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Chapter 12: Row with an Ace
Blossom and Holden arrive back at the tree house an hour later to find Numbuh 2 getting out his com.
"Has anyone seen Blossom or Holden? No one has seen either of them since Holden left Genius Grove last night or since Blossom left to find Holden."
"We're right here, Numbuh 2."
He turns around and then says in a relieved voice, "Never mind Numbuh 1, they showed up." Hoagie puts the com away.
Before Holden and Blossom have a chance to go inside they hear a loud sonic scream from the directions of Downtown. Everyone knows that Bubbles sometimes loses control over her abilities when she gets incredibly happy. Someone lands near the driveway and it is Sherri Bird.
She then says replies in a meek voice "Holden, I have a favor to ask you. Well it's mostly me and Bubbles who have a favor to ask."
In response Holden says with interest in his voice, "What do you need me to do?"
Sherri gulps and then replies in a nervous voice, "We want you to get Belladonna's autograph for us. She's a famous singer with that new band down at the Sunny Bridges auditorium in Marquee. Can you please do this for us?"
After a few moments of thinking Holden responds, "Sure, I'll do it. Just give me the CD. I'll take the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Downtown now."
Sherri hands the CD over to him, but before he can move in the direction of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. he is interrupted by a voice, "It's down for repairs sir. You are going to have to take the Sliders or you could use the Monkey flying service provided by Mojo." This is said by Numbuh 108.
Holden groans at the news, but eventually replies, "I better get going now. I'll be back in a few hours."
As Holden leaves, Hoagie turns to Blossom and says in an urgent voice, "Dexter said there have been reports that Fuse has been trying to make copies of the Rowdyruff Boys. We need to confirm…"
Blossom rolls her eyes and states quickly, "Holden took them out this morning, and he even beat the real ones."
Hoagie laughs and sends the data to Dexter over his com.
Two hours later, Holden walks up the steps of City Hall to find Bubbles twirling around her Mr. Octi backpack while listening to her new CD of Belladonna.
The Mayor is of course munching on pickles from a jar and he eventually replies after he spots Holden, "Ah there you are, Holden. Ms Bellum, is there anything we need to tell Holden while he's here?"
Ms Bellum who has a clipboard in front of her face responds quickly and decisively, "Yes we do, Mayor. Dexter has requested since you are here at City Hall to go to the Great Machine out back to finish the link that he started with your Nancom."
Holden nods and replies in a grateful tone, "Thanks for reminding me, Ms. Bellum."
Holden walks around the building and down the back steps to where the Great Machine is located. He places his Nancom into the side of the device and completes the link. A few of his nanos enter the machine and moments later pop out with nano sun chairs. A few of the KND operatives that are nearby laugh at the sight.
Holden walks back up the steps and returns to the front of the building to talk to Bubbles. She is still dancing when he comes back to see her.
She stops dancing, smiles and turns off the music and replies happily, "So are you here to get the autograph of Belladonna for us?"
Holden nods to his sister and replies, "Why else would I be here Bubbles?"
Bubbles hugs him tightly and shouts happily, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Bubbles takes the CD out of her CD player, places it in the jewel case and hands it to Holden. Holden pats her on the shoulder and walks down the steps and off toward Marquee.
Bubbles then shouts after him in an urgent voice, "If you're going to short cut through the mall, be careful. Princess is there and she's been furious lately because we keep denying her Buttercup's spot."
Holden does short cut through the sunken mall near City Hall. Princess Morbucks gives him a dirty look as he passes by. Schnitzel, the weird cook is there with a purple dressed fellow named Chowder serving what appeared to be a breakfast food. Holden walks by a tall man in a green suit with a teen dressed in a red jacket and next to him is a monkey with an eye patch. The vehicle that is standing beside them has the name Providence stamped on the side.
Holden walks towards City Station, because Marquee is directly south of it.
As he enters the area, Holden notices the sign that says, "Welcome to Marquee Row!"
Holden doesn't think much about it until then he sees that the auditorium is an infected zone. Near the telepad, he sees five green-skinned people tuning instruments and talking with one another. As Holden approaches, he suddenly realizes it is Ace and that he is now a musician along with his gang. Holden stops in his tracks to think a moment to what Buttercup had told him. She was at a location where there was a row with an ace. He puts it out of his mind as Ace walks over to him.
"I'll be a snake in the grass. I heard a rumor that Dexter screwed up with his experiment you were part of. So what brings you down here to music central?" Ace asks, giving a slick smile and shacking Holden's hand.
Holden gulps and replies, "Well, Bubbles and another friend of ours sent me down here to get Belladonna's autograph. Is she anywhere around here?"
Ace nods, points over his shoulder and says, "Yeah she's near the ticket office. She's been a tad moody ever since her memory came back about a month ago. Man, she's the best girlfriend ever."
Holden nods in thanks and walks over to the office and finds that Belladonna's back is to him.
Then a gruff voice says, "Yeah what do you want? If it's about getting free tickets to Ace's and mine next concert…forget it!" Holden identifies the voice even to his disbelief.
Belladonna turns around and it is indeed Buttercup, expect with a green streak in her hair and makeup to make her looks a bit like a Goth. The CDs drop out of Holden's hand.
