Author's Notes: Like any chapter 11 worth it's salt, things are gonna get pretty dicey for the characters here. This December has been a flurry of writing for me, which has been a lot of fun and a lot of work. Thank you everyone for reading :)

Chapter 11

Here's The Plan

Townsville jail. A place for craven crooks and crazed criminals to begin their road to correction. It is within this cavernous collection of cinder block walls and iron bars that Bubbles found herself on this particular day.

It had been three days since she arrested Mojo Jojo, and since she couldn't visit the professor to ease her frazzled mind, she decided to visit the demented evil genius monkey instead. Why? Because strangely enough Mojo Jojo was one of the few things left in life that didn't scare Bubbles, and she figured someone all alone like him could probably use a frenemy.

Most visitors would be forced to talk to the inmate behind a glass wall through a phone line, but since Bubbles had super powers the police decided to make an exception for her and let her sit with Mojo Jojo in the cafeteria. After all, what cop in Townsville would say no to a former Powerpuff Girl?

Mojo Jojo seemed confused when he first saw her, but when he sat down across from her a smile formed on his wizened face.

"Let me guess, my defense attorney was too scared to drop by to get my testimony again," Mojo said as he gave a low chuckle, "I am not surprised. Last time he wet himself when he realized who I was. Upon recognition his trousers went from clean to decidedly not."

"I'm not here about your arrest, Mojo. I just wanted to visit you."

"Next time visit me in my volcano observatory," Mojo rebutted, "I have to deal with a cavity search every time someone shows up here. I've never told the boys though, or they would show up just to torment me."

"Yeah, they can be really mean sometimes," Bubbles cringed, "You know Butch is dating Buttercup."

"Yes, I am well aware of the relationship status of that emerald-eyed miscreant," Mojo grumbled, "Not that I heard it from him. The only one that ever calls me is Boomer, and usually it is because he needs money. What, does he think mass-scale theft robots grow on trees? I wish that boy would get a job, or at least find his own town to steal from."

"Yeah, me too," Bubbles sighed, "Blossom has arrested Brick and Boomer several times this year. Butch hasn't been too much trouble, but that's only because he lives on Monster Island."

"Take my advice, Bubbles. If you're ever going to have kids, don't throw their ingredients into a toilet," Mojo espoused, "Trust me, they do not come out right, and in fact turn out quite wrong."

Bubbles giggled at Mojo's candor. The old ape scowled throughout the conversation, but she could tell that he was happy to get to talk to an actual person for once. Robots were useful, but probably not very good company.

"So Bubbles, since you are not saving the world, what occupies your limited time on this planet?" Mojo inquired.

"Let me show you," Bubbles said eagerly.

Bubbles then rifled around in her purse, and pulled out what looked to be a small ball of purple yarn. Mojo adjusted his glasses and peered down at her hand, only to see a small octopus amigurumi.

"You still play with toys?" Mojo asked, unimpressed.

"I made him," Bubbles said proudly, "His name is Octi Junior. You know, I think I understand why you make so many weapons and things now. It feels good to make something yourself."

"I make WMDs," Mojo countered, "As in weapons of mass destruction. My brand of intellect is scientific and deadly. It is not compatible with the making of cute little dolls."

"I'm starting to see where the Rowdyruffs get their attitude from," Bubbles rolled her eyes, "I don't mean we make the same thing, but it's a similar kind of feeling. To spend your time working hard on something, and then to see it finished and know you made that. It's like…well, I'm not good at explaining things, but it's really cool, right?"

Mojo pondered, but then finally said, "Yes, I suppose it is…really cool."

Bubbles smiled, and handed Mojo the toy. She surprised herself by trusting him with her new creation, but she didn't think Mojo would destroy it. At one time he might have, but like Bubbles, Mojo was older and wiser now. Well, maybe not wiser, but…less destructive. Maybe.

"I suppose the craftsmanship is slightly above average," Mojo appraised the doll, "It is still just a toy though. I could make one that shoots lasers and actually grips objects with its tentacles."

"I already shoot lasers and grab things. Why would I need that?"

Mojo's frown deepened, annoyed by Bubbles' logical illogic.

"So, how is the professor?" Mojo asked, "I have not heard from him in quite some time. It has been far too long since I have kidnapped, threatened, or otherwise plotted against our mutual father figure."

"Did you have to put it like that?" Bubbles asked sourly.

"How else should I put it? Those are the occasions when I see the professor most of the time."

"Look! I don't wanna talk about the professor, okay?" Bubbles abruptly snapped.

"My, my. Someone is a bit moody," Mojo replied patronizingly.

