Lords of the Playlist
Authors note: The Powerpuff girls do not belong to me and as always, they have human appendages.
Greens ages variate between late teens/early twenties.
Track 58: Anna Molly – Incubus
Butch stared out over the rundown Townsville pier, watching as the sea in front of him churned a murky green colour.
Normally, the sea surrounding Townsville was a healthy deep blue, but today was an especially overcast day, and after the most recent monster fight, involving Buttercup and a rather unpleasant mosquito-like creature that had taken place not too far from his current location – ending with some of the beast's blood running into the ocean – the sea had yet to return to its normal colour.
He frowned. It had been a rather sloppy takedown compared to most of her previous fights – not that he was an expert monster fighter or anything, normally he was the one cheering for the brute – but he knew how she fought better than anyone else, and it hadn't escaped him that it had taken the green Puff far longer to wear down the oversized bug then it should have taken, and the damage it had done to the docking zones far surpassed most of the other monster fights that had taken place in that year alone.
Which led him to believe that his counterpart had let it cause more mayhem then it should have.
'Course, he wouldn't dare voice that out loud – god forbid that Buttercup was anywhere nearby, and heard it with her superheating – he'd be asking for a limb to get ripped off.
"The hell are you doing here dumbass? Shouldn't you be off fucking up the downtown area or something?"
Ah, speak of the devil – she always knew where to find him when he wasn't with his brothers. Sometimes he swore that they had a psychic connection with one another.
He turned his head to the side, just in time to see Buttercup slowly descend on the wooden planks beside him with a soft thud. He raised a dark brow at her disheveled looking appearance. Out of her fighting jumpsuit and in normal street clothes, she looked more worn out then he had seen her in years. She hadn't even bothered to make herself look presentable, as she stood before him in baggy sweats and a band t-shirt – her normally bright eyes dull, as if she hadn't slept in months. And maybe she hadn't – whatever, he didn't keep that close of a tab on her.
Interesting. If he didn't know any better, he would say that she looked almost vulnerable and small by herself without her sisters on either side of her.
"I could, but something tells me you wouldn't be able to stop me today if you tried." He tossed out lightly, the almost lethargic energy she was exerting making him bolder then he normally would have been uttering such a statement around her.
Sure enough, she caught on to what he was implying rather fast. Her bright green eyes darkened with irritation as she bored holes into his face.
"You think I wouldn't be able to take you down asswhipe? Is that what you're implying here?"
"I don't think sweetheart, I know."
"Oh, you do now, do you. Tell me then, what makes you think that I won't kick your ass then?"
"You're done."
It wasn't a question.
"I am not."
"It wasn't exactly a statement.
"You can't keep this little facade up forever Puff. It's starting to become obvious that you've given up. Yesterday's monster fight was evidence of that. It's either that or you've just stopped caring about this place. Not that I really blame you – this place is pretty shitty after all. Monster capitol of America and stuff – place just can't seem to keep itself clean for more than five minutes at a time without some monster or villain coming along and fucking it up."
He glanced sidelong at her – seeing her face gradually fall with every point he made with his speech. "Anyone would get tired of having to clean up the city every day." He finished flatly as he shifted his attention back to the sea spread out in front of him.
"Why the fuck do you care?" Buttercup bit out resentfully after a moment – not exactly denying anything that he had said.
Good question: why did he care. He should – by all accounts – want her to burn out or turn on the city she was sworn to protect. It would make things so much easier for him.
He shrugged. "I guess I don't like seeing you in limbo like this. Fighting evil is what you were made to do, but you can't force yourself to fight if you're not in it to win anymore."
She flat out glared at him then, but he could see some hesitation in her piercing green irises, letting him know that he wasn't as far off with his statement as she could have liked him to believe.
"That's where you're wrong." She murmured so quietly he almost missed it. "Because I can." And with that, she took off into the gray sky like a rocket – leaving behind her trademark green streak after her.
He watched her go until he couldn't see her anymore. He shook his head as he returned to watching the sea bubble uneasily with a sinking feeling in his chest.
A storm was brewing, and it wouldn't be long before it broke and took everyone down with it.
.
XxX
A cloud hangs over this city by the sea,
I need you now put me back together make me right
I'm calling your name up into the air
Not one of the others could ever compare!