Hardline Softtop

fan fiction by Rich Wilson

"Hardline Softtop"  ("based on a true story") by Rich Wilson

SCENE: It is the middle of the night over the Atlantic Ocean.  The sky is clear.

ANNOUNCER:  The Atlantic Ocean.  Just look at how beautiful it is!  Millions of stars shine brightly in a clear, moonless sky; the waves calmly glitter as they move to and fro, reflecting the peaceful illumination from above.

Slowly, a low roar builds up as a Lufthansa cargo plane creeps towards America.  Up above, one of the stars shines more brightly, as if some cosmic dimmer switch were being turned up very slowly and steadily.

SCENE: In a large dimly-lit room, fifty people in blue Air Force uniforms sit at three rows of control panels: each person has his or her own computer display and a dim lamp.  Five huge screens, at least twelve feet high, dominate the front wall of this theatre, and, at the back, there is an old-fashioned tubular steel platform rising above the room.  Throughout the room there is quiet talking, whether on phones or working together, and it creates a slight tension in the atmosphere.  An officer is leaning back in his old, thickly padded rolling chair with his feet up on his panel.  The cord on his headset is strained and he shifts his weight and turns the page of a report.  We see a gold oak leaf on his collar, indicating that he is a Major.

Down below, the noise level slowly rises as a small dot appears on one of the large screens, over the north of Greenland.  The staff members become more animated as they double-check their information.  The major notices the change in mood and returns his chair to an upright position, dropping his report on his console at the same time.  He looks at his screen and his eyes grow wide.

MAJOR:  Ohhhhh no!  (grabbing a microphone)  Alert level two -- this is not a drill.  (booms out of the speakers above in a relatively calm voice; immediately, a green "5" above the main screen becomes a red "2."  He then picks up a telephone and waits a moment)  General -- we have a contact.

He hangs up and starts to work on his console, sending commands to his staff.  Two guards with machine guns and large trash bags move among the people below.  Without even a murmur of disapproval, the guards begin collecting all coffee, soda, food, magazines, and other non-essential items, tossing everything into the garbage bags.  A missile attack is a bad time to spill coffee on your keyboard.

Within half a minute, the heavily armed cleanup crew has finished and returned to their watch.  A heavy door rumbles open behind the major and a woman with a single silver star on her uniform quickly but calmly walks into the room.  The major stands almost at attention facing her as she approaches.  She is Brigadier General Constance Concern.

GENERAL CONCERN: What do we have, Major Vigilance?

MAJOR VIGILANGE: (turning to his monitor)  One contact over the north Atlantic... coming in from the north-northwest....  Intelligence sources indicate no launch warnings...  Confirmed, only one target....  We're checking in with observatories now, and there IS a report of a small meteor or asteroid.

A young brown-haired man, a sergeant, approaches with his headset cord dangling down to his left elbow.  Unceremoniously, he puts a small map on a table before the two.  There is no time for saluting during a possible attack.

SARGEANT:  It appears to be small earth-crossing asteroid - not like in the movies, but it'll pack a punch.  It will strike about ten miles off of the South Carolina coast.  Science office tells us that it'll probably cause tidal waves with moderate-to-heavy damage along the coast.  We have about twenty-five minutes to impact.

MAJOR VIGILANCE:  It is to small and fast for a direct hit, and if we use proximity detonators it will definitely be noticed.

GENERAL CONCERN: Prepare for the charges, two waves, but hold the order to fire.

MAJOR VIGILANCE: Ma'm?

GENERAL CONCERN: A sudden panic over earth-crossing asteroids may cause more damage than the impact itself.  Don't worry, we'll blow it up if we have to.  However, that may spark bigger problems AND it would reveal some of our most secret capabilities.  First, we must try the GBP option.

MAJOR VIGILANCE: (looking shocked for a moment)  Well, we have the communication taps and equipment in place, but we weren't planning to approach them for another year or so.  Even the President doesn't know. (pausing) Can they be trusted?

