Chapter 4: Enemy's Enemies
Ash, Pikachu, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup exited a vortex created by the professor in his lab back in New Townsville. Instead of returning to his friends who were presumed to be in Rubello City, Ash offered his support to help the Powerpuff Girls about Mojo, the simian who sent the girls to Ash in the first place. "We're back!" the girls cheered, returning to their hometown. The professor and Ken dashed to the girls to make sure they were in good condition.
"Girls!" Ken called with a toy dog racing by their side.
"Ken, what's the situation?" Blossom wondered.
"Well, New Townsville's destruction has been minimized thanks to some unexpected help, mainly Princess and Fuzzy," he explained. Ash, visiting from his home world, seemed eager to get the lowdown on the issue at hand. Seeing the monitors viewing live action...the screen had the word "LIVE" on it...he dashed over to the monitor and viewed Mojo in his robot while fighting a pink humanoid fuzzy creature wearing overall jeans and an Afro-style redhead girl wearing a princess dress. Ken saw Ash's dash to the monitors. "Hey, what are you doing!?" Plotting according to the scorning place of his eyebrows.
"Girls, do what you can to recover your strength," he suggested. "We'll go and sort this mess!" Pikachu acknowledged the idea but the girls, the Professor and Ken wanted to disagree.
"You can't!" Blossom protested. "We know these guys more than you!"
"Maybe, but we're in better shape and besides..." Ash revealed his own red/white ball. "I did tell you that I have more than Pikachu on hand." Despite the girls still wanted to keep Ash from danger, he raced out and found the exit on his way into New Townsville. Now Pikachu had to question Ash's want to find the bad guys.
("Are you sure this is the direction of the ones destroying the town?") he asked. To his Pokémon, Ash was going into town blind. Ash figured that out, a plan in place.
"Keep your ears open, Pikachu! We may run into them soon enough!" Sooner than expected, an explosion echoed from close by. They were nearby. "Just like that!" Down an alleyway, they found Mojo and the pink creature locked arms to claws.
"Funny how you're flying around on my property that you want to total everything in its place," the pink creature taunted. Mojo seethed at the tease.
"Your property?" Mojo roared back. "You belong in the woods, smelly pink fuzzball!" The girl in the dress aimed a bazooka at the creature, flying with a jetpack.
"New Townsville doesn't need creatures like you!" she yelled as she pulled the trigger. A rocket came flying out of the barrel in a beeline at the pink thing. He pulled Mojo to the front of the missile where it blew up, propelling the robot away from the fuzzy one in overalls several yards. Ash and Pikachu arrived just as the girl flew right at the fuzzy creature. He answered with a leap and a forearm right at the jetpack, making her bounce of the concrete and coming to rest nearby the robot just as he regained his steel footing.
"How dare you knock me down, mojo!" Mojo growled. Ash had to help out in this scuffle, but what could he do?
"Let's see..." he examined. "Mojo's the green-faced monkey in the robot, Fuzzy's the pink creature and the princess is the lone girl." Studying, he thought the biggest threat would be Fuzzy. After all, he was tossing Mojo and the princess left and right.
"Now who else wants to tread on my property?" Fuzzy warned. One footstep from Ash and Fuzzy twisted to him. Ash walked into the battlefield. Bemused, Fuzzy scoffed. "You're a new face in New Townsville. Perhaps you don't know that anything I palm is my property." Ash peered around, seeing palm imprints destroying the streets, trees, buildings...anything that he practically placed his big hand on had a crushing impression, literally.
"Is that how it works?" he joked. Fuzzy was ready to put those huge mitts on Ash, charging in. Mojo saw Fuzzy charging at Ash, standing still.
"What is that smelly human doing standing there?" he pondered. Before a theory came in through the simian's overgrown brain encased in that fiberglass helmet, Fuzzy lunged his arm out, that huge pink mitt shooting right at Ash. Ash remembered his little partner.
"Do it!" Pikachu sprinted under with a glowing tail who smashed the concrete just in front of Fuzzy's path. Fuzzy stepped into the hole and balance gave way. He began to fall on to his face as Ash pulled out the red/white ball and tossed it up. The ball opened and revealed a charcoal-color shell with a large orange tortoise protruding limbs and head. "Body Slam, Torkoal!" Torkoal fell straight down and slammed on Fuzzy, knocking the wind out of his system. He was out like a light. Even Mojo was startled with how easy Ash displayed his Pokémon.
"His quick fight with Fuzzy is leaving me shaking in my cape, mojo!" That's when Ash and Pikachu darted their eyes to the chimpanzee. Mojo flinched. He was next. "Don't hurt Mojo!" The princess looked on, her plain but eerie yellow eyes intrigued with the young man.
"Hm, perhaps a potential boyfriend for me, Princess Morbucks," she plotted. She flew over to Ash with intent to have him as a mate. "Maybe there's something my sister's yet to have that I can take advantage on." Ash spotted Princess, startled at the jetpack packed girl. "Hey, handsome! May I know who you are?" Ash was a little startled but no one was really paying attention to a scowling Fuzzy. Torkoal felt movement and hopped off, allowing the pink creature to get to his feet. He was upset.
