Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 35
Into the Lair of the Beast
The City of Townsville, and the city was celebrating the defeat and death of Epsilon, which was seen live on TV. People in the streets were dancing and cheering. They still knew that total victory over Ckracknow was not theirs yet, but they knew it was within their grasp. And the fear of invasion like Ckracknow did to Citiesville totally vanished among most citizens, whose faith in their heroes increased. Even the Citiesville refugees, for the first time ever, genuinely cheered them.
The kids arrived home at about 11 in the morning, fresh from their victory. They were optimistic, and how could they not be? They've defeated three of the five, and only Alpha and Delta remained.
"Yahoo! We won!" Buttercup shouted.
"Yup! We won! Not only is Epsilon dead, but is Blossom safe, and remember your promise?" Brick said to Buttercup when they arrived.
"What promise?" Buttercup replied, feigning ignorance.
"Oh you know. We made a deal. That if I fail in any way in rescuing Blossom or killing Epsilon, I would resign the leadership and hand it over to Blossom?"
"Yeah, I did!" Buttercup snapped.
"But, if I succeeded, you will not challenge my authority to be leader ever again!"
"Huh?"
"You want me to play the tape that recorded agreeing to those?"
"Nevermind. Okay, Brick, I was wrong, you aren't that incompetent, in fact, you were amazing, and I won't challenge your authority ever again! But you're still a jerk, a bossy arrogant prick, and a miserable unpleasant boy!"
"Coming from you, I'll take those as compliments," the red ruff said, relishing the praise.
"Ouch, my hand, could somebody fix up my hand?" Boomer complained. "It still hurts like hell, you know."
Butch, Buttercup, and Brick turned to blond boy. "Dad, could you fix Boomer's hand? I think the bones were broken," Brick shouted.
But there was no answer.
"Dad? Professor Utonium?" Butch shouted.
"Butch, could you go to the lab and call Dad?"
Butch immediately did as told.
"Mpphhhh!" they suddenly heard Blossom from the couch.
"Blossom! Oh sorry, we forgot about you!" Bubbles said. "We can't remove those cuffs without Dr. Edwards or the Professor, but let me remove your gag."
"Not yet Bubbles! Let's have some fun with her!" Brick said in a mischievous mood. "Okay Blossom, I'll ask you some questions. You either say no, or I'll assume you said yes. You must clearly say no, it must be understandable, or we will assume it means yes? Do you agree?"
Of course, Blossom can't answer properly, and just grunted.
"So you agree!"
Blossom glared at him.
"Okay, are you the ugliest girl in the world?" asked Brick.
Blossom just shook her head, unable to answer.
"I guess that means yes," Buttercup said, laughing. "Let me try one. Do you wear dirty underwear? Ha I thought so!"
"Am I a better leader than you? Yes? I knew it!" Brick taunted.
"Um, do you have a crush on Brick?" Bubbles asked.
Blossom shook her head vigorously.
"Ah, since you didn't say no, it meant that you do have a crush on Brick. Blossom has a crush on Brick! Blossom has a crush on Brick! Blossom has a crush on Brick! Blossom has a crush on Brick!" Bubbles teased.
"No she does not!" Brick replied, his face red from embarrassment. "She clearly shook her head, which meant no, and…"
"But Brick, didn't you say that if she didn't say no, then it meant yes!" Bubbles replied.
"But, you see—. Ha, you know, well, oh screw this game!" Brick shouted. "Buttercup, go and ungag your sisters and…"
Both Bubbles and Buttercup just looked at the flustered redheaded boy, then each other, then collapsed in laughter.
"Brick?" Butch said, arriving from the lab downstairs.
"Well? Where is Dad?" asked an irritated, red-faced, and embarrassed Brick.
"He's not here. He left a note saying that he and the Professor left for some official business, and he won't be back until five," Butch said, and handed the note to Brick.
The rowdyruff leader quickly read the note.
