Villain: The Epilogue

A/N: Well, Villain is back for more. I don't consider this fan fiction a sequel because it isn't meant to be as big as the original Villain was. More so, this will be a continuation/closing of the previous story that was told through Buttercup's POV, but with a much less biased narrator this time around. So this will be written in third person. Like I said, it won't be as long as Villain, and it is meant to be more of a special gift to those of you who read and enjoyed the original Villain.

Uh, I definitely would not attempt to read this if you have not read Villain first.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the fic, and thanks in advance for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 1

The city of Neighborfield-- a city of safety. It acted as a sanctuary for the citizens of nearby areas. The population of Neighborfield was booming due to the thousands of refugees which fled from the chaos and terrorism of a villain's war.

The city's protectors were three little girls known as the Powerpuff Girls. A familiar name to at least half of the city's older residents who were refugees from the city of Townsville-- the first city to fall, and now headquarters of those who waged the current war. Townsville once had its own Powerpuff Girls: Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. But Neighborfield's were different: Cherry, Candy and Cat. Their mother and creator was the same Blossom of the former group, though her past was rarely discussed openly.

The former leader of the Powerpuff Girls had experienced much at a young age-- the death of one sibling and the betrayal of another. It was painful for most to recall those events, so that portion of history was kept buried safely in the minds of those who lived through it; never to be shared to the new hope and children of Neighborfield, who had no idea of the war being fought just outside their city's borders. Occasionally, an anniversary was remembered with a brief mention of it on the evening news, but for the most part everyone involved in those events just wanted to forget about it all.

However, the city's safety was not only thanks to Cherry, Candy and Cat-- the Powerpuff Girls-- but also thanks to the very villain who fronted the war: Jojo, formerly known as Buttercup.

Jojo's one rule to her fellow criminals and villains was: No killing of the Powerpuff Girls. It was something she emphasized constantly, and had to defend constantly as well. It wasn't as if any other villain had the guts to stand up to their leader, no matter how much they disliked the law. After all, one individual had come close to killing a Puff, and what happened to him? Well, he got a funeral, that's what.

It happened about a year and half ago. The Powerpuff Girls were just eleven years old then. That's when a large, scaly beast named Jimmy attacked the city of Neighborfield. The ten ton, fifty-foot tall, fire-breathing monster made the mistake of ensnaring the yellow Puff known as Cat.

Her sister and leader, Cherry, had been tough on her throughout the battle. "Be careful!" she warned her sister after she dealt every hit to the beast. "Cat, you're getting too close!"

"I am being careful!" Cat had argued. "You're the one whose not getting close enough! We're going to be here all night if we carry on like this!"

Candy stood between them and watched her sisters argue back and forth. "Um, you guys?" she squeaked.

"What?!" they both shouted at her in unison.

The orange Puff in pigtails just pointed ahead at the monster just about to devour a school bus full of screaming students. Both Cherry and Cat gasped and shot off towards the giant. Cherry quickly pulled the bus from the monster's grasp, while Cat flew at the beast's head at top speed.

When the black haired tomboy cocked back her fist to serve a blow that would have knocked the giant's teeth out, Jimmy the monster's jaw opened up wide as he rapidly turned his head and bit down right on the young girl's head. She reacted, but just a fraction of a second too late. As the monster bit down, she swerved in the air to try and escape in time. But when Jimmy's jaws bit down, her right side of face, jaw and neck were all in harm's way.

To Cat, it felt as if all the flesh on her skull had been ripped clean off. She could physically feel her skin lift, separate from the muscle and bone, stretch as the beast pulled in one direction and she pulled in the opposite and then tear right off of her. At the same time, she badly choked and suffocated as the monster's razor sharp teeth pierced through her neck all at once and shredded everything inside. Her instinct was to cry out and pain, but all that erupted from her vocal chords was an endless stream of blood and gurgling noises.

Thankfully for Cat, she lost consciousness immediately following those seven seconds of pure agony. However those seven seconds lasted an eternity as it happened.

