"Brickie honey, what happened to the gun?"

I looked up at my erm… Girlfriend… And blinked in confusion. Princess was sitting directly across me in the posh restaurant with an apple sundae in front of her. She rested her chin on the top of her intertwined hands, her arms propped up by her elbows.

"The gun? What about it?" I asked.

"It exploded, didn't it?" she asked sweetly, her eyes closed and her face tilted to her left.

"How do you even-"

"Know?" she cut in, her eyes gleaming. "Oh Brickie, we are so perfect for each other we even complete each others' sentences!"

What was this girl? Mad?

"That's aside," she continued as she picked at her sundae, "I put a device into it so I would know when the gun gets destroyed…"

I felt my throat go dry and I immediately tried scanning the crowd subtly for any of her guards that could potentially murder me. I didn't spot any. I turned back to Princess. Was she going to demand for money? Maybe she would give me another one… Or maybe she would break up with me (oh please do).

"It got destroyed by Blossom," I murmured.

"And what were you doing when she destroyed it?" Princess asked. She was till using the innocent girl tone and it was creeping the hell out of me. This girl was scarier than I last remembered her to be. What happened to the girl that cried because we refused to let her join our team?

"She was holding me down!" I insisted. Princess' eyes widened and I saw something flash in them, which made me squirm a little in my seat.

"How did the girls even get a hold of your gun?"

"They checked my whole room. They found it even though I hid it in my underwear drawer," I sighed as I leaned back into my seat. My arms fell to my side as I slid my hands into my pockets.

"They looked through your underwear drawer?!" she gasped, standing up and slamming her hands on the table. A few people looked at us, shaking their heads in disapproval, and Princess glared at them. She sat back down, took the napkin and dabbed it at her mouth.

"Buttercup did but no biggie, really…" I said, knowing that it would be better to calm her down rather than agitate her further.

"She looked through my Brickie's underwear drawer? She must die!" Princess hissed.

It took a lot of willpower not to slap my forehead in exasperation at her words. "Look, it's not that big of a problem. You have thousands of those guns. You can give me another or you yourself can use it and just zap them."

She glared at me. "I don't have another gun…"

"But you said you had thousands of those…"

Princess smiled radiantly again and she got up. She reached over and took my shirt's collar, pulling my up until we were only inches away. She leaned to my ear and gave it a little nibble. "No I don't have thousands of those things but do you know what I have thousands of? I have thousands of guards willing to hunt you down if you ever make this poor Princess cry." With that she pushed me back into my seat. I felt my throat go dryer that it already was as all notion of breaking up with her instantly vanished from my mind.

The rest of the date went on in silence on my part. Princess continued going on about all her adventures in school and simply how pathetic she found the Powerpuffs as 'After all, how can they be well-liked by the people when they don't even have boyfriends?' and I was so close to telling her that Bubbles does indeed have a boyfriend.

Freaking Boomer.

Why did he get the gentle naïve girl while I got the overbearing possessive brat? I swear I only dated her for the gun. I didn't expect her to blackmail me into continuing the relationship.

The best thing about dating Princess is that I didn't have to send her home after our dates. By the time we left the restaurant, her limo was already there waiting for her. Princess stopped walking, turned to look at me and firmly pressed her lips against mine.

"Do you want to come home with me? You can sleep in my room," she said suggestively.

I smiled weakly. Although spending a night with Princess seemed rather appealing in that sense, three hours a day with her was more than enough. I didn't want Butch to think I was bailing out like Boomer did either. Princess suggested to take me home but I politely declined (yes, politely, she had fucking guards out there). I stood and watched as her limo pulled out of the driveway and disappeared into the night. I stood there for a while before I started walking home.

It was a chilly night even though it was summer. My shirt was too thin and it didn't protect me enough from the cool air. I shivered and quickened my pace home. I didn't actually want to go home but I knew I had to. There was nowhere else I could possibly go aside from Princess' home, of course.

Maybe I should have accepted the offer. Should I call her?

"You can't possibly be thinking of accepting that girl," I heard a sneer from behind me.

I didn't turn around. "I think I'm still allowed to report a Powerpuff for crimes like stalking, right?" I asked, my back still faced towards her.

"I'm not stalking you. I'm keeping an eye on you," Blossom replied as she landed in front of me, "just like how Buttercup is keeping an eye on Butch and Bubbles… Well, I guess she's also keeping an eye on Boomer… In a way."

