Forgotten

Part 3

The return of a hero

The man standing in the doorway of the Utonium home claimed to be a long forgotten hero named Stephen De-joule. The Power Puff Girls instantly recognised him from the video tape of his final battle with William Angelo, even though time had not been kind to him. His sandy hair had large streaks of grey through it, crows' feet had appeared at the edges of his eyes which in turn were blood shot, a large ugly scar went across his right cheek and his skin had a slightly yellow appearance.

'I don't want to sound rude but are you going to make me stand out here all day?' Stephen asked as the Professor continued to gawk at him.

'What? Oh I am sorry please come in Mr De-joule.' Professor Utonium moved to one side to allow Stephen to walk into his house. As soon as he did Stephens long trench coat moved showing a pistol strapped to his waist.

'What are you doing?' Stephen asked when Professor Utonium put his hand out to block the door.

'I will not have guns in my house.' The Professor said. 'I don't care who you are or what the situation maybe, but no one can enter this house with any firearm. If you would please remove them'

'You're a strange fellow Utonium.' De-joule said as he took a step back. 'But it's your decision, I doubt William will attack here any how… I will just put my guns in the car.' Stephen started to walk over to a small car which was almost definitely a rental car.

'Thank you Mr De-joule, I am glad you understand.' Professor Utonium said as he followed Stephen to his car.

'Call me Stephen, just don't call me Steve.' Stephen said as he opened up the trunk of his car which was completely empty. 'Now let's see what I have with me.' Stephen took off his coat and put it down on the top of the car, showing his arsenal to Professor Utonium. He had at least twenty guns strapped to his body, ranging from pistols to rifles that were in pieces and something that looked suspiciously like an illegal fusion cannon. Stephen started to un-strap all of the weapons on his body, throwing them into the trunk with out a second thought, just taking a little more care with the grenades he had. When he finished with all the obvious weapons he started with his hidden guns, two guns attached to his arms, three guns hidden in his trousers, two guns in his boots, an explosive device behind his belt buckle and the parts needed to build a laser assault rifle taped to his back.

'You need all of those guns?' Professor Utonium said as he saw the entire trunk was now full of dangerous looking objects.

'Well they might be enough to slow William Angelo down a bit, if I'm lucky.' Stephen pulled a large knife out of his boot and showed it to the Professor. 'Can I keep the knife?'

'Uh… yeah sure...' Professor Utonium was still in awe of the sheer amount of weaponry the man had hidden on his body, it must be enough to wage a small war.

'Thanks John.' Stephen threw the knife into the air and it landed perfectly in the scabbard hidden in his boot.

'Whoa did you see that!' Buttercup said as she put the curtain back. 'That guy has enough guns to take over a small country.'

'I don't like it, why would he have some many weapons if he was so strong?' Blossom asked herself, but got a reply from Buttercup none the less.

'Well why don't you ask him, he's coming up the drive right now.'

'I intend to ask him Buttercup, I sure do.'

They were now all sitting in the living room, each waiting for someone to start the conversation and none wishing to be first to speak. In the end it was Blossom who broke the silence with the first question.

'Why are you here?' A simple question but even Blossom did not know how important it really was.

'Why do you think I am here?' Stephen answered with a question, which is no answer at all.

'I guess you came here to defeat William Angelo.' Blossom said.

'To tell the truth that's not why I am here.' Both truth and lie told as one. 'I can't beat William Angelo; I came to help you three do that.'

'What do you mean you can't beat William?' Buttercup said. 'We saw your fight with him, and you kicked his butt!'

'Tell me did you do any research on me after that fight?' Stephen asked this question almost off handily, but his eyes showed this question was very important to him.

'Well no but we were going to… eventually.' Blossom said, taking her eyes off Stephen and thus missing the look of relief in his eyes.

'Then I can save you the trouble.' Stephen leaned back and started to tell his story. 'You saw my final fight, and how I stopped the device using my own body to absorb the energy?' The girls all nodded. 'Well I may have stopped the device but it still did its job on me… but that's getting ahead of myself. Do you know how I got my powers?'

'Someone told us it was a government project, some kind of do it yourself hero.' Bubbles said as she remembered what Barry had said.

'Well that is true; I am the result of a government project, two of them in fact. The first was "Project: wolf pack" which started me on the road to been a hero.' Stephen closed his eyes as he thought back on the past. 'The government wanted to make a group of elite soldiers, taking unwanted babies and training them from the start. We were given special treatments and trained almost non-stop with the ultimate goal of becoming the best. And I was the one who showed the greatest potential, stronger, faster and more skilled then any of my fellow "Wolf pack".

