Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 37
Triumph and Tragedy
The end of this story is near. Only a few, maybe four or five or six chapter remains, and this story shall go to a close.
Thanks to PPGXRRB 4EVA for your kind reviews.
The city of Townsville…
It was the morning of December 23, at about eight thirty in the morning, and Blossom, who had just been rescued the second time, had just told Brick of her plan.
"Well, it's brilliant, if that's what you want me to say," Brick said. "But why the heck do you need to have full command? I mean you know you're not the leader, and I can easily execute it exactly the way you want it."
"Well, I was thinking, you were right. Even thought my two kidnappings was ultimately your responsibility as leader of the alliance, I was more of a burden than of use to the team during the last two days, and as a result, I have put undue strain upon us. And couple the fact that I was tied-up during the brief period between the two kidnappings, completely dependent upon others to attend to my needs. Need I say more? My reputation as a leader was damaged, and I need to repair it," Blossom said. "And being a fellow leader, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes, I would. It must be certainly embarrassing for someone of your stature to be needed to be rescued, twice. I'm sure it was galling to your pride. But why now? It has happened to you before, and I don't fancy your reputation being damaged by it."
"True, but my leadership don't have competition before, and I don't consider Buttercup my rival as leader," Blossom said. "But now that you are the leader, and I a mere second-in-command, trying to prove that I am better than you, this is very damaging!"
"Pshaw! Even before I came back, and before this alliance was formed, and after that too, you were kidnapped and tied-up many times, and your reputation was not affected; hell, in some cases, it was even enhanced!"
"Well, being kidnapped by you, your brothers, or my sisters in a trick, a game, or a prank does not count!" Blossom replied. "Being kidnapped in the past three days by an enemy you are fighting against certainly made me think. Besides, you yourself said that my being kidnapped twice would disqualify me from any leadership role! So I need you to give me a chance to regain my reputation!"
"Funny how you use my own words against me," Brick said. "What the heck, I've got nothing to lose by letting you command for a while. Okay, you can command the alliance, even me, and claim credit—however, it would only apply till the fight is over. The moment Delta is defeated, the command would devolve back to me. And if you, by some quirk of fate, becomes leader of this alliance again, you must grant me the same privilege."
"Oh thanks Brick," Blossom said, and she suddenly and unexpectedly hugged Brick. Brick was surprised, and roughly pushed Blossom back.
"Get your girly hands off me, you ugly girl!" Brick snapped. "What the hell were you thinking? I'm not Boomer you know, who you can just scare with your girly whims!"
"You don't have do be such a stuck-up jerk you know. I always hug my friends and my sisters!" Blossom said. "It's not like you'll explode if I did the same to you!"
"I thought you don't like me," Brick snapped.
"Oh I don't. I don't like you," Blossom said. "But I'm grateful to you Brick. No matter how you deny it, I know it was you who was largely responsible for my second rescue. You're just too proud to admit that you are not as cold-hearted as you try to pretend to be, and that you care about me and my sisters! And no matter how much you say that you hate us, no matter how much you insult us, we know from your actions."
"Feh! You're deluded if you think that! You know that all our actions that seemed nice we did just because of our selfish self-interests," Brick replied. "And you're too dim to know of it. I don't like you. Period."
"Am I? You're the one who's deluding yourself! You and your brothers may not say nice things to us, but you certainly do nice things for us," Blossom replied. "Why can't we just be friends? I mean despite all, we tend to act friendly to each other. I mean we play when we don't have fights. I know about you, Boomer and Bubbles every afternoon, not to mention the tag we played in your forest in the dead of night. Remember, I was wearing that bulky dress that I keep tripping. Granted, Buttercup forced us too, but still! I've enjoyed it, and thought you don't say it, you did too. I could see it in your eyes. And I could repeat several instances where we acted as friends, not just as cold allies, despite what you say. I know. A girl knows these things, and reading boys is like reading a book."
"Never mind," Brick said. "I know you can spout off irrelevant example after irrelevant example after irrelevant example after irrelevant example, based solely on your imagination or your twisted interpretations of certain facts, but you have to know that just because I act like one does not mean I am one. My words confirm it! And I do not want to be your friend, ever! Especially since you're so ugly and disgusting."
"Oh the insults," Blossom replied. "If it were any other person, I'd be extremely mad, but I know you're just teasing, you arrogant bloated jerk! You're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk, you're a jerk!"
"Oh stop the infernal racket, or I'll have to gag you again! And believe me, me and my brothers would love to see you in a corner, sitting quiet and still, just like a little girl like you should be, just like the state I found you when I woke up this morning, you know, when you can't talk, and you're hands were stuck at your back?"
"Oh really, well, I could easily have my sisters to back me up and…"
And they teased and insulted each other for the next thirty minutes, some intelligent, some really dumb, but amazingly, none lost their cool and kept the exchange, if it could be called that, and shouting—civil, till a call from her sisters caused Blossom, who had too much fun at Brick's expense, to terminate the amusing scene. Brick then claimed victory, thinking that he had just bested Blossom.
Things were normal till afternoon, after lunch. Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium were washing the plates, and the kids were lounging in the living room.
"So, Brick, what are we going to do?" asked Butch. "Are we gonna train, or what?"
