One more chapter after this.

1. Dare (だれ) "Who?" / "Who's there?"

2. Blossom da (ブロッサムだ) "It's Blossom."

3. Honto ni? Yokatta (本当に?よかった) "Really? Thank Goodness."

4. Tasukenakuchaikenai (助けなくちゃいけない) "We must help them!"/ "We have to help them!"

"Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."

– Samwise Gamgee, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"

The Day Is Saved

Somewei

Silence. A long silence.

It was eerie how quiet the world seemed. It was almost like the planet knew that something amazing and terrible had happened all at once. Nobody, nothing, seemed to move, breathe, twitch, or think. The fearsome winds from all the movement and the fighting seemed to have stopped, and all that was left was a howling silence.

Bubbles shivered and suddenly she was reminded of when she last stood on that asteroid that they had called home for so long. But this was different. It wasn't the deafening silence of space, the screeching quiet that reminded her of the fact that she was an outcast, unwanted. No, no. This was vastly different. Instead of standing on a dusty rock with nothing but floating rubble and her sisters for company, she was floating in the air, defying gravity, and she had more than her sisters as companions. Instead of the endlessness of the inky blackness around her, it was the grays of the clouds. And the silence…it wasn't the silence of space. It was different.

Suddenly, as if someone flicked on a switch, movement and life resumed. The air began to move and a breeze played with the three floating girls' hair as Bubbles whispered to her sisters, "Is he…dead?"

Three words. Three words that broke the silence, the quiet. Little by little, humans crawled out of whatever hole they had been hiding in and crept forward. The atmosphere shifted from fear to cautiousness as they inched closer to their former master, who was lying on the cracked cement, rubble surrounding him, his cape shredded and ruined, and his helmet cracked, showing the pink mass that was both his curse and gift.

"No," Blossom murmured, "he's not."

From below them, they could see one brave human move forward, stick out a hand, and poke Mojo Jojo. The humans gasped when Mojo groaned, but then exchanged looks when he didn't get up and begin another rampage. As seconds passed, more humans came out until it seemed like the entire population of Townsville was surrounding the defeated dictator. But what really caught their attention was Professor Utonium fighting his way towards Mojo.

The girls exchanged glances, a little surprised to see their father-figure here (and so fast!), but watched as he appeared to check over the former ruler of the world. After a couple of minutes, John stood up and turned his gaze upward towards his daughters. Again, the girls looked at each other before Bubbles quietly said, "We should go down there. See what he wants."

"Nuh-huh!" Buttercup interjected. "No way. I'm staying here."

"She's right, though, Buttercup," Blossom responded, glancing at her tomboy sister, who was busy trying to hide her worries with her normal bravado. When Buttercup didn't appear to want to move from her spot in the air, the redhead grabbed on to her sister's hand and softly added, "The faster we get this over with, the better."

The green-eyed girl's shoulders slumped. "Do we have to? Can't we just, you know, run away?"

Then Bubbles zipped in front of her and stared at her in the eyes. "Do you want to be a runaway for the rest of your life? Do you want to live in hiding for forever?" She shook her head and grabbed Buttercup's other hand. "C'mon, Buttercup, we'll be in this together all the way."

"What if they take our powers?"

"Then that's what happens," Blossom replied. "We started this mess. It's time we own up to it too."

With that said, three melancholy girls gently glided back down to the earth below. The humans watched with wonder and trepidation as three sets of feet touched the ground. The girls watched the humans warily and the humans watched back with an equal emotion. The staring contest was broken when John boldly walked up to them and engulfed them in a hug. "Oh, girls, I'm so glad you're safe."

"Sorry for making you worry," Bubbles mumbled into his arms. She hugged him back as tightly as her powers would allow without hurting him.

The Utoniums stayed in their hug for a moment before John began speaking again, "Whatever happens, girls, I want you to know one thing: you are good, perfect little girls and I love you."

