Black Heart: Chapter 2

[Puff Hunter]

"Target acquired," Hack says. "Appears to be Professor Utonium, except this one's... some kind of undead cyborg. Armed with a minigun and RPG; proceed with caution. Target has engaged the Powerpuff. We need to act quickly. I'll cover your entrance." He turns the power on his ion cannon down slightly, so it can pierce the wall cleanly instead of exploding against it, and aims at the Father's lower body.

Hack attacks Father
Attack: High-Power Rifle Shot
Defense: None

[rulerofice]

"Roger that!" Timo said as he began zipping down to the figure and created an ice staff. "I'll free Violet."

After Hack fired his shot, Timo aims at the arm holding Violet.

Timo attacks Father
Attack: Ice Staff Spinning Throw
Defense: None

Timo throws his ice staff, making it spin like a circular saw, at high speed towards his target.

[blossomgb]

'Got you. I'll look for Blackheart. We're rather stuck without her. Angel?', Steve replied.
'She was at the front of the observatory, but now I don't see her', Angel stated. They looked round and flew carefully round the back of the observatory and approached it from the other side. There was no sign of Blackheart, or Theo.
They stayed out of view and looked round again, looking round the corner at 'The Professor' as he was threatening Violet. Steve made sure his stick was loaded and they quietly flew down to the bottom of the tower.
'There', Angel whispered. Theo was lying on the ground, almost cowering. Angel quickly sneaked over to it while Steve covered her with the stick/gun. Then he quickly followed. Angel didn't want to pick the bear up this time! Steve took it and they went back into the shadows, looking round again.
'You took us to her last time', Steve told the bear, 'where is she now'. The bear pointed. They flew in the direction that the bear pointed and found Blackheart, She was unconscious but still alive. Steve looked her over and put her in the recovery position with the bear next to her. She coughed and started to come round.
'What.... where am I', she spluttered.
'You got a blast from some horrible version of The Professor', Steve told her. She took the bear again. 'Nothing seems broken, can you stand?'
'Yes,,, I think so. I was just disappearing but I wasn't quick enough.' Blackheart reasoned, then asked 'Where's Violet. Is she OK?'
'Timo and Hack were in the process of seeing to her.' Blackheart tried to walk but seemed weak on her feet.
'You shouldn't fly about in the open like that.', Angel told her. 'It's asking for trouble.' Angel wasn't quite scolding her, but the statement stuck. Steve handed Blackheart the bear. They looked up at the observatory from where they were, at the parody of Professor Utonium. Steve wondered if he was real or some sort of cyborg.
'Are you sure the Shadow Soul is in there', Steve asked Blackheart.
'Yes, but it's buried pretty deep in the observatory.', Blackheart replies.
'Ah'.
'You mean we've got to fight that', Angel says. She was thinking how Buttercup would love this.
'Well, that or find another way in. The Girls used to go straight through the roof.'
'You mean they would crash right through it.', Blackheart said, a touch of Wonder in her voice. The three of them stayed in the shadows and went around the back of the building.
'The noise would give us away', Angel commented.
'Waif for some noise around the front and use that as cover', Steve told them. They waited...

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rcblazer]

The shot from Hack's rifle pierces into the Father's leg, causing it to buckle slightly, but otherwise remain standing! The ice staff drills into the monster's arm, causing it to roar in pain and lose its grip on Violet.

Violet attacks Father
Attack: Double Kick
Defense: Retreat

As soon as the fingers have loosened, Violet quickly takes advantage, swinging her body forward and kicking the former Professor Utonium in the torso with both feet as hard as she can, followed by a backflip that kicks him in the chin! This is enough to force it to let her go, allowing her to quickly fly away and rejoin Hack and Timo as the monster doubles over... and disappears! "What? Where'd he go?" Violet asks.

"Come to me, my children! Daddy needs your help!" The synthesized voice of Professor Utonium calls out, echoing across the empty ruins of the city. Almost immediately, a familiar streak of tricolored light appears on the horizon, heading toward the battle.

Meanwhile, with help from Steve and Angel, Blackheart picks up Theo and uses the loud echo of the Father's call for help to cover the sound of them smashing through the ruins of the observatory walls. Inside, Steve and Angel find a gruesome sight; the floors and walls are covered in blood and broken glass. In one corner lays a pile of bones, the shape of the skulls and limbs leaving no doubt in Steve's mind that these are the bones of Powerpuffs, likely slain by the monster calling itself the Father outside.

Blackheart seems totally unfazed by the horrific setting and walks past all of it, coming to a room in the heart of the observatory where she sees the Shadow Soul. It is being held in a glass container as the corruptive energy is being used to power a device that appears to be pumping Chemical X into giant bottles containing multiple versions of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup! All of them looked as though they have been sewn together from the parts of other Powerpuff Girls, making them look like zombies.

