Part 4: The Chaos
Simpleminded sheep... they considered themselves the mightiest race. The smartest animal. But sheep was all they were. Cut off their heads, and they scurry about randomly like so many cockroaches. A mere sample of his underlings' power was enough to spur them into action, and killing their leaders was enough to make them aimless. Now all he had to do was sit back and watch them weaken themselves to the point where he could waltz in and take over. Without the Powerpuff Girls to contend with, nothing could stop him.
Of course... there was still a Powerpuff Girl loose and free out there somewhere. Mojo Jojo swore that his treatment to her was as much of a success as with the other five... but it wasn't complete until He took control of her mind. Until then, she was a wild card. Five against one was good odds in his favor, but he hated even having to count the odds. He wasn't a betting man.
And those spies... the ones who had stolen Blossom away from Him. They were too quick-witted and resourceful for their own good... they would have to be dealt with as well. But nobody he 'interrogated' quietly seemed to know a thing about them. He hated it when humans kept secrets. They always kept their best hands close to their chest...
"Keep up your reign, children." He said to the five small figures floating in front of him. They looked up at him in awe and reverence, their shining crimson eyes a testament to his unbreakable power. "Kill every leader these pathetic humans have got. Cut off their heads... and they'll kill the rest for us."
The children nodded in obedience and streaked away from him, leaving black shadows in place of their old light-trails. If Blossom showed up... she would be his. If he ever saw those spies again... they would suffer.
Sam and Alex knew they weren't psychics, but their predictions couldn't have been more accurate. Within minutes the police agencies were flooded with calls of robberies, lootings, rapes, and vandalism. The Television stations were flooded with mobs of angry people out to find some kind of justice or outlet for their confusion. All the while, the five tiny terrors obliterated everything within Washington D.C. Men, women, children, pets, buildings, all of it was smashed into pieces or pulp. When they were done, they had vanished again, leaving behind the destruction that served as an example to the world what they had the power to do.
"An entire city... flattened..." Alex muttered in awe.
"And an entire country in chaos." Sam added. The news reports had focused solely on American instances, and none of WOOHP's field agents had reported in yet as to the situation overseas.
Jerry pressed the button in front of him that turned off the screen, cutting off the flood of horrible images. He sat staring at the floor, then looked over at his spies. "WOOHP doesn't have the manpower to handle a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude."
"But we can't give up." Alex complained.
"Yeah, it's pinky they want. We could always hand her over." Clover jerked her thumb toward Blossom, whose energy-cell was sitting on the table with her inside. Professor Utonium sat behind her.
"Hey, I'm not gonna be controlled!" Blossom replied darkly.
"You will if it'll save the world!" Clover retorted.
"It wouldn't. Handing her over would only make them stronger." Jerry reminded her. Clover fell silent for once, moving back to stand behind her partners. Jerry closed his eyes and put one hand on his forehead. "This is worse than I ever imagined possible..." He muttered into the silence. It was so strange, knowing that the world outside was in such growing disarray, but having this room so peaceful and still.
"If we had some Antidote-X... we could take their powers away but... it all sank with my lab." Professor Utonium interjected unhelpfully.
"Can't you make more?" Sam asked.
"Not without my journals..." The Professor replied.
"Our primary concern now... is protecting lives." Jerry stood up and turned toward his spies. "But this is not a mission, nor an order. Anyone who wants to go home and find their family is free to do so."
"I'm in, I can't back out now when there are so many people who need us." Alex said immediately.
"Yeah, this is all seriously messed up. If we don't try to fix it, who will?" Clover agreed. The silence lingered on until everyone turned to look at Sam, who was staring straight at Blossom with a pale look on her face. The Whoopass Girl stared back, giving her a slight nod of her head.
"Jerry..." Sam looked over at him, shaking slightly and pale-faced. "I don't think anything we do will matter." She closed her eyes and lowered her head.
"Sammy... you're quitting?" Alex gasped. "But we can't do this without you!"
"Yeah Sam, we need you." Clover added.
"I've made up my mind... I... want to go back to Beverly Hills and see if I can find my mom. Protect my friends... something." She said. Jerry walked around the desk toward her, reaching into his pocket to take out a compowder. He pushed it gently into her hands.
"There's no shame in this Samantha. If you need us, or change your mind, contact me." Jerry told her softly. "And you can use one of the Jetpack Backpacks to get home."
"Thank you Jerry..." Without looking up at him again, Sam turned to leave. Alex moved to run after her, but Clover grabbed her arm and held her back. Sam left silently, leaving the others to stare after her.
"Now then, let's work out our own plans." Jerry said, turning to the others.
"Get away from her!" Crimson whirled in mid-air, slamming her heel into one Chinaman's face hard enough to send him whirling back. She knelt down beside Alice, who was lying on the ground, clutching her stomach. "Hold on, we're gettin' out of here!" She hefted her partner up quickly, darting through the massive throng of people.
