Villain: Redux

By: Yay Ninja Bob

Author's Note:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN GUYS!

I wish I had a spookier horror-filled chapter to post on Halloween, but I guess there is always that crazy kid running around in a mask so HEY! I'd say that's pretty Halloween-y!

Personally this was one of my most favorite chapters to write so far, so it's pretty neat-o to be sharing it on one of my most favorite holidays, too. I really really hope that you all enjoy it and find the extra length to be a bonus little holiday treat heh. If you manage to make it to the end of this chapter's journey please do leave a comment/review behind and let me know what you think! It's always appreciated, but this is one of those chapters I'd extra appreciate the feedback. :)

Alright, I hope everyone has an awesome spoopy holiday! Thanks again for reading!

Part II: Hate & War

Chapter 11

The Unidentifiable

The Townsville Water Tower was located just on the border of Downtown, and from where he sat high up on its metal landing, Mojo had a clear view of much of the mainland. The night felt unnaturally long as he sat underneath the shadow of the water tank and watched the twinkle of the city lights below. It was going to be yet another night of no sleep for him, but Mojo could not rest that night even if he wanted to, or even if he tried. As his oversized brain raced with a million thoughts at once, he felt bound to the shadows which kept him safely hidden. Every time curiosity begged him to move from his hiding place, paranoia kept him locked there. Whether it was the fear of all the unknowns that complicated his predicament, or the close encounter he had just experienced, Mojo felt the need to keep hidden for much of the night. Self preservation was his priority, of course, and so for hours he remained on high alert while his eyes scanned the night sky for signs of pink, blue or green. He had seen the streaks of neon lights flash by once from the west to the east, and then again from east to west some time after, but it had been several hours since he last saw them.

As the lights of the neighborhoods below began to go out for the night, and the glow of the city dimmed, Mojo's paranoia slowly began to subside. It must have been very early into the next morning by then, and he figured even his super powered enemies had to sleep at some point. His eyes drifted upward to a spot on the metal beams directly underneath the water tank above him. Now was his chance to begin his next investigation.

The climb up the sleek metal beamed structure was slippery, but nothing compared to the difficult ascent he had had to make up the tower's ladder. Once he had pulled himself up onto the wide surface of the first beam, with a concentrated balance, Mojo was able to march right up to the tattered, dark backpack that had been wedged underneath the water tank's base and snatch it for himself. Once he had the black bag in hand, he slid back down to the surface below.

Mojo sat down again on the metal floor, unzipped the backpack, and quickly discovered a green alien face which peered back at him from inside. He took the plastic Halloween mask in his hands and held it out before him as his mind flashed back to the first time he had seen the alien face wander into his cell back at the Villains Ward. It was most definitely the same face that stared back at him then. All night his mind had debated whether or not his own eyes had fooled him somehow as he watched the teenager with the unmistakable 'V' shaped facial mark seemingly store away the very evidence that would link the hero to the crime of the decade. But with the confirmation there, literally right in his grasp, there was absolutely no denying it. The alien faced intruder- Princess' lackey- possibly the most wanted outlaw other than Mojo himself- was none other than Buttercup.

As he stared into the empty eye sockets of the blank faced disguise, a devious grin slowly began to sweep Mojo's face. The very identity that was still a mystery to everyone else in Townsville, he had managed to uncover. At last, Mojo felt as if he held something that could turn his fate around for the better. The very idea of having a piece of knowledge that nobody else possessed was enough to empower the villain for the first time in years. His mind raced with an endless stream of possibilities- it was only a matter of narrowing down those possibilities to the best way he could weaponize this new vital piece of information.

Knowledge was power, and having power over his enemies would be key to his survival. However, Mojo knew that even with this newfound advantage, there was still much he did not know. Clearly from what he had witnessed earlier, the green Puff had managed to fool everyone, and was secretly living some sort of double-life. However, what were the true motivations behind this? From his previous night's research, Mojo had discovered a sea of mystery surrounding the green Powerpuff, and now things had just gotten all the more curious. In order to proceed, he would need more answers, and as he held the alien mask in his hands, he knew he held the key to finding those answers.

Mojo snatched his bag of stolen goods next and quickly emptied it. Amongst all his treasures, he had taken all the engineering equipment and tools Morbucks had provided for the construction of her blaster rayguns, as well as whatever scraps of metal and wires that remained from that project, Princess' laptop computer, a digital alarm clock radio, an assortment of jewelry and about a dozen different luxury watches he had uncovered in Master Morbucks' suite. As the simian sorted through his supplies, he cackled maniacally to himself as his next course of action came clearer into focus in his mind then.

With sunrise just hours away, he knew he would have to work quickly. He wasn't sure when the green Powerpuff would return, but he imagined completing his little project before daylight would be the safest bet for him. He picked up the alien mask once more and grinned to himself, "This may just be my own morbid sense of curiosity getting the better of me, but personally, I cannot wait to discover just who it is you really are..."

Like most nights in the super powered teenager's dreamscape, it was pitch black as far as the imaginary world stretched. The reoccurring dark world the green Puff would visit while asleep was a black empty void over a cold, dirt surface and nothing else. Usually it was the more boring of the possible dreamscapes, but it was definitely still preferred over the other most reoccurring dreams which were mainly nightmarish flashbacks. Despite the endless darkness, navigating through the void came naturally to the dreaming adolescent, and the curiosity of maybe discovering something deeper in the darkness is what kept the Puff moving forward. That night, however, it was still a complete surprise to stumble upon someone else in the darkness for the first time ever.

"Hey!" the curly-haired redhead shouted as she was bumped into in the dark, "Watch where you're going!"

"Huh?" A pair of emerald eyes shone briefly in the dark. "Oh... Princess... What are you doin' here?"

"Wait. Joey? Is that you?"

"Uh... yeah. Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, Joey," the short villainess stepped closer and wrapped her arms around the shadowy figure in the dark. "Thank goodness! I thought I was all alone here!"

"Huh... Me too..." the skinny superhero stood still as the dream version of Princess clung tighter, and remained that way for several minutes before daring to move.

Slowly, a scarred hand reached out in the dark and gently cupped Princess' face, tilting her chin upward. Their lips found one another's in the dark and met in a tender, soft kiss. Their lips parted for a moment, but found each other quickly again. Suddenly the air which had been stagnant and cold around them grew warm and was charged with a tickling surge of energy that the green Puff had never experienced before then. As the teenagers held each other, their lips pressed harder against one another's. The dream heiress let out a soft moan as a pair of rough hands caressed her face slowly and began to run through her hair while they continued to make out.

"Oh... Joey..." Princess moaned quietly again between kisses and it was enough to cause the raven haired teenager to moan softly in return.

As their breathing grew heavier in the dark, the quietness of the black void around them was suddenly interrupted by a high pitched voice in the distance. "Buttercup! Buttercup, where are you?"

Dream Princess immediately halted in her kissing with a sharp gasp. "Joey, did you hear that?"

"Huh?"

"Shh! Listen!"

"Buttercup, please come out!" Bubbles continued to shout somewhere out in the darkness. "I can't see you! I know you're here, so where are you? Please, I had another nightmare, and your bedroom door was locked tonight! Please, Buttercup, I'm really scared!"

"The Powerpuff Girls are here?!" Dream Princess shouted as she began to pull away. "Come on, Joey! Let's go get 'em!"

"No, wait!"

As Princess slipped away from the scarred hands that held onto her, she left behind a pair of glowing green eyes that watched helplessly as she faded quickly into the darkness and soon vanished from the world completely. As a blonde, pigtailed girl came into focus next, the glowing emerald orbs narrowed as they fell upon her.

Bubbles was never a fan of her sibling's common dark dreamscape, and she would usually only make the journey there if her own sleep was haunted by nightmares. Yes, the dark world scared her, but at least even in the pitch black nothingness, she would be in the company of someone who always looked out for her.

Or so she thought.

As the pair of shimmering baby blue eyes met the glowing green at last in the dark, suddenly the dark shadow they belonged to faded deeper into the void around them. Bubbles squeaked nervously as she felt a sudden chill run down her spine and the air around her grew icy cold. She strained to see anything before her, but the faint silhouette of what she had believed was her sibling was completely gone then. She was all alone.

"Bu-Buttercup?" the blue Puff squeaked again as she looked around.

As the blonde clung to herself in the dark, she felt the damp earth beneath her feet begin to tremble as a sudden gust of wind began to blow past her. She shuddered under the growing coldness and braced herself as the wind picked up more and more speed by the second. The force of the swirling air around her was so great it tore the hairbands from her hair, undoing her pigtails, and her long, wavy blonde locks tangled with the breeze as she fought to keep her shimmering blue eyes open. The earth beneath her feet began to crack and beams of bright, blinding green light broke through and began to illuminate the land around her. The darkness around her looked as if it was being carried away with the wind that ripped past her, and a growing, deafening whistle pierced her ears as she watched the shadows gather into one concentrated area in the eerie green sky above her.

Bubbles looked on in complete terror as the dark hurricane gathered like a black bouquet of pure malice. There was something at the center of it that she could not make out, but she could tell that whatever it was, it was what held the dark, thunderous cloud formation together. As the darkness swirled above her, the ground beneath her only shook harder as she watched the shadows start to take shape.

"Buttercup!" Bubbles cried out over the loud, roaring wind and growing thunder in the sky, "If that's you! Please! Stop!"

As soon as her final plea escaped her, the dark clouds shot forward with no mercy. They formed a giant stampede of dark, raven haired stallions whose nostrils burned brightly with electric green fire. Their dark obsidian eyes narrowed collectively on the blue Powerpuff as they raced towards her all at once. The violent black storm of horses was accompanied by a piercing, screeching choir of a thousand distorted voices screaming all at once:

"GET OUT!"

Bubbles fell from her bed as she woke from the nightmare. When the blonde landed on the floor of her bedroom with a hard thud, she immediately broke into tears. As she started to sob, she scrambled quickly to her feet and rushed for the safety of her sister Blossom's room next door.

There was a sharp, stinging headache felt at the center of his brow as Ace awoke from where he had passed out on the living room sofa. The shades on his face had slid off at some point during his slumber, and the early morning greeted him with bright rays of loud, blinding sunshine that shone in through the window. As he forced himself to sit up right, the pressure in his head only worsened as he slowly began to regain his senses. Besides the low, steady snores heard from the other men who lay scattered throughout the room, a quietness had finally fallen upon the small home, and it was the first still moment Ace had experienced in nearly two days. The day and night before had been spent celebrating in true Gangreen Gang style with good, loud music, heaps of homegrown ganja, and bottle after bottle of cheap liquor and booze. Having not seen his friends in over six years, there was a lot of catching up to do, and definitely a lot of missed partying to try to make up for. It had definitely been a while since Ace had partied like that, and as he watched the room dizzily spin around him for several moments, he realized then that he was not as young as he used to be.

Ace leaned forward from where he sat, and searched for his missing sunglasses on the beige carpet by his feet. Billy lay on his back on the ground nearby, and easily took up much of the floor space of the small living area. Ace tried to move the slumbering giant so that he could check underneath him for his missing shades, but the massive green lunk was just too big to budge on his own. As Ace glanced about the room, he found Snake slunked across and asleep on their two-seater sofa, and Grubber was passed out on the ottoman just beside him. He then spotted his glasses resting on Grubber's face. Ace could not help but laugh a little to himself as he removed the shades and slid them back on. His friends must've had a pretty hard laugh at him being the first one to pass out last night.

As he made his way into the kitchen, there was a savory spice in the air. Arturo stood on top of a small step stool in front of the stove where a large metal cooking pot simmered over the low flame. "There's one cure for a hangover that works every time," the shortman spoke as he used a large wooden spoon to stir the orangey-red broth, "And that's Tía's menudo." He smiled at Ace, "Mornin', Ace."

"Mornin', Arturo," Ace returned the smile as he crossed into the kitchen, stopping at the sink to fill a much needed glass of water for himself.

"So good," Tyler said as he raised another spoonful to his lips. "My mom made menudo some times sure, but this shit is fucking next level, Man." He messily slurped from his spoon until it was clean, and then belched loudly. His girlfriend Betty sat beside him and rolled her eyes. Sophia giggled from across the table, and Ace took the chair beside her at the small table.

"It's a surprise you hadn't had none before," Arturo continued as he filled a yellow ceramic bowl with a generous serving of red soup, "You live with Ace and have known him for so long but he hasn't ever brought you by his mom's on a Sunday before?"

Both Tyler and Betty shook their heads as they watched Arturo step down from the stool with the yellow bowl in hand.

Arturo sat the steaming bowl of menudo in front of Ace who cleared his throat loudly and interrupted the conversation as he spoke to Sophia, "Have fun watchin' Scoob with your pops all night, Soph?"

Sophia showed off her braces with a big grin, "Uh huh, but we still have lots more to watch!"

"How is Tía doin', Ace?" Arturo stepped between them. He was not fooled by his cousin's obvious avoidance of the topic.

Ace glanced at Arturo from behind his shades and shrugged casually, "Fine I guess. She moved up north 'bout five years back now-"

Arturo shook his head at Ace. "Don't tell me you haven't seen her since, Man."

Ace shrugged as he picked up his spoon and dug at his bowl with it, "She's rolled through town a couple times since then."

"Well, do you visit her up north ever?" Arturo questioned as he looked between his tall cousin and his daughter. Ace gave another simple shrug as he slurped from his spoon. Arturo frowned as he shook his head, "Ace, are you serious?"

"What?"

"You know since my mom passed, Tía's the closest thing to an abuela Sophia's got!" Arturo looked to Sophia and frowned, "Baby Girl, please don't tell me this is the first time you've had your abuela's menudo, too..."

"Why is the meat so slimy and squishy?" Sophia asked innocently as she poked at the chunks of honeycomb tripe she had barely touched.

Arturo looked back at Ace and began to shake his head once more. "Yo, Soph," Ace began as he reached for her unfinished bowl of menudo, "If you're done with breakfast, why don't you go and get the next Scooby-Doo DVD ready for you and your dad, huh?"

"OK, but you'll watch it with us, too, right, Nino?"

"Sure I will. I got one more sick day at work, so I'll be home all day, Kid."

"Alright!" the tiny girl cheered as she leapt from her seat and skipped across the kitchen.

Arturo watched as his daughter disappeared from the room. Once she was gone, his eyes fell on Ace once more. He watched as Ace added the leftovers of Sophia's bowl to his own and continued to chow down.

"Come on, Ty," Betty said as she stood from the table next, "We got orders to fill in the garage today. Let's get started."

"Aww," Tyler groaned a little. He looked at Ace, "Can't I get a sick day?"

Ace smirked. "Sure. That was yesterday. Now get to work."

Tyler groaned again as he stood slowly from his seat and glanced at Arturo, "Don't ever room with your boss, Dude."

Arturo took a seat across from Ace and watched him quickly finish off his bowl of menudo. "Yo, you sure it's a good idea to be selling weed out of your garage, Ace?"

"I'm tellin' you, Arturo," Ace used a paper napkin to wipe the red stain from his pencil mustache, "It's all legal now. We're good."

Arturo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He watched as Ace collected the bowls on the table and carried them over to the kitchen sink.

"Ninooo!" Sophia called out suddenly from her bedroom. "Hey, Nino! Come look!"

Ace and Arturo exchanged glances before they both started down the short hallway for the first door. They found Sophia bouncing excitedly in front of the small television set inside her bedroom. "What's up, Soph?" Ace asked as he stepped inside first.

Sophia wore an eager grin as she pointed at the TV screen, "Look! Buttercup's on TV! And she's wearing the mask I gave her!"

Ace and Arturo both looked to the television set and saw that the morning news flashed with a breaking headline that read: "Leaked Footage: Townsville Prison Break." The grainy security footage played in slow motion so that the fast moving intruder could be seen.

As the video paused momentarily on the alien faced mask, Arturo blinked in confusion. "Buttercup?" he repeated.

Ace glanced from the TV to Arturo, "Yo, I thought you had meant like a literal alien busted you all out of prison," he laughed a little at first, but it faded just as soon as his gaze returned to the news broadcast, "That's just... Buttercup... in a mask..." Ace stared at the footage that played for several more moments as he slowly began to place it all together for the first time then. "Aw, shit."

There was already a warm pot of coffee prepared and waiting for Blossom as she made her way into the kitchen. Beside the pot sat her favorite pink coffee mug with a handwritten note in the Professor's writing beside it: "Have a good day." Blossom smiled to herself as she removed the coffee pot from its warmer and poured herself a cup. Her pink eyes wandered over to the shut doorway to her right which led down to the Professor's basement laboratory. Behind the door, she could hear faint sounds of a power drill hard at work. It wasn't uncommon for her father to lock himself away in his lab for days at a time, and usually Blossom would be there right beside him to assist on whatever project he had to complete, especially while on summer break. However, with half a dozen villains still at large, Blossom knew she was going to be busy with hero duty for yet another day, and she imagined the Professor had guessed the same, too.

She leaned against the kitchen counter behind her, lifted her coffee mug to her red painted lips and savored the warmth of the morning beverage for just a moment. It was fifteen minutes before eight that morning, and it was time to get her siblings up for the day. Blossom took her coffee with her as she ascended the stairway to their home's second floor and came to Buttercup's door first. She gently knocked and spoke through the shut door, "Buttercup, it's nearly eight. Don't forget our scheduled surveillance sweeps for today-"

"I'm up," Buttercup interrupted, speaking through the shut door as well.

Blossom reached for the door handle and turned it. Just as soon as she cracked the door open by just a jar, a force on the other side quickly slammed it shut once more.

"I said I'm up. I didn't say you could come in," her sibling muttered on the other side. "I'm gettin' dressed, ya creep."

"Sorry," Blossom frowned a little. "There's coffee downstairs if you want some," she said again through the door, but got no reply.

Blossom continued down the hall to her own bedroom and paused at the open doorway. Her pink eyes fell on her sleeping, pigtailed sister who was still wrapped in the pink comforter sheets and sound asleep in bed. Bubbles had come into her room in the middle of the night, sobbing uncontrollably from a nightmare she had. It took Blossom nearly an hour to calm her fully and get her back to sleep. She never told Blossom what the dream was about exactly, but Blossom knew that whatever it was about, it truly terrified her.

She remembered that Bubbles had also spent the night before in Buttercup's room, too because of night terrors. Ever since their birthday, Blossom could not help but notice that Bubbles was not her usual, happy-go-lucky self. The day before, Bubbles had little to say as she and Buttercup reviewed the details of the prison break briefing with her. At the time, Blossom believed that Bubbles just needed a day to rest to get back to her cheerful, bubbly self. After all, their birthday had been a long day for all of them. But after hearing her sister's hard sobs for so long the previous night, Blossom knew in her gut that there was something deeper going on with her baby sister.

Blossom rested her coffee mug on her nightstand before sitting down on her twin sized mattress, beside her sleeping sister. She reached out and gently placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder and spoke softly, "Hey," she whispered. "You don't wanna spend half the day in bed like yesterday again, do you?"

Bubbles turned over onto her side so that she faced Blossom as she peaked out from the bedsheets she had burrowed under, "Maybe..." she squeaked.

Blossom gave her a small smile, "Maybe?" she repeated. "Come on, Bubbles," she tried to encourage her, "We all agreed we'd start our surveillance efforts today, right? How about after our morning sweeps, me, you and Buttercup come back home and make a big breakfast together? We can make blueberry pancakes, if you want. We can invite Robin over, too. It'll be fun."

Bubbles kept herself wrapped in the blankets as she nodded slowly, "...OK."

Blossom smiled, "OK." She stood from her bed and retrieved her cup of coffee from the nightstand. She carried it with her over to her computer desk and sat down in her swivel pink chair as she watched Bubbles lazily rise from bed.

As Blossom waited for her computer system to start up, she scrolled through her phone to locate her favorite, daily local news podcast.

"From Townsville, this is Townsville Today. I'm Annie Goodfellow, and these are our headlines for the day..."

