I rolled over in my sleep, my eyes slowly opening as morning light peeked through the tent's thin walls. Quietly sighing, I sat up…

And realised I was alone in the tent.

Cocking an eyebrow in confusion, curious where everyone was. I continued to ponder as I put my shoes on and stepped outside, noticing everyone were gathered around the entrance to the wall of cobblestone. I shook my head when I saw the whole thing was covered in a mass of foreign vines. They were thick, coloured dark green and covered in red spines. With a newfound curiosity, I walked over into the group and stood at the front next to Steve and Jenny.

"Morning, Caleb", the crafter said, not looking away from the vines.

"Yeah…" I said back, tilting my head as I stared at the vines in confusion. "What's this all about?"

"No clue", Jenny answered with a shrug. "Majima was first one up, and as soon as he saw this, he woke the rest of us up."

"And no one woke me up?"

"We tried to", Ralph said with a partial laugh, "You were out like a light."

I blushed a bit in embarrassment as Twig paced in front of the mystery plants, sniffing them carefully. Hilda was the one who was actively investigating the vines, Alfur on the brim of her beret as he shuffled through his notebook.

"What's your book say, Alfur?" The young adventurer asked her tiny friend.

The elf hummed. "It could be- no, no. Maybe it's- that's not right." He sighed. "I have nothing. The most I can assume is that they're some strange sort of rose bush."

Majima, still having bandages wrapping over his chest, squinted at the plants suspiciously. "Yeah, sorry Alfur-Tan, but that is bullshit and you know it. This might be from one of those jackass villains."

Star winced a bit at Goro's vulgar language, but then glanced at the vines. "Maybe something followed us like Galacta." This made the knight's wings ruffle instinctually. "Zomboss did say he saw some yellow thing jump out at him when we were in the portal."

Ruby looked up at the doctor. "Did you see what it was?"

"Well, I saw some yellow", Zomboss explained, "And there maybe a hint of green, but with how frantic we all were I wasn't completely paying attention."

Everyone nodded except me, as what the scientist said made me think back to the flower I saw yesterday. Yellow petals… Green stem… Stark white bud…

Why was that so familiar? I continued to search through my memories, eyeing the vines carefully. They looked almost photorealistic…

Suddenly, I jumped when the sound of a light beam hit my ears, and I looked up to see the girls hovering above us. Their faces were twisted in distraught.

"Hey guys", I greeted, getting over my shock quickly. "What's going on?"

"These vines are spreading all over town", Blossom said, getting down lower and gesturing at the mysterious plants. "We have no clue where they came from, but no matter what we do, we can't get rid of them."

Steve took up the challenge, pulling out a pickaxe and began to smack at the botany. After a few seconds, it fell apart with the same particle effect from his game. The entrance was cleared, but only for a moment, as more vines emerged from the ground. They snaked till everything was just like before.

"What the…" Steve trailed off, looking down at his pickaxe like it was a broken phone.

"Okay, that's super weird", Marco said. Izzy, standing beside him, nodded with a strange look on her face.

"Do you think it's that gnome again?" Buttercup spent bitterly. "He threw these flowers out everywhere."

Bubbles looked horrified, but relaxed when Blossom shook her head. "Yeah, no, he's gone, remember? So I don't think it could be him."

I looked over at Ralph and he silently mouthed 'Gnome?' at me. I shrugged, then faced the vines again. I noticed what looked to be a flower blooming on it, and I took a couple careful steps forward as my curiosity took over. I gazed at the blooming bud closely and carefully, only to jump back when it suddenly blossomed into a very evil looking flower. It had twisted red petals, a cotton ball like centre, and abyss black leaves. I leaned in just the tiniest bit closer, only for the flower to snap at me like a lobster claw.

"Kid!" Ralph said, pulling me away from the rabid plant. My eyes were still wide as Jenny quickly transformed her hands into garden shears and cut the flower. It began to wiggle frantically on the ground, only for Steve to squish it with an anvil. We all stared at where the now crushed flower in a stunned silence, the crafter mining the object away so we could see the pinky-red splotch on the grass.

"Well then", Ruby said, breaking the awkward silence. Iris cringed as both little girls hid behind Izzy, who seemed morbidly curious with the odd flower.

Galacta hummed, then abruptly slashed his lance. We all let out cries of shock as the entire chunk of the wall was completely levelled, with the loose blocks just idly floating in place. The vines were completely gone, with only burnt trunks left behind.

