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Routine

zoom by Sofia2017 planning

She didn't know why the thought hadn't crossed her mind before.

From day to day, she and her sisters fought crime, monsters and the Villains of Townsville. It went as regular as clockwork. Back robbery here, Monster Isle monster there, with the usual Mojo Jojo attack sprinkled in for good effect. Oh sure, sometimes the routine would instead involve Fuzzy Lumpkin's going darn crazy, the Rowdyruff Boys being jerks, and Mayor struggling with his pickle jar (again!). On occasion, it might even require them to go up into space to stop an incoming asteroid, before speeding back to Earth only to catch Sedusa trying to sneak priceless vases from the museum. And she got a real kick on those occasions when it varied itself up a little or even a lot.

But it boiled down to one thing: routine. And that was what infuriated Buttercup.

It was, if possible, even worse for Buttercup when there were no calls on the Powerpuff Hotline all throughout the day. Even if it was a school day, she was still bored for the afternoon. And if it happened on a weekend... well, don't even get her started on that facet. If you don't want to be in hospital for a week, anyways. Buttercup's bad enough bored on a weekday.

That's not to say she didn't try to do ordinary kid stuff on those days.

On the contrary, she tried the most, way ahead of Blossom and even ahead of Bubbles' coloring traits. Some of them circled back to crime fighting, such as her favorite ham that was the equivalent of a punching bag. Occasionally, she would also try something girly as well. She gave up on these attempts after a while though, mostly because she couldn't stand having another tea party with Bubbles, Octi, and a dozen of her stuffed animals.

Probably one of the things that she tried the most was video games.

If it was a quiet day in Townsville, it was a safe bet that, at some point in the day, Buttercup would be seated on a bean bag, facing the television with a console controller in hand, engrossed in a virtual world brought to life both on the screen and in her eyes. For a five-year-old, and especially a girl, Buttercup was talented at these video games. Whenever she had Mitch Mitchelson over to play at their house (and it happened more than once, surprisingly), they would be fiercely locked in a game of Space Hyperdrive, twisting and turning their fighters through Realspace to Hyperspace and back again.

And it was a great comfort to Buttercup that someone else was there to collectively groan with her when Bubbles changed the channel over to yet another episode of Blarney the Singing Sea Serpent.

But, rather often, Buttercup would be only five minutes from the end of a game's level, beating her own high score, or whatever it was, when the Powerpuff Hotline would go off. And, whether she had been playing alone, with Mitch, or with someone else, once she returned after Mojo had been chucked in jail (for that was the most likely outcome), she would find it hard to reclaim her video game, even though she had left it on.

It didn't matter whether it was because it was her bedtime, someone else wanted the television, or even that the power had gone out – it happened all the time.

And that was the second element of routine that infuriated her.

Yet despite, or perhaps because of, these regular interruptions into her pastimes, Buttercup enjoyed both the crime fighting and the video games even more so.

When more time passed between each Hotline call, she was often so psyched up that the girls would dispatch the monster, Gangreen Gang, or whatever the trouble was that time that much quicker. And, because lengthy playing opportunities were scarcer, she looked forward to playing the video games on an even grander level, because it meant she was pumped enough to get past her old score in half the time it had taken her previously.

Or crush a tougher level like it was next to nothing to her. Either way that showed she was the best at Space Hyperdrive, it didn't really matter to Buttercup, in all honesty.

So the third element of routine didn't infuriate Buttercup.

It inspired her.

Blossom, commander and the leader

Bubbles, she is the joy and the laughter

Buttercup, well, she's the toughest fighter

Powerpuffs save the day!

Fighting crime, trying to save the world

Here they come just in time, the Powerpuff Girls

Fighting crime, trying to save the world

Here they come just in time, the Powerpuff Girls

Powerpuff!