Blossom continued to watch Bubbles from behind her coffee mug as she floated past her, and out into the hallway. She could see that her blue eyes were still a little swollen and puffy from all the crying she had done earlier, and Blossom frowned again to herself as she watched her disappear into her room next door.

"This morning, surveillance footage from Townsville Correctional has been leaked to the press, featuring the mysterious, masked 'alien' responsible for the largest prison breach in the nation. The security footage brings to light many new details, and answers just how one individual managed to carry out what many are calling 'the crime of the decade.' Super speed, super strength, a bullet proof body and the ability to leap more than fifty feet into the air- are some of the super abilities caught on the video tapes. When questioned by the press, Mayor Bellum had this to say..."

Blossom sat up right in her chair as the mayor's voice spoke next on the news program. "While we still do not know the identity of who is behind the mask, we do know one thing, and that is that clearly, there is a new supervillain in town."

As the clip of the mayor's short press conference played, Blossom's eyes drifted back to her open doorway and watched as Buttercup stepped out from her room and into the hallway. The tomboy was dressed for the day in a pair of tattered jeans and usual black hooded jacket. Their shared bathroom was located directly across the hall from Blossom's room and she watched as Buttercup went inside and shut the door.

"More than 150 escaped convicts remain missing, including six villains. City wide searches and checkpoints are being conducted by local law enforcement, and the Powerpuff Girls have also vowed their commitment to locating all who remain at large. Meanwhile, the seventh villain of the Villains Ward, and the only one to be apprehended on the day of the prison break, Fuzzy Lumpkins, has since died from his injuries. Townsville Medical Center's hospital staff reports that he passed late into the night yesterday evening..."

Blossom's pink eyes widened a little from behind her coffee mug. This was the first time she had heard of Fuzzy's death, and truthfully, she had almost forgotten entirely about him.

"While details surrounding his injuries remain undisclosed at this time, witnesses who had been at the hospital at the time report that it was a blood-stained Buttercup who delivered the badly injured villain to the hospital with her sister Bubbles. On the night of Fuzzy's arrest, the superhero team stated that a wild pack of wolves in Townsville Forest were the ones responsible for Fuzzy's critical condition. However, it has been noted by local park rangers that the last known wolf sighting in Townsville was in 1924, leading some to speculate that perhaps the green Powerpuff- infamous for her hot temper and quick rage- may be the one truly responsible for the villain's brutal attack. This may explain why she was seen and photographed seemingly drenched in his blood that night..."

The door to the bathroom opened again, and as Buttercup stepped out into the hallway her green eyes met Blossom's. "What are you staring at?" she raised a suspicious eyebrow.

Blossom stopped her news program as she lowered her coffee mug and frowned, "Nothing." She sat her mug on her desk and watched as Bubbles came into the hallway next. Blossom could not help but notice that as soon as Buttercup's eyes fell on Bubbles, she looked away and left quickly for her bedroom once more. Bubbles' blue eyes glistened a little as she watched Buttercup slam her bedroom door shut behind her. She then sadly floated to the bathroom and disappeared inside.

Blossom rose to her feet and made her way to Buttercup's room. "Hey," Blossom knocked on the door, "Let me in, Buttercup. We need to talk."

"Ugh," Buttercup opened the door and greeted Blossom with an annoyed look, "For the hundredth time, I know," Buttercup floated back to the unmade bed and plopped down. The skinny teen counted on upon scarred fingers and repeated the assigned surveillance schedule for the day, "First sweep at 8:15 on the east side, after that sweep the coast at 11, Downtown at 2, and repeat at 5:15, 8 and midnight-"

"No, no," Blossom shook her head as she stepped inside. "Well, yes, I'm glad you've memorized your rotation, but," she paused as she shut Buttercup's bedroom door behind her, "It's not about that."

Buttercup sat up in bed and raised an eyebrow as Blossom walked over to the bed. "What then?"

Blossom sighed as she sat at the foot of Buttercup's mattress. "Bubbles had more nightmares last night."

"So?" Buttercup shrugged. "What's that got to do with me?"

"So?" Blossom repeated back, surprised by the indifferent reaction. Buttercup could definitely be insensitive, but when it came to Bubbles, she usually had a little better attitude than that. "So she was up last night with me, and up the night before with you... Buttercup, I'm worried about her. Aren't you?"

Buttercup blinked back at Blossom for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "Look, she's always been a big baby. She'll get over it soon, probably-"

"Get over what happened the night of our birthday?"

"Well, yeah, I guess-"

"With Fuzzy?"

"Well, yeah-"

"And the wolves, right?"

"Yeah..." Buttercup sat up more and watched Blossom rise to her feet again. The redhead began to pace back and forth, and Buttercup could tell she was trying to get at something. "Jeez, Blossom. Would you just tell me what it is already?"

"You know," Blossom continued to pace. "It's really important that the three of us are all on the same page, Buttercup. With all the villains free again, the spotlight is back on us, and I don't foresee that changing any time soon. It's important that each one of us does our very best to uphold the commitment we've made to protect this city. It's also our responsibility to carry out our super hero duties in a way that shows Townsville that they are safe with us, and... that they can trust us." Blossom stopped momentarily in her tracks and faced Buttercup, "You get that, right?"

Buttercup stared at Blossom, saying nothing at first, but eventually nodded, "Sure... I get it."

Blossom watched Buttercup closely for a moment before she continued, "Good. So. You understand then why you might cause more distrust with the citizens of Townsville if you were caught in another lie, right?"

"...What?" Buttercup stared for a moment, "Look, I dunno what you're talking about, Blossom-"

"Buttercup, please," Blossom interrupted. "Just... tell me the truth, alright?" She walked over to her sibling's bed once more and sat down beside her, "I'm your sister. If anyone's going to understand you, it's me. So. No more lies, OK?"

Buttercup stared back at Blossom in stunned silence for a full minute. "Blossom..." Buttercup gulped nervously, "I really don't know what you're talking about..."

Blossom frowned, "Buttercup there's no use in lying anymore about it. It's all over the news already-"

"It is?" Buttercup's eyes widened as Blossom retrieved her phone from her pocket and brought something up on her web browser. The green Powerpuff's scarred hand trembled a little as it took the device from Blossom to see the latest news article. However, those nerves subsided as soon as the green Puff read the text underneath the still photo of Fuzzy's trip to the hospital two nights prior, "Fuzzy Lumpkins dead, and hero caught with blood on her hands..." A scowl swept Buttercup's face, "Are they fucking serious?!" The teen's green eyes quickly scanned the article, "They're saying I killed Fuzzy?!"

"What happened, Buttercup?"

Buttercup looked up from the phone and glared next at Blossom, "You don't believe this trash, do you?"

"No, I didn't say that I believed it. But you and Bubbles have hardly said a word about it, plus apparently there haven't been any known wolves in Townsville since the 1920s or something, Bubbles is clearly traumatized over what happened, and-"

Buttercup tossed Blossom's phone back at her and rose from the bed, "Forget this shit," the green Puff huffed and walked for the door.

Blossom quickly zipped over to Buttercup's door with a flash of pink light, blocking her sibling's exit. "Just tell me what happened, Buttercup, please. I could ask Bubbles, and I know if I confront her on it like this she'll tell me, but... I really want to hear it from you."

Buttercup's eyes narrowed on Blossom. "You know, Blossom," a single, long deep breath before continuing, "Did you ever stop to think that maybe for once this shit has got nothing to do with me? This ain't the first time they've made up stories about me, and I'm sure it ain't gonna be the last one either! And you know... now that I think of it," Buttercup paused as both siblings locked eyes, "This ain't the first time I'm the one stuck with the bad rep, because some sister of mine couldn't handle the truth being known about her." Buttercup still held the same direct gaze with Blossom . The glisten in her bubblegum eyes was proof enough that Buttercup had succeeded in getting the message across to her. Buttercup then pushed past Blossom who slowly stepped aside without a word, "Talk to Bubbles," the scowl faced teenager muttered and reached for the door's handle, "I'll be doing my stupid surveillance sweep, alright?"

Blossom watched as Buttercup descended the stairway just beyond the open doorway. Her vision grew blurry and clouded as she felt a stinging on her cheeks, and realized then that she had begun to cry. The redhead quickly wiped away her tears as she hurried back down the hallway to her own room where she could fix her running makeup.

Buttercup stepped out onto the front porch and tried to ignore the steadily climbing pressure that was building fast from within. The skinny teen's scarred hands seemed to tremble as Buttercup held them out for inspection. There was a sharp pain beginning to concentrate at the center of both palms, and it was not an unfamiliar feeling. It was what happened whenever the young hero had been pushed too far. Medication was taken every day to try to keep the painful power surges under control, but over the years, Professor Utonium had to increase the dosage as the super powered teen's power continued to grow. However, the last surge Buttercup had reported to the Professor was nearly over a year ago, and truthfully there had been several more since then that the Professor knew nothing about.

Buttercup's entire body continued to shake as the sharp stinging in both palms began to pulsate. There was a shrill ringing that tortured both eardrums, and the higher the pressure inside the raven haired teen's head grew, the louder it got. It took every ounce of willpower to fight against the urge to clamp both fists shut and not give in to the rising power. Buttercup had developed several different tactics over time to try and combat these surges- biting one's tongue helped with the pressure, reciting nursery rhymes to oneself was a useful distraction from the pain, and when all else failed...

Buttercup stepped off the front porch, fell to the ground and instantly slammed head first into the walkway pavement. The super strengthened teen's skull cracked the cement, but was left unscathed. It was always the last resort, but it worked. The ringing, the pressure and the pain all slowly subsided and were replaced by a dizzying exhaustion. The taste of blood was still present as Buttercup lay against the pavement and waited for the world surrounding to stop spinning. It had definitely been a while since the hero had experienced a surge that bad.

"Maybe... I should tell the Professor..."

Just as the thought surfaced, there was a buzzing from the teenager's cell phone. Buttercup retrieved the device and read the new text message. It was from Ace. "Hey Kid. Got time to talk?"

"Be right there."

"A'ight," Ace announced as he stepped back into the living room, "I just texted her, so she should be here any minute. Betty took Soph to the park for a bit, so... we should be good."

"Should be good?" Arturo repeated, "Man, you saw the news. The cops are gonna be tearing this whole city a part looking for who caused that break in! Half the video evidence they got she's talkin' to me in it, and it's me who's gonna be found out before someone hiding behind a mask!"

Ace shook his head, "Hey, don't talk to me like I'm the one who encouraged her." He lowered his shades a little to shoot Tyler a direct, harsh stare.

"Hey!" Tyler threw his hands up in defense, "I was just tryin' to help a poor, lonely kid out, Dude. How was I supposed to know Fea hooking up with that shorty would lead to this?" He looked between Ace and Arturo and only received unwavering judgement from them both. "Aw, come on," he tried again, "It ain't all that bad. I mean... you're all here now... right?" he looked around the room to the rest of the gang for support.

"You knowsss, that issss true," Snake said with a nodd. "We wouldn't be heresss if it weren't for Buttercupsss."

"I'm confused," Billy scratched his head, "I thought it was da Alien that brought us here?"

"Man," Arturo massaged his temple as he shook his head. He nudged Grubber who sat beside him on the sofa, "Yo, Grub. Explain it to Billy otra vez. I'm done."

While Grubber took Billy aside yet again, Tyler took his spot beside Arturo and plopped down with a grin as he tried to sling a comforting arm across his shoulders, "Dude, you gotta try and relax a little-"

"Relax?" Arturo pulled away from the smiling, shaggy haired punker and looked again at Ace, "Man, who is this fool?"

"Just a fool," Ace shook his head and sighed. "Ya know," Ace began again as he looked about the room, "Why don't you all just go chill out in the garage, and leave the talkin' to me and Arturo, a'ight?"

While the gang and Tyler shuffled down the hallway together, there was a knock on the front door. Ace waited until the other men disappeared into the garage before answering the door.

"Hey. What's up?" the hooded teenager wore a casual smile as Ace swung the door open.

"What's up?" Ace blinked back from behind his shades. "Yo, get in here already. We need to talk."

"Jeez," Buttercup muttered while stepping inside. "Sounds serious."

Ace shut the door behind her and rejoined Arturo in the living room. The two men stood side by side, with their arms crossed as they watched the teenager lower her hoodie and face them.

"I guess... it is?" Buttercup gulped a little, sensing the tension in the air for the first time then.

"It is, Kid," Ace shook his head. "Have a seat, a'ight?" he gestured to the sofa.

Ace and Arturo waited as they watched the super powered teen slowly float across the room and lower herself into the seat before them.

Buttercup smiled weakly at Arturo first, "Hey, Arturo. So... when'd you get out?"

"Cut the crap, Kid," Ace interrupted. "We figured out it was you already."

"Shit," Buttercup cursed low. "Well, you haven't told nobody have you?"

"Nah, we haven't," Ace answered. He shook his head, "You think we're in any position to be runnin' our mouths right now? Man, I got four wanted men living under this roof and if ya didn't know, harboring fugitives is a crime, and if I get found out then I'll be the one thrown in that Villains Ward next-"

"Exactly, Man," Arturo jumped in, "What can we do in this situation? Nada. So if your only concern is keeping yourself outta trouble, don't even worry about us."

Buttercup's first reaction was a sigh of relief, "Cool, Dude." The teen stopped again, sensing even more tension from the short, green man. "I mean... of course I worry about you guys. I have been, I swear. I don't want any of you goin' back to jail, or anything happening to Sophia. I just figure that as long as they don't figure out it's me, then I think we'll all be safe-"

"Man, they're already talking about me on the news like somehow I helped you plan the whole thing or something! After you and Mojo, the biggest target's on my back!" Arturo only felt frustrated with the teenager.

"OK, I get that," Buttercup held out a scarred hand in defense, "And yeah, it's true both my sister Blossom and the detectives wanna locate you to see if it might lead 'em to me, but just hear me out-" a small sly grin swept the teen's face, "Ya see, I've been following all this shit super closely from the inside, and I think we're actually gonna pull this off. I mean, they don't even have a current address on file for Ace, so they have no idea where to even start lookin' for him let alone you!"

"They're already lookin' for me too?!" Ace groaned, "Man, are you serious?"

"Yeah, see, they think if they find Ace, then they find Arturo and then they find me, but like I said they don't know where to find you, Dude! And if something comes up, I'll be around to find a way to cover it up, I'm sure."

Ace sighed heavily once more. "Man, I appreciate you tryin' to reunite the gang and all. Really, I do. Hell, I never thought I was gonna see none of them ever again and I'm grateful to have 'em back, Kid. Really, I am. But..." He lowered his shades a little so that he could convey how serious he was to Buttercup as he spoke low to her, "Kid. This isn't a game. If the gang goes back to prison, I will too. That means Soph won't have nobody left. You got that?"

Buttercup blinked back at Ace for a moment, taken aback by the grave attitude. "Sure... I get it. But... I promise you guys, I'ma do everything I can to keep that from happening! I swear, I will! And if any of you happen to get caught somehow, you know, I can always just bust ya out again if worse comes to worst!"

Ace studied the sixteen-year-old's face long and hard. Although he sensed her heart was in the right place, he knew that she was still young.

"Yo, Man," Arturo shook his head as he looked up at Ace, "The kid just doesn't get it, and she's not gonna. Sabemos que ella nació en una cuna de oro."

Buttercup glanced from Arturo to Ace, "What?"

"Nothin'," Ace sighed again. "Look, Cuppo. In order for us all to not get caught, we all gotta play it cool for a while, got it?"

"Sure. I get it."

"Cool, so unless you got somethin' really important to tell us, like the cops or your sisters are comin' for instance, then... it's probably best if ya just... stay away for a bit. A'ight?"

"...Sure," Buttercup nodded slowly, "Sure, I get it..."

"I mean it, Kid. I don't know you, and you don't know me. A'ight?"

"...Right," Buttercup frowned. "But... how long is that gonna be for?"

"I dunno, Kid," Ace frowned.

"Probably not until all of us find a way to flee the city," Arturo said with his arms still crossed across his chest, "Or shit maybe the state or the country even!"

Buttercup's eyes widened a little, "Nah, you don't have to do that-"

"Eh, I'm just speakin' the truth here. Ya nos cargó el payaso, and the only way I see us staying free is if we get outta Townsville-"

"Hey, let's calm down," Ace interrupted, "We ain't there yet, a'ight?" He sighed again as he walked over to the front door, "We'll figure somethin' out. In the meantime," he reached for the door's handle and opened it. "See ya around."

Ace watched Buttercup rise from her seat and slowly float over to the open door. She lifted her hoodie back over her head as she stepped out onto the porch. Ace stood behind the door as he extended one hand out to the sulking teen.

"Here ya go," he handed the sixteen-year-old a single rolled joint for the road. "Take care, Kid." Buttercup took the joint and Ace noticed a faint glisten in her emerald eyes.

"Yeah... See ya..."

"This ain't the first time I'm the one stuck with the bad rep, because some sister of mine couldn't handle the truth being known about her."

Once it was said, her sibling's words latched onto Blossom's consciousness and refused to let go. Never before had a single statement managed to rattle her so completely and so quickly. The redhead sat before her vanity mirror as she rubbed away her running mascara with a tissue. She had never been much for crying, but Buttercup's words managed to cut right through her and the tears that followed were beyond her control. As she fixed her makeup, Blossom spotted a flash of blue light zip past her open doorway. The pink Puff rose to her feet and walked directly to her circular bedroom window. She pulled back the shades and watched as the baby blue ribbon in the sky faded into the distance. Bubbles was clearly headed north, only her sister's first assigned area for their scheduled morning sweeps was supposed to be the coastline in the west.

"Talk to Bubbles."

That's what Buttercup had told her, and that was precisely what Blossom intended to do.

There was a quiet stillness in the forest that morning as Bubbles touched down on the grassy floor. She stood several yards away from the wooden cabin home and slowly glanced around the woods that surrounded her. She could feel the steady thumping of her heart within her chest begin to beat harder as an unsettling feeling began to swirl in her belly. The bright summer sun usually illuminated the forest in a tranquil glow at that time of day, however that morning, there was a cold, thick mist that dimmed the light. The air was sour, and the young girl found it nauseating as she looked about and tried to ignore the traces of pink fur that were still scattered in places throughout the ground.

It had been two days since Bubbles had last been by her coyote sanctuary. After the horrific attack carried out by the coyotes and Victor, the blue Puff had been too scared to visit the canines. Deep down she understood that the coyotes only wanted to defend themselves, but the carnage that she had witnessed that night was all too much for the sensitive young girl to handle. The horrific memories of that night still haunted her. It was difficult still for her to be there then, but Bubbles knew her coyote friends still needed to eat, and so she forced herself to go anyway.

Bubbles shut her eyes tightly as she tried to gather the courage to move forward. "Come on, Bubbles," she spoke quietly to herself, "You can do this. They're still your friends, and they still need you. They're still good coyotes. They just... made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes..."

As she opened her eyes, the blue Puff was immediately startled by the sight of Blossom standing beside her.

"What are we doing here?" Blossom questioned as her sister jumped back a little.

"Omigosh, Blossom!" she clutched her chest, "You scared me!"

"Sorry," Blossom looked around the forest and frowned, "So, why are we here?"

Bubbles blinked back for a moment, "Did... you follow me here?"

Blossom nodded, "I'm sorry, Bubbles. But," she frowned, "I'm really worried about you, and I just had to come see for myself." Her pink eyes settled on the cabin in the distance, "Is that... Fuzzy's old house?" Blossom glanced back to her sister and saw that her baby blue eyes were already completely flooded with tears.

The blonde threw her arms around her redheaded sister and wept loudly, "Oh, Blossom! It's all my fault!"

