Villain: Redux

By: Yay Ninja Bob


A/N: Thanks everyone for your patience with the slower updates; here's a big fat chapter to make up for it I hope lol. I had to take a short break from writing, so it delayed this chapter a bit more than I would have liked. I'm back on track though, and just judging on how my writing's been going over the last month, I'm estimating updates will be every 5-6 weeks for the next upcoming chapters. If I can manage to get them up sooner, I definitely will try. I'll try to have the next chapter up by either Tuesday, August 25th or the latest Tuesday, September 1st. I'll be sure to keep my progress with 9 updated on my tumblr - yayninjabob dot tumblr dot com.

Personally, I've been pretty excited/anxious for chapter 8 and I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this one. So please if you have the time to leave a review/comment I would super appreciate it! Thanks again to all of you lovely reviewers- your words really give me fuel on days when writing isn't coming as naturally as I'd like. Big, detailed reviews or the small, brief comments- everything helps me as the author.

OK, onto chapter 8. I really hope you all enjoy this one. Thanks again for reading! :)


Part II: Hate & War

Chapter 8

Sixteen

The kennels were quiet as Bubbles shut off the light for the evening. All the animals that lived there at the pet hospital were fast asleep, happy and content with full bellies. Caring for the rescues that lived there was one of the teenager's favorite parts of her part-time job at the pet hospital. It was what inspired her to do the same for the coyotes in her own free time. The only difference between the orphaned dogs at the hospital, and the coyotes she cared for in the city forest, was that eventually the dogs at the hospital would find a new family to call home. When Bubbles first began her coyote sanctuary, she would have loved for her coyotes to eventually find families to call their own, too. However, she quickly realized they were feared too much by most citizens of Townsville for that to ever happen. To Bubbles, that didn't matter though. If no one else was willing to give the coyotes a chance, she was more than happy to care for them every day. If no one else would have them as family, she was proud to call them hers.

As Bubbles left the kennels, she checked her pant's pocket for her cell phone. She only took a moment to glance at the device, checking for any messages from Buttercup, who should have texted her by then, but there were no messages.

"Hey, Bubbles," another veterinary assistant called out to her from down the hallway. "Dr. Weaver's asking for you in exam room two when you get a chance."

The teenager returned her cell to her pockets and responded cheerfully, "OK!"

Bubbles entered the second examination room where Dr. Weaver and a middle-aged woman stood around the exam table at the center of the room. Upon the table, sat a caged green bird. The tiny parakeet looked subdued, perched on its branch, with its head tucked out of sight, hiding behind its wing. The veterinarian gently placed her hand inside the cage and reached for the small budgie. The green feathered bird responded by lifting its head and stretching its wings out, as it inched further away from the vet's hand. The tiny creature ruffled its feathers, revealing a very sparse spot on its neck and chest. It then stubbornly returned its tiny head to behind its wing.

"The feather plucking hasn't improved, I see," Dr. Weaver said as she retracted her hand from the cage and closed the door.

"No, it's been the same since last we saw you, Doctor. He tears at his feathers every day now it seems."

"Hmm," the short, elderly veterinarian adjusted her eye glasses as she studied the caged parakeet. "We've ruled out dietary issues. We've ruled out parasites. We've ruled out allergies, and all his blood work has returned normal. No signs of infection. That leaves just one possibility," the short woman looked up from the cage and at the pet owner. "I think we are dealing with something psychological, here." She sighed a little, "Obsessive grooming can be a result of many things. Boredom for instance."

"He's ripping his feathers out because he's bored?" the woman blinked back in confusion.

"It's more common than you would think, actually. Especially common with single bird households. They're incredibly smart creatures, you know. They need some mental stimulation in their environment. Without it," the vet paused to raise a finger to her head, and twirled it in a circular motion, "Boredom."

"But he's got bells, and ropes, and even a little swing to play on- not that he ever uses any of it," the owner responded, still looking confused. "When I purchased him at a bird shop for my son's birthday last month, I was sure to get everything they said he needed."

As the veterinarian explained the situation to the bird owner, Bubbles stood dutifully in the corner of the exam room, waiting to be called upon by Dr. Weaver. Her bright blue eyes fell on the tiny green bird as he continued to hide behind his wing. She watched the budgie curiously and thought he looked awfully scared.

"Lucky for you, I have my assistant Bubbles here for the evening," Dr. Weaver said with a smile as she nodded towards the blonde haired girl in pigtails.

Bubbles perked up as she was acknowledged.

"Bubbles, would you ask our tiny feathered friend here how he's feeling?"

"Of course, Doctor," Bubbles smiled as she began to walk towards them at the center of the room.

The veterinarian moved away from the table so that Bubbles could get a closer look at the bird. She knelt down in front of the cage and spoke in a soft chirp, "Hi, I'm Bubbles. What's your name?"

The small bird remained still for a while, but eventually peaked shyly from behind his wing, and answered with a short whistle, "Lorenzo."

"Hi, Lorenzo," Bubbles chirped, "Can I ask you why you're hiding from everyone?" The tiny bird slowly lowered his wing, to show Bubbles his bare patch of missing feathers on his neck and chest. Bubbles gave him a reassuring smile, "You don't have to hide that from us. That's why you're here. So Dr. Weaver can help." She paused, "Your owner says you've been plucking your feathers out at home. Can you tell me why?"

Lorenzo the parakeet blinked his tiny beaded black eyes at the girl. He turned his head and gave a quick chirp, "I just wanted to clean up, but..." the bird shook his feathers, "it got out of control." Lorenzo whistled, "I can't seem to fix it now. It only gets worse."

Bubbles gave the bird another reassuring smile, "That's OK. I think you still look beautiful, Lorenzo." The girl reached into the cage and gave the tiny bird a gentle pat, "And don't you stress about it. Your feathers will grow back in some time." She smiled a little as the tiny bird rubbed his head affectionately against her hand.

The bird's owner looked on with amazement, "He's been pretty quick to bite lately." she confessed.

"Well, Bubbles has a special way with animals," Dr. Weaver spoke to the owner as they continued to watch the young Powerpuff chirp back and forth with the bird. "I've seen her talk down some of our most troublesome patients. Birds can take weeks, even months to gain trust with a new human depending on the circumstances. Bubbles, however, is a natural."

"But Lorenzo," Bubbles continued to sing to the bird in its language, "You should probably leave your feathers alone for awhile if you can help it."

The tiny budgie ruffled his feathers once more, "I'll try..." he responded glumly, "I just wish Maria was here."

"Maria?" Bubbles repeated in a small chirp.

"She is my love, and I am hers," the budgie sang sweetly. "Well," Lorenzo tilted his head as he whistled softly, "At least I used to be until they took me from the big cage, and put me here."

"The big cage?" Bubbles repeated. She thought about this for a moment. She turned to the bird's owner and quickly asked, "Did you buy Lorenzo from that one bird shop in Downtown? The one that looks like a giant bird cage from the outside?"

"Lorenzo?" the woman blinked back at Bubbles, "His name is Avocado, but yes, I purchased him at Birdland. Why?"

Bubbles returned her attention to Lorenzo. "Lorenzo, tell me more about Maria," she whistled sweetly.

The green budgie seemed to perk up at just the mention of her name. "She is beautiful," he chirped as he raised his head. "Yellow feathers that shine brighter than the sun. We grew up together in the big cage. She has always been my special someone, and so I..."

"You miss her," Bubbles completed with a soft whistle, "Of course you do, Lorenzo." Bubbles frowned a little as she gave the bird one last comforting pat, "I understand."

Dr. Weaver joined Bubbles once more at the exam table, "So what does our little birdie have to say, Bubbles?"

Bubbles closed the small door to Lorenzo's cage and turned towards the veterinarian, "He's feeling pretty self conscious about his feathers, and he says he's just been trying to fix it himself." Bubbles frowned again, "And he says he misses another bird he used to live with at Birdland named Maria."

The veterinarian and the woman chuckled a little in response to Bubbles' last comment, but the blue Powerpuff could not see what was so funny.

"Ah, yes," Dr. Weaver smiled, "It sounds like he's having a difficult time adjusting to his new environment then. This would explain the obsessive grooming," she turned to the owner, "You'll have to be patient with Avocado. Some birds just take longer to readjust than others. In the meantime, giving him some extra care and attention should help speed things along." She retrieved a pen from her white coat pocket and began to scribble something on the bird's patient record. "I suggest moving his cage to a window, or an area where he gets a nice view. Switch out his cage's toys for new ones, and rotate them out regularly to keep his environment new and stimulating for him. I'd also recommend getting him a tiny mirror for his cage."

"A mirror?" the woman repeated.

"Yes, it can help with the loneliness felt in single bird homes. Most birds see their own reflection and don't know the difference between it and another bird, you see. Maybe a mirror in his cage can become his new 'Maria,'" she chuckled again.

"Or," Bubbles spoke up with a hopeful smile, "If you'd like, Ma'am, I could help you reunite Loren- I mean Avocado- with Maria. If you brought her home to live with him, I'm sure he'd be better than ever!"

"Oh," the woman smiled weakly at Bubbles, "That's sweet, but... I think I'll try the mirror first. One bird has proven to be more work than I thought it would be as it is."

Bubbles' hopeful smile slowly turned to a frown, but she said nothing more as she waited patiently for Dr. Weaver to finish her visit with Lorenzo and his owner. Her blue eyes were focused on Lorenzo, and she could feel her heart break a little from the idea of the budgie living the rest of his days out in depressing solitude. She watched as the woman covered the cage with a dark colored sheet, and carried it with her as she followed the vet back into the lobby.

Bubbles hovered quietly behind them, as the bird owner approached the lobby's front desk with the covered birdcage in her arms. The woman seemed to struggle to retrieve her purse while she simultaneously held onto the cage, and so Bubbles quickly volunteered, "Here," she said as she offered to take the cage from her, "Let me help."

"Thank you, Bubbles!" the woman smiled cheerfully as Bubbles took the cage from her.

As Bubbles waited for the woman to pay her fees at the front desk, Dr. Weaver approached her from behind. "Nice work today, as always, Bubbles," the veterinarian held out an envelope for Bubbles to take. "Here's your week's pay, and I included a small little birthday bonus for you, Dear. See you again next week?"

Bubbles nodded as she took the sealed envelope from her, "Aw, Thanks, Dr. Weaver," she smiled, "Yeah, see you next week!"

Dr. Weaver smiled as she waved goodbye to Bubbles and the receptionist for the evening, and left through the hospital's main entrance.

Bubbles returned her attention to Lorenzo's owner, "Can I help you out to your car, Ma'am?"

The woman smiled back, "That would be wonderful! Thank you, Bubbles! You really are the sweetest."

Bubbles continued to carry the covered cage as she followed the woman out of the hospital, through the small parking lot, and to her car. As they reached her vehicle, Bubbles spoke up once more, "You know, Ma'am, I don't want to overstep but..." she paused as the woman unlocked her car's door, "I really would love to help Lor- Avocado- find Maria. After speaking to him, I really do believe he will be much happier if the two of them were together."

The woman frowned a little, "I'm sorry, Bubbles, but I... well, I don't want another bird. This bird has already cost me more in vet bills in the last month than he is even worth. More than 200 dollars so far, and now I'll have to go get him more toys, and a mirror..." She sighed a little, "I almost wish I had gotten my son a simple goldfish for his birthday instead."

The woman took the cage from Bubbles' grasp, and as she did the animal lover's heart sank once more. She watched helplessly as the woman sat the birdcage in her car's passenger seat and shut the door with a hard slam.

As the woman turned to walk towards the driver's side of her car, Bubbles stepped in her path, "Wait," she said as she reached into her pocket and retrieved the sealed envelope containing her week's pay. "I'll buy him from you. How does that sound?"

The woman blinked back for a moment, "You want to buy him? But why? He's missing half his feathers at this point, and you heard what the doctor said. He's going to be a lot of work-"

"You said you've spent over 200 so far?" Bubbles interrupted.

"Well... yes, but-"

Bubbles pulled out the majority of bills from her envelope of pay, "How about 250?" Bubbles held out the cash for the woman to take, but she just stared at the girl in somewhat shock. "Please," Bubbles insisted. "I really would love to care for him. I'll make sure that he's happy, and well... with this money you could get your son a really nice aquarium with lots of goldfish if you wanted."

The woman smiled, and finally reached for the money in the young teen's hand and took it. "Well," she said as she placed the money inside her purse, "If it really means that much to you, then I guess he's yours."

A giant smile swept Bubbles' face as the woman retrieved the birdcage from her car and handed it to her then. "Thank you, Ma'am!" her blue eyes shined brightly as she took the cage in her arms, "I promise you! He's going to have the best life ever!"

"Good luck!" The woman couldn't help but laugh a little as she climbed into her car's driver seat and shut the door. She rolled down her window and gave the blue Powerpuff a small wave as she drove off.

Bubbles continued to grin big as she carefully rested the birdcage by her feet for a moment. She retrieved her cell phone from her pocket and checked it again for any messages. There were none, and she quickly dialed for Buttercup to get to the bottom of her whereabouts. Her call rang several times before an answer.

"What?" Buttercup sounded short on the other end.

"Hellooo?" Bubbles replied back, "You said you weren't going to be that late and I'm done with work already! I need your help with something before we go home-"

"I'm already home," Buttercup interrupted in a low mutter.

"What?" Bubbles paused. The somber tone in her sibling's voice was a familiar one. "What happened?" She pressed the phone closely to her ear as she waited for an answer, but all she heard was a long sigh on the other end. "Buttercup, what happened?" Bubbles repeated.

"Nothin.'"

"Then why are you home already?"

Another long sigh, before she muttered back, "I dunno. I was at the pier, and then I ran into Blossom, and stuff happened- like usual, everyone's just blowing it out of proportion, and-"

"You and Blossom went to the pier without me?!" Bubbles interrupted, sounding offended, "No fair, Buttercup, you always say you hate the beach and never wanna go with me when I wanna-"

"Bubbles, that's not the point," Buttercup interrupted. She sighed again, "Look, I told the Professor already that I ended my shift at the hospital before you, so back me up on that, alright?"

"OK," Bubbles frowned. "Are you in trouble for something?"

"I dunno. Probably. Eventually, I'm sure. What else is new?"

Bubbles listened to her sister closely, and knew from the sound of her voice that whatever happened had Buttercup pretty upset. "Well," Bubbles began, "If you're not grounded yet, how about coming out here to help me with something?"

Buttercup groaned on the other end, "Bubbles, I'm really not in the mood-"

"Please! Think about it! If you think there's a chance you're gonna get grounded later then this could be your last chance to be out on a real adventure!"

"Somehow I doubt whatever you have planned would be an adventure," Buttercup muttered on the other end. She sighed. "Fine. Where are you?"

"Meet me in Downtown on Second and Main."

