ACT ONE
After commuting to the town of Citysville, Blossom spent nine years at school, then college, ultimately acquiring a degree in biotech research, which landed her a job at research firm situated in Boston. It was at the firm where she discovered that the girls' old enemies, the Amoeba Boys, had volunteered as research subjects due to their roots in biological germ warfare.
Blossom relied on her prior' acquaintance with these 'frenemies' from her crime fighting youth to share with the community her previously undisclosed stories of struggle and apprehension braving out into the wider world without the safety net of her loved ones..
Absorbing all this knowledge with a lively, sensitive ear, was the Amoeba that would become her boyfriend, Charles, or 'Chuck', known among the three as the 'Bossman'. Blossom eventually made an arrangement with the firm to provide Clive with a 'duty of personal care', and they moved in together.
Today, they were celebrating her twenty-fifth birthday, a day earlier than originally intended, for Blossom had some out-of-state business to attend to.
A text reminder of the business at hand swiftly popped up on Blossom's phone.
'This is your scheduled update, your flight to Townsville will depart at 8 am sharp tomorrow morning'
Blossom shuddered.
"I don't wanna go" she moaned, letting out a conceited sigh.
Chuck rubbed her hand warmly as he poured her coffee.
"This will allow you to find closure. Think of it as more of an opportunity to catch up with your sisters. Trust funds are one thing, but rebuilding trust in your family is what's more important"
"It's been so long, too long" Blossom admitted, "I've been out of their lives for years, word reached me that Buttercup was there for Bubbles when I couldn't be, they became inseparable, Buttercup even footed the production bill for Bubbles' one-woman comedy routine, 'That's the way the Bubble Bursts'"
"Blossom, you went through a traumatic experience most girls your age can only project on bad hair days. You needed to go out and light your own flame. It led you into my lap, and I'm grateful for that, but you've been the cure to so many ills besides mine, even when I've been the cause of so many myself"
Blossom was grateful for the complements, but her anxieties could not yet be settled.
"I just hope I don't suddenly get into a panic while I'm there" she said
"On the off chance you do freak out, just remember what we taught you"
Blossom smiled at him, a certain knowledge about her.
"You didn't come up with anything, it was all Professor Hardly"
"And he took some pointers from us boys when he prompted us for advice"
"Just as there's no such thing as a perfect crime, there's no such thing as a perfect lie either" Blossom replied.
"Caught me again, we always did make it so easy for you" Chuck remarked, giving Blossom a peck on the cheek.
Blossom visualised her inner child, taking the deepest of breaths, gazing into the middle distance, where her childhood self, like a magic trick, appeared out of thin air, it waved to her with reassurance.
Blossom glanced back at Chuck.
"If there was anyone back home I always looked forward to catching, it was you. Thanks for being so amazing, I love you"
Another text message appeared on her phone, this one came from Bubbles, addressed to both Buttercup and Blossom.
'Happy birthday-eve my BBS, see you tomorrow'.
Blossom now felt soothed, encouraged, she felt all the love in and around the room.
She text Bubbles back, 'Cant' wait to see you. Super-Serial'
After a beat, Buttercup followed with her own text, "Me 3 Amigos"
Chuck was just as satisfied.
"It's gonna be a crime to miss out on this" he said.
"Guess you'll just have to spend all day locked up, and I know just what to jail you with" Blossom responded, wrapping her arms tightly around his glob like body and pressed her lips to his, she pressed her body forward, pinning them both to the floor.
Blossom had not been the only prodigal child to have grown into something remarkable.
Unlike her, Jo Junior, Mojo's adopted son, remained a Townsville citizen, receiving much help and therapy from the city's populace in the wake of his father's passing. Young Joe's dedication to the city in return for their help propelled him all the way to public office, where, in a landslide election, he became the youngest person in Townsville's lauded history to assume the role of Mayor.
Christened 'Mighty Joe' in the press, the son of Mojo lived up to the billing, enjoying many months of success. But as those months turned to years, he found it an uphill climb to fulfil many of his campaign promises, and a second term now seemed unachievable as his approval ratings in polls gradually dropped to unfathomable lows.
All of a sudden, Joe wasn't so 'mighty' anymore.
"I've given this town just about everything, but still they hold me to account for not delivering on Free Gelato Fridays"
His assistant, Gina, offered her own input.
"The people of Townsville feel they are entitled to a little privilege sir, even though they allowed themselves to be marketed, the Powerpuff Girls never took any form of pay in the days spent protecting the city. There is an timeless song that goes like this, 'the best things in life are free'."
