TW: Animal abuse, animal experimentation, somewhat graphic depictions of violence


"What should we do? Or… should we do anything?"

That infuriating woman's voice was the last thing Mojo heard before he slipped into unconsciousness.

It had all happened so fast he could barely comprehend what actually happened. One moment he was dealing with a troublesome hostage who was trying to order him around, and then he felt a flash of anger so strong his entire field of vision was covered in a red haze. The next moment, his muscles started to spasm, he couldn't speak or control his own body, and then… darkness.

However, the darkness soon started to form various shapes and colors, and pretty soon he was taken back to a place so far back in his memory he had felt it rather than truly remembered it. But there was one person that he would've known at any time, anywhere.

"Father?" Mojo whispered to himself.

On a rocking ship in the middle of the ocean, Mojo watched as an infant version of himself squirmed in the arms of his father, a large chimp in a captain's hat as a man in his forties sitting at a table a few feet away tore off a piece of his banana, smirking at the pair. Mojo reached out towards his father, but with every step he took, the further away he got.

On the man's other side sat another, much older man who scowled at them all, holding a deck of cards.

"You shouldn't be puttin' your hat on that thing, Sammy." the elderly man chastised as he shuffled the deck absentmindedly. "You don't know what kinda lice or whatever nonsense he's got."

In response, Sammy grinned. "You worry too much, Paul. Good Ol' Captain over there don't have nothin' I got to worry about."

At this, Mojo's younger self let out an indignant screech as he desperately tried to reach for the banana, earning a guffaw from Sammy.

"Looks like you got yourself a wild one, eh Captain?" he laughed, looking at the adult chimp. "He ain't nothin' like you. You were always calm as a cucumber."

"They're all like that when they're young," Paul shook his head, not taking his eyes off his cards. He held a cigarette between his fingers, and took a long drag. "I told you Sammy, having one of them things on board is bad enough, but a family? A baby? It's only a matter of time before one of them goes nuts on ya."

"Oh please, Captain has always been harmless," he grinned at the male chimp. "And the baby's just going through a phase. He'll grow out of it and be just like his pop, just you wait and see."

He turned toward the baby with a mischievous grin, waving the banana around. "You want some?"

At that moment, Mojo watched as his younger self slipped out of his father's grasp and screeched, lunging himself at Sammy and the banana.

"Woah, hey hey! Stop it little man!" Sammy cried as he desperately tried to wrestle the banana from his grasp. When the young chimp bit his hand, he pushed him to the ground in a rage. At this, Captain screeched at them both, running over towards his son.

"Son of a bitch!" Sammy cursed. Paul looked on unsympathetically as Sammy sucked on his bloody hand. "That little shit nearly bit my fingers off!"

"I told you," he said. "A ship ain't no place for a baby chimp."

"Well what do you propose I do? Throw him overboard?"

"Hell no, that would be a waste," he shook his head. "No, I have a nephew who works at a university just an hour away from the port. Real smart, one of them scientist types. He always complains about how his lab can never find enough test subjects for his research. They're lucky if they can get their hands on mice; he'd probably shit his pants if you offered him that little one. Pay a pretty penny for him too," he gestured towards the young chimp, who was absentmindedly chomping on what was left of his prize.

Sammy looked toward the baby, who, now done with his treat, had discarded the peel on the ground and was now climbing on top of the cargo boxes chewing on a life raft he tore off the wall. He looked cautiously over at Mojo's father, who was still looking at him in a way he didn't like. His hand felt wet with blood.

"Alright Paul," he said. "You win. As soon as we land, get me your nephew's phone number."

The two men, the ship, and baby Mojo and his father disappeared in a red haze, and Mojo watched helplessly as his baby self was dragged screaming into the testing room by a tall, dark haired man with curly hair in a lab coat. Mojo instantly recognized him and felt his fur stand on end.

"Stop it!" Henry yelled. He grabbed him tighter, which only made the chimp screech more. When they finally got to their destination, a cold, stark white room lit up with fluorescent lights and a smell of bleach that still made Mojo feel nauseous, he slammed Mojo's younger self down on the operating table in the middle of the room.

"Izzy!" Henry growled. "Izzy, get over here and sedate him!"

A young woman with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail looked over at the man struggling with Mojo and sighed.

"For the last time, it's Isabelle. I've told you that how many times?" She rolled her eyes. "And you know we can't do that. It could interfere with the results of the experiment. Dr. Collins would have our heads."

Henry scoffed as he forced the baby's arms and legs into the restraints. "Of course he bought some wild psycho chimp off of some rando. How the hell am I supposed to do my job when I'm narrowly avoiding getting my fingers bitten off everyday?"

