(Open POV)
Townsville…
There is Townsville's skyline in the afternoon.
"The City of Townsville!" The narrator chirped.
Outside Townsville Hall…
"The setting of Townsville!" The narrator said, excitedly.
Mayor's office…
There is a couch in the Mayor's office.
"The settee of Townsville!" The narrator cheered.
On that cue, The Mayor walks into the room, hops onto the couch, and pulls out a compact disc.
"The CD of Townsville!" The narrator said, while there is a record player turntable.
The disc is set on the record player turntable, and the needle is lowered. The player was an old Victrola, the needle screeching and squeaking against the plastic since this was not one of the old phonograph records it is used to normally playing. Across the office, the Mayor snaps his fingers to the 'beat', completely oblivious to how the CD is not a perfect match for the Victrola's design as a phonograph record player and is probably ruining the disc in the process with all the scratches and grooves the needle is carving on it trying to read it and play the music on it.
"The pity of Townsville!" The mayor said, as Ms. Bellum steps into the room, with her looking at the mayor.
Ms. Bellum puts both her hands on her hips as she looks on at the Mayor. In front of Ms. Bellum, at the office door, and up from her feet, she has one hand on her hip.
"The pretty of Townsville!" The narrator said, and at the couch, Ms. Bellum walks towards the Mayor, who is still snapping away, oblivious to her presence in the room at this point or the continued damage the CD is taking on the Victrola.
"Ooh, mama!" The mayor said, while Ms. Bellum sits down. "This techno music is dope."
Ms. Bellum produces a makeup case, takes out a tube of lipstick, and touches herself up a bit. Of course, we do not see the end result. She puts the case aside, then crosses her legs and clears her throat—softly at first, then louder, leaning toward him. He pays no attention, still snapping away to the 'beat'.
"A glass of water'll clear that right up." The mayor said, as Ms. Bellum reaches past him.
"Let's shut this off, shall we?" Ms. Bellum asked, and when she speaks, her voice takes on a low, seductive tone—an urbane Mae West, perhaps. She turns off the Victrola and the squeaking CD finally stops. She sighs in relief. "Ahh!" She pulled the Mayor toward herself. "Much better. Don't you think?"
"Uh, sure." The mayor said, while he pauses for a moment to think. "Ms. Bellum?"
"Yes?" Ms. Bellum asked.
The mayor tugs at his collar, "Is there something on your mind?"
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Could I take the rest of the afternoon off?" Ms. Bellum asked.
This request startles the mayor considerably.
"The rest of the afternoon?! I don't know, Ms. Bellum! There's so much to do, and so little time!" The mayor said, worried.
She leans closer to face the mayor, her hair blocking him from sight.
Ms. Bellum kisses the mayor, "Mmmmwah!"
Ms. Bellum leans back, and the mayor now has the print of her lips on the end of his nose.
"Okay." The mayor said, happily.
Ms. Bellum walks away, "Thank you, Mayor. I'll see you later."
The door slams shut.
The mayor stays on the couch. Across the office, the only sound is the ticking of a clock. Through the window, afternoon fades to night and the room darkens. After some moments, the door bursts open and Ms. Bellum runs into view. Her come-hither air is replaced by total panic.
"Mayor!" Ms. Bellum cried.
"Back for seconds, Ms. Bellum?" The mayor asked, slyly.
"No, Mayor! I've got to call the girls!" Ms. Bellum said, running over to the hotline. She picks it up and speaks into it, as the Mayor stares at her. "Girls, Townsville Bank has just been robbed!"
(Jared's POV)
Living room…
"Sorry. Ms. Bellum. You were calling the time vortex. The TARDIS is smart. She rerouted the call to me. Yeah. I know. I'll relay that over to the girls." I said, playing Pokemon Legends Z-A on my Nintendo Switch 2. I ended the call on my iPhone 16 Pro Max and looked over at Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. "Girls, Townsville Bank got robbed. Let's go."
"Right." Blossom said.
"Yeah." Bubbles said, smiling.
"Uh huh." Buttercup said, smirking.
The girls and I flew up into the air, towards the roof, causing drywall pieces to fall down.
Townsville Bank…
At the bank lobby, in front of Ms. Bellum, the vault stands open and empty. The girls and I fly in, one by one, in time with the next three lines.
"No clues here." Blossom said.
"Nothing over there." Buttercup said.
"I couldn't find anything either." Bubbles said.
"Not one shred of evidence." Blossom said.
"That criminal was thorough." Buttercup said.
"Very." Bubbles said.
"Good thing I know which adventure this is." I said, smugly. "This one should be a piece of cake."
Behind Ms. Bellum, two cops look over things before separating to go different ways to continue the investigation.
