Sorry for the length, I couldn't find a suitable cliff-hanger so just had to keep going…
10. Blossom Defeated?
Blossom cackled almost insanely as she drifted higher and higher into the air. Bubbles was experienced enough to know that this was bad. She knew that she should be attacking to prevent Blossom from pulling off her plan. There was one thing stopping her though which was the fact that she couldn't move. The pain from her over charged body was too much. She just concentrated on staying conscious and keeping an eye on Blossom while not giving away quite how much trouble she was in.
Above her however, Blossom was too wrapped up in her own genius to notice. "Yes my dear sister," she sniggered. "It takes more then just strength and power to win a battle." She moved her hands into position beside her head, with the palm of the further back hand about six inches above the back of the further forward hand. Her face twisted from a look of malicious glee to a grimace of concentration. Slowly but surely energy began to build up between the hands – a sparkly aggressive pink energy.
"Another energy blast?" Bubbles mocked, trying to tease the nature of this attack out of Blossom. "What makes you think that I won't just doge it?"
Blossom laughed. "Oh you can doge this attack Bubbles and you are welcome too. But be aware that if you do this blast will pierce the earth's crust and shatter it's core; terminally damaging the planet!"
Even in her mangled state Bubbles managed to stager backwards in shock. "No! You can't! It's not possible!" she stuttered but her chemical X empowered senses told her that it was. "If you destroy the planet, how can you master Freeza use it?" she suggested desperately trying to talk her sister out of it.
"True," Blossom nodded. "But I know your going to block it – to sacrifice your life for this planet. Then I'll have won!" She fired.
The blast hurtled towards Bubbles like a wall of pink water from a bust dam. Bubbles knew this was it. She had no further options. Forcing her arms to move, she grabbed the buckle on the belt and twisted it up to maximum pumping the rest of the black liquid into her system, before with a mighty roar she thrust both hands forward and fired her own counter blast to meat Blossom's.
The two of them met with a blinding crash that bathed the surrounding area in a bright purple light. Blossom was surprised by the strength of Bubbles' counter blast but she claimed this to be a pleasant one. "Good to see you still have some fight left sis," she roared over the sound of the clashing beams, "but you must know that this is the end!"
"We'll see," Bubbles stuttered but she'd didn't have enough strength to make it audible to her sister.
From their high position in Mojo's laboratory, the Professor, Brick, Boomer and Mojo himself could see the purple light building up on the horizon. "That's incredible," Brick burbled with child like excitement. "What do you think is happening?"
The others didn't share Brick's glee. "I'd say that their having some sort of energy duel," Boomer replied nervously as the ground started to shake slightly below them.
The Professor looked very concerned. "Bubbles can't have much Chemical X left by now," he worried aloud. "If only we knew how much energy she was pumping out we could tell how she's doing."
"Ah ha!" Boomer declared triumphantly. He reached into his pocket and withdrew Blossom's scouter (which he'd salvaged earlier.) "This device should give us a clue." He fixed it briefly to the side of his face and tapped randomly at the buttons while the others waited pensively. Suddenly his jaw dropped.
"What… What is it Boomer?" Brick asked.
"She's running at fifteen thousand!" Boomer stuttered.
"Calibration!" Mojo had a pen and paper at the ready.
"My natural level is apparently two hundred and fifty!" Boomer said once he'd figured out exactly what Mojo wanted.
The monkey immediately threw the paper away. "That is impossible!" he declared. "There is no way that amount of energy could be put out by that puff, unless she disobeyed us and went t level three, which she would not do because she is a puff and therefore can not and would not be disobedient!"
The Professor looked doubtful. "She may have if she had no choice, but that would mean that she's nearly out!"
There was a moment's silence, before Brick turned to Boomer. "We've got to go back," he said earnestly. "Before its too late."
Boomer swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to suppress his fear. "I suppose your right. Hell I'd rather go to her to die then wait for her to come to us. Lets go!"
