Choices

by Madame Fist

Brick and his brothers are forced to change their lives completely when Him appears and makes his demands. But matters of the heart and mind get in the way, and choices must be made. What if you're not what you thought you were? What if you never were? What if you don't have a choice? My own spin on a PPG high school fic. Original pairings

22. Welcome home

Hey guys, thanks so much for reading and reviewing, here's chapter 22!

---

"Buttercupppppp. Are you going to tell me what's the matter?" Bubbles asked in a hushed voice as she hovered into their bedroom quietly.

Buttercup was in bed with her earphones in her ears listening to music. She wasn't asleep, but she was effectively attempting to block the world out for awhile.

"Come on." Bubbles said, poking her. "I know something is up. Just tell me what he's done."

Buttercup pulled her bed sheet off of her so her head was peering out, and flashed a perplexed look her sister's way.

"Why are you saying 'tell me what he's done?'" She queried, and Bubbles smirked, perching on the end of her bed.

"Because you swapped your patrol shift with Brick yesterday, so that you didn't have to do it with Butch. Boomer told me about the swapping." She explained. "I guessed the part where you were avoiding Butch. Plus, you've been extremely grumpy lately - well, more so than usual. What gives?"

Buttercup looked down at her sheets, pouting slightly as she contemplated telling her sister what had happened.

"I wondered if it was because the Professor is staying longer after all, even though the Alabama company agreed on the research grant - but I figured that wouldn't bother you this much. It's only an extra few days… And it's a good thing really - to iron everything out and all." The blonde puff babbled, hoping her sister would cough up the real reason behind her moping if she continued to talk.

Bubbles' eyes drifted to Buttercup's cell phone, which was on her beside and was buzzing every couple of minutes. She could see Butch's name flashing on her screen. "Also, you're ignoring his messages. Another point on the 'Butch has done something stupid' argument."

The green puff sighed, running a hand through her raven hair. She picked her phone up, looking through his messages with a guilt ridden look on her face.

"What's he done?" Bubbles asked again, and Buttercup once again considered just telling her. Maybe it would help. After all, she was dating a Rowdyruff boy herself.

"He's not really done anything wrong... I'm just freaking out." Buttercup murmured, and Bubbles looked at her curiously.

"Why?"

"Because, we - well, Butch and I, we've sort of -" Buttercup began to burble uncomfortably until the blonde puff interrupted her.

"Totally fallen for each other, I know." Bubbles said matter of factly.

Buttercup stared at her with wide green eyes. "Wha- what?! Fallen for each other?!"

"Buttercup!" Bubbles cried in exasperation. "Don't even bother denying it okay! Butch has liked you for ages! He completely adores you!"

"He does?" She queried, thinking it was more in the crush region rather than full on adoration.

"Yes! It's been soooo obvious!" Bubbles insisted.

"Has it?!" Buttercup asked.

Bubbles scoffed. "Yes! He's ridiculously into you. I mean god, it's really clear as day he's totally smitten! You can just see that he thinks the world of you now."

Buttercup was bowled over. "Well, it wasn't clear as day to me…"

"Well, you can be a little oblivious when it comes to boys." Bubbles said gently, and Buttercup frowned at her, instantly denying her words. "It's okay! Blossom is the same, she never picks up on the subtleties either. I mean, she was completely floored when Brick kissed her but it was so obvious he liked her, just like it is with you and Butch."

"Brick's a little different surely, I mean, his heart is all shrivelled and black soo I'm not surprised she didn't realise he had the capacity to feel things for anyone but himself. Plus, Blossom is oblivious to that sort of shit she always has been, but I'm not!" Buttercup defended, and Bubbles giggled.

"Aww, come on, Brick isn't that bad. And yeah, Blossom is awful at reading signals but you're not that great either. So, I'm guessing you're now realising how into him you are?"

Buttercup paused briefly, a scrutinising look on her face.

"This goes no further." The green puff said severely, the hint of a threat in her voice.

"I won't I promise!" Bubbles cried, but Buttercup squinted her eyes at her.

"For real Bubbles - you know I won't bother talking to you about shit ever again if you blab to anyone!"

Bubbles zipped her lips, her face sincere. Buttercup sighed, defeated. "Yes, okay. I think I do have some feelings for him that are, you know… More than friends."

"EEEEEEEEE I knew it!" Bubbles squealed excitedly.

"Bubbles!" Buttercup bit out in frustration. "Calm down!"

"Sorry, sorry continue!" Bubbles said, composing herself.

"I think they've been there awhile, a couple months or so, but I've tried to ignore it. But then we kissed. And it was, great. Like, so great." The blonde puff began to squeal with euphoria again and Buttercup let out an irritated growl. "Bubbles I fucking mean it -"

"I'm sorry! I'm so excited! I've been wondering when you were going to confess!"

"It is not that obvious okay!" Buttercup insisted, a light blush covering her cheeks.

"Yes. It is." Bubbles cried. "So, now what?"

"I don't know! That's the thing! We've not really spoken about stuff. It just kind of happened… I'm not good with words, and neither is he. Lord knows every time the dumbass opens his mouth he puts his foot in it. Do I, you know, do I talk to him? Do I tell him how I feel? He's an idiot, what if he doesn't know what to do, or say? What if this ruins everything?"

"Buttercup, Buttercup slow down! It's okay! It's not going to ruin everything!" Bubbles reassured her.

But the green puff shook her head. "How can you just say that and be so sure of it?"

"Because I am so sure of it. How can telling someone you care about them and like them be a bad thing?" Bubbles questioned, but Buttercup still seemed skeptical.

"Maybe I'm just going on experience… I can't have another Cody. I can't do all that again, I just can't." Her tone was decidedly gloomier, as was her expression. Bubbles frowned at her sister.

"Buttercup, Butch isn't Cody. Not every guy is going to treat you how he did. You are a strong, fierce, amazing person and you deserve to be treated like a queen!" Bubbles said severely. Buttercup smirked at her.

"Do not allow what Cody Morris did stop you from being happy! All you can do is follow your heart. I did, and I don't regret a second of it." Bubbles told her genuinely. "I know it's Butch, and trust me I know it's hard to process at first, the whole Rowdyruff thing, but you cannot let fear of it all going wrong stop you from giving it a shot. And if he hurts you - we'll kill him." She added with an innocent shrug. Buttercup giggled, leaning forward and resting her head on her sister's shoulder.

"Thank you." The green puff mumbled against her.

"Any time." Bubbles replied, placing her arms around her to pull her closer so she could give her a signature Bubbles squeeze.

---

Butch floated into the living room, nudging his blonde brother's leg with his foot.

Boomer was splayed out on the sofa watching TV. He looked up at his brother expectantly.

"Hey Boom. Did you find it weird, when you realised you had feelings for Bubbles, and you weren't gay?" Butch asked attentively, and Boomer glared at him.

"Fuck you." He spat, sitting up right. "I'm not gunna talk to you if you're gunna be a dick."

Butch sniggered, sitting on the sofa opposite him. "No seriously, was it weird?"

"No. Not at all - it made sense; just felt right. Like things were changing for the better. Why do you ask?" Boomer answered, and Butch's mouth went into a line.

"You know why I'm asking." He said quickly, and Boomer grinned.

"Yeah, I just wanted to hear you say it." Boomer teased, and Butch rolled his eyes.

"Well, you're not gunna." He replied, folding his arms across his chest.

He'd been a little up and down since the last time he'd seen Buttercup. He'd not heard from her since Mitch's the other day. She hadn't spoken to him since stupid Cody had interrupted them. The green ruff had hoped they could talk on their patrol they were rostered together for, but she asked Brick to switch, and he'd agreed. Which meant he'd been sat with his brother instead, which had really thrown him - he wanted to talk to her, but he didn't know what to say.

He just kept trying to remind himself that the other day hadn't exactly been a negative encounter.

They had kissed again. She had wanted to kiss him; she'd said so herself.

They were confused, conflicted. It was a weird thing to get your head around. They'd gone from being sworn enemies, absolutely despising each other, tolerating each other, then friends to best friends, and suddenly something more was there. It was enough to make your head spin.

But, they were at least on the same page. He felt like things would have turned out okay had stupid Cody have not interrupted them.

It worried him, the fact it was Cody who had blundered in. Cody, who hardly ever hung out with them anymore. Cody, her ex boyfriend. Was that significant? He hoped not.

The green ruff's phone buzzed in his pocket then and he yanked it out hurriedly, his heart pounding in his chest when he saw he'd gotten a message from Buttercup. She was asking if he wanted to hang out. This had to be progress.

He texted her back instantly: Yeah sure, your place or mine?

He hit the send button then read back the message. That could be misconstrued. He quickly typed out a second message: For hanging out, I mean…

She replied a few seconds later: I'll be over in 10.

Butch looked up at his brother rapidly. "Dude, I'm gunna need you to get the hell out of here."

"But, I live here!" Boomer yelped.

"If I mean anything to you, anything at all, then you'll disappear for a bit." Butch said sincerely. Boomer flashed him a puzzled look. "Look, I'm gunna throw you out the window if you don't leave by yourself."

The blonde ruff could see that he meant it.

---

When Buttercup arrived at the Rowdyruff apartment, the first thing she noticed was how empty it was; it seemed to be just Butch at home.

He noticed her looking around slightly as she entered, and he cleared his throat, prompting her to look his way. "It's just me in. Boomer's out, and Brick's off somewhere too - no idea where."

Buttercup nodded slowly, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt.

"So err, you wanna watch something on Netpix? I can order some food in or something." Butch suggested. She couldn't help but notice how he looked a little nervous too. It was an odd thing to behold.

"Sounds like a plan." She said with a small nod. Butch smiled a slanted smile, heading towards the sofa and grabbing his phone from his pocket to order something in.

Her stomach was in knots, and she kept coming back to the fact that they were alone in the apartment. She'd been home alone with Butch before, on several occasions in fact. But it somehow felt different today. Boomer had turned up at her house to see Bubbles just as Buttercup was heading over. It made her wonder why he'd cleared the house out upon her arrival.

Chase always used to turf out his roommates if she was coming over. The only time he hadn't done was when she'd sprung a visit on him by surprise. And she knew why he did that - he was forever hopeful he was going to get lucky.

Was Butch thinking along the same lines? Was that it, a couple of kisses and he was about to try and get in her pants already?

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, and joined him on the sofa. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was nervous and just overthinking. They ordered pizza, and scrolled through the programmes on Netpix, finally deciding on a prison documentary just as the pizzas arrived.

"Is this really what it's like?" The green puff asked before reaching for a slice of pepperoni.

Butch shrugged, his mouth full of pizza. "I guess so. Never stayed inside long enough to really experience it - also have superpowers so, can't really be held down by the man."

She smirked at him, her mind on the several jail breaks the Rowdyruff boys had caused over the years. "Pfft, yeah, I suppose so."

They continued to eat, chatting idly about the documentary, until all the pizza was gone.

"So," Butch said, his tone direct. "You didn't pick up any of my calls, ignored my messages - spoke to me very briefly at Mitch's - and then message me asking to hang out."

Buttercup felt a wave of dread hit her as she realised he wanted to talk about, well, them. She knew they couldn't avoid the topic forever, but it had been nice overcoming the awkwardness, or at least beginning to.