"I was so afraid." Ms. Bellum said, shaken. "I wish I could have called you sooner." She is starting to cry. "Oh-ho! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!"
Ms. Bellum breaks down, crying in guilt and shame, believing the robbery was her fault for not contacting us sooner to find evidence. The girls and I stare at Ms. Bellum in total shock and concern.
"It's okay, Ms. Bellum." I said, while several officers are seen in the background looking over the crime scene. "You couldn't have stopped this."
One police officer begins walking across the room as the girls and I comfort Ms. Bellum.
"It's not your fault, Ms. Bellum." Bubbles said.
"Why don't you go home now?" Buttercup asked.
"Yes, get some sleep. We'll finish up here." Blossom said.
"Yeah. We will. No need to worry." I said, hugging Ms. Bellum. "Everything's okay. I promise."
"Thank you, girls, Jared." Ms. Bellum said, walking away. "I will."
(Open POV)
Outside Townsville Hall…
It is the afternoon.
"The very next afternoon…" The narrator said.
Mayor's office…
The mayor works in his office as Ms. Bellum enters. With the view of Ms. Bellum's legs', walking across the room until she reaches his desk. Ms. Bellum leans across the desk. The seductive tone has returned to her voice.
"Hello, Mayor." Ms. Bellum said, while the Mayor is working and not looking up.
"Good day, Ms. Bellum. How is every little…" The mayor said, looking up at Ms. Bellum.
The mayor's eyes pop wide open, and he breaks his pencil. Ms. Bellum has her hands laid out on the Mayor's desk as she sticks her chest outwards.
"…thing?" The mayor asked. "Heh—uh, pencil go snap."
There is the broken pencil in the mayor's hand, and Ms. Bellum reaches over and holds it with him.
"Here. Let me help you with that." Ms. Bellum said, guiding the Mayor's hand to the electric pencil sharpener on his desk.
The Mayor is babbling with his eye rolling up in his head—this is having quite an effect on him. When the machine stops, he sighs contentedly and looks in surprise at the pencil, now ground down to a nub.
"Uh, Ms. Bellum, is there something on your mind?" The mayor asked.
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Could I take the rest of the afternoon off?" Ms. Bellum asked.
"The rest of the afternoon? I don't know, Ms. Bellum. So much to do, so little time?" The mayor asked, slyly.
Ms. Bellum leans closer to the mayor, her hair blocking him from sight again.
Ms. Bellum chuckles lightly and kisses the mayor, "Mmmmwah!"
When Ms. Bellum leans away, the mayor has another lip-print on his nose.
"Ok." The Mayor said, in his office, and he is alone at his desk.
"Thank you, Mayor." Ms. Bellum said, and the door closes nearby
Through the window, day fades into the night as the clock's ticking is heard. After a few moments, Ms. Bellum is at the office door, where she has just burst in, again panicked.
"Mayor!" Ms. Bellum cried.
"You know, we gotta stop meeting like this." The mayor said, annoyed
"No, Mayor!" Ms. Bellum said, reaching over to the hotline, picking up the phone. "I've gotta call the girls!" The mayor looks behind her, as she speaks into the receiver. "The jewelry store has just been robbed!"
(Jared's POV)
Living room…
"Girls. Phone." I said, pointing a finger at the hotline. "Answer it."
Jewelry store…
Ms. Bellum is in the store with a row of smashed display cases. The girls and I hover in front of her.
"Man, not one stinking clue again." Buttercup said, scoffing.
"It has to be the same criminal." Blossom said, looking at me. "Jared. Any hints?"
"Think back to the time the Mayor had a girlfriend." I said, happily.
"Are you sure?" Bubbles asked.
"It can't be her. Can it?" Buttercup asked.
"It is possible." Blossom said, her hand on her chin.
"But, lucky for us, Ms. Bellum was around again, too." Bubbles said.
"I don't feel so lucky." Ms. Bellum said, shaken, and she started to cry. "Oh, ho, ho, ho!"
"It's okay, Ms. Bellum. When I say everything will work out. I really do mean it." I said, looking between Ms. Bellum and the girls, as the police are seen in the background once more working the crime scene, as the same officer from the bank robbery walks across the room and leaves. "You couldn't have stopped this. You couldn't have known."
"Jared's right. You did everything you could, Ms. Bellum. Why don't you go home and rest?" Blossom asked.
"Thank you." Ms. Bellum said, walking away. "I will."
(Open POV)
Outside Townsville Hall…
It is the afternoon.
"The next afternoon…" The narrator said.
Mayor's office…
Ms. Bellum is in front of the Mayor's desk, her back to the door.
Ms. Bellum plants kisses on the Mayor, "Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!"
When Ms. Bellum moves aside, the mayor has lipstick all over his face.
"You can take off the whole week." The mayor said.
