PR 12:
Disclaimer: I do not own the PPG or any characters associated with them.
Sorry for taking so long on this guys. Between my short attention span and lack of ideas I just can't seem to find the motivation to keep writing this… I refuse to give up on it though and I'll keep trying, I won't lie it'll probably take a while but I'm trying to force myself back into the writing mood. In the mean time I will, at the very least, upload or update something on my page once a month. I refuse to lay idle for longer than that cause it just seems unfair to all of you… especially the ones that have been around since I first started writhing, so if I don't update I'll probably have some other oneshot lying around. (Trying to get better at those, I've got two so far and ideas for two more)
•••000•••
"You know… you look like a sloth like that." giggling in amusement, Bubbles watched as Boomer slowly inched his way across the rope. He had slipped a moment before and was now hanging upside down, still trying to get across.
"I'd really appreciate it… if you'd stop… distracting me." Boomer mumbled shakily, his breath coming in uneven gasps. Bubbles could even hear his strangled chants of "Don't look down."
He looked terrified, his face ghostly pale. If they were under better conditions, Bubbles would have cooed and hugged him. He looked like he could really use one at this moment.
As soon as he was close enough, Boomer jumped from the rope. Landing on the ledge with a 'oof' he scrambled deeper into the tunnel, leaning against a wall, breathing heavily.
Bubbles quickly plucked the spearhead out of the wall and with a sharp tug pulled the other side out as well. A sinewy hiss echoed out as the rope retract. With precise twists, Bubbles dismantled her equipment and slipped them away again before turning to face the boy.
By this time, Boomers face had regained color and his breathing slowed. Walking over, Bubbles placed a soothing hand on his shoulder.
"You ok now Blue?" she asked quietly, a warm smile on her face.
"Y-yah." Boomer squeaked, his voice cracking. "I'm fine!" he hastily added, springing to his feet and walking down the tunnel at a speedy pace. "We should keep moving."
'Aww.' Bubbles followed him without a sound. He was obviously embarrassed and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable on top of that. 'He's so cute. Wish I could pinch him.'
The path they took seemed to be a bit longer than expected but not by much. Before long Bubbles picked up the echo of footsteps in the distance. Sharp scraping sounds rumbled faintly along with a soft whirling. She recognized it to be a machine, judging by the audible buzzing sound it probably dealt with high amounts of electricity.
Slowing down a bit, Bubbles turned to Boomer raising a finger to her lips before continuing down the path as quietly as she could.
Since childhood Bubbles had been labeled the baby, the sweet, kindhearted, innocence of the group. Her signature attack being her Sonic Scream, the sheer volume and pitch making her, without a doubt, the loudest of her sisters. Heck she was even on her schools cheer squad and choir. But this image and all of those qualities are what made Bubbles the best at what she did. No one would ever suspect such sweet and adorable innocence and that's exactly why she did it.
With footsteps so silent one could accuse her of flying, Bubbles crept down the passage. 'Geez Boomer, how loud can you be?' glancing back, she shook her head as the blue plowed along behind her, his shoes squeaking annoyingly.
Disregarding the boy, she stopped as they reached a break in the path. Pressing herself against the wall, Bubbles held her breath listening for anyone nearby. A moment later she pulled a compact from her breast pocket and angled it just around the corner.
Normally this is where Buttercup would laugh and accuse her of being overly paranoid like Blossom but, honestly, she was glad she was. Just around the corner, tucked against the wall, was a large ball of scales.
Judging by the angle of the scales, Bubbles could tell that the creature was curled up and in actuality, far bigger than it looked. She couldn't remember the exact species but she could recognize it easily for it's raptor-like build.
Crouching down, Bubbles brought her hand to her mouth and bit lightly on one of the fingers of her black gloves. Using the other hand to unfasten the strap, she pulled it off. With her hand now bare she reached around the corner, tapping the ground with aqua blue nail painted fingers.
A soft buzzing sound echoed out as Bubbles powered up, bright blue electricity dancing over her body. Traveling down her arm the blue waves jumped along the floor making it's way to the scaly ball. With a sharp yelp, the beasts head popped up before it fell back down in a convulsing mass. From the corner of her eye she saw Boomer jump at the sudden shriek.
