Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Steel Fusion
Quasi's red eyes opened to nothing but thin little slits. He tilted his head upwards, looking around him at his new surroundings while still a captive of Mojo's strange machine.
Am I ...alive? Quasi thought to himself. But... how? ...how could I have survived..?
He looked down towards where his body used to be, and was shocked to find only a shapeless torso and his arms and legs having been disintegrated into nothing more than floating blobs of black and white.
Suddenly Mojo's booming voice shook Quasi out of his thoughts, causing him to gasp and his head to jerk upward towards the voice.
"Welcome, my villain brother, its nice to see you again." Mojo announced, while walking closer to Quasi.
After a moment, Quasi finally found his voice, shouting in a haunting growl.
"Who are you! What have you done to me?" He demanded.
Mojo shook his head and stopped walking suddenly, looking up into Quasi's eyes with glee.
"Why, my dearest Quasi, you should be thanking me for saving your life." Mojo grinned even wider. "Only I, Mojo Jojo, possess the technology that could keep a being of chemical X alive from pure energy alone, and now because of me, you are here again, which is to say, the battle against the Powerpuff Girls is far from over."
Quasi's eyes widened at this, an expression of pure shock and surprise on this face. His face quickly resumed its fierce glare, as he stared Mojo down suspiciously.
"What do you want?" Quasi demanded, his voice dripping with venom.
"I want to help you." Mojo said simply. "I went into the sewers once the fight had cleared out to retrieve what was left of your body, Quasi. I then hooked you up to this machine, and by using this special artificial chemical X and electric volts I revived you back to your normal state, which is to say, you are now alive again, as in, you are healed now." Mojo explained.
"I don't need anyone's help." Quasi growled.
"I saved your life, fool. You were nothing but a dead and lifeless chemical and you could not have survived on your own. The Powerpuff girls defeated you. I brought you back."
"No one defeats me." Quasi said in a deep voice, ignorant to Mojo's explanations.
Mojo laughed suddenly, catching Quasi off guard.
"Don't be ridiculous. The Powerpuff Girls beat you just like they have beaten me thousands of times. Those three annoying little brats defeat everybody, and you are no exception. But I have seen what your power can do myself, and I know of a way we can take out our revenge on them."
"I don't need anybody, I can defeat them on my own, stupid monkey." Quasi scowled.
"But I can make you stronger, Quasi."
"Impossible," Quasi spat.
"I have brought you to life again, and I can just as easily take it away."
"What can a smelly little monkey do to me?" Quasi snorted and rolled his eyes.
"This machine is keeping you alive." Mojo explained casually. "You need me."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Well, you don't really have a choice do you?" Mojo said with a chuckle, while motioning towards Quasi's obvious handicap.
Quasi then fell silent for a moment, averting his eyes and mumbling something to himself..
"The red substance you find yourself floating around you is an enhanced artificial chemical X, which is what healed your wounds from the battle." Mojo said.
"You call THIS healed? My arms and legs are missing!" Quasi yelled in protest.
"Yes.. Unfortunately those parts of your body sustained too much damage to be able to reattach themselves as your composition would normally allow, meaning they cannot ever be fully restored to normal. But I have already thought of this possible complication, which is to say I do have a solution." Mojo explained.
"Really. What then?" Quasi asked in a sarcastic and skeptical tone.
"This." Mojo said, while picking up some metal armor from his work desk. "These electronic parts will work in sync with what is left of your original body, bringing you back to your normal state, meaning you will be able to function properly again. Then you can join me in defeating the Powerpuff Girls. Think of it... my brains and your power... we'll be unstoppable!"
"I'll never use your weak weapons!" Quasi shouted. "And I'll never join you!"
"Fair enough then." Mojo said before bringing his hand down upon a large button on the control panel, causing the red chemical to drain from the glass tube.
Quasi fell to the ground weakly, lacking any support in his entire body. He began gasping for air as he felt his energy growing weaker, his life force having been so suddenly cut off. The glass tube opened up, and Mojo walked in and studied Quasi's helpless form.
"Second thoughts?" Mojo inquired.
"I'll never join you." Quasi spat between gasps.
"Fine then, if you choose to die." Mojo just shrugged and stood there in silence, watching Quasi's shaking, gasping, howling and crying form as it slowly became weaker and weaker.
Finally, in a weak, quivering voice, Quasi spoke again.
"O-Okay... I-I'll do it..." Quasi choked out. "Just ..h-h-help me.."
Mojo grinned and wasted no time carrying Quasi's weakened body away from the machine and onto the ground.
