* * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 2:

"Adrift"

The terrifying spectacle the girls had just witnessed happened so quickly, it was almost too much for the mind to fully comprehend…yet, the sight of the Earth itself breaking up was something that seemed to last an eternity to them. Now that it was all over, the three of them floated there quietly in space, speechless, their breathing the only sound coming through their radios.

Eventually, Blossom drifted forward a few feet towards where the Earth once was, and whispered, "N-no…we…we failed them…"

Buttercup didn’t take her eyes off the spot either, as she said, "I don’t….I-I can’t…believe…"

"P-Professor…" Bubbles whispered. "Miss Bellum…Ms. Keane…e-everyone…" She broke out crying, the tears collecting against the faceplate of her spacesuit.

Buttercup flew over and put a comforting arm around her. She herself was crying now too, though, and managed to say, "What are we…gonna do…?"

Blossom said, "I…I don’t know…it…it can’t be over, not like this…" Tears welled up in her own eyes, finally, and she yelled, "Not like this!!"

They fell silent once again, as the hopelessness of their situation began to dawn on them. The Earth was everything they had ever known, and it was all taken away from them in an instant. Everything was gone…they were alone, adrift in space, with nowhere to go, and nothing left for them.

After another long silence, Bubbles finally spoke, "We’d…we’d better find someplace to go…"

Buttercup, though, said, "Like where? We’re in space!"

"We’re the only…the only ones still a-alive…" Bubbles managed, "…m-maybe we can find something…a planet to live on, or…"

"We can’t…" Buttercup said, shaking her head, "Earth was the only planet with air, and you can’t live…on…" She trailed off as something occurred to her. She looked over at Blossom, who stared back at her, and the look in her eyes told her that they were both thinking the same thing.

"Buttercup, how much air do you have left?" Blossom asked urgently. She checked the status panel on the arm of her own suit at the same time.

Buttercup read off her status, "Forty-two minutes…oh, man…"

"Me too…" Blossom said, confirming her own readouts. "Less than that."

"So we’re alive," Buttercup exclaimed, "but we’re gonna run out of air and die anyway?"

Bubbles checked her own, and cried, "I’ve only got nineteen minutes left!!" She clutched onto Buttercup’s arm and said, "What do we do? What do we do?!" She was on the verge of panic.

"Easy, Bubbles!" Blossom said, even though she felt terrified as well. "Breathe slowly…you’ll use up the air in your suit too fast."

"What does it matter?" Buttercup said, with a nervous chuckle. "We’ve had it either way!"

"Get a grip on yourselves, you two!" Blossom ordered. "Now…let’s just talk…we might as well make the most of…of what time we have left…"

Buttercup calmed down, and said, "You’re right…I just feel like talking, too…"

Bubbles paused, and said in a small voice, "…okay…but I’m…still scared…"

"Me too, Bubbles." Buttercup admitted. "Me too…" Buttercup gazed out into the darkness. Man, she thought, what a crummy way to die...all alone out here...no funeral, no burial, nothing. Just waiting until it's time. What kind of end is that? Not what I had in mind...not at all...

* * *

They had found a small piece of rock to sit on, part of the debris from the explosion, and just talked for a while. They mostly talked about the things they missed about the Earth, or their own expectations of the future. "Y’know, it’s funny," Buttercup said. "I always thought someday I’d grow up to be the world’s greatest superhero or something. The toughest fighter on Earth."

Blossom looked down at the chunk of rock they were sitting on and said, "Heh…I guess technically you are." Buttercup grinned a little at that.

Bubbles placed her hand down on the rock, like she was trying to feel it through the suit, and said, "Our own little piece of home…you know what I’m really gonna miss a lot?" The other shook their heads, and she continued, "Ice cream."

Blossom smiled, "Yeah…with whipped cream…"

"And chocolate sauce…" Buttercup said, leaning back a little.

Bubbles added, "And a cherry on top. Two cherries, like we’d always get when the professor made th--…" She cut herself off, blinking to remove some tears that formed. "I wish I knew it was the last time we were going to see him…I-I would have said goodbye…"

Buttercup said sadly, "Yeah…I know what you mean…"

Bubbles hesitated, then said, "I'm even going to miss Mojo. He tried to help us in the end. Maybe, even after all the bad stuff he's done, he really wasn't so bad after all..."

"He sure didn't deserve a fate like that," Blossom said. "None of the people on Earth did."

"We don't deserve this fate, either...but then, who really deserves any kind of fate?" Buttercup remarked.

"Why, Buttercup," Blossom said, cracking a grin. "I'm impressed...that's very philosophical of you." Buttercup smiled. Blossom thought, That's good...keep everyone in good spirits. I don't want our final moments to be unhappy, no matter how dismal things are...

