THE TOWNSVILLE ZOO
The girls arrived at the zoo and promptly went to the Zoo Superintendent's office. After a quick introduction the superintendent and several aides took the girls to the empty pond where the white crocodile was housed. The damaged fence was being repaired when they all arrived.
"We have very little to go on girls, I'm sad to say. My Australian counterpart was not happy, and that's putting it mildly!" The superintendent looked most despondent.
Blossom asked, "Did you hear about the dead man that was found in the bay? The Mayor said he had a white crocodile scale on him."
The superintendent perked up with that bit of news, "Really? I hope it leads somewhere, I'd sure like to...WHOOF!" The superintendent took a classic pratfall and landed jaw first in the dirt!
Buttercup and Bunny quickly helped the superintendent up. Buttercup asked, "What did you slip on?"
"Some oil I think. Look, there it is." He pointed to a shiny, slick spot on the pavement. "Odd, all our service vehicles are electric. Where did it come from?"
Blossom gasped and said, "The kidnapper's vehicle maybe! Let's take a sample and get it analyzed."
Bunny was not too impressed, "It's just common motor oil, what's the big deal?"
Blossom gave her a very quick lesson in crime scene protocols, "Anything found out of the ordinary in a crime scene is suspect. We just learned the zoo has electric vehicles only. So maybe this can tell us something about the vehicle, or the people who used it. Think of it as a small piece of a large puzzle."
Bunny caught on, "Well, let's go solve it then." After that comment all four girls looked at
each other, nodded, and took to the sky in multicolored flashes leaving the superintendent
rubbing his sore jaw.
POKEY OAKS
The Powerpuff Girls arrived at Pokey Oaks, having decided to brief Ms. Keane on their absence before continuing with the zoo investigation. It was recess time and they found Ms. Keane near the swingset trying to comfort a still distraught Robin Schneider. Ms. Keane was relieved to see them.
"Girls, THANK goodness you're here. Somebody took Robin's new puppy last night, and she's very
upset about it. Can you help?"
Robin looked at the girls sadly, "Somebody took him last night, just before bedtime. I couldn't sleep afterwards, especially after slipping on the sidewalk. I hurt my side."
Blossom's eyes widened a bit and she looked at her sisters with a curious expression. "Slipped, you say? Did you see what you slipped on?"
"No, it was dark, but it was really slick, I felt it with my feet afterwards."
About that time the Rowdyruff boys arrived. They had just finished slaughtering Mitch, Pablo, and Harry Pitts in a game of three-on-three volleyball. Brick saw the girls and began talking to Blossom, "Hey, Red, you and your sisters busy? We could use some help looking for Valentino after school, he vanished last night, and didn't show up this morning."
Blossom took a deep breath and spoke, "Last night a rare crocodile was stolen, Also, last night you said Robin's puppy was taken, and now, you say Valentino has been missing since last night." Ms. Keane, if it's OK, can we leave school early and investigate? I'll go with my sisters and look around Robin's house. Brick will go and investigate around your house with his brothers. Afterwards, we can meet at the Mayor's office to compare notes. I'm beginning to think this is more than just a stray animal or two."
THE MAYOR'S OFFICE
Brick and his brothers beat the Powerpuff Girls to the Mayor's office by just a few seconds. Boomer had a sad look to his face that didn't make Blossom feel any better at all. He spoke, "Mom's not gonna be happy, we think Valentino was taken!"
Butch continued, "Yeah, we found his footprints, all greasy like, near some oily tire tracks that vanish by our driveway."
Blossom gasped and exclaimed, "Were they really slippery, like cooking oil, maybe?"
Brick, "Yeah, I'll say, I almost busted my tail walking in it."
Buttercup looked at Bunny, "See, that oil is turning up faster than we can find it, it means something!"
Bunny answered, "You said it, we found it at Robin's also, but what DOES it mean?"
The Mayor, who had been listening, commented, "Let's find out. Give me a sample and I'll have the police lab give it a rush analysis." He continued, "We have some blood work on our dead crocodile napper, his system was loaded with a lethal dose of full strength horse tranquilizer!"
Ms. Bellum echoed in surprise, "HORSE TRANQUILIZER, you mean PCP, or Phencyclidine, a street
drug?"
"Bubbles answered back, "No, I remember that from our field trip to the Townsville Animal Hospital. If it's full strength, and pure, it's a medicine vets use for horses and other large animals. But, it wasn't street PCP was it?"
The Mayor responded, "No, it wasn't. We may be dealing with someone who has access to federally controlled veterinary medicines."
"...and veterinary equipment also," Blossom finished. "Remember, someone took a nearly 12 foot long crocodile very fast, and very easy. They knew what they were doing!"
THE ABANDONED AIRPORT HANGAR
"OWW, you wretched beast! BITE my hand, will you?" Robin's puppy, Mr. Peepers, had just took a chunk out of one the men trying to put him into a cage. It was, in fact, one of the men who killed the unfortunate crocodile thief the night before.
