Chapter 106: Sibling Rivalry

'Dad… Mom… Blossom. Bubbles. Mister Blake, Miss Alice, Mister Simmons, Mister Vanum… Thanks for celebrating my birthday. I was feeling really down that day. I can't tell you about it but… I killed a policewoman. She just came up behind me and… I wasn't supposed to be seen. She seemed nice, too. She looked like Mom. She didn't even try to attack me when I flew up to her and cut her throat with my knife. Her name was Clarissa Adams. Poor Clarissa Adams - I'm so sorry (cries)

There's- there's one other thing. It's getting worse. I haven't said anything about it before, not even with Mister Sound Recorder here because I've been getting hurt bad... But… There's something wrong with me. I think I'm sick. I kept sneezing up blood or coughing up blood even though I wasn't hurt. I'm scared… I just hope it's like one of those flus you talked about getting when you were young. Maybe I'll be fine in a few days. I just feel… tired sometimes.

I wish Buttercup would be nice to me. Please be nice to her too, Dad. Maybe she's just like me? Maybe she's keeping some secrets she's forced to keep? Sometimes, I'd feel angry or really upset that I can't talk to anyone about these secrets. Maybe Buttercup's the same way? Just that I kept my anger down and Buttercup kept having accidents with her anger…

Sometimes I wish you'd know everything about my sound diary without hearing them. Would General Blackwater consider it 'leaking top-secret information' that way? I feel so alone like this…' - Bunny Utonium, 03/08/89, 0114. Sound Record File 14.

Addendum: B-50 went on to make up for previous days by making more sound recordings. Below is a list of subsequent sound files made in the early morning of 08 MAR (Wednesday) 1989.

Sound Record File 15: The content concerns mainly B-50's mission to arrest Police Chief Feig and how it went awry. She would go on to elaborate on both physical and mental trauma sustained, including a dream she had soon after the failed mission. She talked about feelings of disappointment at herself and having disappointed General Blackwater and Chief Intelligence Officer Rook, despite the two mentioned senior officers expressing no such thoughts to her. Some time was dedicated to her encounter with Director Cliff, and the further trauma she suffered, as well as General Blackwater and Corporal Nana's attempts to help her overcome them.

Sound Record File 16: She talks about her encounter with the enhanced being known as Lumpkins, and again, her disappointment with herself as well as grief that she could not put down the creature and thus end the threat it poses to her family.

The City of Townsville. Pokey Oaks North. Pokey Oaks Kindergarten.

08 MAR (Wednesday) 1989. 1021.

"Mac, stop!" Bunny pleaded with her classmate as she pushed him away with no small amount of force. He had been harrying her for some time ever since he'd seen the gear she had been packing. Undeterred, Mac reached for the katana on her back again, only to be pushed away. "Stop!"

Mac, however, wasn't discouraged. He continued making advances, laughing idiotically, as Bunny kept him back.

Blossom knew exactly what to do. She had been Mac's target for 'wargear molestation' until only recently when Bunny came in with something cooler in his eyes. After all, what's an MP5 submachine gun or a flashbang grenade compared to a real Japanese sword?

"Miss Keane! Mac's at it again!" Blossom called out to her teacher. Miss Keane slammed her book down on her desk, frustrated at Mac's repeated offenses.

"He's trying to pull my sword out!" Bunny complained.

"Mac! How many times must I say it?" Miss Keane scolded, wagging a finger at him. "Stop touching things that don't belong to you! Especially when it's a sword scavenged from a defeated enemy!" This time around, however, Miss Keane was confused by her own statement, by the ambiguous morality of it all. She had heard from Bunny's show and tell where she had gotten the sword from, and she had repeated things from it. Regardless, she pulled Mac towards the corner-time corner before he could object to it, or poke holes in the logic of her statement. It didn't take a rocket scientist to notice something wrong with what she had said, nor did it take much education to do so.

