Disclaimer: I don't own Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z and any of its characters used in this fanfic.
Inspiration: marinav92
A/N: Hi, everyone! So, I really overshot it with this chapter because it's 12 pages long. This chapter has a lot of content going on, which is why it took me a while to post this, excluding the technical difficulties I had, and why this chapter is so long. I know many of you don't mind reading long chapters, though, so enjoy!
CHAPTER 10:
Kaoru was currently near the shoe lockers, and the area was mostly empty by now because it was already the end of the school day. She, Momoko, and Miyako had planned that they'd meet up and then head to the laboratory after school was over in order to discuss more about Momoko's theory from yesterday.
Kaoru let out a small grimace as she remembered the tension between her and Miyako. Thankfully, Miyako had forgiven her, which, of course, wasn't surprising, but Kaoru still felt guilty about it.
"Well, you're looking rather glum today."
Kaoru flinched before she turned around to face the person, who was none other than Kuro. She then blinked a few times in surprise at Kuro's formal attire.
Kuro sent a small mischievous grin. "Do I really look that different?"
"Yeah, you do," Kaoru said bluntly as she frowned.
It wasn't a total lie, of course. When he first showed up to her class, his attire screamed pretty bad boy. Now, he wore black slacks with a white dress shirt. His black hair was still slicked back, but without those shades on his face, which revealed his deep blue eyes, his appearance fit that of an intern or a businessman rather than a delinquent.
"Where are Akatsutsumi-san and Gotokuji-san?" Kuro asked.
"They're coming," Kaoru replied, still frowning. "I'm just waiting for them."
"I see."
There was a short pause before Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "Is there something you want from me?"
"No, nothing in particular," Kuro replied as he smiled. "I just happened to pass by and saw you all alone, so I became concerned. That's all."
"Well, I'm fine—"
"Are you really?"
Kaoru's eyes widened in surprise at his strange, mysterious tone as she stared at Kuro.
There was a ghost of a smile on Kuro's lips as he stared back at her, not saying another word.
Kaoru then regained her composure and frowned. "I'm fine."
"All right," Kuro replied, still smiling.
At that very moment, Kaoru felt a strange sense of uneasiness build up inside of her. Her gut instinct was telling her to be on guard, so she narrowed her eyes in response.
Kuro's smile dropped. "Oh, my, you don't need to be that angry. I was only worried about you."
Kaoru blinked in surprise before she shook her head. What was she doing?
Ever since the girls started their nightly patrols again, it meant less sleep for the three of them. It had been a long time since the trio were so sleep deprived due to superheroine duties. Besides, even when Kaoru tried to sleep, her thoughts would typically keep her up due to the countless questions and puzzle pieces that just wouldn't go together, and she surmised that both Momoko and Miyako probably felt the same. Maybe all of this sleep deprivation was finally getting to her, if she was willing to snap at a faculty member—or, well, an intern, at least.
Kaoru sighed and gave Kuro a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I'm just tired."
"Oh, you must be stressed from your studies," Kuro replied in concern before he gave a small smile. "In that case, if you ever need any coffee, just stop by the faculty office."
Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "But, don't I need a good reason to be in there?"
Kuro playfully winked at her. "Don't worry about that. If you stop by later before I leave, I can even give your friends some coffee."
"Thanks, but no thanks."
Kuro chuckled. "I see. Well, I need to head back to the faculty office now because there's a meeting." He paused. "The offer still stands whenever you're up for it."
Kaoru didn't bother to reply as she watched Kuro leave, and as if on cue, she witnessed Momoko and Miyako coming down the staircase. She frowned as the two walked toward her. "You weren't there the entire time, were you?"
"Partially," Miyako replied honestly with a sheepish smile.
"Maybe we should take up on his offer for coffee," Momoko muttered before she covered her mouth as she yawned.
Kaoru grimaced. "No."
Momoko raised an eyebrow. "Why not? It's free coffee."
"You want to deal with his fan girls?" Kaoru retorted dryly.
Momoko blinked a few times before she grimaced. "Good point."
"Shouldn't we head out now?" Miyako asked.
"Yeah, we should," Momoko replied before she covered her mouth and yawned again.
Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Wow, maybe you do need coffee."
Momoko sent her a small glare. "Oh, like you're not tired, too."
Before Kaoru could retort, however, their compacts went off, and the girls' eyes widened.
"Do we go back up the stairs to get to the rooftop?" Miyako whispered. "It'll be a little suspicious, wouldn't it?"