The office slams shut, then the mayor looks very much out of it after getting so many kisses this time around. The sun in the afternoon sky, which becomes the moon at night, and the Mayor is still-immobile. Now Ms. Bellum bursts in and picks up the hotline.
(Jared's POV)
Museum…
We are in a hallway in the museum with Ms. Bellum. All the artwork is gone. The girls and I, hovering in front of her, shake our heads in bewilderment. Once more, it seems the thief has outsmarted us for a third time.
"Damn it." I said, smacking my arm into the wall, with my fist going through it. "I can't believe it happened three times in a row."
(Open POV)
Outside Townsville Hall…
It is the afternoon.
"The noon after…" The narrator said.
Mayor's office…
The mayor sprays cologne on himself, using an old-style atomizer. He straightens his bow tie and checks his breath, then folds his hands on the desk, apparently ready for Ms. Bellum. The mayor looks at the ticking of the clock. Once again day fades into night. The mayor looks at his side of the desk and up slightly on the door—which does not burst open this time. He soon realizes she's not showing up this time and he's been stood up, much to his suppressed anger. His face remains unchanged since he started waiting for her earlier that day.
"That woman is so fired." The mayor said, annoyed.
A fax machine starts up, and the mayor turns his head in surprise. The fax machine has a transmission coming in—the paper shows jagged rows of text.
(Jared's POV)
Outside Utonium Residence…
"Jared, you said that Sedusa is a possibility." Blossom said, her voice coming from inside the house. "Are you sure? Since you spent so much time with us."
It is now night, with me knowing Ms. Bellum had been kidnapped by Sedusa.
"Yeah." I said, my voice coming from inside the house.
"Hopefully you're right. But what if you're wrong? Who could it be?" Blossom asked, her voice coming from inside the house.
Girls' bedroom…
Blossom floats across the bedroom in midair as she continues. I watch Blossom fly over to her sisters and I in our beanbag chairs. She paces behind us. Bubbles is in deep thought.
"Who could be clever enough to not leave any trace of the crime?" Blossom asked.
"Maybe it was Mojo Jojo." Buttercup said.
"No. It was too well-planned out." Blossom said.
"Yup. And Mojo would be destroying the city with a giant robot by now." I said, taking out my Nintendo Switch 2 to play more Pokemon Legends Z-A.
"True. How about HIM?" Buttercup asked.
"No, too trivial." Blossom said.
"And HIM would resort to psychological warfare and reality warping." I said, looking down at my Nintendo Switch 2.
"Fair point. That is HIM's method."
"Gangreen Gang?" Buttercup asked.
"Juvie." Blossom said.
"Where they have been since their graffiti spree in the adventure I'd like to call 'Slave the Day'." I said, happily. "You know, the one where Big Billy stayed with us for a bit."
"Oh, yeah." Buttercup said, smiling. "Jared, you were laughing so much after that adventure was over."
"I had to. Big Billy has a big heart, even if it wasn't in the right place at the time."
"Fuzzy Lumpkins!" Bubbles said, blurting out.
"Now, that would be hilarious." I said, laughing a lot. "If it really was Fuzzy, Bubbles."
"Exactly!" Bubbles cried.
The hotline buzzes and Blossom goes and picks it up.
"What is it, Mayor?" Blossom asked, hearing excited talking on the other end. "What?"
"What's up?" I asked, with Blossom standing behind me, Bubbles, and Buttercup.
Blossom has hung up the phone, "Girls, Jared, new details have come to light. City Hall, on the double!"
We take off through the ceiling.
Outside Townsville Hall…
We approached the building.
Mayor's office…
The door swings open, revealing the girls and I. The Mayor in an armchair by the fire, his head bowed. Long silence. The girls and I are floating behind the mayor, then the mayor turned to look at us.
"It's funny...I look back on a life of achievements…" The mayor said, very dejected, as the girls and I are behind him on one side. "Challenges met, opponents defeated, hurdles jumped. I have accomplished more than most men, without the use of my brain. Do you know what it is that makes a man, girls? Jared knows what I am talking about."
"Uh…" The girls said, uneasily.
"It's Ms. Bellum, isn't it?" I asked, looking at the girls.
"You're right, Jared." The mayor said, frowning. "Bellum."
"What?" The girls asked, as they are behind the mayor again.
"Ms. Sara Bellum, the brains behind the man." The mayor said, sniffling. "Are you surprised by my tears? Strong men also cry." He spoke in a softer tone. "Strong men...also cry." The mayor is holding up a sheet. "I just received this fax."
Blossom looks at it, the other girls and I reading over her shoulders. It is the one that came in earlier. The message is composed of letters and words cut from magazines. It's a ransom note.
"Shit. I forgot about this ransom note." I said, as I'm fixated on the ransom note.
