New Xanocite: Part 3

[rcblazer]

Once everyone is inside one of the Frumapirz Paradise Simulator chambers, a series of wires and circuits inside the machine begin to glow until they become bright enough to force each of the heroes to close their eyes to avoid being blinded. When they open them, they find themselves standing in what appears to be a futuristic cul de sac. Several houses facing the round curve of street line the area, with the only road seemingly spiraling up a dark, looming mountain in the distance.

Blossom looks down at herself, seeing that instead of her usual pink Powerpuff dress, she is wearing a business suit with a short skirt. "Bubbles? Steve? Angel?" Blossom calls out, unsure of what to make of where she currently is. A human woman with short blond hair dressed in a blue sundress responds to Blossom's calls.

"Blossom, is that you?" The woman asks her in Bubbles' voice!

"Bubbles, what happened to you? You're... you look different!"

"So you do." Bubbles says, reaching out and touching something on Blossom's face that makes Blossom realize she has a nose!"

Buttercup is heard shouting nearby. "What's going on? My laser rifle's gone and I don't have any of my super powers!"

Blossom narrows her eyes, focusing on a nearby rock, and sure enough nothing happens! "I can't use any of my super powers either..." Blossom whispers to herself. "Buttercup, we're over here!" She shouts as a woman with black hair wrapped in a bun and wearing a green shoulderless dress appears.

"Who's bright idea was it to make us look like this?" The woman that Buttercup now looks like says. "Did the others make it in here? I'm guessing they don't look the same either."

"Steve? Timo? Angel?" The now human Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup shout.

Bubbles looks at Buttercup. "How come this VR sim made you look like Marge Simpson?" She asks, which makes Buttercup frown.

"Oh yeah? Least my nose isn't as big as yours!" Buttercup says, poking Bubbles on the nose which makes her gasp and rub her new face.

"Is it really that big?"

"Oh yeah, it's huge! You could land stealth bombers on that thing!" Buttercup jokes. Blossom gives Buttercup a look that makes her shut up.

"Your nose looks fine, now knock it off and help me find my daughter and our husbands!" Blossom says to Bubbles.

[rulerofice]

Just before the girls begin looking for Timo, Steve and Angel, they suddenly hear someone.

"Hello, young ladies!" the voice said.

Bubbles immediately turned around and saw a normal looking young man with light beard around twenties wearing blue jeans, white shirt and light blue jacket.

Bubbles looked at the man in wonder. "Who are you?"

The young man suddenly saddened. "You don't know me, Bubbles? Your own husband?"

The girls went wide eyed.

"What??" Bubbles asked. "You are...? But you are..."

"Yes, I'm Timo, honey." Timo said. "Only now I look like normal human." He looked around. "It seems this machine shows what we truly are or what we want to be. You know I was once a normal human."

"Even so..." Bubbles trued to say. "This is the first time I see you as a normal human. You look... kinda ugly with that beard."

"Ouch, honey." Timo said. "Couldn't soften the blow now, could you?"

"On a serious note, can you use your powers?" Blossom asked.

"Nope." Timo said. "And I can tell you can't either and that makes sense since we're inside a machine and these are not our true bodies."

"Have you seen Steve or Angel?" Blossom asked.

"No." Timo said. "I thought I heard Steve saying he and Angel were going to stay on guard in the real world, but I'm not sure." Timo looked at himself. "But considering what this world did to us all, I'm actually happy if Steve isn't here."

Blossom wondered Timo's statement, but then knew what he meant. Steve's condition would make him weak in the VR.

[blossomgb]

Blossom was thinking the same thing, but she didn't think Timo was quite right. Blossom had never wanted to be human. The one she had married has been changed from a sick human to a healthy Powerpuff and thinking back to their first meeting about 10 years ago, he wouldn't want to go back.

