Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 26
Making Plans and Bluffs
Before I begin, I would like to announce something. As you know, there is a two month gap between Part II and Part III, between the defeat of Ckracknow and the challenge of Brick to Blossom, between chapter 21 and 22, with the defeat of Ckracknow happening of September, and Brick's challenge happening in December.
It's not really devoid of events. Two of my fics, "The Date", which happened in October, and "What is Buttercup's Plan" which I just completed, happened in early November. So if you want to find out what happened in the intervening months, read those two fics. BTW, those two fics are light-hearted and not serious compared to Allies and Rivals. Anyway, I earlier stated that those two fics are not a continuity of Allies and Rivals simply because I don't want to spoil the end of Ckracknow. Now that that's over, and I've finished those two fics, then I'm confident that I can tell it and not spoil anything.
Anyway, now that my shameless plug-in is over, here's what you've all been waiting for, chapter 26.
The City of Townsville was woefully ignorant of the situation in Citiesville due to the media blackout ordered by Mayor Malarkey.
That same mayor had managed to flee Citiesville by helicopter, and had just knocked on the doors of one of the former residents of his city.
"Mayor Malarkey?" Dr. Edwards said, astonished. "What's a piece of shit like you doing here? You know you're not welcome!"
The Professor had just joined the two men, when he noticed the two staring at each other. He immediately saw that there was hatred between the two, or at least they strongly disliked each other. He knew, since it was the same look Dr. Edwards gave him when the two were still bitter enemies six months before.
"Mayor, what are you doing here?" asked Prof. Utonium.
"Look, William, I know we have bad blood between us…"
"That's either Mr. Edwards or Dr. Edwards to you, mister. Only those who I don't hate have the privilege to call me by my first name, and you don't have the privilege!" Dr. Edwards said. "Bad blood, ha! I'll never forget what you did to me and my company during the first six months of this year!"
"William, what did he do to cause you to hate him so much?"
"That idiotic son of a bitch tried to take my company from me! He tried to close down my business and confiscated most of my property in Citiesville! Luckily, I was able to move most of my wealth and property to Townsville before he can do so," Dr. Edwards said.
"It's legal, and it's called 'eminent domain', and using such power, I can expropriate any property that would do good for Citiesville. We suffered a slump as a result of those Powerpuff Girls destroying our bridge, we needed extra revenue to prevent bankruptcy, and what better source of money there is than all your billions, Mr. Edwards?"
"You could've just asked," Dr. Edwards said. "Thank God I moved most of my assets to Townsville before you could take them. But you still threw me in jail for three days for no reason at all."
"True, but Pratter thought you evaded your taxes. Turns out that there was nothing to it. But, even if I did ask you, you won't give. Besides, the city would get more money by forcibly taking it from you than asking you. Pity that you moved most of your assets…"
Before he finished, the Mayor of Citiesville received a punch from the more than six-feet-tall Dr. Edwards in his face. He fell to the floor.
"How dare you strike the Mayor…"
Dr. Edwards looked at the Mayor with piercing eyes and obvious rage and anger, but calmed himself down. "Oh shut up! Obviously, you didn't come here just to insult us. Now what is the real reason you're here?"
"I should leave. You physically assaulted me, Edwards, but I need to tell you this. Five super-powerful beings attacked Citiesville. I don't know whether or not you received my earlier call for help, so I decided to go and check it up. I'm asking you, Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium, to send your sons and daughters to go to Citiesville, because now that my city's armed forces are gone, I know of no other who can defeat those evil teens."
"Well, if you put it that way, then I…" the Professor began, but his friend interrupted him.
"Why the hell should I save a city that treated me like shit?" the Doctor bitterly asked. "I should just let whatever is attacking your city do what it wants! Why shouldn't I leave that mass of junk metal and wood you call Citiesville to rot on their hell on earth?"
Mayor Malarkey looked directly at the eyes of Dr. Edwards, and despite all, was terrified. Behind the thick glasses, Dr. Edwards steely grey eyes beamed with anger and hatred, and the fact that the doctor was probably the single most powerful and richest man in Townsville, even more than Jay Mayor himself, made it scary.
"You can't do that! You can't just leave my people to die! You won't order your sons to just sit back? It's on your head!"
