Ikimashou! Rowdyruff Boys Z Chapter 3

Late the next morning, three contrails streaked across the sky: the telltale signs of the Powerpuff Girls. Below, the usual din of rush hour traffic echoed throughout the urban canyon as people went about their business, even if it was summer.
The girls, however, paid them no heed. Today, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were on their way to Mayor Mayer’s office, in downtown new Townsville.
“Ah, this is the life.” Buttercup sighed as she flew lazily on her back, “There’s nothing like the cool breeze in the morning.”
“Uh-huh!” Miyako beamed.
“You said it,” cried Momoko, “Look! We’re almost there.”
The City Hall loomed in front of them, a majestic skyscraper gleaming in the sunlight. From the square, two-story base, two twin towers stood erect at seven stories tall, and cradled in between was the a round saucer-like space where the city council met.
The girls descended to street level and soon spotted Professor Utonium, Ken, and Peach all waiting for them at the front door. The trio quickly landed in front of them and reverted back to their civilian forms.
“Morning, girls,” said the professor, “Come, the Mayor is waiting.”
Mayor Mayer’s office was at the top floor of the north tower and was accessible by a great double-door entrance, each leaf with beveled panels of rich maple. The office itself was rectangular and brightly lit by a gigantic panoramic window that stretched from behind the mayor’s desk and wrapped around to the wall on the left-hand side of those just entering the room. Along the right, there was a wet bar flanked by two cabinets containing books, awards, and other memorabilia. To the left, there was a couch with blue cushions and a coffee table.
The mayor himself was seated behind his desk beaming as the party of six filed in.
“Good to see you, everyone,” he said, “I hope you’ve all rested well today.”
He then turned to address the professor.
“Have you prepared for your trip?”
The professor nodded. “Hai, all my bags are in my car, and Peach and Ken’s belongings have already stored at your niece’s house.”
“Very good,” said the mayor, “Then I wish you a safe trip.”
“Hai.” Professor Utonium crouched down and gave Ken a warm hug. “Alright Ken, I’m leaving soon. Can I trust you to look after the lab?”
Ken nodded. “You can count on me, Pa-p … I mean professor.”
His father chuckled and ruffled her son’s hair. “I’ll miss you.”
“Mm, miss you too.”
The professor stood and turned to the girls.
“Take care, you three. And don’t get into too much trouble.”
Miyako smiled. “We won’t professor, have a safe trip.”
“Hope you have lots of fun,” said Kaoru.
“Make sure to eat lots of good food,” Momoko chimed in.
Utonium gave them each a hug and soon departed.
As soon as the door closed, the mayor got to his feet.
“Ahem! Right, now to business,” he said, “As I’ve told you, now that Professor Utonium has gone, you three will need a new base from which you will operate. For that reason, I’ve chosen my niece to act as your temporary manager.”
“But who is your niece?” asked Miyako.
“Yeah,” said Momoko, “And how come we haven’t met her?”
The mayor smirked. “Ah, but you have already met her. You just didn’t know it.”
Kaoru glowered. “Stop messing with us, Mr. mayor! Come on and tell us; who is your niece?”
Mayor Mayer grinned. “How about I show you instead?”
He pressed a button on his desk and opened the intercom.
“Ms Bellum, you may come in.”
For a second, there was nothing. Then Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru heard a faint click as somewhere in the room, a latch was opened. Then, to their amazement, a secret door opened from next to the wet bar, and two women stepped out into the room.
Ms Bellum stepped out first, and she greeted the girls.
“Hi girls!”
Her remarks were ignored, as the trio remained fixated on the second woman.
She had black hair that reached shoulders and curled at the end. Her eyes were of sapphire and her lips rosy with lipstick. She wore a sleeveless collared shirt striped orange and white and a red long-sleeved undershirt. She also had on brown close fitting Capri pants and white dress shoes.
She beamed. “Hi girls, I haven’t seen you since the end of term. How are you?”
Shock and confusion graced their faces as Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru stared at the woman before them.
“I don’t understand…”
Mayor Mayer cleared his throat loudly and stepped besides the woman.
“Everyone, I’d like to you all to meet my niece: your former homeroom teacher, Fukayama Keane.”
She bowed. “It’s nice to see you all, once again, Momoko, Miyako, Kaoru – or should I say Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.”
Kaoru gasped. “You knew!” she exclaimed, “You knew all this time, and you never told us.”
Ms. Keane nodded. “Yes Kaoru, since the very beginning, I was aware of your secrets. How else do you think your excuses worked so well? It was all part of the plan: my task was to ensure that when you were called out for duty, you could leave whenever you liked. It was also to make sure that your absences – many times a day I might add – did not rouse any suspicion. Just think what might have happened if the staff knew of three students were constantly skipping out of school.”
