Never have I ever wanted to grow up and let me just say, this past week after officially becoming older? Yeah. It's sucked. I had just enough energy to fix up this chapter for this post but I probably should have done another read through. Please let me know if anything in it doesn't make sense.

As always, thank you all so much for the kudos, follows, and reviews! Legit would not have been posting this week except I love that you all are enjoying this story and I want to make sure I keep my word. I said two weeks, so two weeks it was (give or take a day or two)!

He groaned into his knees as another wave hit him, trying not to scream. God this was the worst. He hated when this happened! A blast of heat went out from his body again and he wasn't surprised to hear a hissing sound as something burned or evaporated. Probably evaporated. Probably was his sweat. With grit teeth, Brick banged his head back against the wall of the simulator room behind him a few times. It. Hurt.

God, nothing could compare to the pain of his blood literally boiling in his veins. He'd gone way too far this time but hadn't been able to help it. Boomer and Butch had tried to check in on him through the speakers, but he'd melted something in them again and all that had come out was a garbled like sound. He'd managed to say he was fine, but he doubted either of them believed him. He was okay with that though. As long as they didn't tell her.

Which was hypocritical. Brick acknowledged that. Still didn't mean he wanted her to know. Plus, at this point, the only way she'd be able to help is physical contact and he wasn't completely ready for another hug fest with his counterpart.

Another wave of heat went through Brick and he couldn't help the chocked scream he let out. This was the worst. Last time he'd burned this hot had been his last big fight with Blossom back when they'd been 7. Mojo had even gone and gotten himself thrown into jail after that simply because of how hot Brick had been burning. He'd nearly set the volcano off. Thankfully he hadn't though.

A cold hand all of a sudden laid across his forehead and Brick couldn't help the moan of relief. He opened his eyes to see Blossom standing over him and was quick to squeeze them shut again as he gripped at his forearms tighter.

"Why?" He managed to croak out. Blossom sighed, letting out some ice as she did so, and Brick felt like sobbing.

"First, Butch was still feeling the effects of the machine so don't go getting upset at them. They didn't want to tell me and believe me, Butch is convinced that you're going to kill him once you're normal again."

Brick let out a half laugh. He might do that but right now, he wasn't all that upset. The little bit of cool Blossom had provided so far was so relieving that instead, he might actually treat his brother instead.

"As for why I came, well, that should be obvious. Fair is only fair after all." Brick opened his eyes to see Blossom looking down at him still, understanding clear in her eyes. "You don't have to tough it out alone anymore either you know."

Brick couldn't take it. He reached out and yanked her into his lap as he wrapped himself around her ice-cold body. The relief was so intense that he blacked out half a second later.

Brick groaned as he came awake slowly. He was laying down on a bed which was definitely not where he'd passed out. He opened his eyes and blinked steadily as he looked around. Well, sort of not where he'd passed out. He was still in the sim room, but the bed definitely hadn't been there before. Neither had the side table with note and glass of water.

Sitting up slowly, Brick saw that he was alone. He rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to remember what had happened. All he could remember though was the excruciating pain followed by the mind-numbing relief that was his counterpart's ice.

He was gunna just not think about that actually. His brain couldn't handle that right now.

Reaching out, Brick grabbed the glass of water and downed it all. He'd need a lot more than that before he could do much of anything again, but it had been enough for now. He always got so dehydrated after an overheat. Made sense though, all things considered.

Finally feeling not as dead, he reached for the note and read it.

Brick-

Got a call about a monster right as you started to return to normal. Boomer brought in the bed for you and stayed behind to help when you wake up. Drink lots of water. Professor says to come by once you can for the physical, even if you don't feel 100%. Also, now were even.

Blossom

Brick squinted at the last line. He guessed so. Considering they still had half the school watching their every interaction like hawks though he thought it might be debatable. Oh well, he wasn't going to nitpick. Not when she hadn't needed to show up to help and all.

Stretching, Brick stood up from the bed only to quickly reach out and use it to steady himself as his vision swam. Yeah, he needed fluids. Everything else could come later.

He also was definitely not going to the professor's for that physical anytime soon. Screw that lab.

Bubbles internalized the sigh as she watched Blossom answer yet another rude reporter's question. Then again, what could they expect really? The monsters kept getting into the city and damages kept occurring. This time was worse too as some people were seriously injured due to the sonic ape. Bubbles has read one of the reports Blossom had received and even just thinking about it made her heart hurt. More than one person had serious hearing damage and one had gone completely deaf. Normally the town was good at evacuations so injuries were usually minimal but sound was a little harder to escape.

"Stop twitching. You're driving me insane!" Buttercup hissed under her breath next to Bubbles, too soft for anyone but them to make out.

"I can't help it. Last time big broo was here. This time he ain't in no shape and they won't stop staring at Boom and me," Butch mumbled back.

"They're staring at all of us. Now stop."

"But Butters-"

"Shut. Up. I can't make you shut up right now so please."

Wow. Buttercup was almost begging. Bubbles glanced at the two of them out of the corner of her eye and she could see both were tense and there was an odd space between them. She couldn't see Boomer past Butch which made her want to pout but maybe that was for the best. It meant he couldn't see her either so she could try and see what was going on between the two greens. They'd been super awkward around each other since the whole lowered inhibitions machine of the professor which was so not them.

