Project Puff

by Shaun Garin

Part of the JLAC Universe - With Help from Akino Ame Sugar. Spice. Everything Nice. A Tale of girls with extraordinary powers in a time after a Fall.

Episode 1-1: Awakening

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The Mariana Trench. At a depth of 10,991 meters, it is the deepest part of the world. Natural light cannot penetrate it and the inhabitants of this trench often are credited to be phosphorescent creatures who provide their own light through bioluminescent generation. A trench so deep that the pressure would crush anything in the known world.

It is here that a small outcropping of rocks are set in a perfect circle. Several criss-crossing rings are also apparent to this unnatural formation, having been interlaced with several known, and often dead languages; ranging from Egyptian, Sumerian to the old tongues from a history long forgotten.

The circle, undisturbed for years lay there, mute and without notice until one day, pressure began to build under it.

A flow of magma, undocumented by explorers, began to build an unnatural pressure beneath this circle, causing the runes to flare with light that was quickly swallowed up by the darkness in the ocean floor. The earth trembled and very slowly, a small crack formed in the ocean floor in the middle of the circle.

Magma escaped from the crack, water hissing and rapidly cooling the molten rock. For a long three and a half minutes, this crack expanded and loosed more magma from the earth's core. And then, as is it had enough, the tremor stopped.

Geologists stationed in the nearby Mariana Islands noted the tremor, but after projecting calculations, they deemed the tremors without notice, as it barely reached a magnitude of 0.40. Undaunted, they continued their work.

The Mariana Trench. At a depth of 10.991 meters, it is the deepest part of the world. Natural light cannot penetrate it.

It is also the best place to hide something hoped to be forgotten.

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Akatsutsumi Momoko was not known for her patience. A vibrant and energetic girl with long red hair tied in a large ribbon, she was an avid fan of hero comics and heroes and heroines themselves. If one were to look into her room, the small room was packed with anime and manga, and indeed several collectibles of the world-famous Justice League.

Born to a typical Japanese family of four, she had a mother and father and her little sister Kuriko who also inherited her sisters incredible obsession with being a heroine. The pair often competed together against the tiniest of things as well as having a large sweet tooth.

It was here because of said sweet tooth that she was dancing on one foot to another, waiting in line for the latest new sweet shop to open; a western style donut store that offered donuts that one could fit their head in. "C'mon, c'mon already, hurry up line!" she whimpered, shifting her feet from side to side impatiently.

Finally after several agonizing minutes, the line finally reached the point that Momoko walked away happily with an enormous donut. Gleefully munching on the food, she sighed happily. "It's so good!"

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" inquired a voice and Momoko looked up at a pretty blonde who also had been in line behind her. She wore her hair in curled ringlets with two pigtails off to the sides of her head. Dressed in an expensive looking blouse, pleated blue skirt and tie, the girl had a pleasant expression on her face as she carried a small bag with donut holes in them.

Scooting over, Momoko examined the girl for a moment and then said, "You're Gotokuji Miyako-san, right?"

"Oh yes I am," said Miyako, surprised. "And you're… Akatsutsumi Momoko-san, correct?"

"Yeah!" proclaimed Momoko. "You're the most popular girl in the school -- your locker is always full of love letters and gifts."

Miyako blushed as she nibbled on a donut hole. "Thank you Momoko-san. I know of you too: you're the biggest hero maniac in the school."

"Awww…" blushed Momoko, taking a bite out of her enormous donut. "Thanks! I love heroes, especially heroines! I always watch the news in case there's things about the Justice League on! And then I catch all of my favourite anime and read the latest manga…"

Miyako giggled as Momoko went into a spiel about her favourite heroines. "You really love the heroines."

"It's my dream to be one," exclaimed Momoko, her eyes all starry as she imagined herself as a fabulous heroine, defeating the bad guys. "Ah, my donut is getting cold!"

Picking up her donut, she took a large bite of it as Miyako eyed the confection with some concern. "Oh my, that's a very large donut Momoko-san. Will you be able to finish it?"

"Don't worry," replied Momoko, her mouth full. "I can eat sweets all day!"

"Heads up!" Without warning, a soccer ball bounced into the courtyard, ricocheting off the back of their bench and bonking Momoko on the head. Momoko jerked forward in surprise from the impact, her donut slipping out of her hands.

"Ah, my donut!" cried Momoko, pitching forward to save it from the ground, but a pair of hands grasped it before it hit the ground. Looking up at the owner, the rough hands belonged to a girl dressed in green, her unruly black hair sticking out from under a baseball cap.

"This is yours? Geez, it's a big one." said the girl as she handed the donut to Momoko. "Huh, aren't you Akatsutsumi Momoko?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Momoko, nodding. "And you are?"

"Oh, you're Matsubara Karou-san, the most atheletic girl in the school!" proclaimed Miyako. "Thank you for saving Momoko-san's donut."

"Eh, no worries," replied Karou as Momoko took her donut back happily. "And you're Gotokuji Miyako right?"

Miyako nodded as Karou picked up her soccer ball that had gotten away from her. "Well I gotta jet. Laters."

The pair watched Kaoru run back to the field adjoining the park and Momoko observed, "Wow, she even talks like a boy."

"I heard Karou-san is very popular, and to be honest, I've sort of looked up to her," smiled Miyako. "She's good at every sport she takes, ranging from soccer to various forms of martial arts."

"Wow, maybe she could teach me those!" proclaimed Momoko. "It would help me further with my quest to become a heroine!"

"Momoko-san…" smiled Miyako, sort of embarrassed at the outgoing way she proclaimed her goals.

"C'mon, lets go watch!" Seizing Miyako's hand, the girls ran off, Momoko's enormous donut left to the wildlife who promptly converged on it.

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Matsubara Karou knew that she drew fan girls like the plague, but like the plague she tried her best to avoid them as much as possible.

Her entire family were a bunch of athletic nuts, always roughhousing and participating in various sports. It started with her father who was once a regular pro wrestler but after a series of defeats, pulled out of the league to study as a luchador in Mexico when Karou had just been a little girl. Before that however, sports had been the staple of the Matsubara family; in the morning before breakfast till after a bath, there was always physical competition.

Which was WHY Karou felt two admiring gazes on her back as the two girls, Momoko and Miyako watched her play in the pick-up game of soccer in the park against a pack of boys. After years of being admired, Karou had a keen sense that her brother termed a "Fan girl Radar" and those two were quickly becoming fans watching her play.

"I hate girly girls," muttered Karou to herself as she tried to ignore the sensation of being watched, and instead drove the soccer ball deep into the upper-left part of the goal.

"Wow, Karou-san is so good!" proclaimed Miyako.

"She's definitely athletic! The perfect person to teach me martial arts!" exclaimed Momoko, also becoming a definite fan of Karou's athleticism. "We need to talk to her more!"

Geez, they're still here? I'll bet they're waiting for me to finish. The popular girly-type and the hero maniac. Both types I can't STAND. Karou shivered inwardly as she focused on the game once more.

"Time!" called one of the opponents, causing Karou to stumble in mid-kick. Regaining her balance, she jogged over to the bench to grab her water bottle, leaving the ball unattended to.

As the two teams headed for the benches to relax and continue the game in five minutes, a fine black mist began to seep out of the earth. It wound its way around the benches through the throng of kids before settling on the ball. The mist swarmed the ball, encircling and then finally being absorbed into the ball.

Karou picked up her water bottle and took a long drink, pausing only to look over at Momoko and Miyako who stood there. "Something ya want?" inquired Karou curiously.

"Teach me how to fight!" exclaimed Momoko, causing Karou to choke on her water. "Please?"

"What, teach someone martial arts?" exclaimed Karou, coughing. "Why do you want to learn how to fight?"

"Because -- I want to become a heroine!" proclaimed Momoko, striking a pose.

"Er…" Dumbfounded, Karou found herself being subjected to Miyako's cute-sparkly attack and reeled backwards, falling on her butt. "I'm not exactly the type to teach y'know!" Scrambling to her feet, she snatched up her water bottle and took a long bracing drink. "Besides, why me?"

"Because you're the most athletic in our school," pointed out Momoko.

"And Karou-san is very good at sports too," added Miyako. "You've always excelled at them at our school."

"But that doesn't make me qualified," muttered Karou.

"Oi, Karou! Get over here, we're starting again!" yelled one of the boys and Karou waved at him.

"Seriously, ask me after this game." Her piece said, Karou jogged over to the field for the resume kick.

Lining up at center field, Karou brought her foot down on the ball, only to slip as it seemed to zip right out from under her feet. Arms pin wheeling, she slid down in the splits before falling over onto her side, dazed. "What the heck…?" muttered Karou, sliding her legs back together.

"That looked like it hurt," sneered one of the boys and Karou gave him a glare.

"Girls don't need to worry about the splits," Karou snapped as the boy took the ball.

The boy kicked the ball to start the game, but suddenly it rocketed forward like it had been shot out of a cannon. Kids scrambled out of the way and the goalie, not wanting to catch the ball, dove to the side as the ball ploughed into the net. But it didn't stop there.

Spinning like it had been given an engine, the ball ripped the soccer net out of its moorings and knocked it over. The ball bounced high into the air and ricocheted off a tree, scattering people and players.

"Down!" shouted Momoko, pushing Miyako to the side as the ball ripped through the space formerly occupied by their heads. The ball slammed up against the tree that stood behind them; the impact cracking the wood inwards.

