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Chapter 2
Unlikely Alliance
The doorbell of the Utonium household rang.
"I'll get it!" said Professor Utonium as he stood up from the armchair in the living room. He had spent a few minutes of well-deserved rest after his work in the laboratory. I better be fast, he thought while he walked to the main door, or I will end up greeting a snowman.
He opened the door and greeted the newcomer: "Hello! How can I be of…?"
He couldn't finish his speech as he gave a gasp at the sight of who was in front of him. He quickly slammed the door shut and leaned against it with his back, like he wanted to make sure it didn't open.
Three heads leaned on the side of the door to the girls' room. "Who was it, Professor?" asked Blossom. All three of them were wondering about that loud noise they heard coming from downstairs.
"There's…" the Professor tried to say unsuccessfully. "There's... There's a YETI out there!"
"A what?" Buttercup replied without conviction. "Professor, are you sure you didn't have something bad for a snack or something?"
Professor Utonium did not have the chance to answer her: the door was ripped off its hinges and thrown away by a powerful force coming from outside. Both the Professor and the door flew through the living room, heading for the wall on the other side of the chamber.
"PROFESSOR!" shouted Bubbles in alarm. She flew quickly in the room and stopped the door in its path before it could crash on the wall along with its unlikely passenger. Even so, before Bubbles and her sisters could begin to figure out what was happening, a figure stomped into the house. For a moment they almost believed it was a actual yeti, then the stranger shook off all of the snow that was covering him, drenching the living room in the process.
"I'm no yeti! I'm Fuzzy Lumpkins, and…" he began, but he was cut off by an uppercut courtesy of Buttercup. Fuzzy was literally flung out from the house through the entrance, now lacking a proper door, and he landed on the ever-growing cover of snow outside, headfirst.
"Are you okay, Professor?" asked Bubbles worriedly.
"Yes, I'm fine, honey… I was taken aback, I must say," he answered while allowing the Professor to climb down from the door she was still carrying.
Blossom was relieved that Bubbles had reacted fast enough to stop the door; however, she didn't forget that the dangerous cause of the entire ordeal was still nearby. "Bubbles, quick! We have a villain to deal with!"
"Coming, Blossom!" answered Bubbles, flying back to her sisters while leaving the Professor alone with an unhinged door and many questions.
Once the blue puff rejoined Blossom and Buttercup, the three of them hovered together out of the house and braced themselves for the upcoming fight. Fuzzy was still trying to free himself from the snow, his legs writhing back and forth, and they expected him to jump out and charge them anytime. However, soon the three were forced to land: the snowstorm was too strong even by their standards, and they were not able to hover steadily.
"What's going on with Fuzzy?" asked Buttercup in annoyance. "I can't remember him ever showing up during winter, leaving alone doing so during a storm like this one!"
"I don't know, Buttercup, but I'm afraid we'll have to fight before we can get an answer. Fuzzy is known less for talking and more for being angry!" said Blossom. They stopped to talk as one of Fuzzy's hands eventually sprout out of the snow and he began digging his way out to freedom.
The girls glared at him, ready for everything, as he finally managed to turn himself in the correct direction. When he stood up, the girls were shocked to find out Fuzzy wasn't mad at them, not at all. Or, at least, he was visibly trying to not freak out like he usually did for offenses less serious than being punched. The sight was so unexpected that none of the girls was able to say a word.
Fuzzy marched towards them before shouting, "What's wrong with you brats? Is this the classic Powerpuff Girl welcome party or somethin'?"
Buttercup's shock was soon replaced by annoyance. She hovered in the air, fighting the windy weather, until she was right in Fuzzy's face. "How about you listen to me, you fool: you arrive here, one of our sworn enemies, and you expect us to be nice with you? You almost hurt the Professor and you expect us not to do anything to defend him from the likes of you? You, the lumpkin who can't tolerate a single leaf over his porch, expect us to welcome you?!"
