Chapter XIII
Two Sides of the Same Coin

Two months later…

For the last few weeks, Mojo had one of his high tech lasers parked near the far side of the room, pointed directly out towards the city. After spending three days repairing his roof, he was not about to let another monster come near his observatory. He had the laser set on level 10, which he figured was high enough to blow any creature to smithereens should it set foot near his home. He had to resist the urge to use it against Buttercup when she and her family last visited, as she couldn’t keep her tart tongue in her mouth for five minutes after she set foot inside his home. Though he succeeded in not trying to kill the Powerpuff, he was certain his suppressed anger would surely cause a brain tumor.

Blossom had done well not to tease Mojo about his unintentional spooning with the Powerpuff, but he still felt the need to insist on her not saying a word to her family when they visited. Of course, Blossom knew better than to do that. She could just see the Professor’s head exploding at the thought of them sharing a bed together, no matter what the circumstances. She didn’t even want to think of how Buttercup would react.

Right now, things were calm and dull. Mojo sat silently on the couch, flipping through the channels with very little interest. Even with a job now, he still found himself bored out of his mind when he came home. There were many times he wanted to go out, but he didn’t like leaving Blossom alone, even when he went to work. He always feared she’d try to escape while he was gone, which really made it hard for him to concentrate at work. But he constantly reminded himself that there was no way she could escape. The door was locked, and the window could not open. But aside from his invalid fear of her escaping, she just couldn’t be left alone all the time; she needed her meals and bathroom breaks. There truly were more disadvantages to having her as his prisoner. He practically felt like a prisoner himself, a prisoner in his own home.

Looking at the clock, Mojo noted that it was past six o’ clock, and once the time registered, he finally realized that he was starving; he hadn’t eaten anything since noon. He quickly got up and started making his way towards the kitchen, knowing he would have to prepare something for Blossom as well. He grabbed a plate out of the cabinet and then went over to the fridge. He pulled out a packet of ham and grabbed the jar of mayonnaise, taking both items over to where his plate sat. He managed to get just one slice of ham out of the packet before his hands went still. He stared blankly at the lunch meat, suddenly becoming rather sickened by the idea of another cold sandwich. Pretty much all he ate now was sandwiches and TV dinners. After spending hours cooking at a restaurant for other people, the idea of cooking for himself didn’t sound too thrilling. He really wanted a nice, decent, hot meal but didn’t exactly have the will power to spend thirty minutes making it himself.

“That settles it!” he said as he slammed his fist down onto the counter. “I am going out to eat tonight!”

Mojo turned and quickly made his way to Blossom’s room to inform her that he was going out. He knocked twice, and then opened the door, finding the Powerpuff lounging on her bed, staring off into space.

“I’m going out tonight,” Mojo stated quickly. Blossom finally brought her attention to him and just nodded.

“Okay. How long will you be gone?”

“A couple of hours. I‘ll serve you your dinner first, and then I shall leave.”

Blossom nodded again. “Where are you going?”

“None of your business,” Mojo snapped before quickly closing the door. He returned to the kitchen and finished preparing the sandwich, which had originally been intended for himself. He grabbed the jug of milk out of the fridge and poured some into a glass. Taking the plate in one hand and the beverage in the other Mojo made his way back to Blossom’s room, balancing the milk on the plate for a moment so he could open the door. “Alright, here,” he said, walking over and holding the food out to Blossom.

“Oh…just leave it on the desk. I’ll get to it in a minute,” she said quietly. Mojo shrugged and went to place the food on the desk near the computer. He glanced at the redhead again curiously, but his hunger quickly dragged him out of the room again.

“I should be back no later than eight o’ clock.”

Blossom didn’t even nod in understanding this time. She only stared out the window with a somewhat longing expression. Mojo didn’t wait for a response and quickly shut and locked the door. He made his way to his bedroom and opened his closet, where he found the large safe on the floor. Getting down on one knee, Mojo reached out to turn the knob several times before the door clicked open. The chimp couldn’t believe how much money had accumulated since he had started working. Looking at the large sums of cash, he could hardly believe that none of it was stolen. The fact that he had earned every last dollar honestly felt pretty good, as disturbing as that was to him.