Out of the counterparts, Buttercup and Butch were the two that cared least about close contact. Brick and Blossom were too uptight to not care, her and Boomer were into each other, so it had always had another meaning, but Buttercup and Butch? With all the fighting they did it seemed like the two didn't really care if their shoulders brushed or if they bumped elbows now and then. If they weren't fighting, they just never seemed to care. Bubbles imagined it was because of how often they would fight. The two were just used to being in close contact to the point where it could almost be considered normal.

So this whole awkward distance thing? That was definitely new and so worth looking into. Bubbles was now convinced that she'd missed something big and it was killing her! She couldn't help but wiggle her toes in her shoes, thank god for closed toes, and somehow managed to keep it to just that. She was itching to investigate.

"The professor has been examining the samples we obtained from two of the monsters. The analysis is nearly done and once we know more about what we're dealing with we can come up with better solutions on how to stop this from happening again. Now, I believe that's all we have time for today. Thank you for your time."

Blossom ignored the loud protests of some of the reporters as she turned away from the podium and walked towards them. She looked tired. At least the semester was nearly over. Bubbles still couldn't help but think it would be great if Brick would step up a bit more to help her sister out. Maybe she should talk to him about that…

As Blossom was walking over to them Bubbles saw Mr. Jones glaring at her. He wasn't even trying to hide his dislike of them and they were on stage in front of literally the all of the cities news reporters. That was not good. At least before this he'd hidden his dislike in public. If he wasn't even bothering to try and hide it anymore than that meant possible trouble. Bubbles decided to mention it to Blossom later and she decided she was definitely talking with Brick about him stepping up more.

Buttercup was quick, once the okay was given by Blossom, to take off for home. Butch glanced at her not once, not twice, but multiple times even after she was long out of sight. That was definitely new. Bubbles decided she so had to get to the bottom of what happened. Maybe she should talk to both of them.

Boomer caught sight of her staring at Butch and raised an eyebrow. She gave him a huge smile and he sighed in response while shaking his head. Butch took off a few seconds later and Blossom slowly took to the sky too, with Bubbles and Boomer following after her.

"I'd say don't even try it but knowing you, you'll still try anyways won't you?" Boomer asked. Bubbles giggled.

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

Boomer sighed again. "Just…careful with him okay? Brick can handle this cause he's such a control freak but Butch isn't good with feelings. If you force him into it he's just going to lash out at you."

That…sounded like Butch for sure. Bubbles pouted at that. "I know how to not be pushy."

Boomer snorted at that before shooting her a look. "Right. Sure. I'll see you later at the prof's?"

"Meanie. And yes, you will. He should be done soon and he wanted to tell us about things pronto. Plus, someone still hasn't been in for his check-up."

Boomer shook his head. "Can't say I blame him. No offense, but the prof's lab is slowly becoming my least favorite place."

Bubbles giggled at that. "That's fair. I promise that we plan to clean it up a bit during summer. It should mean less misfires."

"Here's hoping," Boomer sighed out before saying his goodbyes to her and Blossom and taking off for home.

Now, what would be the best way to approach Butch and Brick?

He was pouting still. She thought it was cute. She then thought about how she really shouldn't be thinking like that. Those thoughts led to trouble usually. Mostly because Bubbles was being hypersensitive to any and all things romance but still, Blossom decided that in general she should probably be careful with her thoughts about Brick. Especially with how things had been lately. Last thing she needed was for another machine to misfire and for her thoughts to end up plastered across her forehead. Literally. And yes, there was a machine that did that. She was pretty sure Buttercup had broken it though...

She'd double check. And then break it herself if that didn't turn out to be the case.

"Alright, looks like everything is as it should be with you three. Now that the last of the physicals has been finished, we can move onto the other reason why you're all here today. Blossom and I have finished our analysis of the monster DNA and it's led to some...interesting findings," the professor said as he walked away from the simulator machine. He kept all the data for all six X supers stored in it since the second part of all of their physicals involved measuring their power outputs using simulations.

"And what would those be?" Brick asked as he walked over to his brothers. They were lounging on a sofa that the puffs had brought down earlier that week. The professor had been using it as a makeshift bed.

"Well, firstly, I have to ask if it was ever explained to you the particulars of how you all came to be."

"Pretty sure Mojo just kinda threw everything in that shitty toilet," Butch said as he yawned, already bored with the conversation.

Buttercup rolled her eyes from where she stood next to her sisters at the professor's desk. Blossom shot her a look.

"What the professor means is, was it explained on how mixing things in said toilet resulted in you three, very human looking, X individuals," Blossom said. Butch shrugged while Boomer frowned in thought. Brick sighed and shook his head.

"Mojo and Him weren't big on explaining things to us so no."

"Hmmm," the professor said. "If I'd known that I would have explained to you three much sooner. It's actually a truly fascinating process."

"I'm sure. Ain't here to learn about us though. We're here to learn about these weird monsters," Butch lazily said.

"Understanding how X works is actually key to that."

Brick and Boomer went on alert at that as Butch slowly sat straighter before speaking again. "You mean to say prof, that those things got X in them?"

