A New Ally
by Barbara Fett
It all started innocently enough. A science experiment, meant only to advance human knowledge and capabilities, was progressing well. Then, by a twist of fate, the Powerpuff Girls were born. What was the power source in this twist? A mysterious substance called Chemical X.
That was more than a year ago. Now, a new phase in the Girls' lives is starting, with an equally ordinary occurrence . . .
The city of Townsville . . . on a Thursday night, when everyone is
relaxing after a long day. But wait! Someone is working late.
It was dark outside Townsville Research Center. A shipment of
Chemical X was to be taken from the center to another city for further
study. Seventeen-year-old Brian Schill had the job of loading cases
of small vials of the chemical onto a truck.
There were two cases, and Brian was carrying the first one when he tripped on the old, cracked asphalt. One of the vials fell out of the case and rolled into a storm drain opening.
"Okay," said an irritated Brian. "Why do I have to put them on the truck first and then pack them for the trip? It makes no sense." He hoped the lost Chemical X wouldn't hurt the environment or anything. Stupid transportation people! he thought as he worked, more carefully now.
*******
In the still of the night, the discarded chemicals flowed along a sewer. They came to a stop in a pool where the water was almost still, some miles from where it had been dropped. The pool was a foul mixture of just about everything nice and otherwise. With the addition of Chemical X, a reaction began. The liquid swirled faster and faster, then blasted upward as if a bomb had gone off beneath its surface.
When it settled down again, a small figure with a large head found himself hovering over it. He seemed to be lacking ears, fingers, or a nose, and he had brown hair and mismatched eyes, one brown and one green. He was wearing black pants, black shoes, and a royal-purple shirt with a wide black stripe across it. At first, he knew only one thing: His name was Blake.
He looed down at himself, then at his surroundings. He was in a dark, enclosed place. What is this place? he thought. Why am I here? Where did I come from?
Okay . . . let's see, what do I know so far? I know my name is Blake and I'm in a dark, smelly place and I don't know why I'm here or how I got here. I also know that when I fly really fast, I'll leave a streak the same color as my shirt . . . I think I'll try it.
He tried flying. It worked, and the purple streak appeared. Wow, that was fun! And whatever this place is, it's long! Oh, hey, I can do other things too . . .
He looked around for something to lift with his superstrength, didn't find anything, and punched a hole in the wall as an alternate demonstration. Hmmm. I can see flying, but why would I want to do that? He tried his laser eye-beams and found that they cut neatly through the wall. Oh. Okay, now what? There's so much to find out . . . I think I'll see where I can go from here . . .
As he explored his birthplace, he found nothing but more darkness, and lots of water. He found it fascinating to just watch it go by. It was alive with its own special energy, and he felt connected to it. This is weird . . . I know there's more out there, so where is it?
After a long time, he came to a round opening with bars across it. There was some light, but not much, on the other side. Looking out, he saw a large body of water and a few small buildings. Wow! Now how am I going to get out there? Oh, yeah . . .
Using his laser eye-beams, he cut through two of the bars, leaving a space large enough to climb through. He flew up above the buildings and looked out at the world.
The air was cold and breezy, and the strong odor of the dark place was still present. It was almost midnight, but Blake didn't know that. The main thing there was to see was the dim skyline of a large city. That's where a lot of people are and a lot of stuff happens, he thought, drawing again on his innate knowledge base. Maybe I belong somewhere in there.
*******
In the morning, Blake was in the city, trying to find where he belonged. He flew high above the tall buildings, then came straight down. What would he find there?
He came down in a small open area with only one building in it - a tower with a telescope at the top. There were many holes in the upper part of the tower. Cautiously, Blake flew through one of them.
Inside was a room full of electronic equipment. The only person in it was doing something to one of the machines with a wrench. Blake came a little closer and saw that the person was wearing a blue-and-purple costume with white gloves and boots. Presently, this person finished working and said, "And now, I will test my new Invention for Destroying the Powerpuff Girls!" He pressed a button.
A net burst out of the top of the machine, swooped, closed at the top, and dropped into a glass chamber where it was shot through with beams of light that looked a lot like Blake's laser eye-beams. The other person laughed. "It works! At last, I, Mooooojo Jojo, will triumph!"
This is not me, Blake thought. I'm not supposed to destroy things. How do I know that? Well, the same way I knew my name. He flew away to continue the search.
*******
Blake went away from the center of the city and explored the outer part, where the buildings were smaller and the air was cleaner. On the way, he stopped several times to watch the water running in gutters and fountains. Finally, he came to a place where little people like himself were playing outside. I must be getting close to what I'm looking for . . .
He decided to join them. He landed in the play area, but right at that moment, a woman's voice yelled, "Blossom! Hotline! Everybody inside!"
Blake understood the words, but didn't know what the woman was talking about. All the kids hurried into the building and Blake glimpsed three colored streaks in the air. He stood there, puzzled. What was going on?
In a moment, the pink, blue, and green streaks shot up from the building and flew away towards the center of the city. Amazed, Blake followed them. They're like me! I want to meet them - maybe they know why I'm here.
When they got downtown, they stopped. Blake kept his distance, observing. Now that they had stopped, he saw that his counterparts were three girls. The red-haired one who had made the pink streak said, "There it is! Attack formation!"
In the street below, a huge gray-and-black monster was eating and destroying things. The girls formed a triangle and flew straight at the monster. Together, they kicked and punched and laser-eye-beamed it until it could no longer fight back. Then they tossed it away, to the cheers of people in the street.
Now, Blake flew up before them. "Um . . . you were great," he began.
"Aaah!" yelped the blonde girl. "Mojo Jojo's at it again!"
"Mojo Jojo?" said Blake. "At what again?"
"You know who he is?" asked the redhead.
"Yes."
