AN: Here is a Brickercup Oneshot for all of you sexy people!

I own nothing but the plot.

"What are you doing?" Buttercup questioned as she stepped into the room, curious as what her boyfriend had been doing this whole time.

When she had arrived at the Jojo brother's household, both Butch and Boomer had told her that Brick had only left his bedroom three times the entire day. All of those three times were to eat. Buttercup had been worried, she knew that Brick wouldn't just stay in his room because he felt like being inert. If there was anything the redheaded teen wasn't, it was lazy.

With HIM back in town and old enemies rising, Buttercup figured that he was organizing a plan. Brick was always one for strategy and careful planning. Buttercup, on the other hand, was all for impulsivity. She preferred going all in, diving off the deep end instead of upgrading from the kiddie pool. Everything in between was too slow for the green puff.

Walking up to his bedroom, she had rapped on the door three times, letting him know that it was her. When she heard his voice approving her entrance, she came in. Buttercup wasn't sure what she had expected her boyfriend to be doing, but playing a board game wasn't it.

"I'm playing chess." Brick replied, not looking up to greet her.

Chess? He's been in here all day playing chess?

"Your brother's told me you've been up here all day. Is playing this game all you've done?"

Buttercup knew there had to be a deeper meaning behind Brick's actions.

"It's more than just a game, Buttercup." Brick was looking at her now. Emerald eyes locking with crimson ones.

"What are you talking about?" Buttercup was confused on what her boyfriend meant.

"It's not just a game. It's a metaphor for life." Brick's lost it, Buttercup's convinced.

"Hey, Mr. Socrates, news flash! You aren't making any damn sense!"

Brick smiled at his girlfriend. "Ah, so you've read Socrates like I suggested, then?"

"Well, yeah. It was pretty good." Buttercup blushed. Ever since they started dating, the raven-haired teen had began reading a lot more than she had before. Maybe it had something to do with Brick's influence, or maybe it was the fact that the books were so damn good. It was one of the little things that people noticed about their relationship. Buttercup mellowed out a little, while Brick was less uptight.

Both of these equaled happiness for everyone involved.

Brick, still adorning a small smile, finally decided to tell Buttercup what he was talking about.

"Gather the pieces and sit across from me. I'll fill you in on what I mean." Brick requested.

Deciding to educate herself, Buttercup did as she was asked. She collected the pieces, and sat cross-legged opposite the male.

"Now what?" She questioned.

"Line them in a row. It doesn't matter the order."

Buttercup lined them up.

She had never played chess before, so she had no idea what these pieces where called or what they do.

"Ok, so. Do you see the short ones here?" He pointed to the little stubby ones. "These are called Pawns. Now, what they do is important. Their main goal is to get to the other side of the board. They are only allowed to move one space at a time, since most of the battle is making it to your destination. The fact that they are only able to move forward also symbolizes how they have a clear goal. Protect their ruler, while attacking the rivals. When they do make it to the other side, they have the ability to level up due to their experience in the journey. During that expedition, however, they have to capture enemies and sacrifice themselves for the greater good. They do it for their leader. They do it with honor. Are you following so far?"

Barely, Buttercup thought. Nodding her head, she waiting for Brick to continue.

"Next is the Knight. The Knight is allowed to move to corners in a 2x3 space. The knight is also able to jump over other player's pieces. The knight is still protecting the higher power, however, the knight is more strategic than the pawn, who uses brute force. The knight's job is to travel quickly, but not too far, as it is the second line of defense. In order to get information back to their ruler, they are also allowed to move backwards. To communicate. Still understand?"

"Yeah, I'm getting it. But, how is this relevant?"

Brick waved her off.

"I'll get to that. Anyway, next is the Bishop. He can move any number of spaces, but they have to be diagonal. The bishop is not a huge defender, so they are able to move large distances to gather resources, recruit allies and capture enemies."

"Then, we have the Rook. The Rook is able to move in any direction horizontally or vertically. The ability to move in these directions enables him to be pretty much the opposite of the Bishop. Each is able to move in the directions that the other can't so they have different views and experiences. How are you doing with all of this?"

Buttercup was understanding all of it, but she was still blanking on how all of this was relevant or important to the task that they have. To bring down HIM and keep Townsville safe.

"We're almost done. Here, we have the Queen. Now, the Queen is a women of many talents. The Queen possess all of the other pieces skills, except for the ability to jump over the pieces. That is because it is the queen's duty to face challenges head on. The Queen is, in a nutshell, the glue of the board. She does everything that the King is not able to do."

"Finally, we have to ruler himself. The King. The king, although high in status, is the weakest player of the game. He may be able to go in any direction, but he is limited to how many spaces he can move. He must stay close to home, waiting for capture. Each time it gets close to Checkmate, he narrowly escapes. It sometimes is a constant circle. Evade, Danger, Evade. Still with me?"

Buttercup nodded once again. "So, how is this relevant to our planning, again?"

Brick grinned at her. "I can tell you now, since I explained chess to you."

Pulling out long piece of paper, he began to explain his discoveries to Buttercup.

"So, I have been studying the game of chess. What I noticed is exactly what I've just explained to you. Each person has a role, and just because one is higher up than another, doesn't mean that they are stronger. Lets starts with HIM as the king, and Mojo as the Queen. HIM stays in the shadows, commanding his army. Mojo is in the frontline. He is the one in the open, posing as the real threat. Your old enemies that are now ours are the pawns. They are simple villains, the ones that are sent out to be destroyed with the small possibility of capture. Now that we've figured out some pieces, what I am trying to figure out is who the Knights, Rooks, and Bishops are. I can tell you one thing for sure. Some of them are watching in the darkness, waiting to strike. Hopefully, we can decode the mystery before then."

As Brick was explaining this, Buttercup got a good look at him. She noticed the bags under his eyes, the messiness of his hair, and his wrinkled clothes. He looked...nothing like himself.

"Have you been...up all night working on this?"

Brick sighed, running a hand through his long hair. "Several nights, actually. Today's the first entire day I've spent, though. I have to figure this out. There's no way we are going into this unprepared."

"Brick, you don't have to do all of this. This is me and my sisters fight, not yours."

Buttercup's head hurt, and she was letting her tough girl exterior melt away as she tried to convince Brick to give himself a break.

"That's where you are wrong, Buttercup. It's our fight. I'm not going to sit around while you could possibly be hurt. We're in this together, okay?"

Buttercup signed. "Okay."

Brick walked over to the box that held all of the plans. Putting away the sheets and plans, he packed everything up. Just as he was about to put away the board, Buttercup stopped him.

"Wait!"

Brick stopped, eyebrow raised and chess board in hand.

Buttercup sputtered quickly. "Teach me how to play."

Brick smiled, and for the rest of the night, they talked nothing but strategy.