Disclaimer: I don't own Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

Inspiration: marinav92

A/N: Hi, everyone! So, you'll see that I haven't touched this fanfic in a very long time, and this is mainly because, well... I just have little to no motivation to work on this. The only reason I actually managed to finally update this was because when I originally created the poll on my profile, only two people voted before the deadline, which was December 12th, and those two people voted for this fanfic.

So, I decided to work on this.

I'm not into doing the role-playing (RP for short) before (and after) chapters anymore. I grew out of that a long time ago, and if you've known me for a very long time, then you would've realized this already. Please understand this. I just find RP notes before and after chapters completely annoying and redundant now, so, as a result, I'm not going to do this for the following chapters of Secretive Curse anymore. (Maybe you guys might miss it, but I sure as hell don't.)

Oh, also, because I always did about five pages per chapter back then with Secretive Curse, I'm going to keep it at that pace until I randomly hit a chapter that I end up writing more than I intend.

I also had half of this chapter typed up a long time ago, but again, because I never had motivation to work on this, it's just been collecting dust in my fanfiction folder. Because of those two people who actually voted before the deadline, I managed to finally get off my butt and work on this, so if you want to thank anyone, thank those two people who voted on the poll for this fanfic.

If you guys ever want any updates on how I'm doing with my fanfics, the best way is to just look at my FanFiction profile. I'm not kidding. The statuses of all of my ongoing fanfics are on there, and any updates on myself, such as if I'm too busy, if I'm on break, if I'm back in school, or anything along those lines, will also be on there. If you have any questions besides the statuses of my ongoing fanfics, feel free to hit me up with a PM. Otherwise, if you hit me up with a PM that asks me when I'll update one of my ongoing fanfics, I might seem annoyed at you. (And I apologize if I do, but I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to repeat what I've already said, even if it's to a different person each time, so please don't hold this against me.)

If you guys want me to update Secretive Curse again, you still have time. I kept the poll open even after the deadline, and it's gonna be kept open until I'm back in school, which is January 5th.

Sorry about the long author's note, but I felt like I needed to get all of this out of the way since it's been more than two years since I've updated this.

Well, anyway, enjoy the chapter! And thanks for your voting and feedback, guys!

CHAPTER 4:

A beautiful teenage girl stared at the sight before her. Her pupils completely dilated as the reality began to sink into her head.

This… It just couldn't be.

It was only five minutes. She was only late by five minutes. She told them to wait just a bit longer. They were going to a mixer, after all. They were finally going to escape that stuffy private all-girls school they went to and maybe finally meet someone special.

So, why?

"No…"

Why did this happen?!

Bruised bodies of her best friends laid right in front of her in this dark alley. Eyes turned backward into a complete white, blood tricking out of their mouths, and a large puddle of blood was underneath each body. The blood stained the cement and their clothes, flowing slowly outward as the bodies continued to bleed.

And bleed.

And bleed.

Until finally, she couldn't take it anymore and screamed.

"Damn it, we're too late!"

"Butch, shut your trap," Takeo replied.

"Screw that," Takeshi whispered harshly back. "We're on the rooftop—" He cut himself off when he saw that Takumi was doing something as he leaned over the railing of the rooftop. "What the—Boomer, what the hell are you doing?"

"Taking pictures of the crime scene," Takumi replied. His cell phone was out as he continued to snap pictures of the bloodied bodies from the rooftop.

Takeshi immediately rushed over, and he stared blankly at the bodies that were a long distance below. As the sobs and screams of the teenage girl continued, people began to crowd around the area to figure out what was the commotion.

Takeshi blinked his green eyes and grimaced as he looked at Takumi. "You do realize that we're too high up, right?"

"There's a zoom in feature on my cell phone's camera, though."

"It'd still be blurry as hell. Did you even think about how dark the alley is right now?"

Takumi blinked a few times as he immediately stopped taking photos. "Oh, yeah."

Takeshi groaned softly.

"So, why are we using our Rowdyruff names?" Takumi asked. "I thought we weren't ever gonna use them again."

Takeshi shrugged. "How should I know?" He nodded his head to Takeo. "Ask what's-his-face over there."

Both of the brothers immediately looked at Takeo, who was apparently on a cell phone—one they didn't recognize. They raised an eyebrow at each other as they continued to listen in on their brother's words.

"Okay… Yes, thank you."

And immediately, Takeo hung up before he shoved the cell phone inside his pocket.

Takeshi frowned. "So, you mind telling us who the hell you called at this time?"

"The police."

Both brothers' eyes widened in response.

"Don't worry. It's anonymous. This is a disposable cell phone, anyway, so they can't track us." Takeo paused, and before Takeshi and Takumi knew it, their red-haired brother was already lost in his world of mumbles.

Takeshi and Takumi glanced at each other before they headed towards Takeo. Sirens were already heard in the distance, and the commotion became louder.

