Aw, no reviews for Chapter 6? Oh well. My main goal for this story is to finish it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerpuff Girls.

"Deadline"

Chapter 7:

…………………………

In another dimension was a realm of nightmares. This place was the domain of the evilest of evil, the cruelest of cruel, Him. The domain was nothing but several small floating islands drifting about in empty space. The eerie silence was pierced by a young yet powerful voice.

"HIM! Where are you! Show yourself!" Blossom shouted.

Suddenly, Him appeared out of thin air in front of the Powerpuff Girls, making their hearts jump.

"Well hello, girls. I don't remember inviting you here, but make yourselves at home anyway."

The girls glared at Him straight in the eye. They weren't going to back down or show any fear. They knew they couldn't because it would only please him.

"You've got some nerve, Him," Blossom growled. "You forced the Rowdyruff Boys to do your bidding and then took their souls anyway! And half an hour early at that!"

Him shrugged nonchalantly. "Guilty as charged. And in case you wanted to know about earlier, you were right, Blossom. It really would have been pointless to finish them off. I already had a grip on their essences and could take them whenever I pleased. If they died, then their souls would just be free for grabs."

The girls trembled with anger at Him's entertained tone of voice. He was clearly enjoying this.

"Still, a deal is a deal. The spell stated that the boys' souls would be added to my power at midnight, meaning no later and, yes, no sooner either."

Him rolled over in midair into a more relaxed position. His face was calm as he twirled his claw and the same mirror that held the Rowdyruff Boys' souls appeared in a swirl of pink smoke.

"There's nothing you can do to stop this spell. Sadly, all you can do is wait for the time when I'll be invincible."

"The liar," Blossom thought. "He's lied to us and fooled us so many times before. I bet there IS a way to break the spell. But the question is…how?"

Him chuckled wickedly. "In the meantime, I suggest we have a little fun."

Him waved his red lobster claw again and the domain darkened. Several black pools appeared on the island floors. From those puddles rose many horrible black monsters. Most of them looked like giant beetle drones, and some were shaped like wasps with glowing stingers. They were as large as ponies. But the largest and deadliest-looking of all were three scorpion-like creatures the size of elephants. And that did not include their humongous tails and pincers. The stingers on their towering tails dripped acid onto their own backs, but it didn't even scathe their sturdy exoskeletons.

"This should kill some time," Him cackled maliciously as the monsters dispatched.

The wasps flew around in circles in the air. The scorpions poised their tails and claws, ready to attack. And the drones gathered together like the infantry of an army. The ones that were on separate islands would sprout wings from under their shells and buzz over from one island to the next.

Blossom whispered her plan to her sisters and they nodded once. The girls flew straight up and joined hands to form a triangular skydiving formation. They then began to spin in midair like a high-speed merry-go-round. They whirled faster and faster until they were just a blurry ring. A spot of light appeared at the center of the formation and there was a blinding flash.

When the light faded away, there were now eight of each Powerpuff Girl! The girls have just done Plan XQ, the self-multiplying maneuver that they had used to fight an alien force many months ago.

As if by a silent signal, the drones charged. At the same time, all twenty-four Powerpuffs charged as well. Nine duplicates clashed with the drones, since there were so many of them. Another nine duplicates decided to take on the scorpions, one set each. And the last three duplicates flew around to shoot down the wasps. The original girls returned their attention to Him.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid distracting us isn't going to work," Blossom exclaimed proudly.

Him had never seen the girls perform that maneuver before and was quite surprised. He was about to say something to them when suddenly a beam of white light from a distant wasp shot right between Him and the mirror. The force of the beam sent the mirror flying backward away from Him. Bubbles took the chance to dash in with lightning speed and snatch it in her hands. She then made a quick U-turn back to her sisters.

"Way to go, Bubbles!" said Buttercup.

Bubbles glanced into the mirror and was shocked at what she saw. Her reflection moved on its own! It then talked to her in Brick's voice!

