Talisman part 6

They both agreed that, one day, the unfinished mololith would be the greatest structure in Megaville; a megatower for a megacity. Partially built, only fifty or so storeys up, cranes dangled off the central collumn of the building, slowly lifting girders, spars and parts up from the ground which seemed so far below them. They'd thrown a punch or two, a kick here and there but Blood had broken it off to regard the giant work-in-progress. She hadn't seen it from the top of Jubilee Tower, which was now hidden amongst the mass of skyscrapers in the distance where the CBD stood to the south. She floated there, regarding the tower that seemed so high up yet so far from completion. She was amazed she didn't know about it before now.

"What is this supposed to be, Buttercup?"

Buttercup drifted lazily, irked at Blood's desire to check out the architecture rather than have a brawl with her. What was so great about this place? The cranes weren't even working today! "Just some tower thing they wanna build... they call it the Merrill Superspire or something but nobody really cares... it's supposed to be the biggest tower on the west coast."

Blood was perplexed "If it's so important like that, why isn't any work being done today?"

Buttercup rolled her eyes "Politics. Apparently we shouldn't be using funding on this big tower and instead we should use it on something the public thinks is more important. Like upgrading the roads. Or" she nearly choked, "education..."

"Sounds like you don't always agree with what the public want, huh?"

"Well hey they're right most of the time! I mean I don't see what the big deal about this tower is, either! Supposed to be some sort of ultra environmentally friendly design with windmill generators, solar panels... supposed to look like one of those towers over in the Middle East... in Dooby or whatever."

"Dubai?"

She shrugged, her spiked jet hair bouncing with her shoulders as she did "Again, Blood, I really don't care. I don't come over this way often. Sora probably just sent us here because she thought it was safe." Her stomach gurgled and not in a nice way, making her wince "Tell her to never warp me anywhere again..."

"You'll get used to it... she did."

Buttercup grabbed Blood's arm and yanked like a toddler with a trantrum "Come oooon! I didn't suffer a sick stomach just so you can stare at buildings all day!"

Blood paid no heed "A tower to symbolise the city and its growth - a rival to the wonders of architecture overseas... a monument to achievement. That's actually not bad, you know..."

TUG TUG went Buttercup, pulling so hard it wouldn't surprise her if Blood's arm popped out. But Blood ignored her altogether. She hissed through clenched teeth "How am I meant to prove myself when you ignore me??"

"Its progress is slow... its workers only part-time... it would take time to finish this... many years probably. I should keep an eye on it, perhaps."

Buttercup leaned in and screamed into Blood's ear "IF YOU DON'T GET BACK TO THE FIGHT, I'LL-"

"Shh!" Blood turned and put a finger to Buttercup's lips, the tender touch not only silencing the raging little girl but bringing a vivid red flush to her cheeks. Blood's eyes narrowed and a smile curled onto her face "Buttercup, I have very, VERY good hearing. Right now I can barely even hear myself speak because of your yelling. I just wanted to look at it for a moment because I think that it's kinda cool. You can understand that, right?"

"I've never met a girl who likes big buildings before..." Buttercup murmured, her lips brushing that gentle little finger as she spoke.

"It's just a passive interest; depends what they're built for. You're not the only tomboy in this world, you know."

"Can we... please... get back to the fight?"

"You annoyed at me?"

"J-Just a little."

"Okay, you get a free shot at me." She grinned. Buttercup swung her fist instinctively. Blood caught it with her hand and her smile grew much wider "Psych!" She drove her fist into Buttercup's chest and knocked her away.

"Ugh, play fair!" Buttercup yelled, recovering to pounce Blood front-on, a stream of glowing green at her toes.

Blood readied herself in the half-second she had. "Life's not fair, I though you knew that!" She caught Buttercup yet again but with nothing but air to cushion her, Buttercup's momentum did not fade so easily this time. Buttercup locked her hands around Blood, binding them into her grasp. Blood began to slow, fighting against Buttercup in a seeminly futile test of strength.

"Not so tough up here on your own!" the Powerpuff exclaimed, a grin of premature triumph on her face. Blood came to a stop, still trying to wrest her hands free from Buttercup. It didn't work, but the jet-haired child was in no hurry to make a move. In fact, she was rather curious about her opponent "How do you manage to fly, anyway?"

Blood's words caught between grunts of effort against Buttercup's superior hold "It's... a simple psionic levitation trick... everyone who can do it has their own way of flying and that's mine! Obviously not as powerful as yours..."

"If you train yourself to use your gifts, you'll find that you'll soon get better at it!" Buttercup smiled at her. This girl, so unfamiliar it seemed with the gifts she had, already knew how to give her the runaround. It was only natural, however, that the veteran of countless fights, forays and monster-beatings overwhelmed her in the end. "Where's all that strength you showed me before? Surely you didn't use it a-" her voice caught in her throat as Blood drove her shoe deep into Buttercup's gut. For a moment not even a startled gasp escaped her gaping mouth. Blood grit her teeth in frustration, ripping out of Buttercup's hold at the opportunity and retreating a few feet. Buttercup crossed her arms around her stomach, hugging herself in winded agony. This wasn't over by a long shot "I... let you do that..."

