AUTHORS NOTE: There will be graphic descriptions of violence and death, please read with caution if you are easily triggered by those things.

As always, I do not own Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls or the characters within the story! Enjoy.

Chapter 1 - "Mistaken the Truth for a Lie."

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"I was high, I was hiding

You were knocking on the door

And I was standing behind it

Keeping quiet in the hall"

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Triplet streaks of pink, blue, and green flew over the city. Side by side the Powerpuff Girls made their way to the fire that was rapidly devouring the city. The screams of terror and pain of the townspeople gradually got louder as they flew closer and closer. The sky above them was an unsettling shade of red which only meant one thing… Him. Even the mention of the demon's name struck fear into the hearts of some of the girls' worst villains.

When they arrived, they landed together in the middle of the street. The girls did this before every battle to study and observe what they were about to get themselves into. The sight was horrible. Blood painted the building walls all down the streets and raging fire spat out of the windows. The sidewalks and pavement were cracked and even melted from the heat. Amongst the smoke and haze, the tall skinny silhouette of their villain could be seen.

Him, sensing the girl's presence, slowly turned around. Just seeing the demon's eyes made even Buttercup uneasy with chills running down her back. The three squinted their eyes in anger as they stood their ground.

"Oh hello, girls." Him said in his echoey voice. "Glad you could make it." the demon slowly began to hover as he spoke. His shoulders were rolled back as he reached his short desired height. He tilted his chin up, however, he kept his devilish gaze on the girls.

"Give it up, Him!" Blossom yelled, "we've beaten you before and we'll do it again!"

"Sure. But who's to say that it will happen again, hmm?" Him's voice echoed. "You girls don't understand that someday, you will meet your match. Someday, you will be defeated… You will die. And I would absolutely love to be the one to kill all three of you– slowly– so I can watch the life drain from your eyes."

The girls were disgusted by Him's words. Going into every fight, the girls knew that there was never a one hundred percent chance of survival. Sure, more often than not, the heroines had an advantage where their chances of getting injured or killed were very low… but it was never zero. The Professor came to terms with this, seeing as he did create them to protect the city, but he always did everything he could to keep his girls as safe as possible. They were constantly dosed with more chemical X so that their levels didn't fall too low, put through multiple training simulations a week (that they usually considered playtime) or he even had them try "safer" alternatives to crime-fighting with their own powers.

"Now girls, let's play a game, shall we?" Him said, snapping the girls back to reality, "A game called… Catch me if you can!" Him laughed maliciously as she shot a smoke bomb at the girls, giving himself a head start, causing the girls all to cough until the haze cleared up.

"Bubbles, you take left. Buttercup, right. I'll go straight." Blossom commanded, "And if you catch him, have no mercy… Get rid of him." With that, the girls all took off in their designated directions. Blossom tried her best to stay focused, but what Him had said was getting under her skin. She usually didn't mind leaving her sisters and splitting up, but this time she couldn't help but worry about their safety. She knew that they were more than capable of holding off Him… but not for very long. Him could even tire out Buttercup in less than five minutes. That's why the girls never fought him alone. Bubbles made the first mistake of that when she went after "octi" alone. When it turned out to be Him, he snagged her, giving her no way of escaping or fighting the demon. That is until Blossom and Buttercup showed up.

Buttercup too was distracted by those unsettling words. However, unlike Blossom, she was more pissed than worried. Sure, she was concerned about her sister's safety, but she was just blinded by her hatred of the monster for saying those things. The green superhero tried her best not to imagine what she would do to Him if she caught him, seeing as it would make herself and her motivations just as bad as the monsters. She sometimes hated herself for being so aggressive and violent, but she couldn't help it. When it came to someone saying something they definitely shouldn't have, it made her blood boil.

As for Bubbles, she chewed on her lip the entire search. She tried her very best to always be brave just like her sisters, but sometimes she just couldn't. Just like the other two, the things Him had said got under her skin and terrified her. But as she continued to search, she became more desperate to find the demon so she could teach him a lesson. Just as she stopped to look over an opening of buildings, something rushed past her, causing her to spin around and lose her balance. Just as she regained her compositor, she was hit from behind, sending her crashing into the roof of a tall building below.