"The hell is wrong with that ball?" exclaimed Karou as it careened towards her. Standing her ground, Karou swung her leg around and it smashed up against the high-velocity rubber ball. For a moment the pair strained against each other, and Karou's expression screwed up in pain as she forced her body momentum to hurl the demented soccer ball high into the air.

The soccer ball bounced back as Karou hopped on one foot -- her entire right leg red with a long scoring mark across the front. "Look out!" cried Momoko as the ball paused in mid-air and then spun rapidly, shooting back at Karou.

"Oh crap!" proclaimed Karou as she braced herself, realizing she had no time to get away.

"Karou-san!" shouted Miyako.

"Karou-san move!" added Momoko as the ball hurled itself at Karou.

There was a loud sound, the impact of a ball against flesh and Karou opened her eyes to see a woman in a red business suit holding the ball as it spun rapidly in her hands, trying to wrestle free. "What the…?"

The woman was tall and slender, red hair pulled back in a ponytail that was held by a small worn-looking red bow and heart-adorned clip. Her wide eyes were pink and her overall appearance was quite young.

The ball spun at incredible velocities but the woman held onto it, the slight upturning of the corner of her lips a sign of effort as she applied pressure. With the sound of exploding air, the ball popped, a rubbery thpppbt sound accompanying the escaping air.

With the threat over, the woman stood up fully and sighed. "Sorry about your ball." Her voice was tinged with an American accent as she turned around to hand the deflated ball to Karou. "I'll get you a new one."

"Wow, she was amazing," breathed Miyako and Momoko could only nod in agreement.

"You're hurt," added the woman, looking at the long red mark on Karou's leg that had begun to bleed.

"Oh this? This isn't anything," said Karou, trying to act tough but when she put weight on it, she hissed in pain.

The woman knelt down to look at it and shook her head. "You need to at least bandage and clean it up and you may have strained the muscles doing that. My shop isn't far from here. I've got some medical stuff there if you can stand to limp a block or two."

"Oh, okay," said Karou, still a little dazed from the rescue.

"Can we come too?" inquired Momoko as she and Miyako ran up. "She's a classmate of ours."

Technically that's not true, since we're in different classes… mused Karou to herself but the woman nodded.

On the way out of the park, Karou limped over to the trash can and dumped the remains of her soccer ball, never noticing the fine black mist that arose from the remains and seeped into the earth shortly after.

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"It's not quite open yet, but you're the first customers to my Internet Café." said the lady as she turned on the lights.

Several rows of computers lined the room, some of them in stages of disassembly while another section sported tables for food and other activities. At the front was a western-style bar with several blenders in the back. "It's not much but welcome to the Blossom Café."

"Oh wow!" exclaimed Momoko, dancing over to the large television which sat at the middle of the room and Miyako wandered over to the old-fashioned jukebox. Karou sat down on a bar stool as the lady disappeared into the back room.

"This is a nice place," said Miyako, peering over the list of songs in the jukebox. "Looks Western in style."

"Yeah, I guess," said Karou as the lady came out, carrying a medical kit. "This is a nice place er…"

"Blossom. Blossom Utonium. Professor if you want to get technical about it. I answer to either Blossom or Professor." Unwrapping a length of gauze, Blossom swabbed the bleeding parts of Karou's leg and sprayed it with a substance that made Karou hiss in pain. "Sorry, but that's a powerful antiseptic. There was a lot of dirt and dust rubbed into your leg and this stuff will dissolve the germs."

Once bound, Karou flexed the leg and found that she could move it. "It doesn't hurt that much anymore."

"I'm glad. The antiseptic is a family mix. And yes, it's FDA approved," snickered Blossom. "Now that's settled, do you girls want a free drink as my first customers?"

"Please! Something sweet!" cheered Momoko.

In short order, the girls found themselves sitting in front of several brightly coloured drinks. "So good!" exclaimed Momoko, having taken the first sip of the drink.

"It's very good. Thank you Blossom-hakase." added Miyako.

"Yeah, it's great." said Karou.

"I'm glad it's good."

"Blossom-hakase, I was just curious to why someone with a PhD is running a Internet Café?" inquired Miyako curiously. "It seems a little odd."

Blossom smiled, though there was a hint of something behind it as she replied, "It's a stress reliever. I'd rather not work in a crowded lab all day, so I decided to open a teen hangout here in Tokyo." The phone rang. "Excuse me."

Moving off to the side, Momoko leaned over to Miyako and whispered, "I wonder if she's got a secret lab in this place."

"Hey, don't go poking around," hissed Karou. "We might get into trouble."

"Still, one must wonder if Blossom-hakase has a lab here," mused Miyako and Karou hung her head as Blossom hung up.

"Girls, I need to head out for a while, but I don't think Karou should move that leg for about an hour. Do you mind staying here? You can use the phone to call your parents if you need to check in."

"Really? You're going to leave us here?" exclaimed Momoko, surprised.

"R-really, I'm fine," protested Karou but a level look from Blossom cowed her. "A-alright. I'll stay here."

"Thank you for trusting us Blossom-hakase," said Miyako, bowing politely and the girls bowed as well.

"Not at all," said Blossom. "There's a couple of snacks in the fridge just behind the counter. Don't leave until I get back, okay?"

Grabbing her coat, Blossom left with the sound of bells jangling from the door.

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"Mou, it's been two hours since the Professor left," moaned Momoko as she watched the old-fashioned clock tick back and forth. The red head was strewn across the couch as Karou sat on the end, her leg propped up on the table."

"She at least called and told us that she would be a little late though," reminded Miyako as she paged through a book that had been sitting on the counter. Most of it was over her head as it was filled with notes and equations but there was little to do with Karou commanding the television. "But I don't think we should leave just yet since we can't lock the door before we leave."

"I wonder if she really does have a secret lab down here," mused Momoko, sitting up. "I'm going to look around the room."

"Oi, don't go getting into trouble," reminded Karou.

"Fine, fine," groused Momoko, heading into the back room.

The back room was a typical affair for a storage area, filled with crystallized and canned fruits along with powdered coffees. "Momoko-san, you shouldn't be poking around in there!" called out Miyako, but Momoko was too engrossed in the colourful crystals and powdered drinks.

"Wow, she has so much food," Momoko mused to herself, pushing aside some items to peer at the western writing on it. "Cho-co… Ah! Chocolate! Lucky!"

Eagerly, Momoko reached for the bag but as she did so, there was a distinct audible click from the wall next to her. Puzzled, Momoko peered under the surprisingly heavy bag of chocolate and discovered a little switch that was imbedded into the rack beneath the bag. "Click?" said Momoko to herself as she eased the bag down onto the switch. An audible Chunk sound was heard and Momoko scratched her head.

"Why would there be a button under a bag of chocolate?" wondered Momoko.

"Momoko, you shouldn't be poking around here," said Karou from behind Momoko, making the girl jump and back-pedal into the wall -- which suddenly swung inwards.

Letting out a surprised shriek, Momoko toppled backwards, only to have two pairs of hands grab her outstretched flailing arms as the wall gave way, revealing a descending set of staircases. "I thought I was going to die…" moaned Momoko as Miyako and Karou peered behind her at the hidden stairwell.

Reaching to the side where the protruding shape of a light switch was seen, Miyako flicked it on and gasped as soft blue light emitted from the metallic panels imbedded in the circular stairwell. "Oh my," she exclaimed as Karou peeked over and Momoko's eyes went wide with awe. "A hidden stairwell?"

"What the heck is this?" inquired Karou.

"It's a secret lab!" exclaimed Momoko happily. "She DOES have one! C'mon!"

Ignoring the protests from the others, Momoko darted down the stairs until she reached a door that hissed open for her. "Oh wow guys, check it out!"

Sharing a glance, Karou and Miyako joined Momoko a minute later, gazing around the futuristic lab.

The walls were made of a smooth metal with lights worked right into the walls as rows and rows of computer banks lined the walls. Towering projections of metal and circuitry were situated around the room as a large computer in the dead center of the room displayed various images of the city from different angles.

"This must be a secret command base! Blossom-hakase is obviously a champion of good, truth and justice!" Proclaimed Momoko, her mind and mouth going into overdrive. "Don't you see? She kept us here KNOWING we'd find her secret base, and that she chose US as her champions! Together, we'll fight evil that THREATENS Tokyo City in the name of LOVE!"

Miyako and Karou blinked rapidly and Karou summed up the pair's collective thoughts. "Or we could be in a mad scientist lab."

"Perhaps not a mad scientist lab, but this is just very strange. Why would a Internet Café owner, even with a PhD, made a top secret lab in the basement?" added Miyako.

Momoko scowled. "Didn't you hear my spiel of Love and Justice!"

The girls felt a little windswept at the force behind Momoko's shout. Karou sighed. "C'mon, lets get out of here before the Professor comes back."

"But, but, but…! Just a minute longer!" protested Momoko. "I want to find my super-powers!"

"Ah, Momoko-san!" Miyako sighed as Momoko ran off into the deeper parts of the lab, giggling happily. "This is going to end badly."

"Don't I know it." Dead-panned Karou. "C'mon, lets get Momoko out of here before the Professor returns and we get banned from this place. I kinda like the drinks here."

