Storm
Trivia: The title is taken from the song Let Me Take You There by Plain White T's.
EDIT 2/22/2020: Fixed some grammar, writing style, and some wording. Managed to get three chapters edited in one day!
Chapter 4: Down the Rabbit Hole
He sat staring at the computer screen without really seeing it. It was early in the morning and he hadn't slept at all the night before. Of course, he had been looking over the reports from not only the units from the Townsville branch of the Resistance, but reports from other branches as well. Rubbing his eyes, he frowned down at the message from Boomer. It stated that the blue ruff had made it to the rebel base without too many fatalities. That was good, but what else it stated made him confused and apprehensive.
Apparently, the rebels had decided to finally join with the Resistance. He had to admit that it was good, more manpower was always good, but why would Buttercup suddenly swallow her pride and join them?
It did not sit well with Brick.
The red ruff leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a while since he saw any of the rebels. Hell, it was a while since he had even gone into the field! He had been more focused on strategizing and planning. There was too much to handle with the inner mechanisms of the Resistance to go out into the field. When he had agents like Boomer, Butch, and Bubbles, he didn't really have any reason to get his hands dirty.
There had to be a reason for Buttercup suddenly deciding to join them. Brick knew for a fact that she would have eaten all of her toes and fingers instead of joining them and listening to someone other than Pinky. His frown deepened and he covered his mouth in thought, brows furrowing.
There was no way Buttercup would join them, so why? Why was she? What could have spurred her to do so?
The thought came to him unbidden and he wasn't even sure why he was thinking it.
Why did he suddenly think that Pinky had something to do with this?
Blossom sat on one of the bookshelves, kicking her legs absentmindedly. It was morning, maybe seven or eight, and the rebels were running around collecting belongings that they wanted to bring with them to the Resistance base. She had to admit she was surprised that Buttercup had agreed to join. The invitation had only been a formality; she knew she would be going to the Resistance whether Buttercup or she wanted to or not. It somewhat irked her that she had no real control over what she did anymore.
However, then she would remember how long she was gone and how much the world had changed due to the Narcassians. Whenever she remembered that, she felt selfish afterwards. With the way things were now, everyone had to be treated with a healthy dose of suspicion.
That being said, it was no surprise that the Resistance soldiers had two men watching her and she wasn't allowed to help the rebels collect their possessions. Huffing softly, she held up her head with her right hand, her elbow on her knee. She wasn't a threat. Yes, she had been taken by the aliens, but she had managed to escape and had been helping the rebels ever since. True, she had not told the Resistance that she was back, but could they blame her?
Snorting incredulously, Blossom rolled her eyes at her own naïveté. Of course, they could blame her! The pink puff sighed and, catching sight of Boomer, sat up.
"Hey! Boomer!" she called to the military officer. The blue ruff turned at her call and, looking guarded, went over to her. She gave him a reassuring smile, but he still looked guarded. "Seriously, I'm not going to attack anyone."
He sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry, Blossom. Can't take that chance."
Fighting the urge to pout, she said instead, "But you know me—"
"No, I don't," he cut her off, frowning at her. "Brick knew you, or at least, the you he fought against. I only knew you as Bubbles' sister and Brick's counterpart because we never really fought." He crossed his arms, looking as if he wanted to feel sorry for her, but knew he shouldn't. "And I haven't seen you for ten years, Blossom. I don't know how much you've changed."
She honestly wasn't sure how to react to that. What he had said was all true. She never fought with him and honestly, what did she know about him? Besides the few insistences where she was able to observe his behavior, such as when they kidnapped him and had Bubbles go undercover as him, she knew next to nothing about the blue ruff. She knew that Boomer had started not talking whenever the two trios ever met around when they were eight and she had a suspicion as to why. Brick had seemed to rather enjoy abusing his "youngest" brother whenever he had said something Brick had deemed stupid.
