Killer's Playground

Authors note: The Powerpuff Girls do not belong to me and as always, they have human appendages.

The girls and boys are roughly in their mid-twenties and don't have their powers in this one.

Part III: High-speed Car Chases and Midnight Assaults, hold on because Sugar We're Going Down

.

XxX

Bubbles shuddered as she left the club behind her. She pulled her jacket around her tighter and let out a subtle groan as she approached the edge of the curb, pointedly ignoring a few of the clubs patron's that were milling about ogling her, and pulled out her phone to call for a taxi.

She shouldn't have left Buttercup by herself in the club with him and she knew that. She hadn't meant to, but as soon as she had recognized the notorious soon-to-be mafia head, his less then pleasant reputation had scared her and she had panicked, wanting nothing more than to get away from him. She had come out to have fun with Buttercup – not get mixed up in whatever shady business that the Jojo family was conducting after all.

She had half a mind to go back in and force her sister to come with her but even then, she knew that it was likely that she still wouldn't leave. Buttercup was always too stubborn for her own good sometimes.

She sighed again as she raised her phone to her ear, letting it ring as it dialed the number to the cab company. She was so preoccupied to listening to her phone and the dull pounding of the club's blaring music behind her – she didn't hear the tell-tale screeching of tires, letting anyone else know that a car was roaring up to the club at high speeds.

A brand-new Audi screeched to a halt in front of her and she jumped back from the curb with a yelp. A tall, blond man got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him, seemingly not caring that he was parked illegally in front of the club. She was debating whether or not to give him some snide remark about his parking job, but she paused as she noticed he was yelling into his phone.

"-Look man, I did you a favour coming to see you. Normally it's Butch who comes to your neck of the woods, and I know for a fact that he's not nearly as reasonable as I am, and you still don't want to pay me your protection fee?!"

She paused. Protection fee? That sounded like it was venturing into gangland. She lowered her phone slightly, not noticing that her phone had dropped the call as the man made his way around the car towards her, still snarling into the phone.

"-No, no, no, don't give me that shit motherfucker, you wanna try screw me over? Fine. You get to deal with my brother now."

The threat seemed to work and the person on the other line was seemingly trying to apologize but the man in front of her only laughed sarcastically. "Oh, you think that saying sorry is going to make everything okay? Hate to break it to you but, I'm already outside the club where he's at." He narrowed his eyes. "This was supposed to be our night off, and he's going to be so fucking pissed that he has to come deal with your dumbass now."

The person on the other end was seemingly pleading with the blond man but he only rolled his eyes, which she noticed were a striking shade of dark blue. "Fuck off, you're lucky it's him I'm going to and not Brick. They don't call him the Bludgeoner for nothing you know."

The person on the other line must have said something to piss him off because a wicked grin split across his face, and those dark blue eyes narrowed until they were silts. "Fine. You wanna send your boys after me? Go ahead. They'll be dead within the hour, and so will you." Before the other person had a chance to respond, the man hit the end call button on his phone so hard, she thought the screen would splinter under the force.

The man shoved the phone into his pocket and ran a hand through his wavy blond hair, muttering obscenities under his breath as he looked at the club. He caught her staring at him, and after giving her a quick once over, he allowed a deceivingly charming smile to spread across his lips, completely masking the temper he had displayed seconds ago.

"Hey babe, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

"Leaving." She responded curtly, adjusting her purse strap over her shoulder. This man had been in her presence for all of a minute and she didn't like what she had heard. From the sounds of it, he was Mafia and apparently the brother of the infamous Baron of Berserk – the same man she had left her sister with.

She fought the urge to groan into her hands. Well this night just kept getting better and better. She left the club to avoid the mobsters, not to get hit on by one two seconds later!

"Ouch. Cold hun. Are you always this uptight with everyone or just me?"

She bit her tongue, thinking better of it. Her? Uptight? She wasn't uptight! She was Bubbles Utonium for Christ sake! Voted most popular/sweetest girl in her graduating year and the winner of Townsville's annual pageant contest three years in a row! She was the farthest thing from uptight! But as much as she wanted to correct him – she knew better then to argue with someone involved with the Mafia.

