Forgotten

Part 1

Freed

(Authors note: I do not own or have created any characters in this story APART from William Angelo and Stephen De-joule. This is a sequel to my story 'in these silences, something may rise.' And while not essential I highly recommend you read that story first before moving onto this one… and while your there why not review?)

It is strange how easily the past is forgotten, how soon pain is but a fading memory and events are nothing more then foot notes in the history books. It is the way of the world, in the end we are all lost to the passage of time, only our actions remain as proof we were there. But some things should never be forgotten, those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them, and a mistake has been repeated. I present to you a clipping from the Citiesville gazette, dated December 12th 2007 (two months after the deaths of the six rowdy ruff boys.)

p.g. 48

Mayor cuts sentences for long term offenders.

Today our esteemed mayor made yet another attempt to save out city its tax dollars by signing a new bill which goes into effect today. As we all know the city has suffered over recent years after losing the only bridge leading in and out of our city. Since then many business have closed and companies have been moving out of the city to seek better areas. The mayor has tried hundreds of schemes to try and stop this slow decay of Citiesville but so far his success rate has been exceedingly low. But today what has to be the best plan in the recent years was to relive the strain on our over loaded prison. The city has a higher crime rate then New York, Metropolis and Gothem combined and this has lead to the prison capacity been stretched way beyond its capabilities. The new bill will allow prisoners who have impeccable behaviour to automatically be released after serving more then fifteen years in jail. This will allow long term offenders who have 'gone strait.' To be allowed out of prison making room for the new offenders. Whether or not this plan will work is yet to be seen, but in this reporters opinion the mayor is onto a real winner this time.

Citiesville gazette, dated January 3rd 2008

Page 1

Massacre at Citiesville kindergarten!

The entire city is in mourning today after the tragedy at Citiesville kindergarten. The murder of thirty young children and their teacher has sent the city into shock, not only because of the age of the victims but the shear brutality in the crime. The children were found by their parents when they went to collect them, and our hearts go to them after what they must have seen. Reports state that the children had all been killed by having their necks broken; they were then tied to wooden posts around their playground to mimic a scene of play. Some sources even claim that they had their lips cut open to make it appear as if they were smiling.

When questioned Citiesville police refused to comment on the killings in any detail, only to say that they did have a suspect. When asked who this suspect was they once again refused to comment, fortunately an informant with in the police was willing to talk with us. He wishes to remain anonymous so will be only referred to as Mr X.

We first asked Mr X who they thought was responsible for this terrible crime.

Mr X 'We are nearly positive the man responsible is William Angelo, a former inmate of our prison system.' We at the gazette had never heard of William Angelo, even after extensive research we were unable to learn anything of this criminal. When we asked for more details Mr X had this to say.

'In the good old eighties there was only one man to fear, William Angelo the scourge of Townsville. You may have heard the Ministry of Pain was the most feared group in history, but they were nothing to William. I am surprised you don't remember him… (To be honest I had forgotten about him until I worked on this case.) William controlled all crime in the city of Townsville for over three years, he was suspected of crimes ranging from drug trafficking, slavery, murder and possessing deadly weapons. He always seemed to stay clean until 1983, he was arrested for attempted genocide of the human race… heck of a crime wouldn't you say? He has been an inmate of our prison for the past twenty-four years held in a single cell and always bound tightly. Because of these precautions the (expletive removed) was released on good behaviour, and less then a month later he has committed this horrific crime. Don't you just love bureaucracy?'

When we asked how Mr X was so sure that this crime had been committed by William Angelo Mr X told us.

'The teacher, poor man had his head torn clean of his neck, his hand was found clenching onto a rose. This rose has been dyed black and coated in more poisons then I care to think about, if you so much as pricked a finger on a thorn there would be no hope for you. This rose is a mark of William Angelo, it has been found at every crime scene ever thought to have him involved and it cant be copied… no one knows how he makes those things. I am just glad he won't be our problem any more.'

We asked Mr X what he meant by '…won't be our problem any more.'

