Author Notes: Got struck down by Covid-19 that ran through my army unit during training, so I have more time to write. Also, I've decided to change the title of the previous chapter. I don't know what possessed me to give it such a title.
Author Notes: ( 29 JUL 2022) I've expanded the last scene. This chapter has been made the epilogue of the story.
Epilogue: A Certain Future
The City of Townsville. Central District. Townsville Museum.
03 APR (Monday) 1989. 1715.
"And you know what's funny? It's as if nothing ever happened! I mean, Bubbles and Buttercup and I were gone for over a week, and no one talked about it at all…" Blossom recounted the time when she returned to schooling in Pokey Oaks Kindergarten after fully recovering from her injuries. "You know, I think it's because Miss Keane told them about everything. So what did she tell them exactly? Hmm… Do you know, Bunny?"
Blossom looked down at the person she was talking to. Well, 'talking to'. She was sitting on a glass coffin and looking down at the pristine corpse of Bunny, who lay inside, still clutching her MP5, still in full gear. Her mouth was closed, but Blossom knew that her teeth were outfitted with a pair of Duranium braces that Dad made sure to procure for her.
Not too far behind Blossom, Bubbles could only stand there and stare at her sister with a concerned look on her face. She couldn't help but to feel that something was off, and whether she should just be troubled by this or terrified, that Blossom had been talking to their dead sister for the past half hour while they were all in the museum. It wasn't normal behavior, was it?
"I think Blossom just needs some time," Professor Utonium said and came up beside her and put an arm on her shoulder. "She has a lot to work through. I've made some mistakes in my time in the USDO and people were killed. But Blossom… I think she had it worse. Her own youngest sister was killed, and she blames herself for it."
"Is she going to be okay?" Bubbles asked. She couldn't take her eyes off Blossom, as if Blossom would be in trouble the moment she did.
"I don't know, Bubbles, I don't know…" the professor admitted. "But we'll help her get through it."
They were all in the Townsville Museum, right after the exhibit for the Powerpuff Girls had been opened for the first time. The Powerpuff Girls and Professor Utonium were invited to be its first visitors while everyone else waited outside.
Buttercup had been watching some videos on repeat at one of the displays. She liked how she looked on the videos that others had taken. It was funny how she was still a large part of the exhibit despite what she had done - killing and wounding so many when she ran away. It'd taught her a thing or two about people. Once you've dazzled them enough, they would forget certain things. How easy it was to 'manipulate' them without meaning to!
"Come on, Girls, I think it's time to go!" the professor shouted for the Girls to gather and leave. They had been in the exhibition for an hour. "Let's not keep the public waiting, shall we?" Bubbles and Buttercup flew to him, smiling, one genuinely while the other falsely. Blossom was the last to come over to him. The professor put his arms around Bubbles and Buttercup while Blossom floated over reluctantly.
"Do we have to?" Blossom asked. She looked back at the glass coffin with Bunny's corpse one more time.
"We'll get to visit again, I promise," the professor said. "We can do it every week if you want." It was the least he could do as Blossom's 'Dad'. After all, it was made easier by the fact that he and the Girls were given free lifetime access to the museum.
"Thanks, Dad," Blossom smiled, though tears were threatening to burst forth.
Together as a family once again, they made their way out of the museum, only to be meet Mayor Wilford, who had been standing at the entrance with his USDO liaison, Miss Sara Bellum. The moment they were of speaking distance, the mayor took off his top hat out of respect. He looked like he was about to say something but fell silent, staring at the floor instead; he was almost groaning as if in defeat and shame.
"Hello, Mayor Wilford," the professor greeted him. "I didn't expect to see you here after the ribbon-cutting. Is there something you miss?"
"Mister Mayor? What's wrong?" Blossom was the first to ask.
"Yeah, are you okay?" Bubbles added.
"What gives? If you're gonna say it, just say it," Buttercup spiced things up.
The Mayor mumbled to himself at first before finally lifting his chin up.
"It's about that day, Girls," Mayor Wilford finally said. The Girls knew exactly what he was talking about. "Remember that day when I got mad when the three of you came to my office?"
"You gave us quite a scare, Mister Mayor," Blossom said.
"Well, at least it was quite a ride…" Buttercup added.
"I shouldn't have said all those things…" the Mayor apologized. "I really, really shouldn't have shot at you and order my bodyguards to attack."
"It's really fine, Mister Mayor," Bubbles said. "You were angry and people… do things when they were angry."
"And we weren't behaving either…" Blossom said.
"Still, I wish I could have heard you three out," the Mayor said.
