Allies and Rivals II

Chapter 38

Fainting Hope

The Town of Citiesville…

The day ended in an ominous tone, as the hope of the starving masses huddled together for warmth in buildings without electricity further plunged as the temperature dropped in the fury of early winter. But it's not the weather that so dampened the hopes of the citizens of the once great city.

For the pendulum of the mighty struggle between good and evil had swung once again in evil's favor, making ever so distant the memory that just moments before, the good guys stood in the threshold of triumph. Now they were in a situation as black as the darkest night.

Now the gossips and whispers of the citizens, old and young, men and women, rich and poor alike, were pessimistic, as they were witness to the near destruction of our heroes, making their hope of regaining their city, and what was left of those alive, fainter than a star in a bright city night.

Yet not all people in Citiesville were glum, for in a skyscraper near the center of the town, high up in the highest floor, a certain mad scientist and his powerful creation had an air of triumph in them as they strapped an unconscious and battered Blossom on a table.

Alpha was standing besides his master, watching as Ckracknow put bandages around her head. Unlike the others, Blossom suffered relatively light wounds, since Alpha had concentrated on her head and as a result, made her pass out more quickly. And the damage to her head, because of the cap and bow she was wearing, was not that bad, though it certainly hurt the Pink Puff.

After making sure, to his satisfaction, that all of Blossom's injuries were taken care of, and after noting with satisfaction that most of her wounds were superficial, she flipped Blossom on her stomach, took a duranium cuff on the side, pulled her hands together behind her back, and cuffed it. He did the same to her feet. He then strapped an anti-gravity with duranium belt on her, put some goggles over the redheads closed eyes, stuffed her mouth with a rag, and tied a scarf over her mouth.

"Ah, Alpha, what a pleasant day this turned out, eh? Though we lost Delta, seeing your triumph, on balance, it's really good," said Ckracknow with an air of victory. "We lost Blossom early this morning, but we found out the identity of the traitor who's been helping the enemy, and the machine that I built actually works! Now you are far more powerful than they can ever be!"

Alpha was quietly listening to his boss when he noticed something. "Sir, I think that Blossom is waking up."

"Already? Hm, I guess we overestimated her injuries," Ckracknow said. "No matter. She is restrained, so she couldn't do anything. And even if she's not, it wouldn't matter. Ah Blossom, how are you feeling?"

Blossom opened her eyes, and was surprised to discover her location. She thought she was dead. Finding out that she was alive, she learned that she was kidnapped for the third time

'Oh not again,' she groaned as she bit the mass of cloth in her mouth. 'What is it in me that kept getting kidnapped? Golly, I'm really so popular!' she sarcastically thought. 'Not only Brick, but my sisters will really give it to me about my being kidnapped three times in three days! And what does that Ckrackhead want now?'

She lifted her head from the table and saw the two men looking at her, sighed, then put her head back on the table, knowing full well that another rescue would have to be performed. 'But we're no match for Alpha. Oh no! They could be killed if they attempted another rescue! But why didn't he just kill us this afternoon after the fight? Oh well, at least we're alive, and we still have some chance of winning.'

"I take it that you're a bit dizzy, though physically alright. I take it that you're wondering why you're alive, and why you're here?" asked Ckracknow.

"As if!" Blossom said, but it came out as "mmpphh."

"Okay. You see, the reason I kept you alive is that, I figured, it would be more of a punishment for you to be alive, in the knowledge that Alpha and I beat you. Especially you who have revelled in pride in the fact that you are undefeated! If you were killed, oh, it would be not much of a punishment for you kids. Oh no! Oh no! Dying would only release you from the torment and misery of having to live under my boot! And now that your first question is answered, I'll answer the second. I kidnapped you just to irk the rest of you. Ha, to tell you the truth, you were kidnapped by accident the first time. We knew that you'd only send one to take on Major Man. We thought it'd be Boomer, Bubbles, Buttercup, Brick, or Butch, but to our pleasant surprise, it was you, whom I thought until a few hours ago was the leader of the Alliance, whom we bagged! But those pesky kids managed to rescue you and at the same time killed Epsilon! I was infuriated. So I ordered Delta and Alpha to kidnap you anew, and so succeeded, but again, the boys managed to rescue you, against the odds. I was so angry. I was determined to recover you just to shove it into your faces! Yes, you have become a prize by the fact that you escaped my clutches twice! And I'll keep you as long as I want, as a symbol of your defeat! Hahahahahaha!" Ckracknow cackled, swinging his arm in a cartoonish way, laughing in a truly villainous way. "Alpha, make sure she doesn't escape, and don't hurt her!"

