Tokyo, New International Airport:
There are some individuals whose source of entertainment is watching the arrival gates at airports, and take notice of the hundreds of people who walk through them each day. You can classify them by the look on their faces: a young stockbroker, eager to sign a huge deal; a weary businessman, dreading the thought of a new project abroad; tourists, who are instantly drawn to the closest souvenir shop; and those who have no idea of what's in store for them. The four ten-year-olds making their way through the crowd right now belong to this last group.
"Konnichiwa Japan!" Buttercup was beaming. "And I've got just enough time to get to that horror videogame con." She took a blue beret out of her backpack and put it on. And just as she'd gotten off the ground, her sister caught her by the ankle. "What gives? Let go, Blossom!"
"Buttercup, the Professor arranged for people to pick us up, the least we can do is be here when Mr. Morisato arrives."
"Aw, come on! We'll be here two whole weeks, the convention's going to end in just a few hours." Blossom's stare gave no room for negotiation. "Fine, let's go to see the professor's friend."
"Don't worry, Buttercup," Bubbles said in her cheerful tone, "They'll be another anime con in a few days, I'll be glad to have you along."
"You could cosplay as Keroppi," Dexter snickered, "after all, green's your color."
"Oh, you are asking for it." Ignoring the shorthaired girl, the boy genius took out his custom-made cellular and a small holographic sphere was projected out of the lens; a few rings later, Utonium's face appeared.
"Girls, Dexter! How was your trip? Did you arrive safely?"
"All of us are okay," the little blonde answered, "Just a little numb from sitting down for so long, and Buttercup got airsick big time."
"Traitor!"
"How long until you get here, Professor?"
"I should be done with business here in about five days, then I'll fly over there myself to give my presentation at Nekomi Kodai. Dexter, I trust you'll have everything set by then."
"Leave it in my capable hands, Sir," the redhead boy answered with characteristic pride, "I've even got a fantastic display on the works. Believe me, Professor, you'll be amazed by the outcome."
"Umm, just stick to the program, Dexter, okay?" The square-hawed man turned away for a second. "I've got to go. Be careful out there, and say 'hello' to Keima's kid for me." The screen went blank.
"Okay, now to find Mr. Morisato." Blossom searched among the people. "Does any of you see someone that resembles the photo we saw?"
"Nope," her green-clad sister answered, "but someone is expecting us." She pointed towards a young couple holding a sign which read 'Utonium'.
"I never knew Keima-san had friends from other countries," Keiichi commented as he scanned the crowd once again. "Until two days ago, I'd never heard the name Utonium before."
"It should be fun to have visitors," Belldandy added as she helped her beloved search, "And there's always something to learn from people from other cultures."
"Hai, the foreign students back at school always had interesting conversation. I remember once—" The dark-haired man's attention was drawn by four approaching children, whose faces he'd seen in an e-mailed photograph.
"Good afternoon," the redhead girl greeted on everyone's behalf, "Mr. Morisato, I presume."
"Hai, watashi wa, Morisato Keiichi, and this is Belldandy," the young mechanic introduced, "You must be Blossom, Buttercup, Bubbles and Dexter." The longhaired goddess came down to the little ones' eye-level.
"You three are even more kawaii in person. And you, Dexter-kun, are a handsome young man."
"Umm…thank you very much," the boy genius responded with an exaggerated bow. He just wasn't used to getting these sort of compliments, and the tone of pure sincerity used by this beautiful girl made things a wee more difficult. "Err, baggage claim is this way, let's go pick up our stuff."
A few minutes later, the group was at the parking lot. Keiichi had borrowed Sora's Fiat, and the luggage had barely fit.
"It looks as though we're going to be a bit tight during the trip. Gomen, I couldn't manage to get a larger car."
"Not to worry, I can travel by my own means." Dexter had taken a metal box out of his suitcase, a bend here and a twist there, and he had a motorized scooter all set.
"Whoa, now this is a piece of work," Keiichi praised as he checked out the improvised vehicle, "How could you fit this into such a small space?"
"Everything's possible by means of science," the redhead boy replied, "You just need to figure out the correct procedure." He patted his newest 'greatest invention'. "This will be its first field test, I can hardly wait to see the results."
