I am back with another story, but this one will not last as long as Bedtime Stories. This'll probably be the only chapter, actually. So, enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this at all. If I did, the Rowdyruffs wouldn't have been villains and the actual show would be a big American rip-off of some anime show.

Masquerade Affair

Thirteen-year-old Bubbles walked into the party at ten o'clock, alone and silent, and smiled. She wore a baby blue dress with long, slowly enlarging effect, sleeves that wrapped around a pure white under dress like thing that touched the floor with an elegant sweep. Her gold hair was put up into a neat bun that went well with her dress, but nobody can see her face. She wore a white mask, which covered her from forehead to below the nose, with baby blue swirls that wrapped around the mask like wind. "What a beautiful place..." Bubbles whispered to herself at the regal feel of the old ballroom that glowed as if she was back in time once again.

The teens that were already there were spiraling and dancing joyfully with their anonymous partners with great joys. She looked around as she walked up to the snack buffet to get a drink. She took a small sip of her fruit punch silently, noticing the drink has already been spiked, and put it down with disgust. "Don't like punch?" A voice interrupted her in surprise. Bubbles looked up to see a boy of about the same age with a simple black mask, covering everything but his lips, and a vintage suit in a mixture of blues and black from the Renaissance period. He had dirty blonde hair that seemed to just stick around his mesmerizing, but familiar, sapphire blue eyes. He smirked at how she reacted to his voice.

"Sorry, I don't drink." Bubbles answered after she calmed down. She came in eye contact with him once again.

"Fruit punch?" He asked sarcastically, trying to stop his smile trying to takeover his features. She puffed her cheeks in frustration, causing him to smile fully.

"No," She sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes. "Alcohol." He chuckled lightly, making her blush in frustration. "What? What's so funny?" She whined, but he pulled his hand out to make her go silent.

"Sorry, but you're kind of cute." He said, making her blush again, but out of embarrassment. He blushed as well, finally realizing what he just said. "Um, not that I think you're CUTE-cute, I don't even know you!" He spluttered out quickly, making Bubbles giggle. She leaned down to face his bend over figure and smiled, causing him to blush harder.

"You're cute as well." She said and kissed his masked cheek, but she still felt the heat emitting from him. She giggled and got up to stand properly. "Would you like to dance with me, handsome stranger?" He grinned and took her into his arms.

"I should be asking the honor to dance with you, Ms. Anonymous." He teased back, twirling her into the dance floor. She laughed and danced with him with what she remembered she learned at her former dance classes. He watched her for a couple seconds until he lead the way in the same footing, letting them move in perfect sync.

"I'm surprised," Bubbles laughed happily as she moved, "not a lot of guys I know can waltz as beautifully as you can." The boy gave her a playful glare, but smiled as well.

"Well, I don't get a lot of girls that can be such a perfect partner." He teased back. "You're the first one that didn't step on my foot because they were staring at me for too long." Bubbles started laughing at him for such a statement, him laughing as well.

"At least you don't get stuck with people who seem to love trying to dirty dance with you, even when you rejected them too many times to count." Bubbles answered, concentrating on her footing. "It's kind of disturbing to see guys like that, especially when drunk." Bubbles blushed at her statement and looked up at the boy. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to offend!" The guy smiled at her again.

"No biggie, I know what you mean." He answered her. She blushed lightly and continued dancing to the music.

"You know, you're easy to talk to." Bubbles said quietly. The guy stared at her in disbelief. "Never in my…," Bubbles thought of the right word, "existence have I been able to talk to somebody like this and feel so…connected." Bubbles commented to him. He looked embarrassed, but then smiled affectionately.

"Same here." He answered back calmly. They both stared intently into each other's eyes, both showing something they knew nothing of, until, finally, their lips met together innocently. Bubbles blushed and looked down at her feet. "What?"

"That was my first kiss…" Bubbles said timidly as she stared up at him. He looked back at her, embarrassed. He smiled back shyly and brought his mouth to her ear.

"Me too." He answered, making her blush even more. The song stopped, causing the two to freeze for the next song, but a voice came instead.

