Black Heart: Chapter 4

[rcblazer]

Quintin calms down, lowering and then finally sheathing Reflection. "Please accept my apology then. After struggling against the darkness for so long, I never imagined anything good could ever come from the Black Void." Quintin turns to Steve, Hack, and Timo. "Word did reach me that Jazenok Blackskull the Voidbringer was defeated. I am very impressed; such a feat could not have been easy."

"It's all right. After what happened to your people, your anger is most justified." Blackheart replies with a smile. Quintin thinks for a moment and frowns. "Is something else wrong?" Blackheart asks him with concern.

"You say Felicia healed you, but for her to transfer her own soul into your body to do it... she must have great faith in both you and her magical abilities, although this may complicate matters somewhat. Do you know how to return Felicia to her body?"

Blackheart shakes her head. "This is why I didn't want her to do it; I have no idea how to put her back where she belongs."

"It will be tricky, plus it will require the Black Heart." Quintin begins to explain. " You will have to use it turn your subconscious into a reality in itself, then we have to go there and rescue her."

"You sound confident. Done this kinda thing before?" Buttercup asks him. Quintin nods. "So now we gotta take Quintin, find Motrax, somehow get the Black Heart back from him, kick his butt, go into Blackheart's head, and save Felicia. Anything else?"

"Yes, there is. Queen Felicia is not the only one trapped inside of my mind." Blackheart says, sounding nervous. "The evil side of myself, while too weak to control me, is still a powerful force within my subconscious. She must be defeated as well."

Blackheart casts Black Vortex

Creating a new portal, Blackheart shakes her head sadly. "There is a chance Motrax is using the Black Heart to warp this reality to his own design. I know I have not been the least bit cautious during the search for the Shadow Souls, but now I feel that I can no longer trust myself with this task. So long as Motrax has the Black Heart, my powers can do nothing to him. Worse, he could use the Black Heart against me; doing such a thing could destroy me completely or worse, turn all control of me over to my other self..."

Violet places a hand on Blackheart's shoulder and looks at her red eye, smiling brightly. "So long as I can keep fighting, I'll make absolutely sure that doesn't happen."

"So will I." Quintin says, jumping through the portal first. Blackheart and Violet follow him through as the Powerpuff Girls, Angel, Hack, Timo, and Steve go into the portal after them.

On the other side of the portal, everyone finds themselves standing in what appears to be an abandoned amusement park. Everything one would expect to find at such a place are here, including rides, snack vendors, carnival games, a maze of mirrors, a haunted house, and even a large three ring circus tent!

Quintin draws Reflection and holds it at the ready. "I don't like the look of this place." He comments.

Almost as if the fates themselves heard him say that, a series of growls and roars echo through the park! Bubbles hears the sounds and starts to get nervous. "What was that noise?"

"I think we're about to find out." Violet answers her as a group of strange looking gnomes wearing orange robes and hats adorned with black stars come shambling around the corner.

"It's Motrax!" Quintin shouts, but stops to take a closer look at them. "...I think."

"They look like zombies to me. Freaky midget zombies." Violet says. "They are dressed like the guy we're after though."

The miniature zombies turn and spot the heroes, growling and shambling in their direction...

[rulerofice]

"Why does this feel like dejá vu to me?" Timo said as he created an ice staff. "They look like the zombie Powerpuffs we encountered."

"Zombie Powerpuffs?" Bubbles wondered.

Timo looked at Bubbles. "Oh yeah, you weren't there. I'm talking about a dimension where the Shadow Soul had completely corrupted the entire Townsville and you three were zombies there. I'll tell the rest later."

Timo looked at the incoming zombie gnomes. "So what shall we do? Attack them or avoid them?"



(BTW, I'm leaving for a vacation for about a week starting on Sunday. I will have a laptop with me, but I'm not sure I'll always have a net connection so no need to get worried. If I haven't posted anything, I'll give permission to control my character.)

[Puff Hunter]

"Attack," Hack growls. "The sooner we start tearing s*** up, the sooner we draw out the wizard, and the sooner we can recover the Black Heart." He dials down the ion cannon's power and points it at the zombies. "But I'm not gonna fight them by myself. How do the rest of you vote?"