Outside the VR, Steve and Angel looked on as she sort of slept. They couldn't get out of the room as the door was sealed. Steve wondered what this VR was. After checking that Blossom was OK, albeit asleep, he reassured Angel.
'They are in some other world, a virtual world. Their signs are stable, so it must not be bad in there', he stated.
'Yet', Angel remarked. Steve was glad that Angel could be so level headed. 'I'd like to see it though.'
Steve looked at her. 'You mean go in', he asked.
Angel looked at her mum. 'No. We've got our own job to do. How do we get out of here?'
Steve looked round for a door release but there was none. 'I don't know..... yet'. He looked at the buttons on the handset but again, there was no door release. There was a computer unit on the wall though, no doubt in charge of the VR and Blossom at the moment. He produced his screwdriver and removed the cover, revealing the electronics inside. If it controls the whole unit, then it also controls the door. At the end of the board was links to the bed, the handset, the headset and ... aha...the door. There was also a link going to somewhere where the thing could be monitored, some control room. This went off out of the room, to where.
He told Angel to move away from the door and defend Blossom if anything happened when he shorted the link. He got a large ball of string out of one of his pockets and tied one end to Blossom's 'bed'. Then he shorted the link in the box. There was a 'swish' noise as the door opened, but as soon as he withdrew the pliers, the door closed.
'Angel, put that ball of string outside... now'. He shorted the link again, then squeezed the links together in the hope that the door would stay open. It seemed to, so Steve put one of his shoes in front of one of the doors to make sure that it wouldn't be able to close.
'Now, Daddy', Angel asked.
'Now', Steve replied and they both stepped out into the corridor which was silent. The radiation still read zero.
'What about the others?', Angel asked.
'They'll be like Blossom', Steve replied. 'Lost in a mental world. Let's find this control room', he stated, picking up the string and making sure that they could find their way back.
The units in the corridor had many uses it seems, and one was a map. At the end of this corridor was a large door and it appeared to have a lot of gear inside it. So after he checked on the others, they made for it. Then, in one other room, spotted by Angel, they saw something they knew the girls would be interested in. Lying prostrate in one of the rooms, asleep, headset in place, was Professor John Utonium....

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rcblazer]

Inside the virtual cul de sac of the F.P.S., Timo and the girls are approached by a friendly looking man in a brown sweater vest and yellow undershirt with blue slacks and tennis shoes. "Hi there! You must be new in town, so allow me to be the first to welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Uh, thanks." Blossom says, nodding politely to the man. "We're trying to find someone named Dr. Frumapirz. Do you would know where we can find him?"

"A doctor you say?" The man scratches his head in thought. "I don't know any doctors with that strange name, but the mayor would! He's usually in the park walking his dog. His name is Perez. Tell him Roy sent you if he doesn't open up to you right away."

With that, Roy strolls away, heading down the sidewalk.

"Well, that was helpful." Buttercup replies sarcastically. "Guess we gotta go talk to Perez now."

The Powerpuff Girls and Timo walk down the road, finding a sign with an arrow that reads "Park". Along the way, they see two women having an idle conversation about cleaning products, a group of children playing Red Light/Green Light, a couple of dogs running around in the street, and a man with a young boy tuning up a car together.

"Something about this place gives me the creeps, although I don't really know why." Bubbles says.

"I know what you mean Bubbles." Buttercup replies. "I feel the same way, but I just chalked it up to the fact that this is just a virtual simulation of the ideal neighborhood as constructed by an alien scientist."

Upon reaching the park, they see a short balding man wearing a top hat and monocle holding a leash tied to an adorable dalmatian puppy. His appearance immediately reminds the girls of the Mayor of Townsville, even though he lacks a mustache and is dressed in casual attire without a mayoral sash.

Seeing the dalmatian, Bubbles' love of small animals gets the better of her and she runs up to the dog, petting it softly. "Hello there puppy! You're so cute!"

"Well hello there madam!" The old man holding the leash says to Bubbles. "I am Mayor Perez. What can I do for you on such a lovely day?"

As he says this, thick, dark clouds fill the sky. Several people who were happy and enjoying themselves suddenly begin to run around in a panic. One of the women shouts. "Everybody run! It's Prowler!"

"Oh Fiddlesticks." Perez says in complaint as a large wild dog with dark red fur runs into the street, barking and snarling and causing a ruckus within the cul de sac! The coyote turns and growls at the mayor, who picks up his puppy and cradles it close to him. "You're not stealing Poppers from me, you nasty brute!" Perez shouts at the coyote, who looks ready to strike!

"Get out of here! Bad dog!" Bubbles shouts at the coyote, who much to her surprise, turns and runs away, heading down the street toward the spiral mountain in the distance instead of attacking. Perez sets the dalmatian down and smiles brightly at Bubbles.

