Cat Man Do

(Opening shot: the city skyline at night.)

Narrator: The city of Townsville! (Pull back slowly.) A place where catastrophe can strike at any minute.

(A large jewel is now visible at the right edge of the screen; it is attached to some sort of apparatus. The camera follows this slowly as a voice begins to speak - a low, sinister male tone - to show it as a large weapon pointed into the city.)

Voice: That's right. And with the jewel in place, the hypnotic modulator set to ten, and the distance diameter set to fifteen miles, soon the city of Townsville will see a day like no other.

(Turn down quickly to the base of the machine. A man stands next to it, wearing a suit and tie and with a white cat in his arms. His head is cut  off by the top of the screen. The whole picture is very similar to the shots of the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the early James Bond films.  Pull back to outside the building; the antenna points from the penthouse. Soft, menacing laughter echoes through the night sky, but is cut off by a crash that shakes the entire building.)

(Inside the penthouse, the cat's eyes go wide with alarm and three long fissures appear in the floor. The girls rocket out of these, and the man  turns to flee from them. He does not get very far before Blossom brings  him down with a flying kick to the back. Buttercup charges in with a kidney punch, and Bubbles trips him up to send him tumbling across the room. His face is never seen on camera throughout this sequence. As he falls to the floor in slow motion, the cat jumps out of his arms and runs behind a group of machines.)

(The man measures his height on the tiles, and the police burst in with guns  drawn to apprehend him. Blossom picks the jewel from the tip of the antenna and smiles, but her celebration is cut short when klaxons start to blare and red lights flash. She apparently has triggered some sort of  self-destruct for the building. The entire room starts to shake again; one of the cops screams, and Blossom throws the jewel to him. The man is  hauled away as the cat watches from behind a cabinet. A steel door slams shut as the police make good their escape with their capture, and the ceiling begins to fall in. The girls take off, heading for a newly opened crack in it; Blossom and Buttercup escape safely, but Bubbles stops short at the sound of meowing. She flies back across the chamber, skimming the ground and dodging falling debris as she approaches the cat. When she reaches its hiding place, she smiles at it.)

(Cut to a long shot of the building; the alarms have fallen silent. The penthouse explodes into dust after a tense moment, and Bubbles flies out  toward the camera with the cat in her arms. Both are smiling now. Stop on an extreme close-up of the animal's face.)

(Cut to the exterior of the girls' house. The chirping of crickets gives no hint of the cataclysm that has just taken place. Dissolve to a close-up of Bubbles inside, the cat's tail circling around her and her eyes following it happily. Contented purring floats up to her. After a moment, she reaches down and picks it up.)

Bubbles: You are the most cutest kitty in the whole world! Yes, you are! And to think that mean old man had you all to himself. (looking up) Do you think we'll be able to keep him?

(Close-up of Blossom, with Buttercup lying on the bed at the other side of the girls' bedroom.)

Blossom: If the Professor says we can.

Buttercup: No way!

(Close-up of her; she starts to play with a yo-yo, and the cat's tail moves into view near it.)

Buttercup: We're not keeping that stinky fleabag. (She stops.) Because I'm gonna end up feeding it, and cleaning it, and loving it.

(On the word "feeding," the cat jumps for the yo-yo. On "cleaning," she lets it down and up and the cat goes for it again. On "loving," she does  likewise, but has the yo-yo snatched away. She looks down over the edge  of the bed, and her sour expression softens; turn down to show the cat pouncing on the toy and spinning it in its paws. This trick instantly endears it to all three girls.)

Girls: Awwww...

(In the hall, the Professor's shadow moves along the wall as their giggles make themselves heard from inside the bedroom. Pull back as he reaches the door and stops. Inside, the doorknob rattles and he looks in.)

Professor: Hey. What's so fun in here?

(The girls are sitting on the bed and doing their best to look nonchalant - a  hard job for Bubbles, considering that she is perched on a rather large  lump.)

Bubbles: No fun here.

Professor: (leaning down to her, winking) But I heard laughing.

(The lump starts to carry her toward the head of the bed on the next line.)

Bubbles: No, you didn't. We're just getting ready for bed. And everything is as normal as normal could beeeeee!

(The shriek on the end of this line is triggered by the lump suddenly pushing her back to the foot of the bed and dumping her to the floor. She lands on her head, and the cat pokes out next to her from under the blanket. She giggles sheepishly; cut to her perspective of the Professor  - framed upside down - as he returns the laugh dryly. The camera rotates 180 degrees to put him right side up again, one eyebrow cocked.)

Professor: Normal as normal could be, huh?

(Bubbles clutches the cat and huddles at the foot of the bed.)