The blue superhero got right back up and shot into the sky once again. She hovered above the city, glaring at Him through her eyebrows. She was angry. She lunged herself at him, hitting him in the gut, and wrapped her arms around his waist. She spun around then threw him into a building. The sound of the glass shattered was unnecessarily loud, making Bubbles herself recoil to the volume, and she knew without a doubt her sisters heard it. But with no hesitation, Bubbles shot towards Him once more. This time, however, Him lifted his claw, grabbing Bubbles with his powers, and sent her flying into the building next to his.

Just as he thought he could get away, Him was hit back further into the building, this time by a pink streak. As he opened his eyes, he saw Blossom hovering angrily above him. Before he could move, she flew up and forced herself down onto him, sending the two crashing through multiple floors. But before they could continue, Him grabbed onto the girl's ankles and threw her off of his body. Blossom tumbled backward, crashing into an office desk. She lifted her head just in time to see Him stand and brush himself off. She then bolted towards Him and began fighting him with her hands. She threw punches, fortunately hitting Him, blocked a few returning attempts, and then flew up to give him a solid punch right to Him's cheekbone.

Him flew backward from the impact. He lifted his head to see Blossom now slowly walking towards him with a smug smile on her face. The room was filling up with smoke from the many fires that had started in their fight, adding to the intensity of the situation. Him then felt the anger in his chest and threw himself at Blossom. The two flew backward quickly and crashed through a window.

Just before the two hit the ground, Blossom was yanked out from underneath Him's body by a streak of green. Buttercup held onto her sister as she flew her up to the building Bubbles was trapped in. Blossom let out a sigh of relief as she watched Him slam into the cement, creating a deep crater. Buttercup placed Blossom down as gently as she could before she shot over to Bubbles— who was trapped underneath a heavy piece of building that had fallen off her. Of course, she was not hurt, she was just in an awkward position to push the stone off of her body. Buttercup lifted the stone off of her sister and immediately returned to Him.

Him groaned as he crawled out of the deep crater he had created in the ground. However, before he got far, he was tackled from behind. Buttercup pushed Him's sliding body into the pavement, sparks flying as Him's flesh began to basically melt. The green heroine then flipped the demon over and threw Him into a building. She shot herself towards the monster but was stopped as Him held her back with his power and threw her into a metal trash can. Buttercup, however, recovered quickly, and grabbed the lid of the can and chucked it at him.

The impact caused many of Him's teeth to fall out. Him grabbed his face in pain but was then hit in the gut by an unforgiving punch. Buttercup rapidly beat Him, trying her best to get Him to surrender. But before she could get him to that point, Him grabbed Buttercup and threw her backward. As Buttercup landed in the street, also creating a crater, Blossom and Bubbles landed. They angrily kept her eyes on Him, knowing Buttercup was fine and would get right back up. The three stood furiously as they glared at the demon. Him had blood running down his neck and cuts all over his arms. The girls too had some bleeding wounds or bruises, but certainly not as many as Him.

"Well girls, I hate to say it, but I am impressed." Him said with not a hint of pain in his voice. "But you're going to have to do better than that!" Him clapped his hands causing a horizontal beam of light to knock the girl's back. Blossom slammed into the building, shattering the windows and cracking the bricks as she fell to her hands and knees. Bubbles had been thrown backward, landing hard on the pavement as she tumbled backward. Buttercup was also thrown backward but was stopped by the concrete curbside before she could tumble any further. The girls, however, recovered quickly. All the shot up in the sky and joined together as they angrily glared down at their enemy.

The three then shot into different directions, Blossom forwards, Bubbles right then Buttercup left. As they formed a V shape over Him, they glanced at each other before throwing their hands out in front of them and blasting the demon with their powers. Him's body arched back from the shock, but he fought the rays and threw his arms out, blowing the girls backward from their positions. Him flew up and placed himself in the middle of the street. He held his claws out in front of him, creating a ball of fire. His eyes shot from side to side just waiting for one of the girls to come at him.

He then smiled when he saw a streak of blue come from above and fly towards him. He whipped around and chucked the fireball in her direction. Luckily, Bubbles had anticipated this and spun out of the way. Him growled and began throwing multiple smaller fireballs at the girl. She danced and giggled as she dodged each and every one. Little did Him know, Bubbles was just a distraction.

