Being a superhero was hard.
Being a teenaged superhero was hell.
Blossom Utonium knew this for a fact.
Alone, and covered in monster's drool, she felt for the first time, the entire weight of the city on her shoulders.
Her sisters had disappeared for the weekend for reasons that Blossom had once defined questionable, leaving her alone to protect the weak and oppressed, and carrying out other usual superhero's duties like opening pickles jars.
It wasn't that Blossom couldn't handle it, there were very few things that she couldn't do. Besides, since the new invention of the Professor had been set up - a barrier that kept most of the monsters out of Townsville - monsters' attacks had become less and less frequent. The bad guys, that once had harshly fought against the Powerpuffs, were now in jail or, in Bubbles' opinion, retired. The blonde firmly believed there was a sort of retirement home for old super-villains and, her idea, even if a little foolish, had never been proved wrong.
The monster barrier kept the majority of monsters out of town and those that, for a series of unfortunate events, were able to cross it, were punished by the girls.
So, it wasn't really a matter of being able or not to handle things alone, but rather the fact that Blossom was having a very bad day.
She wiped her face with a sleeve and shivered and the thought of the state of her hair, as wet drops fell down her neck.
In front of her, there was a small monster, with a big eye in the center of his face, hundreds of small and pointy teeth and, apparently, the power of hyper-salivation and an incredible spitting aim.
It should have been an easy job, taking no longer than a few minutes. But Blossom was already having a hell of a day, and that monster had decided to show up at the worst possible moment.
Her dress was stained with pickle juice, her skin was covered in dust, and now she could add to the list of things that the dry cleaner would not have been able to wash off her clothes, disgusting monster's saliva.
This bad mood was, at least in her opinion, fully justified.
She rolled her eyes, before sprinting in a flash of pink light towards the creature. Half a second later it was lying dead at her feet.
The dress she had worn that day to the inauguration of the new fountain was destroyed. When the major had spilled on it half of his jar, she had hoped it could be saved, but it would have been almost impossible to clean it now. Not to speak about her whole skin covered in black dust. The explosions of the professor were becoming too frequent for her taste; she had been able to stop the fire just in time before leaving to fight the spitting monster.
She gathered what little was left of her dignity and started heading home.
It was useful, if not necessary, to point out that if Buttercup and Bubbles would have been present, if the professor wouldn't have tried to burn the house down, if the major would have been able to open a jar, and if the monster-barrier would have worked, Blossom would probably, if not certainly, have been in much better mood.
When she entered the house, she couldn't have been more different from when she had left it in the morning. But no matter how horrible her day had gone, the worst part was that it was not over yet.
Robin's birthday was about to start and between fighting crime and participating to social events, she preferred the former, even if it came with spit and pickle juice.
Blossom Utonium hated being late, but that day she discovered she hated many things and one more didn't make much of a difference. She took more time than expected to clean herself up and once she opened her closet she realized that not only she was late, but she had no idea of what to wear. There was an alternative. A fast, but painful alternative.
Robin was a childhood friend of the girls and when Bubbles had discovered she wouldn't have been in town for the celebration, she had made sure everything could be perfect even in her absence. She had chosen what she had called the perfect outfit for Robin's party. She had presented it to Blossom with a little dance and an elaborate explanation on color palette and seasons. Blossom was apparently a warm autumn, whatever that meant.
On Blossom's pink blanket were resting a black circle skirt and a dark orange red tank top. Usually she didn't take fashion advice from any of her sisters, but that was an emergency. And that is how she found out she hated being late more than wearing Bubbles' outfits.
She dressed up as fast as possible, tied her wet hair in a messy bun and in flash of pink she was standing on the welcome mat outside the house. Before leaving, she remembered one last thing. She ran in the laboratory, gave a quick kiss to a busy professor, and took off in the skies of Townsville.
Or better, streets.
"Bubbles is going to pay for this" she muttered to keep herself company.
The skirt ended up being a traitor. Paparazzi were always ready to take the most embarrassing photos, and, at the moment, she didn't need any unflattering picture of her butt on some cheap magazine.
She was soon in front of the building where the party was taking place. She dragged her feet to the line of people gathered at the entrance, and sighed waiting patiently for her turn
She loved Robin, but they were dramatically different. She had tried to persuade her from having a birthday in such a crowded place, but the brunette hadn't listened to a single word.