"It would be," Momoko whispered before she frowned. "Just follow me."
Surprisingly, Kaoru made no complaint, and she and Miyako followed the redhead.
The trio left the school and discreetly made their way to the nearest empty alleyway.
Kaoru groaned. "Here? Seriously?"
"Yes, because there could be someone on the school rooftop by now," Momoko replied.
Kaoru was too tired to retort, so she sighed in defeat.
Without another word, they transformed.
Blossom took out her compact, and she saw the Professor on the screen. "Professor, what's the emergency?"
"Head to the laboratory immediately," the Professor replied with a grim look on his face.
Before Blossom could even ask why, the screen suddenly cut off, and she blinked as she was taken aback.
"What the hell?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.
"It's not like the Professor to do that…" Bubbles muttered.
"Let's just head to the laboratory," Blossom said as the trio slowly floated upward. Once they were in the sky, she added, "Maybe the Professor will tell us the details then."
Buttercup scoffed as the trio began flying to the laboratory. "He better. Otherwise, we would've transformed for nothing."
Blossom rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he had a good reason."
Buttercup frowned, but said nothing.
Finally, the trio arrived at the laboratory, so they landed on the ground in front of the door.
Blossom rang the doorbell, but after a minute passed, no one came to the door.
"This is strange," Bubbles muttered as she became worried. "Wouldn't someone have answered the door by now?"
Blossom narrowed her eyes before she rang the doorbell again. There was still no answer, so Blossom tried to turn the doorknob, but it remained in one place.
Buttercup glared before she began pounding on the door. "Professor! Ken! Peach! Is anyone in there?!"
Once again, there was no response.
"Girls, I'm getting a very bad feeling about this," Bubbles whispered as she frowned.
As if on cue, the door eerily opened, making a creaking sound in the process.
The girls' eyes widened at this, but nonetheless, they entered the dark laboratory.
"What the hell?" Buttercup muttered as she narrowed her eyes.
Slam!
The girls looked back to find that the door shut behind them. At that point, they were on their guard as they moved forward. Finally, they arrived in the living room, which looked the same as ever.
"Professor?" Blossom called out, her eyes darting around the room.
"Ken? Peach?" Bubbles then called out, and when there was no response, she frowned.
Buttercup scowled. "What the hell is going on here?"
Within seconds, the place lit up, which caused the girls' eyes to blink in order to adjust to the sudden bright lighting.
"Hello, Powerpuff Girls Z."
The girls flinched, each of their eyes widening when they looked at the direction of the voice.
There, floating on the far end of the living room in front of the windows, were none other than the Rowdyruff Boys Z. Brick glowered at the trio, Boomer stared at them blankly, and Butch grinned wickedly. Slowly, they floated downward, allowing their feet to land softly on the flooring.
"How nice of you to drop in," Brick stated stoically, his eyes narrowing when the girls slipped into their fighting stances as they stood side-by-side.
"What did you do to the Professor?!" Blossom exclaimed.
Brick stared at Blossom for a brief moment, but said nothing.
"Answer me!"
Brick continued to ignore Blossom. His eyes flickered to Butch.
Butch noticed this, so he raised an eyebrow.
Brick's eyes narrowed. "Do it."
Butch grinned before he set his eyes on Buttercup, who immediately went into a defensive stance.
As soon as Buttercup blinked, however, Butch was gone, and her eyes widened. "What?!"
"Buttercup!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Behind you!"
Immediately, Butch wrapped his arms around Buttercup's waist and her arms.
Blossom tried to launch her yo-yo at Butch, but Brick was already there within a flash, and her eyes widened.
Brick's eyes narrowed before he grabbed a hold of her yo-yo's string and threw both Blossom and her yo-yo to the other side of the room. His eyes glinted with annoyance, however, when Blossom wasn't hurt by the impact against the windows, and he flew towards her.
"Blossom!" Bubbles screamed, and she tried to fly to Blossom, but Boomer immediately obscured her path. She took a step backward as she gasped. "Boomer?"
"Sorry, Bubbles, but I can't let you advance," Boomer said as he smiled.
Meanwhile, Butch slowly lifted Buttercup into the air.
Buttercup tried to turn around and move, but for some reason, her strength wasn't working. Just as soon as she tried to summon her hammer, she felt Butch's hand on her jaw.
"You're definitely going to hate me for this," Butch whispered to her.
