"C'mon, Big Billy! We don't have time to check what's for lunch tomorrow! We bustin' outa of here!" Ace yelled over the loud alarms blaring throughout Townsville's jail. He gestured towards a large hole in the wall of the cafeteria, which appeared to have been made by an explosion due to the dark scorch marks surrounding it.
A jail riot was in full swing. There was chaos and commotion all over the place, with every prisoner trying to find their freedom and fight back against the guards. The cafeteria was no exception to all of this, so Ace planned to use it to his advantage.
"B-But boss, it's Chicken fried steak today..." How Big Billy could see out of his thick red hair that covered the top of his face is up for debate, but his sense of smell could not be questioned as he stood over a tray of chicken fried steaks with a slight frown. He, just like Ace, was on the other side of the lunch line where the chefs cooked the food.
Ducking from a random chair that was thrown his way, Ace loudly commanded, "Get your big fat butt over here! If you do, I promise to find us some better grub to eat in the city! But we won't be able to do that if you're gawking at dried-up steaks!"
"You promise?" Big Billy turned around with a joyful smile. He's like a child, easily swayed by promises of better things, mainly food of course.
"Yea, Yea, I promise! Now let's go!" Ace motioned his arm again to Big Billy. He knew time was running out. Not because the guards could turn the tide somehow. No, he was more anxious about three extraordinary little girls swooping in to save the day. "Ugh..." Ace hated the corny thought of it.
Big Billy came rushing through the hole in the wall with a big, hefty but kid-like laughter. His massive arms were in the air as well when catching up with the rest of his gang.
Ace was not far behind and the whole Gangreen Gang united once again. The area they found themselves in was a loading dock, where trucks would load and unload stuff for the prison daily. It's pitch dark inside except for the routine flashes of white light that came off from the alarms scattered throughout the dock, illuminating the area very briefly.
The leader gave a simple command to his gang, "Alright, find the exit. Once you do, whistle." Ace watched his four friends scattered away in all directions. He went down the middle of the dock, occasionally checking the back of a few trailers to see if one would unlock, but none did. However, he did find one door that had the neon-red exit sign on top. "Heh, nice." Ace gave out a loud whistle.
Lil' Arturo was the first to meet up with the gang leader. "Found the exit, boss?" He spoke quickly when asking.
"Yea'. I need you to check to see if all is clear." Ace slowly opened the door for the midget. Of course, the alarm started to go off since it's a personnel-only door too, but the alarm was drowned out by the others.
Lil' Arturo did not question and poked his head out of the gape first. It didn't matter that it was nighttime because the prison's search and floodlights were scanning through the area, providing light. He could see the expansive side lawn that was separated by three 30-foot high fences that were topped with barbed wire. "Three fences." Lil' Arturo quickly shifted his gaze to the right, seeing one guard tower but that's all because of the wall on the side blocking the rest of the view. Lil' Arturo was relaying this info back to Ace before he stopped with his one exposed eye widening.
"Hey, what's the hold-up? Do you see something or what?" Ace was getting impatient from not hearing anything.
Lil' Arturo finally spoke up, "Yeah... three little niñas flying near a guard tower. They're talking to one of the guards." All he could see was the dark silhouettes of three kids talking to another adult silhouette holding a rifle.
Ace smacked his lips in slight disapproval while Grubber was the last to rejoin the group, "They got here under a minute. Curse those dang girls..."
"We jussssttttt have to be patient, bossssss." Snake's tongue slithering out as he spoke.
Ace nodded to that. He kept his back close to the wall while crossing his arms over his chest, waiting.
Lil' Arturo did not lose focus of the floating girls until they suddenly zoomed off to the right with the guarding leaving the tower, presumably heading to the entrance of the prison to start rounding up escaping criminals. "Now, Amigos!"
All five busted through the exit door, almost breaking it off its metal hinges. It became apparent how the Gangreen Gang could escape prison so easily if given the chance. This time, Ace ordered Big Billy to run through the fences, knowing his bulk would do the trick.
It was like running through paper for Big Billy. Each metal fence could not stop so much mass from ripping a large hole through them. "Did I do good there?" Big Billy asked with a cheerful grin.
"You sure did! Now let's get out of here before anyone notices." Ace led the way toward one neighboring business building, a farm-to-market/electronic store building to be exact. Its alleyway was the only one that was dark and surrounded by empty police cars.
"Ha! Stupid pigs are making this too easy." Ace's confidence grew the closer he and his gang walked down the alleyway, disappearing in its looming darkness.
On the other side of the alleyway, the gang all had a smile, knowing freedom was finally theirs again.
Ace kept both of his hands in his black-and-white prisoner pants. His eyes scanned the nearly dead but beautifully illuminated downtown area. No cars were driving down the roads near his gang and any people who would've been around were cleared out by the police prior, as evidenced by the many blockades set around. "No pigs here too. They all must be helping the girls back there."