[blossomgb]

'How many of them are there?', Steve asks. 'If you remember, the ones in the land of the dead were infinite in number.'.
'True. But I don't know about these', Blossom replied.
'Either destroy the brain or sever the brain from the rest of the body', Steve added, being a fan of Zombie Films.
'Easy enough, just power up and go for the necks', Buttercup said.
They all did so as the zombies approached. 'And don't forget that we can fly and they can't', Blossom added.

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rcblazer]

Blossom attacks Zombie Mascot 1
Attack: Laser Eyebeams
Defense: Flight

Bubbles attacks Zombie Mascot 2
Attack: Laser Eyebeams
Defense: Flight

Timo Attacks Zombie Mascot 3
Attack: Ice Staff
Defense: Flight

Buttercup attacks Zombie Mascot 4
Attack: Flying Kick
Defense: Flight

Violet attacks Zombie Mascot 5
Attack: Neck Snap
Defense: Flight

Quintin attacks Zombie Mascot 6, 7, and 8.
Attack: Reflection
Defense: Spin

Keeping to the air, Blossom and Bubbles fire lasers down at the zombies, aiming for their gigantic mascot heads and setting them on fire. Timo swoops at them and slashes off one of the zombies' heads with an ice staff as Buttercup shoots like a cruise missile past him and lands a kick that decapitates another one! Violet flies over one as it reaches for her and grabs it from behind, twisting its head around with her arms. Quintin raises Reflection and charges at three more, cutting all of them down with a wide arc slash, the three monsters falling to pieces before him.

Zombie Mascots Condition: Destroyed

"Is this the best you can do, Motrax?" Quintin shouts, his voice echoing through the amusement park. Motrax's laughter echoes back in response.

"I expected Blackheart's friend and those meddlesome pains in my sides to show up, and the Powerpuff Girls to maybe be with them, but you're here too? What a pleasant surprise; you saved me the trouble of hunting you down Sorwin!" Motrax's voice echoes through the park as though he were talking on an intercom. "I see Blackheart is looking better since last time I saw her. How did you manage not to be torn apart by the purity of Heaven itself?"

"That's none of your business!" Blackheart shouts in response, stomping her foot. "I want the Black Heart you took from me returned this instant!"

"Oh I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I am having way too much fun putting my theme park together!" Motrax says. "What do you think so far? I call it Dilamboland!"

"Yeah yeah, real cute." Buttercup says, folding her arms. "Where are you anyway?"

"Oh I'm here in the park, but you've gotta find me! I think perhaps we've jumped the gun a bit." Motrax clears his throat over the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages! Welcome to Dilamboland, a place so fun you'll never leave! Have the time of your life during your stay, because there isn't much of it left to live anyway!" Motrax laughs over the intercom. "Let's start with my personal favorite, the Magic Show! For my first trick, I will need the help from a group of lovely assistants."

Lovely Assistant 1 attacks Hack
Attack: Razor Fingernails
Defense: Invisibility

Lovely Assistant 2 attacks Steve
Attack: Bite
Defense: Invisibility

Lovely Assistant 3 attacks Bubbles
Attack: Razor Fingernails
Defense: Invisibility

Lovely Assistant 4 attacks Quintin
Attack: Razor Fingernails
Defense: Invisibility

Lovely Assistant 5 attacks Violet
Attack: Bite
Defense: Invisibility

From out of seemingly nowhere, a young looking girl dressed in a skimpy magician's outfit appears in front of Hack! The girl has the slender curvy body of a supermodel, but her fingernails are as large as daggers and her mouth is huge, filled with razor sharp teeth! Without warning, she raises one of her arms and scratches him with her hand!

Hack Condition: Scratched

Another one appears behind Steve and jumps onto his back, biting him on the shoulder!

Steve Condition: Bruised

Bubbles defends with Block

The third monster pounces onto Bubbles as she appears, swinging at her with its claws. Bubbles raises her arms to shield her face, but the creature's fingernails are able to scratch up her arms the way a cat would to a scratching post!