"…you're right," she finally admitted, sighing. She ran a hand through her hair before propping her head on her fist. She gave him a melancholy smile before speaking again. "And I suppose appealing to your soft side won't work because you're a Rowdyruff and don't have one?"
At that, his look hardened and he turned away. "We haven't called ourselves the Rowdyruff Boys in years…and I haven't considered myself one either."
He left after that without another word.
Blossom looked after him with a mixture of sympathy and empathy. They hadn't been calling themselves the Rowdyruff Boys? Everyone still called them that, but it was one thing to be called that by everyone else, she supposed. It was another thing all together when the ones the name referred to no longer considered it them.
A tight feeling filled her chest. She clasped her hands together, leaning her mouth against her fists. She never asked, but did Buttercup still refer to herself as a Powerpuff Girl?
…did Bubbles?
"Ah, hell nah! Why do we hafta go with yas!?" Ace's voice cut through her thoughts and the pink puff turned a little to see Ace stalking after an annoyed Mitch and infuriated Buttercup.
"Do ya think I'm gonna let you guys run around after you've seen Blossom!? Think again, you motherfucker!" Buttercup shouted back, rounding on the just as angry man. "And do you think I want to go to the Resistance? I don't! But to keep Blossom safe and not have fucking Brick breathing down our necks, I'm going to the Resistance! AND you, your gang, all the Rebels, and Blossom are all fucking coming with me!"
"Why don't yousss ssscream louder? I don't thinksss they heard yousss in Tibet," Snake remarked from the back of one of the two trucks the rebels were loading with their possessions. He was perched on the tailgate, completely ignoring the two rebels attempting to push a large bag inside. "Wesss getsss it. Wesss have to go to the Resssissstance with yousss."
Snarling, Buttercup whipped towards him, her fists glowing radioactive green. She took a step and then another and another until the next thing anyone knew, she was charging the truck at top speed.
Blossom immediately jumped from her perch, zooming towards her enraged sister. With the distance between them, however, there was no way she would be able to make it in time. Not with the speed Buttercup was using.
WHAM!
With an earth-shaking thud, Buttercup slammed into the floor, causing a rather large crater. Blossom skidded to stop just feet away, pink eyes wide as Boomer calmly straightened.
His cobalt eyes were hard and he was frowning down at her sister. Said Powerpuff gasped out and, rolling onto her side, started coughing. Slowly, she pushed herself up and sent a withering glare at him. Her glare was received with an apathetic look.
"You should learn to control your temper," he said softly, coldly, as he floated into the air. He easily dodged the punch Buttercup threw at him and actually caught her wrist. "I am not fighting with you, Buttercup."
Something in the way Boomer said that made her freeze.
She stared at him with wide eyes, unsure what exactly she was feeling in that moment. She had heard that said before. It had been a while ago. So long ago…it almost felt like another lifetime.
Ripping her wrist from his grip, she floated back to the ground, eyes darting between Boomer and Blossom. That's right. Blossom had been the one who said that, hadn't she? Back when they had been forced to that asteroid because of the people of Townsville and where they had first decided to save them, despite all that the people had said against them. Her eyes snapped back to her sister and lime met rose.
"I'm not fighting with you, Buttercup!"
Blossom remembered saying that. She remembered how angry Buttercup had been and, from the storm of emotions she could sense from the 'Toughest Fighter', she was just as angry now as she had been that day.
Sighing softly, Blossom closed her eyes and collected her thoughts. The swirling emotions from Buttercup weren't helping, though, and she wondered how Mitch managed to work with her hotheaded sister. Then she wondered how she had been able to do it all those years ago.
"Buttercup," she called, eyes snapping open to look at her sister. "Calm yourself. Getting angry won't help anything."
Her sister rounded on her, ready to let her know exactly what was on her mind. However, with one look into Blossom's eyes, Buttercup faltered and stood down with clenched fists.
