"Area 52"
By I am a good fighter
Powerpuff Girls created by Craig McCracken and all characters associated with the show are owned by Cartoon Network
In the boys' cabin, the twins and Harry were snoring in their bunks. The boys had talked about the night, mostly about Buttercup's tale. But the twins had missed the first part, and Elmer gave up after trying to explain it three times. Finally, they drifted off.
"Hey, Mitch?" Elmer said in the dark. The porch light was out now, and the only light in the cabin was from the moon.
"What?"
"That Buttercup is cool, isn't she?"
"Yeah, I guess, for a girl."
"Were you scared?"
"Huh? By that sissy story? No way!"
"Hey, you said it was the freakiest story ever!"
"Yeah, the first part was, but the rest of it, man, I could see right through it. Didn't fool me, man!"
"Then where'd you go? Nobody could find you for a minute."
"What're you talkin' about? I didn't go anyplace."
"Yeah you did. I saw you come out of here."
"Did not."
"Did too." Elmer sat up. "You peed your pants, didn't ya? That's why you ran in here!"
"Did not!"
The light in the room flicked on and Mitch saw Elmer standing in the doorway.
"Did too! And I bet if I look around, I'll find 'em, too!"
Mitch jumped out of bed and grabbed Elmer's T-shirt. "You ever tell anybody, paste-eater, and I'll…"
"Don't call me paste-eater no more."
Mitch blinked.
"Deal?" Elmer stuck out his hand. Mitch slapped it and rasped, "Deal!"
The light went out and the two boys climbed back into their bunks. Smiling, Elmer rolled over and was asleep in minutes. For Mitch, sleep wouldn't come for some time yet, and when it did, his dreams would be about pink, blue and green insects, chasing him while he screamed his head off.
The moon had grown to the largest it would appear this night, and the crickets were chirping mightily. Four girls sat on blankets around the dwindling campfire, in their nightclothes. Ms. Keane had allowed them to stay up a while longer with a promise from Blossom to make sure the fire was completely out before they left it, and she had gone to bed. Buttercup sat with her back to the woods, with Blossom opposite her. Julie and Bubbles sat next to each other, to Buttercup's right; where they could see the boys' cabin and the darkness beyond. The Powerpuffs could see in the dark better than other people, so Ms. Keane had given Julie a flashlight and it sat to her right on the blanket, between her and Bubbles.
"Buttercup?" asked Julie, "You were so quiet while the rest of us were telling our stories. Were you thinking about yours the whole time?"
"Nah, I was listening. I knew for weeks what I was gonna do. I only did that to creep you guys out."
"It sure worked." Blossom said. "What did you think about the other stories? You never said anything."
"I really liked yours, Julie. I got worried it was too much like mine, but it looks like it helped set mine up even better. I really felt bad for that kid." She looked at Julie, then grinned at her sisters. "Those were real tears. The rest were all fake! Hahahahahaha!!!"
She couldn't help but laugh again at the big one she'd gotten over on them. They crossed their arms, frowning. Bubbles asked, "What about ours?"
"Hahaha! I forgot about Blossom and that stupid clarinet! Thanks, Bubbles!"
Blossom let out an indignant "Hmmph!"
"Oh, get over it, Blossom! I liked yours, too, even if you did steal it offa Dexter. I never watch that dumb show, but man those eyes sounded creepy!"
She paused for a second. "The other ones were pretty good, too. 'Cept for the twins and Elmer."
"What? You thought Mitch's was GOOD?" Blossom asked, surprised.
"Yeah! Who ever heard of a vampire that drinks snot?! That was funny!"
"Ewwwwww!!!" the other three responded, leaning away from her.
"Plus, when you and he started arguing about our noses and ears, Blossom, that gave me a perfect place to start. I was just gonna start in with about them coming here and work that other stuff in later."
"Well, Buttercup, I still can't say I'm happy about your portrayal of us and Professor and the people of Townsville, but I have to admit you had me believing it." Blossom told her.
"And the first part, about searching for peace and love and how they came here was beautiful." Julie said.
"And sad!" Bubbles added. "I liked their names! Where'd you get them from?"
"Oh, they were just March and April spelled backwards. And Mayor!" she giggled.
"I can't believe Ms. Keane agreed to go in on it!" Blossom exclaimed. "Where'd you get those masks from?"
Buttercup smiled. "The alien one was easy; you can get those anyplace and Professor made the nose for it. You're gonna love this. Ms. Keane's I borrowed from the police. I gotta give it back tomorrow."
"The police?!" the three girls gasped.
Buttercup broke into a wide grin. "Yeah! They got it in a raid at Sedusa's house!"
"Sedusa!" Bubbles shouted, giggling wildly. Julie and Blossom laughed along with Buttercup, who was revelling in her 'coup'.