'The project lasted eighteen years and by the end of it only thirty of the original forty subjects were still alive. Ten died because of our "special treatment." The project was overall a success, but it was decided that it would not be repeated due to ethical reasons. So it was that "wolf pack" was broken up and its subjects sent to different areas of government. Of those I am the only living member, twenty died on mission, three died of natural causes and the other six committed suicide.

'I was moved to a new project right after "wolf pack", one of high importance. I was chosen because of my above normal skills, they felt this would make the results of their experiment even greater. Project Red, the work of Mary Stevens and Henry De-joule…'

'Hey they have the same last names as your name.' Bubbles broke in, unable to contain herself when she made a realisation like that. Stephen opened his eyes again and looked at her, a small smile creeping across his face as he looked at Bubbles.

'Yes it is, I was named after them you see.' Stephen continued. 'In "Wolf pack." You were not given a name but a number; I was operative fifteen-X-nine-G1 for most of my life. But in "project Red" I was named after the scientists who worked with me. In a way they became my parents, looking after me and turning me into a true hero.'

'How did thy do that?' Professor Utonium asked. He had never heard of Henry De-joule or Mary Stevens or any of the projects Stephen had mentioned.

'Well it was mostly down to the recreation of an old project… tell me John have you ever heard of the super soldier program?' Stephen was not surprised when the Professor's eyes lit up the moment he had finished speaking.

'Yes!' Professor Utonium yelled out. 'That was the project which created Captain America…'

'Captain who?' Buttercup asked and only got puzzled looks from both of her sisters.

'… But I thought that the formula had been lost in a fire.' Professor Utonium had not even heard Buttercup, he just kept talking.

'Yes it was lost, but Henry and Mary managed to remake it with a lot of effort.' Stephen said. 'That combined with all of the latest procedures, cybernetic implants, drug treatments, gene therapy and even some magic was used to make me as powerful as possible.'

'Oh please don't tell me that they tried such a foolish thing as magic in such a scientific experiment.' Professor Utonium said. 'We all know there is no such thing a true magic, science has shown us everything we need to know.'

'I have to agree with the Professor, there is no such thing as magic.' Blossom said.

'You better not believe that, because if you do we might be in very big trouble.' Stephen looked at them all with eyes of steel. 'Magic is very real, and William Angelo commands it. If it was not for the magic in me I would never have stood against him, it made me immune to his powers so that I could fight him as an equal.'

'Yeah Blossom there is such a thing as magic.' Bubbles said sternly, which was very unusual for her. 'What do you think Him uses to fight us?'

'That's completely different, Him is a demon and…' Blossom started to explain but Stephen held up a hand to stop her, she still tried to continue speaking but Stephen's eyes told her not to. The room went quiet as Stephen continued to stare at Blossom, and for a time it seemed no one would speak, but quietly Stephen started talking again.

'I do not know what William is but a mortal man he is not I can tell you that. Is he a demon? Possible but I know not for sure, I only know he has true magic and if you don't think he does he will crush you under his boot heel with no effort.' Stephen paused a moment to see if anyone has anything else to say and simply nodded when he got nothing but silence. 'Now as I was saying, I am the result of these two projects but now I have little of "project Red" in me. The device took all of my powers away from me as it had been built to do, leaving me with what I earned on my own and nothing more. This is why I can't fight William any more and why I retired from been a super hero, I have no special powers left. But I am an expert on the enemy and I still have my skills from "wolf pack" so I can still help beat William… but I can't do it alone.'

'So you want us to fight for you, to defeat William Angelo.' Blossom said.

'No need to worry because kicking butt is what we do best.' Buttercup said. 'All we need is for leader girls here to come up with a plan and we can get moving. Something better then waiting for the bad guy to make the first move.'

'Wait you mean to tell me you have not figured out what William is doing?' Stephen looked shocked as the Power Puff Girls all shook their heads. 'You know what he has done so far and even saw the last fight and still you have no clue as to what he is up to… amazing.'

'Well then Mr Know-it-all, why don't you tell us what he is planning then?' Buttercup said folding her arms and giving Stephen a look which would have made most people cringe in fear.

'He stole a computer from Cyberdine; don't tell me you did not know it was the same super computer which controlled the device.' As soon as Stephen said this Blossom realised what was going on, and why she had felt the folks at Cyberdine had not been totally honest with her.