It had been frustrating for Miss Keane as of late, how the realities of a crime-ridden city seem to be seeping into her classroom more and more. It was making her job so much more difficult, and the double pay was starting to look less and less appealing, even if it did help her with her rent… and car maintenance… and cable TV money… and cat food… Well, her role as a care-giving, children-loving teacher mattered more.

The incident, on the other hand, had reminded Blossom of how insignificant she had become. It was show-and-tell day, but the moment her classmates saw Bunny's red-handled katana, they lost all interest in the stickman-robot she'd made with popsicle sticks and thumbtacks. When it was Bunny's turn for show-and-tell, Bunny had broken away with the program entirely and submitted to the demands of the class by talking about her sword! It was totally unfair! Blossom, Bubbles, and Bunny had planned their show-and-tell as an item, with Bubbles' self-made doll with moving parts and Bunny's mechanical guardian complementing her stickman-robot (though all of them were almost the same thing).

When the colorful face of the Powerpuff hotline started ringing again, it felt like comfort to Blossom. Seizing this opportunity to be important again, Blossom raced for the clown phone while Bunny was still reeling from Mac's wargear molestation. Picking up the phone possessively, she screamed into the receiver urgently, excited when she won the 'race': "Hello!? Mister Blake, is that you!?"

Blossom and Bubbles had a blast last night talking to Blake and his squad. He had so many stories to tell about his adventures while patrolling the outskirts of Townsville. In a way, Blake had given Blossom the paternal attention she was being starved of by Bunny's entry into the family, and she only wanted more of him… more of Dad, even if it had to be through a substitute.

"No," the voice on the other end of the clown phone said curtly, emotionlessly.

"Oh... Who-" Blossom was about to ask, but the man on the other end had read her mind.

"Chief of Intelligence Rook. Shouldn't Bunny be on the phone?" the man questioned the Powerpuff leader, reminding Blossom, like everyone else, of her waning influence and importance.

"Anyway, doesn't matter. I have something here that requires all four of you to pitch in- three of you, I mean, since you've indirectly caused Buttercup's incapacitation," Rook explained, never failing to put her down like General Blackwater. "The TPD has issued a warrant for the arrest of one of the most dangerous gangs of Townsville, besides the Lombardi. Police Chief Feig wants to brief you three himself. Fly to his office at Precinct 77. Pass the phone to Bunny."

Blossom did as she was told, and handed the phone over to her youngest sister.

"Hello?" Bunny greeted the man on the line.

"Bunny. You'll be encountering Feig today. Do not engage him. I repeat, do not engage him," Rook instructed her. "We have no proof that he's working for the bad guys yet. You'll work with him as an ally - we'll deal with him next time. Pass the phone back to Blossom."

Bunny returned the phone back to Blossom, who put it up to her ear.

"Bravo-four-seven. Bunny will be assisting you due to Bravo-four-eight's unavailability. Take good care of her. She's more valuable as an asset compared to you. If there's nothing else, I'm signing off. Get a move on and do your job."

It was only when Blossom was done with the phone call that she noticed that Bunny was standing beside her. Blossom couldn't hold back the frown on her face any longer. For a moment, they stood where they were, silent, as if in a standoff.

"Aren't you going to ask what that was about?" Blossom asked, at the same time trying to keep herself from blowing up once again - she knew she couldn't, and shouldn't, do it - not in front of Miss Keane and her classmates, not when she was slipping in popularity with them while Bunny had overtaken her as the star of the class.

"I don't need to. I heard everything," Bunny said, only to piss Blossom off even more, and it showed big time. Bunny had enhanced hearing, a fact that Blossom knew - and it was a fact that only served to anger her more, as Dad did not fail to boast and gush about how Bunny was gaining the ability of all three of her elder sisters, and more. He'd done that in front of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, and he had done it yesterday at Bunny's birthday party. It was a fact that reminded Blossom of her apparent inferiority. "Are you mad at me?"

"N-no…! Not at all…!" Blossom struggled to speak, her voice shaking, a half-roar that was a confusion between restraint and anger. Taking in a deep breath, she called for the team to fly off once again in service of Townsville.