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"Maybe this? This! No, this right here! Ugh!" Momoko flopped into the chair next to the chemistry setup, sighing. "None of these items can give me superpowers!"

"Yeah that's all fine and good. Can we GO NOW?" demanded Karou.

"Wait! Just one more!"

Darting over to a very large cabinet, Momoko practically threw the doors open, rattling the beakers and test-tubes inside it. "Momoko-san, careful!" exclaimed Miyako as she and Karou ran over, concerned.

"Aw, don't worries, it was just a little rattle. See?" To emphasize her point, Momoko shoved the cabinet with one hand.

As if responding to a violent earthquake, the already ancient Ikea wood, (which Blossom had kept for all of these years from her childhood as it was her sisters cupboard), shuddered under the impact, spilling beakers all around the girls in a shower of multi-coloured chemicals. Miyako screeched and Karou grabbed both her and Momoko, sheltering them from the falling wall of glass.

Then, when all of the glass had finished falling around them, Karou released the girls, scowling at Momoko who wore a sheepish expression. "JUST a little rattle?"

"I suppose I was misjudging the… eh?" Feeling a drip of liquid on her head, Momoko looked up and so did Miyako and Karou as a very large beaker of liquid tipped over, the delicate stopper popping out of the end of it. Following shortly was the sound of sloshing liquid and three shrieks of surprise as the entire container emptied itself onto their heads.

"NOW look what you did!" exclaimed Karou angrily, dripping wet from head to toe as with Miyako and Momoko.

"Oh, my favourite dress!" added Miyako unhappily. "Momoko-san!"

"What IS this black liquid anyhow?" wondered Momoko as Karou unhappily sloshed out of the puddle, stomping for the exit. "H-hey! Karou-san! I didn't mean it!"

"Momoko-san, Karou-san, don't leave me behind!" Chasing after the pair, none of them noticed the label on the large beaker -- a label that read "Chemical Z".

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The lab was in shambles when Blossom Utonium returned late that evening. When the girls hadn't picked up the phone, she had surmised that they had left. After all, being three hours late wasn't good for anyone to keep waiting for her. What worried her however was that they had left without locking the door. Not like I gave them a KEY or anything mused Blossom upon arrival.

Despite nothing being out of place or missing when she switched on the lights, Blossom found the back room disturbed and the heavy bag of chocolate shifted. Not to mention the lab door was open. Arriving at the ground floor, Blossom found part of the lab -- the chemistry section -- overflowing with spilt liquid and damp grains of various powdered substances. Fortunately most of them were not harmful, even if they had gotten onto the girls.

But then she noticed the puddle of black liquid on the ground.

Blossom's throat went dry as she reached up to the oversized flask at the top of the shelf, desperately hoping to find just a little bit of the precious chemical left. But the flask was nearly empty, and the label soaked in the same liquid, turning the bright yellow label an ugly brown. There was barely enough liquid remaining in the flask to even soak a rag with which she sloshed around and poured into a smaller flask to set aside. The ancient Ikea-brand cupboard which had been in her family since they were born looked like it had undergone punishment from god -- the entire interior soaked, peeling and one of the shelves had been eaten through by strong acid.

"Oh no," groaned Blossom, sitting down heavily in the chair nearby. "I should have come back before they got themselves into trouble."

Reaching into her jacket, Blossom produced a phone which she dialled a number that was on speed dial. After three rings, the person on the other side picked up. "Yeah, its me. Dad… I have a problem…"

/break

"I'm home…"

"Momoko-chan you're late," admonished her mother, Akatsutsumi Kakiko who turned to look at her wayward daughter. Stifling a gasp of surprise, a hand went to her lips which were forming a small O in surprise. "Oh my, you're all wet! Is it raining outside?"

"Uh no, I just um… fell into a pond, that's all," said Momoko, not wanting to relay the idea of her secretly breaking into a possibly top-secret lab and spilling something all over herself. Not to mention if the Professor decided to call her PARENTS, demanding repairs and reimbursements to her top secret lab, Momoko was absolutely certain that she would be unable to get away with just a light punishment.

Probably grounding. For the rest of her life. If anything, her mom wasn't the type to follow the traditional Japanese method of "removing her love" but in a way, western-style grounding was worse.

Grounding meant no going out for snacks. And no snacks made for a cranky and suffering Momoko.

"Oh dear. Go and get changed. Dinner is almost ready."

"Nice one sis, always the clumsy one huh?" ribbed her little sister Kuriko. "That must have been some dirty pond you fell into. That water is all black."

Momoko shot her a glare but then sighed. "Whatever. Sorry, I'm too worn out to argue right now."

Watching her sister clamber up to her room and twisting odd Akatsutsumi logic around in her mind, Kuriko inhaled and yelled, "Mom! Momoko's acting weird!"

"Leave her be Kuriko-chan, she's probably tired." called out her mother.

In her bedroom, Momoko stripped of her damp black-liquid covered clothing and threw the items to the side, her shirt and skirt making a loud squelching noise as they impacted against the wall. Fishing her bow out of her hair, she sighed heavily and fell backwards onto her bed. "I hope Karou's not too mad at me," mused Momoko to the ceiling, noting with some distaste that the unnamed chemical had even gotten into her hair. Running a hand through her bangs, Momoko found them coming out dark. "Blah, I need a bath."

/break

"Miyako-chan, you're not paying attention," admonished Miyako's grandmother, Kiyoko. "I know flower arrangements are done every evening but please try to pay attention."

"Oh, I'm sorry Obachama, I just had an eventful day today," said Miyako, embarrassed. Her mind had wandered during the formal arrangement that they practiced every night, and Miyako blushed heavily.

"Well that's no big surprise, coming home soaking wet in dirty-black water!" Kiyoko giggled. "Those new friends of yours must be quite the rambunctious young ladies."

"Karou-san and Momoko-san are very different," laughed Miyako.

"Still, one must remember to keep ones mind on what they are doing." Pushing the flower arrangement stand towards Miyako, Miyako nodded and picked up a flower to continue the arrangement.

Miyako's mind however was far away as she worked on the flower arrangement, her hands on automatic. The strange black liquid, after soaking her clothing and chilling her to the bone had come out of her favourite outfit easily, but getting the liquid off her skin and out of her hair had been extremely difficult as it clung to her like some stubborn type of unhealthy grease. It took Miyako several lathers and rinses to finally clean herself of the black liquid and had to use the strongest shampoo they had multiple times to get it out of her ringlet-styled pigtails.

Thinking about the two girls she had met, Karou and Miyako were opposite parts of the spectrum in Miyako's opinion. One being eternally cheerful and hero-obsessed (not to mention boy-obsessed if the stories told around school were true), the other a little more dour, a bit grumpy and athletic (and definitely not lacking in female fans who admired the headstrong boyish girl). Miyako stood in the middle, the eternally-popular and fashionable girl -- the type that every boy admired.

Miyako herself came from a fairly wealthy, if traditional, family. Her estate had two floors to it, designed in the traditional Edo style with rice paper walls but updated with modern heating due to a remodelling that her parents had performed several years ago. Miyako lived at the estate with her grandmother who she affectionately referred to as Obachama while her parents lived in Milano, Italy. Briefly Miyako wondered what kind of home life Momoko and Karou had as they had come from very different social backgrounds than she.

"Very good Miyako-chan," praised her grandmother as Miyako presented the flower arrangement. "Such style."

Miyako took note of the arrangement and the three flowers that stood in the base amidst an arrangement of various smaller plants: red, green and yellow, red and green firmly surrounding the yellow. Absently, she realized that her thoughts had indeed come out while performing flower arrangement in colours she had mentally designated for her two new friends. "It sort of came to me Obachama," admitted Miyako.

/break

"And the winner is -- Karou!" proclaimed Karou's mother, Mitsu Matsubara as Karou stood over her two fallen brothers and father triumphantly.

"Karou, I'm so happy for you!" sobbed her father Tokio from his prone position on the floor. "You've finally beaten all three of us at the same time!"

"Dad you're going to get your mask all wet," exclaimed Karou. Whirling on her brothers who were sitting up, nursing bumps, she demanded, "Stop crying, it's embarrassing! And you two! Are you two even trying tonight?"

"Hey, don't be like that. You're like a freak of nature tonight sis," said her elder brother Dai. The younger sibling Shou nodded in agreement. "It's like you have the strength of two Karou right now."

"Heh, well I AM good aren't I?" snickered Karou.

"Doesn't explain why she got into a scuffle with two girly-girls coming home and wound up falling into a lake," snickered Shou. "I thought you hated girly-girls!"

"I'll bet they brought her to a boutique or something. Made her wear a skirt." Karou shuddered and a vein bulged on her head as Dai pressed on. "Maybe she's wearing those cute little underwears that girls wear nowadays!"

"With magical girls printed all over them!" laughed Shou, his staccato laughter punctuated by snorts.

"You punks, shut up or I'll come over there and feed you those words!" But before Karou could get storm over to her hysterically laughing brothers to inflict merciless pain upon their well-being, her father grabbed her legs and she landed hard on her front as the Luchador towered over his daughter.

"Enough of that! Tonight, in celebration of Karou's new strength, we'll have -- ANOTHER WRESTLING MATCH!"

Karou yelped as her brothers dog piled her, exclaiming "You've gotta be kidding me!" from beneath the heap.

"Hey, check her panties! I'm sure she's wearing something cute!" laughed Shou as Dai grinned and pulled at the waistband of her sleep-wear.

