Mirror Match
It was rather cloudy day, and quite chilly compared to yesterday. Unpredictable spring weather was the only thing she didn't like about the season. Blossom was up in the air, still as a statue as she listened out for anything peculiar, on edge ever since last night. The attack the enemy was brewing could be today, a week from now, possibly even later in the year. It was tough to just sit and wait until something happened, seeing as she told her sisters as well, the whole mood in the house has shifted, even with her dear father. He was working hard to try and get as many clues as possible from what Blossom and her sisters have been gathering.
The tube Blossom found was a container for X, her fear was being realized as they were using dead-drops around the city for the agent that could cause a lot of destruction. It wasn't that she ignored that fact, it was just a fact that she didn't want to be real, her jaw flexed in frustration. Bubbles when she was out in the wilds saw a horrible sight, a pack of deer were laying dead in the fields. However, it wasn't the hunters that she would've simply chastised and sent them on their way, the deer were emaciated, like they died of starvation. The deer had no iris, a cracked mouth, and skin lesions all over, it was like watching a horror movie. When Blossom and Buttercup went to see what happened, it wasn't any hunter tactic that she knew of where they fed them poison, surely it would spoil the meat.
Buttercups' find was probably the most bizarre, if not a nightmare incarnate. When she was near the docks and the warehousing, some fisherman flagged her down. Showing her a fish that had pustules all over it, an extra eye, and this ink like substance that was shimmering all over the creature. But when Buttercup, when she held the fish, it started gurgling and jumping at her, she was incredibly disgusted by it, but both her and Bubbles managed to bring back both animals to the professor. He had a busy day ahead of him, but he looked eager for science to begin, at least he was having fun, while the rest of them were worried sick about what would happen.
Like everyone else, she wanted to know who exactly was behind all of these tests, and they were getting closer however slow they were crawling. Aside from the deer, Bubbles got a tip from an anonymous tip from a source she's been communicating with. The hunters out in the wild were given experimental ammunition and arrows in place of their own, although they were completely unaware about it, so she couldn't fault them too much. Bubbles managed to get someone to extract a bullet from a rabbit, small caliber still stuck in the carcass, it turns out it was pure chemical x lodged in these animals. It made sense seeing as most of these animals didn't die right away, and went into a feral state after it was all lodged in their center mass.
Buttercup had reports of the fish as well as people getting sick, violently ill, from ingesting food that had some sort of something. Just enough to think it was undercooked, but what she reported didn't add up. It was the standard symptoms of food poisoning or salmonella, fever, stomach pain, the works, but there was another symptom that didn't make any sense. Boils would appear over major arteries, looking like something out of the body horror book, once they were popped, they would immediately come back and fill. Like some strange rapid healing factor but in a twisted way, Blossom was glad she didn't have to see that in person. The way Buttercup described it, she doesn't think she'll be able to sleep if she saw it with her own eyes.
With a long sigh, Blossom would glide across the sky listening for anything unusual, glancing around the city, it was like it was changing and there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing any of them could do could help this city until they know what the reason is behind it, or who's pulling the strings. With John helping her get some information, she feels as if they might go from a crawl to a walk soon, seeing as no criminal on earth would want to help out of the goodness of their hearts. Blossom bit her lip, wondering what the favor is that he's got to do, and if he'll even make it out alive. Blossom grabbed her phone and sent him a text, asking him if he's still okay. The message was read immediately, and as the text bubbles would pop up, it disappeared.
Another rule she's violating, she just doesn't want him to get hurt and postpone their plans. Going to put her phone away she looked to see a text show up, a puppy in the passenger seat, the dog had the biggest grin on his face despite now knowing where he was 'need a name' he said. Blossom smiled, shaking her head at the sight of it, surely this wasn't the favor he needed to do? Blossom asked for the gender. It was a boy, and he sent some very odd names for the puppy, slaughterhouse, killer, bloodbeast, she couldn't help but laugh. Blossom responded with Miles, giving the reason that he found him on the road, after a few moments he agreed on Miles the slayer of Man, but Miles for short.