Bubbles: But - you don't understand! (Back to the Professor.)

Professor: And what don't I understand? (Blossom flies up to him.)

Blossom: Well, there was this bad man, and he had this raygun. (Buttercup flies up on his other side.)

Buttercup: And then we were punching and kicking, and then the cops came. (Bubbles hangs down from above.)

Bubbles: And then the place started to fall apart!

(All three start talking frantically at once; the Professor has some trouble  making heads or tails of it for a few seconds. He then starts to back up across the room, with them floating in front of him.)

Professor: Okay, okay. I understand, I understaaaand!

(On the end of this, he stumbles against the end of the bed and falls across it on his back. Close-up of him, laughing heartily; pull back to show that he has one arm each around Blossom and Bubbles, while Buttercup lies on his chest.)

Professor: Oh, to be young and to have a pet. Oh, those were the days.

(Side view of him, now sitting up on the foot of the bed. He holds Buttercup out in front of him.)

Professor: (setting her on bed) I remember when I brought a puppy home to my parents. (getting up) And do you know what they said?

Girls: (hugging cat) They said yes?

(We see him from behind; the back of his neck has gone bright red.)

Professor: They said... (whirling around, red-faced, angry) ...NO!!

(The girls' mouths wobble, and they look as if they might break down at any second, fearing that the Professor won't let them keep the cat. However,  the Professor laughs and regains his joviality.)

Professor: But Kitty can stay tonight. (walking out, camera following) I have a lot of work to do in the lab, so I'll decide tomorrow. (now at door) Now get those sleepy heads into bed.

(A surprised look comes over his face; cut to the bed, where the girls have instantly turned off the lights and gone to sleep, snoring softly. The cat is curled up on Blossom's section and also sleeping. Back to the  Professor.)

Professor: (softly) Good night, little angels. (He closes the door.)

(Back to the bed; the camera zooms in slowly on the cat. In extreme close-up, one eye pops wide open and its pupil narrows.)

(Dissolve to the Professor at work in the lab. He is humming and carefully adding  chemicals to a flask. A loud meow stops him in his tracks for a moment,  but he goes back to what he was doing. He is interrupted by another meow and finds the cat sitting in his shadow when he turns around. Brief  silence.)

Professor: (pointing, roaring) OUT!!!

(The cat stays put and flips onto its back, purring and exposing its belly for any convenient hand to rub. Now the Professor's expression melts into affection.)

Professor: Ohhh...

(Long shot of him, now kneeling down to the cat; both are seen in silhouette.  Dissolve to the exterior of the house. Night fades into morning, and in  the kitchen, breakfast preparations are underway. Pancake batter hits the griddle, orange juice is poured, toast pops up, and a flower is placed in a vase. Pull back from this last to bring the girls into view,  floating behind a respectable little spread on the table - including a stack of pancakes that stands nearly half as tall as the girls.)

Blossom: The cat's in the bag once the Professor sees his breakfast!

(On the end of this line, cut to the view of the kitchen door from their side. The Professor opens it, the cat under his arm. Dramatic pause.)

Professor: We can keep Kitty! (Bubbles starts crying; the others get angry.)

Blossom: Why?!

Buttercup: (kicking pancakes over) I knew it!

(It takes several seconds for the reality of his words to sink in. When it does, they brighten considerably.)

Girls: What did you say?!

Professor: We can keep Kitty. (They fly up to him.)

Girls: Oh, thank you, Professor!

Bubbles: (reaching out to Kitty) Can I hold him?

(He yanks the cat away from them and shields it with his body, becoming very defensive.)

Professor: No! None of you can ever hold Kitty!

(He runs out of the kitchen, the door slamming behind him. Dissolve to a close-up of Kitty and pull back. The animal sits on top of a scratching post in the lab and watches the Professor as he works on a piece of equipment. The whites of his eyes have taken on a greenish tint, and his  pupils have narrowed and elongated vertically. He looks as if he has been hypnotized.)

(He connects a piece of tubing to a large box as the cat looks on, then starts in on a bit of welding. Both wear protective masks for this job. Now he employs a screwdriver, the animal sitting on his head, and mixes chemicals while it watches the flask closely. Sparks fly from the workbench and cast a surreal glow over both of them. Pull back from behind him and dissolve to the closed lab door. The girls stand in front  of this.)

Blossom: Why don't we ever get to play with Kitty?

Bubbles: (sobbing) I wish I knew.

Buttercup: Well, let's find out.

(Inside the lab, the door swings slowly open as the electricity crackles in the air. The girls poke their heads in.)

Girls: Professor?