"Oh great. Now we can't cut Blossom's cuffs until five and nobody would be able to fix Boomer's hand," the ruff leader said. "Now we can't train!"
"My hand, oh my hand! The pain, the pain!" Boomer whined, his left hand clutching his right.
"So who will fix Boomer's hand?" asked black haired ruff.
"I can!" Bubbles volunteered while she undid the knot of the gag at the back of Blossom's head. She then removed the bandana wrapped around Blossom's mouth and removed the saliva soaked rag from Blossom's mouth. After that, she removed the goggles from Blossom's eyes. "I know first aid."
"You sure?" asked Brick. "Are you sure you won't accidentally cut off Boomer's hand?"
"Oh silly Brick," the now pink puff said. "Bubbles is very good at it."
"Well, okay. Boomer, go with Bubbles to the medi-room. There were enough medical supplies that she can use," the red clad boy instructed.
"What? You're leaving me alone with Bubbles?" the blond boy asked. "Please, have mercy! Don't make me endure such a frightful punishment!"
"Boomer, stop being silly," Brick said. "Do you want your hand to be healed or not?"
"I want to but…"
"Then it's settled," the leader of the alliance said with finality.
"Oh, don't worry, Boomer," Bubbles assured. "I'll fix your hand and it would be back to normal in no time. Come on!" She then grabbed Boomer's left hand in an iron grip that the blue ruff, in his weakened state, was unable to pry himself from.
Brick simply snickered.
Afterwards, he went up the stairs.
"And where are you going, brother?" asked the green clad boy.
"To my room, to read some of my books, what else is there to do?" asked Brick. "And call me when the lunch I ordered arrived."
The redheaded ruff then went to their room to read some of his books. Butch just shrugged his shoulders and joined him in their room to play with his toys.
"Why the long face?" asked Butch when he arrived on their room.
"Those girls! Those annoying and icky little girls!" Brick said in contempt. "Damn it, they outwitted me at my own game, and they laughed at me! Turned my own gloating against me, you know!"
The toughest rowdyruff started laughing.
"And why the heck are you laughing? Did you come here just for the sole purpose of making fun of me? Oh, Buttercup and Blossom, those two girls I can understand, but et tu, Butch?"
"It's just that, you, Brick, who just planned a brilliant operation that not only rescued Blossom, but rid us of Epsilon, has power all over the entire city, and who just bested Blossom in the leadership contest, got angry because Bubbles teased you?"
"Yeah, that sounds silly," Brick said, thinking. "I guess you're right. I did overreact."
"Besides," Butch said, "don't let them bother you. We all know we boys are better than them! Girls are icky, and gross, and annoying, and have cooties!"
"Yeah, but don't tell the girls that, or there will be hell to pay! Heck, I'd bet that you'd bust your eardrum after they shout to you about how boys are all stupid and stuff if you told them that!"
"I know," Butch sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder why you like Blossom…"
"I DO NOT LIKE THAT UGLY REPULSIVE ANNOYING GIRL, you fool! She's just a tool that I need so I can hold the girls better under my sway and leadership!" Brick asserted.
"Okay, no need to shout, bro! Want to play poker?"
"Got cash to lose?"
"Plenty! Not that I'll lose it!"
"We'll see!" Brick said as he began cutting the deck of cards.
Meanwhile…
"Okay, here are the bandages, a bottle of betadine, a bottle of alcohol, cotton, scissors, penicillin," Bubbles said as she shifted through the cabinet in the Medi-room, "a thermometer, ice bags, slings, barometer, plaster!"
Boomer, whose left hand was finally released from Bubbles iron grip, was terrified about what Bubbles might do to him, so he tried sneaking out.
He was near the door when he felt Bubbles' warm gentle hand in his shoulder give an iron grip. "Oh no you don't! Your hand still needs to be healed! Come on!"
"But my hand is alright," the boy said.
"Really?"
"Yeah! See, no pain!"
"That's great!" the girl said. "Let's shake hands!"
She then shook his right hand.