"No we're not, because this afternoon, at three, we would battle one of our enemies—guess who?"
"Alpha?" asked Buttercup.
"No you idiot, he's too powerful to beat right now," Brick shouted.
Buttercup fumed. "Hey, don't call me an id—"
"Delta!" Boomer said.
"Yup! Him! Delta! The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet! You know, the one with the gray hair and the brown eyes? The 5'3" dwarf?" the pink leader confirmed.
"But how do we separate him from Alpha? We certainly can't fight Alpha if you say that's he's too powerful! So, what's your plan?" asked Bubbles, looking at Brick.
"Well, it's Blossom's plan, so I'll let the ugly girl explain!"
"And that, coming from a complete jerk, and a monster! Maybe you're looking at a mirror when you're saying you're ugly!" Blossom teased. "First, some quick facts about Delta. He is physically weaker than Epsilon, but unlike that chunk of muscle that we just finished yesterday, Delta here is faster and can make laser attacks. And his laser attacks are very very powerful, thought not that accurate. So whatever you do, don't let yourselves be hit by his lasers. I'm pretty sure that our armor won't protect us from laser attacks. But it would protect us from his punches and kicks, so the best course of action would be to engage him in close quarters, to prevent him from using his laser, since he can only do his most powerful laser attacks if his arms are straight and extended."
"Ah, like we did with Beta!" Boomer said.
"Yup, it will be a repeat of that fight, since Beta and Delta are like twins," Blossom replied.
"Yeah, but how do we friggin' separate him from Alpha? I don't think they'd be stupid enough to separate after they saw what happened to Epsilon," Butch replied.
And Blossom told them the rest of her plan. When it was over, Buttercup was pleased, while Boomer and Butch were steaming mad.
"Brick, me and Boomer want to talk to you—in private," Butch said after the meeting. Butch, then Brick, then Boomer went up into Brick's room.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Butch shouted, very angry, when he was sure the girls wouldn't hear him. "Why the hell did you let that girl command us three? Were you drinking? Are you taking drugs? You are the fckin leader not she, and you gave it away?"
"Yeah!" Boomer said. "I may not dislike her now as much as I did before, but I still don't like taking orders from her! No way. No! No! No! I'd had enough of taking orders from her during the past months, and now that you're the leader, you're making her lead this mission? Heck, I don't care if it was only one mission! I'll be damned if I follow another one of her orders while you are the leader. If she was leader I can understand obeying her, but while you're leader? This is insufferable! You won the election for crying out loud! Maybe Butch was right. Maybe she holds you under her spell, and thus can't refuse anything she said."
Brick just laughed. "My dear brother, if she indeed has me under her spell, I would have permanently given her the leadership, as that is what she really wants. I would not resume control after the fight with Delta if Blossom really controlled me. Really, you should have more faith in me! As if!"
"So I am paranoid! But why the heck did you give her command? You can easily execute her plan with you commanding," asked Boomer.
"Yeah! Are you going to tell me this is part of your plan?" Butch asked.
"Of course," Brick said. "All my actions have a plan!"
"And your plan is?" asked Butch. "Come on, cough it up! We're your brothers, for crying out loud! As you said, have more faith in us!"
"You know why I approved of her plan?" Brick began, "Because her plan is not that good, and I guarantee you, it'll fail. And if she has command, she'll get all the blame for the failure, and I'll get off scot-free, and because of that, Blossom will have her reputation ruined, and with that, all chance of her ever regaining the leadership of this alliance would be lost, as I will be the undisputed leader! Don't worry. Her failing won't involve any of us dying or being kidnapped."
"Wow, so that's your plan! Pretty sneaky, if I must say so myself!" Boomer said. "Though you should have told us earlier, so we wouldn't have exploded."
"Well you outdone yourself this time, Brick," Butch complemented. "Guess Boomer and I won't have to go through our plan."
"What plan?" asked a curious Brick.
"Oh nothing. It's just Boomer and I plan to get Blossom after lunch, tie her up so she'd disappear for a while, and you've no choice but to execute the plan yourself and be forced to lead, and we have to follow you, not Blossom. And you'd probably think Ckracknow kidnapped Blossom because of your last foul-up, and you wouldn't suspect us. Then we untie her after Delta is dead, you yell at us for kidnapping Blossom, and things get back to normal," Butch said. "Well, your plan is much sneakier, and we can totally get away with it, so there's no need to carry out our plan!"
Right there and then, Brick was relieved he didn't force his brothers to accept Blossom's command. "Pretty sneaky, but flawed in so many places it won't work without me knowing it. Still, I'm glad we agreed on a plan."
Meanwhile, later at three in the afternoon…
It was a bitter cold winter day, and it was heavily snowing in Citiesville. Delta was in the northern sector of Citiesville, patrolling the city for people trying to cross the narrow stretch of water between the hell known as Citiesville, to what looks like heaven to the residents stuck in the island—the mainland suburbs. Lacking boats, they resorted to making rafts out of floating ice, or wooden furniture, anything that might float, to cross the narrow stretch of water. Of course, given the very rough current of that part of the lake, it was a very dangerous crossing, yet people prefer the perils of meeting an icy doom to living in a lawless Citiesville.
