AN: It's time to get back into this story. As usual, updates will not follow a regular schedule, and each chapter may take a while, but I will try to keep writing at a steady pace, even if a very slow one, just to keep going until this second section of the story is done. Part 2 is a bit more straightforward in terms of plot compared to Part 1, but we shall see if it takes longer than it to be completed. You can also expect chapters a bit on the shorter side for this part compared to Part 1, which hopefully will help with the rate at which new chapters will come up.
As a reminder, Part 2 will be followed by Part 3, which right now is likely to be shorter than Part 1 and 2, and then we'll have a two-chapter long epilogue. After that, this will be it for this series.
It may still take a long while, but I'm confident I can finish this even if it takes me a couple more years. It's kind of a personal challenge at this point, and I'm willing to tackle it.
Chapter 13
The Unknown Friend
"Whoa! Look down there you guys! A lion pack! Gosh, they're so cute!"
"That's actually a pride, Bubbles. And don't you dare try go down there and try to pet them! We better not scare the wits out of an endangered animal, let alone any people who may happen to see us doing it!"
"But there's no one around here, we're deep in the savannah… and it's not like anyone is in danger right now. Nuru's been telling us the entire time to take it easy, Blossom! Besides, I can explain myself to the lions so I wouldn't just show up there without stating my intentions. I would ask first!"
"She's got a point. She technically can talk with them."
"Don't encourage her, Donnie! And Bubbles, that is not enough for a reason, you aren't going and that's an order! It doesn't matter whether you can talk with them or not. I won't let you risk causing more chaos when—!"
"Okay, okay! I won't go…" Bubbles didn't hide her pout.
Buttercup scoffed. "Considering how last time you interacted with a wild animal you tried to pull a freaking whale into home and hide it from the Professor… I thought you had understood the point there, Bubs."
"That was different, and you know it!"
"What's a 'whale'?" Nuru asked with interest.
Donnie eyes were wide, looking incredulous. "A… whale? As in, the giant variety? Inside your house!?"
"We haven't told you about that one yet?" Buttercup replied. "Well, just to explain it to Nuru first, a whale is—"
"It's nothing important!" Bubbles interrupted, her voice raising in pitch.
Blossom couldn't help smiling with light amusement as Bubbles started bickering with Buttercup, all while the two boys looked befuddled by their argument for different reasons.
The five of them flew in a triangle formation of sorts, way above the ground. They were going at a relatively quick pace, almost as fast as a small plane, but Nuru had urged them to slow down and don't rush it enough that they were not really going at their fastest.
Ever since their small incursion in the military compound in China, the boy had been quite insistent in not requesting too much from the girls, repeating multiple times that his 'problem' wasn't as a dire one as Huan's, and that they had time. He had no brothers or sisters that needed to be rescued, and there was no military commander bad guy who wanted to enslave him.
He had been convincing enough, that they had ended up agreeing to bring a couple of backpacks along with them this time, carrying mostly changes for their clothing. It was likely that the climate they were going to encounter down in South Africa was going to be quite different from the one found in the Northern Hemisphere, after all.
Regardless, further details had proved to be hard to pry out from him. Eventually, Nuru had resolved to just tell them that once they got where he lived, he'd bring them to a man that would've cleared things out for him and that everything would be explained. But until then… they'd have to wait.
It meant having to believe him of course… but Nuru had yet to prove himself to be anything but trustable. He had fought hard and without hesitation in China, all the way up to facing the mutated form of General Gordon along with them, and he'd chosen to do so on his own accord. He could have just flown up to leave at any moment, but he stuck by the other puffs' side for the entire time, and remained with them even after they managed to defeat Gordon and the whole ordeal was over.
Blossom could only hope that it was not an elaborate ruse he put up to take them aback at the worst possible moment. She couldn't help thinking so, after so many villains had tried to trick her and her sisters… heck, they had technically been played once again even in China thanks to the deserter soldier who pulled them into the trap set by General Gordon.
