A short chapter, but one I really enjoyed writing. Ace is awesome; Ace+Buttercup 4ever!!

Bubbles didn't feel refreshed when she woke the next morning in the hotel. At first, she was so bleary and confused from sleep she didn't know where she was, staring in wonder and fear around the lavish room. Then she became aware of Blossom's hideous snores beside her, and she remembered she was in Chicago. She blinked, everything rushing back and images and sounds and textures and smells filling her mind as she struggled to get her muddled thoughts organized. Buttercup, the professor, Fabio, the Ritz-Carlton…

Bubbles glanced at the bedside table towards the clock and saw, not much to her surprise, that it was 4:34 am. She had trouble sleeping in hotels or any bed other than her own, especially with Blossom snoring and kicking her. The mattresses always seemed too hard and stiff, making her neck and back ache. She had woken many times during the night, her sleep fitful and brief. Bubbles sighed silently and laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling. The curtains were drawn, the eerie light of predawn leaking through and casting mysterious, disturbing shadows across the walls.

She was unsure what to think about as she watched the shadows, trying to decipher shapes. However, when a long, spindly thing became 'him', Bubbles had to turn onto her side and stare at the wall. Blossom gave a loud snort beside her, and her knee jammed into Bubbles back. Bubbles suppressed a shout of surprise and pain as she gently slithered to the edge of the bed. She didn't know how she had managed to sleep in the same bed as both Blossom and Buttercup when they were younger. Blossom moved around a lot and snored and Buttercup talked, sometimes loudly and clearly, in her sleep. Bubbles sometimes wondered how Blossom's husband would react when he found out how difficult it was to sleep with Blossom in the same bed.

Bubbles at last decided that she was done taking Blossom's violent kicks and punches, so she got warily out of bed as to not disturb her, since Blossom was definitely not a morning person. She stalked across the room, her feet silent on the plush white carpet, and retrieved her bag of toiletries to take into the bathroom. She immediately turned on the bath, deciding she would take a nice, long soak and try to forget about her mounting troubles.

About an hour later, Bubbles emerged from the bathroom, feeling rejuvenated and awake. She had read more of her Sookie Stackhouse, and washed with her new kiwi body wash. She didn't like it as much as the strawberry, but it wasn't that big a concern. She quickly dressed—a white tee-shirt and a sky blue sweatshirt with a rainbow on the back and loose, pale jeans—and went down to the room where they served the continental breakfast. It opened rather early, much to Bubbles surprise, but she didn't complain as she skinned a hard boiled egg and doused it heavily with salt and pepper. However, as she moved onto her toast slathered in strawberry jelly, a man in a tan overcoat with a hat low over his face came over and sat down opposite her. There were only two other people in the room, one of them a haggard woman with wild, curly blonde hair who had eaten ten hard boiled eggs, five pieces of toast, and three of the huge waffles and the man with her, who was calmly sipping some coffee and reading the paper. The pair was peculiar, so Bubbles had found a seat far away from them, behind the buffet. Though, as the man in the overcoat sat down, she wished she'd sat somewhere someone might be able to see her if worse came to worse.

"Well, well, if it ain't Bubbles Utonium!" The man—he had a thick New York accent—exclaimed as he sat down. Bubbles dropped her piece of toast, her head snapping up in shock and horror. The voice was horribly familiar and, as the man tilted his hat up, she felt her blood run cold. She instantly recognized the long, narrow face the color of sour milk, the piercing, almond shaped brown eyes and straggly mustache and goatee, the greasy, lank black hair that hung to his narrow shoulders.
"Ace?" Bubbles whispered breathlessly, caught totally and completely by surprise to see him in Chicago. After half of his gang—the Gangreen Gang—had died of, oddly enough, gangrene, he had relocated with the two surviving members (Big Billy and Snake). Bubbles didn't know what had become of them after that since they had left more than three months before the bombing incident and Dr. Moe's death. She had never expected to see them again, but then again, she had never expected to see Sera Bellum or 'him' again either. Well, this was just a week for surprises.