"Uhh, yep. That about sums it up." She murmured in reply, feeling his emerald eyes on her.

"What's going on Cupcake?" He asked, his tone a little teasing; much more like their usual repartee.

"We have talked about that nickname." She scolded, and he grinned.

"And we love it." He replied smartly. "Seriously though, what's the deal? I cannot deal with you ignoring me. I've been going insane not having you to pester."

She smiled but sighed. "I dunno." Her arms folded across her chest and a small but awkward silence ensued. "I guess I'm just freaking out a bit. Like, I don't know how to handle any of this. And clearly I'm not handling it right."

"Any of what?" Butch questioned and she pointed to herself, then him.

"This. Us. You know… All this feelings bullshit. Feelings I think neither of us realised were returned..." Her cheeks had reddened considerably.

"Right." Butch said slowly. "I know. I don't really either. I don't normally have these kinds of troubles. I normally just go with the flow, you know? Follow my instinct."

She couldn't help but smile at him. Clearly their chaste kiss the other night had improved his mood a bit, he didn't seem as desolate as he had done at the acoustic gig. "I see. So what's this instinct of yours telling you to do now?"

"Right now?" He confirmed, and she nodded. He hesitated a bit. "No, it's probably not - you might not like it. Although, I've gotta say the past couple of times I think you've liked it."

She smirked at him. "Try me."

He looked at her for a moment, his forest green eyes a little tentative. But he had a small smile playing about his lips, and he exhaled slowly.

Butch scooted forward a little on the sofa beside her so they were sitting closer. Then he took her face in his hands and he kissed her. It wasn't fiery and passionate like their last kisses. In fact, he held her like she was delicate and precious, and his kiss was gentle.

Well, it was at first, anyway.

Buttercup felt herself beginning to melt at his touch. So she linked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, and the kiss intensified.

Kissing him was like nothing she'd experienced before. It felt amazing, she felt so alive, and just completely connected to him. She'd never known a feeling like it when someone held her. It was like, butterflies in her stomach, but a million times intensified. He heart was beating like she was sprinting.

Eventually they became so entangled in one another it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. They were laid out on the sofa side by side, kissing like they'd just discovered what it was.

Buttercup rose her knee up, trying if possible to angle herself even closer to him, and felt something hard against her thigh.

Those crazy butterflies-on-steroids in her stomach flared up bad, and her cheeks reddened at the realisation of what it was she could feel standing to attention between Butch's legs.

Clearly Butch was enjoying himself a lot.

This made her mind wander to Chase. He'd always gotten hard when they'd made out. He'd always guided her hand down towards it too. She'd followed his wishes once, but now with hindsight, she could see she'd only done it to appease him, not because she'd really wanted to do that with him.

She'd also let his hands wander down her own pants once or twice too, but again, because he was persistent. It hadn't been very enjoyable.

She peeked down at the lump in Butch's trousers momentarily, then located his hands, both of them linked around her waist.

The green puff thought about the empty apartment. The apartment Butch had made sure was empty before she arrived. Her stomach knotted, but this time it made her feel a little nauseous.

Butch had always come across as having a one track mind when it came to girls, and inevitably, sex. She knew he'd done sexual things with girls before. She knew no one else but them was at home. Would his hands start guiding hers? Was this all he wanted, like Chase?

Suddenly she felt awful again. What if it was? She really liked him. She didn't think she could deal with that happening with Butch. It had been bad enough with Chase, he'd made her feel shit enough, and she hadn't liked him even a fraction of how she felt for Butch. Things were different with him. They had this connection; he got her.

She was so sick of sex being so central to so many of her relationships. Chase had wanted only that. Cody wouldn't even hold her hand or peck her on the cheek in front of anyone else, let alone do anything remotely sexual (not that she had pushed for it).

Really, did it have to be such a big deal? Why did it have so much control? Enough was enough. Sex was no longer going to be in charge. She was in charge. Maybe it was time to take the plunge. Kickstart things herself, perhaps. When it was done, surely it couldn't be of such significance in her relationships anymore?

The thought of Butch being the one to share this moment with, it didn't frighten her. If this was all he wanted, it would be tough, but in that moment she didn't feel like she'd regret it. Because, Butch was special to her.

Her decision made, she swallowed hard, letting her hand travel down towards Butch's waistband. She slowly slipped her hand inside not only his waistband but his boxers too.

Butch's eyes widened in surprise as she grasped ahold of him tightly. He pulled his lips away from hers and looked at her, his eyes still round with shock.

"Ummm," He muttered as he slowly sat up, effectively disengaging her grip on him. "Err, I think err, I think -" His voice had gone up in a pitch a bit, he seemed startled.

Buttercup hooked her other hand around the nape of his neck, catching his lips against hers once more, her other hand reaching for his waistband again.

"Wait wait!" He yelped, and she froze. "This is err, it's taken an unexpected turn."

"You complaining?" She purred, her expression so tantalising Butch's stomach turned violently.

"No! God no, just err, making sure we're not, you know, getting too carried away." Butch said, her hand still hovering by the waistband of his jogging bottoms.

"It's fine." She assured him, but something seemed a bit off; he could tell.

He looked at her intently, his brow creasing. "Buttercup, what gives? We don't have to, you know, do anything like that. I mean, don't get me wrong… I am half cursing my own name right now but, I just - we don't have to…" She sat up slowly, covering her face with her hand. "Buttercup what is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just a stupid, stupid idiot." She replied from behind her hand, embarrassment hitting her.

Butch sat up properly too. "Huh?" He asked, thoroughly confused.

With a sigh, she decided to come clean. "I just thought if we had sex, I would at least know if it was all you really wanted - and I wouldn't have to have worried about it being special and whatever because, it's you."

Butch gave her an exasperated look.

"I know you Butch, I know you've gone pretty far with at least a handful of girls…" She continued, trying to defend her reasoning. "I know there's gunna be… Expectations…"

"You think I'm only interested in you to have sex with you?" He asked in a small voice.

She shrugged, looking contrite.

"You think that's all I'm after? Like Chase - you think I'm like Chase Mitchelson?" He questioned, and she could see the hurt in his eyes, the outrage seeping into his expression.

"No I don't think you're like Chase, I was just worried that -"

He cut in again. "Even though I've not even actually ever had sex with anyone? Just because I've done stuff with other girls? That's so unfair!"

"I'm sorry okay I didn't mean to upset you!" She cried, wishing she could take it back.

"Jesus, you're the very reason I haven't just had sex with whoever! I mean, I've had the opportunity, more than once! And before you I'd have jumped at it. But Cupcake, I've been fucking sweet on you for months now! And that's the main difference! Every girl I've ever been attracted to, that's where it ended! That was it okay, just pure attraction, just 'damn that girl is fine'. But with you it's just, it's different. I don't even know how to explain it. Like, I want to be around you all the time. It's more than just thinking you're crazy fucking fine. Obviously you are beautiful as fuck, but I like you. I've never had that before." He explained, hoping she understood what he was trying to say.

Buttercup was looking at him with wide jade eyes, her expression soft.

"I was jealous of Chase. Even if he'd have been a decent guy, I'd have been jealous and not wanted you to be with him. Hell I'm even jealous of Cody for getting to be with you before, and you're not even with him anymore. Ever since we stopped fighting my life is so much better, you make my life better. Everything's easier with you. So, glorious sex or not, I want you. And we don't have to rush to get to that bit." He continued boldly.

She smiled at him meekly. "You really mean all that?"

"Yes! You fucking idiot!" He cried affectionately, and she laughed a little sheepishly. "Plus, it nearly went off the moment you touched it."

Buttercup felt her cheeks redden and another giggle escaped her lips. "Really?"

"Yes! We were both caught extremely off guard, you naughty minx! Don't get me wrong, that's not something that has ever happened before, normally we've got a pretty decent running time but, you completely took the poor guy by surprise. I mean, have you looked at you lately? Can you blame him for getting overexcited?" He explained cheekily, and she laughed even more.

"You're so stupid." She giggled.

"So are you. Listen, if I play my cards right, and one day we have sex - it's gunna be -"

"Glorious?" She interrupted, and he grinned.

"Oh, so very glorious. But there's zero rush." He insisted, and she nodded in agreement. "Unless you really just can't control yourself and you just wanna -"

She elbowed him in the stomach.

---

If Buttercup wasn't actually capable of floating, she'd have been floating anyway, as she felt on cloud nine.

She'd had a really nice evening with Butch, and felt about a thousand times better about everything. Whilst they'd still not completely cleared things up, they were at least speaking. She didn't feel as though everything was doomed like she had done before, she also didn't feel the need to hide from him either.

If anything, she now felt quite hopeful. The comfortable, easiness between them had returned, and she was relieved.

"You seem chirpy." Blossom commented as Buttercup got herself a cup of coffee. The pink puff was sat at the table in the kitchen reading.

Buttercup shrugged in response, but remained cheerful.

"Is it because the Professor is home soon?" Blossom asked, and the green puff made a noncommittal noise.

"Err yeah, sure. It will be nice to see him. It's not the same here without him." Buttercup responded as she gently blew on her coffee, leaning on the kitchen worktop.

"I'm looking forward to having him home as well. You and Butch are friends again too, I'm guessing?" The pink puff pried.

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "We were never not friends. We're fine."

"Hmm. Well, I noticed you've not tried to switch up anymore patrol rotas, so you're suddenly happy to go on patrol with him again." Blossom added, and Buttercup frowned now.

"You're only complaining because the one time I did that it messed up you and Brick meeting up the next day. Cos he was sleeping in the day after patrolling at night cos he did a shift with Butch instead of meeting you."

Blossom blushed. "No I'm not."

"Yeah you are." Buttercup continued, smiling now as she'd managed to turn the tables and proceeded to tease her sister instead. "Hey Bloss, what did you do today? Meet up with Brick?"

Blossom blinked at her. "For a short while, yes. We had some school stuff that -"

The green puff interrupted her. "Bullshit."

Blossom tutted at her, but their conversation was cut short by a knock at the door.

A short stare off ensued as they each waited for the other to answer the door, until Blossom offered to get it with a huff. Smiling an accomplished grin, Buttercup watched her go and sipped her coffee.

Her redheaded sister returned a few seconds later, looking puzzled. "It's for you… It's Cody."

Buttercup's brow knotted. "Cody?"

Blossom shrugged. Placing her mug down, Buttercup left the room to see what he wanted. Sure enough, Cody stood on the front yard, looking like he was at odds with something.

The green puff decided not to ask him in. Judging by the unsettled expression on his face, she felt like they were better off remaining outside. She opened her mouth to greet him but he spoke first.

"I wasn't going to come over, because I know I shouldn't come over…" He began, and she furrowed her brow at him.

"Ookay…" Buttercup said, folding her arms across her chest. "Something troubling you?"

"Yes. Yes it is. I just can't - I mean, what was that with Butch?!" Cody asked, the question almost exploding out of him.

Buttercup was still confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I didn't think you liked him like that. I mean, it's Butch for fuck's sake! Butch fucking Jojo!" Cody cried. "You remember who he is right? You know, your entire history with each other? Created to kill you and all that?!"

Buttercup's face screwed up in disbelief. "Cody are you serious right now?"

"Yes! Yes I am!" He replied rapidly. There was a few seconds pause, and Buttercup realised he was waiting for a response from her.

"This has fuck all to do with you! You have a girlfriend!" Buttercup cried incredulously.

He scoffed. "This isn't about Holly! It's about you and Butch. So what, you like him now or something? Or, or were you just trying to annoy me? Of all the guys Buttercup, of all the guys you could have gone with you go with him, with someone like him, someone from our friendship group to what, spite me?"

"No!" She exclaimed. "Can you hear yourself?!"

"Can you see yourself?! I mean, first Chase, a real stand up guy. Like a billion years too old for you - and Mitch's cousin - and now Butch Jojo? A former criminal?! He literally used to attack you, he wanted you dead!" His voice was full of venom as he spoke and Buttercup felt anger erupt inside her, her arms unfolding and dropping to her sides rigidly.

"Will you stop?! I didn't plan any of this okay! You're evidently well aware of who Butch Jojo is, you know our past - this has surprised me a lot more than it has you, trust me! I'm well aware of our history, thank you, but none of that even matters! I do like him, a lot. We just, we click - we get each other. We have more in common than we ever realised - and it's allowed, okay! You can't control who I'm with!" Buttercup barked and he shook his head at her.

"I'm not saying I want to! Just like, really fucking great of you to choose him. So good of you to choose someone I'm friends with too! It's gunna fuck everything up! For everyone!" Cody cried.

Buttercup was shaking with anger. "You say you're friends with him but clearly you have a pretty low opinion of him! You've had nothing nice to say about him just now, so some fucking friend of yours he must be. How is it going to fuck everything up for everyone?!"

"Because, nothing will be the same anymore! Now, I have to either watch you two together or, or not hang around with you guys anymore. If it lasts anyway." He spat viciously. "I mean, we both know what Butch looks for in a girl."

Buttercup felt like she was going to explode. "Cody. Cody are you fucking kidding me?! Are you shitting with me? You picked my sisters best friend to go out with! You've been with Holly almost a year now! For almost a year I've had to watch you suck her face off - in public!" She watched the anger in his face change to slight guilt at her words. "Yeah that's right in front of people, public displays of affection, and I've not said shit! And at first Cody, I'm not gunna lie, it was hard! I still had feelings for you! You have no idea how shit it's made me feel, when you wouldn't even hold my hand if people were around, yet your lips are hardly ever not on Holly's!"

There was a moments silence as they stared at each other.

"But I don't care anymore. I don't. I've moved on." She added, her tone quieter, but still firm. "This is such a pointless conversation - Butch and I aren't even going out! And you and me, we're history now! And we have been for a long time, you've been with Holly ages now."

"What is going on then?" Cody asked and Buttercup's eyes flashed with anger.

"That's none of your business! I can do what I want, as can you! I mean why do you care?! Like I said, you've been with Holly almost a year now. It's time to move the fuck on." Buttercup said, and his expression darkened as he looked at her.

"I have moved on. I love Holly. And she loves me." Cody said, and she folded her arms across her chest once more.

"Well, good. Good for you. I've moved on too. So keep your nose out of my romantic life. Because it no longer concerns you." Buttercup replied, before turning and slamming the front door on him.

---

Blossom had waited for Buttercup in the kitchen. She got to her feet as her brunette sister stormed inside in a blur of black and green.

"Is everything okay?" Blossom asked, watching as Buttercup grabbed her cell from the kitchen counter and shoved it in her pocket. The pink puff had heard every word of Buttercup and Cody's conversation; the blessing and curse of super hearing, but she knew better than to make that apparent to her angered sister.

"It's fine." Buttercup spat furiously.

"Sure looks it… So, what did Cody want?" The redhead asked delicately.

"He was just being a little bitch." Buttercup growled in response. Blossom cranked a brow at her.

God she felt pissed off. Cody's spiteful words were going round and round in her head. And what was worse was she couldn't even actually say to Cody: I'M WITH BUTCH NOW! Because, she wasn't. She wasn't, was she? She didn't know.

She just knew that she liked him, a lot. And that he liked her too. Yet really, she still had no idea where they stood.

Figures. Nothing could ever be simple. The green puff retrieved her phone from her person and tapped a message out to Butch rapidly.

Butch, meet me at the spot on the dock ASAP. We need to talk.

"I'm going out." Buttercup muttered, shoving her cell in her pocket once more and putting the hood on her jacket up.

Blossom blinked at her. "Buttercup it's half past 10 at night."

"I won't be long." Buttercup replied, heading for the door and ignoring Blossom asking where she was going as she disappeared high into the sky.

---

He was already there when she arrived. Butch was sat at the side of the dock, his legs dangling over the edge, in the exact same spot where they'd sat together many months ago and discussed their newfound friendship.

Buttercup sat beside him wordlessly, and he turned and looked at her with curious forest green eyes.

"Hey. Everything okay?" He asked, and she huffed lightly.

"I've just had an argument with Cody. He showed up at my doorstep all pissed." She muttered, and Butch's face crinkled with confusion.

"What the fuck… Why?" He questioned.

"Guess he didn't like what he saw at Mitch's the other day. He's pissed that I'm… You know, into you." She murmured quietly.

Butch hoped the heat he could feel around his face at her saying she was into him out loud wasn't visible in the dark.

"He seemed to have an issue with it being you. He said it's out of line of me to be interested in someone in our friendship group." She further explained. "Also because of our whole, trying to kill each other, used-to-be-enemies history."

Butch rose an incredulous brow. "Are you fucking with me?"

"Nope." She responded with a mirthless smile. "He said now he has to choose between seeing us together or not hanging around with his friends. Apparently it's going to change everything."

Butch scoffed. "Even though he's dating Holly? And you've had to watch them date for fucking months?" She nodded, staring out at the sea. Butch mulled it over for a few seconds. "He still likes you."

She screwed her face up and shook her head, looking at the green ruff. "No he doesn't."

"If he didn't still like you he wouldn't give a shit that you like me - or that I like you... He wouldn't have stuck his nose in when you were seeing Chase, and he wouldn't care about this now with me. But he clearly does. I mean why else would he come bitch and moan at your doorstep? Normally he's way too busy to even hang out with us, yet he makes time to come to your house to complain to you about this." He replied.

Buttercup didn't respond, instead contemplating Butch's words.

He watched her evenly as he asked his next question. "Do you still like him?"

Buttercup looked around at him sharply. "Cody? No."

"You can tell me. It's not like I'm your... You know…" Butch muttered, and she felt a sting in her stomach at his words. Boyfriend. He'd meant boyfriend.

She sighed. "I really liked Cody. I'd never really taken much interest in guys at our school but, I had a soft spot for him. It took us ages to finally bite the bullet. And the moment we did, he changed. He went all weird and funny. He wanted us to act like friends in front of everyone else and then like girlfriend and boyfriend when we were alone. It made me feel so shit. Like, what I'm that disgusting he didn't want people to know we were dating?" She asked, and Butch shook his head in irritation.

"You're not disgusting." He said, but she carried on undeterred.

"Or was he embarrassed by me? Cos I'm not, girly or, ladylike or feminine? But, whatever. I did like him, a lot. And fuck did it sting when he ended it. I was bummed out. And I did like him still. When you started at school, I did still like him and I fucking hated seeing him with Holly initially. But then, you came along. Or more, you came into my line of vision." She looked up at him now, her green eyes almost hypnotic, expression sweet. "And you've actually always shown more interest in me than he did when we were dating, even before I realised there was something there with you."

Butch looked at her for a few minutes, smiling a small smile.

She looked down at the sea once more, folding her arms across her chest. "That's the main reason I'm here." She continued, and he asked her what she meant. "You just said, it's not like I'm your, 'you know'. You meant boyfriend, didn't you?"

He shrugged, a little sheepish, which was odd on him.

"Is Cody right? Is this going to ruin everything?" She asked, her voice tiny.

Butch blinked. "I don't know."

That wasn't the answer she was hoping for from him. But Butch had just been honest, because fuck he had no idea. The green puff peered at him momentarily, noting the confusion etched onto his features.

"I just, I need to know what this is, I guess. I don't wanna get my hopes up over nothing. Not again." She mumbled, too afraid to chance another look at him, her eyes trained on the rhythmic lull of the ocean.

Butch too looked out at the sea before him.

When he didn't immediately reply, Buttercup took a peek at him; his emerald eyes were lit up by the moonlight. She felt dread in her stomach. Had he changed his mind, or something? He'd said so many nice things the other day. Why wasn't he saying anything now?! This was typical, she'd started to open up to him, she'd put herself out there and said how she felt, and now look.

They'd had such a great time the other day at his apartment. What had gone wrong?

Butch swallowed hard beside her. He knew he should say something, everything he wanted to say was right there in his head. But somehow he just couldn't get his mouth to spit the words out. He felt like he'd thought of every word he'd ever heard, every word he knew, but he still didn't know what to say - or whether it'd be the right words.

He groaned. "I'm so shit at this sort of thing! I mean, have I actually got to ask you to be my girlfriend, or something? I figured we could just keep making out, and living in each others pockets… And then one day someone would say, hey are you two dating now? And we'd just be like, errr, yeah."

Buttercup found herself laughing.

"What?!" He cried, turning to look at her.

"You're such a fucking dork." She said through her giggles.

"Fuck you, I've never done this shit before." He smirked. "I've never wanted to always be with someone. I've never had anyone I enjoy every minute that's spent with them. That's what it's like with you. It's foreign to me - my time with the ladies is normally short and sweet, I lose interest quickly, but - I can't get you out of my head."

She chuckled at him. "So, you wanna do this? Like, you and me?" Her voice was nervous.

But he nodded. "Yeah, I do. Do you?"

"Yeah." She replied evenly.

"Cool." Butch replied, swallowing hard.

Silence fell, and they both looked out at the sea, the moon high and full in the sky above them.

Buttercup dropped her hand onto the decking behind her and leant on it. Butch did the same, slowly creeping his hand along to reach for hers. She held his hand back, and together they looked at the moon.

"Hey," Butch murmured, breaking the silence. "Wanna go skinny dipping?"

She only laughed in response.

---

Brick opened the door to his apartment, hovering inside with a laboured stretch. He'd just returned home from patrolling with Blossom all night, and he was ready to get into bed.

He chucked his keys on the table by the door, kicking his combat boots off and unzipping the impenetrable jacket of his uniform off, placing it over his arm. The red ruff called out for his brothers, but got no response. Boomer's door was half open; so he gave it a push. His bedroom was empty. He must have been at Bubbles'.

Butch's door was shut, so he knocked on it, awaiting an answer. When one didn't come, he opened it, and was met with the sight of his brothers backside poking out of his covers as he slept. Grimacing, Brick shut the door promptly. How deeply he wished his brother would at least wear underpants to bed.

He hovered through to the kitchen to grab himself a drink before he got into bed himself - when something on the fridge caught his eye.

It was a page ripped out of the Townsville Tribunal, which he knew Butch was still buying regularly.

Brick cranked a brow as he approached the fridge to look at it closer. It was a photo of himself and Blossom the other week, in Setegaya Special. They were sitting in the booth, deep in conversation. His mouth went into a flat, unimpressed line. This must have been taken before they discovered the paparazzi lurking on them. Someone, Butch he was presuming, had circled the photo and headline with a marker pen, and scribbled underneath it the word: LOL.

Clearly his brother was feeling more himself, as he'd regained enough energy and vigor to antagonise him.

The article was from the gossip section of the paper, 'Tales from Townsville', and was headlined: 'GOOD GIRL GONE BAD?' With a subtitle and then a question asking: 'GIVING HIM A CHANCE: Has commander and leader of the Powerpuff girls decided she too likes a bit of ruff?'

Scoffing, Brick pulled it off the fridge and screwed it up, chucking it in the garbage. Stupid paper. And stupid Butch. He didn't have the energy to fathom anymore of a response, it was a trashy section of the paper, so he was hardly surprised. He wondered if Blossom had seen it.

The sound of someone sighing lightly behind him made him turn around. He was expecting to see Butch, but was unpleasantly surprised when he realised it was Him, sat at his dining table.

"For fucks sake." Brick muttered under his breath. "Just what I need."

"Look at you in your little 'saving the day' costume! Just adorable! How is my favourite gloomy little hero doing, hmm?" Him asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

"Oh, just peachy now you've graced me with your presence." Brick responded sarcastically.

Him was unperturbed. "Ooh, things have been just peachy for you, haven't they? What with all this time you're spending with Miss Blossom - who apparently likes a bit of ruff, according to the Townsville Tribunal."

Brick glared at him. "What do you want?"

"You know, I really shouldn't be such a generous, giving Mama to you when you're so wretched and awful back to me - but yet, I have a little something for you." Him said, presenting him with a small red gift box.

Brick's brow creased. "I don't want another car. Or anything from you."

"It's not a car, ungrateful goose. Go on," Him said, pushing it toward him on the table. "Open it."

Brick rolled his eyes, but reached forward and picked up the box. Inside it was an hourglass, as big as his hand, and full of red sand.

The red ruff's face screwed up in confusion. "An hourglass? Why have you given me this, I mean, what's this supposed to mean?"

"Oh don't act like you aren't fond of the hourglass shape." Him chuckled, leaning back in his seat and waving his claw around in a slinky fashion. Pink smoke appeared as he painted the air with it, the silhouette of a voluptuous woman appearing, a red bow prominent atop of her long hair.

Brick glowered at him, fanning the smoke away as Him continued to giggle at him. "All jokes aside, it simply means that you're running out of time dear. So, make every second count from here on out - because it does." The jovial tone to his voice had begun to disappear the more he spoke.

Brick had a feeling of foreboding wash over him. "What? Is this some kind of threat?"

"What do you think, Brick?" Him asked, his voice sinister.

"I think I don't care for your little threats." Brick told him, looking down at the hourglass and watching as a few grains fell through slowly.

Him sighed. "And that's where you've always been mistaken. You are a dead man walking Brick." And with that the devil disappeared.

Brick stared at the hourglass, placing it down on the table. It had a fair bit of sand in the top half. But he could see grains coming to the bottom, bit by bit. He picked it up again and turned it the other way around. But the sand just materialised back into their original places so it didn't look any different. He frowned.

What the hell happened when all the sand fell to the bottom? How long did he have till it was done? He had no idea - and Him clearly wouldn't tell him. He watched it for a few seconds, his stomach feeling uncomfortable. How could this simple item have such potentially huge implications?

Him had called him a dead man walking. Would he die when this ran out? Surely not. That didn't seem dramatic enough for Him. Too simple. Too clean. And how could he even implement that?

Maybe Him was messing with him. Maybe nothing would happen at all. He knew just how much he liked to fuck with his head. Perhaps he just wanted him to be in a constant state of panic and worry from this moment until the final grain fell, with it amounting to nothing.

Anger overcome him then, and he raised his fist, smashing the hourglass to smithereens. Sand and glass scattered all over the dining table.

A small smile crept up his lips. Did Him really think he wouldn't try that? But the smile fell off his face when he noticed the sand began to tremble. Before his very eyes, it started to move in one direction. The glass was doing the same, until it was all formed once more, looking pristine and like it hadn't been smashed to pieces at all.

"What the fuck!" He exclaimed, picking it up and bashing it against the edge of the table, pieces of glass shattering across the tabletop and the floor. But once more, all the pieces reformed as if by magic.

He sat down beside it, watching it, watching each deep crimson grain drip down, his stomach lurching with the fear of the unknown.

---

To say that Brick was tired was an understatement. He'd been up on patrol the night previous, then got home to Him's hourglass; and had found it near impossible to just curl up in bed after being told every second was apparently precious. He had what was potentially a ticking time bomb in his pocket and he had no idea what happened when it went off.

The red ruff had fallen asleep on the sofa for an hour or two in the afternoon - and been wholly pissed off with himself for wasting time sleeping when Butch had woken him. The green ruff was heading to the Powerpuff girls home and had asked him if he wanted to go over too.

Brick's immediate response had mentally been no, he didn't have time to hang out, he needed to think, he needed to figure out what was going on. But then he'd thought of Blossom, and felt a need to see her.

What if Him had given her an hourglass too?

Surely she'd have contacted him and told him about it by now? Although, Brick had had his for about 9 hours, and he'd still not told her about it.

He didn't want to, for fear of inadvertently involving her.

In the hours that had passed, not a huge amount of sand had fallen through to the bottom of the glass. He reasoned that he probably had time to go see Blossom. He should see her, just in case something was going to happen to him when the timer ran out.

So he'd found himself stood outside the Powerpuff girls residence with Butch, the red hourglass in the inner pocket of his jacket, feeling a lot heavier than it actually was.

Buttercup had opened the door, herself and Butch exchanging an odd glance, before she greeted them both with a small smirk on her face. When he looked back at Butch, he was giving her a similar look, and Brick cranked a brow at them both.

"Coming in?" She asked, and Brick realised she was talking to him now; Butch had stepped inside already.

"Err, yeah. Is Blossom -" Brick began but the green puff interrupted him.

"She's in the kitchen. Making tacos. Boomer and Bubbles are upstairs. Butch, I just need to show you something in the lounge… We'll be through in a minute." Buttercup replied, not meeting Brick's eyes as she hovered toward the living room.

Brick cranked a brow at their retreating backs but didn't say a word; he didn't have time to ponder on why they were acting odder than usual. He floated towards the kitchen, and was met with the sound of music playing, and the inviting scent of home cooking.

Blossom was leant over the stove top, stirring a big pot; a smaller one sat on the hob beside it. The song that was playing was loud, and her hips, those hips of hers were swaying in time to the music as she cooked.

He couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on his face regardless of the amount of stress he was currently burdening. There just seemed to be something about her that did that. It was part of the reason he almost didn't come over. He knew what would happen if he saw her; he'd lose himself in her. It happened every time now, and he'd gotten much more accustomed to letting it happen.

But now, something big was coming, something predictably dismal. He needed to keep his head above water so he could think straight.

How tempting it was to go right on ahead and lose himself in her right now though, and not have all this to worry about.

He watched the redhead pick up a spoon and taste a bit of the taco filling, giving it the smallest, slightest blow before hand - avoiding using her ice breath he guessed.

"Hmm." She murmured. "Not quite. Needs something… Maybe more cayenne?" She reached for the pot on the side, adding some more in. "Aids weight loss you know, apparently - so lots of cayenne. Gotta keep Grandma Utonium happy right?"

Brick rolled his eyes at her comment. He guessed she thought Buttercup was in the room still, and hadn't yet clocked on that she'd left. Her next comment confirmed that for him as she tried it once more.

"Bubbles' veggie version is fine but ours is… It needs more of a kick I think - a little spice is nice though right Buttercup?" She said, referring to Buttercup's core ingredient at creation. When the green puff didn't respond, Blossom finally turned around, the sight of Brick stood at the door smirking making her jump.

"Oh! Brick, hi! I didn't know you were coming over." Blossom cried, grabbing for her phone to turn the music down.

"You don't need extra cayenne pepper in your food." He replied as she approached him. The red ruff watched the blush creep up her cheeks at the comment.

"I was just, you know - I'm making tacos. And there's loads so, you're welcome to stay for food." She replied, attempting to change the subject and mentally wondering how long he'd been watching her for.

"I've not got much of an appetite. But, it smells good. And a home cooked meal is a rarity at our place." He muttered, and she smiled a small smile.

"Well, it's almost done." She returned to the cooker, giving it a stir and trying it once more, deciding it was fine.

"Anything I can do?" He asked, feeling a bit of a spare part stood in the doorway.

"Erm, you can chop up those tomatoes if you like." She offered, and he nodded, proceeding to do so.

The hourglass in his pocket clanked against the worktop as he reached for the knife. He froze, glancing at Blossom rapidly to see if she noticed. She didn't appear to.

Exhaling slowly, he began to slice the tomatoes, internally telling himself to stop freaking out and just enjoy this evening with her. Who knows, it could be his last.

---

"Are they going to come down and eat or what?" Blossom murmured, irritated. "Bubbles! Boomer! Come on, it's getting cold!" The pink puff yelled up the stairs once more.

"Bloss don't sweat it, just come and eat yours." Buttercup called from the living room.

With a huff, Blossom determined she wouldn't let her own dinner go cold while she fussed over Bubbles' meeting the same fate.

"It's not like they can't hear me. Super hearing and all." The pink puff muttered as she hovered back over to the chair she was sitting on. Her, Buttercup and their counterparts were all in the lounge, their tacos served up on plates in front of them all. Butch and Buttercup had taken up the entire sofa, so Brick and Blossom were each sat on one of the armchairs on the opposite ends of the couch, leaving the floor free for Boomer and Bubbles when they finally came down.

Buttercup was surfing through the channels picking something to watch while they ate, settling on a trashy talent show.

Butch immediately began to tease her selection, with Buttercup insisting she'd only chosen it so they could laugh at the wannabe's participating on the show, and that she wasn't actually interested in watching it.

Blossom watched them teasing each other, noting the glint in their eyes as they playfully mocked one another. She couldn't help but notice something different between the two of them, but quite what it was she couldn't put her finger on. Buttercup and Cody's argument was still fresh in her mind, but Buttercup hadn't expanded on what they'd spoken about, and Blossom had decided not to push her for information. She knew better than to poke the beast; she would wait until the time was right to ask her sister what was going on between her and her counterpart. It was clear that something was.

The pink puff glanced at Brick as she picked up her taco, noting the agitated expression on his face.

He'd also picked up a taco, but it still hadn't met his lips. He kept glancing at the time on the clock on the wall, and fidgeting. She wondered what was up with him; he'd seemed a little off.

Noticing her noticing him, Brick took a bite of his taco, despite having zero appetite. He hadn't realised quite how hungry he actually was, and it was delicious.

Butch had also taken a bite too, groaning in pleasure. "Uhh, these are good. Nice one Red. Brick, lock that one down, she can cook."

Brick rolled his eyes at his brother as Buttercup smirked at him then at Blossom, enjoying the look his comment had elicited on her sisters face. Blossom's cheeks had reddened slightly and she looked as though she was trying not to smile.

Her rose eyes flitted to Brick momentarily; he still appeared moody - or more so than usual. Something had definitely happened. She wondered if it had anything to do with Him.

The redhead was distracted from her thoughts by a sudden and repetitive noise coming from above them. It was a distant, banging sound that seemed like it was coming from upstairs.

She paused, looking up at the ceiling just as Buttercup, Butch and Brick did the same. The sound was continuous, and after stopping to concentrate on what it was, Blossom quickly realised what it was they were hearing, and her cheeks went bright red as she looked down at her plate.

Brick's mouth fell open, his upper lip curling in disgust as realisation hit him too. "Good god." He muttered.

"Oh man…" Buttercup murmured, unable to stop looking at the ceiling. "Is this really happening? Are we really hearing them two -"

"Are they having sex up there?!" Butch cried in dismay.

"They're definitely up to something." Buttercup replied, spluttering lightly.

The noise didn't stop, and Blossom cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Maybe um, maybe turn the TV up?" She suggested.

Buttercup did as she said. But the sound of the bed knocking against the wall got louder and more consistent.

"Jesus Christ they are going to town." Butch muttered, a look filled with spite on his face as he glared up at the ceiling once more.

"Butch, seriously." Buttercup winced. "As if this isn't awkward enough."

"Spose they're just making the most of your Dad not being here." Butch added, and Blossom folded her arms across her chest. "These kind of daytime antics won't fly when he's home."

"Too right. Boomer would be a dead man if the Professor were here now." She murmured.

The banging stopped, and pink puff exhaled in relief that the immensely awkward scenario was over. Butch, Buttercup, Blossom and Brick attempted to resume eating their meal. Butch and Buttercup were both trying not to smile, however Blossom and Brick were finding it hard to look anyone else in the eye, it had been that toe curling.

A few moments later and Bubbles and Boomer floated into the room, both looking oblivious but more noticeably, happy, as they picked up their plates of food off the coffee table where Blossom had left them.

"Oooh looks so yummy! Thank you Blossom!" Bubbles cried as she sat cross legged on the floor in front of the sofa and peered at her redheaded sister gratefully.

Blossom couldn't meet her sister's eyes; she stared at the TV intently, nodding slightly.

Bubbles pulled a perplexed face, glancing at Buttercup, who was holding back a smile.

Boomer moaned in ecstasy as he took a bite of his food. "So good, thanks Blossom."

But Blossom once again didn't respond, and Buttercup could no longer contain the snigger that escaped her lips.

"What?" Bubbles asked, still confused.

"Oh nothing, nothing. You guys hungry?" Buttercup asked innocently, and Boomer nodded as he shoved the rest of a taco into his mouth.

"Starving." Boomer replied through his food.

"Worked up an appetite, I guess." Buttercup responded, and Butch almost inhaled the taco he'd been eating.

Bubbles' cheeks went bright red, and Boomer laughed loudly.

"I guess we did." The blonde ruff replied, and Bubbles nudged him, trying not to smile.

"I fucking hate you." Butch said, kicking his brothers shoulder playfully. "But I'm also sorta proud of you, you little shit."

---

It had been roughly 52 hours since Him had given Brick the hourglass, and it had almost ran out.

He'd spent the past 52 hours either watching it in a desperate panic, or trying to destroy it - only taking time off from doing that to go and see Blossom at hers the evening prior, or getting the little sleep he could manage - no matter how tired he felt it was hard to drift off when every second seemed to count.

He'd taken it way out of town to a wide, open field and used every power he could think of that he possessed on it. But every time, it had reconstructed as if by magic.

He was at his wits end now. And time was running out. If his calculations from watching it so much were right, it would run out that day - and he had no idea what happened when it did.

The red ruff still hadn't told anyone about it. Not even Blossom. He hoped that whatever was going to happen didn't involve her.

Boomer had noticed it in his hand the day previous and asked what it was, but Brick just snapped at him to mind his own business. Thankfully the blonde ruff hadn't pried again.

It was just gone 11am. Brick felt like he had an hour or so, if that. Both Butch and Boomer were getting ready to head out; they'd made plans for the day involving Buttercup and Bubbles, he could only assume.

The redhead had his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, the hourglass held tightly in one of them as he watched his two brothers getting ready to leave the apartment for the day. Would this be the last time he saw them?

"Butch, Boomer." He muttered, causing them both to stop what they were doing and glance at him expectantly. "Promise me you won't be complete shitheads to each other." He murmured, his voice gloomy.

"Huh?" Boomer asked, confused.

"Just be nice to each other. And look out for each other. You're both annoying as fuck but, we're brothers." Brick added, internally chastising himself at his very poor attempt at a sentimental moment.

Butch cranked a brow at him, and Boomer flashed him an equally baffled glance, nodding slowly.

"Okay bro… You feeling all right?" Boomer asked, and Brick rolled his eyes.

"Yes. I'm fine. Just go. Go enjoy your day.. Or whatever." Brick mumbled in response, unable to look either of them in the eye again.

"Okay… See you later." Boomer replied, sending a puzzled look Butch's way as they both headed out the door.

Brick watched the front door slam behind them and sighed, pulling the hourglass out of his pocket and placing it on the table. He leant on the table near it, watching it closely.

As he sat there watching and waiting, he contemplated messaging Blossom more than once; but he didn't know what to say. He knew he was being a hypocrite by not telling her about the hourglass countdown, but he hoped by not telling her he was protecting her from whatever its outcome was.

He inhaled slowly as he watched the last few grains fall to the bottom; the moment it was empty he froze, waiting.

Nothing happened. He exhaled, glancing around the apartment. But nothing.

"What were you expecting?"

Brick jumped, glancing behind him to see Him leant against the counter in the kitchen, picking up one of their mugs and examining it idly before placing it back down.

"To keel over instantly? BOOM, dead?" He asked with a chuckle. Brick stared at him uneasily. "No, you were right before, that's not my style. There's just no theatre in that, is there? No, no fun. No fun at all."

The devil pulled himself upright, and began to walk towards Brick. Brick hovered away from him backwards, being sure not to turn his back on him.

"Brick. Brick my boy. Your time has come." Him declared, as Brick bumped against the wall in the living area, unable to take anymore steps.

"What?" Brick asked as Him grinned vastly.

"Your time has come! But first, there's just one thing I need you to do - call it a tiny little favour." Him said, holding his claw up and indicating a small size with it.

"What do you want me to do?" Brick asked, struggling to hear over the loud sound of his heart pounding away in his chest.

"I need you to bring Blossom Utonium here - it'll just be easier, logistically. Then I'll be ready to summon you both to the Underworld, where your task can be performed." Him explained, and Brick's face screwed up.

"What?! Why?! Why do you want Blossom in the Underworld?" Brick asked, before shaking his head. "No. No, I'm not going back there, I am not going back there. And she's not going there at all."

Him smiled an evil smile. "You will get her here, and then we can discuss things further in my office."

"No!" Brick barked loudly. "You think I don't know the sort of shit that happens in your 'office'?! I'm not going! And neither is she! I won't get her here!"

Him huffed, placing a claw on his hip, and raising the other in the air, clicking it once.

Brick's mark on his upper back began to glow and burn painfully. It was excruciating, so much so he was on the ground in seconds, rigid and stricken with unbearable pain.

"If you're going to be completely useless, I will get her here myself." Him muttered, bending over and sliding Brick's cell from the pocket of his jeans as he wriggled on the ground.

He waved his claw over Brick, silencing his grunts of pain. He then waved the same claw over his own face, and dialled Blossom's number, placing the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Brick heard Blossom's voice answer down the phone.

"Hey." Him oozed, Brick's voice coming out of his mouth.

"Is everything okay?" Blossom asked. Him peered down at Brick, an evil smile on his face as the red ruff writhed on the ground in complete agony. Brick could do nothing but watch the Devil lure Blossom over, pretending to be him.

"Yeah, all good. Just bored. My brothers are out. Did you want to come over?" Him asked, Brick's voice still replacing his own.

There was a brief pause before Blossom responded. "Erm, sure, okay. Are you sure everything is okay, you don't sound right…"

"Oh I'm just fine. See you in 10?" Him oozed, winking at Brick, who remained completely incapacitated on the ground.

"Okay… Bye."

Him hung the phone up and threw it on the sofa. The devil then proceeded to wave his claw over his face then bent down to do the same to Brick, returning his voice to him.

With a click of his claw, Brick went limp, the pain easing off. He struggled to catch his breath as he pulled himself upright, glaring at Him. "You fucking asshole!" He grunted.

Him laughed heartily at him as he perched on the sofa.

"Temper temper Brick. I can always leave you in a spot of bother until she arrives, you know." Him warned him, and the red ruff grit his teeth. "Turning your mark off is a kindness."

Brick got to his feet shakily. What did he do now? What did he do? Blossom was about to walk straight into trouble. They could not end up in Hell. It wouldn't end well. In fact, it's unlikely they'd leave in one piece.

Brick and his brothers leaving was probably a first. They could not end up there. He had to think of something!

Maybe he'd get the chance to explain. Maybe they could escape the apartment when she arrived. Once she was here, he'd explain what had happened, then maybe she could possibly help him put an end to all this. How, he had no idea.

The doorbell went, and Brick stared at the door with wide crimson eyes. He trudged over to the door and buzzed her up, turning to Him with a hate filled scowl.

Him however was beaming. He clapped excitedly, getting comfy on the sofa.

The moment Brick opened the door for her, Blossom could see by his expression that something wasn't right. He looked anxious.

"Blossom, Blossom he's here - I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen, I didn't -" Brick began to burble hurriedly. Him loomed behind him, and Blossom opened her mouth to ask Brick what was going on, but before she could say anything else, they were engulfed by thick lilac smoke, and everything went black.

---

Buttercup dodged the large claw that swiped at her, before aiming an orb of energy at the huge monsters face. She hit it directly in the eye and it screeched in pain.

"Is she picking up?!" Buttercup yelled to her blonde sister, who had her hotline cell in her hand.

Bubbles shook her head as Boomer nudged her to the side lightly, keeping her away from the monsters reach. "It dials once then says the number can't be reached right now. I don't understand what's going on!" She called back, attempting to dial once more.

"Any luck with Brick?" Butch asked, throwing his green shield up and whooshing straight into the monsters stomach, causing it to double over and roar in pain once more.

"Same from his hotline cell. And his personal one just rings and rings." Boomer shouted. "Are we certain we were all called to this? Maybe they aren't here cos they aren't supposed to be."

Buttercup shook her head. "That doesn't explain why their hotline cells aren't reachable and they aren't picking up their personal cell phones. Where the fuck are they?!"

"I don't know…" Bubbles whimpered. "This is so unlike Blossom to not turn up to a call out. Buttercup, what do we do?"

Buttercup dodged another claw, sending an orb towards the monsters head once more. "We're gunna have to deal with this thing first. Let's get it out of town to limit the damage. Direct it south."

Bubbles, Boomer and Butch nodded, proceeding to provoke the beast out of Downtown Townsville, the four of them wondering where their leaders were.

---

"Some fucking leaders." Buttercup muttered as she barged through the front door of the Utonium residence, looking around rapidly. "Blossom! Blossom where are you?!" She bellowed, stomping around the house searching.

Bubbles, Boomer and Butch followed her, they too beginning to search.

"Blossom! Is everything okay?!" Bubbles called. "We'll look upstairs, come on Boomie."

The two blues disappeared upstairs, and Butch found Buttercup searching in the Professors office.

"Have you tried calling Brick again? They might be together." Buttercup suggested as she rapidly entered the access code to the lab and began to hover down the stairs, Butch close behind her.

"He's still not picking up his phone. And his hotline cell won't connect." Butch answered. "I wouldn't panic, maybe they've ran out of batteries or something."

"The battery life on our hotlines is crazy long. It lasts ages before it runs out - and Blossom charges it like daily if she gets the chance anyway. This is really unlike her." Buttercup replied, calling her sisters name once more as they got to the medical suite at the basement level of the lab. The irritation had faded from her voice, replaced with worry.

Butch linked his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. "Don't worry, okay - we'll find them. There'll be some stupid explanation…"

She turned so she was facing him, wrapping her arms around his waist briefly too. "You bet your ass it'll be stupid. The shit that girl has given me for turning up late to call outs in the past… And then she doesn't even turn up..!" The green puff looked up at him then, noting the lust filled look in his eye and smirking. "Put that face away, this is hardly the time."

"I know, but you have no idea how hard it is being around you and not being able to touch and hold you. It's torture, and I think you're a bit of a sadist for forcing me to pretend like I don't want my hands permanently attached to your butt all day long." Butch complained with a cheeky smile, his hands finding her bottom and giving it a brief squeeze.

She smirked at him. "We will tell everyone we're together, I promise. But not yet. I wanna just enjoy us for a bit before the fallout of people finding out."

The green puff leant up and placed her lips on his briefly. He made a 'hmph' noise, but he was smiling. "It's fine, I get it... I guess it's kinda sexy sneaking around anyway."

"Yeah, focus on that bit, whatever gets you through, weirdo." Buttercup said with a giggle, before kissing him once more. He held her closer, deepening the kiss, until a noise behind them made them both freeze.

"Ahhhhhhh yay!" Bubbles squealed excitedly, jumping up and down.

The two brunettes pulled away from each other. Buttercup covered her face in her hands momentarily, then looked up at Butch, her cheeks red. "You understand why I wanted to keep it secret for awhile right?"

Bubbles was still screaming with glee, and Boomer had clamped his hands over his ears, used to his girlfriends incredibly high pitch. Butch was watching her with bewildered eyes as he nodded. "Yeah, totally get it."

"Are you together?! Like, boyfriend and girlfriend?" Bubbles asked, bounding up to them like an enthusiastic puppy dog.

"Yes, okay, but it's really not - whoa!" Buttercup began but was cut off by a blonde bear hug courtesy of Bubbles.

"I'm SO happy for you guys! Ohhhh but you're so cute together!" She cried, pulling Butch into the hug too. Boomer squeezed his way in just for the fun of it. "Ooooh we can double date!"

"You can truly see why I wanted to hold off announcing it, right?" Buttercup asked Butch, her face smooshed beside his.

Bubbles unleashed them with a wide grin. "Ooooh my god so tell me everything! Tell me how - oh." Her excitement faded slightly as she remembered the current situation. "We're gunna have to put a pin in this. Blossom and Brick are still missing."

She whipped her hotline cell from her person, presenting the screen to Butch and Buttercup. "They aren't on the tracker app at all. Which has never happened before - I think they're in some sort of trouble."

Buttercup peered at the screen, her face falling when she spotted the pink dot that represented Blossom and the red dot that represented Brick were both faded to grey at the Rowdyruff apartment, indicating they were untraceable, and their last visible location. "Why didn't any of us think of the tracker on our hotlines cells till now?! I mean, what the fuck is going on…?!"

"Looks like the last place they were was our place. Could they have turned it off? You know, for some alone time?" Butch suggested, but both Bubbles and Buttercup shook their heads.

"No way, Blossom would never. Brick, possibly, but Blossom? No. Never." Bubbles answered firmly.

"She will have her hotline cell attached to her even in childbirth. She's the leader, she takes it pretty seriously. She'd never turn it off. Something has happened." Buttercup agreed. They stared at each other, exchanging worried looks.

"It's gotta be Him." Boomer muttered.

"We need to go to your apartment." Buttercup instructed, to which Boomer nodded his head in agreement.

"Err yeah, that's what we were coming in to suggest we do next, but then we got distracted by you two sucking each others faces off." Boomer replied, eliciting a snigger from Butch.

Buttercup ignored his last comment. "Come on. They might both be there."

---

But when they got to the Rowdyruff apartment, it was completely empty. The front door had been left open, too, which made things even more suspect.

"Brick would never leave the front door wide open like that… Something isn't right." Boomer mumbled, looking around the living area for anything else that might give something away.

Butch came stalking out of their bedrooms. "All empty. And look:" He floated over to the sofa, finding Brick's discarded cell phone with several missed calls. "His personal cell."

"Brick knew something was going to happen today." Boomer muttered, thinking deeply.

"What makes you say that?" Bubbles asked him, brow furrowed.

"He was all weird this morning, don't you remember?" He replied, his question aimed at Butch. "Told us to look after each other, reminded us we're brothers. He even told us to go and enjoy our day. I mean, when does Brick ever tell us to enjoy our day?!"

Butch frowned as he thought about what Boomer said, realising he was right.

"And this..." Boomer said, spying the hourglass on the table in the kitchen. He grabbed it, examining it in his hands.

"What's that?" Buttercup queried, as Boomer turned it upside down but noted the sand didn't shift or move at all.

"I don't know, some weird hourglass. I saw Brick with it the other day. He wouldn't tell me what it was but he was tetchy as fuck about it. There was sand on the other side before though but look, now it's done. Was this some sort of countdown?" Boomer asked, swallowing hard as he looked up at the others.

No one knew how to answer, but they all could silently agree that something really didn't feel right. Their leaders were seemingly in big trouble.

---

Brick opened his eyes, his vision was blurry and he felt confused and panicked. He mumbled out Blossom's name as he pulled himself upright; he'd been laying on hard ground.

When his vision focussed again, he found he was in Hell. And then he found her, lying on the floor on the ground, in a pool of her own blood.

She had a large open wound, right where her scar was - it was ripped wide open. Brick froze as he stared at her. Her eyes were wide and frightened, and he realised she was still alive, her chest rising and falling very slowly and laboured; her breathing heavy.

He looked down at his own hands, seeing they were covered in blood, her blood. His whole front was completely covered, he was completely covered.

Instantly he began to tremble as he scrambled over to her, burbling out her name as he reached her side.

"Blossom, Blossom, oh my god, oh shit Blossom!" He burbled, his voice quick and alarmed. He pressed onto her stomach to try and stop the bleeding, as fruitless as it seemed.

She blinked slowly, her eyes focussing on him. "Why?" She asked, her voice was strained and upset.

"What?" He asked, letting go of her wound to gently touch her face, covering her cheek in blood.

"Why, Brick? I thought, I thought you liked me. I thought you loved me." She whispered hoarsely.

"What? No, no I do! Blossom, I do! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I didn't! I didn't do this, I didn't!" Brick exclaimed, his voice thick with emotion.

"You did this. You did this to me, again. And this time. It's too late." Blossom murmured. "I should have never trusted you."

"Blossom no! No!" His voice cracked as he clutched at her hand, holding it tightly as she took her last breath.

"I knew you'd come through for me eventually Brick." The red ruff froze at the sound of Him's voice.

He looked up with wide, fearful eyes. Him was standing over him.

"And now, you're free." Him concluded, and Brick's mouth fell open.

"What?" He sniffed.

"Free of our little deal, free of my grips. You and your brothers won't hear from me ever again. Because you done as I asked, and killed Blossom Utonium for the sake of your soul and your freedom." Him explained, not a hint of a joke in his voice or expression.

"No.. No, I wouldn't have, I didn't!" Brick insisted.

Now Him smiled. "Ah but you did! The proof is in the punch!" He pointed a red claw at Blossom's body.

Brick looked down at his hands, stained in her blood, then over to Blossom's absent rose eyes, staring lifelessly.

"Goodbye, Brick. It was nice knowing you." Him clicked his claws together, and within seconds, Brick was back in his living room. Blossom's body was laid across his lap, her blood all over him.

The red ruff looked at her, his breathing shallow as the realisation she was dead hit him. He had killed her. He loved her and he had killed her. He'd not even gotten to tell her he loved her and he'd killed her. Viciously.

Why, why had he done it?! How would he explain this? No one would believe him. Her sisters would kill him. They'd be heartbroken.

What would his brothers say? What did he do now?

Suddenly, he felt faint, and sick. It was a familiar feeling, a feeling he'd not felt in a long time, not for about 3 years. His apartment around him began to spin, and everything went black.

---

"Wake up!"

Blossom blinked blearily, her eyes focusing on Brick's face in hers.

"Wake the fuck up!" He growled.

A sharp smack around the face jolted her to instantly. She felt the shock hit her as she realised Brick had just slapped her. The way he was looking at her - he hadn't looked at her like that in a long time. There was such hate and venom in his eyes.

Her wrists were suspended above her in chains attached to a black stone wall, her feet dangling a foot or two off the ground, and she was surrounded by fire. Everything was red and angry, including Brick's eyes.

"Ahhh well done Brick. You really do deserve an Oscar for the way you've behaved the past few months. You've clearly been very convincing." Him's voice now; he was hovering behind Brick, a proud simper on his face.

"I deserve some sort of reward for having to spend so much time around her - and having to touch her." Brick spat, disgust evident in his features.

"Brick, what, what do you mean? What's going on?" Blossom asked fuzzily, thoroughly confused.

"Come now you've not minded that bit that much, surely? She's quite a delight to look at hmm?" Him purred with a grin.

Brick scoffed but smirked. "Suppose you're right, could have been a lot worse."

"And getting to feast your eyes on that scar, your pride and joy." Him oozed, and Brick nodded his agreement, suddenly reaching his hand up the white sundress Blossom was wearing to locate the scar he had left her with.

"Brick!" She cried and he sniggered as she tried to shy away from him, his touch burning as he laid his fingers along the long silvery mark.

Suddenly he grabbed at the fabric of her dress, pulling it and ripping it off of her.

"Brick!" She shrieked. "Stop!"

Brick produced a fierce looking knife from his person, pushing the side of the blade against her neck, making her freeze in confusion. It looked strikingly similar to the knife that Brick had been stabbed with not that long ago.

"Chromanium alloy." He commented conversationally. "The only metal strong enough to penetrate our skin. I've been in and out of your house the past few months, so I've had plenty of opportunities to sneak myself enough of the stuff to make this without you even knowing." Her eyes filled with hurt and shock as he traced the knife down to her scar, letting the point dance around it.

Without a second thought, he shoved it straight into her stomach, making her cry out in pain.

"Should have done it right the first time." He snarled as he pulled it out viciously.

She grunted in pain as blood began to drip down her stomach. "Brick, Brick why?! Why?!" The pink puff asked frantically.

"Why?!" Brick yelled. "Why do you think?!" He grabbed her face. "You really think I could like you - let alone love you, after everything?! Stupid, naive little girl."

"No, no Brick -" She inhaled sharply as he plunged the knife into her stomach once more, this time pulling it down a bit as he took it out of her. She cried out in pain.

"This time, this time, it's really over. This time, I fucking win." He stabbed her once more. She choked out his name; it was becoming harder to speak.

Him loomed behind Brick as he watched her slowly dying. "Good boy, Brick. You really had her fooled."

Suddenly, Blossom felt sick. The pain, the feelings of death, they began to disappear and were replaced with a dizzy, faint feeling, accompanied by an overwhelming nausea. Suddenly, everything was spinning, and her vision faded to blackness.

---

Brick was awoken by the sound of his own voice calling for Blossom. When he opened his eyes everything was black. He blinked, his vision adjusting, and he realised he was laying face down on black, hot cobblestones.

His stomach churned with dread as he instantly realised where he was.

Everything was still spinning, and he yanked his head up so quickly he almost threw up.

Hell. He was in the Underworld. Again. He didn't ever want to be here again. His breathing quickened, he was almost hyperventilating as his brain tried to process everything that had happened.

He remembered his last memory: Blossom, dead. He had killed her. He mumbled her name a couple of times, looking around searchingly.

"Well done Brick! Exactly as I asked, what a good boy you've been."

Brick turned in the direction of Him's voice, scrambling to his feet and stumbling, his sight still not completely back to normal.

When the world came back into focus, he found Him, with Blossom beside him. Her wrists were in heavy looking restraints, and she was being suspended a few feet in the air against a wall made up of the same black stones as the ground. She too was beginning to come around, looking confused and disorientated.

"Oh fuck," Brick breathed. "Thank fuck you're alive!"

Brick looked to Him then to Blossom. He didn't move, but they were suddenly closer to him, only a couple of feet away - the Underworld could be trippy - or more, Him could be. The Devil flashed him a devious smile.

"It was you, it was all you fucking with my head!" Brick exclaimed angrily, pointing a trembling finger at Him. Him only grinned wider. Everything he'd seen, Blossom dead, because of him, none of it had been real. It had been a nasty vision implanted in his head by Him, just like what Him used to always do to him when he was living here.

"Brick - what's going on?" Blossom cried, her voice distraught. She was extremely confused. She'd woken up in the same position she'd been in last to her knowledge - except Brick hadn't pulled her dress off, and stabbed her with a chromanium alloy knife. She was still wearing the white strappy dress she'd left the house in, and she hadn't been stabbed at all. Had it been a dream? It had seemed so real.

The pink puff had never experienced Him's torturous mind warping before - she'd had him hissing in her mind constantly but nothing like that. Brick however was very familiar with it.

She was looking at Brick with fear in her eyes, a look he'd not often seen on her face, definitely not nowadays anyway. The red ruff guessed the Devil had planted some kind of awful nightmare in her own mind too, and she had no idea it wasn't real.

"Whatever you saw between arriving at my apartment and now - it wasn't real. He messed with your mind. Him arrived in my apartment demanding I get you to come over too, so he could bring us here to Hell. I refused, so he set off my mark. Whilst I was incapacitated, he called you from my phone using my voice. It was Him who called you not me Blossom, I swear! I'd have laid there and took his torture till it fucking killed me before I'd ever willingly bring you here!" Brick promised.

Blossom believed him, she could see the fear in his eyes; it wasn't something she'd ever seen on Brick before - not like this anyway. This Brick was completely different to the cold, hate filled Brick she'd seen before.

"Oh how gallant of you Brick! It's so lovely to see you both so close, it works well for the future!" Him cooed.

"What?!" Brick asked, his face screwed up with confusion.

"I'm getting ahead of myself - ignore me! We have a little matter to iron out first before any of that." Him said, waving a claw dismissively.

"What do you mean? Why are we here?!" Brick asked frantically. "Why is she restrained and I'm not?! Let her down!"

"You will see! Now, as I said when I arrived at your new little apartment - your time has come, Brick. When you demanded freedom from the Underworld, protection for your brothers and financial security for life, I asked for your soul in return, and we shook hands. You signed your name in your own blood -" With a flick of his claw, a contract on a long piece of parchment appeared in front of him, and Him held it up for Brick and Blossom to see. "Promising your soul to me. But I warned you, this came with a price; the price of one task. One task I shall call on you to perform whenever I see fit."

Him flipped his claw to the right, the contract disappearing into thin air, before continuing to speak. "Perform the task? And you're home free. You will return earthside, your mark will disappear, and you can carry on your life, our bond over. Refuse my wishes? I shall mark you as my demon, and you will be condemned to living here in the Underworld forevermore, serving me as your master, and never able to live your life as you once did before ever again. And now that time has come." Him declared, a crazed smile on his face as he stood in front of the red ruff.

Brick stared at him, his eyes filled with dread.

"I call upon you, Brick Jojo, to kill Blossom Utonium." Him commanded, one claw pointing at Blossom boldly, who was peering at Brick with wide, anxious rose eyes.

Brick shook his head. "No. No!"

"Yes!" Him exclaimed gleefully. "You see, it's the perfect plan! She's the brains of the whole operation! Her sisters will be nothing without her, they'll fight too much, they'll blame each other for her demise - they'll be heartbroken, distraught; they won't cope. Bye bye Blossom, bye bye Powerpuff girls! Oh it's going to be such fun Brick. Just like old times, I imagine!"

"No!" Brick snapped. "I won't do it! I don't want to kill her!"

Him scoffed. "You're trying to tell me you've never wanted her dead? Because I know that's not true."

"Of course I have. I did. I don't anymore, I didn't before you even came to our apartment and forced us into school to watch them. The last time we fought, I decided there and then it was getting pretty pointless." He clutched at his hatless head in despair. "Why, why - I mean why did you even involve me and my brothers? When you came to our apartment all that time ago and demanded we watch the girls, you said you would be killing them? Why did you tell us to watch them - only for you to do this?! Why did you need us involved at all? It doesn't make sense!"

"Truth is - I didn't. It was just more fun to have you destroy one of them once you were attached to them. I mean, how much fun would this be if you were up for killing her? Pfft, no fun at all!" Him chuckled as Brick's face screwed up incredulously.

"You're sick! You're fucking sick! I'm not going to do it." Brick insisted, shaking his head once more.

Him flashed him a disappointed glance. "You have promised me from the day you signed your soul over you would do what I asked without question, Brick."

"I don't fucking care. I won't do it, I won't!" Brick yelled at him.

"So you're refusing? You do realise what happens if you refuse? You're stuck here, forevermore, doing exactly as I say, when I say it." Him reiterated.

"I'm not going to kill her." Brick replied, resolution in his voice.

"Demon life it is then?" Him confirmed, raising his claw as if to make it happen.

"Brick no!" Blossom cried, finally finding her voice.

Brick looked at her incredulously. "You're really routing for me to choose the other option?! The one that involves my killing you?"

"No but, but you can't! You can't just sentence yourself to that!" Blossom implored, but he shook his head slowly, looking her in the eye and placing his hand on her cheek gently.

"I can't sentence you, or myself to his demand either. I won't hurt you. I won't." He told her, his voice sincere and saddened.

"If you refuse my command then your fate is simple." Him muttered, his tone almost bored.

Brick turned away from Blossom, his crimson eyes meeting Him's as he fixed a glare onto his face. He shook his head defiantly. "I won't kill her."

"Very well." Him said, and clicked both his claws together. Fire erupted around them as he clicked them once more, and in an instance, Brick was clutching at his head and crying out in pain.

It was blinding, worse if possible than the mark Him used to punish him. He realised he'd blacked out from it, Hell coming into focus around him once more.

He could hear Blossom screaming his name but she sounded far away. He could also hear Him giggling excitedly. He'd fallen to the ground at some point, he realised as he pulled himself upright.

Shakily, his hands reached up and gingerly felt his head where the worst of the pain had been. Two small curled horns had appeared on his scalp.

"Welcome home Brick." Him oozed, grinning as the red ruff looked down at his bloodied hands.

Brick looked completely broken and defeated. He didn't even respond to the Devil's taunts. It was like he'd checked out, he was in a state of complete disbelief.

Him shook his head with a tut. "It's a shame you couldn't be more compliant. Alas, I've known this day was coming, and I've known it was coming for years."

Brick still didn't react. His absent crimson eyes just looked at Him, as if he was numb in shock.

"What do you mean?" Blossom asked, her voice shaking. She'd never seen Brick look so subdued.

"Well, now I have my lovely Brick as my little demon," Him began, pulling Brick to his feet then floating him along towards them as if he had an invisible rope connected to him. He released him from this somewhat magnetic, magic grip when he was stood beside Blossom. "I can reveal the real plan."

Brick came back to Earth (or more, Hell) with a bang at Him's words. He felt like everything was spinning suddenly. He was a demon. A soulless demon. He was in Hell. And so was Blossom. And now there was a real plan?!

"What - what real plan?!" Brick spluttered.

The Devil waved his claw and Blossom became free of the restraints, almost falling over at the motion. Brick grabbed her arm to hold her steady.

"On the morning of your 14th birthday Brick, I had a vision come to me." Him told them.

Brick looked at him, baffled. "So?!"

"So, in this vision," Him continued, beginning to pace in a languid manner as he spoke. "I foresaw myself, ruling all, ruling the entirety of Earth, with two beautiful figures stood by my side. Yes, they were majestic - and powerful. It was you two." He'd stopped and faced them both at his last sentence, as if he couldn't risk missing their reaction.

Blossom's eyes nearly fell out of her head. "What?!" She howled.

"Yes, I saw you Blossom, here with me in the Underworld, as a prisoner, to begin with, but in time as an ally. I had to mould you at first you see. I have methods, methods you yourself are familiar with, Brick. Methods to keep the thoughts impure, and the spirit unkind. Through torture and torment, you were broken down, Blossom, and eventually made to bend to my will, seeing what made sense for you, and accepting your new role here with me." Him disclosed matter of factly.

Brick thought back to his own childhood here, and the things that happened, the horror of it. He glanced at Blossom; Him had foreseen that future for her?

Blossom was staring at Him with horrified eyes, her head shaking as she processed what Him had said.

Him conjured his chair over, and sat down in it lazily as he continued to speak. "In my vision I also saw you back at my side Brick. As my most trusted demon. But that's right, demon, not as your mortal self. Anyway - I was most confused just like you two are. At 14, Brick was beginning to despise me intensely. He was beginning to think he was too good for the life I gave him here in the Underworld."

"You tortured us." Brick snarled. "That vision he put in your head before we came here? We had 4 years of that when we were stuck here with you! You poisoned our minds."

"And what a waste of time that was. Regardless, I was thrown. Plus, Miss Utonium, someone so pure of heart?! A Powerpuff girl - an eternal symbol of hope, of love, justice, salvation - sat beside me in Hell? It seemed ridiculous! So I did a spot of research, and found a small passage in an old Prophecetic Manual -" A large, thick book, bound in crimson velvet appeared in his claw. It had the words: 'Prophecetic Manual 66625' in shiny black script on the front. He cleared his throat as he began to read from it. "And it goes like this: 'No greater power can he expose, to greatly conquer all his foes, to his left and right do juxtapose, eyes of rouge and eyes of rose'."

Blossom and Brick were horrified. There was a moments silence as they took what he'd said in.

"W-what, what is that, a Proph, Prophecetic Manual?" Blossom stammered.

"A book of ancient prophecies, predictions made by Gods and Prophets long before us, some more powerful than I in their heyday. It was a small prophecy, probably overlooked. I certainly had never noticed it before. But, eyes of rouge and eyes of rose. Well, I know someone with eyes of red and eyes of pink. And I foresaw them standing with me. Makes sense don't you think?" Him wondered, the manual disappearing from his claw.

"It's not law, it's not a given. The probability of an event actually happening changes as soon as a prophecy exists. Just cos it's in that book, it doesn't mean shit. The outcome is affected by those who hear of the prophecy. Just cos you've had this vision, then read some stupid poem in a book, it doesn't mean a thing!" Brick exclaimed, and Him rolled his eyes.

"Always the skeptic aren't you Brick? So anyway where was I? Oh yes, I decided to amp up the torture and torment on yourself and your brothers until you realised there was a silver lining outside of the Underworld. I needed you all at breaking point, I needed you all dying to leave. Most importantly, I needed you to feel desperate enough, Brick, to offer anything in exchange for freedom. So, we made our deal, all the while I knew you'd never truly be free of me. You of course, were none the wiser of that part." Him said, offering the red ruff a wink.

Brick's face crumpled at this realisation. Him continued to reveal all.

"I lulled you into a false sense of security for 2 years, by leaving yourself and your brothers alone to get on with your sad little lives, then reappeared. Sent you away to school so you could get nice and cosy with Blossom, and begin to get her on side." Him said cheerily, as Brick shook his head incredulously.

"No…" He murmured, dragging a hand through his hair and flinching away from the foreign objects now sticking out of his head.

"I marked Blossom so I could have a degree of control over her. Because, well I know she's not going to be easy to break. Also, I knew I had time, as in my vision, you appeared older than you are now. And then that all leads up to today. I called upon you Brick, to kill Blossom knowing you would refuse now you've fallen hook, line and sinker for her. The punishment for refusing a request when your soul hangs in the balance is instant banishment to the Underworld, you become a demon and you remain here forevermore." Him beamed at Brick. "But that's exactly what I needed, Brick. I needed you here, as a demon, because that is what I saw. I already have Blossom here with us, so all that is left is to begin your training."

"No! No, this is insane!" Brick yelped. "We're not doing anything of what you just said! None of it is happening!"

"Don't you get it boy?!" Him seethed, his voice suddenly ferocious. "This place runs in your veins! You are this place, and this place is you! It is your destiny!"

"Fuck destiny!" Brick snarled. "I make my own destiny, and it's not this! Runs in my veins.. Does it fuck! I hate this place, it is torture, it's agony, it's fucking Hell!"

"It is your home." Him insisted.

"I don't belong here. And neither does she!" Brick asserted, pointing to Blossom.

"You do, you both do; I have foreseen it." Him assured them.

"I don't care what you've seen, you're not always right! This sort of shit, it's not definite!" Brick snapped.

"Consider your origins you insolent whelp!" Him fumed, suddenly becoming taller than he usually was, looming over them both. "You were resurrected by the Devil himself!"

"So were my brothers!" Brick countered with, and Him smiled an insidious smile.

"They don't have red eyes, Brick. They don't have fire running through them. You look the part!" Him chuckled. "And now even more so; you're a demon."

"This is fucked up! I don't wanna be here! And neither does she! Blossom definitely doesn't belong here! She's a superhero!" Brick gestured to Blossom, who was pale and quiet.

"But I can be so very persuasive, can't I?" Him oozed, leaning down and stroking Blossom's cheek with his claw. She glared at him, pulling her head away. "I saw it clear as day. She will be here, and she will work with me. You both will. I saw you resisting, both of you. But eventually you will bend. And you will cling to each other in the process. It's ideal you're already fond of each other too, as you two stood beside me, eyes of rouge and eyes of rose, well it wasn't the only thing I saw."

Blossom's face fell, a sinking feeling taking over her. Him had a knowing little grin on his face; he knew she'd already figured out what he was going to say next.

Brick glanced from Blossom to Him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I also saw a child." Him confirmed Blossom's fears, she stared at him, aghast, shaking her head slightly.

"A - a what?! No, we went over this, I told you no!" Brick gnarled furiously.

If it were possible, Blossom had gone paler.

Him sighed blissfully. "Ahh yes, beautiful little thing, eyes like blood, hair like pure fire."

"You can't make us have a kid!" Brick yelled. "We're 17 - not to mention it's completely fucked up!"

"Well I'm hoping I won't have to make you! I'm hopeful nature will take its course and POP! We'll have our little bundle here in no time." Him enthused.

Both Brick and Blossom flashed him with sickened looks. Him put his hands on his hips. "Excuse me, but I did you a kindness allowing you to become close before bringing you here - it would be a million times worse if you still detested each other, and I was telling you to fornicate."

"You can't - you can't make us do that!" Brick spluttered.

"No," Him agreed with a smirk. "Whilst it's true I can't force you to perform that act, I feel it's inevitable now, hmm? What with you both harbouring feelings of desire for one another, and being teenage and hormone driven, and all."

Brick glared at him deeply, glancing at Blossom, who seemed to have mentally departed.

Him chuckled sinisterly. "Yes, so it's just a matter of time really. It's happening, I've seen it. So have you." His comment was aimed at Blossom, who swallowed hard.

"The little girl in my dreams." Blossom murmured, finally speaking.

"Mmhmm." Him replied, waving a claw, an image appearing beside him. It was just like in Blossom's dream; she was small, and dressed in a black frilly dress. She had long red hair, and blood red eyes - and Brick's smile.

Brick inhaled sharply beside her at the sight. It was almost eerie seeing this small little girl that looked like him, but also like Blossom.

"The door." Blossom said quietly. "What about the black door?"

"Black door?" Brick asked, glancing at his counterpart. She'd never mentioned a door to him.

Him smiled, turning his head to the right. Blossom followed his vision, feeling her blood run cold at the sight of it. She didn't know what supposedly happened behind that door, all she knew was that whatever had happened to her in there had traumatised her somehow in the dreams Him had planted in her mind.

"The door will depend on if you two cooperate. Because, if you refuse to procreate together willingly, I can do it artificially. And that is what's behind the black door." The smile on his face was pure evil as he beamed down at her.

Silence ensued as they took in what Him was saying he would do to them both.

Blossom shook her head. "No, I'm not doing any of this - I'm not staying here, I'm not working with you! None of this makes any sense!" She exclaimed.

Brick managed to get his brain into gear once more. "If you've had all this planned, for all this time, why did you tell me to kill her so often if you needed her alive?"

"Fun!" Him cried with a little shrug. "Pure and simple fun!"

"But, but what would you have done if I'd have done it?!" Brick asked.

"I knew you wouldn't! Because you haven't for 12 years!" Him burst.

"What about Melvin? Why did you mess with him? Why did you allow him to create those robots that were capable of killing us if you've needed me and Blossom alive?" Brick continued.

"I fear I am repeating myself - as above, fun!" He giggled. "His mind was a wonderful place, so negative, so tortured. Which made him easy to manipulate. I must admit I got a little nervous when he got a bit stab happy and nearly polished you off Brick." He cringed awkwardly, and Brick glared at him. "But I've ran the risk of the world eating either of you alive in the 3 years that have passed since I had my vision, and well, I've resurrected before, haven't I? I'd have just had to have brought you back had something have happened."

"Why did you tell me I couldn't be with her - you just said you foresaw us together, so why have you been stopping that?" Brick added.

"FUN! It's been such fun watching you two star crossed lovers, how tortured you've both been! Anyway, no more questions now. We need to begin training you both, we have a lot of work to do! I hope you at least said goodbye to your family the last time you saw them, as the next time you see them, you will be murdering them. Eyes of rouge and eyes of rose, finally here with me in the Underworld!" Him got to his feet, hopping enthusiastically.

He flicked his wrist, and in that motion a metal shackle appeared around Blossom's wrist, a long chain attached to it that was coiled around Him's arm.

"Come on, down to my chambers. You're familiar with them, aren't you Brick?" Him chortled, turning and beginning to pull Blossom along.

Brick didn't move. He was statuesque in shock. Him noticed in the corner of his eye, so proceeded to aim his claw in Brick's direction. The shackle on Blossom's wrist opened, and Brick was dragged along toward her, his wrist mashed against hers. The shackle enclosed around both their wrists, so Him could yank them both along.

Simultaneously, they clutched at each others hands.

"Come along!" Him called cheerily.

But Blossom shook her head, coming to a halt. "No. No! I won't do this! I won't stay here, I won't let you try and poison my mind, I refuse!" She hollered defiantly.

Him glared at her, yanking them both along once more. "Enough of this insolence. You will obey me! I have foreseen it!"

Blossom looked up at Brick beside her. He was quiet, in some kind of shocked stupor as he floated along beside her; there was fear in his eyes. It made something stir up inside her - anger, outrage.

"No!" She screamed, halting once more. Him almost fell over, surprised by her sudden standstill. Her breathing became rapid, and she grew tense as a fury built up inside her.

"What do you think you are doing? Do I need to remind you how much pain I can have you in in a sec -" Him was cut off by what happened next.

Blossom began to glow white all over. So much so that she created a breeze, her hair whipping around making her look ethereal. She was so bright, Brick had to shield his eyes from her.

With one swift movement she broke the chain Him had ahold of her and Brick by. Him growled loudly, lifting his claws in Blossom's direction and unleashing a torrent of flames her way.

Blossom raised her hands to her side, and ice cascaded from them, creating a frosty white sphere around them. Him continued to blast fire at them but Blossom kept her hands in place, her ice remaining steady.

She turned so she was standing directly in front of Brick, who was looking at her with wide, startled eyes; she'd just produced ice from her hands, something he'd never seen her do before.

She looked deep into his crimson eyes, and clutched at both his hands tightly.

He stared at her, confused and aghast, and Blossom looking equally so, let go of one of his hands, placing it onto his chest, right where his heart was. It was extremely cold, freezing even, and he felt like the ice travelled straight to his heart.

Still holding his other hand, she placed it on her own chest where her heart was. It was fiery and hot but she didn't flinch.

Him yelled loudly in the background, as the white light began to emit off of them both.

Brick began to howl in pain too, but Blossom didn't let go. Something inside her was telling her to hold onto him tightly and not let go.

The white light engulfed them, until suddenly everything went black.

---

The feeling of his feet hitting the ground with a jolt brought Brick back to Earth, quite literally.

When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to realise he was stood in the living room of his apartment, just as he had been before Him had transported them to Hell.

The red ruff daren't move, for fear this was all an illusion, sewn into his mind by Him.

He could hear his heart pounding frantically in his chest. If he concentrated hard enough, he could also hear someone else's heart beating erratically nearby.

Slowly and cautiously, he turned his head. Blossom was stood a foot away, panting from the rush of adrenaline.

She too looked guarded, as she peered at Brick with wide, hesitant rose eyes.

They stared at each other like that for a few seconds, until both decided to throw caution to the wind in unison, lunging for each other and pulling each other close.

He enveloped his arms around her waist, her hands found their way around the nape of his neck, and they kissed.

---

r&r (: - chapter 23 coming soon, this is not the last chapter ;)