GENERAL CONCERN: (muttering) The President is the last person we'd tell about GBP. (to Major Vigilance) Major, if we have to create Chinese new years over the Atlantic then everyone will find out anyways.  Give the order to activate GBP.

MAJOR VIGILANCE: Yes Ma'm!  (into microphone)  Keymen!  Report to activate operation Golf-Bravo-Papa!

Two women and a man, the "keymen," run up the stairs to the main panel and take positions about seven feet apart from each other, spanning the length of the panel.  Each reaches into her or his shirt to pull out a group of several keys on a chain.  Each key is a different color: blue, orange, green, purple, red, pink, black, etc.  General Concern similarly removes her dog tags and hands them to Major Vigilance, who has done the same with his.  He holds the tags together and slides the codons together and reads the message.

MAJOR VIGILANCE: Keyman one - GREEN!  (the first woman selects the green key on her chain and puts it in a lock on the panel in front of her).  Keyman two - BLUE!  (the man inserts his blue key into his lock).  Keyman three - PINK!  (She inserts her pink key).  On "turn." (quickly) THREE - TWO - ONE - TURN!

At the same moment, the three enlisted people turn their keys in the locks.  There is a loud snap as a heavily-plated panel next to Major Vigilance drops, revealing the ultimate hotline: it is a white telephone with a red handset and a face painted on the front.  A red button sticks out for a "nose."  It is a Powerpuff hotline.

MAJOR VIGILANGE: (giving the handset to Major Concern)  All communication lines between here and Townsville have been quiesced and the squirrel-box is active.

GENERAL CONCERN:  (as she puts the undersized handset to her face)  Do it.

Major Vigilance pushes the "nose," which turns red.

SCENE:  We hear light breathing as the three beautiful girls sleep in their bed, the hall light shining in on Bubbles.  Their slumber is suddenly interrupted by a louder-than-usual buzz from the hotline.  Blossom clenches her eyes and grimaces as she pulls her pillow over her head.  Without opening her eyes, Bubbles clumsily puts her hand on Buttercup's face and pushes back and forth.

BUBBLES:  It's your turn (she sighs).

BUTTERCUP: (annoyed)  Grrrr... Alright....

Buttercup, too sleepy to fly, walks over to the phone and picks it up.

BUTTERCUP:  It's the middle of the night, Mayor, what's wrong?

Instead of the Mayor, she hears loud chirping and cheeping coming from the ear-piece.  She puts the handset on the table, walks back over to the bed, and pulls Bubbles out onto the floor by her arm.  Bubbles whines in protest.

BUTTERCUP:  It's for you  -- It's that squirrel again!  (she yawns and goes back into bed)

Bubbles stumbles over to the phone and picks it up.

BUBBLES: (cheeping and chirping in a middle-american dialect of squirrel)  Hello?  This is Bubbles, what can I do for you?

There is chirping and cheeping on the line and Bubbles half listens in her semi-dreaming state.  Suddenly, the top of the hotline opens to reveal a military Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver with a map and flashing display.

BUBBLES: (still in squirrel)  OK, bye bye.

BUTTERCUP:  (moaning) What did he want at this hour?

BUBBLES:  (sleepily) There is an asteroid heading for South Carolina and the Air Force wants us to push it back into space before it destroys everything. (yawns while climbing from the foot of the bed, not wanting to crawl over her sisters)  They want us to keep it a secret, too.  (She gets under the covers.)

BLOSSOM:  (putting the pillow back under her head)  That's too bad -- (mumbles) I wanted to attend a modeling school in South Carolina....

BUTTERCUP:  (eyes closed) Their rules are too strict anyways.

They drift off back to sleep.  Suddenly, six big eyes all pop open at once.

ALL THREE:  An asteroid!

BLOSSOM: (flying over to examine the GPS unit) We have to stop it before it hits!

BUBBLES:  But it's dark outside!

BUTTERCUP:  Well, then keep your eyes closed and you won't notice.

