A/N: Okay, first of all, THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS GUYS! Last chapter was the second most reviewed chappie :P And as punishment for that, here's a faster-than-usual update ! :D

But here's something you have to know before reading : This chapter contains a few revelations and nothing extraordinary happens between the boys and the girls. It's just written to focus on the boy's feelings and thoughts as well as the mystery in the story. After this chapter the fun part begins and there will be a lot of action and romance ;)

Also, sorry if this is shorter than usual...I hope it's still okay :)

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 10: ROOM X

Brick's POV

I wasn't so sure how to react to this. Sure, I hated Blake badly. But I never expected him to be a criminal like me and my brothers. And he actually wanted?

I stared at the picture of him for a while, not daring to look at anything else. He looked very young. Blake would be 44 years old today, and in this picture, he looked about 25…So that means he's been wanted for almost twenty years, and he still managed not to get caught for all that time? Gosh that pissed me off…

My eyes (still wide open) made their way to his name and the information printed underneath the picture. I read everything carefully, taking every word into consideration.

Blake Stark

Wanted for Child Kidnapping and Murder. Extremely dangerous. Call if you have any information.

My brows furrowed at his name. So he had changed his name to escape the police huh? Still, I couldn't call the cops and tell them about Blake's location because, right after arresting that asshole, they would arrest us too. We were criminals too after all…And it didn't surprise me that he was wanted for child kidnapping and murder. He had tried to kill us back then. That twisted evil man could do anything…

That's right. As much as I am a criminal (along with my brothers) and an overall bad guy, I'm not evil. I would never do something as evil as Blake, as in, I would never murder somebody. Okay, sure, I would beat the crap out of them, but I would never kill. I couldn't, and I knew my brothers couldn't either.

A part of me didn't want to tell Blossom and her sisters about Blake. Hell, they probably won't believe me even if I showed this poster to them. They trusted Blake and let him manipulate them so easily, so why should I bother? However, another part of me was telling me to tell them. It was urging me to let them know that they'd been lied to for all these years…

And now I was torn. What should I do? Should I risk telling them and end up enraging them?

I thought about it for a second, the two options were in conflict in my head for a while. But finally, I took a deep breath…And I carefully detached the poster from the wall, making sure I wasn't damaging it. I was going to show this to my brothers first, and then we'll decide what to do.

Boomer's POV

My hand was hurting as hell. I had been drawing like a maniac ever since I'd come back from the carnival and my sketch pad had barely 10 pages left now.

But I couldn't help it, I needed to draw. You might not understand, but it was the only way I could channel my feelings, express them and let them all out. Drawing made me feel better, it calmed me down, and a lot of emotions were stirring in me at the moment. I felt upset, scared, but at the same time, I felt wonderful because of her.

I couldn't deny it or hold back anymore…I liked Bubbles, and I mean a lot. But I doubt Brick and Butch would like that. It broke my heart to have to lie to her; an angel like her didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve a criminal-bad-guy-that-wants-to-bring-her-down like me. But I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth about my identity, it would break her heart…and I couldn't do that. I couldn't bear to see her cry one more time. Okay, I knew she would learn about my identity in the future eventually, but if I would explain my real feelings for her then, maybe she'll understand…

I stared at the drawings lying on my bed. They were all drawings of Bubbles, and she was always beaming and flashing her signature cheerful smile in them. Earlier, Brick had almost discovered them. I had been so freaking scared. If he saw them, he'd immediately know about my feelings for Bubbles. He had been suspicious when he saw me hide the drawings from him.

A knock at my bedroom door made me jump of surprise.

"Yo Boomer! Come out! I've got something important to show you guys!" Brick's voice erupted from the other side of the door.

I quickly hid all of my drawings and got out of my room. My brothers were waiting for me on the couch in the living room. Butch had his arms crossed on his chest and a frown on his face. He looked undeniably pissed, as if something was bothering him and lingering in his mind. Brick looked concerned about something, his eyes were narrowed in interest as he stared at some sort of poster he had in his hand. Once he saw me, my red-head brother gestured me to join them on the couch.

