Present Day, August

Last night's incident was all over television.

Buttercup raised the television's volume, "A nurse assaulted by an animal-like person in Townsville Hospital-"

"The victim stated that she 'felt claws on her arms and saw glowing blue cat-like eyes staring down at her' before passing out."

The lights were off in the room, so she couldn't make out either Butch or Bubbles.

Bubbles nervously trembled from behind the coach, staring at the tv in shock. Buttercup's jaw dropped as she listened with the remote still in her hand, "...What the fuck?"

"Are you hearing this Bubbles? I gotta text Bloss about this," Buttercup reached across the coffee table to grab her phone.

Bubbles felt something in her pocket vibrate. She expected a text from Blossom but she received a message from someone else entirely.

Do you need more blood? - B.

B. Butch.

Bubbles stared at the phone in her hands.

...What the-?

Bubbles waited at an empty park outside Townsville. She put on a jean jacket, her blue cap, and a mask. Despite the denim jacket she still shivered under the breeze.

Even though the whole place was devoid of people, it felt like she was being watched. The swings creaked and Bubbles jumped at the sound.

"Hey."

Bubbles looked ahead of her. Butch was standing with casual attire, a dark green button up plains white with a white T-shirt underneath and jeans. He just looked so normal. He was holding something in his arm. Bubbles could smell what was in his hands.

He tossed it in the air and Bubbles instantly flew up and grabbed it, not bothering to wait for it to come back down. It was a bundle of blood packets sealed inside a coolant bag.

Bubbles inspected the bag, "Where did you get this?"

"The hospital," he said so nonchalantly, Bubbles almost didn't believe him. Bubbles eyed the puncture marks on his neck.

"...Why are you helping me. We're...enemies…you're-"

"-a rowdyruff boy?," Butch snapped in a low voice, "The bad guy?"

Bubbles bit her lip inside the mask and looked away.

Boomer knew how to get on everyone's nerves, no one knew what was going through Brick's mind, but Butch?

"Was this all a part of some...cruel plan? Is that why are you helping me?" Bubbles was surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. She didn't sound like herself. She didn't like to accuse others.

Butch's expression hardened, "No."

Feeling like she wasn't getting any information out of him, Bubbles raised her voice, "Why now? Of all times, I told you to stay away from us and not cause any more trouble."

"We did, didn't we?" He was right, the girls only saw the boys in passing but they haven't been on their crime radar in...years.

"Butch," Bubbles started to plead, "Are you helping me out of...pity? If that's the case, then I don't need this." She held out the bag to him. He looked at the bag then at her, her pretty blond brows knitted in frustration.

"Do you feel guilty that things couldn't have turned out differently in high school Bubbles?"

Bubbles lowered the bag. She didn't expect that answer. Bubbles looked down, hesitant to say the words, "...it doesn't matter. That's all in the past."

She wanted to change the subject, "I need to find a way to change back but I don't know how."

Butch nodded lightly and rubbed the back of his neck, "It was during that explosion back in July wasn't it?"

Bubbles rubbed her hands anxiously, out of habit and out of the cold, "Yes, I couldn't eat food when I work up?" Her eyebrows frowned in thought, "How'd you know?"

Butch tilted his head, looking suprised, "Your coma was broadcasted everywhere. Even your pink sister came to visit for a few days."

"Oh...right…" She was a superhero. Anything like this couldn't be kept a secret. She also didn't know Blossom came over to visit, why wasn't this mentioned to her?

Bubbles was sifting through her memories, trying to recall everything, "There was a lab and there was the Professor's red formula split everywhere…" Butch watched her patiently.

"There was a black liquid, it was moving. Then it came alive and had tentacles and I think I swallowed some of it..."

Butch's eyebrows narrowed, "Moving black liquid?"

"When it touched my skin, everything was burning then...I woke up." Bubbles rubbed the side of her arm, feeling down she couldn't give more information. She looked up and Butch looked lost in thought.

"W-what are you thinking Butch?"

"The only person that comes to mind is, HIM."

Bubbles took a deep breath through her nose, "HIM? But that's...not impossible..."

Magic…magic...black pool of moving liquid…black...red...

...HIM?

It didn't seem like there wasn't a connection. But HIM was the only being who existed she knew that dealt with anything close to black magic. He was her best bet. Bubbles was going to find out.

