Change Of Command

Disclaimer: I do not own the Powerpuff girls or anything that relates to them. They are the property of Cartoon Network and Craig McCracken. However, I do own the plot of this story.

A/N: Hi Everyone, James of Vale here. This is the finale of this story and sorry it took some time to produce, as a lot of writer's block and school stuff got in the way. Well, it's here, so please enjoy!

Chapter 4: Miracle.

Brick wondered around in the strange world he was trapped in. "Where am I? And why am I'm here?" He asked out loud. He received only a reply of complete silence. He wondered onward down what seems to be a large, wall-less cavern. Brick suddenly saw walls appear around him as his surroundings began morphing. "What is going on?" He pondered as he watched his surroundings changed from dark and murky to a dimly lit tunnel with yellow brick walls.

Blossom clutched his hand as she watched him in silence. She breathed quietly as she looked at her lover with red and swollen eyes. Her face stung from the excessive tearing and weeping she had done. Buttercup and Bubbles watched from afar. "She's been sitting there for 5 hours…look at her, she's totally grief-stricken!" Bubbles muttered as she began to feel her oldest sister's pain. "I know I would be completely lost in grief if I lost Boomer." Buttercup shushed her sister and said that Brick will recover and Blossom would follow, emotionally.

The professor came down the stairs a moment later, with a cup of coffee in his hands. He has been checking on Brick's progress every once in a while for the past couple hours. He walked towards the bed and said, "Blossom, you're a mess…go get some sleep, it'll be okay." Blossom sighed and kissed Brick on the forehead. She then kissed the professor on the cheek and flew up the stairs. As she started flying up the stairs, Buttercup and Bubbles followed behind to provide any emotional assistance their sister may need.

Butch was sitting in the living room with Boomer. He was pondering to why and how his brother and Blossom were capable of morphing as one. He also wondered what is really happening to his brother right now. "Blossom claims that he has been active mentally and not comatose, but the current condition states he is comatose. What is really going on, Bro?" He thought and was interrupted by Boomer suddenly. "Bro, do you think Brick is going to make it?" Butch scowled at his little brother's comment. He looked into Boomer's eyes and he sees the look of fear of losing their leader. "Don't worry, he'll pull through. He always have, now don't think of such grim things like that!" The two of them then went back into silence, thinking and hoping that their brother would pull through.

Brick walks further down the newly formed tunnel. It looked like a tunnel in an ancient Egyptian tomb. There were no carvings on the walls, but the tunnel appeared dark, old, and dusty. Brick could not believe that he smelt the odor of the foul air of the tomb. "This is supposedly in my mind and yet the senses are crystal clear!" He muttered out loud as he clutched his nose to block out the foul odor. He walked around the corner and depressed a stone tile as he stepped on it. A moment later, Brick fell down a pit and despite trying to use his powers, they were useless to him. He hit the bottom and felt the immense pain of being wounded on the spikes at the bottom. He screamed in pain as he realized what had happened.

Back in the lab, the professor was checking Brick's vitals. "His brain waves are still comatose…but they're much more lively than when I first checked him when the kids brought him in…he's awake in there…some where…" He thought as he took a deep breath. Suddenly Brick began to twitch uncontrollably as his brain waves monitor started displaying erratic patterns. The professor panicked and checked his waves and tried to figure out what is going on. "He is in some kind of pain…but I don't know what!" The professor thought as he checked the readings again and again. Suddenly, Brick stopped twitching and his brain waves returned to the state it was a moment ago. The professor sighed in relief that his condition was once again stable, but he was still shaken by how Brick was suffering. "I hope it doesn't happen again." He whispered as he continued to examine the boy.

Brick screamed and growled as he struggled to get off the spikes. He almost passed out from pain when the surroundings around him began to morph once again. When they were done morphing, Brick found himself once again in the tunnels of the tomb again. His wounds were gone, as if they never happened. Brick stood up again and walked down the tomb, once again, being careful not to trip any more traps this time.

Blossom slept fitfully during the night. Her sisters were sleeping next to her, each putting a hand on her side to calm and reassure her that they were there for her. In her dream, the images were some-what horrifying. Blossom kept dreaming up the worst-case scenarios about Brick's fate. Blossom snapped up in bed, screaming "No!" when she had the dream about Brick passing away in the medical bay for the fifth time.

Blossom looked around and noticed she was in her bedroom again. Her sisters were groggily rubbing their eyes as they tried to calm her again. Blossom quickly broke down into a sob. "I certainly hope he'll be all right. I hope…I don't want to lose him!" She said in between sobs. Bubbles kissed her sister softly on the forehead and said, "He'll be all right, have faith…" Blossom forced a smile when she heard her little sister's reassurance. The trio then embraced each other and prayed for Brick to make a full recovery.

Brick noticed he as he walked down the tunnel, the twists and turns were exactly like it was when he passed earlier. It almost seems when the walls re-morphed, he appeared at the entrance of the labyrinth he was exploring. He rounded the corner where he fell and stopped just in time before he stepped on the tile that triggers the trap. He proceeded to step passed the tile and walk on. Unfortunately, he stepped and depressed another tile and the walls near him began to hiss with rushing air. He didn't have time to react when a spear shot out from the wall in front of him and impaled him with it. He stumbled back from the blow and triggered the pit to open. He fell through again and suffered the immense pain of the spikes and the spear.

