Ohyaho everyone! CJzilla here with a kinda late update. Hey, I had a lot to do this week; sue me. In this chapter Dr. Chipotle Jr. and Zoe have a hard time forgetting each other. Enjoy.
As I tear down this city with my claws, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love on me... hate on me... You know...
Anyminuetnow: Oh yeah.
acosta perez jose ramiro: The power of smarts ahhh yes... I wish I had that...
ViperSwan: I'm glad that this fic is inspiring a lot of fan-art!
Chapter 7
Thinking Of You
Coming home Dr. Chipotle Jr. was covered in dirt and grass-stains, his hair was slightly smoldering but there was a victorious smile on his face that NOTHING COULD WIPE OFF! …Possibly not even soap. The bratty ten-year-old emerged triumphant against TWO supervillains: Black Cuervo and General Chapuza! And just wait until his father sees what he brought home today! General Chapuza's undead zombie head! HA! The zombie supervillain was totally at his mercy! How's that for being a "pitiful loser"?!
Kicking the door open the mini mad scientist waltzed into the house with a huge smile and bouncing Chapuza's undead head in his hand.
"Oh faaaaather!" Dr. Chipotle Jr. called into the air. The ten-year-old headed for his father's lab. "Guess what Dr. Chipotle Jr. has!"
Walking into his father's work space he saw the mad scientist wrapped up in his latest genetic research project. If smoke could be coming out of Dr. Chipotle Sr.'s ears, the room would have been engulfed in it. Skipping over to his concentrating father, Dr. Chipotle Jr. stood beside the work bench and glanced over his dad's notes.
"You should look into the wonder of avocados, father. They hold up against genetic twisting quite well." At his well meaning words, Dr. Chipotle Sr. jumped ten feet into the air, obviously so wrapped up in his work that he didn't hear his son walk into the room. The mad scientist grabbed his heart and glared at his son.
"Diego! You scared Dr. Chipotle Sr.!" The man snapped angrily. Dr. Chipotle Jr. gave his father an innocent look.
"Sorry. Dr. Chipotle Jr. didn't mean to." The boy scratched his head pensively. Dr. Chipotle Sr. grunted angrily and went back to his project.
"Dr. Chipotle Sr. is going to have to get you a bell to wear around your neck, Diego. Lately you have been up to no good." The mad scientist picked up his pencil again but shot his son a tiny proud smile. Dr. Chipotle Jr. beamed happily and let out a little giggle at his father's compliment.
"Why thank you father!" The ten-year-old's smile grew wider. "Then you'll be ten times as proud when you see what Dr. Chipotle Jr. has brought home!"
Dr. Chipotle Sr. turned from his work and cocked a brow at his son. Smiling proudly, the mini super genius held up his prize.
Before he knew exactly what he was looking at, Dr. Chipotle Sr. was looking into General Chapuza's yellow, undead eyes. Then the man realized his son was holding just the zombie's dismembered head in his hand. The shock of seeing a fellow villain humiliated by Diego's hand wasn't what did it; it was seeing a dismembered head. Period. Dr. Chipotle Sr.'s face went as white as a sheet but Dr. Chipotle Jr. was smiling too wide to notice.
"Dr. Chipotle Jr. has succeeded in capturing General Chapuza! And he's sorry for calling down evil on your bad name; aren't you Chapuza?" Dr. Chipotle Jr. turned the undead zombie head and looked Chapuza in the eye. The undead general was yelling at the ten-year-old but there was a rather thick wad of duct tape was over his mouth. "Oh, sorry about the duct tape father; Chapuza wouldn't stop biting me."
Then the boy heard a "thunk". Looking up he saw his father, passed out cold on the floor. Blinking, Dr. Chipotle Jr. looked at Chapuza.
"Huh. He's so proud he fainted." The ten-year-old mused, talking to his prisoner. Then he glanced at Chapuza's blue-skinned, undead cadaver head. "Or maybe he should start watching horror movies to build up a stronger constitution."
Finally the small mad scientist shrugged and turned for the door.
"And as for you Chapuza, what comes to your mind when you hear the word: "doorstop"?" Dr. Chipotle Jr. asked with a sinister chuckle. Chapuza whimpered through the duct tape on his mouth.
