And here we go! The true awakening of Junior's powers! Enjoy!
Grim stared out of the window of the limo. Beyond the glass was a massive city. Skyscrapers rose up to the blood red skies above. Odd beings wandered around on the sidewalks.
Aku City.
A Metropolis based realm where all of its inhabitants give praise to the retired, though still acknowledged Master of Darkness, Aku. Though not seen as ambitious, as many of their fellow demi-immortal cohorts in evil were, Aku was and still is a respected overlord of the Underworld. They were feared not just for their immense power but for their vast knowledge as well.
It was a world that closely resembles the mortals. But unlike the mortal realm, it's inhabitants indulge themselves in the guiltiest of pleasures.
The reaper had been contacted by the shapeshifter to handle an issue. The issue in question? A very stubborn soul who was trying to cling onto living by hiding out in their domain. It had taken to possessing many of Aku's personal. Something that annoyed the being greatly.
Grim had taken the job right away. Given that it was a soul that had been reaped by him yet escaped, it needed to be sent back to the proper land. He looked over at his child, Grim Junior, staring in wide eyed wonder at the city.
"Enjoyin' da sights, boyo?"
"Yeah! Way better then some stuffy old play!" The ten year old said, excitedly.
Grim grimaced a little, but didn't hold it against the kid. He thought the plays was a tad stuffy too. His daughter, Mini Mandy, was preforming tonight. Mandy had already decided she was going to go. Grim decided to take Junior along so he could learn about dealing with other leaders.
The car came to a stop and the pair looked out. Before them was a massive castle. The castle had eight spikes curled around a center part. The center itself looked like a head with a visor and six horns on it.
"Dad? Why does this look like a woman crouching and making a weird face?" Junior asked innocently.
Grim choked on his spit. He...actually never really saw it like that before! Now he couldn't UNSEE it.
"Uh...I dunno, son. Dat is somethink I'll hafta ask Aku." Grim said, nervously.
"Oh, okay."
The two stepped out. Grim saw a tiny blue fire orb coming up to them. He smiled softly.
"Hello Demongo." Grim said.
"Greetings Lord Grim. Lord Aku is on their way now. They just had to pick up their daughter." Demongo said, floating up to the skeleton. "Is it just you today?"
Grim shook his head. He stepped to the side to reveal Junior. The ten year old immediately bowed at the waist.
"Greetings, Lord Demongo. I am Grim Junior, Prince of Castle Grimskull." He said in a respectful tone.
Demongo blinked. That was...new. Clearly, the boy had not known of his stripping of titles. Still, it was grand that someone was still respectful. He returned the bow.
"Greetings, young Prince Junior. I am sad to say that your respect is misplaced. I have been stripped of titles and my former body."
Junior looked up, but did not drop his respectful tone. He had studied his battles and tactics that had led to great many victories for Aku. His respect was due to that, nothing else. He greatly respected warriors, even if they were disgraced. Here, Demongo ruefully chuckled. But before he could comment, he paused.
"Ah, Introducing the Shogun of darkness, the master of Evil (Though that title is more Queen Mandy's), Lord Aku!" Demongo said, whispering the part about Mandy to Grim who just smirked.
A large black shadow rose before the trio. With a series of cracks and crunches like a tree breaking, it took form.
It became something of a black demon, several stories in height. They did not have any legs, but instead had small tentacles on the bottom to walk. They had big pointy shoulders and had six horns bending upwards. The horns were sticking out of their head, giving the appearance of a crown.
Their whole body was pitch black except his face which is green and monkey-like with sharp teeth, a open white nose and big eyes. One arm of theirs was behind their back, the other holding something. Their eyebrows and long beard were made out of flames and their current attire was a long black and red toga.
"Ah, Grim, my old friend. Welcome to Aku City. Allow me to introduce my daughter, Chi, to you and your son." Aku said, leaning down.
Lowering their closed hand, it slowly opened. Stepping down, Grim and Junior were treated to a beautiful sight.
A ten year old girl greatly resembling Aku. She had a completely-black body and a white face that appears to be similar to a mask. Unlike Aku's face, she had a more humanoid face. She had the same spikes sticking out of her head, only being four instead of six. She had very long fiery ginger hair that reaches her knees.
Grim notice that the hairstyle was in a similar style to the Powerpuff Girl leader, Blossom. Several bangs and two long tendrils departed from the rest of her hair. Her teeth were the same as Aku's, all her canines are very long, and the bottom two point outside so she could still close her mouth. Her eyes were bright green with black, almost gear like surroundings. Her eyebrows, like Aku's, were a flaming orange.