"Alright. See ya soon."

Bubbles hung up her cell and returned it to her pant's pocket. She then knelt down for the birdcage and carried it in her arms once more. She quickly removed the dark sheet covering the cage and grinned big at Lorenzo as she whistled to him, "Don't worry, Lorenzo! My sister's on her way now, and we'll go get your Maria! And then the two of you can live happily together with our family! How's that sound?"

Lorenzo perked up from where he sat on his branch, "Really?!" he bobbed his head with excitement. "Thank you, Bubbles!"


As Buttercup descended the staircase of their home, she could hear that Blossom was downstairs in the living room. Buttercup had gone straight to her room after the two of them got home that evening. She had planned to stay there for the night just to avoid her redheaded sister. It wasn't uncommon for her to try and lecture Buttercup whenever she felt her behavior had crossed the line of what was acceptable "for a Powerpuff Girl," and Buttercup just didn't have the patience that night to deal with it. She still felt irritated by the whole roller coaster incident earlier that evening. All she tried to do was the right thing, and be the hero everyone claimed they wanted. She saved more than a dozen lives that night, yet everybody there seemed more concerned over the theatrics made by some asshole. Even her own sister sided with the jerk. At least, that's how Buttercup viewed it.

Buttercup was careful to hover as quietly as possible as she approached the living room. She peered cautiously around the corner, and spotted Blossom in the middle of the room. She was surrounded by the piles of birthday packages that had been delivered earlier that day. The tall girl sat cross legged on the floor with bundles of enveloped letters on her lap, as she sorted through them, separating them by which Puff they were addressed to. While her pink eyes seemed distracted by what she read, Buttercup continued to move past the living room and towards their home's front door.

"Where are you going?" Blossom looked up just as her sister passed by.

Buttercup stopped and answered with a groan, "Out."

"Out where?"

"Jeez, Blossom, curfew's not for another two hours, you know."

"I know," Blossom sat aside the bundle of letters she held, and stood up from the ground. "That still doesn't answer my question though." She frowned. "So where are you going?"

"I'm going to get Bubbles at work, alright?"

"What does she need you for?"

"How should I know? She called and asked me to come. You know she's a big baby. She's probably upset that I left her there earlier and wants me to get ice cream for her or something stupid."

"Oh," Blossom frowned a little, feeling a little left out.

"Yeah, so see ya," Buttercup muttered as she started towards the door again.

"Wait," Blossom moved quickly through the living room and stood in Buttercup's path. "With everything that happened earlier," she began, "Do you really think you should be out there without-"

"Without what?" Buttercup's eyes narrowed on her sister.

Blossom frowned. "Look, I know you don't like to, but you have to admit that things are just a little easier when you-" she stopped as her sibling's emerald eyes only narrowed more intensely. It was always a touchy subject for her, and Blossom knew she had to choose her words carefully. She was only trying to look out for Buttercup, after all. The redhead sighed and started over, "Listen, Buttercup," she reached for her raven haired sibling and rested her hand on her shoulder, "I just think maybe you wouldn't have to deal with so much if you took a little time before you went out to just... cover up a little... Earlier at the pier, maybe if you had your scars covered then-"

"Then what?" Buttercup pulled away from Blossom as she glared at her, "I wouldn't look like the monster people think I am?"

Blossom frowned, "Those are just conspiracy freaks, Buttercup. Not everyone thinks that way, but when you act the way you do, and when you go out of your way to scare people time and time again, then-"

"Then what are they supposed to think?" Buttercup completed the statement for Blossom with a scoff. She gritted her teeth as she continued, "Look. It's summer. I'm not at school, and I'm not at some stupid photo shoot with you and Bubbles. So I ain't wearing any makeup. If people wanna freak out, fuck 'em." Buttercup forcefully tugged on her jacket's hoodie so it fit snugly around her head. "There," she said, "Covered up enough for ya?"

Blossom frowned, but said nothing. She moved out of Buttercup's path as she started for the door once more.

"Don't worry, Blossom. I'll be sure to try to not scare anybody while I'm out."

Blossom watched her sister leave and slam the door forcefully behind her. She then slowly returned to her spot on the living room floor where she still had several bundles of letters to sort through. As she lowered herself back onto the floor, her cell phone rang in her shorts' back pocket. "Hello?" Blossom answered automatically without bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hey," Robin answered on the other end, "Just thought I'd let you know I made it home."

Blossom's pink eyes widened, "Oh my God, Robin!" she exclaimed immediately as it dawned on her in that moment, "I am so sorry! I-I completely forgot! I just got so caught up in everything, and then Buttercup almost killed a guy, and then we came home, and she wasn't talking to me as if this whole thing was somehow my fault, and I-I just completely forgot about everything else! I swear I didn't mean to leave you stranded at the pier, I-I just-"

"Blossom," Robin interrupted, "It's OK. I get it. Really, I do."

Blossom sighed heavily. "...I'm the worst girlfriend ever, aren't I?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure there's worse out there than you."

Blossom stood and made her way across the living room. She flew into her home's kitchen, and hovered in front of the window which faced Robin's house. As she looked out the window, she could see into Robin's own kitchen window. There, the brunette stood with a small smile and she waved at Blossom as soon as she appeared.

"That was a joke, by the way," Robin spoke through the phone as she waved from the window.

"I know," Blossom sighed as she waved back with a weak smile.

"So, what were you saying about Buttercup almost killing somebody?"

"Didn't you see?"

"By the time I made it over there, the crowd had gotten so big, I couldn't see anything really. Just a lot of people shouting and booing." Robin paused. "So what happened?"

Blossom frowned, "I don't know. All I know is she was carrying some guy I thought to safety. Next thing I know, he's screaming and falling from the sky. I barely had enough time to react and save him from hitting the ground. He told me immediately that Buttercup had tried to kill him, and-"

"And you believed him?"

"Well... no... I don't know..." Blossom sighed heavily once more, "I really don't know, Robin."

"Come on, Blossom," Robin began, "Buttercup's got a mean temper, but I don't think she'd try to kill anybody."

"I know, I know. I guess it's just... She's been doing pretty good for a while and now out of nowhere, this happens. When I confronted her on it, she literally told me that the guy deserved it. As if she meant to do it. So what am I supposed to think?"

"You know how she is. There were a lot of people there, Blossom, and they were all staring right at her- yelling at her, on top of that. You don't think that pissed her off? Just give her some time to cool off, ask her about it again and I'm sure she'll say he just slipped or something."

Blossom bit her lip nervously. "I'm just worried, Robin," she confessed. "There were so many people there, and they all seemed so appalled by what she did. I'm sure even if this guy doesn't talk to the press himself, somebody else that was there is bound to make this another big awful story. There's already so many terrible rumors about her, and her scars, and everything that I just don't understand why she doesn't act more carefully while she's out in public. Like maybe try not to flip off an entire crowd of people who believe you just tried to murder someone? It just seems like common sense to me. Am I wrong?"

"She probably could've handled the situation a little better than that, yeah," Robin smiled weakly from the window. "But you know these things eventually blow over. Everyone was saved, and everyone is safe. Isn't that what matters?"

Blossom sighed once more. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What was that?" the brunette smirked slyly from the window.

Blossom laughed a little. "You're right, Robin." She paused. "Robin, I... I really am sorry about forgetting you at the pier tonight."

"I told you it's fine. Just try and get some rest tonight, and quit worrying so much. OK?"

"OK," Blossom answered. She watched Robin as she blew on the glass of her kitchen window with her breath. She used her finger to draw a heart on the fogged up glass, and then rested her palm against the window as she smiled big at Blossom. Blossom couldn't help but show a smile in return.

"Good night, Blossom."

"Good night, Robin."


"What's with the cage?" Buttercup asked as she touched down onto the sidewalk beside Bubbles.

Bubbles held the cage up a little higher so that Buttercup was eye to eye with the tiny green bird who sat inside. "Buttercup, I'd like you to meet Lorenzo!" she beamed. "Lorenzo, this is my sister Buttercup!"

Buttercup blinked at the bird for a moment, and the bird blinked his tiny beaded eyes back at her.

"He's our new baby bird brother! Isn't he sweet?" Bubbles grinned.

"He looks kinda messed up," Buttercup answered honestly, "Like what's up with his feathers?"

Bubbles frowned, "Well that's why we're here." She turned and pointed across the street from where they stood. "He's missing his feathers because he's been so distraught over the lost love of his life! Her name is Maria and she lives in that bird store over there. They got separated after Lorenzo was bought by his old owner."

"Old owner?"

"Yeah! I bought him from her!"

"You paid for this thing?" Buttercup gave a short laugh.

Bubbles narrowed her eyes on Buttercup for a moment before she continued, "Yes. And now we are going to go buy Maria."

Buttercup rolled her eyes, "You brought me out here to go bird shopping?"

"Well," Bubbles began, "Yeah, but I also need a big favor-" Bubbles saw that Buttercup opened her mouth then to say something and she quickly hushed her with one finger as she continued, "And before you say 'no,' can I please remind you that I always one thousand percent back you up on anything that ever happens and also I've covered for you like a bajillion times, and also-"

"OK, OK," Buttercup said, "What do you need?"

"Well, you know how the Professor has that strict 'no pets' rule?"

"Uh yeah. If he didn't, you'd have brought home an entire zoo by now, Bubs."

Bubbles frowned a little, "Well, I still think that it's not a very fair rule," she pouted. "I mean... I guess I kinda get it," she sighed. "But Lorenzo's different, Buttercup. You really don't understand how sad he is because he can't be with his love, Maria. And even after I told his owner, she didn't even care! All she cared about was how much money he was costing her, and it was just so sad, I had to do something!"

"Get to the point, Bubbles."

"OK, OK," Bubbles paused, "Well, the other week at work we had this kid come in with his pet iguana and he said it was his emotional support pet. I asked him what that meant and he said that his emotional support pet helped him with his PTSD and I said, 'Hey my sister has that!' and I went home and told the Professor about it, and he said 'Hm, that's an idea,' and I gasped and said we should get you an emotional support pet of your own, and then he said that it was a nice idea but it sounded like it was just me trying to get a pet for myself, and then I said 'But what if Buttercup asked for one though?' and he said 'Maybe.'"

"Uh huh..."

"So," Bubbles smiled weakly, "I was thinking if we went home together with the birds, you could say that they were yours, and maybe then the Professor would actually let me- I mean you- keep them."

Buttercup groaned, "Seriously?"

"Pleeease, Buttercup?" Bubbles' baby blue eyes began to glisten as she gave her sister the saddest puppy dog expression she could manage. "I promise I'll help you take care of them, and you don't even have to feed them if you don't want to! I'll take care of everything! Just keep them in your room and pretend that they're yours is all I need!"

Buttercup gritted her teeth for a full minute before she finally surrendered, "Ugh! Fine! You owe me though!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Bubbles jumped with joy as she cheered. "Come on! Let's go!" She balanced the birdcage in one arm as she grabbed her sister by the hand and began to lead her across the street and towards the bird shop called Birdland.

As the two entered the store, they were immediately greeted by a friendly man in suspenders. "I don't believe it! It's Bubbles of the Powerpuff Girls! What a nice surprise! Welcome to Birdland! How can I help you and your friend this evening?"

Buttercup kept her hoodie drawn tight around her head, with the majority of her long black bangs in her face as she hid behind her sister and let her do the talking.

"Hi!" Bubbles greeted the man cheerfully. "We wanted to buy a budgie friend for our little budgie," Bubbles explained to the shopkeeper.

"Of course!" the man smiled, "Budgerigars are right this way," he said as he began to lead them through the massive bird palace.

They reached a giant, white wire cage which stretched so high up that it touched the ceiling. There were about a hundred parakeets of all different colors that flew around inside. Bubbles hovered close to the wire bars of the bird cage and lifted Lorenzo up once more. She whistled quietly to Lorenzo, "Well, Lorenzo, do you see Maria anywhere?"

The tiny green bird's black eyes seemed to dart about quickly as he searched for his beloved. He called out in a sweet song, "Maria! Maria, are you there? It's Lorenzo, my love!"

A few moments later, a tiny yellow feathered parakeet soared from the top of the cage down to where they stood. She fluttered in front of them while she turned her head curiously, "Lorenzo?" she chirped, "Is that really you?"

A massive grin swept Bubbles' face as she turned to Buttercup and nudged her excitedly, "It's her! It's Maria!"

Buttercup rolled her eyes a little, but at the same time, the tomboy wore a small smirk.

As the two birds sang to one another, celebrating their reunion, Bubbles turned to the shopkeeper, "How much is it for that yellow budgie there?"

"Budgerigars are forty-five dollars," he answered with a smile.

Bubbles' smile quickly turned to a frown.

"What's up?" Buttercup raised an eyebrow.

Bubbles turned to her and squeaked quietly, "After I bought Lorenzo, I only have about fifty dollars left, and... I still need to get bird seed, and then there's the coyotes. They need to eat, too..."

Buttercup shook her head, "Sorry, Bubs, I'm broke."

Bubbles frowned and turned back to the shopkeeper, "Actually, Sir, never mind. Can I just get a small bag of bird seed, please?"

"No problem," he answered, "I can ring you up at the register."

Buttercup watched as Bubbles' blue eyes began to water a little. She sniffled as she raised the cage in her hands to her face and whistled sadly to the bird.

"I'm so sorry, Lorenzo, but we can't take Maria home today," Bubbles chirped, "We can come back next week and get her... I promise."

Buttercup watched as her sister carried Lorenzo with her to where the shopkeeper waited behind the register. The tiny green bird seemed to flutter about within his cage helplessly as he was carried further and further away from his yellow feathered companion. Buttercup turned to look at the yellow bird still inside the giant store cage. The bright colored budgie also fluttered about frantically as she chirped loudly after them.

"I'm so, so sorry, Lorenzo," Bubbles continued to apologize in a sweet, soft whistle. It broke her heart to hear Lorenzo cry out for his beloved Maria, but there was nothing she could do. She paid for the small bag of bird seed, thanked the shopkeeper, and sadly and slowly floated out of the store.

As she reached the sidewalk outside, she sighed heavily as she raised Lorenzo's cage to her face once more. "Please, Lorenzo," she tried to soothe him with another whistle, "Please, don't be sad. At least we know she's here and like I said, we can come get her as soon as I have the money to buy her."

"But what if someone else takes her before then?!" the budgie chirped, sounding panicked.

Bubbles frowned, "You can't think like that Lorenzo," she chirped, "You two are each other's loves and you belong together. You're going to be together forever! I'll make sure of it!"

"What's he squawking about?" Buttercup asked as she joined her sister on the sidewalk.

Bubbles sighed heavily as the two of them began to cross the street together, "He's afraid that somebody will take Maria before I get the chance to buy her."

Buttercup gave a short laugh, "Well," she smirked, "He's kinda right."