Lil Arturo, Snake, and Grubber were busy picking the locks on the store while Big Billy had his face pressed against the viewing glass, captivated by the many selections of meat produce. "Got the lock picked. We can go inside, boss." Lil Arturo kicked the double doors open, causing the store's alarm to go off.
Ace then said with great enthusiasm, "Alright boys, grab what you can quickly!"
It took the gang no time to ransack the store of its items. Each member focused on one aspect that they wanted to steal from the store; Ace found a new pair of shaded glasses and new clothes to take while Lil' Arturo, Snake, and Grubber all helped carry a 100-inch TV out. Big Billy made sure to stuff the inside of his shirt with as much meat as possible, making him look twice as wide as before. The gang then ran out of the store in a flash.
"Alright, time to he-" Ace paused when looking to the right. He could see a reconstruction site down the street. "Hey, hold up a sec guys!" His gang stopped a few feet ahead of him and came back.
"You ssssseeee something?" Snake asked.
Ace didn't say another word and sped walked towards the reconstruction site. His gang followed closely behind, being as silent as him now.
The site itself was empty of workers and all of the construction vehicles were turned off for the day. It looked like they were rebuilding a heavily damaged restaurant that suffered through the intense battle between Townsville and Mojo Jojo.
The many propped-up work lights scattered about in the site provided adequate light for Ace to look at the ground.
When he saw Ace get onto his hands and knees at one dirt pile, even Big Billy was confused like his buddies. "Daahh... boss, what are you doing?" He asked, breaking the silence.
Still Ace didn't say anything, prompting the rest of his gang to look at each other with confused expressions. "I will be darned! There some still left!" Dropping the clothes he was carrying, the quick-thinking gang leader reached to the side, grabbing an empty jar from a construction workbench.
The gang watched their leader scoop what looked to be inky black dirt into the jar now. Their confused expressions remained even after Ace ordered them to get to the hideout as soon as possible.
From where the Gangreen Gang was, it took them about only 30 minutes to get to Townsville's junkyard, where their decrepit shack proudly stood. It took no time for them to get the power started up again via an illegal wire connected to the city's power grid.
Another two minutes passed as the gang all changed out of their prisoner outfits for their usual get-up before settling in.
"No no, it has to be the blue wire, Amigo. The red one is for audio." Lil' Arturo tried to explain to Grubber.
The ugliest of the gang, Grubber blew a raspberry to Lil' Arturo while hooking the blue wire into a slot at the back of their new TV.
Snake hooked the power plug to one of the outlets in their shack. "I say lets jusssstttt sssseee if it workssss."
In the kitchen, which looked equally as bad as their shack, Big Billy looked like a kid viewing his stash of candy. Rather than candy though, it's mounds of meat, from raw pork ribs to whole chicken, laid out on the diner table. "Guys, I'm cooking up the steaks now!"
"Make sssssure to have minessss rare." Slithering his way to the dirty and worn-out couch, Snake sat down while grabbing the TV remote. Lil Arturo and Grubber joined him as he pressed the power button on the remote.
The huge TV turned on with a crystal clear picture of Townsville's news and perfect audio.
Grubber let out a small raspberry as if saying, "Told you so."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Lil' Arturo didn't want to hear any gloating as he asked Snake to turn up the TV's volume.
"As stated before, a prison riot did occur here at Townsville's jail but the rebellion was quickly stopped in its tracks with the aid of three brave and powerful girls. As I stand outside of the jail's perimeter, I am joined by these three lovely girls right now." A female blonde news anchor slowly squatted with the camera panning down, showing The Powerpuff Girls standing right next to her with proud smiles on their round faces. "Tell me, did any of the criminals inside give you girls trouble?"
Buttercup crossed her arms while confidently saying, "Nah! They were just a bunch of weaklings! Some of them admitted to not leaving their cell when the riot started because they knew we were coming. Though it was fun letting off some steam on the ones that fought back~"
"I like the ones who didn't fight back and knew they had to stay in jail. One of them even said they were sorry for doing crimes in the past. That made me happy!" Bubbles was full of glee at the prospect of bad people changing for the better. Her smile was bigger than her sister's.
Blossom soon chimed in, "Right! So we had to fight just half of all the prisoners because of that. Good thing too because we have to get to bed soon for school tomorrow."
The once proud smile on Buttercup's lips soon dropped into a slight frown. "Man, you're such a dork..."
Bubbles couldn't help but giggle.
The news anchor stood back up with the Powerpuff Girls floating off the ground. "And there you have it. Once again, The Powerpuff Girls show its citizens of Townsville that they are in good hands. Well, girls, thank you for everything, have a good night and do well in school."