Her clothing was a pink kimono, with darker pink trimmings covered in rectangular swirl designs. Her head was adorned with a pink waterlily along with two long strings attached to two of the spikes on her head, ending in red plumps.
She gracefully stepped toward the two, her face impassive. She bowed to both Grims.
"Greetings Lord Death and Prince Death. Welcome to our humble city. I am Princess Chi. I do hope you enjoy your stay." She said calmly, her voice like glass chimes.
Grim returned the bow, but saw his son had not. He was about to reprimand the boy when Junior stepped forward. He bowed, taking one of her hands and gave a small kiss to the back of it.
"Lady Chi. The rumors of your exalted beauty were greatly falsified. You are truly more radiant in person. It is truly an honor to meet you." Junior stated with honesty and genuine praise.
Chi's face bloom red at the comment and gesture the young skeleton had done. Aku covered their mouth, smirking up a storm. Grim did the same, eye sockets dancing in mirth. Even Demongo cracked a smile.
"T-thank you, Prince Grim." She stammered out, clearly flustered by the boy.
Bowing again, she stepped back onto her parent's hand. Grim and Aku began to walk to the castle foyer.
"I am sad to say that my daughter has a concert that she must prepare for tonight and will be unable to join us for the meeting." Aku said, placing their daughter on a walkway.
The inside of the castle was more like Feudal Japan. Junior, seeing this, bemoaned the fact that he had not packed a ceremonial Japanese kimono. Aku chuckled, stating that their servants would provide one for him. Junior thanked the lord of the castle for their generosity.
"Junior, if ya get bored durin' da meetin' ya can head to the concert if ya wish..." Grim said, knowing how boring the meeting was going to be at first.
"...I would like to stay for an hour if Lord Aku does not mind."
Aku didn't actually. They were impressed at how the young reaper was. Polite, respectful, well-mannered then most of Chi's suitors. Aku could also sense something. Something just bubbling beneath the surface. His Reaper powers possibly?
Aku would figure it out in time. They left to prepare the meeting room.
GTOWR
The two were shown to their rooms, giving them time to change. Grim began to change his usual robe into a kimono while Junior waited. A servant soon arrived with the kimono and Junior thanked them. He too got changed.
When he was done, he was wearing the dark blue kimono and joined his father. Together, they were escorted to the meeting room. Upon entering, they did not see Aku, but a woman with green skin and a rather...voluptuous figure. Junior blinked, his cyan eyes drinking in her figure.
"Junior, not polite to stare at yer host." Grim remanded him gently.
"L-lord Aku?" Junior stammered out, making the woman smile.
"In this form, I am called Ikra." She said, standing up.
Junior immediately bowed. He asked for her forgiveness for staring. She giggled, ruffling his tuft of silver hair.
"It's fine, young prince. You are not the first nor will you be the last to stare." She said coyly.
"...at least we now know where Chi got her radiant beauty from." Junior commented, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.
The comment made Ikra burst into melodious laughter. She looked to Grim, a wide smile on her face.
"My, my! Quite the charmer your son is!"
"I had no hand in dat, milady. Dis is all him." Grim chortled out.
The trio sat down, two saucers before them. A small juice box sat next to them. Junior waited until Ikra poured the drink, Sake, into the saucers. Both leaders took the saucers and clinked them together.
"Now...let us begin. What do you wish for payment for this job, Grim?" Ikra asked, leaning against the table.
Thus began the most tedious part of the leaders jobs. Negotiations. One did not do a job for nothing for one of the Big Five leaders. Grim knew that while he had reaped the soul, said soul had escaped from its place of confinement. But he was the only one able to return the soul to its place.
He was not at fault for the soul escaping, given how tricky the little bastard was. Still, he knew that he could not ask for something REALLY outrageous either.
Grim had thought it over. Access to the famous hot springs would make Mandy a VERY happy lady. Junior watched with eyes of a hawk as the two bartered back and forth. His own tactical mind was working on the pros and cons of each offer the two made.
But after an hour, he began to grow a tad bored and restless. Seeing this, Ikra called for Demongo. Grim looked at his son, thankful that the boy had at least been still for the hour.
"Before ya leave Junior, got any insight inta this? And no, a marriage proposal between ya and Chi is out of de question."
"Then how about a marriage proposal between me and Ikra?" Junior quipped.
Said woman was taking a sip of sake when she heard the comment. She did one hell of a spit take that hit a poor guard. Grim stared, so slack jawed that his ACTUAL jaw dropped. Seeing this, Ikra began to giggle like mad, hiding the blush that came across her face.