Later that afternoon, Dr. Chipotle Jr. was one supervillain shy of today's goal. But he was waiting for school to let out before he made any move. No, he wasn't going for Puma Loco… at least, not yet. Instead he aimed for a smaller and easier supervillain, one that he knew personally. His intentions were to take his victim's feet out from under him but also to ask a favor.
Raising his knuckles to the wooden door, the ten-year-old super genius knocked twice. Rocking back on his heels, the little mad scientist looked out over Miracle City. This house certainly had a good view since it was situated at the top of a rolling hill overlooking the city. Sighing, Dr. Chipotle Jr. gave a little evil smile at the city. Soon, in the not-so-distant future, it would be HIS.
As those thoughts ran through his mind, the small scientist heard the door open. Turning, Dr. Chipotle Jr. saw his closest human acquaintance.
"Oh! Ciao Diego!" It was Sergio, an Italian transfer student who now called Miracle City his home… and evil play ground. Dr. Chipotle Jr. was about to say his greetings when Sergio pulled him into a big, Italian hug. "Good to-a see you-a compañero!"
The ten-year-old mad scientist could almost hear his ribs cracking from Sergio's hug. But Dr. Chipotle Jr. put up with the constant infamous Italian hugs; he considered Sergio the closest thing to a friend outside his laboratory. After all the thirteen-year-old Italian boy was also a fellow villain.
"Ack! Good to be seen, Sergio…!" The ten-year-old super genius felt his eyeball threaten to pop out of its socket. And just as Dr. Chipotle Jr. thought he'd pass out because of lack of oxygen, Sergio dropped him.
The ten-year-old collapsed on the foot mat, wheezing. Sergio didn't seem to notice.
"Well-a don't just-a lie there like-a dead prairie-dog-a! C'mon! I got-a Super Macho Fighter Four on-a my Game-Box!" Sergio cheered and motioned for the ten-year-old to come into his house. Peeling himself off of the foot mat, the ten-year-old mad scientist coughed and walked into the house.
Immediately he felt out of place. Sergio was a master genius at artillery, metal and… machines. The ten-year-old shuttered a little at the thought of machines. Sure, Dr. Chipotle Jr. had a robotic arm and eye but he was definitely out of his element. He was a mad scientist. His specialty was more bio-sciency stuff like splicing genes, experimental chemicals, twisting laws of nature and making macrobiotic guacamole monsters that obeyed his every whim. Metal work, cold machines and straight lines of Sergio's lab made him feel… uncomfortable.
Then Dr. Chipotle Jr. remembered the sinister reason for his visit to Sergio's house. The ten-year-old dug around in his pocket and retrieved a folded up blueprint.
"Hey Sergio. Dr. Chipotle Jr. requires a favor." The small scientist opened the big blue paper. The Italian boy shut the door and walked up to his friend, looking over his shoulder.
"Sí? What is-a it?" Then he saw the large blueprint in Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s hands. The ten-year-old was struggling with the massive paper.
"Since you are a machinery-type specialist, Dr. Chipotle Jr. thought you could help. I am having a problem with my guacamole monsters. They are dependent on my wrist stabilizer." The pint-sized super genius handed the blueprint to Sergio. "If Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s wrist device is damaged, they blow up. I need some sort of gizmo that will stabilize my monsters. Can you build something like that?"
Sergio hummed thoughtfully as he looked over Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s rough draft. Okay. It was more of a doodle of a guacamole monster, some sort of machine-looking thingy and Dr. Chipotle Jr. commanding his monster, but the thirteen-year-old supervillain/machinery genius knew what his friend meant.
"I see-a. You need-a device that will-a stabilize-a your monster but-a you still-a want control, correct?" The Italian boy quirked a brow over his olive face. Dr. Chipotle Jr. looked obviously uncomfortable asking for a favor, but nodded.
"Dr. Chipotle Jr. wants complete control but without the creature requiring my wrist stabilizer." The ten-year-old pointed to his robotic wrist. "Perhaps some sort of self-generating machine-thingy that I can build my monster around. Then it can rampage all over Miracle City and bring it to its KNEES!"
