We all let out screams of terror as we careened through the portal, every last one of us cartwheeling endlessly. Galacta made an attempt to correct himself so he could grab hold of the terrified cyclops, but no matter what he did, he couldn't fix himself. Heck, none of us could.
"GLLLLAAAAAADIIIIIIUUUUUSSSSSS!!!" I screamed as the relentless spinning made me dizzy, "WHHHHAAAAAAT IIIIIISSSSS HAAAAAAAPPEEEEEEENIIIIIING?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!" He cried back, "THIS IS SOMETHING I NEVER HEARD ABOUT!"
"WHO CARES?!" Jenny screamed out, "JUST TRY AND FIX YOURSELVES! OTHERWISE WE'LL ALL CRASH!"
I nodded vacantly, and made an attempt to reach out to Gladius, and when I successfully grabbed hold off his handle, he very quickly snaked around and corrected everyone else. Jenny instantly deployed her wings, Steve equipped his Elytra, Galacta was finally able to grab Iris' hand, and Zomboss activated his pod, and Star and Marco rode on top of the summoned Cloudy. The girls, deerfox and Alfur all were able to balance themselves on Ralph's back, Izzy, Majima, Manolo and Maria joined the Zombie Overlord, Maple tightly held onto my shoulder with his roots, and the Gloomsville girls were placed onto Jenny's back courtesy of the greatest warrior.
Once we were all into position, we all breathed a loud sigh of relief.
"Holy shit, that was stressful!" Majima said loudly. Ruby and Iris both gasped and quickly covered their ears.
Jenny shot him a glare. "Majima, Caleb told you to cool it when we were around Ruby and her friends!"
"You never complained when I cussed around Hilda and Vanellope!" He yelled back indignantly, "What makes them so much more different?! I can fucking swear whenever I fucking want!"
I rolled my eyes, and guided Gladius so I could get closer to the rag doll and cyclops. "I get you two aren't comfortable with the swearing, but Majima just kind of does it."
The two girls shared a glance. "So, we've just got to accept that fact?" Iris asked. I nodded sadly, and the two girls sighed.
"Honestly, I'm not surprised", Ruby said, giving Majima a tired glance. "He was trying so hard not to swear. It made me think he'd pass out sometimes."
Majima growled.
"She's not wrong, Majima", Jenny spat in annoyance, "Although considering you have an eyepatch, I wouldn't expect you to just lack depth perception."
"OH REALLY?!" Majima roared. He spun around and made an attempt to climb out of the pod. "SAY THAT TO MY FUCKING FACE, SCRAP HEAP!" It took the combined effort of Izzy, Manolo and Maria to hold him back, and even still they were struggling.
I groaned at the sight before me. "Do you two seriously have to be fighting now? Can't this wait until we get to our stop? That way you guys can blow your steam off, that doesn't mean snapping each other's necks." The two most hotheaded members of the group just shared a glare so intense I could see the sparks.
This made Galacta and Steve share an eye roll. "It is very shameful you two would always but heads at the worst times", Galacta said in a flat tone, shooting the robot and yakuza an unamused glare. They both relented, and looked away from each other in silence.
Then we heard a loud boom.
"What the heck was that?" Maria asked, looking around.
"NUTS!" Steve screamed, looking behind all of us, "Not again!"
We all followed his gaze, and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Behind us was a shifting wave of the plates that surrounded us.
"Not again!" Zomboss shouted as he sped up. Galacta was quick to go and grab Ralph's hand and speed ahead, Gladius and Jenny close behind. We all sped ahead, trying to get as far away from the rupture as possible.
"Can someone explain what's going on?!" Ruby shouted as she looked back at the approaching wave.
"No time!" Jenny shouted back. There was another boom just then, and the whole portal suddenly snapped at a 90 degree angle. We all screamed in terror or shock and all quickly course corrected, but not without Zomboss's pod grinding against the wall. The four passengers all screamed in terror as the glass-like wall cracked. Zomboss was able to pull away after a few seconds, but when he did something shot out of the crack and slammed into his pod, making him lose control. I swore the thing
What followed was an unfortunate series of events as the pod collided with Galacta, then Jenny, then Steve, then Gladius. This sent us all once again tumbling through the portal, much faster than before. I could see that we were getting closer to the end, but I also saw the wave was gaining.