The two of them burst out the door. Neither the Professor nor Mojo tried to stop them. The former just slumped in his chair. "This is awful," he muttered. "I've doomed the world, indeed the entire human race."
"No need to rub it in!" snapped Mojo, who was obviously slightly nettled that his dream had been stolen by someone else. He stood up and walked to one of his transports.
"Where are you going?" asked the Professor.
Mojo shrugged. "If this is the end then I want to be there to see it, observe it and make notes upon it, so that I can satisfy my curiosity as to how this event shall play out. Then I may consider myself fulfilled or contented in at least some way with respect to the purpose of my life." He looked pointedly at the Professor. "Don't touch any of my stuff!"
Blossom breathed in deeply as the noise of the battle roared around her ears. She was in her element now. These energy duels where about not only power, but also will. She'd had her hands burnt many times before, often while training but the experience was now paying off. As the force on her hands weakened she knew that Bubbles was flagging. It was time to press the advantage.
"I hope your affairs are in order sis!" Blossom laughed one last time, "because you're about to meat your end!" With that and a brief roar, she finally unleashed her full power at Bubbles.
The blue puff knew it was over. She could feel the flow rate of Chemical X slowing as the supply ran dry. All her muscle's ached like never before. Even her brain hurt. She just wanted to give up and lie down, just to rest. As she stared up at Blossom's pink energy wave bearing down on her it seemed that her wish would come true. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, pain flooding through every fibre of her body. She was done.
Thoughts flooded through her head. Images of her sister Buttercup, of her adopted brother Brick and then of the Professor. She thought of all her friends, of all the citizens of Townsville; of the world. In her moment of failure she could almost hear the laughter and joy of happy people and the squeaks of animals. Everything she loved was about to be destroyed.
Something inside Bubbles broke. "No," she muttered to her self as time seemed to stop. "It doesn't end like this!" Her eyes flashed open, she gritted her teeth and raised her head up again – staring straight up into Blossom's blast once more. "I won't let you!" Tapping into an inner anger Bubbles released all her rage as energy straight at Blossom.
The blue wave of energy expanded massive and the new surge of power smashed back into Blossom's wave. The pink puff was more then surprised as her own wave was forced rapidly back. "No…" she wailed. "That's not possible!"
Bubbles gritted her teeth. "One more push!" she wailed and then with the accompaniment of a sonic scream she forced out one last burst of energy which turned out to be just about enough. Blossom could only watch in horror and fear as her own pink energy was completely dispersed and Bubbles' slammed into her hands. Gritting her teeth she fought against it briefly but it was a loosing battle. Eventually, with a high pitched scream of her own, Blossom lost her grip and the wave forced its way past her hands, smashing into her chest and propelling her up into the sky and out of site.
Bubbles stopped blasting as she gasped for breath. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. Clutching her chest Bubbles fell to her knees, trying desperately not to die. Gritting her teeth, she reached to her waist with her free hand and ripped the belt off. She yelled silently in pain as blood leaked out the open wound but the job was done. The bleeding reduced her blood pressure just about enough for her breathing and heart rate to begin to return to normal. Bubbles sagged to the floor in relief before glancing up into the sky at the trail left from her energy blast which was still sailing into the sky. She wondered idly how she found so much power and whether it had been enough.
Her thought process was interrupted by the Ganggreen gang. "Hey Bubbles!" Ace called as he led his comrades out from behind the wreckage. "Great show!" The other members nodded enthusiastically as they blurted out congratulations in their own unique ways (so lots of snorting, raspberries and farting.)
Bubbles was surprised. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Oh we heard about the destruction of Cityville on the news and decided we should come and give a hand…" Ace began.
"I thought you we were going to lo…" Billy interrupted before Ace hit him.
"But when we got here you seemed to have everything under control, so we decided it was best not to distract you."
The others nodded. "Didn't need our help anyway," Snake said stepping forward and patting Bubbles' gently on the back. The blue puff immediately fell forward screaming in pain! Snake jumped back in surprise. "What… what did I do?"
