The next day after giving his interview on TV, Ace woke up to the sounds of Sedusa getting dressed and ready to leave the house. She was wearing her normal "Justine" disguise, but had on a plain blue T-shirt and jeans instead of her normal suit, along with her hair (or rather, her wig) pulled up into a ponytail, and a pair of sunglasses.
"Where are you goin?" he asked groggily.
"I have a meeting," Sedusa told him, without taking her eyes off the mirror.
"A meetin? Who are you meetin?"
A smirk appeared on her face. "Why Mayor Copular, are you jealous?"
"I ain't jealous!" Ace's green complexion reddened. "I was just askin' a question."
Sedusa sighed. "Well, if you must know, I'm meeting with Ingleberry and a few lawyers," she said. "We're going to discuss what the best move will be to keep him in jail without making it obvious."
Ace frowned. "Youse never told me about that. What if I wanted to go?"
"Frankly, I didn't think you'd be interested," she turned around and shrugged. "You hate him, he hates you, and you'd probably just find the whole thing boring. Besides, if anyone saw Mayor Copular out and about with the Ingleberry's, it might raise some questions. Even I need to keep a low profile," she said, gesturing towards her outfit.
When Ace's expression soured further. Again, that awful feeling in his stomach returned.
"Why don't you call up that friend you mentioned?" Sedusa suggested. "Timmy or whatever."
"You mean Tommy?"
"Yeah, him," she said. "Go out and celebrate your big win from yesterday."
Ace thought this over. It had been a minute since he'd seen his old work buddy, and going out drinking with him sounded like a hell of a better time than spending it with Charles Ingleberry and some suit. And the less involved he was in this specific process, the better in his opinion.
"Alright, I'll give him a call," he said. "Just let me know if youse guys talk about anythin' important. I wanna stay informed."
"Of course," she said, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Before Ace could question it, she reached down and gave him a peck on the lips.
When Ace called Tommy and asked if he was free, he seemed hesitant at first, to Ace's surprise.
"You know man, I'd love to, but I gotta work tonight. I don't think drinking beforehand sounds like a good idea-"
Ace snorted. "Since when do you care about bein' sober for work?"
After a bit more back and forth, Ace finally convinced him to agree to pick him up and drive them over to Hottie Dottie's Tavern, one of the old dive bar they used to frequent.
When they got there, Ace took in the dark wood, fluorescent lights, and the musky smell of secondhand smoke that felt familiar and comforting. But he could help but feel slightly uneasy when he noticed how almost all the eyes in the room fell onto him, and most of them didn't look particularly thrilled.
"Ace," Barry, the owner of the bar said flatly. "Or should I call you Mayor Copular now?" He was in his sixties with closely cropped gray hair and a matching beard. Ace had known him for years, but right now he was looking at him as if he was a stranger.
"Oh come on, Barry," Ace said. "Ya know all that 'Mayor Copular' stuff is just for show."
"It's not the only thing just for show," Barry said under his breath. "Your usual, I assume? For both of you?" He briefly turned his gaze toward Tommy.
"Uh, sure," Ace said. When Barry stepped away, Ace leaned over to whisper to Tommy.
"Man, what crawled in his panties and died?"
"I don't know, man," Tommy avoided eye contact with Ace, looking across the room. "Maybe… maybe it's got something to do with all that stuff you said on TV."
"What stuff?" Ace asked.
Tommy hesitated. "You really gonna make me say it, aren't you?"
"Say what?" Ace asked. "What the hell did I say that was so bad?"
"Here you go," Barry said, putting down their drinks on the table roughly enough to cause some to spill onto Ace's clothes.
"What the hell man?" Ace said.
"Sorry," Barry said, in a voice that made it clear he wasn't sorry at all. "My hand slipped."
After he walked away, Ace scoffed. "Alright, what is it? What did I say that was so awful?"
"It's the thing with the Powerpuffs, man," Tommy said.
"The Powerpuffs?" Ace asked. "But I apologized, and cleared everythin' up. I said I was just making shit up and didn't do nothin' to those girls or their powers."
"Yeah, that's the problem," Tommy said. "Sure, taking away the girls' powers was a dick move, but also kinda badass, you know? But now," Tommy shrugged. "You're just the asshole who lied about it."