"I'm sure everyone did what they thought was right," Miss Bellum finally said, then turned to the Mayor. "The Girls were technically criminals, and they were loose in the city. You weren't wrong to double security in your office and act defensively, Mayor, even if you could have left room for diplomacy." She then turned to the Girls. "And it isn't the fault of any of you to have fallen for the Amoeba Boys' tricks. There's a good reason why they were in charge of the underground for so many years. The three of you thought that you were helping, right?"
The Girls nodded gingerly and simultaneously. "Yeah…" they said in unison.
"Well, I guess there's nothing to it now except a new path forward!" the Mayor declared with renewed confidence and courage after taking a deep breath. "If there's one thing I learned over and over again in my career, it's to always pick up the pieces and come back stronger."
"That sounds amazing, Mayor," Sara Bellum said. "Reminded me of those old videos of you in the archives, in fact."
"Well, I'm glad it does, because this town is going to need some of that old strength to rebuild," the Mayor said before turning to the Girls again. "Will the three of you lend a hand in the days to come?"
"We'd be happy to, Mister Mayor," Blossom said.
"Of course, Mister Mayor," Bubbles added.
"I guess…" Buttercup agreed, too, and shrugged her shoulders in submission.
The City of Townsville. Downtown. USDO Headquarters.
03 APR (Monday) 1989. 1846.
After dinner, Professor Utonium took the Girls back to the USDO Headquarters. They hadn't even gone back to The House ever since it was wrecked in the wake of the Girls' escape. The USDO HQ had instead been their home for the past week.
This time, however, was different. They weren't going back to the USDO HQ to live there any more. The professor had promised that they would be moving back to The House today. Instead, they were coming back to the headquarters to see an old friend.
The Girls could hardly contain their excitement while they walk through the corridors and halls of the large building. Blossom could hardly breathe. By the time they had reached the wards of the hospital wing, it felt almost surreal, not just to see him through the window, but to see him pumping some dumbbells right there in his sick bed. Before today, he was a lot less active.
The moment the doors were open, the Girls went flying into the ward, hugging the USDO lieutenant. He was Blake, a friend who had been with them right from the start, who had lost almost all his friends and nearly his own life.
"I'm so glad to see the three of you again," he said. "Thought you were all goners when I heard the news."
"We were so worried about you too…" Blossom said.
"Here, I've got something that belongs to you," Blake said. The Girls stopped crowding around him, wondering what he meant. Blake reached for the table beside his bed and opened a drawer. In it was a pink-red watch. He took it out and handed it over to Blossom. "I see that you've taken my advice to heart."
Blossom took it and then wore it. It was only then that she realized how much she missed the watch. "Does time really heal all wounds?"
"Some of them just takes longer to heal," Blake said. "But they will… eventually. We've all lost some people, kids. Just gotta make sure we don't lose ourselves. Right, prof?"
The professor had been leaning on a wall next to the swinging doors. "Right," he said, and not just to placate the military man either - he himself had lost plenty of friends and family. His smile wasn't as strong as it used to be, as thinned out as it was by the many tragedies he was forced to live through. But Blake was right - this he knew, as long as the tragedies didn't keep stacking up.
The City of Townsville. Outskirts. Pokey Oaks County Park.
04 APR (Tuesday) 1989. 1320.
It was well and truly spring, and it was one of those days that was a true representation of that. There was no rain that day, at least not in Townsville, but the sky was covered in clouds, shielding them from the sun.
Professor Utonium had decided to take the Girls out that day, and he'd been planning it for the entire week. After everything they had been through, they deserved it. The location was decided for him right from the beginning as today was the day Bunny's statue was unveiled. Beyond that, he had already prepared the sheet, the basket, and the food. He'd made sure that there was something for everyone. Sandwiches, waffles, pancakes, honey, Chinese noodles and Japanese sushis. Lemonade to wash it all down. There was no room for error this time. The only things out of place were the suits sitting and standing around the park. Disguised USDO PTF guards. They were just something the family would have to get used to.
He had them set up right in the center of the park, where most of the park patrons were too lazy to walk to. He had the advantage of kids who couldn't tire from walking even if they tried, assuming they didn't want to float their way to their picnic spot instead.
The view there was perfect, with the city on one side and boundless nature on the other. The Townsville Central Park was good in its own right, but it couldn't beat the Pokey Oaks County Park when it comes to picturesque nature scenes.
But there was something else Townsville Central Park was missing. Bunny's bronze statue was there. Originally, it was supposed to be enshrined in Townsville Central Park at first, but there were voices in the city council that spoke for many angry residents. Bunny, despite her service to Townsville and the USDO, had rendered that service by killing many. Corrupted or not, criminal or not, many lives were forfeit, and the bereaved didn't want a reminder of it right smack in the middle of Central Park. The compromise was to install it in Pokey Oaks County Park, right on the edge of the city, where there was less foot traffic.
