"So what's your plan?" Boomer asked Buttercup.

"What plan? We attack them until they're gone." she replied.

"Music to my ears." Butch gave his opinion. The three of them approached the first monster, a giant green lizard. Buttercup led by flying at it and punching it in the back of the head. It spun around, roared, then breathed a torrent of flames at Buttercup in retaliation. Butch went for the monster's chest while it was blasting Buttercup. One punch sent it stumbling back. The green super-children then joined with Boomer and the three of them flew at the monster's stomach simultaneously.

Unfortunately, the monster was quick to react by whipping the three of them with its tail, scattering them in three different directions. Buttercup and Butch both recovered and resumed their attack. The lizard swatted Buttercup away once again, then turned its attention to Boomer, who was just floating there staring off in the direction Bubbles went. It spat a ball of fire at the blue Rowdyruff Boy, to which Butch responded by flying in front of Boomer and putting up his shield, dissipating the fireball. Buttercup came back and started wailing on the monster.

"What's wrong with you?!" Butch yelled to his brother. "Focus!"

"S-sorry!"

"What were you staring at, anyway?"

"Um, nothing. I was just… um…"

Butch thought about it for a second, then it all became clear to him. Boomer was worried about Bubbles. That idiot had fallen in love with her, hadn't he? Butch figured Boomer would only be a liability in this state. That, and having some alone time with Buttercup might be kinda nice. "Alright, go help Bubbles. Buttercup and I can handle it from here."

"Thanks." Boomer whispered, then flew south. Butch then rejoined Buttercup to find that she'd done some serious damage to the lizard.

"Where's Boomer?"

"I sent him to help Bubbles."

"What?! Did you forget who's in charge here?!"

"Trust me, when he gets his head in the clouds like that, he's more trouble than he's worth. Besides, we got this!" Butch then flew above the monster and slammed down on its head, knocking it into a daze. He and Buttercup then grabbed it by the tail, spun it around and launched it over the horizon.

"A bit small, isn't it?" Blossom commented on her and Brick's shelter. They didn't have much material to work with and neither of them had any experience with wilderness survival. Who'd ever think that superpowered kids would need such skills?

"Best I could do. If you wanna sleep outside, I won't stop you." Brick retorted. Blossom noticed that his insults and quips were a lot more half-hearted than usual, probably because he was hiding the fact that he saved her from the Beat-Alls last night. Why would he do that when his purpose was to destroy her? Everything Blossom understood about the Rowdyruff Boys had been turned upside down, and she needed answers. Once they had their survival needs taken care of, she would confront Brick.

Blossom took a stick and began sharpening it against a rock. "Why would the Abomination strand us on an island?" she wondered.

"It was aiming for me. You were just collateral damage." Brick replied. "Could be that HIM wanted to mess with my head, but this is just contrived and poorly thought out."

"Typical for Mojo." Blossom considered who the Abomination was composed of. "And of course Fuzzy's just plain dumb as a… um…"

"You were gonna say 'dumb as a brick', weren't you?" Brick shot her a condescending look.

Blossom looked over her shoulder at him and sighed. "...Yeah." An awkward silence loomed over them for a moment before Blossom broke it. "Y'know, you've really come a long way since we were kids. Your plan for dealing with that locust was brilliant."

"Well, one of us had to be able to match wits with you. It certainly wasn't gonna be Boomer or Butch."

Blossom looked away from Brick and smiled. "Yeah, that's for sure." She stood up after she finished sharpening her stick, then took off her shoes and stockings and handed them to Brick.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna catch us some fish." Blossom took her makeshift spear and waded out into the water. "Don't lose those."

"Right… yeah. I'll, uh, build a fire." With that he ventured into the brush to gather rocks and firewood. His felt his face turn a little red for some reason, so he turned it green by reminded himself that he'd be eating fish for dinner.

Buttercup and Butch advanced on the second monster, a gargantuan gorilla, as it climbed up a skyscraper. The two of them approached it from either side, forcing it to choose a target or fall off the building. It chose to attack Buttercup and tried to grab her with its left hand. That gave Butch the opportunity to attack its right arm and loosen its grip. Butch's attack caused the gorilla to fall, but it caught itself with its feet. It then swung its fist at Butch and slammed him into the side of the skyscraper.