Butch spoke up, "When me and my brothers were resurrected by HIM, we lived with him for years. I think you know the place I'm talking about. The underworld. Black tentacles sound like...HIM."

Bubbles clutched the handle of the bag to herself. If it was HIM, what did he want with her? What was his goal?

"Butch, thank you," she said. But when she looked up Butch was gone.

4 Years Ago

High school was a different playing field the girls struggled with. Keeping up with studies, thinking about college, work, driving, extracurricular activities, boys, friends that came and went.

Generally the girls were well-liked but bullies at school were no different than anywhere else. There would always be a small group of people wary of the Powerpuff Girls. They would try to nitpick every single move the girls make or even twist up truths on social media. That's the downside of fame, there was no sense of privacy.

And some villains attended the same school as well. Princess loved to torment the trio wherever she went, spreading rumors, purposely not inviting them to parties, etc. Her father always had the money to bail her out of jail. Even if they were fighting Princess in Town one day, the next day she would be walking down the school halls as if she were a normal student.

The Rowdyruff Boys also attended the same high school as the girls. It was almost torture. The boys would intervene in their fights in the cities as well as annoy them at school and make passive-aggressive comments as they passed by.

"Bubbles keep an eye on Boomer. Buttercup watch Butch. I'll keep an eye on Brick," Blossom ordered. All girls agreed to keep an eye out in case the Boys were up to no good. They didn't have as much trouble as they did before in elementary and middle school but that didn't mean that the girls didn't keep an eye on them.

But even if they felt surrounded on all sides. At least they had each other.

One day Bubbles was walking through a courtyard to head home when she heard Boomer laughing loudly with some of the students in school. The kind of people that would often ditch class.

Boomer had been his usual self lately. He made friends easily despite having questionable morals. He was easy on the eyes, how can anyone pass up to stare at a handsome blond guy?

A little separate from the crowd was Brick and Butch. Butch was scrolling through his phone with a bored look and Butch had his arm around a girl.

A new girlfriend this week? Bubbles thought.

She had brunette hair tied back in a high ponytail. She lightly played with his hand with her fingers and liked to talk really close to his mouth.

Bubbles eyed them. It wasn't like she was any better. She's been on a handful of dates herself. She had a good sense of what dating was like. But her relationships usually didn't last long because she spent so much time fighting crime and it was hard to make time for her exes.

Bubbles then turned her attention back to Boomer from the corner of her eye. She was exiting the gates that led outside and bumped into a hard chest. She faintly smelled men's shampoo.

"Why are you staring at my brother?" That voice was definitely Butch's.

"Stick with your counterpart, Butch," Bubbles said, then she thought about her words some more, "But also stay away from my sister," she quickly added.

Bubbles fidgeted under his stare. He just had that kind of look that would make you feel like he was going to go ballistic anytime.

He half-grinned and peered forward, "You're still scared of me bluey? You're trembling."

She didn't want to back down. But a part of her also didn't try to deny it this time. Boomer's jokes had always been a pain in the ass but Butch's consistent threats and challenge drove her up a wall everytime.

It made her feel small.

"I don't think it's just that," she took a step forward. "I think you're scared of me."

Butch's eyes narrowed.

"You think I'm the weakest one out of my sisters," her voice was slowly raising in volume, "But you know who I think is the weakest out of your brothers? You."

Butch didn't say anytime. Bubbles continued. This was the longest she's every spoke with him, "Don't think you can keep picking on me just because I cry easily."

She was almost nose to nose with him, "You pick on me because you're afraid that I'm stronger than you."

Butch's eyes darkened, "Do you really think that's how I feel?"

Bubbles huffed, "Stay away from me and my family, Butch."

They didn't talk again for years after that. She honestly didn't expect Butch to leave her alone.

Bubbles did remember a small detail that stuck in her mind long after. The week after she stood up to him, she saw Butch's arm slung around the shoulders of a Blonde girl.

Bubbles finished a blood packet before getting ready to pay a visit to HIM. She made sure to put some ice packs in the coolant bag which she tucked under her bed. She checked where Buttercup was. Her sister was passed out on the couch. Bubbles put on a coat and a mask and flew outside.

She flew a good distance away until she neared a small lake just a little ways from her home.

The chilly August air made her breathe puff in small white clouds through her mask, "HIM? I know you're watching," she listened to the waves on the shore and the rustling of leaves, "...I know you're out there."

