SHAKE, BUBBLES AND ROLL
The city of Townsville… And it's the break of dawn on another, beautiful-Whoahhh! What's that?!
Suddenly there was a rumble, and the ground shook, but just for a few seconds.
Oh excuse me, I skipped breakfast this morning. As I was saying, it's the dawn on another, beautiful day in-Yikes! There it is again!
Once again, there was an earth-shaking rumble.
Whatever it is, it's certainly going to cause early rising at the home of the Powerpuff Girls!
"EVERYONE HIT THE DECK!" Professor Utonium shouted at the top of his voice, diving from his bedroom and under a table in the living room.
Three streaks of pink, blue and green came zipping out of another nearby bedroom, these respectively belonging to our heroes Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, who, since they had just been rudely awakened, were still dressed in their nightgowns.
Blossom spoke up first, "What's happening?"
Bubbles, who was holding onto her stuffed octopus, Octi, squealed in terror, "I don't know!"
Buttercup, on the other hand, seemed to be revelling in the thrill, standing on a chair that was bouncing its way across the floor, "This is awesome!"
"I don't like this!" Bubbles whined, and she flew down to the ground, curled herself up and clutched onto Octi as tightly as she could.
Several of the Professor's most precious trophies began to topple off a high shelf, "Heads up Buttercup!" Blossom shouted to get Buttercup's attention, and they both flew over and grabbed them before they smashed onto the ground. One of the heavier shelves in the room began to wobble, and started to fall, heading straight for where Bubbles was curled up.
"Bubbles, look out!" Blossom shouted a warning, but Bubbles was far to scared of the shaking to either look or listen. Blossom flung the trophies she was holding behind her, Buttercup having to quickly manoeuvre herself to grab them. Blossom flew quickly flew towards Bubbles, shoving her out of the way of the shelf just before it crashed to the floor.
Finally, the shaking began to subside, and the Professor crawled out from underneath the table. Once it stopped completely, Bubbles looked up from her knees. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. Blossom, who still had one hand wrapped around Bubbles' arm, asked, "Are you… okay Bubbles?"
Bubbles suddenly burst out crying, and flew straight into the arms of the Professor. In response, he pulled her tight to him, and said, "There, there Bubbles. It's ok now sweetheart."
Blossom flew over herself and perched herself on one of Professor's arms, next to Bubbles. Buttercup meanwhile dumped the trophies she was holding onto the floor and hovered just next to the Professor. Blossom looked up at him and asked, "Professor, what did just happen?"
Still comfortingly stroking Bubbles' hair, whose crying was already beginning to subside, Utonium answered, "I can't say for certain, but I think it must have been an earthquake."
"What's an earthquake?" Buttercup asked.
"It's where the stress between two of the earth's tectonic plates creates a shock-wave that causes the surrounding areas to shake. I must admit this is the first time there's been one in Townsville in my memory. At least it was only a minor one," he continued. By now, Bubbles had stopped crying and the Professor took it as a sign it was okay to put her down. Blossom hopped off the Professor's arm herself.
"There won't be another earthquake, will there Professor?" Bubbles said quietly as he set her down on the ground.
"To be honest girls, I can't say for certain there won't be. Even if there haven't been any before, it doesn't mean there won't be more now. And they're very difficult to predict," the Professor gave the most assured reply he could honestly give.
"O… ok," Bubbles tried to sound brave, but the shakiness in her voice belied her true fear.
"Come on Bubbles, no need to be such a baby about it! Just a load of harmless shaking!" Buttercup said, receiving a look of disapproval from both Blossom and the Professor.
Turning to look at the state the room was in, the Professor said "Anyway, we should clear up this mess before you three go off to school."
Some hours later, the girls were in class at Pokey Oaks kindergarten. As the lesson of the day was geography, Blossom took the opportunity to ask Ms. Keane for a map that showed the tectonic plates of the Earth. Meanwhile, Bubbles was taking her mind off the quake by doodling a very sweet drawing of the planet. Buttercup was still in a teasing mood, so she began to pick on Bubbles' drawing "We know what the earth looks like Bubbles," Buttercup sighed, "No need for a silly drawing to show the rest of us."
"Well I want to give my own vision of the planet Buttercup," Bubbles replied. Buttercup suddenly snatched the picture away "Hey!" squeaked Bubbles.
"You know you've coloured the land blue and the sea green?" Buttercup snickered, examining Bubbles' drawing closely.