And while she couldn't ignore the feeling of doubt and hesitation within her, she could at least try and tolerate it… for Nuru's sake. While also keeping an eye on him at the same time.
Sighing, Blossom turned her attention back to the path ahead, deciding to postpone her internal musings for another time.
Looking at the ground below them, she calculated that they were approaching South Africa very fast. It had been a while since they'd passed the lush forests of Central Africa after all. Perhaps, just a few other minutes of flight and then they'd be in the country where their destination was actually located.
"Half an hour!" Nuru suddenly chimed up, interrupting Buttercup and Bubbles argument. "Another half an hour, and we will be there!"
Bubbles clapped her hands. "Finally, we'll get to see where you live, Nuru!"
"Guess it's some kind of village, or…?" Donnie wondered.
Nuru shook his head. "There's a town nearby. Not as big as Ultrapolis! But… we are not that far from the biggest, uh… cities."
"At least, that means you're not completely isolated…" Buttercup concluded. "Hopefully we don't have to get things done while keeping out of sight… again. I don't think I'd be able to go through another hide-and-seek adventure like the last one."
"This time, we'll make sure to pay attention and not let our enemies take us aback," Blossom added. "But hopefully, Nuru can tell us a bit more about what we're dealing with once we're there."
She eyed the boy, who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. He had not missed how Blossom didn't approve his reluctance at sharing more details, though it wasn't enough for him to actually open up.
"Just… be patient, a little more," he simply said. "My dad will explain everything to you."
…
"Dad?" Buttercup repeated.
Nuru's eyes widened, then right after, he let out a chuckle.
"Yeah. We will meet him before anything!"
Princess took a peek through the glass of the circular window. Uninterested by the plane wing, her eyes ran down at the ground level hundreds of meters below, but all she saw was blue.
They were still flying over the ocean, so no matter how much she narrowed her eyes to focus, all she could see was an apparently unending plain of deep blue water.
Which was agonizingly boring!
Groaning, she let herself fall back on the luxurious armchair she was sitting on. She glanced with little interest at the precious silverware set placed on the table in front of her, as she had little hunger for the high-quality food that had been served for the mid-morning snack.
Then, her eyes ran up, and she saw that her father had been watching her. Princess's cheeks redden and she looked away, her confusion mixed with fear taking hold of her again.
Still trying to get used to that amount of attention from daddy…
"You've been quite… silent, Princess," Tycoon Morbucks noted. "Is there anything that's bothering you, dear?"
"N-No… I'm just… feeling a bit airsick," she lied.
"Quite peculiar for someone who habitually flies with jetpacks and power-suits," Tycoon noted flatly. Princess felt herself embarrassed beyond any limit, and naturally for her, that embarrassment turned into anger in a matter of moments.
"I'm just bored!" she exclaimed. "I'm still waiting for you to tell me just what you want me to do, daddy! I still don't know anything!"
"All in due time, dear," Morbucks calmly replied. "It is essential that our stay in South Africa goes as smoothly as possible, and I want you to have a fresh mind once we actually get there and we begin our work."
He glanced towards the window. "Then again… maybe I could at least give you an introduction to my business here. We should be arriving in half an hour or so, after all."
Princess crossed her arms, trying to sound as demanding as possible. "That's, like, the bare minimum!"
Then, something came up with her mind. "No, wait. Let me start first with a question. Why the heck are they here as well!?"
She gestured to her right, pointing at a certain group of individuals that sat on the opposite side of Morbucks' private jet.
That group of individuals being the Gangreen Gang.
"You know, there was a time where I probably should've taken offence in that tone," Ace replied. He proceeded to pop a Swiss-chocolate praline into his mouth. "But that time is not today. So, keep on."