"I am in your debt young lady. Prowler has been terrorizing the cul de sac ever since I began walking my new dog Poppers here in the park. I think that mean coyote wants to steal my puppy from me and take it back to his cave in the mountain where he would probably do something unthinkable to the poor boy. Every time he comes here, he scares the whole community and causes trouble everywhere he goes!"

"Yeah whatever. Hey, we're trying to find some people we believe showed up here." Buttercup interrupts. "An alien scientist named Frumapirz, a human scientist named Professor Utonium, and a Powerpuff... Xanocite... whatever he calls us named Patriarch. Guy named Roy said you would know."

Mayor Perez thinks for a moment and smiles. "An alien you said? I wish I could be of service to you, but right now I am too terrified to think straight! You brave out of towners don't seem to be afraid of that mean ol' coyote; if you were to help our town deal with Prowler, I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can!"

Perez hands Timo a muzzle with a bell tied to it. "Here, go up into the mountains and try to put this on Prowler. The bell will ring whenever he comes into town and warn the citizens of another attack, and the muzzle will prevent that darn coyote from stealing anything else from our town or biting anyone! I'd ask one of the other citizens to do it, but they are too afraid to go there themselves."

"You want us to go up a scary looking mountain, tie a muzzle and bell around the neck of a vicious dog, and all without our super powers?" Buttercup questions the mayor, who gives her a confused look in return. "You got it pal, but you better deliver when we get back!"

As the girls and Timo prepare to head up the mountain, Poppers the dalmatian puppy whimpers at Bubbles. Bubbles smiles and pats the dog's head. "Don't worry, I'll be back real soon." She assures the dog, who barks happily at her in response.

[rulerofice]

"Why does this remind me of something I once saw?" Timo wondered by himself. "Tying this to that vicious dog wouldn't be a problem if we had superpowers."

He suddenly got worried. "I wonder what would happen if we'd get hurt or... killed? Would we die in the real world too or is there a failsafe system. Come to think of it, is this some kind of security system we have to pass? I mean there's no way that there can be this kind of problem in a machine that's practically isolated from everything else."

[blossomgb]

Steve looked in on him and wondered if he could get in without anyone or anything knowing that he had done. No alarms had been set off and nobody challenged him or Angel when they 'escaped' from Blossom's chamber.
'Is he alright', Angel asked.
He looked at the Professor again and the equipment round him. His chest rose and fell, slightly fast and his heartbeat and breathing were up. Was he in the same dream and was it his normal heart rate and breathing or was he in danger?
'He's alive, but his heart and breathing are fast', he told Angel.
'Faster than usual?', she asked.
'Well. faster than your Mum's', he admitted. 'I only saw your mum's heart rate and breathing like that once, and at the time she was giving birth to you!'
Steve and Angel both heard a whirring noise in the distance, but coming closer.
'It's one of the robots', Angel said. They both nipped into an empty chamber.
'I'll wait here and hope', Steve stated. 'You go invisible and see what happens.'
Angel went invisible and flew outside. The robot approached and passed her. It went to the unit that Steve had just been at, looked at it and then whirred on, not even stopping at the open door to the chamber Blossom was in. Then, again, there was silence.
Angel went back in to Steve and became visible again.
'It whirred past me and the open chamber with Blossom in, as though nothing had happened', she told him.
'Really', Steve was wide eyed as they both came back into the corridor. 'That means it didn't notice, didn't care or wasn't programmed to notice', he supposed.
'All it did was check at that unit and move on'. Angel added.
Steve thought for a minute. Should he try and bring Professor Utonium out of the trance he was in, or go to the control room. The Professor was safe for now, so he headed for the control room at the end of the corridor. Lights came on as he entered, and although the equipment was still running, there was nobody around. It appeared to be on Automatic...

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rcblazer]

As the Powerpuff Girls and Timo prepare to hike up the tall mountain, they are approached by an elderly woman wearing a sun bonnet and a black dress. "You shouldn't be here!" She shouts in a mix of fear and panic.

"Relax lady, we're just gonna go up the mountain and tie this around the coyote to help you folks out. We'll be all right." Buttercup tells her, but the old woman shakes her head.