Buttercup's eyes widened. "What the hell are you—"
Within a swift motion, Buttercup felt her mouth forced open by Butch's hand as her head was forcibly pushed against Butch's shoulder. Before she could even try to close her mouth, she felt some sort of liquid enter her mouth.
"Drink," Butch commanded, his eyes narrowing when some of the liquid began to spill out of her mouth.
"Buttercup!" Blossom and Bubbles screamed.
Buttercup tried to move about, but it was in vain, and reluctantly, she felt herself swallow whatever the liquid was. Within seconds, she felt herself…weaken? No, she couldn't even tell. She still continued to thrash about in Butch's arms, except this time, it hurt. She winced in pain as her mind became clouded with confusion.
Butch finally let her go, which Buttercup was relieved about.
However, before she could even try to attack him, she fell. Her body made a loud thud as it impacted against the floor, and she groaned in pain.
"Buttercup!" Blossom yelled again.
"Are you all right?!" Bubbles screamed.
Buttercup slowly lifted her head to see that Butch's brothers were still holding Blossom and Bubbles off, blocking their pathways to Buttercup. Her head immediately snapped to look at Butch, and she glared at him.
Butch, however, didn't even bother to look at her. In fact, he was inspecting some sort of tube in his hand, which still had liquid inside, and he whistled. "Huh."
Brick raised an eyebrow at this.
"There's still some left," Butch called to his brothers, whose heads perked, and Butch immediately threw it to Brick on the other side of the room.
Of course, Buttercup tried to intercept it by getting up, but her body ached from the impact. She even tried to summon her hammer, but when it didn't come, no matter how many times she called for it in her head, she blinked in confusion as she muttered, "What the hell?"
Brick caught the tube successfully, and he glanced at Blossom out of the corner of his eye.
Immediately, Buttercup's eyes widened as she knew what Brick was going to do. "Blossom, run!"
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Within seconds, Brick slammed Blossom down against the floor. Even as Blossom struggled, he forced her mouth to open and made her drink the liquid inside the tube.
"Blossom!" Buttercup yelled again. Her face paled when Brick floated upward as she heard Blossom's coughing, and her head shot to Bubbles. "Bubbles, run!"
Bubbles was distraught, and she tried to move past Boomer, but he continued to block her pathway.
"Boomer!" Brick called out.
Boomer looked at Brick out of the corner of his eye.
Brick narrowed his eyes before he threw the tube at Boomer, who caught it successfully.
Bubbles gulped inaudibly as she floated backward away from Boomer, her eyes wide with fear.
Boomer stared at the remaining liquid inside the tube for a brief moment before he looked at Bubbles, and finally, he gave her a rueful smile.
Bubbles' eyes widened before her body was slammed against the nearest wall.
"I'm sorry," Boomer whispered, a regretful look etched on his face, before he forced her mouth to open and shoved the tube toward her mouth.
Bubbles tried to move, but even she herself succumbed to drinking the liquid. Finally, she began to slide down against the wall, wondering why was it that she didn't have the ability to float. She expected the sudden painful impact once she landed on the floor, but instead, Boomer had caught her. Her eyes glistened as she stared at him. "Boomer…"
Boomer made no response as he helped her sit gently onto the floor, not daring to make eye contact with her. Within seconds, he was beside his brothers, floating in the air again.
Slowly, Blossom tried to sit up to at least make eye contact with Brick, and her eyes narrowed. "What did you make us drink?"
Once again, Brick ignored her as Boomer handed him the empty tube.
"Brick!"
"You're smart, Momoko," Brick replied, his eyes darting to her when he noticed how her expression instantly changed from a look of anger to a look of pure betrayal and hurt. In fact, he could've sworn that those eyes of hers held some amount of affection for him as well. Nonetheless, he added, "I'm sure you know what happened, right?"
"What happened to us?" Bubbles asked softly, her head turning to Blossom on the other side of the room.
"That liquid…took away our powers," Blossom croaked.
Buttercup growled as her fists clenched.
"Precisely," Brick stated before he glared at Blossom. "If you know what's best for you, then you girls will no longer involve yourselves with the series of massacres around the city."
"So you are behind them!" Buttercup spat, glaring at the boys as she ignored the fact that the other girls' faces had paled.
Butch cackled in response.
Buttercup growled again. "What's so funny?!"
Butch ignored Buttercup, however, and he grinned while raising an eyebrow at Brick. "Hey, can I tell them?"
