Disclaimer: I do not own the Powerpuff Girls. The plot points and ideas in this fic also don't belong to me.

Art: TrueLoveStory

Chapter 1

God Damn Heroes

Sophomore Year - September

Buttercup crashed through a skyscraper. Shattered glass rained onto the panicking people below. Brick smirked. Soon the precious Powerpuff Girls would be defeated. Everything was going according to plan.

"How much do you think that's going to cost? A few hundred thousand, maybe a million?" he asked.

The tiny mayor was still. Brick had to give him credit, the man stayed cool under pressure.

"Probably twenty casualties. Maybe a death or two."

The mayor held his ground. "I have faith in the Powerpuff Girls."

"Girl," Brick corrected him. "Bubbles is down, Buttercup is down, Blossom is the last one left."

Below them, the lone superhero flew in circles, desperately trying to keep a colossal squid from destroying any more of Townsville. Blossom was tired, probably low on X. She hadn't made a single offensive maneuver since she lost Bubbles. She was buying time, waiting for her sisters to recover.

They had started the fight using their standard tactics. They had surrounded the squid and tried to knock it around. But the its flesh absorbed the impact of their punches and kicks. It was like trying to pop a balloon by hitting it with a baseball bat, they couldn't deliver enough force to actually damage it. Meanwhile, it could easily fight off each girl with two arms and still had four to spare.

Blossom had used her ice breath to try to slow it down. Too bad for her it was an Antarctic Flying Squid, it loved the cold. And at over 80 stories tall, it was way too big to completely encase in ice. Blossom's powers were totally ineffective.

Blossom had ordered Bubbles to waste her energy forming force fields to protect the town. But even Bubbles' mastery of force fields couldn't block ten tentacles at once, especially when one slithered around her waist. It wrapped itself around her and constricted, cutting off her air supply until she fell unconscious.

It took everything Buttercup had to free her sister, but between her heat vision and raw strength, she got it done. After she flew Bubbles to a roof to recover, she got the genius idea to ram it as fast and as hard as she could, against Blossom's orders. For some reason related to coming straight at a target that could see all the way around itself, Buttercup's "plan" didn't work. It slammed her through several buildings. And while Brick would give her credit for being tough, even she could only take so much.

Now, Blossom was all alone, fighting a war of attrition, one she would lose. She put up force fields in an effort to stop the squid from destroying any more buildings. At least Buttercup had tried something. Someone should have taught Blossom what constituted the best defense.

Despite the chaos outside, the mayor's luxury office on the top story of Townsville city hall was quiet and clean. The window's thick glass muffled the screams and explosions an a speaker on the mayor's desk softly played Delibes' Flower Duet.

The office was huge, about the same size as the abandoned warehouse Brick and his brothers had been living in, and it was much nicer. On one end, the mayor had an antique mahogany desk that must have been lifted in by a crane. A nearby refreshments table served coffee, tea, sparkling water, and an assortment of pastries. Butch had one in his mouth and one in each hand. The office was so big, it had its own sitting area that was clearly just for decoration. Boomer looked up from the brown leather couch for a moment before going back to his phone.

Brick should have felt envious of the man standing next to him watching the battle. He should have wanted to steal that taxpayer-funded luxury the mayor enjoyed. Instead, he was inspired. He was going to earn his own mahogany desk.

"Mayor," Mrs. Bellum spoke up. "Perhaps we should consider their offer." She placed a pen next to his copy of their contract. "The terms they're offering are quite generous."

"I don't care about terms. Those girls have protected this city for ten years." He took a bite of the pickle he was eating. "It doesn't matter how badly they get hurt, they always get back up again and find a way to win."

Mrs. Bellum gave him a dirty look behind his back. Something must have struck a nerve. She turned to Brick, not bothering to remove her glare. "You will make every effort to protect the town and minimize injury and damage?"

"We will do everything within our ability to protect the city in the case of a Class Two or higher monster attack as defined in Appendix One," Brick recited. "All damage caused is subject to your review, but 'fault' shall be determined by precedent in past cases involving the Powerpuff Girls." That last bit constituted a total release of liability. The Powerpuff Girls were never held liable for anything while fighting threats to the city. There had been several cases. Of course, Mrs. Bellum had to know that.

