For Disclaimer, see part 1.

The PowerPuff Chronicles

1 - Here we go again

Chapter 2



Later that night, everything was quiet in the Utonium house. Or rather, it was relatively quiet. Buttercup was mumbling in her sleep, as usual, fighting baddies in her dreams, but tonight, she didn't seem to be doing so well...

"No, no, please don't, I'll do anything, just pleeeeeease.............aaaaaarrhhh.......ooooof............ooooooooooooooo ...............please, somebody, help me..........."

Blossom had been listening to this from her own bed, right next to Buttercup's, for the last quarter of an hour or so. But when she heard a scream come from her tough sister, followed by total silence, she became worried.

"Bubbles, Bubbles, can you hear me? Wake up. I think something's happened to Buttercup. Hurry!" Blossom hissed as she shook Bubbles' so hard that she almost fell out of her bed.

A moment later, Bubbles appeared behind her door, still in her night-dress, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Unnnnnnngggh..........Blossom, what're yellin' about at.........5 A.M.?!?"

"I just heard a Buttercup's screaming and I think something might have happened to her." (BTW, they don't have night-vision)

"A scream?" asked Bubbles, incredulously. "Buttercup never screams, Bloss. You must be imagining things. Anyways, I can't hear anything."

"Exactly", said Blossom, triumphantly, "and Buttercup normally talks and fights in her sleep. That's why I think we should investigate."

"OK, OK, I'm coming", said Bubble, irritably, since it was still very early in the morning.


"Buttercup, you OK?", said Blossom quietly, as she shook her sister into wakefulness. "Were you having a nightmare?"

"Oooooooooooh, yeah I'm OK now, thanks sis", groaned Buttercup. She tried to sit up in bed, but felt strangely dizzy, so she just lay back down again.

As Bubbles motioned to Buttercup's state of dress, she said "It's alright BC, but what happened to you? You're covered in sweat, and you look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards."

"Yeah, I do look like I've been through the wars, don't I? You're absolutely right, I was having a nightmare. The same one I've been having for the last few nights now."

However, as she was about to say something more, the Professor walked in. "What's going on in here. Is everybody all alright? And was that YOU I heard screaming, Buttercup?"

"Yes, it was, but hopefully you won't get too used to hearing it, Dad. I've been having a recurring nightmare, about the RowdyRuff boys coming back."

At that, a big round of "Oh" came from everyone else in the room.

"Hmmmmmmm. Anyway, in my dream, they're chasing me down Main Street, and I never get away from them. Just as I think I'm about to escape safe and sound, they catch up and begin pounding me into the road, over and over and over again. I try everything, even begging them for mercy, but they just keep on going. Then, after a while, I feel something inside me snap, and everything goes black."

"That's terrible", says Bubbles, with her eyes wide like dinner plates. "But how come we don't fly in and save BC?"

"Yeah. I mean, the only reason I can think of that the three of us wouldn't be together is if there was more than one emergency at the same time Right, Buttercup?"

Shaking her head sadly, Buttercup delivered the final blow. "In my nightmare, they'd already got both of you." And then, looking down at her carpet, she added, "and you, Dad", before finally letting the first tear fall from her cheek.

"My God", exclaimed the Professor, aghast, who had been listening intently the whole time. Then, suddenly becoming slightly more cheerful, he added, "well Buttercup, you've no need to worry about that anymore. The RowdyRuff Boys are dead, and I don't think Mojo Jojo will try recreating them in a hurry."

"Yeah, we'd just kiss 'em and they'd explode all over again, and then we'd pound Mojo himself in to the grass", added Buttercup, with the beginnings of a smile forming on her face.

"And apart from that, we'll never leave you, BC, will we Bubbles?", said Blossom, turning to face her baby sister. "Nuh-uh, never. We're gonna stick together 'til the end, Buttercup. You can count on it."