Izzy gave him a wry smirk. "You'll find a way Henry, you always do. You want that PhD as bad as I do," she pulled out a syringe, and flicked it a few times. As soon as he saw the needle, Mojo's stomach dropped. No, not this, not again…

The scientist injected the substance into the baby chimp's abdomen, and Mojo flinched in surprise when he felt a prick in his own stomach in the exact same place.

A searing pain pierced through his body, and he watched in horror as a rash slowly started to appear on every place in his body where his skin was visible, and it looked identical to the rash that was forming on his past self. He winced as his past self's screams echoed through the room and the pain in his own body grew worse and worse until he felt like his organs were melting inside his body. He curled up in a ball, trying his best to shut out the screams, the pain, the entire forsaken memory. Before long, he could no longer distinguish his own screams from those of his past self.

After a few minutes, the pain stopped as soon as it started. When he dared to stand up and open his eyes, he saw that his skin was back to normal and that the scene had shifted again. He looked on, wide–eyed when he saw a much younger version of his former human caretaker. Long gone were the laugh lines and gray hairs; his skin was perfectly smooth, his hair a glossy black, and his eyes bright.

"Henry, Izzy, I would like to introduce you to the newest member on our team. Fresh out of undergrad, James Utonium," a middle aged professor Mojo vaguely recognized the middle aged Dr. Collins as he patted the younger scientist on the back with a grin.

He saw that they were no longer in the lab, but instead in the animal housing center. Off in the corner, Mojo saw his younger self watching the group with anxious eyes from his cage off in the corner.

"A first year?!" Henry exclaimed. "But this lab is for third years and up!"

Dr. Collins nodded. "Generally yes, you are correct Henry. But this young man has shown great promise. He finished his Biochemistry degree with a perfect 4.0; hell, even I failed Advanced Calculus the first time around," he laughed.

"But seriously, we have a bright young mind in our midst and I have no doubts he'll be able to keep up. Isn't that right James?"

Utonium blushed at the compliment. "W-Well, I will certainly try my best, sir. All I can say is that it's an honor to be here working with you all."

Dr. Collins laughed, patting him on the back. "I like your spirit! Henry, Izzy, why don't you show James around? Introduce him to our little lab rats, so to speak?"

"It's Isabelle," Izzy muttered, but her complaint fell on deaf ears.

"Great! Well, I'll see you three later. Don't have too much fun without me!"

As Dr. Collins left, Henry and Izzy exchanged a glance before turning to face their newest coworker.

"So," Utonium cleared his throat. "I'm really looking forward to working with you both. I greatly admire Dr. Collins and his work fighting skin cancer; my grandmother passed away from it when I was in high school. It was a horrible way for her to go. Ever since then I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to helping people and giving them the best chance at life as possible," He smiled. "It must be so rewarding working on such great, important research."

A devious smirk appeared on Henry's face. "Yeah, it's rewarding alright. Tell you what; why don't you go meet our star test subject," he led Utonium off into the far corner of the room over where Mojo's past self's cage was, and Utonium turned to look at the thin, grungy looking chimp who stared at him with a wary, suspicious expression.

"You guys… test on primates?"

"It produces more accurate results than mice," Izzy shrugged.

"Dr. Collins didn't mention anything about this."

"It's not illegal, if that's what you're worried about."

"I know, I just-" Utonium hesitated.

"Look," Izzy sighed. "We're careful, we know what we're doing. The primate hasn't had any permanent side effects from any of the treatments, and if this research is successful, what we're doing will save countless lives."

Utonium looked back at the ragged looking baby Mojo, before he nodded.

"Well… alright," he said. "I guess I should see for myself before I judge, right?"

The scene faded once again, though this time when the fog disappeared, Mojo found himself on the operating table with his younger self nowhere to be seen, bound by restraints and watching helplessly as three faces looked down at him. The woman, Izzy, held a syringe in her hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he wanted to yell. "As soon as I get out of this, I will rip you limb from limb and pour your remains in lava!"

But instead of words, all that came out were wordless screeches. Young Utonium, the only one who showed any hesitation, looked on in distress.

"Are you sure that this is necessary?" he asked. "I mean, I know it's technically legal, but surely there must be a way to make him more comfortable at least-"

"Dr. Collins is this close to finding a cure for skin cancer. He's been working on this study for years." Henry snapped at him. "Are you going to tell him that you ruined the biggest and most important project of his career, Utonium? All because one of his test subjects threw a tantrum?"

Utonium looked back at Mojo screaming before turning his attention back to Henry. "No, I suppose not."

