"Whatever, we need to move away from here." Red Uto, barely able to keep his eyes opened, led again.
"Why? We can only set some guards," was Buttercup this time.
"This attack was more vicious than the last one. He's probably going to become more savage, especially if he's getting frustrated by the constant failures."
"I'm of the same opinion," added a Blossom with pink military boots and a waist bag, "Besides, I don't think we all can fit in the house."
Everyone looked at the huge amount of teenagers, and had to agree on that.
"Let's go to the volcano, Mojo owes us an explanation about all this," the red-head girl with military boots said.
And the only answer was a general "Huuuuuum…"
They tried the sewers hideout, but it was full with spider Imps.
Then, the Botanical Garden. The Hercules Beetles were there.
And even the old zoo layout, with Wasp Imps…
Morning came, and morning passed. When dusk was showing, the Ghosts finally woke up. They were laying on hospital beds, but it wasn't a hospital. They knew that place very well. Something comforting about it, this time, was the fact that Parra was here, not Mojo. And something not so pleasant to find was the three red-head girls around their beds.
"Finally, boys! I thought you were dead!" said a girl with a pink leather jacket. Blossom, but she looked different. And angry.
"Calm down, uh, 'Skye,' right?" said another red-head, wearing glitter and beads on strands of her hair. "How are you feeling, guys? You collapsed suddenly a few moments before landing and you've slept since!" she looked concerned.
"It only matters that they're awake now," said the last one, her gear more military inspired and wearing pink boots. This was the one they had nicknamed Mili. "By the way, you could tell us the codes to deactivate Mojo's booby traps. We've been falling on them all day!"
She had barely finished her sentence when a big explosion sounded from the next room, followed by a ton of swear words.
"I mean, why did he even put some in the kitchen?"
"To dispose of anyone who tried to use this place without his consent," Red Uto answered while getting up.
"I think he set like thirteen of those in the kitchen," added Blue Boom, trying to order all of his ideas.
"I hope you're right; that would be it then," said Mili.
"No, there were fourteen," but Thornton's warning came late, since there was a last explosion, followed by the sound of shattering glass and more furious swearing.
When night came, all the traps had been deactivated, and everyone had finally had dinner, they organized a training area as a bedroom, using the training mattresses as sleeping ones, and some sheets to keep the boys and girls separated. Everything seemed to be fine for now, so Bossy Blossom, the one from this world (and whose sisters had chosen the nickname, approved by all of the Ruffs) turned to the Ghosts.
"So, let's make a recall of everything since the volcano's explosion, OK Uto? Uhm, Brick?"
But, to nobody's surprise, the Ghosts weren't there.
"Seriously, girl, why do you even bother trying to ask them anything? You know they won't tell us, even if we send them those two loudmouths here," Punk Brick said, a smirk on his face, pointing to an empty mattress.
"The need of controlling everyone," added Green Butter, the only nickname they could get for her that didn't end with a laser shot.
"Wha! I'm not that controlling!" shouted her sister.
"Yes, you are," was the general answer, even from Bluee, this world's Bubbles.
While all this happened in the rooms, the Ghosts were outside, sitting at a branch of the sequoia tree. The forest was quiet, the silence musicalized by the animals running, flying, and chirping in a gentle sum of noises.
But none of this could ease the boys.
"Damn, so we finally had to come here again," Thornton's voice was unusually low, even if they were alone.
Uto and Blue Boom agreed.
"The sooner we move, the faster we'll leave this place," he said at last.
"But we need to take care of this Him guy and all the others first," completed Blue Boom.
"I'd love to set this place on fire till the ground," finally Butch said. His brothers agreed in silence again.
"Well, not possible yet. We still need Mojo's tech if we wanna send all those other Ruffs and Puffs back to their own place. We better get going."
But even after having said that, neither Red Uto nor his brothers moved.
A shiver came down their spine and the three looked around.
"Do you guys have that feeling that someone's watching us?" asked Butch.
"Finally you get what it is everyday for me!" But though the sarcasm, Boomer was also alerted until they confirmed no danger was around.
"We're getting paranoid," was Brick's conclusion and he stood up. "Let's talk to Professor Utonium and Mojo. Come on."