Bubbles looked down at her status display, and read it aloud, in a shaky voice, "Less than a minute." Buttercup and Blossom each took one of her hands as she continued, "I love you guys…d-don’t leave me…" They could feel her hands trembling, even through her suit.

"We’re right here," Buttercup said, choking back her tears. "We’re not going anywhere."

"Bubbles…" Blossom whispered softly, at a loss for words. Bubbles smiled at her. As she did, her suit buzzed a warning, and the readout on her suit flashed red, ‘Warning: air supply depleted.’ Her breathing quickened a little in fear, but only for a moment, because in the next, she gasped, trying to take in the thinning air that was left in the suit.

Buttercup clenched her eyes shut--she couldn’t bear to watch it--but she didn’t let go of Bubbles’ hand for a second. This is going to happen to us, too, she thought...a preview of things to come. It's worse than knowing I'm going to die: seeing exactly how it's going to happen...

As Bubbles' gasps became worse, Blossom bit her lip, her mind racing. She suddenly reached back on her suit, detaching her air supply. Her suit buzzed a warning in protest, but she didn’t listen to it. Instead, she flew back quickly behind Bubbles and pulled her empty air tank off, replacing it with hers.

Buttercup saw this and exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"

The air flowed back into Bubbles’ suit, and she coughed a few times, taking deep breaths. Bubbles looked over at Blossom and managed to say, "You…*cough*…y-you gave me your air?…but why…?"

Blossom didn’t say anything, but just smiled. A second later, she wheezed slightly as what air was left in her suit slowly ran out. Buttercup flew over, grabbing her arm in an embrace, "No! Blossom!" Bubbles, her strength returning, grabbed her other arm similarly. Blossom began convulsing as she tried desperately to take in another breath.

Blossom, why did you have to go and do that? Bubbles thought. You didn’t have to give up the rest of your air for me…but you’d give up anything for one of us, wouldn’t you? She cried, completely speechless at Blossom’s self-sacrificial act, the last noble thing she would ever do...

They suddenly became aware of movement. The light from the sun, which had been shining on them until now, was momentarily eclipsed. Both of them looked up in surprise, and saw what it was: a sleek metallic vessel, in an odd-looking teardrop shape, tapering off at one end. They only had a few moments to look at it, before a cone of swirling blue energy shot out from the ship, surrounding them. They dematerialized, leaving behind only the rock they had been sitting on…

* * *

The girls materialized on a raised platform. The only light came from the ceiling just above the platform, where a bright white light shown down on them, but everything else around it was in darkness. Blossom was still struggling, and reflexively disconnected the seal on her helmet, removing it with a loud hiss. As she did, she gasped, and coughed a few times, thankfully taking in lungfuls of air from around her.

Bubbles was relieved, "Blossom! You’re okay!"

Blossom nodded, still panting, "I-I can breathe…there’s air here!"

Buttercup removed her own helmet and took in a cautious breath. Bubbles did as well. "Yeah, you’re right…" Buttercup said, "but…where are we?"

The light above them grew dimmer, while at the same time, the rest of the room illuminated gradually. The room was round, with the bluish metallic walls at a slightly curved angle, almost like the side of a dome. They were mostly featureless, save for a few square panels, including some that had computer readouts on them. There was a single door set into the wall, a couple of feet wider and taller than an average human-sized door. As soon as the lights had finished coming on, the door slid into the wall, opening up.

As the girls watched, a single figure strode into the room. She was definitely alien, but she had vaguely humanoid features, and looked recognizably feminine. The features on her head were lizard-like, almost like a dragon. Despite her organic appearance, though, her skin was shiny, almost like it was made of metal, and her eyes had a soft blue glow. She also had lizard-like feet and a long tail, and a pair of large, curved wings, angelic-style, were folded on her back. She wore a shining silver metal suit on her body, like part of an environment suit that was missing the arms, legs, and helmet.

As she approached the platform, the girls climbed to their feet and stared at her warily. She didn’t make any threatening movements, however, and smiled at them instead. It spoke to them in some strange language, "Bsf zpv uisff bmm sjhiu?"

Blossom scratched her head, "I-I’m sorry, we don’t understand…"

Turning around, Bubbles looked at Blossom and said, "Oh, she asked if we were all right."

"Huh? How do you know that?" Buttercup said, confused.

Blossom just grinned. That’s our Bubbles, she thought. Our little universal translator. I’m beginning to think she can speak with any living thing. "Tell her we’re all right…and tell her ‘thank you’, also."

Bubbles nodded, and looked back at the alien, saying, "Xf bsf bmm sjhiu…uibol zpv!"

The alien looked relieved…she glanced at the others, and said something long and descriptive, "Uif puifst ep opu voefstuoe nf. Jg zpv mfu nf upvdi zpvs ifbe, J dbo mfbso zpvs mbohvbhf."