'I knew they were not telling us the whole story.' Blossom said, earning a confused look from Stephen. 'Sorry, it's a long story, but at least now I know what William is planning.'

'Care to enlighten us Blossom?' Buttercup asked.

'William is obviously trying to rebuild the device he was working on when Stephen stopped him the first time.' Blossom said. 'He wants to carry on where he left off, where he was finally stopped twenty-four years ago.'

'Very good.' Stephen had been nodding the whole time Blossom had been talking, agreeing with everything she had to say. 'Now I can tell you which part he will go for next, the power core. He seems to be collecting the device parts in the order he made them, first the computer… then the power core, finally the device it's self. And I also know where the power core is been held…'

'Been held, surely they destroyed it if it's so dangerous!' Blossom shouted. The idea that something designed to either take away every hero on earth's power or to destroy the entire solar system was still kept around was ludicrous. But Blossom did not know that William held influence even when he was in jail, and that the greed of men sometimes blinded them to the truth.

'The device is still around all right.' Stephen said. 'It was split into its main components but otherwise no damage was ever done to it.'

'But why?' Bubbles asked.

'At first it was to be used as evidence against William Angelo, later on it was used for profit.' Stephen said.

'Now hang on a moment…' Professor Utonium got out of his seat and walked over to Stephen De-joule, wagging his finger at him the whole time. 'I know that you think it was for profit but I know the very scientists who worked on those parts, it was to push forward human knowledge and not for anything as petty as greed.' The Professor expected no reply to this, he felt like he had one the argument right at the start. But Stephen calmly spoke and blew it all away.

'Is that so? "I am the destroyer of worlds." Is that not what was said by a scientist?' Stephen gave professor Utonium ample time to answer but received nothing. 'Scientists have a habit of putting their sins on the fact it was for the good of the human race… the increasing of its knowledge. That is the same thing the scientists who work on the power core say, they work for a company once under Angelo enterprises and earn an awful of money. Last I checked their main goal was turning the power core into a weapon, after all the company is a munitions corporation. Their second goal is a new power source to replace fossil fuels.' Stephen stopped there, never taking his hard eyes off Professor Utonium, daring him to continue with his argument. All Professor Utonium could do is make a meek apology before he went to sit back down again.

'Where is the power core then?' Blossom asked.

'If I tell you what will you do?' Stephen said.

'Smash it to pieces!' Buttercup smashed her fist into her open hand to demonstrate what she planned to do to the power core. She looked round to see approving faces from everyone but Stephen who looked almost in pain.

'You can not do that.' Buttercup was about ask why the hell she couldn't do that when Stephen carried on speaking. 'The core is too dangerous, if you damage it, it could lead to an explosion that would wipe most of America off the map. Besides William could always make a new one if he was forced to, if it was not for his time constraints he would do it anyway.'

'What time constraints?' Blossom asked Stephen.

'He is working on a deadline, thanks to his rather dramatic personality.' Stephen said. 'He is trying to repeat history they way he wanted it to go, down to the very date. I am almost positive he plans to activate the device the exact day he planned to use it twenty years ago. That was exactly one week after I defeated him, giving him only three days in which to build the device.

'It would take William a week at the very best to build the device from scratch, so he will steal the old parts and put them together. That means we have a chance to beat him, I am not sure exactly how to do this…' Stephen looked at Blossom and waited.

Blossom sighed, it always came down to her in the end, she was leader and everyone expected her to be perfect. Now even with this supposed military genius everything was put in front of her and it was going to Blossom job to save the day. She had hoped that maybe she could pass this one off, let the old guy have the task of beating William while she could stand back and watch, but it was not to be.

'We have a chance to catch William, I say we take it.' Blossom said after a while of thinking. 'We set a trap up for him by this power core and then grab him when he tries to steal it.'

'A fair enough plan I say.' Stephen said. 'Very well meet me tomorrow morning at "OCP" main office. I will explain everything to them and get us access, and then we just wait for William…' Stephen turned to Professor Utonium. 'I understand you dislike of guns around your daughters, but I will have to armed if I am going to fight against William… going unarmed would be suicide for me.'

'Very well but try to keep the guns as far away from my girls as you can.' Professor Utonium tried to sound strict but Stephen had taken most of the fight out of him. Stephen said nothing, just waved his hand in a "as if I would do anything else gesture." Which did nothing to ease the Professor's mind.

'What can we do in the mean time?' Buttercup asked. 'I can't stand waiting around doing nothing.'