"Aghagh… its okay," Bubbles stuttered, steadying her breathing again. "I just think I over did it and wrecked my body." She laughed ironically. "Good time for you lot to try and kill me if you wish."
The Ganggreen Gang paused before looking at Ace for instruction. He took his time in coming to his decision. "Nah, we'll let you off this time," he declared. "Although Townsville's shopkeepers won't get off so lightly while you're recovering."
Bubbles found her self laughing again. "Ah, petty crime," she whispered as if reminiscing over some happy memory. "There was a time when I thought that would never happen again."
Ace nodded. "Yeah, but it will now thanks to you. Still it was lucky that you beat her before your body gave out."
"Au contra!" a voice shouted.
Bubbles didn't think she just acted on instinct; grabbing wildly at nearest person as she through her self forward out of the way of the blast. Bubbles and the member of the Ganggreen Gang she'd manage to grab (which turned out to be Ace) smashed to the earth a short distance away as dust and dirt showered down around them. Finding their footing, the two of them looked back. To their great distress the rest of the Gang where gone, replaced by a battered, burnt but furious and very much still alive Blossom.
Predictably, Ace was in shock. "They've… She… They're gone!" he wailed.
"Go!" Bubbles ordered, without taking her eyes off Blossom. "Go now!" Ace didn't need telling twice. He fled to nearby shelter as Bubbles struggled back to her feet. "You murderous, evil, twisted lunatic!" she bellowed at Blossom. "They were no threat to you!"
"I resent the lunatic comment," Blossom snapped. "You see I thought that you and your infernal sister were no threat when I arrived, so I let you live. That is a mistake I won't make again! Everyone on this planet is going to die Bubbles and once you're dead, I'll be able to take my time and enjoy it! Without your power boost you don't stand a chance."
Bubbles looked hard at the floor breathing heavily. The anger was back and this time she didn't even know it. She was too mad to comprehend her feelings. In less then the blink of an eye and with a burst of Blue energy she attacked smashing into Blossom with the force of a small earthquake.
Blossom parried the first attack and smashed her elbow into Bubbles' chest, but the Blue puff no longer cared. She just kept attacking immediately smashing Blossom so hard around the head that her brain smashed against her skull. There was no chance for her to recover her composure before Bubbles kneed her under the ribs before jumping up to kick Blossom round the back of the head, sending the pink puff staggering into Bubble's other fist. This time she hit her so hard just under the chin that Blossom was knocked clean off her feet. She landed hard on her back with a crunch, where upon Bubbles instantly stamped down hard on Blossom's chest, crushing her with all her might.
In between coughing up blood and screams of pain Blossom managed to speak. "Didn't know you had it in you Bubbles…" she croaked.
The blue puff had a broken rib and was gritting her teeth so hard that her gums were bleeding. "I'm going to kill you!" she hissed. "And I'm going to enjoy it!"
"Ha…" Blossom croaked. "Now you understand…" Bubbles froze. "The hatred," Blossom smiled. "It feels so great just to let it out." She was crying now. "I did exactly this to Buttercup," she whispered though the pain as tears rolled down her checks. "I took all the frustration and desire for vengeance out on her. All those years of loneliness, all my feelings of rejection smashed into her chest; soothed by her screams of pain." She looked straight at Bubbles now. "Go on. You hate me for killing your friends and your sister. Finish me. You'll enjoy it."
Bubbles looked at her sister through tears of her own. "Your mask has slipped," she murmured. "I told you I'd remove it." She released her foots pressure. "I can't kill you," she said.
"I know," Blossom croaked. Immediately she grabbed Bubbles' ankle and threw her to the ground. Bubbles wailed in pain as her battered body smashed against the floor. Blossom scrabbled to her feet and kicked Bubbles under the her back sending her rolling slowly away. "That's your problem Bubbles," Blossom growled through gritted teeth. "You were strong enough physically to remove my mask, but not strong enough mentally to finish me off afterwards." She grinned maliciously. "The mask of a hardened solider is gone, all you have left is the crazy, angry, vengeful little girl. And I'm going to enjoy your slow death!"
