Blossom gazed down at the burning fire in the park. The trees were ablaze, the flames spread quickly across the grass…it would almost be beautiful to watch, were it not for the seriousness of her task at hand. She noticed that there was only about a dozen people in the park at the time…not as many as she had hoped for, but it was a start.

Glancing to one side, Buttercup saw people beginning to congregate near the edge of the fire, onlookers that came to find out what was going on. She pointed them out, "More of them, Blossom. Our little light show seems to be attracting them."

Blossom nodded. She reached onto her back, drawing a sword that she had constructed to replace the one she had lost earlier. "Superb," she said. "This will make the job a lot easier. Let’s begin, shall we?"

Way off to one side, Bubbles was watching this. She saw the people coming near the edge of the park, curious about the fire, and she saw Blossom drawing her sword. The people didn’t seemed too alarmed, because they had no idea what was going to happen to them. No, get away! she thought. She’s going to kill you all! Get out of there! She was horrified to see both Blossom and Buttercup dive towards them, swords at the ready. She gritted her teeth, and thought, I won’t let you do it! Not another person!

She fired a blast from her eyebeams, striking them from the side and knocking them out of the air. They impacted into the side of a nearby building. While the people looked on, confused, Bubbles flew over and shouted, "Get out of here! It’s dangerous!" The crowd didn’t run all at once, so Bubbles yelled louder, "What are you waiting for?! Go!"

They finally started to run away from the area. As Bubbles watched them go, she was suddenly rammed into from the side and knocked from the air. Buttercup had charged into her, shoulder first. She landed in the park, skidding across the ground and striking into a burning tree. It split under the impact, causing a shower of burning leaves to drift down over her. She ignored it—the fire couldn’t hurt her anyway—and climbed back to her feet.

Buttercup looked down at her and said, "Why are you trying to stop us? This is something that needs to be done, Bubbles…and besides, you know you don’t stand a chance against us."

"I don’t care!" Bubbles shouted back. She picked up one of the halves of the tree she had split through, and swung it like a club. Its burning leaves left a fiery arc in the air, and it struck Buttercup, causing a brief explosion of burning embers to fill the air. Buttercup was knocked down the street…as this happened, Blossom flew into view, and Bubbles wasted no time in throwing the entire tree at her. It slammed into her and carried her into the street near where Buttercup had landed. Bubbles didn’t pursue them immediately; she hesitated, trying to decide what to do next.

Both of them sat up, rubbing their heads, and a group of onlookers from the street started to circle around them. One of them asked, "Blossom? Buttercup? Are you all right?"

Blossom looked over at Buttercup and said, "What do you think?"

"Let’s not pass up the opportunity." she answered.

"I agree," Blossom nodded, and raised her sword, "Let’s not."

Bubbles gaped in horrified disbelief at the scene in the distance. She watched helplessly as the girls raised their swords and flew into the crowd, effortlessly slashing the people nearest to them. The people panicked and tried to run, but they were too fast; they waded through them, swathing a path of death behind them…

Ohmygod, Bubbles thought, ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod…

It all happened so fast. Before she could even react, the slaughter was over…dozens of bodies lined the street, like something out of a nightmare. Floating in the middle of it, like a pair of demons, the girls glanced around coldly, as though admiring their handiwork. Bubbles couldn’t take it anymore…all she did was let up on them for a second, and innocent people suffered. She shrieked, "NOOOOO!!!" and flew towards them, pulling out her own sword.

They were prepared for her, though. Both of them leapt in opposite directions, and she ended up flying between them. She landed on the street and spun around to face them, holding her sword out in front of her defensively. The blood on the ground at her feet sickened her, but she was too angry to care. She furiously cried out, "How could you do this?!"

"Bubbles, Bubbles…" Buttercup said in a condescending way. "It would all become clear to you if you would only join us…"

"I’d rather d--…" Bubbles cut herself off, as she realized that it didn’t mater. She narrowed her eyes, and said, "All I want is the old Blossom and Buttercup back, and you’re not them. But they’re inside you somewhere, I know it…"

"You really don’t get it, do you?" Blossom said. "We haven’t changed…we’re still the same. We just know the truth about life. It serves no purpose other than to create suffering and despair."