Ckracknow left the room, and went down three floors into an empty room. He made sure nobody can hear him. There, he made an important call using his cell phone.

"Hello? Sir, yes, I want to say that we have won! Yes sir, did you hear me, we won! And I did it eight days before the New Year!" Ckracknow shouted.

"Ah, it's a pleasure to hear that you have finally put my dollars to good use. Anyway, tell me, how did you defeat those do-gooders?" Morebucks asked.

Ckracknow then explained how they won, concluding, "And all those five were beaten up to a pulp, lying on the ground unconscious, near dead, torn up, bleeding! And Alpha took Blossom and left them to rot, and if they survive, they will sulk forever in your shadow!"

"You left them alive?" asked a livid Morebucks.

"Yes. There wasn't any need to kill them, so—"

"WHAT? ARE YOU SOME KIND OF AN IDIOT?" Morebucks shouted on the phone. "No wait, you left them alive, you are some kind of an idiot! Haven't you heard the adage, that it ain't over till the fat lady sings, or that it ain't over till it's really over! Besides, my orders to you, Ckracknow, is to kill them! K-I-L-L kill, not defeat! You could at least have taken all of them if you really didn't want them dead! What are you, some kind of a pansy? And not only those six kids, but Dr. William Knox Edwards and Prof. John Utonium should be dead! You remember the real reason I hired you in the first place? You know, the monster hide that could ruin my business? Failing to steal it, one has to take the next step—kill my opponent, Edwards, to make sure he doesn't have the opportunity to exploit it! And the professor, the only other man to know of it."

"But sir—"

"But nothing! We have not yet won because of your incompetence!"

"Yes sir," a rattled Ckracknow said. "Sir, can I attack Townsville? Because Edwards, Utonium, and the kids are there!"

"No," Morebucks replied.

"But sir—"

"I don't want Townsville, invaded, you hear?"

"But why?"

"Because I live in Townsville, and I have seen what happened to Citiesville. I don't want my home city to suffer the fate that your teen-agers inflicted upon that city. Besides, your attack on the city of Citiesville lowered my profits in this Christmas season. How much more would I lose if you invaded Townsville? No. Keep your hands off this city. But I want you to kill them. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir," Ckracknow said, and he pocketed his cell phone.

He left the room with a dejected expression, but before he entered the room where Blossom and Alpha was, he fixed his face to give the impression that he was not given a sound thrashing by someone even higher in authority. He still had that cocky look on his face that belied the fact of what transpired with Morebucks a few minutes ago.

"Alpha, get ready. I'm sure that those fools will make another rescue attempt on Blossom. Stay with her at all times, and when they arrive, kill them. Fight them if necessary, but in the end, don't let them get away."

"But sir, you told me that—"

"That was then. I want them dead, now!" said Ckracknow.

"Yes sir," said Alpha with a smile on his face.

Blossom had a look of horror on her face.

"Keep Blossom alive. She'll be valuable as a captive," Ckracknow said. "Now, let's celebrate our triumph. You like wine?"

"Yes sir, very much," Alpha replied.

Ckracknow then took a bottle of wine from the refrigerator located in the corner of the room, and took some two glasses from a shelf. Ckracknow and Alpha sat on chairs on opposite sides of a table, and drank.

Meanwhile…

"It's about time you wake up," was the first thing Brick heard when he opened his eyes. It was Buttercup.

"Oh, my aching body," Brick complained as he noticed his left arm was in a cast, while his back was bandaged to a plank to make sure he wouldn't bend while his back was healing. His forehead was also wrapped with a bandage.

He looked around him and saw that he was in the mediroom. Butch was in another bed, with a plank bandaged to his back too. The rest of his body was covered with bandages. He was wide-awake. Bubbles was luckier. She only had some bandages around her head, but was otherwise fine. She was floating, unlike Brick and Butch who were in bed. She had a sad expression on her face. Buttercup had a cast on her left leg, and covered with bandages all over her body, though she too was floating and staring at Brick. Boomer was also there, with a frown, completely healed from his brush with death in the fight against Delta. Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium were standing in the middle of the room, talking among themselves while observing the kids.

The atmosphere in the room was that of downright gloom. The look on their faces makes one think as if they attended a funeral, and they all knew how narrowly they escaped death. The specter of doom was in all their minds. Their morale was at an all time low, their spirits sunk, and their drive blunted. Their confidence in victory was shattered. Fate dealt them a blow with this cruel twist. They labored hard to defeat each of Alpha's four colleagues, only to find out that Alpha himself was so ridiculously powerful as to make all the previous efforts look like a walk in the park. It seems as if everything was going into the abyss.

"Don't we all?" responded Butch. "Right now, I can't even bend myself."