As they raced to the scene Brick suddenly let out a yell. "Agh!" he wailed. "Look Boomer, she's beating Bubbles terribly! We've got to do something!"
Boomer looked up and then grabbed Brick's shoulder. "Quick, lets get to the ground and sneak up on her among the rubble. Then we can really get the drop on her!"
"Right!" Brick agreed. The two of then thudded to the ground and were sprinting around the wreckage of a skyscraper when Ace jumped out in front to them.
"What are you doing!" he wailed at them. "Are you mad! That Blossom's unstoppable!"
"So?" Brick replied.
"We know," Boomer nodded, "but we're going to die anyway if she wins so I thought we'd give it a go."
"You never know," Brick continued, "we may win."
"Perhaps you could give us a hand?" Boomer suggested. "We could do with any help we could get."
"Your crazy!" Ace gibbered. "I'm not going back out there!"
"What are you? A coward?" Brick protested but Boomer cut him off.
"Yes he is and we don't have time for this. We need to attack Blossom somehow before Bubbles bites the dust… I never thought I'd say that." The two Ruffs sprinted forward again as Ace with a brief backward glance kept fleeing.
Finally there was no coming back for Bubbles. She'd pushed her body too far and now it was refusing to do anything it didn't want to do. Slowly she tried to get up again as Blossom watched over her waiting for the perfect moment.
Rolling lazily on to her front Bubbles was able to push her self up onto all fours, gasping due to the pain as she did so. Blossom did nothing until Bubbles had managed to completely straighten one arm which due to her sister's weakness took quite a long time. Then she kicked her hard at the elbow instantly shattering the limb.
With a yelp of pain Bubbles' crashed back down to the floor again. Blossom meanwhile leapt into the air, performed a smooth pirouette at the top of the jump (purely for style) and then smashed back down to earth with all her force on Bubble's pelvis. The Blue puff's hips immediately broke accompanied this time by a far more dramatic scream. It was music to Blossom's ears.
Slowly, she leant down and gently picked Bubbles up by the scruff of her throat, raising her battered sister up until she was level with her face. Through blearily eyes Bubbles took a swing at her with her healthy arm but it was so weak now that Blossom let the attack bounce of the side of her head harmlessly before grabbing it with her free hand and snapping the bone like a twig.
"There we go," she simmered happily. "Job done I think." Somehow Bubbles managed to respond with what Blossom thought was a laugh. "What's so funny?" she demanded.
Bubbles chuckled up some blood. "You talk tough," she replied hoarsely, "but I know you're not going to kill me. I'm you last connection to anything. You have no friends or family out there in the universe."
Blossom laughed her self. "Poor naïve Bubbles. We don't need them. Friends can betray you and you family are just more rivals that happen to have started at the same place. The only thing that matters out there is the quest for power!"
"Precisely." Bubbles coughed up some bile this time. "You need more then that. As much as you hate it you are an earthling. Only an earthling could be capable of this amount of hatred. But you need the other things two; friendship, family. Love."
"Shut up!" Blossom shouted, but Bubbles ignored her.
"That's why you are so twisted," she continued as if realising this all her self, "and that is why you won't kill me. Because then you would be completely alone. You can't face that. I can see it in your eyes."
Blossom was so mad she looked like she was going to explode. "See this!" she screamed as she punched Bubbles straight in the eyes, blinding the blue puff in a stroke. She tossed Bubbles to the floor, but through the blood and tears Bubbles was still laughing.
"Another recoverable injury," she laughed (as much as someone that can barely breathe can laugh of course.) "You know that if given enough time I will heal. This has happened to you before."
Blossom gnashed her teeth. "You're wrong!" she hissed. "I may be alone but I get my solace through killing! I don't need you or anything else!"
"Prove it," Bubbles replied with the last of her strength. "Kill me now."