Buttercup nodded, "That’s right. We’re still superheroes, after all. We still try to put right what is wrong. We just know our true target now."

Blossom continued, "The longer we wait, the more life spreads, and the more torment it creates. Only by eradicating it from this world can it ever hope to have peace again. And peace it shall have, spinning forever through eternity, with no more pain…only silent bliss…"

Their words chilled Bubbles. Standing her ground, she tried to stay firm against them, but the sword shook visibly in her hand. She spoke slowly, nearly spitting the words out, "You’re not any kind of heroes…you’re no better than Mojo…"

"Mojo?" Blossom said. "He had the right idea all along; he just wasn’t aware of it. We should thank him, anyway—and the professor—for opening our eyes. And rest assured, we will, before sending them on their way to oblivion…"

That finally did it…Bubbles threw back her head and screamed in anger. It was a loud, powerful scream that caused all the windows in the buildings along the side of the street to shatter at once. She leapt forward in a flash of blue, her sword raised over her head.

She came down towards Blossom first, slashing wildly. Blossom nimbly dodged most of her swings, backing up away from her advance, and raised her sword to block the last swing. Bubbles sensed that Buttercup was trying to come up behind her, and quickly spun around, her sword cutting a 360-degree arc in the air. Buttercup jumped back to avoid it just in time.

They both swung at her at the same time…she quickly ducked, and they missed. Raising her sword up again, she thrusted the edge of it towards Buttercup, who parried with her own sword. Bubbles immediately followed it with a strong swing, and their two swords clashed together, each of them pushing hard against it, trying to overpower the other. Blossom advanced towards Bubbles’ unprotected side, but she was prepared for her…still pushing against Buttercup’s sword, she brought both of her feet up and kicked as hard as she could. The blow set Blossom flying up into the air, and onto one of the rooftops.

She concentrated back on the power struggle with Buttercup, who gritted her teeth and said, "Give it up, Bubbles! You know I’m stronger than you…"

"Not…for…long…" Bubbles grunted, exerting her full strength into keeping Buttercup’s sword at bay. She finally pulled one of her hands away from the sword in a flash…that gave Buttercup the advantage, and Bubbles’ sword was knocked away. Bubbles, however, had enough time to grab the vial of Antidote X she had tucked away, and she splashed the rest of its contents up at her.

"No!" Buttercup yelled, staggering back. She tried to wipe it off of herself, but it had already done its job, rendering her powerless. Bubbles dropped the empty vial, and dove for her sword. In a cry of rage, Buttercup tried to take another swing at her, but she had already raised the sword and blocked it…then, with one easy motion, she knocked Buttercup’s weapon away.

She fell back, and raised her arms protectively in front of her face. Bubbles raised her sword, preparing to deliver the deathblow…but she hesitated. Something deep inside her kept her from doing it. She killed these people! she told herself. She’s not Buttercup anymore, she’s a monster! A demon! But…she’s my sister…we could still save her…there has to be a way…

She finally brought the end of the sword down, hilt-first, clobbering Buttercup with it. She collapsed, out cold. Bubbles returned the sword to her back, and lifted Buttercup up, throwing her over her shoulder. As she flew off, heading back for home, she glanced back, and saw Blossom standing on one of the rooftops, watching her leave but not pursuing. I don’t like leaving Blossom out here like this, she thought, but I don’t have a choice. I don’t think I can beat her now, by myself. Maybe, if the professor can bring the old Buttercup back, we’d have a better chance…

* * *

The professor secured the unconscious Buttercup to a table in the lab, and said, "This is very dangerous, you know, Bubbles. If this doesn’t work, we could be in trouble, especially if she decides to attack."

"I’ll be ready for it, Professor," Bubbles insisted. "It’s a risk I’m willing to take."

"All right," he said reluctantly. He looked around for a moment, and added, "You’ve also left me in an uncomfortable situation…she has to die for the procedure to work, remember."

"I-I know," Bubbles said, "but I just couldn’t do it…"

"Don’t worry…I guess it’s easier on her this way. It will be painless. Maybe, the fact that it’s painless will be what ends up changing her back to her old self. It’s a possibility."