The pink puff continued to watch her until she was sure that her sister wouldn't jump up and strangle Snake. For some reason, she was very surprised that Buttercup was actually listening to her. Only a day ago was the green puff telling her what to do and now? It seemed like the roles were no longer switched.
There was a tense and rather pregnant silence after the ordeal and those who had stopped to watch quickly went back to whatever they had been doing. Blossom continued to monitor her sister, literally shadowing Buttercup around until Harry stopped the green puff in the middle of her pacing.
"We just packed the last bag, BC," he reported, fixing the strap of his backpack. He shifted as Buttercup merely stared at him. "So…are…are we leaving now?"
The rebel leader blinked languidly before rubbing her eyes and sighing. "As soon as the Resistance assholes are ready."
Blossom leered at her sister and jumped when someone cleared their throat from behind her. Whipping around, surprised that she hadn't noticed someone sneaking up on her, she came face to face with a rather emotionless Boomer.
He smirked sarcastically and said, "The Resistance assholes are ready to go."
Flushing slightly, Buttercup snorted and crossed her arms.
"Good." She nodded, turning, and called out to the rebels. "All right, rebels! Get your asses over here! Kids and Mrs. Cavadini into a truck! Everyone else on the bikes or pile into the backs of the trucks!"
As Buttercup was screaming at the rebels, Boomer was shouting orders to his units. "Fall into line! Everyone at ready! We leave in five!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
As they were trained, the Resistance soldiers immediately fell into line, the ice block that encased Emmons on a trolley attached to Floyd's motorcycle. Blossom watched impressed at the efficiency and order in which the soldiers moved. And the fact they obeyed Boomer so well, despite his history, was even more impressive.
A small bubble of hope formed in her chest. The Rowdyruff Boys had been one of their fiercest rivals…they had been their fiercest rivals and renowned vandals. If they could trust Boomer, who had been a known villain, then possibly, just possibly, they would trust her, despite her being gone so long…
Boomer hadn't given him a precise time in which to expect him, so Brick went about business as usual.
This was spent heavily on trying to get Butch to actually learn and use the strategies he had devised.
Rubbing his temples, Brick gritted his teeth as his hot-tempered brother crossed his arms and gave him a defiant look. This was not working. It was strange. Usually getting Butch to look over and agree on a strategy took only an hour or so, not nearly two hours, twenty-seven minutes, and forty seconds. (Brick had indeed been keeping count. It was one of the ways that helped him keep calm, or at least, he used to try to stay calm.) It was almost like as soon as Butch learned that the rebels were actually joining, he decided that whatever Brick had to say was irrelevant.
Running a hand through his hair, Brick glared darkly at his brother.
"All right, Butch. What the fuck is so hard about this fucking strategy?" he snapped angrily, red eyes flashing in a very dangerous way.
"What's so hard…? Oh! Uh, yeah. What's so hard is…uh…" Butch trailed off at the sight of Brick squeezing his eyes closed in aggravation.
Running a hand over his face, the Resistance leader looked straight at his brother and, insulting his brother entirely with his eyes, voiced a question he was dreading to get an answer from.
"You are not getting excited over the fact that Buttercup is coming here, are you?" he asked so calmly that Butch found himself inching backwards very, very slowly. "Because if you are and that is the reason why you're so fucking distracted, so help me, Butch, I will make sure that you won't be able to do anything, but eat food through a tube, for a fucking week!"
Swallowing dryly, Butch merely grinned widely at his very irate brother. "Brick…I love you, man. You know that, right?"
And then he sped away at top speed leaving an extremely furious Brick in his wake.
Multiple hours later, the rebels and Boomer's military unit were in the tunnels. Said tunnels had been created a little after the Resistance's Townsville base had been finished and crisscrossed the nation connecting to all other Resistance bases. The underground highways were covered in vibrant white tiles with bright fluorescent lights forming a thick stripe on the ceiling. On either side of the tunnel were thin, neon lights that glowed with a deep blue light, much like the colored streak that usually accompanied Boomer when he flew. The whole structure had very science fiction-like connotations, reminding Blossom of the space ships on the sci-fi films the Professor had been so fond of.
