Hey, all!

By popular demand, I bring you the sequel to Black and White, Lifelines. This is part two of the Barasia trilogy, in which the Cluster's greatest weapon is turned loose and uncontrolled on our poor defenceless planet.

Let's begin!!!

Lifelines

The Harvey bridge, spanning Megaville's Acharon Bay, was awash in a blanket of hazy smoke and billowing curtains of reddish-orange fire. What remained of the huge structure, which usually curved across the bay, its two huge pylons sticking upwards into the sky like needles, was a mass of shattered, fractured concrete, steel and plastic which barely kept itself together at the struts. The bridge was over 3 kilometres long, spanning the large bay serenely, offering drivers perfect views. However, there was nobody motoring over the bridge today, the huge roadway instead burning as though a large plane had hit it. Strewn across the ten lanes were the remains of cars, helicopters, tanks and people, incinerated by an unearthly force. The normally peaceful and beautiful Megaville landmark had been reduced to a smouldering pillar of chaos, the smoke rising into the sky as several dozen vehicles burned.

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Bloodsguar Studios member

WE ARE ALL GRIDS

Cool start!

Thanks. This is still being written at the moment, so updates might not be as frequent. All those newcomers out there, to allow this story to make more sense, I recommend you read my previous fic, Black and White, and maybe my first fic, entitled The Perfect Little Girl.

This will help you understand the characters a bit more! Enjoy!

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The bridge's support collumns, which rose out of the blue waters below, had not been at all damaged, so the bridge was in no danger of immediately collapsing. However, everywhere from the road upwards along the main section of the bridge had been torched, even the concrete itself alight. The remains of squad cars, tanks and helicopters littered the road, dead bodies lying scattered around them. It was like a scene from Grand Theft Auto. The police knew to stay well away, as the cause of the calamity was still loose and likely to do even more harm.

The normally peaceful skies were split with a loud boom as a streak of pink smashed against a radiating darkness in between the two pylons on the Acharon bridge. Another streak of light zoomed in stage left, a green flash trailing its bearer. It, too, slammed into the black haze floating above the bridge, only to be thrown off by a pitch-black fireball. A third streak, coloured blue, teamed up with pink as they shot overhead, raining beams of strawberry and azure down into the ebony cloud. But the rays of light were merely absorbed, the chartreuse streak of light breaking off from attacking, knowing its own attempt to be fruitless even before it started. The black merely sat there, pleased with itself. The three streaks of light met up a small distance from the black aura, knowing their attacks were useless.

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GIR: PPG ARE DOOMED!!!!

Shut up GIR...¬¬...nice fic...Linkhare needs more @¬@

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For all concerned Gir fans out there, Gir will return very much alive, well and crazy in this fic. Even the most powerful Powerpuff cannot destroy the terror that is GIR!!!

Blossom's eyes, the colour of fairy floss, narrowed in frustration, "How can this be? We're not doing a thing to it!"

"Whatever 'it' is..." muttered Buttercup, the green Powerpuff. When the three girls had arrived, Blossom, Buttercup and the blue Powerpuff Bubbles, they found only the strange being shrouded in the clouds of midnight darkness, not revealing anything about who or what was inside. When they had attacked, it had merely repelled everything they had thrown at it as though it was some kind of mirror. Buttercup's fists clenched, "Gimme one more shot!"

Blossom's hand clamped onto Buttercup's shoulder, "NO!" she barked, "You don't know what that thing will do to you."

"Yeah!" Bubbled agreed. Her eyes lit up, sending two bolts of blue light at the cloud of blackness. They merely bounced off with an audible PING. "You'll do nothing to it. Don't even bother."

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IT WILL BE YOUR DOOM!!!!!...yep...PPG is doomed...^^...nice fic....

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No fic is complete without a description of the protagonists...


Buttercup growled, "I'm gonna find a way to get you! I'll bring you down for all those people you killed!" she screamed, fighting Blossom's grasp. The black haired girl was furious but that was hardly surprising. Buttercup had a very short fuse and was rarely ever as sweet as her sisters. When it came to fights like these, she would be the first to jump in, mouth off and end up either beating the enemy or getting beat up herself. Her cockiness was her weakness, and overestimating herself was often her downfall. As was the case here.

Blossom, meanwhile, kept a cool head almost all the time. Her long vermillion hair streamed behind her, tied up by a large red bow on her head, forming what looked like rabbit ears atop her. She was the brains of the group, generally because the others lacked the quality. Buttercup was forever too busy jumping the gun and launching herself at the enemy to think, whilst Bubbles was often too ditzy to even see straight. It was hard being leader.

Bubbles merely regarded the plume of black energy with childish fascination. The youngest, mentally, of the girls she was often very carefree and innocent, and sometimes that was used against her. But when people, or better still her sisters, were in trouble her mind left her childish ways behind and, when she got angry enough, she was sometimes the most lethal of the three mini titans. Her colour was blue, clear and soft. A light blue, blending with the sky, her curls of straw tied up in two small pigtails.