The Powerpuff Girls waved at the news anchor, the police in the area, and finally at the news camera before zooming away faster than the speed of sound, leaving a line of RGB color behind them.
Just then, Ace walked into the living room from a different hallway in the shack. He caught a glimpse of The Powerpuff Girls flying off in the TV, making him grimace. "Guys, come to the basement. I want to show you somethin'." Ace then turned away, walking back into the hallway.
The gang was curious about their leader being weird ever since they left the reconstruction site, so they all met up with Ace as he was walking down the flight of stairs.
"Ever since those Power Cornpuff girls showed up, we haven't gotten a good bust in for weeks. I'm tired of it and I figured out how we can deal with them." Ace's mood seemed to go up when thinking about his plan.
Grubber let out a questioning raspberry.
Ace reassured Grubber and the rest, "I understand that. That's why I'm glad I talked to that old-timer prisoner a day before the riot started."
"He ssseemed pretty wacko to mee, bosssss." Snake giving his two cents on the matter.
"I thought so too until he started to explain how those girls got their powers." Ace and his gang made it to the basement. With one ceiling light, only the center got illumination.
Besides Ace, the gang members let out a collective gasp when looking down at the dirt ground. Their boss seemed to have set up some sort of ritual because there was a drawn pentagram with detailed eldritch markings. Each point in the pentagram seemed to have the same inky black dirt that Ace scooped up from the reconstruction site.
Snake was the first to speak up, "Uhhhh... issss this what the old man told you to do?"
Ace pulled out a piece of paper that showed a drawing of the same pentagram that was now on their basement floor. As Snake slowly took the piece of paper so the rest could see it, Ace started to explain, "That old-timer, a little odd, seemed to know what he was talking about. He said it's a black substance called Chemical-X that gives those girls superpowers." Ace turned his full attention to the one of five candles that were placed at each point of the pentagram.
"You sure you can trust a guy who worships this... kind of stuff?" Lil' Arturo questioned. His eyes looked at any part on the paper that would make sense of what the ritual would actually do.
Ace lit the first candle with a lighter. "He predicted the riot happening a day before it did, helping us escape. I say we check out this little ritual and see if it works." He then lit the second candle. "Light the other candles and turn off the lights so we can get started."
While lighting his candle, Lil Arturo had to say, "Wasn't it kinda weird that the old-timer was the only one that could wear a prison hat and no one else?"
Grubber nodded while Snake said, "Yeah, you couldn't even ssssssee his eyesssss."
Big Billy was getting a bit nervous since he hadn't turned off the basement light just yet, only standing next to the switch. He was pointing his index fingers together in a bid to calm his nerves. His once jolly smile turned into a big frown. "I don't know, you guys... This kinda makes my tummy hurt..."
"Quit your bellyaching and turn off the light!" Ace said in a now more stern tone. His patience was wearing thin with his gang's stalling. He snatched the paper from Lil' Arturo's hands so he could read the rest of the instructions.
There was an audible gulp from Big Billy before turning the light switch.
The basement would have been pitch-dark if it weren't for the 4 candles. The 5th one was finally lit by Big Billy as he and the others stood at each point of the pentagram.
Ace instructed his friends to place their hands on the black dirt and repeat a certain phrase. While he got down on one knee and firmly placed his free hand on the ground, he noticed that none of his friends were following his instructions. Frustrated, he asked them, "Aren't you tired of getting embarrassed by those stupid little girls every time we try to have some fun?! "This is our chance to get payback!" His anger was evident from his tone of voice.
Snake was the second person to get on one knee and place a hand on the black dirt. A slight shiver of apprehension went through his slender body, knowing he was locked in on whatever ritual this was. "And we need to take over this city."
"Let's get rid of all its dumb rules and make our own rules for the city, Amigos." Lil' Arturo placed his palm onto his patch of black soil. The same spine-tingling shiver that happened to Snake also happened to him, making his short body tremble.
Grubber blew out a very enthusiastic raspberry in response while sinking his hand into the dark earth.
"Yeah! Then we can make them cook all our food!" Big Billy wasn't scared anymore, seeing his friends not afraid but eager to do the ritual rubbed off on him very easily. Big Billy had to get on both knees to get his big hand placed on his patch of black soil.
"Exactly! Now repeat after me, boys!" A wide smirk was on Ace's face as he held up the piece of paper. "HIS sovereignty endures the grip of truth and deceit! Promising the key to unshackle the limits of man and nature!"
The rest of the gang repeated this phrase with just as much vigor as their leader was giving. Suddenly, the black soil under their palms was bubbling like it was in hot water. Except for Ace, the gang looked like they had just seen a ghost.
Ace could see the soil churning under his hand but he continued with the chant, "INFERNO flames will burn away all doubts so one can receive the true potential hidden within!"
