"Girls, there you are." Said the Professor as the four silent figures entered the house.

            "Yeah, phone call, save Townsville." Mumbled Blossom quickly.

            "Well, I stopped on the way home and picked up something for each of you." He reached into a bag and the girls lit up. They smiled as he handed the three a candy bar each.

            "Alright, thanks Professor!" Buttercup cheered. She took a bite of her peanut-butter cup.

            "What about Boxer?" Bubbles pointed to the boy who had been sitting by the front door playing with his shoelaces.

            The Professor's expression straightened and he furrowed his brow. "Of course! I forgot about him…" he guiltily scratched his head. "Uh, Boxer, come in the kitchen and have a pear."

            Boxer jumped up and looked at the three girls as they all walked into the kitchen. The Professor handed him a ripe pear. Boxer looked at it and brought it to the table, setting it in front of him.

            "Yuck! I hate pears!" Buttercup exclaimed.

            Before she had finished her sentence, Boxer had opened his mouth and devoured the pear in a single bite. He began to chew it mercilessly, juicy pear guts flying out of his mouth. "Gross! Professor!! Make him stop!" Bubbles cried, covering her eyes.

            He swallowed and looked down.

            "Alright, you four go to bed." Said the Professor as he lit up his pipe.

            The four nodded and trudged upstairs. Once they got to their room, they all started the tedious process of getting ready for bed. Bubbles was brushing the mane of her stuffed unicorn, Blossom was brushing her own hair, and Buttercup was making faces in the mirror. Boxer was in bed, flopping a stuffed dragon up and down on his stomach. Blossom continued stroking her locks of hair with the brush, occasionally glancing at her green sister. She put her brush down and looked down at it, then sheepishly looked over at Buttercup. She sighed. "Look, Buttercup…I'm sorry I fought with you today…"

            Buttercup glanced over and folded her arms, looking away. "Yeah, yeah…guess…m'sorry too…" she said in a barely audible tone.

            Blossom looked over timidly. "So…friends?"

            "Yeah, whatever." Buttercup responded.

            Blossom looked over at their newfound brother and then back to Buttercup. "Maybe you should apologize to Boxer, too."

            "What? No way!" she immediately protested. "Thanks to him, I've got detention for the next bazillion years!"

            "It's only a week, Buttercup." Blossom reminded.

            "Yeah…well…" she looked at Boxer, who was watching them. Once he saw her look, he yelped and covered his face with the dragon. "Maybe I am sorry." She growled, folding her arms. "But he's gotta learn to toughen up! I'm not gonna hold his freaking hand every step of the way."

            Blossom shook her head. "Let's just go to bed."

            Bubbles yawned in agreement.

****

            The next morning, at school, the children all sat, doing their mathematics. "What's eight plus eight?" Bubbles asked to no one in particular.

            "Sixteen." Blossom answered.

            Bubbles but her hand to her mouth. "How do you know?"

            "Well…you just count to eight on your hand twice." She said thoughtfully.

            "But we don't have any fingers." Bubbles noted. "So how do you know it's sixteen?"

            "It just is." Buttercup said shortly.

            "Look Bubbles," Blossom took out a box of twenty-four crayons and dumped them out. "See? Look, take eight crayons." She did so.

            "What color should they be?" Bubbles asked.

            "It doesn't matter." Blossom informed. "See, then you put these aside and take eight more crayons."

            "What color should they be?" she prodded the crayons.

            "I…it doesn't matter, Bubbles." Blossom repeated. "Then you put all of the crayons together. Now you count them all."

            Bubbles smiled and counted the crayons quickly. "Fifteen!"

            "Yeah! Wait, no!" Blossom slapped her forehead. "No, I already told you, it's sixteen!"

            "Well if you knew that already then why did you make me count them all?" Bubble folded he arms.

            "Because I wanted to show you how I knew it!" she started putting the crayons away.

            Bubbles nodded, slowly beginning to understand. "But Blossom, what if I have to add 34,591 and 45,231? I don't have enough crayons!"

            Blossom was about to say something, but Boxer interjected. "79,822." He said.

            The three girls looked at him.

            "H-he made that number up." Buttercup said.

            "Somebody get a bunch of crayons to see if he's right." Bubbles suggested.

            Boxer looked up. "79,822." He repeated. "And 79,822 plus 79,822, or 79,822 times 2 is 159,644." He nodded, and continued writing.

            The three girls gaped at him. "Right…um…l-let's just finish our paper." Blossom blinked.

            "Okay class!" said Ms. Keane. "It's snack time. Put your worksheets away."

            "Oh boy!" Bubbles cheered. The children were each given graham crackers and a carton of milk.

            "Boxer…how did you know those numbers?" Blossom asked.

            They boy scratched his head and adjusted his hat. "They're just…in my head." He stated.

            "Buttercup, what exactly did you put in Boxer's mix?" Blossom turned to her sister.

            "I don't remember…" Buttercup shrugged. "Lots of different things."

            "What are you guys talking about?" Princess interrupted, butting into the conversation.

            "I thought you said you were gonna leave us alone!" Buttercup snarled.

            "I did!" Princess huffed. "But I didn't say anything about him!" she gestured to Boxer with her thumb.

            "Leave him alone, Princess." Blossoom warned. "He's one of us too."

            "He's not a girl!" she said. "He doesn't belong here."

            "Whatever." Princess smirked. "So, Buttcup, how's detention going?"

            Buttercup seethed. "You better watch your fat mouth!" she looked around and quickly quieted. "I didn't start that fight, anyhow." She said.

            "Yes-huh!" Princess countered. "That's all you ever do! You just fight and get in trouble. That's all you're good for! That's why I know I can easily replace you. If I wanted to, that is."

            Buttercup strained to bit her lip, not wanting to get into further trouble.

            "Don't talk like that to Buttercup!" Boxer piped in.

            Everyone looked at him in surprise. "What did you say to me?" Princess steamed.

            "I-I said, leave her alone." Boxer continued.

            "You stuck up little-" Princess grabbed him by the shirt, but she was pushed away by Buttercup.

            "I toldja once and I'll tell ya again, don't touch him!" she ordered.

            "I'll touch him if I want to!" she screamed.

            "Buttercup, Princess!" Ms. Keane boomed again.

            The two girls swallowed and turned to the teacher. "Yes Ms. Keane?" they both answered simultaneously.

            "What are you two doing fighting again?" she said incredulously.

            "It wasn't Buttercup's fault!" Bubbles said. "Princess started it!"

            Buttercup sighed in relief.

            "Princess, that's the second fight you've been in this week. I'm beginning to think that Buttercup's telling the truth. You will join her in detention for the next week." Said the teacher.

            "WHAT?! But-but-" she stammered.

            "No buts, Princess."

            The three Powerpuff Girls smiled at each other triumphantly.