It didn't take long for Brick and Blossom to get back to the powerpuffs' home. When they entered inside, they saw Butch, who was long asleep on the couch in the living room. It was starting to get pretty late, so the two leaders decided against waking him. They headed straight for the basement to give the professor the metal shards they had taken from the robot. When they got to the basement, they saw Buttercup, Bubbles and Boomer along with the professor. They seemed to be staring at something.
"Glad you two decided to show up," Buttercup greeted them, though still angry at the pink puff for their disagreement earlier that day. Their father had told the green puff everything, and surprisingly she didn't verbally denounce the ruffs or fight the decision in rebuttal.
"We got some metal from one of the robots," Brick said, presenting the three pieces of shrapnel he had gotten. The professor came over and took them.
"Great work! Now we can hopefully discover what makes the robots so tough," he congratulated them, glad his daughter and her counterpart hadn't failed. He went over to begin, getting everything prepared so he could start the examination on the material.
"How did your searches go?" Blossom asked from Bubbles and her blue counterpart, when she saw what they were looking at. It was the tiny green robot Boomer had captured. It was trapped within a small glass chamber, appearing to be tapping against the glass with one of its four legs, but it wasn't strong enough to break it.
"Me and Butch turned up nothing, but Boomer caught one of the robots!" Bubbles excitedly said. Boomed rubbed the back of his head, feeling embarrassed by how cheerful she was just for that.
"It was nothing. I just got lucky and found it," the blue rowdyruff chuckled. Buttercup kept her focus on the robot. She didn't have anything to add to the conversation. Blossom though wanted to apologize to her when given the chance so she could get everything cleared up amongst them.
"Great work, bro," Brick high fived him. Blossom rolled her eyes. She hated to be the bearer of bad news on the matter, but she had to tell them before they decided to rob another pizza delivery boy for free food as celebration.
"Sorry, Boomer, but these robots aren't resistant at all. It's worthless, really," Blossom apologized, but Butch was able to dispatch five of the tiny robots alone. They weren't a remote threat to them. They seemed more like drones that the bigger robots summoned to their beck and call.
"Oh…" Boomer looked half disappointed, feeling a little silly for how proud he had been ever since he apprehended the machine.
"It's not a complete waste. It could help us track the piles of scrap easier," Buttercup commented, thinking that maybe they could be useful for tracking, though if the robot broke out of the glass chamber, it was going to be stomped on like the practical metal cockroach it was.
"That's a good point. We did see the robots using antenna to call them," the orange haired girl smiled, glad her green sister seemed so calm when it came to the idea of working with the ruffs. She wondered if their fight had any hand in the decision. Bubbles seemed all too happy with the idea.
"You guys can spend, the night if you want," the blonde girl offered, gaining the attention of her sisters.
"No way. Just because we're teamed up doesn't mean I'm going to sleep in the same house as them," Buttercup glared. Her trust did have limits. She didn't want anything odd to happen in her sleep. Blossom had to admit that much, despite her and Brick's previous conversation. She didn't have complete faith in the ruffs, not yet anyhow.
"Butch already crashed on your couch," Brick reminded them. Even if Bubbles was just being friendly, he could see how unsure the siblings were on the decision. Professor Utonium didn't pay any attention, more focused on examining the metal shards, but it was going to take some time.
"I guess it'll be alright. Just stay downstairs, please," Blossom granted them permission to sleep in their living room. But if she caught any of them upstairs near their bedroom door, they were going to be thrown outside.
"Thanks a lot," Boomer thanked the puffs. He was probably the most grateful of the ruffs, or the only one who would voice his opinions without a second thought around the powerpuff girls. It was eerie how easily he warmed up to them. Brick didn't care, whatever made working together easier for any of them was welcomed.
"Can you help me find the extra blankets?" Bubbles asked Boomer. He nodded, happy to help her out. They both headed back upstairs to go find the spare covers to make sure the ruffs could sleep comfortably tonight. Brick didn't pay much mind to those two.
"So professor, how long 'til you can tell us what that junks made of?" the red rowdyruff requested to Professor Utonium, whose eyes were glued to the microscope. He had the metal pieces in a small glass slide. He barely had just started.
"I'd appreciate some patience, Brick, but I don't know. I plan to stay up all night to find out," the professor assured. He wasn't going to rest until he found a way to help the super powered kids find the key to the robots' defences. So far the only thing that could hurt robots were their own material, and he had written a mental note of this.