"You like to talk, huh?" Blood asks, shaking her fingers to ensure there was still circulation in them. What a grip she had! "You like to talk, you like to fight... there's gotta be more to you than that, isn't there?"

Buttercup grinned, noticing the irony in the statement. Blood seemed just as eager to talk and in doing so stall the fight. All the more time for her to recover from that rather embarassing blow to the midriff "W-What's it to you what I like...?"

"Oh, well, it's just that if we ever ended up working together should I just HAPPEN to convince you and your sisters that there's a better cause worth fighting for, then I'll wanna know a bit about my newest friend. You like to fight - great! You're a talker - that's fine! But what else does Miss Buttercup enjoy?"

Buttercup smirked. She'd already done a talk like this today in class "I like sports. All sports. Ones where you run, the most."

Blood felt a bitter memory resurface in her head of when she tried to play soccer or basketball or even tag. How poor she was. But she told herself that those memories, those failures were not quite hers.

"I like martial arts, too." Buttercup added. The pain in her stomach was dulling very quickly. Discussing what she enjoyed was speeding her recovery. "I'm trying to learn more ways to-"

"More ways to hurt the enemy?" Blood took a stab at it. Buttercup's hesitant nod confirmed it. Blood grinned, the talk doing her some good too "From what I know, your sisters hold special combat and interpersonal abilities that distinguish them but you seem to lack any unique gifts of your own." Buttercup's scowl was clear and present "To overcome that by learning and inventing new ways to destroy is certainly a good step forward. But forget all this physical stuff, what about a more personal Buttercup? Do you like music?"

Buttercup blinked. What a strange question! "Well... sure, I guess."

"What kinds? Anything that's big at your school? Dance? Hip-hop?"

"Dance is fun. Not stupid dance troupe dance, though. That stuff's for wimps." Blood, unable to detect much of anything from a Powerpuff, thought she could feel just the slightest disdain in the air. "Sorta... party music... the Professor has a collection I sometimes listen to."

"Got favourites?" Blood asked, drifting backward to put a few feet between them. Music was something she always had deplorable taste in. Whatever she listened to she tended to like but she never had anything she could call a favourite.

"Sorta 2012-era..." she threw out a sporadic name "Lady Gaga or somethin'..."

Blood remembered "Oh, yeah... shame about what happened to her."

"Yeah, I guess... those things happen."

"You never know when a life is gonna take an unexpected turn. Can happen to the best of people. That's why you always gotta make the most of it. You and I have gifts, Buttercup... I still don't get why you restrict yourself so much. You probably don't even know you're doing it."

"This talk is pretty restrictive! What happened to the fight!?"

"I said I wanted to get to know you and not just by throwing punches at each other. I'm learning more about you every moment."

Buttercup felt her cheeks flush a little. No friend had ever taken such a keen interest in her right from the start, before. Well, not that she'd immediately call Blood a 'friend', although... that would be nice. "How do I learn about you, then?"

Blood grinned "Just ask!"

"But how can we fight if we're just asking each other stuff?"

"Like this!" Blood called out. Then an instant later she was eye to eye with Buttercup again, a clenched fist sailing at the younger girl's face. Buttercup caught it and wrenched her arm in defence. But Blood didn't so much as wince. Rather, she asked "Got a favourite colour?"

Irked by her persistance yet amused nonetheless, Buttercup wrenched the arm a little further, trying to dislocate it from Blood's shoulder just to see what she'd do. When Blood kept eye contact and her arm refused to budge any further, she answered her "Black and blue."

"Like the bruises you're NOT giving me right now?" Blood teased. She pulled, yanking Buttercup to her and raising her knee simultaneously, crashing it into her stomach. Buttercup gasped again, this time a little more severely. Blood giggled "Check your stomach... see if I left one."

Buttercup's fingers spasmed, Blood still vicing her wrist. Her expression seemed strained; she was fighting against something within her. Her breath was held deliberately, her cheeks blueing a little. Blood had no idea what she'd done. She began to worry. Buttercup said nothing but a strange noise left her before she finally relented before her opponent, doubling over and bursting into a heavy fit of coughs.

Dread overcame her. She didn't hit her that hard - no way! Buttercup was a Powerpuff! The most resilient kind of child on this planet; moreso even than herself. The coughing continued, the youngster clutching her gut in agony and once Blood released her other hand it slid down there as well. Blood shook her head, aghast "N-No... I didn't do that! I couldn't have!"

"Y-" Buttercup tried to speak, "Y-You..."

"I... I'm sorry! I really am!" Blood didn't care about the rules of the fight anymore. Buttercup was suffering and it was her fault... she wanted to cry.