'Because of what we found in the teachers other hand, a note written in black paint. It has a sort of poem written on it.

"Bye, bye Birdie.

No more Citiesville for me!

So I say you were nice to know,

But I just have got to go.

Look up, look down and I'll tell you something

Look out Townsville William is a coming!"

I would say William Angelo is about to become Townsville's problem once more, wouldn't you?'

More on this story on page 2.

'Michael Angelo?' Bubbles said. 'I though he was an artist.'

'No Bubbles he said William Angelo, not Michael Angelo!' Buttercup said. She was sitting on the couch flicking through TV stations at a rate so fast it was impossible to tell what was on, but her super eyes let her know. She was hardly interested in the conversation with the Professor, what did she care about what happened in Citiesville?

'Buttercup switch off the TV and pay attention to me, this is a very serious matter.' Professor Utonium said. He had been very patient with Buttercup but she was starting to become a real pain in the backside, he shuddered to think what she would be like as a teenager.

'Fine.' Buttercup said with little interest. She turned the television off and threw the remote to one side with little care for what happened to get in the way. 'Shoot daddy-o.'

'As I was saying, William Angelo may be returning to Townsville.' Professor Utonium said. 'Now if I remember correctly he used to be a very dangerous criminal back in the eighties and…'

'The eighties!' Buttercup shouted. 'You are making me miss perfectly good TV for some old fart from the eighties.'

'I'll remind you I was alive in the eighties Buttercup.' The professor glared at his daughter for a moment before returning his attention to the matter at hand. 'I want you to be aware of every criminal you might face, and William is one of them.'

'Professor we already have to deal with super villain do we really need to worry about this guy?' Blossom asked. The Girls had been forced back to be heroines ever since the great prison fell and crime returned to the city. They had enjoyed a year of peace and quiet and now were beginning to miss that time.

'William Angelo used to be a very competent criminal, I can't remember much about him but I do remember he was very evil and very powerful.' The Professor scratched his chin as he tried to remember William Angelo; it was many years ago but still it seemed odd he could remember so little. Townsville had gone through a very dark period in the eighties and William Angelo had been at the front of it… but the rest was a bank.

'Professor the guy must be in his late fifties by now, I doubt he is much of a threat to us now.' Buttercup moaned. 'What's he going to do to us? Hit us with his walker?' Professor Utonium had held his tongue against Buttercup to long now; it was time to give her a wake up call.

'Young lady if you think William Angelo is not evil enough for you attention then please look at these.' Professor Utonium threw down a brown envelope which he instantly regretted doing. The pictures inside were of the crime scene at Citiesville kindergarten, the full gory scene William Angelo had left for the parents of those poor children.

'What's this then?' Buttercup opened the envelope up and started to pull the photos out.

'Wait Buttercup don't look at them.' But it was too late, and if anything saying that only made Buttercup want to look more. She was greeted by a black and white photograph of a play-yard which at first glance looked normal enough. The children were dotted around playing on the equipment while the teacher stood in the middle watching the whole class. But if you looked closer you could see a much grimmer scene, the children were all dead and tied to wooden posts. The next photo was a close up of one of the children, a young boy with his neck bent slightly too much in the middle and with a smile cut into his face. The cut went from one ear to the other, making the false smile also look like a never ending scream.

'God…' Buttercup managed to say as professor Utonium took the pictures away from her and put them back in the envelope before Blossom or Bubbles could see them.

'Buttercup honey are you all right?' Professor Utonium asked as he noticed Buttercup was going pale, a moment later she flew off the couch and into the bathroom where seconds later you could hear Buttercup retching.

Him sat in his lair watching the world of crime, tapping his claw on the arm of his chair as he did. The room span with a thousand different images, all of them showing the crime's the Power Puff Girls had stopped since he had escaped from the great prison. He had hoped that they may have been weakened over the years or maybe to heart broken after the boys' death but that was not the case. Blossom had put her sisters into very intense training, both to get their strength up and to take their minds off the fact they had lost three friends.