"Don't say that, Buttercup!" Bubbles shouted, "That would be awful!"

Buttercup laughed again as she reached inside her hooded jacket through the collar, "Would it?" she asked with a smirk as she pulled out a tiny yellow bird.

"Maria!" Lorenzo immediately chirped.

Bubbles' blue eyes widened as they fell upon the parakeet Buttercup grasped safely in her scarred hand. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it! Maria?!"

Buttercup only smirked as she reached for the birdcage door and opened it. She gently placed Maria inside with Lorenzo and the two birds immediately began to dance about happily with one another as they celebrated with high pitched chirps.

"But how did you get her?" Bubbles asked Buttercup.

Buttercup shrugged, "I'm fast."

Bubbles bit her lip nervously, "Buttercup..."

"What?" Buttercup answered. "Should I take her back then?"

Bubbles smiled weakly, "No." She stepped towards her sister and planted a loving kiss on her scarred right cheek. "You're the best sister ever, Buttercup."

"Yeah, yeah," Buttercup wiped the kiss from her face with her sleeved hand, "Whatever."


The next morning Bubbles stood in front of the bathroom mirror as she brushed her teeth and hummed cheerfully. She was still feeling pretty great about the previous night. She had successfully reunited two love birds, and also convinced the Professor into letting Buttercup keep them as emotional support pets. Now she had two new adorable bird friends, and most importantly they once again had each other. She couldn't have dreamed of a better night.

"Those two birds of yours kept me up all night with their annoying chattering. Do they ever shut up?" Buttercup yawned loudly as she entered the bathroom and stood beside her sister. She leaned forward against the sink counter as she reached for the medicine cabinet to retrieve her pill bottle of daily power stabilizer medication. She took a small glass that sat on the sink counter and filled it with water as she continued through another long yawn, "I still can't believe the Professor let us keep them. I thought for sure he'd say 'no way.'"

"I'm almost certain he said yes, because he's hoping a couple of little birdies will help you soften up, Buttercup," Blossom said as she entered the bathroom next. She looked from Buttercup to Bubbles, and placed her hands on her hips, "So, they really are Bubbles' birds, huh?" She shook her head. "I knew it."

As Buttercup gulped down her medication, her eyes narrowed on Blossom. "Why you always gotta be eavesdropping, Blossom? Can't you ever just mind your business?"

Blossom reached over Buttercup for the medicine cabinet next and retrieved her own bottle of power stabilizer medication. As she opened the bottle to retrieve her pill for the day, she eyed Bubbles, "If you really wanted pet birds for yourself, Bubbles, you should have talked to me about it. You're a straight A student, you have a job volunteering at the pet hospital, it's our sixteenth birthday tomorrow…. You're not five anymore. I'm sure we could have convinced the Professor that you're now old enough and responsible enough to care for two little birds."

Bubbles spit the toothpaste from her mouth and smiled weakly, "You're not gonna tell the Professor that we tricked him, are you?"

Blossom shook her head as she swallowed her medicine. "No, I'm not." She sighed as she returned her pill bottle to the medicine cabinet, and reached for her pink toothbrush next. "So, what are their names anyway?"

"Lorenzo and Maria-"

"Nah way," Buttercup interrupted Bubbles. The tomboy had been brushing her teeth and her mouth dripped with foam as she spoke, "They're my birds, remember?" She spit out her toothpaste in the sink and wiped her mouth with her long pajama shirt's sleeve, "Professor's never gonna believe I named them something lame like that."

Blossom laughed a little from behind her own toothbrush. "She's got a point, Bubbles."

"Yep," Buttercup smirked deviously. "Their names are Snot and Pus."

"Ewww," Bubbles and Blossom reacted in unison.

"What the heck, Buttercup?" Bubbles pouted, "Those are terrible names!"

Buttercup continued to smirk, "I know." She finished rinsing her toothbrush in the sink and tossed it back into its holder, "Now, will you two get outta here so I can shower? I gotta run to the store and buy some noise cancelling headphones so I can come back home and try to get some actual sleep."

"Hey, but you said you were broke yester-"

Buttercup interrupted her blue-eyed sister with a hard nudge on her shoulder. "No, I didn't."

"Well, I have to get to the library by ten thirty to meet Elmer for his SAT prep. So I need to shower first," Blossom said as she rinsed her pink toothbrush in the sink.

"Um, I was here first? I've just been waiting on you two to leave." Bubbles looked at both her siblings seriously, "I'm showering first."

The three teenagers glanced at one another for a moment, before they all simultaneously bolted for the shower at the same time. Bubbles had been the closest, and so she narrowly managed to beat both Buttercup and Blossom. As she claimed the shower for herself, she stood inside the bathtub and drew the pastel colored curtains shut, first sticking her tongue out at both of them as she teased, "Ha! Now go!"

Buttercup and Blossom stepped out into the hallway.

"Screw it," Buttercup muttered, "I don't need a shower anyways." The teen disappeared into her bedroom down the hall with a flash of green light. Within ten seconds, she was back in the hallway with another bright flash of green, dressed in jeans and one of her many oversized hooded jackets. "Later," she announced as she descended down the staircase.

Blossom slowly floated down the hallway towards the stairs, but paused as she reached the doorway to Buttercup's room. Through the open doorway she could see where the birdcage now sat on top of her sibling's dresser. The green and yellow birds were cuddled up with one another, and appeared to be sound asleep. As much as Blossom did not approve of her sisters' sneaky way of bringing the birds home, she still couldn't help but find the tiny little pair to be incredibly cute.

As Blossom stood at the doorway and admired the parakeets, Professor Utonium joined her by her side. "I have to admit," he began, "I never imagined Buttercup would want birds of all things as a pet," he chuckled, "They sure are cute though, aren't they?"

Blossom nodded as she smiled a little, "Yeah, they are."

"Did she pick names for them yet?"

Blossom nodded again and gave a short laugh. "Yeah. Snot and Pus."

Professor Utonium raised an eyebrow at Blossom, and then chuckled. "Of course."


Buttercup raised her hoodie before she entered the electronic store. She kept her head down, and her hands in her pockets as she walked quickly, but casually through the store and towards the audio gear section. The teenager found it easier to shoplift during the morning time. There were usually less employees, and less customers. However, it was summer and there were a few more people there that morning than she anticipated. One customer shopped in the same aisle where she would need to make her swipe. She couldn't do it with them there, and so she casually continued past the aisle and towards the video games at the back of the store.

Buttercup pretended to browse the games on display, while she watched patiently for an opening to make her move. As she waited, her eyes fell on the entrance in the distance as she heard a noisy group of teenagers enter the store. Normally, Buttercup would be thankful for a rowdy distraction, but among the group of boys was the one face she wished to avoid at all cost- Mitch Mitchelson.

As the group of teens seemed to head straight for the video games, Buttercup kept her head down as she quickly moved to avoid them. She hid next in the small music section of the store, where she could keep an eye on Mitch and his cronies from afar. The skinny teenager stood behind a tall display rack of CDs, where her green eyes peaked between the grated rack.

Mitch had always been a notorious bully at school. When they were much younger, he and Buttercup were close friends. Often, she would take her turn at bullying their grade school classmates right alongside him. But towards the end of elementary school their friendship soured, and as Buttercup became more and more of an outsider in the eyes of her peers, she just became an easy target for Mitch's mean-spirited ridicule and pranks.

"Hey look!" Mitch pointed towards the rows of flat screen television sets that lined the back wall of the store, "The Boy-Girl freak is on TV!" he nudged his buddies as he continued to point and cackle loudly.

Buttercup's eyes fell on the collection of TV monitors which had all been tuned to a news station broadcast. Sure enough, her face was plastered across every screen. She used her super hearing to listen closely to what the TV station reported.

"Last night at the Townsville Beach Pier there was an apparent new sighting of the ever elusive Buttercup of the Powerpuff Girls. Take a look at this amateur footage taken at the scene of last night's events-"

As the broadcaster continued to speak, a short video clip of Buttercup hovering angrily in the air as a crowd of citizens booed her from below began to play. The footage was less than twelve seconds in length, but it looped over and over as the story continued.

"A malfunction on the beach side roller coaster led to twenty-six riders falling from the attraction. In the end, nobody was injured, but the rescue efforts carried out by the Powerpuff Girls did not go without incident. One rescued rider claims that Powerpuff Girl Buttercup dropped him intentionally, and if it hadn't been for the quick actions of Powerpuff Girl Blossom, the rider claims that, well, he would be dead."

"The footage you are watching was recorded immediately after this alleged incident. If you listen to the sounds of the crowd that was there that night, clearly, they had just witnessed something very upsetting."

The looping footage finally stopped, but was replaced with an enlarged still frame, focused on Buttercup's scarred face. Because the footage was taken at a distance and at night, the enhanced picture was still a bit grainy, but there was no denying the dark 'V' shape mark that branded the super powered teenager's face.

"This is absolutely the closest look we've had of Buttercup's strange facial markings since we saw them for the first time at the Townsville Discovery Dome premiere event nearly three years ago. Since then, Powerpuff Buttercup has been absent at all Powerpuff related events, and sightings of the green Powerpuff Girl are rare. The few encounters with Powerpuff Buttercup we have on record share similar accounts of the super hero behaving violently. Many fans fear that this dark mark curse has corrupted the superhero somehow. But there are still fans who hold onto hope that the one they used to endearingly call 'the toughest fighter,' will still make a recovery. However, looking at last night's footage here, it seems that the superhero's strange affliction may have only gotten worse..."

Buttercup's concentration on the news story broke as Mitch's continued cackling only grew louder.

"That blurry photo's nothin' compared to the real thing!" he hollered. "Remember when I surprised that freak with my super soaker at school? Man, once all that makeup washed off, that shit looked like a disaster!"

Buttercup gritted her teeth as she forced herself to ignore the obnoxious boy's commentary. She listened once more to the live news broadcast.

"Seeing this is just a reminder of the mystery that surrounds the young girl's sudden drastic change in appearance. The official statement from the superhero team has been that it is simply scarring from an apparent 'training day mishap.' Of course, there are certainly those who believe otherwise..."

"Hey," came a sudden voice from Buttercup's right side. She had been so distracted by the unfolding news story that she hadn't noticed the stranger who had been staring at her for the past minute. It wasn't common for her to be noticed by strangers unlike her sisters who were so easily recognized. Most of the time, with just her hoodie up, nobody would ever draw a connection between herself and her superhero identity. However with her scarred face now displayed brightly throughout the store, there was no denying that it was her.

The young man's eyes grew wide as Buttercup turned her head to face him. He pointed at her and then at the television monitors, "Y-you're her! You're Buttercup!" he began to shout. "Holy shit! Buttercup's right here, everybody! Look!"

Buttercup cringed as soon as the man began to shout, and before anybody else could spot her next, she disappeared quickly out of the store with a flash of green light.


Blossom had just managed to forget her worries about the incident the night prior, when the breaking news story reminded her once more. The Professor and her had been watching the morning news on the living room television set when Blossom left to retrieve another bundle of deliveries at the front door. When she returned with the fresh pile of gifts, she quickly froze at the sight of Buttercup's scarred face caught on camera.

"...Seeing this is just a reminder of the mystery that surrounds the young girl's sudden drastic change in appearance. The official statement from the superhero team has been that it is simply scarring from an apparent 'training day mishap.' Of course, there are certainly those who believe otherwise."

Blossom gulped nervously as she gently sat down the pile of packages onto the ground by her feet. Her pink eyes were wide as they closely watched the TV screen.

"Joining us now is Dr. Wilhelm Richards, former chief medical director of Townsville Medical Center. He was one of the attending physicians the night of Buttercup's alleged training accident. Doctor, you were there that night when Buttercup was admitted to your Intensive Care ward. Could you tell us again what happened, and why is it that you believe that there is something more to the superhero's disfigurement?"

Just as the broadcast cut to the doctor, the TV screen went black. Blossom turned and looked to the Professor and saw that he held the television's remote control in his hand. He sighed heavily as he sat the controller down on the coffee table at the center of the room. "No need to listen to that crackpot's nonsense," he shook his head as he looked at Blossom. "It amazes me to this day how many people out there actually take him seriously."

Blossom frowned, "Yeah..."

Professor Utonium sensed an uneasiness in Blossom. Whenever this sort of tabloid attention surrounded the Utoniums, it was never easy on their family, but Blossom often struggled the most with it. He walked over to his tall, redheaded daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Remember, Sweetie," he began with a reassuring smile, "It's just a bunch of nobodies looking for their cheap fifteen minutes of fame. Their time will be up soon."

Blossom nodded slowly, "I know, Professor."

"I mean it, Dear. Don't let them get to you. Tomorrow is your birthday, after all." He smiled again. "Which reminds me, I still need to order a cake for you girls." He reached into his lab coat pocket and retrieved his car keys. "I'll stop at the bakery now. What kind of cake should I order?"

Blossom smiled weakly and shrugged, "Strawberry would be nice."

"Strawberry it is then," he gave Blossom a small pat on her shoulder as he walked past her. "I'll be back soon."

Blossom slowly floated upstairs to her bedroom. She began to pack her book bag with everything she needed for her tutoring session with her classmate Elmer. As somebody who scored a perfect score on her SAT exam, Blossom had many requests for tutoring from her fellow high school students. She spent many hours at the library helping her peers with their studies. She didn't mind though. She enjoyed getting to know the other students, and it was an easy way to make a little extra money on the side, too.

Blossom slung her book bag over her shoulder, and heard the sound of a car pulling up outside their home. She hovered to the circular window at the center of her bedroom, and peaked through the curtains. "Oh no..." she muttered as her eyes fell on the local news station van that now sat alongside their front curb. Her pink eyes fell further down the road and saw several more television station's vehicles approaching in the distance.

Blossom stepped away from the window and called out for her sister in the next room, "Bubbles!"

The blue Powerpuff arrived shortly after and stood in her doorway with a pair of parakeets perched on top of her head. "Yeah?" she asked as she floated inside Blossom's room and joined her by the window.

"Look," Blossom frowned.

Bubbles hovered closer to the window and pulled back the pink colored shades to take a look. "Oh no," she said also, "Not again."

Blossom sighed heavily as she retrieved her cell phone from her jeans pocket. She lowered herself onto her bed, as she held the phone to her ear and waited for an answer as the line rang.

"H-hello?"

"Hey, Elmer. It's Blossom."

"Oh, hi, Blossom."

"Listen, I'm really sorry, Elmer," Blossom began as she rose from her bed. "But something's come up."

Blossom could hear the doorbell ringing repeatedly downstairs, and she zipped over to the front door with a bright pink flash. "Can we reschedule for tomorrow instead?" Blossom asked Elmer as she securely locked the front door, ignoring whoever was on the other side. She then zipped to the living room. There, she began to draw the curtains closed to all the home's windows.