(The intrusion shocks him out of his work, and he quickly stands upright. His pupils return to normal, though his eyes still have their green color.)

Professor: Girls! (Cut to the hall; he pushes them out, talking fast.) I know I haven't told you, but the laboratory is now off limits. Bye. (He slams the door.)

(Inside, his shadow descends the wall next to the stairs. When he reaches the bottom, pull back to show a second shadow next to him - the outline of a  machine that looks exactly like the one seen in the opening sequence. The shadow of the scratching post stands next to this. Camera shift: now  we see part of the Professor in the foreground, the post behind him. He  now speaks as if hypnotized.)

Professor: Sorry about the interruption.

(Close-up of the opening in the side of the post. Two yellow-orange eyes glow within, and we hear the same voice as from the start of the episode.)

Voice: Is everything ready for tonight?

(Now the Professor's pupils have elongated again.)

Professor: Yes, Master.

(The eyes advance into the light - the speaker is Kitty, and the Professor is under its control.)

Kitty: Purrrrrrfect.

(A flash of lightning fills the screen; when it clears, the scene has changed to the exterior of the museum. Inside, the jewel Blossom took from the first machine sparkles in a display case. Silhouettes of Kitty and the Professor drop into view at the entrance to its gallery. A spray  of powder reveals several laser beams barring the path. Now a container  of grease is set on the floor; Kitty - wearing goggles and a black frogman suit - is placed in this and spun around. The Professor places the animal on the floor and pushes it gently ahead. It slides beneath the lowest beam, leaving a trail of grease behind itself. The Professor,  dressed the same as Kitty, is sitting on the end of the trail and easing himself back and forth in place for lubrication. Finally he pushes off and slides neatly under the laser beams to join Kitty inside the gallery.)

(He undoes a fastening near his ankle and peels away part of his boot to expose a device with a crank and suction cup attached. Holding this up, he pulls on the cup; it is attached to the device's body by a jointed armature. This is attached to Kitty, and the Professor starts turning the crank to let out the armature and push the cat toward the display case. Cut to just in front of the jewel's pedestal, turning up as Kitty is lifted into view. It stretches out spread-eagle and extends its claws, digging them into the glass. Now the Professor turns the crank quickly, and the makeshift glass cutter begins to rotate. The cut section is pulled away, held by Kitty, and lowered to the floor. Now the  animal is raised to the hole and slowly pushed through it so that it can grab the jewel. The job complete, it is pulled out of the case and lowered.)

(Cut to outside the gallery entrance. A guard making his rounds walks past, whistling cheerfully. Once past the doorway, he stops short and looks inside; cut to a long shot of the case. A piece of paper with a paw print on it sits in place of the jewel. Zoom in twice to show it as the mark of the feline mastermind.)

(In the girls' bedroom, the hotline goes off, rousing them from sleep.)

Blossom: (sleepily) Bubbles, you get it. I'm too tired.

(After a few more seconds of buzzing, Bubbles picks up.)

Bubbles: Powerpuff hotline.

(She listens for a few moments, and surprise snaps onto her face.)

Bubbles: We're on our way, Mayor! (Cut to her sisters, still fast asleep; she continues o.c.) WAKE UP!!

(This gets them out of bed in a hurry; they jump up and float in midair.)

Blossom: What is it? (Bubbles looks up at them; she has hung up the hotline.)

Bubbles: The Catseye Jewel's been stolen!

Blossom: Again?

Buttercup: I thought we took care of that guy. (Zoom in slowly on Bubbles.)

Bubbles: (frantically) Wait! What if the cat is really the bad guy, and he put the Professor under a hypnotic trance and made the Professor build this evil machine, and then they stole the jewel to power the machine, and then they're gonna use it to hypnotize all the people so that the cats can rise up and take over Townsville?! (Pull back.)

Buttercup: Bubbles, if we didn't have to sit through your ridiculous ramblings, we'd be halfway to solving this crime!

Bubbles: (deflated) Oh. Well, then, let's go.

(Cut to the exterior of the house.)

Narrator: Oh, Bubbles... (The girls take off through their windows and head for Townsville.) ...you don't know how right you are! For at this very moment, a catastrophe is about to befall...

(Cut to the city skyline.)

Narrator: ...the city of Townsville!

Kitty: (from o.c.) Now, with the Catseye Jewel in place... (Pull back slowly, showing the jewel.) ...the hypnotic modulator set to ten... (Turn down along the machine's length.) ...and the distance diameter set to fifteen miles, soon the city of Townsville will be hypnotized and obey the common household feline.