"Y-You can't tell... what's wrong with me" Buttercup croaked "even with those fancy powers you've got??"

Blood shook her head "I... n-never could work out how to use them on you! I told you I was still learning..." Nothing seemed to work. Buttercup was like a wall of pure lead, impenetrable physically just as much as mentally. But Blood's concern was too great. She seized Buttercup's arm again and pulled, Buttercup nearly slamming into her if not for the cushion caused by Blood's hand pressed flat against the younger girl's chest. As if by magic, or more power beyond Blood's immediate control, the fit of coughs ceased abruptly.

It was brief. So painfully brief. Like a ray of light from a dying torch she tried to cut through the blackness of mystery that Buttercup's body emanated, the cavernous emptiness seeming to stretch on forever. But in that tiniest of moments, she saw all that she needed to see before some strange sort of force shut her out again. Her expression changed. No longer did she seem on the brink of tears. Now, fascination lit her eyes but the same look of concern and guilt seemed to linger. But there was some light in those eyes again. "What is it...?" Buttercup asked, failing to notice the tiny droplet of red fluid leaking out the side of her mouth.

"I saw them... only for a moment." Blood stared off at nothing but her eyes scanned back and forth as though reading volumes of information right before her "Your lungs, their insides... it's like they're... shredded..."

The urge to cough resurfaced at those words alone "Shredded... good way to put it..." Even flying this high, only a couple hundred feet above the roads, sidewalks and people below was sometimes enough to leave her lightheaded and short of breath. But what could Blood do about it with all those strange abilities of hers?

"But to do that, you'd need... an incredible amount of force! Like something ripping the air out of you! How'd you get hurt like that, Buttercup?" Blood pressed with concern more genuine that what she'd ever expressed to her before "What kinds of things must you have done... the battles and the struggles... I wanna know!" She wasn't just concerned for her, Buttercup realised. Blood had begun to admire her.

"Eheh... all this cos of my stupid lungs?" she grumbled. Simply recalling the event that left her almost suffocating with every breath was more painful than even the most violent spate of coughs. That numbing rush of air... the pain that consumed her... she glanced down at her hands, Blood watching her. They had been bloodied... lacerated. How well they'd healed in comparison. Buttercup groaned, a sickening feeling retching at her insides.

"Buttercup, you alright?" Blood asked, wishing she could get a glimpse of the Powerpuff's mind the same way she'd seen just a fraction of that mysterious unseen wound "Tell me what happened! Tell me what's wrong!"

She felt nothing but anger but not at Blood for her persistence. It had been her fault. Her crazy act of bravado when no such act was necessary. She'd done that to herself and deprived herself of her health, her confidence in her judgement and that one last, everything-or-nothing fight. "I don't wanna talk about it." she firmly responded.

Blood had none of it, "Buttercup, please, I only want to-"

"I said NO!" Buttercup roared, spinning around as her hand became a fist that soared toward the kindhearted youngster's face. Not missing a beat, Blood flitted sideways, her concerned expression slowly changing to a dawning realisation. But before she could speak of it further Buttercup lashed out again, tired of pointless words that solved nothing. Regretting her past caused no progress. Actions defined everything! There was no action more thrilling than a satisfying blow to the opponent. Blood continued to weave around the onslaught, each punch and kick coming closer and closer to striking her, skin brushing skin once or twice before she decided to retaliate.

"You're upset at yourself!" Blood declared, ducking a backhand strike and whirling to deliver her own jab which Buttercup knocked aside with her forearm. Colour had returned to Buttercup's cheeks and with Blood's words a familiar flair of emotion in her eyes. Her hunch was accurate. Proven. Buttercup's eyes lit up and Blood squeaked in surprise, dropping down to avoid two searing emerald streams of burning light. "I said no energy attacks!"

"Why doncha tell me what else I can't do, huh!?" Buttercup scathed, pursuing relentlessly as Blood dived toward the high-rise projects ahead, leaving the incomplete superspire behind them. Buttercup was easily the faster of the two, catching Blood and wrapping her arms tightly around her, pressing her chest to Blood's back and steering both of them toward the flat-roofed buildings in a vertical dive. Blood kicked and squirmed but it did nothing to loosen the steadfast hold. "You've no idea how long I've waited to go all out against someone, Blood! Someone with the same cockiness and arrogance and ability as... as..." She tried to remember the face of the one she never got the chance to fight. To her surprise, she hardly could.

Distracted, she didn't pull up from her dive. Blood clamped her eyes shut and murmured "If you wanna cheat, so will I!"

They stopped.

Two feet, maybe a little less. That's all there was between them and the rooftop. "Ah!" Blood chirped, realising that by extending the psychic cushion beneath them to decelerate them to a halt almost instantly, she didn't account for the inertial difference and as a result, her deep blue headband nearly slipped right off her head. With a relieved smile, both for their aborted impact and for not losing her hairpiece, she adjusted the headband back into place. Back to reality at last, Buttercup abandoned her failed dive bomb, releasing Blood and rocketing into the sky. Blood landed by her hands and yelped as she slipped and flopped onto her stomach. Her head still spun from it all. She groaned at how silly she must have looked.