At this point, Blossom's whole life had become like a sci-fi movie, even more so now with the Narcassians controlling the world.
"Are we there yet?" Arturo groaned from Big Billy's shoulder, using the other man's head as an armrest.
"For the love of… NO! We are not there yet!" Buttercup shouted from the roof of one of the trucks. She twisted around, moving her legs out of the crisscross style she had been sitting in. "That is the fifty-sixth time you've said that!"
"Eighty-second," Boomer corrected, wincing slightly at the glare she threw at him. "But who's counting?"
"Apparently you are," Mitch intervened, driving between the truck Buttercup was perched on and Boomer. "But ignoring that—" He paused and turned slightly to throw a glare at the Gangreen gang. "We still have quite a few hours to go before we reach the base, so get comfy, amigo."
This received a string of Spanish profanities that no one, save Carlos and the few people who spoke Spanish, understood. Said rebel then responded in kind and an intense argument ensued between the two men.
This served to be the soundtrack for the next how many minutes and Buttercup just snorted, turning back around. Everyone else took a page from her book and ignored them as well, though Blossom was rubbing her head in pain as the two Hispanic men's thoughts entered her mind.
"You okay, Bloss?" Mitch called to the pink puff, who was sitting on the roof next to Buttercup.
The red haired woman smiled weakly at Mitch and nodded, though she was still holding her head. Ignoring the suspicious look from Boomer and Buttercup, as well as the flare of concern from her sister, Blossom closed her eyes and just gently rubbed her temples, letting her mind empty.
She knew that it was probably dangerous trying to remember things while on top of a truck, albeit a slow-moving truck, but a moving truck nonetheless, but she just wanted to be able to answer whatever questions Brick would throw at her. Despite the throbbing headache she had, which was not helped by the flood of angry thoughts (that were in Spanish, which was even more aggravating) from Carlos and Arturo, she forged on, receiving a tremendous amount of resistance.
Blossom decided that having amnesia would not be on her Top Ten Favorite Experiences list.
She knew that forcing herself to remember wouldn't help, but she would admit to herself that she could be rather impatient at times. And it wasn't as if she was completely blank on what have happened to her. The memories were right there, so close that if she only stretched a little, only thought harder, maybe, just maybe, she could reach them. They were blurry and unclear, but they were so close. She had remembered a few things over the three weeks she had been free from the aliens, but half of those things hadn't been of importance.
What did the Resistance care if the aliens took good care of her? What did it matter what kind of food they fed her? She was sure that these things would be relevant, but at the moment, she didn't think Brick would care.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but she knew that Carlos and Arturo were still arguing and waves of irritation were coming from, and off, Buttercup like miniature tsunamis. From the annoyed thoughts coming from him, Blossom was pretty sure that Boomer wasn't amused anymore either.
Cupping her neck as she leaned forward, the pink-eyed woman wondered who would snap first. A part of her was sure it was going to be Buttercup, but another part thought it would be funny to see Boomer snap at them. She hid the amused smile that appeared on her face. Since when did she have a humor like Buttercup? She glanced over to see if Boomer had the same irritated expression as said sister, only to gasp.
The military officer was nowhere to be seen.
Hiding her confusion and surprise, she cautiously looked around and tried to spot the blue ruff. Despite her efforts, she found neither hide nor hair of him. Now thoroughly scared, she became a little more frantic in her search for the blonde.
He was nowhere.
"You okay there, Red?" Buttercup asked finally noticing her actions.
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I'm all right." The pink puff blushed lightly at being found out.
However, her embarrassment was short-lived as she continued glancing about. Where had Boomer gone?
A sharp yelp from behind her was the answer she was looking for.
