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Allies and Rivals II
Chapter 39
Final Battle
The Town of Citiesville, and the Rowdyruff Boys had just watched the horror of seeing their father being hit in the chest by laser and being buried in the rubble of a collapsing six storey concrete building.
Since Dr. Edwards was only an ordinary human, not a superman with Chemical X, it was certain, to the ruffs' mind, that he perished, if not from the laser blast, then from the collapsing concrete. Dr. Edwards was buried in a heap of rubble, his body, all believed, utterly crushed.
If there was any doubt about his fate, then the bodies of people who were unlucky enough to be in the building when it collapsed dispelled it. Some of them were merely wounded, but the overwhelming majority of them were dead at the first few seconds, and blood spilt from the rubble of the building.
The kids were as mad as hell, and none more so than the Rowdyruff Boys. Their faces were successively disbelieving, shocked, livid, angry, and then enraged, as they saw what they believed was the death of their most beloved figure in their lives.
"Dad!" Brick shouted, with emotion clear in his voice.
"No! No! No! This can't be! This can't be! No, it can't be happening!" Boomer shouted. "He can't be dead!"
"But he is," Alpha said, yawning. "Maybe you're slow, so I'll repeat it to you. I, using a very weak laser, hit him in the chest. Now, it won't have any effect if it hit you or the girls, because of your powers. But since Mr. Edwards himself is human, it would pierce through him and put a hole in his heart. And if he survived that, those falling rubble would finish him off."
"And we can't retreat to Townsville!" Bubbles added.
"This sucks! This really really sucks! What else could go wrong?" Buttercup exclaimed.
"You will pay! And mark my words Alpha, you will pay!" Brick shouted. "You will not leave this day alive! Never! Never!"
"And," Butch added, "even if you can't follow us to Townsville, we won't back down. We won't run! We won't flail! We won't fail! We will crush you like we did the others!"
"You awful awful monster! You son of a bitch! You piece of manure! You piece of shit! You are worst than the vilest villain we ever met before!" Boomer said.
"Ah! Such emotion. Such passion. Well, if you really want a drubbing, then you'll get it! But before we fight, I want to thank your father for something."
"Thank Dad?" asked Boomer in puzzlement.
"Yes. He killed Master Ckracknow. He put about a dozen bullets through his head, I remember! Well, you might be wondering why I said that, given my loyalty to my master?" asked Alpha. "Well, I was loyal. He was my creator, and as long as he was alive, he bore my allegiance, my obedience, my deference. He was my lord, my liege, my director and such. But, that said, I realized that he was a drag, an obstacle, a barrier in realizing my true greatness and potential. He sometimes makes erroneous conclusions, like when he thought Blossom was the leader, or make wrong decisions, when he ordered you not killed yesterday, or sometimes acts irrationally, like when he repeatedly ordered Blossom kidnapped even though it will do us no good. So when your father killed him, it actually was a good thing, more so that it was not me who did it."
"And," Alpha continued, "given that, you really should have thanked me for killing your Dad, since he too, was inhibiting you!"
That last remark was the last straw for the boys, as their face became as read as Brick's hair. "That's it!" Brick shouted, as he and his brothers wore their super shades, put the lever at 5, and attacked Alpha using their laser eyes. Of course, when the smoke lifted, Alpha, who just stood there high in the sky, was unaffected. Brick then barraged him with multiple laser blasts that were much weaker than his lever 5 laser eyes.
At the same time, Butch and Boomer went to where Alpha was. Boomer swung his fist towards Alpha's left temple, while Butch tried kicking him in the groin. Alpha effortlessly blocked both thrusts. Counterattacking, he grabbed Boomer's leg and Butch by the wrists, and threw them towards the path of Brick's laser blasts. Brick's brothers were hit, and both fell to the ground.
Angry, Brick made a gigantic power ball from his hand, as large as a one-storey building, and threw it at Alpha. Alpha extended his right hand, and when the energy touched his hand, it dissipated.
Alpha smirked, Brick scowled.
In the meantime, Boomer and Butch came from below, and hit him with powerful laser eyes—again at lever 5 in the shades—and it did exactly nothing to hurt him. Not to be deterred, both brothers attacked, but it proved abortive when Alpha grabbed Boomer by the foot and threw him at Butch, sending both spiralling towards the ground.
Brick flew fast towards Alpha. Inches from him, to Alpha's surprise, he stopped, then blew a soft cold breath on the villain. Seconds later, he was covered with ice.
Brick smirked, and he gave a powerful kick, expecting Alpha to fall. To his astonishment, Alpha remained immobile. Instead, his kick cracked the ice, and Alpha shook off the rest. Quickly removing the look of amazement on his face, Brick tried kicking Alpha on the head. Alpha blocked it with his arm. Brick then tried to punch him using his left, but Alpha blocked it with his arm. Brick then tried a right, but it too was blocked. Brick, at such close range then made another lever 5 laser eye attack. There was a terrific explosion. Brick backed up a bit, expecting to see at least a bruise on his powerful opponent. Smoke engulfed the silver haired warrior, but when it lifted, he had not a scratch on him. The look on Brick's face indicated amazement and disbelief.
Seconds later, Alpha was hit by two balls of energy, both very large, from below. Looking down, Brick saw his two brothers, each with a look of rage and desperation on their faces, hoping for the best when hope was as faint as a star in a bright city night. It was dashed when for the third time, Alpha emerged from the explosion and smoke still as shiny as a newly shined shoe.
The boys then lashed out at Alpha, unleashing their rage. Brick kicked him in the head, but it had no effect whatsoever other than hurting his own foot. At the same time, Boomer, attacking from below, slammed his head against Alpha's stomach. It only got him a bump on the head as his stomach was as hard as steel. Butch went and punched him hard at his back, but his own knuckles nearly cracked. Backing up, they attacked again. Brick, Boomer, and Butch, from three different directions, slammed themselves against Alpha. This time, Alpha just got out of the way with a fraction of a second to spare, and the three hit each other in a spectacular collision. The crash was so strong that they fell back to the ground, just before a watching Buttercup and Bubbles.
Meanwhile…
"Doctor…" Bubbles said, as she saw what happened, and flew towards the wrecked building, but the sight of other bodies among the rubble so sickened her that she turned away, unable to bear all the blood, and sobbed, crying her heart out.
"Bubbles," Buttercup, who followed her, said. "It's okay."
"No it's not!" Bubbles said, shaking Buttercup's shoulder. "How could it be? How can it be all right? Look at that? All those people in the rubble! All dead! How can Dr. Edwards, who is at the bottom of the rubble, be alive, when those above it are dead? Oh Buttercup, I can't believe he's gone. I can't! I can't! I can't! But he is! What will happen to the boys? Will they turn evil again? Why does he have to die? Why? Why! Why!"
After that, she hugged her sister and buried her head in her sister's shoulder. Buttercup's dress at the right shoulder soon was wet as tears flowed from Bubbles eyes like water from a mountain spring.
"He's a very good man. He actually changed the boys from bad to good. It's not fair, it really isn't," Buttercup said as she comforted Bubbles. "He died for a worthy cause, and, he's such a great man!"
She burst into tears as grief overcame her, and both sisters hugged each other, comforting each other like they always do in a crisis. They slowly drifted to the ground, and they didn't even notice that they weren't flying anymore, but on their own two feet on solid ground.
After five minutes of sobbing, Buttercup looked up into the sky, and caught a glimpse of the boys fight Alpha. At once, the look of sadness and grief in her face turned into anger and determination.
She quickly dried her tears. "Bubbles, look. The boys are not moping like us. They are avenging their father's death. Look at them! Even though they are the ones most affected, they attacked. Even though they have absolutely no chance, they attacked! And look at us, bawling! Let's kick Alpha's butt to avenge Dr. Edwards, and cry when the job is done."
Bubbles dried her tears. "You're right, Buttercup. We should do something."
At that moment, the three boys landed at their feet, after colliding with each other. They ignored the two teary eyed girls and went back on the attack, trying to hurt Alpha for what he did. Their anger and rage was so great that they were able to ignore all the pain they felt from accidentally hitting each other. They flew back, intending to avenge their Dad or die trying.
Buttercup and Bubbles looked at each other, and nodded, as if they knew by instinct what was to be done. They closely followed the boys.
Butch stopped halfway between Alpha and the ground, and attacked with a powerful laser eye beam, at lever 5, while Brick and Boomer continued on. Buttercup stopped to where Butch was, put her shades on lever 5, and added her own laser eye to Butch's. Bubbles followed the other two boys.
Bubbles, Boomer and Brick went to three sides of Alpha when Butch's beam hit him, followed a second later by Buttercup's beam. Bubbles, Boomer and Brick immediately attacked Alpha. Brick made a kicked aimed at Alpha's head, which Alpha deftly dodged, while Bubbles used her sonic scream. The thing with this was Alpha wasn't a bit affected, while Boomer, who came to join the attack, was forced to cover his ears, as did Butch and Brick and Buttercup.
"Will you stop the bleedin' racket!" shouted Brick. "I didn't bring my earplugs y'know. And Alpha's the target, not us!"
"Oops, sorry," Bubbles apologized. "Attack!" she screamed, and went and tried kicking Alpha in the side. Her war cry immediately caused everyone to start attacking Alpha once again.
But Alpha went up higher than everyone else, pointed his right palm at the five, and fired a small energy ball. It floated in the middle of the five, and exploded.
After the dust settled from the explosion, Citiesville witnessed the fall of the five to the ground. Luckily, not one of them fell to the icy lake. However, everything else was bad. As they stood up and looked at Alpha, they had a defiant air upon them as their eyes showed no let up of determination. But it could not conceal the fact that they were bruised, mauled, and bleeding.
Brick had a cut on his head, and the dripping blood soon made his appearance redder than it already was. His face and neck had several bruises, and there were four cuts in his body, unnoticed because the hardetal clothes itself were undamaged, and the red coat, and sweatshirt he was wearing mitigated the damage. The explosion weakened him.
Butch's plight was more evident as his green shirt shouted the fact that he had a wound on his left shoulder. His left arm narrowly escaped becoming a mere limp. His face was as black as can be from the soot and was covered with blood from bruises and wounds all over his head. His breathing was heavy, and like his leader, he was weakened.
Boomer was in slightly better shape. He had no cuts, but his body was aching from the effects of the explosion. By sheer will, he ignored it as he focused his attention on revenge. He had a dozen or so bruises in his body, just like his brothers.