Her palms were sweaty. Buttercup had managed to frighten her.

"Wow..." she murmured, muffled a bit against the cold, flat roof "You're a lot better than I-" she broke off, hearing a distinct high-pitched whizzing sound from above. Still groggy in the head she rolled onto her back, her auburn hair like a silky-smooth pillow on which to rest her hair. She was glad she did so, immediately. "WAH!" she screamed, throwing herself to the side as the bright green flash slammed itself down onto the spot where she lay. The dense concrete roof of the building - a prefabricated project about 25 storeys tall - cratered like dry, compacted beach sand as Buttercup immediately sprung again, tackling the retreating Blood and knocking them both down once again.

Buttercup pinned Blood by the shoulders before lifting her fist to bring it down on Blood's young, pretty face "Talk is for lose- AGH!" she yelled, Blood's fist snapping up and catching her in the cheek, knocking her aside. Blood sprung to her feet and tried to retreat again. A sharp pain buckled her leg as Buttercup's fist smashed into the back of the knee and left Blood face-down once again. Buttercup grinned broadly, still unaware her lip was cut. Blood rolled, bent her knees and kicked out, catching Buttercup in the chest and knocking her onto her backside with a pained yelped.

Blood shook her head "You're only gonna hurt yourself if you keep attacking recklessly!" She shot away, toward the roof of the next building along "If you had more self-control, you could truly be something extraordinary!"

Buttercup rubbed her bottom, vainly trying to subdue the ache. Spotting Blood's attempted escape, she tore through the air again in pursuit. "Running away's not gonna prove anything to you, Blood!"

"It proves you never quit!" she called out in response, hopping between buildings like a frog on lillypads.

"If you underestimated me, then I won't think anything less of you if you come right out and admit it!"

Blood spun around and sprung into the air "Who's underestimating who?" She rocketed straight toward Buttercup, both girl accelerating toward the inevitable impact.

Then they collided, and a shockwave tore the sky.

Upon a tower far away, Sora felt the tremor before the others. She spun around as the shockwave rippled in the distance, a surprised gasp leaving her lips as her conversation with Blossom and Bubbles was interrupted. She still had so much to tell them...

Bubbles whimpered "T-That was them, right?"

Sora nodded "Yeah... I'm certain of it."

Blossom bit her lower lip "Buttercup... please..."

Sora glanced her way "Blossom, Blood won't hurt her. She'll be fine, you'll see!"

Blossom shook her head, "I'm not worried about that. I just hope they don't demolish the whole city while they're showing off..."

Blood snarled, backing away from Buttercup who was smiling in delight and glee. She rubbed her forearms where she'd collided, the pain throbbing up into her shoulders enough to make her hiss. Buttercup hadn't budged, even on an impact like that. She winced, the ache bound to linger "That'll bruise for sure... dammit..."

Buttercup grinned "So I DID manage to give you a bruise after all!"

Blood cast her a frustrated stare "It won't last. And besides, the rule wasn't anything to do with how badly we get ourselves beat up. One of us has gotta cry, remember? Surely you can make that happen too, right?" her expression suddenly changed as she batted her eyes at Buttercup almost... seductively "I'm just a poor and helpless little girl after all!"

Buttercup's cheeks flared and she bit back a smart-alec retort. How on earth could she manage to be so confident and switch to being so cute in an instant? That look she was giving her was almost.... no.

Just no!

"If I beat you up too bad I'm not gonna find out more about what you want out of me and my sisters!"

"That's just a risk you gotta take, Buttercup. You like risks, right?" Blood asked, the late afternoon breeze catching her hair and blowing it about her shoulders in a playful auburn pirhouette "And I thought you wanted to fight me?"

"I do!" Buttercup confirmed, balling her fists as though to emphasise her conviction "I want nothing more than to see all you've got and for you to know just how tough I can be! But... but Blossom wanted me to get some answers from you and so that's what I gotta do!"

"Do you always do what dear Blossom says?"

Buttercup's nostrils flared with a sharp, incensed inhale "NO!" she shouted defensively.

"Oh really? It looks like you bend to her words pretty quickly. You agreed with everything she told you just before we set out on this duel."

"Only cos she agreed to my request in return!" Buttercup resented the very implication. Blossom may lead the group, but Buttercup was no simple peon! "I don't have to do what she says if I don't want to! If I know that there's a best way to do something, I do it that way!"

"Even if it means upsetting your sister?"

"Yes!"

"Even though she's the LEADER!?"

"She...!" Buttercup stopped herself before she said something she truly would regret. Blossom was always leader. She had been ever since birth. First to speak. First to speak. If not for Buttercup's innate impulsiveness, the first to act as well, surely. Her teeth grit together, the breeze that wafted past seeming suddenly icy.

