Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the very late update. My life hasn't been very smooth sailing lately. After going back to the army for a couple of weeks, I embarked on another personal weight loss program and managed to trim down more fat but it was a lot of hard work. Unfortunately, my personal program was cut short by Covid-19 vaccination, which had some unpleasant side effects. Then, of course, my crypto investments have been hanging on a thread ever since late November, which is fun :( Hopefully, I will be able to focus more on my fanfic to escape real life. Maybe, as life goes back to normal, it'll make it easier to write.


Chapter 159: Fire

The City of Townsville Coastline. Monster Island.

25 MAR (Saturday) 1989. 2148.

Blossom glared deeply into the fire, anger flaring in her heart. Buttercup wasn't wrong. She wasn't wrong to say that they had all been betrayed by the City of Townsville. Those who hadn't betrayed them were either dead or in trouble. Did it mean that Buttercup wasn't wrong to suggest annihilating the entire city?

It was hard, but Blossom tried looking past her anger, however stoked it was by fire. Was there anyone left who hadn't betrayed her, or who hadn't died trying to help them?

Miss Bellum. Mister Blake. Blossom struggled to name any good number of them. Most of the list had largely been burned off by betrayal. Dad? Was he alive or dead? He couldn't be on the list before because Buttercup said so, and she hadn't been wrong.

Doctor Simmons. How Blossom missed his gentle touch! He was like the grandpa she never had, not that she had any hazy idea at all of how a grandpa was supposed to be like. Miss Keane.

When Blossom thought about her kindergarten teacher, she realized how much she missed school, and how much she missed learning new things like bigger numbers and more words, how much she missed her friends in school… Could her friends even be added to the list? Blossom decided to leave them out, as there was nothing normal children could do.

Four people, out of millions. It wasn't a great number, but to Blossom, four was a lot. Perhaps enough. Perhaps-

BOOM! An explosion blew up her campfire, sending her flying backwards.


The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

25 MAR (Saturday) 1989. 2155.

Professor Utonium was restless. It had been a long day, but Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were still not found. Last he heard, the Girls were flying over the coast and the waters and attack choppers from the US Army and USDO were sent after them. Something had happened, likely a confrontation, but no Girls were brought back to him. It could mean any number of things. It could mean the Girls were killed. It could mean they escaped, and whether it involved getting more blood on their hands, he did not know.

General Blackwater had sent him back home without any news, expecting him to just go on living like normal without knowing what had become of the Girls - his children. And he did it personally. The professor did not know whether to be annoyed or honored by this.

Opening the door of the general's personal humvee, Professor Utonium stepped out into the front lawn of The House. Before he was able to walk away, however, the general spoke up. Apparently, he wasn't done with him.

"Go on home, get yourself cleaned up and try to get some R&R. You look like you need some," the general said. The professor was definitely annoyed by this. How could a father - any good father - do any of those things when his children had gone missing and were probably in great danger? "The rest of us will do our jobs and find your kids again."

"In one piece. Can you guarantee that?" Professor Utonium demanded.

"No," the general said tersely.

"You'd kill them if you can't have them?" the professor said; he didn't even have the energy to get angry anymore. The knife had been at his throat ever since the GIrls had gone missing yesterday. "How can you claim to be the good guys if you're willing to murder children?"

"I didn't, and ethics have nothing to do with it," General Blackwater said. "If we can't secure them, there's a very high chance that going rogue doesn't mean just running away anymore. They could become aggressive enough to harm the surrounding civilian population or even join forces with the Foundation or anyone we consider the enemy. What does your precious ethics say about that?"

"You don't know that," the professor said.

"I know many things you don't," the general replied. "Including things you'll wish you never know if you find out about them."

The professor couldn't find it within himself to argue any further. The general had cornered him in this argument, yes, but he was just so tired. He'd hardly slept the previous day. How could he? When the Girls were probably cold and hungry whilst lying in a ditch somewhere?

With that, General Blackwater shut the door to his humvee. The humvee drove off, loud and obnoxious.

