Here's the second short! The first couple or so are chronological, but the rest will probably not follow a direct timeline. They just all happen before Storm.
A thank you to ROCuevas and MoonlitCritter64 for reviewing, and a thank you as well as carriedreamer for letting me gush and complain!
Check out my Instagram, kiebsmon, for a picture of the aliens!
Before the Storm 02
Of course, the world went to chaos on the rare day that Mojo Jojo decided to take a day off.
His morning had gone as usual: wake up at 7 o'clock on the dot, shuffle into his vast kitchen for a cup coffee (two spoonful's of sugar and a dash of fat free milk), and read the morning paper that one of his many inventions had delivered to him from the foot of his volcano. About half an hour later, when his stomach finally growled, he had indulged himself with a banana nut muffin and two eggs over medium before preparing for the rest of the day.
Seeing just how gorgeous of a day it was, he had decided, in a rare moment of generosity, that, no, he wasn't going to try to take over the world today. He had plenty of things to tinker with anyway, plans that needed finishing, and maybe he would spend an hour or so outside with a book. It was just that nice of a day. Besides, the Girls had become almost too efficient in handling his robots and machines, so he needed the perfect plan to try to destroy them and that took time and planning.
In moments like that, when he planned and brainstormed and plotted, he missed the Rowdyruff Boys. Certainly, his sons were rambunctious and maybe a little bit too distracting with their predilection for destruction, but they had been the perfect distractions for the Girls whenever he had a robbery planned. They weren't…nearly as helpful as he had thought they would be when he tried to take over the town or tried to destroy the Powerpuff Girls. Their love of destruction took over too much and sometimes they accidentally hit him rather than the Girls.
Mojo frowned as he walked into his study. Placing his mug on his vast desk, he wondered if all those times had been accidental. The older the Boys had gotten, the less they seemed to care about villainy besides just plain, old mischief. They weren't even as keen on fighting the Girls, despite the way they twitched and glared whenever they had the misfortune of sharing any sort of space. Oh, he had had plenty of calls from Townsville Elementary because of their rivalry.
He huffed.
Learning from the past was one thing, but he, Mojo Jojo, shouldn't focus so much on the shortcomings of…well, admittedly, the Rowdyruff Boys were probably one of his better inventions. Failure to destroy the Powerpuff Girls on more than one occasion or no, they had been rather adept at beating the snot out of the Girls. He just had no idea how they were always outsmarted in the end.
Cockiness could only go so far as an answer until a pattern showed up. Had the Boys not wanted to defeat the Girls? If the Girls were no longer in their way, with Mojo as king of the world, the Boys could go on however many destruction sprees as they wanted. Well, Mojo would have to reign them in, of course, as there was no use ruling a world in ruin, but they would have…almost free reign to cause as much mayhem as they wanted with no Powerpuff Girls to stop them.
"Bah! They're no longer here so why should I, Mojo Jojo, waste such brainpower wondering on such ridiculous ponderings?" he grumbled and took a sip of his coffee. He sighed happily. "Ahh, Colombian dark roast, my favorite!"
He spent the rest of the morning working on another ship in a bottle because he could eventually get to his planning later. This was a new one, anyway; a recreation of Magellan's Victoria; and he was very excited to add it to his collection. It was just as he was adding the finishing touches that a faint beeping started up from the computer in the corner of the room.
Growling, Mojo threw down his tweezers and stomped over to the infernal thing. It was one of the many that littered his abode, connected to all his surveillance software and hardware. It also served as his intercom to tell solicitors to scram.
The screen flashed red with an odd image. Mojo frowned, shutting off the alarm, and leaned a little closer. A black shape floated just outside of his observatory.
"What the—?"
A crash sounded from his living room.
The alarms began blaring anew.
"What! What, what, what!" Mojo shouted and dashed out of his office. A strange figure stood in the middle of the room, surveying it calmly as if it hadn't just ripped a hole in his wall. Just like those darn Powerpuff Girls. "Who are you! How dare you break into the home of Mooojo Jojo! Have you no respect, common decency, not to break into another's home for that is rude and furthermore against all—"
The creature was in his face before he could blink, hand clasped around his throat. It lifted him and tilted its head to the side.
"I do not listen to the drivel of a lesser being," it hissed in a deep voice. It dropped him. "I am Aterex. This world is now mine."
The creature, Aterex, stood tall and loomed over Mojo as he coughed. It was certainly taller than a man, shaped similarly, but with somewhat hunched shoulders and if a man was also a living inkblot. Its eyes were large for its head, buggy and looked similar to a grey alien's eyes. Those eyes were also the only feature on its face.
