Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 18
The Commencement of Attack
The City of Townsville…
Blossom and Brick, at the middle of the night, were pouring over printed maps and plans.
"So this island isn't on regular maps," Brick said, pouring over an atlas.
"Yes, it seemed as if that island just didn't exist," Blossom added.
"Officially, it doesn't," Brick said. "If everybody knows about it and what Ckracknow is doing, then we would probably have sent some stealth bombers and the marines to take care of it."
"Yeah, now according to these plans, you can't actually see the island. That bastard has made a kind of visual dome over the island that absorbs all the light for power, and at the same time, blends perfectly with its surroundings, making it invisible to the outside observer," Blossom observed.
"And the defense of the island is a joke. I only had big guns! It's would be as easy as taking candy from a baby to break in once you find the island!" Brick added.
"Yeah, but don't forget, that Ckracknow has probably more superpowered monsters waiting for us," Blossom countered. "And I'd bet there many more Ones."
"So what?" Brick said, brushing off Blossom's objections. "We're stronger by more than fifty percent. Whence we were equal, now we have marked superiority!"
"I can only hope you're right, Brick," Blossom said.
"I know I am," Brick confidently said. "Nothing on earth, or perhaps the universe, could ever match us in strength and speed. We are at the pinnacle of humanity. Anyway, here's my plan. We can't just bust in. If we do that, they might panic and kill our Dads! I propose we split up. Three of us will go up in front and try to make as much attention as possible. Those three would pretend to negotiate the release of our Dads. At the same time, three would sneak-in and rescue our Dads behind their backs. That way, we can safely snatch our Dads away! And when we do, we can unleash hell on that base and destroy it bit by bit! What do you think?"
"That might work," said Blossom. "Okay, you and your brothers go and be the distraction, while me and my sisters would sneak up and rescue our Dads!"
"No! Me and my brothers should be the one to rescue Dad and the Professor while you be the distraction to Ckracknow!" Brick countered.
"Oh no! You just want to get the glory by being the one who actually save our parents!"
"And why not? It's my plan, so I should have the glory!" Brick asserted.
"No! Since I'm the leader, I'll execute the plan, and therefore I should get the glory!" Blossom replied.
"No I should! I want to be the one to actually rescue Dad!" shouted Brick.
"NO, I want to! I am the leader and I have the responsibility to direct all operations," Blossom countered, further shouting.
"Yeah, but you don't have the responsibility to get all the glory!" Brick countered, also shouting. "Besides, you're the leader. You can't get yourself hurt because you have to direct operations, so you should leave all the dangerous stuff to us underlings, since you're so important, you shouldn't put yourself in greater risk!"
"I will be the one to sneak in the base and I have a perfectly good reason why I should be the one!" Blossom said.
"What?" asked a skeptical Brick.
"Because I'm the leader, and you will do as I say!" Blossom shouted.
"Well, you're right, you are the leader. But what if I defy you?" asked Brick, with a lower voice.
"You'd suffer the same fate as Buttercup and Boomer!"
"Meaning?"
"I'd have you tied up and tickled!" Blossom audaciously said.
"You've got to be kidding!"
"Oh am I?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Try me!"
"If I do, whom will you order to do it, cause you couldn't do it by yourself cause you'll have a fight by your hands!"
"Oh I'm sure Buttercup and Bubbles will be delighted to do it!"
"And I'm sure Butch and Boomer will just watch it all without doing anything," Brick sarcastically replied.
"Oh they would," Blossom replied. "You yourself would order it."
"I don't think so!"
"Really? You spent the past weeks telling them to follow my orders. And you wouldn't stop now!"
"And why not?"
"Because we both know that you still want to be leader, and you won't order them to disobey, since doing so would undermine your future authority!" Blossom countered.
Brick was defeated. He knew she was right. "Oh you win. But I am all doing it on protest! Hey, I know, why don't we both be the one who sneak up on the base! Our siblings would be the one who'll be the distraction, while we would get all the glory!"
"I don't know," Blossom said. "The one's negotiating outside would have to have a leader to guide them so they won't mess up."
"How could they mess up?" countered Brick. "They'd be strong enough. All they have to do is stall for time, and I'm sure they can do it!"
"Yeah, but still…"
"And I won't do my part in protest!"
"Deal!"
Meanwhile…
Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium had just given the stolen information about the base. They were so proud of themselves.
"So, have you finished divulging the secrets of this base?" Ckracknow suddenly said appearing from behind the two.