The professor followed the path to The House. There was nothing else he could do, no matter how much he wanted to jump into action to pluck the kids out of the wild.

The only thing more obnoxious was some kind of a smell assaulting his nose as he got to the front door. It was a rotting kind of smell, like week-old meat.

The professor's sense of smell wasn't the sharpest, but he tried to follow it. Hunting around the lawn, he zeroed in on the smell; it turned out to be coming from the bushes under one of the windows by the front door. Getting on all fours with a grunt, he searched under the bush. Pulling out a small torchlight he normally used for throat or ear examinations, Professor Utonium found nothing at first, but then he began digging into the dirt.

There was practically no snow left; it had all melted away not too long ago, and now the dirt was wet.

At first, it was just that - soft, moist dirt, but after shifting aside worms and maggots alike, he'd hit something else.

It was a shallow grave, and there was fur when he made a hole. The smell was stronger when he unearthed whatever it was underneath. Grabbing a whole chunk of it, the professor gave it a pull. The hunk of flesh wasn't hard to yank out. The dirt around it was loose, as if the thing had been excavated and buried several times over. It was like pulling a carrot out, except whatever came out was long and wide.

What came out was a dead cat, by now seething with maggots and even a few worms that burrowed into the rotting flesh. Being a doctor, Professor Utonium didn't take long at all to figure out the story behind the corpse. The level of decomposition wasn't that advanced; in fact, it looked recent. The cat was either killed a week ago, or it had been left under the bush throughout the entire winter, and had only thawed when spring came.

Buttercup. There was no question about it. Examining the corpse further, he quickly identified the cause of death. Multiple shattered bones, severe internal injuries and a snapped neck. The force behind the blow was powerful.

The professor buried the cat once more, this time with more respect than Buttercup had given it. Getting back up, he took a deep breath. It was unpleasant, sure, knowing that Buttercup had killed another living thing right under his nose. However, it wasn't a shock after that time when he discovered the animal bones she had hidden inside a box in the Girls' walk-in closet. A reminder of one of the many causes of his misery, however, was something he couldn't shake off as easily. Even if he could get Buttercup back, lots of work would need to be done in order to make her a (relatively) non-lethal and cooperative member of society.


03261989: WARNING! The following document and data within is considered top secret by the federal government of the United States of America, the United States Army, the United States Defence Organization, the United States Coastguard, and Townsville Police Department. Possession of this material without proper clearance will result in legal persecution carrying a maximum sentence of death and/or a fine of up to $500,000.

As of 03212021, Freedom of Information Act has resulted in the declassification and release of this document.

Joint DF-USDO Operation Bed Time 03251989 Communication Log

DOC: 03251989
Retrieved: 03222021

Timestamp: 2140

Bear-1: Bear team, echo, over.

Bear-2: Bear-2 in.

Bear-3: Bear-3 in.

Bear-4: Bear-4 in, boss.

Bear-5: Er… Bear-5 in.

Bear-6: Looks like the den is full! Bear-6 in.

Bear-1: Wolf team, echo, over.

Wolf-1: Wolf-1 in.

Wolf-2: Wolf-2 in.

Wolf-3: Wolf-3 in.

Wolf-4: Wolf-4 in.

Wolf-5: Wolf-5 in.

Wolf-6: Wolf-6 in.

Bear-6: Why so robotic, guys?

Bear-1: Cut that shit, Bear-6. Eagles?

Eagle-1: Eagle-1 positioning, over.

Eagle-2: Eagle-2 in position. Eyes on the sky.

Bear-1: USDO alphas, echo.

USDO-1: USDO-1 in.

USDO-2: USDO-2 in.

Bear-1: TPD alphas, echo.

Officer Valentine: TPD-1 in.

Officer Aiken: TPD-2 in.

Officer Speyer: TPD-3 in.

Bear-1: Bear team, form net towards target structure. Wolf team, report, over.

Bear-6: Gotcha, boss.

Wolf-1: Structures Ghost Alpha to Sierra swept. No tangos, packages not present, over.

