New Xanocite: Part 1

[rcblazer]

"That's OK if you don't want to wear the VR simulation lens." Sunshine responds, cheerful as ever. With Steve and Timo seated, the ship's navigation systems come online and the pod rockets into outer space. "They'll remain available in case you change your mind. To answer your daughter's question, a taurzo is a type of large woolly mammal that is grass fed on the grazing planet of Slaur, the homeworld of Mr. Grubble, founder of Grubble's Cosmoburgers and galaxy famous chef.

Grubble's Cosmoburgers has served over six trillion customers in the two hundred and seventy four years since Orilp Grubble first opened a Grubble's Cosmoburgers on a satellite station that orbits Slaur. They have always used the freshest and healthiest taurzo to make for the best burgers in Federation controlled space, and possibly the whole universe!

We'll be clear of the Milky Way galaxy shortly, and will soon make the jump into warp speed! I hope nobody on board gets queasy, but that's OK if you do. I can stay behind and clean up any mess you make! It'll be fun!"

Steve and Timo can see Neptune right outside the ship's viewing port as it passes by, then suddenly all the stars in the sky turn into a blur as the ship picks up an extremely high speed! A few moments of going at such a high speed, Sunshine chimes in again. "We will be in warp space in five more seconds!" It says. Five seconds later, the ship appears to be slowing down rather than speeding up, but outside, space has drastically changed! The sky is now a pulsing bluish purple color with odd geometric patterns spinning through the vacuum.

"We have now entered warp space! This vessel's estimated time to reach Federation Refueling Station 101 and Grubble's Cosmoburgers: Thirty minutes."

[blossomgb]

Steve was impressed by all that he saw, much better than space 'entertainment' he thought. He was going to voice his concerns to Timo, but decided not to do so by voice. This robot was a little bit too chirpy, he thought. Cleaning up sick was not fun! He should know as he had to do it several times when Angel was small. They've got that to come, he thought, as he watched Bubbles nicely enjoying what entertainment there was. He might well try the in-flight whatever when all this is over and they are flying home.

He looked at his own family, apparently enjoying the in flight whatever. They looked OK. So did Buttercup. Then he reached into one of his pockets and withdrew a pen and paper. Pausing for a moment, he began to write...

'Timo - I don't want to say this out loud, but I think that this may not be all it seems. There are a few things that don't add up here and that robot is a little bit too cheerful. We don't know who's sent it, why they have or what they want. This may be a trap as the girls have rescued the Prof before and this may be using him as bait. I hope I'm wrong, but this could be a trap.'

He folded the note and passed it to Timo.

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rulerofice]

Timo read the note Steve had given. He looked at Steve and nodded. He suddenly felt uneasy when a thought came up to him.

Timo created a very small ice shard in mid-air and began to write on the paper with his Ice Telepathy power, though no words could be seen.

'Agreed. This is too suspicious. But if this is a trap and the Professor is a bait, then that means Patriarch is either part of the trap or he doesn't know about it.' He looked at Bubbles at this point and sighed. 'For the girls' sake I hope we're both wrong.'

He folded the paper and passed it to Steve. As Steve began to unfold it, Timo touched his light blue diamond, closed his eyes and concentrated, making the words appear on the paper for Steve.

[rcblazer]

Thirty or so minutes later, the ship speeds up greatly, then slows down as space begins to return to normal. Sunshine finally speaks up again. "We have arrived at the Federation Refuel ling Station 101! Please watch your step as you exit the pod, and enjoy a fine lunch, courtesy of Grubble's Cosmoburgers!"

Sure enough, the ship docks at a large space station, passing through an airlock. A neon sign on one side of the station shows a grinning green man with six eyes holding up a hamburger with the words "Grubble's Cosmoburgers" written in blue and purple lights.

The pod door opens, and the Powerpuff Girls remove the VR lenses. "Oh, are we there already?" Bubbles asks, looking around at the aliens wearing scanners and Enforcer uniforms standing guard at the docking bay.

Sunshine waves to three more aliens as they approach the pod. They are dressed in mechanic suits and carrying tools. "Hi there! I'd like a tune up and some extra fuel for this pod please. We still have a few more stops after lunch! Oh, that reminds me!"

The F.E.S. turns to Blossom as she emerges from the pod. A hatch on the robot's chest opens and Sunshine reaches in, pulling a disc shaped device out and holding it out to her. "You'll be needing some currency to pay for your lunch. It's a good thing my anonymous employer provided me with a Cred Disc with the instructions to give it to you once you arrived. It should have enough Federation Creds on it to pay for lunch, as well as anything else you may need. Happy spending!"