Buttercup was in the same boat as Boomer. Her entire body ached as it painfully absorbed the shocks administered by the explosion. She stood defiant, but weak, her body full of scars and bruises and small wounds.
Bubbles was in no better shape. She had a terrible cut at her forehead at the hairline, causing a trickle of blood to cover her face. She, however, had the presence of mind to take a handkerchief from her pocket and wrap it around her wound.
Even though that single explosion weakened them considerably, the five kids—still enraged and burning with a desire for vengeance—immediately attacked. Brick and Bubbles made laser attacks with their hands, while the other three plunged towards Alpha. Needless to say, the laser barrage did not hurt Alpha one bit. Butch kicked Alpha hard in the stomach. At the same time Buttercup elbowed Alpha in the head. Boomer punched him in the back. As before, those attacks hurt the attacker much more than Alpha.
The three kids backed away as they prepared to attack once more. Below them, Brick and Bubbles were still giving the barrage of laser. Again, from three directions, they attacked, charging like a bull seeing the red cape of a matador. And just like a matador, Alpha deftly removed himself from his location seconds before the three struck, and as a result, Butch, Buttercup and Boomer again collided with each other. To make things worst, the barrage of laser from Brick and Bubbles hit them. Then, Alpha suddenly appeared behind Brick and Bubbles, grabbed them by the hand, and threw them towards Buttercup, Butch and Boomer, resulting in a five-way collision. Before they could recover, Alpha slapped them with the back of his hand, sending them careening towards the ground.
Again they hit the ground. More bloodied. Weakened. In greater pain. With less energy. But it was the testament of their rage and their desire to hit back, that even though—from any sensible person's point of view—they had no chance whatsoever, they still kept at it. Their emotions clouded their judgment. Even the normally cautious, calm, unemotional Brick was severely jolted by what happened to his father, and was now as irrational as his brothers in his desire for revenge.
The five kids again attacked, but like the previous attacks, it was futile. The only reason they just didn't stop, retreat, or do something sensible was because they were blinded by anger. Like before, they were thrown back to the ground five times, the first by another slap, the second with a laser explosion, the third by another collision, the fourth by a kick, and the fifth by another laser explosion.
"You five are pathetic. I expected better from you, you know, because of all the rage and all the anger you've got from the shock of seeing William Edwards Senior die. But heck, nothing's changed, except that you fight more reckless, and more stupid," the powerful teenager bellowed as the five once more picked themselves up. "Face it, you cannot defeat me. It's futile. It's hopeless. However, you can still save yourself."
"I'm offering you a deal," offered Alpha. "You see, I decided, I want to rule this pathetic planet. And I realize, even with power, it would not be sufficient for me alone to control it, so I need confederates who'll help me run this world for me. Tell you what. I'm not like Master Ckracknow, obsessed with killing you, you know. He's right, and I wrong. Look at you! You can't even make a dent, so I don't have to worry about you turning your back one me. So here's my deal."
"First, you must all take a pledge of allegiance to me. Yes, you should transfer all your loyalty to me. You should swear that you'd serve me faithfully, follow my orders, and do as I say. In return, the earth will be divided in the seven sections. I would rule one part while the others will be ruled by each of one of you. You can do essentially anything you want in your part of the world, as long as you remain loyal. What do you say?"
"No deals!" Brick said, still angry.
"Wait!" somebody shouted. The five kids turned to the direction of the voice.
It was Blossom.
Meanwhile…
Professor Utonium was just a few yards away from where William Edwards was standing when the doctor was struck in the chest by the laser, slammed as a result to a nearby six-storey concrete building, causing the building collapse on him. He watched as his friend was hit by free falling concrete rubble the size of a bed.
"William!" he shouted. He immediately and gently put Blossom on the ground, laying her down on her back, then run towards the rubble. He tried to lift it, but it was too heavy. He was also prevented by the sight of other bodies of people inside the buildings when the buildings collapsed, which sickened him and made him weak.
He soon was just standing there, staring blankly at the rubble. He was too shocked that it took some time for the event to register on his brain. He just couldn't believe it, that his friend could be dead, but there was the evidence, right before him, staring at him, mocking him. 'I can't believe it! I don't believe it! He can't be!' he thought. 'William!' he thought. "William!" he shouted, as his knees weakened and he was forced to kneel. He was breathing heavily, as tears began to pour from her eyes. But he held his emotions in check, as he regained the strength to stand up. He then stood, too moved by the event to move, as he silently looked on the rubble where his friend lay buried, making a silent tribute to him.
Blossom was shocked when she saw what happened. As the dust from the collapsed rubble cleared away, it became clear to her that he had no chance of surviving being hit in the chest and being buried by tons of falling concrete.
"Doctor!" she shouted, but because she's still gagged, it only came as "mmmpphhhsss" that she could barely hear herself. She was mildly annoyed as the Professor put her in the ground and forgot about her as he went near the rubble. However, she too was overcome with grief, and she cried as best she could in her restrained situation.
She finally forced herself to dry her tears as it was making the goggles over her eyes murky. She then remembered she was still tied-up, and she decided to try to get out. She tried calling for the Professor, but he was too far away, too near the rubble, too concentrated on his friend, and her gag so effective, that it was futile. She then put herself in a sitting position, with knees bended upwards, when she again remembered Dr. Edwards, and she cried and cried, nearly falling to her side again, but she regained her balance. 'Oh Dr. Edwards, you were so kind to us. Even though you are the boys' father, you're still fair to us girls in your dealings with the Alliance.'