"But isn't your birthday tomorrow?" Elmer questioned on the other end.

"Yeah, it's fine," Blossom answered with a shrug. "My sisters and I usually just do a simple birthday brunch and cake. We're usually all done celebrating by noon, really. What if we met up at the library about two or two thirty?"

"I thought you guys were having a party though," the boy sounded confused.

"Party?" Blossom repeated, even more confused.

"Oh..." Elmer began to stammer nervously on the other end, "I-I'm sorry, Blossom. I-I think Robin m-might have meant it to be a s-surprise. S-sorry!"

Blossom's pink eyes widened. "Oh," she said, taken aback by the news, "That's OK, Elmer," she reassured her nervous friend next, "I guess then... we can talk about rescheduling tomorrow... at the party?"

"Y-yeah, I guess we can."

"OK," Blossom began to hover down the hall and towards their kitchen. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Blossom."

Blossom stopped in the hallway as she ended the call. She immediately went to her phone's messages, and quickly texted Robin: "I know you're at karate right now, but can you please call me ASAP?"

As the teenager hit send she groaned loudly. She then shut her eyes and breathed deeply, attempting to calm her rising nerves. She was already frustrated enough as it was with the gathering paparazzi just outside their door, but then learning about Robin's secret surprise party made her feel even worse.

Blossom entered their home's kitchen and floated to the first window that sat above their kitchen sink. She reached for the shades to shut them, but paused for a moment as her eyes fell on Robin's home next door. She sighed deeply, "Oh, Robin, what were you thinking?" she muttered to herself quietly as she drew closed the shades.

The pink Powerpuff floated to a seat at their dining room table. She plopped down and let her forehead rest against the tabletop's cool, glass surface. Once again she closed her eyes and took another deep breath as she tried to calm her racing thoughts and ignore the incessant ringing of their home's doorbell by the media crew outside.

She knew Robin meant well, but a surprise party? Really? Blossom supposed that the opportunity to celebrate with friends for once was a nice idea. If it was just her birthday, she would love a surprise like that. However, it wasn't as if it was just her birthday tomorrow. It was Bubbles and Buttercup's, too. Blossom imagined Bubbles would also be pretty thrilled to have a surprise party thrown in her honor. But Buttercup? Buttercup hated parties, and she hated most of the other kids at school, too. Her antisocial behavior was the reason why they discontinued their annual birthday carnival they used to have. Now, their birthday had become just a simple, quiet celebration at home with the Professor. It was all they needed she supposed.

This year, they were going to be sixteen, and it was a milestone birthday for them. Of course, as the triplets' shared friend, Robin would want to make it special for all of them. Her caring thoughtfulness was one of the qualities that Blossom admired most about Robin. Still, the dread that Blossom felt as she imagined how Buttercup might react to an unwelcome surprise party left her feeling sick. No matter how many ways Blossom tried to imagine it differently, she knew in her gut that if there was going to be a surprise party for them tomorrow, it was bound to be a disaster.


The small, fourteen inch TV set was old and its picture was slightly distorted as a commercial for a children's cereal brand finished its jingle. The news program Ace and Tyler had been watching began again as the broadcaster reintroduced his guest for the morning segment. "Thank you for joining us. Once again, with us today is Dr. Wilhelm Richards. Doctor, please continue with your account. Just before our break you were saying that Professor Utonium arrived..."

"Yes, thank you." The older man on the screen adjusted his eye glasses, as he began, "The Professor arrived at the ICU, and well, I was the first to speak up and break the news to him that we had just called it. At that point, we had done everything we could to try and revive the girl, but everything had failed. By then, it had been seven minutes since the young girl's heart stopped. The Professor, however, pushed past myself and the other physicians, and remained unconvinced. I watched him pull out a syringe from his lab coat and he injected a black substance into Buttercup's IV drip. He then immediately began working on her himself.

"We all stood aside and watched as he beat upon the girl's chest repeatedly, clearly determined to revive her. Truly, our hearts went out to the man. It was his daughter, after all. At the time, my own daughter was thirteen, too, and I couldn't imagine seeing her in the same state Buttercup was in that night. It was... a tragedy. But the rest of the team knew we had all taken turns giving it a go, and there was just no bringing her back. The other physicians began to leave the room, along with our nursing staff, but I remained behind and continued to oversee the Professor's efforts.

"As the Professor continued to beat against her chest, I began to notice that the severe burns the girl had sustained began to- how do I describe this? Well, they began to fill and sort of bubble with a sudden, thick black substance. It looked like tar almost, or oil, and it seemed to just manifest from within her suddenly. Her fingers, her hands, her forearms, and the right side of her face- everywhere where she had sustained an injury- it was like her body was trying to repair itself with whatever the dark material was."

"Sounds terrifying," the anchorman commented.

"It was," the doctor paused before continuing. "The black ooze overtook all her burns, and then it hardened as it appeared to fuse with her flesh. That was when her eyes shot open. I tell you, I must have jumped about ten feet into the air at that moment. The young girl immediately snapped upwards and gasped loudly. She was shaking terribly and she seemed to choke as she continued frantically gasping for air and coughing- choking. Professor Utonium began to beat on her back a little, as if trying to help her spit something up. The girl then vomited- quite violently- what seemed like gallons of this thick, oozing black liquid; it poured everywhere. That was when some of the staff began to return to the room. The girl then began to cry and scream- not really words, but babbling nonsense. She was absolutely hysterical as the Professor held onto her still, and tried his best to calm her. He pleaded with my staff for a sedative for her. Myself? I was still frozen in shock, but our team responded quickly with our heaviest of tranquilizers. Once the sedation was given, she finally began to settle."

"That's a chilling scene you just described there, Doctor."

"Yes, to be honest, much of it still haunts me to this day. You know, the one image I cannot forget was the wild fear that was in that child's eyes when she awoke. Her blood-curdling screams and the terror on her face- the panic. It was if she had just returned from Hell itself."

"Woah," Ace and Tyler breathed in unison as their eyes remained glued to the tiny TV screen across the room.

As the program excused itself for yet another commercial break, Ace picked up the remote from the coffee table and shut off the TV. "Man, I can't watch anymore of this." He tossed the remote back onto the table and leaned back in his seat once more.

Tyler leaned back, too, "Makes you wonder though, right? You think it's true?"

Ace glanced at Tyler and shook his head a little, "Man, you're high."

The small surface of the wooden coffee table before them was already crammed full with dozens of mason jars, all filled with freshly trimmed cannabis. Ace and Tyler passed a joint between them as they continued their steady work with their tiny pruning shears in hand. They were preparing their latest harvest for curing, and had been up since early morning trimming away. The two sat side by side on an old, tattered green sofa that sat at the center of the garage. Surrounding them was a forest of growing marijuana plants, which took up the majority of the garage's space. There were dangling bits of drying plants which hung like curtains above them, secured by pieces of white string which fell from the garage's low ceiling.

Tyler added another trimmed piece of bud to the mason jar he kept balanced between his knees, and groaned a little, "Ugh. I needa take a break soon, Man. My hand is starting to cramp up bad."

Ace shook his head and smirked, "Better toughen up, Ty. We still got a lot of work ahead of us." He paused in his trimming for a moment and reached for the slow burning joint that sat on a glass ashtray on the coffee table. He took a hit, before passing it to his friend, "Take a break then," he said as he exhaled. "Just do me a favor and pack up everything we got finished so far first."

Tyler took the joint from Ace and rose to his feet. He balanced the marijuana cigarette between his lips as he began to collect the mason jars that filled the table.

Ace's cell phone began to buzz in his pocket, and he answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," Buttercup's voice came through on the other end. "You think I can drop by and pick up my babysitting pay?"

"Babysittin' pay?" Ace repeated with a laugh, "I'm pretty sure you were playin' at the show and not doin' much babysittin' yesterday."

"Aw, come on, I was still watchin' her from the stage!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ace chuckled. "Sure, Kid. Come on by."

Just as soon as Ace ended the call, he could hear their home's doorbell ring, and the sound of Betty greeting Buttercup at the door. The kid was fast.

"Yo, Fea!" Tyler shouted as Buttercup entered the room. He offered her a high-five as she joined him and Ace, "So what the fuck happened last night, Man?"

Buttercup shook her head as she laughed off the situation with a shrug, "Same old story: Scared another chump with my hideous face."

"It's all over the news, Dude! We were just watching it!"

"I know," Buttercup shrugged again as she leaned up against the armrest of the sofa. "That shit broke while I was trying to swipe a pair of headphones at the store. Everyone there started recognizing me all of a sudden," the teenager sulked a little, "I didn't even get the headphones. I just had to leave."

"What you swipin' headphones for, Kid?" Ace raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just get caught by your old man last month for swipin'?"

Buttercup shrugged, "He could never prove it. I told him I lost the receipt."

"Yeah, but you got grounded all the same 'cause he knew better, am I right?"

Buttercup looked at Ace and frowned, "What are you trying to say?"

"Kid, I'm just saying, when the man is on to ya," he stood from where he sat on the sofa and glanced down at the teenager, "Ya gotta play it cool for a little while."

Buttercup watched Ace walk across the garage to a workstation that sat against the wall.

Ace began to weigh out a finished batch of gorilla glue number four. As he carefully placed the sticky green cannabis flower on the round silver scale, he continued to talk to Buttercup from across the room. "Besides, Kid, you really shouldn't be swipin' to begin with, 'specially not for unnecessary shit like headphones."

Tyler laughed as he plopped down on the sofa beside Buttercup, "Man, don't listen to Ace," he said with a devious smirk, "He's just an old man now and thinks he's somehow above us common thieves as if he wasn't one himself. Nothin' wrong with the occasional five-finger discount. Hell, you saved all those people the other day. What's the matter with treatin' yourself just a little for it?"

"Shut up, Ty," Ace gave him a swift smack on the back of the head as he passed by him. "Your last five-finger discount ended up costing your girlfriend two hundred bucks in bail for your ass." Ace stood before Buttercup and looked at her, "Kid, don't listen to this fool, a'ight? Not unless you wanna wind up in jail someday." He held out a small jar of weed, "Here ya go. An eighth for babysittin' and an extra eighth just for your birthday."

Buttercup took the jar from Ace and smiled, "Thanks, Dude. I appreciate it." She tucked the small jar of flower into her jacket.

Ace looked to his left as he heard the door to the garage creak open. As soon as the eight-year-old stepped inside the garage, Ace spoke up, "You know the rules, Kid," he began to lecture Sophia. "Ya gotta be this tall to come into the grow room," Ace held his hand some four feet off the ground and the tiny girl stood by the door with a sad pout on her face.

"But I have my birthday gift for Buttercup and I gotta give it to her!" Sophia protested.

"A'ight," Ace surrendered to the pouty face, "Make it quick then."

Sophia hurried across the room and stood before Buttercup with a sheet of white construction paper in hand. "Happy Birthday, Buttercup! I drew you this!"

Buttercup took the sheet of paper from Sophia and looked at it. The color pencil drawing appeared to be an illustration of Buttercup on stage playing the bass, and wearing the alien mask the child had leant her. "Thanks, Runt." She looked at the kid and smirked. "Sorry, I forgot your mask at home. I'll be sure to bring it by with me next time I visit."

"Nah, that's OK," Sophia said with a grin, "I don't use it anymore, so you can keep it. That way if you ever wanna play again, you have it!"

Buttercup laughed a little, "OK, thanks, Runt." She felt her phone buzz and checked it. She saw a new text from her sister Bubbles. "Shit," she muttered as she read the message. "I better get going. Bubbles just told me there's media starting to swarm the house looking for my stupid face."

"Woah, for real?" Tyler turned to Buttercup, "Lucky us we get to see it all the time!"

Buttercup smirked as she stood to leave.

"Yo, by the way, Fea," Tyler stopped her for a moment, "I was just wonderin'... is it true that you were dead for seven minutes, Man?"

"Nah," Buttercup shrugged casually, "It was twelve."

"Really?" Tyler's eyes widened.

"No, not really!" Buttercup rolled her eyes, "Even if that bullshit was true, you think if I were fucking dead I would know how long I was fucking dead for?"

"Hey, hey, language, Dude," Ace stood behind Sophia with his hands clasped over her ears. "I had two parent-teacher conferences last year for Sophia dropping the f-bomb in school, ya know."

"Sorry," Buttercup smiled weakly.

Ace laughed a little as he shook his head. "See ya around, Kid."

"See ya," Buttercup gave a small wave as she left the garage and floated into the hallway of the tiny condo. She reached the front door when she heard Tyler call after her again.

"Yo, Fea, one more thing!"

Buttercup sighed a little as she turned to face him. "Man, no more conspiracy crap. I gotta get home and deal with it, and that sucks enough, alright?"

"Nah, it's not about that," Tyler spoke in a low whisper as he reached into his back pocket and retrieved a small, glossy business card. "Ace didn't want you to have this, but..." he handed the card over to Buttercup.

The tomboy took the card in her hands and studied it. There was clear scotch tape wrapped around the card and looked as if it had been pieced back together. The card was dark purple with gold lettering. It held no name, and just a single phone number.
"What's this?" Buttercup questioned.

"It's from that little redhead from yesterday. She gave it to Ace and asked him to get it to you, but he shredded it right away. Somethin' about her being crazy, but I thought you might want it anyway, so I saved it for ya."

"Princess?" Buttercup raised an eyebrow as she stared at the card in her hands.

"Yeah, Dude. I was watching how you two were talkin' and I think she was checking you out, Man."

Buttercup gave a short laugh, "Yeah, right."

"No, Dude, I'm serious. And so what if she's crazy? Crazy can be fun sometimes," he smirked. "You should hit her up."

Buttercup laughed again as she tucked the card in her jeans pocket. "Sure, Ty." She turned to leave once more, "See ya."


The blue and pink Powerpuffs had turned their living room sofa around so that it no longer faced the television, but now the window which faced their home's front lawn. Of course, they still had the curtains drawn to prevent any people or cameras from peaking inside, but as they sat on the sofa together, the super-powered teens used their x-ray vision to spy on the events outside. There were half a dozen different news stations that had gathered. Their camera crews lined the sidewalk and all had their cameras fixed on their home. Several reporters stood on the front lawn, and used the Utonium house as their backdrop for the latest Powerpuff news story.

"I can't believe this is happening the day before our birthday," Bubbles sighed heavily.

Blossom frowned, "Me either." Her pink eyes glimmered a little as she deactivated her x-ray vision. She leaned back against the headrest of the sofa and closed her eyes for a moment as she took a slow, deep breath.

Bubbles shut off her x-ray vision next and turned her attention to Blossom. "You OK?"

"Yeah," Blossom sighed again, with her eyes still shut, "I'm just fine."

Bubbles frowned, but said nothing. She returned her attention to the window and her baby blue eyes shone as she used her x-ray vision once more. "Hey, channel nine just got here," she reported to her sister.