As Buttercup talked, Fuzzy seemed to be fuming in anger. But when she finished, he just replied, "Yes! Your stupid Professor slammed the door on my face and called me a yeti! That's an insult I won't stand by, especially now!"
"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Lumpkins…" said Buttercup ironically, "if the Professor didn't let a monster like you inside!"
"How do you even dare make fun of me, you little-!" Fuzzy began, bellowing the words. But the argue between him and Buttercup came to a sudden stop.
"SHUT UP!" shouted Blossom. Both Buttercup and Fuzzy watched her in bewilderment as she continued. "If we aren't going to fight, we need to understand whatever is going on, but we can't do it if you keep arguing this way! Buttercup, let me speak."
Buttercup looked at her with a tell-tale glance about what she thought about her decision, but nevertheless she hovered down while distancing herself from the lumpkin, who simply kept glaring at her.
"Now, Fuzzy, would you please tell us why did you end up here at our home and rang the bell, if you didn't have bad intentions?"
Now that the first encounter was solved, Fuzzy had to make it through the most difficult part: actually asking the Powerpuff Girls for help. His introduction ended up being stammered: "Ermh… I'll say, say that… well, I have no choice, so…"
"Get on with it!" complained Buttercup. Blossom motioned her green-eyed sister to keep quiet, but it helped Fuzzy to finally say what he needed to.
"I… I need your help, Powerpuff Girls…" he uttered.
For a moment, the girls just stared at him open-mouthed. Then, Buttercup began laughing her head off and even fell on the ground, rolling over herself while creating a channel through the snow. Even Bubbles and Blossom couldn't help but giggle a bit.
"Help you?" said Buttercup between the laughs. "And for what? Cuttin' wood? Diggin' ya garden? You can't be serious!"
"I am serious, you darn-" Fuzzy stopped himself from shouting an impressive insult and took a deep breath. He was trying to stay calm and hold all the anger inside himself: he was enough smart to know that getting mad now wasn't going to help him on the long run.
"Now, I'm asking for your help because my property has been taken over, all right? I want it back!" he continued.
This was even more entertaining for Buttercup, who went into another laughing fit.
Bubbles, however, had more interest in the problem at hand. Someone actually kicked Fuzzy out of his lair? Now, that's something she didn't expect to happen.
"How, Fuzzy? We all know about your strength when you get mad! I don't think you can be beaten by anyone when you're mad… except for us, of course," he specified with a giggle.
"Well, that thing can!" shouted Fuzzy. All the girls got suddenly serious, even Buttercup, who immediately stood up.
"What did you just say?" asked Blossom, as much suspicious as she was preoccupied by Fuzzy's statement.
Fuzzy did not have the chance to answer, as the voice of the Professor came from the house, barely audible through the snowstorm. "Girls!" he called "The hotline's ringing!"
The Powerpuff Girls momentarily forgot about Fuzzy and his house problem and rushed back into the house and over the red phone. As usual, Blossom took the call. "Yes, Mayor? A robbery, you say? …Ok, we're going there right now!"
She turned towards her sisters. "Girls, there the art museum has just been robbed!"
"With this weather?" Bubbles noticed in surprise. "That thief must have wanted whatever he got really bad!"
"Or maybe he was crazy enough to do it," Buttercup added. Before Bubbles could reply, Blossom continued: "We'll know it by the time we arrive there! Let's move!"
They bolted through the door and flew away from their home, ignoring both the Professor, who tried in vain to tell them to put on their heavy clothes before leaving, and Fuzzy, who watched them in confusion. From all the possible evolutions he had imagined of how this attempt would turn out, this was the less expected one.
What now?
He decided that, since the girls didn't say 'no' to him, it was a good idea to wait for them. In their house as a guest, of course.
He walked towards the main entrance but right before he entered, Professor Utonium blocked his path.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, his face dead-serious.
"Uh, look, man in a white lab coat…" said Fuzzy, unsure of what to say.
"It's Professor. Professor Utonium," he corrected.