When the Girls found out, they didn't care. Bunny had a statue made for her, and that was all that mattered. During the unveiling earlier, the professor knew they liked it. Even Buttercup had to admit that it looked cool, with her only criticism of it being that it should have had more guns. Blossom and Bubbles were weeping at the sight of it and smiling at the same time. Unlike the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the opening of the Powerpuff Exhibition, the unveiling of Bunny's statue was largely private. Few people cared to commit Bunny to memory and history.
The statue in question was of a fully-geared Bunny without a helmet and guns. Her arms were folded, and in her arms was a rabbit, representing peace and good-nature. According to General Blackwater, the rabbit was once Bunny's pet, but it died in the line of duty, whatever that meant. Bronze Bunny stared down at them as if she was real, a smile on her face. She seemed at peace. The Girls were going to visit it again after the picnic.
But for now, it was family time. Sitting under the endless expanse of an off-white sky, Professor Utonium sipped on some Lemonade. When he saw Captain Blake with his new squad in the distance, he waved at him. The Girls turned to wave at him too. Blossom was munching on a piece of Waffles, while Bubbles fed on honey pancakes. Buttercup tried the sushis and actually liked them. Well, at least the ones with meat in them.
In the distance, there was a rumble. The incomplete family turned to look. As it turned out, it was raining in the distance. Was. The shower looked like it was coming to an end. There was an opening in the clouds, a silver lining. It was growing bigger by the minute. Soon, sunshine would be upon them. But there was something else too. A rainbow, right over the rainclouds.
Bubbles started sobbing. She couldn't help it. The professor scooted over to her, helping her put down her plate of pancakes.
'Hey Bubbles, it's okay...' he cooed at her. 'What's the matter?'
The rainbow had reminded her of them – Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup... and Bunny.
"I'm sorry," Bubbles said while she wiped her tears away. The professor helped a little.
"You don't have to apologize for that," the professor said.
"Would... would Bunny have liked the rainbow?" Bubbles asked, pointing to the rainbow in the distance. "And all this?"
The professor took a moment to think about what she said, looking into the distance. He could feel a breeze kicking up.
He finally nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, I think she would have liked all this... a lot," he said.
"She always wanted to see what spring looks like," Blossom said, herself downcast too. She still hadn't gotten over how she had been mean to Bunny and played an indirect role in getting her killed when she should've been the wiser one. "She talked often about it." Her voice cracked up in the end. She snuggled up to the professor, who wrapped his arms around Blossom and Bubbles. Buttercup floated behind the professor and wrapped her arms around his neck playfully, though she was only doing it to fit in. Together, they watched the rainbow and the sun together,
And for a second, Blossom thought she could see Bunny's face in the sun, smiling peacefully back at her.
The City of Townsville. Esperanza Acres. Morbucks Family Mansion.
04 APR (Tuesday) 1989. 1320.
"Powerpuff Girls...!" a young voice echoed in a cavernous room filled with toys, get-well-soon gift baskets and cards.
"Powerpuff Girls this, Powerpuff Girls that!" the voice boomed in a mix of contempt and jealousy.
It was Princess Elodie Morbucks, and she was wearing a face that looked incredibly out of place, a look that she had never worn before. Twisted with hatred and fury, she stared at her television. She had switched from a cartoon channel and was browsing with the remote when she caught the unmistakable red, blue, and green of the Powerpuff Girls in the camera of a TNN news crew.
"You left me behind! You LEFT me to DIE WHEN I NEEDED YOU!" Princess Morbucks screeched at the television screen as if the Powerpuff Girls could hear her. For a moment, they were looking at a camera, and the surreal moment had actually stroked her now-swollen ego, but when it became clear as the Powerpuff Girls looked away that it was mere coincidence, the princess swept her breakfast aside, dashing food, tea, crockery and plates against the floor. She then picked up her breakfast tray and smashed it against the ground. The immense force, which didn't befit the girl either, had bent the tray out of shape. "You left me behind and everyone cheered for you! After EVERYTHING I've done for you! It's NOT FAIR!"
"It's NEVER fair! WHEN will it be MY TURN!?" the princess screamed as if she was being abducted. Then, her attention was turned to her frilly, well-woven blanket. There were drops of tea on it. "ANNIE!"
"ANNIE!" she screamed impatiently. "SUSIE! GET YOUR STUPID BUTTS HERE NOW!"
Two maids hurried into her room, with one of them looking visibly terrified while the other was wearing a strange smirk on her face which could pass for a servile smile. The former had a bandaged hand and some cotton gauze fastened with surgical tape to the left cheek of her face.
"Clean my room, now!" the princess screamed. "BEFORE I GET MY DAD TO FIRE THE BOTH OF YOU!"
Annie seemed unperturbed by Elodie Morbucks' complete change in personality while the other maid, Susie, was shaking and breaking out in cold sweat.
