A/N: ...I'm back. I know, I know... It has been 6 years. I was 14 when I first wrote this story, and now I'm a 20 year old in college. I know it's probably very hard for you to forgive me, and I'm not sure if most of the readers I started with still visit here and write fanfics anymore.
I had deep personal issues and struggles that I overcame, which took an excruciating amount of time. It gradually made me forget the importance of updating this story and I guess I just let go of it…. But that doesn't mean I have stopped being a Powerpuff Girl fan. And while recently reminiscing my childhood, I remembered this story that I valued and cherished so much, and it brought me back. Sure, I might still have important things going on, but I'm now determined to finish what I started with. I'll try not to make updates too late. I looked at the reviews asking where I went, and it made me thankful for those who liked my story but also regretful that I suddenly disappeared.
I have nothing to give you but a sincere apology, and an update of a chapter. If there is anyone still out there who waited for this story to return, I sincerely thank your patience. I hope to bring you a more mature and developed storyline than what I have started with, compensating for the years that have passed.
This chapter contains some references to the following episodes: The Rowdyruff Boys, Bubble Boy, and Custody Battle. But again, I do not own those episodes, just this story. Let the chapter begin.
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"Oh my god…" Blossom, the leader of the Powerpuff Girls murmured in disbelief.
The girls had rushed to the scene of havoc as soon as they received the hotline that there was trouble at the park, but none of them expected it to be this serious. Several ambulances and police cars had already encircled the aftermath of what was left of the park from the unforeseen attack. Plowed dirt and grasses were disarranged around shallow craters that seemed to have formed not long ago, and some shrubs, trees, and benches were blown back as if they were inflicted by strong shockwaves. As for casualties, thankfully nobody had been hurt badly enough to lose their life but regardless, some had been affected severely. Moans of those injured came everywhere as they were carried away by stretchers, and the police were trying their best to keep newly forming civilian crowds and reporters out. The three young heroes stood motionless before the chaos with their mouth agape. As much as their leader, the blue and green puffs could not hide their horror from the sight.
"Who could have done such a thing…" The blue girl squeaked as she came close to tears.
"I don't know, Bubbles." Her raven haired sister replied, gritting her teeth. "But whoever did this is going to pay."
Blossom quietly listened to her sisters' remarks as she scanned over the wrecked park again. Then she shook her head and tried to recover from her bewilderment. They needed to find out what happened.
"I know this is shocking," she said, "but first things first, we have to investigate."
Her sisters nodded and they decided to split up and look for clues. Blossom calmly assigned tasks for everyone in an orderly manner.
"Bubbles, you ask the police if they found out anything. Buttercup, you scout around and see if anyone needs help. See if you two can find witnesses. I'll search the scene."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the blue and green-clad girls zipped to their respective duties while the redheaded girl approached the area of where the incident seemed to have happened. Even from afar, she had noticed that burnt grass, sheared bushes, and fallen trees were surrounding a certain location—a small region that has stayed clear of damage. And the bodies of injured citizens were all scattered around that area as well. With here as a starting point, someone must have blasted a laser gun of some sort and knocked back the citizens in all directions. Blossom furrowed her eyebrows. But why? Why not destroy the town itself if he or she wants to take over Townsville? Why inflict this many citizens directly? And wait, why were so many citizens gathered at this spot in the first place?
Blossom contemplated some more as she took a few more steps forward and noticed something unusual on the ground.
"Stones…?" She said out loud, puzzled.
What she saw were numerous pebbles, rocks, and stones of all sizes. There were so many that some of them have made a sizeable pile. Blossom placed her hand on her chin. Why were so many of these stones close to the starting site of attack?
"MITCH!"
Before she could think further, Blossom immediately turned her head to face the devastating cry of her green-clad sister. Buttercup was frantically following and grabbing on to the edge of a stretcher as a battered and inert Mitch was being transported to a nearby ambulance.
"Mitch, are you okay?! What happened to you!" Buttercup called for him again as she searched his face for any sign of consciousness.
Without a second thought, Blossom raced to the scene to check on the condition of their kindergarten friend, and the equally worried Bubbles followed soon after. As they both floated above the stretcher, they couldn't help but cover their mouths. Their school friend was badly wounded with burnt marks and cuts all over his limp body and an obviously painful black eye. At Buttercup's panicking voice, Mitch slowly regained consciousness, opened his eyes, and arduously moved his head towards Buttercup. He struggled to speak.