"Look man, I had to say somethin' to clean my image up a bit," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "My lawyer said if I didn't, people would see me as a crazy villain and try to take me out or somethin."
Tommy snorted. "Yeah, I think the ship for that has long since sailed. After that mess with Buttercup, the prison, basically your whole time as a gang leader…" he shook his head. "No one was gonna see you as the good guy."
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Ace asked, exasperated.
"I don't know man. Like I told you before, I want to stay out of this mess as much as possible," Tommy said.
They had a few more drinks in relative silence. Ace, frustrated and confused, and Tommy careful to not piss him off any further.
A little bit later, a group of young adults walked in and took the table behind Ace and Tommy. Ace barely gave them any notice, but the same couldn't be said for them.
"Is that really him?"
"Of course it is. How many green skinned guys do you know?"
"Ugh, he looks even greasier in person."
"He's such a creep. Only a total loser would have beef with a bunch of twelve year olds. His apology made me want to barf."
Ace whipped his head around, glaring at them. The group consisted of two guys and two girls, with the larger of the two men wearing a Townsville University hoodie. The girl across from him was wearing a T-shirt with the same logo.
"I can hear ya, you know," he snapped. "Don't ya know it's rude to talk about people behind their back?"
The four of them looked at him like a herd of deer caught in the headlights. A couple of them exchanged glances while the others avoided eye contact altogether.
"Well?" Ace pressed, getting up out of his seat. "Any one of youse got somethin' to say to me?"
"Ace," Tommy hissed, tugging at his arm. "Chill out, man. They're just some dumb kids."
Ace yanked his arm out of his grasp. He walked toward the table. The guy in the hoodie, just as tall as him and well built with ashy blond hair stood up and put himself in between Ace and the others.
"Look," he said. "I don't know what you think you heard, but me and my girlfriend are just trying to enjoy some time with our friends-"
"Are ya sayin' I'm dumb?" Ace asked. "I know what I fuckin' heard. You and your buddies were talkin' shit. Do you know who I am?"
"A gangster wannabe with a bad skin condition?" The other guy at the table whispered to the girl sitting next to him, causing her to giggle. Ace turned his laser-like gaze toward the couple, and their smiles quickly faded.
"That sounded like a really funny joke man, but I don't think I heard it. You wanna repeat it?"
The other guy, much skinnier than his friend with long hair and a big nose, looked up at him, his face turning red. For just the briefest moment Ace was reminded of Snake, but as soon as the thought came he immediately pushed the thought out of his mind.
"It was nothing," he said. "Just some dumb inside joke we have."
Ace gave him a wide, toothy grin. "C'mon, don't be shy. Come up here and tell me ya joke. Tell ya what, if you can make me laugh, next round will be on me, alright?"
"I think we should go, Brendan," the girl who was sitting next to the blonde guy said, resting her hand on his arm.
"Go? But you just got here!" Ace said. "Nah, stay for awhile, toots! I may be a 'wannabe gangster with a bad skin condition,' but my money's as good as any other yahoo's in this town."
The alcohol in his system was starting to kick in, and all he could think about was how funny it was watching these pampered college kids squirm. He slid his sunglasses down and winked at the young woman, smirking as she pulled back in disgust.
"Okay, that's enough," the first guy stood between them and pushed him away. "Just calm down, won't you?"
"Maybe you and ya friends should learn to keep your mouths shut if ya didn't want to start anything."
"Yeah?" the blond guy said. "Well maybe you shouldn't pick fights with little girls."
Before Ace could think it through, he pushed the man hard enough to cause him to stumble back onto the table and cause several of their drinks to splash onto the ground.
He looked at Ace in shock as he stumbled to his feet. The other three cried out in fear and scattered out of the way.
"Ya wanna go big man? We can go, right here right now!" Ace raised up his fists in preparation for the fight.
"Ace!" Tommy hissed. "What the hell has gotten into you!?"
"I'm gonna have to ask you both to leave," Barry spoke up. He stepped in between Ace and the college kid, glaring at the former gangster. "If you don't, I'm going to have to call the police."
"Oh, shut up Barry," Ace spat. "I've known ya for years. I know ya ain't gonna do shit."
