FIVE TO ONE
"Why... WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?" I yell as hoarsely as I can. Once I had managed to stifle the resulting coughing fit, I look back up to see that neither Cha-Ching nor Hacha had ceased their mega chuckling. On the contrary, both monkeys are rolling on the floor laughing. Cha-Ching kept banging his cymbals together, while Hacha kept fumbling with a banana peel underneath him. After a while, where I impatiently tap my fingers on the bed, they both stand up and seat themselves back down in their seats.
"Sorry sir," mumbles Cha-Ching. "It was pretty funny when we heard it."
"Yeah," chimes in Hacha, smiling. "I can't believe you actually said that!"
"And what line of dialogue might you be referring to?" I inquire, fearing the answer. "I did not see a lot funny about those events."
"You saying you weren't ready to be a granddad!" grins Cha-Ching again, Hacha laughing beside him. "I mean, I too would much prefer a son to a daughter, who wouldn't? But you do know that since it was Princess on the other side of the pairing, that it's actually impossible for them to –"
"Yes, I know. Let's just say it was a spur of the moment and leave it at that, shall we? Besides, the tone of that last scene, the nightmare one, well, it's like that for the rest of the story."
Cha-Ching and Hacha gape in surprise. "Do you mean to say," begins Hacha, "that you stopped calling Buttercup a boy?"
"He is a boy!" I yell, coughing a bit afterwards. What part of that was everyone other then myself unable to accept? "And his name is Jojo Junior. Although soon it may be just Jojo..."
Silence. Cha-Ching fumbles a bit in seat before he leans closer, as though Junior might hear. "Are you afraid that... you're gonna die, sir?"
"I'm afraid it's inevitable at this point, my good bonobo. I'll last until morning if I'm lucky." At this point, Hacha squirms a little. Despite having had to deal with it frequently, considering all of the other monkeys had shortened life spans due to Chemical X, it did not seem he was yet comfortable with death. "But while you're still here, care to hear the rest of the story?"
They freeze briefly. Hacha exchanges confused glances with Cha-Ching before speaking up. "Are... are you sure, sir? We don't want to waste your last few hours..."
"Its fine, I was going over all this anyway before you arrived," I say. "And saying it out loud has it benefits..."
"So Junior did manage to blow up the school?" queries Hacha curiously.
"Now now, my good proboscis monkey, let's not jump to conclusions." I say calmly. "Even if they are true..." I mutter to myself.
Over the course of the day, Junior's strength slowly recovered. She was still throbbing with pain all over, but she could move herself a bit and talk almost regularly, although walking was not yet attainable. Princess stayed for as long as she could, and whenever Junior almost fell asleep, Princess's presence prevented that from fully taking place. I eventually managed to shake her off at dusk. Once she was gone, I told Junior that at least one more day must pass before she and Princess could proceed with their stab of villainy. She agreed, mumbling something about her strength coming back once they actually got around to doing it. I knew that, of course, but she needed to rest enough so that she could manage her plan. It was good, but she would fail without question if she couldn't even walk, let alone fly.
For most of Tuesday, Princess actually didn't show up. It wasn't until later in the evening that she did appear, and not for very long. By the time she had left again, Junior was able to walk, float, eat and even shower, though she still seemed a little weakened. I only gave her good luck for tomorrow, and said that I would tell her more about my big plan later. I had somehow managed to find time to work on it while tending to Junior over the last few days. It was the first kink in a much bigger plan. A much bigger plan indeed...
By next morning, Junior was up before I was. And she was walking fine. I grinned at this, knowing she should have little trouble today. Adding butter to this bread was that she had prepared breakfast not just for herself, but for me too. If I remember correctly, and I very much doubt I am mistaken, this is the first time since the C-X incident that anyone had made food for me. I had always had to salvage it, or occasionally purchase and they prepare it. But never before had anyone else ever gone to the trouble of getting grub ready for me. That is mostly because I had not bonded with anyone in 11 years. But I was now. There were three pancakes with syrup. I noticed that they were burnt a bit; clearly the result of prolonged laser eyes. But that didn't make me appreciate them less; if anything, it made me appreciate them more, that she had gone to the trouble, despite what had happened less than three days ago.