"Oh, thank you." Blossom says, taking the Cred Disc from Sunshine and pocketing it.

"Grubble's Cosmoburger's is down the long hallway. Just follow the neon blue and purple arrows on the walls. I'll be here getting the ship touched up and refueled, ready for travel to our next stop!" Sunshine waves as the door to the docking bay closes behind the Powerpuff Girls, Steve, and Timo.

As they go down the hallway, Bubbles looks at the arrows pointing the way. "Are we sure we want to order food from an alien restaurant?"

"Well, I am pretty hungry, and I get the feeling we won't be seeing much Earth food for quite some time." Buttercup answers her. "Besides, it'll be cool to see how an alien society handles something like a cheeseburger."

"I just hope it can be considered edible to people like us." Blossom comments, looking over the Cred Disc in her hand.

Upon arriving at Grubble's Cosmoburgers, the girls smile at the pink skinned blond haired alien girl tending to the counter. "It's Kambi!" Bubbles says with a bright smile.

"Blossom? Bubbles? Buttercup? Oh, now this is a wonderful surprise!" The alien Kambi says. "I haven't seen you girls for a while now! How are ya?"

"We're doing great!" Bubbles answers, hugging Timo close to her. "This is my new husband Timo!"

"Oh, it's good to meetcha!" Kambi says to him. "You're a lucky man, landin' such a pretty wife!"

"This is my husband Steve and my daughter Angel." Blossom says, introducing them to Kambi, who smiles and waves to them.

"A pleasure to meetcha! A daughter eh? She looks so precious!" Kambi says, waving to Steve and Angel.

"So how are you and your kid doin'?" Buttercup asks her.

Kambi looks sad for a moment. "I admit, it's been tough without Diabol 'round. Choga's a good boy though; helps mommy out both here and at home." Kambi cheers up and nods at Buttercup. "So, I'm guessin' you folks are all hungry. Have a seat, take a look at the menu. See somethin' ya like, lemme know and I'll have it made right up for ya."

Buttercup is the first to take a seat. Bubbles sits at a table next to Buttercup and smiles at Timo while Blossom finds a table suitable for herself, Steve, and Angel.

[rulerofice]

"Pleased to meet you, Kambi." Timo said as he took a seat at the table with Bubbles. "I didn't know you had other friends here in space." he said to Bubbles.

Bubbles giggled. "Oh you'd be surprised, honey. Kambi is a really good friend."

"Good to hear." Timo looked at what seemed to be a menu, but soon found out that he couldn't understand it. "Umm... I think we should have asked what's Kambi's recommendation. I can't make heads or tails from this menu."

[blossomgb]

'Hi There', Angel says to Kambi. Steve nods and smiles. 'You couldn't recommend something could you?'
Kambi looks at her and then at Steve.
'We nip off to a burger bar at home', Steve said. 'But we're not OK with the menu here,'
'Oh, of course. Burgers is it. I'd recommend that', she says to Angel. pointing to the menu.
They all looked at it.
'OK then.'
Steve, meanwhile, had noticed something that you picked up and ate that some people were having. That made him fancy trying them.
'I'll have those please', he told Kambi.
She looked at him. 'OK. Go and sit down, I'll bring them over.'
They went and found a table.
'So how many other friends are we likely to meet', Timo asked.
'It depends', Bubbles told him.
'Her bloke was killed in a battle with Mojo', Blossom told them quietly. Steve looked at her.
'Yes', Buttercup replied.
'I wonder if she'll be on our side and maybe help?', Blossom wondered.
At this point, Kambi reappeared with the food. 'The drinks are on the house', she said as she came over with the food. Steve tried a nugget.
'Nice', he replied as the rest dived in. It was good, Angel thought. I wonder if Dad will find a way out here in the future. He can already travel between realities, but what about space?
'Glad you like it', Kambi replied. 'They are the best in the universe you know.'
'I can believe it', Buttercup said with her mouth full.
'The burgers are from shoulder meat', Kambi began. 'The dippers there are un-scraped rectum meat'.
Steve put the one he was eating down and went a nice shade of green.
'Excuse me', he managed to say as he got a tissue and headed for the toilet.

Cheers,

Blossomgb




Fact : This actually happened to a friend of mine while on a business trip - Kenya I think. He was invited to try a local 'delicacy'. He did, and while eating, asked what it was.
'Un-scraped camel's rectum', came the reply.
'Excuse me', he said as he went off to be sick....

[rulerofice]

When Timo heard where the meat came from, he slowly put the menu down. As he saw Bubbles eating her burger, Timo suddenly ill on his stomach.