"No no, that's not what I mean. This place isn't real!" The woman replies. "None of us should be here; not you, not me, not Prowler, no one!"

"Wait, you appear to be the only one here who acknowledges that this is just a computer simulation." Blossom says. "There's something going on in here, isn't there?"

"The doctor. He is always here. Always watching. Always listening. He lures people here to this place to play god and toy with them, just as he did to Prowler. Just as he will do to you if you let him!" The woman rambles.

"Whoa, slow down! Tell us what you think we should do." Buttercup says in response. The woman tries to calm herself down before continuing.

"In the old tool shed next to the dog house is a terminal which houses the failsafe. The failsafe can shut down this virtual town and free us all from this torment; many of us have been here for decades now! No food, no water; our real bodies have wasted away to nothing in the F.P.S. chambers! Though we will not survive if the system shuts down, many agree it is better than an eternity trapped with that mad scientist!"

"She sounds out of her mind to me, but she does have some good points." Buttercup comments. "Do you know where the doctor is hiding?"

"Yes, he is always in the park, walking around in disguise as though he were an ordinary citizen." The old woman chuckles maniacally for a second. "He doesn't know that I know he's really Mayor Perez!" The woman bursts into a fit of insane laughter and turns around, running back toward the town as a pair of men in white suits chase after her.

"So what do we do now?" Bubbles asks. "We could go back there and make him tell us where the Professor is."

"No, I have a better plan." Blossom says, looking up at the mountain. "The town's 'mayor' said that Prowler causes fear and panic whenever he shows up."

Bubbles and Buttercup nod, figuring out quickly what Blossom has in mind. Blossom leads the girls and Timo up the path that spirals up the mountain halfway, leading to a dark and spooky cave. A low growl is heard as Prowler steps out into the light, but upon seeing the girls, the coyote immediately seems to back down from his aggressive stance. Prowler looks at the girls as though he respects them, then backs away in fear when he sees the muzzle.

"Don't worry, we're going to hurt you." Blossom says, slowly approaching the coyote. "I have an idea. Trust me."

Prowler seems to be much more intelligent than an average dog. He nods to Blossom and lowers his head, allowing her to place the muzzle with the bell around its neck. Timo notices that while Prowler is wearing the muzzle willingly, Blossom has not fastened the buckles to secure it to his head.

"Well, that was easy. Let's go tell the mayor the good news!" Blossom calls out from the mountain. The girls and Timo return to the town following the same path as before. They head right to the park, where Mayor Perez is still walking his puppy.

"All done sir. Prowler shouldn't cause much more trouble for you or the citizens now." Blossom says.

"Wonderful! Splendid! You fine folks have saved the day!" Mayor Perez says, giving them a round of applause.

"You've done far better than I would have expected, given the circumstances." Perez says in a new voice that sounds just like the recording of Dr. Frumapirz! "With that meddling beast out of the way, my F.P.S. should remain the pinnacle of wholesome, peaceful, care free living once again! Thank you my friends. I am Dr. Frumapirz."

"Yeah we know. A crazy old lady told us before we hiked up the mountain." Buttercup replies. "How come she knows your real identity and the others don't?"

"Ahh yes, I've been having some technical difficulties with Mrs. Nickleworth. My machine is supposed to allow me to wipe specific information from the minds of the simulation's 'permanent' residents, but somehow hers is resisting. Her ranting about me being an alien scientist makes her look crazy to the others, so it doesn't cause me too much difficulty."

"You let the others think she's crazy when she's the only one who knows the truth? That's so cruel!" Bubbles exclaims.

"You must understand. The others who live in this simulation chose to come here and give me full control over their lives, which are perfect now in my hands. I on the other hand, require this machine just to stay alive! If it were to be switched off, my life and my brilliance would be lost forever!"

"Cut the sob story short and tell us what you did with the Professor and Patriarch before I virtually kick your butt!" Buttercup snaps at Dr. Frumapirz, who frowns at her with Mayor Perez's face.

"Perhaps you have not noticed this, but you are not exactly in a position to threaten me, and I do not take threats well! Prowler thought he could get away with talking to me like that, and look what happened to him! If you want answers to my questions I want some respect from you in return."