She watched intently as I sat down in front of the pancakes. Her eyes followed my hand as it gripped the top pancake and placed it between my jaws. Her pupils wobbled in time with my crunching of the pancake, until I finally swallowed it. The seconds that passed were perhaps some of the funniest I have ever seen, her whole face trembling impatiently for my reaction. I decided not to say anything initially. We were both waiting for the other to say something, although it was not a staring contest in the least.
"Uh..." she stammered, tapping her fingers along the scar on her other hand. I could almost see the cogs deciding not to ask what I thought of it directly. "I was thinking yesterday, and I realized that I hadn't thanked you properly for making me this costume, or for trying so hard to get me into the Villains' Council... and for taking care of me after that nightmare." That was enough of an answer for me, but she said a little more. "So, thanks, D–Mojo."
Before I could answer properly, the doorbell rang. Junior rose from her seat rapidly, but I motioned for her to wait for a moment. She lowered herself back down, curious.
"Just remember," I began, "that we're in this together. Don't ever let that chance, modify, or otherwise alter anything."
She smirked a little. Before I knew what she was doing, she had me in a soft embrace. It was over before I knew what had happened, but I'll never forget how I felt then.
I vaguely heard Junior opening the door and letting Princess in, but it didn't really register, along with them moving off into another room. In what could have been anything from a minute to a half-hour, for I was still a little stunned, they were back. While Princess hovered awkwardly in the doorway, Junior approached.
"Mojo?" she said. I turned my head, the rest of my body not moving from the same position that it had been in when she had presented upon my person that hug. "I'm off now..."
Somehow, I managed to stand up, and face her. It struck me freshly how much bigger she was, since that was not as noticeable when she had stayed in bed the last two and a half days. I held out my hand. Briefly startled, she took my hand, and shook it, grinning.
"Good luck," I said, clapping her on her arm, because I couldn't reach her shoulder. She departed with Princess, who gave me a curt not that I did not return completely, yet which I acknowledged nonetheless.
And then they were gone. In thought, I sat back down, and ate the remaining two pancakes, subconsciously noticing that they had cooled down enough to be at normal temperature.
Only an hour later, I was in my room, working on my grand master plan. It was practically completed, and I would be able to inform Junior about it later this evening.
It was hard to judge accurately, but they were probably already finished with their spell of fun. The news would probably have something this evening about the event, actually. Unless... what if it had gone wrong? What if Blossom and Bubbles had defeated Junior and Princess, and taken them away?
Right on cue, the observatory's front door slammed open. As I was in my study, it did not resonate that loudly, but I still heard the sound. Gripping my blaster, I pressed myself against the wall next to the door, as someone's footsteps approached on the other side. No, wait – they were floating! This meant it was either Blossom and Bubbles, or –
Junior burst through the door, located me, held me in the air in a cute, tighter embrace. When she finally let go of me, I registered that we were on the living room couch. She flopped down beside me, acting child-like in an innocent way. Recovering from the bounce's effect, I turned to face her.
"What is the meaning of –" I was interrupted when she grasped my hand, shaking it so hard again that it continued to vibrate heavily for several seconds after she let go.
"It went perfectly, Mojo!" She grinned, her teeth showing midway through the phrase. I made to interrupt, but she cut over me. "Wanna hear it?"
For a split-second, I considered saying that I would rather wait until the news stations said something about it later. But that thought faded as soon as I looked into her eyes. Despite the scars, there was something being communicated through them... something bordering on cuteness. I nodded.
"All right!" she smirked happily. She reclined back on her end, resting one leg over the other, before she began.
"We got there without any trouble. Princess headed to the cafeteria, to cause the distraction. When we were younger, we made an evacuation procedure. And if there was an attack around there, the students and staff would proceed to the other side of the building, to the gym.
"I wasn't waiting long. Soon enough, I could hear them scurrying, and minor explosions, and my sisters yelling 'Not so fast, Princess!' So then I started charging my death ray again. It pained quickly, but it wasn't anything I couldn't bear.
"I blasted down the red door, trapping a teacher underneath it. As he bled, they panicked. Two tried to run past me, but I used my laser eyes on the ceiling, and the rubble sealed the exit. As I stepped forward, they trembled, flinching. When I spoke to them, they recoiled.
