Wonderella (IP) – Part Two

Buttons and Charlie never could have expected what happened next.

They had been guarding a demure and petite teenage girl, not a freight train or a whirlwind but it was something like a cross between those two things that came crashing through the door of her room and left them both lying dazed on the floor.

“Poor Buttons”, she said, looking down at the henchman who had been so kind to her, now concussed with a very large bump on his head, “I didn’t mean to hurt you but we’ll both of us be free of my wicked stepmother soon, you’ll see”.

And then, becoming no more than a blur or glimmer of pink, Wonderella whizzed out of the Ugly gang’s hide-out and, so as to avoid bumping into pedestrians, spread her arms and took off, up into the evening air and, just like a real superhero or a bird or a plane, Cyndi saw that she was flying; flying high over the brightly lit city skyline, swooping and gliding and loop the looping with the gracefulness of a prima ballerina over the big river where all the boats and ferries were lit up and over
the posh suburbs towards where Playboy Millionaire Chuck Charming lived.

Ma Ugly and her hideous daughters, Agatha
and Brunhilda Ugly looked quite a sight, all
made up and dressed in the most glamorous evening gowns with salon styled bouffants on their heads.

“Look mother”, said Agatha, giddy with excitement as she surveyed the ballroom of the Charming
Mansion, “Look at all the big celebrities”.

“Maybe we could get our pictures taken with some of them”, said Brunhilda, equally giddy and starstruck, though slightly more interested
in the buffet food that was laid out round the ballroom.

“Enough of that”, growled Ma Ugly, sternly, “We're here to rob these people, not fawn over them, silly girls. Now both of you do as I told you”.

Reaching into their handbags, Agatha, Brunhilda and their mother pulled out gas masks and high-calibre machine guns, putting on the masks before lobbing gas grenades amid the throng of hob-nobbing socialites who immediately began panicking and screaming, running about like startled hens.

“Everybody, on the floor!”, yelled Ma Ugly, firing a round of ammunition into the air and accidentally shattering a crystal chandelier that was above her head, “And nobody move a muscle or else things could get ugly”.

The next moment the mansions security alarms started going off, making a deafening noise
and Chuck Charming’s trained security guards entered the ball room but they were soon overpowered by the highered caterers and band members at the party who were all a part of Ma Ugly’s vile criminal gang, then the doors to the ballroom were locked and barred to stop anyone leaving or entering.

“Very good work, Gentlemen”, said Ma Ugly addressing her gang as she checked her diamond encrusted, gold ladies wristwatch, “Only a few seconds over time”.

Then she turned to the party guests who were timidly cowering on the floor or hiding under tables, “Now, boys and girls, we shall all play a jolly party game. My lovely daughters and my associates will pass among you with bags and you will put into them your wallets, watches, gold and diamond jewellery and anything else of value that you have on you or I shall fill you full of lead, understand me?!”.

Only billionaire playboy Chuck Charming, the host of the party, was brave enough to stand up to the mad, machine gun toting Ma Ugly.

“You’ll never get away with this you…”, he said, suddenly being cut off in mid-sentence as one of the ugly sisters, Brunhilda, hit him with a sucker punch and landed him flat out and unconscious upon the ballroom floor.

“Brunhilda! You Nincompoop”, scolded her mother, “That’s Chuck Charming. If he’s unconscious then how can he tell us the location and combination of his safe full of all that lovely money”.

“Don’t worry”, said Agatha puckering up her lips, “I’ll wake up the sleeping prince with a kiss”.

But, just as Agatha was licking her hairy, warty lips and about to plant a long, horrible slimy kiss upon Chuck Charming’s mouth, the doors of the ballroom suddenly burst open and, whirling in like a pink tornado, came Wonderella.

“And who might you be?”, asked Ma Ugly, raising the barrel of her machine gun with her finger resting close to the trigger.

“I am Wonderella”, replied the superhero, standing with pink gloved hands on her pink lycra clad hips, “And I am going to put a stop to your evil crimes, Ma Ugly, once and for all”.

Just then, however, Chuck Charming started regaining consciousness, though still quite dazed, he was able to see a mysterious and beautiful woman in a pink lycra costume confronting Ma Ugly and her gang, deflecting bullets with only her delicate pink gloved hands before disarming Ma Ugly with a crystal booted karate kick and taking her hostage.

“I’ve never seen such an amazing woman in all my life”, said Charming, suddenly falling head over heels in love before passing out again.

“Are you alright, Mr Charming?”, said the woman in pink, helping the millionaire to his feet once
the police had arrived and Ma Ugly and her gang
were apprehended.

“I’m alright now that you are here, beautiful angel”, said Charming with a funny, far-away look in his eyes.

“You must be delirious”, said Wonderella, blushing, “You’re not making any sense”.

“Only deliriously in love”, said Charming, taking her by the hand.

But then Wonderella heard a bell chiming and, looking up, she saw a big clock on the wall of the ballroom, its minute hand only a few short strokes away from joining the hour hand at 12.