"Thanks, you guys, I feel so much better, telling you all this stuff. I wish I'd told you all when it first started, a few days ago. I feel like such a wally right now."

"Not at all, sis. But, uh, is that why you've been acting.......kinda...........y'know........?"Blossom said, suddenly taking great interest in something on the ceiling.

"No, I don't know, Bloss, I'm not a mind reader." Buttercup had an odd smile on her face now, as though she knew exactly what her sister was trying to ask, but forcing her to say it loud anyway, just for the fun of it.

"Well then", sighed Blossom, realizing that her sister was getting a real kick out of seeing her squirm like this, "is the nightmare why you've been acting.....kinda funky the last few days?"

"Funky???" Bubbles and the professor mouthed to each other. No-one uses that word anymore, their look said to the other one.

"Nice choice of words", Buttercup replied, in a tone that showed she agreed with the others. "But, yeah, I have been acting "out of sorts" lately, 'cos of the nightmares. But I promise, right now, that as of this moment, you've got the old Buttercup back again!"

"Yay!!" squealed Bubbles, happy that her sister was back to normal. "Three cheers for Buttercup! Hip hip..."

Silence.

After a long beat, Blossom decided someone should break the silence, and it might as well be her. "How about we have breakfast? None of us is gonna usefully get any more sleep at this time of the morning."

"What a good idea Blossom, honey. And I have something important to tell all three of you as well, before you all go of to school this morning. So, let's get started on that breakfast." And with that, they all went their separate ways to get dressed before breakfast.


Meanwhile, down at Townsville Police Station, Mojo Jojo was being given yet another caution to add to his police record.

"So, on behalf of the Townsville police service, I, it's Chief Superintendent, issue this formal written warning to you, Mojo Jojo...", said the officer in charge to Mojo Jojo.

"O, please, let us dispense with the formalities, John", butted in Mojo Jojo, quite obviously bored out of his tiny mind. "Just give me the warning so that I can go back to my secret lair and begin planning yet another way in which to destroy the PowerPuff Girls."

"Which you will never do. Here is your official warning Mojo Jojo. Now get out. And I really DON'T want to see you back in here, ever again."

"Come on Chief, you know he'll be back in here before sundown tonight. He can't go one day without being caught by the PowerPuff Girls."

"Yes, but that is exactly the thing that prevents me from serving much longer jail sentences. For you see, those accursed girls always catch me before I actually do anything wrong, and so, since I haven't actually done anything wrong, there is nothing that can be arrested for, since I have not done anything that is actually wrong. Hence, I am released so quickly because I have not actually committed a crime, ergo the cycle begins again."

"Shut up and go home already, Mojo" shouted out an extremely bored PC from somewhere nearby.

And so, as Mojo Jojo was escorted from the building (again), he began to rant "My name is not Mojo, for it is Mojo Jojo, and such cannot be Mojo, for if my name was simply Mojo, than my name could not be, and would never be, Mojo Jojo, and, as such,........."


"Right girls, before you start devouring your breakfasts like you three normally do, I have something important to tell you all."

"What is it, Dad?" came from all three girls at the same moment, as they sat next to each other on the sofa in front of the TV, and the Professor took a seat in the comfy armchair next to them.

"Well now, I was going to wait until after your birthday party, but, I....lost my nerve. So, here goes. We've always considered ourselves to be a family, right? Even though, genetically speaking, I'm not your father."

"Yeah, but you've still looked after us for the last seven years Dad. You've kept a roof over our heads, fed us, watered us...."

"Blossom! You're making it sound like we're flippin' houseplants!"

"Oh, sorry. But I think you know what I meant to say Bubbles. The Professor made us, and has looked after us like a father, even though, technically, he isn't our father. He just....well, adopted us, right dad?"

"Exactly Blossom. Although no-one's ever made me sign any adoption papers." For a moment, the Professor thought about that, but it really didn't seem to matter. "Anyway, that's the point that I wanted to talk to you all about now."

