By Gary Curtis (icekings2000)

 

 

Author's note: This story assumes that the Powerpuff Girls were 'born' in late January, 1995, roughly six weeks before the 'What a Cartoon' episode 'Meat Fuzzy Lumkins' first aired.

 

ONE

 

The City of Townsville. A place where its citizens look on the change of seasons as a mixed blessing. With the good must come the bad; and autumn in Townsville is the time when gone are the dog days of summer and with it, summer vacation for its students. Green leaves explode in a multitude of shades but soon wither and die. And, with its cool days and cold nights, autumn means good riddance to that annual scourge known as allergy season; only to be replaced by its evil relative, the FLU BUG!

And so, when November's second week rolled around, Townsville's pride, joy and saviors, that supercharged trio of toddlers, the Powerpuff Girls; found themselves victims to the yearly plague. Except it never seemed to affect them quite the same way it did everyone else. They didn't suffer the coughing, sneezing, fever and chills as did their fellow citizens who didn't take their flu shots. They did, however, face a steadily increasing weakness and achiness followed by, at its peak, nausea, severe dizziness and loss of appetite. Within 10 days, the illness had run its course, and they were back to their old heiny-whooping selves.

Professor Utonium, the creator, legal guardian and unofficial father of the Powerpuff Girls (he had insisted they call him Professor rather than Daddy because he believed it drew their attention away from the fact there was no Mommy), had learned two disturbing items regarding the Girls' illness. First, none of the vaccines for the three most common and likely flu strains had worked for them. It wasn't customary to give healthy children shots, anyway; they endured a whole slew of childhood viruses from which they were left immune as adults. The second bothersome fact was the reason he gave them the shots in the first place. Each year, they seemed to get sicker. He was ready to try the obscure flu strain vaccines, but it would have to wait another year; the Girls were healthy again. He considered doing additional research; for what, he didn't know. But, with the crisis over, it began to slip from his mind; he had enough else to keep him busy. Help was about to come from an unexpected source.

Blossom, the red-haired leader of the Powerpuff Girls, was intelligent beyond her five years. All three of them loved their chosen path of fighting against both the great evils of the world and the common crook, and took it seriously. But she was different from her sisters.

Everyone thought Bubbles was a ditz just because she acted the most her age. Blossom and Buttercup even teased her about it. But Bubbles was very smart and she had proved it more than once. And she was the rudder that kept the ship on an even keel when her sisters' squabbles threatened to sink it.

Buttercup always got credit for being the toughest, the fiercest, and very little credit for her brains. She felt inferior to Blossom, without good reason. Her intelligence was something that wasn't always reflected by schoolwork. It was more of a quick-witted, animal instinct type of thing. It couldn't be taught, and Blossom didn't have it to the same degree.

No, she wasn't really smarter than her sisters. What set her apart, and made her a natural leader, was her approach to things. She had a burning desire to question, to learn, to improve. She couldn't just accept that the sun came up every morning; she had to know why. What she lacked in natural instinct she made up for with study and training. She constantly pushed herself to be better, because as the leader, she couldn't ask for something she wasn't willing and able to do herself. It surprised and disappointed her when other people didn't apply themselves with the same desire. What was sometimes seen as an out-of-control ego was simply her failure to realize that everyone couldn't be like her. That was something she would learn with time.

It was with these qualities that she now attacked the mystery of their annual sickness. She recognized the same thing Professor did, that it seemed to be worsening every year. So she turned to her journals for help. Digging out from their closet the ones from the past three years, dating back to when she was 'officially' two years old (they had been 'born' five years of age physically and hadn't grown in all that time); she turned to her November entries.

"Hey, Blossom, why are reading your old stuff? Trying to impress yourself with how smart you are now?"

Buttercup was sitting on their bed, figuratively beating the snot out of some video game baddies. Blossom ignored the sarcasm and answered the question straight.

"No, Buttercup, I'm trying to learn something about why we keep getting sick around the same time every year."

Buttercup dropped the game, hopped off the bed and ran over to where Blossom was seated at their desk. Bubbles looked up from where she was sitting, in a beanbag chair, flipping through a coloring book.

"Really?" the pig-tailed Puff asked. "I'm glad THAT'S over!"

"Yeah, Blossom." Buttercup looked over her shoulder at the journal for 1997. "This time was the worst! It's hard fighting monsters when you hafta stop every five minutes to throw up."

"Tell me about it!" Blossom closed 1997 and opened up 1998 to November. Something immediately caught her eye and she reopened 1997 and laid the two journals side by side.

"Hey, you did get smarter. Look!" Buttercup remarked, pointing at the improvement in penmanship with another year's experience.

Bubbles was now looking over Blossom's other shoulder.

"Duh! We all did, dummy!"

Blossom gave both of them the eye. "No, you two, that's not what I'm looking at. Take a look at this!"

In both journals, the day in which Blossom had recorded the first sense that she was coming down with something was the same, November 13th. Likewise, the day in which she felt mostly back to normal, November 22nd. That day's musings for 1998 included wondering how much different their lives would be if not for that afternoon in Dallas 35 years earlier.

Each year, their symptoms had been the most severe on the 18th and 19th. In 1997, Blossom had described it in detail that was amazing for a child not yet three. In 1998, the information was scanty but enough to give the reader the feeling that the writer was hurting.

Blossom was so engrossed in reading that she forgot her sisters were getting a peek into her private thoughts. It was fun to read someone else's journal, but at times, you might not like what you see.

"Whaddya mean Professor loves you the best?!" Buttercup shouted.