After this, Izzy came closer and closer with the syringe and Mojo was completely powerless to fight back, run, hide, or do anything. Just before the needle poked him he shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch.

When he opened them again, he was back in his cage. He could tell by the darkness it was the middle of the night, but though the faint moonlight he saw a familiar young, dark haired man holding a banana.

"I'm not supposed to be here this late," he whispered. Utonium walked closer to the cage and instantly he screeched in fear and walked back as far as the cage would allow him.

"Shh, it's alright, it's alright," he hushed. "I'm not here to hurt you."

He peeled the banana and held it out to the young chimp. "Here," he offered. "I know you must be hungry."

And hungry he was. Hesitantly, the young chimp walked toward the bars of the cage, snatching the banana away from the man before he could change his mind and shoved as much of it as he could into his mouth.

To his surprise, instead of getting angry the man chuckled. "You know, you're kind of cute," he mused. The young chimp looked at the man questioningly with wide eyes as he chewed on his treat. The man's face turned serious.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier today," he said. "I don't care what Dr. Collins is working on or how important his research is. I was so excited to be accepted into this program and work for such a well known figure in cancer research, but it was wrong of him to allow anyone to be treated like that, and worse still for those two who call themselves 'scientists' to go along with it. But I guess… I went along with it too, didn't I?"

The young chimp continued to eat as the man smiled sadly. "Well, I can promise you it won't happen again."

The chimp finished his banana, and turned his attention to one of the bars above his head. He climbed up to the top, and folded his legs underneath it, allowing himself to hang upside down.

Utonium laughed again. "You're a little jokester, aren't you?" he asked. "I know, that could be your name! Jokester! No, that's not quite right…" he scratched his chin, before his eyes lit up with an idea. "Jojo! Yes, I think Jojo would suit you quite well."

The man along with everything else in the room disappeared, Utonium's kind eyes being the last thing Jojo saw before everything disappeared. A moment later everything took shape once again, and the man took him out of his car, carrying him into a bright, friendly looking house.

"Welcome to your new home Jojo!" Utonium said, as he showed him the living room. "It took a lot of convincing, but eventually I was able to get him to let me take you home, as long as I promise to continue my research."

Jojo looked around at the room in wonder; he had never seen a place this big before that he was allowed to call his. He immediately jumped out of the kind man's arms and onto the weird, spinning thing on the ceiling.

"Jojo!" Utonium yelled. "Jojo, come down from there! You could get hurt!"

Jojo ignored him, hanging from the top and looking down at him with satisfaction. He had never been able to look down on a human before and he liked it. He grunted excitedly.

Utonium walked away and came back after a few minutes, shaking a small bag.

"Jojo!" he yelled. "If you're a good chimp and come down, I'll give you some of these fresh, delicious peanuts!"

Intrigued, Jojo climbed down back towards Utonium and held out both hands in anticipation.

He laughed. "Alright, alright. Here you go." He opened the bag and poured out some of the nuts into his hand, offering them to the young chimp.

The rest of the day passed much the same; the man showed Jojo each and every room in the house, and distracted him with food any time the young chimp got a bit too rowdy for his liking. By the time the sun was starting to set, Jojo found himself getting tired from the busy, energy-filled day. He rubbed his eyes, and the man looked at him softly.

"Aww, someone's getting sleepy," he crooned. Utonium picked him up and carried him down to the basement, where the beginnings of a homemade lab were starting to be built.

At the sight, Jojo's eyes flew upon and he started to screech. Images of needles, cages, and burning came back to his mind.

"Shh, shh, it's okay Jojo," he crooned, carrying him towards a tiny, makeshift bed that he laid him on.

"You're safe now," he pet the chimp gently. "No one's ever going to hurt you again. I promise."

At the comforting touch and loving gaze, Jojo felt his breathing grow steady. As he leaned into Utonium and closed his eyes, the man's gentle voice and touch disappeared.

Instead, when he woke, he found himself laying on a cold, hard floor with his muscles sore and his body completely exhausted. His blood froze when the tall, brown haired man and the dark haired woman in a ponytail looked back at him, whispering amongst themselves. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but he knew it wasn't good.

Somehow, they took him from Utonium while he was asleep, from the only kindness he'd ever known, back to their lab and poke and prod-

No, not this time. He'd kill them before he'd ever let them touch him again. He was uncaged and unbound; now was his chance.

Without a second thought, he lunged at the man with all his might.


"Do you think he's dead?" Ivy asked.

"I… I don't…" Javier hesitated, before walking over to the unconscious simian and reaching down to check his pulse. "No," he shook his head. He made his way back over to Ivy. "He's still alive."

Ivy sighed. "Well, that makes things more complicated." She looked over towards the exit of Mojo's hideout.