Bubbles Condition: Scratched - Restrained

Quintin defends with Parry

A fourth mutant appears in front of Quintin, slashing her fingernails wildly, but Quintin blocks the swipe with Reflection, jumping back and away from the creature. A fifth one appears right behind Violet and grabs her from behind, sinking her teeth into Violet's arm just below the shoulder! Violet cries out in pain as the mutant forces her to the ground face down, pinning her and continuing to chew on her!

Violet Condition: Bloody - Restrained

Timo attacks Lovely Assistant 3
Attack: Ice Staff
Defense: Flight

"Get off of her!" Timo shouts, ramming his staff through the chest of the mutant pinning Bubbles, skewering it and lifting it off. The monster gives off a feminine, but inhuman cry as it goes limp.

Lovely Assistant 3 Condition: Destroyed

Blossom attacks Lovely Assistant 2
Attack: Kick
Defense: Flight

"Hang on Steve!" Blossom says, flying over and booting the mutant chewing on his shoulder off. The girl hisses and disappears as she goes invisible again before she touches the ground.

Lovely Assistant 2 Condition: Broke a Sweat

Blackheart attacks Lovely Assistant 5
Attack: Psychokinetic Crush
Defense: Flight

"Violet!" Blackheart shouts with concern upon hearing her friend's cries of pain, raising her hand and lifting the mutant off of Violet with her force of will! With her red eye giving off a green glow narrowed, she slams her hands together, and the mutant is smashed into a pulp in midair!

Lovely Assistant 5 Condition: Destroyed

[Puff Hunter]

Hack adjusts his gun's power and starts shooting at the creature that had attacked him.

Hack attacks Lovely Assistant 1
Attack: Medium-Power Rifle Shot (continuous fire, 1 shot/sec)
Defense: Slow Flight (can use Flight next round)

"You shouldn't have done that, wizard," Hack says calmly while firing. "The power of the Void wasn't enough to save Blackskull, and it won't be enough to save you. Your resistance will only delay the inevitable choice: surrender the Black Heart or be destroyed."

[blossomgb]

'You aren't the only ones who can go invisible round here.' Angel's voice rang out. She was right next to Lovely Assistant 2 as she landed on the ground. She placed a foot on her neck and the 'Lovely Assistant' struggled but could not break free. Blossom realised this and powered up her eye beams to fry the 'girl' alive.
As she screamed and burned, Angel kept her foot on her neck until she was dead, at which point she became visible. The burned body lay still as she lifted her foot away. Blossom reduced it to a pile of ashes as Steve rubbed his shoulder. The skin wasn't broken, but there would be a nasty bruise there tomorrow.
'Thanks girls', he said to them.
'You OK', Blossom asked.
'Yeah. Good coat, but she was biting her way through it I think. I'll never watch TV game shows in the same way again!', Steve remarked.
'You don't like them anyway', Angel commented.
'I'd like to set one of those on Simon Cowell', Steve joked.

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rcblazer]

Quintin attacks Lovely Assistant 4
Attack: Reflection
Defense: Duck

Lowering his sword into a stabbing position, Quintin lowers his head and rushes forward, impaling the last of the Lovely Assistants on his blade. Quintin then spins and tosses the monster off of his sword, sending the slain creature flying.

Lovely Assistant 4 Condition: Destroyed

"Where are you Motrax?" Quintin shouts. Motrax laughs as Quintin leads the charge into one of the circuits tents. Steve, Hack, Angel, Timo, and the Powerpuff Girls follow Quintin into the tent, while Blackheart stays behind with Violet to protect her until she feels better.

"Don't like magic shows do you? Perhaps you'll enjoy the sideshow!" Motrax's voice echoes through the park. A group of men appear with cages, sliding them open as a swarm of creatures that appear to be Siamese twins start crawling out! The men then reach into their own mouths, each one drawing a sword from them! "My sword swallowers are not only skilled in eating swords, but using them too! With the Black Heart, I have supplied them with the finest sharpened duranium swords for which to perform their act, just for you!"

Siamese Twin 1 attacks Blossom
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

Siamese Twin 2 attacks Timo
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

Siamese Twin 3 attacks Angel
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

Siamese Twin 4 attacks Bubbles
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

Siamese Twin 5 attacks Quintin
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

Siamese Twin 6 attacks Buttercup
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

Siamese Twin 7 attacks Steve
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

Siamese Twin 8 attacks Hack
Attack: Twin Hold
Defense: Duck

The crawling conjoined twin monsters move in perfect sync with each other, each one choosing a different target and pouncing at them! Each twin latches one set of arms around their target, the other set holding their arms behind their backs!