Dr. Chipotle Jr. threw back his head and cackled evilly. Sergio was used to sudden evil laughs; he let a few of those go a day himself.
"I-a bet I can build-a some organic-a material self-stabilizing generator-a that-a will do the trick-a." The thirteen-year-old Italian kid rolled up the blueprint and turned to his friend. "Don't worry-a about-a a thing, partner. I can-a whip something-a up by the-a end of-a the week."
Then Sergio's freckled face went straight when he noticed all the grass and dirt stains on Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s smock
"Gee partner-a. You-a look like-a lawn mower puked on-a you." The Italian boy voiced. Glancing down, at his clothes the ten-year-old scowled.
Only his dad knew how to do laundry and he was still passed out from seeing General Chapuza's undead zombie head. Even after threatening the washer and dryer, neither machines washed his favorite laboratory coat. How Dr. Chipotle Jr. HATED machines.
"Dr. Chipotle Jr. was in a battle earlier today-" But before he could elaborate, Sergio cut him off.
"Oh! That's-a right! I-a heard of-a your-a visit to-a my school-a, Diego!" The Italian thirteen-year-old was excited. Dr. Chipotle Jr. scoffed and looked at his gloved fingernails like it was no big deal. "Please-a spin that-a yarn!"
"Oh, Dr. Chipotle Jr. just faced off against General Chapuza and WON!" The ten-year-old proclaimed proudly. "Dr. Chipotle Jr. took Chapuza's undead head as a prize."
Okay. That was a wee stretch of the truth. Chapuza was caught by off guard from his fight with Black Cuervo so it was easy to yank off his undead head. Honestly, Black Cuervo should be given credit for softening up the undead general… but honesty wasn't one of Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s strong points. Sergio laughed excitedly.
"That-a is just-a swell, partner!" The thirteen-year-old slapped his knee but then looked serious. "I-a… I read-a the article you-a were-a featured in-a, Diego. Yeah. Not-a the most-a flattering-a article…"
The Italian boy gave an uneasy chuckle. The ten-year-old flinched and scowled angrily.
"See?! See what kind of damage that EL TIGRE has done to Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s reputation?!" The mini mad scientist snarled. Then he face-palmed. "Last night my father dragged me to an all villain poker game. The other villains discredited my father because of MY losses! I'm gonna get my revenge on each one of them and make them see that the Chipotles are not to be questioned!! Dr. Chipotle Jr. has taken out the Moustache Mafia and General Chapuza and soon… the rest of those who mocked my father!"
Dr. Chipotle Jr. seethed, thinking about last night. The unfounded accusations the old farts made about his father but also that horribly annoying Black Cuervo. He had seen her far sooner than he ever wanted to.
"Not only was Dr. Chipotle Jr. relegated to the baseless jeers by those old villains but I had the extreme displeasure of being with the other villains' kids. That was a joke!" He threw his hands in the air. "Dr. Chipotle Jr. was forced to hang out with Che, the Cactus Kid and… OH! The harpy."
The ten-year-old stood rigid, thinking about her but Sergio was confused.
"Who?" The thirteen-year-old supervillain scratched his head. Dr. Chipotle Jr. face-palmed again.
"Black… Cuervo!" The small super genius gritted his teeth. "The girl is the spawn of a viper mother and wolverine father! She's supremely annoying, grating, irritating, and nauseating! I-… What?"
He noticed the knowing look on Sergio's face.
"It looks-a like-a you got-a your eyes on-a another filly, eh Diego?" The Italian boy nudged his friend and raised his eyebrows suggestively. Dr. Chipotle Jr. swatted his friend angrily but couldn't hide the tiny flush that came to his face.
"Gross! Dr. Chipotle Jr. would rather be dipped in acid and then dipped in salt! Black Cuervo is a venomous, spoiled harpy who loves to get her way. She's manipulative, irritating, pretty-" Dr. Chipotle Jr. slapped his forehead again. WHY was he always saying "pretty" instead of "petty"?!
It didn't help that Sergio was roaring with laughter. The ten-year-old super genius glared daggers at his guffawing friend as his face heated with embarrassment. Why? Why was he not getting a break with this? Black Cuervo was… Black Cuervo. That's it! Nothing else! She was spoiled and pure evil! Pure, undefiled, evil!