The professor was suddenly startled when Brick began to twitch uncontrollably and screaming out loud in horrifying pain. He called out to Brick to see if he will respond, but Brick was not responsive. His vitals were going erratic now along with his brain waves. "Whatever it is, it's happening again and much worse…I must get to the bottom of it!" The professor shouted to himself as he proceeded to inject a syringe of sedatives to Brick's spine. However, the readouts said that the sedatives were doing nothing to Brick's body. "If this keeps up, he'll die! What am I'm supposed to do?" Once again, Brick suddenly stopped screaming and returned to the state he was in moments ago. His vitals were stable, but showed signs of wear and strain from the "pain attack." His brain waves were also back to their stable point. The professor hurried to find a way to stop the condition from happening again.

Brick opened his eyes and saw that he was at the entrance to the tomb's labyrinth once again. He noticed that his wounds were also completely gone. The spear was not there. "History seems to be repeating itself. I think I have to find the right solution or I will keep suffering the pain of my mistakes." So Brick once again walked into the tunnels. "I have to complete this 'test', I think it has something to do with me waking up from the coma."

Blossom stopped the embrace when she heard the tell-tale sounds of Brick's voice screaming in pain. She dashed out of bed and flew down to the lab. Her sisters followed her a moment later. The two girls slammed headfirst into their male counterparts as they proceeded to go down the lab as well. The 4 went down into the lab to see the professor and Blossom talking about Brick's condition. Blossom was ecstatic and horrified when the professor explained the details of Brick's suffering.

Brick managed to cross the area of the pit and spear safely. He took a deep breath and walked on, thinking he's okay now. "And now, I'm home free!" He stepped on yet another trap trigger. "I think I said too soon…" He closed his eyes and let out a scream of anticipated fear as he waited for the trap to do its work. The next instant he was at the tomb entrance. But this time, he arrived here much quicker and the trap that "killed" him wasn't as painful as the previous 2. "What happened?"

Blossom and the others watched as the professor examined Brick carefully. The 6 of them jumped when Brick suddenly screamed again with his vitals going critical. But the condition stopped the instant that it started. "It did not last like it did the other time…and his vitals are not as erratic…wait…Blossom…try and respond to him…" The professor theorized. Blossom slowly floated to Brick's ear and whispered his name.

Brick was walking down the tunnel yet again, when he suddenly heard his name being called faintly. He wondered what it was and was distracted when he fell down the pit trap yet again. He screamed in pain, but this time, history wasn't repeating and he stayed in the pit as the voice got louder and louder. "Blossom…is that you?" Brick screamed as he strained to get off the spikes.

Brick began screaming those exact words in the bed as he began twitching and screaming in pain. "Brick! I'm here! You're gonna be ok! Please, listen to my voice!" She screamed back into his ear, while clutching his hand tightly. Brick continued to scream replies as pain shot through him. "Blossom, you better try and coax him out of the coma quick, or stop it completely! Any more of this and he might die!" The professor said as he watched the vitals nervously. Blossom just continued to scream into his ear.

Brick heard the voice over and over again, while trying to ignore the pain. The pain was ten times as worse now. He suddenly felt a phantom sensation gripping his right hand. He was about to pass out when the surroundings began to glow brightly in a white light. "It's….time…isn't it?" He asked the light as it engulfed him.

"Brick! Brick!" Blossom screamed repeatedly as his vitals went critical. Suddenly the heart monitor began to flat line and the professor yelled and pushed Blossom aside. "We're losing him! Quick, get me the cardiac arrest treatment equipment!" Blossom was frozen in fear and could not move. Butch knew what is going to happen and rushed over to the medical cabinet and brought back the ointment and the "shock pads" as he called them.

The professor placed the ointment on Brick's chest and applied the pads. He then turned on the machine. "Clear!" Brick's body jolted as the shock was applied. "Nothing!" Butch said as he checked the pulse. "We'll try again! Clear!" Once again, nothing. "We are not losing Brick, clear!" Miraculously, Brick's pulse began beating slightly above normal again.

Brick was no longer in a coma either. When the professor finished putting the equipment away after making sure Brick's vitals were stable, he did not notice that the brain waves stated that Brick's mind is conscious. Blossom was mortified when she almost lost him. She clutched his hand as she cried on his chest. Suddenly the hand she was squeezing squeezed back and Blossom felt a hand touching her head. The other kids were surprised to see Brick awake and touching Blossom's hair. Blossom was also overjoyed and she embraced and kissed him for a good few minutes.

The professor released Brick from the medical bay the next day, after the professor approved a clean bill of health. "I was really scared for your life, Brick." The professor said as he recalled how horrifying to see Brick in pain. Brick was also glad to be awake again. He asked for his leave and flew up to the girls' room. He knocked on it and when it opened, he jumped at the person who opened the door. "I heard you were crying all night by my side. You know I don't like it when you're sad." Brick said in the mischievous voice he always used as he embraced and hugged Blossom. The two of them embraced for a little while, exchanging "I will never leave you" oaths.

Later that day, at the dinner table, the others asked the two of them how they did the combination thing. Brick just shrugged and said, " I dunno how we did it, and I rather not do it again…I want to be awake…" Buttercup smiled and said afterwards, "Well, no matter, we just glad that both of you are now good as new." The others all said "yea" while the two leaders smiled and kissed one another. "Awww…" Bubbles said as the others watched the two of them being passionate. The tragedy was over and now things can return to normal.

A/N: Well, there's the end of the story. Lovely story isn't it. And very suspenseful. Well, I hope you enjoyed the story and I would like to thank most of the reviewers for providing their comments. They were very good reviews that eventually helped me yield such outcomes in my stories. Thank you.

This had been a James Tseng Production…Written by James Tseng, Directed by James Tseng, Reviewed by Hairy Gregory and Kezzer.