Wolf-2: Sir, there are tunnels beneath Ghost Bravo and Ghost Charlie, over.

Bear-1: Tunnels? Send.

Wolf-2: Man-made, maybe. Supports are crude though, over.

Wolf-3: Sir, and there are strange substances… Possible link to Bravo-4-7, Bravo-4-8, Bravo-4-9, over.

Bear-1: USDO-1, recommendations? Over.

USDO-1: The tunnels are outside mission parameters and objectives. Information on them is classified. No link to Bravo-4-7 to 9. USDO business, over.

Bear-1: Threat? Over.

USDO-2: High but unlikely. Have eyes on it, but minimal. Focus on the retrieval of Bravo-4-7 to 9, over.

Bear-1: Copy. Wolf team, assign two operators on rear guard, stance cautious and flashes ready. Be ready to fold formation, over.

Wolf-1: Wolf-4 and Wolf-5, eyes back, do you copy?

Wolf-4 and Wolf-5: Solid copy, over.

Bear-1: Any inputs, TPD team? Over.

Officer Valentine: It's quiet, too quiet, over. There's usually suspects and civilians around here, over.

Officer Aiken: Someone's been stirring the pot, over.

Bear-1: Concur. All units, maintain caution. All danger zones assumed active, over.

Wolf-1 and Eagle-1: Solid copy.

Bear-1: Eagles, prepare covering fire on Ghost Victor. Conventional munitions hot, stand-by Duranium. Fire on command, do you copy?

Eagle-1 and Eagle-2: Solid copy.

Bear-1: Wolf team, recon-in-force to Ghost Victor, over.

Wolf-1: Copy. Wolf team, form net, over.

Delta Command: This is Delta Command, what's the sitrep, over.

Bear-1: This is Bear-1. All Ghosts cleared except Victor, over.

Delta Command: Roger, Bear-1. Keep us updated. Over and out.

Bear-1: Bear recons, report, over.

Bear-2: I see fire up ahead, over.

Bear-5: Possible eyes on package, over.

Bear-1: Copy. Advance with caution and confirm observation, over.

Bear-2 and Bear-5: Roger, wilco.

Bear-1: Eagle team, do you have line of sight, over.

Eagle-1: Er… that's a negative. Please advise, over.

Eagle-2: Negative, over.

Bear-1: Eagle team, relocate and find line of sight with light source and provide intel, over.

Eagle-1: Roger, wilco.

Bear-1: Bear and Wolf team, advance. TPD, right flank of Bear. USDO, rear guard. All teams, do you copy?

(5 minutes pass)

Bear-1: Bear recons, report, over.

Bear-2: (strained whisper) Bravo-four-seven sighted, Bear-1, over.

Bear-5: Can confirm, over.

Bear-1: Say again? Over.

Bear-2: Bravo-forty-seven sighted, over.

Bear-1: Eagles, do you have visuals on the target? Over.

Eagle-1: Can confirm, Bear-1. Eyes on target, over.

Bear-1: Bear team, advance cautiously and form encirclement. Wolf team, encircle from the west. TPD, prepare for flanking action from the east. All teams, do you copy?

Wolf-1: Solid copy.

Officer Valentine: I copy.

Bear-1: Bear-3, prepare the payload. Standby for signal to fire, over.

Bear-3: Roger, wilco.

Bear-1: Bear-6, prepare for Anti-X out. Standby for signal to fire, over.

Bear-6: You're the boss, over.

Bear-1: Bear-3… Payload out.

Bear-3: Payload out. (distant explosion)

Bear-1: Bear-6, Anti-X out.

Bear-6: (flaregun fire) Anti-X out!

Bear-1: Bear-2, report status of Bravo-four-seven, over.

Bear-2: Bravo-four-seven is down, I say again, Bravo-four-seven is down, over.

Bear-4: Sir, reporting that the Anti-X is a miss, over.

Bear-1: God damn it, Bear-6!

Bear-6: Sorry, boss. Not used to this dang thing.