Blossom groaned a little, "Great. Seven news crews- a new record." She sat up once more as she checked her cell phone for any missed texts or calls from Robin, but there was nothing. She tossed her phone to the side and let her head fall backward once more. She closed her eyes, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth.

Bubbles slouched forward on the sofa with her elbows propped on her knees, and her face rested on her cupped hands, as she continued to keep an eye on things outside. The reporters were harmless for the most part. They had stopped trying to get the girls to answer the door at least. One would think that they would have learned by then that the Utoniums refused to answer any more questions relating to the matter of Buttercup's accident and her scars. Yet there they all were. It had only been about twenty minutes since the latest footage of Buttercup first aired, but every news station rushed to the home, hoping to get a better look once more.

The first time the sensationalized obsession with Buttercup began was shortly after the Discovery Dome premiere. It was a shock to the Utonium's that first time. They knew people would have questions pertaining to her scars, but they imagined after addressing it the first time that people would accept things and move on. However, that was not the case. Even after Professor Utonium addressed the media's questions, it only led to more questions. Conflicting accounts with the Professor and some of the medical staff at the hospital began to inspire conspiracies. Tabloids began to publish doctored photos of Buttercup- suggesting things like she was the undead, a demon, or some sort of Frankenstein creation. These were the more extreme stories, and not every media outlet would report on the unsupported claims. However, the one commonality they all shared was the desire to see more of Buttercup. Eventually, the attention faded over time, but it always returned whenever the super-powered tomboy managed to get caught in the spotlight again.

"You did text Buttercup to not use the front door when she comes home, right?" Blossom asked Bubbles.

"Yeah. I told her."

Just then, Blossom and Bubbles heard a thump at the other end of the living room. They looked to their home's fireplace and saw that a cloud of dark soot poured out from the opening, and they heard coughing from inside.

"There's creeps all over the lawn," Buttercup announced as she climbed out of the fireplace. As the soot-covered teen stepped onto the white carpet of the living room, she left behind charcoal colored footprints.

Blossom stood from the sofa, and turned to face her, placing her hands on her hips, "The chimney, Buttercup? Really?"

"Well Bubbles said not to use the front door," Buttercup began as she dusted herself off, "And the Professor installed that stupid unbreakable crystal glass on my bedroom window, so how else should I've gotten in?"

"How about the back door?" Blossom rolled her eyes.

Buttercup shrugged, "Whatever. I'll be in the shower."

"OK, but when you're finished, you come back down here and clean up the mess you've made," Blossom gestured to the dark tracks Buttercup had left behind.

Buttercup rolled her eyes, "Sure thing, Mom."

Blossom's pink eyes narrowed on her sibling and she opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Bubbles.

"Hey!" she shouted with her blue eyes still shining brightly with her x-ray powers, "Ms. Bellum's here!"

Buttercup and Blossom turned back towards the window, and used their own x-ray vision then. Sure enough, they could see the redheaded politician stepping out from her black sedan she had parked in their driveway. As she stepped out, the news teams turned their attention to her immediately. They crowded around the woman as she leaned into her car for a moment to retrieve something.

"Mayor Bellum, are you here to address yesterday's incident?"

"Mayor Bellum, what do you think about Buttercup's failed rescue attempt?"

"Miss Mayor, will there be any consequences for Buttercup?"

"Do you think Buttercup should step down from the Powerpuff Girls' team?"

"Mayor-"

"I am just here to pay a visit," Bellum spoke as she turned to face the cameras and reporters who had surrounded her. She balanced three small gift boxes in her left arm- one blue, one pink, and one green. "And to wish our heroes a happy sixteenth birthday," she continued to speak as she casually walked past the crowd who parted for her.

As she continued towards the Utonium home, the media crews followed after her. The reporters on scene fought against one another to keep their microphones near Bellum as she addressed them.

"What is your opinion on yesterday's debacle?" a reporter asked of Bellum next.

The mayor halted for a moment and turned to face the cameras once more. "Debacle?" she repeated. "Why, as I understand it, there would have been twenty-six tragedies if it hadn't been for Buttercup and Blossom..."

As the mayor continued to address the press, the girls saw several police cars approaching from down the road.

"The police are here!" Bubbles gasped.

"We can see," Buttercup and Blossom responded in unison. They watched as several police officers began to approach the camera persons and reporters.

"...Thanks to their heroic efforts, everyone on board the roller coaster made it home to their families that night," Mayor Bellum continued. "I was very relieved to hear that the two of them had been there to, once again, save the day. On behalf of the city of Townsville, I thank them." She raised her chin as she smiled graciously, "Now, if you would excuse me."

As the mayor turned away from the cameras, she motioned towards the chief of police who had just arrived. She gave the man a simple nod, and he stepped forward, holding his hands outwards as he began to wave away the teams of reporters. His team of policemen fell in line behind him and began to help guide the media back to their news vans as well.

"OK, listen up, everybody! This is officially a no press-zone!" he announced to the crowd as they were escorted away. "By order of the mayor, all camera crews must stay at least four hundred yards away from this house! So let's move along now, people!"

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup sighed in relief together as they watched the news station crews begin to pack up and leave. Their home's doorbell rang out, and Blossom zipped over quickly and answered it.

Blossom opened the door eagerly and grinned big at Mayor Bellum. "Mayor, what a surprise!" she stepped aside as Bellum stepped into their home. Blossom shut the door behind her, and continued to smile, "Thank you for getting rid of everyone out there."

"Hello, Blossom," Mayor Bellum smiled kindly at the young girl, "You didn't think I would just stand by and let them ruin your sweet sixteen, did you?" She took the small pink box from the pile of gifts she held and handed it to Blossom.

Blossom took the box in her hands. "Thank you," she repeated again with a sincere smile. "Really, Mayor. Thank you so much. For... everything."

Mayor Bellum gave her a soft pat on her shoulder and smiled. "You're very welcome, Blossom."

Blossom led the mayor into their home's living room where Bubbles and Buttercup waited.

"Hello, Bubbles," the mayor greeted them each as she entered the room, "Hello, Butter...cup?" she stopped as her eyes fell on the still soot-covered teenager.

"She snuck past the cameras outside by flying through our chimney," Bubbles explained plainly.

Bellum gave the tomboy a small smile and stepped towards her, offering the green colored gift box to her. "Happy Birthday, Dear."

Buttercup took the box and gave the mayor a weak smile. "Thanks."

Bubbles squealed with joy as Mayor Bellum handed her the remaining blue box. "Thank you, Miss Bellum!" She bounced excitedly as she took the gift from her. "Can I open it now?"

"Go ahead, Dear," Ms. Bellum answered with a chuckle.

The blue Powerpuff swiftly removed the white ribbon from the box and opened it. She gasped as her blue eyes lit up, "Earrings! Oh my gosh! They're beautiful! Thank you, Miss Bellum!"

Blossom unwrapped her gift next and also found a pair of earrings inside. She held the delicate, heart-shaped pink sapphires in her hand and admired them. "They are beautiful." She looked to the mayor and blushed slightly. She felt undeserving of such a elegant and pricey gift. "Thank you, Mayor."

Buttercup looked at the small green box she held and sighed a little to herself. Earrings were definitely not her style.

"Buttercup, what on earth happened to you?" the Professor immediately asked as he entered their home.

"She came in through the chimney," Blossom explained directly.

The Professor blinked at Blossom for a moment before returning his attention to Buttercup, still looking confused. "Why?"

"She had to, Professor!" Bubbles stood beside Buttercup, "There were like fifty people outside from all the news stations! She was just trying to avoid them!"

The Professor frowned before he looked to Mayor Bellum. She gave him a reassuring smile, "I've taken care of everything, Professor. I can assure you there will be no more media circuses in your neighborhood. They are not permitted within four hundred yards of this address, and I will have an officer stationed nearby for the next week to see that that is enforced. At least until this latest frenzy dies down."

"Thank you, Mayor," said Professor Utonium.

Mayor Bellum smiled at the Utonium family. "I sincerely hope that you all have a wonderful sixteenth birthday tomorrow." She looked again at the Professor, "Professor, may I have a word with you, Buttercup and Blossom for a moment?"

"Is this about yesterday?" Blossom bit her lip nervously.

"It is," Bellum answered simply.

"Of course," Professor Utonium answered. "Let's go to the dining room."

Blossom and Buttercup exchanged glances before they followed the Professor and Mayor Bellum into the dining room. They each took a seat at the dining table. The Professor, Blossom and Buttercup sat on one side, and Mayor Bellum took a chair across from them. Even though Bubbles had not been invited to the conversation, the blue Powerpuff waited just outside in the hallway and listened closely.

"I'm sorry that this mess has such unfortunate timing for you girls." The mayor looked from Blossom to Buttercup. "However, I must ask you- What happened?"

"Well," Blossom began, "We were at the pier, and then the roller coaster stopped, and people started to fall-"

"I meant specifically with the man who fell last," the mayor interrupted. She looked at Buttercup who squirmed a little in her chair. "The one who claims that you purposefully dropped him."

Buttercup glanced at Blossom who stared back at her nervously. She looked back at the mayor and frowned, "Well, he was shouting for help, and so I went to help him," she bounced her knee anxiously as she spoke. "When I got there, he was kicking and acting all crazy and stuff. I picked him up, and he just kept on kicking and yelling and-" she stopped as her eyes fell on Blossom again.

Mayor Bellum leaned forward, towards Buttercup across the table, "And that's when he slipped from your grasp?"

Buttercup looked at Bellum, then at Blossom, then at the Professor, and finally back at Bellum once more. "Yeah," she nodded slowly. "That's when he slipped."

Bellum leaned back in her seat once more and nodded. "Thank you, Buttercup. That's all I needed to hear." She stood from her seat and the Utonium family followed her back out into the hallway. The mayor turned towards the Professor, "The man who fell has an attorney and, of course, is trying to milk the situation," she sighed. "Not to worry though. The city will handle everything."

"Thank you, Mayor," Professor Utonium said as he shook the woman's hand.

Mayor Bellum turned to both Buttercup and Blossom and smiled at them once more. "Thank you, Girls, for saving the day."

Blossom smiled as she blushed a little, "You're welcome, Mayor."

Buttercup shoved her hands in her pockets and shrugged, "No problem."


Blossom stood on their home's front porch and watched as the mayor drove away. She reached into her pant's pocket and retrieved her cell phone. There were still no new messages or missed calls from Robin. Just as she was about to send another text message, she looked and saw a blue minivan coming down the road. It was Robin's mother's car. Blossom quickly returned her phone to her pocket and began to walk towards the Snyder residence.

"Hello, Mrs. Snyder," Blossom greeted politely as she approached her and Robin as soon as they parked on the driveway.

Mrs. Snyder stepped out of the vehicle and smiled big at Blossom, "Hello, Dear!" she waved as she continued into their home.

Robin stepped out of the van from the passenger side. The brunette was dressed still in her karate uniform as she smiled at Blossom. "Hey."

"Hey?" Blossom repeated. "Did you get my text earlier?"

Robin shook her head, "Sorry. I forgot my phone at home today." She looked at Blossom and frowned a little, sensing something was wrong. "What's up?"

Blossom bit her lip. She knew this wasn't going to be an easy conversation, but it was one that had to be had. She took a deep breath before she began, "I know about the surprise party."

"What?"

"The surprise party," Blossom repeated. "You're throwing us one tomorrow, aren't you?"

Robin blinked at Blossom for a moment. She then shook her head, "I don't know why you think that, Blossom, but-"

"OK," Blossom took another deep breath. "I get that you are really trying to do something special here. And I love that even now, you're trying to act as if you're not throwing a surprise party, but the fact is, well, I know that you are."

"Oh...kay..."

"And I really really wish that I could just play along and act like everything's fine, but I can't!" Blossom began to pace as she started to rant, "I just can't! I have to make sure that if you are throwing us a party- which I know that you are- then there are certain things that need to happen! Like for instance, you can't just invite everyone at school! I hope that you didn't because you know that there are just certain people who pretend to be our friends, but really they just want to know the Powerpuff Girls, and right now with everything going on we just can't afford to have people that we can't really trust around us! So I just really hope that it's only close friends and people that we actually like!"

"Blossom," Robin sighed a little. "I know, OK? I promise, it's only our friends. Our real friends."

"What about people who will inevitably just invite themselves?"

"I promise you, it won't happen. It's invite only. I was very strict about it."

"And what about Buttercup?! What if she freaks out, or starts a scene, or-"

"She's not going."

"What?" Blossom finally stopped pacing, and turned to look at Robin.

"She's not going," Robin repeated. She looked at Blossom and saw that she stared back at her with confusion. "When I first started planning everything, I knew that parties just weren't really Buttercup's thing, and so I asked her about it," Robin began to explain. "At first my plan was to have her help me plan the party so that I could try and make sure it'd be something she might enjoy, too. But when I talked to her, she said she'd really just rather not have any sort of party at all."

Blossom watched her girlfriend sigh deeply as she leaned against the tall, wooden fencing that separated their homes. Her teal eyes glistened with sadness as they remained focused on her feet. Blossom felt her heart ache.

"Buttercup gets it you know," Robin kept her eyes on the ground as she continued. "She gets that it's yours and Bubbles' birthdays, too. She was totally cool with me just throwing a party for just you two instead. She even promised to help keep you and Bubbles away from my place until everything was ready."

Blossom blinked at Robin, "Really?"

Robin looked up at Blossom and nodded her head. "Really."

Blossom's face flushed a bright red. Right then she realized that she had forgotten just how incredible her girlfriend truly could be. Robin had managed to think of a solution to everything, and make what Blossom thought to be impossible actually possible. It would have been the perfect surprise party, and a better sweet sixteen than Blossom could've ever hoped for, and somehow she managed to ruin it. She bit her lip nervously as she stepped towards her girlfriend. "Robin..." she gulped, "I... I'm sorry."

Robin gave Blossom a weak smile. "I know you are." She stood up straight once more and stepped towards Blossom. "Look," she began quietly, "I have a lot that I need to get ready for tomorrow... Are you gonna be OK?"

Blossom nodded. She gulped again, "Are you OK?"

Robin nodded slowly. "Yeah."

Blossom hesitated. "Are... we OK?"

Robin smiled weakly again. "Yeah, Blossom. We are." She paused. "Don't tell Bubbles about the party, OK?"

"I won't!" Blossom answered back right away. "I swear I won't, and I," she stepped closer to Robin once more. "I'll be sure to pretend to be surprised tomorrow, too, OK?"

Robin laughed a little and shook her head. "OK, Blossom." She gave the tall redhead a playful nudge as she brushed past her, "I'll see you tomorrow, Birthday Girl."

