8
Blossom stood in front of the full-length mirror, pulling a face at her reflection. Sure, the skirt and blouse combination looked smart, but it just seemed… off somehow. She tugged at the clothes impatiently. The opening was in two hours, and she still hadn't managed to get an outfit organised. Under normal circumstances, she would have an outfit picked out, fully coordinated with appropriate accessories and all ready to go. However, after having the week she'd just had, it had been hard enough just getting her homework done.
She pulled at the blouse again; it just wasn't going to work. As she wrinkled her nose at it, Bubbles poked her head around the door, half of her hair clipped up in a cascade of little ringlets, with the other half identically curled, but still hanging loose.
"Blossom, I've lost my other turquoise jewel clip; have you seen it?" She gestured vaguely at her hair as she said it, but stopped as she noticed Blossom distractedly plucking at her clothes.
"Oh Blossom, you can't wear that! Hang on just one second, I know just the thing." And she was gone again, leaving her sister standing confused. However, Bubbles soon came back in a burst of happy energy. Babbling happily about how she had stumbled on the lost clip, she turned Blossom back around to face the mirror and held the baby pink cocktail dress up in front of her.
"See? It's exactly your colour, and it'll go perfectly with that jacket you bought two weeks ago." Blossom had to concede that the dress was very nice, and was a better option than any of the ones she had. Thanking her sister, she took the dress and proceeded to change out of her (rather frumpy now that she looked at it) current outfit. Meanwhile, Bubbles clipped up the remaining half of her hair and chattered happily about how much fun they were going to have. Blossom was reserving judgement on that one; there were still a lot of things that could go wrong.
xxx
"Mojo?"
"Jail."
"Sedusa?"
"Jail."
"The Gangreen Gang?
"Community Service. They're under surveillance tonight." Blossom ticked off the names on her list.
"Okay, let's see… Princess?"
"Attending, but her father is basically the reason this thing got built; she won't be making any kind of fuss in case it hurts his reputation."
"Right. And…I'm almost afraid to ask, but… Him?"
"Last I heard, He was in Vegas." Well that was one huge sigh of relief right there. Blossom ticked it off the list and slipped her little notebook back into her handbag. Straightening her dress, she took a deep breath. Buttercup, still fidgeting with the skirt she'd been forced into, gave her a pointed look.
"Are you worried that the boys are going to show up?" Blossom said nothing, but it was evident that that was exactly what she was worried about. Bubbles gave her a quick hug for reassurance, but nothing either of her sisters could say would calm her down much. There was nothing to stop the boys attending, and knowing Brick, he'd just love to cause some havoc. He'd been winding her up all day at school; why stop now?
"Girls? We're going to start in just two minutes, alright?"
"Yes Miss Bellum." Bubbles gave an excited little bounce in her silver shoes, the skirt of her dress swishing around her legs. Blossom was sure she had picked that dress almost exclusively for that quality, but it was very nice all the same. Even Buttercup was looking reasonably feminine, if a little uncomfortable with the concept. Taking a deep breath, Blossom gave her dress another little tug just as the Mayor began his speech about the new fountain. Mr Morbucks took the stage as well, holding the scissors to cut the ribbon. Eventually, after both had said their pieces, Miss Bellum, standing in the wings of the little outdoor stage, beckoned to the girls to come forward.
"And now, to officially open our lovely new fountain, please give a warm welcome to our local heroines, The Powerpuff Girls!" Bubbles all but shoved Blosssom onto the stage at the announcement, desperate to be in the spotlight. Buttercup followed them both with a tight little smile, the exact opposite. Blossom gave a small, rather awkward wave to the crowd before taking the golden scissors from Mr Morbucks. Holding them open in front of the ribbon, she allowed for a few seconds of camera flashes before cutting the thing. She handed the scissors back over and stepped up to the microphone, her sisters close behind her.
