The Dreamstone
The Powerpuff Girls and related characters are owned by Cartoon Network. The Dreamstone is based on the stones from the Science Fiction novel "Memory Wire" by Robert Charles Wilson.
Chapter 1 – It's mostly about a rock. A really mysterious one.
"Professor, did you see? It's here!" Blossom called excitedly, waving the Townsville Times in her father's face.
Professor Utonium smiled, sharing his pink-eyed daughter's enthusiasm. "I was just catching up on the newest articles on it in 'Rock On: Geology Quarterly'. I'm going to be conducting the investigation on it next week, you know!"
Bubbles looked up from the video game she was playing with Buttercup. "What is it, Professor?" She asked curiously.
"Read for yourself," Blossom answered for him, shoving the newspaper in her sister's face.
Bubbles squinted as she looked closely at the headlines, causing the Professor to worry, not for the first time, that the corrective laser eye surgery that she had accidentally performed on herself was perhaps not as effective as he had hoped.
"Dreamstone on display at Townsville Museum – oh, that," she said indifferently, and returned to her game.
"What, that's all you have to say about it?" Blossom looked furiously at her sisters. "It's probably the most important scientific discovery of the century, and you're still sitting their playing video games?"
"Aw, what's so important about a stupid old rock?" asked Buttercup disdainfully, pressing the button rapidly on the joystick. Woohoo! That's 5 Lucky Captain Rabbit Kings shot down in a row! Extra life!"
"Listen to this!" Blossom brought the newspaper up and began to read:
"Geologists in South America recently uncovered a unique stone from the Amazon Basin. Thought to be the remainder of an age-old meteor impact, the stone's atomic structure is unlike any currently known on earth. Touching the stone has been found to bring about a trance-like state in humans and animals alike. Many report that during this trance they experience lucid memories from their past, almost as if they where reliving the moments over again. Others believe that they can even experience memories of past lives, or of their friends and families. Many UFO enthusiasts are citing the stone as proof of intelligent life on other planets (not that we in Townsville need any further proof of that!).
"That's for sure!" Bubbles interjected, recalling the numerous times she and her sisters had fought aliens in the past. She and Buttercup had paused their game, and were listening with greater interest to Blossom.
Blossom continued, "The dreamstone has been brought to Townsville to be studied at the highly respected 'Centre for Scientific Investigation of Unusual Substances',
Here, the Professor beamed at hearing his place of work mentioned so positively.
"but will be on display at Townsville Museum during the weekend. For a variety of security and safety reasons, no-one will be allowed to come in physical contact with the stone."
As she read this last piece of information, Blossom's face fell. "Oh Professor, I wanted to touch the stone! Maybe I could see if I was a warrior princess in my past life."
"Yeah, or maybe I was a Ponypuff Princess!" Bubbles chimed in.
"Now girls, don't believe everything you read in the paper!" the Professor lectured. "My current theory is that the stone is infused with a topical chemical which enters the human body through physical contact, which travel through the bloodstream to the brain, affecting the neurotransmitters in such a way as to produce hallucinations composed of information taken from the individual's long term memory."
"Huh?" All three girls looked up at their father in blank confusion.
"Err.. I mean, it makes you see things involving your past. But you wouldn't be reliving memories, and certainly not memories of past lives. You would just be making up stories about what you think your past was like.
"Still, I wish we could touch the stone," sighed Bubbles. "Maybe we could think about the first time we met you, Professor! And when I first got Octi!"
The Professor looked touched, but replied "Why Bubbles, I'm surprised at you! You're luckier than most of us; I can't even remember my birth! You should know you can relive those memories any time you want. Just use your imagination!"
"It's not the same, though!" Bubbles protested. I can see it in my mind, but I can't smell the smoke from the explosion, or feel or the air on my skin for the first time, or get surprised when you tell me my name-"
"Well, maybe not, but you can feel this!" the Professor caught up his daughter and began tickling her remorselessly, despite her high pitched squeals of protest.
"So, can we go see the stone, Professor?" asked Blossom impatiently.
The Professor looked doubtful. "I don't know, I've got a lot of work to do to prepare for Monday."
"Study, study, study, that's all you do!" groaned Buttercup. "You're as bad as Blossom!"
"Hey!" Blossom glared at her green-eyed sister, who stuck her tongue out.
"Yeah, when's the last time we did anything together?" protested Bubbles, still embraced by the Professor's arms.