"Keep on?!" Princess yelled. "You don't get to tell me whether I can keep going or not, I do it myself! You disgusting, spinach-skinned low-lives should not have anything to do with our goals! W-Whatever they are…"
Turning back with a jerk towards Tycoon Morbucks, she started barking out, "Seriously, daddy, why are… y-you…"
His glare proved to be too much to bear, and once again Princess found herself unable to reply, subsiding to her father's authority.
All she could do was clench her mouth shut, somehow silenced by the harsh glare her father was giving her. A glare she had learned to recognize very fast, ever since Tycoon started to actually interact with her beyond giving her generous amounts of green paper blocks regardless of the requests she gave to him.
Not even the snicker from Snake and Arturo and the comments they whispered to each other at the scene managed to get her worked up enough to defy her father.
What was happening to her…!?
"Now, Princess," Morbucks started, "some rules ought to be followed while you're following daddy around in his business. And that includes 'no insults between Morbucks employees'. We are all part of the same team here, and all of the men and women working under our label should pay heed to that fact."
"B-But—"
"There is no 'but', Princess." Morbucks shook a finger, looking down at her daughter like she was a rebellious dog unsuccessfully trying to get their owner to react to them. "Yet… if you really do need to know at least my reasons, the Gangreen Gang have proved to be quite an asset lately in Townsville. I followed their deeds and decided that they were the most suitable option to aid the company I hired for assistance."
"Oh, I didn't hear we were going to help out other guys," Ace used a finger to lift his sunglasses, eying Morbucks with a mix of curiosity and caution. "Anything else you wanna let us know about, tie guy?"
Snake snickered again, but this time Ace punched him in the shoulder before he could continue doing so. Morbucks, in any case, didn't give the gang members any reason to think he was disturbed by the nick name. He remained neutral as he answered.
"Not at all. Avoiding talking about the, well, respectable enterprise I've associated with for our operation was a necessary step to keep our operation clean and short, but now that we're almost there, there's no need to keep doing so. You'll soon get the chance to meet your peers at Coastedge."
"Wait, isn't that ss-some ss-sort of merc company?" Snake questioned.
Morbucks nodded. "Let's just say that strength was a most important factor in my decision."
Grubber blew a raspberry.
"Grubber asks how much time before we actually get to the action, then. I know I could get some good-old-fashioned 'fun' by visiting the place a little bit," Ace said. "If you know what I mean."
The other members of the gang smiled mischievously at his observation.
"We'll get to work right away. After landing in Cape Town, we'll take another flight via helicopter, all provided by Coastedge, but you won't have to worry. It will be the final one before we finally reach our final destination. Then, you and your colleagues do the job, we finish things up and wrap it all in one go, and then all of you can leave on your own terms with your payments safely in your pockets. That sounds great, doesn't it?"
"Well, I can only say I like the way you make business, tie guy," Ace nodded. He then reached out for a popsicle in the nearby mini refrigerator, satisfied by his reply, while his fellow gang members commented with delight at the thought of what they were going to do with the money. Except for Billy, who wondered why Princess thought they were spinach-skinned since they all disliked spinach and avoided it like the Plague.
Princess was still very much doubtful about the Gangreen Gang's skills and how much they would actually be able to contribute, but at this point she knew she had little voice in the matter. Perhaps daddy knew something she didn't about them? It wasn't like she kept an account of how the other enemies of the girls did in Townsville. She was mostly aware of Mojo, Him, Fuzzy and the Rowdyruffs—everyone else, she couldn't care less.
Her thoughts were halted as Morbucks directed his gaze at her.
"You, Princess, will have the key role of providing the majority of power needed to finish off our business in South Africa," he said. "The company's will assist with ground control and manpower, and the Gangreen Gang will act as a mid-way between you and them, but you, my dear, are the diamond of this operation."
Sensing the praise, Princess felt more confident than earlier, enough to make a question. Loudly, of course. "But then, what am I up to, and why did you bring me all the way here for it!?"
Morbucks seemed to muse over her question for a few seconds, and for those moments Princess thought that she had let herself shout with her shrill tone one time too many.