The gang, after a short delay to muster the courage, repeated their leader's words. The dirt lines that made the pentagram and eldritch symbols started to glow a sinister purple with smoke coming out.
Before they could get a grasp of the sight, Ace said loudly, "MAJESTY is granted to those whose will and desire have outgrown the traditions of man and their false God!" That last bit of the chant caught even Ace off guard as he looked at the paper more closely.
"Uhhh boss, is it just me, or is the basement getting brighter?" Lil Arturo was looking around quite confused.
Blowing out a loud raspberry to grab everyone's attention, Grubber pointed to the basement ceiling bulb.
The Gangreen Gang looked up at the bulb, which should have been off, getting a faint glow at first before it suddenly was just as bright as if the light switch had been turned on. But it didn't stop, it was getting even brighter than its usual standard, making everyone shield their eyes.
Though Ace didn't need to cover his eyes because of the shades. His now panic focus shifted to the ground. To his horror and amazement, the black dirt was fully covering everyone's hands like it was trying to find a way inside their skin.
Then as Townsville couldn't handle the sudden surge of unknown energy happening in its junkyard, the power in that area went out. Then the blackout quickly spread throughout the city in a matter of seconds. Plunging its inhabitants in darkness.
Before the power outage hit the suburban area of Townsville, a science-dedicated man was trying to get every bit of info from what he saw on his telescope. "Hmm, could it be that the bacteria see the Rotifer as a companion? Perhaps for mutual exchange of nutrients? But the Rotifer eat 150x more than the bacteria so that wouldn't make sense..." Lifting his head from the telescope, Professor Utonium lightly scratched the side of his head while looking at his notepad. The next thing the Professor knew, he couldn't see in front of himself. "Huh? What is g-"
"EEEEEEEPPPPPP!" A distant but all too familiar scream was heard one floor above.
"Don't worry girls! I'm on my way! Don't be scared!" The Professor pulled out a small flashlight from his pocket, allowing him to run out of the lab with haste.
"Ahhhhhhhh! I hate the dark!" Bubbles cried out while clinging to Buttercup. Both were in their PJs, watching TV before the power cut out.
Buttercup looked very annoyed, especially with her cheek touching Bubble's cheek. "Urgh! Stop being a baby! You go to sleep in the dark all the time." She tried to move on the living room couch in an attempt to get out of her sister's tight hold.
"It's not the same! No, don't let me go!" Bubbles clung even tighter. If she was doing this to an average joe, she might be paying for the poor man's hospital bills.
To Buttercup, it was just a bigger nuisance trying to push the whining girl away. "Let go! Why don't you cry to one of your stupid stuffed animals that's next to you?!"
Bubbles let out a gasp of surprise. "Wait, how can you see in the dark?"
"We have night and X-ray vision, remember, Dummy?" The green outer part of Buttercup's irises was glowing, indicating she was using said powers.
"Oh! I remember. I just forgot is all~" Bubbles released her hold on Buttercup. The blue part of her irises began to glow, which brought out a smile. "Ahhh, much better."
The Professor came rushing into the living room, panting lightly and aiming the flashlight at them. "Girls, are you okay? I heard screaming."
"We're okay. But you got the Profess scared, Bubbles." That was Buttercup's way of telling her sister to say sorry.
"My bad, Professor. I didn't mean to scare you." Bubbles came flying in to give her father a nice hug on his shoulder. Granting a loving head pat from the man.
"Come on, girls. Let's make sure your other sister is okay." The Professor reached down, seeing if Buttercup wanted to be picked up.
"I don't need to be picked up." Buttercup crossed her arms and slowly floated off the couch.
"Oh, I do apologize. You are becoming a big girl after all." The Professor saw the nod of approval from Buttercup, which made him happy inside. He led the way up the stairs with Bubbles clinging to his shoulder and Buttercup floating at his other side.
The door to The Powerpuff Girls room opened. Thanks to the three windowless holes in the back wall, star and moonlight provided low light in the room.
Sitting there on her colored side of the bed, which is in the middle, was Blossom in her PJs. Her entire focus seemed to be on a big book. Her eyes darted side to side quickly for she was ingesting the knowledge the book contained in each page. The bookworm was reading so fast that by the time The Professor and her sisters reached the bed, she had already flipped through 2 pages in the book.
"What are you reading there, sweetie?" The Professor sat down next to Blossom.
With a soft smile because she knew her father loved this kind of subject, Blossom answered back, "The Bridge Between Quantum Physics and General Relativity."
"Oh God. I can already tell you two are gonna nerd out. I'm going to brush my teeth." Buttercup waved her hand off lazily before flying into the bathroom.
Bubbles on the other hand had already started a nightly playdate with the other stuffed animals that were all stored in one corner of the room.
