And as the green eyes girl said, it got ugly, Him's Imps were spider-like creatures this time. Just a bit smarter than others, but Spider smartness. When some of the teens tried to fly and attract from the air, they got stuck in a thin, sticky web. Buttercup was struggling trying to burn the web from her leg but her hair had got tangled in the web, limiting her moves. Punk Butch got to stop his flying before getting totally stuck, but still had to fight with one arm, since the other was retained in the trap.
"I'll get rid of these," offered Chatter Boomer before releasing a discharge of electricity, wich followed the threads, touch the water in the pool and fried the spider. And every of the Ruffs who were trapped in them. Of course, Brick gave him a rap in the head. It didn't really matter wich Brick was, since everyone agreed.
"Don't do that again, idiot!"
On the ground, things weren't any better. Big Hercules-beetle imps proved to be hard to manage. They would thow anything in a chaotic sequence. And even if any get to meet them, the critters were strong enough to face even Butch.
"The hell with all your mess!" Red Uto appeared on the window of his room.
"Don't kiddy me! Were you guys sleeping?!" Loud Brick scolded them, but then a beetle smashed him against the wall.
"Don't use the window, Brick! There are spider webs all over the place!" Blossom warned them.
Red Uto looked at them with scorn. He created heat without fire and burnt the web around the cristal. Butch Thornton threw an explosive ball to the pool, causing a drizzle that showed the magnitud of the spiders's trap. Once they knew the battle field, they moved fast. Red Uto made sure to tuck Mojo's info in his notebook and then, to his clothes. Blue Boom swept a couple of beetles with a super speed force. From that corner, he traced the spiders and their webs. Thornton followed him, making sure no one hurt the blond as he inspect the area and found the weak points. He would stayed measuring strengths with one of the beetles, but since Blue Boom flew, he had to kick in on a paw, just enough to open a side from where he could kick and bend its head and put it on its side. Uto helped Loud Brick to free from the beetle, thought it was only able to push it back a little, enough for his other self to wriggle out.
"These beast won't be easy to dispose of from the ground," Uto murmured, then, he asked his brothers, "Booms, what you know?"
"The beetles can pass through the webs, we can't. The spiders won't attack until they get a clear chance."
"So, that's his plan? Seem this Him guy's losing his patience. Let's make him angrier."
A general "Uh?" came from every teenager. Uto explained, not hiding his condescension:
"Beetles push us to the web, and the spiders will tied us only if the can get closer without being hurt. We need to smash the spiders first, then we'll attack from the air."
The plan was good, and it would have worked out, except, the Ghost forgot they were working with chaotic Ruffs. One tried to hit a spider as soon as he spotted it, just to get tangled in the web that surrounded it. Another wanted to burn it, but the fire spread fast and Blossom had to freeze the web before the flames reached the Ruffs who were trying to free from it. And another one found a way close enough, just to get bitten and paralized by the spider.
"Idiots! Don't you know spiders's venom immobilize its prey?" got to say Red Uto after seeing the others "in action".
So, there were now only the Ghosts, Loud Brick, Blossom, and, amazingly, Blue Hoodie on the ground. The beetles were surrounding them and the spiders were approaching the guys tangled, preparing their poisonous doses. Not only that, they could see that one of the spiders walked inside the house, where Professor Utonium and Dr. Parra were.
"Damn, if this were a movie, it'd be a great moment for a Deus ex machina", said one of the blues, trying to use laser vision.
"A what?" asked Bubbles.
Chatter Boomer answered:
"A Deus ex Machina—you know, when the writer's mediocre and doesn't know how to solve a problem in the story, they make someone or something appear out of the blue and solves everything in a moment."
"Oh, great," Buttercup cut in. "Besides the nerd club, now we also have the film club."
"Buttercup! Watch out!" Blossom yelled at her sister, trying to warn her.
A spider was coming her way at incredible speed. She saw it opened its mouth and the fangs appeared, poison dripping. Before they touch here, a green blast sent it away.
Everyone looked around for the origin of it, and found a series of bright cracks against the dark sky, and the PowerPuffs got into battle.
"Girls, Sigma form!" one Blossom, her hair on a bun, called out and the three used their laser beams against the spiders.
"Bubbles, Buttercup, find where are the spiders hiding. I'll freeze the threads," was another Blossom, one with a dark pink leather jacket.
"The beetles are retreating", pointed a third Blossom who wore beads on some strands of hair, "expect the worst, girls".
This last one was right. From the hell portals, mantis imp came in. They attacked, no minding who was it, slashing and cutting everything.
"Guess he has given up on his original plan, whatever it was," commented Thornton.
A smile appeared on his face, preparing for this new battle. With a rush, he ran against the Imps, slid next to one, grabbing it by the feet, and using it as a whiplash against its comrades. Blue Boom slid out of the way of one hit and actually led the creature through the web, freeing the guys near the ground. Punk Butch clapped his hands, and a sonic wave swept away the Imps in front of him.
The beetles had used the distance to build up speed and attack. Red Uto created an energy tunnel that suddenly closed over the Imps, crushing the charging beetles instantly.
"Wow, you should teach us how!" all of them said.
Red Uto was about to answer something, but the Girls interrupted him.
"Don't you dare! These guys are already a handful without that technique!"
"Shut up, idiot girls! Honestly, they have more probabilities to learn it than you!"
As soon as Bubbles was freed, she flew into the house, chasing the Imps. Some other Girls followed. But since the space was limited, they just picked the men and put them on the roof. Blue Boom created an electric fence around them, but this took a huge amount of his energy. Not just him. Red Uto and even Thornton started to show tiredness.
"We need a way to end it now," Uto told his brothers.
"Let me recall you the last time," Thornton said.
Uto didn't like the comment, but he knew his brother was right. Even with all the PowerPuff Girls and the RowdyRuff Boys that had converged, they had little to no option, because the Imps kept coming.
"We need to close the portals from where these things are coming," Uto stated.
"That's going to be a problem. Portals can be opened by different ways, not only Him's magic. And the only way to close it would be crossing the portal," Loud Brick explained. He had also got to the same conclusion, but no answer.
A new commotion came suddenly from one of the portals.
"Sweetheart, stop! You know you can't cross!" said a female voice.
"Please, Her, you are well aware that crossing the portal can cause a dimensional disturb," said another woman.
"Move away! My little babies need me!" This voice was female, yet deep and masculine.
But this seemed to be useless, since some big claws were showing from the portal, before a big, motorist boot stepped on the ground.
The moment it touched land, Imps started convulsing violently, their forms twisting and dissolving into dark dust. The portals collapsed immediately. But not only the ones from hell; every single portal the girls had crossed by closed. The demoness showed her face, full of anger.
"Her!" shrieked a group of girls and boys which everyone assumed were the gender version of the girls and boys.
The teens only got a glance of the female version of Him, because barely had she set foot when she froze and looked above, as if she had heard something no one else could find. She laughed maniacally and went back, though the harm was already done and the portals disappeared.
"Geez, that was scary. Do you think Him, Her, whoever she was, has done something wicked?" asked Bubbles, one who wore glitter and shining beads on her ponytails, which gave her an even more feminine look.
"Nah, that's her regular laugh," said a girl next to her, who wore a flannel and Bermudas, with a huge masculine vibe.
"Well, she had closed the portals for us. I think we're all trapped here now," said the Blossom wearing a pink leather jacket, her arms crossed.