"Some of the stupid ones started to make towards the other doors. I let them almost escape before I used my ray. Although it only hit about a dozen people, it was enough to make them retreat. Then I noticed the trapped teacher. His jaw was snapped from his face. I taunted him for a little while, waiting until I could see his eyes begging for death, before I killed him." Her face was grinning as she spoke, clearly relishing in her committed actions.
"Then Blossom and Bubbles appeared, Princess captured. Once she was out of their grip and safe beside me, I relished in their shock before zapping Blossom just enough to knock her out of my path to everyone else. Bubbles rushed to her aid, and Princess stood safe behind me.
"And then I did it. I killed every last one of them. My death ray ensured not a single one lived. Their screams reduced to nothing as I absorbed their life energy, and my ray expanded enough to hit everyone. All the while, Blossom and Bubbles were yelling for me to stop, crying the names of their friends and teachers. Princess and I laughed. Blossom almost tried to rush over to us, but Bubbles kept her down." She breathed heavily. Her face had been really concentrated for that containment of information.
"And then it was over. Only the two puffs, Princess and I were still living. Stopping the ray, I saw their expressions. Blossom was examining all the dead bodies. Bubbles was asking me why she did what she did. I knew they weren't going to fight me today, so I started to take me leave. Bubbles spoke.
"She said I did a bad thing, as thought it was as simple as that. She then said that I could still come home, but Blossom cut across her.
"The annoying brat said I couldn't come home, ever. She turned to me, and I could see the hate glowing in her eyes. She screamed at me: 'You're horrible! Get out of here! Just get out!'
"I didn't react for a few seconds. I knew the next time we met, it would be war. Leaving her and Bubbles to mourn over everyone, Princess and I left."
There was silence. Junior slowly put both of her feet back down and sat up, looking at me, waiting for my reaction.
"Good job," I said, leaning over and clapping her on the back. Then, remembering the image I needed to keep up for her training, I changed my mood. "Now what are you still doing here? Get back to your studies! I'll have some news for you when you're done."
Joey laughed, and I chuckled a little too, before she zoomed from the room, clubbing me lightly, yet painfully, over the head as she left.
My plan was a simple, yet also brilliant one, if I do say so myself. On Saturday, there would be a 'special' parade for Townsville's Mayor, who was turning seventy. We would break up the celebrations. This was merely the first installment of a much larger plan, however. From here on in, we would need to be on our toes. Thus far, we had been working mostly from the shadows, coming out only to do the fieldwork. After this... well, it we successfully installed enough fear, Townsville would be ours.
I could tell she was rather infuriated that only minimal destruction and a few loose killings would be committed at the place. Of course, there was no point killing all the people you wanted to rule; where would the slave force be then? Once the whole screwed city... town, village, whatever, knew of our intentions, we would remind them that this was their own doing, casting us out, and that they could choose to continue to resist and start a war, or surrender and live, mostly the same way, actually.
Killing was only necessary when they did not comply with your wishes. And she would be the one to do the majority of the talking, not me. This was her fate, not mine.
Fate is a strange thing. When you tried to avoid fate you didn't want to happen, it was that which caused it to happen anyway. And those who tried to screw destiny either succeeded or failed. Patience was the key. If you wait, and don't rush fate, it'll do its job.
We were not completely dark. They think that villains are just that, mindless beings bent on destruction. So? The Romans conquered many ancient civilizations, and their empire proved very prosperous, lasting for 500 years as a Republic, and another 500 as an Empire. It wasn't as though we intended to make some sort of Metropolis-like factory or anything. Life could continue the same. The only major change was that no one would be treated any worse just because they were different. No two people, monkeys, fish, lizards or even insects were the same, so why should some be treated as freaks? I don't think that question will ever have a solid, definable answer.
"Do you think I'm supposed to be a villain, Mojo?"
It was Friday night. We were sipping wine and watching a preview of the parade on the TV; there would be a tribute to all the dead kids there.
I had thought she had been pondering over this topic since Wednesday's events. The way that she listened to the plan, the way that she was even as Princess visited on one occasion. It was a little subdued. Not like she was having second thoughts or anything, just that something had been on her mind. Muting the television, I turned sideways to look at her. "What do you mean by that?"
Joey shrugged, at a loss for adequate words. "I dunno. I was just thinking... what if this isn't what's right for me?" I blinked in surprise. Reacting a little, she pressed on. "Not that I don't want to be a villain. It's just... I dunno. Well... do you think I'll be good at it?"