"'I have Bellum. Bring one million in unmarked, non-consecutive bills to Ms. Bellum's house. No funny stuff. Love, Sedusa.'" Blossom said, reading the ransom note.
"Does it say $100 million or $1 million?" I asked, looking at Blossom.
"$1 million."
The girls and I are still studying the note.
"Sedusa?!" Bubbles said, gasping. "Jared, you were right with it being Sedusa."
"Gah! I hate it when you're right. That's a bummer, man." Buttercup said, annoyed.
"I know, right?" I asked, crossing my arms. "And last time Sedusa got close to the Professor."
"Don't worry, Mayor. We'll get your Bellum back. Let's roll!" Blossom yelled.
We take off, crashing through the ceiling. The note floats to the carpet floor of the office as the Mayor continues to sulk in the background.
Outside Ms. Bellum's house…
The girls and I are flying in the night sky and I looked down at Ms. Bellum's house, seen from the street. A twisting path leads up to the structure—rather stark and angular in its plan, after the style of Frank Lloyd Wright. The mailbox/intercom speaker at street level reads "Sara Bellum, 69 Yodelinda Valley Ln." We are flying over the area.
"There's Ms. Bellum's home!" Blossom yelled.
We stopped over the house, a swimming pool behind it.
"Yup." I said, while Bubbles have a valise.
"Buttercup! Scan the structure and locate Sedusa." Blossom said.
"I'm on it." Buttercup said, as her eyes glowed green.
Buttercup is using X-ray vision, panning across the house. The view is green, with outlines of the visible furniture.
"Got anything?" I asked, and Buttercup stopped moving her head."Do you see them?"
"Maybe." Buttercup said, while she is focused on two glowing figures, illuminated in white. "I'm picking up two life forms in the north wing."
"That's them." Blossom said, looking between Bubbles and I. "Bubbles! Jared! You got that ransom?"
"Yup." I said, placing my hand on the valise. "We do."
"Blossom, Roger— I mean, Roger, Blossom." Bubbles said, happily.
"Okay. Wing attack plan R. Let's move in!" Blossom said, angrily.
We do so.
Ms. Bellum's house…
Sedusa and Ms. Bellum are at the far end of the room, the latter appearing to stand over the former. The girls and I crash through the ceiling.
"Ok, Sedusa. We've got your money." Blossom said, as Bubbles holds up the valise. "Now give us back…"
"Shit." I said, and I looked at the two women reveals Sedusa tied to a chair, her head down and her eyes closed.
Ms. Bellum overlooks Sedusa, turning around as Blossom calls to her.
"Ms. Bellum?!" Blossom exclaimed.
"Girls! Thank goodness you're here." Ms. Bellum said, relieved.
Sedusa raises her head. Her eyes are wide, and a strip of duct tape covers her mouth. She makes muffled cries of panic, possibly over being overpowered and captured. Her hair is noticeably not slithering about. Pull back. The girls and I fly up, one by one, in time with the next four lines.
"Whoa!" Blossom said, at a loss for words.
"Holy cow!" Bubbles said, in awe.
"Dude!" Buttercup yelled.
"Ms. Bellum, I thought you—and—she, but—and then—how—?!" Blossom exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Bubbles and Buttercup said, at the same time.
"Girls, girls! Jared, Jared! The details are unimportant now. What is important is that I'm safe…" Ms. Bellum said, pointing to Sedusa. "…and we can send this criminal to jail."
Sedusa is now sounding even more frantic through the tape, as if pleading with the Girls and I to not listen to the secretary.
"Look. It's been a long day. So, if you don't mind…" Ms. Bellum said.
Blossom flies up, taking Ms. Bellum's hand, "Oh, yes. Here, let me help you. Why don't you take a seat?!"
Blossom suddenly flings Ms. Bellum across the full length of the room. Sedusa grunts in surprise. Ms. Bellum slams into a couch, knocking it over and creating a loud crash in the room. The girls and I fly up to survey the results of the strike. Ms. Bellum's trembling hand reaches up from behind the couch.
Ms. Bellum climbs up, groaning slightly, "Ughhh… girls…Jared…have you gone out of your heads?!"
"Don't 'girls' and 'Jared' us, you imposter!" Blossom said, determined.
"You expect us to believe that you happened to witness every crime?!" Buttercup exclaimed.
"And that you happened to be kidnapped?!" Blossom exclaimed.
"And singlehandedly subdued Sedusa?!"
"Well, think again…" Bubbles said, grabbing hold of Ms. Bellum's hair, ripping it away, revealing Sedusa. "Sedusa!"
"One thing to know about me, I would always want to help my friends." I said, looking at Sedusa. "I didn't know if you had our home bugged. So I told them you robbed the bank, jewelry store, and the museum in a virtual reality world."
