When she opened her eyes, the very first thing she noticed was the tingling in her fingertips, a buzzing feeling, as though her skin was brushing over an electric wire. Gradually, it spread up her arms, crawled through her nerve fibers, and filled her chest with an aching warmth. She inhaled a huge gulp of air when the sensation met her brain, her consciousness shutting off the automatic system and switching into manual. She blew the air from her mouth, tasted the crusted blood on her lips, and frowned. Her hand reached up to touch her face but another force pulled on it. She turned her gaze from the white light above and gaped at the IV that was lodged in her arm. Her eyes trailed along the dark fluid flowing through the tube and up to the IV bag marked with a big black X. She turned back to the ceiling as her hearing began to return and heard the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor beside her. Her other hand went to her chest, the beeps matched the thumps beneath her ribs. So she was alive. But how?

"...OH MY GOD!" A sharp screech burst through Blossom's ears and she jolted up with her own scream. "SHE'S AWAKE!"

Blossom's eyes went wide as a figure made of blue and yellow leaped on top of her and squeezed its arms around her neck, cutting off the already minuscule air flow to her lungs. She immediately recognized the vanilla, linen scent and warm embrace and did her best to return the hug.

"Bubbles get the hell off of her!" Buttercup's voice pierced the room and Blossom tried to peer over Bubble's shoulder. Her blonde sister was nuzzling her face into Blossom's hair when a brute force tore her away.

Blossom looked to the source.

Buttercup glared down at her, emerald eyes blazing. "You're a fucking idiot." And then she threw her arms around her sister and pulled her in tight. The force knocked the air from Blossom's lungs but she hugged her sister back anyways.

"I know." She murmured into Buttercup's collar.

Bubbles leaned over Blossom's legs with tears streaming down her face. "We thought we had lost you...again." She knotted her fingers into the blanket and began to sob. Blossom reached forward and took her hand, squeezing it.

"It's okay Bubbles, it's all going to be okay." She flashed her sister a smile before sucking in a breath. She dearly hoped her next words were true. "The storm is finally over."

Buttercup grimaced, "Actually, it's just about to start."

Blossom turned. "Wha-"

BAM

The door blew open.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THE YELL-" Butch's eyes landed on hers and he snapped his mouth shut.

"Butch I told you to let them b-!" Boomer skidded to a halt beside his brother as he saw the pink puff. "Blossom?"

She flashed them an uneasy smile. "Hey?"

Then in another flurry of blue and blonde with a mix of green and black, she was being crushed against two solid objects that once again knocked the wind out of her.

"I was sure you were dead when we saw you!" Butch muttered.

Boomer grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back, letting Blossom catch her breath. "Me too, you looked dead already and you lost a lot of blood."

Blossom pulled her lips into a thin line, "Thanks for having faith guys."

Buttercup suddenly latched onto both of the boys shirts and yanked them away. Her and Bubbles were back at Blossom's side in an instant.

"Blossy I'm so sorry I didn't see it sooner. I should've been there to help you or-or comfort you. We could have fought that demon together!" Bubbles clung to her sister's hand for dear life and Blossom could feel the tears hitting her arm. "I-I was just so confused and scared, I didn't know, I swear I didn't know! Blossy, I would never leave you alone! I'm always at your side! Forever!"

Blossom blinked, brows furrowed. "Wait, how do you-?"

"Shit, Leader girl, I'm sorry too."

She turned to Buttercup, "Huh?"

Her emerald eyes softened and she clasped Blossom's hand in her own. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, I know now that it was only making things worse. Accusing you, cornering you, what kind of sister am I?" She pinched her brow with a sigh. "I want to be a shoulder for you to cry on, Bloss, really I do. I'm just...I don't know...I guess I'm just scared that I'll only make things worse. I understand why you told Bubbles about Brick before me and I understand why you didn't tell us about this. But we truly want to be by your side, Bloss, always, no matter the enemy or the risks, we will be there for you." Buttercup smiled and laced all of their hands together.

Bubbles sniffed and leaned in closer to her sisters, so that their heads were touching. "I love you girls so much."

"I love you both too...but I don't understand." Blossom interrupted, causing her sisters to pull back. "How do you know about the demon?" She frowned and glanced at her surroundings. "How did I even get here?"