"H-hey! What are you doing you jerks! YOU'RE GONNA DIE NOW!" With a ferocity that belayed her embarrassment, Karou laid into her brothers and father in an attempt to preserve the identity of her underwear to the family.

"Oh my, they're always so happy when the family bonds together," smiled Mitsu.

"LIKE HELL I'M TAKING OFF MY PANTS!" howled Karou as she grabbed her brothers into a headlock.

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Episode 1-2: Awakening

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The day started out very good for Akatsutsumi Momoko. Light streamed into her bedroom window, birds chirped in the yard and she began the day with a loud yawn and swinging her arms to the side exaggeratedly…

CRUNCH!

… and gaped at the new hole in her wall, her clenched fist firmly imbedded wrist-deep into the wall.

"Momoko-chan? What was that noise?" Called out her mother and Momoko, panicking, shoved her pillow up against the hole in the wall to hide it. Peeking into her room, Kakiko asked, "Did you fall out of bed again dear?"

"Er, no! Just accidentally hit the wall, that's all," giggled Momoko nervously as her mother, pleased with the answer, withdrew from the room and headed downstairs.

As Momoko listened to her mom start up breakfast, she peeked at the gaping hole in the wall. Small and fist-sized, it was ragged on one end from the angle where she had struck it but rounded to a nearly perfect hole in the wall. Flexing her hand, Momoko examined it for redness from such an impact.

Nothing.

"SIS! Get down here or I'll eat all of your food!" bellowed Kuriko and Momoko, snapping to attention, leapt out of bed.

"Don't you even dare!" shouted Momoko, racing around the room and gathering strewn clothing.

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"You don't look well dear," mused Miyako's grandmother. "Are you all right to head to school today? You could have caught a cold from getting wet last night. And it looks like you haven't slept at all."

"It's okay Obachama," said Miyako. The usually impeccably dressed girl sported circles around the lower part of her eyes, having been sleep-deprived. For the better part of the night, the usual silence had been replaced by noises such as dogs barking, cats scrounging in the trash bins, as well as sirens from the city center that somehow reached her home. Miyako had managed to get three hours of sleep the night before.

"Well if you say so, but a proper lady knows when she needs to stay at home," reminded Kiyoko.

Miyako nodded as she reached into the fridge and pulled out a energy drink hidden well in the back of the fridge. As a standing rule, Miyako rarely required the western-type energy drinks and her grandmother didn't need it on a whole. But on the off chance that one needed to remain awake in case they were awaiting an international call from Milano, the drink was utilized.

"Here's your lunch Miyako-chan, and be sure to drink that energy drink before ten thirty or you may find yourself sleeping in class."

Miyako attempted a smile, but it came out pained as the headache that had been brewing since the early morning threatened to bubble up, making her temples throb painfully. "I'll try Obachama. I'm off to school now."

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Karou flexed her hand as she walked down the street towards her school. "Something is DEFINITELY not right here," she muttered to herself.

She had gone to bed thinking that beating her father and two brothers at wrestling was just a fluke, a fight to preserve her own family from tormenting her with the style of her undies being won by sheer tenacity. But when she had gotten up for the morning wrestling, Karou had PINNED all three with one arm. For a moment she had thought that they were just faking it as they had been beaten up fairly well by Karou. But when Dai had begun slapping the floor and yelping "Mercy" as she had twisted experimentally, Karou had quickly gotten up to the praises of her siblings and parents.

The memory of being doused by the strange black liquid sent up warning bells in Karou's mind. Her mother did the laundry that night but unlike Karou, she hadn't exhibited anything strange after touching the chemical-soaked clothing. But Karou had noticed a subtle change in her physical prowess since the evening before. It hadn't seemed to throw anything off -- being a martial artist she knew her own limitations inside and out -- but it seemed that her strength had doubled overnight. Fortunately, she hadn't had the need to open any doors for herself as slipped out the door while Shou and Dai headed off to school before her.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid," mused Karou to herself as she stepped into the street as the light began to change.

"LOOK OUT!" shrieked a woman and Karou looked up as a car barrelled down on her, the driver obviously speeding in an attempt to get through the lights before they turned red.

Karou threw herself to the side, skidding across the pavement and rolled to a stop as tires screeched and people screamed. Belatedly, she realized she hadn't been hit and shakily stood up, much to the concern of the driver and the people who were gathered at the crosswalk.

"Are you okay?" exclaimed the driver, wringing his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…!"

"I'm okay, really," said Karou, getting to her feet.

"Thank goodness," sighed a female bystander. "When he nearly hit you, there was a flash of green. We thought you had gotten hit, but I guess you threw yourself clear."

Karou nodded as she examined the area, a sinking realization seeping into her mind -- the car was over fifteen feet away. There was NO WAY she could have thrown herself clear that far, not in a single dive. And despite skidding several feet across pavement, her skin lacked the usual sign of skidding on pavement. No cuts or abrasions. "I… gotta get to school," stammered Karou as she took off, her exit rustling skirts and tossing up papers.

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Her mind in a whirl, Karou didn't notice that she had reached her school before she skidded to a halt nearly five meters past. Backing up and running into the courtyard, Karou slowed to a walk and then stopped. "What… just happened?"

"Karou-san?" hiccupped the voice of Miyako as she stepped out from behind a tree in the courtyard. Her eyes were bloodshot and ringed with sleep deprivation and her whole body screamed exhaustion.

"Miyako! What's wrong?"

Easing the other girl down to the soft grass, Miyako buried her head in Karou's chest, causing Karou to blush. "Er, Miyako?"

"The voices, they won't stop," sobbed Miyako. "I keep hearing things. People, Dogs, Cats, Sirens… I can hear people crying for help…"

Awkwardly, Karou put an arm around Miyako's shoulders as the blonde cried. "My head hurts so much, but I can't stop the voices…"

"It's okay… I'm having a weird day too." soothed Karou.

"That's three of us then," said Momoko, stepping out from behind the tree the pair were hiding behind. Her eyes were tightly clenched shut, but there was a faint light emitting from behind them.

"Momoko… what the hell is going on?" demanded Karou.

"I… don't know," admitted Momoko, arms flailing in frustration. "I woke up and things started HAPPENING… I can't even open my eyes anymore because, well, LOOK!"

Opening her eyes towards the wall encircling the elementary for a brief moment, a searing beam of heat and light erupted from them, ripping a hole in the wall before she shut them, much to the gaping expression of Karou and Miyako. "And that's not all! This morning I yawned and punched a hole in my bedroom wall!"

"I haven't been able to sleep since I keep hearing things. And it's not just close by either. I can hear someone in America yelling at someone named Superman…" sniffed Miyako. "I can't stop hearing things, it's driving me crazy!"

"… well that explains things…" said Karou, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "It was that liquid that doused us -- it's GOT to be. Everything started happening after we got soaked. We HAVE to get back to the café and see if the Professor can tell us what was IN that crap!"

"Sounds like a good idea. And… I'm sorry." said Momoko. "I shouldn't have been messing around in that lab."

"You should be apologizing to Miyako. She's been hearing things way beyond from what a normal girl can hear." Despite the angry tone in her voice, Karou had a concerned expression on her face as she helped Miyako to her feet and carried her piggy-back style. "C'mon, lets get to that café."

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"Repairs to the lab have been completed and the clean-up crews have been installing a closed circuit camera to monitor that part of the lab. To be honest, this is the first time I've ever seen such carelessness, even for an ex-superhero."

Blossom scowled at her visitor -- a large African American woman dressed in a professional blue suit. The pair were sharing an early tea to stave off the chill from a long evening or flight. "But to be perfectly honest, this is what starts it all. A kid, or kids, stumbling into a hidden laboratory, and then…"

"An accident, I know. How much longer are you going to keep at this, Mrs. Waller?"

"Please, only until I get my kicks. I'm getting old you know." There was a teasing tone in the older woman's voice and Blossom relaxed. Just a little. "In any way, this is going to be treated as a special case. Since these girls were doused with such a potent chemical in your lab, we'll be letting you take care of them. You know the effects of Chemical Z inside and out. After all: you developed the new substance."

"I'm not qualified for the job," replied Blossom darkly. "Not after what happened with me and my sisters."

"Everyone has one of those years. You just let it keep eating at you for the last six." Amanda Waller sipped at her tea calmly, even though Blossom's eyes glowed with an angry red light which was met by Waller's piercing stare. But in the end, the scientist let the glow wink out, leaving a tired expression. "It's not my place to make you train these girls, but I'm sure by now their powers are beginning to develop. They need GUIDANCE; proper training and discipline to master these new powers which, might I add, are usually destructive. Even Batman had to train his protégé's and they keep training every single day to perfect their control. And… I doubt you'd want to see them fall prey to those who would use their powers for their own purposes." Waller sipped her tea.

Blossom let out a great sigh. "What should I do?"

Waller let out a deep sigh, bringing the cup of bracing black tea to her lips. Taking a sip, she regarded the red haired scientist with a careful gaze. "You're a scientist. You know this chemical inside and out -- it MADE you what you are today. Even with a stronger molecular sequence and still primary effects unknown, it's still the basic substance; Chemical X with a fancy new letter. You have been researching Chemical X for six years now and have intimate knowledge of its potential effects when you stumbled upon Chemical Z. There is no one else in this world who is more qualified than to take three girls with S-class abilities and train them so that they are not a danger to anyone or themselves. And I know you worked with J'onn Jonzz for a year and a half on some kind of super-human limiting device so there's an avenue of control right there."