"First of all, I found this on the street." Brick revealed what that poster was.

I gasped and my eyes widened. Holy crap…That was Blake!

"No fucking way…" Butch said, obviously as shocked as me.

"Yeah, I got the same reaction." Brick said. "He's wanted for child kidnapping and murder, which makes a lot of sense since we know what he does with his agents...But that's not why I wanted to show you this."

I couldn't believe it. Blake was actually a wanted criminal!

"Technically, this should make it easier for us." Brick continued. "But the thing is, I don't know if we should show this to the Powerpuff Girls. They still believe in that mother fucker and it might turn against us."

"I think we should." I said. "Maybe if we explain everything to them, they'll believe us and we could all take Blake down together."

It was a great opportunity. We could get our revenge on Blake and I could be with Bubbles without anything holding me back!

Brick titled his head to the side, analysing my words.

Butch snorted. "Yeah right. They hate our guts remember? And Blake is like their god or something. I doubt they'll believe us. Especially Buttercup, that girl is so stubborn and she doesn't know how to tell if somebody's actually telling her the truth… "

He talked about Buttercup as if he was really pissed at her for being like that. Hm, something must've happened between them.

Still, I bit my lip. Butch was right, the girls won't believe us that easily. I turned to Brick, he was scratching his chin and was buried in his thoughts.

"What should we do Brick?" I asked him. My red-head brother always knew what was the best thing to do.

He stayed silent for a moment, and then he folded the poster in two, then in four, as if he wanted to keep it for a next time.

"We're going to wait." He concluded. "Both of you have a point, and I think it's better to see if they're slowly beginning to doubt Blake's true nature. After all, knowing that asshole, he's probably already working his plan on the girls. We'll tell them the truth…eventually."

I nodded and so did Butch. Still, I couldn't help but find it weird that Brick didn't make this decision on his own and imposed. He usually didn't care about what we thought, could it be that something was messing with his head? Why would he softened up and ask for our help?

"There's also something else I wanted to know." Brick said. "What the fuck is with you guys? You've been acting so freaking weird ever since you came back home."

My eyes shot up in alert. I definitely couldn't tell them the truth.

Butch huffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Brick rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Don't give me that shit bro. You acted like a freaking enraged animal when you passed through that door!" Brick pointed at our front door.

Butch's frown got deeper and he bit his lip. I could tell that he was trying to hide something. But then, something happened to him. Something that shocked me, something that Butch never did…

Butch, the toughest of my brothers…Blushed. I swear! He really blushed! His cheeks were hinted with red. Damn, something special had to happen to make a guy like him blush.

"Nothing." My green-eyed brother said. "I just kind of…pissed off Buttercup. And now she sort of…hates me."

Brick glared at him and took a deep breath to control his anger. "I told you not to piss her off! Can't you do anything right?"

Both my brothers looked pretty pissed at each other. Brick was mad because Butch had disobeyed him and Butch was pissed because Brick was screaming at him. I expected Butch to start a fight or something, since that's usually what he did when he was pissed off. But he just glared back and rolled his eyes, as if he didn't want to seem too suspicious. Yep, my green brother definitely had something to hide

Then, Brick turned to me. "And you? Did you mess up as well?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, as if he was studying me and trying to find some signs that would give away what I was thinking about. His red eyes were piercing through me. I gulped and tried to avoid them.

If you only knew Brick…About the drawings in my room, about Bubbles…

"N-No." I stuttered. I didn't dare saying anything else.

Brick's eyes narrowed even more. He focused his eyes on me again, examinating me. I was probably blushing as hell since he raised his eyebrow…before running to my room. My eyes widened in horror as I tried to catch up with him, but it was too late. He held up some of my drawings of Bubbles and gave me an angry look; his eyes practically had flames in them.

Dang it! He figured it out! Why was he so smart?

Butch came behind me. Once he saw my drawings, he widened his eyes. Surprisingly enough, he didn't glare at me angrily like Brick did. He just stared at me as if he…understood me or something. As if he'd expected that.

"Boomer. Explain." Brick said, his voice dropping with confusion and anger.

I swallowed. I didn't know what to say.

