"As I descend to the earth, and view the universe above me, I realize that life evolves, revolves, and dissolves completely around the opposites therefore I conclude that I cannot exist in my...utopian...mind…"

"Get up." A voice said, firm and impatient "Get up we need to eat."

This was usual for the remaining members of the Gangreen Gang. They yawned and stretched and got up in moments, knowing better than to challenge Ace. The newer members weren't so savvy, and they groaned and turned over, politely telling him to screw off and leave them be. At least until he opened the door and let the sunrise and cold air rush in.

They weren't happy with their new boss, but those were the breaks.

"And why did you have to wake my from my beauty sleep?" Sedusa hissed, her hair not nearly as manicured as she had hoped – it looked as if her snakes had frozen in place.

"You JERK" Princess had ranted, over and over, "I'm gonna tell Daddy and this place is gonna be a parking lot!"

For what it was worth Ace heard these complaints. He just didn't care. Arturo had scampered over, offered Maria to Sedusa to tame her locks. She had rolled her eyes, but accepted and worked out the kinks, trying to ignore Arturo's mooning gaze. Billy had cradled Mojo to his chest, and there the monkey made little cooing noises, clinging to his shoulders in a rare moment of passivity. Princess and continued to rave, but no one had listened to her, so she kicked the ground and threw a silent temper tantrum.

There were rose petals blowing on the breeze.

"You never answered me." Sedusa reminded, dropping Maria in Arturo's general area. "Why are we up at half past dawn, exactly?"

"Food." Ace repeated, signaling the gang to move out.

"We can't go back into town." Sedusa implored, looking shocked as she steeped forward "It's still overrun by that… creepy little thing and his creepy little servants."

"I said 'food', not 'Lets knock ova a mini mart'."

"So where-" She paused. "Oh HELL no. I'm not eating garbage. That's disgusting- That's how you become diseased! I already look a mess I am not resorting to-"

"Then starve. I dun care. Lets go guys."

Sedusa was stunned speechless for a moment, and Princess's jaw dropped (at Ace's comment of the through of eating garbage – it was unclear which). Snake, as per usual, was right behind Ace and stayed that way. Arturo cast a glance at the two of them, but his boss won out over helping the girls. He scampered out. Billy had been left behind. He waited, staring out into space on the porch. Mojo began to fidget in his arms, chattering and crawling up around his shoulders. The two females exchanged glances. Surely they were better than that. The boys could do the dirty work. They'd bring back food – wouldn't they? That small one would – or maybe the big dumb one or even that skinny one (he didn't look like he ate much).

"You eat what you find – that's it. Everyone for themselves."

There was that idea shot to hell.

"This is disgusting." Sedusa sneered, walking out with as much of an air of superiority as she could while she tried to pick the cleanest garbage mound.

"Es not all rotten." Arturo encouraged, holding up a pizza box. "Es jus' dirty. No problema."

"Yeah, just don't drink nothin." Ace reminded.

"Ugh. I can't believe you actually eat this!" Princess whined, holding a plastic bag with unidentifiable slop inside.

"Not all o' us can live on Daddy's paycheck, Princess." Ace accepted the bagel Snake had inconspicuously kicked over, picking off the mold "An' don't eat dat. "

"Well DUH."

They all picked and poked, looking for something at least halfway edible. The girls, though obliging, were ultimately repulsed and paused to take a breath or hold their hand over their mouths. Ace just watched, like he always did, roaming from mound to mound. More often than not food fell at his feet, which he picked up and ate without even bothering to check who had provided him or even what it was. Normally he'd look for his own food, but his hands were full. The two girls and the flower dominated his attention. His gang could fend for themselves food wise, and he'd make sure that no one was coming to cleanse the area.

"What da hell you starin at?" Ace snapped, catching Billy, who was normally head first in piles of food, staring blankly at the City of Townsville. "Billy! You forget how ta talk again?"

"Hey, uhh… somethin's fallin from da flower…"

"Shaddup Billy. Quit starin at it"

"No… no I think he's right I see something falling. And the Powerpuff Girls!"

"Lets get 'em!"

"No you idiots stay here!"

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That!"

"Another light?"

"Ai dios mio-"

"Oh shit."

"Get down!"