"Let's make a run for it," she said, already heading towards the door. "Before he regains consciousness. There's no better time to do it."

"No!" Javier said, grabbing her by her hand. "If I did he'd hunt me and my brother down to the ends of the earth. He'd do the same to you too," he shook his head. "Not to mention he's paying for both mine and my brother's college. No Mojo, no more money."

"Well, where does he keep it?"

Javier stared at her wide eyed. "Are you suggesting we rob Mojo Jojo?"

Ivy shrugged. "Mojo is keeping you under his thumb under the threat of death, violence, and your family's well being, not to mention whatever he has is already probably stolen."

"He keeps it under high security on the second floor. Only his fingerprints can open it," he said. "But it doesn't matter. If we even went near that money he'd probably blow up Townsville and everyone in it just to hunt us down. Unless…" Javier looked back at the unconscious Mojo with a hesitant look. "We kill him first?"

At the suggestion, Ivy widened her eyes. Killing someone in such a helpless state didn't sit well with her, even a supervillain like Mojo who's undoubtedly killed countless people, and threatened both her and her brother's lives.

"I don't like it," she said. "We should leave and call the police. If he's behind bars, he won't be able to hurt anyone."

Javier snorted. "When's the last time the police were able to keep Mojo behind bars longer than a few months at a time? He'd break out within a week."

"But-" Ivy wanted to protest, but she had to admit… Javier had a point. Especially with the Powerpuff Girls out of commission, there would be no one powerful enough to stand up to Mojo.

She sighed. "Okay." Her eyes fell toward the gun on Javier's belt. "I suppose that will do the job well enough?"

Javier followed her line of sight and pulled out the weapon, a wry smile on his face.

"You know, this thing doesn't even have bullets in it," he said. "Mojo is always paranoid that we'd turn on him, so he takes out the bullets before giving us guns. It's good for intimidating a hostage or potential ally, but not much else."

At this, Ivy sighed. "Well, what do you suggest?"

"He keeps his weapons locked up and under security," he said. "But…" he looked over at the cushion Mojo kept on his chair by his computer. "We can improvise."

"Javier," she said incredulously. "You want to suffocate him with a chair cushion?"

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"I-" Ivy sighed, looking anxiously back at Mojo. "Fine. Just… just do it fast."

He saw the look of distress on her face, and smiled sadly. "This is for the best, Ivy," he said. "It is. It's self defense-"

Before she could blink, Mojo lunged at Javier with a screech, causing him to fall to the ground. He bit into his neck, and bit into his neck hard as Javier screamed.

"Javier!" Ivy screamed. "Mojo! Mojo, stop! What are you doing?!"

But Mojo ignored her. Ivy watched in horror as blood poured from Javier's neck. Desperate and unsure on what to do, she looked around the room at anything she could use, until her eyes fell on an empty beaker. Without a second thought, she grabbed it and threw it at the deranged simian.

After feeling the glass object hit his back, Mojo released Javier and turned his attention towards her. His mouth was filled with blood, his irises a bright red, and most horrifyingly, she saw that in his rage he had bitten Javier so hard it looked like a chunk of his neck was gone.

"Mojo," she cried, backing up. "Mojo please, I don't know what happened to you or what you think is going on, but you've got to snap out of this…"

When the simian looked back at her, it was clear that it was not Mojo she was talking to. Mojo, though evil, still had a measure of control, the ability to be reasoned with. But the creature that looked back at her had none of that; only pure, animal rage.

Just a few feet away, she could hear the sound of Javier choking on his own blood.

"Javier…" she breathed.

His only response was a few more gurgling sounds, and then nothing.

Mojo, bloody and insane, moved away from Javier's body and towards her.


"Hello," a young, blonde woman greeted Snake at the front desk. "How can I help you today?"

"I-" Snake cleared his throat. "My name is Jeremy Sullivan. I'm here to talk to the mayor about an important business offer." As inconspicuous as he could, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and thanked his lucky stars that his speech impediment didn't slip out.

"Alright then," the woman said. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No," he admitted. "But, I think if the mayor was to hear what I want to speak to him about, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to hear me out."

The woman raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious. Shit, he thought. I'm blowing this already.

"I'm sorry," she shook her head. "But if you want to speak to the mayor, you really need to make an appointment first."

"Can't you just page him and ask if it's alright for me to come up?" he asked, giving her his best imitation of a charming smile. He'd seen Ace do it a million times before, but was never able to recreate his ability to charm people.