Blossom held onto her sister as she cried into her shoulder. She gently rubbed her back as she tried to calm the crybaby, "There, there, Bubbles... I'm sure it can't be that bad..." Blossom's voice trailed off a little as her gaze next fell on a clump of pink fur just underneath her red sneakers. Her pink eyes widened as she pulled away from Bubbles and blinked down at the ground. "Is that...?" Blossom quickly scanned the woods around them once more, "This is where Fuzzy's attack happened, isn't it?"

Bubbles nodded as she continued to sob. She hid her face in her hands, as her entire body shook from her hard cries.

Blossom took Bubbles in her arms once more and tried to soothe her again, "Shhh, Bubbles... Please, try and calm down... Come on, Bubbles... Deep breaths, OK?"

Blossom could feel the front of her blouse becoming drenched by her sister's never-ending tears. Bubbles had always been known as the crybaby of the group, but there was a difference between the moments when her blue-eyed sister was being overly sensitive and when it was a more serious matter. This was definitely something more serious. As Blossom waited for her sister to calm down, she tried her best to not let her own racing thoughts get the best of her. It was difficult when the very sound of her sister's loud, sorrowful wailing was enough to make Blossom dread the worst.

"Please, Bubbles... Just tell me what happened... I'm sure we can find a way to make it better..."

Bubbles pulled away a little and looked at Blossom. The tears still streamed down her flushed cheeks, "I'm... scared to tell you, Blossom... I-I want to, but... I'm scared, y-you know?"

"I know, Bubbles," Blossom forced a weak smile, "It's gonna be OK though, so... just take a deep breath, and tell me what happened."

Bubbles wiped at her tears and sniffled loudly. She took a single, long deep breath before forcing herself to confess: "All-I-wanted-to-do-was-just-help-my-friends-and-when-the-Professor-said-I-couldn't-have-the-coyotes-around-our-house-anymore-I-just-wanted-to-find-a-place-where-they-could-all-live-and-be-happy-and-where-I-could-come-see-them-everyday-and-care-for-them-and-when-I-found-Fuzzy's-house-and-told-the-coyotes-they-could-all-live-there-I-didn't-know-that-he-was-ever-gonna-come-back-but-he-did-and-I-still-dunno-who-started-it-but-all-I-know-is-that-it's-my-fault-that-Fuzzy-was-ripped-to-shreds-and-then-I-lied-and-told-you-and-the-police-that-it-was-wolves-because-I-really-didn't-want-the-coyotes-to-get-in-trouble-but-then-last-night-the-news-said-he-was-dead-and-they-think-Buttercup-has-something-to-do-with-it-but-really-she-was-only-trying-to-help-and-now-Fuzzy's-dead-and-I-think-Buttercup-hates-me-and-it's all my fault!"

The blonde burst into sobs once more as Blossom wrapped her arms around her again. "So... it was... coyotes that killed Fuzzy?"

Bubbles nodded.

"And you just lied about it because... these coyotes are your friends?"

Bubbles nodded again.

Blossom could not help but breathe a deep sigh of relief, "Oh, thank God..."

Bubbles pulled away and blinked at Blossom.

"Sorry," Blossom smiled weakly. "It's still terrible, Bubbles, but none of it is really your fault. I mean... they're animals, right? It's just what they do. It's sad what happened to Fuzzy, but... well, it's still so much better than any of the other awful scenarios I was starting to imagine."

"Like what?"

"Well, Jeez, Bubbles, with how you and Buttercup have been acting, I was scared that Fuzzy had cornered you in the forest or something and Buttercup showed up and brutally beat him to the verge of death, traumatizing you in the process..." Blossom began to laugh nervously, but quickly stopped as she noticed her sister staring back at her with wide blue eyes.

"Blossom..." she squeaked, "How could you ever think that?"

Blossom frowned. "I don't know," she began quietly. "I just... nevermind." Blossom shook her head. "I guess with everything going on, I'm just not thinking clearly." Blossom looked at Bubbles again, "I found the same news story this morning, and shared it with Buttercup," she confessed quietly, "She's... pretty mad at me for it." The tall teen winced a little as she felt a stinging in her gut, "It's my fault though... Like you said..." Blossom's eyes began to water, but she quickly wiped the tears away before they could fall, "How could I ever think that about Buttercup?" The redhead clung to herself as she winced from another sharp pain in her stomach.

Bubbles squeaked again, "What are we gonna do, Blossom?"

"I'm not sure," Blossom frowned again, "But we should finish our sweeps, get home and... talk to Buttercup." Blossom gave a single determined nod as she quickly wiped away a final tear, "Come on-"

"Wait," Bubbles stopped Blossom with her hand. "I... I still need to give the coyotes their food for the day..."

"What?"

"Every day," Bubbles gulped, "I come out here- sometimes with Buttercup- and feed the coyotes," Bubbles slung off her blue backpack and unzipped it for Blossom to see, revealing the cans of dog food inside. "There's not a lot of food out there for them, so... if I don't feed them myself... then they'll go hungry..."

"Oh, Bubbles..." Blossom sighed deeply as she stared at the cans of dog food. She looked at the pigtailed girl and forced a weak smile, "OK," she nodded, "Let's feed them then, I guess."

"Really?"

"Well it won't do anyone any good if they go hungry. So yeah. I'll help." Blossom offered her hand to her sister, who took it with a small, surprised smile. Seeing her baby sister's face light up for the first time in days was enough to ease the unsettling nerves Blossom had lingering in her gut. She returned a sincere smile to Bubbles as they started for the cabin.

Side by side, the two sisters walked hand in hand, and disappeared into the coyotes' den together.

In all the summers Mojo had lived in Townsville, that early summer day had to be the most brutal heat he had ever experienced. The shadow of the water tank provided some, but very little relief. Just outside the shaded area, the metal surface of the tower landing had become scalding hot to the touch, and so the barefooted simian was once again bound to the shadows. However even if he could leave his hideout, it was probably best for the wanted villain to stay put for the time being. From where he sat, he had a clear view of City Square. Townsville's police headquarters sat just beyond the capitol and there was a steady flow of black and white units traveling to and from the station. With the police in the streets, and the Puffs in the skies... was there truly any safe place for Mojo?

Beyond City Square sat the heart of Downtown. The main street below was lined with billboards that flashed with alternating electronic advertisements. Mojo had noticed the biggest screen that shone from the center of the city displayed coverage from the local twenty-four hour news network. He imagined the tall building that housed the giant electronic display was the news station itself. Although the screen's captions were too far to read from where he sat, Mojo still had a clear enough view of the images to know more or less what they were discussing. All night and morning the stories repeated time and time again on a never ending loop- the prison break, the missing villains, the masked alien and the latest one to premiere that very early morning as Mojo worked on his latest project- a curious photo taken of a blood-soaked green Puff, carrying what appeared to be a lifeless Fuzzy Lumpkins into the hospital.

Mojo was not sure what to make of the last story. The still photograph the pundits seemed to debate over was accompanied with interviews of hospital staff, and the sepia toned mugshot of Fuzzy was enough to suggest that the sasquatch had not survived. This would explain why he was not being reported as one of the six remaining villains at large. It was a pity, really. Truthfully, Mojo had always found the hollering hillbilly to be largely annoying and his tactics were crude to say the least. However he had been a villain just like him, and that had always been enough for Mojo to respect him in some way. It was a sad thing to learn that his freedom had been cut so short, and in such a seemingly brutal way.

Although Mojo could not decipher what was being discussed exactly, from the photo they focused on so heavily alone, Mojo imagined that they were suggesting that the green Puff was the one responsible for Fuzzy's untimely demise. Having been the victim to the Powerpuff's beatdowns in the past himself, Mojo could only imagine just how powerful his former enemies had grown over the course of the past six years. It was still strange to imagine one of the heroes going so far as to kill one of their enemies though. However the Puff accused of this was Buttercup, and Mojo knew that Buttercup was secretly also this "Joey" and clearly had strayed far from the lifestyle of one's "traditional" hero during Mojo's absence. Killing was a far step to take, however. Was the green Powerpuff really capable of this? And if so... could Buttercup even still be called a hero? After all, murder was undoubtedly evil.

The more Mojo thought about it, the more he knew there was still something missing. After all, it was "Joey" who had been the one to free all the villains from the Ward in the first place. Why free Fuzzy if only to kill him? Perhaps Fuzzy somehow learned the truth too and the green Puff sought to silence him permanently?- No, even if the pink beast had seen what Mojo had seen the night before, Fuzzy would be far too slow-witted to draw the connection himself... Was it an accident then? Or perhaps... Buttercup was innocent? From the distasteful and grave looks the news pundits wore on their faces as they spoke beside the teenage hero's photograph, it certainly appeared as if none of them believed so.

As Mojo gazed out into the distance, he heard a loud thunk from above. Something had landed on top of the water tower's tank. A sly grin swept the villain's face as he ducked behind a wide metal beam and waited.

The heat of the burning summer sun that beat down on the back of the teenager's dark hooded jacket was so irritating, it was impossible to try and find any type of peace there on top of the water tower. The brutal heat that cooked the surface of the metal water tank was the main reason why the young stoner usually avoided day time smoke breaks. However, despite it being just barely nine in the morning then, it had already been a rough enough day. The scowl faced teen extinguished the rolled paper joint after only two puffs, and swiftly slid down the side of the water tank.

Buttercup reached for the stash box that was hidden between the metal beams of the Townsville Water Tower. The teenager tossed the unfinished joint into the shoebox, trading it for some "special" gummy bears that were easy to sneakily take later at home. After returning the pot stash to its hiding spot, the green Puff next reached for the black backpack that was nearby. A green alien mask stared back as the teen reached past it, fishing around the bundles of cash for the black cell phone that had been left behind. Sure enough, there was a text message waiting.

"Any luck finding the monkey?"

"Not yet. I'll let you know."

Buttercup tossed the phone back into the bag and watched the small black device disappear once more underneath the stacks of cash inside. The super powered adolescent remained suspended in the air for a full minute, staring at the green bills as a new idea came to mind.

"I don't wanna see 'em go, but... if they had to... maybe this money could help the gang get outta town?"

The green Puff took the green mask next and held it with one scarred hand. The alien face and the hero held a staring contest for a full minute as more thoughts came to mind.

"And if I find Mojo, Princess said she'd pay me even more... Hell, maybe I could get outta town, too... I'll have to take the mask with me in case I manage to find him during my sweeps or something... Where can I keep it where my sisters won't find it though?"

After some serious thought while still suspended in the air, the teenager's trusted, baggy black jacket was the simple answer. Buttercup tucked the mask underneath the heavy black fabric, and figured that as long as it was there, nobody else would find it. Also, it'd be there for whenever Joey might need it.

Slowly a small, satisfied smirk swept the youngster's face once the mask found its new home. The floating teen returned the backpack to its hiding spot, and shot off quickly with a flash of green light, failing yet again to notice the audience that had been watching from below.

Once he saw the green beam of light vanish completely in the distance, Mojo stepped out from his hiding place and cackled out loud to himself as he reached behind a metal beam for his latest work. He had hoped that the green Puff would return soon for her plastic Halloween mask, and seeing her store it directly on her person was the best scenario Mojo could have ever hoped for. With the disguise hidden inside the skinny teen's jacket, the tiny covert listening device he had built and implanted within the stitching of the mask's nylon strap should pick up on anything around it.

The short simian sat down with the newly modified alarm clock radio, extended its wire antenna and quickly hit the power button. Mojo held his breath as he held the small electronic box to one ear and adjusted the radio dial slowly. A low crackling static was all he heard at first as he searched for the correct frequency that should pair with the bug Buttercup unknowingly carried with her. Between the static, Mojo found a loud, rustling noise and he stopped to listen. The rough whooshing he heard died down, and next came a voice.

"Great," the green Puff's low muttering spoke through the radio receiver clear as day. "They're both home already..."

An evil grin swept Mojo's face as he placed the radio before him and turned up the volume. "Let us see what the truth is behind this alien conspiracy, shall we?"

Buttercup's sour mood only worsened the moment the superhero touched down. Bubbles and Blossom had arrived at home just a split second before, and landed on the doorstep just ahead of Buttercup. Before either of them could say a word to their sibling, the green Puff showed them each a scowl and then shot past them with a quick flash of green light.

Bubbles and Blossom frowned as they watched the bright green beam zip up their home's stairway and disappear fast into Buttercup's room, the door instantly slamming shut. The blue and pink Puffs exchanged worried glances before proceeding up to their sibling's room together.

Blossom knocked on the door first, "Buttercup? Can we talk?"

There was no answer.

Bubbles tried next, "Buttercup?" she called out as she knocked on the door, "Me and Blossom really need to talk to you. Won't you let us in?"

Still no answer.

"We know you're upset Buttercup, and we don't blame you," Blossom spoke through the shut door.

"That's right," Bubbles added next, "I'm really sorry about what the news is saying, Buttercup." The sensitive girl began to tear up as she pleaded through the closed bedroom door, "Please just let us come in and talk to you! We wanna try and help!"

Bubbles and Blossom waited in silence for several moments, hoping to hear a reply from Buttercup, but still received nothing back. The two girls frowned at one another before focusing their gaze on the door again. Their eyes began to glow as they activated their x-ray vision.

They saw that inside the room Buttercup lay on her back, reclined on her bed with her music headphones fixed to her head. The skinny tomboy had her narrowed stare focused on a spot on the ceiling. After a while she turned her head so that it faced the shut door as her own green eyes began to glow.

"You know I can see you two creeps watching me through the door," Buttercup spoke loudly through the door. "Go. Away."

The blue and pink Puffs shut off their x-ray vision and glanced at one another again.

"What should we do?" Bubbles asked quietly.

Blossom paused to think for a moment, before giving a single, determined nod. "I'm going in." She reached for the doorknob and forced the locked door open effortlessly with her super strength.

As soon as the door was forced open by Blossom, Buttercup shot over to the door with a flash of green light and tried to force it back shut.

"Come on, Buttercup!" Blossom struggled against her sibling's matched strength to keep the door from slamming back shut, "Just let us in! We need to have a team meeting, alright?"

"Well, I don't feel like having a fucking team meeting right now-" Buttercup may have been an even match against one sister, but the moment Bubbles lent her own strength to Blossom's efforts, it was over for the green Puff.

Blossom and Bubbles stumbled into the room together, knocking Buttercup backward onto the floor. The tomboy immediately scrambled back onto her feet and glared at both of them as she gritted her teeth.

"GET OUT!" the skinny teenager screamed at them both.

Bubbles squeaked quietly as she hid slightly behind Blossom who stared back at Buttercup with wide bubblegum eyes, "Buttercup," Blossom began, "Just calm down-"

"DON'T FUCKING TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, BLOSSOM! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM NOW! YOU BOTH ACT LIKE YOU CAN JUST BARGE IN HERE AND TELL ME HOW I'M SUPPOSED TO FEEL?! LIKE THE TWO OF YOU HAVE EVER EVEN HAD TO DEAL WITH HALF THE FUCKING BULLSHIT I GOTTA GO THROUGH! FUCK THE BOTH OF YOU, ALRIGHT?! FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOU AND GET THE FUCK OUT!"

"I know!" Blossom shouted through desperate tears that had uncontrollably begun to fall. "You're right, Buttercup! You're fucking right, OK?! I should have known better than to think even for a moment that you would kill Fuzzy! I know now what happened, and I'm sorry, OK?! You're right- it's all bullshit and it's fucked up and you don't deserve any of it!"

The never uttered before curse word on the goody-goody's tongue was enough to distract the green Puff from the steadily rising rage that had been building within. Buttercup stared back at Blossom, noticing the river of tears then for the first time. The redhead's usual perfect makeup was ruined with streaks of dark mascara that bled from her tearful pink eyes. Her face was flushed a bright red and her nose ran with snot. Some people were just ugly criers, and that was Blossom.

"I'm so sorry, Buttercup!" Blossom still shouted through her tears as she sobbed even harder. "I'm sorry that there are people out there that treat you like some sort of monster! I'm sorry that I can't do anything to stop it! I'm sorry that I can't go back in time and change everything that ever happened that's caused all of this!" Blossom sobbed loudly as she threw her arms around her skinny sibling who surprisingly remained still, "Please know that every awful rumor they say about you- I-I blame myself for it! If I had never dragged you along on that mission three years ago... If I-I had just told the truth..." Blossom buried her face in her sibling's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Buttercup!"

Bubbles threw her arms around Buttercup next, "I'm sorry too! I'm sorry I lied about Fuzzy! I just wanted to protect the coyotes, and instead I hurt my own sister! Please forgive me, Buttercup!"

Buttercup felt smothered between them both as they continued to cling with all their strength and cry. The green Puff squirmed uncomfortably and tried to push them both off, "OK, OK! Fucking stop already! I can't fucking breathe with the two of you on me like this!"

Not wanting to anger Buttercup anymore, both Blossom and Bubbles stepped away from their sibling. They stood quiet for several moments as they watched Buttercup float over to her bed and plop down against the mattress. She lay on her back as she tore at her shaggy black hair before cupping her scarred hands over her face and muttering through gritted teeth, "Ugh, I fucking hate this..."

The tomboy peaked through her scarred fingers at her sisters for just a moment, and both Bubbles and Blossom caught a brief glimpse of her watery green eyes before she hid them quickly once more.

"So what, huh? What can either of you do about it anyway?"

Blossom and Bubbles sat upon the bed on either side of Buttercup. Each girl reached for one of their sibling's scarred hands and gently pulled them back, unveiling a pair of glistening emeralds that gazed softly up at them both.

"We love you, Buttercup," Bubbles squeaked softly.

"Yeah, and we can't change what's already happened, but," Blossom paused as she and Bubbles both tugged on their sluggish sibling's arms until the tomboy was sitting up right again. "I think we might be able to capitalize on current events in a way that might turn things around for the better if we all work together."

Buttercup raised an eyebrow, "Whaddya mean?"

"I mean, all the villains getting out might not necessarily be a bad thing for us, after all," Blossom continued to speak with a small, confident smile, "With more press coverage, yes, we will always run the risk of more negative attention, but let's not forget there's equal opportunity for good publicity too!"

"Yeah, Bloss and I were talking," Bubbles jumped in eagerly, "And we figured since we gotta round up all the villains anyways, why not make sure it's you who gets to do it! If you're the one who saves the day then they have to say nice stuff about you on the news and stuff!"

"Precisely!" Blossom nodded with a smile, "If we all work together to find the villains, once we do, Bubs and I will step back and let you prove to Townsville just how great a hero you really are!"

Buttercup glanced from one sister to the next, "Are you two serious?"

"Imagine it, Buttercup," Blossom rose to her feet and stood directly in front of the skinny tomboy. She placed one hand on her hip while she clenched her second fist in front of her. The tall redhead wore a determined look as she spoke confidently, "All six escaped villains from Townsville's notorious Villains Ward- Big Billy, Grubber, Snake, Lil' Arturo, Sedusa and Mojo Jojo- all apprehended by one mighty hero-" Blossom pointed at Buttercup with her finger and grinned, "Buttercup- the toughest fighter!" She held her finger there for a moment as Bubbles clapped and cheered enthusiastically behind her. Blossom clenched her fist once more, "And if that's not impressive enough, there's still the final cherry on top!"

Buttercup blinked back at both her sisters, "What's that?"

"The last dastardly outlaw to be caught- Townsville's newest, most mysterious supervillain- known only as the Alien- will also meet his end by the unstoppable green Powerpuff!" Blossom continued with loud enthusiasm, "But! Not only will the green hero Buttercup be the one to catch the Alien! She will also be the one who unmasks that freak for all the world to see!"

As Blossom proudly exclaimed the final piece to her plan, the raven haired Puff could not help but break out into laughter. The skinny teen fell back against the mattress once more and snorted loudly as the uncontrollable fit took over.

Blossom smiled weakly as she watched her sibling laugh at her earnest, but admittedly dorky delivery, "Don't laugh, Buttercup. I'm being serious."

It took a full minute for the laughter to settle. "Ah, shit. You guys are serious." The tomboy's brief smile faded quickly to a frown.