Blossom sneered. "As you…"
Suddenly she heard something whistling through the air. Experience told her not to look but to move. Jumping into the air she managed to just about skim over the top of a red cutting disk before diving underneath a blue one that was following just after. Furiously she spun round to see Brick looking mortified and Boomer cursing wildly about twenty feet away. Then she noticed something else; her body might have avoided the attack but her hair had been too slow. It now only descended half way down her back. This finally pushed her over the edge.
"You cowardly insects!" she screamed. "Do you know how long it took me to grow my hair that long? Don't answer that!" She finished as Boomer opened his mouth to speak.
"Nice idea Boomer," Brick said to his ally, "but it looks like we're going to have to take her head on." He perked up slightly. "But hey, Bubbles has done a lot of damage so maybe we have a chance."
Boomer never had the chance to sound a note of caution because Blossom was immediately upon them. Dashing into the small gap between the two Ruff's, Blossom blocked a reaction punch from Boomer while elbowing Brick hard in the back before swinging round to kick him skyward. Brick – stunned more then hurt – eventually crashed onto the ground at the end of his arc but Blossom's objective had been not been to finish off Brick but to isolate him from Boomer. That done it didn't take her long to break down Boomer's defences despite his best efforts. Boomer blocked the first few punches valiantly before Blossom was able to flick his hands out the way with her left and sink her right straight into his stomach knocking all the air out of Boomer's lungs. Blossom then jumped up to head height and kicked Boomer under the chin sending him tumbling away.
As he crashed across the ground, Blossom allowed her self time to stop and observe for a moment. Sure enough, Boomer was out for the count, unable to cope with the strength of Blossom's attack. Cursing herself for messing around with them earlier and breathing jerkily due to her broken ribs, Blossom turned and did her best to stride confidently over to Brick. Petrified, Brick could only watch as Blossom slowly limped towards her. She towered menacingly over him her shadow blocking out the sun.
"Right punk!" she hissed through the pain. "It's just me and you now and I'm going to make you pay for rejecting my… AGHHAAG!"
The "AGHHAAG" was the result of a knife being trust through her armour and into her back. Blossom flopped forward just in front of Brick to revel Ace, who'd slipped back almost unnoticed.
"That's for my Gang!" he bellowed triumphantly. For a moment Blossom didn't move but then she managed to twitch before reaching her arm up and pulling the blade slowly out. Ace and Brick both staggered back as Blossom shakily found her feet. "What does it take to beat this guy?" Ace stuttered as Blossom swung round.
"Bad time to decide to be a hero," Blossom croaked, grabbing him by the neck and punching him hard in the face. Earlier this would certainly have killed him but Blossom was so weaken that the most damage was done to Ace's glasses. The second punch broke his jaw and the third never came because Brick had finally attacked.
He punched Blossom square in the back, right where she'd been stabbed. Blossom dropped the battered Ace and staggered forward, screaming briefly before turning to face the Ruff.
"This is it Blossom," Brick shouted determinedly. "Buttercup believed in me and so did Butch. Now I'm going to prove them right!"
Blossom couldn't respond. She could block Brick's first punch though before slapping the surprised Ruff across the cheek. "Don't get cocky," she wheezed. "I'm still standing and you still have no idea how to fight!"
Bubbles could see it in her minds eye. Sure Blossom's attacks had left her blind but the Chemical X had left her able to focus her mind like never before. She could almost see Brick flailing away at Blossom like an angry child – which of course he was. Sadly she wished that she and Buttercup had trained him, even just a little bit. Blossom was so frail now it would only take one good attack but as long as Brick kept fighting like this she was able to parry his blows. Soon the Ruff would be tired and the Puff would be recovering. The whole battle was hanging by a thread.
Suddenly Bubbles felt another presence standing over her. "Mojo?" she muttered.
The monkey jumped. "Yes it is I, Mojo Jojo who is here. Tell me, how where you able to identify that it was me sanding here as opposed to any other person or persons since you appear to be blind?"
"Oh I just had a feeling," Bubbles said truthfully. "You come to finish me off then?"