The last three words caused the Powerpuff Girls to stiffen for a moment. A beat passed, then two, before Bubbles suddenly burst out in tears and hugged her father all over again. As she sobbed into his embrace, she wailed out, "I love you too! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry for everything!"

Professor Utonium tenderly smoothed her hair as she cried and Buttercup, her voice quiet, asked, "Do you mean it?"

"Yes," he replied, "I mean it. And I'm sorry for doubting you. I should have never doubted your goodness."

That was all Buttercup, the rough, tough tomboy of the three, needed to hug him, burying her face in his shoulder so nobody would see the tears spilling down her cheeks. As he hugged his sugary blonde daughter and his dark-haired tomboy, he glanced at his last daughter, who stood there, staring at him. She glanced down at the floor as he softly said, "Blossom?"

Her body shook as she kept her pink eyes firmly on the broken cement. It felt like the quiet stretched on forever before she whispered, her voice breaking, "We just wanted to do good. That's all. We had made so many people angry and all we wanted was for people to love us." She looked up at him, tears brimming her eyes. "For you to love us."

Something finally broke in his seeing his stoic, redheaded daughter crying and he began to shed tears alongside the three of them. "Your insecurities were not your fault. They were mine. I failed you as a parent. I did – and do – love you." He placed a hand on her cheek. "You did good, Blossom. You did very good."

She collapsed into his arms and cried with her sisters, finally letting go of the emotions she held in for over a decade. After a minute of crying, the three girls pulled away from him, their eyes red and weak smiles on their faces. Blossom released a shaky breathe. "And we're really sorry."

Before John had a chance to tell her that he knew and understood, Buttercup said, "We messed up really bad."

"But," Bubbles added slowly, shifting her eyes to the two girls next to her, "we're ready, Professor."

Perplexed, John raised an eyebrow. "Ready?"

He watched as the three moved over towards Mojo and their actions did nothing to banish the surmounting confusion in him. They stared at Mojo and before glancing up at him. Blossom didn't look at him, rather she glanced to his lab coat pocket, knowing that was where the Antidote X syringes, for she was sure that he brought along the Antidote with him, were located, as she steadily said, "To take the Antidote X to get rid of our powers."

Bubbles choked back a sob. "If it weren't for them, none of this would've happened."

John's eyes widened at their words. He had known that they were feeling tremendous guilt for what had happened, but to take away what made them so special?! No! They couldn't!

"Besides," Buttercup added, her tone defeated and forlorn, "maybe everyone would like us better if we were just normal girls."

He opened his mouth to object, to say something to stop them as they reached down for the substance that would render them powerless, when someone from the crowd cried out, "No, wait! Stop!"

Then another voice. "Hold on a second!"

Then another. "STOP!"

"WAIT!"

"NO!"

The Utoniums jumped as more voices filled the air, the people surrounding them shaking their heads and disagree with their actions, but it was Ms. Keane and Ms. Bellum's voices that truly halted them in their tracks. They watched as the curvaceous redhead and petite teacher struggled their way through, shouting, "No, girls! Wait just a second!"

"You can't get rid of your powers!" Ms. Bellum cried when they finally reached the four of them.

Ms. Keane wasted no time in enveloping the girls in hugs. "Listen to her, please."

"Huh?" the girls said in unison.

Both women looked ready to add more explanations when an older voice spoke up, "Um, well, don't do that…'cause, uh, that was pretty cool with the…er…"

They watched as the crowd parted to reveal a little man that the six of them had not seen in a very long time. Ms. Bellum blinked slowly before saying, "Mr. Mayor? What're you doing here?!"

Ms. Keane nudged John and muttered underneath her breath, "Wouldn't the better question be where he has been the last decade?"

The Professor only shrugged as Sara pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to contain her growing headache, before turning to the girls with a kind smile on her face. "Girls, I think what the Mayor – if we can even call him that anymore – is trying to say is that we're sorry and thank you."

Sandy glanced at them, a huge grin on her face. "Yes, thank you! That was super! Just super!"

