Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of the Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z anime.

The storyline and any OCs are my ONLY property.

This merely serves as entertainment for the viewers!

(Warning: This story is rated T; it contains violence, vulgar language, and minor suggestive adult themes. Read at your own risk.)

Bloom's P.O.V.

The compact in my hand gently vibrated as I tried to reach the Professor. I wasn't able to talk with him last night, and I wanted to update him on our progress immediately.

We have been here for over a month now and the mission has progressed slowly. There was this dread that I was feeling, this gut feeling that was telling me that we were running out of time. There must be a reason why the agents are working so hard; that means we need to work harder.

"Momoko? Is something the matter?" The Professor asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I couldn't call you yesterday that's why I'm calling this early."

"You couldn't get hold of me through your ICED as well?"

"Oh right, about that, Miyako lost hers so we're refraining from using it for a while." I answered, "We never know someone might have gotten to it."

"I see, then we must make do for now." The Professor said, leaning against his chair. "Have you found something?"

"We did, and it's a lot."

"Do tell."

"Long story short, we found out that the child that Professor Jones created lived in a hidden room in the organization. After Professor Jones was arrested, his child was also captured. We currently don't know where he is but he was the author of the book that Miyako found, which means he might know more about this organization."

"Dear God… that book talked about… Oh, dear…"

"I know, and that's why we're working on finding him. Kaoru said she might have seen him. It's a very small lead, but we'll take what we can get and try our best to truly find out what happened to him."

Just then, a small beep emanated from my M.D.P. Looking down, I read the message on the screen, sighing.

"Will you be working on it tonight?"

"I was supposed to get started this morning, but it looks like they're sending us on a mission again."

"Well then, I will continue my work regarding the hieroglyphics. We and some of your colleagues have successfully decoded about 95% of the second to the last section, and about 20% of the very last section. Hopefully, I could give you a full translation by this evening."

I nodded in reply. "That's great Professor, I'll get back to you with the girls as soon as I can. Can you also help me to get in contact with Professor Jones? I need to speak with him."

"Of course, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Professor, talk soon."

Closing the compact and putting it back in my belt, I took my leather jacket that was hanging by my bed. Being given a mission must mean they weren't suspicious of anything. And any mission by this point should hopefully help us get closer to the truth.

Let's just wish we could get to the truth in time.

Narrator's/Third Person's P.O.V.

After placing a few files in his cabinet, Boomer immediately went out and locked his office. He got a new mission assignment on his M.D.P. After knowing that it was Brick who set the mission, he sure as hell didn't want to be late.

Walking down the hallway, he was stopped by someone as they held unto his shoulder.

"Hey, you going on the same mission?"

"Yeah, Brick told you about it too?"

The man with dark raven locks nodded, "Must be something important."

"I'm surprised you're actually not going to be late this time."

"Hey, I can be punctual if I want to." Butch said as he glared daggers at his brother.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that." Boomer replied, chuckling.

As they began to walk together toward the Mission Acceptance Room, Butch asked, "Say, have you seen Butterfly? She wasn't in her room when I came up last night. Fuzzy said he had seen her this morning with Bright."

"Oh, so you didn't know."

"About what?"

"She packed her stuff yesterday and is crashing with us."

Butch's eyes widened in shock. "She what?!" He shouted, making everyone else around look at them.

Boomer grabbed a tuft of his brother's hair and pulled his head down. "Lower your voice, fucking moron." He cussed, "What did you do this time?"

"How the fuck should I know?" He replied, pulling away. "We didn't even talk yesterday. Why the fuck would she do that?"

As Boomer began getting scanned, he shrugged. "I don't know. She wouldn't tell us the reason either. And mind you this was a girl who dealt with you on a daily basis. You must have fucked up big time for her to move out."

"How am I supposed to fix this then if she's avoiding me?!"

"Find a way to talk to her. She's as stubborn as you so good luck with that one."

Their conversation continued as Butch tried to get Boomer to tell him more. Butch tried recalling what happened the last few days, but all he could remember was him and Butterfly having a good time with each other. Why did things become a complete one-eighty?

Entering their designated meeting room, there already sat Butterfly, Bright, Bloom, and Brick. The only ones left on the table were two chairs that were facing both Butterfly and Bright. With Boomer taking his seat to face his girlfriend, Butch was left with no choice but to sit across from Butterfly.