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I had no words...because i used them all in all the compliments i said before...-_-...just continue...

PD: I know what to say...THIS FIC RULZ!

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Thanks Linkhare. But where is everyone else? Ah well... doom doom doomy d-doom doom...


"Just who are you!?" Buttercup roared, "Why have you killed all these people?" she struggled to break loose, but Bubbles' hand grabbed her free arm, fully restraining her.

The black aura merely hovered there. It was almost mocking them, daring the three girls to come close to it could shoot them down like a battleship downing tiny fighters. It beckoned Buttercup to get close, to try her luck with it. Fortunately her sisters were there to keep her under control.

Buttercup grit her teeth. She stopped struggling and sighed. No use screaming at something that wouldn't reply. Blossom and Bubbles released her warily, ready in case Buttercup suddenly sprung at the odd cloud of black and purple. They were about to reconsider their attack plan when they were met with a voice.

"Buttercup? Calming down?" the voice chuckled. It was female, around the same pitch of that of a girl around the Powerpuffs' age, 6 or 7. "Quick, record the date!" The voice came from the cloud of billowing black. Blossom clenched her fists. Bubbles followed her sister, bending her knees despite hovering over 500 feet in the air. Buttercup's eyes flashed with fury, warning the odd black... thing not to push it.

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Thanks for the advice, Lily. Don't worry, it'll all come together soon enough.

"Who are you?" Blossom demanded now that the foe had decided to talk.

Amongst the ripples of black energy encompassing the being within, two glowing purple rhombuses flashed, glaring out of the abyss that swarmed around her, "I, Blossom," she spoke the lead Powerpuff's name, Blossom's eyes involuntarily widening with shock, "am EVERYTHING you three are not. I am not restrained by the guidelines of a superheroine. I am not held back by compassion, empathy, guilt, bedtimes... I am-" the cloud of black suddenly faded, revealing the girl beneath, "a REAL Powerpuff Girl."

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Cool still cool for me

The three girls stared. What hovered before them was something that none of the three had ever expected to encounter, except maybe Blossom. The girl was precisely their height, with the exact same arm and leg lengths as them. Her outfit was obsidian in colour, a stripe of platinum spanning horizontally across the centre of her dress, the hem no longer or shorter than the dresses the three girls wore. The girl had short black hair, as dark as Buttercup's, which fell about her ears in three large spikes on either side. Her fringe was made up of two more spikes of hair, pointed forward, one atop the other. The remainder of her hair, held back by a pair of blue hairclips above her ears, was done up in a small ponytail, held together by a hairband which sported a pair of strange shapes atop it. Her eyes were jet-black, giving them a depth which seemed to have no limit. She stared at the three girls, a smirk on her face. She was a mere shadow of them. An echo.

But even the echo can triumph over the voice.

Added after 3 minutes:

The shapes on Barasia's hairband are Truncated Icosidodecahedrons, probably the coolest geometric shape ever!

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Cool i like those pics.

I just thought I'd explain those shapes some more cos their names are rather difficult to understand.


"J-Just..." Blossom began, before realising that she was stuttering. She was the hardest girl of the three to intimidate. As soon as she realised her voice was breaking up, she knew for sure. This new Powerpuff downright freaked her out. "W-Who... no... what are y-you?"

The black haired girl merely gave a dismissive chuckle.

Bubbles jumped in, "You can't possibly be a Powerpuff Girl! A Powerpuff Girl would NEVER do this kinda..." she notioned at the burning bridge below, "...stuff..." she finished, for lack of a better word. Bubbles was not exactly the brightest light on the Christmas tree.

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Are the Darkstar Council going to be back?

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The Bringer of death and chaos to the World of humans!!

"Why so Serious?"

Later, they will be. Along with Samantha's replacement. Anyone seen Digimon Season 3?

The black-eyed girl shook her head, "Oh, but you see, I'm waaaaay beyond your level as a Powerpuff. I see there is more to this world than protecting it from a bunch of crazy loons and stupid monsters. In this world, girls, you must realise: the true calling is not who can save this world, but who can rule it. I intend to be the one to rule this planet."

Buttercup chuckled, "YOU!? A simple little flesh-and-blood girl? You'll never take this place over."

The black girl's eyes narrowed, "You have no idea how wrong you are..."

Buttercup was about to retort when a loud whirring noise caught her attention. The four girls looked around for the source of the sound, and the black girl found it first. Approaching them from the eastern side of the bridge, from behind the black girl, was a small single-engine aircraft. It was a high-wing Cessna type, no doubt flying over to see what was going on. From what the girls could see, there was only one person aboard, sitting on the left-hand side of the plane's cockpit.

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Dude, who hasn't seen the third season of Digimon? It managed to focus on a core of well developed people, and made you see them as realistic people. More than the other kids, they were true to life-at least as much as a cartoon can be.

btw, If the three original Powerpuffs each represent an achatype of the feminine nature, what is the great archatype of Barasia? What part of the little girls, and girls not so little does she represent?