"Look, if you really wanna know…"

Bubbles didn't finish that sentence, and her whole demeanor changed from defensive to defeated. Mojo picked up on this, and realized the situation might be more serious than he originally thought.

"Did something happen to the professor?" Mojo asked, concerned.

"No…yes…no. Not yet." Bubbles faltered.

"Well? Which is it?" Mojo demanded to know.

"There's a drug ring that's after us, okay? Well, after me," Bubbles explained bitterly, "The professor is in hiding because they threatened to kill him. It's not fair! Everyone is in danger because of me. I don't even know how to find the guy in charge of this stupid Saga Cartel! Why does everything have to be so hard?"

"…Really? A drug ring? That's your problem?" Mojo scoffed, "You do remember that you have super powers?"

"Which are all pointless if I can't even find the guy before he kills the professor!" Bubbles snapped angrily.

"Hm…perhaps I could be of help to you," Mojo pondered, "Though it would betray some closely guarded villain secrets. I think the question I must ask is…what's in it for me?"

"Well, what do you want?" Bubbles asked.

"One million dollars," Mojo grinned sinisterly.

"You know I don't have that," Bubbles replied flatly.

"Fine! Then just help me break out of jail," Mojo huffed as he crossed his arms petulantly.

"I can't do that!" Bubbles protested, "I'm not a crook! Mojo, the professor could die. This is important."

"Is it?" Mojo drew out the words playfully.

Bubbles growled and balled her fists, knowing that he was just waiting her out. The problem was, she really did need help. She and her sisters searched all over Townsville for Mr. Big, but all to no avail. If Mojo Jojo, with his underworld resources, could actually help them get this psychopath behind bars…

Bubbles pulled Mojo by the collar until he was close enough for her to whisper in his ear.

"You better have a plan."

Mr. Big sat in his menagerie room, watching Fluffy the python slither to and fro behind her glass case. In his hand was the psychological profile for Bubbles Utonium. Moose was supposed to read this for Mr. Big and report on which parts were actually useful for their plans. He never got around to it though, so Mr. Big found himself alone trying to pour over nearly 10 years' worth of information.

It was slow work, and Mr. Big wasn't a proficient reader. Reading next to a red lava lamp probably didn't help the situation. The papers weren't even in order, so half the time he didn't even know how old Bubbles was when she wrote something.

There were so many pointless conversations in these files. Bubbles had a dream about being strangled by a green blanket, the family went to Cape Cloak for vacation, Bubbles found that red guy Him to be the scariest villain. Blah, blah, blah.

Mr. Big wondered why she paid good money for a therapist if she wasn't even going to say anything important or talk about her real problems. Mr. Big felt good about at least only going to see the shrink when he needed him. Bubbles showed up nearly every week for 10 years!

While he was pouring over the files, he finally found something useful. Apparently not all of the Powerpuff Girls lived in Townsville. Buttercup moved to Monster Island to be with a Rowdyruff Boy. They lived in adjoining shacks near the island's volcano, and they had a view of a secluded lake.

Mr. Big pushed the button to his intercom, and Lucky answered right away.

"You need something, boss man?"

"Yeah. Get me Femme Fatale. Mr. Big has a job for her…"

Bubbles sat in the laboratory looking at empty beakers and carefully cataloged Petri dishes, her head resting in her hand. She was dealing with a moral quandary, and this time she wasn't sure if she would make the right decision.

At first she was just going to pay Mojo Jojo's bail, but apparently that one million dollars Mojo wanted wasn't just for show. That was actually how much it would cost to buy his way out of jail. That made sense, given that he was essentially Townsville's resident terrorist.

Could she really break him out of jail and be okay with this? She knew it was wrong, but she also knew Mojo facing legal justice was about as likely as The Amoeba Boys stealing something more valuable than a bunch of grapes. At least this time if he broke out with her help then she could protect her family from The Saga Cartel.

Not ready to face her problems just yet, Bubbles decided to pull out her phone to play- Oh, wait. She broke her phone at the hospital.

Bubbles sighed deeply. This week just kept getting worse.

Determined to have just a few moments without the weight of the world on her shoulders, Bubbles logged onto the professor's lab computer. The home page for his internet browser was a news site frequented by old people and bloated with ads. Bubbles couldn't help but laugh. She didn't think of the professor as an old man, but she had to admit to herself that he was getting up there.

At first Bubbles was going to click away, but the front page news story was from an event in Townsville, so she stopped to read. She wished she didn't.

TOWNSVILLE PIER BOMBED.