"Oh, Grim, I LOVE this boy! Where have you been hiding him?" She gasped out.
"In Mandy's shadow, where else?" Grim quipped right back, putting his jaw back on.
The answer just made Ikra roar with laughter.
After the comedy was over with, Junior offered a more serious proposal. The hot springs was not a bad of an offer, but a trade of magic was good too. Ikra had VAST amounts of magical knowledge from across the cosmos, but Grim had more 'dead' or 'lost' knowledge of dead tongues and languages.
"Hm...ya know, dat ain't too bad of an idea actually. Some of the magic wards around Castle Grim Skull could use a bit of a beef up..." Grim mused.
"And I do have several scrolls I cannot make heads or tails of language wise...perhaps some knowledge of those languages of yours would go a long way in translating them." Ikra replied.
"Tanks boyo. Ya gave us some thought on de matter. Go on, enjoy the concert."
Junior nodded, getting up and following Demongo. Once he was out of hearing range, Ikra looked at Grim.
"So...how serious was he about that Marriage proposal?"
GTOWR
Junior was back to wearing his traditional hoodie and was now in a limo heading for the venue where Chi was preforming. Demongo was with him, having been dismissed by Chi. Why, even the tiny spirit did not know.
They soon arrived and Junior saw that it was packed. He winced a little at the pounding music being played. Spying the DJ on the stage, he moved into the crowd of ravers.
The DJ was a pink skinned male, wearing a torn green shirt and pants. The most odd thing about him was that he had no nose or ears that Junior could see. Though that last part was probably due to the headphones. Completing his clothing was a pair of sunglasses and aforementioned headphones, shaped like Aku's horns.
There was a needle scratching and everyone stopped dancing. The DJ stood up on his equipment.
"Citizens of AKU CITY! This has been DJ Stylbator! Now, give it up for the main event tonight!"
Smoke erupted all around the stage.
"The Pride of Aku City!"
Lights began to flash.
"The Joy of the Underworld!"
Several guards and performers rushed around, taking up positions. A few with fans in their hands.
"Give it up for-!" Stylbator shouted.
Chi gained a smirk, standing on the lift. One of the guards flipped a switch. The lift rose rapidly, her eyes glinting in the light. The trap door slid open and she shot upwards through the smoke. Fireworks went off lighting up, exploding and bathing the stage in multiple lights.
"CHI!"
Chi landed gracefully on the stage, striking a pose, lasers shooting out and more fireworks being shot off. She was wearing a school girl uniform as opposed to her kimono. A tempo began. Chi began to dance.
Junior watched, listening to the beat and music pound over him. He couldn't understand what exactly she was singing but the lyrics just seemed to enhance the music.
He lost himself to the groove, just vibing. All around him, the residents did the same thing. They lost themselves in the tune and music. Time just seemed to slip away.
Junior blinked, feeling a guard's hand on his shoulder.
"H-huh?"
"Ah, apologies master Grim. The concert is over. I'm to take you back to your father." The guard of Aku said.
He blinked. The concert was over? How long had he been standing there? The guard chuckled. It wasn't uncommon for first timers to Chi's concert for that to happen. The concert lasted two hours.
"Two hours?!" Junior gasped out. "Wow..."
The guard laughed again, Demongo joining them. Once more, he had been dismissed by Chi.
They got back into the car to take him back to the castle. As they drove, the radio came on.
"All guards of Aku! Lady Chi is in peril! We are at-!"
The guard quickly spun the limo around and drove to where he heard the guard say they were at. Demongo was fretting about what was going on. Junior was quiet.
"Demongo, would you being there have helped her? Stopped her attacker in your current state?"
"N-no..."
"Then trust in the guards to do their job. Delay this attacker until Aku is made aware." Junior said, making Demongo nod.
By then, the limo came to a screeching stop. Junior and Demongo was thrown from their seats. Getting up, they looked out the window.
"Guard, what is happening?" Demongo asked.
His answer was the guard grabbing his weapon, a spear. He turned to the two.
"Keep the young master in the car, Demongo!"
The guard then left the car and charged into battle. The sounds of battle echoed and cries of pain were heard. Junior watched as Chi was being led away, only for several guards to come crashing into her protectors.
Then they saw the attacker.
He was big, real big. He had electric green hair that reached down his neck and a goatee. He also had electric green eyes and even an electric green tongue.
He wore a black tank top. Though that wasn't even the right word for it. It looked more like chest armor. He had a shoulder plate on his right shoulder. He wore two dark gray gloves, and in the same color, a strap diagonally around his chest, which had a big blue orb in the middle.