"Jenny, Galacta, get us out of here!" I barked. The two of them wiggled out of the group, and worked together to push all of us forward. As the wave got closer and closer till it was just barely behind us, we were swallowed by the white light at the end.
~X~
I clung to Ralph as we fell down towards a street, with Vanellope, Hilda, Twig, Alfur and Maple all resting on his shoulders. The wrecker planted both feet on the ground and slid across, leaving some of the road uprooted as he went. Jenny did the same as she hugged Ruby and Iris close. Zomboss' pod came crashing down, doing little skips against the road as he yelled in terror. Izzy landed on her hands, performed a couple of flips, and landed triumphantly next to the wrecker. Star blasted a couple of pillows onto the road so she, Marco, Manolo, Maria and Majima could land safely. Steve quickly used a firework to straighten himself, and he landed gently next to the teenage robot. Galacta, finally, harshly on the ground, creating a crater in his wake.
Once the dust settled, I hopped down onto my own two feet…
Only to jump back when Gladius suddenly shot down and was stabbed into the ground right in front of me.
"Gladius!" I said in shock as everyone else recovered, "Are you okay?" I quickly pulled him out of the ground, and he shook off any loose gravel that rested on him.
"I am now", he said in a strained tone, "Hilda, would you please pass me my scabbard."
The young adventurer looked around, then hissed guiltily. "I think I dropped it back in the portal."
Gladius was silent for a moment, then chuckled. "All is alright, my dear. What happened was a sad bout of bad luck, so don't fret." Steve instantly made a pained sound, being thrown to the ground when said scabbard flew right into his face. We all looked at him in shock.
"Found it…" I said weakly as he held it up with a shaky arm. "Ow." Gladius quickly grabbed his hand - or wing made - blade cover as me and Jenny helped the crafter to his feet. As Gladius put on his cover, I began to take in our new surroundings.
We were on a quiet suburban street, houses of many different varieties on either side with big yards. Down the road in the distance was a crowded city skyline. Everything had a sort of art style similar to Jenny's world.
"Did we just do a loop back to your place, Jenny?" Ralph asked.
"Definitely not", the robot responded with a head shake, "I've been all over my world. Or my… version of earth?" She looked at the sword, and he nodded, so she continued. "Yeah, and I have never seen this city before."
"Do you know where we are, Caleb?" Alfur inquired as he hopped onto Gladius' hilt.
I hummed, taking in the surroundings a bit more as I combed through my memory. As I let my eyes wander, they fell onto a house nearby. It was pure white, modern, and had three identical circular windows at the top. Suddenly, it all clicked for me.
"We're in Townsville!" I said happily. This was met with confused looks from the others. "Right, uhhh…" I cleared my throat, opened my mouth-
"The City of Townsville!"
We all jumped at the disembodied voice sounding off from nowhere, and we all began to frantically look around in an attempt to find it.
"What was that about?" Vanellope said as we all slowly relaxed.
"Where, whether you just showed up out of the blue, or are just heading out to get groceries, there is no shortage of a new adventure!"
We all jumped again and started to look around again, more tense than last time. "Okay, what the fuck is happening?" Majima barked. He shook a fist at the clear, blue sky. "I swear, if some jackass is just watching us from up there, I will KILL you!"
"Ooooooo, maybe it's the voices in Izzy's head", the Psycho Hose Beast said in the first person. "All the bright lights must have freed them!" She started running around, as if chasing an invisible butterfly. "I will trap you within me once more, voices!"
We all gave her puzzled looks, but then I slapped my forehead in realisation. "Wait, we can chill guys. It's just the narrator."
"The who?" Star and Marco asked simultaneously as Izzy froze in place, staring at me intently.
"The narrator! He usually only shows up at the start and ends of episodes." I cleared my throat again. "Basically, we are in the world of The Powerpuff Girls! This city is protected by a trio of sister superheroes, kind of like you, Jenny."
When I pointed her out, the robot's pigtails angled up like cat ears. "Wait, really?"
"That is awesome!" Vanellope cried in excitement, "More awesome superheroes? You have quite a particular taste, huh?" She playfully elbowed my leg.