"And those will be favorable," Belldandy assured, "it's easy to tell just by looking at it."
"I see you have an eye for mechanics."
"Ie, not really. I only noticed how much effort you've put into your creation."
"That he does," Blossom replied, "Whenever Dexter starts working on a new machine, he goes into a world all his own."
"Sounds a lot like Skuld-chan, Belldandy's little sister," the dark-haired man said with a bit of dread, "She also has a knack for machinery."
"Terrific, we'll be crashing with yet another egghead," the green-eyed girl huffed. This trip's turning into one big disappointment.
The ride back home was made short thanks to conversation, even Buttercup lightened up a bit.
"Then Utonium-san will be talking about fossil-fuel in his presentation," Belldandy asked as she helped unload the suitcases.
"Uh-huh," Blossom answered, "he'll be talking about how to reduce consumption and raise efficiency." She took her bag and followed the grownups towards the house. "Dexter volunteered to put together an engine they designed together."
"That sounds like quite a task. I'll be glad to lend a hand, if you don't mind," Keiichi offered.
"Thanks, I appreciate that. But there's not much to do, just put together a few parts and we're done. We'll be able to spend most of the trip sightseeing and—"
"Will you cut it out already!" The angry holler was followed by two blurs coming out through the door at great speed, the one in the lead not watching where she was going. "KYAA!!"
"Keiichi!"
"Mr. Morisato!"
"GAH!" There was a brief moment of confusion. When the dark-haired mechanic finally opened his eyes, he discovered that no one had crashed into him. He discovered that Banpei and Sigel were being held by Bubbles; upon further inspection, he noticed that it had been Blossom who'd saved him from harm, by taking him ten feet into the air. "Now this is…partially surprising."
"Okay, I warned you two! I don't care what's broken, you're performing the repairs all by yourselves!" Skuld stopped short when she saw the redhead child. "How is that kid staying up in the air?"
Half an hour later, over a cup of tea, the heroic siblings had told their story to the divine ones.
"In other words, we were literally born for crime-fighting," Blossom concluded, "It wasn't precisely what the professor had in mind, but no one's complaining."
"The best things in life are seldom planned," Belldandy said as she gave the young mechanic a knowing glance. "It's a shame Urd-san had to go out, she would've loved to meet you three firsthand."
"Now, how about telling us about these two?" Bubbles proposed as she turned to the robots.
"Both of us we're built by Skuld-sama," Sigel responded, "She is able to create anything she puts her mind into."
"Well, not everything per se," the youngest goddess replied with feigned modesty, "But what I am capable of building is virtually flawless."
"'Flawless' is open to debate," Keiichi muttered.
"I suppose you have a lab where you keep all sort of contraptions," Buttercup guessed with a bored tone.
"Eto, it's not a laboratory, more of a workshop. But what did you mean by 'also'?"
"She's referring to mine," Dexter answered, "You should check it out if you ever travel to Megaville, you'll be amazed by what I've got there. Here's a sample." He took a silver disk out of his pocket, slightly bigger than a quarter, and set it on the table. Four legs, pincers and a flexible neck with an eye at the end extended. "I call it a searcher," the redhead boy explained as it trampled about, "I use it whenever a bolt or other small component rolls into a tight spot."
"Very practical," Keiichi admitted, "I could use one of those."
"You can keep it," the redhead boy offered. He turned to the robots. "If you want, I can also fix a couple of details in these two."
"Fix?" Skuld's eyebrow twitched.
"Yeah. For example, the pneumatic wheel in Banpei's knee doesn't look like it could take much pressure. Just let me adjust it a little and he'll be reaching new heights, plus greater speeds in his vehicle mode." Dexter was taking out a tool kit as he said this; in a flash, Skuld got between him and her creation.
"You stay away from Banpei-kun and Sigel-chan, I don't need an amateur ruining my work."
"Amateur? Listen, lady, I've been doing scientific discoveries since I was two. Back home, I have at least thirty robots that are just as, or even more advanced than these ones, or any that you'll ever build." The longhaired goddess narrowed her eyes menacingly.
