Bubbles opened the door to the Professor’s lab and flew in, carrying Butch with her, who was looking around in confused amazement at the new surroundings. The professor looked up from the table where he was still prepping his weapon, and his eyes widened when he laid eyes on Butch. Bubbles quickly said, “Don’t worry, Professor, he’s okay…”
“Are you sure?” the professor said, looking skeptical as the two of them landed on the ground nearby. His hand didn’t stray too far from the weapon.
“I’m sure,” Bubbles replied. “I used the Antidote X on him, and next thing I knew, he was all right. His name’s Butch.”
The professor was more at ease now, and walked over, kneeling down next to Butch and saying, “Are you all right?”
“I…think I will be…” Butch managed to say. “But I dunno…not after all that…”
“What happened?” the professor asked him, “Can you tell me?”
Butch thought for a second and said, “I came back to life…and I remembered what happened to me. How I…died…and everything. It was…it was so a-awful…” He struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke, “I-I saw Death…and I…I saw the truth about life…”
The professor nodded, “Go on…”
“But when she splashed that stuff on me, it was like…” Butch hesitated as he tried to figure out how to explain it. “It was like…I dunno, kinda like someone took a blindfold offa me…I realized it, I realized that there was more to life…”
Bubbles smiled at that…it was the one thought that she had taken to heart, the thought that had saved her from the abyss. “That’s what I wish I could’ve shown my sisters, Butch,” she said, “but they wouldn’t listen. But it’s great that one of you saw what I did…”
“I just…” Butch closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I wish I could take back what I did…all those people in that stadium, I…helped kill them…and Mojo, I was the one who…” He trailed off, and fell silent.
Bubbles put a hand on his shoulder and said, “It’s all right, it wasn’t your fault…”
“Astounding…” the professor said to himself as he listened to the two of them. “I can’t believe it…when I was looking for a way to fix things before, I went about it the wrong way…”
Bubbles was puzzled, “What do you mean?”
“If you recall, I was intent on finding a way to repress your sisters’ memories,” he said, “but the answer wasn’t in preventing them from getting those memories back; it was in allowing them to see everything. Perhaps…perhaps Chemical X was acting as a block of some sort, blinding them to everything except for the pain they felt…and when the Antidote X removed it, they were allowed to see it once again.”
“Yeah,” Butch said thoughtfully. “Yeah, that’s it exactly. That’s what I felt when that ‘Antidote X’ took my powers away!”
“I can’t believe it,” Bubbles whispered, starting up at a flask of Antidote X that was sitting on one of the tables. “Antidote X…it was that easy? But…” Another thought occurred to her, “But wait a second…something doesn’t make sense, Professor…”
“What’s that, Bubbles?” he asked.
“Well, I used Antidote X on Blossom and Buttercup,” she reminded him, “So why didn’t it w--…” She cut herself off as she suddenly came to the realization herself. “Oh…oh no…”
“What?” Butch asked, thoroughly confused.
Bubbles recalled what happened, and struggled to hold her tears in, but failed as they began to well up in her eyes. “I…I used it on Blossom…but then, I…k-killed her…knocked her up onto that fence…oh god, if I hadn’t done that…sh-she’d be okay right now…she’d still be alive…”
“Honey, no…don’t blame yourself, you didn’t know…” the professor said reassuringly, running a hand through her hair. “You had no idea…”
“That’s not all!” Bubbles cried. “D-do you remember what Buttercup said wh-when we brought her in here? Y-you put that mask on her, but she was trying to say something…she was trying to let us know, Professor! She was trying to let us know she was okay!!”
The professor remembered that, and had realized what had happened just as Bubbles did. How Buttercup woke up, while they had her on the table, and managed to say only “No wait, I…” before he fixed the gas mask over her mouth, stifling her speech and keeping her silent…
“We…killed them…” Bubbles continued, filled with even more grief than before. “We killed them both…oh, Professor! We killed them…” She burst out crying now and clung to the professor’s leg, crying against it. The professor was at a loss for words…he had no idea what to say in order to ease things for her. Butch didn’t know what was going on, but he knew enough. Bubbles was undoubtedly referring to her sisters, and he could only imagine how terrible that must have been for her, to have been forced to kill them both.