"OUCH MY HAND! MY HAND!" Boomer shouted when Bubbles touched his hand, then began jumping around instinctively clutching his right hand, which only aggravated the pain.
"Aw, sorry, I thought you said that your hand was fully healed, but your hand isn't that fully healed. Don't worry, I'll fix it so you won't feel any more pain and it'll heal!" Bubbles said as she grabbed his left hand. She then made him sit on a chair beside a table, and she laid his right arm on the table. The maddening thing about this was Bubbles was completely sincere and innocent in all her doings.
She first slowly blew on Boomer's hand, then she poured baby powder on it. She then put lotion on his hand. She then poured alcohol on it then began padding it with cotton.
"Are you sure you know what you are doing, Bubbles?"
"Of course, Boomie," Bubbles said. "Pretty soon, your hand will be healed in no time!"
She then began wrapping his hand with gauze. She then wrapped bandages over the gauze. Then she wrapped plaster and masking tape over the bandages.
She then took the bandaged hand, soaked it in a tub of water, and put a cast over the wet hand. She used her laser eyes to quickly harden it.
"Are you finished?" asked Boomer, who fidgeted at Bubbles' "first aid".
"Almost!" Bubbles said.
She then took a pink crayon and began drawing hearts and ponies and pretty dresses and flowers on the white cast.
"What? What's that for?" asked a horrified Boomer.
"Oh for decoration," Bubbles said. "White is drab. And aren't my drawings cute?"
Boomer shuddered at seeing it. Boomer then tried washing the drawings off, but it defied attempts at removal.
"You don't like it?" asked Bubbles.
"Of course I don't!" Boomer shouted. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"
She was shocked, and tears began pouring from her eyes.
Boomer panicked. "Um, what I meant was, I hate my hand being injured, and I don't like the pain, but as for the drawings, well, they're not bad," he said. 'Yeah, they're not bad. They're absolutely horrifying!' he thought.
Bubbles quickly dried her tears. "Really? Then let's show it to the others."
"No! I think we should keep it a secret, because, um, just please, don't tell it to the others! I beg you, they'll laugh at me!"
"Well, okay," Bubbles said. "Why didn't you say so? Though I don't really think they'll laugh at you."
"Trust me they will," Boomer asserted. Boomer then took a rag and wrapped it around the cast to hide the pink drawings.
"Lunch is here!" they heard Buttercup yell.
Meanwhile…
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you or anything?" asked Buttercup as soon as she and Blossom were alone in the living room.
"No they didn't," Blossom replied. "Thank God for that. And I'm all right. It's just that it's frustrating to be captive to Ckracknow for more than twelve hours, then find out that I can't be untied until five!"
"Hey, don't fret about it," Buttercup said. "You'll do fine. You remember when we assaulted Ckracknow's island, and even though you were cuffed, you still prevented me and Brick from being captured by Two. Not to mention when I punished Brick and yourself for forcing a date on Bubbles and Boomer, remember?"
"Whatever! Now could you so remove this anti-gravity belt so I could at least fly?"
"Okay," Buttercup said. Buttercup tried to remove it but she couldn't. "Uh oh! This isn't a belt made of something we could easily snap. This is an anti Gravity belt made of a metal chain fastened around your waist, and I think it's made up of duranium, and we need a key to release it. Plus, it is connected to your wrists cuffs, so you can't slip your hands under you so you can't bring your hands to the front."
"Great!" Blossom sarcastically said. "Now I'll have to hop around, or be carried around in order to move."
"Hey, at least you can still talk," Buttercup assured.
"I'm sure I'm thrilled."
And the two girls just gossiped about trivial things until lunch arrived.
Later…
About twelve, lunch arrived.
Anyway, they ate lunch, with Blossom being fed by her sisters. At this point, Brick had a smile on his face while Butch was grumbling.
"Why the happy face?" asked Boomer as he gobbled a hamburger.
"I am richer by three dollars," Brick proclaimed. "I just won a poker game!"