Ignoring it, Takeshi began snapping his fingers in front of Takeo's face. "Hey, hey, hey. If you're onto something, don't leave us out of it, like you always do."

"If it's about the pictures, I can try sneaking a closer shot," Takumi added. "You know, just to not get that blurriness."

Takeo shook his head. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

"We don't need the photos."

Takumi blinked a few times before he frowned and muttered, "But, you told me to take photos…"

"I know, I know. Sorry about that," Takeo replied. "It's just that…"

"Just what?"

"Well, this murder… Something about it doesn't feel right."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Takeshi asked as he grimaced.

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "Don't you two feel it?"

"Feel what—"

"Just shut up, close your eyes, and concentrate."

Takeshi and Takumi glanced at each other in uncertainty.

"Just do it," Takeo hissed.

"Okay, fine, jeez," Takeshi muttered.

Takumi sighed as he rolled his eyes.

Both brothers immediately calmed down and closed their eyes. A moment of silence passed before the two opened their eyes. And this time, the two of them were frowning.

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows. "It can't be…"

"It is," Takeo replied, scowling.

"That isn't possible," Takeshi retorted as he narrowed his eyes. "Brick, we lost that guy miles away from Tokyo City. There's no way in hell—"

"And yet, it's him," Takeo interrupted. "I don't like this any more than you do, but I'm telling you that it's definitely him. He's somewhere in this city, and we have no way of tracking him down." His scowl deepened.

The sirens got louder as the boys went into a long pause of silence.

"No, no, no!" they heard the girl scream.

"Please," they heard a police officer begin. "You must—"

"I don't want to leave them! No!"

As the commotion became even louder, Takeshi frowned. "So what the hell should we do now?"

Takeo narrowed his eyes at the commotion before he flinched.

Takumi noticed this. "Brick, what's—"

Takeo shushed him. "He's here. Let's go—"

A dark chuckle interrupted Takeo. "Well, well, well, look what I've found here."

"Shit," Takeo muttered.

"Cursing's unlike you, Brick."

The boys turned around, and their eyes widened.

"I knew it!" Takeshi hissed.

"Butch, not now," Takeo growled.

"No, I knew it! I knew something was off about you—"

"Butch—"

And at that moment, a police officer screamed, "Hey, men, I think I heard something from the rooftops!"

Takumi's eyes widened. "Uh, guys, I think we need to flee, like, now."

Takeshi scowled. "Oh, no, not until I get to—"

"Butch," Takeo interrupted.

Takeshi glanced at him.

"Not. Now."

"But—"

Takeo narrowed his eyes.

"Men!" the same police officer yelled. "Up there!"

"Hey, don't tell me you're just going to run away," the person said with a dark smile. "We finally got reunited."

Takeo glared at him. He then glanced at both of his brothers and nodded.

Takeshi looked reluctant and angry, while Takumi nodded back in response. After seeing Takumi nod, Takeshi nodded as well, and at once, they ran off in different directions.

Peach immediately woke up, and he sniffed the air. His face grew pale. "B-Black aura…"

Slowly, Ken woke up as well. "Peach…" He yawned. "What's the matter?"

"Black aura, da wan."

Ken blinked a few times before his eyes widened. "What?!"

"Black aura, da wan! I sensed it!"

"But, Peach—"

"I sensed it!" And then, Peach's eyes widened. "W-Wait, it's gone now."

Ken frowned. "Maybe it was a false alarm?"

"No! I sensed it, da wan!"

"Peach—"

"I sensed it!"

Ken sighed. "Okay, we'll tell Papa—I mean, the Professor in the morning."

"And the girls, too, da wan," Peach muttered.

Ken sighed again. "Yeah. Them, too. Let's go back to sleep, okay?"

Peach opened his mouth to say more, but Ken quickly went back to sleep. Peach frowned, and he did his best to go back to sleep. However, Peach knew that he couldn't ignore that anxious feeling he felt about that black light he detected.

And it only grew the more he thought about that mysterious black light detection.

Takeshi arrived home last, and he saw his two brothers in the living room. He scowled as he closed and locked the door behind him. "So, what the hell do we do now?"

Takeo frowned, and he glanced away.

"Hey, hey, hey, you better not—"

"I'm not leaving you guys out of anything. I'm thinking, damn it."

"Well, think faster!"

"Guys," Takumi began. "Maybe we should think about this in the morning?"

"How is that going to help, Boomer?"

Takumi frowned. "I'm just saying that—"

"'Saying,' my ass! That's not going—"

"The two of you, shut it!" Takeo snapped.

And at once, Takeshi and Takumi closed their mouths.

"Now's not the time to argue," Takeo said as he frowned. "We need to figure out what to do—fast."

"Maybe we should leave?" Takumi asked.

"And leave the girls?" Takeshi retorted.

