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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi is owned by Bleedman/SNAFU Comics.
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Chapter 8: Unfortunate Sons (2 of 2)
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This wasn't going to be simple.
Usually, I would keep away from big troublemakers, but this one… I just had the gut feeling I couldn't dodge this encounter. It had to happen as I knew that this individual was nothing to scoff at despite how powerful Blossom was.
She was already struggling with some sort of pseudo-PPG matching with her, so this one was… this guy I had to beat myself. While we were approaching each other, I couldn't help but feel this was going too even of a fight for me to win fairly. I had to outpace the guy somehow.
As soon as we were close enough, ｢Second Chance｣ went to rush, matched by the jerk's own Stand. Despite the different themes, it was clear that our stats were similar.
Punches were met with punches mid-air, with an explosion of 'ORAs' clashing with one of 'MUDAs'. The exchange was intense, air cracking with each fists matching, and while this status quo was clearly hurting each other's knuckles due to the mirror effect, it became clear my opponent was impatient.
In fact, it was a weakness I spotted during our earliest interaction. The blond boy was quick to anger and even quicker to get annoyed at people. So, I decided to use this little negative trait of his plus his reliance on his eyes to his disadvantage. My patience paid off as I saw one of his Stand's punches shifting in a strange pattern he defined with his gaze. ｢Second Chance｣ moved instinctively by pulling his frame to the left side, surprising our foe momentarily while giving us a better position on his current weak spot.
The enemy Stand's flank was exposed, and while it tried to turn and resume the engagement, surprise and pain flashed from the angelic humanoid's face as ｢Second Chance｣ managed to slip a punch through his panicked guard and slam against his ribs.
The blond's right hand was instantly to his hurting side, a furious grin on his face as he took a few steps away, creating more distance between us. There was still chaos going on, but
"You're quite clever, Arthur, and your Stand… it clearly matches mine in power but also more." The boy admitted flatly. "My name is Diego, by the way. Diego Brando."
"Sup."
His grin widened into a hideous one. "Oh, we are just going to continue our plan. After all, time is of essence."
Fishing stuff from his jacket's pockets, Diego revealed several daggers and soon he used his Stand to hurl them at an intense speed. I thought ｢Second Chance｣ would have been able to deflect those, but I saw a few actually dematerialize and materialize beyond my Stand.
I brought my arms up in time to block some daggers and I stopped them on my hands and arms. If I hadn't done that quickly enough, those would have gotten to my face and stabbed into my head.
I couldn't let him keep his distance and use more daggers. A quick thought gave me an idea on how to create a distraction and get closer to the jerk. ｢Second Chance｣ took a runner posture, hands on the ground, legs stretched and yet charging up as I prepared to follow suit as soon as he was ready for the mental input I gave him.
The Stand was grinning at the idea, leaving Diego confused on what we were up to but still defiant on countering whatever we had in store for him and his Stand.
"I hope you understand that you are not going to win, ARTHUR!"
More daggers were at ready, but as ｢Second Chance｣ started running and Diego prepared to rush the projectiles at us, he appeared surprised when ｢Second Chance｣ brought his hand forward together, slapping his palms and, with two compressed spinning bubbles of air and dust, projecting dark smoke forward.
Sight was soon deprived to Diego as he found himself stuck in the middle of that smoke, with his own Stand punching around out of instinct, but exposing itself to ｢Second Chance｣ as the demonic humanoid had ducked down and, carrying the momentum, proceeded to deliver another uppercut to Diego's Stand.
"ORA!"
The Stand vanished as Diego was sent flying upward several feet from the ground, a concussion delaying his reaction as his flight soon turned into a fall. That should have been enough to put him out of business for the occasion but-
The white-haired PPG-like girl that had been fighting Blossom had suddenly realized her buddy was in trouble and rushed to pick him mid-air.
"B-Bell."
"We should get moving," The girl hummed, getting a nod from the injured boy and flying with him down the large hole created by a worm monster summoned when Jenny was being used as a portal for these things.
The duo (or trio for the tiny bot hanging on Bell's back) soon rushed down, leaving me to approach the hole and-
"Artie," Blossom landed beside me and had a concerned look. "Your hands-"
"Superficial wounds," I hummed calmly, eyes aimed at the hole. "We need to keep up with them."
"Are you sure you can, you know…"
"I could hold it with that guy. If it hadn't been for that girl, I would have had him beat," I assured, giving me a smile. "What? Scared?"
"N-No, but… Fine!" She finally accepted that I wasn't going to back off, and she literally helped me down the hole by holding my hands and carefully lowering me to where it was leading to.
It took a while, but they got to a group of what looked to be men in black. Most were downed, having been attacked by a monster that had helped in breaching a large-looking door.
"Are you ok?" Blossom asked as we got to the one closest to the door after she blasted the monster unconscious.
He nodded, told us that it was 'paramount for mankind' that the intruders didn't get to their destination.
"Which is?" I asked bluntly and the guy gave me a dry look.
"The one thing they can use to end the world."
I blinked… trying to make sense as the stakes sure have gotten bigger than I could have expected.
"Neat."
"Here, use those glasses."
Cool Sunglasses aside, Blossom asked a good question. "Is it that bright inside?"
"It's not just for that. To enter the place you need to be 'Honorary Members'," He argued pridefully, leaving us frowning hard at that weird reference. "Just take them and get moving."
A shrug later, Blossom lifted me up and soon we were descending into a deeper area, glowing white and blue tubes making it difficult to get the chase going, but we could see Bell and Diego reaching the bottom area.