Blossom stood silently on the driveway as she watched Robin disappear into her home. As the bright blue door to the house shut behind Robin, Blossom felt a sudden pain in her gut as her heart simultaneously ached once more. In that moment, she swore to herself that no matter what, she would find a way to make this up to Robin.


The Utonium home's living room was littered with scraps of wrapping paper, torn open boxes, and strings of ribbons and bows. The Powerpuff Girls' birthday had become a celebration much like Christmas morning. The Professor had prepared a delicious birthday brunch for his three girls. After they ate, they went into the family room to open all the gifts they had received from their fans. It took nearly two hours for them to unwrap everything, and they still had stacks of fan-mail to read.

Buttercup sat slouched on the sofa as she watched Bubbles and Blossom open the last of their gifts. She had run through her own pile of presents much quicker than they. Of course, just like their last two birthdays, her sisters had received much more than she. To Buttercup, it seemed like that year, she had gotten even less than previous years, too.

Buttercup cracked her knuckles as her eyes fell on the Professor who entered the room, carrying a pink strawberry cake which held three candles- one pink, one blue, and one green. He sat the cake down on the coffee table. "OK, Girls," he grinned big, "It's cake time!"

Blossom stood from where she had been sitting among her pile of presents and went over to where the cake sat. She rested on her knees, perfectly centered in front of the cake, before she turned to her left and reached for Buttercup who sat behind her still on the sofa. "Come on," she said as she yanked the tomboy by the arm and brought her down to the carpeted floor with her.

Buttercup rolled her eyes a little as she sat beside Blossom on the floor. Bubbles joined them next, but just as she was about to sit, she quickly rose back up to her feet as a thought came to her, "Oh! Hold on! Let me go get Robin first! Be right-"

"Wait," Buttercup interrupted. "She's not home."

"She's not?" Bubbles blinked.

"Yeah," Buttercup shrugged casually, "She said she was gonna go see her grandma or... something today. I dunno. She's not home though."

Bubbles frowned as she lowered herself back onto the floor beside Blossom. "Oh..." the blue Powerpuff said sadly. Robin usually always joined them for cake.

Blossom looked at Buttercup and smiled, remembering what Robin had told her the day before. She then turned to Bubbles, "We can celebrate with Robin later, Bubbles. She'll be back soon, I'm sure."

"OK," Professor Utonium said as he struck a match and began to light the candles on the pink frosted cake. "Everyone close your eyes, and think of your wishes. Blow on three..."

The triplets did as they were instructed and closed their eyes.

The Professor began, "One..."

I wish that the coyotes never ever go hungry...

"Two..."

I wish that Robin and I will always be happy together...

"Three..."

I wish... that things were different.

The trio blew just as the Professor counted "three," and extinguished the birthday candles together.

Bubbles clapped her hands and smiled at her sisters, "Happy birthday, Girls."

Buttercup and Blossom each returned a smile to their pig-tailed sister, "Happy birthday."

While the Professor began to divide the cake into slices, Blossom looked to her left at Buttercup and saw that she was texting on her phone. She held the device low, underneath the coffee table, as if trying to disguise the fact that she had it. As the Professor sat a slice of strawberry cake in front of her, Buttercup looked up while simultaneously stashing her phone back into her hoodie's pouch pocket. "We should take a piece of cake to Robin," she announced out of nowhere.

Bubbles was just about to take her first bite of cake when she heard this. She blinked, confused. "What? You just said she was at her grandma's."

"Uh." Buttercup thought for a moment. "She's back." She then scowled a little, "Let's just take the damn cake, Bubbles. Jeez." She took the piece of cake in front of her and slid it across the table in Bubbles' direction.

Blossom couldn't help but laugh a little. "Yeah, let's go see if she's home now." She stood with her sisters and followed them to the front door.

Bubbles stepped out onto their front porch first, carrying the single slice of cake in her hands. As her sisters stepped outside next, Buttercup stopped at the doorway for a moment. She knelt down on one knee as she reached for her shoe, "You guys can go on ahead. I'll catch up," she said as she began to adjust her sneaker's shoelaces.

"OK," Bubbles thought nothing of it, and continued towards the Snyder residence.

Blossom stayed behind for a moment and smiled down on Buttercup.

Buttercup did not look at Blossom, but the tall girl's shadow fell over her and she knew that she was still there. "Go on," Buttercup repeated. As she pretended to fumble with her shoelaces, she was caught off guard by the sudden quick embrace Blossom gave her.

Blossom knelt down and hugged Buttercup. "Thanks, Sis."

Buttercup looked up at Blossom as she pulled away. "For what?"

Blossom shrugged. "For being my sister, I guess."

"Uh huh..." Buttercup raised an eyebrow, "Well, I don't exactly have a choice." Her green eyes fell on Bubbles in the distance who was just about to reach the Snyder's front door. She reached out towards Blossom and gave her a forceful shove off the first step of the porch. "Go already! Jeez!"

Blossom gave her sibling one last smile before she zipped over to Robin's house with a flash of pink, and joined Bubbles at the front door. Buttercup finished retying her shoelace and stood. She watched her sisters step inside the home. Her green eyes shone as she used her x-ray vision to see inside next door. As Blossom and Bubbles stepped inside, they were immediately ambushed by a barrage of colorful streamers and confetti thrown by all their friends from school. "Surprise! Happy sweet sixteen!"

"OH MY FREAKING GOSH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

Buttercup didn't need to use super hearing in order to hear the blonde's high pitched squeals of joy. She shut off her x-ray vision and stepped back inside their own home, shutting the door behind her.

Buttercup went to her bedroom and lowered herself onto her bed. The skinny teen sighed deeply as she let her head fall against her pillow. While she lay on her bed and stared up at her ceiling, she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. She turned her head and saw the Professor.

He held a single slice of strawberry cake in his hands as he stood at the doorway. "Hey, Sweetie. I brought you a slice of cake to enjoy." He smiled and stepped inside Buttercup's room. He walked over to her and sat the slice of cake on her nightstand with a fork. "Did you enjoy your birthday brunch?"

Buttercup stared up at the Professor. Even though he showed her a kind smile, it annoyed her. "Yeah," she forced herself to answer. "Thanks, Professor."

The Professor gave his tomboy daughter one last smile before he turned to leave. "I'll be in the lab if you need anything, Dear."

Buttercup watched him leave. Her eyes fell on the slice of strawberry cake he had left behind and suddenly she felt angry. She rose from her bed and took the cake from her nightstand. She forcefully tossed it in the trash bin by her door. "Sixteen," she thought, "And after all these stupid birthdays, he can't remember one thing: I fucking hate strawberries."

Buttercup plopped back down on her bed and closed her eyes to try and sleep for a bit. She lay there quiet for several minutes with her eyes shut, and a scowl on her face. Lorenzo and Maria- AKA Snot and Pus- sat within their birdcage on her dresser and chirped back and forth with one another. As the teenager tried to sleep, the sounds of their quiet chirps began to irritate her further. She grinded her teeth as she began to breathe deeply through her nostrils. After a few minutes of continuous bird chatter, she sat up and looked at the birds and shouted, "JESUS CHRIST DO YOU TWO EVER SHUT UP?"

The pair of parakeets quieted immediately and blinked back at her with their tiny, beaded black eyes. Buttercup glared at them for several minutes, as if challenging them to speak again, but the birds remained quiet, somehow knowing that they better.

She sat on her bed and continued to watch the birds as she cracked her knuckles. The birds had turned their attention to each other once more. They quietly sat perched together on a single branch within the wire cage. They nestled up close, and the green budgie lifted his wing so that his yellow companion could rest her head underneath. Buttercup watched the two take turns pruning each other's feathers for a while. Slowly, she began to feel the anger within her fade.

Buttercup's eyes fell on a pile of laundry on the floor just below her dresser. On top of the pile was her soot-covered clothes from the day before. She suddenly remembered the one birthday gift she could enjoy and rose from her bed. As she fished through her clothing for Ace's jar of weed, she came upon the purple colored business card Tyler had given her.

Buttercup stood with the card in her hands and turned it over and over. She thought about how Princess had been at the show the other day and what Tyler said about her. Buttercup definitely did not believe what he said to be true, but thought about how strange it was to have her former enemy ask for her like that. Of course, she had been wearing a Halloween mask that night, and Princess probably didn't know who she was speaking to. She remembered that Princess had mentioned something about a job that Ace didn't want, and began to think about what she could have meant by it. As she played with the business card in her hands, the phone number's metallic gold lettering glimmered under the light.

Without question, any job Princess had would pay well. She definitely had the money. And surely, any job Ace could do, Buttercup was pretty confident she could do, too.

Buttercup tapped the card against her scarred palm as she weighed her options for a moment. Whatever Princess asked of Ace, he had turned down. He also had tried to push her away from the girl that night. But like Tyler pointed out the other day, Ace had gone pretty soft over the years. He said that she wouldn't want to get caught up in what Princess had, and Tyler had said that he called her crazy after tearing up her card. The more Buttercup thought about this, the more curious she felt about it.

Buttercup slipped the card into her jeans' back pocket and knelt for the heap of laundry once more. She dug deeper in the pile for another set of clothes and retrieved the alien mask little Sophia had given her. She held the mask in her hands and smirked as an idea came to her then. With the Professor in his lab, and her sisters preoccupied by their birthday party, there was no better time than then to find out what Princess wanted. She quickly hid the mask within her baggy black hooded jacket and took off with a flash of green light.


The grounds of Morbucks Manor were very quiet as Buttercup stood outside the golden gates of the massive estate. The skinny teenager wore her alien mask as she rang the buzzer repeatedly. It had been a few minutes and she had yet to hear any sort of answer from the gate's speaker. She wondered if anybody was home as her green eyes peaked through the golden bars of the massive mansion's gates and scanned for signs of life. The property was huge, and the front door to the main house sat more than a hundred yards away. Buttercup took a step back away from the barrier and swiftly hopped over the seventy-five foot tall arched gateway with a single, effortless jump. The alien-masked teen landed gently on both feet on the other side of the gate, and casually walked towards the main home's entrance.

As she strolled with her hands shoved deep in her pockets, she looked around and listened still for signs of anyone. Everything seemed still though, and the intense quietness of the massive property made Buttercup feel as if she had wandered into another world completely. She reached the front door and tried knocking. While she waited, her green eyes shone through her mask as she used her x-ray vision to peer inside.

Everything looked so clean and pristine, just as she imagined it would. Despite the bountiful amounts of grand crystal chandeliers that hung throughout the mansion, Buttercup saw that it was very dim inside. She looked about and still could not see a single soul anywhere. Maybe Princess wasn't home.

Buttercup reached for the door's handle and turned it. It was locked, but the super-powered teen had no issue forcing it open anyway. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her as she called out, "Hello? Anyone home?" Her voice echoed throughout the corridors of the giant empty manor.

As she thought momentarily over whether or not it could be fun to rob Princess while she appeared to be away, Buttercup was surprised by the sudden sound of gunshots in the distance. The masked teenager instantly and instinctively followed the noise, taking off in a sprint down the west corridor. The gun shots definitely sounded as if they were being shot off somewhere within the mansion and sounded as if they were being fired in a quick, steady pattern.

She came through a set of double doors, and found the source of the gunfire. It was the young heiress's private shooting range. The masked teenager's black sneakers screeched loudly as she slid to a stop on the white marble floor of the room. Despite her loud entrance, Princess had not heard her. The redhead's ears were covered by the shooting earmuffs she wore snugly on her head, and she was extremely focused on her target practice.

Buttercup stood there and curiously watched the short girl aim a gold-plated pistol at the quick flying paper targets that whipped across the room; she shredded each target with a bullet just as fast as they came. BANG-BANG-BANG. The blue, pink and green colored pieces of paper zipped at high speeds along several different lines of wire, as if to replicate the Powerpuff Girls zipping across the sky. Her butler, Alfred, stood off to the side, and appeared to be operating some sort of pulley-system which sent the colored targets flying. He also wore ear protection and had yet to notice the masked stranger in the room.

Buttercup kept her hands in her pockets as she leaned up against a massive marble white pillar in the room, some several feet behind Princess. Behind her mask, she wore a smirk as she watched Princess fire away. She had to admit: She was good.

After a while, Alfred looked up and noticed the person in the room. He did not know it to be Buttercup, but he recognized the mask from the night before, and knew it to be the individual Princess had wanted to hire. He temporarily paused the target system, and Princess immediately snapped at him. "What the hell, Alfred?!"

Alfred simply pointed behind Princess.

The redhead removed her headphones and turned around. "What the fuck?!" She jumped with a start, immediately drawing her weapon on Buttercup.

Buttercup's laugh was muffled from behind her alien mask, "Sorry," she laughed, "Didn't mean to interrupt you."

Princess lowered her pistol as she realized it was the stranger from the other night. She blinked at them for a moment, before a scowl swept her face and she raised her weapon once more, "JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" she demanded as she stepped closer, aiming the pistol directly at their forehead. "HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE? YOU BETTER NOT HAVE TOUCHED ANYTHING OR I SWEAR-"

Buttercup laughed again. Her super powered body was bullet proof, and she couldn't help but find it hilarious that Princess threatened her so bravely and naively. Her laughter only provoked Princess further and she stepped even closer, practically pressing her gun right up against her mask. Buttercup still kept her hands in her pockets as she stepped backwards a little. "Hey, calm down, Psycho. I rang your doorbell but nobody was answering," she shrugged casually with the gun in her face, "I figured I'd come in and see if you were home. I heard gunshots, so I came to see where they were coming from."

Princess slowly lowered her weapon. She raised an eyebrow at the tall, skinny teenager and looked them up and down. They hadn't even flinched when she tried to threaten them. And who on earth runs towards the sound of gunfire? Were they stupid? Were they crazy? Whichever it was, it was still a good sign for Princess. She needed someone that foolishly brave for the job, after all.

Alfred now stood behind her and Princess handed him her weapon and headphones to take. She turned back to the stranger and continued to look at them with curiosity, "So what? You wear that mask all the time?"

Buttercup shrugged, but said nothing.

Princess placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, "Well, I hope you've at least broken into my home because you're interested in the job?"

"Yeah, what is it though?" Buttercup still stood with her hands in her pockets.

A devious smile swept the short teen's face. "It's simple, really. I need you to get me something."

"OK," Buttercup shrugged again, "Get you what?"

Princess snapped her fingers, and Buttercup watched as Alfred walked out of the room. Princes continued to look at Buttercup with a sly grin. "Have you heard of the Villains Ward?"

Buttercup blinked at Princess for a moment. "Yeah," she answered finally, "It's in Townsville Prison- where they keep all the villains locked up."

"Good," Princess said with a nod, "Do you know who's in there?"

Buttercup stared at the girl. Was this some sort of test? Did she figure out who she was? Why was she asking about who was in the Villains Ward of all things? Instead of answering truthfully, Buttercup kept silent and answered simply with another shrug.