"I'm sure they'd understand—"

"How the hell are they going to understand? They don't know we're the Rowdyruffs!"

"Well, maybe we should tell them—"

"No, we're not doing that," Takeo interrupted, narrowing his eyes.

"Agreed," Takeshi added.

"Why not?" Takumi asked. "We've been with them for a long while now—"

"Boomer," Takeo began. "I'm going to ask you some questions."

Takumi frowned. "Ques—"

"Why are we the way we are now?" Takeo exclaimed as he glared at Takumi, who flinched.

Takeshi opened his mouth.

"I'm asking Boomer," Takeo snapped as he glared at Takeshi.

Takeshi then closed his mouth and frowned.

Takumi sighed. "Because of the monkey."

"Why did we leave that stupid house?"

"Because we couldn't control our new powers."

"And what did we discover?"

"That we change every full moon."

"And whose fault is it?"

"The monkey's," Takumi replied, and he frowned before he asked, "What does this have anything to do—"

"Why did we come back?" Takeo interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Why did we come back?" Takeo repeated as he scowled.

Takumi frowned.

"Boomer."

Takumi sighed. "We came back because we could handle our powers now."

"And what else?"

"To find out who the Powerpuff Girls Z were."

"And what were we going to do from there?"

"Get closer to them."

"And what was our plan afterward?"

Takumi hesitated.

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "Boomer."

Takumi looked away.

"Boomer!"

"I don't want to say it!" Takumi exclaimed.

"I don't care if you don't want to say it! Answer the damn question!"

Takumi swallowed—hard—before he finally replied, "Get rid of the girls."

"Good. You remember the plan."

"But—"

"We're sticking with that plan, and I hope that you didn't forget one single bit of it," Takeo snapped as he glared at Takumi. When he saw Takumi hesitate, he narrowed his eyes. "Boomer, don't tell me you actually fell for Bubbles."

Takumi didn't respond.

"Boomer," Takeo growled.

"So what if I did?" Takumi retorted.

Takeo scowled. "That wasn't part of the plan—"

"I don't care if it's not part of the plan! I care about her!"

"Do you even remember that humiliation they gave us? At all?!"

"I do, but—"

"Then we're sticking with the plan!"

"No, I refuse!"

"Boomer!"

Takumi turned his head to look at Takeshi, who was at the fridge and had just grabbed the orange juice carton. "Butch, you need to back me up on this."

Takeshi blinked a few times, and he frowned. "Don't involve me in this, man."

"You are involved," Takumi retorted.

"Look—"

"Don't you at least admit that a part of you cares about Buttercup?"

Takeshi frowned.

"Don't you?!"

"Dude, calm down—"

"Don't you?!"

Takeshi glanced at Takeo, who glared at him. He sighed, and he replied, "I honestly couldn't care less about that girl."

Takumi narrowed his eyes. "That's a lie. I know that's a lie—"

"No, it's the damn truth," Takeshi interrupted as he looked at his blond brother straight in the eyes.

"But you always acted—"

"Yeah, 'acted,'" Takeshi interrupted again. "As in I never cared about that girl."

"You were protective of her at school, though!"

"Yeah, and now, I know why," Takeshi retorted calmly.

"But—"

"Look, the only reason why I'm so 'protective' of her is because of one reason."

Takumi frowned.

"And that's because if anyone is going to beat that tomboy's ass, it's going to be me," Takeshi said as he grinned darkly. A sadistic glint could be seen from the corner of his eyes, and he chuckled. "Gotta admit that she's fun to mess with, though."

Takumi scowled, and he looked at Takeo. "And you? You don't care about Blossom?"

"I don't care about Blossom," Takeo replied. "Like Butch said, it's just an act."

"You guys just 'acted' like you cared and loved them for a year, then? That's seriously the crap you're giving me?" Takumi retorted angrily. "Even though I can clearly remember Butch saying he liked Buttercup back then?!"

"Like I said, it was an act," Takeshi said as he shrugged. "But, I do admit that she's fun to mess with."

Takeo, on the other hand, simply stared at Takumi.

"I can't believe this," Takumi grumbled.

"Well, believe it, and we're sticking with the plan," Takeo said, and when he saw Takumi open his mouth to interrupt, Takeo added, "And that's final."

Takumi scowled, and he looked away.

Takeshi put the carton back in the fridge, and he frowned. "Uh, Brick?"

"What?" Takeo asked as he turned his head to look at Takeshi.

Takeshi glanced at Takumi, who was still looking away, and he looked at Takeo. "The plan doesn't have anything to do with that guy, though."

"It does."

Takeshi furrowed his eyebrows. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that it does."

Takeshi frowned. "You're leaving us out of the loop again, aren't you?"

"I'm not."

"You damn liar."

"I said I'm not."

"Then tell us your damn plan to deal with that guy already."

"It's simple," Takeo said before he smirked darkly. "We'll just get rid of him with the girls."