'Failures, they are all a bunch of worthless…' Him said but was cut off when a phone began to ring beside him. 'Strange I don't own a phone like that one.' Him said as he saw a black phone had appeared on the table next to his chair. It was an old fashioned turn dial phone which Brimstone would have recognised if he was alive. Him however could not have known about this phone, not until he saw it was unplugged. There was only one person he knew of that could use such magic in Him's lair.

'Please don't be him…' Him said in a shaking voice as he slowly put his pincer out to pick up the phone. He thought about ignoring it but there was no point, if it was who Him thought it was then there would be no way to escape for long.

'Hello?' Him asked in a quiet voice, steeling himself as best he could for the voice that he had so hated all those years ago.

'My name is Blaine Allgood.' The voice was not the one Him dreaded but that of a normal person, Him felt relief wash through his body.

'Well hello Blaine, and what do I owe for this honour?' Him asked feeling more like his usual demonic self again.

'Shut up, you will talk only when I tell you to do so.' Blaine said in a cool voice, yet there was steel there all right.

'Listen here Mr Allgood I am the king of evil and I demand respect!' Him shouted down into the receiver nearly hanging the phone up.

'Speak to me like that again and it will be William you answer to.' The very name was enough to shake Him completely. 'You will address me as Blaine, you do as I say and you will keep quiet unless you wish to talk to Mr Angelo in person.' Blaine never changed his tone of voice; it was like he was a machine and not a man at all.

'I understand Blaine.' Him slumped back into his chair feeling the old fear just waiting to take him once more.

'Very good.' Blaine said as if expected to hear nothing else. 'Mr Angelo is very disappointed in you; he does not like it when friends turn on him like you did. He was very hurt that you played him so cheaply; after all he did for you. But Mr Angelo is a forgiving man, and is willing to give you another chance. His command is for you to go to Cyberdine systems head quarters in Townsville, you are to guard this location with your very life if necessary. You only need to keep it protected for the next four hours, that's all Mr Angelo needs. If in that time anyone not loyal to Mr Angelo so much as gets with in a half a mile of the research lab you are to kill them. Is this understood?'

'Yes I understand… I am to guard Cyberdine systems research labs from everyone for the next four hours.' Him said, his voice sounding weak even to his own ears. 'If anyone gets close I am to kill them.'

'Very good.'

'Is there anything else Blaine?'

'Just remember that if you betray Mr Angelo or fail in this task it his to him you will answer.' Just before the line went dead Blaine said. 'Remember what happened to Tommy Mac'.' Then the phone went dead in more ways then one, it seemed to lose all of his colour and reality. It looked more like a prop in a school play now then an actual phone, a child's play thing and nothing more.

'I remember what happened to him all right.' Him said.

He could see it all again, the office where he had been sitting had long been torn down but he could remember it all right. He had been sitting not far from Tommy Mac', a dead beat who thought himself the worlds best assassin. Tommy had just failed on his latest job for William Angelo and…

...everyone in the room knew that there was a dead man sitting with them, a breathing dead man.

Tommy had failed three times in a row now, he had been caught on two of the attempts, and this time not only had he failed but had almost slipped up and given evidence against William himself.

'I 'aint worried 'tall guys, the big man he likes me too much.' Tommy said, foolishly believing what he was saying. 'The big man thinks I am the best, told me so himself, laughs at every damn joke I tell!'

'That's nice to know Tommy.' One of the suited men said, Him never bothered to learn their names so thought of this one as "Slick" because of the amount of hair gel he had on.

'Damn strait, the big man said he liked me.' Tommy was still sure he would be fine even after messing up on a monumental scale. 'Loves me like a son he does.'

'That's nice to know Tommy.' This was from one Him thought of as "scar-face." For obvious reasons, it seemed like they were flattering him. Might as well let him enjoy the time before the learning curve hit him at a hundred miles an hour.

'You see that's the difference between you and me.' Tommy now turned his attention to Him, putting his arm around his shoulder like he was a good friend. Anyone else would have lost their arm for this, but William would want this one in mint condition to deal with himself.

'Oh and what difference is that?' Him asked in indulgent tone of voice.