Boomer spoke up, "Whoever brought you here left a note." A piece of paper was suddenly in her face. "We can't figure out who it was, though." She took it into her hands and frowned even more at the cursive writing.

This paper holds material meant solely for the reading of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys

Dear nuisances,

Your beloved leader has been hiding a deep secret from all of you that has finally been resolved. You recently dealt with a demon that was infecting the Rowdy leader's mind and managed to eliminate it. Well, the pink puff has been hosting a similar disease. The darkness within her mind had nearly claimed complete control, that is why she has been acting strangely. This darkness threatened to destroy not only its host, but this entire planet. Had it succeeded, you would all be sound asleep in your graves right now. Fortunately, your leader has a strength that goes beyond superpowers, and because of her superior intellect and nobility, none of you are to be buried just yet. Now her lack of aplomb almost sealed everyone's fate, but I do believe she has learned a thing or two about self-confidence after her victory. Anyways, she is in very poor condition after her merciless battle, so you must ensure that she receives top-priority care around the clock with doses of Chemical X q.h. She has many lethal wounds and broken bones, although I do believe the nose looks better this way, so she has very little energy and has lost much blood. A concussion or head-trauma may also be possible. You may notify the doctor of this but DO NOT reveal this letter to anyone.

It was an excellent battle to watch and I loathe to admit that I enjoyed our talks my dear Blossom.

Until next time,

The Evilest of Evils

She could almost hear his voice in her head as she read through the letter, wavering in pitch as he twisted subtle insults into his deceitful words, and when she looked up, she could swear she saw his reflection in the gloss of Buttercup's eyes.

"Him." The name slipped off her tongue in an unusual manner. In the past, it had always held poison, this time she felt genuine appreciation for all the demon had done for her. His advice had helped her save not only Brick, but herself, and resultantly, the world. Perhaps redemption was possible, even for a dead demon.

"It was a dude?"

Blossom glanced up again, pulled from her thoughts. Her sisters and the boys were gathered around her, waiting for a response. But...it was all over, was there really any point in telling them? Him had been the boys' father at one point after all...until Brick had killed him. Telling them could bring back bad memories, it could bring about another conflict, it could-

'Just trust them. They're your family, no more secrets, no more lies. Tell them the truth, all of it. They deserve-'

Wait.

Her stomach twisted. "Where's Brick?" She pushed herself up.

"Bloss-" Buttercup's hand was dodged as Blossom tore off the bed sheets.

Bubbles leaped forward to keep Blossom in the bed. "Blossy just hold o-"

The pink puff grabbed her sister's shoulders. "Is he okay? I need to see him. Where-!"

The door creaked open.

"I'm fine, Bloss."

Her head shot up to meet his crimson gaze, relief spreading across her face, but he did not return the look.

He moved out of the doorway, clicking the lock in place behind him, and approached her. Her gaze flickered to the bandage underneath his cap to the scabs on his knuckles and her heart lurched. Her sisters moved back so that he could stand at Blossom's side, he seemed to move in slow motion, silent and stealthy, cold. When he stopped beside her she winced at the lack of heat he usually produced but when she looked into his eyes she felt the ice within them.

His hands went into his pockets and he made no attempt to touch her. "But we aren't."

She assumed he was talking about himself and her, but then he motioned towards her sisters and the boys, and the knots in her stomach tightened. She unconsciously leaned away from her counterpart.

"You have to learn to trust us, Blossom." He spoke. "No more secrets."

She released a sigh and tried to pull her legs to her chest before realizing that she was no longer a scared little child. She was a fighter, a sister, a hero, a leader. Leaders don't lie and they certainly don't make excuses. They face their fears head on because in order to protect their followers, they must not be afraid. She had defeated her demon, the wheel was broken, no more secrets. No more fear.

