FINAL WISHES

By Gary Curtis

Powerpuff Girls created by Craig McCracken and all related characters owned by Cartoon Network

SEVEN

Bubbles cried out loud, "Professor, how could you?"

Blossom was no less upset but said, "Wait, we still don't know everything."

Buttercup bellowed, "Well, I know all I need to know! Let's go take care of that creep before he can do anything to the professor!"

Blossom had to forcefully restrain her. "No, Buttercup! How do we know for sure it's Daddy Morbucks and not someone else? You're probably right, but we can't just go off blind without knowing more!"

"I don't wanna know any more!"

"Bubbles, we need to know exactly how Princess got like she did. She was born good, like us, and Professor's right, it isn't her fault!"

"Duh, Blossom, he brainwashed her, that's how!"

"No kidding, Buttercup, but there's still more to the story than that! Remember, Professor said that Daddy Morbucks lived thousands of miles away? What made him come here?"

Bubbles looked suddenly afraid. "And he was talking about her, not one of us! She's gonna do somethin' really bad someday!"

"Even worse than everything she's already done!" Blossom exclaimed.

Buttercup gasped. "Oh, you're right, guys! I forgot! Professor said that she keeps getting stronger! What's he mean?"

Blossom's expression turned to a determined one. "We have to find out. Like it or not, girls, Princess is our sister, too, and we have to help her!"

'For a time, I erased all thoughts of what I had done from my mind. My baby was gone and I needed to forget. I decided to get myself a pet, and seeing that I've always been such a practical person, I got one that could also serve me in the lab. That pet, of course, was JoJo, and you already know the story. But getting a pet was only partly successful, because my thoughts returned to my terrible deed and Morbucks' last words to me. I couldn't undo what I'd done, but I could still have a daughter. I rationalized that now I could provide her with a life I couldn't hope to had I not taken the money, as if that would somehow excuse me. Of course it didn't, but you know that story, too. Things were bumpy for a while until the world accepted them, but my girls are the light of my life and I wouldn't take back that accident for anything, not even to get rid of Mojo. It just pains me to no end to know that my kids don't have the love of their older sibling and she theirs. Instead, they fight, and I am the cause of it.

I am not the only one to blame here. Things could have gone on with there being no harm done to Townsville. But he just had to bring her back into my life.

I was shocked that afternoon when I saw the news that Morbucks Industries was going to move its headquarters to Townsville from its home all the way across the country. The explanation was that Townsville was a great place to do business, but I knew the real reason: Once he saw that I had created something even more wonderful than what he had, he wanted revenge. So he brought her back here, to torment me with having her so close, yet untouchable, and for something far more sinister. For, you see, while he turned my little Princess into a spoiled brat, she is not, at her core, evil. She knows only what she has been taught. The impetus for her desire to gain the powers that my girls possess comes from him. He is behind it all.

And this is where the true danger lies. While Chemical X is toxic to humans in large doses, (witness the sad case of my ex-college roommate and ex-friend), it is relatively harmless in small ones. But the effects are temporary. What Mojo Jojo gave to the girls' schoolmates wore off quickly with no ill effects. However, the dose he gave to Princess was a massive one, and rather than harming her, it gave her everything the girls have and then some, judging by what they told me. While I have no way to prove it (yet), I believe the powers would have been permanent had she not been hit with the antidote.

My reasoning is this: Since she is artificially created, she is subject to the same forces of nature that allowed my girls to receive their powers. Princess is immune to the dangers of Chemical X. Should she somehow be exposed to it again, I fear that the antidote may not work. Even if it does, she will be left stronger, and each new time it occurs, the antidote will become less and less effective until it has no effect at all. That would be wonderful, except for the fact that Princess in her current state will use those powers for evil purposes. My girls, powerful as they are, won't be able to stop her. I could strengthen them by repeatedly giving them the antidote and then restoring their powers, but I would leave Townsville temporarily unprotected each time. It's too risky.

I have now made it my life's work to take my first-born child away from Morbucks, legally if possible, but by whatever means necessary. This is why I have not told the girls. They will never go for using illegal methods, no matter the good intent behind them. But I will stop at nothing. My daughter will become a useful and loved member of society, and of our family.

Even if it kills me.'