CHAPTER IX: DAWN OF THREE NEW HEROES

'Girls!' cried Professor, breaking from his run and skidding to a halt in the middle of the street. 'Girls, where are you?' He looked from left to right frantically. 'You were right! We should try and stop Mojo, and I know how!' He pointed to the labeled, full flask he had in his other hand. 'I whipped up an antidote to Chemical X; it'll do away with his powers! Girls? Girls! Gir –'

It was at that point that Professor happened to glance up, and whatever he saw made him freeze, bar his free arm dropping comically to his side.

The defeated yet still giant Mojo was falling down, his shadow already encompassing about ten times Professor's width on the ground. Professor reacted, eyes and mouth wide, for he had no time to escape.

Up in the air, the girls reacted too. 'Professor!' They shot down at an alarming speed. The three parallel trails of pink, blue and green whisked Professor away, the flask of Antidote X falling from his grasp, spinning in the air, and smashing on the pavement before –

Mojo collided with the pavement, every part of his body sending tremors through the ground. His face collided sideways with it. Cracks spread out from his body as he laid there, limbs out at awkward angles.

Just as the shockwaves faded, the Antidote X spread out from underneath his body, stopping in a giant puddle that encompassed most of his body. Steam began to rise as a reaction started, the antidote seeping into Mojo's body.

Electricity sparked around Mojo's hand as it shrunk backwards. His back was doing the same, steam rising as his torso and ragged clothes returned to their original size. His brain was doing the same, the remnants of the dome helmet gone.

Mojo lay there in the black puddle, in exactly the same position as before the chemical reaction, and just as stationary as before it too. Wisps of steam still trailed from both the pool and Mojo himself. The pulverized primate let out a low, long groan, that being the only thing he could do, the girls and Professor staring in a stunned silence. Only when he finished did they turn away.

'Oh girls!' wept Professor, grasping them out of the air into his arms, their eyes closed in the embrace, away from the smoldering simian behind them 'I'm so sorry for doubting you, you are good!' Whatever skepticism he had previously had was gone in light of realization of how much he cared about them. 'Good, perfect little girls, and I love you!'

'We love you too!' exclaimed Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup together.

'And we're really sorry,' mumbled Blossom hovering back and her eyes furrowed.

'We messed up real bad,' added Buttercup, looking more sincere then usual, while Blossom floated past her.

'But, we're ready, Professor,' added Bubbles. She floated down and landed beside her sisters, in front of the pool while Mojo still lay in.

'Ready?' said Professor, turning as the girls lowered a hand each.

Blossom whipped her head around. 'To take the Antidote X to get rid of our powers,' she stated slowly and clearly.

'If it wasn't for them, none of this would have happened,' said Bubbles, beside Blossom, at they stared into the antidote.

'Besides,' added Buttercup, her every mouth movement reflected back alongside her sisters' somber faces, their reflections just by Mojo's unmoving body, 'maybe everyone would like us more if we were just normal little girls.' That was the only way they saw. To stop being viewed as a threat, they would sever that which made them special…

'NO!' cried what felt like the whole city. Standing around them in the shape of a heart were the people of Townsville.

'Huh?' reacted the girls, looking up.

At the front of the stationary crowd stood the diminutive Mayor, Ms. Bellum beside him. 'Um… well… ueh…' he muttered slowly, hands behind his back, glancing back and forth, both mulling his words over and hesitating in delivering them. 'Don't do that, cause…' he mumbled, his white moustache moving as he spoke, only his head and pupil moving otherwise. 'Ueh, that was pretty cool wit – with the… ehh…' He glanced upwards, all words, and thoughts, seeming to have failed him at this point into his statement.

'Girls,' interrupted Ms. Bellum, 'I think what the Mayor –' She gestured to their diminutive leader, who widened his eye, raising the eyebrow over the eye that didn't have a monocle in front of it. '– Is trying to say is, we're sorry, and thank you.'

'Yes!' chimed in Ms. Keane, her hands clasped together in front of her, 'that was super, just super!'

'Amazing!' said a businessman in a brown suit, hands thrown to the air.

'Fantastic!' said the woman that had scolded them at the zoo, her baby smiling too.

'Wonderful,' said an old, hunchbacked man with sunglasses.

'Stupendous,' said the Jamaican woman from Incorrect Politics, alongside the beehive-hairdo lady, the 80's punk rocker and the I.P. host, all giving them looks of appraisal.

'You rock!' cried the two youthful music lads, giving the rock sign with their right hands.

'Thank you,' said the black-spotted white poodle that Buttercup had saved on numerous occasions, smiling at them in a dog-like way.