Dr. Frumapirz goes back into character as Mayor Perez. "Now then, I have another task for you nice folks. Some of the residents have been reporting sightings of gophers in their backyards! They're nasty little things; always digging under Mister Bevill's garden and stealing his vegetables! Here's a shovel and some plastic baggies. If you got rid of them for us, I'd be more than willing to repay you!"

"You're kidding me right?" Buttercup asks, looking over the shovel she is now holding. She shakes her head. "Uh, I mean sure! We'd be happy to get rid of 'em for ya."

"That's great! Come back and talk to me when you get them all!" Mayor Perez tells them.

Outside the virtual world in the laboratory, the maintenance robots all but ignore Steve as as a message for him appears on the screen he's looking at in glowing pink lettering!

[glow=pink,2,300]Are you there, love?
It's me, Blossom! I've got a plan to get us out of here and get the Professor! I'm heading to the backyard of this virtual neighborhood we're in to find the failsafe. I don't think I can activate it from inside the sim, but you could do it from the computer out there! Watch for the words in pink; they'll be any data I can find and send back to you regarding shutting this place down. <3[/glow]
Bubbles and Buttercup stare at a proud looking Blossom in awe. "How did you do that?" Bubbles asks her.

"Just a trick I learned to do while we were in the VR simulation on board the spaceship. Not all of us were just playing around." She answers with a smirk. "Remember, let's play along and stay in the backyard until Prowler makes his move."

Once they're in the backyard, Timo and the girls see a bunch of gophers hopping in and out of holes in the ground. Buttercup hands Timo the shovel. "Wanna take turns playin' whack-a-mole? I'll let you go first." She asks him with a mischievous grin.

[blossomgb]

When the message from Blossom appeared on the monitor, Steve read it with joy but while he was in here, Blossom's chamber was open and what if somebody did come in here. He looked over to her chamber and all was quiet, apart from the humming of the power supply.
'How do I reply', he wondered. Although the VR was still in Automatic, the panel before him lit up, but not in any language he recognized.
Steve swore under his breath in Chinese, so softly that Angel wouldn't hear him. She knew enough naughty words from school and Buttercup, but didn't use them herself. Blossom had told her of the time when Bubbles heard the Professor swear and they all started using it. Soap tastes pretty horrible, she remarked.
'I don't understand these controls', he said out loud.
An electronic voice said 'Your language is Earth English. I will make the necessary adjustments.' Then, before Steve and Angel's eyes, the panel changed and everything was in English.
'Now that's clever', Angel said. 'But how do we reply to mum?'
They looked at the panel and Steve typed into the keyboard 'Talk to Blossom'.
They waited for a reply for a moment. Then another screen had a picture of a headset on it. They looked round for it, and found it neatly stashed at the side of the panel. Steve put it on and said 'Blossom is that you?' out loud. There was no response.
'Let me try', Angel offered, taking the headset. She thought the words and they appeared on the screen under Blossom's.
'This is Angel', she thought. 'Steve's here with me. This place is silent apart from the robots'
'Hello Angel', came up on the screen. 'Can you put Dad on?'
'I'll try', Angel thought back.
She handed Steve the headset and Steve looked at it. Must have a neural relay, Steve thought as he put it on.
'Hi', he thought.
'Hi Steve. Did you get the message?', appeared on the screen.
'Yes! Are you all OK.', Steve asked in thought.
'Fine. Where are you'.
'We're in a sort of control room. Haven't found Patriach but have found the Professor, so he must be in there. His blood pressure and heart rate are up, so he may be in some sort of danger.'
Steve and Angel waited for a reply.
'Right, well once we've finished playing Whack-a-Mole I'll come back to you. Don't do anything yet', Blossom thought-replied.

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rulerofice]

"Sure, why not." Timo said to Buttercup as he took the shovel. "I've always wanted to try that game at least once."

The gophers were appearing and disappearing at quite a fast pace. Timo watched and tried to see if there was a pattern. After a while he noticed it.

"Hold on." Timo said as he remembered something and looked at Bubbles. "Honey... I can't do it. I know you don't like seeing animals suffer even if they were virtual beings." Timo looked at the gophers then as a thought came up to him. "Why not try to talk to them first and see if they are the same as Prowler?"