She looked at the sky, as she saw the boys fight Alpha. Her emotions of sadness, and grief, were transformed into rage and a desire for revenge. She watched the fight, getting very disappointed as everyone seemed to forget her and she was unable to fight with the rest. 'But at least I'm not in Mr Ckracknow's clutches anymore. But I hate being tied-up like this and not able to help,' she though as she saw the boys fall. She remembered the fight against Ckracknow's clone Two, where she was a bystander while Brick and Buttercup fought. It frustrated her. 'I want to avenge Dr. Edwards, but I can't!' she thought frustratingly. She then looked towards the Professor, but to her chagrin, he disappeared as a crowd of rescuers descended around the Professor and among the concrete rubble. 'Drats, I can't even see him!'
She then went back watching the fight. This time, her sisters joined in. After a few minutes, she was depressed at the fight and the incompetence of the attacks, and the fact that they keep repeating the same attacks over and over even though it was futile.
'Arghh, ' Blossom thought. 'Why are they doing that? Why are they making stupid moves? Why are they repeating moves that did not work the first time? I guess they were too enraged to think clearly. But why Brick? He's usually has good sense, and doesn't let emotion cloud his judgment. I hope that it didn't unhinge him, though looking at the fight, it looked liked it did.'
She sighed. She was sitting on the ground, watching the losing fight, her hands still cuffed behind her, as were her ankles, and with an anti-gravity belt on her waist and goggles on her eyes. 'I guess all that happened to Dr. Edwards caused them to forget me temporarily. And even if they didn't, it'd be useless, cause they need to take me back home so this cuffs can be removed. Unless, they have the key, but the key's in Ckracknow's…the key! Yes!'
She looked at the crowd, and she finally spotted the Professor as people melted away to avoid being collateral damage as laser beams fell near a building near them. The professor just stood still, head bowed, facing the rubble, silent, reverent, thoughtful, his mind reminiscing his adventures with his friend.
Blossom called him, but her gag and his concentration again prevented it. Grumbling, she with great effort got on her feet, and hopped towards the Professor.
When she got to him, she saw that the Professor's eyes were closed, and it seemed as if he wasn't in the real world. Blossom then hopped to the Professor's foot.
"Ouch!" the Professor shouted, finally snapping out of it. He looked down, and saw Blossom. "Oh Blossom, I'm so sorry. I was so overwhelmed by what happened to my friend that I totally forgot about you. I'm sorry!" he said as he removed the scarf tied tightly around Blossom's mouth. After that, Blossom tried spitting off the rag, but it was too large and too lodged in her mouth for her to do that, so the Professor had to pull it from her mouth.
"It's okay, Professor, I understand."
"But I can't remove the cuffs and the gravity belt until we come home so—"
"Professor I know where the key is. It's in the pocket of Mr. Ckracknow's coat! I saw it!" Blossom said while exercising her sore jaw. "And could you please drop me here while you get the key? I don't want to see him."
"The key!" the Professor exclaimed. Gently laying Blossom in the ground, the Professor went over the Ckracknow's body. Keeping his eyes off Ckracknow's bullet ridden head, he searched his pockets, and finally got a chain of keys. Running back towards Blossom, he finally removed the cuffs off Blossom.
Blossom rubbed her wrists and stretched her sore arms. "Finally, I'm not tied-up anymore. It's getting tedious not being tied-up only for less than six hours three days straight," she said. "Gotta run!"
She then flew to where the kids were, where he heard Alpha propose to the kids to be their confederate.
"No deals!" an angry Brick said.
"Wait!" Blossom shouted. The five kids turned to her.
It was a sorry sight that greeted Blossom, as the five were bloodied, bludgeoned, and weakened. Brick and Buttercup had limp arms, hanging from their shoulders. Bubbles and Butch had bloody faces. All have aching bodies, were hurting all over, yet their faces showed that they were still determined.
"So you're free?" asked Brick. "What?"
"How about we ask for time to consider his offer, since we don't have a chance right now?"
"And negotiate with the enemy? Never!" Brick shouted.
"So, are you going to surrender and cooperate?" Alpha shouted from above.
"As John Paul Jones said, 'I have not yet begun to fight'," Brick said before charging headlong into Alpha, followed closely by his brothers, ignoring Blossom's advice.
Buttercup and Bubbles were about to follow when they were stopped by Blossom. "No. The boys are making a huge mistake. There's no way they can beat Alpha before, and there's no way they can beat him now."
"But we can't just sit here and watch the boys get zapped! If they are going to get zapped for what they believe in, for their father, them I am willing to do the same. If we'll going to lose no matter what, then I'd rather lose in a heroic battle fighting for what I believe in rather than just be a spectator to my doom. Besides, I'm angry at what happened to Dr. Edwards!" Buttercup said.
"Yeah, what she said," Bubbles added.
"And therein lies your first mistake," Blossom said. "You let your passion rule your judgment. You repeatedly attacked using the same moves that failed before. Second, you assume there was no way to beat Alpha. There is. And it's not by blindly hitting your head upon a brick wall then hope you'll break the wall before breaking your own head."