Interested in knowing if Blossom learned anything new, Professor Utonium asked her some basic science questions. He was amazed by how accurately she was able to get most of his questions right. The ones she didn't get right or understand, he easily explained the solution.
Buttercup was almost done brushing her teeth but it was taking much longer because she couldn't stand hearing all the nerdy 'nonsense' being spewed. "It's like they're talking in a different language that I don't think even Bubbles can translate..." Buttercup said to herself while spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing her mouth out with fresh water. Suddenly, the green Powerpuff flew out of the bathroom to sit in between The Professor and her red-haired sister.
"Hey!" Blossom found it extremely rude of Buttercup to just barge in the middle of the conversation like that. She looked quite annoyed at her more abrasive sister.
"Professor, can I still watch the news when the power comes back on? It will be my second time seeing myself and I want you to be there watching this time~" Buttercup hoped he would say yes so that way she could stay past her usual bedtime.
"Oh, I don't know..." The Professor looked at his wristwatch, which read 8:57 p.m.
"Please, Professor? You didn't get to see us on the news the first time when we stopped Mojo Jojo..." Buttercup knew what she was doing, her big puppy dog-like eyes were all to pull on her father's heartstrings. Just enough to get her way most of the time. However, she did feel like the Professor gave more attention to her sisters most days.
The Professor lightly sighed, sensing Buttercup's ploy to stay up late but knew she wanted to spend time with him too. "Alright, you can wait with me in the living room for an extra 30 minutes. Bubbles, do you want to join us?"
"That's okay. Kip Bunnyhops, Octi, and I are having a tea party!" Bubbles seemed to be having the time of her life with her stuffed animals and dolls.
Hearing that, Professor Utonium leaned down to kiss the top of Blossom's head. "You keep studying and you might get smarter than me."
Blossom shook her head. "No way. You do so many cool experiments that I still don't understand. You have to be the smartest person in the world, Professor."
"Haha, well thank you, dear. Still, if I was as smart as you are now at your age, I think my contributions would have gotten us moon bases by now." Utonium turned his attention to Buttercup and saw her arms were up. He picked her up, placing her over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.
The Professor didn't see it but Blossom and Buttercup exchanged funny faces to try to make the other feel bad.
More so from Blossom because she felt like Buttercup just stole the Professor out of jealousy, which ironically made her feel a bit jealous now. She stuck out her tongue at Buttercup and at the last second, silently mouthed out, "Big baby!" before the door closed. "Hmph!" Blossom's eyebrows slightly furled from anger as she resumed reading the book.
"Uuurgghhhh... what just happened...?" Ace was lying on his side, a few feet away from where the ritual was being done. It was pitch dark in the basement, prompting him to pull out a rusty flashlight from his pocket. The light flickered briefly before staying on constantly. The first person the light landed on was Snake, who was passed out on the ground. Ace rushed to his side. "Dude, wake up! What just happened?!
Snake woke up in a panic and shot up to his feet. "Whoa whoa!" He thought he was being attacked, causing a hiss to come out. Plus he couldn't see because of the flashlight messing with his night vision.
"Oops, my bad." Ace lowered the flashlight.
Snake rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision. As he opened his eyes, he could see Ace standing in front of him, looking perplexed. However, Snake's gaze was drawn towards his leader's hands immediately, and he felt a sense of urgency rising in his voice as he spoke, "Uhhhh bosssss, you might want to take a look at your handsss! There is something totally off about them!"
"Wha-?' Ace held his hands up and let out a questioning but shocked gasp. The veins in his hands, now black with presumably the same substance he did the ritual with, were showing at the surface of his hands. His green skin looked cracked with a slight glow coming off, making them look somewhat otherworldly. Peering between his fingers, Ace could see Snake having the same affliction, "Dude, look at your hands too!"
Just like his leader, Snake was shocked to see his hands physically altered. "What do you think thisss means?"
"Maybe it worked, I don't know yet. Wake up the others." Ace pointed the light to the dirt ground expecting to see the pentagram still there. But instead, there was just a 3-foot-wide crater with the dirt itself still giving off a lot of heat.
"You alright?" Snake asked while helping Grubber up.
Big Billy and Lil' Arturo also sat up on the ground, both rubbing their heads.
Besides the slight headache, Lil' Arturo picked up on a horrid smell, making him cover his nose instantly with his hands. "Argh, do you guys smell that...?!"
"Oh no! The food!" No one in the Gangreen Gang ever saw Big Billy run so fast. He cleared the flight of stairs like a Triathlete, almost outpacing his friends who were right behind him.
When the gang made it to the kitchen, Ace shined the flashlight on the general area and all of them let out a collective disgusted gasp.
"What the heck happened to my meat churros?" Lil' Arturo looked mortified by how all the meat that Big Billy once laid out on the kitchen diner table was rotten with maggots. Some of the food got burned too, as if cooked for way too long.