Their words got the crowd going and people the girls had not seen in forever were suddenly shoving their way through to add in their own comments. People that had ridiculed them and called them names were suddenly showing their gratitude. People that they had never met or even seen before were also thanking them and complimenting them.

"Amazing!"

"Fantastic!"

"Wonderful!"

"Stupendous!"

"You rock!"

"Thank you."

The girls tried to look at everyone that was throwing compliments at them, but found that they couldn't keep up. Confusion, bitterness and relief overwhelmed them and they didn't know what to say or do in this situation. It was all too much for them.

Suddenly, the Mayor burst from his spot with enthusiasm. "YEAH! Oh, that was awesome! You were all flying, and runnin', and laser eyes!" He proceeded to make sound effects of their powers and starting running back and forth like a hyperactive child. "And then bam, you punched that guy! Uh, remember?"

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup stared at him blankly and nodded slowly when he turned his attention back on them. Beside them, they could see Sara slap her hand to her forehead and mutter underneath her breath, "He has not changed after all these years."

"Yeah," the Mayor said with a nod of his head, "that was great. You know, this town stinks –"

"Understatement," Buttercup coughed. Blossom nudged her in the side.

"– and I was wondering if we could, like, call you to, uh, save the day or whatever."

"Mayor!" hissed Ms. Bellum. "I don't think you have the power to even ask them that anymore!"

Had this been the same year that they had caused all this mess, they would've accepted this offer excitedly, but it wasn't their birth year and they weren't three days old anymore. Instead, Buttercup scowled at everyone and said, "Why should we help you?"

Blossom glared at her sister. "Buttercup!"

"You were just willing to take your powers away to fix this problem!" squealed Bubbles, pointing a finger at her. "Why the sudden change of heart?!"

"Because I think it's stupid that we have save these people when they didn't want to even hear us out when we told them that we were tricked! And why?" Buttercup sneered. "All because we were different! Because we weren't the same as them! We weren't as big of morons as them! Don't you remember them calling us 'freaks'?!"

"Buttercup, enough!" Blossom yelled when she noticed people beginning to back away from them. The crowd froze at the volume of the redhead's shout. Realizing she had everyone's attention, Blossom calmly said, "Yes, they called us names. Yes, they didn't accept us. Yes, they ostracized us and imprisoned our father and creator because we were different. I remember that."

The civilians shrunk with each accusation that Blossom laid at their feet.

"But I also remember," she added, "that we terrified them with our powers. I also remember that we destroyed their homes and their schools. I also remember that because of our naïveté, we unleashed an army of primates on them and we did nothing to stop it."

Now it was Bubbles and Buttercup's turn to shrink.

Blossom sighed heavily. "But how long are we going to go on pointing fingers at each other? How long are all of us – them and us – going to keep hatred in our hearts? If we don't forgive each other and come to understand each other –" she pointed at Mojo, "– then we're no better than him."

A blonde from the crowd suddenly stepped forward. "I'm sorry for calling you freaks."

The Powerpuff Girls examined her and realized that she was the news anchorwoman that had so cheerfully called them that name so long ago. Another woman, chubbier than the blonde, stepped forward, courageously looking at them, and said, "I'm also sorry for calling you 'mutants' and other names."

All around them, like when they were throwing compliments at the girls, people were suddenly chiming in with their sorrows and heartfelt remorse at what happened all those many years ago. When the noise died down, the Mayor quietly said, "Er, um, I'm sorry too."

The apologies from the civilians made, Blossom turned to her sisters – her eyes especially seeking out Buttercup. "Well?"

Bubbles placed a hand on Buttercup's shoulder and squeezed it gently. Sighing heavily, the green-clad 'puff choked out after a moment's hesitation, "I'm sorry too. We're all sorry."

The redheaded teenage girl smiled proudly at Buttercup before turning to everyone again. "Mr. Mayor, Ms. Bellum!" The two in question looked at her. "I believe that you have yourself a superhero team."

"Really?" Sara asked, surprised.

