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Chapter 6
Confidence
"Snips, tails and puppy dog tails… these were the ingredients chosen to create the ultimate infra-humans, counterparts able to break the Powerpuff Girls where others had failed. They may be strange to consider them so, but I believe that this choice of ingredients was very insightful," Doctor Porter remarked.
Mojo Jojo scoffed, but he nodded, nonetheless. "Yes, that was the perfect decision to solve my problem, as the Rowdyruff Boys were made with the precise intent to counter the accursed Powerpuffs, and in order to achieve that target those were the ingredients I decided to use. If only I had real, pure Chemical X at my disposal… I wouldn't be here, trying yet again to destroy them!"
"Your search may end sooner than you think, my friend," Porter said with an evil smile.
Mojo Jojo grunted and, deciding to ignore the fact he had dared, a simple human, to call him, a superior genius, friend, he continued, "In any case, I suppose that's not your final goal, Doctor. You don't want to create a counterpart of this pathetic male puff, but something far better… is that the case?"
"Yes… and no, Mojo Jojo. You see, the Rowdyruff Boys, in the original version you created, had a weakness… but apart from that? They defeated the Powerpuff Girls, leaving no doubt about the power they originally held. I still wonder about how the female infra-humans had the chance to get revived after what happened to them, when I go through all the info I've accumulated concerning Utonium's creations… but that's not important right now. The Rowdyruffs were far more powerful, smarter, more skilful… in your original vision of them, they were simply better than Utonium's infra-humans. And I believe that is proof that the Rowdyruff recipe stands far better than the Powerpuff one for what I want to do today."
"So… a ruff, following my recipe, that is your idea? I suppose that would be possible."
"Exactly. And, while I'm not interested in creating a direct counterpart of Donnie… no, my creation won't be a simple counterpart… I believe that to put our infra-human here through a more interesting, taxing test, we need to put him and my creation into a, well… tenser situation, something helped by a natural difference."
Mojo Jojo was no fool, and he caught on quickly. "You talk of a girl, then? Hmm…"
A grin appeared on his face. "I find that… very interesting. A ruff girl, huh? It may work, considering the boy here. However, the Rowdyruff Boys were made to be males from the very conception, as that was part of the counterpart idea. Their masculine personalities were built from the base recipe, Doctor."
"That is easily rectified. Donnie was made out of sugar, spice and everything nice. In the end, it was the last ingredient that proved to be the one who determined the gender of the final infra-human. I theorize that, likewise, the ruff's gender is similarly decided by the last ingredient of the recipe."
"And the opposite of puppy dog tails is… kitty cat tails," Mojo Jojo finished.
"Precisely. Snips, and snails, to define the behaviour and basic instincts. Kitty cat tails for the gender."
Mojo Jojo thought over Porter's line of thought for some seconds… before finally erupting into an evil laugh. "Ha! That's it! It is not something that is expected to exist, it's a new creation not even the Powerpuff Girls will be able to stop, as they're unprepared and won't be able to do anything while they will be annihilated by not a counterpart, but a superior being! Fighting fire with fire… for real, this time."
He hastily turned towards Doctor Porter with a look full of interest and malice. "I admit, your idea might be effective in theory. We shall see how it does in practice!"
"Excellent! That's what I needed to hear… the confirmation of the one who came closer of them all to the excellence that is my aim. Now, we will decide about the balance and get to work on the mixture itself. Follow me, I have already stored the fresh ingredients. I'll show you—we'll have to begin preparations for the concoction soon."
The two left for another section of the laboratory chamber, thus leaving Donnie alone, still trapped in the energy cage.
He had been unable to comment or even call out at the two while they talked.
What Porter wanted to do, in his mind, sounded like madness. His craziness could only result in harm to everyone around him… if not himself. He was stunned by how he looked so confident in his plan… by how his logic sounded impeccable at first.
He was really going to do it. To create a girl… not a counterpart of him, no… something likely much, much worse than that.
He couldn't let that happen.
No, he needed to act and stop him and Mojo Jojo before they could succeed. Compared to the last time he had been trapped into an energy-based cage, he had a new ace in his sleeve… and now that the two were elsewhere, he had free reign.
Donnie stood up and carefully approached the energy cage, the bars fizzling with pure energy. Without letting himself get dazed by the light, he concentrated and began to move his hands in front of himself. Slowly, a force field began to appear, just a blur in the air, but Donnie did not stop there. He was in visible struggle as the force field, instead of getting bigger, began to morph, changing its shape.