"But you didn't come from him?"
"No. I came from some dark place last night. Mojo Jojo doesn't know about me."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Blake."
"I'm Blossom, and these are my sisters, Bubbles and Buttercup."
"Hi," said the other two girls.
"We need to talk more," said Blossom to Blake. "Let's go to Bonsai Gardens."
"Great!" said Blake.
*******
Bonsai Gardens was the perfect place for the four small children to sit and talk. No one was there to see them.
"Okay," said Blossom. "We'd like to know everything about you and where you came from."
"Fine," said Blake. "Maybe you can help me understand it. Will you tell me your story afterwards?"
"Yes."
"All right. My name is Blake, and last night, I was in this weird dark place. I don't remember anything before that, so I don't know how I got there. The first things I knew where my name and how to use my powers."
"The same ones we have?"
"Yes. So I tried them out, and then I found my way out of the dark place and came to the city. I looked for something I could do, and I found Mojo Jojo building something called an 'Invention for Destroying the Powerpuff Girls.' "
"Not again!" exclaimed Bubbles.
"Again?" said Blake. Then he made the connection. "Are you -?"
"Yes, we are," said Blossom. "Go on."
"Okay. I knew that wasn't the right thing for me to do. I kept looking and found some kids playing. They all went inside when I came, and I saw you fly away, and I followed you to where the monster was."
"Interesting," said Blossom. "Judging from your story, you must be one of us - not a Powerpuff Girl, of course, but a Chemical X child. See, when you add Chemical X to certain things, it creates kids like us. You're the . . . eighth one."
"There are more of us?"
"Well, there were, but there aren't now. The others wre the Rowdyruff Boys, who only lasted a day before we defeated them, and Bunny, who didn't last much longer. So now it's just us, and you."
"So how were you created?"
"Professor Utonium was trying to make a perfect littl girl out of sugar, spice, and everything nice. Then there was an accident with the Chemical X and he got us."
"And Mojo Jojo," added Buttercup.
"Yes, and Mojo Jojo," amended Blossom. "His assistant monkey, Jojo, got caught in the explosion when we were created and became Mojo Jojo. So now, we protect Townsville from monsters and villains."
"I want to fight evil, too," said Blake. "I think I'm more like you than anyone else I've met."
"All right," said Blossom. "You can come with us the next time we go out and fight. But for now, let's go back to school. Miss Keane will be waiting for us."
"Can I come?"
"Sure!"
The four of them flew back across town.
*******
". . . So can he please stay at school?" said Blossom. She had just finished explaining the situation to Miss Keane.
"All right," said the teacher. "Will he need a place to stay afterwards?"
"Yes."
"I know a couple who can take care of him. I'll talk to them after school."
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome, dear. Now let's get back to class."
Blake was very happy to spend the rest of the day in school. In the afternoon, the three girls took him to their house to meet Professor Utonium.
"Hi, girls!" said the Professor. "How was your day at school?"
"Very interesting," said Blossom. "We fought a monster, and when we were done, we met this kid . . . here he is."
Professor Utonium stared at the boy for a long moment, then said: "Another one! Who created you? Was it Mojo Jojo again?" He remembered what Mojo's first creations, the Rowdyruff Boys, had done.
"No, it wasn't Mojo Jojo. It wasn't anyone. I was alone at the beginning."
"Where were you?"
"In a sewer," said Blossom, to make it clearer.
"A sewer?" said the Professor. "Those transportation people must have lost one. They're going to be in trouble."
"What transportation people?" asked Blake.
"Last night, a shipment of Chemical X was taken away from Townsville Research Center. Someone must have dropped one of the containers and let it get into the sewer. Now you're here."
"Oh," said Blake. "Well, I won't be any trouble. I want to fight evil with the Powerpuff Girls."
"That's wonderful! I'm not sure if you can stay with us, though -"
"It's okay," said Blossom. "Miss Keane met him, and she said she knew someone he could stay with."
"Welcome to the team, Blake!" said Bubbles.
"Yeah, welcome aboard," said Buttercup.
*******
A week passed. Blake went to live with Tony and Laurie Marino and attended Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. He told the Powerpuff Girls about Mojo Jojo's invention, and they planned to go to the park on Saturday and disable it together as the newly renamed Team Powerpuff.
"Here goes," said Blossom as they flew into the park on Saturday. "Good luck."
"Good luck, girls," said Blake. As planned, he hid in Mojo Jojo's laboratory like on that first day. The Invention for Destroying the Powerpuff Girls had been moved so that the net would come out of the roof. Mojo Jojo was operating it.
The girls flew over the tower, pretending not to know what would happen. The net hit them and held them fast, but they didn't struggle.
Blake heard it close, came out of hiding, knocked Mojo aside and stopped the machine. When it stopped, the net was about halfway to the glass laser chamber. Blake helped the girls escape from it.
"What is this?" demanded Mojo Jojo. "Your new spy, Powerpuff Girls?"
"I'm the newest member of Team Powerpuff," said Blake. "Let's get it on!"
"Watch out for the ray gun!" cautioned Blossom, joining the fight.
"Whatever, let's kick some butt!" said Buttercup.
It was a fight like so many others, only with one more person and therefore more intensity and even more of an advantage over Mojo Jojo. It ended with Mojo being locked up and the Invention for Destroying the Powerpuff Girls being deactivated permanently.
"That was really neat," said Blake on the way home. "Thanks."
"Thank you for saving us," said Bubbles.
"Nothing like a good fight," said Buttercup.
Blossom smiled. "Yeah. It looks like it'll be like this from now on."
And so, the day is saved, thanks to . . . Team Powerpuff!
Disclaimer: Everything from the show belongs to Cartoon Network.
Blake and the other original characters belong to me. No money is
being made off this; I write because it's fun. :-)