Blossom then gave him an earful about texting and driving, and to keep Miles safe from anything that might harm him. John replied with something whining about her caring about the dog's safety more than his, which earned another smile. Blossom told him to just keep his eyes on the road and drive safe, closing the phone out and she tucked it away, not being able to stop smiling. Maybe John wasn't as evil as she first thought, going on autopilot as she would gently fly through the air, she refocused on her mission. Stopping when she heard a sound barrier break, thinking it was a jet going through Townsville, she looked around to see the man-made marvel.
But as the whistle got close, she realized it wasn't a jet, and she turned to see someone hurtling at her at mach speed. Blossom took the hit hard despite her trying to protect herself, going down and down into the pavement and causing a rut. Readjusting herself, she got a good look at her attacker. Blossom flexed her hands, waiting for the smoke to clear, a laser would hurl right at her, but with a simple backhand it went skyward. She didn't say anything, only listened to what would be coming her way, more lasers, more deflects, and when her back was turned the enemy thought they had the upper hand. Blossom was quick, and matched her attacker's strength, in fact it was quite easy to hold, and when the impact cleared the smoke, her eyes went wide in shock.
Looking back at Blossom was, herself, every inch was like a mirror filled with wild abandon. The doppelganger grinned, using Blossom's shock to her advantage, giving a swift kick to the gut and sending her skywards. Blossom recovered, dodging her strike and sending her own haymaker forward, the doppelganger went flying, reeling from the punch but she stood proud against Blossom "who… who are you?"
"I'm you, silly girl" the woman laughed, and Blossom got a good look at her finally. The woman was about her size, save a few bits of extra muscle, her hair was unkempt and wild with what looked like string holding the hair out of her face, but even then, it looked like she didn't care. Her suit was as red as the blood in her veins, form fitting, very unlike what the powerpuff girls wear when out and about, what threw her off was the vertical mark on her chest, what did it mean? Was she a part of a group? Looking around, it seemed that Bubbles and Buttercup were also engaged with themselves. Streaks of green and blue were off in the distance as they clashed with one another.
What threw her off was the deep red surrounding her pupils, her eyes were wild and crazed, with a twitch underneath her eyelid, she moved towards Blossom while she was stunned again. This time though, Blossom was ready, countering the doppelganger's punch with a knee to the gut, and following up with an uppercut. Blossom would play pinball with this woman, it was an incredibly one-sided fight, seeing as all the pent-up problems that were brewing over the last week, she finally had an outlet for. With one final kick to the stomach, the doppelganger was sent earthbound into the central park, where Mojo's lair used to be in the volcano. The doppelganger hit it hard, Blossom floated down and was prepared for anything "yield, now" the woman couldn't help but laugh "not on your life runt… this ain't over."
Blossom gave a quizzical look, watching the beaten woman bite into something, Blossom went forward to try and save her, but it was too late. With a groan and blood curdling cry, her skin started to boil and melt like cheese over a hot plate, she looked on in sheer horror. The skeleton inside started to reveal itself, and then turned to ash and blew away in the wind. The puddle of skin that her doppelganger was reduced to turned black, then it would turn to vapor, acting as if she never existed in the first place, slowly Blossom approached the scene, looking for anything remaining of the woman. Blinking finally, she couldn't believe what just happened, and naturally, once this was all done, the police and the news outlets came right up to her without warning.
Flashing lights, crowd control, and a reporter for channel three news was the first on the scene. Blossom put on her public face, and created her news persona, no nonsense and answering the questions as honestly as she could. "We're here in Townsville central park with the commander and the leader of the Powerpuff girls Blossom Utonium. From everyone's perspective, it looked like she was fighting herself, Blossom, any idea what happened?" With the mic shoved in her face she gathered her thoughts "I was out on patrol when this lookalike came from thin air. I don't know who she was or where she came from, but she certainly couldn't match me or my sisters with how she operated."
"Did she say she was you when you were dealing with her? I mean, there's no denying that you looked like you were fighting a mirror!"
"She did, before I could question her any further, she bit into something. And she was gone, vanished into thin air." The camera panned over to the crater where the doppelganger was bashed into, nothing but debris remained. "Quite the episode today, do you think they were behind the attack on the medical center earlier this week?"
"It's entirely possible, and we're not ruling any suspects out. Rest easy Townsville, the powerpuff girls and your local law enforcement are on the case to figure out who's responsible. They'll answer to the scales of justice."