"Thank you all for coming to MY party!" A girl with red puffball on the side of her head with squinty purple eyes said through a microphone. She wore an elaborate gold mask that surrounded her eyes and a matching gold dress that flowed with every curve.

"Princess Morbucks…" Bubbles whispered in annoyance. She looked up to see the stranger nod and roll his eyes. They both looked up at Princess once again.

"It is now 12 o'clock." Princess said haughtily as ever. She smiled mischievously. "We all must take off our masks and show our mysterious partners whom you really are!" Bubbles stared up at the boy as he stared back. "Okay! In 1…2…3…take em' off!" Everybody slowly pulled their masks off to their puzzling associates; gasps of surprise filled the room. Bubbles and the boy took them off at the same time, both surprised at who they saw. They both jumped away from each other in pure shock.

"Boomer?!?!" "Bubbles?!?!" "What are YOU doing here?!?!" The two blues yelled in unison. Bubbles looked around to find nobody noticing them. Bubbles sighed in pain and placed her mask back on. Boomer still stared at her now calm and composed status with an emotion he has never seen from her before.

"I should go." Bubbles said quickly, running out faster than a human eye's view. Boomer stood there still with a frown on his face, pain taking over all his features.

Bubbles started crying hard as she flew home. Bubbles Utonium has fallen into a deep hole of forbidden love. She might have had a liking for him at school and when she was fighting him, but this was different. She saw the other side of him. The sweet, gentle, kind, playful side that nobody else has ever seen. She knew, too, this was all because of this one faithful night and that one forbidden kiss. Curse her enemy lines she was stuck in with the Rowdyruff Boys. But, most of all, curse her for falling in love with the one she supposedly despised.

- - MA - -

When they got back to school, everything was back to normal. Boomer was a bad boy, like before, with his two other brother. Bubbles was the cute and innocent girl with her sister companions. Nothing was different.

Bubbles glanced at Boomer from the side in the hall, catching his eyes as well. They both showed the same emotion to each other, but they both had no clue what it was. 'We need to talk.' Boomer mouthed at her. She nodded in agreement. He lifted his hand to touch something, but then let it got limp again. He looked down at the dirty floor under them. 'I'll meet you in the back after school.' Bubbles looked down at the ground and ran off to her next class.

"Bubbles." Blossom called out to Bubbles in front of her desk. Bubbles looked up at her in a daze. She's been like that ever since she got into class. "You want to be partners for Science today?" Bubbles smiled and nodded, letting Blossom sit next to her. They started to work quietly. "…" Pink eyes turned to the blonde. "Did something happen yesterday?" Bubbles turned to Blossom in surprise.

"What?" Bubbles asked strangely, "I just went asleep and that was it. Nothing weird happened." Blossom nodded, knowing it was true, but still kept her concern glance.

"I know, but…," Blossom sighed heavily ", you seem out of it today, Bubbles. Depressed, if I may." Bubbles smiled at with reassurance to the concerned leader.

"No I'm fine, Blossom." Bubbles answered and went back to work. Blossom looked at her a second more before she went to work as well.

The last bell rang loud as the students dispersed sleepily, since it was Monday. Bubbles floated to her locker to get her things. "I'm staying after for a little bit to do some…business." Bubbles told her sisters happily as the others nodded nonchalantly. Bubbles smiled and floated to the back of the school. She stared blankly at the stoic faced Boomer leaning on the wall. "Boomer."

"Bubbles." Boomer answered formally and went deeper into the shadows, Bubbles following cautiously, knowing too well of the power a Rowdyruff has. "Stop being so nervous, I'm not gonna hurt you." Boomer said sincerely. Bubbles visibly calmed by his voice, making her eyes widen in surprise. Boomer smiled kindly and sat down quietly onto the blacktop.

"What exactly are we going to do, Boomer?" Bubbles whispered quietly as she sat down onto the floor. Boomer frowned again and shrugged sadly. "…You don't know either."

"I'm just as babbled as you are!" Boomer commented with a light blush. Bubbles glared at him, but said nothing else. He sighed and brought his hand to his temples, trying his best to soothe his stress away. "Look. What I said last night means nothing. I was just…," Boomer looked at the floor, knowing what he has to say, "trying to get some to keep me amused. So, just forget everything that happened yesterday." Boomer lied, causing Bubbles to look at him with great pain. Boomer stood up, not giving Bubbles a look at all.