At first Bubbles just assumed it was another supervillain scheme or something, but then she read the rest of the article. Apparently the cops suspected it was a mob hit on several key members of The Saga Cartel. She recognized the name of Rudolph Mann. Not his real name of course, but one of his listed aliases: Moose McGregor. That was the lead Bubbles was supposed to follow, but now he was dead and wouldn't be able to talk.

Bubbles groaned and rubbed her head. If only she had tracked him down when she had the chance. Finding him was too hard though. He covered his tracks down to the very end, and now Bubbles truly was at square one.

This is stupid, Bubbles thought to herself, I'm not a detective. I don't know how to solve crimes, only stop them. I have to hurry before it's too late. There's a drug war on Townsville's doorstep, and for some reason I'm a target. The professor and my sisters can't die because I was incompetent. I have to find Mr. Big! But…that means I have to…

Bubbles didn't have the energy left to cry, so she just sighed again. She was going to have to break Mojo Jojo out of jail. In order to be a hero, she was going to have to work with a villain.

A scaly saurian-like monster wearing a ski mask and a black and white striped shirt ran down the streets of Monster Island. In his hand was a bag filled with gold coins from the 1st National Monster Bank, freshly stolen by the oversized thief. He laughed at his latest heist, sure that the cops would be too slow to catch him in the act.

As he turned a corner near the volcano however, two tiny green dots flew in front of his face. Despite their minuscule size he stopped in his tracks because he knew…it was them.

"Alright! Time to kick some monster butt!" Butch exclaimed with a feral grin.

Before the bank robber could turn away Buttercup and Butch flew straight toward him and started punching. Butch knocked out sharp teeth, Buttercup sliced off regenerating arms, and both of them tripped his oversized legs so he would fall over. Then Buttercup lifted him by the tail and swung him around, letting go and allowing him to fall in the ocean.

The mangled monster criminal was immediately scooped up by a pair of ten-tentacled police officers, who led him straight to jail.

"Aw, man! I wanted to knock him around some more!" Butch complained, "That took like ten seconds!"

"I know, I know, but we gotta practice for the prize fight tomorrow anyway," Buttercup consoled him, "So, you want pizza or Thai food?"

"I wanna go to Mario's Pizzeria in Townsville!" Butch said excitedly.

"Hm, not a bad idea," Buttercup agreed, "Besides, we need to check on my family. The professor is probably going crazy without his experiments, and who knows how many panic attacks Bubbles has been through lately."

"You can check on them," Butch said dismissively, "I just want my pizza and garlic bread sticks."

"Fine, then you can go back to my house and grab my wallet for me," Buttercup countered, smiling impishly.

"Don't make me fly around with that thing!" Butch pleaded, "It has a picture of a heart on it!"

"It's a broken heart with black goo coming out," Buttercup argued, "What's the big deal about that?"

"It's girly!" Butch shouted.

"You're girly!" Buttercup shouted back.

"Oh yeah?"

Yeah!"

Before they could stop themselves they were fighting each other, punching and kicking as they had done with the monster a few moments before. Butch pulled Buttercup's hair, and she kicked him in the shins. From the ground it looked like a swirling ball of glowing green yarn tangling into itself as they tussled.

Before either one could seriously injure the other however, they stopped upon hearing a noise. The ocean water was bubbling, and the air felt still. Both of them let go of each other's shirts and stared at the water, waiting for whatever was going to pop out.

Then, slowly, a waterproof mecha suit emerged from the ocean, and at the controls was Femme Fetale; smiling wickedly from the mech's center and ready for battle.

"Her again?" Buttercup snorted, "She can't be serious."

"Who's the old lady?" Butch asked.

"Just some low-tier villain from Townsville," Buttercup scoffed.

"Cool. We can turn her in on the way to the pizzeria," Butch replied nonchalantly.

The green-clad couple loosened their shoulder muscles and readied themselves for what would likely be a short fight. Femme Fatale, for her part, wasted no time in shooting laser beams at them.

Buttercup and Butch flew off in separate directions, forcing Femme Fatale to choose which one to chase down. She went with Buttercup, and Butch turned around so he could hit her from behind.

When Buttercup heard Butch's flight trail behind Femme Fatale's robot, she grinned and turned around to punch the mech from the front. Both Puff and Ruff hit their target, and the robot was immediately destroyed.

Femme Fatale, seeing that her expensive robot battle suit was trashed, ran away like a hunted animal. She didn't get far however, as Buttercup quickly blocked her path. Femme Fatale backed away from Buttercup, only to bump into Butch.