The poor girl's throat had nearly been completely ripped out of her. The immediate predictions of the doctors was that she would not live through the monster attack. Luckily for Jimmy, they were wrong. If they had been right, his death sentence would have been much more painful. While the eleven-year-old was in a coma for two weeks, Jojo did nothing but contemplate just how she would carry out Jimmy's execution. She must have thought up a hundred different scenarios of torture. But luckily for Jimmy, after two weeks, Jojo got word that Cat survived the attack. So luckily for Jimmy, Jojo merely committed the deed with her quick and "merciful" death ray.

To Jojo, the execution was more than just, but to the other villains, her actions were questionable. But of course, no one would dare question her out loud. The only explanation they got back was when the law was first set in place: "They're Powerpuffs. I was a Powerpuff. Look how I turned out! We gotta wait and see just how they turn out. Who knows? We may have another death ray machine on our side. Now, wouldn't that come in handy for world conquest?"

At first, it was hard to imagine. Another hero gone villain? That doesn't happen all that often and why would it? The Puff formerly known as Buttercup had to be the one and only, rare exception. But today, the villains saw their first hint of a Puff turning bad on Channel 4's live, breaking news.

Blossom received word of the incident involving her daughter, Cat, first from the television news, and second from an actual phone call from her daughter's middle school principal. It took the frantic mother four minutes to arrive at the school, but took her eight minutes to make her way past the media insanity surrounding the institution.

"Here is Blossom Utonium arriving on the scene! Blossom, can you give us any comment on--"

"No," Blossom interrupted, pushing past the crowds of cameramen and reporters.

"Blossom!" a separate reporter shouted after her, "Are you afraid of just how similar this is to your own sister's outburst at your high school some thirteen years ago?!"

Blossom acted as if she did not hear the question, though her face gave away an answer.

She found her daughter Cat, sitting inside the principal's office by herself. The door was shut and locked, and the principal waited for Blossom outside along with several police officers.

"I am so sorry, Principal Follows," Blossom immediately began as soon as she saw the serious, tall and bald man. "Cat's just been so frustrated and upset lately. She hasn't been able to fight crime for over a year since the accident and she loves it so much. She just has so much energy built up, I'm sure she didn't mean any harm or--"

"Her teacher is in the hospital with five of his ten fingers broken. Fingers he clearly needs for his profession as a teacher of deaf and mute children."

"I know," Blossom frowned. "I'll talk to Cat right now and we can--"

"You may speak to her if you wish, but you can do so at home."

Blossom blinked at the man. "Excuse me?"

"Cat is no longer allowed to attend McGavin Intermediate. She has been expelled."

Blossom stared for a while in shock before continuing, "But this is the only school in the city that has a teacher for children who are speech-impaired! You can't just expel her without discussing everything first! Where is she supposed to go to learn if she can't attend school here?! Did you get her side of the story at least? Did you give her a chance to explain herself at all?!"

"Ms. Utonium, I assure you I would have allowed Cat to explain herself, had I the ability to communicate with her. However the one faculty member who can and would have been my interpreter, is now in the hospital."

Blossom crossed her arms and gave him a stern look. "Principal Follows, Cat is not deaf. She is mute. She can hear and understand you just fine, and if you would have asked her anything she would have given you an answer by writing it down for you. Or are you saying you just don't know how to read?"

He sighed. "Ms. Utonium, I know you are upset because this is your child, but you have to understand just where the school is coming from here. We can't risk the other children's safety for the sake of your daughter. This is not her first outburst here, Ms. Utonium. Although those were just minor and brief temper tantrums, this incident is a much more serious one. She has caused over a thousand dollars in property damages and sent her teacher to the emergency room. After all that happened with your own sister, I was sure you would have a better understanding of--"

"Can I please take my daughter home now?"

The principal gave the armed policemen a nod and they stepped aside from the door. Principal Follows unlocked the door for Blossom and she stepped inside. As if the room contained a wild animal, he quickly shut the door behind her and warily peeked through its glass window.

Blossom sighed and looked to her yellow-eyed daughter. She stood beside the principal's desk with her head hung low and a slight glare on her face with her eyes fixed on her own shuffling feet. She looked up at her mother and raised her right hand to begin to speak: "It wasn't my fault ," is what she attempted to sign, but Blossom interrupted her, by grabbing her by the hand and leading her outside of the office and down the hallway.