Blossom grinned, her sisters falling in beside her. "The Powerpuff Girls are ready for duty!"

Whistles, cheers, and crows of joy echoed across the ruins of Townsville. The girls grinned at each other before turning to their father, who was beaming with pride. Before the festivities could get any further, Bubbles whirled to her leader, "Blossom, what are going to do about the boys? They're probably hurt from having no powers anymore to heal themselves! And the other regional lords that didn't show up to Mojo's party? And Mojo himself?"

"You let us handle Mojo," the Professor answered, patting his pocket and a glare directed at his former lab pet. "We have a place where we can put him."

"As for the boys," Ms. Bellum said, who was eyeing a specific building, "you said they had no powers, right?" The girls nodded. "Then you can leave them to us as well. I think we can take into consideration that they helped you."

"You just worry about the remaining regional lords," Ms. Keane finished up with a curt nod of her head. "Take back our world, girls."

"'Our world'?" echoed Buttercup, raising an eyebrow.

The former teacher smiled softly. "Yes, Buttercup, our world. As in yours, too. Welcome home, girls."

"Glad to be back!" Bubbles cheerfully responded.

Blossom laughed shortly at her sister's happiness before her face turned solemn again. "Well, then, I'd say it's time to clean house, girls, don't you?" Seeing their smirks, Blossom smirked as well. "Let's roll!"

As the three disappeared with a burst of pink, green, and blue energy, the two women turned to John, who smiled grimly and said, "Now, let's deal with Mojo and the boys."

Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching knew something was wrong.

He had felt something ominous for quite awhile, but hadn't acted on the feeling, thinking it was just paranoia. Perhaps, he had thought, he was overreacting (no such thing, though). However, it wasn't until he received an invitation to the gala at Mojo's all but demanding his presence did the feeling worsen. The other regional lords, he later found out, all received the same invitation. Again, call him paranoid, but something had told Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching not to attend this gala.

So, he didn't.

Despite his lack of attendance, the regional lord of China and Japan had a hard time shaking the ominous feeling. He had stayed in contact with two other regional lords, Hota Wata and Ojo Tango (both of whom had also decided it was in their best interests to not attend the gala), for a good while. That connection was seemingly severed over an hour ago. While Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching had tried to get a hold of his two comrades, neither of them was answering any form of contact he sent to them. In fact, no one – not even a servant – was answering.

That sent red flags up in Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching's mind and he immediately ordered his closest guard to retrieve his cymbals. While he didn't know what was happening, he was not going to be caught unawares, he decided.

Thus, there he sat on his throne, his cymbals clutched in his hands, and listening for any noise.

His palace was quiet – extremely quiet. While Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching prided himself on a rather quiet atmosphere (save for when he wanted to hear the screams and cries of his prisoners), his home was a little too quiet. He didn't dare get up or move. His paranoia was telling him that going outside his throne room and checking to see if anything was wrong was just a trap waiting to be sprung. Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching was not stupid. He would not fall to the tricks of whatever enemy was out there.

Then, he heard it. That unmistakable noise.

A giggle.

It was light, airy, breezy, carefree. It was the giggle of a person (a girl) whom saw true beauty in the world. It was the giggle of a person who loved laughter, who took joy from the overall process. It was not the giggle of any of his servants, slaves, or guards. None of them laughed (giggled) like that. Too many of them suffered atrocities by his hand (as they should have) to laugh (giggle!) that…bubbly.

"Who's there?" he snapped into the darkness. The merry giggle broke the silence of his throne room in response. He grit his teeth in anger. "Answer me! I will not be disrespected like this!"

"Somebody's mad!" a voice responded in sing-song fashion, its (her) voice echoing across the hall.

He frowned. "Don't you dare mock me!"

"Don't you dare mock me!" another voice imitated, this one rougher and less bubbly than its predecessor.

His frown deepened into a scowl. "Show yourselves now! I demand it!"

There was a beat of silence before the rougher voice asked, "Should we?"

