Sisters of Night
By: Mark J. Hadley
* * *
Blossom and Bubbles flew high overhead, surveying Townsville from above…Buttercup stayed low near the rooftops behind them to keep from being spotted. Where are they going? she wondered. They’re acting weirder than usual…I would’ve expected Bubbles to be back home by now. She hates it when it’s dark like this. So what’s going on? It looks like they’re looking for something… She continued her pursuit, making sure that she had a place to take cover in case they spotted her.
After a few minutes of looking, Bubbles pointed below, and Blossom nodded. They both shot down out of the sky, heading for a couple of buildings. Buttercup watched, and saw that they weren’t heading for the buildings themselves, but rather, an alley between them. She moved in closer as the two of them disappeared into it. Landing next to the opening on the street, she peeked around the corner into the alley to see what they were up to.
A man and woman were heading for the opposite end of the alley, probably using it as a shortcut on their way home from somewhere. Blossom and Bubbles approached them from behind where they couldn’t see. In a sudden, quick move, Blossom grabbed the man from behind, and Bubbles followed suit with the woman. The couple yelped in surprise…Buttercup gritted her teeth and thought, What are they doing? That’s it, I’m gonna stop whatever it is they’re…
Before she could move, though, she saw something that made her freeze in place. Both of them suddenly bared a set of fangs and bit down on the people’s necks. Buttercup stared in shock, and could do nothing else but watch as her sisters continued to draw blood from them. Both of the people eventually went limp, and were dropped to the ground a moment later, out cold.
Blossom licked her fangs and remarked, “You’re right…that’s amazing…”
“Yes,” Bubbles nodded. “And it’s only the beginning…”
Buttercup stopped looking down the alley and pressed her back up against the wall, trying to steady her breathing. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen…it was impossible. Oh man, she thought…oh man, this is not good…how did they become vampires? What do I do?!
She took a step back towards alley to peek in, and her foot skidded across the pavement for a moment. Both Blossom and Bubbles lifted their heads slightly like they had heard, and then looked towards the entrance. Buttercup ducked back, but she realized that she was probably seen. This was confirmed when she heard them start flying a moment later.
“Oh crud…” Buttercup whispered to herself, and immediately took off down the street. She glanced behind her, and sure enough, she saw the two of them chasing after her. Despite her lead, they were slowly gaining, too. H-how’d they get so fast?! Buttercup thought. I’m gonna have to do something to lose them! She spotted an opportunity ahead of her, another alley, and quickly turned down it.
She only made it about halfway down the alley, though, before a streak of blue shot past her and stopped in front of her. With Bubbles blocking her path, Buttercup knew that Blossom was probably right behind her, too. Instead of stopping, she pulled a tight turn and started flying upwards instead, taking off out of the alley and back into the sky. Looking down as she gained some distance, she thought, Hah, you weren’t expecting that, were you?
Unfortunately, they were, because she ended up flying directly into Blossom’s arms, who was waiting for her above. As Buttercup looked stunned, Blossom grinned at her and said, “Come on, you didn’t expect to get away from both of us, did you?” Buttercup struggled, but Blossom was just too strong. She knew she had to break free quickly, or it was all over for her. Blossom was already beginning to bare her fangs…
With a cry of rage, Buttercup swung both of her feet up, slamming them as hard as she could into Blossom. It worked…her grip slackened just enough so that she could make a break for it. Dropping down to the street, she flew low and desperately looked for somewhere to hide. Darting between two buildings, she spotted an open door leading into a warehouse, out of view of the street. This was her best bet, so she went in, quickly.
She stopped and listened. She could still hear them flying around outside, probably combing the area for her. There’s no way she’d find this place by chance, though…landing on the ground, she leaned up against a pillar to catch her breath. She was already tired from the search they had conducted all during the day, and she still hadn’t eaten anything all day, so she was already weak before this. The kick she used to get free from Blossom had taken everything she had left out of her. They’re so strong now, Buttercup thought. What am I gonna do? Vampires…how can they be vampires? They aren’t real… She had seen a lot of vampire movies and stuff from sneaking downstairs late at night to watch TV, but she knew they were just to scare people. But this…
Buttercup was shaken out of her thoughts when she heard voices deeper in the warehouse. She curiously walked over to see who it was, and peeking around the corner, she saw three men moving a stack of boxes to the other side of the room. They all wore hoods over their heads, and looked like they were armed, too. They were robbing the place…that’s why the doors were open, she figured. This suddenly worried her…what if the other girls notice the robbery and come to investigate?
Before Buttercup could duck back under cover, though, one of the men spotted her. He immediately pulled his pistol out in shock, and shouted, “It’s the Powerpuff Girls! Run fer it, boys!”