Bear-1: Bear team, advance and secure Bravo-four-seven. Watch out for Bravo-four-eight and Bravo-four-nine. Wolf and Eagle team, provide cover. Fire on sight. TPD team, secure Ghost Victor from the east. All teams, copy?

Wolf-1: Roger, wilco.

Officer Valentine: Roger, over and out.

Bear-1: Bear-6, I want another Anti-X out.

Bear-6: Preparing Anti-X.

Bear-4: I have clear visuals on Bravo-four-seven. She's out from the blast.

Eagle-1: Sir, Bravo-forty-eight spotted, over!

Eagle-2: Bravo-forty-niner spotted, over!

Bear-3: (rapid gunshots) Sir, encountering suppressive fire from the building, over!

Bear-1: All units, focus fire on Four-eight and nine, over! Flashes out, now!

Bear-3: Flash out!

Bear-4: Flash out!

Bear-1: Wolf team, get over here! Bear-6, Anti-X four-eight, now!

Bear-6: Anti-X out! Fuck! I missed! She's- flying in the sky!

Bear-2: Bravo-four-eight and nine unaffected by flash, over!

Eagle-1: Unable to get a fix on Bravo-four-eight, target too fast, over.

Eagle-2: Bravo-four-nine is out of sight, over.

Bear-1: (gunshots) Keep firing, keep firing!

Delta Command: This is Delta Command, report status of the operation, over.

Bear-3: (gunshots) Sir- No- No- NOOOO!

Bear-4: Bear-3's been taken!

Bear-1: Taken!?

Bear-4: Right off the ground- I-

Delta Command: I say again. Report status, over.

Bear-5: (gunshots) -Can't get land a shot- HRRNGG!

Bear-6: Sir! Bear-5 is gone man, I repeat, Bear-5 is gone! I think it was four-nine!

Bear-1: Wolf team, wolf team, reinforce now!

Wolf-1: We've made contact, standby. (gunshots) Wolf-2, Anti-X airburst out now, over.

Wolf-2: Anti-X out. Anti-X is a miss, over.

Wolf-1: Keeping firing. Wolf team, advance and provide fire support for Bear, over.

Wolf team: Roger, wilco.

Wolf-1: (gunshots) Watch the crossfire! Spread out and overlap fire zones!

Bear-1: TPD! Engage unknown enemy in Ghost Victor!

Officer Valentine: Way ahead of you- (gunshots) Fuck- (more gunshots, then radio sizzles)

Bear-1: TPD-1, report! TPD-1, do you copy!?

Bear-4: (gunshots) Nothing's working! (screams)

Delta Command: Bear-1, provide sitrep, over.

Bear-1: (gunshots) Casualties are rising, command! We've lost the element of surprise. Please advise, over!

Delta Command: Bear-1, you are clear to use Duranium, over.

Bear-1: Eagle team, Duranium out, now!

Eagle-1: (gunshots) Four-eight and nine are too fast to track- They- They're onto us! ARR- (radio cuts out)

Bear-1: Eagle-2, status, over. (silence) Eagle-2? (silence)

Bear-6: (flaregun fire) Fuck, there's just no way to catch them with this peashooter! Oh God, they're coming back this way!

Bear-1: Take cover! We need to-

Officer Valentine: Bear-1, interrupt, interrupt. Unknown enemies are not hostile. I say again, unknown enemies are not hostile. They're minors! I got them to stop firing, please advise, over.

Bear-1: (gunshots) Get your ass out here and give us fire support!

Bear-2: (gunshots) Look out! Four-eight's firing lasers! I'm out, I'm out, cover me!

Wolf-1: Bear-1, my team is- (Bravo-Four-Nine sonic scream)

Bear-1: (inaudible) t- d- (Bravo-Four-Nine sonic scream)

Wolf-3: (inaudible) m- e- (Bravo-Four-Nine sonic scream)

Bear-1: All teams report, over!

Wolf-1: Multiple casualties. That scream- can barely hear anything- Bleeding from ears! Requesting permission to RTB, over. (loud thud) Oh f-

Wolf-5: She took him! Wolf-2 is taken!

