Hello everyone! Back with another chapter! Firstly, I just want to say this does not mean I'm back to regular posting. This is a one off post outside of my usually thing. Think of it as an apology because I likely won't be back with more until like late December. So sorry! Life got crazy and school started back up too so my time to write is sadly very hard to find. I'm still around though! And never hesitate to reach out if you want to double check that!

Thanks for all the likes, comments, and follows! Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Blossom sighed as she turned put her book down, finding she couldn't focus on it like she'd been hoping to. It had been a really long day and she was glad that they had tomorrow off. Granted, she'd still need to go in to direct things as all the school's stalls and event props would be arriving, but she could sleep in a little at least. She was done with finals prep after all, and there weren't any more events to plan either. She could probably do with practicing some of her ballet, she'd definitely neglected it this year, but she was leaning towards a lazy morning for once.

Maybe that was because, for the first time, Blossom had gotten a bit of a taste of what not having all the responsibilities on her shoulders was like. Brick had stepped up while she'd been dealing with Butch and Berserk and had essentially handled everything for her. By the time she was done with her call, Boomer was back, the ceremony was on track, and Blane had already been told about everything, although he'd been pretty angry about Banger's condition and she'd had to handle that one. After that, it had been pretty smooth sailing honestly. Everything had wrapped up nicely for a Townsville win. The first one in four years. It had been a good day all said and done.

The door opened then, interrupting her thoughts and she turned to see Bubbles and Buttercup walk in. The bus must have finally gotten back.

"Bloss! Flying off like that was so not cool!" Bubbles huffed out before launching herself at Blossom on the sofa. Blossom winced and hugged her sister.

"I didn't even want to ride the bus anyways and can you blame me?"

Buttercup huffed at that before coming over to sit next to them. "Yes. We want all the details! I can't believe we missed out on so much!"

Blossom turned to give her a look. "Yes. You missed out on so much. After all, I may have not even needed to fight anyone if I'd been there from the start. Maybe we should talk about all the details of that one."

Both her sisters looked away at the look.

"Okay, maybe I should have thought things out a bit more" Bubbles started, "but it was a good plan in theory!"

"I got no excuse. It was horrible and I regret even trying this whole stupid plan," Buttercup said as she flopped onto the sofa.

"Well at least you learned your lesson then. Let's not ever have a repeat, hmm? Also, don't either of you even think of bothering the ruffs with the Merrick thing at all until after finals. They need to focus too."

Bubbles pouted while Buttercup huffed and looked away.

"Speaking of ruffs…and before I beg for details about the punks…there's maybe something I should say," Bubbles said quietly. Blossom frowned at that. She didn't really want another disaster to deal with. She'd had enough of those this year already.

"Okay…well, what is it?" Blossom asked hesitantly.

"Well, to start with, I just wanted to say I love you." Blossom frowned. She really didn't like where this was going. "And I'm sorry. I know I stuck my nose where I shouldn't have and it caused all sorts of issues with the punks, but you got to blow off that steam finally at least! And Brick totally stepped up to help and make everything flawless afterwards. It was sooo-"

"Nope. You were doing great and so I'm going to stop you there before you ruin it."

Buttercup snickered as Bubbles huffed and finally let Blossom go.

"Oh, whatever. You clearly noticed it too. I could tell you were enjoying having him step up like that. And there's no way Robbie and Prinny aren't going to be making him help out with stuff next year. Plus, Butch getting so upset at Merrick is totally a clue about there being more than just one possible future ruff-puff pairing!"

Buttercup glared at Bubbles while Blossom just sighed.

"Seriously? The dick called me Bitcherbutt, a new one by the way, before we got onto the bus," Buttercup ground out.

Blossom remembered. She'd have to talk with Butch about that one. He'd calmed down a fair amount after hoisting Merrick onto the gargoyle but, clearly, he still wasn't happy with Buttercup. If she could just get them all through finals at least then she could talk to Boomer about how to maybe fix this particular problem. Well, and make sure that Buttercup and Bubbles really did stop with this whole Merrick nonsense.

Bubbles waved her off. "He was just in a bad mood. I'm convinced that him getting so upset is totally because he's jealous."

Bubbles was about to say more but Buttercup glared at her before taking off for her room in a flash of green, clearly not in the mood to even try and listen to it. Bubbles huffed at that.

Blossom sighed again. "Bubbles, I think maybe it's time to back off with the greens. Butch lost it today and we can't have him or any of the ruffs doing that anymore. Especially not when it could have been avoided. You're plans are maybe a little too…emotional for him to handle."