"A little warning next time would be nice!" Maria shouted at the knight. She put her hands on her hips, but only got a silent and blank look as a response.

I looked around the park and saw that more of the vines were roping around the trees, and how more of those flowers were blooming. The Powerpuff Girls investigated them, and they all let out a cry and fury as one.

"What the heck is wrong?" Marco called as we all fanned out, Steve sticking behind to clean up the wall.

"We know who's behind this", Bubbles pouted.

"Who?"

"Him", Buttercup explained in anger, fire raging in her eyes. "Some big hotshot who never stops smiling and loves to mess with our heads."

"We once saw a future where he took over", Blossom added, her tone a mix of rage and fear. "And everyone we knew were all under his control."

My eyes bulged, and those nearest to me were quick to notice. "I'm guessing he's pretty bad, Caleb-Chan?" Majima asked.

I was silent for a moment. "Have you guys ever heard of the Devil?"

This made everyone visibly pale, even Gladius and Alfur. All except the girl, who were all still fuming, and Galacta, who, like always, showed no emotion.

"Shit, he's that bad?" Majima asked, giving me an 'Are You Kidding Me' look.

I nodded rapidly, and Jenny transformed her pigtails into jet boosters. "Well, we better start looking! Galacta, girls, you four are with me!" She rocketed into the sky, followed closely by the sisters and knight, leaving the rest of us to our own devices.

"So… what now?" Vanellope asked.

Maple climbed onto my shoulder, and I gave him a sad look. "You're going to hate me, but…"

I looked forward to some of the snapping flowers. "Let's walk some weeds." Maple frowned at me dramatically, and I nodded sadly.

~X~

Cleaning up the city would be a lot easier with our walking, talking Swiss Army knife named Jenny. Why? Because all of us were currently using low grade gardening equipment and matches. We found out that by burning the stumps after cutting the vines would keep them from growing back.

"This is taking forever!" Izzy whined impatiently, hacking away at the plants with a machete.

"Oh, quit your bitching", Majima growled, slicing some flowers off the vines with his knife. "I'm having as much fun as you, Isabelle-Chan." He viciously stomped on one of the flowers.

"Hey, this isn't so bad", Star spoke up in an attempt to raise spirits, "We're helping clean up a city, and get to take it out on a bunch of plants!" She winced when a certain whip-plant glared venomously at her. "Uhhhhh… sorry Maple."

Said Wasabi Whip was on my shoulder, keeping me and Gladius from helping with the botany trimming.

"Maple, behave", I said in a scolding tone. "They've just got to do this. Just leave them be." I looked around. "Has anyone seen Zomboss?"

I was met with a chorus of nos, and when I was about to see where he could be, something came barreling around the corner. It was Zomboss, piloting a mech that was just a cycloptic version of the Zombot's head. It raced down the street on four spider-like legs, large flaming saw blades protruding out and decimating all the vines.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"SWEET MOTHER OF MONKEY MILK!"

"HIT THE DECK!"

We all ran off the street and either ducked under the mech or dove into alleyways (Me, Maple and Gladius were unfortunately the former), all while the crazed zombie scientist cackled like a lunatic. When he passed, we all grouped back up in the middle of the road, all bug eyed as we looked towards where he went. All around us, walls were scorched and cut, vines were burning, and flowers were flailing in pain.

"Well…" I finally said after a moment of silence, "That's one way to help." Maple was utterly horrified, his eyes as wide as can be and as pale as a ghost.

"Shouldn't we chase after him?" Hilda asked.

"NO", we all answered back sternly. On that note, we all carefully fanned out and began to clean up the mess our most scientifically inclined friend left behind. It was then I noticed someone was now missing.

"Has anyone seen Izzy?" I asked. The others all began to look around, only to jump when Zomboss sped past at the intersection ahead. It was clear as day that Izzy was the one in control of the mech, and Zomboss looked fully into it.

"Well, if that doesn't answer your question, I don't know what will", Ralph joked. I smiled at his joke, and returned my focus to the task at hand. The vines were charred and falling apart, so it was a bit more of a hassle to clean the mess up. But, as minutes turned to hours, the city was slowly getting more cleaned up. Maple was still adamant to keep me and Gladius from ever helping, so the three of us watched as our friends all hacked down the vines and burned the stumps.

"How long have we been at this?" Manolo asked. Majima was sweating like crazy next to him.

