Okay, if LJ is Done Spazzing...
Maybe it'll work this time and just let me post this chapter.
Before I start: saw Sucker Punch last night. Need to see it again before I solidify my thoughts, but I will say this: I liked it. It was kinda awesome.
Author's note tomorrowish. Urgh, feeling all upset or something because I just wrote a pretty intense scene a few chapters later and I really hope the gravity of it translates. But we have a few chapters to go before getting there, so enjoy this one first. :D
Chapter Six: Dark and Lonely as a Cloud
Jezebel stayed at the park for two hours after the time Mark said he would meet her. She smoothed her skirt and ran her fingers through her hair and tried to look nonchalant, but by nine o’clock the guards were coming around to make sure the park was clear and she left, fighting back tears.
She didn’t want to go home; she didn’t want her brothers and father threatening to beat the snot out of Mark and her mom trying to make her feel better. What she really wanted was her grandpa right now. He had a way of putting things in perspective for her.
She twirled around the volcano and knocked on the observatory door, and the door was opened by Mojo Jojo in his purple bathrobe. He looked grumpy and ready to tell off whoever interrupted him, but Jezebel’s tears finally won out and she broke down. His expression melted immediately to one of concerned alarm.
“Come in,” he said, curiously concise as she walked in and threw herself on his couch, hugging one of the cushions to her face. He sat in the armchair next to the couch and waited for her sobbing to subside. It did eventually, and she sat up, brushing back her hair and hiccupping.
“What has happened to make you so upset?” he asked. “Please inform me, your Grandpa Mojo, what has transpired this evening to make these tears escape from your tear ducts, as they are an unwelcome sight to someone who is invested in your general well-being.”
She sniffed a little. “I had a date tonight.”
“And was this social outing with a boy of your choosing not satisfactory? Did he harm, besmirch, or hurt you in a way that would induce tears from your eyes and bring down the wrath of your family?” Mojo asked, reaching for the laser gun on the coffee table. “Inform me immediately of his whereabouts and place of residence so that I may deal swift justice to him, though it is an unusual thing for Mojo Jojo to deal justice-”
“He never showed,” Jezebel said quietly. “He told me to meet him at the park at seven. I was there at six and waited until nine. He never showed up.”
“This is most grievous,” Mojo mused, stroking his chin fur. “This standing up of a family member of Mojo Jojo will certainly rain down fire and destruction on his head. This slight against my favorite granddaughter will not go unpunished!” He leaped up, pointing dramatically in the direction of Townsville. “You, Townsville, who has so long stood against my attempts to take over and rule you, will soon rue the day you allowed a young man named…” he paused. “What was the name of the young man who asked you on a date and then never showed, the same young man who, as soon as his name and place of residence is known to me, will face vengeance and doom at my hand?”
“Mark,” Jezebel replied listlessly.
“Yes, you, Townsville, will rue the day you allowed a young man named Mark reside within you and continue to-”
“Grandpa?” Jezebel’s quiet voice cut through his ramblings, “could you make some cookies and talk to me instead?”
“Of course,” Mojo nodded, stepping off of the coffee table. “I will go into the kitchen and prepare the treat which you have enjoyed since infancy, since I have all of the proper ingredients and may now combine them in the proper sequence and bake them at the proper temperature for the proper amount of time in my oven.” He took her hand. “Follow me and we may discuss, plot, and otherwise extrapolate about this evening and the retribution which will follow.”
Jezebel smiled a little, and by the time the fifth batch of cookies was done and devoured and Mojo had fully outlined his plan to maim and humiliate Mark, she was feeling much better. She hugged him mid-ramble and surprised him.
“Thanks, Grandpa,” she whispered in his ear, in a voice so small and still so young it about broke Mojo’s heart. He hugged her back and let himself smile.
