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Dreams of an Absolution	By : DeusExProcella Category: +M through R > PowerPuff Girls Views: 9670 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerpuff Girls or any related characters. All characters exclusive to this story do belong to me. I make no money from these writings.

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"The heart is something you can't control

We either choose to follow or be left on our own

So we're leaving here on a less-traveled road

As desperate cries grow louder,

I know we're getting close,

Getting close,"

Voices Off Camera (Rise Against "Revolutions Per Minute")

Dreams of an Absolution

Chapter 40

Bubbles screamed, though even she was barely heard over the now violent crowd. Chairs were thrown, children were crying, another gunshot went off. People were panicking; people were getting braver. Blossom and Buttercup managed to fight their way through the crowd, escaping onto the stage where Mr. Green was laying, clutching his chest. The dark stain on his shirt was quickly spreading.

"Barthandelus, relax, you're fine..." Principal Durry assured him, pulling his hand away to get a better look at the wound. Mr. Green moaned and hissed in pain. Though, thanks to her x-ray vision, Blossom could see that it seemed nothing important had been hit.

"Mr. Green! Are you okay? Who did that?! Why would someone do that?!" Buttercup barked, torn between worry over her teacher and outrage at the now furious crowd. The violence was getting worse, the chanting and screaming getting louder. Another gun was fired, the doors flew open and a group, chanting "No More Monsters!" and "Remember August!" marched out of the building.

Mr. Green bit his lip, but when he spoke, his voice came out strained, "Ugh...I'm...I should be fine...just in a lot of pain. Need more than a bullet to kill me, it's okay girls," he hissed, but nodded thankfully while Principal Durry peeled the jacket away from his wound.

"You need to stop them, girls," Principal Durry explained, fixing Blossom with a piercing stare. Blossom nodded, rising to her feet, pulling Buttercup up with her.

"This is getting out of hand..." she muttered. Just how far would they go? What did they hope to accomplish anyway?

Buttercup clenched her fists and glared at the open doors. Her lips pulled back in rage.

"Those idiots! What were they thinking?! How could they...to Mr. Green of all monsters!" With another growl, she prepared to shoot off. A nearby door flew open; Blossom caught Buttercup by her ankle and dragged her over to their commanding officer.

"Dexter, what's going on?" Blossom asked, watching closely while Dexter fiddled with some kind of portable holographic terminal. The two were joined by Bubbles and Professor Utonium, the latter sheet white, trying to comfort the former. The boy genius shuffled through a few incoming reports, growing more concerned with each one he read.

"This is impossible," he muttered, "It doesn't make a lick of sense!" Dexter paused and scratched his chin, glancing up at the Powerpuff Girls. He looked back to his terminal. He had an incoming call from Agent Honeydew.

"She's involved, then..." he muttered. Dexter cleared his throat, "This is getting out of control too quickly. I don't know how, but the commotion that began in this building is spreading through the city. I know Principal Durry's announcement was broadcast over the radio...ugh, of course, I'm so stupid," Dexter pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.

Buttercup caught him off, "Just spit it out, Genius! What's going on? Why are these people acting like..."

"Like animals," Blossom finished, crossing her arms and glancing back at Mr. Green. Bubbles slid out of the Professor's arms, piping up to object.

"Hey! Animals would never do something like this! This is awful!" she protested.

"Yeah...they're acting like..." Buttercup trailed off. She ground her teeth and swallowed another snarl, "They're acting worse than monsters," she spat out.

Dexter nodded, perusing another report, "Apparently, they aren't the only ones. There was another incident at the library when the announcement was made. And another at a gas station of all places. There are other incidents, and they're spreading," Dexter put away his holo-terminal and crossed his arms, turning to the girls.

"Something about this announcement, that their children would be placed in the care of a monster...no, that a monster was being given a position of power. Something about that has Townsville terrified. They're panicking, and those panicked groups are coming together. I just received a message from Agent Honeydew. There's a demonstration of some kind further down town. There's a fire near the high school. And other people are taking advantage of this,"

"Criminals you mean," Professor Utonium interjected, his fears confirmed by Dexter's report. Before the girls were born, Townsville was a hotbed for riots and criminal activity. That panic and fear didn't go away when the girls appeared. It was turned on the girls, and when they overcame it, it just hid for a while. With a new trigger being pulled...Townsville was back to its old ways.