The expression on Buttercup and Bubbles' faces changed from angry and determined to amazed and disbelieving. "There's a way to beat Alpha?" asked Buttercup.
"Yup!"
"How'd you know?" asked Bubbles.
"Ah, it's actually a good thing I was kidnapped," Blossom said. "You see if there's one thing I learned about Mr. Ckracknow, being tight lipped is not one of his strong points. Follow me while I tell you about it."
"Well?" asked Buttercup as they were flying besides Blossom.
"It was about ten in the evening I think. They had just spoon fed me my dinner and regagged me, when Mr. Ckracknow suddenly boasted to me of how strong and unbeatable Alpha was. He then revealed to me, in a rather boastful manner, the machine that he built to enhance Alpha's strength," Blossom narrated. "The fool even told me exactly how to operate it. He probably thought that I would remain his captive forever. Well, it didn't turn out that way, of course."
"So your plan is, we use the same machine that Mr. Ckracknow used, so we can be as strong as him?"
"Not as strong. It only increases the strength proportional to our original strength. So we would be below his level, not quite there, but just enough so our superior numbers will be able to overwhelm him," said Blossom.
"How about the boys?" asked Bubbles.
"We'll just have to pray that they'll survive for the next ten minutes," Blossom said.
"Why ten minutes?" asked Buttercup.
"It takes five minutes for it to charge us up. Mr. Ckracknow himself told me in one of his boasts about it," Blossom said. "Even though we three could easily fit inside, someone would have to operate the lever outside, so we all can't go in together."
"Oh, I get it," Bubbles said as they raced to the bottom floor of the late Ckracknow's skyscraper.
"That's it?" asked Buttercup as they saw the glass covered box shaped device.
"Yup. Buttercup, you and Bubbles go first, while I'll operate the lever. And remember. Whatever happens, please stay calm. Don't panic. Okay?"
"Okay," Bubbles said as she and Buttercup went inside the device.
Blossom closed the door, and pulled the lever. Buttercup and Bubbles were taken aback by the effects, but they remained calm. Finally, after five minutes, Blossom pulled the lever, and both girls went out.
"So, how are you feeling?" asked Blossom.
"Wow! I feel super!" Buttercup said. All her wounds were gone, and her power was multiplied many times over.
"Okay, you go and fight Alpha to see if we really can go toe-to-toe with him," Blossom instructed.
"Don't worry, Blossom. He'll pay for what he did to Dr. Edwards, oh yes, he will," the green puff said as she flew out of the building.
"Okay Bubbles, when I enter the device, you'll pull this lever. After five minutes, pull it back, okay?"
"So Blossom, all I have to do is wait for you to enter that thingamajig, then pull this lever, and wait for five minutes, then pull this lever back, then you'll come out of the gizmo?"
"You got it, Bubbles." Blossom then opened the door to the device and entered, and Bubbles pulled the lever.
Meanwhile…
There was a powerful explosion in the air, and for the umpteenth time, Brick, Boomer and Butch fell to the ground. They were severely injured, their bodies extremely aching, their senses nearly knocked out. They were covered with their own blood as they received more and more wounds.
The three brothers stood up, but were too weak to fly.
They looked defiantly at Alpha, who had nothing but contempt for the boys.
Seconds later, they collapsed to the ground. They were not unconscious, but only recovering, as it was evident that they needed to catch their breath. They were very weak, and not far from being out.
"Pathetic. Simply pathetic," Alpha said, looking down at the bloodied boys, both literally and figuratively. "I expected better from you boys. At least the girls had the good sense to run away to fight another day. You should do the same, or at least consider my proposal to join forces with me. You can't do the former, since you're too weak, but you can still do the latter. So, what's your answer?"
"Fck you!" Brick weakly shouted, bringing out more blood out of his mouth than voice. He was on his fours, while his brothers are lying on the ground, conscious, but weak, resting in a vain effort to regain enough strength.
"Yeah! Screw you!" Boomer said, raising himself by one arm while waving his fist defiantly at him, then fell again.
"Eat my sh!t" Butch shouted, in between pants.
"Well, if that's how it's going to be, then I have no choice but to end it. Don't say I didn't give you a chance!" Alpha said. He made an energy ball powerful enough to finish the boys once and for all, but before he could throw it, he was kicked from behind the head, and to his extreme surprise, he fell to the ground, his head hurting slightly.
"Ha! Score one for Buttercup!" Buttercup boasted. The green puff then plunged down, intending to ram Alpha. Alpha got out of the way, and Buttercup instead dug herself a large crater when she inadvertently hit the ground. Getting up, she was met with a kick in the face by Alpha. She was thrown violently upward, and Alpha followed her and then smashed his fist on her back.
Buttercup was on a freefall when, despite the pain, she stopped. Setting the lever on her super shades to five, she gave a blistering laser eye attack that hit Alpha head on. He was able to use his arms to cover up, but after the fact, his hands and face had a few bruises. Buttercup herself was heavily covered with bruises and breathing heavily, but she had hurt Alpha, and that was all that mattered.
Alpha was disconcerted, then suddenly smiled. "Well, you actually can do more than tickle! I guess I underestimated you. Let me guess, you used the Ckracknow's device to increase your power, eh?"