"I'm glad you're okay, Boomer," Brick said upon laying eyes on his blond brother.

"Yeah, Dad said that it was close, but I sailed through with flying colors. Just minutes ago, Dad removed most of the bandages," Boomer said in a cheerful way, thought it was clear it was forced.

"Where's Blossom?" asked Brick, who noticed her absence.

"She's missing," Prof. Utonium said in a very grave tone. "The others already told me what happened. I know Delta's dead, but that is cold comfort for us."

"She probably was kidnapped for the third time. What happened? Last thing I remember was being beaten by Alpha, then passing out, then waking up here. I thought I was dead."

"Brick, I'm glad you're okay," said Dr. Edwards. "I was afraid we're going to lose you, but I'm glad I was wrong. You were the very last one to revive. Now that you're all awake, I can tell what happened."

"I called them," Butch suddenly interjected. "You see, just after Alpha left, I suddenly had a moment of consciousness, called Dad using my watch, then blacked out again."

"Thank you, Butch, but please, no more interruptions," an irritated Dr. Edwards said. "Anyway, I was in my office at Edtech Corp. HQ, reading some paperwork, when you called. I immediately called the Professor and told him to come to the building and bring medical supplies and told him what Butch said, and he said he'd be right over. I then searched Butch using the office computer and honing in on the homing device installed in his watch. John arrived with the supplies I requested and we went to the top of the HQ where my helicopter was perched. We flew to where you were, and we were shocked."

"Words cannot describe how I felt upon seeing you lying on the ground, beaten up, torn, bloodied," the Professor continued, with emotion. His bit his lip, his eyes sparkled, he breathed deeply before continuing. "William and I feared the worst. That we might be too late. Dreading the prospects, I checked on the girls, and William his sons."

By this time, Prof. Utonium stopped, as his hands shook and his breathing quickened, and his voice faltered when he tried to continue, his entire being overcome with emotion.

Dr. Edwards, who was less emotional than his friend, continued. He had a gaunt, serious expression on his face, his mouth in a scowl, his eyes on fire, but his bearing and his voice, calm. "I checked on you and Butch, and you two were an absolute mess. It was a relief to check your breathing and your heart beat, and finding out that you're not dead. The only thing to survive the beating intact were your armored clothes, and I dare say, it was what kept you alive. I took the bandages from the Professor, wrapped you up as I can in the snow covered hill dotted plain, and put you on stretchers that we brought with us. Luckily, it wasn't snowing and the sun was shining, so it wasn't so hard. The Professor did the same for his daughters, but we noticed that Blossom was missing. Worried, we searched the entire area for her, and we didn't find her. We suspected that she was again kidnapped, and it was confirmed when we tried to locate her using the homing device on her watch."

"The Professor and I put you in the helicopter, and we flew back. We examined each and every one of you, and treated you according to your injuries. It took a while, but Bubbles was the first one to recover, then Buttercup, then Butch, and finally you. Boomer here already recovered a few hours ago."

After the explanation, there was silence in the room for a few minutes, as they began to think of their situation. Dr. Edwards and the Professor, satisfied that they're okay, went back to the lab.

"This sucks!" Buttercup said after ten minutes of contemplative silence. "I mean, all our hard work, all we did to get the other four ground to the dust was for nothing! Nothing, I tell you! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! Because Alpha is so darn strong that nothing we can do will matter. And they got Blossom to boot!"

"I hate to agree with her, but she's right," Butch said. "How the hell do we win? Brick, what is your master plan?"

"I'm not sure. I've been thinking, but things aren't pretty for us," Brick replied. "We need to make an honest assessment. First, what are things that don't favor us?"

"Oh, let's see. We were beaten to a pulp by Alpha, who is so strong we have no chance at all," Butch started.

"Alpha is so ridiculously powerful," Bubbles said. "I don't think we can beat him."

"Blossom was kidnapped for the third time," Boomer said. "And Ckracknow probably learned his lessons on how to properly guard a hostage."

"And the codes would have been changed," Buttercup said.

"And what's going on for us?" asked the redhead.

"Well, we're alive!" Bubbles said. "And as long as we're alive, we can still win!"

"We still have Mr. Shippe to help us," Boomer said. "And Cychaela, Beta, Delta and Epsilon are no more."

"And as far as I know, Townsville is still off limits to Alpha," Butch concluded. "That means we can hide out here as long as we can."

"Yeah, but what about Blossom?" Buttercup asked.

"So now we know while that our situation isn't that bad, it isn't quite as good as it was a few hours ago. We were back in square one, the same spot we were on December 10. Back then, we have absolutely no chance of beating any of the five, and look at us now! We were able to kill four of the five—Beta, Cychaela, Delta and Epsilon. So we expected Alpha to be only slightly more powerful than the others. We're wrong, but we can still play the game we played before. Hide out in Townsville, and bide our time till we're strong enough to beat him. One problem with that plan, though."