Bubbles pouted. "Maybe it did get a little out of hand. I didn't think Butch would react as badly as he did. I'll make sure that Buttercup stops with the Merrick thing too. Even after what Butch did, she might still need help getting the guy to leave her alone. I'll help her with that if it happens."

Blossom gave her a look. "I'm holding you to that."

Bubbles waved her off. "Okay, okay. In the meantime, you and Brick-"

"I just remembered I meant to study that last module in math a little more-"

"Wait! It's not me pushing feelings this time, I promise!"

Blossom stopped from shooting off for her room and watched Bubbles who was fiddling with the edge of her shirt.

"Okay, what is it then?"

"...so Brat apparently knew about the whole Blane thing and decided to tell me off about it on that second day. Brick overheard."

Blossom flinched at that before quickly recovering. After all, it's not like him knowing would change anything now. It had been too long. Plus, even if it hadn't been it wouldn't have mattered. She only never told them because the ruffs were always looking for an excuse to cause issues during football season with the rights and she had been wanting to avoid that.

"Okay, well, that should be fine," Blossom said slowly. Bubbles winced.

"Well, he seemed pretty upset with me actually."

Blossom thought on that for a moment before replying. "Did you want me to talk to him about-"

"Oh my gosh no! He might seriously kill me if you did that. No, I just wanted to let you know that he knows and he was a little upset."

Blossom nodded slowly as Bubbles watched her. "Okay. Well if that's all then, I'm going to go study a little more."

"Okay, don't study too hard."

Blossom floated up to the second floor and for her door without replying. Why did it matter that Brick knew? There wasn't anything there and even if there had been it wouldn't have been any of Brick's business. Now that it wasn't football season she didn't have to be so careful. It was fine. There was just one question she had left.

Why did the fact she went on a date with Blane bother Brick?

"Not fast enough! Faster!" Blossom yelled at him. Butch bit back the groan. Why oh why did he have no self-control? Or, at the very least, why couldn't Brick have been the one to catch him? That would have been better than this…Spartan training from hell Blossom was making him go through.

Still, Butch knew better than to actually complain out loud and so he pumped more X into his legs to try and speed up on the treadmill. He glanced at Blossom and could tell she was far from impressed.

"That's the best you can do? You may be able to lift the most on the team but if you can't move the way you need to Butch then it's completely and totally useless. This is why Buttercup is still always able to beat you."

Ouch. Not wrong, but still, ouch. Butch knew he needed to lay off a little on the bulking up to make sure he could still move but…that was soooo boring! He liked being able to be strong enough to just punch his way through a problem. All he needed was one hit to take down any monster and he'd yet to see one fast enough to dodge him anyways so what did it matter?

"We don't just fight monsters. You need to be able to move to dodge bullets. Ace may still be in jail but we all know it's just a matter of time before he breaks out. What are you going to do if you end up face to face with him on patrol? Take the bullet? It might not hurt a ton but what about when it bounces off? Can you stop it from hitting another person?"

Butch doubted Ace would be leaving any time soon. Bellum had shown them the security footage of Brick's little visit while interrogating him about it. She'd let him off with a warning, apparently random visits to criminals isn't allowed, but they'd still all seen what Brick had…implied. Ace was still plenty terrified of the ruffs. He'd be going nowhere fast. Telling Blossom that though would be very not smart.

"My shield-"

"Can become a crutch if you aren't careful. As useful as it is all of us should be able to move fast enough to dodge a bullet if it's shot at us from at least an alleyways distance."

Butch couldn't help but groan at that, his steps faltering slightly as he slowed. He kicked it back into full gear with a yelp though as a blast of ice hit him in the shoulder. That stung!

"I didn't say you could slow down."

Fuuuuck. This was torture. He'd take being burnt to a crisp by Brick over this any day. Any. Day.

"Yes ma'am."

Blossom shook her head at him but didn't comment on the sarcastic tone.

"Discipline Butch. Discipline is necessary for us. Controlling our movements to ultimately control the enemies. I know you know exactly what I'm talking about as well. What year was it that you went on that Sun Tzu kick of yours? Junior year? I know you didn't stop there too. You've read about all you could find on Sun Tzu, Ghengis Khan, Napoleon, and even Hannibal if my memory serves me correctly. You know more about strategy than any of us. So why is it that you're the most careless out of all of us, hmm?"

"Cause I have no self-control," Butch huffed out. He wasn't an idiot. He knew how to fight smart. That was boring though. He'd rather just enjoy the fight than actually think about it. Thinking was annoying and a red thing. He was more than happy to leave it to them.