Catching his breath, Mojo scowled up at it.
"Excuse me!?" he snapped. "This world will have one ruler and that is not you! For it is me, Mooojo Jojo! I will be ruler and not you because it will be me who—"
The creature lunged for him again.
All those years fighting the Powerpuff Girls, plus his own natural DNA as a chimp, allowed him to roll away just before Aterex touched him. He jumped to his feet just next to his rather comfortable couch. The creature snarled and teeth ripped across the featureless face.
Mojo grimaced in response. That was definitely something too benefitting of Him for his liking. Reaching into his couch, he pulled out the laser gun he kept there in case of emergencies. This definitely counted as one.
"Haha!" He pointed the gun and fired.
Aterex's body bent in an unnatural way to avoid the blast. Mojo again grimaced at the sight, but kept firing as the creature continue to dodge. It was almost mesmerizing how it could contort itself, shifting its shape to befit what it need in seconds. If it weren't trying to attack him, he would be much more willing to study it more.
Belatedly, he realized it was moving closer to him when a long leg slammed into his stomach. Grunting, he found himself across the room and dazed, gun missing. The world spun when he lifted his head and watched the creature inspect his gun before snapping it in two.
He groaned and fell back. All that work destroyed like a child's toy. At least he was used to that happening at this point. Between both the Girls and the Boys, he had lost too many inventions. What was one more for the pile? At least he still had the blueprints.
Soft footsteps sounded as the creature made its way over to him. It towered above him, a wrinkle of disdain on its blank face. He leered back at it.
"You put up more of a fight than the girl child," Aterex said with a twist of its head. "Though I did not give her time to fight."
A chill went down his spine.
Mojo frowned.
"Girl child...? You mean one of the Powerpuff Girls? You've defeated one of the Powerpuff Girls?" he demanded.
The creature continued to examine him. A four-fingered hand touched tapped its chin, as if it was thinking over his words. After a moment, its hand dropped. Its body shifted, a foot moving back and its torso twisting.
"I do not know what you speak of, but it matters not. You are little more than a pebble in my path."
It cocked its arm back.
Mojo sucked in a breath and slapped the wall behind him. The specially made emergency panel depressed and new sirens began blaring. Red lights flashed, distracting Aterex enough for him pull another gun from another hidden panel and blast it backwards.
It screeched in surprise, skidding a few feet. Smoke billowed from the burn on its chest and it shuddered, hands smoothing over the injured area. Lifting its head, those bulbous eyes looked murderous. Razor sharp teeth split from its hidden mouth, a maw of darkness greeting the world as it roared its displeasure.
Mojo shuddered. Oh, yes, definitely something befitting of Him.
He didn't waste time continuing to blast the creature, even as it lunged again. Its speed was so fast, almost on par to the Powerpuff Girls, and he hadn't spent years fighting those pesky girls not to learn a few things. He dodged away, running and blasting, before turning to make his escape. Something slammed into his back all the same and he found himself slamming into yet another wall, thankfully next to a door.
He groaned and rubbed his face. A shadow loomed over him.
"Vermin," Aterex hissed and raised its arm yet again.
Mojo grimaced before yelling and blasting the damn thing point blank.
Light blinded him.
A roar of pain echoed around him, but he was scrabbling for the door to his left. Through squinting eyes, he managed to pry it open and slammed it closed behind him. It hurt to breathe, but, considering he had just been tossed around like a doll, that wasn't too surprising. His muscles complained as he barricaded the door as best he could before hurrying to the secret escape hatch he had installed in his bathroom. As much as he hated to leave his observatory, his home, Aterex was strong.
The Powerpuff Girls at least let up after giving him a good beating.
This…creature…wanted to kill him.
Vermin, it had hissed and Mojo scowled.
He would show it who the vermin was.
The next day, after sneaking through the shadows at night and laying low in the trash (he hadn't had to do that in years), Mojo made his way through the quiet neighborhood. It didn't look like those things (and it was things because he had seen and heard so many last night. This was an invasion) had gotten this far. Nevertheless, he crept among the shadows of the early morning, using shrubbery to hide himself and keeping an eye on the skies.
Eventually, finally, he made it to the iconic house. It was hard to forget, since it had such a modern, almost brusque style compared to the rest of the homes around it. A white that needed a new coat of paint and a bright, bright red door. Three circular windows surveyed the lawn before it, reflecting the morning sunlight.
Mojo squared his shoulders and crossed to the front door.
And knocked.