(In the previous chapter, I meant 5 pm Tuesday evening….

Yeah…)

Here's the final instalment of First Dance!

…

"I'm sorry, Blossom, but it's not going to be ready for several more hours," the Professor said, shaking his head. His eyes were fixed firmly on his work as he spoke to her, the same as every other day since he'd begun his work. "I was told 5 pm, and I'm going to need until at least 4:30."

"But the boys -!" Blossom exclaimed frantically, the remainder of her calm demeanour fleeing at once.

The Professor shook his head. "I'm sorry, Blossom. Everything is going to be okay. I just need a few more hours."

Blossom wish she could have just sighed and left it at that, but she couldn't. She was panicking. As soon as she left the lab she was pacing back and forth in the air, trying to think of alternate plans of action. They needed a plan! The boys could barely even hold their eyes open, let alone face Mojo. This couldn't be happening.

Her heart clenched. She'd had no idea what she was getting into all of that time ago when she'd agreed to start going out with her counterpart.

"Don't get yourself so worked up, Red."

Blossom spun around, her eyes focusing in on the couch. She was startled – she'd thought she'd been alone.

"What are you doing down here, Brick?" Blossom asked softly, descending slowly and taking a seat beside him on the sofa. He leaned against her and his eyes slid shut. "I thought you were upstairs?"

He shook his head. "I heard you talking to yourself and decided to come down," he said, his voice raspy and tired. "It's gonna be alright, Red. You're probably better off without me, anyways."

This made Blossom angry. "Don't be ridiculous," she snapped. "You're not going to die. I made this plan up myself. Are you doubting my plans?"

He chuckled softly. "Of course not. But even if they do fail…and I'm not saying they will…I just want you to know that you should get on without me. You'll be better off. I won't be holding you back."

"You aren't, though," Blossom said quietly, going from angry to sad in a heartbeat. "I won't. I don't think I will be better off without you, because I'm not so sure how good I'd be being separated from you."

"I love you, Red," was the only thing he said before he drifted off to sleep.

4:30 came and went, and the Professor still wasn't completed with the antidote.

But that wasn't stopping the Rowdyruff boys.

"Quit being so stupid!" Buttercup was shouting as Butch somehow managed to shake her off of his arm, despite being ¾ dead. "You're going to get yourself killed! Do you want me to have to live with that on me?"

"Dammit, woman!" Butch exclaimed. "You're making telling you I love you a lot more difficult than it needs to be!"

Bubbles, unlike Buttercup, who was yelling and Blossom, who was reasoning, was crying.

"Ple-e-ease don't go!" she said, her voice shrill and thick with tears. "I don't want you to go!"

She sounded – and looked, almost – like a five-year-old whose parents were leaving her with grandma and grandpa when they left for business. Boomer was the flustered father who was used to the mom dealing with all of this. He seemed to have no idea how to help her out, so he wrapped an arm around her and tried to tell her that he had to go, but he'd be back soon. Everything would be alright.

The boys eventually made it out the door and lethargically made their way to Mojo's home. The girls were counting on the Professor finishing the antidote in the next ten minutes. If he didn't have it done, there was nothing they could do – not even if they burst in on Mojo and beat him to a bloody pulp – he'd already hit the button. They were done for without that antidote.

…

"Well, well, well… Who do we have here? My very bad boys. You've been misbehaving. Are you ready for your punishment?"

"Do we have a choice?" Brick replied sadly. He sounded as though he'd given up. And he just about had.

Mojo grinned. "Good…good…"

…

"Girls!"

Blossom was so startled when the Professor burst out of his lab with the antidote that she nearly swallowed her tongue.

"I finished the -!"

They were gone in a flash of pink, blue and green light, the pins gone from the hands of the Professor.

"- Antidote…"

The girl flew straight through town. They were going as fast as they were able to, and even faster still. They had to make it in time…they just had to. If they didn't make it, not only the lives of the Rowdyruff boys would be over, but their very own lives would be over as well.

They were nearly there, ready to smash into the building, when they ran once again into their least favourite people.

The Gangreen Gang.