He pulled a set of air tanks over to the table, and moved over to fix the gas mask on Buttercup. She stirred, coming back around, and blinked a few times, "Uhhh, wha…" Her eyes flew open as she realized where she was. The professor quickly fixed the mask to her face, as she protested, "No wait, I---mmph! Mmmmph!" She thrashed a little, but she was held securely in place by the restraints. The professor quickly turned on the nitrous oxide. Gradually, she seemed to calm down, and her eyes drooped, then slowly closed.

Once he was sure Buttercup was completely out, the Professor picked up a needle from a tray of supplies. He took a deep breath, then carefully injected her in the arm with it. Gazing up at the readouts on the monitor, he watched her vital signs. They gradually weakened, then eventually flatlined altogether.

Bubbles wiped a tear from her eye, thinking, With all the death I’ve seen in the past day, I thought I’d be used to it by now…but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it…

Both of them shielded their eyes, as Buttercup’s lifeless body began to glow brightly, and she broke back down into her base elements. The professor gathered them up into a bowl and brought it over to one of the other tables. He quickly mixed it, adding the Chemical X as before.

As soon as this was done, the two of them moved to a safe distance, and the professor told her, "Listen…don’t say anything that might jog her memory of what happened. I’m going to try to see if I can work with her to keep those memories suppressed." Bubbles nodded, understanding. A moment later, there was a bright explosion from the bowl, and as expected, they saw Buttercup hovering over it.

Something was wrong, though…she was shivering, her arms folded in front of her. The professor stuck his head up from their safe place, and said, "Are you all right?"

Buttercup ran a hand across her chest slowly, as though contemplating…then, she looked up at the two, her expression returning to its impassive state. "Nice try, professor," she hissed, "but it’s not that easy. Our memories return faster after the first time." Before Bubbles could stop her, she flew up the stairs and out of the lab.

"No, no!" Bubbles exclaimed. "It didn’t work…Professor, we gotta find a way to save them! You gotta do something!"

"I’ll try, but that was our best hope," the professor said sadly. "We may have to face the fact that we’ll never get our Blossom or Buttercup back again…"

Bubbles smacked her fist on one of the tables, shouting, "No!" The table split and collapsed under the strength of the hit, but she didn’t care…she said, "I’ll never stop believing it…we can get them back, I know it!"

At that moment, she heard a sound upstairs…it was the steady buzz of the PowerPuff Hotline. Without a word, she dashed upstairs and picked it up, "Hello?"

The Mayor’s voice came from the other end of the line, "PowerPuff Girls! I just got into the office, and they told me that Townsville Park is on fire!"

"I know, Mayor," she said, "I’m working on it. Listen, Mayor, you’ve got to--…"

She heard a faint crash on the other end of the line, and the Mayor said, "Oh…never mind, Bubbles; Blossom’s here already, I’ll ask her to take care of it…"

Blossom?! she thought. Quickly, she yelled, "Mayor! Get out of there!!"

The Mayor’s voice continued, a little fainter, like he was speaking away from the phone. "Blossom, there’s a giant fire in the pa--…Blossom? Gwaaaaaa! *KRAK*" The line became silent.

"Mayor?! Mayor?!" Bubbles called out, hopefully.

There was no response. A few seconds later, though, she heard someone pick up the receiver on the other end, and Blossom’s voice came through the line, "Hello, Bubbles."

"B-Blossom!" Bubbles said, her voice filling with hate. "What did you do to the Mayor?"

"Let’s just say he has a lot going through his mind right now," she answered. "I’d put Miss Bellum on the line in his place, but she’s hung up at the moment…" Her voice was cold, with no trace of humor in it.

"You…you monster!!" Bubbles cried out, the tears returning to her eyes once again.

"Not at all," came the reply, "I just thought I’d show you how futile your efforts are. While you were wasting time trying to convert Buttercup, I continued killing. You can’t ever hope to save anyone; you must have realized that by now."

"N-no, I’ll never accept that," Bubbles said, "I can save them…"

Blossom challenged, "Try and stop us if you must. We look forward to proving you wrong."