“But why all the secrecy?” asked Bubbles, “Why keep us in the dark?”
“It’s for the very reason you were all in my class: to keep your true identities hidden,” said Ms. Keane, “If you knew I was in on your secrets, any of you might try to confide secrets in me, and risk someone overhearing our conversation.”
“You see, girls,” the mayor said, “Knowledge is power – dangerous if fallen to the wrong hands. If your enemies knew of the full scope of our operation, your loved ones may be at risk, be they kith or kin.
“There is another reason why my niece’s involvement has been under wraps,” he added, “but we will discuss that later.
“Now,” he continued, “If you will follow me, we can start preparing for your future duties. Ms Bellum, will you please keep watch outside.”
The mayor led all members of the party into the hidden room from which Ms Bellum and Ms Keane had come out from. It was built like a war room of old, with a great oval table in the middle, bookshelves of information lining the walls and a giant map of the city and surrounding area tacked onto the far wall.
After making sure that the door was closed and concealed, the group gathered around the table and commenced planning for the next few weeks. The mayor introduced a new system of paid missions in which each girl, or group of the girls would be tasked to complete in order to insure the safety of New Townsville. Each mission would be ranked according to level of difficulty, from “A” being the hardest to “D” being the easiest.
“You will a full report including anything you encounter on your missions, however trivial they may be,” Mr. Mayor went on, “And of course, you will always be on call for a monster attack,”
“Whew, sounds like a lot of work,” Momoko said.
The mayor nodded. “I’m terribly sorry for relying you on this.”
“Not at all,” Miyako replied, beaming, “We’ll do it.”
“For the right price of course,” Kaoru said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
“But of course,” echoed the mayor.
And so, the rest of their time were spent discussing the pay-scale and other important items.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the chamber door, Ms. Bellum was sitting on the couch working on her laptop when there was a knock at the front door.
“Come in,” she said.
The door opened and in came a weedy little man. His hair was unkempt and messy, and his eyes were hidden behind thick glasses with black frames. His buck teeth jutted out from his mouth, and his nostrils flared whenever he breathed.
“Good morning, Takagi-san,” said Ms. Bellum, “What can I do for you?”
“Good morning Ms. Bellum,” he said nasally, “The Head of the Council wishes to meet with the mayor.”
“The mayor is busy, at the moment.” She replied. “Tell the Chair that he may submit an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Bellum,” said the man, “The Nomi-Dono insists on meeting him today.”
“Is it important?” she asked.
“Yes, very,” Takagi said. Ms. Bellum sighed.
“Very well, I’ll tell the mayor as soon as he comes back.”
“Thank you, Ms. Bellum. Have a good day.”
…
Meanwhile back in the back room…
Finally, after many hours of deliberation, the plans were complete, and everyone was satisfied.
“Whew!” cried Kaoru. She straightened and wiped sweat off her brow.
“Finally, I’m starving!”
Everyone made noises of agreement, and Ms. Keane beamed.
“Wonderful! I know the perfect location. Come on, it will be my treat.”
“Fantastic,” exclaimed the mayor, “What a great treat! Oho I can just taste the delicious food!”
However, when they came back into the mayor’s office, Ms. Bellum accosted them.
“Mr. Mayor, you have a meeting with the Head of the Council in a few minutes.”
“What? Oh can’t you reschedule? I’m about to go to lunch!”
Ms. Bellum sighed. “I’m sorry sir; he simply refuses to meet any other time.”
The mayor sighed. “Well girls, it seems I will not be joining you for lunch. So I bid you all a farewell.”
…
Ms. Keane, Ken, Peach, and the girls all left the dim building for the rear parking lot.
“Sensei, what is the Head of the Council?” Momoko asked.
“Good question, Momoko,” Ms. Keane beamed, “As far as I understand it, the Head of the Council is the leader of a group of citizens who together tries to advise the mayor on important issues around the city.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Poor Mr. Mayor,” said Miyako, “He sounded so eager to join us for lunch.”
“Yeah, you can bet he’s really hungry,” said Kaoru, “He’s as bad as Momoko.”
“You know, I’m standing right here,” said Momoko moodily.
“Oh sorry, I meant to say he’s almost as bad. You’re way worse.”
Momoko scowled. “I hate you.”
Miyako, Ms. Keane, and Ken all chuckled.
“They don’t change, do they?” Ms. Keane remarked. The others shook their heads, letting out a defeated sigh.
They arrived at Ms. Keane’s car, a silver sedan with room in the back to seat three people.
Ms. Keane unlocked its doors, and Kaoru immediately called shotgun. The remaining four sat in the back, with Ken in the middle and Peach on his lap.
“Where are we going, sensei?” Miyako asked.
Ms. Keane winked. “You’ll see.”
And with that, she pulled out of the parking lot and drove off.