"There ain't nothin' to it, man," Ace once told him after he was able to sweet talk their way into a concert for free. "Youse always overthinkin' everything, that's your problem. All you gots to do is stand up straight, look them in the eye, and be confident. Act like you're lettin' them in on a little secret. Bein' good looking helps too, but I'm sure you can manage anyways." He laughed like he told the funniest joke in the world, and Snake laughed along too. And when Arturo later caught him using his comb and hair products, he made up some lie on the spot that he was almost positive Arturo didn't buy.

"Please," he tried again, forcing himself to stand up straight and smile. "It's important. I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but it's kind of supposed to be a surprise," he leaned in closer and lowered his voice, acting as though he didn't want anyone else to overhear. "But I just got back from Panipat, India and I brought back some specialty pickles I thought the world's biggest pickle fan would be interested in."

"He certainly does love pickles," the woman laughed. "Still, I don't know…"

"It doesn't hurt to ask, does it?" Snake said. "Just page him and tell him who I am and why I'm here, and if he says no I'll be on my way."

"Well…" the woman hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I'll ask."

She pressed the on button on the intercom.

"Mr. Mayor?" she asked. "I have a man named Jeremy Sullivan here who is asking if he can see you-"

"Jeremy Sullivan?! The Pickle Man?" the mayor blurted out. "Yes, yes! Send him in here immediately!"

"Right away, Mayor," the woman said. She took her hand off the button and turned toward Snake and shrugged. "Looks like you're in."

"Thank you," Snake grinned. "Which way is his office?"

"Just take that elevator and go up to the third floor. Take a left, and his room will be all the way down the hall."

Snake nodded, and headed toward the elevator.

As he made his way toward the mayor's office, he could feel his heart beating in his chest and his face grow warm. He tried to think of what Ace would do in his situation; would he be this nervous? Would he even be doing this at all?

Depends on who it was for, he thought to himself. When Billy nearly got hit by a train, Ace had the gang check the train tracks for his body after the Powerpuff Girls left, but when no body was found he quickly dismissed it, saying either he ran off or the girls took him to jail; either way, he'd be back in a few weeks. But if it was someone like Arturo in trouble, Ace would've burned the world to the ground before letting anything happen to him.

And if he thought it was him who was in danger…

He'd help, Snake told himself. He shot my own father to protect me. He did what he had to do, and so am I.

The second he got to the mayor's office, the mayor threw the door open and greeted Snake with a grin. "Mr. Sullivan! Come in, come in!" He grabbed him by the arm, pulling him into the office.

"I have to say, it's an honor to meet you! Everyone in the pickle world knows about you!" he fawned. "What brings you to Townsville? According to the Pickle News Daily, you're still supposed to be in India."

"I, er," Snake stuttered. "I left early to come see you. Once I heard that my number one fan was the Mayor of Townsville, I knew I had to meet him and show him my latest product."

"Oh Jeremy, you're too kind," the mayor blushed like a schoolgirl getting complimented by her crush. "But yes! Show me what you have! I've heard all about the famous Pachranga pickles. I've been dying to try them."

Snake nodded, and pulled out a jar from his duffel bag and opened it before handing it to the mayor.

"For a moment I was worried I wouldn't be allowed in," Snake admitted. "The receptionist downstairs told me that I'd need an appointment-"

The mayor, his fingers and mustache already covered in pickle juice shook his head. "Oh that? That's just a silly rule Ms. Bellum made," he waved him off. "She thinks I need to manage my time better and be careful about who I let in; she worries that someone crazy like Mojo or the Gangreen Gang will try to break in and kidnap me or take over the city," he laughed. The mention of his gang sent a wave of shock through him that he covered up with a weak grin.

"But that rule is for normal people, not celebrities such as yourself!" he said. "Either way, she's out for the day visiting her nieces so if you don't tell I won't."

"Your secret is safe with me," Snake laughed weakly. "So, forgive me for being out of the loop, but who are the Gangreen Gang? And Mojo?" he tagged on. "They sound dangerous."

"Oh they are!" the mayor cried. "Mojo Jojo is a monkey turned mad scientist and he's tried to take over Townsville I don't even know how many times! And the Gangreen Gang," he shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, they were troublemakers back in the day. But the Powerpuff Girls always handled them, and they even seemed to turn a new leaf for a while; I hadn't heard a peep from them in years. But ever since the girls lost their powers, they've been going crazy! Stealing, vandalism, breaking and entering. They even broke into the local prison and sent nearly half of the prisoners free!" he shook his head and sighed.

"I just hope we catch them soon. But without the girls, crime has skyrocketed and the police are having a hard enough time as it is trying to hunt down all the crooks and put them back behind bars."

"That… that is certainly a shame," Snake nodded along, not quite sure what to say.

