Buttercup groans as she starts to wake up, her head feeling like it's full of rocks. She brings a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, hoping to ward off the headache that's rapidly approaching. That's weird, she hadn't had a dream. "I don't know what happened, guys. I…" Buttercup trails off when she opens her eyes, seeing no one else around her. She's still on the couch, but Bubbles is gone, no longer petting her leg. Motion from the entryway makes Buttercup freeze, watching with mounting horror as Butch steps into the living room. She looks at his face, and in place of familiar green eyes are searing red ones. Anger surges in Buttercup's chest, an anger she's never felt before.

She bolts off the couch, her fists clenched at her sides as she braces herself, staring him down. "You aren't real! You aren't Butch!" Buttercup snaps, her teeth bared like the wild animal she feels like. She swipes her arm in front of her, brushing away the months of lies and deception. "You can't hide anymore, I know the truth! I know who you really are! Stop being a coward!" Buttercup watches as the humanoid figure in front of her grows, until Butch's sneering face is towering above her, red eyes dancing like fire. The ceiling cracks as the giant body pushes against it, until the entire roof caves in, crumbling around them.

"Then say it, little Powerpuff. Say my name!" he commands, his voice pitching and tumbling in dizzying cadence. Nausea wells in Buttercup's stomach again, and she sucks in all the air her lungs can hold.

"HIM!" she screams, shutting her eyes as she shouts out ages of pain and anger. Before her, silence falls over the figure, before it starts to laugh. Quiet, at first, but soon it burgeons into a deafening crescendo that Buttercup can't block out even as she covers her ears. She feels tiny, like a bug—she feels like she is going to be crushed. When she opens her eyes, searing red flames surround her, her house is in ruins. Her mouth agape, Buttercup drinks in the awful sight of her beloved home burning. Before her, the form of Butch is stretching, bones snapping and skin ripping as red lobster claws tear from his hands.

A gigantic claw darts out for Buttercup, snatching her in its grasp. She shrieks, pounding her fists against it when it raises her into the air as HIM stretches above the earth, his sneering face peering down at Buttercup as if she were an experiment. No mater how hard she hits, Buttercup can't seem to make a dent, her fists bounce off uselessly. HIM's laugh crashes over Buttercup again, pouring into her ears. "You're pathetic, Buttercup! A weak little Powerpuff at my disposal, the doll I've always wanted!" HIM exclaims, his voice morphing into a terrible, booming snarl.

"You're wrong!" she cries, but she feels more like she's begging than arguing. HIM's claw tightens around Buttercup, and she can't seem to take in enough air.

"Oh?" HIM says, leaning closer. "You aren't failing the Powerpuffs, then? You aren't letting monsters run rampant and ruin your city? You're failing them, Buttercup! You're ruining the Powerpuffs, they'd be better offwithout youholding them back!" HIM raises Buttercup's vulnerable body up high as he scrutinizes her. "How can anyone love you when you can't even save yourself, Buttercup?" HIM raises his other claw, running it against Buttercup's cheek. She wants to wretch, to sob, to scream, but she can hardly even breathe. Wrong, wrong, he had to be wrong!

"You may have figured it out, but you can never escape me," HIM coos. "Every time you fall asleep, every time you shut your eyes, I'll be there, waiting!" HIM begins to cackle, unfazed by Buttercup's valiant efforts to wrench herself free. No, this isn't right, she's the hero, she's supposed to win. How can she fight something that's all in her head? HIM rears his arm back suddenly, and he hurls Buttercup towards the wall. She screams as her body collides helplessly with the wall, the violent collision wrenching her from HIM's world.

Jolting upright, still screaming, Buttercup felt a spike of pain shooting through her skull. Butch had been hovering nearby her, waiting on her to wake up. The second she finally snapped out of it, he crumbled to the floor, reaching up to clutch at his head with a cry of his own.

"Shit," Brick muttered, dropping down beside his brother while Boomer covered his mouth, too horrified to do anything. "Hey, hey—come on, Butch!" Brick snapped, grabbing Butch's shoulders, but Butch didn't let go of his head, and he seemed unable to hear the other boy. Buttercup herself was faring no better, shaking like a leaf in Bubbles' arms as the blonde struggled to hold her together.

Blossom felt as if she were going to be sick. She sat behind Buttercup, wrapping her arms around Buttercup's waist and resting her forehead on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Buttercup, I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I shouldn't have sent you alone." Buttercup couldn't do this alone, she just couldn't, but how was Blossom supposed to go into a dream with her? That would take experiments, technology they didn't have and didn't have the time to wait on.