Delta was thinking, thinking hard. 'So it was Harry who was responsible for freeing Blossom the second time, and all of our failures were his fault. Fuckin' bastard! Glad he met his maker though. And why is Master Ckracknow obsessed with getting that Blossom? Well, it's not for me to question, but the fact is, Ckracknow, ever since Blossom escaped the second time, had become fixated on recovering Blossom, and said nothing else during this morning. Well, I hope I catch her, but that ain't gonna happen soon. They're not that stupid.'
He continued his brooding. Alpha was patrolling the southern sector of the city, though both are within eye-contact of each other, since both are flying high above the city, looking in contempt at the people below. Delta sighed, and prepared to make some kills to satisfy his displeasure, when he saw a pink streak flying low at fast speed towards Citiesville. 'Guess I was wrong. They are that stupid!'
He watched Blossom fly fast to the edge of Citiesville, pick up some shivering civilians, and fly them back to the mainland.
'Ah, ain't that cute? Saving those wretched souls,' Delta thought as he saw her deposit the civilians from the mainland, then come back for more civilians. 'And she's extremely foolish as well. Anyway, she's mine. She's my prize, And when Master Ckracknow sees that I caught her, he'll be thrilled and I'll be rewarded!' These thoughts ran through the fifteen-year-old's mind as he raced towards the pink leader.
Blossom was picking up a few civilians when she saw Delta flying fast towards her. Instead of being terrified at the sight of him—a more powerful creature than her, she grinned, as if a prey took a bait, and flew to the other side of the lake, put down the civilians, and flew as fast as she could away from the town.
'Oh no you're not! You're not getting away that easy,' Delta thought as she saw the little pink puff flying away from the city.
Alpha made a glance to the north and was disappointed to see the speck in the sky that was Delta flying to the other bank. 'That Delta, always slacking on the job,' he thought. 'Better teach him a quick lesson,' he thought as he prepared to catch up with the fifteen-year-old. However, before he can do anything, a shiny ball of light, flying at high speed, collided with him, and the light turned out to be pure energy upon contact, and a dreadful, powerful explosion took place.
The ball, though powerful, wasn't powerful enough to hurt Alpha, though it annoyed him no end as he was covered with soot. He turned to see where it came from, and he saw Butch floating proudly, looking at him with a smirk, clutching another ball in his hand, saying "Hey Pinhead, catch!" before throwing it at him and darting off as fast as he can. Alpha quickly dodged the new energy ball and gave chase to the green ruff, completely forgetting about Delta.
The raven haired ruff saw Alpha chasing him, and he smiled. He was now flying above the lake, with nothing to see but water in all directions, the city having disappeared beyond the horizon a few seconds ago. In another few seconds, the other shore of the lake appeared, and in a few more seconds, Butch was flying over the land covered with snow and trees and rolling if lifeless hills, the lake completely disappearing behind him. It was still snowing heavily, and both pairs were wearing thick clothes.
Alpha was on his tail, determined to catch his prey. His earlier annoyance at being struck unexpectedly was gone—to be replaced by a relaxed feeling, a feeling of pleasure as he imagined himself catching, fighting, defeating and killing Butch. The foolish ruff was alone, and he could easily dispatch him. He was in no hurry; so he slowed down to give time for an enjoyable chase. He knew he could easily overcome Butch if he really wanted to.
Butch saw that Alpha, who second by second, was catching up, slowed down, and it gave him the opportunity he was waiting for. He darted high in the air, and just as suddenly, turned 180º and headed for the ground, and like a bullet, pierced the soft earth, leaving a small hole, but the weak ground quickly collapsed on it and any trace of where Butch's whereabouts was gone. Butch, like a mole, quickly went underground about a hundred feet deep, stopped, then dug horizontally towards the direction of Townsville, the tunnel he left behind disappearing as quickly as it was made by collapsing walls.
Alpha quickly went to the hole that Butch went through, but to his dismay, found out that it was covered with soil, rocks, and dirt, and was merely a crater instead of the hole it once was. Frustratingly, Alpha flew upwards to check for any sign in the surface of where his quarry might be, but he found no sign of the green ruff. Butch was deep enough not to disturb anything on the surface by his extremely fast movement underground. After a few seconds of frustrated scanning, he himself plunged into the ground the way a diver might plunge into water, tunnelling around the general facility of the area, resulting in dozens of tunnels that just as quickly got filled up with collapsing dirt.
After a minute of fruitless search, Alpha, using a powerful laser from his hands, blasted the ground, creating a crater about three hundred feet deep and two thousand feet in diameter. But there was neither a sign of Butch, nor of the tunnels that he burrowed into. Alpha gave a large shout, before going back to Citiesville, where he murdered a thousand individuals in the streets to release his frustration of Butch's escape. The carnage was stopped only when Ckracknow called for him.
Butch was half a mile away when he felt the tremors that Alpha's blast caused. He was moving at top speed, though the soil, rocks, and dirt made his speed only a quarter of what he can accomplish in air, but given his natural speed, it was still incredibly fast. He decided to surface. When he reached the surface, he quickly stood up on the ground as he saw the tunnel where he came from disappear under the mass of dirt. He can see Alpha staring at the ground, high in the air, a distance away, near the horizon. Butch quickly hid behind a hill before he examined himself.