Turning to see why Arturo was whimpering, Blossom found Boomer floating above the two Gangreen members. The blue ruff looked extremely displeased, but he was sporting a maliciously amused grin. Without a word to the small man, he returned to his post leading the Resistance soldiers. The nonchalance he oozed was marred by the wide grin he wore. It strikingly reminded Blossom of the times when they had been younger and the Rowdyruff Boys had just vandalized or stole something. They always had those large, near-psychotic grins on their faces afterwards.
"I thought you Resistance guys were supposed to be all prim and proper," Mitch remarked as Buttercup snorted in agreement.
"Do you remember who you're talking to?" Boomer responded, raising an eyebrow. "I'm an ex-Rowdyruff."
Blossom was glad to see she wasn't the only one who was bewildered about that. From the frowns on both Buttercup's and Mitch's faces, they too found the use of ex with Rowdyruff strange.
Tightening her jaw, she looked forward. No matter what Boomer said, he would always be a Rowdyruff Boy to her. They would all be Rowdyruffs…because, because that's what they were. It was strange if they were anything else, like it was strange if she and her sisters were anything besides the Powerpuff Girls. A leaden feeling formed in her stomach again and he sighed softly. She still didn't know whether or not Buttercup and Bubbles still considered themselves Powerpuff Girls.
"Hey…I just remembered," Harry said, causing both Blossom and Buttercup to look down at the truck. "Isn't there a scanner before the base?"
Cursing colorfully, Buttercup slapped her forehead, letting her hand slide over her eyes. "That's right! Shit! What are we going to do about that?"
"Scanner?" Blossom was confused as to what they were referring. She looked at Buttercup and then to Boomer who made a weird noise in his throat.
"It's a device set up before the gate to the base that, well, scans everyone and sends data on them to the techies," Boomer explained, eyebrows furrowed in thought. He rubbed his mouth. "There goes keeping Blossom a secret until I can explain everything to Brick."
Even Buttercup was surprised at that comment. "You were going to keep Blossom a secret?"
This received an 'are-you-stupid' look from Boomer. "Only for a brief time, just until I could explain what I know to Brick. You do remember that Brick and Blossom were never civil with each other, right?"
"That's a nice way of saying with we tried to rip each other's throats out," Blossom remarked blandly, but she was sighing a moment later. "Great. Another unforeseen obstacle."
Looking back, the Professor would realize that he had planned the inspection for the Scanning Room at the perfect time.
Professor John Utonium was currently tinkering with one of the machines. The scanning process had been remarkably slow as of late and he was certain that the update he and Mojo had managed to create would definitely help. He had already added it to the other machines and was currently working on adding it to the computer before him when a beep alerted him that a scanning process was beginning.
Cursing to himself, Professor Utonium quickly finished installing the new device and pulled up a list of the people being scanned. It was then, as a list of people crawled across the screen, that both the computer and the handheld computer on his belt gave sharp chirps.
Eyes widening at the profile in front of him, he looked at his tablet to see an identical image. He knew he had made a special attachment to the scanning program to alert him if she ever came through, but he hadn't expected it to actually work.
The Professor then deleted the profile from the main scanning machine and hurried out of the room. He needed to get to the gate. Fast. But how could he make it there?
Glancing around, the man's eyes alighted on the hover scooter of one of the Scanning Room's technicians. He grabbed it without hesitation and, jumping onto it, sped off.
"Sorry!" he called over his shoulder as the technician who owned the scooter shouted in protest. "I'll bring it back!"
He really, really, really needed to get to the gate before anyone else.
Zipping down the halls, he nearly crashed into Brick. Swerving at the last moment, he called another apology over his shoulder at the rather confused redhead. He didn't have time to talk to Brick. Besides, if Brick found out that Boomer was returning already and she was with him…
The Professor shuddered helplessly, remembering how ruthlessly the red-eyed man had beaten one of his precious little girls. Even though Brick was almost a son to him now, there was no way Professor Utonium was going to allow Brick to get to his baby before him.