Butch just grumbled.
"Plus, we are closer to winning than we ever have been!" Brick continued. "Imagine, just a week or so ago, it seems as if our defeat was inevitable! Beta, Cychaela, and Delta had just beaten the snot out of Bubbles and Buttercup, Citiesville refugees were ready to revolt, Townsville looks like it might switch sides, and we were incredibly weak compared to the five teens!"
"Now look at us and our situation!" Brick proudly proclaimed. "First of all, Beta, Cychaela and Epsilon are dead, which leaves us with only Alpha and Delta to contend with. Because of the dictatorial powers over the city that the Mayor gave me, plus a little oratory on the part of Blossom and myself, we were able to surmount the crisis of the riots! Not to mention that the police finally beat into those ungrateful refugees some concept of gratitude!"
He then chomped some spaghetti and more burgers before continuing. "This is our triumph! We have done a good if not an excellent job! We must congratulate ourselves for a job well done! And I, William Bricker Edwards, am proud to have served with you, my brothers and our female counterparts. Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, and above all, my brothers, Butch and Boomer, I thank each and every one of you for doing your duty, and putting up with me. Congratulations! And if I had five medals, I would have gladly given one to each and every one of you for your sacrifice, for your dedication, and for your faith in my leadership and in our cause!"
"Together, we share in the glory of our triumph. The tide has turned inexorably against our enemies! Total victory is but a matter of time! Once we draw our plans and execute it, Ckracknow and his teens cannot but yield to us, and they will drown in the sea of our greatest feat! Yes, we have suffered, and our enemies are once powerful, but remember, the greater the suffering, and the greater the enemy, the more glorious is our triumph and the greater will be our glory!" he shouted the last part.
The rest of them clapped at Brick's speechmaking, and he bowed to them in a dramatic manner, and resumed his lunch.
"Ha, I told you I was the better leader," Brick loudly whispered to Blossom, who by coincidence, was seated besides him on his left. "This proves it!"
"So? I can make an even better speech!" Blossom replied.
"Not the speech, but the operation. Guess what? Our initial plans were disrupted when you were kidnapped! Guess who made another plan to bail us out? Me! And you? Oh you were too busy playing damsel-in-distress! And I saved you! Ha! A great leader indeed! If you were the better leader, then why are you tied up right now and being spoon fed by Buttercup and me doing the victory speech?"
"This is just a temporary setback," the proud powerpuff leader snapped back. "When all is said and done, the incident of my kidnapping would only be a footnote, overshadowed by the successes of my leadership."
"Perhaps, kidnap girl, perhaps!" Brick replied with a smirk.
"Don't call me that!"
Later in the afternoon…
"Hey Brick, let's snowboard on Dad's mountain!" Butch proposed.
"Capital idea!" Boomer said.
"Yeah, that sounds fun!" Buttercup said.
The boys then dressed up in thick winter clothes and got their snow boards and skis.
The girls, except Blossom, did the same too.
"And where do you think you're going with your outfits?" asked Brick upon seeing Bubbles and Buttercup ready for fun outside.
"Silly Brick. We're going to play outside with you!" Bubbles replied.
"Oh no you're not!" Brick said.
"And why not?" asked Buttercup.
"Blossom's the reason! You need to stay here and guard her and attend to her needs. Remember, she's helpless because she's tied up!"
"Hey, I can still do my ice breath and my laser eyes!" Blossom protested.
"But why us? Why not you?" Buttercup retorted.
"Because she's your sister!" Butch simply said before he and his brothers zoomed off to the mountains to have fun.
"Screw this! I'm going to join them and have fun!" Buttercup said.
"But we're supposed to give Blossom company," Bubbles protested.
"Correction, my dear Bubbles, you're going to keep her company, I'm going to have fun in the snow!"
"But…"
But before Bubbles could say anything, Buttercup flew at top speed towards the boys leaving her in the dust.
"Oh well, it's just you and me, Blossom," Bubbles said, though she clearly wanted to join her sister and the boys. "So what do we do?"