"Hey!" Blossom scrunched down, covering both books.

Bubbles said "Give her a break, Buttercup. That was years ago!" She added, with a smirk, "'Sides, everyone knows he loves ME the best!"

"Ok, Ok. Sorry, Blossom. Looks like you were right, the dates are the same. What about last year?"

Blossom opened 1999. She didn't even bother reading, she just looked at the dates. Same date of onset, same ending. On the 18th, there was nothing but a hastily penciled 'unsmiley' face, and the 19th, the words 'too sick'. She knew only too well what her most recent entries said, they were only days old. She hadn't even opened the journal for four days, the 16th through 19th. A quick check showed the 2000 beginning and ending dates were the same as the rest.

Buttercup let out a low whistle. "Blossom, there's something creepy going on here."

"Yeah, guys, this isn't the flu. It's almost like an allergy of some kind. But what, and why is it happening the EXACT SAME TIME?"

"And why is it getting worse, but then it goes away?" Buttercup pondered.

"Uh, Girls?"

"What, Bubbles?" Blossom snapped. "We're trying to think, here!"

Bubbles stuck out her tongue. "Well, I WAS gonna say, if you weren't so mean, that we still fought crime and monsters and stuff even though we didn't feel good."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Uh, no kidding! Like, who else was going to?"

"Ha!" Bubbles smiled. "You two think you're so good. I bet you didn't notice that Mojo's name isn't in there once!"

Her sisters? eyes widened in amazement. Blossom tore through the books one more time. Bubbles was right! Mojo Jojo, the chimp who had received his super brain at the same moment they were 'born', was their worst and most prolific enemy. He should have been mentioned at least as often as any other of Townville's villains but wasn't in a single entry.

With an "I told you so!" smile, Bubbles said "I bet he was sick, too!"

"Well, so was half of Townsville. It's prob'ly just a coincidence." Buttercup replied.

"Maybe so, Buttercup, but if it's not, then what's the one thing we have in common with him?" said Blossom.

Her sisters answered together "Chemical X!"

Blossom closed the books. "We gotta see the Professor!"

 

TWO

 

Mojo Jojo looked at the pile of trash with distaste. Three garbage cans full and it was a long climb back to the top of Volcano Mountain and his lair in the observatory. And the worst part of the job was yet to come. Hosing down the concrete walls and floor of the special room was embarrassing as well as disgusting.

Chimpanzees in the wild were free to do what they'd always done, but in captivity they needed diapers. And someone to change them.

Yesterday the timed lock on the heavy door had released him from his 10 days of self-imposed imprisonment. He was relieved it was over, but the last two days in that stinking room made him vow to get to the bottom of his annual retreat to the animal kingdom. Every year in November, something was causing his super-brain to shut down gradually. The first few years he had trashed his own laboratory. It must have been fun though he didn't remember having any. So he had constructed a special place where he could make all the mess he wanted but do no real damage.

Even worse than the clean up job he faced next was the loss of 10 days in the real world. What important events and crucial information had he missed? After his chores were finished, it was time to begin spying with his giant telescope and gather information. Evil schemes needed careful planning and this required information. And information on the biggest thorn in his side, the Powerpuff Girls, was what he needed the most. He would start with them. Working on his own problem would have to wait.

 

THREE

 

Professor Utonium set the last of three hot dishes on the table and wiped his hands on his apron.

"Girls! Time to eat!"

He turned and headed for the refrigerator.

"Whoa! You scared me!"

The Girls were floating a foot from him, having entered the kitchen unannounced. Blossom was clutching her journals.

"Professor, we don't know what's making us sick, but it's happening at the exact same time every year." Blossom began.

Buttercup continued "Yeah, Professor, and we don't think it's the flu. We're allergic to something."

Bubbles finished " We think Chemical X is behind it!"

He just smiled. His little cuties were always trying to imitate him, looking for the cause of every little thing.

" Now, Girls, let's not jump to any conclusions. I'm sure it's just one of the types of flu that we don't see that often and-"

"No, Professor!" Blossom was adamant. "It's something else! Here, look!" She held her books out to him.

"All right, Blossom, I'll look. Now, let's get washed up and eat."

Buttercup was ready for seconds practically before Professor even began his meal. He scanned quickly through the 1997 and 1998 journals, then hurriedly reached for the two newest ones. The dates hit him like a slap to the face and he forgot all about eating.

Blossom noticed. "Professor, what's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. Blossom, I didn't know you could write so well!"

The fib placated her for the moment but he was angry with himself. He kept journals too, but they were scientific journals. He hadn't recorded the day-to-day happenings of the Girls and now he wished he had. He should have known anyway, journal or no. Any scientist worth half his salt would have made the connection.

The dates corresponded precisely with the annual Leonid meteor showers. And suddenly the secret of Chemical X was revealed to him. In his younger days, he had traveled the world, alone and as part of a group of scientists, and along the way he had collected and tested hundreds of different rock formations for unique qualities. Chemical X was the result of one of them, a small jagged piece that exhibited some unusual properties and matched nothing else found on earth. Speculation was that it was a fragment of a meteor that had crashed to earth. Now he knew exactly where it came from. The author of the paper that reported this finding would receive acclaim from the world's scientific community and beyond, and some hefty grant money as well. But to publicize this information would expose his Girls to the one thing that might destroy them for sure.

'Kryptonite' was no longer a myth.