I rolled my eyes as Gladius chuckled, and Hilda looked up at me. "Caleb, do you think we'll be able to meet them?"
She was answered when three trails of light, one pink, one blue and one green, shot by, taking Ralph, Zomboss and Majima with them. The rest of us gasped and looked up to see our three friends being held up by their shirt collars by three little girls. The middle one that held Ralph wore a pink dress, had a red bow atop her head, and had her orange hair going down her back. The one on the left that held Zomboss wore a light blue dress, and had her blonde hair styled in two pigtails. The one on the right that held a very angry Majima wore a green dress, her black hair styled in two points at the sides. Each of their eyes matched their respective dress. Outside of that, all three of them were identical, with the same round head, a black horizontal stripe over their dress, stub hands, and with white socks with black shoes.
"Ralph?!" Vanellope cried, looking up at the three girls.
"We saw all of you fall out of the sky", the pink one said, "And we thought these three had something to do with it." She finished with a fierce glare at the wrecker, pulling him up higher as he choked a bit.
"What, wait, no!" Steve cried. "We are all friends here! Put them down!"
The three girls all looked between each other. "Wait, really?" The green one said.
We all nodded, and that was enough to convince the girls to let our friends go. Ralph landed on his feet and was instantly hugged by Vanellope; Zomboss stumbled, readjusting his lab coat; Majima face planted, but quickly stood up and grumbled "Fucking brats" as he walked back to me side with the other two.
"Mind telling us who you are, then?" The pink one asked, her previous anger all gone for curiosity.
"Well, I'm Caleb", I said, gesturing to myself, "This is Gladius." The blade bowed. "And these are all my friends." I gestured out to the rest of the gang, and they all nodded. The three girls flinched, then looked at us apologetically.
"Oops, sorry", the blue one whispered, covering her mouth sheepishly.
"Yeah…" the green one added, "Sorry about that."
I shook my head, a smile on my face. "It's all good. Just a misunderstanding. But how about you three introduce yourselves."
The three girls nodded, and all of them spun around.
"I'm Blossom!" The pink one said, striking a pose that invoked leadership.
"I'm Bubbles!" The blue one cheered, giggling as she posed cutely.
"And I'm Buttercup!" The green one said, striking a prideful pose.
"And together we're The Powerpuff Girls!" They all said at once.
"Are they the superheroes you mentioned?" Iris whispered to me. I nodded, and she looked at them curiously. "Didn't think they'd be so… young."
"You and Ruby are about 10 years old", I whispered back with a playful smile.
She giggled. "True."
"So what's your guy's deal?" Buttercup impatiently spat, flying right into Majima's face. The yakuza glared at her, and she backed away with a smirk.
"Well, me and Gladius got separated from home", I explained. I spread my arms wide. "All these guys are just along for the ride."
"Cool!" Blossom said happily. She came over to me and stuck a stub out to me. I smiled and graciously took it in my own hand, shaking it back with my own hand. "I'm glad none of you are supervillains, we have more than enough here."
"Oh no, I'm a big time supervillain", Zomboss said. He then jerked a thumb at Majima. "And this guy is a yakuza who definitely killed people." Said yakuza raised a finger and opened his mouth to retort, but then closed up as he thought about it, then gave an indifferent face as he shrugged.
The rest of us all gaped at him, except Izzy. She had a smile plastered on her face since the Powerpuff Girls showed up, and all she did was raise her eyebrows. This made it hard to tell if she was shocked with a phone smile, or was actually impressed. The thought of the latter made me cringe.
"Right", Blossom said as she glared lightly at the zombie and eyepatched man. "As long as you guys are keeping an eye on them, then they will be fine." I nodded at her, and we all watched as the girls all blasted off into the sky, leaving behind coloured trails that reflected the colours on their dresses.
"Well, that was nice", Star said with a slight smile.
"For you, maybe", Ralph grumbled, rubbing a hand over his neck. "Next time, you get dangled by the collar of your shirt." He sighed when Vanellope giggled a little. "Now I know how you feel, kid…"
"Nah, it's not that bad." She waved off with her classic snarky charm. This got a chuckle out of everyone, except Majima, who just rolled his eyes. As I turned around to look in the direction the girls flew off to (towards the larger part of the city visible in the distance), Galacta Knight came up to my side.