"Well, knowing it won't save your butt from being kicked!" Buttercup yelled as she charged the silver haired teenager. She attempted to kick using her left foot on Alpha's head, but he ducked just in time, and sent his left fist deep into Buttercup's stomach. Ignoring the pain, Buttercup, to Alpha's surprise, rammed her head against the teen's stomach. The clone backed away as he clutched his aching stomach, but the green puff followed him. Alpha then shot a powerful laser beam from his hands, hitting her. The lime clad girl was hurt by it, and Alpha followed it up by a huge uppercut to tough puff's jaw, sending her higher into the stratosphere.
High up in the air, Buttercup finally stopped her ascent, and floated in the sky as she looked warily at her rival. Alpha looked at her in turn. The clone, Buttercup saw, was still much more powerful than her even though the power upgrade considerably closed the gap between the two. Still, relatively, he was not as ridiculously powerful as before. And he was damaged, as the bruises and wounds, however slight compared to her own, testified. She smiled. She knew she could hurt the bastard.
They stared at each other for a few minutes, assessing the situation, then attacked each other. By that time, however, the balance has swung decisively against Alpha, or so the kids thought, when Blossom and Bubbles, both upgraded by Ckracknow's device, arrived. Both girls were as good as new.
The boys, though still weak, have rested enough during the few minutes to be able to stand up, and fly, however slowly and weakly. During that time, they were watching the confrontation between Alpha and Buttercup.
"Well I'll be damned!" Butch exclaimed. "How the hell did that girl get so strong, or did Alpha become so weak?"
"Hell I don't know," Boomer exclaimed. "But this is embarrassing. We should be the one up there, not her. It's our Dad who was killed, not theirs! We should be the one avenging him, not her!"
"Well, what are we standing here for? Even though we're weak and pathetic, we should do something. We're rested enough to be able to fight, and we're not yet dead. What do you say to the idea that we fight right now?"
"Yeah!" both Boomer and Butch shouted.
So the three boys, even though they were very weak, were dangerously bleeding, and their bodies were aching, attacked. It was only through their strength of will that they were able to charge Alpha. It was a very brave act, or foolish, depending on one's point of view.
Luckily, they were stopped dead by Blossom, who blocked their path. Bubbles went to join her sister Buttercup in the fight against the powerful teenage clone.
"Get out of the way, girl!" Brick said.
"The name's Blossom, Brick, and no, I won't let you go and do something very foolish. I won't let you get killed!"
"Ha, since when have you been concerned with us boys?" Butch bitterly asked.
"Besides, even if you are right, it's no business of yours if we want to die!" Boomer said.
"Yeah, besides, our reason for being here is gone. The only thing left for us is revenge. After that, life isn't worth living anymore," Brick said, in an angry tone, with gritted teeth, looking directly at Blossom. "Would you deny us our revenge too?"
"Well, you certainly won't get your revenge if you're dead," Blossom acidly said. "Look, even if you don't think I care about you, I do. I value you as allies, but even more so as friends. You can't just think that all of that we have gone through together for the past few months counts for nothing. No, I won't forgive myself I just let you do it."
"Well, I'd rather die trying to avenge Dad than just stand here, doing nothing. How could I face him, when, if asked what I did to avenge him, I'd have to answer, nothing? Oh the shame! No. I'm going to attack him no matter what, and if it's going to get me killed, so be it."
"And what's your plan of attack?" Blossom asked.
"We win. He dies," Brick simply replied. "Or we die."
"You won't get pass me!"
Brick gritted his teeth, as did his brothers, as all knew that they couldn't take on Blossom at their current state.
"Where the heck is your common sense, Brick? You always boast of your rationality, of your cunning, of how your actions are all calculating, of your unemotional actions? And yet here you are, acting irrationally, acting in ways not in your self-interests! Playing right into Alpha's hands by making futile attacks and only getting yourself weaker and weaker. You know what you're showing? You know what? You're not showing how brave you are, though I have absolutely no doubt of your courage. Rather, Alpha would think how stupid your moves are! What happened, what happened?" asked Blossom.
"The Professor wasn't killed," Brick replied in an emotionally charged tone, so much so that several times he nearly broke and teared-up. "Do you really think you could restrain your urge for revenge, to restrain your urge to rip the killer to shreds, if it was the Professor who was killed? Do you really think you could just think in a cool calm manner when all those emotions are raging inside you? Yes, I usually can keep control for me to act rationally. I can usually keep my strongest emotions in check so as not to act rashly. My brain always governed my heart, as you well know when I plotted my take over of this alliance. All of that I concede to you and more. But there are limits. And it was broken when I saw my Dad get killed. Do you really think that? If so, then you don't know me. Now out of my way! Me and my brothers are going to avenge Dad, and if I die in the attempt, I'll die satisfied that I did my due!"
"You're right. I would have acted the same had the Professor been the one under the concrete rubble. Dr. Edwards' death hurt me too, you know, and I for one would like to see Alpha dead. But even so, I would not let you be killed. No! No! I care too much about you for that. Whether you like it or not, you won't. No! Not in this condition. Even if I would have to knock you out. And I can do it. I am much stronger than before!"
"You'd have to kill us before you can stop us!" Butch said, behind Brick.