"Whatever, Prof," replied Fuzzy. Professor put his hand over his face in desperation as Fuzzy continued. "I was thinking… I need those girls' help, so how about letting me in to wait for them while they do whatever they're-"
"NO!" shouted the Professor without waiting for him to finish, and he slammed the door shut. Then, he realized that his hand had closed nothing but air as the doorframe had disappeared long ago. Fuzzy raised an eyebrow as the Professor felt a mixture of two different emotions. Watching Fuzzy by himself, with the snow already accumulating over his head, had made him feel a bit of pity for leaving him at the mercy of the blizzard… and he didn't like the prospect of angering him any further and join the door in its destiny, as the girls were gone.
In the end, he said, "All right, all right, you can come in, but do not touch anything and just wait in the living room!"
"Relax, Prof, you won't even notice me!" said Fuzzy as he let himself fall on the armchair of the living room, and a loud 'CRACK' was heard. He looked at the TV set and shouted, "What's that supposed to be?I need the chimney in front of the chair, not some useless glass crate!"
The Professor looked at Fuzzy as he complained on the broken armchair, then he looked at the snow all over the living room and the doorframe still laying on the floor, and he sighed. I sure hope the girls will make it home soon.
"Miss Schmitz, can you listen to me? It's all right, there's nothing to worry about now!" Blossom said. She was trying to talk with the young woman that worked at the reception of the art museum. Bubbles and Buttercup looked over from beside her, unsure of what to do. The woman, who was sitting on the floor, continued to stare at Blossom with a unfocused gaze, like she was looking past her.
Apparently, the thief wasn't your standard art robber. Where the entrance used to be there now was a huge hole, through which the snowstorm's winds were penetrating and bringing in a white cover over the floor. All over the museum the floor was full of cracks and breaks as well: it was as if something heavy, or someone, had run fast through the building. Most of the museum's art exhibition had been stolen; there were multiple walls void of portraits and painting just like some platforms lacked their respective statues.
The thief's traces could be followed through the museum, but upon trying to track him down using the clues he left behind the girls had only found out that he, whoever, or whatever, it was, had exited from the same opening in the main entrance he had used to enter. He had been obviously enough fast to do his business and escape before the police could arrive at the place: even though the snowstorm didn't help the police cars, the girls knew that a common thief couldn't do this feat by himself.
The girls had also tried to find footprints outside, but the blizzard was too strong and by the time they tried, there was already no sign left of the thief's escape. The only way they actually had to investigate the robbery was questioning the receptionist, who was believed to be the only witness of the theft.
"Miss Schmitz, can you hear me?" asked Blossom, who was starting to even worry a little.
Suddenly, the woman grabbed Blossom's shoulders. The move was so sudden that Buttercup raised a fist as if to attack to defend her, and Blossom had to turn towards her for a moment to motion her to stop.
The woman literally shouted in her face. "It was enormous! Enormous, I tell you! I-I…" she let Blossom away, "I'm scared… I'm scared…"
Blossom considered whether to keep questioning her, when a male voice interrupted her thoughts. "I believe it's been enough for her today, girls. We're taking care of Miss Schmitz from now."
The girls whirled their heads to face the Chief of police, the same man that they had met during the unfortunate happenings of officer Mike Brikowski. Another man accompanied him, white skin with big, grey moustaches, and both of them were wearing heavy raincoats.
"This is the police's psychologist. He will assist the receptionist, as I think she will need some support to get over her shock."
The girls nodded and they watched in silence as the psychologist helped the crying woman to stand up and led her away.
"If she's going to tell something useful to understand just what the heck happened here, he has orders to tell me instantly. Of course, you'll get informed as soon as I do."
"Thanks, Chief," answered Blossom politely. "Anyway, what do you think about this robbery?"
"I'm afraid I am as confused as you are, Powerpuff Girls. This thief is indeed far from a normal one, but he wasn't just strong, he was smart. There is not a single clue of any sort left in the crime scene. Not a weapon, not a tool, nothing. He seems like the entire job was done with bare hands."