Blossom sighed as she shook her head before glancing at the clock. "At least you have that much self-awareness. Do another three repetitions of what I've had you run through and then get to the school. We have to unpack all the stalls today."

Butch whimpered. Three whole sets? And then going to school to do more work? Damn it. Lesson learned. Butch would not have a repeat of this again any time soon. Not that that mattered right then. Nope. Blossom said three more reps so three more to do.

Man, he was going to be feeling this for days.

Ugh, Buttercup sometimes really hated her sisters. Blossom had dragged her out of bed on their day off at nine in the morning to help with the stalls and Bubbles was giving her, Brick, and Butch side eyes every two seconds. All she wanted at this point was go home and sleep.

"Buttercup, can you help Princess out?" Blossom asked as she walked past with half a stall loaded onto her shoulder. Buttercup made a face.

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."

Blossom shot her a look at the tone but kept walking. Thankfully. Buttercup wasn't in the mood to bite her tongue right now even if they were at school.

Floating up, Buttercup glanced around to see Princess standing in front of a rather ruffled looking Howie. Frowning, Buttercup dropped down next to her.

"Yo. Leader girl sent me. What do ya need?" Buttercup asked Princess with barely a glance at Howie.

"I need someone who has finesse and knows how to be careful to assist-"

Yeah, Buttercup wasn't in the mood for her own sister. There was no way in hell she was gunna take this from Howie.

"Can it. Not in the mood. I can be as careful as you need me to be, just tell me what you need moved and to where." Buttercup said, cutting Howie off. The nerd glared at her but she ignored it.

Huffing, Howie reluctantly gestured at the mess of stuff behind him. "I need this all moved with the upmost care to the robotics room. We plan to reuse the parts for other projects and so being as careful-"

"Got it the first time. Careful. Believe it or not Howie but I can actually do that."

Howie scoffed. Buttercup frowned at that while Princess rolled her eyes.

"No point in arguing with him Buttercup. Just do it please? I have to get over to the other individual projects now. I swear this group is worse than herding cats. My group has no problems so clearly its doable people!" Princess complained loudly as she walked off.

Buttercup sighed. She was right. The sports exhibits were all smoothly being dealt with but then, they were all used to working together for the most part. Science kids? They were more suited to individual events.

"Alright Howie. Why don't you do me a huge favor and head over to the robotics room so you can tell me where this stuff needs to go when I get it there?" Buttercup asked as she made for the pile, trying to figure out the best selection for the first trip.

"I still don't believe that-"

"I move the professor's stuff all the time and never set anything off or ruin anything." At least, not on accident she didn't. There had definitely been a machine or two that she'd secretly made sure would never see the light of day again. She wasn't the only one either. Bubbles had a few machines on her record too, and her's weren't all accidents either.

"Well. Then. I suppose that may be acceptable. I'll head to the robotics room now then."

Thank fuck for that. Buttercup didn't even bother giving him a goodbye wave as he left. Having him there meant Blossom would be free of his constant hounding, he kept going to her about this stuff anytime someone else tried moving it, and save herself the headache of having to try and actually deal with him. A win-win.

Settling on the first load, Buttercup picked up the items carefully and made for the robotics hall. She had to admit, at least doing this meant she was super unlikely to run into Merrick or worse, Butch.

Ugh, she couldn't believe she just thought that. Normally there'd be no question. Butch was halfway decent but lately he was a full on nightmare to be around, and not just for the obvious reasons. Buttercup kept having the conversation with Bubbles roll through her head at the worst times. Adding in what she'd been trying to forget she'd heard Butch say during that one monster attack and Buttercup's head hurt more often than not around the ruff lately. The issues with Merrick were really just the icing on the cake to be honest.

Sighing loudly, Buttercup tried to shove the thoughts away. Today was her day off and even if she was stuck helping out at school, she was going to make it as relaxing a day as possible.

Which is why, of course, she ran straight into Brick as he turned the corner, several machines falling from grasp.

"Mother fu-" Brick moved in a flash or red and caught all the falling items before any damage was done, "-cker. Shit Brick, make some sort of noise or something. I can't see over all this mess."

Brick poked his head around the side of the pile and raised an eyebrow. "X-ray vision much? You want me to put this stuff back on?"

"No, you've messed up my pile. And shut up, I was being lazy. I didn't expect someone to just run right into me."

Brick sighed at that before moving out of the way. "Whatever. I'm guessing this means I have to carry this stuff now?"

"Hell yes it does. Move it along hat head. To the robotics room we go."

