=Chapter I: The City of Townsville...Ten Years Later=
The day began just as any other. Like a continuous routine, the sun came up, the birds sang, and the neighborhood was soon to be alive with daily activity. A tall man clad in a scientist's white coat, and with slightly greying black hair, was already busying himself preparing breakfast, and getting his three wards to wake. Going to a certain door located in the upstairs hall, he knocked on it to rouse them.
"Blossom...Bubbles..Buttercup! Up and at 'em! School's going to start soon."
The Powerpuff Girls instantly alert to their father, Professor Utonium's behests - and in quick flashes of pink, baby blue, and lime green - they got their clothes together, took showers, brushed their teeth, washed their faces, and gathered their school supplies into their bags. In just a few moments, they appeared in the kitchen to snag their breakfast quickly before departing for Townsville High.
"Girls, don't forget your lunch money." Professor Utonium called out as they flew out the door.
"Got it, Professor!" Bubbles chirped, zipping back into the house to retrieve their specially made wallets, and bestowing a kiss on Utonium's cheek before flying back out.
"Have a good day, Girls!"
"We will!"
xxxxx
Things in the city of Townsville hadn't changed much in a decade. The Girls still saved the city and the day from theircolorful rogues gallery, all before bedtime, of course. But therewere a few differences from the old days. To begin with, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup had far outgrown their beloved kindergarten, Pokey Oaks, bidding it a fond farewell to attend Townsville Elementary, Junior High, and finally, the city High School as Ninth Graders. Most of their Pokey Oaks alumni and playmates followed suit except - very much to their relief - for Princess Morbucks. Daddy Morbucks decided to have his little Capitalist Piglet Princess enrolled at an exclusive private finishing school for girls.
As for The Powerpuff Girls' rogues gallery, a few withdrew from villainy.
For Princess, the obvious reason being that her swanky new finishing school demanded much of her time and attention. It didn't stop her from flaunting her increasedstatus over the girls, having a fellowship of other girls in her classes tagging along, and cheerleading Princess whenever she taunted the Girls in true, stuck-up clique fashion, and vowing to show off the new destructive toys she acquired once she was on break.
After many failed attempts to destroy the Powerpuff Girls and take over the world, HIM came to the realization that no matter how hard, or how many times he tried to accomplish either of those things, fate seemed to favor the Girls. However, bearing in mind that he was immortal, and they were not, HIM decided to simply wait out the years until the Girls were either too old to be a match, or crossed over to the Great Beyond. Though on occasion, he would toy with the Girls in any worse way possible.
Fuzzy Lumpkins retreated to his shack deep within the woods, and rarely leaving his entire territory. Despite most of Townsville forgetting that he was even around, the Girls still kept an eye on him, as he was wont to raise a ruckus should some unlucky soul come across him whilst on a nature walk.
Of course, that didn't mean the other villains followed suit. Mojo Jojo was ever more hell bent on taking over Townsville, and either destroying the Powerpuff Girls, or forcing them into his service. Sedusa remained determined to get her hands on any ill-gotten gains through use of feminine wiles. The Gangreen Gang were very much active on the streets of Townsville, making Blossom having the opinion that they seemed to have gotten bolder with their crime sprees.
HIM bowing out of the villainy scene more or less didn't happen without consequences. The Powerpuff Girls' male counterparts, the Rowdyruff Boys, now had the leashreallycut off. HIM had set them loose from under his wing, allowing them to go where they may, and do as they pleased. He warned them however, that he would not be inclined to assist them should they ever get themselves into dire straits.
As if they cared. Without HIM constantly on their backs about destroying the Girls - though they remained very determined to achieve that goal - they had a brand new sense of independence and freedom to expand their horizons beyond simply going up against their female rivals. The responsibility of alerting the Girls to the criminal activity and wanton destruction of the city, now fell upon Miss Sara Bellum who was elected Mayor of Townsville after her predecessor retired a few years previously, and now resided in Pokey Folks retirement home. Although the citizens of Townsville would fondly miss the Mayor in spite of his foolishness and bumbling antics, Miss Bellum's term brought a refreshing change to running the city. And of course, she and the Girls would visit the old Mayor at Pokey Folks as often as they could and gladly obliged him whenever he needed a pickle jar opened.