Rewinding the clock a few minutes, the rebels and Boomer's unit had finally reached the tunnel that lead to the gate of the Townsville branch of the Resistance. After the whole conversation about the scanner, Blossom was antsy, squirming in her seat and rubbing her clammy palms against her denim-clad legs. It wasn't how she expected to be found out, through a device used to scan for enemies, but it was better than the flamboyant entrance that she imagined, which in itself was influenced by the entrance Buttercup imagined. She wasn't sure why she was nervous. Hadn't she wanted to show herself to the Resistance just the other day? But not like this. Not through an inanimate object with no feeling whatsoever.
Sighing softly, Blossom almost missed Harry's remark of, "Well, that was painless."
Now thoroughly confused, she looked around and, turning to look behind her, saw a sparkling, translucent wall of blue that was definitely not there before. Mouth opening in shock, she could only make useless noises as she tried to voice her shock. That had not been what she had been expecting by a scanner.
An amused snort came from her right, causing her to flush brightly and turn back around.
"Everyone reacts the same way the first time…" Boomer muttered and she sent him an annoyed leer. From the Gangreen's and assorted rebels' gasps, she, thankfully, wasn't the only one surprised.
"Well…time to face the dragon," Buttercup muttered darkly and she knew exactly who she was referring to.
By this time, the door, if door was the correct word for the large edifice in front of her, was just feet from them.
Taking calming breaths, Blossom found her heart beating erratically in her chest. She didn't know what she was more nervous about: facing all those people she had known and those who she hadn't or facing Brick and the other villains. And then…and then there was the image of the Professor appearing in her mind and again the tears sprang to her eyes.
She wanted to see her father.
"Blossom?" Buttercup murmured softly, gently touching her sister's trembling hand. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I… I just want to see dad," she responded just as softly, if not more so, her voice cracking.
Buttercup gently squeezed Blossom's hand and dropped it a moment later as someone slipped through the gate.
It was safe to say that the person standing there was definitely not who they were expecting.
The Professor closed the door, pressing his hand to it, before turning around. He looked over the shocked faces of the rebels and Resistance alike until his eyes finally landed on her.
His mouth went dry and his eyes became watery as he took in the image of a young woman who, had he not seen the image on the computer, he might have not recognized. But the Professor knew as soon as he thought that that he would have recognized Blossom even if he hadn't seen her picture. How could he forget that face, matured though it was? How could he forget her hair or skin or eyes? Especially with the way Buttercup leaned protectively over her?
The knot in his chest tightened and the Professor brought up a hand to cover his mouth. Taking a few steps forward and letting his hand drop to his side, the man stared at his "eldest" daughter as if she was a dream.
"Blossom?" he murmured.
The next moment there was a streak of pink and Blossom was tackling her father in a tight hug.
"Professor!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Professor!"
The Professor returned her hug, clutching her tightly to himself. "Oh God…Blossom. Oh God. Look at you." He pulled back and looked at the young woman in front of him. "You're all grown up…and…" More tears came as he realized that he hadn't been there to watch he grow like he had planned. "Oh Blossom."
Blossom, unintentionally reading the Professor's sad thoughts, looked at her father just as sadly.
"I missed you." She wasn't sure if she missed anyone, actually, but it felt right saying it anyway. "Oh, dad."
She then hugged him again as Boomer and Buttercup approached the two.
The Professor looked up to see the two and, pulling Buttercup into the hug as well, told Boomer, "You have impeccable timing. I was inspecting the Scanning Room when you came through. No one has seen that Blossom was with you."
Boomer looked surprised, blue eyes wide. "Seriously? So that means…"
"Brick doesn't know?" Buttercup finished, wiggling out of the hug. Blossom looked up at her father, who nodded. "WAHOO! Awesome! That means we can still sneak Blossom in!"
