AN: I do not own PPG or any of the characters. Yeah. Um this is my very first fanfic… ever so R&R if you want. Cool
Also all information used to describe the way they were in the original series, like ages and specific crimes and stuff, is obtained from the PPG wiki which I also do not own.
End AN
Chapter 7: Fire
Buttercup got an earful for coming home so late. Bubbles and Blossom made eyes at her when she entered the room. Buttercup sighed and headed to bed. She didn't want to answer any questions about how her date with Mitch went. Didn't want to explain. So she just ignored them. She didn't even respond to their questions the next day. She shrugged them off. The first time she noticed them is when they called on her during her Chemistry class. She was falling asleep when she heard her phone alarm go off. "Gotta go Mr. H" She called out dashing through the door. She met her sister's at the front gate.
"We have a case of arson over on the east side of town. The firefighters are trying to take care of it but we need to catch the guy who did it. I'll help out the firefighters. You and Bubbles find the punk who did this." Blossom ordered.
Bubbles and Buttercup reached the fire quickly. Buttercup gasped.
"Ace's diner." She whispered.
She knew who did this. The road in front of the diner went North and South. Buttercup went South and Bubbles went the other direction. Buttercup looked around for Mitch. She zigzagged back and forth looking for mussy, brown hair. She floated down to street level, in order to get a better view of the alleyways and see in the shadows. That was when she spotted him, cowering behind a dumpster.
"Get out here, Mitch." She yelled.
Mitch crept out from behind the dumpster, a heavy, iron pipe in his hand.
"You called?" He leered at her.
"I'm gonna wipe that smirk off of your smug face!" She cried out, tackling him to the ground. He whipped the iron pipe at her and knocked her into the opposite wall. She pounced on him again, smashing her fist into his fragile, human jaw. She sent another fist flying into his stomach. Another roundhouse sent Mitch to the floor, his iron bar scattering away from his grip. She pinned him, sending punch after punch into his face, until she felt hands lifting her up.
"Let me go!" She screamed, twisting and squirming to get out of the stranger's grip. But whoever they were, they held tighter.
"He's not getting up, cupcake." Ace whispered in her ear. She looked down and saw Mitch, broken and unconscious, lying on the ground.
"He ruined your diner, Ace. All your hard work." She explained.
"I can fix a building. His grandmother can't afford to pay his hospital bills." Ace chided.
Buttercup looked up at him. "I did it for you." She pleaded.
"I didn't want that. Arrested maybe, but not that." He pointed down to the victim of Buttercup's mindless beatings. "He's just a human. We're fragile creatures, Buttercup," scolding her once again.
She looked down. "What are you? My father?" She pouted.
"A concerned friend." Ace replied. She picked up Mitch's body and together Ace and Buttercup walked back to where the firefighters were finishing putting out the blaze. The police were there as well. Blossom floated down to where Buttercup and Ace stood.
"Well well well, I was wondering when we'd see the likes of you again." Blossom scoffed. "Where's the rest of your gang, Ace?"
"Ace is the victim, stupid. It's his store." Buttercup spat. "The arsonist is Mitch."
"Oh, I'm… sorry." Blossom responded, looking from Ace to Mitch.
"No harm taken." Ace smiled. Then, turning towards Buttercup, he whispered, "this is exactly the kind of prejudice I'm talking about."
Buttercup smiled and elbowed him lightly while handing Mitch over to the police. She turned away to head back to school but turned back when she heard Ace counting.
"400, 500, 1,600." He stated, handing bills to the police. "This should cover the medical expenses."
"Why are you doing that for him?" Buttercup said, awestruck. "He burned your place down."
"He's a kid, and," Ace said with a smile and a nod at Buttercup, "a kid with his pride damaged. I don't blame him for acting irrationally."
Buttercup pouted a little. "Ya know, he's not a kid. He's 18, just like me." To this, Ace laughed rather loudly, only causing Buttercup to pout more. "Kid," he said, "you're still 12 years younger than me. You're a kid." He said, mussing her hair. She swatted at him and he laughed as he turned back to walk towards the burned out diner. Before he could get to far, Buttercup called out.
"Where is your gang?" She asked.
Ace threw the answer over his shoulder, leaving Buttercup a little angry.
"We all went out in different directions to make sure that if you found Mitch, you wouldn't kill him. I'm going to call them back now."
Buttercup growled. She hadn't known she was that predictable. She turned back towards the school and zoomed off to meet Blossom and Bubbles and head back to school. Bubbles and Blossom looked at her curiously when they met up with her.
"Mitch set fire to the place where you had dinner with him last night, and Ace talked about how the boy had his pride wounded." Blossom stated, trying to fit the pieces together.
"Oh my god!" Bubbles cried. "You cheated on Mitch with Ace! That's so gross! He's like 40!"
"Ew!" Blossom yelled.
"He's like 30!" Buttercup yelled, "and no I didn't cheat on Mitch. Mitch is just mad because I didn't put out last night."
Blossom and Bubbles looked at each other. They'd put up with this crush on Ace thing before. They thought she'd grown out of it by now. "Buttercup… " Blossom began.
"Ahhhhh!" Buttercup yelled. She knew that tone. She put her fingers in her ears and sped up, racing to the school. She made it back in such a record time, chemistry hadn't even ended. There wasn't much left, of course, and she soon made the trip to English, where Princess was waiting.
"Thanks so much!" She cried. "Mitch came over last night! And we had such a great time! I'm so glad you talked to him for me!"
Buttercup rolled her eyes. Apparently, her actions were accidentally making her tons of friends on the opposite side of the law. First the Rowdyruffs and now this. She smiled at Princess and moved to the far side of the room. Princess would not be happy when she learned about Buttercup's little run in with Mitch this morning. Luckily, the class was busy and she didn't have to talk to Princess for the rest of the day. Instead, Buttercup focused on what had happened earlier. Mitch had burned down Ace's diner, because of her. The most she could do was help rebuild it. She thought that was a brilliant plan. Once the lunch bell rang, she dashed off school grounds, on the way to the diner, but she was tackled to the ground by another green flash.
"You're staying with us today, girlie." Butch commanded. "You told Boomer you would eat with us tomorrow and he's bought you lunch already. Now come on." He grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the courtyard. Bubbles shot a mischievous smile at Butch, who rolled his eyes at her. He sat Buttercup down across from Bubbles and took the seat next to her.
"Where's Brick?" Buttercup asked.
"I don't know." Bubbles answered, giggling. Buttercup did not understand what was going on in her sister's head. She acted like the most hilarious thing was going on right in front of her eyes. Buttercup looked around, looking for something that would give the joke away.
"Don't they make a cute couple, sweetheart?" She asked Boomer.
"Adorable, darling." He responded.
"You're kidding." Buttercup replied blankly. She placed her food down on the table, and then was gone, running away from the prospect of dating a Rowdyruff.