"I…I…" I started, but I couldn't finish. There was some ball of emotions in my throat. I was filled with fear and I felt trapped. I couldn't get myself out of this one.

Brick shook his head sadly. "What did I tell you Boomer…? DON'T FUCKING GET ATTACHED TO HER!"

I flinched at his scream. Shit, he was really angry. I was probably going to get burned right here, right now. That was it, today was the day that I, Boomer Barker, was going to die. I closed my eyes and waited for him to punch me.

I waited, but nothing happened. Brick just clenched his fists (now in flames) and let go of my drawings, letting them fall on the floor. He ran a hand through his long, red hair and stormed out of my room, slamming my door so hard in the process that it nearly broke.

I blinked in surprise. Weird, Brick would've hit me by now…Why the sudden change in his attitude? Did he have something to hide as well? Both my brothers have been acting weird lately, as if something had softened them, they weren't acting as violent…Still, I couldn't risk anything anymore. If I get even closer to Bubbles, Brick might hurt me for real this time…as well as her.

I bit my lip. I had no other choice: I had to detach myself from her. She didn't deserve to get involved with a guy like me. I had to let her go.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

Buttercup's POV

I took a look at my house and all the lights were close. Good, that meant everybody was asleep and I could sneak in easily.

I'd been pretty irresponsible today. First, I'd shut down the whole carnival's electricity and actually appreciated Shawn's company for once. After that, I'd taken a swim in a lake with a half-naked guy…That guy being Shawn, with a six pack. Then, that jerk kissed me against my will. Finally, our whole 'friendship' thing that was just starting to build up, busted as I slapped him and had a fight with him.

And there I was, in front of my house at midnight, about to sneak into my own place. I probably looked like a robber from far.

Wow Buttercup. See what that guy did to you? He dragged you into breaking rules, hypnotized you with his perfect body, stole your first kiss and, overall, made you weak.

I couldn't believe this. I was truly becoming a weakling. I didn't know why, but I felt so vulnerable around Shawn. In my normal state, I wouldn't have blushed at the sight of his muscles and I would've pushed him away when he leaned down to kiss me.

My heart flipped as I thought of the kiss. I brushed my fingers against my lips, the feeling was still there. I could still feel him and the rough, passionate yet soft way he pressed his lips on mine. I could still feel his toned arms wrapped around my waist and the strong way he was holding me. Even his smell lingered: He smelled like Axe, but unlike other guys who had fun spraying the whole bottle all over them (immature as hell…), he put on just the right amount. You had to be close to him to smell it.

My blush was my cue to stop thinking about him, Shawn was affecting me way too much. He was an arrogant, mean and vain jerk. Besides, Ace asked me out, and Ace was soooo much better than him.

I opened my front door slowly, making sure it doesn't make any sound. I got inside and closed it as slowly. Then, I began to tip toe to my room. I was being really quiet so that my family didn't wake up.

But then, the lights in the living turned on and I saw Blossom sitting on the couch, leg crossed with a severe look on her face. Bubbles was next to her, shaking her head sadly at me as if I should be ashamed of myself.

Ah crap. So much for sneaking in.

"And where exactly have you been?" Blossom said. Then, her pink eyes travelled up and down my body to examine me and she raised her eye brow. "Why are you soaking wet?"

I growled. Great, I was going to be interviewed now.

"I was with Shawn at the lake, and we went for a swim." I answered, avoiding her gaze.

She narrowed her eyes. "You could've called! We were so worried about you!"

Bubbles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and we had to make up some excuse to dad!"

I bit my lip. Stupid Shawn, I'd been so caught up with him that I forgot to let my sisters know where I was. Damn, he was really screwing with my mind.

"Sorry, I've been acting pretty stupid today-" I apologized.

"Yeah, Mike told me about the electricity BC." Bubbles interrupted me.

Ah hell. So that Red-head boy had connected the dots huh?

"Wait, what?" Blossom said.

I sighed heavily. "I shut down the whole carnival's electricity along with Shawn."

Blossom's eyes widened. "You did what?"

I flinched at the way she said the last word. "Don't worry Bloss. They fixed it after."