"Oh no? You know that I am not a goody two-shoes! Oh yes, I can tell Brick and his brothers just to sit back and relax and prepare instead to defend Townsville, and I would be laughing at your sorry little ass while I'm at it! And don't bother asking them yourself. My sons would commit suicide if I ask them, and they would eat my shit if I ordered them to!"
The Professor was shocked at Dr. Edwards words, but decided to let the two finish.
The Mayor sighed. He decided to swallow his pride. "What are your terms?"
"My terms?"
"Yes, what do you want in exchange for letting your sons save Townsville?"
"Okay. I want all my assets and property you seized while I was there restored!"
Julian Malarkey nodded.
"I want taxes on my property in Citiesville to be eliminated, or just exempt them if you don't want to abolish those laws."
The mayor only nodded.
"Okay, I'll give five billion bucks after the fight so you can rebuild your city. But after five years, after you recovered, I want you to give me ten billion dollars. Your city's GNP is 35 billion, so that wouldn't be too hard. And give fifteen billion to Townsville's treasury as thanks."
The Mayor flinched at the amount, but agreed.
"When the enemy is defeated, you and the entire city would formally thank me, the Professor, and our children by giving us your highest medals, the key to the city, and by having a ticker tape parade in our honor. And you and the entire citizenry of Citiesville will formally apologize to me for how I was treated in Citiesville, and apologize to the Professor and the Powerpuff Girls for the way you treated them when they went to your city!"
"But those girls destroyed our bridge!"
"I don't care. Accept it?"
The Mayor swallowed hard, but finally agreed.
"Good. Put that on paper and come back later so we could sign an agreement. I'll make sure the villains are defeated," Dr. Edwards ordered.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning with the papers," he finally said. The Mayor of Citiesville then departed.
"William, surely, you weren't serious when you told him you'll tell your sons not to save Citiesville if he didn't accept your terms?" the Professor asked.
"True. Even if the people of Citiesville are scum, they don't deserve to die like that. I would still order Brick and his brothers to save it. But I know that, and you know that, but he doesn't know it. It's called, bluff. And he took it!" the doctor said.
Later…
A red helicopter slowly hovered down on a flat surface of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Citiesville.
It was three in the afternoon, and the sun, though unseen in the overcast skies above the city, was near the horizon, ready to set in an hour or so. From the same clouds came the heavy snow which covered the entire city and increased the misery of the remaining people. The bridge was demolished. And the weather, though cold, was not cold enough to completely freeze the lake around the city for people to pass through it, but cold enough to create floating blocks of ice. The result was a dangerously cold lake that would kill almost all but the healthiest people in a few minutes. If you didn't die from cold, you would have died if your head collided with the floating ice in the lake.
Most of the boats and the fishing ships were destroyed. As a result, the people of Citiesville were stuck in their city, their island, and their misery.
The helicopter landed on the skyscraper, and the sound of the blades rotating faded as the engine died and the helicopter touched down the landing strip. Soon, a small man with blond hair wearing a pin stripe suit went out. Five teen-agers, four boys and a girl, standing straight, greeted the man.
The five bowed as the man from the helicopter embarked. "Master, Citiesville is yours," the boy who was the second to the tallest with silver hair, Alpha, said.
"Ah, my confidence in you five is justified," Ferguson Ckracknow said, with a grin while shaking the hands of the leader. "And the Ruff-Puff Alliance?"
"Well, sir, they escaped," Alpha said. "I'm sorry!"
"But we'll rip their hearts out, literally, when we take them on!" Beta shouted. "Sir, pretty soon you'll see their guts scattered all over the city!"
"Yeah, we were kicking their asses, so they ran with their tails between their legs," Cychaela proclaimed. "Too bad they had to resort to dirty tricks like this ball to temporarily blind us! If we had shades, we would have roasted them up and you'd be looking at a table full of Puff and Ruff-ka-bobs skewered on a stake!"
She then showed Ckracknow the small ball with a button.
"Oh yes, the sunball. This damned ball was what caused those fools to defeat Two. Anyway, here's some shades. We'll see how this works.
The five each got one shade and Ckracknow pressed a button and dropped it on the floor of the skyscraper.