"Easier said than done," said Blossom. "I'm having trouble with the belts interface. The only test subject I have is myself, and I'm not exactly magical girl material anymore. And using my own biology as a reference point, I can only give a baseline prediction of any possible effects."

A smile curled up at the edge of Waller's lips as she set her cup down. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. These things like to fall into place; especially when a new super-team is formed. I'll be staying here in Japan for a month on League Business. It's your choice in the end, but I'd like to know of your decision before I leave Japan."

The door bell jangled as Waller opened it, letting the sunlight stream in. "And Blossom… don't let the past hold you back. You might find more joy in looking towards the future."

The door slammed shut, leaving Blossom to sigh and pick up a rag. "Joy looking towards the future…"

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"I wonder who that was," mused Karou as she, Momoko and Miyako arrived at the door in time to see Waller clamber into a black unmarked car and drive away. "She looked important."

"Secret government agent?" mused Momoko, shading her eyes as she peered at the glossy black finish of the car as it reflected the morning light.

"Only in your anime," sighed Karou as Miyako, who had drifted asleep while piggy-backed in Karou's arms, stirred. "Awake yet?"

"Yes, thank you," said Miyako, cheeks reddening. "Are we there now?"

"Yeah. Lets see if she's in." said Momoko. "Thank goodness I can open my eyes again."

Karou bit down on her retort and instead, eased the door open. "Hello? Professor?"

Blossom looked up from the bar she was half-heartedly polishing and sighed. Tossing the rag into the sink, she walked over and opened the door fully. "I can't say I'm surprised to see you three again. Come on in."

"So…" said Blossom as the girls sat down on the couch. "You found my lab. And got doused with Chemical Z."

"Uh yeah… we're sorry about that," said Momoko. "I was just so amazed to see a lab that…"

Blossom held up a hand to forestall the rest of what Momoko was going to say as a form of apology. "It's okay. I guess I should have come back earlier as well."

"Professor, Miyako has been suffering from headaches and saying she's been able to hear people from far away," said Karou as Miyako nodded, unable to talk because her head hurt so much. "Can you do something about it?"

"Huh, super hearing developing already…" Blossom wandered over to the wall and tabbed a panel hidden in it. Returning with a pair of high tech corks, she handed it to Miyako. "Place those in your ears like a hearing aid. They're designed to filter out all but the basic sounds. Sort of like a sonic scrambler -- only useful if you want a good nights sleep. It will help you with the noise until you learn how to control it."

Miyako threaded the corks into her ears where they expanded to fill her ear. Immediately the sound eased and then she was able to hear only the things in the room. "I can't hear anything anymore and my headache isn't pounding as hard as before."

"That's good. Now, I need to know what powers you've all developed in the last eight to ten hours." said Blossom, sitting down across from the three. "Don't leave anything out."

"Professor, a question before we begin: did you KNOW this could happen and what exactly IS that Chemical Z you were talking about?" inquired Momoko curiously.

"One at a time, but I suppose you should know the story." Blossom folded her hands in her lap, pausing to gather her thoughts. "Several years ago, a scientist named Professor Utonium developed a chemical compound known as Chemical X. He lived in The City of Townsville which was then overrun with crime. One day, he took a highly ambitious project to create life - perfect little girl or girls in fact."

"Utonium… isn't that your last name?" inquired Miyako curiously.

"Er yes, but that's not the point. The point is that due to a lab accident, he poured Chemical X into a mix of Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. Chemical X reacted with the experiment, and three superhero girls were born. They were dubbed by the media as the Powerpuff Girls." Blossom, noting the girls expressions, ranging from awed to shocked but full of recognition, pressed on quickly before they could connect any unwanted dots. "In any case, Chemical Z is a stronger version of Chemical X, but I had yet to test it on anything. And I wasn't about to recreate the first experiment knowing how horribly irresponsible that could be."

Standing up, Blossom began to pace, tapping her chin with her finger thoughtfully. "It seems that due to your ages AND the strength of Chemical Z, you're developing superpowers similar to the Powerpuff Girls at a rapid pace to make up for lost time. Granted the power spike could be slow or fast, but everything indicates an exponential growth of abilities."

"You mean.. I'm a HEROINE!" exclaimed Momoko. At Blossom's nod, she let loose with a squeal of joy, gathering a wince from Karou and a embarrassed smile from Miyako.

"So now that you know that Chemical Z has given you powers, I need to know which ones you have." said Blossom, trying to calm down the hyperactive dancing Momoko.

"I have super-hearing of course," said Miyako. "But I've yet to develop anything else besides a very large headache."

"I'm stronger now and definitely fast. I nearly got hit by a car this morning…" Momoko and Miyako gasped, "… but apparently I can move fast enough that I look like a green streak of speed."

Blossom nodded. "And you Momoko?"

"I easily punched a hole in a wall, my skin wasn't red when I did so and I shot lasers out of my eyes, although that stopped halfway to here." Answered Momoko.

"Interesting. It seems you're all developing powers at a phenomenal rate, and the same ones that the Powerpuff Girls have." Pursing her lips together, Blossom added, "I may need to do some testing just to make sure your powers develop at an even rate. The math is kind of hard -- not to mention WEIRD -- but I can probably predict the rough order of your powers emerging. Is that okay with you girls?"

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"And just how is this going to determine what kind of powers I'll be developing?" wondered Momoko, feeling the blood rush to her head as she hung upside down from a pair of bars by her knees. "Granted it's not hard anymore…"

"Looks like the super-strength is coming in nicely," noted Blossom as she peered at Karou who was charging headlong on a treadmill, going a brisk 150 kilometres per hour and showing little sign of strain, her feet a blur of green sneakers. "Karou, any trouble?"

"Nope, doing fine," answered Karou. "Oi, Miyako, are you doing all right?"

Miyako grunted delicately as another half-ton of weight was added to the machine as she supported the weight-lifting machine with both hands above her head. "I think it's starting to get heavy Karou-san. Momoko-san, are you doing all right?"

"Doing all right? Definitely! Lookie, I can FLY!" Momoko had long since abandoned hanging upside down by her feet and was now hanging upside down in mid-air. "This is so great! I can fly!"

"Awww, I've yet to develop flight," pouted Miyako as the other half-ton was added to her weights.

"Yeah, but most of my super-strength hasn't developed," noted Karou as her body was practically a blur, green streaking out behind her as the treadmill's numbers rapidly spun upwards. "You're so strong Miyako!"

"Eh-heh, not really," said Miyako, embarrassed.

"Okay, I think I've gotten the sequence down," pronounced Blossom as she finished scribbling on the chalkboard. "One power often leads to another and at the rate you three are developing, you should come into your full powers within two months or so. At the rate however the basics are developing: strength, speed, flight, super-hearing and heat-vision as well as limited invulnerability so far."

Blossom studied the data for a brief moment before turning back to the girls who had stopped doing what they were doing and walked over, or in Momoko's case, floated. "I cannot stress how important it is to try and act as normal as possible until your powers fully mature because until they do, you are a danger to yourself and to people around you with untried and untested powers."

"But we're super heroines now!" protested Momoko and was met with the frostiest stare from the older professor. "Scary…"

Realizing she had cowed the younger girl, Blossom's expression softened. "I'm sorry, but running out there without proper training or full development of any sort of powers can be harmful. People are so anxious to get out there and put on the cape as it were do more harm to themselves than people who spend long hours, weeks, even months training their body for the rigors of physical combat." Exhaling sharply, Blossom wished, not for the first time, that she hadn't given up smoking -- she had taken it up shortly after that incident. But then she did it for the sake of the Professor, and he was someone she could NEVER say no to. "It can be dangerous, and I don't want to see you kids get hurt."

"We understand, right Momoko-san, Karou-san?" asked Miyako of the pair who nodded, Momoko more reluctantly than Miyako.

"Good. Now that we've got that settled, just a couple of guidelines I'd like to point out. First of all, no using your powers for at least two weeks if you can help it since your strength levels seem to be growing and weakening due to the untested nature of Chemical Z. Secondly, be extra careful when doing daily things such as chores or playing sports since there is a chance of breaking something. Third, please don't try to be a hero: let the police or the Justice League handle anything that appears and please don't use your powers in public." Inwardly, Blossom held only a faint hope that the three guidelines would be followed.

"Yes Professor," chorused the girls.

"I've called ahead to your school already, and told them that you three stopped to help me on the way there so you've been excused from morning classes. BUT you three should return to the school and please try not to do anything that might cause a ruckus."

Her piece being said, the three gathered up their things and ran out of the lab, leaving Blossom to puddle her head in her arms on the desk, fully knowing NOTHING goes according to plan.

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Episode 1-3: Awakening

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"Akatsutsumi Momoko. Three broken chairs and five desks, ten snapped meter stick rulers, a shattered blackboard and four broken shelves. The school lawnmower destroyed and numerous broken walls." Momoko studied her feet, as if they became interesting all of a sudden.

"Gotokuji Miyako. four broken lockers, two broken fountains, the entire linoleum floor shattered in the 2nd level girls bathroom and not one, but TWO full shelves of chemistry vials, beakers, test tubes and Bunsen burners smashed into bits plus the replacement price of the basic chemicals that were in them." Miyako looked shamefaced, twiddling her thumbs.

