Disclaimer: I do not own the Powerpuff Girls nor any of the characters nor the original plot line. I do and probably will reference certain events that have occurred and that all credit belongs to Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network and whoever else was involved.
It's been a while, but I think it's finally time that I wrote about this to the rest of the world. I can't believe it...it's been ten years since Townsville ceased to exist. Let me allow that little bit of information to sink in to my readers. Ten years. No doubt, most remember the sensation it caused in the media when it happened, after all it went down with all hands without a word as to what occurred or the events that led up to it. It was one day there, and the next day not. I'll be honest, I still don't entirely know what happened, but there are certain things I'll never forget. I'm reopening my own investigation which I'll talk about in a bit.
Forgive me, I'm a little terrible at story telling. (Ironic isn't it? Since I'm a journalist by trade.) I'm starting it backwards, when I should be talking about the beginning. My name is Rena Utonium, formerly known as Bubbles and Townsville was...and will continue to be my home. I suppose I should answer questions as systematically as possible. Why did I change my name? Well...let me tell you that going through middle school and partially through high school with a name like Bubbles wasn't exactly a fun experience. My sisters would stand up for me whenever someone brought it up, but they couldn't always be there for me. I'll admit it, I was a bit of a coward up until the disaster struck. A short while after we entered eighth grade, I brought it up with da...with the Professor. He was pained I could see that plainly in his eyes, but he supported me nonetheless and helped me legally change my name. I didn't really want to do it, I loved that name because it's who I was but I don't think I would have survived high school if I hadn't.
Come to think of it Buttercup also changed her name, she absolutely hated her birth name and wanted to switch it to "Warrior" for the longest time, which the Professor obviously refused. He settled for Jade though. Blossom was the only lucky one, she had a somewhat normal name so she didn't feel the need to change it and was especially upset when I broke the news to her. Buttercup she could understand, but she never expected it from me. She's smart, but there are certain things she never understood because she never had to face those situations. Or maybe, she didn't allow for those problems because of who she was. I always envied her and Buttercup about that. At home, we still called each other by our birth names, much to Buttercup's sorry Jade's chagrin. If she could read this now, I'm sure she'd come over and kick me.
Oh boy...I'm going off on tangents again. I should make a note here actually. Ten years has passed since it became known to the world that Townsville "disappeared", roughly some time after we turned fifteen. A lot changes in ten years, after the nightmare I finished high school and took an entry level job believing it to stay with me until I retired. However, the family that took me in to whom I will be forever grateful, absolutely insisted I continued onto college and good humouredly threatened to have me kidnapped and taken to a campus if it came down to it. They eagerly paid for everything necessary and I graduated with a degree in English and was offered a job for a journalist. Now at twenty-five I publish my own articles on private investigations I carry out either alone or in a team. This next one is without a doubt going to be the most dangerous mission I will be undertaking. But, I need to know.
A lot changes in ten years, I didn't understand the full meaning of this until I look back at the ten years from when we were toddlers to the middle of our teens. Ms. Keane continued to teach at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten for years after we left, but moved away when we were in high school. No one apparently knew where she went or why. The Mayor retired, thankfully too, since he was always an airhead. I was an airhead too at times, but I'd like to think that I wasn't as bad as him and also I was five. Ms. Bellum took over as the new mayor...ess? She made a lot of changes to Townsville's policies and it would be safe to say that the domestic crime rate in the city went down because of that. We still weren't short on enemies though, and Ms. Bellum would use the Powerpuff Hotline for the issues she couldn't deal with herself. Still, thanks to her governing we were able to be kids and did manage to live partially normal lives while growing up.
It's strange to talk about the villains we once fought on a weekly basis as a thing of the past, but some of them have made drastic changes which I think may interest the readers. I'll start off with the tamer ones. The Gangreen Gang dispersed after Ace was arrested for robbing a bank at age twenty-two. He was smart though clearly nowhere near Blossom in intelligence but he fell into a habit of gambling, which naturally caused the rest of his team to follow in his footsteps. Snake and Big Billy were arrested along with him, and of Lil' Arturo and Grubber, I never heard. Fuzzy Lumpkins grew tired of the somewhat suburban life he held in the woods next to Townsville. He lost his will to be evil strangely enough and returned to where he was supposedly born, though I don't think anyone found out where exactly that was.
We also didn't see much of the Rowdyruff Boys except a few skirmishes in which we temporarily defeated them. It was always only temporary, we never managed to permanently get rid of them. Perhaps that was a good thing? I'll explain what I mean by that statement. We did encounter them during our high school years. They had lost their violent tendencies though they still lived up to their title of "rowdy" by picking fights with other boys and us. A change came over them too, they weren't as...desperate to destroy us and in fact were tamer in their nature when they did fight us. It was positively weird and Buttercup felt they only did that because we were girls. It's embarrassing to confess this in such a fashion, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find them cute. However, I'm sure the same went for Blossom and Buttercup too, since I did catch Buttercup off guard one time absently mumbling of the fine, smooth tongued Butch. She in turn would mercilessly tease Blossom whom she caught red-handed admiring a photograph of the devilishly handsome and possibly her only equal in cleverness, Brick. I was thankful to be spared from that, but I did think of Boomer more than I care to admit.