So instead of humoring him with a response, she only shook her head and adjusted her tight dress around her thighs, looking down at her phone to call the cab company again. The tall man sighed as he moved closer to her. "Look I'm sorry, it's been an interesting night. I didn't expect to have to deal with a pric-uh… business owner, on my night off." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she watched him rub the back of his neck before offering his hand. "Look, you're attractive, and sometimes I'm not always the best behaved around pretty girls, so let's start over: Hi, I'm Boomer, and you are?"

She sighed inwardly and reluctantly shook his hand. If he was Mafia like she was assuming he was, it was in her best interest not to piss him off like the other person on the phone had. "Bubbles."

He hummed and his dark blue eyes seemed to light up as a smile turned his lips. "Bubbles huh? That's a cute name. Haven't heard it before."

She allowed a small smile to grace her face. "Thank my father. He picked it." Boomer snickered. "Better than a lot of other names I've heard. Bubbles is… nice." He narrowed his eyes and gave her a once over. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"Waiting for a cab. My sister didn't want to leave yet so I'm heading home." She didn't see any point in lying to the taller man, he could clearly see she was by herself. But to her mild surprise, he didn't press her on it, or make any unwanted suggestions. He only nodded.

"Word to the wise: I'd be careful around here, there are some dumbasses around this part of town and they're not above harassing a cute girl-"

BANG! POP!

A few people that were on the sidewalk around them screamed and ran for cover out of sight. Boomer's eyes widened in surprise and grabbed her arm, pulling them both down behind his Audi. "Get down!" She yelped and ducked down, looking around frantically to see where the sound was coming from.

Holy shit, were those gunshots she just heard? Was someone shooting around them? They were deep in the downtown area! She thought the gangs wouldn't come this deep into the city! This was Mafia territory, which as bad as it sounded, made it slightly safer than other parts of the city.

The remaining people that had been out on the street cleared out in seconds as the sounds grew closer, followed by several sets of screeching tires, letting her know that there was more than one assailant and they were closing in fast.

Despite the chaos unfolding around them, Boomer looked surprisingly calm, mildly impressed even. "Holy shit, he did it. He actually did it. He sent his goons after me. That motherfucker is dead when I get my hands on him."

She blinked at him, stupefied. What? What was he even talking abou- but then she thought back to the phone conversation she had overheard when he had stepped out of the car. Clearly, he had been expecting some sort of retaliation from the other person… and she was stuck in the middle of it.

She looked back towards the club. It was a solid brick building with hardly any windows. The music was still pounding away, overpowering the shots that were ringing out. Maybe if she stayed low, she could make it back inside without getting hit-

Boomer seemed to sense what she wanted to do because he gripped her arm, preventing her from going anywhere. "Don't, they'll be here any second. These people don't fuck around and they don't care about who becomes collateral."

"Well what do you suggest we do?" she shrieked, yanking her arm away from his bruising grip. "We're going to get shot if we stay here!"

The blond man reached into his back pocket and she felt her heart stop as a bunch of unwanted scenarios ran through her head. Oh god, he was reaching for a gun wasn't he? Was he going to take her hostage or-

But to her almost instant relief, he pulled out a car FOB and hit a button on it. The Audi's headlights flashed, letting out a loud beep as it unlocked. He looked at her expectantly. "Get in."

"What." She balked, not sure if she had heard him correctly. "Get in." he repeated himself, nodding towards the passenger door. "Are you crazy? I'm not getting in there!" she shook her head, wishing she could back up. "No way! What are you going to do? Kidnap me?"

"No, I'm going to get you out of here." Boomer responded evenly. "If they see you around me, they'll try and kill you too, and I'd really rather not ship you home in a body bag."

She swallowed thickly, feeling her throat close at what he was implying. "I'm not-"

BANG POP!

The sound of tiers squealing around the street corner they were on and the sound of a bullet whizzing overtop of her head, made any rational decisions fly out of her head; and before she could think about what she was doing: she had flung open the door and thrown herself into the passenger's seat, slamming the door shut behind her.