"I can't believe you told them my plan." Sedusa said, standing behind the overturned couch, her true face and writhing, overgrown hair exposed, and a look of seething fury at having her cover blown. "You could have kept it all a secret."
"Your plans are dumb, Sedusa. Doing that to the Mayor and the Professor." I said, looking at Sedusa. "And manipulating them with your seduction tactics."
Still wearing Ms. Bellum's clothes, Sedusa leaps over the couch and does a flip, landing a good distance away from the girls and I. She snarls and unleashes a hair whip toward the girls and I before any of us can react.
"Look out!" Blossom and Buttercup said, at the same time.
Sedusa hits Bubbles and I dead on, carrying the Powerpuff Girl along as the blonde and I scream. It slams Bubbles and I into the window, leaving us pinned under pink slime. I'm getting electrically shocked in the process, wondering how Sedusa figured out how to make a Specter Deflector. Bubbles and I struggled to pull loose, but without success as it is clear whatever Sedusa hit us with has left us stuck tight to the glass.
"Uh! Uh! Uh! Help! I'm stuck!" Bubbles cried.
"How do you like my new hair gel?" Sedusa asked, looking at me. "Jared, I looked into your ghost powers a while back. It weakens it."
"Specter Deflector." I said, while Buttercup flies to Bubbles and I and starts scraping at the goo that holds us. "But that won't be around for six years."
"I have a source. A Vlad Plasmius called me."
"He really is one crazed up fruit loop."
"Now where was I?" Sedusa asked, aiming her air towards Buttercup.
"Now isn't the time to talk about that. I got you, Bubbles, Jared!" Buttercup said, still trying to free Bubbles and I.
"Buttercup! Look out!" Bubbles said, worried.
"Sedusa!" I said, trying to break free of the Specter Deflector, but can't. "Damn it!"
"What? Whoa!" Buttercup said, turning around.
Hair lashes towards Buttercup and pushes her down. Buttercup grunts.
"Buttercup!" Bubbles cried.
Buttercup is yanked away and down, yelling in surprise, and finally plastered to the window next to Bubbles and I.
Buttercup tries to free herself and fails, "Uhh! Uhh! Sorry, Bubbles, Jared."
"Three down, one to go. You girls stick around with your friend while I finish your sister!" Sedusa said, looking over to Blossom, who is working on untying the captive 'Sedusa', but is having trouble undoing the ropes.
'Sedusa' has a worried look on her face.
"I've almost got it!" Blossom yelled.
"You stay away from her!" Sedusa said, pointing at Blossom and 'Sedusa'.
"Make me!"
"I'm glad you asked." Sedusa said, reaching into her suit jacket and pulls out two hard, flat objects—perhaps pieces of armor plating she wore under her bra.
Sedusa hurls these at Blossom, who deflects them easily, one with each hand.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Blossom said, angrily.
"Merely a diversionary tactic. Look behind you!" Sedusa said, smirking.
Blossom does so and finds a lock of hair reared up next to her arm. She is grabbed and held fast, and her other limbs are seized as well. She tries to free herself from the grasp, but to no effect. I'm looking at Blossom looking at Sedusa from where I'm stuck.
"Try picking those locks!" Sedusa said, shooting a lock of hair towards Blossom, trapping the redhead also. All three girls and I stuck to the window. We are looking at the top of Sedusa's hair from below.
"Sorry, guys." Blossom said, sadly.
"That's okay, Blossom." Bubbles and Buttercup said, at the same time.
"There is really nothing we can do." I said, while Sedusa is facing us.
Sedusa is sighing.
"Ah, this was too easy." Sedusa said, pacing as the girls and I follow her movements. "Now, my only dilemma is whether to finish you off quickly, or do it painfully slow like with the Black Pearl. Vlad Plasmius said to do it painfully slowly with your friend." She is standing over Ms. Bellum's lit fireplace, back to us, but then she quickly turns around on the next line. "But that would be splitting hairs! Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
Sedusa laughs madly, the fireplace casting a deranged glow over her as it momentarily flares up as she cackles. Suddenly, Ms. Bellum's voice brings her out of her celebration and the fireplace calms down with it. She suddenly stops and stands still, looking at the secretary.
"Not so fast, Sedusa!" Ms. Bellum said, standing across from Sedusa, revealing herself to be the captive 'Sedusa'.
Still wearing the disguise, Ms. Bellum's face remains covered through the mask. Her fists are clenched and her legs stand apart in a fighting pose. Somehow, Ms. Bellum's snake hair wig is slithering about similar to Sedusa's. Sedusa angrily glares at the now freed secretary, posed the same as her, as if looking into a mirror.
"You haven't won yet!" Ms. Bellum said, as she speaks, the mask moves with her lips, as if talking as Sedusa.