"The..the Rowderup boys.. they were bullying us, so we... we..."
"The Rowdyruff Boys?!" Buttercup shouted incredulously.
The beaten boy nodded with all his strength that was left, and let his head droop as he blacked out.
"Please back away and give him some space! We need to get him to the hospital!" At that moment, one of the paramedics pushed the now shrieking Buttercup away from the stretcher and loaded Mitch and themselves on the ambulance.
"Wait! I need to know if he's going to be okay! Mitch! MITCH!"
Buttercup screamed out to the back doors of the ambulance as they relentlessly closed right in front of her face. The ambulance took off instantly as it let out a blaring green siren. The green puff was about to chase after the vehicle but she stopped in her tracks when she realized it was futile. There was nothing she could do for him. Blossom and Bubbles looked at her with saddened eyes and slowly descended from the air to comfort her. But when they neared her, they paused as they sensed her emotional state.
Even though her head was lowered to hide her expression, they could fully recognize the steaming rage seething inside of her. Her tightly clenched fists were quivering so much it shook the whole of her body. Blossom and Bubbles worriedly exchanged glances and looked back at their sister. They were unsure of what to say to the infuriated Powerpuff, but Blossom was the first to offer her condolence.
"Buttercup.. he's going to be okay."
"Yeah Buttercup.." Bubbles supported. "We all know him. He's tough."
At that moment, the two girls jumped back as the green puff suddenly tilted her head up to the sky and hollered to the pit of her stomach.
"I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL THEM! How dare they hurt my friend?!"
She huffed deeply from her unsettled rage and turned abruptly to Blossom with eyes filled with vengeance.
"Let's split up. Do whatever we can to find them. The first one to find them signal the others, that way it's faster."
Without waiting for her confirmation, the enraged puff was about to bolt up to the sky.
"Wait Buttercup!" Blossom intercepted.
Buttercup fired an annoyed scowl to her redheaded sister.
"We don't have time to hang around and wait for you to come up with a plan! They escaped before we even reached this place, and if we don't hurry up, we're gonna lose them!"
"Can you please hear me out? There's something that bothers me." Blossom persuaded, and looked at her sister intently. Buttercup was looking straight into the adamant eyes of her pink sister when she witnessed a reflection of her indignant self in her pupils. She seethed in frustration for a few moments, but in time, she gave in and tried her best to appease her anger. She folded her arms in front of her chest and sighed.
"Fine, talk leader girl. But make it fast."
"Do you.." Blossom hesitated, "really think it was the Rowdyruff Boys?"
Buttercup narrowed her eyes, her anger almost boiling back up. "Are you saying Mitch was lying?"
"No no, I don't mean to imply that." Blossom assured. "But doesn't it seem strange to you that all this time the boys who would only pretty much steal, bully, or prank around suddenly assault civilians with the direct intent to severely hurt them? I'm not saying that what they did before was right, but to this extent this time.."
"Blossom," Buttercup cut in and scowled. "The boys have tried to hurt people in the past. When they first appeared, they tried to throw down public transportation with civilians inside it for god's sake! They purposefully spit and try to shoot down an airplane every time as a daily hobby and-"
"And I heard they tried to squish poor mayor with Mojo's robot last time!" Bubbles chimed in. Buttercup eyed Bubbles for interrupting her but was glad for her support.
"But still, something seems amiss." Blossom said with skepticism. "They have been quiet, nowhere to be seen for a month. But then they suddenly appear and terrorize the 'park'? Not Townsville itself?"
It was true. The Rowdyruff Boys were nowhere to be seen for the past month, which was odd because they were always somewhere around causing mischief whether it was stealing someone's pocket money or taking over the hotdog stand. But the girls had paid no further attention to their disappearance because it had made their lives easier. Then the first time after a month, today, they hear that they had reappeared and caused this mayhem.
"So?" Buttercup held out her palms. She was getting impatient. "Maybe they were hiding and devising to do this with HIM or monkey brain!"
"To gain what? What would they get from attacking passersby at a park?"
"Why should I care?! They're just sick brats who think they can do whatever they want and get away with it!"