She didn't look or even acknowledge his presence. She simply stared at the projector screen in front of her as she tapped her nails on the table. Butch tried to get a better look at her, hopefully, to get a reaction, or anything really. But to his dismay, she remained stone cold.

Clearing his throat, Brick began to fix the presentation on the projector, "Okay, since we're all here, let's not waste any more time."

He then showed a picture of a deserted area with caves hidden within several hills and rock formations. "We got a new lead regarding the location of an important item. Since the area is so vast, instead of usually just sending us three," He said, gesturing to him and his brothers, "we were given back up to cover more ground faster."

"Gee, I guess it is true that some people just aren't satisfied with just one." Butterfly suddenly commented, making all of them with the exception of Bright look at her in confusion.

Brick then darted his eyes toward his brothers, both just shrugging in response.

"Anyway," He segued. "We're going to be using these devices."

Holding up a bunch of hand straps, he then placed them in the middle of the table. "The item might be hidden in walls, underground, and any other places where we can't see. I don't think it'll be needed for Ice Princess over here," He then looked towards Bloom in a teasing manner before turning back to face the others."But the rest, take one with you and choose a partner."

"You know, Brick, some people don't seem to work well with a partner." Butterfly said slyly as she took a strap from the table. "I've observed that some of us would actually prefer partners."

"Is there something I should know before we continue?" Brick asked, eyeing both Butterfly and Butch in the process.

Bloom was trying hard to try and signal Butterfly to stop. Though she had to admit, it was pretty amusing just to watch Butterfly getting her little revenge. She didn't give a damn and is just letting her feelings out.

As much as she knows that Butch deserves it for hurting her, Bloom was preparing to step in just in case things got out of hand.

"I don't know bro, some people seem to prefer to be petty instead of talking first," Butch replied, shrugging his shoulders sarcastically. "Very immature, wouldn't you agree?"

"Ah yes, and I guess playing multiple people is very mature." Butterfly retorted albeit not making eye contact with her target. "Maybe, if some people would just be fucking honest from the start, or I might just shove my fist up their fucki—

"Okay! Bathroom break!" Bloom exclaimed as she forcefully pulled Butterfly out of her seat. "Bright, you too." She added, gesturing for her to follow.

Shoving both of them into an empty bathroom and locking the door, Bloom let out a deep sigh. Butterfly leaned against the wall with arms crossed while Bright remained still beside the sinks.

"Kaoru, I know you're pissed at that jerk, but you need to tone it down with the passive-aggressiveness."

"He fucking deserves it."

"I know, but if you could just calm down for the rest of the mission, then I could help you get back at him okay?"

Both Butterfly and Bright looked confused, asking, "How?"

"Just trust me," Bloom said. "Let's just get through this mission as quickly as possible. The fact that they're not telling us exactly what this 'item' is must mean that this mission is top-secret. And I already have a clue as to what that may be."

"A part of the stone we're looking for, you mean?" Bright wondered.

"Exactly, which might mean we can already confirm which one of those three stones they're searching for." She explained before turning her attention towards Butterfly. "Meaning, we can't mess this mission up. Under any circumstances."

Butterfly groaned in frustration. "Fine, I'll behave. But after this mission, I'm still going to give him hell."

When the three of them left, Brick looked over towards his raven-haired brother. "What the hell did you do this time?"

"I still don't fucking know!"

"Be honest, have you done it with Butterfly?" Boomer asked, his arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"I was about to one time, but we got interrupted."

He then leaned closer to his brother. "Do you like her?"

Brick chuckled at his question. "That's a stupid thing to ask, obviously he does. I think the more important question is, have you told her you liked her?"

Butch began scratching the back of his head. "Not directly…"

"And have you, recently," Brick started, "...slept with another girl?"

Butch didn't answer. As soon as he heard the question, his face dropped and his eyes darted to look at the dark oak floor below.

Boomer facepalmed at his reaction while Brick pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "That's the fucking problem." They both said in unison.

"Okay, I get it," Butch said with his hands up in defense. "I gave her mixed signals, but we aren't exclusive, unlike you and Bright."

"Still, if I were her, I would feel fucking hurt and betrayed bro." Boomer stated. "She must think that you're just playing her all this time."

"But I'm not!"

"Then why would you go sleep with another girl?" Brick asked him with a mix of disbelief and seriousness in his voice.