Big Billy was the most upset as he got onto his knees, bawling out with his hands to his face.
After getting over the initial shock of seeing rotten food, Ace noticed that his friends all had the same kind of glowing hands as him. "Forget the food. I think the ritual might have worked after all."
Grubber let out a questioning raspberry.
Ace's response was quick and firm. "No, not to mess up our food. Look at your hands," he said, gesturing to his own hands. He and Snake watched as their friends examined their hands in disbelief. Clearly, they had not realized the physical change that their hands had undergone since leaving the basement.
"S... So it must've worked, right boss?" Lil Arturo still couldn't look away from his glowing hands.
Just then, the power came back on for Townsville, letting Ace turn off his flashlight. "I think so. But I don't know what powers we may have now. Hmm, let's go outside to test."
The gang went outside where they were surrounded by the usual mounds of garbage, rats scurrying around, and the constant buzzing of the old lamps that poorly lit the Junkyard.
"Alright boys, I say we try to test to see if we can fly. If we can at least do that, it will make all our heists easier and we'll be able to escape those annoying girls." Ace pointed to a 10-foot-tall mountain of filth to the side. "Grubber go up there and see if you can fly."
Grubber did not even question his boss as he ran up the smelly hill. When he got to the top, he struck a pose like he was about to perform a dive for the Olympics. Grubber leaped from the edge and fell to the ground below like a rock.
"Darn. So no flying powers." Ace felt disappointed when he realized that they couldn't fly. He paused for a moment, scanning his surroundings until his eyes landed on a rusty 1970s Volkswagen, prompting him to approach the dilapidated car. Even though he wasn't a religious man, he internally prayed that this would work. Ace reached out and firmly gripped the car, taking a deep breath before exerting his strength. With a single fluid motion, he effortlessly lifted the heavy half-ton vehicle, his muscles hardly strained. "Holy crap!" Ace was excited at this prospect.
"Super fuerza (strength)" Lil Artuto confidently said while lifting a metal seal for some large machinery easily, which had to weigh at least 500 pounds.
After dropping the car, Ace looked at his hands again, the fact the veins were black made him think further about the situation. "There has to be more than just strength... But to have super strength, it has to come with super durability too. Hm... We have to figure it out."
Grubber lifted his head from the ground, seemingly not moved from where his face planted. He let out a charismatic raspberry.
Ace rubbed his chin, hearing Grubber. "You're right. Getting some real-world experience might unlock some additional abilities. C'mon, let's get some shut-eye. Townsville has a date with the Gangreen Gang tomorrow." As Ace began to laugh into the night his gang joined in with equal vitality.
Unbeknownst to the gang, their basement was alive with what looked to be devilish activity. Red lightning was pulsing out of the crater and the black liquid seemed to be getting filtered through the soil. The liquid, Chemical-X, pooled into the center until suddenly it just sank into the earth, not seen again. What accompanied right after was duel laughter, feminine in voice but had an eerie demonic male undertone.
'BZZZZZZZ, BZZZZZZZ, BZZZZZZZ!" The Powerpuff Girls' alarm clock went off at exactly 7 a.m. There was a collective, tired groan coming from the girl's bed as the tri-color blanket shifted with the occupants inside finding their way out. Blossom's book, which was returned by the foot of the bed, soon dropped down the floor because of the blanket's movements.
Speaking of which, the first to get out of the blanket was Blossom. Her long red hair, usually straight and flawless, was a complete mess with strands of hair sticking out in all directions. With her left eye half closed, Blossom had an uncaring look for the day. She was still tired, just like all other children having to wake up early for school. The pink Powerpuff yawned and stretched before slowly floating off the bed. As a courtesy, she clicked the alarm off and then went to the bathroom.
Bubbles was the second to pop her head out of the blankets. Just like Blossom, her blonde hair looks like a ragdoll's hair. There was some drool seeping from the side of her mouth, indicating she slept heavy and very well last night. She didn't bother wiping it away, still too tired to do so. Bubbles yawned and stretched before leaping off the bed.
One person didn't get out of bed and just in time, Professor Utonium came walking into the room while shouting, "Good morning, girls! It's a beautiful day to learn something new at school!" In his right hand, he held a black pipe which he took a slight drag out of.
Blossom and Bubbles stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking fatigued, as they performed their morning routine, firstly brushing their teeth. Their eyes drooped with exhaustion, yet they let out a groan, their tired way of saying good morning back.
Utonium only heard two good mornings so he knew what needed to be done. He just sat on the right side of the bed with all his weight abruptly landing there.
This forced Buttercup to pop her head from the warm confines of the blanket. She blinked, not expecting that to happen. Her surprise was short-lived as she was slightly annoyed having to wake up. Her half-closed eyes looked up at The Professor, who was smiling back. "Give me five more minutes, please..."