 

FOUR

 

In November, at 6 PM it's dark enough to begin to view the constellations, unless the surrounding light interferes. Professor and the Girls were in the front yard and far enough away from downtown Townsville for a quick lesson on the skies above.

"Ok, who knows where the sun goes down?"

"Duh, over there!" Buttercup pointed to the west, tapping her foot. "Don't ask baby questions!"

Professor chuckled. "All right. Bubbles, where is gravity stronger, here on Earth or on the moon?"

She looked up at the yellow ball, which was actually not quite full, and low in the sky.

"I don't know. I can go check!" She blasted off.

"Bubbles, get back here!" he shouted, while her sisters laughed.

"Sorry!"

"Here's an easier one for you. How long does it take for the earth to go around the sun one time?"

"Uh, a year?"

"Very good, Bubbles! Now, where might we look in the sky to find Leo?"

Blossom answered "You can't see it now, but it's below the Big Dipper. Professor, what's this got to do with us getting sick?"

"The Leonid meteor shower got its name from the constellation Leo, because that's where it appears to come from. I say 'appears' because no one really knows."

"Meteors?" Buttercup looked up at him.

"Yes. Remember about earth taking one year to go around the sun. There is a comet, named 55P/Tempel-Tuttle after the scientists who discovered it, which orbits the sun every 33 years. That comet leaves massive amounts of debris in its wake, called the tail of the comet. We pass through this debris every November, resulting in the Leonid meteor shower. Most of the debris is very tiny particles of dust and small rocks which burn up in the atmosphere, and at its peak, we get a spectacular display in the early morning sky."

"And this is what's making us sick?" Blossom asked.

"I think so. At some point during the 33 year cycle, the comet's path and ours come very close, roughly 30 million miles apart. In terms of the size of the universe, that's like two jumbo jets missing each other by a few feet."

"Whoa!" Buttercup said.

He went on "The last time this happened was early 1998. The last time before that was 1965. In 1966, the meteor shower was so intense that it was called a storm. I can look up some pictures on the internet and show you. When it happened way back in 1833, many people thought the world was coming to an end. Now, the showers we've had the last three years haven't been spectacular, but activity has increased each year. This goes right along with your illness becoming more severe. The peak for this cycle should be 2001 or 2002; after that, activity should decrease until a few years before the comet comes again in 2031."

"So we'll get sicker for a couple more years, and after that we don't have to worry about it until we're really old, right?" Bubbles asked.

He winced. To them, 36 seemed positively ancient. "I wish it were that simple, Bubbles. You Girls were right about the Chemical X connection. You're having a reaction to the comet's tail, because that's where Chemical X comes from."

"What?!" they exclaimed.

* * * * * * * * * *

"What?!" Mojo Jojo exclaimed.

He had been idly swiveling his telescope about the landscape before settling in on the Utonium home, to see what he might find. He was surprised to see them standing out there in the dark, looking up at the heavens, and his telescopic lens with its powerful microphone had been extended as far as it would go. Now, he began to smile as he listened.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Yes, Girls, Chemical X was the result of testing I did on a small rock sample I believed to be from space, or a meteorite. Sometimes, during a meteor storm, chunks of debris from comets are too big to be completely burned up in the atmosphere and they land. I'm certain now that I found a Leonid."

"Professor, why are we allergic to the thing we're made from?" Blossom asked.

"Well, Blossom, you aren't MADE from it, Chemical X was only the catalyst. And the meteorite was only one component of Chemical X. Because you've been exposed to it from another source only very infrequently, your bodies are reacting to it. It is like an allergy. I want to do some tests and there is a place in Townsville that has a sample of a Leonid meteorite. If you react to that, I'll know for certain and I think I can fix the problem for good. I want to get right to work on this, because we don't know what the future holds. If we have a huge storm in the next few years, other meteorites may reach earth and your sudden exposure to them could be harmful to you."

"What about Mojo?" Bubbles looked up at him.

"That would certainly explain his absence during the Leonid activity. Because you have traces of Chemical X in every cell of your anatomy, you feel sick all over. His brain was the only thing affected so he probably doesn't become ill, just reverts back to being a normal chimp."

"Wow, I wonder if he realizes what's going on?" Blossom puzzled.

"Let's hope not, Girls. If he does, he'll certainly make the connection to you. We can't have him getting ahold of any meteorite samples. It would be like giving Lex Luthor a chunk of Kryptonite."

"K-Kryptonite?" Buttercup stammered. "That stuff could take away our powers?"

"Or kill us!" Blossom realized.

"Way to go, you fool!" he said to himself. "You've got them all worried!"

"I'm sorry, Girls; that was the wrong way to put it. The meteorite component of Chemical X is what GAVE you your powers, so I don't think you would lose them. What I think is happening is your exposure is causing a surge in your chemical makeup that your bodies can't handle. When you're no longer exposed, you return to normal. And we've got a whole year before the next Leonid shower to work on it, so there's nothing to worry about. Come on in the house now, time for bed."

He followed them in, furious with himself. He had deflected Buttercup's concern but purposely avoided addressing Blossom's, for good reason. He feared that a sudden, massive exposure could overload their systems to the point they might suffer the same fate the Rowdys had. Kryptonite was not a completely incorrect analogy, but he wished he'd never said that word.

 

FIVE

 

Mojo watched them go, rubbing his hands with glee.

"Muahahahaha!! I have killed two birds with one stone! Figuratively, that is, because I have seen no birds to throw a stone at and I wouldn't do anything so foolish in the first place because throwing a stone in here would break a window, thus alerting the birds. But I have now learned the cause of my temporary lapses and also the secret to the destruction of those accursed Powerpuffs!"