"What? B-But…" Bubbles started, but just looked at the ground. Boomer looked down at her crumbled form, feeling even more pain than before.

"Forget last night. Forget me. Forget the connection." Boomer commanded and walked away, leaving Bubbles just sitting there. She closed her eyes tight and pressed her fists into her eyes.

"Why…" Bubbles started to cry again. "Why is it that I can't forget?!?!" She screeched loudly as she continued to press her hands to her eyes. Memories of the sapphire eyed boy with a kind smile continued to flash across her eyes. "…I don't want to forget. I don't want to forget…" The hot tears continued down her cheeks, even as she tried so hard to stop.

"Bubbles?!?!?" Somebody yelled out to her. She turned to see a shock Buttercup in her soccer uniform. "What happened? You look like crap!" Bubbles's puffy red eyes stared at Buttercup through her endless tears.

"…I don't want to forget." Bubbles whispered one more time before she was too stuffed to even speak. Buttercup ran up to Bubbles with utter concern and pulled her from the ground.

"Let's go home, Bubbles." Buttercup said and started to fly home. Bubbles fell asleep in her sister's arms as they flew home.

- - MA - -

Boomer walked into his dingy apartment to see his other two brothers playing videogames already. They looked up at him with mischievous smiles. "Yo, Boomer! What held you up? We started playing the new game without you!" Brick yelled out happily to suddenly frown in concern at Boomer's upset eyes. "…Did something happen?" Boomer smiled softly and shook his head reassuringly.

Out of Boomer's two brothers, Brick was the one that cared the most about him. He did tease him for being so stupid, but he actually showed worry when he needed to. Butch was sort of on the oblivious end on that department. "No, I'm fine, Brick. Just gonna go to my room for now. Not really in the mood for video games." Butch looked up from his game teasingly and snickered.

"What's wrong, Boomer? Got in a fight with your girlfriend?" Butch asked mockingly. Boomer knew the 'girlfriend' Butch was talking about was Bubbles, so he sighed and walked over to the door to his room. "No reply? Is it true?" Brick looked up in interest as well. Boomer got his knob and just stared at that for a second.

"She's not my girlfriend." Boomer said monotone. Butch suddenly stared at him in shock, his smiling transforming to a frown. "She's…nothing to me." Boomer concluded their conversation and walked into his room, closing and locking the door behind him. He walked over to his bed and sat there with his knees to his chest. He closed his eyes and rested his head onto his knees. Memories of a blonde haired thirteen year old with innocent ice blue eyes streamed into his mind.

"Boomer, you know I'll keep beating you until you're evil no more!"

"You know, if we were on the same side, we'd probably be friends."

"Wow! You're really good at drawing! Why aren't you in art?"

"Would you like to dance with me, handsome stranger?"

"That was my first kiss."

"Never in my…existence have I been able to talk to somebody like this and feel so…connected."

"Neither have I." Boomer told himself, finally letting his tears fall. "That's why we can't be together." He continued through a cracked voice. 'This is for you…this is for you…this is for you…' He thought to himself as he rocked himself steadily for comfort. The image of her crumbled form hit his heart and opened a wound that continuously bleeds.

Like his counterpart, Boomer Jojo couldn't come out of the tragic heartbreak he intentionally placed upon himself. The one person he always felt would have understood him became the item of his love and affection because of one faithful night and one forbidden kiss. Even though such a romance could never happen in such circumstances, he placed it into concrete by breaking her heart into a million pieces with one simple statement of forgotten. A statement that he can never even follow himself.

"Forget last night…forget me…forget the connection…" Boomer whispered to himself continuously through his broken tears.

- - MA - -

"AAAAAH!" Buttercup groaned angrily as she walked back and forth in the living room. Blossom sat on the couch, thinking frustratingly. "I just don't get it! Why would Bubbles be crying to THAT extent over nothing?!?!" Bubbles was still asleep in her room, but never once stopped crying the whole time. Buttercup looked at the red head. "I can't think of ANYTHING recently that could get her so upset!"