Shaking his head, Brick turned and started to walk, Buttercup following. Just to be safe, she activated her X-ray vision. Last thing she needed was to run into a non-super and have something end up broken. Howie would never let her off if that happened.

They were quiet as they walked and Buttercup remembered why Brick was the easiest ruff for her to deal with. Anytime he was with someone other than Blossom, he was pretty distant, not really wanting to bother talking or dealing with them. Well, usually. His flirting was an exception but he hadn't done any of that for a while now. Which was weird.

"Hey, what happened to the girl squad?" Buttercup asked. Brick turned and gave her a weird look before turning to continue walking.

"You didn't hear? They bailed cause the rumor mill apparently can't make up its mind about which of your sisters I'm more interested in. After me helping you, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up hearing about how I'm after you too at this point."

"That's... you're joking right?" Buttercup never paid attention to the rumors at school. Clearly that was a mistake.

Brick shrugged. "Sort of an exaggeration. The rumors about Bubs and I have died at least but the ones with me and Blossom are still going strong."

Buttercup snorted at that. "And I bet you're doing everything you can to stop them."

"Oh you have got to- really? Does everyone think that I-? Shit. Fuck this. And she doesn't? How you all seeing things she isn't?"

Buttercup snickered at that. "Are you kidding? Leader girl never notices anything about herself. She's the densest one of the lot of us. All I can say is good luck cause you'll need it."

Brick groaned. "I don't need your luck. I'm not planning on-"

"Oh get real hat head. You ruffs are all hella selfish. You might have been putting it off but as far as I can tell? It's pretty much a done deal you're gunna be aiming for her eventually if you like her."

"We ain't always like that."

"Close enough. But hey, speaking of my sisters, whatever Bubs did that made you mad? Give her some slack. You know she gets carried away."

"Fuck. What am I? A damned open book?"

"Eh, you were quieter than normal on the bus ride home and I know it wasn't me. Couldn't have been leader girl since she bailed and you were actually talking to your brothers. Could have been Rob, Mitch, or Mike but you barely saw them at the competition. And you seem to actually like Prinny more than other people so I doubt it was her. Meant it had to be Bubs."

"Damn it. I'm not mad. Just...needed some time."

"Well, you've had it. Let her know you're not mad though. Last thing we need is for her to get some crazy idea on how she'll make it up to you and cause us all headaches."

"Fine, not like I can take Boom's mopey face much longer anyways. Speaking of mopey faces, can you get over whatever stunt you were trying to pull? Butch is getting annoying as hell lately."

Buttercup made a face. "Don't worry about it. I'm done with this whole game. Leader girl even told me the guy confessed. Only thing is your dumb brother is still all up in arms for fuck knows what reason."

Brick grunted at that. "Maybe tell him that it's done with? You know he's territorial of his friends, even when he tries to say he ain't."

Buttercup stayed quiet at that. It was easier said than done! With everything that happened lately, she wasn't even sure how to treat him normally anymore so how the hell was she just supposed to come out with that? Should she just joke around like before and drop the fact that she knew she'd been an idiot for trying to trick Merrick? But how could she do that when Butch thought she-

Nope. Buttercup decided she wasn't gunna go there. It was nearly summer and she'd be able to avoid Merrick but not Butch. She'd figure it out day by day when that came and she wasn't gunna think about it until then. Wasn't worth thinking about.

Buttercup could hear Bubbles's voice ringing in her ears, calling her a liar all while making her think about things she really didn't know how to handle anymore.

"Butch, can you please-"

"On it."

Blossom blinked at him in surprise as he zipped to take help take care of the plants. They were heavier than anything else and needed a careful hand so she'd thought Butch could help. She just hadn't expected him to know what she wanted before asking. Since when did Butch have that much awareness? And why couldn't he have shown it at the competition?

"He was looking for an excuse to get away from his section and he's trying to be on his best behavior around you after everything," Boomer said as he walked past, also reading her thoughts. Blossom frowned at that. Since when was she so easy to read?

"Why was he-"

"A certain dick is playing victim and it's bugging him."

Blossom's frown deepened as she looked over to the sports stalls that were being unloaded. Merrick was making the most of the attention around him at the moment. When Blossom focused on what was being said she couldn't help but sigh at the gross exaggerations.

"He seems to have completely missed the whole point behind why Butch even did it."

Boomer hummed as he grabbed another armful of stuff from behind her. "Yup. Doesn't seem to even care if Butch is around."

Blossom hummed at that.

"Yup," Boomer said, popping the p.

"Has Bubble noticed? She did tell me she'd try to fix this mess after all."