(On the latter part of this line, the camera stops on Kitty, now in the Professor's arms. The man's head is cut off by the top of the screen. When the cat finishes, pull back to show them both on the roof of a high-rise with the moon silhouetting them. The machine stands at the ready, pointing into the sky. Kitty laughs evilly. Cut to a close-up of it.)

Kitty: And now for the final step. (Pull back; the box stands behind it.) Professor?

(The Professor turns to the box and works for a moment; when he moves away, Kitty sits inside it with a helmet clamped to its head.)

Kitty: Activate the beam!

Professor: (still hypnotized) Yes, Master.

(He presses a button on the side of the box, and the rig powers up, glowing  eerily all along its length. Pull back to a long shot of the building as rays of energy flash out in all directions over the city. In one house, a cat is eating turkey that is clearly meant for human consumption. A woman steps into view.)

Woman: (angrily) Simon! (grabbing cat) You can't eat my turkey!

(A ray strikes her, and she smiles and puts the animal down by the food.)

Woman: I mean...go ahead.

(In another house, a man opens the front door and drops a cat onto the front porch.)

Man: (slamming door) Good night, Juju.

(The house is hit, after which the man opens the door again. The cat smiles up at him.)

Man: On second thought, why don't you sleep on my bed? (It runs inside; he steps out.) I'll sleep out here. (He shuts the door.)

(A high-rise is struck next; inside, a cat sleeps near a curtained window.  It is suddenly picked up and held aloft near the drapes, which it cheerfully begins to shred. Townsville Hall is blasted, after which we see an extreme close-up of a tongue licking a patch of fur. Pull back to  reveal the tongue as the Mayor's and the fur as that of a very happy feline.)

(Building after building gets the full treatment. Cut to the girls in flight; a beam shoots past them, and they have to duck out of its way.)

Blossom: Whoa! Where's that coming from?

Buttercup: (pointing to the source) Up there!

(On the roof, Kitty and the Professor face each other. The girls fly up and  are shocked to find them together; the Professor turns toward them with  an almost animal hostility on his face.)

Bubbles: Ha! I told you!

Kitty: Professor! Get them!

(The Professor drops to all fours, yowling and arching his back like an enraged cat, and leaps at the girls. They scramble to avoid him; he skids a few feet after he lands and gathers himself for another leap. Again they dodge, and again he slides across the rooftop. This time, though, he crashes into the box holding Kitty and knocks the whole thing  loose. It tumbles over the edge in slow motion.)

Professor: Master! (Overhead view of the falling Kitty.)

Kitty: (voice fading) Help meeeeeee!

(The Professor leaps into view and falls after it; the girls cannot believe their eyes.)

Girls: Professor!

(He continues his dive toward the pavement, with almost no emotion showing on his face, even though this might be a suicide mission. He tucks in his arms and legs to reduce the drag force on himself and gain speed. The box approaches the street at breakneck speed, and he does start to close the gap between himself and Kitty. Reaching out to grab it, he is suddenly snatched away before he can do so, the girls have caught him. All four look down with mixed shock and disbelief as the box falls into a  tree. When it emerges from the bottommost limbs and crashes to the ground, however, it is empty.)

Professor: (weakly) Master...

(The girls lower him to the ground and start trying to bring him around.)

Blossom: Come on, Professor!

Buttercup: Snap out of it!

Bubbles: Yeah! It's us! (Cut to him.)

Blossom: (from o.c.) Please, Professor!

Buttercup: (from o.c.) Snap out of it!

Bubbles: (from o.c.) We love you!

(They are having no effect - his face is still an expressionless mask, and his eyes still look like those of a cat. Finally Blossom flies into view  next to him and punches him in the jaw. She flies o.c.; the blow has done something to him, as he begins to blink his eyes in surprise. It takes a moment before he begins to speak, his eyes returning to normal.)

Professor: I just...don't...know...where the...heck I am. I...

(Pan right slightly; the girls are floating next to him. He smiles.)

Professor: Girls! Oh...oh, I just had the craziest dream! I dreamt I was hypnotized by a cat, we stole a jewel, and I jumped off a building! (laughing) Pretty crazy, huh?

Bubbles: Yep. Pretty crazy, Professor.

Buttercup: Yeah.

Blossom: Let's go home.

(They carry him into the air, flying o.c. as the camera turns up to the branches of the tree behind them. Zoom in slowly.)

Kitty: (from within branches) Hey... (Dissolve to it on a branch.) Help. I'm stuck in a tree. Help!

Narrator: Oh, be quiet! Bad kitty! If you think the girls are gonna help you, you're barking up the wrong - I mean, you're meowing up the - the...oh, well.

(The standard end shot comes up.)

Narrator: So once again the day is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls!