With the agents behind them, they were led outside of the headquarters and herded into an unmarked car. Because of their franticness to get the potential victims out, one of the Men in Black just squashed the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys into the backseat, while the other gave Professor Utonium extremely specific instructions about where to go.
Once that was done, Professor Utonium slammed on the accelerator and raced through the streets.
Normally, Professor Utonium was a very sensible and level-headed man, but when his daughters' safeties were involved, especially when the vulnerability was very real, he completely chose to forgo the road laws and crisscross the different cars in traffic despite the risk.
"Professor, what're you doing?" Bubbles cried as the six metahumans braced themselves in the back. "You might crash the car!"
"Bubbles, not right now," he said tensely. "I need to get you all to the safe house before that creature gets close."
"Speaking of the safe house," Buttercup yelled, "what were you boys talking about in the examination room? Why'd you guys look so distraught or whatever?"
"Fuck off and mind your own damn business," Butch snapped. Then Professor Utonium narrowly dodged an eighteen-wheeler, and Butch gave a yelp as his ribs flared in pain from bumping into Boomer.
Almost instinctively, Boomer threw his arm across Butch's chest, hoping to keep him from hitting anything else.
"The secret behind this is the changes made to the Chemical X in our bodies," rationalized Brick. "Whatever that man did to us, we have to find a way to get our powers back. It's the only option we have—that is, unless we have a way of putting them into things we can use."
All of a sudden, Professor Utonium slammed down on the brakes, throwing them all forwards.
"Jesus Christ, Utonium!" barked Butch. "You said I heal in fucking half an hour, not five minutes! So take it easy on the brakes, why don't you?!"
"Putting powers into things we can use," the professor murmured to himself. Then his eyes lit up. "That's it!"
Grabbing hold of the gear shift, he drove forwards, then pulled a U-turn, heading back the way they'd come. He raced towards his home neighborhood, pulling into his driveway and leaping out of his car.
"Everyone, out!" he ordered.
The six looked at each other, exchanging perplexed looks, before following after him into the Utonium house.
"Professor, what's going on?" Bubbles wondered as they headed into his laboratory. "I thought we were evacuating."
"Not anymore." His jaw set, Professor Utonium headed straight for the bookcase and reached up to the top shelf, pressing down on a hidden button. Almost instantly, it began to tremble, and slowly, it slid towards the side, disappearing into the wall to reveal a steel door.
The door seemed about ten inches thick, and a keypad was set into its center. After putting in a code, they heard a distinct hiss, and the door slid open.
"Oh my God," Bubbles whispered.
Inside was a small square room, lit by three small bulbs set into the ceiling, each shining a column of light over three glass cases, all of which bore three pre-teen mannequins. Professor Utonium unlocked them all, and beckoned them closer.
The three seemed surprised to find the mannequins wearing white belts, hanging loose on the mannequins' hips. At a closer look, they had three buttons on the right-hand side, colored in the Powerpuff Girls' signature colors, with a circular buckle accented with small yellow studs. The buckles were also in the girls' signature colors, with one big letter P.
"Professor, what are these?" Buttercup demanded.
"Two months ago, the Men in Black commissioned me to create assessment tools to be used on the Rowdyruff Boys, to get a proper analysis on their DNA and how Chemical X gives them their superpowers, as well as deem how the Chemical X reacts while their powers were being used. I tried to do so, while using the Powerpuff Girls' abilities as a basis, but two weeks before today, I discovered that they're completely incompatible, and potentially dangerous. Because the belts contain pure Chemical X and were meant to bind with your bodies, the overload could cause you to explode."
Boomer's gulp was entirely audible.
"They were a failure, but had room for improvement, so I didn't dismantle them. Now, it seems that they may actually have some use."
"But what makes you think nothing will happen right now?" questioned Butch, staring at the belts with absolute skepticism.
"Due to the active components in your bodies, the addition of more Chemical X was what made the danger. But now, the Chemical X inside all of you acts more of a bonding agent, which would mean the active ingredients in Chemical X will do nothing."
"How do you know that?" Bubbles wondered.