"It's true." She admitted, meeting Brick's gaze. "I didn't trust you." She turned to the boys. "Or you." Her eyes landed on her sisters. "Or even you. I didn't know what you would do with the information. I was afraid that you would take action and get yourselves killed. I thought that by keeping these things to myself I could protect all of you, but I was wrong. I made all of the decisions on my own without any consultation from you guys and that's not what a leader does, not at a time like this." She paused to look each of them in the eye. "I've lied in the past, but no lies have ever compared to the secrets I've been keeping from you five these past few months...and it all started with my fake death," Her sisters winced. "Which led to a division where I juggled lies between my sisters and Brick. As I grew closer with one side, I distanced myself from the other. There was so much tension and the secrets built up so quickly, I couldn't keep up." She shook her head. "I tried to hide lies with more lies, tried to cover up secrets with more secrets. Then when the demon issues arose, I realized all too late that I had dug myself into a hole. I was so focused on being the hero that I never had a chance to stop and wonder how you all might be affected." Her fingers curled into the palms of her hands. "All I wanted was to keep you safe...if only I had seen that none of you needed protecting."

Brick's scowl faltered and he turned away, staring at the IV bag on the other side of the bed. His brows knit together in thought. "I guess I owe you an apology."

Blossom's eyebrows shot up. "W-what?"

"I do too." Boomer raised his hand.

"Same." Butch spoke.

"We do too." Her sisters said in sync.

Blossom narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about? None of you did anything wrong, I should be apologizing for-!"

"No," Brick cut her off. "We should have tried harder to stick by your side, just as you did for me. We all abandoned you and because of that, you almost died." His face twisted in disgust. "I especially should have seen what was wrong, I went through the same thing. I shouldn't have let you leave, I should have tried harder, I-"

"Stop!" Blossom grabbed his hand. "What happened to me isn't your fault, any of you. I made the choice to go in alone, there was nothing you could have done. There is no reason why you should have to suffer from my stupid mistakes."

Brick relented. "But we could have done a blood transfusion, there had to have been another way that didn't involve you nearly getting killed. If we had been there we could have-"

"Brick." Blossom stopped him. "There was no other way. It told me from the beginning that a blood transfusion wouldn't work. There was only one solution and that was for me to fight it head on...alone. So don't feel guilty. None of you have to apologize. I pushed you away, I forced you to leave. If you had stayed the demon just might have killed you," She looked at the others. "All of you."

"But that still doesn't make up for the way we reacted." Bubbles spoke up. "I shouldn't have been afraid of you, you're my sister."

Buttercup nodded. "I shouldn't have yelled at you the way I did."

Boomer's gaze drifted to Bubbles before he admitted, "I shouldn't have put my feelings for Bubbles over your problems."

Bubbles eyes widened but Butch spoke before she could say anything. "I guess I shouldn't have ignored you to play video games."

Brick laced his fingers with hers. "And I shouldn't have had my brothers kill your sisters so that I could hold you hostage...none of this ever would have happened if it weren't for that."

"Brick no, don't say that." Blossom looked into his eyes. "You have to understand that eventually we were going to fight to the death anyways, it was never going to end. So if you hadn't of done what you did then we wouldn't be here, together, as a team. We'd still be out on that battlefield tearing each other to shreds." She squeezed his hand. "But regardless, that's all in the past now. No more apologies, from any of you-" She surveyed the room again. "We have all made mistakes and we will continue to make mistakes, that's simply the consequence of being human, especially one with super powers. But if we stick together from here on out then I have no doubt that we can conquer any and all obstacles, so from this day I vow to confer with all of you before I make a decision, no more lies, no more secrets, we're a team now and forever." She put her hand out and they all gathered around her, placing their hands atop hers. "Together."

They nodded, "Together."

They shared a moment of silence before letting their hands fall back to their sides.

"Ok so like if we're a team now then can I request the truth about something?" Butch asked, raising his hand as though he was in school.

Brick stepped back to look at his brother. "Yeah, what?"

The green ruff dropped his arm and met Blossom's gaze. "Who brought you here?"

Blossom visibly stiffened as all eyes once again fell on her. She glanced to the side, biting her lip. She had to tell them, of course she did, but how? 'Oh yeah, the demon who tried to kill us on multiple occasions who Brick slaughtered in front of me and who's heart I had to rip out is a good guy. No yeah, we're besties now! He even gave me tips for remodeling!' As if.

But they were waiting for an answer that she had to give to them, whether she liked it or not. No more lies, no more secrets...right?

She took a deep breath and turned to Brick. He wasn't going to like it, none of them were, but they wanted the truth and she had to give it to them.

