Ch.7
The Professor stood aside so the girls could see the vortex in the machine. “Are you sure you found the time, Professor?” Bubbles asked. He nodded and Buttercup piped in “alright! Let’s go get leader girl back!” “Wait,“ the Professor said, “you should know that I added some modifications to the time machine.“ He gave Bubbles and Buttercup each a watch, and handed an extra pink one to Bubbles, then continued “these watches, when activated, will open up a portal near you that leads back home. There’s one for each of you, in case only one of you can activate the portal. Make sure to give Blossom the extra one. And be careful.” They waved goodbye to the Professor and headed into the portal.
Brick and Blossom landed next to the volcano. “You know the plan.” Brick said to Blossom, who nodded. “Good.” Brick said and flew up to the entrance of Sniper’s lair. Blossom watched him fly off and mouthed the words “good luck.” Brick, knowing full well that the ceiling of the lair was full of traps just waiting for him, busted in through the front door and was instantly grabbed by a metallic arm. “Hey!” he called out, “let me go!” The robotic arm pulled him deeper into the lab, through a cloud of antidote X, then tossed him through the air. Sniper, who stood nearby, pushed a button on a remote device he held. The cage with the others Puffs and Ruffs opened for a brief moment, and before they could fly out Brick fell in and the cage snapped shut.
Outside, Blossom had heard Brick’s cry for help and flew up to the door. Taking a peek in, she noticed the entryway was empty. Sniper had only prepared for Brick to come; he had no idea there was another Puff. She had an advantage. She quietly crept inside and into the lab; keeping mind to stay out of the way of any security cameras or other traps lying around. The sound of mumbled voices caught her attention and she hurried further into the lair. Peeking into a room she was shocked at what she saw: the Powerpuffs and Rowdyruffs in a cage with who she assumed was Sniper taking aim at them through his rifle at a very close range. Blossom had to act fast, but she was worried that any sudden movements might make him accidentally fire the gun. She saw him pull back on the trigger and decided to risk it all. “HEY! OVER HERE!” She yelled out. Sniper started, but luckily didn’t fire the rifle. He looked over to where Blossom was attracting attention to herself and blinked in confusion “there’s more of you?” He shrugged, “the more the merrier.” He re-aimed his gun at the past Blossom and fired several shots. Blossom dodged them all but wasn’t prepared for the metallic claw that grabbed her and, like Brick, she was tossed into the cage. Brick looked over to her “guess our plan didn’t work.” Blossom hung her head. Above them, Sniper was looking over his rifle, then turned to his captive group “unfortunately I’ve run out of bullets. I’ll return with some more momentarily.” He walked out of the room, leaving the girls and boys in their cage.
Bubbles and Buttercup arrived in the future right above Townsville Bay. “Is this where Blossom landed?” Bubbles asked. Buttercup responded “it seems that way, but she must’ve got to land. C’mon, let’s find her!” Together they flew all over the city, trying to see if she was outside anywhere. As they neared Townsville park Bubbles pointed to the base of the volcano and said “I think I see something!” Buttercup nodded, “yeah, so do I. Let’s go!” They flew down and looked out from behind some trees. They saw Blossom talking to “hey,’ Buttercup said, “isn’t that guy one of the Rowdyruff boys? I thought we beat ‘em! And what is Blossom doing with him?” “I don’t know,” Bubbles replied, “but we should just keep an eye on her for now. It looks like she’s busy.” Buttercup agreed and they watched as Brick flew up to Mojo’s observatory. A moment later they heard him cry for help and watched as Blossom flew up to the observatory and venture inside. “C’mon,” Buttercup said, “we gotta follow her.” They also flew up to the entryway and watched as Blossom went further inside. They silently followed.
Now Bubbles and Buttercup of the past stood out of sight of the room with the girls and boys, yet they had a clear view of the situation. They’d seen the villain at work and they both knew that if they charged head-first into the room they would be tossed into the cage in a heartbeat. The villain was leaving the room, leaving his captives unharmed but still trapped. He passed the place where they were hiding and went down the hallway. Buttercup motioned to Bubbles to follow her and together they went into the room. “Bubbles? Buttercup? You found me?” Blossom of the past whispered, thrilled to see her sisters again. Bubbles nodded happily while Buttercup asked “how do you open this cage?” “Sniper has a remote control that opens the top of this thing.” Boomer said. “Yeah”, Butch added, “and be careful of the bars. They give off antidote X. We don’t have much power left, and Brick has none at all.” “The only way to get us out of here is for one of you to distract Sniper while the other one grabs the remote.” Blossom of the future said and her sisters replied “good luck!” Blossom of the past added “be careful.” Bubbles and Buttercup of the past nodded and quietly left the room after Sniper.
The assassin had finished re-loading his gun, had even grabbed some extra bullets and was turning to leave when he saw Bubbles and Buttercup. “You’ve managed to escape” he said calmly, looking almost impressed as he took aim with his rifle. Buttercup stood her ground as Bubbles flew off. Surprised, Sniper lowered his gun to watch Bubbles fly around him. “You even regained your powers. I must say that is impressive.” He was too distracted by Bubbles to notice Buttercup, who had steadily approached Sniper and was reaching for the remote attached to a belt he wore across his shoulder. Sniper noticed the movement however, and immediately turned his rifle on Buttercup. As Buttercup stared down the business end of the gun, Bubbles tackled him and knocked down the remote, which Buttercup caught. They flew off in different directions and by the time Sniper got back up they were gone. He smirked “looks like I get to play after all. I thought it was too easy.” He re-holstered his gun and headed off to where the others had been trapped.
Meanwhile Buttercup had opened the cage and everyone had gotten out. Unfortunately, they were all powerless and not even Buttercup could hold them all without one of them loosing balance. Bubbles had gone off to confuse Sniper, which made it Buttercup’s job to get the others out of there. “Everyone, listen up!’ Buttercup ordered, “we need to get out of here now! But we have to do it quietly. We can’t have Sniper after us.” The others nodded and Buttercup lead the way out of the room. They were near the entryway when they heard a voice behind them “Trying to escape? I can’t allow that.” They nervously turned around and saw Sniper, his rifle pointed at them with one hand and in the other held an unconscious Bubbles. He locked his rifle on Buttercup’s heart
“Unfortunately now you’re going to have to die. I’m sorry.”