He could picture himself holding the means to their destruction, hefting the meteorite in his simian hands.

"Soon, I will kill THREE birds with one stone! Muahaha! But, where to find such a thing?"

Utonium said there was one in Townsville! After carefully lining the inside of his turban with lead to protect his super-brain, he would begin his search. It was time to put that brain to work.

* * * * * * * * * *

After getting the Girls settled down and mentally kicking himself over and over for upsetting them in the first place, Professor swore to begin working on the problem the next morning. He sat at his desk, making a checklist of things to do; hoping his stupidity wouldn't cause them to have nightmares.

Nightmares aren't possible without sleep, and the Girls didn't get much. The hotline rang twice and when morning came, Kryptonite and meteor showers were the furthest things from their minds. Professor made sure they got a good hot breakfast before they left for school, then he headed for the lab. By early afternoon, he had completed every item on his list except one. He reached for the phone and punched in the number for Townsville Planetarium's specimen department.

"Kramer."

"Why, hello, Doctor! Long time! This is Professor Utonium."

"Professor, you old dog! Since the Girls came along, you never come down to see us anymore. Wassup?"

"Well, you know how it is...anyway, I was wondering if you still had a Tempel-Tuttle specimen kicking around. I'd like to come down and sign it out."

"You're kidding, right? Peterman put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Ah, don't play dumb. We just inventoried the rocks two weeks ago. With the info available on the web and all, no one bothers to actually come look at them anymore. So we got up a pool to see who would be the first and threw some names in a hat. I got you."

"Heh! Sounds like Peterman. But seriously, I really want to study that sample. You can buy me lunch with the pool winnings."

"You're forgetting something, pal, we're scientists, not bankers."

He chuckled. "No, I haven't forgotten." He looked at his watch. "Tell you what. The Girls will be home from school any minute. I'll come down tomorrow and I'll buy YOU lunch, how's that?"

"Wow! Something ELSE that happens once every 33 years!"

Professor nearly dropped the phone, laughing, said goodbye to his old friend and eagerly awaited the Girls arrival.

 

SIX

 

Townsville Planetarium had one of the world's premier collections of rock formation samples from all over the globe, and some specimens that were quite literally out of this world. Visitors were encouraged to view them during their stay, but hardly anyone did anymore. Color photos and all the data you could stand were available via the internet; beyond that, they were just rocks.

Members of Townsville's scientific community had a unique privilege. They could sign these samples out for further study, for up to two weeks at a time. But as Kramer had noted, nobody did. They would have the specimen room to themselves.

As they approached the glass cases that held all of the meteorites from known sources, each one identified with a nameplate, Kramer frowned. The space for the one they wanted was empty.

"That's odd! I'm sure I've seen that Leonid since the inventory. Maybe not, though; it wasn't on anybody's mind until you asked about it. Let me go check the vault."

* * * * * * * * * *

Mojo Jojo believed he was more intelligent than any creature on earth, and was superior to any human at anything. History and the Powerpuff Girls proved him wrong again and again; but there was one thing he really WAS superior at: gloating.

There wasn't a security system made he couldn't defeat and the Planetarium's had been an insult to his intelligence. But it was worth it. He gazed at the golf ball sized prize he held in his hand and dreamed of the day when it would rid him of those pests. Not yet, though.

Carefully planned schemes like the one he had in mind required careful planning. It was true that just locking the Puffs in his secret concrete room with the meteorite might destroy them, but that wouldn't require careful planning for which he and his superior brain would receive credit. No, he would construct a device that would magnify the properties of the Leonid a thousandfold, resulting in the death ray to end all death rays. It would make his Super Powerpuffo Destructo ray look like a squirt gun by comparison. But first, a simple test of the rock's strength was necessary. Carefully planned, of course.

He was pretty well set for cash at the moment, but some precious stones would be nice. Nothing like the one he held in his hand, but they would do.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Ah, Professor! Sorry it took me so long."

Kramer was back with a large metal box in his hands.

"Oh, good, you found it!"

"Nope, this one's different. We must have misplaced the other one after the inventory. It'll turn up, but who cares? You're the only one interested."

"That's great, I never knew you had another!"

"I knew, but I'd forgotten all about it. Feast your eyes on this baby!"

Kramer opened the lead-lined box. The meteorite was about the size of a softball, and incredibly dense and heavy. Professor imagined how big it must have been to start; to have survived Earth's atmosphere in its present state.

"Wow, that thing must've left a pretty big crater!"

"About 200 feet wide and 20 deep. We estimate this one hit 30 thousand years ago. It's never been on display, been in that box since we got it."

"Now I wish you could find the other one, be interesting to see if they exhibit the same properties. I only hope I can finish my research in two weeks."

"Don't sweat it, Professor. If anyone asks for it, you'll have to return it; but I'm not expecting that."

"Thank you, Dr. Kramer. I really appreciate this!"

"Good. Because I'm hungry!"

 

SEVEN

 

The Girls were hungry, too. But it never failed, it seemed; the hotline always buzzed just before lunch or milk and cookie time.

Blossom hung up and said, agitated, "Ms. Keane, may we please be excused? Mojo's robbing Townsville Jewelers again!"

"Yes, Girls, but please don't-"

She sighed as she watched them blast the doorway into toothpicks. At least it was cheaper to repair than a hole in the roof.

Buttercup didn't quit complaining the entire way. Though her sisters really got tired of listening to her, after years of putting up with it, they understood it was her way of psyching herself up for a good fight. She spied Mojo making his escape from the store on foot, carrying a bag, and turning down an alley. Without waiting for Blossom to give instructions, she attacked.

She ignored a somewhat peeved Blossom's order to hold up and wait for her and Bubbles, and flew into the alley. She smiled when she saw it was a dead end; Mojo looking at her and the brick wall behind him. Suddenly, she became intensely dizzy and a wave of nausea slammed into her. She lost control and crashed into a row of filled trashcans, sending garbage all over the alley and herself.

Hearing the noise, Blossom and Bubbles zipped into the alley expecting to see their sister pummeling the monkey. Instead, they saw her on all fours, groaning and wiping her mouth, and they were soon doing the same.

Blossom fought to get up, and advanced on Mojo in anger.

"All right, Mojoke! Hand over those jewels!"

Bubbles struggled to help Buttercup stand. When she was up, she said weakly "Yeah, Mojoke, I might be sick but I can still kick your butt...ohhh!"

She fell to her knees. Bubbles and Blossom each grabbed onto the wall of a building that made up one side of the alley.

Mojo was grinning at them. "Mojoke, Mojoke, you always call me that! You must think I'm a pretty funny guy. Well, try this one on! Powerpuff Girls, prepare to meet your doom!"

He whipped out the deadly object from under his cape and flashed it in front of their terror stricken faces.

"Get it? Meteor doom? You don't find that amusing?"

They barely were able to mouth the word 'Kryptonite' before Bubbles fell unconscious on top of Buttercup, Blossom landing on Bubbles. Laughing raucously, Mojo stepped over their sprawled bodies; turned, and insulted them further by pouring the stolen jewels on top of them. He had the only gem he needed.

"Well, I find it HILARIOUS!"

 

EIGHT

 

Through the pain and nausea, Buttercup could sense something awful happening to her. The alley rats were crawling all over her trying to get at the rotting garbage. She could see the light through her closed eyelids dim as something loomed over her, and she flailed her arms and legs, trying to drive the rats away. Suddenly, one of them bit her arm and she screeched in pain and fear. Her eyes shot open, staring at...Professor?!!

In a split second, she realized she was safe in his laboratory. She flew off the hospital bed, hugging him around the neck, crying.

"Professor, it was so awful! Mojo robbed the jeweler and I caught him, then I got sick and he threw the kryptonite at me and then the rats were EATIN' ME!!"

As she wailed, practically choking him, he tried to set the needle he had just given her the shot with down before he stuck himself with it. He eyed Blossom and Bubbles, still unconscious on their beds, with concern. Whatever they had encountered in that alley had shattered Buttercup's rock hard exterior. This was pure unadulterated frightened child pouring out.

"It's all right, baby, I'm here. You were just having a bad dream, that's all."

She was shaking, tears steaming down her face. She pointed to her sisters. "Professor, why aren't they wakin' up?"

"Don't worry, honey, they'll be fine. They're just sleeping off the effects of whatever-"

A chill ran down his back.

"Buttercup, what did you say?"

"Huh? I said why aren't they waking up."

"No, before, in the alley...Mojo...Why, that!!"

He gently laid her back on the bed and told her to rest. Inside, he was raging.

"How the heck did he know about the meteorite when I just found out about it?"

Of course. He mentally kicked himself again. Another foolish mistake, and this one could have cost his Girls their lives. That monkey was going to pay for this but it would have to wait. He turned back to Buttercup.

"Feel any better?"

She sat up. "A little."

"I want you to try something. See that empty beaker over there? Hit it with your lasers."

She saw where he was pointing across the room, and powered up. Within seconds, melted glass was pooling on the floor.

"That STINKS!! That sucker should be GONE!! Professor, that stuff ruined me!"

He smiled. "No, Buttercup, its effects seem to be only temporary. You're getting stronger!"

He was happier to see her feistiness returning. He hoped Bubbles and Blossom would bounce back just as quickly when they woke up. He needed them in good spirits. He was now certain his planned course of treatment would cure them, but it would have to be their decision to take it.

Bubbles was beginning to stir, her closed eyes fluttering. The time to give them the wakeup shot was when they first entered REM sleep. Thankfully, she wasn't having a nightmare.

"Mmm, yum! Mrs. Mayor, you make the BESTEST cookies! Mayor and Ms. Bellum say it's the ONLY thing you do good."

"Bubbles!" Buttercup scolded.

"Shhh. She can't hear you." Professor told her. Someone obviously forgot that little pitchers have big ears.

Blossom was coming around. "Gee, Harry, you clean up nice! Don?t let Buttercup see you like this!"

"Blossom!!" Buttercup fumed. "That's just great, Professor! Bubbles gets cookies, Blossom gets boys and I get rats!"

She was her old self again.

 

NINE

 

Bubbles and Blossom were fully awake and the four of them had gone over the details of the afternoon's scare. Professor explained to them what he knew or suspected.

"Girls, Mojo obviously knows your secret. We need to do something, fast. It's not fair for you to have to make a decision like this, but your futures depend on it."

"What choices do we have, Professor?" Blossom asked.

"Only two that I can see, Blossom. The first is, I believe I can cure you of this problem by slowly exposing you to a sample of the meteorite. It's like getting allergy shots, you get a little of what you're allergic to until you build up a tolerance to it."

"Hey, great!" Buttercup said. "Then we won't get sick anymore?"

"Well, yes, honey, but it isn't that simple. I don't know how long it will take. In the meantime, Mojo will go after you again. He saw what only a brief exposure did to you."