Breathing heavily, she looked out the mirror only to see that three more cars had joined the first and where closing in fast. More bullets flew by them and a second later Boomer ripped open the driver's side door, throwing himself into the driver's seat, and the car roared to life around them.

He shot her a devious grin as he looked at her startled expression. "It's an R8. This will lose them no problem. Buckle up."

She had barely clipped her seatbelt into place before he put the gas pedal to the floor, and the car shot off like a rocket. She yelped as the city became a blur around her and she gripped the affectionately named Holy Shit Handle like a vice as Boomer ripped through the city streets at a speed that definitely wasn't legal.

She sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening, hoping that the normally backed up city streets were empty as the sports car made a sharp turn into Townsville's main road, leading directly through the city itself. Thankfully, only a few cars were on the highway which Boomer was easily able to swerve around. Unfortunately, so did their pursuers.

The blond man snorted as another shot flew past the driver's side window. "That wasn't even close. Honestly, you think that he'd send guys who actually knew how to shoot."

"That's what your worried about?" she balked at him, hardly believing what she was hearing. Out of everything that was happening; that's what he chose to be concerned about. This was clearly a normal occurrence for him. It had to be. There was no other explanation for why he was so calm. She groaned into her hands as the gravity of the situation she had gotten herself into pressed down on her shoulders.

Goddamn it, she had just wanted to go home! Not get herself locked into a car chase between one of the smaller gangs and Townsville's most notorious crime family, over what was essentially a business deal gone wrong!

This really was not her night.

"Hold on." Without another warning, Boomer snapped the parking brake down and the car turned in a perfect ninety-degree angle, causing her to fail for the passenger handle again. He lifted the parking brake and hit the gas again, causing the Audi to shoot off down a remote side street so narrow, she could hardly believe that the car fit down it without getting its mirrors ripped off.

She watched in the passenger-side mirror as the lead car chasing them tried to make the turn and overshot it, the momentum flipping the car over and causing it to roll down the thankfully empty street past where they had turned.

She sighed in a mixture of relief and shock, hoping that the crash would detour the other cars from following them, but sure enough, a second later, the three remaining cars – though far more slowly – began to form a line after them down the narrow street. She bit her lip nervously, but if she was honest; after witnessing the man beside her shake one of the cars following them with his driving skills – she wasn't as worried about their pursuers catching them anymore.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" she asked him. He blinked as he forced the car down another side street. "What do you mean?" he asked her, looking slightly confused. "That! Back there!" she gestured frantically to the move he had pulled.

He offered her a smug grin as they turned on to the highway leading through the city. "Practice." He glanced up at the rear-view mirror. "How many are left? Do we still have a tail?"

"Three." She confirmed. "They're not giving up."

"I didn't expect as much." Boomer sighed. "Okay, hold on. I'm going to shake two of them – I'll deal with the last one myself."

Before she could ask what he meant, he spun the car out into the wrong lane of traffic. She let out a scream before she could stop herself as Boomer began to expertly weave the car in between the few straggling cars on the freeway with ease.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE GOING TO GET US KILLED!" She shrieked. But the blue-eyed man only laughed at her distress. He quickly moved back over to the right side of the highway – watching the two cars behind them swerve dangerously. She gasped as both cars hit the guard railing hard – smashing the front of the cars into the unforgiving cinder blocks lining the sides of the highway.

Boomer floored the car off the road as they approached an exit point. He quickly gunned it past several more cars that were stopped at a red light, and floored it through the intersection, causing one car to serve out of the way and several more to honk angrily after them.

"The police are going to have a hay day." Bubbles muttered under her breath as she watched the remaining car appeared in her mirror behind them a second later. "The police won't get involved. Not when it comes to my brothers and I. They know better." Boomer assured her as he took another side street, temporarily shaking the cars behind them. "They know it's easier to let us deal with the gangs when they decide to test the boundaries we've set for them. We keep the gangs in line, and the police stay out of our affairs – that's the deal my father's made with them."

So that was how it worked. She knew that Townsville's police force had some sort of deal with the Mafia family, but she wasn't sure to what extent. Honestly it made perfect sense. There was a reason that hardly anyone involved in the family was persecuted for anything… even if it was clear they were guilty.