"Blossom? Blossom Utonium? What are you doing here?" Blossom immediately turned her head to meet the surprised look of a boy about her age.
"I haven't seen you in a while...Adam!" she commented taking an entire second to come up with his name. Adam was a boy going to her same high school, she vaguely remembered him from history, or maybe it was French. He had dirty blonde hair and every time he smiled two dimples formed at the sides of his mouth. He was a good friend of Bubbles, but she rarely saw him, last time they had met had probably been before summer break. It wasn't that she didn't like him, he had always been very kind to her.
"I know! I always see Buttercup and Bubbles at the beach but you are never there".
"Oh, you know I am- I do- I have many things to do" she mumbled getting weirdly agitated. The two took a step forward as the line started to move
"Of course you do. I am actually very surprised to see you here" Blossom didn't like his tone or his knowing smile. She tried to ignore it. She really did. And maybe she would have been successful any other day.
She arched an eyebrow allowing her annoyance to show. She had other people in her life reminding her what she should or not do, she didn't need any more.
"Excuse me?" she said her voice full of annoyance.
"Well, this is not really your place, isn't it?" she saw him struggling to find the right words, her impatience now clearly palpable.
"I dance-" she started to stop immediately after, when she realized she was justifying her presence there. Something she wasn't used to do. She rarely felt uneasy and all those feelings almost surprised her. Why was she feeling out of place?
"I am here as you are. There is nothing strange in it" she smoothed down the wrinkles of her skirt to avoid any eye contact. She didn't trust that newly found confidence.
They took another step forward, and after a few seconds of silence, Adam spoke.
"I wasn't implying anything bad, you know" he said smiling softly and keeping his voice low, as if it he was telling her a secret.
"I am… tired. And sorry. Yes, tired and sorry" she mentally face-palmed herself for her brilliant eloquence and let out a big breath before meeting his gaze. "I had a really bad day" she finished lamely as some sort of apology.
Someone behind pushed them forward and she realized they had reached the end of the line. She showed the bodyguard her ID, but before entering she turned around and gave Adam a half-smile.
"I hope you have fun. Maybe I'll see you inside".
"I'll look for you" he winked and Blossom felt a little less guilty for the way she had acted. Plus, Adam was a very cute boy, she wouldn't have mind spending a bit more time with him.
That peace of mind was soon destroyed as she was met with loud music, flashing lights and a sticky pavement. The first goal of the night was to find Robin.
She looked around and spotted her friend, who was waving at her with exaggerate movements, before losing balance and falling on a nearby couch.
The second and most important goal of the night was trying to remain sane.
"Blossom this is so sweet!"
Blossom smiled at Robin who was looking through the album of photos crafted for the occasion.
"Don't thank me, Bubbles did most of the work. Buttercup instead wants you to have this" she handed the birthday girl a CD with Buttercup handwriting on it. "It's a compilation of all the songs we have grown up with. She spent hours making it. They are both very sorry they couldn't make it tonight".
Robin took the present and hugged it to her chest. "You guys are amazing! I was so worried none of you would come! Especially you Blossom, you are always super busy"
"I am here, right? This is what matters" Blossom tried to hide her annoyance behind a new smile. Apparently, the pink leader of the Powerpuff Girls and a club were not seen to fit together.
"Yes, and I am very glad you are" Robin kissed her friend's cheek before standing up. Blossom had to do the same to avoid the girl an embarrassing fall.
"You look amazing! We should find ourselves some knights or this" the brunette pointed at her dress and her incredibly high heels "is going to be a waste."
"Your judgement is too impaired for me to believe your compliment, but thank you" Blossom said supporting her friend by the forearm and ignoring the last part of her sentence. Robin giggled taking another sip from her drink before grabbing Blossom's hand in her own.
"Let's go dancing! All the other guests are already on the dance floor!".
Unfortunately, human strength could do little against a superhuman and Blossom didn't move an inch.
"Robin, you should go. I'll wait for you here."
"W-what? But why?"
"You are whining" she stated seriously.
"I am not! I was waiting for you! Come on, Blossom! It will be fun, you love dancing!" the pink puff threw a look at the dance floor. It was messy and full of people that certainly were not dancing.
"Blossom, look at me" she had little say in that decision, as Robin grabbed both side of her head and turned it towards her, "I want to spend a fun night with my best friend. It's only you and me, you are not a superhero here, you are my friend. What is holding you back?".