However, instead of a blinding light that all of them expected, they instead heard a voice.
"Hi. I'm William Edwards, inventor of the sunball, and you are not authorize to use this device!" a recorder said.
"Why you, I'll crush you," Delta shouted at the ball.
"Hush Delta, don't destroy it. I'll study it so we can replicate it," Ckracknow said.
"Aw, master, don't be a spoil sport!" Delta whined, but he picked up the ball and gave it Ckracknow.
"Hey Master, why not attack Townsville?" asked Alpha. "Let's finish this once and for all!"
"No! Don't attack Townsville!" Ckracknow firmly said. "They'll come back here soon, mark my words, and when they do, you know what to do!"
"But sir," asked Beta, "did we do good? I mean we let them escape."
"Yeah, but we did kill five hundred thousand people this day, surely that must count?" asked Cychaela.
"Yes, you did," said Ckracknow. "Even if you failed to kill them, their day will come! Besides, killing one tenth of this city's population in an hour isn't bad. We already know that they are no match against you. I created you five, after all, to be much more powerful than Two, and certainly more powerful than those six kids. First…"
"I know, I know, you told us a thousand times. Not only are we more powerful, but we are excellent at teamwork," Beta said.
"Well, sir, since you said that we have done good, let's celebrate! I'll get the wine!" Cychaela said. Before Ckracknow could protest, she zoomed off into the city.
"I'll get the tables and chairs," Delta followed, and zoomed off.
"I'll get the popcorn, hotdogs and hamburgers," Beta said before zooming off. "Be right back!"
That left Epsilon, the six-foot-five muscled man who said absolutely nothing since Ckracknow arrived, and Alpha, the six-foot-two leader of the team.
"Sorry for that," Alpha apologized. "Those three sometimes get too rowdy and can't be controlled. But don't worry sir, in battle, they are absolutely reliable."
"Never mind that. I want you to find a TV studio. I want to make an announcement," Ckracknow said. "The world needs to know what happened here."
"Okay, sir," said Alpha.
"Epsilon, please silence those noises," Ckracknow asked, referring to the weeping, crying, shouting and booing in defiance from the people who gathered at the base of the skyscraper.
Those sounds turned into screams and pleas for mercy as Epsilon descended on them, ruthlessly slaughtering them all.
Before Epsilon could finish, Cychaela returned carrying a large box the size of small car. "Ha, now we have enough wine and beer to drink ourselves dead!" the beautiful teen proclaimed. "Look, I even brought us cups! Aren't I fast?"
"Yes Cychaela, we all know that you were the fastest. Now could you help Epsilon disperse the noisy crowd below?"
"Right on it," she said. She gently put down her load and joined Epsilon
A few minutes later, they returned.
"Sir, you should have seen me! Ha, I totally made them pee in their pants," Cychaela boasted. "I even killed more than Epsy here!"
"Don't call me Epsy, only Epsilon," he gruffly said.
"Don't be too serious, Epsilon! After all, we own this city, and nobody can do anything about it!" Cychaela replied.
Soon, Beta, Delta and Alpha returned. They quickly celebrated, eating the food Beta brought on the table Delta stole. Soon, Beta, Delta and Cychaela got drunk and collapsed. Alpha and Ckracknow, though drinking heavily, remained sober and clear headed, while Epsilon just drank soda.
Ckracknow went into the top floor, just below the celebrating super teen villains, and just out of earshot. He took his cell phone, and made a call.
"Hello," Spencer Morebucks answered.
"It's me Ckracknow! I want to ask you to consider your opposition to invading Townsville. I mean they were already beaten, all we need to finish them is to take the fight to their own homes!"
"Look, Ckracknow, we already discussed it. Yes, I want Dr. Edwards dead because he still has that information on that monster hide that I want that you still didn't get! I want the Rowdyruff boys dead because I can't get near Edwards with those boys! And I want the Powerpuff Girls dead because my they are rivals to my daughter Princess for the affection of some boys I don't know!"
"So you'll let my teens invade Townsville?" Ckracknow hopefully asked.