Suddenly, an idea hit Blossom. "You want revenge, boys? You want revenge? Well, I have a plan that not only would let you have your revenge, but also have a very good chance of actually killing him!"
"Don't be foolish. We're too weak for crying out loud! Not even the smartest plans would work!" Brick said. "Just look at what happened a while ago. We tried all our tricks, and it failed."
"Then how'd your explain Buttercup and Bubbles getting so strong?"
Suddenly, Brick suddenly felt very foolish. "Oh how stupid of me! Of course, you're trying to tell us something that would make us as strong like you did to your sisters?"
"Brick, what's this all about? I thought we agreed to shove this girl?" Butch asked frantically.
"Don't you get it?" Boomer suddenly said. "Bubbles and Buttercup suddenly got stronger, so she's trying to tell us how!"
"Yeah, she was trying to assist us! But the way you did it, it seemed you were just trying to lecture us, instead of trying to help us," Butch finally conceded.
"Well, girl, then quit gabbing and tell us how?" Brick asked impatiently. "I can't wait to kick his ass!"
"Follow me," said Blossom as she flew on to the skyscraper of the recently deceased Ckracknow.
Meanwhile…
Bubbles flew with Blossom, and seeing Buttercup high in the air, staring at Alpha, she quickened her pace. Spotting the teenager, she quickly rammed her head on Alpha's stomach. He doubled over in pain as he was thrown back, but despite the slight pain caused by it, he rebounded, balled his fists together, and quickly hit Bubbles on the head, causing her to fall to the ground.
He scarcely had time to savor Bubbles' setback when a powerful laser from above hit him. He was bruised slightly as he looked up and saw Buttercup, after making another lever five laser eye attack, descending rapidly towards him, with her arms extended before her, her fists balled and ready to ram. Alpha dodged with a fraction of a second to spare, as Buttercup went past him. Alpha quickly grabbed Buttercup's foot and threw her down, but as soon as he did that, Bubbles was back and gave Alpha a powerful kick to the side. Alpha was thrown sidewards, his hand clutching his aching side. He halted, regained his balance, formed an energy ball in his hands, and threw it at Bubbles. A powerful explosion, a puff covered with smoke, an Alpha kneeing Bubbles in the stomach, a Bubbles falling to the ground, bore witness to his counterattack.
Bubbles hit the ground, but Buttercup took up the slack by grabbing Alpha'a arm, spinning him, and hurling him towards the ground. Bubbles, who had now recovered, flew up, and kicked the still spinning and rapidly descending Alpha, sending him upwards towards Buttercup. But Alpha suddenly turned around, and extended his arms in a fist. Buttercup was surprised when his fists buried themselves into her tummy, causing her to double over in pain. Bubbles gasped, but she charged ahead. Alpha turned his attention to Bubbles and gave a kick to her head, sending her back to the ground with a large crash. He then threw Buttercup to the ground.
Buttercup and Bubbles, hurt, wounded, and defiant, quickly rose from the rubble and charged the floating teenager. They separated. Buttercup quickly made a ball of energy, and threw it towards Alpha. Alpha dodged it, but the attempt distracted him from Bubbles, who went behind him, and made a lever 5 laser eye attack, direct on his back. He screamed in agony as Buttercup from below went and kicked his back, sending him to the ground in pain.
He quickly brushed it off, ignoring it. But to the surprise of Buttercup and Bubbles, Alpha had a smile on his face, a devious kind of smile, as if this was all part of a set-up. Alpha rose, and charged towards the two girls. Buttercup began making a laser attack from her hands, but Alpha deftly dodged it, and sent a ball of energy towards Buttercup. Buttercup ducked, but the ball suddenly changed its trajectory and hit Bubbles.
"Bubbles!" Buttercup shouted, looking at her blond sister. But that distraction was all Alpha needed to punch her hard, and throw her towards Bubbles.
Bubbles was hit by Buttercup, and both girls were thrown violently sidewards before falling. They soon recovered their traction but Alpha was soon upon them, giving Buttercup a powerful kick in the head, while headbutting Bubbles. He then threw them high in the air, and hit them both with powerful lasers.
Both girls fell to the ground, while Alpha, feeling cocky, just watched them without making the follow-up attacks that would have finished off the girls. He himself was badly battered. His back was full of wounds, and his body was aching a little, but he was in a very strong position in relation to the two girls. The two girls were by this time much weaker than Alpha. They stood on the ground, looked at Alpha in an insolent manner, and flew towards him.
Alpha smirked as he saw the two girls charge. He in turn charged. The two suddenly halted, and each made two powerful lever 5 laser eye attacks. They combined their lasers, and shot it towards Alpha. However, he violently swerved to the right, avoiding the superpowerful beam. He flew to the side of the two girls, and to the utter surprise of both of them, kicked them in the stomach, his legs long enough to enable him to kick both girls at the same time. Again, the two girls fell.
"Ha! What a ham! What hot air! Coming here with such a high level of power! And with nothing to show for it!" Alpha said.
"You're the one with hot air," Buttercup shouted. "We actually hurt you!"
"Yes you did. But it's nothing compared to what I did to you!"
"Yeah, but what I did to you this time is much much worse than what I did before, when I can't even make a scratch on you!" Buttercup shot back.
"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" challenged Alpha.
"Maybe I will!" Buttercup said, and she and Bubbles charged.