Blossom sighed, Robin big eyes attentively watching her as if they could read her mind.
She didn't want to dance because she had to make sure nothing bad would happen. It sounded ridiculous even in her mind and she didn't dare saying it out loud.
"I have to take care of-"
"Me?" Robin laughed and Blossom couldn't help but smile a bit too. She knew she hadn't come to babysit Robin. She was there to celebrate that important occasion with her dear friend, she just had to let go for once and accept the fact that allowing herself a break did not mean the end of the world.
"I tell you what I need. I need my best friend to remember she is young and to act like it" Blossom bit her lip while throwing another look at the dance floor. "It will be fun, I promise. See it as a birthday present, pretty please?".
She scrolled her head, a full smile appearing on her lips. "Only because it's your birthday"
Robin excited screams immediately made her question that choice.
"I know you are dying to teach these folks how to dance" her friend led the way towards the dance floor, this time encountering no opposition.
She felt good.
They were jumping around without following what years of dance classes had taught them, and it couldn't have felt more right.
She felt more than good.
They had been dancing together for hours now. Her hair had escaped her bun and it was freely following her every move. She could feel it stick with sweat to her neck and her bare shoulders. She probably looked like a mess, but the best part was that she had no time to care.
"It's me and you" Robin had told her at the beginning, when Blossom had been looking around all stiff and worried. Those words couldn't have been more true.
In the dark, she was just another sweaty teenager. Nobody was expecting anything from her, not even herself. She was allowed to be whoever she wanted.
Every time her body started moving to the music, she became what she never allowed herself to be. Dancing was her escape from reality, that one thing that made all her worries secondary. When she was dancing, she felt her body, every part of it. She was always so caught up by her studies and her responsibilities, that dancing had become her favorite way to escape all of that.
And she was having fun. Fun! She had forgotten the last time she had felt so careless. For the first time in months, she didn't have a care in the world.
She had been laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She felt tipsy and incredibly happy, without any real reason. She was just following the music and it was so refreshing, for once, to let everything go and just enjoy the moment.
She had been laughing at a clumsy attempt of her friend to jump on a small table that had found its way to dance floor, when she felt somebody touching her shoulder.
Her laugh immediately died, she looked up at her friend now on top of the table and was met with two thumbs up. Her friend winked at her and Blossom failed to hide a smile.
She quickly turned to face him, curious to see who had been so bold to approach her. She understood Robin reaction, gaping for the surprise. In front of her, there was this handsome boy she had never seen before. She stared for a moment too long, trying to take in everything she could under those intermittent flashes of light.
The mysterious boy must had taken her lack of reaction as a yes, because he started to move following the rhythm of the music.
Maybe it was the tiredness or maybe it was the adrenaline that was running in her veins, but she didn't feel the need to deny him a dance. It was, after all, just a dance. The guy smiled and Blossom felt her knees grew weaker. The fact that he was incredibly cute might have been part of that decision.
As soon as she started moving, he closed the gap between their bodies and pushed their chests together. He really didn't waste any time.
A shiver ran down her spine and he smiled again, but this time it was more of a smirk. He was clear he was finding the situation amusing, but Blossom could play that game too. Unlike him, she was real dancer.
She took his hands in her own and placed them on her hips before starting moving very slowly. She heard him hiss under her touch, but she was ready to claim victory when his hips started to move with her own.
Not a bad dancing partner, she had to admit, not bad at all.
They were moving together, as close to each other as possible and she was liking that proximity. It was a pleasant feeling and every time their bodies moved apart she couldn't help but to wait anxiously for the moment they would collide again.
Almost as an instinct, her head went to rest on his shoulder, and she raised her left hand to softly caress his face. His skin was warm and covered with sweat, as was his hair. He smelled of tobacco and something else, something sweet she couldn't exactly recognize. She only knew it was intoxicating and feeding on her last bit of sanity.
She closed her eyes and all she could feel were his hands travelling down her body. The dance was erotic in its simplicity and what surprised Blossom the most was that she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty or uncomfortable about it.
She felt his lips on her neck and she reacted by scooting even closer to him. She should have pushed him away, but she couldn't. There was only one thought in her head: why not?
His mouth traveled along her neck to reach her jaw. She told herself she could always stop him later, once those wonderful kisses stopped being so alluring.