We were moments away from getting from them when another individual tried to 'tag along'. Brunette girl with quite the murderous look and robotic arm almost caught Blossom by the leg, but Buttercup got to her before she could surprise us.
"You got her?" The leader of the PPG asked and her sister nodded.
"I have her!" The tomboy announced strongly, leaving us back to chase after Bell, and we both got to the bottom of the base.
A large room with terminals and electronics welcomed us, with Bell helping Diego standing as we both approached, the tiny robot that had followed them carrying something looking like a bomb and walking up to one of the terminals with… enough space for that.
"You see it?" I asked and Blossom nodded.
"I got it, but you need to keep your foe busy."
It could be done, and I nodded at this as I walked up to Diego.
"Arthur, you almost got me, but there is no trick that can stop us now. Destiny is upon us all and you should just welcome it," The blond boy remarked and I snorted.
"You villains, always sprouting the weirdest crap you can think of. I will just stop this at once."
"I will not go down as easily as before, Arthur!" Diego angrily rebuked, and the clash that ensued was indeed one he didn't give me any luxury for quick-thinking.
Diego's Stand was relentless, forcing me to be brought into a lengthy stalemate that gave me the edge only as Blossom's gamble paid off. Focusing a powerful blast from her eyes, Blossom carefully brawled with Bell and then unleashed the beam onto the terminal's electric wires.
It temporarily deprived the entire building of electricity as a secondary terminal was activated in its emergency mode just before the tiny bot could have placed the bomb down.
For just a moment, Diego's attention was turned elsewhere, unsure on what was going on and failing to realize until it was too late that he was still fighting me. A punch got through and slammed onto his cheek, making him bleed from his nose.
"This is getting ridiculous," He growled. "I will show you my all!"
He started to teleport around me, forcing me to be on full alert as I reacted and blocked, but also countered where and when it was possible. Diego was throwing everything at me, and while I wasn't getting wrecked, he was getting more hits on me at the expense of his own integrity.
Minutes passed, Buttercup and the cyborg-girl she was fighting got involved but… Diego seemed to grow quite annoyed at what the girl, Samantha, was saying about Bell. Once again, the flash of anger I had already seen on his face soon found a target onto the brunette.
Blossom and Buttercup had taken a moment to talk, having previously switched their foes for a while before coming to a close call as they believed the sword Samantha had found would have harmed Blossom since she tried to cut her head.
The blade actually bounced off without harming the girl, leaving the cyborg enraged and saying some vicious thing to her allies. And it got under Diego's skin since it was clear he had a good bond with Bell.
"Would you shut up, you utter garbage of a mongrel?!" Anger swelling as he teleported in front of Samantha much to the cyborg's surprise, but instead of punching her, he brought a finger aimed at her and…
"No way," I mumbled, seeing air being harnessed into a sphere before being hurled at the confused girl. It slammed onto her chest, rupturing her mechanic heart.
"Y-You cheeky little Cl-Clone of a-BZZZTT!"
I jumped up in surprise, the action mimicked by the others as Samantha had stumbled backwards and onto the large gap in the main terminal's cable, connecting it as electricity came surging and activated the terminal again…
And the bomb too!
A large sphere of energy started to channel right above the terminal, growing bigger and more intense.
"N-No, we- we are going to die," Blossom muttered in shock, falling to her knees. "The bomb- it's growing bigger."
Something about those words baffled Diego. "Bomb? What are you talking about? That's not a bomb… right?"
Diego was met with silence, he even looked at me and I gave him a look he could recognize. He had been lied to, but he refused to accept this one just yet. In fact, he turned to his remaining ally.
"B-Bell, that's not a bomb, right?"
…
"BELL!?" Diego angrily called, but the girl clearly was unwilling to answer that, even going as far as flashing an embarrassed look. "H-How big?"
"It-It's going to destroy the planet," Blossom replied weakly. "We- We are dead."
That actually hit me big time. "W-Wait, the whole planet?! HOW?!"
Before any answer could be said, three individuals appeared.
"What… the… mister… ghost?" Bell hummed, looking at the strange-looking guy on a white military uniform.
"I'm not a ghost. Bell, I need you to…" The 'ghostly' figure started to say.
"Don't worry! Everything will be fine, just…" The angelic figure that I recognized being Dexter's dead sister appeared in front of Blossom and Buttercup.
"If you want the answer…" Grim appeared in front of the carcass of the cyborg, Diego and I.
"Follow me!"
At this point, leaving this place was a priority, and Diego and I were just a teensy bit reluctant as escaping the explosion was better but-
We couldn't move. We tried to move, but something didn't feel right. It wasn't as if something external was blocking us- our bodies were refusing to move as if out of fear.
Confusion turned into panic as Diego tried to teleport away but he was instead brought closer to me and further away from Grim.
"Artie-" The Grim Reaper spoke up, but a portal opened behind us.
"I am afraid these two… are mine to claim, [Death]."
Diego and I slowly turned to see what was calling for us, but what we got was being suddenly pulled into the wormhole, swallowed entirely and with no chance to fight back what was going on.
"W-WAIT! ARTIE!"
Yet Blossom's efforts to reach out for him were all in vain. The dark wormhole closed after swallowing the two boys, forcing her back and away from the fallout's source and into the strange portal that brought her out of the blast's area.
The explosion went off, a blinding light erupting and grasping the planet but the world seemingly survived. Nothing exploded, with everyone surviving the 'blast' but… something had happened.
But what pressed Blossom the most as she was taken to safety with Buttercup by who she recognized as the ghost of Dee-Dee with angelic wings was… where did Arthur go?
AN
That's a case of bad luck if you ask me.