Mojo gathered a variety of bills: a few twenties, several ones, a couple of fives and a fifty. He placed the bills neatly in his wallet, and then went to change his clothes. Once that was done, he grabbed his house keys and started to make his way out. As he passed Blossom’s room, he slowly came to a halt. Here he was, about to go out and have a wonderful dinner in a nice restaurant, while he left Blossom locked up with just a cold sandwich to eat. Great. Why did he have to feel guilty now? Why did he ever have to feel guilty at all, in fact? What was it about her that twisted his heart from one direction to the other?

“No,” he told himself. “She is a prisoner. She is lucky to be fed even a sandwich!” Mojo took two steps forward but stopped again. “Curse…this...guilt,” he said through gritted teeth, face turning red. “She will be the death of me.” He crossed his arms, his fingers digging painfully into his skin. “She’s a prisoner,” he reminded himself again. He didn’t know how many times he had to remind himself of this fact ever since she had set foot into his observatory. “Prisoners do not get special treatment.” He nodded and then started making his way for the door again, but he didn’t get far. “Curses!” he yelled, stomping his foot. He went over to the couch and grabbed a cushion, placing it to his face before letting out a high pitched scream. Once that was out of his system, he slowly made his way towards Blossom’s room. “I know I am going to be sore in the morning.”

Mojo entered Blossom’s room once again, causing the teen to look over in surprise. Mojo saw that the sandwich hadn’t been touched.

“I thought you left,” said Blossom, clearly a bit puzzled by Mojo’s presence, and not to mention his rather nauseated expression.

“I…I should not leave you here alone,” Mojo stated.

“Why? You’ve left me alone plenty of times. Seriously, Mojo, where am I going to go? I can’t escape.”

Mojo shifted his weight from one foot to the other anxiously. “It’s just a precaution,” he lied. “That is to say that I am playing it safe and would feel better if you were under my supervision, for if you are not under my supervision then I cannot possibly make sure you do not plan some sort of escape, as escaping would be much easier if I were not here to supervise you, thus why you will be accompanying me to make supervising you much easier.”

“Mojo…did you not hear what I just said? I can’t escape! What am I supposed to do? Break the window and jump out? Yeah, that‘ll put me in a wheelchair.”

Mojo blushed slightly. “Well…it does not matter! You are coming with me!”

“Oh, fine,” Blossom sighed. “Where are we going, anyway? Or is that still none of my business?” the teen said curtly, earning a nasty glare from her enemy.

“We are going out to eat, smart-alack. So put on some nicer clothes. I‘ll call for a cab.”

0ooooooo0

Blossom followed Mojo out the door and waited for him to lock up. She followed him down the stairs and towards the cab that was already parked near the sidewalk. They both slid into the backseat, already prepared for the odd looks they were bound to receive from their cab driver.

“Where to?” he asked flatly.

“Townsville Fine Foods,” Mojo answered as he fastened his seatbelt. He leaned back against the seat and silently stared out the window. Blossom did the same. The cab driver continuously glanced at them through the rearview mirror curiously.

“So…ugh…are you two dating or something?” he asked, causing both Mojo and Blossom to stiffen. “I mean, lots o’ rumors have been goin’ ’round about you two.”

“And only idiots listen to rumors,” Mojo replied, continuing to stare out the window.

“Hey, I ain’t sayin’ I believe all the rumors I’m hearin’. I’m just wonderin’!”

“Look, just drive the damn cab and do not talk!” Mojo shouted, finally having enough. The man quickly turned his attention to the road again and didn’t say another word. Blossom slumped down in her seat, suddenly feeling very boxed in. Though the drive was only about ten minutes, it felt like it had taken hours. Mojo paid the fare and practically threw himself out of the car. “Perhaps this was a bad idea,” he mumbled to Blossom once she came to stand on his right.