This received three disbelieving stares and multiple confused ones from the other rebels and Resistance soldiers. Buttercup's excitement at hiding Blossom wasn't exactly new, but it still wasn't precisely the best thing. Especially when it was in reference to one rather paranoid Resistance officer.
The Professor frowned at Buttercup. "As much as I don't relish experiencing the reaction I know Brick will have, we have to tell him and the Resistance."
Buttercup immediately lowered her arms and fought back a pout. "Why does everyone keep reminding me about that? I knoooooow."
Laughing at her sister's attitude, Blossom finally pulled away from the Professor's embrace. She was feeling much happier now that she was with him. Seeing him made her think that everything would be all right, despite whatever would happen with Brick.
"We wouldn't keep bringing it up if you acted like you remembered," she responded, smiling warmly at her sister.
The Professor smiled indulgently as Buttercup snorted at Blossom before a deep sigh escaped him.
"As much as I enjoy this…" He turned to Boomer, a very serious look on his face. "When you enter through there, take Buttercup and Blossom to the clothing department and get clothes for Blossom. When that's done, come to my lab."
"Yessir," Boomer said, saluting the scientist. He paused, though, digesting what was just said to him. "…why are they going to your lab?"
Professor Utonium raised an eyebrow at Boomer. "It's mandatory for any and all superhumans to have a medical exam the first day they come. And also!" He turned to Buttercup. "Find a hoodie or jacket to cover Blossom up. We don't want anyone to learn about her before the conference."
"Conference?" the three superpowered young adults echoed, clearly confused.
The Professor was already heading back to the door. "Yes! Conference! Where we'll unveil Blossom! I'll set it up!"
And with that he disappeared through the door, leaving three still very confused superhumans.
"Wait…what just happened?" Buttercup asked, frowning.
Scratching his head, Boomer sighed, frowning at the door. "
Not a clue," he muttered and turned to the two women next to him. "Let's get a hoodie for Blossom before we do anything, though."
Narrowing her eyes at being ordered around by Boomer, the green puff turned to the stalled people behind her. "YO! Mitch! Get me a hoodie for Blossom! Something big!"
A moment later, after rummaging through the bags, Mitch came over with a large, dark blue hooded sweatshirt. Handing it off to Buttercup, he looked at her expectantly. Everyone had seen the little show that had occurred when Blossom saw the Professor. While none of them had quite heard what they had said, they had heard the Professor call to Boomer and Buttercup about a conference.
While not privy to all that had transpired, Mitch was pretty sure he knew what the conference was going to be for.
"All right, so what's going on?" he asked as Blossom pulled on the hoodie.
Buttercup crossed her arms and looked over her sister before responding. "Boomer's taking me and Blossom to get her clothes and then to the Professor's lab. I'm not sure what you guys'll be doing."
In response to that, Boomer waved over one of the soldiers.
"Jackson here will take care of them," he said, turning to the group of people. "This is an order to all of you! Do not mention Blossom to anyone. And also, soldiers, get Emmons to the Professor's lab. Tell no one why he is encased in ice." This received a sonorous "Sir, yes, sir" to which Boomer nodded most satisfied. After that, he turned to Buttercup. "And now let's head to the clothing department."
Fixing her hood so that it didn't obscure her vision, Blossom followed the blond young man with a grumbling Buttercup following, after saying a few things to Mitch. Feeling her throat tighten as they approached the door, the redhead found herself again taking deep, calming breaths.
She was just going to walk through a door. There was nothing wrong about walking through a door. Plenty of people walked through doors; most people walked through doors. (Blossom then remembered that she and her sisters and the Boys, if she thought about it, had had a weird thing against doors when they were little. They rarely used them and instead burst through the ceiling or the wall, but I digress.)
Boomer opened the rather large door and held it open for the two sisters. Nodding her thanks, Blossom gulped and stepped through.
Into the Resistance.
X-x-x
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