Brick sent him a small glare.
"Tell us what?" Buttercup demanded, her eyes narrowing.
Butch raised his eyebrow even further at Brick.
"We may as well tell them," Boomer whispered, his gaze shifting to Bubbles momentarily before he looked at his brothers again.
Brick glanced at his brothers once before he looked at Blossom, whose face was still pale. After a brief moment of contemplation and silence, he finally grunted.
Butch smirked before his gaze finally shifted toward Buttercup. "We're not the murderers."
The girls' eyes each widened.
"We know that you girls have that dog to detect black light," Brick stated before he narrowed his eyes. "However, that wasn't our black light."
"Why should we believe you?!" Buttercup yelled.
"Buttercup!" Blossom exclaimed, narrowing her eyes.
"It's up to you on whether or not to believe us," Boomer replied, but his eyes shifted to Bubbles, who had made eye contact with him. In that very moment, his eyes softened, almost pleading with her to believe them.
Bubbles's eyes widened further when she realized this. Nonetheless, she averted her gaze, not knowing how to feel.
Boomer felt his heart drop, but he said nothing as he glanced away as well.
"Then, who's the real murderer?" Blossom demanded.
Brick ignored Blossom, and he looked at his brothers. "Let's go."
"Brick!"
Brick narrowed his eyes at Blossom, still ignoring her questions. "That liquid each of you drank will wear off exactly one month from now."
The girls' faces each paled.
Brick sent a small dark smirk of his own. "We'll be back to deal with you girls before that happens, of course."
As soon as the girls blinked, the boys were gone.
"Where did they go?!" Buttercup exclaimed as she winced while standing up. Her body still felt sore from the impact, so she leaned against the nearest wall for support. She glanced at the other two, who were slowly standing up.
"I don't know," Blossom replied grimly. "They've disappeared."
"Girls, what about the Professor, Ken, and Peach?" Bubbles exclaimed, her eyes wide.
Blossom's and Buttercup's eyes widened.
"Damn it!" Buttercup yelled before she slammed her fist as hard as she could against the wall, and she winced in pain when it hurt.
"Are you all right?" Bubbles asked in concern.
Buttercup grunted as she flexed her hand. "Yeah… I'm fine."
"For now, let's split up and look around," Blossom said, sighing at Buttercup's action. "They must be around here somewhere."
Kaoru winced again, still feeling the sting of pain, before she frowned. "And if not?"
Blossom narrowed her eyes. "Let's hope that's not the case."
Afterward, the trio ran around, searching for the Professor, Ken, or Peach. They couldn't use any of their powers or superhuman abilities anymore; they were resorted to mere human beings, even though they still wore their alter egos' uniforms. Nonetheless, that didn't stop their determination to find the Professor, Ken, and Peach.
Finally, the girls managed to find them.
Apparently, the Professor and Ken were in their rooms, completely knocked out, whereas Peach was asleep next to Ken. However, the Professor and Ken still wore their lab coats instead of their pajamas. The three of them continued to sleep soundly without a care in the world.
The girls then closed the bedroom doors, and they stood outside in the hallway, each in deep thought.
Bubbles sighed in relief. "It doesn't look like the boys hurt them."
"If they did, I would've kicked their asses," Buttercup grumbled.
Bubbles blinked in confusion. "They took away our powers, though."
"So?! I still would've kicked their asses!"
Bubbles couldn't help but laugh sheepishly in response.
Blossom examined her gloved hands, seeing that she was still in her outfit, and her eyes narrowed. "I just don't understand…"
"What?" Buttercup asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If the boys took away our powers, then why are we still in our Powerpuff Girls Z uniforms?"
Buttercup shrugged. "Maybe because it's temporary? They said it would only last a month."
"It's not like back then—when we fought against Him and had to sacrifice our white light, I mean," Bubbles muttered, smiling weakly as she thought of the memory.
"Yeah, but our powers still came back in the end."
"I think she's referring to how when we sacrificed our white light, our uniforms disappeared with it," Blossom stated before she raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Right?"
Bubbles nodded in response.
Buttercup frowned. "Okay, well, in that case…" Buttercup's voice trailed off as she shrugged again.
"They don't want us to involve ourselves with the murders anymore, either," Blossom said, slightly frowning as she tilted her head in confusion. "It would make sense if they're the murderers—"
"They're not," Bubbles interrupted firmly.
At that moment, Blossom and Buttercup blinked in surprise.