But then, Morbucks simply started talking again. "The Board of Morbucks Enterprises recently found out about a new, let's call it… resource, Princess. It's something very valuable to us that may also be of great help well beyond the confines of this country, and it's our interest to take possession of it."
He hummed to himself. "It looked almost too easy at first as an endeavour. We got our permission from the state, who was none the wiser concerning the true nature of the resource, and we had the manpower needed to pull it off thanks to Coastedge. But then, we hit a problem. A problem that proved to be a large thorn in our side. A… well…"
He glanced at Princess. "An infra-human problem."
The Gangreen Gang stopped chuckling to each other and remained silent, suddenly interested in the conversation, while Princess simply tilted her head.
"Infra-what?"
For a moment, Tycoon appeared surprised, but it lasted only for a moment. "Infra-humans. Beings wearing powers far beyond anything conceivable for normal humans. You know… such as the Powerpuff Girls."
Princess put two and two together, then let out a shrill cry. "You've brought me all the way over here just to have me try again to take those three down!?"
She scoffed. "I already had my plans, daddy. And they didn't involve you!"
"But now they do," Tycoon retorted. His face grew serious again, and slowly, it started to make Princess's anger cool down. He didn't even blink. "More so, now that your 'dear' classmates may be getting involved into the problem we are facing."
He picked up a file cartel beside himself that Morbucks had brought with himself when they had first boarded the plane. Princess had fast forgotten about it, but it soon proved far more important than she thought as he opened it and briefly went through the contents before taking out a photo.
"This is Nuru," he said, showing the photo to her. "He's an infra-human, like the Powerpuff Girls, and like Donnie of Ultrapolis. He's the reason why Coastedge has yet to fully take control of the territory we need at first. It was a simple annoyance at first, but we ended up reaching an impasse, where his frequent interventions prevent us from continuing with the search operations for the resource."
He showed her another photo, but this time it was one she knew. The photo of her nemeses, along with Nuru, Donnie and a few other of their kind that she didn't know. She still recognized the image though—it was one of the photos that had been shared by the news channels days earlier!
"We left the town Nuru lived in alone at first, believing it too dangerous to cause a ruckus with the country and risk making our business here known worldwide. We have of course options to deal with it in a more subtle way, but as long as Nuru exists, we effectively couldn't do anything. Thus, we planned to strike at the infra-human in one collective blow, with the aid of the Gangreen Gang, who are experienced with the Powerpuff Girls and their combat style. Leaving the infra-human alone for a while and then taking our chance to remove him from the picture with one swift blow. But Nuru, once again, made a move that nullified our plans, by choosing to go and seek for help elsewhere, and leaving in secret without us knowing about it."
He put the photo back into the file. "Once the events in Yanjing became known to the public eye, it became clear that we had to rethink our strategy. Along with the Board, I decided to act by focusing on speed. For all we know, Nuru may already be flying over here, followed by your old acquaintances and perhaps even more infra-humans. I may be confident in the abilities of the boys over there—" he glanced at the Gangreen Gang "—and Coastedge may have some firepower, but math doesn't lie, and numbers matter. We needed something else to leverage over Nuru and his new allies, something that could handle them."
He smiled with satisfaction. "That was when you came to my mind, Princess. You, who fought the girls for more than a year on almost a weekly basis, used to fight while under pressure from all the three of them at the same time. You, who had the experience that Nuru lacks in combat, and have the instruments needed to make this happen. The perfect choice, I'd say."
He leaned closer. "So, now you understand why you're here. The task is very simple. Get rid of the infra-humans. I don't care how it happens, whether by disposing of them or simply forcing them on the run out of this country. Morbucks Enterprises wants them gone… I want them gone. Is that clear?"
Princess didn't reply immediately. She stared at Tycoon Morbucks, stunned by his explanation and the level of planification he had showed.