"Let's start with step one first, shall we? Now, logically speaking, mixing sugar, spice, and everything nice into a giant pot really shouldn't do much of anything. Same can be said about snips, snails, and puppy dog tails. Yet, with the addition of chemical X bam! Each mixture caused the creature of three very human looking individuals. The question I first had about this process wasn't actually how, it was why humans."

"He actually had all three of give samples to look into it further too. We would have gotten samples from you three as well if we could have but this was back when the main priority was protecting the city from you three," Blossom added.

"Yes. The samples from the girls were enough though. You see, it wasn't just four ingredients in these mixing bowls. It was technically five. The one thing that I hadn't considered was that, having been the one pouring over the mixture and, essentially, sweating over it, some of my own DNA was added naturally. After all, there would be no way to avoid that unless I wore a full body suit which, thankfully in this instance, I hadn't! So, with sugar, spice, and everything nice in a bowl with small traces of my own DNA mixed in, chemical X was added. Now, there's still a large amount not known about chemical X but from what I've learned, essentially, it used part of my DNA as the template for creating my three perfect little girls."

"Well, great. Don't see what that gotta do with us. Clearly, we don't look like Mojo so that's not what happened with us," Butch said. He was slouched back on the sofa again.

"Idiot. We weren't the only three created that day. Mojo was affected by the chemical X too. Specifically, the chemical X that decided to use the professor's DNA as a template," Buttercup said.

Boomer's face went pale. "Hold up. Does this mean were related?"

Bubbles giggled. "Well, not really. That's because Mojo is really pretty different from the professor genetically and it isn't like the same stuff was used as with us. We're about as related as Robin and Mike are so don't worry."

"Exactly. The reason why you three were made the way you were was because the chemical X recognized the way my DNA was used as a template and did something similar with the DNA it was provided. In this case, Mojo's. This also explains why you three have some more animalistic traits such as heightened smell compared to the girls. Chemical X used Mojo's DNA as an example and recognized the puppy dog tails and mixed the two in a slightly different model than the girls'. Even then, the girls aren't actually close enough genetically speaking to me to be considered biological daughters. At most, they're along the lines of second or third cousins. This is because chemical X, like I said with the you three and the puppy dog tails, used the other ingredients in the pot and fused everything together to make the Powerpuff Girls."

Blossom sighed at the look on Boomer and Butch's faces. Brick had caught on, but his brothers were having a hard time. "Think of it this way, you want to make a gingerbread man. First, you mix everything up in a bowl and then roll the dough out. Next, you get a cookie cutter and cut the shape of your gingerbread man out. The DNA that the professor accidentally shed into the mixture is the cookie cutter in the example while everything else is the mixture. Just because a metal cookie cutter was used doesn't mean the cookie is going to be made of metal. Does that make sense?"

"Kinda. Let's just say I can roll with it as long as I'm not dating my genetic sister," Boomer said while making a face. Buttercup rolled her eyes at him.

"You're not dating your sister."

Boomer shot her a thumbs up. "Great! So how does this all tie into the monsters?"

"Simple! Somehow chemical X similar to yours ended up also getting into the system of these monsters!" The professor said. Blossom sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose at the looks on the faces of everyone else in the room. Bubbles was barely paying attention, too busy watching Brick and Butch. Butch and Boomer were still confused, and Buttercup just looked like her normal frustrated self. Only Brick seemed to be catching on.

"What the professor is trying to say is that the monsters have all been modified to resemble us slightly. That's why the sensors haven't been picking them up, because they aren't keyed into the frequency that our X gives off."

"Yeah. I don't get it," Boomer said.

"That's fair enough. I maybe should have explained a bit more anyways," the professor said. Butch groaned and slumped back down at the implied continuation of the lesson. "While my DNA for the girls, and Mojo for you three may have been the template, like Blossom said, you six aren't actually human. Not completely at least. There's one key difference. Unlike humans, you three aren't just infused with X, it's literally bonded to you at a genetic level and your bodies are able to produce it just like they would any other natural chemical. This is why there's always be a few difficulties in certain...key areas regarding your health."

"It's why the professor has some of our blood stored away for emergencies. While we can receive transfusions from normal people, assuming the blood type is correct, it's actually counterproductive to do that if were in such bad states that we need a transfusion. That's because for our bodies to use normal human blood, it has to be modified and insured with X first," Blossom added.

The professor nodded. "Indeed. It's also why I gave you three such strict lectures at the beginning of high school." All three ruffs tensed and looked away with bright red faces. "Chemical X is capable of modifying normal beings the way it did with Mojo. If enough of it is administered, it starts a chain reaction that can't be stopped. Even if antidote X is used, technically chemical X is still there, just in a deactivated form. While this isn't an issue with the girls it could have been a potential issue for you boys and so early education about safety was a must. If you'd been careless-"

"Okay! Please can we move on?" Brick cut in. Buttercup snickered at the looks on their faces as the professor finally noticed their discomfort.

"Well, we can. It's all just science though boys. No need to get embarrassed." Which didn't help them at all. In fact, it clearly made the ruffs only that much more uncomfortable. "Essentially, because you all have X fused into your DNA, giving a transfusion, or transferring genetic material at a certain density level that goes beyond that found in saliva or sweat, is enough for you all to modify a non-X individual. You would create a new X super based off of your own genetic makeup. That's what's happened with these monsters. They've been given a transfusion of some sort already bonded chemical X changing them into new X individuals that somewhat resemble you."