"How do you know where all of these side streets are?" She asked him, gipping the handle with a white-knuckle grip, as Boomer turned onto a different street. "I've lived here my whole life and I've never even been to this side of the city." Boomer only ginned. "I run Townville hun. I know these streets like the back of my hand."

She glanced around the burry surroundings outside the car and frowned as she realized where they were. "Hey… isn't this the harbor?" he nodded. "It is." She frowned. "Why are we here? This is the very edge of the city… a lot of gangs are aroun- Oh." She felt herself pale as Boomer gradually slowed the car down. He smiled cheerfully out the window, not looking at her. "I need to deal with a certain someone and I wanted to make sure that one of his goons followed us back here."

"Why?" she asked, fighting the urge to sink into her seat.

"Because I need a witness."

Suddenly she wanted out of the car. She didn't want to be here, but she knew getting out of the car and trying to get home by other means around this part of town was a horrible idea. Especially for a college-aged girl like herself.

The final car squealed around the corner and roared up behind them – the halo's blinding them through the back window – but she noticed that they weren't shooting at them like they had been earlier. They seemed just as shocked that Boomer had taken them back to the docks instead of trying to lose them in the city.

Boomer slowly steered the car towards a set of warehouses lining the edge of the dock and parked the car, the bright headlights illuminating the rusty, metal buildings, as the other car stopped just behind them. He scowled and laid on the horn, the blast resonating throughout the otherwise quiet dock.

After a second, she watched as a large man stepped out of one of the buildings, flanked by two other men. All three were scowling as they glared at them through the car. The car behind them had shut off their lights and three more men stepped out of the car and walked towards the man who she assumed was their boss.

Boomer sighed and passed her the FOB. "Hold this for me." He muttered as he reached into the back seat behind him. Before she could ask what he was going to do, he pulled out a long, metal bat that had some curious faint brown stains covering the barrel, and held it gleefully in his hands. She stared at him in shock, feeling her jaw go slack.

"What are you going to do…?" she asked, leaning away from the metal bat. "You won't… you're not going to-" he only shook his head with the ghost of a smirk etched on his lips as he unlocked his door and stepped out of the car, bat pinging against the concrete .

He smiled brightly at her. "Just stay in the car sweetness, don't you worry: everything is going to be fine." And he slammed the door shut, waving at her from outside the car as he made his way towards the men.

He strode towards the agitated men, twirling the bat lazily in his left hand. He stopped in front of the lead mean and the two began talking, clearly not happy to see each other. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying, as the car muffled their conversation, but she heard the lead man raise his voice and the other men surrounded the tall blond.

She felt her breath hitch in her throat. Oh god, they were going to kill him! Even with a bat there were six of them and one of him, and they could have guns or knives or-

Before any of the men could make a move, Boomer swung the bat around and cracked one of the gangsters over the head, causing him to crumple instantly.

She jolted back as Boomer carved the bat in a circle and hit the man beside the fallen one across the face, causing blood to spurt everywhere on the blond man's person, as the gangster's nose exploded in a red mist. Two of the men rushed him and Boomer kicked one of them square in the chest, driving him backwards as he brought the bat around and cracked the other one across the ribs, causing his knees to buckle out from under him as he coughed up something red.

She wished she could run from the violent scene unfolding before her eyes. She wanted to run, but where would she go? She couldn't leave the car, lest she get pulled into the brawl by one of them. So, she watched in silence as one of the men pulled a knife on the blond man, only for it to get knocked out of his hand by the bat and for him to get hit across the face with it a second later, knocking him out cold. The man who Boomer had kicked earlier rushed him, and the tall man easily swung the bat around and caught him across the face, causing blood to spurt everywhere as he crumpled to the ground.

It was amazing how much damage one man could do against six assailants with one bat. She mused privately as she watched another spray of red coat the blue-eyed man – now sporting a wicked grin – as he turned his attention on the lead gangster. The larger man put his hands up and looked as if he was trying to say something placating, but Boomer took two long strides over to him and threw a crippling right hook into his face.