"It's a conjecture," he admitted. "But I am 95% convinced that they'll work. If you begin to feel any sensations that seem uncomfortable, remove the belts immediately."
For a moment, they hesitated, unsure whether or not to put them on. He was only 95% sure, and even though that was pretty high, there was still a potential 5% that things would turn out horribly wrong.
The slight tremor in the ground decided it for them, and the three quickly put them on. The belts hummed briefly for a few seconds on their hips, before finally settling down. The three girls shifted a little, checking themselves, but nothing else really happened to them.
"What now?" Bubbles asked.
"Well... the belt buckles are removable, and have a compact-like appearance, which is usually for the scientists to hold while the belts are on the subjects—er, on you. Unfortunately, from this point on, I'm not sure what will happen next, as the belts were never really activated until now."
Blossom frowned and slipped out the compact. She flipped the lid open, revealing a colorful interface with a square screen in a golden outline.
"How does this work?" She pressed one of the buttons, and the screen instantly lit up.
The words "Input name," flashed in her eyes.
"Blossom Utonium," she answered promptly.
"Initializing DNA scan... Linking device... Binding Chemical X with subject..."
She felt a strange vibration shiver through her body, coming straight from the belt on her hips, and the compact began to tremble in her palm. What the? She felt something especially strong in her other hand, and she looked at it with confused eyes.
There was a strange compulsion there, to raise it up above her head. Somehow, it seemed that was what she needed to do to make this belt show what it's made of.
So she did, throwing it up as high as she could. Almost instantly, a ring materialized on her finger, and her body moved on its own, sliding it across her compact. The second it felt the ring, the compact snapped shut, and Blossom threw it back into its slot on her belt.
Small pink hearts began to flash from the compact, and a flash of light forced them all to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded.
It lasted only a few seconds, and as soon as they felt it die down, they looked up.
Standing there was still Blossom, but with a considerable change. Her clothes—which the Professor had provided to change their wet uniforms—were gone, and in their place was an entirely-new ensemble.
It seemed to be a pink suit with a pleated black-lined skirt, the belt still low on her hips, and a light pink jersey vest, which had pink and white linings, pink sleeves, a stylized heart on the back, and a P on the left side of her chest. On her hands were black fingerless gloves with white-and-pink linings, and her shoes were a mix of black, pink, and white. Pearl earrings adorned her ears, and a black choker with P was around her neck. Even her hairstyle had changed, with her bow acting as a tie to a high ponytail.
"Professor!" she cried. "This..!"
But even Professor Utonium looked bewildered. "I didn't realize it could do that."
"And what's this?" She held up a spherical object in her hand. "A yoyo?"
As a test, she threw it, and it hit Brick square in the chest. Much to her shock, he went flying, straight into the wall, before the yoyo went reeling back towards her hand, nestling comfortably in her palm.
"Blossom!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Why'd you do that?!"
"I don't know!" Then an idea struck her. "Wait..."
She took a chance, and leaped up, focusing all her energy on the thing she was able to do since she was born.
And she flew.
"It works!" Slowly, she lowered herself to the floor. "Girls, let's go! Put on those belts! We have a city to save!"
With the knowledge that Blossom was alright, the other two sisters put on the belts and repeated exactly what Blossom had done. Within seconds, they transformed as well, with their own set of unique weapons—a white staff for Bubbles, with a hollow spherical topper, and an enormous yellow hammer for Buttercup.
"Stay here," Blossom told the four males. "We'll come back."
In flashes of pink, blue, and green, they shot out of the room and out of the house, streaking into the skies.
Once they were gone, Butch and Boomer approached their brother, who still sat against the wall, rubbing the back of his head from the impact.
"Bro, you alright?" Butch asked.
In response, Brick glared at them. "If I said I wasn't, what do you even have to offer? A fucking bandage?"
================================================================================
It turns out, Professor Utonium had what he'd previously thought to be failures, but had a use after all! Although artificial powers, they should work well enough. Will the Powerpuff Girls be able to save Megaville from this threat? I wonder how they're going to do this.
For real fans of PPG, which incarnation do you think this story is based of? (/^ヮ^)/
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