I looked towards a nearby clock. "I'd say about 2 hours." This was met with groans from everyone present.

"We can't keep doing this forever, Caleb!" Star complained as she and Marco leaned against each other, both panting in exhaustion.

I gave a flat look, nervous to say we still had more to do considering how exhausted everyone looked. But just as I opened my mouth to deliver the news that would have me dead in a second, Jenny, Galacta and the girls landed off to the side. All of their eyes showed a fiery determination.

"Well, you guys don't have to worry about doing anymore gardening", the teenage robot said as she walked forward. "We've found where Him is, and it is the source of all of these weeds."

"He's holed up in the amusement park at the shore", the knight added, "And it's made him vulnerable. This is our best chance to launch a counterattack."

"Fuck yeah!" Majima shouted with glee, pulling out his pistol and knife. Manolo and Maria, who were closest to him, took a side away from him.

"Do anything crazy, and I'll bury you", Buttercup threatened, getting right into the yakuza's face. Both of them glared at each other, growling viciously.

"Both of you knock it off!" Blossom shouted as she forced herself between the two of them. "Let's just focus on stopping Him, okay?" The two grumbled in agreement, but shot each other a glare as they moved away from each other. Bubbles began to look around when her green clad sister joined back to her side.

"Where's Izzy and Zomboss?" She asked innocently.

Their mech instantly crashed onto the road right next to all of us, leaving a small crater. We all stumbled to keep balance, then looked up to see Izzy wildly grinning down at us with a maniacally laughing Zomboss by her side.

"Isabelle, remind me to build you a mech of your own in the future!" The scientist gleefully said.

"Ooooooo, yes!" The redhead cheered, "I want one that looks like a bear, with-"

"Guys!" I shouted, snapping their attention back to me. "Focus on your mech ideas later. We've got to go and stop Him."

Zomboss calmed down and looked at our flying friends, then pressed a button on his mech's console. It suddenly increased in length, gaining a second set of legs. He flashed us a twisted grin.

"Get in."

~X~

Zomboss took over steering the mech as we raced down the streets. There were still a lot of vines, and they continued to grow at a terrifying rate. The ground cracked up as more of the plant life emerged, more of those flowers snapping like a school of rabid piranhas.

"Hold on!" Zomboss barked. I hugged onto Ralph tightly as the scientist manoeuvred the mech over the cracking road, chunks ripping out as what looked like a mass of vines snaked and squirmed under the ground. I let out a fearful cry as some of the flowers lashed out at me, but luckily Star blasted them away with a Narwhal Blast. Majima had an assault rifle in his grasp, and he was unloading into the plants. Even Maple had forgo the fact that these were plants, and was whipping away any flowers that tried to bite down on the mech.

I looked ahead at our five flying friends, the group leading us to the amusement park. Galacta was occasionally firing his energy sword projectiles as Jenny and Blossom used their laser vision.

"This is crazy!" Vanellope cried as she and Hilda sat together, buckled securely into their seats as Twig sat between them. Manolo and Maria were over them, using their swords as shields to bat away any of the plants. Alfur coward on the brim of Hilda's beret.

"How much further, guys?!" Steve shouted as he fired a volley of crossbow arrows at a bunch of violently moving vines.

"Not much!" Buttercup shouted back. "Just stay close!"

Some vines coiled around a building and snapped it like a twig, bringing it down onto us. We all screamed as Zomboss dodged out of the way, doing the same with several other buildings that faced the same fate. After we dashed under the final one, we had reached the beach. It was a lot calmer than the city, and it didn't take long for us to see the amusement park that had the source to all of this. Jenny, Galacta and the girls joined us in the mech, and Zomboss sped ahead. As we got closer, I saw a large vine flailing in the air, holding onto something. The closer we got, the clearer it became.

"The vines got Him!" I shouted. The girls gasped when they saw the lobster claw hand being wrapped up tightly, the massive smile never leaving his face. They instantly flew back off to free him, while the rest of us all remained in the mech. It scaled a wall of vines and unleashed hell, the mouth firing out a blanket of fire, the others going to work in cutting the plants.

I jumped out with Gladius in my hand and Maple on my shoulder, and I rushed ahead. I was frantically looking for the heart of all of this, and soon I saw it. A large green seed that glowed a pale red. It was shaking violently as several vines shot out of it. With my goal set, I charged forward, readying Gladius to slice the thing in half.

Only for everything to suddenly disappear.

