The City of New Townsville, after the defeat of HIM and his black aura the city went back very much to normal, at least as normal as a city full of mutated monsters and super-heroines could be. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were almost as happy as the day they became Powerpuffs with the knowledge that they could still fight the evils that face New Townsville. However it seemed like days since last their power-belts had flashed. Professor Utonium was hard at work fixing his time machines from all the trouble the black dust had caused while Ken and Poochie were working on analyzing the restorative properties of Chemical Z.
"C'mon I'm bored already when are we gonna see some action?" The strong-willed voice of Buttercup echoed down the long school corridors.
"I think it's nice that we can take a break, I mean after all we did just defeat the most evil being in the Universe the others are probably just too scared to fight us." Blossom's even-toned enthusiasm carrying through the same empty hallway.
"I agree it might be nice to catch up in class, I mean after all when we were fighting every day we fell kinda far behind in our studies." Bubbles optimism chimed in as the three walked out the doors onto the courtyard of the school.
"Also now that we've gone a few days without missing a class I'm sure that the teachers are in shock, they probably think we're even sicker now then we pretended to be when the world was in danger." Blossom added giggling to herself.
"Yeah well I hope something turns out soon I don't think I can stand much more of this quiet." Buttercup said putting her hands behind her back. At that moment the girls hears the distinctive tone of their power belt and opened the communicators on their buckles. Ken was there, "Girls we need you at the lab right away we've found something interesting about z-ray activity!"
"Well I guess it's better than nothing." Buttercup stated and swiped her ring turning her into the green Powerpuff. Blossom and Bubbles followed suit and the three took off in the direction of the Lab.
Poochie was there to greet them as they landed at the entrance, "Follow me!" He turned and ran into the Lab. The girls ran after him all the way to a wall in the back of the lab. "I don't get it!?" Buttercup said objectively. Poochie went up to the wall and poked in a few different places and a door pulled out and slid open right in front of their eyes. The girls were hesitant at first but Poochie ran in and called for them to hurry up so they walked in behind him.
On the left and on the right were huge canisters marked "Chemical-Z", they coated the walls to the ceilings and in the far front was another door marked "Testing Chambers no Admittance". The girls opened the door to what looked like a white room with a white table and white chairs in fact the only color that wasn't white in the room was the girls uniforms even Ken and the Professor were wearing suits that covered themselves up to their faces which were white.
"What's going on Professor?" Buttercup asked first, to Blossom's dismay.
The professor turned, "Oh, girls it's you come over here and take a look!" The girls walked over to a Chemical-Z container that looked like it had been crushed somewhat.
"Wait a sec! I recognize that container…" Blossom started, "Yeah isn't that the one that HIM stole that one time and dumped it all out over New Townsville?" Bubbles interrupted.
"Yes." Stated the Professor, "But take another look." The girls bent over the container and saw a swirling mass of whitish matter that just barely covered the bottom of the container. "Is that…?!" Blossom started, "Yes, that's Chemical-Z!"
"Wait a sec, I thought that we needed all the Chemical-Z to banish HIM once and for all!?" Buttercup said worriedly.
"We did and we did," stated the Professor, "we used all of the Chemical-Z in the Foundation to banish HIM but it seems that white Z-Rays have a special restorative property that allows it to re-create itself. We've found similar things in all of the containers that once held Chemical-Z, they all seem to be slowly creating more and more of it, but that's not all! Take a look at this." They walked over to a screen where there were a few squiggly lines one far more squiggly than the other.
"The line on the bottom represents Chemical-Z the first time that we got it to stabilize." Ken stated, "Yes, and the line on the top is the Chemical-Z that is forming right now in the containers." The Professor concluded. "But what does that mean?" Bubbles asked. "Well it seems to me that Chemical-Z is becoming stronger. It makes sense when you think that you girls had given up all of your white Z-Rays to help defeat HIM and yet soon afterwards you were able to transform and use your powers again. I believe that Chemical-Z is mutating." "What about these other lines?" Bubbles asked. "Well when Chemical-Z stabilized for the first time there seemed to be a reason for it with all the strange weather and these lines monitor atmospheric activity to see if there is a reason behind this new development."
Later that day the girls were talking on their communicators: "Isn't that weird what the Professor said about Chemical-Z getting stronger?" Buttercup stated. "Yeah I wonder if that means that we're getting stronger!?" Bubbles said, "Maybe, but that makes me worry a bit." Blossom said kind of sadly. "What!? Why!?" Both Bubbles and Buttercup asked surprised, "Well didn't the Professor say Chemical-Z was getting stronger? I can only think that means both black Z-Rays and white Z-Rays are getting stronger meaning…", "Maybe Mojo Jojo and the others are getting stronger as well." Buttercup interrupted.
"WHY IS EVERYONE CUTTING ME OFF TODAY!" Blossom yelled into the communicator. "Well now that I think about it, it makes sense that if we get more powerful then the others affected by the same thing would get stronger as well."
"Hey sis who ya talkin to?" Came a small voice from Blossom's end. Blossom turned, "Oh no, it's my little sister I gotta go see ya at school." And Blossom cut out of the conversation. "Yeah I guess I should go too I'm helping Gran-gran clean the back porch tomorrow morning before school. See ya later Buttercup!" Bubbles finished and cut out. "Well I just hope that we see some action tomorrow." Buttercup said to herself and turned out the light.
Hopefully you all enjoyed the small taste of what is to come Next time: "Power, A New Face!"