"Yeah, Professor. If I know him, he'll be tryin' to make some kind of ray gun with it!" Bubbles said, frowning at the thought.

"You're right, Bubbles! He's so predictable." said Blossom.

* * * * * * * * * *

Mojo stood over his workbench, tightening a few screws on a scaled down version of one of his laser cannons.

"Ah, the magnifiers are completely adjusted, so I do not have to adjust them anymore!"

He picked up the meteorite and filed off a small pile of granules. He carefully dumped them into the weapon's ammunition chamber.

"Now to test the strength of the beam!"

A small sample of the meteorite fed a steady dose of radiation into a tube, which fed into a testing device. Ten feet away, a mechanical graph sketched a straight baseline reading across the paper. Just below the tube's opening was a mirror, which would reflect the fired beam upward.

Mojo took careful aim at the mirror and pulled the trigger. A noiseless green beam zapped out and shot up into the tube. The drawing arm on the graph made a pencil slash to the top of the chart and flew off the machine, ending up on the other side of the observatory.

"Yeessss!" His lips spread in a sinister grin, showing off his sharp teeth. He laid the gun down and picked up his deadly ammunition.

"Those puny Powerpukes have finally met their match! I hope their insurance is paid up!"

He tossed the meteorite up and caught it. "I wonder if Professor owns 'a piece of the rock'? Muahahahahaha!!!"

* * * * * * * * * *

"Gee, Professor," said Blossom. "You don't know how long the cure's gonna take and it's going to hurt a lot."

"And it might make us so sick that we can't fight crime for a long time!" Bubbles added mournfully.

"Only until you're cured, Girls, but it could take a very long time. And there is still the chance it won't work at all."

"Man, what's the other plan, Professor?" Buttercup demanded. "It can't be any worse than this one!"

"Well, Buttercup, it may not be; but that's for you Girls to decide. This will cure you instantly and you'll never have to worry about this 'kryptonite' hanging over your heads. But it has one very nasty side affect."

They stared at him, waiting for further explanation. Slowly, the horror of it dawned on Blossom.

"No. Oh, no, Professor, anything but that!"

Confused, Buttercup and Bubbles both said "What?" at the same instant.

"Girls, he's talking about giving us the antidote for Chemical X."

Bubbles launched herself at him, clinging to him. "Noooooooooo!"

Buttercup couldn't contain herself. She flew into a frenzy, punching and kicking the air.

"No! I'd rather die! Unh! Unh! Unhunhunh!"

Blossom flew after her, grabbing her arms and whispering something to her. Her eyes widened and she looked down to see the pain etched on Professor's face. Together, they floated down to him and joined Bubbles.

Through tears, Buttercup said "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" She buried her face in his sleeve.

He lifted her chin and smiled. "I know." He looked down at each of them while he spoke.

"Girls, I know what it means, but I wish you would think about this. I would rather have three normal kids who are miserable for a little while than lose my little crimefighters forever."

They remained silent in their group hug until Bubbles finally looked up.

"But if we're normal, won't Mojo still want to get us?"

"Where's the challenge in that, Bubbles?" Blossom answered.

"Yeah, Blossom. We should think about this." Buttercup said in a flat tone.

Professor hated torturing them like this. Another alternative had just occurred to him, one that could work if everything went right. But it was a temporary fix; they would still need the treatments. And if it failed, it meant the Girls' certain destruction. He owed it to them to give them that option, but not now. They all needed to be thinking clearly.

 

TEN

 

The Girls were watching TV while Professor was in the kitchen doing the after dinner chores they always did. After leaving the lab, he'd made them go to bed to rest until it was time to eat. At the table, he had told them about the idea he had.

Buttercup wasn't paying any attention to the show; she was angry.

"This isn't fair!"

"I know, Buttercup, but we have to decide." Blossom said. "I want to know more about the treatment."

Bubbles crossed her arms. "Me too, Blossom."

Buttercup said "Yeah, me too. I just hate deciding."

Together, they yelled "Professor!"

He came running into the living room. "Girls! What's wrong?"

Blossom said "Professor, we need to know how bad this is gonna be."

He made them get dressed for bed first, and in their room he showed them the lead box.

"Girls, directly exposing you to this wasn't what I had in mind. The one Mojo took has been displayed for years, it's smaller and may have lost much of its strength."

"Open it, Professor." Blossom demanded.

He sighed, and opened the lid. A faint green glow emitted from inside. The Girls felt no sudden nausea or dizziness. There wasn't time. They fell unconscious on the bed.

 

ELEVEN

 

Mojo watched them fly off for school the next morning. The telescope followed their flight and he listened in briefly until they got out of range.

Blossom spoke first. "Professor's meteorite is way stronger than Mojo's. I think the treatments are gonna work!"

"Yeah, Blossom, but it's gonna take forever! I can't live like this!" Buttercup complained bitterly.

"Me either, Buttercup." Bubbles cried. "Everywhere we go, Mojo might be waitin' for us with his death ray!"

Blossom said, sadly "You're right, guys. There's only one thing we can do. We don't have a choice."

He watched them as their voices faded.

"So, Professor Utonium also has a meteorite and he is using it to build up their immunity! Clever but useless! Powerpuff Girl Buttercup is correct! It will take more time than I am going to let them have, but I will enjoy torturing them in the few days they have left! Blossom is also correct; they have no choice but to be destroyed! Muahahahaha!!

He quickly grabbed some weapons, loaded them and himself into his Robo-Mojo and flew off.