Dexter sighed and nodded, "I have incoming reports for robberies and assaults that the police just can't keep up with," he explained, "The police are still hurting from Sedusa's attack before. They don't have the manpower to defend an entire city from itself!"

"That's why we will be expected to fill in for them," a new voice called. The girls looked up, spotting Agent Honeydew, with the Rowdyruff Boys in tow. They hadn't made it to the conference. Boomer smiled and waved the moment he saw Blossom. She gave him a brief smile in return.

"Ah, Agent Honeydew. Yes, I was just getting to that point," Dexter nodded to the girls, "Honeydew and myself will be assisting the six of you in trying to settle the chaos spreading through Townsville. I don't know how it spread so fast, but we must be swift in correcting this madness!"

The girls nodded. After saying their goodbyes and good lucks, the kids stopped to check on Mr. Green one more time. He gave them a brave smile and sent them on their way. In a flash, the six were off, into the city.

XxXxX

"I've never seen it this bad...even..." Blossom whispered, staring at the city with wide eyes.

Brick sneered, cutting her off, "When you tried to kill everyone? It was pretty bad then!" He flinched and pulled back when Buttercup was suddenly in his face, grabbing him by his collar.

"Brick, shut up! Don't you dare bring that up now!" she spat in a low, dangerous growl.

He looked away, swallowing the nervous lump in his throat, "...My bad, sorry BC," he apologized, keeping his voice down.

"They keep saying the same thing, why? They almost sound like robots!" Boomer pointed out, pointing down at a protest group.

"Really mad and scared and angry and scary robots!" Bubbles exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air for emphasis.

"Yeah!" Boomer replied with a nod. Buttercup pulled away from Brick and took several deep breaths. Still, she couldn't stop growling, nearly glowing with crackling power.

"I dunno, but we have to stop this! It's nuts! And if I find the guy who shot Mr. Green-" she snarled, cut off suddenly by Blossom putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll bring them in to the police," Blossom finished for her, in a firm voice. Buttercup whipped around, throwing her hands out.

"What?! But...they could have...what if they...you're right. Sorry, I'm just so mad!" She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. Together, she and Blossom counted to ten. When she opened her eyes, she nodded and sighed.

Bubbles joined her sisters, taking Buttercup's hand and rubbing it soothingly,"Me too, Buttercup...but, Blossom's right. They need to go to jail for what they did!"

"Or something! Look at the city! Some idiot shooting Mr. Green, the only cool teacher in the world, started all this! This!" Butch shouted, his voice getting higher and quicker with each word. His entire body was shaking, and the left side of his face started to tick.

"You're twitching, Butch," Bubbles softly warned him.

"Huh? Oh...thanks..." He settled down, though his eye kept twitching. Looking around at the others, Buttercup nodded and crossed her arms.

"Where should we start?" she asked, turning to look at Blossom. The redhead was taken back, suddenly put on the spot. She pointed at herself, just to clarify.

"Huh? You're asking me?" she asked. Buttercup nodded, looking down at the city in defeat.

"...Yeah, I'm too mad to think straight. And we all know you're the better leader, so what should we do? Leader Girl?" She gave Blossom her most confident smile, even if it was tainted with fury. Blossom tapped her chin and bit her lip. Her heart was fluttering and her stomach was doing flips.

"...Let's split up. We should be able to stop the more dangerous crimes alone, and we'll be able to cover more ground this way. Just in case, though, keep your ears peeled. If you get in trouble, scream or yell so someone can come to help you. We'll meet back here in a few hours, so we can check in with Dexter and Honeydew. Everyone got that?" She turned, addressing the others. As expected, Brick rolled his eyes and glared at her.

"That's such a stupid plan. We need to catch the punk that shot Green!" he shot back.

"And we will! But we need to protect the city first and foremost," Blossom explained, gesturing toward the city. As if on cue, there was a scream and a crash, emphasizing her point.

"Blossom's right, there are a lot of innocent people who are going to get hurt because a few people got scared and took it out on everyone else. It's our job as heroes to save them, even from themselves!" Bubbles explained, floating away from the group and looking down at the city with a distant look in her eyes. Blossom noticed, but didn't say anything. She'd noticed Octi under Bubbles' chair in the auditorium.