"That's not the point Buttercup! What you did was super irresponsible! And the fact that you didn't tell us where you were tonight didn't help…What were you doing with Shawn anyway?"

The memory of Shawn kissing me erupted in my head and before I knew it, my cheeks were pink.

"N-Nothing. I told you, we just went swimming together." I looked away.

Blossom gave me a sceptical look. "Really?"

"Is that why you're blushing?" Bubbles added, giggling.

I snapped my head up. "I am not!"

"Yes you are." Bubbles said.

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Girls! Cut it out already! You're gonna wake up the Professor!" Blossom exclaimed.

And we both shut up.

"Buttercup, is there anything you want to tell us?" Blossom said to me, her eyebrow still raised in interest.

I bit my lip. Should I tell them? They would probably tease me. But they were my sisters, and maybe they could tell me what to do with him…

"He kissed me-" I started

"Ohmigosh!" Bubbles squealed.

"But I slapped him after."

"Aw, come on!"

Blossom just stared at me, blinking a few times.

"Wow Buttercup. That's, uh, great?" Leader girl said, not so sure how to react.

I rolled my eyes. "No, it's not. I don't like him and Ace asked me out lately."

Bubbles gasped. "No way! Our BC is stuck in a love triangle! Ohhhhhhh…."

I felt my blood boil. I never should've told them after all.

"Buttercup, remember that the Rowdyruff Boys have spies. They might hurt Shawn of Ace, so be careful."

My eyes widened as I recalled. Those stupid punks! If they dared to hurt anybody I swear I'll bring them down!

"Alright Bloss." I said. Then I yawned. "I'm going to sleep."

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

THIRD PERSON POV

Blake walked through the hall of the headquarters, his footsteps echoing. It was about midnight and only the night time agents stayed to train. He looked around the building. Everything looked normal, except for the fact that agents radiated the feeling of worry and insecurity because they had learned, like the Powerpuff Girls that a virus had affected some of their friends. Nonetheless, the kids at SYPO did their best to keep training, and fighting criminals on mission.

Blake sensed the feeling of insecurity in his agents. This made him grin; he knew he had control on them. They would believe every lie he told...

Blake stopped at a precise room: room X. The room was located on the last floor of the building, occupying a great amount of space. Many kids were curious about the mysterious room X, but Blake didn't worry about anybody breaking in. After all, it was against the rules to go in room X without permission. He had always warned his agents that the consequences for breaking this special rule would be very bad. Nobody dared to question this law. Nobody ever did...

Nobody, except for the Rowdyruff Boys, four years ago.

Blake frowned at the thought of his ex best agents. No. This time, his plan was going to work. He failed once, he failed twice, but he was not going to fail for a third time. This time, he was going to get those stupid powers in his possession...

The big boss of SYPO entered room X. It was a huge laboratory with sate of the art equipment and everything was up to date technologically. The room was filled with sounds of machines working, people typing on keyboards and SYPO scientists' rushing steps. Everybody in the room was so into their work that they didn't even notice that Blake was here.

After carefully closing the door behind him, Blake made his way up to Sedusa's office. That's right; his ally's office was located in room X. The secret laboratory was so huge that it could contain a few smaller rooms in it.

"Sedusa, can I come in?" He asked, at the door.

As she heard Blake's voice, she jumped out of surprise, and then she groaned. That son of a bitch was the last person she wanted to talk to right now. Before he came, she was actually making a plan to get rid of him after she'd use him. His timing was so bad!

"Come on in Blake." She answered.

The automatic door slid open and he entered the office before the doors slid close again.

"What brings you here Blake?" She asked.

This had better be good. Sedusa really hated to be bothered for nothing. Especially by him.

"I want to see the progress of the project." He answered.

Sedusa fought back the urge to roll his eyes. The guy came to her office at least three times today for the same exact reason!

Without bothering to give him an answer, she just guided him across the lab. She pressed the four digits code that was required to open a door and finally, she presented a bunch of unconscious kids to Blake.