“Why?” the teen responded, though a part of her couldn’t help but agree with the chimp.

“Well…I mean, I think I should have just left you back at the observatory. You remember the last time we were seen together in public. People couldn‘t take their eyes off of us.”

“If they stare, then just ignore them.”

“Easier said than done,” Mojo mumbled as he started making his way towards the entrance. As they both stepped inside the restaurant, they were greeted by a young hostess, who couldn’t help but show her surprise at seeing the two notorious citizens together. She was no stranger to the rumors and magazine articles either, but she made no comment about their presence and simply welcomed them.

“Smoking, or non?”

“Non,” Mojo answered. “And…is there an area a bit more private?” he asked, not wanting to be anywhere close to the restaurant’s main crowd, but the hostess blushed slightly, thinking there were other reasons behind his request.

“Umm…sure, right this way,” she said as she grabbed a couple of menus and led them towards the left side of the restaurant. Both Mojo and Blossom kept their attention to the front and kept from looking at the other customers they passed. The hostess led through a entryway and into another room, about half the size of the main dining area. It wasn’t totally private, as there were a couple of people in the room, but it was empty for the most part. They took a seat at the far end of the room, away from the other people. “Shelly will be taking care of you tonight. Please enjoy your meals.”

About thirty seconds after the hostess left, Shelly approached their table with a notepad and pen already handy. “Hello,” she said, trying to hide her surprise. “Can I get you something to drink while you decide?”

“Sweet tea with lemon,” Mojo answered as he flipped open his menu.

“I think I’ll just have plain water,” said Blossom. The woman nodded as she jotted down the drinks and then quickly went to retrieve them.

“Ribeye looks good,” Mojo mumbled casually to himself.

“This is weird,” said Blossom as she looked over the menu. “I’m supposed to be a prisoner, and you take me out to dinner.”

“Yes, well, I forgot to tell you the part where I’m planning on suffocating you with a plastic bag afterwards and then tossing your body into the ocean. I thought the least I could do was give you one last decent meal.”

Blossom’s face suddenly paled slightly and Mojo rolled his eyes, though he looked a bit amused.

“Joke, Blossom, joke.”

Blossom smiled sheepishly, relaxing again.

“Although that idea does sound tempting,” Mojo commented as he hid his face behind the menu.

“How sweet.”

Mojo lowered his menu and set it aside. “Did you really think I was serious?”

“Well, with you I can’t be too sure.”

“True. I am an evil mastermind,” said Mojo with a look of pride. He looked up when he saw the waitress return with a tray of drinks.

“Do you two know what you want to order?”

“I’ll have the twelve ounce Ribeye, and I would like it well done,” Mojo answered, handing the waitress his menu. The woman jotted down the order and then looked to Blossom, trying to keep a straight face.

“I…think I’ll have the same, but I’d like it medium rare.”

“I’ll have it out for you real soon,” the waitress said as she took Blossom’s menu and headed back to the kitchen. Mojo rolled his eyes.

“Yes, ‘real soon’ is Restarauntanese for ‘about an hour’,” he said.

“Tell me about it,” Blossom agreed.

Mojo pulled the lemon from his glass and placed it inside his tea, using the straw to force it beneath the ice. “I found out something rather interesting today,” he began. Blossom raised her brows in curiosity. “Mark Clayton is scheduled for execution next week.”

Blossom looked a bit more interested after hearing this. “Really?” she asked. “Well…about time. That‘s all I can say.” She suddenly cringed after saying this.

“My, this from a truth and justice obsessed goody-goody?” Mojo shot at her with a crooked grin. Blossom shifted her gaze to her lap.

“It’s strange, I know. All my life I’ve been against the death penalty…but…when I first came face to face with that…monster…all I could think about was how much I wanted to see him die…and I even made that clear to him!”

Mojo shrugged. “It’s understandable, which is to say your feelings of vengeance are not uncommon and are justified given the severity of the crime. What he did even made me cringe.”

