A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who left a review last chapter! :D My responses will be at the end, as they got a bit long.
As Professor Utonium rushed his three daughters to the hospital that night, there was only one thing on his mind: Panic.
The day had started out well enough. He would've never admitted it to his girls, but when Bubbles suggested they keep it simple this year, just going out to dinner as a family, he was relieved. For the past month he had been working every single day, desperately trying to find a reason as to why his girls were losing their powers. Was it some type of illness? Should he still allow them to fight crime when they weren't at their best? Were they safe? He even contemplated trying to take them to a doctor to get tested, but the girls begged him to keep it a secret. If word had gotten out around Townsville, no doubt everyone would fall into a panic.
When Blossom woke him up later, telling him that Bubbles and Buttercup had food poisoning, he flew out of bed and grabbed the girls, helping them to the car. On the way, he winced as he saw Blossom succumb to the same sickness that her sisters had. Finally, they had one day of peace to enjoy, and as soon as it started it was taken away.
He sped to the nearest hospital as fast as he could, cursing every red stoplight along the way. As soon as he got there and parked his car, he helped his girls out and headed towards the front entrance.
The receptionist raised her eyebrows when she saw the four of them walk in. "Professor Utonium? What's wrong?" She gave the faintly green Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup a sympathetic look. "Oh no, did the girls catch a bug?"
"I'm not sure," he said. "But they're very ill and in a lot of pain. Can you please send the doctor as soon as possible?"
"Of course, I'll page her right now," she said.
He nodded grimly in thanks. He took a seat and gestured for his girls to as well. Poor Bubbles once again vomited in the bowl she was given, and he pulled her close to him, patting her back sympathetically.
"I'm sorry to see you all under such circumstances," Dr. Reese started. She sat across from the Professor, the girls alongside the wall in three hospital beds side by side. "Right now, all three girls are running a fever and are dehydrated. Bubbles and Blossom are at 102 degrees right now, and Buttercup at 103."
"Oh my god," the Professor whispered.
"I know it sounds scary," she said. "But the girls are young and generally in good health. They should make a full recovery soon, but I do want to keep them under observation to make sure it doesn't get any worse."
He nodded solemnly. "Do you know what's wrong with them?"
"You said your family went out to dinner at Si Senorita earlier tonight, is that correct?"
"Well, yes…"
"More likely than not, it's just a case of food poisoning," she said. "Maybe they had some bad meat."
"Bubbles is a vegetarian."
"It could've been a multitude of things," she amended. "I can always run a few tests to make absolutely certain if you'd like."
"Ugh, it's not going to involve needles, is it?" Buttercup asked miserably.
The Professor patted her arm. "Don't worry honey, I'll be right here the whole time, and so will your sisters."
He turned back to the doctor. "Dr. Reese, have you had any other cases of food poisoning within the last few days? Specifically from anyone who's gone to Si Senorita's?"
"Not that I know of," she admitted. "But it's possible that there have been people who have gotten sick and just tried to treat themselves at home. Or maybe your girls got extremely unlucky tonight."
He looked back at his girls in concern. Even though, as a scientist, looking at things from an objective angle he admitted that the most likely scenario was that it was a simple case of food poisoning. But as a father, he couldn't ignore his gut feeling.
"Doctor, do you mind if we speak in private for a moment?"
"Oh," she looked surprised. "Well, yes, of course. Why don't we step out into the hall?"
"Thank you," he said. He saw his girls looking back at him in question, and nodded reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll be right back."
As soon as he stepped out of the room and was out of earshot, he turned toward the doctor.
"You don't think it's possible," he lowered his voice, leaning in close. "And I feel awful for even suggesting this, but do you think there's any chance that this was purposeful?"
Dr. Reese widened her eyes in surprise. "Did you notice any suspicious behavior? Or if any of their enemies would've had access to the restaurant's food supply?"
"No, not that I know of. Though one of the workers there, I don't remember his name, but he looked around sixteen or seventeen, and he seemed a little… overenthusiastic," he said. "He asked the girls for an autograph for his little sister. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I wonder if it was a, I don't know, distraction of some sort. Or maybe to lower our guard."
"Well, if you're that concerned, I could make a phone call to the police and ask them to investigate. Do you have any specific reason why you think this might've been malicious?"