“Do not fear, Jezebel, for one day a worthy young man will find you and your evening will go exactly as planned,” he said. “You are a young woman with smarts and beauty, and I am told that is what most young men of sense value. More than that, you are my little girl and Grandpa Mojo will always be here if you need him.”
Jezebel smiled and flew away, and as she flew off she heard Mojo muttering to himself about getting old and soft and planning on robbing a bank the following day.
-*-
“Grandpa,” Jezebel said quietly, “that’s not yours.”
Mojo sighed and lowered his gun, slipping the valuable gem into his pocket. She saw and stared pointedly at him until he put it back. She waved down the cops as they swarmed, grasping Mojo by his upper arm and navigating him outside the museum.
“It’s okay, officers, I’ve got him,” Jezebel said to the policemen as they readied to put the cuffs on the villainous monkey. “I’ll take him to Townsville Jail personally.”
“Oh…well…okay,” the cop in the lead said uncomfortably. “You sure you can handle him?”
Jezebel floated into the sky, putting Mojo in a gentle headlock. He wheezed and sputtered accordingly.
“I think I’m up to the challenge,” she said lightly. “Have a good day, officers.”
Jezebel flew towards Townsville Jail then changed course, flying towards Mojo’s observatory. He grumbled under her arm until she sat him down.
“What did I do to deserve the wrecking of my carefully-laid out plan by my own flesh and blood?” Mojo grumbled. “Of course, I do not mean that in a literal sense, as I did not biologically create your father, because if I had, he would be a monkey and you would be a monkey, but in the sense that I was responsible for their creation in a scientific sense and therefore I am your father’s father and your grandfather. Their origin was of my own making, therefore making me their father, and not that flamboyant lobster-”
“Grandpa,” Jezebel said gently, “you left the stove on.”
Mojo hustled into the kitchen to switch off the stove and continue his grumblings when Jezebel let out a carefully orchestrated sigh and sank into one of the kitchen chairs, and he stopped for a moment.
“Allow me to guess at the reasoning why you interrupted my carefully-planned heist and have now kidnapped me back to my own home,” Mojo sighed, grabbing his monkey head-shaped cookie jar and setting it on the table. “You have something you wish to discuss?”
“More of a question,” Jezebel nodded. “Grandpa, do you know where my mom is?”
Mojo hesitated a split-second too long. “No, I am unaware as to the whereabouts of your mother, who is at this moment missing in action and not at home for you to bother. Her location is unknown to me. I am without the knowledge you seek. You may stop looking at me with your eyes that resemble an infant dog now.”
Jezebel didn’t relent her puppy-dog stare and Mojo eventually caved under the pressure.
“I may have a clue, a small scrap of information, a near-insignificant morsel that will help you in your quest.” He popped a cookie in his mouth. “Hmgh.”
“Come again?” Jezebel asked. She was pretty sure she’d never asked Mojo to repeat anything in her life. He swallowed and stuffed another cookie in his mouth.
“Hmgh,” he repeated. Jezebel looked at him flatly for a minute and he swallowed.
“Him,” he said testily, “they were doing research about the self-proclaimed Master of All Evil and the would-be usurper to my position as father and creator of the Rowdyruff Boys, Him. What they found and why they left is beyond my well of knowledge, and there I will cease speaking about things which I am not completely certain. I know no mo’, and no mo’ is what I, Mojo Jojo, know.”
Jezebel giggled and reached for a cookie. Chocolate chip. Her favorite, as Mojo well knew.
“Thanks for your help, Grandpa.” She swallowed her cookie and stood. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Are you implying that I, Mojo Jojo, am in the habit of causing trouble, performing acts of villainy, or being otherwise nasty to the inhabitants of Townsville?” Mojo grumbled, but it was with a smile. “I am teasing, joking, yanking your chain, pulling your leg.”
