Chapter 2: Not So Pleasant

Buttercup threw her school bag on the floor, despite of the protests of her older sister, and wobbled up the stairs, into the bedroom that she and her sisters shared. She opened her bedroom door and walked towards her bed.

Their room was almost the same as before, except that their bed was separated into three. They shared the same wardrobe but their clothes were hanged separately, with a steel rod placed vertically for partition. The walls were painted into three different colors; the side on the left was blue, in the middle was pink and on the right, the walls were green. The blue-painted-wall had three circle windows placed horizontally next to each other, from which the light peered inside and filled the room with sunlight.

The walls were decorated with their pictures placed in fancy frames. There were at most 5 pictures on each wall. Each picture contained a special memory: memories of birthdays, each one more eventful than the last; framed newspaper clipping flashing the words 'Powerpuff Girls save Townsville', marked their victory against the enormous slimy acid-spitting monster. The girls still reminisced about the day; it had taken two whole days to defeat that monster. They came back home bruised and tattered and had to rest for a week to recover completely.

The green wall on the right had posters of ACDC, Metallica, Guns-n-Roses, Nirvana and a few other bands. The blue wall on the left had astonishing paintings hanging on it. The pink wall in the middle was empty and plain but there was a huge bookshelf by the wall, filled with books the number of stars.

Buttercup slumped on the bed and thought of today's events. It had been a tiresome day for the girls but Buttercup the most of all. The green Ruff had followed her all day, spouting nonsense and getting irrelevantly involved with her affairs; her affairs being her friends, she did not like that at all. Unfortunately, he was the only person who knew exactly how to get into her nerves and she regretted to say that he succeeded every single time.

Blossom and Bubbles walked in soon after her. Buttercup sat up on the bed, holding a pillow in her arms. She watched her older sister brush her hair delicately in front of the mirror as Bubbles picked out her clothes went to take a shower.

"What is it?" Blossom's voice snapped Buttercup out of her thoughts and she realized that she had been staring at her sister.

Buttercup shook her head lightly. "Nothing," she replied.

Blossom looked at her sister's reflection through the mirror for a while, and then she turned to her. "Is it…them?" Blossom found it better than to say the name Rowdyruff Boys.

Buttercup glowered at Blossom "No!" she snapped. Blossom raised her hand in surrender and mouthed okay to her angry sister and went back to her brushing.

"…maybe," the green Puff admitted reluctantly. Blossom opened her mouth to speak but a brisk 'don't' from her green-eyed sister stopped her.

Blossom shrugged. "I'm your sister," she said. "You can tell me anything just like I do, and I know that it's bothering you just like it's bothering me and Bubbles. We're here for you, just like you're always there for us."

Buttercup eyed her sister suspiciously. "Where is all this coming from?"

"From your elder sister's mouth," Blossom declared.

Buttercup rolled her eyes as she heard the bedroom door open. Bubbles walked in, wearing a bathrobe with her hair tied up in a towel. She walked over to their wardrobe and pulled out a blue and white striped t-shirt and dark blue jeans. She was pulling her jeans up when a sudden beeping noise startled her.

"It's the hotline," Blossom pointed out and trotted to the happy-faced phone, Buttercup ran towards Blossom and pressed her ear to the other side of the receiver. "Hello Mayor…uh-huh…okay…we'll be right there."

"Alright!" Buttercup exclaimed.

"Let's go girls." Blossom said and flew out of the window.

"But I just washed my hair!" Bubbles complained, which was ignored by her sisters.

It was always like this when they had trouble in Townsville. Bubbles always complained of something; usually things like 'but I just took a shower' or 'but I just painted my nails' and stuff.

The Puffs flew towards the lofty buildings of Townsville, which were half destroyed, and stopped in front of what a normal person would call a really scary monster. The monster was taller than the buildings with three heads and a really long tail. Basically it was a super sized three faced crocodile. It smashed the buildings into half as it moved forward and its tail smashing continuously into the road beneath, like a stubborn baby stomping his foot on the ground when he doesn't get what he asked for. Cars squished like bugs under its feet. The people screamed for help and ran for their lives. The monster screamed as if he was happy to destroy everything.