The Professor thought back again to their girls' powers. He knew they'd be furious with him, but if their health was on the line…
"The girls have been having… issues with their powers lately," he said. "Within the past month, they've been getting weaker and weaker by the day. I've been trying to run some tests myself to find out why, and I think it has something to do with them getting older. But it might be something more nefarious," he said. "I don't know if tonight has something to do with whatever's going on, or if someone has taken notice and decided to attack while the girls weren't in full strength."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Dr. Reese said. "Admittedly I was surprised when I saw that news story about their struggles with the Amoeba Boys, but I had no idea…"
"No one does as far as I know," he said. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to keep it quiet. The girls are worried what will happen if it's found out and I promised I'd keep it a secret. That being said, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could somehow do a thorough test while we're here to make sure they're okay."
"I'll take care of it," she promised. "Would you still like me to make that phone call about the restaurant and the worker?"
Professor hesitated, but nodded. "Yes, I would, thank you. It's probably nothing, but I'd rather make sure it's nothing before I rule out the possibility. If only for my own sanity."
"Of course," she said. She put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll get this figured out, don't you worry."
The rest of the hospital visit remained relatively uneventful. On Dr. Reese's recommendation, the girls were kept overnight for observation. To the Professor's relief, the worst of their illness seemed to be over by the next morning. They were tired and still had a slight fever, but overall were feeling much better. Due to the fact that they were labeled as a "high priority case," the girls were able to get tested that night and their results "didn't show anything concerning," as Dr. Reese put it. There was no poison found in their system, nor did they test positive for any virus or disease.
"Well, I suppose it was just a case of food poisoning," the Professor said. "I know you must think I'm a horribly anxious, overprotective father."
"Of course not," Dr. Reese shook her head. "Your girls are unique, and there are a lot of bad people out there who would be willing to harm them. You did the right thing by coming in. I'm just glad I could give you relatively good news."
"So, is it okay for the girls to go home then?"
"I'd say so. Just make sure they get lots of rest and plenty of fluids. If they start to get sick again, don't hesitate to bring them back."
"I won't, doctor. You've been a tremendous help," he held out his hand, which she happily shook.
"Of course. I put my all into all my patients, but your girls are our heroes. Their well being is not just important for them, but for all of us. Who knows where this town would be without them?"
The Professor gave her a nervous smile. "Yes indeed. My girls are very… special."
"Well, this sucks," Buttercup grumbled as she sat in bed. By her side were her two sisters, who seemed to be taking the news too well for her liking. In the front of the room played some game show that the girls had finally settled on after everything Buttercup suggested was labeled as "too scary," Bubbles "too sappy," and Blossom "too boring."
"Come on, it's only for a few days," Blossom said. "The Professor just wants to make sure we're at our best before we go out and start fighting crime again."
"Yeah! And not only that, but we're allowed to eat ice cream! In bed!" Bubbles took a big bite out of the hot fudge sundae the Professor made her and smiled. "And we get to stay home from school."
"Okay, that part I like," Buttercup admitted. She turned toward Blossom, who had her Pre-Algebra textbook out and was trying to finish her make-up work. "Though I can't say the same for all of us."
"Well, excuse me for not wanting to wait until the last minute to get it done like you."
Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You know I'm just going to copy your answers anyway."
"No you will not! Or I'm telling the Professor!"
"Oh, so you won't let me but it's fine if Bubbles does it?"
"That was one time! It's not her fault that monster ate her project!"
As Bubbles listened to her sisters argue, she decided that moment would be a good time to go downstairs and get a glass of water.
The Professor told them to avoid getting out of bed if at all possible and to ring the bell he put beside their bed if they needed anything, but Bubbles didn't feel like bothering him. And to be honest, she really needed a moment to herself.
As she slipped out of the room and tried floating down the stairs, she stopped in her tracks when she realized she remained grounded.
"What?" she whispered to herself. Once again, she tried to levitate, but the most she managed was jumping a couple inches into the air.
"Girls!" she cried out. She ran back to her room and threw open the door, interrupting Blossom and Buttercup mid argument. "Girls! Something very bad is happening!"
"What is it?"
"Look!"
Bubbles once again tried to levitate, but only jumped.
