Buttercup, Bubbles and Blossom zoomed down to the smashed roof of City Hall, looking carefully over the remains of the giant robot. "BUMBLEBEE!" Blossom yelled, "WHERE ARE YOU?"
From the base of the machine came the Micropuff Girl's voice. "I'm right here!" she called out. "I'm next to the Mojobot's left foot!"
The trio sped to the sound of their comrade's voice. Sure enough, Bumblebee was standing on a part of the roof that Mojo's machine hadn't destroyed. Bubbles zoomed down and picked up the Micropuff Girl. "Thank goodness you're all right!" the blue-clad Girl said.
"You really had us worried!" Buttercup added.
"Well, you shouldn't have worried!" Bumblebee laughed. "It'll take more than one lousy machine to take Bumblebee out of a fight!"
The Girls all laughed. Then Blossom spoke up, "Hey, Bumblebee! Why did you make the circle in the plastic so big? Did you know we'd have to get Mojo out of there?"
Bumblebee floated out of Bubbles' hands. "Well, no," she replied, "that wasn't the reason I made it the size I did."
"Oh, okay," said Buttercup with a smile. "So I guess you thought we should have left Mojo Jojo in there when his device was about to crash."
The Micropuff Girl scowled at Buttercup. Putting her hands on her hips, she retorted, "Heck, no! I figured Mojo had an escape hatch for himself! I never would have left him there! Just because someone's evil and trying to destroy you and your town, doesn't mean it's all right to stand by and let him die!!"
Buttercup reached out and took her indignant teammate in her hands. "You know, Bumblebee," she chuckled, "you are gonna make a really good Powerpuff Girl!" Bumblebee softened as she realized her fellow heroine was just testing her.
Blossom asked once again, "So why DID you make that circle so big? All you needed to do was make it about four inches wide, and all three of us could've gotten in just fine!"
At that, the Micropuff Girl flew to a spot on the roof. "I made it so big because I figured that would come in handy!" After a moment, Bumblebee uncovered Mojo's shrinking ray and held it up.
"Yikes!" Bubbles yelled. "What makes you think we'd ever want to see THAT again?!"
Setting the gun back down, Bumblebee answered, "Well, if this switch does what I think it does, we probably all want to use it right now!" The veteran Powerpuffs flew over the gigantic gun as their tiniest member pushed a switch on its side from the REDUCE setting to its RESTORE mode. "All right," the Micropuff Girl asked, "who wants to be the first to get big again?"
Blossom flew down to Bumblebee and grabbed her. "You didn't need to ask!" the Powerpuff leader replied. "The first one to grow again is YOU!" Blossom carried the flea-sized girl to an open spot on the roof. Then she flew back to the gun and grabbed the trigger. With Bubbles aiming and Buttercup steadying the barrel, Blossom fired the weapon on the Micropuff Girl.
The blue energy from the ray shooter surrounded Bumblebee. Slowly at first, then more quickly, the Micropuff Girl grew back to her height of two inches. "All right!" she yelled joyfully. "That didn't even hurt this time! I may never play center for the Tennessee Lady Vols, but it's great to be this size again!" (Bumblebee didn't have to fake being exuberant. After a day of constantly shrinking or getting threatened with shrinking, it felt wonderful to grow!)
The veteran Powerpuff Girls set the weapon down and grinned at their new member. "All right," Bumblebee asked, "who gets to grow now?"
"No one!" replied Buttercup.
"Wait a minute," the Micropuff Girl exclaimed as her teammates came nearer to her, "you guys want to get big again, don't you?"
"Guess not!" Bubbles retorted.
Blossom explained, "Since this is the only time we're gonna be your size, we wanted to give you something to thank you for the way you helped us save the day so many times today. Bubbles, Buttercup, what are we gonna give our sister Bumblebee?"
"GROUP HUG!!" the threesome shouted as they wrapped their arms around their yellow-clad comrade.
Bumblebee was overjoyed. This was better than a dream come true! "B-Blossom," she gasped as she reached her arms around the pink-clad Powerpuff Girl, "you called me your sister!"
"That's right," Blossom replied, "you're a Powerpuff Girl, and that means you're a sister to all three of us!"
As Bumblebee reached to hug Buttercup, the green-clad heroine added, "And sisters are always sisters, so even when you go back to your own world you'll still be our sister, forever and ever!"
The Micropuff Girl heard Bubbles add, "And we hope that won't be for a long time! We all like having our tiny little sister here with us!"
As Bumblebee hugged Bubbles, it was all she could do to keep from crying for happiness. But it wouldn't do to cry there; Buttercup would get mad at her for doing something so sissy. The Girls were letting go, so Bumblebee whispered, "I love you guys," and then spoke up to say, "but we need to get the three of you back to your full size again. 'Less, of course, you want your friends to play long-distance catch with YOU next recess!"
