A/N: So after years and years of reading PPG fanfiction, I have finally decided to publish my own story. *awkwardly laughs* This takes place in an alternate universe where the girls and boys don't have powers but they still somehow managed to get into a whole lot of action though. I am completely open to constructive criticism cause' that would really help me improve my writing and well yeah, I hope you find this story worthwhile. Follow, Favorite, Review or whatever. Enjooooy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Powerpuff girls nor do I own the Rowdyruff boys or most of the other characters throughout this story. Everything rightfully belongs to Craig McCracken.

Summary: Her life was never easy and she lived through it thinking that she had no hope of changing her current circumstances, but after a night of running from her crazy boyfriend and strangers getting her into the middle of a gun fight, Blossom begins to wonder if a tiny ember of hope is all it takes to turn her life into a blazing fire of action, romance and drama.

Ember

Prologue

The night was young but I felt old and grimy. No, old and grimy would be an understatement. I felt dead, like my-body-is-decaying-as-people-I-barely-know-are-visiting-my-funeral dead.

I was sitting on the sidewalk, staring at unfamiliar streets and buildings as the smell of alcohol and cigarettes practically radiated off of me. The funny thing was that I wasn't even a drinker or a smoker. I just had a really crazy friend and an even crazier boyfriend, who got used to knocking me around whenever he had a pissy day. Pathetic, I know, but my life has always been pitiful, just in different levels or situations. The one friend I had, if you could even call her that, miraculously convinced me into lying to my overly possessive boyfriend to go to a 'chill' and 'exclusive' house party with her that night. However, the party was neither chill nor exclusive.

"I thought this was supposed to be a small get together?" I shouted over the music in an attempt to get my roommate, Cassidy's attention.

"It is a small get together!" She laughed as she turned to me, the rapidly moving disco lights causing her overly bleached blonde hair to glint in the dark.

"This is definitely not small!" I replied with wide eyes looking over at the crowd of drunk university students. There were people everywhere. It was a sea of sweat, smoke and puke. The moment I stepped in, I was immediately thinking of an escape plan that involved feigning my death or loss of consciousness.

"Oh come on Blossom. Just live a little! Three months into your freshman year of college and you've been to what- how many parties?" She looked at the ceiling, her brown eyes widening in mock wonder. "Oh yeah- one. Including this one." I rolled my eyes at her little display of sarcasm.

"And your point is?"

"My point, my shy little roommate is that you aren't in Townsville anymore. Stop acting like a country bumpkin." My brows furrowed when she mentioned my home, Townsville. Townsville wasn't as tiny as Cassidy described it to be, but it was definitely a lot smaller than Citiesville.

"I am not a-"

"Nuh-uh. I don't want to hear it. You are going to mingle and get like at least one other friend and I am going to drink until I won't be able to recognize myself in the mirror." She held up a hand, raised her eyebrows and sauntered her way over to what I could faintly see as the kitchen. Leaving me near the packed house's front door, standing uncomfortably beside two drunk women who were making out with each other. I'm not homophobic or anything but even if they were of opposite sexes I'd still want them to get a separate room. Like ugh.

Realizing that the couple wasn't going to stop anytime soon, I ventured further into the house in attempt of finding someone to 'mingle' with. To be frank, there was no one to mingle with, considering how everyone was either too drunk to talk or too busy with their overly hormonal partners. It was one of the reasons why I hated parties, no one was even conscious enough to start up a normal conversation. Everyone was so caught up in their own crazy antics, not giving a damn about anything else. Not that I've been to many parties before, or that I've been invited to many.

Five minutes of getting drinks spilt on my shirt and trying to not get puked on, I was ready to give up and go home, but as I passed the living room I caught a glimpse of my 'loving' roommate. She glared at me as a warning, practically screaming," Don't you dare go home" with her eyes. I cringed and nodded grumpily, Cassidy's nagging was something that'd irritate the most tolerant monk in the world and I was not up for it tonight or tomorrow morning when she'll most likely arrive at our shared dorm room.

"Heyyyyyy here's a drink! Let's party!" A half-naked guy giggled drunkenly and shoved a cup into my hand as I passed by. The huge Union Jack or British flag on his boxers made it a dead giveaway that he was an exchange student from the UK. Well, that and his British accent. But accent or not, no way in hell was I drinking something from a total stranger.

"Um yeah, party yay." I muttered awkwardly and half-smiled at him. For some reason, the guy took this as an invitation to talk to me and I immediately regretted it. The guy wouldn't shut up about his cat and the weather.

I chewed on my bottom lip and fidgeted with my glasses, habits that I've grown accustomed to whenever I had to miraculously talk to a stranger. Maybe I should have been glad that someone at least wanted to talk to me. I mean he was obviously drunk but at least he wanted to make conversation.

"My cat, Smitthers has a knack for turning my Nan's wigs into chew toys. It's absolutely hilar-" He was in the middle of telling me about his cat's last antics before he had to come to Citiesville, when he suddenly gagged and puked into a nearby houseplant.