"Blossom!" Bubbles said.

"Yup! You hit the nail right on the head! We have to rescue her, and at the moment, I have no idea on how to successfully pull it off. Any ideas?"

"Well, maybe we could just leave her there and—okay, okay, I'm just kidding!" Butch said.

"Not funny," Buttercup said.

"Well, maybe aliens would invade and kill Alpha?" Boomer suggested.

"Or maybe Alpha will realize the error of his ways and convert to good and bring Blossom back to us?" Bubbles added.

"Or maybe we could find a genie who will just make them disappear!" Buttercup continued.

"Or maybe Alpha would have a heart attack and drop dead? Seriously, is there any thing you could think of?" Brick asked. "Something that might actually work?"

There was silence.

"Guess we'll have to wait if Mr. Shippe calls and see if he can help us," the redheaded leader sadly concluded.

And they spent the rest of the night till dinner making small talk with each other to lighten the grim atmosphere of the room.

Meanwhile…

Dr. Edwards and Prof. Utonium walked down the stairs. "I'll open my package first before going to the lab, I think," said William. "It arrived early this afternoon. Strange that it had no return address and had no name to indicate whom this was from. Want to see what it is?"

"Why not?" said Utonium.

Both men went to the low table in the middle of the living room. On top of it was a brown box held by duct tape. It was ten inches high, long, and wide. They opened the box, and it was filled with salt.

"What? Salt?" Edwards asked. He then began sifting the salt with his finger when he saw something brown on a ball. Digging still, he found that it was hair. Utonium then pulled the hair, and his face turned white upon what he saw.

Dangling by Prof. Utonium's hand by the hair, was the severed head of Harry Shippe. It was completely white, with all blood completely drained. His lifeless eyes were wide open, staring directly at the two men.

Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium were completely shocked. Dr. Edwards froze at the sight, while Professor Utonium, staggered back and fell to the floor, his hand clutching the head frozen stiff for a few seconds. Both men's eyes were fixed on the head.

Then, the Professor suddenly let go of the head, and it rolled on the floor.

"Oh shit!" Dr. Edwards said.

"Look, a note taped the back of his head," a rattled Professor noticed.

"I'll get it," Dr. Edwards said, and his hands shaking, took the paper from the back of his head.

It read.

The Goose is Cooked – F. Ckracknow

"So he found out! That bastard!" Dr. Edwards said.

"Oh I hate that guy!" the Professor said.

"I don't know about you, but the kids should not see this head," Dr. Edwards said.

"Don't disagree with you there," Dr. Edwards said. "We better put the head back on the box, and bury this."

The Professor merely nodded as he put the head back on the box of salt and sealed it with duct tape.

The two men went to the forest, where they held an impromptu funeral, with the Professor carrying a bible and Edwards playing the minister, before they buried the box. They put a wooden cross with Harry's name on it, and the date of his birth (as submitted by Harry on his resume) and his date of death. They vowed to transfer him to a cemetery complete with a tombstone if they survived the crisis. After which, they went back to the house as if nothing had happened, though both were shaken by the incident.

It was ten in the evening…

Dinner was over for about two hours, and it was about the time that the four were completely healed. Dr. Edwards and the Professor carefully removed the bandages and planks and casts from the kids. As usual, the chemical X in their body made healing extremely fast and complete, and in case of life threatening injuries, only in a matter of hours in contrast to the weeks or even months that it would have taken if the kids were normal human beings.

"How do you feel?" asked Dr. Edwards.

The fact that they again completely recovered from their injuries completely restored their morale, and they regained the confidence they had lost when they were thrashed in a lopsided battle that had happened earlier in the day.

"I feel good," Butch said as he flew rapidly in the room.

"Yeah, just like before, I am again as good as new!" Brick said.

"Yup! You're right, boys! I feel great!" Bubbles said.

"Well, since you feel good, you won't object to me doing this!" Buttercup said, and in a huff, punched both Brick and Butch, knocking the wind out of both of them.

"Ha Ha!" Buttercup boasted. "I thought you two were alright!" and laughed at them.

"Very funny!" Butch replied, irritated.

"That was very good! Congratulations!" Brick said, slapping Buttercup in a friendly manner, but in such a way that it hurt Buttercup and caused her to fall to the floor.

"Ouch!" Buttercup said. "Why you, I'll—"

"Stop this horsing around!" shouted Dr. Edwards.

The kids stopped the banter.