Blossom Condition: Perfect! - Restrained

Timo Condition: Perfect! - Restrained

Angel Condition: Perfect! - Restrained

Bubbles: Condition: Scratched - Restrained

Quintin Condition: Perfect! - Restrained

Buttercup Condition: Perfect! - Restrained

Steve Condition: Bruised - Restrained

Hack Condition: Scratched - Restrained

"Now for the big finale!" Motrax laughs, his voice echoing all over the park as the sword swallowers each hold up their swords. "Wait, not the Sorwin! I want him brought to me alive; he and I still have a score to settle. The others however, I want you sword swallowers to chop them up real good! We'll give what's left to the snack vendors and serve Powerpuff Jerky with extra pepper for our next guests!"

Four more creatures enter the tent. They appear to be women in white and blue dresses, but on their faces they have long black beards. The four bearded women pick up Quintin and carry him out of the tent.

Buttercup attacks Sword Swallower 1
Attack: Laser Eyebeam
Defense: Break Free

Sword Swallower 1 defends with Deflect

Struggling to escape the grasp of the Siamese twin, Buttercup fires her eyebeams at the sword swallower slowly approaching her. The monster raises his sword, easily blocking the laser. "Let go of me!" Buttercup shouts, trying to pull away. "These things are strong; I can't break free!"

"I've got an idea." Blossom says, narrowing her eyes as a creature approaches her with a sword.

Sword Swallower 2 attacks Blossom
Attack: Slash (Duranium Sword)
Defense: None

Blossom attacks Sword Swallower 2
Attack: Kick
Defense: Break Free

Just as the monster raises its sword to strike, Blossom swings back, using the Siamese twin holding her as leverage to deliver an upward kick that knocks the sword out of the monster's hands! The sword flies up, but Blossom falls forward in an attempt to get underneath it as it turns and falls toward her!

"Gotta time this just right..." Blossom says pushing against the monster holding her down just enough that the duranium sword cuts the Siamese twins apart! Just as she planned, the twins let go of Blossom as she grabs the sword for herself!

Siamese Twin 1 Condition: Destroyed

"Got it!" Blossom shouts, turning toward the now unarmed sword swallower.

Blossom attacks Sword Swallower 2
Attack: Duranium Sword
Defense: Parry

With a quick swing of the monster's own weapon, Blossom cuts the sword swallower down to size! The bits and pieces of the monster continue to move around, but are unable to attack in any way.

Sword Swallower 2 Condition: Defeated

Blossom attacks Sword Swallower 1
Attack: Duranium Sword
Defense: Parry

Sword Swallower 1 attacks Blossom
Attack: Duranium Sword
Defense: Parry

The sword swallower going for Buttercup is intercepted by Blossom, who tries to stab it with the blade, but the monster quickly turns and raises its own sword. The blades collide, spraying sparks as the monster tries to attack, but Blossom parries the monster's swing. Several more sword swallower monsters start to enter the room, giving Blossom cause for worry.

"Uh oh, I may need more help than this weapon if we wanna beat these."

Blossom attacks Siamese Twins
Attack: Duranium Sword
Defense: Fast Flight

Acting quickly, Blossom flies around the room in a blur of pink light, cutting apart the other Siamese twins holding the others down and freeing them from their clutches. "Is everybody okay?" She asks as the new batch of sword swallowers each pull a duranium sword from their mouths.

[blossomgb]

'They must have tough throats', Steve thought. He quickly made sure Angel was safe and powered up the paralysis stare. The swordsmen were stuck in his glare. One of them dropped his sword, Angel went forward and collected it before anyone could stop her. She brought it back and gave it to Steve,
'Thought it may come in handy', Angel said.
'Thank-you, kind lady', Steve replied. As the swordsmen were now paralyzed, he shouted out to the others 'right, do your stuff because I'm not sure I can hold them for ever.'

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[Puff Hunter]

"You line 'em up, I'll knock 'em down," Hack says. He dials his gun to fire a powerful explosive shot. "FORE!"