Both supers had their arms crossed as they smiled menacingly at the presumptuous villainess. Femme Fatale brushed against some bushes, but then stopped when she realized she had nowhere else to go.

"You've gotta be one of the dumbest villains I've ever seen," Buttercup snidely remarked, "I just beat you a few days ago. How are you even out of prison?"

"Do we knock her unconscious or just fly her upside down to Townsville?" Butch asked.

"No! Wait!" Femme Fatale pleaded as she approached the supers, "Don't hurt me! I know this was all a mistake…and you made it. Hahaha!"

Before they could process what she just said Femme Fatale pulled a bottle from her belt's clip and splashed its contents onto her unsuspecting opponents!

Buttercup and Butch spit and rubbed away the liquid away where they could. At first they thought it was acid, but it didn't feel like acid. Acid tickled. This felt stickier, and smelled more like fiberglass and burnt matches.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!" Butch growled savagely.

Butch then tried to punch Femme Fatale, but she gracefully dodged and he fell to the ground. He gritted his teeth and readied himself to fly right toward her smug face, but when he tried to take off nothing happened.

"Hey! What gives?" Butch shrieked in panic, "I can't fly!"

Buttercup picked up the discarded glass bottle and read the label. Antidote X. This was the stuff that takes away the effects of Chemical X, the building block of their superpowers.

"Uh oh!" Buttercup gulped.

Femme Fatale pulled out her ankh shaped gun, ready to shoot Buttercup dead. Buttercup tried to run away, but her legs were so weak from lack of normal use. She tripped over herself, and Femme Fatale took aim. Before she could fire however, Butch tackled her to the ground.

"Stay away from Buttercup, you old witch!" Butch screamed in her ear as he punched her face.

Butch wasn't a super-man anymore, but getting punched in the face hurts regardless, and Femme Fatale wasn't strong enough to get him off her. Buttercup got up and staggered over to Femme Fatale's gun. She managed to kick the weapon away before Femme Fatale could reach it. Her legs might have been weak, but Buttercup's determination was strong even without Chemical X.

"Powers or no powers…" Buttercup panted from exhaustion, "…You can't beat us."

"She don't have to."

Buttercup turned around at the sound of a new voice, and saw a group of well-dressed gangster types holding guns on them. Buttercup recognized Louie The Knife from her previous interrogation. Thankfully this time he was wearing pants.

"Get off the nice lady," A large man in a fedora ordered Butch.

"Nice my butt!" Butch barked, "Just who do you think you are?"

"Someone who don't need chemicals to be strong," The man replied.

"Get this creep off me, Big!" Femme Fatale demanded, "His knee is in my abdomen!"

"You're Mr. Big?" Buttercup asked, but he ignored her, "Hey! You stay away from Butch!"

"Or what?" Mr. Big asked challengingly, and then turned around and said, "You know what to do, boys."

The other gangsters immediately opened fire on Buttercup, and though she ducked she could feel several bullets penetrate her skin. It was an odd sensation, since her skin was supposed to be bulletproof. It hurt, and she could feel blood seeping out of her fresh wounds. Before she could process her next move however, she passed out.

Mr. Big calmly approached Butch, who looked at him owlishly as he got off Femme Fatale and backed away.

"You…you…did you kill Buttercup?" Butch asked, too shocked to even be angry.

"Hold still and this'll go faster," Mr. Big ordered coldly.

Butch, realizing what was about to happen, punched Mr. Big as hard as he could in the gut. The mob boss didn't even flinch, and Butch felt himself getting weaker from lack of Chemical X. Unable to defend himself, Butch was powerless as Mr. Big grabbed him, lifted the younger man over his head, and then cracked Butch's spine with his own thick skull.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Butch's piercing scream was soon followed by silence.

Mr. Big threw Butch next to Buttercup and then bent down as far as he could to help Femme Fatale off the ground.

"Thanks, Big," Femme Fatale said briskly.

"No, thank you," Mr. Big replied in a softer tone than she used.

The gangsters didn't have long to figure out what to do with the bodies however, as they heard giant footsteps coming their way.

"Ah, crud! Monsters!" Louie The Knife squealed, "What do we do, boss?"

"Cheese it," Mr. Big ordered curtly.

With that the gangsters and Femme Fatale ran back to a plane that was waiting for them, leaving the grisly scene and their victims behind.

A pink winged monster walked by the scene and saw the mutilated couple laying in a pool of Buttercup's blood. The monster citizen recoiled and gasped in horror.

"Holy…that's Buttercup and Butch!" The monster cried out frantically, "I need to call an ambulance! Oh, I hope those little humans are still alive…"