After a few wet kisses, she felt his hot breath on her ear. She shivered and, for a moment, she feared her knees would buckle. Blossom didn't even know that she had been holding her breath, but when he talked, she felt her chest painfully tighten.
"I see you have missed me, Pinky."
Her heart missed a beat and her eyes shot open.
She stopped moving, as his hold on her hips strengthened.
"Cat got your tongue, baby?"
"Butch?" she whispered barely moving her lips, her head now straight and her body rigid as steel. It couldn't be him. He had left many years ago, nobody had seen him ever since.
"I see you remember my name" he joked caressing her forearm.
Blossom tried to move, but his grip tightened trapping her against his body.
"If I were you, I wouldn't move. I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt your friends".
The blood in her veins froze, and she was suddenly very well aware of where they were. Robin was right behind her, and the club was filled with innocent people completely oblivious to the danger they were in.
"Don't do anything stupid, Butch".
"Stupid like what you were going to do with me?"
A light blush spread on her cheeks, not from embarrassment, but from anger. She was an idiot. Her distraction had put her and all those people in a vulnerable position. She didn't know how dangerous he had become, but something was telling her to expect the worst.
"I have to say I quite enjoyed it, and I know you did too" Blossom felt the impulse to gag at those words, but she kept her eyes straight on him, studying his every move.
"If you want to fight this is not the place. Let's take it outside".
Blossom palms started to sweat as few seconds passed without a response. The loud music was ringing in her ear, and she felt bile coming up her throat. The only positive aspect of the situation was that her distress seemed to remain unnoticed, as all around her, people kept dancing.
"Eager, aren't we?" he grabbed her hand, squeezing it a little too strongly.
Before letting him lead the way, she threw a look to the crowd. Robin was dancing with a group of friends, she was safe.
She breathed a sigh of relief and followed Butch, trying to come up with a quick plan. That boy didn't know who he was messing with. And he was going to realize that very soon.
If Butch was there, this meant one thing and one thing only: the boys were back.
Blossom tried to remember anything she could from the last time she had seen them. She had been eleven or twelve, one day they had been fighting, the next day they had disappeared. Just like that, with no warning or explanation. Townsville was a better place without them, and her sisters and she hadn't look too much into it.
With no doubt they had chosen the perfect day for their comeback, when she had said that day couldn't had gotten any worse, it was no invitation for the universe to actually take on the challenge.
Butch led her towards a secondary entrance to the back of the building. Blossom felt the fresh air crushing on her warm skin. Her hair was stuck to her body and her tank top was soaked. But if there was a moment where she was not allowed to feel self-conscious, it was that.
Especially for the fact that his hand was still holding hers.
Blossom was gathering all her strength to break free, when he did the last thing she would ever expect from him: he let her go.
She remained still for long seconds, too shocked to move away, then finally she took a few steps away.
The alley was dark, illuminated only by the lampposts, but this didn't prevent her from finally see his face. He hadn't change much; his lips were still curled in his signature grin. Even the eyes were the same, bright and wild, while they looked at her with pure amusement.
His dark hair was longer than she remembered and, if possible, even messier. He was much taller now, she barely reached his shoulders and, she dared say, much bigger.
He was no longer the clumsy kid of her memories. He had grown up.
But she had too.
"What are you doing here?" she asked holding her gaze with firm voice.
"A man can't say hi to some old friends?" he joked raising his hands in the air in sign of surrender.
"We are not friends Butch. We have never been".
"You are hurting me, baby" he was already getting on her nerves. That conversation felt strangely familiar, as memories she hadn't relived in years kept popping up in her mind. He had always had the power of infuriating her with only a few words.
"Where is Brick?".
"This conversation is getting boring. It's time for some action" he punched his palm, and she knew the talking was over.
He attacked her, sprinting in her direction with his hand in a fist. She jumped, avoiding the hit, and remained in the air.
"Wrong day to wear a skirt".
Blossom took no notice of the remark, she just rolled her eyes at his stupidity before dodging another hit. She anticipated one of his kick, grabbed his ankle and threw his whole body against a dumpster. She didn't want to fight, but she was not going to make things easy for him.
Butch was up in less than a second, the impact had barely bruised him, the dumpster instead was bended in two.
"Please stop" she tried. Butch was one of those people who never listened, especially not during a fight. Even as a kid, she had always preferred interacting with Brick, his leader.