The scenery around her was film of blue and black and when warped into red. It was still the same lakeside but it felt like a completely different world.

A voice reverb all around her, the source of the sound hard to pinpoint, "Yes my dear, glad you can come to visit little 'ol me. What about your sisters? Aren't you usually with them?"

HIM manifested from the ground in front of her from a black puddle.

"I need answers," Bubbles looked at HIM square in the eye then took off her mask and showed her teeth, "What is this?"

HIM placed a hand over his heart, "My, where indeed did you get those?"

Bubbles shook her head, "I know you're lying! This has you written all over it!"

HIM dissipated into a mist. Bubbles quickly looked around. His high-pitched voice cooed softly in her ear, "Do you believe in demons, my dear?"

Bubble threw a punch over her shoulder but there was no one there. HIM was no where to be found but she kept her fighting stance.

She debated whether to plant along and answer his question. Sweat started to beam on her temple, "...You're talking to someone with superpowers."

"Yes well, you're manmade, not magical. The Professor made you through science. By accident," HIM's face formed but the rest of his body was gone. He was practically a floating head, "You're talking to a demon with powers from the underworld world, did you know that?"

Was her transformation science or magic? Or both? She didn't know. She didn't have the brain capacity to think about complex things like Blossom did.

"You're not answering my question! Change me back!" she huffed and stomped her feet.

"Ohhhh…" HIM cooed, then tsk'ed his lips. "I wish I could honey. But it wasn't just magic that transformed you. It was a bit of science." Bubbles looked at HIM in confusion.

"It was technically your father's fault as well," Bubbles sent a death glare his way. Her eyes followed one of HIM's arms gliding soundlessly towards her.

"He was working on a formula to help people with serious blood disorders. It was all over the news by the way, that's how I know about this," HIM's arm snaked around her neck and lightly poked two spots in the soft part of her skin, "Let's say my magic did get mixed up with the formula then bam!" The tendril wrapped around Bubbles' neck evaporated into a smoke around her neck. Bubbles coughed and waved away the black smoke.

"Even if I did 'take back' that magic, you are already biologically transformed. Just like how you are born with your powers. You can't physically take that away."

"If this is how you were turned into, then it's probably here to stay.."

Bubbles couldn't believe her ears. Her eyes were starting to sting. She fought back the tears that threatened to fall.

She wanted to be as normal as she could be.

She shot upwards towards the void to get out of HIM's world. When she halted she was above the lake, the clouds gently gliding across. She closed her eyes, let her tears spill, and allowed herself to cry.

Whatever normal was for her all her life, this was the new normal.

Bubbles changed in to her pajamas once she arrived back in her bedroom. Buttercup was asleep in her bed. Her eyes were still swollen and puffy. She was replaying HIM's words in her head.

"It was technically your father's fault as well..."

No, the Professor made mistakes in his work but he always meant to be a good person. He was innocent in all of this.

You're not a laughing stock anymore. I don't want you to lose everything you worked hard to build for yourself. You pursue science to help others...

She floated down to the Professor's office in the basement and knocked on the door.

"Professor?"

From across the door, she heard his chair creak as he pulled away from his desk, "Yes, what is it Bubbles?" Bubbles opened the door and pulled her best smile.

She walked inside and closed the door. She cleared throat, she still had some phlegm from earlier, "It's a weird question but...do you believe in magic?"

He was in comical shock then a chuckle escaped his lips. "Well no, honey. I'm a scientist, I believe in the facts. But of course after everything I've seen with you girls, I can make exceptions." He patted the chair next to him. "What brought this one? Did you have another nightmare?"

Bubbles plopped on the chair next to him and sniffled, feeling another sob coming on, "It's just...everything's changed so much." She couldn't contain her composure anymore and covered her eyes to catch her tears. The Professor wrapped his arms around her as she trembled.

"Oh honey, a lot has happened since your sister left for college. And it's just been you two saving the town while going to college. It must have been a lot on your shoulders," he rubbed her back and she shook and hiccuped.

The Professor rested his head on hers, "I miss your sister too..."

They stayed that way for a while until Bubbles started to wipe her eyes with her sleeves. She pulled away to look at her father. Her father wiped a remaining tear away with his sleeve.

"It's okay Bubbles. Being an adult is hard. And people change too," Bubbles felt herself smile, the Professor continued, "No matter what happens, you'll always be my little girl, sweetheart."