"Let's just watch TV? What else is there to do?"
"Well, your hair is a mess, and you look horrible," Bubbles observed. "Haven't you tried washing your face or fixing yourself? Oh yeah, you can't. Don't worry, we'll fix that."
"Bubbles, I don't think that's nece—" but before she could finish, her sister carried Blossom to the lavatory in the bathroom.
The blonde girl removed Blossom's bow, and she carefully washed her sister's face, until all the sand in her eyes were removed and her face was as clean as hers and she looked fresh. She then carefully wiped the face of her sister with a towel. She then took Blossom's toothbrush, and put toothpaste on it.
"Bubbles, I don't think…"
But Bubbles proceeded nonetheless. "The professor said, always brush your teeth after eating, and all of us had already done so but you, Blossom."
"So, how do you feel?" asked Bubbles after they finished.
"Well, I feel refreshed," Blossom said. "It makes the rest of the afternoon until Dr. Edwards and the Professor arrives to remove these cuffs more bearable." She then looked at the mirror. Her hair got wet and was more dishevelled as a result of it all. "But I look ugly. Now Brick would have something on me when he teases me about being ugly."
"But we're not finished!" Bubbles said. Bubbles then carried her sister to her room and sat her on a chair in front of a big mirror on a wide stool. She saw her full body sitting, and she frowned to see her look more like a damsel-in-distress than a superhero.
Bubbles then put the mirror away. The blond girl took out a large comb from Blossom's drawers, plus another spare bow. She carefully combed Blossom's hair, and accurately fixed it the way Blossom always fixed her hair. She definitely improved ever since she made a bunny out of Blossom's hair then, with Buttercup, accidentally destroyed her hair. Finally, after a couple of minutes of hard work, Bubbles finally put the bow in place.
She then put the mirror in front of her. "So, what do you think?" Bubbles asked.
Blossom was absolutely surprised. Not only had Bubbles not messed up her hair, but it was exactly the way she herself always fixed it, including the look of the bow. "Wow, it's beautiful Bubbles! Congratulations!"
"Well, ever since I messed up your hair, I've been practicing so I wouldn't mess it up again!"
"And it paid off! Now the only thing that needs to be changed is my wrinkled clothes, but we can't do that, can we?"
"Nope," Bubbles said. "But that's the first thing we're going to do when Dr. Edwards removes those cuffs off you!"
"So what do we do?" asked Blossom.
"Want to play dolls?"
"No, you know I can't."
"Tag?"
"No!"
"Hide and Seek?"
"Bubbles!"
"Um, blind's man bluff?"
"Are you kidding?"
"Video games?"
"You know I can't!"
"Let's watch TV," Bubbles proposed.
"Well, that's the only thing I could do, so yeah," Blossom said. Bubbles then carried Blossom to the couch downstairs and both sisters watched TV while they awaited the arrival of the Professor, Dr. Edwards, Buttercup and the boys.
Earlier in the day, at about nine-thirty in the morning…
"Are you sure we should proceed with this?" asked Dr. Edwards. "I mean with Blossom in Ckracknow's hands, and Boomer in serious danger? Don't you think we should have cancelled this so we can help our kids?"
Both men are in a fast-moving helicopter heading out towards sea. Dr. Edwards was flying the thing, while the Professor sat besides him.
"I have faith in them. Time and time again, they had surmounted problems that seemed overwhelming and insurmountable without my guidance and help. I have faith in them, because they are on the side of good and because of their abilities. Besides, if you are right, William, about the importance of what we might find on our destination, then all haste should be applied so we might find out what it is. Finding it would be more of a help to our kids than interfering with their plans," John Utonium reasoned.
"I guess you're right," Dr. Edwards. "So where exactly are we going?"
"To Ckracknow's second island," Prof Utonium explained. "We're going to look for some information about those teens, like weaknesses or something, or any information we could find that we can use against them. We're going into the lair of the beast!"