He was extremely dirty, covered from head to toe with dirt, rocks, soil, snow and bones. His green outfit was barely recognizable under the brown and red soil covering it. He removed his cap, dusted the soil off, then brushed the dirt off his clothes and removed the handkerchief covering the lower part of his face and the shades he wore. He pocketed the dirty hardetal handkerchief, and wiped the dirt covering his shades. 'Look at me! I'm a mess! I'll go change first and then join the others. Hope they don't kill Delta before I arrive,' he thought before flying fast towards his home.
Meanwhile…
Blossom flew at high speed towards a group of hills two hundred miles south of the city. There she stopped, and stared at the approaching Delta. Delta saw his break, and headed for Blossom, intent on taking her, and beating her up if she resisted. However, she was only a few yards from his prize when he was suddenly attacked from below.
It was Bubbles. Delta was violently thrown upwards seconds after his stomach was punched by Bubbles' right fist. It only hurt a little, but to his extreme surprise, it did hurt. He halted as soon as possible, but before he can survey the situation, Brick kicked him in the neck, sending him careening down towards the ground. Before he could react, Boomer appeared from nowhere, grabbed his foot, spun it around, and slammed it against a hill, before throwing him towards Blossom, who balled up her fists and struck him in the head, sending him plummeting to earth but never reaching it since Buttercup, who was waiting for him, kicked him like a football, and like a ball, sent him zooming out towards space in a 45º angle.
This time, nobody did anything before he halted in the air. He surveyed his surroundings, and found himself surrounded at five sides. Blossom, who a few seconds ago was merely his prize, was in front of him, her hands crossed in front of her with a proud smirk on her face. Brick was at his left, his face also in a smirk, his hands also crossed in front of him, though his wide round eyes were purposely narrowed. Buttercup was under him, lying horizontally while floating, her hands and feet in a fighting position, her teeth greeted with anticipation. Bubbles was behind him, with a determined look, rarely seen—like when she was at hardcore. Her mouth was firmly shut, her eyes was ablaze with determination. Above him, on his upper left was Boomer, with a scowl on his face, his hands in fighting position.
Delta looked around him and knew he was in deep trouble.
"Okay, if you really are fair, you would fight me one on one," Delta challenged.
"If you watched Epsilon's demise, if you know how he perished, you would know that such appeals are useless," Brick said. "We have no use for such things as fair play, especially when dealing with scum like you."
"Boomer, Bubbles, attack!" Blossom ordered, and the blue pair attacked, Boomer from below, and Bubbles from his back. Delta was quick enough to adjust his position to be able to meet the onslaught, and his speed more than held its own against Boomer and Bubbles, whom Delta maneuvered into unfavorable positions, and easily countered their punches, kicks and lunges. Boomer lashed out at Delta, but the villain easily held him off with one hand, while he just as easily fended off Bubbles with his left. But the fighting made him frown. He was fast. He was faster than Beta. But he was not as fast as Cychaela. He was strong. But he was weaker than Epsilon. And he cannot compare with his older brother Alpha, in all aspects of power. The only thing that he can best them with was his laser blasts, which was more powerful than anything on earth except Alpha's, but the puffs and ruffs prevented him from using his most powerful laser attacks. His speed of course, enabled him to land several powerful punches on Bubbles and Boomer, but he was unable to fathom why none of those punches seemed to have any effect.
Blossom, Buttercup, and Brick, was observing the fight.
"I think they need our help. Brick, go," the temporary leader of the Alliance ordered, and Brick, without so much of a murmur, eagerly joined. He quickly gave a harsh kick on Delta's head, causing him to lower his defenses against the blue pair. Seconds later, he was exposed to the full force of the attack of the three kids.
"Buttercup, I think we better join the fray and finish him off!"
"All right," the green puff shrieked, and both girls attacked Delta. In a couple of seconds, he was thrown to the ground. He seemed to be unconscious and not breathing.
"Do you think he's dead?" asked Boomer.
"I don't know. But most likely yes," Brick said. "You see, all our punches and kicks must have been too much for him, and our final strike, which sent him down, must have been fatal."
They examined Delta's body for a few seconds, and all signs of life were gone.
"Better check to be sure," Boomer remarked before going near the body. He checked his breathing and his pulse. He floated just above the body, and went to face the others above. "He's dead!"
Delta opened his eyes, and because Boomer was blocking Buttercup, Brick, Blossom and Bubbles' view of Delta's head, and Boomer himself had his back on Delta, nobody noticed it. Delta smiled, and quickly put his outstretched hands, two inches from the gloating Boomer's back.
"Boomer, watch—" Brick shouted.
"Behind you!" Buttercup shouted too.
But it was too late. Delta's most powerful blast hit Boomer square in the back, and there was a powerful explosion. Seconds later, the blond ruff could be seen spinning upwards, unconscious, and bloodied. His body was a mess of wounds and bruises, and his clothes, though intact and without damage, was dripping with blood.
"Boomer!" Bubbles shouted, and she quickly caught Boomer.