'You he hates my friend.' Him flinched a little at this, just a little mind you. 'He sees you as a pretender, second rate knock off my friend. In me, he sees the genuine article.'

'Oh really?' Him asked and got a series of emphatic nods from Tommy who slapped him on the back.

'Tommy Mac' its time, William will see you now.' The blind secretary said, her blind eyes just staring off into the horizon. She was always enough to truly creep Him out, she never seemed to be given any information or do anything… but she knew everything.

'Well boys time for me to go say my "beg your pardons" to the big man.' Tommy gave the group the double finger click which Him hated so much. 'Be back in a New York second.' Tommy then went to the large doors and started to open them; if the fool had any sense at all he would have never come here in the first place. If Him had been in Tommy's shoes he would have fled to the deepest, darkest hole in the universe and stayed there until doomsday. But even then William would have found him in a few minutes, and he would just be angrier then before.

'There goes one stupid man.' Scar-face said as the big doors closed with Tommy on the other side. He was now alone with William Angelo, and no one in the room could imagine a worse fate.

'I say he calls us in there in three hours to clean up the mess.' Slick said to Scar-face.

'I don't know, guy messed up pretty bad I think he will twist in the wind for at least five hours.' Scar-face said. 'What do you think?' He asked Him who had said nothing since Tommy had departed them.

'I think you two will be cleaning Tommy off the walls sometime tomorrow morning.' Him knew William was far more evil then he was, and had been known to torture people for hours for even the smallest thing. He had even killed people for no reason other then the fact he felt like doing it.

'That's bad.' Slick said after giving an impressed little whistle.

'Mr Bijou, Mr Armstrong.' The blind woman spoke up, once again she seemed to be given no signal Him could see. 'Mr Angelo wishes you to arrange transport for big Tommy Mac' please. He will need to be taken to a suitable location.'

'He's done with him all ready?' This was from someone who Him just called "the pallid little thing." Who only talked in the rarest of occasions, in some vain attempt to seem mysterious.

'He is very nearly done Mr Phillips.' As soon as the blind woman had said this there was a terrible scream from inside the office. Him jumped from his seat along with the rest of the men and women in the office, all but the blind one. The scream was filled with pain and fear, something so primal it touched every one of them. Then overlapping with the scream was a sound they all knew. The laughter of William Angelo, laughter that sounded like it came from a rotting corpse that tried to laugh in its grave.

'Good God.' Him was not sure who said that, but it was a pointless phrase, there was no God in this building unless you counted the laughing one.

'Come on we better hurry.' Slick said as he grabbed the arm of Scar-face and ran for the door to William's office. They had been asked to do something, it was a good idea to get it done right away.

'Why hasn't he stopped?' "The pallid little thing" said under his breath. Him was also curious as to why Tommy had not stopped screaming, if William was done with him then surly he should be dead. Him got his answer when Slick and Scar-face came out dragging the still living and still screaming Tommy Mac'. The man was just screeching like he was on fire, but there seemed to be nothing wrong with him at all.

'He is alive?' Him thought out loud and then saw the truly horrific nature of Tommy's punishment. William had not killed him, he was going to let him live a long life no doubt… a long life in which to scream.

'Mr Angelo will see you now Him.' The blind woman behind the desk said, and it was the one thing Him did not want to hear. William was still laughing and, even though he was been dragged down the corridors, Tommy was still screaming.

Tommy kept screaming for a very long time, he was still screaming ten years later without ever stopping. The two boys, Slick and Scar-face, had put him in a mental hospital and as far as Him knew he was still there screaming just as loudly as when he left that office.

'William Angelo.' Him said in his demonic voice as he stood up ready to teleport himself to Cyberdine systems HQ. There was no way he was going to end up like Tommy Mac', not if he could help it.

'I am not too young.' Bubbles muttered as she flew over the city looking for any signs of crime. She was still bitter about the fact the Professor refused to show her the photographs and Buttercup would not say anything about them. She might be the cutest of the group, but that did not mean she was not just as tough as them. What could possibly be so bad in a photo that she could not see it?