"So, what's the plan now, Caleb?" He asked. Everyone else walked up beside me as we all looked over at the distant skyscrapers.
"Well, I guess we just explore", I said casually, "Now, just be sure to go with a buddy if we end up splitting up. And for anyone younger than me, you will have to go with an adult. You can guess why…"
"Supervillains", everyone responded at the same time. I snorted as they all exchanged weird looks, and headed down the road with Gladius by my side. The others all followed after me after a few seconds, and off we went.
~X~
The City was sprawling and very impressive in person, although I knew nothing would compare to the capital back home. I felt a prickle of sadness rise inside me, but I shoved it down as I happily looked at my group. We did end up splitting up in the end, and I was currently with Gladius, Galacta and Ruby.
"Hopefully Iris is okay", the rag doll girl mentioned absentmindedly, "I don't want her and Izzy getting into too much trouble."
"I am positive they are both okay", Galacta said reassuringly as he rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks Galacta", she said. The little ray of sunshine then looked up at me. "So, are we going anywhere in particular, Caleb?"
I shook my head. "Not really. Maybe the park, just so we can set up a spot where we'll be camping. But other than that, not really. I didn't watch The Powerpuff Girls too much before I wound up here, so I sadly don't know too much about the city."
Galacta hummed as he glanced around, both at the citizens we passed and the buildings. "Well, it appears there isn't much outside of standout landmarks."
"Funnily enough, there was a reboot", I said with a smirk.
"Really?" Gladius said in surprise. He was quick to notice how my smirk seemed off. "Oh, is it not good?"
"Not really", I said with the shake of my head, "It altered the main characters, added new ones no one liked, removed the ones everyone loved, and changed things so it could be more 'hip' and 'topical'." To emphasise my point, I attempted to make the hand gestures a rapper usually makes. I utterly failed, but the others got what I meant. Galacta hummed with a frustrated look in his eyes, Ruby winced and cringed simultaneously, and Gladius hissed while covering his jewel with his wings.
"That sounds awful", the sword added, "But this place doesn't sound like that."
"We were lucky and got stuck in the OG show", I said, "I can tell because of how everyone here has thicker outlines."
"I do want to know why it looks like Jenny belongs here", Ruby said in curiosity.
"It's because one: Both her show and this one have similar art inspirations. And two: Her creator, Rob Renzetti, actually worked on this show before moving on to his own. Specifically as director."
"Fascinating", the knight said as he looked up at me, his eyes gleaming with wonder. "How one man can carve so much."
'It is something", I said with a smile and nod. "Sometimes, when you dig deeper, you just find those sort of fun facts."
"Wow", Ruby said in amazement, "What about my show."
I pondered for a minute. "Honestly, I don't know much. Aside from that you started as a clothing brand."
Ruby looked absolutely floored. "Wait, really? Wow…" I smiled, and our conversation faded after that. It was fairly quiet between us until we stopped at an ice cream parlour. I happily paid for the deserts (with money that I still didn't know how I got), and we all continued on our way. I got a simple cup of vanilla, Ruby got two scoops of strawberry, and Galacta decided to try a mix of cotton candy and bubblegum.
"I will say", the knight said as he took another bite of his ice cream, "This is very delicious. I've had ice cream before, and this most definitely does not disappoint." He took another bit, but because he still wore his mask, it was hard to tell what he did.
"I'll say!" Ruby exclaimed happily, taking a couple more licks.
I laughed as Gladius flew ahead a bit, taking a look around the corner as we approached an intersection. "The road that way passes by the park", he announced, pointing to the left.
"Nice eye, Gladius", I said. I looked around the corner myself, and sure enough, the park was there. It was on the other side of the road, with a plethora of cars parked on the side. I turned to the others. "I say we cross here, then scope out a spot that's more out of the way." The others nodded, and we all started our trek. I pressed the light to the crosswalk, and we stood idly as cars passed. We all suddenly jumped when what looked like a weird pink fuzzy creature with a large green nose driving a bank truck came barreling around the corner, forcing all traffic to halt. As it sped away, the three sister superheroes turned the corner in hot pursuit.