"Wow, that was awesome, Bubbles!" Butch said in awe.

"Thanks!" Bubbles beamed, turning to smile at him. Blossom noticed it didn't reach her eyes.

Buttercup slammed her fists together to get everyone's attention. She pointed at the city and said, "Alright, we've got a plan, let's do it!"

"Right, let's roll everyone," Blossom called. The six split up, shooting out across the torn city.

XxXxX

Blossom dodged a gunshot when she landed. She'd long since lost track of how many times she'd been shot at in the last two hours. Compared to Townsville as it was now, the Realm of Hatred had been a walk in the park. She narrowed her eyes, closing in on the group of people—ranging from teens to adults—beating on another person, a teenage boy. She cocked her head. Something way familiar about him...

"Get out, monster!" One lady screamed, throwing a brick at her. Blossom batted it aside, spraying the sidewalk with dust and dirt. The rioters began to panic, but the one with the gun turned it on her again.

"You...this is all your fault! Townsville was just fine without you! Now there's fucking meta-freaks everywhere! Now there's fucking monsters everywhere! You...you're the devil! REMEMBER AUGUST!" he screamed, pulling the trigger, shooting her between the eyes. Blossom's head shot back and she stopped her menacing advance.

The rioters gasped, staring in anticipation. Blossom lowered her head, still glaring at them. The bullet slid off her forehead and fell to the ground harmlessly.

"You know," Blossom began. Before he could pull the trigger again, she launched herself at him, slamming him against the wall, gasping for air. His breath became a strangled croak, blood streaming from his stomach. She pulled away and threw him down. The rioters screamed, turning to run. Blossom slashed the gunman across the face, dropping him dead to the ground. Her serious, deadly look faded, replaced with a wicked, devilish grin.

As she advanced on the others, she took a moment to lick the blood from her sword arm.

"I'm not the devil. Don't kid yourselves," she laughed, flames rising up from her eyes, "I'm something so much worse. I'm something real!" She laughed wildly as she launched at them, tearing them apart with reckless abandon. When one started to run, she changed her arm to a hammer, smashing out her knees, and then back into a sword to impale her through her head.

In mere minutes, the alleyway was running with blood, all but two of the humans lying dead and mutilated. The boy who had been assaulted sat up, wiping blood from his bruised face, staring in horror.

"Oh God, you really are a m-monster!" he managed to gasp. Blossom turned to him, raising her eyebrow.

"Is that how you greet the person who saved you?" Before he could respond, her arm shot out like a lance, through his chest. She pulled the lance back and shifted her arm into its human shape once more. The last rioter stood up and approached her, looking around at the corpses. Blossom glanced up at him and gestured to the dead bodies.

"Well?" she asked. With a nod, the teen took a deep breath. He opened his mouth and the breath became a vacuum. Sparkling phantom light rose up from the bodies, only to be quickly consumed in the monster's maw. He licked his lips after devouring the last one and sighed.

"My, my...I'd forgotten how wonderful souls were," he said with a giggle, his human form melting away completely. Demongo followed Blossom as she checked on the bodies, "I must inquire, my Mistress, while I appreciate the souls you've given me, aren't you worried you'll be discovered?" this was the fourth such group Blossom had mutilated, feeding their souls to the Soul Collector. He now had a decent collection, enough to begin fusing and empowering.

"No, I'm not actually," Blossom admitted, wiping the blood away from her arm, though not before stopping to taste it again, "Mmm..." she moaned. She snapped her mitt, getting Demongo's attention, "Get rid of the bodies. I have to meet back with the others," Demongo nodded, stretching out his fingers and vaporizing the bodies with streams of white light.

"Was this part of your plan?" she asked, glancing back at Demongo. He cocked his head.

"My Mistress?"

"The riots...they're a nice change of pace, and I know Aku had been planning something with my mother..." she trailed off. Demongo seemed even more confused.

"I had nothing to do with these events. Though, I can't complain with the result," he confessed. Blossom nodded, shooting off to find the others. If Aku wasn't responsible for these strange, almost planned riots throughout Townsville...than who was?

XxXxX

"It's getting worse..."

"I agree, Honeydew..."