I was briefly rendered silent. Avoiding awkwardness, I dunked down the whole wine glass, staring at her through the glass. "You will be fine at it. Why do you doubt yourself now?"
"I dunno," muttered Joey quietly. "It just sorta hit me that like… this ain't gonna be easy. I mean, I wanna destroy the Powerpuff Girls and everything – believe me, I really do. And I know I can do it. I know I can. I won't let myself fail at that. But like… our whole plan to take over the world after that… what happens if I can't do it, Mojo?"
I nodded slowly in understanding. Every villain went through this, some more so. Heck, everyone went through this, even fiction writers! "Failure is something to be feared in every profession. Some have more to fear than others. You have least to fear as a villain. You have the talent and the power. You are, by far, one of the best in the business. You can command others, for you have the right tools to do so; you only must now learn how to use them properly. You will be able to succeed, and you will do so with greater ease than any other villain I know." I nodded more firmly. "I have faith in you."
She surpassed a small smile, trembling. "I think I can take over Townsville alright. It's just the rest of the world that I'm worried about. Townsville versus me I think is a battle I can win. I guess it might be tough, but I know I can do it. I know what my sisters are capable of and everything. But the whole world against me?" She gave an involuntary shudder. "Even without superpowers, if the world were to band together, I'd be dead."
I gave a short laugh. It was both more complicated and simpler then that, of course. "Do not worry. That will never happen. As I've said: Step one is to install fear. When the world believes itself to be in a scarce situation, they will take the aid that is given to them both freely and necessarily. It will be a matter of survival, and as stupid as the world is, they will not reject their only hope and option that will allow them to continue living their pathetic lives. And their only option will be you. They will be compelled to choose, and you will be their only choice. You will be their hope and they will view you as a savior– rescuer–liberator! A blessing, rather than recognizing that it is you who has forced them to select you as their leader. Because people are simple. People are dumb. People are egoistic. People are selfish! Self-interested! Self-centered! They are told what and how to think and will think just as you tell them just so long as you promise that it will benefit them personally. It is simple politics. The world is already doing it today! We shall only take it to a new, more exclusive level! Do not worry, my son, you will succeed in this. At first, it will be difficult, but soon enough, by the mere and simple state of nature of mankind, any initial resistance against you will simply diminish, weaken, disappear and be no more."
"But I won't be able to do all that without you there helping me," she said, frowning. "You keep saying that this is my fate or whatever, but you're the one telling me what to do and how to achieve all this stuff. Is it really me that's supposed to do this? Can't it be you and I just help out with all the beatings and killings and stuff?"
"You will do fine. I have told you already. Ultimately, it will be you who rules this world. Not me. I can see it. Him sees it. I'm certain your pathetic sisters now see it. Tomorrow, Townsville will definitely see it." I paused to sigh and lower my head, giving Joey a serious look. She drew back, mildly intimidated. "I tell you this is your fate, because that is exactly what it is. Everyone that knows your story will be able to tell this about you. You began life with all that is needed to be a villain. Your life experiences have only shaped and perfected the gifts you were given at your creation and have pushed you further down the path to what is now your destiny. You will change this world for the better. It is your fortune."
"But how can you be so sure?" asked Joey as I stood up, taking her glass and patting her on the shoulder as I departed.
"Just consider it a sixth sense I have acquired with old age," I said back.
Saturday came. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I was more ecstatic then a frog eying up a grasshopper perched up on a lily pad. For once this was done, everything else would fall into place perfectly. As long as no hiccups occurred, of course.
I checked my watch. 08:56. In four minutes the parade would start. Joey was waiting from on top of a nearby building, while I hid behind an alleyway around the corner from the parade, jetpack and blasters ready just in case. Not only was half of Townsville here, but it was been broadcast to every Townsville station, so the whole city would see this. Once it had started, I would interrupt it, Mojo-style, declaring Joey as Townsville's newest, and greatest, villain. Joey would cause some minor damage, defeat the Powerpuffs when they arrived, only maiming them, of course. Then we would leave with the final word of not spilling a drop of blood as long as no one tried to stop us. This was less to let the city know about Joey, since most of them already did, but more to show them that no one, not even the Powerpuffs, would be able to stop us.