"I don't think it was nothing, Buttercup." Blossom answered and stood up. "What exactly was she saying when you were flying her home again?" Buttercup paused for a moment to think.

"Something like 'I don't want to forget.'" Buttercup said, annoyed. "But I don't see how this has any importance." Blossom went into Bubbles room and took out an invitation and what was in Bubbles's clothes hamper. "What?"

"I think she went to Princess's masquerade party without telling us." Blossom informed her. Buttercup gaped at her with shock. All three girls were invited by Princess because, being the most popular, it would be a party worth coming. But, because of such a late hour of starting, the Professor told them they weren't a loud to go to the party and were told to stay home. "Maybe something happened there that she's not telling us." Buttercup thought about it and nodded.

"Lets go to Princess's house and see what's up." Buttercup said and they both flew to the big estate the most snottiest girl in Townsville lived.

The two rang the doorbell a couple times before the girl finally answered the door. "Oh, it's the Powderpuff Girls. Where's the blondie?" Princess asked fiercely. The two ignored her comments.

"We're here to ask a couple things about the party." Blossom informed her. Princess rose an eyebrow and leaned against the door panes, waiting for the questions. "Do you know if Bubbles came to your party?"

"Oh, was she the girl in a white mask with these blue swirls on it?" Princess asked. Blossom nodded in agreement and Princess smiled. "Yeah. She was dancing with this really handsome boy, might I say, but got really surprised when she found out who he really was." Princess smiled went tedious as she said this. "And, dare I say it, there little kiss on the dance floor was HOT." Buttercup and Blossom's eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you know who the guy was then?" Blossom asked hurriedly. This must be why she was so depressed that day! It had to be! "This 'masked stranger'?" Princess's eyes twinkled in a scandalous way from the question, like it was good gossip.

"It was, to even MY surprise, Boomer Jojo." Princess answered calmly. The two Powerpuffs became wide-eyed and open mouthed. You could've sworn their jaws fell to the floor. "Yup, the bad boy himself." Blossom was the first to come back to reality and cough slightly in embarrassment.

"Thank you for your help, that's all we need." Blossom said politely and turned to leave. Princess smiled wickedly and nodded before she closed the door. Buttercup shook out of her shocked state and turned to Blossom. "Lets go."

"Where?" Buttercup asked curiously, but knew exactly what Blossom was going to say next. Blossom stared at her with utter determination.

"We're going to the Rowdyruff Boys' House to have a chat with Boomer." Blossom informed her and started to fly with Buttercup not too far behind.

- - MA - -

The doorbell rang for the first time since they moved there. "…Who's at the door?" Brick asked himself as he paused the game (a/n I just lost the game D:)and walked up to the door. He opened it wide to find angry pink and green eyes. "Um…Blossom? Buttercup? What're you doing at our house?" Brick asked, not angrily, but curiously.

"We're just here for some personal business, Brick." Blossom answered casually. She smiled politely. "May we speak with Boomer, please?" Brick's eyes sparked with interest. "It's very important." He tilted his head slightly in curiosity and turned to the side to let them in.

"Yo, Brick, who's at the-you!" Butch called out as he walked to the door to only point out Buttercup. She glared back at him with the same velocity. "Why are you here?!?" Butch yelled as he unblinkingly glared at her.

"It's not like I want to be!" Buttercup glared back without blinking. Blossom and Brick stared at their glaring contest with an exasperated sigh. Brick closed the door and looked over at Blossom with instant suspicion. What would a Powerpuff Girl want with his brother? Brick walked over to the couch, hearing Blossom behind him, and they both sat down awkwardly. Butch and Buttercup stayed in their staring contest next to the entrance.

"What do you want with our brother anyway?" Brick asked her out of the silence. Blossom looked at Brick a one of her 'you didn't know' looks. "No, I have no clue why you need Boomer."

"Well, that's strange." Blossom said thoughtfully. "Didn't you guys go to Princess's masquerade party?" Brick furrowed his brows confusingly and shook his head no.