"Inspiring words Blossom, thank you for keeping us safe. Well Townsville, it looks like-" the reporter returned to his job, Blossom then turned back to the crater.
Kneeling down there was no trace of anything, save for a single hair she seemed to find, another clue. She would take out her phone and put the hair behind the case to keep it safe, going up to the police and telling them what happened, who was involved, she heard the sirens in the background. Townsville's taken a slight hit, and it shows, but the scars will be stitched and the wounds patched up, no one was ever out of a job here in Townsville's public service. As she wrapped up her report and thanked the officer, Blossom waved goodbye to everyone and shot up right into the sky, her sisters seemed to have the right idea. They all greeted each other in the clouds, away from prying eyes.
"What the fuck dude!?" Buttercup started "I mean, she looked exactly like me! Hit like a freight train half the time!" Though, she was no worse for wear. A scratch here and there but none the worse for wear then Bubbles or Blossom "mine was… really mean, she kept on making fun of me and you guys and-and this guy I met and dad and… and." Bubbles was teary eyed as she was immediately comforted by her sisters, it seems they were all shaken up a bit "my… doppelganger I guess, she was crazy, couldn't stop twitching and just throwing attacks out with no rules whatsoever." Seems she got the lesser one out of the three, but still, this threat was real, wild, and threw them all for a loop.
"Why'd they look like us?" Bubbles asked, drying her tears "do you think someone made them like dad made us?"
"I wouldn't be surprised… did they bite something, and melt for you guys?" Blossom asked, both of them nodded. "Nothin' left, stupid bitch, she said that it wasn't over. But it looked pretty over to me."
"I don't get it" Blossom said, pacing back and forth in the air "first the bombs, then the animals and the cabin and the fish, and now this? What the heck's going on?"
"Someone's either trying to get rid of us or take over Townsville, it's simple ain't it?" Buttercup asked, wringing her hair free of salt water "but… but why Townsville, what's so important about here?" Bubbles asked. Blossom stopped and look to her sister "you're right… this place is just like every other city save for us, so… I see"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Buttercup asked, Blossom gave her the look, this foul language business needed to stop. Bubbles would pick the leaves and twigs out of her hair. "I mean, what's Townsville have that every other place doesn't?"
"Free healthcare?" Bubbles asked, Blossom sighed "no, they have us, Townsville is important because we're here. This place may have taken a beating more times than it deserved to, but who was here to rebuild and stop everything?" Buttercup didn't quite get it, Blossom went to answer, but Bubbles did for her. "She means that, if we're out of the way, no one can stop whoever's behind this from taking over Townsville."
"And if they get rid of us, and Townsville follows? Nothing's stopping them from taking over the world." Blossom tacked on "so, essentially we're the only people that can both stop them, and what they're after. I'd imagine that the girls we fought were designed to replace us."
"Well they did a shit job at it" they all agreed that the fight was relatively easy compared to past encounters. Blossom then whipped around, wide eyed as the light bulb went off over her head "it was a test."
"What?" her sisters looked at her like she was going crazy, by all rights she would be with how she said it. "Think about it, what did they have on their chest, right here?" Blossom pointed to the general vicinity, they both looked down, then back at her "it was like a tally mark, one I think?" Bubbles said, Blossom nodded "bingo, that was phase one, they were a test."
"I still don't get it, a test for what?" Buttercup was getting irritated, feeling as if she was out of some sort of loop between the two "a test for whoever made them, or whatever made them." Blossom told her "They were like… the beta version of that game you play all the time. The mechanics are there, it's just that they were way too buggy to do anything, or, in this case, strong enough. They said they'd be back, and they're probably getting stronger now to get ready for round two." Blossom said, the thought of them coming back didn't sit well with any of them that much she was sure of. The next fight they have might be more of a struggle compared to the five to ten minutes it took to beat them down "well, whatever, we'll be more ready for it next time."
"We will, but we also need to think of something else if they come back a third time" Blossom sighed "we'll discuss that later though, I think it's time we took a bit of a break and went back out on patrol."