There were the kids' bodies. Mikayla, Marco, Hailey, Kristen, etc. Their eyes were closed and their lips were slightly parted. They were obviously unconscious. Each one of them was held in their own cylindrical capsule filled with oxygen and other liquid substances. The teenagers had some sort of wires inserted inside them, a bit like hospital patients.

Blake ran his index down the glass of one of the cylindrical capsule, watching the weak teenager in it. That kid's eyes would be close forever if he kept him like that…But he didn't really give a damn. He couldn't let those agents go now. They knew too much, they had seen too much…

"Blake, we've finished extracting the DNA of all of those stupid kids…The girls are the only ones left. And now that we got their blood, why can't we use it?" Sedusa asked, interrupting his thoughts.

The big boss frowned. He really wanted to finish with them too, but there was only one thing…

"Are their power fully developed?" Blake asked in return.

Sedusa rolled her eyes as Blake didn't answer her question first, but instead of complaining, she handed him some papers.

"Here is the analysis of their blood sample you took when you lied to them about the 'virus'. See for yourself, I didn't have time to look at it." She answered.

Blake took the paper from her hands and scanned it with his eyes.
The results made him frown.

"They are not. Their powers are only developed to about 90%...We need 100%, nothing less." He said.

Sedusa frowned.

"But why? 90% is a lot. Who cares if it's not perfect 100?" She exclaimed.

Blake was beginning to lose patience with her questions.

"Because I don't want to make the same mistake twice…" He answered.

Now, Sedusa was confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Blake hesitated. He didn't know if he should tell her about it…But he finally decided that this information wouldn't put him in danger by any way.

"The girls had a mother that worked for SYPO. Her name was Katie Keane and she was my best agent at that time. That's because she had all their powers combined. I had the same plan back then, and she was the only left for it to be complete…" He started to explain.

His facial expression suddenly grew hard and cold. He swallowed hard as he remembered the past events…

"Unfortunately, I was young and inexperienced at that time. I extracted her DNA while her powers weren't fully developed. It ruined the final product, and I lost every agent's DNA I had collected so far, except for hers. She disappeared of her capsule shortly after and I figured she was dead… I was pissed because it was impossible to find anybody with powers like her. Fortunately, my scientists discovered that even if a person's power isn't completely developed, it's still possible to transfer it to another person…and I still had a sample of her DNA. So I found the Rowdyruff Boys and injected them with her powers…To bad those brats found out." He continued.

His lips curved into a small grin.

"Then, 4 years ago, I found out she had three daughters with the same powers as her. Their father confirmed, without knowing it, that she was their mother when he told me that she had all three powers." He finished.

Sedusa nodded as he finished his explanation. She understood why it was dangerous to use the girls' DNA now…

"But what can we do to make their power develop more?" She asked.

"Why do you think I make them fight crime? And now that the Rowdyruff Boys are back, they will develop pretty fast…" He answered.

The woman raised her eyebrow.

"Why? Why are those boys so special?" She asked.

Blake grinned evilly.

"Because the girls are going to have a hard time defeating them…They are their equals, therefore, they are strong."

Everything made sense now to Sedusa. Blake had planned everything…In his cruel, sadistic and twisted evil mind.

"And how will we know when their powers are fully developed?" Sedusa asked.

Blake snapped his fingers. One of his scientists came with a metal box in hand. The employee opened the box to reveal three small necklaces. One was baby blue and round shaped. The other was green and shaped like a star while the last one was pink and heart-shaped. They all looked gorgeous and pretty valuable. Sedusa stared in awe at their beauty.

"My scientists have lately come up with these useful inventions." Blake said proudly. "Those necklaces may seem like simple jewellery, but they are equipped with microchips that analyze the blood of the person who wears them through their skin. Once that person's power is completely matured, the necklace turns gold and it automatically contacts my desk, sending a small alarm."

"Let me guess." Sedusa said. "You're going to give them to the girls."

Blake smiled evilly. "Precisely."