"But who could do such a thing?" said Buttercup. "I do not remember of any monster who was interested in robbing an art museum!"
"Maybe it was a robot from Mojo Jojo?" Bubbles suggested.
"That could indeed explain the cracks on the floor and the explosive entrance that sure had to have happened, Bubbles," the Chief commented.
"If that's it, then we should pay Mojo a little visit!" declared Buttercup fiercely.
Blossom agreed with her sister, but before she could confirm her opinion someone's call came to their ears. "Chief! Chief!"
The Chief of police turned his head, annoyed, and he shouted, "Perez! What now? Don't you see I'm busy here?"
"Chief! I think we found something important!" answered Perez as he reached them. He stopped and regained his breath for some seconds. The policeman was wearing a heavy uniform, too.
"Show it, then," the Chief ordered inquisitively. The Powerpuff Girls listened with interest to their conversation.
"Some of our men are still working there to see if there's anything else where we found this, but here it is…" he withdrew a small transparent plastic bag from his pocket, "a little sample."
The Chief took the transparent bag from Perez's hands and lifted it up to examine it. The Girls hovered up to get a glimpse, too.
Inside the small scientific bag, there was a bunch of white hairs.
"Well, unless Mojo Jojo has been putting white fur on his robots, it's unlikely that he's the one responsible of this theft then," said the Chief of police, giving the bag back to Perez.
"But then who could it have been? It could still be Mojo: what if he's trying to play a trick on us?" said Buttercup.
"Buttercup, the only evil foe of us which has fur apart from Mojo Jojo is Fuzzy, and he's pink. If he'd wanted to put the blame on someone else, he'd have chosen something more specific than that," explained Blossom.
"Whatever, Bloss, I still believe he's the most likely guy to have robbed this place. It wasn't Fuzzy of course, how could he be interested in those paintings?" replied Buttercup.
They were interrupted by Bubbles, who had had idea while her two sisters were talking.
"Blossom, do you remember Fuzzy visiting us an hour ago?"
"Yes, I do. What about that, Bubbles?" asked Blossom.
"Didn't he say he needed our help because someone took over his property? Perhaps... perhaps whoever did that to him is linked with the robbery."
Blossom and Buttercup exchanged glances, then Blossom said, "it could be, Bubbles. It could be... even if I can't imagine anyone interested in both Fuzzy's house and works of arts."
The Chief of police was astonished by the reveal. "Someone has taken over that beast's lair? After this, I've heard everything in my career. Indeed, though, we have two strange events happening in the same day. It's possible that there's a connection between them."
"Ok, girls," Blossom concluded. "We're returning home to see if Fuzzy is still nearby. If he's gone away or we discover there's no link at all, then we're going straight for—"
"Achoo!"
Bubbles sneezed noisily, interrupting her sister in the middle of her speech. "Oh, sorry Blossom…"
"It's all right; now that you made me think about it, just remember that we have to get our coats and all when we get home. As I was saying, we're going for Mojo if Fuzzy's lead proves fruitless, okay?"
"As you wish, leader girl," Buttercup agreed, even though it was easy to understand she wasn't of the same idea.
"We're leaving now! Thanks for the help, Chief!" said Blossom as she and her sisters hovered up in the air.
"You're welcome, Powerpuff Girls. And be on the lookout for the thief!" shouted back the Chief as they flew away and left art museum, moving into the snowstorm.
I really hope they'll be careful, he thought, whatever's caused this mess here must have superhuman powers…
The girls soon found out that flying was getting more and more difficult with the current weather: the winds, the falling snow, and the low visibility forced them to fly at near ground level, much slower than usual. If it hadn't been for their good memory of the city thanks to all the days spent flying over it, they'd have surely got lost.
"Stupid snow…" mumbled Buttercup, "why is this storm taking so long to go away?"