Princess still stood with her hands on her hips as she smirked. "Mojo Jojo."

"Mojo Jojo?" Buttercup repeated. "...You need me to get Mojo for you?"

Princess nodded.

"Why?"

Princess folded her arms across her chest, "That's not your concern."

Buttercup's green eyes traveled above the short girl's head and fell upon the shredded paper targets that littered the marble floor in the distance. Eyeing the pink, blue and green confetti, she could start to imagine what Mojo might be for. She looked down at Princess, and thought for a moment. She obviously needed Mojo's help "destroying them." It was oddly nostalgic to think about that scenario again for the first time in years, and Buttercup couldn't help but wear a small smirk behind her mask. But even if she did bring her Mojo, would Mojo even help her? And even if he did, how harmful could some bratty teenager's plan be? After a short while of debating with herself, Buttercup curiously asked: "So how much does this job pay?"

"Twenty-five thousand dollars."

Buttercup responded with a short laugh. "I'll do it for fifty."

"Who do you think you are?!" Princess gave her own short laugh. "Do not attempt to bargain with me," she warned as she placed her hands firmly on her hips, "You're just going to lose out."

"Come on," Buttercup said, "I know you have it. Look at this place!" She tilted her head towards the entrance of the room, "Is that a solid gold piano in the corner?"

"It is."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "How about forty then?"

"Just for that. It's ten now."

"What?!"

Princess continued to wear a smug smile as she stepped towards the tall, masked stranger. There had been a time before when money didn't matter to the spoiled girl. However, she had since learned the value of a dollar and spent her money much less frivolously. She refused to overpay, and judging by the tattered jeans, the faded black hooded jacket and the thrift-store Halloween mask- they were young, too, just a teenager- Princess doubted the stranger even knew what that amount of money looked like. Just the age alone was why she only offered them twenty-five in the first place. She had offered Ace 250.

"It's ten thousand dollars in pay," Princess remained firm. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine," Buttercup said stubbornly. "Get someone else then."

"Fine."

"Fine." Buttercup turned to leave. She walked slowly across the marble tiled room, thinking for sure Princess would change her mind and tell her to stop. But when she reached the door and hadn't, Buttercup stopped to face her once more.

"Do you need Alfred to show you out? He should be back in just a moment."

Buttercup gritted her teeth from behind her mask, offended that Princess thought somebody else could do a job like that. Her eyes fell on the grand golden piano to her left. "Alright, look." Buttercup spoke as she walked over to the piano. The teenager lifted it with one hand, raising it over her head, and balancing it on one finger. With her other hand she reached up and spun the giant gold instrument like a basketball on her finger. "You'd be paying for skills you can't find anywhere else." Buttercup bragged as she transferred the rapidly spinning piano from one finger to another.

"Impressive," Princess stood with her arms folded across her chest. Truthfully, she was very impressed, but she was sure to say the word in more of a mocking tone towards the stranger. She had to keep her poker face strong during negotiations after all. "It's still ten thousand dollars."

"Aw, come on!" Buttercup shouted as she let the piano fall to the ground with a noisy crash. "Are you that fucking greedy?! Can we at least do the twenty-five again?!"

Princess smirked, but said nothing. She loved it when people begged.

Buttercup groaned. "Alright, whatever. Good luck on your big plan," she muttered as she continued out the door.

"Twenty-five then," Princess's voice called out as Buttercup stepped into the corridor.

She stopped and faced Princess. She watched the young villain come towards her, swaying her hips as she walked. Her black heels clicked and echoed throughout the manor. She still wore a devious smirk as she looked Buttercup in the eyes, through the holes of her mask. Buttercup felt suddenly flushed behind her disguise as the bold redhead seemed to dare her almost to look away, and Buttercup realized then that she really couldn't. There was something about the girl that captivated her then as their eyes locked.

Princess held out her hand out to the stranger for a handshake, completely confident that she had won.

Buttercup pulled her hand from her pockets and took Princess's hand. "OK. Twenty-five. Cash."

As Princess noticed the scars on their hands for the first time, her sly smirk faded. Her mouth dropped a little as her brown eyes widened. The stranger's discolored flesh was rough to the touch, and it surprised her. Princess dropped her hand quickly after their handshake and blushed slightly. Her eyes then fell on Alfred who finally returned. "Oh, Alfred," she began, "Great timing. We've just reached a deal. Please give my lackey their equipment for their mission."

"Equipment?" as Buttercup turned to Alfred, the man dropped a large black duffel bag in her arms. Buttercup sat it at her feet, knelt down and zipped it open.

"Whatever your weapon of choice is, I'm sure you'll find it there," Princess said plainly. "I included plenty of ammunition, but if you think you may need more just say the word."

"Uh..." Buttercup blinked at the large collection of guns and ammunition as she rose to her feet once more. "I think I'm good." Alfred stood behind her with another small bundle in hand, and she took it. "What's this?"

"Your uniform," Princess explained next. "Sorry if it's a little big. I thought for sure Ace would accept the job, so I had everything prepared for him. Although," Princess paused as she laughed a little. "You already appear to be wearing somebody's hand-me-downs. Wow. This money is sure to make a real difference in your life, isn't it?"

Buttercup unfolded the jet black turtleneck sweater that sat on top of a pair of black pants. As the shirt unfurled, a black beanie cap and pair of black leather gloves fell out of it, along with a small black cell phone. Buttercup quickly caught the device before it could hit the floor.

"Be careful with that," Princess said as she placed her hands on her hips again, "It's a secure line. Just in case you need to contact me."

"Got it." Buttercup saw that Alfred had returned yet again with something else for her. He placed a car key which dangled from a circular golden key chain on top of the bundle of clothing. "What's that?"

"Your getaway car, of course." Princess paused. "Wait. How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Can you even drive?"

"Sure," Buttercup shrugged. "Do I get to keep the car after the job?"

Princess giggled girlishly behind her hand, before responding shortly: "No."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "So when do I get paid?"

"When I get the chimp."

Buttercup took the car key and tossed it to Princess. The girl was caught off-guard and fumbled to catch it. "I don't need that."

"How else will you get away then?"

"I'm fast."

Princess rolled her eyes, finding the stranger to be ridiculous. "Trust me, your getaway car is an essential part of the plan. You'll need it. Alfred," Princess turned to the butler, "Please go get my mission playbooks and blue prints so that I can go over everything with..." Princess stopped just as soon as she realized that the stranger had vanished.


Buttercup sat perched on top of the water tower which overlooked the greater part of Townsville. Sitting directly on top of the massive spherical water tank, she was just a dark colored speck to anyone who might look up from the ground below. One might mistake her for a crow or a raven even from afar. Whenever she needed space, or a place to light up and unwind without the fear of being found out, the water tower was a good spot for her to be alone.

The summer sun beat down on her as she slipped on the pair of black leather gloves that had come with her new "uniform." She had quickly changed into the dark colored clothing on top of the tower. Her blue jeans and hooded jacket sat folded beside her, along with her alien mask.

As she sat there, she bounced her knee anxiously while her gaze was focused intently on Townsville Correctional Prison. It was just down the road from City Hall and just behind the Townsville Police Department. The white-bricked building that was the city's prison looked like any other structure in City Square, save for the barb-wire fencing that surrounded it. It was three stories tall and it housed just over two thousand prisoners.

The super power teen's green eyes shone as she tried to get her most detailed look at the prison below. The Villains Ward was inside, but Buttercup only realized then that she wasn't sure exactly where inside. From her current post, she couldn't see much. She shut off her x-ray vision and groaned a little as she reached for her black colored beanie and pulled it tightly onto her head. As she fixed the brim of the hat above her brow, her eyes fell back on her alien mask. She took it in her gloved hands and stared at the plain faced expression it possessed.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself out loud. She laughed a little, but the nervous chuckle faded, and she repeated the question again but more seriously, "What the fuck am I doing?" She stared at the mask as if it might give her some sort of answer, but it just stared blankly back at her. Buttercup sighed deeply as she rose to her feet. She lowered the mask and looked down at the city again.

City Square was one of the busiest spots in Downtown, especially on a Tuesday. With the sidewalks bustling with pedestrians and the streets lined with cars, Buttercup was starting to wonder if she had chosen the wrong time to attempt this spontaneous mission of hers. At the same time, she knew she couldn't predict when she might get another opportunity to do so. At least right then nobody would be looking for her. The Professor was working and her sisters were celebrating their birthday... without her. Buttercup realized then that she had momentarily forgotten that it was even her birthday. It certainly didn't feel like it.

Buttercup shook her head as she returned her attention to the mask once more and asked it, "What would you do?"

Of course, there was no answer.

Buttercup frowned as she turned to face the west. "This is crazy. I just need to go home and..." her voice trailed off as her green eyes settled on a brightly colored structure in the distance- the Discovery Dome- formerly Mojo Jojo's observatory. Buttercup felt her mouth go dry as she momentarily went blank. She shook her head as she tried to focus once more. "I need to go home and..." she stopped once more. She frowned. And then she scowled. "Why would I go home? What is there even to do there?" she looked at her mask once again, "It's my birthday, right? Shouldn't I be having fun? Don't I deserve to have fun, too?!"

The mask stared back at her with its blank expression.

The skinny teenager looked back down upon City Square. Her eyes fell on the prison once more as she bit her lip for several minutes.

"Fuck it," she said at last. She pulled on the alien mask over her scarred face. "Let's go."


The metal chains which bound Arturo's hands and legs clinked as he walked. It was difficult to walk with metal cufflinks fixed to one's ankles, but after nearly six years into his lifelong sentence, Arturo had since mastered how to walk in small, quick shuffles to avoid stumbling. The short, green man was escorted out of the prison library by two armed prison guards. His single hour of recreation for the day had ended and it was time for him to return to his high security cell in the Villains Ward.

The library was located on the first level of the building where the prison also held its level one housing for its non-violent offenders. The cells there were hardly prison cells at all, but open dormitories. Groups of orange jumpsuited men roamed freely in and out between their rooms and had open access to all the recreational facilities on the first floor of the prison. However, whenever one of the villains was being escorted through level one, it was procedure for all the prisoners to freeze all activity until that villain had passed through. As Arturo stepped out from the library, he waited behind the guard who stood before him to give the signal. The guard lifted a silver whistle to his lips and blew forcefully. As soon as the other prisoners heard the high pitched call, they obeyed, walking quickly towards the perimeters of the first level and lining up against the wall, where they waited for Arturo to pass with the two armed guards.

Arturo always felt like a strange spectacle on parade as he walked past the other prisoners. They, of course, had no choice but to line up just as they were told, and none of them could help but stare at the short green man bound so heavily in chains. The sudden quiet that interrupted the usually loud and active group of prisoners always made the whole experience even more awkward for Arturo. So he was sure to shuffle along just as fast as he could manage in his cuffs.

As Arturo reached the steps that led from the first level to the next, he heard the sound of a door suddenly slam open behind him. The momentary quiet of the prison ensured that everyone heard it, and all eyes left Arturo and fell immediately on the dark metal doors which led out into the prison's main lobby.

An individual dressed all in black with an alien mask stood at the door, looking oddly casual in the strange attire. They stepped into the prison and the metal door behind them slammed shut, echoing loudly throughout the still prison once more.

"HEY!" shouted a guard who had been stationed just beside that door, "YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED IN HERE-"

The alien masked person interrupted the man with a simple fast fist across his jaw, and the officer was knocked out cold. As soon as the guard hit the ground with a loud thud, the silence that had fallen upon the first floor ended.

Immediately the masked individual was rushed by another group of officers who had all been stationed on that floor. They shouted at the unknown inciter to get down on the ground, but the person in the mask simply turned to face them while they casually cracked their knuckles. It being just the first level, none of those guards were armed with nothing more than a taser. Still, the six officers surrounded them quickly in a tight circle.

Arturo watched from the first steps of the stairs in disbelief. He blinked and within that single blink, the alien masked person had knocked the six guards unconscious, too. They stood among the pile of fallen guardsmen and casually stepped over them, continuing to walk leisurely across the first level as the prisoners there began to flee back to their cells.

Arturo felt the sudden jab of a rifle in his back as the armed guard behind him reminded him not to move, and the second guard spoke quickly into his radio receiver, calling for back up. The second guard then stepped off the first step of the stairs, training his rifle on the masked person. "DON'T MOVE!" he shouted at them.

The person in the mask stopped for a moment, and turned to face the officer with a gun. They cocked their head to one side as they watched the officer move towards them with his rifle aimed and ready. They said nothing in response to the officer. They just stood there and waited.

From behind her mask, Buttercup watched the guard with a rifle steadily march towards her. It was difficult to see more than what was just directly in front of her; the narrow eye holes obstructed much of her peripheral vision. But her super powered hearing was already tuned to the sounds of more boot clad guardsmen approaching from the second level. She began to lick her lips in anticipation as the adrenaline within her began to climb. She wondered if they would have rifles, too.

Buttercup waited until the guard stood directly before her, before she made her next move. The guard had stopped some six feet in front of her, and within another blink of the eye, she appeared right in front of him, and snatched the rifle from his hands. She swiftly disappeared behind him next and whacked the rifle hard against the back of his head, knocking him to the ground as well. She dropped the rifle on the ground and as she did, she immediately heard more shouting from the other armed guard by the stairs behind her.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" he yelled before he trained his weapon on the masked intruder.

Buttercup could hear the grown man's voice shake a little as he shouted, and she almost felt pity for the guy. She turned around and faced him, and as she did the man immediately began to shoot.

Arturo quickly dropped to the ground as soon as the shooting began and tried his best to cover his head as the bullets whipped through the air. He huddled close to the railing of the stairs for cover, while he stayed low to the ground and shut his eyes tightly. He was certain the masked person was being ripped to shreds by the heavy cascade of fire, and he really didn't want that sort of gory imagery to haunt his memories.

Buttercup continued to walk towards the stairs as the bullets ricochet off her body. The guard who fired upon her ran out of ammunition by the time she reached him. He stared at her masked face with shocked wide eyes as she grabbed the useless weapon from him and swiftly knocked him unconscious, too. Her eyes then fell on the quivering short, green man by the staircase. "Holy shit. Arturo?"

Arturo heard the unknown muffled voice and slowly opened his eyes. He looked up and saw that the masked person stood directly above him, and had somehow survived the gunfire without a single scratch.

"Holy shit, it is you!" they laughed as they knelt down beside him, and Arturo flinched a little as the masked face met his. "Dude, can you tell me where the Villains Ward is?"

Arturo blinked back, frozen in shock. "Wh-what?" Who the hell was this loco?