Utonium shook his head no, "Chop chop." His hands clapped in unison. "Besides it's Friday. Just go through today and you have the whole weekend to sleep as long as you want." He got up from the bed, took another drag out of his pipe, and left the room.
"I don't want to go to school..." Buttercup said while looking out the circular hole in the back room, seeing the city of Townsville in the distance.
"The Professor is right though! It's Friday! So the faster we get done with school, the faster we get to the weekend!" Bubbles shouted from the bathroom. She seemed to get renewed energy out of nowhere as she brushed her teeth faster.
Just like every school day, it almost wasn't worth it in Buttercup's mind just to wake up for it. But Bubbles did have a good point for once. So after letting out a long yawn and stretch, Buttercup floated off the bed and joined her sisters in brushing her teeth.
After five minutes had passed, The Powerpuff Girls had finished getting dressed and flew down to the kitchen diner table. As they descended, the smell of something delicious cooking wafted up to their noses. Excitement built up inside them as they sat down on their chairs. "Breakfast, breakfast, breakfast!" The three girls chanted in unison, lightly thumping their fists on the table. Forks and knives were already in their hands, eagerly awaiting.
"Almost done, girls!" In the kitchen where all the action was happening, The Professor was working on three pans with breakfast food and an ear to his cell phone that was held up by his shoulder. "Yes sir, I should have the result by Monday." Utonium talking to his boss with a calm voice, though he was rushing a bit.
The girls continued their loud chant before the small TV on the uplifted kitchen counter caught their attention.
"City officials say that the power outage most likely happened somewhere in the Junkyard. They suspect a faulty junction in that area was responsible for last night's blackout. We have word that they are in talks with the energy company to see if any more insight can be found." An African American male news anchor promptly said to the camera while he stood outside of one of Townsville's power stations.
"Stupid power outage made me miss the new episode of Mighty Force," Buttercup grumbled.
Bubbles agreed when she followed up with, "Mhm. I wanted to know what happened to Princess Hima and Gunther. I hope they're okay."
Blossom rolled her eyes. "Well, clearly The Umba Clan is going to intervene, forcing the two other sides to join in to defeat a common threat. They see some sort of common understanding at the end, making them live in peace afterward. It's so obvious."
Bubbles puffed out her cheeks in anger while Buttercup, just as upset as her blonde sister, retorted, "Oh yeah? I remember you saying that Travis would survive passed season 4 because the plot needed him to survive. Well didn't he sacrifice himself to save the kingdom at the end of the season?"
Blossom's smart ego took a blow as she slightly sunk into her chair with embarrassment. "Y-Yeah well I mean erm... there's always a chance for unexpected things to happen."
Hearing how she got a rare 1-up on Blossom made Buttercup feel pretty cool. She crossed her arms proudly while sporting a smile, knowing she got her point across.
"So does that mean... something COULD happen to them then, Buttercup?" Bubbles asked with a worried tone.
Buttercup instantly didn't feel as good, thinking about what she just said. "N-No, that's not what I meant. Of course they will be fine. I was just saying that... uhh..." Buttercup could see Blossom slightly smirking back. Before saying anything else, she pointed to Professor Utonium coming to the table with their plates of breakfast food.
"Girls, go to school as soon as you're done. And do please tell me Ms. Keane I said hi." The Professor had to cook double the portions of breakfast food that a child of The Powerpuff Girls's age would eat. This was because of their super metabolism. So their plates looked like a meal made for a construction worker.
"Oooooo, Breakfast time!" Bubbles turned her head to see Utonium walking towards the table. The smell of pancakes, sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns seemed to clear all her worries about a fantasy TV show. Seeing the appetizing breakfast food when Utonium places the plates down made Bubbles feel good again. Just like her sisters, she devoured the food at an alarming rate.
Buttercup thanked the Professor in her mind for coming in when he did. She wasn't sure how to make Bubbles forget about that discussion.
The breakfast was very good and it took the girls just five minutes to finish it.
"All done, Professor! We heading off to school now!" Blossom shouted while slipping on her backpack, knowing her father was somewhere down in the basement where the lab was.
"Okay, girls! Have a good day at school!" Utonium's voice was at a muffle from down under the house.
Blossom then floated out of the house and joined Bubbles and Buttercup who were waiting for her. All three of them flew up into the sky, heading towards Pokey Oaks elementary school.
A few hours passed and Ms. Keane was discussing the rise of the Roman Empire with her class. A book in hand and her other hand writing on the chalkboard.
"Oh my god. I'm so bored!" Buttercup shouted in her mind. She just had her chin resting on the round group table. Her half-closed eyes looked dead of excitement. Just like most of the other kids in the class, Buttercup wanted to do anything else but learn about something she has no interest in. Her green eyes looked towards the emergency hotline that the Mayor uses to get aid from The Powerpuff Girls. "Come on, please ring..."