"Boomer!" Brick shouted, and rushed to his brother's side, roughly grabbing his unconscious brother away from Bubbles' arms. "Damn! He's bleeding badly! Several of his bones seemed to have been broken! Bubbles, go and fly my brother to Dad. As long as Dad can fix him up as soon as possible, he'll be alright and in a few hours be back to normal, but if you don't hurry, he'll die! He'll die I tell you! Bubbles, go to Dad and he'll know what to do! And after you have given him to Dad, come back here as fast as you can!"
But Bubbles was shaking so violently at seeing Boomer that she was unable to move.
"Never mind. Buttercup, could you do it?"
Buttercup nodded, and she took Boomer's nearly lifeless body and flew fast towards Townsville.
So now it was only Brick, Blossom, and Bubbles. Both Brick and Bubbles were covered with Boomer's blood, and Bubbles was too shaken to be of any use at the moment, so it was only Blossom and Brick.
"And once again, our overconfidence has done us in. The same thing happened to me when Buttercup and I fought Two, yet did I learn? I should've made sure he was dead! Damn it! Boomer's life would be in my hands if he dies! My hands, I tell you! I'm sure he'll be alright if he reaches Dad in time, and would be, tomorrow morning, be back to normal, but, if we're too late and he dies before he reaches Dad, then I don't want to think about it," Brick said in a distraught manner.
Blossom was at a lost for words, and just nodded.
"And now—if it would be permitted, since you are, rather than me, in command of this battle—we resume our fight. Right now, vengeance and retribution are such sweet words," Brick said.
Blossom finally found her voice. "Yes. Brick, you and I will wear those shades, adjust the level to five, and—"
"Watch out!" Bubbles suddenly shouted.
Both leaders looked down, and dodged the powerful laser beam Delta had sent with seconds to spare. Bubbles, who had snapped back to reality, attacked Delta with a renewed fury. Brick, for a few seconds lost his reason and attacked Delta, unleashing a fury seldom seen in the usually calm Brick.
Delta was able to fend them off, but Blossom joined Bubbles and Brick. Remarkably, Delta was able to fend off the three in spite of the fury he inspired by his near killing of Boomer.
Delta broke through the three, and flew high up in the sky. He considered escaping to Citiesville and fetching his brother, Alpha, but decided against it. He was determined to catch Blossom alone.
He floated above the ground, and smirked. He began to collect energy in his hands. "What I did to Boomer was just a fraction of my total power," Delta shouted. "Now, I'll unleash my total power, and no doubt, you'll be spread out in little pieces across this snowed-covered-land after this day is over!" he shouted.
He began collecting energy in his hands.
"Brick, Bubbles, wear your shades and set the level to five," ordered the pink puff. "Now, when he unleashes his laser, we'll combine our laser into one, counter his laser, and overcome him. We'll meet his laser, and we will prevail."
It took several seconds for him to gather sufficient force in his hands, and after a dramatic theatrical gesture in his arms, he shouted, "Die!", and unleashed the powerful laser upon the three.
"Now!" Blossom shouted, and on cue, all three of them used their laser eyes. Passing through their shades, it was magnified five times, and the three combined into one, forming an even more powerful beam, and collided with Delta's attack.
The two powerful beams were engaged in a reverse tug-of-war, with the two sides trying their best to prevail. It seemed that both sides underestimated the strength and power of each other, and in a short few seconds, both sides were sweating profusely as both tried to push their laser towards the other at the same time.
And so it remained that way for two minutes. However, Delta's advantages came to show, slowly but surely. With supreme strength, he was able to push the laser back inches by inches, using more and more of his power, the last of his reserves, while the three strained to keep par with Delta. They did not find the last reserves of energy they needed to push back, and found that they could not stop the slow advance of Delta's laser.
Victory for Delta was but a moment away.
But like Napoleon at Waterloo, victory would be denied by the timely arrival of the enemies' allies, and for Delta, his Blucher and his Prussians would be Buttercup and Butch.
For just as he was winning, Butch—wearing clean clothes and who himself was clean—and Buttercup—her dress clean of the blood of Boomer, indicating she too changed clothes—arrived.
Butch quickly put his shades on his eyes, as did Buttercup. Both set the level at the highest, and both struck Delta's back at point blank range.
At that moment, Delta was overwhelmed. He quickly lost any advantage he had, and the three's laser advanced rapidly toward him. Seconds later, Delta died as his body was scattered across the plain.
Meanwhile…
"What?" asked Alpha irritatingly. "I have lost Butch, and I need to kill someone!"
"You have killed enough, I think, before I called you. I saw the bodies littered in the street," Ckracknow said. "Perhaps, what I have to say would more than compensate for your recent failure?"
"What?"
"The device that I showed you a few days ago is ready!" Ckracknow said.
"What device?" asked Alpha.
"Don't you remember? I told you about it just after I told you the history of Dr. Edwards, Mr. Morebucks, and Professor Utonium. It's a device that can increase your strength many times over. I underestimated the time the needle would reach 50, but only by two days. It's now ready. Once you get out of the machine, there's no question that you will win every fight you encounter with your enemies. Your power would be unstoppable, and no matter how hard they trained, you will always be ahead of them."
"Okay, okay, let's just get this over with," an impatient Alpha said.
Ckracknow beckoned his creation to follow him. The two went to the elevator, and proceeded to the bottom floor. Getting out, they saw that the device was ready. The containers that previously contain dead bodies with acid eating their bodies were now empty.