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"I saw it, there, in the sewers...for just a second. All hunched over, skin pale white beneath those rags...so many rags. The vermin crawled about his feet like idolaters at worship, and I swear that the wind drew breath in a frightened gasp at his passing. He wore cold like a cloak and I swear that behind that smiling golden mask he was laughing at me as his curved blade rose and fell, cutting through my men. It left wounds filled with crystals of salt...the screams...the screams...and the pants....Gods! The Pants!!!"
-Captain Urtin, who salted and ate his former soldiers.
"Jar-Jar you're a genius!"

That's a very good question. Barasia is more or less like Buttercup in her nature, always up for a fight and ready to dish out some pain. She is a tomboy, most definitely, but unlike Buttercup she knows no restraint so the sooner she is stopped, the better. As for Sam's replacement, anyone who has watched Season 3 will be familiar with this young lady, who has a bit in common with Sam.

"What is that guy doing?" Blossom growled, "Doesn't he know that it's dangerous to come here?"

The black girl whirled, a maniacal grin on her face, "His funeral!" she suddenly thrust her hand forward. She was only abut 20 metres away from the Powerpuffs, but it was perfect attack range. Around the girls swirled a purple-black haze, before it turned glassy and solid. The three girls had no time to react as the barriers of the sphere surrounded them, trapping them in a purple glass orb. The black girl made a downward motion, and before Buttercup could even throw a punch at the thin and brittle-looking wall of their prison, the sphere shot down, accelerating, toward the roadway of the bridge. "Happy landing!" called the black girl after it.

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I am so very late for this....

Oh well, nice descriptions, keep up the good work....

I will read all I can, but I gotta study for a big test for some sort of programming licence....

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"I am the darkness....."

Best of luck for your exam, PSI!

The sphere whizzed downwards, the girls pancaked at the top of the sphere, one atop the other, as it flew at terrifying speed toward the bridge. Blossom managed to mutter, "This... will be... painful..." as the bridge grew closer. The sphere impacted with a mighty WHAM, the three girls thrown around inside like ping-pong balls. They landed in a heap at the base of the large sphere, a crater blasted in the roadway where they had landed. To their chagrin, the sphere had not shattered or even been cracked by the harsh impact. Bubbles groaned, having landed on her head.

Above, the black girl called out, "I am the Powerpuff that should have been." she turned to face the small aircraft, "You can call me Barasia." her thumbnail on her right hand split down the centre, moving to the sides, making way for a high-power gunsight which she raised to eye level. The tip of her first finger glowed a bluish-green as she took aim at the plane, which was gradually banking away, not wanting to get too close. Barasia took aim at the propellor, which was spinning so fast that the normal human eye could not see it due to its rapid movement. But this was no problem for Barasia. She was no human. With two quick pulses of light, she watched as the two grey-black blades of the prop were shot away, Barasia's accuracy unparalelled. The blades spiralled away on their own toward the water below, the plane dipping, its source of power and movement lost.

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Barasia shot toward the stricken aircraft, her black eyes filled with a predatory lust for causing more destruction. Within seconds she was underneath the plane, her hand grabbing onto the bottom of the aircraft, holding it stationary in mid-air. Her eyes stabbed out at the wings with purple-black heat, the two rectangular structures sliced off the plane, following the prop blades on a deathly descent to the water below. Barasia held the plane above her head with one hand. There was a thump, before the pilot threw open the door and jumped, following the wings down, bailing out of his plane. Barasia sighed, "Meh... I'll let him go."

- - - - -

"Who am I kidding?" With her free hand, Barasia launched a sphere of dark energy at the falling man, beaming wickedly. The sphere drew closer, closer, closer to the man, before overtaking him. Barasia chuckled, "Goodbye, old man...." She snapped her fingers.

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I'm back for more useless posting....

I swear I will do something constructive one day....

Anyway, cool, if that was me, I would have smacked him with his own plane, but, oh well....

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"I am the darkness....."

She coulda done that. But it's a waste to a good plane. I reckon the plane has more.... explosive uses....


The sphere seemed to twinkle, before exploding into a huge expanse of purplish energy which expanded outwards like an oil spill. The falling man could be heard screaming as he approached the rapidly growing mass of crackling dark cloud. The three girls, still trapped in the sphere, watched in horror as his body fell into the cloud, his scream becoming an echo. His body never fell through the cloud into the bay. The expanse suddenly collapsed in on itself, imploding, shrinking into nothing with a final burst of light. The man never reappeared.

Barasia gave a small salute, "Thankyou for choosing Barasia Burnings, the most reliable and unexpected cremation service since... uh... two days ago."

"You animal!" shrieked Buttercup in fury, pounding her fist on the wall of the sphere and bruising it slightly. The sphere, for its part, didn't seem to care all that much. Buttercup's eyes lit up and she fired. The sphere's glossy walls reflected the greenish glare around itself, shrouding the girls in the haunting viridian glow. As it faded, Buttercup looked up at Barasia and she plane she held above her head, "Aw, crap..."

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