"And you will cease any and all illegal activities immediately and never use your abilities to participate in criminal activity."

"As long as you're paying us, we will have no reason to commit crimes."

The realization took Brick longer than he cared to admit. They didn't have to be evil, if such a concept existed. Which it didn't. Of course it didn't, don't be stupid. No. They only called him evil because he didn't like people telling him what to do, that was it.

'Breaking the law' was a matter of perspective anyway. The puny humans clung to their precious law as if it could save them. But it was designed by those in power, to serve those in power. It wasn't 'breaking the law' when someone in power stole something or even killed someone. And Brick planned on getting a lot of power.

"And all it will cost the city is $10,000 per incident?" Bellum asked. She had honed in on the three most important points of their agreement. If only it could be that simple. The contract was a full 22-pages long, single-spaced.

"Or $10,000 per month to keep us on retainer in the case of no incidents," Brick said. "And that's after federal, state, and local taxes are deducted." He had them right where he wanted them. It was the perfect deal. He and his brothers would finally get paid to do what they were good at. And best of all, it was legit. Hell, they'd be heroes. As if soldiers, firefighters, and police officers didn't get paid. Why not them too? God-damn heroes.

"Mayor, the answer is obvious," Mrs. Bellum said. "We should sign immediately."

"I still think Blossom can beat this thing," the mayor said. His attention focused on the redheaded teenager below.

Blossom went low and projected a shield to block a stray tentacle from crushing a nearby garbage truck. The pink streak easily got the monster's attention. When she stopped moving for a moment, a beam of light shot out of the monster's huge eye.

Blossom matched it with her own eye beams. Her thin and extremely concentrated beams cut the squid's wide and diffuse beam in half. She sliced through all the way to its eye before she had to stop. It recoiled in pain.

Blossom wheezed through her teeth, her fists clenched, and her knees buckled. The fight was over. She scowled at the squid, as if a dirty look alone could bring a monster down. A tentacle whipped around and slapped her down 5th Avenue.

Blossom's shoulder carved a trench through the asphalt. She knocked through streetlights and brought down telephone poles on her journey, and finally came to a stop when her body totaled an 18-wheeler.

"That has to be at least a million more in repairs," Brick said. "You could have saved the city 99% by signing with us."

"Wow," Butch said with a mouth full of food. "You're really bad at your job."

"Butch brings up an interesting point," Brick said. "When do you think the voters are going to recall you for negligence?"

"Get up, Blossom," the mayor murmured.

With his telescopic vision, Brick could see she wasn't moving. She wasn't dead, no, it would take more than that to kill Blossom, Brick knew that from experience. But she also wasn't getting up any time soon. The mayor expected an explosion of pink, green, and blue light, and the girls would come together and beat the thing. He was going to be disappointed. All three Powerpuffs were down for the count. The mayor had no choice but to sign.

Brick had to act on this new information. He took a pen and began marking on the two copies of their contract on the conference table. "The new figure is $20,000 per incident."

The mayor was unaffected, but Bellum was angry. "Mayor!"

"All right! All right! I'll sign!" He snatched a fancy pen from his desk and signed both copies.

"Please also initial that you agree to the new figure."

The mayor scribbled at Brick's new terms. "Yes, yes, just take care of it."

"We're always happy to help." Brick smiled as he took his copy of the contract. "Butch! Boomer! Let's go!"

"Finally!" Butch took one last bite. Boomer sighed and put his phone back into his pocket

The three guys flew out the door to the mayor's private balcony. Outside, the air was heavy with smoke and the smell of rotting seafood. Brick held his brothers back while he came up with tactics that would actually work.

"All we gotta do is hit it." Butch dug his fist into his palm.

"No. The girls already tried that, it's too squishy."

Butch twitched. "Like a boob-!"

"Just keep its arms stunned!" Brick should have known Butch was going to turn whatever he said into innuendo, the juvenile prick. It truly was the lowest form of comedy. "We're going to make it back up into that block of buildings it already destroyed, then we hit it with everything we have. Boomer, make it swing and miss. I'll make sure it only has one direction to go. And no causing any damage. We're 'good' now."