Bubbles closes her eyes as hard as she can.  In a flash, her sisters change into their clothes and fly out of the bedroom, leaving Bubbles behind.

BUBBLES:  Hey!  WAIT FOR ME!

She makes her fast change and chases after them.
 

SCENE: Back over the Atlantic Ocean, the girls use the GPS to locate the asteroid's current position.

BLOSSOM:  It's going to be REALLY hot, so I'll try to cool it with my breath before we push it back into space.

BUTTERCUP: (grumbles) Show-off!

They move in on the asteroid, attacking it straight-on.  The half-mile space rock is leaving a light trail of red as it forces its way through the air faster than the speed of sound.  Spiderweb-thin blue sparks dance back and forth across its leading edge, growing more pronounced and extending further away from the asteroid, but the sparks themselves remain thin.

As the girls move in on their target, it passes five-hundred feet over the Lufthansa jet from behind.  While passing, a mass of the strange blue sparks jump to the airplane and start dancing around its hull.  The rock's wind grabs the right wing up and forces it up with incredible force: the plane spins so that the right wing is now just over the left side of the aircraft, and the wake continues to spin the plane in all directions.

The girls see their objective and turn to match its heading and course.  Blossom tries to fly backwards, facing the asteroid but moving in the same direction as it.  She cannot maintain her speed like this, so the rock comes at her.

As Blossom blows with all her might, frost and ice form in the sky and the rock's lights fade.  As her sisters move in under the rock, it hits her with a bump, knocking the wind out of her for a moment, but the surface is only warm to the touch.  She quickly re-positions herself under the boulder and the three of them groan and grunt as they gradually deflect the boulder, using some of its own momentum to raise it up again.  The girls and the asteroid rise slowly at first, but gradually the angle increases.  After five minutes of pushing and straining against the rock, they have it back in space where they let it fly free.  The asteroid floats back into the lonely reaches of space.
 

They quickly turn their attention to the cargo plane and zoom in to save it.  The pilot is fighting with all his might, but the aircraft refuses to submit to his will.  Unnoticed, the blue sparks battle of the surface of the plane, but they are quickly dispersed by the static relief cords (small strings of mostly nylon which discharge accumulated static electricity back into the air).  Almost all of the sparks lose their battle as surely as the pilot is losing his.

Inside the cargo hold, a brand new Porsche 996 Cabriolet breaks free of its anchoring during one of the jolts.  Its rear bumper slams into the hull of the airplane just as one tiny spark is passing by.  Somehow, the spark jumps from the plane to the car, dancing around the body and then entering the car through an alloy wheel.  Several different lights, one at a time, flicker dimly as the blue spark examines its surroundings.  Finally, it all fades away.

The pilot and copilot are fighting with all their might.  Finally, the pilot yells in anger.

PILOT:  If ve crash ve vill not make schedule.... (screaming) AND I VILL NOT BE LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!!

The Powerpuff girls fight their way through the turbulence around the tossing aircraft.  Buttercup manages to land on top, just above the tail, and she spreads herself on top of the plane as if she is trying to slide down a grossly-oversized firepole.  From there, she stabilizes the tail, slowly bringing it down.  Bubbles then gently lifts under the nose while Blossom reorients the wings to level flight.

Bubbles and Blossom join Buttercup by the back of the airplane.

BLOSSOM:  Great move, sister!  You saved the plane!

BUBBLES:  (excited) You were sooooooo awesome the way you jumped in there and grabbed it by the tail and straightened it out.  It was so cool!

Buttercup frees herself from her awkward position and rejoins her sisters in flight.

BUTTERCUP:  Should we make sure they're all right?

BLOSSOM:  We were told to keep this a secret, and it would be very unpatriotic for us to reveal that we were even here.

BUBBLES:  But I always wanted to see where the pilot sits in an airplane.

BLOSSOM:  We can do that the next time we fly.  Right now, let's get home and back to bed.

BUTTERCUP:  Yeah, aren't you afraid of the dark anyways.