Hack attacks Sword Swallowers
Attack: Stinger Shot
Defense: Flight

[rcblazer]

The explosive shot leaves very little of the sword swallowers left. A few bits and pieces and their duranium swords litter the ground of the tent.

Sword Swallowers Condition: Destroyed

The sound of Motrax's frustrated whining can be heard as the tent opens up. "Why can't you people just DIE?" He shouts as everyone leaves the tent, finding Blackheart and Quintin have defeated the bearded ladies outside. Violet is also nearby, a large bandage wrapped around her arm where the lovely assistant bit her earlier.

"Sorry for the delay Quintin, but Violet needed someone to treat her arm first." Blackheart explains to the Sorwin.

Motrax shouts angrily. "Rrrraaah! Send in the clowns!"

A loud, almost mechanical growl is heard, followed by loud thumping footsteps. "I don't like the sound of that." Violet comments.

"Let's not wait to find out what Motrax uses as clowns and go into the air to find him!" Quintin suggests. "The longer we sit here, the more of these monsters he'll just keep summoning!"

"Quintin's right." Blossom says.

"Quintin's WRONG!" Motrax shouts over her! "I thought you might just fly off and try to find me from the air, so I planned for that! Stationed all around Dilamboland are park security officers who strictly enforce the rule that Dilamboland is a No Fly Zone! They shoot specially designed heat seeking Antidote X missiles! So for anyone who thinks to try flying as a means of escape or to try and find me without experiencing all that Dilamboland has to offer, you will be shot down! Besides, why would you want to fly around? This is an amusement park; you're supposed to be having fun!"

"This is supposed to be fun?" Buttercup asks mockingly. "This place stinks! I'd consider it more of a bemusement park!"

"You'll pay for calling Dilamboland a bemusement park!" Motrax shouts. The loud thumping gets closer, revealing a large musclebound mutant with a deformed clown face and giant spiked hammers for arms! A yellow glow seems to emit from the monster at it stomps toward the heroes. "This big boy is Mr. Tenderizer. He loves to give great big hugs to our guests at Dilamboland! He can't see all that well, but he can hear your heartbeat up until the point when he crushes your ribcage!"

"Am I the only one that wishes I had brought a camera?" Violet asks, getting odd stares from the others. "So, just me then?"

Mr. Tenderizer roars and slams his giant mallet fists together as he continues to advance on the group.

[blossomgb]

'This is getting really boring', Steve called out. 'If you want to be found, let's play hide and seek. We'll stop here while you count to a hundred, that is if you can count that far'.
As the latest creature advanced on them, Timo made an ice shield. They all settled behind it as Timo made a couple of ice spears.
'Freeze it', he grinned.
Then Steve noticed something. Mortrax's voice came from a speaker nearby and it had a large wire coming out of it.
'He's in some sort of control room', he quietly told the others. 'Just follow the wire, but don't make that obvious.'
Angel looked at him. 'What if we need to fly?'
'There is a cure for Anti-Chemical X, and guess what these are'. he answered her, holding out a handful of phials.

Cheers,

Blossomgb.

[rulerofice]

As Timo held the ice shield up and tried to freeze the "clown", he had another idea.

"Doesn't Antidote-X work only if it hits your body?" Timo said. "My ice shield can repel it and I could carry you around. The downside is that you can't fire anything while inside my ice shield unless you like yourself frozen. Also, there is a chance my ice shield might break if it gets too many hits. Either plan works for me."

[Puff Hunter]

"I don't like it," Hack mutters. "We don't know how many anti-air defenses he has. And even if we can survive the Antidote X, there's still the whole missile part. Besides, if he wanted to kill us on the ground, he'd have done it by now. All these monsters have done is tune us up a little. He's playing with us, putting us through a thrill ride. But," he sighs, "if you're gonna take your chances in the air, it'd be safer for me to go along with you instead of staying here alone. So it's your call."

[rcblazer]

"We have the advantage of knowing that Motrax can't fly, so we know he can't have that great a hiding spot." Violet says. "Besides, his monsters aren't that tough."

"Whatever we decide, we should do it quickly." Quintin says, pointing at Mr. Tenderizer, who is starting to break free from the ice!