"What, um, we don't know what you're talking about," the Professor said.
"Yeah, we weren't giving away plans to nobody," the Doctor explained. "How could we give to anybody your secrets, since we don't know about it, and even if we do, how can we give it to anybody, since we don't have any communication with anybody outside this base."
"Gentlemen, don't take me for a fool," Ckracknow said. "You were transmitting information to your sons about the defenses of this base and you were stealing information for your own profit."
"That's not true…"
"Cut the sh!t! I have hidden cameras all over the place, and I've listened to everything you've said in the past few days. Ah, such loyalty, it brings me nearly to tears!"
"Then if you know all of this, why the hell did you let us run amock, pretending to deceive you?" Dr. Edwards asked.
"Because you think you deceived me, when in fact, you're the ones who were deceived in thinking that you've deceived me. Besides, I am getting much advantage by letting you continue your research while thinking you had me fooled."
"Then all the data you gave us is fake?" asked the Doctor.
"Not quite. All the data I have given to you about the monsters are factual. In fact, you now know as much about the monsters as I do," Ckracknow said. "Don't look surprised. I needed the information which only you could give, and I couldn't have it if I supplied you with false information."
"And what makes you think we'll work for you after this?" asked Professor Utonium.
"If you want to see your sons and daughters alive after today you will! You see, you sent them fake defense plans of this island, and when they arrive, they'll be surprised. They'll be walking into a trap. Now, if you work for me, I'll only keep them captive. If not, I'll torture them before killing them."
The Professor and the Doctor stared at the little mad scientist. They could not believe they were outwitted.
Soon, a large man went and grabbed the doctor, while the another went and took the doctor's watch. Another large man grabbed the Professor.
"Throw them in their previous cell," Ckracknow ordered.
The two men then threw the two scientists into a cell. It was the same cell they had been thrown into during their first day of activity.
"Crap! Now the situation is all fcked up!" Dr. Edwards exclaimed as soon as they were left alone locked up in their old cell.
"Yeah, I guess it was going too good for it to last. And who could have thought that Ckracknow is such a smart piece of sh!t!" the Professor commented.
"Yeah, we underestimated that Crackpot! We thought we could fool him, and it turned out that he fooled us! Damned bastard. Now we even put our children in danger. What could we do John?"
"We could just pray, William, that the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys could escape whatever trap Cracknow has for them," the Professor said, but his face saw that he did not believe his own words. Clearly, both of them were angry, but demoralized.
The next morning, September 21…
"And that's the plan," Blossom said as she finished talking to her sisters and to the Rowdyruff Boys. Of course, it was not news to Brick.
"Hey, I don't want to just be a distraction," Buttercup complained.
"I know, but we all have to do our part," Blossom confidently said.
"But why you two?" asked a curious Bubbles.
"I know!" Buttercup said. "They already discussed it last night. I saw you two sneak out and I even heard you shouting about something."
"So what!" Blossom asserted. "Brick and I formulated a great plan!"
"Well, you're the leader," Buttercup said. "But I still think your plan sucks! But what the heck! At least if this all crashes, you can't blame me and we can all blame you."
"Good. Now before we go, I want to say that I'm very proud of all of you for reaching level 17 well before we expected to. We have trained long and hard these past few days so that we could rescue Professor Utonium and Dr. Edwards, two people very close to our hearts. We have endured the past few days without their company, missing them terribly, knowing that they are suffering imprisoned in some madman's island. We have spent the past few days worrying, and now, we hope, by the end of this day, this would just be a bad memory."
"Now we will come fact to face with the evil that for the past few days had repeatedly tried to kill us. Several times, we nearly had been killed. Several times, we failed to cooperate. Several times, we seemed to lose our common sense. Yet we could say that, despite all of this, despite all of the odds against us, we can't say we failed, because our enemies aren't nearer to their objective of annihilating us than before. We have soldiered on, and triumphed, even as we committed terrible mistakes. In fact, we even became stronger, both physically and in morale. I am very proud of all of us, and I'm glad we made it this far. "
"Now some of you might object to my leadership. Yes, I know, Boomer, Butch, that both of you very much dislike me and the idea of me as your leader. In fact, I wouldn't be exaggerating if I would say that you hated me. Well, I deeply regret that. I wish we could be in better terms and be friends. I know you wanted Brick to be the leader, but only one us can be the leader, and your father chose me. I can only thank you that despite your personal opinion of me, you have chosen to follow my orders, even if you think it is wrong."
