A/N: Lines are crossed, and boundaries are broken in this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Bubble-burst

The New Townsville's metro tunnel was cold, dark, and lonely. Two sets of tracks ran along the length of the station, all the while bathed in ghostly yellow thanks to the numerous lights lining along the tunnel walls. Each set of tracks disappeared into separate channels, with just enough room for one train to pass through. When Bubbles crawled out of the tiny vent, all covered in dust and cobwebs, she landed onto a small service platform protruding from the station. Immediately, she noticed the lack of sound. Other than some ventilation fans blowing overhead and the faint echo of distant trains, there was nothing to hear.

Her target was nowhere to be found, and not even the faintest footfalls could be heard. Without any idea of where to go, Bubbles floated over the tracks in search for clues—anything to point her in the right direction. She scoured the area, combing every inch of metal and concrete. Then, her eyes fell upon a section of the track where a faint bluish glow emanated from one of the black rubber ties. Upon closer inspection, she found that it was shaped like a person's foot and smoldered like dying flames. She looked around and found more and more prints, all forming a single trail leading into the left tunnel. Bubbles floated over the trail, and drifted into the heart of darkness.

Back in the station...

Brick lay on his back upon the cold white tiles. His cheeks were red and swollen, and his eyes were black and puffy. He was pinned to the ground by Blossom who was straddling his chest and clamping his arms together with her legs. His favorite red hat had been knocked off when he fell, and it rocked back and forth near his head.

Blossom had resorted to more persuasive methods of interrogation. Yet despite the punishment she had inflicted on him, Brick remained insolent. He still had that infuriating smile, and refused to comply with her demands.

"You know, I've met a girl like this just yesterday," He was saying, "Only, she was much prettier and much nicer than you."

"She was naked too and fresh from a bath," he sighed, "I will never forget the way she fell on top of me."

Blossom blushed a deep crimson, remembering a certain event in her recent past. She picked him up by the collar and slapped him across the face. "I don't need to know how perverted you are. You can keep your lewd stories to yourself!"

"I do however need to know something else. Where is your friend is running off to? Who is he meeting with?"

"Am I my friend's keeper?" Brick said, rolling his eyes, "I don't know where Boomer goes half the time. You should go ask him yourself."

"Don't worry, we will get to him soon enough," Blossom said, "But in the meantime, I will get what I want from you, and your other friend will be taken care of by Buttercup."

Blossom glanced sideways at the two others still in the station. Butch was lying on his belly on the tiled floor but had managed to prop himself up with his hands. Meanwhile, Buttercup was sitting on his back and had her trusty hammer leaning against her shoulders. When Butch saw Blossom looking, he cupped a hand to his mouth whispered hoarsely to Buttercup, "I think she's talking about you."

Buttercup shoved him down between the shoulder blades so that his face was plastered against the floor.

"I told you to be quiet!" she snapped, "Another peep, and I'll take my hammer to your face."

Butch scoffed. "You wouldn't dare, I'm more valuable to you alive than dead. When the redhead finishes questioning Brick, I'll be next. You need me!"

Buttercup scoffed. "Don't be so full of yourself," she said, "When Bubbles drags that Boomer back, you will be just trash, waiting to be disposed."

Butch sneered. "Then I hope she fails."

Boomer was nowhere to be found. His tracks, at first fresh and bright, had all but disappeared. Bubbles had stopped in a section where the two tunnels had joined into one, with thick pillars separating the two lines. She had beed searching for more clues when the train came from the other side.

First, the Bubbles saw growing light, and then she heard the tunnel's rumbling loudly. The whole tunnel shook as though an earthquake earthquake had struck. Then, all of a sudden, there came a loud horn blast, ripping through her ears. Bright lights stabbed through her eyes, and a torrent of wind slammed her against the tunnel wall with enough force to drive all the wind out of her. Then there came a headsplitting squeal of metal scraping metal.