"You think you can beat me when your superheroes could not?!" Sedusa exclaimed, pointing at the girls and I stuck on the window. She is aggressively leaning in on the next line to intimidate Ms. Bellum. "Never!"
Ms. Bellum is still speaking through Sedusa's face. The hair on the mask has stopped moving.
"Oh, yeah?!" Ms. Bellum exclaimed, reaching towards the bottom of her face, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes while clenching her other hand in a fist for leverage.
Ms. Bellum pulls the mask off from her chin as the sound of tight latex peeling away from her face is heard. We get a tiny peek of the corner of her actual tan-skinned face, but just before it gives way, it cuts to behind her, this time from above her knees. Her mass of curly red-orange hair erupts into view from under the mask as she still wears Sedusa's outfit. She holds the torn off mask in her right hand as she stands across from Sedusa.
"Try me!" Ms. Bellum said, tossing the mask away on her right and rests her arms at her sides.
The two women stand off until suddenly, Sedusa takes a step forward, reeling her head back slightly to quickly send a hair whip at the secretary, emitting a loud crackling sound. Ms. Bellum, with very little reaction time, sticks her arms out in surprise, perhaps in an attempt to dodge. However, the whip successfully wraps itself around her waist, grabbing and ensnaring the secretary tightly. Sedusa grins from managing to get the first strike within seconds of squaring off with Ms. Bellum. She squeezes hard on Ms. Bellum's waist, causing the secretary to grunt in pain and stick her arms outward in a T-pose.
"Ugh!" Ms. Bellum groaned.
Taking advantage of Ms. Bellum's surprise and lack of motion, Sedusa uses the hair whip to lift the secretary's entire body off the ground, rendering her helpless. The girls and I are trapped on the window, concerned for Ms. Bellum.
"Shit." I said, looking over at the girls. "I didn't expect Vlad to do something like this to me."
Sedusa raises the powerless secretary into the air in view of the girls and I, perhaps in a show of humiliation. Worried about how bad things could go for Ms. Bellum, the girls and I call out her name.
"Ms. Bellum!" The girls said, distressed, at the same time.
"Come on, Ms. Bellum." I said, while Ms. Bellum's body now faces more towards the ground, causing her arms to hang downward helplessly. '
Ms. Bellum's hair hangs in front of her chest, covering her face as well. Her skin is still colored a pale white like Sedusa's from the disguise. Pink hair gel can be seen on her waist where the hair whip is grabbing her.
Ms. Bellum is facing down at Sedusa, whose grin has now changed into an angry scowl. She readies another hair whip while also keeping Ms. Bellum in place with the other one. She quickly sends the hair whip towards Ms. Bellum, this time aiming for her face, brutally whipping her. As the hit connects, in a single frame, Sedusa has her eyes closed, implying she put in force to ensure the blow was painful. Ms. Bellum clenches her fists in pain as a tuft of her orange hair shoots out at the spot the whip strikes her.
"Ooh!" The girls said, closing their eyes and turning their heads away from the brutality.
"Ouch." I said, when Ms. Bellum is being swiftly thrown through the air with sheer force, her hair, arms and legs sticking upward from the velocity.
Ms. Bellum slams onto the ground hard to a loud thud, shaking the room from the impact.
Sedusa looks down on the grounded secretary, chuckling maliciously to humiliate Ms. Bellum further. She leans in to attack again, but Ms. Bellum catches her off-guard by reaching up to grab her by the hair and turning them both around. She lies on top of Sedusa and manages to punch her twice in the face.
Sedusa, however, finds an opening and quickly puts her right leg on Ms. Bellum's stomach, interrupting her attack and causing her to open her fist. Sedusa kicks the secretary off of her, launching Ms. Bellum across the room to the right, with her arms and legs outward once again. Behind Ms. Bellum, as we continue to see her flying until she smacks onto the spiral staircase behind her. The impact stuns her, leaving her resting on its steps with her head down. I looked down at Ms. Bellum sagging on the staircase. She remains motionless, her head still down with her hair dangling over her face and chest once more. Taking advantage of this, Sedusa quickly steps in from the right. Ms. Bellum is on the staircase again. She appears to be looking forward now, but is quickly met with a smiling Sedusa moving in on her. The villainess quickly grabs the secretary by her curly hair near her face. This causes Ms. Bellum to flinch, raising her hands a little briefly before putting them back down on the staircase steps, submitting to Sedusa and giving her the upper hand.