Someone pointed at the sky, where there were three streaks of blue, pink and green, and shouted "It's the Powerpuff Girls!"

The girls landed gracefully in front of the three-headed crocodile. The people calmed down and Blossom told Bubbles to get the people to safety and clear the area.

When the area was cleared, Bubbles joined her sisters, who were floating before the face of the crocodile.

"This is one ugly monster," Blossom stated in disgust.

"And we're about to make it more ugly!" Buttercup hollered and darted towards the head on the right side.

She punched and kicked, punched and kicked, punched and kicked but the monster didn't even budge. She cursed at the head and went to kick him harder than the last time…but the kick never reached it.

The next thing she knew, she was in a hole. She tried to get up but the pain that rushed through her body wouldn't let her. It was too hard to bear, for a normal person that is. She squirmed out of the hole and flew above.

She saw that her sisters were struggling to get out of the monster's hold. She felt a twinge of rage and flew with full power towards the monster and punched it hard in his gut. The monster spewed out rubble and staggered back, Buttercup took the chance and freed her sisters by loosening its grip.

"Thanks Buttercup!" Bubbles called out and Blossom just nodded at her.

"This one is not about to go down easily…we need a plan" Blossom announced.

"No thank you, leader girl," Buttercup growled and shot towards the monster.

"Buttercup!" Blossom shouted. "Tsk, idiot!"

"You know she isn't the type to follow a plan…she never does!" Bubbles shouted.

Blossom looked at Buttercup, who was punching the monster, "let's go." she told Bubbles.

The pink and blue Puff flew fast towards the monster and punched it, but to no avail. Buttercup was hitting it at random places, Blossom was using her laser beams and Bubbles, her sonic scream. Blossom flew close to Buttercup and yelled "For once in your life, would it kill you to listen to me?!"

The monster screamed loudly and hit them all, sending them flying back to the earth. They struck the ground so hard that their impact caused a loud bang. The Puffs laid lifeless on the ground as the monster began to scream in victory; destroying more buildings as he did so.

Blossom and Bubbles got up. Buttercup sat up along with her sisters. Blood trickled down from her head to the jaw and her arm seemed lifeless. When she tried to move her arm she felt a sharp pang which caused her to stop. She looked at her sisters and saw that Bubbles arm had a deep cut on it and blood was emerging from the wound; she coughed into her hand and saw a red stain on her palm.

"See? It almost did," Buttercup shot back.

Buttercup got up and, ignoring Blossom's glare, looked at the monster; its scream was almost deafening and it was as green as slime. She squinted…and then she saw it; the monster was overall invulnerable but every person has its own weakness, and this monster was no different.

Buttercup got up and shot towards the monster.

"What is she doing?! She going to get us all killed!" Blossom yelled.

Blossom saw her sister flying full speed towards the crocodile. She got closer and closer and…she flew right past it.

What…? Blossom thought.

Blossom couldn't figure out what happened but the next thing she knew, the monster was falling. It was right above her and coming closer and all she could do was look. Buttercup shouted at her but she couldn't hear her. She was looking right at the monster's head that was about to squish her. Her eyes were wide open and she couldn't move, suddenly she felt a great force on her right side that caused her to fall and roll on the side. She heard the monster fall beside her.

Blossom opened her eyes to see Bubbles right beside her; no doubt she had been the one to save her from becoming a sheesh kebab. Then her eyes wandered to the monster; it was laying face-down on the ground and its tail had disappeared completely.

Buttercup landed on the ground before her sisters and her face wore a smug expression; and in her hand was something big, long and green with scales.

Bubbles scrunched up her face and Blossom stared at her for a moment and then said, "The tail,"

"Put that away!" Bubbles said, "…gross"

"Why, does it scare you, sweet sister?" Buttercup said and held out the tail in front of Bubbles' face, who looked like she was about to faint.

"Stop it Buttercup!" Blossom ordered. "How did you know that cutting its tail would kill it?"

Buttercup shrugged. "I didn't," she said.

"You mean that you just did that on a whim?" Blossom had a hint of anger in her tone.

Buttercup shrugged again.

"And what if it didn't work? Do you have any idea what could've happened?!" Blossom said, her anger rising.