Unable to breath, and terribly confused, Bubbles felt panic bubbling into her mouth. She stumbled to her feet and fled as fast as her legs could carry her. Forgetting all about her powers, she kept running, and running, and running, until her legs could run no more. Pain raced up her calves as they cramped up, and she crashed through an open doorway and went spraling on the grimy floor. The impact bruised her body and and the friction tore up her knees.

Dirty, sweaty, and fatigued, Bubbles rolled onto her back. Her chest rose and fell, and she struggled to even breathe, but the stale air would not relent. She was also completely blind to the world and could not even see where she was.

For a girl who had a privileged existence, this was all too much. Normally, she had a bath twice a day and kept her nails well manicured. At school, everyone loved her. The boys crowded the hallways to see her, and filled her shoe box with love letters. She was the fashionetta of her age and was ever ahead of the latest trend. All her life, Bubbles grew up in luxury and was pampered.

All that meant squat down here in the stifling darkness. Now, she was lying in filth, and was as dirty as she had ever been. She was bruised all over, and bleeding, not just from her knees. She was all alone in the dark, and not a soul could could be seen. Wretched and forgotten, she knew that there would be no knights in shining armor to save her.

She felt tears spill out from her eyes. She tried to wipe them away, but only succeeded in smearing dirt all over her face. They fell despite her efforts. This was the worst.

Alone in the darkness, Bubbles curled into a ball, and wept uncontrollably.

Butch saw the train roll into the station on the opposite side. He watched as its doors open and release its occupants. Meanwhile more people were flooding into the cabin and refilling the train to the brink. There was a blast of horn and the train closed its doors.

Lying prone on the ground, with his cheeks glued to the tiles, Butch could only groan and watch the train depart. He could feel hands on his body, incessantly searching for something. They invaded his pockets and groped dangerously close to is most sensitive regions.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, "Stop touching me there!"

Buttercup rolled her eyes, and continued rummaging through his pockets. "Oh grow up will you." She said, rolling her eyes.

Her Hands closed around his leather wallet, and she cried, "Ahah!", and pulled it out.

Opening its folds, Buttercup upended it so that coins cascaded onto her open palm.

"Is this a thing now? Thieving?" Butch protested, " Hey, that's my money you're taking!"

"I'm just getting what you owe me. Those subway tickets weren't cheap, you know," She said. When the last coin fell out of its leather case, Buttercup pocketed the change and tossed back in the now empty wallet.

"Not that you don't deserve it," she added, "I bet you stole some of this money yourself, didn't you?"

Butch rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Soon, this farce would end, one way or another.

Bubbles had been crying for a long time. Whatever time it was, she had long since forgotten. Even as she sat up, her tears kept gradually she was feeling much better. Lying motionless on the ground had calmed her down and allowed her body to recover its strength. At the same time, her eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness and could make out the contours of a stairwell. She also saw other doorways that were either locked or had no visible handles.

Then, she saw, to her astonishment, a familiar glow of blue. She wiped away her tears and looked again; they were still there, glowing brightly like will-o-wisps. A trail of them wound up the staircase, across a catwalk, over the opposite tunnel, and through a broken doorway. Bubbles followed the the tracks slowly, limping along. Her blood had stained her skin around her knees. Her joints were aching, and her muscles were still cramping badly in her legs.

She wound up in a small chamber with a desk and some racks full of broken computers. There was a large hole in the wall, opposite, and she could see nothing but black nothingness beyond. At the same time, she felt cold air blowing in from the hole, much fresher than the stale air of the metro tunnels.

Curious, Bubbles gingerly stepped over the hole, and accidently kicked a loose section of the wall. She felt her heart beat many times before there was any sound. Then far below, as if rising from some invisible depths, there came a "clatter" very distant, but magnified and repeated a hundred times in echo.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. it came from over there."

Two points of light, no larger than two stars in the night sky, suddenly appeared down in the abyss. Like fireflies they wandered about, casting a wide cone of light. They illuminated the massive concrete pillars holding up a huge vault.