"We hope that Townsville has another happy and prosperous 100 years." She kept up the bright smile that was really starting to hurt her cheeks while there was a loud cheer from the citizens. Deciding to leave it at that, she was about to leave the stage, but was stopped as she thought caught a glimpse of red hair under a red cap, just for a split second. As she stood transfixed, the fountain behind her started gurgling as Miss Bellum got the water running through the pipes. After a few moments, it was gushing away magnificently and Blossom finally managed to tear her gaze away from that spot.
xxx
Due to the fact that it was February and the weather was therefore less than warm, the little after party that Miss Bellum had arranged for the city council, the donors for the fountain and ceremony and the girls was taking place inside a marquee set up next to the little stage. Blossom was about to retreat to a handy table near the exit, but unfortunately, was waylaid by Mr Morbucks and, even more unfortunately, his daughter.
"Ah, Miss Utonium. I trust I may call you Blossom? Afterall, with your sisters here, it does get awfully confusing." Blossom gave a polite smile and an affirmative answer.
"Excellent," he continued. "I have to say, this little party is promising to be terribly dull, but a bit of positive publicity is always nice. Champagne?" Blossom waved a hand at the drink he offered.
"I prefer not to drink, thank you. I'm still underage." He chuckled, while Princess folded her arms and huffed out an impatient breath, obviously annoyed at having to behave around Blossom and her sisters.
"So responsible at your age. My my." He continued to ramble on, but Blossom found herself tuning his voice out as his thoughts came to her mind. Frowning, she cut him off in mid-flow.
"Mr Morbucks, I do hope you realise that my sisters and I are only concerned with protecting this town and its citizens. If you talking to me is some thinly guarded ploy to try and draw me or either of them into helping to boost your publicity then believe me it is not going to work." She drew some small satisfaction from the shock in his eyes that he only barely managed to conceal on his face before bidding him and his daughter good evening and walking away, throwing anxious glances to the sides in case she saw that flash of red hair again.
"What did he want?" Buttercup asked, sidling over to her sister as she sat down. Blossom told her it was nothing, and to her mind, it was nothing. The two sat in silence for a minute or two, with Blossom keeping an eye on Bubbles as she flitted around the room, talking to anyone and everyone. She loved parties, no matter the occasion. After a while, Blossom finally felt herself starting to relax a little. Of course he wasn't there. There was nothing to stop her from just sitting back and having some fun, right?
"Blossom. Something's not right."
"What do you mean?" Her hearts started beating faster. Surely he couldn't be here afterall? Buttercup squeezed her eyes shut and held a hand to her head.
"I can feel… something. Someone's coming this way, and they're…" She suddenly broke out into a short burst of laughter, with a hard and ferocious edge that Blossom had never heard from her. Suddenly, the same laughter broke into her head, coming from somewhere outside. There were words there too, but they were disjointed, too broken up by the laughter to mean anything. Even so, Blossom recognised the voice.
"Buttercup, we need to get Bubbles. Now." Buttercup nodded and stood, looking vaguely sick. Blossom shoved her way into the crowd of people, looking for her sister. She spotted the turquoise party dress after a second or two, elbowing her way through the throng until she gripped her sister's arm.
"Bubbles, we need you. We have to get out of here, quickly!" Bubbles didn't argue, instead quickly apologising to whoever she was speaking to and following her sister towards the exit. Buttercup stood outside, staring into the darkness.
"Anything?" Blossom asked sharply. She couldn't get a fix on where the laughter was coming from, even though it was still going on. Buttercup shook her head.
"Can't see anything, but…" She closed her eyes for a second, and then snapped them open. "They're heading straight for us."
xxx
It was Butch who emerged first, his eyes glowing faintly. Boomer followed after him, hands in pockets and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Blossom felt Buttercup tense beside her. There seemed to be no sign of Brick.
"Oh look, we got ourselves a little welcome party." Butch cracked his knuckles. "Just what I need to get warmed up." Boomer spat his cigarette onto the ground and crushed it with his foot, saying nothing. His eyes however, flashed with amusement and just a little bit of malice under his shaggy blonde hair. Blossom took a step forward.