What should have been an afternoon of panic, continued into the night. Before long, it had been three days and the attacks were only getting worse. First, it was monsters, but, as Blossom saw on the first day, it was spreading to anyone who wasn't normal. Meta-humans were quickly thrown under the bus, turned to victims of violence. And, due to the Meta-Human Regulation Act's strict policies regarding meta-humans, defending themselves could only make things worse.

"How did this happen? Townsville has always been peaceful, to an almost disturbing extent! It doesn't make a bit of sense..."

"That's what I noticed after moving here...what if, this was all just under the surface? Professor Utonium said things used to be this way,"

"I would surely hope not!"

Along with the riots and criminal activity, a new threat was sweeping through the city. People were vanishing entirely. Entire rooms drenched in blood, but completely devoid of bodies. The body count was rising at an alarming rate. If the city's localized superhero team couldn't get it under control...it was just a matter of time before the military was forced to step in.

"Haven't you noticed something, Dexter? Yes...it's chaos in the streets, but look here. Doesn't this seem like a pattern to you?"

"...Oh my gosh, you're right! Someone really is behind all of this! What...do you know what they might be planning?"

"Not a clue, but it can't be good. Hm? What's this...oh no,"

Something big was brewing on the horizon. When Thursday came and a massive power surge hit the city, knocking out most of the electricity in the region, any notion that the infighting would be settled peacefully died. The library ended up burnt to the ground; the famous Townsville Stadium collapsed in on itself. And still, something bigger loomed over Townsville.

"What's that? No...that's next Wednesday!"

"We have to do something about this. I'll get in contact with the Commander, and see what we can do. But, we cannot let the kids know,"

"What?! But, the Powerpuff Girls..."

"Dexter, we can't worry them. They have enough on their plate keeping the citizens from eating each other alive. This has to be left to the two of us. Do I have your cooperation?"

"...Of course, Agent Honeydew,"

XxXxX

Saturday, November 24th, Blossom found herself wandering along the pier near Townsville Bay. They'd gotten a distress call, but so far she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. A few times, though, she got the distinct feeling that she was being watched, or followed. Even pushing her power beyond her bracelet's supposed limitations, she couldn't find any evidence that she wasn't alone.

"Not Aku," she muttered, passing by a seaside warehouse. He was just as eager as she was to figure out who was behind this attack. After nearly an hour of questioning her sister, some of which may have involved tickle torture, Bubbles had confirmed that Octi had nothing to do with the riot. She was as in the dark as Blossom herself was.

Blossom hated being in the dark. There had to be a hint, a clue somewhere to figure this mystery out. Sighing, she crossed her arms and gazed out at the ocean, deep in thought.

Crunch...

Blossom perked up, looking over her shoulder. Footsteps? Someone was nearby. She scanned the area with her x-ray vision, but...

Crunch...

Blossom whipped around and took several steps back, holding up her mitts in defense. Someone was here, near her, watching her. She resisted the urge to shapeshift. She now understood why Aku seemed to do it for every little thing, and she'd definitely learned to respect his control more. A few times, he'd startled her and her natural instinct had been to transform into something small and easily hidden. There were...incidents involving her bracelet they'd had to deal with, thanks to that.

"Come out and I promise not to hurt you," Blossom called, whipping around again. She heard a soft voice chuckle and turned again. There, at the other end of the pier, was a woman, maybe twice her height, with shaggy black hair and strange, tattered clothes, staring at her.

"Who are you?" Blossom asked, standing up straight. Somehow, the newcomer didn't seem intimidated. No...if anything, the way she stalked toward Blossom, the way her amused smirk suddenly became a grimace of hate, the way her fists clenched and relaxed...Blossom realized she was the one intimidated, "Answer me!" Blossom demanded. The fear showed in her voice.

"I'm no one anymore," the newcomer growled. In a flash, she was in front of Blossom, fist pulled back. Now Blossom could see into her wide, vicious green eyes, "ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" Blossom's power surged well beyond her legal limit, but the newcomer's blow was too fast, and struck her too hard. She went flying, skidding along the pavement, until she crashed into the side of the warehouse. Blossom groaned and pulled herself away.

"OH!" she screamed, diving to avoid another lightning fast attack. The newcomer spun on the spot and kicked her in the side, sending her flying out over the ocean. In the time it took her to catch her breath, the mysterious attacker caught up to her. Blossom's surprised scream was cut short; the attacker plunged her head under the water, holding her effortlessly.