"We thought you Powderpuff Girls would be there, so we decided not to even bother going." Brick answered her truthfully. "Too bad also, because Boomer really wanted to go, for some reason." Red looked into pink trustingly. "He's never been to a REAL party where he was actually invited, so he was disappointed he couldn't go."

"No kidding? Hm…" Blossom said back to him. "Well, we weren't a loud to go because of the time. We are the heroes that fought all crime before curfew." Brick rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, me, of all people, should know this." Brick joked around. Blossom giggled slightly and smiled. Brick smiled back, but then realized what exactly was happening. Blossom seemed to have as well because they both turned to stare forward again.

"Well, anyways, Boomer must have sneaked out too then." Brick turned to face Blossom again. "Because something seemed to have happened between Bubbles and him to turn her into a crumpled heap. We came to hear what exactly he did to her." Brick nodded, getting why they were there now.

"Well, Boomer's in his room. I'll go get him." Brick said as he stood up. Blossom got up to stand behind him as he stood in front of Boomer's door. He knocked three times. "Hey, Boomer. We got company."

"…N-Not right now, B-Brick…" Boomer's cracked voice stuttered out. Brick's eyes widened. "I-I'm…doing something…" Brick got even more surprise at the sound of the sniffles and some wiping. He knocked again, but tried to keep his panics calm.

"Dude? Are you okay? You don't sound that well." Brick asked him calmly. Blossom was surprised at how concern Brick actually was for his brothers. She could tell he was panicking on the inside about his brother.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm not that well…" More sniffling from the other side. Brick finally figured out what was wrong and knocked the door down, much to Blossom and Boomer's surprise. Blossom stared at the boy sitting on the bed. Boomer sat on his bed with his knees to his chest. His eyes were blood red and his slightly flushed cheeks were covered with overflowing tears. It disturbed her a little seeing a Rowdyruff Boy so broken and, when she saw Brick's expression, this has never happened before.

"Boomer! You're crying!!!" Brick yelled, now showing his worry for his brother as he ran up to him and bent down to clean his face with a tissue. Butch and Buttercup stopped their staring contest when Brick knocked down the door, so they both saw the Rowdyruff Boomer such a broken mess and Rowdyruff Brick become the worrying older brother he was. Butch showed some concern as well as he walked over to Boomer as well. "What happened?!?" Boomer blushed and tried to clean his tears away. He turned around and saw two shocked Powerpuffs at his door. He jumped up in surprise and covered his now completely red face with his hands.

"What are they doing here?!?" Boomer commanded in his cracked voice. Brick rolled his eyes and pushed Boomer outside to the couch. Blossom sat next to him and Brick sat on his other side. Butch and Buttercup stood behind him to see what exactly was happening. "Brick, why'd you let them in?"

"They're here to ask you a couple questions and that's all." Brick answered calmly now. Boomer slowly let his hands fall from his embarrassed and depressed face as he stared at the ground.

"Fine. But hurry up." Boomer tried to say toughly, but failed. Blossom sighed and nodded, then stared intently into his eyes.

"Boomer, what happened to you and Bubbles last night at the masquerade party?" Blossom asked him seriously. Boomer looked back in shock for being caught, but then blushed a light pink. "Please tell us. We need to know." Boomer sighed and looked at his hands.

"Is she still crying?" Boomer asked quietly. Blossom looked surprised, but nodded. "I see… I'm sorry about that. But, if you must know what happened at the party, it's simple. She came late, we met at the refreshments, talked a little, danced, confessed something, kissed, found out each other's identities, she left right after. That was it." Butch and Brick gaped at him. Blossom and Buttercup still got a little surprised to hear the word 'kiss' come out of a Rowdyruff Boy's mouth when involving their innocent sister.

"KISS?!?!" Brick and Butch yelled at him. Boomer blushed a dark shade of red and nodded. "You mean your FIRST KISS was given to a POWERPUFF GIRL?!" Boomer got even darker and the two girls became even more shocked.

"Wait…" Blossom popped out of her seat. "IT WAS YOUR FIRST KISS TOO?!?!" Boomer looked up and blushed so hard it looked like he might faint, but nodded. Blossom calmed down and sat back down. "Well, anyways, what did you guys confess to each other?" Boomer looked at Blossom and then looked back at his hands.