"Um it was nice meeting you." I scrunched up my nose in disgust and muttered a goodbye to both the British dude and the poor plant.

With the conclusion that I'd rather take my chances with those drunk women, I moved to the front door, but once I reached my intended destination, my breath hitched in my throat.

I didn't come face to face with a snogging couple but with a pair of all too familiar stormy obsidian eyes.

"Mike, I can explain." I said when I realized that I was quite literally caught red-handed as I stood awkwardly holding the red plastic cup that was shoved into my hand.

"Oh you don't have to." He growled and grabbed me roughly by the arm, causing me to drop the cup, its contents seeping into the carpeted floor.

While he dragged me out into the lawn, I grit my teeth from the pain I felt as his calloused hand dug into my skin, undoubtedly leaving a hand shaped bruise. Other people from the party watched curiously, whispering to each other, taking pictures and calling other people to watch the show. None of them bothered to help though.

"You had the fucking nerve to lie to me." He screamed whilst he clenched his other hand over my jaw, not quite choking me but not quite letting me breathe.

"I'm sorry. I-" I was stuttering and I could practically feel the skin on my arm and jaw begin to turn black and blue.

"Sorry won't get you anywhere!" His eyes widened maniacally and I noticed that his breath smelled like whiskey, but questioning him about his own whereabouts would have been a death wish, so I remained silent as Mike, the guy who I never actually even liked that much as more than a friend but managed to be in a relationship with for over a year just because we were from the same tiny city and because he once was probably the only decent guy I knew, continued to shout obscenities to my face.

I stood perfectly still and waited for him to calm down. I was used to it. I was used to getting cursed at and getting bruised. He'd get tired of it sooner or later anyway. That was just how our relationship worked. Well, I guess that was just how Mike worked.

"You're going to regret lying to me, Blossom."

What I wasn't used to was seeing Mike take out a pocket knife.

"Mike wait, what the hell?" Goosebumps enveloped my skin as I felt his gaze darken.

"I'm going to make sure you finally learn your lesson." He rasped out and in a surge of panic and adrenaline I felt myself kick him in the groin.

It was enough to distract him and make him drop the knife but not enough to make him drop to the ground. I took the chance to turn around and run, only to get pulled back by my overly long red hair, making me curse at myself. I knew I should've gotten a haircut.

"You're not going anywhere, you bitch." I shivered as his menacing voice said right beside my ear and I struggled to break free from his grasp, but Mike was strong, way stronger than your average nineteen year old boy. He stood over 6 feet and had a build that even made our seniors cower in fear.

"Mike, please. Please no." I choked out while he made a grab out for my neck. He loomed over me and I stared up at his hazy eyes.

"Why'd you lie to me? Huh! Why Blossom?!" Mike continued to shout and my eyes drifted to the knife that he managed to pick up and hold against my shoulder. God, he's crazy. He's actually given in to his insanity and I'm going to drop dead because of it.

"Answer me! You dumb whore!" The tip of the knife grazed my neck, enough to draw blood. I took a shaky breath to calm my nerves, only to get a good whiff of his peppermint cologne. Was this the only reason why I stuck around? Because he smelled minty fresh even when he was on the verge of stabbing me in the neck? I joked darkly to myself, when suddenly I remembered the small bottle that freely moved around in my loose hoodie's front pocket.

"Please don't kill me after this!"

"You're dead!" He screamed angrily after I took my tiny bottle of pepper spray and released the contents on his entire face. I immediately sprinted away while he tried and failed to rub away the sting in his eyes.

I locked eyes with a boy from my Literature class as I made my escape and I realized that a crowd of people had surrounded us. They seemed to look concerned, but probably not concerned enough to help me out of this damn mess. Pushing through the crowd of onlookers, I heard rather than saw Mike recovering from my little attack and then I ran as fast as I could to God knows where.

For the first few houses I passed I could hear him faintly running after me. All I could hear were his curses and the sound of him running, just running and running and running. I didn't stop trying to get away, even when his curses subsided. I ran until I felt my knees give out and my breathing turn into sharp gasps.

I ran until I found myself here, sitting lost, bruised, broken and scared shitless.

I shivered involuntarily as a memory of Mike's eyes clouded my head. In all the years I've known him as a child and up to now, he's never looked so...so murderous. He wasn't always this violent. Heck, there was once a time when Mike couldn't even hurt a fly. We grew up together, him being my neighbor and all. We even had an imaginary friend named Patches. He was my best and only friend. We continued to be friends even when he managed to expand his friend group in high school and when he suddenly admitted that he liked me on senior year it just felt like I had to tell him that I liked him back, even when I actually just liked him as a friend. He was ecstatic at first and he treated me better than anyone else had. I even began to think that I had romantic feelings for him as well. That was, until he started to become overly jealous and possessive, not that he even had anything to be jealous about. I was a loner for Pete's sake! But he always found something to be mad about. That was the beginning of all the violence. They were just words at first and he'd say sorry after he said them, but words gradually turned into beatings and the beatings gradually got worse. This was the worst that it got. Heaven forbid what would've happened if he managed to catch me.