"Of course we are, Buttercup," Bubbles said as she pulled her sibling back up once more by her arm. "We know you can do it. Right, Blossom?"

"Right," Blossom smiled.

The green Puff wore a skeptical look, glancing from one sister to the next. They both stared back with hopeful, eager grins. Buttercup sighed and shrugged, "Whatever. We'll see, I guess..."

"The last dastardly outlaw to be caught- Townsville's newest, most mysterious supervillain- known only as the Alien- will also meet his end by the unstoppable green Powerpuff! But! Not only will the green hero Buttercup be the one to catch the Alien! She will also be the one who unmasks that freak for all the world to see!"

As Blossom's loud enthusiastic voice spoke through the radio receiver, Mojo could not help but erupt into a fit of wild maniacal laughter after what he had just heard. The irony was too much, and the villain found it down right hilarious that the pink Puff spoke so confidently when, in fact, she obviously knew nothing. At the very least, she clearly did not know that who she spoke to was the Alien- her very own sibling and teammate.

Mojo forced himself to regain his composure and quieted his laughter as he wiped away a tear from his eye. Once his fit had settled, he could hear the transmission once more, and he was surprised to hear a similar fit of giggles coming from the radio speaker.

"Don't laugh, Buttercup. I'm being serious."

"...Ah shit. You guys are serious."

"Of course we are, Buttercup. We know you can do it. Right, Blossom?"

"Right."

"...Whatever. We'll see, I guess..."

"Indeed," Mojo smirked to himself, "We shall see..."

As the pink and blue Powerpuffs continued to encourage their somber sounding sibling, Mojo continued to wear a satisfied grin as he leaned back and listened. From what he had just heard, it was easy to conclude three things:

One, Blossom and Bubbles were clearly unaware of Buttercup's secret alien persona. He had guessed as much already, but the confirmation was undeniable. They knew absolutely nothing of her involvement with the prison break, and also did not seem to possess even the slightest inkling that the Alien could be her.

Two, although the specifics were still unclear to him then, it was evident from the sisters' dramatic exchange that Buttercup was on the outs of the super hero troup. The passionate cursing the green Puff had shouted at the others was full of anger, contempt and bitterness. Whatever took place during Mojo's absence, there was obvious damage done to the triplets' once close knit relationship, especially on Buttercup's part.

Lastly, three, Buttercup not only had both sisters fooled, but it also appeared that the green Puff had them each wrapped around her finger. It sounded as if all the media gossip Mojo had discovered may have been just lies after all. Somehow, the rumors about Buttercup were a result of her sisters' actions, or at the very least, it was evident from their woeful apologies that they blamed themselves. Blossom and Bubbles were too wrapped up in their own remorse to even notice their sibling's own sin. There was an unmistakable guilt that weighed heavy on them, and Mojo imagined that that guilt alone was powerful enough for Buttercup to remain above suspicion.

No wonder she laughed in their faces.

"Come on, Buttercup. Don't sound so sad! We're going to turn this around! You'll see!" Blossom spoke through the radio receiver. "Soon, they'll be calling you the greatest hero of all time!"

"Yeah!" Bubbles' high pitched voice cheered loudly.

"Sure, you two are used to all the good stories," The green Puff let out a long sad sigh, "But literally everything they ever say about me always boils down to one thing, and that's that I'm just some sorta monster now. Don't ya think 'greatest hero of all time' might be aiming too high?"

"You have to think positively, Buttercup!" the pink Puff responded confidently, "Come on. We have some time before our next sweeps. We should take this time to go over the evidence on the Alien again. The mayor e-mailed me the transcripts of all the witness accounts they've gathered, so let's review them together and see if we can find something..."

"Ugh. Fine. Whatever."

Soon after, the Powerpuffs' chatter died down while they silently reviewed their collection of transcripts. Mojo removed his wool cap, allowing his mutant brain to breathe a little. The intensity of the summer rays was enough to make anyone's head spin, and Mojo was definitely beginning to feel dizzy as the day only grew hotter. He shut his eyes and leaned back against the metal beam structure behind him. What he'd give to have one of his specially designed temperature controlled hyperbaric helmets then. His old custom helmet would easily counteract the disorienting effects he was experiencing from the inescapable heat.

As Mojo opened his eyes, he turned his head so that he looked out towards the west. In the distance, mocking him still, was his old observatory. Mojo could barely stomach looking at the bright pastel colors that defaced his former lair, but he tried to ignore the changes and remember it for what it once was. When last he left his home, he had a closet full of helmets to wear then. He wondered what could have happened to them along with all his other possessions and brilliant inventions. They were probably all gone now...

By that point, Mojo hadn't slept in days and with the blistering sun beating down on his already tired senses, he soon found himself drifting slowly to sleep. As his eyelids grew heavy, his gaze remained fixed on the volcano top building in the distance. He watched as his mind pulled away the bright layers of green, pink and blue and underneath reamined his observatory just like he had last left it. It was his lair again- his refuge from the rest of the world- his home. As time receded further in his half-lucid slumber, the dark grey dome's exterior fell away next, and just the bare skeletal structure stood on top of the dormant volcano. Mojo's eyes closed finally as he slipped completely into the distant memory...

"Hey, Jojo, you think you can use this?"

"Ah, yes, excellent, Buttercup. That will do just nicely. Once we complete construction on the dome, I can certainly use it for our ultimate design..."

"Cool! I saw more just like it at the junkyard! I'll be right back with more then!"

"Be speedy, young Buttercup and do not linger! We cannot afford your absence for long! After all, we still have much to complete before nightfall has ended..."

The sounds of Blossom, Bubbles and Robin laughing happily together were muffled as Buttercup shut and locked the bathroom door. The skinny teenager slid against the shut door, and exhaustingly collapsed on the tiled floor with a tired groan. It was the first quiet moment alone Buttercup had experienced all day. Since their earlier team meeting, both Blossom and Bubbles had refused to leave their sibling's side.

What was supposed to be an individual sweep schedule had been altered quickly by Blossom that morning so that all future surveillance routes would be carried out together as a team. The team leader stressed the importance of unity and believed that if they were going to succeed in their efforts to change Townsville's attitude about Buttercup then, "When we're out on duty, we stick together from now on! Let's remind Townsville that the three of us are a team and they can't just single one of us out!"

All day long, the blue and pink Puff were unditchable, and the longer the day went on, the more their bright and cheerful presence wore down the green Puff. Buttercup knew they meant well, but their constant presence was draining. They thought they were helping their sibling through a mood swing, but what the sulky teen really wanted was some time alone to just think.

It wasn't until that evening when Robin had come by for a visit that the raven-haired teen was able to slip out "to pee" and get a long desired moment alone. The last bathroom break Buttercup had tried to take was only ruined by the constant chatter of both sisters just outside the door the entire time. Finally, with Robin there, they let their sibling go upstairs alone. For a while, all the worn-out introvert could do was lay still on the tiled floor and do nothing but silently recharge.

As Buttercup rested, pots and pans clanked distantly in the kitchen downstairs as Robin, Bubbles and Blossom began to prepare dinner together. Bubbles had requested pancakes, despite it being near seven at night. Something about Blossom promising her pancakes earlier, but Buttercup wasn't hungry and could care less what was being made. All the sixteen-year-old wanted was a break from the exhausting performance of being a true and proper Powerpuff Girl. If this was what every day was going to be like for the next foreseeable future, then it wasn't going to be easy. Already, the green-eyed superhero felt spread too thin.

"There must be something I can do to make this shit bearable..." Buttercup thought.

A scarred hand slipped into the teen's jeans pocket and pulled out a small plastic baggie containing some cannabis-infused gummy bears. Buttercup sat up and quickly popped a single chewy gelatin treat before returning the baggie once more.

"That should help..."

There was a knocking on the door that caused Buttercup to jump suddenly.

"Buttercup!" Blossom and Bubbles shouted on the other side.

"We gotta go, Buttercup!" Blossom continued, "The mayor called! There's a hostage situation taking place right now at Townsville City Bank! Bellum said it's three guys in orange jumpsuits so they must be escaped prisoners! Come on, let's go!"

"Shit," Buttercup muttered low before pretending to flush the toilet and responding back through the door, "Well, if it ain't any of the villains then maybe you two can handle this one without me? I'm pretty tired-"

"What? Come on, Buttercup! This is your chance!" Bubbles spoke through the door.

"Yeah!" Blossom spoke next, "This will be the perfect warmup before we have any real villains to face! Since when do you want to skip out on a chance to beat up some bad guys?" The redhead teased through the door, "That's not the Buttercup we know!"

Buttercup stood over the running sink faucet and stared directly ahead at the mirror. The teen took a long, deep breath before shutting off the faucet and turning to open the door. "Ah, I'm just messin' with you guys! What are we waitin' for then?"

"That's what I thought," Blossom returned a smirk as her eyes fell on her chuckling sibling. "Come on. Let's go!"

The sun had set over Townsville, and at long last there was a slight sense of relief as the temperature began to finally cool. Mojo awoke from his slumber feeling the gentle tickle of the night breeze as it blew past him. The cool air was just enough comfort to pull the sun-battered simian out of his day long daze, however the tranquil feeling was cut short by the sudden blare of police sirens sounding loudly from down below.

Mojo jumped onto his feet and instinctively darted behind the nearest metal beam for cover. His wide, paranoid eyes peaked slowly over the metal railing as his heart pounded fiercely within his chest. Had they finally come for him?

Thankfully, they had not. Mojo looked down and saw a parade of police cars speeding down the road with their red and blue lights flashing. He followed their path down the street and saw several more cop cars stopped ahead, gathered around a single building- Townsville City Bank. Mojo watched as flashes of bright green, pink and blue appeared next in the sky, landing on the rooftop of the adjacent building.

"Alright. Here's the plan," Blossom's voice spoke through Mojo's listening device receiver. "I'll go in first and get the attention of the robbers. Bubbles, you go in through the back and assist our hostages. Buttercup, you keep watch from the rooftop and just wait for your moment, alright? When the time is right, swoop in and do your thing, Sis! OK. You guys ready?"

"Ready," Bubbles and Buttercup answered back.

"Alright! Let's go then!"

Mojo looked on and saw a pink beam of light shoot off first for the bank, followed shortly after by a streak of baby blue. There was silence on the radio receiver for a full minute and a half before a low muttering spoke through.

"Well," Buttercup sighed, "I guess now is as good as ever-"

Mojo watched the neon green streak fly off towards the bank, and he heard a loud crash on the receiver soon after. Next, there was some rustling and the collective hard grunts of three men at once, followed by a big thud.

"Nice work, Buttercup!"

"Yeah way to go!"

"Cool. Thanks, I guess."

To Mojo, it certainly sounded like a successful mission, but as his eyes settled on the news station vans that quickly gathered outside the scene, he knew then that the real jury had just arrived.

The dark green comforter blanket was illuminated by the glow of the teenager's cell phone from where Buttercup hid with it under the covers. From underneath the blanket, Buttercup stared at the unanswered text message with a frown. "Hey, Ace. I have an idea. Call me before work. I'll be up." It was nearly 4 AM by then, and the sixteen-year-old had woken up purposely at 3 AM just to covertly send the message. Buttercup knew it would be the only time the rest of the Utonium household would be asleep, and the only time Blossom and Bubbles would not be around to eavesdrop. Ace began work at four every day at his construction job, and so Buttercup figured he'd be up. However, it had been over an hour of staring at the cellular device without any sign of a reply and as the teenager watched the digital clock tick over to 4:01, there was a heavy sinking feeling that came then with the realization that he probably wasn't going to call.

Buttercup sighed deeply before popping yet another gummy bear, hoping it would be enough to keep the steadily creeping depression at bay. That was the sixth consecutive cannabis treat the teenager had taken over the course of the past hour, and by that point the young stoner had already been feeling the effects. The skinny teenager's mouth felt parched and dry with cotton mouth. There was also a strong, nagging craving for a bowl of sugar cereal that would not go away. However the usual euphoria the stoner would enjoy from the bear shaped gelatin snacks was weakened by an unwavering sense of hopelessness. Maybe seven gummy bears would do the trick?

The sad eyed teen lay in bed for several minutes, still staring at the cell phone before finally shutting off the screen and returning it to its charger on the bedroom nightstand. The munchies were officially too strong to be ignored, and so a late night kitchen raid was next.

Buttercup emptied an entire box of Lucky Rabbit King Nuggets into a large mixing bowl and drowned the cereal with a generous amount of milk. The teen went to toss the empty box of cereal into the kitchen garbage bin but first noticed the previous day's newspaper on top of the trash heap. "Who is the Alien?" the headline asked boldly and the curious hero could not help but pull out the trashed paper to see what sort of answers it claimed to have.

"Who is the Alien?- Perhaps the most asked question in all of Townsville. The identity behind the green faced mask still remains a mystery to law enforcement and city officials, as day two of investigations begin. Initial descriptions released to the public of the masked villain were lacking of any substantial detail. The Alien was simply described as a slender built male who stood between an estimated five feet five inches and six feet in height. It is unfortunate that the Alien's all black attire and masked face have given investigators little to work with. However, leaked surveillance footage taken from Townsville Correctional Facility has many concerned citizens of Townsville asking no longer who, but what is the Alien?..."

Buttercup sat on their home's living room sofa and with the giant bowl of cereal and newspaper. The teenager continued to read the front page article while simultaneously devouring spoonful after spoonful of sugar cereal. All it appeared to be was a whole lot of text that pretty much said that they knew nothing. As Buttercup's scarred finger turned the page, the next article immediately caused a frown: "Hero's Arrest Allegedly Turns to Assault Resulting in Death of Villain."

The teen's green eyes only lingered on the black and white photograph that featured Fuzzy's delivery to the hospital for just a moment before the newspaper was quickly tossed aside. "Fucking bullshit," Buttercup cursed with a mouth full of cereal.

"Come on, Buttercup. Don't sound so sad! We're going to turn this around! You'll see! Soon, they'll be calling you the greatest hero of all time!"

Sure, that's what Blossom had said, but could they really change anything?

Buttercup thought back to their previous job together at Townsville City Bank. Even though the teenage stoner had to ignore the rising effects of the edible that had been taken just before the call to action came, for the most part, it seemed like everything went well enough. The robbers were stopped, the hostages were saved, the bank's money stayed in the bank, and both Buttercup's sisters and the police there all seemed happy with the results of the evening.

The green Puff reached for the television remote on the coffee table and switched on the TV. "Let's see what they gotta say about this one..."

"At approximately 6:58 PM last night, just as security was about to lock the doors for the evening at Townsville City Bank, three armed gunmen rushed past. The men locked the lone guard outside and then proceeded to rob Townsville City Bank while police were called onto the scene. However, by the time officers arrived, the bank robbers had barricaded themselves inside with the remaining bank staff, and it was the Powerpuff Girls who were next called into action..."

As the news reporter read from the teleprompter, the news broadcast displayed a series of clips from the bank's captured security footage. There were three large men in bright orange prison jumpsuits, each wielding a single pistol as they guarded a scared group of bank tellers.

"Hero Blossom was first to arrive on scene-" the narration continued as the footage showed a beam of pink light crash down through the ceiling. The pink Powerpuff stood far from the robbers as she pointed in their direction and seemingly spoke to them. "-and tried to make peace with the armed outlaws..."

Footage then cut to another camera angle which focused more on the bank staff who had all been bound with ties around their wrists and ankles. As the armed men all turned to face Blossom, they stepped further away from their hostages, and soon a fast bright blue streak of light was captured sneaking past them. "While her sister kept the robbers distracted, it was hero Bubbles who freed hostages from their restraints..."

"Finally, Powerpuff Buttercup arrived last on scene-" The surveillance video switched back to its original view and there was a cloud of dust as raining bits of ceiling flew in all directions and a green beam of light crashed through next. As the debris rained down upon them, the three bank robbers immediately began to aim their weapons towards the air above, but before any of them could pull their trigger the raven-haired hero landed just before them. The superpowered teen quickly threw a fast right hook that successfully knocked each man hard across the jaw. Their shattered teeth hit the floor just before their unconscious bodies piled on top of one another. "-and put her thirst for violence to good use, quickly putting a stop to the wanted men's terror..."

"What? Put my thirst for violence to good use?" Buttercup repeated with rolled eyes, "Aw, come on. Seriously? Why they gotta say it like that?"

The skinny teen slurped from the giant cereal bowl as the news broadcast continued. As the security footage ended the screen next cut to the video taken by the news network who had been on the scene. The shot was of the Powerpuffs escorting the captured, dazed and battered bank robbers to the hands of the police officers that waited outside the bank. As the exchange took place, the camera passed over the apprehended criminals as they were being handcuffed, and focused instead on the three Puffs who stood side by side behind the police officers. "The late evening call to action was clearly an unexpected one for the teenage superhero troup. All three girls were seen on scene in their everyday attire, and a rare clear view of Buttercup's facial scarring was captured on film by local media..."

"Aaaannnd heeeere weee gooo," the stoned teen sang aloud with another mouthful of cereal as the camera angle focused on the 'V' shaped scar. "This shit is getting too fucking predictable..."

As the news coverage's focus shifted to gossip about the young hero's deformities, Buttercup heard the sound of their front door opening suddenly. The skinny teenager leaned forward from the seat on the sofa and curiously peaked around the corner as Blossom silently floated by. "Yo," the green Puff called out just as the pink Puff passed.

Blossom jumped a little from the unexpected greeting in the dark. "Buttercup?" the redhead clutched her chest as she quickly spun round to face the shadow in the living room, "What are you doing up?"

"What am I doin' up?" Buttercup repeated with a small laugh before taking another bite of cereal, "Shit, Dude, it's four in the morning. Even when I break curfew it's never this late." The tomboy wore a sly smirk and teased, "So what you doin' coming home at this time, Goody-Goody? Finally got yourself a girlfriend?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Blossom answered immediately with a forced laugh as her face turned a bright red. Lucky for her, it was too dark for Buttercup to see the obviously guilt-ridden blush. "I... I was simply conducting an extra surveillance sweep, since... you know, we had the robbery and all last night. Can't be too careful!"

Buttercup gave a simple shrug before taking another bite of cereal. Blossom's excuse sounded Blossom-y enough to be believed for the time being.

Blossom glanced between her sibling and the television screen. "So. What are you doing up?"

"Just watchin' this bullshit," Buttercup answered with a mouthful of cereal.

Blossom stepped into the living room and watched the TV screen for a while. "Have they done a story about the robbery yet?"

"This is the story about the robbery."

"But all they're discussing is-"

"What a freak I am," Buttercup interrupted matter-of-factly, "As usual."

Blossom frowned as she continued to watch the news coverage for several more minutes, before she had seen enough. She turned back to Buttercup and tried to force a weak smile, "It's only the beginning, Buttercup. It was just some low level crooks anyway. I'm sure once we manage to track one of the villains down, things will be different."

"Whatever you say, Blossom."

Blossom frowned again. She watched as Buttercup continued to stare forward at the television screen and take bite after bite of cereal. Blossom looked down at the oversized bowl that rested on her sibling's lap, "That's a lot of cereal..."

"Yeah, I'm fuckin' starving, Dude."

"It's four in the morning..."

"Yeah- Hey do you think you could check and see if we got any more of those brownie bite things in the kitchen cupboard?"

Blossom raised an eyebrow as she studied her sibling for a full minute. "...Oh my God. You're high right now, aren't you?"

Buttercup laughed a little, "Nah. What? Are you high?"

Blossom stood in front of Buttercup and folded her arms across her chest. "Seriously, Buttercup? It's practically pitch black in here and still I can see that glazed look in your eyes-"

"Alright, alright," the green Puff groaned. "Ya caught me. Whaddya want? I had a rough day, alright? I mean look at this shit!" Buttercup gestured towards the television screen behind Blossom, "You know, if I weren't so high, I'd be pretty fucking pissed right now!"