In light of it all, no one was sure who said what or why any of them thought hitting the deck would do anything. Regardless, they fell to the ground, covering their heads and their mouths and trying not to be hit by another light from that damned flower.

Like that, however, with their faces in the dirt and trying to hide, the light expanded. It grew and grew and grew like the shockwaves from a bomb, reverberating to all corners of Townsville and beyond, touching everything the Gnome had altered. Though they tried to avoid it, the remaining villains were caught up in the blast, absorbed by the light.

So then why was it that weary eyes dared to open; they found themselves strewn across cement and asphalt and not face down in dirt and grime?

Ace lifted his head, groggy, sore, and confused. He vaguely remembering being this achy and confused not a day before but he pushed tat thought aside, lifting himself up slowly. His arms weren't cooperating too well. They wobbled under even his meager weight, shaking like they were no more than sickly green flower stalks.

He paused.

Green?

A quick rub of his eyes and, yes, he was in fact back to being a true blue Gangreen gangster, color and pointy teeth and all. He almost laughed, staring at his green hands. He shook that notion off, lifting his head to look around and see if he was the only one back to normal. He hoped whatever happened made everyone better too instead of killing them or if it did happen to kill them, dumped them off in the same portion of hell or purgatory or whatever.

He was met with the budging, wobbly eyes of none other than Grubber, who promptly belched and licked his Boss' face.

"Holy shit Grubber you're alive!"

Said mutant blew a raspberry and half smiled, turning away and padding over to Billy, who was once again a big green Cyclops. Big Billy, though he was happy to see Grubber, was more interested in the huddled mass of black hair and brain matter curled up and groaning at his feet. Grubber and Billy took turns poking it until it stirred enough to smack their hands away and stumble around, holding its bare brain and trying to orient itself.

Somewhere off to the left of the conscious Gangreens, Arturo picked himself up off the floor, stretched, muttered something in Spanish. He too was back to his normal green coloring, his under bite pronounced as ever. He quickly checked Maria was still stowed away in his pocket then kicked Snake, who was also back to normal, stretched out in a meandering 'S' curve over the sidewalk. The reptile stirred, hissed, and rubbed his eye, the fact he was back to normal only registering once he spotted Sedusa, her snake hair alive and writhing all over her head, laughing manically to celebrate it's return.

While the remaining Sedusa cooed over her hair, combing it out and telling her living locks how much Mommy loved them, Princess picked herself up and dusted herself off, looking angry as her five year old self could mange. She stamped her foot and was about to demand an explanation when her super suit took that cue to turn back on, allowing her to hover off the ground like the hero she desperately wanted to be. She nearly shrieked with joy, twisting around and making sure all her gadgets and gizmos worked correctly.

Slowly their collective wits came back to them all. They looked normal, normal for them, anyway. But how? Never mind- who cared how? They were normal again! Sedusa cackled, her hair twisting happily around on her head. Princess fired a rocket or two, laughing with joy at the destruction she caused. Snake slithered and stretched his spine, hissing a few times to get a hang of it again. Mojo seemed to get his wits about him, standing straight and looking around, acknowledging the other villains – particularly Big Billy, whom he did not want to be near. Grubber, for suddenly disappearing and hen just as suddenly reappearing they way he did, looked just fine and acted like he always did.

"You okay, Grubber?" Ace asked finally, looking down at his mutant follower

"Ppppffffbbbt."

"Yeah that's what I thought."

Princess gagged and made typical girly disgust noises, pointing at Mojo's newly regrown and exposed brain matter.

"Ew ew ew ew ew ew!" She cried, stamping her feet. "Ugh that's so gross put your helmet on ewwww it looks like your head exploded!"

"Oh be quiet you foolish girl. Cease and desist! I demand you stop now!" Mojo raved, his voice still weak while he shuffled around, trying to find something to cover himself. He finally settled on a paper bag and, much to Big Billy's displeasure, refused to be picked up or touched anymore.

While the largest Gangreen sulked, the smallest greeted Grubber and then darted toward a large pink bolder and proceeded to poke it. It stirred, grumbled, and attempted to smack away the Hispanic Gangreen. Fuzzy rolled over and rubbed his head, glaring at Arturo, who seemed far to excited about being back to normal to even attempt to give a damn.

"Whut in tarnation- Where's mah boom sick? What are you all doin on MY PROPERDY!?"