Bubbles lifted her head to stare up at the Professor again and said, “Professor, just…answer me one thing…will the Antidote X work on anyone? Even the other Rowdyruff Boys? Will it make them stop killing, too?”
“I don’t know, I’d have to run some tests,” the professor answered, “but my guess is that it should…”
Butch’s expression brightened, “That means…we can get Brick and Boomer back the way they were, too? Oh, awesome!” He grinned at the great news, but his grin faded as he saw Bubbles’ expression, which somehow looked even more distressed than before. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Oh my god…oh my god…” Bubbles whispered…barely a moment after that, she suddenly shrieked, “NO!!” Butch and the professor both leaned back in surprise at this sudden outburst.
“What? What is it?” the professor demanded, worried.
“We…we…” Bubbles stammered, then started crying loudly, “We let them go! We let them go!! If we hadn’t…we could’ve…oh god…”
The professor understood what she meant: her sister’s ingredients, the ones they had released to the winds when they thought all hope of bringing them back was lost. “Easy now, Bubbles…” he said, trying to calm her.
“NO!” she yelled, flying back up into the air. Her expression had turned angry once again, and her voice rose in pitch as she yelled, “You did it! You made me let them go! We coulda brought ‘em back if we’d just kept them like I wanted to!” The professor didn’t know what to say. Bubbles didn’t care, though; she couldn’t take it…she knew deep down that she should have been happy that they had found a ‘cure’, but all it did was fill her with more sorrow.
It’s worse than not being able to save them, she thought. Being able to save them, but not realizing it until its too late…If only I had, then they’d still be alive! They’d be with me right now…we’d be laughing, and playing, and fighting crime, and learning, together…instead of…no…please, no!! This isn’t happening…this can’t be happening…
It was too much for her…she reeled dizzly for a moment, then collapsed on the ground. As Butch and the professor looked over her, she mumbled, “…all our…fault…” before passing out entirely…
* * *
The pile of equipment that Brick and Boomer had collected into the center of the observatory was quite sizeable…but it was far from complete. They rummaged through it, trying to sort out everything that they needed. “Find a ‘spatial enhancer’ yet, Brick?” Boomer asked.
“Not yet…” he murmered from the other side of the pile, but then added, “No wait, I think this is it…yeah, Mojo labeled it and everything.”
“Great,” Boomer nodded, still unsmiling. “I found the right size power cells. But we’re still missing a lot.”
Brick came from around the pile, setting the small, palm-sized spatial enhancer on one of the tables and picking up the blueprints, examining them, “Hmm…you’re right. We’re missing the focused laser, the matter intensifier, and…well, yes, a large number of smaller parts.”
“You’d think Mojo would have these,” Boomer said, giving up on the pile and stepping back to stare at it, folding his arms. “I don’t get it…this device would certainly be a huge help, but we probably could have cleared out all life from this whole city by now, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Brick shrugged. “But this is still the best way to be absolutely sure.”
Boomer sighed, “You’re right, of course. So where do we look?”
“Corporations in Townsville,” Brick suggested. “Laboratories. Research and development companies. Wherever they keep advanced stuff like this. We can continue our task on the way, if you’d like.”
“It would,” he said, as both of them flew out from the observatory. “All this preparation…it feels like we’re making no progress whatsoever. And what about Butch?”
Brick narrowed his eyes and said, “Forget him…if Bubbles took him, he must be dead by now. A pity he can’t help us, but I envy him…he finds release from the pain of life, while we must endure it as long as life still exists for us to put to an end.”