"Look, I've said this before and I'll say this again! Don't invade Townsville! Look, when you were first defeated, when there were no monster attacks, profits for my company increased more than 100%! Now Edwards increased his output more that that, but the point is, it also increased mine. Now, I'm a businessman! If you invade, it'd probably hurt my business and even bankrupt me! And my home and all my properties are in this city, and they would be destroyed if Townsville becomes a battlefield. No, Ckracknow, don't invade. If you do, you will pay!" Spencer Morebucks ranted, then hung-up the phone.
Meanwhile…
Blossom and Brick had just arrived from the fight. Both leaders have solemn expressions on their faces as they arrived home. Carrying their fallen siblings, they quickly but gently laid them on a couch. Their fathers quickly took care of them while the two redheads explained what happened.
Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium were shocked.
"So that's what Malarkey was talking about," Dr. Edwards said.
"So what are you kids planning?" the Professor asked.
"Well, we plan to train. I want to say that, well, they kicked our asses. They're stronger, faster, and more powerful than us. We're sorry for failing," Brick said. "It's my fault, but I promise you, next time, we'll defeat them."
"We plan to train until we think we can take them on," Blossom said. "We can only hope they don't attack us here because if they do, then it's over."
Later that night…
Bubbles slowly woke and scratched her head as she rose from her bed. She looked around, and saw Boomer asleep besides her. Buttercup and Butch was asleep in another bed. She looked at herself, and noticed she was wearing a white gown. Around the room was some medical equipment. It was a scene that reminded her of two similar scenes four months ago in August when they were defeated and rendered unconscious. The difference was that before, the Rowdyruff Boys were their mortal enemies, now they were their allies. How things change.
Immediately, she remembered what happened. She saw Blossom floating besides the bed, looking at her, and she immediately hugged her tightly.
"Oh Blossom, it was horrible! All those dead people…what would now happen…what do we do?" she said while burying her head on Blossom's shoulder and crying. "Why are they so evil Blossom? Even Mojo didn't kill that many people, did he?"
"Oh Bubbles, it would be alright," Blossom said. "I saw it too, you know. I was with you. You're right. Those five who did this have no heart! They are evil beyond comprehension!"
"Aw stop your bawling," Boomer, who had woken up, complained. "Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"
"Boomer, how can you say that when so many people are dying right as we speak?" Bubbles shouted. "Please tell me that you're still the nice young boy that I knew these past few months?"
"Look, Bubbles, I'm sorry, but why cry? Crying won't kill those five teen-agers you know? Crying is a sign of weakness, Brick and Dad always say," Boomer said.
Blossom was about to scold Boomer but Bubbles pre-empted her.
"Boomer, crying isn't weakness," Bubbles explained. "In fact, crying is a sign of strength!"
"Aw you're nuts!" Boomer said. "Anyway, where are my clothes? Dad!"
He then hopped off the bed.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Blossom.
"I'm going to go to ask Dad where he put my clothes," Boomer said.
"Hey wait for me!" Bubbles shouted as she quickly grabbed Boomer's hand.
"If you want to go with me, do you have to hold my hand?" Boomer said while trying unsuccessfully to remove himself from Bubbles' grip.
"Yup! And I won't let go of you until…well, until I decided to!"
"Arrgghhh, you drive me nuts!"
"I know Boomie! And I know you like it!"
"Okay, you can go with me, even touch me, but keep quiet or I'll tie you to a post and gag you!"
Bubbles just giggled and Boomer had to go around the house with an annoying Bubbles at his side.
Back at the medical room…
"Huh! Where's that teen-ager? Let me at her! I'll…" Buttercup ranted as she suddenly woke up and rose.
"Easy Buttercup. We're at Townsville, at Dr. Edwards' house," Blossom explained.
"Oh. Well, Blossom, have you ever seen the carnage? It's terrible, Blossom. I feel sorry for all those people!" Buttercup said.
"Me too. Events like this reminds us, sadly, that such evil exists, but until today, until I saw on my own eyes the death and destruction at Citiesville, I did not realize the extent of the depravity of evil."
"Yeah. So when do we fight?"
"In your case, you should probably keep your head under the sand," Butch, who had woken up, said.
"Shut up!" Buttercup replied to Butch.
"Well, make me!" Butch replied.
Buttercup covered Butch's mouth with her hand.
