Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerpuff Girls!

Part FIVE!  HOT DIGGITY DOG!  Read on!

Love Him Not

            "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  YOU CHEATED!"

            The green puff and ruff had decided to use the Risk board as a strategy map of where and when for 'The Plan', but in a strange twist of events ended up playing the game instead.  Butch crossed his arms smugly as Buttercup ranted about being trapped in Australia –again—by the same strategic moves for the past three times.

            "Don't be a sore loser, Butter-puff.  If you can't make the cut, let go of the scissors.  Winning is a man's job."

Buttercup glared.

            "Alright then, MAN,"  She pulled a deck of cards from under her bed and slapped it in the middle of her sheets.  "If you really are one, then you're not afraid to play a MAN'S game!"

            "Call it then.  I'll take you on."  Butch crossed his legs at the end of her bed and raised his nose to the ceiling.  "Old Maid?  Go Fish?"

Buttercup snagged a visor and flipped it backwards.

            "Poker."  She grinned smugly, "Deuces wild."

            Blossom began to suspect something was out of order when neither of the boys showed up at the Ice Palace.  Or perhaps it was when she felt no urge to see to the minor problem in the downtown Townsville district where the boys lived.  Something about a big fight…for once, she really didn't care.  Blossom took a second bite of her melted frozen yogurt.  She was determined to sort out this mess between the green Powerpuff and Rowdyruff's strange behavior.

            Bubbles murmured then, drawing Blossom sharply out of her train of thought.

            "Is Boomie here yet?"  She rubbed her eyes, clearing her head of the nice little nap she'd just finished in the afternoon sun.  Her sister shook her head.

            "I think something happened.  I'm not quite sure why…maybe they went to see the commotion downtown."  Bubbles whimpered, but nodded.

            "Let's go home, Blossom." 

            Boomer awoke to the smell of smoke and mass destruction.  There were a couple of concern townspeople leaning over him, and he realized he was on the grass of what used to be their front lawn.

            "That's right officer."  Someone was saying.  He winced.  Here it comes…  "The monster was so fast we couldn't even see him!  The boys were battling it out so fierce it looked like they were shooting at each other!"

            "You don't say," replied the officer, "well that's some amazing tale.  It just goes to show you to what feats your protection squad will go to."

            "Why I'll say!"  A random female voice interjected, "those boys took quite a beating protecting us!"  The crowd started to rally.  And, before Boomer knew it, the townspeople had voted to rename the street RRB Avenue, and their pictures were going to be on the front page of Townsville Daily the next morning.  There were even no complaints about the damage; Boomer suspected that they were so used to rebuilding their houses anyway, mass destruction was simply old news.

He sighed.  You had to love Townsville.

***

            "What's that?  A straight flush?"  Buttercup cheered as she pulled her winnings to her side of the bed.  Winnings that included twenty dollars, a pack of Juicy Fruit gum, a candy bar and Butch's favorite shirt.  The green Rowdyruff fell backwards in anguish.

            "Oh, poor Butchie-poo, it's not your lucky day, is it?"
            "The cards are rigged."  He muttered.  Buttercup stuck her tongue out and put her earnings in a pile.  "Don't be a sore loser."

Butch narrowed his eyes in dark curiosity.

            "You're not going to wear my shirt, are you?"  Buttercup snorted.

            "Number one, it's not your shirt.  Number two, I wouldn't wear this stinky old thing if it granted me access to a skate park on Mars." 

Butch frowned indignantly.  It wasn't old.

            "I'm going to frame it, instead."  She said with a proud, starry-like voice.  "And it will symbolize exactly how much better I am than you."  Then she leaned in very close and squealed, "HAH!"

Buttercup heard the door click downstairs and jumped back.  Butch must have heard it too.  They frowned deeply.

            "Professor's sleep in his lab," Buttercup whispered, "So the girls must be home!"  She quietly hovered to the window, and just as she feared, Blossom was entering the house.  To make matters worse, the neighbor girl next door had stopped Bubbles and they were talking, so apparating to the front yard was out of the question.

            "What happens now?"  Butch asked urgently.

            "Buttercup!  We're home!"  Blossom called from downstairs.  Her footsteps echoed as she walked up the stairs.

            "Quick!"  Buttercup near-screamed in a whisper and grabbed him by the collar.

            "Buttercup?"  Blossom opened the door to her sister's bedroom quietly.  Buttercup was flipping through a deck of cards.  She was also seated on a giant pile of dirty clothing comfortably hidden out of site under her green bedspread.  Blossom crossed her arms, faintly resembling a picture Buttercup remembered seeing long ago, of the old women who lived in the shoe.

            "I'm going to go take a shower."  Blossom stated, lingering for a moment longer.  Buttercup nodded fervently, "Okay."  They waited for the silence to ebb.  It didn't.

            "Is that your shirt?"  Blossom inquired, pointing to her sister's pile of things beside her.  Buttercup choked quickly but nodded.

            "Looks diseased." Blossom commented with distain, feeling a mite more like herself, "You should wash it before it crawls into Bubbles room like last time."  Buttercup squirmed slightly and tipped backwards before catching herself with her hands.

            "Alright, you don't have to mother me."  Blossom turned and closed the door, and the green Powerpuff didn't lurch until well after she heard the shower running.  She hovered upward while Butch crawled out from under her comforter, his face tinged a slight bluish color.

            "Come on,"  She whispered, and grabbed the collar of his undershirt, "Let's go."

            Buttercup peeked out carefully, then fully left her room.  The ghost was clear.

            "Hurry up-"

            "Buttercup!"  Buttercup slammed the door hard on Butch's face.  He whined.  Buttercup choked again, but it came out in a straggling laugh.