"Because I don't want to feel what I feel for her, okay?!" Butch exclaimed, a bit taken aback by his outburst. Sighing, he leaned back into his chair. "I thought I was going crazy, that maybe I just needed some release. But surprise, surprise, the feeling's still here, I still like her, and now I've fucked everything up."

Both Boomer and Brick looked at their brother, feeling a pang of pity for him. Butch wasn't a bad person. Sure, he has slept with a lot of people, but he wouldn't blatantly hurt another person's feelings.

He always makes it clear to those he does it with that it's nothing serious; with no strings attached at all. If they didn't agree to that, then he would respect their wishes and move on. Now, it's a different story with him actually liking someone and that someone liking him back.

"How did she even find out, though?" Boomer wondered. "Did you tell someone? Did somebody see you?"

Just then, a flash of realization came to Butch. Burying his fingers in his hair, he grumbled. "You've gotta be kidding me…" He said in a frustrated tone. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse."

Before they could ask what he meant, the door swung open. The girls seemed more composed than before, more so for Butterfly who had an indifferent look on her face.

Bloom cleared her throat to break the awkward silence, "So, shall we get going?"

"Are you sure we shouldn't just each pair up with them?" Brick asked Bloom who he was flying alongside. Each of them paired up with their respective counterparts. Brick instructed them to fly to a specific location within their target area for them to search. Thankfully, Butterfly didn't straight up murder her partner as soon as they were alone.

Or at least, that's what they hope.

"Who? Butterfly and Butch?" She wondered before shrugging. "Don't worry about them, I've told Butterfly to take this seriously."

"Yeah, I think we both know that words sometimes go in one ear and come out the other when it comes to those two."

Bloom giggled at his statement. "Have some faith in me, Romeo."

"I do." He replied, smirking. "So you better be right on this one."

"When have I ever been wrong?" As she said that, both of them couldn't help but smile at each other. Reaching their designated spot, Bloom began to discreetly scan their surroundings. Just like in the photos, it was a pretty deserted place pretty far from the organization.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Bloom asked nonchalantly as she tucked her hands behind her back. Brick had explained beforehand to just let the scanner do its thing; hopefully, she could get at least a tiny bit more information from him.

Brick stayed close to her, walking in unison with her small steps. "Be on the lookout for any red crystal fragments."

'That officially rules out the diamond of the samurai warrior.' She began putting on the hand strap she was given before asking, "Are we splitting up, then?"

"Don't have to if you don't want to, Ice Princess." He answered teasingly as he lifted her chin with his pointer finger. "You might miss me."

Playfully rolling her eyes, Bloom held his hand. "Okay, admit it, are you actually Butch in disguise?"

"What? Don't want to believe that I'm a charmer myself?"

"I don't know," Bloom said, tugging at the collar of his jacket to pull him closer. "I kind of like my men to be a little headstrong and a casual smartass."

Letting go, Bloom let out a teasing smile to match his toothy smirk. She then turned on her heels. Glancing over her shoulder, she said, "We'll rendezvous here when we find something. Don't take too long, Romeo."

"Wouldn't want to disappoint you, Ice Princess." He replied, "I do like my women a little commanding."

Chuckling, he went and flew the other way. Bloom looked over her shoulder, smiling at him bittersweetly as his shadow faded into the clouds.

Butterfly flew to their spot, not wasting another minute as she immediately chose a cave for her to search. It was dim, but not enough for her to not see where she was going. With her hand strap on, she carefully slid her hand along the cave walls.

They hadn't spoken a word ever since they flew out together. Though, she couldn't help but steal a few glances at him. She could also tell he did the same when she wasn't looking.

It made her wonder, does refusing to talk to him made it easier? Or even harder?

As she reached a dead end, she turned around to slide her hand along the other side. With each slow step she took, Butterfly couldn't help but feel a small burning sensation in her chest. She was tense. When she's done investigating, she has to face the inevitable.

She'll have to face him again.

It was hard enough to have his presence around but to actually look him in the eye after everything that has happened? She doesn't know if she can handle it. It was so easy before to hurl all kinds of insults at him, but just the thought of it now was making her chest tighten.

Finally reaching the end of the cave, Butterfly saw his silhouette even from afar. He was facing the other way; his dark locks swaying with the wind. As she approached him, her footsteps becoming audible to him, Butch never moved from where he stood.

After a few moments of silence, Butterfly said, "I didn't find anything," Still no reaction from him. "You?"