Buttercup's mouth drops and she shouts in amazement," HOLDEN!"
She jumps over the ropes and puts her hand on his face just to make sure she isn't losing her mind.
She then hugs him and responds happily, "I never through that my little brother would be the one to find me. I was expecting it to be Blossom or Bubbles." She cries a bit in to his shoulder.
Holden hands her the letter. "What's this? Is this from Blossom or Bubbles?"
Holden chuckles, "No, it's a letter for you from you."
Buttercup has a confused look on her face and replies, "What now? A letter for me from me? If you're try to confuse me I'll pop you."
Holden explains everything that happened. Buttercup opens the letter and reads it:
"Dear me, Wow this feels rather stupid. When Holden finds you/me, your memory will be back, but it's up to you to decide if you want to fight. I know we have Ace in our life and he's important to us, so if you have to fight for anything in this war, fight for him. "
From Buttercup AKA me.
P.S. "Kick some fusion butt for me!"
Buttercup laughs at how sappy she sounded in that letter, but her future self is right. She had to fight now to protect the people she loved. Just like Holden was changing the future, she could too.
Buttercup looks at Holden and replies quietly, "Holden, could you try to get Bubbles, Blossom, and the Professor to meet me here please. I want to give them a huge surprise."
Holden nods and takes out his com and tries to contact everyone.
Meanwhile, Blossom is back home in Pokey Oaks South, taking a bubble bath. She had put her Nancom near the sink. She slips below the bubbles and closes her eyes. The stress she had endured the last few days evaporated in an instant. All this fighting was having it toll on her skin. The light on her com starts to blink, but the sound was off. The image that appears was a recent picture she had secretly taken of Holden.
Bubbles is flying over Townsville Park waving at Ben's grandpa, Numbuh 1 and Samurai Jack's friend, the Scotsman. She then heads back towards City Hall when her Nancom starts beeping.
She takes it out of her pocket and replies happily, "Hi Holden! Did you get the autographs?"
Holden gives her a big grin and then says, "You need to get the Professor and Blossom down to Marquee Row ASAP. It's something that you all need to come for. I can't get hold of the Professor or Blossom, so can you go find them please?"
Bubbles nods and puts her com away and flies as fast as she can, leaving her blue trail behind her.
I wonder why Holden wants us all to meet him over there? Bubbles thought as she passes over Endsville.
After several minutes of thinking, Bubbles suddenly stops flying and realizes that it was about Buttercup and that Holden had found her. Bubbles shoots up into the air, does a barrel roll and shouts for joy. She is going to keep this to herself as to not spoil the surprise for the others.
She flies over Dexter's house and lands out front, and hugs the Professor.
The Professor replies in an astonished voice, "Bubbles, why aren't you at City Hall?"
Bubbles giggles and says in a happy voice, "There seems to be a big surprise at Marquee Row for us. Holden wouldn't tell me what it was. I'm going to head over to Sector V to look for Blossom."
As Bubbles lifts off the ground the Professor then says to her quickly "She's at home now. I think she is relaxing because of all the stress she has endured."
Bubbles just nods and flies as fast as she can home. Home…Bubbles hadn't been there in over 6 months. She missed it with all her heart and wanted nothing more than to sleep in her cozy soft bed. She opens the door to the house and finds Blossom in a pair of pink shorts, and an oversized gray long sleeved shirt (Bubbles knew the shirt belonged to Holden and that he let her borrow it one day after they had been caught in a rain storm. She also knew Blossom only wore those clothes when she slept).
Blossom almost falls out of her chair when Bubbles rushes in and shouts, "Sis, we need to go to Marquee Row! There seems to be something secret there for us!"
Blossom stands up quickly and replies "Well, let me get on my normal clothes. It would be silly to go out like this."
She rushes upstairs for a minute to change. Bubbles hums for a few seconds as she waits, and once Blossom comes back downstairs, they fly as fast as they can to Marquee Row.
When they arrive, the Professor is already waiting.
"Holden told me to wait for you two. The surprise is in this building over here."
The Professor and the two girls enter the building, but the lights are off and they can hear some music, which they follow to the next room. When they enter the room, they find Buttercup is singing on small platform. Buttercup immediately stops when she sees her sisters and father and smiles at them.
Blossom, with her mouth wide open, lunges forward and hugs her long lost sister followed in suit by Bubbles and the Professor. The girls then start to talk really fast catching up over the last year and half they had missed with each other. The Professor is having a hard time keeping up, but his girls are finally reunited and happy again and that's what mattered to him the most.
Buttercup looks around and says, "I think we're missing one part of this family."
They hear the side door swing shut. "I guess he wanted to let us have our time together."
Outside, Holden is sitting in the grass throwing stones across the river. He spots the reunited Utoniums leaving to what Holden knew was going to be dinner. He closes his eyes for a split second and unexpectedly gets pulled by the collar of his shirt into the air by Bubbles and Buttercup.
"You're coming with us. You're still a member of this family you know. We can't have a true family reunion without our brother." Bubbles says in a happy tone with a huge smile on her face.
Buttercup nods and replies, "It would feel really weird without you there at dinner little bro."
Holden smiles broadly and replies. "You're right! It would be weird if I wasn't there."
They fly over to Blossom and the Professor and travel back to Sector V and have a picnic.