The Perfect Girlfriend (John Smith 10)

Story
John shoots bursts of fire at a Sludgepuppy, who dodges with ease. The Sludge fires a blast of sludge, which John bends to the side. He motions his hands like the raising of a tidal wave, as he thrusts his hands forward, water breaking out of the ground, heading towards the Sludge. The Sludge dodges, stretching to a rooftop, dropping down, the impact knocking John away.

John: Give it up, Marius! You can’t beat me!

Marius: Au contraire. We are evenly matched, neither of us outdoing the other.

John: I’m not even trying here. If I actually transformed, (Marius fires a sludge blast, which John deflects.) Trying to distract me. That’s a low blow.

Marius: No. This is!

Marius stretches his hand across the ground, forming a chain link, grabbing John’s legs and lifting him off the ground. John shoots fire, burning the sludge and freeing himself. John fires several fire palms, Marius retreating as he dodges. Spectators are watching, as Julie joins the crowd.

Julie: Go get him, John!

John turns, confused by the occurrence. He senses something, swinging his arm. He’s too slow, as a sludge mallet hand knocks him away. Marius turns toward Julie, approaching her.

Marius: Who’s this? You’re little girlfriend? (Julie tries to kick Marius, but he just absorbs it into his body.) Got spunk, that’s for sure. Agh! (He’s hit by a fire blast from behind, as he turns, seeing John’s anger.)

John: Keep your hands off her!

John releases a frenzy of fire blasts, Marius dodging, taking Julie with him. He climbs up onto a roof, holding Julie over the edge.

Marius: Your choice, hero. Either surrender, or I drop her.

John turns into Big Chill, flying into the air. He phases through Marius’ arm, freezing it and it breaking off, Julie falling. Big Chill flies down, catching her and putting her down. Big Chill flies back up, looking for Marius, who was gone.

Big Chill: He instigated that fight. Why retreat so easy?

Julie: John!

Big Chill turns, looking down. Julie was waving up to him, smiling. Big Chill flies down and lands, reverting.

John: Julie. I, I’ve got to say, I’m surprised to see you here.

Julie: Why? Don’t think I can handle myself?

John: No, uh. It’s just that, you broke up with me. (Julie’s expression turns sad.)

Julie: Yeah. I was thinking, maybe I was acting too rashly.

John: Like you said you did before.

Julie: Yeah. Anyway, I’m sorry, and, I want to try again. Us, I mean.

John: Oh. Okay. Yeah, I can try that.

Julie: (Smiling) Great! End Scene

Elektra is walking through downtown, irritation on her face.

Elektra: I can’t believe that no good partner of mine. (She speaks in mocking voice.) “I’m taking the rest of the day off to spend time with Julie.” (Returns to regular tone) Ha! This is why I gave up boys. They are a distraction to duty, and they make people do stupid things.

Elektra keeps walking, when she finds a sludge trail, which peaks her interest. She follows it, coming to the end of the trail. She picks up a pinch of sludge, confused.

Elektra: This looks like Sludgepuppy sludge. So where?

A mallet hand hits her, sending her flying across the street, crashing into a mailbox. She groans as she stands, as Marius appears.

Marius: I might’ve been told to stand down for now, but I can’t resist taking down a Plumber.

Elektra: So, the rumors about the feud was true.

Marius: Rumor? Everyone knows of our ongoing battles. You stupid Redspots try to kill us wherever we go! Now, I’ll kill you!

Marius stretches his arm, Elektra dodging and firing energy blasts from the Proto-Tool. Marius takes them with no damage, as he swings his arms, firing sludge bullets. Elektra shifts the Proto-Tool into a staff, spinning to deflect the sludge. She then morphs it back to blaster form, firing a laser, hitting Marius, his body hardening from the heat.

Marius: Ah!

Marius collapses into a puddle, slithering into a sewage drain.

Elektra: Where will he come out?

Sludge grabs Elektra’s leg, lifting her off the ground, causing her to drop her Proto-Tool. Marius completely forms, grinning at Elektra.

Marius: Got you. (He extends sludge, muffling Elektra, who starts to suffocate.) Don’t worry. It won’t be painful. Not too much at least.

A plasma laser hits Marius, causing him to drop Elektra, as he recoils from the attack. Elektra tears the sludge off her face, as Julie in Ship armor approaches.

Julie: Don’t know where John is. But I so don’t care for leaving you around.

Julie charges in, punching Marius several times. Marius forms a mallet hand, swinging at her. Julie’s hands increase size, blocking it as she punches Marius, sending him flying. Julie raises her arms, several laser blasters forming. Marius turns to sludge, retreating through the sewers. Julie waits a few moments, then lowers her guard. Ship comes off her, as she stands in the middle of the road.

Julie: That’s how it’s done.

Elektra comes over to her, Proto-Tool mounted on her shoulder.

Elektra: Thanks. It’s nice to see another female warrior on this planet. My name’s Elektra.

Julie: Julie. Good to meet you, Elektra.

Ship: Ship, ship!

Elektra: (Confused) Julie? You wouldn’t happen to be the girlfriend of John Smith, would you?

Julie: Well,

Voice: (In French accent) Julie! (The two turn, seeing a tall blond guy running towards them, wielding a camera. He’s wearing a brown sweater over a white shirt, and is wearing orange brown pants.) That was fantastic! I got several good shots of that battle.