"Nothing." He replied, his tone unemotional.

Her face fell in dejection. Luckily he wasn't able to see it. Turning around, she stated, "I'll search the cave to the west, then."

Just as she was about to go, the sound of his voice made her stop. "Wait."

She still didn't face him. Instead, remaining in place with her hand gripping hard unto her arm. She could hear him shifting, but not a single footstep was heard afterward.

"Butterfly…" Butch said in an unusually soft voice. "Let's talk…"

"About what?"

"Us." He started, "I don't know what you might've seen or heard, but I owe you an—"

"You don't." She interrupted, taking a deep breath to stop herself from crying. "You don't owe me an apology, an explanation, you don't really owe me anything.

"Honestly, I want to scream at you right now. To tell you just exactly how I feel. To show you just how fucking mad I am. I was planning on doing just that when we arrived here but then I realized that it wouldn't make any fucking sense.

"We don't have any kind of attachment or agreement with each other. You can do whatever you want without worrying about what I think. That goes the same way with me. So, really, you don't have to feel guilty."

"That's not what I want." He exclaimed, "And I don't think that's what you want either."

"It doesn't matter what I do or don't want." She retorted still in a soft voice. "I am my own person and so are you. Besides, I'm just… nothing to you, right?"

"You don't understand, Butterfly, I—"

"I like you too." She said, finally slowly starting to face him. Her face was somber, contrasting the smile she had on her face. His eyes widened in shock as his mouth hung slightly agape. "But trust me, nothing good will come out of this."

He tightened his fists in frustration. "How can you be so sure of that?" He asked with a voice full of despair.

"It's simple." She stated, "I'm Butterfly, and you're Butch. When has anything good ever come from any of us?"

Before Butch could say anything more, Butterfly turned around once again. "Just forget about what happened earlier. Better yet… just forget everything."

She then flew away as fast as she could, wishing that he didn't get a glimpse of the single tear that escaped her eyes.

As Bloom began searching the fourth cave in her area, she came across something interesting. Running her hands along the wall in front of her, which was supposed to be a dead-end, she scanned it with her X-ray vision. There, she came across a small set of hieroglyphs hidden within the wall.

"The crystal fragment must be here." She concluded, "Which must mean it's more than likely that the resurrection stone is what they're truly after."

Grabbing her compact, Bloom held it against the wall. "Hopefully, the Professor can confirm this."

After sending the scan to the Professor, Bloom took out her blades and began to dig out the hieroglyphs. Thankfully, it wasn't that deep. As she finally reached the stone tablet, she yanked it out of its place and placed it in her jacket.

She then began to break down any indication that something was stuck in the wall with her blade. Bringing out her scanner again, Bloom began looking for the fragment. When the scanner began to beep loudly, she flew out to call for her partner.

Hearing her, Brick immediately came to her. "Find anything?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think I need your help in getting it out."

They both ran inside. Reaching the dead-end, Brick laid his hand on the wall. It began glowing a deep amber hue. Looking at her, he said, "I think you better stay back."

Bloom took a small step back, bracing herself for what may happen.

"Fire shatter!" A burst of flames erupted from the wall as it crumbled into tinier pieces. Bloom shielded herself from the rubble that came flying out. As it all calmed down and she had composed herself, that's when she saw a small yet sparkling gem smack in the middle of the wall.

Walking closer to the wall, Brick cautiously grabbed the fragment with his fingers. As he turned around, Bloom got a closer look at it.

It couldn't be bigger than a fingernail, but she could see its bright scarlet red color that rivaled the shine of a diamond. It was jagged yet it didn't seem sharp enough to cut through flesh. However, it must be pretty sturdy for it to withstand the blast.

"What exactly is it?"

Brick's face flashed a look of concern before it became serious. "Look," He said, securing the fragment within a hidden compartment in his M.D.P. "I know I've been beating around the bush since this morning, but it's because I don't want to involve you with this just yet."

"Why not?" She asked with her tone having a mixture of confusion and worry.

He then held the side of her face gently. "I don't want to get you into the mess that the rest of us are in." He explained. "The less you know, the safer you'll be. Unless you really want to, I'll tell you some other time."

His words left her even more confused than before. Was there something about the stone that she didn't know about? Or was this not about the stone at all?

Holding his hand in hers again, she said, "I can look after myself, Romeo. Are you already having a soft spot for me?"

He chuckled, "I guess I do, Ice Princess."

Reluctantly letting go of her hand, Brick then pressed a button on his M.D.P. and brought it to his lips. "We've found the fragment, proceed back to headquarters."

Afterward, he turned his attention back to Bloom. Offering his hand to her, he said in a charming voice, "Shall we go, Princess?"

Rolling her eyes again, she began walking out of the cave herself. "You know Brick, the more you try to act like a prince charming, the more I'm inclined to snatch your sweet talker of a brother for myself instead."

His comment made him jump in shock. "Y-You're kidding right?"

"Keep up with the teasing and I just might." She said with a wink. "I did say I like stubborn men." And just like that, she began flying away.

"H-Hey! I was just messing with you! I'll be stubborn again! Bloom!"

After the team had returned to their designated meeting room, they had given the fragment to a couple of awaiting agents. The team then split; the boys were called back to work while the girls went back to their respective rooms. Although, unbeknownst to others, they had went back to discuss in Bright's room.

Sitting in a circle, they began to converse. "What'd the Professor say?" Butterfly asked.

"He said he'll try to have the hieroglyphs translated as soon as possible, hopefully by tonight or earlier." Bloom answered.

"With the Egyptian tablet surrounding the fragment, we must assume that they're trying to reform the resurrection stone, right?" Bright asked.

"Yeah, although, I wouldn't want to eliminate one stone just yet." Bloom stated, crossing her arms. "I understand the reason why Keishiro would suspect the diamond as the R.I.D.'s target, but the ruby seems so odd… We might still need to dig deeper about that gem as well."

"Is it possible that the stone the R.I.D. is looking for is not one of three that Keishiro said?" Butterfly wondered. Both Bright and Bloom looked at her intrigued, which prompted Butterfly to say, "Okay, hear me out.

"We thought that it was the diamond because Kazuo said the gem was broken into multiple pieces. But you said the fragment that you and Brick found was red. Now here's the thing, the hieroglyphs we've translated never mentioned anything about the resurrection stone being broken into pieces, so that just means either one of three things: the diamond is actually a red diamond, the resurrection stone was actually broken into multiple pieces as well, or the stone is neither of the three."

Bright rested her head on her hand, "Those do seem possible." She said, "I don't think we'll come to a definite conclusion unless we get conclusive evidence from either the stone tablet or anything else."

"Way ahead of you two." Bloom stated, flashing them a cunning grin. "As I told you last night, there's this agent I found who handles all the agents in the organization. He'll be at the bar tonight which means we will be too."

She then pulled up a picture of the said man on her compact. "His name is Omura Masaru. From what I could see from his records, he uses a special key card to access agent files in a room on the 5th floor. There might be another one of those devices that messes with our powers, so tonight, we'll try to copy the digital pattern from his keycard to try and get inside that room. I've already set up another decoy video so that the cameras won't see us, but we need to be quick."

"Okay, so how will we do it?" Bright asked.

"Rumor has it that he likes brunettes." Bloom answered mischievously, eyeing Butterfly who had a slightly annoyed expression plastered on her face.

"Was this your idea of revenge?" Butterfly asked which just led to Bloom nodding as she snickered.

"Brilliant, isn't it?"

Sighing, Butterfly replied, "So I'll try to get him to dance with me while you will swipe the card from him, copy the pattern, and then return it where you found it."

"Exactly!" Bloom exclaimed. "And beforehand, I also found out that Ace had reserved a VIP booth for tonight. I'm 99.9% sure that the guys will be there as well."

Butterfly smirked at her friend's statement. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to let loose or to have a little fun of my own."

"Have you talked to him?" Bright wondered as she slightly tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah, and I told him to do whatever the fuck he wants and I do whatever the fuck I want." She answered. "Besides, us being together would just lead to a massive shit show."

"Still, we're worried about you." Bright replied.

Laughing, Butterfly looked at them with a big grin. "Come on, I thought we were supposed to be having fun tonight, let's not get all sappy now." She then stood up and walked towards Bright's closet. "So now let's hurry up and get our clothes ready."

Bloom and Bright looked at each other, hesitating a bit. After a while, however, they shrugged and joined Butterfly in rummaging through the closet.

Knowing their friend, Butterfly wanted to just distract herself from everything. And knowing how much she was hurting right now, they knew that they had to be there for her no matter what and help to ease the pain.