They were barely over one of the first small sections of skyscrapers. Even in the quickly dimming light, as night fell, they spotted a small research facility below. The lights at the windows indicated that there were still scientists laboring within. The boys nodded to each other and descended quickly towards their unsuspecting target below…
* * *
Bubbles groaned and opened her eyes…as the lab came into focus, she realized that she must have fainted. Sitting up, she found herself on a small bed in the lab, one of the professor’s medical examination tables…he undoubtedly carried her over and put her there. The professor himself was nearby, tinkering with something on the table. She said, “…Professor?”
“Oh, hello, Bubbles,” he said, smiling over at her, “Glad to see you awake again.”
“How long was I out?” she asked, sliding her feet over the side of the bed stiffly and stretching one of her arms.
The professor picked up a syringe from the table and filled it with liquid from a beaker as he said, “Not long…only about ten minutes, actually. Just enough time for me to finish this procedure.”
Blinking a few times, Bubbles scratched her head and said, “What procedure?” It was then that she noticed she wasn’t the only one that was on an examination table. Butch was nearby on another bed, only he was strapped down. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Butch looked at her and grinned slightly, “It’s okay…he’s just seein’ if he can give me my powers back…right?”
“Right,” the professor said. He carried the syringe over and said, “A small shot of Chemical X should counteract the Antidote X, and your powers should return to you.”
Bubbles wasn’t as confident in the procedure as the professor sounded. She said, “I dunno…are you sure that’s a good idea? What if he turns back the way he was?”
Indicating the straps that held him in place, he explained, “That’s why I strapped him down. If anything goes wrong, we can just apply another dose of Antidote X again. I think this is worth the risk, though, because it’ll be easier to stop the other two Rowdyruffs if you had a partner to help you out. Butch, are you ready?”
Butch nodded, “I’m ready.” The professor nodded in return, and took a small cotton ball, dabbing a small spot on his arm to clean it. He carefully inserted the needle, and Butch winced as it entered. Once the injection was completely, he removed the needle and watched.
“Feel anything yet?” Bubbles asked, anxiously.
Butch thought for a moment, and said, “I think so…yeah, I’m feeling stronger now…” He smiled and said, “Great! I feel like a million bucks!”
Bubbles gave a relieved smile, and said, “He’s still all right! Thank goodness…look, as soon as possible, we need to go stop the other two.” A thought occurred to her, and she added, “Right away…before they do anything else! Ten minutes is a long time, they could have done who-knows-what by now…”
Undoing the straps on the table, the professor released Butch, who hovered up into the air and said, “Right. What’s the plan? Do we go back to Mojo’s place? Or go looking across the city? Or both?”
“No, not both; I don’t wanna split up,” Bubbles said, shaking her head. “We gotta face them together.”
“Fine by me,” he said, then turned to the professor. “We’ll need some Antidote X to bring with us.”
Nodding, the professor said, “I’ll get you both a vial of it. Be extremely careful with it, will you?”
“Of course,” Bubbles agreed. She flew over to another part of the lab, opening up the locker and removing the other two Duranium swords. She tossed one to Butch and said, “Here, you’ll need this, too.”
Butch inspected the sword carefully, then grinned again, “I like it.” His grin melted slightly, though, and he got a pensive look on his face.
“What? What is it?” Bubbles asked.
“I just…” Butch said slowly. “I just realized…I’m might have to kill my own brothers…wouldn’t I?” When Bubbles nodded, he looked down at the ground and continued, “I’ll try my best…we’ll do everything we can with the Antidote X, but what if it doesn’t work on them? What if it doesn’t save them, like it saved me? If it comes to it, and we have to kill them, I…” He stopped, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “I just…don’t know if I can…they’re my brothers…”
“I understand,” Bubbles said, resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Believe me, I understand completely.”