"So wait. Someone's experimenting on the monsters? Someone with X?" Brick asked, leaning forward, and looking concerned.

"Well. Possibly. The thing is, there's something off about the make-up of this chemical X and how its bonded to the monster DNA. We even compared the samples from both the ape and lizard to all the Townsville super samples that I have and came to that same conclusion."

"So, there's an X individual experimenting on monsters?"

"Not necessarily. You see, before I was able to monopolize chemical X, there were a few other people who were able to get their hands on it. As we also know, the mirror realm also has X. I suspect that a waste product of some sort from failed experiments has been placed out on the black market or that the island was used as a potential dump site at one point. I'll have to see if I can contact Plutonium or the punks. I believe he used the island once or twice for experiments and so I suspect there may be plants the monster's are consuming that have been infused with DNA materials from the punks. Still, there's an easy answer. Wonderful news isn't it!" The professor said.

"So. Wait. Why the hell'd we have to hear all that stuff about us and our DNA and stuff? Seems like all we needed to know was that the weird ones have X," Butch asked. The professor grinned.

"Because it's so fascinating! And it truly is something you three should be aware of anyways."

Blossom wasn't so sure that it was such a simple solution. The waste would have been there for years by now. So why was it only just now that these modified monsters were appearing? The most recent monsters had even been children. Did that mean that there was still some of this waste? Or was it something else?

Blossom was glad when everyone seemed to pretty much just shrug and accept the professor's answer though. There was no need for them all to worry about something that may not even be a concern. Plus, with the summer break just around the corner, she'd soon have time to fly over to Monster Isle and take a look around herself. If she found something, then they'd deal with it then and if she didn't, then only she'd wasted energy worrying about it.

Hopefully, it would end up being the later.

Butch found himself being very confused. He knew he'd probably missed a bit during weights class with all the extra things his coach had been asking him to do and that Merrick and Buttercup were on better terms for whatever reason but this? He wasn't expecting this!

Merrick burst out laughing at something Buttercup said...and Buttercup turned away slightly scratching at her cheek. Was she...was she being coy? What the hell?!

She caught his look out of the corner of her eye and quickly turned back to face Merrick. Butch felt the vein in his forehead throb. That bitch just ignored him! Merrick had seen the whole thing too. The smug son of a bitch had the balls to smirk a cocky ass, winner's smirk at him.

Oh. That was it. Merrick was dead. He was done playing good little Rowdyruff. The gloves were coming off now.

Butch turned on his heels and quietly left the room. He felt Buttercup's eyes on him briefly but didn't turn to face her. She could just yell at him later. He didn't care anymore. There were more important things he had to do.

"Alright. What were you up to?" Buttercup asked as she caught up to Butch at the end of the day. The green ruff sent her a look and shrugged, way too nonchalantly.

"Dunno what you mean. Coach needed something."

"Don't BS me Butch. I know that you'd already finished what the coach needed. Why'd you leave?"

"Like I said, had shit to do. What about you? What was up with you?"

Buttercup stumbled slightly and mentally cursed herself for it. She even felt her face heating up and mentally groaned. She'd known he'd asked. That's why she'd been mentally preparing herself for this talk since she started this whole thing. So why couldn't she help but react still?!

"Dunno what you mean. Nothing's up with me."

Butch scoffed. "Right. You're as shitty a liar as Blossy is Bitterbitch."

Buttercup stopped short and glared at Butch who ignored her and kept walking.

"Not cool dude. Thought we dropped the nasty nicknames?"

"I'll drop 'em when they stop being true. Catch ya later."

Buttercup felt beams building in her eyes and just barely managed not to let them loose. That-that rotten ruff! And to think, she was trying to sweet talk slimy Merrick for him! Pft, she'd show him. He'd feel like crap when she had her proof and Merrick got suspended for screwing with Butch. Just wait!

Brick couldn't help but let out a yawn as he blinked bleakly up at the sky. God, trust Blossom to come up with a reasonable idea that was boring as hell. He hadn't been able to argue away from one of the supers staying on campus for a bit after class just in case of a prank but still. Boring.

He supposed he could work on his homework, but he didn't really feel like it. The project was pretty much done at this point otherwise he'd be working on that. There was next to nothing left and still over a week before they had to get ready to move everything over to Farmsville. He could get started on that early he supposed but he didn't really feel like doing that either.

To be honest, he was feeling pretty lethargic still. It'd been about a week since he overheated and his body still felt off. He was a little too hot and bit too slow still. Just earlier that day, Robin had even asked why the AC wasn't working. Blossom had shot a look his way before smiling at the girl and bringing the room temperature down. He got that she understood, and was thankfully she hadn't said anything about it at all, but still felt uncomfortable. Maybe he should take a day off and soak in an ice bath or two. That sometimes helped during the summers when he got like this.

The sound of something breaking hit Brick's ears, cutting through his thoughts. He couldn't help but smile viciously at that. Finally! Took them long enough.