“I know,” Jezebel grinned. “See you later.” She flew away with the intent to relay her information to Jackie and got sidetracked by the sight of her favorite bench in Townsville park, all alone with no one to warm its slats. The voice of the book in her bag also cried out for attention, which is how Jezebel found herself stretched the length of the bench, her legs hanging over the arm rest and her hair spread out behind her. For extra measure she had a shield of energy surrounding her in case a wayward football decided to meander her way.
She heard three deliberate knocks on her shield and lowered her book to see who disturbed her. The boy from her math class waved at her.
“Hey,” he mouthed, and she dissipated the shield so she could hear him normally.
“Hi,” Jezebel said cautiously. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” he replied, walking towards the bench. Jezebel hurriedly sat up and scooted to a far end to make room. “I was wondering what you thought of that math exam. A real doozy, right?”
“Um…yeah, I guess so,” Jezebel nodded, keeping her finger firmly at her place in her book. She didn’t say anything more and he didn’t reply, looking around the park easily. Jezebel chewed on the inside of her mouth and tried to think of something to say.
“So anyway,” he flicked his hair out of his face, “I’m Casey.”
“Jezebel.”
They shook hands and returned to staring at the park. Then, after a minute:
“So, I’m throwing a shindig next weekend at Townsville dump. You should run by sometime.”
“Sure,” Jezebel managed to choke out. “I’ll look into it.”
“Won’t be a party without you, beautiful,” Casey winked, standing and taking a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket. “I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah,” Jezebel nodded. “Sure. Yeah.”
She continued to stare after him as he walked away, hands shoved in his pockets and whistling. Then she sighed, forcing herself to relax.
It was nice of him to offer, she reasoned as she flew home, but she knew she wasn’t going to make it. It was another disaster waiting to happen. Just another Mark, another Dave, another Aaron, another Brad. No need to add Casey to that list.
She got a text from Janey informing her that she was kidnapping her for another party, which Jezebel sent her hearty nixing to; for extra measure she locked her door when she got home. She ran herself a bubble bath, lit her candles, turned on her iHome, and pulled her hair up, setting her book by the side as she slid into the scalding water with a satisfied sigh.
Her phone rang and she sighed again, passing her book by and putting her phone on speaker.
“What, Janey?” she asked.
“Hang on, I’m setting up a three-way with Jackie,” Janey replied. “Since some of us are so intent on having little to no social lives around here.”
Jezebel just smiled, playing with the bubbles as Janey got in touch with Jackie.
“We all here?” Jackie asked.
“Present,” Jezebel said.
“Estoy aquí,” Janey replied.
“Alright, then” Jackie said, “report, ladies.”
“The Professor doesn’t know anything,” Janey replied. “Not really. He just said that they didn’t stop off to see him before they left.”
“Okay, that rules the Professor out,” Jackie mused. “Jezebel?”
“Mojo didn’t know much, but he did say that they were researching some guy named Him,” Jezebel replied, sinking a little lower in her bubbles.
“Him?” Janey asked. “Never heard of him.”
“Me, neither,” Jezebel replied. “Mojo just said he was a self-proclaimed master of all evil and would-be creator of our dads. Sounds like some self-important scientist or something like that.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Jackie said slowly. “I’ll need to do some digging, but the name Him sounds very familiar, for some reason. Good work, girls.”
“We aim to please,” Janey said ironically. “Jez, you sure you don’t want to come with?”
“I’m in the bathtub right now. If I wanted to come, you’d know,” Jezebel intoned. “Have a good time. Jack, you going, too?”
“Not this time,” Jackie replied. “I’m doing some research. I bet the Townsville Library has something on Him in its villain records. See you guys.”
“Bye.” Jezebel switched off her phone and sunk into the foam with a small smile.
-*-
It was the middle of the night when her phone went off again. Without looking to see who it was Jezebel picked it up, hoping her gravelly voice translated her severe annoyance.
“Janey, if this is you asking for a ride home because you’re too drunk to fly, I swear I’m going to pull all your hair out by the roots,” she slurred.