Butch put his other hand on her shoulder and gave a warm smile, “Thanks, Bubbles…thanks for your support. I don’t know if I could do this without you…”
Bubbles grinned slightly, and said, “Hey, I’m just happy you aren’t the big jerk you used to be…” They both stared at each other for a moment, and Butch started to snicker. Bubbles couldn’t hold it either and started to giggle along with him. They both broke into peals of laughter, and for the first time in over a week, Bubbles felt happy once again…
“We’d…” Butch said, catching his breath, “We’d…better get going…”
“Right!” Bubbles exclaimed. The two of them flew towards the exit to the lab, pausing for a moment by the professor to each take one of the two vials of Antidote X he held out for them. Tucking them away securely, they left the lab, and Bubbles set her expression once again. Even if our task ahead is grim, she thought, at least I won’t have to face it alone…
* * *
They flew over the city without spotting anything unusual. A few emergency vehicles were heading towards the place where the stadium used to be, but other than that, the rest of the city seemed quiet. Bubbles took that as a good sign and hastened her way to Mojo’s hideout, Butch following close behind.
As they approached it, they spotted something from far off, also coming from the sky. A red and a blue streak of light…Brick and Boomer, Bubbles thought. She ducked into one of the freshly planted trees in the park and whispered to Butch, “Psst! Hurry, this way…”
Butch followed without question. As they took cover, they peered out from the leaves of the tree and saw the two boys approach. Brick was carrying a small pile of electronic equipment, and Boomer was carrying something that looked like a television, but was probably a computer monitor of some sort. “What’s all that for?” Butch whispered.
Shrugging, Bubbles watched them disappear into the observatory, and she motioned for Butch to follow. She flew out cautiously from the tree and went up by one of the windows that were still intact, peering inside carefully. Butch flew up next to her and looked through as well.
They were definitely assembling something. There were bits of electronic components scattered around, but one larger device in the center of the hideout that looked unfinished. Boomer attached the monitor to the side of the device while Brick set the equipment he was carrying on one of the tables. He picked up a set of blueprints from the table and studied them intently.
“That figures,” Butch whispered, frowning. “They’re probably putting one of Mojo’s weapons together…”
Bubbles said, “Yeah, but why? We’re more powerful than anything Mojo’s ever invented…at least, I’m pretty sure we are…so why do they need a weapon?”
“I don’t know…” Butch narrowed his eyes and said, “Shoot…if I could only get a look at those blueprints…”
“We can wait until they leave…” Bubbles suggested.
Boomer turned to Brick and started floating over. They could hear him talk, just barely, “It’s installed. What’s next?”
“Next,” Brick replied, pointing to a spot on the diagram, “we need a x-ray emitter.”
“They’ll have one at the hospital,” Boomer said. “Let’s head over there right…now…” He trailed off as his eyes fell on the window, the one that Bubbles and Butch were watching from. Brick noticed his surprised glance and turned to look as well.
Bubbles and Butch quickly ducked down, but they knew it was too late; they had been spotted. Butch hissed quietly, “Quickly, go around the other side…you can get ‘em from behind…” Bubbles nodded and shot around the other end of the observatory, while Brick drew his sword and held it firmly, waiting for them to come out.
He didn’t have long to wait. Brick and Boomer soared out through the hole in the observatory and hovered there, glaring at him. Boomer said, “Well, I am surprised to see you alive again…but I’m even more surprised that you’re helping the enemy.”
“They’re not the enemy,” Butch growled, “You are!”
Brick drifted forward slowly, pulling out his own sword, the one he had recovered from Bubbles, and shook his head, “Don’t try to play innocent. We’re doing the right thing, and you know it. You even helped…or have you forgotten the stadium?”
Butch clenched his teeth, “That wasn’t…my…fault…”
“Believe what you will,” Boomer said. “But stay out of our way.”
While they spoke, Bubbles came around from the other side of the observatory. Butch knew he had stalled long enough and shouted, “Shut up! Are you going to fight me, or not?”
“I don’t blame you for being so eager to die,” Brick said, “Very well, it’s time for…”
At that moment, two things happened simultaneously. Bubbles had pulled the vial of Antidote X out and flung it’s contents right towards Brick’s back…and at the same time, Brick spun around, firing his eyebeams. The beams intersected the Antidote X in midair, disintegrating the liquid before it could reach him. Bubbles gaped, and Brick completed his sentence, “…you two to die.”