Not wasting anytime, Brick shot off the roof and towards the school. He went through the door closest to the sound he'd heard and floated through the hallway quietly.

"And what if one of them were still here, huh? What then?!"

Brick frowned. That wasn't the right voice.

"Its fine! Banger said he was pretty sure he saw them all leave already."

"Was that before, or after he finished flirting with all the Townsville girls? Cause I forget!"

"I'm sure he did his job so stop stressing."

Brick sighed as he landed behind the two with a soft thud that had both spinning around to face him. "Yeah, Banger did his job alright. I doubled back though so you're shit outta luck Brute, Brawdy. Mind telling me what you were planning on doin' with that?"

Brick gestured to the two things the visiting greens had next to them. Brawdy had what looked to be a ton of glue while Brute had enough Jell-O boxes to fill a hallway with. Both looked equally guilty.

"Brick! Dude! Wha-what're you doing here so late for?" Brawdy asked as he stepped in front of the glue, as if to try and hide it. Brick raised an eyebrow while Brute sighed and pinched her nose.

"You dunce face. Clearly he's here cause he ain't an idiot like you!"

"I mean, you're not wrong. I'm not an idiot at all though. Just saying." Brute glared at Brick while he just smirked back. He pulled a walkie talkie out of his back pocket. "Hey, someone wanna head over to the math hallway? Gotta couple of out of towners here," he said into it.

"Roger. On our way," came the reply from one of the security guards.

"Dammit! Why're you here anyways?! Shit! I knew this was a bad idea! Shoulda listened to Berserk after all," Brute huffed before plopping down on the ground with a glare. She knew there was no getting out of this one. They were caught and there was no way Brick would let them get away.

He shrugged. "Well, we figured it was just a matter of time before someone tried something. Only prank we've had pulled on us this year so far was the dirt on the field. Granted, took a bit to clean that up but really wasn't that big a deal. Only took Butch about an hour."

"Feh, like we woulda pulled such a pathetic prank. Gah! What a fail! There goes what we had planned."

"Yo! You two ready for...oh. Shit. Guessing it's too late for me to run now?" Banger asked as he pulled out a pair of headphones after rounding the corner.

Brick cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're on watch duty and you're listening to music?"

Banger shrugged and Brawdy glared at Brick. "Back off red. No one gets to tell my bro off but me and my bro."

Brick shrugged. "Wasn't telling anyone off. That ain't gunna be my job. Principal Keane is way better at it than I am anyways."

Brawdy grit his teeth as Banger sighed and walked over. "Just face the music dude. We're up shit creak. Man, Blane's gunna kill us when he hears about this."

Brute scoffed. "Imagine how I feel? You think Blane's the only one who's gunna ride my ass about this? Shit, Berserk is gunna have a field day with her I told you so."

"Yeah, bout that. I was betting she'd be the one to try this stunt, not you three. So what happened?" Brick asked. Brute shot him the stink eye.

"She said it smelled funny, felt too much like a mind game. The prank pulled on us was obviously done by one of you guys and after last year? She thought the prank was too tame even for Ms. Everything Nice so clearly something was up. Told us not to try anything."

Brick let out a half laugh at that. "Damn. Of course she'd notice. Shoulda pranked you all harder. Or made it more personal. Was hoping I'd catch her in the act this time though. Woulda made me feel a lot better."

"Well, looks like you were out reded," Brawdy said with a smirk. Brick raised an eyebrow.

"What're you talking about? I just caught half the Citiesville X supers pulling a prank on us, red handed. My guys weren't dumb enough to get caught and they know better than to do something stupid without checking with me first. I'd say I'm the top red in this situation."

"Making Bossy Blossy bottom of the barrel eh?" Brute asked with a smirk. Banger winced as Brick turned to glare at her, the hallway quickly heating up a few degrees.

"I'd watch what you say Brute. Even with the guards nearly here, there's still a lot of damage I can do in a very short time."

Brute paled slightly as she clicked her tongue and looked away. Brawdy glared and moved a step forward only to have Banger reach out and grab his shoulder. When Brawdy turned to glare at his brother, all he got was a shake of the head back. With a light growl, Brawdy stepped back to where he was.

"Smart move green. And look at that, guards are right there. Aren't you so glad you have a smart little brother like Banger to stop you from doing something stupid?"

Brawdy flipped Brick off while Banger just sighed. All three turned to face the approaching security guards as Brick stepped back with a sigh. He gave the guards a wave before moving to walk away. He was sure Principal Keane was already on her way and so he'd meet with her out front and give her his side of things on the way to her office.

Still, Brick couldn't help but frown as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He'd messed up. Berserk hadn't fallen for the bait.

Now he had to figure something else out. Damn.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring ring. Ringringringringring-

"Stop! Jesus Christ! Who rings-oh. Sugar cube. Hold on a sec and I'll grab Boom," Butch said after he'd thrown the door open. Bubbles, who'd already been home and changed smiled up at him.

"That's okay. I'm actually here to talk to you and Brick."

Butch recognized that smile. That smile was not good. Not good at all! He turned to make a break for it only for a hand with a grip of iron to clamp down on his arm. Butch turned slowly to face Bubbles, shaking his head all the while.

