Bubbles took a sip of the cool water from her thermos as she flew and wiped her mouth. Far below her, she passed over each of the patches of flowers she had placed so long ago, around the outskirts of the city. They were all doing so well, each of them consisting of thousands of flowers already. The sight of them flourishing always brought a smile to her face, and she couldn't help but think how beautiful of a presence Bulba's (and Blossom's) descendants were having on the land.

Around five years had passed since she had learned of Bulba's origin. Not a single day of it had gone by without Bubbles feeling close to her sister, as her legacy grew across the otherwise dead land. She only wished that Buttercup would have had a flower survive from her components, but a quick search of the old lab, where she had finally perished, turned up nothing of the sort. She was sad about that, but took comfort in the fact that at least Blossom was still with her.

Nothing incredibly noteworthy happened during the past five years. Bubbles grew out of her clothing, but was able to find plenty of replacements. At the moment, she wore a simple white T-shirt and denim shorts. Besides that, her thermos was all that she carried with her. It was getting pretty beat-up, and she could have easily found a replacement, but it had some sentimental value, since it was one of the first useful things she had found way back when this all began, seven years ago.

"Seven years," she whispered to herself. It was almost unthinkable…she had lived her old life for only about a year and a half, while she had spent almost five times that on this nearly lifeless world. If it weren't for the constant reminders she gave herself daily, she would almost have forgotten the old world. She had plenty to do during the past several years, though. Besides making sure the flowers were all okay (a much bigger job with how many there were), she also had continued her studies. Learning at a quick rate, she was becoming quite good with physics and some mechanics as well. She only recently started to delve into electronics, but she was making tremendous progress nonetheless.

Having finished her little checkup on the flowers, she descended towards the greenhouse in the city below. It was only the home of a few now…only about a hundred flowers, and Bulba. Night had already fallen, so she went inside, ready to relax and get some sleep for the evening.

As she lay on her back, looking up at the stars through the roof of the greenhouse, she said, "Look at the stars out there, Bulba…they're incredible tonight, aren't they?" Pausing, she sighed, "I know, they're always beautiful…but think about it. We're looking at light that's probably over seven thousand years old, and in all that time, no one has seen it until now. It makes me wonder…if there was anyone living out by one of those stars, would they see everything that happened here in seven thousand years?"

She looked closely at one of the brightest stars, and began thinking, as she had for a while now, that maybe one of those stars had a world she could visit. But there was no way for her to get there, unfortunately. Maybe if she still had her spacesuit, she could have flown there, but it was far too small for her now anyway, even if it was still intact. Instead, she was content for now to just sit and dream about it…

Something odd happened, though…she suddenly realized that the bright star she was looking at wasn't a star at all. It moved very slightly from its position. Bubbles scratched her head and thought, Hmm…that's strange. Maybe it's a small meteor or something. I wish I could have found a working telescope…

The light picked up speed, heading down towards the horizon, near a group of distant mountains, where it was undoubtedly going to impact. It never did…the light abruptly stopped in the sky, just above the mountain peaks, and hovered there. Bubbles gasped slightly as she sat up, then flew out from the greenhouse a moment later to get a better view.

It was at a long distance, so she decided to fly over quickly, staying low to the ground just in case. As she got closer, it became visible…a curved spaceship made of some metal that looked almost like gold. It hovered almost completely motionless over the mountains, the only sound a low hum from its engines.

Aliens, she thought. Well, while it's nice to see that there's still life on other planets, I'd better find out what they're doing here… She carefully flew in towards the ship, looking for a way in. The entrance wasn't readily apparent, though, so she moved up towards one of the tiny viewports instead.

Inside, she saw a group of creatures seated around a table. They were mostly purple, with green spots up on top of their bulbous, squid-like heads. They wore black suits with gold trim, and their two large black eyes were each set with a single red pupil. They were talking, but Bubbles couldn't hear what they were saying. She pressed her ear up against the viewport, listening intently with her ultrasonic hearing.

She heard a little through the 'glass'. Even though they were speaking some alien language, Bubbles' natural power of language comprehension allowed her to understand them. One of them said, "No, that is unacceptable. The scans of the planet were all wrong."

"I tell you, there was plenty of life here!" another protested. "Enough to power all our weapons. Enough to give us the power to annihilate as many worlds as we wished!"

"Yes, but it's not here now," the first one pointed out. "Perhaps something happened to them during our forty years of hyperspace travel."

The second one shook his head and said, "Well, whatever the case, it doesn't matter…I am picking some life down there. It looks like whatever destroyed them left some wildlife."

"Excellent," the first one said, grinning a toothy grin as he looked at a screen in front of him on the table. "Begin the collection process as soon as possible. It may not be much, but it should supply us with power to eliminate one world, and that's all we need…"

"Yes, my lord," the other two said, and the group of them got up from the table, leaving the small chamber they were in. Bubbles gasped and moved away from the window, hiding next to it to avoid being seen while she thought over what she just heard. They're going after lifeforms on the planet? That means Bulba, and the other flowers! She narrowed her eyes…Well, no one uses my flowers as fuel as long as I'm around!