"...Okay?" Buttercup said. "That was pretty lame, but I don't get why you're so worked up about it-"
"I can't fly!" Bubbles cried out. "I can't! Not even a little!"
"What? Let me try," Buttercup got out of bed and attempted to float, but had no more luck than her sister.
"This is so freaking weird," she muttered. She walked over to one of the windows and opened it, aiming her laser vision at a tree far off in the distance. She strained her eyes, squinting at it for almost a full minute, only for nothing to happen.
"Are you kidding me?" she yelled. In her rage, she punched the wall with enough force that, under normal circumstances, would've crushed the entire thing to dust. But now, she didn't even leave a dent.
"Ow!" she cried, cradling her pounding hand. "Okay, this bites. I know our powers have been wonky lately, but how did we lose all of them overnight?!"
"I don't know!" Bubbles said. "What are we going to do?"
"Okay girls, calm down," Blossom said. "I'm sure this is just a temporary thing that we'll get figured out in no time. And who knows? Maybe we still have some of our powers."
"Try using your ice breath then, since you know everything," Buttercup said.
Blossom narrowed her eyes. "Fine, I will."
"You can try it on my sundae," Bubbles offered. She walked over by the nightstand and handed it to her. "It's getting kind of melty anyway."
Blossom nodded. She took a deep inhale, and with all her might, she blew on the ice cream. Only for the melting puddle to stay unchanged.
"Well, it's official," Buttercup said. "We're screwed."
"Wait! Let me try again," Blossom said. And so she did. Again. And Again. And again.
After the fifth failure in a row, she looked at the sugary dessert with watery eyes. "I don't… why…" she stammered. "I don't understand-"
"It's okay, Blossom," Bubbles said gently. She took the ice cream back and patted her on the shoulder. "It's just like you said. We'll figure this out."
Without warning, Blossom burst into tears. "We're done for," she sobbed. "Everyone's going to find out we're not special anymore and hate us. We'll be failures, mistakes, disappointments-"
"Hey, come on now," Bubbles pulled her sister into a hug. "It's going to be okay."
"No it's not," she sobbed.
Buttercup shifted her weight from side to side as she watched her sister cry. As much as she made fun of her and Bubbles for being more sensitive than she was, she couldn't stop the rising panic she herself felt as she thought about their situation.
"Well, crying about it ain't gonna fix anything," she said. "We got to be tough, let people know we still mean business until the Professor gets us our powers back. And we will get them back. Now, we just got to think about what we're gonna say to the Mayor until then-"
As if on cue, the hotline started to ring. All three girls stood frozen in place as the all too familiar buzz filled the silent room.
When Arturo got home that evening after the party, he tried focusing on the positives.
First off, he was one step closer to saving his father. It was almost surreal to think about seeing him free considering he had been behind bars for nearly half of Arturo's life, but getting him back was something he wanted more than anything.
Second, Ace was ecstatic when he told him the plan went off without a hitch. The rest of the day, he was in a better mood than he had seen him in ages. He took him out drinking that night in celebration, just the two of them, with the help of the fake ID he had bought off Tommy a few years ago. After a few beers and meeting a very good looking chica who didn't mind her men a little green, he was starting to feel pretty enthusiastic about the plan himself.
"Just think man," Ace grinned. "Soon, everyday is gonna be like this. No more living like a bunch of stiffs."
When he and Ace stumbled home at 3 am, Snake was more than a little annoyed, but the two laughed him off. The next morning when he woke up with a killer hangover and lipstick marks in unmentionable places, he popped a sleeping pill and closed the blinds, hoping to escape his pounding headache and dream about the girl who made those marks.
It wasn't until a couple days later where he started to question things once again.
That evening, Arturo went to the kitchen to make himself a bowl of cereal. He saw Ace sitting on the couch in front of the TV, and took a seat next to him.
"Hey man," he greeted. "What are you watching?"
"See for yourself," he pointed towards the TV.
Arturo turned to face the television, and saw the same reporter lady that had caused Ace and Snake to lose their jobs.
"The news?" he asked. "You hate the news."
"Just listen, man."
Once again, Arturo looked toward the TV, and saw Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup, along with the Professor on the screen.
"So what you're saying girls, is that you've been slowly losing your powers for weeks and didn't think Townsville deserved to know? Without them, we're left completely vulnerable to any monster or supervillain who decides to attack."