"I wasn't even thinking of it," replied Mojo no so truthfully. "I just wanted to see the end. I, Mojo Jojo desire closure and to see what this life is all about. So I want to be present when the planet is destroyed, along with myself and my dreams."
Bubbles was thinking. "Mojo," she asked. "Would you like to save the world?"
"No," replied the monkey instinctively. "I would like to conquer the world and crush all my enemies under foot, especially you two Powerpuff girls… or one now I suppose."
"Quite," Bubbles let it slide. "You can still have that dream Mojo."
"I can?"
"Yes. Listen do you remember the time you tricked the Professor into giving you powers like us?"
"Of course!" Mojo replied proudly. "It was a great achievement of mine!"
"Can you remember what it felt like," Bubbles asked.
"It felt great a wonderful feeling of smugness spread through my body…"
Blossom was recovering. She was beginning to pick up enough speed to doge some of Brick's more wayward swings now.
"No no no, do you remember what the energy felt like," Bubbles pressed.
"Err…"
"It's important."
Mojo thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose I do. Why to you ask me?"
Bubbles managed a smile. "I've still got some power left Mojo. It's not much but it should still be enough to finish Blossom. The problem is that I can't fire it at her because of my blindness and broken limbs."
"So?"
"Take my hand."
Mojo paused – he wasn't used to taking orders from a Puff. Curiosity prevailed however and he grabbed Bubbles' limp hand. The Blue puff winced in pain as one of her broken arms was moved but then she concentrated. Mojo jumped in surprise as Blue energy began to surround his hand. Presently Bubbles released her grip and Mojo was left staring at the energy sparking of his hand.
"What… What is this?" he was almost speechless.
"It's my energy," Bubbles replied weakly. Without it she'd gone slightly pale. "It probable feels a bit weird because its affecting the Chemical X in you inflated brain."
Mojo nodded as with much focusing he managed to force the energy into a blue ball. "Yes! Now I throw it at her right?"
"Yep, but make sure you hit. We only get one shot and she's very quick. Also not being used to such power your body might find the experience quiet stressful."
Mojo looked up. Brick and Blossom were still duelling, drifting across the sky at a surprisingly rapid rate. "Curses," he muttered.
Brick was getting frustrated. Blossom was just getting fast and faster as every one of his attacks failed to break her defences. Time was running out so in desperation he made one last massive lunge for Blossom's face.
This went badly as she ducked underneath it before finally launching an attack; sticking her arm up and grabbing him by the neck.
"Too slow," she mocked and although her voice still sounded weak, Brick could tell from her grip that she was quite strong enough. Blossom's face was still highly stressed though as she desperately tried to persuade her reluctant hand to crush Brick's neck.
"Now!" shouted Bubbles. Blossom turned to see Mojo throwing a huge energy ball at her. For a vital moment she hesitated. Brick didn't. Forcing himself forward he head butted Blossom with all his strength.
Everything happened at once. Mojo, his brain adversely affected by his attack collapsed unconscious as Blossom was sent spirally down towards the blast. It smashed into her with a massive explosion that Brick was caught up in. He crashed to the ground largely okay, but also out cold. Moments later the heap of flesh and bones that was Blossom also smashed to the ground, largely not okay. Then, for a moment, there was silence.
Boomer sat up. His body ached but he was in one piece. Looking around he assessed the situation. Bubbles down, Mojo down, Brick down. This was not good. Then he saw it. Blossom lying battered and motionless on the ground. They'd won!
"Ha, she's dead!" he declared triumphantly. "Good riddance to a bad egg!" he declared. However to his horror, Boomer was wrong.
Slowly there was a tiny bit of movement from Blossom's left hand. Struggling to breathe let alone move, Blossom grabbed some sort of remote control from her pocket and pressed one button, before going completely limp again.
Boomer watched and shortly afterwards something appeared on the horizon. It was a small white ball which rapidly got larger as it approached. It landed gently next to Blossom before opening it's door. The puff with a great deal of effort rolled slowly on to her front and started to crawl towards it.