"We have very grave news," Dr. Edwards started. "Harry Shippe is dead. Ckracknow found out he's really spying for us, and he killed him."

"But…but…how'd you find out?" asked a disbelieving Brick.

"He sent us this letter, and this note, and a lock of his blood-stained hair," Professor Utonium said. He showed the note where The Goose is Cooked is written, and a lock of brown hair with blood on it.

Bubbles face turned to white when she saw the hair and froze. Tears began forming in her eyes.

Buttercup was not impressed. "How do we know that that lock of hair is Mr. Shippe's? I mean, Mr. Shippe isn't the only one in this god-forsaken land to have brown hair! It is just a prank!"

"We made DNA tests," Dr. Edwards lied. "Want to see the results?"

"Nevermind, I believe you," Buttercup said, dismayed.

"Oh shit. There goes my plan," Brick dejectedly said.

"He was such a nice man," Bubbles said, and she suddenly hugged Professor Utonium. "Why did he have to die?"

"He knew what he was doing, and he knew the risks," Professor Utonium said, comforting Bubbles, hugging her back. "His death is tragic, but to expect him to be completely safe would be to deceive oneself. Still, his death was not in vain. Because of him, we were able to rescue Blossom the second time. It's like you battling evil monsters and evil villains. You know that it is a risk, that in every battle, there is a chance, however small, that one of you might not come back alive. All of you, Shippe included, in this mighty war, are like soldiers sent into battle for one's country. One knows one has to do his duty, despite the risk. We salute Mr. Harry Shippe, a truly noble soul, who, because of his sacrifice, moved us one step closer to our ultimate triumph over evil."

It was a moving tribute, done by an emotional Professor Utonium while hugging a crying Bubbles. Buttercup lost control and joined in the bawling, while Dr. Edwards and his sons simply bowed their heads in silence, not a tear dropped, but not short on emotion, as their face's expressions showing a mix of anger and grief, with anger predominating.

Dr. Edwards then gave a prayer for Mr. Shippe.

"We will avenge Mr. Shippe!" Brick proclaimed, his face twisted in determination. "The die has been cast, and there's no turning back! We will rescue Blossom, and then, we will train till we overcome Alpha's advantage in strength!"

"Yeah! Kill the bastards!" Boomer shouted as a battlecry, even while the girls were still crying.

"Rip them limb from limb!" Butch said, outdoing his brother in shouting.

"Kill the bastards!" Boomer shouted again. "Okay, what's your plan to rescue that red-headed girl, Brick?"

"Yeah, my plan. I have a frickin' plan! I'll tell it to you tomorrow morning," Brick said.

"Well, at least you remembered Blossom," Buttercup said, drying her tears.

"Well, only to enhance my reputation as a leader," Brick replied. "Not because I care, or I'm becoming soft, but because it is in my best interests to do it!"

"You sound defensive Brick," Buttercup teased.

"Well, thanks anyway," Bubbles said.

"Oh yeah, one more thing, boys," Buttercup said. "Kick the crap out of those stinkin' bastards!"

And they talked themselves to sleep, the mood one for retaliation while in grief, while the men went and hit the sack.

It was December 24, the day before Christmas, at about one in the morning…

Dr. Edwards was rolled up in his blankets, enjoying his sleep. He was wearing blue striped pyjamas, and was as sound asleep as a bear in winter.

His room, in the second floor of his home, was an averaged sized room. The bed's head was against the wall. On that wall itself was a portrait of himself. The other walls have various pictures, mostly of his sons, his father, his mother, a family picture, and on the table besides the bed, was the picture of his beautiful but deceased wife, who died six years before at the age of 24. Besides the picture was a land phone and fax machine. The floor itself was carpeted, the walls painted light blue, and various books and papers were scattered. His study table was untidy, with various books, papers, candy and junk food wrappers, and office materials scattered on top of it.

The door itself squeaked as it opened. The light in the hallway quickly revealed the intruder as Brick, as he quietly closed the door. He floated on towards the bed and shook his father.

"Dad, Dad," he said, trying to wake him up.

"Huh, what, Brick, what, you had a bad dream? Well, you can't sleep here," his father groggily said.

"It's not that," Brick replied. "Dad, could you help me with something?"

"Can't it wait?" asked his father. "It's one in the morning for crying out loud!"

"No Dad, it can't. It's really important!" Brick said.

"Oh what the hell. I'll listen," Dr. Edwards said. He got up, stretched, yawned, wiped the sand from his eyes, put on his thick glasses and sat on the side of his bed. "Okay son, come sit on my lap."

"Thanks Dad," Brick said. He then sat on his father's lap.

"Okay, what's your problem?" asked his father.

"Well Dad, remember when I said that I've got a plan to rescue Blossom?"