Nighttime came quickly; the time was just a few minutes past 10 o'clock. The club already seemed lively as groups of people flocked to the dancefloor and bar. Ace's group, on the other hand, sat in their usual booth with drinks already starting to decorate their lighted lounge table.

The booth consisted of the male members of the Gangreen Gang and Amoeba Boys, as well as the Rowdies and Souichirou. As he downed another glass, Ace looked towards the Rowdies. "So, heard a lot of things happened with you three."

Butch remained silent as he took a sip of his drink with closed eyes. Brick, on the other hand, smirked at his comment while Boomer chuckled softly.

"Jealous?" Boomer teasingly asked.

"How did that even happen?!" Poncho exclaimed.

"Sorry, we don't kiss and tell." Brick stated, although, thinking back, have he and Bloom even kissed?

"W-Wait, you and Bloom too?" Ace asked in disbelief.

"Not yet."

"Guu… Redhead girl then… still single… guhahaha!" Grubber said with visible hearts in his eyes.

"How 'bout Butch? Butch get kiss with green girl?" Big Billy asked innocently but was met with the blazing glare of said Ruff. It was enough to make the rest of the guys tense in fear.

As Brick and Boomer sweatdropped at their brother's reaction, Boomer mumbled, "I think it's best not to mention that to him."

"Well, well," Ace said with a snicker, "Speak of the devil."

His statement made all three brothers shift their gaze toward the entrance of the nightclub. Lo and behold there stood the famed girls in all their allure and beauty.

Bloom wore a short, maroon bodycon dress that had a small slit on the side with matching nude ankle-strap heels. Bright had on an elegant and sexy white playsuit that she paired with white, high-platform stilettos. And finally, Butterfly wore a black sheer top with ripped jeans and a pair of black heeled boots. All three of them wore sultry yet shimmery makeup that complimented their dolled-up hairstyles.

Walking past the swarm of people, Bloom whispered something to Bright before they went their separate ways. Bright went to her boyfriend while the other two went to a nearby booth that had their female colleagues. With Boomer seating near the edge of the booth, Bright took a seat beside him.

Draping his arm over her shoulder, all of their friends stared at the pair in awe and shock. "Fellas, as much as I know how gorgeous this lady is." Boomer stated, making Bright blush. "She is my girlfriend and is very much off-limits."

"But Bright, your sisters are still available, right?!" Silk Hat asked with his slimy hands clasped together.

"Uhm… well…"

"Redhead… Guu…"

As Grubber began to drool, Brick shot him an angry look. "Don't even think about it." He said through gritted teeth.

"What about Butterfly?" Ace asked albeit fearfully as he could already feel the heat from Butch's death stare. "O-On second thought, never mind."

With the boys' group chatting away, Butterfly and Bloom began to focus on their target who had just entered the nightclub. With tousled brown hair and striking golden eyes, one couldn't miss him. As Sedusa and the others were deep in conversation, Bloom came closer to her friend.

"Approach him casually." She whispered, "I'll follow you afterward and give you a signal once I've copied it."

Butterfly looked towards Masaru, getting into character as she flashed him a flirty smile. Leaning back towards Bloom, she whispered back, "Do you mind if I take my time with this?"

Bloom giggled, "Have as much fun as you like," She said, "Don't take too long though, we still have to sneak into the room after."

Nodding, Butterfly stood up from her seat and began making her way toward the man who sat at the bar. Noticing her sudden leave, the girls looked at her with confusion.

"Where is she going?" Violet asked.

"Looks like someone caught her eye." Bloom replied as she motioned towards the pair. Butterfly was giggling as she shyly tucked her hair behind her ear. Meanwhile, Masaru had his hand placed on her thigh with a playful smile on his face.

"Masaru, huh?" Sedusa said with a small smile on her face. "Decent guy, he's under a special section in my division."

"Wait a minute!" Princess exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table. "I thought she already has Butch. She can't be stealing all of my babies!" She said with streams of tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Tough luck, sssister." Snake said.

"Oh honey, I'm sure there's someone for you, now is just not the right time." Violet said as she began patting Princess's head.

Lil' Arturo snickered. "If there is a right time."

"Why you—!" As another round of arguing began with the two, Sedusa turned her attention back to Bloom.

"So, you and Brick?"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that." Bloom said yet her cheeks began to turn a soft pink.

"Well, it's not like it'sss going to be awkward." Snake commented.

