Page 2
Well, the week went by a lot faster than I thought it would. Saturday came before I knew it. Of course, I had explained it all again to my parents, who couldn't remember me telling them about it. But they were OK with it. My Dad had the camera all ready and we got in the car.
When we got to the food court, there was a stage set up right where the wing met one of the big, long shopping areas. It had big speakers set up on both ends of it and it was all decorated with Powerpuff Girls posters. There was a big TV screen on the stage, too. They had the part of the floor by the stage blocked off so that people couldn't get too close to it, which made me happy. Out away from the stage there was another stack of speakers. I knew the girls had a music CD called 'Heroes and Villains', so I was hoping that's what the speakers were for.
Behind the stage, there was like a small room set up that was all covered over with black cloth so people couldn't see in. There was a flap on it so it really was like a tent, just like Buttercup told me. I heard some people inside it talking. That was where I was supposed to be. My Mom and Dad left me there, saying they were going shopping for a little bit and they'd be back in time to watch me.
I stuck my head inside and a pretty lady, all dressed up, said, "Oh, you must be Susie! Come on in!"
There were a whole bunch of people in there, and right away I stopped feeling nervous because they were all nice. There was that lady; she was from the radio station that talked about the show all week. It was in all the papers, too. There were three teenage girls that were there to help each of us go out on stage and come back, because the heads of the costumes were actually going to be over our heads. We would be inside just the bodies and the bottom parts of the heads, and wouldn't be able to see at all, so they were there to make sure we didn't fall off the stage or anything. There were some guys wearing jeans and T-shirts who kept going in and out. They were the ones setting up all the TV and sound stuff to make sure it all worked. There were two older guys, both dressed in suits. One guy was from the radio station, too, and he was going to run the show, introducing us and getting the crowd all pumped up. The other guy was from the cable company. They had something to do with getting this idea going all over the country, if today went OK.
Then there were my two 'sisters' for a day. Blossom was right. One was the daughter of the radio guy; her name was Lindsey and she was 9. She was going to be Buttercup. Ashley was 10 and was already in the Blossom costume with the head off. The guy from the cable company was her dad. I also found out they were cousins. They were both really friendly and told me I was lucky to actually know the Powerpuff Girls. They were right about that!
Ashley and Lindsey already knew what they were supposed to do, but they sat patiently while I was told what I was supposed to do. They even helped explain it to me. I could tell we were going to have a lot of fun. I could hear it getting noisier outside. People were starting to show up and I could hear little kids yelling, laughing, running, and even a few were crying. I wasn't nervous at all anymore. They weren't here to stare at me and make me afraid; they were here to see the Powerpuff Girls.
The time went by fast. It was already 10:30 and I got into my costume. We had to be used to them before we went onstage in a half-hour. Just then, an old lady pushed her way in through the flap. It surprised everybody.
The radio station lady said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, you can't come in here."
But the old lady just pushed her out of the way and with her other hand, ripped off the wig she had on. It was Mojo Jojo, the evil monkey!
He must have been hanging around in his disguise, watching, because he waited until all the setup guys were out of the room. Everybody jumped, and Ashley's and Lindsey's dads got in front of them to protect them. The radio lady got in front of me. Mojo waved a laser gun at us.
"What do you want, Mojo?" Lindsey's dad said. He was mad. "There's nothing of value here!
Mojo looked right at Ashley.
"What I want is for you to get out of that costume!
Ashley's dad said, "If it's the costumes you want, take them!"
"No way, Dad!" Ashley compalined. "I've been waiting all week for this and no stupid baboon is gonna ruin it for me!"
Mojo didn't like that. He aimed the laser right at her. "Silence, you accursed kid, and furthermore, SHUT UP!"
"It's OK, honey." her dad said. "He can have them. We've got extra suits for you to wear."
"I do not desire to remove the accursed suits from this location!" Mojo said, shaking his other fist. He got mad awful easy. "I wish to get inside that one, which I cannot do while you are in it, as they were not designed to comfortably accomodate two beings. So GET OUT!"
Ashley started getting out, but she wasn't too happy about it. "You make a stupid Blossom."
"Don't I wish." he mumbled under his breath. "For if she were stupid then she would not be intelligent and cause me such headaches." He rubbed his head like she was giving him one right then. He started waving the gun at everybody while trying to get into the suit at the same time. "Who is in charge here?"