"It's ready," said Ckracknow. "You see, just a few hours ago, the green acid seeped enough energy from the bodies of the dead humans. You will become more powerful than you ever were. However, I must give you a warning."
"A warning?" asked Alpha.
"This device artificially increases your power and energy. However, your body's physical strength will not correspondingly increase. That can only happen with enough physical training. Shortcuts like this might overstrain your body, and might impair your judgment," Ckracknow explained. "That means you better not use your trump card, or, combined with this, you might overload. I want to warn you of this before you do this, so you might refuse if you think it's too much of a risk."
"What will happen if I overload?"
"You might destroy yourself with too much power that your body can't handle."
Alpha considered his master's words. "But will it increase my power, and thus, strengthen my body and my physical attacks too?"
"Yes," Ckracknow said. "Just don't use your special power."
"Then I'll take it. I haven't seen the need to use my special ability, so I don't think it's too much of a risk. With so much new power, I won't ever need to use it," said Alpha.
"Very well. Now, if you will please enter the glass room, we can now begin the procedure."
Alpha opened the glass door of the glass rectangular room. It's really a small room, with the dimensions of seven feet high by three feet wide by two feet long, with a single chair inside of it. Metal rods and tubes about three inches long protrude from the top and bottom of the room. Outside the room was a light bulb.
Alpha sat on the chair, and Ckracknow closed the door. Alpha simply nodded, and Ckracknow pulled a big shiny red lever besides the machine.
There was first a hum being heard—the hum of a machine whirring. But far more noticeable than a standard hum was the electric bolts that could be seen traveling between the metal rods above and below the glass room. Soon, it attacked Alpha's body, though he felt nothing. Soon, the room was filled with a greenish gas. Alpha began making involuntary shakes as he inhaled the gas.
Alpha soon disappeared in a swirling mass of gas in the chamber. And so he remained for five minutes, when the bulb suddenly lighted, and Ckracknow pulled back the lever. The metal tubes drained the gas, and Alpha, dazed, opened the glass and shook his head.
"Well? Feel any different?" asked Ckracknow.
"Well, I feel a bit dizzy, but other than that, I feel infinitely more powerful than I was five minutes ago! I could feel the power surging through my body!" said Alpha rather dizzily, shaking his head, but with supreme confidence and supreme arrogance. "I have the power!"
"I thought so," Ckracknow said. "The device worked perfectly!"
"So, what's your first order, Master? Want me to attack Townsville and end those kids once and for all?"
"No. You would do no such thing! I've made it clear, that under no circumstance would you attack Townsville! I am clear?"
"Yes Master."
"So you won't attack Townsville?"
"Not unless you gave me permission, sir."
"Good. Now I want you to find Delta, so we can boost his power too," Ckracknow said. "Don't forget to take your this cell phone with you and call me if you found him, okay? If you encounter the kids, don't use your special ability, or you might get bloated from too much power, and who knows what will happen!
"Yes sir. I am very much aware of that," said Alpha, and the eighteen-year-old zoomed out to the Northern sector to fetch his brother. He arrived in a second, but did not find him. He made a quick search through every building in the area, but like before, he did not find him. He then spent the next ten minutes searching and, because of his new speed, was able to check everything thrice. Not finding any sign of him he called out. He shouted Delta's name but there was no response.
He then flew out of the city to try to search for his colleague.
Meanwhile…
"So how is Boomer?" said Brick, the first words spoken after Delta's demise.
"I don't know," Butch replied. "Buttercup arrived carrying a bloodied and unconscious Boomer. I was shaken, and shocked. Dad immediately put Boomer to the mediroom, where he began to fix him. He said he will call to report Boomer's condition as soon as possible."
"I hope he's alright. And thanks for coming when you did. You saved our asses back there."
"Don't mention it."
The girls were just silent. Buttercup was staring at the landscape. She saw Delta's scattered parts, was immediately disgusted, and turned away.
Bubbles was just silently staring into the cloud-covered and snowing sky. Unnoticed by all, tears were streaming out of her eyes.
Blossom was thinking by her herself. Finally, after a minute, she spoke. "I hope Boomer will be okay. And by the way, since Delta's dead, I think that my time as temporary leader of this alliance is over, and you Brick, should resume being leader again. And Brick, I am sorry for what happened. I really blew it, didn't I? I became temporary leader, and I got Boomer nearly killed."
"No. You did alright," Brick said, going near the pink puff. "You got Delta killed, didn't you? And your plan to divert Alpha was brilliant. And you timed Butch's and Buttercup's return, and ensured that they would arrive just in time to turn the tide in our favor. You should be proud of yourself, though don't expect any more compliments from me. And Boomer won't die. He won't. I won't allow it. And don't tell anyone I told you this." He said it in a way that the Butch wouldn't hear of it. "I have a reputation to keep, you know! You're still ugly, by the way."
"Boys, girls, I have news! Good news in fact! Boomer is going to be okay. It was close, and I nearly lost him, but with the Professor's help, I was able to bring him back, and he's alright. He'll make a full recovery in a few hours, but right now, I still need to do a couple of things to him," Dr. Edwards suddenly said through all their watches.