No place was safe from the chaos. No leader was safe from death. The Chinese President had felt this just an hour ago, while Pam, Alice, and Crimson were passing through China on patrol for anything suspicious like Jerry had asked. Well, 'suspicious' was the least of their concerns at this point.
She ducked and weaved her way through the crowd, forcefully kicking several people out of the way before she got free of the throng and leapt on top of a nearby car. She kneeled down, resting Alice on the metal roof. "Geeze, hold on." She took out a flask and poured some of her water on a piece of cloth, dabbing it against the wound Alice had suffered when the crowds formed right around them.
"Ow... God, I never would have been blindsided like that in my younger days." Alice scowled at her own weakness.
"Yeah, we're just a couple of old spinstresses... well I am anyway." Crimson smiled down at her friend, who smiled back up at her. They knew with this chaos, a wedding would be impossible. But it was the spirit of the thing that mattered. She looked up a moment later. "Did you see Pam anywhere? I lost track of her in the crowd."
Alice shook her head. "I haven't seen her either..." She sat up and looked around. Suddenly the car they were perched on top of was shoved upward by a dozen pissed off Chinamen, screaming and yelling in their native language. Crimson grabbed her friend and hauled her into her arms, leaping off the car toward the sidewalk as it flipped over, crushing several people underneath. She slammed into several more men, knocking them unconscious as they all stumbled into the wall of a building behind them.
"This is like trying to maneuver in a pissed off hornet's nest!" Crimson shouted in frustration as she ducked another punch and threw her shoulder against the attacker's chest, bowling him over.
"Put me down! I can take care of myself!" Alice shouted of the roar of the crowd, car alarms, and various smashing objects.
"Not in your condition!" Crimson charged headlong toward one of the buildings on this street. It looked like a pastry shop, with all kinds of cakes and pies sitting in the shattered windows. There didn't seem to be anybody inside however.
She leapt into the air, slamming her foot into one more face before sailing through the window like a missile, clutching Alice tightly to her. They hit the tiled floor hard. Crimson lurched to her feet with a grunt of pain. "Come on, there's gotta be a back room or something." She pulled her friend toward the back of the store, where they found a bathroom.
They ran inside and closed the door, locking it behind them. Both sank to the floor, panting and nursing wounds sustained in the wild melee outside. "You never should have agreed to this mission Alice." Crimson looked over at her.
"Jerry needed me, I couldn't let him down." Unconsciously one of Alice's hands slid down to her abdomen, which was beginning to bulge somewhat underneath her skin-tight spy uniform.
"He would have understood if you'd told him. You're in no condition for spying anymore."
"Well it's kind of late for that now." Alice snapped irritably. She sighed a moment later. "Sorry Crimson... I know you're just thinking about what's best for me, as always."
Crimson waved off the apology. "Speaking of what's best... let's catch our breath, then see if we can find a way out of here without running through an ocean of fists." Alice nodded, lying back against the wall with her hands on the precious lump in her abdomen.
All of the images on TV... all of the reports... none of it compared to seeing the destruction caused by the riots with her own two eyes. Sam's Jetpack Backpack carried her well above the destruction, but the smoke from the numerous fires that littered the area threatened to choke her to death unless she swerved around them carefully. She knew she didn't have enough fuel to fly for too long, so she had to make it home before she ran out.
She spotted Beverly Hills High in the distance... as she'd expected, the place had been one of the first places mauled in the riots. Chances were all of the schools in the country had been the first victims of this self-assault. Pissed off teenagers were easily susceptible to mass riots, and most hated school anyway.
She continued past the school, searching for her large mansion on the edge of Beverly Hills. Finally she spotted it, but it was surrounded by a group of rioters bearing weapons and defiant screams. "Oh God no... mom..." Sam flew toward the ground outside the circle, landing heavily before charging into the crowd with her Backpack still on. "Move it! Out of the way!"
Finally she pushed her way inside to see the sofa go up in flames. "Where's my mother!?" Sam demanded angrily, marching up to the one who'd tossed the lighter onto the furniture. "Where is she!?"
"Hey, get out of my face!" He told her, stomping toward her threateningly.
Sam howled angrily and backfisted him across the cheek. He slammed into the wall, falling unconscious as she darted up the stairs. "Mom! Where are you!?" She emerged into the second floor hallway, trying to ignore the smoke that was gathering on the ceiling. "Moooom!"
She charged from room to room, kicking doors open in a frantic search for any sign of her mother. The smoke grew thicker, cutting off her air supply as she reached the last room in the building. It too came up empty. "Mom!" She coughed violently. "Damnit..." She turned to leave, but stopped when she saw the blaze spreading through the second floor hallway. The floor underneath her creaked as the flames ate though the house's support structure.
