Bossman's cheek. "Thanks, Daddy!"
"Run along now," the don dismissed his three next powerful members of the family. The Girls quite literally flew out of the room, but not without properly opening and closing the doors to avoid jinxing it.
"Urm… Boss? What're we planning?" Junior asked the biggest don of the Lombardi family, his big brother.
"Yeah, what are we planning?" Slim added uselessly before further contributing something a bit more meaningful: "Why are we letting them go instead of putting them to work?"
"Letting them go?" Bossman scoffed at the idea, more so that his own brother thought that he was getting soft. "No, there's no such thing in my Lombardi family, Silvano Ricci! They have their uses, even if they're not working. Getting out of the way, for instance."
"Oh. Oooh…" Ethan 'Junior' Ricci's face brightened at the ideas he was led to have. "So when do we start?"
"Soon as our newest family members' bedtime begins," Bossman declared.