Thinking for a second, Bubbles smiled and said, "Plbz!" Nodding, the alien reached out with her hand, placing it on Bubbles’ head. The other girls looked concerned, but Bubbles didn’t resist, like she had been expecting it. The alien closed her eyes, and a white aura appeared briefly around her hand. After only a couple of seconds, she removed it, and opened her eyes again.

"What was that all about, Bubbles?" Buttercup demanded.

The alien suddenly spoke up, "I think I can explain." Blossom and Buttercup were both surprised to hear her speaking English, but Bubbles didn’t seem to be at all. The alien continued, "I was able to make a limited telepathic link so that I could learn your language."

"Who are you?" Blossom asked.

"My name is Xianea. I was on a peaceful, information-gathering expedition to this section of the galaxy, when I discovered the predicament your planet was in. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could have done to prevent it…"

"Us either," Buttercup admitted sadly.

"I am surprised to find survivors, though," Xianea commented. "I didn’t expect to find any, though I searched anyway just to be sure. I’m glad now that I did."

"So are we!" Blossom said. "You showed up just in the nick of time. Any longer and…well…we would have been in trouble. Thank you."

"You’re welcome." Xianea walked back towards the door, motioning for the girls to follow. They flew behind her, and she raised an eyebrow as she walked, "Fascinating…your species has the ability to defy gravity?"

"Not really," Blossom answered. "We, uh…we aren’t exactly ‘typical’ earthlings…"

Xianea nodded, "Ah, that would explain it. I admit I have almost no data on your world. It’s one of the reasons I came this way in the first place. I’m a Centraxian…the driving force of our species is to gather knowledge. To this end, we observe other species from all over the galaxy, learning about their history and culture."

They continued walking down a narrow hallway, and entered into what looked like the cockpit center for the ship. There was a single seat in the front, with a set of controls, and several passenger seats, it looked like, behind it. She sat down in the front and started working the controls. The girls took their own seats as well. "Where are we going now?" Bubbles asked.

"Hmm…" Xianea thought. "If you have someplace in mind, I’ll gladly take you there. It’s the least I could do."

"We don’t know anyone out here," Buttercup answered.

"That’s right," Blossom agreed. "Earthlings don’t…I mean, didn’t…have the technology to go into space very often. We have no place to go…"

"I could take you back to Centraxia with me," Xianea offered. "It’s not Earth, but perhaps we can ask the Repository to find you a suitable home…"

"The Repository?" Bubbles asked, curiously.

Xianea started inputting their course back to her homeworld, and the stars out the front rolled by as the ship changed course. She explained, "The Repository of Knowledge. It’s an enormous…" She hesitated, trying to think of the closest English word to describe it. "…’database’ of information, everything that the Centraxians have gathered for centuries. It’ll have information on thousands of inhabited worlds. All you need to do is ask it to find one similar to your own world, and if one exists, it will find it."

"Wow…that’s pretty cool…" Buttercup said.

"’Cool’?" Xianea replied, confused. "The temperature on Centraxia is usually quite pleasant, actually…"

Blossom shook her head, "Sorry, it’s slang." Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she quickly asked, "Hey, this ‘Repository’ you’re talking about…can it answer anything?"

Xianea thought about that for a second, "Mostly…the information it holds is so extensive that it can extrapolate almost anything that it doesn’t know for certain."

"Do you think…" Blossom hesitated, then continued, "Do you think it could find some way of bringing our planet back?" The other girls stared at her. "I’m just saying…maybe somewhere it has information on how to bring back something that’s been destroyed, or how to travel through time, or something."

"That’s an interesting idea," Xianea said thoughtfully. "If such technology existed, the Repository would certainly know about it. I think we would be willing to help you. From our limited knowledge of Earth, it was rumored to be a place of incredible diversity of information, history, culture and art, the likes of which no other planet has seen before. The loss of such a world would be a great loss to the Centraxians as well."

"Oh, thank you!" Bubbles exclaimed. "You don’t know what this means to us…"

"It’s really no trouble at all," Xianea said. "By the way, I haven’t asked you your names yet…what do you call yourselves?"

Blossom spoke up, "My name’s Blossom…these are my sisters, Bubbles and Buttercup. Together, we’re usually known as the Powerpuff Girls."

"Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup," Xianea said. "Interesting connotations your names have in your language. It is an honor to meet you, ‘Powerpuff Girls’. If you’re ready, I can begin our trip to Centraxia."

Bubbles nodded, "We’re ready. Right?" The other girls nodded as well.

"Excellent," Xianea smiled. She flipped a few switches on the control panel, and a low hum filled the ship. "You girls should probably hold on to something…since you’re new to space travel, you probably aren’t used to singularity jumps yet."

"Singu-what?" Buttercup asked. A moment later, in front of the ship, a small, dark-purple vortex opened up, pulling the ship forward into it. The ship seemed to stretch forward for a moment, then vanished altogether, off on its way to Centraxia…