"No, sugar cube, please, whatever it is I don't wanna-"

"You. Me. Brick. Now."

"Well, that was demanding. You sure you don't wanna see me at all Bubs?" Boomer asked as he popped his head around the corner of the hallway. Bubbles's smile shifted as she waved at her boyfriend.

"Hi Boomie! I always want to see you silly. Today I need to have a talk with your brothers though."

Butch sent an SOS look to his brother. Boomer watched for a second before breaking out in a wide grin.

"Alrighty. Have fun. Maybe after we can go grab something to eat."

Oh. Oh, Butch was so gunna kill him. The hell did he do to deserve being thrown to the wolf like this?!

"Of course! Now, let's go get Brick, shall we?"

Butch groaned but led the blue puff, who still wouldn't let go of his arm, up the stairs to Brick's room. When he got there he, for once, knocked. There was a moment of silence where Butch could mentally see Brick staring at the door in shock before he spoke up.

"Come in?"

"Don't mind if we do!" Bubbles said as she threw the door open and dragged Butch inside. Brick shot up from his chair at his desk, eyes wide.

"The hell?! Bubs what are you-"

"Sit. Us three are having a very serious talk."

Brick saw the look in Bubbles's eyes and slowly sat back down. Butch dragged his feet inside a bit more before turning and plopping down in the air.

"Alright Bubbles, we're sitting. What do you need to talk to us about?" Brick asked with a sigh. Bubbles beamed at them both and they both looked away quickly. They knew this wasn't going to end well for them.

"I've been watching Brick for a while so I know how he feels and I've been waiting for him to do something but he hasn't. Then I find out about how Butch feels and I know he hasn't done anything either. So! Since I had to make the move with Boomie as well, I figured it was time we had a talk. I need you two to step up."

Brick and Butch both groaned.

"Look, sugar cube, I don't really-"

"Ah ah ah ah! I don't want to hear the lies! This is a truth only zone!"

"Bubbles, and I say this knowing it probably just gunna go out the other ear but, I'm not a good-"

"I don't even want to hear the excuses! You are both great guys and I think you're great choices for my sisters. So time to man up! We are going to sit here and come up with wooing and confession plans for both of you and I'm not leaving until they're perfect."

Both ruffs could hear Boomer laughing like a mad man downstairs. Butch and Brick shared a look at that. Revenge would come. They'd make sure of that.

"So I was thinking-"

Butch cut Bubbles off. "Alright. I get that I can't deny that I think Butters is...not unattractive after that most recent incident, and I'm so never having anything to do with the professor's inventions ever again after that, but it doesn't matter. Butters is all over that Merrick dick."

Bubbles blinked for a few seconds at Butch. "What? Merrick? Who- isn't that the guy who-"

"Yup. That's the one. She's been hanging onto his every word for the past few days during weight class."

Brick saw the look on Bubbles's face shift and decided to stay quiet.

"No. That can't be right. She doesn't...oh. oh dear. Nope! That's not good!"

Bubbles shot out of the room in a flash of blue. Brick and Butch let out sighs of relief as the front door slammed open and Boomer called out after the retreating puff. They turned to look at one another.

"So, you want first round at Boom or what?" Brick asked. They both heard Boomer curse and run out the door at that.

"Eh, I'll just set something up for him for later. He's all yours for now."

Brick smirked. Boomer might be the fastest but he'd yet to outsmart his older brothers.

"Buttercup Utonium! We are having words!" Bubbles screeched as she slammed the front door open. Blossom frowned as she paused the TV and turned to look at her sister.

"Bubbles? I thought you were going to talk to the ruffs about something. And Buttercup has patrol in a little bit so please don't get into it with her right now."

"Oh, we're getting into it alright. Why is she sweet talking Merrick, hmmm? Buttercup!"

The house shook slightly at the force of the youngest puffs voice and Blossom couldn't help but sigh. It was a good thing the professor was still in the lab.

"Oh my god! What the hell do you want Bubs?!" Buttercup yelled back as she slammed her bedroom door open. "I'm trying to do homework here!"

Bubbles was in front of her sister in a flash of blue. "I don't care. What the heckity heck are you thinking?! Merrick?! Why?!"

Buttercup winced back and turned away from her sister. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh don't even try it! You think he's the one who did that to Butch's painting so you're trying to get him to like you and confess so that you can take it to Principal Keane and get him expelled!"

"Okay, hold up. What's going on here?" Blossom asked at the same time Buttercup gave her sister and astonished look.

"How the hell did you even guess that?"

"Talk. Now."

Buttercup gulped at the look in Bubbles's eyes. Blossom sighed as she floated up to her sisters.

"Alright. Enough. Let's sit down first and then can one of you please explain?"

Buttercup shrugged before heading back into her room and sitting at her desk, back to her sisters.

"I dunno. I'm just working on something. You said you'd back me on it Bloss."

Bubbles rounded on Blossom who only waved her into the room. Bubbles made a face before floating inside and sitting in the air crisscross. Blossom made a face at the mess that always seemed to be Buttercup's room before heading in as well and closing the door.

"Are you talking about that plan you had that you never actually told me about?"

Buttercup shrugged again without turning around. "Maybe."

Blossom narrowed her eyes. The tips of Buttercup's ears were red. Now she was really curious.