Timo sighed. "Now I wish we had taken some Earth food with us. Even if the burgers are 'the best in the universe,' I don't think I could eat them knowing where they come from."

Instead he took a sip from Bubbles' drink. Timo went wide eyed as the drink filled his mouth.

Timo looked at the drink. "Woah! What an unusual drink. It tasted... so good." he smiled widely at this point.

"Wanna share it with me?" Bubbles asked.

"Sure." Timo said as he gave the drink to Bubbles.

Timo looked at the way Steve went to. "I hope Steve comes back soon to try this stuff."

Kambi looked at Timo with a smile. "Good to know you like it."

[rcblazer]

"I thought you'd like the drinks. They're Pat's favorite too. Slushed Pomberrys, freshly picked and squeezed from the frosty mountains of good ol' Devis." Kambi says, smiling proudly. "So, where you girls goin' after here? Gonna help out Pat on FL-49?"

"We're actually going to go to the Federation prison after this." Blossom says, lowering her head as though unsure how to break the news to Kambi. "I'm afraid someone sent us an anonymous tip that Mojo escaped."

Kambi's face goes from bright pink to a ghost white upon hearing this. "That awful Earth monkey got out? That's unbelievable!" She says, a tear forming in her eyes. "It's his fault poor Choga was forced to grow up without knowin' his dad. If I was half as strong as Diabol was, I'd find him and mash him into a burger patty myself! I'm sure the meat from that slimeball would prove a violation of the restaurant's health code, but I could always feed it to some hungry sabrewulf."

"If you did that, I'd feel really bad... for the sabrewulf." Buttercup jokes. The girls and Kambi laugh.

Once the heroes are finished with their lunch, Blossom gives Kambi the Cred Disc given to her by Sunshine. "Even though you gave us the drinks for free, and they were the best part of the meal, I wouldn't feel right not paying for the food at least."

"Thanks Blossom! You're right; I wouldn't wanna lose my job after all." Kambi says politely, waving a scanning device over the Cred Disc before handing it back to Blossom. "You take care, and give that Mojo jerk one for me when ya get him."

"You bet. I'll kick his butt extra hard just for you." Buttercup replies, stretching her arms as she stands up. "I'm fueled up and ready to go. Everybody ready to go see if our ship is the same?"

[blossomgb]

Steve re-appeared behind them. face washed and not looking quite so ill. Blossom looked at him and asked if he was OK.
'Yes, thanks', he replied. 'Sorry about that. I thought that rectum meat was a little....'
Angel made a sick noise.
'Exactly. Are you lot all OK?', he asked.
'Fine', Bubbles said. Buttercup sniggered and Blossom told her to stop. 'We've just been telling her about why we're here.'
Timo addressed him. 'The drinks are OK. Promise'. He picked up Steve's drink and handed it to him. Steve looked at it warily.
'It's OK, trust me', Blossom said. Steve carefully put the drink to his lips and took a bit.
'Hmm. Nice, but what is it.' He wasn't going to try anything else without asking. After all, he didn't fancy bird dirt surprise!
'Slushed Pomberrys', Kambi told him. 'Fruit'.
'It does taste good', Steve said. 'Very good in fact.' He had another drink.
'I'll find you something more palatable next time', Blossom told him. 'We'd better be going'.
They said Goodbye to Kambi and left the restaurant.
The group made their way back to the spacecraft which, they hoped, was all ready to go. As they walked to the ship, Steve asked Blossom how she knew about the stop off at the prison.
'I know you', she told him. 'With you around, I saved my energy and watched the in-flight entertainment.'
Angel asked them why they were going to a prison. 'After all, he isn't there.'
'To find out if is actually true, and how somebody can get out of an inescapable prison. He probably had help', Steve told her. They knew from early on that they couldn't hoodwink Angel, and now they were realizing just how bright she was.
If he had help, then the next question is who from. We don't know who sent Sunshine to us or why.' Blossom had the same thoughts as Steve and Timo. Angel was thinking the same way.

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rulerofice]

"I just realized we're all just blindly going to where we're wanted to." Timo said. "I don't like it. Makes me feel vulnerable to any attack. The only reason why we all left was that Mojo had possibly escaped and that Professor and Patriarch might be in danger because of that.

Bubbles looked at Timo. "So what if it is a trap? We'll just fight our way through it like always."

"Normally, yes." Blossom said. "But we're in an unknown territory now and Mojo might have new surprises for us this time."

"What makes me worried that we don't have any answers yet and the only one who could give us some either acts oblivious or is really clueless." Timo said.

At this point they arrived at the ship.