            "Ooh, sorry Begee!"  Blossom stared at her curiously, a towel wrapped around her.  If she hadn't been so mentally exhausted she might have nosed her way into the room, as she still suspected something wasn't right, but the need to feel hot water was simply too much to really delay.

            "I just wanted to ask if you borrowed my Alanis Morrisette CD."

            "Oh, nope.  That was Bubbles.  Heard her blasting it last night before bed.  Like I'd actually listen to Alanis Morrisette, I mean…who is she?  I dunno."

Blossom gave her a seriously suspicious look, but defied the laws of nature and nodded.

            "Thanks."  She closed the door to the bathroom.  Without another moment of hesitation Buttercup grabbed Butch's arm and dragged him downstairs.  She took an expert moment to scout the dilemma outside –Bubbles was still deep in conversation with the neighbor girl.

            "Alright."  She stated strategically in whisper.  "Apparate into those bushes right near the front door.  I'll go outside and distract them.  In that moment, you apparate into the tree.  I drag Bubbles inside.  Wait until the neighbor girl turns her back and then get your butt home before anyone on the street notices."  Butch was a bit dumbfounded by her strangely efficient seeming tactics, and started to question exactly why she was fooled by the same ploy three times in Risk.

            "Uh…right.  Hey…"  The green ruff-boy paused, despite her urging on.  "Should we put 'Step One' of 'The Plan'…"  She seemed to consider this for less than half a moment.

"I'll call you at midnight.  Now GO!"  He disappeared in a fizzle of green light.

            Waiting in the bushes, Butch had started to wonder why he didn't just apparate from the window in the very first place.  Buttercup's strategy, however, was already in action.  She opened the door quickly, her elbow-length black hair swinging hypnotically from side to side.

            "Oh, hello Buttercup!"

            "Neighbor girl, how's it been going?"

            Taking the opportunity she'd presented him with, he apparated carefully into a neighboring tree.  Buttercup glanced sideways, as if judging whether or not he'd been given enough time.

            "Bubbles, it's your turn to make dinner tonight.  We'd better get heading inside."

            "Right!  Bye!"

            "Later Neighbor Girl!"

            "Goodbye Bubbles!  Bye Buttercup!"  Neighbor girl turned her back.  Then Butch high-tailed it out of the tree and into the sky, towards downtown Townsville.

            Bubbles morosely attempted dinner but, as she had never really been one for cooking, decided to order a pizza instead.  But then, she sniveled, pizza reminded her of Boomer.  Chinese would be good…

But it reminded her of the noodles they would share.

            The blue Powerpuff girl slipped into a chair and flopped down –she thought for sure that, since Boomer hadn't showed up at the Ice Palace and he never, EVER missed the opportunity to see her before, she must have done something terribly wrong so that he'd never want to see her face again.  He probably didn't like her anymore!  Bubbles sniffled miserably again.  If only she could see him sometime and apologize…

That was it!

            Bubbles smiled brilliantly.  She could see Boomer in the middle of the night, when no one was awake and come back after she'd apologized!  It was perfect!  The blue puff made a pact with herself to go and see her beloved…tonight!

            Blossom rubbed the sunflower shampoo into her hair thoroughly –the steam was clearing her head, and her gears started to turn sharper.  The entire situation, she had completely decided, was dangerous to the plot.  She just HAD to figure out what had happened.  And, truth be told, though she blushed slightly, she was positive Brick would know the answers.  He was fairly no nonsense about these things, she told herself.  She and Bubbles should call…then she remembered Bubbles.

            Her dear sister was completely depressed about the earlier set date.  She decided not to drag Bubbles into the plot for a while, at least until she had returned to her normal, happy, bouncy self.  And, since her curiosity wouldn't have been able to wait much longer anyway, she decided she would drop by the boy's house that night.  It shouldn't be too hard, she concluded, going over a brief, efficient strategy in her head.  A simple tactical matter of opening a window to Brick's room and having him explain the story.  She blushed at the thought, though she didn't know why, and started to rinse the shampoo.  Yes, tonight would be…most suitable.

            Buttercup fidgeted in her room carefully, obviously impatient with the non-coming of midnight.  Not, she reprimanded herself, that she was anxious to talk to the ruff-jerk in the first place, because she wasn't.  But it was rather that she was eager to use their fool-proof plan to finally outsmart her goody-goody sisters.  She sighed.  It really was fool-proof.  The green Powerpuff sighed suddenly again.  But nothing could be done until midnight was there, and she didn't trust herself to fall asleep for fear of not waking up until it was too late.  Buttercup fingered the phone in her room.  Just calling, she told herself convincingly, then hanging up before anyone can ask is fine.

            She dialed the phone number.

            "Beep!  We're sorry, this line has been disconnected in a recent monster attack.  Please hang up, and don't call back –the line won't be connected for another two weeks .  Thank you for using Townsville phone service.  Connecting townsfolk instantly the world over.  Beep!"  Buttercup frowned immediately.  How were they going to discuss 'The Plan'.  There was a sudden dread in her stomach –the plan, they had already decided, would all come together on Saturday.  It was Thursday now, and she presumed it might take a few days to get that far…Buttercup found herself worrying for little less than the tenth time in her life.

            She sighed loudly and fell backwards.  I'll just have go over there then.

She convinced herself that the sake of 'The Plan' was riding on it.  Not, she reprimanded herself sharply again, because you're anxious to see the Ruff Jerk, but simply because you've been waiting to outsmart Blossom at her own game for too long.  Buttercup smiled almost gleefully.  After tonight, the fire would be getting started.

End of Part Five

Ooh…cliffhanger, in a strange sort of way.  I'm sorry.  But I'm tired, though I however felt compelled to post the next chapter 'today'.  Actually, it's tomorrow now but…well anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  The sparks will really start to fly in the next few…though they might not be the kind you're expecting…

--Artemis