Phantasmal Truths
By: Mark J. Hadley
CHAPTER 5
Blossom tried to pull herself together, but was becoming more and more difficult. Everything they had been through…the nightmares, the illusions, everything…it was all so much to bear, and it was all that much worse not knowing where it was coming from. Now, it had all started to fall into place, but even so, she still felt cold and helpless. Her voice betrayed her, sounding just as helpless as she spoke softly, “Him…”
Speaking in a melodious voice that belied his true nature, he said, “Hello, girls! I just thought I’d stop by and see how you were doing. I imagine you’re enjoying yourselves, hmm?”
Blossom clenched her teeth, “You’re behind all this?!”
Him modestly waved his claw and said with a chuckle, “Well, yes…I suppose I did have a hand in it. Some of my best work, don’t you think?”
Her own rage boiling over, Buttercup shouted, “You’ve gone too far this time! Scaring us completely out of our minds like this!!”
“Why, thank you!” Him said, smiling wider than ever, “Sometimes it’s soooo hard to tell if my work is having an effect or not…your feedback means a lot to me, truly...” He vanished, and reappeared behind Bubbles, placing a claw in mock sympathy on her shoulder, “And how are you doing, my dear? Enjoying yourself, are you?”
Bubbles was still crying, and couldn’t do much other than stare back in disbelief. Buttercup shouted, “Leave her alone!” She was about to fly towards him, but he already had vanished, and reappeared back where he was a few moments before.
I knew he was powerful, Blossom thought, but not that powerful! How is he managing all this? She called out, “Why are you doing this to us? And how?”
“Oh, patience, Blossom,” Him said, “You’ll know soon enough why. As for how…” He lifted one of his claws up slowly, and revealed a small, palm-sized glass orb…it swirled with a deep violet color and had an aura of purple light surrounding it. It seemed to pulse with evil energy, looking both beautiful and deadly at the same time.
Buttercup stared in awe at it, “What is that?”
“This is the Phantasmal Orb,” Him announced proudly, tracing his free claw over its surface. “With it, I can alter your perceptions, making you see and feel whatever I want. It took me nearly two weeks of concentrating all the evil output from Townsville to make it.”
“Evil output?” Blossom asked.
Him nodded, turning the orb around to examine it closer, “Yes…it had the unfortunate side effect of there being no evil in the town for those two weeks…but it was worth it!”
Two weeks? Blossom thought, recalling something she said to the professor earlier. No wonder it was so uneventful…no crimes or anything at all happened in Townsville for those two weeks, while he slowly built up the energy he needed to create this ‘Phantasmal Orb’…
“Well, you made a big mistake!” Buttercup growled, with more confidence than she felt. “Now we know about your little game, so we can stop you!”
Him just cackled, “Oh, if only you knew! You see, girls, I’m not through with you yet…no, not at all…we still have so much more to do…”
“Wrong,” Blossom said, tensing up in preparation for a fight. “It’s over, now.” Bubbles managed to pull herself back to her feet, and prepared herself, too. Buttercup was already prepared…she looked like she was ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Him said, waving a claw and shaking his head sadly. “Girls, you know I don’t like to leave unfinished business. So why don’t we all just take a deep breath, relax…” He raised the orb above his head, and his voice became deeper, darker, “…and say goodbye!!” The orb started glowing brightly, rays of light shining out from it in all directions. The girls shielded their eyes, and started flying towards him, but they didn’t make it in time…
* * *
And suddenly, Buttercup was in the middle of a dark room. Only a single light shined on her from above. She glanced around in confusion. How…how did I get here? she thought. Where are the girls? And Him?
People began to step into the light from around her…all of her friends and family. She saw the kids at school, along with Blossom and Bubbles, standing there, watching her. Buttercup said, “Hey, you two! What’s going on here?”
Blossom and Bubbles glanced at each other, and Blossom said, “Think we should tell the baby?”
“I guess so,” Bubbles said. “Doesn’t really matter.”