“It’s understandable that I would want someone dead? I shouldn‘t feel that way. No one should feel that way.”

Mojo sighed in annoyance. “Stop obsessing over this. I do not know how I can possibly make you understand. You have never felt this angry against anyone else. Only this man, and it’s easy to see why. So stop agonizing over this.”

Blossom looked on for a moment, still appearing to be battling with her feelings. She pretended to be interested in a pepper shaker as she asked, “Why weren’t you put on death row?”

Mojo leaned back in his seat, arching a brow. “Are you stating that you wish I had been?”

Blossom waved her hands around while frantically saying, “No, no, no! I’m just curious.”

Mojo leaned forward again and took a sip of his tea. “They wanted to, but animal rights activists got involved. And me being on the endangered species list kind of interfered with their kill fetish. Never thought that could be a positive thing,” he stated with a laugh.

Blossom suddenly felt another overwhelming wave of guilt envelope her as the thought Mojo being locked away in prison for years reentered her mind for the umpteenth time. She was beginning to wonder if her voluntary prison sentence with Mojo would even rectify her guilt. Blossom hated being wrong in general, but it was nearly impossible for her to forgive herself when her errors in judgment had dire consequences against someone else. She didn’t think Mojo outright forgiving her would be enough to make things right in her own conscience.

The teen sighed and stirred the ice in her glass around with her straw. Mojo eyed her curiously, but didn’t bother to strike up a conversation. It wasn’t long before the waitress came out with their salads, which they were relieved for. At least now they would have something else to occupy themselves with. They both grabbed the small containers of dressing and dumped them all over their salads. Mojo next reached for the pepper shaker, while Blossom went ahead and dug into her salad.

Meanwhile, Shelly was chattering amongst one of the other waitresses in the kitchen about her special customers.

“Are they on some kind of date or something?” the other waitress asked.

“I have no clue, Sam. I mean…I’ve been hearing all kinds of rumors and stuff, but Blossom didn’t really look distressed. I didn’t see her hold up any signs with “Help me” written on it. She looked pretty calm. It was almost like she was enjoying being with him.”

“Maybe it is mind control,” replied Sam, wide-eyed. Shelly shook her head.

“I doubt it. I heard somewhere that Blossom actually agreed to live with him.”

“Are you going to say anything?”

“Of course not. The only thing I can do is just do my job.” Shelly grabbed a large plate with a T-bone steak and a baked potato and carried it out to one of her other customers, while Sam carried on with her work.

Mojo and Blossom continued eating in silence. Blossom only ate about half of her salad, wanting to save room for her steak, but Mojo put his away with no trouble and still had plenty of room for more. As he pushed his bowl aside, he looked on past Blossom, noticing a man sitting on the opposite end of the room, glancing at them every few seconds. Blossom noticed his suspicious stare and followed his gaze, craning her neck around to see who he was looking at. “What is it?” she asked, turning back to him.

“That man keeps looking over here and it is bothering me.”

“Mojo, he’s just like everyone else. Everyone’s been looking at us. What makes this guy any different?”

Mojo shrugged. “Not sure…I just have a strange feeling about him.”

“Just don’t pay any attention to him.”

When their steaks finally arrived some ten minutes later, Mojo couldn’t have been happier. Blossom, on the other hand, could only frown, knowing she probably wouldn’t be able to finish. Mojo tucked his napkin into his shirt and quickly picked up the fork and steak. He cut into the steak to make sure his was the right one, and then wasted no time in putting it away.

“This certainly beats TV dinners any day,” he said before taking his first bite.

“Don’t you usually bring food home from work?”

Mojo shrugged as he eagerly cut himself off another piece. “Sometimes, but it doesn’t take long for me to get sick of the same food day after day. Even if said food is prepared by a professional chef such as myself.”

Blossom shook her head at the chimp’s momentary ego trip. She started to cut into her own steak when she noticed Mojo look on past her again. “What now?” she asked.

“He’s getting up.”

“So? He’s probably leaving.”