Being in high school allowed new things to emerge in the Girls' personalities. Blossom - if she wasn't already - became a serious bookworm, making the school's library a second home for herself. Bubbles discovered that she had a hidden talent for cooking and baking after being introduced to a Culinary Arts class, and would often help the Professor in the kitchen during the dinner hours since then. Buttercup of course discovered a few electives that were very much up her alley. Despite having the gift of flight, Buttercup was practically mesmerized over the Automotive courses Townsville High provided, and by the end of the first quarter, she had the schematics of the family car completely mapped out in her brain. Varsity sports was the other elective that enthralled the lime green clad girl, having signed up for every team she could without conflicting the other.
xxxxx
Because the summer holidays were nigh, most of the student body was preparing itself for final exams and the long-awaited summer vacation. Blossom already had taken extensive notes for each of her classes even as her sisters swore that she had most, if not all, of her textbooks practically memorized from cover to cover.
During lunch break in the cafeteria, Bubbles cheerfully tucked into a fresh garden salad while Blossom and their best friend - and next-door neighbor - Robin Snyder busied themselves comparing note cards for a Geometry class they shared. A very perturbed Buttercup came floating towards their table with a flyer in her hand.
"Would you believethis?!" she ranted, tossing the flyer onto the table.
It was an official notice of a Spring Dance for the Freshman and Sophomore students taking place later that month, sort of similar to Homecoming. Both Bubbles and Robin became quite excited and tickled pink over this announcement.
"Oh, wow!" exclaimed Robin. "How cool!"
"I call for a shopping day at the mall!" squealed Bubbles.
Buttercup blanched at their reactions.
"...Tell me you guys aren't serious?!" the raven-haired girl cried.
Blossom for her part, shared her sister's apparent dismay over this upcoming school function, but for entirely different reasons.
"Did theyreally have to plan thisbefore final exams?" she complained. "The last thing I need is a major distraction from my studies."
"Aww, whaddya worried about, Bloss?" Buttercup replied tersely. "You're gonna get 'A' triple pluses on those things without evenblinking. Thereal problem here, is having to wear a stinkin' dress!"
Blossom had to arch her brow at this.
"Funny, you don't seem to mind wearing skirts on occasion." the red headed girl murmured in a frank tone.
"For your information, Miss Knowitall, I wear them over leggings, and that's completely different." Buttercup protested. "I'm talkin' about that fancy, formal crap!"
"Buttercup! Language!"
"Actually, I think it's kinda neat that the school's doing this for the Freshman at least." Robin commented meekly. "It'll sorta be like going to Prom."
"...don't remind me of that." Buttercup muttered distastefully, as though the very subject was a fate worse than death. "That's gonna beworse."
"You know, no one'sforcingyou to go to this." Blossom said tactfully. "It's not mandatory."
"Oh, no you don't!" Bubbles cut in furiously. "Stuff in high school only happens once! And we're going to experienceeverything as a family!"
While Buttercup was slightly flinching away from her blonde sister, Blossom couldn't help but smile a little in amusement.
"Well, when you put itthat way, Bubbles, I'm sure the Professor would love to add new photos to the family album." Blossom purred.
Buttercup muttered something under her breath, looking utterly defeated as she grudgingly floated over to the lunch line to grab a Sloppy Joe. After the break, the Girls were found by the Hall Monitor huffing and puffing from all the running around that he had done.
"Puh-Powerpuff Girls...Mayor Bellum...is on...the line...says it's urgent!" he rasped, holding a cellular version of their Powerpuff Hotline as it chimed and vibrated.
"What's the trouble, Mayor?" Blossom inquired after taking the handset from the Hall Monitor.
"Oh Blossom, I'm sorry to interrupt you and your sister's school hours, but it looks like the Rowdyruff Boys are wreaking havoc at a construction site downtown. You better get down there fast!" Bellum's voice pleaded on the other end.
"Don't worry, Mayor; we'll be right there!"
Without hesitation, the Girls zipped right from the campus and towards the downtown area of Townsville where the construction site was supposed to be working at full tilt. Despite evident destruction, chaos, and poor workers hiding under any cover they could find from the Boys' wake, it was curiously...quiet. Their male counterparts appeared to be missing in action.
"Hmmm...odd." Blossom mused thoughtfully while not letting her guard down.
"Yeah, did they get bored and just leave?" Bubbles added incredulously.
"Let's make another pass."
The Powerpuff Girls flew further around the surrounding area which yielded no results apart from the aftermath of all the mayhem their rivals caused, frustrating Buttercup who was already losing her patience.
"BAH! Bubbles is probably right!" she ranted angrily. "Those frickin' wussbags must've taken off already!"
"Buttercup!" Blossom scolded. "Will youplease tone down the-"
"WHO THE HELL AREYOU CALLIN'USWUSSBAGS?!"