The Professor reconsidered "Well, I guess we could use a little quality family time. Let's go!" He caught up his car keys, and the four of them headed towards the door.
Bzzz bzzzz bzzzzz!
"Oh, man!" Blossom said irritably. She went to pick up the hotline.
"Typical! said Buttercup kicking the wall in disgust. She sighed. "I'm so bushed today. Can't the stupid bad guys wait take a break now and then?"
The Professor looked at her in astonishment, and with some concern. Bubbles and Blossom had occasionally complained of tiredness over the last few weeks, but the complaints had ceased after he mentioned the possibility of an earlier bedtime. He had thought that perhaps they were just rebelling a bit at the extra work required of them as the town's protectors. To hear Buttercup protest about a chance to fight crime, however, made him consider that there was something a little more serious wrong with the girls. He decided he should schedule a time to conduct an in-depth physical check-up of the Powerpuffs in the near future.
"What's that Mayor? No way! Ok, we're on it!" Blossom slammed down the receiver. "Mojo Jojo's stolen the Dreamstone!"
"Yay!" Bubbles said, twirling around. "We're going to see the Dreamstone!" She paused, looking towards at the Professor. "Umm, do you want to come?" she asked hesitantly.
The Professor thought back to his previous encounters with Mojo. "No, no that's ok. You girls go on and have fun! Family togetherness will have to wait for another time!"
"Wait, girls!" The Powerpuffs had started to streak away, but the Professor's urgent cry called them back. "Please, whatever you do, don't touch the stone! We don't know enough about it yet, it could be very dangerous!"
"Ok Professor, we won't!" said Blossom brightly, and the three of them flew off towards Mojo's lair.
********
Crash! Three small forms made three rather large holes in the roof of the volcano-top observatory.
"Not so fast!"
"Mojo-"
"Jo- oh!" Bubbles broke off her traditional salutation to her arch-enemy as she surveyed the scene in front of her.
The Dreamstone, a rather ordinary looking gray and brown mottled rock about the size of a fist, was resting on a table in the centre of the room. Mojo stood facing it, his eyes wide, arms hanging limply by his side. He did not seem to have registered the Powerpuff's arrival.
"I guess he touched it," concluded Bubbles.
"Careful! It could be a trick!" Blossom slowly approached the monkey's still figure. When he did not move, she waved her arm rapidly in front of his face. "Hey, Mojo! Snap out of it!"
"Want me to wake him up?" Buttercup asked, smiling evilly.
"Shh, Buttercup, I-"
"You are here for the dreamstone."
The three sisters whirled around and stared at Mojo. "You are here for the dreamstone." He repeated.
"That's right Mojo! You've stolen a valuable scientific artefact, and we're here to insure its return to the people of America!" Blossom said righteously.
"Take it. I don't need it anymore." Mojo turned and walked away from the girls and the stone.
"Oh no, don't think you can get away that easily!" Buttercup called after him.
Mojo continued walking away. "You have got what you came for, now leave!" a trace of irritability could be heard in his voice.
Blossom considered the situation. "Well, I guess since the stone isn't damaged, and you're willing to release it to the proper authorities, we can let you go. This time."
"Yeah, but you better not try anything funny, or else!" Buttercup added.
Mojo walked through a door at the back of room and closed it behind him.
"Do you think we should follow him?" asked Bubbles.
"Nah, he really seemed out of it. I wonder what the stone did to him?" Blossom turned to observe the rock sitting on the table. "It sure doesn't look like much!"
"Dare you to touch it!" Buttercup taunted Bubbles.
"Uh-uh." Bubbles drew back in fear.
"Buttercup! We promised the Professor we wouldn't, remember?"
"No we didn't, only you did," Buttercup pointed out. "And you didn't actually promise, you just said you wouldn't."
"Well, it doesn't matter. We're still not supposed to touch it."
"Sure, you're just scared."
"Oh, no, don't think that reverse psychology is going to work on me, sister!"
"I'm not using any psychology, I'm just stating a fact. Here we are with superpowers better than anyone at the AWSM, we've fought off aliens and robots from space a whole bunch of times, we've survived nearly getting all the chemical X sucked outta us, and you won't to touch a little piece of rock?"
"But the Professor-"
"Aw, He's just being overprotective. Remember Dynamo?"
"Well, that's true," Blossom said doubtfully. "I guess one quick touch wouldn't hurt."
"C'mon", Buttercup urged, "Let's all touch it together. On the count of three, ok?"
Her sisters nodded their agreement.