"Him," She stated. "Him brought me here."

Everyone's jaw simultaneously dropped and Brick went white.

"Him!?" Buttercup shouted.

Butch shook his head. "But we saw his dead body, y-you took his-you-WhAt!?"

Boomer dragged a hand down his face. "This shit is so messed up."

"Y-you mean HIM, the bad guy we could never get rid of? T-the one who put us in that creepy realistic dream? And made everyone in Townsville want to kill us? THE Him!?" Bubbles wept in terror.

Brick couldn't move or say anything, he just stared back at his counterpart in disbelief.

Blossom nodded grimly. "Yes, the Him." She leaned back into the headboard. "It's...kind of a long story."

Buttercup paused and turned around, surveying the room, "Do any of you have an agenda for today?" They all shook their heads. She folded her arms. "Well then get on with it Leader girl, no better time than the present."

Blossom turned as white as Brick was. "Do I have to? It's really not that impor-"

"Drop the bullshit Blossom, we wanna know what Him did." Butch cut her off with a harsh glare.

She flinched at his tone and shut her eyes for a brief moment, preparing for a long hour of confusion and anger. She had no choice. "...I guess the first thing I should tell you is that Him is dead-" A synchronous sigh escaped everyone's lips and she cringed. "-but apparently demons' souls can go wherever and do whatever they want. So I mean he's dead, but not really." And now it was a simultaneous groan.

"You mean to tell me that this dude can pop up anytime to say hello?" Buttercup asked.

Blossom shrugged, "I'm honestly not sure. He didn't explain it in depth. I mean, he said that he only helped me because he wanted to be able to kill me himself and yet he never tried to during any of our meetings...well except for the first one...so I'm guessing he's not able to kill anyone."

"Woah, woah, woah, wait." Butch put up his hand. "There was more than one meeting?"

Buttercup pushed him away. "Hold up. More importantly, he tried to kill you!?"

Bubbles and Boomer's mouths were agape and Brick was stock still, his face as hollow as a ghost's.

Blossom continued to chew on her lip in between words, "I mean sort of. When I first saw him I tried to run away but he got angry and wouldn't let me leave. He didn't, like, put a knife to my throat or anything but he seemed like he would've if given the opportunity."

"So...how did he find you in the first place?" Boomer questioned.

This part was difficult because she wasn't entirely sure of the answer herself. "Uh, I was walking down the street and I kind of just blinked and poof," She made a gesture with her arms, "I'm in Him's lair and there he is."

"You...teleported?"

Blossom shook her head, "Bubbles, I honestly don't know what happened." She let her hand rest over her arm, covering the jagged scar she still had from Him's claw. "But after he explained how he was there he told me he wanted to help save Brick." She turned to the red ruff. "He's the one who gave me the idea of a blood transfusion."

Brick's face flashed with bewilderment and he sputtered, "W-Why would he do that?"

"He said that he wanted to be the one to destroy the world, not you...but something tells me that was only an excuse." She stated.

Brick diverted his gaze and seemed to drift off into thought while the others leaned forward.

"So when did you talk to him again?" Butch asked a little too excitedly.

Blossom cringed, her second reunion was not a good one. "It was the day all of us had eaten pizza at the boys' house." She felt her stomach stir at the remembrance. "I had looked outside at one point and saw something in my bedroom window. It was impossible, but Brick was standing in my room while he was also sitting beside me in his house. So when I got back home that night, I wasn't at all surprised to find Him waiting in my room-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Bubbles' glass-shattering screech made the whole room jump in surprise and she pulled a face of disgust and horror. "HIM was in OUR house and I didn't even know!?"

Buttercup shivered, "Ew that's creepy."

Blossom nodded. "He told me about the blood transfusion but it wasn't until Boomer told me about his feelings for Bubbles that I realized the transfusion had to be between you three." She pointed at the boys but Brick's gaze remained locked on the floor. "Which reminds me, I have to apologize to you two for forcing you into that without any explanation and resultantly putting your safety at risk. I wasn't thinking straight and it was a reckless, selfish decision. I'm sorry." They opened their mouths to respond but she put her hands up. "That was the last apology, just accept it and I'll continue with the story." Their mouths snapped shut. "The third time I talked to him was also the last time, right before I fought the demon…" She cringed at the memory, still able to feel the cruel aches in every muscle, before going on, "He was actually weirdly nice to me and honestly, if it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have won. Without Him, we'd all probably be dead right now." She said sincerely.