“Baby?” Buttercup said, a little irritated. “What do you mean by that?” As she watched, though, she noticed that they were all changing gradually. Her classmates were growing older…within about fifteen seconds, they looked like they were about nine or ten years old. Even her sisters seemed to grow older. Yet, she looked at herself, and saw that she was remaining the same.
It continued on, and pretty soon, they were all in their early teens. Their giggled as they looked down at Buttercup, and she heard some of them speaking, “Hey, look at the little toddler!” “Aww, isn’t she cute?” “A little child…”
“What’s going on?” she demanded, but they didn’t listen to her, they just continued to tease her. She felt angry, but at the same time she felt a little embarrassed, somehow.
Blossom, who by now looked like she was fifteen or sixteen, smirked down at Buttercup and said, “Hey, short stuff…how’s my little sister doing?” Bubbles, next to her, held something up…it was Buttercup’s blanket. Surprised and a little angry to see Bubbles with it, she leapt up to try and grab it from her, but she held it higher, causing her to miss.
“Whoops! A little higher next time, Babycup!” Bubbles giggled.
Buttercup was furious, “Stop that! I’m not a baby!” All the people around her began to laugh at her even more, and they all stepped backwards, disappearing into the darkness again. She could still hear their voices, calling her names, but could no longer see them. “What is this? It’s like I’m dreaming again, but I know I’m not asleep!”
The familiar tone of Him’s voice came from behind her, “That’s because you aren’t, Buttercup. I’m showing you what’s in store for you in the future…”
Buttercup didn’t even turn around…she said, “The future. Heh. Right.”
“I’m quite serious,” Him said, drifting around in front of her…she turned to look away. He continued, “It’s one of your ‘powers’ that you haven’t discovered yet. You will never grow older, I’m afraid…you’ll just be a little five-year-old your entire life.” His voice sounded like he was sad, but his expression showed nothing but glee at this fact.
“No, you’re lying,” Buttercup said. “I won’t believe it!”
“Whether you believe it or not makes it no less true,” he taunted. “You’ll be doomed to live out your life as the little baby of the family. Cute…little…Buttercup. Oh, how delightful it will be to watch your sorrow as you miss out on all the joys of growing older!”
Buttercup closed her eyes, trying to ignore Him. Still, his words shook her…What if he’s telling the truth? I don’t wanna be a child for the rest of my life! She whispered, “…no…”
Him smiled, “Yesss….”
“NO!” Buttercup shouted, waving her arms. “I’m not gonna let it happen!”
“What can you do to stop it?” Him asked. “You’re just a poor little girl…” His laughter echoed, and Buttercup couldn’t stand it. Why is he doing this? she thought. He wouldn’t be flaunting this in my face like this for no reason at all…unless he’s planning something, or…or it’s really true, and he just wants to gloat about it… Buttercup was already too shaken up by everything else that happened so far tonight to be able to stand firm against it. She clenched her eyes tighter, trying to keep herself from crying. Not here, not in front of Him…I’m not a baby, I’m not…
Him stretched out in the air, as though he were lying down to relax, and said, “I can do something to stop it, though. But you wouldn’t be interested in that, now, would you?”
Buttercup’s eyes opened…a few of the tears she was holding in leaked out from the sides, but she didn’t care. “What do you mean?” she whispered.
“I can release you from this power,” Him declared. “You’ll be able to grow older. Yes…you would like that, wouldn’t you? The idea of being the baby of the family is so loathsome to you, you’d be willing to do anything, wouldn’t you?”
Buttercup didn’t say a word. It was true, she would, but…to make a deal with Him? “What’s the catch?” Buttercup asked.
“There is no ‘catch’…just open your mind to me, so that I might work my magic,” Him explained. “So, shall we begin?” He waited for her reply.
