FINAL WISHES
By Gary Curtis
Powerpuff Girls created by Craig McCracken and all related characters owned by Cartoon Network
FIVE
It took ten minutes of pleading and apologizing to get Buttercup to go back downstairs. What finally did it was Blossom's admission that it could be her. It could be any one of them. She reminded them about the candy and toy incidents.
"Girls, we still have time to change why the professor wrote that letter. But I swear, on my honor as a Powerpuff Girl, that if I'm the one he thinks is goin' bad, I'll tell the professor to take my powers away. I'd rather grow up without them than grow up without him."
"Me too." Buttercup said. "We're in this together."
Their extended right hands met in the middle between them. "All for one, and one for all!"
Bubbles looked at the monitor. "Maybe the shock of finding out which one of us it is will be enough to make us stop."
"If it isn't, Bubbles," Buttercup said, "the professor was right. Me and Blossom'll do whatever it takes to stop you."
Seeing Bubbles bristle at that, Blossom laid a hand on her arm, looking at her and then Buttercup. "Either way, girls, there's still time to prevent anything from happening. What we can't find out here we can find out from the professor. Now, let's get this over."
'Yes, I have created a monster. I created her not out of love, but out of the love of money, and her upbringing has reinforced that to the point it's the only thing she cares about. I realized it only too late, and it is my failed attempts to correct the situation that are why you are reading this now.'
"Oh, no." Buttercup whimpered. "It is me!"
"I like money too, Buttercup." Bubbles said, trying to comfort her sister. "Everybody does."
"Yeah, but he keeps saying 'her' instead of 'us', so he's gotta mean me!"
Blossom stood frowning, trying to think. "Wait, girls. I don't like the way this sounds. You know how the professor always told us he wanted the perfect little girl because the world was such a rotten place, and the rest was an accident?"
"Yeah?" they replied.
"What if it's all a story to hide the fact that somebody really hired him to try it?"
"What?" Buttercup gasped.
Bubbles was horrified. "The professor would never do that!"
"Maybe he did, Bubbles. I have no doubt that he loves us, but what if he was only doing it for the money?"
"What are you saying, Blossom?" Buttercup demanded. "That he only wanted to keep us 'cause we got superpowers and that he would have sold a normal kid?"
"No, Buttercup. That might have been the plan, but I know the professor well enough to know that he knew it was wrong and felt guilty and decided to keep us instead."
Bubbles' eyes widened. "But, Blossom, if he kept us and the money, too, isn't that a crime?"
Buttercup answered instead. "Not if there aren't no papers or anything, Bubbles. It would be his word against whoever paid him."
"Right, Buttercup. And it's not exactly legal to make money by selling kids. Look what happened with Professor Dick. So he didn't actually commit a crime at all."
"Yeah, Blossom," Buttercup agreed, "but if he kept us and the money, that would make somebody awfully mad!"
Bubbles whispered, "Mad enough to kill him?"
"Yes." Blossom didn't like thinking it, let alone saying it out loud. "Girls, I think we just found our motive. Now we have to learn who it is so we can save the professor's life."
'When I sold my talent and beliefs for personal gain, I started my child down the road to emptiness. It is no surprise she has turned out the way she has. But I love her as much as I do her sisters, and I swore to undo the damage I did. Perhaps with counseling she can be made to see that material possessions are meaningless compared to the love of family. I hope her sisters can forgive her for the things she's done, as I forgive her. My dear, beloved Princess.'