An awestruck silence fell across the room and everyone's gaze shifted to the floor for a moment.

Then Boomer spoke up. "Brick…" He caught his brother's attention and his voice held a hint of despair. "Why did you kill Him?"

Blossom and Butch's eyes went wide. Bubbles and Buttercup looked at the red ruff with curiosity written across their faces. And Brick furrowed his brows.

"Because he was an asshole who wanted to take over the world?" He stated nonchalantly, confused by his brother's question.

Boomer narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Yeah, but you never had a problem with that before and he hadn't even talked to us in a long time. He didn't really give us any good reason to kill him…"

Brick's eyes flashed with a sudden glow of rage and he turned on Boomer, venom thick in his voice as he growled, "He gave me every good reason to kill him!"

The blue ruff visibly flinched back at his brother's aggression and Butch stepped in. "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling us something?"

Blossom dropped her gaze, brows creasing. She had to agree with Boomer and Butch, from what she knew, there wasn't any pressing issue that would give Brick a good reason to kill his 'father' figure, but he seemed fairly upset about it, which confused her even more.

She lifted her gaze to meet his. "Brick, didn't you say that you had been wanting to kill him for years?"

His eyes widened. "What...do you mean?"

She shifted forward, surveying his face. "After you killed him, I remember you said you had been wanting to do that for years…" She took a moment to think back. "And you told me that his lair was better than the mansion because your brothers couldn't bother you, and yet you never went back to it." She narrowed her eyes slightly, trying not to be too interrogative. "Why?"

Butch and Boomer turned to their brother with questioning looks and Brick stiffened. He curled his fingers into his palms, taking a small step back to avoid the intense stares. Blossom noticed his trepidation and glanced at her sisters, giving them a subtle gesture, which they understood, quickly taking their leave.

When the door was sealed shut, Blossom spoke gently to her counterpart. "Brick, please tell us the truth. Him is gone now," She paused. "Or at least from our lives, so there's no harm in telling us, right?"

Brick stared back at her for a moment with wide eyes and she could see the disinclination in his expression. After a while, he crossed his arms stiffly, giving Blossom a small nod of agreement. "Being the leader isn't all it's cracked up to be…" He started slowly. "Especially when you're a villain." His gaze began to darken as he spoke and he broke away from Blossom's eyes. "Him tried to take over the world by himself but failed, multiple times, because of you girls. But, once he found us he realized that he had the perfect set of puppets that would destroy his arch nemeses for him. We were young so he could mold our minds whatever way he liked, starting with mine." His fingernails dug into his arms and his jaw visibly clenched. Blossom could tell that he was uncomfortable. "If he could control me, then controlling my brothers would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. I was the leader, after all, whatever I did, you guys did." He was referring to his brothers but didn't look at them. "But we're the Rowdyruff boys, so of course it would be difficult to keep us in line. And being super humans ensured that the process would have to be firm."

Brick paused and his brothers frowned.

"You know, now that you mention it, I do kinda remember you always being pulled away from us to talk to him in private." Butch mentioned.

Boomer began to put two and two together, the strenuous thinking visible on his face. "What exactly did Him say when he talked to you?"

Brick began to shift his weight from one foot to the other nervously. His gaze shakily returned to Blossom's and she could almost read his mind. 'What if they hate me? What if they judge me?' Just like when she had reunited with her sisters for the first time, 'What do I do? I don't even know how to explain...what if they hate me for what I did? I'm just so scared. Usually I'm prepared but this is so sudden and I have nothing…' Yes. She knew exactly what Brick was thinking, exactly what he was feeling. His pride and dignity were both at risk, but his honesty as a leader and sibling was also required. She had been caught between a rock and a hard place many times before, neither option was ever ideal.

She gave him an encouraging nod, knowing it was all she could do for him at the moment, and he swallowed rigidly. "It wasn't necessarily what he said that was the problem...it was what he did."

Boomer was silent but Butch spoke out. "What do you mean?"