[blossomgb]

'And we don't know who sent Sunray here. It could even BE Mojo', Angel put Steve's thoughts into the arena.
'From mow on, in-flight entertainment is off limits. Everyone be on full alert as of now'. Steve looked at everyone. Blossom nodded.

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rcblazer]

Seeing the heroes returning, Sunshine waves to them. "Hello again! I hope you enjoyed lunch! The pod has been refueled and is ready to go!"

The ship's door opens, allowing everybody to climb back inside. "Take us to the Federation Prison." Blossom tells Sunshine.

"Sure thing! Off we go!" The F.E.S. happily states as the airlock is opened and the ship takes off again. This time, the ship does not enter Hyperspace, instead flying at high speed until it reaches a large asteroid with a domed structure. Sunshine initiates the landing sequence, which sets the pod into another airlock station. The door opens again and everybody climbs out.

"I'll wait here for you to get back." Sunshine says with its usual cheer. "Take your time. I'm the one with the flexible schedule." The Powerpuff Girls are first to go through the gate, followed by Angel, Steve, and Timo. Two more F.E.S. robots are seen guarding the entrance. One of them rolls closer to the heroes, giving them a close look at the monitor, showing the head of an orange eyed alien wearing a blue hood to conceal its face.

"Halt! Until the investigation into the escape of one of the prisoners has been completed, no one but Enforcers are allowed into the prison. Please state your business here." The robot says, sounding much more serious about the situation than Sunshine.

"My name is Blossom. My sisters and I are the Powerpuff Girls. We've defeated Mojo Jojo lots of times in the past. We're here to look into the investigation!" Blossom says, hoping to reason with the robot.

"Enforcer name recognized. Welcome, Enforcer Blossom. You and your allies may pass." The F.E.S. says, which is a huge surprise to Blossom.

"Well, that was easy." She comments with a shrug as they enter the building.

"Yeah, a bit too easy." Buttercup remarks. Once they are past the F.E.S. guards, Buttercup whispers to Blossom. "What's going on? You're not an Enforcer!"

"I know that! Why would my name be on the list of active Federation Enforcers? I was going to tell him we are related to Patriarch, but I didn't think something like that would matter. The fact that my name got us in makes no sense!"

"Oh, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense Powerpuff Girl Blossom!" A voice calls out down one of the halls.

Buttercup raises her arms and narrows her eyes. "I know that voice all too well. Guess the rumors about you escaping were not true!"

"Ha! Is that what you think Buttercup?" Mojo calls out, an evil chuckle in his voice. "Foolish Powerpuff Girls! Little did you know my evil plan has already come to fruition! Soon the Galactic Federation will bow down to me, Mojo Jojo!"

"We'll see how far your plan goes when I put what's left of you back in your cell when I get done whaling on your face!" Buttercup taunts. "Remember that one of my punches is gonna be a present courtesy of Kambi!"

"You are already too late Powerpuff Girls! Even if you defeat me here, nothing can stop my plan to take over the universe!" Mojo laughs maniacally.

Mojo attacks Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup
Attack: Tri-Beam Laser Rifle
Defense: Duck

Mojo whirls around a corner out of his hiding place and fires a rifle weapon that shoots a three shot spread laser, hitting the Powerpuff Girls! The beam knocks them down with a heavy concussive force. Mojo then moves back behind cover to avoid any retaliatory strike.

Blossom Condition: Bruised

Bubbles Condition: Bruised

Buttercup Condition: Bruised

[rulerofice]

Timo quickly creates an ice staff and goes to Bubbles.

"You alright?" Timo asked.

"Ouch..." was all Bubbles said.

Timo looked at where Mojo was hiding. "You surprise me, Mojo! I thought you'd be on the other side of the galaxy by now! Instead we find you here where there's absolutely no way to conquer anything. You do know that gun of yours won't help you against all of us, don't you?"

With that, Timo created an ice shield in front of the group. "Stay alert, everyone. I don't know if my shield can hold against his fire."

[blossomgb]

'You beat me to that', Steve grinned. Then, being serious, he approached Blossom. 'You hurt at all?'
'No. Just bruised a bit', she replied. 'How about everybody else?'
'Fine', Buttercup replied. 'It takes more than a cheap shot from everybody's favourite monkey to knock us down!'
'Fine then. Where is Angel?'. Suddenly Blossom and Steve noticed that their daughter wasn't with them. Steve had his stick loaded and and a roll of restraining rope in his other hand. He looked round, but she was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully she was just invisible.

When Mojo ducked back into his hidey hole, it may have looked empty but it wasn't. Angel was waiting for him. She used the old trick of going for the legs and Mojo fell headlong. He was unable to hold the gun and Angel grabbed it. Flying at a strange angle, she lifted the gun into the air. Mojo grabbed where he thought Angel should be. He hadn't come across Angel before and she played a game with him, forcing him to grab thin air.
In the process, she drew Mojo into the open again. Unarmed.

