Powerpuff girls (male reader insert)

Town And Out

(Opening shot: a decidedly un-Townsville-like skyline, with smoke belching into the sky from tall stacks.)

Professor: (from o.c.) The town of Citiesville.

(Pull back to show the family station wagon rolling toward this locale. The roof rack is piled high with luggage, and the girls' heads are seen through the rear window.)

Professor: (from inside car) It's home to the top research lab in the world.

(Cut to inside the car, behind the girls.)

Bubbles: Yeah. But why are we moving there?

Professor: Well, I took a job offer at their lab. And we have to move here for me to work there.

(The girls look at each other with worry and sadness, then direct their gaze toward the camera. Cut to just behind their heads as Townsville recedes into the distance.)

Bubbles: (softly) Bye-bye, Townsville.

(Cut to the edge of the city limits. A large billboard displays the message "Welcome to Citiesville," as well as plenty of added graffiti. Garbage is strewn along the side of the road. A bridge leads across a body of water to the city proper; the station wagon heads toward this.)

Professor: (from inside car) I tell you, girls, I'm really excited about this move. (Overhead view of the car on the bridge.) A new start, new places, new friends. (chuckling) Oh, I can't wait!

(They reach the other end of the bridge.)

Professor: (from inside car) And if what I've heard is true, Citiesville is a great place to live.

(The family rolls through the streets—which do not exactly form the most inviting milieu for a man to raise three kindergarten-age girls. A dingy, seedy, run-down quality permeates the place, and this is only reinforced by the first place of lodging we see: the Shady Inn Motel. Through the front window, a man is seen slumped over at a desk and watching a TV. Another man, this one wearing a black coat and cap, steps out and addresses himself to the one inside.)

Black-coated man: Hey, I'm going to work, Jim. I'll be back in a while.

(He pulls his cap down over his face—it is actually a ski mask—and pulls a gun out of his coat. Cocking it, he walks o.c. just before the Professor pulls up and stops.)

Professor: Here we are. Looks nice and safe.

(Tilt slowly up from street level as sirens wail and gunshots ring out in the distance. From all visual indications, the Professor is completely off the mark in his assessment of the neighborhood. Helicopter searchlight beams sweep across the building.)

(Snap to black as the jingling of keys is heard. One is fitted into a lock, and the knob is turned. As a light switch clicks, snap to an overhead view of the family at the doorway of a rather squalid room, with garbage in the corner and some unidentifiable liquid splashed on the floor and walls. The Professor has his hand on the switch. Cockroaches scurry away just after the lights come on; the four look around with no small degree of concern.)

(The rest of the room is no better. The only light, from a single naked bulb, illuminates a leaky ceiling and windows with torn curtains. A dirty, bare mattress and cast-iron radiator huddle at the far end; along the left wall are a shattered mirror and an overflowing sink and toilet. A filthy trash can sits near this last. More disgusting pools of liquid line the edges of the floor, and the walls and ceiling are covered with holes and stains.)

(A roach scuttles past in front of the girls. Tilt up from them to the Professor, who seems quite impressed with the circumstances.)

Professor: Wow! This is great! (Cut to outside their windows, looking in.) Well, look at that. It's got a bathroom right there in the kitchen!