"Oh, jeez!" Buttercup yelled as she flew to see if Butch was hurt. Fortunately he wasn't seriously injured. The ape took another swing at the green super-children, but missed and hit the building instead. And unfortunately for the monster, it had dealt too much damage to the skyscraper, causing it to collapse. The building fell to its side and the overgrown simian fell off and landed on the pavement, which broke one of its legs. As it was lying prone on the ground below, Butch and Buttercup grabbed its good leg and threw it in the same direction as its saurian cohort.

"That's two! Told you we didn't need Boomer." Butch bragged to his temporary leader.

"Yeah, well, there's still one left." Buttercup pointed to the third monster, an enormous werewolf, as it was approaching City Hall. The two heroes would have to act fast to save the Mayor and Ms. Bellum. Buttercup looked at the downed skyscraper and got an idea. "Hey, help me with this, will ya?" she ordered Butch as she grabbed one side of the skyscraper. Butch saw where she was going and grabbed the other side. The two of them picked up the skyscraper and flew straight at the remaining monster.

The oversized lycanthrope foamed at the mouth and got ready to take a swipe at City Hall when it heard something flying at it fast. It turned to see Buttercup and Butch using the downed building as a makeshift battering ram. Its eyes widened like a deer in the headlights. Too slow to dodge, it was hit with the building at full speed, flinging the beast over the horizon to join its brethren. Butch and Buttercup tossed the building aside and touched down in front of City Hall as the Mayor, Ms. Bellum and the other citizens of Townsville cheered for them. The two heroes took a bow and flew off.

"Hey, Buttercup. You mind if I crash at your house for a while?"

"Um, I guess that's fine. I'll have to talk to the Professor, though." Buttercup thought about what had happened today. "Oh, man! How'm I gonna break all this to him?"

"Well, you're gonna have to." Butch said trying to be supportive. "Before you do, I gotta stop at Fuzzy's place."

"Why?"

"All my stuff is there."

"Uh, what were you doing at Fuzzy's cabin?"

"Well, actually, we had a fight with Mojo and he kicked us out two days ago. We kinda took over Fuzzy's place while he was out."

"Just before the explosion. Lucky you."

"Yeah, I guess so." Butch and his counterpart touched down at Fuzzy's cabin. He and Buttercup picked up the Rowdyruff Boys' stuff and flew back to the Professor's house. Once they arrived, Professor Utonium greeted Buttercup at the door.

"Oh, hi Buttercup. Where are your sisters?" He then saw Butch floating behind her carrying several suitcases and duffel bags. "And what's he doing here?"

Buttercup sighed. "You'd better sit down…"

It had taken hours, but Blossom had managed to spear a few fish while Brick built a fire pit and managed to get a fire going, which was considerably harder to do without his special power. The two of them sat on a log next to the fire and started cooking their dinner. Once their fish were done, Blossom took hers and started eating. Brick looked at his and made a face before reluctantly taking a bite.

"Ugh, I hate fish."

"Lemme guess, Mojo's cooking?"

"Yeah. When did he ever cook for you?"

"He babysat me and my sisters once. I think it was before your time, though."

"C'mon, you're only like three months older than me."

"Older is older." Blossom snickered, then changed the subject. "Y'know Brick, I thought I had you figured out, but lately you've been throwing me curve balls left and right. You avoid attacking me for months, then you save Townsville from that locust, and then…" Blossom took a deep breath. "... you went and saved my life last night."

Brick's eyes widened. How does she know? Maybe she's just guessing. "Uh, what are you talking about? I thought you blew up Mojo's lair and escaped."

"C'mon, don't play dumb. You left plenty of clues for me."

"Okay, Sherlock, I'll play your game. So, what do you think you have?"

"Well, first there's the question of who in Townsville is strong enough to take on the Beat-Alls and win. That rules out any civilians. It'd have to be someone with super powers, and the only ones who fit the bill are you, Boomer and Butch."

"True, we are the strongest ones in the city, but who says it was someone from Townsville? You forget that there are superheroes all over the world. Ever heard of the AWSM?"

"Sadly, yes. But then there's the question of who would try to cover it up. Why would any of those egomaniacs want to avoid taking credit for it?"

"C'mon, this is just speculation. Do you have any hard evidence?"