"That's the first time someone used my body against me!" he complimented. Ash and Princess stood firm, expecting Fuzzy to attack while the ape stood back. Professor and Ken watched helplessly. The girls were busy stuffing their young faces with anything edible.
"Dad, what do we do?" Ken asked. "He's surrounded!" Blossom saw the action, angered at Princess getting comfortably close to Ash.
"That's it, I'm going!" she demanded. Bubbles and Buttercup heard the outburst, not sure that it's a good idea with their conditions.
"But Blossom!" Bubbles spoke up. "We're not back at full strength!" Despite the truth, Blossom wasn't in the mood to discuss energy. Her kissing partner was in trouble.
"You guys can wait, I'm saving Ash!" She raced out of the building and transformed alone. "Hyper...Blossom!" Once transformed, she flew to stop Fuzzy and the Morbucks heir from getting close to Ash. Mojo was mostly watching. She wouldn't make it. Fuzzy's paw came right at Ash, forcing Princess to bail.
"Iron Defense!" Ash yelled, his Torkoal leaping despite the heavy shell. The turtle tucked his head and arms inside just as the paw slapped it. The slap had so much force regardless of its short range, it launched Torkoal into Ash and at a wall with power.
("Ash!") Pikachu cried out. Princess also feared the outcome of Ash, only to boil in anger at the fuzz thing.
"How dare you hurt my boyfriend!" she screamed as she whipped out her bazooka and fired. The missile struck and exploded on Fuzzy...at least his overgrown hands. The smoke cleared and for someone who took a missile in the hands, there wasn't even a scratch on him. Mojo took advantage of the feuding enemies to snag Fuzzy's arms via his robot. It was his idea to take control of the situation...at least on the surface.
"Let Mojo have a piece before you put your ugly mitts on him, mojo!" he yelled out. As Fuzzy now had to deal with the sudden tag team of Mojo and Princess, Ash got his footing back, his concern on Torkoal being top priority.
"Torkoal, you okay?" he asked a bit worried. Torkoal muttered and nodded to let Ash know he'd recover. Suddenly, his mind had gone into planning. Seeing how strong Fuzzy was to Mojo and Princess, he needed to do something to take advantage. "I have an idea. Use Flamethrower but fire it around Fuzzy." An indirect attack. Torkoal had to believe in his trainer. He leaped up again and breathed a stream of fire, close by Fuzzy's green boots. Fuzzy was distracted with Mojo to know that the concrete around him was burning up. He used the arms of the robot to fling Mojo around like he was in the Hammer Throw at the Olympics. Round and round Mojo goes, where he stops... where Fuzzy launches him. Where else? Mojo was flung so fast and hard, he flew out of the city at high speed. Who knew Mojo took after Team Rocket? Anyway, Ash and Princess ducked to avoid the robot as Torkoal continued pouring on the heat. When Fuzzy smelled something burning, he turned to see himself in an old Johnny Cash song.
"When did this ring of fire lit?" he wondered. The melting concrete snared Fuzzy in his place. The flames licked at the fur, scorching the fuzz and denim. Blossom arrived at the scene just as Ash was ready to put Fuzzy in his place.
"Torkoal, jump!" Torkoal leaped high into the air. "Iron Defense!" Again, Torkoal's head and limbs were tucked into his shell. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on Torkoal!" Pikachu leaped high after Torkoal with the glowing tail, smashing the shell-like a bullet to a gun and this bullet had some extra spin. Fuzzy had his arm out. Not enough. BOOM! Torkoal's shell rolled off of Fuzzy's hand and into his face, propelling him out of the ring of fire but Ash wasn't done with Fuzzy Flambe. "Finish it with Overheat!" Torkoal fired a stream of white fire, nailing the opened enemy. He was high, he was far...he was gone! Back to the woods, Fuzzy vanished. "Nice job, you two!" Pikachu and Torkoal wanted to celebrate but there's a minor problem: Torkoal had no hands. Instead, both bumped heads, softly. Well, no need to get hurt, right? This left Ash with his Pokémon and Princess.
"Well, I wasn't aware you could take control of creatures to do your bidding," she cooed. "Maybe there's something we can do together in a day or two like a date?" That isn't going to happen on Blossom's watch.
"That's what you think, Princess!" she protested by easily wrapping Princess in her Yo-Yo. Hey, look! A female mummy! Not for long! Blossom yanked on the string, causing Princess to spin like a top. After her trip with the spins, she was so dizzy that she couldn't stay standing. At that time, Bubbles and Buttercup, transformed, came by with a giant-size coin purse.
"One Princess Morbucks, ready for delivery," Buttercup joked as Blossom tossed the downed Princess into the purse.
"Let's get back to the lab!" Bubbles reassured as they flew back the way they came. Ash recalled Torkoal, ready to join back with the professor. That's when a car rolled up. The blue Corvette stopped where an old, gray-haired and mustachioed man stepped out with a blond woman in white who hid her face behind a silver clipboard.