Bah. I'm getting off topic again. Mojo Jojo and HIM were the only two villains we continued to face. As for Princess...oh Princess. Words cannot express how I felt about her, but I am sorry at how it turned out. She...so badly wanted to be one of us, and we let her once which as expected didn't turn out well and ended with half the city lying in rubble. Her obsession did not waver, on the contrary, it grew. We somehow ended up in the same high school, probably she used her dad's money as she did with everything. At first, it was fine she stirred up some trouble but it wasn't anything major, but it got worse with each meeting. Finally one day, she snapped. She went insane and started wreaking havoc all over Townsville. It was the closest we had ever come to death, but we managed to stop her. This didn't help, her obsession and hatred all piled together as she pitted it against us. When she realised that she couldn't do anything and that no matter what she tried she would never be one of us...she took her own life, in front of us. The scariest part of that whole tale was the mad glint in her eyes that never left even when she breathed her last. It's a face I will not forget.
There were a lot of changes back home too. The Professor opened up his own lab and hired several scientists to help with his researches. With each passing month we saw less and less of him, making our relationship strained at the very least. He began to notice it too I think, and he never failed to tell us he loved us when he got the chance. Blossom became really smart. (What a surprise right?) Winning lots of awards and ranking among the top university students when she was barely in middle school herself. This took a toll on her and she tried to hide it but while I'm not a genius like her, even I could read the stress that was etched in her every feature. I still remember the weary smile on her face when she returned from school but she would sit by me night after night when I suffered from my worst attacks of depression...I miss her. Buttercup...became a little estranged from the two of us once we entered high school. Yea...she was always rebellious even when we were kids and she even ran away from home a few times. Each time she did it felt like she stayed away longer and longer, and I cried in the dead of night worrying myself sick, but she always came back home. I think she didn't have the heart to leave us even if she may have hated us vehemently at times. However, something changed in high school...there were times where I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to tell us, but something always held her back. She didn't take up any bad habits, she was smarter than that. She did however return late at night, sometimes not until the next morning and it was useless trying to get a word out of her.
I know...I know, I'm going off again but I felt like I should mention some of these things before continuing with main story. The world ended for me that day, but life goes on. It doesn't stop for one city in a vast metropolitan nation. I say that day, but it's technically incorrect. I was in a coma for several weeks before I came to in a hospital at some random place. I had nothing on me to identify myself with so they couldn't contact any family either. This was a problem since I had amnesia and oddly enough my fingerprint didn't register, so I along with the staff were left completely in the dark. Those months where I tried to rehabilitate and recover my memory, were the loneliest months I have ever experienced. I was able to piece together my memory after some months with the help of an elderly couple who never had any children of their own. My new family I mentioned earlier on. Even now, I still have a gap in memory spanning the one day that Townsville became no more.
Once I knew who I was, I immediately jumped out the window to my room to fly back to my home, which dislocated my shoulder, gave me several scars, and almost resulted in two broken legs. I was devastated. I ran up to the closest tree and found squirrels scurrying away. I could no longer speak to them nor understand them. I tried everything. I screamed until my voice gave out, nothing sonic about it. I stared intensely at objects which would have vaporised under normal circumstance but only drew disturbed glances from people who happen to be passing by. All of my abilities, everything, I had lost. Had I ceased to be Rena...no. Had I ceased to be Bubbles Utonium in just one day? I could not believe it. I went into a state of shock, not eating for days and barely drinking enough to sustain me. My "parents" helped me recuperate, it was slow but I went back to normal eventually. Some of my powers did return though. Let's see...in the last few years I've been able to talk to animals again, shoot beams from my hand and eyes, lift some heavy objects, but every single one of my skills are a mere shadow of what I was once capable of. I had to hide them though, for obvious reasons. It was hard, sometimes when my emotions got the better of me I couldn't control them. I regret to say I have injured my family on more than one occasion because of this, but they never left my side. I've got my own place now though I visit them often.
I had my identity back once more, but no contact has been established with my sisters or the Professor. I know Blossom and Buttercup aren't dead, I just know it. Being forged in an experiment gives you a remarkably deep bond with whoever you were born with. And the older we got, the more we were able to understand each other without words. I'm sure I would feel it if either one of them were no longer living. I can't say the same for the Professor...I...I don't think he survived the ordeal. Nor do I know anything about the other inhabitants of Townsville. I've gone back and tried to get my hands on every single newspaper clippings, reports, and documentaries that relate to the incident with very little luck. They all repeat the same thing...shocking destruction, inexplicable disappearance, Townsville the next Atlantis. Nothing definite could be gleaned from these.
So, I've decided to return to the site and begin my own investigation. It may be a fruitless effort considering all the expeditions already made, but maybe - just maybe - I'll come across something that others missed.
Author's Note: Well, I probably should have written a fanfic on this cartoon ages ago. It's one of my all time favourite series of my childhood and I love it even now. I would love some feedback on this story, it was completely improvised and I'd like to know how it's going so far and if people are interested in it's continuation. Also let me know what you think of the title, if I should keep it or change it. I also know my grammar is not the best and being written on the spot probably hasn't helped it. If you see any major mistakes or mistakes that seem to take away from the story please kindly let me know, I am always looking to improve, but I ask please no nitpicking at the smallest details, thanks!
On a side note, if you like my writing please come support me on Wattpad where I have an original story up and I'll also be posting this one there too! My username on there is Argentdragon, happy reading!