"It's me," the reflection said.

"What the-?" Bubbles sputtered.

"This is Brick!" the reflection replied.

"Brick! What's going on!"

"I'm using your reflection to communicate with you! Now listen, Him was just lying when he said you couldn't do anything to break the spell!"

"We know that. He always lies about these sorts of things! So do you have any idea how to stop Him?"

"I don't know for sure. But I figured that since the magic for this spell was from Him, then I bet that if you destroy Him, the spell will die away with him," the reflection explained.

"I see…"

"And there's one more thing you should know."

"What?" Bubbles asked.

"Don't let anything happen to this mirror. If it breaks, then our souls will be shattered and we'll never be able to come back to life."

"But I was told souls can't be destroyed! …Can they?"

Bubbles' reflection didn't say anything. It just stared back sullenly. The mirror became foggy for a few seconds and then when it cleared up, Bubbles' reflection was now just a normal reflection.

Now Bubbles knew what to do. However, she also knew that destroying Him was something much easier said than done. Even after years of battling with Him, the girls never were able to truly defeat him. Next to the Rowdyruff Boys, he was most likely the most formidable opponent they have ever faced. Another problem was that the girls had less than a half hour to defeat Him before it would be too late.

Bubbles' mind snapped back to reality when she heard her sister's yell.

"Bubbles, what are you doing! Don't just stand there!"

Blossom and Buttercup were fighting with the giant dark insects in an attempt to keep them away from Bubbles. The Powerpuff duplicates had just been wiped out, but not before they destroyed most of the drones and wasps. However, none of the scorpions were dead or even injured! Buttercup split a drone in half with a downward hatchet kick and looked especially annoyed.

"It's about time you heard us!" she yelled. "While we were busting our butts YOU were just staring at yourself in that piece of junk! Sheesh, and I thought BLOSSOM was vain!"

"Buttercup!" Blossom shouted.

"Sorry, but I heard Brick talking to me through the mirror," Bubbles exclaimed. "He said that we have to protect this thing and destroy Him!"

Suddenly, a beam of white light shot past the girls, startling them and just barely missing the mirror. It came from one of the wasps that were buzzing around from a distance. Buttercup shot her eye laser at it and killed it in one shot.

"Okay girls, we don't have much time, so we shouldn't let these things distract us!" Blossom ordered.

Blossom looked around, but Him wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Argh! NOW where is that coward hiding?" Buttercup exclaimed, frustrated.

The dark monsters had chosen a new target; the mirror which the girls were trying to protect. The three sisters started flying swiftly, passing the mirror back and forth while avoiding the attacking insects. The whole time, they frantically tried to think. How could they possibly defeat Him by midnight if he wasn't even there?

When Bubbles caught the mirror while high in the air, she was hit by a wasp's beam. She released the mirror and was sent flying backward. Her back hit the side of an island hard! She shook her head to regain her senses when she and her sisters saw the mirror falling gracefully toward the floor of another island! It was only several meters away from the stone ground!

The girls all dashed toward the mirror, but Blossom and Bubbles were suddenly stopped. They had just been grabbed from behind by the long pincers of two black scorpions and were bound by their arms and legs. They tried struggling, shooting their lasers, sonic scream, whatever they could think of, but the monsters didn't even budge. The third scorpion stepped right in front of Buttercup to block her. Fortunately for Buttercup, she was ready.

She sped up in a sudden burst, rushing right past the monster, avoiding its large claws. Knowing what Buttercup was aiming for, seven wasps all aimed their stingers for the spot where they predicted Buttercup was heading to and fired their beams!

With her eyes on the mirror, she shot out her arms and caught it, but ended up caught directly in the crossfire. She screamed in the excruciating pain and began to glow bright green!

Blossom and Bubbles also screamed, but in terror for their sister.

"BUTTERCUP!"

(To be continued…)

A/N: Just in case you didn't know: Plan XQ was from the episode "Forced Kin."