"Give that back!" Bubbles snatched out at her drawing.
"Girls! Look at this!" Blossom, who had been intently studying her map, called her sisters over. Buttercup and Bubbles stopped battling and moved over to Blossom.
"What is it?" Buttercup asked.
"Well, after the Professor told us about earthquakes, I thought I'd have a look at those plates that he mentioned."
"And?"
"Townsville is here," Blossom pointed at where Townsville was located on the map, "And the nearest plate edge is here," she pointed at the plate edge, which was nowhere near Townsville.
"What difference does that make?" Buttercup shrugged, "Professor said they can travel long distances through the ground."
"That's the point Buttercup," Blossom continued "the news report said that the quake was only confined to Townsville and it's suburbs!"
"I suppose that is a bit strange…" Buttercup got no further, as, without warning, the rumbling accompanied by the shaking returned, taking the entire class by surprise.
Bubbles clutched her head in between her hands "Not again!" she wailed.
"Now class, don't panic!" Ms. Keane shouted over the noise, "Everyone, I want you to hide underneath your tables, and don't come out until I say so!" All the students, including the Powerpuffs, did as she said. But they had barely slid underneath when there was a loud 'CRACK' from the ceiling. Risking a peek, Blossom saw the roof was cracking under the shaking, which was increasing in intensity from the previous time.
"Quick girls, support the roof!" Blossom commanded, and she and Buttercup flew up to the ceiling. The two quickly noticed that Bubbles was still hiding under the table.
"BUBBLES! Quit being such a baby and help us!" Buttercup shouted angrily.
From under the table, Bubbles sobbed, "I can't!"
"Don't worry about it Bubbles!" Blossom tried to be reassuring. In any case, Bubbles stayed put.
After what felt like an eternity, but was actually only thirty seconds, the shaking subsided. Slowly, Ms. Keane and the other students came out from underneath the tables, apart from Bubbles, who still had her legs pulled up in her face.
"Do you think it's safe to let go of the roof now?" Buttercup asked.
"I'm not sure," Blossom replied, "I wouldn't want to risk it but-" Blossom was interrupted by the sound of the Powerpuff hotline ringing.
"I've got it!" Buttercup shouted.
"Wait!" Blossom shouted. Buttercup stopped before she let go of the roof, "Ms. Keane, could you pass the phone up here please?" Blossom asked. Ms. Keane removed the receiver and tossed it up towards Blossom, who reached out and grabbed it. Holding it up to her ear, she said "Yes mayor?"
Sitting in his office, the mayor was covered in fallen plaster, whilst books and an assortment of décor littered the floor "Powerpuff Girls, get downtown quick! That earthshake…"
"Earthquake, mayor," corrected Miss Bellum, who was attempting to gather up some of the mess on the floor.
"Whatever it is, it's caused untold chaos down here! And worst of all," the mayor span around in his chair, looking sadly at a small pile of broken glass "My pickle jar is smashed!"
On the other end of the phone, Blossom sighed, "We'll be right down mayor," She let go of the receiver, the taut phone cable pulling it back into position. Blossom turned to Buttercup "We're needed downtown!"
"What about Bubbles?" asked Buttercup.
Blossom gingerly let go of the roof, which groaned slightly but held. She flew down to where Bubbles was still hiding and said "You can come out now Bubbles. The earthquake is over."
"But there might be another one!" Bubbles whimpered from under the table.
"Stop whining over something so small and get out from there!" Buttercup said sharply.
"That's not gonna help Buttercup!" Blossom snapped back.
"Yeah, you'd know about being a baby," Buttercup retorted.
Blossom flew up in front of Buttercup, and squared herself up to her, saying, "Now is not the time Buttercup!"
"If you've got an amazing strategy to get her out from there, I'd like to see it!" Buttercup retorted.
Bubbles winced. As much as she wanted to hide from anymore earthquakes, she didn't want to incite a fight between her sisters, "Stop it!" She cried. Blossom and Buttercup stopped squaring up to each other and looked down, "I'm… I'm coming out," Bubbles continued.
"Are you alright Bubbles?" Blossom asked as Bubbles crawled out. She nodded shakily. Blossom could tell that her sister was far from alright.
Buttercup, oblivious, shouted "Alright then, let's go!"
"What about the roof?" Blossom pointed out.