"...You know the scars I have all over my body?" Brick asked hesitantly.

"Well yeah, we all have fighting scars." Butch stated, confused.

Brick nodded. "Right but mine aren't just from fighting...most of them are from Him...especially the mental ones."

Blossom's heart broke for him. Butch and Boomer gaped as an awkward tension thickened the atmosphere. They weren't good with advice or comfort, they didn't know what to say to their brother.

"He hammered his own beliefs and principles into my brain until it was all I knew. I had to be evil in order to please him, in order to survive." Brick squeezed his eyes shut. "Either inflict the pain on others, or recieve it all myself, tenfold."

Mental and physical abuse, two things that Him was the absolute master of, Blossom knew from experience, but she could only imagine what it had been like for Brick. Alone, facing all the trauma himself, with no one to offer him a shoulder to cry on, no one to save him or show him the right path. No wonder he struggled so hard to escape from his villainous past. She knew it hadn't been Brick's fault for falling deeper into the dark side than his brothers. Brick wasn't evil, his father figure was, and so his perspective was shaped according to the Evilest of Evil's morals. Had she or her sisters been in Brick's position, they would've fallen to Him's manipulations just the same. Afterall, look at how easily Mojo had manipulated them.

"You know...Him said something to me during one of our exchanges." Blossom spoke up softly. "...And even though I know what he's done to you is unforgivable and your hate for him is completely justifiable...I think it might be something that the two of you have in common and it could be helpful."

Brick's gaze lifted to hers.

"He told me that sometimes, he loses to the demons, too. And I sort of took that as him admitting that he makes mistakes, that he can make bad, regrettable choices just like everyone else. Maybe…" She bit her lip, hoping what she was about to say didn't sound too stupid. "Maybe that's why he hurt you, not because he wanted to deep down, but because he fell victim to his own demons."

Brick didn't say anything and she tried to read his expression, but couldn't.

"I feel like that sometimes…" Boomer murmured and all heads turned to him. "Like I'm losing to my demons. But the one thing that always gets me through it...is you." His blue gaze landed on Brick and he flinched. "Cuz I know you've had it the hardest so if you could still be good then why shouldn't I be able to?"

Butch nodded along with his brother, feeling the same way.

Brick blinked in disbelief. "All this time...you guys have actually…"

"Looked up to you?" Butch finished for him.

"Yeah." Boomer answered.

Brick was left speechless by this news and only looked to Blossom, someone who was familiar with being idolized. "I think you're right about Him. It doesn't change my hatred for the bastard but...thank you."

Blossom smiled and leaned forward to grasp his hand when Butch jumped in her way. "Group hug!" He bellowed as he yanked all of them into a rough embrace. While being crushed in between the three men, Blossom turned to Brick.

"You know, since you told me about your dark past, I suppose it would only be fair of me to do the same about mine. It could also serve as a lesson for you." The embrace quickly ended at this and the boys waited for her to explain. She glanced at the door, hoping her sisters wouldn't be too upset with her for revealing one of their biggest secrets. "My sisters and I have faced many close calls with death before, but we've never come as close to dying as we did when the governor poisoned us with Antidote X."

"Wait...what the fuck? You mean the governor who's still governor?" Butch asked in horror.

Blossom nodded. "She was elected into office shortly after my sisters and I were born. She was well known for her democratic based policies which Townsville citizens approbated but she was also very outspoken, especially when it came to voicing her disdain for super-humans. She tried to institute a law to ban super-powers and imprison super-humans, but the national government never accepted her proposals." The boys' faces twisted into expressions of abhorrence and Blossom hesitated. Her gaze traveled back to the door. While Brick's story had just been about him and his dark past, this story Blossom was about to tell was about her and her sisters, so to exclude them would be going against the promise she had just made. "Can someone please get Bubbles and Buttercup?"

A wave of guilt washed off of her as her sisters stepped into the room, joining her side. They had similar looks of confusion and their wary glances were directed at Brick.

"You girls remember what happened with Governor Scrofa…right?" Blossom started.

Buttercup sneered. "Why the hell are you bringing that up?"