A raspy laugh escaped his lips. He threw himself at her, but this time Blossom was barely able to avoid the punch that was directed at her face.
Her hair betrayed her and before she could move away, he grabbed a lock pulling her towards him. She screamed in pain and kicked him right in the chest.
"This is cheap shot!" she whined.
He seemed not to even register the kick. His hand was still tightly pulling her hair, when he threw her like a doll against a building, right next to a window with pink flowers. Blossom hoped nobody decided to water them in that precise moment.
Butch pushed his body against hers, pressing her body against the wall. His lips spread in the biggest of smile she had yet seen on him.
"And here I thought you could put up some kind of a fight" he stared at her for a long second, and Blossom found herself thinking again of how little he had changed. "Buttercup would have been so much better than you".
"What?" she said in disbelief. There were very few things that could make her that angry, and Butch seemed to know them all. "Next time go ruin Buttercup's night then, not mine" she raised her knee with all the strength she had left hitting right between his legs.
As predicted, he immediately left her hair to bring his hands where they were the most needed at the moment.
Blossom didn't wait a minute longer. She punched him right in the stomach, and followed with a kick on his back. When his body hit the ground, she was fast in sealing his hands and feet to the concrete with her ice breath.
"What the hell?" he screamed, his eyes moving from the ice covering his limbs to Blossom, and vice versa.
"A new power" she said with nonchalance. She looked for something in her clutch, and when she found it, she knelt right next to him.
Butch, who had been trying to break free moving like a fish out of water, immediately froze at the sight of what was in her hands.
"What are you doing with that?"
"What a baby, you are not going to feel anything!" she offered her fakest smile, before stabbing him in the shoulder with the syringe she had been holding.
Butch screamed more out of fear than real pain, but Blossom paid him no attention. She stood up, put back the syringe in the bag, and melted the ice with her laser beams.
He tried to stand up, but Blossom blocked him forcefully pushing him to the ground, her heel sinking painfully in his shirt.
"What the fuck did you do to me?"
"Stop moving. You can't use your powers. It makes no sense wasting more energy".
"Fucking bitch, what did you do to me?" he was angry, and for a moment, Blossom felt safe knowing he was powerless.
"Watch your mouth!" she pressed her foot and Butch hissed in pain, "I guess you have the right to know what I injected in you. It's a serum with a small concertation of Antidote X. We always have one with us in case we meet someone like you. Your powers will be back in a few hours".
Blossom watched Butch going through an internal struggle. When he finally relaxed, she knew he had chosen to believe her.
"Again, wrong day to weak a skirt, Pinky".
Blossom removed her foot from his chest as if she had been burnt. This time she couldn't help her cheeks from flaring up.
"Leave and don't come back. I don't want any more troubles" without waiting for an answer, she started heading towards the back door of the club. She had a birthday party to come back to.
"This is how you leave your mortal enemy?" the girl stopped. The pumping of the speakers inside the club marked the pass of time, as she remained still, thinking about those words.
"I wouldn't say mortal" she finally said turning to face him.
"You don't want to see me dead?".
For the first time that night, Blossom couldn't tell if he was teasing or if he was serious.
A heavy silence fell between them, she studied him for long seconds, trying to make it all make sense. Only it didn't.
"No, I don't".
She was ready to turn around when he spoke again. "Why don't you bring me to jail?" he asked sounding genuinely curious.
"You didn't do anything wrong, but if you keep wasting my time like this, I could change my mind and beat you up" she wanted to sound menacing, but all she obtained was an amused smile.
"You would never beat a defenseless man" he snickered, but strangely it didn't annoy her.
"You have been away a long time, people change" she said hiding her own smile.
"But you didn't".
"Weren't you way more stupid last time we met or am I wrong?"
Butch smiled, but this time it was different. It was a real, genuine, smile. No mockery nor arrogance and Blossom decided to reward him with one of her own.
Unfortunately, before she could savor the moment, they were abruptly interrupted by the beeping of her cellphone.
"What now?" she screamed in frustration. "Yes…Yes… Michigan Avenue you said? I am on my way!" she was about to leave when she remembered the conversation was not over yet.
"I want you and your brothers out of my town. I won't let you go next time".
"Promise?".
"I am serious, Butch".
"Me too, Pinky".
She threw him one last look before disappearing in a flash of pink light.