With that, there was a click, followed by a dial tone. Bubbles slowly set the receiver back down. She envisioned all the people she knew in Townsville, watching them die at Blossom and Buttercup’s hands. Everyone she knew and loved. She pictured the professor, cowering back, as they rose those awful, bloodstained swords…

They have to be stopped, Bubbles thought. For the good of Townsville…it’s either them or us. And if it means killing them, I can’t be afraid of that…I have to be strong…

* * *

Blossom hovered over the park, waiting. She held a sword in each hand, and merely stayed there, watching the fire burn down below. It wasn't quite as large of a fire as it was before, but it was still going strong. Huge patches of burnt trees and grass covered the area. The sun had not yet risen, but it wouldn't be much longer now. In the meantime, the fire still cast an eerie glow across that part of the city.

Buttercup flew up to where Blossom was hovering, who said without looking, "You can't let your guard down like that anymore, Buttercup."

"I know," she said. "Thanks for looking after my sword for me." Blossom nodded, and handed it back to her. She took it and slung it onto her back. "So, back to business?"

"Yes, of course," Blossom replied. Then she narrowed her eyes and cocked her head slightly to one side, listening intently. She heard a distant sound approaching, and thought, Bubbles...well, now it ends, one way or another.

Sure enough, a moment later, Bubbles flew into view, stopping in front of them. "Girls!" she shouted. "You've had it! I'm gonna make sure you never hurt anyone ever again!"

"You mean," Buttercup said, "like this?" She turned her head to look at one of the nearby skyscrapers, and fired her eyebeams...it sliced through the lower half of the structure, and the upper half shook unsteadily. Bubbles gasped, and shot towards Buttercup, landing a punch to her jaw...it knocked her back, and forced her to stop firing, but it was already too late...the upper part of the building began to topple over, towards the street. She could see and hear people from the windows, screaming in fear.

Bubbles quickly started to fly towards the building so she could catch it, but before she could even make it halfway there, Blossom fired her own eyebeams in a strong, wide blast. The beam shot past Bubbles and struck the center of the piece of building that was falling. In seconds, the blast ripped through it, and the entire thing exploded into a million pieces.

Bubbles stopped and stared, but only for a moment. She spun back around, ready to attack them again, and saw that Buttercup had recovered from the punch she had received, and was taking shots at passerby's with her eyebeams. Bubbles paled in terror. She could only keep one of them occupied at a time, and in the meantime, the other one would be free to continue the killing spree. It was impossible to keep them both at bay.

Gritting her teeth, she told herself, Just focus on one of them! Forget about the other one! If you can just stop one, then you can deal with the other later... She charged towards Blossom, pulling her sword out. Blossom calmly raised her sword and flew forward, prepared for battle. The two of them reached each other and began a fierce volley of swings and thrusts. The sound of metal against metal reverberated through the air.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Buttercup continuing her attacks on the buildings. Ignore it, she thought to herself. You can't help them that way! Focus! She swung her sword again, but this time, she immediately followed it up with a kick. Blossom parried her swing, but the kick struck her in the side, and she plummeted towards the ground below. She stopped just before hitting, but was still dazed. Bubbles dove after her and spun around once, her blade slicing through the air in an enormous arc. She felt it connect.

Blossom dropped her sword and grabbed her shoulder, crying out in pain. The blow had severed off her arm. She reeled back, trying to gain her balance, but the shock of the injury was too much for her. She fell back, passing out on the ground, while blood continued to flow from her shoulder.

Bubbles was visibly shaken, but tried not to let it get to her. She knew what she was getting into, and what she had to do. Blossom was finished now...she was unconscious, and she would die from the blood loss soon enough. She had more important things to attend to...turning around, she saw Buttercup still hovering in the air. She had stopped attacking the people and was paying attention to Bubbles once again.

Bubbles pointed her sword in her direction and said, "You aren't taking her back this time! You have to get by me first!"

Buttercup said, "No problem. Let's see how good you really are, Bubbles." With that, she flew down to the ground and landed, standing and waiting patiently for her to attack. Bubbles frowned, and began to approach.

Don't let your guard down, she thought. She's tough...really tough...

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the lab, Professor Utonium worked long and hard mixing formulas. He had put the PowerPuff recreation research on hold for now, and instead, was working on making Duranium. It was a very difficult metal to create, because of its strength, but he was confident that the process would work. He didn't need very much, anyway, just a little.

Carefully heating the base metals together in the basin, he watched as the nearly indestructible metal began to take form. He carefully poured the special bonding element into the basin, the chemical that gave the metal its durability. The chemical was dissolved, and the molten metal glowed brightly, yet gave off little heat.