Butch snorted and Boomer rolled his eyes. The boys went to work.

Boomer zipped around in front of the squid getting its attention. It swung right through him. He dodged with a flash of light, rolling his eyes again at how slow it was. That kid was going to sprain his face if he kept that up.

While Boomer had it distracted, instead of doing as Brick had instructed, Butch flew right up to its eye and punched it as hard as he could. Just as Brick had told him, the force of the blow was totally absorbed by its rubbery guts. And they called Boomer the dumb one.

The squid grabbed Butch with one of its tentacles. Damn thing was still as thick as a city bus.

Butch struggled to free himself. Then, a smile crept across his face as he got a brilliant idea. His eyes glowed brighter and he shot his eye beams right into the tentacle. The stunning effect of Butch's eye beams on the squid's nervous system only made it involuntarily squeeze harder. Butch yelled for mercy.

Brick sighed. He had hung out relatively close, watching the scene play out, but taking no action. Sometimes the only way his idiot brothers ever learned was to try something and get hurt a few times. It couldn't be helped.

His hand pulled back and he launched a fireball at the offending tentacle. The explosion was a dazzling display of yellow, orange, and red. It loosened and Butch broke free while the meat burned to a crisp.

The squid eyed Brick carefully as he rose into the air. He knew what was coming.

"Boomer! Lightning in three!"

The squid unleashed its eye beam at Brick. Instead of meeting it with his own eye beams like a novice, Brick broke north as fast as he could.

"Two!"

The white beam cut across the sky in a chase.

"One!"

Just before it hit Brick, a lightning bolt discharged from Boomer's fingers. The squid let loose a muffled scream. It flailed it's tentacles in all directions. One of the big ones cut through a skyscraper.

Brick winced. He didn't mean for that to happen. Sure, the Powerpuffs had let the damn thing raze seven buildings to the ground, but Brick held himself and his brothers to a higher standard. The top twelve stories listed off the main structure and Butch was floating there like an idiot who didn't know what to do.

"Butch! Catch the building!"

"For real?"

"Yes, for real! Make sure no one gets hurt!"

Butch groaned as he went to save the tower.

"Boomer, hit it with everything you've got."

Boomer let loose a barrage of eye beams that exploded on the squid's face. Streams of fire kept it from attacking to its sides. It used its tentacles to block and slithered back through its path of destruction.

After several minutes Brick's joints were burning, but they had successfully chased the squid away from anything intact.

Butch appeared at Brick's side holding a steel girder. "I got an idea."

Brick knew where he was going with it. Using the girder to impale the squid honestly wasn't a bad plan. "Where's the building?"

Butch cocked his head at Brick. "The what?"

"The building I told you to save."

A look of recognition passed over Butch's face. "Oh that. I didn't know what to do with it, so I left it in the park."

Brick shook his head. Good enough. "We kill it here."

Boomer narrowed his eyes and hit it with another lightning bolt.

Butch flew up high, raising the girder over his head. He swung it down with as much force as he could and brought the blunt edge onto the squid's head.

The squid's body squished around the incoming object, filling the sides of its head with whatever was inside. But the skin didn't break. The girder bounced back up like it hit a trampoline and launched out of Butch's hands. He brought his fingers to his lips in confusion.

"You did it wrong." Brick dashed away to catch the girder in midair. He used his eyebeams to grind it into a point and used fire breath to heat it.

The squid started moving again, flailing tentacles around, and reaching for buildings it hadn't destroyed yet. Boomer hammered it with electricity and his eye beams, but he needed help.

"Keep it there, Butch," Brick ordered.

Butch jetted into the squid and grabbed it. The idiot was actually going to try to wrestle it. Brick wanted him to use his eye beams to stun it so it couldn't move. Butch always had to do it the hard way. The squid grabbed at him right back.

Butch deftly maneuvered through the constraining mass. He pulled one tentacle over another and around again, tying some of them together.