Him was just about to fly up and pounce on Bubbles but was then slammed into from behind. Buttercup had swooped in, putting both her legs together, and kicked Him hard on the back. The impact sent Him flying down the pavement. Him lifted his head slowly but was startled to see Blossom standing with her arms crossed in front of her. Before he could move, she punched him hard in the face, sending him to fall sideways. Blossom then began rapidly punching the demon, but Him managed to grab onto the girl's hair and spun her around into the building side.

Him stood just as Bubbles was about to swoop down on him. Before she could get to him, he threw his hand out in front of him, catching her in an orb of his power, and chucked her towards where he had just thrown Blossom. Just as the pink heroine was standing up and dusting off her dress, Bubbles crashed into her, sending them both deeper into the building.

The demon laughed maliciously as he looked at the smoke coming from the two girls' crash. But before he could celebrate more, he heard the sound of another Powerpuff flying at him. He turned around just in time to see a streak of green come down from the sky and right towards him. He then quickly jumped out of the way, feeling the strong wind blowing on him as Buttercup flew right past him. But Buttercup reacted quickly and, before she crashed into the building, she grabbed onto a streetlamp. Her body was then spun around the pole and she was not flying right towards her target.

Buttercup tackled Him to the ground. She beat him up angrily as revenge for what she just watched him do to her sisters. Blood trickled out of the demon's body as Buttercup knocked out teeth or sent him into the pavement. Just as she was finishing up, she heard Blossom and Bubbles land beside her. The three girls then took the advantage and finished Him off.

"ENOUGH!" Him yelled as he blew up. The girls all were thrown outwards, but never crashed into anything. They all just hovered in the air and watched as Him slowly rose from the ground. "Fine. You win today's fight. But trust me girls, next time I WILL kill you all-"

"Shut up!" Buttercup screamed as she lunged towards the monster. She was furious that Him wanted to kill them so badly, and just hearing him say it again tipped her over the edge. As she darted towards the monster, Him saw his chance. He twisted his hand with a smirk on his face, and a ring of fire appeared. He flew in front of it in hopes that Buttercup would not only hit himself into it, but he could drag her in along.

"Buttercup!" Blossom screeched as she noticed what Him was doing. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion for the pink hero. She watched in horror as Buttercup threw her arms around Him, pushing them both into the portal. Immediately after the two entered, the portal snapped shut. Blossom gasped and flew towards where the portal used to be. She was joined by Bubbles as the two called for their sister.

Suddenly, a few yards from where Blossom and Bubbles were, Buttercup came tumbling out of a separate portal. She landed on her hands and knees, breathing hard. As the portal snapped shut behind her, both Blossom and Bubbles shot by her side. Bubbles knelt down slightly in front of her sisters and watched as Blossom fell to her knees, grabbing onto Buttercup's shoulder and arm from the side.

"Buttercup, what happened?!" She said urgently. She gently pushed on her sister to set her up in an upright position. Buttercup now sat on her knees, her arms bent slightly out in front of her facing up. Her expression was blank, she just stared before her with her mouth open slightly… She was in shock. Blossom gasped as she saw Buttercup's body.

"Oh my gosh." Bubbles whispered as she saw how beaten up her sister was. She had deep gashes all over her body rapidly pouring out blood and bruises everywhere. Her dress was torn in many places and was stained with dark crimson blood. Her hands didn't even look like hands anymore. They were covered in blood and bruised. There were even some burn marks and new scars hidden underneath.

"Buttercup!" Blossom said a bit more loudly this time in hopes her sister would snap back to reality. Fortunately for her, Buttercup jumped a bit before blinking. She then looked around then locked eyes with her pink sister. Tears filled her big green eyes as she collapsed into the ginger's arms.

"Get me out, get me out, get me out-" Buttercup whimpered pitifully as she clung to her sister. Her voice was extremely hoarse and she didn't seem to be hurt or bothered by her wounds what-so-ever. She just seemed to be solely focused on holding onto her sister.

"You're ok, Buttercup. You're out! You're in Townsville now." Blossom reassured her sister. She felt sick just hearing Buttercup's crying. The green heroine barely ever cried! And even just hearing Buttercup's pain made Blossom's eyes fill with tears. There were no sounds except for Buttercup's wailing and the crackling of fires surrounding them. Every now and then, the buildings would also begin to creak as the fires weakened their framing.