Sucking in a tremulous breath, Buttercup shook her head. It was over, she was done. "He's got me," she rasped, her voice sounding as if she'd traveled a desert for days without water. "It's over. I can't fight someone in my own head, he—he can turn me against myself!" Buttercup could feel something in her chest crumbling, as if her heart were falling to pieces. The worst part was that she knew this was only the beginning. HIM was starting with her, but it was only a matter of time. He never left anything unfinished. "He's going to come after you, too, I know it," Buttercup's shoulders shook with a sob that brought no tears. She'd cried herself out long before this. "He started with me because he knew. He knew I was the weakest. Look at me," Buttercup buried her nails into her skin, as if it could possibly be enough punishment.

With a breathless, mirthless laugh, Butch looked up at Buttercup, still wincing. "That's bullshit, and you know it," he said, straightening up and pushing Brick's hands away.

"He's right," Blossom whispered, making Buttercup freeze. It had been ages since she'd felt anything other than a failure, but her sister, someone Buttercup was always compared to, someone she was always standing in the shadow of, was telling her that was wrong?

"What?" Buttercup asked, almost too quiet to be heard.

Blossom tightened her arms around her sister, tears springing to her eyes. "Butch is right, Buttercup. You aren't the weakest, you never were—you're our strongest! Buttercup, you're our rock, and he knew we'd crumble without you."

Buttercup felt as if the entire world had dropped out from under her. The rock? The strongest? She had…for months, she'd been nothing but a burden. She'd succumbed to HIM without ever even knowing what was happening. "I lost without even fighting him, how is that strong?" Buttercup said, feeling as if she were drowning in the months of shame and guilt. Maybe that was what was going to get her, before HIM ever got the chance.

"You were fighting on your own, Buttercup. No one can win against HIM on their own," Butch spoke up suddenly, shaking his head. Buttercup folded in on herself, hardly noticing when Butch rested a hand on her leg, giving a reassuring squeeze, but she relaxed. Only a fraction, but she felt it. Speaking of having a rock. Blossom stared down at the hand resting on her sister's knee, cutting her eyes towards Brick to catch him scowling at the display. Blossom had something to say about it, herself, but nothing that would matter at a time like this.

"Guess I'm not gonna win, huh?" Buttercup whispered, voice muffled from where she was resting on her arms.

"Maybe not on your own," Blossom said. She cast a look around the room, raising her voice and taking on the familiar leadership tone she put on for her sisters when they were in a particularly brutal fight. "We're in this together, now, like it or not. If there's anything we can come to agree on, it's that HIM is an evil that threatens us all. If we can't stop him, there won't be any stopping him at all."

Brick folded his arms, scowl deepening, but he put up no resistance. As much as he was loath to admit it, Blossom was right. Brick had seen firsthand what HIM was capable of, and he didn't want to go back. Once upon a time, watching the Powerpuff Girls wiped off the face of the earth would have been his only goal—but that hadn't been a goal he'd chosen himself. Without them, that was one last obstacle between HIM and the rest of the world; and that was not a world anyone wanted to fuck around in.

"She can't beat the devil on her own, and we can't get inside her head," Brick said, clearing out the obvious brush in the way of their fire.

"No, but…" Blossom trailed off, turning towards Butch, something lighting in her gaze. "Maybe not all of us, but maybe Butch can."

Brick glanced at Butch, who blinked owlishly at Blossom, but she continued when no opposition came. "It's obvious he shares some sort of connection with her. The headaches, the incident when you entered the city, it's got to mean something. Maybe if…if they fell asleep near each other, they would be connected enough to dream together!"

"That's a huge longshot, red," Brick was the first to point out, despite Bubbles and Boomer appearing skeptical as well. "We have no idea if that'll work, and if it did, who's to say HIM can't control Butch, too?"

Blossom threw her hands up. "We have to try something! HIM's magic has caused weirder happenstances, maybe it'll be enough. He can control Buttercup because he's in her head, not Butch's—and he won't be expecting it, either, right?" Blossom sounded frantic for someone to just agree with her. They had to give everything a shot, even if it didn't work, it was better than nothing!

Brick slouched his shoulders. "Fine, fine. But we can't risk it without medical help—your sister got hurt in the dreams already, remember?"

Blossom brought her hand to her mouth to bite at her knuckles. Professor didn't have any medical supplies in the lab here, and if he found out what they would do, he might… Stiffening, Blossom punched her fist into her hand. "Mojo!"

Butch's expression soured, and he made that clear with a dry question. "What?"

Blossom pointed at Brick. "Mojo has plenty of medical supplies in his labs, if you could get us in, he'd have no choice but to let us use it!" Brick rolled his eyes, but Blossom wasn't about to let him argue. "I know he won't say no to you."

Brick stood up, gesturing to Boomer to get out of the way as he headed for the door. "Get a move on, then. Sooner we get this over with, the better."

Buttercup balked at the idea of travel, but she brushed away Bubbles' attempt to help her stand. She could stand on her own, damn it. Doing exactly that, Buttercup got to her feet, and promptly started to sway to one side. Butch reacted fast, putting his hands on Buttercup's shoulders and saving her some pride, and perhaps a broken nose. "Can you even fly?" he asked her quietly, for only her to hear.

Cheeks aflush with red, Buttercup shook her head tightly. With a heavy sigh, Butch resigned himself, and knelt to put an arm under Buttercup's knees. The green puff made an undignified sound as he hefted her into his arms, as if she weighed nothing at all. Maybe she didn't, to someone like him, but feeling so fragile in someone else's grasp was…unnerving, to say the least. "Don't think I'm going to thank you," she grumbled.

Butch snorted. "Wouldn't dream of it." He headed out of the door with the other Powerpuff Girls close by, watching him like hawks, just waiting for him to make the wrong move. "I'm not gonna fucking drop her," he snapped, but that only seemed to make Blossom's gaze even colder.

"Don't worry, I'll take him down with me," Buttercup offered a shadow of her usual grin, clutching to Butch's shirt as he jumped into a hover and soared into the sky, following Brick's lead. Jeez, now Buttercup knew why people hated flying so much—when you weren't in control, it was downright scary. As they traveled, Buttercup let her head fall against Butch's shoulder. This should have been much more uncomfortable than it was, but Buttercup could chalk up her lack of discomfort to exhaustion. "Do you really think this'll work?" she whispered to Butch.

Butch glanced down at her before returning his gaze ahead. "I don't wanna hear quitter talk from you, of all people," he told her. Buttercup never did take kindly to orders, but she still smirked, anyway. "C'mon, we're not built for giving up." Buttercup wasn't sure if he meant all of them, or just the two of them, maybe he would've been right either way. Then, under his breath, Butch said something else that made Buttercup's eyes widen. "We're not gonna let anything happen to you."

Seconds passed in silence before Buttercup regained her ability to speak. "Why do you even want to do this?" she asked. He didn't owe anything to her, they'd spent years as enemies. It was true that in the past few months, they'd crossed some sort of bridge over that roiling ocean of their past, but that didn't have to mean anything. For him to go to these lengths for her?

Butch didn't answer, but Buttercup wasn't sure it would've made a difference if he had. Buttercup nudged her head against his shoulder, anyway. "You're going soft on me."

"I take back what I said about dropping you," Butch grumbled. Buttercup almost laughed, if only she possessed such frivolous energy. She couldn't help but wonder; were they so entwined because of the shared chemical that had made them what they were? Or was it something else that she could never hope to understand? It was making her head hurt just thinking about it, so Buttercup decided it was best to stop.

Up ahead, Mojo's home loomed into view, a dark stain on the city that Buttercup never thought she could be happy to see. Brick landed first and rapped his knuckles against the door, impatient and forceful. Blossom lingered at his side while the others landed behind them; Buttercup anticipated Butch setting her down when they landed, but he made no moves to do so. Buttercup didn't have it in her to be annoyed by that, she was comfortable. More comfortable than she'd been in a long time. She should really think about that, but now wasn't the time.

The door flung open, revealing a scowling green primate. Upon seeing the six teenagers standing at his door, he did a double take, completely taken aback. "What is this?!" he demanded, spluttering as Brick walked past him, nudging Mojo out of the way. Blossom hesitated, looking between Brick and Mojo.

"We need your help," she explained, her hands clasped in front of her. Mojo's eyes darted towards Buttercup, where she was cradled against Butch's chest, and Mojo narrowed his eyes. "Just hear us out!"

"He doesn't have a choice," Butch grumbled, walking past the group and into the house next. Mojo waved his hand at the boy, as if to say yes, sure, go right ahead. "We've got a problem, monkey."

Mojo turned to look at the others still standing outside his door. "Well?" he asked expectantly, pointing inside his home. "If everyone else is doing it! I don't want anyone else seeing you Powerpuff brats outside my door!"

It was hardly the first time, thought Buttercup wryly, but she didn't pipe up. Blossom nodded her head graciously as she stepped through the doorway, followed closely by the blue counterparts. As the door shut, silence fell over the room, no one seeming to be the one who wanted to speak up and explain the situation. Mojo tapped his foot, hands on his waist. "I haven't got all day. What is it? Poison? Are you all brainwashed? That would explain you barging in together!"

Bubbles winced at the yelling, but Brick rolled his eyes and stepped forward, glaring down his nose at Mojo. "Sorry that you have to do all your own work now, but we need your help. We're using your medical lab," Brick stated plainly, brooking no argument even as Mojo gaped at him. Brick shot a look over his shoulder at Butch and nodded his head down a corridor, indicating they follow. "Come on, let's get you set up."

"Now hold on!" Mojo snapped, swiping his arms in front of him. "I'm not agreeing to any of this! After you brats' awful betrayal, you think I'm going to do anything for you?!" Mojo turned towards Blossom, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "As for you! You think you're so smart, you can figure something out yourself!" Mojo wasn't even stopping to ask what they needed the lab for, and Buttercup was sure he didn't care. All of the yelling was beginning to give her a headache, making it harder for her to hold her eyes open.

Her head thumped against Butch's shoulder as she let it drop, her eyelids drooping. Butch bounced her a little, glancing down. "Not yet," he muttered.

Brick turned, a terrifying expression stormed over his features. He leaned down closer to Mojo, his teeth grit as he spoke. "You owe us," Brick hissed, "and you can't stop me from doing whatever the fuck I want."

Blossom jumped in, hoping to prevent what was looking to be the beginning of an ugly argument. She rested a hand on Brick's shoulder, prompting him to straighten and turn away. "Mojo, this is about HIM," Blossom said, her voice grave. Mojo cocked a brow, but when he said nothing, Blossom continued. "He's gotten inside Buttercup's head somehow, he's in her dreams, and we think the only way to fight him is inside her head. She has to get him out and break the hold." Blossom shook her head, holding her hands out. "I know we've had our grievances, but you know as well as I do that without us, HIM would have no one stopping him. You don't want to live in a world under his control, do you?"

Mojo folded his arms, eyes darting between the teenagers that had all but broken into his home. Finally, his shoulders sagged with a heavy sigh. "I'm not going to let some mutant lobster kill my worst enemies—that is my job!" He turned on his heel, cape billowing as he marched down the hall. "Follow me! Hurry!"

Blossom stood still, dumbstruck for a second before she snapped out of it. Waving a hand towards Butch, she followed Mojo, hurrying after him. Mojo led them to a blinding white room, flipped the light switch, and gestured to the equipment littered around the lab. An array of cots lined one wall that Mojo walked towards, patting one of them. "Set her down, set her down."

Butch walked forward, laying Buttercup down on the cot, where she didn't even have the strength to sit up. Butch took a seat on the cot right beside her, prompting Mojo to cut him a look. "I'm going under with her. She can't fight by herself, look at her," Butch gestured to Buttercup, who grumbled something less than friendly.

Mojo waved his hands. "Fine, fine. Let's see…heart monitors are a good idea, yes," he mumbled to himself, pulling wires and other frightening looking equipment about. Buttercup felt something cold on her chest as she was hooked to the monitor, but she didn't open her eyes. She could hear her own heartbeat as the screen beeped; it was fast, but she couldn't slow it. This was it, it was do or die. What would happen if she lost, if Butch couldn't connect with her, if they couldn't get HIM out of her head? What if this was really the end? Buttercup hadn't even hugged Professor that morning.

Buttercup felt someone take her hand, the fingers soft—Bubbles. Buttercup took a deep breath, filling her lungs and holding it for a moment. She was okay, she wasn't by herself. Willing herself to relax, Buttercup felt herself falling. Beside her, she could her Butch's heartbeat on the monitor. She started to count along with it. One, two, three…

Four…

Blossom watched as Buttercup and Butch fell asleep, their breathing evening, Buttercup's heartrate slowing. She walked to stand at the edge of her sister's cot, worrying her lip between her teeth. From the corner of her eye, she could see Brick coming to stand beside Butch. She glanced at the redhead, his expression set in a scowl, but she wasn't fooled for a second. "They'll be okay," Blossom murmured.

Brick glanced at her, one corner of his mouth quirking. He leaned his head back to look at Mojo. "How are we going to wake them up if something goes wrong?"

Mojo pointed towards the wires connected to the two sleeping teenagers. "I can provide a small electrical shock, it should snap them right out of it." Brick nodded, mollified by the answer. Blossom took a seat the edge of Buttercup's bed to watch over her, putting her head in her hands. It killed her to stand by, helpless to do anything for Buttercup while she fought for her freedom—her life.

Now all they could do was wait.

She wakes up on the ground, surrounded by grass blowing gently in the breeze. Buttercup digs her fingers into the cool earth, pushing herself up onto her knees and looking around. The trees cast shade over Buttercup, as if she'd been taking a nap in the park, the flowers dancing back and forth in the wind. It's almost peaceful, if not for the wisps of smoke. Buttercup wrinkles her nose as she recognizes the scent. She stands, her legs shaking as if she's relearning how to walk, but that doesn't stop her. She marches forward, getting faster, until she's running. The grass fades from green, turning black—charred. The leaves on the trees soon turn to flames. Buttercup breaks out of the forest, nearly stumbling off the edge of the cliff. Her breath catches in her throat as she looks out over her beloved city.

Her city that is burning.

Buttercup gapes in horror before she has to cover her mouth, retching as smoke fills her lungs. It's black in the air like a cloud, a cloud that rains poison instead of water. Flames lick at the tallest buildings, the smaller ones are already ash. Buttercup can see her school in the distance—she thinks of nothing but children, bodies of children. She thinks of the people in the tallest buildings, how they would never evacuate in time, if anyone got evacuated at all. How did this happen? Why didn't she stop it? Why didn't…her sisters…

Buttercup slides down the cliff's edge, too lost in her terror to fly, and she's not sure if she can anyway. She tumbles and rolls, tripping over rocks and holes, but she reaches the bottom, stumbling into a run. "Blossom! Bubbles!" she screams, her voice hoarse with panic. They have to be here, they wouldn't be anywhere else, not if the city was…they're here, Buttercup knows it. She reaches the edge of the city, the heat of the fire feels like it might envelop her, cook her alive. Buttercup feels like she might be sick again.

From above her comes an ugly laugh, making Buttercup rear her head back, her eyes watering from the smoke. Butch floats above her, looking every bit as he always did. "Butch?" Buttercup says, only to cough. She feels a pang of relief—as she stares at him, though, Buttercup can feel her relief dwindling, dripping right out of her. "Butch! We have to do something! We have to find my sisters, they—"

Butch cuts her off with another laugh, holding his stomach as if he might die from the hysteria. "You think you can still save this city?" he asks her, cocking his head with that familiar smirk. Something in Buttercup aches.

"What are you talking about?!" she asks, verging on frantic. They might be able to still save people, to put out the fires before any more damage could happen. "I thought you were going to help me!" Buttercup has no right feeling betrayed, she knows she doesn't. She's going to, anyway, because it's her fucking business.

Butch lifts his arms in a shrug, floating higher into the air. "Powerpuffs, always thinking they can save everyone. Newsflash, Buttercup, not everyone wants to be saved!" Buttercup hates the way he says her name. It doesn't sound right. It's wrong, all of this is wrong, how could she be so stupid? Rage roils inside Buttercup like a swelling wave, and she realizes it's pushing her off the ground. Closing her eyes, she reaches for that rage, wrapping her hands around it. In a green flash of light, she's hurtling towards Butch. Butch cackles as he shoots away from her, weaving through the fire as if it doesn't touch him. Buttercup can feel the flames every time she gets too close, but she doesn't let it stop her. The fire inside her is burning much hotter.

Butch darts through the skeletons of burned buildings, shoots through alleyways where the air is suffocating. It feels like he's leading her somewhere, Buttercup realizes, but it's too late when she does. When they reach the center of the city, Butch soars straight up, holding his arms wide. "The grand finale!" he grins, Buttercup is watching him, but something else catches her eye. A flash of pink, a flash of blue. Lying near the fountain, where it's cracked and spilling water. The water is tinted red.

Buttercup stares, blank faced, at the crumpled bodies of both her sisters. Their eyes are closed, they could be asleep, but the blood pooled around them tells her different; their still chests tell her different. Buttercup stares, watching, waiting, but she knows. She knows already. The world turns upside down, throwing Buttercup from the sky, and she hits the ground hard enough to crack something; she isn't sure if it's the concrete or her bones. She doesn't care. They're dead. They aren't moving, they aren't talking—they're gone.

Butch lands between Blossom and Bubbles, and Buttercup slowly tears her eyes up to his grinning face. His mouth looks too sharp. "You've done it, Buttercup. You killed them. You weren't here when they needed you!" Butch shakes his head before looking down…at Bubbles. Bubbles' blonde hair is streaked with blood, it covers her eyes. Buttercup itches to brush it away, if only she can, maybe Bubbles will blink those baby blues up at her and promise her it's going to be okay. "You know, I always thought it'd be harder…I guess they were right. I just had to get you out of the way, and they were goners."

No, no, no—it can't be her fault. Buttercup would never leave her sisters alone, she's always been right there for them.

But she hadn't been, had she? She'd left them alone, she'd willingly let herself go under. There'd been no telling what they would do, with her asleep. Buttercup presented them with a golden opportunity. "No!" Buttercup screams, clutching at her own head. "No, no! You can't!" Buttercup feels like she's burning alive, like she's drowning, like she's cracking apart. All at once, like all the forces of nature are hitting her at once. Give them back—take anything but her sisters!

"Wow, that's a shitty fucking copy of me." A voice, so familiar, speaks from behind Buttercup. She freezes first, irrational hope blooming inside her chest. The figure before her, with his eyes made of emerald, goes still, his smirk melting into incredulity. Buttercup wills herself to look behind her, to look at the smile that's beginning to feel like home. She doesn't' know if she can trust it (can she trust anything?) and yet she wants to.

"No!" An enraged, distorted voice screams, and Buttercup whips around. Before her eyes, Butch's body melts, in a viscous display of guts and gore. From the puddle of blood rises a figure that makes Buttercup want to retch again. Buttercup feels nailed to her place in the ground, but she watches as the bodies of her sisters melt away into the red puddle as well. Not real, it wasn't real. She really needs to get better at telling reality apart.

"You're nothing but a mistake! I should have taken care of you and your miserable brothers ages ago!" HIM says, seething a hatred that makes Buttercup shiver.

"You couldn't back then, and you can't now!" Butch snaps, his hands clenched as he storms forward, past Buttercup. "You're just a coward! You couldn't even fight her head on!"

HIM sneers, baring ugly teeth. "You're both accidents that I'm going to correct!" HIM's eyes glow a searing red before the ground rumbles. Butch whirls around to look at Buttercup, but she doesn't have time to move. She looks at the ground as it cracks, a huge claw clamping down around her and crushing her in its grasp.

Buttercup screamed, her body arching off the cot. On the monitor, her heart-rate jumped, marking distress. Blossom hopped to her feet, looking at the screen and then at Mojo. "Should we do something?!"

Brick held up a hand. "Not yet. She's not in danger, yet. We have to let them fight."

Blossom sucked her worn lower lip into her mouth, her eyes settling on Buttercup. Reaching out, she took ahold of Bubbles' hand. "She's got this," Bubbles whispered, before she glanced at the boys. "They both do.

Blossom could only hope she was right.

Buttercup falls from the claw as Butch pries it open. "Get up!" he orders, stumbling back when the claw snaps shut. Buttercup peels herself off the ground in time to jump out of the way of the claw smashing into the ground, right where she'd collapsed. She has to get up, literally, off the ground. Come on, she can do this, he doesn't control her. He doesn't control her!

Closing her eyes, Buttercup reaches into the furthest depths of herself. Almost, she believes she can see a flickering green light behind her eyelids. With a deep breath, Buttercup propels herself off the ground and dives forward, fist outstretched as she punches HIM across his stupid red face. When her fist collided with his cheek, Buttercup is shocked by how…human he feels. She'd been so afraid of this, all this time? He was nothing! HIM was nothing!

"Get out of my head!" Buttercup shrieks, even as HIM rights himself and wipes an arm across his face.

"Admirable," he says, a wide grin ripping his lips, "if not foolish." HIM raises both his arms and claps them together; Buttercup narrowly escapes by shooting upwards, but the ensuing whirlwind catches her and sends her flying several feet, cracking through quite a few tree trunks. She hears Butch swearing as she sits up and shakes herself, sending broken timber and a bruised ego flying. Balling up her hands, Buttercup feels energy crackling at her fingertips; power, raw power. Her power.

Buttercup launches herself into the sky, where she sees Butch trying to sear HIM with his laser vision, but HIM merely holds his arms in front of him, deflecting. Buttercup raises her arms above her head, creating a scorching hammer of green that she swings towards earth. HIM looks up in time to see the flaming green weapon, but not in time to dodge. The hammer pounds the demon into the earth, leaving a crater.

Buttercup is heaving already, out of tune with her body and battle. She watches Butch as he flies over the crater, and she doesn't have time to shout at him to move; she's fought HIM before, she knows this isn't going to work. Even with three Powerpuffs, fighting physically has never beaten HIM, but Buttercup doesn't know how else to fight.

A burst of red erupts from the crater, nearly singing Butch as he rears back with a yelp. Buttercup wants to reach for him, but it's all she can do to cover her face and protect herself from the blast of energy. Rising from the hole in the ground, HIM's eyes are aglow, making it appear as if his eyes were bleeding. "This is my world," he sneers, "I control everything in it, including you!"

Buttercup grits her teeth in a snarl. "You don't control shit!" she screams. Clapping her hands, Buttercup starts to rub them together, until the friction between her palms burgeons into a fireball. Raising her arms above her head, Buttercup hurls the fireball towards HIM, anticipating it at least burning off his stupid eyebrows.

Instead, HIM materializes a bat, and he taps his foot before taking a swing at the fireball. It collides with the bat, rocketing back towards Buttercup. She flings herself to the side out of the pathway, the heat off the fireball reminding her of when she'd run through her burning city. That felt ages away; has it only been minutes? An hour? Buttercup's chest is heaving, sweat dripping down her brow. She has no way to tell if time is passing at all, but her body is acting like it.

Butch is a green blur in Buttercup's vision, landing hit after hit, viciously stubborn despite having to know as well as Buttercup…this isn't doing anything. HIM is getting angrier, not slower, not weaker. This is exactly the same as all of those nightmares; no matter what Buttercup does, it doesn't make a difference, HIM is stronger, HIM is winning.

Before her eyes, HIM seems to grow even bigger, his laugh like thunder. Butch suddenly freezes, halting in the air as if something has anchored him there. He's staring at HIM, before he whips his gaze towards Buttercup. "Buttercup, you're making him stronger!" he shouts, and she looks at him, eyes wide and frantic. She shakes her head, she doesn't understand. Butch turns towards her fully, his eyes burning. "This is all about you! He's feeding off you, you can't be af—"

It happens so fast. Buttercup never sees it coming. Butch doesn't either, or he would've surely dodged the claw that clamps around him. HIM is gigantic, powerful, enraged. The claw snaps around Butch like a vice, and Buttercup sees blood drip to the ground from where she's frozen in the sky, all of the color draining from her face. The claw opens, and she waits, she urges Butch to fly free, but he doesn't.

His body, limp as a ragdoll, falls from HIM's violent claw, rocketing towards the ground. Finally, finally, Buttercup remembers how to move, and she's flying, faster than she ever has. She wraps her arms around Butch, it's all she can do. She can't stop them from hitting the ground, but she can cushion the fall; and she does, clutching Butch close to her. "Butch! Butch, oh my god—open your eyes!" Buttercup demands, sitting up and cupping Butch's face in her hands.

Butch does, but it looks like he's looking a million miles away. "No, no," Buttercup mutters, reaching her hand out and splaying her fingers across the gory wounds on Butch's torso. It looks as if it's crushed his ribs, she can't tell how bad it is, she isn't a doctor! She isn't anything! This is all her fault, if he hadn't followed her, if she hadn't dragged him into this…

A hand brushes Buttercup's hair away from her face suddenly, and she stiffens, realizing she's hunched over Butch, his shirt soaking tears as well as blood. "Come…come on, it's not that bad," Butch says, trying to smile. He coughs, and it's wet, and Buttercup knows it's worse than she thought, and now she's more afraid than she's ever been. She's going to lose Butch right here (and when did he become hers to lose?) in this god damn nightmare. She's going to lose his smirk, he'll never flash it at her after winning a game, or beating her in a race. He'll never laugh at her dark humor again. He won't be there for her to lean on. He won't get a chance to grow up.

Buttercup doesn't want to lose him. She doesn't want to let him go, not when there's so much she doesn't understand. Not when there's so much left. She isn't ready!

"What the fuck happened?!" Brick commanded, standing over Butch and clutching his shoulders. On the monitor, Butch's heartrate was dropping, slowing. Blood had begun to seep from Butch's shirt and into the mattress. Brick whipped around to Mojo, his expression drawn into a fury, but it did nothing to hide the desperation in his eyes. "Do something!"

Blossom was skidding around the corner of the bed in seconds, pressing her hands tightly against the wounds that had torn open on Butch's body. "Get me gauze!" she ordered. No one moved for a moment, but soon everyone snapped into the moment and Boomer had taken off like a shot.

"Wake them up!" Brick ordered, storming towards Mojo where the ape was hurriedly pressing buttons. "What are you waiting for?!"

"It isn't working, they aren't coming out of it!" Mojo snapped back, pointing towards the two teenagers that might as well be comatose. "They're…on their own."

Blossom furiously blinked back tears as Boomer rushed to her side, pushing the gauze into her hands. She held it against Butch's wounds, trying to stem the bleeding. Bubbles was leaning over Buttercup, clutching her hand to her chest and pleading with the sleeping girl. "Buttercup, come on! You have to wake up, you have to!"

Brick watched Bubbles for a moment before he turned his gaze to Butch. Ripping away from Mojo, Brick returned to his brother's bedside, knuckles white on the bars of the cot. "You're not dying here, you hear me?" he said, his voice low as scowled down at Butch's pale face. Butch's breathing was labored, now. "You come back to us, you asshole. That's an order!"

Blossom steeled herself as she worked to keep Butch alive, but privately, she thought about how Butch had never been very good at taking orders.

They're going to die here, they're really going to die here. Buttercup curls herself over Butch, as if she can possibly protect him from further damage. She won't even get to graduate with her sisters, she won't watch Blossom cure some disease or Bubbles have her own therapy practice. She won't get to make Professor proud, or watch the new installment in her favorite horror series.