"Nope."

"Are you going to mention it to her?" No response. "Please? You see her more than I do these days. You'll get a better opportunity first, I'm sure."

Boomer groaned but couldn't argue. "Fine. I'll talk to Bubbles. Want me to talk to Butch too?"

"Butch?"

"Yeah, he was twitchy again."

Blossom sighed. "Sure. I'll also send him to be the front attack on the next easy monster to come up."

"Please do."

Blossom watched Boomer take off before turning back to watch Butch doing the same. Why couldn't things ever be simple?

Brick sighed as he looked out over the last few groups. Most everything had been put away by now and the last few things wouldn't take more than another trip or two by the remaining groups. Which meant he was officially done for the day. Bubbles should also be done too. So now he had to hunt her down.

Scanning the area with his X-ray vision, he found her pretty quickly. She was chatting away to Robin and Brick grimaced at that. He would have preferred to catch her alone but just Robin wasn't too bad. He could probably get her away for this chat easy enough. Probably.

Floating over, Brick scanned the area below him as he went. Boomer was still helping with a few things here and there, Buttercup had already left, and Butch was still carting flower pots. It shouldn't be much longer before they were taking off for home too though. Brick had told them to go ahead without him if they finished first. Butch had shrugged. Boomer had saluted. Later Boomer had told him that he was going to talk to Butch about this while Merrick-Buttercup thing. Which Brick found himself being a little worried about. He'd told him to be careful just in case. Last thing he needed was to be carting his youngest brother off to the prof for a patch job.

Floating down carefully Brick waved at Robin.

"Well look who it is. You're officially hired by the way. Didn't get to say that yesterday," Robin said with a huge grin.

Brick raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, hired for what now?"

Robin giggled in a way that had Brick wanting to take a step back. "You'll see."

"Right. So I'm avoiding you for the rest of the year. Bubs, can we chat?"

Robin laughed at that while Bubbles winced slightly.

"Good luck avoiding me Rowdyruff. I'll take off. Mike is taking me out on a date and the movie starts soon so I have to split anyways. See you both tomorrow!"

Yup. Nope. Brick was avoiding her. He would not be seeing her tomorrow. At least, not outside class.

Bubbles watched Robin go, seemingly wanting to follow, and Brick sighed at that.

"It's nothing serious Bubs. Just wanted to clear the air."

"Isn't that why this whole issue started?"

"Bubs, it'll take two seconds."

"That's so not reassuring."

"Fine! I am not angry at you."

"You sure sound angry!"

"I'm not!"

"You are! You're all growly!"

"I'm normally growly!"

"…Well, I guess that's true. So you really aren't angry about what I did?"

Brick groaned as he rubbed a hand across his face. "No. Why would I be?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I set my sister, who you're seriously crushing on, up with one of your least favorite people who she also matches up with so well that on paper it seems like a match made in heaven."

"...okay now you're starting to annoy me. First, even if I did like Blossom, which I am not admitting to, that doesn't give me any right over what she does or who she sees. Second, the date flopped from what I hear which seems to be because he struck out so that's funny. Lastly, even if I did get angry there's zero reason why it would be at you."

"Well...I did set it up," Bubbles mumbled as she tugged at a pigtail.

Brick rubbed a temple. "Even if it had gone well that still wouldn't give anyone a reason to be mad at you. If it was gunna happen, it woulda happened with or without you. So can you please, please stop being upset looking around me now? Boom's starting to glare at me."

Bubbles pouted. "I guess so...as long as you're sure you're not mad."

"I'm sure."

"Great!" Bubbles said as she broke out in a huge smile. Brick sighed in relief. "So now I can bug you all about why you were so clearly upset about the news!"

Brick groaned. He should have known.

"No. Just no Bubs. I am NOT talking to you about that. Hell, I'm not even gunna admit I was upset!"

Bubbles had that gleam in her eyes that made him want to run for the hills. "You just did admit it. Okay, okay! So, first we need to-"

"Not happening Bubbles!"

Brick took to the sky quickly, intending to escape for home.

"Oh you are so not running away from me on this one Brick Jojo. You can't out fly me!"

Maybe not but he could sure as hell try!

"Yo Butch, you done?" Boomer asked as he touched down outside the green house. He heard a grunt from inside and Butch came out not long after.

"Guess so. Blossy might be yanking me back to rearrange but eh, I'll deal with that tomorrow."

Boomer raised an eyebrow. "You didn't screw with anything did you?"

Butch scoffed. "Hell no. I like living. Still got enough frost burns to remind me why pissing her off makes that difficult."