At that very moment, Alpha noted with satisfaction that Blossom, and the boys left the vicinity of the fight towards Ckracknow's skyscraper. He estimated that they wouldn't return for five minutes, far more time than he actually needed to execute his plan.
Seeing Buttercup, he quickly swerved, avoiding her, then grabbed her bare hands. Suddenly, light was seen coming from Buttercup's hand to Alpha, and a bloodcurdling scream was heard from Buttercup.
"Buttercup!" Bubbles shouted, flying towards her sister. But it was too late. Alpha dropped Buttercup, and grabbed Bubbles. The same thing happened to the blond girl as light was seen being absorbed from Bubbles by the sadistic teenager. A scream later, Bubbles was falling, and landed besides the green puff.
"I feel weak!" Buttercup said, shaking her head.
"Me too. I feel very sleepy," Bubbles said.
"Well, that trick didn't hurt me!" Buttercup said. "Let's finish the job!"
"Right," Bubbles said. Both girls tried to fly, but they discovered, to their horror, that they can't.
"What the—" Buttercup said.
"Ha—don't you realize? I absorbed all your powers. I waited until you figured out how to use the machine, and I waited until Blossom and the others are gone, and, so I can absorb more. Ha, I absorbed most of your power, but not all. Notice that you didn't get hurt by the fall—you kept your super strength, and even that was cut by half—but your ability to fly, and to do laser attacks is gone! Now you're just plain kids with freaky strength!"
"You cheated!" Bubbles shouted, frustrated, feeling very weak.
"Yeah. And don't tell me that absorbing all that energy and power healed your wounds?"
"Yup!" Alpha shouted. "And I'm even more powerful than ever before! Hahahahahahaha! You should have accepted my earlier offer to be my confederates. At least you would have kept your powers. But no! You had to remain stubborn! Well, you paid the price!"
Both Buttercup and Bubbles sulked, as they waited for Blossom and the boys to return.
Five minutes later…
Blossom and the boys returned. The boys were fully confident as the flow of energy rushed through their veins, and they felt power they never felt before. All of their wounds, all of their bruises, were completely healed, and they were as cocky as before.
"Alpha! You will pay for what you did to Dad, and you will go down!" Brick shouted, his renewed confidence diminishing his anger and desire for revenge not one bit.
"Yeah! We'll tear you limb from limb, and we'll literally roast you for dinner after this is all over!" Butch added, even angrier than his redheaded brother.
Alpha yawned with boredome. "All talk. All hot air. All hat. No cattle."
"Blossom, boys, be careful! Alpha can absorb your energy by touching you!" Bubbles shouted, from the ground.
But Blossom and the boys were so high up in the air that they couldn't hear her, much less understand what she was saying.
"What did you say? Fly closer so I can hear you!" shouted Blossom.
But before Bubbles could reply, Alpha suddenly appeared among them. He grabbed both the exposed hands of Butch and Boomer, and absorbed their energy.
Both boys screamed as this happened. Brick and Blossom, who were clueless to what was really happening, attacked Alpha. To their extreme surprise, they found out that their attacks were pretty much useless, as all their punches and kicks, even their most ferocious, did not even scratch the clone. They then tried removing Brick's brothers from Alpha's grip, but it did not do a thing.
Alpha then dropped both boys to the ground, still conscious, but extremely weak. They hit the ground, unharmed, but dizzy.
"Man, that was strange," Boomer said.
"Well, let's get back to business," Butch said. He tried to fly, but couldn't.
"Hey! I can't fly! What gives?" a frustrated Butch asked.
"Give it up. He absorbed your energy, so you can't do all those stuff," Buttercup said. "Just like he did to us."
"Damn! That bastard!" Boomer can only say.
Butch could only grit his teeth in extreme frustration as he made a very hard punch against the ground. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
"What? You told me that we're gonna be strong enough to beat him. Now it's like before!" an extremely furious Brick said to Blossom. "You lied. I demand you apologize!"
"I don't understand. I know that we could have—"
Suddenly, Alpha grabbed both of them, but he didn't absorb their energy—yet.
Surprised, both leaders tried to pry themselves off Alpha, but failed. Alpha has by this time the combined powers of himself, Boomer, Bubbles, Butch and Buttercup, magnified by Ckracknow's machine.
"Blossom didn't lie, you know. Buttercup, Bubbles, and all of you were pretty much close to my power level after you used that device," Alpha said. "Let me explain. I had one power that I never have used before, and no one else save Master Ckracknow knew about it. That is the ability to absorb energy by touch. Yes, before, I have been strong enough to be able not to use it. I yearned to use it, but was forbidden by my master, saying it's too dangerous. Now he is dead, and I can break free of his restriction. Now, why didn't I use it at the beginning of the fight? Well, I made a gamble. I knew you would figure out one way or another the device that increased my strength exponentially, so I decided to let you use it first so that I would absorb much more energy than if I used my power before you used it. And then I waited until you and the boys left to upgrade so you wouldn't be suspicious, then absorbed Buttercup's and Bubbles energy. Then, you returned, and I absorbed the energy of your brothers, Brick. Yup, I have just shown you my ultimate trump card!"
Blossom and Brick's face was white with shock as Alpha began absorbing the energy of the two. The teenager was himself laughing hysterically as he felt power surge through his body.