BUBBLES:  (looking around at the stars and the water; a third-quarter crescent moon is rising off the water)  But it's so pretty out here - I've never seen so many stars.

Blossom and Buttercup tear off for home; Bubbles realizes that they never NEED fly in airplanes, so she won't be seeing the cockpit anytime soon.  She squeaks a little laugh and zooms off after her sisters.

ANNOUNCER:  Once again, the day...er.... night is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls. (scene continues for a few seconds)  But, wait, that's not it?  Oh, that was just the introduction.
 

SCENE: Three months later, we are outside the basement garage of a one-story house in the suburbs.  It is a sunny Saturday afternoon, about fifty-degrees (Fahrenheit) outside.  Arthur, a distinguished older gentleman with salt-and-pepper gray hair and a short beard is checking out his new silver Porsche 996.  Inside the car, Rich is busy reading the manual.

ANNOUNCER:  The town of Wayland!  It's a suburb of Boston with many little country roads on which to take a nice drive in a new convertible.

With expert moves, the two quickly go through the short checklist and remove the metal hard top of the car.  Now they are ready to raise the convertible top.

ART:  OK, I want to see it from out here - go ahead and start it.

The Porsche almost glows with beauty in the late afternoon sunlight. Rich gently sits in the driver's seat, turns the key to "run," and holds in the "top up" button.  After a second, a metal lip around the back of the car rises up to expose the folded convertible top inside.  When the lip is fully back, the top starts to rise, slowly covering the car in a fluid motion.  The top continues towards the top of the windshield with it's one-inch-wide hook folded back, waiting to connect where the hard top's hook had been.

When the top is three inches from the windshield it stops dead.

ART:  Oh, they warned me that it needs to be stretched a little the first few times.  Let me push it down.

Art carefully places a towel in the passenger door well and steps up on it.  From there, he presses forward and down on the soft top.  Rich holds the button down again and grabs the top's inside handle for extra measure.  The top moves forward two inches when the hook suddenly jumps out four inches, gashing the plastic above its receptacle.  Rich releases the button.

RICH:  (shouts) Oh, dandelions!

Art gets off the door-well and investigates.  They decide to try again, and again, and finally they get the hook to almost-mate with the windshield.  The hook does not sit fully in its hole.

ART:  Well, lets put it down and take a ride.

Donning their heavy jackets and baseball caps, the two get in the car and Art carefully maneuvers around the hard top.  After engaging the seat warmers and turning the heat to maximum, they roll out onto the lovely, twisty, narrow back-country roads for a pleasant drive.

During the drive, they determine that the Porsche's acceleration and handling are superb, and the car, well, "would be very" capable of exceeding all highway speed limits, even on some twisty back roads.

The cold started to get to these two, so they pull over to raise the roof once again.  Art steps out of the car and Rich holds the button again.  A spindly blue spark whispers around the button as he presses it, but he is too busy watching the roof to notice.

As the top approaches its mark, Art presses down on it again.  The hook jumps forward, as before, and misses its mark.  It automatically retracts to try again.  As it makes a second pass, the top suddenly jolts up a few inches and the hook jams between the top of the windshield and the lip of the soft top.  The roof is now jammed four inches above the windshield.

RICH: (releasing the button) Kittycats leapfrogging daisies!

ART: (looking concerned, or perhaps scared) You've been watching too much of that TV show.

ANNOUNCER: (scolding) It serves you two right, terrorizing those little old ladies on the back roads.  I hope that convertible top gives you nothing but trouble!

Without warning, the soft top jumps up three feet, knocking Art to the ground.  As Rich tries to get out and help, the end of the roof folds around his head, suffocating him.

ANNOUNCER:  Well, maybe not THIS much trouble.

Art quickly recovers and pulls himself up.

ART: (yelling to Rich)  The dealer told me it was tough the first few times, but I didn't think it was THIS bad.

The passenger door opens as the roof, picking Swan Boy up by his head and shoulders, drops him on the ground.  Art helps him up and they both watch in horror as the convertible top rises up vertically from the car, straining and stretching.