“Maybe…” Mojo tried to return to his meal but he continued to glance at the man again and again, noticing that he appeared to be fumbling around with something. Finally, Mojo turned his attention back to his meal and didn’t spare the man another glance, though his suspicion still lingered. The man approached their table, an object secured in both hands. Before either Mojo or Blossom could shift their gaze in his direction, there was a bright flash and the man quickly took off.

“What just happened?!” asked Blossom as she blinked repeatedly, spots obstructing her vision.

“That fool had a camera!” Mojo yelled as he rubbed his eyes. “I’d go after that imbecile if I could actually see! He probably works for one of those magazines!”

“Did he follow us here?”

“I do not know. They probably have their cameras with them no matter where they go so they don’t pass up an opportunity, if one should come along. Curse them,” Mojo mumbled with disdain. His vision slowly returned to normal and he resumed eating his steak, devouring the meat rather aggressively.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Blossom, noticing Mojo’s clear aggravation. The chimp only shook his head. Both of them knew that picture would come back and slap them in the face. They could only imagine the kind of hogwash that would come out of it, knowing the town’s need for drama.

When the waitress returned sometime later, Mojo asked for the check. He pulled out his wallet and got the proper amount for the bill, placing it inside the checkbook. He noticed Blossom giving him a rather nasty look and sighed. “What?”

“Aren’t you going to leave a tip?” the teen asked. Mojo snorted.

“Tip? They’re lucky I’m even paying the bill.” He chuckled again. “Tip…that’s a good one.”

“Mojo, leave a tip,” Blossom ordered, crossing her arms. “It’s always nice to leave a tip. How would you like it if you worked all day, cooking for people, and they didn‘t leave you a tip?”

Mojo gritted his teeth and opened his wallet, muttering random curses under his breath. “There!” he said, slapping a one dollar bill onto the table.

“Just one buck?”

“Hey, that’s one dollar more than I usually leave!”

Blossom sighed, but left it alone. Once the waitress retrieved the payment, they got up and quickly made their way out of the restaurant. Once they were both outside, Mojo patted his pockets and groaned. “I left my wallet on the table.” He turned and pointed a finger at Blossom. “Don’t. Move.” As he turned to go back inside, Blossom had a seat on the bench by the entrance to wait, vaguely wondering how late it was.

“Help me! Someone help me!” she heard a male voice yell from around the corner. Unable to ignore her instinct to help those in need, she jumped to her feet and ran around the corner of the restaurant, completely forgetting for just that short moment that she was without her powers. The moment she rounded the corner, she was roughly forced against the wall, her forehead banging against the bricks. “Thought you’d never come out of there,” the man said into her ear. “I’m glad that monkey went back inside, otherwise I might not have gotten my chance.”

“Wha…?” Blossom tried to turn her head around to get a look at the man’s face. “Who are you?” she asked, trying to keep her voice serious and threatening.

“Don’t recognize me?” the man asked. Blossom craned her neck, trying to get a better look at him. Within seconds, her eyes widened. She instantly remembered her and her sisters busting him for armed robbery six years ago, and upon realizing this, her heart dropped into her stomach. Of all the days to be at the mercy of a convicted criminal, now was certainly not a good time.

“Get your hands off of me!” she yelled as she tried to wrench herself out of the man’s grasp. He grinned when he noticed the girl’s lack of super strength.

“So you have lost your powers. The word spread in prison. I was determined to get my hands on you once I was out. You‘re gonna regret sending me to that hellhole.”

Biting her lip in fury, Blossom managed to wrench one arm free and rammed her elbow into the man’s nose. She smirked when she thought she heard a crack, an indication of bones breaking. He pulled back with a loud yelp, but still held onto the teen’s other arm. He wiped the blood from his nose and his scowl deepened. “Still the fighter, though, aren’t ya? Damn, I think you broke it!”