When the girder had a sharp tip and was hot enough to glow slightly, Brick flew over the writhing monster and threw it like a javelin, straight down.

The girder pierced all the way through the monster and embedded into the rubble below, staking it to the ground. Butch pulled on the tentacle knot as hard as he could, stretching the squid out like a rubber band. They had the perfect target for Boomer.

Boomer collected energy into his eyes and blasted the squid apart. Viscera splattered over everything in a one block radius. What was left of the monster laid in a heap, finally dead. The Rowdyruff Boys admired their work.

"We're done now, right?" Boomer asked.

"We get paid now, right?" Butch followed up.

Before he could say anything, Blossom sped at Brick, coming within an inch of his face. He didn't flinch. Buttercup and Bubbles came in right behind her, fists clenched for a fight. It was all a show to look tough. They weren't going to do jack shit.

"What are you guys doing here?" Blossom hissed.

Brick smirked. He loved it when she was mad.

"Hey, Butterbabe." Butch leered at Buttercup.

Buttercup rolled her eyes and pouted.

"Hey Boomer," Bubbles said with cheer.

Boomer's sour expression dropped for just a moment. "...hey..."

The six of them stood off against each other like they had so many times before. If they started fighting, Brick knew who the winners would be. The girls were beaten raw from their earlier fight, all still low on X.

"Well?" Blossom narrowed her eyes at them.

His younger self would have killed her right then and there. But he was older, too mature to start a schoolyard scuffle. They weren't going to fight. That would constitute breach of contract with the city, and Brick wasn't going to give them any way out. He was going to get his $20,000.

Brick crossed his arms over his chest. "We just did what you couldn't."

"You guys beat the monster?" Blossom asked.

"Holy shit, they did." Buttercup looked over the carcass.

"We're heroes now," Butch said. " I saved a whole building full of people."

"What?" Buttercup said. "Yeah right."

"We have a contract with the city and everything," Brick retorted.

Blossom turned her nose up. "Why should we believe you?"

"You shouldn't," Brick said. "You should sit back and enjoy the parade."

"The what!?"

"Congratulations, Rowdyruff Boys!" The mayor appeared with Mrs. Bellum and a marching band. He handed Brick a golden key to the city. "The day is saved thanks to you."

"What!?"

Kindergarten

Brick rolled his eyes. Bubbles had painted 'Flowers are pretty'. Who did she think she was fooling anyway?

"What is that?" he asked.

Bubbles realized her mistake and quickly added 'dumb!' to keep up her charade. How dumb did she think he was?

He wanted to beat her up some more for thinking he was so stupid, giving her a black eye suddenly wasn't satisfying enough. It had already healed anyway. Without her sisters, he and Butch could massacre her. But Brick decided to mess with her a little more first.

"For a second there I thought you were turnin' girly on us," Butch said.

Brick looked at his own graffiti. There were a few messed up words in it. Of course, that was the best way to do graffiti. If all the words were right, they might as well have gone to some sissy tea party. But Bubbles didn't know that. She couldn't know any of that. She was a girl, and girls didn't know about anything cool.

"Yeah, and 'Dum-buh'? Jeez Boomer, If you're gonna do graffiti at least spell the words right." Brick laughed to himself. It was genius because he was making fun of two people for two different things at once by saying only one thing.

Butch laughed along like he got the joke, he was such an idiot. He didn't even know 'dumb' had a silent 'B' on the end. He thought it really was spelled 'dum'.

Bubbles looked at him expressionless. She didn't get that he was making fun of Butch either. She probably thought he was the dumb one, not even knowing he was making fun of how she had done graffiti wrong in the first place. He knew the Powerpuffs had a moronic sibling too.

"Sheesh! Talk about dum-Buh!" he added, just to rub it in. He was so much smarter than they were. He was probably even the smartest. Brick was satisfied with the knowledge that his intellect couldn't possibly be understood by lesser minds.

"Yeah, what a 'dum-Bee', Butch said.

Brick had to laugh, that was actually funny. Butch may have been an idiot, but he always did have a talent for making fun of people.

He was totally going to force Bubbles to eat a cockroach once he found one.