"What, the fact that you adopted us? But dad, we already know that. We had to sign the papers too."

"No Buttercup, not the adoption", the Professor laughed at her remark, and her very business-like attitude. "No, I mean, the story of your creation."

"But da-a-ad", whined Buttercup, "we know that one too. You we're trying to make the perfect little girl out of sugar, spice, and everything nice...."

"...but your pet monkey Jojo bumped into you, making you spill some Chemical X into the formula...", continued Blossom.

"...and we were created as a result of it. The perfect sisters" Finished Buttercup, sighing audibly, with her tongue firmly in cheek over the use of the word "perfect". "Is that all, 'cos I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to watch some Puppet Pals before we have to go to school." As she said this last, she reached out for the remote, but the Professor pulled it out of reach.

"No, that is not all Buttercup, I haven't finished. And don't be so rude. Now, you may think that's what happened, because that's all that I told you. However, I wasn't being entirely truthful when I told you how you were created."

"What do you mean, dad?"

"Well Blossom, it's like this. Later that night, after I put you to bed, I tried to repeat the experiment that created you."

"Why? Aren't we PERFECT enough for you? Or did you just want to make more super-heroes?" Buttercup spat out, with Bubbles nodding away in the background.

"No Buttercup, that was not the reason." Retorted the Professor, barely keeping his voice calm. "You know I'm a scientist. I have to examine all phenomena whenever possible. As I was saying, I tried to repeat the experiment..."

"But it didn't work, right dad? You said you "tried to repeat the experiment. Plus, we'd have brothers or sisters if it had worked, wouldn't we?"

"Quite right Bubbles, how very observant of you. All that happened the second time around was a large explosion, which left a bowl full of very tasty candy. I thought that perhaps I hadn't reproduced the original circumstances exactly enough, so I tried again, and again. But it never worked. Just that first time."

"Huh?!?" "But how?" "Why?" came from the girls.

"Well, I was just as perplexed as you are now. So I decided to check my CCTV recording of the experiment. I have the lab under constant surveillance, to protect against break-ins, and to keep a record of all my experiments. Everything SEEMED to be perfectly reproduced in my later experiments. But when I checked the last camera's footage of your creation, I found this", and at this point, he held up the videotape he held in his hand.


Meanwhile, Mojo Jojo had returned to his lair, and was busy collecting up all the items he'd need for his latest attempt to destroy the PowerPuff girls. Which was no mean feat, considering the state that his secret lair was in.

"I have the snips, and the snails, now, where are those blasted puppy dog's tails? Hmmmm? Oh well, guess I'll just have to go get some more puppies..........aaaaah, here they are!" Mojo Jojo triumphantly held up the box labelled "Puppy dog's tails" for all his lair to see, as he lived alone. "Looks like I won't need some more after all. There's more than enough in here already. Now, where's that cauldron got to?"

Now, you wouldn't think it's very easy to lose a cauldron, would you? I mean, they're rather on the big side, should be quite difficult to lose something that large in your home. Wrong. It took Mojo Jojo a further half-hour to find his cauldron. It was, quite literally, under his nose the whole time.

Finally, he was ready to assemble the components. "At last, my plan is about to come to pass, it will come to fruition, and proceed, and shall not this time be stop by those damnable little girls. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!". And with that, Mojo threw in a few snips, some snails, and was about to start on the three puppy dog's tails. Yes, you guessed it; he was re-creating the RowdyRuff Boys. Except we all know that it won't work, but nobody told Mojo Jojo that.

"I know precisely what I am doing, thank you very much narrator! Now just get on with telling the story and stop interrupting me", shouted Mojo Jojo. "This is a very delicate procedure."

Yes Mojo, I know that already. And I also know that you know exactly what you're doing. It just won't work. The RowdyRuff Boys are naturally evil, and the PowerPuff Girls are naturally good, so one kiss from the girls, and the boys'll explode again.