“It’s me,” Jackie said. “I need you to meet me at Townsville Library.”
“Now?” Jezebel groaned. “It’s four in the morning. You know, when most decent people are asleep and definitely not waking their cousins up with stupid phone calls.”
“Just get down here,” Jackie replied. “Janey’s on her way. Five minutes.”
Jackie hung up and Jezebel contemplated going back to sleep and ignoring that this ever happened. The warning note in Jackie’s voice was enough to pull her upright. She slid a pair of polka-dotted rainboots over her pajama pants and one of her dad’s purloined button-up shirts over her tank top and quietly floated out of her window, careful not to wake up her brothers or father. Townsville Library was only a few blocks away from her house, a distance covered easily in two minutes. When she got there the door was slightly ajar, held open by Jackie’s foot.
“I thought you said Janey was on her way,” Jezebel rasped.
“I did. There she is,” Jackie pointed at a growing blue dot in the sky. Janey landed in front of the door and slipped inside, crossing her arms.
“What’s this all about, Jack?” Janey asked. “I had to leave in the middle of Rob’s toilet broccoli story.”
“Sorry, but I didn’t want to wait until morning to show you guys this,” Jackie apologized. “Follow me.”
“Does Mrs. Heraldo know you’re in here?” Janey asked.
“Maybe,” Jackie replied lightly. “Come on, the archives are back here.”
“Goodness, Jez, your hair’s a fright,” Janey remarked, tousling Jezebel’s bedhead.
“I was in the middle of sleeping,” Jezebel grumped back. “Careful. People have been known to disappear in there.”
Janey giggled and Jezebel cracked a smile. It wasn’t every day she made a witticism that actually made people laugh.
Jackie led them to the very back of the library, where a large metal vault stood open. Inside Jackie had a bright lantern and half a bag of chocolate-dipped pretzels, which Jezebel snatched and started eating. Jackie had newspapers spread out over the table she’d dragged inside, and a specific stack set off to the side.
“Here,” Jackie pointed at the stack. “These are what I wanted to show you.” She picked up the top one. “This is the article where our moms first appeared. I thought you might get a kick out of seeing it.”
“Freaky Bug-Eyed Weirdo Girls Broke Everything,” Janey read. “Aw, look at them! They were adorable!”
“Looks like they didn’t have the smoothest start, either,” Jezebel said softly, and all three girls grinned.
“Looks like things got better for them later on,” Jackie referred to her second paper, which had a picture of Mojo, an army of monkeys, and three familiar little girls taking them down, “but what I really wanted to show you was this one.”
She handed the third paper to Janey, who shared it with Jezebel. On the front was the headline “Powerpuff Girls Hand it to Him” and a full-color picture of someone with a beard, a dress, and heels smiling for the camera, waving at whoever was taking it. With claws. The person was also red as a…
“Lobster,” Jezebel said quietly, suddenly appreciating Mojo’s joke.
“Yeah,” Janey nodded. “Check the pinchers. That’s Him?”
“Yep,” Jackie replied. “According to the reporter, he’s a being so sinister, so cruel, so vile, his real name can’t be spoken.”
“That’s a guy?” Jezebel said doubtfully. “Looks more like a sweet transvestite.”
“Keep your Rocky Horror to yourself,” Janey teased. “But, yeah, that’s seriously a dude?”
“That’s the devil,” Jackie said, tapping the picture. “As far as we know.”
“Come on,” Janey snorted. “Not the Devil devil, right? He’s just a guy in costume.”
“If he’s a guy in costume, then he’s a very powerful guy; he can appear and disappear whenever he wants, shrink and enlarge in size, influence everyone in Townsville, and bring people back from the dead,” Jackie laid out the rest of her newspapers. Janey and Jezebel looked them over.
“Is that…?” Jezebel trailed off, touching one of the papers, a few months older than the first.