“I’m sorry”, said Wonderella, “But it’s almost midnight and I have to go” and, spreading her arms wide, she started to ascend into the air.

“Wait”, said Charming, grabbing hold of her by one of her crystal boots, “Won’t you atleast tell me your name?”.

But there was no time. If Cindy didn’t get back before midnight then all her powers and her costume would be gone and Ma Ugly and her daughters, who were at that moment being handcuffed and read their rights by policemen, would see her true identity.

“I can’t, I’m sorry”, said Wonderella once more, suddenly turning into a blur of pink as she flew off faster than one of cupids golden arrows .

“What happened to your left boot, Cynthia?”, asked her Fairy Godmother when Cindy arrived back
in her little prison cell like room, pointing to Cindy’s left foot.

“Oh!?”, said Cyndi, looking down at her foot and noticing the boot gone, “It must have slipped off when I flew away. Mr Charming was holding onto it pretty tightly”.

“So, you met the handsome prince”, said the Fairy Godmother, excitedly, “And did you fall madly and passionately in love?”.

“I’m not sure how I feel about him but he certainly seemed very taken with me”, replied Cindy,
“Although, I don’t know if it was me or Wonderella that he was in love with”.

“But you are Wonderella, inside”, said the Fairy Godmother, “All my fairy wand does
is release the magic that is in your heart”.

Suddenly, however, Buttons, who was now fully conscious, rushed in anxiously, “Cindy, have you heard the news?”, he asked.

“Yes, I know. Ma Ugly and the gang have been captured by the police”, replied Cindy.

“That’s not all”, said Buttons, “Ma Ugly just phoned, she’s escaped and shes on her way here right now”.

“Oh no!”, said Cinderella desperately, “That wasn’t supposed to happen”.

And, just then, Ma Ugly arrived but, to Cindy’s surprise, she was riding a broom stick and had a pointy hat upon her head, “Fortunately, I’m not just a criminal genius, I’m also a very wicked witch,hee-hee-hee”, she cackled.

“Isn’t there anything you can do?”, Cindy asked the Fairy God mother,pleading, “Can’t you zap her with your wand?”.

“I’m sorry, Cynthia”, said the Fairy Godmother, shrugging her shoulders, waving her wand and slowly disappearing , “ I’m only allowed to grant you one wish. But don’t worry, everything will turn out happily ever after. It always does in Fairy Tales”.

“So that’s it”, said Ma Ugly, reaching up her sleeve; taking out her own wicked witches wand
and pointing it at Cindy, “I thought there was something familiar about that Wonderella character, I ought to have known it would be you Little Miss Goody Two Shoes. Well, you better hope that there really are Frog princes, because I’m going to turn you into a warty, slimy little toad”.

And Ma Ugly was about to zap Cindy with an evil spell when, in through the window of Cindy’s room flew a handsome costumed Super hero, quickly snatching Ma Ugly’s wicked wand from her gnarled old hand.

“Captain Courageous!”, yelled Cynthia, happily, “My hero! You’ve come to save me”.

“Bah!”, said Ma Ugly, “What are you doing here?!”.

Then Captain Courageous showed Wonderella the crystal boot he was carrying, “You flew away before you could tell me your name but, fortunately, I have the power to find any crook by just touching the clues which they leave behind and so, just by touching your crystal boot I knew where you lived”.

“You mean that Captain Courageous is Chuck Charming?”, said Cindy.

“That’s right. He’s my secret identity but I was really hoping that maybe Captain Corageous
could team up with the wonderful Wonderella”, said the handsome Superhero.

“Oh, I’d love to”, said Cindy, sadly, “But I’m afraid that my powers only lasted until midnight
and now they’re all gone”.

But then, Cynthia’s Fairy Godmother reappeared, “Don’t be foolish child.. now that prince charm-ing…er… I mean Captain Courageous has your crystal boot, all you need to do is put it on for your magic power to return”.

And, just as the Fairy Godmother had said, when Captain Courageous knelt down and slipped
the crystal boot onto Cindy’s foot, suddenly she transformed back into the pink, skin-tight costume of Wonderella complete with awesome super powers and then something even more amazing happened, Wonderella looked into the eyes of Captain Courageous and fell madly and passionately in love with him and they kissed.

“Phooey!”, griped Ma Ugly, “This would never happen in real life”.

“Tut-tut”, said the Fairy God mother, waving her wand and turning Ma Ugly into a hopping, warty old toad, “This is not real life. This is a Fairy Tale and Fairy Tales always end Happily Ever After”.

But not everyone was happy, Buttons was very sad when he saw Cindy kissing Chuck Charming because he had always secretly had a big crush upon… Chuck Charming, “I can’t believe it”, said Buttons, weeping, “I was always sure he was Gay”.

“Don’t worry,Buttons”, said the Fairy Godmother, waving her magic wand and conjuring up a hunky, handsome boyfriend for Buttons.

Then everyone really did live happily ever after.