"Looks like it's clear now." Bubbles whispered, keeping her voice low just to be on the safe side. 'I've really gotta stop hanging around Bloss so much, her paranoia's rubbing off a little too much.'
"Woah! What is that thing?" Boomer questioned in a low tone as he rounded the corner. "Is it dead?"
The blonde male took a few cautious steps towards the creature. Leaning a little he nudged it with his foot experimentally, jumping back as it spasmed a bit.
"Of course it's still alive." She huffed indignantly. How could he even suggest that she killed the innocent creature? "Hologram or not, I'd rather not hurt it."
"You call this not hurt?" Boomer asked, a little louder this time. He hooked his foot under the long scaly neck, letting it's head roll off and flop back on the floor for emphasis.
"I call that unconscious." she quipped smartly. Hopping delicately over and around the raptor, she continued down the hall.
Snap!
Faster than lightning, Bubbles spun on her heels body dropping into a defensive crouch. Her black gloved hands blazed a watery blue as she readied an attack.
"Woah, woah, EASY!" Boomer yelped, arms flying up to protect his head. A flash of blue and silver caught her attention and Bubbles immediately zeroed in on his hands.
'A camera…' she blinked. "Boomer, why the heck do you have a camera?"
"I think the better question is, why are you trying to kill me?!" When he kept his arms up, she realized that her own arms were still blazing with energy.
"Sorry." Bubbles flicked them a few times, discharging them. "But seriously, why do you have a camera? This isn't a field trip."
"No one said I couldn't have one." Boomer mumbled, pocketing the blue and silver device. "Besides, you've got to admit, this thing looks pretty cool."
"Hate to break it to you, but you probably just took a picture of air." Bubbles stated with a straight face. "It's all holographic, remember?"
"Aww, man…" Boomer whined, looking genuinely depressed about this fact.
"You know, if you really wanted a picture I could just show you one." Bubbles blabbed absently, she had to stop herself from face-palming a second later at her slip up.
"Really? You got a picture of this thing?" Boomer eyed the beast curiously. "Well I guess you would have to, to make a hologram of it."
"Yah, of course." Sighing inwardly, Bubbles thanked her lucky stars for his misunderstanding. "I can call it up later, for now let's keep moving okay?"
"Sure."
•••***•••
"Seriously, where the fuck do you keep pulling this shit from?" Brick asked, starring with apprehension at Mitch as he pulled out another pixie stick from who knows where. He had long passed the single digits and had yet to run out even with his near constant consumption. "Is there like, a black hole in your jacket or something?"
"Nah, I gus gok a yok in ma pockek." Mitch mumbled through a mouthful of pink powder, puffing a little out in the process. "Yoh ture yoh dot wah thom?"
"No thanks. I'm good." Brick assured, waving his hand dismissively before continuing down the hallway.
Thankfully, for the sake of Brick's sanity, the duo had yet to come across any more obstacles. Mitch had ceased to draw troublesome attention and aside from the little detour with the greens, the path seemed to stay relatively straight forward.
They had only run into guards twice and both times Brick had dealt with them easily. Although there was one sentry that had caught him off guard, oddly enough the man had some type of problem with his gun and it had blown up in his face. Other then that, the only problem was Mitch himself. Sure he had stopped getting into trouble but the brunet boy was getting on the red Ruffs last nerves.
He never seemed to take anything seriously and when he wasn't talking about some random thing he was downing pixie sticks like there was no tomorrow. If that kid wasn't a bottomless pit he must at the very least have a tapeworm. Diabetes was very near in this boys future, or at least a rise in blood pressure for Brick.
"-and that's when people started using tanks in WWII" Mitch babbled around a half swallowed mouthful. A flicker of light flashed briefly that had Brick narrowing his eyes at the brunet. Quickly swallowing the rest of the powder, Mitch gave another idiotic grin. "What? Something on my face?"
Though he wanted to brush it off, something about that light didn't seem right. Brick could tell that it had come from somewhere in Mitch's direction and the fact that the boy had suddenly tensed merely made him more suspicious. 'Man this kid is troublesome. Whenever he's around weird things keep happening.'
There was only so much he could brush off as coincidental. Mitch was a disaster magnet, constantly getting into trouble of some sort. And then there was the fact that he could outrun him and all those times with the fire. It just didn't add up, the brunet was hiding something… 'First the explosion and wild fire, then that guard suddenly having his weapons blow in his face, and now I swear I saw fire coming from him …again…'
"Mitch…What-" what exactly was he supposed to ask anyway… 'why are you so accident prone?' 'how can a human outrun a superhuman?' 'do you somehow control fire?' it'd sound odd no matter what he said.
Unfortunately he never got the chance, Mitch suddenly went weird again and dived to the side of the cave. Brick didn't even bother to ask why, he had already associated it with danger of some sort. And sure enough, seconds later a high whining sound filled the air.
Ducking down, Brick glanced up at the bright white stream of something-or-other flash above his head. Flying over him it continued down the passage for a few dozen feet before crashing into a wall with a loud 'boom'.
Without wasting another second the redhead leapt towards the opposite wall of the tunnel ducking behind a large boulder. He paused for a moment, focusing on his fist before cursing aloud, damning the pink Powerpuff and the monkey for stripping him of his powers in this stupid game that he never wanted to be part of in the first place.
"Dude!" Mitch called from across the tunnel. He was hiding behind a boulder of his own, flapping the folds of his jacket wildly.
Before Brick could yell at the brunet for his stupidity Mitch pulled a dark silver pistol form somewhere in the jacket. It looked like the ones Brick had used the day he and his brothers had played that 'game' just a slightly different design. Waving it around a little, Mitch gestured to his jacket once more, dramatically pulling back the flaps.
Catching on Brick unzipped his own jacket, pulling back the flaps to expose a black, leather looking gun holster that, without him noticing, had somehow been strapped just below his ribcage. Snatching it out he turned back towards Mitch only to spy empty air.
'What the hell?'
BOOM!
Not even bothering to flinch, Brick peaked over the boulder. Dark grey smoke filled the air, bright flashes of orange zipping around like a pinball. Pressing a few buttons he had previously found in the goggles, Brick turned on the heat sensors. A rainbow of colors, mostly reds and yellows, appeared before his eyes.
Deciding to play it safe for the moment he lay the gun flat over the top of the boulder, sniping a few targets from a distance.
'1, 2, 3, 4…5' Counting them off in his head, Brick was surprised to note the sudden disappearance of a few targets as they vanished into thin air. Blinking twice he shook his head, shaking it before returning his goggles back to it's original setting.
When it did, he noticed Mitch at the far end of the tunnel, peeking and occasionally shooting around the corner. Throwing caution to the wind he leapt over the boulder and ran towards the brunet, pressing his back against the stone wall.
"There's guards everywhere." Mitch grumbled, shooting another blast around the corner. "We're probably gonna have to abort if we don't get all ten of these guys around the corner before they set off the alarm."
"All ten huh? Cover me!" Dropping to the floor, Brick rolled just into the opening of the next cavern. Pulling the gun back towards his face like a sniper rifle, he took aim and blasted away. '6, 7, 8, 9… Crap! Where's 10?'
Glancing around, he looked left, just in time to see an army printed pant leg and boot as it disappeared around another bend.
"AGH!" crying out in pain, the man came flying back into the cave, looking as if he had been kicked. He slumped down, unconscious, as his head crashed into the stone floor. Moments later a familiar mop of shaggy brown hair stepped into view.
'What the?' Looking behind him, Brick was slightly surprised to note that Mitch was no longer there. Turning back, he glared suspiciously at the boy in question.
"Whatcha waitin for? Come on." Mitch chirped happily, ducking back around the corner. "Looks like we've finally reached their base and I'm pretty sure your gonna wanna see this. It looks totally awesome."
Brick had his doubts, but upon walking down the short path and turning the corner, but he found that the brunet hadn't been kidding. Even Brick had to admit it looked pretty cool. Just around the last corner was a large spacious room. High metal spires of varying heights rose along the walls every twenty or so feet. What looked like enormous plasma globes at least ten feet in diameter were mounted on each slender tip. In the direct center of the room was some type of giant machine.
From the angle he was at Brick could just see a large screen built into the side, probably a control panel. The opposite side housed steel sliding doors. The entire machine looked foreign to him, from it's strange green tinted steel to the bright yellow lights pulsing across it's surface. Honestly the thing looked like some sort of giant microchip with a miniature Eiffel tower mounted on top.
At the very top of the fifty to sixty foot green tower was the absolute biggest plasma globe in the entire room. The glass sphere was a good twenty-five feet around, a kaleidoscope of colors writhing within it. Brighter waves of red, blue, and purple looking electricity sparked wildly, dancing along it's surface before darting out towards the other globes. Each time it jumped the waves seemed to glow brighter, as if it were collecting energy before continuing to the next sphere.
"Only down side is it means we were sneaking around for nothing." Sighing in exasperation, Mitch reached for the wing tipped ear of his goggles.
"What are you talking about?"
To the redheads immense irritation, Mitch ignored him as he fiddled with a few buttons on the headset. A soft static buzzed for a moment before being replaced by Buttercup's voice. 'It wasn't just goggles then huh.'
"Hey BC, looks like all the stupid stealth junk was for nothin." Folding his arms grumpily, Mitch waited a moment before continuing. "Turns out it's an illegal 'Transport Terminal'."
Brick could distinctly hear Buttercup's whoop of joy straight through the headset before a loud rumbling crash. He almost felt bad for Mitch as he tugged the headset off, grasping his ears in pain. "You know the drill Mitch! Start smashin, but ya better save some for me!" Brick could hear Butch shouting obscenities, his voice slowly fading. He could only guess that Buttercup had ran off and left his brother behind.
"Damn that girl can scream." Twirling a finger in his ear, Mitch pulled it out before replacing his headset. "Well, you heard the lady, let's start smashin."
The ground shook slightly, pebbles sliding over the floor before loud sirens began screeching. The rock walls in the room suddenly slid away in several places, trap doors opening in the floors and walls.
From the openings came a herd of long necked scaly raptors. Each creature was a good fifteen feet tall, covered in bleached white scales and some type of steel plating. The green armor covered their shoulders and chests running down their backs to cover large thighs. At the end of their tails were sharp steel blades on the outer edge of the oddly red feather tips. Sniffing around, they milled about the room, spreading across the open floor space.
"Aww man." Mitch whined, sliding his gun back into the holsters. Shuffling deeper he pulled out a pair of spike tipped steel knuckles and slipped them on. "I hate fighting these stupid Droma- whatevers." Turning to Brick he added. "Ya might wanna put your gun away too, that armor their wearing deflects the bullets."
"Wha- oh that little bastard!" Brick watched as Mitch ran off into the room. Growling, he debated wether or not it was worth the punishment he would get if he left the brunet to get eaten. "Ah, what the hell."
Tucking the gun away he sifted through his pockets, if he had a gun on him that wasn't there before he was sure to have more, for anything that seemed useful. He hadn't really had time, or knowledge of, anything other than the goggles with all the trouble Mitch got them into previously. Ignoring the loud shrieks of the creatures he located and removed random things from the variously pockets.
So far he found something that looked like a speargun, the ray gun, two steel knuckles, and a pair of weird something or others that looked like giant butterfly knives. The first one didn't look very helpful, the second was obviously no use. The third items would probably be helpful, the fourth he still didn't know.
Picking at one of the items, Brick ran his fingers over the cool metal. With a soft click it snapped around creating a long, sleek, metal shaft, before a shorter piece popped out. Spinning it around, Brick marveled at how the once two pieces blended together almost seamless.
Grabbing the other one up he found himself looking at a pair of steel tonfa. It was a type of martial arts weapon if he remembered correctly, and he often saw it on one of the many video games he and his brothers owned. He'd never tried them before but they looked difficult to handle.
'Well, can't be too hard. Basically just hitting stuff.' Pocketing the rest of the stuff he probably wouldn't use, Brick stepped into the cave.
•••***•••
"Come on ya snail! Were gonna miss all the action!" Buttercup called over her shoulder.
"You're crazy you know that?!" Butch shouted, trying to keep up as he brushed rocks and dust out of his hair.
The second they got that call from Mitch, Buttercup began blasting apart the walls and caused a cave in to free herself. It wouldn't have been much of a problem except that he had nearly gotten trapped beneath the rubble. They were now running down winding corridors with Buttercup in the lead as though she knew exactly where she were going.
"What was your first clue?" Unzipping her jacket Buttercup pulled out a foot long pipe, holding the center of it she flicked it out to her side. A sharp snap and the ends extend in a blazing green light. "Besides I enjoy every minute of it, now hurry up!"
Racing off further ahead of him, Buttercup turned a sharp corner. Butch couldn't help but pull up short as he rounded into a small cavernous hall. Nearly every surface was covered in dark scorch marks, shards of rock and metal, and worse yet body's. Hopping along the larger rocks and boulders, she continued through the room as if it were completely normal to see a dozen or so bodies lying around.
The Ruff hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should follow or if he should try to help the people, until he heard a low groan from one of them.
'Isn't she supposed to help them?' Butch couldn't understand these girls anymore. All his life he had grown up thinking he was supposed to destroy them. It had gotten to the point that, once upon a time, just seeing one of them would send him into full blown fight mode.
The Powerpuff's were the very definition of all things sweet and kind. They were the goody two shoes that saved the day, the little girls that could do no wrong. The girls everyone looked up to, who every little girl wanted to be like.
The kids that saved Townsville, who would help every last person whether they wanted to or not. They did everything from fighting giant monsters to helping little old lady's find their lost cat. They even helped their enemies, so how could she leave these people here like it didn't matter?
Things had gotten weird ever since they had left the main part of the city. Sure he hadn't exactly tried to find out what was going on. He hadn't cared at the time, all Butch could think then was how great it was that they weren't around all the time to ruin his fun. But could they change this much in just that amount of time?
'Im probably over thinking things.… since when do I think this much? Aaahh! I'm turning into Brick!' shaking it off, Butch ran after the other raven, twisting down the tunnels. It seemed like he was doing a lot of following recently... Skidding to a halt, he looked in awe at the hoard of creatures in the cavern they had just reached. "Woah… what are those?"
"Something we can hit." Buttercup replied, twirling the staff in her hand before jumping headlong into the mass of moving scales. "BANZAI!"
The snake necked dinos seemed to be everywhere, jaws snapping, claws slashing. And to make things more complicated the, admittedly cool, electrical balls were firing lightning bolts everywhere. Too busy checking everything out he didn't notice the scaly mass creeping up beside him.
"Gaaauuuu!" Butch nearly jumped out of his skin as one of the beasts came flying at him like a raptor out of Jurassic Park. It's head reared back, feet tucked close to its chest as razor sharp talons spread out dangerously.
"Aah!" Throwing himself back, Butch hit the ground hard. The monster flew over him but not before catching him on the cheek, bright red blood oozing from the shallow cut.
Rolling onto his belly, Butch got up into a crouch. The raptor creature slowly turned towards him in a menacing fashion, clicking it's fanged maw loudly. It was then that he noticed it's saber-toothed teeth that jut out like serrated daggers.
Keeping low to the ground it crept closer hissing all the while. It's freakishly long tail darted out, whipping at his legs. Butch jumped into the air, the tail swinging harmless beneath him.
'Shit!' he cursed, realizing that he had left himself wide open as the scaled head darted forward to snap at his shoulder. 'They aren't as stupid as I thought.'
Twisting in midair, Butch punched it right between the eyes on sheer reflex, startled when the reptile stumbled back shaking it's head, eyes rolling awkwardly. He had forgotten about what Mojo said about using their powers, he had automatically assumed that meant he wouldn't have them at all. He couldn't fly, he had tried, but to find that he still had his super strength.
'Things were about to get interesting.'
Once regaining its bearings the lizard turned to him again its diamond slitted eyes starring him down. It stayed motionless, it's breathing the only obvious exception. With a guttural snarl it charged him again. Butch leaned forward ready to grab hold of it when it shifted, barreling right past him. Twisting around he was just in time to catch the beast wide maw as it attempted to snap around his head.
Just like he had with the cow the previous day he used his grip on the teeth and knocked it on its side. That seemed to stun it for a moment, the Ruff used that time to put some distance between them before it could get back up. Mildly pleased with himself, Butch was about to give himself a pat on the back when a stinging pain shot up his arm.
Gripping his wrist, he cursed a second time noticing the glove over his knuckles was torn, blood seeping into the dark fabric. In seconds he was surrounded by a mass of scales, fangs, and claws all trying to take a bite out of him.
'They want the blood!'
Everything seemed to blend together in a thick wall of scaly white as a good number of the reptiles stopped whatever they were doing in favor of coming after him.
'Why won't these things go down!?'
No matter how hard he hit them they just kept coming back. He punched, he kicked, he even tried ramming into one of them but they just shook it off and came charging right back. To make make matters worse, he was hurting himself more than those damn albino lizards. It was most likely their scales, though they looked pretty smooth Butch suspected them to be sharper than they appeared for anything that touched them seemed to tear whether it be cloth or skin.
'Fuck. This is pissing me off!' Spinning around, Butch narrowly avoided a claw to the gut as a raptor kicked at him. 'Alright that's IT!'
Crouching low he spread his feet apart, bracing himself as a tail the size of a small tree whipped at him. Letting it slam into his chest, Butch wrapped his arms around it. Glancing down he wasn't surprised to see that he had gouged a small trench into the cavern floor as he skid back from the force.
'The Hell! That felt like a train hit me!' Avoiding the knife ended tip, Butch gripped tight and pulled. 'Huh? Lighter than I thought.'
Yanking the lizard off it's feet he spun, whipping it around him. Faster, faster, faster he turned, dragging the raptor around in a tornado spin. The raptor shrieked, kicking and flailing trying to get at him.
'Maybe they are stupid after all.'
All it's thrashing was doing is hurting the other raptors more as Butch smashed it into them. Once he had a reasonable amount of floor space again he let go. The raptor flying off, bowling over some of the others.
"Yah! Wohoo! That'll show em!" Green orbs blinked in confusion as Mitch went flying by. The Brunet was sitting on one of the raptors, arms wrapped around it's neck and legs tucked under it's arms in a way that the thing couldn't reach him no matter how hard it tried. "This is fun, you gotta try it man!"
"The Hell?" Butch murmured, a second later he was running in the opposite direction. "CRAP! Mitch don't bring it over here!"
"Not my fault!" Mitch shouted, grabbing at the horns on its head, trying to turn it in another direction. "These guys don't come with steering!"
"We'll try something!" Butch yelled back, dodging under one of the many white bellies.
•••***•••
"Bubbles, you're insane!" Boomer shouted, clinging to the cavern wall as the petite blonde dashed past him.
It was a train wreak moment, no matter how much he wanted to look away he just couldn't. Bubbles had already jumped, ever so slowly falling down towards the plasma globe beneath the ledge he stood on. There was no way the glass could support her weight and even if it did she'd be fried to a crisp from the electrical current firing around it.
Just as her feet touched the surface, Bubbles tucked herself into a ball rolling over the thin glass.
"What was that?" Bubbles called back innocently. "Aren't you coming?"
Boomer just gave her a weird look, he had obviously been thinking there was something wrong with her. When it became obvious that he wouldn't answer, Bubbles stomped on the surface of the sphere.
"Don't do that!" Boomer jumped, screeching in horror at the idiotic little Puff for her stupidity.
"It won't break if that's what your worried about." Bubbles called, waiving her hand absently. "It's not actually glass. It's pretty durable stuff."
"Are you trying to get me killed? Even if it docent break I'll be roasted alive the second I touch that thing."
"No you won't, we're super human remember?"
"Docent mean I can't get electrocuted!"