"Buttercup, I know I seemed more bossy and arrogant than before. I can only justify it because we are in an emergency, and extraordinary measures were needed. If I fail to act so, then I wouldn't deserve to be the leader. Besides, arrogance is not a disqualifier for leadership. So thanks for being there for all of us."
"Bubbles, thank you for always sticking by me. You're always there for me, and for the rest of us. And you're the only one who is in good terms with two Rowdyruffs. You are one of the bonds that help keep this alliance working."
"And finally, Brick. Thank you very much. I wouldn't be much of a leader without you simply because I know that Butch and Boomer wouldn't follow me if you didn't fully support me. Plus, you've given me valuable lessons in being a leader. First, you never were in lockstep with my decisions, and you always speak your mind, but in the end, you always follow my orders even if you object. Your advice on several occasions were invaluable. You yourself are a brilliant leader Brick. I've observed how you commanded your brothers. I thought you'd be a total jerk, but it turned out that you were only half a jerk, but still a jerk. Now I'd never make an important decision concerning this alliance without asking for your advice. And though you still want to be leader, I'm certain you will never be leader of this alliance, but still, you're the most qualified to take over after me."
"So today, we will go and rescue our Dads. Using my brilliant plan, we will go and bring to justice that Ckracknow! We will bust his operation, kill all his monsters, totally destroy his base, and eliminate every trace of his evil. We will kick some butt! For Townsville, and for humanity, we will win this fight!"
"Yeah!" the rest of them shouted with her. Her speech before them touched them, except Butch and Boomer. It temporarily bolstered her authority among the ranks. It was her at her best.
The six of them flew towards the island.
They stopped just a hundred miles off the coast of Oregon.
"It's here," Brick said, carrying an atlas.
"Are you sure?" asked Bubbles. "I don't see anything."
"Well, that's because it is covered with a dome made of light that cloaks it. It's like camouflage," said Blossom.
"Is that so?" said Buttercup.
"Okay, you four fly in towards the base from above, and demand from Ckracknow that they release our Dads while Brick and I would fly close to the surface so they won't see us and we can sneak in so we can surprise them."
"Okay," said Buttercup. "Okay guys, let's go!"
The four of them, Bubbles, Boomer, Buttercup and Butch, then dived from high in the sky towards the ocean. Suddenly, they felt some kind of static, then the island magically appeared.
The island is not very large. You can see the entire island from where the four kids were floating. There was a large type of building occupying almost the entire island. There isn't much of a defense. The big guns that were found in the defense plans were not there. Thought there were a lot of antennas sticking out of the building and a large radar was conspicuous.
"Identify yourselves and state your business!" a voice from a large speaker suddenly said.
"Okay, I am Butch," Butch said.
"And I'm Boomer!"
"And we're the Rowdyfuff Boys!" both of them said simultaneously and proudly said.
"I'm Buttercup!"
"And I'm Bubbles!"
"And we're the Powerpuff Girls!" shouted both of the girls.
"Ah, so the children have come to rescue their fathers," a different voice suddenly said. "I'm Ckracknow, and you would have to fight Two if you want to have your Dad back!"
"Two what?" asked Boomer.
"The name of the man you're fighting is Two, idiot!" shouted Ckracknow. "Two, take care of them."
"We can take anything you could throw at us!" Butch shouted.
A large man, about 6'5", emerged from the base. He was muscular, though his face was hidden because he wore a ski mask and has large shades covering his eyes. He was wearing black all over. The kids were about to land on the ground to fight him when he surprised them by floating up towards them.
"Take your best shot!" the man said.
"Oh tough guy, ha? Well, we'll see how tough you are after I'm done with you!" shouted Buttercup. She then backed away a little bit to give her some traction space to charge the man. When suddenly, she screamed.
"Buttercup!" shouted Bubbles, as she saw her being electrocuted by the static dome covering the base. Whereas before, it is only static, it was now electrically charged.
"Ha, the voltage is so high that even with your powers, you can't withstand it. An ordinary human would be crisp in a second, let's see how long you can last!" Ckracknow said.
Meanwhile…
Blossom and Brick landed unnoticed, or so they thought, on the island. They then quietly walked at the side of the building.
"Look, an entrance!" Blossom said, pointing to a hallway that has no door at the side of the building. "Let's go!
Brick merely nodded and they both went in.
It was a long corridor, and they flew rapidly in. However, there was then a fork in the path.
"Where shall we go?" asked Blossom.