The girls stood there in the midst of it all. As the approval, cheering and chorusing sunk in, they looked in every direction, their faces contorted in ecstatic gleams of surprise and happiness. Wherever they looked, people were cheering, yelling their support, and otherwise expressing their appreciation. They no longer considered the girls freaks.

They considered the girls… special and unique.

'Yeah!' yelled the enthusiastic Mayor, leaping through the air and landing with a squash. 'Oh, that was awesome!' Having waved his arms back and forth, he darted from side to side in front of them. 'You were all flying, and running, and then –' skidding to a halt, he imitated their eyebeams – 'laser eyes! Then,' he yelped, leaping into the air as he growled, before smacking the pavement, getting up instantly afterwards. 'BAM! And then –' He darted back and forth, imitating their eyebeams yet again, finally skidding to a halt in front of the girls, throwing a punch away from. 'And then, BAM! You punched that guy! Eh, remember?' he said looking back towards the girls, his desire to be overtly visually expressive having finally subsided.

The girls nodded in collaborative agreement, sporting happy yet mildly pitying glances at Mayor's over exuberance and redundancy, though is wasn't a patch on Mojo's, of course.

'Yeah,' said Mayor, nodding his head as he looked, down, his eye furrowed in soft recollection, 'that was great.'

'You know, said the Mayor glaring forward, though not at the girls, 'this town stinks!' He spread his arms out, though he let them droop as he averted his pupil again. 'And I was wondering if,' said the Mayor, hands folded behind him as he shuffled a foot on the ground, 'maybe sometime we could, like, call ya,' he said, shrugging in a hesitant gesture, 'to, save the day, or…' He drifted off, looking down with his hands folded in front this time. 'Whatever…' he finished, his moustache quivering with his final word.

The girls gasped in delight, looking above to their guardian. 'Can we, Professor?' squealed the girls together.

'Well,' said Professor, leaning down to their height, hand on his square chin as he mulled on the matter, 'I don't know…' He hummed as he considered the idea…

'Okay,' said Professor but a second later. 'But only if it's before your bedtime,' he added before his answer had really sunk in.

'YAAAAAAAAY!'

The girls flew up and around in delight, the cheering of the crowd punctuating the silence again. All everyone remembered was the sight of the girls in mid-flight, each in different directions as they looped about, with the crowd, Professor, and their defeated archenemy below.

The sun shone brightly over Townsville on this fair morning, the mood uplifted by birds chirping here and there. The atmosphere at the shopping mall Malphs was as quiet and as positive as it ever was, with nary a car, bike or person to be seen in any direction.

Another sound added itself to the chirping fowl, that of wheels rattling as they moved. Across the parking lot came a shopping trolley laden with groceries, pushed at a slow yet steady pace by an senior lady, who was at ease with her current task –

Until a long arm reached out and grasped the trolley's front, making her stop and look forward. There stood Ace, with Snake, Big Billy, Arturo and Grubber flanking him.

In Townsville Hall, Mayor's scribbled his signature on a sheet, when he was distracted by a cry. 'Help!' Mayor looked to Ms. Bellum, who pointed a finger past Mayor. He turned around, seeing that it was directed towards a stand in the corner, upon which rested a white-and-red hotline telephone with cherry eyes and mouth, and a light-able nose.

Concurrently in Pokey Oaks, the children were enjoying themselves, including the girls, whether talking or playing with the others.

A beeping noise resonated repeatedly, drawing the attention of everyone. A hotline identical to the one in Mayor's office was also on a stand, and the nose was flashing red as it beeped. Ms. Keane had a hand over her mouth, while most of the children stared, but the girls were grinning, their eyes' clenched.

Back outside Malphs, Ace and Snake were pulling at the woman's handbag, while Big Billy was chewing on contents from one brown bag of groceries. Grubber was keeping the lady petrified, and Arturo was flinging crumbs at her feet.

They all froze, staring forward midway through their activities, while the lady looked ecstatic.

There floated the girls, glaring at the gang, Buttercup blinked, arms crossed in front of her. Bubbles blinked, arms folded behind her. Blossom blinked, arms on her hips.

Blossom struck Ace across the jaw, knocking him silly. Bubbles dealt out a twin kick that dealt with both Snake and Grubber. Buttercup finished off both Arturo and Big Billy with one punch.

Jail bard clanged shut on the defeated quintet. Billy lay on the floor with Ace and Snake on top of him, and Arturo and Grubber against him. They did not have a bed, for one of the two had the country Lumpkin, Fuzzy Lumpkins, sitting on it, glaring at the ground. The other possessed a disgruntled Mojo Jojo, glaring at the gang, and naked bar a pair of skimpy white underwear.