"Alright, well, tell me what the plan was since that seems to be what this whole thing is about."

Buttercup stayed silent. After a minute or so, Bubbles huffed with a glare at her sister. "Oh, you are so ridiculous. I would have thought you'd know better that to try something like this without me anyways."

"Try what? One of you please explain!" Blossom said, quickly getting fed up. Bubbles rolled her eyes.

"Since Merrick is totally obsessing over Buttercup in a creepy, not cool kind of way that's way different from Howie's obsessive way, Buttercup decided to try and woo him into confessing that he's the one who messed with Butch's painting. Which is so such a horrible idea! Especially when Buttercup should be trying to woo Butch!"

"Whoa! Hold up here!" Buttercup said as she spun around to glare at Bubbles. "The hell should I be doing to Butch? Clearly my ears must be messed up still cause there's no way you just said I should be trying to...woo him. Ugh, even just saying it grosses me out."

Blossom sighed as she rubbed her temple. This was going to spiral out of control quickly. She could just tell.

"Well it's obvious that you two belong together. I mean, for a while I wasn't sure cause I didn't think Butch was interested but, well, we found out that wasn't the case so now-"

"What about me?! Who says I'm interested?!"

"Well obviously you are."

"Obviously, I'm not! I think I've made it more than clear I think the guy is just a slime head who needs a babysitter!"

Bubbles blinked at her for a few times before looking at Blossom.

"I mean...but it's obvious."

Blossom shrugged. "I'm not sure I'm seeing things the way you are Bubs. I always thought Buttercup would be more than happy to have nothing to do with Butch. It has gotten better lately though. They seem like proper friends now."

"But...but no. It's so obvious! It was even more obvious before!"

"How?!" Buttercup yelled, still glaring at her younger sister.

"Well, even if it was for hero duty, you wouldn't bother hanging around him if you actually hated him. And you're always so relaxed around him, like you don't have to hide. You can just be you. It's obvious that it's because you like him."

Blossom sighed and looked skyward as she waited for it.

"Like fucking hell that's what that means! What the hell Bubs?!"

"Language."

"Oh, don't even. Even when you had that crush on Mitch it was obviously for the same reason! You're one of those people who only lets the ones they really like in!"

"That doesn't mean I like the shit for brains!" "Language." "It's just cause he's another green! He's gets it! Like only a green can!"

"But you're not like that around Brawdy or Brute! You're all tense around them! You aren't tense around Butch!"

"They're fucking Brute and Brawdy!" "Language!" "Obviously, I'm not gunna be relaxed around them!"

"And until recently you would have said Butch wasn't trustworthy or relax worthy either only to then blown up anytime someone grouped him with the other two!"

"Cause its Butch! He's different!"

"Exactly! You view him differently! You've liked him for years now, but you won't let yourself admit it because he wasn't joining us! But now he has so just admit it!"

"I ain't admitting shit that isn't true!" "Oh my gosh, language!" "Butch is just Butch!"

"Face it! You always get pouty when he has a new girl!"

"I do not!"

"You do! And you always pair with him in class when there's a project!"

"Cause that's what the teachers want!"

"You never line up to pair with Brick or Boomer though! And when you pull off some crazy stunt that has Bloss lecturing you about later you always call him up to brag!"

"Cause like I said, he's a green! He gets it!"

"You're protective of him! That's why the whole Merrick thing is happening! When Brick was surrounded by rumors about dating me you didn't care! You sure weren't about to jump to his defense! Same with Boomie! Heck, you even let Bloss fend off Howie on her own! But one of Butch's paintings gets messed with and you're up in arms!"

Buttercup was silent at that. Blossom was watching her carefully though and saw her tighten her grip on the back of the chair. She heard a creaking and winced. The furniture in their rooms was all reinforced. For it to creak like that, Buttercup would have to use a lot of force. Bubbles opened her mouth to say more but Blossom decided Buttercup wasn't ready to hear it, and Blossom had a feeling Bubbles was exaggerating things a bit too. The last thing she needed was for her sisters to start actually trading blows.

"Alright! Enough!" Blossom said. Both her sisters looked at her, one in frustration while the other was in relief. "I've heard enough curse words for a week so instead of continuing this argument and adding to that, let's move onto the real reason we're here. Buttercup, I thought I said I'd handle the Merrick-Butch situation."

"I mean, yeah but like I said, it's been months! There's no proof left. The only way we can get him now is if he admits to it. And I guess I just figured that if I got on his good side and bad-mouth Butch a bit that maybe he'd tell me."

Bubbles sighed. "Merrick's a player though. It's going to take more than a smile to get him to fall for a trick like that."

"More importantly, it's not right to lead someone on. I'm sure there's another way we can get justice for Butch's painting."

Bubbles and Buttercup both shared a look that had Blossom frowning at them.

"Sorry Bloss but I don't think that there is. Buttercup just needs some advice and guidance here and then she can get her confession."

Blossom gave them both looks. "You're joking right? Bubbles, you were literally just yelling at her for this idea!"

"Well, I mean, yeah. But that was before I realized she was doing this for Butch. Just imagine how romantic it would be for her to get him his justice and then if he were to confess-"

"Oh gross! No way!"