"Be thankful I'm considering the fact you called me 'lady', otherwise I'd be blowing you to kingdom come." She got up and stomped her way out of the room. "Banpei-kun, Sigel-chan, come along."
"And I suggest you learn to be more respectful towards Skuld-sama," the childlike android added. Once her maker was out of earshot though, she leaned over to Dexter and whispered: "Work on something that'll help me run faster."
"I'm on it."
Through all this, Blossom and Belldandy looked at each other, smiling apologetically. Meanwhile, Buttercup was reaching the limit of boredom. She got up and stretched.
"I'm going out for a walk, get to know the place, maybe find something to do."
"Don't take too long," Belldandy warned, "I'll have lunch ready in about an hour."
"No sweat, I'll be back before—OOF!" She was knocked over just as she'd gotten to the door and slammed upside-down against the wall by the one who suddenly entered the room.
"Is that enough excitement for you?" her blue-clad sister asked playfully.
"More or less."
"Belldandy-chan! Come quickly, there's a—" Urd stopped short when she saw the four young strangers. "Umm… Konnichiwa, you must be the ones Keiichi-kun was expecting."
"And you must be Miss Belldandy's and Miss Skuld's older sister, Miss Urd," the Powerpuff leader replied. "Why were you in such a hurry?"
"Me? Well I…" Groping for an answer, the tan goddess saw the broom she flew in with on her hand. "I was sweeping the yard when I found something Belldandy-chan should check out."
"That's it?" Buttercup asked as she rubbed her head, "That's why you barged in like a rhino?"
"Err… Get over here!" Urd simply grabbed her sister by the arm and took her out of the room.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, Mr. Morisato," a perplexed Blossom began, "but I get the feeling this occurs very often around this place."
"Twice a month, by my count. I'll be right back."
"All right, Urd-chan, tell me what happened?" Belldandy asked once the three of them were outside.
"Remember the vial I took over to Mount Fuji to simmer among the snow? Well, one of the ingredients must've gone stale, causing an unexpected reaction." The white-haired one showed her younger sister and human friend a hole in her pouch, something had burned through. "I hadn't noticed until I got here."
"Kuso, nothing good could have come out of this," Keiichi groaned, shaking his head, "What were you preparing, Urd-san?"
"The original formula is absolutely harmless, but you know from experience how the slightest variation can change that." The tan goddess closed her eyes and retraced her route mentally. "It shouldn't take long to find it, if Belldandy-chan and I search with the aid of—" Three flashes, pink, blue and green, flew right overhead, followed by a forceful gust. Before they had a chance to recover, a fourth blur passed by their side, it looked like a black and white robot as it went around the corner. And just as they thought they had the chance to catch their breaths, out came a fifth speedster. This time they managed to recognize Skuld, riding Banpei in motorcycle mode. "Chikuso, what was that all about!?"
"I have no idea," Keiichi answered. He strained his ear a bit. "I can hear the TV, maybe our answer's there, come on."
Downtown area:
The terrified crowd was running away from the hideous and smelly beast; it was about eight feet tall, yellowish and translucent. It took the Powerpuff girls no more than four minutes to get there, Dexter and Skuld arrived shortly. He was dressed in a sleek robotic armor that was equipped with rocket skates. They were expecting a wake of destruction; instead, all they saw was a path of dull gray.
"This is very familiar," the blonde one noticed, "Although, I don't think a drum set will help this time."
"It's just a runt," Buttercup chuckled as she crackled her knuckles, "Don't bother sitting back, I'll be done before you know it." The green-eyed child charged at full speed and threw a right hook, which went right trough the creature's chin. "What the!? Aw man, a liquid monster?" She prepared herself for a counterattack, but it ignored Buttercup and headed for the redhead boy. Dexter tried to defend, but the creature's constitution allowed it to slip by with ease.
"Dexter!" Blossom's eyes started glowing red. "Let go of him or I'll—"
"Don't fire!" the boy genius warned hurriedly. He unbuckled himself and got out of the armor. They all watched as the paint was eaten away. "It's made out of some sort of solvent. Had you used your laser vision, we would've had a major explosion."