Outside Townsville jail, two coppers waved up at the sky. As they departed, the girls waved back, redirecting their attention to the sky above them.

'Sugar –'
Bubbles shot past her sisters in a blue poof.

'– Spice –'
Buttercup followed, her green shot leaving Blossom trailing behind.

'– And everything nice.'
Blossom did the same, leaving their previous patch of air empty.

'These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girl.'
They flew level with the clouds now. Blossom flew in the middle, with Bubbles on her right, and Buttercup to her left. They all smiled as they soared, their hair blowing behind them. They each had a leg tucked in, and their arms out in flight.

'But, Professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction – Chemical X.'
The clouds floated over the landscape of Townsville, with all it's roads, and motorways linking in and out of the city. Low, yet sharp, hill peaks dotted the horizon. Arcing towards these hills were three parallel shining streaks of pink, blue and green.

'Thus Blossom –'
Blossom shot out of the clouds, flying above them as they whisked past her.

'– Bubbles –'
Bubbles followed suit, her pigtails flapping as she came level with her sister.

'– And Buttercup, were born!'
Buttercup made the trio complete, grinning happily as they soared through the blue sky.

'Using their ultra super powers –'
The three light streaks of the girls shot over Malphs, which now had people milling about both in and out of cars.

'– They dedicated their lives to fighting –'
Outside Donut Thing, six male police officers of varying races and weights waved overhead as the streaks shot high above the snack shop and the six police cars in the parking lot.

'– Crime, and the forces of –'
The main Townsville Bank was now fine, as the streaks shot high above and past it, leaving hope for the milling consumers.

'– Evil.'
The streaks of the town's three new heroes arced over the highest, skyscrapers, all repaired. They meant many things – but mostly that whenever forces threatened Townsville, three little girls would fight.

The three conjoined streaks looped out of Townsville center into the suburbs, did a U-Turn in the air, and collided gently into Professor, who had been standing on his front yard. Though knocked back, none of them minded, and they laughed in delight together. Though now superheroes, they were still first and foremost three perfect little girls, with a great father.

'And so, for the very first time, the day, is saved! Thanks to…'
The three streaks shot out of sight. But it was only brief, for they, with a burst of white light, reappeared as the girls, their entrance so stylish it seemed to sprinkle with stars everywhere.

'THE POWERPUFF GIRLS!
Hey, that's a good name for them – Powerpuff Girls, yeah! I like that!
Wonder if they will, I'll run it by them.
Powerpuff Girls! Mmm-hmm...'

Approximate Chapter Running Time (with extra scenes): 66:13-70:00 (NTSC); 63:33-67:12 (PAL)
Approximate Chapter Running Time (without extra scenes): 64:24-68:11 (NTSC); 61:49-65:27 (PAL)

Approximate Credits Running Time (with extra scenes): 70:00-75:30 (NTSC); 67:12-72:29 (PAL)
Approximate Credits Running Time (without extra scenes): 68:11-73:44 (NTSC); 65:27-70:44 (PAL)
Overall 3-Act Structure Division (NTSC, with extra scenes): 21:21 - 33:40 - 14:59
Overall 3-Act Structure Division (PAL, with extra scenes): 20:30 - 32:19 - 14:23
Overall 3-Act Structure Division (NTSC, without extra scenes): 21:21 - 32:37 - 14:13
Overall 3-Act Structure Division (PAL, without extra scenes): 20:30 - 31:18 - 13:39

And finally, this movie novelization is complete.
This was my vision for this fic. I lost inspiration midway through and took two years to finish this on-and-off, because, to be honest, doing this thing was unnecessary. We already have the visual movie, and Powerpuff will always be superior in a visual format, for the style, jokes, nods, and McCracken's thematic wit. I certainly tried to fit in all the in-jokes, and adapt my writing style for the sections that are simultaneously parodying something, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded. What do you all think?
This much I am certain of - the writing ability here easily eclipses that of Movie 2 that I did two years ago. And comparing the plots... Movie 2 does have problems, even if it still an agreeable experience all told.
But, this fic has one reason for existing - overarching elements and character arcs between the trilogy are more effective when read back-to-back. And since it helped improve my writing ability immeasurably... it was worth it.

SO... with this done, Movie 3 has an open field for me to plough ahead. I understand if you all aren't interested, given this fic, the unnecessary one, had the better writing, while the original one, Movie 2, was not written as well. But I am writing Movie 3 better - trust me. And the plot and character development have no stupid, convoluted beats this time around. It's longer - over 100 minutes. It has more going on.
And... Movie 3 will tell us the one thing about the origin of the Powerpuff Girls we never knew...
The origin of Chemical X.