"Fine, fine… I'm going to go raid the fridge," Brick yawned. He was hungry again and wanted to get something to eat. Blossom sighed, just letting him go to grab a bite to eat so she could have a moment of privacy with her green sister. She approached her sibling, thinking their creator would be too busy running his tests to hear them.
"Buttercup, I need to apologize," Blossom started. Buttercup looked at her. She didn't show much emotion across her face but clearly something was on her mind. The pink puff didn't blame her, everyone was under a great deal of stress, and the pressure just seemed to keep mounting. Squabbling with each other wasn't going to get anything done, but it was probably inevitable.
"For what?" the raven haired girl asked. She cared about her sisters as much as they cared for her. She had a special bond with Professor Utonium especially. Blossom saw the robot in the glass prison crumple over like it gave up.
"For hitting you when you realized I brought Butch," she reminded, tapping on the glass that separated them from the tiny drone. It didn't respond, though it clearly wasn't deactivated. Maybe its power was running low. That was something Blossom wanted to check out if she could. Whatever these machines ran off of was able to fuel them for extra-long periods of time. Buttercup shook her head.
"I don't care anymore about it," Buttercup claimed. She had minimal care over the matter of their disagreement. Her orange haired sister was growing concerned, but she was glad she accepted the apology nonetheless.
"You look distracted. What happened?" Blossom queried what was distracting her. The green powerpuff took a second to consider responding. Whatever it was bothering her clearly was important.
"When the professor told me what you agreed to, I got angry because you did it without talking to me…" Buttercup stated. The powerpuff leader understood her frustration. It was rude to make the agreement without everyone present. It was practically saying that they didn't care for an opinion, if one family member didn't have a hand in a huge decision. She didn't get a chance to say anything though.
"But when I saw all three of them and how happy Bubbles was… I felt relaxed. I don't like knowing that I'm getting comfortable around the ruffs," Buttercup finished. Her main problem appeared to be still trusting the rowdyruffs to an extent. Blossom easily figured out why. It was because they were their enemies, and were probably going to remain enemies once again after they finished eliminating the robotic threat.
"We can trust the boys for now, Buttercup. I'm going to go start getting ready for bed," Blossom assured everything was fine. Buttercup nodded, letting her pink sister leave the basement before she decided to head upstairs as well to give her father peace. As she left, she cast a quick gaze at the glass chamber, the tiny robot still having not moved. She just wanted to double check, wondering if she was beginning to become paranoid. She continued up the steps.
Everyone minded their own business from there on. That night, Brick had fallen asleep briefly after consuming the first thing he could find from the refrigerator, which had unfortunately been a special sandwich the professor made yesterday. Blossom had cleaned herself up before going to bed herself. Bubbles had spent an extra few hours with Boomer talking and playing with him, briefly after helping him get his brothers comfortable for the night to make sure they wouldn't get cold. Otherwise, everyone in the Utonium household was asleep, aside from the professor tirelessly working hard in his lab.
Around three in the morning, someone was heading downstairs, the lights in the house all being off. Buttercup was going for the front door, having something planned to do tonight. She looked at the living room as she passed by, seeing Butch still on the couch, Brick across from him and Boomer with the misfortune to be in the floor. He looked like he was having a nice dream, however, judging by the smile on his face and the peaceful expression. Buttercup opened the door and left, closing it gently behind her. Just after though, Butch opened one of his eyes getting up from the couch.
"Good thing I fell asleep early…" Butch thought. He snuck over to the door, looking through the eyehole to see Buttercup flying off to the south, leaving a light green streak of light behind her. He opened the door and closed it behind him before following, planning to stay high up in the night clouds to stay hidden. He wanted to make sure she was alright. After all, she was his counterpart, and they were teamed together for that.
Buttercup flew for a while through the night, the sky full of stars and the moon in the center, shining light down upon them. It was being obscured partially by the clouds. It looked almost like a fishing bobber drifting along a river in a sense. The green powerpuff loved the night atmosphere. Darkness was a preferred thing to her. It was easier to fight bad guys because of the vision restriction, but her vision worked even better in the darkness. Buttercup was not aware even once that she was being followed, as she drifted on forward, but she was getting some feeling something was off. The south part of Townsville was more industrial than the rest of the city. There were mostly factories here which were meant to be producing various things, but there were a good few that were abandoned, waiting to be put back to use.