"W-why are you here?" Bubbles inquired quietly, struggling to keep her cool and not come across as a scared weakling to Ace. He smiled grotesquely, showing his yellowed teeth and blackened gums. Bubbles was repulsed at the awful vapors that seemed to radiate from his pores, but she stifled her desire to recoil away from him, instead staying her ground.

"Here to see the fireworks, sweetie." He drawled in that sickly sweet voice of his. As the gang name implied, he had suffered a severe, almost fatal bout of gangrene. Though he had recovered, it was obvious that it still afflicted him. He reached out to take Bubbles half eaten slice of toast, but she pulled out it out of his range rather childishly. Not only would he probably infect the bread, but he was diabetic (that was partly the cause of his gangrene; the other was probably the serious smoking problem).

"Fireworks?" Bubbles repeated, puzzled, but keeping it hidden. Ace's smile widened.

"Every one of your still living villains is in Chicago right now, darling. And they're gonna watch as he knocks you and ya sisters flat on your cute little asses." Ace explained saccharinely. Bubbles scowled at him in disgust.

"He won't do that, Ace." Bubbles murmured defiantly, but inside, she was quivering. She had to struggle to keep her lower lip from trembling with fear. She boldly met his bright gaze, but she looked down after a while. Ace smiled, but in a more charming way, if an unhealthy boy like him could look charming.

"You and ya sisters must be suicidal to come here again. This is all a trap that he yet up for ya. If ya were smart, ya'd get out now, while ya have the chance." Ace told her mildly.

"Why should I listen to you?" Bubbles objected.

"If I wanted ya dead, I coulda killed ya by now." Ace pointed out in a bored, matter-of-fact tone. Bubbles' eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Oh?"

"Yah, sweetie. Look down."

And Bubbles did. And, much to her horror, she saw, under the table, that Ace was holding a gun pointed at her. He smiled lazily and leaned back in his chair.

"W-why are you doing this? Why are you telling me this?" Bubbles inquired softly, confused and angry and terrifed.

"Unlike the others, I want ya to live. Life without the Powapuff Girls? Bo-ring." He grinned. "Ya shouldn't do the press conference if you want to live. That hot chick with the nice rack and red hair? She's gonna betray ya."
Bubbles got to her feet in a huff, wanting to punch Ace in the face for what he'd just said about Sera. In hindsight, it was probably a really bad idea to make such a sudden movement with a gun pointed at her under the table, but she was too consumed with fury to remember that.

Either way, Ace just smiled lazily, totally unperturbed.

"How dare you!" Bubbles snarled quietly, leaning across the table to get in his putrid face. "Sera would never betray us, you—"

"I'm just here to give ya the warning, darling. I'm not gonna try and convince ya what to do, I'm just sayin I want to see ya'll live, 'specially Buttercup." Ace said jadedly, examining his too long, dirty finger nails while the gun rested laxly on his knee. Bubbles considered making a dive for it, but that was no doubt a terrible idea, so she sat back down again, still glaring menacingly at him.

"You used to try and kill us. Now, when there is a possibility we could all die, you want to save us? How out of character! You've changed, Ace." Bubbles remarked scathingly, leaving out that Buttercup wasn't even in the state. She recalled with distinct clarity when Buttercup had run away with the Gangreen Gang and the intense crush she had developed on Ace. He was her first and only crush, and though, at the time, Ace hadn't responded in kind, he might now that Buttercup was older and, god help her, more daring and sexy.

"So have you, sweetie." Ace intoned knowingly, and Bubbles grimaced as the accurate comment. "Nowadays, I don't wanna see you and ya sisters go down. Snake's dead, and Big Billy's stayin in New York with some friends o' his. I got nothing but you gals."

"What is that supposed to mean? We're not into crime fighting anymore, Ace. You know that." Bubbles replied sharply. He laughed, a harsh sound akin to metal scraping metal. Bubbles winced.

"Ya'll see soon enough, darling. Until then, take my advice to that ice cold heart o' yours." Ace winked, flashing the gun at her before getting up and walking smoothly away, like he belonged in the Ritz-Carlton. Bubbles never found out how he got in, but as soon as he was gone, she practically sprinted back to the room. She didn't want to acknowledge Ace's words, but the deed had been done. The seeds of distrust and doubt had been sown.