"I can and I will," he said. "You might be mayor but this is my bar. I'm not going to let you go around and bully my customers."
"Ace, come on man," Tommy pleaded. "Let's just go, okay?"
As Ace once again felt all eyes on him, he sighed. "Whatever," he mumbled. He put his hands in his pockets and shuffled out the door, Tommy trailing close behind.
"You know, you could've had my back in there," Ace snapped as he stormed down the sidewalk. "If those guys actually had any balls, it would've been at least two against one."
"Had your back?!" Tommy exclaimed. "Man, I'm almost fifty, I'm too old for that shit. And you were acting like a psycho back there. I'm not gonna get my ass beat by a kid young enough to be my son because you ran your mouth."
"If you're too much of a pussy to stand up to some kid, then just come out and say that."
Tommy stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and gave him a hard stare. "You know, this whole being mayor thing has turned you into a real asshole, man. Next time you want to go out for a drink, find someone else," he took off in the opposite direction towards his car, causing Ace to stand there in shock.
"Yeah? Well if the cops find ya weed stash, don't bother cryin' to me about it. I'm tired of doin' shit for leeches like you!" he yelled back.
He stormed off, wishing he had laser vision hot enough to melt this whole stupid town.
"Hey, Arturo!" Billy greeted him the next morning when he walked into the kitchen. Arturo stared at him wide-eyed as he stood by the fridge, eating the chicken marsala he made yesterday straight out of the dish.
"Hey man, that was supposed to be for Ace!" Arturo said. "At least grab a plate first. He's not gonna want it with your slobber all over it."
"But the boss said I could have it," Billy said, a confused look on his face. "Billy saw it and asked, and he said to take as much as Billy wanted."
Arturo sighed, trying to swallow down his hurt.
"Did Billy do something wrong?" Billy asked, in the same tone a child would ask if they were in trouble.
"No man, you didn't do anything," Arturo assured. "Go at it, Ace obviously doesn't want it. Better than letting it go to waste."
"Thanks Arturo!" Billy said with a big grin, oblivious to Arturo's resignation. As he happily continued to chow down, Arturo frowned.
"Do you know if Ace is home?"
"Duh, Tommy came over and the boss said they were going out for a while," Billy said. "Billy asked if he could go too, but the boss just turned on Clifford and said he'd be back later."
Of course he didn't think to ask me if I wanted to go, Arturo thought bitterly.
"Thanks for letting me know, man. I'm gonna make a phone call."
Arturo went upstairs and pulled out the little slip of paper that had Cherry's, or rather, Carrie's cellphone number. Right before he left her apartment, she gave it to him, urging him to call her up for a real date sometime.
"Or just to hang out," she added.
With only a bit of nervousness, he dialed the number and waited anxiously for her to pick up.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey Carrie!" Arturo greeted.
"Oh, hey!" she said. "What's up?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today? Maybe a walk in the park or something-" he inwardly cringed when he remembered the last time they were at the park.
"Or maybe we could… honestly, I don't know. I'm a bit tight on cash," he felt his face grow red. Maybe he should've thought this through a bit better.
To his relief, she laughed. "Don't worry about it. But yeah, I'd be down. The movie theater down the street doesn't bother checking your tickets most of the time, so it's pretty easy to sneak in. Or would that be weird for a date?"
Arturo's heart fluttered, a huge smile forming on his face. "You kidding? That sounds awesome, man!"
"Cool," she said. "So, I'll meet you there around 8? There's a new comedy movie I've been wanting to see anyway, and today is as good as any."
"Sure, that sounds great," Arturo said. "I could really use that right now."
After he hung up, he had the biggest smile on his face that he couldn't have wiped off even if he wanted to.
"Hey Billy?" he called out, yelling over the bannisters. "I'm going out in a few hours. If Ace asks where I'm at, tell him I got me a date."
When Professor Utonium got a call from Professor Marlow the next day, he was more than relieved.
"How is Buttercup doing?" was the first thing he asked.
"Well, on the positive side, she's stable for now," Professor Marlow said. "I spoke to her doctor briefly and she said that there hasn't been much change. She was completely still the entire visit."
"Ah," Professor Utonium said in a measured voice. He was relieved to know she wasn't any worse off, but to know she hasn't been making any progress at all…
"I do wish I could give you better news," Professor Marlow apologized. "But, I have an idea that might help her that I wanted to run by you."