Blossom took a deep breath. She knew this wasn't a topic her sisters enjoyed discussing but she also knew that it could be a great step towards unity in their sextet. All she could give her sisters at that moment was honesty. "Brick shared his dark past with me and I feel it's only fair that I do the same, but it's not just my story, it's our story."

Bubbles wrung her hands together, casting her gaze to the floor. She spoke so softly that Blossom almost couldn't hear her. "I remember…she tried to kill us with Antidote X." Her small brows pinched together. "The government wouldn't let her put us in jail so she tried to kill us instead, and she thought we wouldn't see through her plan."

Butch raised his hands up. "Hold on, how the fuck is this lady still in office after trying to kill you? Isn't that like a felony? Shouldn't she be in prison?"

"Yes, she should be." Buttercup growled, her jaw clenched and her fingers curled into her palms. "But we're the only ones who know about it."

Boomer and Butch both opened their mouthes, but Blossom cut them off. "Since no one would approve her proposals, she decided to take matters into her own hands. By using our incidents of when we destroyed the city playing tag and unintentionally helping Mojo nearly claim world domination, she was able to persuade the government to establish a new law. The law required us to take a shot of Antidote X before entering the school, ensuring that we couldn't use our powers while on campus."

"The law stayed in place for about two months." Bubbles continued. "Until the mayor and other officials realized how detrimental it was to have us unable to fight crime for eight hours every day. They quickly repealed the law and it was just in time, too."

"A couple more days," Buttercup jumped in. "-and we would have been dead. The governor knew this, she was the one supervising it after all. She had talked to the Professor about it since she needed him in order to locate a source of Antidote X. He had explained all of the side effects, he had told us about their conversation himself, so she couldn't play dumb when we confronted her."

The boys' eyes continued to grow wider.

"We're still not sure where she got the Antidote X from, but we do know that her plan was to kill us." Blossom spoke in a cold tone. "No one else had picked up on her true intentions and the Professor never knew about the law in the first place. We could've had her thrown in prison on a life-sentence…but we didn't."

Boomer looked at the three of them as though they were insane. "What?! Why not!?"

Bubbles placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, smiling sadly. "Because as heroes, it's our duty to put the people before ourselves. She's the best governor this state has ever had. The citizens love her and she poses no threat to them."

"So," Buttercup snapped sharply, her eyes narrowed into slits. "We made a deal with her. If she promised to never make any attempts to harm us again, then we would keep her little attempted murder a secret. But we are by no means on good terms. I despise that cunning bit-"

"BECAUSE we still lack faith in the governor keeping true to her word," Blossom quickly cut in. "-we decided to prepare ourselves. If we were to become powerless again, we would be completely vulnerable. To counter this, we learned hand-to-hand combat…through wrestling." Her eyes settled on Brick. "That's what me and Buttercup were doing when we went to the 'arena'."

Brick arched an eyebrow, a small smirk playing at his lips. "Wrestling, huh?"

Butch pulled the same face, the two brothers sharing a look. "Are boys allowed?"

Buttercup's hand was on Butch's cheek before either of her sisters could stop her and the slap resonated through the room as Butch groaned in pain. "Absolutely not! You just wanna see us in spandex you perverted son of a bitch!"

Brick's eyes lit up. "Spandex?"

Blossom's cheeks flushed pink and she covered her face. "This is why I didn't want to tell you about it…"

He slid over to her bedside, his tall form leaning over her own as his face gleamed like that of a child in a candy store. "Spandex like the ones women wear in WWE?"

She grit her teeth, murmuring, "It's the most flexible attire."

"HEY!" Buttercup whipped around, a growl tearing through her throat as she pointed a threatening finger at Brick. "One pervert in the family is enough!"

Boomer stifled a laugh behind his hand as his brothers were both awarded a nasty lecture. Meanwhile, Bubbles urged Buttercup to ease up while Blossom tapped her chin in contemplation.

"Say," She spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "Do you guys happen to know where the governor might've gotten the Antidote X? I know you were able to get Chemical X from somewhere when you helped my sisters…where did that come from?"

All heads now turned to Brick as he scratched the back of his neck guiltily. "Er…we were sort of involved in a black market of sorts when we were still living with Him. That's where we got the Chemical X which we stored for later use, and I've seen authentic Antidote X on the market, albeit extremely scarcely."