"Really Dad? He's going to be all right?" asked an expectant Brick.
"Yup! He is. Like before, the chemical X on his body—once the immediate danger is taken care of—would assure a pretty rapid recovery. If he was a normal human, he'd take a few weeks, but happily, he's not. Tomorrow morning, he'd be in tip-top shape!" Dr. Edwards continued.
"Yes!" Brick shouted, punching the air with his fist.
"Boomer's going to be alright" Butch shouted, and began made a punch in the air, but due to his enthusiasm and excitement, accidentally punched his brother. "Oh man, I'm sorry, bro. It was an accident."
Brick clutched his stomach in pain. "Oh it's all right. Accidents do happen!" Brick then deliberately punched Butch. "Like this one is also an accident!"
Soon, both brothers were laughing together, happy that Boomer was alright, and that only Alpha remains to be taken care of.
"Yipee! Boomer is okay!" Bubbles shouted in joy, and went on to hug both Blossom and Buttercup.
"Yup, that critter isn't going anywhere soon," Buttercup affectionately replied.
"Thank God he's okay," Blossom replied, and breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on her face.
"Well, let's go home," Brick said as soon as he and Butch stopped laughing and playfully punching each other. "Before Butch here kills me!"
"Or I," a deep and new but familiar voice suddenly said. "It seems that you have killed my brother, but since we are enemies and at war, I don't blame you. But you will pay nonetheless."
All kids turned to the source of the voice. They saw the six-foot-two-inches tall, eighteen-year-old boy with short silver hair that was neatly combed. His face was calm, with a mocking smile on his lips. His red eyes were intimidating, and his stance was erect. His figure, were it not for the fact of his villainy, would command immediate respect. And to the surprise of the rest of the kids, he was wearing a blue suit and black tie. But what was most striking was the evil, and power, that seemed to emanate from him. It was so pervading that it sent chills to the kids.
"You seemed surprised?" Alpha said. "Maybe the suddenness of my appearance? Well, I appeared three seconds ago on the horizon and spotted you. Perhaps what bugs you the most was my attire? Well, Master Ckracknow has been pestering us about our clothes, I decided this day to fulfil his wish that we dress respectably. And you seemed to have done your job quite well. You have managed to dispatch my four colleagues. Let's see. Beta, Cychaela, Epsilon, and now Delta. Quite impressive. And so much so that you accomplished this feat even though each of them was more powerful than each of you individually. Yup. Brick, you are a smart leader. Yes, unlike my master, you have not fooled me. Ever since the first rescue of Blossom, I immediately knew you were the leader of the alliance, not Blossom. Oh t'was so common, the facts are so simple, the deception so obvious, that it was a relatively simple task of figuring out the truth. Pity that Master Ckracknow refused to listen to me."
"And oh yes, you have done well. You have beaten off most of my Master's efforts to lure you out of Townsville. First the killings, then the riots. It was clear from hindsight that you knew that my Master was bluffing when he threatened to attack Townsville. And you have made two successful rescues of Blossom, one of which was under my very nose. Yes, you are very smart, very clever, and very lucky."
"But now your luck ends," Alpha proclaimed. "I came here to retrieve my brother but instead found you, far from your sanctuary, and Delta dead. Now it ends!"
The five kids looked at Alpha with a slight fear, but all utterly banished by the confidence they gained in defeating four of their opponents, all of whom were infinitely more powerful than each individual ruff or puff.
"And you are foolish enough to fall for the same trick that all your brothers and one sister fell for," Brick replied. "You went alone to us, and you negated your strength by doing so. And the fact that the rest of your team is dead proves how poor a leader you are."
"Oh yes. I admit, I have been a poor leader recently, but now that I'm alone, I don't need that skill anymore," Alpha said. "And you seem to underestimate me. Yes, all of you combined is too powerful even for my powerful colleagues to resist, but you would find that I am different. Perhaps a little demonstration is in order?"
"No. Let's just fight and get this over with," Brick replied.
"If that is what you want," Alpha said.
"Okay. Bubbles, Butch, go and see how powerful he really is," Brick ordered. "Attack him!"
Expecting Alpha to be no more powerful than his brother, both Butch and Bubbles lunged at Alpha. Alpha made no defense other than to dodge his attackers, and he effortlessly did so, moving so fast that it seemed as if Bubbles' and Butch's fists were going through him.
"It's not working, Brick," Butch shouted.
"Yeah! He seems like a hologram! My arm keeps getting through him!" Bubbles shouted too.
"He's too fast!" Brick observed. "The rest of you, attack!"
And Brick, Boomer, Blossom and Buttercup joined in full force in the attack against Alpha. And it achieved nothing.
They seemed to be not affecting Alpha in any negative way, as he effortlessly dodged their attacks.
Suddenly, he moved out of the fight.
"Oh I'm bored. You're all too slow. I'm going to let you hit me so you can't whine that I'm just too fast. Go on. Hit me. I won't bite!"
"You've bitten more than you can chew, Alpha," Boomer shouted, and all five of them attacked.
As promised, he didn't move as much as an inch. Brick and the others attacked him with full force. They punched him in the head, in the body, even below the belt. They used their most powerful physical attacks on him. But it didn't seem to make a dent in Alpha's body.