RICH:  Well, that's certainly "up."

The cover/lip rises up and moves back as the demented canvas creature breaks free of the car.  It jumps down onto the ground and busily crawls away, like a coarse ebony caterpillar.

ART:  Oh well, it's under warranty.

RICH:  (looking in amazement)  Shouldn't we call the police or Triple-A or something?
 

SCENE:  The monster soft top is crawling along the side of a wide back road, next to a field.  In the distance and off to the right, there is a nuclear power plant billowing steam into the sky.  The roof appears to be heading for it.

ANNOUNCER:  Oh no!  What does this over-zealous umbrella want with a nuclear power plant?

Suddenly, the roof makes a left turn and heads into an industrial park.  It makes it way to a large green metal-ribbed warehouse with "Cover Your Assets - Standard and Custom Covers" painted in black on its front.  It crawls up to the side door and tries to manipulate the door knob, but it is locked.  The top also tries to open the door by prying itself around the door's edges, appearing to engulf it, but that does not work either.

Deterred but not defeated, it crawls down to the side of the building and wraps itself around a five-foot wide boulder.  After wrestling with it for a minute it had only managed to move it five feet and it cannot lift the rock.  It returns to the door and folds up in thought for a moment.

It then knocks loudly on the door.  Within half a minute the door opens as a large, well-built blonde man sticks his head out.

MAN:  We're closed right now, but AIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!

The top lunges forth through the door, which closes behind it.  We hear two more workers scream and then stop short as they are knocked unconscious. (Of course they were not hurt too badly!)  After a moment of silence, we hear the sound of rolling canvas and sewing machines.
 

SCENE:  It is the middle of a cold and cloudy night at the warehouse.  The sound of machinery grinds to a halt.

Before silence can fall, the building cracks open like a huge pupa.   At four-hundred feet long and one-hundred feet wide, the bigger, meaner, faster convertible top emerges and lets out a fearful roar, much like a combination of Godzilla and an electric motor.  "Hardline Softtop" is born!
 

FANFIC CHALLENGE:  Hardline Softtop is roaming the streets, tearing down high-tension power lines with its hook, pushing busses over, being difficult to operate, and scaring children of all ages.  Day and night, it moves across hill and dale, leaving a wake of destruction and mayhem.

Picture it in your mind and then write lyrics to describe the scene, the emotion, specific incidents (such as Hardline Softtop knocking a building down or stopping to buy coffee) etc.  Choose any tune you like ("You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" comes to my mind) or make your own.  Post the text on DK's club and you can send and music to me for posting on my site (MID and RMI would be the best, but I can convert most sound files to MP3 as well).

ANNOUNCER:  That's nice, Swan Boy, but you were so busy trying to drum up audience participation that you let Hardline Softtop get away.  What do you think this is, your own version of Peter Pan!?
 

SCENE:  Hardline is climbing up a rocky hill, knocking over a weather station and dislodging several boulders which come crashing down onto an orphanage, a nursing home, and -- OH FOR THE LOVE OF PUPPIES: the cable-TV transmission office!

The villainous option package reaches the top and then stops, for the first time in days.  Faint blue sparks dance around it's front.  Below the hill, its prey awaits, not suspecting that this creature came here with the sole purpose of ruining it.  As the people below will soon learn, Hardline Softtop has come to destroy the city of Detroit!
 

SCENE:  In the home of the Powerpuff Girls, they family gathers around the television set to watch Puppet Pals.  Blossom turns on the set as Professor Utonium brings in the popcorn and sits on the couch.  Bubbles jumps into his lap while Buttercup and Blossom sit at either side of him.  The Professor looks at his daughters, a smile on his face, as they munch on the popcorn.  Buttercup eats very little of it because she does not like it; however, the Professor made it and, for some reason, she feels that she must pretend to like it.

BUBBLES:  Is it time yet?

BLOSSOM:  Yes, it should be on any second.