Dr. Chipotle Jr. was sore from all the gut punches he sustained from the wild thirteen-year-old villainess. She was a hard hitter and a great fighter from just the little he had seen. As petty and easily angered as Cuervo was… Dr. Chipotle Jr. had to admit that she had something about her that gave her an advantage over him in battle. Was it because he was… mesmerized by her killer looks? Okay; he'd admit that she wasn't the most horrible looking chica in Miracle City. In fact her beauty rivaled that of his beloved Frida Suárez... But she was evil and calculating to boot, so that's probably why he felt his knees go to jelly whenever he saw her… NO! What was he saying?! This was Black Cuervo! She was failing in grade school. She couldn't be as clever and intelligent as he thought. It had to be just a fluke occurrence; a freak event when the sun would somehow shine on her like the stunning light from heaven above.
By that time Sergio was done laughing at him and got up off of the floor.
"Gratsi, Diego. I-a haven't-a laughed like-a that since-a I read-a that-a article!" The thirteen-year-old supervillain wiped tears from his eyes. Dr. Chipotle Jr. growled. "And-a all this-a time I-a thought you-a were-a still into-a Frida Suárez."
Now the ten-year-old was starting to feel insulted.
"Dr. Chipotle Jr. IS!" The mini mad scientist barked back, hands in the air. Then he got a mischievous look on his face. "And is she why you are still in public school, Sergio? You and I both know that you are too smart for middle school. You hang around there to get a chance with the vixen chica?"
The Italian boy shrugged and gave a sheepish smile.
"Uh-… S-s-s-s-sure." Sergio stuttered, looking pretty guilty for a villain. "That-a and-a to keep-a an eye on-a that-a El Tigre. I like-a to keep my-a enemies close-a if you-a know what I-a mean, Diego."
A dark shadow of evil clouded Sergio's face as he rubbed his hands together sinisterly. Dr. Chipotle Jr. folded his arms.
"Dr. Chipotle Jr. doesn't see why you don't attack El Tigre when he's vulnerable! That pain-in-the-neck superhero wouldn't know what hit him if you and Black Cuervo attacked him at school!" That merited a funny look from the Italian boy.
"Black Cuervo? Why-a her?" The thirteen-year-old scratched his head. Dr. Chipotle Jr. gave his friend a surprised stare.
"Black Cuervo goes to the same school as you, Sergio! Didn't you know that?" The ten-year-old barked back. Sergio shook his head before he got a wily smile on his face.
"And-a, how did-a you find-a this-a out, Diego? Did-a you coax the-a information out-a of her while-a you kissed-a her?" His comment got a yell out of Dr. Chipotle Jr.
"NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!" The ten-year-old super genius roared. Sergio just laughed and laughed.
Dr. Chipotle Jr. felt his face get hot again. Why would the universe and all that inhabit it not let him rest? And why didn't the funny feeling in his liver go away even when he wasn't even with the girl? Why couldn't he keep Black Cuervo out of his thoughts?
Meanwhile, same planet, different world…
While Dr. Chipotle Jr. was savoring the fruits of victory, Zoë Aves was stuck stewing in the juices of misery. After school, the thirteen-year-old girl sat in a secluded part of her family's lair, digging a spoon into a rapidly disappearing pint of cherry-chocolate ice cream. She couldn't believe it. Not only did a perfectly opportunistic chance to get revenge on General Chapuza slip through her fingers, there was a weird feeling in her insides THAT WOULD NOT GO AWAY! But to Zoë, this weird feeling was constant for her. The super-macho hunk El Tigre always made her insides flip and he was a perfectly reasonable explanation for the "Crush Feeling". However, this weird feeling tickling her insides was not El Tigre's doing; oh no. Ever since that little Dr. Chipotle Jr. left her in his dust, this weird tickling feeling, this horrifying pleasant "Crush Feeling" was stuck in overdrive! Zoë couldn't come off of it no matter how many times she denied it!
Her heart was in the fast lane and she was just a helpless victim to love's whimsies!