Buttercup thought about it…if this was true, this would probably be her only opportunity to stop it from happening. Just go ahead, she thought. You want to grow older, don’t you? He doesn’t even want anything in return! Just do it, go ahead! C’mon, before he changes his mind! As she started to open her mouth to speak, another thought leapt into her head… Wait a sec, what does ‘opening my mind’ have to do with it? No…no, it’s a trick! Don’t listen to him!
“No!” she finally said. “Forget your offer! I refuse!”
Him looked angry, and his voice deepened, “What?! You can’t refuse this! You’ll be a child forever if you do!”
“So? I’d rather stay like this than make a deal with you!” she exclaimed, summoning up all her courage. “The answer is no! And that’s final!” As she spoke, the air around her suddenly seemed to shatter, like glass, into hundreds of tiny shards…
* * *
And suddenly, Blossom found herself
floating above an alien world…no, it wasn’t a world. It was glowing too brightly.
It was the sun…she was hovering there in space, quite a ways from the
surface, yet close enough to feel the intense heat rising from it. She sweated heavily, and shielded her eyes
from the bright glare. What am I doing here? she thought. This
has to be Him’s doing…
She tried to move, but she felt like she was locked in place by some invisible force. She could move her arms and legs, and even swivel around in the air, but she couldn’t fly from that spot. A moment later, Him appeared next to her…in his melodious voice, he said, “So, Blossom, enjoying the view?”
“Why did you bring me out here?” Blossom demanded, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Him spread his arms out, “I wanted a nice quiet place to talk…and this seemed to be a good choice, don’t you think? We have much to discuss…”
Frowning, Blossom said, “Like what? What could I possibly want to discuss with you?”
“I’ll bet you didn’t know that it’s in my power to grant someone immortality…did you?” Him said. Blossom stayed silent, and he continued, “No, I didn’t think so. Well, I do…I can give it to whomever I choose.”
“That’s great,” Blossom said, sarcastically, “but what’s your point?”
“My point, dear Blossom, is that you and I are going to make a little deal,” he said, rubbing his claws together evilly.
With a smirk, Blossom said, “Save your breath, Him. I know what you’re going to say.”
“Oh? And what would that be?” he said, humoring her.
“You’re going to make some deal where I give up, or let you take over Townsville or something, in exchange for immortality. Well, you can forget it. I don’t want to live forever that badly. There’s no way you could convince me to…”
“Why, Blossom, you misunderstand,” he said, cutting her off. Blossom looked confused, and he said, “You have it backwards. You see, I’ve already given you immortality, as we speak.”
Blossom took in a short breath of air. She looked down at her arms…she didn’t feel any different. I’m…immortal? she thought. Looking up in sudden anger, she protested, “Hold on! I didn’t agree to anything yet!”
“I know…consider it a gift,” he said with a grin.
“But…” Blossom said. “But…how do I even know you’re telling the truth? I don’t feel any different…”
“I suppose I could prove it easily enough…” Him said absently. He waved his claw, and suddenly Blossom dropped from where she was floating, directly towards the sun below. It was so sudden, she hadn’t been prepared for it. The invisible force that was holding her before pulled her along, and she couldn’t resist it. Barely a few seconds later, she plunged into the surface.
Blossom screamed, as the invisible force dragged her down, into the depths of the sun. Her entire body was a horrible, searing pain…it felt like it was a hundred times worse than anything she had felt before. Yet somehow, through it all, she not only remained alive, but conscious as well. That just made matters worse…she begged for the pain to stop, begged to pass out or something, but no such luck. She couldn’t move…all she could do was scream.
She couldn’t tell how long she had been down there…seconds, minutes…it felt like an eternity. Eventually, though, the invisible force pulled her back up again…she emerged from the sun’s surface, and in another few seconds, found herself high above the surface, stopping next to Him, who was waiting for her, smiling. Blossom was breathing almost like she was hyperventilating, she was in such a deep state of fear. She couldn’t even form any words at first…she just stared blankly at Him.
“Aww, what’s wrong?” Him said, in a mocking tone. “Stayed out in the sun too long?”