"Lucky for us Mr Shippe knows where it is," said the doctor as he piloted the helicopter. "The only reason we found the first one was because we were taken there when we were kidnapped."
"I guess it was lucky that he defected to us, huh?"
"Yup! We have been pretty lucky! I guess luck favors the righteous!"
The helicopter then headed west towards the Pacific, and thirty miles off the coast of Washington state.
Like the first island, it was covered by a dome of light that made it invisible to those who did not know what to look for. To the casual observer, it was just a mass of water. Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium flew their helicopter into the supposed location of the island. They were rewarded by their efforts by crossing the invisible dome and getting sight of the island and the huge base. It was deserted.
They landed their helicopter on a flat surface and stepped on to the island.
"I think we better call the kids. Just to tell them where we are," the Professor proposed.
"Good idea," said Dr. Edwards. "Brick?" he called in his watch.
No answer.
"Butch?"
No answer.
"That's odd. I don't think it's broken. Here John, wear this," he said, giving the Professor a watch.
"Hello?" he whispered into the watch, this time calling the watch the Professor was holding.
"Hey, it works!" the Professor said as he listened to the watch. "Hm, I think that whatever invisible dome protecting the island from being seen also blocks passage of radio waves."
"True. But that still doesn't explain why we can transmit messages on the first island to the outside world, but we can't here," the Doctor wondered.
"Well, it seemed that whatever the composition of the domes, the dome here prevents radio waves, while those of the other island permits it," the Professor theorized. "Ckracknow seemed to have learned his lesson."
The two friends then proceeded to the base of a building. Dr. Edwards then produced a chain of keys from his coat, then used one of the keys to open the door.
"Where'd you get the key? Let me guess, Mr. Shippe?"
"Yup!" Dr. Edwards said. "It's a duplicate, so Ckracknow wouldn't miss it."
They entered the lab. "Okay, to save time, we'll split up," Dr. Edwards said. "We will look for the main lab of this base. Here, put this on. Press this button if you want to contact me."
"Oh so now you're giving me a watch too?" Professor Utonium said. "Bah, I'm also developing one of my own! Even better than yours!"
"My dear John, you'll always be a better scientist and inventor than me, and I am always a better businessman and leader than you could ever be. However, I'm not giving this to you. I'm only temporarily lending you this because of the extraordinary circumstances of our present situation."
They then split up to look for the main lab. After one and a half hour of looking, Dr. Edwards found a kitchen stocked with food, while the Professor found the main lab. Because it was lunch time, and both men were hungry, they decided to eat lunch first. The Professor went to the kitchen, where he demonstrated his culinary skills to his friend.
One hour later, at about one, they went to the main lab. They searched the computer for information on the teens, and what they found was so huge and so complete that they couldn't possibly digest all the information contained therein in one sitting. Fortunately, Dr. Edwards and the Professor each brought three laptops, so they were able to copy all the information on it. It took one and a half hours.
It was two-thirty…
"Wow. I'm glad that's over!" Dr. Edwards said. "So, want to explore the rest of the base?"
"Nah, let's go home. I'm worried about the kids," the Professor said.
"Aw come on! We left a note! We don't have to go home till five! As you said yourself, they can take care of themselves!" Dr. Edwards argued. "And we can have some fun exploring the rest of this lab!"
"I'm not so sure…" the Professor said. "I'm curious about the result of the battle."
"Oh fine! Let's go home! We'll go back here some other time," Dr. Edwards conceded. "I can't wait to hear how they kicked Ckracknow's ass."
So they went home.
Meanwhile…
Ckracknow was staring at the TV. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. He had just witnessed the unbelievable but inescapable fact of the death of Epsilon.
"Goddamnit!" Ckracknow shouted. "We are such idiots!"
"Sir," Alpha said as they arrived.
"Well, did you retrieve Blossom?" asked Ckracknow.
"Sorry sir. Brick tricked us with a decoy," Alpha confessed.