"One, two-"
The Powerpuff Girls and related characters are owned by Cartoon Network. The Dreamstone is based on the stones from the Science Fiction novel "Memory Wire" by Robert Charles Wilson.
Chapter 1 – It's mostly about a rock. A really mysterious one.
"Professor, did you see? It's here!" Blossom called excitedly, waving the Townsville Times in her father's face.
Professor Utonium smiled, sharing his pink-eyed daughter's enthusiasm. "I was just catching up on the newest articles on it in 'Rock On: Geology Quarterly'. I'm going to be conducting the investigation on it next week, you know!"
Bubbles looked up from the video game she was playing with Buttercup. "What is it, Professor?" She asked curiously.
"Read for yourself," Blossom answered for him, shoving the newspaper in her sister's face.
Bubbles squinted as she looked closely at the headlines, causing the Professor to worry, not for the first time, that the corrective laser eye surgery that she had accidentally performed on herself was perhaps not as effective as he had hoped.
"Dreamstone on display at Townsville Museum – oh, that," she said indifferently, and returned to her game.
"What, that's all you have to say about it?" Blossom looked furiously at her sisters. "It's probably the most important scientific discovery of the century, and you're still sitting their playing video games?"
"Aw, what's so important about a stupid old rock?" asked Buttercup disdainfully, pressing the button rapidly on the joystick. Woohoo! That's 5 Lucky Captain Rabbit Kings shot down in a row! Extra life!"
"Listen to this!" Blossom brought the newspaper up and began to read:
"Geologists in South America recently uncovered a unique stone from the Amazon Basin. Thought to be the remainder of an age-old meteor impact, the stone's atomic structure is unlike any currently known on earth. Touching the stone has been found to bring about a trance-like state in humans and animals alike. Many report that during this trance they experience lucid memories from their past, almost as if they where reliving the moments over again. Others believe that they can even experience memories of past lives, or of their friends and families. Many UFO enthusiasts are citing the stone as proof of intelligent life on other planets (not that we in Townsville need any further proof of that!).
"That's for sure!" Bubbles interjected, recalling the numerous times she and her sisters had fought aliens in the past. She and Buttercup had paused their game, and were listening with greater interest to Blossom.
Blossom continued, "The dreamstone has been brought to Townsville to be studied at the highly respected 'Centre for Scientific Investigation of Unusual Substances',
Here, the Professor beamed at hearing his place of work mentioned so positively.
"but will be on display at Townsville Museum during the weekend. For a variety of security and safety reasons, no-one will be allowed to come in physical contact with the stone."
As she read this last piece of information, Blossom's face fell. "Oh Professor, I wanted to touch the stone! Maybe I could see if I was a warrior princess in my past life."
"Yeah, or maybe I was a Ponypuff Princess!" Bubbles chimed in.
"Now girls, don't believe everything you read in the paper!" the Professor lectured. "My current theory is that the stone is infused with a topical chemical which enters the human body through physical contact, which travel through the bloodstream to the brain, affecting the neurotransmitters in such a way as to produce hallucinations composed of information taken from the individual's long term memory."
"Huh?" All three girls looked up at their father in blank confusion.
"Err.. I mean, it makes you see things involving your past. But you wouldn't be reliving memories, and certainly not memories of past lives. You would just be making up stories about what you think your past was like.
"Still, I wish we could touch the stone," sighed Bubbles. "Maybe we could think about the first time we met you, Professor! And when I first got Octi!"
The Professor looked touched, but replied "Why Bubbles, I'm surprised at you! You're luckier than most of us; I can't even remember my birth! You should know you can relive those memories any time you want. Just use your imagination!"
"It's not the same, though!" Bubbles protested. I can see it in my mind, but I can't smell the smoke from the explosion, or feel or the air on my skin for the first time, or get surprised when you tell me my name-"
"Well, maybe not, but you can feel this!" the Professor caught up his daughter and began tickling her remorselessly, despite her high pitched squeals of protest.
"So, can we go see the stone, Professor?" asked Blossom impatiently.
The Professor looked doubtful. "I don't know, I've got a lot of work to do to prepare for Monday."
"Study, study, study, that's all you do!" groaned Buttercup. "You're as bad as Blossom!"
"Hey!" Blossom glared at her green-eyed sister, who stuck her tongue out.
"Yeah, when's the last time we did anything together?" protested Bubbles, still embraced by the Professor's arms.