"Can it you country bimpkin!" Princess snapped, now hovering in her reactivated super suit.

"Sso there'ss Fuzzy. Grubber'ss with Billyss…" Snake tallied, looking around and hissing, "Where'ss Him andss the Amoeba boyss?"

"The three idiots are over there." Sedusa stated, cooing over her hair "Jaywalking."

"And the location of Him is still unknown?" Mojo asked, affixing the paper bag more securely and trying off a ripped up coat with a few rags.

"I'm right behind you."

The monkey shrieked and scampered away, clutching his chest and trying not to hyperventilate. Him looked on, amused and relaxed, casually leaning back against a pile of stone and rubble. He smiled at Mojo, who was shaking his fist angrily at him, trying to get the words together to insult and otherwise verbally punish Him. The demon cackled instead, crossing one leg over the other and spread his arms wide, like a king addressing his subjects.

"Yes, yes. I'm here. You can all stop looking for me now – though I am flattered you'd be concerned over little old me"

"So you're all alive." Ace mumbled, half smiling and looking at Grubber. As badly as he was trying to hide it, it was pretty obvious the boss Gangreen was more than a little relieved to see his gang all back together.

"Well of course I'm alive" Him scoffed, bringing the focus right back to him, "Why wouldn't I be? I am the ultimate evil, after all."

"Then where the hell have you been?" Sedusa questioned irritably, hands on her hips.

"I haven't the slightest clue." He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully "I seem to be missing my echo, however. Have any of you seen it?"

"Once cannot see an echo, Him. That is to say one cannot visualize sound waves. It is impossible to lay eyes upon a reverberation in the air that causes ones eardrums to vibrate at varying pitch-"

"Oh Mojo, you silly chimp. It was a joke." Him pinched the chimp's cheek with the tip of his claw, which was immediately batted away wildly and screeched at. Mojo then paused, flushing at his frankly animalistic behavior, the residual effects of his temporary devolution not quite absolved.

"Y'alls crazy." Fuzzy drawled. "We aint done been nowhere no how."

"As badly worded as that was – Fuzzy is correct." Him declared, uncrossing his legs and standing up. "We left here, per say, but I haven't a clue where we went. That Gnome…" Him's voice deepened as it often did when he was agitated "banished us from this world, like we weren't good enough for him. We never really left so much as were erased from consciousness."

"And you know this…" Mojo gestured, curious and probing as ever, his anger towards the demon momentarily forgotten in the face of new knowledge.

"Oh, I've done it from time to time. It's quite a bit of fun to watch – but incredibly boring when you're stuck in the same predicament." Him then smiled and let his head fall back with a dramatic sigh "Oh, how I'm going to enjoy it all the more!"

"Sso why did it ssstop?" Snake questioned, slithering about, getting used to the feeling of being back in his old snakey skin.

"Not sure." Him shrugged and snapped his claws a few times, as if to regain the feeling in them "It can be stopped manually, but who would want to do that? In the case of…that thing, he ran out of power. Or overestimated it. Stupid fool –relying on 'elders' and 'exchanges.' Pfft."

"So when the gnome thing fell or died or whatever-" Arturo started.

"Everything went back to the way it was before him." Princess finished, nodding her head. "Or at least with less fire."

"The monsterss should be backss then too, rightss?"

"Yessss" Him mimicked, giggling to himself. "And so should the girls."

"What was up with them?" Ace snapped "Too much free time?"

"Oh, no." Him cooed, waving his claw "In order to save the world like they always do, they relinquished their superpowers. Heheeh... But! It didn't turn out perfectly so the deal was broken – and their powers restored. Happy endings all around."

Him snapped his claws viciously, his smile turning into a scowl. The villains mirrored his resentment. They way the demon described it, it seemed as if all their troubles - from exile of consciousness and the city to momentary discoloration and power reduction- was once more all the fault of the Powerpuff Girls. How dare they! How dare they bring this blight onto them, leaving them powerless and excommunicated in order to reap the normal life they felt entitled to? It was enough to make their blood boil, their tempers flare, their ire rise-

Enough to make them yawn.