Created to catch flood waters should they infiltrate the city, this artificial cavern rose more than eight stories high, and stretched as far as the eyes could see. Bubbles saw that her little hole led directly into the dark abyss. Had she truly crossed over, she would have fallen to her death, her powers notwithstanding.

The lights had save her, but they were also looking for her.

One bright circle was moving towards her, and they were closing in fast. Bubbles had stepped back, and was just thinking of ducking away, when suddenly, a hand shot out from behind and clamped down hard on her mouth. Blind panic consumed her once more, and Bubbles struggled with all her might but to no avail. Another arm wrapped around her body and bound her own limbs together in a tight embrace.

Warm breath tickled her hair, whispering into her ear. "Shhhhhh… it's just me."

Then, just as the light would reach her face, those arms dragged her back into the heart darkness.

Blossom stared down at that boyish face, still smiling despite the abuse inflicted on him. His carefree demeanor vexed her to no end and his refusal to comply aggravated her.

"You are making this harder on yourself," She said, narrowing her eyes, "If only you would tell me what I want to know, I promise to be merciful when Bubbles drags with your friend back."

"Fuck you," he said, "You're just wasting your time. Meanwhile you let the Gangreen Gang get away. You know? The real thieves?"

"I'm asking the questions here," she snapped, "Who do you work for? It's obvious that you're delivering the bag to someone in the city. And I know that you at least know where to find this person. I will be satisfied if you could just tell me."

But Brick ignored her. "I don't know why you've come after us. It's obvious to me that you went after the wrong people. I'll give you credit for actually noticing us. Not everyone tries to look up, not even when they're supposed to."

"You didn't disappoint: you let the real thieves get away." He went on, "And then, when I reminded you of that important thing, you just ignored me. Even for a guy like me, that's just cold."

Blossom grimaced. She released his collar and let his head bounced off the tiles. "You were involved in robbery this morning," she said, "I want to know what you were doing there and what you took. You will answer my questions."

But Brick stuck out his tongue. "LIke hell I would tell you, old hag!"

She slapped him, hard. "Don't call me that ever again!" She snarled, "Tell me what you've been up to!"

"Hah!" Brick spat out a phlem of blood. "The more you hit the less I say! You think beating on me to get you anything? You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with!"

"Kuso!"

Blossom cursed in frustration. Nothing was working, even cold-blooded torture could not get him to talk. He just was so stubborn!

Blossom leaned back and glared into those ruby red eyes still burning with defiance. Then, her gaze shifted to his right jaw where a large yellow bandage was plastered over the skin. She traced its contours and found it slightly raised and smooth to the touch.

"Where did you get this,?" Blossom wondered out loud, not really looking for an answer.

"Oh that? It's nothing really. I got into a fight when I was little, and the jerk cut me with his knife. It's never properly healed since."

"You had to get 13 stitches there afterwards," Blossom said slowly, as the gear in her head began to move, "And then your parents got worried and sent you to live here in New Tokyo. Now you live with your cousin, and work with her in a little pastry shop in the middle of the city."

There was a pause, and Blossom could see the dawning of fear on his face. She cupped his cheek in her hand and bore into those eyes. "Did I get it right?"

She felt the pulse quicken and the jaw muscles saw the nostrils flair, as His fear grew. He swallowed a lump in his throat and said, "That's right, but how did you know that?"

It was Blossom's turn to smile. "Because you told me."

Watching his face crumble into confused terror was much more satisfying than she had thought. Blossom leaned in close and whispered into his ear. "I know you better than you think, Brick. There are no secrets between us. I too met another boy in this way yesterday. He was gentle and kind and cute and so unlike you. He was also naked like on his birthday. I really liked him."

"H-how… How could you… no way!"

She leaned in until her nose touched his and her breath fell upon his cheeks. "Don't you recognize me Brick?" She cooed, "Or rather Akagi-Kun?"

She watched those ruby red eyes rake over her. She saw the realization appear in those pretty eyes. Then, almost timidly, he spoke.

"...Momoko? Is that you?"