I let out a gasp, tripping on some litter and falling to the ground. Gladius harmlessly hit the ground, and Maple had begun to look me over. With a flabbergasted expression, I turned around to face the others. They were just as shocked as me, and I even saw that the whole city was quiet. All the vines were gone, yet it was still destroyed. I turned to face the girls, and saw them set down a still grinning Him on his own two feet.

"Okay, spill it Cheshire!" Buttercup shouted, "what the heck was all this about?!"

The red skinned man looked silently at her for a moment, his grin never leaving his face. "Oh heavens, I do not know. I simply was working with a new cohort of mine with this excellent scheme, but then everything went wrong. The flowers grew out of control and turned on me."

The others all joined my side as we watched Blossom take over the interrogation. "Who helped you? Fuzzy? Princess? Did you find a way to revive the gnome?"

Him shook his head. "No. It was someone new to the city. He told me he loved causing chaos, and wanted to help me. But then he told me that he wanted to watch the world burn, and did something to my beautiful flowers that made them too crazy even for me."

Bubbles looked over at us for a moment, then back to the villain. "But, why would he do that?"

Him shrugged, taking a few steps back from the trio of superheroes. "I don't know. He seemed like such a nice fellow, with an infectiously positive attitude. He always laughed at my jokes, and looked so happy when I would tell him of my past plans."

This made a chill run up my spine for some reason.

"WHO HELPED YOU?" Buttercup snarled through her clenched teeth.

"Well, I promised him I'd never tell", Him declared, "So don't expect me to speak any time soon." He crossed his arms and turned his back to us. Buttercup let out a roar and started to trash one of the nearby snack stands. Bubbles flew over to try and calm her sister down.

Blossom sighed. "Fine, you won't talk, but you're still in trouble."

"I never said I was", Him said, shooting a gleeful look at the bow wearing girl.

"I think you guys should just lock him up", I said loudly, "We aren't going to get anywhere with this."

Blossom sighed with a nod, then faced Him once again. "Now, are you going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"

Jim's grin twisted more, and he pulled out a remote. "Hard way." He pressed the button on it…

And was promptly crushed by a Ferris Wheel carriage.

We all jumped as the red man shakily pulled himself out, and I saw what looked to be a note fluttering down. Gladius floated up, grabbed it, and read it over as he came back down.

"Sorry not sorry, friend", Gladius said, "But you were holding me back. Hopefully you broke some bones…" He faced us. "And then there's a smiley face."

Him's jaw dropped, his grin actually faltering as he stared at the note in the sword's wing. He then let out a cry and pounded the ground in rage. "That's what I get for trusting a flower!"

I froze. "Hey, Him?" He looked up at me. "Did this flower have yellow petals?" Him hesitated, then nodded. "A white bud and green stem?" Another nod. "Did he have a weird laugh?" Him nodded for the last time.

"Oh no…" I said in a fearful tone.

"Why, what's wrong kid?" Ralph asked in concern.

"I know who helped Him", I continued, "It was the person that knocked Zomboss off course."

This made the scientist look at me in curiosity. "Who?"

"Why, little old me, of course!"

We all snapped our heads to the source of the voice, and under the Ferris Wheel was the flower I just described, who was barely as tall as Twig. He had a simple face of two dot eyes and a wide smile.

"Who the fuck is this runt?" Majima asked.

The flower stuck his tongue out at us. "I'm pretty sure your buddy Caleb knows! He knows a lot about me…"

My friends all gave me concerned looks, and I felt like screaming as I stared the flower down.

"Go ahead, scream", the flower said, his cheerful tone slowly morphing into a dark one. "It might be the last time you do."

Jenny suddenly transformed her hand into a cannon, and aimed it right at the flower. "Who are you, you oversized weed."

The flower laughed, which made everyone present visibly tense.

"I'm Flowey. And I'm your new best friend…"

~X~

Dun dun DUUUN!!! Flowey has finally made his presence known! And with that, The Powerpuff Girls arc comes to a close, and the next arc starts…

Better hold on tight my friends and fans, because soon all will be ripped apart…

Special shoutout to my friends Fabi, Jess and Dagur. Fabi has been posting a review on all the chapters since the start of The Book Of Life arc, Jess is the author of the incredible Twinning With A Twist, and Dagur is always exploding with such creative passion. Love all three of you!

Up next: Poor Caleb, he just can't handle how powerful I can be! Aw well, might as well squeeze all this fun out while I can…

~Caleb~