Buttercup isn't ready to die. She's been ready to give up for so long, it feels like, that the realization actually jars her. She isn't ready to die, there's so much she still wants to do. So much she still wants Butch to get to do, now that he isn't trapped by some psychopathic demon or monkey. This isn't fair. This isn't right. This is terrifying.

"I'm afraid," Buttercup whispers. The ground beneath her rumbles, a brief moment, barely there. She peers up at HIM, where he towers above her, only to find him frozen. His eyes are round as he looks down at her, before they narrow into an odious scowl. "I'm afraid," she says again, tasting the words, feeling something in her chest loosen and lift. HIM recoils as if Buttercup has wounded him, bringing up one of his arms in front of him. Setting Butch gently on the ground, Buttercup stands, all five feet and four inches of her, feeling bigger than a tower.

"I'm scared! Do you hear that?! I'm afraid! For so long, I've been afraid, I've always been afraid!" Buttercup's voice echoes into a crescendo as she screams her words, determined not to be ignored. She stomps her foot, and the ground trembles again. HIM begins to shrink, slowly, but she can see it, she knows it. Inside of Buttercup, something is fading, growing brighter. It hurts, like she's expelling something, tearing it away from deep inside her—but each breath hurts less.

Buttercup steps forward, and again, and again. "I'm afraid of losing my sisters. I'm afraid of losing Butch. I'm afraid of hurting the people I care about," Buttercup clenches her hands, her heart racing, and suddenly with each pulse, Buttercup feels like she's growing. The world around her shrinks, it's no longer a cage; she's outgrowing it. "I'm afraid of failing, I'm afraid of not being able to save people—I'm afraid of being on my own!" Buttercup stomps again, and this time, the ground cracks beneath her feet. She opens her eyes (when had she closed them?) and looks down. Down?

HIM is below her, staring at himself before he looks up at Buttercup, his eyes blazing with fury. "No! This was my plan, this was foolproof!" HIM points his clawed hand at Buttercup, but she finds she hardly feels threatened, now. "You're just a scared little girl!"

Buttercup grins, sharp and wild. "You're right, I am afraid, but I'm so much more." Buttercup cracks her knuckles. "I'm tough. I'm full of fight, and I'm full of love, for my family and friends. I was wrong. I need them. I need help. I know who I am, and I won't lose that, I'm not like you!" Buttercup stretches even farther into the sky, and beneath her, HIM looks nothing like the monsters that have tormented her for months. He looks like an ant.

"You're a coward! You hid and lied for months! You'll always be nothing but a scared, lonely child!" HIM is shrieking, as if he's demanding she listen. Buttercup is done with listening.

"You're wrong," Buttercup shakes her head, her smile softening, peaceful. "I'm brave, way braver than I knew. Bravery is about facing my fear, not ignoring it. And you know what? You're not that scary!" Buttercup's voice raises as she says the condemning words.

Before her very eyes, HIM's eyes grow wide, and something terrible starts to happen. His body starts to meld and twist, expanding. Buttercup ducks down, reaching for Butch to cradle him safely. HIM screams as his body blows to awful proportions, before finally, finally, he bursts into a cloud of red dust, out of Buttercup's mind.

Buttercup feels light, in way more ways than one. She feels weightless, faint. Shutting her eyes and leaning her face into Butch's chest, she screams, as loud as she can.

She's in control of her dreams, this time.

Buttercup's hands flew up to clutch at her chest, as if she'd forgotten how to breathe in the real world. Bolting upright with a greedy gasp, Buttercup's eyes were blown wide. Faintly, she heard a relieved cry, but Buttercup's ears were ringing too loud to tell anything apart. She looked up, at where Bubbles was staring at her, covering her mouth and with tears pouring down her cheeks. Typical Bubbles, thought Buttercup fondly. She heard something else though, something through the fog of the ringing.

Slowly, as if she didn't really want to, she turned to the side. Butch lay sprawled in the bed beside her, still as a statue, cot stained with blood. Blossom had her hands pressed into his side, dripping with the same blood. Blossom looked at Buttercup, unable to stop a little sob as she saw Buttercup awake, but her attention immediately shot back to Butch.

The shouting came into focus. They were shouting Butch's name, his brothers, and soon, Blossom was joining them, trying in vain to get Butch to respond. He wasn't waking up.

He hadn't woken up.

This chapter was a pain in the ass. Fight scenes are my writing kryptonite as is, but with someone like HIM, who could essentially destroy the world if he wanted to? I had to think outside the box, because you can't just punch a guy like that into submission. The devil is beaten by your heart, after all. But seriously, this chapter had me swearing left and right.

But, maybe HIM did win a little bit…he just took his victory in someone else.