She had always believed her father to be a passive man, heck, he was the epitome of passivity! All she asked, he gave her; all she wished, he granted—without comment, without protests, without even questioning her for further details. He just gave her the money and she used it as she pleased. She thought her relationship with him was going to remain as simple as that for a long while.
Yet, it turned out that this man… was really far from what she imagined. He had a plan, a clear one, and she had a place in it.
…
"…does that mean I have free reign?"
"As in, free to buy and use whatever is at your disposal? Weaponry, methods and the such?"
She nodded, and Tycoon Morbucks simply grinned in return.
"Of course."
"Follow me! We are getting close!"
Nuru had already taken the lead of the small group of flying puffs, and he suddenly dived down from their position high in the sky. Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup and Donnie followed him in his dive, and soon they all started to see the profile of a small settlement right under them.
The town they were approaching appeared to be mid-sized, something comparable to an average rural American town, though there was still a recognizable city centre. Grasslands and cultivated fields surrounded the town, with a web of roads connecting it to other towns. Since the puffs were in flight, from their position they could even see what appeared to be the silhouette of a large city. It was extremely far, but it was visible!
Blossom had initially thought that Nuru may have lived actually away from most cities, but perhaps she had been too fast in her judgement?
Her new interpretation was debunked when Nuru suddenly took a diversion, flying in parallel to the earth and still few hundred meters above the town. He aimed for a hill ridge that was visible far ahead, in a zone that looked completely devoid of human presence.
"Wait, you don't live down there?" Buttercup questioned, giving a glance back towards the town there were now flying away from.
"Not… really," Nuru replied hesitantly. "Dad doesn't live there. I visited it four times… five? I don't remember well. If you want to, we could do something later… but, huh, I'm not really sure…"
"No, no, it's not a problem," Buttercup quickly corrected, sensing his awkwardness. "I was just surprised we didn't stop there first."
"We might as well check with your dad first, Nuru," Blossom agreed. "I think it may be helpful to have someone who doesn't look at us as untrustworthy strangers and is actually on our side filling us in, as a starting point."
Nuru nodded vigorously. "He looks forward to meet you for sure!"
"I'm sure he's going to be a fun guy. What's he like, Nuru? You never really told us much about him."
"He is… he's amazing!"
"Yeah, right, we could guess that already given that's all you said earlier. How about being a bit more specific?" Buttercup said with an amused smile.
That started a short exchange between the two puffs and Nuru as the latter tried his best to describe his creator to them in terms of appearance, an exchange that quickly turned into a brief English lesson on clothing vocabulary.
Blossom had already heard enough about Nuru's dad from him—she doubted he'd share anything important that they were minutes away from meeting him in person, so she quickly stopped paying attention to their speech. She glanced back at Donnie, who was flying behind her, just to check on him.
He was actually flying without watching his path ahead, his head directed at the town they had left behind.
"Donnie?"
He turned back with a jerk, almost losing his flight equilibrium. "B-Blossom!"
"You alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine…"
Blossom kept looking at him.
…
"Well, maybe, not completely," he admitted.
"What's the problem? I think… that things are looking a little bit better right now, compared to how we started in Yanjing. Don't you think?" Blossom said. "Once Nuru's dad clears things out with us, we should be able to do a pretty clean job at helping them with whatever problem they have. And besides, I don't see any military bases and compounds around here… that's a plus."
"No, no, I'm actually not worried about what kind of help Nuru needs from us. It's just… that town."
Donnie frowned. "I didn't like how Nuru avoided the subject with us. He… he almost sounded anxious, even, when Buttercup asked him about it."
"Well… maybe it's just yet another case of people having to take their time to process idea of having a superpowered child around?" Blossom noted. "I mean… maybe that's the case, but there's nothing worse than that. He never talked about accidents and the such. He never gave us the impression he wasn't fine, besides the issue we're her for."
Donnie shook his head. "Just… do we really all have to go through this? Every single time?"