"Mm, I don't know," replied the bubbly voice. "He's not very polite. Didn't even say 'please'."

This mockery, he decided, had gone on long enough. These…females obviously had no respect for him, a regional lord! The most successful regional lord at that! He stood up, his knuckles white from clutching his cymbals tightly, and scanned the room for the offending perpetrators.

"Then we should teach him some manners," a third voice, this one smoother, more mature sounding, spoke up.

Before he had a chance to react to the voice, he felt himself lifted off the ground quickly and whirled around in the process. The hand that snatched him from the ground was now at his collar, squeezing the cloth so tightly it was choking him like his own personal noose. As he glanced down at whoever dared to touch him, he came face-to-face with a petite redheaded girl. That, however, wasn't what drew his attention. It was the startling pink eyes that were glaring fiercely at him that forced him to pause and think about whose grasp he was in.

When he finally snapped out of his stupefaction, he howled, "Unhand me, wench!"

"Not until you tell me where Miyuki is," she snapped.

He glared back at her. "I know nothing and even if I did, I would tell you nothing! Release me!"

She didn't do as he asked. If anything, she tightened her grip on his collar, restricting his air supply, but not disabling him from speaking. "I will ask again, monkey: where is Miyuki? The girl that led a rebellion on your palace some many months ago? Where is she? I know you're holding her."

He spat in her direction, but she simply jerked her head away from the incoming saliva. "What makes you think, insolent whelp, that I will tell you anything you want to know?" He grinned widely and lifted his cymbals to come down on her. "You will die before you have a chance to get any information!"

Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching cackled as he started to swing his cymbals down on her head, but stopped when he realized that his weapon was no longer in his hand. He looked up, puzzled, and was shocked at what he saw. Two girls, one brunette and one blonde, were floating in the air with his cymbals in their hands. They too were glaring down at him. It was then that he cracked.

"RELEASE ME! RELEASE ME NOW, YOU DIRTY HUMANS!" he screeched, shaking and twisting his body in an attempt to free himself.

Blossom, frustrated with Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching's actions, tightened her grip on his collar, completely restricting his air flow. The primate stopped twisting in an escape attempt. Rather, his hands flew up to his throat and began twisting in an effort to get air. She barely flinched as she watched him choke. It wasn't until Bubbles calmly said, "Blossom, careful. He's still property of the Townsville Zoo."

At the words of her sister, the leader of the Powerpuff Girls lessened her hold on Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching and said, "You're right, Bubbles. Forgive me." Her eyes flickered to the cymbals. "Break those. I want to make sure he can't use them again."

Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching, gasping for air, watched in disbelief as the two girls in the air, underneath the order of the redheaded girl holding him, tore his metal cymbals in two – with ease. In fact, when they were done, the brunette simply dropped the ruined metal on to the ground and dusted her hands off while the blonde crumpled it down into a little ball and then began playing with it. His eyes widened before they shot back to the redhead. She was still glaring at him.

"Now," she continued on blithely as if she hadn't just been choking him nor her partners just rip metal like it was paper, "you will tell me where Miyuki is. Unless, of course, you want me to rip you up like your cymbals. It'd be easy to do it, too."

"Apes like you are even easier to tear than metal," the brunette tacked on calmly, though she allowed her lips to twitch upward. That twitch, in and of itself, was enough to scare Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching. It was the blonde's sweet giggle (which now sounded rather creepy to him) that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Basement level," he rasped out. "She's in the basement with the other prisoners. Furthest cell towards the back!"

There was silence for a brief moment and the regional lord of China and Japan, all but quivering in his fur now, was certain the redhead was going to kill him. After the moment passed, she nonchalantly tossed him over to the brunette as she said, "I'm going to go get Miyuki. Buttercup, Bubbles, you deal with him."

As the redhead began walking away, the brunette turned towards him with a rather scary gleam in her eye. As a smile formed on her face, the redhead, now near the door of the throne room, called out, "And remember, like Bubbles said, he's still Townsville Zoo property. So don't thrash him too badly."