Blossom watched as her sibling reclined back against the sofa and slunked down lazily as she clutched her giant bowl of cereal with both scarred hands. She lifted the bowl to her lips and slurped. Blossom sighed heavily as she took the seat beside her, "You swore you weren't doing that stuff anymore, Buttercup..."

Buttercup lowered the cereal bowl once more and swallowed. "Aw, come on, Blossom. Don't go rattin' on me like you usually do. Can't you give me a break just this one time?"

Blossom continued to frown as she still studied Buttercup. Normally, she would go immediately to the Professor with something like this. After all, Buttercup had only just been caught three weeks ago with weed, and already she was pushing the boundaries once more- sitting so clearly stoned on the living room sofa. However, behind the inebriated glassy green eyes, Blossom sensed something deeper happening with Buttercup.

Blossom thought back to the day before when the three of them had had their heart-to-heart. Her pink eyes glanced back to the TV screen that brightly displayed Buttercup's 'V' shaped scar, before settling on Buttercup once more. Blossom sighed heavily, "OK, fine. I'll give you a break. Just this once."

"Woah. Really?"

Blossom nodded.

Buttercup smirked. "Thanks, Red."

Blossom's bubblegum eyes widened for a moment before a small smile swept her face. It had been years since Buttercup had last called her by that nickname. "If you want," Blossom continued next, "Why don't you take today off, Buttercup? I know it's been a hard week for you, so if you need a day to rest, Bubbles and I can handle surveillance sweeps for today-"

"Woah. Seriously?"

"Well, sure, but," Blossom paused as she gave her a serious look, "I want you sobered up, and absolutely no more pot, OK? When I say I'm giving you a break 'just this once' I mean just this once, Buttercup. Got it?"

"Alright, cool, sure," Buttercup smirked again.

Blossom returned a small, weak smile before rising to her feet once more. "If we find anything on our sweeps, Bubbles and I will call you so we can stick to our plan, alright? In the meantime," Blossom paused at the hallway entrance as she glanced back over her shoulder, "Enjoy your day off, I guess."

Buttercup showed a scarred thumbs up and still wore a smirk, "Thanks, Boss. I appreciate it."

The green Puff waited until the pink Puff had fully disappeared before popping another gummy bear and switching the TV station over to a horror movie marathon.

The light that cascaded through the peaks between the mostly drawn window shades created a glowing halo around the little girl's head. Arturo sat across from his daughter at the small kitchen table and looked up from the sketchpad he balanced on his lap. He could not help but stare again for another full minute as he took in every detail of the precious miracle. He'd been reunited with his little girl for three days then, and even still he experienced quiet moments of surrealness such as then.

The tiny eight-year-old had to sit upon her chair with her knees bent underneath her so that she could reach the surface of the table. Her eyebrows were furrowed in a rather serious expression as she remained focused on her own drawing. Arturo watched as Sophia exchanged her green colored pencil for a black one from the Scooby-Doo themed pencil case that sat upon the table. A brace-faced grin swept her face as she looked up and met eyes with her father, "How's your drawing coming, Daddy? Are you almost finished?"

Arturo smiled back and nodded, "All finished, Baby Girl."

"Can I see?"

Arturo turned over the sketchpad in his hands, showing Sophia the pencil sketch portrait of her he had completed.

"Wow, Daddy!" Sophia's brown eyes widened as they fell upon the practically perfect replica of herself. "You're a real good drawer!"

"Thanks, mija," Arturo chuckled a little, "You know, I did a lot of drawing to pass the time when I was away from you. I wish I could show you all the hundreds of other pictures I had done."

"So you like to draw, Daddy?"

Arturo nodded.

"Me too!" Sophia grinned big before returning to her drawing once more.

Arturo smiled. He watched as Sophia lowered her black colored pencil and carefully tore the page she had been working on from her sketchpad. She leaned closer to the kitchen table as she lay the paper flat and began to fold it in two. "What about you, Baby Girl? Whatchu working on?" Arturo asked.

"I'm making a 'thank you' card!" Sophia replied cheerfully as she proudly lifted the folded white sheet up for her dad to see. "For Buttercup!"

Arturo's eyes fell upon the green alien face Sophia had drawn with the words 'THANK YOU' printed over it. His first reaction was to frown, but as his daughter stared back at him for approval, he quickly forced a weak smile, "That's really good, mija."

"Thanks, Daddy!" Sophia grinned big again. "Can you do me a favor and check that I spelled all the words right?" she asked as she slid the handmade card across the table towards her dad.

Arturo took the card in his hands and opened it, reading his daughter's writing inside aloud, "Thank you Buttercup for bringing my dad home to me. I am very happy that he can live with me now and all my uncles too. So I just want to say thank you. P.S. Aliens are cool. Your friend forever, Sophia de la Guerra." Arturo looked up from the card and saw that his daughter waited with eager eyes. "Yeah, mija," Arturo nodded slowly, "Looks good."

"Cool! Now I just gotta trace the words!"

As Arturo handed the paper card back to Sophia, the landline telephone that hung on the wall behind him began to ring. Arturo's eyes fell on the digital clock on the nearby microwave and saw that it was exactly three- the exact time Ace said he would call from work. He reached for the phone and answered it, "Bueno."

"Yo," Ace's voice came through on the other end. "How's it going there?"

"All good here," Arturo answered. "Sophia and I watched some more Scooby movies, we had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, and now we've been coloring."

"Sounds great, Man. Listen, I'ma pick up a few more hours here at work, then the bus takes me an hour so I won't be home till about seven, a'ight? Think you got everything handled? Tyler hasn't been givin' you trouble, right? I know I heard that fool talkin' with Billy, Grubber and Snake about another liquor run and I threatened him pretty good before leavin this morning. I think it worked, but the fool's known to be sneaky."

Arturo laughed a little, "Yeah, Man. I heard 'em discussing the same thing earlier and I had to go into that garage and talk some sense into all those fools. Billy says he's bored and Snake and Grubber say they feel stir crazy. I said 'Whatchu talking about stir crazy?' Man, we just got out of prison! It's only been three days!"

Ace laughed on the other end, "Man, I'm glad they're all gettin' along so well, but what the hell are we gonna do with those boys, Arturo?"

"Es a'ight," Arturo laughed with his cousin, "I've been keepin' an ear out for 'em this whole time. They're still rocking out to that punk Tyler's stereo system in the garage."

"A'ight, Man. Sounds good. Yo, would ya tell Ty for me that he's gotta take care of all the deliveries tonight since I'm gonna be late here at work?"

"No problema."

"Thanks. See ya at home."

"See ya, Ace."

Arturo hung up the telephone receiver. He walked out of the kitchen and down the short hallway to the final door on the right. On the other side he could hear the thumping from the boisterous rock song that played loudly inside the garage.

Arturo opened the door and began to shout over the music, "Hey, Mr. Rock 'n Roll, your boss called-" the short man stopped abruptly as soon as his eyes fell upon the empty room. He quickly stepped inside and shut off the stereo that stood beside the door and looked around. He hoped at first that they were all just pulling a prank, but when he saw the oil stained empty spot at the back of the garage where a silver van had been parked, he knew that was not the case.

"Pinche pendejos..."

It had been another scorching hot summer day on top of the water tower for Mojo, but thanks to the quick supply run he had made that early morning, he was far better prepared for the heat this time around. He had spent enough time studying the streets from above to notice a pattern to the police surveillance below, and his espionage efforts against the Powerpuffs had given him insight to their exact sweep schedule, as well. With the knowledge he had gathered, it was simple enough to conclude what hours were safest for him to venture beyond the tower.

His first list of supplies was easy: something to eat, something to drink, something to write with and paper. A "borrowed" bill from the green Puff's secret money stash easily took care of everything at a nearby 24-hour market. With his wool cap pulled low, and his scarf raised high, even with peaks of his green colored skin showing, he blended in well enough. After all, he was fortunate to be located alongside East Downtown where green skin was a common attribute amongst the people that lived there. The hardest part about the villain's 2 AM venture was the two hundred and fifty foot climb back up the tower's ladder.

The short simian sat cross legged beneath the shadow of the water tank surrounded by his collection of quickly sprawled out notes, equations and rough sketches. Each sheet of notebook paper was weighed down by a single red apple, which prevented his ingenious plans from being carried off by the summer breeze. Mojo scratched his chin as he carefully reviewed what he had just written last. The simian took a bite from the apple in his hand, before using it to weigh down his final blueprint for just a moment. He reached into the small, styrofoam ice box cooler beside him and pulled out a chilled water bottle, raising it to his lips. He took one refreshing gulp, before returning the bottle to its cooler and picking up his pen and paper once more.

Behind the chimp sat the radio receiver that belonged to his simultaneous spying mission. All day long he listened out for anything that might be of use to him. However, all day long all Mojo could hear was the steady sounds of snoring and the distant noise of a television set running in the background. Mojo checked the stolen Rolex watch around his wrist for the time and saw that it was almost five thirty, and it had been more than twelve hours since he last heard a word from the green Puff.

"That child has been asleep all day," Mojo muttered to himself as he scribbled away on his sheet of paper, "What could possibly be the purpose behind guilting one's sister into being relieved from one's Powerpuffery for the day, when that day is ultimately wasted on loafing about and lazily napping? If I were in her position- Oh, if Mojo had the same power as she- a day like this would not be squandered! It would be ceased by Mojo himself for the taking, and Mojo would make the most of it! But this young Puff is nothing like Mojo! How foolish of me to think that Buttercup could be capable of tactical manipulation! I had believed she was playing her sisters for fools- repurposing her weaknesses as strength- but such slothful ignorance only indicates rather that the slight upper hand she has managed to acquire has only been achieved through sheer dumb luck!" Mojo huffed. "The child has much to learn if she thinks she can survive on luck alone. Fate's pendulum always swings both ways..."

Mojo sat down his pen and paper once more and rose to his feet. He walked about the tower deck and collected his day's work, returning everything to a safe dark spot in the corner. He knelt down and switched off the snore filled transmission that sounded from his radio receiver, and stored it away next. The sun was almost fully set, and with daylight ending fast, soon it would be too dark for him to continue plotting on paper. Under cover of darkness however, would be the time he could begin to put some of the ideas he had gathered over the course of the day into action. However, he could not begin his next project until he settled one thing first.

Mojo peeked over the metal railing of the tower and noticed that several of the main roads below had been blocked by rows of police cars. Beyond the barricades were long lines of civilian vehicles who crept slowly towards the individual check points. Each car that passed through was first stopped by a team of officers, questioned and searched before being allowed to move forward again. The check points must have been the latest new effort to try and locate more missing outlaws.

The short villain cupped his hand over his brow as he gazed far into the distance, "It would appear that the majority of police units are currently preoccupied with their stop and search efforts..." Mojo thought out loud to himself. He checked his wristwatch again for the time, "Five thirty-eight. The next scheduled flight for those accursed Puffs is not for two hours at least..."

Mojo continued to study the streets below as he walked over to the tower's ladder. His concentrated, narrowed eyes traced a path as he mentally prepared a route for himself to the west side of town. As his gaze settled on the Discovery Dome he gave a single determined nod as he declared definitively to himself, "It is time."

The blue Powerpuff was almost out the door, when she noticed her sleeping sibling still on the family sofa. Bubbles halted at the living room entrance and saw that the quilted blanket she had covered Buttercup with earlier had been kicked off during the green Puff's sleep yet again. She quietly floated over to where Buttercup lay and gently replaced the blanket once more. As she pulled the quilt around Buttercup, she could not help but giggle a little at the drool that escaped her snoring sibling's mouth. Bubbles planted a loving kiss on Buttercup's scarred cheek before turning to leave.

"Hey," Buttercup's groggy voice stopped her again. "Where you off to?"

Bubbles turned back around and watched as Buttercup sat up on the sofa and yawned big. The pigtailed girl answered with a smile, "Work."

"And Blossom?" another yawn followed.

"Tutoring," Bubbles answered. "After her tutoring she's gonna meet me outside of work for our eight o'clock sweeps. So the two of us will be home after that. I worked it out with Dr. Weaver that I'll stop by every day now between our five and eight sweeps for a couple of hours. I'll have to do it every day, but at least then I can keep about fifteen hours which gives me just enough to keep the coyotes fed."

"Oh. Well that's cool, I guess. Did you want my help feeding your mutts before work then?"

Bubbles smiled. "Thanks, but they've eaten already today."

"Really?" Buttercup questioned through another tired yawn.

"Buttercup, it's almost six!" Bubbles giggled as she watched the surprise sweep her sibling's face then. "Jeez, you must have been having some good dreams for you to wanna spend the whole day sleeping!"

Buttercup smirked for a moment, but said nothing.

"It's fine though," Bubbles continued. "Blossom said she'd help me every day she can too now."

"Oh..." the green Puff paused, "You could have woken me up, you know? I guess unless... you don't want my help with the coyotes anymore now that you got Blossom on your side-"

"Of course I want your help still, Buttercup! Victor's been missing since everything happened and I really wanted to ask for your help today to find him, but," Bubbles frowned a little. "Blossom said to let you rest today, and besides," she squeaked quietly as her baby blue eyes averted her sibling for a moment, "I... didn't want you to get angry at me for interrupting your sleep again like the other night..."

Buttercup stared back for a moment before expressing a confused look. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"The other night... when I came into your dream," she gulped a little. "I'm really sorry I should've known you wanted to be left alone when I saw your door was locked that night. So... I don't blame you for gettin' so mad and making things all spooky so that I'd leave..." Bubbles gulped again, "...Even though it was really scary..."

Buttercup rose from the spot on the sofa and floated over to the tall blonde, and placed a scarred hand on her shoulder, "Aw, Bubs," Buttercup frowned. "It sounds like another one of your nightmares."

The sad look on Bubbles' face was replaced slowly by confusion. "...Huh?"

"Well, you never came by any of my dreams... Not since- what?- like a few months back when you had that nightmare about the flesh eating bugs-"

"Ahh! Don't remind me!" Bubbles shut her eyes for a moment as she physically shivered. Once she had shaken away the terrifying image she looked at Buttercup again and blinked, "Wait... So you never turned into a big dark scary cloud with scary green lightning and thunder and a million scary voices and horses! There were horses! Only not like regular pretty horses- they were big and scary with evil black eyes and fire coming out of their noses and-"

"Is that what happened?" Buttercup raised an eyebrow. "Sounds scary."

"It was! But... I thought... it really happened..." Bubbles paused for a moment as she tried to carefully recall the night as she remembered it, "I remember I went to your room and your door was locked and so I went back to bed and then crossed into your dream and then that's when everything got scary!"

"Aw, Bubs," Buttercup showed a soft smile. "You think I'd really try and nightmare you outta my own dream like that? That's crazy!"

"I-I..." the blue Puff's voice trailed off for a moment. "So... it was just another nightmare I had?"

"Sounds like it."

"Oh..." Bubbles shook away her confusion and forced a weak smile on her face. "Nevermind then, I guess."

Buttercup still smiled while rubbing Bubbles' shoulder, "You gonna be OK, Sis? I know you must still feel pretty terrible about Fuzzy gettin' killed 'cause of your pack of mutts, and it sounds like it's still messin' with your head a little."

Bubbles frowned again. "Yeah," she nodded slowly. "I... I'll be OK. ...Thanks, Sis."

"Anytime," Buttercup smirked and levitated off the ground high enough to give the tall blonde a pat on her head. "Well. Have a good day at work!" The green Puff floated back to the living room sofa and plopped back down.

Bubbles gave her sibling a tiny wave and a weak smile before leaving. Buttercup peeked through the living room window's shades and watched as the baby blue ribbon of light faded into the dusky evening sky. A satisfied, devious looking smirk swept the skinny teen's face. "She's too easy."

Buttercup reclined once more against the sofa and reached for the TV remote, but stopped. There was buzzing felt from the cell phone inside the lazy teen's pajama bottoms and the device's caller ID caused an immediate grin. "Yo! Ty! Great timin', Dude! Listen I've been tryin' to get ahold of Ace so I could tell him-"

"H-hey, Fea-" Tyler's voice interrupted on the other end, sounding uncharacteristically nervous, "Hey, Man, you uh... got some time right now?"

"Sure. What's up?"

Tyler spoke low on the other end as he continued, "So here's what happened, right? Me and Snake and Grubber and Billy were all sittin' around, chillin' you know and then Snake says he's thirsty but like there's nothin' left in the condo. So-so we figure as long as everybody stayed in the car, it'd be cool if we ran out and grabbed a couple of forties real quick-"

"Oh no..." It was easy to see where this was headed. Usually it was Buttercup that Tyler dragged into mischief. "What happened, Ty?"

"Seriously, Dude, the guys just needed to get out for a bit! I didn't think a quick trip down the street would be all that hard but now all the cops are out here, blocking all the roads back to the condo and somehow we're caught up in this line of cars- at first I thought it was just a traffic jam- but we're gettin' to the end of it now and I can see the cops are pulling people outta their cars and shinin' lights in windows and we're like five cars away from gettin' pulled over next, Man! Aw, fuck! Four now!"

"Shit," Buttercup muttered, "Yeah, the cops said they'd be doing random traffic stops-"

"Man, ya gotta help us out! We're sittin' ducks out here! Billy was too big to fit in my truck so we're riding in that van the guys picked up the other day and-"

"Alright, alright," the green Puff could hear the panic in Tyler's voice and knew that he was serious. "Where are you guys?"

"Uh... Main Street and Warner- you know comin' back down the road from Gino's Liquor Mart- where you swiped your first beer, remember?"

"Alright. Got it." The hero felt for the hidden mask that was stored away. It had been hiding still in its only safe place, against the skinny's teen chest and underneath Buttercup's baggy pajama top. "I'll be right there. Just try not to panic, alright?"

"A-alright... But hurry, Fea! I-if the gang gets caught 'cause of me, Ace will never forgive me, Man!"

The super powered teen ended the call and quickly sped out the front door, taking off for the water tower to get dressed.

"A-alright... But hurry, Fea! I-if the gang gets caught 'cause of me, Ace will never forgive me, Man!"

Tyler heard a click as the call ended. He gulped nervously as he returned his shaking hands to the steering wheel once more. As the cars ahead of them began to move, he slowly pulled forward. There were just three vehicles ahead of theirs before they reached the police checkpoint next.

"Ssso?!" Snake shouted from the back of the van where he ducked low with the others. "What'd ssshe ssssay?!"

"She said she'll be here," Tyler answered but kept his focus on the blue and red lights that flashed in the near distance.

There had to be about a dozen patrol cars that he could count up ahead. If anyone tried to gun it through the checkpoint, they'd have a fleet of officers on their back for sure. Each car that was stopped went through the same routine it seemed. One cop spoke to the driver, while two more searched through windows with flashlights, and two others checked the rear, sometimes popping the trunk. As the team of officers finished searching a pick up truck at the front of the line, they waved through the next car and Tyler was forced to inch their minivan forward once more.

"Aw, Man!" the fearful-eyed punker was beginning to physically sweat, "She better get here quick!" As he adjusted the rear view mirror, he saw Big Billy lift his head up from behind the backseat. "Yo! Just try and stay down back there, alright?"

The green giant parted his shaggy red hair as he peered through the back window. "Hey look!" the cyclops shouted as he pointed, "It's da Alien!"

Snake and Grubber lifted their heads next to see. Through the rear window, they could see Gino's Liquor Mart in the distance, and upon the rooftop stood a skinny figure in black with a green alien faced mask.

"Mansss, for the millionthsss timesss, that'sss no Alien!" Snake's eyes widened, "It'sss Buttercup!"

Tyler tilted the van's side mirror upward and grinned big with relief. "Yo! It's Fea!"

Joey stood on top of the convenience store's rooftop and studied the long line of cars that led up to the flashing red and blue lights in the distance. The darkened eye sockets of the alien faced Halloween mask were illuminated by a lime green glow as they used their x-ray vision to scan each vehicle below. Joey's super-sight settled on a silver minivan that was next in line to be searched, and inside they could see Tyler, Grubber, Billy and Snake.