"What about that bat you used to make, it was electrical."
"That was my own energy which, if you haven't noticed, I CAN'T USE!"
"It's the SAME thing." Bubbles huffed in exasperation. 'Whether it's from inside or outside of your body, electricity is still electricity.'
"No it's not!" Boomer dimly recalled the time he had been working with one of his first robots. In a moment of temporary insanity he had used one of Mojo's experiments to power it and zapped himself so bad he caused every electrical appliance he touched to short circuit for nearly a week. Not to mention what it did to his hair, his brothers would still occasionally tease him about it. "I've seen what happens and it ain't pretty!"
"Alright then, you leave me no choice." muttering the last part, Bubbles pulled off both gloves. Tucking them away she placed her hand against the globe.
Rainbow colors of electricity swarmed around her sparkling and crackling. Aiming her other hand towards the ledge she fired a small wave at Boomer. With a startled shout he jumped clean off the ledge, landing in a disgruntled heap at the smug Puffs feet.
"Now was that so bad?"
"You're TRYING to kill me aren't you?" Boomer pointed an accusing finger at Bubbles.
"No, I just can't leave you behind." Boomer glanced up at Bubbles, shocked at her words. A strangely fuzzy feeling crept over him only to be squashed down when she continued with, "You wouldn't learn anything if I let you hang around on the sidelines."
Walking to the very top of the sphere Bubbles crouched down placing her hands back on the surface.
"Ok Blue, keep an eye on what I'm doing cause you'll have to do this later."
A bright light began to form around Bubbles's hands, transferring from the sphere. With a loud crackle yellow lightning danced over her electrifying the very air. Cobalt orbs stared in awe as she stood up pulling the deadly waves along as if they were nothing more than harmless rope. Boomer could feel all the hairs at the back of his neck as they stood on end.
"You use your body as a conductor. If you tense up you'll zap yourself so stay relaxed and let it flow." Turning towards him, Bubbles held out her hand inviting the cautious Ruff closer. "It's like the energy we always use just a slightly different feel. Sort of like how velvet is soft but silk is softer. You just have to be a little more careful with how you use it."
"Aaaahhhh!" "Woohoo!" two different voices echoed out from the ground below drawing the attention of both blondes.
"Guess the lessons over." Bubbles sighed wearily, shooing her hand towards Boomer telling him to back away.
Once he reached a reasonable distance Bubbles raised her hands above her head. The air grew considerably thicker, a warm moisture settling as what looked like storm clouds began to appear.
•••***•••
"They are getting better." loud clicks echoed throughout the small room as Mojo clattered away at the keyboard.
The screens around him reflected each of the teens in their various places throughout the holographic landscape. Already accustomed to the Powerpuffs and their friends he ignored them for the most part, instead keeping a close eye on his sons.
Even tough he had a rough start and nearly killed his partner on several occasions, Brick was doing remarkably well. He was now holding his own at fending off the Dromeusgigas surrounding him. Even without powers, his son seemed to adapt well, using weapons in place of his usual powered attacks. Even against creatures that not only dwarfed him but out matched him in strength, Brick refused to give up not backing down a inch no matter how hard the reptiles attacked.
Butch, being the brash and outgoing boy he was, had surprised the monkey considerably when he had chosen to stay behind with Buttercup earlier. He was acting much more his usual self once he reached the battlefield, diving in head first like his counterpart. Mojo had to admit that he was mildly impressed, though truthfully not surprised, that Butch had been the first of his brothers to realize that they could still use their super strength.
He had told the boys that they would not be able to use their super powers during practice. Explaining that the machine would temporarily nullify their powers for the duration of their time within. What he hadn't told them was that their 'powers' only referred to the externals, such as flight or their ability to create certain energy beams and the like. He wanted to see how long it would take them to figure out, on their own, that their muscle functions would not be affected.
His third son Boomer was a little harder to evaluate. The blonde Powerpuff seemed to have to save him or force him to continue on, on countless occasions. He had shown his immaturity in many different ways but at the same time learned the most out of his brothers. Boomers ability to absorb information was proving useful as he picked up on how to work things quickly. Simply watching for a moment and he was already grasped the basics on how to channel the electrical currents through his body. Lucky for him Bubbles was a far better conductor and the electrical waves centered on her instead of overwhelming him.