"That explains the stink," Bubbles grimaced, "and why it's only going after cars." But vehicles were not the only thing the creature had sighted, as the little round-headed robot soon found out. Banpei screeched his tires and got away as fast as he could, unwittingly dropping his creator. The paint-dissolver followed in hot pursuit.
"Banpei-kun!" Skuld took out a black cylinder with red rings at both ends, obviously a hand grenade. The green-eyed girl held her arm just as she was about to throw it.
"Didn't you hear what Dex just said, bozo?" she snapped, "Flammable monster."
"That's the reason why I'm using this new design! It doesn't make things explode, it makes them implode; it concentrates their mass and crushes them…At least it's supposed to, I'm not quite done putting it together."
"You and Dexter get to work on it then," the longhaired redhead ordered, "We'll go save Banpei. Let's go girls!" The two inventors narrowed their eyes at each other; fortunately, they were smart enough to put their bickering aside for a more fitting time.
Back home, Keiichi, Belldandy and Urd were watching the battle through television.
"You were making nail polish remover?" the young mechanic asked with disbelief, "Couldn't you just buy a bottle at the corner store?"
"You don't get nails this good-looking by using off-the-shelf junk," Urd protested. They turned back to the screen just as Dexter and Skuld were entering an appliance store.
"Looks like they'll each be shipping in with their know-how," Keiichi assumed, "We'd best give them a hand as well."
"I don't think we should bother, they're perfectly able to handle the situation by themselves." Urd got familiar stares from her sister and friend. "I'm not shirking responsibility! If we aid those kids all the time, they'll never be able to do anything on their own."
"Hai, that much is true," her younger sister realized, "Skuld-chan still has much to learn, and Blossom-tachi even more so. We shouldn't interfere unless it's absolutely necessary." Her beloved nodded in agreement.
"Still, it pays to be prepared." The Half-breed goddess went into her lab to start working on a counter-formula. Contrary to what the majority believed, it bugged her to sit idly by in a situation she felt partly responsible of.
Now that Banpei, whose hat had been discolored, was safe in Bubbles arms, the Powerpuff girls were having trouble handling the paint-dissolving monster. They had no way of damaging, distracting or containing it, and the fact that it was totally ignoring them was quite annoying.
"Are you sure we can't just blow it up," the green-eyed one grumbled, "There are no people around and no property to damage."
"Nothing to damage?!" the blonde child exclaimed, "Buttercup, we're at a landmark!"
"Oh, like nothing ever happens to the Tokyo tower." She looked up. "At least it'll be busy while it peels the paint off this thing. We just have to keep an eye on it until the eggheads get back." They heard the sound of heavy metal footsteps. The floating quartet turned and saw an ill-made robotic-suit. "Those two work fast, don't they?" The only response was a pair of missiles heading towards the monster.
"Whoa!" Blossom caught the projectiles and held them until the rockets went out. "Whoever's in there, it's not one of our friends." She tried to reason with the newcomer, but he tried swatting her away, a move that was easily avoided. Buttercup decided on a more no-nonsense approach, namely, a tackle to the midsection followed by a roundhouse kick to the head.
"You don't want to reason? Fine by me." Her opponent got up and charged. Buttercup grabbed the arm, planning to make an over-the-shoulder throw, but it was ripped out of its socket. "Definitely not Dex's work, his stuff is far more durable." A second kick slammed it against the wall, becoming buried under a ton of bricks. "Problem solved. Hey, Bubbles, how's it going over there?"
"Rather dull actually," the blue-eyed girl answered. Since it was liquid, the dissolver had almost no traction, yet it stubbornly insisted on reaching higher than the tower's base, to no avail. "That 'use in a well ventilated area' warning, kind of moot for someone whose brain is made out of thinner."
"That is so pathetic," Blossom muttered. She looked behind and saw Dexter and Skuld approaching, bringing a beige-colored metal box. "Now what have you two put together?"
"This addition to the grav-bomb has a two-fold purpose," the boy genius responded, "to focus the blast and contain the creature." He got down and took aim. "Stand clear." He slid the gizmo towards the dissolver, Skuld activated a remote and a cone of light came out of the device. It didn't even see it stop by its feet, in fact, it must've remained completely oblivious as the box sucked up and sealed it. As he picked it up, Blossom came up to him.