"Whatever. I'm done. Buttercup, you have patrol in a few minutes. If either of you want serious advice or help in getting Merrick caught, I'll be in my room."

"Okay, so first we need to get you one a date with him."

"Ugh, I was hoping I could not do that."

Blossom shook her head as she walked out of the room. She had a feeling this was going to turn into a mess. Butch definitely wasn't going to be happy about this, crush or no crush on Buttercup. If Merrick was the one who ruined his painting, then seeing Buttercup getting close to him was bound to tick the green ruff off. After all, Butch was the most possessive of the three ruffs. The things he considered his were things he didn't like others touching and the Powerpuff Girls had always been the Rowdyruff Boys' counterparts. As such, Butch bad always been a bit overly interested in the puffs' relationships. He'd even questioned Mark when he first starting dating Bubbles, although Blossom had been quick to drag him away.

As for Buttercup…that was another story. Blossom was sure Bubbles was half seeing what she wanted to see. While Buttercup did treat Butch differently there wasn't really a romantic element to it. Not a conscious one yet at least. With Butch's thoughts about Buttercup having come to light though, and the better camaraderie between the two, Blossom had a feeling that Buttercup should be careful or the things she had just been calling so gross would come true.

Oh well, that wouldn't be an issue. Butch might be though. Blossom would just have to keep an eye on him. If Butch got out of hand because of this, she'd just have to reel him back in. After all, that would be easier than trying to stop her sisters at this point. Sadly.

And there we go. Some heavier stuff in this chapter detail wise so again, hope it made sense. My brain is too mushy from work stress, health stress, and school stress to attempt another read through.

RainbowColoredHumanBeing! Nice to "see" you again too! We are pretty much pen-pals now aren't we! Glad you enjoyed those green moments and OMG! I hit 25! I didn't even realize haha! We still have a ways to go too! Thank you for the congrats and seriously, thank you so much for enjoying this work. It really does make me happy to hear that you're looking forward to it. Yeah, I'm iffy on the show. I saw some of the cast picks though and so I'm liking some of that and some of it I'm not. I'm loving who they chose for the girls but...Mojo Jojo's son? I'm sorry, what? Not liking the look of that unless his name is Brick, Boomer, or Butch...I'm stressed but hanging in. The semester is nearly done so I should be in a better mind-set by the time I'm posting the next chapter. I've been trying to find the time to write this and play my video games (still addicted to Genshin but I have so many others I want to get to too T.T). Pokemon Sun was okay, not my favorite in the series. I'm super excited for Pokemon Arceus! Important question, what is your favorite pokemon? I'm happy to hear you're trying something and I really hope that it works for you. I have mild seasonal depression (anxiety is my real killer, especially socially) so I'm totally in support of getting the help you need. I started working out recently and I've been loving it. I can't stop poking my thigh cause I'm not used to it not being squishy haha.

Marsnoesunplaneta! Haha so great everyone is loving the laugh comment! And that you loved the green scene! I had to look up himbo but yes, I totally agree. And he totally feeds into that image. Someone else commented (Trase) that he seems like the type to know a whole ton of strategy...and then just not use it cause that would be boring which combined with this is definitely the kind of Butch I'm going for. Hope you don't hate me for the green drama that's coming! I'm about to put them through the wringer a bit. I started to try and catch up...then life. It's been a rough week...I'm hanging in though!

Artemis Raven Courtney! Haha omg, everyone loved the laugh comment! Yes! It is adorable and poor Butch, he never, ever wanted her to know that but eh, what can you do? The prof likes his crazy machines. Hope you enjoy what I have coming up next for these two!

Trase! Yes! I totally think he would be! Butch would definitely throw all that out the window just for the fun of it, especially when fighting with Buttercup! But between you and me, he has to rely on some of it because Buttercup understands his fighting style too well and he can't win against her if he doesn't. He doesn't try to hard to win against the reds, that just leads to more pain and he usually isn't a fan of that. Things are about to get tense between the greens and I hope you all enjoy watching them fumble through things as much as I have writing it! Reds are still stuck and Blossom being dense really doesn't help things. Brick dodged a bullet this time thanks to Butch. Next time though...we shall see! There's a ton of stuff from their childhood that I'd love to write extra stories on such as the Boomer thing. They really didn't have an easy time with Mojo or Him and I want that to be clear. It's part of why they don't want anything to do with them as well as why they agreed so easily to go with Mayor Bellum. I might be having to take a bit of a break as we're getting close to the last real 'arc' of the story (I have so much I need to do with this story for that too!) and I might crank out some of stories during that to keep you all going. We'll see though.

.nortey! That's a neat feature. I didn't know Wattpad could do that! Yes, Butch's random history facts were fun to find. I'm hoping to find another chance to throw some of them in here! I might not have any good opportunities though sadly. He cares too much about his image for me to just have him throw them out there.

I have a few things to update on the next chapter but since I'm going into an editing round I should have it ready to go in two weeks time so expect me to keep on schedule. I will have to go on a short break after that though (I'm taking a much needed vacay and while I will be writing new content, I won't have my laptop to be able to post anything). If you read Favor's I'll have a new chapter up for that today soon too. See you all in two weeks time! Ciao!