Bubbles, though not interested in history too, didn't show the usual signs of boredom as she was making crude drawings of what looked to be an adventure between her and some woodland critters. "Oh yes, Mr. Owl, I think going downriver would lead us to the lake. So then we can find some cute fishies!" Bubbles spoke in an energetic whisper to herself.
Blossom and the smartest kids in the classroom, which was only 7 kids out of 20, were the only ones giving their teacher undivided attention. Her pink eyes were wide open with interest as Ms. Keane was getting to the part where the Romans first declared their settlement.
'BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!' The emergency hotline started to go off.
Usually, it was Blossom who answered the phone. But halfway to getting the phone, Buttercup had already answered it. She was so happy that an excuse to skip class had presented itself. "Yes, Mayor! What can we do for you to get out of this boring class?!"
This is the second time Buttercup has cut her off, prompting Blossom to cross her arms with a more angered expression than last night.
The Townsville's Mayor yelled on the phone, "Girls! The Gangreen Gang is robbing my favorite corner store! You have to stop them over they might take the pickles I love so much!" Beside him was his loyal secretary, Ms. Bellum.
"No worries, we'll stop them before they take away your pickles!" Buttercup hung up the phone and looked at her sisters. "Let's go! We gotta stop the Gangreen Gang from robbing a store!"
Buttercup and Bubbles flew out of the school with the quickness.
Blossom however stayed behind briefly to ask, "Ms. Keene, can I come back after school so you can repeat this lesson for me? I want to know how the Romans were able to rule so efficiently."
Ms. Keane nodded to Blossom's question. "I don't mind, dear. I am always here two hours after all you kids leave. Got to grade papers and whatnot."
Knowing she wouldn't miss an important subject, Blossom smirked and flew out of the school to catch up with her sisters.
"C'mon! Hurry it up!" Ace demanded. He was holding a bag over a cash register with the cashier putting bundles of money into the bag.
Right beside the cashier was Lil Arturo. He was holding a chair above, threatening to hit the cashier with it if sudden moves were made that he didn't like.
Snake and Grubber were emptying customers' pockets who were unfortunate enough to be in the store when the Gangreen Gang showed up. They took wallets, purses, phones, money, etc from the innocent people.
Big Billy was more interested in the limited food/candy sections of the store. He would open one package, eat it, and discuss with himself what he liked and didn't like in whatever was eaten.
All of their hands were not glowing nor had the black veins. Perhaps they figured out how to conceal the visual symptoms overnight.
Seeing the last few cents being placed in the bag made Ace smile. "Good, good. See how easy it is when you just had it over? Now we'll be on our way and you fine folks have a good day, hehe."
The Gangreen Gang was walking out of the store nonchalantly as if they were done shopping at a mall but then stopped in their tracks when hearing a sonic boom in the distance.
"Just right on time." The smirk on Ace's face grew as he could see three faint dots rapidly growing in size.
The Powerpuff Girls landed about ten feet away from the Gangreen Gang, the ground cracking under the sheer force of the landing.
"Stop right there!" Blossom demanded. She pointed to Ace, "Drop the bag, now!"
"Or don't. I rather not go back to school after this. So I do hope you fight back and make this kind of fun." Buttercup smirked while cracking her knuckles.
"Don't you worry. It will be much more fun than the last time." Ace began to chuckle as he dropped the bag full of cash. The wind blew, making some of the cash fly away. Ace didn't care because he was going to teach the girls a lesson. His hands began to have a soft green glow with eerie black veins showing on the surface of the skin.
The Powerpuff Girls looked slightly unnerved by this new development. They got into their usual fight stance. They could see all members of the gang's hands altering in the same way as Ace.
"Be on guard, girls," Blossom said firmly. But somehow she didn't see Ace leaping forward in sonic speed, delivering a powerful punch to her gut. The punch was so powerful that a small shockwave was emitted around Ace's fist. "Gaughhh!" Blossom flew backward into the side of a parked truck, making it almost flipped to its side before it rested back on its four wheels.
"Hey! How di-" Before Buttercup knew it, Grubber's left knee struck under her chin. Another shockwave was created from the impact, causing Buttercup to fly diagonally upwards to a skyscraper. She crashed through a room somewhere in its top floor, making a debris cloud from the origin of the impact.
Before Bubbles could say anything or react, she was struck on the top of her head by Lil' Arturo delivering a double-ax handle. This made her go through the street and disappear into the dark train tunnel system.
Ace declared out loud while colliding a fist into his palm, making another air shockwave. "We're taking over Townsville, girls! So either submit or get the worst beating of your miserable lives!"