I checked my watch again. 08:58. It was almost time. I looked around the corner to see the Powerpuffs floating into the air. Strange... Following their gaze, I saw that, directly above the building they were looking at, hovered Joey, looking down at something I couldn't see.
"Not so fast!" yelled out the two Powerpuffs suddenly, Blossom with a lot of anger behind her voice, Bubbles with noticeably less. Joey floated back down onto the building, out of both the crowd's and my field of vision. Leaning back around the building corner, I rapidly started up my jetpack, gripping my blasters. I knew that I stood no chance against the Powerpuffs, but what choice did I have? I trusted Joey. She wouldn't slip up hugely like that, not on her own whim anyway. There had to be a logical cause. As I zoomed around the outer buildings, I heard more speaking.
"What the hell is that?" Joey said, angrily. "You already giving up and borrowing shit from the army or something?"
A brief pause, followed by Blossom speaking up. "If it were up to me, you'd already be dead."
"Wow. A little harsh, don't ya think, Sis?" By now, I was on the other side of the building that they were on top of. I pressed myself against the wall, listening hard.
"Buttercup," cried out Bubbles suddenly, pleading. "Please just come home with us!"
"Not a chance!" responded Joey angrily. There was a certain something about the way she said that sentence, though. Almost like... fear? All of a sudden, the sizzling sound of Joey's death ray stopped. I began sweating in panic. That couldn't be good...
"Have it your way," remarked Blossom's voice, before I heard something being tossed, and then, a large puffing sound.
Black smoke suddenly spread out from the building's top. I recoiled as it enlarged like a cloud, while the two Powerpuffs floated into the air, out of its range. There was no sign at all of Joey. I zoomed just far away enough so that the cloud couldn't reach me, though it came pretty close.
It was something resembling knockout gas, that much I could tell. Blossom's dialogue made me sure that they did not plan to kill Joey – yet. Rapidly, I knew what I had to do. If I could just get Joey away from the Powerpuffs safely, then not all would be lost.
Almost as soon at the gas had started, it stopped. As it vanished into nothing, I floated up, forgetting about the Powerpuff Girls. I came level with the building's grim roof.
Joey was lying there, out cold against the flat cement. She was still coughing faintly. I hovered over, touching down on the roof, though I didn't turn off my jetpack. Placing my blasters back in my belt, I pulled her over to face me. She looked the worse for wear, her face pale and her muscles weak right now.
I knew it then. I was her father. It had nothing to do with any theories regarding Chemical X, or that I pushed it in or anything like that at all. It wasn't even just my habit of calling her son. I just knew it. There was no other way I would have been so trusting of her so quickly, or so caring. You'd know your offspring even if he or she was wearing an absolutely perfect disguise, right? Well, I knew it the same way here. No doubt about it, she was definitely my –
"Mojo!" cried out two voices suddenly. In all my haste, I had forgotten about Blossom and Bubbles. Turning around, I saw that they were both standing there, both of them angry. Blossom, however, was looking at Joey, while Bubbles had her glares directed at me.
"You've got some nerve," I said quietly, standing up to face them, shielding Joey. "Some audacity, impudence, effrontery, guts, cheek! Instead of facing Junior head on, you resorted to such cheap tactics as poisoning him!"
"It's just knockout gas," snapped Blossom. Bubbles titled her head in confusion, probably at my referring to Joey as a guy. "And we'll be taking her off of you now."
"You'll do no such thing!" I said. Pulling a special wire out of my belt, I attached one end to my own belt, and the other end to Joey's. "Now leave, or pay the price."
"Oh, Mojo," giggled Bubbles, shaking her head, "you still have much to learn. You and what army?"
"I don't know about an army," interrupted a voice, "but you'll have to get through me as well." Before Blossom, Bubbles or myself could see who it was, Princess floated over the building's roof and landed beside me, jetpack and blasters ready. "I saw what you did," she spat at Blossom and Bubbles.
"How did you get here so quickly?" I questioned. It hadn't even been a minute since Blossom had rendered Joey unconscious. "Your mansion's halfway across town!"
"I was here anyway, monkey boy," she commented coolly, stepping in front of me and Joey, towards. "You'd think I was gonna miss the potential destruction?" Ordinarily, I would have detested that she was here too, but with her here, I had a better chance.