I raised my eyebrow. "Are you afraid the powerless Brick is gonna do something? I might snatch an old lady's purse. I might spit on the grass… Oh fuck, I think I littered just now!"

Blossom crossed her arms. "You're planning something or else you would have left her by now," she said flatly. "You hate Princess."

"She's rich, woman. Love or no love, I can get money from that bitch," I scoffed, "and there's no law saying I can't so don't even thing about balling those pretty little fists."

"She's rich in STDs as well," Blossom sighed. "I'm guessing she has more experience that you, Butch and Boomer put together. She's slept with the whole football team and more."

Putting the three of us together doesn't really give you much in the first place. Boomer and I were virgins. Butch has about one girl a month or so… Though I hadn't seen him with any girl ever since we got back to Townsville.

Ignoring Blossom, I started walking down the path towards my home. I didn't turn to see if she was following. I just wanted to go back and sleep. The day had taken its toll on me. But I knew that a big headache was waiting for me at home as well. Ever since that day with the gun, Butch and I hadn't been getting along. It was quarrels after quarrels even over the smallest issue like what to watch on tv. And I'm talking about big time quarrels- ones that if we still have powers, we'd be laser eyebeaming each other already.

At some point in time, I turned back and Blossom was long gone. I was already at my apartment complex by then. With deep hesitation, I walked in and headed for the apartment. I walked past the landlady's house silently, not wanting to wake her. She had already gave Butch and I an earful after the broken window. She was still yet to find out about my broken door.

I slipped into the apartment, hoping Butch would be asleep as it was 11pm. But no, he was very much awake. Sitting in front of the tv, he was holding onto a controller and meshing buttons violently on it. I walked over and stared at the screen. It seemed to be Mortal Kombat and Butch was too engrossed in the game that he didn't even notice me standing behind him. He was muttering some curses and after straining my ears a little, I realized they were directed at me.

I held in my sigh and went to Boomer's room (since mine had lost a door), wondering why the fuck my brothers turned out to be such a pain. One had left me and the other one now hated me completely. I know I wasn't the best brother when we were younger but I had outgrown the lame bossiness that once plagued me. I tried to be nicer to them because I knew that we needed each other to survive and we were living perfectly… Until we got back to Townsville and met those Powerpuff Girls again.

It was their fault we fell apart. Those girls…

I ended up letting out a yell as I punched the wall at the top of my strength. I heard some cracking but the wall showed not a single trace of damage. Instead, I felt a sharp pain in my arm and I let out another yell, this time much louder, holding onto my right arm.

Fuck fuck fuck. Did I just break my arm?

I heard the door slam open and I looked up. Butch was standing there, looking around. His eyes came to rest at me and he titled his head in confusion.

"Brick? Is everything okay? Why'd you yell?" he asked.

I smiled weakly. "Yeah everything is fine," I replied, my voice cracking a little. Shit shit shit. Now I sounded like I was crying. Butch turned on the light and stared at me. He walked over and took my arm, making me hiss in pain and wrench it away.

"What the hell did you do?" he questioned, placing his arms on his hips.

"Nothing really," I murmured. "I think I sprained my shoulder or something."

Butch glared at me. "No, you wouldn't scream like a girl if you just sprained your arm, idiot. Come on, let's go to the hospital."

"For what?" I asked, particularly annoyed at how Butch suddenly seemed so concerned when just about half a day ago he was capable of throwing a kitchen knife at me.

"You broke your arm," he said flatly. "So come on because if I have to drag you there I will drag your fucking ass there."

"Why do you care?" I murmured. I hadn't intended to say it out loud by it slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Butch stiffened and turned to me, all of his anger vanishing from his face, leaving only a hurt expression. What was I thinking? Of course he cares? He my brother for fuck's sake!

Butch swallowed. "Brick… You… You're an ass, you know… But you're the only one I have after Boomer left. So don't you fucking ask me why I care because if I can worry my ass off about that bastard that had eloped with a fucking Powerpuff, I will sure as hell die of worry if my only remaining brother is secretly killing himself."

I didn't know how to respond to that so I ended up slumping onto Boomer's bed. "I'm tired Butch. Let me sleep," I insisted. I accidentally rolled onto my injured hand and cried out again, sitting up immediately. Fuck. I needed to get that checked.