Bloom raised her eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Even though you guys look alike, it'sss not like you're related." Snake explained. "Just like how even though the Ruffsss were made using the DNA of the Puffsss, their DNA codes don't really align."

"Wait, I don't think I follow." Bloom said, "How come they aren't similar?"

"We think it's the process Mojo used that had altered their DNA makeup." Violet added, "Our team back at the laboratory division compared their DNA before. Obviously, because they look alike, each counterpart had more DNA similarities with each other than they would normally have with a stranger. However, after further analysis, it showed that they weren't directly related."

"Gotta admit, that shocked us at first." Sedusa said, "We kept making fun of them for it, but in reality, it's like they're 7th cousins. Basically strangers."

'Huh, interesting, that never crossed my mind at all.' Bloom thought to herself. 'But how did they even get our DNA in the first place?'

"It might be the same for you three since you were also created with the Puffs' DNA." Violet said as she took another sip of her cocktail.

"Might be." Bloom said, absentmindedly glancing toward Brick.

Seeing her reaction, Snake laughed. "Don't tell me the leadersss and commandersss haven't made any progress with their little affair?"

"It's not like there's no progress, it's just that nothing is official." Bloom blurted out suddenly, making her gasp and cover her mouth in embarrassment.

"Girl, go get him!" Sedusa encouraged.

"But I…" Bloom said. 'I'm scared…'

Violet nodded her head in agreement, "Nothing's going to happen if neither of you makes a move, hun."

"Just take a look at Butterfly there." Snake said, gesturing to the dance floor. Just near the booth they were in, Butterfly and Masaru were dancing with each other.

And Butterfly really wasn't holding back with the way she moved sensually.

Recognizing that as her cue, Bloom giggled, "Guess I'll just take the lead for both of us then."

Taking a deep breath, Bloom thought to herself, 'I want him to know…'

With a few more encouraging words from the girls, Bloom got up and began strutting her way toward the red Ruff.

After a few more bottles, Brick felt like he was close to getting tipsy already. He was already feeling bored and was ready to leave, that was until he saw Butch on the verge of just exploding. They were all taken aback after Butterfly made her way to the dancefloor with a man. They were visible from where they sat; intentional or not, it was agitating his brother.

Butch didn't say a word about it and just kept drinking away, but anyone could tell that he was extremely annoyed. Knowing his brother, Brick decided to stay and keep an eye on him. God knows what may happen if he finally loses it.

But to his shock, Brick saw Bloom walking towards them. Her eyes focused solely on him, making him feel a tad bit nervous.

Finally reaching their booth, the group became quiet in her presence. Bloom flashed Brick a coy smile. "Care to dance with me?"

Brick's eyes widened, making him look at the others in disbelief. Realizing that she did mean him, Brick looked over toward Boomer. He still had Bright in his arms but he nodded in agreement when Brick signaled him to look after Butch.

As he stood up and walked towards Bloom, she suddenly took his hand in hers. "Shocked?"

"Very." He answered with a chuckle. As they made their way to the dance floor, Brick couldn't help but say, "Never expected you to be so bold, Bloom."

Stopping near Butterfly and Masaru, Bloom turned to look at him, "Oh Romeo, I'm full of surprises."

At first, they gently swayed to the beat of the music. But as the music got louder, Brick grabbed her by the waist and pressed their bodies closer together. The sudden contact made her gasp. But as she looked into his deep red eyes, she started to feel hot.

Placing her hand on his chest, her moves became increasingly provocative. She could feel the heat reaching the rest of her body as they moved in sync. Was it the alcohol that was giving her such confidence?

Whatever might be the reason, she wanted to feel him more.

As he leaned in closer to her, she could smell his cologne; scents of vanilla with hints of cedar, apple, and plum. The fragrance alone made Bloom's senses go into overdrive.

However, catching a glimpse of Butterfly forced her to snap back to reality. Gently latching onto his arms, Bloom subtly spun them around to get closer to Butterfly. With their backs up against each other, Bloom could feel something poking her from behind.

Gliding her hand to reach up to his face, she flashed him a wink before turning around and pressing her back against his chest. With the card already in her hand and his hot breath on her neck, Bloom quickly began to scan the damn thing with a small and flat device she had hidden up her dress.

The feeling of him being close to her was immensely distracting her. The sooner she could finish this, the easier it would be for her.