"Mrs. Carlson, I understand your frustration," The Professor said. "But I promise I will figure this out. I've been working day and night trying to fix this-"
"And yet the problem has just gotten worse," she said.
"It's not his fault!" Buttercup snapped. "All of this happened after we got sick from that stupid Si Senorita restaurant. As soon as we got better, our powers just went poof. If you ask me, someone should really look at whatever they put in their food. It's so nasty it wouldn't surprise me if it's radioactive or something.
"I thought radioactivity was supposed to give you superpowers, not take them away," Bubbles chimed in.
"Well, apparently it's the opposite if you already have them."
"What the hell man?" Arturo said. "Our food ain't nasty! Can you believe her?"
"You're missing the point," Ace said. "The plan worked. The girls are sitting ducks. We can do whatever we want now. And it's all thanks to you."
Despite himself, Arturo smiled at the praise. "Thanks man, I'm glad it worked out. When are we going to tell the boys?"
"Soon," he said. "I just got to think of a way to word it that won't make Snake somehow turn this into a bad thing, or act like I went behind his back.
"Well I mean, you kind of did."
"Not the point," Ace said. "But I'll figure it out. And then as soon as we get them on board, we're heading over to the state penitentiary and gettin your old man out."
"Good," he said, relieved. "The sooner the better."
"I'm thinking of heading over to the gas station to swipe some liquor to celebrate our new freedom. You in?"
Arturo hesitated. "Do you really think that's a good idea with just the two of us?"
"Why not?" Ace shrugged. "We ain't gonna start nothin unless someone decides to give us trouble, we'll just grab and go. Just remember to bring your blade for protection and we'll be fine."
"Alright," Arturo agreed. "Let me go get her."
As he started to head towards his bedroom, the phone rang, and Ace picked it up. After a moment, he handed it over to Arturo. "It's for you. It's that Isaac kid or whatever, he's losing his shit about something."
Arturo rushed over towards the phone. "Hey man, what's wrong?"
"The cops just raided my house," he said. It sounded like he was holding back tears. "They brought me in yesterday asking all these weird ass questions like 'How long have you worked at Si Senorita? Did you know the Powerpuff Girls were coming in? Are you working for Mojo Jojo?'" He sniffled. "Apparently the girls got sick and they think I poisoned them or something. But I didn't, I swear I didn't! I don't know what happened, but they don't believe me."
Arturo's stomach dropped.
"I'm just saying, there's a chance, a small chance mind you, but still a chance the cops might be smart enough to put two and two together, and you need a fall guy."
"Issac is my friend," Arturo said. "I can't let him take the heat. Besides, he's just a kid, and he's way too sensitive for jail."
"Hey, if Big Billy can survive the cooler, I think this Isaac guy will be just fine. Besides, if he actually gets convicted of anything, which is a big if, they'll let him off easy. A couple months in juvie at the most, nothin none of us hasn't been through before. But if they catch you or me, with our records? We'll get years. And then all this will be for nothin."
"Calm down man, I believe you," Arturo said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Do you think you can call my mom?" he asked. "She's been out of town so she doesn't know about any of this, and I don't know if I can tell her without breaking down. Just please make sure she knows I didn't do it."
"Of course man," Arturo said. He forced his voice to remain steady. "You know you can count on me."
"Come on, I ain't waitin' all day!" Ace called out from the living room.
Arturo sighed. "Be right there, Ace!" he called back. He gave Isaac a quick goodbye and a few words of empty reassurance before he swallowed his guilt and followed Ace out.
Anon: Hehe thanks, it's one of my favorite titles too! You're absolutely right, Ace is being quite manipulative at the moment and poor Arturo is falling for it. I can definitely start putting trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter!
HER: Lol, I love Snake too! He's definitely the sensitive one of the group (okay, maybe not as much as Billy, but still) and he's used to anticipating the worst case scenario, because a lot of times that's how things end up working out for him.
GGG fan: Ace definitely was not at his best during that time in his life. But I agree, I always thought Aspirations was a huge turning point for him, and that episode is partially what inspired me to write this fic in the first place!
Guest: Noted! It seems like most people want the fic to stay at a T rating, so that's what I'll keep it as.
Thanks again to everyone who left a review! Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think, and/or follow to get updates! :D