Butch rapidly pushed Buttercup away as he stood up. "Don't touch me!"
"Believe me, I'd rather touch a pile of manure than touch you," Buttercup replied.
"Buttercup, I think the Professor is calling," Blossom, who sensed the increasing tension, said. She then dragged Buttercup away from the room to prevent a fight between Butch and Buttercup from occurring.
Still later, the Professor, Dr. Edwards, Blossom, Boomer, Buttercup, Brick, Butch and Bubbles were in the living room. Brick was standing before all of them while the rest were sitting on couches to listen as he explained his plan.
"When do we attack?!" Butch shouted at his brother.
""Yeah, we can't sit around here! Nobody kicks the Rowdyruff Boys around and lives to tell about it!" Boomer declared.
"Well, we kicked you around, but we sure aren't dead," Buttercup countered.
"That's because we kicked your asses until you cried uncle!" Butch replied.
"Will you guys stop fighting?" Bubbles asked. "I think we should all work together to defeat the new monsters. All in all, we should be thinking not of ourselves, but of those poor people whom are now trapped in that island."
"Look, I couldn't care less if those sons of bit-" Butch began, but was interrupted by Brick.
"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!" Brick shouted.
Immediately, the room fell silent as all concerned, even the two scientists looked at the new leader of the Ruff Puff alliance.
"Today, we're confronted by something unknown," Brick began. "Here's what we know. They are five. They are more powerful than us. Four of them are boys, one is a girl. And they are superb fighters. Other than that, nothing, zilch, zero. And they still think Blossom is leader."
"So here's my plan," Brick continued. "We go and train, until we reached the level 40, unless I order otherwise. You will, no matter how much you're provoked, never ever directly confront any of the five, unless you have a deathwish. And anybody who disobeys my order will be given the usual punishment. He or she'll be tied-up and gagged for three hours, and tickled. Any questions?"
"Yes Bubbles?"
"Um, how long would it take us to reach level 40?" she asked.
"Well, we are at level 17, since we didn't train at all during the two months of peace," Brick said. "So all in all, it'd take about one and a half week at the least."
"One and a half week! But that's too long! Why can't we attack sooner?" Buttercup violently objected. "Many people would die if we wait too long!"
"Because if we did that, we'd be the ones who'd be dead in turn because we'd be too weak!" Brick countered. "And if that happened, Townsville would be at their mercy!"
"Hey, I think we should watch the news," suggested the doctor. "Maybe we can find something more about those five."
They watched the news. But there was no mention of the attack on Citiesville, except for one thing.
"This is Dan Williams, working for Townsville Network TV. For some reason, thousand of the citizens of Citiesville are migrating to Townsville. When asked, they said they lived in the suburbs in the mainland opposite the city, and fled when the bridge was mysteriously cut and some people who managed to swim from the island talked of flying monsters."
Suddenly, the screen was cut short when an image of a small blond man appeared on TV. Besides him were what appeared to be five teen-agers.
"Ckracknow!" the Professor exclaimed.
"What is that Trucknow up to?" asked the Doctor.
"Dad, those were the ones we fought!" Butch said. "Those teen-agers!"
"Wow, even though they're evil, those teen-agers aren't that bad-looking at all!" Blossom said.
"Typical of girls to drool over those," Brick remarked. "Don't tell me you'll try to change them for the good and marry them!"
"No, you're wrong!" Blossom said, blushing. "Those guys deserved to be locked up on cells where they can't escape and you should bury the key in the lowest depths of the Marianas Trench!"
"Hello. My name is Ferguson Ckracknow," the talking head at the TV began. "I am the new ruler of Citiesville! To prove it to you, let me show you some images."
"This afternoon, while five million citizens are at the city on the island of Citiesville at work, at school, or just waiting for the first snow of winter, my five teens attacked and took over the city. I won't narrate it, since these videos are proof enough."
The images of the TV changed from that of Ckracknow speaking, to that of scenes all too familiar to the Ruff-Puff Alliance.
The scene changed to that of a crowd celebrating under the shadow of the skyscrapers, the scene of Beta shooting large beams at the base of two skyscrapers filled to capacity by people working, and the scene where the skyscrapers crashed into the crowd. The screams, the shouts, the cries of the crowds could be clearly heard. The destruction, the carnage, the blood could be clearly seen.