“Good,” Blossom responded venomously. Growling, the man roughly threw her to the ground. Before she could get up, the man gave a swift kick to her stomach, which easily knocked the wind out of her. He kicked her again before she could recover from the first blow and she cried out loudly. She curled up into a ball to protect herself, not knowing what else she could possibly do, but the man wasn’t about to let up. He knelt down and forced her out of her fetal position before striking her across the face. She held her hands up in front of her face, but he still managed to find some other place to hit.

“You know, I think humiliating you would be even better,” he said before tearing her blouse open.

“GET OFF!” she screamed as she swung her fist at the man’s face with as much strength as she could muster. She managed to get a hit, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough. The man grinned as he rubbed his chin.

“Not so tough now, are you, bitch?”

The man pulled a knife from his pocket, preparing to cut the teen’s exposed bra loose, but before he could even flip it open, he felt something jump onto his back and yank painfully at his hair.

“What the fuck?!” he yelled as his head was yanked back farther and farther.

She felt ironic relief upon seeing the villain lunge onto the man’s back, but it was quickly masked with concern for his own safety. “Mojo, be careful!” she yelled. “He’s armed!”

“Oh, please,” Mojo replied, rolling his eyes as he leapt off the man’s back, still keeping a firm hold of his hair. The man fell backwards and Mojo seized the opportunity to give a karate chop to the man’s stomach. Face twisted with pain, the man stumbled to his feet, still wielding the knife.

“You…bastard,” he said through his pain as he flipped the knife open, revealing a six inch blade. Blossom’s eyes widened at seeing this, but Mojo remained at ease. As the assailant came at him, Mojo side stepped him, grabbing his wrist and giving a karate chop to the bend of his arm, causing him to drop the knife. He then gave a swift kick to the man’s stomach while he had the opportunity. He twisted the man's arm until he heard the successful snap of the bone, and then hurled him against the brick wall of the building. The man came to rest on the concrete below, groaning painfully.

Blossom knew Mojo had studied Martial Arts for years, as he had demonstrated much of what he knew to her and her sisters plenty of times in battle, but his efforts had been futile against them. But seeing him use his advanced fighting skills against another individual of normal strength and abilities, she could see that he truly kicked ass.

“I’ll keep this as a souvenir,” said Mojo smugly as he picked up the knife and pocketed it. He looked towards Blossom and frowned. “I leave for fifteen seconds and you let this pathetic excuse for a thug get a hold of you?”

Blossom narrowed her eyes, pulling her blouse closed. “He was calling for help! I thought it was a legitimate victim who needed my help! I was just answering the call of duty! I‘m a superhero, remember?!”

Mojo snorted. “And I thought Bubbles was supposed to be the naïve one.”

Blossom gritted her teeth but didn’t speak another word. Tears of anger and humiliation filled her eyes and she quickly looked away, letting her hair fall around her face. Seeing this, Mojo’s face softened a little. He sighed when he heard the teen begin to weep softly.

“Oh, cease your blubbering.” He walked over and forced Blossom to look his way. Examining her face, he saw a gash on her forehead; blood was slowly tricking down her temple. “You aren’t that hurt. Stand up.” Mojo took Blossom’s arm and helped her stand. The teen placed her hand over her wound.

“It hurts,” she said.

“It is not that bad. That is to say the wound upon your head is hardly a cause of concern and should not warrant any complaints. A simple band-aid will fix it up. Now, let us hurry and depart before anything else happens.”

Blossom turned and glared at the still unconscious man on the ground. “What about him? We can’t let him run loose on the streets.”

“I saw a police car parked down the street. We’ll inform him of the incident…as much as I hate to be within ten feet of a cop.”

Blossom only nodded.

0ooooooo0

It was almost nine o’ clock by the time Mojo and Blossom walked through the front door of the observatory. Oddly, the teen found relief in the place she normally associated with turmoil and evil. She was just glad to be away from the public eye and out of danger.

“Go to your room. I’ll be in there in a moment,” said Mojo before disappearing to find a first-aid kit. Blossom slowly made her way to her room, her mental stress making her exhausted and eager for sleep. She first went to the dresser to get a new shirt out of the drawer to change into. Mojo entered her room moments later, lugging with him a very large first-aid kit. After opening it up, he fished out a cotton ball and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. “Hold still,” he mumbled as he poured a bit of the liquid onto the cotton ball. Blossom winced as he dabbed the moist cotton ball over the cut on her forehead.