"Good idea, I'm starvin'" Buttercup yawned, Bubbles shook her head with a smile, she was fidgeting a bit seeing as this all made her very uneasy. Which was understandable considering what they just went through "we'll fill dad in on everything once we're home" Blossom said as she started taking off, her sisters agreed and off they went back to their sectors. Blossom would go down to the city skyline and perch herself on a building overlooking the destruction that was caused, everyone around was pitching in to help alleviate some of the destruction. She couldn't let them do it all alone seeing as it was partially her fault it got to this point, Blossom would greet everyone as she flew down and assist where needed.
The good of this city shined bright like the sun, it was an awesome sight to behold. She was glad to be a part of this community and serve such a wonderful public to be a part of, having conversations here and there, taking a few candid photos, it was all well and good to boost morale where needed. Blossom took care of the bigger debris such as the chunks of pavement, overturned cars, and everything needing two or more people to carry and get rid of. Once a majority of the broken city was gathered and taken care of, the rest was up to the city now, as she waved goodbye and left them to their devices, Blossom returned to the sky to give the rest of the city the attention it deserves.
She stayed in the park a bit as she looked at the crater that formed during her altercation later in the day. The rest of her patrol was uneventful, and as twilight was upon them, she just stayed on a park bench, looking at what she did, and thinking about the events of her day. Today was probably the biggest threat she's received since she was a child, fighting crime and evil almost every day, but now, reality decided to crash back down on her after her long vacation. She was a hero without a steady villain, and it had been far too long since someone challenged the girls to anything, and they were long overdue for a threat such as the one they faced, even if they weren't a threat to begin with. Blossom gave a long sigh, checking her phone for the millionth time. It was close to midnight now, and she hasn't stopped herself from thinking about what happened.
Coming out of nowhere, declaring that she was Blossom, but not Blossom at the same time with how she looked. Fighting like an animal, that twisted grin forever bored into her head along with the sights, smells and sounds of her quite literally melting down to a puddle. She sneered at recounting the memory that will stick with her for a while to come, after that would play over and over in her head for a while, she shook it out of her mind for now. Getting up off of the bench and dusting herself off, she went over to the crater, looking at it, wondering if it will ever get patched up, even if it doesn't, she'll do something to it herself if need be. One hand on the mountain, and a hearty pat, she felt bad that Mojo's once home was damaged, even if he was a pain most of the time, he was like family in some odd way.
As she turned to leave, she saw a familiar figure leaning up against a tree, John managed to sneak up on her again, with how slippery he was she got how he could do such a thing. Blossom would walk up to him, hands hooked in her jacket pockets "how'd it go?" she asked, John shrugged "what do you think?" John would open his hoodie pocket and take out Miles, presenting the puppy to her. Her mood immediately picked up as she went into a whiney voice, taking Miles and stuffing him in her arms, the curious pup wanting to explore his environment. In the dark however she didn't want to leave him "so glad I finally got to meet you!" Nuzzling the pup it pawed at her face, she couldn't contain her smile "you want him?"
"I can't, dad's allergic" she said, still coddling Miles of course "shame, I'll keep him then" Blossom nodded along "you know how to take care of a dog?"
"No, but google exists for a reason" he said, pushing himself off of the tree and looking at the mountain "heard what happened."
"You and the rest of this city" she commented, scratching miles behind the ear, she never stopped smiling "seems like everyone thinks there was some… glitch in some matrix. Everyone was seeing double."
"Myself included, was kinda hot if I'm being honest" Blossom shot him a glare, which made John laugh.
John would stand next to her, giving the tired pup a scratch on the top of his head with his index finger. "You guys figure out who they were? What were they doing?"
"They were trying to kill us, John, that much should've been obvious" Blossom spat "as for who they were? We didn't get a name but they'll be back."
"How? They melted from what I heard" Blossom shrugged "who knows? If they were made artificially, they can be made again, from whoever made them."
"Shit" John cursed, taking a long-winded sigh "well that complicates things if they can just show up."
"You're telling me, I just hope they stay gone when we beat them again" John nodded along as he dug into the ground with the toe of his boot "how'd the favor go John?"
"Went alright, point A to point B, found my little passenger buddy along with way"
"Do you know the breed?"
"Uh… dog?"