"Imbeciles!" Ckracknow shouted. "Epsilon is dead…"
"He's dead? He can't be…" Delta said.
"Well, do you want me to replay the tape where he was killed? I just saw it and taped the entire thing!"
"I'm sorry…"
"No. Don't be sorry," Ckracknow continued. "All of us underestimated them. Who knew they could be so powerful? Who knew that they could take Epsilon's punch like it was nothing? And did you see those powerful lasers they got there? It was super! They ripped through Epsilon like he was Swiss cheese! Ya' hear me, swiss cheese! Harry got it wrong. Not only do they think they can take us on, they actually could! And they're sneaky bastards! They lied to me, told me it's a one on one fight! Bastards! Damn sneaky bastards!"
"They're not that good, sir," Alpha added.
"Now that I have seen what happened to Epsilon, it becomes imperative that we find Beta and Cychaela—"
"But sir, if they can kill Epsilon, don't you think that they might have killed Beta and Cychaela too?" Alpha suggested.
"No. They are missing! I will not accept that they are dead until I see their bodies. No, they are not dead! Not until I say so!" Ckracknow ranted. "Besides, if they are dead, then those kids would broadcast it to the whole world like they did Epsilon's death!"
"So what do we do?"
"Well, it seems the gap between your power and their power is smaller than we initially thought. They can defeat us, so we must be as sneaky as they are. Now, what weakness do we know? Well, they are helpless if wrapped with duranium. So I want you to go to Townsville and…"
"At last! We're going to attack Townsville!" Delta enthusiastically said.
"Idiots! How many times do I have to repeat that under no circumstance do we attack Townsville?"
"So what are we going to do in Townsville?" asked Alpha.
"Kidnap Blossom!"
"But we already did that, and it didn't work," Alpha argued.
"That's because we didn't guard her well enough. Notice that they didn't dare cheat till they had rescued Blossom? If we had guarded her better, this day might have ended in triumph, but no! Because we let those boys rescue their leader, that's why! Do you think that they would have won if they didn't get Blossom? No! Of course not! Besides, they would be paralyzed once they lose their brains! And they wouldn't be able to do anything smart."
"But they did rescue Blossom before," Alpha countered.
"That event is more of a tribute to our incompetence than their brilliance! It is indeed a shame that we were unable to stop such a simple escape plan that any idiot can think of! With Blossom in our hands, they would be paralyzed! We would easily outsmart them and crush them in the process! Muahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"But Brick is as smart as Blossom," Alpha argued.
"Phooey! Blossom is infinitely smarter than Brick. Brick has an average mind, and when he is in a situation that requires a brilliant mind, he will be out of his wits. He isn't smart enough to think of making complicated plans. Bah! Brick is highly overrated! No, once we have Blossom, they will lose their brains, they would be without a competent leader, and we can play the rest of them like a piper!"
"So we go there immediately?" asked Delta.
"No. Make a four-hour search for Beta and Cychaela. If you fail, then immediately go to their house. Proceed with extreme caution. Don't let yourselves be seen, and if possible, kidnap her without any of the others knowing. Don't kill anyone. Don't destroy anything. Just take her. And no one else. And don't hurt her or anything. Just restrain her, okay? Are my instructions clear?"
"Yes sir," Alpha said.
"Now go!"
Both teen-agers then scrambled to do their orders.
Later, at four in the afternoon…
Alpha and Delta were walking on the suburbs. They were wearing thick winter clothes, and their faces were covered with scarves and caps. To any casual observer, they just looked like two ordinary teen-age boys walking. They casually walked to the Edwards' house, and peeked through the window.
They saw Blossom, still cuffed hand and foot and wearing the anti-gravity belt, watching TV. Sitting besides her was Bubbles.
"Guess we won't be needing the cuffs we brought. Kidnapping her would be a cinch," Delta whispered.
"What a stroke of luck! We only need to gag her again and put the goggles on her eyes and then we can carry her off," Alpha agreed. "Now, we have to think of a way to get Blossom alone."