The City of Townsville. Outskirts, North. En route to Precinct 77.

08 MAR (Wednesday) 1989. 1043.

"Isn't this great!?" Bubbles cheered as the unprecedented team line-up was flying towards the Precinct 77. "It's the first time we're going to fight crime with Bunny!"

"Sure it is…" Blossom agreed unwillingly as she led her fractured team towards the meeting with Police Chief Feig. She didn't want to call her team the Powerpuff Girls today. As far as she was concerned, one of them wasn't a Powerpuff Girl, and would never be, not with the way she had been humiliating her despite all the kindness she'd been showing her.

"Am I a Powerpuff Girl now!?" Bunny exclaimed with joy at finally being able to fight crime next to her sisters.

"Of course you are," Bubbles proclaimed-

"No, she's not!" Blossom yelled in anger, stopping dead in her tracks, and Bubbles stopped simultaneously by virtue of her Sister Sense. Bunny had a delayed response, and had to turn around to rejoin Blossom and Bubbles.

"But, why?" Bubbles asked, which had only served to boil the rising rage in Blossom even further. Bubbles seemed to be sticking up for Bunny more than her lately, which was something she thought was unacceptable.

"Because I said so! I'm the leader!" Blossom finally exploded, showing her provisional lieutenant patch to both sisters. "And she's not a Powerpuff Girl!" She'd said that while pointing an accusing finger at Bunny as if she was some enemy in disguise. And when she was done, she flew off towards the precinct, only to stop when she sensed that Bubbles and Bunny weren't following. Looking at them, she could see the shock in Bunny's face and… Was that disgust on Bubbles' face?

"Are the two of you coming or something!?" Blossom shouted at both of them. Bunny and Bubbles exchanged looks, and now Bunny was upset. Bubbles patted her on the back when she saw how miserable she looked.

"There, there, Bunny," Bubbles comforted the youngest of the quartet. "I'm sure Blossom will start calling you a Powerpuff Girl after you show her how good you are at fighting crime!'

Bunny smiled, and Bubbles smiled back. Together, they followed Blossom. It wasn't long before they started descending down to the helipad on the roof of Precinct 77, as per standard operating procedures.

The City of Townsville. Outskirts, North. Precinct 77.

08 MAR (Wednesday) 1989. 1051.

As the Girls proceeded downstairs from the roof of Precinct 77, towards Police Chief Feig's office, they could hear all sorts of commotions - phones ringing, people screaming bloody murder or threats of additional charges, footsteps and running all over the place. It was a busy day at the office, and Precinct 77 was larger than most other police precincts on the outskirts. Blossom was silent as she led her same-aged and younger sisters. All Bubbles and Bunny could do were exchange stares, but Bunny was especially uncomfortable, especially considering what happened the last time she was in a police station.

People stared at them all the time. It was near impossible for a normal human being to get used to a Powerpuff Girl as being in the presence of one was still akin to winning a lottery ticket. This was all the more true for Bunny, who was an entirely new story in Townsville.

Before long, Blossom was knocking on the frosted glass door of 'Police Chief Paul Feig' (as it was printed on the door).

"Come in, come in," the police chief called out to them. Blossom opened the door, and the three of them entered.

Feig was on the phone, growling some orders into it. Upon noticing that the Girls were in, he muttered a quick 'call you later' before slamming the phone down. When he noticed Bunny though, he froze, appearing as though he'd seen a ghost.

Bunny locked eyes with Feig, aware that this was the man who'd been sending her sisters into what were essentially perilous war zones time and time again. She would have sliced him in half with ocular beam or samurai blade had there been no doubt that he was truly corrupt and working for the Lombardi dons. As it was, for now, there was no proof of that - the face-dancer might have just used his image to lure her in for an ambush, and might not be working with Feig after all.

All Bunny knew was that she couldn't attack Feig since she was ordered not to.