"Two things. One, Princess told me she was attacked by a big icy wolf. If me and my sisters can combine into a fiery cat, what's the opposite of that? What would you and your brothers make?"

"Again, speculation. This is the first I've heard of flaming cats or frozen wolves or anything like that."

"And finally, there's the note you left for the Professor. I recognized your handwriting, Brick."

Brick's eyes widened again as he felt a pit in his stomach, and not just from the fish. He'd completely forgotten about that. How could he have missed something so obvious? But maybe there was still hope. "Uh, how would you know what my handwriting looks like?"

"Please, one of your hobbies is graffiti. Plus there was that 'valentine' you wrote me." Blossom reminded him. Two years ago on Valentine's Day, the Rowdyruff Boys thought it would be funny to write hate-valentines to their Powerpuff counterparts. Brick remembered cutting out a big pink heart for Blossom, decorating it with frills and glitter, and finally writing out his innermost feelings for her.

Blossom, I hate you
You're dumb, you're ugly, and your hair's
stupid and smells like a dead skunk
Go suck a lemon

"Love", Brick

"I can't believe I did that." Brick hung his head upon remembering that prank. "Last time I take ideas from a comic strip."

"Y'know, I still have it."

Brick raised his eyebrow at her. "You kept that stupid thing?"

"I… found it amusing." Blossom rubbed the back of her neck. "Anyway, once we get back, I'll just have the Professor conduct a handwriting test and I'll know for sure it was you."

Brick knew that he'd been beaten and surrendered. "Y'know, I had a feeling you'd figure it out."

Buttercup, Butch and Professor Utonium sat down to dinner. The Professor was still in a funk, so Buttercup ended up cooking for the three of them, making steak and mashed potatoes. Butch was the first one to take a bite of his meal.

"Mmm, this is great!" he said through a mouthful of meat, then swallowed. "I haven't had a decent steak in forever."

"Me neither." Buttercup said. "Not with Bubbles around, anyway."

"Well, I'd rather go vegetarian than have any more of Mojo's cooking."

"Ugh, that was the worst thing I ever tasted." Buttercup took a drink of water to get the "taste" out of her mouth.

The Professor, on the other hand, sat there in silence. Last night all three of his daughters nearly died from losing their Chemical X, and the very next day Blossom had gone missing. It was just too much for him to take. Not having Bubbles around didn't help matters either, and he couldn't even give her a call or he'd blow her stealth mission. And to top things off, Buttercup had apparently gotten involved with a Rowdyruff Boy. The Professor knew it was kind of silly to be worried about that at a time like this, but still couldn't help it. He was her father, after all.

"So, Butch, what exactly is your interest in Buttercup?"

Buttercup spat her water out all over the table. "Whoa, Professor, you got the wrong idea!"

"Uh, yeah, this is just a temporary truce." Butch added.

"Oh, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now." The Professor breathed a sigh of relief for Buttercup, but then went right back to worrying about his other two daughters.

"Don't worry, Professor. Blossom's still alive, and we'll get her back." Buttercup reassured her father. "We just need to take out that Abomination, wherever it is."

"Not sure how we're gonna do it, though." Butch said. "We're also gonna need Boomer and Bubbles once they get back."

"Well, good luck." Professor Utonium finished the last of his dinner and got up. "I'm gonna be in the lab for a while. Thanks for making dinner, Buttercup. Can you unfold the couch for Butch, please?" The green Rowdyruff Boy felt an inexplicable twinge of disappointment at what the Professor just said.

"Sure." Buttercup started floating over to the living room as the Professor left for the lab. Butch followed her in as she turned the couch into a bed. "There you go."

"Uh, thanks." Butch took a seat on his temporary bed. "So what do we do now?"

"Nothing we can do. Just sit tight, I guess." Buttercup took a seat next to him.

"Man, that's so boring. What do you even have to do around here? I bet it's just…" Partway through his sentence, he caught a glimpse of Buttercup's video game collection. "Whoa! You've got Soul and Sword VIII?!"

"Oh yeah! Wanna go a few rounds?"

"You're on!"

"...And then we regrouped at Fuzzy's cabin and spent the night." Brick finished telling Blossom what had happened last night. "Any questions?"

Blossom paused trying to take it all in. "Just… why?" She asked quietly. "Why would you save me? I thought you were my sworn enemy."