Zoë growled. Love was such a fickle master. One moment her heart throbbed for Manny Rivera and now…OH! Just-… Just knock her down now! Save her from the crippling embarrassment/shameless enamor that was the "Crush Feeling"! She couldn't even SAY his name without feeling gleefully disgusted. He was a short, egg-headed super geek with an IQ that was more like a bar-code! Dr. Chipotle Jr.! … Hmmm… Zoë Chipotle… huh; that didn't sound half bad…
"Darn it!" Zoë hopped off of her chair, the empty pint of ice cream and spoon clattering to the floor. The thirteen-year-old villainess stood rigid, cursing her emotions and all humankind.
She needed something to get her mind off of… Dr. Chipotle Jr.
"I need to steal somet'ing." Zoë mumbled to herself, walking to a window. Looking out over Miracle City, the thirteen-year-old girl wondered what she was in the mood to steal.
Maybe a kiss from that daring ten-year-old super genius? NO! NO! NO! NO! Gross! She was out of her mind!
"I need somet'ing shiny an' pretty dat will get mi cerebro off of dese t'ings." Spinning on her heel, Zoë continued to talk to herself. "Somet'ing dat a master thief like me would want to steal…"
She looked off, trying to remember the top heists featured in Villain's Quarterly which were the same old, same old run-of-the-mill objects that any second-rate thief could easily steal. Then Zoë remembered one particular item that was both extravagant and fun to filch.
"De Jeweled Mule of Maya." The thirteen-year-old girl cooed to herself. Yes, this solid gold donkey was encrusted with priceless precious stones was not only highly-prized, it was in an art museum infamous for its over-the-top security system. "Ooo. Fun."
Rubbing her hands together, Zoë Aves saw how she could save herself another boring evening. She was off to an art museum, to scare herself up an exciting afternoon.
Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s ride home was less normal than usual. He tried to hold in screams of terror as he flew over Miracle City's lazy evening scene; he was making enough noise as it was. The ten-year-old super genius was inside Señor Siniestro's robotic suit, which he had JUST stolen from Sergio's house. Thankfully he and Sergio were about the same height and the robotic suit fit him reasonably well. With no other way to get it home, Dr. Chipotle Jr. had to fly his bulky prize home. Not a big fan of heights and not the most skilled at piloting any mechanically-inclined thing, the ten-year-old wished the trip from Sergio's house to his was much shorter.
Nearly missing the top of a skyscraper, Dr. Chipotle Jr. let out a scream to which some people on the streets noticed. Looking up, they merely saw stars peeking through the evensong. The ten-year-old mad scientist was long gone by the time people looked up anyway. Finally, the mini supervillain couldn't take it anymore. He had to land. Seeing a dark rooftop, Dr. Chipotle Jr. pinpointed on it and tried his best to land Sergio's Señor Siniestro suit without killing himself.
Landing rather softly on the building top, the ten-year-old gave a shaky sigh of relief. He wasn't looking forward to flying the rest of the way home. Grunting in strain, Dr. Chipotle Jr. searched for the latch to undo the robotic suit's hold on his tiny frame. Finally he hit a switch and the suit released him. Falling on his face on the rooftop, the ten-year-old super genius gave a growl of frustration. Getting to his feet, Dr. Chipotle Jr. turned to his newest supervillain plunder. Of all the things that he stole, the Señor Siniestro suit was his least favorite.
"Inefficient bucket of bolts." The ten-year-old mad scientist kicked the "foot" of the robot suit. And that somehow triggered the suit to shoot a laser at the boy.
Falling back on his butt, Dr. Chipotle Jr. held his heart as he stared at the laser hole where his foot had been milliseconds before.
"Rotten robotic nightmare!" He cursed at it, shaking a fist at the suit. Standing, the mini mad scientist looked around where he had landed.
He was inside the artsy side of Miracle City; the side he rarely went. Art galleries, museums, shops and fancy things that just turned his stomach. Dr. Chipotle Jr. was a man of science! He had no time for such things! Give him plutonium over Picasso any day.
Glaring over a part of the city he'd rather do without, something caught his crimson eye. Glancing to the left, on the rooftop of another building there was a big sun-window. It was big and he could see just a bit of something shiny inside the building. Blinking, something inside him told him to investigate.