No, shut up, shut up! Buttercup thought furiously, ducking around the corner. They’ll hear you! Then, as if the shout wasn’t enough, Buttercup heard the man’s gun fire, the bullet ricocheting off the wall where she had just been. Her instincts wanted her to fly out and beat the stuffing out of those crooks, but instead, she started across the edge of the warehouse, trying to find a hiding place, since she knew the girls would be there any second.
She only made it halfway…Blossom and Bubbles burst right in through the roof before she could get to safe cover. The crooks spun around and started opening fire on them, but they didn’t even seem to notice it. Instead, they flew down and took out each of the crooks with a simple punch. Buttercup tried to take advantage of the distraction by flying away, but she was still so tired…she only flew about a dozen feet before she had to land and catch her breath again.
Bubbles looked over and smiled at Buttercup’s attempts to get away. She started over, saying, “Buttercup…you know there’s no point in running…”
“No, get away from me!” Buttercup exclaimed, scrambling away towards the nearest corner of the warehouse…her heart sank as she realized there was no escape. No door or anything nearby.
“You’re trapped, Buttercup,” Blossom told her, advancing calmly. “Just give up…”
Buttercup kept backing away, then tripped over a small crate she didn’t see before. She collapsed into the corner and stared up in horror as they both got closer. Her back was pressed up against the wall now, and there was nowhere for her to go. She was too tired to fight…it was hopeless.
“Join us, Buttercup,” Blossom said, smiling with her fangs.
“Yes, Buttercup,” Bubbles agreed with a similar smile. “Join us…”
Buttercup’s eyes teared up. “No…please…” she pleaded, her voice barely a whisper. She didn’t want to be like them, a soulless monster, feeding on people’s blood…she didn’t want to be like that, but there was no way out…
“You have no choice,” Bubbles told her, and started to reach for her.
“NO!!!!” Buttercup yelled at the top of her lungs…she grabbed the little crate she had tripped over and threw it as her as hard as she could, even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Bubbles didn’t even flinch as the crate was smashed to pieces against her. It really looked like things were over now…until Bubbles suddenly started to choke, clenching her eyes shut. Buttercup blinked a few times, and looked down at the smashed crate…as an incredible stroke of fortune, it had held a shipment of garlic. As the smell of garlic now filled the air, Blossom winced and started to back off, and Bubbles began to stumble back as well.
Thinking quickly, Buttercup quickly scooped up one of the garlic cloves and held it out, and the girls shrank back from it, turning their heads away. “Don’t like it, do ya?” Buttercup said, getting back to her feet and taking a step towards them. “What’s the matter? C’mon!” She thrust it out, waving it around in front of them…both Blossom and Bubbles turned and flew away as fast as they could, disappearing through the hole they made in the roof earlier.
Buttercup waited until she was sure they were gone, then let out the breath she was holding, her legs shaking a little. “Okay, settle down,” she whispered to herself aloud, resting to recover her strength. “They’re vampires…but it’s okay…you’ve seen a lot of vampire movies, right? You know how to fight these things, even if they are your sisters. Just go back and get the professor’s help with…” She hesitated, and gasped as another thought struck her. “Professor!!”
* * *
The professor sat on the couch, reading a newspaper, and glanced at his watch. It was getting really late, and the girls were all still out. Bubbles was definitely acting peculiar earlier, but she knew that with here sisters there to help her, she’d be fine. Still, it worried him that they’d be out for so long, especially since it was past their bedtime. I’ll have to have a talk with them when they get back, he thought. If I let them stay up late too often, they’ll start having sleeping problems at school again…
The phone suddenly rang. He put the newspaper down and walked over to answer it, “Hello?”
“Hello, Professor Utonium!” came a familiar voice on the other end.
“Ginela! What a surprise!” the professor exclaimed. “How are you doing this evening?”
Ginela giggled a little and said, “Not bad at all…I was wondering if you’ve eaten yet tonight. I was just about to have dinner and thought you might like to join me…”
The professor glanced over at the table in the other room, realizing that they had skipped dinner because of the whole search for Bubbles. “I’d love to…what are you having?”
“Nothing special, just meatloaf,” Ginela answered. “But it’s homemade.”
“Ginela, meatloaf sounds wonderful. I’ll be right over,” the professor replied with a smile.
“Okay, see you shortly!” Ginela said. The professor hung up and casually straightened his tie as he headed for the front door. She’s such a friendly neighbor, he thought. I won’t be gone long, and the girls will be okay…they always are. He left the house and crossed the street over to Ginela’s.
She was already at the door, and opened it as he approached, “Professor, welcome! Please, come in.”