“It hurts,” she repeated, biting her lip in pain.

“Quit being a baby.”

“It hurts!” she said again anger in her tone.

“It is just a little scrape.” Mojo shook his head as he continued to clean the wound. “I just should have left you here. I should not have even gone out myself. It was a foolish decision.”

Blossom continued to wince as he dabbed the scrape with the cotton ball. She never knew how much being a normal girl sucked. Even the tiniest little scrape was excruciating. She suddenly thought back to all the times she and her sisters pummeled Mojo mercilessly and winced inwardly with guilt. If a tiny cut hurt as much as it did, she could only imagine the pain Mojo had been in, and every other villain they had faced. Sure, she knew it had to hurt, but now she realized just how easily people without her special abilities were susceptible to pain.

“Imagine the kind of agony I’ve had to put up with at the hands of you,” said Mojo, as though he had been reading Blossom’s thoughts.

“Well…it’s not like you didn’t ask for it,” the teen replied, still feeling the need to defend herself, although she felt guilty.

“Regardless, you tend to take your beatings a little too far.”

Mojo grabbed the box of band-aids out of the first-aid kit. He found one of appropriate size and placed it over the scrape.

“I think there’s another one on my arm. It hurts there, too.” Blossom turned her arm slightly, exposing a much larger scrape just below her elbow. Even though it was larger, it wasn’t quite as deep and so blood wasn‘t a real issue. Mojo didn’t say a word as he got a clean cotton ball and repeated the process.

“I guess I should thank you again.”

“Whatever.”

“Seriously. He could have killed me if he had a mind to…and I think he did, honestly. That’s twice now that you’ve saved me.”

“Do not remind me. This should be a lesson to you. You take your powers for granted, but there is no guarantee they will always be there, which is why it wouldn‘t hurt for you to study Martial Arts, just as I have.”

“You mean you want me to be able to defend myself without my powers? Even if you were my opponent?”

“No! I just…never mind.”

Blossom stifled a laugh. It was just too easy to use his logic against him.

More and more cuts kept popping up, much to Mojo’s annoyance. Blossom almost offered to take care of the remaining cuts herself, but she didn’t want to lose Mojo’s company. She was still a bit shaken up from the ordeal. But eventually he was going to run out of cuts. She had to think of something to keep him around. Anything.

“I know this may seem like a random question, but…about a year ago you mentioned to me about having lost someone close to you. You never told me who that was.”

Mojo was in the process of closing up the first-aid kit, but as soon as the words left Blossom’s lips, he froze. He slowly looked at her, clearly not amused by the topic choice. Now Blossom wished she had just kept her mouth shut, but it was the first thing that popped into her head. It was something she had always wondered about on occasion, and now she just wanted to know the truth.

“I should have known you’d bring it up again at some point,” Mojo said coldly.

“Knowing something is my nature. I crave knowledge, whether it’ll benefit me or not. And when there’s something there that I can’t figure out, it drives me crazy.”

“It is none of your damn business!”

“It might be better if you told someone,” Blossom pressed, but with compassion in her voice.

“And why you of all people?”

“Because I’m listening.”

Mojo finally crumbled. “Fine! You want to know? My mother! There! Now you can celebrate! I’m certain now you will be able to sleep tonight knowing you managed to get me to relive the worst memory of my life! Shall I get you a cake to celebrate?!”

“How?” Blossom asked quietly after taking a moment to digest Mojo’s words. She desperately hoped to hear him say, “Leopard” or that she died of an illness, or any kind of natural cause of death, but his answer was what she expected and feared:

“Poachers.”

And then everything made sense.