"Alpha, look! It's their old man!" Delta said, pointing at an approaching
Indeed, they saw Dr. Edwards driving a car towards them, with the Professor at his side in the front seat. From Ckracknow's second island, they flew the helicopter to Edtech Corp. HQ. From there, they drove home.
"Why can't we just kill them here?" Delta questioned.
"Because we were ordered not to kill anyone, and by anyone, it includes them! Our sole objective is Blossom!"
"This sucks!" Delta commented.
"I know. Let's hide," Alpha suggested, and the two, in a blink of an eye, ran and hid at the back of the house. They waited until the two men entered the house, and they ran to the front and peeked.
"Professor!" Bubbles shouted.
"Blossom! I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried when I saw you in their clutches!" John said as he tightly hugged his bound daughter.
"Professor! I'm glad I'm here but could you remove these annoying cuffs off me?" Blossom asked as she was hugged.
"Hm, let me see. Oh that's easy. John and I are going to the lab to set up the equipment. It'll take a while, so you and Bubbles stay here until we call you, in let's say, about fifteen minutes or so," Dr. Edwards said.
"Thanks. And please hurry! I really wanted to get out of these things," Blossom said.
"Don't worry Blossom, we'll do our best for my little angel," Prof Utonium said before kissing his daughter in the cheek.
So the Professor and Dr. Edwards went to the lab to prepare the equipment. Blossom and Bubbles continued to watch TV while they waited for the Professor to call them.
Four minutes later…
"Blossom, I really need to go to the bathroom. Don't worry, I won't be long," Bubbles hurriedly said before she ran towards the bathroom, leaving Blossom alone.
"This is perfect!" Alpha exclaimed. "She's alone. Now's our chance. I'll grab her, put this sock on her mouth, then cover her mouth with duct tape, while you put this goggles on her eyes, then we fly like hell towards Citiesville, okay?"
"Right! Look, it's Butch!" Delta warned.
"Damn!" Alpha said as he saw the green ruff flying home.
Both teen-agers then ran towards the back of the house.
Butch saw them, but he just assumed they were ordinary teen-agers. "Stupid teen-agers," Butch muttered to himself, then forgot about it.
Butch opened the door and flew upstairs ignoring Blossom, who ignored him in turn. He took five pairs of ice skates, then flew back to his brothers. In fact, he was so eager to go back that he forgot to close the door.
"Butch, don't forget to close the do… nevermind," Blossom said. "Grrr… it's cold," Blossom remarked as the cold wind blew inside the house. "Better close it."
Blossom then hopped towards the door to close it, but as soon as she reached it, Alpha suddenly grabbed her. She was so surprised that Alpha had no problem gagging her and Delta had no problem putting on the goggles. They then wrapped her in a thick blanket so she wouldn't freeze then closed the door.
They then flew as fast as they could towards Citiesville. Both teens couldn't believe their luck. The other kids were too busy having fun to notice two teens flying at top speed nearby.
A minute later…
"Blossom, what did I miss?" Bubbles asked as she strolled to the living room from the bathroom. "Blossom?"
'Where is she?' the blond thought. 'I know! She's at the lab and Dr. Edwards is removing her cuffs! Well, since Blossom doesn't need me anymore, I might as well join the others!'
She then happily went to their room, wore her thick clothes, took her snowboard, her skis, and her ice skates, made a note for the Professor, and flew to find the others.
She found them skating in the frozen lake.
"Hey guys!"
"Hey, aren't you supposed to guard Blossom?" asked Buttercup.
"Nah! The Professor and Dr. Edwards arrived, and they are removing Blossom's cuffs," Bubbles explained.
"And Boomer, how's your hand?" asked Brick.
"Well, it's not hurting anymore. I think it's healed, but Dad would have to check on them first," Boomer said.
"See, I told you I can fix it," Bubbles said.
"Finally. We can finally train," Brick said.
They were all blissfully unaware of what really happened to Blossom.