"I'm cold… like, really cold…" moaned Bubbles. Blossom turned for a second her head while moving to check her sisters. Both of them had their arms covering their bodies, just like she did. They had completely forgotten their winter suits back at home, and she remembered all the times Buttercup had asked the Professor to go out without them during winter. The Professor had always denied her his permission, and now she knew why he had never changed his idea about it. When they went to the art museum two hours ago, the temperature hadn't affected them much, but this was no more true.
"We are almost there, Bubbles," she reassured, "just resist one minute longer."
She didn't lie, and soon they reached their house. They found the door still broken and the Professor working around it in order to fix it.
The girls approached the main door, but the Professor didn't see them until they were almost inside the house.
"Girls!" he said, visibly worried. "Are you ok? I tried to warn you about the temperature outside, but you flew away too fast!"
The Professor didn't like what he saw. The girls were not only feeling cold, but their clothes were soaking wet as well due to the snow, which didn't make things better at all.
"It's our fault, Professor, we should have known better…" Blossom apologized.
"Yes, you should have, but we'll talk about it later, Blossom. For now, all three of you must dry yourself up and change your clothes, or you'll get a serious cold."
All the three of them nodded, but before going upstairs, Blossom asked, "Professor... Is Fuzzy Lumpkins still around? We have to talk with him about the robbery at the art museum."
The Professor's worry disappeared from his face, momentarily replaced by slight annoyance. He didn't answer, but simply pointed with a finger behind himself. The girls hovered over him and saw that someone was sitting in the armchair of their living room and watching TV. Whoever he was, he was crunching down something with quite a noise.
The girls flew past the armchair and were surprised to find Fuzzy there, chewing some chips.
"Whadda're you doing?" he protested, "Get offa my view!"
The girls looked at him, unsure how to react. The most surprised one of them was Buttercup, who immediately called out the Professor. "Professor! How could you let this dork inside? He's… being dumb!"
"Well, Buttercup," answered the Professor, who had resumed his job with the door, "I thought it wasn't a good idea to close him outside, you know, with the snowstorm… and the fact I had no door to actually keep him out."
Buttercup took some seconds to imagine the scene. She hovered over Fuzzy's head: "You threatened him?" she hissed.
"You girls have really somethin' not working in your heads! Prof there offered to host me, and I accepted! Nothin' else!"
"Well, it didn't exactly happen that way, but," the Professor pointed out.
"Okay, okay, quiet now!" ordered Blossom. "We're still lucky we could find you, Fuzzy. We need to talk."
"Can you return later or somethin'? There're people on that box behind you who-"
Buttercup abruptly turned off the TV set. "Who are you talking about?" she said, grinning.
Fuzzy looked ready to explode, but before he could complain about the green puff's running his current life goals, Bubbles hovered over him and said threateningly, "You meanie should act well inside our house... Or you'll have nothing but TROUBLE from us!"
She nearly shouted the last part. After that, she returned to join her sisters like she hadn't just screamed at the lumpkin. All the people inside the house except for Bubbles herself were bewildered. "Hey, did I do something bad? I've just advised him about the correct behaviour in our house," she said innocently.
"Oookay..." said Blossom, perplexed by her sister's behaviour. She turned towards a surprisingly very calm Fuzzy Lumpkins. "Fuzzy, just answer our questions, please."
"But I should be the one's giving..." he began, but Blossom hushed him with a gesture. "No. You answer ours, or you can forget about our help."
Fuzzy would have torn the little girl's head off right on the spot, but he thought about his cousin lighting his property up on fire. He stopped himself from grabbing her and frowned, keeping his silence and letting them interrogate him.
"Who took over your cabin, Fuzzy?" began Blossom.
"It was my cousin… Agh! I hate calling him like that," said Fuzzy.
"Does this cousin of yours have white fur all over his body, unlike you?"
"Yes, he does. Hey, do you people already know him or somethin'?"
The girls looked at each other, then Blossom informed him about the robbery at the museum and the few clues they had gathered.
"Well, I ain't surprised if you asked me. As all of his kind, this cousin has some strange hobbies, I tell you… But I don't care about them! I just want my property back!"