Tears rolling down from her eyes, Blossom finally found her voice, “…Y-you…wha…wh-what do you want f-from me?!…”
“I take it you’re ready to listen to my offer?” Him said. Blossom nodded, shaking. He nodded back and said, “It’s like this…all you have to do is open your mind to me. That’s all. In exchange, I’ll take away your immortality, so that you can die instantly, and avoid any more suffering. Refuse…” His voice darkened, “…and you will spend the rest of eternity in the sun, in eternal torment, unable to die, and unable to truly live…”
“You…you monster!” Blossom exclaimed.
Him folded his arms casually behind his head, and waited. “Better make a decision soon, my little Powerpuff, before I decide to withdraw my offer…”
Blossom looked back down towards
the sun. The thought of spending
another second in there terrified
her, let along an eternity. How can I choose? she thought. I have
to choose between dying instantly or living forever in pain? What kind of decision is that? She
bit her lip, and looked back at Him, who was anxiously awaiting her response.
Look
at him…all smug, knowing he’s got me,
she thought. Why does he want me to open my mind to him
so badly? A sudden thought chilled her…Maybe whatever he’s looking for, he’ll use
it against Bubbles and Buttercup! No, I
can’t let him do that! “Him…n-no, I won’t. I won’t do it.”
“You would
choose everlasting torture over a quick end?!” he growled. “You’re more foolish than I imagined!”
“I-I know letting you into m-my mind is just going to be so you find
something t-to use against the other girls,” Blossom said. “I can never allow that…”
Him frowned, narrowing his eyes, and said, “Fine! So be it!
You’ll have to beg me to change your mind now…” His voice rose in pitch as he smiled, “…and
I know you will, too!” He cackled, as
Blossom plummeted towards the star once again.
She clenched her eyes and teeth, and braced herself…
Once again, she was submerged beneath the sun’s surface, and once
again, the horrible agony began. She
screeched, but then clamped her mouth shut and tensed up…it was difficult to
think, but she managed, No…I
won’t…give him the…satisfaction of watching…me scream! It
was dreadful, and unending, but she didn’t beg to be released…she didn’t let
her will break…one thought comforted her through it: At least…my sisters will…be safe…
Opening her eyes against it, she
somehow saw Him in the distance…he was watching her, furious, and Blossom knew
that this was her chance to show her resolve…she smiled with as much confidence
as she could muster. Abruptly, the
bright, fiery surroundings suddenly split and exploded, like a brick tossed
through a window…
* * *
And suddenly, Bubbles
looked around. She found herself in a
dark hallway…something about it seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t
remember. She couldn’t think straight,
not after all that had happened to her.
Where am I? What’s going on?
She knew that she couldn’t be
dreaming…she had been awake just before she got here. Maybe I was sent
here by Him…or…I don’t know! What am I
going to do? I can’t face him alone! She
called out, “Blossom? Buttercup? Where are you?”
Him’s voice surrounded her,
echoing off the walls of the corridor, “They can’t help you now, Bubbles. No one can help you now…you don’t know where
you are, do you?” Bubbles took another
look around, mostly looking for the source of the voice, but then her
surroundings began to spark a memory…a memory that she had been trying to
forget…
“No!” she exclaimed, as the
details of her dream came back to her.
“I d-don’t want this dream again!
Don’t!” She started looking
around for a way out, and headed quickly down the hallway in one direction, but
froze with a cry of alarm as she saw what she feared she would see.
The zombies came into view
around the edge of the corridor. They
were just as gruesome as in her dream, and they shuffled slowly towards her,
their low moans echoing down the halls.
She didn’t want to look at them, but couldn’t take her eyes off of them
either…Oh god, no, she thought…it’s happening again! No,
please no!!
Almost like he had been listening in on her thoughts, Him’s voice
echoed again, “Yeeeesss! There’s no
escape, Bubbles! But you should know
that better than anyone…”
The zombies continued their
approach. She turned and rushed as fast
as she could in the opposite direction, shrieking, “No! Get away, get away!!” As she gained some distance, she knew what
she would find before she even got there…and sure enough, she approached the
end of the corridor, a dead end, just like in her dream. Leaning up against it, she pounded it once
with her fist in anger, and started crying.