* * * * * * * * * *

They couldn't keep their minds on school. Ms. Keane noticed right away that Buttercup wasn't her usual mischievous self. To a simple math question, Blossom had answered "Uh, Kansas?" and Bubbles spilled her milk, twice. They weren't accustomed to being laughed at and Buttercup was nearing her flashpoint.

Ms. Keane was about to take them aside to ask what was wrong when the door burst open. Mojo Jojo strode in, wearing a bulky coat. He walked directly up to the Girls and whipped out the biggest, strangest looking gun they'd ever seen. While Keane and the other children gasped, he leveled it at the Girls. Bubbles hands flew to her mouth.

"Oh no! It's the death ray!"

Blossom and Buttercup knit their brows in anger and their eyes narrowed. If this was the end, so be it.

Buttercup snarled "Well, I'm not going down without a fight!"

"Correction, Powerpuff Girl Buttercup! You are not going down without a BATH! Muahahahaha!!!"

He pulled the trigger and 10 gallons of water instantly soaked them from head to foot. The children's gasps of fright turned to riotous laughter as they pointed at the three dripping disasters.

Steam rose from the tops of their drenched heads. Blossom's wilted hairbow hung in front of her eyes.

"That's it, Mojo!"

They fired up their eyebeams and took a step toward him and he sprang backward.

"Oh, no you don't!" he growled back at them, dropping the soaker and pulling out another, smaller weapon. This time, they thought better of charging him and powered down. The laughter in the room stopped.

"You!" he said to them, pointing to the far side of the room. "Go stand in the corner. You need a time out! Teacher! You go stand in the opposite corner!"

Everyone obeyed. He leveled the gun at Ms. Keane and made an adjustment.

"I am going to shoot your teacher with my most powerful weapon ever." He fired and everyone screamed as a green beam shot forth, striking Keane in the chest.

"Huh?" She blinked. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"That's right!" Mojo crowed, turning to face the Girls. "That was on its highest setting, too. Now, watch what happens to your precious protectors when I use the LOWEST setting on THEM!"

The children thought the gun misfired because nothing came out. But the Girls? legs buckled, leaving them a soaked, quivering mess on the floor.

Smiling evilly, he bid them all "Have a nice day!" and left as quickly as he had come. He had humiliated the Powerpuffs in front of their friends; doing it in front of Townsville would be even more enjoyable. He returned directly to his lair to devise more cruelty. He trained his telescope on the Utonium home so he could watch the fun when they got there while his evil mind plotted.

He was disappointed; they didn't fly home. Professor brought them home in his car and carried them straight into the house. By dark, Mojo was ready to give up. He had devised several brilliant plans to embarrass them further before finishing them off, so the day had been a good one. He was just about to walk away from the telescope when the door to the house opened and the Girls floated out into the front yard, Professor behind them.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Professor, we've made our decision." Blossom said.

He saw the sadness on their faces. "You know I'll support you no matter what it is, Girls."

"Professor, we want to get cured but we don't have time! We can't take this anymore!" Bubbles sobbed.

"He's just playing with us and we can't fight back!" Buttercup raged. "I can handle getting killed in a fight but not this; afraid that Mojo's around the next corner, wondering when he's going to do it!"

Blossom said, defeated, "Professor, we don't want to stop fighting crime but we don't want to die, either. We just have to accept that Mojo's beaten us. Give us the antidote."

Bubbles eyes filled up with tears. "Townsville will have to find new superheroes."

Mojo sprang back from the telescope in shock.

"No! They cannot do this to me! The Powerpuff Girls have finally admitted defeat but they are not defeated until they are destroyed by me and they will not be destroyed by me if they are no longer the Powerpuff Girls so they will not have been defeated! CUURRRRRSES!!! I must destroy them tonight!"

He moved back to the telescope so he wouldn't miss anything important.

"Girls, I'm so sorry it had to end this way, but you are making the right decision. I'll go get the antidote ready."

Bubbles grabbed his arm. "Professor, wait! Can we do it tomorrow? There's a few things we wanna do first!"

Blossom said tearfully "We wanna say goodbye to Fred. W-we're never gonna s-see him again!"

"Oh, right. Your monster friend."

Mojo wiped away a tear. He loved happy endings.

"And we wanna go see the Moon one last time, Professor. Can we, please, can we?" Buttercup pleaded with him.

"Yes, Girls, you may. But you may be a little weak yet and you need protection. I insist that you wear your space suits. And be very careful you don't rip them!"

"We're only going to the Moon!" Buttercup protested.

"Who cares, Buttercup? It's the last time we'll get to use them." Bubbles reminded her.

Professor said "I'll go get them."

Mojo stood back again. Let them make their little farewells. He would be hiding in wait for them when they returned. They weren't going to foil his most brilliant scheme by turning themselves into normal little girls! He headed for his work area, to see that all was in readiness.

 

TWELVE

 

Professor finished securing Bubbles' helmet and they were ready to go.

"Now, remember, Girls. Be very careful!"

"We will, Professor!" Blossom took command of their final mission. "C'mon, Girls, let's get the lead out!"

They looked up at the shining moon and blasted off.

* * * * * * * * * *

Mojo ran down his list and checked off one by one the items scattered around his feet.

"Death ray, check. Ammunition, check. Ninja suit, check. Video equipment, check. Clean underwear, check...

"You're gonna need it, Mojoke!"

Buttercup smashed through the ceiling, Blossom and Bubbles right behind her.

"Powerpuff Girls!"