His brothers followed.
They got in by a hiding door, perfectly carved on the bark. For anyone, this place would be a master work of engineering and technology, where metal, plastic and wood mixed in a perfectly functional bunker.
"You know, Brick? We should also have Parra taking a look on what was Mojo's plan for 'improvement'. That monkey was able to have done something to us without telling us," Boomer said.
"Wait, what 'improvements'?" was Red Uto's reaction.
"The ones he was planning, remember? Didn't he leave the instructions in your bedrooms?"
Red Uto slapped the blond's head.
"Why didn't you tell me about that? The explosion occurred before I could read it!"
"Hey, not my fault! And why are you hitting me, Butch?"
"It's fun. Besides, I'm sure you deserved it."
"Still, you should have told me as soon as we met, idiot!" Uto kept going.
Blue Boomer was about to answer when they met some of the girls.
"Hey, guys! We've been looking for you!" said Candy Bubbles, the blue girl from the Punks world.
Blue Boom pointed at her and used a mixed sign language to tell his brother "How was I supposed to tell you about it if the girls are always around?!"
"Hum, is that sign language? What did you say? Is it about us?" Candy kept asking.
They walked through the corridor and headed to the lab area, on the opposite side of the clinic and the training areas. There they found the adults, and Punk Brick, Chatter Butch and Blue Bubbles (or the "Nerd Club," according to Buttercup).
"Hey, guys! We were just talking about you! The Chills went with you to the volcano, right? They told us it was wrecked but you managed to recover some of Mojo's data, is it true?" That was Chatter Butch, of course.
"Yeah, why?" Red Uto replied.
"Because some idiot said he could open a portal if he gets the prints," said Punk Brick, annoyed.
"Hey, I said it would be fun! And that it would be interesting to apply some reverse engineering on some of Mojo's toys! Not that I was really intending to do it!" Butch explained.
"Can't this Mojo do it?" Thornton, just as his brothers, was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of other boys looking at their own data.
"After having considered the differences between every Ruff across the universe, I have assumed the Mojo in this world must have had a methodology that might differ substantially with my own methodology, giving this to us the need of a different point of view in order to fully understand such methodology, therefore coming with a new solution for our present situation."
"You could just say this world Mojo was smarter than you," concluded Blue Boom simply.
"What about you, Professor? We can help with the codes," Red Uto inquired.
"Of course I will be helping; I will help this group of enthusiastic future generation of scientists," Professor said, radiating pride as he hugged Punk Brick, Chatter Butch and Bluee.
Unfortunately, only the girl seemed to be happy with this show of pride and love. The boys squirmed the embrace quickly, though Mojo Jojo immediately took Chatter Butch's arm, pulling him close, and formalizing the plan:
"I can truly trust my son's capacities on coming with a brilliant idea to open new portals. As for me, since we are running out of time, the Professor and I will be working on understanding the mechanism to conceal the mentioned portals, therefore focusing on providing these three with all the input they need, in order they don't have to waste valuable time with all the reading."
"OK, so you guys are going to work on the tech part; what's with pinky boots here?"
Red Uto pointed to Mili Blossom, the one wearing more like a soldier and the bump bag.
"Oh, I was just checking on them. We're probably gonna need to organize a strategy to train and also get everything for the gear they design…"
Everyone looked at Red Uto, who seemed to be the only one agreeing with her on the importance of being prepared both for combat and schemes.
"Wow, Uto, it seems you've met your perfect match." But before Chatter Butch could keep going with a joke about "matching," Mojo Jojo interrupted him.
"It will be useful to make the preparations for any incident, but we still need to know if it was this world's Mojo Jojo who created the portal or what information he had about it, if any…"
"Yeah, right, about that. I think we may found something," Red Uto said, glad to have Chatter Butch quieted, as well as Mojo.
He sat on the computer and opened a file: Mirror. All eyes stuck to what appeared on the screen. Designs, video blogs and detailed prints explaining how, while he was studying a way to defeat the girls, he created a software which should show him all the possible mistakes, fails or crashes.
"Thus, I came with the idea, why just read the data, when I could actually watch it," said the monkey on the screen.
"Man, I thought Mojo was dense, but this one is even worse."