"But it did," Buttercup said, "End of story."

"God, you're the most irresponsible person I have ever seen!" Blossom said, exasperated.

"I'm the most irresponsible person?!" Buttercup exclaimed "Well, listen here sister; if it wasn't for my quick thinking we'd never be able to beat that ugly thing!"

"Your quick thinking? Did you even think?!" Blossom shot back.

"Stop it you two!" Bubbles screamed, much to her sisters' surprise. Her sisters looked at her in shock and that was the end of their argument. They knew better than to utter a word when Bubbles had told them not to. Bubbles was their sweet sister, but not so sweet when angry.

"That…was a long day," said Butch as he slumped on the couch of their living room, "Man, I knew coming here was bad and couldn't you have found any school for us to go to…I mean you just had to send us where those little girlies are."

Brick, on the other hand, remained silent. He knew saying anything right now would probably result in an argument. He just took out a drink from the fridge and went to his room and locked himself in.

"Hey Boomer," Butch called, "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, why?" Boomer asked in confusion.

"Just askin'," Butch said "Get me something to eat, Boomboy."

"Get it yourself."

Butch glared at his younger brother as he went to his room and shut the door. He cursed under his breath and went to the kitchen; the floors creaked under his weight as he walked.

Their house was a small one and was quite far from the city. There were three rooms in the house; small, but enough for the boys to sleep in. There was a living room with an old television, a couch and a small wooden table; kitchen with a wrecked old fridge and cabinets that smelled like trash. The roof was dangerously low that someone as tall as Randy would have to bend down to stand in there.

Butch coughed as he opened a cabinet to look for something to eat. Finally, he found some granola bars and took out three for himself. He went to the living room and turned on the television. Since the television was old, it didn't really work properly. Butch gave the old box a few punches and curses and the figures started to appear.

He kept changing the channels while taking a bite from a granola bar. Finally he stopped at something; he leaned close to the television and saw that it was the Powerpuff Girls. It was a news channel reporting about the Powerpuffs' recent victory against a giant three-headed crocodile. He looked closely at the screen as they displayed a scene from the battle. It was the scene where Buttercup was punching the monster continuously and her older sister was shouting at her.

Butch smirked. "We really are the same, aren't we?"

His mind wandered back to the school today, how he had bothered her. For Butch it was like a victory; to be able to provoke Buttercup without her being able to lash out! That was gratifying as much as it was amusing. As her counterpart, he knew how to drive her up the wall and so did she, much to his disappointment. He knew that he'll wake the monster within someday; just how long could she resist. The very thought pleased him.

After coming back to Townsville, Brick had strictly told them to not cause any trouble and especially Butch. Brick knew him like the back of his hand and going up against him would be a mistake for anyone. What Brick said was final and no one argued about it. As much as Butch hated to listen to anyone, he had no choice here, since it was his fault that they ended up here.

Sorry Boss-man, I don't really think that I can hold out too long, he thought. And he knew that Brick was aware, more than he himself would ever be.

The next day came fast and the morning was as usual. The birds chirped outside the wretched house; the weather seemed colder than it usually did, especially when you're living in the middle of a forest like some bears in a cave, but the house itself was unusually quiet.

"Get the fuck up, you motherfucker. We have school!" Butch shouted at his blue brother, who was snoring till Butch woke him violently. Boomer jerked up, oblivious of what was happening.

"Stupid ass brothers," Butch muttered as he walked away. "Wake him up, Butch! That's what he said…what am I, your fucking maid?"

Boomer got up and went to the bathroom, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the light that sneaked in from the window of his door-less bedroom. He saw Butch sitting at the weirdly shaped table, eating what looked like potato chips, grumbling under his breath like he always did; probably complaining about making him get up so early in the morning.

Boomer washed his face and brushed his teeth. He doused his hand in the running water and ran those wet hands from his messed up blonde hair. He went to join Butch and frowned at the sight of their breakfast. There were only snacks and nothing else.

"Is that all we have?" He asked no one in particular.

Butch shrugged. "Hey Brick? Is this it?" Boomer called out.

"Is what it?" Brick said as he came out of his room, adjusting his cap. "Oh that…yeah about that," he pulled up a chair next to his brothers, "We have supplies for the next 2 weeks at max, that is if we eat this much everyday."