Wolf-3: Wolf-6, watch your six, watch your- Fuck! Wolf-6 is taken!

Bear-1: Delta Command, air support, now! Coordinates [REDACTED] mark [REDACTED]!

Delta Command: Copy, Bear-1. Air support inbound, ETA 10 minutes, over.

Bear-1: We don't have ten minutes!

Note: Delta force detachment was soon overwhelmed and rendered ineffective as a combat unit.


The City of Townsville Coastline. Monster Island.

25 MAR (Saturday) 1989. 2209.

After a hard, long fight, the battle against the men from the dark had finally come to an end. Blossom had been knocked out right from the start, but Bubbles and Buttercup had rushed out the moment they heard the blast.

The beginning of the battle had been tough. The moment they were out of the abandoned hotel, Bubbles and Buttercup were faced with a hail of bullets, blasts and clouds of Anti-X. They took off into the air the moment they formed their shields. Too many projectiles for too long and their shields would have been broken within seconds. Remaining mobile was the only way to avoid knock out. Whizzing and skirting around clouds of Anti-X deployed by the men from the dark, Bubbles and Buttercup began taking men from the ground, disarming them and hanging them on trees by their bandoliers. Bubbles had expected Buttercup to do worse, but Blossom's constant glares and frowns of disapproval had finally gotten her to behave. In fact, the worst she had done was to punch out a few bad guys and carve out lines in the ground with her laser beam as warning shots and for suppression.

Then Blossom woke up, and the fate of the Powerpuff Girls' attackers were sealed. A few volleys of stunning heat beams, a sonic scream from Bubbles and a few more punches from Buttercup later, the men who attacked them were defeated and piled next to a second makeshift campfire Blossom had to make after her first one was bombed and ruined by the men.

The Girls stood around the men from the dark, well, at least those who weren't still hanging on the trees, shouting for someone to let them down. Blossom studied them, her arms akimbo.

"Which of you is the leader?" she asked the soldiers, still frowning. One of the man stepped forward. As far as Blossom was concerned, these men had no identities. They were all dressed in uniforms with no insignia, no name and no rank. She looked at him, studying him from head to toe. He didn't shift one bit, as if he was ready to die standing.

Before Blossom could say anything else, there were footsteps behind her, and they were heavy. She turned around, a fireball ready in one hand. It turned out to be some faintly familiar faces. A group of police officers from Townsville she had faced before, right at the beginning of her exile from home. This time, they seemed friendlier as they were surrounded by the very same children and teenagers the Powerpuff Girls had rescued.

"Officer Valentine! What the hell are you doing!?" the leader of the soldiers yelled.

"Yeah, I don't think we're dealing with the usual perps," Officer Valentine said. "Things are more complicated here. Our targets here, they rescued these kids. I saw the smugglers still tied up in the basement."

"I don't care what they did, we're supposed to secure them for containment!" the leader of the soldiers said.

"I don't think that's possible anymore, from the looks of things," the STARS officer said. "Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup - I don't think they're the bad guys here. Something's going down and we don't have the whole picture."

Blossom was surprised. Things hadn't gone her way for a good long time and when it did, it came when she least expected it.

"Thank you, miss…" Blossom uttered.

"That's some real bullshit, Officer Valentine," the leader of the soldiers said. "We're here for one purpose and one purpose only, and by God, I'm getting it done no matter what!"

With that, the leader of the soldiers pulled something out from his holster. Blossom saw a flash of Duranium; it was a pistol. She hadn't really bothered to make sure everyone was properly disarmed as most of their weapons couldn't hurt them anyway, but now there was a flash of regret in Blossom because her carelessness. She formed a quick shield, but it was penetrated when the officer fired his special pistol. She could feel a rip in her arm when he did.

Bubbles had been watching, and she flew in immediately to disarm the man, seizing his gun arm and twisting it, forcing him to let go of the Girl-killer pistol. Restraining the man by putting his arm around his back, Bubbles had him in a complete arm lock.