'I'm just as old as Buttercup so I should get to do the same things as she does.' She had kept her mouth shut when she was at home, apart from a few whines (which did her maturity case no good at all.) but now she was alone she could complain all she wanted.

The patrol was almost over now, soon she would regroup with her sisters and they could go home and have dinner. All she had left was to make a fly over the industrial district and then her job would be done. Bubbles was still thinking about the mysterious photographs when she noticed it had suddenly become very dark.

'What's going on?' Bubbles said as she looked at her watch which said it was only three in the afternoon. 'This is weird, I better call Blossom.' Bubbles pushed a button on the side of her watch and started to speak into it. These watches were made by the Professor so that they could always keep in contact, and also to be used as tracers if ever the need should arise.

'Blossom its Bubbles I was flying around and I think I might have found something a little bit suspicious.' Bubbles gave a suitably long pause for Blossom to respond in and got nothing but static back. 'Blossom?' There was still nothing coming from the watch but the constant hiss of static.

'It's no good little Bubbles, she can't hear you. Nobody can.' Him said.

'It's been over ten minutes now.' Blossom said tapping her watch. 'Bubbles should be here by now.'

'Relax leader girl, she probably just got distracted by a bunny rabbit again.' Buttercup said. 'Besides, if you're so worried just call her on the watch.'

'I all ready tried that.'

'Then use the locator, duh.'

'Fine I will.' Blossom touched some of the buttons on the watch and eventually the display showed a grid with two beeping dots. One was dead centre and the other was right next to it, this represented Blossom and Buttercup's locations.

'Well where is she then?'

'This is weird; the locator only has two dots on it.' Blossom said as she tried over and over again to make Bubbles location show. 'Even if her watch is damaged the display should show the last location Bubbles was before the watch lost contact.'

'I am starting to get a bad feeling about this.'

'Same here, we better start a search for her.' Blossom said as she stopped trying to make the watch work.

Bellow was a demon, above was a hero and between them there was only darkness.

'Him.' Bubbles said. 'What are you doing here?'

'That is not your concern little Bubbles.' Him said. 'All you need know is that you shall not be going very far without going through me first.'

'I don't have to fight with you.' Bubbles said. 'If you stop whatever you're doing, and let me talk with my sisters again you can go.'

'Not a chance!' Him shouted at Bubbles. 'I will not end up like Tommy, not for a Power Puff Girl.'

Bubbles had no idea what Him was talking about, she did not know anyone called Tommy or why Him did not want to become like him. What Bubbles did know was she was alone and Him was not letting her go, she had tried to reason with him and now only one course of action remained. Bubbles charged down at Him planning to hit him with a punch to the head. Him stood his ground while Bubbles speeded towards him; he needed her to be very close for his plan to work. It was in fact at the very last second, just before Bubbles could make the hit, that Him put his claw in front of his mouth and blew out. On top of the black pincer there was a blue powder which covered Bubbles when Him blew it in her face.

'What on earth?' Bubbles said as she started to cough on the blue powder that floated around her. It was as she breathed in this strange powder that her head started to feel heavy, her arms and legs seemed to become stiff and her vision started to double.

'Knock out powder, crude but effective even on someone as strong as you Bubbles.' Him said as Bubbles fell to the ground, unable to find the energy to float anymore. Bubbles went to her hands and knees as her consciousness started to lose the battle with the chemical in her blood, her vision now a simple blur that was beginning to darken.

'You… cheated.' Bubbles managed to say before she collapsed into a heap at Him's feet, sleeping soundly.

'Yes I did cheat, and because of that I win.' Him said as he waited to be absolutely sure the drug had done its work, he was taking no risks when the punishments were so high. When there was no doubt in his mind that Bubbles was sleeping, Him picked her up by the neck. Bubbles could not wake even though her throat was held tightly by Him's pincer, her feet dangling off the ground as Him held her up to his face.