'You could see if he has been around recently, someone might even know where he is hiding out.' Stephen rubbed his chin as he thought about the problem. 'Go to pet stores and see if anyone has been buying a large amount of young pets, puppies, kittens and the like.'

'Why would the guy who planed to destroy the world want a bunch of puppies and kittens?' Buttercup asked thinking Stephen was sending them on some wild goose chase because he did not think they were up for the real job.

'Maybe he likes animals like me!' Bubbles said, she thought that maybe this William Angelo was not such a bad guy after all… not if he liked cute animals.

'Not just Puppies and kittens, just young animals… preferably young and strong, and they are not pets for him.' Stephen said.

'What are they for then?' Blossom asked, her curious young face never leaving Stephen's. For a moment he thought he might tell her, she seemed so much older then she really was but at the last second he Stephen remembered these girls had yet to see double digits in their years.

'Best you not know, forget that I said anything.'

'Ok, but can you at least tell us what William looked like?' Blossom said. 'Everyone we ask can't even remember what he used to ware let alone what his face was like.'

'Of course I can tell you what he looked like… he looked… he… William… I…' Stephen's mouth hang open as if it waited for the words to come out but nothing more then a short whimpering noise escaped his lips. 'I can't remember, it's all black when I try to see him in my mind. Just a shadow that moves and talks...' (Laughs?) '…but nothing more. It seems without my powers I have fallen under William's magic as well, I can not remember him any more then the others that saw him can.' Stephen seemed deeply worried about this fact; it was as if he could not believe William had power over him even though Stephen was no longer protected by magic.

'It doesn't matter; it's the girl's bed time now.' Professor Utonium's statement was met by a universal groan from his three girls. 'Don't argue with me, your still only nine years old and have to get your rest. Now quick march!' Professor Utonium pointed towards the Power Puff Girls bedroom while the three girls floated off in the direction of their room.

'They seem like spirited young girls.' Stephen said when he and the Professor were finally alone. The Power Puff Girls had been tucked in and Miss Keane had been called to excuse the girls from school. Now the two older men sat in the living room, one a man of science and one a man of irrationality is it any wonder they never really got along?

'Yes they are.' Professor Utonium said. 'It can be a little difficult with three "Spirited girls." Especially when they have super powers.' Stephen just grunted at this and the two were left with nothing more to say to each other. They simply sat looking at the other, waiting for something to break the awkward silence and nothing came.

'Tell me why did you tell the girls to look at pet stores?' Professor Utonium spoke up, more out of curiosity then a want to break their silence.

'It was my first mission after I was finished in "Project Red"… I was to infiltrate William Angelo's headquarters and gather Intel' about him…'

The skyscraper looked innocent on the outside, but in truth it was closer to a fortress then a place of work. Any normal spy sent in would have been killed with in a few steps of the building, and none would ever make it close to the top room. Stephen was not a normal spy, and he was skilled enough to get past even the greatest of security with out detection. It is not known if he could have done it with just his "Wolf pack" training, but I would say he could have.

Stephen had past the outer security with ease, hacking past computer controlled defences and making his way past several guards. He could have killed them if he wanted to, it would have made the job easier for him but this was the start of his career and he planed to keep a zero fatality rate. It was something he promised the man he called father and the woman he called mother. It was a promise he kept right up to the end, and how he would pay for it.

Once inside it was the work of seconds to sneak past cameras and laser beams to reach the ventilation shaft. This was still a secure route; he had to pass several traps and sensors before he could reach the top floor and William Angelo's office. (This was the same office Tommy would be shown truth, and start to scream.)

This was the first time Stephen laid eyes on the true William Angelo, with his fake looks cast aside. No longer did her ware a black suit and have himself all neat, he saw what William looked like when he did not know the eyes of an enemy was upon him. William Looked like…

Rain, rain go away come again another day. Love is hate, hate is love, and I will shoot the little white dove. One, two three stand by me. The laughing man sees all!

(Author: I fear, dear reader, that even I am not immune to William Angelo's power, I can not write a word of sense when I try to describe him. For now know William Angelo has a face, and in time it will show.)

Stephen took a moment to see his enemy; he was sitting cross-legged watching a small dog that he had trapped in a metal cage, smiling all the while as the poor creature tried to escape.