She thought it was over as the man staggered back, holding his nose – that was now gushing blood like a faucet – and fell onto his back. None of the other goons were moving to get up, and help their boss, but Boomer had other plans as he brought the bat up over his head and proceeded to bring it down upon the man's knees. Not even the car could muffle the horrible screech of pain the man let out from the blow, and she couldn't stop the yelp that escaped her throat as she covered her mouth with her hands.

She watched in muted terror as Boomer bent down and picked up the man by the front of his shirt and brought his bloody face close to his. He growled something into his ear, and unceremoniously dropped him back down onto the pavement, where the man didn't get up.

The blood-splattered man turned and made his way back towards the car and once again, she wasn't sure whether she should run or not. But she opted against it, as tall man reached the car and opened his door, tossing the bat back into the back seat without a word. He sighed deeply and shut his eyes as he tried to get his breathing back under control.

They sat in silence for what could have only been a minute at most, but felt like an hour. Finally her voice came back to her and she managed to croak out, "Are, are they-"

"They're not dead. That wasn't the goal, I just wanted to send them a message." Boomer interrupted her, already knowing what she was going to ask. She leaned away from him as he opened his eyes and winced slightly as he tried to wipe some of the blood splatter off his face, but only ended up smearing it across his cheek. He looked at her apologetically.

"I wasn't about to go all the way since I have a guest with me. God knows I wanted to – they could have easily killed you tonight – but I wanted to get you out of there – not scar you for life." He laughed bitterly. "Though, I guess I already have, haven't I?"

She wrapped her arms around herself and focused her attention on her feet. "Why?" she asked after a moment. He tilted his head to the side. "Pardon?"

"Why did you take me with you?" she clarified, still not looking at him. "You could have left me back there at the club. Why did you bring me into this?"

He paused, her question throwing him off. Finally, he sat back in the driver's seat and looked forward. "I dunno I guess… you didn't panic when you saw me like most people do. Shit, maybe you didn't know who I was then, but I thought you were interesting; like you're sweet, but you won't let yourself get pushed around and I think that's pretty hot. Doesn't help that you're so, so pretty." He allowed himself to look at her and she saw that he was wearing a little smirk again, and for some stupid reason, she allowed herself to smile back at him.

He jerked his thumb towards the six unconscious men lying in front of the car in various pools of blood. "I'm sorry you had to see that. If I hadn't done what I did, they would have come after you too and that really didn't sit well with me."

She knew there was truth in his words. The gangs that operated outside of the city were known for their rivalry with the Mafia, and their spats normally involved people who were associated with either party ending up dead or worse. She was lucky she didn't become one of those people tonight.

He cleared his throat and she met those dark blue eyes of his again. "Let me make it up to you sometime: there's this great restaurant down town that makes all these awesome noodle bowls and I know the owners personally. Why don't I take you down there sometime? It's my way of apologizing for tonight."

She looked at him hesitantly. "Do I get a say?" he nodded. "Yeah. Though, I really would like too. I think you're fun, and I want to see you again."

She bit her lip as she thought it over. The offer was nice, but it still didn't excuse the fact that she had just seen him crack skulls in with very little effort. That was an image that she wouldn't soon forget.

"Can I think about it?" he nodded again. "Yeah, you can do that." She breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he was more reasonable then she initially thought. "Thank you. I guess I'll give you my number and maybe we can set something up-"

Her phone vibrated in her purse and she frowned as she reached in to answer it. Unlocking it, a text from Blossom flashed across her screen.

Blossom Utonuim: Girls, you would not believe the night that I've had.

She fought the urge to laugh. She was one to talk. After tonight, nothing would surprise her.

Boomer chuckled as he took the FOB from her and started the car again. "Come on, let's get you home." he steered the sports Audi out of the docks and made their way back into the main city. They drove in relative silence for a while before she sighed. "Thank you for getting me out of there. If you hadn't jumped in, I probably would have gotten shot back there." She admitted quietly.

The blood splattered man looked over at her; those deep blue eyes piercing into her light blue ones as he offered her a smile. "Anytime, Bubbles."

And they took off into the night beyond the city's limits.