[rcblazer]

"I can try." Bubbles says, kneeling down and making chirping noises to the gophers. The gophers either don't understand Bubbles or are aren't listening and continue to hop about. After a few minutes of trying, Bubbles sits up in confusion. "Maybe I can't talk to animals without my super powers?" She thinks aloud.

A howl is heard coming from the mountain as Prowler runs into town again, the bell on the muzzle ringing to alert the townsfolk. The panicking citizens of the virtual cul de sac run into their homes upon hearing the bell as Mayor Perez approaches Prowler with a sneer.

"How do you like that, you mutt?" Perez asks snidely, bending over and mooning Prowler! "Go on, take a big bite if you can!" He says with confidence. Once he looks away, Prowler shakes off the unfastened muzzle.

Prowler attacks Mayor Perez
Attack: Bite
Defense: Jump

Before he realizes he's been tricked, Prowler leaps at Perez's backside and chomps on him! Perez hollers in pain running around in a panic as the coyote holds onto the mayor with his teeth! "Get him off me! Get him off! Ow! Ow! Someone get this thing off me!" Perez cries out in pain, not realizing he has let go of the leash and Poppers has run away from him! The girls and Timo hear the mayor's cries for help and take that as their sign to act!

The girls and Timo go to the tool shed Mrs. Nickleworth told them about. Using the shovel to break the lock, they find a computer terminal similar to the ones in Dr. Frumapirz's lab back in the real world.

Blossom wastes no time in accessing the terminal. She locates the information she requires. "This must be the failsafe. From what I'm looking at, we're in for a bumpy return trip back to reality once Steve gives the confirmation, so brace yourselves!"

Bubbles and Buttercup look at the screen and nod at Blossom. Timo looks on the screen, seeing the following message.

[glow=green,2,300]FAILSAFE: "THE BLIZZA INVASION"
Once activated, the system will begin the specified shutdown mode "The Blizza Invasion" which will target all "permanent" Frumapirz Paradise Simulation users currently being kept alive via the life support system. ONCE ACTIVE, THIS SEQUENCE MAY NOT BE ABORTED! The emergency exit will become active and available to any visitors at this time (it will be the green glowing door that appears in the park once the sequence has started. The system will shut down once all visitors have exited and the life support has been unplugged.[/glow]

Blossom presses the button to confirm, then sends Steve the information on his monitor, with the following message in her pink lettering.

[glow=pink,2,300]Are you sure you want to activate the Failsafe: The Blizza Invasion?

YES [/glow][glow=gray,2,300]NO[/glow]

[blossomgb]

'OK. Get to the park where this door is located and Stand By', Steve thought. This appeared on the monitor before Blossom.
Her pink text appeared before Steve. 'OK. Are you ready your end?'
'I am', Steve thought back.
Steve then turned to Angel. 'Blossom's pod is still open. Go and wait there, I'll follow'.
Angel nodded and zoomed down the hallway, looking over Blossom and awaiting instructions.
Then he realized that they hadn't found Professor Utonium or Patriach in there. Hadn't had time to look. He hoped that he could raise Professor Utonium from his slumber.
'We're ready', Blossom signalled to him.
'Right', Steve thought back. He pressed the Yes on the keyboard.

Inside the VR, a green door appeared.
'Glad he stayed out', Blossom said.
'I wonder about our trip back', Buttercup added as the group went through the door,

Steve ran down the corridor to Blossom's chamber. After a few seconds, she started to move, then she opened her eyes.
'Where am I', she asked drowsily.
'Back in the real world', Angel said to her. Steve helped her off the table.

In the other pods, the other members of the team were slowly coming to life again...

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rulerofice]

"Ugh..." Timo complaned. "I don¨'t think I want to go through this ever again. Felt too strange." He then stood up and looked at Bubbles' pod.

Bubbles slowly woke up. "Give me five more minutes. I had a wonderful dream."

Timo looked at her like she had just woken from a long slumber. "Very funny, Bubbles." He helped Bubbles get up. "It's so nice to be able to use our powers again."

Timo looked at Blossom and Steve. "So what now?"

[rcblazer]

The monitor in front of Steve comes to life with a picture of the Frumapirz Paradise Simulation town! Three alien space pods similar to Patriarch's have dropped out of the sky, landing in the streets. The pods open and three aliens emerge from inside. One has dark blue skin and green hair hanging from the sides of his pointed ears, one is large and red with horns and a spiky tail wearing a purple jumpsuit and black boots that fit his unusually shaped feet, and the third is a purple lizard like alien with red chitin plating adorning his head, shoulders, chest, and legs with a long, spear like tail.