"I saw how Boomer looked at me," Bubbles muttered, her eyes softening. "I…I believe them. I believe that they aren't the murderers." She paused before adding softly, "Even though they did this to us."
"But, that's my point," Blossom said, gaining the attention of the other two again. "If they aren't the murderers, then why make us drink…whatever that liquid was?"
"They don't want to involve us," Buttercup said bluntly.
"No, I know Brick, okay?" Blossom paused as she hesitated to add the fact that she did date him for a year, after all. "Anyway, I doubt Brick would just do it for a shallow reason like that—"
"Okay, because they want to destroy us."
Blossom narrowed her eyes at Buttercup.
Buttercup rolled her eyes. "I'm only stating the facts."
"And you don't think they might've done it for a deeper reason?"
"Why would they?! They wanted to destroy us from day one, right? Then, there you go! There's your reason!"
Blossom groaned in aggravation. "You're not getting my point—"
"More like you're not seeing the bigger picture here!"
"You two, please, stop arguing!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Now's not the time to argue!"
Blossom sighed before she agreed.
Buttercup, however, just scoffed in response.
Blossom tapped her foot for a few minutes as silence ensued. Eventually, she began to pace around in the hallway.
"Oh, God, there she goes with the pacing again," Buttercup mumbled.
Bubbles shushed her.
"Let's just start from the beginning, girls," Blossom said, still pacing. "Throw stuff at me."
Buttercup and Bubbles glanced at each other before shrugging.
"How far back are we talking?" Buttercup asked, raising an eyebrow.
Blossom paused in her pacing as she frowned. "Okay, let's start with the night of the first massacre, then."
"The murderer killed a group of teenagers," Bubbles stated.
Blossom began pacing again. "It was on the night of the full moon, right?"
Bubbles nodded. "I believe so, yes."
"Okay, why did that happen?"
Bubbles blinked before she glanced at Buttercup.
"Don't look at me," Buttercup said as she frowned. "I don't know."
Bubbles pouted. "But, I don't know either."
"Okay, there we go!" Blossom exclaimed as she stopped pacing and looked at them. "We don't know why they were murdered."
Buttercup narrowed her eyes. "So…are you trying to find a motive?"
Blossom frowned and bit her lip. "Maybe."
"'Maybe?'" Buttercup repeated in disbelief.
"Right now, it's best if we try to put everything together. Maybe then, we can figure out why the boys came back and everything."
"But, the boys aren't connected to the massacres," Bubbles said as she frowned. "Aren't those two separate things?"
Blossom sighed. "I don't know, honestly, but for now, let's try to figure out the massacres."
"Which we can't because we're not involved with the police investigation," Buttercup said dryly.
Blossom narrowed her eyes.
"I'm just saying. We know that it's someone with black light, right? If the boys aren't the murderers, then that means that one of the supervillains in Tokyo City is behind the massacres."
"But, that's the thing," Blossom retorted as she narrowed her eyes. "Why? What's their motive? The supervillains never killed anyone in the past before, so why now?"
Buttercup and Bubbles both frowned.
"Now that you put it that way, that does raise a few questions," Bubbles muttered.
"Exactly," Blossom said as she began to pace again.
"But, that still doesn't change the fact that we're limited on information, you know," Buttercup replied. "We're not involved with the investigation, remember? So, maybe the police department has it figured out already—"
Blossom gasped as she stopped pacing before she ran up to Buttercup and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "That's it!"
Buttercup blinked a few times, her eyes still wide with shock. "Uh, what?"
"Oh, why didn't I see it sooner?!" Blossom exclaimed as she pulled away with a grin. "We can ask the Mayor!"
Bubbles blinked a few times before her eyes went wide. "About the investigation?"
Blossom nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Not to rain on your parade or anything, but would he even know anything about it?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.
"Black light is involved," Blossom retorted. "Of course he would know!"
"Okay, but will he tell us?"
"Maybe he can't tell us the details of the investigation, but since black light is involved, he can at least tell us about the supervillains' statuses in Tokyo City!"
At that point, Buttercup's and Bubbles' eyes widened in realization.
"See?!" Blossom exclaimed enthusiastically. "We know that the murderer is one of them, so if there's even just one villain that's out of place from the rest, then we can put them on the list of suspects!"
"Wait, wait, wait," Buttercup said, raising an arm to stop Blossom from continuing. "It's already been a while since the massacres started. Don't you think the police department—the ones that know about the black light, at least—would have their own list of suspected supervillains already?"