In less than half a minute, the force field had assumed the same shape of a geometric cylinder, without both of the circle surfaces and hollow inside. Donnie, his eyes narrowed and some sweat coming down his forehead, pushed his hand forward and the incorporeal contraption quietly moved, following his motion. It touched the metal energy bars, which were easily stopped and began to go around the object to connect with each other, thus creating a hole into the cage and a way out.
Donnie threw himself out of the cage, through the hole he had made, just in time as the cylinder-shaped force field lasted for just a split second with the sudden lack of energy provided by him. The cylinder disappeared and the bars returned to their usual places… without making any more noise than the usual one the cage normally emitted.
Donnie sighed in relief before forcing himself to stand up. He had managed to get out without letting Mojo and Porter know about his escape… now it was time to get both of them with a surprise attack. He knew what Mojo Jojo was capable of, but he was confident he could beat him… the same, however, couldn't be said for Doctor Porter.
He just hoped he could slow down the actual plan and stop them from creating the evil girl until the girls found the laboratory they were in.
He floated upwards and moved in the lab silently, following the voices of Doctor Porter and Mojo Jojo in the distance as they discussed their work.
"Very well. The final mix should be ready. However, are you fully, utmost sure that you plan to make only one ruff?" Mojo Jojo demanded. That was a choice he did not understand, let alone like… why making only one if he could make a dozen? He had plenty of all the three ingredients as he had showed him.
"Certainly. I only need one to put my late colleague's creation to a test. But do not worry… I believe the test will be successful, and if that happens, your enemies won't stand any chance if they try to stop it and your infra-humans."
"I really hope, for your sake, that your confidence is not ill-placed," Mojo Jojo growled, visibly not convinced. This guy may have been evil, but he was too much obstinate to hold on to his ideas, even when they were far from flawless. He knew that as soon as he had helped him destroy the four puffs, he would have to get rid of him.
He did not like the prospect of having this buffoon as an obstacle towards world domination, after all.
"The basis for our experiment is ready. Now, we need the catalyst or fourth ingredient… and again, we will derail a little from your recipe. Chemical X is rare, but what I want to do is to succeed where Laurentium failed… What we're going to use is, therefore, Unidentified Y."
"The European counterpart of Chemical X… I see. I've done my research, as well, so spare me the explanations."
"As you wish. We just need a single flask, and then we'll be ready to complete our… wait."
Donnie froze. He was just ten meters away from them, their backs turned to him; he did not make any sound, not one he himself could hear. Yet, despite this, Porter slowly turned around and his eyes fell on him.
He folded his arms as he registered his presence… followed right after by Mojo's screech, when he did the same.
"CURSES!" he shouted as he drew out a laser rifle out of nowhere and charged it up. "How can it be that you were able to escape the cage that I, Mojo Jojo, designed with the sole purpose of imprisoning you?"
"It appears that Donnie has learned some new abilities since your last encounter with him, Mojo Jojo. No matter… I'll deal with him," Porter said as he walked a few steps forward, putting himself in front of Donnie.
"Colleague, I need you to look over the mixture and keep it ready for the last phase of our experiment until I solve this temporary interruption. We'll-"
"You dare give me orders?!" Mojo was furious, "I won't let the boy go unpunished while I act like your puppet, Porter!"
Porter frowned, though he was wise enough to keep his face turned to Donnie. "Mojo Jojo, your role here is one of incredible importance. Remember what we're going to achieve today! something remarkable, which will be remembered in the years to come, and will help you dispose of your enemies for good. Have patience… for just a little longer."
He narrowed his eyes. "And do not worry about this infra-human. Donnie will soon regret his most recent decision."
Mojo Jojo glared at Porter's back, but he eventually growled in anger without shooting his colleague in the back. "So be it… but watch your words, Doctor. I may not be as forgivinig next time!"
"It won't happen again," Porter replied. He put his entire attention on the puff before him, who had waited for the two evil geniuses to conclude their bickering. Without Porter, Donnie knew that Mojo alone wouldn't have been able to complete the creation process. He just needed to take the scientist out, then!
If only that were easy.
Donnie remained stoic and unmoving as Porter kept his eyes locked on him. After some seconds, the doctor smiled.
"Heh… I can feel you want to stop me Donnie. To stop what is inevitable. That makes me… curious, in fact. Come on, then," he taunted as he hit his own chest with one, metallic hand, "come and get me, Donnie. Show me 'what you got'… show me that your pathetic, utterly meaningless life has at least some strength in it!"