"Hmmmmmmm, you do have a point there", said Mojo Jojo, pausing in the middle of counting out three puppy dog's tails. "But, if that is the only problem, then I could simply create super-brats that are not naturally evil, which would be naturally good. And, since they would be naturally good, they would not, therefore, be naturally evil, and so could not be destroyed so easily by the PowerPuff Girls." He spat the last two words out, with extraordinary venom in his voice.

"Moreover, if I create good GIRLS, and then brainwash them into being bad, they will do as I wish, and, in the process, be mistaken for the original PowerPuff Girls." He was getting a little two excited about this plan now. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so quick to point out the other plan's flaw. Oh well. It's too early in the day for me. I'm going back to sleep.

"Yes, yes, this is a far better plan then I was going to use. Yes, I will create good PowerPuff Girls, and will then brainwash them into doing my bidding. Then I will make them destroy the other PowerPuff girls, and take over control of Townsville in my name, on my behalf, in the name of Mojo Jojo! Yes, it is perfect, it is flawless, and the girls will not be able to stop me with this plan, for I will be unstoppable. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"

Oh dear, this doesn't sound too good. On the other hand...

"Now, where I put that sugar..."


"B-b-b-b-but HOW?", stuttered Buttercup, stunned, for the nth time. "I mean, I see how, but HOW?"

"Buttercup, sweetie, I know it's come as a bit of a shock to all of you, but I honestly don't know any more about the situation than I've already told you. But as you can see on the videotape", the Professor said, pausing the tape at the relevant frame, "the mixture exploded, showering the lab with the ingredients from the mixing bowl. Then", he said, frame advancing to the exact moment that the girls appeared, "a vortex opened behind the cloud from the explosion, and you girls fell out of that vortex. Where it came from, I don't know. But, as far as I can tell, you three were created wherever that vortex originated, and were then sent here."

"So you're saying that whoever created didn't want us, and so threw us through this....vortex thingy?", sniffled Bubbles, who appeared to be on the verge of crying out loud.

"Maybe, maybe not Bubbles", said Blossom. "They could just as easily have sent us here for our own protection. Couldn't they, Professor?"

"Yes, that could be the case. Bubbles, your sister has made a very good point. We have no idea what circumstances you were made under...or even born into."

"Whoa, scary thought", said Buttercup. "If we were sent here for our own protection, what must where we came from be like. I mean, we have superpowers. Things would have to be pretty tough to scare us, wouldn't they?"

"But you girls may not have had your superpowers where you cam from", interjected the Professor, thinking hard. "They might be as a result of different conditions here on Earth, as opposed to where you came from. Or, they may be natural. We have no way to tell about that either."

"You mean we may be aliens?", asked Bubbles, visibly upset by this latest remark. "But I've lived here all my life! I can't be an alien!"

"Wait a minute. Professor, I think I have something!"

"What is it, Blossom?"

"Well, it could just be me being silly, but doesn't that look like the same sort of vortex created by your time-machine, Professor?"

"Why yes, it does Blossom. Well, that explains part of it anyway."

"But, umm, how can that be possible, Professor? You didn't invented your time-machine until about 3 years after this."

"That doesn't matter Buttercup. All that matters is that the time machine existed in the time period from which you were sent. Which means you came from the future. As you haven't gone back in time to this period yet, we can assume that it is also in our future, too."

"How far in the future though? We might not be created, or born, for thousands of years. We may be super-evolved humans!"

"No Bubbles, I don't believe that to be the case. Remember, Mojo Jojo created the RowdyRuff Boys in his lab. They're very similar to you three genetically, which presupposes that you were also created in a similar manner.

"Excuse me everybody, I think I'm going to be...." But Blossom never finished he sentence, as she was already kneeling at the toilet bowl, puking her brains out (though not literally).

"What's wrong with her?"

"Don't worry about it too much buttercup, I'm sure she'll be alright. She's probably just having a hard time dealing with all this. Just like you and me."