"Shit," Joey muttered low from behind their mask as their green eyes dimmed once more. "I was gonna swoop in and carry 'em back home, but-" the dark cloaked teen scratched at their black beanie cap for a moment with their gloved finger, "No way with all those cops being so close they won't see that it's their wanted Alien that's carryin' them off and I can't risk accidentally leadin' the cops back the Ace's. Least right now Tyler and the gang ain't caught yet-" Joey snapped their gloved fingers as a plan of action struck them then. "Ha! Got it!"

The skinny super powered teenager swiftly leapt from the roof top and travelled like a fast shadow along the pavement, running past the long line of cars within a split second's time. The rubber of Joey's black sneakers burned against the asphalt as they skittered to a stop behind the line of cops who were oblivious to the alien who just passed them all.

"HEY!" Joey cupped their gloved hands over their masked face as they shouted for the officers' attention, "WHO YOU GUYS LOOKIN' FOR?!" the young hooligan couldn't help but laugh as they asked the question.

As the alien snorted and snickered, the check point halted immediately as all policemen turned round to see. Once Joey saw that each officer's jaw dropped and stunned faces looked directly at them, they gave them a small wave with one gloved hand. "Hey," Joey lowered their hand and shrugged a little. "Well. See ya."

The officers looked on in stunned shock as the skinny alien took off down the road like a race car. As soon as it dawned on the officers that it was the same wanted Alien from the prison break who ran from them, they scattered immediately for their individual cop cars and followed after in quick pursuit.

The silver minivan that had been next in line at the checkpoint physically shook from the excitement of its passengers inside. Once a path had been cleared for them by Joey, the gang and Tyler drove off for home once more.

The tall redhead had only taken two steps into the small coffee shop, before the patrons inside noticed and all collectively rushed towards her. The superheroine's bubblegum eyes widened as the enthusiastic crowd surrounded her almost instantaneously. Sure, running into the occasional fan while out in public was something Blossom had always been used to, but this was the first time the young hero unexpectedly walked into an entire room full of eager-faced strangers.

"Oh, wow! It's Blossom!"

"Blossom, can I get a picture?"

"Blossom over here!"

"Can I get a picture too?!"

"Blossom you're my favorite!"

The pink Puff's cheeks were flushed a bright red while she tried to give her best smile as she politely greeted each fan. "Hi... Hello... What's your name?.. Great to meet you too... Sure, I can sign that... Hi, I like your dress... Thank you, I am a natural redhead... You guys are sweet... Hi there..."

At the back of the cafe sat the one person Blossom had planned to meet there. Robin looked on from afar as her girlfriend was bombarded by her fans. She could tell that Blossom had been surprised by all the attention, but Robin was not. During the past three days, there was no avoiding the topic of the Powerpuff Girls around town. Sure, the heroes had always been celebrities in their own right, but the spotlight on the super team had never been brighter.

It took nearly ten full minutes for Blossom to satisfy all the requests for photos, autographs and hugs from her fans. Once they had all finally dispersed, her pink eyes fell on the quiet brunette in the corner and a true smile swept her face the instant the pretty girl gave her a small wave.

Blossom collapsed into the seat across from Robin. "Oh, Boy," the redhead let out an exhausted sigh, "It's been a busy day."

Robin gave Blossom a smile, and just as she opened her mouth to speak she was interrupted by the sudden ringing of the pink Puff's cell phone.

"Just a sec, Robin. It's the mayor-" Blossom held her phone to her ear as she answered, "Yes, Mayor?"

"Blossom!" Mayor Bellum spoke on the other end with an obvious urgency in her voice, "There's been a sighting of the Alien in East Downtown! Police are in pursuit and chasing the masked villain right now as we speak!"

Blossom could not help but leap back onto her feet with a loud gasp, "The Alien?! Now?!"

"Yes! Right now!"

Blossom could feel herself begin to shake with growing anticipation as she clenched a single fist in serious determination, "We're on it, Mayor!"

Robin sat still at the table and watched silently as Blossom ended her call with the mayor and quickly dialed another number.

"Come on, Buttercup, pick up!" Blossom spoke to herself as she bounced impatiently in place while waiting for an answer. After a few rings, the call went to voicemail. "Buttercup!" Blossom shouted into her cell, "The cops are in pursuit of the Alien right now! As soon as you get this, meet us over on the east side of town!" She quickly ended the call and returned her cell to her pants pocket, "Sorry, Robin, but I gotta go! I'll come over again and visit you tonight, OK?"

And with that, Blossom was gone with a flash of pink light.

Robin frowned at the empty seat across from her. "Nice to see you too..."

"Oh shit it worked!" Joey laughed as they glanced over their shoulder at the dozen cop cars that chased them in the distance.

Even though their quick speed was hardly a jog for the super powered teenager, Joey knew that if they moved too fast, the cops might give up on their chase too soon. They definitely had to lure the pursuing officers far away enough to guarantee a safe getaway for their fellow outlaws, and so Joey humored the cops with a steady chase for a good four or five minutes.

The blaring crescendo of the choir of police sirens behind them caused Joey's heart to beat fast as their adrenaline climbed higher as more black and white vehicles joined the hunt. The asphalt beneath Joey's fast moving sneakers sloped upward as they continued to lead the cops across the east side. Increasing their speed for just a moment, Joey quickly ascended the top of the steep street's hill and turned back to face the oncoming officers.

From behind their mask, Joey wore a giant grin as their eyes fell upon the growing collection of fast flashing red and blue lights below. The skinny teen laughed again as they mocked loudly from the hilltop, "Is that as fast as you pigs can fly?! Ha!"

Joey turned back around and looked further down the road ahead and saw another group of cop cars racing towards them in the distance. "Woah, reinforcements already? That only means their next call's about to be for the Powerpuff Girls," Joey looked around for a moment, before focusing their sights on a storm drain down the road to their left. "Better get outta here before they show up!"

The super powered teen was a fast moving shadow once more as they swiftly disappeared and slipped into the sewers that lay underneath Townsville. As Joey's sneakers hit the sludge covered floors of the dark underground tunnel ways, their mask's eye sockets glowed green once more as they activated their supervision. It was pitch black within the sewers, but thanks to their illuminated vision, Joey was easily able to zip across the rest of Downtown within a single blink. Once they knew they had put a good distance between themselves and the chaos they had left behind, Joey found another drain opening to make their exit.

Joey pulled their thin framed body through the barely wide enough space along the road's curb, and stumbled onto the street's pavement. The teen's damaged right eye prevented them from noticing the long black vehicle that had been traveling down the road just as they made their exit. The sudden loud screeching of the limousine's tires is what alerted Joey to move out from the vehicle's path. The dark cloaked alien clumsily tripped backward onto the curb behind them just as the limo screeched to a stop.

The narrowly avoided collision was enough of a surprise to Joey to shake them momentarily. They sat on the curb and blinked from behind their mask as they watched the blacked-out rear window of the limousine slowly lower.

"Hey!" the curly-haired redhead shouted from the window as it lowered, "Watch where you're going!"

"Huh?" Joey rose to their feet as their eyes fell on who sat inside. "Oh... Princess... What are you doin' here?"

"Wait. Joey?" Princess stuck her head out from the open window. "Is that you?"

"Uh... yeah," Joey brushed themselves off as they approached the car window. "Yeah, it's me." As Joey stood just before Princess's window, they turned their head to the left as their super hearing picked up on the sounds of more sirens approaching. They looked back at Princess. "Hey... think I can get a ride?"

Princess' brown eyes twinkled with excitement as she immediately threw the back door open. "Of course you can!" She scooted further down the black leather seat and patted the cushion beside her, "Hop in!"

Joey quickly slid into the limo and shut the door as it began to pull forward once more. Just as the tinted black window beside them was rolled up again, two cop cars whizzed past the limousine with their sirens blaring. Joey reclined against their seat and breathed a sigh of relief as they turned their head and watched them speed past.

"Jeez, they're like the twentieth ones that have driven by in the last five minutes," Princess watched them too. "I wonder what's happening?"

Joey laughed a little, "Uh. I think they're all after me..."

Princess looked at the alien mask and tilted her head with curiosity.

"I kinda just out ran about twenty others on the east side," Joey admitted through a nervous chuckle. "If you haven't heard, they kinda want me for that prison break I did for ya."

"Twenty others, huh? If that's true then it sounds like all of Townsville PD is out looking for you," Princess smirked. "Guess that makes you a real villain now." She inched closer to Joey as she fluttered her eyelashes playfully, "More reason to consider that team up, right?"

Joey laughed nervously again. "Yeah..."

Princess watched as Joey removed their black beanie and shook out their shaggy head of raven hair. "Alfred and I have been patrolling the streets today looking for Mojo. You haven't had any luck yourself yet, have you?"

"Uh..." Joey was momentarily distracted by their personal cell phone buzzing in their pants pocket. They retrieved the device and glanced at the caller ID- Blossom- before quickly ignoring the call. They shut off their cell and returned it to their pocket. "Nah," Joey continued. "Haven't seen him. But... I've been out lookin' around for him too."

"Oh yeah?" Princess smiled as she looked Joey up and down, "That's pretty daring of you when you're a wanted criminal yourself now." She smirked. "You know... it'd be way safer for you if you just patrolled with Alfred and I from now on. The cops know better than to pull over a Morbucks, after all."

"Uh. Sure, I guess I can ride with you for a bit-" Joey stopped as they watched a bright pink light zip by the limousine next, traveling the opposite direction that they did and down the same path the previous cop cars had gone. "As long as we avoid all that back there," Joey completed as they turned around in their seat and looked back out the rear window at the receding beam of pink light.

Princess giggled, "Oh my," she inched closer to Joey again, "They really are trying to hunt you down, aren't they?"

As the short redhead's knee brushed against Joey's they blushed from behind their mask as they looked at Princess. "S-sure are..."

Both Joey and Princess turned their heads once more as a baby-blue beam of light flew by next.

"Show offs," Princess muttered underneath her breath as her eyes narrowed. She shook away her annoyance and returned her attention to Joey. "So. If you were a monkey, where would you hide?"

Joey shrugged.

Princess twirled a loose ringlet round her finger as she paused to think, "Hmm..." The short teen's eyes fell on the road ahead of them and widened suddenly. She leaned forward in her seat, "Alfred! Where the hell do you think you're going?!"

"You said to head west, Miss-"

"Well, yeah, but I've told you a hundred times before never to drive down this street! You know how I hate it!"

"I'm sorry, Miss. You had specific instructions to check everywhere so I believed today was an exception-"

"Well, it's not!" Princess yelled. As the limo drove along, Joey detected a hint of panic in her wide brown eyes. "STOP THE CAR NOW, ALFRED!"

The limousine screeched to an abrupt stop.

"What's wrong with this street-?" Joey followed Princess' gaze and settled on the same building ahead and they stopped. "...The... Discovery Dome...?"

As Joey's green eyes fell upon the museum, they felt their mouth go dry. The brightly colored entrance to the popular Powerpuff attraction was less than a few hundred feet away, and it was definitely the closest they had been in nearly three years time. Not since...

"Alfred," the redhead's voice was uncharacteristically quiet as she remained frozen in her stare, "...Turn the car around... now."

Princess could not see it, but behind their mask, Joey had felt just as paralyzed by the same sight. As the limousine made a slow u-turn, Joey only felt their uneasiness subside when they glanced to their left and noticed Princess' still blank stare for the first time. "...Princess? ...You alright?"

The sixteen-year-old's wide brown eyes glistened a little as she slowly blinked and began to shake her head, "Yeah..." she spoke softly as she turned her face away from Joey, "Yeah... I'm fine..."

Joey watched Princess closely as she seemed to shield her face from them. The short girl lifted a hand to her face and although she tried to hide it, Joey could tell from how her body shook that she was either fighting back tears or hiding the ones that fell then. Joey knew why the Discovery Dome made them feel the way they did, but... why did it clearly upset Princess so much?

"I..." Joey hesitated, but went on, "I... hate that place too."

Princess still kept herself faced away from Joey, but Joey noticed that she seemed to perk up a little from what they said and so they continued.

"When I was a kid... I went there and... it was the worst night of my life," Joey gulped. "Like... the worst. You know... I've been through some shit, but... that night was still the worst," Joey shook their head as they tried to keep the painful memory at bay, "I honestly can't look at that stupid museum without wanting to blame everything wrong in my life on its very existence. I... fucking hate it."

Princess wiped at her face before slowly turning back to face Joey again. She tried to study Joey further, but it was near impossible to read anything with their face covered. The way they had just spoken to her- Princess wanted to believe that they were being sincere, but... it was hard for the young villainess to imagine. What could be worse than the sin Princess was guilty of thanks to that museum? There was no way Joey could really hate the Discovery Dome as much as she.

"You're just saying that to be nice," Princess concluded as she turned her head away from them once more and stared out the window.

"No, I'm not," Joey frowned behind their mask. "I mean... I can tell that you're upset and that's why I told you, but... it's true. That place bugs me so much- sometimes when I get to thinkin' about what happened and it starts to really get to me- you know?- the only thing that makes me feel better is closing my eyes and imagining that whole place on fire."

Princess' eyes widened. "I... do the same thing."

"Really?" Joey turned their head and Princess responded with a nod. "...Huh. ...Cool."

Both teenagers were silent for a while. As the limo continued down the street, several more cop cars whizzed past them. Joey followed the red and blue sirens with their eyes as they sped for the east side of the city. "You know..." they spoke out loud as the idea surfaced, "With all the cops and my si- uh- er, the Powerpuff Girls all busy on the other side of town... we could do it."

Princess looked at Joey and stared for a moment. She then laughed, "What? You mean set the Discovery Dome on fire?"

"Well..." Joey shrugged. "Yeah... if ya want..."

Princess stared again. "Joey..." her voice was soft at first, but as a sly smile slowly swept her face, she raised her voice once more, "Oh my God! Yes! We could totally do it!"

Joey laughed a little. "Dude. Really?"

"I'm serious if you're serious!"

"Dude. I'm serious."

Princess squealed as she clapped her hands excitedly. "Ooh! This is going to be great!" She leaned forward in her seat as she called out to Alfred, "Alfred, we'll need to stop and get supplies! We'll need gasoline! And matches! And-" Princess paused as she looked to Joey, "What else will we need?"

Joey shrugged, "I think gas and matches will pretty much do the trick."

"Perfect!" Princess sat back in her seat once more and nestled up close to Joey, causing the teen to blush once more behind their mask. Princess spoke up to Alfred again, "Step on it, Alfred! Time's tickin'!"

Mojo had been standing at the base of the volcano frozen in shock for a long time. He had known the museum trip would be a difficult one to face, but until he could truly face it, Mojo knew he'd be unable to get past it. It was always there, taunting him in the distance from his view up on the water tower. It held a power over him, and that was unacceptable. He could not continue to let this "Discovery Dome" get in the way of his ultimate goal, and so there he was, ready to take his power back.

He studied the dark rock of the volcano mountain which had been polished so heavily, its surface was like dark glass now and it bore his own reflection as he stood and stared back at it. He wondered if it was even still the same volcano it used to be, or did they somehow demolish that, too? Slowly, he reached out and touched the smooth, glistening finish. Truthfully, he still wasn't sure what to make of it.

The short simian stepped away from the rocky base once more and looked to his right. The steps that had once led to the top of his lair had been replaced by a fully functional escalator. As Mojo approached it, he saw that a metal chain ran across the entrance to the motorized steps, with a sign that read: "Sorry! We're closed! Hours: 8AM - 4PM." He clutched the chain with his fist, and broke it away. The escalator was not powered then, but that did not matter to Mojo. One step at a time, he ascended to the top, as he kept his gaze focused intently on the observatory entrance up ahead.

Mojo stood outside the entrance to the museum, and got his first up-close look at the exterior walls of his old lair. The entire structure had once been made of mostly iron, among other metals, but the renovations had since replaced the exterior with girlishly pastel colored, crystal-like panels of bright pink, blue and green. He followed the colorful checkerboard patterns up to the telescope that protruded from the side of the observatory and saw that it had been repainted with the same offensive color scheme. Bright neon lights ran along the outer panels of the entire structure and illuminated the evening sky around the museum. The tiny lights blinked in an alternating fashion- first pink, then blue, then green. As Mojo watched the twinkling glow fade in and out between the colors, he swore he could hear the sound of three little girls laughing at him in that moment.

As the distant giggles grew louder in his head, Mojo clenched his eyes shut as he tried to ignore the rising pressure in his mutant mind. The chimp grinded his teeth as he felt the rage beginning to grow within him. He hadn't even made it inside, and already what he had witnessed was enough to shake his very core. The laughter grew louder and louder as his brain began to pulsate painfully. They taunted Mojo for his ultimate defeat. Not only had they imprisoned Mojo in solitude for six years, but they had also managed to take the one thing that was undoubtedly his and his alone. How dare they.

Mojo had been the one to think to utilize the once neglected and uncultivated piece of land. Mojo had been the one to ingeniously harness the otherwise useless volcano's core for energy- the very energy he imagined powered those annoying, twinkling little pink, blue and green lights. It was Mojo's innovative designs that were responsible for the massive dome structure, and it was Mojo's own brilliantly evil scheme that persuaded the Powerpuffs to build it for him. Discovery Dome? There would be no Discovery Dome if it weren't for Mojo. And as all these known truths swirled around the simian's head then, the final piece of irony to break what little sanity he had left leapt to the forefront of his mind:

There would be no Powerpuff Girls if it weren't for Mojo Jojo.

"CURSE YOU, POWERPUFF GIRLS!" Mojo Jojo's loud cry echoed in the night.

The short villain tore off his purple scarf and swiftly wrapped it around his fist. He shattered the tall glass entrance to the museum with a single, powerful punch. As the glass fell away, Mojo wasted no time in charging inside, and as his eyes fell on the Powerpuff-themed lobby, the rage he felt was only ignited further. His primal primate instincts took over, and there was no stopping Mojo from tearing everything in sight apart.

The nearby life sized cardboard cut-outs of the three Puffs was what Mojo shredded to bits first. He tore off the heads of his enemies and flung the heavy cardboard material back through the broken glass entrance behind him, before running on all fours further into the museum.

From the far away curved ceiling above, dangled bright pink, blue and green colored glass orbs that formed a massive double helix. The intricate glass DNA structure was the centerpiece of the main room and was next to catch Mojo's eye. He swiftly leapt upon the informational board beside it and leapt again for the dangling, twisting ladder. As he swung from the exhibit, the softball sized balls of glass shook loose and began to crash onto the ground below. Mojo forcefully shook the delicate statue with all his might, determined to see every last colorful molecule shattered forever. The short simian cackled loudly and maniacally as he watched the pieces fall and perish. Once the exhibit had been reduced to bare wires, Mojo finally let go and swiftly glided over the piles of shattered glass that coated the floor.

He stood momentarily in the center of the main room as his wild eyes darted about, searching for the next target of his rampage. They settled on a sign that pointed down a narrowing hallway labeled "Creation of the Powerpuff Girls" and the words "Powerpuff Girls" accompanied by an arrow was all it took to convince the mad ape to follow it. Once again, the chimp took off on all fours and ran directly for the next exhibit.

As Mojo rounded the corner of the narrowed hall, his mind was still focused on one thing and one thing alone, and that was destruction. However, before he reached the double doored entrance to the exhibit's room, there was a smaller exhibit further down the hall that immediately grabbed his attention and stopped him in his tracks. The madness in his eyes faded as his furious scowl softened. He turned away from the creation room's doors and slowly approached what he saw.

The exhibit piece was too small to warrant its own room and so it stood in the middle of the darkened hallway. "Mutations in Science," was the bold text that headlined the small informational plaque which stood beside the simple rectangular glass case. Displayed inside the clear box was Mojo Jojo's old villainous uniform, his boots, his gloves, his cape and his helmet. The purple, blue and white clothing was worn by a clear mannequin, as if an invisible version of himself wore it then. As Mojo stood before the sealed case, his own reflection filled out the blank faced glass head that wore his helmet, and a devious smirk swept his face slowly. There he was- the most powerful villain Townsville had ever known- Mojo Jojo.