"This is gonna sound absolutely insane, but I don't really know why I did it. I just kinda… did it."

Blossom was even more perplexed by Brick's "answer". "Yeah, that is insane. You were gonna take on every villain in Townsville by yourself and you don't even know why? What would you have done if your brothers didn't show up? And why did they show up?"

Brick simply shrugged, unable to answer. Blossom sighed, and the two of them sat in silence for several minutes. Brick eventually spoke up. "Maybe I wanted to stick it to Mojo and the others."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Remember our last battle six months ago?"

"Oh, yeah. We whooped you, didn't we?"

"You outnumbered us." Brick retorted. "Anyway, when we got home, Boomer asked me point-blank why we were always fighting you Girls. It'd been rolling around in the back of my mind for some time, but then when he asked, I had to seriously think about it. I stayed up all night contemplating my purpose in life, my future, my goals, everything."

"And what'd you come up with?"

"I came to realize that I was only fighting you because that was what Mojo wanted. My brothers and I weren't his sons, we were just weapons being used to further his goals. I didn't want to be a slave anymore, so I renounced my purpose of destroying you and he kicked us out. Maybe I thought it'd be ironic if the boy he created to destroy you ended up saving you from him instead. A fitting punishment, don't you think?"

Blossom looked away from him and sat silently for a moment before answering. "So, that's the reason, huh?"

"Probably. Something wrong with that?"

"No, it's just…" Blossom stood up. "Nothing. I'm gonna turn in for the night." She began walking to their shelter, but halfway there she stopped, looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks for saving me, Brick."

"Anytime, Blossom. Anytime."

"I will protect humanity… or die trying." Sigarda struck a pose and brandished her zweihander as the screen read 'Sigarda wins!'.

"Oh yeah! Buttercup six, Butch zero!" the green Powerpuff Girl gloated to her male counterpart.

"That's just 'cause you're Sigarda! Everyone knows she's broken in half."

"This coming from a Ramirez player? Just admit I kicked your butt."

"Grr, this game's dumb!" Butch tossed his controller aside and picked up the TV remote. "Let's see what's on TV." He flipped through the channels when he stumbled upon the live coverage of the AWSM Super Summit 2008.

"Oh no, not that." Buttercup complained.

"What's the matter?"

"It's a long story. Just turn it off."

"Well in that case…" Butch stuffed the remote in his pocket. "Let's keep watching."

"Hey, I'm the leader, and I say change the channel."

"But I'm your guest, and I wanna watch."

"Gimme the remote!" Buttercup tackled Butch and the two fought for control. But in the middle of their wrestling match, they stopped and turned to the TV.

"There you have it, live from Mt. Neverest. This is Maria Guadalupe O'Flanagan signing… wait, what's that?" Maria's helicopter spun around, and the Abomination appeared on camera.

"By the Star-Spangled Banner!" Major Glory was in the middle of roll call when a giant laser blasted the roof off the Rotunda of Seclusion. He and the other heroes stepped outside to see a grotesque monster floating their way. It shot another laser and took out another chunk of the Rotunda, as well as several superheroes, including Down Under Mate and Mucho Muchacho.

"Heroes, ho!" Major Glory yelled as he led the remaining heroes in their counterattack. Him, Big Ben and Yahmon went straight for the Abomination when it extended its tentacle and entangled Yahmon. It electrocuted the Jamaican hero and tried to drain his powers when it came to a realization.

"Right, your powers don't come from Chemical X, do they?" Unable to depower him, the Abomination instead slammed him into the side of Mt. Neverest and turned to Big Ben and Major Glory. It opened its claw and snapped its finger, then several bolts of lightning rained down from the sky. One of them struck Big Ben and knocked him out cold. Major Glory was about to be struck too, but Valhallen raised his guitar and used it to redirect and absorb the lightning.

"Nice try, dude! Now, thou shalt feel the power of the Mighty Axe!" The Viking God of Rock then struck a chord on his guitar and blasted the absorbed lightning back at the Abomination, thrusting it back into the side of a mountain. Once it recovered, the Abomination snapped its finger again and a dark portal appeared behind Valhallen, from which the Super Gangreen Gang emerged. Grubber blasted a sonic belch at him. Valhallen tried to counter with a blast from his guitar, but Grubber's attack overpowered him and knocked him against a big rock, rendering him unconscious.