"Matsubara Karou. Three smashed windows, a broken retaining wall and several incidents involving soccer balls including the destruction of the school sports shed and the class rabbit hutch. Not to mention the medical bills incurred by the school due to sports injuries and complaints filed by parents over student injuries." Karou rolled her eyes but found it hard to meet the gaze of the school principal.

The principal, a man with a very large bald head, thick fuzzy eyebrows and a moustache that curled in a most unnatural way levelled a glare at the three. "The combined bill reaches to 105,423,112.00 Yen."

"Eeeeh? No way!" protested the girls in unison. The principal folded his arms sternly as Karou added, "There's no way we can repay that much! It's impossible!"

"I have no choice in the matter. It is one thing to be accident prone young lady, but another thing to be negligently destructive! This school cannot simply afford paying for all of these damages. I have contacted your parents about the damages to the classrooms and the school facilities. I'm sorry girls but unless you pay off these damages, I have no choice but to expel all three of you for negligent destruction of school and public property."

"Oh no," moaned Momoko, slumping in her chair. "I'm going to be grounded for the rest of my life! Until I DIE!"

"Obachama isn't going to be happy about this," agreed Miyako in a morose tone. "My parents make a lot of money but still…"

"Principal, isn't there anything else we could do?" asked Karou, desperate for another solution. "Our parents will kill us if we cost them that much money. We could… get a job, or volunteer at the school to repair the damages or…"

"Impossible," said the Principal, shaking his head. "You girls are only thirteen years old. You cannot possibly get a job at your age, and the government laws will not allow it. I'm sorry, but you have to let your parents pay for the damages. Until then I have no choice but to suspend the three of you until further notice. A school board hearing will be held to determine if you will be expelled later on."

"Excuse me, principal?" inquired his secretary before he could dismiss the girls. "There's someone here to see you concerning these young girls."

"Oh? Send them in please."

At the door, the same heavy-set woman in the blue dress that they had seen two weeks ago at the internet café strode in, holding a professional looking brief-case. "Good afternoon, I'm Amanda Waller." She said in crisp Japanese, her inflictions precise with just a hint of an accent.

"And what can I do for you Mrs Waller?" inquired the principal.

"I'm from the school ministry board of education," said Waller briskly as she unsnapped the lock on the briefcase and handed a folder to the principal who opened it. "When you filed your report, our people looked into the accident claims. Most of them pointed to signs of early puberty and maturation. As you know, exponential growth of a child can often lead to unfortunate accidents. In addition, many of these incidents simply resulted from rambunctious play with other students and after all as well as numerous reports of freak accidents and deteriorating school and public property. The government has sent several of their representatives and have come back with a report that this school has yet to receive an update to come up to modern day zoning laws as well." There was a hint of something in Waller's eye that made the principal uncomfortable.

"But we cannot simply let them go unpunished even if they were mostly accidents. Much of the school has suffered under these accidents and the cost to repair them takes a very large portion out of the school budget and--" Protested the principal but was cowed under an icy stare Waller had taken years to perfect. "…What would you have me do?"

"The ministry has decided that they will indeed repay the sum fee, but only under the strictest of terms, involving student co-operation and a very large government issued grant. A local professor from America has allowed them to work as student interns at all times of the day at her Internet Café, as well as aiding her in experiments in her field of study. In compensation for the strenuous work, the government is issuing a special work-class permit that increases their overall payment per hour from minimum wage to one hundred and seventy-five dollars American. Per hour."

By now, the girls were staring at Waller, wide eyed in shock while the Principal's fingers twitched, gripping the file a little harder than usual. He was the head of the school and didn't earn that kind of money. "The money will be directed towards repayment of the school, deducted from their weekly wage until the debt is paid with only a part of the money earned going to the girls. But in return, we must request that these girls have an all-access pass to and from school, as the professor insisted on them being able to leave school grounds when she has need of their services."

"But wouldn't such an arrangement interfere with their studies?" inquired the principal. "After all, being on call and duty at any time of the day…"

Waller cut him off. "At this time, they are allowed to continue school until the professor has need of their services. If she deems to keep them later after the arranged agreement has run its course and the repairs have been issued to your school, she has agreed to tutor them in their class work. The board is VERY interested in these girls, and wishes to keep such bright and promising women a chance at education." Waller let the words sink in as the principal slowly nodded, his chalky expression returning as the pressure of Waller's piercing stare lifted.

"All right. I will issue the passes for their use and take into consideration all of their requirements."

With the meeting ended, Waller bid the man good day as she headed out the door. Once outside, Waller gestured to the girls who followed her down the hall. "You must be wondering why I helped you girls back there." said Waller as the girls hurried to keep up with her long strides.

"The thought crossed our minds," admitted Karou. "It's not every day someone comes in and offers to get us out of such a huge debt."

"105 million yen approximately comes to nearly 970,000 American," counted Miyako after doing a quick count. "That is a lot of money just to waste on three girls from Tokyo."

"Penny change. Lets just say I, as well as other parties, have a vested interest in you and your friends," said Waller. "The money was part of an old fund that certain parties had yet to invest. I convinced them that you three would be a good idea." At the very least, I'll have fun stirring up the old hornets nest when those old windbags at the Pentagon see where this money is going. Better redirection of former Cadmus funding anyhow especially with Luthor's assets frozen indefinitely.

"Who are you really? Some kind of secret government agent?" inquired Momoko.

Waller shrugged, a non-committal shrug. "You can say that Professor Utonium and I go way back." At the door, she stopped and turned to look at the three. "It took a lot to convince my people to help you out by pulling strings with your government, but its what I do. Go and talk to Utonium about this. She'll have your answers." With that, Waller was gone, clambering into a familiar unmarked black car, leaving behind a trio of fairly bewildered girls.

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Blossom opened the door of the café at the sound of polite knocking to allow the three girls into the building. "So I'm assuming Waller dropped by the school today," she said without any need for greeting.

Miyako nodded. "Yes, she was quite direct, though I don't quite understand the whole idea."

"Have a seat." After seating themselves, Blossom offered them tea and snacks before beginning. "What do you know about the Justice League?"

"Only that they're the greatest superhero team ever!" exclaimed Momoko happily.

"They're a group of peace-keeping heroes and heroines right?" added Karou.

"And that they've been active for years now," finished Miyako.

"Correct. Without getting into many details, the Justice League has been notified about the accident and has requested the assistance of the Japanese and American government offices, both financially and human support."

"So this whole intern thing is just a cover?" surmised Miyako, putting some pieces of the puzzle together.

"Sort of. For a superhero to overly function in society, they require three basic things: a base of operations and dispatch, aid of some type either it be financial or human, and a good excuse for their Secret Identities to be running off somewhere when an enemy pops up." At their wide-eyed expression, Blossom nodded. "You three are going to be part of Japan's first super heroine team, the Powerpuff Girls Z."

"Powerpuff Girls Z?" echoed the girls.

"Yes. Chemical X created the Powerpuff Girls, and likewise you three gained the powers through a new version, thus Powerpuff Girls Z. It seems only natural to be named that now." Although Waller insisted on the name, citing it was good for the heart mused Blossom as Momoko celebrated loudly with Miyako who also looked enthusiastic while Karou wore a pessimistic expression on her face.

"Hero, hero, we're going to be heroes!" laughed Momoko as she danced around with Miyako.

"Hey hold on, we can't be heroes!" protested Karou. "Are you even worried that we could get hurt? You've seen those Justice League fights; people get hurt. They even DIE sometimes."

"Karou's right," said Blossom softly and the girls stopped celebrating. "People get hurt. People die in the line of duty. I want to know if you three are willing to give it your all, and never look back."

"I most certainly am!" exclaimed Momoko. "It's been my life's dream to be a heroine."

"If Momoko-san is so enthusiastic, then I should too." smiled Miyako.

Three pairs of eyes focused on Karou who sighed and grumpily said, "Fine, I'll do it too."

"Then its settled. Come with me, we'll head into the lab for the next part."

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"Oh wow, we get our own super heroine outfits?" gushed Momoko, examining the red fabric all over.

"They're so pretty," added Miyako as she picked up her own dress.

Karou looked at the green fabric in distaste. "It's a SKIRT. I hate skirts."

"But I think you'd look really good in one Karou," remarked Momoko, Miyako nodding in agreement.

"Gah, can't I have pants or something?" asked Karou of Blossom who was walking over with three belts in her arms. "I get a horrible chill when wearing one of those."

"Can't be helped. The outfits are uniform for a reason, and color coded to distinguish each one of you." Setting a belt down atop each of the dresses, the belts transformed the outfits into light which was then absorbed into the belt. "The belts purposes are two fold. One: they'll help you regulate your strength as a civilian and two: you will be able to transform into your respective outfit. In each of the belt is a compact which allows video communication with my lab at all times, as well as anyone who can patch into the signal from outside."

"So we're TRANSFORMING heroines? SO COOL!" squealed Momoko.

"Blossom-hakase, I was wondering something," said Miyako. "If we're transforming heroines, then won't we have some sort of code name?"

"Already thought of that. Your name is Rolling Bubbles when in a transformed state." Turning to Karou Blossom added, "Powered Buttercup…", earning the expected scowl from Karou, and then turning to Momoko who had already strapped her belt on. "And Hyper Blossom."