Donnie knew that Porter was just trying to get on his nerves. Yet, his words still managed to hurt him. Calling him useless, meaningless…
He knew that Porter was really insulting Professor Laurentium by calling him those words. He didn't know what felt worse, being regarded as an object, or Porter talking behind his creator's back. Either way, it was enough to make him lose his cool.
He also remembered the explanations Porter gave for his actions… and how he found them so, so petty!
That made him mad.
With a war cry, Donnie flew forward at full speed, fists ready to strike.
Porter smirked and limited himself to raise a hand and direct it towards Donnie. With a *click* sound, the metal began to move and creak, and the hand transformed into a gun… or, to use a more correct term, a cannon.
Porter's Hand Cannon fired just a moment before Donnie could reach the Doctor. The puff was struck and thrown back by the shockwave as what seemed to be numerous shells tried to navigate their way into his body. His powered skin managed to protect him from the shotgun shells, though they still made him yelp in pain.
He stopped his flight before he could collide with something, just as Porter let out another taunt. "I know you can do better than this, infra-human. Again!"
The request was fulfilled as Donnie gained some height in the laboratory and began to charge up energy grenades. In response, Porter rotated his metallic hand and something in the Hand Cannon changed its position. A moment later, he began shooting explosive shells towards Donnie, who in turn started to bombard him. Donnie was fast enough to avoid the shells, which exploded around the lab, destroying chunks of it as well as parts of the external walls, but Porter did not seem to mind. He was completely concentrated on the battle.
Donnie didn't see Porter fight before, so his eyes widened when he saw how much fast the Doctor could be, letting him evade his grenades with ease. Being able to control when his grenades exploded was of no help, and if there was a yellow sphere Porter couldn't actually escape from, he would just shoot it in mid-flight with his Hand Cannon.
Something else was up with the Doctor. That speed was inhuman, and he doubted it could all be explained by to the cyborg-like hands and feet. But he couldn't fly, Donnie knew at least that.
At least, he hoped.
Changing his tactic, Donnie stopped to use his grenades and swooped down, making a 90 degrees turn just above the ground and moving towards Porter at full speed.
This time, Porter didn't use the shotgun mode of his Hand Cannon, but he made it change back into the robotic hand. Then, he put himself in battle stance and waited for Donnie's arrival.
Donnie prepared to kick him with all the strength he had, and Porter merely raised his arms in defence. Therefore, his feet collided with the Doctor's parry and the noise of metal being struck echoed in the chamber.
But Porter did not even flinch at the attack. Donnie was astonished and taken aback, that was not supposed to be parried that easily!
Porter didn't wait for him to react. He launched his left fist towards the little boy, hitting him in the head and sending him rolling some meters away from the scientist's left side.
Donnie gritted his teeth and forced himself to ignore the pain as he stood up and massaged his head, a new headache now appearing in his current list of problems. Porter now had a neutral expression on his face, almost methodical. The taunting tone had left his voice.
"I do not intend to weaken you, Donnie. The test ahead is going to be difficult, and I need you to be fresh and ready for it. Otherwise, the testing itself would end up being devoid of any significance, and we don't want that now, do we?"
Ignoring the Doctor's ramblings, Donnie leapt at him and began storming him with a series of fast punches. But Porter was just as fast as him, and he parried every one of his attacks with ease. He was as fast as him! As the girls! As the Rowdyruffs! How… how was that even possible!?
Donnie decided to try something else. Just after one of his punches got parried again, he fast created a force field that he rammed it into Porter's left side. He tried to stop it with one hand, but the force field wasn't easily stopped and it just continued to push forward, so that Porter had to use both hands in an attempt to not get ran over by it.
That left an uncovered side that Donnie right away used to launch a powerful kick at Porter's side. The Doctor was sent stumbling back from the hit, letting out a grunt, but he didn't fall down and stabilized himself quickly.
"Huh. Smart," he stated before taking the initiative. He moved in with a kick of one of his steel legs, which Donnie easily dodged, and the boy counterattacked with a punch. But Porter, instead of trying to block it, launched a punch of his own… right towards Donnie's one.
The fists connected with tremendous force, and the air quivered from the energy released by the impact. Donnie was forced to retract his hand immediately after. Porter's robotic fist had taken the same role of a brick wall, and his own fist only resulted in more pain.
The same couldn't be said for the doctor, who went for a grab on Donnie's neck. He didn't even have the time to blink as he was snatched into a death grip by Porter's right hand.
"You know, infra-human," he said as he stared at him with a look void of any trace of sympathy. "I also had a little accident with the Unidentified Y, like your creator somewhat had. You may have heard about the UGL disaster, after all. However, there was a difference, compared to Laurentium. Unlike him, I was able to survive it… and, in addition, I gained the ability to control the… modifications that occurred to my body as a result of my exposure to the energy released by the substance."