Boomer raised his hands in defense. "Just checking! Anyways, come on. Brick already left and I wanna get home. I'm starving."

"Yeah, yeah. Guess it is a bit late. Bellum say if there was anything planned for dinner?" Butch said as he turned and locked the greenhouse door with the spare key Blossom had given him.

"Nah," Boomer said as they both took to the sky for home. "She said it was gunna be a late night for her so were on our own."

"So is Brick cooking?"

"Beats me. We can find out when we get home. Anyways, question for ya."

Butch glanced at Boomer before quickly looking away. "Shoot. On one condition."

"Nope, you said shoot so imma shoot. Why are you so upset about the Buttercup-Merrick thing?" Boomer said with a huge grin.

"And there went my one condition. I ain't answering that."

"Come oooon bro. Not like I'll tell. You know I can keep my mouth shut."

"Your mouth yeah, but you're a step away from an open book. You suck at hiding things."

"I ain't that bad."

Butch snorted at that. "You're right. You're worse."

"Okay well already I'm getting that this is clearly not something you wanna talk about which means it's super personal and scares you."

"I ain't fucking scared! Watch it Boom! I will knock you outta that sky."

"Like hell you will. Bloss would kill you if you damaged something on accident."

"Then I'll pummel you as soon as we get home!"

"Defensive, defensive. You're scared shitless about whatever this is."

"I'm not-"

"You might be the smoothest liar in school bro but ya can't lie to your bros. We know you to well. Just fess up already. What's the issue?"

Butch growled as he kicked his speed up a notch. Boomer cocked an eyebrow before easily kicking his speed up and keeping pace.

"Fucker! Why you gotta be so damned fast?"

"Cause if I wasn't you and Brick woulda made mincemeat out of me more than once growing up. You gunna answer or should I just start guessing?"

Butch growled again and Boomer decided that answered that.

"Alright! Guessing time. So you noticed Merrick wasn't even interested in Buttercup I'm sure. He was just using her to get at you, and it worked. But the big thing is that it worried you cause you didn't know how far he'd take it."

"I'd like to see him try and take it farther. Buttercup woulda chewed him up and spit him out finally."

Boomer nodded. "Right. One point for me. Next, you lost control over the situation so you had zero clue when Merrick would strike at you again which had you on edge."

Cue angry green ruff growl. Yup.

"Two points. I'm on a roll. Next, you were slightly worried that Buttercup might end up liking the guy because even though you refuse to admit it she's the only girl you've really had eyes for since you lost that bet to get her to make you food. Man, that was an awesome day. Still can't believe she beat you that day."

"Fuck off Boom before you really do piss me off."

"Ooo! Homerun for the electric man! Woot! Let's see if I can get one more? You're freaking out cause Bubs is onto you and Buttercup finally has a hint but you don't wanna screw up what you have not just with her but also with the rest of the puffs. Which is why you haven't made a single move, consciously."

"I seriously hate you."

"Man," Boomer said with a dramatic sigh, "I am goooood. Alright. Now that I know what the sitch is, what can I do to help?"

"Like I said, fuck off."

"Nah, you don't mean that. Want me to keep Bubs away? Can't do shit about Buttercup finally having a clue and seriously good luck with Merrick, but I can at least keep her away. In fact, might just throw her at Brick. Think that'll be the best solution actually."

"So you'll help me stay clear of sugar cube's clutches just to let her take bro instead? You got secret favorites Boom?" Butch had slowed down, Boomer doing the same. Now that he was caught, there wasn't any point in trying to run.

"Yeah well, your reasons are kinda legit. Brick's just being an idiot. I mean, the puffs don't give a rat's ass anymore about our past and we're doing great at making up for what we did. Brick can't keep using it as his excuse. Big bro needs to man up and make his move already. We both know it's just a matter of time."

Butch grunted and stayed silent for a while before replying. "How long have you known about us? And the puffs?"

Boomer thought on it for a second before shrugging. "You? Like the whole time. You had goo-goo eyes after she beat you for too long and I saw. Brick? Shit man, I only found that out this year really. Even I have a hard time reading the guy. He's slipping more and more lately though. Won't be much longer before he throws the towel in."

"Damn. Didn't realize you knew this whole time. And I hear ya with big bro... so you're throwing him to Bubs to speed it up?"

"Yup. It'll keep her away from you while you sort things out. Be quick though. She's on the war path."

"She's fucking terrifying."

"I know. It's great," Boomer couldn't help but sigh out. Butch shot him a concerned look that he ignored. What could he say? He loved his puff.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm done talking about this. Plus, I can hear bro in the house. Bet food's nearly ready by now even."