"I am." said Lindsey's dad.
"That is incorrect! I am in charge, and do not forget it! Now, carry on and just pretend that I'm not here." He looked at Ashley. "You may do the afternoon show. That is, if anyone is still around to watch it! Muahahahaha!!!"
"What are going to do?" the lady said. "Blow up the mall with everyone in it?"
"No!"
Lindsey said, wide-eyed, "Hold everyone hostage for all the money in Townsville?"
Mojo rubbed his chin and said, "Hmmm. That's not a bad idea, but no."
"Turn everyone into zombies and rob all the stores?" asked Ashley.
"Oh, for goodness sake, NO!" Mojo yelled. "I have devised a scheme to commit the most evil deed ever seen in the history of Townsville! I will go out on that stage and I, Mojo Jojo, will remove Blossom's head!"
"Noooo!!" everybody gasped.
"Yeeessss!!! All those stupid people out there came to see you little brats dressed up like the Powerpuff Girls, and what is even more stupid is that most of them believe that you are the Powerpuff Girls. So when they see me take off Blossom's head, revealing me, Mojo Jojo, their dreams will be crushed and the Powerpuff Girls will be finished in Townsville! Muahahahahahaa!!!"
"You'll never get away with it, Mojo!" I yelled at him. "The real Powerpuff Girls are at the mall office watching the whole thing and all one of us has to do is scream for help when we go out there!"
He looked surprised, but only for second. "Ahhh, that is PERFECT! When the real Powerpuff Girls show up and people see them with what they thought were the real Powerpuff Girls, they will become confused, and being confused, they will not know what is happening! Then, the Powerpuff Girls' plan to take this plan elsewhere will fail and they will be finished in the rest of the world!"
He saw us all staring at him and said, "Hey, I read the papers too, you know! Now, Mister Microphone," he said to Lindsey's dad, "go out there and get them to give it up for the Powerpuff Girls! And no tricks!"
Mojo had this one all figured out. There was nothing any of us could do. Lindsey's dad went out. Ashley's dad tried to comfort her. She was upset at losing her chance to be Blossom. Mojo peeled the curtain back some and we could see all the people out there. There were lots of them. I could see mostly girls, but there were some boys, too. A lot of the girls had Powerpuff Halloween costumes on and some of them were waving Powerpuff dolls. I wondered if my Dad was out there with his camera.
(He was. My parents didn't think there'd be so many people and they stayed shopping too long. It took him a while to get near the stage. Here's a couple pictures he took of kids in their Powerpuff costumes.)
Mojo let go of the curtain and said, "Somebody help me put this thing on!"
The lady helped him. Blossom's head went on awful hard over that stupid big thing he wore, and he grouched and complained the whole time. Ashley's dad told us to just do what Mojo said out there and to not worry. Ashley got even a little. She kicked Mojo hard in the leg and he felt it even through the costume.
"Ow, you stupid kid! Do that again and I'll shoot you with my laser!"
She kicked him again and I heard something inside his costume fall down and hit the floor. I think it was his gun. Way to go Ashley!
"Curses! Ah, no matter! My plan cannot fail!"
Lindsey and I put our heads on and it was time to go out. Already, the music from the CD was playing and I found out that the TV on the stage was showing videos of the real Powerpuffs in action. We could hear Lindsey's dad firing everyone up and kids were starting to yell 'We want the Powerpuff Girls!'
There were stairs leading up to the stage and one of the teenagers led Mojo up them. He was going out first. The song 'Signal In The Sky' was playing, it's one of my favorites, and Lindsey's dad introduced Blossom. A big cheer went up. Nobody knew the truth.
Lindsey went out next and I was right behind her. We could hear each of the girls' fans calling out the names of their favorite one, but just barely, the music was so loud.
We had to practically shout to hear each other over the music. The first thing I did was get my helper to walk me to the front of the stage. I counted the steps, so I would know how far I could go without falling off.
"Don't worry about that noise." my helper told me. "It's just some little smoke bombs they lit."
I couldn't hear it, anyway. I wanted to get to the side and keep Mojo stuck in the middle between Lindsey and me, so I guessed once we traded places, I would have about as much room to my left as to the front and still be safe. I was coming up with a plan in my head.
I never dreamed when my friends asked me to do this, that I might get the chance to do what a real Powerpuff Girl does and save the day!