Punk Brick rubbed his eyes and checked the time spent in the video. Forty minutes.
"Why don't we just download the prints? It's not as we really need all these nonsense that only Mojo here is enjoying," added Butch, yawning. "We know what we need: Mojo created the Mirror to monitor other worlds, Him found about it and overfed it to use it as a portal."
No one disagreed. Except for Mojo, who seemed to think every word was important.
So, Punk Brick, Bluee and Chatter Butch headed to bed.
"Are you coming, Ghosts?" asked Mili.
"In a moment, we just make sure the copy is done," answered Red Uto, straddling on the chair and moving in circles.
Though the three seemed just as tired as the others—if not more—nobody said anything. They already knew them well enough to bother.
Once the Nerd Club had left and the Ghosts checked the advance, they opened a different archive and made another copy. They turned to the adults. Specifically, to Parra.
"Here, we need you check this," Brick said as he handed Parra the data. "It's the data about us, about how Mojo created us."
"But he was always trying to 'improve' us, we need to know what he was doing," added Boomer.
Since the teens were careful not to show worry, Parra just took the data without comment.
"I'll let you know what I find."
The next morning was a bit less chaotic than the last month, since there were three showers at the training room and the "Weather room"—an area that mimicked different ecosystems—and another in each bedroom. Professor Utonium, Mojo Loud, and Dr. Parra were currently staying in three of them.
Candy Blossom wondered aloud while she was braiding strands of her hair and placing beads every few centimeters. "Come to think, Ghosts, why are there five bedrooms? I get that one was Mojo Jojo's and another for each of you, but who stayed in the fifth, next to Mojo's?"
"Bite me," said Thornton as he finished putting on his tennis shoes.
"What?! You don't know who else was living here?" This time Buzzercup—a version of Buttercup who had shaved the sides of her head—challenged them.
"No one has ever occupied it, as long as I remember. Besides, we didn't come here for more than two weeks at a time," was Red Uto's annoyed explanation.
"But you have never asked? You were never curious? It seems like your Mojo never let a strand on its own; that room must have had a reason to be here," commented Cheer Bubbles, the blue girl who wore, well, a cheerleader's uniform.
The Ghosts shrugged. They were about to stand up, but a bunch of Ruffs, the Louds and Chills, jumped over them.
"Ack! What are you doing, idiots?!" Red Uto yelled, pinned under the combined weight.
"You always leave without telling us anything! Where were you planning to go?" said the boys, sitting heavily on the Ghosts.
"To the kitchen, of course, stupids!" Thornton retorted, muffled by a shoulder and the pressure on his chest.
"Is this really necessary?" asked Mili, looking at the pile of boys with disapproval.
"Is either this or tag them," was Bossy Blossom's answer, crossing her arms.
"And they'd probably pin a mole or a badger just to make us wonder why they're underground," added Green Butter, referencing the Ghosts' tendency toward elaborate misdirection.
"Or you could just let them keep their own secrets, I'm sure they're not big deal," commented Bloom, Blossom's gender-bender version.
"But since you Ghosts are with us, Mayor Bellum has assigned protection to the Thornton, but we need to know if there's someone else that needs to be under surveillance," Bluee was seriously concerned as she asked the boys.
"Why? That guy doesn't seem to be the kind that threatens people," was Red Uto's indifferent answer.
"Well, no, but Him's probably going to try to spy on them to know about the bunker," she explained.
"Then don't tell anyone about it."
"Seriously, Brick? Aren't none of you three worried about what can happen to your families or friends? I mean, Professor Utonium and Dr. Parra are here, but what about everyone else?" shrieked Bossy.
To nobody's surprise but everybody's annoyance, the Ghosts just shrugged.
"I think I'm starting to see why you are always angry at them," said Cheer Blossom, not because she wore a cheerleading uniform, but because it kind of looked like one.
"Com'on, boys! there must be some people you care about!" was another Buttercup this time.
"Yeah! I mean, you've made some friends, right? Like Aisha…" Bluee was determined to have the boys accepting the Mayor's help.
"She can take care of herself," answered Blue Boom dismissively.
"… and Dahlila," continued Bluee.