Brick took a bite of a potato chip.

"Oh great, another problem!"

"You shut the fuck up Butch, it's all because of you that we are in this fuckin' mess," Brick said as he jabbed a finger at Butch. "Besides, we get food in school everyday at lunch."

"That shit is not food!" Butch declared.

"Better than not having any food," Brick said as he got up from his chair. "Now eat fast or we're gonna be late for school."

Blossom checked her watch again as she rushed past the corridors of the Townsville High. When she finally reached her destination –the Headmistress' office –she stopped and looked at the door in front of her; she took a deep breath and straightened out her skirt. Today, she was wearing a pink skirt with a white dress shirt and a sleeveless cardigan that matched her skirt. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail with her precious bow which she refused to get rid of.

She opened the door of the office and went in. Headmistress Keane was standing in front of the large window which was the only source of light in her office. She was looking over some documents with those tired eyes that showed the hard-work she did to get here.

Blossom cleared her throat to beware the Headmistress of her presence. Headmistress Keane turned her head towards the Puff. Her once beautiful face had signs of wrinkles on it. She peered at Blossom from above her sophisticated half-framed glasses, which was placed on the edge of her nose, threatening to drop. She smiled at the pink-clad girl and gestured her to take a seat.

When Blossom sat down on one of the two empty chairs; the Headmistress also took her seat right across Blossom.

"Is there anything important you wanted to talk to me about, Headmistress?" Blossom started.

Headmistress Keane eyed the documents and said, "Yes Blossom, there is something important," she looked at Blossom. "You know that you've always been a bright student. You showed promise in everything since kindergarten, and you have always been a great leader to your team and your sisters."

Blossom nodded at the remark, not sure where this was going.

"I wanted to ask you," Headmistress continued, "Why didn't you take any advance placement classes? You do want to go to college, don't you?"

Blossom thought for a moment. "I do want to go to college Headmistress," she said. "But the reason I didn't take any of those was because I already have too much to take care of. I mean you know how busy we can get if there is an attack to the city. I wasn't really sure if I could handle the pressure."

"Hmm…you have a point," Headmistress Keane said. "But I still suggest you take those…and also join a few clubs."

Blossom nodded and started to get up from the chair to leave.

"That wasn't the real reason I called you here though,"

Blossom furrowed her brows in confusion and settled back in her seat. "What is it then?"

"This," she said as she handed Blossom some papers, "Just came in; thought you might want to take a look at it."

Blossom looked over the documents with a frown that showed her confusion. She carefully examined the pages one by one. When she reached the last one, her eyes widened. "Is this…?"

"It might be," Headmistress said.

"Where did you get it?" Blossom asked.

"From a reliable source," she assured her.

"Can I keep them?"

"Of course," Headmistress said, "But you have to take good care of them. I don't think it's a good idea to show it anyone else...even your sisters."

"I'll keep that in mind," Blossom said as she took her leave. "Thank you very much, Headmistress."

"The pleasure is mine, my sweet child." The Headmistress said flashing a warm and gentle smile towards the Puff; but just as Blossom closed the door, her smile turned into a frown.

"Yo Buttercup! Have you seen your sister?" Randy asked as he approached Buttercup –who was sitting with her friends.

"Which one?" Buttercup asked.

Randy made an isn't-that-obvious face. Buttercup gave a laugh. "She was called to the Headmistress' office."

"What for?" he asked in confusion.

"I don't know," she said. "Probably to tell her 'how good she is!' or that 'she's brightest student in the whole of Townsville!' cause I tell you, she's qualified for that." She changed her rough voice into a squeaky one, "Oh Blossom! You're the most amazing student I've ever seen! You're probably the next Einstein!"

Randy chuckled at Buttercup's childish behavior. "You make it sound like you hate it,"

"Oh please," she stated. "Why the hell would I hate anything that nerd does?"

"Alright then," Randy said as he started to leave, "I'm gonna go find your nerdy sister."

"Okay," she said and turned back to his friends.

"Either he's your sister's lackey," Jason said. "Or he's got the hots for her."