Mr. Peepers was snarling his discontent, but with two men now handling him he didn't have much of an advantage. He was soon overpowered and caged!
"You will pay for that, pup!" The man took two long, and nasty looking hypodermic needles from a nearby workbench and skewered the poor puppy in the ribs from each side!
"Let's see how you feel now!" The man gloated at the thrashing and panting puppy, picked up the cage, and tossed it none too gently on a higher shelf. Satisfied with his cruel deed, he turned and left.
The man's companion noticed his bleeding hand and suggested, "Shouldn't you put some antiseptic on that?"
"Maybe later, right now I'm in a foul mood. Where's that cat the boss wanted?" He shook his hand in pain, "Let's see what we can do with Mr. Pussycat!"
The men continued down a long corridor into an open bay inside the hangar. Inside the bay was a
horrible scene. Hundreds of cages jammed with dead and dying animals occupied rows on both sides.
The smell and stench of death was everywhere. Here, animals were being experimented on for science labs too impatient to wait for proper results. Cats and dogs were captured from all over Townsville, the strays not being noticed, and in plentful supply due to animal overpopulation. There was something to be said for pet neutering and spaying. Next to the cats and dogs were unwanted Easter rabbits, along with the occasional ferret.
Further down the bay larger animals were housed. Cattle stolen from country farms, along with old
abandoned horses and greyhounds from the racetracks. If an animal was unwanted, or had outlived
its usefulness, chances were it wound up here to be experimented on before dying. It was truly animal hell!
The men stopped at a cage occupied by a brown tabby. "Well, well, Mr. Valentino, how are we today?" He put on a nearby leather gauntlet, reached inside, and grabbed the mad cat. Hissing and spitting Valentino tried to fight, but the leather gauntlet protected the man. "Let's just get rid of that collar, shall we? It wouldn't do to have you identified, no sirree!"
The man replaced Valentino in his cage, and turning to his partner said, "OK, now some drugged rabbits to keep that croc all quiet like. If he's happy, the boss is happy!"
The second man, who was bitten by Robin Schneider's puppy, finished the sentence, "and if the boss is happy, we don't wind up in the bay." Chuckling cruelly, and happy with their reassurances the two men proceeded to the very end of the bay where a makeshift pool enclosed a very upset white crocodile! The two men took one look at the croc, decided it was smart to approach only with food, and left to get some rabbits that were no longer needed.
The girls arrived at the zoo and promptly went to the Zoo Superintendent's office. After a quick introduction the superintendent and several aides took the girls to the empty pond where the white crocodile was housed. The damaged fence was being repaired when they all arrived.
"We have very little to go on girls, I'm sad to say. My Australian counterpart was not happy, and that's putting it mildly!" The superintendent looked most despondent.
Blossom asked, "Did you hear about the dead man that was found in the bay? The Mayor said he had a white crocodile scale on him."
The superintendent perked up with that bit of news, "Really? I hope it leads somewhere, I'd sure like to...WHOOF!" The superintendent took a classic pratfall and landed jaw first in the dirt!
Buttercup and Bunny quickly helped the superintendent up. Buttercup asked, "What did you slip on?"
"Some oil I think. Look, there it is." He pointed to a shiny, slick spot on the pavement. "Odd, all our service vehicles are electric. Where did it come from?"
Blossom gasped and said, "The kidnapper's vehicle maybe! Let's take a sample and get it analyzed."
Bunny was not too impressed, "It's just common motor oil, what's the big deal?"
Blossom gave her a very quick lesson in crime scene protocols, "Anything found out of the ordinary in a crime scene is suspect. We just learned the zoo has electric vehicles only. So maybe this can tell us something about the vehicle, or the people who used it. Think of it as a small piece of a large puzzle."
Bunny caught on, "Well, let's go solve it then." After that comment all four girls looked at
each other, nodded, and took to the sky in multicolored flashes leaving the superintendent
rubbing his sore jaw.
POKEY OAKS
The Powerpuff Girls arrived at Pokey Oaks, having decided to brief Ms. Keane on their absence before continuing with the zoo investigation. It was recess time and they found Ms. Keane near the swingset trying to comfort a still distraught Robin Schneider. Ms. Keane was relieved to see them.
"Girls, THANK goodness you're here. Somebody took Robin's new puppy last night, and she's very
upset about it. Can you help?"
Robin looked at the girls sadly, "Somebody took him last night, just before bedtime. I couldn't sleep afterwards, especially after slipping on the sidewalk. I hurt my side."
Blossom's eyes widened a bit and she looked at her sisters with a curious expression. "Slipped, you say? Did you see what you slipped on?"
"No, it was dark, but it was really slick, I felt it with my feet afterwards."