He grabbed the weapon and blasted Buttercup with a full strength beam. Nothing happened and she kicked him in the face, sending him flying. Blossom grabbed the gun and pointed it at his head while Bubbles and Buttercup flew after him. They dragged him over to where Blossom stood, giving him a punch here and a kick there.

Mojo stared at his weapon and the Powerpuff who held it in disbelief.

"But, how?"

"Simple, stupid." Buttercup told him.

Blossom explained. "All this time we didn't know what was making us sick and the day after we found out, YOU stole the meteorite from the Planetarium."

"You were listening in on us! Bad monkey!" Bubbles kicked him again.

"So we let you listen in some more." Blossom continued. "We thought you might make some kind of ray gun, so Professor lined these suits with lead, just like you did with your turban, right? Then we convinced you we were taking the antidote so you'd come after us right away. We knew the gun would be out in the open when we got here."

Bubbles added "We WERE gonna take the antidote, weren't we?"

"Yeah, right up until Professor told us about this plan." Blossom said.

"Believe us, Mojo, we're gonna get even for what you did to us in school today!" Buttercup grinned into his face.

"Ha!" he sneered back at her. "I've been in prison before. You can never humiliate me the way I humiliated you!"

"Wanna bet?" Blossom said. "Girls, let's find that rock and get out of here!"

 

THIRTEEN

 

Mojo was in a holding cell, cursing at them. Blossom was explaining to the warden exactly what would be needed.

"A couple of tire swings, plenty of bananas, maybe some straw on the floor. Oh, yeah, diapers. LOTS of diapers!"

"WHAT?? I do not require any of those things! If I required those things I would have asked for them and since I have not made such a request I DO NOT NEED THEM!!

"Well, Blossom," the warden said, "he does have a point. He's never needed anything like that in the past. Why now?"

"Because, Mojoke," Buttercup laughed. "You're gonna be sharing your cell with a rock from outer space. Without that dumb headpiece!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!!"

"Hey, I got a better idea!" Bubbles exclaimed with delight. "Why don't we just put him in the zoo?"

"That's a great idea, Bubbles!" Blossom drew close to the bars and winked at Mojo. "Told ya' we'd get even!"

"CURSE YOU, POWERPUFF GIRLS!!!"

 

FOURTEEN

 

The treatments had been excruciatingly painful but their progress was remarkable. It was taking far less time than Professor had feared. It was now late January, just a few days before the Girls' 6th birthday. For the last week, they had slept the whole night with the large meteorite on the nightstand next to their bed, suffering no ill effects.

Professor had planned a small party with just their closest friends, but the whole world by now knew the story and Townsville was throwing them another gala bash.

This time the party went exactly the opposite of last year's. Everything was perfect. But it was over and all the guests had gone home. The Girls were getting ready for bed, happy but exhausted, when Professor came in to see them.

"Girls, I have something very special for you."

"Cool, another present!" Buttercup's face lit up. All three Girls floated up to him expectantly.

He chuckled and picked up the meteorite. "I pronounce you officially cured. You'll never have to worry about this again."

Bubbles and Blossom looked at each other. Well, they sort of suspected THAT. They watched Buttercup nervously for her reaction. Don't tell her you have something for her if you don't.

"Oh, I almost forgot...I have something else..." He reached into his pocket and produced three jewelry cases.

"Happy Birthday, Girls."

He handed them each one of the small boxes and nodded for them to go ahead.

They gasped. "Professor, they're beautiful!"

They were gold necklaces, identical except each had the owner's name engraved on the back of the pendant's bezel. In each was a highly polished oval stone. They appeared to be black, but when the Girls held them up to the light, they shone a brilliant dark blue.

They thanked him and hugged him. Blossom asked "What is it, Professor?"

"It's your birthstone, Girls."

"Huh?" she said, confused. "I thought garnets were red!"

"Actually, Blossom, they come in all colors EXCEPT blue. That's your true birthstone. Since the news got out, scientists from all over have been sending me Leonid samples. I had them made for you from one of them."

Bubbles pointed out the window, up toward the stars and looked at him, worried.

"Professor? Are we aliens?"

Buttercup and Blossom burst out laughing.

"Bubbles, that's silly!"

Chuckling, he took her in his arms. "Remember, Bubbles, that Chemical X was just the spark that helped create you. No, you aren't aliens!"

He kissed the top of her head and she smiled. He grinned at all of them.

"But you are out of this world!"

 

THE END

 

 

FINAL NOTES: The brief historical data on the Leonid meteor shower is presented accurately to the best of my ability. The dates used, the 18th and 19th of November, correspond to the two actual peak days of shower activity. We don't know (as of September 2000, when this story was written) what the Leonid shower of 2000 will bring. However, storms are presently being predicted for 2001-2002.

All of the other 'information' given, regarding size of the meteorite samples, craters, composition (it's unlikely gems could be produced from one), and especially any magical 'properties', are purely made up.

What started out as an idea to explore the question 'What IS Chemical X anyway?" led me to the 'meteorite' theory. In the course of doing research, I discovered the subject to be more fascinating than I could have imagined. I was never much of an astronomy buff although I do ponder the vastness of the universe.

As a result, this November, and probably the next several, I will be watching the heavens in the wee hours of the 18th and 19th, atmospheric conditions permitting. And I can guarantee I'll be thinking about the three fictional little girls, tucked safe and warm in their bed, who brought me to be standing there in the cold.

If this story inspires you in any way to do the same, below is only one of the places you can get more information.

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/meteorites.html

Story written August-September 2000