"Yes I do. You're going to tell me early?"

"No. Well, actually, I don't have a plan, and I can't think of one," Brick said. "And I want you to help me make one, or I won't have anything to show for all my talk."

"That's all? Well, I've been thinking a plan of my own lately, but I was reluctant to tell it to you since I don't want to be seen as dictating strategy and upstaging you, my son. I want you to be seen as a leader, as someone who can think on his own. And I also thought you really had a plan!"

"Well, I don't. But please don't tell others that it was really your plan!" asked Brick.

"Don't worry about it," said Dr. Edwards.

"Okay, Dad, what's your plan?"

"Well, Ckrackpow certainly will have extra security for Blossom. Now taking the lessons of the past two rescues, what do you suppose Trucknow will do? That's right! Keep Alpha on Blossom's side! Now, you can't do what you did the first time Blossom was rescued, because Alpha's too strong and too fast and probably too wise to fall for old tricks. And we can't do the second because Shippe is dead. So we can't sneak in. So what do we do? We lure Alpha from Blossom. But he won't leave Blossom's side because he'll know that the minute he does that, one of you'll make a dramatic rescue. So how can we lure Alpha from Blossom? Simple, by convincing him that none of you are actually going to rescue Blossom."

"Great Dad, so how are we going to do it?"

"You five will go to Citiesville, challenge him to a fight, then go to some deserted place. Since all of you are going there, he wouldn't have reason to fear that one of you would be going in and rescuing Blossom? See?"

"Wow! But how about us? Wouldn't we be killed?" asked Brick.

"That's the risk. It's a very grave risk, son, but we can pull this off. Make a very long speech, or something, delay the fight as long as you can. Make the location of your fight as close as to Townsville as possible. And make sure he doesn't return to Citiesville until I give the signal!"

"Huh, what does that mean?"

"Well, when Alpha's is gone, the mouse is going to play! I'm going to sneak to the building, and rescue Blossom myself. I'm not sure if they'll keep Blossom in the same security room. If not, then it's well and good. If she is, then I'll simply force Ckracktow to do it!"

"But Dad, it's too risky, you can't risk your life Dad, you know—"

"Son, we have to rescue Blossom first, right?"

"Right!"

"And you don't have any other plans that could work?"

"No Dad."

"And the risk of inaction is greater, and we can agree that we can't let Blossom be in Ckracrow's hands for long?"

"Yes Dad, but—"

"Look, the alternative to not doing this is far more horrible than risking our lives for it. If we die tomorrow trying to save her, then we will die heroes, and for a worthy cause, but if we let her rot away in Ckracknow's clutches, it would be our greatest shame, our dishonor!" Dr. Edwards proclaimed. "Besides, I'm your Dad, and what I say will be done! Understand?"

"Yes Dad," Brick said, defeated. "We'll do it at daylight."

"Now go to sleep!" Dr. Edwards said. "It's half past one, you know. Good night."

With that, the scientist went back to bed. And so did Brick.

Later, at six in the morning…

"Are you nuts? You're putting your own father at risk!" Buttercup shouted after hearing the plan.

It was early morning, and the kids were preparing for breakfast. They were already dressed, and Brick had just told them of his Dad's plan. Of course, he took credit for it.

"Yeah! Why involve Dad?" Butch said.

"Do you have any better plans?" asked Brick. "And Buttercup, do you want your sister to be rescued? The odds of succesfully rescuing her are against us, but with this plan, there is a chance! I know it is risky, but as they say, no guts! No glory!"

Boomer was adamant. "But Dad is—"

"Willing and able," Dr. Edwards said, appearing suddenly. He was fully dressed too, in his usual gray suit, red tie, gray great coat, and hat. "Brick earlier told me of his brilliant plan, and I can't help but volunteer myself for the crucial task! No. Don't blame Brick. I insisted on being the one who would rescue Blossom from that building, and he doesn't have a choice."

"Volunteer for what plan?" Professor Utonium, who walked with the Professor in the living room, dressed in his white lab coat and tie, curiously asked.

Dr. Edwards then told Professor Utonium of the plan.

"Great! I'll go with you, William!"

"What? It's risky! It's dangerous! It's not worth it!" William Edwards argued, trying to dissuade his friend.

"Look, Blossom is my daughter, and if there is any one who have more right to go on this mission alone, it's me!" the Professor defiantly said.

"Okay, you can come," Dr. Edwards said, as he saw the determination of his friend's eyes.

"But Professor, you can't—" Bubbles began.

"But I will. I'll do anything to save my daughter! And nothing you say or do will make me do otherwise, understand?"