Blossom didn't know what to reply at first. Donnie raised a good point there… assuming even Nuru was an instance of it, it had been four times that superpowered kids like them had encountered resistance in their own birth-place.
For the girls it was somewhat easy to explain, given how they had almost obliterated the city with their oblivious game of tag. And Donnie had his own set of problems, when he was under the influence of Him's machinations.
Even Huan, Ai, Li and Hui were likely to hit a rock wall of distrust, considering how the Chinese representative had been very uncooperative at first with the Powerpuff Girls. Their involvement in the whole fiasco with Damian Gordon wasn't going to help their chances at first, that was for sure.
Nuru, however… if he really was having problems getting accepted in a town as small as this one, compared to metropolis cities such as Townsville, Ultrapolis and Yanjing, then it could start being something to be worried about on the long term. More so, considering Nuru had not given them any reason to think he was hiding some dark secret of sorts.
Blossom shuddered at that thought. They had long since excluded that, but of course… surprises could always be behind the corner.
"I think…" she eventually said, "maybe we could look into it, once we get a better idea of what's going on around here. We ask Nuru to be more honest about it and let him explain himself. Then, we can see what we can do to help him in this regard as well, at least enough that he doesn't have to outright avoid his hometown."
"I guess that's an option…" Donnie said without conviction.
Blossom wondered why Donnie still sounded very much still on the fence regarding her proposition, but before she could question him further, Nuru suddenly called them. "Blossom! Donnie! Down ahead, follow me!"
He let himself fall down, regally curving his body as he went into a nosedive. Bubbles and Buttercup trailed him close, already aware of his intentions, while Blossom and Donnie took a moment to recompose themselves and close the gap with him.
Half a minute later, they were almost on the ground, and Nuru corrected his flight trajectory to aim straight to what appeared to be… a series of huts.
"A small village?" Bubbles guessed.
"No. That's home!"
After all, Nuru's dad really liked to live far from civilization, it seemed.
There was a dirt road that seemed to climb down the hills and move through the long distance between the set of huts and the town they'd seen… but whereas the town was surrounded by a few cultivated fields and looked lively enough for something of its size, the same couldn't be said for this area.
The hills here were basically barren, wild areas of savannah-like undergrowth with a few trees dotting the place, which were in contrast with what the girls had seen closer to the town and in the areas that lead to the city they saw earlier, a city that was no more visible now that they were close to the terrain.
Blossom decided not to overthink about the location of Nuru's home more than needed. No need to jump to conclusions… first, they actually had to meet the guy.
The puffs eventually closed the distance and finally touched the ground with their own feet. The five landed safely on the dusty terrain, and Nuru proceeded to run towards the largest of the few huts present. Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup and Donnie gave each other a quick glance, before they proceeded to follow Nuru as well.
The huts, as Blossom got closer, turned out to be mostly made of wood, with the exception of the largest one, being an actual concrete building of sorts with wood being there only for the roof. They all looked fairly well-made, though, despite the simplicity of the materials. The function of each of them, however, remained a mystery for the time being—especially considering that only one man lived here along with Nuru, in theory.
Nuru walked up to the concrete hut and opened the door freely. He let out a loud, jovial call, this time not in English. He glanced back to his companions, gesturing for them to follow in, before he disappeared inside the building.
The puffs seemed to hesitate for a moment, standing right in front of the entrance, then Blossom decided to take the lead. "Only one way to find out what we are dealing with…" she said solemnly.
Then, she went in first.
Blossom found herself in a relatively large, open chamber. The sides were dotted with glassless windows that were partly covered with drapes and other fabric covers, letting in only just enough light to let bystanders look around in an attempt to keep the worst of the heat and flying arthropods outside.
What really caught her attention was the actual contents of the room. Lines of tables where everywhere, and all of them were filled with stuff. Immediately, she could tell there were two distinct sets of objects recognizable.