In only a few minutes, Mojo had fused Quasi's leftover body parts with the electronic parts, creating a horrible monster of metal and both pure and impure chemical X. He began to laugh maniacally as he studied his new creation.
"My work is completed!" Mojo finally announced, and Quasi opened his eyes slowly in awe.
Quasi slowly stood up, shaking, discovering his upper legs, knees, and ankles to now be a shining gray metal, all attached to his original black and white feet. He looked in wonder down at his hands, barely believing his eyes. His right hand bearing long, sharp, dagger-like metal fingers, all attached to a metal upper arm which was connected to his original lower arm and shoulder. His left hand held the same black pointy fingers from before, only now his hand and upper arm were attached to a metal lower arm which joined his new metal shoulder and left chest cavity. He silently felt his head and face, gasping when he discovered the left side of his face and cranium to be metal.
He then looked down at Mojo in wonder, who was beaming with pride, a strange mixture of fury, shock, and joy in Quasi's eyes. After a long time, Quasi finally spoke in a low, echoing voice, which now had a strange metallic tone to it.
"Heh... thanks.." He said, and then stuck out his new metal hand to Mojo. "Partner."
Mojo blinked in surprise but then shook Quasi's hand without hesitation, a sinister grin on his face.
"Together we can rule all of Townsville... even the world!" Mojo announced while tightly grasping Quasi's hand.
Suddenly Quasi pulled Mojo up over his shoulder, then after gaining momentum he hurled Mojo across the room and into the wall.
Quasi grinned to himself and looked at his new metal hand and arm.
"Thank you, Mojo, for restoring me to life and making me even more powerful... You foolishly believed that I would team up with you, a mistake that will certainly prove fatal." Quasi said in an evil voice that grew in intensity with each word while advancing on the fallen Mojo.
Mojo slowly stood up again, but much to Quasi's surprise he had that same evil grin on his face. Quasi suddenly screeched as he instantly felt an excruciating burning sensation flowing from his artificial limbs and throughout his entire body. He fell to his knees, gasping and hollering like mad, and managed to look up Mojo, who was wielding a small remote control and grinning at Quasi's pain.
"W-W-What the...?" Quasi choked out.
Mojo began to laugh evilly and pressed the button on the control, causing Quasi's pain to instantly cease, but leaving him weakened and lying on the floor.
"It seems you're the fool, Quasi. Did you not think I would be prepared for you to betray me? You are completely under my control. I hold your very life in my hands." Mojo snickered, tossing the tiny control up and down like a toy.
Quasi growled but then fell silent, having learned to try to avoid such excruciating pain.
"How? H-how is that p-possible..?" Quasi inquired in a quivering voice.
Mojo laughed again, feeling an extra boost of confidence at his control over such a once dangerous and powerful force.
"Volts of electricity. But not just any electricity. These currents have properties of Antidote X.. my latest invention, intended to be used on the Powerpuff Girls themselves, but it came in quite handy here, don't you think?"
Quasi stood up in silence, finally convinced that he had no choice but to team up with Mojo.
But when the time is right.. I shall take him down.. But for now, I'll use his help.. Heh, it couldn't hurt. Quasi eyed all of the ingenious machines and gadgets around him, smirking slightly.
He looked down at Mojo and smiled genuinely, catching Mojo off guard for a moment.
"Okay, you win. I mean it this time," Quasi said, sticking his hand out again to Mojo, "Partners?"
"Partners." Mojo said as they shook hands.
Brio zipped and zoomed throughout all of Townsville, enjoying the thrilling sensation of the air rushing across his face and whipping his spiky hair around. He twirled and looped, dove and rose, leapt and fell, enjoying his nighttime flight over the twinkling city lights.
This had become his usual nighttime routine, for as if by instinct, he would long to soar throughout the city, practice fighting in the Professor's battle simulation room, and release as much of his overflowing energy that he could.
His energy never faded, and he could never sleep because of being so full of life.
He finally sat on the roof of a nearby building to catch his breath, a bright smile upon his face that could almost light up the entire city.
"Whoo.. That was great... its things like that.. that really let you know you're alive," he said while panting and smiling to himself.
"The best time of the day is the middle of the night.. I'm glad I don't ever need sleep," He grinned and got to his feet.
He saluted goofily and put on a deep, fake, cliche superhero voice.
"I never sleep, for I am.. BRIO!" He hollered in a goofy voice, pounding on his chest and grinning from ear to ear, acting like an idiot and then laughing at himself.
He chuckled and then leapt off the building to make his course around Townsville yet again, the freedom of the early morning hours beckoning him, and not one drop in energy overcame him to slow him down.
thankies for readin'