"She what?"

"She doesn't realise that I'm just as good as her..." she murmured, casting aside all fear in saying it. She wasn't here to hear her. She could say it, it was ok. No stupid, bossy, overbearing rant about experience and natural leadership qualities here. Only Blood... who she hoped could understand her. "I know I can make good decisions on my own. And I can be a leader just as much as her! But she never lets me prove it! Not to her... not to anyone!"

"Be careful what you say, Buttercup." Blood warned, still rubbing her forearm where the ache hurt most "I can hear a lot of anger in your voice - the same sort you showed me back at the tower in front of the others."

"And how would you know what's in my voice? You sense emotion, like Bubbles?"

Blood gestured to her ears, partially hidden by the continually fluttering hair "Good hearing, remember? I can pick up a lot."

"Like what else?"

"Well, we caused quite a stir with that impact just now. Rattled a few windows and surprised a few people. A small group is chatting about us down below." Buttercup glanced down and sure enough, boxed in by buildings, congregating on the sidewalk of a two-lane street, was a small assembly of onlookers, children among them. "There's a boy about our age down there who seems particularly excited and vocal about us."

"Really?"

"Yup!" Blood beamed "Says he can see right up your skirt!"

Buttercup's hands instinctively flew between her legs and smothered her skirt against her thighs as her cheeks went as red as Blood's eyes. She cried out with more of a squeak than a shout "Y-You're lying!"

Blood giggled "Kyahaha, yeah... but your reaction was worth it!"

Buttercup's blush turned to one of embarassment for being so easily duped... and she was supposed to be acting strong here, for crying out loud! "Mmmf... fail..." she murmured.

"Don't worry, I just wanted to break up the sour mood a bit. You seem to be hiding a lot of anger in your voice, you know? I think there's something you're not telling me about you and your past. And I think..." she held up an intuitive finger to show she had a hunch "it's got something to do with your lungs."

Buttercup grumbled. The less she found out about how her decisions in the past hadn't been all that bright, the better. Besides, that was her problem and hers alone. Nobody else needed to know. Not unless... she could actually understand how she felt... "There's a lot you're not telling me either."

Blood nodded, relenting "And it does neither of us any good by keeping it a secret!" Rather than tell, she short forward again and drilled a punch into Buttercup's forearms, the Puff raising her arms just in time on instinct.

Buttercup almost failed to contain her yelp of surprise. There was no rest for this girl! "You don't tell people by PUNCHING at them!"

Blood bypassed the guard with a quick kick to Buttercup's side, a victorious grin on her young face. Buttercup winced but didn't buckle, wrapping her arm around the girl's ankle to hold her fast. Regardless, Blood continued to smile "Let's multitask! Talk AND fight! We're girls - we're good at multitasking."

"Sounds like something your mother would say..."

Blood's happy expression faltered "I..." Buttercup didn't wait. She spun herself over, wrenching Blood's leg and the rest of her along for the ride and flung her straight down toward the rooftops not far below. They were all flat, dull and grey. A perfect, out-of-the-way battlefield. But Blood allowed herself to fall, her face becoming sad for a moment. At first it seemed she would not stop, continuing to plummet under no power of her own. But at the last instant, a foot from the roof, her downward motion ceased and she hung there, facing skyward, her eyes closing in sudden despair. Something unnatural seemed to hold her in place "My... mother..."

Buttercup dropped down after her but not at any breakneck speed. She was confused now. Had she said something wrong? Blood continued to stare upward at the cloudy sky, the sun gradually sinking to the west and lighting her body in gentle warmth. There was something in those ruby eyes Buttercup doubted she'd ever understand. But the speed at which those eyes could change from sad to focused was frightening - Blood seized Buttercup's leg in surprising turnabout as soon as she dropped close enough. Buttercup, startled, failed to react.

"Buttercup... ask me anything you want and I will tell you anything you want... unless it has something to do with my past, alright?"

"Al... alright..." And then Blood let her go. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just... thought about something for a moment - it's not important."

"Not important? You looked so-"

"I'll tell you what IS important though - what I wanna fight for." Her fist lashed out. Buttercup caught it without blinking. She tried the other hand. Same result. She pushed herself closer, hands bound by Buttercup's grip and eyes staring into those of deep green with a fierce passion. Buttercup felt her cheeks heating up again. Normally, she'd push someone away if they got that close.

Not now, though.

"Buttercup, what do you know" Blood spoke slowly as if to choose the best words out of a list of thousands "about a thing called 'Junior Citizen'?" she dropped to the flat roof below, her sneakers finding grip upon the cold, smooth surface.

Buttercup followed but did not release her. So long as she held her here she'd get all the information she needed and more "Isn't that some... some kind of group for kids? Like the YMCA? Or... or a holiday camp? I can't remember; I don't hear about it much. What's that gotta do with anything?"