As the girl walked out of the room, Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching glanced back at the brunette, who's grin only went bigger. As he stared at that smile, his eyes widened, for the first time, in fear.

When Blossom finally reached the basement level of the palace, she quickly charged her way through, intent on finding her friend. As she passed by the various cells, she could see so many humans in various states of distress – some were curled up in a ball, some were crying, some staring blankly out, some not even moving, and others dead. When several of the occupants noticed Blossom in the room, they eyed her warily, unsure if she was friend or foe. But she didn't – couldn't – stop for them and help them just yet; not until she found Miyuki.

Just as Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching told her, she went to the back cell where she found a dark-haired girl hanging limply from her shackles, pinning her to the wall. The girl was in a prison cell like the others and she didn't move. Reaching the bars of the girl's cell, Blossom placed her hands on them and whispered, "Miyuki?"

There was no movement from the girl and Blossom fearfully thought she had come too late. Then, just when the redhead was about to have a panic attack, there was a twitch from the girl and then a shaky voice asked, "D-dare?"

"Blossom da, Miyuki-chan," Blossom replied back quickly, softly. "Just hang on. I'm going to get you out of here."

The girl could barely lift her head, but when her eyes met Blossom's, the leader of the Powerpuff Girls found herself staring into Miyuki's deep brown eyes. Miyuki cracked a weak smile. "Honto ni? Yokatta."

She sounded as weak as she looked and that made Blossom worry, but it also brought on a surge of anger towards Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching. What did that insane monkey do to Miyuki? What did he do to the other human inmates?

Without saying another word to Miyuki, Blossom whirled around and went for the other cells. One by one, she ripped up the metal bars and freed the inmates. The humans stared at her with wide eyes, disbelieving, when they realized what she was doing. As the stronger ones crawled out of their cells and began leaving their private hell, various languages – not just Japanese and Chinese – filled the air as they thanked their savior.

When the last cell was demolished, Blossom turned back to Miyuki's cell, ripped it open, and went directly for her. As she tore the shackles holding her friend, the Japanese girl murmured to Blossom, "What about the others? The ones unable to move? Tasukenakuchaikenai!"

"We will," the pink-eyed teenager responded. She hefted Miyuki onto her back. "We'll help them. But I need to drop you off to your grandfather first, and my sisters and I need to drop Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching, Hota Wata, and Ojo Tango off to my father so he can give them Antidote X. Hang on, okay?"

Gripping Miyuki tightly so the girl wouldn't fall off her back, Blossom rapidly moved through the palace and caught up with her sisters, who were still in the throne room. Unlike when she left them, Bubbles had Ojo Tango and Hota Wata, the two regional lords they dispatched before coming to Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching, in her hands while Buttercup was holding an unconscious Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching underneath her arm.

"What'd you do to him?" she asked Buttercup as she eyed the unconscious lord.

Buttercup shrugged. "Nothing. Wimp passed out the moment I smiled at him."

"It was a creepy smile, Buttercup," Bubbles commented lightly.

The green 'puff rolled her eyes. "Says the chick with the creepy giggle."

"It's not a creepy giggle!"

"Yes it is."

"Enough," Blossom interjected before an argument could break out. "You two get those three back to Townsville so Dad can give them the Antidote. I'm going to drop Miyuki off with her grandfather. Then we're going to make rounds and help whoever we can. There's a lot of prisoners downstairs that can't move without help."

Bubbles looked worried. "Will they be okay?"

"I don't know," Blossom confessed. "But we'll worry about that later."

The three sisters exchanged glances before Buttercup softly said, "C'mon, Bubbles. Let's get these losers out of here. Good luck, Blossom. Get Miyuki to safety."

Green and blue streaks ignited the dark night up as the two sisters took to the sky and headed west towards the United States. Blossom watched them for a moment before making sure that she had a good grip on Miyuki. "Okay, Miyuki-chan, let's get you home."

"Homes sounds good," the Japanese girl mumbled.