At once, the enthusiastic smile disappeared from Blossom's face.
Bubbles frowned and gave Buttercup a stern look.
"Well, excuse me for coming up with plausible reasons!" Buttercup exclaimed sarcastically as she threw her arms into the air.
"No, you're right," Blossom stated after she sighed. "I got so excited that I completely forgot that the murderer might be the one who attacked Butch from a week ago."
Buttercup flinched.
Blossom saw this and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine," Buttercup muttered, averting her gaze, and when she felt Bubbles rubbing her back comfortingly, she sighed softly.
"So, does this mean that the murderer is someone who holds a grudge against the boys and is a supervillain?" Bubbles asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Possibly," Blossom replied as she frowned. "There's still no motive behind the massacres."
Buttercup cleared her throat.
Blossom and Bubbles looked at her with puzzled expressions.
"What is it?" Blossom asked.
"Uh, well…" Buttercup frowned. "I just realized that since we don't have our superpowers anymore…" Her voice trailed off as the other girls' eyes widened in realization.
"Oh, God…"
Bubbles covered her face with her hands.
"Yeah…" Buttercup muttered as she began to scratch her head.
There was a moment of silence.
Finally, Blossom let out a long sigh. "That's fine. We can still do our best to do nightly patrols."
Buttercup frowned. "But—"
"We can discuss that with the Professor after he wakes up."
Buttercup didn't reply, but she continued to frown.
"Okay, so far, we figured out two aspects of the murderer already: they're a supervillain, and it's someone who has a grudge against the boys, if they're willing to beat…" Blossom's voice trailed off as she glanced at Buttercup, who averted her gaze again.
"I said it's fine," Buttercup muttered before she looked at Blossom.
Blossom cleared her throat. "Right. Um, anyway, let's try to figure out why the boys gave us that liquid."
Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Didn't we just talk about this a few minutes ago?"
Blossom sent a small glare. "Yes, but I can't help but think there's a deeper reason behind it."
"Why?"
"Well…it's Brick."
Buttercup blinked a few times blankly as Blossom's expression dropped into a sad smile.
"I just… I've been with him for a long while, okay? We've been through a lot together, just like how you felt with Butch"—Blossom then looked at Bubbles—"and how you felt with Boomer." Blossom paused, looking at the floor. "I know Brick. I know that he did this to us for some reason. He wouldn't do it for a shallow reason of just destroying us or even not wanting to involve us."
Bubbles' eyes softened. "But—"
"If they were going to destroy us, why didn't they do it right then and there—right when we lost our powers?" Blossom interrupted, her voice cracking as she looked at Buttercup and Bubbles again. "They could've easily obliterated us."
Buttercup's eyes widened, whereas Bubbles bit her lip.
"See?" Blossom pressed as she wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the floor again. "And if they really did it to not involve us, then…doesn't that mean…" Her eyes held that hopeful gaze as she looked at the other two once more.
Buttercup wanted to retort to her, but instead, she sighed and looked away.
Bubbles, on the other hand, looked…conflicted.
Blossom let out a bitter laugh. "I guess you girls don't agree with me?"
"No, I do," Bubbles replied softly. "I just…can't believe they'd do this to us. Isn't it better that we have our powers, especially with a murderer on the loose?"
"Yeah, especially considering how we could be the next victims," Buttercup added dryly.
Bubbles flinched and then sent her a small glare. "That's not something to joke about!"
"Hey, I only said that because you had a point. Jeez…"
Blossom sighed. "Either way, none of this is making any sense whatsoever."
Just then, one of the bedroom doors opened, and the girls turned to see that it was the Professor, who still looked rather sleepy, but blinked in surprise when he saw them.
The Professor covered his mouth as he yawned. "Oh, girls, you're here."
"Professor!" the girls exclaimed in relief.
The Professor tilted his head in confusion as he blinked. "Would you happen to know why I ended up in my bedroom after contacting you girls?"
The girls glanced at each other nervously, but the Professor didn't seem to notice because he was too sleepy.
"What do you remember?" Blossom asked in concern.
The Professor blinked a few times as he tried to recall the events. "Oh, well, Peach had detected black light near the laboratory… Then, I contacted you girls, but the next thing I knew, the power suddenly cut off." He paused and began to tilt his head in confusion. "Everything after that is…a blur, I'm afraid."