Boomer shook his head slightly before looking at the house. He frowned when he saw Brick zooming around inside.

"The hell's he doing? He knows we ain't-"

"Brick Jojo! Stop running away!"

Ah, speaking of his lovely puff, it seemed she was one step ahead of him.

"Bubbles I swear to god! If you think for one fucking second that I'm gunna-"

"Oh you will! And by golly Jojo, you'll love it!"

Well...sort of one step ahead of him. Butch snickered from next to him.

"Looks like he don't need throwing to the wolf."

"Yeah. No joke."

"Fuck that! Go home puff!"

"...Maybe we should save him this one time though. I'm hungry as shit.

"Not until you agree!"

"Yeah. I'm pretty hungry too. I'll go calm her down. This time."

Boomer and Butch shared grins before heading down.

"Not gunna fucking happen!"

A chime went off as Bubbles was chewing on yet another pencil. She'd destroyed two just this study session already and was sort of thankful that the chime went off so she hadn't ruined a third. Grabbing her phone, she couldn't help but smile. It was probably Boomer. He was the only one who usually texted at this time.

Hitting the power button, she swiped at the notification and pulled up the text without really looking at it only to frown.

Brat

Little blue boy seems to be out having some fun tonight~

There was a picture of a blond guy who looked a lot like Boomer from the back with two girls standing way too close to him. Brick still had him on lockdown after last semester though so she seriously doubted he'd snuck out of the house to ditch studying. Plus, even if he did there's no way he'd go all the way to Citiesville instead of texting friends, and more importantly her, that he'd escaped and was looking for some fun out in town.

Bubbles

Grow up Brat and stop trying to ruin my relationship just cuz you're jealous.

Huffing, Bubbles closed her phone and set it down. She frowned down at her notes trying to get back into the study zone. Her phone went off again and she glanced at it before shaking her head and ignoring it. Brat needed to grow up and go away! She picked up her pencil and got ready for more studying.

Tap.

Tap tap.

Tap tap tap tap tap...

Bubbles dropped the pencil and reached for her phone.

Brat

Hey, just doing you a fav girl. Thought you should know that blue boy has some side chicks

But next time guess Ill not bother

Bubbles took a quick picture of her hand, specifically her hand making nearly a full fist, one finger standing tall and proud, and sent it to Brat.

Brat

Dont make me come over there. Im sure our sisters wouldnt like the end result

Bubbles glared but decided maybe it would be best to let Brat have the last word on this one. Knowing her, if Bubbles responded Brat really would fly over and she was right, their sisters would not be happy if that happened.

Bubbles tapped the side of her phone for a few seconds before scrolling back up to the photo and clicking on it. It really did look a lot like Boomer. The haircut was just right and although she couldn't make out much of his physique due to the baggy sweater, something she could totally see him wearing, he looked like he was about tall enough too. Not many people were as tall as Boomer.

Bubbles frowned as she zoomed in. It couldn't be him though. That made no sense.

Then again, it wouldn't be the first time she was-

Nope. Bubbles was not gunna go there. She quickly backed out of her texts with Brat and pulled up Boomer's name.

Bubbles

Whatcha doing?

Bubbles waited, nearly glaring at the phone, as she took some deep breaths. There wasn't anything to worry about. He was probably at home studying. No way would Brick let him out.

Boomie

Math. Cant text or Brick said hell break my phone. Wanted to make sure nothing was up though. You good?

Bubbles sighed. See? Studying at home with his brother, just like she thought.

Bubbles

Nope! I'm dying from too much english. Save me?

Boomie

I'll be right there

Bubbles giggled as she closed her phone. Two seconds later though it rang. She frowned at Brick's face on the screen before answering.

"Hello?"

"Bubbles. If you don't want me to commit fratricide then call your damned boyfriend off before I really run out of patience."

Oh my. Brick was not in a good mood. And she guessed Boomer really did need to study.

"Okie dokie. Put him on please. I promise I won't take long."

Bubbles decided she'd have to pay Brat back somehow later for this. Making her worry, pft! Bubbles knew Boomer. There was zero chance he'd cheat on her!

This. This was what he needed. This was what kept him sane.

Butch pulled back in a flash of dark green as the monster took another swipe at him before swooping back in to deliver a powerful punch at the monster's face. The thing staggered back a step or two before turning and grinning at Butch who couldn't help but grin back. Seriously, monsters who were just looking for a challenge were the best!