The mayor shook his head. "It's hard running a city Jeremy, it really is. I was born here; I watched as it rose from a small farming town barely on the map to one of the most vibrant and happy cities in the country. We may not be as big and well known as New York City or Los Angeles, but we have character, and that's what truly matters. That and the people," he sighed.

"This city is hurting, and I don't know what I can do to help it. I truly don't."

Snake gave the mayor a hard look. To be completely honest, he never thought much about the mayor other than him being a harmless annoyance at best or an enemy at worst. After all, it was him who would always call the Powerpuff Girls on him and his friends.

And yet, all he saw now was a little old man who was way in over his head.

"I know how you feel," he said, awkwardly patting him on the shoulder. "Right now, I have two people I care about who are in trouble and I can only help one. And I don't know who to choose."

The mayor's eyes widened. "Oh Jeremy, why didn't you tell me sooner? If there's anything I can help you with I would do it in a heartbeat."

"It's more of a private issue," Snake said. "And there might be a way I can help them both, but it means trusting a stranger, and if it goes wrong…" Snake shook his head. "I don't know if I could live with myself."

"Sounds like you have a real serious problem," the mayor said. "But you're Jeremy Sullivan! If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you can pick out a good pickle from a bad one a mile away! You have good instincts, and I know you'll make the right choice."

"Uh, thanks," Snake said awkwardly. He turned his attention toward the pickles, wanting to change the conversation. "How are they?"

"Delicious!" the mayor cheered. "My word, these are the best pickles I've ever had in my life! I'll buy your entire stock!"

"Glad to hear it," Snake reached into the duffel bag and took out the remaining jars of pickles, and placed them on the mayor's desk.

"How much do I owe you?"

"I-" Snake eyed the pickles nervously, not sure how much a case of foreign, specialty pickles should cost.

"Tell you what," he said. "Since you're such a loyal fan, I'll give them to you for a discount. How does thirty dollars sound?"

"Sounds like a deal to me!" The mayor enthused.

As Snake took the money and shook hands with the mayor, his eyes turned toward the jars of pickles on his desk, before leaving and heading toward a bar to ease his nerves.

Javier, you better have been telling the truth, he thought to himself. If this is all another trick from Mojo, I swear to god…


"Mojo," Ivy pleaded, slowly backing away from the insane chimp. With every step she took back, he took a step forward, grunting, his irises red and inhuman.

"Mojo, I don't know what's going on, but you have to snap out of this, okay? Now, let's calm down and take a breath-"

Mojo screeched and sprinted towards her, causing Ivy to yell and run for cover. Off in the corner of the lab she saw what appeared to be a janitor's closet and ran straight towards it, slamming the door shut behind her and holding it closed with all her might as Mojo screeched and pounded on the other side.

Her heart pounding in her chest and stuck in the pitch dark, Ivy reached around for the light switch, and found it after a few moments. She took note of anything in the room that could possibly help her. Her eyes fell on a ladder to her left and instantly grabbed it, pulling at the heavy thing with all her might with her free hand, until she was able to drag it in front of the door as a makeshift barricade.

She then looked for anything else that she could possibly use to keep Mojo out; trashcans, a mob and bucket, boxes of various cleaning supplies. In one of the containers off to the side, she saw a box cutter, and reached for it.

Every single pound on the door sent a shot of adrenaline through Ivy's veins. She crouched down into the furthest corner in the tiny closet that she could, and watched helplessly as Mojo's fists eventually started causing dents through the door.

"Mojo!" She yelled. "Mojo, stop it!" she cried. But her pleas did nothing as Mojo relentlessly kept trying to beat down the door, leaving dent after dent with his fists.

For a moment, the beating sounds stopped, and Ivy allowed herself to breathe. Box cutter in hand, she slowly began to stand up, eyeing the door to see if there would be another attack.

Maybe, she thought. Maybe he finally came to his senses…

Her question was quickly answered with a resounding no when a chair was rammed through the door, causing her to let out a scream.

Mojo, in the midst of his deluded rage, tore the chair out of its makeshift hole in the door and forced his way in, climbing over each and every item she put in his path.

"Mojo," she pleaded once again. "I-I don't know what happened to you, or what I could've possibly done to make you so angry, but if you don't calm down," she raised the box cutter. "I'm going to have to defend myself by any means necessary."

On seeing the blade, Mojo attacked, and on instinct, Ivy raised the box cutter, slashing Mojo across the face. Blood splattered on her hand and over her white blouse.

Instantly, Mojo screeched in pain and fell to the ground, holding his bloody wound in his hand.