BUTTERCUP:  What is THIS? (wriggling her nose in disgust)

TV (voice one): The giant convertible top is attacking Detroit, Michigan!  The National Guard, the Army, and the Air Force have been powerless to stop it.  What will happen next?

BUBBLES:  (squeaking with glee) That's funny!

Buttercup casts a glare at Bubbles, who giggles.  The Professor gently scratches her head.

PROFESSOR:  If it's rated "G" I'll take you to see it.

BLOSSOM:  Those giant-monster-attacks-the-city-and-destroys-everything stories have been done to death.  Why can't they make a Puppet Pals movie?

BUTTERCUP:  All the GOOD movies are rated PG-13 or higher.  I want to see those!

TV (voice two):  In the studio now, we have renowned automobile-industry expert John Walkonabitz with us to discuss this latest blow for the nation's big-three auto makers.  First of all, John, isn't it true that convertibles were not allowed in the U.S. for many years because of concerns about safety?

TV (voice three):  Well, yes, and though our technology had advanced to overcome most safety problems, this crisis may indicate that we made a mistake by allowing them to be produced again.

BUTTERCUP:  Are you sure it's the right channel?  I want to see Puppet Pals!

BUBBLES:  Puppet Pals!  Puppet Pals!  Wheeeeee!

BLOSSOM:  SSShhh!  Wait a minute girls, this isn't a commercial!

TV (voice one):  We will return to "Crisis in the Auto Industry" here on Fox News after a word from our sponsors.  (A Volkswagen commercial plays).

The Powerpuff hotline buzzes and Blossom zooms to answer it; meanwhile, her sisters continue to demand that their favorite show start.

BLOSSOM:  Hello Mayor!?

MAYOR:  Oh, hi Blossom, I'm sorry to interrupt Puppet Pals, but I just got an urgent call from my friend Dennis, the mayor of Detroit.  And, well, doggone it, I know it's asking a lot of you Powerpuff girls, but could you please give them a hand with their car trouble?

BLOSSOM:  Tell his honor Mr. Archer that we'll be there for him!

She hangs up the phone and zips back to the living room.

TV (voice 2): ...but isn't it true that this could actually have a beneficial impact by reducing supplies of American made cars, thereby increasing their prices?

BLOSSOM:  Girls, Puppet Pals won't be on until we whoop that insane miracle of German engineering!

BUBBLES:  Uh, what?

BUTTERCUP:  We have to save Detroit first.

BLOSSOM:  Let's roll!

With that, the Powerpuff girls fly out through the window.

PROFESSOR:  (to himself)  Well, popcorn is no good once it's cold.  (he munches a bit while watching the TV, and then he talks back to it) But the relative glut of foreign cars will create another trade deficit, geesh.
 

SCENE:  Over the city of Detroit, our fantastic femmes spot Hardline Softtop eating a spark-plug factory.

BLOSSOM:  Let's get him!

With cameras covering them from several angles, the girls swoop down onto the unaware roof.  Blossom fires her heat breath into its hide while her sisters user their laser vision on it.  Unfortunately, it was designed to absorb the sweltering summer heat and the fires have no effect.  Buttercup tries to punch a hole in the canvas between its two center ribs, but the maniacal contraption responds by allowing itself to fold up on impact, gradually stopping the Girl in Green; once folded, it suddenly springs open again, throwing Buttercup away with tremendous force.  She crashes into a news helicopter, knocking it sideways.  She recovers as the damaged aircraft auto-rotates to the ground below.

Bubbles tries to grab Softtop's weather seal but it lurches sideways and folds up on her, trapping her in the dark.  As Blossom tries to rescue her baby sister, the hook extends and grabs her by her bow, spinning her several times before throwing her back at the returning Buttercup.  The two girls collide in mid air, faces first, with a tremendous crack.  Bouncing off of each other, they fall like wet rags onto the cold, hard Earth.  Ima Gossip and her cameraman from the Six-Fifteen News run in for an interview.

BLOSSOM: (as her eyes open slowly) Watch where you're going!

BUTTERCUP: See!  That's why I like short hair!