"I don't think so!" exclaimed Blossom. "One Micropuff Girl is enough!"
Bubbles and Buttercup returned to their positions on Mojo's ray gun. With Bumblebee on the trigger, they returned Blossom to her full size. The Powerpuff leader then easily restored Bubbles and Buttercup to their normal sizes.
"There's one thing left to do now," Blossom announced as she set the device down. Bumblebee flew to eye level with her sister Powerpuffs, and the foursome fired their lasers on the weapon, melting it to a puddle of slag.
The Girls flew back towards their suburban home. "Hey, Bumblebee," Blossom asked, "you're not mad 'cause we didn't shoot you a second time to make you our size, are you?"
"I didn't even think of that!" the Micropuff Girl replied. "The setting on that ray was 'Restore', not 'Enlarge'! I figured if you fired on me again it would just waste the energy!"
"Yeah, that's what we figured, too," Buttercup confirmed.
"And, besides," Bubbles added, "if you got big like us, Florina's magic might have worn out and then you'd have to go home!"
The Micropuff Girl repressed a grin at her comrades' excuses. She knew what they were trying not to say: that the three of them enjoyed having a doll-sized friend to play with. A friend... and comrade... and sister. Bumblebee was still in awe that they had called her their sister.
The foursome reached the Utonium home. Bubbles, Buttercup and Blossom landed at the front door; Blossom held out her right hand, and Bumblebee took the hint and landed on it.
"I think we should tell the Professor about you now, Bumblebee," Blossom said as she reached for the doorknob. Suddenly she stopped and looked at her diminutive teammate. "Bumblebee," she asked, "what's wrong?"
The Micropuff Girl noticed immediately what Blossom was talking about. Her body was vibrating all over, like an electric buzzer. And the vibration was growing stronger by the second. A ringing was building in Bumblebee's ears, a ringing like a thousand church bells.
Buttercup exclaimed, "Mojo's ray gun! We shouldn't have used it on Bumblebee! Now her body's unstable!!"
Bubbles stepped over to Bumblebee and pleaded, "Fight it, Bumblebee! Don't leave us now! We want you to stay with us! Please, please don't go!!"
The Micropuff Girl concentrated with every ounce of willpower she had. But the quaking and ringing continued to grow. She looked up and saw the concerned faces of Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup watching her.
That was the last sight she beheld before darkness overtook her.
From the base of the machine came the Micropuff Girl's voice. "I'm right here!" she called out. "I'm next to the Mojobot's left foot!"
The trio sped to the sound of their comrade's voice. Sure enough, Bumblebee was standing on a part of the roof that Mojo's machine hadn't destroyed. Bubbles zoomed down and picked up the Micropuff Girl. "Thank goodness you're all right!" the blue-clad Girl said.
"You really had us worried!" Buttercup added.
"Well, you shouldn't have worried!" Bumblebee laughed. "It'll take more than one lousy machine to take Bumblebee out of a fight!"
The Girls all laughed. Then Blossom spoke up, "Hey, Bumblebee! Why did you make the circle in the plastic so big? Did you know we'd have to get Mojo out of there?"
Bumblebee floated out of Bubbles' hands. "Well, no," she replied, "that wasn't the reason I made it the size I did."
"Oh, okay," said Buttercup with a smile. "So I guess you thought we should have left Mojo Jojo in there when his device was about to crash."
The Micropuff Girl scowled at Buttercup. Putting her hands on her hips, she retorted, "Heck, no! I figured Mojo had an escape hatch for himself! I never would have left him there! Just because someone's evil and trying to destroy you and your town, doesn't mean it's all right to stand by and let him die!!"
Buttercup reached out and took her indignant teammate in her hands. "You know, Bumblebee," she chuckled, "you are gonna make a really good Powerpuff Girl!" Bumblebee softened as she realized her fellow heroine was just testing her.
Blossom asked once again, "So why DID you make that circle so big? All you needed to do was make it about four inches wide, and all three of us could've gotten in just fine!"
At that, the Micropuff Girl flew to a spot on the roof. "I made it so big because I figured that would come in handy!" After a moment, Bumblebee uncovered Mojo's shrinking ray and held it up.
"Yikes!" Bubbles yelled. "What makes you think we'd ever want to see THAT again?!"
Setting the gun back down, Bumblebee answered, "Well, if this switch does what I think it does, we probably all want to use it right now!" The veteran Powerpuffs flew over the gigantic gun as their tiniest member pushed a switch on its side from the REDUCE setting to its RESTORE mode. "All right," the Micropuff Girl asked, "who wants to be the first to get big again?"