The Professor had that look of determination in his eyes that said that nothing would stop him from doing what he wanted. The girls saw that they could do nothing short of physically preventing him from doing it.

"Yes, Professor," Buttercup and Bubbles said.

Later in the morning, at about nine in the morning…

Alpha and Ckracknow had just finished breakfast. Alpha had earlier spoon-fed Blossom, after which he put back the rag into her mouth and duct-tape over her lips. They were relaxing in the 75th floor in a couch, with a squirming Blossom on the carpeted floor. Alpha, at all times, kept one eye on Blossom.

Suddenly, out on the window, they saw five kids, three boys, and two girls, floating defiantly in the air.

"Hey Alpha, we challenge you to a fight!" Brick shouted. "All five of us, or are you chicken?"

"They've gone insane!" Ckracknow exclaimed. "Just yesterday, they were given a sound thrashing! And the very next day, they want the same? Oh well, let's not complain about our enemies' stupidity! Go Alpha, and kill them!"

"Yes sir," Alpha said. "But what about Blossom?"

"Oh don't worry about her. They would be preoccupied with you. Just don't let any one of them out of your sight, or one of them might come here and take her away from me."

"Don't worry sir. I'm fast enough for them. And I'll be wearing my shades so that they won't be able to use that sunball trick again," Alpha said before going out.

"So you want a fight?" asked Alpha as he met his challengers. "So you weren't going to hide in Townsville after all! You're braver than I thought. And even more stupid."

"Well, let's not waste our time. But first, I think we fight in another place, since I don't like fighting in cities," Brick requested.

"Why not? It won't matter where we fight. I'm still going to beat you all."

"Okay, follow us," Brick said.

The six then flew to a deserted plain about ten miles east of Citiesville. The kids flew so slowly that it took them ten minutes to reach it.

"No, I think I know a better place for our fight," the red ruff suddenly said.

He then led Alpha into a deserted mountain range fifteen miles west of Citiesville in thirty minutes...

"I think the hills 60 miles south of Citiesville would be a better location," the leader of the alliance suddenly said.

At the hills 60 miles south of Citiesville, fourteen miles and twenty minutes later…

"I change my mind. I think a better place to fight would be at a ghost town 36 miles North of Citiesville…"

At the ghost town thirty five minutes later…

"No. I know a much better place! Follow me!"

The kids then led Alpha to a land of rolling and lifeless hills, on a location only two miles southwest of Townsville. The zigzag course of the kids ultimately confused Alpha, and he never knew that he was just two miles from Townsville.

"This is the place! Now we fight!" Brick said.

"Finally! I thought you'd go over the entire country first!" Alpha remarked.

"But before, we'd like to make some remarks before we can start this fight," Brick said.

"Whatever. It won't make any difference!"

"Alpha, and Mr. Ckracknow, I'd like to say something," Bubbles began, reading her text from a piece of paper. "You reign of terror will soon end, because we will defeat you. This will be your last battle, and we will be victorious. We may be weaker than you, we may be slower, but we have right on our side! Right makes might! Remember that we were weaker than Epsilon, Delta, Cychaela, and Beta. Where are they now? You will be the same. You have committed outrages that shame the villains like Mojo and Him. You have killed thousands, no millions! You wont' get away with it. You have power, but you are evil!"

Bubbles read it as slowly as she could in order to buy as much time as possible.

"I'm doing this for Townsville, and it's honorable citizens who are outraged by your actions," she continued.

Bubbles then took a thick phone book that was carried by Butch, and began reading names.

"Mr. John Aabalert, of 145 Cook Street, is outraged at you. Mrs. Ellis Aaberna, of 652 Blog Corner, is outraged at you. Dr. Zachary Aablerny, of 487 DWS street, is outraged at you. Mrs. Stephanie Aackensky, of Room 45 of the seventh floor, of Hilton Apartments on the corner of 5th avenue and 8th lane, is outraged by you. Mr. Johannes Aadlerdy, of 85 Lockart Street, is outraged by you. Mrs. Katie Aadrecy of 64 North Drive, is outraged by you. Mr. Joseph Kenneth Peterson Aadvark, is outraged by you. Miss Patricia Allen Aagrob, of 64 Leonard Wood Road, is outraged by you…"

And it went on and on, Bubbles reading the names of each citizen of Townsville, and how all of them are outraged at Alpha. Surprisingly, Alpha patiently waited for Bubbles to finish. 'She'll tire eventually,' though the powerful clone.

Meanwhile, later in the morning…

A boat landed on the bank of Citiesville Island. On the boat were Dr. Edwards and Professor Utonium. There was light snow falling. Navigating through the ice filled lake was no easy task, and several times, they nearly lost their lives to the strong, cold current.