Butch walked towards me and grabbed me by the collar. I scowled as he pulled me onto my feet and started pulling me out of the room and towards the door. Great. Just great.

About three hours later, I was sitting in the backseat of Butch's rented car as he drove us back towards our apartment. Apparently, the impact of the punch caused a crack on the lower half of my arm bone and it had to be in a cast for a month at least. With my dominant arm now rendered useless, Butch had decided that I should take a break from working and rest at home till my arm recovers. While it did seem appealing to me, it would only half our income. It was already good enough that we didn't have Boomer's pay anymore but up till my hand recovered, I would be unable to work too.

"I'll manage," Butch had said but I was not too sure. How could he earn enough for both of us by working merely at the mechanics?

Not too keen on arguing with him, I remained silent the entire trip back home. I wanted to apologize for wasting his time as he had taken me all the way to the hospital and back but I held my tongue. We went back home in silence. Butch immediately went to his room and slammed his door shut. I decided not to bother him and I went to my own room. I had left my phone on the table and I picked it up.

What the fuck?!

Fifty-three missed calls from Princess?!

Even though I wasn't madly in love with her, her threat rang in my ears and I immediately called her back. I heard the phone ring twice and it was picked up, as if she was waiting for me to call her.

"Brick!" I heard her exclaim, choking. Fuck, was she crying?

"Princess? What's the matter?" I asked although I knew damn well what the matter was.

"Why didn't you answer any of my calls?" she screamed into the phone, making me hold the phone away from my ear so as to protect my eardrums.

"I went to the hospital. I got myself hurt by accident," I explained, sighing. "Left my phone at home too…"

"Did the Powerpuff Girls beat you up? They did, didn't they? Those nasty girls dared to lay their hands on my Brickie. How dare they even touch you?! Don't worry, baby. I'll take care of them. You just go to sleep, okay? I love you! Sweet dreams of your lovely Princess!" She made some sort of kissing noise and she hung up. She had spoken so fast that I didn't get to say anything at all.

So now she was after the Powerpuffs for nothing?

Ah, whatever, what did I care? It's better if they're dead anyway.

Damn, why was Princess such a bitch?!

I tossed and turned in bed, trying to fall asleep but no such luck. It wouldn't come to me. Groaning, I got up and sat on the edge of my bed, thousands of thoughts running through my mind.

Was returning to Townsville a big mistake? Was returning to America in the first place a mistake? The three of us were happy until we got back and everything started falling apart. I thought that we were inseparable. Boomer proved that wrong. I always believed that Butch would stand by me no matter what. He proved me wrong as well. Oh guess what? I proved myself wrong as well. I never saw myself dating Princess. Everything was going wrong and I could do nothing about it.

I wondered if Butch was asleep. It was already past 3am and I guessed he would be snoring by then. Still, I stood up and walked over to his room. Without knocking, I opened the door and slipped in. In the darkness of the room, I could see Butch lie on his back, his hands behind his head. He was still, but very much awake, staring at the ceiling. He looked at me the moment I entered and I felt myself looking away.

"Brick?" he murmured. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to apologise… For troubling you," I replied, sighing, "and for being an asshole. I know you hate Princess and don't want me dating her."

Butch sat up and he shrugged. "It's okay. You used to take care of me when I got hurt. Driving you to the hospital is the least I can do." He stopped and hesitated. "You know, Brick, it doesn't really matter if Boomer and I hate her. But you hate her. You used to hate her as much as the Powerpuffs, or maybe even more…"

"There is nothing I hate more than the Powerpuffs!" I insisted.

"Yeah, sure," Butch snorted. "Why didn't you shoot Blossom the other day? Even though Buttercup would have eyebeamed the gun and destroy it, you had more than enough time to strip Blossom off her powers."

I didn't expect this question and I felt my eyes go wide. I knew damn well I didn't shoot her but the reason just made me feel all weak and effeminate. But I couldn't lie to Butch… He was… Well… He was Butch.

"I didn't want to end up killing her. It felt wrong," I sighed. After years of giving up crime, it felt like the ice around my heart had melted and I could not feel comfortable committing a crime. There was no way I could just kill someone and not live with guilt, even if that person was a Powerpuff Girl… Even if it was the one who killed me all those years ago.