The Professor reconsidered "Well, I guess we could use a little quality family time. Let's go!" He caught up his car keys, and the four of them headed towards the door.
Bzzz bzzzz bzzzzz!
"Oh, man!" Blossom said irritably. She went to pick up the hotline.
"Typical! said Buttercup kicking the wall in disgust. She sighed. "I'm so bushed today. Can't the stupid bad guys wait take a break now and then?"
The Professor looked at her in astonishment, and with some concern. Bubbles and Blossom had occasionally complained of tiredness over the last few weeks, but the complaints had ceased after he mentioned the possibility of an earlier bedtime. He had thought that perhaps they were just rebelling a bit at the extra work required of them as the town's protectors. To hear Buttercup protest about a chance to fight crime, however, made him consider that there was something a little more serious wrong with the girls. He decided he should schedule a time to conduct an in-depth physical check-up of the Powerpuffs in the near future.
"What's that Mayor? No way! Ok, we're on it!" Blossom slammed down the receiver. "Mojo Jojo's stolen the Dreamstone!"
"Yay!" Bubbles said, twirling around. "We're going to see the Dreamstone!" She paused, looking towards at the Professor. "Umm, do you want to come?" she asked hesitantly.
The Professor thought back to his previous encounters with Mojo. "No, no that's ok. You girls go on and have fun! Family togetherness will have to wait for another time!"
"Wait, girls!" The Powerpuffs had started to streak away, but the Professor's urgent cry called them back. "Please, whatever you do, don't touch the stone! We don't know enough about it yet, it could be very dangerous!"
"Ok Professor, we won't!" said Blossom brightly, and the three of them flew off towards Mojo's lair.
********
Crash! Three small forms made three rather large holes in the roof of the volcano-top observatory.
"Not so fast!"
"Mojo-"
"Jo- oh!" Bubbles broke off her traditional salutation to her arch-enemy as she surveyed the scene in front of her.
The Dreamstone, a rather ordinary looking gray and brown mottled rock about the size of a fist, was resting on a table in the centre of the room. Mojo stood facing it, his eyes wide, arms hanging limply by his side. He did not seem to have registered the Powerpuff's arrival.
"I guess he touched it," concluded Bubbles.
"Careful! It could be a trick!" Blossom slowly approached the monkey's still figure. When he did not move, she waved her arm rapidly in front of his face. "Hey, Mojo! Snap out of it!"
"Want me to wake him up?" Buttercup asked, smiling evilly.
"Shh, Buttercup, I-"
"You are here for the dreamstone."
The three sisters whirled around and stared at Mojo. "You are here for the dreamstone." He repeated.
"That's right Mojo! You've stolen a valuable scientific artefact, and we're here to insure its return to the people of America!" Blossom said righteously.
"Take it. I don't need it anymore." Mojo turned and walked away from the girls and the stone.
"Oh no, don't think you can get away that easily!" Buttercup called after him.
Mojo continued walking away. "You have got what you came for, now leave!" a trace of irritability could be heard in his voice.
Blossom considered the situation. "Well, I guess since the stone isn't damaged, and you're willing to release it to the proper authorities, we can let you go. This time."
"Yeah, but you better not try anything funny, or else!" Buttercup added.
Mojo walked through a door at the back of room and closed it behind him.
"Do you think we should follow him?" asked Bubbles.
"Nah, he really seemed out of it. I wonder what the stone did to him?" Blossom turned to observe the rock sitting on the table. "It sure doesn't look like much!"
"Dare you to touch it!" Buttercup taunted Bubbles.
"Uh-uh." Bubbles drew back in fear.
"Buttercup! We promised the Professor we wouldn't, remember?"
"No we didn't, only you did," Buttercup pointed out. "And you didn't actually promise, you just said you wouldn't."
"Well, it doesn't matter. We're still not supposed to touch it."
"Sure, you're just scared."
"Oh, no, don't think that reverse psychology is going to work on me, sister!"
"I'm not using any psychology, I'm just stating a fact. Here we are with superpowers better than anyone at the AWSM, we've fought off aliens and robots from space a whole bunch of times, we've survived nearly getting all the chemical X sucked outta us, and you won't to touch a little piece of rock?"
"But the Professor-"
"Aw, He's just being overprotective. Remember Dynamo?"
"Well, that's true," Blossom said doubtfully. "I guess one quick touch wouldn't hurt."
"C'mon", Buttercup urged, "Let's all touch it together. On the count of three, ok?"
Her sisters nodded their agreement.
"One, two-"