"Well, the Rowdyruff Boys Z had gotten to you, Ken, and Peach," Bubbles stated as she walked closer to the Professor.
The Professor's eyes widened in shock, suddenly much more awake now. "What?! Really?!"
The girls nodded in response.
"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.
"Yes, I'm fine," the Professor replied frantically before he took a step forward, causing the girls to move out of the way. He then looked around, shooting his head in every direction. "Where's Ken and Peach?"
"In Ken's room," Blossom replied.
The Professor then calmed down and sighed in relief.
"They seem to be fine. It looks like they were knocked out like you, Professor."
The Professor then blinked a few times before he stood up with his back straight. "Wait, did you girls encounter the boys?!"
The girls each nodded grimly in unison.
"And unfortunately, we've…lost our powers," Blossom muttered.
The Professor's eyes widened. "What?!"
"It's true," Bubbles replied softly as she frowned. "The boys made us drink this…strange liquid, so we lost our powers."
"No, no, no, no, that can't be," the Professor muttered. "But, you girls should have—"
"No matter how many times we try to activate our powers, we can't, okay?" Buttercup interrupted as she scowled. "We can't fly or do anything superhuman, Professor."
"You girls are still in your uniforms, though…"
"We know," Blossom stated. "We were just talking about that." She paused as she glanced away. "Among…other things…"
The Professor, however, seemed deep in thought, so he didn't catch the last thing Blossom had said. Finally, he narrowed his eyes and frowned as he asked out loud, "Could it be that it was the boys who stole the Chemical Z?"
Blossom blinked. "I thought there wasn't anything on the video, though. Whatever that was caught on film by the security camera was too fast to see."
"Yes, but Bubbles said that it was the boys who made you girls drink a strange liquid, correct?"
The girls nodded in unison.
"And now, you've lost your powers."
The girls nodded in unison again, but much more slowly this time.
The Professor sighed grimly as he looked at the floor, and a long silence ensued.
The girls looked at each other in anxiety before they glanced at the Professor.
Finally, the Professor stood straight and looked at them with a grim look. "I don't know if I'm correct about this, but…I'm afraid that you girls might've drank Antidote Z."
There was another short moment of silence.
"Uh, what?" Buttercup asked, breaking the silence.
"The liquid was black, correct?" the Professor asked, ignoring Buttercup.
Blossom nodded.
"It tasted bitter as hell," Buttercup replied bluntly as she grimaced and stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"Then, I am right," the Professor said as he frowned. "You girls did drink Antidote Z."
Bubbles frowned. "Yes, but what exactly is that, Professor?"
The Professor sighed. "I started working on a new experiment a few months ago to see if I can reverse the effects that Chemical Z causes."
"Why?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.
"Well, I became curious as to whether or not I could do it. I am a scientist, after all."
"That's some bullshit reason!"
"Buttercup!" Blossom replied as she narrowed her eyes at Buttercup.
The Professor ignored Buttercup's outburst, however. "I had also done it because I am still curious about the white light in you girls. When you had sacrificed your white light years ago, you lost your powers and, in effect, your uniforms as well." He paused as he surveyed their uniforms again. "You were fed the Antidote Z, but your uniforms haven't disappeared, yet your powers did… I should make note of that later."
Buttercup narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me that you had written the notes for Antidote Z and they were stolen during the break-in."
"Actually, no, they weren't. They're still on my desk in the laboratory."
"Then, how the hell do you know that they gave us Antidote Z?!"
"Buttercup, please, calm down," Bubbles said, frowning.
Buttercup scoffed.
"I can only assume that the boys somehow managed to make a copy," the Professor replied as he frowned. "Either that, or one of them must've had astounding memory, if he's able to go through all of my notes and memorize the entire recipe and my formulas in such a short time."
Buttercup then sent Blossom a small glare.
"What?" Blossom asked as she frowned.
"Oh, you know why I'm giving you this look. Don't pretend to be innocent about it!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"I'm blaming Brick for this, genius!"
"So?! You don't need to glare at me! It's not like it's my fault!"
"Girls, please!" Bubbles exclaimed.
The Professor ignored the small bickering among the girls before he muttered out loud, "But why would they need Antidote Z?"
"Maybe to give it to us?" Buttercup deadpanned before she added dryly, "Which they did."
"Blossom thinks it's connected to the massacres," Bubbles stated.