Speaking of Bubbles, clicking on a few keys Mojo brought the young girls picture up on the central monitor. Now able to focus better he watch as she drew in the power. Setting up a data analysis he recorded her energy intake.
'Hmm, she is able to absorb the volts at a much higher rate than before. It seems her intake and overflow levels have risen as well. That is very good to know, she will be a valuable asset in the next few weeks of training.'
Mojo watched with interest as Bubbles called forth the energy within her body, the natural elemental pull drawing forth the moisture in the air around her. Dark storm clouds sprang to life, swirling ominously as the friction converged upon her. In moments the youngest Puff had turned herself into a living storm.
The rainbows of electricity danced around striking out wildly in every direction. Through sheer willpower she focused it on the plasma globes scattered throughout the room. Gargantuan explosions of light and sound vibrated through the cavern dislodging rocks and boulders as the walls began to collapse upon itself. With a loud shout she discharged the energy within her towards the ceiling, blasting a hole through it.
The remaining conscious Dromeusgigas scattered, their prey forgotten in their haste to save themselves. The teens used this to their advantage, leaving the reptiles to fend for themselves. Brick was the first of his boys to catch on as he immediately began leaping onto the rocks, using them as leverage to catapult himself higher into the air. After a while he reached the globe the two blues and the Mitchelson boy now stood upon.
Mojo shook his head. 'That boy draws too much attention to himself. My son already suspects him. There is sure to be questions after that they are not yet ready for. … Maybe in another week or two…or not…'
Mojo would have slapped the brunet teenager if he could. He grumbling colorful curses under his breath as the imbecile tripped on one of the falling rocks, coughing up a dark cloud of smoke. Luckily Brick didn't see this, though Boomer sure did. Thankfully they didn't have time to focus on the matter as the boulders smashed into the sphere they stood upon. The surface shattered upon impact, the teens leaping out in various directions as they all leapt towards their escape.
Like usual the Mitchelson boy was the first out, followed by Bubbles, Brick sprang out through the ceiling a moment later followed closely by Boomer. The four of them easily made their way onto the distance rock face, safely standing upon the mountain edge. Mojo squinted for a moment, a slight nervousness creeping over him when he noticed the lack of his second son.
Rising dust blanketed the sky, the weight of the mountain caving in on itself shaking the holographic landscape. Just as he was about to panic, a streak of green and black darted out of the dust clouds, soaring high into the air to land upon the peak of the mountain beside the other teens. A wave of relief washed over the small black haired monkey as he recognized not only his son but the raven Puff perched smugly on the rocks.
"Alright, that is enough excitement for one day." Mojo sighed clicking a few keys. The loud whirling sound confirmed that the machine was shutting down.
The images on the screen flashed briefly before returning to the uniformed white walls of the training room. He watched as they removed the visors and returned them to their places before getting up to go to the room. If the look on his boys faces were anything to go by, Mojo was sure he'd have to listen through an interrogation from his oldest for quite a bit.
'Oh well, they would have found out at some point, hopefully I can give them a believable story until later though… The pink Powerpuff will not be very pleased if I explain everything without her, besides my explanations will only confuse them.'
•••000•••
Gah! It's driving me insane! I'm writing this an I know I can do better but I'm confused on how to do so. This chapter just seems to move too fast but every time I try to add something to slow it down I mess up and end up deleting it.
Can't wait till I can just finish writing without having to reference stuff I've already written an make sure they match up. Only two, technically one and a half, chapters left before I start writing all new stuff. I know a few that will be happy with that, considering the GGG make an appearance at that time. There's a few more villains that will be popping up after that including everyone's favorite hill billy, Fuzzy Lumpkins.
I know what I want to do with this but I'm not so sure what I should do to get there… if you all would be so kind as to send in a few ideas, be they snippets of video games or pictures of places, I'd very much appreciate it.
Please leave a review or comment, thank you! ^_^