"If you dare try and hurt any of the people here, I swear I'll-" Buttercup suddenly put an arm out in front of her.
"It's no use. We have to fight."
"Buttercup-"
"No Blossom, we have to. I can feel it, everything he's feeling and it's making me sick. He came here for a fight and he won't leave without one." Before Blossom could react, Buttercup had already launched herself at Butch with a half-mad scream that didn't sound entirely her own. Boomer took advantage of her unwitting distraction, hitting Bubbles with an energy blast in the stomach before slamming into her, sending them both off into the darkness outside the circle of marquee lights. There was a short scream from that direction and a flash of blue light, then nothing more.
Blossom swayed on the spot. She couldn't see anything beyond the lights, only hear Buttercup yelling somewhere in the distance. Her heart started pounding. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't see anything.
"Bubbles. Buttercup. Where…?"
"There you are." Blossom spun and let off an arc of energy that lifted Brick off his feet and slammed him back into the stage. He lay there for a second, dazed, giving her time to fly over and lift him up by the lapels.
"Bloss-"
"What have you done?" she demanded, shaking him. There was a cry from Buttercup somewhere in the distance, punctuated by a sharp burst of that insane laughter. Brick tensed.
"That's…"
"Butch, I know. You set up an attack on me and my sisters, right when we were at our most vulnerable. All last week, the roses, it was all just a ruse so I would let my guard down." Brick's eyes widened as she spoke.
"No, Bloss, I didn't. I swear. I didn't know they'd come." Blossom gave a strangled growl and threw him away from her, turning and charging off into the blackness of the park. She still couldn't see anything, and her eyes were stinging, but she ran regardless, trying desperately to locate where Buttercup's cries were coming from. The skirt of her dress flapped uselessly around her legs, slowing her down and she almost screamed in frustration. Then suddenly, miraculously, she heard Bubbles calling her.
"Blossom, wait for me." Blossom managed to make out her sister easily falling into place beside her, her eyes smouldering. Blossom knew that look, and took fierce satisfaction in knowing that Boomer would be sore for at least a week.
"Buttercup's in trouble," Blossom panted. "I can't even hear her thoughts anymore; Butch is overpowering it all." Bubbles nodded, lengthening her stride and pulling ahead of her sister.
"I'll take a look over this way, you go that way." Blossom didn't bother to reply, instead turning away and heading off. Buttercup suddenly gave a strangled yelp from somewhere off to Blossom's right, and she turned sharply towards it.
"Buttercup!"
"Blossom, help! My powers are-" she was cut off mid-sentence by a sickening crack and hiss of pain. Blossom managed to make out Butch's eyes glowing in the dark. As she got closer, she saw a feverish gleam to them that was beyond even Butch's normal frenzy. He was laughing out loud now, hitting an unconscious Buttercup over and over, in the ribs, on her face. Blossom was feet away, ready to knock Butch off her sister and show him seven kinds of hell for even daring to hurt her like that, but she was beaten to it by a blood red flash of light that hit him square in the chest, flinging him backwards. Blossom turned to see Brick standing behind her, fist raised and still glowing.
"You moron," he said, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion. His eyes, however, told a completely different story. Butch got to his feet, eyes defiant. Before Blossom could blink, Brick already had Butch by the neck, lifting him up and making him gasp desperately for air.
"You never, never attack them without my orders, do you understand me?" He was all but roaring at his brother, and Blossom flinched as his thoughts swirled around her head, full of sheer unbridled anger that she would never have thought possible from anyone.
"I told you not to come here. I told you they were off limits. I told you she was mine." He threw Butch away from him, his eyes red hot and angry. Blossom dropped to her knees as the full force of his anger crashed through her mind, blocking out even her own thoughts. She saw him standing in front of her, saw Buttercup still lying unmoving, heard Bubbles calling her name, and then everything faded until all she could hear was her own pulse, pounding her into unconsciousness.