"Let's just take it with us!" Buttercup launched herself upwards, ripping the damaged roof from the building. Blossom followed suit, and the two threw the remains into the playground, before streaking off towards town. Bubbles hesitated, before zooming off after them.
Ms. Keane sighed at the damage, although she had to admit for once the Powerpuff's preferred method of a vertical departure had been useful.
That evening, the girls returned home, tired after spending the day helping people who had been affected by the quake, as well as cleaning up the mess.
"I hope we don't have to deal with something like that again," Bubbles said quietly. Blossom gave a nod of agreement, but seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, continuing to stare straight ahead as they approached the door.
"I hope you're not as terrified as Bubbles over here," Buttercup remarked to Blossom. Blossom didn't respond, but Bubbles looked down sadly.
When they opened the door, Blossom called out, "Professor! I need to talk to you!"
"I'm down here girls!" The Professor's voice came from his lab. Blossom quickly flew down the stairs, Buttercup and Bubbles following a moment later. Professor Utonium was standing in the middle of the floor, next to a large and rather peculiar metal box, with wires leading into it, and instruments and displays adorning the front.
"Professor, I need to talk to you about the earthquake," Blossom said.
"As do I girls. I expect you're thinking the same thing I am," the Professor replied.
"That those earthquakes were man-made?" Blossom prompted.
"Exactly Blossom. After the last one, I put this together," the Professor indicated the metal box.
"What's that Professor?" Bubbles asked.
"If there's another earthquake, this should be able to pin-point the epicentre. If it is nowhere near a known fault, it'll lead us to whoever is responsible for it."
"So now we wait and see if there's another quake? I didn't think I'd go to wanting another that quickly," Said Buttercup.
"Oh not again, PLEASE!" Bubbles squeaked, which prompted a sigh of exasperation from Buttercup.
"Well, we still don't know for certain if they were man-made. There may not be another one," Blossom suggested in an attempt to provide relief to Bubbles.
"It's not like we can say 'can we have an earthquake please'" Buttercup said out-loud to no-one in particular. Bubbles winced expectantly and as if one cue, the rumbling began again, followed by the shaking.
"You and your big mouth," Blossom sighed. Although the shaking was no more violent than before, it still terrified Bubbles, who shut her eyes tight, and wrapped her arms around the Professor's neck. Blossom and Buttercup meanwhile, started to zoom around the lab, catching as much of the lab equipment falling from the shelves as they could. Professor Utonium's machine seemed to be working overtime, with sparks emanating from the wires, and the dials giving off readings wildly. Once again, just as soon as it started, the shaking began to subside.
"Quick girls! Check the readout!" the Professor shouted, too preoccupied with Bubbles to check it himself.
Blossom stopped and quickly flew over to the machine. "The centre of the quake is coming from there!" Blossom pointed to the map on the machine's read-out.
Buttercup looked over Blossom's shoulder at the map, and exclaimed, "That's Townsville park!"
"But that must mean…" Blossom began.
"Mojo Jojo!" Buttercup finished. She turned and punched her fists together, "Let's head over there and give his world a good shake!" Buttercup started out from the lab, followed by Blossom, but they both stopped when they noticed they were missing someone… Bubbles still had her head buried in the Professor's shoulder, sobbing in fear.
"Oh, COME ON BUBBLES!" Buttercup threw her arms up in frustration.
The Professor looked up at the two, "Now Buttercup…"
"Don't worry Professor," Blossom interrupted, "We can handle this ourselves. Come on Buttercup," Blossom grabbed Buttercup's arm and pulled her out of the lab.
Bubbles looked up at the Professor with teary eyes, and through her sobs, managed to say "They're not… They're not gonna need me, are they Pro… Professor?"
"Now don't you worry about that Bubbles. Your sisters will be fine," he assured Bubbles and took her upstairs.
Meanwhile, Blossom and Buttercup were fast approaching Mojo's observatory in Townsville Park.
"Standard Mojo attack alpha-one!" Blossom commanded. Buttercup nodded, and the two crashed through the roof of the observatory, "Not so fast…" Blossom began.
"Mojo…" Buttercup said her part. Then there was a pause, where Bubbles would normally speak. But of course, there was nothing. At least not from Bubbles.
"Curses! You annoying Powerpuff Girls have once again given Mojo a hefty bill, due to the hole that you have created by entering my residence through my roof, which will require me to have it repaired!" Mojo shook his fist angrily.
"Enough talk Mojo! We know what you're up to!" Buttercup folded her arms.