GOSSIP: The soft top seems to be thwarting all of your efforts to stop it.  How does that make you feel?

BUTTERCUP: (at Gossip) VERY ANGRY!

BLOSSOM:  Hey, if you weren't covering us right now, Puppet Pals would be on.

BUTTERCUP:  (shaking a fist at the nosey reporter)  Perhaps we'll test our next attack out on you first.

Ima and her cameraman take the hint and run for cover.

BLOSSOM:  (sitting up) This mechanical monstrosity is too strong to take directly.

BUTTERCUP:  Well, I didn't see a "down" button anywhere on it.

Bubbles is more fortunate than her sisters: she escapes after detecting Softtop's original flaw, this Porsche top cannot seal completely.  She flies over and lands next to her sisters.

BUBBLES:  Wow, Blossom, that looked like fun!  Can I have a turn?

They both glare at their innocent sister, not believing that they came from the same ingredients that she did.

BUBBLES:  What?  What did I say?  Why are you looking at me like that?

BLOSSOM:  We need a way to beat that convertible!

BUTTERCUP:  As far as I'm concerned, there's only one thing that beats a convertible.

Blossom and Bubbles both look at her in anticipation.
 

SCENE:  Hardline Softtop is devouring a small Saturn dealership when he hears  the screaming roar of a new challenge.

Blossom rides up on a Yamaha motorcycle, engine roaring as she and the bike jump up onto one of its ribs, sending it crashing to the ground.  It rises and folds up on its side, top facing Blossom.  She turns for another pass.

Buttercup, on a Harley Davidson, tears in from behind.  With the screech of brakes, she slides in and digs a small trench at what was the car-end of the beast.  It does not notice.  As Blossom rides up, she pulls a wheelie and smacks it on another rib.  As Softtop tries to respond, its car-end reaches for ground that is not there and it falls over.

From high above, Bubbles on a Honda comes screaming in.

BUBBLES: Farrfignuegen!

She crashes down on the wicked hook, breaking it off.  The beast screams in pain!  It writhes on its left side, protecting the tender injury, and it tries to crawl into the United Auto Workers' hall.

BUTTERCUP:  Yeah, go to a union for help!

All three girls turn their bikes and pop wheelies as they move in on the creature.  Blossom and Bubbles ride back-and forth over its top, stripping the canvas away from its frame.  Buttercup flies up a ramp and jumps the beast, pouring glass cleaner onto the canvas.  It is more than any convertible top can take.

Blue sparks start to fizzle around the creature as it tries in vain to keep moving.  Slowly, it shrinks back to its original.  The blue sparks weaken and then die out altogether.  The few onlookers, mostly news reporters, cheer wildly.  The girls get off their bikes and walk over to the creature's remains.

BUBBLES:  It's a good thing it didn't have a roll bar, too.
 

SCENE:  Back in the Utonium home, Bubbles is sitting on the top cushion of the couch, brushing Blossoms snarled hair.

BLOSSOM:  Ouch!  Be gentle!  And use your other hand to hold my hair when you find a tangle.

BUBBLES:  Sorry!  (She brushes again.)

BLOSSOM: Ouch!

Buttercup, playing with a T. Rex and Barney dolls on the floor, giggles to herself at Blossom's predicament.  The Professor returns to the living room with a fresh bowl of popcorn.

PROFESSOR:  You girls were wonderful, and it was all on TV.  I never realized how exciting it is to chase giant monsters.  However, the next time you ride motorcycles you should wear helmets - otherwise you might get hurt.

All three girls sigh.

PROFESSOR:  (sitting down and grabbing the remote control)  I put in a tape that you girls might want to see.

BLOSSOM:  Professor, we can see the news film some other time, but we've had enough for one day.

PROFESSOR:  Oh, its not that: since "Puppet Pals" was pre-empted I went out and rented one of their tapes.

Smiling, Bubbles hops and drops into the Professor's lap.  Blossom leans against his right side and Buttercup joins them on the couch as the show begins.

THE END

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