When all was said and done, they were all exhausted more than anything. It had been a long day or couple of days or whatever. However long it had been it had been long, and all of them just wanted it to be over and done with. They'd let the big monsters handle it for a couple of days. Let the low lifes come up from the sewers and rob some banks and hold up a couple of jewelry stores and make a name for themselves. Let a new villain in, maybe – or let nature run its course and give the girls hell. That's not to say they were quitting – far from it. The villains of Townsville were back, ready and willing to fight the Powerpuff girls tooth and nail for dominance over the city and the world – just not today. They ached and felt stiff and just wanted to crash for a few days. Get their energy back up and maybe devise a terrible plan or two. Right now though, home was looking too good to pass up.

"Well, it's been fun boys." Sedusa said, arching her back and turning away from the rest of the group "But I'm just not up for a night on the town."

"Same here." Him said, yawning theatrically.

"Yeah." The Amoeba boys chorused, hoping to be at least part of the action.

"I so need a vacation –" And here Princess whipped out her cellphone "Daddy! Have a Caribbean cruise set up for earliest departure- No! Now! I have to get out of this town and relax NOW DADDY."

The sentiment rippled throughout the crowd of villains, nodded heads and mumbled agreements all around. They started to disperse – Sedusa the first among them to leave, disappearing down an alley with a chilling giggle and soft writhing sounds from the mass of hair on her head. The Amoeba boys – particularly Bossman- waved his hand and offered to keep the crime rate up in Townsville. No one really paid him much attention, but the supersized single cell organism grinned and gathered his partners in mediocre crime around, deciding to hit that fruit stand a few blocks north. The rest of them tried to calculate their route, Mojo heading off in front.

"I will now take my leave." He announced – just in case anyone would miss him.

"What road are you taking?" Him asked.

"One hundred twenty forth to one hundred, then left down Burr Avenue. Continue to intersection of Lincoln and Main. Go south from there, crossing north by northwest at Park Place and head east to Townsville Park and thusly my Observatory."

"That was more articulate than you normally are. How exhausted you must be." Him chuckled and followed along side him. "Allow me to keep you company."

"If you must."

"I still think ya'lls nuts." Fuzzy grumbled, keeping otherwise to himself but still close behind the small group, mumbling about his boomstick and Joe.

"Hey! You guys better wait up for me!" Princess screeched, hovering not far behind them.

"The dumpsss that waysss too Bossss." Snake hissed, shuffling into place between Big Billy and Ace, to Grubber's left.

"Great. And here I was hoping to avoid the singing. Hey you guys! Wait up."

They made their way inward, toward the center of Townsville. Ace was a little skeptical, signaling his gang to hang back a bit. The others were as were just as paranoid. What if it was a trap? A front? A trick? They couldn't take another hit just yet, even in this big a group. Him spotted the girls and paused. When the evilest of evil and the cruelest of cruel was freaked out, you had reason to worry. The other monsters peeked around the demon, trying to catch a glimpse of the action. The girls were in the center of the civilians, who moments before had been bowing in reverence.

"Whatcha lookin at?" Princess asked, hovering over Him's shoulder

"Seems I was right…" Him murmured, trying to keep his echo from reaching the civilians and the superheroes "The girls are back to set things right."

"So they're blockin the road or what?" Ace asked, still a ways behind them.

"They and the rest of Townsville."

"What do you suppose we do to navigate around this mass grouping?" Mojo asked the demon, peering up at Him.

"Iffin I had mah boomstick-"

"No, no Fuzzy." Him chastised, "No one wants to hear your boomstick. No one needs to fight anyone anymore I just don't have the patients to deal with it."

"Again, I repeat, I restate. What do you suppose we do? What is the plan? What do you think?"

"Put on a show." Him sighed, "Pretend we're all on board with whatever lovely message of peace and joy they're preaching. Lie through your teeth about harmony and getting along and then we can go home and break promises tomorrow."

No one really liked this plan, not even Him, who thought it up. In fact they hated this plan – not so much the lying and luring Townsville into a false sense of security – but the part about being kind. After all the shit they've gone through the last thing they wanted to do was conform and relent to what the Powerpuffs wanted. Being nice was the last thing they wanted to do, dammit. But no one could come up with a better plan. The roads were blocked off and the only way to get past the worshipping masses was to go through, and to go through they had to pretend to be nice. So with a sigh and a few groans in agreement the group trudged forward toward the group, dead set on finally getting home

Even if they had to sing.

Thanks so much for reading - I really hope you enjoyed : )