"I think we should split up," Brick proposed. "I'll go left, you go right!"
"Hey, I'm the leader here! So I'll go to the right, while you go to the left!" Blossom declared.
Brick just shrugged his shoulders and went to where he was ordered to go.
Blossom was walking down the right corridor when she encountered some men with gas masks. She was about to knock one of them out when they began spraying a greenish gas. Remembering her last fight with Mojo, she then became afraid of being knocked out by it that she raced pass them.
Soon, they were out of sight. But she soon had no idea where to look. 'I have no idea where they hid the Professor. I know! I'll pretend to be knocked out by the gas, so when they pick me up, they would carry me to where the professor might be!'
The red-haired then dropped to the floor, and pretended to be knocked out.
Soon, the same men who sprayed gas on her was able to catch up to her.
"Hey, looks like the gas did its job after all," said one of the men.
"Let's take her to the boss," said another.
"Yeah, but remember his instructions. We must take the utmost precaution," said another.
Blossom pretended to be asleep and waited for them to carry her. But instead, she felt being rolled into her stomach, and her arms were pulled behind her. She then felt her wrists being tightly cuffed.
Her eyes widened, as she did not expect to be rendered helpless this way.
"Now, gag her so when she wakes up, she wouldn't be able to use that ice breath of hers, and…"
"Oh no you don't!" Blossom suddenly said, waking up, completely surprising the men. She then kicked the nearest man, knocking him out cold.
"Quick, gas her!" one man shouted, and soon, gas spewed forth from their containers. Blossom then decided to run away b before the sleeping gas would overwhelm her.
'Damn! I think I better find Brick and rejoin the others. I can't continue with my plan with my hands cuffed behind me,' she thought, and she raced towards the exit. 'Darn it. This cuffs were as tough as Mojo's and the ropes I used on Buttercup!'
Meanwhile…
Brick was flying at moderate speed when he encountered a group of men wearing gas masks. He smiled evilly as he prepared to give them the beating of their lives.
He soon knocked one out with a punch, but then, the other men began releasing gas. He decided to knock them all out before running away.
After a minute, all the men were out cold, but he then felt tired and sleepy. "Crap! I think what I inhaled was too much sleeping gas!' Brick realized. He then heard some more men going down the corridor. "Damn it. If I stay, I'd probably pass out and I'll be at their freakin' mercy,' Brick thought. 'I'd better find Blossom and rejoin my brothers. '
Brick then reversed himself and flew back from where he came from. Soon, he reached the end of the corridor and he was outside.
He saw Buttercup being electrocuted by the dome. Soon, she fell, unconscious. Boomer, Bubbles and Butch, all very angrily charged at a large man wearing black, floating.
'Is One alive?' he wondered.
"You'll pay for that, Two!" Bubbles, in a manner totally uncharacteristic of her, shouted, and she charged at the man.
"Oh no, you won't get all the fun," Butch said as he also raced towards Two. Boomer then followed suit.
Two then released a pinkish kind of gas, different in form from the green gas that troubled Blossom and Brick.
Bubbles was too angry to notice it, and seconds later, she was unconscious. Boomer and Butch, having no experience with sleeping gas, was clueless about it, and passed out in a few seconds after inhaling it.
'Man, that gas was really strong. This would make the gas I inhaled look like an energy booster,' Brick thought. He then saw Buttercup floating in the ocean. With one heroic effort, he flew in, picked up her unconscious form, saw a cave, and hid her there.
'Oh no, I think I'm going to hit the sack,' Brick thought as he finally succumbed to the sleeping gas. 'I just hope those bastards don't find me.'
Meanwhile…
Blossom finally reached the end of the corridor and was now outside. To her horror, she saw Boomer, Bubbles and Butch unconscious, falling towards the sea. However, a large man who was able to fly quickly caught the three of them.
'Is One alive?" was the first thing she thought when she saw the floating man. 'I thought that the sharks ate him after the fight?'
She then saw the man carry them to the building.
Before she could do anything, she turned around and saw Brick carrying an unconscious Buttercup. She flew after them and saw Brick put Buttercup in a cave.
Blossom quickly went to join them, but before she could reach them, Brick too was unconscious.
She then realized that she was the only that was conscious. But she was the only one that has her arms cuffed behind her.
"I really screwed up that time," she said to herself. "I think I better wait for Brick and Buttercup to wake up. I can't fight alone with my hands tied behind me. But I really should have just run away immediately instead of pretending to be asleep."