"You're making these earthquakes in Townsville!" Blossom added.
"Me? I don't know what you're talking about, because I am not 'up to' anything, due to my presently inactive state because I am currently lacking a plan to put into action, hence the reason why I am not up to anything!" Mojo leant against a very large machine, "Besides, where would I possibly put a machine of the size that an earthquake machine would need, in my cosy observatory?"
Blossom and Buttercup exchanged a quick glance, "That?" Buttercup pointed at the machine Mojo was leaning against, which not only took up the vast majority of the room, but was labelled 'Earthquake machine designed to destroy Townsville.'
"Alright fine," Mojo put his hands up defensively "You three have got me…" Mojo trailed off as he noticed the number of Powerpuffs in front of him, "Where is Powerpuff Girl Bubbles?" he asked, and then added in a mocking baby voice, "Is she scwared of the wittle earthquwakes?"
"That doesn't concern you!" Blossom said angrily.
"So, where do you want it Mojo?" Buttercup drew closer, punching her fist into her palm. Blossom followed closely.
Mojo suddenly put his hands up in the air, "No, please! For once, let me come quietly! Take me to prison without struggle! I do not like having my heiny whooped on a regular basis! It causes me great discomfort, due to the pain it inflicts upon me," Mojo then put his hands behind his back pensively.
"Well I suppose in that case…" Blossom said and stopped, as did Buttercup.
Suddenly, Mojo pulled a large, wide-barrelled rocket-launcher like device from behind his back, and fired. Before either of them could react, Blossom and Buttercup were ensnared by a net, which wrapped around their torsos, and began giving off a bright red glow. The two then fell back down to the ground, and ended up sitting up, back-to-back, unable to move. Mojo cackled loudly, "Ha! By allowing you to let your guard down, thanks to me faking surrender, I, Mojo Jojo, have been able to trap you in my second-latest creation, the Powerpuff net, therefore leaving you unable to further interfere with my scheme!"
"What is this thing?!" Buttercup cried, who, try as she might, was unable to break free, "A lousy net shouldn't be able to hold us!"
"That's because it gives off an aura that I developed with my immense genius, which can suppress your powers! Leaving as powerless as, well… normal little girls!" Mojo laughed again, as he turned to his earthquake machine.
"You won't get away with this Mojo!" Blossom shouted.
"But my dear Blossom. I already have!" Mojo pulled a lever on his machine, and just like before, the ground began to shake, starting off gently.
"You'll destroy your observatory as well monkey brain!" Buttercup pointed out.
"You underestimate me Buttercup! I designed the machine so my observatory remains undamaged by the earthquake!" Mojo said haughtily, then walked over to his window controls, "But I suppose I can allow you one privilege," Mojo pulled a lever, and a window rolled open next to Blossom and Buttercup, "Enjoy a front-row seat, take pleasure of the best place in the audience, delight in a perfect view, of the destruction of Townsville!" Mojo goaded evilly.
The earthquake began to increase in intensity, and Blossom and Buttercup could only watch in horror as some of the buildings near the park began to crack under the strain.
Back at the Powerpuff's home, Bubbles was curled on the sofa, and was wrapped in a blanket. She was watching at cartoon on TV, namely the girl's favourite Puppet Pals, to try and distract her from the previous quake, when the shaking from the park reached the house.
"EEP!" Bubbles whined and pulled the blanket around herself. The cartoon on the TV suddenly changed to an emergency news report.
"This is Stanley Whitfield, with an emergency broadcast! Another earthquake, the fourth in Townsville within the last 12 hours, has struck, and would appear to be the strongest yet!" to prove his point, one of the smaller buildings behind him, thankfully abandoned, collapsed under the stress. "Eyewitnesses report seeing the Powerpuff Girls enter the lair of Mojo Jojo about five minutes ago. This would suggest a link between the simian genius and the previous quakes, but no activity has been seen there since."
Bubbles looked out from the blanket "Oh no," she said quietly, "Blossom and Buttercup, they might be in trouble!" Suddenly a vase fell off a nearby shelf, smashing to the ground. Bubbles yelped in surprise and dove under the blanket again.
On the TV, Stanley continued, "According to our experts, if the earthquake continues or increases in intensity, there will be no chance of the majority of the buildings in Townsville surviving!"
On hearing this, Bubbles looked up. Her scared look began to fall slightly, being replaced by one of determination, "They… They need me… I've got to go and help!"