Mr. Tenderizer Enrages!

The yellow glow around the giant clown monster turns red as Mr. Tenderizer smashes free from the ice!

Mr. Tenderizer attacks Violet
Attack: Spiked Hammer (Enraged)
Defense: Fast Run

With a roar that sounds half machine, half human, Mr. Tenderizer rushes right at Violet at incredible speed, swinging his spiked hammer fists wildly!

Violet attacks Mr. Tenderizer
Attack: Toss
Defense: Flip

As Mr. Tenderizer swings his hammers at Violet, she acts quickly, snatching his arms and swinging him over her head. Mr. Tenderizer crashes headfirst into the ground and slides into a booth, but is quick to climb out of the rubble. The red glow appears to have turned back to yellow.

Mr. Tenderizer Condition: Fine

Man, that guy is really heavy!" Violet comments, rubbing her arm where Blackheart bandaged her. "Tough too. So far mister Timo's frozen him and I've thrown him into stuff and he doesn't look the slightest bit injured! Blackheart, you got anything for this guy? Can't you pulverize him the way you did the thing that bit me?"

"I'm sorry Violet, but this particular creature is being powered by the Black Heart itself. Even I cannot do anything to it."

"There's a line between courage and recklessness, and this to me looks like a good time to retreat." Quintin comments, looking around for an opening in the path. He points to a path as a second giant clown suddenly arrives, much fatter than Mr. Tenderizer and without the spiked hammers for arms. The clown opens its mouth, spitting something on the ground that sizzles and oozes.

"You're late, Barfo!" Motrax criticizes over the loudspeaker. "Mr. Tenderizer got there right away; what's your excuse? Anyway, allow me to introduce you to Barfo, the other clown of Dilamboland!

Barfo attacks Angel
Attack: Sticky Sludge
Defense: Block

The new clown opens wide and spits up something that resembles projectile vomit all over Angel! The heavy sludge like substance sticks to Angel's dress and hair and forces her to the ground, right in front of Mr. Tenderizer!

"Uh oh, looks like Barfo's excuse for being late to the show is that he must have eaten something that didn't quite agree with him! Don't worry little girl, I'm sure that will come right off after a good pounding. Wouldn't you agree Mr. Tenderizer?" Motrax says, laughing into the microphone as Blossom grabs her daughter, pulling with all her might, but unable to budge her!

Angel Condition: Perfect! - Restrained

Mr. Tenderizer Enrages!

"Ugh! What is this stuff?" Blossom asks, worried for Angel's safety as the yellow glow around Mr. Tenderizer turns red and he roars again, preparing to charge!

Quintin attacks Angel
Attack: Reflection
Defense: None

With a quick slash of his sword, Quintin cuts off most of the sludge from the ground, allowing Blossom to pull Angel off the floor and out of harm's way just as Mr. Tenderizer charges like an enraged rhino right past the others, slamming into a wall. A laugh track is heard as the monster emerges from the mutant shaped hole left in the wall, his glow having returned to yellow.

"I'm with Quintin's plan. Run!" Blossom shouts, carrying Angel in her arms as she dashes at top speed past Barfo, following the cables toward where the loudspeaker is coming from.

"You heard Blossom, let's move!" Buttercup says, racing off after her in a streak of green, followed immediately by Bubbles.

Mr. Tenderizer Enrages!

The monster clown that is Mr. Tenderizer glows red again as he charges up for another attack! Blackheart and Violet decide to follow suit, chasing after the Powerpuff Girls on foot.

Barfo attacks Violet
Attack: Nasty Goop
Defense: None

Violet defends with Dodge

As they run past Barfo, the fat clown tries to puke up something particularly gross looking on Violet, but she reacts immediately by sliding under the monster's legs.

Violet attacks Barfo
Attack: Trip
Defense: Slide

As she slides past the nasty substance spit up by the giant chubby clown, Violet punches it in the back of one of its knees, causing it to lose balance and double over. Violet is quick to get up and follow Blackheart. "That'll slow him down! Let's get outta here! Guess we're staying on foot for now."

As Violet runs off, Hack, Steve, and Timo hear the sound of a chainsaw revving up nearby...