Blackheart reaches for the orb, when the eyes of the clones open, revealing they are all kinds of different colors underneath, many of which have eyes that aren't even the same color! Blackheart pulls her arm back and frowns. "They're not gonna let me take it." She says.

[blossomgb]

Steve and Angel come in and see the sight. Steve wasn't in the best of moods after seeing the bones outside. Angel looked a bit sick for a moment, but she shook her head and it cleared.
'It's like this', Steve told these clones. 'We've come for that. If you let us take it nobody will be hurt. But we'll fight if we have to.;
Angel looked round the room at these clones. 'Not very well made are they', she remarked.
'Careful. We don't know how powerful they are', Steve said.
'And they don't know how powerful we are', Angel replied.
Blackheart came out again and she stood and listened to this. 'We could wait until the others get here.'
Behind her, the clone powerpuffs stood still, as if waiting.

Cheers,

Blossomg

[rulerofice]

Timo saw the familiar tricolored streaks and gasps at the sight.

"No way!" Timo said. "No way those three are Powerpuff Girls. Not originals anyway."

The "girls" all three of them saw had no same colored pair of eyes and most of their body parts had sewning marks.

"He calls these girls 'perfect'??" Timo asked in anger.

The sight disgusts Timo, but he knew they didn't have time for this.

"You two, gather around me." Timo said to Hack and Violet. "We need to get inside the observatory now."

Both Violet and Hack do so.

Timo attacks Father
Attack: None
Defense: Ice Shield (full round)

"I hope you both can keep up with me..." Timo said as he created an ice staff and right after it, a full round Ice Shield, covering all of them. "... because we are going to bust inside the observatory."

Right then, the zombie-looking Powerpuff Girls began to attack them.

"GO!"

[Puff Hunter]

Hack follows Violet and Timo as they charge the observatory. Or rather, he's dragged along by the Ice Shield as they fly faster than he can. He flips around and aims his gun at the zombies attacking from above. "We can't hit them like this," he says. "I need to open a hole in your shield. I'll try to minimize the damage." He presses the muzzle against the shield and opens fire. At the gun's current power level, he can get off one shot every two seconds.

Hack attacks Zombie Powerpuffs (3)
Attack: High-Power Rifle Shot (continuous fire)
Defense: Ice Shield

[rcblazer]

Watching as the zombified clones of the Powerpuff Girls surround them, Blackheart sets Theo on the ground before turning to face the ones behind her. "If you really want to fight to protect the Shadow Soul from me, then you shall have your wish.

Blackheart attacks Zombie Powerpuff Girl Clones
Attack: Galaxy Missiles
Defense: None

With her hand, Blackheart counts the number of clones in the room, then raises her hand, producing as many star shaped projectiles as there are enemies. She looks at Steve and smiles innocently. "You may want to duck." She tells him as she lets the Galaxy Missiles loose, each one targeting a different clone! The zombified Powerpuffs scatter and fly around attempting to avoid the stars, but some of them are shot down before they realize that the stars can chase them!

Zombie Powerpuff Girl Clones Condition: 4 Destroyed. 14 Remaining

As the spectacle occurs, Blackheart turns and smashes her fist through the glass container holding the Shadow Soul and takes it.

Blackheart casts Dark Purification

Meanwhile, the battle continues outside. Hack shoots through the hole in the ice shield made by his rifle, but the zombie Powerpuffs take evasive action, swerving to avoid the shots and flying at angles where Hack cannot properly aim the weapon at them through the ice shield without making another hole.

The Father attacks Timo
Attack: Rocket Launcher
Defense: Cloaking Device

"One in the pipe." The mechanized voice of Professor Utonium says, sounding like he could be hiding anywhere. A moment later, a rocket flies out from a shaded spot on the ground and strikes the ice shield, exploding on impact! The force of the blast sends Violet flying past Hack through the other side of the ice shield and right past the zombie Powerpuffs, who turn around to go after her instead.

Zombie Blossom Clone attacks Violet
Attack: Ice Breath
Defense: Block

Violet attacks Zombie Blossom Clone
Attack: Scorch Kick
Defense: Dive

The clone that looks like Blossom blows a freezing wave at Violet, but is unable to hit her as Violet flies under Blossom and kicks her in the chest from below, bypassing her defensive block entirely. The flames that erupt from Violet's leg incinerate the dry skin of the rotting Powerpuff, sending it collapsing to the ground in a charred heap.

Zombie Blossom Clone Condition: Destroyed

"What do you know? That worked better than I thought!" Violet says with a confident smile, turning to face the other two. "Come and get me, you ugly chunks of rot! I'm gonna give the two of you heartburn with my foot!" She taunts. The undead Bubbles and Buttercup turn away from The Father and focus on Violet, who smiles and assumes her fighting stance. "I may not be as strong as a full blooded Powerpuff, but I'm a way better fighter than a couple of zombies!"