"Well done." the Abomination said to his minions. "Now get the rest of them!"

Snake stretched his body and grabbed Big Billy with his oversized hand, then went after Moo-Shu-Gai Man. The Chinese superhero threw several punches at Snake but was unable to make contact, as the green thug proved too slippery. Once Moo-Shu-Gai Man was tired out, Snake pinned him down and slammed Big Billy into him several times, defeating the hero.

E-Male went for the Abomination but was stopped by Li'l Arturo. The two speedsters exchanged blows at lightning speed. Li'l Arturo got in a few good hits, but E-Male had the advantage both in size and experience, and emerged victorious after several seconds. Unfortunately for the Japanese cyborg, that proved to be all the distraction the Abomination needed to blast him with its laser and knock him out.

Finally, Ace used his ice powers to surf through the air after Mandingo. The African hero turned and attempted to slam into Ace at full force, but was met with a blast of ice and frozen solid. Unable to fly, Mandingo fell to the ground, defeated.

"Oh, my stars and stripes." Major Glory observed his fallen comrades, then turned to the Abomination. "I don't need them to defeat you!" As he flew in to strike, the Abomination simply rolled its eyes, grabbed him with its tentacle and slammed him into the ground.

With all the AWSM heroes down, the Super Gangreen Gang gathered them into one spot. Then the Abomination opened a dark portal beneath them and banished them to who-knows-where. It caught sight of the various news helicopters that had been broadcasting the battle. Taking advantage of the situation, it made an announcement to the world.

"People of Earth, your greatest heroes have fallen! Soon, this world shall be my property!"

Princess turned off her TV, seeing that the Abomination had succeeded in the first phase of its plan. It looked like she'd have to pick up the pace. It might've helped if she had more information, though. The Abomination had told her that it stranded Blossom and Brick on an island in the Gulf of Mexico, but didn't tell her where in the Gulf of Mexico. Even with superpowers it would take a while to find them.

The Abomination thought it was being creative by stranding the two leaders instead of killing them, but all that did was make it possible for someone to rescue them. Princess knew from experience that the Powerpuff Girls had a nasty habit of coming back from the brink of destruction to save the day, no matter how close to success the villains' plans were. Even when stripped of her powers and trapped on an island in the middle of nowhere, Blossom still posed a threat to the Abomination's plans, assuming she and Brick didn't kill each other first.

Exhausted from searching all day, she picked up her phone to order room service. It was time to see what the finest resort hotel in Cancun had to offer.

Bubbles sat on a cloud overlooking the hotel Princess checked in to. It had been surprisingly easy to follow the spoiled brat without being seen, but it didn't make sense that she spent several hours flying aimlessly over the sea. What was she trying to accomplish? Whatever it was, Bubbles was getting tired from chasing Princess all day.

Bubbles opened her mouth. Soon after, several bats flew up to her, responding the ultrasonic signal she used to beckon them. She conversed with the bats in an inaudible frequency, asking them to watch over Princess through her hotel room window so Bubbles could get some sleep. Swayed by her cute charm, the bats agreed and flew next to Princess's room to keep watch.

"That was awesome." a familiar voice complimented Bubbles from behind. The blue Powerpuff Girl turned to see Boomer floating nearby. "Room for one more?" He took a seat on the cloud.

"Where'd you come from?"

"They sent me to follow you. What's happening?"

"Princess was flying around the ocean all day, and now she's staying in that hotel. I'm stuck out here 'cause it's the most expensive one in the city."

"That's Princess for you." Boomer sighed. "Man, I wish I was rich. Then I could've bought you something nice instead of that cheap thing." He gestured towards Bubbles' wrist.

"Oh, I love it anyway." Bubbles looked at her bracelet and smiled. "So… why did you get me this?"

"Same reason I saved you from Mojo's lair last night."

"That was you?!" Bubbles gasped.

"Well, my brothers helped. Don't know why, though. But I did it because…" Boomer took a deep breath. "Because I love you, Bubbles!"

Bubbles' heart skipped a beat. She froze up with a look of complete shock on her face. She couldn't believe it. After all this time, the boy she yearned for finally returned her affection. Once she unfroze, she squealed with pure joy and embraced Boomer.

"I love you too!" With that, Boomer embraced her back, and the two of them shared their first real kiss.