Blossom flew down to Bumblebee and grabbed her. "You didn't need to ask!" the Powerpuff leader replied. "The first one to grow again is YOU!" Blossom carried the flea-sized girl to an open spot on the roof. Then she flew back to the gun and grabbed the trigger. With Bubbles aiming and Buttercup steadying the barrel, Blossom fired the weapon on the Micropuff Girl.
The blue energy from the ray shooter surrounded Bumblebee. Slowly at first, then more quickly, the Micropuff Girl grew back to her height of two inches. "All right!" she yelled joyfully. "That didn't even hurt this time! I may never play center for the Tennessee Lady Vols, but it's great to be this size again!" (Bumblebee didn't have to fake being exuberant. After a day of constantly shrinking or getting threatened with shrinking, it felt wonderful to grow!)
The veteran Powerpuff Girls set the weapon down and grinned at their new member. "All right," Bumblebee asked, "who gets to grow now?"
"No one!" replied Buttercup.
"Wait a minute," the Micropuff Girl exclaimed as her teammates came nearer to her, "you guys want to get big again, don't you?"
"Guess not!" Bubbles retorted.
Blossom explained, "Since this is the only time we're gonna be your size, we wanted to give you something to thank you for the way you helped us save the day so many times today. Bubbles, Buttercup, what are we gonna give our sister Bumblebee?"
"GROUP HUG!!" the threesome shouted as they wrapped their arms around their yellow-clad comrade.
Bumblebee was overjoyed. This was better than a dream come true! "B-Blossom," she gasped as she reached her arms around the pink-clad Powerpuff Girl, "you called me your sister!"
"That's right," Blossom replied, "you're a Powerpuff Girl, and that means you're a sister to all three of us!"
As Bumblebee reached to hug Buttercup, the green-clad heroine added, "And sisters are always sisters, so even when you go back to your own world you'll still be our sister, forever and ever!"
The Micropuff Girl heard Bubbles add, "And we hope that won't be for a long time! We all like having our tiny little sister here with us!"
As Bumblebee hugged Bubbles, it was all she could do to keep from crying for happiness. But it wouldn't do to cry there; Buttercup would get mad at her for doing something so sissy. The Girls were letting go, so Bumblebee whispered, "I love you guys," and then spoke up to say, "but we need to get the three of you back to your full size again. 'Less, of course, you want your friends to play long-distance catch with YOU next recess!"
"I don't think so!" exclaimed Blossom. "One Micropuff Girl is enough!"
Bubbles and Buttercup returned to their positions on Mojo's ray gun. With Bumblebee on the trigger, they returned Blossom to her full size. The Powerpuff leader then easily restored Bubbles and Buttercup to their normal sizes.
"There's one thing left to do now," Blossom announced as she set the device down. Bumblebee flew to eye level with her sister Powerpuffs, and the foursome fired their lasers on the weapon, melting it to a puddle of slag.
The Girls flew back towards their suburban home. "Hey, Bumblebee," Blossom asked, "you're not mad 'cause we didn't shoot you a second time to make you our size, are you?"
"I didn't even think of that!" the Micropuff Girl replied. "The setting on that ray was 'Restore', not 'Enlarge'! I figured if you fired on me again it would just waste the energy!"
"Yeah, that's what we figured, too," Buttercup confirmed.
"And, besides," Bubbles added, "if you got big like us, Florina's magic might have worn out and then you'd have to go home!"
The Micropuff Girl repressed a grin at her comrades' excuses. She knew what they were trying not to say: that the three of them enjoyed having a doll-sized friend to play with. A friend... and comrade... and sister. Bumblebee was still in awe that they had called her their sister.
The foursome reached the Utonium home. Bubbles, Buttercup and Blossom landed at the front door; Blossom held out her right hand, and Bumblebee took the hint and landed on it.
"I think we should tell the Professor about you now, Bumblebee," Blossom said as she reached for the doorknob. Suddenly she stopped and looked at her diminutive teammate. "Bumblebee," she asked, "what's wrong?"
The Micropuff Girl noticed immediately what Blossom was talking about. Her body was vibrating all over, like an electric buzzer. And the vibration was growing stronger by the second. A ringing was building in Bumblebee's ears, a ringing like a thousand church bells.
Buttercup exclaimed, "Mojo's ray gun! We shouldn't have used it on Bumblebee! Now her body's unstable!!"
Bubbles stepped over to Bumblebee and pleaded, "Fight it, Bumblebee! Don't leave us now! We want you to stay with us! Please, please don't go!!"
The Micropuff Girl concentrated with every ounce of willpower she had. But the quaking and ringing continued to grow. She looked up and saw the concerned faces of Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup watching her.
That was the last sight she beheld before darkness overtook her.