"Blossom, Bubbles… Who is this?" Feig asked, appearing more stoic than usual. He tended to be a bit more… passionate about his role whenever he had to talk in person.

"She's Bunny, Mister Feig. She's our youngest sister," Bubbles introduced Bunny, walking over to her to put an arm around her playfully. Blossom, on the other hand, froze - she felt like she was losing control. Now, everyone was acting without taking her into consideration, as though she was invisible.

"That makes sense, I guess," Feig made something up on the fly, before turning to Bunny. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat, seemingly in a hurry to get rid of it. "You're famous on the news, missy. Congratulations. But fame won't help you in the nitty-gritty world of law enforcement, especially with the mandate we've been handed today, and today isn't like any other…" Feig was all fancy words today, all the Girls noticed, though only Bunny found it suspicious. Big words tend to have lots of meaning, some hidden inside words, some hidden by words.

"What kind of bad guys are we visiting, Mister Feig?" Blossom asserted herself. She didn't like Feig terribly much, but she found satisfaction when he turned to her.

"The worst of the worst, the most dangerous gang, right up there next to the Lombardi - just that they are far more destructive than the Lombardi Crime Family, of course," Feig explained, still revealing nothing about the gang as if he was some storyteller trying to build suspense. With Blossom and Bubbles, it was working. "They're the Russian Mob, and they've been smuggling all sorts of military-grade weapons in and out of Townsville. More than half the guns pointed at you belongs to them, or had once belonged to them. Whatever weapons you can think of, they have it. Break them up, and you'll liberate half of Townsville and certainly earn your mayoral surprise!"

"You know about Mister Mayor's big surprise?" Bubbles asked, squealing with excitement. Mayor Wilford's surprise! It was hard for her to believe that it had inched so close - it felt like a lifetime ago that the mayor had tipped them off about it back in early February.

"Why, of course," Feig said, with a smile that, again, Bunny found suspicious. "I am an important man, after all. It would be unbecoming of me to let that slip under my radar…"

The briefing would later move on to some of the more boring but routine exchange of details. Feig would give them the address of the (formerly) secret location of the Russian Mob's leadership meeting, followed by directions, 'just in case' they got lost, as well as how the police would assist them - or wouldn't. Same as it always was under Feig's leadership, the police units attending to this mission would only be there to clean up after the raid was over - one of many other things Bunny found suspicious…

The City of Townsville. Warehouse District. En route to Sander & Son's Imports.

08 MAR (Wednesday) 1989. 1114.

Something had been bothering Bunny ever since her meeting with Police Chief Feig, and it wasn't the late winter wind that was always threatening to throw her off-course. It wasn't even her suspicions of Feig that was ringing alarm bells. In fact, Bunny had no reason to distrust Feig's claim that the Russian Mob was highly dangerous. If it was all a game, Feig would have lied about the Russian Mob's strength to get them to drop their guard.

It took her some time, but she eventually understood why she was on her guard. It wasn't just Feig. She was supposed to be protecting Blossom and Bubbles, and now they were heading towards a potentially life-threatening mission. Feig mentioned that the Russian Mob had every kind of weapon at their disposal. Did that mean that they had Duranium firearms as well?

"Blossom!" Bunny called out to her leader sister, fighting against the wind for dominance over the soundscape. "Blossom, stop!"

"What!?" Blossom yelled over her shoulder, but she wasn't stopping. Working up some courage, Bunny grabbed her by the flightpack and shoulder and pulled her back. Blossom was forced to stop and hover least she risked spinning out of control. Bubbles shot forward, noticing this a little late, and had to wheel around to hover next to them. "What do you want, Bunny!?"

"It's… It's going to be really scary and dangerous!" Bunny tried to explain. Without being given time to think, it was the best she could manage.

"Of course it is!" Blossom said, still looking really mad. In fact, her anger didn't look like it had dissipated even a little bit. "That's how it is every time we fight crime!"

