"Welcome to Townsville"



I began waking up. I couldn't see very well. My vision was slightly blurry. I began thinking to myself if I remembered to turn the TV off or not. My thoughts were interrupted by a ZOOM sound occurring off to the side. It sounded like a car driving by at a great speed.

Wait.....a car? I opened my eyes a little wider and my vision became clearer. I felt my adrenaline flowing throughout my body as I let out a horrified scream.



I wasn't on my couch anymore.



I was outside in broad daylight, on top of a hill in the country. Next to me was a two-lane highway that led to a sprawling metropolis. Tall skyscrapers pointed up to sky. Next to it lay a large body of water.

This realization was shocking enough as it was, but what made this ordeal even more shocking was the fact that everything was animated! The reds were too red. The greens were too green. Every movement appeared as though it was created on a fast-moving set of frames and splashed with Technicolor!

The second shock came when I discovered that I was animated as well! I wore the same clothes I had on when I fell asleep, but there wasn't a wrinkle or crease on them. My body had incredibly simplified features, and I had the most plainest shadow you've ever seen. I had become an illustration!

I spent about two or three minutes screaming my head off, before I came to a stop. I think it would've been perfectly reasonable for me to drop dead from fright at that moment. However, since I didn't want to think about what the inside of a cartoon funeral home looked like, I decided to try and find a way out of here. I began walking slowly toward the city.

As I walked, I began wondering if this was all a dream. I groaned as I immediately discovered it wasn't. I'd seen enough cartoons and TV shows by now to know that whenever a character says they're in a dream, most of the time they actually are. Besides, whoever heard of someone having a dream where they know they are in a dream? Not me.

Suddenly, a giant sign caught my eye. I began running towards it. I came to a sudden stop as I read what was written on it:

"Welcome to the city of Townsville. Population: 1306839. Enjoy your visit. Watch out for monsters. No curse words beyond this point."

I actually began smiling. It was like a dream come true! I must've somehow been transported into the cartoon universe! It was the only explanation, illogical as it was.

I began heading into town. The only bad thing that happened was when I stubbed my foot on a rock. I began cursing out loud before I stopped myself, remembering what the sign said. I shouldn't have been worried. All I said was "$#@%*!"

As I entered suburbia, I spotted a taxi parked on the curb. I reached in my pocket and I felt a few coins. I ran to the taxi and hopped in.

"How far into town will this get me?" I asked the fat taxi driver, as I showed him the money.

"Prob'ly the Mayor's office," he said in a New York accent.

"Great! Take me there."

The man put the car into gear and we headed into town. We only traveled a couple of blocks when we drove by a very familiar house. I gasped in astonishment. The white house looked like an ordinary house, except it had three large holes in the upper story.

"Hey, man," I said, shakily. "Is...is that...?"

"The Powerpuff girls' house? Yep, it sure is," said the driver.

I also saw a man in a lab coat watering the plants in the front yard. "And that's Professor Utonium!" I said eagerly.

"Hey, y'know, you sure know a lot of stuff, for a tourist," said the driver.



It was at that moment that I realized the irony involved here. Nobody here in this animated realm was aware that they were being viewed by everyone from my world. I decided that I had to act as though I didn't know anyone here for as long as I stayed here. Of course, given the fact that I pretty much knew everything about all the cartoons here made my decision harder to carry out.

I sat in the back seat of the taxi, taking in all the sights of the city of Townsville. There seemed to be a lot more construction crews here than there were in any city back home. I wasn't surprised. Townsville got destroyed by monsters all the time, so it made sense.

At last, the taxi pulled up to City Hall. I paid the driver the money I owed him, and went inside. The lobby looked like a regular lobby for a government building, complete with a front desk and secretary. I walked up to the secretary behind the front desk.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I said to the secretary. "Could you direct me to the Mayor's office?"

The twenty-year old woman behind the desk looked at me and quirked up an eyebrow. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked.

"Why, certainly!" I answered. I knew that if I said no, I'd have to go somewhere else, like the Powerpuff girls' house or something.

"Very well," sighed the secretary. "Just follow the signs." She pointed to an arrow on the wall.

"Thank you," I said, and proceeded down a hallway directed by signs. As I walked, I asked myself why I didn't just go to the Powerpuff girls' house in the first place. I resolved that I'd be too anxious to see them and blow my cover as an unsuspecting tourist. Plus, the Mayor was bound to have a bunch of maps to the city. Maybe one that could show me the way back home!



After walking up a flight of stairs and down a few more halls, I arrived at two large, decorated doors. A woman was standing next to them. She had red hair, an incredible figure, and was wearing a red dress. (I'd describe her face if I could, but I don't want to bore you with details.)

"Excuse me," I said shakily. "Are you Miss Bellum?"

"Why, yes!" she said. "May I help you, young man?"

"Yes, I'd like to speak with the Mayor. I'd...um...like some information about the...roads leading out of Townsville. I'm a tourist, see."

"Hmmm," said Ms. Bellum. "Sorry, but the Mayor is very busy at the moment and can't be disturbed. Why don't we go down to the lobby? There are some maps down there that should help you out."

"OK," I said. I'd wanted to talk to the Mayor about this, but maybe Ms. Bellum was right. I started walking back down the hallway with Ms. Bellum.