Buttercup was next to Blossom without the latter Girl's notice. Blossom's hand had gone up instinctively to the rip in her other arm, and when she pulled it back, she saw blood. Looking down at her arm, she saw a bloody line carved into her bicep. It was a graze wound; it would have been worse had she not reacted fast enough.

"Kill him, Blossom," Buttercup encouraged Blossom. "He tried to do that to you." Once again, Buttercup had gone around her, giving her that restraining hug. "He tried to take you away from me. Do it, Blossom."

This time, however, Buttercup knew better and let go of Blossom. Reaching down to the ground, Blossom picked up the same pistol that the soldiers' leader tried to kill her with. Pulling out the magazine, she noticed that the rest of the bullets had no tell-tale Duranium shine to them. Peeking into the chamber, she saw that the chambered round was normal lead too. He had only one shot with the pistol and he blew it.

Slotting the magazine back into the pistol, she pointed it at the soldiers' leader. Bubbles was quick to let him go and shield him.

"Blossom, no!" Bubbles squeaked, once again frightened by Blossom's actions.

"Why not!? Buttercup's right!" Blossom barked at Bubbles, who flinched from her sudden outburst. All of a sudden, Bubbles couldn't recognize her sister anymore; she had become someone else entirely.

"They just kept doing it! Trying to hurt us! And all I want for us is to be left alone!" Blossom yelled.

"They're just doing their job!" Officer Valentine, STARS officer of the TPD, tried to defend the Delta operatives. "They weren't out for your blood! They were instructed to-"

"Shut up, miss!" Buttercup yelled back, not in anger, no, there was something else altogether. For some reason, Buttercup was smiling. "You're one of them," she said ominously as she took a few menacing steps towards Officer Valentine and her men, who were actually taken aback by Buttercup's implied threat; they matched Buttercup's steps, trying to maintain distance from her, not that it would have helped them.

"Get out of the way, Bubbles!" Blossom warned her sister; despite her vast intelligence, she hadn't thought through her words like before, possessed by rage as she was. "You're always getting in the way!"

Bubbles stood her ground, no matter how hurtful the words hurled at her were.

"I don't know if Daddy's dead, but can't we at least do what he would have liked?" Bubbles appealed to Blossom, who was still shaking with fury. "I know it's just a misunderstanding…" Bubbles turned to the captured Delta operatives, looking at them and still unable to see that they were bad people. "They wouldn't have hurt us otherwise…"

Blossom could hear more chattering from the direction of the TPD STARS officers. Some of the teenagers and children she and her Powerpuff Girls team had rescued had come out to watch and see what was going on.

At least they seemed safe, and the STARS officers did not hurt them. It seemed to lend credence to Bubbles' pleas. The STARS officers were working with the soldiers, which meant that the soldiers could be good people too.

"We could've shot the three of you. My guys here had the Duranium ordnance to really hurt you," Officer Valentine added. "You could've killed us in the city, Blossom, but you didn't. That's when I know you weren't the monster my superiors made you out to be. Don't become what they say you are."

"What are you waiting for, Bloss?" Buttercup flew closer to Blossom, blocking everyone else from view. "Don't listen to them, it's one of their tricks!" She even grabbed Blossom by the arms, shaking her, desperate to do whatever it takes to get her to listen - this was supposed to be her time to influence things! "They'll play nice now and hurt us later, don't you get it, Bloss!?"

Blossom lowered the Delta pistol, deep in thought. Officer Valentine seemed sincere; the children crowding around her and her men were proof of that.

"C'mon, Blossom, shoot!" Buttercup egged her on.

"Think of Daddy, Blossom, please!" Bubbles begged her.

The STARS officers seemed tense. The officer with the Duranium rifle definitely looked tense, ready to jump into action just in case.

"You know what I think? There's only one way this can end," Blossom said as she glared down at the soldiers' leader, who was brought low and still on his knees, protected by the form of a little girl. Blossom's hand gripped her pistol tightly. She gave it a squeeze, as if itching to use it.