Filled to the brim with more adrenaline than she's ever experienced before, in that moment Ivy almost felt outside of her body, as if she was a passive observer watching someone else fight for their life against a crazed chimp.

"Listen," she tried one more time in the most persuasive voice she could manage. "Let me get Professor Utonium for you? How does that sound?" she offered. "That's the whole reason you took me, right? Because you thought he had something that could cure you?"

At the mention of Professor Utonium's name, it was as if a light switched in Mojo's brain. He took his hand away from his face, leaving the bloody scratch in full view. His eyes softened, and his muscles untensed.

"Yes, I think that sounds like a good idea," Ivy said, her voice growing more confident at Mojo's response. "So why don't we get out of here, and go find the Professor, huh?"

Mojo let out a few excited grunts, and began to make his way out of the hole in the door he made. Carefully, Ivy climbed over her own barricade and forced the door open, just barely managing to squeeze herself out. She saw Mojo sitting in the middle of the lab, looking around for what she presumed to be the Professor. He looked back at her in question when he was nowhere to be found.

"He's not here," she said, not sure how well he could understand her in this state. "But we can get him here. Now, if you could show me where your phone is-"

At that moment, two tall green men burst in through the door of Mojo's lab, one of them holding a gun.

"Alright Mojo!" the smaller of the two in sunglasses that after a moment Ivy recognized as Ace said. "Let us know where the hell Snake is or I'll blow your brains out-"

After taking in the sight of Mojo sitting on the ground with a bloody scar on his face, Javier's dead body off in the corner, and Ivy staring back at him, Ace cut himself off. "What the hell?"

The appearance of Ace startled Mojo, and as soon as the chimp laid eyes on the green man, he instantly turned defensive once again.

As Mojo screeched and ran towards the two, Ace let out a yelp of surprise, aiming his gun at the chimp. The first two shots missed, but before Mojo could get near the gangster, the larger man Ivy realized must've been Big Billy stepped in between his path.

"Nobody hurts the boss!" he yelled, picking up Mojo and throwing him across the room like a ragdoll.

Ivy watched in horror as the chimp's head hit the wall with a thud, before falling to the ground unconscious.

"What the fuck was that?" Ace asked outloud, his eyes locked on Javier's dead body. "Holy shit. Did Mojo do that?"

"Something's wrong with his brain," Ivy spoke up for the first time, causing Ace to direct his attention towards her. "He kidnapped me, wanting me to hack into Professor Utonium's computer for him. At first I thought it was just some scheme to take over the world, but now… I think he was looking for a cure. For whatever that was."

Ace looked her up and down, his eyes falling on her bloody blouse and knife. "You're Ivy, right? Snake's sister?"

"Yes."

"And you did that to Mojo's face?"

"I-" Ivy instantly felt self conscious, and dropped the box cutter on the ground. "He didn't give me much of a choice."

"Yeah, I bet," he smirked, shaking his head. "Damn, I never would've thought Miss Priss would've had it in her. That's what me and Snake used to call you back in the day."

Ivy narrowed her eyes. "You know, I had him under control before you and your buddy barged in here and got him all riled up again," she said.

"Yeah, you looked like you really had Mojo Jojo under control. Why, I'm surprised you hadn't taken over his lab for yourself by now!" he mocked. "Either way, that's not what I'm here for. What did Cujo do with your brother?"

"I'm not sure," Ivy admitted. "He's not here, though. All I know is that Mojo sent him on some type of mission."

"Mojo didn't mention nothin?"

Before Ivy answered, she heard the sound of someone shifting in the corner. Her, Ace, and Billy, turned toward Mojo, who's eyes were open and glazed over.

"Shit," Ace said under his breath. "Welp," he cocked his gun. "There's one way to find out." He walked over toward the dazed chimp and held his gun up towards his head.

"Where's Snake?" he asked.

In response, Mojo gave him a confused look and let out a few soft grunts.

"He can't speak," Ivy said. "I doubt he can even understand what you're saying."

"Oh, he'll talk alright," he warned. "And if he can't, he's going to find himself with a bullet right between his eyes."

Mojo let out a few more confused grunts, backing away from the armed man.

"He can't do anything to help us," she said again. "But if we can get ahold of the Professor, he might be able to cure him and we could get some answers-"

"Cure him? Are you nuts?!" Ace cried. "If Mojo gets his brain back he'll kill us all! Not to mention the little fact that your brother and I are wanted men. The Professor will go to the cops and we'll be spending the rest of our lives trading cigarettes to avoid gettin' our rectums resized!"

Ivy chose to ignore the crass joke. "Then what do you propose we do?"