'Die Power Puff.' Him pulled up his other claw and was about to force it through Bubbles gut when he was stopped. A memory flashed through his mind that was vivid it seemed real to him. It was no longer a black claw in front of his eyes, but a human hand. Bubbles was no longer then one held at the mercy of another, it was a badly beaten demon who could only watch as his own death seemed inevitable. The memory only flashed by for a second but that was all it took.

'All debts are paid.' Him said as he put his claw down and relaxed his grip on Bubbles neck. 'You can thank Boomer for your life.' Him said as he tossed Bubbles out of his grip and to the side like used garbage.

'Bubbles?' She could hear her name been spoken over and over again, yet it seemed like whoever was saying it was a mile away. Her limbs still felt heavy, her eye lids paralysed and her mind fogged over. But with each repeat of her name Bubbles started to regain consciousness, pulling away from the comfort of sleep and back to the real world.

'I think she is coming round leader girl.' That sounded like Buttercup but it was quiet, so distant it was hard to tell for sure.

'I think you're right.' Now that was definitely Blossom's voice. Bubbles was rising to the surface of consciousness like a balloon, getting faster and faster the higher it went. She now found the strength to open her eyes, and for a moment the light stung her eyes but then the world came into focus. She could see both Blossom and Buttercup standing over her, the darkness had gone and now the world looked normal.

'What happened?' Bubbles asked as she found her voice once more.

'We were hoping you could tell us what happened.' Blossom said. 'We found you here sleeping like Rip-van-winkle; we tried everything to wake you up.'

'Him, what happened to Him?' Bubbles said as she slowly sat up, her body still feeling stiff and sore.

'Him?' Buttercup said as she looked around for any trace of the dangerous criminal.

'Him knocked me out with some kind of drug.' Bubbles explained. 'I was sure he was going to kill me.'

'That is odd, if he had you at his mercy why did he just leave you here?' Blossom said. 'It makes no sense; he could have used you to lure us into a trap… or at least eliminated an enemy. This does not seem like Him at all.'

'He sounded like he was protecting something, that he did not want me to go any further.' Bubbles offered up. 'Maybe that's why he let me go.'

'It's possible I suppose…' Blossom said.

'Hey Blossom.' Buttercup said as Blossom started to go off on a track of thought. 'Why not call the Professor, maybe he has heard something… some big crime or something. Him might have been making a distraction or something.'

'Good idea Buttercup.' Blossom said as she started to push the buttons that called the Professor.

'That's me, brawns and brains… and the best looking of the lot.' Buttercup said as she struck some dramatic poses.

'Oh shut up Buttercup.' Blossom said offhandedly before she made contact with Professor Utonium.

'Girls I'm glad you called.' Professor Utonium's voice came out of al the watches at once. 'I just received word that there was major robbery in the industrial district.'

'What happened?' Blossom said into the watch.

'Someone broke into Cyberdine research and development headquarters.' Professor Utonium continued. 'This was one amazing job; they set off no alarms and got out completely undetected all with in ten minutes.'

'What was stolen Professor?' Bubbles asked.

'Not much really, and that's the strange part.' The Professor said. 'Cyberdine has some very valuable equipment and documents. The area that was broken into must have over a billion dollars worth of secrets, yet only one of these was taken. A prototype computer system with advanced AI and mathematical abilities. The system was a prototype made over twenty years ago and still is been studied, the technology inside of it is simply amazing.'

'Was it Him?' Bubbles asked suddenly.

'Him?' Professor Utonium said blankly. 'No it was not Him who raided Cyberdine, I am positive of that. Why do you ask… surly MoJo JoJo would be a better guess?'

'Bubbles had a run in with Him… in the industrial district.' Blossom said.

'I see… I wonder if Him works for… its possible I suppose.' Professor Utonium was obviously talking to himself but the girls listened in with great interest.

'How do you know it was not Him?' Buttercup said after the Professor had gone quiet.

'Because of the only evidence they have found so far.' Professor Utonium sounded shocked, he had started day dreaming as his thoughts went by and Buttercup had snapped him out of it. 'The only piece of evidence that was found was a single black rose left where the computer was. The rose is the calling card of William Angelo.'