"Who, Randy?" Buttercup said. "Pssh, no way! He's just a good friend."

"Yeah…these kinda things start with friendship," Craig said. Craig the second friend Buttercup made in High School –first being Jason. Craig was a sweet guy, helpful and a bit of a gossip-lover. Buttercup always made fun of him saying things like 'I swear if you changed genders, you'd have no problem blending in'

"Yeah…you would know," Mike commented and that got a laugh out of everyone. Mike was no longer a shy, sophisticated kid that he was at Pokey-Oaks.

"Anyway," Mitch said. "Are we on for tonight?"

"Yeah, of course!" Buttercup said and everyone nodded.

"What's tonight?" Someone said from behind and Buttercup knew instantly who that person was.

She turned around and gave Butch a cold hard glare. Butch was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a green jacket that matched his eyes. "None of your goddamn business," she retorted.

"Figured," said Butch and started returning Buttercup's glare.

"We're going bowling," Mike said. "Wanna come?"

"Wha-No!" Buttercup said sternly as she turned to face Mike and giving him a threatening look. She turned back to Butch and crossed her arms over her chest. "He's not coming with us!"

"Oh come on," Butch whined. "He asked so nicely, how can I refuse?"

"Yeah seriously Butters," Mitch said. "He's a new guy, wouldn't hurt to have him there."

"He's not coming with us," she said stubbornly and walked away.

"Hey!" Mitch called after Buttercup, and then he turned to Butch. "Sorry man, she's usually not like that…you should come, though. I'll text you the name of the place…you can find it, right?"

"Yeah I'll find it," said Butch. As he saw Mitch's back to him, he smirked. "This is going to be fun."

"Hey BC!" Mitch called out as he increased his pace to match up with Buttercup's. "What the fuck's wrong with you?"

"I should be asking you that," she hollered at Mitch. "Calling him to hang out with us! Are you out of you fucking mind?!"

"Is there something wrong with hanging out with him?" Mike asked as he looked at them over his shoulder.

"Something wrong with it?" Buttercup said. "He's a fucking time bomb waiting to explode!"

"Then you guys would get along real well," Mike said. "Anyway, how'd you even know that he's a 'time bomb' when you don't even know him?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Buttercup. "I know that guy like the back of my own hand. You should know that."

The guys stopped and looked at her with confusion.

Buttercup stopped when she realized the other had stopped. "What's with those dumb faces?" she asked as she turned to them. When they didn't say anything in return, she snapped. "What?!"

"You know that guy already?" Mitch asked.

"Duh," she said shrugging and turned back around.

With that she walked away from her confused friends.

"So," Mack started as he led the blue Puff through the corridors of their high school. "Are you coming with me to the party tonight?"

"Which party?" Bubbles asked confusedly but after a moment realization struck her. "Oh…yeah of course…I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Mack nodded but his face wore dis-satisfactory expression as he looked at Bubbles. "What's bothering you?" he finally asked.

Bubbles looked at him perplexedly. "Why do you say that?"

"Well for one," he said. "You seem distracted and that only happens when there's something bothering you."

"So I'm that obvious, huh?" She said as she scratched the back of her neck.

"So, there is something going on," said Mack. "And no, you're not that obvious. I just . . . know you."

The smile he gave Bubbles was enough to melt any girl's heart and Bubbles was no different. She sighed and started, "It isn't really that much of a big deal but it's bothering me a lot, and not just me but my sisters as well…maybe Buttercup not as much but you get it, right?" Mack nodded.

"Well, I'm sure that whatever the problem is," he said as he stopped and stood in front of her with his arm on her shoulders. "You guys would figure it out."

Bubbles gave him a smile and nodded. He smiled in return and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll pick you up at 7, okay?"

Bubbles waved at him as he walked away, the smile never left her face. She turned around and stopped abruptly as she saw someone familiar standing at the corner, leaning against the wall.

Boomer was looking right at her, as if in deep thought. After a moment he tore his eyes away from her and started walking down the hallway on the opposite side.

Bubbles didn't understand what happened for a second.

What was that all about? She thought after a second but shrugged it off and went to find her sisters.

A/N: Let me know if you liked it or not.

Please look forward to the next chapter and review too!