"This has to be one of your biggest practical jokes yet, Buttercup!" Blossom said, still snickering. She paused. "Hey! I just thought of something! That was a pretty neat trick, getting all the boys to hug us and not you!"
"Hey, yeah! Why not you?" Bubbles challenged.
"Duh! They're BOYS, dummy! Yuck!" She spit to one side, causing the other three girls to laugh. "Besides, I didn't think you'd mind." she added smugly, and this time they all laughed.
Buttercup turned serious. "Y'know, this wasn't that easy. I knew you guys were gonna ask questions and I tried to be ready for 'em. But I forgot somethin' big, Blossom, and when you talked about poking holes, I just knew you were gonna get me. I decided I better do the cocoon thingie right away."
"What'd I miss?" Blossom wondered. "Today was not one of your better days in the thinking department, Blossom!" "What, Buttercup?" she asked.
"How Professor really didn't make us. If that was true, then how did we make Bunny and how'd Mojo make those stupid Rowdyruff Boys? I didn't have a good explanation ready and if you asked me that, I was done for!"
Blossom and Bubbles blinked at each other. Blossom slapped her forehead. "D'OH! Why didn't I think of that?!" She smiled at her sister. "I'm glad I didn't! You were right, that cocoon thing was the clincher."
Bubbles squeaked, "Yeah, how'd you do that?!"
"C'mon, I'll show ya!"
Buttercup took off for the tree, Blossom following. Julie climbed on Bubbles piggy-back style and they were over there in seconds. Buttercup pointed at something behind the thick tree limb she had hung from. It looked like a spool of silvery thread, on a holder attached to the branch, where it could spin freely.
"I found this in Professor's lab and nailed it there last week. I was already tied to it when you guys got over here."
"But, I saw it come out of your mouth!" Blossom cried.
"No you didn't, that's just what you THOUGHT you saw! I had a piece of black thread going to the tree, and I had some powdered sugar in a straw that I blew, and it made the thread turn white and LOOK like it was coming from me! Pretty cool, huh?"
"Boy, you must have been planning this a long time!" Julie said as Bubbles carried her back to the fire while the other two girls floated alongside.
"Buttercup, where'd you get this crazy idea from, anyway? I have to say I'm impressed with the amount of research you put into it." Blossom said.
"Yeah, Ms. Keane helped me with some of it, but y'know what? I liked learning about that stuff!"
"But, where'd you get the idea?" Bubbles repeated Blossom's query as they sat once more.
"Well, you know how Mojo and Him and Sedusa always call us bug-eyed brats and creeps and whatever…and I always wondered about how we came out being a little different, not that it bothers me any…"
"Hmmmm. And I suppose we DO look sort of like angry bees when we're stopping those villains…" Blossom interjected.
"Yeah!" Buttercup grinned. "And sting like 'em, too!"
"But what about the aliens?" Bubbles asked.
"Well, when Ms. Keane told us about the camping trip and I asked her where it was, I came out here to see if I could get some ideas. And it just clicked."
"What clicked, Buttercup? What's out here to make you think about spaceships and beings from another planet?"
"Blossom, where are we?"
"Townsville, Buttercup!" Bubbles interrupted, giggling.
"No, dummy, what part of the park are we in?"
Blossom thought for a second. She gasped, "Bubbles, give me the flashlight!"
Julie and Bubbles flinched, thinking Blossom had seen a wild animal, but Bubbles handed it over. Blossom flicked it on and trained the beam around the grounds until she found what she was looking for, a white painted sign near their cabin. She shined the light directly on the reflective surface and they read the words in black.
'CAMPING AREA 51'
Blossom spun the flashlight and quickly found the sign near the boys' cabin, knowing it would say,
'CAMPING AREA 52'
"Whooooaaaaa." the three other girls said. Buttercup beamed proudly.
"You thought all that up from that…wow, Buttercup, I'm impressed." Blossom said again, softly. She looked up into the night at the billions of stars, thinking.
"You know what I really liked," Bubbles looked over at her green-eyed sister, "was how you made it about peace and love and not blowin' up stuff and fightin' scary monsters like you usually do, Buttercup."
"Well," she answered, "I was just trying to make you guys believe that it could be real about us being from another planet. I just wanted to scare you, that's all. But I'm still a Powerpuff, Bubbles, and that's what we're all about. It's fun doing that other stuff, but most of the time I wish we didn't have to."
"Yeah, Buttercup. " Julie said. "That's why you'll always be my friends no matter what. You know, I'm almost sorry it isn't true."
"What? My story?"
"Yeah." Julie joined Blossom in looking up at the stars and said, "I wish we could meet people from some other world. I bet we'd like them and I hope they'd like us."
Buttercup slid over closer to Julie and Blossom moved closer to Bubbles. The girls held hands and all four looked up, to ponder the vastness of space as the fire burned down.
"Maybe someday." Bubbles said.
"Yeah, Bubbles," Buttercup whispered softly. "Someday."