Without further ado, she reached down and grabbed the edge of the spaceship. The ship wobbled a little from side to side, as though trying to get free, but before it could, she whisked her arms up, tossing the spaceship high into the air, on its way back to orbit. She dusted off her hands and watched it disappear, then started back for home. Well, that was easy enough. I'd better keep my eyes open, though…they'll probably be back…

* * *

Lord Xirta gripped the edge of his seat as the ship regained control, shouting, "What in Thraxon was that?"

Glotax, at the console, said, "Your excellence…some powerful force has thrown us back into the orbit of this world!"

"How is that possible?" Xirta demanded.

Off at a science station, Yequa "Sensors are picking up a single life form below…very powerful. It is apparently what tossed the ship."

"Hmm…" Xirta rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "This Earth creature could be a nuisance. Or maybe…what's the energy reading on it?"

Yequa scanned some more and said, "Extremely high! I am picking up another high group of readings nearby…not nearly as high, but there are many thousands of them."

Xirta grinned evily and said, "They will supply us with all the fuel we will need. Activate perimeter security systems, and take the ship back down to the surface to collect some of those lifeforms. And if you catch sight of the Earth creature that threw us, set weapons on stun and incapacitate it. I want it alive…"

* * *

Once back at the greenhouse, Bubbles stuck her hand up over her eyes as she peered off into the distance. No sign of them yet, she thought. She started looking around in all directions, including up, realizing that they might have circled around before coming back. If they were going to come back at all.

I can't let them take the flowers away, she thought, especially not just to be their power source. She shuddered at the thought. All those flowers, being fed through a machine or whatever, being drained of all life. Whatever I can do to rescue them, I'd better do…but for now, all I can do is wait…

She didn't have too long to wait, because at that moment, she heard a howl through the air as she caught sight of the ship descending towards the planet almost from right above her. This time, it was surrounded by a shimmering green field of energy. Some kind of forcefield, she figured. I'd better be careful…

The ship swooped down towards the edge of Townsville. Bubbles flew in an intercept course. As she did, several bright blue bolts of energy suddenly blasted out from little ports on the hull, streaking towards her. She dodged most of them quickly, although one was coming too fast at an unexpected time, striking her in the chest.

The blast knocked her out of the sky…she plummeted towards the ground, but recovered before she hit. Shaking her head, she felt a little woozy, her vision blurring a little. That didn't really hurt, she thought. They must just be trying to knock me out…but why? Since she had been spending so much time studying, Bubbles found it easier than before to quickly come up with a logical explanation for things like this, and so she promptly realized why they were trying to knock her out. If lifeforms are their fuel, then they probably want to turn me into fuel too!

More of the blasts were streaking towards her, and she wove between them to avoid being hit again. Still, she was dizzy, and just barely managed it. She powered up her eyebeams and fired a shot at the ship, the beams striking against the ship's protective field. It was shaken a little, but the field was still intact.

Bubbles backed up quickly and took some cover around the edge of a building, wiping her eyes. Rrgh, she thought, I shouldn't have fired my eyebeams while my eyes were all blurry like that…I can't see a thing… She kept her ears open, listening to see if the ship got any closer or was about to fire, which she slowly cleared her vision.

A high-frequency whine filled the air, and she peered around the corner curiously. As everything came into focus, she saw the ship hovering still, with a blue cone of light shining on the ground below…one of the flower patches. Gasping, she flew out from around the corner and started heading for the ship. By the time she got there, though, a sparkle of blue lights shimmered across the flowers, and they vanished.

"NO!" Bubbles shouted, flying up to the ship and trying to punch it, energy field and all. A green spark of electricity seemed to flare up as she punched…Bubbles yelped and fell from the air again, clutching her arm. This time, she hit the ground before recovering. Lifting her head from the dirt, she heard a sound…the energy weapons firing again. She looked up in time to see them streaking towards her, then in an instant, everything went black.

* * *

Bubbles regained consciousness roughly a minute later. She strained to open her eyes, as she groaned, "Uhhnn…." She blinked a few more times, then looked at her surroundings. She was lying on the ground in the center of a large glass tube, which stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The tube itself was in the center of a larger chamber, filled with all kinds of different computer consoles and other devices that she didn't recognize. They were being manned by several of the aliens.

"Lemme out!" she shouted, pounding on the glass, which amazingly held up against her strength. Realizing there wasn't anything she could do to break out just yet, she slumped back to the floor and waited.

A door on the side of the chamber opened, and the lead alien she saw before strode into the room, flanked by two others. This alien strode up to the side of the glass, while one of the operators at the console said, "Lord Xirta…the prisoner is secure."

"Excellent," Xirta said, smiling triumphantly at Bubbles.

Bubbles glared back at him and said, "What do you want from me?"