On one hand, gathered in a specific place, there was what almost looked like a makeshift mini scientific laboratory, not unlike the Professor's. Glass flasks, papers with the instruments needed to write on them, laboratory equipment and even electrical wires to power some of machines on, running through one of the windows. She could only guess there was a power generator nearby, since there were definitely no powerlines going from the tow to here.
On another hand… it almost looked like she'd come into the secret sanctuary of a long-forgotten shaman of times unknown.
It was by far the dominant theme of the room as well. Rows of pictures dotting the walls, a few picturesque masks, and various tables covered with unrecognizable instruments and objects, all of which were however clearly handmade. Containers filled with who knows what, lines of peculiar-looking clothing and accessories resting on the walls. And more! It was not just a few details, everything around her screamed of a tradition and culture she had little knowledge of, clearly clashing with the few pieces of modernity represented by the experimenting equipment that was present in a corner of the room. It was almost spooky!
Well… it definitely became spooky when she suddenly realized that there was a figure standing right in the centre of the room, wearing a giant mask and fiddling with something on a table.
Blossom would have probably taken him for a monster ready to jump at her if it wasn't for Nuru. He was jumping around the stranger, talking in his own language with the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face, his eyes oozing with happiness.
At that point, Blossom had already been joined by her sisters and their friend, and the four of them found themselves facing the incredibly large, oblong mask donned by the figure as he walked up to them, Nuru right in tow. However, the man proceeded to remove the mystic garment, revealing his face to them.
What they found was a surprisingly standard-looking person, all things considered. He wore a simple set of clothing made up of a long-sleeved cloth that ran down long, up to his knees, giving him a more reserved look comparable to the one of a scientist in a lab coat, rather than the colourful looks of shamans the girls may have expected as kindergartners who sometimes listened to stories read aloud to them and saw pictures about them.
However, he also looked far from being shy. His smile was honest and heart-warming as he extended his arms out in a welcoming gesture.
"You're finally here… it… it makes me very, very happy, that all of you made it here! Powerpuff Girls… and Donnie!" he started talking with a voice that betrayed his excitement. Very unlike what they thought to be a shaman, again… Blossom considered that maybe that one story about a shaman warrior she had heard once from a kid at Pokey Oaks wasn't exactly a trustworthy account of how shamans in the world worked.
"You can understand us?" Donnie started, beating the girls on time. "We… uh, Bubbles here," he motioned to her, who blushed when the attention was shifted towards her. "Can talk and translate if you need an interpreter of sorts."
"I know some English, so that is not necessary," he replied. "I thank you for your offer, but I will try keep speaking your own language here… the language of you girls, that is. I need some practice, after all!"
He let out an amused laugh. "It doesn't happen often here to get a chance at it, if you understand me."
"That's… okay, I guess," Blossom nodded. She really had no idea what she should take from the behaviour of this man. He seemed nice, but…
"Please, follow me and come to the room over here," he started moving towards an open doorway. Nuru had rushed in that same room before he even finished talking with the guests. "I can offer you something, before we talk."
They shared a few glances with each other, then the four of them walked behind him.
"So, you are going to tell us something about what is going on, right? Nuru didn't tell us that much…" Buttercup said.
"That is true. I asked him to do so," for the very first time, the voice of the man sounded less cheerful than usual—in fact, it had shifted to serious fast enough to get the attention of all of the four puffs.
He whirled his head a little to glance at them for a moment.
"We need some time to explain everything in the best way possible to you. We… have some problems, yes. And with some help, you can help us deal with them before anything bad… very bad, can happen."
AN: I tried to some research here, but I don't claim to be some maximum expert of geography and world cultures, so apologies for anything that may sound glaringly off-place here. For a fanfiction, I try to adhere to what is comparable to the OG 1998 show itself in terms of locations visited and what's seen of them and how they look in terms of detail, even if taken in a fairly more serious context, so keep that in mind… of course, feedback is still appreciated.