The Professor ran in, holding a pillow above his head, "Bubbles!" he shouted, "Are you ok?"
Bubbles looked at him, "I'm fine Professor," just then another vase fell from a shelf, and smashed loudly. This time, though she winced a bit, Bubbles didn't allow her composure to break, "But there's something I've got to do," and, after a smile of approval from the Professor, she launched herself out of the front door and towards the park.
Blossom and Buttercup were still desperately struggling against the net. Blossom was having no luck, but Buttercup had managed to half-free her arm. Mojo was watching the cracks in the surroundings grow bigger, and listened to the screams of the townspeople grow in volume, "Mwahahaha! This is my victory, the time for me to win, the moment of my glory!" he went to the earthquake machine, and prepared to turn the dial all the way up to full.
With despair in their voices, and close to tears, Blossom and Buttercup screamed, "NOOO!"
"Oh yes, Powerpuff Girls! Say goodbye, farewell, adios, to you precious Townsville!" Mojo was about to turn the dial, when there was suddenly a loud *CRASH* from the roof. Mojo turned, and to his surprise, floating under another hole in the roof, was Bubbles.
As determinedly as she could, Bubbles shouted "Not so fast, Mojo Jojo!"
"Bubbles!" Blossom shouted delightedly.
Suddenly Buttercup saw Mojo reach for his net launcher again, "Bubbles! Look out!" she shouted a warning as Mojo took aim. Bubbles saw it as he fired, and dodged in the nick of time.
"Curses!" Mojo growled. He turned towards Bubbles and prepared to fire again, but didn't get a chance as Bubbles was already flying full pelt towards him. Bubbles reeled back to punch, and though Mojo tried to dodge, she managed to hit him on the wrist, and the launcher flew from his hands and clattered along the ground, stopping near Blossom and Buttercup. Upon seeing this, the two bounced themselves over towards it.
"Blossom," Buttercup said, "Try and flex yourself as much as you can. If there's some slack in the net, I might be able to get my arm all the way out…" Blossom did so, and Buttercup began pulling as hard as she could on her arm. Meanwhile, Mojo had recovered, and made a break for the machine dial.
"Bubbles! Blossom called a warning, "Don't let him near that machine!" Bubbles nodded and flew for him, but the earthquake was making it difficult to co-ordinate her flying. She just managed to trip him over with a glancing blow, but that only succeeded in delaying him some more.
As Bubbles prepared for another attack, Buttercup, after much struggling, managed to free an arm from the net, and with it grabbed the net launcher. Seeing a button marked 'off' she pressed it, and as the glowing from the net subsided, they felt their strength coming back. Now Buttercup and Blossom both easily broke free of the net. At that moment, Mojo reached a hand towards the dial.
Blossom and Buttercup gasped. Bubbles had just turned around to attack again, and Buttercup looked at the launcher in her hands, then at Bubbles and shouted "Bubbles! Catch!" Buttercup threw it at her, and Bubbles reached out and grabbed it. Expecting her to fire it at Mojo, Buttercup was instead surprised to see Bubbles race at Mojo as fast as she could, and reared the launcher back like a club.
"Fore!" Bubbles shouted and swung. Just as his hand touched the dial, Mojo was sent flying backwards across the room, and smashed into the far wall, sliding down unconscious.
As Bubbles admired her handiwork, Blossom shouted, "Bubbles! Pull the lever!" Bubbles turned to the machine, and pulled the lever back up. The shaking slowed and finally stopped. Bubbles floated proudly for a moment, before she was tackled in a hug from both Blossom and Buttercup, "Bubbles! You did it!" Blossom congratulated.
"Yeah! That was awesome Bubbles!" Buttercup ecstatically said, then added, slightly abashed "I guess you're not a baby after all. I'm… Err…"
Bubbles wrapped an arm around Buttercup and said "That's ok," knowing it was the closest she would get to 'sorry' from Buttercup.
Across the room, Mojo groaned in pain. Buttercup flew over to him, and giving a jab in the side said, "Up you get Mojo."
Blossom joined, and added, "It's off to jail for you, again!"
Mojo moaned, "Curses," and rolled over, leaving his back facing the girls.
Bubbles joined the other two and said, "Yeah Mojo. Come on, shake a leg!" Bubbles started laughing. Blossom and Buttercup looked at her for a moment, and started laughing too.
So once again, the day is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls, in particular by our brave little Bubbles.
THE END