He removed his scarf once more and carefully wrapped his hand with it again so that he could safely break away the glass. As he snatched the helmet off the mannequin's head, he could not help but erupt into another fit of loud, maniacal laughter which echoed throughout the empty museum. Once he had retrieved his trusted protective headgear, he swiftly removed the wool cap from his head and slowly lowered the helmet over his oversized brain. Once his helmet was fixed, he quickly snatched the rest of his uniform from the museum's display.

"At last," the simian spoke to himself as he fastened his purple triangular belt buckle around his waist. He removed the final piece from the mannequin with his white gloved hands- his long purple cloak- and savored the moment the draped fabric fell upon his shoulders, "Mojo is Mojo once more."

His echoing evil laugh filled the museum again as he celebrated his latest victory, but as he tilted his head upward his eyes fell on a tiny red flashing light that blinked on top of a surveillance camera and he stopped. "Hmph," Mojo glared at the recording device. "Even though all Mojo has taken is what is rightfully Mojo's to take, I suppose I should locate this accursed museum's security room and destroy any evidence of Mojo's activity tonight..."

As the short simian retreated back to the main lobby, he stopped again as he heard a pair of voices in the distance.

"Woah. Watch out, there's a bunch of broken glass everywhere... Jeez, it looks like somebody else came by and trashed the place before we could..."

"Huh. Well, I'm glad we're not the only ones in this stupid city who know this place deserves to get wrecked. But just broken glass? Come on, Joey. You and I can do better than that, right?"

"Ha! Right!"

"Let's go!"

Mojo hid against the wall as he cautiously peered around the corner. His eyes fell upon two teenagers running hand in hand with one another. He saw that they each carried a red canister of gasoline with them as they skipped across the room together and laughed. Mojo stepped out from the shadows as he recognized the redhead and her masked "lackey," and watched them disappear through the museum's gift shop entrance.

"Hmph..." Mojo looked on with growing curiosity, "What are the odds?"

"Blegh," a look of pure disgust swept the redhead's face the moment she stepped inside the gift shop. "Have you ever seen a bigger collection of tacky pastel garbage before in your life, Joey?"

Joey responded with a short laugh as they stood beside Princess and looked out at the same sea of Powerpuff themed merchandise. "Yeah. What sorta chump buys this crap anyway?" They plucked a Buttercup candy Pez dispenser from a nearby shelf, broke off the green Puff's head, and poured the candies into their gloved palm before tossing the broken and emptied dispenser over their shoulder.

Princess watched as Joey lifted their mask just slightly as they shoveled the small mountain of candy into their mouth. They licked their lips for a moment before lowering their mask again and venturing further into the gift shop with a red gas canister in hand. Princess smiled a little as she watched them pass. She would be lying if she said she still did not wish to see what Joey looked like behind their Halloween mask. She wondered about it quite often. So it was nice to learn that, in fact, Joey had lips- nice ones at that.

"Hey, Joey," Princess began as she watched Joey casually tip over a circular display rack of Powerpuff themed keychains as they passed it. "Can I ask you something?"

Joey turned back to face Princess and shrugged. "Sure."

Princess walked over to them, taking her own red canister of gasoline with her. "I hope this doesn't offend you, but..." she paused as she sat her canister at her feet and stood just before Joey. "When I first met you at that rock show, when I watched you on stage I thought you were a boy. Then when you said your friends called you 'Fea' 'cause it meant 'ugly,' I looked it up later to see if it really meant that and I learned it meant 'ugly girl,' so... I figured you were a girl after that. But. Your name is Joey..."

Joey laughed from behind their mask. "Uh," they paused as they scratched their shaggy black hair for a moment, "Are you trying to ask me if I'm a boy or a girl?"

Even in the dark, Joey noticed the blush on Princess' cheeks. "Well... yeah..."

Joey thought for a moment. "I don't know," they shrugged as they sat down their red can of gasoline at their feet. To Joey's left was a display shelf of Powerpuff plush dolls. "I guess..." they reached for the third shelf and took one of the green Powerpuff dolls in their gloved hands. "I guess you could say that I was supposed to be a girl, but," Joey kicked the shelf of plushies with their foot, tipping it over completely. As the display crashed to the ground, Joey tossed the Buttercup doll away with it, "I guess I was supposed to be a lot of things..."

Princess tilted her head curiously as she studied Joey whose gaze seemed fixed on the fallen display on the ground.

Joey turned and looked at Princess once more. "I don't know," they repeated again. "The more I think about it, the more I feel like I'm not really anything. Like... I don't think I'm either." They laughed a little, "I'm... not exactly what you'd call a normal human being. So yeah," they shrugged, "Boy or girl. It's all the same to me, and I don't really care what anyone wants to call me. It don't matter. None of it applies to me. That stuff's just for regular people, you know? But I'm not. I'm different."

Princess stared up at Joey. Once again, she wished she could see their face as they spoke then. "You are different," she smiled a little as she picked up her gas canister once more. Joey watched as she walked past them and towards the back of the gift shop, "By the way," she glanced over her shoulder as she walked, "I like different."

Joey blushed from behind their mask, "...Cool." They picked up their gas canister once more and followed Princess.

The bright neon pink and blue lights wove through the streets of Downtown at lightning speed. The fast moving Powerpuffs had their supervision focused on every nook, backstreet and alleyway as they thoroughly searched the east side together. As they completed their fifth consecutive sweep, they slowed as they reached the heart of the city once more and ascended into the air.

"Rats," Blossom muttered as they hovered over the city. Her pink eyes still stubbornly scanned the streets below as she spoke, "Still nowhere in sight..."

Bubbles shook her head in disbelief, "It's like he vanished into thin air."

"That's impossible," the pink Puff declared definitively. "He's got to be somewhere. He can't just disappear."

Bubbles shrugged. "We know he's not a normal human. He's got a bulletproof body and super speed and super strength. What if he can?"

Blossom deactivated her supervision and looked at Bubbles. She blinked at her for a moment, before opening her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. "Finally!" Blossom quickly retrieved her cell, assuming it to be Buttercup at last returning one of her many missed calls, but it was not. "Oh," she raised the phone to her ear and answered, "Sorry, Mayor, we still haven't found anything, but we haven't given up yet! The Alien can't be far!"

"Hello, Blossom," Mayor Bellum spoke on the other end. "Yes, our patrol units have had no luck either. However, I'm calling to report another matter."

Blossom straightened her posture as she adjusted her phone against her ear.

"We've received some calls about a possible fire at the Discovery Dome-" as soon as the mayor said it, Blossom quickly turned in the air and faced the west. Her bubblegum eyes widened as she noticed the small dark trail of smoke that seemed to rise out from one of the dome building's windows, "With all our units on the east searching for the Alien," the mayor continued on the line, "Could one of you girls investigate-"

"I see it, Mayor," Blossom interrupted with a nod, "And I'm on it." She hung up her cell and exhaled deeply, "Oh my God, what is up with today?!" She looked at Bubbles. "Bubbles, I need you to stay here and keep looking for the Alien. I'll be able to take care of a fire in no time. After that, I'll go pick up Buttercup at home so we can continue our hunt for the Alien as a team," Blossom sighed heavily, "She's probably still asleep."

"OK," Bubbles nodded, "Got it."

"If you find anything call me ASAP," Blossom instructed, "I'll do the same."

Bubbles nodded again and watched as her sister shot off quickly towards the Discovery Dome.

"Woah," both teenagers breathed in unison as they stood side by side outside the open doors to the Discovery Dome gift shop. They watched in wide-eyed amazement as the glowing hot red flames engulfed the entire room before them. A child-like wonder glistened in each of their eyes as they wore enthusiastic grins and watched the hundreds of Powerpuffs burn and disintegrate within the shop.

As the flames rose higher within the room, there was a sudden small burst as the fire broke through the shop's rear window. When the tiny fiery explosion popped, Joey watched as Princess' brown eyes only grew wider as she continued to grin and stare. They had been just as mesmerized by the flames as Princess, but as Joey glanced at her then, they somehow found the fire's glow that reflected in the dark eyes of the freckle faced girl even more captivating. The fire itself was truly awe-inspiring, but Joey imagined the burning light would have been much less picturesque without the redhead there standing beside it. "Beautiful" was not a regular part of Joey's vocabulary, but as the red glow illuminated Princess then, Joey could simply not find another word for the scene. She was beautiful... even as she clung to the headless Bubbles plush doll in her arms.

"Come on!" Princess giggled girlishly as she took Joey by the arm and gleefully began to lead them away, "Let's burn more!"

As the teenagers scurried across the main lobby once more with their gas canisters in hand, they were unaware of the eyes that watched them closely on the security monitors.

Mojo could not help but cackle quietly to himself as he watched the gift shop's camera feed become fully snuffed by the burning fire. Once the small screen turned to static, his eyes shifted to the next monitor and he followed the teenagers while they ran together into the next room.

Mojo reclined in the security office's desk chair and wore a contemplative look. The simian scratched his chin as he pondered out loud, "Hmph. The green Puff continues to perplex me. I still cannot fathom the reason behind the child's actions. Where do the allegiances lie exactly? Buttercup with her sisters- the heroes- and Joey with Princess- a villain?- yet they are the same person! Gah!" Mojo threw up his hands, "There is something Mojo is missing- a mystery- a seemingly unsolvable puzzle- something which cannot be identified- and yet-!" he leaned forward in the chair once more as he watched Joey and Princess cross into the "Powerpuff Creation" room together. He focused intently on the masked teenager, using the security control board to zoom in on the alien face, "Mojo cannot help but wonder if perhaps... even you do not know?" he tapped on the screen with his gloved finger as if he could get the image to answer him, "When you hide your face from everyone, and no one knows who you are... I wonder... do you know? Yes... is that it? Mojo has asked himself what your motivations could be- what reason you have to be seemingly a hero one day and a wannabe villain the next- why is it you would choose to trouble yourself with the complexities of juggling two worlds at once... but perhaps... you are on a quest to find yourself?" as the thought dawned on him then, Mojo's eyes widened momentarily as the alien face turned and almost appeared to look directly at the camera right in that moment. "Yes..." Mojo breathed to himself as a devious smirk swept his face, "That is it. Isn't it?"

Mojo readjusted the camera's lens so that it pulled back once more, and he watched as Joey slowly approached a large movie screen within the darkened room with a gas canister in hand. The teenager soaked the bottom of the stage with a generous amount of gasoline before stepping back and gazing upward. Above the blank screen were the words: "Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice." Below that were more words that Mojo could not read from the monitor's footage.

However, Mojo did not have to see the creation exhibit himself to know that it was inaccurate. "Sugar, spice and everything nice, with an accidental dose of Chemical-X." Yes, that is what created the Powerpuff Girls. Yes, it was Professor Utonium who added the first three ingredients together. But there was no doubt in Mojo's mind that the exhibit failed to mention who it was that added Chemical-X to Utonium's concoction, and that was Mojo himself. Mojo knew they would never give him credit for the creation of Townsville's beloved superheroes, and Mojo often wished he could forget such a fact himself. However, as he watched Joey stare at the text of the infamous "creation story" through the alien mask, he could not help but wonder if Joey still remembered this truth.

"Hmmm..."

Suddenly, there was a flash across one of the security monitor's that stole Mojo's gaze. He returned his attention to the monitor screen which displayed the museum's main lobby. The doors to the still blazing gift shop were visible on the feed, and Mojo realized that the flash he had seen out of the corner of his eye had belonged to Blossom who now stood outside the open doorway. He watched as the pink Puff quickly utilized her ice breath to extinguish the flames.

"Uh oh," Mojo's eyes shifted once more to the creation room's monitor and saw that neither Joey nor Princess seemed aware of the Powerpuff Girl's arrival. He looked again to Blossom and saw that she was already done with the fire and appeared to look around and was surely about to begin her investigation. As soon as he saw this the short villain quickly scrambled to erase all of the footage that had been gathered that night.

Mojo quickly struck a series of buttons and switches that resulted in the collection of monitors to go suddenly blank. Once the hack was complete, he rolled the swivel chair he sat upon backwards and leapt onto his feet. As he did so, his eyes fell on a grated vent beneath the workstation and he quickly moved to remove the grate, knowing the vent could be his perfect route to safety. The chimp quickly popped the grate from the narrow passageway's opening, but then paused for a moment and hesitated.

Mojo stood once more and quickly relocated the museum's main power switch upon the control board. He flipped the switch, before swiftly disappearing into the vent and replacing the steel grate behind him.

Joey and Princess stood side by side by the room's entrance and took one final look at the Powerpuff-themed exhibit. Princess held out an open palm towards Joey as she grinned deviously at the gas-soaked room, "Joey. Another match, please."

Joey reached into their pocket and pulled out a single matchstick. They placed it in Princess' open palm, "Here ya go."

Princess smirked as she held the match. She was just about to strike it against the doorframe behind them when the lights to the museum suddenly flashed on, as well as the giant movie screen before them. Both teens jumped from the unexpected narration that began to play loudly within the room:

"Sugar... spice... and everything nice... These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girl..."

"Oh shit," Joey quickly spun around as their mask's eye sockets glowed green with their supervision. Their x-ray vision gazed through the far wall down the hallway and Joey cursed again as they discovered a pink Puff in the lobby. "Fuck! Blossom's here!"

"What?" Princess blinked at Joey in confusion. "How do you know-?" the redhead was cut short by Joey who grabbed her by the wrist and began to pull her along as they ran.

"Come on! We gotta go!" Joey led Princess quickly further down the hallway, attempting to find another path back towards the museum entrance so they could make an escape.

"But," Princess struggled to keep up with Joey as they ran, "I don't understand!"

"I told ya Blossom is here! We gotta leave before she finds us-" Joey stopped as they came to the end of the narrow hallway. There was only one set of doors, and no other path, so Joey continued through the doors only to find it was another exhibit room that contained no other exit. "Fuck-fuck-fuck!" they cursed again as they spun around frantically, "There's nowhere to go!" Their instinct was to grab Princess and create a fast exit through the dome's ceiling, but Joey knew that Blossom had yet to discover that "the Alien" could fly and they ideally wanted to keep that fact a secret from her if at all possible. Still, as Blossom drew nearer, Joey feared they might not have another choice...

"Whoever is out there! I know you're here!" the pink Powerpuff's voice echoed down the hallway.

"FUCK!" Joey cursed again. They quickly scrambled to retrieve their black beanie cap from their back pocket and quickly tugged it over their head, hiding their shaggy black hair.

"Holy shit. It is Blossom!" Princess' eyes widened at first, but then suddenly narrowed with determination. The redhead reached for her waistband and swiftly removed her blaster rayguns.

"Woah! Put those away!" Joey pushed the guns back down just as Princess raised them. "You can't just go after her!"

"What?!" Princess snapped back. "Why not?!"

Joey's vision glowed green briefly once more as they checked the hall for Blossom again. She was getting closer. "Because-" Joey thought for a moment, "Well, 'cause... 'cause what about your plan?! Uh, humiliate, torment-"

"Torture."

"Right, torture! And then destroy, right?"

"Oh, Joey, you remembered!" Princess fluttered her eyelashes. "Does that mean you'll help me after all?"

"Sure whatever but first we gotta figure out how to get outta here!" Joey spun around again, and their eyes settled on a small vent near the back of the room. They grabbed Princess by their wrist once more and dragged her along to the square metal grate and swiftly ripped it away. "Go-go-go!" Joey stood behind Princess as they hurried her inside the small opening. It was wide enough for the short villainess to fit.

As Princess crawled inside the vent, Joey looked back over their shoulder with their glowing gaze once more, "FUCK!" they cursed again as they saw Blossom just steps away from reaching the shut exhibit room door. "She's here!" Joey shouted down at Princess who had just made her way into the metal shaft, "Go! Get back to the entrance! I'll hold her off!"

"What?! But Joey-" Princess was interrupted by the sudden slam of the grate behind her. She turned around and saw Joey move across the room within a blink of the eye and reach the door just as it appeared to crack open. Joey threw the weight of their body against it, immediately slamming it back shut once more.

"HEY!" shouted Blossom on the other side, and as Joey still leaned against the door, Princess could tell that Blossom was trying to force it back open.

Princess watched as Joey struggled to keep Blossom from breaking inside. They leaned their shoulder against the door and held onto the handle with one hand as the door thumped against their thin frame repeatedly. Joey looked back over their shoulder at Princess through the grate. They lifted one hand to their mask and lifted it slightly once more, showing only their mouth. "GO" was the word they mouthed silently to Princess, before lowering their mask once more and returning their full attention to keeping the door shut as Blossom continued to fight on the other side.

As much as Princess did not want to abandon Joey then, there was nothing else she could do, and so she reluctantly turned back around in the vent and quickly began to crawl away.

As soon as the room's door had slammed shut in Blossom's face, she knew somebody was inside. "HEY!" she shouted as she reached for the door's handle again and tried to force it open. There was a force on the other side keeping her from doing so, and whatever it was it had to be pretty powerful to compete with the Powerpuff Girl's strength.

After struggling for several moments, Blossom's bubblegum eyes began to shine bright with her x-ray vision. She peered beyond the door and gasped to herself as her vision locked on the alien mask on the other side, "The Alien?!" The unexpected sight of the masked villain was enough to give the hero an extra boost of strength. She forced the door just open wide enough and just quick enough for her to quickly slip her right foot through the crack in the doorway as she continued to try and force her way inside, "Nowhere to run now, Alien!" she shouted through the door, "I can see that you've got yourself cornered now! Surrender now and make it easy on yourself!"

The Alien was silent on the other side.

Blossom felt the door squeeze against her wedged sneaker as she fought to keep the slight upper hand she had gained against her opponent. The Alien's strength continued to surprise her, but she still felt confident that it was only a matter of time before she would have him. Of course, in the back of Blossom's mind still was her promise to her sibling. She wasn't supposed to be the one to catch the Alien. It was supposed to be Buttercup. Blossom knew in order for that to still happen, then she would need to keep the Alien in that room until she could get Buttercup there. She carefully readjusted her position, leaning her right shoulder against the door, with her right hand still on the handle and reached for her cell in her pants pocket with her left hand. The weight of the door grew heavier as she struggled to simultaneously dial for her sister.

It went directly to voicemail. "You have reached-" Blossom ended the call before the automated message could finish.

"Dammit, Buttercup! Seriously?!"

She dialed Bubbles next and got an answer after the first ring, "Hello?"

"Bubbles! Go home and get Buttercup now! Bring her to the Discovery Dome! I have the Alien cornered! Hurry, alright?!"

"What?! Really?!"

"Yes! Now go!" Blossom ended the call and let her cell fall to the ground as she refocused all her efforts on the door once more. "Give it up!" she shouted to the Alien inside. "It's only a matter of time before you're caught!"

Once again, Blossom received no reply on the other side from the Alien. Little did the hero know, behind the green faced mask, her sibling was silently cursing her name right then. Joey knew that as soon as the blue Puff arrived, with the two of them on the other side... it would soon be over for the green Puff.

"BUTTERCUP!" Bubbles' high pitched call echoed throughout the entire Utonium household as the baby blue light burst through the front door. The blue Powerpuff paused momentarily at their living room entrance and saw that only Buttercup's blanket remained on their family sofa. She shot off for her sibling's bedroom next.

Bubbles knocked on the door, "Buttercup! Blossom's found the Alien! We gotta go!"

When she received no answer, Bubbles held her breath as she dared to open the door without her sibling's permission.

"Buttercup, I'm coming in, OK?!" Bubbles shouted as she turned the door knob and pushed the door open.

Bubbles stepped inside the room and quickly realized that Buttercup was not inside. She turned towards the birdcage on her sibling's dresser and quickly zipped over to the birds.

"Lorenzo! Maria! Have you seen Buttercup?" Bubbles chirped quickly.