Joe Junior looked at the stacks of paperwork on his desk, a plush monkey doll besides them. He sighed and walked over to it,
"I need to give all of this a through look over, go ahead and clock off, lunch is due in thirty minutes"
Gina nodded and headed for the door, she turned back to him, having one more nugget of information to disclose to him.
"Just so you know, the Powerpuff Girls will be arriving tomorrow"
The colour steadily drained from 'Mighty' Joe Junior's face.
"The girls? All three?" he asked. Gina nodded.
"Only for this weekend. The Gazette called asking for comment"
"There is 'no comment' where they're concerned"
"That, sir, is a comment" Gina pointed out.
"That will be all" Joe Junior replied, an almost acidic venom in his tone of voice.
Gina made her exit, Joe mulled over the paperwork, he uttered soft, simian like grunts, the kind his father would always make when puzzling over a problem that brought him supreme frustration.
After combing through a few pages, he picked up his cell phone, and pulled up a contact labelled 'Short Stack'
There was a pause, an ever so brief hesitation, and then he pressed the buttons on the dials of the cell. He made the call, a part of him swayed into thinking somehow the heavens would open up and forgive this next course of action.
"It's me, you're needed" he said.
Buttercup exited the airport terminal clutching her duffel bag. Bubbles was waiting outside, standing in front of an uber.
Upon spotting Buttercup, she excitedly flew over to embrace her sister.
"Welcome back, welcome home, welcome, welcome welcome a thousand fold" she repeated, giving Buttercup a slew of kisses on both sides of her cheek and the forehead.
Buttercup was, understandably, overwhelmed by the somewhat overindulgent affection shown to her, but couldn't find it within herself to discourage it. She, after all, had missed this kind of behaviour from her sister.
"Nice to know you've never changed" Buttercup replied, happily stroking the back of her sister as they remained locked in an embrace.
"You know me, I gotta stick to the Bubbles bible" Bubbles replied.
"Preach on sister" Buttercup responded, and clambered into the waiting uber with Bubbles.
"Sure wish we could just take off from here" Buttercup said as they made themselves comfortable for the short ride ahead.
"The council insisted on the ride, no flights while we're all gathered, in case some critter spots us flying and homes in on the city looking to chase after us" Bubbles explained.
"No flights, and no thrills" Buttercup lamented.
The uber sped along the motorway and into the city. As they passed the billboard that welcomed them into Townsville, Buttercup noticed the distinct features of Joseph Jojo Junior on the accompanying poster, with his name and the title ;'Mayor' in bold capital underneath.
"Little monkey came up in the world" Buttercup said, smiling.
"He had the most spellbinding crush on Blossom, it was infectious" Bubbles recalled, "Everyone gossiped about it in school, I mean, it was flattering, but you know how it is with sugar and space, over time, not all of it winds up tasting nice"
"Yeah, in our case, it was an acquired taste. Blossom just couldn't take to the kid, I don't think it was due to family history, it's just a weird vibe she got from him" Buttercup added.
"Hey, monkey business aside, we should drop in on Sara and see how she's doing" Bubbles suggested.
"Last I heard she was dating random beaker bunnies, doesn't sound like she's ready to move on, even now, she and the Professor split years back so that's telling" Buttercup replied.
She looked out the window, her eyes trained on a shop labelled GIFTSVILLE, selling a slew of Powerpuff memorabilia at a discount price.
"Look at them, we're at the bottom of opinion polls in this city yet they still milk our glory days like it were their every meaningful cent"
"Can't argue with success sis, we made this city stand a little taller" Bubbles responded, wrapping her arm tightly around her sister's shoulder and pulling her closer.
"I suppose I should look at the glass that's half full then, gestures like this make me wish my temper was a little less shorter" Buttercup lamented
Suddenly, as the uber pulled up at their house, the vehicle's windows lowered and both girls spotted something that compelled Buttercup to walk back on these words with the swiftness of a sudden heartbeat.
There, outside the house, was a gathering mob, some were notable members of the pufferazzi, some were staging a protest at the girls' presence in the city, with placards reading, 'No Butter Can Blossom In This Bubble'. A few held out their autograph books and pens, anxious with anticipation
The sisters glanced at one another, unsure of how to react.
"Let me guess, daddy dearest set this up?" Buttercup snarked.
"No, OK? This is on me, just follow my lead" Bubbles said as they stepped out of the uber.
The crowd surrounded them, many questions on their minds and just as quickly funnelled through their lips
"Are you here to start trouble?"
"Are you re-teaming? Can I get a percentage for an exclusive with my Youtube channel?"