Five minutes later, Alpha backed out. "You're seriously boring me. My grandmother can hurt me better. I'm giving you one more shot, and then it's my turn, so better make it good."
"What do we do? He seems, dare I say it, invincible!" Bubbles said.
"Yeah! That was our best!" Buttercup shouted. "And he looks as crisp as a brand new book."
"Well, we still got one card left," Brick said. "Let's do the combined laser attack. Put the level on your shades to five, and we'll combine them together, like how we did in Epsilon and Delta. We'll see how Alpha fares against this."
The five then put the shades at their most powerful level, at five times magnified. They stood besides each other at a distance and at an angle, and unleashed their power. The five beams immediately merged, and with one absolutely powerful beam, their power surged. The beam, like a ray of light, hit Alpha head on, and there was a powerful explosion.
It was the most powerful attack that the puffs and ruffs ever made—the same attack that ended the lives of Delta and Epsilon before.
The smoke cleared, and there was Alpha, standing tall and proud, with a smirking face, without any sign that he had been hit at all.
"So that's your most powerful attack? Wow. It tickled a bit, but other than that, it was just a big light show. Maybe you should do stunts at a fair? I'm sure people will pay a lot of money for your talents!"
"Oh shit," Butch said.
"We're doomed," Buttercup said.
"Just how powerful is he?" wondered Blossom.
"Just the most powerful thing I've ever set my eyes on," Brick said.
"What do we do?" asked Bubbles.
"Now it's my turn," Alpha said.
In a dazzling demonstration of his speed, he quickly went over to Bubbles, and smashed his elbow against her head. Luckily, her hat prevented her from being killed, but it knocked her out of the fight. He then went over to Brick, broke his back on his knee, then twisted his left arm, breaking his bones in the process, making the leader of the alliance scream like a girl. He then kicked Brick in the head, which luckily for him, was in the part covered by the hat, or he would have been killed. Brick was knocked out and fell to the ground. He then proceeded to Blossom, where he grabbed her hair, spun her around a few times with her long hair, then hit her head, making her pass out. He then went to Butch, punched him hard in the stomach, causing him to double up in pain and to spit blood. He then struck him in the back, and proceeded to savagely beat up the green ruff till he collapsed. He then went to Buttercup, where he grabbed her leg, twisted it, resulting in several smashed bones, then kneed her in the stomach, smashed his fist against her back, though amazingly, her spine didn't break, but caused extreme pain nonetheless. He proceeded to smash her body against the rocky hills, then beat her until she passed out. She then fell to the snow covered ground.
It all happened in forty seconds. He was so fast and so powerful that the others were not able to do anything but watch. The clothes seemed not to protect them, but they reduced their impact. They would certainly would have been dead if it were not for the armor. Alpha was just so powerful that the armor failed in preventing Alpha's attacks from being felt. But it was the clothes that made the five near dead, bleeding, hurt, injured, and unconscious, as opposed to being plainly dead.
"Strange, they should've been dead by now," said Alpha. "Oh well, it's easy to remedy that problem."
Alpha then rose to the sky, and prepared to make a small ball of energy, intending to finish them once and for all. After a few minutes, he made an energy ball the size of a basketball with enough energy to kill the five puffs and ruffs at full health and strength several times over.
He prepared to throw the ball on the five that would once and for all end the five when his cell phone rang.
Alpha was irritated, but nonetheless politely answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"It's me, Ckracknow. Have you found Delta?"
"I have. He's dead. But I have other news. Good news too!"
"Delta's gone? And tell me, what kind of good news is that?"
Alpha then told him all that happened.
"Excellent!"
"Shall I kill them now?"
"No."
"What? What do you want me to do with them?"
"Get Blossom, and leave the rest."
"Why don't we just kill them and be done with it? Why get that girl?"
"Because, those kids made a mockery of me by rescuing Blossom right under my very nose. Twice—I tell you—twice! They made a fool of me, and I want revenge. I want to shove it to their faces when they wake up and find out that Blossom is again mine! Hahahaahahahaah! All their efforts to rescue her twice will be in vain!"
"But sir, we don't need that. Why not kill them?"
"Because I want to!"
"With all due respect sir, I think you are a bit obsessed with getting Blossom!"
"Alpha, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it!" Ckracknow shouted. "Besides, it would be boring for us if they're dead. And I assure you, with Blossom in our hands, then they'll definitely attack us, and then, you'll know what you have to do. Besides, killing them right here wouldn't be much suffering for them. Keeping them alive and hopeless, that is more of a punishment to them than being dead!"
"Bur sir, they are a threat as long as they are alive."
"No. They can never catch up with you. They are more of an annoyance than a real threat! No, leave them alive. They're already defeated. We already have won. Let them sulk in defeat! Now, do as I say!"
"But sir…"
"Are you defying my orders?"
"No but…"
"Then get Blossom and get your ass back here. We have to celebrate!"
"Yes sir," Alpha said. He sighed. He didn't want to leave them alive. He just wanted to get it over and kill them. He knew his Master was making a mistake, but orders are orders, and no matter how powerful he became, he cannot go against Ckracknow. He dissipated the energy ball, went among the unconscious kids, picked Blossom among them, and flew back to Citiesville.