The Professor blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"
Blossom nodded slowly. "When the boys gave us Antidote Z, Brick told us that we shouldn't involve ourselves with the…massacres anymore." Blossom grimaced slightly, but quickly regained her composure. "And I know Brick. I think there's a much deeper reason behind why they gave us Antidote Z. We've also deduced that the murderer has to be a supervillain that has a grudge against the boys."
"A grudge against the boys?" the Professor asked, narrowing his eyes.
Blossom nodded again.
"Remember when Butch got attacked?" Buttercup asked, ignoring the surprised looks from both Blossom and Bubbles because she had said it so casually, and she nodded towards Blossom. "Blossom here thinks that the person who attacked Butch is a murder suspect."
"On what basis?" the Professor asked, now frowning.
"Butch is a Rowdyruff," Buttercup replied bluntly.
The Professor raised an eyebrow at this.
Blossom sighed. "What she meant to say was that since the boys are the Rowdyruffs and they're older, they must be stronger than your average human."
"And why aren't the boys the murderers?"
"Because they had said so."
The Professor continued to frown before he sighed in sympathy. "Girls, I am aware that you have been in a relationship with them—I don't know if you still are, of course—but just because they said so isn't enough evidence—"
"I believe them," Bubbles interrupted with a firm voice. "So, please, Professor, you must believe us."
"Of course I believe you girls. I just…don't exactly trust them."
"Well, you have no choice but to," Buttercup retorted as she scowled. "The boys are innocent, and that's that."
Blossom cleared her throat before the Professor could reply. "That aside, Professor, what about our nightly patrols? We can't exactly patrol the entire city if we've lost our powers."
The Professor blinked in realization. "Yes, yes, that's very true…" The Professor frowned again as he narrowed his eyes. "Have you girls tried transforming back into your regular selves yet?"
The girls shook their heads.
"Please do so."
The girls blinked in confusion and looked at each other. They each shrugged before they transformed into their regular selves.
"I see… Now, transform back into the Powerpuff Girls Z."
"What? Why?" Kaoru asked as she scowled.
"Please do so. It's very important in regards to Antidote Z."
"Why?"
The Professor sighed. "I had never tested it before."
The girls's eyes went wide. "What?!"
"I only had the notes and recipe for creating it. I hadn't gotten around to attempting to create it due to the recent massacres happening. Supposedly, the liquid is black. Since Chemical Z, a very important ingredient to creating Antidote Z, was stolen and what you girls drank was a black liquid that stripped you of your powers, I need to take note of any possible side effects. Understand?"
The girls slowly nodded.
"If you do, then please transform back into the Powerpuff Girls Z."
The girls complied, and the transformation was a success.
The Professor then frowned. "Strange, very strange… And you still can't use your powers?"
Buttercup lifted her arm to summon her hammer, but nothing appeared, so she frowned. "Nope."
"And I can't summon my wand," Bubbles muttered sadly.
Blossom sighed. "I can't summon my yo-yo either."
The Professor continued to frown. "I see… Well, I'll go contact the Mayor right now about what had just transpired. For now, please stay here to look after my son and Peach. They might wake up soon."
"Wait, Professor, will you tell the Mayor about our theory on the murderer?" Blossom asked.
"Yes, I will." The Professor paused. "I'm…not sure if it's enough since there's no concrete evidence, but it may help with the investigation."
"Can we also get a status on all of the supervillains?"
The Professor blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"
"She meant if they're still active doing their supervillain stuff," Buttercup replied as she rolled her eyes.
"I understood perfectly clear. I'm just trying to understand why you girls would want that sort of information."
The girls each glanced at each other before pleadingly looking at the Professor again.
After a few seconds, the Professor sighed in defeat. "I can't guarantee if the Mayor can disclose that information with me, but I'll try my best to get him to." He paused. "Just…don't do anything reckless, especially since you're vulnerable now, girls."
"We understand, Professor," Blossom replied.
Bubbles nodded afterward, and although Buttercup groaned at first, she nodded as well.
The Professor sighed in relief and gave a soft smile. "I'll take your word for it."
Without another word, the Professor walked away.
When the Professor was finally out of sight, the girls transformed back into their regular selves.
Finally, Kaoru let out a long sigh as her shoulders drooped.
"What's wrong?" Miyako asked in concern.
"I don't know about you two, but…I just have a really bad feeling," Kaoru muttered.
Momoko frowned before she raised an eyebrow. "About?"
Kaoru scowled as multiple thoughts went through her head about the events that had just transpired, and finally, she let out another long sigh. "Everything."