I stared up at the sky. The full moon was out. Most people would describe it as beautiful and calming, but to me it was neither any of those things. I could feel it mocking me, as if telling me that I was so tiny and irrelevant compared to itself. There it was in all its glory and here I was in all my shame. I sighed to myself and scrunched up my eyebrows. How was I going to face the people from school on Monday? Gaining attention was something that I planned on avoiding in college. Heck how was I going to face Cassidy? She knew about Mike's possessiveness but I never told her about how bad it was.

Frustratedly, I kicked at a pebble in front of me. A small clank resounding as it hit the lamppost across the street. Without looking up I kicked at another pebble, a bigger one this time, but instead of hearing a tiny clank, an explosion simultaneously reverberated through the air causing me to jump and fall on my back. Okay, I'm pretty sure that I don't have the ability to make pebbles explode...or do I?

"Watch out!" I snapped out of my state of shock as a masked woman with bright blonde hair, hanging from a helicopter's rope ladder screamed from above me. She held some type of high-tech handgun and I realized that the explosion was probably coming from the unfamiliar device. Relieved, I sat up. So I'm not in one of those fantasy novels. For a minute there I thought I was going to get myself into a whole lot of drama. It's just a girl with a handgun.

Wait. Handgun? Watch out? Oh.

When my brain finally registered the course of action that I had to take, I found myself crouching behind one of the neighbourhood dumpsters that I was sitting next to. The blonde's gun went off again and numerous explosions followed, explosions that weren't just coming from the black and blue clad girl but also from a black van across the street.

"Sky what the fuck are you doing?" A strong but feminine voice called out from the chopper.

"Spice! I need to get down there! A civilian's in the area." I heard the girl who I presumed was Sky shout back. A barely audible groan could be heard despite of all the noise.

"Let me get this on autopilot! I'm coming with you."

I peeked out of my hiding spot just as I saw another woman hang off of the chopper dressed in a similar outfit as the first, but in a far greener ensemble. Her hair contrasted with the previous girl's as it was a deep raven color that rivaled the darkness of the night. My scream pierced through the air as I felt rather than saw a bullet whiz past my ear. It made a hole through the metal bin that I was hiding behind and my eyes widened as the metal started to melt and drip onto the concrete.

"Don't just sit there red! Scram!" It took me half a minute to realize that the woman in green was referring to me, her green eyes blazing behind her mask. Both women were on the ground now, seeking protection behind a parked truck while simultaneously sneaking shots at the armed men from the van across.

I frantically looked for a new place to hide. The streets were practically empty except for a few cars, the dumpster I hid in and a bunch of bushes. One car was parked two meters away from where I was. I mentally debated with myself if I'd be able to run fast enough or not.

"Spice! No!" Sky suddenly screamed and another bullet went past my shoulder.

"Sky, I'm fine! Damn bastards got enough ammo to supply a small army. Let's end this!"

I decided that I didn't have much of a choice and my luck was probably about to run out. It was either run and have a 5% chance of survival or stay and die behind a horrendous smelling trash bin. The latter was definitely not my choice.

"God, if You're listening right now or if You even exist please get me out of this alive." I silently prayed and after a deep breath, I ran.

It all seemed to go in slow motion. Right after I left, I looked back to see a series of bullets shower my previous hiding spot. Gaining a sense of courage, I ran even faster. I was half a meter away from safety, my glasses almost falling off of my head and my hair glued to my skin from all the sweat. It was so close, it was like I could almost feel the shift between being in danger and being safe, but I was tired, panicky and I was never good at running in the first place.

"Damn it!" Out of sheer clumsiness and bad luck, I stumbled on a pebble. Moments after, I felt a hot sting on my leg.

My eyes widened as I realized that a stray bullet found itself on my left calf. The pain was unlike anything I've ever felt before and I struggled to breathe when I remembered the remnants of the metal dumpster. Sparing a brief glance at my leg, I cringed but sighed in relief. I was shot but it seemed to be a normal bullet this time. I mustered all of the strength I had left and limped to the car. When I finally felt safe I collapsed to the ground.

"Take this you jerks!" I heard 'Sky' squeak out, for a woman that good with a gun she sure sounded harmless. After her little declaration came a huge explosion, causing shards of metal and glass to scatter along the street.

The sting enveloped my entire leg and I knew I'd bleed out if things kept going as they were. There was nothing that I could do, so I waited for the effects of the last explosion to subside. For a moment everything became silent, the explosions stopped and there were no bullets that threatened to put a hole through my head. As relieved as I was, I knew that the end of the crossfire wouldn't take the bullet out of my leg.

"Spice, she's hurt!"

"Oh yeah, shit."

Just as I heard the two women say, my vision started clouding and my body started to numb all over. Death was knocking on my door and I couldn't keep him out cause I was currently crippled by a damn bullet. I began to think that all hope was lost, that I was destined to bleed out on the sidewalk of an unfamiliar place with no friends or family, until four figures stood above me and started speaking in inaudible voices.

"Take her. She needs all the help she can get."

Then everything turned black.