"That must be her space ship!" Boomer realised. He gritted his teeth as he staggered to his feet. "If she thinks that she's going to sneak out of here after all she's done then she's got another thing coming!"
Gingerly he limped towards her. Blossom's progress was painfully slow so he could afford to take his time.
"Hey, Boomer!" Boomer looked round to see (much to his surprise) Ace in a battered heap and pointing to a knife. "Use that, I was able to wound her with it."
Boomer picked it up. The blood on it was still fresh. "Yeah…" he grinned. "This ort to do it!"
Blossom had reached the door of the ship when Boomer thrust the knife at her throat. She instantly froze. Boomer was grinning like a hyena. "You said we'd need forty of us," he laughed jerkily, "so how does it feel to be killed by one?"
Blossom looked at him. "Kill me if you can," she hissed weakly.
"With pleasure!" Boomer roared pulling the knife back before plunging it forward towards her. Blossom braced herself for the end.
"Stop!" wailed Bubbles. To Blossom and his own amazement, Boomer did.
"Bubbles?" he asked.
"Boomer, don't kill her, please," Bubbles continued. "Let her go."
"You must be nuts!" Boomer began. "After what she's done?"
"I know what you're thinking," Bubbles stuttered weakly, "but please, show her what it is to be merciful."
"Merciful!" Boomer almost exploded. "Need I remind you that she killed my brother… and your sister! We're standing in the remains of a city of millions that she vaporised and you want me to show her mercy!"
"I know it is hard for you to understand Boomer," Bubbles replied, "but I've felt her pain, I know what she's really like. If we show her that mercy is something real, not just something she's heard about then I think she can change."
"You think!" Boomer was still furious. "Bubbles you naive fool, people like this don't change. If we let her go she is just going to think we're weak!"
"All I'm asking Boomer is for you to show the same mercy we've shown to you so many times. Buttercup and I could have killed you two on many occasions since your return but we never did."
Blossom had been taking advantage of this distraction to try and scramble into her ship but she slipped falling back to the floor and alerting Boomer once again to her presence. He put the knife back to her throat. "I don't have to listen to you Bubbles! That was different. Butch and I never killed anyone."
"Then don't lower your self to her level!" Bubbles cried. Boomer froze. "I know you want to rule the world and destroy us Boomer," Bubbles continued, "but you and Butch both proved to day that you have a moral fibre. Butch even gave his life for this planet and you willingly risked yours. That moral fibre is your soul Boomer, it makes you who you are. It is your loyalty to Butch as well as your desire not to kill those weaker then you. Don't give it away in return for the so called justice of revenge. You may be evil but your better then her and you know it! Her death will just be another pointless corpse on this battlefield. It won't heal your pain."
Boomer was struggling. "But she's a monster…" he protested.
"No Boomer," Bubbles replied. "With one different choice she is you or me."
Boomer pulled the blade back again, his face a contortion of rage. Blossom flinched away but Boomer didn't stab her. The knife fell to the floor. Regretting every movement, Boomer stood up straight and stepped back.
"Thanks Boomer," Bubbles muttered weakly. "That took a lot of strength."
The Blue ruff sighed. "You better be right about this Bubbles," he muttered, "but if she does come back, we'll be here to stop her!"
"Right!" Bubbles chuckled. "That means you won't be able to kill me, right?"
"I guess not," Boomer mused. "When I rule the world then I'll just have to lock you in a secure cell."
Blossom had scrambled into her ship. She flopped in the seat (which took up all the tiny craft) and turned to Boomer as the door slowly closed. "I will return," she hissed weakly, "and when I do no position of power will help save you."
The door snapped shut and the craft levitated away into space leaving Boomer and Bubbles alone with Cityville's ruins.
Okay, that (as some will know already) is it for part one. Our remaining heroes will be returning in a new story soon when they try to bring back their fallen comrades and I shall be starting that soon – either as a new story or as a continuation of this one. Whatever, it will be clearly labelled to keep your eyes open.
Also I may be doing something with my other series very soon to watch this space! Thanks for reading and thanks to all those who reviewed.