Blossom let out a scoff and a smile "that's a good breed from what I remember." They shared a bit of a chuckle together as John started walking towards the crater. Blossom followed suit, knowing she looked at it a dozen times when she either flew by it or walked by it. "Was this you in the hole? Or did you put her down here?"
"If you think I got hit hard enough for that to happen, I don't think you really know who I am." John chuckled to himself as he kicked some dirt into the hole "bet she felt that pretty good" Blossom shrugged, not wanting to recount what happened.
"So, with all this shit going on don't know if you want to know or not, but I got another tip" Blossom perked up at the sound of it. After all this she forgot the most important thing was finding a ruler behind these schemes "I got something to tell you too, but you go first." John would lean against the mountain "someone's going to be moving something again, going out of the city, Townsville to Citysville."
"Citysville? What on earth?" John merely shrugged "don't know what it could be but, contact said it was important. Needing an escort and everything, could be some pretty heavy stuff"
"Could be indeed" Miles barked, Blossom soothed the tiny beast "when is it?"
"Couple weeks is when they make the move, don't know where they'll start exactly. But we know where they'll be."
"Traveling in the daytime?" Blossom asked, John nodded "don't think they'll take you where you want if they see a flying pink girl in the sky." Blossom groaned, handing Miles back to John "fine, what do you suggest?"
"You ride with me, you… you have driven a car before, right?"
"As a class for high school, it didn't make much sense seeing as, well, I'm sure you know"
"Seeing as you can't drive in the first place?"
Blossom hit him gently in the arm, too hard and he would drop poor Miles, but still, it should've been enough to cause him some pain. Either way he still laughed it off "you're a strange man John."
"Why's that princess?" Blossom gave Miles a pat on the head, the puppy was tired "You sneak up on me, you know about my x-ray, you take a hit from me, albeit it wasn't very hard, but still." Blossom looked up to him, raising an eyebrow "who are you really?"
"Not this shit again princess, just when I was starting to like you" Blossom's mouth formed into a smile and her eyebrows shot all the way up "you like me huh?"
"Tolerate, I meant, don't read too much into it."
"Nope, I heard it, you like having me around, don't you?"
"Nah, nah don't take it like that. I also said starting to, pinky."
"Can't take it back now John" Blossom was the one with the last laugh now as she looked at John, who looked royally pissed about her teasing. "Now, now, don't think this is you winning one princess" John tutted, Blossom rolled her eyes "I'm just glad you were the one that admitted it first." She clamped her mouth shut, now it was John's turn for the harassment "first huh? So, you liked me before I liked you? Is that what I'm hearing?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant"
"Oh you must've had a crush down bad on me from day one huh?"
"Absolutely not, you are not crush-worthy, do you hear me?"
"All I'm hearing is that you liked me before I liked you." They went back and forth for a while before they started walking towards his truck, after that Blossom started floating in the air, their argument died down a bit. Blossom filled him in on what had happened prior to fighting the anti-powerpuff girls, whoever they were. "Plans for tomorrow?" She asked.
"Work, work, and more work" John said, putting the tired pup in the blanket on the seat, Blossom would give him one last goodbye scratch. "I'll see if I can't have someone look into what happened to those animals, someone owes me a freebie I just gotta figure out who." John closed the door gently and leaned on the side of it to look at Blossom "tell me honest, what was it like fighting someone that looked just like you?" Blossom moved to the hood of the truck and sat down, slowly shrugging as she tried to recount her feelings about everything. "I don't think… do, you remember the Rowdyruff boys at all?"
"Yeah I remember them, buncha dicks if you ask me… cool hair though." Blossom sucked her teeth. "Be that as it may, it was like looking at Brick again for the first time. Granted Brick didn't look like me, it was just the hair and the eyes. But she, whoever she was, it just… it made me freeze up. Like it was me from another timeline or, if I was created by someone else and, I don't know. A lot of things went through my head at once, and once I get them all sorted, I'll let you know. The big emotions though were fear, confusion, and… I think anger was one of them."
"You got angry?"
"She called herself, me, and I think that's what made me the angriest I've ever been" Blossom nodded to herself, trying to recall the times she did get madder than what she was. "Would've paid to see that, actually."