"Group for kids, that's a good one..." Blood rolled her eyes "Do you have ANY idea what the people who control the people are up to?"

Buttercup blinked, her grip easing on Blood's hands but she did not pull away. The tone in her voice suggested something far more dire than she immediately caught onto. People who controlled the people... "Um... celebrities?"

"The GOVERNMENT, Buttercup! The people who are responsible for big cities like this even being here! The ones working over the heads of the general population, thinking they can get away with anything! I'm sure you've sworn your undying loyalty to them, being the heroes of this place and everything."

"Pff... those men in suits? I don't think they like us." She recalled the other day, on the bridge at the scene of that accident. They were none too pleased to see any of them. "But if they stay out of the way, there's no problems with them or us."

Blood's eyes narrowed "Well then, you're one of the luckier ones, Buttercup. Other people aren't able to slip under the radar so easily."

"What's Junior Citizen, then?" Buttercup let go of Blood, stepping back to allow the conflicted girl some breathing room. Such pause in the fight, this time, was acceptable.

Blood's tone was harsh, as though speaking of the worst evil imaginable "It's probably their most well-guarded secret. It's been going on for decades but it only really ramped up recently. How good's your history?"

"I hate history." was the blunt respone.

"Good enough. About twenty years ago, the United States and their allied nations occupied several regions of the Middle East, most notably Iraq and Afghanistan. They were there under shaky intel and had intended to enforce a peacekeeping regime after toppling a former dictatorship and searching for powerful weapons. It was all sparked by the horrible terrorist attacks at the turn of the century."

Buttercup had heard more than her share of stories about that. She hadn't even been born yet, but she'd seen the videos on TV... those terrible images and frightened faces. Preventing that kind of thing happening again was so important to her and her sisters. However, she'd heard the rumours going around as of late that more comparisons were being drawn between the Powerpuff Girls and the very people who caused those atrocities.

Blood continued, not noticing Buttercup's wandering attention "The occupation was only meant to take five years or so, but ended up stretching on almost three times as long! During that time, thousands of American men and women lost their lives fighting a ragtag band of loyalists using ancient methods, technology and weapons. At the end of it all, looking back, the government saw it as nothing more than an almighty embarassment. They quickly decided to explore new means of fighting and winning wars - ways that would lead to the least amount of friendly casualties."

"And they started this 'Junior Citizen' 'cause of this?"

A breeze caught her from the side, blowing her auburn locks around once again, tickling the smooth skin of her mostly-exposed legs "No, Buttercup, like I said... Junior Citizen was around before that but that's when they began to take interest in it. That's," her mouth curled into a scowl "... that's when they started doing all those terrible things to people."

Buttercup was captivated, unable to refute a tale told so confidently. But how did she know these things? "What kind of things...?" she whispered.

"Well let's just say... their own self-importance began to override peoples' own right to live. All so that those poor people - mostly children - could be part of this great idea of theirs..." she paused briefly, staring out across the low-rise rooftops. Buttercup had no idea what was running through that strange little head of hers. After a moment, in a soft voice, she went on "They don't want anyone to know what they do to children - how they tear their free will away and then tinker with their lives in ways most people wouldn't imagine. Then they lock them up and test them like rats... all to try and manufacture the greatest human weapon." she rounded on Buttercup, her ruby gaze intense "That's what Junior Citizen was about from the very start, Buttercup! Since the times of Second World War genetic experimentation and beyond it, they've always wanted to unlock the perfect human weapon - EXPLOITING gifted children and trying to manufacture their own! Only a few of the originals lived to adulthood, the rest killed by their powers or euthanised because their bodies were left ravaged by the torturous modifications. Oh, sure, they'd try and justify it by saying that it's all for the best! Without it, thousands of people would die in conflicts spawned from events that only caused a third of the casualties! With human weapons, the need for armies and huge spendings would cease to exist!

"It's all nonsense, Buttercup! No advantage of their scheme can override the fact that stealing a life away from anyone - ESPECIALLY a child - and using it for their own self-serving means is one of the most basic violations of human rights ever to happen! If they ever got found out, the amount of shit they'd be in would be enormous."

It all made sense, not just what she was saying but also why she felt so strongly about it "And you want to change that... because you're one of them."

Blood bared her teeth "I am not! And I'm always gonna be thankful for that!"

Buttercup blinked in surprise "But... how do you know so much about this, then?"

She sighed, staring skyward "My father... my... LATE father, he was a geneticist. He worked for a company that produced medical and genetic breakthroughs to combat many of the world's deadliest diseases and viruses. He was the apprentice of the man who helped discover the cure for things like  Swine Flu and Anderson's Blight. He had connections to this government group and regardless how loose those connections were, they gave him an extremely high security clearance." Blood seemed pained just talking about it. She pressed on, regardless. "He had all sorts of classified notes and documents on his computer. I read through them one after another, just using the page down key all the time - you know the one I mean?"

Buttercup shook her head "Hate computers."