"Whatever. One thing: if we haven't been created yet, then do we exist? And, if we don't exist, then who on Earth is holding this cereal bowl?"


Over at Mojo Jojo's secret lair (that's not so secret), the mad-monkey himself was almost done with his latest creation. All that remained was to add some of the special chemical that could create PowerPuff life, Chemical X.

"Drat, I seem to be out of Chemical X. And it's so hard to get hold of, too. Oh well, I'll just have to improvise. I've done it before, and it seemed to work OK. Well, here goes nothing with the toxic waste."

Yes, he used toxic waste as a cheap substitute for Chemical X. But wait; the Professor's experiments used Chemical X, and didn't create PowerPuff Girls. But Mojo Jojo used toxic waste as a substitute, and successfully created the RowdyRuff Boys. So that means the secret ingredient is...toxic waste?!? Ewwwwwwwww!!!

As the toxic waste took effect, the mixture started to bubble, then the cauldron began to shake, and, just as Mojo Jojo tried to take a peek and see what was happening, the whole pot lifted off the table, and then...

BOO-OO-OO-OO-OO-OOM!!!!!!

The mixture went everywhere, coating Mojo Jojo, and his lab, in navy green toxic waste (A/N. Well, you can have navy blue, so why not navy green?).

In the aftermath of the explosion, as Mojo Jojo staggered uncertainly to his feet, he saw, where the cauldron had been, were three girls.

Three girls that looked to be about 5 years old each, with huge head and bulbous eyes. Three girls that had no idea where they were. Three girls that were, more importantly, floating a foot above the ground.

The front girl had a red dress with a black stripe across it, and long, flowing auburn hair reaching all the way down her back. The second girl had a blue dress just like her sisters in style, and blond hair done in twin ponytails. The third, and final girl, had a green dress like the others, and short, straight, jet-black hair, and a big scowl plastered to her face like it lived there.

"I'm Blossom!", shouted the first girl.

"I'm Bubbles!", shouted the second girl.

"And I'm Buttercup!", shouted the third girl, without getting rid of her scowl.

"And together", they continued, "we're the PowerPuff Girls!"

"Good. Very good indeed". Mojo Jojo rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Now girls, I have something to show you before I put you to work. Look into the crystal (the one which he'd pulled out of his jacket at that moment). Look deeeep into the crystal. You are starting to feel sleepy, soooo sleeeeeepy......."


It was the end of the school day, and Bubbles and Buttercup were on their way home from school.

"I hope Blossom is feeling better than she was this morning."

"Don't sweat it Bubbles." Buttercup adjusted her school bag as they flew only a few feet above the pavement. "The Professor's looking after her. She's probably already right as rain, and wondering what's taking us so long. So get a move on, you don't know when the hot-line might ring."

"Good point, sis...... hey what's that?"

"What's wha..........whoa, is that what I think it is?". Buttercups jaw almost joined her book-bag on the pavement, as the two of them looked up to see three coloured streaks of light belting across the sky. What else could be done? They gave chase after the new arrivals.

"Buttercup, you don't think maybe Mojo has re-created the RowdyRuff Boys, do you?"

At the mention of those boys, Buttercup shuddered. "I hope not, 'specially as Blossom isn't here to help us." But, just as she was about to put on an extra speed burst to catch the strangers up, she was brought up short by something.

"Hey, what's going on here? Who are you three? What do think you're.......................

"She was shouting at her girl who looked just like her, only seven years younger.

"........doing. Bubbles, now we might find out who created us. This is us...was us...will be...never mind. Who created you three?"

The younger version of Blossom floated directly in front of the older PowerPuffs, but all three spoke in unison, sounding as one. "We were created by Mojo Jojo, and we have been sent to destroy you."

"Oh shit", stated Buttercup, just as the punch landed square on her jaw.


To be continued... (Again)...