"Yeah Blossom, you know how they always treated our townspeople badly." After letting the conversation go on for a while, Bubbles sided with Buttercup, hoping to ease the situation. She was nervous that this would lead to another fight between the siblings which was what she least wanted. Blossom was thinking the same thing, but she insisted to push on. She had a feeling there was more to what was on the surface.
"I'm just saying that this doesn't seem like a pre-mediated assault. Looks more of an impulsive outburst. And whenever those boys had the urge to do something bad, it was never this heinous."
"Well guess what Blossom?" The green puff rolled her eyes. "Mitch saw what he saw. He has nothing to gain from lying."
"The police officers told me it was them, too." Bubbles timidly agreed.
"See? There's nothing more to gain from your reasoning. You're wasting time, so I'm out of here."
But before she could turn to leave, Blossom grabbed Buttercup's shoulder and stopped her once more. Buttercup, irritated to be intercepted again, nearly shoved the pink girl away, but held back.
"What now?"
"I still don't think we should split up."
"And why is that?" Buttercup growled.
Blossom let go of her shoulder and sighed. This was not going to be something Buttercup wanted to hear, but she was sincerely worried about her sister's safety, especially in her current state of mind.
"Because Buttercup, you're angry. And you tend to become... reckless when you can't control your anger."
Just as Blossom expected, Buttercup's eyes immediately lit up with rage.
"Of course I'm angry!" She snarled. "Did you miss what happened, boss-girl? Our friend was injured!"
"I'm aware of that! I'm just afraid that-"
"-that I'll do something stupid?!" Buttercup finished the sentence for her. The red-bowed girl widened her eyes in shock.
"No, that you'll get hurt!" She defended.
But Buttercup was far from convinced, and it only further scratched her self-esteem. She just couldn't believe the lack of confidence her sister had in her! She had it with her thinking that she was more capable than her—always trying to be perfect, composed, and logical even in a situation like this! Who does she think she is?!
"I will NOT get hurt, and I will NOT do anything reckless!" The green puff yelled in outrage. "I understand that you don't trust me Blossom, like you NEVER do, but that doesn't give you any right to tell me what to do all the time!"
"Buttercup just listen!" Blossom cried desperately.
"No, I'm done with listening! I don't trust your oh-so-perfect-smart-brain either! If you're not going to go with my plan for once, then so be it!"
Buttercup furiously blasted off from the ground as forcefully as she could, making Blossom and Bubbles wince and brace themselves from the blow. And by the time they opened their eyes to search for Buttercup, she was already gone.
Bubbles fidgeted with her hands and looked at the ground as Blossom brought her palm to her forehead. The leader puff was a little stressed from her green sister mischaracterizing her intentions, but she knew that she had a point. She looked back at the ruined park one last time and saw more ambulance workers hastening to aid the wounded. She closed her eyes and turned away. Buttercup was right. What does it matter if there are some questions left unanswered? At this point it was quite obvious who the culprits were, and it was more important to focus on finding those boys and making sure they don't hurt anymore innocent citizens... or friends. That moment, the flashback of Mitch's tattered condition flowed into her mind and she bit her lip in regret.
"Uh.. Blossom?"
Blossom snapped back to reality as Bubbles cautiously uttered her name. She was wearing a look of concern as she had observed her change of expressions.
"I'm okay." Blossom smiled a little, trying to relieve her sister's worries. After that, she put on a determined look and declared their next course of action. "Let's split up like she said, holler if you find them or if something happens. And if you can find Buttercup, look over her and see if she's doing okay. She won't like me following her."
Bubbles nodded her head and was close to take off when she remembered something to report.
"Blossom, I didn't have the chance to say this because.. you know."
Bubbles inferred to the dispute Blossom just had with Buttercup which the redhead readily acknowledged.
"Go ahead." Blossom urged.
"There's something else the officer told me. It wasn't actually all the Rowdyruff Boys that attacked the citizens... it was, Brick alone."
"What?" Blossom scrunched up her face in confusion. Brick?
"It's true." Bubbles affirmed. "The officers and some witnesses told me it was the red one who suddenly went crazy and blasted people away."
It didn't take long for Bubbles' words to sink in. Blossom's expression contorted with anger. That scoundrel! The leader of those boys who always suggests what evil deed they will do next. He decided to experiment on a more sinister move now, didn't he?
She clenched her teeth, hard. It didn't matter what the reason was anymore. Her counterpart had taken it too far this time, and he was about to get it.