Suddenly, the ground started to shake. I kept my balance, thinking it was an earthquake. But I knew that was impossible. The vibrations were starting and stopping repeatedly...like something very big was walking by outside. I concluded that a monster was running around Townsville again. It might look impressive on the TV screen, but trust me...you wouldn't be thinking that if you were actually there!

I was busy panicking when I heard Ms. Bellum shout, "The Mayor!" and she dashed down the hall toward the Mayor's office. I followed. Cracks began appearing in the walls and ceiling as we ran into the Mayor's office.

Inside the elaborate office was a desk. On the desk was a short man in a golf outfit. He was playing miniature golf on the desk. I realized the monster's stomping was causing him to miss the hole.

"Oh, darn it," he griped to himself. A golf ball had landed in a flower pot. He looked in our direction. "Ms. Bellum, would you hand me my sand wedge?"

"Never mind that, Mayor! A monster is attacking the city again!" she yelled.

"Oh, uh, it is?" asked a bewildered Mayor.

Before anyone could answer, the ENTIRE OFFICE CEILING gave way! The three of us were stunned to see an enormous monster standing above us. He had scaly red skin, sharp teeth and claws, and spikes on his head. He was holding the ceiling in one of his paws. All twenty of his eyeballs looked in our direction. It began to reach for us.

Ms. Bellum ran to the phone in one direction. I grabbed the Mayor and jumped in the other direction.

"My goodness!" the Mayor said to me. "We'd better call the girls!"

"Already on it, Mayor!" shouted Ms. Bellum on the other side of the room. She picked up a colorful phone with a shiny face on it. While she was alerting the girls, I hid under the desk with the Mayor. The monster's claw was searching for us. Maybe the big brute won't find us, I though to myself. Maybe his claws will be too big and clumsy to grab us. Maybe...

Suddenly, the desk we were under was thrown aside. The monster looked down on us with hungry eyes. Ms. Bellum ran to us as the clawed hand began reaching down towards us. Ms. Bellum, the Mayor, and I began screaming as we tried to dodge the scaly paw.



Just then, I heard a 'CHOO' sound off to the side. I looked up and saw a red streak of light fly over us and collide with the monster at a great speed. The monster roared in pain and began stepping back. Then, another 'CHOO' sound was heard, and a blue streak struck the monster from behind. Finally, another 'CHOO' and a green streak hit the monster right in the jaw. Some teeth flew out of the monster's mouth. I watched in amazement as the colored streaks of light continuous attacked the monster.

"Go, girls, go!" I shouted. I don't know why, it just seemed like the right thing to say at the time.

At last, the monster collapsed onto the road. It had big 'X's where it's eyes should've been. Then, the streaks flew to the office floor and revealed, in their glory, the Powerpuff Girls. I was frozen with amazement. I had seem them on TV. I had seen them in theaters. Now, here they were, right before my eyes! Before I could move, each of the girls grabbed Ms. Bellum, the Mayor, and me and flew down to the sidewalk in front of the Mayor's office.



"Thank you again, girls," said the Mayor.

"No prob, Mayor," said Blossom. "It's our job, after all."

"Are you okay, Ms. Bellum?" asked Bubbles, sympathetically.

"Yes, thank you," answered Ms. Bellum.

"How about you?" Buttercup asked me. "You don't look so good."

I suppose I didn't look very good at all, given my bewildered expression and shabby clothing.

"Um...I'm OK," I stammered. I wanted to talk to them some more; learn everything about Townsville that I'd always wanted to know. However, I had a mission I had to complete: Get back home!

"Could, um, either of you tell me which direction I need to go to exit Townsville? I'm...on vacation." That was sort of the truth. Kind of.

"Sure," said Blossom. "You just keep going down that road. It heads out of Townsville eventually." She pointed her finger-less hand down the road.

"You girls need anything?" asked the Mayor.

"Nope," said Buttercup. "We need to be going home now."

"Yeah! It's time for dinner," said Bubbles.

"Bye, Mayor!" chimed all three girls. Then, with a great big 'CHOO', the Powerpuff Girls flew into the sky, creating a three-color rainbow behind them.



No longer seeing any reason to stick around, I headed down the road. I began asking myself, why didn't I just stay here for a few days or so? The answer was simple: I didn't know the first thing about living in a world like this. Plus, I barely had any money left, so I couldn't stay at a hotel or anything. Also, I began worrying about my family. I wondered if I would return home at the exact moment I'd left, like in those time-machine stories, or if time here moved at the same rate as time did back home. I glanced at a clock tower and noticed that it was 5:45 P.M. I wasn't hungry, but I happened to walk across a grocery store at that moment. In front of the store, someone was giving away free samples of hors d'oeuvres. I put a few in my pocket and kept walking.

My main concern now was jet lag, if you could call it that. I fell asleep back home at around ten o'clock. But since I awoke here, I had no idea what time it was back home. I hoped my family wouldn't notice I was gone.



As I began leaving the city limits, I ran into a white dog on the sidewalk.

"Pardon me," said the Talking Dog, and kept on walking.

I sighed to myself and continued out of the city of Townsville. I heard a person's radio next to me shout out, "So once again the day is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls!"



(Next Chapter: I meet the Eds!)