"Blossom, what's going on?!" the old man asked, rather upset. "Why was this boy allowed to fight those three?" Blossom saw how unnerved the old man was.
"You see, Mayor, it's like this," the redhead superhero stuttered. "We needed to recharge and Ash here volunteered to keep New Townsville safe. I have to admit with his Pokémon, he's awesome!" Ash and Pikachu itched their heads in embarrassment. "Anyway, can you give him a ride back to the lab?"
"Sure, Blossom," the blond woman agreed. Mayor gawked at the facially hidden woman.
"Are you sure it's okay, Miss Bellum?" he irked.
"We're responsible for the Powerpuff Girls as they are with New Townsville. It's appropriate." Miss Bellum and Mayor entered back in the car and joined by Ash. Blossom flew back to the lab as the car reached the parking lot. In the lab, Princess was lying unconscious on a bed as the Professor prepared a laser aimed at the hostile redhead. The white beam from the laser rifle coated Princess while Ash watched. After the application, the puffy Afro on Princess turned to cotton ball pigtails, the hair was brighter and some of her clothes like her knee socks changed from black to white. Ash was astounded with what happened to Princess.
"Sapphire must have screeched and turned Princess a little mad," the Professor described. Ash had to ask what happened to Princess that caused her to become destructive.
"I don't get it," he wondered in confusion. "What happened to her?" Ken decided to answer.
"It started a while ago when Dad and I made a new component called Chemical Z," he explained. "An iceberg nearly crushed the city in which I used the Chemical Z laser to destroy the iceberg, but in the process, a cascade of black and white lights showered New Townsville. Several black lights hit plenty of people and creatures, Mojo and Princess to name two. However, four white lights emerged, striking Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup...and Poochi." The toy dog jumped up and introduced itself.
"It still feels new to me but I've been able to get use to it," it barked. Interested, Ash seemed to understand the issue.
"However, there are some who've been hit by the black Z-rays that can't be changed back like Fuzzy or the Gangrene Gang," the Professor added. "Heck, we're still trying to figure out where the iceberg came from and why it caused all those weather anomalies all over the world." A daunting and rather useless task to revert those struck by the Z-rays to be normal.
"Sounds never-ending," Ash assumed. He could only wonder what to do since those affected by the black rays created by Chemical Z would forever be altered, never to be normal again. Bubbles and Buttercup hoisted Princess on a gurney, ready to escort her back to her home. That's when something bothered Ash as the two girls left to carry the other away. "Something doesn't feel right. Mojo had the teleporter which sent the girls to the Kiri Kiri Mountains where we ran into each other. Why didn't he use it to attack Princess or Fuzzy or even you guys?" That was a good question, one not even the father and son geniuses had a straight answer.
"Beats me," Ken shrugged. "I know I installed fresh batteries into it so it couldn't be a power short." The boy had no clue but the father had a hypothesis.
"Well, if your invention worked, my guess is that Mojo took it home and disassembled it to understand its components," he theorized. "Then again, it's not like we know what goes through that monkey's mind." Something that struck a nerve with Mayor.
"If that's the case, it's a good thing I wasn't the target," he gulped, wiping his forehead of sweat. "I'd rather stay and run New Townsville, not go somewhere where I'd be stuck for the rest of my life." Yeah, who would run New Townsville in your absence? The professor didn't want to ponder too long about possibilities.
"Let's drop the subject and see you back home," he remembered about the machine. He reached the machine and hit a few buttons. When he pulled the lever...nothing. This was a problem! "Uh oh..." The machine used to help the Powerpuff Girls and Ash here wasn't working.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Ken questioned. Professor looked at the monitor, noticing that there was a gauge which read a red stack smaller in measurement. A lot smaller.
"I need to let my teleporter recharge. It's only at 30%. It needs to be fully charged for it to work properly and that can take all night." So time was needed to make sure the teleporter created another vortex properly. "I kinda wish Mojo didn't steal your teleporter, Ken."
"Yeah..." Realizing that Ash and Pikachu weren't going back to the Pokémon World tonight, Blossom had an idea on the trainer.
"Hey, why not stay at my place for the night?" she proposed. Ash with a girl at her home?
"Blossom, you've got school in the morning," Professor warned. "And if I recall from Bubbles and Buttercup, you've got some homework that need to be done." A gulp from Blossom warned her that there were more important things to worry about than Ash. "I'll make sure you get a chance to see him before he goes home." Blossom finally accepted, exiting the lab to go ahead on home...but not before laying one press of the lips on Ash's cheek. The sudden kiss blossomed Ash's cheeks red. The father and son were not sure what the exchange was about but even they were astonished with the love Ash received.
"Here I thought with how Ash fought today, he'd be better suited for Buttercup," Ken assumed. Professor would argue.
"Nah, Bubbles would be more appropriate. He used those creatures perfectly like a strategist in a war." Ash didn't think deciding which Powerpuff Girl was his favorite mattered.
"Is choosing which Powerpuff Girl really necessary?" he debated. The father and son stood quiet, not sure a peep could help their case. For Ash, spending a night in New Townsville wasn't a problem. He just wished his friends were with him.
TO BE CONTINUED...