“The Rowdyruff Boys,” Jackie nodded. “And this,” she fished out another paper and laid it next to the original, “is when Him resurrected them.”
“Well,” Janey said, “at least their hairstyles improved.”
“What do you mean ‘resurrected’?” Jezebel asked. “As in, they were dead?”
“Destroyed,” Jackie nodded. “Mojo first created them out of a prison toilet using snakes, snails, puppy-dog tails, and a chemical with all the potency of X. They pretty much had the Girls beat until Mayor Bellum-Miss Bellum then-gave them the key to defeating the Rowdyruffs.”
“Kissing?” Janey read, making a face. “How did kissing blow them up?”
“Think about it. Little boys, fear of cooties, little girls…” Jackie grinned at Janey’s dawning comprehension. “Well, they were gone for a little over a year when Him brought them back with a little extra juice and something called a cootie shot.”
“You’re joking, right? Please tell me you’re joking,” Janey was red-faced from containing her laughter.
“Instead of blowing up, every time the Girls kissed them, they got bigger and stronger,” Jackie went on, ignoring Janey’s muffled shriek of mirth. “That effect seems to have worn off once the Boys hit puberty, otherwise we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Y’know, if our dads were created to be evil, how did they end up getting with our moms in the first place?” Jezebel asked abruptly. “It’s kinda strange.”
“Well, Mom said that one day the Boys just stopped fighting,” Janey replied. “According to her, once they grew up they separated from Mojo-and I guess Him, too-they did a lot of maturing and mellowed out.”
“Sounds hokey to me,” Jezebel snorted.
“You never know,” Janey shrugged. “The love of a good woman can do a lot for a man.”
“Anyway,” Jackie roped the girls back into her lecture, “since the time the Boys got old enough to decide they didn’t like being told what to do all the time, Him went underground. Nobody’s heard from him in twenty years or so.”
“So what were our moms doing digging him up if he’s been under the radar forever?” Janey asked.
“Maybe they didn’t like leaving a loose end untied,” Jezebel suggested. “Townsville hasn’t had a decent villain in years, no offense to Grandpa Mojo. Every supervillain from when the Powerpuff Girls were kids are all too old or too tired to want to fight anymore.”
“Except Him, maybe,” Jackie mused. “If he is who he’s reported to be, he’s immortal. Maybe they heard something about him gathering up strength again.”
“This one’s interesting,” Janey commented, picking up a paper. “This is from when Him brainwashed Townsville into hating the Powerpuff Girls. Before he disappeared he was reported to have said, ‘I never repeat a performance.’”
“That’s good to know,” Jackie nodded. “It means he’s unpredictable.”
“How is that a good thing?” Jezebel frowned.
“Well, if we’re ready for anything, we’ll be prepared,” Jackie reasoned. “Besides, he’s not totally unpredictable. We know that he hates the Powerpuff Girls and wanted to get rid of them. So there’s a possibility he was pulling a plan together and our moms went to stop him.”
“That was a few weeks ago,” Jezebel said softly. “If they stopped him, where are they?”
A cold silence descended on all three girls. Jackie was the first to break the silence.
“Come on, gals,” she said in a valiant effort to be optimistic, “we’re a step closer to figuring this out, and we don’t have training until Monday.”
“That’s tomorrow,” Janey noted, checking her phone. “Let’s put these away and get home.”
The vault was put back together and closed, and once Jackie made sure the door to the library was locked the girls flew home. Jezebel crawled into her bed, tossed and turned for a few minutes, then got up, dragging her comforter behind her. She padded down the hall to her parents’ room, where her dad was curled in a ball on the far left side. Jezebel took her mom’s pillow and put it at the foot of the bed, then climbed in, spreading her blanket out around her and dropping off in a matter of minutes. Butch stirred as Jezebel’s motions shifted the mattress, and looked up blearily. Upon seeing his daughter’s worn-out face he smiled a little, dropping back onto his own pillow.