He was ready for the attack, Bubbles thought…No…now I don’t have any Antidote X left! I hope Butch can still use his… Bubbles drew her sword and said, “That doesn’t matter, we’ve got you surrounded now!”
“We’ll continue this,” Boomer said, “at the hospital…see you there.” Without another word, the two of them shot upwards. Bubbles and Butch tried to cut them off, but they moved too fast, and both had gotten too big a lead on them.
As they tried to catch up, Butch called out, “Bubbles, which way is the hospital?”
“There are two hospitals…” she started to say, and noticed that Brick and Boomer suddenly split up, heading in opposite directions. “No! We gotta stop them!” Bubbles shouted. “They’ll attack them both!”
“I’ll go after Brick,” Butch said. “You take care of Boomer.”
“All right,” Bubbles agreed. “Be careful!” Butch nodded and veered off in the direction Brick was heading. Bubbles stayed hot on Boomer’s heels, and thought, That was probably the best choice…after all, Butch has the Antidote X, and he’ll need it ‘cause Brick has one of the swords. Boomer should be easy to take care of; he’s unarmed. If we do this right, we could end this now, before anyone else is killed…
* * *
Brick arrived at the North Foundation Hospital of Townsville, and didn’t care about looking for a door; he just burst right in through the wall. Butch followed in right behind him. The two of them charged through a room—luckily, it was empty—and out into the hallway. Brick landed on the ground, spinning around to face Butch, clutching his sword firmly.
Butch landed across from him and said, “You’re coming with me, Brick. Got it? I want you back the way you were…”
“I might say the same about you, traitor,” Brick said coldly, narrowing his eyes.
Butch noticed that people were beginning to gather at the ends of the hallway and out from various rooms to see what the commotion was. I’d better be sure to keep the fight from moving to them, he thought. Aloud, he shouted, “I’m no traitor! How can you say that?”
“Because,” Brick explained, “you’re trying to save life. Life brings only pain, and you’re trying to save it, which means you’re a traitor to everything. In fact…” He waved his free arm out to emphasize his point, “this whole hospital exists to do the same thing. Life seems so intent on allowing the anguish to continue. Curing injury and illness just so that it can keep living and breathing. Life is the true disease here…it’s a blight, and if there’s ever to be peace, it must be exterminated.”
With a cry of rage, Butch leapt forward and swung his sword down. With amazing speed, Brick easily blocked the blow and swung a counterstrike. Butch ducked it and swung a quick kick his legs, tripping him. He followed it up quickly with a slash from his sword, aiming for the ground, knowing that he would land there from the trip before his blade reached.
He didn’t, however. Butch’s blade passed harmlessly underneath Brick where he had started hovering again. He was caught off-guard now, and Brick seized the opportunity, thrusting his sword forward. The sword stabbed him right through the shoulder, and Butch grunted in pain, his own sword falling from his hand…the tip of Brick’s sword was protruding through the back of his shoulder, covered in blood.
“That was too easy,” Brick said, turning the sword sharply in the wound so that the flat part was facing down. Butch cried out in pain when he did this and fell to his knees. As he did, though, his hand slowly strayed to where he had hidden the vial of Antidote X. Brick still didn’t remove the sword from him…he continued, “I don’t even want you back the way you were. I was prepared to go on without you, and I still am. Enjoy your eternal nothingness, ‘brother’…”
Butch finally reached the vial and quickly pulled it out…but before he could splash the Antidote X from it, Brick swung one of his feet up, kicking the vial from his hand. Butch watched helplessly as it arced through the air and smashed to the ground, shattering. He didn’t know what to do now…his face began to show signs of utter defeat.
“So much for your backup plan,” Brick said with no trace of humor in his voice. “Now, where were we…oh, that’s right…” He reached down with his free hand and picked up Butch’s sword.