It was ready...he worked quickly, as the metal would cool and harden very soon. He tipped the basin, pouring its contents into the molds below. He put a sufficient amount into each separate mold, leaving the metal to cool.

While he waited, he walked over to another table. He took out a wrench and started putting the finishing touches on the device. He frowned a little at it, and sighed, "I hope I never have to use this. I promise, only as a last resort..."

* * *

Buttercup glared silently at Bubbles. The flames that were still burning in the park behind her left her face in shadow. She beckoned, "Well, are you going to fight, or are you too scared?"

Bubbles steeled herself and took a deep breath. This is it, she thought. You can do it. She let out a scream, almost a war cry, and threw herself forward, sword at the ready. Buttercup merely watched her close the distance between them, but then suddenly opened fire with her eyebeams. It struck Bubbles' sword, causing her to almost lose her grip on it. She slowed her approach, trying to regain her balance, and that's when Buttercup attacked, leaping towards her with a swing from her own blade.

Bubbles managed to pull her sword up in front of her just soon enough to stop Buttercup's attack, but it was a very near thing. She felt a sudden drop in her confidence, and Buttercup took advantage of this, advancing forward and swinging her sword like mad. Bubbles couldn't make any kind of attack of her own, but instead put all her effort just into keeping from being hit.

She was forced further and further back with each blow. The force of the swords colliding together caused sparks to jump into the air, each time lighting the darkened terrain with a brief flash of blue light. Bubbles eventually bumped her back against a tree...with no where to run, she jumped straight up, as Buttercup's next swing struck the trunk of the tree, slicing through it like it wasn't even there.

Bubbles did a little somersault, landing behind Buttercup...she quickly spun around, swinging her sword, but Buttercup still managed to block it. Bubbles leaped back, and waited, catching her breath, but not taking her eyes off of her sister. Buttercup faced her, and gritted her teeth in anger. She said, "You're getting tired, Bubbles...too bad you can't keep up with me."

"I'll show you...just wait..." Bubbles responded, still breathing heavily. She gathered her strength and flew forward to attack again. Buttercup swung at the same time she did, but when their swords collided, hers struck with much more force. It pushed Bubbles back a step, and knocked her off-balance. Buttercup swung again at once, and her blade sliced into Bubbles' shoulder. She yelped, and stumbled back even further. She clutched her shoulder with her free hand...blood trickled down the length of her arm.

"You can't win," Buttercup reminded her. "You might as well give up."

"Never!" Bubbles declared angrily. She charged forward, holding her sword out point-first, preparing a thrust. Buttercup prepared to knock the blade out of the way with her own, but at the last second, Bubbles kicked off from the ground in a sudden leap to the left. Buttercup was taken off-guard by this move, and Bubbles swung her blade to the right as she passed her. It sliced across her side, a deep cut, and Buttercup gave a short scream, dropping her sword and cringing in pain. She fell to the ground, gripping the cut.

Bubbles stood over her. Buttercup was helpless now...she was in too much agony from the cut to move. It was time to finish her. Bubbles raised her sword slowly.

Do it, she thought. You have to. This is your chance. Put an end to the horror, once and for all.

Something in her mind screamed at her, No...take her back to the professor. She's your sister! As long as she's alive, you can save her. You can get her back!

The sword shook in her hand, and she clenched her eyes, trying to sort out her feelings...she thought, You have to! Everyone's counting on you! More people will die if you don't! It has to end here! It has to end now!! DO IT!!!

She took a deep breath, and finally decided. I'm so sorry, she thought...Goodbye, Buttercup... She raised the sword higher so she could bring it down at last...

It was over. Bubbles clenched her eyes shut, stunned by what just happened. She slowly released her hold on the handle of her sword, letting it fall from her grasp, and fell to her knees. Her eyes filled with tears, and she managed to whisper softly, "...n-no...whyyy...."

She toppled forward, landing face first into ground...Blossom was right behind her, awake once again, with her sword planted firmly in Bubbles' back. She gritted her teeth through the blood loss, and managed to hover up off the ground. She pulled the sword free from Bubbles, replacing it on her back, and scooped up both of her sisters underneath her remaining arm. She flew off into the sky, grunting through the pain, "Now...now we will...be together...at last..."