She didn’t know what to say. How was she supposed to respond? Even something as simple as “I’m sorry” just didn’t sound right to her. She had just discovered something new about her worst enemy beyond anything she had ever known before. It wasn’t as though she had just discovered what his favorite book was. It was an important part of his history and the most likely root to his villainy. But now she was just as desperate to forget that knowledge as she was to gain it.

“Why didn’t you ever tell anyone?” she asked gently. She knew she was walking on egg shells now. If she said the wrong thing, she didn’t know what Mojo might do.

“Because it is a part of my life I do not wish emphasized. It is a personal matter, which is clearly too hard for you to grasp.”

“But it’s why you hate mankind so much, isn’t it?”

Mojo didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. His silence was more of an answer than she could ask for.

“Mojo…I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I can’t even imagine what you’ve suffered. But what you do is no better than what they did. All you’ve done is become what you hate.”

Mojo chuckled at hearing this response. “Yeah…I saw that one coming from a mile away.”

“So you’re okay with that, then? You’re okay with being no better than the people who killed-”

“SHUT UP!”

Blossom quickly shut her trap and lowered her gaze, afraid to make eye contact with the villain now. Careful she told herself. Watch what you say. Don’t get him upset.

“I…you…you just don’t-”

“Understand?” Blossom finished for him. “No, I guess I really don’t understand fully. Your villainy is certainly more clear now than it has ever been, but that still doesn’t make it right.”

“Easy for you to say. I’m certain you wouldn’t be preaching justice if someone murdered the Professor.”

“No, I can’t say for certain that I would. But that’s just it. You’re not taking your anger out on those who wronged you. And that’s not to say that getting revenge on those who are guilty is justifiable, but I can sympathize with those who seek revenge against those who have wronged them. I mean…take me for example. I’ve felt nothing but hate for the man that killed that family, even though it wasn’t even my family. I understand wanting vengeance. But the whole world hasn‘t wronged you, Mojo.”

“It is not like the people in this city are one hundred percent innocent. They all treated me like garbage long before I ever did wrong by them. As far as I‘m concerned, mankind is cruel, one way or another.”

“So show them you’re better than they are by not stooping to their level.”

As much as he wanted to protest her words, his argument had hit a dead end. He couldn’t back up his reasons any further, but he certainly wasn’t about to give in and say, “Okay, I’ll be good now.” He still felt his actions were just.

Mojo stiffened when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. “W-What are you doing?”

“Hugging you, of course. What does it look like?” Blossom replied as she pulled Mojo closer. “You’ve needed one for a long time.”

It took a few moments, but eventually Mojo sighed and relaxed a little. He didn’t return the hug, but Blossom didn’t expect him to. The fact that he didn’t push her away was just as astonishing. “You and I aren’t that different, you know,” the redhead said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“We couldn’t be more different,” Mojo mumbled. Blossom finally pulled back, keeping her hands on his shoulders.

“No, we really aren’t. We have one major difference, but there’s so much more that we have in common. You and I…well…we’re like two sides of the same coin.”

Mojo rolled his eyes.

“No, really. We have our intellect, we strive for perfection, we try to be the best at everything we do…and we’re both strong-willed.”

“And it’s those very similarities that make you and I a dangerous combination.”

Blossom smiled. “Maybe, but at least we can relate to each other, right?”

Mojo said nothing.

TBC…

Author’s Note: Yeah, I kind of threw in some of TtEoaO. Mainly because I thought it would be a good setup for some Mojo/Blossom bonding! 3

I sort of feel like a hypocrite now XD In my last parody fic, I kind of bash the ‘damsel in distress’ stories and in this chapter I do the exact same thing lol. Oh well, at least Blossom didn’t have her powers, which is really my only beef with stories like that. I just don’t like it when the Girls have their powers and yet some random guy still gets the uppers hand on them.

Wow, this was the longest chapter yet! I apologize for taking a while to get this chapter out. I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since I first started this story. It has certainly come a long way. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to reach past 100 reviews but it did! I’m amazed. I’ll probably faint if it gets 200 reviews. That certainly won’t be an easy accomplishment for a story that isn’t RRB/PPG.