"Re-teaming? Forget it, I'd rather be a creampuff than a Powerpuff" Buttercup responded, giving in to that short temper of hers.
"Butters, sweetie, let's just curb our chemicals here" Bubbles insisted
The girls made their way to the front door, where a little girl greeted them
"And you're...?" Buttercup asked.
"Henrietta, she's a big fan, always drops by the house looking to hear a story of the glory days" Bubbles whispered.
"Blossom's normally my favourite, but all of you girls are such inspirations to us, you put the 'persist' in 'feminist'" Henrietta replied.
"Wouldn't that spell 'femisist?" Buttercups spoke, confused.
"You could shorten it to 'femisis', we all gotta look out for each other" Henrietta joked.
Bubbles leaned over to hug Henrietta, but Buttercup all too quickly spotted something crawling across Henrietta's shoulder, a caterpillar.
Somewhat unnerved by the creepy crawler, and acting on immediate instinct, Buttercup motioned to smack the creature off of where it stood only to have the back of her hand firmly grabbed by someone behind her, Buttercup turned around to find the person restraining her was her own creator and father.
"I see you've retained little of what I taught you regarding the value of insects Buttercup" he softly, but sternly
"There's not a lot about my time with you I want to retain, maybe you should ask what the reason for that is" Buttercup remarked
"Hi Dad" Bubble said, leaning over to kiss the Professor warmly on the cheek.
The Professor opened the door, Buttercup stormed through while Bubbles glided past the Professor, he followed them in and closed the door.
"Mind telling us who called in the press?" Buttercup said, her arms folded and her foot frantically tapping at the floor as she awaited a quick answer
"Bubbles told her old friend Tiffany that she could allow her daughters a chance for a photo opportunity, it was supposed to be restricted to just that pair, but then I remembered who's daughters they were" Utonium explained.
"Yeah, Tiffany Yates, aka 'Old Yeller', she can't keep the volume of her voice at secret service level, everyone overhears her" Bubbles added.
Buttercup wasn't in the business of excuses.
"You know how Blossom is, our fall hit her hard, like a smack on concrete. She needs to feel like a bloom on the rose, there can be no room for thorns"
Buttercup heard a chair squeak, she headed towards the kitchen, where, at the table, sat Blossom.
Blossom turned around, rocking the chair back and forth, a look of longing fondness in her eyes, she desired nothing more than the warm embrace of her sisters.
"C'mere" she said.
Buttercup and Bubbles both dashed towards Blossom and threw her out of her chair as they cradled and cuddled her. The Professor looked on, shedding a small tear.
Once dinner was all set, the family gathered 'round the table to tuck in.
Blossom couldn't help, however, but be distracted by the Powerpuff hotline, preserved like a museum piece under a glass case. The Professor offered her some wine, but she declined, Buttercup swiftly took the glass from the Professor and downed it in one shot.
"Blossom, there's nothing to feel bad about-you did so much good for the city, for the people, there are those that have forgiven all three of you, some never stopped believing in you. Why are you acting like Townsville is such a burden on you? This isn't how I raised you girls"
"This town always treated us more like a franchise, and you were content to let them make money off of us"
Blossom couldn't help but notice reality show crews were scarcely hiding their presence as they filmed the family having their meal. She rolled her eyes.
"Even this show is what it is for effect...and I just know they're going to put this on the deleted scenes menu over on the app. Dad, it's your job, as a parent, to check to see if there's any monsters under our bed or in the closet when we go to sleep, you're the one who should tell us nothing's going to come and get us at night in revenge for some attack we thwarted in the afternoon. You're meant to tell us we've done all the good we can for today, but no, you toiled far too long in your lab and kept tabs on what everyone else was saying about us, rather than give your own say on how they should treat us. You, the 'loving father'
"Bloss is right Professor, you wanted to be a Dad so badly, but there's a difference between a want and a need" Buttercup added
"Tell me what you want then" The Professor replied.
"Wrong answer" Buttercup replied.
Blossom put her knife and fork down.
"And we're all out of time, I need to take a break, maybe talk with someone who speaks fluent emotion"
Blossom stormed out of the house and took flight.
In a nearby apartment, Henrietta was seated at a child sized desk, the woolly bear caterpillar slowly slithering down her neck, dancing across her arm, and resting on the edge of her open right hand.. The caterpillar is in fact a machine, one of thousands infesting her room.
She reached for her cellphone, and punched in numbers that meant the world to her.
"Hello? Dad? Guess who's back in town" she said, her eyes glowing a radiant yellow.