"But you've always come back hurt and- and-" Bunny argued, but she was at a loss for words. Blossom was being aggressive, and it scared her a little. "Your ear was bleeding yesterday, and you were hurt really bad before that! What if you can't win this time?"

"Oh, is that what you think?" Blossom folded her arms while she hovered, offended by what Bunny said. "You think I'm not good enough!?" She hovered closer to Bunny, who had to take her all not to back away.

"Blossom, Bunny cares about you…" Bubbles tried to intervene and had actually come between them, only to be pushed away by Blossom.

"I've been fighting crime for months before you were even born and you've only been doing it for a week!" Blossom yelled and stuck a finger into Bunny's Kevlar shoulder. "I know everything and you know nothing!"

"General Blackwater said you should listen to me…" Bunny said. "And- and-"

"And what?" Blossom interjected.

"It's too dangerous, Blossom. Let me fight alone - you won't have to do anything and I won't tell Feig or General Blackwater," Bunny pleaded with Blossom. Again, it took all her courage to negotiate with her, because she knew that Blossom wasn't in the mood to talk. "Please?"

At this point, Bubbles had given up on trying to be the intercessor. She didn't know who to support this time. Bunny shouldn't be going in alone, but at the same time, Bunny wasn't wrong either. Everything she said was true, and what she said made sense.

"No, no, no!" Blossom yelled at Bunny - she's had it with her. Without saying another word, she resumed her flight towards the Russian Mob's hideout, but Bunny surged forward and seized her by the arm. She flew backward, braking Blossom forcibly in effect.

"Let go of me, stupid!" Blossom screamed at her.

"Blossom, please! It's too dangerous for you!" Bunny insisted.

"I said let go of me!" Blossom repeated herself before tearing herself free from Bunny's grasp.

"I don't need your protection! Argh! I don't need you at all! Why don't you go back home! You're useless! Go on, go cry home to Daddy! You're a waste of time! Sometimes I just wish you're DEAD!" Blossom shrieked madly, a picture of near-insanity.

"Bloss! You don't mean that!" Bubbles cried. What Blossom said to Bunny made Bubbles cringe. She remembered being on the wrong end of Blossom's rage once, and history was repeating itself again.

Bunny was downcast, and Blossom's mean words had cut really deep, deeper than even Mojo Jojo's Agony Bolt. She was just trying to protect Blossom. She liked her, despite the friction in their sisterly relationship. She had been kind before, and Bunny wanted to repay that kindness. But now, Blossom's 'dark side' had shown itself once again.

For a moment, she felt like obeying Blossom's wishes, no matter how irrational it was. But it didn't feel right. She had seen how badly mangled Blossom could be whenever she fought crime, and those were just the small fries! What would happen to Blossom, and Bubbles, should they engage the Russian Mob on their own and without Buttercup, Bunny didn't dare imagine. Buttercup seemed like a prelude of what was to come. Blossom, while in a better mood yesterday, had told her all about the Black Brothers, and they didn't seem all that tough. The Russian Mob was second only to the Lombardi, or so Police Chief Feig claimed - if the Black Brothers could take down the toughest of The Three, what would the Russian Mob do to her sisters during a firefight? Or worst, if they gained the upper hand and even beat them?

"Well!? Are you going home yet!?" Blossom screamed at Bunny some more.

But Bunny had made up her mind.

"No, I'm not going home… You are!" she declared, before heating her eyes up quickly and firing a pair of infrared beams at Blossom.

The effect was instant. Blossom had fainted on the spot as smoke rose from her kevlar vest. Losing control immediately, she started falling head-first. Bubbles stared at Bunny in disbelief, unable to understand what just happened.

"Bubbles, please catch Blossom before she hits the ground," Bunny said to her kinder sister. She knew what she must do now. Where there was misery from Blossom's outburst, Bunny had become serene and calm. "I'm going to fight the bad guys now."

With that, she flew off. Bubbles continued to stare after her, before flying down at maximum speed to try to catch Blossom before she hit the ground, as Bunny advised her to do so.