"'Never in my…existence have I been able to talk to somebody like this and feel so…connected.' Was her exact words. I answered with just a 'Same here.' Then…well…we kissed." Boomer commented with closed eyes.

"…You remember that?" Blossom asked. Boomer nodded and stared back at his hands. "Tell me, what exactly is wrong with you two being together? The boy in blue closed his eyes, resisting the tears.

"You, of all people would know." Boomer said quietly. "A Rowdyruff and Powerpuff together is like another Romeo and Juliet story. It'll only end in tragedy. We both know it's completely forbidden to have two people from different sides together, but we fell for each other anyways. I'm sorry for what I had to do to your sister to make sure this was in concrete." Brick glared at his younger brother and knocked him upside the head.

"Idiot! Who cares?" Butch and Buttercup scolded. "We don't care, that's for sure!" Boomer stared at them in surprise and relief.

"Exactly, moron." The reds said in harmony. "We might be enemies, but we can have steady relationships with each other if we wanted to. But we were created to fight against each other." They shrugged and sighed at such a stupid reason. "If you guys can somehow get along without pulverizing each other, then be our guest and start."

"…Thank you…" Boomer said happily and started to laugh. "I need to go now and apologize to Bubbles." Boomer got up from the couch and flew on his flash of light. The rest of the group sat around the couch with sneaky smiles on their faces.

"Guess this means we'll have to be able to stand each other." Brick commented. Blossom looked at him and laughed brightly. He looked over and smiled at her.

"Well, we haven't killed each other while we were here yet, I think we can manage." Blossom added. Brick smiled wider and laughed with her. Butch and Buttercup stared at each other, huffed stubbornly, then smiled kindly. They all knew this will turn a new leaf for them.

- - MA - -

Bubbles finally got up from her long and painful slumber to be met with the face of the boy that caused it all. At first she blushed, but then, she glared at him with betrayal and truned the other way, making him laugh. "What do you want? Make fun of me more?" Boomer smiled at her childish manor.

"No actually, I wanted to tell you…," Boomer swayed in embarrassment, making Bubbles turn back to him with interest, "I lied." Bubbles continued to stare at him. "I meant every word I said about you last night and I only lied to you for your protection."

"Protection?" Bubbles answered back sarcastically. Boomer blushed a light pink and nodded, even in the sarcasm. "Protection against what?"

"Our growing love." Boomer answered courageously. Bubbles blushed and realized how true it was. "I thought, if it were to happen, it would only be, practically, a painful encounter between you and I. We'd have to betray or family and the only ones close to us, but then, I realized it."

"What?" Bubbles asked, breathless to his confession now. Boomer blushed and decided to do the one thing he knew would make it clear. He kissed her like at the party, but even more passionate than before. She was shocked at first, but then just melted into it. So much, actually, that they fell onto the bed. They broke for air. "What does this mean then?" His eyes glowed warmly with affection above her.

"I love you too much already to even care. I realized how much our family actually wouldn't mind us together and how close I got with because of one faithful night…" Boomer got cut off by Bubbles lips tenderly touching his own. She smiled up at his embarrassed face.

"…And one forbidden kiss." Bubbles finished happily. Boomer smiled back at her and hugged her tightly. "Because of this masquerade affair, I can finally say 'I love you.'" Boomer smiled even happier when the three words.

"Because of this masquerade affair, I can finally say 'I love you too.'"

- - MA - -

DANG THIS IS LONG! Well, tell me if you liked it! Oh, and to those who don't know what 'The Game' is, since I already lost it right now, I'll explain it.

The Game is a game(no duh) where you totally forget all about the game. The only way you can lose this game is if you think about. Usually, when this happens, my friends and the other people I know who play this say, "I lost the game." The people around you playing the game then, lose it. When you lose it, you just restart it all over again like it never happened, meaning, you can lose the game like 40 times and never stop playing. I must say, this game is very confusing, but also very simple. The concept of the game is to forget the game. That's it, pretty much.

Now, all my readers, YOU HAVE JUST LOST THE GAME.