Getting over to the other rooftop was easy enough and Dr. Chipotle Jr. made his way over to the sun-light. Peering into the building, his curious eyes ate up the sight. He was on the rooftop of one of the premier art museums in all of Miracle City. There were paintings and sculptures from every era of time, but the one thing that caught his eye was a HUGE gold sculpture directly underneath the sun-window. In a seemingly unsecured room, inside a normal clear glass case was a statue in the likeness of a golden donkey with precious stones carefully crafted into the figure.
As he ogled at the precious statue, something else caught his eye. There was someone standing at the threshold of the room's entrance. From this distance Dr. Chipotle Jr. could tell the person was short, WAY short; too short to be an adult so therefore not a security guard. This person had to be a thief; a super short thief dressed in black and purple. And by that time, the ten-year-old super genius figured out one very important detail about the thief's identity.
"Holy jalapeno…! Black Cuervo?!" Dr. Chipotle Jr. exclaimed, not that there was anyone else there to hear him. He pressed his face harder to the glass and watched in wonder.
Then he saw Black Cuervo flash her purple talons. Her hand went into a pocket and retrieved a disk-like canister. The thirteen-year-old villainess popped of the canister's lid, pulled out a fluffy powder-ball and blew on the contents of the canister. A wave of powder filled the room and exposed an invisible web of constantly changing invisible, intertwining motion sensitive laser beams. Black Cuervo tucked her makeup tin back into her pocket and cracked her knuckles. Digging her heels into the floor, she hesitated for a second. Then the girl thief cart-wheeled into the web of moving red laser beams.
Dr. Chipotle Jr. felt his mouth go slack.
Not only was this thirteen-year-old girl expertly avoiding the constantly moving laser beams, she was dancing to it! In an impressive display of both agility and smoothness, Black Cuervo was dancing her way through a seemingly impossible grid of security lasers. As he watched her move, Dr. Chipotle Jr. could have sworn he heard a beautiful steel-string Latin rhythm being plucked out on his heart.
Flowing with the dexterity of the loveliest river, she easily moved past the daunting security like they were just an exercise. By the time Black Cuervo had reached the glass stand with the jeweled donkey statue, Dr. Chipotle Jr. wanted to see more. The thirteen-year-old girl smirked at the laser grid she had just concurred and turned to the glass case and the jewel-encrusted golden donkey inside it. Bringing a taloned fingertip to the glass, she cut a large hole and easily removed the circular glass remnant. With a twisted smile, the girl reached into the case, snatched the golden sculpture and pulled it out of its casing. If there was such a thing as a perfect crime, Black Cuervo had just pulled it off. Awestruck and unable to look away, Dr. Chipotle Jr. was leaning on the glass sun-window and it was beginning to give under his weight.
Bringing the priceless statue to her face, Zoë got a good look at her spoils. The Jeweled Mule of Maya was hers! Now, all she had to do was make a clean escape and her evening would be perfect. But over the hum of lasers, another sound reached her ears. The sound of splintering glass. Looking around, Zoë searched for the sound. But it wasn't until she heard the glass window above her shatter and the yelp of surprise that she knew where it was coming from.
Dr. Chipotle Jr. never expected the window to break and the next thing he knew, he was falling through the air. As he thrashed around for something to grab onto, several hanging decorations tangled around his metal arm. And just before he became a nasty splatter on the floor, the wires suspending the hanging art snapped tight and broke his fall. The ten-year-old super genius hung from the ceiling tangled, dazed, confused and suddenly looking into Black Cuervo's surprised red-violet eyes.
Zoë could not believe it… Just… could not believe it. Nothing of the events before her met her expectations. NOTHING! Here was Dr. Chipotle Jr., staring her in the face as he hung upside down.
But before any thoughts could produce words, Zoë's eyes caught a shard of glass fall from the broken sky-light. Everything began moving in slow-motion. Powerless to stop it both kids could only watch as a piece of glass hit the floor, cart-wheeled, bounced and finally fell into the path of one of the motion-sensitive lasers. Barely touching the laser, it triggered the security system. Alarms wailed as the museum went into complete lockdown. Zoë's perfect crime was gone.
R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!