The Girls spun around to find Brick, Boomer, and a twitching Butch furiously staring them down. Much like their rivals, the Rowdyruffs were largely unchanged by the years. Brick wasverydispleased at Buttercup's labeling of him his brothers.
"Oh, how good of you to finally join us, Boys." Blossom said in a haughty and dismissive tone, placing her hands on her hips.
"You freakingdare to call me an' my Boyswussbags?!" Brick spat, further enraged by her high and mighty attitude. "We're gonna make ya eatshit,ya little sissies!"
"You're on, jackass!" Buttercup roared back.
Virtually unimpressed with the Boys' bravado, the Powerpuff Girls promptly went into battle against them head on. Each took on their own respective counterpart; Blossom against Brick, Bubbles against Boomer, and Buttercup against Butch. Bubbles seemed to have an edge on Boomer, while Buttercup and Butch were locked neck and neck, giving each other absolute hell. Blossom tried using her wits against Brick, which usually worked, except this time, he seemed hyper-fixated on making her and her sisters the subject of his rage. Finally, the red clad boy managed to lunge at Blossom, and drive her right into the asphalt street below them. Blossom struggled to get out of the newly created rubble, but got pinned to the ground by Brick's foot.
"Hah, not so bignow,are ya, Leader Girl?!" Brick hissed spitefully as he leaned down towards Blossom.
Something of a light shiver went straight up Blossom's spine, but she managed to let loose her laser-vision, zapping the Rowdyruff Leader right off of her. Buttercup was quick to fly right to her sister's side while Blossom was gasping as though she were trying to catch her breath.
"You okay?" the raven haired girl asked.
"...*huff*...yeah..I'm fine." Blossom rasped. "C'mon, let's finish this!"
The two rejoined Bubbles in the fray where the situation reached a boiling point as they chased each other in aerial dogfights across the Townsville skyline. Finally, Butch was able to send Buttercup spiraling right into the front steps of the Townsville City Hall. Blossom and Bubbles, distracted by their fallen sister, were suddenly zapped by their counterparts' energy blasts and flung into the same direction. The Rowdyruffs then laughed giddily at their handy work, feeling rather victorious.
"BWA HA HA HA! We sure as hell showed those sissies!" Butch smugly declared.
"Hell yeah, we did!" Boomer piped in, almost absentmindedly. "Stupid ass girlies!"
Brick and Butch both arched their brows at their blue clad brother, appearing quite annoyed.
"Shut the hell up, Boomer." Brick growled irritably, to which Butch cackled again. "C'mon boys, let's blow this shit hole!"
Butch continued to madly cackle over his brother's comments and their victory over their female counterparts as the Rowdyruffs made their exit. A few minutes later, the Powerpuff Girls peeled themselves off from the cratered steps of City Hall, groaning from the effort as they recovered from the blows they took.
"...Rrrgh, dammit, I really hate those jerks." Buttercup growled furiously while brushing the rubble off herself.
"Me too..." Bubbles added, rubbing her head.
Miss Bellum, having watched the Girls crash land from within her office, came rushing outside to their side accompanied by two police officers.
"Girls! Are you alright?" she gasped.
"...Yeah, we're fine." Blossom replied, feeling rather frustrated that their adversaries managed to get away. "Sorry we didn't take care of them, Mayor."
"Oh, don't beat yourself up over it, Girls." Bellum said consolingly. "You at least managed to get them to stop tearing up the city. Goodness knows they'll be back for more."
"Ain't that the freakin' truth..." Buttercup muttered under her breath, to which both Blossom and Bubbles gave her an evil eye for her use of profanity.
"Mayor's right, Girls." Bubbles said. "Next time they show their rotten, ugly faces, we'll hand their butts to 'em!"
"You better run along back to school now, girls." Bellum told them. "Before you miss any more of your classes..."
"Right, let's go, Girls!" Blossom declared.
The Powerpuff Girls thus took to the skies again to return to their high school campus. Little did Blossom would know, or even thought in her wildest dreams...there wouldn't be much of a next time.
AN: Hello all, I has returned. It's nice to see you all again.
I have decided to rewrite this story with elements of its sequel (you can, for the time being, read the originals before I delete them), simply because they're CRINGE. Also, I am aware of all the requests to repost older work, I'm very sorry to disappoint, but I won't be doing that. There's a reason why I deleted those works, and I no longer have the original files for them anyway (because of migrating from one laptop to another).
Regardless, I do hope you enjoy. I'm always open to creative critique, but I have a zero tolerance for blatant flaming or harassment towards myself, or any other readers in the comments/reviews section.