The Powerpuff Girls were aghast. Though they had seen it with their own eyes before, they still were not emotionally prepared for what they saw on television. Bubbles was once again reduced to tears, crying at the Professor's shoulder. Buttercup, though considered the toughest of the girls, lost it, and sobbed at the Professor's stomach, unable to watch the TV. Blossom, feeling the need, as leader of the Powerpuff Girls, just stood there, her eyes fixed on the TV, but with tears streaming down her cheeks like water from a leaked pipe, feeling sorry for the people at Citiesville. Her heart was yearning to go and deliver them from their misery, but her head knew that Brick was right, that they need to become at least as powerful as their opponents.
Dr. Edwards and the Professor were shocked by the scene. They had no idea that it had been that terrible. They had imagined that the attack had been like the attacks of Townsville. But the sight of it incensed them.
"In all my forty years, I have never seen so much barbarity, and believe me, I have seen much," Dr. Edwards said. 'No wonder that Malarkey looked the way he did. To go through that. I almost felt sorry for how I treated him. Almost. But I'll make sure my sons will save that city.'
The Professor himself just stared at the screen with a mixture of shock, disbelief, and anger.
The Rowdyruff Boys were less emotional, but they too, had their eyes were glued on the TV. Though they generally don't care for the lives killed at Citiesville, they were still revolted by the sight. Brick had a look of grim determination, his mouth twisted into a frown. 'I'll kill those bastards,' he thought. Boomer stared at the TV, wanting to disbelieve what his eyes were telling him. It was so terrible. Though Boomer wasn't exactly as innocent as Bubbles was, he was just as aghast!
Butch didn't care at all, though he was flabbergasted at the extent of violence.
The scene on the TV changed to the destruction of the bridge, and the slaughter of thousands of citizens.
"All in all, five hundred thousand people died because of me," Ckracknow's voice suddenly said, gloating about it. Then, the scene changed to that of Ckracknow speaking.
"Let me at him!" Buttercup shouted, and nearly destroyed the TV but Blossom tackled her. Butch and the others soon helped Blossom hold Buttercup.
"Let me go! That piece of manure will taste my knuckle sandwich!" Buttercup shouted, with rage filling her eyes.
"Look Buttercup, I too would like to send him to hell, but now we can't. We're too weak!" Blossom said.
Bubbles sorrow turned to anger, and she attempted to fly by herself to the city, but she was caught by Brick.
"Let me go Brick! I want to save those people! I want to save them! They don't deserve it! Please!"
"Bubbles, you'll only get yourself killed!" Brick said.
"But we need to teach them a lesson, we need to save them, we need to save them! I feel sorry for them!"
"Bubbles, that's enough," Brick said, shaking her by the shoulder. "We'll deal with them, but not now. Patience, Bubbles. Now go back in the chair and watch the rest of the show."
A still sobbing but cowed Bubbles went back to the couch.
As if to prove Blossom and Brick's point, the scene in the TV changed.
"Ah, perhaps you think that the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys will save you," Ckracknow said. "Hate to break your hearts, but they have no chance. To prove this, I'll show you a video from the fight."
The scene showed the fight, and it showed to the ruff-puff Alliance how one-sided the fight really was. From the TV, they realized how badly mismatched they really were. It finally sobered Buttercup and Bubbles and put some sense into them.
Still, it provoked the wrong emotions from Brick's brothers.
"Nobody shows publicly a video of us being humiliated and gets away with it! Let me at him!" Butch shouted.
"Yeah, they will pay!" Boomer shouted.
Soon, both of them attempted to fly but Brick stopped them.
"Look, I'm telling you not as your brother, but as your leader. Don't do it! That is an order!"
Brick and his two brothers had a staring contest, but they soon blinked and went back to the couch.
"Now you see how outmatched we really are!" Brick shouted.
"Now, let me introduce my minions," Ckracknow on the TV said. "This is the leader, Alpha! And this is Beta! Cychaela! Delta! And Epsilon!"
The camera panned on their faces as Ckracknow said their names.