"You're like, one of them computer chicks, right?" he asked. "Mojo probably's got somethin' on his computer that we could use to find out where the hell he sent Snake. And as for this little bastard…" He aimed his gun straight at Mojo's head, earning a whimper from the chimp.

"Ace-"

But before she could say anything else, a gunshot echoed through the lab. Ivy gasped as the chimp's blood and brain matter splattered in every which direction. She looked in horror as the former supervillain fell dead on the floor, his face completely unrecognizable in a puddle of mush.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled. "You didn't have to do that."

"Don't act like you're so innocent, toots," he said, nodding towards the blood stains on her. "And if anything, you should be thankin' me. He would've probably done worse to you if I didn't come in when I did."

"That's debatable."

"Yeah? Well we can debate it later. First things first, it's time to find your idiot of a brother and stop him from doing whatever stupid shit Mojo sent him to do," he stepped over Mojo's mangled corpse, stopping when his eyes fell on the strange looking wrist watch he was wearing.

"Huh," he said, reaching down and taking it off of his wrist. "I wonder what this is."

Ivy walked over towards him and took the wristwatch in her hand, examining it closely. "It looks like some type of communication device," she said. She took it from Ace and pressed the on button and looked through the settings, until she saw one option that said Contact S. She selected it and felt the device vibrate for a moment before she saw an image of her brother's horrified face in what appeared to be a loud bar.

"Snake?" she asked. "Snake, is that you?"


Snake, still in his disguise, ordered his third beer at the first bar he was able to find. One blessing about his disguise was that it made him look old enough that no one bothered to card him.

"Man, that was one hell of a game, am I right?" The man next to him elbowed him. "Ever since Freddie Thompson joined the team, the Sock Monkeys haven't lost once!"

Snake only nodded in response, not knowing who Freddie Thompson was and not caring enough to ask. The man continued to babble on about baseball stats and Snake let his mind wander back towards Ace, Mojo, and City Hall.

I should go find a phone, he thought to himself. I should go find a phone and call City Hall myself. Trusting it to a stranger was stupid. I could disguise my voice well enough that no one would recognize it. I was able to fool the mayor just earlier today.

But if it was a trick, or Mojo finds out… he winced. He still has Ivy. He knows where to find us.

This thought, along with a healthy bit of apprehension that he'd be able to fool anyone who knew who he was and was smarter than the mayor were the only things that kept him in his seat. That, and the beer was helping his nerves, if only marginally.

"Can you get me a shot of whiskey?" he asked the bartender. The man beside him grinned.

"You like the strong stuff, eh?"

"Today I do."

"You know what, you're right," the man turned toward the bartender himself. "Today's a special occasion. I'll take what he's having."

The bartender nodded, and Snake kept his eye glued towards the TV, if only to avoid looking at the man beside him.

"So anyway, like I was saying," he started. "If Freddie manages to keep his streak going in the next game-"

"We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news," the TV screen switched from the baseball game to a middle aged man in a black suit standing in front of City Hall.

Or rather, what was left of it.

"A mere twenty minutes ago, two bombs went off in City Hall, both concentrated in the mayor's office," he said. "The investigation is still ongoing, but according to reports, there have been three reported deaths, along with several injuries. Among the confirmed dead are the mayor of Townsville, Jessica Newman, twenty-six year old mother of two, and Kevin Moore, father of four. Authorities are currently going through any remaining security footage to see if there are any clues on who the culprit could be." Three images appeared onscreen and Snake felt his stomach drop. He recognized Jessica immediately as the receptionist he talked to.

The bar instantly fell into chaos at the news, every patron talking amongst themselves in a hushed voice.

"What?!"

"The mayor is dead?"

"Oh my god, who could've done such a thing?"

In the middle of the mess, Snake felt a buzz on his wrist. With a shaky hand, he lifted up his communication device and pressed the accept call button. The one that answered him wasn't Mojo like he expected, or even Javier, but instead his sister.

"Snake?" she asked. "Snake, is that you?"

While everyone was distracted, Snake excused himself for the bathroom, and left the bar as quickly as possible. The moment he was outside, he felt anything and everything he consumed in the last few hours come up, and he vomited in the parking lot.


PPGGuy06: Indeed he is lol. Especially in this chapter...

Surfer: For questions 2 and 3, you'll have to wait and see. And as for the first question... well you probably know by now. RIP Mojo

Anon: Thank you! And yeah, I guess this chapter answers your question. Poor Mojo

GGGfan: Yeah, Ace had it pretty rough for the majority of his life unfortunately. And yeah, Javier did try to do the best he could with what he had.

Thanks to everyone reading! I was a little worried that this chapter was going to be too long, but I think it turned out better this way than it would've if I split it up. Let me know what you think!