"I recognize that one!" Buttercup points at the large red alien. "That's Diabol, Kambi's late husband! He doesn't have the scars on his face though."

The people of the simulated town cower as the lizard alien sneers and looks around, his arms folded across the red plate on his chest. "Greetings, I am Blizza, supreme emperor of the universe! Bow before me and I will spare your meaningless Terran lives!"

The people run in fear, but Blizza waves his hand, signaling for Diabol and the other alien to begin the attack!

Once the door opened and the girls and Timo went though right away, none of them saw Prowler break off from his biting Mayor Perez, barking at Poppers before jumping through the doorway! Bubbles sees Poppers the dalmatian puppy on the screen walking over to the exit, but Blizza and his alien henchmen seem to completely ignore his presence, instead focusing on the residents of the town! Suddenly, Mayor Perez's face appears in front of the screen, an enraged look on his face as he speaks in Dr. Frumapirz's voice again!

"Do you realize what you've done? Diabol, Vilnova, and Lord Blizza are programmed to cut off the life support systems before shutting down by targeting and killing all permanent residents of my simulation, which now includes me!"

"You better start talking fast then!" Blossom shouts at the monitor. "Where are Professor Utonium and Patriarch? What did you do to them?"

Dr. Frumapirz chuckles. "You never realized who they were in this simulation, did you? Let's just say when they first showed up, I got tired of all their 'barking' orders at me to give them what they came here for!

I see they have already escaped as well. Needless to say, I ended up having to use the life support systems here to preserve myself before I could finish the experiment, but now that you have shut down the system and effectively slain me, I have no choice but to task the Terran from Earth to finish what I started! I have given Professor Utonium the information regarding a weather controlling device I was working on, as well as an unfinished purification agent designed to clear the planet of Radiation X. Perhaps he has the missing piece to the puzzle that is the rebirth of FL-49."

Blizza attacks Perez
Attack: Laser Shot
Defense: System Shutdown

Perez turns around and kneels before the emperor. "Lord Blizza, wait! I am your faithful scientist, Dr. Fru-"

Blizza does not listen, pointing at the mayor. A gunshot noise is heard as a laser fires from his finger, blasting right through Frumapirz's chest! "AARGH!" Is heard in the doctor's voice as the screen turns to static and switches off.

The door to the main control room opens, and Professor Utonium steps out of the room, awake and none the worse for wear! One of the other F.P.S. chambers also opens, and Patriarch climbs out of the chair and flies into the air.

"Whew, glad to be out of there I must admit." Professor says, looking around the chambers. "Patriarch? Where are you?"

"Right here." He answers, approaching the Professor. "You okay?"

"Still in one piece, and better yet, I know what it is we have to do now." Professor answers. "Frumapirz keeps the canister of purifying agent in his private F.P.S. chamber. Before I left, he gave me the information on it as well as the password to open the chamber and retrieve it."

"Good, let's go get it and leave this place. The very sight of Blizza, even if it was just a computer simulated forgery, makes me sick to my stomach!"

"Professor!" Bubbles shouts, flying over and hugging him tightly.

"So I was right, it was you in there!" Professor Utonium says with a joyous smile upon seeing the girls again. "Patriarch, did you know they were in the simulation with us?"

"I had a feeling it was them the moment Bubbles shooed me away. That's why I didn't attack them as the coyote." Patriarch replies.

"I'm very happy to see you again, but why exactly are you here?" Professor asks the girls.

"To save you from the Frumapirz Paradise Simulation obviously." Buttercup says, her words dripping with sarcasm. "I suggest you start talking; tell us what you guys REALLY have planned once you've cleaned up this mess of a planet!"

"Buttercup!" Professor scolds her. "Your father and I are trying to help fix a planet that has fallen on hard times. I admit it hasn't been easy, and when we came here we did not think that Dr. Frumapirz would be insane and try to trap us in his virtual town, but there have always been difficulties when it comes to science and progress."

"That's not what we mean." Blossom looks at Patriarch. "Who are you fixing this planet up for, the mutants, the Galactic Federation..." Blossom gulps nervously. "...or us?"