“Thank you,” the professor said, and entered the house. He looked around at the décor, which was impressive, consisting of lots of pieces of art that looked like they came from all over the world. “Wow, this place looks great!” he remarked. “How did you ever manage to build a collection like this?”
Closing the door behind them, Ginela said in a low voice, “It’s easy, when you’ve got hundreds of years on your hands…”
“Huh?” the professor said, not understanding. When he turned around to look at Ginela again, her expression had changed…she was giving a malicious grin, and her fangs were now visible at the edges of her mouth. “Y-you’re…” the professor stammered.
“That’s right,” Ginela said, taking a few slow steps towards him, which he responded to by stepping back. She continued, “Citiesville was all right…as were some of the other places I’ve lived at around the world…but when I heard about the Powerpuff Girls, I knew I had found the perfect ones to pass my gift to…the vampire’s kiss, as it were…”
The professor continued to back up, and said, “No…that’s impossible, vampires aren’t real…”
There was a quick movement of air that came from behind him, and he spun around to see Blossom and Bubbles flying in through an open window in the room. Both of them wore dark expressions, but Bubbles smiled and said, “It’s real, Professor.”
“Girls…” the professor said, and spotted their fangs as well a moment later. He bit his lip and thought, No…they can’t be…
“I gave Bubbles the gift of immortality last night,” Ginela said. “I see she succeeded in passing it to Blossom as well.” She looked for a moment and added, “What about Buttercup?”
“We’re sorry, Ginela” Blossom said, shaking her head. “She got away…”
The professor felt a surge of relief, knowing that one of the girls was still okay. Ginela didn’t look as pleased, though, and demanded, “How did she escape? You both should have been stronger than her.”
“She had garlic,” Bubbles said, squinting a little as she remembered the foul scent of it. Blossom nodded to confirm this.
Ginela thought about this, and said, “No matter. We’ll just have to do something about that. But there’s nothing she can do to stop us, anyway. You see, even if she could find a way to fight you two, or even myself, we have something that will make her give up immediately…” She cast a slow glance over at the professor.
He quickly turned to the girls and said, “Girls, please…don’t listen to her!”
“It won’t do any good,” Ginela told him. “They’re mine now. They are under my complete control. And soon, Buttercup will be as well…it’s only a matter of time…”
* * *
Buttercup returned home, bursting in through the front door and calling out, “Professor? Professor?!” There was no answer, and she felt a chill as she realized he wasn’t home. She thought, Oh man…geez…what happened? Where’d he go? I need his help! She started searching through the house, but her suspicions told her that she wouldn’t find him anywhere.
She spotted a blinking light next to the phone, though, from their caller-ID. She checked it, and saw that he had received a call from Ginela barely a few minutes before she got home. Is that where he is? she thought. Maybe he’s all right, then…or maybe…
The phone rang, startling her since she was right next to it. She scooped it up quickly and said, “Hello?”
“Buttercup,” came Ginela’s voice from the other end. “Looking for the professor, are you?”
Gritting her teeth in anger, she shouted, “You’re the vampire, aren’t you? What did you do to him?!”
“Relax, he’s here…he’s fine…” Ginela said. “If you want him to stay that way, though, you’ll give yourself up. Otherwise, the next time you’ll see him is in the next life…”
Trying to control her anger, Buttercup said, “If you hurt him at all, I’ll…”
“Or maybe,” Ginela said, interrupting, “I’ll make him one of us. He’ll make a nice servant…” Buttercup was too upset to reply, so Ginela continued. “Because I have eternity on my hands already, I don’t mind giving you a half-hour to decide. If you don’t surrender here by then…” She gave a small laugh, and hung up.
“Wait!”
Buttercup cried out, but it was too late.
She slowly hung up the phone and closed her eyes, to hold in the tears
that wanted to form. I can’t do it, she
thought. But…it’s the professor…if I
don’t… She lifted her head, opening
her eyes again and setting her expression.
No, I have to fight them!
That’s the only way…I have to rescue the professor and fight them! But…how?
They’re so strong…and if Ginela was able to beat Bubbles, then she must
be even stronger! What do I do?
Another thought occurred to her…Wait a minute, if I know my vampire stories, in some of them, you can get vampires to turn back to normal by stopping the head vampire. That’s Ginela…all I have to do is kick her butt, then the girls will turn back! At least, I hope they will… Narrowing her eyes, she said aloud, “Well, Buttercup…this is where all your movie experience is gonna come in handy…” She set out across the house to gather what she needed for the attack. It was going to be tough, but she knew it was the only thing she could do. She had to hurry, though…her time was running out…