It was a curious sight. All the other boats, the ones that emerged now that Alpha was away, were headed toward the mainland, and only their boat was going the opposite direction. People fleeing could only wonder why they would want to go back to the hell-hole that was Citiesville.

They landed without incident, and they quickly made their way to Ckracknow's skyscraper. They entered the first floor, where they encountered some of the guards. They quickly took care of the problem, knocking them out if possible, shooting and killing them if necessary. After that, they proceeded to the elevator, and went to the 75th floor.

Ferguson Ckacknow was reading some novel in his couch when he noticed someone going up the elevator. 'I wonder what those guards want now?' he asked himself.

He was very surprised when the elevator door opened and two men he knew so well pointed .45 pistols at him.

"Blossom!" shouted the Professor when he saw Blossom bound, squirming with pleading eyes, on the carpet.

"Ckrackpow, the Professor is going to get Blossom. One move out of you and I'll stuff your body with lead."

The Professor went and cautiously picked up Blossom.

"Ckrackbow, you come with us," Dr. Edwards said, pointing the gun at him.

Ckracknow, fearing for his life, complied. The two scientists took him to the elevator, and closely guarded the little man. They strutted him out of the building, and towards the edge of the lake.

Upon reaching the edge of the lake, Ckracknow suddenly reached a gun on his coat, and to the surprise of both men and Blossom, shot Dr. Edwards, missing his head by an inch. Dr. Edwards, a better shot, fired back, and hit Ckracknow in the hand, forcing him to drop his gun.

Dr. Edward then walked to him, and pointed the barrel of his gun to Ckracknow's forehead. Ckracknow, in pain, dropped to the ground as his eyes showed fear.

"Please don't kill me!" Ckracknow pleaded.

"You have no reason live, you bastard," Dr. Edwards said.

"Don't kill me! I'll tell you a secret. I'm not really in charge you know. Someone is giving orders to me! And his name is—"

But he didn't finish, since Dr. William Edwards squeezed the trigger, and a second later, Ckracknow was dead, lying on his own pool of blood.

"You even try to pass the blame to others," Dr. Edwards said. "What a bastard!"

Meanwhile…

"Mr. Peter Balry of 145 Washington Street is outraged by you," Bubbles continued. "Mrs. Joan Balser of 5 Harrison Road is outraged by you…"

Alpha was looking at his watch. 'Why the heck are they delaying the start of the fight? I mean, reading all the names on the phone book? What the heck is she trying to do? Unless…oh shit!'

"Nice try," Alpha suddenly said. "Gotta go home! Bye!"

He then flew back to Citiesville.

"Damn! He's on to us!" Buttercup shouted.

"Well, let's catch up with him. Maybe we could still salvage the situation from utter disaster!" said Boomer. "Dad is in grave danger."

"Okay!" the rest said, and they flew after Alpha.

Alpha arrived, and saw, just in time, Ckracknow's death. He then saw Dr Edwards, after killing Ckracknow, empty a cartridge of bullets in his head, making it a mass of unidentifiable flesh, as his brains were scattered across the ground.

"Master!" Alpha shouted. He, in anger, then fired a weak laser from his pointing finger at the Doctor.

The laser struck Dr. Edwards in the chest, slammed him to a nearby building, causing it to collapse on him, all six storeys of it.

"William!" Professor Utonium shouted.

At that moment, the five kids arrived, just in time to witness Dr. Edwards being struck by the laser in the chest and see the buildings collapse around him.

"DAD!" the three boys simultaneously exclaimed.

"You, you monster! You—"

"Killed him? Of course. That laser is weak. But then again, so is your father. He is just a human, and it struck his heart. I know. I am very accurate. And now, his body is crushed beyond recognition by the rubble which fell on him. He's dead. Dr William Edwards is dead!"

"You stinking bastard! You vile creature! You'll pay for this!" Butch said, with absolute rage in his eyes.

"He was all to us, all that we have, and you took him away from us?" Boomer said. "We will avenge you Dad, or die trying!"

"And this time, we won't back down!" Brick shouted at the top of his voice, his very being consumed with emotion. Words cannot describe how furious, how devastated, how sad, how angry the boys were. Heaven help whoever would be subjected to that kind of anger from the Rowdyruff Boys.

This time, all talk of retreating back to Townsville were gone as the boys were consumed by a desire for revenge right then and there, and they don't seem to care that it was suicidal to do so. They just got to have their revenge.

"And you can't retreat to Townsville, you know. Master Ckracknow is dead, killed by your father. With him dead, nobody can restrain me from following you home. Flee to that city, and I'll destroy it!" Alpha said.

It was a very dark moment for the good guys.

And the stage for the final battle has begun.