"Yes?"
"I have a friend, an old colleague from Stanford; she's a doctor who specializes in neuroscience," he said. "She's one of the best in the world. If it's alright with you, I'd like to have Buttercup sent to her facility and see if she can make any improvements."
Professor Utonium paused. "You want to send Buttercup all the way to Stanford?"
"I know it's a difficult choice," Professor Marlow said. "But I just worry… the longer one stays in a coma, the more difficult it is for them to make a full recovery. If she does wake up, it could still take months, maybe even years for her to relearn how to walk and talk, much less get back to her normal life in full."
Professor Utonium swallowed. He was well aware of this and carried that fear deep in his gut, but having it said out loud by someone else brought it up to the forefront.
"Well…" he hesitated. "I have heard excellent things about their program, but ideally I'd prefer her to stay closer to home."
"I understand," Professor Marlow said. "But, I do think the distance would be worth the difference in quality. It certainly wouldn't be forever, and I'd make arrangements for her to come back to Townsville as soon as she was better."
"I want to do some research first," he said firmly. "Talk to her doctor. Is there any way we could set something like that up?"
"Of course," Professor Marlow said. "I'll send you some recent articles and call the hospital to give them my okay to give you any information you need. But if you do decide to go with it, I would appreciate it if you sent over any notes that you have that might be useful so I can pass them on. I know their biology is… unique, and I think it would be most helpful for my friend and her team to have on file."
"I can do that," Professor Utonium said. "Would you mind giving me your email?"
"Of course."
After the two exchanged information, Professor Utonium ended the conversation and sat in contemplation. As much as it would pain him to send his daughter away at her most vulnerable, he wanted nothing more in the world than to see her up and about, chasing Blossom around, teasing Bubbles, and refusing to do her chores. All the little things that she used to do that ticked him off, he missed more than he thought possible.
He just hoped whatever choice he made, it would be the right one.
When Billy heard the front door open, he took what was left of the food that Arturo made with him into the living room.
"Hi!" he said as he saw Sedusa setting her stuff down. "I thought you were the boss."
Sedusa looked back at him, her face twisted in a similar way that the rest of the gang would do when Grubber would let out a gnarly burp.
"Don't eat that in here, you're making a huge mess!" she snapped. "God, it's like having a seven foot toddler in the house."
At her sharp tone, Billy began to feel his eyes get watery. No matter how often his friends told him he was too sensitive and needed to toughen up, he couldn't help but wear his heart on his sleeve or get emotional when someone was harsh with him.
"Oh god, I can't deal with a tantrum right now," she sighed. "Look, just go put the food down, okay? In the kitchen."
"O-Okay," Billy said. As soon as he was sure Sedusa wasn't about to yell at him anymore, he did as she asked.
"Now, why did you want to see Ace?" She asked him, standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
"Arturo told Billy to tell the boss that he has a big date tonight!" Billy said. "Arturo seemed very happy."
"A big date, eh?" Sedusa asked, her eyebrows raised. "Tell me, did Arturo say where he was going?"
"Duh," Billy thought. "Billy don't think so."
"Hmm," Sedusa looked off in the distance. "Well, you've done a very good thing by telling me Billy. I'll make sure to tell Ace so he doesn't worry."
"You'd do that for Billy?" Billy asked. "So you're not mad at Billy for making a mess?"
"Of course not," she said. "And as long as you promise to be good, I won't have to get mad. Now, how does that sound?"
"Duh… Billy will try," Billy said. He never intentionally made people mad at him, except when Ace would say it was okay. Like when they used to rob Malph's or pick on younger kids. But he often did it by accident, and then got confused and overwhelmed when they started to yell at him and then the tears would come and they'd just get more mad…
"You won't try, you'll do," Sedusa insisted. She turned around and walked upstairs, and Billy followed her.
"Ace says we're not supposed to touch the safe anymore without his permission," Billy warned her as she made a beeline for it.
"That rule is only for you and your friend," she said. "I can do whatever I want. And besides," she stared at him firmly. "I'm just checking to make sure the little thief didn't steal anything before he left."
"Arturo wouldn't do that," Billy said.
"Well, he did it before, and you helped him. Or don't you remember that?" she said, in a soft, low tone that people often used on him when he needed something to be explained more than once.
"Now, why don't you go watch TV in your room or something? I can take care of this."
"But-"
"Do you want me to get angry?" she said in a warning tone.
"No," Billy said in a soft voice.
"Then go do what I said," she said, pointing towards his room's general direction. "And if I tell Ace something, you follow my lead. Got it?"
When Ace finally got home, to say he was in a sour mood would've been an understatement.
"What's with you?" Sedusa asked. She was sitting on the couch lazily flipping through a fashion magazine with the TV on in the background.
"Tommy," Ace scowled.
"Tommy?" Sedusa asked incredulously. "What did he do? And why are you filthy?"
Ace threw his jacket off and tossed it in the corner of the room, and did the same with his boots.
After he and Tommy's fight, he was forced to walk the rest of the way back. At one point, he tried to hail a taxi, but the asshole driver just ignored him and drove straight through a dirty puddle on the road, splashing him all over with dirty rainwater.
Ace ignored her second question. "We've been friends for years, right? And yet he's still too much of a chicken shit to back me up in a fight."
At the words 'fight,' Sedusa's frown deepened. "What did you do, Ace? We're supposed to be cleaning your image up so people will actually take you seriously-"
"Yeah? Well it didn't work," he snapped. "Now not only does everyone in Townsville think I'm a gigantic asshole, they think I'm a fake for "lying" about takin' down the Powerpuffs. Barry, fuckin Barry, threw me out of his bar, and these college kids were insulting me to my face."
Sedusa sighed. She tossed her magazine on the couch and stood up, looking him up and down.
"Tell you what," she said, brushing his hair out of his face. "Go take a shower, and then we can discuss what to do next. But when you're done, I think we should discuss Arturo."
"What about Arturo?" Ace asked. "Look, if this is about kickin' him out-"
"Ace," she said in a serious tone. "I think he's stealing again."
"What?!" he exclaimed. "What do ya mean? What happened?"
"Billy told me that he had some big date tonight with some girl he met. When I pressed him further, he mentioned that he overheard him on the phone, saying that he was going to swipe a few bucks. Apparently he told her that 'it wasn't much, so you wouldn't notice anyway.'"
"That little shit!" Ace said, his earlier rage once again flaring up within him. "He promised me he wouldn't pull that again. I swear, when he gets home-"
"You're going to kick him out for good?" Sedusa asked.
Instead of answering, Ace yelled up the stairs. "Billy! Billy, get down here!"
After a few moments, the tallest Gangreen Gang member stepped out of his room and shyly peeked over the banisters. "Yes, Boss?"
"Sedusa told me that you told her you caught Arturo stealin again for his date," Ace said. "That true?"
"Uhh," Billy looked anxiously toward Sedusa, and gulped. "Billy don't remember."
"Billy, this is important," Sedusa spoke up. "We need you to tell the truth."
The green giant looked back and forth between the two, visibly starting to sweat. "Billy don't know! Billy forgot!" he ran off, now crying, back towards his room.
"You know what? Screw this," Ace said. "I'm gonna go check for myself."
Ace stormed up the stairs and made a beeline straight for Arturo's room. He went straight for his dresser, and burried under a few pairs of socks was a few twenty dollar bills.
"Fuck," he muttered under his breath.
"Looks like he took some extra for later too," Sedusa remarked. She stood in the doorway of Arturo's bedroom, her arms crossed across her chest.
Ace crumpled the bills in his fist, barely holding in his rage.
"So what are you going to do, Ace?" she asked. "Are you going to let this one go too?"
"Up and attem, Ingleberry!" Samson jr. yelled as he threw open Snake's door. Snake, finally able to get some sleep, awoke with a start when the young correctional officer entered his cell.
"What? What isss it?!" Snake cried in a panic.
"Since you've been so good, the boys and I thought you deserved some TV time," he grinned wickedly.
Immediately, Snake felt a pit of upcoming dread within himself. Of course, being trapped in a room not much bigger than a closet with nothing but his own thoughts for company for god knows how long, he'd kill for just about anything to do to distract him. But, he trusted the young officer about as far as he could throw him.
"Thanksss, but I'd rather get some sssleep, if it'sss all the same to youssss."
"Hey now, I told you I can't stand that hissing nonsense," he warned. "And anyway, I decided to go out of my way to be nice. Would you prefer it if I got mean?"
Snake's blood ran cold. He knew it was a trap; Samson was never "nice." Ever since he had started taking a dislike to him, he'd been given fewer and fewer showers, and was lucky to get one meal a day. The other guards, as if lead by his example, also started looking at him less with indifference and more scorn.
Wordlessly, he nodded. He shakily got up to follow the correctional officer.
He was led to a small room with two other prison guards that he vaguely remembered seeing in passing, as well as a small TV hanging up in the corner.
"Ah, you brought the snitch," one of the officers smirked.
"Had to wake him up from his beauty sleep to do it," Samson said. "Not that it's doing him much good."
As the three men continued to chuckle at his joke, Snake kept his eyes on the dark screen of the television, seeing the vague outline of his face. As much as he hated to admit it, it wasn't just empty words; he looked genuinely awful. His cheeks looked noticeably more hollow, with dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep. The less said about the tangly mess that was his hair, the better.
He turned his attention to the reflections of the officers behind him. He could only guess what they were planning on showing him, and he just hoped whatever it was, they would get it over with and then leave him alone.
"Now Ingleberry," Samson addressed him. Snake was pulled out of his thoughts and looked at him. "If I remember correctly, you said that you wanted to know about your trial."
"Hasss there been a date ssset?" Snake asked hopefully. He was immediately met with Samson's backhand.
"Now, what did I say about that goddamn hissing?" he asked angrily.
A sharp sting burned across his cheek, and he had to fight back the tears that threatened to spill from the shock. Not trusting himself to not "hiss" again if he spoke, he rubbed the sore spot with his hand and looked down.
"Now, I'm trying to help you out here, but you need to learn to speak normal," Samson said.
"He goes up on the stand talking like that, they'll give him the chair just to shut him up," one of the other guards quipped.
"If they even let him get that far," Samson said. "Of course, the new mayor might take some pity on the poor fellow. They're old pals, after all."
"New mayor?" Snake asked. "You… you don't mean…"
Samson smirked at him. "Oh, that's right. You haven't heard, have you?"
Samson then pulled out a tape and placed it in the VCR player. He turned on the TV and before Snake knew it, he was staring at Ace sitting across from Karen Carlson in a suit and tie.
"Good morning, Townsville!" she said. "Today I'm here with our new mayor, Mayor Copular. Mayor Copular, how are you doing today?"
He remembered watching the video of Ace's takeover of Mojo Jojo's old hideout, as he called him a spineless coward and tried to claim Townsville for himself. He had no idea he actually won though.
After seeing Snake's shocked expression, Samson smirked. "Now, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. You haven't seen the rest of the tape yet."
He fast-forwarded it for a few minutes.
"It appears as if you made yourself a little makeshift crime family," Mrs. Carlson said. "Sanford was a part of your gang too, was he not?"
"He was," Ace said. "But he ain't- he's not anymore."
"So you're going to make sure he's punished to the full extent of the law for murdering three people in cold blood, including our late mayor?"
The camera angle shifted suddenly, focusing only on Ace with a cocky expression on his face. "Townsville can live rest assured that any lowlifes breaking the law will have to answer to me. Personally."
It was then that Samson shut off the TV, leaving Snake to gape at the dark screen in silence.
"Looks like your days are numbered, Ingleberry," Samson said. "And there will be no one left to mourn you."
He didn't know if it was the perpetual exhaustion and stress, or if it was him fully coming to terms that he was alone in the world, but a choked sob escaped past his lips.
"Aww, you made the poor thing cry," one of Samson's cronies crooned. "He actually thought his little boyfriend would save him."
"Heh heh, you know what my little sis would do after a breakup?" the other officer said. "She'd go to some salon and get all her hair all chopped off. Said it gave her a fresh start or somethin."
"Huh, now that's an idea," Samson said. He stood in front of Snake with a smirk on his face, running his hand through his long dark locks. "Your hair is so dirty and matted, Ingleberry. Do you take care of yourself at all?"
You only let me shower once a week, Snake thought, feeling a pit of dread in his stomach. And I haven't seen a comb since I got down here.
"I say we do our little friend a favor," Samson said. "Give him a fresh start."
One of the guards pulled out a pair of scissors, and immediately Snake started to panic.
"No! No! Pleassse!" he started to back away in a corner, covering his head with his hands. Panic overtook him, afraid of losing the one thing he had left that made him feel like himself. "Jussst takesss me back to my cccell!"
"Now Ingleberry," Samson warned. "What did I say about that hissing? Miller, Davis, hold him down."
As soon as the command was finished, the two guards grabbed his arms. As much as Snake tried to thrash and fight back, his skinny arms were no match for the two stronger men.
"Now, I don't wanna hurt you Ingeberry," Samson warned. "But the more you move, the more likely I'm to cut ya."
Snake continued to thrash around as pieces of his treasured long black locks fell to the ground, only stopping when the back of his neck felt bare and cold for the first time in a decade.
"So what do you think, Blossom?" Bubbles asked. "Do you think it's a good idea?"
Blossom sighed. She looked over the laptop that Professor Marlow had given her and her sister, and the links he had sent them. The pair looked over the material, with Blossom pausing to explain a few terms here and there to the best of her ability. Overall, the program he referred to seemed to be excellent, and when she did further research on her own, it echoed the same results.
"I think…" she hesitated. "I think it's worth a shot. Of course, he said he was going to talk to the Professor as well, but I think we should give him the okay on our end."
Bubbles looked at her sadly, and nodded. "Okay. Whatever helps her get better."
A moment later, there was a knock on their bedroom door.
"Come in," Blossom said.
Professor Marlow stepped inside, giving them a gentle smile. "So, how are you girls doing? Have you looked over the articles I sent?"
"Yes, and we've reached our decision," she looked over at Bubbles, who gave her a nod. "We think you should send Buttercup out."
"Well, I'm glad we're on the same page," he stepped out of the doorway, and on the chair next to their bed. "I think with the right help, she should recover in no time.
"Have you talked to the Professor?"
"I have," Professor Marlow said. "I made him aware of the situation and gave him all the same resources that I gave you girls. But that brings me to another topic I wanted to discuss with you," he sat up straight and his expression turned business-like.
"Shortly after we met, I told you that I wanted to be transparent with you girls, and I still feel that way. So because of that, I want you to know I've been following your case closely for the past few months, shortly after I heard that you girls had mysteriously lost your powers. I had heard of your existence before in passing, but I thought it was simply an old urban legend of a small town. But when a friend of mine came to me with proof, and how you had lost what once made you so unique, I got curious. That is why I chose to spend my retirement here, in Townsville."
"So… you only care about us because we're the Powerpuff Girls," Blossom said, her voice low in disappointment.
"No, no! That's not what I'm saying at all," Professor Marlow said, his expression contrite. "No, you seem like lovely girls, Powerpuff or no Powerpuff. It wouldn't matter to me a bit if you stayed just as you are for the rest of your days," he paused. "But I think it would matter to you."
"What do you mean?" Bubbles asked.
"I mean," he hesitated. "Your father sent me some of his notes discussing your biology so I can send them to my colleague, and I skimmed over a bit myself. I didn't understand all of it; after all, Biology is not my field of expertise. But the bits I did… I might have an idea on how you girls might be able to get your powers back."
"You do?!" Bubbles asked excitedly.
"How?" Blossom asked, with more suspicion.
"Well," he started. "From your father's notes, it doesn't seem as though he was able to find a concrete physical cause. That seems to be why he was struggling so much."
"It was because of something the Gangreen Gang did," Blossom said. "Ace admitted it on TV."
"Hmm, yes. Well, I think I need to show you girls something."
Without explaining further, he pulled out a newspaper with the image on the front page of Ace and Mrs. Carlson sitting across from each other. The headline read, Mayor Copular apologizes to Utonium family, makes shocking confession.
Blossom's face immediately twisted in disgust. The last thing she wanted from Ace was some so-called "apology."
"What does this have to do with anything?" she asked.
"Go ahead and read it for yourself," Professor Marlow said, handing it to her.
As she took it, Bubbles reading over her shoulder, she skimmed through the first part where Ace made his worthless apology, and blamed his actions on his and the gangs' so-called 'tragic backstory.'
"How exactly did you take away the Powerpuff Girls's powers?" Mrs. Carlson asked. "And who was the friend who helped you, if not Mojo?"
This caused her to pause for a moment. She didn't particularly like Mrs. Carlson, but at this moment she appreciated her. It's about time someone asked.
After some hemming and hawing, Ace made what she supposed was the "shocking confession" the headline referred to.
"I lied, okay? I don't know nothin. Hell, Mojo probably was behind it. Or maybe nobody was and it was a weird thing with their genes. I don't know how their powers work."
"What!?" Blossom couldn't help but saying out loud.
She continued to read further. Mrs. Carlson pressed him on it, and eventually he pointed out the logistical errors in his false confession.
"How could I have possibly done it even if I wanted to?" he asked. "I don't got no magical powers. I ain't no scientist. If Mojo did do it, he never woulda trusted me with it, I can tell ya that. He called me an idiot more times than I care to say. Besides," he said. "The girls had been losin' their powers for a while. I was still workin' as Super Savings like a regular Joe when they started gettin' all outta wack. It just don't add up."
"You mean the Gangreen Gang didn't take our powers away!?" Bubbles asked.
"It appears not," Professor Marlow said.
"Well, that's what Ace claims," Blossom said. "You honestly think we can believe a word he says?"
"I mean, he's got a good point though," Bubbles said. "I doubt he'd be smart enough to do it without someone like Mojo. And we were losing our powers before that."
"Still…" Blossom said.
"I have a theory," Professor Marlow said. "You girls were slowly losing your powers over the course of a few months before you lost them in their entirety, correct?"
"Yes."
"And you've been using your powers to save Townsville for a very long time before that?"
"Since we were born!" Bubbles said.
"I see," he said. "Tell me, have you ever found your job to be… stressful? Has it affected your lives in a significant way?"
"Well, I mean…" Blossom hesitated. "Yeah, of course. Fighting crime is tough work."
"Especially when the phone would ring in the middle of the night and we'd have to go to school the next day with almost no sleep," Bubbles chimed in. "And sometimes the bad guys could get a bit… scary."
"Of course," Professor Marlow nodded sympathetically. "Now, the reason I ask is because I think your problem might not be biological at all, but psychological."
Bubbles and Blossom exchanged an incredulous look. "Huh?"
"I think, and keep in mind, this is just a theory," he said. "That your minds might be subconsciously repressing your powers to get a break from these constant life and death situations."
Blossom blinked a bit in surprise. "With all due respect, that seems pretty far-fetched. We've been doing this for years with no problem."
"Yes," Professor Marlow said. "But you girls are getting older. It's only natural that you're going to want to start going out to parties on your own soon. Maybe go on to college when the time comes, have your own careers, build relationships. Have you ever worried that being superheroes might get in the way of that?"
At this, Blossom was silent. She didn't care much about parties, but she did want to go to college someday. Desperately.
It wasn't something she ever admitted outloud, but she did at times have that fear in the back of her mind, that all her advanced classes and extra time studying would end up being useless because she'd be forced to spend the rest of her days protecting Townsville and not have time for anything else. But she always tried her best to ignore it, soothing herself with reassurances that with the help of the Professor and her sisters, they'd find someway to make it work.
Blossom hesitated. "What do you have in mind specifically?"
"Well," he said. "I was thinking we could start out with some light hypnosis. See if I can bring out any bad memories or negative feelings you might've repressed."
Blossom once again exchanged a look with Bubbles, who shrugged her shoulders.
"Those magicians on TV who do it make it look fun," she said.
"And even if it doesn't get you your powers back, it still might help you feel better. Constantly having the weight of the world on your shoulders can't be good for anyone."
Blossom hesitated for a moment. In all honesty, she always kind of thought of hypnosis as nothing but a silly parlor trick that only worked on the easily susceptible. Though, there was a small part of her that worried that it might work on her, and what that could mean.
Still, if it meant that there was even a chance that it could get her powers back…
"Alright," she said. "I'll think it over."
GGG Fan: Aw, thanks! Yeah, that's what I was trying to go for. He cares about his girls and misses them a lot.
Thanks to everyone still reading this story lol! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think!