"Since your suit's unusable," she began whilst twiddling her thumbs, "I guess you'll need someone to take you back."
"Yes, it appears I do… If you don't mind that is!" She shook her head in response, a little too eagerly. Buttercup was about to have a little fun with those two when she heard a loud thumping sound.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy." She flew over to the fallen armor and pulled the hatch open. She slapped her face when she the one inside. "You guys are like cockroaches, you know that?" She hurried over to Skuld and picked her up without so much as a 'Do you mind?'. "Come on guys, let's go before another one shows up."
"Who was it?" Bubbles, who was once again carrying Banpei, asked.
"Believe me, it was no one of importance."
Back at the house, the blue-eyed Powerpuff related the story to the grownups.
"A bit of an anticlimax," Urd commented at the end, "and I think you committed a rip-off there."
"Perhaps," Skuld replied, "but I'm still going through with the design I came up with. It'll be much sturdier and have a sleeker appearance." Her eyes were becoming glittery with anticipation.
"Excuse me," Dexter called, "I would appreciate some acknowledgement. After all, I'm the one who came up with the containment device, all you did was finish adjustments on your grav-bomb."
"Oh, so it was teamwork," Belldandy beamed, "I was hoping you two would go into a project together."
"Well, we didn't exactly work together, Onee-san. Dexter-san just helped a little."
"I worked, you assisted," the redhead corrected, "keep the ranking in mind."
"Listen, baka, if there's a number one inventor in this town, that's me."
"Will you guys shut it?" Buttercup's patience snapped. "Instead of annoying all of us, why don't you build mechas or something and duke it out?" Her eyes lit up. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. Be sure to include missiles."
"Buttercup-chan," the half-breed goddess said, "you should know that fighting is not the way to solve such matters."
"Thank goodness," Blossom said with a breath of relief, "we've got adults here to solve things maturely."
"In order to test your know-how fully, you need an all out competition, which I'll be happy to organize and arbitrate."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Blossom-chan" Keiichi comforted the face-faulting girl, "You've only just met Urd-san."
"Sounds good to me," Dexter admitted, "I'll keep in mind that you are our host and not humiliate you in front of your sisters, Miss Skuld."
"I suggest you don't be courteous, because I won't be." After sealing the deal with an obligated handshake, the table was utterly cleared. Dexter wanted to get ahead on completing the engine, Skuld had a hat to repaint, Urd went to her room to plan the events, Buttercup went with her, she really wanted to see that robot fight, and Bubbles went outside to play with Sigel and Banpei. The only ones left were Blossom, Belldandy and Keiichi, and he would soon leave as well.
"Just once, I'd like us to meet someone new, without something unusual happening," the dark-haired man said out loud. He then gave an amused chuckle. "I can no longer imagine life being otherwise." He got up. "Well, I've got work to do too, so I better get busy. Blossom-chan, don't hesitate to ask should you need anything."
"Thank you, Mr. Morisato. The longhaired child took a deep breath and dropped her head. "I apologize for Dexter's behavior, Miss Belldandy. He just can't resist the opportunity to test his mettle against someone, nor back away from a challenge. (Sigh) He can really get on my nerves sometimes."
"Dexter-kun's youth makes him impulsive," the goddess of the present began explaining, "And properly raised, a competitive spirit can become a virtue, one that will allow him and others to grow." She put her hand on Blossom's shoulder. "A confrontation will force both Skuld-chan and Dexter-kun to display their best, which will help create friendship among rivalry." Belldandy grinned gently. "And something new may be revealed to you."
"I don't see what it has to do with me, but thanks, I feel much better now." Blossom got up. "We better ready ourselves for tomorrow, I have a hunch that the competition will be one major event."
Author's notes:
There you go, not my finest work but it serves its introductory purpose. I have no idea where the manga "Ah, megamisama!" takes place, so please forgive me for choosing Tokyo. Enlightenment would me much appreciated.
Well, let's see where this new fiasco will take me.