As they all drove down the road into the distance, we all were silent. "Well, now I know how safe I am." Ruby said in a slight-sheepish tone. She was still holding her ice cream, so she took a lick to help calm her nerves. The crosswalk's light gave us the okay to go, and we crossed. Sure, Gladius and Galacta could just carry us over, but I wanted to be a responsible tourist. We continued along the sidewalk after crossing the street, and soon we had reached the park. As we entered, I tossed the cup to my now finished ice cream in a nearby garbage can as Ruby and Galacta started munching on their waffle cones.
"So, where do you think would be best to set up camp, Caleb?" Ruby asked. I hummed and looked around, not quite sure myself. Galacta joined in with the search as he lazily nibbled away at his cone.
"Let's check over there", he said, pointing towards a smaller field to the right of the path.
"Good idea, Galacta!" Gladius said joyvoly. I shrugged and nodded, Ruby beaming as we all walked onto the field. It was fairly large, and the trees surrounding it gave a decent amount of cover.
'I say it's perfect!" I happily exclaimed. Suddenly, I felt something in my pocket buzz, and I pulled out the walk-in-talkie I still had. "Hello?" I asked into the device's speaker.
"Hey kid!" Ralph's voice sounded off, "Just checking in on how things are!"
"Pretty good", I said with a nod as Galacta and Gladius started getting the area ready for our camp. Ruby chose to finish her waffle cone, so she was sitting on a nearby bench watching the other two work as she chomped it. "We caught sight of a high speed bank bust a little bit ago."
"I actually was calling you because of that specifically", he said with a chuckle, "I was worried you four got caught up in all that."
"Nope. It sped by us, and we just crossed the street shortly after. Right now, we're at the park, and Galacta and Gladius are getting a spot ready for our camp. We'll be here whenever you guys show up."
"Right. Catch ya' later kid!" I heard Ralph shut off his walkie-talkie, and I followed suit. I went and joined up with my friends, and smiled when I saw Ruby, having finished her cone, helping out. I started to gather stones and set them up in a circle, tossing some sticks inside the ring. I looked up and saw the sun was starting to set over the skyscrapers, so I worked quickly. After everything was done, Galacta ignited the pile of sticks I had set up. We all gathered around the fire as it crackled lightly.
I smiled as Ruby cozied up next to me, and I sighed with content as the warmth of the fire kissed my skin. As the sun sunk lower in the sky, the minutes turned to hours. As the moon rose into the night sky, the rest of the gang soon showed up. Star used her magic to summon our tents, and from there, the night was alive and joyous.
Izzy and Iris told an exciting story to all the younger members of the group of how they tussled with some stray monkeys, and used the scratches and messy hair they earned from it as proof.
Ralph, Jenny and Steve stood off towards one of the tents chatting between each other. About what, I didn't get a chance to ask.
Majima lazily laid on the grass, a proud smirk on his face as he looked up at the night sky.
Galacta was hovering the tip of Star and Marco's tent, keeping careful watch.
Zomboss was off to the side, sitting on a bench as he tinkered with a small device of his hand.
Star and Marco were happily sitting by the fire, chatting with Manolo and Maria.
I looked over all my friends with a bright smile, soaking in the warmth of the fire as Gladius leaned against my right side.
"Feeling like we can take on anything, my boy?" The sword asked me.
I smiled down at him, and nodded. "Definitely. After everything we've been through, with all the friends we've made…" I picked up the sword and hugged him close, "I am so ready to take on the coming days."
I closed my eyes as I smiled, the sounds of my happy friends hitting ears.
~X~
Yep, next up is The Powerpuff Girls. I have a lot of plans for this world, and I will say that you are all gonna love what's to come, trust me.
Special Shoutout to my friends Sami, author of The New Noah, Sammie, author of Le Desir: Through the Eyes of the Ice Dancers, and Leslie (known as CactusPot on Ao3). Give all three of them a follow, and read their stories. All of them are amazing. Love ya', girls!
Up next: The next day for the gang's stay at Townsville goes sideways when they get roped into a local gang, a fellow genius supervillain, and the whole police force
~Caleb~