Donnie kicked, moved, shook himself, waggled, tried everything he could… but the grip of the Doctor did not loosen itself. It tightened.
"I was soon pronounced dead, at least at first, so I had all the time to dedicate myself to my studies on Unidentified Y, my new body… and you, infra-human. Perseverance… with it, you can obtain everything you want. You just have to be on the right side, the one that knows that with time, it will reach its goal and be successful."
Donnie started to wheeze, struggling to inhale breaths of air. He felt Porter's metallic fingers close in around his pharynx… The force was strong enough that it ignored the powers that made his body stronger than most humans.
It was now clear Porter was no human to him. Not anymore.
"Fight as much as you want, Donnie. I'll continue to defeat you and rein you in… believe me when I say that it is in your interest to stop your attempts at interrupting the flow of science itself, even if it's the part where I demonstrate that you are not worthliving."
Porter's brows furrowed as his face got ever so slightly eviler. "I will be frank with you. It'll be my pleasure to clean my lab from the remains of your corpse, while my creation basks in the perfection I'll make her realization that you will never be able to truly achieve."
His voice lowered as he concluded. "Your creator was a failure Donnie. You are a failure. So, do not resist the inevitable, and let me do my work here."
Then, his left hand reached out and took Donnie's correspondent, shaking arm. He rotated the arm and consequently Donnie's arm turned into an unnatural angle.
Donnie was already tearing up, as Porter's words had already managed to break into his heart. But when he made this last move, the physical pain was added to the system, and he couldn't take it anymore. He let out a shriek loud enough that it managed to go through the walls and reach some of the darkest parts of Porter's tunnel network.
Untouched by Donnie's reaction, the Doctor released his grip, letting the kid fall to the ground. He immediately went to grip on his injured arm… despite the pain, the bones seemed to be actually still in one piece, and in their proper positions.
"Hopefully, that makes it clear who is in command. You should be fully recovered by the time the test begins," Porter informed him.
"I… will… stop you! Y-you… cannot…" Donnie babbled as he watched Porter with wet eyes.
"What? Don't you realize what just happened, or do I have to add mental illness to the list of imperfections you seem to own?" Porter asked as he cocked his head. "If I wanted, I could just crush you, infra-human, right now. No notice, no last words, no nothing, you would be erased from existence in the blink of an eye. Remember, I studied you for six months. I know every single one of your powers, your strengths, your weaknesses… everything. You can't win against me, 'Donnie Laurentium'."
He kneeled down and had the arrogance to pat him on the head as he said with a fake, reassuring tone, "Just rest, for now. You'll need it."
Leaving the yellow puff alone as he remained cuddled on the floor, Porter stood up and walked away, until he met up with Mojo Jojo.
"That was… quite the spectacle, Doctor," Mojo Jojo recognized. "Now, shall we get back to business?"
"Of course. Let us pick our catalyst, I have a store of Unidentified Y in this very room as well. The time of the creation is near."
As the two villains walked and disappeared behind a column of shelves, Donnie did not have the force to recover and keep fighting. But that was not because he was out of energy, not for the pain he felt from the arm.
It was for the sadness that had caught him, as Porter's words were etched in his mind.
"Laurentium was a failure. You are a failure," the doctor had told him.
Am I… am I a failure?
He had failed before. He had failed to protect his city from himself; he had failed to fight the evil being who had taken over his mind. If it wasn't for the Powerpuff Girls, where would he be now?
He thought he had improved… but what had he actually done? Porter's was the reason behind the surge in criminality, behind the lizard monster… and he did all of that because of him. No Donnie. No evil Porter. No crime. No monster.
He thought he could make it better for everyone, but instead, here he was, while the girls were who knows where and instead of getting the vacation they deserved they had to engage a fight with three of the most powerful out of their enemies. He thought of Aunt Katja… of what the woman had to go through the first few months to help him get a position in the family and in the city alike.
No, he had been wrong. In every way.
And now… his failure had resulted into the ultimate consequence, because he had failed to beat Doctor Porter. He had failed to prevent him and Mojo Jojo from creating a new superpowered being, and nobody knew what she would do after she was done with him… or even what Porter himself would do.
Donnie closed his eyes as he tried to stop them from producing tears… failing.
Failure. That's all he was. He… He was-
Donnie's thoughts came to an abrupt stop when something exploded on one side of the room with a loud, booming noise, destroying part of the lab in the process.