Julie: Aw, thank you Hervé. (She hugs him, then turns back to Elektra.) And yes, I did date John before. But I broke up with him.

Elektra: But, he called earlier. The reason he wasn’t here is because he’s supposedly with you!

Julie: What?

Elektra: And if he’s not with you. (She looks down at a pile of sludge left behind.) Sludgepuppy. End Scene

John and Julie are walking around the boardwalk, John’s arm wrapped around her.

Julie: Okay, why here?

John: You said you wanted to try again. Well, this is where we had our first date. Or don’t you remember?

Julie: Of course I remember! This place has so many memories. The ferris wheel, the parlor games, and the surprise ending.

John: (Smirking) A Techadon robot attack. (Julie laughs, wrapping her arms around him.)

Julie: That too.

Elektra: John!

John and Julie turn, seeing Elektra running over to them.

John: I thought you were capable of handling patrol by yourself. I’m busy.

Elektra: Yeah, well I’m sure you don’t appreciate being tricked. (She points down the boardwalk, Julie walking towards them.) That’s the real Julie.

John is startled, stepping backwards, away from Julie. The second Julie stops next to the first one.

Julie 2: John, it’s me. Don’t you recognize me?

Julie 1: Don’t listen to her! She’s obviously an impostor!

Julie 2: Oh, I’m the impostor? You’re the one buttering him up!

Julie 1: I tried to stay broken up with him, but I failed! I could never be away from him. I’d do anything for him.

Julie 2: John, you know what happened. I thought we agreed to both move on.

Julie 1: I see. Trying to take advantage of his emotions to manipulate him.

Julie 2: You’re the one manipulating him if I ever saw it!

John: Enough! Shut up, both of you!

Everyone was startled, as the two Julies be quiet. John’s eyes glow green, as he examines the Julies. His return to normal, looking back and forth between them.

John: One of you is not the real Julie. But I can’t tell which one with my mana powers.

Ship: Ship! Ship! (Ship comes running over to John, as he leans down and pets him.)

John: Hey there boy. Perfect timing. I need you to identify Julie for me.

Ship: Ship! Ship!

Ship starts sniffing, as he goes to Julie 1. He sniffs, then lets out an angry bark. Ship heads to Julie 2, sniffing, then wagging his tail, barking happily.

John: That’s settled.

Julie 1: John, you don’t really believe (A fire burst hits her head, it exploding into sludge. Her head reforms, an angry expression on her face.) You just made a big mistake.

John: No. You did.

John releases fire streams, which Sludge Julie dodges. She jumps into the air, taking her sludge form, slamming down onto John. John bends the sludge, throwing her to the side.

Éponine: It’s such a shame. Julie dumped you and left you to rot! I would’ve treated you right. I would’ve made you happy! (She stretches her arms, slamming them into the boardwalk, John dodging.)

John: You are not Julie. No one can replace her.

Éponine: Eh. Oh well. I still bought my people some time to continue their plan, without your interference.

Éponine swings her arms, firing sludge bullets. John bends them out of the way, and creates a fire whip, striking Éponine. Éponine morphs and dodges, surrounding John in a sludge vortex. John blasts her with fire, creating a hole to get out of. John blasts her several times, Éponine dodging and slamming her arm into John, who crashes through a concession stand.

Julie: John! (She runs forward, when Elektra grabs her shoulder, stopping her.)

Elektra: Don’t interfere. This is a battle he must finish himself.

John creates rings of fire, throwing them at Éponine. Éponine forms a spiked mace hand, and swings it. John jumps over it, kicking Éponine in the chest with a fire burst. Éponine recoils back, body in pain.

Éponine: Uragh!

John: I’m tired of you.

John motions his arms in circular motions, pressure building. Éponine charges at John, as he swings his arms forward. The boardwalk breaks, a torrent of water shooting out, hitting Éponine straight on. She is taken into the water, where she screams as her body is broken apart. John pants heavily afterwards, looking down the hole.

John: Looks like our first date, was your last one.

John turns back, seeing Julie and Ship. Hervé runs up to her, hugging her. The two talk, though John is too far away to hear. The three then walk off together, never looking back. Elektra comes to John’s side.

Elektra: You okay?

John: No, I, don’t know.

Elektra: It’s important to keep your emotions intact. You’re a Plumber. You don’t have time for nonsense like romance anyway. (John turns away, looking back at the hole.)

John: What are these Sludgepuppies up to? Impersonating me, then trying to distract me. There’s got to be something big going on.

Elektra: That’s the attitude I wanna here.

John: You’re bad at pep talks, you know that, right?

Elektra: It’s not my job to babysit you. Just to kick you back up when you fall.

John: I’m sure that’s not how it’s supposed to work. (Elektra kicks John in the shin.) Ow! Hey!

Elektra: Too bad.

Characters

 * John Smith
 * Elektra
 * Julie Yamamoto
 * Ship
 * Hervé

Villains

 * Marius
 * Éponine (death)

Aliens

 * Big Chill (first re-appearance)

Trivia

 * The original Sludgepuppies of the series are named after major characters from Les Misérables.
 * Éponine shares a similar story to her Les Mis counterpart. She tries to get the attention of a boy by doing whatever they want, and dies at the end.
 * This episode starts Julie dating Hervé.
 * Hervé will have more major parts coming up.