"Do you think you can hold them off?" I questioned, placing one foot on the edge of the dirty roof. "Which is to say, do you consider yourself adequate enough to keep them busy temporarily while I flee to another location, considering that they beat you rather easily only three days previously –"
"Go!" she barked out suddenly. Whipping out her two golden blasters, she promptly squeezed the triggers. I didn't bother to stay to watch the two rays hit Blossom and Bubbles, although I knew that they had hit their marks from the sharp yelps of pain. Supporting Joey's weight under one of my arms, I took off from the grimy building's top.
I hadn't flown more than about three blocks, however, before I heard the familiar zoom meaning the Powerpuffs, or at least one of them, was on my tail. Turning around, I saw a streak of blue coming my way. Back at the building, Blossom and Princess were still exchanging energy rays, which were all I could all make out. So Bubbles had decided to leave Blossom to fight Princess, and come after me herself.
Speaking of which, she was coming right for me! I did a rapid back-flip in midair. Just in time too – it meant she only hit Joey's cape, knocking it into my face. By the time I had smacked it out of my facial hair, Bubbles was floating across from me. Unlike before, this time she looked angrier then Fuzzy when he couldn't find his banjo.
"Why, Mojo?" she yelled out at me suddenly. I actually recoiled slightly, her anger was that great. "Why have you brainwashed Buttercup?"
"I have done nothing of the sort!" Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the catfight back at the building seemed to be tipped in Blossom's favor. I gulped nervously, looking back at Bubbles. Time was not on my side, so stalling Bubbles with words, however tempting it was, was not an option. "As Junior told you himself, you two are the true cause of the events that have transpired these past two weeks."
"You're..." Bubbles vibrated her fists as she looked for words to say. "You're lying! Buttercup's not responsible for any of this, and neither are we! You're the true catalyst here!"
"Your laces are also untied," I remarked quietly.
"Huh?" said Bubbles in confusion, looking down.
"Sucker Ray Attack!" I yelled out, whipping out two blasters. Setting one to stun and leaving the other on standard, I fired them both, catching Bubbles off guard. While it didn't send her spiraling towards the ground, it did make her keel over backwards, by which time I had zoomed past her. While powerful, that stun ray would not be permanent; Bubbles would regain herself in about 30 seconds. Lowering my flight path, I flew down a minor side street, and veered left.
There it was! Townsville Central Park was at the end of the road, with my observatory in the middle of it. Once inside, I could revive Joey within seconds, for there were many such things that would easily counter unconsciousness. I blasted down the road as fast as my high-tech jetpack would allow. I was already halfway there –
When something pink, fast and heavy rammed me from behind. Before I could do anything else about it, Blossom had sent two laser eyes at my jetpack, blowing it into smithereens.
With Joey's added weight, we lost height instantly, falling towards the ground without hesitation. Clearly, Princess had not been able to provide too big a threat for Blossom. Speak of the devil – she flew in, grabbing Joey around the waist. Not even acknowledging my existence, she turned around and began soaring back towards Townsville Hall.
I fingered with my blasters, but I knew such an option was pointless; hitting her would only make us fall to the ground, rendering me even less capable to successfully getting away. There truly seemed to be no way out of this predicament...
When Blossom was promptly rammed herself, catching her off guard. As she turned around, forcing me to swivel around and she still had Joey in her grip, I too saw Princess floating there in front of us. Despite a few scratches and two burns, she was mostly okay, still having all her weapons and her jetpack. Blossom must have only subdued her briefly and left her behind, thinking she would be too weak to return to the fight. For once, I was glad she was wrong.
Hoping Princess would use her common sense when she saw what I was about to do, I pulled out the blaster that was set at standard, pointed it at Blossom, and clicked the trigger. As I hoped, she recoiled backwards, dropping Joey. She and I started to fall towards the ground again –
When, as I had hoped, Princess swooped in, grabbing Joey's waist out of thin air. As I was shook about in the movements, I saw Blossom shaking off the effects of the ray. Just as Princess shot off, Blossom took pursuit.
"Get to the observatory!" I yelled at Princess over the wind, pulling out my second blaster again. This meant letting go of the chain connecting me to Joey, but it should be strong enough to support me up, even if it meant bouncing around with every change of direction Princess took.