Ms. Bellum is suddenly rushing through the air rapidly towards the right, having been thrown by Sedusa. Like a ragdoll, Ms. Bellum appears limp with her hair, arms and legs sticking outward once again from the velocity. There is a shelf of various knickknacks from another part of the room. She comes flying in from the left and crashes into it, breaking it into pieces and sending the knickknacks flying outward. A wall behind the shelf stops her momentum painfully. She falls downward, landing and sitting in the shelf's rubble, once more with her head down. There's a glass table with a small rug underneath and two green chairs behind them. The sound of Ms. Bellum being tossed by Sedusa is heard as the secretary appears flying in from the top right. She lands right on top of the table, shattering it into pieces that get sent flying away from the spot where she lands. She lies motionless on the floor, her body resting right on top of the rug with her arms spread out and one knee sticking upwards.
The girls and I are stuck on the window, our mouths agape as the sound of Sedusa throwing Ms. Bellum is heard once again from across the room.
"Damn it!" I said, while Ms. Bellum flies into my view from the left, slamming onto the window just to the left of the girls and I. "This is bad."
The impact is so hard, it leaves Ms. Bellum motionless on the window for a brief second, covering the girls' reaction and my reaction with her bruised up body. It is likely Sedusa threw her in this specific spot to further humiliate Ms. Bellum and the girls; Ms. Bellum for her cocky comments before the fight and yet still letting herself get beaten up by Sedusa, and the girls and I for allowing Ms. Bellum to fight and get hurt.
"I'm sorry." I said, as Ms. Bellum has her arms down on her sides with one knee sticking outward. "I'm so sorry."
Ms. Bellum starts sliding slowly down the window, causing it to squeak loudly from her back rubbing against it. Her hair moves upwards to the motion. As she slides down, the girls stare down at her, each blinking once with mouths still agape. Ms. Bellum lands on the floor to a thud.
Sedusa is standing in the distance of the room in front of the window across. Ms. Bellum, despite being whipped, beaten and thrown around her house, quickly gets back up once more, as we see her from behind. Sedusa then taunts her, signaling Ms. Bellum to come at her. Ms. Bellum, triggered by the taunt, shakes her fists in rage. She moves in, catching Sedusa with a flying tackle.
(Open POV)
Outside Ms. Bellum's house…
At the edge of the pool, the windows are a very short distance away. After a moment, the two women crash through in a shower of glass. Freeze frame of them suspended in midair, tumbling toward the water.
Now they sink slowly to the bottom of the pool. Sedusa shoves Ms. Bellum away from her, as the latter carelessly attempts to swim for the surface. Sedusa reaches for her and stops her by quickly grabbing her ankle, tugging on the secretary's leg and stopping her momentum completely. Before Ms. Bellum could even react, Sedusa pulls on her leg again, causing the secretary to get dragged back down swiftly deeper into the pool. Ms. Bellum and Sedusa are across from each other. Ms. Bellum, still processing being pulled back down, gets sucker punched in the face by Sedusa, who is now grinning, sending the secretary reeling back from the blow. She quickly retaliates with a kick to Sedusa's jaw. Ms. Bellum leaves herself open again, however, and receives yet another punch, this time to the stomach, which also sends her back and likely cuts more of her breathing time underwater. She intervenes with a left hook but is then swiftly uppercutted in the face, sending the secretary upward and putting her even more at risk. She manages to land another punch and ultimately a kick to Sedusa's stomach, who goes up for air afterwards. At the edge, just above water, a small patch begins to bubble, and Sedusa pokes her head up, gasping for air. She disappears under the water.
Pool…
In the pool, Ms. Bellum grabs Sedusa by the belt and directing a punch her way. She screams, her voice sounding very bubbly, and the screen flashes white. When it clears, Sedusa sinks to the bottom, unconscious, as Ms. Bellum watches. Certain that Sedusa is out for the moment, Ms. Bellum takes the opportunity to swim up to the surface, as she reaches for it by sticking one arm outward.
At the top of the pool, in front of the broken window the two women crashed through, Ms. Bellum's hands poke out as she grabs the edge and lifts herself upward. Her hair appears straight and slick from being soaked in water, resting on her back and shoulders. Ms. Bellum sticks her right leg up to climb out as she climbs out of the pool. She staggers to the right toward her house with her wet hair hanging in front of her, reverting back to being curly. Her arms sway back and forth as she walks over broken glass and dripping water in high heels. Ms. Bellum is in front of the broken window. Ms. Bellum rests her right hand against the frame and leans forward.
"Ugh... oh... ah…" Ms. Bellum said, gasping for air.
As the intensity and pain of the fight start to finally catch up to her nerves, Ms. Bellum begins coughing, each set of coughs becoming more intense than the last, struggling to get the water out of her lungs to catch her breath. Behind her, the water bubbles and Sedusa pokes her head up. Now her hair is quite limp and soggy. Behind Ms. Bellum's legs, Ms. Bellum has one hand dangling down her center, all dripping with water. It is clear she hasn't fully recovered yet to keep fighting Sedusa.