Buttercup turned suddenly and drove her fist through the wall, causing everyone to jump. "That underhanded bitch!"

Blossom bit her lip to hold back her own anger, she would have to look into that matter further, and Bubbles shook her head in disappointment. "If only she wasn't a good governor."

The boys were completely and utterly dumbfounded.

"Uh…she tried to kill three kids, she isn't." Butch stated.

Blossom fixed the green ruff with a firm glare. "Butch, do you really think she's the only official who's tried to kill us?" He could only blink in response. "Everyone wanted us dead before we defeated Mojo, they all hated us. And even after all we've done, there are still people who see us as nothing more than bug-eyed freaks. We can't please everyone, there are far too many bad guys within the crowd, however, we can try to do our best. Keeping her as governor was our best option. If Abraham Lincoln tried to kill us, would that suddenly make all of his political policies terrible? No, it wouldn't. The same goes for Governor Scrofa. What she did involves my sisters and I, we're the ones who have an altercation with her, not the citizens of Townsville."

Bubbles nodded in agreement. "It's our job as heroes to make sacrifices for the greater good."

"You'll soon figure that out for yourselves." Buttercup added with a grunt.

Blossom opened her mouth to speak when the door knob began to rattle. Boomer went to open it but glanced at Blossom first. She gave him a nod and he pulled the door back, allowing a nurse to hesitantly step forward. Blossom offered her a gentle smile. "Sorry about that, we just needed a moment."

The nurse put her hand up, "No, no, that's perfectly fine. I just came to give you your post-op discharge instructions." She looked down at the clipboard in her hands. "Your Chemical X has been restored and it helped in speeding up your recovery. Your, what we assume to be a stab wound, will create mild discomfort for the next week or so and you will need to keep it clean and use antibiotics to prevent an infection, but you can come back in ten days to have the stitches removed. Other than that your wounds seem to be healing just fine and you've been approved for discharge. So I will just need you to sign these," She handed Blossom the clipboard and a pen. "And then you're free to go."

Blossom briefly skimmed over the papers, marking each one with her signature, before handing them back to the nurse.

The young girl smiled, "Thank you."

Blossom smiled back, "No, thank you, and please give the physicians my thanks as well."

The nurse gave a curt nod before exiting the room. Everyone's eyes went to Blossom.

"So can you leave now?" Butch asked.

"Yes, but..." She glanced around the room. "I don't have any clothes."

"Oh!" Bubbles bolted out of the room and was back in a flash with a bag. "The nurses told me that they had to throw away your clothes because they were in literal shreds so I went back home and got you some."

Blossom gladly took the bag from her sister while Buttercup ushered the boys out.

"Okay but why can't I stay? I'm her-" Brick's words were cut off as Buttercup shoved him forward before slamming the door in his face. Blossom quickly pulled her gown over her head to hide her scarlet cheeks, she almost thought that Brick was going to call himself her boyfriend and she couldn't help the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach.

Buttercup released a heavy sigh as she slumped against the locked door, her eyes falling shut. "God, I can't wait for things to finally go back to normal. I just wanna go home and sleep without having to worry about either of you two being possessed by a demon who's set on destroying the world and everyone in it."

Blossom shimmied into the dress Bubbles had brought her, smoothing out the wrinkles with a content hum. Her muscles were still sore and the knife wound ached with every twist and turn, but she was alive and that in itself was enough to make her grin. "Then what're we waiting for? Let's go eat some bacon and watch a movie that actually has a happy ending."

Bubbles bounced on her heels as Blossom slipped into her shoes and went to the door. "Oooh we should watch Beneath the Stars! I heard they finally made it into a movie and it has a super cute ending!"

Butch's head popped up as soon as the door opened, his green eyes wide. "Did I just hear something about Beneath the Stars?"

Buttercup cocked her head suspiciously at her counterpart. "How would you know anything about it?"

The green ruff threw a wink at Blossom, much to the disgust of Buttercup and Brick. "Bloss still owes me the book."

Now Buttercup was seriously concerned. She stared at Butch like he had grown a second head. "You can read?"

The group of teenagers laughed loudly at the puff's jest and began down the hall, their humorous sounds echoing behind them as they finally returned home.

Fun fact: Scrofa in Italian means female pig