About that time the Rowdyruff boys arrived. They had just finished slaughtering Mitch, Pablo, and Harry Pitts in a game of three-on-three volleyball. Brick saw the girls and began talking to Blossom, "Hey, Red, you and your sisters busy? We could use some help looking for Valentino after school, he vanished last night, and didn't show up this morning."
Blossom took a deep breath and spoke, "Last night a rare crocodile was stolen, Also, last night you said Robin's puppy was taken, and now, you say Valentino has been missing since last night." Ms. Keane, if it's OK, can we leave school early and investigate? I'll go with my sisters and look around Robin's house. Brick will go and investigate around your house with his brothers. Afterwards, we can meet at the Mayor's office to compare notes. I'm beginning to think this is more than just a stray animal or two."
THE MAYOR'S OFFICE
Brick and his brothers beat the Powerpuff Girls to the Mayor's office by just a few seconds. Boomer had a sad look to his face that didn't make Blossom feel any better at all. He spoke, "Mom's not gonna be happy, we think Valentino was taken!"
Butch continued, "Yeah, we found his footprints, all greasy like, near some oily tire tracks that vanish by our driveway."
Blossom gasped and exclaimed, "Were they really slippery, like cooking oil, maybe?"
Brick, "Yeah, I'll say, I almost busted my tail walking in it."
Buttercup looked at Bunny, "See, that oil is turning up faster than we can find it, it means something!"
Bunny answered, "You said it, we found it at Robin's also, but what DOES it mean?"
The Mayor, who had been listening, commented, "Let's find out. Give me a sample and I'll have the police lab give it a rush analysis." He continued, "We have some blood work on our dead crocodile napper, his system was loaded with a lethal dose of full strength horse tranquilizer!"
Ms. Bellum echoed in surprise, "HORSE TRANQUILIZER, you mean PCP, or Phencyclidine, a street
drug?"
"Bubbles answered back, "No, I remember that from our field trip to the Townsville Animal Hospital. If it's full strength, and pure, it's a medicine vets use for horses and other large animals. But, it wasn't street PCP was it?"
The Mayor responded, "No, it wasn't. We may be dealing with someone who has access to federally controlled veterinary medicines."
"...and veterinary equipment also," Blossom finished. "Remember, someone took a nearly 12 foot long crocodile very fast, and very easy. They knew what they were doing!"
THE ABANDONED AIRPORT HANGAR
"OWW, you wretched beast! BITE my hand, will you?" Robin's puppy, Mr. Peepers, had just took a chunk out of one the men trying to put him into a cage. It was, in fact, one of the men who killed the unfortunate crocodile thief the night before.
Mr. Peepers was snarling his discontent, but with two men now handling him he didn't have much of an advantage. He was soon overpowered and caged!
"You will pay for that, pup!" The man took two long, and nasty looking hypodermic needles from a nearby workbench and skewered the poor puppy in the ribs from each side!
"Let's see how you feel now!" The man gloated at the thrashing and panting puppy, picked up the cage, and tossed it none too gently on a higher shelf. Satisfied with his cruel deed, he turned and left.
The man's companion noticed his bleeding hand and suggested, "Shouldn't you put some antiseptic on that?"
"Maybe later, right now I'm in a foul mood. Where's that cat the boss wanted?" He shook his hand in pain, "Let's see what we can do with Mr. Pussycat!"
The men continued down a long corridor into an open bay inside the hangar. Inside the bay was a
horrible scene. Hundreds of cages jammed with dead and dying animals occupied rows on both sides.
The smell and stench of death was everywhere. Here, animals were being experimented on for science labs too impatient to wait for proper results. Cats and dogs were captured from all over Townsville, the strays not being noticed, and in plentful supply due to animal overpopulation. There was something to be said for pet neutering and spaying. Next to the cats and dogs were unwanted Easter rabbits, along with the occasional ferret.
Further down the bay larger animals were housed. Cattle stolen from country farms, along with old
abandoned horses and greyhounds from the racetracks. If an animal was unwanted, or had outlived
its usefulness, chances were it wound up here to be experimented on before dying. It was truly animal hell!
The men stopped at a cage occupied by a brown tabby. "Well, well, Mr. Valentino, how are we today?" He put on a nearby leather gauntlet, reached inside, and grabbed the mad cat. Hissing and spitting Valentino tried to fight, but the leather gauntlet protected the man. "Let's just get rid of that collar, shall we? It wouldn't do to have you identified, no sirree!"
The man replaced Valentino in his cage, and turning to his partner said, "OK, now some drugged rabbits to keep that croc all quiet like. If he's happy, the boss is happy!"
The second man, who was bitten by Robin Schneider's puppy, finished the sentence, "and if the boss is happy, we don't wind up in the bay." Chuckling cruelly, and happy with their reassurances the two men proceeded to the very end of the bay where a makeshift pool enclosed a very upset white crocodile! The two men took one look at the croc, decided it was smart to approach only with food, and left to get some rabbits that were no longer needed.