The wicked man closed the metal box. He was happy, everything was going perfectly and nobody was there to stop him. But he didn't know that somebody was listening and watching everything he did…

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

Butch's POV

I couldn't recall when the last time I'd been so pissed was. Actually, 'pissed' wasn't the right word for what I was feeling. How can I explain this, hm…Let's put it that way: Have you ever been so furious that all you wanted to do was to beat up the person that made you furious right at the moment? Yeah, that's how I felt. I swear I wanted to freeze that Ace guy…and I totally could! But there was just one thing that was holding me back.

Buttercup.

She'd be pretty devastated if that wanna-be bad boy got hurt. I could tell that she liked him by the way she was looking at him when he asked her out. What I'd seen in her eyes? Stars. What I'd seen in his eyes? Nothing good I tell you. And that just made me feel sick…Not that I cared about the little girl or anything! I just hated the way he looked at her that's all…And the kiss was just caused by pure lust and attraction. Nothing else…I think.

Anyway, I just knew that guy was up to something. I swear, when I figure out what it is, he's going down…

The sound of Boomer's door slamming tore me away from my thoughts. Brick had discovered Boomer's drawings of blondie girl. I had to say, I had no idea that idiot could draw so well. Anyway, something rang in me as I realized that Boomer clearly had feelings for the Powerpuff girl. His behaviour around her at the carnival, and now the drawings? That guy was smitten.

Oh well, it was to be expected anyway. That guy was so sentimental and he got attached easily. He would fall easily for a girl as cheerful and happy-happy as blondie. I wasn't worried that much though; I knew he would choose us over that girl. He wouldn't dare to let us down, he hated Blake more than anything and he wouldn't let a stupid girl get into our plan. He's probably already thinking of letting her go right now…

"So, what did you do to piss her off?" Brick asked me.

I swallowed, feeling the heat coming up to my cheeks. I couldn't tell him I'd kissed her! Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't fucking blush!

Brick's eyes widened. "Dude. What the fuck! Why are you freaking blushing?"

Too late.

I tried walking away from him, but Brick planted himself in front of me, his arms crossed on his chest.

"Get out of my way." I muttered.

Brick lit up flames in his hands. "Not until you tell me why you've been acting like a dick."

I swallowed. Shit, I was trapped. I knew Brick, he would probably get the truth out of me eventually. He was good at that.

Then, our phone rang and I wanted to sing out of relief. I was saved! To whoever is calling: Thank you!

I hurried to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, can I speak to your brother please?" It was a woman's voice.

"Uh, sure. Which one?" I said.

"Brick."

I smirked at my red-eyed brother.

"Damn Brick! Now you've got chicks calling you at home. Wow man!" I said.

I raised my hand up for a high five, but he just glared angrily at me. I slowly put my hand down and cleared my throat. I passed him the phone and started walking to my room. Brick grabbed me by the arms and stopped me.

"This isn't over yet…" He warned before letting me go. "I will find out about whatever you're hiding."

I gulped and locked myself in my room.

Brick's POV

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Hello Mr. Barker." I recognized this voice…It was the woman who called me earlier! "Did my information help you?"

"Yeah…But how did you know?" I asked. "And who are you?"

"I've been watching the Powerpuff Girls and you guys. And I'm here to help all of you. You can call me Miss Orange."

I frowned. "What do you mean? How can you help us all? The Powerpuff girls are our enemies!"

I heard a faint laugh at the other end of the line.

"Are they really?" She said sceptically.

Blossom's smiling face popped into my head. I remembered how she had kissed me on my cheek…

"Uh, anyway." I forced myself not to blush. "Why are you helping us?"

Her voice went cold. "Let's just say, I loathe Blake Stark."

I frowned. She knew his real name, which meant she knew that he was a criminal. Okay, she was definitely an ally.

"Anyway." She said. "I called to warn you about something. The girls are going to have special necklaces around their necks soon. When those necklaces turn golden, do not, I repeat, do not let them go to SYPO no matter what!"

I frown. Why should I care about stupid jewellery?

"Why?" I asked.

"I have to go now Brick, or else I'm going to get caught. Remember, don't let them go to SYPO when the necklaces turn golden!"

With that, she hung up.

As I said, after this chappie, the fun part begins ;) I also promise you some Reds interaction in the next chapter!

Please Review! If you do, I'll update faster :D