'Come on my dear you can't give up so soon… quitters never get anywhere in life don't you know?' His voice was different, deeper and with an undertone of meanness and hate which seemed to cut through the air like a knife. The small puppy made some pleading noises, as it seemed to realize its days were coming to a very early close. William watched for a while smiling away as he listened to dogs pathetic whines. 'Sorry deary but begging will get you nowhere with me! You see I'm hungry, and also I need to do a little magic… just a little mind you, and well for that I am going to need my strength. So down the hatches, look out bellow, foods a-coming my good fellow. Yummy, yummy in my tummy!' He said this as he un-latched the cage and picked up the small dog but the scruff of its neck, lifting it high above his head. The puppy struggled for dear life but the grip was too strong, it was as doomed as a man who puts a loaded gun to his head and pulls the trigger.

William opened his mouth, which was now filled with teeth, Stephen could see them all, there must have been hundreds of little razor like teeth in his mouth that grew in size to be larger then his head had been before. The puppy stopped struggling and looked to the vent where Stephen was with a pleading face, "please save me you're the only hope I have!" it seemed to say, but Stephen could not help, he could only watch. William held the puppy up for a second more then dropped it into his mouth that was now big enough to hold the whole animal. William then closed his mouth with a loud crunching noise and the puppy met its end, the hundreds of teeth did a job on it, bits of fur and blood seemed to ooze out of his oversized mouth as he made a large effort to swallow. The whole thing went down his throat like a snake having its meal; a shape, which might have been a dog once, seemed to move down his throat and then land in his belly. His mouth shrank back to its normal size and for a moment he just sat there, then he made a loud belch.

'Pardon me.' He said with a little giggle as he cleaned his mouth, taking off the fur and blood with a snot stained handkerchief.

This was more then enough for Stephen who started his way back out of the ventilation system and outside of William's building. Once again it was mere child's play to get past security and make it to safety. When he was sure that he was not been followed, Stephen went over to the nearest ally way, doubled over and started to heave. The great hero was sick to his stomach.

'That's why I suggested they look at pet stores.' Stephen finished his story and for a moment felt his gut twist and the sickness come back. He steeled himself and was able to carry on without so much as hint of what he felt.

'My God, William needs to eat puppies to power his magic?' Professor Utonium had far less luck of keeping his cool, his skin now white as his coat. Stephen had described the scene in perfect detail and now Professor Utonium was glad he had said nothing when his daughters were present. It was heart rending to think how Bubbles might have reacted if Stephen had told her what he had just told the Professor.

'I don't think it's just puppies, but he does need life to power some of his magic.' Stephen said. 'Anything could do, the more life it has the better. Young animals are good, but I personally think he would prefer humans but even he could not get away with that for very long.' This was all the Professor needed; now the image of William putting a screaming baby in his horribly large mouth entered the Professor's head. This was just too much for him and Professor Utonium found himself going to the hardly touched liquor cabinet. There was the gentle tinkle of glass meeting ice, then the steady pour of liquid. The smell of good scotch filled the air and the very moment it reached Stephen there was an instant reaction. The normally calm man started to twitch, his pupils dilated and a fine sweat started to appear over his entire body.

'Oh I am sorry I did not ask if you wanted something to drink.' Professor Utonium said as he turned round, clutching in his hand a tumbler of rich brown scotch whiskey. Stephen's eyes locked onto the glass, his whole being seemed totally focused on the brown liquid inside. The Professor mistook this for thirst combined with the trauma of going over the old memory.

'No thank you, I will just have a jive-cola.' These words seemed to take a huge effort, as if they weighed more then the moon and fought to leave his mouth.

'Are you sure?' Professor Utonium pointed to the cabinet filled with bottles of drink. 'I have plenty of the stronger drinks, its no trouble at all…' At this Stephen seemed to snap, jumping up to his feet and shouting so loud that he woke the girls up.

'I said I wanted a cola damn you!' He grabbed Professor Utonium by his collar and pulled him close to his face. It looked like he was about to kill Professor Utonium there and then, but his grip relaxed and he let the Professor drop back. Stephen took a moment, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, when he opened his eyes again all the anger was gone.

'I am sorry, I should not have snapped at you… it's just that I am a little uptight about the whole situation.' Stephen said in his old calm voice, it was like he become a different person for a moment then regained himself once more.

'No need to apologise, you obviously stressed and tired.' Professor Utonium said, making sure he was a good distance away from Stephen just in case snapped again.

'Yes, I am tired.' Stephen agreed, and now actually did look close to the point of exhaustion. 'I think I will go home and rest for a while. Tell your girls I will be waiting for them tomorrow morning outside of OCP.' With that Stephen walked out of the Utonium house, with out so much as a goodbye.