On the ground, The Father is walking toward the cloud of smoke where the rocket connected with Timo's ice shield, when he suddenly grabs his head and roars. "No. What have you done? You'll ruin everything!" He shouts, turning around and cloaking as Blackheart emerges from the ruins of the observatory holding the purified Shadow Soul.

[rulerofice]

When Timo saw the rocket, he tried to warn others, but too late. The rocket hits near Violet, breaking the ice shield and causing Violet leaving the ice shield.

"Violet!"

Timo stopped to check on Violet, but after seeing Violet taking care of Zombie Blossom...

"I guess she can take care of those three." Timo said.

Right then The Father roared, making Timo and Hack turn around, seeing Blackheart with the purified Shadow Soul

"... And we're not really needed there either." Timo said.

But looking at The Father still moving, Timo decides to join with Blackheart, Steve and Angel.

[blossomgb]

'Put that thing where he can't snatch it back', Steve told Blackheart. 'We'll cover you'.
Angel watched as she took a bag out of thin air, but the now purified Shadow Soul in it and put back into thin air.
'We really ought to go', Blackheart said.
'What about this mess?', Angel asked.
'Not our problem. We have a bigger one', Steve answered. 'Are we going or not?', he shouted.

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[Puff Hunter]

"We're going," Hack says. "We have what we came for, and nothing you guys can do will fix this place. So forget the heroics." He turns to Blackheart. "Just make sure they can't follow us through your next portal."

[rcblazer]

Blackheart nods in agreement. "Grandfather has already ruined any hope of this world healing from the corruption. Since we cannot have this monster following us..."

Blackheart attacks the Father
Attack: Galaxy Missiles (redirected)
Defense: Black Vortex

Blackheart raises an arm to the sky, causing the star shaped energy missiles she used to drive off the other zombie clones of the Powerpuff Girls to rise up out of the observatory, smashing it to pieces on the way up and burying the remaining clones in the rubble! Blackheart then points at Professor Utonium, which commands the remaining Galaxy Missiles to form into a single, gigantic blast that flies into The Father at high speed! The zombie cyborg of the Professor aims his Gatling gun at the giant rolling fireball headed for him and opens fire with a storm of duranium bullets, but this does nothing to stop it as the energy ball explodes on impact, leaving nothing but a crater and a few metallic pieces in its wake!

The Father Condition: Destroyed

The portal opens over the smoldering remains of the monster. Blackheart smiles and looks up at Violet, who is still fighting with the zombie clones of Bubbles and Buttercup. "We're done here Violet. Quit playing around with those two and get down here!"

Violet is currently holding Buttercup in a headlock while kicking Bubbles in the face. She looks down at Blackheart with a smirk. "It's been fun girls, but we gotta get goin'."

Violet attacks Zombie Bubbles Clone and Zombie Buttercup Clone
Attack: Combination Attack
Defense: Flip

Violet swings her arm holding Buttercup, swinging her over her head and hammering her down into Bubbles, freeing her arm. Violet then capitalized with a flurry of punches and kicks to the two entangled zombies, ending with a somersault axe kick, sending both zombies crashing down to the ground!"

Zombie Powerpuff Clones Condition: Defeated

"On my way Blackheart! Violet shouts, zooming toward the portal and flying right through it in a streak of purple. Blackheart smiles as Theo runs out of the observatory with several clones in pursuit.

Zombie Powerpuff Clones attack Theo
Attack: Laser Eyebeams
Defense: Flight

Theo uses Dodge

Blackheart's teddy bear dashes across the ravaged surface of Townsville's road, evading the red lasers raining down on it from above while flailing its arm in a frightened panic. Blackheart kneels down and picks Theo up as he jumps into her arms, then she calmly walks through the portal, ignoring the crimson beams bombarding the area.

[rulerofice]

Timo creates a new, normal Ice Shield, aiming it at the clones bombarding them with eye beams. The Ice Shield holds fairly well.

During this, Timo looked around one more time, saddening greatly. "So this is what awaits us if we leave things as they are. Now I'm relieved the girls stayed behind this time. This is something I wouldn't want them to see... or experience."

"Let's get out of here!" Timo said to Hack, Steve and Angel. Timo slowly backs away and enters the portal, leaving the gruesome version of Townsville, hopefully for good.

[blossomgb]

'At last', Steve says, making sure Angel goes through then steps into the portal himself. He wondered briefly whether this version of Townsville would, in time, be put right now that the Shadow Soul and it's corruption had gone. He hoped it would. One down, two to go...

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[Puff Hunter]

Hack flies backward to the portal, firing at the zombie horde and weaving to avoid their lasers as he goes.

Hack attacks Zombie Powerpuffs ()
Attack: High-Power Rifle Shot (continuous fire)
Defense: Zig Zag

When he arrives at the portal, he dives through with a final burst of speed. "So long, freaks," he says as he leaves the burnt-out world behind.