'Well I think we know where she is now', Blossom beamed.

She kept the gun out of his reach too. Steve was ready with the rope and threw it to catch him. It tied itself around Mojo and he fell again. Angel flew back to the others with the gun. which she gave to Blossom.
'I think the boot's on the other foot now', she said to everyone, quietly, staying invisible.
'And I think it's time for a few answers', Steve told Mojo.
'And a beating', Buttercup added.
'First - did you send that robot outside', Blossom asked, her voice hard. The gun was pointed at Mojo. 'Or else!'

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rcblazer]

Mojo laughs maniacally. "You are referring to Sunshine I am guessing, as he is the suspicious sort given his overt amount of cheer and helpfulness. To answer your question however, I did not, however that fact does not stop me from using it to my own ends! One such end was to lure you here when it is already far too late to stop me from escaping this infernal space prison!"

Buttercup smirks. "Well that part of your plan didn't work, did it? We still caught you!"

Mojo gives an evil smirk. "Don't be so sure..." he says as his eyes start to glow a bright red. His voice changes to a lifeless synthesized tone as he begins to speak again. "Self destruct sequence activated. Foolish Powerpuff Girls... regardless of how much stronger you have become since our last encounter, you will not survive the explosion. Ha ha ha ha."

"Oh no..." Blossom says, a sneaking suspicion in her voice as she pulls on Mojo's face. Sure enough, after a few tugs, the synthesized skin comes off, revealing a metallic skull with a countdown reading 4:27 and going down on the forehead!

"It's a Robo Jojo!" Bubbles exclaims. "We gotta get out of here before it explodes!"

"I had a feeling this was some kind of trap, but the robot claimed Mojo didn't send Sunshine to lure us here." Blossom ponders as they fly back toward the ship. "If not Mojo, then who-?"

Blossom's thoughts are interrupted when she hears Sunshine talking to someone outside. "If you're sure you don't want to wait for the others, we can leave now if you want Blossom." The robot is heard saying.

"Yes, let's go. Now." A voice that sounds just like Blossom says!

Blossom's face goes pale. "It can't be... how did she?"

"We gotta stop her before she steals our ship!" Buttercup shouts, kicking open the front doors. "Stop right there, Imposter!"

Sure enough, inside the space pod taking a seat as the door closes behind her is Imposter! She is dressed in a red halter top and short skirt with white leggings and black heels. She grins at the Powerpuff Girls as the ship starts to take off. "You suckers fell for it! Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to repair a broken F.E.S. and reprogram it by myself? A trap like this could have only worked on you if set up by me; you even went right into the prison to investigate, just like I knew you would! Did you find Mojo yet Blossom?"

"It was you from the beginning!" Blossom shouts. "The broken robot, the Daholuz clone's wrecked ship. You stole them and have been working on them ever since the Professor let you go!"

"Good thing for me I can read your mind, but you can't read mine! Mojo's been free of this place for months now! The modeling career was just a front to keep you from thinking I was up to something; I only popped up on Earth occasionally to trick you into thinking I never left! The Federation never contacted you about it because they're too stupid to seek help from anyone living outside their jurisdiction! Now I can go to Mojo to see his dream realized, and this time the Powerpuff Girls are finished! I left the Daholuz ship behind, but it's only a one seater! I'll let you guys decide who gets to escape."

The ship blasts off, disappearing into space. Back in the prison, the robot Mojo duplicate's self destruct timer now reads 3:02.

Buttercup punches the wall in rage, leaving a thick crack. "I can't believe this! When I get my hands on her, I'll...!"

"Calm down Buttercup, let's not panic yet." Blossom says, trying to think.

"If we can find the Daholuz ship, one of us could go and get help!" Bubbles suggests.

"There's no time for that! We need to either disarm the robot, or find another ship that can fit us all." Blossom says. "Wait, I got it! Imposter used my name to register with the Enforcers and control an F.E.S. Maybe I can do the same!"

Blossom walks up to one of the robotic guards. "This is Enforcer Blossom. Requesting emergency transport for six."

"Voice pattern recognized. Request granted, Enforcer Blossom." The F.E.S. replies, which makes Blossom smile. "Estimated arrival of transport: ten minutes." Blossom's smile immediately fades.

"Well, that didn't work; the ship won't arrive in time." Blossom says, a hint of worry in her voice.

"How much time is left on the bomb?" Buttercup asks. Bubbles goes to check.

"One minute left!"