"Here I am…" Buttercup said, floating above one of the factories. It showed its age, looking like it had been failing to withstand the test of time. Random sheets of the metal that were on the building were missing, and the smoke stack looked ready to collapse at a moment's notice.
"You mean here we are," Butch corrected, seeing his counterpart turn around. Buttercup knew something was feeling weird on the flight here. She growled at him.
"I'd have preferred to have a robot stalking me," Buttercup said, seeing the green ruff. The irritated look on her face alone was enough to show her demand to know why he did this.
"Boy, that's cold, BC. We're partners, after all," Butch reminded, trying to joke at the same time. He looked at the decaying factory as they landed. He felt wide awake now, and it wasn't that hard to follow the powerpuff girl, since she seemed to have a slower pace tonight. She sighed in frustration.
"So what are you doing here?" he asked.
"While you were all out earlier today, I called the mayor up and asked him if there were any strange reports on robots from the police departments," Buttercup explained what she had done. All the times the puffs had spent saving the mayor of Townsville had finally come in handy, having left them a considerably useful connection for information if required. The green puff cracked her knuckles.
"There was a report about one in this area…" she pointed out. There should be a robot somewhere in this area of Townsville. She approached the best looking entrance she could use to get inside, which was a hole in the wall from where the material had rotted away and crumpled.
"Let's go smash it then," Butch grinned, eager to try and destroy a robot, aware that she wouldn't have any other reason to come out. They had to investigate what the robot was doing. Even if it was a horrible idea to be alone, the ruff was glad to accompany her.
"Fine, but make sure you don't not get in my way," Buttercup warned him.
"I've got your back," he nodded, as long as she didn't get in his way either. They both entered the abandoned factory. It certainly looked just as bad inside as it did outside. The machines that used to function were long removed. The only thing left were the assembly lines that were covered in layers of dust and spider webs beneath them.
"You ever wonder what these robots are doing?" Butch tried to start conversation, having minimal care for the element of surprise. They went into this factory, assuming a robot might be in hiding here, but so far they hadn't found anything. Buttercup didn't understand the question entirely as she looked into one of the many piles of abandoned scrap that this factory used to use as a material.
"What do you mean? They're just robots. They cause mayhem under the orders of whoever made them," the green powerpuff retorted. Robots were robots. They were just damaging the city a tad and being scared off by the super powered children.
"No, I mean… me and Blossom, when we found that first one, it was looking for something in the storage units, and when Brick and her got those metal pieces, they said the robot was digging in a park," Butch elaborated what his theory was, when he said it like that the pattern was quite obvious. Buttercup had to stop in place, rubbing her head.
"They're always looking for something. I can't believe you figured that before I did," she admitted, frustrated with herself.
"Yeah, but what could robots want? What could be in a storage unit and the ground?" he had to wonder aloud. The robots weren't searching randomly. In fact, he assumed the robots had found what they were looking for each time. None of their siblings ever made any notes of seeing the machines holding anything, but the robots always either fled or made them have to flee.
"I'm guessing… rocks?" Buttercup joked as they were arriving more toward the centre. She noticed something odd, though. One of the big tiles on the floor were loose like it had been moved before. She lifted it up, unveiling a deep hole.
"Wow… someone's been digging here," she said. Butch peeked into the hole, doubting time could do this much damage. Buttercup heard a creaking from the ceiling, like metal bending. She quickly grabbed Butch and jumped out of the way. They saw something huge fall down and land onto the ground, kicking up the coats of dust from the area.
"Whoa!" Butch got caught in surprise. He wondered how his counterpart saw that well before him. They saw what had fallen from the ceiling. It was a machine alright, and it had a red sphere colored body with gold paint around it. The machine had uncountable tentacles, maybe up to thirty, the ends of them being bulb shaped. Some of them were open, revealing threatening looking sharp metal. Butch felt shivers up his spine, remembering how the first robot almost ate him like that.
"Thanks," the rowdyruff thanked her in relief as they got ready.
"You're watching my back, I'll watch yours," Buttercup reminded him that they were partners. No matter how much she hated the idea of that, or herself for beginning to trust the ruffs. She had no choice but to work with him or perish to the machine.