“No…no, please…” Butch pleaded, struggling to move. It was useless, though, as long as he was held in place by the sword in his shoulder. Brick wasn’t wasting any time, either…he pulled the other sword back, preparing to slash him with it…Butch panicked and yelled, “NOOOO!!”
As Brick began his swing, Butch made one last-ditch effort to survive…he brought both of his feet up and kicked Brick as hard as he could in the chest. It worked…Brick, taken by surprise, was sent flying back towards the opposite end of the hall, the sword pulling free from Butch’s shoulder in the process. Brick hit the ground and skidded a few more feet before coming to a stop.
Clutching his shoulder in pain, Butch flew back up into the air and retreated out of the hospital as fast as he could. Brick started to follow, but then remembered that he had come here for a reason. Letting his brother escape, he turned and headed down the hall, looking for a room with an X-ray machine. He kept both of his swords at the ready…he knew he could make it to his destination faster if he didn’t have to fly around people…
* * *
Boomer made it to the South Foundation Hospital of Townsville quicker than Bubbles had. It wasn’t hard to spot where he had gone, though, because she could see a hole in the wall where he had punched through. Bubbles flew in after him, into a large waiting lounge, a lounge filled with people that looked shocked…no doubt from seeing Boomer crash into the room. However, Boomer was nowhere in sight.
“Did any of you see where he went?” Bubbles asked.
“Yes,” one older man answered her. “A little blue feller…he went that way.” He pointed towards a swinging door that lead to the doctors’ offices. She nodded a quick thank-you and flew through this door in pursuit.
She immediately came to a halt…Boomer floated not twenty feet from her, holding one of the doctors up by the throat. She struggled in his grasp but couldn’t break it. Bubbles gasped and tightened her grip on her sword, “Let her go!”
“No,” Boomer said. “Drop your sword first. Or she dies.”
Bubbles froze, trying to decide what to do. Forget her, she thought…if you let Boomer go, he’ll kill even more people…this is just one life, what’s one life?
As she thought about this, the doctor looked into her eyes…her face was filled with fear, and her own eyes were pleading for her to do something. No, Bubbles thought, I’m not going to be responsible for this…one life or a hundred, I can’t let him hurt anyone else!
Why bother? she continued to think…One life, one insignificant little life…at least it’s one less life, one out of the way…it’s not like she deserves to live…let her die…let them all die…
NO! I’m not going to let ANYone die! Not a single person! Not one more pers—
“Time’s up,” Boomer said, interrupting her thoughts. Before Bubbles could even flinch, he twisted his hand, snapping her neck in one simple motion. He let the doctor fall from his grasp onto the ground…
“Oh NO!!!” Bubbles shrieked. With a heart-rending cry, she dove for Boomer, pulling back her sword and preparing to swing, but Boomer had anticipated this frenzied attack, and did something unexpected…he flew towards Bubbles instead of away from her. He closed the distance before she could swing and slammed a fist into her gut.
She doubled over from the punch, and before she could recover, Boomer grabbed hold of her sword and twisted it free, kicking her in the chest in the same motion. Bubbles was knocked clear through the wall, through a doctor’s office and sent crashing through the window. She fell for a distance further before landing in the hospital’s parking lot below.
Blinking, and trying to regain her senses, she saw something hurtling towards her and immediately threw herself to one side with a yelp. She saw a moment later what it was…the body of the doctor he had killed. Bubbles looked at it, horrified, then looked back up at the window. Boomer was standing near it, and called down, “I have more important things to attend to…I’ll deal with you later.”
He disappeared back inside, and Bubbles looked down at the doctor again, thinking, No…I killed her…if I’d just acted sooner, I might have saved her…it’s my fault…and now, I can’t do anything to stop him… She buried her face in her hands and started crying, slowly picking herself up and flying to a safer distance. Nothing we’re doing is working, she thought, praying that Butch at the very least had better luck than her…What if…what if we can’t stop them?! Professor, I’m coming back…please, you’ve got to have something we can try…something we can still do…there’s got to be a way…
TO BE
CONTINUED