Desperately she ran to the window and whirled with a massive kick, but her over paranoid mother had installed shatterproof glass. She bounced off and hit the ground with a loud thud, coughing as the smoke filled her lungs. She couldn't last much longer... she could feel her lungs burning.
She pushed herself to her hands and knees, freezing when she heard the floor underneath her creak dangerously. Suddenly it gave way, plunging her through to the first story. She hit the ground flat on her back amid the falling pieces of debris. The flamed blazed all around her, consuming everything in sight. She could hear cheers from some of the rioters outside... she was near the door.
She heaved a mighty cough and pulled herself toward the door, but her burning lungs couldn't take any more. She collapsed to the floor, clawing at the carpeted floor desperately, but she didn't have the strength to pull herself forward. Everything began to go black, but she swore she could feel a pair of hands grabbing her biceps before she lost consciousness completely.
"The world is running dangerously short of calming, trusted voices." Jerry informed his remaining two spies as they streaked through the air over the Atlantic Ocean in the flower-painted WOOHP jet. "We must try to preserve those we have left, we need a stronghold of sanity. That is why you'll be going in to Britain, and kidnapping the Queen."
"Don't you mean, 'escorting her to safety'?" Clover asked.
"That would imply that her bodyguards know where she's going." Jerry replied. "For now, WOOHP headquarters has apparently gone undetected. She will be safe there, but only if no other soul knows where she is. And from there, she can speak to the people, perhaps restore some semblance of order. But even she cannot know where she's going before she gets there. If WOOHP is uncovered, it's all over for us."
"So kidnap. Yeah. Got it." Clover smirked.
"Really quickly now, you have the Turbofan Hairdryers, Expandable Cable Bungee Belts, Laser Lipsticks, Inflatable Micro-Rafts, and Anti-Gravity Cycles." He tossed the small packs of gadgets at the girls, as they mounted their vehicles. Looking out the window, they could all see the royal palace looming large over the horizon. "Good luck girls." The bottom of the planed opened beneath them, spilling them out into the night air.
"How do we sneak in?" Alex's voice came over the intercom in their motorcycle helmets.
"Time is of the essence. No sneaking. We break right through the front door." Clover reached into her backpack and whipped out her Turbofan hairdryer.
"The front door!? That's insane!" Alex complained.
"Good, then they'll never expect it." Clover replied with a grin. Alex stared at her for a moment, then whipped out her own Turbofan Hairdryer.
Their cycles arced through the air toward the large double doors. The blasts of the hairdryers flung them open and they streaked inside, flying right over the heads of every guard in the place. The guards shouted in alarm and reached for their weapons, but the spies swerved into the hallway behind the main chamber before any of them even had time to draw them.
They swerved through the long hallways, making their way upward. They ran over a few guards who were making their way to and from the queen's chambers, but that was the price one paid for being in a big hurry. Finally they used their Hairdryers to blow open the door to the queen's chambers and darted inside, grinding to a stop in the middle of the room.
"N... no! Get away from me!" The queen screamed angrily.
"Hey, we're the good guys. Come with us unless you want to be beaten into a nice royal pile of jelly!" Clover shouted. The Queen stared at her suspiciously, until her eyes went wide, staring beyond Clover fearfully. Slowly Clover looked back to see five shadowy little forms floating in the air behind her. Clover slowly looked forward again, gripping the steering wheel tightly with one hand.
The silence was broken only by the motors of the Anti-Gravity Cycles. Not even any breathing could be heard. Clover revved her motor warningly, shooting a glance at Alex. Alex looked back and gulped, nodding over at her and gripping her own steering wheel tightly.
Finally the silence was broken. Clover darted across the room toward the Queen while Alex did a 180 turn on her cycle, firing her Hairdyer at the five shapes. The blast of wind caught the floating figured off guard, blowing them back against the wall while Alex darted toward the window. Clover stopped just long enough to let the queen climb into the bike behind her before darting toward the window.
The dark shapes pulled themselves from the wall and streaked toward her in flashes of shadow. They slammed into the rear of the bike, detonating it on impact. "Your Highness!" Clover screamed as she and the queen flew out the window without the bike. She gripped the Queen's hand and pulled her close, trying to find a way to break their fall.
Alex swooped down underneath them, so that they landed on top of the hover cycle. "Hold on Clover!" Alex shouted through the intercom. Clover gripped the top of the vehicle with one hand, holding the queen firmly around the waist with the other. Clover looked back frantically, but the five shadows were still hot on their trail.
"Alex, behind us!" Clover screamed.