"Tch, such a girly name," grumbled Karou and Blossom was immediately reminded of her grumpy sister.

"Hmm, Hyper Blossom. That's a similar name that you have Blossom-hakase," said Miyako, causing Blossom to nervously scratch her head.

"Er, well, it's a common name back home," she lied through her teeth. In truth, she had NEVER met another girl named Blossom. EVER. "A-anyway, lets put these devices through their paces."

Striding over to the computer, Blossom keyed in a sequence. As if on cue, the belts flashed and from it, a compact ejected itself out of the front.

Light crackled for the briefest moments in shades of red, blue and green before it quickly died down, revealing the girls dressed in their respective outfits. In addition to the main outfit, each one of them wore chokers and gloves in black with shoes in their respective colors as well as a barrette in their hair. Almost immediately, Karou shivered and sneezed. "I hate skirts," she muttered, sniffing loudly.

"These outfits are very strong. Flexible with the ability to withstand incredible temperatures and stress as well as providing armour that can deflect heavy munitions fire. It's a little something I developed a few years back and then soaked with Chemical Z to add to the tensile strength." In truth, the outfits were designed by extensively studying her old pre-school dress that she herself wore as a super heroine kindergartener. "Now you've all developed most of your powers, correct?"

"We've all gotten about the same powers lately," nodded Miyako. "Everything is developing as quickly as you said it would Blossom-hakase."

"That's good to know." Turning towards her computer, Blossom brought up several camera images on the computer. "My computer system is linked to the official police cameras, as well as several I had placed around town. With this, we'll be able to see trouble spots all over Japan."

"The compacts in the belts offer two-way communication instead of having to wear an ear-piece, and it doubles as the trigger for your transformation. To change back, enter the command sequence into the compact which is 2-2-6 and press enter. To transform into your super heroine outfit, hold up your hand and a ring will materialize. Slash the ring across the screen and call out your designated name. The compact will do the rest." Swivelling in her chair to look at them, Blossom added, "The transformation belts are self-teaching as it is a basic program on how to utilize your powers efficiently during combat, but when you utilize your own powers outside of your transformed state, you MUST put thought into your actions. Basic combat training would help also."

The pair of girls looked at Karou who sighed. "All right, I'll teach you what I know about martial arts."

"So what now?" inquired Momoko. "Do we get to go out and fight evil or crime?"

"Afraid not," said Blossom, shaking her head and Momoko's expression turned from eager to crestfallen. "It's still too soon, and the only crimes being committed are handled by the police. While I will authorize the use of your transformation belts if you are in the general vicinity of a crime taking place, PLEASE notify me before heading into action and I will advise you on the best possible action."

"Yes Professor," chorused the girls.

/break

"Ah, I'm finally out of that skirt!" Proclaimed Karou as she stretched. "They're so drafty. I can't stand wearing them."

"Geez, what kind of super heroine waits for authorization before taking off to fight evil?" groused Momoko, still upset about the way Blossom had shut down her enthusiasm. "It's not like we're weak even outside of our transformed state."

"But Momoko-san, she's only doing this to be protective of us," reasoned Miyako.

"If you ask me, she's definitely hiding something," remarked Karou and the girls glanced at her, quizzically. "Think about it. She has the secret lab, she has the chemical that did this to us. She also has technology that I think is Power Ranger technology or at least some type of it…" At the last part and Momoko's expression of confusion, Karou coughed. "My uncle Sentarou is in S.P.D."

"Hmm, you're right. Blossom-hakase is acting a little odd. Do you think she could be a former super heroine?" said Miyako, driving the train of thought a little further.

"OF COURSE!" Shouted Momoko, startling the girls and two alley cats. "The Professor MUST be some kind of retired super heroine and she, in her infinite wisdom, chose US to be the new Powerpuff Girls Z!"

"I don't think that's it at all," broke in Karou, shattering Momoko's sudden fantasy. "But if you want, there's a place we can check."

Fifteen minutes later, Miyako stared up at the Tokyo Library. "Ah, I see! We can search periodicals from the last few years and look for any evidence!"

"Sure, if you want to do it the hard way and not just ASK the Professor." Grumbled Momoko, her plan of barging back in and demanding an explanation torpedoed with Karou's common sense.

The Library was musty, as all libraries were. A cozy deep oak colour, the floor was well worn with the feet of thousands. The girls half expected to see a grey-haired woman sitting behind the library desk, but instead a young man with fairly rugged good looks sat there, iPod earphones jammed in his ear and fingers flying across the keyboard in front of him. Pushing up his glasses, he looked over to the girls. "Anything I can help you girls with?" he asked smoothly, his voice a deep baritone.

"Oh my…" swooned Momoko and Miyako caught her before she could lunge towards the attractive young man.

"We were wondering if there was a periodical index for Superheroes of the last few years Librarian-san," said Miyako politely.

"And your phone number," giggled Momoko girlishly.

The young man smiled as he came out from behind the desk. There was a moment of surprise as he literally rolled out from behind the desk as he sat in a well-used wheel chair. "Right this way."

People parted as the young librarian lead the girls through the aisles, Momoko's mouth hanging open in surprise while Miyako and Karou exchanged glances. At the back room, he slid up to the computer at the end and turned on the screen. "All of our periodicals have been digitally scanned and searchable by year, date, index, you name it. Just use the search toolbar like you would Google. Anything else you need?"

"Ah, no thank you. That's everything." The librarian rolled away and Momoko whimpered, "He's in a wheelchair. My life is over. He was my first sempai."

"Momoko-san," Miyako said, embarrassed as Karou leapt into the chair. "He was still good looking."

"But how would that affect our relationship?"

"Geez." Fingers tapping out a staccato beat on the keyboard, Karou brought up the Superhero archive and began to search. "Okay, here we go. Search type?"

"Try Powerpuff Girl," said Miyako, consoling Momoko. "Blossom-hakase did say we were the second."

Karou inputted the search and a moment later, she smirked and folded her arms, satisfied. "Got it in one. Look."

Peering over Karou's shoulder, Momoko read, "Powerpuff Girls Save Townsville. Hey, it's the Professor!"

"Man, if she's trying to be incognito, she's not doing a very good JOB at it," snickered Karou. "Look, it lists her name right here: Blossom Utonium and her sisters Bubbles and Buttercup Utonium."

"Created by Professor Utonium with the newly discovered Chemical X and a combination of Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice." Miyako frowned, puzzled. "That shouldn't work, should it?"

"Eh, when in Rome…" Printing off a copy after digging in her pants for a five yen coin to feed the pay printer, Karou waggled the sheet to dry the ink. "I'll hold onto this."

"Hey, check further. Maybe there's more news." suggested Momoko.

Turning back to the computer, Karou paged through the headlines and articles. "Powerpuff Girls Defeat Mojo Jojo, Saving Three Plus Talking Dog." "Powerpuff Girls Save President of the United States." "Powerpuff Girls Raise Funds for Charity." "Powerpuff Girls, Teenagers! The Gossip Of Their Lives."

"Wow, she's been a heroine for a long time," said Momoko, stating the obvious. "Wait a sec, page back."

Karou did so and the headlines of the local newspaper, Townsville Charter 4112 Issue 562 read "Powerpuff Girls inducted into the Justice League." "Whoa," gaped Karou. "She was BIG LEAGUES."

"Anything else?" inquired Miyako and Karou paged forward until the computer archives came to the end. "That's it?"

"Strange. It didn't say anything after another year or so," mused Karou as she paged forward and back. "And look, there's a gap in October, back in 2018. And then the news just stops."

Indeed, there was an entire month of news missing. Paging forward once, the headline read "Powerpuff Girls No More!"

Leaning forward, Miyako scanned the English print with the writer being marked as one Lois Lane. "The Powerpuff Girls announced that they would be leaving the Justice League several days after the accident that cost Professor Utonium the use of his legs. No other details were discussed and the middle child Bubbles did not appear for the announcement. During the battle two days previous, the city of Briarwood suffered great damage but is being steadily rebuilt due to the efforts of past local heroes the Power Rangers, the Justice League, as well as the intergalactic police force, Space Patrol Delta. Buttercup Utonium, aged eighteen, has announced her continued active duty as a member of the Justice League without the rest of her sisters. No other comment could be reached by Blossom Utonium, leader of the Powerpuff Girls."

"Wow, they levelled an entire city in a fight? It must have been BIG." mused Karou.

"Poor Blossom-hakase. She must have been under a lot of stress if she and her sisters destroyed an entire city in a fight." said Miyako.

Sitting down in a nearby computer and switching on the monitor, Momoko brought up periodicals of the next few days and after a few minutes of searching, shook her head. "I can't find anything on the destruction of Briarwood except that it's being ruled as "Collateral Damage Due to Superhero Fight". It's like the incident never happened."

"Maybe not officially. Whatever happened there musta spooked the Professor into hiding and possibly strained her relationship with her sisters." Karou looked at the fresh printout of the first periodical and then, derisively she crumbled it into a ball and pitched it into the trash bin.

"Karou-san! Why'd you do that?" gaped Miyako.

"She'll tell us when we're ready," said Karou, steadfast in her decision. "For now we'll keep this under our hats. Okay?"

"I don't like it, but okay. I don't want to loose any more privileges and if she fires us for being snoopy…" Momoko shuddered at the thought of having to pay back the insane amount of money she owed.