Blossom kicked and fought, increasing her power with every second. Still, the attacker was unfazed by anything she tried. Blossom's eyes snapped open and she fired her heat rays off at the attacker. The attack dragged her out of the water and hurled her back to the pier. Blossom crashed into the attacker's knee and dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

"How does it feel? To be weak and helpless? Are you afraid?" The mystery woman asked, stomping down on Blossom's back. She gasped a breathless scream and struggled under her boot. Blossom's tentacles tore from her back and batted the attacker away. She rose to her feet, snarling. Her eyes were on fire, her tentacles were snapping like whips. She shifted her arm into blade and continued powering up.

"I am not weak! And I am not afraid!" Blossom charged the attack, swinging at her with all her fury. The mystery woman caught her blade in her hand and smashed her across the face with a vicious right hook. The attacker stomped her into the ground again, catching each of Blossom's tentacles in her hands and began to tug at them.

A new pain, one she'd never felt before, shot through her. Blossom's arm shifted back to normal; she threw her head back and let out a bloodcurdling scream. The newcomer stomped down harder and tugged on her tentacles once more. Blossom screamed and fired off her heat rays, tearing into the pavement.

"You are pathetic!" the attack snarled, picking her up off the ground and smashing her up against the warehouse, "But you won't be forever...I can't let you get away with it, I can't let you ruin any more lives! I can't let this happen...I'm going to kill you, and then this will all be over!" the newcomer screamed, kicking Blossom through the wall.

Blossom sat up. The newcomer stomped on her stomach. Blossom screamed breathlessly, coughing up blood. She took a deep breath and forced her eyes open. Her blood went cold, she was staring down the barrel of a weapon she didn't recognize.

"Just one shot...one pull and it's over...it's all over," The newcomer took a deep breath and licked her lips. The weapon began to power up, the end glowing fierce white. "I...will...kill you. And this nightmare...just pull the trigger and the nightmare stops...pull the trigger..." The weapon started to shake. The attacker pressed the burning barrel against Blossom's cheek. The redhead trembled, a tear streaking down her cheek. The newcomer gasped, pulling the gun away and taking several steps back.

"Dammit...no...no, God dammit! You're a monster! I need to kill you! You're a fucking monster! The entire world is over because of you! It's all fucking over! NO!" She pointed the gun at Blossom again, but it quickly lowered. "No...you aren't...not yet...not the same...God dammit...DAMMIT!"

"Blossom!?" The two looked up, hearing Boomer's desperate shout.

"Blossom! We're coming!" Buttercup echoed. Peering through the walls, Blossom saw her sisters, the Rowdyruff Boys, and Baku rushing over to the building. The door was blasted from its hinges and light poured in. While Bubbles and Buttercup rushed to her side, Boomer and Uka-sensei stood between her and the newcomer.

"Who are you!? GET AWAY FROM HER!" Boomer screamed, his body crackling with electricity. Blossom had never seen him like this, every bit of goof was gone from him. And Baku...Blossom could see it was all Aku could do to control his form. He was practically snarling.

The newcomer's hands dropped to her sides. Blossom was amazed—this woman was able to overpower her and thrash her without breaking a sweat. But, now she had just lost her will to fight? With a defeated scream, the newcomer turned and ran. Boomer started after her, but was beat by Buttercup and Bubbles, shooting off like bullets, his brothers close behind.

Boomer and Baku went to Blossom's side. She still had tears running down her cheeks, but...

"Blossom?" Boomer asked. Baku knelt down beside her and gave her a tight hug.

"What is it?" he asked. Blossom shivered, then started laughing, collapsing in his arms. Baku and Boomer exchanged a glance. Blossom could only laugh, holding the place on her cheek where the gun had been pressed.

I won't let you get away with it

XxXxX

Following the attack on Blossom, the riots began to settle down. By Sunday afternoon, everything seemed to have returned to normal. It was, strangely, as if nothing had ever happened. School had been pushed back to Wednesday, hoping that, by then, things would be settled at last.

However, while the kids relaxed, the city seethed. Damage had been done, and even if the radicals were dead or imprisoned, there was a current running beneath Townsville. Others: monsters and meta-humans, weren't welcome. As Wednesday drew closer, Dexter and Agent Honeydew raced against the clock.

Something big was coming. Something none of them could have ever prepared for.
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Dreams of an Absolution