A/N: Hey guys! I know, this is like the third one I've started recently, but it's finished. Well, I think it's finished, but heaven knows if it ACTUALLY is; I haven't edited it. You're getting the raw edition, and considering how Diseased is (re-read it the other day and holy CRAP it's bad), I'm sure this one is in a similar condition. Let me know if you see any weird discrepancies or errors, or if anything doesn't make sense. If it's an awkward ending let me know, and I'll be sure to zero in on it and make it better ^_^

Basically, this is a short story that is a prelude to two that I have planned, one of which is... Definitely coming along. I don't know if it's almost done; I don't actually know where I'm going with it anymore. Originally it was... Well, you'll see.

Disclaimer: I do not work for nor do I have rights to anything that has come from Cartoon Network OR- in the case of Mr. Hanekoma, who for some reason is becoming a teacher in all of my stories- who is from The World Ends With You. I'm just making them do things that I feel sort of constitutes their characters.

A Strong Start

Chapter 1

Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup squirmed nervously in their seats, trying to keep quiet. Professor Utonium- well used to the fact that the silence meant that they were trying hard not to say something- waited for the inevitable outburst.

It seems that the sweetest of the three could hold it in only just less so than her sisters.

"Professor," Bubbles said, her girlish voice raising with undisguised nerves. "What if they don't like us?" Her pigtails bounced, and she was pulling on her blue uniform dress in nerves.

"And who couldn't possibly like you?" The professor said, smiling into the mirror at his beloved daughters. His reflection in the mirror seemed to calm their squirming a little, though not entirely.

"The kids at school, Professor," Blossom piped up, trying to sound calm and collected- though her bright pink eyes betrayed her worry. "What if all the first graders don't like us?"

"I know what I'll do," boyish Buttercup grumbled, her arms crossed and held tightly under her face. "I'll kick their butts!"'

"Please try to refrain from doing that Buttercup," Utonium said sternly, his gray eyes glinting as he looked at his most rebellious daughter in the mirror. It was a red light, and he could afford the few seconds it took to stare down the six year old. Her green eyes looked to his, and with a furrowed brow, she looked back down, mumbling something under her breath.

"What was that?" Bubbles asked innocently, turning her bright blue eyes on her sister.

"I said I won't do nothin'," the girl in green said stubbornly.

"Good," Professor Utonium said, though not without a degree of affection. As troublesome as Buttercup could be, he wouldn't have had her any other way.

"So what should we do?" Blossom pressed, anxious. Professor Utonium sighed. It was a question he'd heard all Summer, as the girls neared the first day of first grade. A whole new school, teacher, and life awaited them, and they were terrified stiff. There would be twice as many students- if not three times- in their classes than when they'd been in pre-school and kindergarten with Miss Keane, and the change was unsettling. They'd asked to drive past Pokey Elementary at least a dozen times a day, and each time they stared with wide-eyes uncertainty at the school as Utonium drove past, hardly able to say no to his daughters.

"IF the other kids don't like you- and that's a big if," Utonium added, "because you girls are impossible to like. But IF the other kids don't like you, then you have to make them like you."

"How do we do that?" Bubbles asked, puzzled.

"Do we beat 'em up?" Buttercup asked, looking far too hopeful.

"No," Professor Utonium said, in a tone that implied she had better not even entertain the idea. She hushed up quickly enough. "You be nice to them."

"But… What if they're mean to us?" Bubbles squeaked, her voice rising in terror.

"You keep on being nice," the Professor said, smiling fondly at his smallest daughter. He saw the street sign as he passed it, and knew that the school was coming up. If the girls were nervous now, as soon as it came into view they would be hysterical.

"Kill them with kindness?" Blossom offered, always the thinker.

"Exactly," the Professor said, nodding approvingly. "You have to be as kind to the other kids as they are being mean. The meaner they are, the kinder you have to be. Remember the Rowdyruff Boys?"

"We have to KISS them?" Bubbles squealed.

"No no," Utonium back-pedaled. "But you did have to do something nice in order to beat them, once and for all."

"I see what you mean," Blossom said, and Buttercup rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Professor," she said. "I just hope you're right."

The school suddenly slid into view, and all three girls strained against their seatbelts, trying hard not to break them. Their eyes had grown wide as baseballs, and they watched as the wide range of kids of all ages walked around the field. Many were laughing with friends, though quite a few looked a little lonely.

"Professor," Bubbles whimpered, and he turned to give each of the three little girls that he adored more than anything a kiss on the head. Even Buttercup seemed to want one, which she usually pretended the opposite.

"Go and get em, girls," Professor Utonium said fondly. He had no worry at all that the girls would do well, and while he was worried for Bubbles on the basis that she cried far too easily, he knew that in the end, Buttercup would always come to her rescue. While he would say quite the opposite, he secretly hoped that Buttercup would teach any kid who harmed the sweetest and most sensitive of the three girls a lesson they would never forget.

First Bubbles, than Blossom and finally Buttercup stepped out of the car, each nervous and cautious. Bubbles immediately grabbed Blossom's hand, who grabbed Buttercup's, who surprised both of them by not letting go.

"Remember girls," Blossom said diplomatically, as they walked slowly away from the Professor's car, quite unaware that he was watching them as anxiously as they were walking into the school. "Kill them with kindness."

"How about we just kill them?" Buttercup grumbled, and Bubbles shook her head, her pigtails swinging.

"The professor wouldn't want us to!" She said quietly.

A kid around their age suddenly ran up, and the girls froze as if facing an armed robber.

"Hey!" He said, his brown eyes wide. "Are you the Powerpuff Girls?"

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup each looked at each other in surprise, quite forgetting, in their moment of terror, that all of Townsville was to be counted on to recognize them on the spot.

"Yeah," Buttercup said, looking at the boy suspiciously. "Who's asking?"

"My name's Brian," the kid said, looking extremely excited. "We're planning on playing tag before school starts. Wanna join in?"

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup each exchanged relieved glances.

"Sure," Blossom answered. "We'd love to!"

"You can't ask them to play," another voice piped up. It was whiny and high pitched, and they saw a very fat, angry child waddle up to them. He had pudgy eyes and a pout that could curdle milk, and there were stains all over his clothing. Bubbles made an "eep" sound and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Why?" Brian demanded, turning around to face the new kid. He had deep brown hair and eyes.

"Because they're just gonna cheat and use their super powers," the kid sneered. "Why would they wanna be normal when they're so much BETTER than the rest of us?"

To the alarm of the three sisters, Brian turned to look sceptically at them.

"We don't use our powers in school," Blossom explained hurriedly. "There's no need to."

"Unless someone needs to be taught a lesson," Buttercup said darkly, staring at the new kid. He just sneered at her.

"You won't cheat?" Brian said, looking at them suspiciously. "You are really fast."

"Where would the fun be in that?" Bubbles said, smiling at him. "There's no fun in a game that's over in like, ten seconds!"

Mollified, Brian nodded, smiling again.

"I suppose that makes sense. Come on! I'll go introduce you to my friends." With a pointed look at the other kid that clearly said that he was not considered one of Brian's friends, the boy led the three sisters to the main part of the field where a bunch of other kids were waiting.