"What? Me getting mad? It wouldn't be the first time."
"Yeah but getting a front row seat to it is a different story, plus it's still kinda hot."
"You're so weird, especially now you said that you like me."
"Well now I can piss you off in another way, win-win for me" John laughed, Blossom gave him another famous eyeroll "so much regret." Blossom looked down at him as he checked his phone, it was past midnight now and she still wasn't home, however she felt bad for leaving him alone in the middle of the night. "Do… you mind if I ask you something personal?"
"Depends on what it is" John looked away from his phone and at Blossom "…shoot"
"Why did you do all of those things as a kid?"
John looked at her, up and down, from her bow to her sleek boots, he gave a hard sigh as he faced forward "I didn't have a lot of opportunities as a kid. Plus, dad was already in a pretty shady business and it just made sense for me to get into it. Didn't like school, couldn't read or write well, so, that was it."
"Where's your dad now?"
"He's dead" Blossom opened her mouth to say something "don't apologize, he was a dick, glad he's gone" John sighed "practically ruined my life."
"But you made something of yourself now, didn't you?" John shrugged "I guess, certainly better than beating the shit out of people that didn't pay anything."
"I think it's best not to tell me about the details of your criminal history"
"Would it make a difference now? Shit happened years ago"
"I would really also appreciate you not using such wonderful sentence enhancers."
"Oh get off your high horse princess, not like you never dropped an f-bomb before."
"I haven't, and I intend to keep that streak going." Blossom puffed out her chest in pride, only savages and her sister spoke like that, she detested such foul language "think it's my turn."
"Your turn for what?"
"A question," Blossom sighed as she crossed her legs up on the hood, "go ahead, within reason, of course." John took his time asking the question, Blossom would play with the zipper on her jacket while she waited. John then finally asked "Do you ever have any regrets?"
A deeper question then she expected, taking a deep breath she then looked over to him "a few."
"Like what?"
"That counts as two questions."
"It's a two-parter" Blossom smirked at the response, but her smile fell quickly. "The first one I had was not having a normal childhood. There's nothing I wouldn't do to play hopscotch as a kid without causing a crater to form or jump thousands of feet in the air. Or play tag without hurting anyone" Blossom picked at her fingernails "my dad gave me an option to extract the X out of my system and make me normal. It was when I was turning thirteen, I think, my powers were all over the place when puberty hit."
"Oh your periods must-"
"Not… another word" Blossom warned, John suppressed a snicker with a snort, she continued on. "That's when my powers were at their weakest. My body was changing and the X needed to adapt to it, my dad said after that I wouldn't get another chance again. I refused, I-I can't imagine giving this burden to someone else besides myself, I can't date, I can't go to campus, I can't do anything without my powers getting in the way." Blossom let her hands rest in the crevice formed by her legs "it might sound menial, but I haven't been normal ever, and it's certainly cliché but I don't think it's out of the question just for one day." Blossom looked at the sidewalk as she told her story, John nodded along with her, giving her a look of what looked like compassion "sounds rough princess."
"It was, for me at least, knowing that whatever guy I go out with is going to feel emasculated when I can bench more than him." Blossom chuckled bitterly at the thought of it "you date anyone ever?"
"There was one time, but he was a superfan and it got… it got really weird"
"Oh I bet he wanted your socks from a week ago huh?"
"Socks, clothes, I'm pretty sure he stole a bra from me too, locked him up immediately after that."
John's laughter filled the air, and while Blossom was a bit embarrassed, she ended up laughing along with him. In hindsight it was kind of a funny story despite how slightly traumatic it was at one time "stop laughing, it was so weird" she said through her own laughs. John eventually collected himself, wiping the tears from his eyes "oh man that's rich, fuckin' guy was weird weird, huh?"
"Weird cubed" Blossom said, they shared another laugh, Blossom then looked to him "my turn" John motioned for her to go. Blossom looked at the chips in the paint before glancing back at the man next to her "what's the best thing that's ever happened to you?" At first John had a blank look, then changed his expression as he really thought about it "finding work count?"
"Something else"
"Dad died?" Blossom shook her head "nope, something else."
"Shit princess that's a tough one" seems not a lot of good happened in his life, and it would take him a solid minute or two to find something. "There was this girl at one point, who played around a lot when we were kids, growing up under dad when I didn't have a mom. It was hard for me, and when we met at school one day we just hit it off. Figured out we lived in the same neighborhood and everything, me and her played around when we could, when dad wasn't demanding me to do stupid bullshit." Blossom tilted her head, John was being a bit vulnerable right now. "It was a good time, we hungout a lot too, it was probably the best time in my life before it went downhill" John hesitated "then when I was about thirteen, or fourteen? I think it was around the time pops kicked the bucket. I… I ran." Blossom looked at his body language, and it seemed that it still hurt him, "I thought I asked for something good," she teased. John gave a small smirk in response.
"It's good because I know she's still out there, somewhere, doing good things to help good people" John looked over to her, his smile grew just a tad seeing as his beard flexed some. Blossom smiled back at him "well, hopefully she recognizes you?"
"Doubt it, lost a lot of baby fat since then" John gave his stomach a hefty pat, Blossom snorted in response "is that satisfying?"
"I think it's okay for now, acceptable I should say" Blossom nodded, John gave a slight bow "glad I could be of service your highness."
"Your service is most gracious knight" John made a face "nah knights are stupid, barbarians though? Yeah, I'd fuck with some barbarians, they know how to party."
"I like knights, something about their society is commendable, outdated, but commendable."
"I ain't surprised you picked them anyway, princess" Blossom gave a bow herself, looking at him and then the horizon "oh darn, what time is it!?" she saw the sun starting to rise, checking her phone the time was closer to five then she thought "whoops" John said. "Better get back to your castle princess."
"And back to the stables with you" Blossom countered, John waved her off as she started to float away from the truck "are you going to be, okay? You stayed up nearly a day"
"Wouldn't be the first time, coffee and cigarettes help."
"And just like that I think I like you a little bit less" Blossom crossed her arms, watching John clutch his heart "oh no, whatever will I do" she rolled her eyes once again "take care of yourself John."
"I'll think about it" with that, John would peel off from the curb and off into the distance. Blossom would listen for a moment as the city would start to wake, people stirring out of their beds and getting ready for the day, while the birds beat them to the punch. While all that was happening, she couldn't believe that she spent the night talking to John of all people, the more time they spent together the more she realized that he might just be rough around the edges. Blossom would glide away from the park, with one last look at the crater that was formed, she was reminded of the day's events.
Despite everything happening to her though, it was still a good end to a relatively awful day. She got to see a puppy, and just unwind after fighting a mirror image of herself, which had the looks and the voice and the eyes of herself. Blossom shook her head, none of that mattered for now anyway, there was something else that needed her attention, but she couldn't do it until the enemy acted first. Her mind was racing on what John told her, what could it be they're moving? Why do it in Citysville? Why even bother doing anything in Townsville in the first place?
Blossom eventually got home as all was quiet in the morning, after she sat down on the bed and took her 'work' clothes off for the wash, she got a text. Another picture of Miles and his adorable face, she smiled at the sight 'he misses you, wouldn't stop pawing at the door.' She bit her lip through her smile, asking if it was Miles or him that missed her more, he quickly answered back that it was all Miles. They continued to text as Blossom laid in bed, one of the few times that exhaustion creeped up on her as she sent one final text to John, asking if he wanted to talk more about their lead tomorrow at lunch. It was the first time she felt so relaxed, maybe because it was daytime and for the longest time, whatever crime was done was done at night and solved the next day.
She didn't dream, but her mind was filled with everything that happened thus far, the only constant by her side were her sisters and John. Whoever he was, he seemed to have been at the right place at the right time on multiple occasions, seeing as they warmed up to each other rather quickly. She certainly didn't expect it that's for sure, and she's convinced he didn't expect it either. Expressing admiration for one another at one in the morning seemed to do the trick in cementing their companionship, she would look forward to working with him more whenever that may be. In two days' time, they'll be on the road tailing these chemical outlaws towards the neighboring town.
Blossom was glad she has such a reliable partner when her sisters are busy solving cases on their own, imagining if it was anyone else, it would be a horrible time.
PPG belongs to the soul devourer Cartoon Network & Craig McCracken