"This isn't over." Sedusa said, deliberately.
Sedusa tries to take the opportunity to continue attacking Ms. Bellum while she is weak. She lashes out with a hair whip, but it falls limply back over her face. She tries again, with the same result—her hair gel has been washed out. The venom and anger evaporate from her face, replaced by disbelief and shock at what has become of her hair.
"Oh!" Sedusa said, stammering. "My hair! What happened to my hair?!" She's splashing. "YOU BROKE MY HAIR!" Sedusa is also crying. "Oh, my poor hair!"
"That's it!" Ms. Bellum said, talking to herself, and she snapped her fingers. "It should cancel out the Spector Deflector also!"
Ms. Bellum's house…
Ms. Bellum grabs a vase from a shelf and its flowers are tossed to the floor. Cut to the girls. A splash of water is thrown onto the girls and I from the water in the vase—and we break loose after a short effort. Blossom is first, then Bubbles, Buttercup, and I at the same time. We float in front of Ms. Bellum, her back to us and her hands at her hips. Ms. Bellum's hair still appears slightly wet.
"Thanks for getting us out of a hairy situation." Blossom said, happily.
"It was pretty shocking." I said, and suddenly, as the next line is spoken, all five of us turn to the right. I looked down at Sedusa's feet and looked up to her head on the next line.
Sedusa is ready to go again, with or without her hair.
"I don't need my hair to beat you…" Sedusa said, suddenly frightened. "B-B-B…"
Sedusa's looking at the five of us, shifting from one to the next. The four whose faces can be seen glare at her with unbridled fury.
"Blossom?" Sedusa asked, with mounting fear. "...Buttercup? ...Bubbles? …Jared? ...Bellum?!"
"Let's finish this, shall we, girls, Jared?" Ms. Bellum asked, pulling out scissors.
"Let's!" The girls said, at the same time.
"Definitely." I said, electrical shocks coming out of my body.
"No! Not that!" Sedusa said, pleading, kneeling. "Please! Anything but that!"
I shocked Sedusa repeatedly, with her knowing how pissed I was at her for doing that to the Mayor and the Professor. I then watched the scissors snapping in Ms. Bellum's hand, as at the side of the pool perpendicular to the windows, silhouettes of the six of us are seen inside. As Sedusa cries out, I walked towards the pool away from the windows, putting my friends out of view.
"No! no! Please! No, stop!" Sedusa said, while I hear hair being snipped. "No, don't! Don't!... NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
I stopped walking to be at the other end of the pool, the city skyline visible in the background.
Outside Townsville Hall…
It is now the afternoon.
"And finally…" The narrator said.
Mayor's office…
The mayor is in his office. He is ecstatic.
"Oh, my dear sweet Ms. Bellum! It's so good to have you back!" The mayor said, hugging Ms. Bellum at about hip level. "I would have gladly paid fifty million dollars for your safe return!"
"That reminds me. Girls, Jared, where on earth did you come up with a million dollars for the ransom?" Ms. Bellum asked.
The girls and I are in front of Ms. Bellum. The valise Bubbles was carrying sits open on the floor.
"It wasn't really a million dollars." Blossom said, happily.
"It was the Mayor's dirty laundry." Buttercup said, smirking.
"The dirty laundry you were unable to wash and dry." I said, laughing a lot.
"The whites!" Bubbles said, pulling a pair of underwear out of the valise to prove the point that we faked the ransom.
"Uh, speaking of dirty laundry—don't you think we should let 'em in on our little secret, hmm?" The Mayor asked, looking at Ms. Bellum.
"For the last time, Mayor, it was not me trying to seduce you. It was Sedusa, dressed up like me." Ms. Bellum said, sighing wearily.
The mayor is deflated.
"Oh." The mayor said, perking up. "Oh, well, in that case…" He is jumping down. "…I'll see you later."
The mayor walks in front of the girls and I and walks away.
"Where are you going?" Ms. Bellum asked, looking at the mayor.
The Mayor is at the office door, "To the prison. Visiting hours are almost over. Toodles!"
The Mayor shuts the door.
The girls and Ms. Bellum looked at the mayor, puzzled.
"Ms. Bellum, you might want to stop the Mayor." I said, laughing my ass off, knowing that the Mayor wants to be seduced by Sedusa. "He wants to be…you know."
(Open POV)
The background for the end shot comes up.
"And so, once again, the day is saved…" The narrator said, and Ms. Bellum appears front and center in Blossom's pose. "…thanks to Ms. Bellum…"
The girls appear: Bubbles on the left, Buttercup and Blossom on the right, looking up at her with admiration.
"…and the Powerpuff Girls! The Cuties of Townsville!" The narrator cooed.
The End!
We'll see you again soon!