Not again! Please, not again…
The moans grew steadily closer,
and she looked over her shoulder at the zombies. Her lip quivering, she stammered, “I-its only a d-dream,
Bubbles…r-remember what th-they said…you’ll j-just wake up…”
As if on cue, Him materialized
next to her, leaning up casually against the wall. “Ah yes,” he said, “This is a lot like your dream
isn’t it? With one small exception,
Bubbles…” His eyes burned with fire,
and he grinned evilly, his voice becoming darker, “…it’s not!”
“Wh-what…?” Bubbles whispered.
“That’s right…it’s no dream,
Bubbles,” he said, looking back at the zombies, which grew ever closer. “It’s really happening this time. And I can guarantee…it’ll be much worse when it’s actually happening…”
Bubbles started breathing
quickly, pressing back into the corner, sweat pouring down the sides of her
head. “N-no…this isn’t happening!”
Him shrugged, “Just keep telling
yourself that…maybe it’ll give you some comfort before you die…” The zombies were almost on top of her now,
only a dozen feet away and closing. She
thought, No, no no no no…no…god
please no…
“There is an alternative,
though…” he said, scratching the side of his head. “Now, what was it again?
Let me think…”
“What? What is it?!” Bubbles shrieked, as the zombies reached
for her. She tried pushing their arms
away, but to no avail.
“You could…open up your mind to
me, Bubbles,” Him suggested. “If you
do, I’ll make the zombies go away.
Otherwise, I should tell you ‘farewell’ now, while you’re still
alive to hear it…”
The zombies grabbed her, lifting
her into the air. She saw them starting
to bear their putrid yellow teeth. It’s real, she thought…I’m gonna
die! It’s real it’s real it’s real…
Finally, she clenched her eyes shut, and at the top of her lungs,
screamed and sobbed at the same time, “ALL RIGHT!! ALL RIGHT!! I’LL DO IT…anything…please…just make them…go away…please…”
* * *
As the glass-like shattering of
the worlds around Blossom and Buttercup vanished, they found both of themselves
back on the streets of Townsville. In
surprise, the two of them looked around, blinking their eyes and trying to get
their bearings. Blossom thought, I’m…I’m okay! I’m not really out by the sun!
It must have been another illusion…oh, thank goodness…
Buttercup looked equally
relieved, and she said, “I knew it! He
was just toying with us! We’re okay!”
“Yes!” Blossom said. She cast a glimpse across the area and said,
“I don’t see Him anywhere…I wonder where he ran off to…” As she looked around, something else
occurred to her…Him wasn’t the only one missing.
Buttercup noticed it, too. “Where’s Bubbles?” she asked, concerned.
“I don’t know…” Blossom said,
then called out in a louder voice, “Bubbles?”
There was no answer. At least not from Bubbles…they heard Him’s
voice descend over the street, as he gloated, “Oh well…one success out of three
still isn’t too bad. And it’s all I
need…”
“What’ve you done with her?”
Buttercup demanded.
“She’s fine,” Him answered. “She’s around. Why not go look for her?”
With an echoing laugh, his voice faded out entirely. Blossom looked worried…Oh no…what did he do to Bubbles?
* * *
Bubbles flew over the park,
rubbing her eyes. She didn’t know why,
but panic still seemed to fill her…she had the distinct feeling something was
wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what.
As she descended towards the park, she spotted some people, who turned
to greet her…but no, they weren’t people…like her nightmare
brought to life once again, she saw them…pale skin, twisted limbs, dead
stares. “No!” Bubbles shouted. “You lied!
You said no more zombies! You lied!!” She took off from the park,
gaining distance quickly from the citizens within, who glanced at each other,
confused by her reaction to them, unaware of what she had seen…