"So Ckrackclown names his clones not by numbers but by Greek alphabets?" Dr. Edwards sneered. "From One, Two to Alpha and Beta? And what's with name of Cychaela? What was he drinking when he thought of the name?"
"Maybe he's not drinking," the Professor said. "Maybe he's on crack!"
"Now, I have a message to the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys. If you think you can huddle away in your precious little Townsville, well consider this. "
"For every hour that you do not show yourselves so you and my five teens could settle the fight, I shall have one citizen of Citiesville killed, right in front of the camera, in front of a national audience," Ckracknow threatened. "I think I'll start now. Bring her in."
A guard then dragged a pregnant woman on the set, about 26 years old.
"Cychaela, finish her off," he said.
Despite the pleas of the woman, Cychaela shot a laser from her finger at the stomach, killing both the baby and the mother instantly.
"And every hour that you don't show your face, I shall pluck one among the 4.5 million people still surviving and kill them in front of the cameras. Remember, the lives of these men, women and children lies in your hands. The sooner you get here, the sooner the killings would stop," Ckracknow said.
"Now I have this for the people of Townsville. I'll be frank. Townsville is next! Now, if you want your city to be spared the fate of Citiesville, you should do this."
"If the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls refuse to go here, then go and destroy their homes. Raze their houses brick by brick, and tear it with the fury of a tornado! And I know you can't kill the boys and girls, so I'll give you an alternative. Kill their parents—Dr. William Edwards and Professor Utonium, and deliver their decapitated heads to me. If you do that, then I won't destroy or invade Townsville! If you don't, on a date only I know, I'll invade Townsville and make it even worst of a hellhole than Citiesville!"
"And before I go, I would like to declare all the remaining 4.5 million citizens in this island my property, my slaves, to do with them as I pleased. Goodnight!"
The transmission then went off.
Dr. Edwards then went and switched off the TV. "I should have shot him when I had the chance! To think I could have done that on that island off the coast of Oregon! I think we better prepare. Sooner or later, the fainthearted among us would march here to try to burn this house and kill John and me."
"I think the girls and I better get back home. We gotta protect it from those who might destroy it!" the Professor said.
"No John, no. We must stay together through this. I suggest we stay here because we have more of everything here. I'll talk to the Mayor Jay Mayor so that the police would protect your house."
"I'll just get the things of the girls," the Professor said.
"This changes nothing," Brick said to the other kids. "You are not to go and confront Ckracknow under any circumstance, no matter how many he kills until we complete our training. Ckracknow knows that if we complete this, we can easily wipe the floor with them. No, we must not let our emotions rule our heads. I know that the images of people being killed is horrible, but bear in mind, we can only avenge them if we're strong enough."
"We gotta attack sooner!" Buttercup said. "What if, when we finally are ready, they are all dead, and we have nothing to save?"
"Then we still have Townsville. Like I said before, Citiesville is doomed!" Brick countered.
"But we can't just…" Bubbles pleaded.
"Look, if it makes you feel any better, blame me for the deaths of those people and I'll take responsibility, but I want you to follow me in this crisis, just as you promised that you would if I won last week's election. And I won't tolerate insubordination!"
"But what if he attacks Townsville before we're ready?" asked Bubbles.
"We can only hope that they don't, because if they do, then it's over," Brick said.
"What, you don't have a plan? What kind of a…" Buttercup ranted, but Brick cut her off.
"LOOK, I AM THE LEADER OF THIS ALLIANCE, AND AS SUCH, YOU WILL FOLLOW MY ORDERS TO THE LETTER AS YOU SAID YOU WOULD! I HAVE A PLAN THAT WILL DESTROY THEM SO STOP WHINING!" Brick shouted.
"Blossom, he can't…"
"Buttercup, drop it. He is the leader, and I expect you to follow him," Blossom said. "Besides, he's right. If we attack now, we're only going to get ourselves killed."
"Okay you're right!" Buttercup said. "But that doesn't mean I'll like it! Brick, don't let us down!"
Meanwhile…
"Sir that's brilliant!" Delta congratulated. "But are we going to attack Townsville?"
"Nope, I won't invade. You know that, and I know that, but those people at Townsville don't know that. That speech of mine will keep them at their toes and draw them here before they are ready, then we crush them!"