Susie was never close to Elodie as she had kept her demeanor strictly professional, but all their interactions had been pleasant. Now, it was as if she was dealing with a whole different person. What exactly did happen in that hospital Mr. Morbucks sent her to?
Annie had been the senior maid in charge. As such, she got to pick and choose her tasks. She had gone straight for the spillage of food and drinks to clean up so poor Susie was stuck with cleaning the bed and attending to the princess personally.
With visibly shaking hands and a pallid face, Susie began pulling the princess' blanket off her. There had only been a few inconsequential and barely-noticeable drops of tea on the blanket, but this changed Elodie had become far more demanding and intolerant of anything that was less than perfection. What happened to her in that hospital? Susie kept asking that question in her head, but there was never any answers as she didn't dare to voice out her concerns.
After depositing the long, flowing blanket into a laundry basket, Susie, with her heart pounding and her fighting desperately to look as stoic as possible, began reaching for the princess' pyjamas, which had a few splotches of tea. The princess glared at her with predatory eyes, as if she could lob the maid's head off right away. The maid slowly began to unbutton the pyjamas, taking great care not to touch the Princess accidentally with her 'low-class' hands lest she suffer the Princess' wrath.
The maid, young and curious as ever, couldn't help but take a glance at Elodie Morbucks' face. Despite suffering from cancer for much of her life, the Princess had always been pretty. Her hair used to be gone, but it had been replaced, almost hair strand for hair strand, with a wig. There were even rumors that the wig was made from Elodie's own hair. Now, Susie knew that Elodie's hair had grown back, and in the many secret glances she took of the little girl, she was shocked each time at how rapid her hair grew.
Then there was the Princess's face. It didn't take many glances for Susie to know that the little girl was no longer the same girl she used to serve, that same girl who used to crack friendly smiles at her despite her life-threatening genetic cancer. It wasn't just the facial expression that had gone from innocent and friendly to what was almost evil and malevolent. The Princess's face had gone permanently pallid, and it was only either with exercise or make-up that her skin regained its color. It was as if her illness had made a permanent mark on her being. Then there were her teeth - they seemed sharper. But what was worst were her eyes...
Those eyes! Susie couldn't help but make eye contact with them. The pupils had gone dark entirely, becoming jet-black in appearance, and they seemed dilated, always. There was no more joy in there, just emptiness...
Susie was able to make it halfway down when she felt the Princess' hand clamping down on her right hand with the force of a vice grip. The Princess yanked her hand off the next button, twisting it so as to put pressure on the maid's wrist. The maid screamed in pain and surprise as she leaned in an unnatural position so that her wrist would not shatter.
"The way you looked at me…" the Princess reprimanded the maid in a low growl, seething with rage and pomposity. "I don't like that look on your face…"
"Should I teach you a lesson?" the Princess asked sadistically, a twisted smile spreading across her face like the cancer that used to be killing her. She twisted the maid's hand a little more, causing the younger maid to yelp in pain.
"I'm sorry!" Susie apologized immediately. "No! P-please don't!" The other maid, Annie, watched with interest while she was wiping food off the carpet.
The Princess' grip was unlike anything the maid had felt before. All that force concentrated in such a small hand… Susie could only wonder how the Princess had gotten this strong, especially considering that she had recently visited the hospital for cancer treatment. Even a 5-year-old at the peak of her health wouldn't have been able to break an adult's hand.
The Princess groaned. Her other hand clutched her temple as she gritted her teeth, as if in pain. She released Susie's hand, which was badly bruised and imprinted with the Princess' small grip.
"Get out! Both of you!" the princess struggled to speak. Both women turned to leave with what cargo they had, with Susie being the faster of the two. Before she left, Annie took one last glance at the Princess while she was not looking and smirked, this time without holding back.
The USDO might have won this battle, but the Foundation had found another enhanced individual to use for the next battle.
When the maids were gone, Princess Elodie Morbucks came up to a standing mirror and looked at herself. She felt... changed. Picking up a model train made of wood, she held it on either ends tightly and gave it a twist. It cracked into two with ease, with wooden splinters raining down onto the carpet.
Then there were the whispers which came and went. It came this time, stronger than ever, and the Princess clutched both temples as she groaned in pain.
"Bubbles…" she said, almost in a pleading tone, feeling cornered. "What am I going to do?" She was almost about to burst into tears when there was another surge of pain in her temples, and the whispers in her mind grew stronger. Her facial expressions changed to one of menacing rage. "Powerpuff Girls! They did this to me! I'll take everything they have! Everyone will love me instead of them!"
"Now that's what you call a promise…" the Princess said before bursting into a fit of psychotic laughter, a laughter that echoed across her room and even out into the corridor outside.
THE END