"No duh, Monkey Boy!" she yelled back, blasting back into the street that let in the direction of my observatory. Noticing that Blossom was getting closer to us, I set both my blasters to stun and fired. She dodged the shots easily, but it meant she lost her gaining speed.
My relief was short-lived, however, as she flung a small rock out of nowhere. It clubbed one of my blasters away, sending it spiraling towards the earth. Before I could comprehend this fully she began charging up a pink energy ball at her mouth. We were in trouble.
"Hurry up!" I said loudly to Princess as we came out of the road into the main area of the park. "Give me your blaster!"
"Alright!" she hollered back. Fumbling briefly, she handed me one of her own blasters, although the passing was delayed as she had to keep a firm grip on Joey while also still flying. I set her blaster up to level 11, as high as it could go. I pointed both it and my remaining blaster at Blossom and fired, at exactly the same moment she released.
There was good news and bad news to this. The good news was that I successfully hit Blossom, knocking her out of the air and into a nearby tree. The bad news was that her energy ball hit its mark on Princess' jetpack, once again reaffixing gravity on us. Thankfully, we were close enough to the observatory that Princess, myself and the unconscious Junior crashed on one of the topmost steps.
Not even noticing that I had lost both my remaining blaster and Princess' one, we both grabbed Joey and hauled her up the last steps. Ordinarily I would have pondered that we hadn't argued at all during this battle, but we both knew that if Joey wasn't revived instantly, that we stood no chance against either Powerpuffs, let alone both.
"Alright," I gasped, as we dragged Joey to the front door. I freed one of my hands on it and started to open it. "Help me get him to the main laboratory. Then go get us some weapons from the storage depot –"
I never got a chance to finish that sentence, though. The door was fully open by that point, and standing right in the frame was Bubbles. And she was truly mad now, her fists clenched.
We didn't even have a chance to do anything. Bubbles lashed out at up with a rapid twin-kick, knocking us off the main landing back down the side of the volcano. Joey and I were still connected together, but Princess was knocked off to a different side.
This time, I didn't even have time to worry about the potential impact. Bubbles flew in and grabbed us, Joey in her left and myself in her right. She also sent a quick twin laser eyes at the chain connecting myself to Joey, incinerating it.
And then she reached the ground, where many police officers were waiting. She tossed me in the back of a nearby police van. The door was shut by two burly male officers.
The van didn't start moving, but I didn't even notice. All that mattered was that we had failed. Joey was captured, and I was carted off to jail. I hadn't been there in about five years. And I just couldn't cope with it. Not just the brutality of the inmates; even the guards were vicious, lashing out with their truncheons and even beating me from time to time.
My thoughts were snapped by the back door being opened again. I saw Blossom tossing in Princess, who was handcuffed. By the time Princess had got back up, the door was shut again. The police van began driving off.
Princess sat opposite me, and lowered her face. Well, it was alright for her; she could get her rich daddy to bail her out easily! Not only did I have no one to bail me out, they wouldn't let me be bailed out. Not when the blame for all the destruction and death pointed primarily at me.
"What do you think they're going to do with Joey?" asked Princess suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts. That was a very good question, mind.
"I do not know, young one," I simply said, looking away. In truth, I had a few ideas. If Blossom had her own way, they would kill Joey, but Bubbles and the Professor clearly still believed that I had brainwashed her or something. So my best bet was that they would try to find out what was wrong with her and fix it. If so, they would be there for a while, as there was nothing to find. But it could still be almost anything.
"I do not know," I repeated quietly.
Sorry for the delay getting this chapter up. Not only was I heavily unsure how to go about all the new stuff in this chapter (I'd say this is the first chapter with more new prose then adapted prose), I was heavily sick for about two weeks, meaning I wasn't able to have much time near a computer. I'm hoping you guys are still interested in this, cause my initial interest, which was huge, is waning slightly. Or maybe it's just the lack of time to write this...
There was going to be a long chat between Princess and Mojo at the end there, but I felt it would be better to cut off there; also less friendly chat between the two seems more in-character at this stage. Feel free to imagine that conversation if you want, however.
I don't know when I can guarantee the next chapter. It'll probably take quite a while, as there's a lot of new stuff again, but after half of it, the next few should be easier, with mostly prose to adapt. The schedule will have to go, but this fic's not on a hiatus yet. Sit tight with me, fellas.