"No, Bubbles, sorry."

Bubbles frowned as she looked about the empty room once more. "Where on Earth could she be?"

The path ahead of Princess was dark, but she hurried along as fast as she could. She wondered if once she found her way out, if she'd be able to somehow help Joey from getting caught. After all, Princess did not care for most people, but she really liked Joey. If the Powerpuff Girls arrested them, there would be no mercy. Townsville in fact already labled the Alien "a supervillain." That was reason enough to land Joey a life sentence inside the Villains Ward. If that happened... she may never see them again.

As Princess crawled through the tight tunnel path of the observatory's vent system, she could hear the distant voice of the pink Powerpuff threatening her lackey in the distance behind her. "Ugh!" she muttered angrily to herself as she quickly scooted upon her knees, "How dare that loud mouthed redhead interrupt my otherwise perfect night out with Joey! Ooh! I can't wait until I get the chance to make her pay for this!"

The vent's path sloped upward for a while until Princess came to a point where she could either continue straight, turn left or turn right. She tried to remember just where in the museum they had just been and guess which path would lead her towards an exit, but the anxious events of the night caused the young girl to feel slightly disoriented. She hesitantly chose the left vent and continued forward. She speedily crawled along that tunnel for several hundred more feet before she began to make out another intersection up ahead. As she drew closer, her brown eyes widened as she noticed a shadow moving towards her up ahead.

"Oh," Mojo halted inside the vent as his eyes fell upon the redhead some several feet ahead on the other side of the divide, "Hello, Princess."

Princess stopped in her tracks as her jaw instantly dropped. She blinked back at the chimp in stunned shock.

"Well," Mojo's eyes darted to the path to his left momentarily, "It was nice running into you!"

Princess watched as the short simian scurried quickly down the tunnelway. She screamed.

"AHH! GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID MONKEY!"

"One: Mojo is not a monkey!" Mojo shouted back at the furious teenager that desperately crawled after him, "Mojo is a chimpanzee- an ape! There is a difference! Two: Mojo is not stupid! Mojo possesses superior intelligence and advanced intellect! In fact-" The villain stopped for a moment as he punched away the loose metal panel just before him. The long armed ape quickly slipped through the opening, and swung himself onto the dangling bare wires of the destroyed DNA structure some several feet away. He swiftly slid down the hanging wire and landed on the ground below.

Princess reached the vent opening and popped her head out just in time to see the chimp's acrobatic leap onto the floor. She balanced herself carefully as she tried to reach with one arm for the same wire Mojo had managed to grab, but it was impossible for the short girl.

Mojo turned back to face Princess and wore a smirk as he shouted up at her, "Some would call Mojo a genius!" He ran across the lobby and towards the observatory entrance, but stopped again. "An EVIL genius!" he added before laughing maniacally and disappearing out of sight.

Princess screamed again as she watched Mojo make his escape. "THIS IS NOT OVER, MONKEY MAN!"

As furious as Princess was, she knew she still had to find her own way out. There was no way she could safely drop from the same exit Mojo had created, and truthfully since her accident Princess still had a slight fear of heights. She continued ahead until she came to another split, and chose the path that sloped downward. The petite girl flipped onto her back and slid down the long tunnel. The steep slope carried Princess quickly down the fifty-foot drop. As she reached the end of the vent, her feet conveniently kicked out the grate before her and the villainess slid out and onto the tiled floor of the museum lobby.

Princess scrambled onto her feet and rushed for the entrance. She stepped out onto the observatory deck and looked around quickly, hoping maybe she'd find Mojo still, but he was gone. "Ugh! Where could he have gone so fast?!"

Princess heard the blare of a car horn in the distance. She looked down beyond the museum's elevator steps and saw Alfred behind the wheel of her limo. He motioned for her to come, but Princess hesitated. Joey was still inside with Blossom.

Suddenly, Princess had a thought. She reached inside her pants pocket and retrieved the matchstick Joey had given to her earlier and grasped it firmly. "Keep the engine running, Alfred! I'll be right back!" Princess instructed before she hurried back inside the museum.

The teenager ran as fast as her short legs could carry her. She arrived at the Powerpuff creation exhibit, struck the match in her hand, tossed it inside the room and swiftly retreated back the way she came. "Oh God! I hope that works!"

The gasoline drenched exhibit not only successfully caught fire, but as that fire spread fast. It quickly engulfed the doorway to the exhibit, and the two abandoned gas canisters that sat on the other side were just near enough to catch the heat of the fast rising flames. Within seconds, there was a loud, fiery explosion.

Blossom physically jumped from the sudden unexpected thundering boom, and her pink eyes widened in shock as she witnessed the fiery blast just down the hall behind her.

Joey heard the same explosion on the other side of the door, and although they did not see what caused it, they could tell by their sister's loud gasp that it had surprised her. Joey immediately let go of their hold on the door, and the momentarily distracted pink Puff who still pressed against the other side with all her might landed face first against the ground as she fell inside the room. Before Blossom could react, a pair of gloved hands gripped her by her t-shirt and she was yanked forcefully back up off the ground.

Joey raised Blossom over their head and tossed her against the far wall. The back of the pink Puff's head slammed hard against the surface, knocking her into a daze upon impact, and she slid down onto the floor with a thud.

As soon as Joey had chucked the girl away from them, they bolted immediately from the room and back down the hall. The swift shadow leapt over the flames in their path and continued towards the main lobby. Just as they reached the shattered entranceway they came mask to face with the blue-eyed girl in pigtails who had just arrived.

"Omigosh!" Bubbles exclaimed in complete surprise as she nearly collided head on with the masked figure. "The Alien!"

Joey retreated immediately, moving as quickly as they could without summoning their green light trail. They had always been faster than their sisters, but that advantage was severely lessened by their handicap. No matter, Joey was determined to get out of there still without getting caught. Especially now that they had just knocked one sibling out- there was no way Blossom was going to forgive them for this.

Joey ran swiftly beyond the charbroiled gift shop, and kept their eyes peeled for another vent like the one that had saved Princess. If they could find one before Bubbles managed to close the gap between them, then maybe they could slip through before she could see them do it. Sure enough, Joey spotted a lowered vent ahead and they immediately went for it.

Bubbles rounded the same corner the Alien had just taken a split second earlier. The skinny villain was fast. She knew this about the Alien, but she still hadn't the slightest clue how fast until she came around the corner completely and realized that within that split second the Alien had managed to vanish.

Blossom rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head as she dizzily rose to her feet. It took a moment for the dazed girl to gather her surroundings. The masked villain was strong. She, of course, knew this about the Alien, but she never imagined he would be that strong. It even seemed as if he possessed just as much strength as she- a Powerpuff.

As the pink Puff flew out of the room, she immediately came across the still blazing fire. The superhero drew a deep breath as she faced the flames. A powerful icestorm escaped from Blossom's red painted lips and extinguished the fire within seconds. As she did so, Bubbles appeared beside her with a flash of blue light.

"Blossom!" Bubbles shouted as she skittered to a stop. "Did you see the Alien come by here?!"

"No," Blossom answered as the final embers died away, "It's a dead end back there. I had him cornered until-" she rubbed the spot on the back of her head once more. "Nevermind... Come on, quick! Spread and search the museum!"

The vent Joey had slipped inside was a single deep sloped path. The skinny alien could not help but notice how hot the air seemed to grow around them as they quickly slid upon their belly down the slippery hundred foot drop. It was not long before they crashed through the grated opening at the bottom.

The atmosphere was so thick, and the temperature was so high in the glowing red room that Joey had first believed they managed to slide their way directly into a furnace. However as they rose to their feet and looked around, they recognized where they had ended up. It was the basement of the volcano top observatory, and that "basement" sat above a lake of red, hot magma.

There was a platform on which Joey stood and beyond that a narrowed path that stretched across a pool of lava. Joey turned around and saw that there was only one exit from the dead end- a steep staircase that led upwards. However as Joey reached the first step of the exit, they stopped as their super hearing picked up on the sonic beams of two fast flying Puffs drawing nearer. One approached from above and was coming towards that very stairway, and the other sounded as if she had managed to find the same vent system Joey had utilized and was soon zooming down the same path.

"Shit..." Joey muttered quietly as they began to back away from the staircase. Behind their alien mask, their green eyes had grown wide with panic as they darted about the room in search of an answer. As the heat of the magma intensified against Joey's back, they turned around and looked down at the fiery lake some fifty-feet below the platform.

"Well," Joey gulped, "Here goes nothin'..."

The skinny teenager lifted their mask and pinched their nose before diving into the lava below.

The Alien had sunk deep into the molten lake by the time their sisters had arrived. A blue light flashed in from the stairway as a pink light zipped through the open vent nearby.

Bubbles and Blossom both looked about the room before facing one another.

"Anything?" Blossom inquired.

"Nothing."

"Me either," Blossom frowned. "And Buttercup?"

"She wasn't home," Bubbles shrugged.

"Unbelievable!" Blossom could not help but feel frustrated. She sighed. "Come on. This guy can't have gotten far. Let's search outside-"

"What if he's not there either?"

"Then we'll search the entire west side-"

"But what if-"

"Bubbles!" Blossom snapped in frustration, "We'll search the whole city tonight again if we have to! Ugh! I can't believe I had him, and I let him slip right through my fingers! I was just trying to buy some time for Buttercup to get here! I should have just acted on my own!"

"OK..." Bubbles squeaked. "...Sorry."

Blossom frowned and sighed again. "It's not your fault, Bubbles. I just... ugh," Blossom shook her head. "Nevermind. Let's go!"

And with that, both Powerpuffs shot off with bright flashes of pink and blue.

As Joey held their breath underneath the molten lake, the surrounding magma liquid was so thick, even with their super hearing they could not detect what was taking place above the surface. The green Powerpuff clenched their eyes shut while they tried to count the passing seconds in their mind and estimate when it might be safe to reemerge again. However it was not long before Joey felt the lava around them begin to tickle against their skin, and so they pried their eyes open.

The liquid was so scolding hot, it was difficult to see anything within the blinding bright glow that enveloped the super powered teen. But as the green Puff sloshed about the thick red sludge, it was soon realized that the darkened disguise Joey wore had completely disintegrated. The skinny adolescent held both hands out and saw only scarred arms and fingers, and nothing else. The green Puff was completely exposed. An immediate touch to the face revealed next that there was nothing there but a 'V' shaped scar.

The bare teenager looked about frantically underneath the lava pool as if there might be a way to somehow relocate the Halloween mask. There was an instant wrenching within their chest the moment Joey noticed its absence. Even in just a short time, the sixteen-year-old had become quite attached to the disguise. Deep down, of course, the green Puff knew that the molten liquid had melted it away. Still, it was a difficult reality to accept, and not until several minutes of desperate glances about had passed did the super powered teenager face the inescapable, heart wrenching truth.

The alien mask... was gone.

The loss was so devastating, and so painful that Buttercup remained underneath the surface of the red, molten lake for a much longer period of time than was actually necessary. After all, once the Puff reemerged... what else was left? Without the mask... would there ever be a Joey again? It had taken so much to avoid getting caught by both Blossom and Bubbles, and now it felt as if all that effort had been for nothing. After nearly fifteen minutes of mourning, the glowing hot skinned teenager hesitantly swam to the surface once more.

Buttercup gasped loudly for air and waded through the magma sludge for the nearby platform. As the skinny teenager resurfaced, there was no sight of anyone else there. Being completely exposed, Buttercup was grateful for this. However, as the Puff's bare feet walked along the platform, they came to an abrupt stop as something was noticed on the ground.

A neat bundle of clothes sat upon the floor in the middle of the otherwise empty room. The young Puff was far too uncomfortable standing there naked that it was not even questioned at first. Within a quick flash of green light, the teen quickly put on what was there.

Once dressed, Buttercup glanced down at the outfit and saw that it was a matching set of children's pajamas. The teenager had seen PJs just like it inside the museum gift shop earlier. The children's clothing was far too small for Buttercup. The short sleeved white t-shirt which had Buttercup's five-year-old face printed upon it fit snuggly and exposed the Puff's bellybuttonless abdomen. The pair of lime green Buttercup PJ bottoms were supposed to be pants, but they only reached the tall teenager's boney knees. Despite the tight fit, the green Puff was still thankful to have something.

Buttercup looked about the room once more for some sort of sign as to how the clothing had gotten there. All that was in the red-tinted room was the magma lake, and along the borders of the massive basement were rows of steadily beeping energy panels and switchboards. The green Puff knew what the equipment stored there was what powered the volcano top observatory. After all, it was Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup who had helped build it long ago...

As Buttercup stared at the back wall of panels and tugged uncomfortably on the tight clothing, suddenly there was a voice that echoed from the stairwell behind.

"Thanks to your pyrotechnics, I am afraid there was not much left."

Buttercup whipped around at the sound of the deep echoing voice and saw a shadow drawing near the final step.

"Fortunately though, Mojo discovered an entire back room behind the shop with many many boxes of this green Puff attire. So much, in fact, I would venture to guess that the green Puff merchandise does not sell as well as the others, hmm?"

Buttercup's green eyes fell on Mojo as he came into the room. It was a surprise to see the chimp fully dressed in his old villainous uniform, but more than that, it was simply a shock to see him step from the shadows so casually. Buttercup could do nothing but blink back in stunned confusion as he continued to speak.

Mojo's eyes fell upon the skinny teenager's exposed arms and his eyes widened momentarily at the sight of the dark, heavy scarring, but he quickly shook the surprise away. He looked up at Buttercup's wide green eyes and smirked a little.

"Mojo can see that you are confused, yes?" Mojo continued, holding his hands behind his back as he casually strolled closer, "I must confess, so was I at first. As a mutant chimpanzee who possesses an unmatched level of genius there is not much in this world that befuddles Mojo. Yet, the mysteries that surround you are so endless- so countless- so many, in fact, Mojo would have to call you the most difficult puzzle Mojo has ever attempted to solve. Rumors of zombies, demons, clones, experimentations gone horribly wrong- all fascinating stories- some, dare I say, entertaining- however Mojo can easily see for himself that none of it is true, for Mojo is far too familiar with this accursed city's unsparing cruelty when it comes to those that they deem 'monsters.'" Mojo came just before the skinny teen and stopped. He paused again to glance at the scarred arms for just a moment before he looked up. "The world can be a merciless and vile place, can it not?"

The green Puff stared down at the villain, and hesitated. It was strange, but his tone of voice did not sound threatening. It seemed crazy to think about, but to Buttercup, he spoke not as if he were addressing an enemy, but rather... an old friend. "...Yeah... yeah, it can..."

The admission was quiet, and Mojo sensed the child's hesitation, and so he continued to elaborate his point further.

"Yes," Mojo continued with a sigh, "It is a sad, terrible and unfortunate thing, but a fact of life nonetheless, that people need something to hate. Years ago it was Mojo who the people despised. However, with I, Mojo Jojo- and the rest of the villains for that matter- incarcerated for life, there remained nothing left for the simple-minded to target with their neverending, relentless and unwavering need for acrimony." Mojo waited until the Puff's green eyes, which had been darting about nervously, rested on him once more. "And so... it became you."

The green Puff blinked back, "...How do you-?"

"Like Mojo said, he knows for he has lived it!" Mojo interrupted. "The difference, of course, is that when they call Mojo a freak, at least they do not expect anything from him. But you? They call you both 'hero' and 'monster' and these are simply titles that are impossible to maintain at once! Such identities cannot coexist! Yet those who judge you still refuse to let either label go. They have branded them more deeply than the scar they fear upon your face. What an impossible existence, really- a torturous paradox. How miserable it must be. Really, it is no wonder you have had no choice but to try and reinvent yourself. Is that not right... Joey?"

"...Wh-what-?"

"Forgive Mojo if he assumes too much! However, out of all the names you go by, I was under the impression that 'Joey' was the one name you have given yourself."

Mojo closely watched the teenager who stared back at him with wide green eyes and a dropped jaw. "...You..." the green Puff began slowly, "...You don't know me."

"I know that you are Buttercup who is the Alien who is Joey. Is that not right?"

"What? N-no! I'm not- you can't just- how did you-?" the green Puff stopped and noticed the sly smirk on the simian's face then. "You know I'm supposed to turn you in!"

Mojo laughed directly at the threat. "And to whom exactly? Your sisters? Morbucks?" Mojo shook his head, "Let us not go down those paths, Joey, for they all end the same. No matter what, you cannot undo the fact that Mojo already knows your secret- it was you who broke Mojo and the villains from prison. Whoever's hands you deliver me to, ultimately I will land in police custody, at which point they will undoubtedly question who it was that helped me escape." Mojo smirked, "Which of your names should I give them?"

"They're not going to believe you-"

"Why not?"

"Because you're a villain!"

Mojo laughed again, "Yes, I see your point, however," he held up a finger as he paused, "When it comes to the subject of you, do you really think the people of this city will ignore another chance to sell another story?"

Another silent blank stare.

"That is what Mojo thought." He smirked. "Do not worry though, for Mojo is willing to keep your secret. As I stated earlier, Mojo can sympathize with your plight. Of course, though, such favors still do come with a price..."

Buttercup gulped. "...What do you want?"

Mojo could see the fear behind the pair of emerald eyes that stared back at him. He laughed a little, "There is no reason to be so nervous, Joey! All Mojo needs is help with one, lone, singular task- nothing further- just a simple, small job. You do this for Mojo and Mojo will keep your secret. A fair exchange, I would say. Once it is done, we go our separate ways- you never saw Mojo, and Mojo never saw you. Then, you may carry on being whoever it is you are."

The glimmer behind the villain's eyes still made the young hero feel uneasy. "...What is it then?"

Mojo smirked. "Tonight, is not the night," he answered simply. He turned away from the teenager, his long purple cape fluttering behind him as he went. As he walked towards the staircase with his hands behind his back, the green Puff followed one step behind him. "Not with your sisters out searching for the Alien, that is. The risk is much too high. No, it is probably safest for us each to retire for the rest of this evening. Perhaps we may begin tomorrow."

"OK... but wh-what are you gonna make me do?"

A short laugh. "Ha! Again with the apprehensiveness!" The villain and hero continued to travel together as they ascended the basement steps. "Mojo will not ask anything of you which you have not done before! It is certainly a task you are familiar with, and a job for which you have much experience! If all goes to plan, it will be done in a night!"

As the pair reached the top of the staircase, they came to another set of doors which led them back out into the main lobby. The two halted in unison at the observatory doorway as their eyes fell on the two bright beams of light that tore through the summer night sky. The streaks of pink and blue raced side by side and towards the coastline in the west.

"Return home," Mojo spoke low as he watched the fading lights, "Tomorrow, meet me after sundown at the water tower."

"Wait..." Buttercup blinked. "The water tower?"

"Yes. I trust you know where that is," Mojo smirked again before continuing past the dumbfounded teenager. With the power still on within the museum, the escalator was operational once more. Buttercup watched as the short villain stepped onto the motorized steps, his cape blowing in the wind as he descended. "Until tomorrow night!" he shouted behind him. "Farewell for now, Joey!"

~Spanish/Mexican slang Translations~

tía - aunt

abuela - grandmother

otra vez - again

nada - nothing

Sabemos que ella nació en una cuna de oro - literally "We both know she was born in a golden cradle," which is a saying similar to "born with a silver spoon in one's mouth."

ya nos cargó el payaso - literally "the fool/clown has passed us by," which is basically another way to say, "we're fucked."

mija - my little girl/daughter

pinche pendejos - fucking idiots

A/N: Congratulations! You made it through the longest chapter ever! OK, but seriously, thanks for reading! Please, if this was TOO LONG please honestly let me know. I seriously considered splitting this one into two. I kinda like the build up personally, and so I just decided to keep it as is. I don't think any future chapters I have planned will be this long, but HEY I've said that before lol. But seriously, do you guys like the longer chapters? Would you have preferred this to be split? Any notes on what you think of this one's length would be much appreciated. Thanks again!