Cat flew herself and her mother over the crowd of news personnel, to Blossom's car in the parking lot. Once inside the car, the media crews rushed over to the vehicle and surrounded Cat and Blossom like hungry vultures. It took twelve minutes to pull out of the parking lot successfully.

"Blossom, do you feel your daughter should serve time for her crime here today?"

"Will you be paying for the damages your daughter caused in the classroom today?"

"Do you feel Cat should be placed in an institution of some sort? Perhaps she can receive help before it is too late!"

"With the scars, awkward appearance and now violent outbursts-- clearly, Cat is beginning to look more and more like your villainous sibling! Are you considering--"

With the last comment, Blossom slammed on her car horn, deafening the surrounding crowd. Finally, they began to scatter and she was free of them.

At the first stop sign on the road, Blossom felt a tug on her lab coat's sleeve. She looked over to Cat, "What is it, Sweetie?"

"'Villainous sibling'?" Cat signed with her fingers.

Blossom blinked at her. "…I'm sorry, Baby, I can't understand you. I must not have learned that word yet," she lied and kept driving.

She drove for about two minutes straight before having a piece of paper shoved in front of her face, reading: "What did that reporter mean by 'your villainous sibling'?"

Blossom pushed aside her daughters hand and the paper. "Cat, I'm driving. I can't be reading things now!"

Cat tugged on Blossom's sleeve repeatedly.

"Cat! Stop that!"

Cat hit the dashboard of the car with her fist so hard it caused the car to swerve slightly on the road.

"Cat!" Blossom hit the brakes. She looked at her daughter who had an angry look on her face. She was frantically signing something, but Blossom couldn't catch everything she was saying. "Cat, slow down. You know I can't read you that fast."

Cat rolled her eyes and started signing again at a ridiculously slow pace, so that it was certain her mom could understand: "Three years ago… the news said… it was the ten year anniversary…. of your sister… becoming evil…. You said… they had… their facts… wrong…. That your only sister… was Bubbles… who was always… a hero…. Now… this reporter said…. 'your villainous sibling,'" the twelve-year-old picked up her paper she had written on before and showed it to her mom again, pointing at the word, "villainous." She continued with her fingers: "Did she… have her facts… wrong, too?" The little girl raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms sternly.

Blossom cleared her throat and returned her eyes to the road and slowly accelerated again. "Yes," she answered simply.

Cat threw up her hands in defeat and reclined backwards in her seat. She knew her mother was hiding something. Three years ago, she and her sisters all knew she was hiding something. When they questioned people in the town on the matter then, everyone acted weird; everyone avoided them; no one gave the same answer.

As Cat entered the house with Blossom, she received her scolding. "How could you break the poor man's fingers, Cat? Do you know that you are expelled from the school now? I don't know what to do with you now! We're going to have to get you a personal tutor, but I don't know if anyone will be willing to work with you after this whole ordeal! Do you realize just how serious this situation is--"

Blossom stopped, when she noticed her daughter's eyes not on her, but on the television set in the living room. Before she had rushed out to retrieve Cat at the school, Blossom had been watching the news on TV, and it was still on.

On the screen was a current picture of Cat, along side of a thirteen-year-old photograph of her sister when she was fifteen and still known to the world as "Buttercup." The extremely close physical resemblance between the two was undeniable. Young Cat seemed to gravitate toward the television screen as if caught in a trance.

"It's obvious that she is turning into that exact same person. There is absolutely no denying it now!"

"Exactly, Bill! No denying it! Not after today! This kid's teacher is said to be in critical condition right now! "

"So that begs the question: Do the citizens of Neighborfield have to be worried about mass destruction, killing and chaos just as the citizens of Townsville did thirteen years ago? Just because Blossom denies her genetic ties to the girl, does not mean that those Powerpuff genes that are that villain's also are hers, and her daughters', particularly Cat's! Just how much more time will there be before young Cat completely snaps just like Bu--"

Blossom had finally reached the remote control and turned the TV off. Cat immediately snapped out of her hypnotized state and whipped around and faced Blossom. She stomped her feet angrily and pointed at the TV: "Turn it back on!" she signed. "Turn it on!"

Blossom shook her head, "No."

Cat stomped her foot on the ground so hard the entire house shook. She glared at Blossom with the meanest look Blossom had ever seen from a child-- a look that made her look more like that "villainous sibling" of hers.