As she felt a soft buzz from the device, she spun around again to stealthily put it back in Butterfly's awaiting hand. Finally able to focus on him, Bloom moved her hips closer to his and lightly grinded on him.

The sudden movement made Brick curse under his breath. She then glided her hands up to the nape of his neck, saying, "Enjoying this, aren't you, Brick?"

"Two can play at that game, Bloom." Sliding his hands up her bare legs, Bloom gasped at the sensation. Snaking one hand to her waist, the other held her face to make her look at him.

Locking eyes with him again, both of them began to breathe heavily. They could both feel it: the fire burning within both of them. A flame that only surfaced when they were with each other.

"You're making this hard on me." Brick said in a low, disgruntled voice

"Just like I wanted."

Not holding back anymore, Brick kissed her fervently. Bloom's mind went blank and all her reasoning and fear flew out the window. God she was starting to fall in love with this man.

And she was no longer stopping herself from doing so.

After the hot make-out session, much to her dismay, Brick had pulled away and told her that he had something to tell her first and that he would do so tomorrow. Even if they didn't go further, Bloom was glad that he reciprocated her feelings. Although, that didn't make it any easier for her uneasy heart.

Giving him one last kiss, she made her way back to the girls' booth and enjoyed a few more drinks. Butterfly continued to dance with Masaru for a few more minutes before finally going back to join the other girls as well, not before whispering something to him which made the man smile from ear to ear.

As the time finally reached past midnight, the girls, along with Boomer, decided to head back to their rooms. With Bright guiding the already tipsy man to the elevator, they made their way to their floor. Afterward, Bloom bid farewell to the trio, and all of them went into their respective rooms.

Bloom quickly grabbed her belt, locked her room, and waited patiently. With Bright tucking in her tired boyfriend, both she and Butterfly made it to their room. Quietly, they grabbed their belts as well and immediately teleported to Bloom's room.

Holding each other's hands, they all turned invisible and warped out of there.

Reaching the fifth floor, they checked their surroundings to make sure there was no one else there. They silently walked through the hallway, trying to find a door with a key card door lock. Because the rooms had either standard door knobs or hand scanners, hopefully, it would be easier to find the room they were looking for.

As they approached the middle of the hallway, they found that had a door with a key card door lock. Bloom took out the device she had hidden a while ago. It was a thin, transparent card that had straps on either side.

She held the card against the lock. After a few moments, the lock beeped and unlocked. Quickly making it inside and closing the door behind them, they were met with a simple, sleek room that had a few cabinets and computer desks.

"Hurry and try to search for Keishiro's file." Bloom commanded.

Immediately, they began to look through every nook and cranny of this place. Within a couple of minutes, Bright exclaimed, "I've found it." Holding up a folder in her hand, she quickly began scanning it with her compact.

"Nice work, Miyako." Bloom said, "Let's get going then."

"Wait, I think I found something too." Butterfly interjected, beckoning the other two to come closer to her. There at one of the computer screens, Butterfly pulled up what seems to look like a report.

Bloom then began to read the words which were written in bold letters. "Retrieval No. 185. Executed by agents: 0096, 0097, 0098, 1511, 1512, and 1513. Status: Successful. Osiris Stone completion: 92.84%"

All three of them gasped in shock. "The Osiris Stone?" Bright asked.

"So it's the damn resurrection stone that they're trying to get." Butterfly stated, "And they're close to completing it too."

Before Bloom could express her thoughts, her compact began to blink. Taking it out, she was met with a reply from the Professor. Her eyebrows furrowed even more as she opened the message.

"Looks like that's not the only thing we should be worried about." She said as she showed them the translated passage that the Professor had sent her.

By Khon's power

And Shesmu's grace

The pearl looms over

The dark sea's face

Cleanse Osiris's heart

Great power, you shall take part

Author's Note: And here, ladies and gentlemen, is a once-in-a-blue-moon event where I update this story in less than a month. Thank God I was able to finish such a long chapter with midterms about to end in a few weeks. Hopefully, I could add another chapter before sem break as well!

Also, on a side note, I added that bit about the Ruffs and Puffs' DNA being different just so I won't be hearing any comments about these pairings being considered inappropriate. I had already conceptualized that idea before writing this story but I completely forgot to even mention it. So really, it was just a major headcanon of mine up until this point lmao.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! Go ahead and follow, favorite, and leave a review to let me know your thoughts!

Until next time!

~Disastress