Butch let the monster's fist hit his shield, which he threw up at the last second, before flying in to punch the other cheek. He could hear Blossom sigh loudly from where she was floating not far away but decided to ignore it. After all, she did call him out so he could duke it all out. Burn the steam. Recharge the batteries.

So Butch felt no guilt, remorse, or hesitation about making this a slug fest. Which is exactly what it turned into. For the next 30 minutes.

Finally, the monster seemed to be as satisfied as Butch was and roared loudly before turning to head back home. Butch roared back before turning, huge grin on his face, to see Blossom frowning.

"Was that really necessary? We might not be in town but it is still late and sound does travel you know," Blossom asked with a raise eyebrow.

"Blossy boo, it most definitely was necessary."

"Oh wonderful. My nickname's been upgraded."

Butch cackled at how unenthusiastic she sounded. "Heck yeah it has! I so needed that! Man, nothing like a good one on one to wind down on for the day."

"Seriously? Even after you hoisted Merrick onto a gargoyle you still needed to blow off steam? Also, you really need a better stress reliever. This is more than a little unhealthy."

"Eh. Makes me happy though."

Blossom sighed while shaking her head.

"Doesn't art help at all? It helps Bubbles sometimes."

"Nah. That's not good enough to cure my jitters. Good for when I need to vent it out though. The bros ain't too good at listening."

"And the jitters aren't just a result of you needing to vent?"

"Nope. Think it's a result of the messed up job Him did with bringing us back and I think stress just makes it worse. Once they get triggered I can't fully relax until I wallop something. I can push it off but that usually ends with me making holes in walls. That's why the Ricky thing, as great as it felt, didn't really do much for me. "

"Hmm, maybe it's something to bring up to the professor. Next time it might be worth going to see him before you get to work it out."

Butch made a face. "Hard pass puff. Hard. Pass."

Blossom rolled her eyes. "Oh, he isn't that bad. I know we've been on the wrong side of a few inventions lately but usually that doesn't happen. Plus, he is an expert on chemical X and, by extension, all of us. It might be worth it."

"Nope. Not interested."

Blossom frowned but seemed to realize that there was no point in pushing it.

"Alright, fine. Now, can I trust you to not do anything stupid at school for the next few days? Finals start in just two days and everyone needs to be focusing on that."

"I mean...should be good. Not like I see dick breath often and I can't think of anything else that would cause me to go off the rails."

Blossom sighed. "Do you want me to talk to him? I'd like to think he has enough sense to stay away now but after what I saw when everything was being put away…"

"Honestly, I kinda just wanna forget all about him."

"Unfortunately, you have classes with him so that might be a bit difficult. I'll rephrase the question, do I need to talk to him?"

Butch shrugged. "I think we should be good, assuming he doesn't let the pity party he's throwing himself grow. Finals and all should keep me from having to deal with him and I sure as heck won't be seeing him over the break if I have any say in it. Hopefully, that'll be that."

Blossom watched him for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay. If anything changes though, let me know. Please, please no repeats."

"Aww, but Blossy boo, that would be so much fun!"

"No Butch. Just no. I would have thought the frost burns and sore muscles would have deterred you enough that I wouldn't have to emphasize that. Now get home and finish studying. Honestly, how you all can manage to keep sane when leaving it to the last second I will never understand."

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it. Kinda of a heck of a rush when you cram it all in at the last second."

Blossom simply shook her head before turning and shooting off in a blast of pink for her home. Butch laughed at that before turning and doing the same. He then frowned.

Shit. Had he studied at all before tonight...?

Fucked. He was so totally fucked. Brick was gunna murder him.

EverestGhost13! Glad you enjoyed the chapter! And Merrick getting what he deserved haha.

Artemis Raven Courtney! First, yes! I have the extra drafted and it just needs edits. I'll try and post it sometime next month. I hadn't realized I'd been neglecting the blue fights. I'll work on giving them more attention next fight they see. And space baseball would be incredible! I'll have to keep it in mind for the epilogue. Merrick did get was coming for him...and then completely missed on learning the lesson. Oh well. As for an apology from Butch...well, I have something planned for the greens. I hope you enjoy it!

SpiritFire199! Yes. Yes he did. Like I mentioned to Artemis, I have it written out and I'll try and have that fight posted in the extras next month.

Emily! So happy to hear you're enjoying it! Yeah, with doing school and working during the semesters I usually try and have a bulk of chapters ready to post. I just...messed up on my time management on this one. Sorry! I'll try and post extras for the time being though! Hope you enjoyed the chapter

Said everything I really had to say so for now, see you all again with this one in December. Ciao!