Blossom knelt down in front of Cat, so that her eyes were directly in front of the angry kid's. "Cat, I am trying to protect you, do you understand? I am protecting you. You can't listen to that trash. The media is cruel and nasty and they are nothing but liars. Do you hear me? They are lying, Cat." Blossom bit her lip as she looked into Cat's eyes. She wasn't expecting something like this from the media. Normally, the local news never had stories concerning Jojo and the outside war. It looked as if her daughter's outburst had triggered a media frenzy.

Cat shook her head and signed forcefully, with swift and quick jabs of her fingers: "You're the liar."

Cat flew past her mother and began to ascend the stairway to her room. She stopped and faced her mom at the top of the staircase. She began signing, still with much force and anger: "Mr. Collins was trying to teach me a word I already knew. He knew I knew it, but kept on taunting me with it. Signing it over and over again and trying to get me to sign it back. He wouldn't stop, so I broke his desk and his fingers."

Cat gave a firm nod as if her explanation was more than enough to justify harming the man and began to retreat to her room again.

"Cat," Blossom called out for her to stop.

The yellow-eyed girl turned around and faced Blossom again: "What?"

"What was the word?"

Cat paused and gritted her teeth for several moments. Her eyes fell on the ground and her expression slowly melted from angry to sad, as she slowly raised her right hand, positioned it on the left side of her face with her index finger pointed out, slowly slid it across her face, retracting her index finger once it reached the right.

"Ugly."

"It's been just under two years since that girl's accident, and she's already blown up at her school just as you had. Only it took you… what was it? Five years to build up that much anger-- contempt-- scorn--rage? I wonder if she has killed a man yet. She would definitely have you beat and defeated then, am I right?"

"Yeah, well, my accident didn't cause me to lose the ability to talk, now did it? I probably would have lost it much earlier if something that messed up had happened to me."

"It still left you really ugly though. I would judge much uglier than she."

Jojo laughed. "Yeah, that's always true." She took a sip from her glass of wine. "Ain't you gonna drink any of yours, Old Man?" she looked across the table at the elderly chimp, sitting opposite from her.

"No, that would be impossible, because I am not really here and am merely a hallucination, a falsified presence and byproduct of your increasing insanity, Son. How many times must we go over this? How many extra glasses of wine must you pour before you realize this second glass here will never be consumed, for I cannot consume it, for I am nothing more than an illusion?"

"Oh yeah," Jojo grinned behind her glass. "Well, I don't care. So just keep on humoring me with some conversation, alright?" The twenty-eight-year-old villain reclined in her chair and propped both her feet up on the table in front of her.

"What table manners you've maintained since my passing," the ghostly vision of Mojo Jojo rolled his eyes.

"Hey," Buttercup pointed at the monkey, "I'm the mayor and ruler of twenty-nine different cities, alright. I can do whatever I want."

"You should be the mayor and ruler of at least eighty-nine by now."

"Hey, you can't rush world conquest--"

"You are slacking."

"Relax, Dad. It won't be long before we got little Cat on our side. After that, things will be a piece of cake. We'll take over the entire country overnight I bet. You'll see."

"You should not rely so heavily on that young girl. What makes you think she will want world conquest, domination, and occupation? Do not believe so easily that she will happily accept the title of 'villain' just as you did. Do not think she will eagerly pursue that same career. After all, her mother did raise her, knowing full well of her potential villainy. I am certain Blossom took many, careful precautions these past seven years to avoid that child's fate to the best of her ability."

"Hey!" Jojo straightened her posture and swung her feet off from the table. She slammed her wine glass down on the table, "Blossom ain't her mother! I am! And she's gonna be a villain, 'cause that's what I am! You were and so I was and so she will be!"

"Do not be so damn childish. Did I not teach you anything?"

Before Jojo could respond to her dead father, he disappeared. The door behind the empty seat opened and Princess walked inside. "Who are you talking to?"

"Just my dad."

"Again?"

"Yeah, so what?"

Princess raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "You need to start seeing a doctor or something?"

Jojo just grinned as she stood from her seat and walked across the room towards Princess. "What did you want?"

"There's something on the TV I think you would want to see."

"What's that?"

"According to this breaking news report, little Cat has run away from home."