"But, if he's that different from you, how can he be your cousin, Fuzzy?" Bubbles asked.
Fuzzy suddenly stood up from the armchair, and the girls backed up, ready for everything. The lumpkin looked ready to lunge, but despite the clearly threatening move, he didn't attack. He said in a low but determined voice, "I do not want to hear you brats ask about me or my cousin or why he is what he is. Never again!"
"All right, Fuzzy, all right, now calm down, there's no need to get angry here…" said Blossom quickly. Fuzzy sat down on the armchair again, apparently pacified by the confirmation.
"Did your cousin tell you the reason why he came to Townsville in the first place?" she continued. Fuzzy had to wait for some seconds before answering because of Bubbles, who couldn't help sneezing during the conversation.
"No! He insulted me, saying something about me not able to catch on his plan or somethin'… I dunno… How he dares mock me!"
"Well, he isn't completely wrong…" commented Buttercup.
"Buttercup, would you please shut up? You're not helping!" scolded Blossom. Buttercup stuck her tongue out at her sister, but the pink-eyed girl ignored her.
"Okay, Fuzzy, that's enough for now. Girls, huddle!" Fuzzy watched them as they reunited and began whispering to each other. After some seconds, they let each other away and they faced the lumpkin again.
"Fuzzy, we believe that we can have a deal. If you bring us to your house, we can discover if the one who's staying in your house right now is the thief we're looking for. If he is, we'll capture him and send him to the police, and you will have your property back. Is that okay for you?"
Fuzzy Lumpkins stared at the girls for some seconds. Then, he suddenly jumped out of the armchair and began dancing in the living room. After some seconds, he even grabbed a poor Professor Utonium and used him as a dance partner.
"Fuzzy! Stop!" shouted Blossom. "Cut it out!"
Fuzzy stopped and let the Professor away, who walked stumbling for some seconds before eventually falling on the floor. "Can't I even celebrate for a moment or what?" he asked, annoyed.
"Not this way, Mister!" answered Bubbles angrily. Fuzzy folded his arms in protest, but didn't make further attempts to celebrate.
Thirty minutes later, the girls were ready to leave after a hot bath and a change of clothes. They were now wearing their winter suits: all three of them wearing heavy winter coats, gloves, shoes and caps, except for Blossom who wore a pair of earmuffs. Fuzzy was waiting for them in the living room, eager to get his property back.
"How much time do you girls even need?" he complained as he saw them hover downstairs.
They ignored him and met the Professor, who was finishing the last part of his job with the door.
"Professor, we're going to Fuzzy's place now," informed Blossom.
"Okay, girls. I must tell you something that came to my mind. This cousin of Fuzzy, I thought… how could he get his hands on Fuzzy's house? We all know that Fuzzy can get surprisingly strong when provoked, and we can guess he wasn't happy to be kicked out. For what kind of reason even would a relative of him steal art works from the museum, despite the terrible weather?"
"What are you trying to say, Professor?" asked Blossom.
"Just… be careful, girls. There's something that doesn't convince me in this story. Do not underestimate this so-called thief. Can you do that?"
"Don't worry, Professor, we... achooo!" Bubbles sneezed, but nonetheless smiled. "We deal with all types of monsters all the time, this will be no different!"
"Yeah! It's another one of the family of that dork there, anyway… We'll be done before you know it!" said Buttercup confidently.
"Well, try not to be careless then! And try to get home before the night falls!" repeated the Professor. He was also worried about the cold Bubbles had clearly got, but the girl was determined to join the search of the thief with her sisters and his attempts to convince her to reconsider had already failed.
"Don't worry Professor, we'll be careful!" said Blossom, showing a reassuring smile.
"FUZZY! We're leaving!" shouted Buttercup as the three of them hovered outside.
"I'm coming!" shouted back Fuzzy as he came past the Professor and exited the house. The four shadows quickly disappeared in the fog of the snow storm, out of Professor Utonium's view. He sighed as he resumed his work. I have a bad feeling about this… I hope I am wrong…