"Why would we tell anyone from the Pits about us?" was Red Uto's definitive answer.
"But there must be someone you want to protect! In all these years you must have met some nice people among the thieves, rogues, bandits, warlords, assassins… Never mind, I'm starting to think the Imps are the ones who'll need help," concluded Bluee, throwing her hands up in surrender.
The reaction was immediate and widespread.
"Wait, thieves? Warlord? Assassins?" were the other PowerPuff Girls and Boys' honest and surprised reaction. "What exactly did we miss here? Are you sure you're OK?"
"Oh, bite me! I can't believe you don't even have any 'friendnemy'!" said Green, half mocking, half incredulous.
"A what?" Red Uto frowned.
"A friendnemy, you know? The kind of friend you can trust everything but will also fight you all the time?" she explained.
The Ghosts interchanged a glance.
"Are you sure we're the ones with problems?" said finally Thornton, a hint of genuine confusion cutting through his usual cynicism.
After years training how to get unnoticed, mingle in silence and disappear, the Ghosts found themselves in a situation where they couldn't hide and sneak away whenever they wanted. It seemed as if every hideout and even a quiet nook was known by the others, so, talking to each other had become impossible. By the end of the day, they had to accept defeat and focus on protecting at least the secret about their origins. Spoiler: they also failed on that.
It happened the third or fourth day at the bunker. While the teens were eating dinner at the training room, which was also functioning as the dining room.
Parra came in, looking for the Ghosts.
"Oh, hi guys. Do you know where Uto, Thornton, and Boom are?"
"I think they were looking for you in the clinic," someone answered him.
"Thanks," he said and turned.
All the kids, having finished dinner and bored to death, followed him.
"Why? Are they sick?" they asked Parra.
"No, of course not," he answered with his usual calm.
"So, why do you need to talk to them? Is it something serious? Can we go too? I mean, we're technically them; what if something that happens to them happens to us, too?"
"And we have to deal with Brick, I mean, Red Uto; we need to know if anything's going up."
"No, you don't," said Parra, closing the door of the clinic behind him.
"Oh, come on! You know we can hear everything! We have super hearing! And if you write it down, we'll just use our X-Ray vision!"
"And we know Parra can't use sign language!"
The Ghosts surrendered.
"Fine! But you have to shut up and don't make any stupid question! In fact, don't even say a word," and with that warning, Red Uto opened the door and let the band in.
So, everyone was in silence, as if they were about to watch the latest trendy movie.
Parra cleared his throat and began.
"Well, according to this, Mojo Jojo knew that in every single world, the Ruffs evaporated when the girls kissed them…"
"Wait, you did?" Green Butter interrupted, not being able to stop mocking the boys for such a silly way to be defeated.
A bunch of flushed faces quickly shut her down. "We were six, OK?!"
"As I was saying," Parra resumed, "Mojo decided not to create the boys until he could get the Chemical X or a more qualified substitute. Yet, while he was on it, he found some mistakes on the girls' formula…"
"Wait! What! Are we sick or something?!" Bossy Blossom jumped.
"No, he just thought he could make a better formula," Parra had to explain.
The Ghosts shrugged. Of course, that was the Mojo Jojo they knew: one who was always trying to improve his projects.
"Well, our formula was perfect!" said Green Butter, and her sisters approved with vigorous nods.
Parra regained his thread. "So, apparently there was a way to make a much more stable formula, but he needed some DNA. Of course, being a monkey, he couldn't use his own. And then he named someone, a guy called Joseph. But Mojo didn't leave any insight about him. At least, not in the data I consulted."
"Oh, we need to find out who this guy is! Maybe he knows more about the Mirror!" Punk Boomer jumped from the bed he was sitting. The other teens agreed.
"I bet the fifth room was Joseph, let's go there and find out!" suggested Kiwi, Candy Blossom and Candy Bubbles' sister.
In a dash, the teens flew from the clinic, on the bottom floor, to the third floor, where bedrooms were.
Blue Boom, who stayed in the clinic with his brothers and Parra, asked with barely a note of interest.
"Should we stop them and tell them that's the only electric trap we can't deactivate?"
"Nah, let them find it by themselves," was Red Uto's answer, while he took the report from Parra.