"Hello, Girls…" Ace said with his usual smirk. "You're looking a little stressed. That's too bad."

"What's that?" Blossom asked cautiously. Under normal circumstances, she would have just flown right on past the guy and left him to himself, but the big box with the purple button on top was quite a bit menacing, and with the plots Mojo had been pulling lately, she wasn't so sure she wanted to risk anything.

"This?" Ace asked, holding the box up into the sunlight. "Oh, nothing. Just a little mass gun-shooting in a box."

The girls' hearts froze.

"What do you mean by that?" Buttercup demanded.

"I mean that with one push of this button, the lives of exactly 1,000 people will end," Ace said, his face somber. "You see, you've got a choice to make. Save the lives of three criminals? Or save the lives of 1,000 people. Police officers, fire-fighters, doctors, teachers, moms, dads, even construction workers and telemarketers. All gone. And you can save them…"

"But then we can't save the boys!" Bubbles cried out, near tears once again.

Ace's grin returned. "Smart girl."

"We're not going to let you get away with this!" Blossom said defiantly, but Buttercup let out a yelp.

"Blossom, we've only got 8 minutes until 5 o'clock!"

"Tick-tock…" said Ace.

Blossom began thinking very, very hard. There had to be a way to save all 1,003 people about to die. There had to be a way.

The only way she knew? Attack.

"Girls!" she exclaimed. A silent go – she flew at Ace so quickly that he dropped the button, falling back when her fist made contact with his face. Bubbles came next, rescuing the button before it hit the ground. Then came Buttercup, attacking with her fists, letting out all of her anger and stress into the bodies of the Gangreen Gang.

4 minutes left.

"What do I do with this button?" Bubbles asked as the stood over the unconscious bodies of the gang.

"Keep it with you for now," Blossom said breathlessly. "Come on! We have to get to the boys!"

They flew at the speed of light, crashing through the window.

Too late.

The boys were on the floor, eyes closed. Were they breathing? They couldn't tell. But did it matter? They must have been dead.

"But we still have 2 whole minutes!" Buttercup cried. "I thought that…"

"You have thought wrong, little girl," came a quick voice. Mojo. "The boys were willing to die when I told them that a push of this button," here he raised a button similar to the one in Bubbles' hands, "the three people most important to them would be dead. And I promised them that if they were to give themselves up, then you would be spared." Here, he smiled a large, creepy smile. "But you know what? I lied."

And he brought his hand down on the button.

At the sound of the girls screams, each of the boys jolted awake, their instincts taking over. Mojo was shot with laser vision from Brick and was punched over by Butch, leaving room for Boomer to freeze Mojo's body to the wall.

"What was that noise?" Brick asked.

Boomer nodded to the other side of the room. His heart sunk.

"They must have the antidote with them," Boomer said, crawling over to them quickly. He pulled one out of Bubbles' pocket and pricked her finger. When Bubbles opened his eyes, Boomer closed his, resting his head upon her lap. The other boys had just enough time to do the same to their respective counterpoint before Bubbles had time to figure out what was happening.

At which point, she was frantic.

"No!" she shouted. "Why did you do that? Why did you do that?"

She fumbled around until she found his antidote and fruitlessly tried to reuse it on her Boomer.

"Wait!" Blossom said, mostly to herself. "Their antidote worked on us. Maybe ours will work on them!"

"It's worth a shot," Buttercup said, and without another word, she jabbed Butch's finger with her own pin, and they waited with bated breath.

And nothing happened.

Bubbles, as usual, was the first to burst into tears, shortly followed by Blossom, who began with a wail but settled into something quieter, with only a few sniffles here and there. And Buttercup, who couldn't recall the last time she'd truly cried, felt tears pouring out of her eyes like a dam had busted.

And then someone stirred beneath her.

"Hey, Red?" Brick said as he blinked awake. "Told you everything would be alright."

Would it be? Blossom thought. When Brick got to his feet and helped her up, she decided. Yeah. Everything would be alright.

…

Adios, my kind readers! I sincerely hope you enjoyed my first Powerpuff Girls fanfiction! ^^