"I see 'em!" Alex shouted back. The dark figures streaked right for them, but Alex darted back and forth in the air on their set path, narrowly dodging each assault. One of the shadows clipped the side of the bike, jerking it hard enough to almost dislodge Clover and the Queen. "Grrr! Stupid freaks!" Alex shouted as she jerked the wheel back toward the lucky attacker.
A loud metal clang echoed through the air as the bike collided with the attacker's head, sending them into a freefall toward the ocean. "Ah HAH! GOT ONE!" Alex shouted victoriously. Clover noted with some interest that one of the other shadows broke off their pursuit to chase the falling one. Perhaps they weren't COMPLETELY under control...
In her elation, Alex forgot that there were still three more pursuers after them. "ALEEEX!" Clover screamed as one of the shadows came down in a graceful arc, tearing right through the rear wheel. The bike leapt forward in a shower of sparks, arching down toward the Atlantic Ocean. Without warning Clover felt the queen shift from beside her, lifted off the bike by their attackers. "Your Highness!" Clover grabbed her ankles quickly being dragged off of the bike with her legs dangling in thin air. "AAAHHH! ALEX!"
"CLOVVEEEERRRR!" Alex screamed as the bike plummeted toward the water.
The queen screamed in terror and pain as Clover's hands dug into her ankle. Clover tried to pull herself up, but when she looked forward she saw a shadow waiting in front of her with its fist drawn back.
The punch instantly loosened Clover's grip, sending her sailing backward toward the ocean far below. She could barely see it coming until she was only twenty feet above the water. She didn't even have time to curl up into a ball before she slammed into the surface, losing consciousness instantly.
Alice jerked out of an uncomfortable sleep when she heard something bang into the door of the bathroom they had taken refuge in. Crimson put a hand on her shoulder as she slid up the wall in a cautious crouch. Alice stood up beside her, staring at the door as it rocked again, as though a weight were being pulled off of it.
Crimson stepped forward cautiously, gripping the doorknob and turning it slowly. She suddenly thrust the doorknob open, but it didn't go very far. It slammed into something, which fell to the floor outside the bathroom with a loud thud and a pained yelp.
Crimson and Alice stepped out of the bathroom, both beaming when they saw the figure on the floor. "Pam!" they both knelt down beside her.
"Ugh... hi to you too..." Pam grumbled as her partners grabbed her arms and hefted her up off the floor.
"Sorry, we thought you were a rioter." Crimson said apologetically. Alice blinked and sniffed the air curiously. There was something she didn't recognize... had it been there before they went in the bathroom and she just didn't notice?
"Come on, the coast is clear for now. All the activity's moved out of this area. There's nothing left to break." Pam told them. Alice moved close to her, sniffing. It was coming from her... her hair to be more exact. Did she start using a new hair gel?
Alice shrugged it off and followed her partners as they emerged from the small pastry shop. It was like a war zone. The walls of buildings were torn apart, cars were upturned and smashed with hammers and baseball bats. The streetlights were literally pulled to the ground with wires, and the ground itself was torn up in some places. The destruction continued as far as the eye could see in all directions.
"This is terrible..." Alice muttered in horror.
"Just wait a few weeks. The entire world could very well end up looking just like this. And probably will." Crimson sighed and put her hand on Alice's shoulder. "We should probably tell Jerry we're out and just go home... we're not cut out for this anymore anyway."
"No." Pam turned toward them. "We should go see him in person... face-to-face. It's the least we can do at this point." Alice nodded slightly in agreement.
"We agreed to this, we should at least have the guts to tell him to his face that we're turning tail." Alice agreed.
"Alright." Crimson nodded. "We'll find a way to get back to WOOHP headquarters. It's probably the only safe place left on Earth anyway, if there are any safe places." So they turned to walk toward the airport. It would be impossible for even a large army of ill-equipped protestors to take out a jetliner, so they should be able to take one and make their way back to America. It was just a matter of time before she was home, Alice told herself. And she could pick up her life again for the second time.
Jerry leaned back in his seat, staring at the screen in front of him. Professor Utonium sat off to his side, with the trapped Whoopass Girl still sitting in her cage. The silence was deafening as they watched the time tick past. There was no contact from any of their field agents. Not Sam, nor Clover and Alex, nor Pam, Alice and Crimson. Not a single one of their operatives was reporting in.
With a soft sigh Jerry turned in his seat to look back at the Professor, who was staring blankly at the monitor in front of them. He had barely moved since the girls had all left. They both knew there was nothing left to be done here at base, all they could do was look for an outside weapon and try to soften the demon's psychological blows in the meantime.
The Whoopass Girl turned her gaze to meet Jerry's, staring into his eyes with an unsettling certainty held deep within them. This was the end... no matter what they did, nothing would ever be the same now. It was almost enough to crack even the battle-hardened WOOHP Director... but hope was growing dimmer by the second as the entire world dissolved into deeper and deeper chaos.
TO BE CONTINUED