"Well I could read one page after another, just with a mouseclick. As I started reading, slowly I worked out that there was a lot of stuff being kept hidden from the public. Things that would bring so much outrage and protest that they had to lock it all away and pretend it never existed at all. One page after another... staff names. A click later and it was project names and allocations. Another click, description of individual projects. Click - prior identities of test subjects and their family or lack of it. Click, this and that, click, more documentation, click... and then I realised I was reading them faster and faster, not because my anger was building but because I was processing every single word on those pages in a fraction of a second. My powers were only very new when I was doing this, so they scared me. But still I continued - locations, click, completion dates, click, projected outcomes, click, click, click..."

"I get the idea..." Buttercup murmured.

"If you do, then you'd know that I don't know everything that I can do just yet. The only thing I'm sure about is that this project has to stop!" She rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on as she recalled everything she had read, word for word, as though they were displayed for her perusal before her eyes once again. "I read through over two-thousand pages of basic information regarding the 37 active Junior Citizen sites around the country, all within the space of an hour and a half."

"Blood, if they think it's for the best then I don't know if-"

Blood screamed "They are ROBBING THEM OF THEIR LIVES!" her face was twisted with fury "These people, these MONSTERS think they can take ordinary young boys and girls and turn them into weapons, a cheap and artificial knock-off of people like you! Look at me, Buttercup! I could have been one of them if only I was government-sanctioned and given some stupid codename! But I had the chance of a free life and I gave myself a name that reflects the power that I hold! It's just that... I don't know everything about that power, and if I wanna help the others out there who can have the chance at a proper life, using powers they didn't ask for to fight for something they WANT to fight for, then I'll need the help" she lanced Buttercup, "of someone who DOES know about their power. Every bit of it."

The passion and fire in Blood's voice startled the young Powerpuff. City-stomping monsters held not the fearsomeness of a powerful little girl with a mission in mind. "Just calm down, alright? I understand what you-"

"You don't understand, Buttercup, you don't know what I know." she turned away, inclining her head toward the flat of the roof upon which they both stood, huddled amongst other buildings both taller and smaller, nestled away from sight, "You've no idea how deeply this all runs - how many people they've had to go through! There were more than 37, once... a lot of them didn't make it just for the sake of their experimentation. What they're doing is a crime and it makes me so MAD!" her eyes lit up and a tremor shot through the building as a sudden breeze buffeted them both.

Then came a sudden CRACK!

Buttercup staggered backward, careful not to step on any of the crevices ripped into the concrete that zig-zagged out like chinked glass of a windshield from the point where Blood stood. Her ruby eyes blinked and she took a deep breath, glancing around her at what she'd done "Ah..." she muttered, "it cracked..."

Buttercup's voice was shaky "I-I don't know if I can be part of-"

"If you wanna start doubting yourself, then do it. I'll just find someone else." Blood lifted her eyes again, glaring beneath her curly auburn fringe "I've told you what you wanted to know. All I want is to give those people out there a chance at a life that doesn't have to do with being some military department's puppet. Sora and I - we're free people. I want other free people with gifts to join in and who knows? One day, we could change society. We could lead society. But right now, I've done what you wanted me to do. As for you... how can I be convinced you're what I'm looking for when you're not even sure what you want to fight for?"

Buttercup spoke through clenched teeth "I'd be abandoning my sisters if I were to run off with you two!"

"After hearing what I told you, could you convince them?"

"I... I think so."

"You don't sound so confident, Buttercup. I don't want that in a partner. I need someone who's sure of herself," she gestured upon one finger, before adding a second by saying "I need someone who's willing to take charge," she extended a third "and I need someone who is just as strong as me, if not more, so that if I can't get my abilities working right, I can rely on you to take over."

Buttercup's eyes narrowed "I can be that person."

Blood smiled coyly "You're sure of yourself?"

"I am." was the reply, with a nod to affirm it.

"You think you can lead?"

"I've just never been given the chance."

"And you think you're as strong as me?"

Buttercup grinned broadly "Stronger!"

"Then one last time - no more chatter - I want you to prove i-" there was a flash of green and Buttercup vanished before Blood's eyes. And she felt nothing. No hint of life from around her, no brain patterns, nothing at all. Everyone she met left a trail. Everyone but those three girls. Uncovering their secrets and learning to overcome them would be just as valuable as having them on-

Buttercup's fist rocked the side of Blood's face, knocking the girl to the ground. She stood over the dungareed youngster with a predatory flash of glee in her expression. She didn't wait for Blood to react. She had all of her information. She could go back to Blossom and finally convince the upstart gingerhead to do something at her suggestion. All that was left was to make this girl with a dream start bawling her eyes out. She shot into the sky on a streak of emerald, curling around to come crashing down on her target.