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Suddenly, a deafening alarm began to buzz loudly as the entire prison became illuminated by blinking red lights, and an overhead speaker repeated in monotone fashion: "FREEZE. THIS IS A LOCKDOWN. FREEZE. THIS IS A LOCKDOWN. FREEZE..." Buttercup and Arturo looked up and saw about thirty-something prison guards lined along the railing of the prison's second level. About half a dozen of them held rifles like the two guards Buttercup had just faced. They trained their weapons on them from above.

Arturo watched the alien person rise to their feet once more as they gazed up at the officers. The masked face looked down at Arturo and shouted over the still screeching alarm system, "BE RIGHT BACK, OK?"

Buttercup leapt straight into the air by about ten feet and landed on the metal railing of the second floor. As she touched down, the crowd of officers who had been leaning against the railing fell backwards. She stepped off the railing and onto the grated floor of the second level, drawing the attention of all the prison guards who immediately rushed towards her.

Behind her mask, Buttercup wore a devious grin as her green eyes narrowed on her first opponent. The charge of officers was led by one with a rifle and he had it trained right on Buttercup. She quickly moved forward and met him head on, grabbing his rifle from him before he could use it, and swatting him with it like a baseball bat. The hard wack sent the leading officer flying backwards and he knocked over the seven other guards that had followed him.

At that point the few officers Buttercup had knocked over upon her landing were on their feet again. They rushed at the teenager, but she dropped down, spun around and instantly met them with a low spinning heel kick, sweeping the men off their feet, and knocking them to the ground once more.

Another team of officers rushed for Buttercup. This time they were led by four armed guards and they wasted no time in shooting at her. As the bullets bounced off her impenetrable body, Buttercup laughed from behind her mask. The officers halted several feet ahead of her, and continued to shoot at her to no avail. The skinny teenager leapt upward, and grabbed onto a hanging fluorescent light with her gloved hands. She swung back and forth from the hanging light fixture and laughed as the officers continued their fire. As she swung forward, she let go, and soared over the crowd of guardsmen, landing just on the other side of them.

She was in the middle of everything now. The remaining twenty guards surrounded her on all sides. They circled her, but they all seemed hesitant to charge.

The cells of the second floor were loud with a mixture of both jeers and cheers from the inmates locked inside them. Even with the prison sirens still blaring, Buttercup could hear them all shouting throughout her fight with the guardsmen. After she landed her last acrobatic leap, the block of cells directly behind her erupted into applause and cheers. Buttercup could feel her heart racing, and behind her mask, she grinned big as she wound up her next attack.

JAB-JAB-JAB. The teenager socked the teeth from three men within a blink of an eye. She turned around and repeated the same quick maneuver to the next batch of guards that came at her. JAB-JAB-JAB. She turned and there were more. JAB-JAB-JAB. In a matter of three seconds, there was a pile of bodies now at her feet, and she leapt over them swiftly, and landed in front of the final group of guards. She narrowed her eyes on the commanding officer and wore a devious grin as she walked towards him.

The leading guardsman, of course, could not see the maniacal look on the teenager's face, but he still saw a mad man in a mask. The remaining officers that stood behind him all began to flee as the alien intruder drew closer. At that point, they had figured out that they were not dealing with an average human being. The lone standing officer reached for his radio receiver and quickly ordered: "C-call the chief of police-and the mayor-I-I think we might need the Powerpu-"

Buttercup interrupted him with a swift, side kick to the face. "Not yet."

She had noticed just before knocking the man out that he looked to his left as he radioed, so she quickly spun around to see where the man had been looking. Fixed above the third level of the prison was a big, glass box room. It was the prison control room, and inside the bullet-proof box was a single officer who stared out from his post in shock and horror. As Buttercup's green eyes met his, the man quickly reached for a telephone on his switchboard.

Buttercup was in the room before the man could finish dialing. She swiftly grabbed the man by the back of the head and slammed his forehead against the control board, rendering him unconscious. Her green eyes fell on the control board and she spotted the switch for the prison alarm and flipped it. As the red light sirens finally ceased, Buttercup let out a big sigh of relief. "Finally!" she groaned from behind her mask. "Shit was driving me crazy..." she muttered as she next studied the rest of the buttons on the control board.

"Block 1-A, block 1-B, block 1-C, 1-D, 1-E..." her glove finger hovered over all the buttons as she tried to figure out which might help unlock Mojo's cell. She had no idea what may work, and so she made the quick decision to just press them all. She ran her gloved hands across all the switches and they turned from red to green. "There! That should let him out somehow, right?"

The doors to all the prison cells in the general population unlocked, and groups of orange jumpsuited inmates began to rush out of their cells. Buttercup stood in the center of the control room and placed her hands on her hips as she smiled proudly behind her mask, "Now just gotta wait till I see him, swoop him up and-" she stopped as her eyes followed the prisoners that rushed down the stairs to the first level and stopped on a four-foot seven short, green man, and she gasped, "Shit. Arturo."

Buttercup leapt straight through the bullet-proof window of the control room, shattering the glass as she broke through. The teenager landed effortlessly some forty feet below, directly in front of Arturo who still huddled beside the staircase. "Back!" she announced as she landed.

Arturo stared at the alien mask, completely speechless.

"Here," the stranger knelt down towards him, "Let me help." They grabbed the linked chains that bound Arturo's hands and quickly snapped them off his wrists.

"Wait!" Arturo shouted. "Y-you can't do that, Man!"

"Why not?" the alien mask tilted their head, "Don't you wanna get out of here? We can get the whole gang, too! It'll be great!"

"Wh-what?"

"I don't see them though," they stood and cupped their hands over their masked forehead as they searched the stampede of prisoners that rushed past them and towards the prison entrance. "I coulda sworn I hit all the buttons..."

Arturo blinked. "N-nah, Man. This is gen pop. The Villains Ward is its own thing-"

"Where is it?"

"Third level," Arturo gulped nervously as he pointed towards the third floor with a shaky finger.

Buttercup looked up and saw a set of double doors clearly labeled "Villains Ward."

"Oh."

"Look, Man," Arturo gulped again. "I don't want any trouble. I-I don't have a lot left in this world 'cept getting to speak to my little niña every Sunday and I-"

"Sophia!"

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah, I know her. Dude, let's go! She'll be psyched to see you!"

"H-how do you know Sophia?!"

"I'm her babysitter," the skinny alien shrugged. They knelt down once more and broke the chains from Arturo's ankles. "I'll take you to her, if you want."

Arturo looked up at them and shook their head in disbelief. "Y-you can do that? For real?!"

They shrugged again. "Yeah." They paused, "But first I gotta grab Mojo. You know where he is?"

Arturo nodded as the alien helped him to his feet.

"Let's go then!" Buttercup scooped the short man up in her arms and leapt forty feet into the air, landing just outside the entrance to the Villains Ward.


The dark, tall walls of the Villains Ward were completely soundproof. The idea behind the design was to prevent any of the villainous residents from communicating or scheming with one another. However, because of that same design, those inside the Villains Ward- Sedusa, Fuzzy, Snake, Grubber, Billy, Mojo Jojo and the two guards stationed there- were completely unaware of the chaos taking place just outside the ward.

Mojo did his best to ignore the incessant whispering of the two guards who watched him through his delivery chute. Out of all the correctional officers there in the Ward, he hated those particular two most of all. At least the other guards had the decency to just drop his daily meal through the chute and leave. These two however spent their entire eight hour shift watching the chimp like an animal at the zoo. For Mojo, there was absolutely nothing more irritating than that.

Mojo sat with his back towards the chute, so as to not give the guards the privilege of getting to see his latest creation at work. The green-skinned primate's fingers were callused from the amount of paper cuts he had endured over the years. With his fingers, he delicately worked with a small sheet of white paper. It took the shape of a skyscraper. The origami sculpture was almost complete, but like all his creations, he took his time with it. Precision was everything.

Behind the chimp lay the rest of his work- The city of Townsville. A paper origami version of it, at least. The impressive white paper replica of the town's landscape took up the majority of the space within Mojo's cell. It possessed everything from the forests, to the hills, to the beaches, Monster Isle, Downtown, City Hall- it was all there. Mojo had even taken the time to sculpt tiny cars for the roads and tiny citizens, too. It was a way to pass the time, although he would not exactly call it fun. But as the simian folded the final crease to his skyscraper, he could not help but smile a little as he realized then that he only had a few more buildings left to sculpt. After all, the real fun began once the city was complete.

"You think we can try and sell some of this stuff on eBay?" one of the guards who watched Mojo asked of the next. "I bet we could make a ton of money off of that monkey's art."

"Yeah, I heard there's a market for that freaky kind of stuff."

"Might as well, right? He's just gonna wreck it once it's done like he always does."

"Yeah, seems like a waste-"

The two guards who spied on Mojo stopped their gossip as soon as they heard the sound of the Villains Ward entrance swinging open. Mojo's cell was at the far end of the ward, so they had to walk away from their entertainment in order to come around the corner and see who had entered. As the two officers came into the hallway, they expected to see their colleagues returning with Arturo as scheduled, but instead there was nobody.

The two guards walked side by side towards the other end of the ward and stared at the entrance-way in confusion. While they looked ahead, they were unaware of the masked figure who silently dropped from the ceiling behind them. The stealthy black figure landed directly behind them and knocked their heads together, causing them to fall to the ground, unconscious.

Buttercup dusted off her gloved hands as they hit the ground. "Piece of cake." Her eyes spotted an encased control board on the wall to her left with several switches. She quickly moved over there, broke the glass with her fist and hit all the switches.

Arturo stepped out from around the corner where he had been hiding and watched as the dark, metal doors to the first six cells snapped open. Then, for the first time in six years, his eyes fell on his friends- Billy, Grubber and Snake. They looked confused as they stepped timidly from their cells, but as soon as their eyes fell on one another, the old group of friends' faces all lit up with joy.

Buttercup smirked from behind her mask as she reclined against the wall behind her and watched the reunion unfold. The green-skin gang hugged one another- Big Billy easily scooping Arturo, Snake and Grubber up in one go. They all shouted at the same time so it was difficult for Buttercup to understand them, but she knew that they were happy.

Sedusa stepped out of her cell next, followed by Fuzzy Lumpkins who celebrated with a loud "WHOO-DOGGY WE'RE FINALLY GETTIN' OUTTA HERE!"

As Buttercup laughed from behind her mask, she stopped suddenly as her super hearing tuned to the steady marching of more boots in the distance. Her green eyes shone as she activated her x-ray vision and saw beyond the ward to the prison lobby below. "Shit," she muttered to herself as her super vision revealed a steady approaching group of armed guardsmen. "Time to speed this up. Let's get outta here-" She stopped and spun around several times, "Wait. Where's Mojo?"

"His cell's different, Man," Arturo explained. "They got him in the big cell!" he pointed to the far end of the ward.

Buttercup turned around and looked at the massively thick titanium door at the end of the hall. "OK," she rubbed her gloved hands together as she quickly moved towards it. She grabbed the door on either side and as her gloved hands grasped the wide frame, the metal bent with the indentation of her fingers. The villains that gathered behind her all looked on with wide eyes and jaws agape.

The skinny teenager forcefully ripped the heavy metal door off the wall and chucked it against the far wall to her left. As the broken titanium door crashed against it, it broke through the wall completely, leaving a giant hole behind. Fuzzy Lumpkins wasted no time in fleeing from the prison through the path Buttercup had created, and Sedusa soon followed after.

"Go on!" Buttercup gestured towards the opening as she shouted at the Grangreen Gang.

"But Sophia-"

Buttercup grabbed the short man by his shoulders and began to shove him towards the opening. "Don't worry, Man! I'll catch up! But in like two minutes this place is gonna be swarming with guards so you better go!"

Even though Arturo protested, his gang pushed past him for the opening and Billy was sure to grab him on the way out. The green giant plucked the green short man from the ground with one hand, and carried him with him as they made their escape.

Buttercup turned back to the now open doorway to Mojo's cell. She saw a cascade of thousands of tiny bits of white paper gliding about the air. "What the?-" she questioned as she stepped inside the cell. She stood at the center of the room and looked around, confused as to why there was paper falling all around her. It was extremely dark inside the titanium walled enclosure and it took a moment for her to notice the pair of practically glowing red eyes in the corner that watched her. When she did, she stumbled backwards a few steps, "Oh shi-"

"YOU," the shadow in the corner glared at her with raw intensity, "You destroyed it."

"Wh-what?"

"YOU DESTROYED TOWNSVILLE!" Mojo shouted angrily as he leapt from the shadows. The short simian rushed towards the teenager and stuck a finger in her masked face. "I was THIS close to destroying Townsville and YOU destroyed it yourself! Demolished! Smashed! Ruined! Obliterated! What sort of maniac barges into another maniac's home and takes everything from him?! Hmm? Do you not understand the devotion and the care and the dedication that went into the construction of my latest creation?! No! You do not! You could not! Yet you greedily and selfishly have ruined all that I've built! And it was not for YOU to ruin but for ME! I- MOJO JOJO! NOT YOU! YOU... WHOEVER IT IS THAT YOU ARE!"

"Are you crazy or something?!" Buttercup shouted back, "Can't you see that I'm tryin' to bust you outta here?!" she gestured to the missing door to his cell.

Mojo stopped. He blinked at the tall masked intruder before he looked to the doorway. Just then, a team of armed guards rushed into the room and instantly surrounded both he and Buttercup.

As the rifles became fixed on them both, Buttercup groaned from behind her mask. "See what your ramblin' has got us into?" As the teenager rolled her eyes, they fell on the ceiling above. A devious smirk crossed her face as she noticed the glass skylight some eighty feet above them.

"Rambling?! I was not rambling!" Mojo stood with his hands up in surrender. "I do not ramble- it is not what I-"

Mojo was cut short by Buttercup who scooped him up in her arms, and catapulted herself upwards. As they leapt upwards, the guardsmen below began to fire, but they were too late. Buttercup crashed through the skylight fixture, and landed safely on the roof with Mojo in her arms. She sat him down for a moment, before she turned back around to the rectangular frame of the broken skylight. She stuck her masked face over the opening and shouted to the group of officers below, "HA! MISSED! SUCKERS!"

Mojo watched the masked stranger laugh childishly as she taunted the guards below. The way that they behaved, Mojo was sure that it was just a child or teenager behind the green-faced disguise. He watched as they bounced about the rooftop and pumped their gloved fists into the air in wild celebration as they hooted and hollered.

"YES! YES! YES! I DID IT! HELL YEAH! OH MAN, THAT WAS AWESOME! WASN'T THAT AWESOME?!"

Mojo stood with his jaw dropped in astonishment for several moments, before he shook off his confusion. He stepped towards the masked stranger and raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

Buttercup looked down at Mojo and grinned big from behind her mask, "I don't know!" she laughed again, feeling strangely out of breath. "But we gotta go!"

Before the chimp could speak again, he was snatched up by the stranger in the alien mask. And before he knew it, Mojo was soaring with them through the sky.