"I agree. Mama and Papa would be very upset if I lost my job barely a day in," agreed Miyako.

"So now what?" inquired Karou.

Silence passed between the girls before Momoko stood up, hand clenched and upraised. "In times like this, we need FOOD!"

Karou and Miyako laughed. "I do feel a little peckish," grinned Karou. "Lets get something to eat."

/break

"There you are. Chocolate Parfait, Strawberry Calpis and Sticky Rice. Enjoy."

"Mmm, the food is always good here. Thanks a lot for being so quick, Sakurako-san!" exclaimed Momoko.

Sakurako Kintoki smiled. She was a pleasant young girl with half-moon glasses, dressed in a patterned blue wrap around and her blonde hair was tied up in braids and tucked under a similarly patterned blue bandana. "It's not a problem Momoko-san, you're always a good customer."

"This place is really good," said Karou through bites of her Sticky Rice. "I can't believe I haven't been here before."

"Me too," agreed Miyako, sipping her Calpis. "Do you come here often Momoko-san?"

"Uh huh. Ever since elementary." Momoko took a moment to shovel a few bites and added, "I found this place by accident after being dumped by a guy I liked."

"Poor Momoko-san," said Miyako, feeling embarrassed that such a place was found due to Momoko's boy craziness.

"I got over him," said Momoko and Karou rolled her eyes. "What? I DID!"

"Whatever," smirked Karou and Momoko, in an act of revenge, stole part of Karou's food. "Hey!"

With Karou and Momoko fighting over their respective sweets, no one quite noticed a fine black mist that rose up from beneath the cracks. Seemingly judging the people around the room, it swept itself through the open door.

The black mist hissed its way across the ground, flowing most unnaturally through the streets which were rapidly darkening with sunset approaching quickly. A street lamp flickered on and the mist recoiled, darting around the beam of light produced.

Slowly, silently, it worked its way into a nearby building where rows upon rows of packaged toys could be seen. Choosing quickly, it struck; sliding through the packaging as it if weren't there and working its way into the internals of the toy.

The toy's eyes flickered to life, despite having no back-lightning and then, producing a toy sword, it sliced itself through the packaging. Leaping down to the bottom shelf and landing harmlessly with the firing of booster rockets on its back, the toy marched towards the door and raised it's weapon.

In a single slash, it cut a sizable hole in the bottom of the door where it stepped out into the light.

As the sun finally disappeared over the horizon, the toy seemed to inhale before it began to grow.

In the small restaurant, the girls were still fighting over food when a hideous thud and crashing noise echoed outside. "Earthquake!" gasped Sakurako. "Everyone out of the building!"

The few patrons left scattered, leaving the girls as the last ones out. The hideous crashing noise echoed a few more times as a giant robot leapt over the nearby fence and smashed a anime store into rubble. "Oh crap," exclaimed Karou.

"It's a giant mecha," stated Miyako.

"We need to stop it! There's no Ranger force here in Tokyo!" Dragging the girls behind the nearby dumpster, Momoko raised her hand and a red ring materialized. "Hyper Blossom!"

Red light erupted in the formation of hearts as Momoko's outfit changed into the red-skirted heroic form of Hyper Blossom. "C'mon you guys, transform!"

"I guess it's an emergency." Together, the pair grabbed their own compacts. "Powered Buttercup!"

"Rolling Bubbles!" Twin towers of energy erupted, green stars and blue bubbles before it receded quickly into the pair of heroines. "What's the plan Blossom?"

"We hit it until it drops!" proclaimed Hyper Blossom, launching herself into the air.

"Sounds like my kind of plan!" agreed Powered Buttercup, taking to the skies, leaving Rolling Bubbles behind who quickly took after them.

"That's not a very good plan!" protested Rolling Bubbles but the girls had already engaged the mecha, fists blazing with coloured light.

Powered Buttercup struck the mecha across the face, once, twice, three times before it's eyes glowed in reply. Searing energy ripped across the Tokyo skyline, the green-suited Puff getting out of the way quickly. "Well, it can be dented," she observed, taking note the dents in the face plate.

"Hyper Blossom Kick!" proclaimed Hyper Blossom as she blazed across the sky, a streak of red trailing behind her. The kick impacted squarely at the 'throat' of the mecha, causing it to stumble backwards. "Bubbles!"

Rolling Bubbles then struck, fists impacting heavily at a joint. The joint cracked under the force and it toppled backwards, landing with an earth shattering boom. "Great work Bubbles," cheered Hyper Blossom as she dove head first for the chest of the mecha. "Now to get rid of this thing!"

"Blossom, watch out!" A cry emitted from the red head as the mecha's energy sword had swept up with astounding speed, clipping the girl and knocking her across the skyline. A thunderous crash and the sound of splintering wood and glass could be heard as she ploughed right through a high-rise office building. Turning an angry expression at the mecha, Rolling Bubbles focused and loosed a searing beam of heat-vision that scored across the front. Plastic bubbled and melted and a second beam ripped across the chest from the opposite direction, Powered Buttercup joining in on the attack with her own heat-vision.

"It's made of plastic--" Powered Buttercup ducked a swipe of the energy sword, "-- and it shoots lasers."

As if to mock the girl, several ports suddenly ejected it's payload of missiles and both she and Rolling Bubbles were smashed into a nearby radio station, severely mauling the roof and the transmitter array. "Ow." Stated Rolling Bubbles.

"INCOMING!" Yelped Hyper Blossom as she had dug herself out of the office building and arrived in time to stop a giant black fist from coming down to try and finish the job. Both hands cracked the plastic inward and both forces fought back and forth for a second. Two seconds passed and the entire hand smashed into a million pieces, showering the girls with black plastic shards. "Okay, so it's made of plastic. Any ideas?"

"I have one. Lets hurl that sucker into the sun!" Grinned Powered Buttercup.

"Any OTHER plans?" demanded Hyper Blossom but a salvo of missiles scattered the three in every direction. "On SECOND thought, I think the Sun idea works too!"

Taking off in three coloured streaks of light, the trio grabbed the machine by the chest, neck and waist as they launched themselves upwards into the sky. Higher and higher they went and Rolling Bubbles yelled "Hey, did Blossom-hakase say if we were able to go into space?"

"Lets hope so!" yelled Hyper Blossom. Already the plastic was freezing over, several pieces cracking and breaking off. "Okay, we're high enough, lets pitch this thing into the sun! I'm not up for seeing if we're immune to vacuum!"

"Roger that!" Leaving the huge robot to drift helplessly, the trio grabbed its legs and began to spin. Faster and faster until it built up an incredible momentum. "NOW!"

Releasing the plastic mecha, it burst outwards from Earth's atmosphere, flying faster and faster without atmosphere to slow its trajectory. Then it disappeared into the depths of space, leaving the girls to heave a sigh of relief. "Well, that was interesting," sighed Rolling Bubbles as they headed back.

Halfway down however, they were met by a most impressive force; the helm of the small group of people a strong looking and famous man in blue, red and gold. "Excuse me ladies," he said politely and the girls gaped in shock. "Did you three deal with that giant robot?"

The trio looked at each other, quickly whispered to each other in Japanese and then Rolling Bubbles cleared her throat. "Yes, we were," she said in accented English.

The African American man raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, not bad."

"Indeed. I think they handled it quite nicely," remarked a tall blonde woman in blue, red, white and carried a staff with a curve on the end. "You girls have names?"

"Hai, er, yes, we're the Powerpuff Girls Z. Rolling Bubbles, nice to meet you. This is Powered Buttercup and Hyper Blossom."

Superman looked at his two companions, Green Lantern and Stargirl, eyebrows raised. "What do you think?"

"I think they're a pack of kids who got their hands on Chemical X. Better get Batman on the horn," replied Green Lantern.

"Oh c'mon, they don't look that dangerous. And besides, we don't have a League presence in Tokyo," insisted Stargirl.

Superman regarded the three girls who fidgeted under his scrutiny before he smiled and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you three. I'm Superman as you know, and this is Stargirl and Green Lantern."

Trading hellos and Rolling Bubbles relaying greetings between the two non-English speakers, Powered Buttercup posed a question and the blue-clad Puff relayed it. "Buttercup would like to know if we're in trouble."

"Not at all," said Superman. "We were just surprised when that giant robot appeared out of nowhere on League Radar. Obviously we were worried for nothing with three capable young ladies on the job."

Rolling Bubbles relayed the message and Powered Buttercup actually blushed.

"Just as a word of advice kids: if you think you're over your head, call us. I'm sure whoever you have on your side can contact us." said Green Lantern.

"Yes, we will. Thank you. Please, excuse us and thank you for seeing if we needed help. It is very nice to meet you all." Bowing, the three girls headed back, headed to Japan in streaks of red, blue and green.

The three watched them head back as Lantern turned to Superman. "They're good kids. I can tell right off the bat."

"They don't seem dangerous. And this has Blossom's fingerprints all over it." Added Stargirl.

"We'll get J'onn to contact her later then. Right now, Clark Kent is due for a press conference in Metropolis." Clark rolled his eyes.

"You should never have annoyed Lois this morning, Clark," chuckled Stargirl. "She gets mean, especially when she's your boss."

Lantern grinned as the three headed back to Earth. "You'll never live down Perry White promoting her to VP of the company, will you Clark?"

"Oi!"