Patriarch shakes his head sadly. "I had hoped it to be a surprise once the Professor and I were finished but I suppose I can't hide it now." He removes a chip from his scanner and inserts it into Steve's wristband. A Federation dossier appears on the screen.

[glow=yellow,2,300]GALACTIC FEDERATION HIGH COUNCIL PROJECT: NEW XANOCITE

Fellow councilors, as we are all aware of, the Galactic Federation owes a great debt to the Lone Xanocite Patriarch. His actions alone toppled the Blizza Regime when our finest Enforcers stood no chance, and the Daholuz Project would have led to the corruption of the Federation itself if not for Patriarch uncovering the dark secret that the head of the project was a clone created from the spliced genes of his twin sister Matriarch and Blizza.

It is this council's decision that the Lone Xanocite be allowed to rebuild the home that Emperor Blizza once took away from him. We will allow Patriarch full federal control over the restoration of the Terran wasteland planet known as FL-49. Once the process of restoration is complete, the planet will be renamed New Xanocite under Patriarch's jurisdiction.

The Restoration Process will be as follows:

1: The unidentified radiation prevalent on FL-49 must be cleared up.

2: All dilapidated buildings are to be torn down so that they can be rebuilt to more suitable standards.

3: All mutated life forms are to be eliminated.

We Federation Councilors have total faith in Patriarch's strength and skill, and hope he and his fellow Xanocites will live in peace and prosperity for all time on New Xanocite.[/glow]

[blossomgb]

There was silence for a moment as what they had read sank in. Patriach was prepared to kill other beings to get a planet, and the Federation were complicit.
'Well, Professor', Steve said. 'Fancy meeting you here'. It might have been meant as a joke.but there was something in Steve's voice that took the humour away. There was a touch of annoyance there, which Blossom noticed and understood. Steve was rarely angry but this trip had put his family in danger and that did get him a little bit hot under the collar.
Angel and Blossom stood either side of him, Angel holding Theo and Blossom just waiting for Professor Utonium or Patriach to reply.
'You mean kill everyone on this planet to make room for... us?', Buttercup stated, looking with shock at the document that had sprung up. Professor Utonium was quiet. as though he had been caught out too. Patriach said nothing. He knew that they would not like this.
'Well, looking at that, I am willing to help with 1, partly 2, but 3!', Steve commented. 'No'
'Agreed', Blossom said. 'Some of the mutants are dangerous, but the ones that aren't are making the best of it. made us welcome and saved Timo's life.'
'But they are-', Patriach began.
'Living beings', Bubbles chipped in. 'We do not murder. Nor should you.'
'I'll keep this', Steve said, as he put the document into a pocket. 'Oh, did you know that Mojo is assuming command of the Federation now. This could be a giant trap. Well done!!'.
He clapped a couple of times simulating sympathetic applause.
'You said that you would help with phase 1', Professor Utonium spoke up.
The group looked at him. Angel was beginning to appreciate Steve's words about Nazis.
'Yes, we can do that. But whatever it is that you have, I want to do tests before pouring it all over a planet from the air!' Steve looked at Patriach. 'Where is it?'

Cheers,

Blossomgb

[rulerofice]

After hearing the third restoration process, Timo suddenly felt very sick. He didn't know what kind of leader(s), if they were still in command that is, were in Federation, but this was something that no one had right to do or decide.

After Bubbles had chipped in, Timo looked at Patriarch angrily. "I don't mind wiping out the most dangerous mutants like gols and pries, but udds are a completely different story, Patriarch. They are all innocent and they are even trying to heal this planet themselves and the mutation they are suffering from. But you..." Timo pointed at Patriarch. "you and your Federation are ready to kill even them and for what?? For creating some kind of home for your 'daughters'? Is the genocide really necessary just for that?"

Bubbles looked at Timo sadly. "Timo..."

Timo sighed and looked at the Professor. "And there's another thing: Did either of you ever think about how the girls would feel about moving here and leaving everyone on Earth? All the friends they've made there? Queen Felicia, Blackheart, Violet and all the others? Did you stop and think even once that if you'd take the girls away from Townsville, the city would be at the mercy of all the villains despite who other heroes would still be there?"