"What's going on, Blossom?!" Bubbles basically sobbed. She stood not very far from her two sisters with he hands over her mouth. Her whole body shook with fear and sorrow for her green sister.

"I-I don't know." Blossom choked as Buttercup quieted to the sound of Bubble's voice. "Something must have happened in that portal." Blossom released Buttercup but kept a tight grip on her shoulders to keep her upright. "We need to get her to the professor… fast."

Bubbles immediately sprung into action. She, along with Blossom, placed themselves on either side of Buttercup, carefully raising her to her feet. As they slowly began flying above the ground, Buttercup sank deeper, not being able to hold herself up. The two other sisters readjusted so that Buttercup was more stable, then took off towards the Utonium household.

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"Could've walked

Could've turned your eyes away, mmm

Nobody would've blamed ya"

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"Professor!? Help!" Bubbles screamed as they burst through the doors. She gently let go of Buttercup, leaving Blossom to hold her on her own, and jolted around the house looking for their father. Blossom ignored her sister's panicked state the best she could, knowing that she really couldn't do anything to help at this point, and slowly lowered Buttercup to her knees. Buttercup's head was still dropped, but to Blossom's surprise, the green heroine reached out and grabbed her hand. Tears began streaming down her face once again as she reassured her sister she was alright.

"Bubbles?!" The Professor's voice could be heard coming from the lab, "Bubble's? What is it? What's wro-" he was cut off by Bubbles appearing suddenly in front of him. This had startled him so much that it nearly made him tumble off the stairs backward.

"It's Buttercup! She's hurt! Bad!" Bubbles cried as she turned back around and bolted to her sister's side. The Professor's heart dropped into his chest. He had gotten many "Blossom's hurt" or "Bubble's hurt" but never a "Buttercup's hurt!" and he's never been told this panicky. She rushed up the stairs and towards the sounds of his daughter's voices. Just as he thought this sick feeling in his chest couldn't get worse, it did...

Buttercup sat on her knees with one of her arms still wrapped around Blossom. The pink heroine too held onto her sister. She had one of her hands pressed up against Buttercup's chest, keeping her from falling forwards, and the other wrapped around her. Bubbles was standing beside the two not completely sure what to do. She tried her best to comfort her traumatized sister by stroking her hair or whispering something. Seeing this, the Professor ran forwards, basically falling to his knees before the three.

"What happened!?" He said as he took Buttercup gently from his other two daughters. He could feel Buttercup clinging onto his lab coat as Blossom explained what had happened.

"We were fighting Him and he pulled her into some sort of portal! She was fine before, but once she came back she looked like… this!" Blossom had tears streaming down her face as she spoke. She and Bubbles flew close behind the Professor as they hurried down into the lab. "Professor, I don't know what happened!"

There was a corner of the lab for situations like these. However, the situations were never quite as bad as this. Utonium absolutely hated even having to have this medical corner, but he knew that seeing how dangerous the girls' lives were, it was necessary. He gently placed Buttercup onto an observing table.

As he hurried to get his examination kit, Blossom and Bubbles slowly flew forward to hover before their sister. Buttercup sat silently, staring in front of her at the tiles below. This was pretty much the first time the girls could fully see Buttercup's face because she wasn't dropping her head. Her face was covered in bruises and bleeding cuts. One deep gash just below her right eye stuck out to the two the most.

"Professor? Why isn't she healing?" Bubbles said tearfully. Usually, when the girls would get a bruise or a cut from a fight, they would heal within minutes. This happened because of the Chemical X in their bodies. But even after a while, Buttercup's wounds still bled and the bruises weren't fading.

"I'm not sure, Bubbles." The Professor said as he returned to the table. "Something must have happened."

"But she wasn't even gone long!" Blossom explained as she and Bubbles moved back so that the Professor could check on their sister. "She was only gone for barely two seconds." As she spoke, the Professor opened the kit. Buttercup's eyes finally moved. Her gaze fell onto the medical scissors and knives in the kit and she instantly shot backward into the corner.

"No!" she screamed. "Please don't!" Buttercup sobbed with a pitiful crack in her voice. Professor Utonium, Blossom, and Bubbles all stared at Buttercup in shock and sorrow. Buttercup as curled up in the corner sobbing, hugging her knees close to her chest. Her hands were slightly out in front of her as if she was pushing something away protecting herself.

"You're okay, honey." The Professor said. His voice had completely changed from concern to calming. She slowly and gently walked towards his daughter but stopped as Buttercup sank deeper into the corner. "Buttercup, you're safe now." the Professor stepped forwards a bit more, then crouched down. He slowly reached his hand out, "It's alright honey. It's me, the Professor." As he said 'professor' he gently placed his hand on Buttercup. The girl flinched slightly, but then she realized who it was. "It's dad."

Buttercup once again began wailing as she shot into her father's arms. The force nearly knocked him backward, but he caught himself before he fell. He stood still holding the girl tight as she cried. He then turned to see Bubbles crying into Blossom's arms. The ginger was crying just as much as her sister, but she kept her eyes fixed on Buttercup. The two girls again moved out of the way as the Professor made his way back to the table.

"You two go upstairs as I check on your sister."

"But what if–" Blossom began to argue but was cut off by the man.

"No buts. Get yourselves cleaned up first, but then Bubbles, get some water and some soup started. I doubt she'll want to eat, but we'll fix something just in case. And Blossom, you go start a bath and get some gauze and washcloths ready. I'll be up after I take a closer look to see if there's any internal damage." After giving Buttercup one last sorrowful look, the two did as told.

"Is Buttercup going to be ok, Blossom?" Bubbles spoke once they got to their room. She herself was quite shaken up, she had never seen so much blood before, but she was trying her best to stay strong for her sister.

"I'm not sure." Blossom said as she pulled out the three nightgowns. She tossed Bubbles's blue one and gently placed the green one on the bed. "I don't even know what happened. If she was only gone for a second, how come she's so beaten up?"

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The Professor wasn't completely sure how getting Buttercup cleaned up was going to go, seeing as how traumatized she was, but she was silent the whole time– except for a few pained groans or sobs here and there. Fortunately, Utonium didn't find any internal bleeding. But he did find that her left wrist was broken along with a couple of ribs. He cleaned her wrist and any area that was going to be covered before he wrapped the broken wrist in a temporary white cloth.

Along with this, the Professor found that Buttercup's Chemical X levels were running low, which explained why her wounds weren't healing. However, pumping large doses of Chemical X into a body, even a Powerpuff girl's body, was extremely dangerous. So, instead of getting her levels back to normal quickly so that she could heal faster, the Professor estimated that a week of small doses each day would get her levels back to the usual amount safer.

When he arrived upstairs, Blossom and Bubbles had done exactly what they were told. Beside the tub of warm water was a tray of all the medical things the Professor needed to stitch and clean up Buttercup's wounds. On the counter, the bowl of soup and the glass of water was placed beside it. He was joined by both Blossom and Bubbles as they washed the drying blood off of her. To their relief, Buttercup's body wasn't as badly battered as they thought. The biggest concern, however, was a deep gash lining her stomach. The Professor stitched that up the best he could and then wrapped it tightly in a thick white bandage.

After she was clean, he continued to stitch the wounds that needed stitching, the cut on her face as well as one running down her leg and wrapped those that didn't. To their surprise, Buttercup had fallen asleep during this. She lied peacefully on the girl's bed as he finished up the last of her wounds. The three then stood back, staring quietly at the girl.

"I'm so sorry Professor." Blossom suddenly spoke up in a whisper. "I should've stopped her sooner." She let out a quiet sob as she melted into her father's arms. The three quietly left the room so that they could speak without waking the injured superhero.

"Blossom, this in no way is your fault." The Professor said as he shut the door. "You girls knew something like this could happen during any fight. Your sister will recover and she will be okay."

"We don't even know how this happened, Professor." Bubbles said with a sad tone in her voice. The Professor fell silent.

"I think I know." He said with a deep tone. Blossom let go of her father and looked up. His expression was almost unreadable. It was like a mix of sadness and immense fear. She flew back to join where Bubbles was hovering to see if she could figure out what he was feeling.

"What happened?" Bubbles whispered. There was a long silence between the three. The Professor creaked the door open slightly so he could see Buttercup.

"I'm afraid that–" The Professor stopped suddenly as he tried his best not to choke up. "I believe that Him pulled Buttercup into Hell."