Sam blinked, staring down at the child.
"Ah-where did you say she was from, son?"
Johnny looked at his father blankly, trying his best to explain the predicament.
"Well… er-"
"My name's Buttercup Watanabe, and I live in the apartment below yours with my daddy and sisters and five cats!" Buttercup stated assuredly. "And Johnny is my new best friend!"
Johnny's eyebrows arched. "But I thought you-"
He was quickly silenced by Buttercup's mary-jane stabbing him surreptitiously in the toe.
"Well, wherever you came from, you're frightfully soaked from being out in that awful storm!" Johnny's mother Michiko rushed in from the kitchen carrying a neat pile of fluffy white towels. She bundled Buttercup up in one and patted her on the head.
"Such a cute little girl you are-- would you like a nice mug of warm tea?"
She nodded gleefully as Johnny narrowed his eyes at her.

Later that night Johnny sat down at his desk, opened the still damp textbook and tried to concentrate on his math homework.
He chewed his pencil, thinking about the strange girl. After having dinner with the family, she had left their apartment without any distress. So, after all that, she was probably just some stupid neighbour kid who spotted him walking home and wanted to play a silly prank.
But then who were those guys who had pursued her?
And why were they so afraid of him?

Tap tap tap.
The boy looked up from his work to see two familiar green eyes staring in at him from the window. What the… this was just getting weirder and weirder.
He reluctantly opened the window, letting Buttercup into his room.
"How did you get all the way up here?"
"Ssssh!" She hissed. "Your parents can't know I'm here."
Johnny crossed his arms, looking quite smug. "So you're NOT Buttercup Watanabe of apartment 3b, huh?"
"I'm sorry I had to lie to you. But…" her little face became grave and serious
"nobody here must find out who I am."

The teenager sat back down and leaned forward with an interrogating air. "What about me? "
Buttercup sighed. "If I told you where I come from you wouldn't believe me. All you need to know is that I have to find the Professor."
Johnny persisted. "And just who is this professor?"
The girl blinked, like she was searching for information that wasn't there. "I… I had an accident, and now I don't remember some things too good. I don't even remember what his name is or what he looks like. All I know is that the Professor is my dad."
Johnny nodded in understanding.
"If I find him, we can go back home and he can fix everything."

A pregnant pause followed. Buttercup stared into Johnny's eyes.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Will you help me find him?"
Johnny leant back in his chair and toyed with his pencil. "I guess I don't have much of a choice now, do I?"
Buttercup struck the air with a triumphant fist. "Alright!" she hollered. "I'll share your bed," she stated, and at that instant plopped down comfortably on Johnny's bedspread.
"Hey! I thought my parents couldn't know that you're here!"
She pouted at him. "Well, where else am I going to sleep?"

With nothing more said, she wriggled her way underneath the blankets and made herself comfortable. Then she unzipped the pocket of her dress and brought out a little octopus plush, hugging it tightly.
"What's that?" Johnny inquired.
"Something from home," she replied.

Him pursed his lips as he and his two best henchmen watched their Master pace up and down the grided steel floor like a caged panther.
"This is indeed a strange predicament… and you're sure the girl hasn't left his side since?"
Him nodded. "Yes, my Lord."
The demon's face was cast down in formality, but from the corner of his eye he watched the brilliant crime-lord as he strode to and fro. Such a magnificent man he was-tall and stately, and elegantly handsome… he had a steadfast presence and a cold charisma that had won over an entire cult to do his bidding. Even Him's own diabolical deeds seemed like mere childhood pranks in comparison to this visionary genius. That, of course, is why Him had joined his side-he had found a new and greater purpose with the man. Lord Alecto was going to smite the unworthy and the selfish and bring about a new age for all of Townsville's outcasts.
One of Him's henchmen spoke up.
"Master, we can't even be sure if this child is indeed the boy the Captain claims him to be. He could be completely expendable-"

"SHUT UP!" Alecto roared, his echo booming throughout the vaulted chamber. "I trust my Captain's judgement to the utmost." He nodded at Him, and the demon smiled internally. "Therefore it must be the boy. But…" Alecto paused, clasping his gloved hands. "Perhaps it is possible to just injure him to get him out of the way. He is young and naïve…" here he paused for a slight chuckle " …and I doubt he would put up much of a fight. We need not kill him just to get to the last Powerpuff Girl. And I do not feel that such an action would affect causality too greatly. Who knows? An injury dealt to this boy in the past by one of our troops could have been the very event that allowed all this to transpire." He opened his arms out with a dry smile, indicating the massive complex the four men were standing in.
But Him was still anxious. "Injure him?" he repeated. "Oh, my Lord, I daren't-"
"Captain…" Alecto crossed his arms and raised a chastising eyebrow.
The imp fell straight into line. "Yes, Sir."

Alecto waved a hand, ordering the two lieutenants to leave the room. As they did he sat down at his large desk, still flanked by his right-hand man.
"You know how much finding Buttercup means to me, Him."
He nodded. "I have our finest elite troops on stand-by for the mission, my Lord. Their orders shall be to deliver her unharmed."
"Good." The man opened a drawer, taking out a box of black cigarettes. Lighting one up, he added "And you remember what I told you about not using those supernatural powers of yours while in the past?"
The demon nodded again, the very picture of reverence. Then after a suitable pause, he found the courage to look up into Alecto's face, a hopeful smile colouring his fine elfin features.
"And, will there be anything further you desire my assistance for?"
Alecto smirked. "Not today, Him. Now be gone."

Sitting alone, Alecto blew a few smoke rings, wallowing in the irony of it all. Was he really that charismatic? Had the most deceptive and untrustworthy of all villains really become his own personal lapdog? And was he really going to soon overpower the city that had seemed to overpower him so foully for most of his life?
He chuckled again: the deep, smooth, fruity tone that his henchmen had become so used to hearing from him during times of triumph.
Revenge was sweet.

To Be Continued. . .