His belt has a blue S on the buckle. He had a holster attached to it with a gun in it. He was wearing black pants, and high gray boots with a blue line over the middle of it. In addition to that he also was wearing a necklace with a blue skull hanging on it.
"Who is that?" Junior asked, both confused and in slight awe.
"Skulker! A bounty hunter from the Ghost Zone!" Demongo said in horror. "What is he doing here?!"
Skulker fired a bolo from his left wrist, the bolo wrapping around Chi. The girl hopped a few feet before crashing to the ground. Clearly, someone had put a bounty on Chi. Junior quickly moved.
"Master Junior! You were told not to leave the limo!" Demongo shouted.
"And I'm not. I was told to stay in the car...but not drive it~." Junior said slyly.
Demongo blinked.
"Oh dear..."
GTOWR
Skulker laughed. This was an EASY job! Someone had posted a bounty on this rich spoiled princess. A BIG bounty. Dealing with her security force was easy. They never saw actual combat which made it easy to trash them around.
Now here he was, walking up to his prize, all trussed up and ready for delivery. A guard groaned, glaring up at him.
"Do you not know who you just attacked? You have declared WAR upon AKU!" The guard snarled.
"Well, guess I'm on the right track then." Skulker said, chuckling as he crushed the guard's head under foot.
Chi struggled to get out of the Bolo that was wrapped around her. She looked up to see the strange being coming at her, arm extended.
"Sorry girlie. Nothing personal. Just a job." Skulker said.
VROOM
"Eh?" Skulker said, turning at the noise. "Oh fu-"
Chi's eyes went wide as a limo came roaring up. It slammed into the Bounty hunter and with a sound of squealing metal, kept on going. The limo crashed into a building. Something popped out of the sunroof, bouncing a little while giving out a lot of curses. It rolled to a stop and Chi saw it was-
"Prince Junior?!" Chi said in shock.
"Ouch...okay, not one of my better plans." Junior said.
The driver side door opened and out came his body...with Demongo as the head.
"This is...surprisingly comfy." Demogon said.
He saw Junior's true head and rushed over. He picked up Junior's head and then popped himself off. Junior spun his head around, sliding back onto his spine. He looked at Chi with a smile.
"That was...insane." Chi breathed out. "You just totaled my parent's car. They are gonna be so mad at you."
"Not as pissed as my mom will be once she finds out about this. But we're not out of the woods yet. I just bought us time. Forgive my forwardness, your majesty." Junior said, picking her up like a bride making her blush brightly.
There was a creaking of metal making all three look at the totaled limo. Without a word, Junior took off in a dead sprint, easily carrying the princess. Demongo followed close behind, muttering up a storm. They escaped down an alleyway and into the maze of the city. The limo was tossed aside, revealing a very annoyed Skulker.
"Right. Guess we're doing this then." He said, activating his jet pack.
Alright! Slight Cliffhanger here.
Before you all lose some of your metaphorical shit, Ikra is NOT gonna be with Junior. That whole scene? That was just me trying to make Junior a troll. Same with the ending part of that paragraph, though Ikra was more trolling Grim. Now, flirting? That's not off the table. Now, to discuss some of the characters.
Aku/Ikra - Aku is going to be more active in this story then what I have seen in the comic and other fan stories. Something else too is when Aku is in Base Form, Aku will be referred to as They/Them. Being a shapeshifter, they can change their genders all willy-nilly. Hence why I am using the 'They/Them' pronouns. But when they shift into Ikra, it will be shifted to She/Her. Romantic interests? Sadly, none. Much like Junior, she'll flirt when as Ikra, but nothing will really come of it.
Chi - Chi is going to be something of a challenge for me as a writer, though not for the way you think. I noticed this, either in the canon comic or in another fan story, that Ikra called her 'her blossoming, bubbly, buttercup'. Knowing the fans have at times made Chi a reincarnation of Blossom, I figured why not go with my own idea? That Chi is a combination of all THREE Powerpuffs? She'll have the strong desire to fight for herself (Buttercup), be kind and caring in certain moments (Bubbles), and in certain situations, a tactical mind (Blossom.) I'm gonna be honest, this is uncharted waters for me since I never did something like this, combining three personalities into one.
Now, Chi is not going to remain spoiled. Being ten, she's allowed to be a little spoiled. But she will grow out of that, though she will act like any jealous girl when someone special to her does not contact her. Now, her sexuality will be Bi. She does like both guys and girls, though she will lean a tad more heavy to girls due to how several suitors have been less then ideal. BUT, she will have a major crush on Junior. Unlike canon, where she is knocked out, she is actually conscious and will see her rescuer.
Hope you all enjoyed!