Raising a slight eyebrow, Xirta remarked, "Fascinating…you can understand our language. Well…in that case I can tell you. Whatever you are, your life force contains significant energy, enough to power our most powerful weapons for a long time to come. And that wildlife…"

"Leave the flowers alone!" Bubbles pleaded.

"Now, why would we do that?" Xirta said. "Each of them also carries a considerable amount of power to them. At least, more than an average lifeform's. We've only taken a small sample of them so far, but we will collect the rest after these are absorbed into our energy systems."

Bubbles watched helplessly as a round glass sphere was loaded up onto another device…in the center of the sphere were some flowers, probably about a hundred of them crammed together. Once it was locked down, the operators started pressing buttons, and a soft glow surrounded it.

"Wait, no!" Bubbles cried out, but it was too late. As the glow faded, she could see the flowers inside, but their color had been drained…they were gray and lifeless. As she watched, horrified, they unhooked the sphere from the device, and as they jostled it, the grayed flowers inside crumbled to dust.

Bubbles buried her face in her hands, crying. Lord Xirta grinned at her through the glass and said, "Do you realize that from merely a hundred of those…'flowers', as you call them…we've gained enough energy to destroy a small planet?" As Bubbles looked up at him through her tears, he continued, "And you…you have much more than even that. With your power, we shall become nearly invincible. The galaxy, perhaps even the universe, will be ours!"

"I…I won't let you…" Bubbles managed to say.

Laughing, Xirta said, "Your power may be great, but you can't stand against us. Nothing can stand against us. Now, I suggest you quiet down, and save your strength. The process of transferring your energy into our systems is quite painful, and with how much you have by yourself, it will also take a long time…"

He signaled one of the operators on the console. Bubbles braced herself against the glass, afraid. As the operator punched some buttons, a glow came from the floor and ceiling of the tube, bathing an eerie light over her. She clenched her teeth and tensed up as she felt the energy very slowly being leeched from her. It was excruciating, but she tried to hold out against it…

"Don't struggle, you can't get free," Xirta claimed, watching the power levels on their systems rise.

Only…one chance, Bubbles thought….gotta…make it…work… She tried her best to pull in a full breath of air, and finally did it. Once she did, she opened her mouth and let out a loud, piercing scream. The intensity of the sonic waves pushed against the glass, causing cracks to start to form.

The aliens all took an involuntary step away from the tube, as Bubbles kept the scream going. The cracks became wider slowly…it was taking all of Bubbles' effort just to ignore the pain and push all of her air and strength into keeping that scream going. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the tube shattered outward, raining broken glass down upon the stunned spectators.

Bubbles landed on the ground outside the remains of the tube, falling to her hands and knees and panting, trying to recover her strength quickly. Lord Xirta didn't give her the chance, though, and shouted, "Seize her!" and the guards immediately started to close on her position.

She pulled herself to her feet, though, and was ready. With a few quick punches and kicks, the advancing guards were knocked across the room, striking the wall and falling unconscious to the floor. A few of the operators fled as fast as they could, and Xirta, realizing that it wasn't safe to be here anymore, turned and ran as well.

Before he could make it out, though, Bubbles flew in his way and grabbed him by the front of his suit, demanding, "Where are the other flowers you took?"

"We…we processed them…already…" Xirta answered.

Gritting her teeth, Bubbles pulled a fist back and was about to strike him, when more guards came into the room, armed with weapons this time. Before they could fire, though, Bubbles dropped Xirta on the ground and flew to the far wall, bracing her shoulder and ramming right through it.

On the other side of the wall was a larger chamber, running vertically in the ship. Energy pulsed through a long tube that ran from ceiling to floor in this room, making a loud humming sound. This must be the ship's energy core, she thought, probably filled with all the energy they stole from the flowers now. Enough to annihilate whole planets. I have to destroy it now, while I have the chance!

Bubbles focused her eyebeams upon it…the 'glass' outer part heated up and started to melt. Xirta and his guards appeared by the opening she had made in the wall, and he shouted, "Stop! You fool! You'll destroy us all!"

It was too late…her eyebeams finished burning through the core and ripped through the energy within. Bubbles shielded herself with her arms as the core started to self-destruct. Without another moment's hesitation, though, she flew straight down, ripping through the floor and flying through three more decks before emerging from the bottom of the ship. Once she was free, she continued her descent towards the surface of the Earth far below, and behind her, the entire spacecraft exploded in a massive fireball, raining debris down from the sky.

She paused to catch her breath, watching the smoke dissipate from where it exploded, and wiped off her forehead. Part of her wish she could have saved the ship, maybe used it to travel off the planet, but she never could have, knowing that they were being powered by the flowers' life force. She felt bad for her lost flowers, but was relieved that the others would be all right…not to mention any other world that the aliens might have obliterated, had they gotten away with it.

She started back for Townsville to break the bad news to the other flowers. They're strong, she thought, they can take it. Besides, it could have been a lot worse. Either way, we should hold a small service for the ones that were lost…that will make them feel better…