Having witnessed the recycled routine before, Blood was ready. Buttercup instead met the merciless kiss of Blood's toecap to her gut, her momentum sinking the slightly-dirtied sneaker in further as Blood scuttled back for breathing room. It missed Buttercup's diaphragm, leaving Buttercup thankful that no sudden urge to cough filled her ravaged lungs. With nothing but a sharp pain in her lower stomach, she pursued. Blood, surprised at the sudden and rejuvinated bloodlust in her foe, scramled for the edge of the building's flat, rectangular roof. Her toe caught one of the cracks she had put through the surface, stumbling herself and causing her to yelp. Outrunning Buttercup would be useless, she quickly surmised as she reached the raised edge. Again she turned to fight her head-on-

CRACK went a fist to her face, knocking her backwards against the thick, raised edge as a pain so blisteringly sharp engulfed her senses for just a moment. She was thankful her bottom was soft and reasonably plushy, her bodyweight negligible enough to be absorbed as it impacted the solid concrete. Buttercup loomed over her again as Blood brought her hands to her nose which had ceased to ache almost as soon as it hard started. Something dripped onto her hands. Something warm and a little sticky. She lowered her hand away to find herself staring at a fresh sample of her namesake, leaking from her nostrils and down onto her lips. That punch had broken her nose, the bone within no doubt shattered. She raised her fingers to inspect. A quick prod around was enough to confirm that whatever damage that had been done was no longer there. Her bone intact. Strong. As though new.

"You alright?" Buttercup asked.

The blood had stopped dripping. She wiped her mouth and philtrum, shaking her hand to rid herself of the fluid and licking her upper lip to clean it. Her namesake tasted strange. Perhaps all the stuff that made her different that her blood contained was the reason for that. Nevertheless... "Yeah, I'm fine."

Buttercup retorted immediately "Then I don't have to ease up!" she swung her foot forward, right at the seated girl's face. But a single hand was all Blood needed to stop the dangerous attack. Blood ran her hand along the slightly dirtied white sock, admiring how it clung to the lissom leg as though the fabric were the skin itself. She smiled gently, forgetting entirely that the foot at the end of this pretty leg could nearly have caved her skull in.

"You keep yourself in good shape, Buttercup. That's exactly what I'm looking for."

Buttercup pulled away, grunting in disgust "Your fascination with me is a bit creepy."

"But valid." Blood got to her feet, still standing on the precipice of the project's roof "Now if only you'd make me cry, we could get this over with." she murmured, easily tripping Buttercup's switch again. Another loud CHIU! sounded, a flash of green blinding Blood's eyes just as a searing pain shot through her cheek, something striking it and knocking her head sidewards. Buttercup reappeared behind her, floating out over the edge, far above the street below. Blood's eyes cleared and she dropped her gaze to the ground in front of her. Her cheek was red, the impact blemish just about the size of Buttercup's fist. But her grin didn't fade "Hmm... nope. Not enough, Buttercup."

Another squeal tore through the sky, another blunt impact rattling against the back of Blood's head, knocking her headband askew and making her stumble. She couldn't read Buttercup's movements, which frustrated her utterly. But if her high-speed strikes only hurt that much, then the need to predict her every move didn't seem very urgent. She didn't even lift her head before an uppercut to her jaw did it for her, Buttercup glaring at her for some sign of pain, grief or even a typical reaction. But Blood stared skyward, tasting the salty, warm taste of a bitten tongue.

"What's with you!?" Buttercup snarled.

Blood dropped her gaze back to the dumbstruck child, smiling once again "Why did Sora waste time on Bubbles when" her expression warmed fondly "you're exactly what I was looking for, all this time."

"I... you... really?"

"If only you could get along with Sora a little more. I guess we could work on that..." she stared off at nothing in wonderment.

Buttercup was completely perplexed "You didn't feel ANY of those hits?" Hits always hurt the worst at high speed and that unfortunately worked both ways. Her knuckles still throbbed.

"Something localised like that isn't gonna do much to me, Buttercup. I'll confess that I've felt much worse before." she replied, still seemingly off in a daydream. "Have I been unfair to you, telling you to stop using your energy attacks? If that's how you normally fight, I'm sorry. But it's a good way to learn," she came back to reality, staring back at Buttercup with eyes that shone like gemstones "right?"

"It's no fun fighting someone when I can't hurt 'em, though!" she complained. But after a moment her devlish smile came back "But... I guess I can learn, right?"

Blood backed onto the very edge, winking at Buttercup "Right!" she raised her hand at her opponent and something flashed from her palm. Caught by what felt like a hurricane gust, Buttercup tumbled backward at the mercy of the invisible force, tumbling end over end. Blood wiggled. At least SOMETHING worked. Buttercup threw her hand down, blasting away from the concrete flat  and straightening her motion, landing with crouched knee and furious glower. Blood shrugged innocently "Well hey, I could help you figure out new ways" she spun around and added over her shoulder "if you want!" she took a single step and dropped off the edge to the street and sidewalk below.

With a discontented outcry, Buttercup blasted off the roof in relentless pursuit.